An improved microwave plasma CVD process for forming a functional deposited film using a microwave transmissive window composed of a sintered alpha-alumina ceramics body containing alpha-alumina as a matrix comprised of fine particles with a mean particle size d satisfying the equation 0.5 .mu.m.ltoreq.d.ltoreq.50 .mu.m and with a ratio of .rho..sub.2 /.rho..sub.1 between the theoretical density .rho..sub.1 and the bulk density .rho..sub.2 satisfying the equation 0.800.ltoreq..rho..sub.2 /.rho..sub.1 .ltoreq.0.995.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave plasma CVD apparatus which makes it possible to effectively form a functional amorphous film on a substrate, which is eligible to use as a constituent semiconductor member of semiconductor devices, electrophotographic photosensitive devices, image input line sensors, image pickup devices, photovoltaic devices, other various electronic and optical devices, etc. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved microwave plasma CVD apparatus provided with a microwave transmissive window composed of specific sintered ceramics comprising alpha-alumina as the main constituent which enables one to continuously form an amorphous semiconductor film on a substrate over a long period of time without the microwave transmissive window being deteriorated.
2. Related Background Art
Heretofore, there have been proposed a number of amorphous semiconductor deposited films such as amorphous silicon deposited films respectively composed of an amorphous silicon material compensated with hydrogen atoms (H) or/and halogen atoms (X) such as fluorine, chlorine, etc. (hereinafter referred to as "a-Si(H,X)"). Some of such films have been put to practical use as a constituent element member of semiconductor devices, electrophotographic photosensitive devices, image input line sensors, image pickup devices, photovoltaic devices, other various electronic and optical devices.
It is known that such semiconductor deposited films may be obtained by means of a sputtering process, a thermal-induced CVD, a light-induced CVD process or a plasma CVD process, that is, a glow discharge decomposition process in other words, in which a deposited film is formed on a substrate of glass, quartz, heat-resistant resin, stainless steel or aluminum by decomposing a film-forming raw material gas with a glow discharge using a direct current (DC) energy, a high frequency energy or a microwave energy. In recent years, the public attention has been focused on the glow discharge decomposition process using a direct current energy, a high frequency energy or a microwave energy at industrial level since an amorphous semiconductor deposited film may be relatively easily formed at a relatively low substrate temperature while controlling the quality of the film. Particularly, the glow discharge decomposition process using a microwave energy (that is, microwave plasma CVD process) has been evaluated as being the most appropriate since it is remarkably advantageous over other plasma CVD processes with the points that film deposition rate is high and utilization efficiency of a film-forming raw material gas is high.
There have been made a number of proposals utilizing the above advantages of the microwave plasma CVD process. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,518 (hereinafter referred to as Literature 1) describes a microwave plasma CVD process of forming an amorphous semiconductor alloy film on a substrate by coupling a microwave energy into a substantially enclosed reaction vessel containing the substrate, at the same time introducing into the reaction vessel at least one reaction gas of SiH.sub.4, SiF.sub.4, GeH.sub.4, etc. to form a glow discharge plasma within the reaction vessel to form reaction gas species from the reaction gas, and evacuating the reaction vessel to a deposition pressure so as to provide for the deposition of an amorphous semiconductor alloy film from the reaction gas species onto the substrate at high deposition rate with high reaction gas conversion efficiency. Literature 1 also describes that the resulting amorphous semiconductor alloy film may be controlled to a conduction of p-type or n-type by adding a dopant gas during the formation thereof. In addition, Japanese Laid-open patent application 60(1985)-186849 (U.S. Ser. No. 580,086) (hereinafter referred to as Literature 2) describes a microwave plasma CVD process and a microwave plasma CVD apparatus for producing an electrophotographic device. The microwave plasma CVD apparatus in Literature 2 includes a discharge space wherein a plurality of cylindrical substrates are arranged to surround a microwave introducing means, thereby highly enhancing the gas utilization efficiency.
Now, in order to effectively form a desirable amorphous semiconductor film by the microwave plasma CVD process while making full use of the above-mentioned advantages, the microwave transmissive window as the microwave introducing means through which a microwave energy is applied into the film-forming chamber is one of the essentially important factors. Hitherto, there have been used for the microwave transmissive window, materials having a low dielectric constant (E) and a low dielectric loss angle (tan .delta.) to prevent transmission loss of the microwave as much as possible. Such materials are berylia (BeO), polytetrafluoroethylene, alumina ceramics, etc.
It is required for the microwave transmissive window to have sufficient resistances to, discharged heat radiation, to temperature rise at the window due to absorption of microwave and also to thermal impact. Other than these requirements, it is also required for the microwave transmissive window to have a sufficient vacuum retentivity. Further in addition, it is required for the microwave transmissive window to maintain its microwave transmission without being reduced even when a film is deposited on the surface thereof facing to the discharge space.
The conventional microwave transmissive windows made of those materials above mentioned are not satisfactory since they do not sufficiently meet the above requirements. In view of this, there have been made various proposals of the microwave transmissive window.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,763 (hereinafter referred to as Literature 3) describes a microwave plasma CVD apparatus provided with a microwave introducing means comprised of laminated two or more microwave transmissive plates made of a dielectric material wherein the face of the outermost transmissive plate to become faced to the deposition space is of a roughened surface having a roughness of 1.5 .mu.m to about 1 cm for the height between the projection and the depression by the arithmetic mean for at least selected ten points. Literature 3 describes advantages provided by using said microwave introducing means that an amorphous material deposited on the roughened surface is hardly crystallized even when its temperature is elevated and a microwave energy is effectively introduced into the deposition space without being reflected at the microwave transmissive plate even in the case of repeating the film forming process.
Other than this, U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,442 (hereinafter referred to as Literature 4) describes a microwave plasma CVD apparatus provided with an improved microwave transmissive window made of alumina ceramics containing glassy component such as SiO.sub.2, CaO and MgO in an amount of 1 wt. % to 10 wt. % and substantially as other component .alpha.-alumina. Literature 4 describes that said microwave transmissive window excels in heat resistance, heat impact resistance, vacuum retentivity and microwave power transmittance characteristics.
These improved techniques relative to the microwave introducing window of the microwave plasma CVD apparatus has made it possible to form a relatively thick photoconductive material at a relatively high deposition rate and with relatively high raw material gas utilization efficiency.
An example of such known microwave plasma CVD apparatus is of the constitution shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view illustrating the constitution of the known microwave plasma CVD apparatus, and FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line X--X of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4.
In FIGS. 4 and 5, numeral reference 401 stands for a substantially enclosed reaction chamber (film-forming chamber in other words) having a vacuum tight structure, the inside of which can be evacuated to a vacuum of 1.times.10.sup.-7 Torr or less. The reaction chamber 401 is so structured that it serves as a cavity resonator capable of resonating with a frequency from a microwave power source (not shown) to initiate discharge by way of self-excited discharge without using a discharging trigger or the like. Numeral reference 402 stands for a microwave introducing window comprising the foregoing microwave introducing means of Literature 3 or the foregoing microwave transmissive window of Literature 4 which is capable of transmitting a microwave power from the microwave power source (not shown) into the reaction chamber 401. The microwave introducing window 402 is arranged to a waveguide 403 so as to vacuum-seal the inside of the reaction chamber 401 and to isolate the inside of the waveguide 403 from the inside of the reaction chamber 401. The waveguide 403 is connected to the microwave power source (not shown) through a stab tuner (not shown) and an isolator (not shown). The waveguide 403 comprises a rectangular-shaped portion extending from the microwave power source (not shown) to the vicinity of the reaction chamber 401 and a cylindrically-shaped portion situated in the reaction chamber 401.
The reaction chamber 401 is provided with an exhaust pipe 404 which is connected to an exhaust device (not shown) through an exhaust valve (not shown). Numeral reference 405 stands for cylindrical substrates on each of which a film is to be formed. Each of the cylindrical substrates 405 is supported on a substrate holder 405' arranged on a rotary shaft 410 connected to a driving motor 411 through a driving mechanism. Numeral reference 406 stands for a discharge space surrounded by the cylindrical substrates 405. Numeral reference 408 stands for a gas feed pipe for supplying a raw material gas into the discharge space 406. The gas feed pipe 408 is connected to gas reservoirs (not shown). Each of the substrate holders 405' is provided with an electric heater 407 for heating the cylindrical substrate 405 positioned thereon.
The formation of a deposited film in this microwave plasma CVD apparatus in order to prepare an electrophotographic photosensitive device is carried out in the following manner.
There are firstly provided a plurality of well-cleaned cylindrical substrates 405. Each of these cylindrical substrates 405 is positioned on the corresponding substrate holder 405' of the reaction chamber 401. After the reaction chamber 401 being closed, the reaction chamber 401 is evacuated to bring the inside to a vacuum of less than 1.times.10.sup.-7 Torr through the exhaust pipe 404 by means of the exhaust device (not shown). Subsequently, each of the cylindrical substrates 405 is heated to a desired temperature by means of the electric heater, and is maintained at this temperature. Film-forming raw material gases (for example, silane gas (SiH.sub.4) and hydrogen gas (H.sub.2) in the case of forming an amorphous silicon film) are introduced into the reaction chamber 401 through the gas feed pipe 408 at respective predetermined flow rates. Simultaneously, the microwave power source (not shown) is switched on to generate a microwave having a frequency of not less than 500 MHz, preferably 2.45 GHz, followed by transmission through the waveguide 403 and the microwave introducing window 402 into the reaction chamber 401. In this way, the film-forming raw material gases are excited and decomposed by the action of the microwave energy in the discharge space 406 surrounded by the cylindrical substrates 405, to produce neutral radical particles, ion particles, electrons, etc. which are reacted with each other to cause the formation of a deposited film on each of the cylindrical substrates 405. During this process, each of the cylindrical substrates 405 is rotated by rotating the rotary shaft 410 by means of the driving motor 411. As a result, there is formed a deposited film uniformly on the entire surface of each of the cylindrical substrates.
In the case of forming a photoconductive material by a microwave plasma CVD process in order to produce an electrophotographic photosensitive device by using the known microwave plasma CVD apparatus shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 which is provided with a microwave introducing window comprising the foregoing microwave introducing means of Literature 3 or the foregoing microwave transmissive window of Literature 4, the microwave introducing window comprising the foregoing microwave introducing means of Literature 3 or the foregoing microwave transmissive window of Literature 4 is practically effective to a certain extent.
However, as a result of experimental studies of the microwave introducing window by the present inventors, the following facts were found. That is, the microwave introducing window is not satisfactory particularly in durability upon repeated reuse. Particularly, the microwave introducing window comprising the foregoing microwave introducing means of Literature 3 or the foregoing microwave transmissive window of Literature 4 is still problematic upon repeated reuse by repeating the reuse cycle comprising use for film formation, removal of the deposited film and reuse for the next film formation. That is, as the repetition of the reuse cycle thereof increases, there are provided problems that discharge is hardly caused, discharge is not stably maintained, and the microwave introducing window becomes deteriorated particularly in terms of durability. Therefore, there is still a subject for the microwave introducing window comprising the foregoing microwave introducing means of Literature 3 or the foregoing microwave transmissive window of Literature 4 to be improved particularly not only in view of durability upon repeated reuse but also in view of the characteristics as the microwave introducing means. This subject is very important in order to mass-produce a desirable electrophotographic photosensitive device of high quality with high yield and at a reduced production cost.
Explaining the above situation in more detail, in the case of producing an amorphous silicon electrophotographic photosensitive device using the above microwave plasma CVD apparatus, it usually takes at least two hours for the formation of its photoconductive layer wherein a film is deposited at a relatively high thickness on the surface of the microwave introducing window which is exposed to plasma. Therefore, the surface of the microwave introducing window having such deposited film thereon is cleaned to remove the deposited film by means of an alkali etching technique or a sand blasting technique after every film formation cycle, and the microwave introducing window thus cleaned is subjected to reuse for the next film formation cycle. As above described, as the repetition of the reuse cycle of the microwave introducing window in this way increases, the microwave introducing introducing window itself not only becomes gradually deteriorated but also the surface thereof is gradually shaved off, and the microwave introducing window is contaminated with alkali in the case of performing alkali etching in order to remove the film deposited on the surface thereof, to thereby cause the following problems. That is, firstly, discharge becomes hardly caused. Particularly, in this case, it is necessary to apply excessive microwave power in order to cause and continue discharge, but the resulting film becomes accompanied by defects and as a result, the yield is reduced. Secondly, stable discharge cannot be maintained. As above described, it takes at least two hours for the formation of an photoconductive layer in order to produce an amorphous silicon electrophotographic photosensitive drum, wherein discharge is necessary to be maintained in a stable state during the formation of the photoconductive layer. However, when discharge is intermittently gone out or is caused in an unstable state, the resulting film becomes accompanied by defects and as a result, the yield is reduced. Thirdly, the durability of the microwave introducing window against the severe conditions upon film formation becomes deteriorated. In this case, the microwave introducing window sometimes becomes damaged or broken in the worst case during discharging.


A new chrysanthemum variety having a profuse production of unique and pleasing bronze flowers of medium size, borne on rigid stems above an abundant growth of dark green foliage. This plant is suitable for fall garden culture, with a medium response, as well as for year-round four inch pot production with a late eight week response. Its vigorous growth forms a mound of color providing a pleasing and attractive display when blooming in the fall garden.

This new plant originated as a seedling of unknown parentage growing in a field of greenhouse chrysanthemum plants maintained at West Chicago, Ill., for breeding purposes and was discovered by me in 1976 in the course of my study and breeding efforts carried on with the object of producing new and superior garden chrysanthemums. Because of the unique bronze coloration of the flowers of this new plant, I reproduced the plant by means of cuttings at West Chicago, Ill., to test its habits and continued propagation, by cuttings and for successive generations, has demonstrated that the novel characteristics of this plant hold true from generation to generation and appear to be firmly fixed. At present, propagation of this new variety by cuttings is being carried on at Cortez, Fla., and at West Chicago, Ill.


A method for detecting for the presence of a degenerative brain disease such as BSE or CJD. A measurement is made of the respiratory sinus arrhythmia of any mammal which is suspected of suffering from the degenerative brain disease. It is assumed that the mammal is suffering from such a disease if the measured RSA is outside a predetermined reference range. The reference range may be determined from data which forms the basis for the calculation of the RSA range by applying a suitable test for randomness.

The present invention relates to analysis for the presence of degenerative brain disease.
Increasing public and scientific concern has been expressed about the possibility of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (hereinafter BSE) being transmitted to the human population as a result of consumption of products derived from infected cattle. It has been postulated that British cattle have become infected with BSE as the result of eating feed including products derived from sheep that have been infected with scrapie. It has also been postulated that BSE has developed as the result of the nervous systems of cattle being damaged by pesticides. Regardless of the origins of the disease, it has been suggested that cattle suffering from BSE should be slaughtered and their carcasses should not be introduced into the human food chain.
Given that BSE takes typically five or more years to become manifest as the result of the behaviour of an infected animal, and that there has heretofore been no accepted method of assessing the probability of whether or not a particular cow is suffering from BSE other than examining the brain of the slaughtered animal, it has been suggested that the only safe approach to adopt which will in addition calm public fears about the safety of eating beef products is widespread slaughter. It is almost inevitable that such a policy will result in the slaughter of many thousands of cattle which are not infected with BSE.
It is known that information regarding the status of the central nervous system of mammals can be derived from the quantification of heart rate variability. For example, the paper "Respiratory sinus arrhythmia during recovery from isoflurane-nitrous oxide anaesthesia" by Donchin, Feld, and Porges, Anesth Analg 1985; 64:811-15 states that respiratory sinus arrhythmia (hereafter RSA) may provide a physiological index of the level of anaesthesia. That same paper refers to work dating back to as early as 1935 which indicated that RSA disappeared during the induction of ether anaesthesia.
It is also known that RSA is suppressed in diabetics. Details of a method for measuring RSA to enable the identification of diabetics which method relies upon the application of circular statistics to data derived from patients is given in the paper "RR-variation: the autonomic test of choice in diabetes", by Genovely and Pfeifer, Diabetes/Metabolism Reviews, volume 4, No. 3, 255-271(1988), John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Published International Patent Application No. WO92/06632 describes a method of monitoring the depth of anaesthesia by deriving a measurement of RSA from an analysis of the position of R-waves relative to the respiratory cycle and comparing the measured RSA with a reference value obtained from the analysed series of R-waves. This method provides a reliable indication of the depth of anaesthesia which is of use to an anaesthetist as the measure of the depth of anaesthesia can be obtained sufficiently quickly for that measurement to be used in the control of the administration of anaesthetics.
It is apparent from the above documents and references cited in those documents that RSA variation provides an indication of the state of the cardiovascular autonomic nervous system function and that the measurement of RSA may be of value in assessing depth of anaesthesia and in the identification of diabetics.
A review of recent publication has been conducted in an attempt to understand the structural changes which occur in the brains of mammals infected with BSE and similar spongiform degenerative brains diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). The results are summarised below.
A paper by M. Jeffery and W. G. Halliday entitled "Numbers of neurons in vacuolated and non-vacuolated neuroanatomical nuclei in bovine spongiform encephalopathy--affected brains", Journal of Comparative Pathology 110(3):287-293 reports studies of the brains of seven cows affected by BSE. These studies revealed that in infected animals there was an inconsistent degree of neuronal perikaryonal vacuolation in the dorsal vagal nucleus.
The abstract of a paper by A. Yagishita entitled "Computered tomography of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease", in the Journal Rinsho Hoshasen, 34(11)P1317-25, 1989, noted marked atrophy of the cortex, brainstem and cerebellum.
A paper by G. A. H. Wells and J. W. Wilesmith entitled "The neuropathology and epidemiology of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy", Brain Pathology, 5(1):91-103, 1995 refers to the histopathological diagnosis of BSE, validated on a section of the medulla, and to neuronal loss in BSE which may make an important contribution to functional deficits.
RSA is a measure of the activity in the reflex loop defined between the lungs, brain and heart. The lungs feed data to the medulla of the brain stem which produces outputs transmitted via the vagal nerve to the heart to control heart rate. This reflex control loop is disrupted in diabetics as a result of damage to the vagal nerve and is disrupted by the administration of anaesthetic as a result of depression of brain stem activity. The present invention is based on a realisation that BSE and similar degenerative brain diseases are likely to disrupt the operation of the lungs/brain/heart reflex control loop and, given that RSA is an indicator of disruption to that control loop, it can also be used as an indicator of BSE.

Analysis for the presence of degenerative brain disease


A system is described for offloading LNG (liquified natural gas) from a tanker for eventual delivery to an onshore gas distribution station. The system includes a floating structure that floats at the sea surface and that is connected to the tanker so they weathervane together. The floating structure carries a regas unit that heats the LNG to produce gas, and delivers the gas through a riser to an underground cavern that stores the gas. Gas from the cavern is delivered through a seafloor pipeline to an onshore gas distribution station. The regas unit includes water pumps and other equipment that is powered by electricity. The electricity can be obtained from an electric generator on the floating structure, with surplus electricity delivered through a sea floor electric power line that extends along the sea floor to an onshore electricity distribution facility. The electricity can instead be obtained by delivery from an onshore facility though a sea floor electric power line that extends up to the floating structure and to the regas unit.

Hydrocarbons that are in a gaseous state at atmospheric pressure and room temperature (e.g. 20° C.), are often transported as cold hydrocarbons, as by ship in liquid form such as LNG (liquified natural gas), at atmospheric pressure and −160° C. Another form of cold gaseous hydrocarbons that are ship-transported are hydrates (gas entrapped in ice). At the ship's destination, the LNG (or other gas) may be heated and flowed to an onshore distribution facility. Proposed prior art offloading stations have included a fixed platform extending up from the sea floor to a height above the sea surface and with a regas unit on the platform for heating the LNG. Because of fire dangers in dealing with LNG, rigid platforms, which minimize flexing joints, have previously been proposed for offloading LNG from a tanker and heating it to gassify it.
The cost of a fixed platform is high even at moderate depths, and at increasing depths (e.g. over 50 meters) the costs of fixed platforms increase dramatically. In addition, if the platform lies in an open sea it is difficult to moor a tanker to the platform because the tanker shifts position and heading with changing winds, waves and currents. An offshore LNG offloading and regas station which avoided the use of fixed platforms, and which provided the high reliability demanded in LNG offloading, heating and storage, would lower the cost of such stations and allow them to be used in situations where they previously were uneconomical.


The present invention relates to a thermal processing method wherein a cylindrical process tube that has at one end an entrance/exit is provided at the other end thereof with a heat source, and thermal processing is performed on a workpiece which has been brought in from the entrance/exit of the process tube to a prescribed position therein. This thermal processing method and an apparatus therefor is characterized in that, when the workpiece is moved to the prescribed position, it is first moved to a proximity position that is closer to the heat source than the prescribed position, then it is returned therefrom to the prescribed position. The invention is further characterized in that, if the actual processing temperature at the prescribed position changes while the workpiece is undergoing thermal processing, the workpiece is moved such that the position of the workpiece with respect to the heat generation source is changed in order to return the processing temperature at the prescribed position to the prescribed processing temperature. This ensures that the temperature of the workpiece can be rapidly raised to the prescribed processing temperature and also that, if the temperature of the workpiece should change, it can be rapidly returned to the prescribed processing temperature.

The present invention relates to a thermal processing method and an apparatus therefor.
During the fabrication of a semiconductor wafer, the wafer undergoes various processes such as oxide diffusion and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). A particular problem is caused by the way in which design rules of semiconductor devices are continuing to become finer (from 0.4 .mu.m to 0.2 .mu.m) whilst the semiconductor wafers are becoming even larger in size (from eight inches to 12 inches). For these reasons, there is intense interest in developing a rapid thermal processing (heat treatment) apparatus that can be used with the ultra-thin film creation technology used for wafers of such large areas.
An essential condition during the processing of a semiconductor wafer is to reduce the thermal budget. During 50 to 100 .ANG. doping or the creation of an ultra-fine gate oxide film or capacitor isolation film, rapid heating (in other words, heating within a short period of time) is essential during 50 to 100 .ANG. doping or the creation of an ultra-fine gate oxide film or capacitor isolation film, for example.
In order to design lower resistances on thinner PN junctions of less than 0.1 .mu.m and enable junction fabrication on any desired shape of surface, for instance, it is necessary to prevent the films from deteriorating and crystal defects from generating when the junction is made. However, the active region of the PN junction is so narrow, rapid thermal processing is necessary.
In addition, during the creation of a film such as a LOCOS oxide film, compression stresses in the neighboring LOCOS oxide film are increased by a multiplication effect due to thermal cycling, so that the reliability of characteristics such as changes in surface potential, leakage current, and withstand voltage is liable to drop. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to reduce thermal cycling by using rapid thermal processing.
When forming capacitor isolation films using a highly dielectric material, it has become essential to use systems that provide compound processing which includes doping and metal film creation processes that enable the formation of films of substances such as metal oxides (such as Ta.sub.2 O.sub.3) and polyamides (passivation films).
Since the diameters of semiconductor wafers are currently increasing from eight inches to 12 inches, it is necessary to facilitate a uniform, rapid thermal processing that minimizes temperature differences between the center and periphery of a semiconductor wafer, create designs that reduce the slippage, distortion, and warping that are liable to occur in semiconductor operations, and also ensure that defects do not occur during the fabrication of semiconductor devices.
However, in a conventional longitudinal batch type of thermal processing apparatus, a cylindrical heat source is positioned around a stack of semiconductor wafers held in a wafer boat made of high purity quartz, and heat from this source is directed from the peripheral parts of the wafers toward the centers thereof. This causes a problem in that uniform thermal processing is impossible because any attempt made to heat the semiconductor wafers rapidly will generate a large thermal gradient between the center and periphery of each semiconductor wafer.
These circumstances led the inventors of the present invention to continue their research into technology designed to ensure a uniform temperature within a semiconductor wafer, by positioning a heat source at the other end of a cylindrical process tube which has at its one end an entrance/exit, and thermally processing a workpiece at a prescribed position to which it is brought from the entrance/exit of the process tube. They have ascertained that, even with this thermal processing method, simply bringing the semiconductor wafer as it is from the entrance/exit of the process tube is not sufficient to bring the temperature of the semiconductor wafer to the prescribed processing temperature, and time is required until the temperature stabilizes at the prescribed processing temperature. They have also identified another problem in that, if the actual temperature of the workpiece placed at the prescribed position should deviate from the prescribed processing temperature while the workpiece is being processed, temperature control by the heat source makes it difficult to quickly return the temperature to the prescribed processing temperature.

Heat treatment method and apparatus thereof


The present invention is a fragrance bottle having a removably affixed timepiece ornament. The present invention includes a fragrance bottle having an exterior surface with a shallow depression. A mounting ring is nondetachably affixed to the fragrance bottle within the exterior depression by an adhesive agent. The timepiece is detachably attached to the mounting ring by inserting its base portion into the cavity of the mounting ring. The mounting ring has a self-contained spring member for securing the detachable engagement to the timepiece. The present invention can also be utilized on other bottles such as liquor bottles.

1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to the field of decorative containers. More particularly the present invention relates to the field of decorative small glass containers with jewelry timepieces affixed thereon.
2. Description of The Prior Art
Both luxurious fragrance containers which contain perfume, cologne, aftershave, etc. and fine jewelry timepieces have been around for centuries. Home use fragrance containers are often artistically designed small bottles made of high quality glass such as crystal glass. Such glass fragrance bottles are often elegantly decorated. However, no glass fragrance bottle has been found which is ornamented with a small jewelry timepiece.
There could be many reasons to explain why no such combination of fragrance bottle and jewelry timepiece has been invented to date. One possible reason may be that it is difficult to mount timepieces to fragrance bottles. Most fragrance bottles stand upright and the best location for mounting a timepiece is on the front surface of the fragrance bottle, so that the timepiece is vertically oriented and readily observable. However, since the casing of a jewelry timepiece is often made of solid metal such as brass or gold, it is not easy to attach the casing of the timepiece to the glass surface of the fragrance bottle.
Another possible reason may be that even though it might be conceivable to adhere the metal casing of a timepiece to the surface of a glass bottle with glue, such a non-removable manner of mounting is highly undesirable. A consumer should be able to take a timepiece off a fragrance bottle for various purposes, such as maintenance, repair, replacing the battery if it is an electronic timepiece, etc. In addition, the timepiece is often much more valuable than the glass bottle. The consumer should be able to remove the timepiece in case the glass bottle is damaged or no longer wanted, or after all of the fragrance contained in the bottle is removed, and use the timepiece on a new fragrance bottle.
Therefore, it will be desirable to have a unique combination of high class fragrance bottle and jewelry timepiece whether it be a fine jewelry timepiece or an inexpensive timepiece. It will be even more desirable to have the jewelry timepiece detachably and interchangeably mounted to the fragrance bottle.

Fragrance bottle having removably affixed jewelry timepiece

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A photosensitive element containing a photosensitive composition sandwiched between a flexible support layer and a removable cover sheet, wherein the cover sheet has a roughened surface.

The present invention is directed to an improved photosensitive element with a photosensitive composition sandwiched between a flexible support layer and a removable cover sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,469,982 discloses a negative acting photopolymerizable film resist in which a photopolymerizable layer is sandwiched between a temporary support film and a temporary cover film. This film has gained widespread usage in the manufacture of printed circuits in which the cover film is removed, the photopolymerizable layer is laminated by heat and pressure to a surface, e.g., copper, of a substrate to be permanently modified, the layer is imagewise exposed to actinic radiation, the film support is removed, the unexposed areas of the layer are removed by solvent washout (development), and the resultant bared area of the copper surface is permanently modified, such as by etching or deposition of metal.
The patent discloses solution coating of a photopolymerizable composition onto the support film, followed by drying and then lamination of the resultant dry layer to a surface such as a copper-clad printed circuit board to carry out the photoresist process. In commercial practice, however, the dried photopolymerizable layer, which must remain adhered to the support during storage and shipment, has been supplied as a sandwich between the support film and a cover sheet. This has enabled the sandwich element to be rolled up upon itself by the photoresist manufacturer and be supplied to the user, e.g., printed circuit manufacturer, as a compact, easy to handle roll. The cover film prevents the photopolymerizable layer from adhering to the backside of the support film during shipment and storage. In use, the cover film is stripped away and discarded, followed by the photoresist processing described above.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,797 discloses a similar photopolymerizable film resist with a photopolymerizable layer sandwiched between a temporary support film and a temporary cover film except the photopolymerizable composition is positive acting rather than negative acting.

Uniform cover sheet with rough surface in a photosensitive element


Apparatuses and methods are described herein that allow a tap handle to be quickly and easily reoriented or replaced after being attached to a spigot. In an embodiment, an adjustment mechanism for a beverage tap handle includes a connecting element and a housing. The connecting element includes a stem and a first mating feature, and the housing includes an aperture to receive the stem and a second mating feature configured to mate with the first mating feature. The housing and the connecting element are (i) rotatable with respect to each other about a central axis of the stem when the first mating feature and second mating feature are not mated, and (ii) prevented from rotating with respect to each other about the central axis of the stem when the first mating feature and the second mating feature are mated.

In many beer dispensing systems, beer is contained in a keg and is fed by a flexible tube to a beer tap from which the beer can be dispensed. The keg is tapped with a tapping head having a beer outlet connected to the flexible tube and a gas inlet for pressurized gas. The flexible tube is attached to the beer tap, which controls the release of beer by opening a spigot using a handle. The handle acts as a lever and can be pulled sideways to open the spigot, which causes the beer to flow through the flexible tube and out of the spigot due to the pressurization of the keg by the pressurized gas.
Typically, several spigots are built into a bar, either in a commercial setting or a home setting, so that different types of beers can be dispensed from each of the spigots. When one keg is emptied, a new keg can be attached to each spigot so that the beer in the new keg can be dispensed. The types of kegs attached to each spigot are frequently alternated due to changing seasons, availability, customer preferences and various other reasons.
Many businesses identify the beer keg that is attached to each spigot by attaching a customized handle to each spigot. Because the types of beer connected to a single spigot are often alternated, many customized handles are capable of being removeably attached to each spigot so that each handle can be changed when each beer keg is changed.
The handles are often simply screwed into the spigots, which means that the final orientation of the handle is determined by how tightly the handle is turned to attach it to the spigot. This can result in a handle that does not sit in an ideal position for a customer or bartender to view a logo or other design on the handle. Additionally, some handles can be difficult to install in a desired orientation due to the shape of the handles and/or the surrounding features of the bar.

Adjustment mechanism for a beverage tap handle


An apparatus for detecting an array of wafers comprises a reference information generator for generating reference information from the reference condition in which wafers are partly inserted correctly in all grooves formed in side plates of a first wafer carrier, a window setting device for setting wafer-detecting windows at those positions where the wafers are arranged on a second wafer carrier, in accordance with the reference information supplied from said reference information generator, a photosensor for detecting the wafers arranged on the second wafer carrier and generating information representing the presence of the wafers on the second wafer carrier, a signal generator for generating signals from the information generated by the photosensor, and a position detector for collating the signals supplied from the signal generator with said wafer detecting windows, to detect the shape of that portion of any signal that corresponds to a wafer window, and to determine the position of the wafer from the shape of said portion of the signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting whether or not wafers are exactly mounted as previously determined, on a wafer carrier.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor wafers mounted on a wafer carrier are usually carried from one place where a process is conducted to another place where another process is done in the course of manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuits. Each of these wafers, for example 26 pieces, is mounted on the wafer carrier, partly inserted in a pair of grooves on the wafer carrier which are formed at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction of the wafer carrier. The wafer counter is used in the course of manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuits to check up every lot of wafer carriers, for the number of wafers mounted on each wafer carrier and the presence or absence of a wafer in each pair of the grooves.
Japanese Utility Model Disclosure No. Sho 61-129340 proposes a wafer counter of this type. This wafer counter has light emitting and receiving elements which are intermittently moved in the longitudinal direction of the wafer carrier at such a pitch that is same as the pitch of the wafers arranged on the wafer carrier, and the optical axis of infrared rays between these light emitting and receiving elements is inclined to the axis of the wafers arranged on the wafer carrier which are to be located between the light emitting and receiving elements. When the infrared rays are shielded by a wafer and the quantity of light received by the light receiving element is thus reduced, it is detected that the wafer is present in its corresponding grooves on the wafer carrier and when the quantity of light is not reduced, it is detected that no wafer is present in the grooves. This process of detecting the presence or absence of a wafer is intermittently carried out at the same pitch as that of wafers arranged on the wafer carrier to detect the number of wafers mounted on the wafer carrier.
In the case of this conventional device, however, there is a fear that no exact detection can be attained relating to the number of wafers mounted on the wafer carrier and a position of a pair of grooves where wafer is absent, due to a miss-detection of the light receiving element resulting from fouling of wafers in the course of processing wafers. The conventional device can detect how many wafers are not present on the wafer carrier, but it cannot exactly detect the state of each of them when two wafers inserted in a pair of grooves and when one of wafers seats tilting in its corresponding grooves.
Japanese Utility Model Disclosure No. Sho 61-127639 proposes another device capable of eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks. This device includes a reflector type photosensor for detecting wafers, a light-emitting element, a light-receiving element, and a timing plate located between these elements and having apertures spaced apart at the same intervals are the grooves cut in the wafer carrier. The reflector type photosensor and the light emitting and receiving elements are synchronized to move in the longitudinal direction of the wafer carrier and the timing plate. When an aperture of the timing plate is located between the light emitting and receiving elements, the light receiving element detects light emitted from the light emitting element and a timing signal is outputted responsive to this detection of light. The reflector type photosensor detects light reflected from the wafer and a wafer detection signal corresponding to the detected light is outputted. If the portion of the timing signal corresponding to the time when the light receiving element detects light coincides with the portion of the wafer detection signal corresponding to the time when the photosensor detects light reflected from the wafer, it will be discriminated that the wafer is present in that grooves in the wafer carrier which corresponds to these portions of the timing and wafer detection signals. When they do not coincide with each other, it will be discriminated that no wafer is present in the grooves or that the wafer is not seated rightly in the grooves even when it is present there.
The phase of the timing signal must completely coincide with that of the wafer detection signal in order to enable the device to fulfill its correct detection. It is therefore needed that the timing plate is correctly positioned.
However, positioning error of the timing plate is likely to be caused because the timing plate is mechanically fixed and its apertures are also mechanically formed. Further, the timing plate must be exchanged every time when the pitch of grooves on the wafer carrier changes. It takes a long time for the timing plate to be exchanged with a new one and for the new one to be adjusted upon its being fixed, thereby causing productivity to be lowered.

Apparatus for detecting an array of wafers


Photoactive indicator compounds of the formula ##STR1##

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods, compositions and kits for determining an analyte in a sample. In particular, this invention relates to specific binding assays which utilize a photoactive indicator precursor which can react with singlet oxygen to form a fluorescent product.
The clinical diagnostic field has seen a broad expansion in recent years, both as to the variety of materials (analytes) that may be readily and accurately determined, as well as the methods for the determination. Convenient, reliable and non-hazardous means for detecting the presence of low concentrations of materials in liquids is desired. In clinical chemistry these materials may be present in body fluids in concentrations below 10.sup.-12 molar. The difficulty of detecting low concentrations of these materials is enhanced by the relatively small sample sizes that can be utilized.
In developing an assay there are many considerations. One consideration is the signal response to changes in the concentration of an analyte. A second consideration is the ease with which the protocol for the assay may be carried out. A third consideration is the variation in interference from sample to sample. Ease of preparation and purification of the reagents, availability of equipment, ease of automation and interaction with material of interest are some of the additional considerations in developing a useful assay.
One broad category of techniques involves the use of a receptor which can specifically bind to a particular spacial and polar organization of a labeled ligand as a function of the presence of an analyte. The observed effect of binding by the receptor will depend upon the label. In some instances the binding of the receptor merely provides for a differentiation in molecular weight between bound and unbound labeled ligand. In other instances the binding of the receptor will facilitate separation of bound labeled ligand from free labeled ligand or it may affect the nature of the signal obtained from the label so that the signal varies with the amount of receptor bound to labeled ligand. A further variation is that the receptor is labeled and the ligand unlabeled. Alternatively, both the receptor and ligand are labeled or different receptors are labeled with two different labels, whereupon the labels interact when in close proximity and the amount of ligand present affects the degree to which the labels of the receptor may interact.
There is a continuing need for new and accurate techniques that can be adapted for a wide spectrum of different ligands or be used in specific cases where other methods may not be readily adaptable.
Homogeneous immunoassays in which it is unnecessary to separate the bound and unbound label have previously been described for small molecules. These assays include SYVA's FRAT.RTM. assay, EMIT.RTM. assay, enzyme channeling immunoassay, and fluorescence energy transfer immunoassay (FETI); enzyme inhibitor immunoassays (Hoffmann LaRoche and Abbott Laboratories): fluorescence polarization immunoassay (Dandlicker), among others. All of these methods have limited sensitivity, and only a few including FETI and enzyme channeling, are suitable for large multiepitopic analytes.
Hererogenous immunoassays in which a separation step is required are generally useful for both small and large molecules. Various labels have been used including enzymes (ELISA), fluorescent labels (FIA), radiolabels (RIA), chemiluminescent labels (CLA), etc.
Luminescent compounds, such as fluorescent compounds and chemiluminescent compounds, find wide application in the assay field because of their ability to emit light. For this reason, luminescers have been utilized as labels in assays such as nucleic acid assays and immunoassays. For example, a member of a specific binding pair is conjugated to a luminescer and various protocols are employed. The luminescer conjugate can be partitioned between a solid phase and a liquid phase in relation to the amount of analyte in a sample suspected of containing the analyte. By measuring the luminescence of either of the phases, one can relate the level of luminescence observed to a concentration of the analyte in the sample.
Particles, such as latex beads and liposomes, have also been utilized in assays. For example, in homogeneous assays an enzyme may be entrapped in the aqueous phase of a liposome labelled with an antibody or antigen. The liposomes are caused to release the enzyme in the presence of a sample and complement. Antibody- or antigen-labelled liposomes, having water soluble fluorescent or non-fluorescent dyes encapsulated within an aqueous phase or lipid soluble dyes dissolved in the lipid bilayer of the lipid vesicle, have also been utilized to assay for analytes capable of entering into an immunochemical reaction with the surface bound antibody or antigen. Detergents have been used to release the dyes from the aqueous phase of the liposomes. Particles have been dyed with fluorescent dyes and used as labels in immunoassays. Undyed particles have also been used (e.g., latex agglutination).


Compositions and methods for improving cardiac function, myocardial contractility and relaxation in a mammal are provided. Cardiomyocytes transfected with one or more expression vectors comprising a ribonucleotide reductase subunit R1-encoding nucleic acid sequence and a ribonucleotide reductase subunit R2-encoding nucleic acid sequence operably linked to a promoter are grafted to a mammalian myocardium. Also provided are compositions and methods for delivering dATP to a myocardium through grafting of donor cells overexpressing R1 and R2. dATP is thereby produced in situ and delivered through gap junctions established between donor cells and host cardiomyocytes. Alternatively, viral vector(s) having the R1 and R2-encoding construct(s) are administered to the mammal directly. Improvement of cardiac function can also be effected by administration of vectors comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a L48Q, 61 Q, or L57Q cTnC variant.

Heart disease is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the United States and has been rising dramatically around the world8. Cardiac diseases of the sarcomere, such as HCM and DCM, involve amino acid mutations in one of several myofilament proteins commonly leading to heart failure, and in some cases sudden cardiac death1,2,9. As the number of identified mutants with functional characterization has grown, some patterns have emerged that demonstrate potential similarities in altered contractile properties. For example, most HCM mutations result in increased Ca2+ sensitivity of contractile force in demembranated cardiac muscle1,10-17, while most DCM variants result in decreased Ca2+ sensitivity of force1,18-23. However, the extent of which these alterations in myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity are involved in progression of the diseases is not known. Potential and important interactions between altered myofilament Ca2+ binding and SR function have not been systematically investigated, nor have interactions with other intracellular Ca2+ buffers (e.g., mitochondria) or gene regulation.
Many cardiopathologies, as well as ischemia-reperfusion injury and myocardial infarct result in reduced systolic function due to damage and/or death to a portion of the myocardium that significantly compromises cardiac function. Infarcted hearts often do not meet the cardiovascular demands of the body and attempt to compensate by increasing β-adrenergic activation. Chronic β-adrenergic stimulation, however, exhausts contractile reserves, can elevate diastolic Ca2+ levels, and eventually results in down-regulation of adrenergic responsiveness leading to end-stage heart failure8-10*. Importantly, a number of studies in both animal models and patients have noted alterations in both myofilament11-16 and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and sarcolemmal17-18* protein content and phosphorylation following infarction, which would alter myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity of force and Ca2+ transient release/reuptake. Similar changes have been observed in hearts expressing mutations associated with DCM and HCM35. Although global alterations in hormone levels (such as 3-adrenergic agonists) have often been implicated in these adaptations, the mechanism(s) may be due (at least in part) to intracellular interplay between SR and myofilament proteins.
Cardiac function is compromised in a number of cardiovascular diseases including myocardial infarction, ischemia/reperfusion injury, diabetes, high blood pressure and hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathy. These pathophysiological conditions often alter the Ca2+ cycle1, β-adrenergic responsiveness2, and/or the contractile apparatus of cardiomyocytes. To date, therapeutic efforts have focused primarily on increasing [Ca2+]i, which tend to exert a pro-arrhythmogenic effect, impair ventricular filling by slowing diastolic relaxations, and cause SR Ca2+ overload initiating triggered activity19*. Other approaches involving adrenergic agents can have undesirable long-term side-effects, e.g. significant drug actions in non-target areas, pro-arrythmogenic triggered activity, and potential for accelerated progression into heart failure2. Thus, new approaches to combat cardiac dysfunction are desirable.
An alternative approach involves the use of Ca2+ sensitizing compounds that enhance Ca2+ binding to cardiac troponin C (cTnC) and increase contractile strength4. Considerable effort has been made to develop pharmaceutical agents such as calmidazolium, bepridil and levosimenden that increase Ca2+ binding to the N-terminus (site II, the 'trigger site') of cTnC and enhance contractile activation. Some drawbacks associated which such compounds include their non-specificity to cTnC and deleterious effects on proteins involved in Ca2+ handling21,22 and other aspects of the excitation-contraction coupling pathway5.
In view of the drawbacks associated with various conventional pharmacological and surgical approaches, which are generally aimed at slowing progression of heart failure as opposed to recovery of function, novel methods of improving cardiac function are needed. The present invention provides more targeted approaches for enhancing cardiac contraction without affecting EC coupling6, i.e. generation of recombinant novel cTnC variants with altered Ca2+ binding properties or in situ production or administration of dATP by ribonucleotide reductase for use as a replacement substrate in cardiac contraction.

Cell and gene based methods to improve cardiac function


System and methods for a data-driven security game framework that models an attacker based on exploit market data actively mined from the darknet to develop strategies for the defender are disclosed.

Many corporations rely on extensive penetration testing to assess the security of their computer networks. In a penetration test, a red team is hired to expose major flaws in the firm's security infrastructure. Recently, however, the market for exploit kits has continued to evolve and what was once a rather hard-to-penetrate and exclusive market—whose buyers were primarily western governments—has now become more accessible to a much wider population. Specifically, the darknet or other overlay network portions of the Internet accessible through anonymization protocols (such as Tor and i2p) have become populated with a variety of markets specializing in such products. In particular, 2015 saw the introduction of darknet markets specializing in zero-day exploit kits—exploits designed to leverage previously undiscovered vulnerabilities. These exploit kits are difficult and time-consuming to develop—and often are sold at premium prices. A survey of 8 marketplaces shows the price ranges of exploit kits for common software in Table 1—these prices range from 0.0126-8.4 Bit-coin (2.88-1919.06 U.S. dollars at the time of this writing).
The widespread availability of zero-day exploits in the darknet represents a potential game changer for penetration testers—specifically posing the following questions:                What exploits will an attacker likely purchase if he targets my organization?        What software used in the organization pose the biggest risk to new threats?
Unfortunately, the high cost of a variety of exploits available through the darknet may preclude a penetration tester from obtaining such exploits at a reasonable price to perform an effective penetration testing that accurately accesses the security of a computer network being tested. While criminal activity on the darknet has been extensively studied over the past decade for issues such as drug trade and terrorism, the markets for exploits existing on the darknet are much less well-understood.
TABLE 1Example of Products offered on Darknet MarketsProductPrice in BTCPrice in $*GovRAT (Source Code + 1 Code Signing2.000$456.92Certificate Included)0 day Wordpress MU Remote Shell1.500$342.69A5/1 Encryption Rainbow Tables1.500$342.69Unlimited Code Signing Certificate1.200$274.16Ready-made Linux botnet 600 SERVERS1.200$274.16FUD version of Adobe Flash <=188.8.131.5271414.68$600.00(CVE 2015-0311)*Price in U.S. Dollar as of Sep. 1, 2015 [1 BTC = $228.46]
There has been related work on malicious hacker forums which did not focus on the purchase and sale of specific items. Markets of malicious products relevant to cyber security have been previously studied, but none of these works gathered data on specific exploits (or other products) from either the darkweb or open Internet; nor did they examine the markets through the lens of security games.
In recent years, "security games" where attacker-defender models are used to inform the actions of defenders in military, law-enforcement, and homeland security applications have gained much traction. With regard to cyber-security, there have been many contributions including intrusion detection, attack graph based games, and honey-pot placement. However, there does not appear to be a game theoretic approach to host-based defense where the activities of the attacker are informed from an "un-conventional" source (information not directly related to the defender's system)—specifically information from darknet markets in this case. Further, the very recent emergence of darknet markets specializing in zero-day exploits allow for the integration of information that was previously unknown.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding elements among the view of the drawings. The headings used in the figures do not limit the scope of the claims.

Systems and methods for data driven game theoretic cyber threat mitigation

Arizona Board of Regents on Behalf of Arizona State University


A four-piece imaging lens module includes a fixed aperture diaphragm, a first lens, a second lens, a third lens and a fourth lens arranged from an object side to an image side in a sequence of: the diaphragm; the first lens of a positive refractive power, having a convex surface on the object side and at least one aspheric surface; the second lens of a negative refractive power with a meniscus shape, having a convex surface on the image side and at least one aspheric surface; the third lens of a positive refractive power with a meniscus shape, having a concave surface on the object side and at least one aspheric surface; the fourth lens of a positive refractive power, having a concave surface on the image side and at least one aspheric surface. The invention is to provide a four-piece imaging lens module with higher definition and higher yield rate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of optical lenses, and more particularly to a four-piece imaging lens module capable of providing smaller chief ray angle of light sensor, high definition and higher yield rate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At present, digital carriers having a lens module, which has a function of photo-taking or filming, will increase its additional value and will attract young group. Some portable digital carriers such as digital cameras, mobile phones, NB, video players or Webcams are also provided with such lens modules. However, these portable digital carriers are small in size, thus imposing some limitations on the lens module. That is, the length of the lens module is inevitably limited.
Besides, the competitive market also results in the reduction of profit. In order to obtain product differentiation, the digital carriers are further provided with high level lens modules for marketing purposes. That is, the cost of producing the lens modules should be cut down, and the quality of the lens modules should be improved.
For the limitation and the purposes above, lens which has one or two aspheric surface(s) is used as an alternative. However, it is used only in two-piece and three-piece lens modules. To achieve the requirement of high-definition, four-piece lens module is still irreplaceable.
In conventional four-piece lens module, the second lens has a convex surface on the object side. The third lens has a convex surface on the image side. The fourth lens has a convex surface on the object side around the light axis of the fourth lens. However, such four-piece lens module is difficult to be produced, so that the yield rate can hardly be improved. In addition, the lens module is also difficult to provide a smaller chief ray angle for light receiver or light sensor.
As such, the present invention is arisen to obviate or at least mitigate the above mentioned disadvantages.


A gimp made of flexible, compressible material attaches an edge of a trim piece to a panel. The gimp is bonded to the panel without visual gaps between the gimp and the panel. The gimp has a slip connection to the trim piece. The slip connection is provided by a slot in the gimp slidably receiving the edge of the trim piece.

Trim pieces are often employed to enhance the appearance of an automotive vehicle. For example, a trim piece may be used to cover an edge of a body panel, such as a wheel housing. In the past, a gimp has been secured to an edge of the trim piece to give it a finished appearance. The gimp is not secured to the body panel but merely presses against the body panel so that the gimp can shift slightly when the vehicle is moving. However, in many cases the gimp will not contact the body panel uniformly and continuously along its full length, so that gaps appear. In addition to being unsightly, gaps allow car wash brushes to get in behind the gimp and rip both the gimp and the trim piece off the vehicle. When gaps are discovered, the vehicle owner will usually bring the vehicle in for repair service. In most cases, the trim piece and gimp are thrown away and replaced, at considerable expense to the vehicle owner or to the manufacturer if the vehicle is under warranty.


A photosensitive composition comprising a photooxidant, leuco dye and a substituted hydroxylamine compound of the formula R.sub.1 R.sub.2 NOH wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2, e.g., are alkyl, cyclic alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, alkaryl and R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 taken together form a heterocyclic ring of 5 to 7 carbon atoms. Optionally monomers and polymeric binders can be present. The compositions are useful for photoimaging and in solvent and aqueous developable resist-forming films.

Photosensitive compositions are known which are useful in many ways. These compositions in dry film form are particularly effective in the formation of photoresists for the preparation of printed circuits, and in photoimaging systems such as those containing photoxidizable leuco dyes. A basic problem with almost all types of photosensitive compositions is that when they are subjected to elevated temperatures they become thermally unstable within a short time period. In addition, many of the reactions known to be included within the term "thermal instability" proceed as well at room temperature, albeit more slowly than at elevated temperatures, and thus contribute to a shortened shelf life. To improve thermal stability numerous types of thermal inhibitors have been added to photosensitive compositions. While many of the thermal inhibitors have been adequate, care must be used in selecting inhibitors because the inhibitors may detrimentally affect other properties of the particular compositions in which they may be present. The properties which should not be affected include photosensitivity and printout image stability. Inhibitors such as hydroquinone, p-methoxyphenol, p-quinone, etc., although they are effective in preventing polymerization of ethylenically unsaturated monomers when present in photosensitive materials, they do not stabilize the printout image and may impair the photosensitivity of the materials.
It is desirable that photosensitive formulations be prepared containing compounds that provide thermal stabilization of the printout image without detrimentally affecting photosensitivity as well as other properties.

Photosensitive compositions and elements containing substituted hydroxylamine


Storage divisions are selected for garbage collection by use of a first selection criterion that is based on an amount of storage capacity freed by reclaiming the respective storage divisions. The first selection criterion may be overridden by a second, different selection criterion in response to determining that a wear variance of the storage divisions exceeds a threshold. The second selection criterion may select a storage division to reclaim based on a wear-level of the storage division. Overrides of the first selection criterion may be limited to a particular override frequency and/or period. The first selection criterion may comprise a logarithmic comparison of the amount of invalid data within the storage divisions. The amount of invalid data in a storage division may be calculated in terms of recovery blocks, having a size that exceeds the size of the physical storage locations within the storage divisions.

A storage medium may comprise storage locations that are reinitialized each time new data is written thereto. As used herein, reinitializing a storage location refers to transitioning the storage location from an unwritable state to a writable state. In some embodiments, the writable state of a storage location comprises an erased state, and the unwritable state of the storage location comprises a non-erased state. Accordingly, reinitializing a storage location may comprise erasing the storage location. Erase operations may require more time to complete than other storage operations (e.g., 10 to 100 times longer than write and/or read operations). Accordingly, a storage controller may maintain a pool of erased storage locations so that storage requests do not stall while the storage locations needed to service the requests are erased.
Storage locations may have a limited useful life, which may be quantified in terms of the number of program and/or erase operations the storage locations can endure before failure. The useful life of a storage location may be further reduced by write amplification. Write amplification result from inefficient garbage collection operations, which may require rewriting data to the storage medium. Purely greedy garbage collection, however, may result in poor wear leveling performance. What is needed are systems and methods for selecting storage resources for recovery that minimize write amplification, maximize freed storage space, and maintain wear leveling across the storage medium.

Systems and methods for storage recovery


A dispenser for flowable materials such as liquids includes a pair of stationary plates, with a movable plate therebetween. Pumps are mounted between the movable plate and at least one of the stationary plates. A drive system moves the middle plate toward and away from the stationary plates to provide a pumping action. The pumps are mounted to a stationary plate with an adapter, which extends through the plate. A valve assembly is mounted on the reverse side of the stationary plate in registry with the pumps.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to apparatus for dispensing flowable materials such as liquids.
2. Description of the Related Art
Products made by blending a number of flowable components frequently offer manufacturing advantages over other techniques. For example, in the paint industry, various colors of paint or other coatings are routinely mixed on an as-needed basis. The advantages of these types of distribution systems is becoming well-known and has revolutionized retail sales of paints and other coatings, where custom-mixed coatings are provided on demand for walk-in-customers. Custom blending or tinting of a paint usually requires adding carefully measured quantities of different coloring agents to a paint base. Typically, the tinting materials are dispensed directly into a container of paint base, sequentially, one at a time.
High volume operations, particularly those on an industrial scale, have required faster mixing operations and attention has been paid to speeding up sequential dispensing systems. However, it has also been recognized that alternative types of dispensing systems, most notably simultaneous dispense systems are inherently faster than sequential dispense systems since all or at least a significant number of components are dispensed at one time, simultaneously. One example of a simultaneous dispense machine is described in PCT Published Application No. W087/05697. Pump pistons are mounted between a pair of generally circular plates. A bottom plate is movable and motor driven so as to compress and expand the pump members. Rotary valves are located on top of the pump pistons and are connected to dispense metered amounts of the pump output.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,100 describes a second example of a simultaneous dispense machine, wherein a motor-driven screw shaft reciprocates a ball screw back and forth along the shaft axis. An actuating arm carried on the ball screw drives a piston rod to pressurize a hydraulic circuit, which in turn drives a plurality of piston pumps mounted on a part circular base plate, directing pressurized flow to a dispense head.

Dispensing apparatus with a moveable plate


A rotary drill bit for penetrating earth strata wherein the drill bit includes a drill bit body that has an axial forward end. The drill bit body has a hard insert, which is preferably monolithic, that is affixed to the drill bit body at the axial forward end thereof. The hard insert presents at least three discrete leading cutting edges for cutting the earth strata.

The invention pertains to an earth penetrating rotary drill bit that has a hard member at the axial forward end thereof, a hard member, and a bit body.
The expansion of an underground coal mine requires digging a tunnel that initially has an unsupported roof. To provide support for the roof, a rotary drill bit (e.g., a roof drill bit) is used to drill boreholes, which can extend from between about two feet to about (or even greater than) twenty feet, into the earth strata. Roof bolts are affixed within the boreholes and a roof support (e.g., a roof panel) is then attached to the roof bolts. Examples of a conventional roof drill bit with an axial forward slot that carries a blade style hard insert are the KCV4-1RR and KCV4-1 1/32RR Roof Rocket(trademark) drill bits made by Kennametal Inc. of Latrobe, Pa. USA and shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,775 to Sheirer et al.
While the Kennametal Rook Rocket roof drill bits exhibit adequate performance, including a satisfactory penetration rate, it would be desirable to provide a roof drill bit that permits completion of the drilling operation as soon as possible. A roof drill bit that presents at least three leading cutting edges increases the penetration rate due to an increase in the number of the leading cutting edges. Three leading cutting edges, especially with a radial orientation, permits the roof drill bit to advance forward with very little wobble (i.e., side-to-side movement) so as to achieve balanced drilling. Leading cutting edges that terminate short (i.e., at a point radially outward) of the center point of the hard insert define a central open area so as to reduce the amount of low velocity cutting, i.e., the cutting action that occurs nearer to the center point. An increase in the number of the leading cutting edges, the balanced drilling, and the reduction in low velocity drilling each contributes to an increase in the penetration rate of the roof drill bit, which provides for the efficient completion of the drilling operation.
Clogging and stalling may occur when drilling at a higher penetration rate. It would be an advantage to adequately handle and evacuate debris so as to reduce the potential for clogging. It would be an advantage to provide a roof drill bit with a drill bit body that can withstand the stresses inherent during stalling.
Debris impinges upon the roof drill bit that erodes away the steel body so as to increase the possibility of the hard insert becoming dislodged from the body. It would be beneficial to reduce this erosion so as to better maintain the integrity of the braze joint between the hard insert and the bit body.
In the production of the roof drill bit, it would be desirable that the design of the hard insert and the bit body facilitate the correct positioning of the hard insert on the bit body. Furthermore, for such production it would also be desirable if the drill bit body would lend itself to being substantially formed through a process or a combination of processes such as, for example, cold forming or casting.
In one form thereof, the invention is a rotary drill bit for penetrating the earth strata. The drill bit includes a bit body that has an axial forward end wherein a hard insert, which preferably is monolithic, is affixed to the axial forward end thereof. The hard insert presents at least three leading cutting edges.
In still another form thereof the invention is a rotary drill bit for penetrating the earth strata wherein the drill bit has a drill bit body with an axial forward end defined at least in part by spaced apart first and second discrete axial forward surfaces. A hard insert, which preferably is monolithic, is affixed to the axial forward end of the drill bit body so as to form a joint therebetween wherein the joint is defined at least in part by the second discrete axial forward surface.
In yet another form thereof, the invention is a hard member, which preferably is monolithic, that attaches to a drill bit body with a central longitudinal axis so as to form a rotary drill bit. The hard member has a forward surface and a rearward surface. At least three discrete leading cutting edges project from the forward surface of the hard member.
In still yet another form thereof, the invention is an elongate rotary drill bit body that attaches to a hard member, which preferably monolithic, so as to form a rotary drill bit for penetrating earth strata that generates debris. The drill bit body has a peripheral surface and at least one scalloped portion in the peripheral surface. A debris breaker is within the scalloped portion so that debris impinges upon the debris breaker during the penetration operation.
In one form thereof the invention is a rotary drill bit for engaging an earth strata. The drill bit includes a drill bit body with an axial forward end and a hard body that is affixed to the drill bit body at the axial forward end thereof. The hard body carries at least three discrete cutting elements wherein each one of the cutting elements presents a leading cutting edge. The cutting elements are of a hardness greater than the hardness of the hard body and the bit body.
In another form thereof the invention is a roof drill bit body for attachment to a hard member so as to form a rotary drill bit for penetrating earth strata that generates debris wherein the drill bit body comprises a central bore, and a peripheral surface. The peripheral surface contains a trio of debris apertures wherein each aperture is in communication with the central bore.


Method and apparatus for controlling a conveyor system including a conveyor zone having a plurality of conveyor regions. A zone controller is configured to track the position of one or more articles within a controlled zone. The zone controller may be operatively coupled to controllers of adjacent zones, and may receive and transmit data relating to the position of articles in the controlled zone and whether the zone is accepting articles from the other controllers. Articles are moved within the controlled zone by selectively activating the zone based on determined positions of articles within the controlled zone, the positions of articles within adjacent zones, and/or the operating mode of the zone. The zone controller may thereby operate cooperatively with adjacent zones to manage spacing between articles by selectively positioning multiple articles within the zone, and may accumulate or discharge articles from the conveyor system in a desired arrangement.

Conveyors are used in a number of applications to convey articles from a first point to a second point. Some common conveyor types include roller conveyors, which are typically comprised of a plurality of motorized and non-motorized rollers, and belt conveyors, which include belts that are driven by one or more motorized rollers. The conveyor may be controlled by a single centralized controller, or may be divided into multiple sections, or zones that are each controlled by a separate controller. In either case, the one or more controllers generally control the conveyor system by selectively activating motorized rollers or motors that operate the belt of the conveyor to move an article along the conveyor. In conventional conveyor controllers, the controller may also determine whether an article is being conveyed based on signals from presence sensors configured to detect the presence of an article on the conveyor, such as photo-eye sensors.
Motorized Drive Roller (MDR) conveyor systems use conveyor rollers that are driven by electric motors to move articles along the conveyor route. These types of conveyor systems typically include multiple independently controlled zones, with each zone having a single motor and an article presence sensor operatively coupled to a zone controller. The rollers of a zone are typically coupled to the driven roller so that the rollers operate in concert to selectively move an article through the zone in response to activation signals from the zone controller. The zone controller may be operatively coupled to adjacent zone controllers so that activation of the zone can be coordinated with the movement of articles upstream and downstream of the zone. A conveyor system may be implemented by arranging a plurality of these zones sequentially so that articles are transported in the conveying direction. These zones may include straight sections, curved sections, diverting sections, and merging sections so that articles may be received from and discharge to multiple locations. The modular characteristics of MDR conveyor zones facilitate reconfiguring conveyor systems by adding, removing, and reconfiguring zones within an existing conveyor system. An existing MDR conveyor system can thereby be changed and expanded as the needs of the conveyor operator evolve.
To achieve efficient conveyance of articles, a conveyor system should convey articles with short intervals, or gaps, between articles. Short spacing intervals increase article traffic density, and thus conveyor system throughput for a given conveyor operating speed. Short spacing intervals also reduce the overall length required in accumulation conveyor systems for a given article accumulation capacity. However, in order to prevent articles from colliding and/or being delivered to the wrong destination, conventional modular conveyor systems limit the number of articles to one per zone. Achieving short spacing intervals in a modular conveyor system using conventional zone controllers therefore requires short zones. This short zone requirement can significantly drive up costs of conveyor systems that have long spans or that accumulate large numbers of articles due to the large number of zones required to span the length of the conveyor system.
Consequently, there is a continuing need for improved methods and systems for modular conveyor control that reduce the cost of implementing modular conveyor systems, and that maintain or increase efficiency and throughput of modular conveyor systems.

Zone controller for modular conveyor system


A method of determining and controlling the attack angle of a fixed-speed wind turbine blade involves determination of an appropriate angle of attack for optimal extraction of wind energy at low to medium wind speed, which includes three steps: 1—defining basic parameters of the turbine including blade length and width, fixed rotational speed, rated wind speed, start-up speed and the lowest speed at which the turbine is forced to stop, and a relationship with wasted power; 2—defining wind speed based on a set of attack angles calculated to form an overall optimal attack angle of the wind turbine blade; and 3—calculating necessary physical parameters to come up with the most effective method of controlling the turbine blade so that the turbine can be directly connected to the grid, making wind power costs as low as those of other conventional energy sources.

Today the extraction of energy from wind is wholy based on variable speed wind turbines. Fixed-speed wind turbines have only come as far as testing phase and are not yet available for commercial use due to their limited output and the very high wind speed required to operate them. Moreover, as wind speed reduces to a low level, these turbines would consume so much energy from the grid that it could even lead to power grid shutdown.
The patents GB 191916385 dated Apr. 6, 1911 and GB 191028025 dated Aug. 3, 1911 as well as the patent US 2012242084 published on. Sep. 27, 2012 presented the manufacture of frame-supported wind turbine blades whose surface is a thin plate that can be furled or unfurled as well as the thin backside of the blade that allows for effective harnessing of wind energy. However, the patents did not point out how the angle of attack should be distributed along the blade length as well as how to adjust the angle of attack in response to wind speeds below the rated speed.
Given the fact that patent US 2012242084 did describe that each blade is rotated on its longitudinal axis 2 to 10 degrees, it also did not point out any rules for adjusting the attack angle. Employing these inventions in the manufacture of fixed-speed wind turbine blades therefore means the wind turbines falling short of economic and technological indicators since there is no way to control the turbine blade at wind speeds below the rated one. It would be problematic if, for example, the wind turbine is operating at a fixed speed and the angle of attack is not increasing when the wind speed drops below the rated one.
A misleading invention in the field of wind mechanics was in 1919 when Albert Betz published his equation for calculating the power of bladed wind turbine as: PTB=1/2ρA0v3Cp where ρ is air density; Ao is the swept area of the blade; v is wind speed and; Cp is the power coefficient. The equation has led wind turbine technology in the direction of increasing the swept area Ao of the blade (i.e. increasing the blade length), while overlooking other important physical factors of the blade such as the angle of attack, blade area and shape as well as the rotational speed of the wind turbine. Consequently, wind turbine blades have been broadly viewed as objects flying in the wind, which leads to the fact that turbine blades are all designed with an aerodynamic airfoil that supports movement of the blades. The author of this invention has come to realize that the equation was due to Albert Betz's application of Newton's second law in calculating the force of wind turbine acting on the wind: F=ma, where m is the mass of the wind and a is the acceleration of the wind. Actually, it is impossible to exert a force on an air mass, and more importantly, Newton's second law is of particle dynamics. Document related to this discovery has been publicly shared on Youtube at: https://Youtu.be/HTaAJQPkrp0 in both English and Vietnamese language.
Bladed wind turbines manufactured based on Betz' law have their blades with an aerodynamic airfoil. U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,230 dated Jul. 13, 1982 detailed a blade design that has both an airfoil-shaped upper surface and an airfoil-shaped lower surface, and again there are neither rules for the angle of attack nor indication of whether the blade width had to reduce towards the blade tip to avoid reduction in power. Moreover, as the rotational speed of the wind turbine depends on wind speed, it is impractical to produce a fixed-speed wind turbine whose energy generated can be fed directly to the grid.
These issues have put a limit on the output of wind turbines and resulted in very high costs of wind turbine manufacture and wind power generation, driving wind power away from becoming a major power source for human.
The correct standpoint would then be the view of wind turbine blade as an obstruction of the airflow, and the blade surface of a very short blade segment should be considered flat. Besides, a truss system should be employed to enhance the strength of the blade and minimize impacts on the wind. In fact, a wind turbine blade is subjected to two kinds of wind forces, one of which is caused by the collision of moving air particles with the blade surface and the other by the pressure drop on the backside of the blade. These forces are resolved into two components, one parallel to the turbine shaft which does not rotate the turbine but blows it down and the other tangential to the rotation orbit of blade segments which is useful, as it produces work to rotate the turbine. The author of this invention also invented a function for wind turbine power calculations, which is expressed as follows:
      P    TB          {                  [                              1            2                                          (                          Cx              +              j                        )                              a                                                              ρ                                              ∑                              i                =                1                            n                                                                  S                Ci                                                          d                i                                                                                ω                    i                                                                          (                                                                                k                          i                                                                        v                                            -                                                                        d                          i                                                                                ω                          i                                                                        cot                                                                                α                          i                                                                                )                                                  2                                          cos                                                                                α                i                                                          sin                2                                                          α                i                                                    ]            -              P        O              }          C    P
On the condition that: 0<αi<90° & (kiv−diωi cot αi)>0
Where PTB (w) is the wind turbine power; ρ is air density; SC is the area of blade segment i; v (m/s) is the velocity of the wind field; αi(0°) is angle of inclination between the blade and the wind direction; ki is the attenuation coefficient of wind speed before the collision with blade segment i; di(m) is the distance from blade segment i to the turbine shaft; ωi(rad/s) is the turbine angular velocity; a is the number of turbine blades; j is the absorption coefficient of the blades; Cx is the dependent coefficient on the shape of the backside of the blade, which, if flat, will have the highest value of 1.32; Po is the loss in gearbox, generator and friction of the bearings; Cp is the coefficient of power loss when transforming, which will be neglected if the generator is directly connected to the grid.
The invention has also been publicly shared on Youtube in both English and Vietnamese language at: https://Youtu.be/mWxlRlurAp0.
The function for wind turbine power calculations allows for relatively accurate calculations of the power of a wind turbine having blade surface in the form of a thin plate and blade segments short enough to be considered flat, based on factors such as wind speed, rotational speed of the turbine, blade area and the corresponding angle of attack at each position of the blade surface. As a result, it is feasible to design wind turbine blades with optimal technical features for the development of wind power generation.
The patent PCT/VN2015/000007 (Priority date: Jul. 14, 2014, Filling date: Jul. 10, 2015; International publication date: Jan. 21, 2016; WO patent number: 2016/011462) details the manufacture of wind turbine blades with truss-supported structure and twisted surface, which is in line with the viewpoint of a wind turbine blade as an obstruction of the airflow in the process of harnessing wind energy. The wind turbine blade design in patent PCT/VN2015/000007 employs the function for wind turbine power calculations to determine the optimal angle of attack at each position of the blade surface along the blade length corresponding to the rated wind speed and the highest rotational speed of the wind turbine. A set of these attack angles is used to define the overall optimal angle of attack for the turbine blade, which is the angle at the rated wind speed.
The determination of the rated wind speed in patent PCT/VN2015/000007 for defining the angle of attack for the turbine blade is only applicable to variable speed wind turbines. As the wind speed gradually reduces, so will the rotational speed of the turbine, and the appropriate attack angle of the blades will allow the turbine to achieve an output that is comparable to its maximum output thanks to the attack angle determined at that wind speed. For fixed-speed wind turbine, the lower the wind speed, the smaller the turbine output compared to its maximum output thanks to the attack angle determined at that wind speed. Therefore, start-up speed and the lowest speed at which the turbine is forced to stop would be relatively high, and the turbine output at medium and low wind speeds would reduce to a large extent. Based on calculations at the lowest speed at which the turbine is forced to stop, wind turbine output is between 30-40% of the maximum output thanks to the attack angle determined at that wind speed. When the wind speed is just below the rated value, the reduction in the turbine output is negligible. More importantly, since the wind turbine output at that point is already very high, even a further reduction presents no significant impact on the output of the grid.
The control of the attack angle of fixed-speed wind turbine blades in patent PCT/VN2015/000007, however, has not been clear and specific enough. That the attack angle at the blade tip is adjusted to approximately 89° would not be satisfactory in cases of low speed at the blade tip. Besides, the determination of basic parameters for fixed-speed wind turbines has not been detailed to facilitate the design process.

Method of determining and controlling the attack angle of fixed-speed wind turbine blade


A gear-lever mechanism using meshing and pushing for rotation includes a shell; an input device including a driving gear; an output device including a supporting frame and a driven gear set; and a positioning device including a fixed bearing gear. The driven gear set includes a transfer-layer gear and at least one idler gear. The supporting shaft center of each transmission gear in the driven gear set is the sub-bearing point, with each transmission gear meshed with its adjacent drive gears to form two meshing points. The bearing point and the two meshing points form a triangular pushing area. At least two triangular pushing areas in head-to-tail connection form a meshing-pushing-lever-type torsion-output path curved from the driving gear to the fixed bearing gear for connecting and driving, to cause the gear set to rotate with a raising speed, and then reduce the speed and increase the torque.

In the field of mechanical transmission, gears are widely used. When the gears are meshed with each other to transmit speed and torsion, if a main gear drives a pinion, a rotating speed of the pinion will be increased, but driving force given by the main gear is greater than output force of the pinion; if the pinion is used to drive the main gear, a rotating speed of the main gear will be reduced, but driving force given by the pinion is less than output force of the main gear. So if it is desired to maintain a relatively high torsion, the rotating speed needs to be reduced correspondingly. A common technology is reducing the speed and increasing the torque. Persons skilled in the mechanical industry generally desire to improve the transmission efficiency of the existing gears, with main approaches of: 1) improving the accuracy; and 2) decreasing the friction of gear meshing.

Gear-lever mechanism using meshing and pushing to rotate