An improved vibration isolation system utilizes at least one pair of structures connected vertically in series with each other and with a base structure and preloaded vertically, with a payload platform disposed between and connected to the structures. Each structure has a negative-stiffness effect in response to vertical compressive load for reducing its horizontal stiffness. The system passively accommodates changes in payload weight or weight distribution by providing a prescribed change in horizontal-motion isolator stiffness with change in weight load. The invention also provides an improved means of retrofitting existing vibration-isolating suspension systems to reduce their stiffness and increase their damping.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to suspension systems and methods for isolating and reducing the transmission of vibratory motion between an object and a base and, more particularly, to an omnidirectional vibration isolation or suspension system that exhibits low stiffness, high damping to limit resonant responses of the system, effective isolation at the higher frequencies, and can accommodate changing weight loads without significantly degrading isolation system performance. The present invention can also be retrofitted to existing vibration-isolating suspension systems to improve their performance.
2. Description of Related Art
The problems caused by unwanted vibration on motion-sensitive equipment and devices have been widely researched and numerous solutions to prevent or reduce the transmission of vibratory motion have been proposed and developed. Many of the devices designed to reduce the transmission of unwanted vibration between an object and its surroundings, commonly called vibration isolators or suspension devices, have utilized various combinations of elements such as resilient pads made from a variety of materials, various types of mechanical springs, and pneumatic devices. There are, however, serious shortcomings and disadvantages associated with these particular prior art isolation systems which prevent them from obtaining low system natural frequencies and from limiting resonant responses to low values while providing high isolation performance at the higher frequencies.
These shortcomings and disadvantages of prior art systems were addressed through my development of novel vibration isolation system described in my co-pending application Ser. No. 395,093, filed Aug. 16, 1989, entitled "VIBRATION ISOLATION SYSTEM", and my co-pending application, Ser. No. 681,808, filed Apr. 8, 1991, entitled "DAMPED VIBRATION ISOLATION SYSTEM", which are both hereby incorporated by reference in this present application. The particular vibration isolation system described in my co-pending applications and utilized in connection with the present invention provides versatile vibration isolation by exhibiting low stiffness in an axial direction (generally the direction of the payload weight) and any direction substantially transverse to the axial direction (generally a horizontal direction). The particular system utilizes a combination of isolators that can be connected together axially in series to provide omnidirectional isolation. Each isolator is designed to isolate either the axial or the transverse component of any vibratory motion to effectively isolate vibrations in all directions. In subsequent discussions, an axial-motion isolator will be referred to as a vertical-motion isolator, and the system of axial-motion isolators will be referred to as the vertical-motion isolation system. Similarly, a transverse-motion isolator will be referred to as a horizontal-motion isolator, and the system of transverse-motion isolators will be referred to as the horizontal-motion isolation system.
Each isolator relies on a principle of loading a particular elastic structure which forms the isolator or a portion of it (the loading being applied by either the supported weight or by an external loading mechanism) to approach the elastic structure's point of elastic instability. This loading to approach this point of elastic instability, also called the "critical buckling load" of the structure, causes a substantial reduction of either the vertical or the horizontal stiffness of the isolator to create an isolation system that has low stiffness (that can be made zero or near zero) in the vertical and in any horizontal direction, and increases the damping inherent in the structure. While stiffness is reduced, these isolators still retain the ability to support the payload weight.
If the load on an elastic structure with an instability is greater than the critical buckling load, the excessive load will tend to propel the structure into its buckled shape, creating a "negative-stiffness" or "negative-spring-rate" mechanism. By combining a negative-stiffness mechanism with a spring, adjusted so that the negative stiffness cancels or nearly cancels the positive stiffness of the spring, one obtains a the resulting device that can be placed at or near its point of elastic instability. The magnitude of the load causing the negative stiffness can be adjusted, creating an isolator that can be "fine tuned" to the particular stiffness desired.
Many applications of my vibration isolation system involve changing weight loads. Examples are optical tables that support optical instruments of various weights and various weight distributions on the tables; photolithography machines with stages that translate and change the weight distributions of the machines; and isolated floors that support equipment of various weights and various weight distributions. It is thus desirable for the isolation system to accommodate changes in the weight distributions passively, with minimum added complexity and with minimum degradation in isolation system performance.
In order to maintain the performance of the isolation system under the changing weight loads, it is also desirable for the stiffness of the isolators to change in some prescribed manner with change in weight load. For example, if the isolation system stiffness changes in the same proportion as changes in the payload weight, the system resonant frequency remains unchanged, and the resulting transmissibility vs. frequency ratio curve remains unchanged. As another example, consider a "CG system", i.e., a vibration-isolating suspension system in which the resultant of the isolator forces passes through the center of gravity of the payload. For such a system, a purely translational excitation produces a purely translational response. This configuration is desirable because it minimizes the payload response for a given excitation. (A "non-CG system" produces translational-rotational coupling, i.e., a purely translational excitation produces a combined translational and rotational response of the payload, with a maximum response greater than that of a CG system). In a CG system, if the isolator stiffnesses change in the same proportion as the changes in weight supported by each isolator, the system tends to remain a CG system under a changing payload weight distribution. Accordingly, for many systems it is desirable that the stiffness of an isolator increase in the same proportion as changes in the payload weight supported by the isolator.
Many existing vibration-isolating suspension systems could benefit from reduced suspension system stiffness in order to reduce system natural frequencies and improve isolation system performance by isolating at lower frequencies and by isolating more effectively at higher frequencies, or that could benefit from increased damping in order to reduce isolation system resonant responses, or that could benefit from both reduced stiffness and increased damping. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved means for practically and effectively retrofitting existing vibration-isolating suspension systems in order to reduce the system stiffness or to increase the system damping, or to both reduce the system stiffness and increase the system damping. It is desirable that such retrofitting means would not disturb the existing system, or disturb it as little as possible by displacing it from its equilibrium position or by requiring changes in the existing system such as adding or removing weight.


A fluid handling device (100) comprises: a first channel (130); a second channel (140); a communication section (150); an air introduction path (160); and an air reservoir (190). The first enamel (130) and the second channel (140) are channels through which a fluid (210) can move by capillary action. The communication section (150) connects the first channel (130) and the second channel (140) with each other, and has a cross-sectional area smaller than the cross-sectional area of the second channel (140). The air introduction path (160) communicates with the first channel (130). The air reservoir (190) communicates with the air introduction path (160).

In recent years, in order to perform accurate and fast analysis of trace amounts of materials such as proteins or nucleic acids, microchannel chips have been used. The microchannel chips have an advantage of requiring smaller amounts of reagent and sample and thus are expected to be used in various applications including clinical inspection, food inspection, and environmental inspection.
As a technology in order to automate the process using the microchannel chip, a microchannel chip including a valve structure is disclosed (for example, see PTL 1).
PTL 1 discloses a microchannel chip including a micro-valve apparatus which stops flow of liquid inside a liquid channel by supplying air inside the liquid channel. In the microchannel chip described in PTL 1, a valve channel communicating with the liquid channel is formed. The valve channel is connected to a fluid control mechanism (a pump or a syringe) provided outside. When the air is supplied from the valve channel to the liquid channel, an air bubble is formed inside the liquid channel, so that the liquid cannot flow inside the liquid channel. As described above, in the microchannel chip described in PTL 1, the flow of the liquid in the liquid channel can be stopped by supplying the air inside the liquid channel using the fluid control mechanism provided outside.

Fluid handling device, fluid handling method, and fluid handling system


A technique for post-processing a conventionally completed semiconductor device having a final passivation layer and bond pads exposed through the final passivation layer. The technique includes forming a protective film over the final passivation layer and exposed bond pads of the semiconductor device, and thereafter performing post-processing of the completed semiconductor device. Post-process structures, such as charge-coupled devices, can be formed above the protective film during this post-processing. Subsequent to the post-processing, the protective film is selectively etched to again expose the bond pads.

Integrated circuit device chips are typically fabricated from semiconductor substrates upon whose surfaces are formed resistors, transistors, diodes and other electrical circuit elements. These electrical circuit elements are connected to one another through patterned conductor layers which are separated by insulator layers. These patterned conductor layers are referred to as metal layers or levels.
Conventionally, once the interconnecting metal layers are formed, a last metal layer is defined comprising bond pads or connection pads for access to the lower metal layers and the integrated circuitry of the device, which may comprise a plurality of discrete integrated circuit die or chips to be diced from the wafer. A final passivation layer is then applied over the entire surface and selectively etched to expose the bond pads to allow electrical connection to the integrated circuitry of the completed device via the metal levels.

Post-processing a completed semiconductor device

International Business Machines Corporation


An engine cooling system for an automotive vehicle including a liquid coolant deaeration and overflow bottle having plural cells constituting a degassing chamber assembly with the first cell having only an upper fluid inlet for initially receiving liquid coolant from the engine cooling system and a lower flow-through window which leads into an adjacent cell for receiving coolant from the first cell. The other cells are likewise connected together in series and the final cell has an outlet connected back into the engine cooling system. Coolant in the cells of the degassing chamber assembly creates a liquid trap arrangement to prevent any substantial back flow of accumulated air from the deaeration chamber assembly back into the engine's cooling system when engine operation is terminated. Most importantly, this prevents any formation of air bubbles in the heater core circuit which may restrict coolant flow and seriously degrade heater effectiveness, particularly at idle and low engine speed operation.

Current active deaeration and degassing systems for automotive cooling systems utilize a coolant bottle having a degassing chamber through which a part of the engine cooling fluid is passed continuously for the purpose of accumulating and separating gas, i.e. air from the coolant. Such deaeration systems work best when there is a designated air space in the coolant bottle for collection of any air removed from the coolant. Such systems work with high efficiency when the coolant bottle is elevated significantly above the level of coolant in the rest of the cooling system particularly the coolant level in the engine so that any air collected is maintained in the coolant bottle. However, due to lower hood lines in modern automobiles, positioning a coolant deaeration bottle above the level of coolant in the rest of the cooling system circuit is usually impossible. When the coolant bottle is not located well above the rest of the circuit, air collected in the coolant bottle can back flow into the engine's coolant circuit after operation of the engine is terminated. Often when collected air is moved out of the coolant bottle it migrates as air bubbles to the vehicle's heater used to warm the vehicle's passenger compartment. These air bubbles may prevent desirable quantities of coolant flow through the heater core, particularly during engine idling. Decreased coolant flow through the heater core prevents the heater system from initially and rapidly warming the cabin of the vehicle. Accordingly, migration of air bubbles from the heater back to the coolant bottle requires an extended operating time of the engine including relatively great engine speeds and corresponding water pump speeds. This procedure repeats itself over and over with each engine start-up/termination cycle and has the effect of diminishing effective warming of the vehicle's interior.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved liquid cooling system for an automotive internal combustion engines and heater system for a vehicle's cabin which features a multi-celled deaeration bottle with a separate cell in which the location of the inlet and exit creates a liquid level defined air trap which prevents any significant flow of air collected in the bottle back into the engine or the beater.
2. Prior Art
Prior to the present invention, various vehicle engine cooling systems have employed a wide range of components for improving vehicle engine cooling. Pressurized deaeration or degassing bottles in liquid cooling systems have been used to remove suspended air from liquid coolant to improve heat transfer efficiency. Examples of such prior system are disclosed in: U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,889 issued to D. Caldwell for "Degas Tank for Engine Cooling System"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,596 issued to D. Splindleboech et al for "Expansion, Deaeration and Reservoir Tank For the Liquid Cooling System of Internal Combustion Engines"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,833 to G. Smith for "Combination Coolant Deaeration and Overflow Bottle".

Deaeration bottle for liquid cooling systems for automotive vehicle engines


The invention relates to the use of cannabinoid compounds (derivatives of tetrahydrocannabinol) for decreasing cell proliferation in a mammal.

The psychoactive agent in Cannabis plant material is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Since THC is known to elicit various physiological effects (e.g., as an anti-inflammatory agent or analgesic) other than psychoactivity, various derivatives of THC that retain a favorable biochemical or pharmacological activity of THC without any potential for abuse or psychoactivity are beneficial and have been synthesized as potential drugs.
One of the activities associated with THC and some of its derivatives is inhibition of cell proliferation. However, this activity, as with psychoactivity, is dependent on binding to the cannabinoid receptor CB1 (Galve-Roperh et al., Nat. Med. 6:313-319, 2000; De Petrocellis et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:8375-8380, 1998; and Bisogno et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 254:634-642, 1998). Thus, non-psychoactive derivatives of THC, which do not bind to the CB1 receptor (Burstein, Pharmacol. Ther. 82:87-96, 1999), are not expected to inhibit cell proliferation.

Methods for decreasing cell proliferation based on (3r,4r)-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol-11-oic acids


Polyester mixed fine filament yarns having excellent mechanical quality and uniformity, and preferably with a balance of good dyeability and shrinkage, are prepared by a simplified direct spin-orientation process by selection of polymer and spinning conditions.

Historically, synthetic fibers for use in apparel, including polyester fibers, have generally been supplied to the textile industry for use in fabrics and garments with the object of more or less duplicating and/or improving on natural fibers. For many years, commercial synthetic textile filaments, such as were made and used for apparel, were mostly of deniers per filament (dpf) in a similar range to those of the commoner natural fibers; i.e., cotton and wool. More recently, however, polyester filaments have been available commercially in a range of dpf similar to that of natural silk, i.e. of the order of 1 dpf, and even in sub deniers, i.e., less than about 1 dpf, despite the increased cost. Various reasons have been given for the recent commercial interest in such lower dpfs, such as about 1 dpf, or even sub deniers.
Our so-called "parent application"(No. 07/647,371 now abandoned), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,245 the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, was concerned with the preparation of fine filaments by a novel direct melt spinning/winding process, in contrast with prior processes of first spinning larger filaments which then needed to be further processed, in a coupled or a separate (split) process involving drawing, to obtain the desired filaments of reduced denier with properties suitable for use in textiles. The filaments of the "parent application" are "spin-oriented"; that is, produced as "undrawn" filaments. The significance of this is discussed in the art and hereinafter.
We have found that consumer reaction to fine filament textile (flat or textured) yarns (all filaments being of the same cross-section and of the same denier, and especially wherein the filaments are of denier less than about 1), has tended to limit their use to selected textile fabrics where fabric "body" and "drape" has not been important or where providing such fabric "body" and "drape" through twisting of the multi-filament yarns and/or change in fabric construction is too expensive for the particular end-use and/or where such changes adversely affect other properties (such as visual and tactile aesthetics) that make such fabrics undesirable. It would be desirable to make fine textile fabrics with desired "body" and "drape" from fine filament yarns without twisting of the fine filament yarns and/or change in fabric construction. It would also be desirable to provide spin-oriented undrawn fine filament yarns that, depending on their combination of properties, can be used as direct-use yarns or as draw feed yarns (e.g., to provide drawn flat yarns or textured "bulky" yarns) that can provide fabric "body" and "drape" without having to incur costly yarn twisting, for example, and without having to change fabric construction and compromise visual and tactile fabric aesthetics.
It is important to maintain uniformity, both along-end and between the various spin-oriented filaments and drawn filaments therefrom. Lack of uniformity often shows up in the eventual dyed fabrics as dyeing defects, so is undesirable.
For textile purposes, a "textile yarn" must have certain properties, such as sufficiently high modulus and yield point, and sufficiently low shrinkage, which have distinguished conventional textile yarns from conventional "feed yarns" that have required further processing to provide the minimum properties required for making textiles and subsequent use. Generally, herein, we refer to untextured filament yarns as "flat yarns" and to undrawn flat filament yarns by terms such as "feed" or "draw-feed" yarns. Filament yarns which can be used as a textile yarn without need for further drawing and/or heat treatment are referred herein as "direct-use yarns".
It is important to recognize that what is important for any particular end-use is the combination of all the properties of the specific yarn (or filament), sometimes in the yarn itself during processing, but also in the eventual fabric or garment of which it is a component. It is easy, for instance, to reduce shrinkage by a processing treatment, but this modification is generally accompanied by other changes, so it is the combination or balance of properties of any filament (or staple fiber) that is important. It is also understood that the filaments may be supplied and/or processed according to the invention in the form of a yarn or as a bundle of filaments that does not necessarily have the coherency of a true "yarn", but for convenience herein a plurality of filaments may often be referred to as a "yarn" or "bundle", without intending specific limitation by such term. It will be recognized that, where appropriate, the technology may apply also to polyester filaments in other forms, such as tows, which may then be converted into staple fiber, and used as such in accordance with the balance of properties that is desirable and may be achieved as taught hereinafter.

Process of making polyester mixed yarns with fine filaments


A thermoelectric power module comprising: a thermoelectric element employing a bismuth-tellurium (Bi—Te) based thermoelectric material; at least one barrier layer disposed on the thermoelectric element; an electrode; an electrode protection layer disposed at least on one principal surface of the electrode; a solder layer having a side surface formed with a recess, the solder layer joining a first region of the electrode protection layer to the at least one barrier layer; and a coating film disposed on a side surface of the thermoelectric element, a side surface of the at least one barrier layer, and the side surface of the solder layer, the coating film covering a second region adjacent to the first region of the electrode protection layer and being filled into the recess of the solder layer.

Conventionally, thermoelectric generation of electricity is known in which the thermoelectric elements are disposed between a heat exchanger at a higher temperature part and another heat exchanger at a lower temperature part to generate electricity. The thermoelectric element is an application of a thermoelectric effect to be called Seebeck effect. In the case where a semiconductor material is used as a thermoelectric material, the thermoelectric power module is configured by electrically connecting a thermoelectric element formed of a P-type semiconductor thermoelectric material and another thermoelectric element formed of an N-type semiconductor thermoelectric material via an electrode.
Such a thermoelectric power module has a simple structure and can be easily treated, and stable characteristics can be retained. Therefore, research work thereof has been widely progressed toward application for the thermoelectric generation of electricity in which electricity is generated by utilizing heat in a gas discharged from an engine of a car, a furnace of a factory, and so on.
Generally, the thermoelectric power module is used in a temperature environment where a difference between a temperature (Th) at a higher temperature part and a temperature (Tc) at a lower temperature part becomes large in order to obtain high thermoelectric conversion efficiency. For example, a thermoelectric power module employing a typical bismuth-tellurium (Bi—Te) based thermoelectric material is used in a temperature environment where a temperature (Th) at the higher temperature part becomes 250° C. to 280° C. at maximum. Accordingly, deterioration of a joint layer for joining the thermoelectric element to the electrode becomes a problem.
As a related art, Japanese patent application publication JP-P2012-231025A, especially, paragraphs 0017-0018 discloses a thermoelectric module in which oxidation is prevented from generating at a joint boundary of the thermoelectric module and loss of output power is small. The thermoelectric module consists of thermoelectric elements formed of a metal oxide and for converting difference in temperature into electric power, electrode members for extracting the electric power converted by the thermoelectric elements, and conductive joint layers for joining the thermoelectric elements to the electrode members, and is characterized in that the joint layers have oxygen infiltration preventing means for preventing oxygen from infiltrating into the joint layer.
It is effective to prevent oxygen from infiltrating into the joint layer in order to prevent deterioration of the joint layer. However, according to FIG. 1 of JP-P2012-231025A, only infiltration of oxygen into a joint boundary between the conductive joint layer and the thermoelectric element is prevented by a film, and therefore, deterioration of the conductive joint layer itself cannot be avoided. Further, there are other factors, which deteriorate the thermoelectric power device, such as a short circuit due to extraneous materials, dew condensation, and so on, and therefore, it is insufficient to provide the oxygen infiltration preventing means for preventing oxygen from infiltrating into the joint layer. Furthermore, the temperature range in which the thermoelectric element formed of a metal oxide displays its ability is a temperature range equal to or higher than 500° C. which is different from a usual temperature range for the thermoelectric generation of electricity. Accordingly, an application range of the thermoelectric power device is narrowed.
Further, Japanese patent application publication JP-P2004-228293A, especially, paragraphs 0007-0009 discloses a thermoelectric module provided with an oxidation preventing film which enables use of a thermoelectric element even in high temperature applications such as a car. The thermoelectric module is characterized in that a thermoelectric material of the thermoelectric module is coated with an inorganic and organic highbred material.
However, a main factor, which deteriorates performance of the thermoelectric power module, is deterioration of a joint layer for joining a thermoelectric element to an electrode, and therefore, it is insufficient to only coat the thermoelectric material. Further, since no measure is taken to prevent the oxidation preventing film from peeling off, there is a possibility that the oxidation preventing film may peel off the thermoelectric material to lose the oxidation preventing function. On the other hand, if the oxidation preventing film is made thick, heat-leakage between the heat exchanger at the higher temperature part and the heat exchanger at the lower temperature part will increase.


A filler material dispensing and recycling machine including an emptying table with louvers for directing a flow of air over the surface of the table. Incoming packages may be emptied on the table, the items packed therein removed from the filler material which also was therein, and then the air flow sweeps the filler material from the table and back into a filler material hopper. Outgoing containers may also be packed with filler material, arriving on a conveyor, passing under a dispensing tube connected to the filler material hopper, filled with filler material from the hopper, and then traveling onward on the conveyor. A collection hopper adjacent the edge of the emptying table collects filler material swept off the table, and presents the filler material to an air conveyor system which carries the filler material back to the filler material hopper. Removable rollers may be placed above the emptying table, creating a filling configuration which allows packages to be filled with filler material from the dispensing tube, with overflow filler material passing through the rollers and then being recycled by the air conveyor system to the filler material hopper. With the removable rollers removed, an emptying configuration is created, allowing containers to be emptied on the emptying table. Pressurized plenums with angled louvered slits therein direct the flow of air over the emptying table and along the air conveyor system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to apparatus for dispensing filler material and for also emptying containers containing such filler material, and in particular, to an apparatus adaptable to be used for recycling filler material either from the contents of containers unloaded from a conveyor or from containers being loaded while on a conveyor.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
Manufacturers and shippers often pack items in packages with filler packing material, such as polystyrene "peanuts," popcorn, extruded corn starch, or other lightweight filler material; it is also common to have generalized containers, such as, for instance, "bean bag" chairs, filled with lightweight filler material. It will be understood that the terms "packing material" and "filler material," as used herein, are intended to refer to all such similar lightweight filler materials used to fill containers or to pack items within containers for shipping or transport. It will be similarly understood that the terms "packages" and "containers," as used herein generally refer both to packages used in shipping items as well as generalized containers and bags, as, for example, the aforementioned "bean bag" furniture.
It is desirable for shipping and receiving departments of such manufacturers and shippers to be able to both pack outgoing items and also to unpack incoming items; for environmental reasons, such manufacturers would prefer to recycle not only the excess spillage of packing material used in the packing operation, but also to re-use packing material removed from incoming packages when filling other outgoing packages. It is also desirable that packing and unpacking be possible at the same work area, and that the time spent packing and unpacking be minimized for maximum throughput and efficiency.
It is also often desirable to fill containers, as, for instance, the outer skin of "bean bag" furniture, with lightweight filler material during manufacture or refurbishment.
Well-known solutions for packing items within packages include dispensers, filled with packing material, having a dispensing valve through which packing material flows into packages on, for instance, a conveyor below. Such dispensing systems inherently create spillage of packing material that must be periodically collected.
Previous solutions, though, have addressed the packing or filling aspects of the problem alone, neglecting the similar problems which occur during unpacking of packages or emptying of containers. As incoming packages are opened in a receiving department, workers must typically dig through the packages and their associated packing material searching for the items therein, an often time-consuming process, occasionally spilling the packing material within the work area. The packing material is then generally tossed into the garbage along with the package, without recycling.
It is desirable to have some means for quickly separating the packing material from the items packed within a package, and then recycling the packing material for reuse. It is also desirable that a work station for unpacking and packing be easily adjustable for integration with an existing conveyor system, so that packages may arrive and leave the packing and unpacking area in a smooth flow. When used in the context of generally filling and emptying containers with filler material, it is similarly desirable to easily fill the container, recycling any excess spillage, or empty the container, again, recycling the removed filler contents. Preferably, such a work station should be easily movable for cleaning or reconfiguration of the work area.
A preliminary patentability search in Class 406, subclasses 82 and 117, as well as Class 141, subclass 67, produced the following patents, some of which may be relevant to the present invention: Fuss, U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,830, issued Jan. 24, 1989; Fuss, U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,875, issued Jun. 19, 1990; and Beckwith, U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,903, issued Aug. 14, 1990.
Additionally, Epstein, U.S. Pat. No. 3,181,916, issued May 4, 1965, describes an air conveyor for small, light articles such as from a molding machine.
While each of the above patents disclose various apparatus for use with packing or filler material and filling containers or packages therewith, as well as various air conveyor apparatus, none disclose or suggest the present invention. More specifically, none of the above patents disclose or suggest an apparatus adaptable to be used for recycling packing or filler material either from the contents of packages or containers unloaded from a conveyor or from packages or containers being loaded while on a conveyor, said apparatus having an emptying table comprising a surface for receipt of the contents of the containers and further comprising air means for directing a flow of air over the surface and into the apparatus, thereby recovering packing material during the unpacking or packing process.
Fuss, U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,830, and Fuss, U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,875, describe an air conveyor dispensing and recycling system with various air transport mechanisms for packing material. Unlike the present invention, which provides a surface for unloading packages and recovering the packing material therefrom, as well as the ability to load packages with packing material, the Fuss patents only describe recycling apparatus applicable for use in the packing of packages and the collection of associated packing material spillage.
Beckwith, U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,903, describes a packing material dispensing bin for filling containers with packing material, combined with a suction hose which an operator may use to recover excess spilled filler material which overflows the containers.
Epstein, U.S. Pat. No. 3,181,916, describes an air conveyor apparatus having louvered slits, but limits the disclosure to an article conveyor itself which also cools heated molded articles emerging from a molding machine, without mention of packing, unpacking, recycling of packing material, or even packing material.

Apparatus for filling and emptying containers


The invention provides a transgenic non-human animal expressing a perlecan encoding transgene. Also provided is a double-transgenic non-human animal expressing a perlecan and a amyloid encoding transgene. A method of screening for a compound which alters the rate or extent of amyloid deposition is additionally provided. The method consists of: (a) constructing a perlecan transgenic animal; (b) administering an effective amount of a test compound to said perlecan transgenic animal; and (c) determining whether said test compound alters the extent or rate of amyloid deposition. Finally, the invention provides a method of screening for a compound which alters the rate or extent of amyloid deposition. The method consists of: (a) constructing a perlecan/amyloid double-transgenic animal; (b) administering an effective amount of a test compound to said perlecan/amyloid double-transgenic animal; and (c) determining whether said test compound alters the extent or rate of amyloid deposition.

The invention relates to the overproduction of perlecan in transgenic animals and transfected animal cells as screening tools to identify lead therapeutics for the amyloid diseases.
The xe2x80x9camyloid diseasesxe2x80x9d consist of a group of clinically and generally unrelated human diseases which all demonstrate a marked accumulation in tissues of an insoluble extracellular substance known as xe2x80x9camyloidxe2x80x9d, and usually in an amount sufficient to impair normal organ function. Rokitansky in 1842 (Rokitansky, xe2x80x9cHandbuch der pathologischen Anatomiexe2x80x9d, Vol. 3, Braumuller and Seidel, Vienna) was the first to observe waxy and amorphous looking tissue deposits in a number of tissues from different patients. However, it wasn""t until 1854 when Virchow (Virchow, Arch. Path. Anat. 8:416 (1854)) termed these deposits as xe2x80x9camyloidxe2x80x9d meaning xe2x80x9cstarch-likexe2x80x9d since they gave a positive staining with the sulfuric acid-iodine reaction, which was used in the 1850""s for demonstrating cellulose. Although cellulose is not a constituent of amyloid, nonetheless, the staining that Virchow observed was probably due to the present of proteoglycans (PGs) which appear to be associated with all types of amyloid deposits. The name amyloid has remained despite the fact that Friederich and Kekule in 1859 discovered the protein nature of amyloid (Friedrich and Kekule, Arch. Path. Anat. Physiol. 16:50 (1859)). For many years, based on the fact that all amyloids have the same staining and structural properties, lead to the postulate that a single pathogenetic mechanism was involved in amyloid deposition, and that amyloid deposits were thought to be composed of a single set of constituents. Current research has clearly shown that amyloid is not a uniform deposit and that amyloids may consist of different proteins which are totally unrelated (Glenner, N. England J. Med. 302:1283-1292 (1980)).
Although the nature of the amyloid itself has been found to consist of completely different and unrelated proteins, all amyloids appear similar when viewed under the microscope due to amyloid""s underlying protein structure to adapt into a fibrillar structure. All amyloids regardless of the nature of the underlying protein 1) stain characteristically with the Congo red dye and display a classic red/green birefringence when viewed under polarized light (Puchtler et al, J. Histochem, Cytochem. 10:355-364 (1962)), 2) ultrastructurally consists of fibrils with a diameter of 7-10 nanometers and of indefinite length, 3) adopt a predominant beta-pleated sheet secondary structure. Thus, amyloid fibrils viewed under an electron microscope (30,000 times magnification) from the post-mortem brain of an Alzheimer""s disease patient would look nearly identical to the appearance of amyloid present in a biopsied kidney from a rheumatoid arthritic patient. Both these amyloids would demonstrate a similar fibril diameter of 7-10 nanometers.
In the mid to late 1970""s amyloid was clinically classified into 4 groups, primary amyloid, secondary amyloid, familial amyloid and isolated amyloid. Primary amyloid, is amyloid appearing de novo, without any preceding disorder. In 25-40% of these cases, primary amyloid was the antecedent of plasma cell dysfunction such as the development of multiple myeloma or other B-cell type malignancies. Here the amyloid appears before rather than after the overt malignancy. Secondary amyloid, appeared as a complication of a previously existing disorder. 10-15% of patients with multiple myeloma eventually develop amyloid (Hanada et al., J. Histochem. Cytochem. 19:1-15 (1971)). Patients with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis can develop secondary amyloidosis as with patients with tuberculosis, lung abscesses and osteomyelitis (Benson and Cohen, Arth. Rheum. 22:36-42 (1979); Kamei et al., Acta Path. Jpn. 32:123-133 (1982); McAdam et al., Lancet 2:572-575 (1975)). Intravenous drug users who self-administer and who then develop chronic skin abscesses can also develop secondary amyloid (Novick, Mt. Sin. J. Med. 46:163-167 (1979)). Secondary amyloid is also seen in patients with specific malignancies such as Hodgkin""s disease and renal cell carcinoma (Husby et al., Cancer Res. 42:1600-1603 (1982)). Although these were all initially classified as secondary amyloid, once the amyloid proteins were isolated and sequenced many of these turned out to contain different amyloid proteins.
The familial forms of amyloid also showed no uniformity in terms of the peptide responsible for the amyloid fibril deposited. Several geographic populations have now been identified with genetically inherited forms of amyloid. One group is found in Israel and this disorder is called Familial Mediterranean Fever and is characterized by amyloid deposition, along with recurrent inflammation and high fever (Mataxas, Kidney 20:676-685 (1981)). Another form of inherited amyloid is Familial Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy, and has been found in Swedish (Skinner and Cohen, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 99:1326-1332 (1981)), Portuguese (Saraiva et al., J. Lab. Clin. Med. 102:590-603 (1983); J. Clin. Invest. 74:104-119 (1984)) and Japanese (Tawara et al., J. Lab. Clin. Med. 98:811-822 (1981)) nationalities. Amyloid deposition in this disease occurs predominantly in the peripheral and autonomic nerves. Hereditary amyloid angiopathy of Icelandic origin is an autosomal dominant form of amyloid deposition primarily affecting the vessels in the brain, and has been identified in a group of families found in Western Iceland (Jennson et al., Clin. Genet. 36:368-377 (1989)). These patients clinically have massive cerebral hemorrhages in early life which usually causes death before the age of 40.
The primary, secondary and familial forms of amyloid described above tend to involve many organs of the body including heart, kidney, liver, spleen, gastrointestinal tract, skin, pancreas, and adrenal glands. These amyloid diseases are also referred to as xe2x80x9csystemic amyloidsxe2x80x9d since so many organs within the body demonstrate amyloid accumulation. For most of these amyloidoses, there is no apparent cure or effective treatment and the consequences of amyloid deposition can be detrimental to the patient. For example, amyloid deposition in kidney may lead to renal failure, whereas amyloid deposition in heart may lead to heart failure. For these patients, amyloid accumulation in systemic organs leads to eventual death generally within 3 to 5 years.
Isolated forms of amyloid, on the other hand, tend to involve a single organ system. Isolated amyloid deposits have been found in the lung, and heart (Wright et al., Lab. Invest. 30:767-773 (1974); Pitkanen et al., Am. J. Path. 117:391-399 (1984)). Up to 90% of type II diabetic patients (non-insulin dependent form of diabetes) have isolated amyloid deposits in the pancreas restricted to the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans (Johnson et al., New Engl. J. Med. 321:513-518 (1989); Lab Invest 66:522-535 (1992)). Isolated forms of amyloid have also been found in endocrine tumors which secrete polypeptide hormones such as in medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (Butler and Khan, Arch. Path. Lab. Med. 110:647-649 (1986); Berger et al., Virch. Arch. A Path. Anat. Hist. 412:543-551 (1988)). A serious complication of long term hemodialysis is amyloid deposited in the medial nerve and clinically associated with carpal tunnel syndrome (Gejyo et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 129:701-706 (1985); Kidney Int. 30:385-390 (1986)). By far, the most common type and clinically relevant type of organ-specific amyloid, and amyloid in general, is that found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer""s disease (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,829 and Glenner and Wong, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 120:885-890 (1984); Masters et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82:4245-4249 (1985)). In this disorder, amyloid is predominantly restricted to the central nervous system. Similar deposition of amyloid in the brain occurs in Down""s syndrome patients once they reach the age of 35 years (Rumble et al., New England J. Med. 320:1446-1452 (1989); Mann et al., Neurobiol. Aging 10:397-399 (1989)). Other types of central nervous system amyloid deposition include rare but highly infectious disorders known as the prion diseases which include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Gerstmann-Straussler syndrome, and kuru (Gajdusek et al., Science 197:943-960 (1977); Prusiner et al., Cell 38:127-134 (1984); Prusiner, Scientific American 251:50-59 (1984); Prusiner et al., Micr. Sc. 2:33-39 (1985); Tateishi et al., Ann. Neurol. 24:35-40 (1988)).
It was misleading to group the various amyloidotic disorders strictly on the basis of their clinical features, since when the major proteins involved were isolated and sequenced, they turned out to be different. For example, amyloid seen in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, now known as AA amyloid, was the same amyloid protein identified in patients with the familial form of amyloid known as Familial Mediterranean Fever. Not to confuse the issue, it was decided that the best classification of amyloid should be according to the major protein found, once it was isolated, sequenced and identified.
Thus, amyloid today is classified according to the specific amyloid protein deposited. The amyloid diseases include, but are not limited to, the amyloid associated with Alzheimer""s disease, Down""s syndrome and hereditary cerebral hemorrhage with amyloidosis of the Dutch type (wherein the specific amyloid is now known as the beta-amyloid protein or Axcex2), the amyloid associated with chronic inflammation, various forms of malignancy and Familial Mediterranean Fever (AA amyloid or inflammation-associated amyloidosis), the amyloid associated with multiple myeloma and other B-cell abnormalities (AL amyloid), the amyloid associated with type II diabetes (amylin or islet amyloid), the amyloid associated with the prion diseases including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Gerstmann-Straussler syndrome, kuru and animal scrapie (PrP amyloid), the amyloid associated with long-term hemodialysis and carpal tunnel syndrome (beta2-microglobulin amyloid), the amyloid associated with senile cardiac amyloid and Familial Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy (prealbumin or transthyretin amyloid), and the amyloid associated with endocrine tumors such as medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (variants of procalcitonin).
Although there are many different types of amyloid diseases as described above, there are only a few animal models for these diseases to develop new therapeutic agents. Inflammation-associated or AA amyloidosis has a well-defined experimental mouse model which is used to induce amyloid deposition in systemic organs such as spleen, liver and kidney (Snow and Kisilevsky, Lab. Invest. 53:37-44 (1985)). In addition, only some of the Alzheimer""s disease neuropathology is observed in current animal models of the disease (described below). Thus, there is a need for the development of new transgenic animal models for the amyloid diseases including Alzheimer""s disease. In addition, there is a need for new cell culture models to rapidly screen and identify new lead therapeutics for each of the amyloid diseases.
The invention provides a transgenic non-human animal expressing a perlecan encoding transgene. Also provided is a double-transgenic non-human animal expressing a perlecan and a amyloid encoding transgene. A method of screening for a compound which alters the rate or extent of amyloid deposition is additionally provided. The method consists of: (a) constructing a perlecan transgenic animal; (b) administering an effective amount of a test compound to said perlecan transgenic animal; and (c) determining whether said test compound alters the extent or rate of amyloid deposition. Finally, the invention provides a method of screening for a compound which alters the rate or extent of amyloid deposition. The method consists of: (a) constructing a perlecan/amyloid double-transgenic animal; (b) administering an effective amount of a test compound to said perlecan/amyloid double-transgenic animal; and (c) determining whether said test compound alters the extent or rate of amyloid deposition.

Perlecan transgenic animals and methods of identifying compounds for the treatment of amyloidoses


A checkout counter includes an optical scanning system mounted therein for projecting scanning light beams through an aperture in the counter for scanning a coded label attached to a merchandise item positioned adjacent the aperture. The counter includes a keypad for use by the checkout operator to input a number representing the number of merchandise items which are of the same type enabling the items to be checked out without requiring the items to be individually scanned by the optical scanning system.

The present invention relates to checkout systems and, more particularly, to a checkout counter having means mounted in the checkout counter for processing any number of the same type of merchandise items with one scanning operation. In order to increase the speed of the checkout operation, optical scanning devices have been incorporated into the checkout counters for reading data encoded indicia on labels affixed to the purchased merchandise items. Movement of the merchandise items across the scanning device results in the scanning device reading the encoded indicia labels. Where a number of the same merchandise items are being checked out, each merchandise item has to be moved across the scanning device in order to insert the merchandise item identification code into the processing system enabling the processing system to generate the price of the item. It has been found that this type of checkout procedure represents a significant portion of the total time it takes to check out the purchases of a customer. In order to overcome this problem, prior checkout systems have required the operator to actuate a repeat key on the keyboard of the data terminal associated with the checkout operation for each item that is being repeated or the operator had to move to a data terminal device and enter the number of items purchased after which the operator turned around and scanned the item. It has been found that where a large number of the same items were purchased, no significant reduction in the checkout time was obtained using these checkout routines.

Checkout system with inlaid checkout counter keypad


A wheel to support a pipe, or a tower carrying a pipe, of an agricultural irrigation system, especially of a rotary type, provides a polygonal metal web with feet pivotally mounted by foot supports at the vertices of the web. The feet have relatively wide base elements for support on unstable wet earth that define depending protuberances oriented perpendicularly to the direction of travel of the wheel to minimize rut creation of waterflow along ruts in the earth being traversed. Foot supports carried by the wheel provide two spaced radially extending pivot elements about which the supported foot pivots in sequence in moving over supporting earth to lessen the vertical component of motion of the wheel. A species provides a movably mounted cleat on the outer surface of each foot to enhance traction and cleaning action

1. Related Applications
There are no applications related hereto heretofore filed in this or any foreign country.
2. Field of Invention
My invention relates to footed wheels for irrigation apparatus and more particularly to such a wheel having plural pivotally articulated feet, each sequentially supporting two spaced support elements and optionally having a movably articulated cleat element.


An apparatus for fluid conditioning of an object and materials located therein. The apparatus comprises a vessel, a perforated carriage insert, and a lid. The vessel further includes a liquid in fluidic communication with the perforated carriage insert. A circulating means is mounted within the vessel and is driven by an external power source.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to appliances, typically residing within or around a kitchen or bar, which are used to rapidly condition, heat, or cool a beverage or food container and its contents; for example, a wine bottle, soda can, frozen drink mix cylinder, or infuser.
Description of Relevant Prior Art
The practice of heating or cooling food and beverage containers to bring their contents to a desired temperature is well known. Container-specific devices have been proposed in an effort to increase the efficiency with which the container, and its contents, may be heated or cooled.
One such device is depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,492 entitled "Chiller." Depicted there is a wine bottle cooling device that utilizes an insulated reservoir, a "cooling ring" insert, and an impellor that directs a fluid between the reservoir's walls and the "cooling ring" and around the wine bottle. The device relies on the "cooling ring" insert, and its series of "freezer bricks" to chill the fluid that is directed within the reservoir and around the cooling ring to, ultimately, cool the wine bottle.
Another device is depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 7,174,723 entitled "Portable Liquid Cooler." Depicted there is a container cooling device that utilizes a sandwich of rotating solid heat sinks to draw heat energy away from the container as the heat sinks are rotated about the container's outside surface.
The practice of directly heating or cooling a liquid stored within an open container is also well known. One such device accomplishing this task is depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,823 entitled "Cooling Device." Depicted there is essentially an immersible heat sink in the form of a sealed volume of "freezeable" material. The device is first frozen and, when ready to be utilized, is simply immersed into a container of liquid desired to be cooled (e.g., water in a pitcher). The device's shape is designed to maximize heat transfer from the liquid to the device with its distil, immersed end have a larger surface area than the proximal tapering end.
Another device is depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,836 entitled "Beverage Chiller and Method Therefore." Depicted there is another immersed heat sink-type cooling device that, instead of being a sealed volume of freezeable material, is a cylinder open at one end that can at once be (i) immersed into a container in which liquid desired to be cooled resides and (ii) filled with ice such that the cylinder becomes the heat sink and draws heat from the liquid and into the ice. The device also incorporates a handle and clip by which the device can be handled and secured to the vessel containing the liquid volume.
The practice of infusing a liquid with tea, coffee, or other particulate is also well known. One such device accomplishing this task is depicted in U.S. Pat. No. D272308 entitled "Tea Infuser." Depicted there is a cylindrical chamber with perforated floor. A "flip-top" lid is also provided. The user presumably would place loose tea within the cylindrical chamber and close the lid. The cylindrical chamber could then be immersed into a liquid, the liquid rising up into the cylindrical chamber through the perforations in the chamber's bottom, exposing the loose tea containing within the chamber to the fluid. This device and type of infusion it necessitates is not only passive, but the oils and other flavor compounds lighter than water and within the tea leached therefrom by the fluid would be trapped within the chamber and, once the device is removed from the liquid, would remain on the loose tea particulate as the water recedes out from the perforations.
Another device is depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,756 entitled "Tea Infuser with Manual Agitator." Depicted there is a device not unlike a cocktail shaker. The device, into which loose tea is place, has walls with a series of perforations. Additionally, the device integrates a plunger-type stirring implement attached to the device's top that, when the top is placed onto the device, acts within the device's interior by is actuated from outside of the device via a spindle. When used, the device is filled with loose tea, the top placed onto the device, the device is immersed in a fluid, and the user manually agitates the loose tea via the device's plunger implement. While this type of infusion is more active than, say, that occurring with the use of the aforementioned "Tea Infuser," the amount of agitation is limited with that which the user can manually provide and the physical travel of the plunger within the device.
The litany of prior art devices designed to condition a container, or liquid therein, are only partially successful inasmuch as they are limited to only heating or cooling particular types of containers, require laborious operation (e.g., repeated refilling of loose ice cubes), or inefficiently use passive thermal management. Similarly, existing infusing devices restrict the fluid mechanics necessary for efficient infusion of tea or particulate matter into a surrounding fluid or require undesirable manual actuation.


A substrate such as a semiconductor wafer is plated to fill a metal such as copper (Cu) or the like in interconnection grooves defined in the substrate. An apparatus for plating such a substrate has a plating chamber for holding a plating solution, the plating chamber housing an anode that is immersible in the plating solution held by the plating chamber. A plating solution ejector pipe produces an upward jet of plating solution from a plating solution supplied to the plating chamber from an external source, and a substrate holder removably holds a substrate and positions the substrate such that a surface to be plated of the substrate is held in contact with the jet of plating solution. The plating chamber has a plating solution outlet defined in a bottom thereof for discharging a portion of the supplied plating solution via through-holes defined in the anode and/or around the anode out of the plating chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for plating a substrate. More particularly, it relates to a method and an apparatus for plating a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer to fill a metal such as copper (Cu) or the like in interconnection grooves defined in the substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been a growing tendency to use copper, which has low electric resistivity and high electromigration resistance, instead of aluminum or aluminum alloy, as a metal material for forming interconnection circuits on semiconductor substrates. Copper interconnections are generally formed by filling copper in minute grooves or recesses defined in the surface of a semiconductor substrate. Specifically, copper interconnections are formed by depositing a film of copper over the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate according to CVD, sputtering, or plating, and then removing unwanted copper from the surface according to a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process, leaving copper in the grooves or recesses.
FIGS. 28A through 28C of the accompanying drawings show successive steps of manufacturing a substrate W with copper interconnections. As shown in FIG. 28A, an oxide film 2 of SiO2 is deposited on a conductive layer 1a on a semiconductor substrate 1 on which semiconductor devices are formed. Then, a contact hole 3 and an interconnection groove 4 are formed in the oxide film 2 by lithography and etching. Thereafter, a barrier layer 5 of TiN or the like and a seed layer 7 as a layer for supplying an electric current for electroplating are successively formed on the surface formed so far.
Then, as shown in FIG. 28B, the entire surface of the substrate W is plated with copper to deposit a copper layer 6 on the entire surface, filling the contact hole 3 and the groove 4 with copper. Thereafter, the copper layer 6 over the oxide film 2 is removed by CMP, making the copper layer 6 in the contact hole 3 and the groove 4 lie flush with the oxide film 2. In this manner, an interconnection made of the copper layer 6 is produced as shown in FIG. 28C.
FIG. 29 of the accompanying drawings shows a conventional general arrangement of a cup type apparatus of the face-down type. The cup type plating apparatus has a cylindrical plating chamber 12 which is open upwardly and holds a plating solution 10 therein, and a substrate holder 14 for removably holding a substrate W such as a semiconductor wafer downwardly and positioning the substrate W in a position close to the upper open end of the plating chamber 12. The plating chamber 12 houses therein a planar anode plate 16 immersed approximately horizontally in the plating solution 10. The substrate W serves as a cathode. The anode plate 16 is made of a porous material or a mesh material.
A plating solution ejector pipe 18 for producing an upward jet of plating solution is connected centrally to the bottom of the plating chamber 12. The plating chamber 12 is surrounded by a plating solution reservoir 20 positioned around an upper portion of the plating chamber 12. The plating solution ejector pipe 18 is connected to a plating solution supply pipe 28 that extends from a plating solution storage tank 22 and has a pump 24 and a filter 26. The plating solution storage tank 22 is connected to a plating solution return pipe 30 extending from the plating solution reservoir 20.
The substrate W is held above the plating chamber 12 by the substrate holder 14. The surface to be plated of the substrate W faces downwardly. While a predetermined voltage is being applied between the anode plate 16 and the substrate W, the plating solution 10 in the plating solution storage tank 22 is ejected upwardly from the bottom of the plating chamber 12 by the pump 24 and applied perpendicularly to the surface to be plated of the substrate W. In this manner, a plating current flows between the anode plate 16 and the substrate W, forming a plated film on the lower surface of the substrate W. At this time, an overflow of the plating solution 10 from the plating chamber 12 is retrieved by the plating solution reservoir 20, and flows therefrom into the plating solution storage tank 22 via the plating solution return pipe 30.
In the conventional cup type plating apparatus, the jet of plating solution flows upwardly through pores or mesh of the anode plate 16 toward the lower surface of the substrate W. If the anode plate 16 comprises a soluble electrode, then peeled fragments of a black film attached to the surface of the anode plate 16 are carried by the plating solution to the lower surface of the substrate W. Those fragments of the black film tend to lower the quality of the plated film. In addition, the plating solution is liable to come into contact with cathode pins which supply an electric power to the substrate W, precipitating the plating metal. When the substrate W is subsequently removed, the plated layer near the cathode pins may possibly be damaged.
For electroplating the surface of a substrate with copper, since copper is likely to be diffused into silicon, a barrier layer of TiN, TaN, or the like is deposited on the surface of the substrate, and a thin copper seed layer deposited on the barrier layer is used as a cathode. However, because no barrier layer is formed on the back and edge of the substrate, it is necessary to prevent the plating solution containing copper from being attached to the back and edge of the substrate. In immersion plating, therefore, the substrate is held by a substrate holder, and the outer peripheral edge of the surface of the substrate is sealed by a seal member so as to prevent the outer peripheral edge and back of the substrate from being wetted by the plating solution. Cathode pins are held in contact with the surface of the substrate in a space which is defined by the substrate holder, the substrate, and the seal member and which is held out of contact with the plating solution.
If the above substrate holder is applied to the jet plating process, then since the periphery of the substrate holder projects downwardly from the lower surface of the substrate, an air layer is created below the surface of the substrate simply when the substrate held by the substrate holder is brought into contact with the plating solution. Therefore, a good plated film cannot be formed on the surface of the substrate.
As shown in FIG. 30A of the accompanying drawings, the barrier layer 5 is formed so as to extend from the surface of a substrate W to an edge E thereof in view of the substrate area utilization efficiency, and the copper seed layer 7 is formed on the surface of the barrier layer 5. If the copper seed layer 7 is deposited to a thickness of 100 nm, for example, by sputtering on the entire surface of the substrate W, then not only a thin copper seed layer is formed on the surface of the substrate W, but also a thin copper seed layer is formed on the edge E of the substrate W, as shown in FIG. 30B of the accompanying drawings. A copper layer 6 is formed on only the surface of the substrate W by sealing the outer peripheral edge of the surface of the substrate W so as not to apply the plating solution to the back of the substrate W, as shown in FIGS. 30A and 30B. Consequently, the thin copper seed layer remains deposited on the edge E and an area near the edge E. The remaining thin copper seed layer tends to be peeled off while the substrate W is being transported or subsequently treated after it has been plated or polished by the CMP process, resulting in cross contamination with copper.
When a plated copper film produced by copper sulfate electroplating is left to stand at room temperature, the plated copper film is annealed, and its resistivity is lowered. The gradient of the resistivity differs depending on the plating conditions, the chemical compositions, and the substrate conditions. The resistivity of the plated copper film is stabilized into a value close to that of a copper bulk when it is left to stand for a period of time ranging from 24 hours to 300 hours after being plated.
The reduction in the resistivity means that the crystal grain of the plated copper film gradually becomes coarse and its volume is reduced slightly. When the plated copper film is polished by the CMP process, the reduction in the volume of the plated copper film must have been stopped. Inasmuch as the period of time in which the reduction in the volume of the plated copper film is stopped differs depending on the plating conditions and the substrate conditions, the plated substrate needs to be left to stand until it is stabilized before the CMP process is performed on the plated substrate.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of and an apparatus for plating a substrate according to a jet plating process while preventing the plated film quality from being lowered due to particles produced by a black film or the like even if a soluble anode is employed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of and an apparatus for plating a substrate in a state free of air bubbles while preventing a plating solution from being attached to cathode pins and also preventing the edge and back of the substrate from being contaminated by a metal.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method of and an apparatus for plating a substrate such that a remaining copper layer can fully be removed from an edge of the substrate and an area close thereto. Thus, a copper layer is prevented from being peeled off to cause a cross contamination with copper while the plated substrate is being subsequently polished by a CMP process or transported. The plated substrate can subsequently be polished by the CMP process in a short period of time after the substrate is plated with copper.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for plating a substrate, comprising a plating chamber for holding a plating solution, the plating chamber housing an anode that is immersible in the plating solution held by the plating chamber, a plating solution supply part for supplying the plating solution to the plating chamber from an external source, and a substrate holder for removably holding a substrate and positioning the substrate such that a surface to be plated of the substrate is held in contact with the plating solution. The plating chamber has a plating solution outlet defined in a bottom thereof for discharging a portion of the supplied plating solution out of the plating chamber while the substrate is plated.
Peeled fragments or particles of a black film formed on the anode are discharged together with the plating solution through the plating solution outlet out of the plating chamber, and hence are prevented from being carried and attached to the surface of the substrate to be plated. Other foreign matter attached and deposited on the anode is also prevented from being carried and attached to the surface of the plated film on the substrate.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for plating a substrate, comprising a plating chamber for holding a plating solution. The plating chamber houses an anode that is immersible in the plating solution held by the plating chamber from an external source. A substrate holder removably holds a substrate and positions the substrate such that a surface of the substrate to be plated is held in contact with the plating solution, and the plating solution supply part comprises a plurality of supply members disposed on a side wall or bottom of the plating chamber.
The anode placed in the plating solution is prevented from being directly contacted by the jet of plating solution, and an upward bulge can be formed on the surface of the plating solution. The upward bulge on the surface of the plating solution is effective to remove air bubbles from below the surface to be plated of the substrate when the substrate and the plating solution are brought into contact with each other before the substrate is plated while being immersed in the plating solution.
The supply members are oriented toward a central axis of the plating chamber.
With the supply members being thus oriented, slow swirls are generated in the plating chamber, stabilizing the flow of the plating solution therein. The slow swirls cause the plating solution to flow in the outer circumferential region of the plating chamber, where the plating solution would be slowed down if only the jets were ejected. Thus, the plating solution speed distribution can be improved over the overall surface to be plated of the substrate. In order to rotate the plating solution while forming the upward bulge on the surface of the plating solution, the direction of the jet should pass through a position spaced from the central axis of the plating chamber by a distance smaller than xc2xd of the radius of the substrate.
The apparatus further comprises a structure for discharging a portion of the supplied plating solution out of the plating chamber through the bottom of the plating chamber.
With the above discharging means, peeled fragments or particles of a black film formed on the anode are discharged together with the plating solution through the plating solution outlet out of the plating chamber, and hence are prevented from being carried and attached to the surface to be plated of the substrate. Other foreign matter attached and deposited on the anode is also prevented from being carried and attached to the surface of the plated film on the substrate.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for plating a substrate, comprising a plating chamber for holding a plating solution. The plating chamber houses an anode that is immersible in the plating solution held by the plating chamber, and a plating solution supply part supplies the plating solution to the plating chamber from an external source. A substrate holder removably holds a substrate and positions the substrate such that a surface to be plated of the substrate is held in contact with the plating solution. The substrate holder has a vent hole defined in a lower end thereof for removing air bubbles trapped below the surface of the substrate to be plated.
In order to reduce air bubbles trapped by the surface of the substrate to be plated, an outer circumferential portion of the substrate holder which is positioned below the substrate should be as thin as possible. However, because the substrate needs to be sealed in the substrate holder and also needs to be held in close contact with cathode pins in the substrate holder, it is difficult to reduce the thickness of the outer circumferential portion of the substrate holder which is positioned below the substrate, to less than several millimeters. The vent hole defined in the lower end of the substrate holder is effective to remove air bubbles trapped below the surface to be plated of the substrate and hence to prevent air bubbles from being trapped below the surface to be plated of the substrate.
Since a seal member and the cathode pins are disposed on the outer circumferential portion of the substrate holder which is positioned below the substrate, the vent hole cannot be positioned at the same height as the surface to be plated of the substrate. Consequently, the vent hole alone is unable to fully remove air bubbles trapped below the surface to be plated of the substrate. However, when the substrate holder and the substrate are rotated, the flow of the plating solution oriented radially outwardly from the center of the substrate is strengthened to force air bubbles trapped below the surface of the substrate to be plated out of the substrate holder.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for plating a substrate, comprising a plating chamber for holding a plating solution. The plating chamber houses an anode that is immersible in the plating solution held by the plating chamber, and a plating solution supply part supplies the plating solution to the plating chamber from an external source. A substrate holder removably holds a substrate and positions the substrate such that a surface to be plated of the substrate is held in contact with the plating solution. An actuator has a rotating mechanism for rotating the substrate holder, and a lifting and lowering mechanism lifts and lowers the substrate holder. A cathode supplies electric power to the substrate, and the cathode does not come in contact with the plating solution.
In the above apparatus, the surface of the substrate to be plated is plated when the substrate holder is lowered by the lifting and lowering mechanism. The substrate is attached to or removed from the substrate holder when the substrate holder is lifted by the lifting and lowering mechanism.
When the substrate held by the substrate holder is lowered while being rotated horizontally, the surface to be plated of the substrate is brought into contact with an upward jet of plating solution in the plating solution in the plating chamber. The area of contact between the substrate and the plating solution is progressively spread outwardly, and at the same time, air bubbles trapped below the surface to be plated of the substrate are discharged from the substrate holder under centrifugal forces upon rotation of the substrate.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for plating a substrate, comprising a plating chamber for holding a plating solution. The plating chamber houses an anode that is immersible in the plating solution held by the plating chamber, and a plating solution supply part supplies the plating solution to the plating chamber from an external source. A substrate holder removably holds a substrate and positions the substrate such that a surface of the substrate to be plated is held in contact with the plating solution. A rotating mechanism rotates the substrate holder, and a plating solution draining part discharges a portion of the plating solution out of the plating chamber thereby to lower the surface of the plating solution in the plating chamber, so that the substrate is exposed above the plating solution.
While the substrate held by the substrate holder is rotating, the surface of the plating solution is raised with an upward jet of plating solution being formed in the plating solution. As the surface to be plated of the substrate is brought into contact with the upward jet of plating solution, the area of contact between the substrate and the plating solution is progressively spread outwardly. At the same time, air bubbles trapped below the surface of the substrate to be plated are discharged from the substrate holder under centrifugal forces upon rotation of the substrate.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plating facility comprising a plating unit for plating a surface of a substrate having interconnection grooves and holes defined therein. An etching unit etches away, with a chemical solution, a seed film and/or a thin plated film on an outer circumferential edge of the substrate after the substrate is plated by the plating unit.
With the above arrangement, a seed film and/or a thin plated film on the outer circumferential edge of the substrate after the substrate is plated by the plating unit can be removed. Therefore, the substrate is free of a cross contamination with copper due to the film being peeled off while the plated substrate is being subsequently polished by a CMP process or transported.
The etching unit has a cleaning mechanism for simultaneously cleaning opposite surfaces of the substrate.
After the plated film is etched away from the outer circumferential edge of the substrate, the opposite surfaces of the substrate are simultaneously cleaned to remove plated film residuals that are etched.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plating facility comprising a plating unit for plating a surface of a substrate having interconnection grooves and holes defined therein. A cleaning unit cleans the substrate after the substrate is plated by the plating unit, and an annealing unit heats the substrate thereby to anneal the substrate after the substrate is cleaned by the cleaning unit.
The substrate which has been plated by the plating unit and then cleaned by the cleaning unit is forcibly annealed by being heated by the heating unit. Therefore, the substrate can be polished by a CMP process without having to be left to stand until the plated film is stabilized.
The above plating facility further comprises an etching unit disposed between the plating unit and the cleaning unit, for etching away, with a chemical solution, a seed film and/or a thin plated film on an outer circumferential edge of the substrate after the substrate is plated by the plating unit. The annealing unit comprises means for annealing one substrate at a time.
According to a yet further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for plating a substrate, comprising the steps of producing a jet of plating solution in a plating solution contained in a plating chamber. The surface of the plating solution is brought into contact with a surface to be plated of a substrate held by a substrate holder, for thereby plating the substrate, and a portion of the plating solution is discharged out of the plating chamber.
According to still a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of plating a substrate, comprising the steps of producing a jet of plating solution in a plating solution contained in a plating chamber. The surface of the plating solution is brought into contact with a surface to be plated of a substrate held by a substrate holder, and the substrate is rotated and the relative positions of the substrate and the plating solution are changed until the substrate is immersed in the plating solution, thereby to place the substrate in the plating solution.
The above method further comprises the step of lowering the substrate at a speed of at most 30 mm/second after the surface to be plated of the substrate has contacted the surface of the plating solution. The above step provides a sufficient period of time to discharge air bubbles trapped below the surface of the substrate to be plated out of the substrate holder.
The above method further comprises the steps of increasing the amount of the jet of plating solution until the surface to be plated of the substrate contacts the surface of the plating solution. The amount of the jet of plating solution is reduced after the surface to be plated of the substrate has contacted the surface of the plating solution. The above steps are effective to intensify an upward bulge on the surface of the plating solution until the surface to be plated of the substrate contacts the surface of the plating solution. If the jet of plating solution is too strong, then it tends to de-stabilize a black film formed on an anode, increasing peeled fragments or particles of the black film. Therefore, the amount of the jet of plating solution is reduced to a suitable level.
The above method further comprises the steps of exposing the substrate and the substrate holder above the surface of the plating solution after the substrate has been plated in the plating solution, and rotating the substrate holder at a speed of at least 500 rotations per minute to spin off the plating solution from the substrate. Since the substrate held by the substrate holder is rotated at the high speed, it can spin off the remaining plating solution. Thereafter, the substrate can be delivered to a next process by a robot arm or the like.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention by way of example.

Method and apparatus for plating substrate and plating facility


A method for recovering data in a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) is disclosed. In one embodiment, such a method includes implementing a RAID in a storage architecture comprising a RAID controller and a storage enclosure containing a set of storage drives belonging to the RAID. The RAID controller is configured to detect a failure condition associated with at least one of the storage drives in the set. In response to detecting the failure condition, the RAID controller sends, to the storage enclosure, an instruction to copy data from a first storage drive in the set to a second storage drive in the set as part of a RAID rebuild process. The storage enclosure receives the instruction and executes it without substantially involving the RAID controller in the copy process. A corresponding system and computer program product are also disclosed.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems and methods for more efficiently recovering data when performing a RAID rebuild.
Background of the Invention
A RAID (i.e., a Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a storage technology that provides increased storage functions and reliability through redundancy. A RAID is created by combining multiple storage drive components (disk drives and/or solid state drives) into a logical unit. Data is then distributed across the drives using various techniques, referred to as "RAID levels." The standard RAID levels, which currently include RAID levels 1 through 6, are a basic set of RAID configurations that employ striping, mirroring, and/or parity to provide data redundancy. Each of the configurations provides a balance between two key goals: (1) increasing data reliability and (2) increasing I/O performance.
To improve the I/O performance of a RAID and/or accelerate the rebuild process when a storage drive fails, techniques such as "wide striping" and "distributed spares" may be used. With wide striping, data is distributed more widely across a larger set of storage drives. This improves average I/O performance since data may be read from or written to a larger set of storage drives in parallel, thereby aggregating the I/O performance of each of the storage drives. Wide striping may also reduce the time required to rebuild a RAID in the event of a failure, since the data needed to rebuild the failed drive may be read in parallel from a larger set of storage drives.
With distributed spares, a small amount of storage space is reserved on each storage drive belonging to a distributed RAID. Collectively, this storage space may be substantially equivalent to the entire storage space of one physical spare storage drive. When a storage drive in the RAID fails, data may be rebuilt on the distributed spare instead of a physical spare storage drive. The distributed spare allows data to be rebuilt much more quickly since data may be written to many storage drives in parallel as opposed to a single physical storage drive. Once data from the failed storage drive is reconstructed on the distributed spare, the data may be copied to a single physical spare storage drive to free up the storage space on the distributed spare, thereby making it available for future drive failures.
Despite the theoretical advantages of wide striping and distributed spares, hardware limitations may limit the actual performance gains provided by each of these technologies. For example, most RAID arrays use the serial attached SCSI (SAS) protocol to move data into and out of the storage drives. The amount of data that can be moved in and out of a RAID as part of a rebuild process is limited by the SAS chip and/or a bus (e.g. PCI bus) that is used to move data between the SAS chip and a CPU. This bottleneck currently limits the number of storage drives that may be included in a distributed RAID to about one hundred and twenty. Currently, if the number of storage drives is increased beyond about one hundred and twenty, performance and/or reliability of the distributed RAID may actually decrease.
In view of the foregoing, what are needed are systems and methods to reduce an amount of data moved through a SAS chip and/or bus (e.g., PCI bus) during a RAID rebuild process.

International Business Machines Corporation


A throttle device is coupled with a central processing unit in a node for reducing traffic overload in a Next Generation Network (NGN). The device is coupled with a basic throttle with different levels of traffic priority and both are situated between a source node and a target node for processing traffic. When a traffic offer is received by the throttle, the throttle device by provisionally updating the basic throttle priority levels, determines whether to send the traffic offer on to the source node. If the provisional, traffic priority level is greater than a new traffic priority level the traffic is admitted and rejected if the updated priority level is less than the new traffic priority level.

The present invention relates to telecom network media overload. More particularly, and not by way of limitation, the present invention is directed to a system and method for controlling signaling overload.
Prior Art and Problems
In Next Generation Networks (NGNs), many protocols, e.g., H.248.11 (also known as Gateway Control Protocol) are used for controlling media setup of a call. The protocol messages are processed on a central processing unit (CPU) of corresponding nodes.
Different types of nodes have different signal processing capacity and some nodes might have significantly higher capacity than others. Because of that there are scenarios, where signaling overload caused by the source node in a specified target node has a high probability of occurring.
Signaling overload causes system performance degradation even if the node is able to protect itself by rejecting offers. External overload control mechanisms have been developed to restrict in advance (in a source node) the traffic that is offered to a target node. There are call-gapping algorithms that decide whether the offer should be sent out to the target. If the desired maximal offer characteristics are known (determined as part of the external overload control) decision logic in the source node is referred as a throttle.
An external overload control mechanism itself can control different types of descriptors of traffic flows in a system. For example, Windows-based solutions control the message turnaround time with a throttle limiting the number of offers in the system while other solutions work with restricting a percentage of the offers compared to the previous period of time. Many others like H.248.11, control the rate of the offers and use token bucket as a throttle.
FIG. 1 depicts external overload control architecture. Typical requirements on an offer rate limiting throttle in H.248.11 are: [a] the rate of the offers sent out should be limited according to the rate determined by other parts of the external overload control; [b] an offer should always be sent out once the limit is not violated; [c] when only one offer can be sent out and there are two candidates, always send out the one with the higher priority; and [d] once different traffic classes are defined (on the same priority level), and there are candidates not to be sent out because of the limitations then the offer rate representing the resource should be split according to some defined agreements between the traffic classes (Service Level Agreements). (req-3)
The problem with these requirements is that once they are put into a real system environment it is very hard to decide whether they are being met or not. Furthermore, the requirements might have a different interpretation and even concurring exact definitions when all of them can not be satisfied at the same time.
The rate of offers is not violated on average and according to the watermark level the maximal peak in traffic; thus, the maximal violation of the rate is also limited. Setting of a watermark parameter determines how likely the bucket produces higher throughput rates for short times (violates [a]) or does not send out candidates although there would not be rate violation (violates [b]).
The rate does handle priorities by applying different watermarks for different priority levels. Thus, throughput characteristics are different for priorities; i.e., calls with higher priority cause higher peaks in traffic (requirement [2] ok).
Does not handle traffic classification so can not handle throughput share type of Service Level Agreement (violates requirement [d])
There are methods like Weighted Fair Queuing that queues offers and thus causes delay in the transmission which solves [d]. It is often required to give a solution without using queues but providing maximal throughput.
"Rate Based Call Gapping" is a method based on offer rate and admission rate measuring that provides a solution for all three requirements without applying queues but its priority handling is not straightforward.
This means that if the parameters are set so that they affect the priority handling then the behavior still depends on incoming traffic and there is always a positive probability of a lower priority call being admitted because of throughput share SLA priority and a higher priority call may be admitted although the admittance violates SLA agreements.
It would be advantageous to have a system and method for resource sharing without buffering requests that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art. The present invention provides such a system and method.

Method and apparatus to provide minimum resource sharing without buffering requests


An image display method for vehicle rearview mirrors is provided. The method includes obtaining at last two images to be displayed by an image obtaining module, and displaying the at least two images in a split-screen manner on at least one rearview mirror of the vehicle rearview mirrors.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the display technical field, more particularly, to an image display method and system of vehicle rearview mirrors.
Vehicle rearview mirrors are reflective mirrors located at the left and right sides of the front of a vehicle, and a reflective mirror located at the upper part of the inner side the windshield glass of the vehicle, wherein the rearview mirrors at the left and right sides of the front of the vehicle are external rearview mirrors, and the rearview mirror at the inner side the windshield glass of the vehicle is an inner rearview mirror. The vehicle rearview mirrors can reflect road conditions behind and beside the vehicle, and enlarge the driver's field of vision.
In related art, rearview mirrors mainly have two types of mirror face: one is a flat mirror face, through which images with the same size as what one sees can be obtained. Such a flat mirror is usually used as an inner rearview mirror. The other type is a convex mirror, the mirror face of which is curved, with a different radius of curvature; through the convex mirror, images smaller than what one sees can be obtained. The convex mirror enlarges the driver's field of vision, and such a convex mirror is usually used as an external rearview mirror.
However, the rearview mirrors in the related art can merely reflect road conditions around the vehicle, the images displayed are monotonous, and the flexibility of image displaying is low.

Image display method and system of vehicle rearview mirrors

BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A gas turbine plant including a compressor section and a turbine section housed within a multipart casing with the shafts of each section co-axial, the compressor section including a double-sided low pressure radial compressor, a high pressure radial compressor and an inter-cooler, while the turbine stage includes a first stage axial turbine on the same shaft as the compressor and at least an additional turbine stage; a heat exchanger or regenerator being included in the turbine exhaust.

The present invention relates to a gas turbine plant, especially but not exclusively a plant for the 6,000-10,000 kW range, comprising a multipart casing in which a turbine and a radial compressor are combined on co-axially arranged shafts. A gas turbine plant in the ranges of 6,000-10,000 kW, constitutes a useful and efficient addition to existing gas turbine plants. With this object in mind it has been considered that a similar novel concept will have a possibility of succeeding only if a good yield of at least 40% is achieved without the cost or price being increased thereby.