Transistor gate structures, encapsulation structures, and fabrication techniques are provided, in which sidewalls of patterned gate structures are conditioned by nitriding the sidewalls of the gate structure, and a silicon nitride encapsulation layer is formed to protect the conditioned sidewalls during manufacturing processing. The conditioning and encapsulation avoid oxidation of gate stack layers, particularly metal gate layers, and also facilitate repairing or restoring stoichiometry of metal and other gate layers that may be damaged or altered during gate patterning.

Metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) are widely used in the electronics industry for switching, amplification, filtering, and other tasks related to both analog and digital electrical signals. MOS transistors include a gate dielectric overlying a channel region of a semiconductor substrate and a gate electrode situated above the gate dielectric. Source and drain regions are formed in the substrate on either side of the channel. Gate dielectric and gate electrode layers (e.g., silicon dioxide (SiO2) and poly-silicon, respectively) are initially formed over the substrate and the gate electrode is patterned to form a gate structure overlying the channel region of the substrate, after which the source/drain regions are doped with n or p-type impurities.
FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of a fabrication process flow 2 relating to gate structure fabrication and FIGS. 2A–2C illustrate a MOS transistor 50 at different stages of fabrication having poly-silicon gate electrode material and SiO2 gate dielectric material. At step 4 in the process 2, a gate dielectric is formed over the substrate, after which poly-silicon gate electrode material is deposited at 6. As shown in FIG. 2A, a thin gate dielectric oxide 62 (e.g., SiO2) is formed over a silicon substrate 54 between field oxide structures 56, and poly-silicon material 68 is formed over the dielectric 62 and the field oxide 56. A gate etch process 58 is then performed using a mask 59 in FIG. 2A (step 8 in FIG. 1) to form a patterned gate structure as shown in FIG. 2B. A drain extension implantation is performed (step 10 in FIG. 1) to introduce dopants into source/drain regions 60 outlying the patterned gate structure. Any gate dielectric material 62 remaining over the source/drains 60 that may have been damaged by the etching 58 or the dopant implantation is removed (e.g., stripped) after the implantation.
A reoxidation process 61 is performed (step 12 in FIG. 1) to grow or deposit an oxide encapsulation layer 70 over the top and sidewalls of the patterned gate structure, and over the source/drain regions 60 of the substrate 54, as shown in FIG. 2B. This reoxidation 61 serves to reoxidize the upper surface of the substrate 54 in the source/drain regions 60. The reoxidation 61 also encapsulates the patterned gate structure by forming SiO2 70 over the top and sidewalls of the poly-silicon gate electrode 68 and along any exposed portions of the gate dielectric 62 under the electrode 68. The encapsulation layer 70 may inhibit boron dopant out-diffusion from the p-doped poly-silicon gate electrodes 68 during subsequent formation of inter-level dielectrics, reduce gate-to-drain overlap capacitance, and strengthen the gate dielectric 62 at the edge of the poly-silicon gate electrode 68. As shown in FIG. 2C, sidewall spacers 72 are then formed along the sidewalls of the patterned encapsulated gate structure (step 14 in FIG. 1), and deeper source/drain implants are performed to further define the source/drains 60. The source/drains are silicided to form source/drain contacts 74 and the top of the poly-silicon gate electrode 68 is silicided to form a gate contact 66, after which interconnect and other back-end fabrication processing (not shown) is performed.
In operation, the gate electrode 68 is energized to create an electric field in the channel region of the substrate 54, thereby rendering a portion of the channel conductive and allowing electrons to travel through the channel between the source/drains 60. The threshold voltage (Vt) of the transistor 50 is the gate voltage value required to render the channel conductive by formation of an inversion layer at the surface of the semiconductor channel. The threshold voltage Vt is dependent upon the flat-band voltage, which in turn depends on the work function difference between the gate and the substrate materials, as well as on surface charge. To set Vt values, the work functions of the poly-silicon gate electrodes 68 and the corresponding channel material (e.g., silicon) are independently tuned or adjusted for p-channel and n-channel transistors 50 (PMOS and NMOS) through gate and channel doping (e.g., gate and channel engineering), respectively. Because the work function of poly-silicon can be easily changed while being rendered conductive by appropriate dopant implantation, poly-silicon has thusfar been widely employed in forming gate electrodes 68, particularly in fabricating complementary MOS (CMOS) devices having both NMOS and PMOS transistors 50.
The gate dielectric 62 is an insulator material, typically SiO2 or other dielectric, that operates to prevent large currents from flowing from the gate electrode 68 into the channel when a gate voltage is applied, and allows an applied gate voltage to establish an electric field in the channel region in a controllable manner. Continuing trends in semiconductor product manufacturing include reduction in electrical device feature sizes (scaling), as well as improvements in device performance in terms of device switching speed and power consumption. MOS transistor performance may be improved by reducing the distance between the source and the drain regions 60 under the gate electrode of the device, known as the gate or channel length, and by reducing the thickness of the layer of SiO2 gate dielectric 62 that is formed over the semiconductor surface. However, limitations on the extent to which SiO2 gate dielectric thicknesses can be reduced have lead to increased usage of so-called high-k dielectric materials having dielectric constants greater than that of SiO2. High-k gate dielectrics can be formed in a thicker layer than scaled SiO2 while producing equivalent field effect performance. However, certain high-k dielectric materials may be damaged during gate etching.
Another shortcoming of the conventional MOS transistor 50 is known as poly-silicon depletion. Poly-silicon depletion occurs when annealing or other thermal processing following implantation of dopants into poly-silicon gate electrode material 68 is insufficient to activate the implanted impurities at the poly-silicon gate dielectric interface 68. In this situation, a bottom portion of the poly-silicon gate electrode 68 near the gate dielectric 62 is "depleted" of charges, and acts as an insulator. The depleted portion of the gate contact and the gate dielectric operate as series connected capacitors, resulting in a reduced effective gate capacitance, which reduces the drive current capability of the device. Consequently, poly-silicon depletion causes reduction in device performance and leads to poor unscalable devices, where poly-silicon depletion problems become more significant as device dimensions continue to be scaled.
Accordingly, attention has recently been directed to using metal gate electrodes in MOS transistors to avoid the effects of poly-silicon depletion. However, metal gate materials may also be damaged by gate patterning (e.g., etching, wet cleans, etc.) operations, wherein the use of conventional reoxidation encapsulation techniques can actually degrade the damaged metal.
Furthermore, use of traditional oxidation processes in forming an encapsulation layer for patterned metal gate structures may itself cause unwanted oxidation of the metal material, leading to further degradation of device performance. For example, exposing a gate stack structure having a titanium nitride (TiN) layer to a conventional reoxidation process causes formation of titanium oxynitride (TiON) along the gate sidewall, which effectively increases the capacitance of the gate electrode by formation of a dielectric in a portion of the gate electrode. Furthermore, as discussed above, traditional reoxidation processes may cause formation of low-k dielectrics along the sidewall of high-k gate dielectric layers in the gate stack. Accordingly, there is a need for improved gate encapsulation structures and techniques by which metal and other gate structures may be encapsulated after patterning.

Encapsulated MOS transistor gate structures and methods for making the same


An embedded electronic device and a method for manufacturing the same wherein the embedded electronic device is composed of a printed circuit board, having a top surface and a bottom surface, a plurality of circuit components attached to the top surface of the printed circuit board having a plurality of standoffs on the bottom surface of the printed circuit board, a bottom overlay attached to the bottom surface of the printed circuit board, a top overlay positioned above the top surface of the printed circuit board and a core layer positioned between the top surface of the printed circuit board and the top overlay.

The following description of the background of the invention is provided simply as an aid in understanding the invention and is not admitted to describe or constitute prior art to the invention.
Generally, embedded electronic devices can be used for various applications such as smart cards or tags. Smart cards/tags may be used as credit cards, bank cards, ID cards, telephone cards, security cards or similar devices. Smart cards/tags are generally constructed by assembling several layers of plastic sheets in a sandwich array. Further, smart cards/tags contain embedded electronic components that enable the smart card to perform a number of functions.
European Patent 0 350 179 discloses a smart card wherein electronic circuitry is encapsulated in a layer of plastic material that is introduced between the card's two surface layers. The method further comprises abutting a high tensile strength holding member against a side of a mould, locating the smart card's electronic components with respect to that side and then injecting a reaction moldable polymeric material into the mould such that it encapsulates the electronic components.
European Patent Application 95400365.3 teaches a method for making contact-less smart cards. The method employs a rigid frame to position and fix an electronic module in a void space between an upper thermoplastic sheet and a lower thermoplastic sheet. After the frame is mechanically affixed to the lower thermoplastic sheet, the void space is filled with a polymerizable resin material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,847 teaches a credit card that is comprised of three layers, namely, a first outer layer, a second outer layer and an intermediate layer. The intermediate layer is formed by injection of a thermoplastic binding material that encases the smart card's electronic elements (e.g., an IC chip and an antenna) in the intermediate layer material. The binding material is preferably made up of a blend of copolyamides or a glue having two or more chemically reactive components that harden upon contact with air. The outer layers of this smart card can be made up of various polymeric materials such as polyvinyl chloride or polyurethane.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,905 teaches a method for manufacturing plastic credit cards wherein a mold tool comprised of two shells is closed to define a cavity for producing such cards. A label or image support is placed in each mold shell. The mold shells are then brought together and a thermoplastic material injected into the mold to form the card. The inflowing plastic forces the labels or image supports against the respective mold faces.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,074 teaches a method of manufacturing smart cards having a card body with substantially parallel major sides, a support member with a graphic element on at least one side, and an electronic module comprising a contact array that is fixed to a chip. The manufacturing method generally comprises the steps of: (1) placing the support member in a mold that defines the volume and shape of the card; (2) holding the support member against a first main wall of the mold; (3) injecting a thermoplastic material into the volume defined by the hollow space in order to fill that portion of the volume that is not occupied by the support member; and (4) inserting an electronic module at an appropriate position in the thermoplastic material before the injected material has the opportunity to completely solidify.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,407 discloses an electronic circuit encapsulation device in the form of a carrier having walls that have a specific arrangement of lands, grooves and bosses in combination with specific orifices. The mold's wall sections hold a circuit assembly in a given alignment. The walls of the carrier are made of a slightly flexible material in order to facilitate insertion of the smart card's electronic circuitry. The carrier is capable of being inserted into an outer mold. This causes the carrier walls to move toward one another in order to hold the components securely in alignment during the injection of the thermoplastic material. The outside of the walls of the carrier has projections that serve to mate with detents on the walls of the mold in order to locate and fix the carrier within the mold. The mold also has holes to permit the escape of trapped gases.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,553 teaches a method of producing a decorative pattern on, and placing an electronic circuit in, a plastic card in an injection molding machine. The method comprises the steps of (a) introducing and positioning a film (e.g., a film bearing a decorative pattern), over an open mold cavity in the injection molding machine; (b) closing the mold cavity so that the film is fixed and clamped in position therein; (c) inserting an electronic Circuit chip through an aperture in the mold into the mold cavity in order to position the chip in the cavity; (d) injecting a thermoplastic support composition into the mold cavity to form a unified card; and (e) thereafter, removing any excess material, opening the mold cavity and removing the card.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,893 teaches a smart card whose main feature is a support element that supports an integrated circuit chip. The support element is used for positioning the chip inside a mold cavity. The card body is formed by injecting a plastic material into the cavity so that the chip is entirely embedded in the plastic material. In some embodiments, the edge regions of the support are clamped between the load bearing surfaces of the respective molds. The support element may be a film that is peeled off the finished card or it may be a sheet that remains as an integral part of the card. If the support element is a peel-off film, then any graphics elements contained therein are transferred and remain visible on the card. If the support element remains as an integral part of the card, then such graphics elements are formed on a face thereof and, hence, are visible to the card user.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,388 teaches a smart card device that includes a card board having a through opening. A semiconductor module is mounted onto this opening. A resin is injected into the opening so that a resin molding is formed under such condition that only an electrode terminal face for external connection of said semiconductor module is exposed. The card is completed by mounting a card board having a through opening onto a lower mold of two opposing molding dies, mounting a semiconductor module onto the opening of said card board, tightening an upper die that has a gate leading onto a lower die and injecting a resin into the opening via the gate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,705 teaches a disc having a disc body made of a thermoplastic injection molded material and a laminate layer that is integrally joined to a disc body. The laminate layer includes an outer clear lamina and an inner white and opaque lamina. An imaging material is sandwiched between these lamina.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,025,054 discloses a method for constructing a smart card using low shrinkage glue to hold the electronic devices in place during the devices immersion in thermosetting material that becomes the core layer of the smart card. The method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,025,054 has considerable drawbacks. Primarily, the disclosed method produces warping and other undesirable physical defects caused by the curing of thermosetting material. Further, this method is suitable only for cards having one or two components, thus limiting its functionality. In addition, the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,025,054 creates defects such as voids and air bubbles within a smart card because the geometric shapes of the electronic components within the card obstruct the flow of the thermosetting material such that the thermosetting material flows around the components faster than the air can be pushed out of the core of the smart card. Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. '054 requires the use of custom equipment, significantly limiting the scope and scalability of its application.
In view of the following, there is a need for a device and a method of constructing the device that is capable of housing numerous electrical components.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Embedded electronic device and method for manufacturing an embedded electronic device


A dispensing closure is molded as a base having an end wall with a dispensing orifice and a lid having a fixed section and a moveable section joined by an integral hinge. The fixed section of the lid is mounted on the base by a socket and plug connection in which the socket includes a central prong and the plug has a central recess. The socket and plug are sized for an interference fit, but with chamfered edges providing a lead in. In addition, the recess in the plug is tapered at a greater angle than the prong in the socket, so that as the plug engages the socket and the prong enters the recess in the plug, the plug is wedged outward into tight engagement with the socket. Extensions or wings on the moveable section of the lid created by offset of the integral hinge have inwardly projecting knobs which cooperate with outwardly projecting ribs on the raised member on the bare end wall in which the socket is formed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to closures for dispensing contents from a container and, more particularly, to such closures having a lid which plugs the dispensing opening when not in use and which is biased open to prevent interference with dispensing of product during use.
2. Background Information
A common type of closure for dispensing liquid, granular or viscous product from a container includes a base which screws onto the container neck and has a dispensing opening smaller than the container opening in an end wall. In order to plug the dispensing opening between uses, a stopper is provided on a lid which is hinged to pivot between a closed position with the stopper plugging the dispenser opening and an open position with the stopper removed. The lid may be a separate piece pivotally mounted on the base by a hinge. More often, the lid is connected to a support piece by an integral hinge with the support piece secured to the base. The entire closure can be molded as a single piece with the support piece tied to the base by another integral hinge or hinges, or the support piece and lid can be molded separately from the base. In either case, the support piece is fixed in place on the base by a snap connection. Typically, the snap connection is made by a pin with an enlarged head which projects through and is captured in an opening through the end wall, by nipples (sometimes hollow) which engage a recess, or by friction fit of a projection into a slot.
As the container is tilted or even inverted in order to dispense the product, various arrangements are provided to prevent interference of the pivoted lid with product flow. In some such closures, a portion of a skirt on the lid is engaged to hold the lid open. In other such closures, tabs extending in the plane of the lid bear against the end wall of the base or engage recesses in the base as the lid rotates over center.
In designing such closures, consideration must be given to ease of manufacture assembly and use, reliability and, of course, cost. There is room for improvement in all of these areas.


A microprocessor includes a decryption unit that decrypts information to be utilized by a processor core to obtain plaintext information when the acquired information is encrypted; and a plaintext information storing unit that stores the plaintext information. The microprocessor also includes a protected attribute adding unit that adds a protected attribute indicating one of protection and non-protection to the plaintext information based on whether the decryption has been performed; an access request acquiring unit that acquires an access request to the plaintext information; a request type identifying unit that identifies a type of request of the access request; and an access controlling unit that controls an access to the plaintext information based on the type of request and the protected attribute.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microprocessor having a processor core.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to a conventionally known technique, an embedded debugger interface is provided in a microprocessor and connected to a debugger, to allow an analysis of an internal condition of the processor to facilitate debugging at software development.
According to the conventional technique, the user can access from the debugger to resources such as a register and a memory inside the processor via the debugger interface embedded in the processor. In addition, the user can make the processor perform a stepwise execution.
The built-in debugger interface, however, facilitates not only the program verification by a legitimate software developer but also the software analysis by other software developers and users.
For example, if developed software contains confidential information, protection is necessary against analysis by software users as well as other software developers.
To this end, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-244757, for example, proposes a method to disable a debugging function with use of a key selected at decryption, a method to disable a debugging operation when a protected program stored in a memory of the processor is selected as a debug target.
In some cases, however, a protected program and a non-protected program exist together. Then, an access from the debugger should be disabled only for the protected programs. Thus, there is a growing demand for a microprocessor which allows a flexible program protection.


A method of operating an elevator installation having an elevator control with a plurality of functions (F1, . . . Fn+m) for controlling the elevator installation, wherein the plurality of functions comprises at least one optional function (Fn+1, . . . Fn+m) which is activatable at the time of configuring of the elevator control and can be made available by an activation for control during the operation of the elevator installation. After the activation, a deactivation of the optional function (Fn+1, . . . Fn+m) takes place automatically in accordance with a predetermined criterion, wherein the optional function after deactivation is no longer available for control of the elevator installation in operation.

The present invention relates to a method of operating an elevator installation, which comprises an elevator control with a plurality of functions for control of the elevator installation, and to an elevator control.
The elevator control of an elevator installation usually comprises implementations of a plurality of functions. As a rule, more functions are implemented in the elevator control of an elevator installation than are actually available for the elevator control for controlling during operation of the elevator installation. Which of the implemented functions during operation of the elevator installation are actually available for controlling or which of the implemented functions shall not be available for controlling during operation of the elevator installation is usually established by a configuring of the elevator control.
By configuring of an elevator control of an elevator installation there can be understood every measure establishing one or more characteristics which the elevator control is to have with respect to controlling of the elevator installation during operation of the elevator installation. This embraces establishing actions and reactions which are controllable by the elevator control and relate to operation of the elevator installation.
The configuring enables consideration of specific operating parameters of the elevator installation and establishes the system behavior which the elevator control is to exhibit during operation of the elevator installation. Configuring usually takes place on one occasion prior to placing an elevator installation into operation. It can in a given case also be repeated at a later point in time, for example in order to change the system behavior of the elevator control. The latter can be relevant if the configuration of the elevator installation and/or of the elevator control has to be changed. This concerns, for example, the installation or demounting of components which in operation of the elevator installation are subject to or shall be subject to the control of the elevator control, or the installing (implementing) or deinstallation of program modules which are suitable for controlling the elevator installation and which—when installed—represent a realization of control options of the elevator control. So that a change of that kind in the configuration is effective in operation of the elevator installation, a renewed configuring of the elevator control is usually carried out in order to adapt the elevator control to the changed situation. In this case configuring has to comprise at least such measures which specify the required changes in the system behavior of the elevator control.
The system behavior of an installed and already configured elevator control of an elevator installation can be subsequently changed within a certain scope even when the implementation of functions in the elevator control remains unchanged. For this purpose it is merely necessary to undertake a renewed configuring of the elevator control in accordance with a changed specification of the elevator installation. In this manner the elevator control can be appropriately adapted to changed requirements of the system behavior, for example after modernization of the elevator installation, without constructional changes in the elevator control itself being necessary.
A method and device for installing or operating an elevator control is disclosed in European patent document EP 0 857 684 A1. The configuring of the elevator control of an elevator installation takes place, after installation of the elevator installation, with the help of a memory card which contains in a memory element all control data necessary for operating the elevator installation, i.e. particularly programs and/or data for controlling the elevator installation and for configuring the elevator control. The memory card is inserted into the elevator control. Specific special functions and options, for example operation for handicapped persons, operation for VIPs, an energy-saving mode or a fire protection system, are selectably activated by the memory card and are thus available to the control during operation of the elevator installation. If after placing of the elevator installation in operation other control options for operation of the elevator installation are to be made available, the memory card then has to be replaced by another memory card with a memory element which contains the control data suitable for activation of the desired control options. For every desired change, a person has to visit the elevator installation each time in order to insert the new memory card into the elevator control. This is costly when changes have to be undertaken frequently or even routinely, for example, when specific control options are to be made available merely for a limited period of time for controlling during operation of the installation or when operation of elevator controls is carried out on the basis of a contract of limited term or maintenance of elevator installations takes place on the basis of a maintenance contract of limited term.
The present invention has the advantage of creating a method of operating an elevator installation, and of creating an elevator control, in such a manner that a selective change in control operations after placing the elevator installation in operation is possible at a low cost.

Method of operating an elevator installation providing at least one optional function, an elevator control and an elevator installation therefor


A shaft on which a restraint belt is wound is rotatably mounted in the side walls of a U-shaped frame. A driving hub mounted on the shaft drives a locking hub through a clutch formed of ball bearings mounted in recesses in the faces of the hubs. Belt payout rotation of the shaft at a predetermined acceleration will cause the locking hub to rotationally lag. This causes the locking hub to move axially and further causes locking teeth on said locking hub to engage holes in the sidewall of the frame. This prevents further rotation until the belt extension load on the belt is removed.

Vehicle safety belts typically include a retractor mechanism which causes the belt to automatically wind onto a spring loaded reel when not in use. The retractor also insures that the belt remains flush against the person's body as the person changes seated positions, thus allowing the person to move freely without having to manually adjust the belt. In order to secure the person in the event of an emergency, the retractor also has a locking mechanism which senses the emergency condition and locks the reel, thus preventing further extension of the belt and keeping the person secured against the seat.
Typically a retractor responds in an emergency situation by sensing the deceleration of the vehicle, or the rotational acceleration of the reel. In an example of an acceleration sensing mechanism a freely rotating inertia element senses the belt unwinding, angular acceleration of the reel. As the reel accelerates, the rotation of the inertia element lags behind the rotation of the reel assembly. The relative change in position causes the inertia element to move a locking or braking mechanism into position and brake the reel. Some retractors, have locking means which respond to both the acceleration of the belt and the deceleration of the vehicle.
The locking mechanism in some prior art involves a ratchet attached to one or both sides of the reel which is surrounded by teeth. There is also either a bar or a pawl which is capable of locking the reel by engaging the ratchet teeth, and which moves into this locking position upon sensing the emergency condition. The ratchet teeth may be located either on the radial interior or exterior relative to the retractor housing. That is, the ratchet may be designed as a wheel with teeth pointing outward on the outside of the wheel or as a ring with teeth pointing inward on the inner circumference of the ring. Inwardly extending teeth or locking elements offer certain advantages, but such systems have other complexities concerning the mounting of components.


A packaged orthodontic assembly includes a container with a chamber and an orthodontic appliance received in the chamber. A quantity of a first orthodontic adhesive material is applied by the manufacturer to the base of the orthodontic appliance. A second orthodontic adhesive material is also received in the chamber in initially spaced relationship to the first orthodontic adhesive material. The practitioner can elect to bring the first orthodontic adhesive material into contact with the second orthodontic adhesive material when desired.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention broadly relates to orthodontic appliances and adhesive materials that are applied to a patient's teeth during the course of orthodontic treatment. More particularly, the present invention relates to packaged assemblies that include one or more orthodontic appliances and adhesive materials for use in moving the patient's teeth to desired positions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Orthodontic treatment involves movement of malpositioned teeth to orthodontically correct positions. Tiny orthodontic appliances known as brackets are connected to exterior surfaces of the patient's teeth, and an archwire is placed in a slot of each bracket. The archwire forms a track to guide movement of the teeth to desired positions for correct occlusion. End sections of the archwire are often received in appliances known as buccal tubes that are fixed to the patient's molar teeth.
In recent years it has become common practice to use adhesives to bond orthodontic appliances to the enamel surfaces of the teeth, using either a direct bonding method or an indirect bonding method. Often, the adhesive is applied to the base of the appliance by the practitioner immediately before the appliance is placed on the tooth. In some instances, a quantity of adhesive is dispensed onto a mixing pad or dispensing well, and a small spatula or other hand instrument is then used to apply a small dab of adhesive to each appliance. In other instances, a quantity of adhesive is dispensed from a syringe directly onto the base of the appliance.
Adhesive precoated brackets are known and offer significant advantages to the orthodontist. Adhesive precoated brackets have a bonding base upon which the manufacturer applies a precise quantity of adhesive, such as a photocurable adhesive. In direct bonding methods, when it is desired to mount an adhesive precoated bracket on a tooth, the bracket is simply removed from the package and placed directly onto the tooth. For indirect bonding methods, brackets are removed from the package and placed, for example, on a replica plaster or "stone" model of the patient's dental arch to provide a custom base for later mounting on the patient's tooth, commonly using a transfer tray or indirect bonding tray.
Adhesive precoated orthodontic appliances are often packaged in containers that protect the adhesive from light, moisture and contaminates. Known containers include containers that receive only a single appliance. The adhesive is coated by the manufacturer onto the base of the appliance and often rests on a release surface within the container. The release surface has properties that facilitate disengagement from the adhesive when the appliance is lifted from the container without unduly disturbing the overall shape of the adhesive.
However, in some instances a practitioner may prefer to use an amount of orthodontic adhesive that is different than the amount of adhesive applied to the base of the appliances by the manufacturer. For example, some practitioners prefer to bond appliances with a relatively small amount of adhesive so that less time is spent removing the adhesive "flash" that extrudes from the base of the appliance as the appliance is pressed onto the tooth surface. Other practitioners, by contrast, prefer to use a larger amount of adhesive when bonding appliances to help ensure that there are no gaps or voids between the base of the appliance and the patient's tooth enamel once the appliance is placed onto the surface of the tooth.
In addition, efforts have long been underway to develop new orthodontic adhesives with improved functional properties. Examples of such properties include sustained fluoride release, moisture tolerance and color-changing characteristics. Unfortunately, the use of some adhesives with conventional orthodontic packaging is not entirely satisfactory because the shelf life of the resultant assembly is relatively short. As can be appreciated, it would be a significant advantage to provide a packaging construction for precoated appliances that can be used with a number of different adhesive materials.

Packaged orthodontic appliance and adhesive material


The following procedures describe the use of cellular telephones and other analog or digital wireless communication devices to conduct transactions and activities. These procedures effectively allow such devices to function as an electronic wallet, a wireless PIN Pad, and a contactless Smart Card.

The present invention relates to methods of using a cellular phone or other wireless communication device to transfer funds between accounts, collect tolls and authorize other activities.
Prior to the present invention, cellular phones and/or other wireless communication devices have been used in a variety of different procedures involving the transfer of funds between different accounts. These procedures leave something to be desired in that they are unduly complicated and less convenient and/or less secure.

Wireless telephony for collecting tolls, conducting financial transactions, and authorizing other activities


A metal detector detects when a target that is a desirable metal object is located within a medium. A signal is transmitted into the medium. A response signal is received from the medium. The response signal includes a secondary medium response signal from the medium and includes a secondary target response signal from the target when the target is located within the medium. The response signal is amplified to produce an amplified signal. Compensation circuitry perform transmit coil transfer function compensation on the amplified signal to produce a compensated signal. A notch module removes a resistive component of the secondary medium response signal from the compensated signal. A signal vector resistive component demodulator produces a vector resistive component output signal from output of the notch module. A vector reactive component demodulator produces a vector reactive component output signal from the output of the notch module. Output from the signal vector resistive component demodulator and the signal vector reactive component demodulator is digitized to produce digital signals. A digital signal processor processes the digital signals.

Metal detectors exist in a variety of forms and are designed to detect desirable metal objects, herein referred to as targets. These include hand-held battery operated metal detectors, vehicle mounted metal detectors, walk through metal detectors and so on. A typical metal detector has a search sensor composed of a transmit coil and a receive coil. In some metal detectors a single coil acts as both the transmit coil and the receive coil. The transmit coil generates a time-varying magnetic field signal which excites various targets such as coins, mines, artifacts and so on that are buried in mediums such as soil, salt water beaches, clay, black sand and so on. In response to a transmitted magnetic field signal, targets generate secondary magnetic fields. Further, a medium that is conductive, magnetic, or conductive and magnetic will also generate its own secondary magnetic field in response to the transmitted magnetic field signal. The physics is well noun.
The receive coil picks up a response signal that is a function of the sum of the secondary magnetic fields from the target and the medium. Signal processing on the response signal is performed to produce an alert output to an operator to indicate when a desirable target is detected.
The parameters of the response signal are affected by a variety of factors including target and medium transfer functions, distance from the search sensor, parameters of search sensor coils, generated transmit magnetic field, and frequency of transmit signal and so on. The parameters of search sensor coils include, for example dimensions of the coils, number of turns, coil DC resistance and so on.


A power controller capable of controling electric loads accurately and stably is described, which is to regulate the power supply of the electric load and to reform it to be rectangular electric pressure pulse and is characterized by having current mirror circuit, comparators, condensor and voltage follower.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power controller which can accurately and stably control electric loads such as the power consumption of electric heat and light facilities.
(2) Prior Art
Generally, the power consumption can not be accurately and stably controlled, because no such controller as disclosed in this invention has been adopted.
Consequently, how to control power consumption stably and accurately is a problem to be studied and solved with efforts.
The present invention is a result of such efforts, which is capable to control power accurately and stably.


Methods and arrangements to correct for double rounding errors when rounding floating point numbers to nearest even are described. Embodiments include transformations, code, state machines or other logic to perform a floating point operation on one or more floating point numbers of precision P1 in base b, producing positive result res0 of precision greater than precision P1; rounding positive result res0 to precision P1 to the nearest even, producing positive result res1; and rounding the result res1 to precision P2 to the nearest even, where P2 is narrower than P1, producing result res2. The embodiments may also include correcting res2 for double rounding errors. The correcting may include determining that res1 is midway between two consecutive floating point numbers of precision P1, the larger (smaller) being res2, determining that rounding res0 to produce res1 involved rounding up (down), and decrementing (incrementing) the significand of res2 to obtain the corrected result res2′.

The DRAFT Standard for Floating-Point Arithmetic IEEE P754 (Oct. 5, 2007) mandates standards for performing floating point operations on a set of numbers to produce a result in one precision and rounding the results down to another precision. Existing floating point implementations may produce an incorrect result, a double rounding error, if they perform the combined operation in two steps—the first operation followed by the rounding. Implementing the combined operation by starting anew may prove burdensome.


A microplate reader includes multiple light projecting/receiving units, the number of the light projecting/receiving units being equal to or greater than the number of wells of the microplate, each light projecting/receiving unit including a light projecting unit and a light receiving unit that correspond to one of the wells of the microplate; a reflection member configured to reflect light having passed through samples stored in the wells from the light projecting/receiving units to the light projecting/receiving units; and a light guide part including projecting-light guide paths each configured to guide the light emitted from the light projecting unit to the sample, receiving-light guide paths each configured to guide the light reflected by the reflection member and having passed through the sample to the light receiving unit, and a surrounding member including a pigment-containing resin surrounding the projecting-light guide paths and the receiving-light guide paths.

Conventionally, reagent separation, synthesis, extraction, analysis, cell culture, etc. have been performed using a flat microplate made of, for example, acrylic, polyethylene, polystyrene, glass, etc., provided with a number of recesses (wells). For example, a microplate is used for measurements (for example, measurements using the ELISA method) for an antibody-antigen reaction (enzyme immune reaction) generated by injecting a reagent containing an antigen into each well in which an antibody is immobilized.
For the sample stored in each well of the microplate, for example, optical properties of the sample are measured. This measurement is performed by a microplate reader that is a measurement device for performing optical measurements on samples. The microplate reader can measure optical properties, such as absorption, fluorescence, chemiluminescence, and fluorescence polarization.
As an example of a conventional microplate reader, there is a technique described in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2014-41121). The microplate reader described in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2014-41121) includes an optical measuring/detecting device (measuring head) that irradiates samples with light and observes light emission from the irradiated samples for optical measurement. Light irradiation from the measuring head to the microplate is performed from below the wells of the microplate, and the measuring head measures the observation light emitted above the wells. The measuring head is stationary, whereas the microplate is traversed in two dimensional directions (X direction and Y direction) by a driving mechanism in the microplate reader so that each well is positioned on the detection axis (axis perpendicular to the microplate, Z axis).
Patent Document 2 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-103480) discloses a microplate reader that is miniaturized so as to be portable. The microplate reader described in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2009-103480) has a space into which a microplate having eight wells arranged in a row can be inserted, the space being formed such that the microplate can slide. The microplate reader has a configuration in which light is irradiated on samples stored in the wells from a position above the space and the upper surface of the microplate having the wells. A photodiode for detecting light having exited from the samples is provided in a lower portion of the space. The microplate reader executes optical measurement while sliding the microplate in the space.

KYUSHU UNIVERSITY, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CORPORATION


A control device is applied to a vehicle having a motor with a rotary shaft connected to a drive shaft of the vehicle, a rotational position detector to detect a rotational position of the rotary shaft of the motor, and a battery. The control device performs a procedure for obtaining an offset amount in response to a request for obtaining the offset amount, store the obtained offset amount, and keep the stored offset amount without relying on electric power supplied from the battery, which offset amount is a difference between a detected rotational position of the rotary shaft with the rotational position detector and an actual rotational position of the rotary shaft. The control device is configured to find an occurrence of the request for obtaining the offset amount when battery is dismounted from the vehicle.

Various types of vehicles with the motor as the drive source to generate drive force to run the vehicles (for example, hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles) are conventionally designed. In particular, for example, the hybrid vehicle drives by the configuration of transmitting torque generated from one or both of the motor and an internal combustion engine toward a drive shaft connected with drive wheels.
On this kind of motor, the rotational position of the rotary shaft is detected with a rotational position detector in order to control the amount of torque generated on the rotary shaft and the rotational speed of the rotary shaft so as to be appropriate values according to operational statuses of the vehicle. However, the rotational position of the rotary shaft detected with the rotational position detector does not necessarily match to the actual rotational position of the rotary shaft in general, due to variations in mounting position of the motor and the rotational position detector on the vehicle and variations when manufacturing the motor and the rotational position detector themselves.
For this reason, the motor is operated while considering the difference between the rotational position of the rotary shaft detected with the rotational position detector and the actual rotational position thereof (hereinafter referred to as "offset amount") on the vehicle with this kind of motor.
One of conventional control device for vehicle (hereinafter referred to as "conventional device"), for example, is applied to a vehicle that has a transmission integrally composed of a motor and a rotational position detector (resolver), and stores an offset amount in a storage device installed in the transmission, which offset amount was obtained in advance (for example, see the patent literature 1).
In cases where a failure of the motor, etc. occurs in the vehicle with the conventional device, the whole of the transmission is dismounted from the vehicle. Next, when the motor is replaced or repaired, the offset amount of the rotational position detector is obtained by a predetermined method (a method to obtain the offset amount), and the obtained offset amount is stored in the storage device before the transmission is mounted in the vehicle. After that, the transmission is mounted in the vehicle. Thereby, the conventional device can store an appropriate offset amount in the storage device even when the motor is replaced or repaired. As described above, an appropriate offset amount has been desired to be recognized, even in the case that a member having an impact on the offset amount of the rotational position detector (the motor of the conventional device) is in need of replacement or the like.


An aircraft air conditioning system comprising an ambient air line, for ambient air to flow through, connected to supply ambient air to a mixer of the aircraft air conditioning system. An ambient air compressor is arranged in the ambient air line for compressing the ambient air flowing there through. A refrigerating apparatus comprises a refrigerant circuit for a refrigerant to flow through, including a refrigerant compressor arranged in the refrigerant circuit. The refrigerant circuit is coupled thermally to the ambient air line to transfer heat from the ambient air to the refrigerant before the ambient air is supplied to the mixer. A cabin exhaust air turbine is connected to a cabin exhaust air line, is coupled to the ambient air compressor arranged in the ambient air line, and is configured to expand the cabin exhaust air flowing through the cabin exhaust air line and to drive the ambient air compressor.

The invention relates to an aircraft air conditioning system and a method for operating an aircraft air conditioning system.
An aircraft air conditioning system is used to adjust and maintain a desired pressure, a desired temperature and a desired air humidity in an aircraft cabin. Furthermore, the aircraft air conditioning system supplies adequate fresh air to the aircraft cabin to ensure that a prescribed minimum amount of fresh air is present in the aircraft cabin. From EP 2 735 510 A1 and US 2014/0144163 A1 an aircraft air conditioning system is known in which a refrigerating apparatus operated using a two-phase refrigerant is used to cool ambient air compressed by a multistage compressor. The refrigerating apparatus comprises a refrigerant circuit, arranged in which are a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve and an evaporator, through which ambient air that is to be cooled flows. Bleed air taken from an engine or an auxiliary engine of the aircraft is used to drive the compressor of the refrigerating apparatus and to drive the multistage compressor for compressing the ambient air.

Aircraft air conditioning system with a cabin exhaust air turbine


A catalyst composition comprising at least one first support, at least one first precious metal component, at least one second support, and at least one second precious metal component. The total amount of the first precious metal component comprises from 1 to 99 weight percent based on the total of the first and second precious metal components. The average particle size of the second support is greater than the average particle size of the first support. The present invention includes a method to prepare the catalyst composition and a method to use the catalyst composition as a three-way catalyst. The composition results in a coated layer from a slurry where the more supported first precious metal component is in the bottom half and more supported second precious metal component is in the top half.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a catalyst composition useful for the treatment of gases to reduce contaminants contained therein and method process to make the catalyst composition. More specifically, the present invention is concerned with improved catalysts of the type generally referred to as "three-way conversion" or "TWC" catalysts. These TWC catalysts are polyfunctional in that they have the capability of substantially simultaneously catalyzing the oxidation of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide and the reduction of nitrogen oxides.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Three-way conversion catalysts (TWC) have utility in a number of fields including the treatment of exhaust from internal combustion engines, such as automobile and other gasoline-fueled engines. Emissions standards for unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides contaminants have been set by various governments and must be met, for example, by new automobiles. In order to meet such standards, catalytic converters containing a TWC catalyst are located in the exhaust gas line of internal combustion engines. The catalysts promote the oxidation by oxygen in the exhaust gas of the unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide and the reduction of nitrogen oxides to nitrogen.
Known TWC catalysts which exhibit good activity and long life comprise one or more platinum group metals (e.g., platinum or palladium, rhodium, ruthenium and iridium) located upon a high surface area, refractory oxide support, e.g., a high surface area alumina coating. The support is carried on a suitable carrier or substrate such as a monolithic carrier comprising a refractory ceramic or metal honeycomb structure, or refractory particles such as spheres or short, extruded segments of a suitable refractory material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,860 relates to the manufacture of catalyst structures. The catalyst composition can contain platinum group metals, base metals, rare earth metals and refractory, such as alumina support. The composition can be deposited on a relatively inert carrier such as a honeycomb.
High surface area alumina support materials, also referred to as "gamma alumina" or "activated alumina", typically exhibit a BET surface area in excess of 60 square meters per gram ("m.sup.2 /g"), often up to about 200 m.sup.2 /g or more. Such activated alumina is usually a mixture of the gamma and delta phases of alumina, but may also contain substantial amounts of eta, kappa and theta alumina phases. It is known to utilize refractory metal oxides other than activated alumina as a support for at least some of the catalytic components in a given catalyst. For example, bulk ceria, zirconia, alpha alumina and other materials are known for such use. Although many of these materials suffer from the disadvantage of having a considerably lower BET surface area than activated alumina, that disadvantage tends to be offset by a greater durability of the resulting catalyst.
In a moving vehicle, exhaust gas temperatures can reach 1000.degree. C. or higher, and such elevated temperatures cause the activated alumina (or other) support material to undergo thermal degradation caused by a phase transition with accompanying volume shrinkage, especially in the presence of steam, whereby the catalytic metal becomes occluded in the shrunken support medium with a loss of exposed catalyst surface area and a corresponding decrease in catalytic activity. It is a known expedient in the art to stabilize alumina supports against such thermal degradation by the use of materials such as zirconia, titania, alkaline earth metal oxides such as baria, calcia or strontia or rare earth metal oxides, such as ceria, lanthana and mixtures of two or more rare earth metal oxides. For example, see C. D. Keith et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,288.
Bulk cerium oxide (ceria) is disclosed to provide an excellent refractory oxide support for platinum group metals other than rhodium, and enables the attainment of highly dispersed, small crystallites of platinum on the ceria particles, and that the bulk ceria may be stabilized by impregnation with a solution of an aluminum compound, followed by calcination. U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,694 of C. Z. Wan et al, discloses aluminum-stabilized bulk ceria, optionally combined with an activated alumina, to serve as a refractory oxide support for platinum group metal components impregnated thereon. The use of bulk ceria as a catalyst support for platinum group metal catalysts other than rhodium, is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,052 of C. Z. Wan et al and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,946 of Ohata et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,564 discloses a catalyst for the purification of exhaust gases having improved durability which comprises a support substrate, a catalyst carrier layer formed on the support substrate and catalyst ingredients carried on the catalyst carrier layer. The catalyst carrier layer comprises oxides of lanthanum and cerium in which the molar fraction of lanthanum atoms to total rare earth atoms is 0.05 to 0.20 and the ratio of the number of the total rare earth atoms to the number of aluminum atoms is 0.05 to 0.25.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,219 discloses an alumina supported catalyst for use on a substrate. The catalyst is stable at high temperatures. The stabilizing material is disclosed to be one of several compounds including those derived from barium, silicon, rare earth metals, alkali and alkaline earth metals, boron, thorium, hafnium and zirconium. Of the stabilizing materials barium oxide, silicon dioxide and rare earth oxides which include lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, and others are indicated to be preferred. It is disclosed that contacting them with a calcined alumina film permits the calcined alumina film to retain a high surface area at higher temperatures.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,476,246, 4,591,578 and 4,591,580 disclose three-way catalyst compositions comprising alumina, ceria, an alkali metal oxide promoter and noble metals. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,993,572 and 4,157,316 represent attempts to improve the catalyst efficiency of Pt/Rh based TWC systems by incorporating a variety of metal oxides, e.g., rare earth metal oxides such as ceria and base metal oxides such as nickel oxides. U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,518 discloses a catalyst comprising an alumina support with components deposited thereon consisting essentially of a lanthana component, ceria, an alkali metal oxide and a platinum group metal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,580 discloses an alumina supported platinum group metal catalyst. The support is sequentially modified to include support stabilization by lanthana or lanthana rich rare earth oxides, double promotion by ceria and alkali metal oxides and optionally nickel oxide. Palladium containing catalyst compositions e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,940 have been found useful for high temperature applications. The combination of lanthanum and barium is found to provide a superior hydrothermal stabilization of alumina which supports the catalytic component, palladium.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,726 discloses a TWC catalyst composition containing platinum and rhodium obtained by impregnating a gamma alumina carrier material with an aqueous solution of cerium, zirconium and iron salts or mixing the alumina with oxides of, respectively, cerium, zirconium and iron, and then calcining the material at 500 to 700.degree. C. in air after which the material is impregnated with an aqueous solution of a salt of platinum and a salt of rhodium dried and subsequently treated in a hydrogen-containing gas at a temperature of 250-650.degree. C. The alumina may be thermally stabilized with calcium, strontium, magnesium or barium compounds. The ceria-zirconia-iron oxide treatment is followed by impregnating the treated carrier material with aqueous salts of platinum and rhodium and then calcining the impregnated material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,447 discloses a catalyst which is capable of controlling HC, CO and NO.sub.x as well as H.sub.2 S in emissions from the tailpipe of catalytic converter equipped automobiles. The use of the oxides of nickel and/or iron is disclosed as an H.sub.2 S gettering compound.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,243 discloses a method to improve thermal stability of a TWC catalyst containing precious metals by incorporating a barium compound and a zirconium compound together with ceria and alumina. This is disclosed to form a catalytic moiety to enhance stability of the alumina washcoat upon exposure to high temperature.
J01210032 (and AU-615721) discloses a catalytic composition comprising palladium, rhodium, active alumina, a cerium compound, a strontium compound and a zirconium compound. These patents suggest the utility of alkaline earth metals in combination with ceria, and zirconia to form a thermally stable alumina supported palladium containing washcoat.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,624,940 and 5,057,483 refer to ceria-zirconia containing particles. It is found that ceria can be dispersed homogeneously throughout the zirconia matrix up to 30 weight percent of the total weight of the ceria-zirconia composite to form a solid solution. A co-formed (e.g. co-precipitated) ceria-zirconia particulate composite can enhance the ceria utility in particles containing ceria-zirconia mixture. The ceria provides the zirconia stabilization and also acts as an oxygen storage component. The '483 patent discloses that neodymium and/or yttrium can be added to the ceria-zirconia composite to modify the resultant oxide properties as desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,598 discloses a process for producing a high temperature resistant TWC catalyst. The process includes forming an aqueous slurry of particles of gamma or other activated alumina and impregnating the alumina with soluble salts of selected metals including cerium, zirconium, at least one of iron and nickel and at least one of platinum, palladium and rhodium and, optionally, at least one of neodymium, lanthanum, and praseodymium. The impregnated alumina is calcined at 600.degree. C. and then dispersed in water to prepare a slurry which is coated on a honeycomb carrier and dried to obtain a finished catalyst.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,787,560, 3,676,370, 3,552,913, 3,545,917, 3,524,721 and 3,899,444 all disclose the use of neodymium oxide for use in reducing nitric oxide in exhaust gases of internal combustion engines. U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,444 in particular discloses that rare earth metals of the lanthanide series are useful with alumina to form an activated stabilized catalyst support when calcined at elevated temperatures. Such rare earth metals are disclosed to include lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium and others.
TWC catalyst systems comprising a carrier and two or more layers of refractory oxide are disclosed. One of the purposes of using catalysts having two or more layers is to isolate constituents of compositions in different layers to prevent interaction of the catalysts.
Recent disclosures regarding catalysts comprising two or more layers are included in U.S. Serial No. 08/645,985 and in European Patent Application Nos. 95/00235 and 95/35152.
In U.S. Ser. No. 08/645,985 a catalyst architecture is provided wherein there are two catalyst zones. The upstream zone begins to react oxidizable components and reducible components at a lower temperature than the downstream zone. Each zone can comprise a catalyst having at least one layer. This reference discloses the different functions of each layer and the desirability of having different constituents of each layer in intimate contact. European Patent Application No. 95/35152 discloses a TWC catalyst which comprises an inner and outer layer. Preferably, the inner layer comprises a palladium component while rhodium is in the second or outer layer.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 145381/1975 discloses a catalyst-supported structure for purifying exhaust gases comprising a thermally insulating ceramic carrier and at least two layers of catalyst containing alumina or zirconia, the catalysts in the catalyst containing alumina or zirconia layers being different from each other.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 105240/1982 discloses a catalyst for purifying exhaust gases containing at least two kinds of platinum-group metals. The catalyst comprises at least two carrier layers of a refractory metal oxide each containing a different platinum-group metal. There is a layer of a refractory metal oxide free from the platinum-group metal between the carrier layers and/or on the outside of these carrier layers.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 52530/1984 discloses a catalyst having a first porous carrier layer composed of an inorganic support and a heat-resistant noble metal-type catalyst deposited on the surface of the support and a second heat-resistant non-porous granular carrier layer having deposited thereon a noble metal-type catalyst, said second carrier layer being formed on the surface of the first carrier layer and having resistance to the catalyst poison.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 127649/1984 discloses a catalyst for purifying exhaust gases, comprising an inorganic carrier substrate such as cordierite, an alumina layer formed on the surface of the substrate and having deposited thereon at least one rare earth metal such as lanthanum and cerium and at least one of platinum and palladium, and a second layer formed on the aforesaid first alumina-based layer and having deposited thereon a base metal such as iron or nickel, and at least one rare earth metal such as lanthanum, and rhodium.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 19036/1985 discloses a catalyst for purifying exhaust gases having an enhanced ability to remove carbon monoxide at low temperatures, said catalyst comprising a substrate composed, for example, of cordierite and two layers of active alumina laminated to the surface of the substrate, the lower alumina layer containing platinum or vanadium deposited thereon, and the upper alumina layer containing rhodium and platinum, or rhodium and palladium, deposited thereon.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 31828/1985 discloses a catalyst for purifying exhaust gases, comprising a honeycomb carrier and a noble metal having a catalytic action for purifying exhaust gases, the carrier being covered with an inside and an outside alumina layer, the inside layer having more noble metal adsorbed thereon than the outside layer; and a process for production of this catalyst.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 232253/1985 discloses a monolithic catalyst for purifying exhaust gases being in the shape of a pillar and comprising a number of cells disposed from an exhaust gas inlet side toward an exhaust gas outlet side. An alumina layer is formed on the inner wall surface of each of the cells, and catalyst ingredients are deposited on the alumina layer. The alumina layer consists of a first alumina layer on the inside and a second alumina layer on the surface side, the first alumina layer having palladium and neodymium deposited thereon, and the second alumina layer having platinum and rhodium deposited thereon.
Japanese Kokai 71538/87 discloses a catalyst layer supported on a catalyst carrier and containing one catalyst component selected from the group consisting of platinum, palladium and rhodium. An alumina coat layer is provided on the catalyst layer. The coat layer contains one oxide selected from the group consisting of cerium oxide, nickel oxide, molybdenum oxide, iron oxide and at least one oxide of lanthanum and neodymium (1-10% by wt.).
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,956,188 and 4,021,185 disclose a catalyst composition having (a) a catalytically active, calcined composite of alumina, a rare earth metal oxide and a metal oxide selected from the group consisting of an oxide of chromium, tungsten, a group IVB metal and mixtures thereof and (b) a catalytically effective amount of a platinum group metal added thereto after calcination of said composite. The rare earth metals include cerium, lanthanum and neodymium.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,519, discloses a two layer catalyst structure having alumina, ceria and platinum on the inner layer and aluminum, zirconium and rhodium on the outer layer.
JP-88-240947 discloses a catalyst composite which includes an alumina layer containing ceria, ceria-doped alumina and at least one component selected from the group of platinum, palladium and rhodium. There is a second layer containing lanthanum-doped alumina, praseodymium-stabilized zirconium, and lanthanum oxide and at least one component selected from the group of palladium and rhodium. The two layers are placed on a catalyst carrier separately to form a catalyst for exhaust gas purification.
Japanese Patent J-63-205141-A discloses a layered automotive catalyst in which the bottom layer comprises platinum or platinum and rhodium dispersed on an alumina support containing rare earth oxides, and a top coat which comprises palladium and rhodium dispersed on a support comprising alumina, zirconia and rare earth oxides.
Japanese Patent J-63-077544-A discloses a layered automotive catalyst having a first layer comprising palladium dispersed on a support comprising alumina, lanthana and other rare earth oxides and a second coat comprising rhodium dispersed on a support comprising alumina, zirconia, lanthana and rare earth oxides.
Japanese Patent J-63-007895-A discloses an exhaust gas catalyst comprising two catalytic components, one comprising platinum dispersed on a refractory inorganic oxide support and a second comprising palladium and rhodium dispersed on a refractory inorganic oxide support.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,231 discloses a method of producing a monolithic three-way catalyst for the purification of exhaust gases. First, a mixed oxide coating is provided to a monolithic carrier by treating the carrier with a coating slip in which an active alumina powder containing cerium oxide is dispersed together with a ceria powder and then baking the treated carrier.
Next platinum, rhodium and/or palladium are deposited on the oxide coating by a thermal decomposition. Optionally, a zirconia powder may be added to the coating slip.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,842 discloses a catalytic composition for treating exhaust gases comprising a first support having dispersed thereon at least one oxygen storage component and at least one noble metal component, and having dispersed immediately thereon an overlayer comprising lanthanum oxide and optionally a second support. The layer of catalyst is separate from the lanthanum oxide. The noble metal can include platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium and iridium. The oxygen storage component can include the oxide of a metal from the group consisting of iron, nickel, cobalt and the rare earths. Illustrative of these are cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, praseodymium, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,483, referred to above, discloses a catalyst composition suitable for three-way conversion of internal combustion engine, e.g., automobile gasoline engine, exhaust gases and includes a catalytic material disposed in two discrete coats on a carrier. The first coat includes a stabilized alumina support on which a first platinum catalytic component is dispersed. The first coat also includes bulk ceria, and may also include bulk iron oxide, a metal oxide (such as bulk nickel oxide) which is effective for the suppression of hydrogen sulfide emissions, and one or both of baria and zirconia dispersed throughout as a thermal stabilizer. The second coat, which may comprise a top coat overlying the first coat, contains a co-formed (e.g., co-precipitated) rare earth oxide-zirconia support on which a first rhodium catalytic component is dispersed, and a second activated alumina support having a second platinum catalytic component dispersed thereon. The second coat may also include a second rhodium catalytic component, and optionally, a third platinum catalytic component, dispersed as an activated alumina support.
It is a continuing goal to develop a three-way catalyst system which is inexpensive and stable. At the same time the system should have the ability to oxidize hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide while reducing nitrogen oxides to nitrogen.


Embodiments of the invention may include a scanning device to scan three dimensional objects. The scanning device may generate a three dimensional model. The scanning device may also generate a texture map for the three dimensional model. Techniques utilized to generate the model or texture map may include tracking scanner position, generating depth maps of the object and generation composite image of the surface of the object.

Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the invention relate to scanning. Specifically, the embodiments relate to scanning three dimensional objects to generate a three dimensional representation of the objects.
Background
Scanning technology utilizes an image sensor to collect light reflected from an object to generate an image of the object. A mirror and lens system is combined with the imaging device to focus the light reflected by the object onto the image sensor. Image sensors convert light energy into an electrical charge and then to a set of bits representing the color and intensity of the light.
The image sensor may be one of a charge coupled device (CCD) and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS). These individual devices are typically arranged into an area array. The number of sensors, each representing a pixel (short for 'picture element'), determine the resolution of the image taken. A pixel is the smallest unit that makes up a digital image. A pixel can represent the shade and color of a portion of an image. The output of a set of image sensors is encoded as a set of pixels to create a digital image.
The digital image may be stored in a compressed format such as in a jpeg, tiff, or gif format. The image is then stored in a digital storage device and may be displayed on a monitor by a display application. The digital image is a two dimensional image.
Scanning devices are used in flatbed scanners and copying machines. These devices are large and capable of only scanning relatively flat objects such as paper to create two dimensional images of the object.

Hand held portable three dimensional scanner


Providing for summarization and analysis of audio content is described herein. By way of example, an oral conversation can be analyzed, such that points of interest within the oral conversation can be identified and file locations related to such points of interest can be marked. Points of interest can be inferred based on a level of energy, e.g., excitement, pitch, tone, pace, or the like, associated with one or more speakers. Alternatively, or in addition, speaker and/or reviewer activity can form the basis for identifying points of interest within the conversation. Moreover, a compilation of the identified points of interest and portions of the original oral conversation related thereto can be assembled. As described herein, audio content can be succinctly summarized with respect to inferred and/or indicated points of interest, to facilitate an efficient and pertinent review of such content.

Various multi-media providers offer diverse mechanisms with which to capture and/or record content. For instance, content can be captured via cameras, video cameras, audio recorders, and devices that can combine features of such recorders. Furthermore, as mechanisms for storing captured content have traversed from analog to digital realms, new paradigms for memorializing content, maintaining integrity of stored content, retrieval of such content and review of stored content have been experienced.
Recent focus has particularly been directed at review of saved content. For example, supply tools are now available for visualizing textual data, summarizing and condensing video and/or photographic data, and the like. Such tools have been useful for many educational and professional pursuits. For example, various professions require summarization and review of recorded media, such as auditory content, including, e.g., speech, conversation, musical works, and video content, including, e.g., live or simulated audio/visual events. For instance, physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists often record patient interviews to preserve information for later reference and to evaluate patient progress. Patent attorneys typically record inventor interviews so as to facilitate review of a disclosed invention while subsequently drafting a patent application. Broadcast news media is often recorded and reviewed to search for and filter conversations related to particular topics of interest. In general, along with a capacity for storing large quantities of distributed media, a need has arisen for reviewing and summarizing recorded media information.
Summarization can refer broadly to a shorter, more condensed version of some original set of information, which can preserve some meaning and context pertinent to the original set of information. Summaries of some types of information have received more attention than others. Particularly, visual and video content have been widely and persistently studied for mechanisms to identify and distinguish segments of interest. To a lesser degree, audio content has also received some attention toward facilitating review and summary of such content.
Review of audio content can be particularly useful as much information exchanged in verbal meetings can be lost. For example, while taking notes on a lecture using pen and paper, vast quantities of detail, not memorialized on such notes can be lost shortly after the lecture. Recording content from a meeting, whether face-to-face or over a remote communication platform (e.g., telephone, computer network, etc.) can be a valuable mechanism for preserving such content. However, difficulties can arise in regard to recordings as well, typically related to review of information. For example, scanning through hours of media recordings can take an amount of time commensurate with capturing the recording in the first place. Consequently, summaries that provide facilitated review of information can enhance efficiencies associated with such review.


Systems and methods for rendering a view-dependent texture in conjunction with a polygon mesh to provide a textured three-dimensional model of a geographic area are provided. The view-dependent texture can be optimized for viewing the three-dimensional model from a single reference direction. When a user navigates to a camera viewpoint of the three-dimensional model associated with the single reference direction, the view-dependent texture can be rendered in conjunction with the three-dimensional model to provide a more realistic representation of the geographic area to the user. When a user navigates to a camera viewpoint of the three-dimensional model that is not associated with the single reference direction, a base texture can be rendered in conjunction with the three-dimensional model. The base texture can be optimized based on viewing the three-dimensional model from a plurality of differing viewpoints.

Geographic information systems provide for the archiving, retrieving, and manipulating of data that has been stored and indexed according to geographic coordinates of its elements. A geographic information system can be used for storing, manipulating, and displaying a graphical representation of a three-dimensional model of a geographic area. An interactive geographic information system can present the three-dimensional model of the geographic area to a user in a suitable user interface, such as a browser. A user can navigate the three-dimensional model by controlling a virtual camera that specifies what portion of the three-dimensional model is rendered and presented to a user.
The three-dimensional model can include a polygon mesh, such as a triangle mesh, used to model the geometry (e.g. terrain, buildings, and other objects) of the geographic area. Geographic imagery, such as aerial or satellite imagery, can be texture mapped to the three-dimensional model so that the three-dimensional model provides a more accurate and realistic representation of the scene. Typically, a single base texture is texture mapped to the polygon mesh regardless of the viewpoint of three-dimensional model. The single base texture can be optimized based on viewing the three-dimensional model from a plurality of differing viewpoints for the scene. For instance, the geographic imagery mapped to each polygon face (e.g. triangle face) in the polygon mesh can be selected according to a selection mechanism or algorithm that favors geographic imagery with a direct or near direct view of the polygon face. Given the varying orientations of the polygon faces in the mesh, the base texture typically is generated from base textures associated with a plurality of different view directions.
While the use of a single base texture can provide a realistic view of the three-dimensional model, certain visual artifacts can result from rendering a base texture optimized based on a plurality of different viewpoints in conjunction with the three-dimensional model. For instance, anomalies in the polygon mesh can become more readily apparent, in some cases giving the three-dimensional model a melted appearance. In addition, objects that are two small or too thin (e.g. cars, flag poles, streetlights, etc.) to be represented in the polygon mesh can lose their three-dimensional appearance.

View-dependent textures for interactive geographic information system


A power supply for electronic timepieces is constituted of a mechanical power generating section (1), a power storing section (30) composed of a large-capacity secondary battery which stores power generated by the section (1), a voltage detecting section (4) which detects the voltage at the section (30), an overcharging preventive section (5) which is controlled by the section (4) and permits the electric current generated by the section (1) to flow therethrough, a diode (2) connected between the sections (1 and 5), and a switching transistor (7) which is connected between the sections (5 and 30), and turned off when the section (5) starts to discharge so as to improve the voltage resistance and charging efficiency.

In the past, an electronic timepiece which is operated by electric energy converted from mechanical energy generated by the rotation of an eccentric weight was developed and produced commercially. Also, a power supply unit used for an electronic timepiece is proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 52229/1995.
FIG. 3 is a view of a circuit block diagram of a power supply unit for a conventional electronic timepiece.
In FIG. 3, a power generating section 1 comprises a rotating means 11 composed of an eccentric weight or the like, an accelerating oscillating wheel 12 for accelerating the rotation of the rotating means 11, a rotor 13, a generating coil 14 which generates an AC current corresponding to the rotation of the rotor 13, and the like. A diode 2 rectifies the AC current generated by the generating coil 4 and prevents the reversal of the flow of current from a battery section 3 illustrated below.
Also, a voltage detecting section 4 outputs a signal when the potential of the battery section 3 exceeds a prescribed value. An overcharging preventive section 5 is operated by the signal from the voltage detecting section 4 to prevent overcharge exceeding the withstand voltage of the battery section 3. In this case, the battery section 3, which is composed of a condenser with a large capacity, accumulates the electric power generated by the generating coil 14 and outputs this electric power to a timepiece circuit 6.
In the power supply unit of this conventional electronic timepiece, when the rotating means 11 such as an eccentric weight or the like installed in a wrist timepiece is rotated corresponding to the hand shaking action of the user, the rotation is accelerated by the accelerating wheel 12 and transferred to the rotor 13. The rotor 13 is composed of a permanent magnet, which is rotated to generate an AC current in the generating coil 14. This AC current is rectified by the diode 2 and accumulated in the large-capacity condenser 3 used as an power storing section. This accumulated power allows the timepiece circuit 6 to operate, thus driving the electronic timepiece.
Then, sufficient electric power is stored in the large capacity condenser 3. When the electric power exceeds the prescribed voltage (for example, 2.5 V), the voltage detecting section 4 outputs a detection signal at an "L" level to operate the overcharging preventive section 5 composed of a PMOS transistor. In this manner, the AC current generated in the power generating section 1 is discharged from the overcharging preventive section 5 so that it is not accumulated in the large capacity condenser 3.
Therefore, the potential of the large-capacity condenser 3 never exceeds the prescribed value and hence the breakdown of the condenser 3 caused by high voltage is prevented. Here, the overcharging preventive section 5 is disposed closer to the battery section 3 than the position of the diode 2 to avoid the breakdown caused by high voltage when the diode 2 generates a reverse current. Generally, the maximum AC current generated by the generating coil 14 is in the order of tens of mA. Therefore, in order for the overcharging preventive section 5 to function sufficiently, the resistance of the overcharging preventive section 5 in operation is required to be in the order of tens of ohms in the case where the withstanding voltage of the large capacity condenser 3 is in the order of 2.5 V.
A titanium-lithium ion secondary battery with a large capacity (hereinafter called "secondary battery") has recently been utilized as the battery section instead of the large-capacity condenser. However, because the internal resistance of this titanium-lithium ion secondary battery is as large as tens to hundreds of ohms, the potential of the secondary battery exceeds the prescribed value if the secondary battery is used for conventional electronic timepieces as shown in FIG. 3.
Accordingly, if the resistance of the overcharging preventive section 5 is in the order of tens of ohms, as is conventional when the overcharging preventive section 5 starts discharging the current generated from the generating coil 14, the overcharging preventive section 5 exhibits a voltage drop across the internal resistance of the secondary battery. As a result, the voltage detecting section 4 indicates its inability to output a detection signal whereby the action of the overcharging preventive section 5 is suspended.
Then, if the action of the overcharging preventive section 5 stops, the potential of the secondary battery is allowed to ascend. The voltage detecting section 4 detects an excess of voltage to allow the overcharging preventive section 5 to start the action again. Specifically, the above procedures are repeated only by substituting the large capacity condenser for the battery section in the conventional units with a large-capacity titanium-lithium ion secondary battery. This causes an intermittent discharge action, resulting in insufficient discharge. Also, the voltage supplied to the timepiece circuit 6 is unstable resulting in fear of hindrance to the action of the timepiece.
On the other hand, a power supply unit of an electronic wrist timepiece proposed in Japanese Patent Applications Laid-open No. 236332/1986 and No. 324166/1994 has a structure in which, as shown in FIG. 4, a first diode 41 for preventing a reverse current is connected in series between a power generating section 1 and a secondary battery 3, and a second diode 42 for preventing a reverse current is connected in series with a MOS transistor 5 used as an overcharging preventive section.
This conventional technology indicates its ability to prevent the erroneous detection of the voltage caused by the internal resistance of the secondary battery by turning on the MOS transistor and developing a short across the power generating section when the potential of the secondary battery is detected. Also, the diode 42 prevents the reverse current caused by a parasitic diode created in the MOS transistor 5 to avoid a reduction in generating efficiency of the AC current generating section.
Incidentally, when the rotating means 11 constituted of an eccentric weight or the like is used to generate electric power, there is the case where an extremely large voltage is generated by rapid rotation of the eccentric weight. In the case of using a conventional power supply unit, there is the problem that diodes which can withstand high voltage must be used as the diodes 41 and 42 for preventing a reverse current flow.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a power supply unit for an electronic timepiece, operated by generating an AC voltage by a power generating section using a rotating means constituted of an eccentric weight or the like and by charging a battery section such as titanium-lithium ion secondary battery or the like which has a large capacity and a comparatively large internal resistance, wherein the power supply unit uses only one diode, which withstands high voltage, and is superior in charging efficiency.


The problem of mura in large area photomasks is solved or at least reduced by setting up a writing system to write a pattern with high accuracy and with the optical axes essentially parallel to the movement axes of the stage, then writing photomasks in two passes with the substrate rotated to different angles on the stage. The angle between the orientation of the first and second pass is larger than about 10 degrees, larger than about 20 degrees or larger than about 35 degrees and it can be approximately 10 degrees, approximately 50 degrees, approximately 60 degrees or approximately 90 degrees. The substrate is physically rotated on the stage and aligned with high accuracy after the rotation and the data driving the first and second exposure passes are derived from the first input data specification but processed according to the known oblique angles, so that the second pass is accurately overlaid on the first pass.

It is known that the writing of photomasks for visible displays and imaging camera devices is prone to defects called "mura", i.e. stripes and moiré patterns which come from interactions between the pattern and the writing hardware. Grid snap, small imperfections in the writing system and rasterizing artifacts may give rise to systematic errors that show up as intensity or color bands, stripes or curves in the finished product. Writing with the hardware, e.g. pixel grid and stage movements, parallel to the repeating directions of the mask pattern is considered to give predictable and reliable writing properties. However, at the same time it is prone to mura.
In FIGS. 1A-1B, a single pixel 104 with a defect in the writing hardware may define defective stripes 114. A defective stripe 114 may define an edge 112 of a column 106 of features 110 in the mask pattern and a nearby column of features may be defined by different pixels 102 not including the single pixel 104 with a defect. If the pixels are not identical, e.g. having different exposure energy, the two columns may be visibly different. FIG. 1A shows a scan line 100 in a laser scanner with pixels 102 and a pixel 104 with a defect. FIG. 1B shows how this defective pixel gives defective stripes 114 in a regular pattern. The customary remedy is to adapt the writing so that the same pixel is used for every equivalent edge, so-called scan length adaption. There are cases when it is difficult to use this type of adaption, such as when there are features with several pitches in the mask pattern, where the features are not forming straight lines, or when the throughput loss associated with scan length adaption is unaffordable. It has been proposed by the same inventor to write the pattern obliquely by employing a writer with the hardware axes rotated relative to the stage. With writing at oblique angles multiple pixels in the writing hardware contributes to any feature edge and other edges use the same or other pixels in a less repetitive manner. Thus systematic errors are thus reduced and mura is suppressed.
In the case of a one-dimensional writing mechanism such as a laser scanner or a one-dimensional spatial light modulator there is an asymmetry between primary axis, the direction along and the secondary direction across the direction of the scan line or spatial light modulator. The same inventor has proposed writing a pattern in two passes with rotated primary axes in order to make the asymmetry between the primary and secondary axes less pronounced. See U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/314,063 entitled "CRISS-CROSS WRITING STRATEGY" (MLSE 1118-2, P00377), incorporated by reference.
The current application teaches a practical method for reducing mura without building the system with oblique movements or an oblique writing head. The technology disclosed can therefore be used in a standard writing system with small changes and the use of the technology disclosed can be interspersed with writing operations without using it, e.g. in single pass writing.

Method and device for writing photomasks with reduced mura errors


A chain (endless flexible member) is looped over an input pulley and an output pulley. Each of the input pulley and the output pulley includes a pair of a fixed sheave and a movable sheave. The fixed sheave and the movable sheave have tapered faces that are opposed to each other to define a V-shaped groove. A vibration damping plate (vibration damping member) is fixed to each fixed sheave, and is in contact with the outer peripheral face of the fixed sheave. When the fixed sheave vibrates, the vibrations are damped by the friction between the outer peripheral face of the fixed shave and the vibration damping plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a continuously variable transmission including two pulleys each having a V-shaped groove with a variable width and an endless flexible member looped over the two pulleys, and more specifically to the structure of the continuously variable transmission.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a conventional continuously variable transmission including two pulleys each having a V-shaped groove with a variable width and an endless flexible member, such as a belt or a chain, which is looped over the two pulleys. Each of the pulleys has a pair of sheaves each having a tapered face, and the tapered faces of the sheaves are opposed to each other to define a V-shaped groove. The endless flexible member is looped over the two pulleys so as to be fitted in the V-shaped grooves of the pulleys. Thus, the rotation of one of the pulleys is transmitted to the other one of the pulleys via the endless flexible member.
By moving the sheaves in each pair relative to each other to vary the distance between the sheaves, the width of each V-shaped groove is varied. By varying the width of each V-shaped groove, the running radii of the circles of rotation of the endless flexible member looped over the pulleys are varied. As a result, the speed ratio between the two pulleys is varied. By allowing the relative distance between the sheaves in each pair to take a continuous value, the speed ratio between the two pulleys is continuously varied, that is, the speed ratio between the two pulleys is varied in a stepless manner.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 63-115966 (JP 63-115966 A) describes the pulley structure of a continuously variable transmission in which an endless flexible member (V-belt (3)) is used. The pulley structure includes a vibration suppression member (7) or (18) that is provided on a face of one of sheaves, the face being on the opposite side of the sheave from its tapered face, to suppress vibrations of the sheave (pulley half (4)) (refer to the description from line 16 in the lower left column to line 1 in the lower right column on page 2, and the description from line 9 to line 13 in the upper right column on page 4). The vibrations of the sheave are suppressed by the action of friction between the sheave and the vibration suppression member (refer to the description from line 13 to line 16 in lower right column on page 3 and the description from line 10 to line 16 in the lower left column on page 4). Note that the reference numerals within parentheses described above are used in JP 63-115966 A, and are not related to the reference numerals that will be used in the embodiments of the invention.
In the pulley structure described in JP 63-115966 A, when the sheave vibrates, there is a possibility that the amplitude of vibration at a portion of the sheave, on which a frictional force acts, will not be large and therefore a sufficient vibration damping effect will not be obtained.


There is provided a process for reacting phenol with butene or butanol over fairly large-pore zeolites to give butylphenol with high para-selectivity. Particular zeolites for use in this reaction include ZSM-12 and zeolite beta. A particular butene or butanol reactant is isobutanol. The product of this reaction may have a high content of the mono-alkylated, tert-butyl product.

There is provided a process for reacting phenol with butene or butanol over fairly large-pore zeolites to give butylphenol with high para-selectivity.
Butylphenols are commodity chemicals in wide use as antioxidants in fuels, lubes, polymers and food. sec-Butylphenol can be oxidized to give dihydroxybenzenes and methylethylketone.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,998 describes the alkylation of phenol with isopropanol over certain medium-pore zeolites, such as ZSM-5. The isopropylphenol product of this ZSM-5 catalyzed reaction is primarily the para-isomer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,375 describes the alkylation of phenol with isopropanol over ZSM-12 or zeolite beta. The isopropylphenol product of this ZSM-12 or zeolite beta catalyzed reaction is primarily the ortho-isomer.

Para-selective butylation of phenol over fairly large-pore zeolites