A key-controlled device is fastened to a hand brake lever of a motor vehicle for preventing the activated hand brake lever from being released accidentally. The device has a locking apparatus provided with a shaft capable of being activated by a key which is inserted into the locking apparatus. The activated shaft presses against the press button of the activated hand brake lever, which is then released. The release of the activated hand brake lever can not be done without the key.

In general, a motor vehicle, such as a sedan, is equipped with a hand brake (parking brake) for use in causing the motor vehicle to remain stationary in a place where the motor vehicle is parked. It happens at times that a car driver has to park the car in a place and to leave for a moment to take care of the chores, leaving behind an accompanying child or children in the car. In the absence of an adult's supervision, the accompanying child or children may release the hand brake of the car accidentally or playfully. Such an incident can often bring about a serious accident, especially when the car in question is parked in a sloped place. Nowadays the car makers are required by law to equip the cars with a safety device capable of preventing the hand brake of a motor vehicle from being released accidentally by a child.

Device for prevention of accidental release of hand brake of motor vehicle

Hsiang-Yang Village, Chang-Chih Hsiang, Pingtung Hsien


According to the present invention, a tilt sensor is used to determine the tilt angle of a speakerphone and the surface on which it rests. This information is used to optimize both the receive and transmit signals for the chosen tilt angle. The information can also be used to adjust performance of any beamformer(s) where the speakerphone incorporates a microphone array or loudspeaker array. In one embodiment, vibrational data is provided by the tilt sensor for enhancing the receive signal and acoustic echo cancellation.

Telephones are now commonly provided with an adjustable stand to permit the user to adjust the tilt angle to a preferred viewing angle for reading the phone display (e.g. LCD display). This is beneficial from a visual perspective, but does not take into account the audio performance of the speakerphone. Typically, acoustical designers have relied on establishing an acceptable compromise between visual and audio considerations in selecting an industrial design for a set, or have tried to use adaptive filters to address audio performance issues. In the first case, only a compromise can be achieved. In the second case, adaptive filters are not always capable of obtaining enough information to provide the ideal correction to the audio signal. Moreover, adaptive filters have only been applied to the transmit signal of the set thus leaving the designer with only a compromise solution for optimizing the receive signal to the user.
Tilt sensors are known in the art of portable telephones to determine in which mode to operate a telephone. Colonna et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,620, disclose a mechanical switch that determines the position of the two parts of a portable telephone and based on this information permits a louder level of receive operation of the set. Lands and Banh, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,411,828, disclose the use of a gravitational sensor to perform the same function. Kielsnia, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,363, discloses a safety mechanism based on a tilt sensor that prevents a portable telephone from entering the speakerphone mode (i.e. louder receive signal) when the set is at an angle that would correspond to a user placing the set in handset mode. Martschink and Pai, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,326, disclose a tilt sensor that permits selecting the operational mode of a portable telephone dependant on its relation to an independent reference system (i.e. gravity). Martschink and Pai specifically set forth a telephone that switches between quiet and loud operation (i.e. substantially the same as handset and speakerphone modes) where, in the quiet (i.e. handset) mode, only the user can understand the receive signal. All of foregoing prior art relates to handheld telephones where only the receive volume is adjusted.

Method and apparatus for optimizing speakerphone performance based on tilt angle


Electrostatic devices, systems and methods are presented. One embodiment is an electrostatic device including a substrate, a first electrode disposed on the substrate, a movable element having a second electrode and a control electrode. The control electrode is disposed in electrostatic communication with the movable element. The control electrode includes a protection layer having resistivity in a range of from about 1 ohm-cm to about 10 kohm-cm.

The invention relates generally to micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) for high voltage switching applications. More particularly, the invention relates to highly resistive gate electrodes for MEMS devices, and devices incorporating such gate electrodes. The invention also relates to method of making such MEMS devices.
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices are being developed for an enormous variety of industrial and medical applications because these device have several potential advantages, including low cost, high reliability, and performance advantages achieved through miniaturization. Potential applications include actuators, sensors, switches, accelerometers, modulators and other micro-devices. MEMS devices integrate electrical and mechanical components that are generally fabricated using integrated circuit processing technologies.
Emergence of MEMS technologies has brought global attention to the possibility of merging conventional macroscopic relay attributes with MEMS device attributes to produce MEMS based relays/switches. MEMS switches have advantages over their conventional counterparts. The potential for high power efficiency, low insertion loss, excellent isolation, and ability to integrate with other electronics makes microswitches an attractive alternative to traditional mechanical and solid state switches. Most MEMS based relays/switches have been developed for signal switching applications and a few for power applications.
One well-known type of MEMS switch operates through the electrostatic actuation of a beam or cantilever to achieve physical contact with an electrode. The beam is deflected electrostatically by an actuation or gate electrode. The electrostatic forces due to the electric field between the beam and the gate electrode can generate relatively large forces in the small separations. Thus, in the actuated state, there is a chance that the beam may touch the gate electrode and short the device. To avoid any contact, the gate electrode may use a dielectric layer deposited over the conductive material, thereby insulating the gate from the beam. The choice of dielectric is constrained by switching properties such as actuation voltage and the field across the dielectric. For example, the dielectric should have higher breakdown voltage than the field across the dielectric.
Conventionally, the dielectric layers are deposited over gate conductive material by using vapor deposition methods such as plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). These layers are generally of low quality and may be easily attacked by the processing and operating environments.
While the dielectric layer serves the above purpose, the layer may also experience a dielectric charging phenomenon. Over time and cycles of actuation, a charge may accumulate within the layer and build up a field that screens the applied field. This alters the gate voltage required to actuate the switch, which may cause inaccuracy and failure of the switch.
Thus, there is a need to provide an improved dielectric material for MEMS devices. There is a further need for MEMS devices for high voltage switches with improved properties as compared to conventional switches. Moreover, there is a need for methods to produce such dielectric layers and MEMS devices.

High voltage switch and method of making


The high-strength thick steel plate for storage container contains: C: 0.12-0.16% (means mass %, hereinafter the same), Si: 0.05-0.5%, Mn: 1-1.5%, Al: 0.01-0.05%, Nb: 0.003-0.02%, Mo: 0.03-0.3%, V: 0.025-0.04%, Cr: 0.05-0.3%, Cu: 0.05-0.5%, Ni: 0.15-0.55%, Ca: 0.0005-0.006% respectively, and the RP value as defined by an equation (1) below satisfies the relation of RP≧4.5×10−8.RP={[Nb]/93+1/60×[V]/51}×[Mo]/96  (1)where [Nb], [V] and [Mo] respectively represent the content (mass %) of Nb, V and Mo.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-strength steel plate used in constructing a storage container, more specifically to a steel plate excellent in low-temperature toughness of a heat affected zone (may be hereinafter referred to as "HAZ") of a joint section when a multi-layer welded joint is formed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Because a thick steel plate used after being subjected to quenching and tempering (may be hereinafter referred to as "QT steel plate) has high strength and high toughness as well as excellent weldability, it has been conventionally used as a steel plate for a pressure vessel, mainly a tank. In recent years, such QT steel plate is widening its application area to a thick steel plate used for a storage container of a nuclear reactor and the like for example.
With respect to the thick steel plate applied to a storage container, there is a tendency that higher strength (585 MPa or above of the tensile strength, for example) is required in the light of the enlarged design of a welded structure in recent years. Further, because its construction is often planned in a cold area, the base metal and the welded joint section are required to have excellent low-temperature toughness.
For high strengthening of a thick steel plate applied to such application as described above, carbon of a specific amount or above (0.12 wt % or above, for example) is required. Also, when a welded joint is to be formed by welding thick steel plates, multi-layers are welded (multi-layer welded joint), however it is said that carbon content is preferable to be as less as possible in order to secure the toughness of such welded joint.
The structure of the multi-layer welded joint section shows a complicated aspect due to the construction of the joint. In other words, in the multi-layer welded joint section, it is known that tempered coarse grain HAZ (CG-HAZ) structure, tempered fine grain HAZ (FG-HAZ) structure, and two phase region heating HAZ (IR-CGHAZ) structure are present according to its position, and that the tempered CG-HAZ structure is the most embrittled section among these structures. That is, improvement of the toughness of the tempered CG-HAZ structure is considered to be the most effective means in order to make the low-temperature HAZ toughness of the welded joint excellent.
With respect to the cause of the tempered CG-HAZ structure becoming of low toughness (most embrittled section), presence of the grain boundary cementite in the tempered CG-HAZ structure can be cited. In other words, a crack is generated due to a fracture of the cementite present in the grain boundary of the structure, which means that the more the grain boundary cementite is, the more crack generation points are, and such fact is considered to be the cause of becoming of low toughness.
As a technology for obtaining a thick steel plate excellent in low-temperature toughness of the welded joint, a variety of proposals have been presented so far. As such technology, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. S63-103020 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. S63-169325 for example, a thick steel plate in which the toughness of the multi-layer welded joint is improved by controlling Nb content in the steel plate is proposed. The principle of the technology is that the island-shaped martensite (MA) in the tempered CG-HAZ is made easily decomposed in a succeeding weld pass.
However, even in such technology, the grain boundary cementite still remains even after MA has been decomposed, and from the viewpoint of improving low-temperature toughness by reducing the grain boundary cementite in the tempered CG-HAZ structure, the actual situation is that enough improving effect has not been exerted.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

High-strength thick steel plate for storage container excellent in low-temperature toughness of multi-layer welded joint


The present disclosure provides a reporting information transmission method, a user side device and a network side device. The reporting information transmission method includes: determining whether there is a resource conflict between uplink channel resources for carrying at least two pieces of reporting information, the at least two pieces of reporting information at least including two of a beam failure recovery request, Synchronization Signal (SS) block-based beam reporting, Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS)-based beam reporting, and CSI reporting; and when there is the resource conflict between the uplink channel resources, transmitting one or more of the at least two pieces of reporting information.

When a full-digital array is adopted in a massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology, it is necessary to provide a large quantity of analog-to-digital (AD)/digital-to-analog (DA) converters and a large quantity of complete radio frequency (RF)-baseband processing channels. In order to reduce the implementation cost of the massive MIMO technology as well as a device complexity, a digital-analog hybrid beamforming technology emerges. In other words, a beamforming stage is added to an RF signal at a frontend proximate to an antenna system on the basis of conventional digital-domain beamforming. For analog beamforming technology, analog beams are transmitted at a full bandwidth. In addition, the analog beams are merely transmitted in a time-division multiplexing (TDM) manner by an array element in each polarization direction on each high-frequency antenna array panel. A beamforming weight value of the analog beam is achieved through adjusting a parameter of such a device as an RF frontend phase shifter. A network side device configures setup information about beam reporting, i.e., reporting setting, for a UE through high-layer signaling, and the reporting setting includes information about a content of the beam reporting, time-domain-related information about the beam reporting (periodic, aperiodic and semi-persistent), and information about frequency-domain granularity of the beam reporting. The information about the content in the beam reporting may include identification information about at least one optimum transmission beam selected by the UE, a physical layer measurement result of the beam selected by the UE (e.g., Layer 1 Reference Signal Received Power (L1-RSRP), and group information about the beams selected by the UE.
In a high-frequency communication system, a radio signal has a relatively short wavelength, so the signal transmission may easily be blocked and thereby interrupted. When radio link reestablishment in the related art is adopted, it is time-consuming, so a beam failure recovery mechanism has been introduced. In other words, a beam failure detection reference signal is monitored at a physical layer, and whether the quality of the reference signal meets a beam failure triggering condition is evaluated. When the triggering condition has been met, the UE may transmit a beam failure recovery request to a base station, and the beam failure recovery request may include recommended candidate beams for the base station. Upon the receipt of the beam failure recovery request, the base station may transmit response signaling, including switching to a new candidate beam, restarting beam search or any other indication, to the UE. Through this beam failure recovery mechanism, it is able to rapidly switch to a standby beam pair link (BPL, which includes a transmission beam and a reception beam) for the continuous transmission of control messages and data, thereby to achieve the rapid beam recovery.
Channel State Information (CSI) is reported by the UE to the base station, and it consists of a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) and a Rank Indication (RI). A time-frequency-domain resource occupied by the CSI is controlled by the base station. The CSI may be reported periodically or aperiodically. The base station may configure parameters for reporting the CSI periodically through the high-layer signaling. The parameter for reporting the CSI periodically may be configured independently for each downlink carrier unit.
However, in the related art, there is no yet processing mechanism for the beam reporting, the CSI reporting and the beam failure recovery request when there is a conflict among the reported resources.

Reporting information transmission method, user side device and network side device


Various techniques are disclosed for managing traffic flow for transport over a plurality of communication channels of a shared access cable network. According to various embodiments, one or more devices of the cable network (such as, for example, a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS)), may be operable to implement at least a portion of the traffic flow management techniques. In at least one embodiment, one or more aspects of the traffic flow management techniques disclosed herein may be used for performing real-time shaping of traffic flows across multiple different channels of a DOCSIS channel bonding group. In some embodiments, various different traffic shaping and/or traffic scheduling techniques may be employed (e.g., in DOCSIS 3.0 compatible cable networks) to reduce and/or mitigate issues which, for example, may arise as a result of an inability to represent traffic schedulers as tree-based hierarchies. Other aspects are disclosed for implementing quality of service (QoS) procedures on shared access network(s), such as for example hybrid fiber/coaxial (HFC) cable networks.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to communications in shared access networks, and more specifically to communications in cable networks.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a shared access network, one or more shared access communication channels are used to transmit information between a network hub and a plurality of network nodes. One type of shared access network is a cable network. In a cable network, a plurality of cable modems ("CMs") may communicate with one or more network components associated with the head end of a cable network via one or more shared access channels. Various embodiments of cable networks may be configured according to one or more Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specification ("DOCSIS") standards, such as, for example, the Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specification CM-SP-MULPIv3.0-I02-061222 (herein referenced as "DOCSIS 3.0"), available from CableLabs.com (Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. in Louisville, Colo.), hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
Additional details relating to various aspects of cable network technology are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/167,168, by Pawel, et al., entitled "MAP MESSAGE EXPEDIENCY MONITORING AND AUTOMATIC DELAY ADJUSTMENTS IN M-CMTS", filed 2 Jul. 2008, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
Recent advances in RF technology have enabled Cable Modems to receive and send data on multiple RF channels. The new generation of cable modems hence can receive data at rates up to 200 Mbps. DOCSIS 3.0 standardized multi-channel data transmission with a concept of "Bonding Group". A single data stream for a cable modem (herein referred to as CM) could be sent on a single Bonding Group (herein referred to as BG), spanning multiple RF channels. At the same time a single RF channel may be shared by multiple Bonding Groups. Such associations of Bonding Groups and/or RF channels makes packet scheduling with Quality of Service assurances very complex.

QoS on bonded channels of a shared access cable network


An adjustably attenuating ear plug adapted for use in an ear canal, includes a flexible body, and a valve assembly further comprising a disk and knob translatable relative to the disk, wherein the knob defines at least one inlet, the disk alternately defines at least one shield and hole, and the inlet is alternatively aligned with the hole and shield to varying degrees, so as to selectively and variably expose the canal to the environment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to ear plugs, and more particularly, to an ear plug having a manually adjustable valve assembly that enables the attenuation offered by the ear plug to be varied.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Though long used to provide auditory attenuation and protection in high decibel or otherwise harmful environments, conventional ear plugs present various concerns in the art, including, for example, typically fixed configurations that offer limited variability. Additionally, current ear plugs are often rectangular in shape, and as such are ill-fitted to the ear canal. Conventional ear plugs typically offer fixed sound attenuation, and must be completely removed from the canal for the user to hear. Adjustable plugs have been developed that offer selective exposure to the canal when in place; however, these measures have relied upon complex and/or cumbersome mechanisms, such as push buttons adjacent the ear, which have also presented various concerns in the art. Push button ear plugs, for example, require an applied force that may cause the plug to further enter the canal undesirably. Thus, there is a need in the art for a more facilely adjustable ear plug that more efficiently reduces sound and engages the canal.


A truss cross brace apparatus is described. The truss cross brace apparatus includes an elongated channel member having a U-shaped cross section. The channel member includes a base web and opposing side webs depending from the base web. An engaging portion extends from each end of the channel member. Each engaging portion includes at least one integrally formed tooth projecting from the bottom surface. The engaging portions are adapted to overlie the upper surfaces of the top chord of adjacent trusses, with the integral tooth embedded therein, such that an angle formed by the channel member and a top chord is about 45 degrees. A tab extends from a side web at one end and from the opposing web at the other end of the channel member. Each tab includes at least one integrally formed tooth projecting from the tab. Each tab is adapted to be bent to overlie the side surface of the top chord of adjacent trusses with the integral tooth embedded therein. The cross brace and support apparatus is quickly and easily installed between adjacent trusses without separate fasteners. The cross brace provides lateral support to the trusses during and after the construction process. Because the cross brace has a low profile, it can be left in place when sheathing is installed over the trusses.

Premanufactured wooden trusses greatly facilitate the construction of buildings and other structures. Known trusses are essentially planar structures with spans and heights far exceeding their thickness. Trusses generally include a bottom chord, top chords extending angularly from the bottom chord, and webs between the top and bottom chords. Premanufactured trusses are very strong and reliable in service when properly braced.
During installation and use, however, the trusses can topple if they are not laterally braced. Typically, to prevent the trusses from toppling and after a plurality of trusses are positioned in place, lateral braces are attached to and extend perpendicularly across the top chords and/or the bottom chords of a number of trusses to maintain the spacing and position of the trusses. The lateral braces may, for example, be 2.times.4 boards nailed to the chords or metal bracing members commercially available from MiTek Industries, Inc. under the trademark THE STABILIZER, which is the subject of applicant's copending patent application (patent application Ser. No. 08/702,238, filed Aug. 27, 1996).
In addition to perpendicular lateral bracing, cross braces are desirably attached extending diagonally between adjacent trusses, typically at about a 45 degree angle. The cross braces work in conjunction with the perpendicular lateral bracing to provide lateral support to the trusses. Although the known cross braces provide adequate support for the trusses, such braces typically are not secured in place until a number of trusses have been located in position.
Further, as the trusses are tied together in the structure, for example by applying sheathing to the top chords, the known top chord cross braces must be removed in order to secure the sheathing. The temporary attachment and subsequent removal of the cross braces is time consuming and tedious. Moreover, this method provides no diagonal support after the braces are removed.
It would be desirable to provide permanent cross braces that can be easily and accurately installed diagonally between top chords, bottom chords, and/or webs of adjacent trusses during truss installation. It would also be desirable for the cross bracing to remain attached to the trusses, providing added lateral support, after installation of sheathing to the trusses.


A hydroxygallium phthalocyanine pigment is characterized by having a maximum peak wavelength within a range of from 810 nm to 839 nm in optical absorption spectrum in a wavelength range of from 600 nm to 900 nm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydroxygallium phthalocyanine pigment, a process for the production thereof, a process for producing a photosensitive layer-forming coating solution, an electrophotographic photoreceptor, a process cartridge, an electrophotographic device, and an image formation method.
2. Description of the Related Art
As photoconductive materials to be used in electrophotographic photoreceptors there are normally known various inorganic and organic photoconductive materials. In particular, these organic photoconductive materials have heretofore been proposed, studied and developed in various ways because they are advantageous in that they can form an electrophotographic photoreceptor having a good film transparency, film-forming properties and flexibility and are harmless and available at relatively low cost. Further, there has been a growing demand for the expansion of the wavelength range at which the photoconductive materials are sensitive to the wavelength range of semiconductor laser for the purpose of application to digital recording devices such as laser printer, digital copying machine and facsimile as photoreceptor. Several organic photoconductive materials for semiconductor laser have been already proposed. Among these photoconductive materials, phthalocyanine compounds have been reported much on the relationship between their crystal form and electrophotographic properties.
It is known that phthalocyanine compounds normally show many crystal forms depending on their production process or treatment process and thus show a change of photoelectric properties with crystal form. Known examples of the crystal form of phthalocyanine compounds, in case where they are metal-free phthalocyanine crystals, include α type, β type, π type, γ type and X type crystal forms. Further, gallium phthalocyanine pigments, too, have been reported much on the relationship between their crystal forms and electrophotographic properties. It is reported that a hydroxygallium phthalocyanine pigment having an extremely high sensitivity and diffraction peaks at positions of 7.5°, 9.9°, 12.5°, 16.3°, 18.6°, 25.1° and 28.3° in a Bragg angle (2θ±0.2°) of the X-ray diffraction spectrum using CuKα characteristic X-ray and an electrophotographic photoreceptor comprising such a hydroxygallium phthalocyanine pigment are excellent in photosensitivity, repeatability and environmental stability (see Journal of Imaging Science and Technology, Vol. 40, No. 3, May/June, 249 (1996), Journal of Imaging Science and Technology, Vol. 40, No. 3, May/June, 249 (1996) and JP-A-7-53892).
However, the related art hydroxygallium phthalocyanine pigments are disadvantageous in that when used as a material of electrophotographic photoreceptor, they can not be dispersed sufficiently in the binder resin for electrophotographic photoreceptor or cause scattering of properties such as sensitivity, charge ability and dark decay rate, easily causing image quality defects such as fogging and black or white spots. Thus, the related art hydroxygallium phthalocyanine pigments are not necessarily satisfactory in electrophotographic properties. Further improvements in hydroxygallium phthalocyanine pigments have been desired.

Hydroxygallium phthalocyanine pigment and process for the production thereof, electrophotographic photoreceptor, process cartridge, electrophotographic device and image formation method


An electrolytic solution and a battery capable of improving cycle characteristics are provided. A separator is impregnated with an electrolytic solution. The electrolytic solution includes a cyclic carbonate derivative having a halogen atom such as 4-fluoro-1,3-dioxolane-2-one or 4-chloro-1,3-dioxolane-2-one and a cyclic imide salt such as 1,1,2,2,3,3-hexafluoropropane-1,3-disulfonimide lithium. Thereby, the decomposition reaction of the electrolytic solution can be inhibited, and the cycle characteristics can be improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrolytic solution including an electrolyte salt and a battery using the electrolytic solution.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a large number of portable electronic devices such as camcorders, digital still cameras, cellular phones, personal digital assistants and laptop computers have been emerged, and an attempt to reduce the size and the weight of them has been made. Research and development aimed at improving the energy densities of batteries used as portable power sources of the electronic devices, specifically secondary batteries have been actively promoted. Among the batteries, a lithium-ion secondary battery using a carbon material for an anode, a composite material of lithium (Li) and a transition metal for a cathode and a carbonate for an electrolytic solution can obtain a high energy density, compared to a lead-acid battery and a nickel cadmium battery in related arts, so the lithium-ion secondary battery has been widely put into practical use.
Moreover, recently a further improvement in capacity has been desired according to enhancement of performance of portable electronic devices, and the use of tin (Sn) or silicon (Si) as an anode active material instead of the carbon material has been studied. It is because the theoretical capacities of tin and silicon are 994 mAh/g and 4199 mAh/g, respectively, which are much larger than the theoretical capacity of graphite of 372 mAh/g, therefore, an improvement in capacity can be expected. In particular, it is reported that in an anode formed through forming a thin film of tin or silicon on a current collector, the anode active material is not pulverized by insertion and extraction of lithium, and a relatively large discharge capacity can be maintained (for example, refer to the pamphlet of International Publication No. WO01/031724).
Further, as a secondary battery capable of obtaining a high energy density, there is a lithium metal secondary battery using lithium metal for an anode and using only precipitation and dissolution reactions of lithium metal for an anode reaction. The lithium metal has a theoretical electrochemical equivalent of 2054 mAh/cm3, which is 2.5 times larger than that of graphite, so the lithium metal secondary battery holds promise of improving the capacity. A large number of researchers have been conducting research and development aimed at putting the lithium metal secondary battery to practical use (for example, refer to "Lithium Batteries" Edited by Jean-Paul Gabano, Academic Press, 1983, London, New York).
Further, a secondary battery in which the capacity of an anode includes a capacity component by insertion and extraction of lithium and a capacity component by precipitation and dissolution of lithium, and is represented by the sum of them has been developed recently (for example, refer to the pamphlet of International Publication No. WO01/22519). In the secondary battery, a carbon material capable of inserting and extracting lithium is used for an anode, and lithium is precipitated on a surface of the carbon material during charge. The secondary battery holds promise of achieving a high energy density as in the case of the lithium metal secondary battery.


Embodiments of the present invention provide a circle of trust on a network. The circle of trust is configured by exchanging credential of a first and a second affiliated entity. The credentials of the first affiliated entity is stored in a trusted partner list of the second affiliated entity. The credentials of the second affiliated entity is stored in a trusted partner list of the first affiliated entity. Thereafter, a circle of trust session may be provided when a client device initiates use of a resource on a relying party device by providing an authentication assertion reference. The identity of the issuing party of the authentication is determined as a function of the authentication assertion reference. The relying party sends an authentication query containing its credential to the issuing party. The issuing party determines if the relying party is a trusted entity based upon whether the relying party's credential is contained in the trusted partner list of the issuing party.

Referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a network according to the conventional art is shown. As depicted in FIG. 1, a plurality of organizations 105, 110, 115 are communicatively coupled by one or more communication channels 180 185, such as the internet or extranet. Each organization 105, 110, 115 typically comprises a plurality of client devices 120-150 communicatively coupled to one or more servers 155-175. The servers 155-175 provide one or more resources, such as execution of applications and/or storage of information.
A user on a client device 120-150 may be granted or denied access to resources of a particular server 155-175. In the conventional art, the client 120 logs-on to a particular organization's server 155, wherein the user provides a user name, password and/or the like. Based upon the user name, password and the like, the server 155 authenticates the client 120 and determines the client's 120 authorization to access particular resources.
If the client 120 then tries to access resource on another server 170, 175, establishing authentication and utilizing resources is problematic. The other servers 170, 175 do not know that the client device has been authenticated by a particular server 155. The other servers 170, 175 do not know that they can trust the authentication provided by the particular server 155. Furthermore, each entity 105, 110, 115 and/or server 155-175 may have a different login script, may require a different protocol, may store information in a different structure, format and/or the like. Therefore, the client typically has to sign-on to each server 155-175 separately.
For example, a user may wish to access resources on various entities 105-115 during the course of their work, such as using the internet to make travel arrangements. The user first logs-on to the company's network server 155 utilizing a client device 125. The user may manually or via a script, enter their user name and password in order to logon to the network server 155. The network server 155 provides an internet portal.
The user may then navigate using a browser to the website of an airline 115. The user will likely be required to enter a user name, password and the like to book a flight using a corporate account. Similarly, the user may then navigate to a car rental agency to reserve a rental car. Once again, the user may be requested to enter a name, password and the like to reserve the car. Similarly, the user may also navigate to a website of a hotel chain to reserve a room. Once again, the user may be requested to enter a name, password and the like to reserve the room. The need to logon to each entity's server 155 reduces the user's satisfaction and productivity.
The need to logon multiple times is not limited to multiple entities' servers 170, 175. For example, the user may login to their employer's network server 155 to access the finance server 160. The user may again be required to enter a username, password and the like in order to enter expenses, such as meals, entertainment and gas, incurred during their business travel. The user may then wish to check their retirement account. Once again the user may be required to provide a username, password and the like to access the payroll server 165 in order to check their retirement account. In addition to reducing the user's satisfaction and productivity, the implementation of multiple logon scripts increases the cost of doing business.
Versions of single sign-on services have existed for several years. However, the conventional art single sign-on services are closed solutions that do not offer broad interoperability. Accordingly, the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) specification is intended to provide a solution allowing single sign-on for secure authentication and authorization.
SAML is an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) standard designed for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions. The SAML standard is designed for the exchange of secure sign-on information between a user, a relying party, and/or an issuing party. Furthermore, SAML allows issuing parties to use their own chosen methods of authentication (e.g., personal key identifier (PKI), hash, password, or the like).
In one implementation, a SAML-compliant service, called a relying party, sends a SAML request to an issuing party, which returns a SAML assertion. Assertions do not create a secure authentication. The security service is responsible for providing a secure authentication. Assertions are coded statements generated about events, such as authentication, that have already occurred, as when the user provided the correct user name and password, or the security mechanism granted specific permissions.
Referring now to FIG. 2A, an exemplary SAML request/assertion according to the conventional art is shown. As depicted in FIG. 2A, SAML requests and assertions 210 are transmitted within a SOAP envelope 215 via HTTP 220.
Referring now to FIG. 2B, an exemplary SAML data packet according to the conventional art is shown. As depicted in FIG. 2B, the data packet comprises an HTTP header 250, a SOAP header 255 and a SAML payload 260. An assertion or response is encoded into the SAML payload 260. A SOAP header 255 is then generated and attached to the SAML payload 260. An HTTP header 250 is then generated and attached to the SOAP header 255 and SAML payload 260. The SAML payload containing an assertion or request may comprise an issuer identifier, an assertion identifier, an optional subject, an optional advice, a condition, an audience restriction, a target restriction, and an application specific condition.
Upon receipt, the HTTP header 250 is processed to provide routing and flow control. The SOAP header 255 is then processed to provide information concerning the content of the payload and how to process it. The SAML payload 260 may then be processed to provide security information.

Method and system for providing a circle of trust on a network


A controllable filter arrangement with a voltage controlled device that subjects a signal to a predetermined impedance as part of the filtering process when the voltage controlled device is in an active state. In an inactive state, the voltage controlled device may subject the signal to an impedance that prevents all frequencies of the signal from passing. This configuration may advantageously increase frequency selectivity and reduce insertion loss, size, cost, and tuning complexity when compared with conventional filter designs.

Since the inception of signal transmission, there has been a struggle to reduce the amount of interference in the received signal. Interference can be caused by a number of factors. For example, various environmental factors (e.g., mountains, buildings, other man-made structures, etc.) can contribute to signal interference when they are located within the transmission path between a transmitter and a receiver.
Also, with the proliferation of many different methods and devices to transmit signals, there has been a significant increase in the amount of interference that can occur when signals interfere with each other. This can occur when signals propagate through the same medium (e.g., airspace, cable, wire, etc.) as other signals.
Various methods and techniques have been employed to minimize signal interference. For example, the receiving device may include various types of filters to remove unwanted interference from the received signal. These filters have been known to include various types of band pass filters (e.g., filters to permit signals within a predetermined frequency range to pass but removing all other portions of the signal) alone or in combination.
FIG. 1 shows one example of a switched filter bank, which has been used to remove unwanted interference from a received signal. Switched filter bank 100 includes input 102 to receive a signal to be filtered and output 104 to output the filtered signal. A controller (not shown) controls switches 106, 108, and 110 between an open position and a closed position. In the closed position of the switch, the signal can move through the switch (e.g., switch 106a) and its respective filter (e.g., filter 112). In the open position, the signal may not pass through the switch or its respective filter.
For example, if switches 106a and 106b are closed, the signal can be filtered by filter 112. Likewise, if switches 108a and 108b are closed, the signal can be filtered by filter 114, and if switches 110a and 110b are closed, the signal can be filtered by filter 116. Depending on the desired frequency response, one or more of filters 112, 114, and 116 can be used to filter the signal before it is output via output 104.
However, there are several drawbacks to using the switched filter bank. Specifically, the switches in the switched filter bank increase the insertion loss of the device, which degrades the sensitivity of the device. In addition, the switches in the switched filter bank increase the size and cost of the device.
Turning now to FIG. 2, a multiplexed filter is shown that has also been used to filter received signals. Multiplexed filter 200 includes input 202 and output 204. Filters 206, 208, and 210 are coupled in parallel to input 202 and output 204.
In operation, multiplexed filter 200 utilizes filters 206, 208, and 210 to pass all the desired channels (e.g., frequencies), similar to the switched filter bank, discussed above. However, multiplexed filter 200 uses input and output common node matching networks rather than switches. Although this feature reduces the insertion loss of multiplexed filter 200 when compared to the insertion loss of the switched filter bank, it also provides less selectivity than the switched filter bank since the multiplexed filter passes all frequencies in its combined pass band simultaneously. Thus, there is little interference rejection provided by the multiplexed filter.
Although not shown in the figures, tunable band pass filters have also been used, if they can meet the required performance specifications of a particular application, to filter out unwanted interference in a received signal. However, typical tunable band pass filters have been known to require complex tuning, alignment, and control functions.
There is therefore a need in the art for a device and method that can be used to filter out unwanted interference from a signal in a manner that provides lower insertion loss than the switched filter bank, better frequency selectivity than the multiplexed filter, and with less complex tuning, alignment, and control than the tunable filter.

Apparatus and method for improving channel filter selectivity and performance using voltage variable impedance elements


Apparatus 10 discloses a venting apparatus for a toilet bowl 12 using a gasket 18 that is positioned between a toilet seat 14 and toilet bowl rim 16 forming a gasket-like seal therebetween. The toilet bowl gasket 18 is comprised of a pliable oval-like housing having an interior cavity 20 therein. Located remotely to the venting apparatus is a motorized exhaust fan 22 connected to conduit 24 extending between the toilet seat venting apparatus and discharge vent 26. The exterior walls have a plurality of apertures 28, 30 therein serving to draw air from the toilet bowl 12 and exterior ambient air through the cavity 20 to an aperture having an exteriorly extending nipple 32 with the aforementioned conduit attached thereto whereby activating the pump 22 causes air to be drawn into the cavity 20 and discharged at the point of discharge 26. The exterior ambient air apertures 28 and the toilet bowl interior apertures 30 vary in diameter whereby a larger interior aperture results in a low pressure gradient 38 existing within the bowl interior and a high pressure gradient 40 on the exterior side thereby insuring that the majority of air is drawn from the toilet bowl. A shield 42 is formed over each of the apertures 28, 30 to prevent errant urination from passing into the cavity 20.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to toilets and, more specifically, to a venting apparatus for a toilet bowl that is positioned between a toilet seat and toilet bowl rim forming a gasket-like seal therebetween. The toilet bowl gasket is comprised of a pliable oval-like housing having a top wall, bottom wall with opposing exterior walls forming an interior cavity. Located remotely to the venting apparatus is a pump connected to conduit extending between the toilet seat venting apparatus and discharge vent. The exterior walls have a plurality of apertures serving to draw air from the toilet bowl and exterior ambient air through the cavity to an aperture having an exteriorly extending nipple with the aforementioned conduit attached thereto whereby engaging the pump causes air to be drawn into the cavity and discharged at the conduit point of discharge.
The present invention provides additional elements in the form of varying the aperture diameters of the exterior ambient air apertures and the toilet bowl interior apertures whereby a larger interior apertures results in a low pressure area existing within the bowl interior and a high pressure area on the exterior side thereby insuring that the majority of air is drawn from the toilet bowl.
Additionally the present invention provides a hood-like element formed over each of the apertures to prevent errant urination from passing into the venting aperture cavity, which will allow a longer operative cycle before the oval-like housing is disconnected from the egress conduit and washed.
It is further provided that a venting cycle may incorporate an egress and ingress function including a one-valve past the motor egress side so that reversing air flow can employee odoriferous material having a desired scent exhausted into the venting apparatus and ultimately the ambient air.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other devices designed for venting, while these devices may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.
Therefore, it is felt that a need exists for a simple mechanism that can be retrofitted to existing toilets that will provide for the venting of malodorous odors from a toilet bowl to a remote discharge point.
Furthermore, it is felt that said need is best served through employment of a pliable gasket-like devices placed over the toilet bowl rim substantially conforming to the shape of said rim that will engage the bottom surface of the toilet seat amply forming a seal that when used in conjunction with a motor will draw air from the toilet bowl to a designated discharge point.


A medical cart includes a cart body, a top platform, and an elevating device. The elevating device is mounted on the cart body for supporting the top platform above the cart body and is for moving the top platform upwardly and downwardly. The elevating device includes a sleeve, a screw rod, a motor and a motor driving module. The screw rod extends through the sleeve and engages threadedly a threaded inner surface of the sleeve. The motor is connected to the screw rod and is for driving the screw rod to rotate and move with respect to the sleeve, such that the top platform is driven by the screw rod to move upwardly and downwardly with respect to the cart body.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a medical cart, more particularly to a medical cart including an elevating device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional medical cart disclosed in WO 2005072638A1 includes a cart body and a top platform mounted fixedly on the cart body. However, the height of the top platform is not adjustable with respect to the cart body in accordance with various body heights of different users. Thus, it is inconvenient for a user with a body height unsuitable for the height of the top platform to use the medical cart.


An electronic sales and service support system and method for identifying sales targets using a centralized database to improve marketing success. The system includes a central database that receives comprehensive information from a variety of internal and external feeds, and standardizes and households the information in a three-level hierarchy (households, customers, and accounts) for use by a financial institution. The comprehensive information stored on the central database is accessed through micromarketing workstations to generate lists of sales leads for marketing campaigns. A database engine is provided for generating logical access paths for accessing data on the central database to increase speed and efficiency of the central database. The system distributes sales leads electronically to branch networks, where the sales leads are used to target customers for marketing campaigns. The central database is accessed by workstations of a central customer information system for profiling customers, enhancing customer relationships with the financial institution, and electronically tracking sales performance during marketing campaigns.

In response to increasing competition, financial institutions, like other service providers, have begun to adopt sales and service techniques that have been successful in other fields. Marketing financial services poses unique challenges, however. To begin with, most people do not shop for financial services. Instead, something in a customer's life occurs to cause a customer to make a change or be open to a change. There are moments in life when inertia is overcome; either by moving, death, formation of a family, or when a customer becomes angry enough to make a change. For these reasons large unfocused marketing of financial services is usually not effective. Instead, marketing of financial services must be targeted to those inclined to make a change or open other accounts. In the past, accurately identifying customers that are open to change and predicting when these events will occur has been difficult, if not impossible. Thus, there is a need for a better system and method for predicting when customers or potential customers will be open to change.
To anticipate a customer's needs and support targeted marketing, a service provider must know its customer. Knowing one's customers is also important for improved customer service, another proven way of getting and keeping new customers. Since knowing one's customers becomes more difficult when the number of customers increases and the frequency of each customer's contact with a particular employee decreases, the size of a large financial institution's customer base can present an obstacle to some marketing efforts. In the financial community today, a large financial institution may have several million households and customers each with a unique set of accounts. The data available for these households, customers, and accounts is so massive, that it has heretofore not been fully used for marketing campaigns.
In an effort to deal with a large customer database, businesses traditionally maintain customer records. In some cases these records are in the form of simple paper records, but recently electronic records have become common. Originally, separate data storage was used for each electronic record keeping application. Thus, each department in a financial institution, for example, would have a program that created and maintained records needed for its purpose. The problem with this approach is that information must be extensively duplicated. For example, a customer's name and address might appear in separate files in several separate departments.
There are other problems with application specific data storage. Since a customer's information is entered in more than one file, any change in status must be entered into each file, often by different people. Over time the accuracy and uniformity of the data deteriorates. In addition, the use of application specific data storage requires more data entry and more storage space.
The concept of a database, introduced more than twenty years ago, has come a long way toward eliminating these problems. In a database, data is stored in a central location so that there is no duplication of data. Database management programs are used to manage databases. Examples of currently available database management programs include DB2 (for larger databases) and dBase (for personal computers).
Typically, a database management system (DBMS) is used to manage the creation, storage, access, updating, deletion, and use of a database. A typical DBMS creates databases and their structures; provides the means for the control and administration of the data in the database; provides the means for users and application programs to access, enter, modify, and manipulate the data in a database; provides a report generator; provides "ad hoc" query facilities; provides reports to management on who accessed the database and what activity was performed; provides reports to operators on hardware utilization, status of current users, and other monitoring data; and provides automatic backup and recovery routines for the data in databases.
Multiple-user databases present several additional challenges. These include maintaining system performance as the number of users increases, controlling concurrent access of data, maintaining security, and administrating the database.
There are four basic database models: (1) hierarchical, (2) network, (3) relational, and (4) object-oriented. The hierarchical and network models use files for storing data. Data relationships in the hierarchical databases follow hierarchies, or trees, which reflect either a one-to-one or a one-to-many relationship among the record types. Data relationships in network databases follow a many-to-many relationship among the records. The data relationships must be defined at the time that a hierarchical or network database is created. Relational databases use tables for storing data. The data relationships can be dynamically determined by the users and do not have to be defined when the database is created. A relational database uses a database query language for users to access and manipulate data in the database. Query by example and structured query language are two database query languages. Object-oriented databases store data together with procedures in objects.
A relational database is composed of many tables in which data are stored. Tables in a relational database must have unique rows, and each cell or field must contain only one item of information, such as a name, address or identification number. A relational database management system (RDBMS) allows data to be readily created, maintained, manipulated, and retrieved from a relational database.
In most sophisticated databases, data is retrieved by querying the database. Query languages allow users to locate specific records based on the data that they contain. Known query languages include program-specific languages, structured query languages, natural languages, and query by example. When using query languages, the user typically specifies the rules the program follows to select records to be retrieved. These rules are referred to as criteria. Only those records matching the criteria specified are retrieved.
In a relational database, data relationships do not have to be predefined. Users query a relational database and establish data relationships spontaneously by joining common fields. A database query language acts as an interface between users and a relational database management system.
Two basic query styles are used in a relational database: (1) query by example, and (2) structured query language. In query by example, the database management system displays field information and users enter inquiry conditions in the desired fields.
Structured query language (SQL) is the standard database query language used with relational databases. SQL is part of a DBMS, not a separate stand-alone software program. SQL allows users to create and operate sets of related information that are stored in tables. The core of SQL is its flexibility in querying a database.
This flexibility is possible because of the manner in which data are stored in a relational database. Data are stored in tables that have specific properties. These properties include: (1) one or more named columns, (2) the data in each column are of the same type, (3) zero or more rows (zero rows occur when the table is defined but no data are entered yet), (4) every row is unique, (5) a single data value is contained in the intersection of any column and row, and (6) the order of the columns and rows does not matter.
There are two basic schemes for retrieving data from a database: set orientation and record orientation. Each method has advantages and disadvantages.
A set-oriented database allows the user to focus on the characteristics of the data rather than the physical structure of the data. The user works with data in groups, or sets, or tables, rather than as individual tables. DBMSs that use SQL, such as SQL Server, Oracle, and SQL Base, are set-oriented.
Record-oriented databases access data based on the physical structure of data and indexing. A record pointer permits the user to maneuver through a table one record at a time. It is easy to access successive rows or records in a table. However, the developer of the database management system must write the programming code such that it will loop through every record requested, which is a disadvantage. Examples of DBMSs that use a record-oriented approach are dBASE and Clipper.
In SQL, security is maintained by the granting authority. Authority may be granted to an entire database, certain tables, or certain commands. A database administrator must have access to the entire database so that it can be maintained properly, while a user generally needs access to specific tables or parts of tables. For example, a person might have access to a personnel table but not to the salary column in that table.
Attempts to build and use customer databases have a variety of limitations. In a general sense, these limitations fall into two distinct categories: limitations in the sources and quality of data input into the database and limitations on one's ability to search and retrieve data from the database. In some cases these limitations work in opposition to one another. For example, as one improves the size and quality of a databases, searching and retrieving data from the database becomes more difficult.
In recent years, financial institutions, such as banks, have used targeted marketing (especially direct mailing and telemarketing) to market a wide variety of financial products and services to existing and new customers. To assist these efforts, the banks have used traditional databases containing, for example, customer lists and mailing lists. These traditional targeted marketing sources do not, however, take full advantage of the information available to full service financial institutions.
Full service financial institutions typically offer consumers a wide variety of financial products, including traditional deposit, investment, loan, and mortgage accounts, as well as a variety of financial services, including credit cards, brokerage, direct access, business access, checks as cash, telephone bill payment, and safety check. In addition, financial institutions now typically offer access to financial services through a variety of means, including automatic teller machines (ATMs), customer activated terminals (CATs), screen phones, personal computers configured for banking, personal digital assistants, voice response systems, and smart cards, as well as traditional human bank tellers. Information from these diverse sources provides an unusually complete picture of a customer's financial habits and needs. Thus, the ability to store and retrieve this wealth of data in a meaningful way has enormous commercial potential. Despite this commercial potential, there remains a need for a system and method for assembling a comprehensive database from these diverse sources and retrieving information from the central database in a meaningful and practical way.
There are several deficiencies in currently available systems and methods for assembling customer financial data and retrieving information for use in marketing and customer service systems. To begin with, most users (e.g., bank employees) never learn how to use complex query languages. Mastery of the language requires significant training and skill. Instead, developers write custom applications that are used by users having only a limited understanding of the program. Thus, a user's ability to use a database is often limited by the custom applications written by someone else for their use. Consequently, available large scale database systems typically don't have the flexibility to allow the user, the person most familiar with marketing, to use their own knowledge and experience to select criteria retrieving data from the database for targeted marketing. Instead, users must rely on a set of pre-defined queries that may or may not provide the desired results. As a result, the sales campaigns typically only target easily ascertainable groups of new or existing customers, such as all new customers, or all existing customers with certain types of accounts, etc. Since there has been no effective way to quickly generate and distribute lists of sales leads for very specific groups of people that are most likely to subscribe to new financial services being offered, those customers who most likely need or want the additional products a financial institution has to offer are not always the ones targeted by the sales campaigns. This has resulted in less than satisfactory success rates for marketing campaigns.
In addition, those in charge of marketing are often not given access to a customers' entire relationship with the financial institution or complete demographic information about the customer (i.e., the customer's "profile"). Thus, it is difficult for direct mail and telemarketers to address the targeted customers intelligently, with full knowledge of the customer's background and financial situation. Basic information about existing customers is frequently not available, or the response time required to profile an existing customer is too long. These problems tend to create a poor experience for the customer and less than optimum sales performance.
In addition, the sales performance of bank branches, branch managers, and others in charge of the marketing campaigns has not been analyzed and tracked effectively. A complete indication of sales performance has typically only been available after the sales campaigns are complete and after the results of the campaigns are manually collected and analyzed. This typically required a series of paper-based forms and ad hoc systems that generated relatively slow feedback to sales personnel. Thus, there is also a need for a system to provide up-to-date on-line sales summary reports for each of the products and services marketed by the branches, as well as an indication of performance by the individual sales personnel.
In short, there remains a need for an improved integrated system for identifying sales targets, distributing sales leads, enhancing sales tools, and tracking the performance of large sales campaigns and individual salespersons to maximize customer satisfaction, as well as the profit of the financial institution.

Sales and marketing support system using a graphical query prospect database


To provide an electrolytic capacitor having lead wires excellent in weldability with a boss member made of aluminum, excellent in solder wettability, and less whisker. The lead wires have a nickel plating layer in a thickness of 0.3 to 5.0 μm, a palladium plating layer in a thickness of 0.01 to 0.10 μm, and a gold plating layer in a thickness of 0.002 to 0.030 μm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrolytic capacitor to be used for various kinds of electronic appliances. Particularly, the present invention relates to an improvement of lead wires led out from a capacitor element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as capacitors for high frequency ranges, laminated ceramic capacitors have been used. However, these capacitors have a relatively small capacitance. Therefore, as compact capacitors having a large capacitance and a relatively low equivalent series resistance (hereinafter, abbreviated as ESR), electrolytic capacitors employing a valve metal such as tantalum and aluminum have been widely used. In particular, solid electrolytic capacitors employing electrically conductive polymers such as polypyrroles, polythiophenes, and polyanilines, or TCNQ (7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane) complex salts as their electrolytes have attracted attention.
A solid electrolytic capacitor of the foregoing type is fabricated in the following manner. First, an anode foil formed by etching and anodizing an aluminum foil and a cathode foil formed by etching an aluminum foil are respectively prepared. Then, an anode lead tab welded with a lead wire and a cathode lead tab welded with a lead wire are fixed to the anode foil and the cathode foil, respectively. Thereafter, the anode foil and the cathode foil are wound around in a cylindrical form with a separator interposed therebetween to form a capacitor element. Further, cut edge formation and a heat treatment are carried out for the capacitor element. Next, the capacitor element is immersed in a solution containing a monomer and an oxidizing agent, and thereafter, thermal polymerization is effected, whereby a conductive polymer layer (a solid electrolyte layer) is formed between the electrode foils of the capacitor element. Subsequently, the capacitor element is accommodated and secured in an outer casing having an opening part at one end side thereof, then the opening part of the outer casing is sealed with a sealing body having through-holes to lead out the respective lead wires, and further an aging process is performed. After a seat plate is placed, the respective lead wires are led out to the outside through lead inserting through-holes of the seat plate placed on the sealing body side and press-worked and bent to form electrode terminals, so that a solid electrolytic capacitor is completed.
In an electrolytic capacitor described above, respective lead wires of the electrolytic capacitor are electrically connected with electrode foils by welding one end sides of the lead wires with aluminum boss members of lead tab terminals connected with the electrode foils. Further, the other end sides of the lead wires led out through lead inserting through-holes of a seat plate are soldered with a mount board as electrode terminals. Accordingly, in the electrolytic capacitor, one end sides of lead wires are required to be excellent in weldability with the boss members made of aluminum and the other end sides of the lead wires are required to be excellent in solder wettability. Therefore, in general, lead wires having plating layers such as a silver plating layer, a tin plating layer, or a tin-bismuth based alloy plating layer on the surface of a substrate such as a copper wire are used.
However, in the case of forming a solid electrolyte layer containing an electrically conductive polymer such as a polythiophene type conductive polymer between electrode foils, since monomers are thermally polymerized in a capacitor element to which lead wires are connected as described above, a sulfidizing gas is generated from the monomers and dopant agents at the time of the thermal polymerization. In a case where such a sulfidizing gas is generated, in a lead wire having a silver plating layer, the silver plating layer is polluted with the sulfidizing gas, resulting in a problem that the silver plating layer is discolored and solder wettability of the lead wire is lowered. It is supposed to be possible to wash the lead wire after the thermal polymerization; however the silver plating layer is also discolored with a sulfur component in air and therefore in industrial production, there is also a case where an electrolytic capacitor is left for a long time until the electrolytic capacitor is soldered with a mount board after production of the electrolytic capacitor. From this reason, there is a problem that the silver plating layer discolors with the lapse of time and it results in decrease of solder wettability.
On the other hand, with respect to a capacitor element to which lead wires having a tin plating layer or a tin-bismuth based alloy plating layer are connected, the plating layer tends to be melted due to high temperature at the time of the thermal polymerization in production process or heat treatment of electrode foils and a separator. Therefore, there is a problem that a diameter of the lead wire tends to become uneven. Further, there is also a problem that in lead wires having a tin plating layer or a tin-bismuth based alloy plating layer, whisker occurs easily. Furthermore, the whisker tends to be generated easily by using an electrolytic capacitor under high temperature environments. Therefore, in the case of using lead wires having a tin plating layer or a tin-bismuth based alloy plating layer, short circuit may possibly be caused between an anode lead wire and a cathode lead wire.
As described above, defective products tend to be produced by using lead wires coated with any of the plating layers and it may possibly result in a problem of decrease of productivity and a problem of defective short circuit.
In a chip-shaped electrolytic capacitor, in order to improve solderability and ESR, formation of a copper plating layer, a nickel plating layer, a palladium plating layer, and a gold plating layer on the surface of a lead frame made of a nickel-iron based alloy in a thickness of about 100 μm has been also proposed. (See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-283870) However, there is still a problem that even the plating layers formed on this lead frame fail to attain sufficient weldability between boss members made of aluminum and lead wires having small diameters.


A method for controlling dopant outdiffusion within an integrated circuit is disclosed. The method includes providing a substrate, forming a trench in the substrate, and forming a first doped layer in the trench. The first doped layer has a first dopant concentration. The method further includes forming a dopant diffusion control structure above the first doped layer. The dopant diffusion control structure includes silicon nitride (Si.sub.x N.sub.y) disposed in grain boundaries of the first doped layer. The method also includes forming a second layer above the dopant diffusion control structure. The second layer has a second dopant concentration lower than the first dopant concentration. Forming the dopant diffusion control structure includes, in one example, forming a first oxide layer over the first doped silicon layer, nitridizing the first oxide layer, thereby forming an oxynitride (SiO.sub.x N.sub.y) layer and causing the silicon nitride to migrate into the grain boundaries, and removing the oxynitride layer, thereby exposing the silicon nitride at the grain boundaries at an interface of the first doped layer.

The invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for fabricating dynamic random access memory circuits (DRAMs). More particularly, the invention relates to methods and apparatus for controlling the amount of dopant outdiffusion from a DRAM trench capacitor into drains or gates of adjacent transistors in a DRAM.
In the fabrication of a DRAM, many high temperature, e.g., anneal, steps may be employed. By way of example, such high temperature steps may be employed to heal dislocations, reflow dielectrics, and/or to activate doped junctions. The high temperature steps may, however, cause an undue amount of dopants to diffuse from the underlying doped polysilicon layer of the trench capacitor into an adjacent drain or source of the transistor coupled to that capacitor. This undue diffusion may occur through a buried strap structure, i.e., the structure employed to connect the underlying doped polysilicon with the drain/source region of the transistor.
To facilitate discussion, FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic (and not to scale) representation of a portion of a DRAM circuit, including trench capacitor 100 and transistor 102. A buried strap structure 104 is provided to electrically couple underlying doped polysilicon region 106 with a doped junction region 108 of transistor 102 in the final DRAM cell structure. Doped junction region 108 may represent, for example, either a drain or a source of transistor 102.
Roughly speaking, trench capacitor 100 is formed by first forming a trench within silicon substrate 110 and then conformally deposit a dielectric layer 112 into the trench. Dielectric layer 112, which may be an oxide (SiO.sub.2), nitride (Si.sub.x N.sub.y), oxynitride (SiN.sub.x O.sub.y), or a combination of films, electrically insulates a subsequently deposited doped polysilicon layer 114 (e.g., phosphorous-doped polysilicon layer) from the substrate.
Thereafter, the trench is etched again to recess the polysilicon layer in the trench. An insulating material (e.g., silicon dioxide) is then deposited and etched to form an insulating spacer 116. Thereafter, another doped polysilicon layer (which may be similarly doped as polysilicon layer 104) is deposited within spacer 116 inside the trench. This doped polysilicon layer is then etched back to form the aforementioned doped polysilicon region 106. Buried strap structure 104, which may be intrinsic (i.e., undoped) or lightly doped polysilicon, is then formed above doped polysilicon region 106. The buried strap 104 may be formed by the deposition, planarization, and recess etch of a deposited polysilicon material.
During the subsequent high temperature steps, some of the dopants from underlying polysilicon region 106 are driven into buried strap 104, thereby lowering the resistance of buried strap 104. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the outdiffusion of dopants into buried strap 104 forms an electrical path between doped junction region 108 of transistor 102 and doped polysilicon region 114 of trench capacitor 100 through buried strap 104 and doped polysilicon region 106.
It has been found, however, that the aforementioned high temperature steps may cause an undue amount of dopants from underlying polysilicon region 106 to diffuse into doped junction region 108 through buried strap 104. This excessive dopant contamination of the doped junction regions generally detrimentally affects the performance of the associated transistor 102 (which includes the doped junction regions). Hence, high temperature steps are often limited in the prior art to reduce the amount of dopant outdiffusion into doped junction region 108. That is, the thermal budget of integrated circuit fabrication processes may be limited in order to reduce contamination.
Reducing the thermal budget of an integrated circuit fabrication process, while generally effective in reducing contamination of doped junction regions, often proves to be undesirable. For example, when the thermal budget is reduced, some high temperature steps, i.e., steps which occur at temperatures greater than about 900 degrees Centigrade, may be shortened. As mentioned, such steps are typically necessary to heal dislocations, reflow dielectrics, and to activate doped junctions, for example. Shortening these steps therefore compromises the structural integrity of the final IC. Further, for DRAMS, reducing the number of dislocations which may be healed generally significantly increases the retention time associated with the DRAM by decreasing device leakage. As the term is used herein, retention time refers to the time a DRAM cell retains its stored charge, and is typically limited by the rate at which the stored charge leaks away.
Therefore, what is desired is a method and a structure for controlling dopant outdiffusion from a highly doped region into the drain or source of a transistor structure in a DRAM that employs a buried strap structure during subsequent high temperature steps without compromising the integrity or the performance of the resultant DRAM.

Method of forming a dopant outdiffusion control structure including selectively grown silicon nitride in a trench capacitor of a DRAM cell

International Business Machines Corporation


A membrane dryer apparatus for moist air includes a housing (1) that contains a tubular fabric strand bundle (7) of tubular fabric strands (8) made of selective absorption material through which air to be dried flows, water vapor diffusing through the fabric and collecting on its outside. A portion of the dried compressed output air is channeled off near the discharge (12) of the membrane dryer and passed through a scavenging air duct (14) having a throttle (16) and passed around the outside of the fabric strand bundle to scavenge moisture and remove it through discharge openings (17, 18) to the outside air. To limit consumption of scavenging air, an independent shut-off valve (19), working as an airflow sensor, is installed in the output air duct (13), and this shut-off valve (19) opens only when output air is actually extracted by a user. This shut-off valve (19) regulates at the same time the scavenging air duct (14) whereby the shut-off valve (19) is connected to a scavenging air valve (22) which is actuated by a control line (23) that in turn is regulated by the shut-off valve (19) and branches off from the output air duct (13). This causes scavenging air to flow through the scavenging air duct only when the shut-off valve (19) is open and output air is discharged from the membrane dryer apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a membrane drying apparatus for drying moist air which includes a housing that has an intake connection for incoming air to be dried and a discharge connection for discharging dried air.
2. The Prior Art
A membrane drying apparatus for moist air which includes a housing containing a tubular fabric strand bundle that is made up of tubular fabric strands composed of selective absorption material for extracting water vapor from compressed air to be dried by channeling the air through the fabric strands of the fabric strand bundle, and which also includes a scavenging air duct branching off from a point downstream of the fabric stand bundle and containing a throttle to allow expansion of the scavenging air, is well known. In such apparatus the scavenging air duct leads back to the fabric strand bundle inside the housing where expanded scavenging air passes along the outside of the tubular fabric strands in an opposite direction to that of the air stream inside the fabric strands, the scavenging air absorbing the diffused water vapor which has passed through the fabric strands and subsequently flowing to the outside air near the intake area of the fabric strand bundle. A self-acting shut-off valve or spring-loaded back pressure valve is installed near the discharge area which is controlled by the output air stream and is used as a flow sensor that also controls the scavenging air duct. The output air can be used as a working medium in many types of mechanical systems.
Such known membrane dryers provide a significantly decreased dew point through the expansion of the channeled scavenging air, whereby the scavenging air absorbs diffused moisture from the compressed air as the scavenging air flows in a reverse direction around the fabric strands. Through this method, the pressure dew point may be typically decreased by approximately 30.degree. to 50.degree. centigrade depending on pressure and scavenging air amount. One disadvantage with this type of apparatus, however, is the continuous need for scavenging air, which may be 15 to over 30% of the total air supply for the membrane dryer. Regardless of whether the output air is needed continuously or only partially, the need for scavenging air remains the same since it is gauged to the maximum airflow as long as the dryer is not turned off.
It is known to decrease the scavenging air supply by automatically controlling the output airflow and accordingly determining the individual scavenging air supply. However, an electronic device is necessary to accomplish this function, which is programmed by using the results of extensive measuring data and knowledge about typical performance of the membranes and module, which is the fabric strand bundle. Through pulsating of a valve that is operated by the electronic control device, only as much scavenging air is supplied as needed for drying of the diffused output air. A cost reduction can be thus obtained for the compressed air drying process, especially during periods of high performance demands or during highly changing demands for airflow. To accomplish this function, there is a pre-programmed electronic peripheral device required that is individually controlled by an outside power source, which in turn considerably increases costs for the entire apparatus. It also makes the apparatus more complicated and decreases operational safety.
A membrane dryer apparatus is disclosed in JP 09 957 043 A wherein a shut-off device which controls the scavenging air duct is actuated by the incoming air stream, thereby opening the scavenging air duct proportionally to the output airflow. By using this type of membrane dryer apparatus there is no need for outside controls and an outside power source. The scavenging air stream is adjusted independently according to the particular air requirement and is cut off when there is a lack of output air discharge. However, the scavenging air stream is always directly coupled with the output air stream in this type of design. It is particularly difficult in dryers with a high volume of airflow to design the control unit, the effective air sensor, and the scavenging air valve in a manner to function satisfactorily.
The object of the present invention is to adjust air consumption to the scavenging air requirement of the first mentioned type of membrane dryer apparatus in a simple way by using two phases, even at high volume air requirements, without a need for external intervention, outside energy sources or a complicated peripheral device.
The object is achieved by installing a separate scavenging airflow valve in the scavenging air duct, for example a 2/2-way directional control valve, that is actuated by the shut-off valve via a control line which branches off from the output air duct. This type of design is also suited for larger size membrane dryers whereby the shut-off valve simply opens and closes a control line with a relatively low airflow requirement. Such a control device is especially advantageous in decentralized dryers for protecting the equipment that is very sensitive and/or is exposed to large fluctuations in temperatures. In many cases, the air requirement does not fluctuate by much in such applications. However, such devices are only in operation at certain periods and with a delay in-between. The dryer equipment of this invention is of especially great advantage in such situations.
The scavenging air valve can be advantageously designed as a normally closed membrane valve which is biased to close by pressure of air flowing from a point downstream of the shut-off valve and is biased to open by pressure of air flowing from a point upstream of the shut-off valve. The pressure differential at the shut-off valve is used in this case to regulate the membrane valve, whereby the pressure differential depends largely on the amount of airflow. By having a relatively large membrane area compared to the smaller control area of the scavenging air duct, the amplification factor is affected in such a manner that a very simple scavenging airflow control may be attained.
According to the invention, the control line has a continuously open vent nozzle that ensures that during closing of the control line, the control line and therefore also the control side of the scavenging air valve is decompressed, thus allowing the scavenging valve to close. The vent nozzle should preferably open into the scavenging air duct downstream of its throttle.
Another aspect of the invention is for a bypass duct for the scavenging air to be located at the discharge side of the fabric strand bundle and placed upstream of the shut-off valve. An adjustable throttle can be installed in the bypass duct, which branches off from the output air duct and leads to the scavenging air duct. This small dimensional circumvention of the scavenging air line causes the membrane dryer to always need a very low amount of scavenging air, which also ensures removal of moisture from the fabric strand bundle even when the membrane dryer is in an operational mode below the tolerance level of the shut-off valve. The dryer will thereby remain at continuous operational readiness and will ensure that, with any new response to needs for drying and new airflow, the required dried air can be obtained immediately. During longer delays in dryer operation, moisture may diffuse through the tubular fabric strands because of compressed air within the fabric strands. This moisture is removed also during non-operational periods of the membrane dryer without considerable consumption of scavenging air so that the membrane dryer, according to the invention, remains continuously in operational readiness through this simple arrangement.

Membrane dryer for drying moist air with valved scavenger duct


A conveyor system and method of assembling same in which parts are fastened without the use of welding, clamps, or threaded fasteners such as bolts and screws is provided. A bracket and slot mechanism is used to attach one conveyor component to another. The bracket and slot mechanism allows components to be easily attached/detached by merely applying force to slide the bracket into the slot. Moreover, when engaged, the bracket is held securely in the slot so that the components do not become detached during normal operation of the conveyor assembly.

Conveyor assemblies have been used for some time in various industries as a means of distribution of materials in manufacturing and processing of different products, ranging from boxes, to pharmaceuticals, to food products, to toys and many other products. For instance, in the food industry, it is common for conveyors to be used for the transport of products, such as, but not limited to, produce, meats, and other dry goods between various processing stations within a food processing facility.
Many different conveyor systems are commercially available. For instance, conveyors may operate manually or through a power source. There are accumulating conveyors that allow for the collection of materials at a given point on the conveyor line; automated conveyors that perform conveying functions automatically; belt conveyors that utilize a belt to transport materials through the conveying system; chain conveyors that use parallel horizontal chains to move materials through a conveyor system; overhead conveyors that provide continuous movement of materials overhead; pallet conveyors that consist of portable platforms called pallets which move parts to different locations; roller conveyors that utilize round rotating parts called rollers to transport materials through the conveying system; and vertical conveyors that move materials up and down.
In order for the conveyor system to operate, there must be some way of connecting the various different components of the conveyor to one another and support the combined assembly when installed. Conventional conveyor systems use various different means for connecting components, including welding, bolts, screws, and clamps. However, these connection mechanisms do not allow for easy assembly/disassembly of the various components for cleaning; they provide cracks, corners, and surfaces where water, bacteria, mold, food waste, and unwanted materials can collect; they do not lend themselves to flexibility of design of the conveyor system; and they make it difficult to replace broken components.
Sanitation is a primary consideration in the food processing industry. Conveyors must be maintained in a clean and hygienic condition to meet basic sanitary standards. Cleaning of the conveyors is extremely costly as it requires a repeated outlay of money for soap, water, other chemicals, as well as downtime of the machines, and staff or cleaning crews to maintain a rigorous cleaning schedule. Much of the cost associated with maintaining clean, sanitary conveyors, is that conveyor systems have numerous cracks, corners, screw holes, flat surfaces and other crevices where water, bacteria, mold, food waste, and unwanted materials can collect. In order to reach these areas, conveyor assemblies typically require the disassembly of various components, and may in fact include areas that are difficult, if not impossible, to access. Where components in the conveyor system have been welded together, it is not possible to disassemble them for cleaning. In addition, where components have been connected through the use of a threaded connection, such as a screw or bolt, disassembly for cleaning requires the use of tools, significant staff time to disconnect components, and results in significant downtime of the machines.
In addition, the use of threaded fasteners or clamps provides many areas where water, bacteria, mold, food waste, and other unwanted materials can collect. For example, when a threaded bolt is used, the spaces in between the threads provide crevices where these types of materials can collect. Moreover, because of the shape and size of these crevices it is difficult to thoroughly clean them.
Furthermore, the use of welding and threaded fasteners require time and effort to assemble and disassemble the various components of the conveyor, and do not provide for flexibility in the design of the conveyor system. Conveyor applications vary greatly depending on the needs of each specific customer. For example, the length of the conveyor, the shape of the conveyor, and the points of incline of the conveyor may all vary from one application to another. In fact, a conveyor system is usually custom designed and fabricated for each particular application. When welding and threaded fasteners are used to join components together, even small changes in the conveyor system may necessitate a complete redesign and fabrication of a new conveyor.
Finally, the use of threaded means for connecting components makes replacing broken components difficult because the various screws and bolts connecting the components may not be of a standard size such that care must be taken to find pieces which will fit together properly.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a conveyor assembly which includes a means for connecting components which allows for easy assembly/disassembly for cleaning, contains a minimal surface area for the collection of water, bacteria, mold, food waste, and other unwanted materials, allows for adjusting components without the need to redesign and fabricate a new conveyor, and allows for providing standardized replacement components.

Industrial Design Fabrication & Installation, Inc.


Provided is a method and system for signal-driven recovery of a digital pulse stream. The method includes receiving initial parameters including the base characteristics of a pulse signal, the characteristics including the maximum pulse interval. An incoming analog signal is converted to a digital signal and sampled a predetermined number of times at intervals greater than the maximum pulse interval to record a set of minimum signal values and a set of maximum signal values. Each set is averaged to provide an average minimum value and an average maximum value. Based on these values at least one threshold value is then determined, and the digital pulse stream is identified based on the threshold values. The method is repetitive, continually re-determining the threshold values so as to adapt to changes in the incoming signal. A system for performing the method is also provided.

There has been a long-standing need for the capability of transmitting information rapidly and coherently from one location to another. Typically, the transmission of such information is performed either by way of a radio broadcast signal or by providing a signal through a conduit such as a wire.
Initially, signal transmission and reception was performed entirely with analog equipment. For example, a carrier radio signal of a specific frequency can be used to transmit voice, music and video signal information by amplitude and/or frequency modulation. By tuning to the specific frequency with a receiver, an interested party can receive the information.
Although effective, analog signals can and do suffer from a number of technical shortcomings. It is becoming increasingly more common to transform traditional analog information into digital form prior to or commensurate with transmission. Represented as a series of data bits such as logical "0" and "1" it is possible to achieve both high fidelity and perfect reproduction, depending of course on the choice of sampling rate.
Transmission of information in digital form is easily accomplished through the use of pulses. By adopting a convention, the presence of a pulse may be taken to be a logical "1", the absence of the pulse being a logical "0". Although the radio wave carrying the signal may be a traditional analog carrier wave, it is the pulse modulation in the wave that is being sent and received which corresponds to the digital information.
In an ideal setting with minimal noise, a comparator with a fixed threshold could be used to determine the presence and absence of each pulse in a detected signal. However, the real world is often far from ideal. Typically, an automatic gain control (ACG) device is used in connection with an RF receiver to collect the pulse signal. The AGC measures the signal energy in the receiver's passband, and adjusts the gain (within the constraints of an RC time constant) to normalize it to the receiver's output voltage range. In the case of an amplitude-modulated pulse signal, if the pulse signal is the dominant signal in the passband, the gain of the AGC will change with the pulse amplitude, keeping the amplitude of the detected pulses normalized to the receiver's output voltage range.
Unfortunately, the noise component in the signal comes from other sources and tends to remain constant as pulse amplitudes change. Since the noise amplitude is also altered by the AGC gain change, the effect is to change the output signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). This moves the ideal conversion threshold to various positions in the output voltage range, making a fixed conversion threshold impractical. Even worse, if no pulse signal is present, or if it fades away, noise becomes the dominant signal and the AGC will increase the gain until full-amplitude noise is produced. This condition can overload back-end processing with false pulses. Additionally, co-channel interference can appear as noise in the output, also making the S/N ratio variable. All of these phenomena can frustrate the recovery of patterns/information from the pulses in the received signal.
One partial solution to the aforementioned problems has been to provide an intermediate step designed to separate the pulse signal from the noise. This step is performed as an analog process, typically using a low pass filter/rectifier that is intended to filter out the pulses and return an integrated form of the noise, i.e. an integrated voltage level. This integrated voltage level is offset and used as a threshold by an analog comparator that compares the integrated output with the original signal to provide a digital pulse stream. Although such a process does work, there are several significant drawbacks.
For example, situations exist where the presence or absence of a signal may not be known a priori at a specific frequency. In these cases, noise-only signals may be input to the processing system. Subsequent processing of noise-only signals can and will result in false detections and can flood back-end signal processing circuitry with erroneous information.
Further, if the strength of the desired signal varies, the ability of the analog system to adjust is not very robust. The signal may be lost intermittently and not recognized for processing, or once again erroneous noise may flood the system.
Hence, there is a need for a method of signal-driven recovery of a digital pulse stream that overcomes one or more of the technical problems as stated above.

Signal-driven recovery of a digital pulse stream