Non-contacting caliper measurements of free standing sheets such as porous polymer and paper detect mid-IR interferometric fringes created by the reflection of light from the top and bottom surfaces of the sheet. The technique includes directing a laser beam at a selected angle of incidence onto a single spot on the exposed outer surface wherein the laser beam comprises radiation having a wavelength in the 3-50 micron range and scanning the laser beam through a selected angle range as the laser beam is directed onto the exposed outer surface and measuring the intensity of an interference pattern that forms from the superposition of radiation that is reflected From the exposed outer surface and from the inner surface. Thickness can be extracted from the fringe separation in the interference pattern. Rotating and focusing elements ensure that the spot position on the sheet remains the same while varying the incident angle.

Caliper is one of the most important quality specifications of paper and plastic products. Traditional commercial on-line caliper measurement requires the measuring heads to physically touch the web. Contacting the web causes a number of issues with the two most significant ones being the marking of the sheet and the accumulating: of din on the measuring heads, which leads to measurement drift and inaccuracy. More advanced techniques make use of laser triangulation or confocal microscopy techniques but they still require a measuring bead to contact one side of the web. Moreover, prior art optical techniques are not suitable to all paper products because they are very sensitive to the scattering properties of the sheet. In addition, achieving better than 1 micron accuracy is a challenge as these techniques rely on the difference between two independent distance measurements. As such, both measurements must be stable with respect to each other in order to attain the required profile accuracy. This is difficult to achieve in the paper scanner environment where the measurement heads are exposed to frequent temperature changes and the positions of the paper and heads are subject to constant fluctuations. The art is desirous of developing reliable on-line techniques for accurately measuring the thickness web materials during production.

Caliper sensor and method using mid-infrared interferometry


Providing new distilling and/or de-scaling methods and systems herein is a matter of allowing for thermal balance without the need to fill a hot wet emulsion separation system with more steam and heat rejection devices to waste steam. One embodiment begins with efficiently utilizing three types of waste: (1) hot produced water along with its inherited thermal energy; (2) blowdown steam from drum-type boilers (DBs); and (3) return condensate of dry steam from the DBs. It ends with: (1) removing calcium hardness, magnesium hardness and silica, thereby recovering them as useful minerals; and (2) producing distillate for viscous oil recovery by steam injection and de-scaled hot brine for improved oil recovery by hot water flooding and/or other related methods. The vehicle to attain this set of solutions is a recycle brine multi-effect distillation (RB-ME) train comprises a forward feed section and a backward feed section along with two flashing stages.

Health, aquatic life, and environmental protection considerations are of prime importance when it comes to the disposal of effluents from conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) because they do not remove much of the toxicity and nutrients contained in sewage. With looming water shortages, reclamation of effluents has been revisited, attention has been given to hydrophilic membranes in the early 1980s, and some has been implemented in the late 1980s and 1990s. For an unconventional wastewater treatment and reclamation plant (WWTRP), as may be depicted in FIG. 1, the removal of such species from effluents lies at the heart of the treatment. The side chains of about three-quarters of the amino acids comprise polar hydrophilic species, whereas the remaining quarter comprises hydrophobic species. Amphiphilic mixing of these seemingly non-mixable species is the key in steering the folding of proteins that mask endotoxins. The reclamation part of the unconventional WWTRP [e.g., ultrafiltration (UF) and RO hydrophilic membranes] is nothing but splitting the content in effluents; thereby reducing it in their product streams, elevating it in their reject streams, and accumulating some of it within the membrane pores. This is why such hydrophilic membranes have not been accepted by many regulating agencies to reclaim effluents. The alarming levels of endotoxins in all outputs resulting from the treatment and/or reclamation of sewage pose long-term health and pollution risks [e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 10,450,202; 10,450,212; and 9,701,558]. For many years; however, a reverse osmosis (RO) reject stream from a WWTRP has been dumped into the sea.
An unconventional sandstone oil reservoir lies within a relatively short distance from a WWTRP. This oil reservoir is considerably very shallow; thereby with considerably low temperature and pressure as well as lower viscosity. It has also higher oil saturation, porosity and permeability. With such unusual overall desirable characteristics in a single oil reservoir, which is unlike viscous or heavy oil deposits elsewhere in the world, this reservoir has every potential for effective oil recovery at a low entry cost. The latter; however, is very critical to unlock this potential due to the high sulfur content (>5 wt %), high total acid number (TAN>3 mg KOH/g) and lower API (˜14°) of oil. This oil has thus no referential market price, not so much because of the lower API as because of the high sulfur content. It is neither economically amenable for blending with lighter crude (would not reduce the sulfur content below 3 wt % without destroying the market value of lighter crude) nor desirable for conventional refining. Nevertheless, source water is needed to generate steam for the deeper and thicker part of the reservoir, and suitable hot water (alone or in conjunction with carbon dioxide, chemicals, etc.) for the shallower and thin part of the reservoir.
Of what is this oil reservoir needed, an opportunity has presented itself. That if the WWTRP's RO reject stream is utilized, the lacking source water for viscous oil recovery will be provided. Not only will the viscous oil be recovered, all hopes of not dumping the WWTRP's RO reject stream into the sea would also not be lost.
However, not only a portion of the WWTRP's RO reject stream will be utilized as source water, but it will also be treated by another redundant new treatment system. This new system comprises a clarification including adding a coagulant, a flocculent, lime (hardness) and soda ash (alkalinity); sludge filter press; ozonation; media filtration; ultraviolet (UV) radiation; UF; acidification; de-carbonation/de-aeration; adding more additives including a pH neutralizer, an oxygen scavenger and a scale inhibiter; a RO (or NF) main treatment; an ion exchanging (IE) treatment, and a RO polishing treatment [e.g., Water Online, Jan. 30, 2019; Water World, Feb. 4, 2019]. The purpose of the treatment is to essentially feed once-through steam generators (OTSGs), thereby producing steam for the viscous oil recovery.
The WWTRP originally produced about 2 million barrels per day (BPD) of the RO product stream, and then expanded to produce about 3.2 million BPD. Thus, the amount of the RO reject stream before expansion was about 0.35 million BPD, and about 0.6 million BPD [25.6 million U.S. gallons per day (GPD)] after the expansion at a typical 84-85% RO recovery ratio [RO product flow rate/RO feed flow rate].
Phase I of the viscous oil recovery by steam is divided into two sub-phases. The first sub-phase (IA) essentially requires 100,000 BPD of feed water for OTSGs in the first 4 years to presumably produce about 33,000 barrels of heavy oil per day (BOPD). In the following 6 years (year 5 to 10), the extracted produced water with viscous oil will be used as source water for OTSG in the second sub-phase (IB). This is because the anticipated water cut in viscous oil may be in the order of about 0.77, the anticipated viscous oil production may be in the order of about 66,000 BOPD, and the required water to oil ratio by steam injection may be about 3.33. Thus, the anticipated amount of produced water (about 220,000 BPD), after separating it from viscous oil, may be sufficient for steam injection in the second sub-phase (IB). A mechanical vapor re-compression (MVR) system may then be the produced water treatment system in the second sub-phase (IB). FIG. 2 may depict such a possible MVR system.
That is to essentially say that the first sub-phase (IA) may be a temporary phase to initiate steam injection. The water source and the new system to essentially prepare 100,000 BPD of such water source to feed OTSGs in the first sub-phase (IA) are described above (Paragraphs [0006] and [0007]). The initial capital cost of this new water preparation system alone is about $1.222 billion. This initial capital cost is a portion of a larger initial capital investment, which was contracted in early 2015 [e.g., as referenced in the article of AlKaaoud, et al., SPE 189455, August 2018 (Albawaba Online, "Worst Timing Ever? . . . $4.2 Billion of Heavy Oil Development Contracts", Jan. 11, 2015) and (Mandi, W., " . . . $7 Billion Heavy Oil Project Amid Cheaper Crude", Bloomberg, Dec. 8, 2014]. This initial capital investment may be subjected to further increments by adjustment orders that usually follow. To date, viscous oil production by steam injection in Phase IA has been delayed [e.g., Petroleum Economist; Feb. 20, 2020].
Table 1 (e.g., average values) reveals that the only three parameters in the WWTRP's RO reject stream that do not meet the OTSGs' feed water specifications are the total hardness (TH), dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH. Yet, this elaborate system to treat a portion of the WWTRP's RO reject stream not only duplicates the reclamation part (UF and RO) of the WWTRP (FIG. 1), but it is also over redundant in itself. It includes three forms of disinfection (chlorination, ozonation, and UV); three forms of filtration (filter press, media filtration, and UF); three forms of total hardness removal (lime/soda ash, a RO or NF/scale inhibitor, and an IE); three forms of de-aeration (a vacuum de-aerator, an oxygen scavenger, and a nitrogen blanket/steam driven de-aerator), and three forms of pH adjustment (lime/soda ash, acid, and a pH neutralizer [sodium hydroxide]). Actually, the triplicate forms of each type of treatment in this new system exceed the duplicate forms of each type of species in "Noah Ark". Interestingly, this new treatment system will produce a third form of waste; that is to say that waste from sewage is now tri-generated in triplicate forms. Earnestly, this new treatment system that will treat a portion of the WWTRP's RO reject stream will hereinafter be referred as the Triplicate-Wastewater Treatment & Reclamation Plant (T-WWTRP).
"Form ever follows function"; said "Louis Sullivan," the famed American architect. However, "function follows purpose". But do the functions of these treatment forms in the T-WWTRP serve the purpose economically and environmentally? Could the purpose be alternatively served by other available economic and/or environmental routes?                THE T-WWTRP: TO ESSENTIALLY PREPARE 100,000 BPD FOR OTSGs
The long-known practice in the treatment of boiler feed water with extreme total hardness such as seawater, wherein calcium hardness is much lower than magnesium hardness, was to use soda ash to preferentially remove the total dissolved calcium present as carbonate (bicarbonate) and non-carbonate (sulfate) hardness by about 67-72% at ambient temperature, 78-85% at 60° C., and 90% with recycling a portion of the precipitated calcium carbonate as a seeding agent [e.g., Nalco Chemical Co., Boiler Feedwater Treatment, Bulletin 30, 1961]. The reactions may be simplified as follows:
                                                        2                                                                                Na                2                                                          CO                3                                                    ︷                              Soda                                                                                Ash                                              +                                                                                Ca                                                                    (                                                  HCO                          3                                                )                                                              2                                                        ︷                                          Ca                                                                                Carbonate                                                                                Hardness                                                                                CaSO                    4                                                        ︷                                                                  Ca                                                                                Non                                            -                                              carbonate                                                                                Hardness                                                                                ->                                                                                CaCO                      3                                        ↓                                          +                      2                                                                                NaHCO                    3                                                                                CaCO                      3                                        ↓                                          +                                              Na                        2                                                                                SO                    4                                                                                ︸                                    (        1        )
Since soda ash is expensive, one variation is to use lime for removing the portion of the dissolved calcium present as carbonate hardness followed by soda ash to remove the other dissolved calcium salt (non-carbonate hardness). Another variation is to use an excess amount of lime followed by soda ash and a phosphate source to near complete the removal of calcium along with partial removal of magnesium. A further trimmed variation is to use lime to remove the portion of the dissolved calcium present as carbonate hardness, and hasten the precipitation rate of calcium carbonate and remove the unreacted and/or undissolved amount of the added lime by soda ash.
However, these methods are of ages past not just because of the high operating cost and/or generation of excessive useless wet sludge, but also because the very purpose of removing calcium carbonate is immediately negated by the very function of the added additives. Lime contributes more calcium to the non-carbonate hardness, thereby requiring the removal of the excess calcium resulting from the added lime by soda ash. Soda ash, in turn, contributes more carbonate to the total alkalinity, thereby requiring the removal of the excess carbonate resulting from the added soda ash by combinations of acid, a vacuum de-carbonater/de-aerator, and then a pH neutralizer. Yet, these additives marginally decrease, if not increase, the total hardness; when the total hardness in feed water is either relatively low or high, or when an excess amount of lime is used to remove a substantial portion of magnesium hardness (carbonate and non-carbonate) since it simultaneously substantially increases the calcium non-carbonate hardness.
The reactions that take place for hydrated lime to remove carbonate hardness may be expressed as follows:
                                                                        Ca                                                  (                  OH                  )                                            2                                      ︷                              Hydrated                                                                                Lime                                              +                                                                                H                      2                                                                                (                                                  C                                                    O                                                )                                            3                                                                                Ca                                                                    (                                                  HCO                          3                                                )                                                              2                                                                                Mg                                                                    (                                                  HCO                          3                                                )                                                              2                                                                                ︷                              Carbonate                                                                                Hardness                                                    ->                                                                                CaCO                      3                                        ↓                                          +                                              H                        2                                                                                O                                                                                2                                                                              CaCO                      3                                        ↓                                          +                      2                                                                                H                    2                                                      O                                                                                MgCO                    3                                    +                                                                                CaCO                        3                                            ↓                                              +                        2                                                                                H                      2                                                            O                                                                                ︸                                    (                  2                    A                )            In Eq. (2A), carbonic acid does not contribute to the hardness, but it reacts with the hydrated lime, thereby utilizing some of the hydrated lime before the hydrated lime starts removing the calcium hardness. Theoretically, for each 1 mol of calcium ion removed, 2 mol of hydroxyl ion from the hydrated lime is required. Thus, for each 1 mol of calcium carbonate hardness removed, 2 mole of calcium carbonate sludge is produced. The produced magnesium carbonate in Eq. (2A) is relatively soluble, which requires more hydrated lime to remove it:
                                                                        Ca                                                  (                  OH                  )                                            2                                      ︷                              Hydrated                                                                                Lime                                              +                                    MgCO              3                                      ︷                              Mg                                                                                Carbonate                                                                                Hardness                                                    ->                                                            Mg                                                  (                  OH                  )                                            2                        ↓                          +                                                CaCO                  3                                ↓                                              ︸                                    (                  2                    B                )            A further amount of hydrated lime also removes the magnesium non-carbonate hardness:
                                                        2                                                              Ca                                                        (                    OH                    )                                                  2                                                    ︷                              Hydrated                                                                                Lime                                              +                                                                                MgSO                    4                                                                                MgCl                    2                                                                                ︷                                                                    Mg                                                                                Non                                    -                  Carbonate                                Hardness                                                    ->                                                                                Mg                                                                    (                        OH                        )                                                              2                                    ↓                                      +                                          CaSO                      4                                                                                Mg                                                                    (                        OH                        )                                                              2                                    ↓                                      +                                          CaCl                      2                                                                                ︸                                    (                  2                    C                )            Eqs. (2A) through (2C) indicate that for each 1 mol of magnesium hardness, 4 mol of hydroxyl ion from the hydrated lime is required. Thus, for each 1 mol of magnesium hardness removed, 1 mole of magnesium hydroxide and 2 mole of calcium carbonate sludge are produced. It follows that the water now contains the original calcium non-carbonate hardness, and the calcium non-carbonate hardness produced in Eq. (2C). Soda ash can be added to remove the calcium non-carbonate hardness:
                                                        2                                            Na                2                                                          CO                3                                                    ︷                              Soda                                                                                Ash                                              +                                                                                CaSO                    4                                                                                CaCl                    2                                                                                ︷                                                                                Ca                                                                                Non                                        -                    Carbonate                                                                                Hardness                                                    ->                                                                                CaCO                      3                                        ↓                                          +                                              Na                        2                                                                                SO                    4                                                                                CaCO                      3                                        ↓                                          +                      2                                                                          NaCl                                                              ︸                                    (                  2                    D                )            The required amount of soda ash (0.94 mol) is nearly stochiometrically equal to the sum (1 mol) of the calcium carbonate and calcium non-carbonate hardness (TH) plus the produced calcium non-carbonate hardness [Eq. (2C); if applied]. Because calcium carbonate tends to supersaturate without an excess of soda ash, about 12% excess of soda ash may be required.
A WWTRP's RO reject stream been tested by the inventor using hydrated lime and soda ash. Table 1 presents the nature of the tested RO reject stream and FIG. 3A illustrates the results. To reach a pH level that allows near complete precipitation of magnesium hydroxide, the hydrated lime dose is fixed at 775 mg/L, which is calculated (in terms of meq./L) as follows:Ca(OH)2=H2CO3+HCO3+Mg+4  (2E)However, at a pH of about 10.6-10.8 whereby magnesium hydroxide starts precipitating, the required hydrated lime is about 675 mg/L (about 0.87 of the hydrated lime dose).
FIG. 3A indicates that the total hardness in the tested RO reject stream is reduced by 18% and 10% at, respectively, stochiometric fractions of about ⅓ and 1.0 of the fixed hydrated lime dose (775 mg/L). The calcium hardness decreases by about 28% at about ⅓ of the fixed hydrated lime dose (775 mg/L) but substantially increases by 130% at the full dose of the fixed hydrated lime. In other words, the calcium hardness at the full dose of the fixed hydrated lime, as the only additive, is higher than the original calcium hardness in the tested WWTRP's RO reject stream. The magnesium hardness marginally increases by about 3% at about ⅓ of the fixed hydrated lime dose (775 mg/L) but expectedly decreases by about 96% at the full dose of the fixed hydrated lime. Since the original magnesium hardness is about ⅓ of the total hardness, the higher removal of the magnesium hardness at the full dose of the fixed hydrated lime offsets the substantial increase in the calcium hardness at the same dose. When soda ash in the amount of 1,110 mg/L is added in a combination with the full dose of the fixed hydrated lime (775 mg/L), about 93% of TH is removed. The pH is dropped to 10.3, since the added soda ash produces calcium carbonate, thereby consuming hydroxyl ions. The concentration of sulfate essentially remains the same, whether hydrated lime is used alone or in a combination with soda ash.
A precipitation method may be of a useful utility if the cost of additives is low and/or the value of the precipitating compounds is high. Neither soda ash is inexpensive, nor do the precipitating compounds bear any value (a non-selective useless mixture of calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, magnesium hydroxide and transition metals laced with extreme toxicity).
It is the nature of domestic wastewater treatment to fluctuate in terms of species content (Table 1). Such fluctuations may be within an expected average range, but some may be unexplainable abnormal outliers. For example, the TH of the extreme outlier (Table 1) is relatively high, which requires 1,100 mg/L of fixed hydrated lime dose and 2,800 mg/L of soda ash in order to reduce the TH by about 90%.
To reduce the cost of additives and minimize the generation of excessive toxic wet sludge, and since the hydrated lime/soda ash is the first main step in the three main steps (RO or NF as a second main step followed by ion exchanging as a third main step) of the T-WWTRP, this first main step is essentially used for marginally reducing TH in order to improve the recovery ratio of RO or NF (the second main step). Thus, calcium carbonate hardness is partially marginally removed by treating a WWTRP's RO reject stream with a sufficient amount of hydrated lime to convert dissolved carbonates (carbonic acid and bicarbonate) to calcium carbonate. For a design purpose entailing normal average species content as well as abnormal species content, the amount hydrated lime dose may be taken within about 0.5 of the fixed hydrated lime dose (1,100 mg/L) when species content in the RO reject stream is at an abnormal level, which would remove about 20% of the TH. This amount of hydrated lime coincides with about 0.7 of the fixed hydrated lime does (775 mg/L) when the species content in the WWTRP's RO reject stream is at a normal average level. This would limit the amount of soda ash for essentially removing the unreacted and/or undissolved amount of calcium resulting from the addition of hydrated lime, hasten the precipitation of calcium carbonate, and slightly increase the pH. This reaction may be expressed as follows:
                                                                        Na                2                                                          CO                3                                                    ︷                              Soda                                                                                Ash                                              +                                                                      Ca                                                        (                    OH                    )                                                  2                            ︷                                      Unreacted              /              Undissolved                                      ->                              2                                                                          NaOH                    +                                    CaCO              3                        ↓                                              (                  2                    F                )
In consequence, calcium in a treated WWTRP's RO reject stream resulting from the first main step (hydrated lime/soda ash) of the T-WWTRP may be reduced by about 10-20%. This may result in losing about 5% of the water content and producing about 23,000 tons per year of toxic wet sludge to be hauled away (roughly about 1,400 semi truck loads of sludge per year). This, in turn, (after ozonating, media filtering, UV radiating, filtering by UF, acidifying, de-carbonating/de-aerating, pH neutralizing, oxygen scavenging, and scaling inhibiting) limits the recovery ratio of the followed RO to about 50% or NF to about 70%. The recovery ratio of either RO or NF, as the second main step in the T-WWTRP, is controlled by the saturation limit of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum). The tradeoff between using RO or NF as the second main step is summarized as follows. RO rejects all ions nearly equally; thereby the high removal of calcium and magnesium is useful in reducing their loads on the following IE (the third main step). The high removal of calcium and sulfate imposes a limit on their concentrations in the RO reject steam; thereby the RO recovery ratio may be confined to about 50%, where calcium and sulfate concentration in the reject stream are nearly doubled. NF allows most monovalent ions (sodium, potassium and chloride) to pass through; but partially rejects monovalent bicarbonate and divalent cations (magnesium and calcium), and highly rejects the divalent sulfate. The partial removal of calcium and high removal of sulfate allow a higher NF recovery ratio compared to RO, which may be limited to about 70%, wherein the sulfate concentration in the NF reject stream may be about 3.3-times higher than its concentration in the NF feed stream. RO for sulfate removal would be considered only when monovalent ions and divalent cations must also be removed since the RO reject stream would be about 50%. NF costs less for effective sulfate removal than RO when the removal of monovalent ions is not necessary and near complete removal of divalent cations is not a must since NF operates at a slightly lower pressure and a higher recovery ratio (reject stream about 30%) than RO. As such, about 55% of the WWTRP's RO reject stream that feeds the T-WWTRP will be lost as liquid waste if RO is used as the second main step along with the lime/soda ash as the main first step; or about 35% if NF is used instead as the second main step. Since the T-WWTRP comprises a multitude of filtration, IE resin regeneration and disposal steps; all of which require significant amounts of quality water (backwashing, regenerating ion exchanging resins, buffering disposal wells, etc.), the thereby further RO polishing step may be mostly dedicated to produce such water for such extra utilities.
FIG. 3B illustrates the waste paths of the T-WWTRP to treat a portion of the WWTRP's RO reject stream. About ½ to ⅔ of the WWTRP's RO reject stream will continually be dumped into the sea, and about ⅓ to ½ of the WWTRP's RO reject stream will be treated by the T-WWTRP, where the latter will reject about ⅓ to ½ of its feed into aquifer waters (disposal wells) and settling ponds. The toxicity of the entire WWTRP's RO reject stream will now be distributed among the sea, aquifer waters, as well as settling ponds, evaporation pits or landfills. The latter could also be an indirect path to contaminate shallow groundwater and brackish water. This partial solution for the disposal of WWTRP's RO reject stream problem has now created several new ones. Neither dilution in seawater (the WWTRP's RO reject stream) nor dilution by expanding distributions in seawater (the WWTRP's RO reject stream), aquifer waters and settling ponds (T-WWTRP) is a solution to toxic pollution.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Minimizing wastes: method for de-oiling, de-scaling and distilling source water


A dielectric layer consisting essentially of Ta, Al, oxygen and nitrogen can have advantageous properties that make such a layer useful for thin film capacitors, typically capacitors for Si integrated circuits. For instance, a significantly greater fraction of capacitors according to the invention than of prior art tantalum oxide capacitors can store a charge of 3 .mu.coulomb/cm.sup.2. In a currently preferred embodiment, the dielectric layer has composition Ta.sub.1-y Al.sub.y O.sub.x N.sub.z, with y.about.0.1, x.about.2.4, and z.about.0.02. The dielectric layer can be formed by sputter deposition or any other appropriate deposition technique, e.g., chemical vapor deposition.

The relatively high dielectric constant and breakdown field strength of tantalum oxide (herein generally TaO.sub.x, x.about.2.5) make thin film TaO.sub.x potentially useful for integrated circuit applications. However, before TaO.sub.x -based dielectric material can be used in production devices, some properties of the material have to be improved. Among these are leakage current which, at least for some IC applications, desirably is reduced over typical prior art values, and breakdown voltage, which desirably is raised.
Two approaches have dominated the efforts to improve the dielectric properties, namely, post-deposition annealing, and incorporation of one or more further metal oxides such as Al.sub.2 O.sub.2, TiO.sub.2, WO.sub..sub.3, SiO.sub.2 or ZrO.sub.2 into the film. The former requires relatively high temperatures, and may lead to crystallization of the TaO.sub.x, a deleterious change. In any case, post-deposition annealing to date has yielded only marginal improvements in leakage current and breakdown voltage.
The latter approach to date also has not yielded the desired improvements in dielectric properties.
Representative of prior efforts are H. Fujikawa et al., J. Applied Physics, Vol. 75 (5), p. 2538 (1994), and K. Nomura et al., J. Electrochemical Soc., Vol. 134, p. 924 (1987). The former reports magnetron sputter deposition of Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5 plus 2 other oxides (e.g., Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 +ZrO.sub.2) in Ar+O.sub.2. The latter reports RF sputter deposition of TaO.sub.x +Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 in Ar+O.sub.2.
See also J. H. Thomas, J. Applied Physics, Vol. 45 (12), p. 5349 (1974), which reports results on the study of defects in anodic Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5 formed on N.sub.2 -doped Ta films. U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,167 discloses formation of a thin film capacitor by a method that comprises RF sputtering a film of Ta oxide in an O.sub.2 --N.sub.2 inert gas atmosphere.
In view of the high dielectric constant and other advantageous properties of TaO.sub.x, it would be desirable to have available a TaO.sub.x -based dielectric film that can have relatively low leakage current and relatively high breakdown voltage. This application discloses such a film, and a method of making the film.

Capacitor comprising improved TaO.sub.x -based dielectric


The present invention refers to a recombinant nucleotide sequence which codes upon expression for at least a part of a bifunctional hybrid active-site serine β-lactamase protein, wherein the β-lactamase protein is bearing at least one heterologous sequence, wherein in that the hybrid protein is having two functions, the first function is associated with the β-lactamase portion and the second function is associated with the heterologous sequence having a biological function which is different from the first function.

In the state of art a plurality of scientific publications have described the construction of fusion proteins. In the majority of these cases, such fusion proteins were realised as fusions of polypeptides to the N-terminus or C-terminus of a carrier protein. Martineau et al. (Martineau, P., J. G. Guillet, et al. (1992). "Expression of heterologous peptides at two permissive sites of the MalE protein: antigenicity and immunogenicity of foreign B-cell and T-cell epitopes." Gene 118(1): 151; Martineau, P., C. Leclerc, et al. (1996). "Modulating the immunological properties of a linear B-cell epitope by insertion into permissive sites of the MalE protein." Mol Immunol 33(17-18): 1345-58.) have realized the insertion of a protein into permissive sites of the protein MalE and they have studied the immune response against the inserted protein.
Several authors describe the immunisation against the enterotoxins STa (heat stable enterotoxin of E. coli) via constructing N-terminal or C-terminal fusion proteins, wherein different carrier proteins are involved, in order to obtain an immune response against the STa peptide, which as such is not immunogenic. The construction of hybrid proteins by inserting the STa peptide into a permissive site of a carrier protein has not yet been described in the prior art. The β-lactamase TEM-1 also not has been used as carrier protein for the construction of hybrid or fusion proteins with STa.
The process for synthesising bifunctional proteins got underway through binding one protein to another by chemical means. Against the background of this approach, the two proteins of interest, which have different properties, are synthesised independently and then treated with a chemical so as to achieve the covalent bonding of specific chemical groups available in the proteins. The technique has helped to achieve progress in developing diagnosis tests and recombinant vaccines. However, it has several drawbacks that have prompted the scientific community to develop other options. One of the disadvantages of using chemical agents is the aspecific coupling of two target proteins, which results in a lack of uniformity in the way the two proteins are bad associated and oriented. This in turn may inactivate one of the proteins. As a result of the binding system, protein complexes are formed where the stoichiometry and composition is heterogeneous. For example, a protein X may be associated with one, two, three or more Y proteins. A binding between identical molecules (dimer-multimer) is difficult to avoid, thereby reducing the quantity of bifunctional proteins obtained. The resulting assay challenges can be intuitively understood, along with the calibration stage required to assess the sensitivity of the product with each further coupling.
Another challenge with the aspecific binding of the bridging agents is that these techniques call for large quantities of proteins in return for a reduced yield potential, thereby pushing up the costs of the finished product. A de novo synthesis of bifunctional proteins in prokaryotics or eukaryotics systems offers an alternative way of meeting these challenges. This method involves molecular biology techniques providing an opportunity to modify the structure of the coding gene for the proteins in question. However, this technology calls for a detailed knowledge of the biochemical and structural properties of the polypeptides synthesised on the basis of their manipulated sequence of nucleotides.
An initial de novo synthesis approach was adopted on the basis of fusion proteins. This involves genetically fusing coding DNA sequences for two proteins of interest to one or the other ends of the said genes. This fusion operation may apply to whole proteins, fragments of proteins or random peptides. The two proteins (or protein fragments) are then expressed in tandem by the producer organism. This technique solves the problems of difficult, insoluble, misfolding proteins. It also addresses issues related to chemical coupling (see above), even though it is not the technique by which other ones are judged in this sphere. Presenting a peptide to the ends of another protein means this protein is exposed to excessive proteolysis when the fusion protein is being produced and purified. What is more, the degrees of freedom of the fusion peptides are such that they seriously destabilise the structure of the entire fusion. The result is a total loss of biological activity.
Therefore it was object of the present invention to provide functional proteins wherein the respective carrier protein retains its activity and also the added heterologous sequence still processes its function (for example as epitope, enzyme etc.), wherein furthermore the added heterologous sequence is somehow exposed on the surface of the carrier protein which is providing the possibility that the heterologous sequence may interact with other molecules. Furthermore, it was the object of the present invention to provide the functional proteins wherein the additional heterologous sequence maintains its free dimensional structure. It was a further object that the heterologous sequence is made less susceptible to proteolysis.

Hybrid proteins of active-site serine β-lactamase


The invention provides a liquid developer that is used in an apparatus for forming an image by developing an electrostatic latent image formed on a latent image carrying member, transferring the developed image to a recording medium, and then fixing the image, in which the liquid developer contains a carrier liquid and particles formed with a composition containing a binder resin, a colorant, and a charge controlling agent comprising a charge controlling substance containing an ionic or neutral substance, wherein the charge controlling substance containing an ionic or neutral substance is supported by an inorganic porous material.

A developer used for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on a latent image carrying member is classified into one for a method using a dry toner, in which a toner containing a colorant, such as a pigment, and a binder resin in a dry state, and another for a method using a liquid developer containing an insulating carrier liquid and a toner dispersed therein.
The method using a dry toner is advantageous in handleability since only a toner in a solid state is handled, but involves problems in contamination due to scattering of a toner and in uniformity upon dispersing a toner.
In the method using a liquid developer containing an insulating carrier liquid and a toner dispersed therein, on the other hand, fine toner particles can be used, and therefore, it is excellent in reproducibility of a thin line image, gradation and color. Furthermore, it is also excellent as a high-speed image forming method.
A liquid developer contains an insulating carrier liquid having dispersed therein a toner, which is formed by kneading a binder resin with a colorant, such as a pigment, and a charge controlling agent for improving the charge characteristics of the toner.
While various kinds of liquids have been known as the insulating carrier liquid for the liquid developer, an isoparaffin has been known as a carrier liquid that is safe and good in handleability, and the use of a silicone oil has been proposed as a carrier liquid that can be applied to wide range of photoreceptors (as described, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 43749/1991).
The liquid developer involves such a problem in that the charge controlling agent present in the vicinity of the surface of the toner particles is liable to be dissolved in the carrier liquid to reduce the function of the charge controlling agent.
In the process for forming the toner particles, furthermore, the charge controlling agent may sublime or suffer oxidative decomposition upon processing the kneaded binder resin under heat or upon drying the particles under heat or reduced pressure after forming the particles in the liquid. As a result, the electrostatic charge of the toner is liable to be ununiform to cause problems in fogging and transferring failure due to inverse charge.


The embodiments of the present invention relates to a 3D display device and a method for driving the 3D display device, the 3D display device comprising an Active Retarder (AR) (200) and a display panel (100), the display panel (100) comprising N first pixel regions and N second pixel regions, N being an integer larger than or equal to 1, the AR (200) comprising 2N signal electrode sets, each signal electrode set comprises at least one signal electrode, and each signal electrode set corresponding to at least one pixel region of the display panel (100). The embodiments of the present invention also relate to an image processing method and a 3D display device, which can avoid prominent variation in lightness received by the left and right eye when switching from a current frame to a next frame, and thus flicking can be eliminated.

Recently, stereo display has become a development trend of display field. Especially, a stereo liquid crystal display (LCD) not only has advantages of a liquid crystal display, such as ultrathin, power-saving, but also may allow a viewer to percept distances of respective objects in an image, and thereby to obtain more full and real information. Therefore, the stereo display has broad application prospect.
The existing stereo LCDs, which operate by means of Polarized Filter, parallax barrier, or Lenticular lens plate, utilize a principle about human eyes' binocular disparity. That is, there is a distance of about 65 mm between two eyes of a human. Thus, the left eye and the right eye will see two slightly different 2D images because of the position difference of two eyes. These two different images are synthesized by the brain of the human, resulting in a stereo image with a depth.
A stereo display technology, referred as Active Retarder (AR), is popular in the art, since it advantageously does not decrease resolution and the glasses thereof are light and portable. An AR 3D display device, as shown in FIG. 2, comprises a display panel 100 and an AR 200 disposed on the display panel 100. The AR, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises an upper substrate 7, a lower substrate 1 and a liquid crystal layer 4 disposed therebetween. A common electrode 6 and an upper alignment layer 5 are provided on the upper layer 7, and a lower alignment layer 3 and several strip-shaped signal electrodes 2 are provided on the lower substrate 1. The AR may be divided into several strip-shaped regions corresponding to the strip-shaped signal electrodes 2, the signal voltage for each strip-shaped region may be controlled independently. When an electric field is applied, LC molecules of the liquid crystal layer are on twisted state and the light passing through the LC layer is twisted 90 degrees. When no electric field is applied, the LC molecules are aligned in the direction perpendicular to the upper substrate surface, and therefore, the polarized direction of the light passing through the LC layer is not changed. The liquid crystal display panel may be other types except for TN type, such as, OCB type, and the application principles are similar. Each strip-shaped region of the AR corresponds to several sub-pixels on the display panel, as shown in FIG. 2.
The prior art driving method for a 3d display with an AR is as following. During the first time period, no electric field is applied to all of ARs 200, the display panel 100 displays a left eye image, and the polarized direction is modulated as left-handed polarized direction. During the second time period, the display panel 100 is line-by-line inputted with the right eye image from the top down (from left to right in FIG. 3), and then an electric field is applied to the first strip-shaped region of the AR 200 so that the polarized direction of exiting light of this area is modulated as right-handed polarized direction and the several sub-pixels corresponding to the first strip will be seen by the right eye of a viewer. In this way, the display panel is controlled to display a right eye image line-by-line, and an electric field is applied to the corresponding AR line by line, and the polarized direction of the exiting light from corresponding sub-pixels is modulated as right-handed polarized light. Thus, left and right eyes of the viewer may both see all pixels of the display so as to achieve a full resolution. In contrast, the manner using a film-type patterned retarder technology will cause resolution decreased by one half. However, the driving method may increase flicking of 3D display, and thus may cause the human eyes to feel tired and other physiological discomforts.
The principle of increasing the flicking of the 3D display is shown in FIG. 3. The AR controls the polarized direction of the exiting light so that a left eye image is scanned first, and then a right eye image is scanned line-by-line from the top down. When the display of that frame is completed, a left eye image is scanned line-by-line from the top down. Since the viewer will see the image through polarizing glasses, the lightness received by a single eye of the viewer is proportional to the area of the image seen by the eye. The dashed line in FIG. 3 represents the varying trend of the lightness received by the left eye as time varies; and the real line represents the varying trend of the lightness received by the right eye. It is apparent from FIG. 3 that the lightness varies greatly in the display process, and thus resulting in flicking, causing the viewer to feel discomfortable.

3D display driving method, image processing method and 3D display device


There is presented a drill guide assembly for forming a transverse guide hole in a bone, the guide hole being adapted to receive a transverse screw, the guide hole intersecting a tunnel formed in the bone and adapted to receive a body to be retained in the tunnel and to receive the screw transversely of the body to secure the body in the tunnel. The drill guide assembly comprises a track member of an elongated curved configuration, the track member having a bore extending widthwise therethrough, and a curved slide track extending lengthwise thereof, a boom member having a first portion of an elongated curved configuration slidably disposed in the slide track of the track member, and a second portion for retaining a drill bit. The assembly further includes a stem member for disposition in the track member bore, the stem member having an elongated stem portion for extending into the tunnel, and a guide member for attachment to a distal end of the stem portion, the guide member having a recess therein for receiving a distal end of a drill bit retained in the boom member second portion.

In the human knee, the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments (i.e., the ACL and PCL) extend between the top end of the tibia and the bottom end of the femur. These ligaments play an important role in providing both static and dynamic stability to the knee. Often, the anterior cruciate ligament (i.e., the ACL) is ruptured or torn as a result of, for example, a sports-related injury. Consequently, various surgical procedures have been developed for reconstructing the ACL so as to restore stable function to the knee.
For example, the ACL may be reconstructed by replacing the ruptured ACL with a synthetic or harvested graft ligament. More particularly, with such procedures, bone tunnels are typically formed in the top end of the tibia and the bottom end of the femur, with one end of the graft ligament being positioned in the femoral tunnel and with the other end of the graft ligament being positioned in the tibial tunnel. The two ends of the graft ligament are anchored in place in various ways well known in the art so that the graft ligament extends between the tibia and the femur in substantially the same way, and with substantially the same function, as the original ACL.
In some circumstances, the graft ligament may include a bone block connected to one of its ends. This bone block may be used to attach the ligament graft to the patient's femur.
For example, in one well-known procedure, the bone block is placed in the femoral tunnel and then fixed in place using a so-called "Kurosaka" screw. More particularly, with this procedure, a screw is screwed into the bottom end of the femur so that the screw extends parallel to the bone tunnel and simultaneously engages both the bone block and the femur. This screw then keeps the bone block (and hence the graft ligament) secured to the femur.
More recently, interest has developed in procedures for pinning the bone block to the femur by passing a screw through the femur and the bone block so that the screw extends transverse to the bone tunnel. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,901,711; 4,985,032; 5,067,962; 5,152,764; 5,350,380; 5,354,300; 5,397,356; and 5,431,651.
Unfortunately, however, the various apparatus and methods disclosed in the foregoing patents suffer from a variety of deficiencies.
Furthermore, in some circumstances, the graft ligament may not have a bone block attached to one of its ends. In this situation, it can be difficult to securely attach the graft ACL to the patient's femur.
In this latter respect, some work has been done to pass a pin through the femur so that the pin extends transverse to the bone tunnel; the graft ACL is then looped over the pin to secure it to the femur. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,266,075 and 5,393,302.
Unfortunately, however, the various apparatus and methods disclosed in the foregoing patents also suffer from a variety of deficiencies.
Still other art of interest is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,973,277; 5,004,474; 5,147,362; 5,356,435; and 5,376,119.

Apparatus and method for fixing a ligament in a bone tunnel


In a photoelectric converting film stack type solid-state image pickup device, a plurality of photoelectric converting film are stacked on a semiconductor substrate in which a signal readout circuit is formed, each of the photoelectric converting films is sandwiched between a common electrode film and pixel electrode films corresponding to respective pixels, and photo-charges generated in the photoelectric converting films are taken out through the pixel electrode films. In the solid-state image pickup device, a common electrode film for a first photoelectric converting film is used also as a common electrode film for a second photoelectric converting film, the first photoelectric converting film is stacked below the common electrode film, and the second photoelectric converting film is stacked above the common electrode film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photoelectric converting film stack type solid-state image pickup device, which is configured by stacking photoelectric converting films on a semiconductor substrate in which a signal readout circuit is formed in the surface.
2. Description of the Invention
A prototype of a photoelectric converting film stack type solid-state image pickup device is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-58-103165. The solid-state image pickup device has a configuration in which three photosensitive layers are stacked on a semiconductor substrate, and electric signals for red (R), green (G), and blue (B) respectively detected by the photosensitive layers are read out by MOS circuits formed in the surface of the semiconductor substrate.
Solid-state image pickup devices having such a configuration have been proposed in the past. Thereafter, the techniques of developing a CCD image sensor and a CMOS image sensor in which many light receiving portions (photodiodes) are arranged in a surface portion of a semiconductor substrate and color filters of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are stacked on the light receiving portions have been significantly advanced. At present, an image sensor with several million light receiving portions (pixels) integrated on the surface is mounted on a digital still camera.
The techniques of developing a CCD image sensor and a CMOS image sensor are advanced close to their limits or to the level where each light receiving pixel has an opening of about 2 μm that is on the order of the wavelength of incident light. Therefore, the techniques face a problem in that the production yield of photo-charges is poor.
The upper limit of the amount of photo-charges which can be accumulated in one miniaturized light receiving pixel is low or about 3,000 electrons. It is difficult to clearly express 256 gradations by using such a small amount of photo-charges. Therefore, it is hardly expected that an image sensor which is superior to the related-art one in image quality and in sensitivity is realized by a CCD or CMOS device.
The solid-state image pickup device proposed in JP-A-58-103165 has attracted attention as a device which can solve these problems, and image sensors are then proposed in Japanese Patent No. 3,405,099 and JP-A-2002-83946.
In the image sensor disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3,405,099, a photoelectric converting layer is formed by dispersing ultrafine particles of silicon in a medium, three such photoelectric converting layers in which ultrafine particles have different diameters are stacked on a semiconductor substrate, and the photoelectric converting layers generate electric signals corresponding to the amounts of received light of red, green, and blue, respectively.
The image sensor disclosed in JP-A-2002-83946 is configured in a similar manner, or so that three nanosilicon layers of different particle diameters are stacked on a semiconductor substrate, and electric signals of red, green, and blue detected by the nanosilicon layers are read out to accumulation diodes formed in a surface portion of the semiconductor substrate.
In the image sensor disclosed in FIGS. 5 and 6(b) of JP-A-2003-332551, red-color filter photodiodes and blue-color filter photodiodes are disposed in a surface portion of a semiconductor substrate in the same manner as the related-art CCD or CMOS image sensor, and only one green-detection photoelectric converting film is disposed above the semiconductor substrate in place of a green-color filter photodiode.
FIG. 5 is a sectional diagram showing two pixels of the related-art photoelectric converting film stack type solid-state image pickup device. A CMOS signal readout circuit is formed in a surface portion of a semiconductor substrate 1 which serves as a ground of the photoelectric converting film stack type solid-state image pickup device. Referring to FIG. 5, a heavily-doped impurity region 2 for accumulating a red signal, a MOS circuit 3 for reading out the red signal, a heavily-doped impurity region 4 for accumulating a green signal, a MOS circuit 5 for reading out the green signal, a heavily-doped impurity region 6 for accumulating a blue signal, and a MOS circuit 7 for reading out the blue signal are formed in a surface portion of a P-well layer 1 formed in an n-type semiconductor substrate.
Each of the MOS circuits 3, 5, 7 is configured by impurity regions which are formed in the surface of the semiconductor substrate, and which are used for a source and a drain, and a gate electrode which is formed via a gate insulating film 8, respectively. An insulating film 9 is formed-above the gate insulating film 8 and the gate electrodes to flatten the surface, and a light shielding film 10 is stacked on the insulating film. In many cases, the light shielding film is formed by a metal thin film, and hence a further insulating film 11 is formed on the light shielding film.
Signal charges accumulated in the heavily-doped impurity regions 2, 4, 6 for accumulating respective color signals are read out to the outside by the MOS circuits 3, 5, 7.
Pixel electrode films 12 which are separated from one another so as to correspond to respective pixels are formed on the insulating film 11 shown in FIG. 5. For each of the pixels, the pixel electrode film 12 for the pixel is electrically connected through a columnar electrode 13 to the heavily-doped impurity region 2 for accumulating the red signal. The columnar electrode 13 is electrically insulated from the other components except the pixel electrode film 12 and the heavily-doped impurity region 2.
A red-detection photoelectric converting film 14 is formed above the pixel electrode films 12, and a transparent common electrode film 15 is formed above the photoelectric converting film. The photoelectric converting film 14 and the common electrode film 15 are not required to be disposed for each pixel, and are formed flatly over the entire face of the semiconductor substrate by respective single-film configurations.
Similarly, a transparent insulating film 16 is formed above the common electrode film 15, and transparent pixel electrode films 17 which are separated from one another so as to correspond to respective pixels are formed above the insulating film. For each of the pixels, the pixel electrode film 17 for the pixel is electrically connected by a columnar electrode 18 to the heavily-doped impurity region 4 for accumulating the green signal. The columnar electrode 18 is electrically insulated from the other components except the pixel electrode film 17 and the heavily-doped impurity region 4. A green-detection photoelectric converting film 19 is formed above the pixel electrode films 17 by a single-film configuration in the same manner as the photoelectric converting film 14. A transparent common electrode film 20 is formed above the photoelectric converting film.
A transparent insulating film 21 is formed above the common electrode film 20, and pixel electrode films 22 which are separated from one another so as to correspond to respective pixels are formed above the insulating film. For each of the pixels, the pixel electrode film 22 for the pixel is electrically connected by a columnar electrode 26 to the heavily-doped impurity region 6 for accumulating the blue signal. The columnar electrode 26 is electrically insulated from the other components except the pixel electrode film 22 and the heavily-doped impurity region 6. A blue-detection photoelectric converting film 23 is formed above the pixel electrode films 22. A transparent common electrode film 24 is formed above the photoelectric converting film. A transparent protective film 25 is formed in the uppermost layer.
When the light comes on the solid-state image pickup device, photo-charges corresponding to the amounts of the incident color lights of blue light, green light, and red light are excited in the photoelectric converting films 23, 19, 14, respectively. When a certain voltage is applied between the common electrode films 24, 20, 15 and the pixel electrode films 22, 17, 12, the photo-charges flow into the heavily-doped impurity regions 6, 4, 2, and are then read out as the blue, green, and red signals by the MOS circuits 7, 5, 3, respectively.
In the photoelectric converting film stack type solid-state image pickup device having the configuration shown in FIG. 5, the twelve films in total, or the pixel electrode film 12, the red-detection photoelectric converting film 14, the common electrode film 15, the insulating film 16, the pixel electrode film 17, the green-detection photoelectric converting film 19, the common electrode film 20, the insulating film 21, the pixel electrode film 22, the blue-detection photoelectric converting film 23, the common electrode film 24, and the protective film 25 must be stacked on the insulating film 11 on the surface of the semiconductor substrate.
In producing such a photoelectric converting film stack type solid-state image pickup device, in order to improve the production yield and to lower the production cost, it is necessary to reduce the number of production steps. When even one step of stacking the twelve films is omitted, the production yield is correspondingly improved, and the production cost is lowered.
In the case where such a photoelectric converting film stack type solid-state image pickup device is to be produced, the portion on the side of the semiconductor substrate can be formed in the same manner as that in the related-art CCD or CMOS image sensor, and the related-art technique of producing a semiconductor device can be employed without modification. Moreover, also the photoelectric converting films that are stacked on the semiconductor substrate, electrode films for sandwiching the photoelectric converting films, and insulating films can be easily formed using a film-forming method based on a printing technique, the spraying method, the vacuum evaporation method, the sputtering method, the CVD method, or the like.
However, conductor lines by which a signal readout circuit formed in the semiconductor substrate is connected to pixel electrode films for the photoelectric converting files stacked on the semiconductor substrate cannot be easily formed because such conductor lines must be formed as vertical ones which elongate in a direction perpendicular to the planes of the pixel electrode films.
For example, a solid-state image pickup device in which three or R-, G-, and B-photoelectric converting films are stacked has a configuration that the three color signals of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are read out from one pixel. In this case, three vertical conductor lines must be disposed for each pixel, and the three vertical conductor lines have different heights.
Such vertical conductor lines can be formed by, after an insulating film is formed on the semiconductor substrate, repeating many times a work of etching away portions where the vertical conductor lines are to be formed, embedding a conductor in the portions, growing a photoelectric converting film, etching away portions where the vertical conductor lines are to be formed, and embedding the conductor in the portions.
However, the work has problems that alignment is not easily conducted, and that, when misalignment once occurs, the vertical conductor lines are not connected and photo-changer signals from the converting films cannot be transferred and read out. In order to form several million pixels in one solid-state image pickup device, it is required to form vertical conductor lines the number of which is three times that of the pixels. Moreover, a vertical conductor line through which photo-changer signals generated in an upper photoelectric converting film go to a signal readout circuit on a semiconductor substrate must be formed so as to be insulated from other photoelectric converting films and electrode films along the route, or not to make electrical contact therewith. This causes a problem that such a device is hard to produce and the production cost is high.

Photoelectric converting film stack type solid-state image pickup device and method of producing the same


A vehicle tire tread includes a circumferential spaced apart array of discrete tie-bar block elements within a circumferential tread groove, each tie-bar block element having a circumferentially oriented bisecting cut dividing the tie bar into opposed tie-bar components. The opposed tie-bar components operatively flex and converge axially when present within a rolling tire footprint to close the radially outward cut segment and resume a nominal separation dimension when outside a rolling tire footprint. The bisecting cut within each tie-bar block element further forms at a radially inward end a large diameter fluid conducting channel extending through the tie-bar block element to allow the passage of fluid along the circumferential groove, unobstructed by the array of tie-bar block elements.

Commercial truck steer tires are required to provide a suitable level of wet and snow performance while rolling resistance performance and fuel mileage efficiency achieved by the tire is maintained. Moreover, it is desired that such tires provide a high level of cornering stiffness and resistance to tread wear in order to prolong the useful life of the tire tread. Accordingly, there is a need for a commercial truck steer tire having a tread pattern that functionally meets such competing objectives to thereby provide the user with acceptable overall tire performance.


A ball valve having improved sealing between the valve member and the valve body is presented. Improved sealing is realized by providing a sealing member that is allowed to float on the outer surface of the valve member in the closed position. By being able to float on the outer surface, the sealing member can compensate for any variations in the valve member as a result of machining tolerances or variations in position of the valve member due to changes in pressure within the valve, thereby providing dynamic sealing The dynamic sealing is also provided by configuring the valve member such that it causes the sealing member to be exposed to a higher biasing force in the closed position than in the open position.

Ball valves typically include a valve body that includes a plurality of ports typically ranging between two ports and four ports. A valve member within the valve body, depending on its orientation within the valve body, selectively directs fluid between selected ones of the various ports or may entirely stop fluid flow through the valve body. As such, ball valves include seals interposed between the various ports and the valve member to prevent fluid from bypassing the valve member, i.e. leaking around the valve member and circumventing the desired fluid flow configuration.
Unfortunately, due to machining tolerances of the valve member and valve body, it has been difficult to ideally place and size fixed position seals for perfect, leak-free, seal-off. Further, merely using a seal that is oversized and compressing it within the valve body to compensate for the variations in tolerances can impart large loads on the valve member that make it more difficult to rotate the valve member. These large loads can require larger, more powerful actuators to position the valve member, leading to more costly actuators and more costly operation.
Compounding the problem of using fixed position seals is the fact that the pressure differential across a given port can vary depending on the flow direction of the fluid through the port or valve member. The changes in pressure can cause the walls of the valve member to flex or cause the valve member to move within the valve body. Fluid flow in one direction may move the seal and valve member out of sealing contact, while fluid flow in another direction may move the seal and valve member into sealing contact. As such, depending on the fluid flow and pressure differential, a fixed position seal may or may not provide adequate leak-free sealing between the valve member and valve body.
There exists, therefore, a need in the art for an improved ball valve and sealing configuration that overcomes these and other problems existing in the art. The apparatus and method of the present invention provides such a ball valve and dynamic sealing configuration.

Dynamic ball valve sealing device for three-way valves


An embodiment of a garbage disposal guard is comprised of a cylindrical sleeve having an outside diameter less than the inside diameter of the throat of a garbage disposal; a lip extending outward from the cylindrical sleeve, a lip having an outside diameter greater than the inside diameter of the throat of the garbage disposal; and bars extending between points on the inside diameter of the cylindrical sleeve that form a grate.

1. Field of the Technology
The field of the technology described in this specification relates to protective guards for home and commercial garbage disposals.
2. Introduction
Garbage disposals 7 are a staple of modern life. Typically one thinks of garbage disposals 7 for the home. But disposals 7 are extensively used in the food industry where great quantities of food must be disposed of quickly. Examples of food industries range from school and restaurant kitchens to food preparation businesses, such as frozen or nonfrozen food manufacturers, butcher shops, and even meat packers where unusable portions of the meat must be disposed.
Disposals 7 generally have a rubber insert in their throats 8A to stop the disposal's contents from being spun out of the throat 8A onto the surrounding area and people. However, throat 8A of a home-user garbage disposal 7 is of a size that allows the insertion of an adult hand.
In retail and industrial food preparation establishments, garbage disposal 7 capacity is larger than those used in the home. Consequently, its throat 8A is larger than that for home use, making the danger of hand insertion even greater.
This hazard is avoided with use of the garbage disposal guard 1 described herein.
In the following description of the embodiments like numerals refer to like elements.


A sintered material for recording/reading (particularly magnetic) head slider is produced by:. preparing a powdery mixture which comprises 0.5 to 6.0% by weight of at least one component selected from the component group A consisting of the following elements and compounds thereof, a garnet type compound consisting essentially of erbium oxide and aluminum oxide in amounts of 2 to 12% by weight and 0 (exclusive) to 2 (inclusive) % by weight based on the total composition, respectively, and expressed by the formula Er.sub.3 (Al,Er).sub.2 (AlO.sub.4).sub.3 through (Er, Al).sub.3 Al.sub.2 (AlO.sub.4).sub.3, and the balance being silicon carbide powder: PA0 the elements for the component group A being Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Mg, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ba, La, Ce, Gd, Hf, Ta, W, Th, and Cs; and PA0 sintering the resultant mass under the application of a high pressure.. Further sintering aids of Be, BeO, B and B.sub.4 C may be present. For the garnet type compound, erbium oxide may be used, preferably in combination with alumina.

Polycrystalline Ni-Zn and Mn-Zn ferrite or singlecrystalline Mn-Zn ferrite or high-hardness permalloy have so far been used for the magnetic heads of recording (write)/reproducing (read) systems in computer, audio and VTR systems or the like.
Now, there are strong demands for high densification of recording density and improvements in wear resistance. For that reason, thin-film magnetic heads are currently under development. The magnetic head usually comprises a slider and a thin film magnetic circuit provided thereon. The materials are now being selected for magnetic circuit parts and slider parts or wear-resistant parts for recording/reproducing, each to meet the individually requisite properties. More specifically, the thin films of permalloy or sendust excelling in the magnetic properties in a high-frequency range are used for magnetic circuits, and alumina- or carbide-base materials have been considered suitable for use in wear-resistant parts. Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -TiC base materials disclosed as the material for magnetic head sliders in Japanese Patent Kokai-Publication No. 55 (1980)-163665 are one of those best-suited for wear-resistant parts.

Process for the production of magnetic head sliders


A method of preparing a magnesium alloy substrate for an electroless electro-deposition surface treatment includes cleaning the magnesium alloy substrate in a wet solution, whereby a magnesium hydroxide layer is formed on an outer surface of the magnesium alloy substrate, and heating the magnesium alloy substrate to a temperature sufficient to convert the magnesium hydroxide layer to a magnesium oxide layer.

Metal substrates, including but not limited to various manufacture components and/or parts, are often treated with an electro-deposition coating prior to final finishing, e.g., painting. The substrate must be clean prior to application of the electro-deposition coating. Typically, and particularly in mass production, the substrate is cleaned in a wet cleaning process with a water based solvent, such as but not limited to an acid solvent or a base solvent. The substrate is allowed to dry and then submerged in a bath of the electro-deposition solution, whereupon an electrical charge is applied to the metal substrate, which attracts oppositely charged paint particles suspended in a water based solution. The electro-deposition coating process provides a protective film over the entire surface of the substrate.
An "electroless" electro-deposition coating process has been developed for coating a substrate manufactured from and/or including a magnesium alloy with the electro-deposition solution. The electroless coating process applies the electro-deposition solution to the magnesium alloy substrate without applying the electrical charge to the magnesium alloy substrate. Accordingly, the electroless coating process does not require an electrical charge. Rather, the electroless coating process submerges the substrate in the bath of the electro-deposition solution, or a solution similar to the electro-deposition solution, to apply the electro-deposition solution such that a layer of polymer containing materials are deposited onto the magnesium alloy substrate due to a surface alkalization effect.
The electroless coating process is less effective when applied to a magnesium alloy substrate having a magnesium hydroxide layer on the outer surface of the substrate. Because the reaction between the magnesium alloy substrate and the wet cleaning solution produces a magnesium hydroxide layer on the outer surface of the substrate, the magnesium alloy substrate may be "dry polished", i.e., cleaned in the absence of a water based solution, so as to form a magnesium oxide layer on the outer surface of the substrate instead of the magnesium hydroxide layer formed when using the wet cleaning solution. The electroless coating process is more effective when applied to a fresh magnesium alloy substrate without any surface films, or on a magnesium alloy substrate having a magnesium oxide layer on the outer surface of the substrate.

Method of preparing a magnesium alloy substrate for a surface treatment


A refrigerant system has at least one unloader valve selectively communicating refrigerant between the compressor compression chambers and a point upstream of the evaporator. When the compressor is run in unloaded mode, partially compressed refrigerant is returned to a point upstream of the evaporator. In an unloaded mode, a higher refrigerant mass flow rate passes through the evaporator, as compared to prior art where the by-passed refrigerant was returned downstream of the evaporator. This increases system efficiency by more effectively returning oil which otherwise might be left in the evaporator back to the compressor. Also, the amount of refrigerant superheat entering the compressor in unloaded operation is reduced as compared to the prior art compressor systems, wherein the by-passed refrigerant is returned directly to the compressor suction line. Reduced refrigerant superheat increases system efficiency, improves motor performance and reduces compressor discharge temperature. Also, by moving the unloader line further away from the compressor, the compressor replacement is simplified as there is no connecting unloader line directly in front of the compressor.

This invention relates to a unique placement for the connection between an unloader line valve and a lower pressure refrigerant line.
One of the compressor types that are especially suited for this invention is a scroll compressor. Scroll compressors are becoming widely utilized in compression applications. However, scroll compressors present several design challenges. One particular design challenge is achieving reduced capacity levels when full capacity operation is not desired.
Thus, scroll compressors, as an example, have been provided with unloader by-pass valves that divert a portion of the compressed refrigerant back to a compressor suction port. In this way, the amount of refrigerant compressed by a compressor is reduced. Of course, other compressor types may also have a by-pass valve for similar purpose, as for example, a screw compressor, where a by-pass valve can by-pass a part of refrigerant from the intermediate compression pocket within the screw compressor back to a suction line.
In a system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,364, a refrigerant system has both a by-pass line and an economizer circuit. The by-pass line communicates the vapor from the economizer line directly to the suction line. This by-pass line is provided with the unloader valve. When it is desired to have unloaded operation, the unloader valve is opened, and the economizer valve is closed. Refrigerant may thus then be returned from an intermediate point in the compression process directly back to suction.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,883,341 discloses an improvement to the above-described system wherein the economizer line communicates back to the main low pressure refrigerant line, not between the evaporator and the compressor, but upstream of the evaporator. Various benefits are achieved by this placement. This is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,883,341, owned by the assignee of the current application, and invented by the inventor of the current application. However, this application is limited to the situation wherein an economizer cycle is also incorporated into the system. It is also limited to a situation where only a single by-pass valve is present in the system. The present invention is directed to a compressor wherein an unloader line is not associated with an economizer cycle. The present invention also discloses an operation where several unloader lines can be present. In addition to the by-pass line being either fully open or fully closed for a prolonged period of time, the present invention also discloses a by-pass valve that can operate in a pulse width modulation regime: rapidly opening and closing to control the amount of refrigerant by-passed into the location upstream of the evaporator. The percentage of time that the valve is open determines the degree of by-pass modulation being achieved. The cycling rate of the pulse width modulated valve is selected to be shorter than the response time of the system. In this case the system does not respond fast enough to changes in the refrigerant flow through the unloader line, creating a situation where the systems responds as if the valve(s) are partially opened rather than being cycled between their open and closed positions.
While this prior art system has achieved many benefits, there are certain additional refinements that would be beneficial.

Refrigerant system unloading by-pass into evaporator inlet


A cooling system and cooling method for a fuel cell onboard a vehicle, wherein the fuel cell includes a gasifier configured to expand liquid hydrogen to gaseous hydrogen for feed to the fuel cell, the cooling system including a coolant system sized for less than peak power operation of the vehicle; and an auxiliary coolant system configured to provide supplemental cooling to the fuel cell, wherein the supplemental coolant system is configured to by-pass coolant to the gasifier and employ heat of gasification of the liquid hydrogen to provide supplemental cooling for the fuel cell during peak vehicle operation.

A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts chemical energy into electrical energy by spontaneous electrochemical reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions. Fuel cells include an anode and a cathode separated by an ionically conductive electrolyte. During operation, a fuel (e.g., hydrogen) is supplied to the anode and an oxidant (e.g., oxygen or air) is supplied to the cathode. The fuel is oxidized at the anode, producing positively charged ions (e.g., hydrogen ions) and electrons. The positively charged ions travel through the electrolyte from the anode to the cathode, while the electrons simultaneously travel from the anode to the cathode outside the cell via an external circuit, which produces an electric current. The oxidant supplied to the cathode is reduced by the electrons arriving from the external circuit and combines with the positively charged ions to form water. The reaction between oxygen and hydrogen is exothermic, generating heat that needs to be removed from the fuel cell.
Fuel cells may be used as power sources for electric motors of electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, including aircraft. In such applications, fuel cells oftentimes are arranged in stacks of multiple cells and connected in a series or parallel arrangement to achieve a desired power and output voltage. Cooling systems for fuel cell-powered vehicles oftentimes use an airflow generated during movement of the vehicle as a heat transfer medium. For example, an ambient airflow may be directed from outside the vehicle through an air intake of the vehicle and through one or more heat exchangers disposed within the vehicle. An airflow generated in this manner is oftentimes referred to as ram air and, when ram air is used as a cooling medium in a vehicle, the vehicle may experience increased drag, which may reduce the energy efficiency of the vehicle.
In fuel cell-powered aircraft, the power output demanded of the fuel cells—and the amount of waste heat generated by the fuel cells—is greatest during take-off and climb. 100% power output is only needed for 60-120 seconds on takeoff and initial climb to 1,000 feet. After 1,000 feet, power is reduced by 20% for the normal climb portion of the flight, and the fuel cell powerplant also operates at the higher efficiency, resulting in 30% lower heat output. Waste heat generated during operation of powered aircraft may be dissipated by positioning an air-cooled heat exchanger in an ambient airflow path through the aircraft. However, takeoff roll (from zero velocity until takeoff speed) airflow across the heat exchange surface is very low, which makes the capacity of the heat rejection system much lower during that stage of light. Moreover, directing ambient air to flow through the aircraft (instead of around the aircraft) when the aircraft is moving creates drag, with the amount of drag experienced by the aircraft being proportional to the volume of ambient air directed through the aircraft (and through the heat exchanger). In practice, the volume of the air-cooled heat exchanger (and the volume of air directed through the heat exchanger) may be selected to accommodate the most demanding cooling requirements of the aircraft, which may occur when the aircraft is operating under high load conditions, e.g., during take-off and climb. However, sizing the heat exchanger in this way may cause the aircraft to experience an unnecessarily large amount of drag when the aircraft is operating under low load conditions, e.g., during cruise, when minimal waste heat dissipation is needed. In addition, when cooling requirements are low, the presence of an oversized heat exchanger onboard the aircraft adds unnecessary weight and bulk to the aircraft. Therefore, a supplemental cooling system covering at least 30% of heat output for 120 seconds would be of significant contribution to the efficiency of hydrogen fuel cell-powered airplanes.
In accordance with the present disclosure we provide an auxiliary cooling system for a fuel cell onboard a vehicle that employs the heat of gasification of the liquid hydrogen fuel to facilitate cooling of the fuel cell. In one aspect the liquid hydrogen fuel is passed to the gasifier where the liquid hydrogen fuel is expanded to gaseous hydrogen, and the heat of gasification employed to cool the fuel cell. The gaseous hydrogen is then fed directly to the hydrogen fuel cell, or stored in an accumulator tank for future delivery to the hydrogen fuel cell. Alternatively, a portion of the liquid hydrogen is evaporated, the heat of gasification used to cool the fuel cell, and the gaseous hydrogen is released or purged safely behind the vehicle.
In one aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a cooling system for a fuel cell onboard a vehicle, wherein the fuel cell includes a gasifier configured to expand liquid hydrogen to gaseous hydrogen for feed to the fuel cell, the cooling system comprising:
a coolant system sized below that required for peak power operation of the vehicle; and
an auxiliary coolant system configured to provide supplemental cooling to the fuel cell, wherein the supplemental coolant system is configured to by-pass coolant to the gasifier and employ heat of gasification of the liquid hydrogen to provide supplemental cooling for the fuel cell during peak vehicle operation.
In one aspect the auxiliary coolant system includes an accumulator tank for accumulating excess gaseous hydrogen created by the auxiliary cooling system, preferably a variable volume tank, more preferably a balloon or bellows tank.
In another aspect the auxiliary coolant system is configured to vent at least a portion of the hydrogen after gasification.
In another aspect the cooling system sized below that required for peak power operation of the vehicle comprises a phase-change coolant system.
In yet another aspect, the cooling system includes a controller configured to control operation of the coolant system sized below that required for peak power operation of the vehicle and the auxiliary coolant system. In such aspect, the controller preferably is programmed to control operation of valves and pumps of the cooling system and flow of coolant and hydrogen depending on cooling demands, and to control liquid hydrogen level, temperature and pressure of the liquid hydrogen passed to the gasifier, depending on one or more of fuel cell power requirements, fuel cell temperature, fuel cell maximum design operating temperature and Outside Air Temperature (OAT).
In a particularly preferred aspect the vehicle comprises a fuel cell powered aircraft.
The present disclosure also provides method for cooling a fuel cell aboard a vehicle, wherein the fuel cell includes a cooling system and a gasifier configured to expand liquid hydrogen to gaseous hydrogen for feed to the fuel cell, providing a coolant system sized below that required for peak power operation of the vehicle and an auxiliary coolant system configured to provide supplemental cooling to the fuel cell, wherein the auxiliary coolant system is configured to by-pass coolant to the gasifier, and activating the auxiliary coolant system during peak vehicle operation, employing heat of gasification of the liquid hydrogen.
In one aspect the auxiliary coolant system includes an accumulator tank for accumulating excess gaseous hydrogen created by the auxiliary coolant system. In such aspect the accumulator tank preferably comprises a variable volume tank, more preferably a balloon or bellows tank.
In another aspect the auxiliary coolant system is configured to vent at least a portion of the by-passed hydrogen after gasification, and including the step of venting a portion of the by-passed hydrogen.
In another aspect the coolant system sized below that required for peak power operation of the vehicle comprises a phase-change coolant system.
In yet another aspect the cooling system further includes a controller for a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle including a gasifier and a coolant system, wherein the coolant system includes a coolant system sized below that required for peak power operation of the vehicle, and an auxiliary coolant system which auxiliary coolant system is configured to by-pass coolant to the gasifier, and including the step of controlling operation of the cooling system based on vehicle operating conditions and environmental conditions. In such aspect the controller preferably is programmed to control operation of valves and pumps of the cooling system and flow of coolant depending on cooling demands, and to control liquid hydrogen level, temperature and pressure of the liquid hydrogen passed to the gasifier, depending on one or more of fuel cell power requirements, fuel cell temperature, fuel cell maximum design operating temperature and Outside Air Temperature (OAT).

Liquid hydrogen storage system as thermal battery