In an extrusion head and an extrusion method for the production of a tubular multilayer preform the extrusion head includes at least two feed paths for feeding plasticised plastic material from one or more extruders to an annular passage arrangement. The annular passage arrangement includes mutually concentric annular passages forming mutually separate flow paths for the various layers of the preform. An annular gap nozzle has an annular gap communicating with the annular passage arrangement, and at least one flow passage communicates with an annular passage of the annular passage arrangement, for the introduction of a translucent viewing strip. The flow passage communicates with the annular passage in question upstream of the annular gap in the region of separation of the flow paths.

One form of an extrusion head for the production of a tubular multilayer preform of softened thermoplastic material, with at least one translucent strip extending in the extrusion direction, which strip can serve for example for visually checking the content of a container produced from the preform, comprises at least two feed paths for feeding plasticised plastic material from a plurality of extruders to an annular passage arrangement. Arranged downstream of the annular passage arrangement is an extrusion nozzle having an annular slot or gap communicating with the annular passage arrangement, possibly with the interposition of an annular storage space. For the sake of brevity and convenience the nozzle having an annular gap or slot will be referred to hereinafter as an annular gap nozzle. The extrusion head further has at least one flow passage bore which opens into the annular passage arrangement, for introducing thereinto the translucent material for forming the viewing strip. In relation to such a piece of equipment reference may be made for example to WO 98/08668 describing an apparatus including an extrusion head of the above-indicated kind, for producing a drum-like container of plastic material with a viewing strip of translucent plastic material, which extends in the axial direction of the container in the wall thereof.
In quite general terms the production of plastic containers using an extrusion blow molding process, with a viewing strip extending in the longitudinal direction thereof, is a known procedure, more specifically both in relation to containers of a single-layer structure and also containers of a multilayer structure. In the case of single-layer containers produced by an extrusion blow molding procedure, a strip of translucent material or a material of a different color from the rest of the container is usually introduced in the extrusion head by way of a flow passage bore extending transversely with respect to the direction of extrusion of the container material through the extrusion head. That manner of introducing the translucent material for the viewing strip involves dividing the extrudate to open it in the extrusion head, thereby producing separate flow portions. Downstream of the location at which the viewing strip material is introduced into the extrusion head the flow portions are brought back together again, and the materials are welded together in a molten condition.
The axially extending weld seams which are produced in that way between the various flow portions of the extrudate are weak points in the finished container, but these can be perfectly well accepted when dealing with small and light packs.
However it is not only in relation to small containers that a visual check on the level of the contents in the container is often desirable. Such a need to check the level of the container content may arise for example in relation to intermediate bulk containers, referred to as IBCs, and drums.
Checking the filling level of the material in the container does not give rise to any problem if the containers are made from a more or less translucent material. Often however it is necessary, as in WO 98/08668, for such drum containers to be provided with a coloration effect which serves for example to afford protection from UV radiation or which is intended to make the drum electrically conductive as protection from electrostatic charges. Such containers are usually produced with a multilayer wall, in which case it is only the outer, generally thinner layer that has such a coloration effect.
In order to ensure visual checking of the level of the contents of such drums, WO 98/08668 provides that a viewing strip of translucent material is disposed only in the outer colored layers of the co-extruded container. This has the advantage in particular that there is no need to divide the extrudate into separate parts, in the region of the inner layer of the container, which imparts stability to the container.
WO 98/08668 involves the use of a storage head with an annular storage space which enlarges in a funnel shape. The piston of the storage head has three annular distributors which are each connected to a respective extruder, involving different molten plastic materials. The annular distributors communicate with an annular passage which is disposed upstream of the nozzle and more specifically the nozzle gap, with the extrudates being brought together in the annular passage. The translucent molten plastic material is fed into that annular passage by way of a flow channel bore, below the mouth opening of all the annular dividers, more specifically in such a way that the viewing strip of translucent material passes through only the two outer layers of the total of three layers making up the co-extrudate. Those two outermost layers comprise an outer colored layer and an inner layer of recycled material. The feed of translucent material occurs by way of a flow body which extends at least as far as the molten plastic material forming the inner layer of the preform that is to constitute the finished container.
It will be noted that the above-described arrangement suffers from the disadvantage that it is not possible to exactly fix the layer boundary of the translucent viewing strip in relation to the three-layer structure of the extrudate. In order to ensure that the molten translucent plastic material passes completely through the two outer layers, it is necessary under some circumstances for the flow body to be so positioned, directed radially inwardly in relation to the longitudinal axis of the extrusion head, that the extrudate forming the inner layer also flows around the flow body, even if only to a slight degree. It will be appreciated that this signifies a reduction in the wall thickness of the inner layer, which is closed in itself, in that region, and such a reduction in wall thickness thus entails a loss of stability of the container overall.
If the flow body does not extend entirely through both outer layers, the quality of the viewing strip suffers as a consequence. It is scarcely possible, or is a rather random matter, for the flow body to be caused to extend exactly into the plane of separation between the inner and outer layers. The above-described apparatus configuration is particularly disadvantageous if the thickness of the various layers of the preform is to be altered or varied. In that case it is necessary to adapt the depth of penetration of the flow body into the material according to the respective circumstances involved.


The invention provides a filtration membrane which comprises a porous support and, covalently bonded to a surface thereof, a layer comprising a plurality of vesicles having transmembrane proteins incorporated therein, said vesicles being formed from an amphiphilic block copolymer; characterised in that within said layer, vesicles are covalently linked together to form a coherent mass. The membrane may be prepared by a process which comprises providing an aqueous suspension of vesicles having transmembrane proteins incorporated therein, said vesicles being formed from an amphiphilic block copolymer having reactive end groups; depositing said suspension of vesicles on a surface of a porous support; and providing reaction conditions such that covalent bonds are formed between different vesicles and between vesicles and said surface.

Conventional nanofiltration or reverse osmosis water filtration membranes have been known for many decades. Typically, they are made by casting a support membrane (often polysulfone or polyethersulfone); immersing the resulting cast in an aqueous solution of a diamine; removing excess from the surface of the membrane; immersing the membrane in an organic solution of a trifunctional acyl halide; and curing the resulting product to produce a polyamide layer. Washing and secondary coating are then carried out as necessary.
It is known from WO 01/32146 that membrane proteins may be incorporated into the walls of vesicles made from amphiphilic ABA block copolymers. This document includes extensive discussion of the nature of the polymers, and discloses that the polymers may have polymerizable groups at both chain ends. These polymerizable groups can be polymerized after the formation of the self-assembled vesicles, the polymerisation occurring exclusively intravesicularly. WO 2004/011600 discloses that aquaporins may be incorporated into tri-block co-polymers to form a membrane which will only pass water, excluding all contaminants. Since these disclosures, much work has been carried out to develop commercially viable membranes incorporating transmembrane proteins, and particularly water filtration membranes based on aquaporins. The challenge is to produce a working membrane, which is physically sufficiently robust to withstand the necessary conditions.
WO 2009/076174 describes a method of preparing substantially flat membranes based on block copolymers and aquaporins. Dong et al, J. Mem. Sci. 2012, 409-410, 34-43, creates block-copolymer vesicles incorporating an aquaporin, but then breaks the vesicles using a vesicle rupturing method to deposit a planar monolayer of polymer on the surface of a support. WO 2010/146365 describes vesicles which may have aquaporins embedded in them, suspended in an oil phase to form a liquid membrane. According to Zhao et al, J. Membrane Sci. 2012, 422-428, various proposed methods of producing aquaporin membranes include polymer tethered bio-layers, biomembrane aperture partition arrays, membrane supported lipid bilayer via vesicle fusion, and vesicles suspended over membrane pores, but most of these are not able to withstand the high hydrostatic pressure that is required. Zhao's own solution to the problem is in effect to use a conventional membrane preparation as described above, modified by addition of aquaporin-loaded lipid vesicles (i.e. liposomes) to the aqueous solution of diamine. The result provides liposomes embedded in a polyamide layer. Although Zhao reports the results obtained positively, it is clear from the data provided that although a small increase of water flux is obtained (FIG. 4(a)) no enhancement of the ability of the membrane to reject solute is found compared with conventional membranes (FIG. 5). It is believed that this is because the aquaporin-loaded liposomes become completely surrounded by polyamide, and thus the primary water flux through the membrane is via the polyamide (i.e. via the conventional path of the base membrane), and only partially through the aquaporin channels. WO 2013/043118, also from Zhao et al, describes the same technology and also discloses that block copolymers can be used to form vesicles, either containing or not containing aquaporins, and embedded in a polyamide layer. Again, the results plainly show that water flux via the polyamide layer and not exclusively via the aquaporin channels is obtained.
Xie et al, J. Mater. Chem A, 2013, 1, 7592, and WO 2013/180659, describe a process comprising (i) incorporating aquaporin into self-assembled polymer vesicles based on a polymer primarily (95%) having methacrylate end groups but also containing some (3%) carboxylic acid end groups; (ii) cross-linking the methacrylate end groups using UV light; (iii) depositing and covalently immobilizing the cross-linked vesicles on a support in such a concentration that isolated vesicles are disposed separately from each other on the surface of the support; and (iv) creating a thin polymer layer between the individual vesicles by the process known as "surface imprinting". In this process, it is important that the size of the immobilized vesicles is such that they are larger than the thickness of the imprinted polymer layer to prevent blockage of the aquaporin water channels. The process is said to exhibit high mechanical strength and stability during water filtration, but it is also stated that the most critical issue is that the imprinted polymer layer was not sufficiently dense to prevent all of the solute and water molecules from permeating. Further, only very limited flow rates are obtainable by such a system.
Accordingly, there still remains a need for a process which leads to a physically robust membrane incorporating transmembrane proteins, particularly a membrane which uses aquaporins acting effectively for water filtration.


An RF module includes a switch IC having connection electrodes on a first main face and connection electrodes on a second main face; a mounting substrate which has a first mounting face at the first main face side and a second mounting face at the second main face side and in which the switch IC is mounted; signal lines for a band A, which are formed at the first mounting face side of the mounting substrate; signal lines for a band B, which are formed at the second mounting face side of the mounting substrate; a band A filter; and a band B filter. Among the band A filter and the band B filter, only the band A filter is mounted on the first mounting face and only the band B filter is mounted on the second mounting face.

The present disclosure relates to a radio-frequency module and a communication apparatus.
In mobile communication apparatuses, such as mobile phones, it is important to improve the signal quality of multiple frequency bands processed in radio-frequency front end circuits particularly with development of multiband technologies.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-058515 discloses a module in which multiple electronic components are mounted on one face or both faces of a wiring substrate and the electronic components are sealed with resin.

Radio-frequency module and communication apparatus


A protective catheter tip has a generally tubular body portion defining an interior cavity. The proximal end of a urinary catheter is at least partially received within the protective tip, with the protective tip being retained on the urinary catheter without the need for a sleeve connecting the protective tip and the catheter. The protective tip may include a projection received within a draining hole or eye at the proximal end of the catheter to retain the protective tip on the catheter. The protective tip may instead include one or more projections that apply a frictional force to an outer surface of the catheter to retain the protective tip on the catheter. The protective tip may instead be retained on the catheter by a tether extending between the protective tip and a distal end of the catheter. The protective tip may also include two separate or separable pieces.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure generally relates to urinary catheters. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to sleeveless urinary catheter assemblies having a protective tip.
2. Description of Related Art
Catheters are used to treat many different types of medical conditions and typically include an elongated shaft that is inserted into and through a passageway or lumen of the body. Catheters, and in particular intermittent catheters, are commonly used by those who suffer from various abnormalities of the urinary system, such as urinary incontinence. With the advent of intermittent catheters, individuals with urinary system abnormalities can self-insert and self-remove intermittent catheters several times a day. Such catheters typically include a shaft that is sufficiently flexible to navigate the curves of the urethra (especially catheters intended for male users), yet rigid enough to be pushed through the urethra without collapsing or "snaking" before an end of the catheter reaches the bladder.
An exemplary male urinary catheter C according to conventional design is shown in FIG. 1. A proximal end P of the catheter C includes draining holes or eyes E for the drainage of bodily fluids therethrough and into an internal conduit or lumen of the catheter C. The distal end D of the catheter may include a connecting member F, such as a funnel, for fluidly connecting the catheter C to a collection container, such as a collection bag into which urine drains.
The catheter C may be used in combination with a protective tip or cap or cover T (FIG. 2) that substantially encircles at least a portion of the proximal end P. FIG. 3 shows the proximal end P of the catheter C received within the protective tip T. The protective tip T has a generally tubular body portion B defining an interior cavity V (FIG. 3) that extends between an open end O and an access end A. The open end O is the end of the protective tip T into which the catheter C is inserted (in a direction toward the access end A). The access end A is movable between a generally closed condition when the proximal end P of the catheter C is positioned within the protective tip T (illustrated) and a generally open condition when the catheter C is advanced proximally (i.e., in a right-to-left direction in the orientation of FIG. 3) so as to pass through the access end A for advancement into and through the urethra. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the access end A of the protective tip T may include one or more slits S, according to conventional design, that allow it to move between the generally closed and generally open conditions.
The protective tip T serves to isolate the proximal end P of the catheter C (including the eyes E) from the outside environment (e.g., from touch contamination whereby bacteria present on a user's hands might be transferred to the proximal end P of the catheter C) prior to insertion into the urethra and from the relatively high concentration of bacteria typically present in the distal urethra. By isolating the proximal end P of the catheter C from the outside environment, the sterility of the proximal end P may be maintained, thereby preventing bacteria from attaching to the proximal end P and being transferred to the urinary system. As shown in FIG. 3, the outer diameter of the catheter C may be smaller than the inner diameter of the protective tip T, such that there is a generally annular gap separating the catheter C and the protective tip T. Accordingly, to associate the protective tip T to the catheter C, a sleeve or cover (not illustrated) may be used to connect and secure together the protective tip T and the catheter C, thus preventing the protective tip T from detaching from the catheter C.
FIGS. 2A and 3A illustrate another embodiment of a known protective tip T′. As in the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3, the protective tip or cap or cover T′ substantially encircles at least a portion of the proximal end P of a catheter C, but does not have a closed access end A. Instead, the protective tip T′ of FIGS. 2A and 3A has a generally tubular body portion B′ defining an interior cavity V′ (FIG. 3A) that extends between a distal open end O′ and a proximal open end G. The distal open end O′ is the end of the protective tip T′ into which the catheter C is inserted (in a direction toward the proximal open end G). Unlike the access end A of FIGS. 2 and 3, the proximal open end G is not movable into a closed condition, but remains open during use. Accordingly, rather than serving to isolate the proximal end P of the catheter C from the outside environment, the protective tip T′ serves as a gripper or gripping member that may be held by a user to manipulate and deploy the catheter C without directly handling the catheter C, and so may be referred to herein as a "gripper-type" protective tip. It should be noted that FIGS. 2 and 2A illustrate only two exemplary embodiments of known protective tips, and there are a number of other differently configured protective tips that are known and may be used in combination with the apparatus and methods described herein.
The present disclosure provides sleeveless urinary catheter assemblies with a protective tip, thereby avoiding the cost associating with manufacturing a sleeve and incorporating it into the catheter design.

Sleeveless urinary catheters with protective tip


An electronic element producing apparatus comprises a bonding tool 1 which has a first supply hole 2 for passing a bonding wire 3 used to bond a bonding pad 6 of a semiconductor device 5 and an external conductor which is to be connected electrically with the bonding pad 6, and contacts a leading end 3b of the bonding wire 3 protruded outside from the first supply hole 2 to the bonding pad 6, and which also has a second supply hole 12 to supply a bonding material to bond the bonding pad 6 and the leading end 3b of the bonding wire 3, the second supply hole 12 being formed to supply the conductive material to a contact point between the bonding wire 3 and the bonding pad 6. Therefore, the bonding pad 6 and the bonding wire 3 can be bonded without applying a dynamic or thermal load to the semiconductor device 5.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus and method for producing electronic elements, and more particularly to an apparatus for fixing a conductive wire such as a bonding wire to a bonding pad of electronic elements and to a method thereof. In addition, the invention relates to an electronic elements producing apparatus which is used to connect bonding pads of an electronic element such as a semiconductor device and leads of a package in which the electronic element is packaged with a thin metal wire, and to a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, to protect electronic elements such as a semiconductor device from external environments, the semiconductor device is packaged. To supply electric power to the semiconductor device or to input or output a signal to or from the semiconductor device, it is necessary to electrically connect a bonding pad which is formed on the semiconductor device and external terminals such as lead terminals of the package. A wire bonding method is one of methods for effecting such connections. This method mounts a semiconductor device on, e.g., a lead frame which has a plurality of leads and connects the bonding pad on the semiconductor device and the leads with a bonding wire of, e.g., Al or Au.
FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are diagrams showing an example of the connecting step of the bonding wire and the bonding pad in a conventional wire bonding method. These drawings are partly enlarged sectional views showing the leading end of a bonding tool and the bonding pad of a semiconductor device. It is shown that a bonding pad 96 is formed on a semiconductor device 95, and a bonding wire 93 is being bonded to the bonding pad 96.
As shown in FIG. 4A, the bonding wire 93 is passed through a through hole 92 of a bonding tool 91 which is generally called a capillary, and the leading end of the bonding wire 93 protruded from the through hole 92 has a ball 93b formed by, e.g., an electrical spark. This ball 93b prevents the bonding wire 93 from being pulled into the through hole 92 when the capillary 91 is being moved. And, by forming the ball 93b, a contact area between the bonding wire 93 and the bonding pad 96 can be enlarged to enhance a bonding strength when the ball 93b is pressed against the bonding pad 96.
The capillary 91 is lowered to contact the ball 93b onto the bonding pad 96 as shown in FIG. 4B. And, heat or ultrasonic oscillation is applied to the bonding pad 96 via the capillary 91, and the ball 93b is pressed against the bonding pad 96 by the capillary 91 at the same time. New surfaces are formed on the squashed ball 93c and the bonding pad 96 by th e applied heat or ultrasonic oscillation, and since these new surfaces are mutually contacted, the bonding wire 93 and the bonding pad 96 can be bonded.
But, this conventional bonding method has a disadvantage that the semiconductor device tends to be damaged easily on its portions close to the bonding pad 96 because the bonding pad 96 is directly exposed to an external force such as heat, ultrasonic oscillation or pressure. For example, the disadvantage includes that the bonding pad 96 is separated from an insulator film 97 below the bonding pad 96 and cracks are formed on a semiconductor substrate 98 beneath the bonding pad 96.
And, even when these defects of separation or cracks do not occur during bonding, the semiconductor device 95 which is being used might fail due to an external force which has been applied in the bonding method. Thus, it is difficult to secure satisfactory reliability for the semiconductor device 95.
As described above, the conventional apparatus and method for producing electronic elements had disadvantages that the semiconductor device 95 tends to be damaged easily on its portions close to the bonding pad due to the external force such as heat and ultrasonic oscillation or pressure and that a failure occurs during bonding or even after completing the product.
An object of the invention is to provide an electronic elements producing apparatus and method which can reduce an external force to be applied to the electronic elements and connect a bonding pad and a bonding wire without damaging the electronic elements such as a semiconductor device.
And, another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method for producing electronic elements with high productivity which can connect a bonding pad and a bonding wire with a connecting material in a shorter time.

Apparatus and method for producing electronic elements


An apparatus for coupling ends of a first hose and a second hose. The apparatus comprises a male coupler configured to attach to the first hose, and a female coupler having an inner cavity and being configured to attach to the second hose in the inner cavity by way of a first ferrule assembly. The first ferrule assembly comprises an outer ferrule positionable on an outside surface of the second hose proximate a first end of the second hose, and an inner ferrule positionable on an inside surface of the second hose and configured to rotatably couple with the female coupler so that the inner ferrule may swivel relative to the female coupler thereby enabling the female coupler to be swiveled about the second hose without rotating the second hose. The male coupler and the female coupler are configured to couple to each other.

The present invention relates generally to the field of hose couplers. More specifically, the invention relates to an easily gripped swiveling hose coupler.
It is generally known to provide female hose couplers that are configured to operate with the male ends of garden hoses. However, many traditional female hose couplers do not rotate independent of the hose. When tightening this type of traditional female hose coupler on to a male coupler, the hose portion attached to the female hose coupler also rotates. This rotation of the hose often results in the hose deforming, kinking, or prohibiting a tight seal between the female hose coupler and the male portion.
Attempts to solve this problem include a hose connector that allows the female coupler to swivel independently of the hose. For example, it is known to provide a female hose connector having internal threads and an elongated swivel nipple. The swivel nipple often includes a plurality of annular protrusions, and the hose connector typically includes an outer surface having an eight sided standard nut shaped configuration. However, the standard nut shaped configuration requires tools such as a wrench to fully tighten the coupler onto a male coupler. In addition, the hose must be attached to the annular protrusions with sufficient force to fully seat a hose such that it does not leak.
Accordingly, It would be desirable to provide a coupler that swivels and can be easily coupled to a male member without tools. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide a coupler that is fully secured to the hose with a traditional ferrule.
It would be advantageous to provide a coupler or the like of a type disclosed in the present application that provides any one or more of these or other advantageous features. The present invention further relates to various features and combinations of features shown and described in the disclosed embodiments. Other ways in which the objects and features of the disclosed embodiments are accomplished will be described in the following specification or will become apparent to those skilled in the art after they have read this specification. Such other ways are deemed to fall within the scope of the disclosed embodiments if they fall within the scope of the claims which follow.


A Proximity Coupled-Folded-J Antenna PC-FJA (104) includes a ground plane (240), first resonant element (352) with a “J” shape that resonates at a first radio frequency, a second resonant element (350) positioned within the “J” shape and that resonates at a second radio frequency, and a third resonant element (118) with a portion that is substantially parallel to and removed from the plane of the “J” shape and that resonates at a third radio frequency. The PC-FJA (104) has a fourth resonant element (130) with a loop (132) in a plane perpendicular to and removed from the plane of the “J” shape. The fourth resonant element (130) resonates at a fourth radio frequency. These elements are ohmically coupled to a connection arm (108). The ground plane (240) is removed from PC-FJA (104) and is perpendicular to the plane of the “J” shape.

Small, portable wireless communications devices, such as cellular telephone, PDAs and the like, face increasing challenges associated with the design of effective wireless communications antennas. Internal antennas are able to be embedded in cases that have an appealing form factor and are often used in wireless communications devices. Internal antennas, however, are generally limited in their radio frequency coverage and in their ability to provide efficient radiation in many radio frequency bands. These limitations present a design difficulty for wireless communications devices that are required to communicate in several radio frequency bands, particularly if a small form factor is desired. For example, a wireless communications device may be required to perform cellular communications in RF bands in the vicinity of 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz and to also support data communications in the 2400 MHz band, which is used for communications using Bluetooth® and the IEEE 802.11b/g standard. These devices may also be required to support data communications in the 5200 MHz band used for communications using the IEEE 802.11a standard. The requirement to perform radio communications in these six bands generally requires that multiple, small form factor internal antennas be used in such a wireless communications device. The use of multiple internal antennas adversely increases design complexity, costs, and size requirements.
Therefore a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.


A testbench device for the analysis and/or optimization of tribological properties in a piston ring/cylinder runway system, includes a cylinder segment-holding device for holding a cylinder runway segment as a testpiece, and a piston ring-holding device holding at least one piston ring element and capable of bringing the at least one piston ring element into bearing contact with the cylinder runway segment. An actuation device actuates the cylinder runway segment and/or the piston ring element such that relative displacement with respect to one another takes place in at least one defined direction of space, in particular in the form of an oscillating movement. The piston ring-holding device has a piston having a ring-shaped outer contour and with at least one circumferentially continuous piston ring groove, in which a piston ring is held as a piston ring element.

The invention relates to a testbench device, in particular a tribometer.
For a substantial and, in particular, effective analysis or optimisation of friction systems, tribometers, as they are known, are regularly used. Tribometers are testbenches developed especially for investigating tribological variables, such as, for example, friction, wear or lubrication. In vehicle development, above all, the optimisation of the most diverse possible friction systems constitutes an essential area of development in order to utilise the potential of optimisations relating to efficiency and to service life and in order to satisfy future requirements. In particular the piston group/cylinder runway friction system plays an important part in this context, since up to 50 percent of the overall friction losses of an internal combustion engine may occur here.
DE 10 2009 008 272 A1 discloses a tribometer testbench, by means of which friction and wear between a cylinder runway segment, produced, for example, from a cylinder crankcase or from a cylinder liner, and a piston ring or a piston ring segment can be measured. The piston ring is fastened here to a sturdy fixed holder. The cylinder runway segment, capable of being brought into bearing contact with the piston ring, is fastened to a travelling slide which can be moved back and forth in oscillation in a defined direction in relation to the holder and with a defined stroke. As a result of the movement of the cylinder runway segment in relation to the piston ring, the processes in an internal combustion engine are thus to be simulated. Furthermore, the travelling slide has a heating element that can heat the cylinder runway segment to a defined temperature. Moreover, the cylinder runway segment can be pressed against the piston ring with a defined pressure force by means of weights. Using the heating element and the weights, simulation is to be made increasingly close to reality. However, such a tribometer testbench nevertheless has the disadvantage that the reproducibility of the simulation results and, in particular, also the transferability of the simulation results to a real internal combustion engine system are greatly restricted.

Testbench device, in particular tribometer, for piston ring/cylinder runway systems


A device for measuring the temperature in molten metals contains a thermocouple arranged in a ceramic tube that is closed on one side, and has an external protective body that surrounds the tube, forming an annular space between the outer surface of the tube and the inner surface of the protective body. The protective body is formed of a mixture containing 75 to 90% by weight aluminum oxide, 2 to 10% by weight silicon oxide, 7 to 15% by weight graphite, 0.1 to 1% by weight Fe2O3, 0.1 to 1% by weight (K2O+Na2O), and 0.1 to 1% by weight MgO.

This invention relates to a device for measuring temperature in molten metals. The device contains a ceramic tube that is closed on one side, a thermocouple arranged in the tube, and an external protective body that surrounds the tube, forming an annular space between the outer surface of the tube and the inner surface of the protective body.
A device of this type is known from GB-A-2193375. This document describes a thermocouple surrounded by a metal tube, in particular one made of molybdenum. In addition, the molybdenum tube is surrounded by an oxidic coating. Further devices of this type are known from EP 558808B1, which describes the advantage of filling the annular space between a protective body and a thermocouple tube.
Similar devices are known, for example, from German utility model GM 74 19 633. The arrangement described therein contains a tube that is closed on one side and surrounds a thermocouple inserted into a protective body made of heat-resistant metal oxide and graphite, whereby an annular gap is formed between the tube that is closed on one side and the protective body. For operation at the high temperatures that are common in molten metals, the thermocouple arranged in the tube is made of expensive materials, such as platinum. However, in continuous temperature measurements, which are required for continuous control of the molten metal, the thermocouple is insufficiently protected on the inside of this arrangement because reactive gases and/or corrosive gases, in particular, penetrate through the shells surrounding the thermocouple and thus can destroy the shells and the thermocouple. For this reason, it may be necessary to replace the thermocouple several times. Also, exposed to the high temperatures in the molten metal, silicon monoxide and carbon monoxide, for example, form inside the protective body of the device and penetrate through the aluminum oxide tube surrounding the thermocouple. The carbon monoxide increases the porosity of the tube, which slowly destroys the tube. Further, the silicon monoxide reacts with the thermocouple wire, effectively destroying the wire and rendering the temperature measurement incorrect and impossible to conduct.
Another device of the type described above is known from GB-B 2 193 375. The thermocouple in this device is surrounded by a ceramic-coated impermeable molybdenum tube that is closed on one side and is embedded in the protective body by means of a ceramic mass. This molybdenum tube is very expensive and laborious to produce. In order to prevent destruction due to thermomechanical tension, the molybdenum tube is surrounded by multiple ceramic layers having molybdenum contents that decrease from inside to outside. One of the purposes of these layers is to compensate for temperature gradients along the molybdenum tube. However, these ceramic layers and the molybdenum tube may also be destroyed by reactive gases, such as carbon monoxide or silicon monoxide.

Device for measuring temperature in molten metal


A deep trench metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor in an SOI-type substrate. In the deep trench, a layer of TiN, followed by a layer of high-k dielectric, followed by a second layer of TiN. The resulting capacitor is completely buried below the SOI layer, thereby allowing for subsequent structures to be placed over the deep trench.

A memory cell in an integrated circuit (IC) may include a transfer device such as a transistor and an associated capacitor. The transistor is a solid state semiconductor device which can be used for amplification, switching, voltage stabilization, signal modulation and many other functions. Generally, a transistor has three terminals, and a voltage applied to a specific one of the terminals controls current flowing between the other two terminals. One type of transistor is known as the field effect transistor (FET). The capacitor, which is typically formed in a portion of a trench, consists of a pair of conductive plates (electrodes), which are separated from each other by a node dielectric material. Information or data is stored in the memory cell in the form of charge accumulated on the capacitor. Since capacitors leak charge (generally, a capacitor is only useful for temporarily storing an electrical charge), the information (data) eventually fades unless the capacitor charge is refreshed (read, and re-written) periodically, such as every 64 ms (milliseconds).
DRAM (eDRAM)
Generally, the DRAM cells discussed herein comprise a capacitor formed in a deep trench (DT) in a substrate, and an "access transistor" formed on the surface of the substrate adjacent and atop the capacitor. The capacitor ("DT capacitor") generally comprises a first conductive electrode called the "buried plate" which is a heavily doped region of the substrate surrounding the trench, a thin layer of insulating material such as oxide lining the trench, and a second conductive electrode such as a heavily doped polycrystalline plug (or "node") disposed within the trench. The transistor may comprise a FET having one of its source/drain (S/D) terminals connected to (or an extension of) the second electrode (node) of the capacitor.
FIG. 1 illustrates a DRAM cell 100 of the prior art, generally comprising an access transistor and an associated cell capacitor. The DRAM cell is generally formed, as follows.
Beginning with a semiconductor substrate 102, a deep trench (DT) 110 is formed, extending into the substrate 102, from a top (as viewed) surface thereof. The substrate 102 may comprise a SOI substrate having a layer 106 of silicon (SOI) on top of an insulating layer 104 which is atop the underlying silicon substrate 102. The insulating layer 104 typically comprises buried oxide (BOX). The deep trench (DT) 110 is for forming the cell capacitor (or "DT capacitor"), as follows. The trench 110 may have a width of about 50 nm to 200 nm and a depth of 1000 nm to 10000 nm, by way of example.
The cell capacitor generally comprises a first conductor called the "buried plate" which is a heavily doped region 112 of the substrate surrounding the trench 110, a thin layer 114 of insulating material lining the trench 110, and a second conductor 116 such as a heavily doped polycrystalline plug (or "node", "DT poly") disposed within the trench 110. A cell transistor ("access transistor") 120 may comprise a FET having one of its source/drain (S/D) terminals connected to (or an extension of) the second conductor (node) of the capacitor, as follows.
The FET 120 comprises two spaced-apart diffusions, 122 and 124, within the surface of the substrate 102—one of which will serve as the "source" and the other of which will serve as the "drain" (D) of the transistor 120. The space between the two diffusion areas is called the "channel" (and is approximately where the legend "SOI" appears). A thin dielectric layer 126 is disposed on the substrate above the channel, and a "gate" structure (G) 128 is disposed over the dielectric layer 126, thus also atop the channel. (The dielectric under the gate is also commonly referred to as "gate oxide" or "gate dielectric".) The gate 128 may be a portion of an elongate wordline (WL).
In modern CMOS technology, shallow trench isolation (STI) is commonly used to isolate one (or more) transistors from other transistors, for both logic and memory. As shown in FIG. 1, a shallow trench 132 may be formed, surrounding the access transistor 120 (only one side of the transistor is shown). Note that the trench 132 extends over the DT (node) poly 116, a top portion of which is adjacent the drain (D) of the transistor 120. Therefore, the trench 132 is less deep (thinner) over the DT poly 116 and immediately adjacent the drain (D) of the transistor 120, and may be deeper (thicker) further from the drain (D) of the transistor 120 (and, as shown, over top portion of the DT poly 116 which is distal from (not immediately adjacent to) the drain (D) of the transistor 120.
The STI trench 132 may be filled with an insulating material, such as oxide (STI oxide) 134. Because of the thin/thick trench geometry which has been described, the STI oxide will exhibit a thin portion 134a where it is proximal (adjacent to) the drain (D) of the transistor 120, and a thicker portion where it is distal from (not immediately adjacent to) the drain (D) of the transistor 120.
Although not shown, the deep trench (DT) may be "bottle-shaped", such that it is wider in the substrate under the BOX, and a thinner bottleneck portion of the trench extends through the BOX (and overlying SOI, not shown). The deep trench is typically filled with poly (DT Poly, compare 116), there is a lining of insulator (compare 114), and the trench is surrounded by the buried plate (compare 112). This forms deep trench capacitor, which is generally not limited to SOI.
FIG. 2 illustrates an SOI substrate 200 with pad films and a hard mask, and represents first step in an overall process of providing SOI protection for implanted buried plate.
The overall substrate 200 is an SOI-type substrate having a layer 206 of silicon ("SOI") atop a buried oxide (BOX, insulator) layer 204, which is atop an underlying substrate 202 which may be a silicon substrate. The BOX layer 204 may have a thickness of 500-2500 Å (50-250 nm). The silicon (SOI) layer 206 may have a thickness of 50-200 Å (5-20 nm).
Pad films comprising a layer 208 of oxide and a layer 210 of nitride are disposed atop the SOI layer 206. The pad oxide layer 208 may have a thickness of 10-20 Å (1-2 nm), and the pad nitride layer 210 may have a thickness of 400-1500 Å (40-150 nm).
SOI Substrates
Silicon on insulator technology (SOI) refers to the use of a layered silicon-insulator-silicon substrate in place of conventional silicon substrates in semiconductor manufacturing, especially microelectronics. SOI-based devices differ from conventional silicon-built devices in that the silicon junction is above an electrical insulator, typically silicon dioxide or (less commonly) sapphire. The choice of insulator depends largely on intended application, with sapphire being used for radiation-sensitive applications and silicon oxide preferred for improved performance and diminished short channel effects in microelectronics devices. The precise thickness of the insulating layer and topmost silicon layer also vary widely with the intended application.
SiO2-based SOI substrates (or wafers) can be produced by several methods:                SIMOX—Separation by IMplantation of OXygen—uses an oxygen ion beam implantation process followed by high temperature annealing to create a buried SiO2 layer.        Wafer Bonding—the insulating layer is formed by directly bonding oxidized silicon with a second substrate. The majority of the second substrate is subsequently removed, the remnants forming the topmost Si layer.        Seed methods—wherein the topmost Si layer is grown directly on the insulator. Seed methods require some sort of template for homoepitaxy, which may be achieved by chemical treatment of the insulator, an appropriately oriented crystalline insulator, or vias through the insulator from the underlying substrate.

Deep trench (DT) metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor

International Business Machines Corporation


A powder for producing permanent magnets, comprising a blend of powders [A] and [B] or [C] wherein:. alloy powder [A] has an R.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B phase and contains, in atomic percent, from 11 to 13% of at least one rare element, R, inclusive of Y, from 4 to 12% of B, and the balance Fe; or optionally, said powder has an R.sub.2 (Fe,Co).sub.14 B phase, an R.sub.2 (Fe,Ni).sub.14 B phase or an R.sub.2 (Fe,Co,Ni).sub.14 B phase, containing at least one selected from the group consisting of 10% or less of Co and 3% or less of Ni as a partially substitute for Fe; PA0 powder [B] is an intermetallic compound having an intermetallic compound phase of R with Fe or Co inclusive of an R.sub.3 Co phase (provided that Co may be partially substituted for by Fe), containing, in atomic percent, from 13 to 45% of at least one rare element, R, inclusive of Y, and the balance Co (provided that Co may be partially substituted for by Fe), PA0 powder [C] is an intermetallic compound having an intermetallic compound phase of R with Fe or Co inclusive of an R.sub.3 Co phase (provided that Co may be partially substituted for by Fe) and an R.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B phase, containing, in atomic percent, from 13 to 45% of at least one rare element, R, inclusive of Y, 12% or less of B and the Co (provided that Co may be partially substituted for by Fe).

The present invention relates to a powder mixture which is particularly low in oxygen content and which is useful as a starting powder for manufacturing an R-Fe-B based magnet containing R (at least one of the rare earth elements inclusive of Y), Fe, and B as the major components. The starting powder of the present invention comprises the following powders [A] and [B] blended at a predetermined ratio to give a magnet having a desired composition:
[A] an alloy powder which gives the principal phase (sometimes simply referred to hereinafter as a powder based on principal phase) composed mainly of an R.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B hard magnetic phase and having been prepared by a direct reduction diffusion process; and PA0 [B] an intermetallic compound powder comprising a phase of an intermetallic compound between R and Fe or Co inclusive of an R.sub.3 Co phase (wherein Co may be partly or largely replaced by Fe), this intermetallic compound powder containing a higher amount of a rare earth element as compared with the principal phase powder. PA0 [C] an intermetallic compound powder comprising a phase of an intermetallic compound between R, Fe or Co and B inclusive of an R.sub.3 Co phase (wherein Co may be partly or largely replaced by Fe) and partly R.sub.2 (Fe Co).sub.14 B phase, this intermetallic compound powder containing a higher amount of a rare earth element as compared with the principal phase powder.
In addition, the starting powder of the present invention can comprise the above-mentioned powder [A] and the under-mentioned powder [C] blended at a predetermined ratio to give a magnet having a desired composition:
An R-Re-B based permanent magnet, which is described in JP-A-59-46008 (the term "JP-A-" as used herein signifies a "unexamined published Japanese patent application"), is a representative of high performance permanent magnets known at present. An R-Fe-B permanent magnet exhibits excellent magnetic properties owing to a texture comprising a principal (hard magnetic) phase of a tetragonal ternary compound and an R-rich phase; it yields a coercive force, iHc, of 25 kOe or higher and an energy product, (BH)max, of 45 MGOe or higher, which are both considerably higher as compared with those of a conventional high performance rare earth-cobalt (REC) magnet. There has also been proposed various types of R-Fe-B magnets which are varied in composition to meet the diversified demands regarding magnetic properties.
To produce a variety of R-Fe-B permanent magnets by powder metallurgy, i.e., by sintering a powder, an alloy powder having a predetermined composition for the magnets should be prepared at first. Such alloy powders are produced at present by an ingot-making process and crushing (as described in JP-A-60-63304 and JP-A-60-119701) which comprises melting a rare earth material having been subjected to electrolytic reduction, casting the melt in a casting mould to obtain an alloy ingot having the desired composition for the magnet, and crushing the ingot to give an alloy powder at a predetermined granularity. Otherwise, a direct reduction and diffusion process as described in JP-A-59-219494 and JP-A-60-77943 is employed, which comprises preparing directly the alloy powder of the desired composition for the magnet, using a rare earth oxide, an Fe powder, and the like as the starting powder.
The ingot-making and crushing process provides an alloy powder relatively low in oxygen content. In this method, oxidation prevention can be easily conducted at the primary crushing process, however, primary Fe crystals tend to form 17 easily and the R-rich phase segregate to grow into large grains.
The direct reduction and diffusion process is advantageous in that the steps such as melting and coarse grinding (primary crushing) which are included in the ingot-making and crushing can be omitted. However, the final powder is often obtained with the R.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B principal phase being surrounded by the R-rich phase. Furthermore, since the R-rich phase is more finely and better dispersed than by the ingot-making and crushing process, the R-rich phase is susceptible to oxidation during the production process and therefore it contains a higher amount of oxygen. Accordingly, magnets of a certain composition suffer fluctuation in magnetic properties and the like, ascribed to the consumption of the rare earth elements.
The powder produced by a direct reduction and diffusion process is further advantageous in that the R-rich phase which surrounds the principal phase is relatively small. This signifies that the R-rich phase finely disperses as a liquid during the sintering, resulting in a dense magnet with a favorable squareness ratio.
As mentioned in the foregoing, an R-Fe-B based powder produced by a direct reduction and diffusion process for permanent magnets is advantageous in that it can be produced by a process in which steps of melting, coarse grinding, etc., can be omitted, and that it has a higher density with a favorable squareness ratio as a magnet. However, since the R-rich phase is finely and well dispersed in the powder thus produced, the powder becomes susceptible to oxidation and tends to contain a higher amount of oxygen as compared with a powder produced by an ingot-making and crushing process. This leads to a fluctuation in the magnetic characteristics of the final magnet due to a slight oxidation during the manufacturing process thereof.
It is possible to provide an intermetallic compound relatively stable against oxidation by adding elements such as Co and Ni to the R-rich phase and thereby reduce the oxygen content of the powder. However, it is not possible to optimally control the addition of such elements in such a manner to most effectively attain a predetermined composition.
That is, it is requisite that the amount of addition of one or plural rare earth elements is controlled to obtain magnetic properties as desired, and, if Co were to be added to reduce the oxygen content, the Co would diffuse not only into the R-rich phase as desired, but also into the principal phase to be included as a substituent for Fe.
Furthermore, though depending on the amount, the addition of elements such as Co and Ni reduces the coercive force of the magnet, and this is another point which makes it difficult to lower the oxygen content.
The starting powder for magnets prepared by both of the conventional processes, i.e., the ingot-making and crushing process and the direct reduction and diffusion process, is not a product obtained simply by effecting the process on a powder mixture having been blended to a desired composition depending on the required magnetic properties, but has a particular texture composed of a tetragonal ternary compound as the principal phase and an R-rich phase. Accordingly, the plural rare earth elements to be added should be controlled each to a predetermined content designed to obtain the desired alloy composition, so that it may yield the intended magnetic properties. Thus, the alloy composition and the compositional ratio should be always taken into consideration, for example, which rare earth element is more apt to be incorporated in the principal phase and which one is more likely to constitute the R-rich phase. This signifies that, to obtain magnetic properties as desired, the starting alloy powder should be prepared as such to give a specific composition being confined to an extremely narrow range.
In other words, it is very difficult to obtain a starting powder mixture having the metals and alloy powders blended exactly to the ratio of the desired magnet composition. To obtain a magnet having the characteristics as desired, there should be prepared a variety of alloy powders each differing in alloy structure and composition.

Powder material for rare earth-iron-boron based permanent magnets


A laser-assisted material-machining device comprises a laser (14) for providing a pulsed laser beam (16), a measuring arrangement (30, 32, 34, 36, 38) in order to obtain measured values of a fundamental-wave power of the laser beam and also of a power of at least one higher harmonic generated from the laser beam by frequency multiplication, and an evaluating unit (22) connected to the measuring arrangement, which has been set up to examine the quality of the laser beam (16) in a manner depending on the measured fundamental-wave power, on the measured power of the higher harmonic, and on a set radiant power of the laser (14). By formation of the quotient of the measured fundamental-wave power and of the measured power of the higher harmonic, the current conversion efficiency of the frequency multiplication can be ascertained. Said conversion efficiency is a measure of the quality of the wavefront and of the pulse duration of the laser beam (16).

The invention relates to a device for machining a material with a pulsed laser beam. The invention further relates to a process for operating such a material-machining device.
In principle, the invention is applicable in the field of laser systems that serve for machining arbitrary materials. Accordingly, the material to be machined may be dead matter; but it may also be a question of living matter, for example tissue of a human eye.
In connection with the machining of materials, particularly those materials which are transparent in the visible spectral region, so-called femtosecond laser systems are gaining increasing importance. In this connection it is a question of laser systems is that generate a pulsed focused laser beam with pulse durations within the femtosecond range. Such femtosecond laser systems find application, for example, in laser-surgical ophthalmology, where they are ordinarily employed for the purpose of producing incisions in the corneal tissue or in other tissue regions of the human eye. An advantageous aspect of femtosecond laser systems is their suitability for generating three-dimensional incision figures that are arbitrary as such.
In the following the fundamental elementary process in connection with the machining of transparent materials by means of focused femtosecond laser radiation will be briefly elucidated. By virtue of the strong focusing of the laser beam into the material and on account of the transparency of the material in respect of the radiation, the laser power can be coupled into the interior without the transradiated material (e.g. corneal tissue) above the focal point being damaged. The process that takes place at the focal point is designated as photodisruption. At the focal point the threshold for the genesis of microplasma is exceeded by reason of the high-intensity radiation. Evaporation occurs of an extremely small sphere of material with a diameter of, for example, approximately 1 μm. As a result, a microbubble arises having a somewhat larger diameter, for example approximately 5-12 μm, which severs the surrounding material and subsequently diffuses completely into the environment. By virtue of the extremely short duration of action per laser pulse, no conduction of heat to the surrounding material is able to take place; all the effective energy as well as heat is dissipated again after the disappearance of the plasma.
In conventional femtosecond laser systems the focal point is capable of being controlled transversely and also longitudinally by means of a scanner. 'Transversely' in this connection means a direction in a plane that is orthogonal to the direction of beam propagation. 'Longitudinally', on the other hand, means a direction along the direction of propagation of the laser beam. If an appropriate number (for example, several thousand) of cavities that have arisen by virtue of plasma discharge are placed on top of one another three-dimensionally in the desired shape, the desired incision in the material arises.
The above process demands a very precise focal point with high peak intensity, in order to make the incisions with the desired accuracy. The focusability and the peak intensity are, however, sensitive parameters; comparatively slight perturbations in the path of propagation of the laser beam may already impair the spatial and temporal quality of the laser beam and hence the focusability and peak intensity thereof. During the machining of material it is therefore desirable to monitor the temporal and spatial quality of the laser beam continually (continuously or at least repeatedly at temporal intervals).
It is the object of the invention to specify a solution path in order to be able to monitor the radiation quality of the laser radiation in a laser system serving for the machining of material. Such a monitoring is intended to make it possible to interrupt the machining process or to react otherwise in the event of deterioration of the radiation quality. In particular, the monitoring is to be possible in real time, i.e. during the machining of material. In this case the radiation quality relates, in particular, to the focusability as well as the temporal progression of the pulse envelope (temporal envelope of the individual laser pulse), i.e. the brevity of the pulse duration. The focusability is crucially determined by the quality of the beam profile and of the wavefront of the laser radiation.

Apparatus for treating a material and method for operating the same


A subsonic ammunition cartridge casing having an engineered internal volume designed to allow for the introduction of precisely the amount of propellant necessary at precisely the desired location to reproducibly produce the desired projectile velocity and internal pressure is provided. The subsonic shell casing has an engineered internal propellant cavity built into the internal body of the casing itself that does not necessarily depend on the introduction of a separate volume reducing device such as tubing, filler, foam filler and the like. This ensures the integrity of the case, does not result in anything being expelled through the muzzle of the weapon other than the projectile, does not have any burning or combusting components, allows for very precise control of the internal volume and thus chamber pressure, and is economical to produce.

In the field, two types of ammunition are generally recognized: traditional supersonic ammunition, which fires projectiles with velocities exceeding the speed of sound; and subsonic ammunition, which fires projectiles with velocities less than that of the speed of sound. This low-speed characteristic of the subsonic ammunition makes it much quieter than typical supersonic ammunition. The speed of sound is variable depending on the altitude and atmospheric conditions, but is generally in the range of 1,000-1,100 feet per second (fps), most commonly given at 1,086 fps at standard atmospheric conditions.
Ideally, these subsonic rounds need to work interchangeably with supersonic rounds in their ability to fit properly in the same firearm chamber. The traditional method of forming subsonic rounds is to simply reduce the propellant charge in the shell until the velocity is adequately reduced. Unfortunately, this solution is not ideal for a number of reasons. Principally these problems are rooted in the relatively large empty volume inside the case left vacant by the reduced propellant charge. This empty volume inhibits proper propellant burn, results in inconsistent propellant positioning, causes reduced accuracy, and, in special situations, may lead to extremely high propellant burn rates or even propellant detonation, an extremely dangerous situation for the weapon user. For example, since the propellant is free to move in the large empty volume, shooting upward with the propellant charge near the primer gives different velocity results than when shooting downward with the propellant charge forward. Finally, usage of subsonic ammunition, and its attending lower combustion pressures, frequently results in the inability to efficiently cycle semi-automatic or fully automatic weapons, such as the M16, M4, AR10, M2, M107s and the like. For repeating weapons to properly cycle, the propellant charge must produce sufficient gas pressure and/or volume to accelerate the projectile and to cycle the firing mechanism. Typical supersonic chamber pressures will be in the range from 30,000 psi to 70,000 psi. With a reduced quantity of propellant, subsonic ammunition generally fails to produce sufficient pressure to properly cycle the firing mechanism.
Over the years, a number of attempts have been made to safely and economically address these issues. These attempts have included the introduction of inert fillers, expandable inner sleeves that occupy the empty space between the propellant and the projectile (U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,684), insertion of flexible tubing (U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,035), foamed inserts (U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,815), stepped down stages in the discharge end of cartridge casings (U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,904), or complicated three and more component cartridges with rupturable walls and other complicated features (U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,567), all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Another approach has been to use standard cartridges in combination with non-standard propellants, such as is exemplified by U.S. Pat. Pub. No 2003/0131751, the disclosure of which is also incorporated herein by reference.
The result of such prior attempts to solve the production of reliable subsonic cartridges have been subsonic rounds that have a larger spread in velocity and thus less accuracy potential than what is desired. Moreover, associated production costs can be significantly greater then full velocity rounds because of the large number of additional manufacturing steps required to insert and secure the inserts used, or to construct the complicated shell casings required. Accordingly, a need exists to develop solutions that make it possible to manufacture better and more price competitive subsonic ammunition than previously available.


A system and method for monitoring the location and/or presence of an object/person within a desired area includes a mobile base station, a central control center, a mobile signaling device carried by the monitored object/person, and a geolocating means. The mobile base station may be transported to an arbitrary site and retains the monitored object/person within a desired area. The central control center determines the acceptability of the location of the monitored object/person and may raise an alarm condition when the monitored object/person is not within the desired area.

The present invention relates generally to systems for communication with and for monitoring the locations of mobile, remote objects, including people. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for locating and communicating with the objects (including people) without burdening the monitored object with heavy or bulky communications equipment.
Prior art systems illustrate the various needs for the present invention and that those efforts only partially meet these needs. For example, house arrest systems continuously monitor persons sentenced to remain within a defined, restricted area to assure they do in fact remain within the permitted area. These systems offer continuous oversight but suffer from being able to monitor the offender only at a single fixed location, e.g., his home.
Other prior art prisoner monitoring systems attempt to accommodate the offender sentenced to remain principally within one area but is allowed to travel to a second area during limited times, e.g., the offender must remain at her home except during working hours when she may travel to her place of business. However, these systems are not able to continuously monitor the offender and have limited monitoring areas or distances.
Another type problem exists regarding the need to quickly recover stolen vehicles. Certain type vehicles or assets, known as favorite targets of car thiefs, may have installed vehicle tracking systems. These vehicle tracking systems, powered by the vehicle's battery and not unduly limited in size or transmission power capability, allow authorities to track the location of the vehicle over an extended range and for an extended period of time. Such systems, however, do not notify the owner that the vehicle has been stolen and the vehicle is often transported out of the searchable area or disassembled before the theft is discovered and the recovery system activated. A need is therefore present to promptly notify the vehicle owner that the vehicle has been stolen.
In a similar fashion, an automated notification system is needed to notify the proper authorities when an asset has been moved from a given location. For example, in banks it is known to hide a small explosive device coupled with a permanent dye within one or more bundles of currency. When the dye-carrying bundle is removed from the bank, a signal is provided to the explosive device causing it to detonate, spewing the dye upon the currency and persons nearby. One problem with such devices is the fact that innocent passers-by may be injured by the impact from the explosion and the fact that the thief may become more violent in response to the explosion. Accordingly, it is desireable to use a proximity locating device within such currency bundles. The passage of the proximity device outside the range of a base unit could be made to cause an alarm to be signaled at the appropriate authorities and, if desired, to initiate geolocating the locating device within the currency bundle, all without alerting the thief or causing explosions in the vicinity of potentially innocent persons.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,432 to Pauley, et al. for a "House Arrest Monitoring System" illustrates a prior art system wherein the monitored individual's movement is limited to a single fixed area. Pauley, et al. discloses a system comprising an small transmitter in the form of an identification tag which is worn by the monitored individual and which transmits a periodic signal directly to a Field Monitoring Device (FMD) or, if the fixed area has communication dead spots, via a repeater to the FMD. The FMD then communicates to a central, fixed location, e.g., by modem and telephone line, to notify the central location when the monitored individual leaves or re-enters the monitored area. If the monitored individual leaves the fixed area, the central location is not aware of the individual's location. Disadvantageously, no provision is made for the central location to communicate with the individual or the individual to communicate with the central location. Such features are necessary if the system is being used to monitor and communicate with an individual who is under protective custody such that they must be able to freely move about without carrying heavy, bulky equipment and such that they must be in ready contact with central monitoring site to transmit or receive a panic signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,390 to Hoshen for a "Locator Device Useful for House Arrest and Stalker Detection" illustrates a prior art effort to provide intermittent mobile monitoring of an individual by periodically contacting and determining the location of a locator device attached to the individual in the form of a small transceiver strapped to the individual's leg. The central location initiates a monitoring cycle by transmitting a polling signal, via a wireless, e.g., cellular, system to the locator. Upon receipt of the polling signal, the locator queries a positioning system to ascertain its current location and transmits the location back to the central computer. The central computer then completes the monitoring cycle by comparing the individual's location against database records to determine if the individual is within an authorized location. While this system offers a degree of mobility for the monitored individual, requirements to keep the locator device small and lightweight, mandate compromises in transmission distances and frequency with which the locator can be polled. Therefore, continuous monitoring by the central location and communications at greater distances from the wireless transmission points between the central location and the locator device are not possible.

Remote mobile monitoring and communication system


The present invention relates generally to semiconductor devices, and more particularly, to a structure and method of forming strained <100> n-channel field effect transistor (NFET) fins and adjacent strained <110> p-channel field effect transistor (PFET) fins on the same substrate. A <110> crystalline oxide layer may be either bonded or epitaxially grown on a substrate layer. A first SOI layer with a <100> crystallographic orientation and tensile strain may be bonded to the crystalline oxide layer. A second SOI layer with a <110> crystallographic orientation and compressive strain may be epitaxially grown on the crystalline oxide layer. The first SOI layer may be used to form the fins of a NFET device. The second SOI layer may be used to form the fins of a PFET device.

The present invention relates generally to semiconductor devices and more particularly, to a structure and method of forming strained <100> n-channel field effect transistor (NFET) fins and adjacent strained <110> p-channel field effect transistor (PFET) fins on the same substrate.
In each new generation of semiconductor technology, transistor current decreases due to gate width reduction, mobility degradation of minority carriers, and reduction of supply voltage. Reduced transistor current results in deterioration of circuit stability and reduces the speed of circuit operation thereby causing degradation in performance.
In some field effect transistor (FET) devices, the introduction of strain (e.g., compressive or tensile) to a channel region of a FET may be used to improve carrier mobility, which may subsequently increase FET performance. Tensile strain may be used to improve electron mobility, and compressive strain may be used to improve hole mobility. In addition, forming a channel region of a FET with a particular crystallographic orientation may result in increased performance. Specifically, electron mobility may be higher in a <100> crystallographic orientation, while hole mobility may be higher in a <110> crystallographic orientation. However, forming a substrate comprising one or more channel regions with individually tailored strain and crystallographic orientation is challenging.

Adjacent strained <100> NFET fins and <110> PFET fins


A novel top lift carrier and a novel method of forming same are disclosed herein. The carrier is used to carry a plurality of containers, such as cans, bottles and the like. The carrier is formed from a single ply, plastic handle portion which has a plurality of tabs along an edge thereof and a planar, plastic container engaging portion which has a plurality of apertures therethrough that are provided in rows. Each aperture carries one of the containers. The handle portion and the container engaging portion are formed separately and may be made of dissimilar materials. To form the completed carrier, the tabs are fused or welded to the container engaging portion between the rows of apertures. In a first embodiment, the container engaging portion is provided with a plurality of spaced slots between the rows of apertures. The tabs on the handle portion are respectively inserted through the slots and fused or welded to an underside of the container engaging portion to form a strong, peel resistant weld. When the carrier is carried with containers therein, the weld is placed in shear. In a second embodiment, the slots are eliminated and the tabs are fused or welded directly to the upper surface of the container engaging portion. This embodiment is preferably used for lighter weight items in which peel forces do not need to be substantially eliminated.

This invention is generally directed to a plastic top lift carrier for carrying containers such as bottles, cans and the like. More particularly, the invention contemplates a plastic carrier which has a single ply handle portion that is formed separately from a planar container engaging portion. The handle portion and the container engaging portion are fused or welded together after formation of the portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,465, which is commonly owned by the assignee herein, discloses a plastic carrier for carrying containers, such as cans, bottles and the like. The carrier is formed from two webs of plastic material juxtaposed over one another and stamping the handle portion and the container engaging portion out of the web simultaneously. The webs are fused or welded across the juncture between the handle portion and the container engaging portion, such as by heat sealing, to form a weld. The resulting handle portion has a double thickness and the container engaging portions freely depend from the handle portion at the weld.
While this carrier construction performs well in the carrying of containers, several disadvantages result. Because of the construction, the handle portion is of a double thickness which wastes material. In addition, the handle portion and the container engaging portion must be formed from the same material and the carrier portion must be symmetrical about its centerline.
The present invention provides a novel carrier which provides a container engaging portion which is formed separately of the handle portion and are thereafter joined together prior to being assembled with the containers. This overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art. Several new advantages are also presented by the carrier disclosed herein.

Method of forming a two-piece fused top lift carrier


A verification architecture described according to embodiments of the present invention validates changes made to metadata and may comprise one or more subsystems and phases. According to some embodiments, the “mkfs” volume creation utility works in cooperation with the device driver to create a file system volume by means of reservation and initialization space for metadata structures inside the device's partition that is reserved for the specific file system volume. The storage device uses a verified area legend when checking write requests after the file system volume has been created. The verified area legends may be stored in a dedicated partition or inside the master boot record (MBR) or Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) partition table (GPT) or special memory chip (NAND flash, for example). Write requests that overlap with any extent of reserved metadata area must be verified to prevent metadata corruption.

Metadata is a set of data that describes the organization of user data or other metadata on a data storage partition or a file system volume. Preserving file system metadata is critical to the operation of modern file systems and helps ensure that user data written to the file system volume will be accessible when requested. However, occasionally, end user workloads, end user mistakes, malicious operations, or bugs in a file system driver may cause improper behavior that can result in metadata corruption, especially in unstable file systems. It is possible to encounter metadata corruptions even in mature file systems.
When a file system's metadata becomes corrupted, special tools such as the "fsck" (file system consistency check) system utility (in Unix-like operating systems) or backup/restore software are often used to attempt to recover the file system data. However, using the fsck utility is a very time-consuming operation and cannot guarantee that a corrupted file system's data will be recovered. Furthermore, such tools can be used only when the file system is in an unmounted (e.g., offline) state. As such, preventing metadata corruption is a more beneficial approach than detecting corruption and attempting to recover corrupted data.

Write operation verification method and apparatus


A nonradiative planar dielectric line exhibits low transmission losses and is easily connectable to electronic components. A first slot is provided between two electrodes on a first main surface of a dielectric plate. A second slot is provided between two electrodes on a second main surface of the dielectric plate. A first conductor is electrically connected to the electrodes on the first main surface and also covers the first slot. A second conductor is electrically connected to the electrodes on the second main surface and also covers the second slot. An integrated circuit using the above type of dielectric line is also provided. Thus, apparatuses using the above dielectric lines or integrated circuits are miniaturized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to nonradiative planar dielectric lines used in a millimetric wave band or a microwave band. The invention is also concerned with integrated circuits using the above dielectric lines.
2. Description of the Related Art
Microwaves and millimetric waves are electromagnetic waves having a very wide frequency range from 300 MHz to 300 GHZ and are finding widespread use not only in various types of radar, relay, such as ground long-distance calls, television broadcasting waves, and satellite communication, but also satellite broadcasting and mobile communication. Meanwhile, research and development is being actively conducted to form integrated circuits, such as monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). Thus, the miniaturization of apparatuses utilizing electromagnetic waves in a microwave or millimetric wave band is progressing rapidly, and the range of the use of the electromagnetic waves in the above bands is expanding.
Hitherto, in a microwave or millimetric wave band, transmission lines formed by disposing predetermined electrodes on a dielectric substrate, such as not only waveguides and coaxial lines, but also microstrip lines, coplanar lines, and slot lines, are primarily used. The waveguides are employed for the parts where low transmission losses are required, while the coaxial lines are used as connecting cables between apparatuses. Further, largely, the microstrip lines and the slot lines are used to connect electronic components, since it is easy for them to be connected with electronic components, such as ICs.
A slot line is configured, as shown in FIG. 15, in such a manner that electrodes 421a and 421b are formed with a predetermined gap on the upper surface of a dielectric substrate 423 having a predetermined thickness h400. This makes it possible to form a slot 424 having a predetermined width W400 between the electrodes 421a and 421b. In the slot line configured as described above, electromagnetic waves propagate in the longitudinal direction of the slot 424 while forming a mode having an electric field parallel to the width of the slot 424 and a magnetic field H400 parallel to the length of the slot 424, as shown in FIG. 15.
As the transmission line, not only the above types of lines, but nonradiative dielectric lines (NRD guides) are used. The NRD guide is formed by providing a rectangular-prism-shaped dielectric strip between two conductive plates, and exhibits the characteristics of low transmission losses.
However, the foregoing known lines utilizing electromagnetic waves in a millimetric wave or microwave band present the following problems. The waveguides are large, and an apparatus using a waveguide is thus difficult to miniaturize. It is also difficult for the waveguides to be connected to electronic components, such as ICs. Moreover, in the coaxial lines, unwanted high-order modes are generated at frequencies higher than a specific frequency, which is determined by the shape of the cross section of the coaxial line, thereby increasing transmission losses. This makes the coaxial line unusable. Accordingly, if it is desired that the coaxial line be used at a frequency in a millimetric wave band, around 60 GHz, the diameter of the coaxial line should be reduced to as low as 1 mm. This makes it difficult to manufacture the coaxial line. Further, the microstrip lines, the coplanar lines, and the slot lines have high transmission losses, and thus, they are not suited in the use for the parts where low transmission losses are required. Additionally, it is not easy for the conventional NRD guides to be connected to electronic components, such as ICs.
To solve the above problems, the same assignee assigned to the invention of this application has filed a patent application concerning the planar dielectric line and the integrated circuit using the same line in Japanese Patent Application No. 07-069867.

Nonradiative planar dielectric line and integrated circuit


A data reproduction method and a circuit therefor for use in a digital magnetic recording/reproduction apparatus. The circuit includes a reproduction amplifier, a reproduction equalizer, a data detector, a reproduced clock recovery portion, a data/clock synchronizer, and a glitch error removal portion. The method and apparatus operates to remove a glitch error which may occur when the digital data recorded on the recording medium is recovered. The data from which the glitch error has been removed is synchronized with a reproduced clock. Removal of the glitch error prevents misoperation of the devices which perform subsequent operations, and improves the bit error ratio of the overall reproduction system.

The present invention relates to a data reproduction method, and a circuit therefor, for use in a digital magnetic recording/reproduction apparatus, and more particularly, to a data reproduction method, and a circuit therefor, for faithfully reproducing digital data from a recording medium by removing a glitch error which may occur when the digital data recorded on the recording medium is recovered, before the recovered digital data is synchronized with a reproduced clock.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional data reproduction circuit in a digital magnetic recording/reproduction apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, digital data which is reproduced from a recording medium via a reproducing head (not shown) is amplified to a predetermined level by a reproduction amplifier 1 and is then applied to a reproduction equalizer 2. Reproduction equalizer 2 corrects the waveform output by the reproduction amplifier 1 so as to easily convert the output signal from reproduction amplifier 1 (i.e., a reproduced digital data signal closely related to an analog signal) into the original digital data, and then outputs the result to a data detector 3.
Data detector 3 recovers the reproduced digital data from the output signal of reproduction equalizer 2 and then outputs the recovered digital data to a data/clock synchronizer 5. A reproduced clock recovery portion 4 recovers a reproduced clock from the output signal of reproduction equalizer 2 and then outputs the recovered clock to data/clock synchronizer 5. Data/clock synchronizer 5 synchronizes the reproduced digital data with the reproduced clock and then outputs the result.
Generally, when the digital data recorded on a magnetic recording medium is reproduced by a digital magnetic recording/reproduction apparatus, the reproduced digital data has analog signal characteristics due to the analog-like characteristics and differentiation characteristics of the magnetic recording medium itself.
However, when the reproduced digital data having analog characteristics is recovered into the original digital data by the conventional data reproduction circuit, an undesired component may occur due to the external noise or the excessive high frequency band emphasis characteristic of the reproduction equalizer. The undesired component, i.e., the glitch, is shown in the form of sharp digital data which is much shorter than a minimum run length determined by the highest frequency component among the detected digital data. Here, problems which may occur when the digital data including the glitch component is synchronized with the reproduced clock without elimination of the glitch component are shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C.
As shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C, it is assumed that the data are synchronized with the clock at a rising edge of the reproduced clock (see FIG. 2A). That is, the data status at the current rising edge of the reproduced clock (see FIG. 2A) is continuously maintained at the next rising edge. As shown in FIG. 2B, glitches #1 and #3 are not detected as errors because they do not overlap the rising edges of the reproduced clock shown in FIG. 2A. However, glitches #2 and #4 overlap the rising edges of the reproduced clock (see FIG. 2A), and are therefore detected as errors at the output (see FIG. 2C) of data/clock synchronizer 5.

Data reproduction method and circuit for removing a glitch error in a digital magnetic recording/reproduction apparatus


A disc for recording information signals includes a disc substrate of a synthetic resin having a center hole and an information signal recording layer formed on one major surface and a magnetic plate arranged on the major surface for closing the center hole. A recess for accommodating the magnetic plate is formed on the major surface of the disc substrate for surrounding the center hole. At least a part of the rim of the recess is thermally deformed for forming one or more lugs for holding the magnetic plate disposed in the recess with respect to the disc substrate by the lug(s).

1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disc for recording information signals, such as an optical disc or a magneto-optical disc. More particularly, it relates to a disc for recording information signals which is adapted to be chucked to a disc rotating driving device by taking advantage of a force of magnetic attraction.
2) Description of the Related Art
There has hitherto been proposed a disc for recording information signals for recording desired information signals, such as a write-once type optical disc or a magneto-optical disc.
This type of the disc which is of an extremely small diameter and permits of high density recording of information signals, is proposed. For example, a magneto-optical disc which has a diameter as small as 64 mm or less, is proposed.
The magneto-optical disc which is of a small diameter and permits of high density recording is loaded on a disc rotating and driving device and rotationally driven at a higher velocity. Whilst the disc is rotationally driven at an elevated velocity, a light beam is radiated from an optical disc onto fine recording tracks provided in a signal recording layer on a surface of the magneto-optical disc and an external magnetic field is impressed by a magnetic head onto the other surface of the magneto-optical disc for recording desired information signals.
For radiating the light beam on the fine recording tracks, the magneto-optical disc, rotationally driven at an elevated velocity, needs to be retained integrally with a disc table of the disc rotating and driving device as well as to be loaded with its center of rotation aligned high accurately with the axis of the disc table.
For accurately positioning and loading the magneto-optical disc on the disc table, a disc loading system is proposed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,926,410, 4,829,510 and 4,787,009, in which a metallic plate, provided on the magneto-optical disc, is attracted by a magnet provided on the disc table for chucking the magneto-optical disc on the disc table.
Referring to FIG. 1, a magneto-optical disc 100 employed in the disc chucking system taking advantage of the force of attraction by the magnet includes a disc substrate 101 molded from a transparent synthetic material, such as polycarbonate resin, into the shape of a disk. A recording layer for information signals is deposited by vapor deposition, sputtering etc. on a major surface 101a of the disc substrate 101. The other major surface 101b of the disc substrate 101, opposite to the major surface 101a on which the recording layer is deposited, is a write/read surface for information signals, and a light beam is radiated from the major surface 101b on the signal recording layer for recording/reproducing information signals.
The disc substrate 101 is formed with a center opening 102, as shown in FIG. 1, in which is engaged a centering member provided on the disc rotating and driving device. A ferrous metallic plate 103 is provided at the center of the major surface 101a of the disc substrate 101 for closing the center opening 102. The metallic plate 103 is mounted in a recess provided in the major surface 101a of the disc substrate 101 for encircling the center opening 102, and is secured therein with the aid of a double-sided adhesive tape or an adhesive 105.
With the magneto-optical disc 100 in which the metal plate 103 is mounted on the disc substrate 101 with the aid of the adhesive 105, there is a risk that the metal plate 103 be detached from the disc substrate 101 on repeated loading and unloading operations on or from the disc table of the disc rotating and driving device. That is, the force of magnetic attraction between the metal plate 103 and the magnet of the disc table at the time of loading and unloading with respect to the disc table acts as a load and is applied to the bonding area of the metal plate 103 to the disc substrate 101 to deteriorate the adhesive power of the adhesive 105.
For overcoming the inconvenience derived from the mounting of the metal plate with the aid of the adhesive, the present Assignee has proposed a magneto-optical disc in which the metal plate is mounted on the disc substrate without employing the adhesive.
Referring to FIG. 2, a magneto-optical disc 200 includes a disc substrate 201 formed of a transparent synthetic resin, such as a polycarbonate resin, and a recess 204 in one major surface 201a of the disc substrate 201 on which a recording layer for recording information signals is deposited. The recess 204 is formed around a center hole 202 and is adapted for receiving the metal plate 203 therein. A plurality of caulking projections 205 are formed at equiangular intervals on the circumference of the recess 204 for caulking the metal plate 203.
After the metal plate 203 is housed within the recess 204, heat or ultrasonic waves are impressed on the projections 205 for caulking these projections 205 towards the recess 204 as shown in FIG. 3 for supporting the metal plate 203 within the recess 204 by distal ends 205a of these caulked projections 205 for mounting the metal plate on the disc substrate 201.
With the magneto-optical disc 200 in which the metal plate 203 is supported and attached by the distal ends 205a of the projections 205 formed as one with the disc substrate 201, the metal plate 203 is fixedly supported by the disc substrate 201 so that the metal plate 203 remains attached to the disc substrate 201 even after repeated loading and unloading operations with respect to the disc table of the disc rotating and driving device.
However, for forming the disc substrate 201 with projections 205 for supporting the metal plate 203, a metal mold used for molding the disc substrate 201 becomes complex in structure to render the preparation of the metal mold difficult.
Besides, if the projections 205 are formed intermittently on the circumference of the recess 204, the molten synthetic resin becomes non-uniform in flow in those areas of the mold cavity which later form the projections 205. Besides, the molten synthetic resin tends to be cured with time lag to produce a so-called weld line to render it impossible to produce the uniformly cured disc substrate 201. Unless cured uniformly, the disc substrate 201 is deteriorated in optical properties due to residual inner stresses in the disc substrate 201. Above all, these residual inner stresses tend to produce double refraction in the disc substrate 201 to deteriorate information signal recording/reproducing characteristics when the disc substrate is used as a component of the magneto-optical disc 200.
For overcoming the inconveniences derived from intermittent projections for supporting the metal plate, it may be contemplated to provide a continuous annular projection on the circumference of the recess for accommodating the metal plate. However, this solution can hardly be realized because of difficulties met in uniformly caulking the continuous annular projection.
Although the continuous annular projection may be caulked only partially, the portion of the projection which has not been caulked remains in the projected state after having the metal plate supported with respect to the disc substrate. The result is that the disc substrate is increased in thickness by the residual portion of the projection so that the magneto-optical disc prepared using this disc substrate is also increased in thickness. On the other hand, difficulties are raised in designing the disc cartridge accommodating the magneto-optical disc because the disc cartridge needs to be of a constant thickness in order to be used interchangeably.


Personalized communications services are provided when a communication from an initiating party is received at an interactive system. A computer of the interactive system automatically determines predictive information for the communication based on environmental data provided for the communication independent of information provided by the initiating party during the communication. A script for communicating with the initiating party is dynamically updated based on the predictive information. Communications with the initiating party are provided in accordance with the dynamically updated script.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to personalizing communications services. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to personalizing communications services using environmental data to dynamically communicate.
2. Background Information
Interactive voice response systems iteratively present sets of selectable choices to callers in accordance with predetermined scripts. A selection among selectable choices at one level of a predetermined script leads to a presentation of requested information or a presentation of additional selectable choices as the next level of the predetermined script. A first set of selectable choices in a script is presented uniformly to all callers to a number, and presented information and/or second and subsequent sets of additional selectable choices vary based on the selected choice at the previous level.

Personalizing communications services using environmental data