A positron CT scanner includes a plurality of detectors arranged in a generally cylindrical multi-layers of rings, and slice septa for restricting visual fields of the detectors so that the visual fields intersect a set axis. An interval of the slice septa is substantially corresponds to a plural number of detector cells each of which can determine positions of .gamma. rays incident in the direction of the set axis. The slice septa are movable relatively to the detector cells in the direction of the set axis during a .gamma. ray counting operation.

This invention relates to a positron computed tomography (CT) scanner.
Positron CT scanners, also referred to as PET (Positron Emission Tomography) are known (S. E. Drenzo et., IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., NS-26, No. 2: 2790-2793, 1979, etc.). These devices are used for dosing medicines to patients, and such medicines are labelled by radioactive isotopes to image their internal distributions in the patients. In such PET, a number of .gamma. (gamma) ray detectors are arranged in rings for the detection by coincidence counting of a pair of annihilating photons (0.51 MeV) emitted in directions opposite to each other by the pair annihilation of a positron and an electron. Multi-layers of detector rings are provided, and an intra-ring image can be formed by means of the coincidence counting of the detectors belonging to one ring, while an inter-ring image can be obtained by means of the coincidence counting of adjacent ones of the rings. Accordingly, a PET scanner having j layers of detector rings can provide tomographic images of 2j-1 layers at once. A slice septum (collimator) is provided between one of the detector rings and its adjacent one for shielding unnecessary .gamma. rays and internal scattered .gamma. rays, whereby unnecessary counting by the detectors is decreased to reduce counting losses and accidental coincidences. The resolving power is determined mostly by an area of a photon incident surface of a detector (BGO scintillator). The sectional resolving power of the current devices has reached 3-5 mm (full width at half maximum value).
FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional PET scanner. Each .gamma. ray detector 110 includes both a scintillator 111 and a photomultiplier 112 and these detectors are arranged in rings laid one above another, and shield collimators 120 are provided above the top ring and below the bottom ring. The central axis of the rings is shown as X in FIG. 1. Slice septa 130 are arranged so as to restrict the detection fields of the .gamma. ray detectors 110 vertically to the central axis. Generally one slice septum 130 is provided per one layer of .gamma. ray detectors 110. The .gamma. ray shielding effect of the slice septa 130 can reduce noise components as described above.
That is, in the case of coincidence counting by two .gamma. ray detectors 110, as shown in FIG. 1, a pair of .gamma. rays from one radioisotope 141 are incident on the .gamma. ray detectors 110.sub.1, 110.sub.2 ; .gamma. rays from two radioisotopes 142, 143 are concurrently incident by accident on the .gamma. ray detectors 110.sub.3, 110.sub.4 ; or one of a pair of .gamma. rays from one radioisotope 144 being detected by the .gamma. ray detector 110.sub.6, the other of the .gamma. rays being scattered by a scatterer 150 and detected by the .gamma. ray detector 110.sub.5. All the coincidences other than those of the .gamma. rays from the radioisotope 141 are noise. The slice septa 130 for shielding .gamma. rays restrict the detection fields of the .gamma. ray detectors 110 to reduce such noise components.
But as the respective .gamma. ray detectors 110 are increasingly more miniaturized to make an interval between each of the slice septa 130 and its adjacent one narrower for the improvement of a resolving power, the .gamma. ray detecting efficiency is lowered proportionally to a square of an interval between the slice septa 130. Accordingly it tends to take much more time for counting to form a sufficiently precise image. As a countermeasure to this, so-called three-dimensional PET has been recently studied. In the three-dimensional PET, no slice septa are provided to count not only intra-coincidences of respective detector rings and inter-coincidences between adjacent ones of the detector rings, but also coincidences between ones of the detector rings remote from each other are counted to obtain images at respective slices to restore an image.
However, such three-dimensional PET, which acquires and processes three-dimensional data, has a disadvantage of the above-mentioned quite high noise because slice septa are not used. In the case such three-dimensional PET including the conventional slice septa provided between detector rings is realized, the numerical aperture of the .gamma. ray detectors 110 is comparatively large, and inevitably the slice septa 130 have to be thinned and small-sized. Then the .gamma. ray shielding effect of the slice septa 130 is lowered with the result that the above-mentioned accidental coincidences and scattered coincidences are adversely acquired in data, and sharp image cannot be obtained.


A memory device comprises memory cells arranged in rows and columns, and source lines associated with memory sections, each of which includes a plurality of memory cells. Source terminals of transistors included in the memory cells in a first memory section are physically coupled to a first source line that is distinct from other source lines associated with other memory sections on a same row of the memory device as the first memory section. Gate terminals of transistors included in memory cells in a row share a common wordline configured for providing a signal to the gate terminals.

A memory device generally includes memory cells arranged in an array, with memory cells in a row sharing the same wordline, while memory cells in a column share the same bitline. A memory cell may include a select transistor and a sense transistor. In a row, memory cells may be grouped into sections of memory cells. Each section may include 8 memory cells, which make up a memory byte. Alternatively, each section may include 12 memory cells (comprising 1.5 bytes), 16 memory cells (comprising 1 word), 32 memory cells (comprising 2 words) or some other suitable number of memory cells.

Selecting memory cells using source lines


A rotary drum mixer mixes product matter in a particulate form. A scoop section for the mixer has scoop blades which are radially enclosed by a peripheral wall which rotates with the drum. A stationary hood includes an outer face portion which covers the end wall of the scoop section and a peripheral portion which covers the peripheral wall of the scoop section, but neither the outer face portion nor the peripheral portion of the stationary hood contact product matter. The scoop blades are relatively flat and are angled into the direction of rotation. A back section is also included for the scoop blades. A seal assembly is positioned toward the inner diameter of the scoop blades and biases radially outward. The seal assembly may alternatively be positioned at the outer diameter of the scoop section, and/or the seal member may alternatively be biased radially outward. An inflatable bladder is used to radially bias the seal member against a hoop. Either the hoop may rotate with the scoop section and the seal member maintained stationary, or the seal member may rotate with the scoop section and the hoop maintained stationary.

The present invention relates to rotary drum mixers and, in particular, it relates to the construction and sealing of a scoop chamber or turbine section of a drum mixer relative to a stationary hood.
A variety of rotary drum mixers for mixing product matter in particulate form are known in the art. Rotary drum mixers typically include a horizontally mounted, open-ended drum which is rotated about the generally horizontal central axis of the drum. A stationary hopper may be positioned on or adjacent the mixer for introducing product matter into the drum. The interior of the drum may include structure to mix the product matter to a desired blend as the drum rotates.
In some drum mixers, a turbine or scoop section is fixedly attached to the open end of the drum. The scoop section has turbine blades or scoop blades which elevate product matter during rotation of the scoop section and then provide a gravitationally directed curtain flow of particulate product out of the scoop blades. The curtain flow provides several advantages. First, the curtain flow helps to randomly mix the particulate product in the curtain, and thus facilitates the overall mixing of the drum mixer. Second, the curtain flow provides a excellent location for evenly spraying or coating a substance on the particulate product during mixing. Additionally, the elevating of the product matter provides a raised location to gravitationally remove or discharge product matter out of the drum mixer.
A stationary hood may be used to enclose the drum open end and the scoop section. A discharge chute may be mounted on the hood central to the scoop blades. A product inlet hopper may also be provided on the stationary hood.
One of the primary problems with horizontally mounted drum mixers is the potential for leakage between the rotating drum/scoop section combination and the stationary hood. A seal member may be positioned between the stationary hood and the outside of the rotating drum. The seal member of the prior art rotary drum mixer generally comprises a rubber stationary seal component on the annular flange and a TEFLON-like rotating seal component affixed to the drum contacting the stationary material as the drum rotated. Such rotary drum mixers as described are illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,552,721 and 3,897,934.
For relatively large-sized product matter, the fixed seal member referenced above relies on the flexibility of its rubber component to maintain a closure for radial run-outs as much as 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch around the surface of the rotating member. However, if fine-sized and sub-micron particle sized product matter is being mixed within the rotating drum mixer, the product matter will pass under the fixed seal member. The product matter could then build-up under the stationary rubber-seal and/or pass between the rotating and stationary seal components, thereby compromising the purity of the product matter being mixed and the work environment outside of the rotary drum mixer.
Additionally, should a build-up of product occur on the rotating seal member as described above, the fixed rubber member would wear rapidly.
The Merila U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,021 describes a contact sealing which contacts a rotating sealing surface. The contact sealing includes a one-piece U-shaped housing creating an annular groove. A pressurized hose is located within the annular groove and abuts a sealing member to press the sealing member against the sealing surface.
A contact sealing as described in the Merila patent utilizes a one-piece housing with the pressurized hose mounted therein. Over a period of time, however, the hose and the sealing member will wear from use. The nature of the product matter being treated may also affect the life of the hose and/or the sealing member. In any event, when one or both of the hose and/or the sealing member is damaged, or otherwise impaired by wear or use, replacement is required. With the contact sealing as described in the Merila patent, the very nature of the hose being positioned within a one-piece housing renders the hose and the sealing member very difficult to remove from the housing and the rotary drum mixer. In fact, in order to effectuate repairs, the entire housing must be removed from the drum. Such a feat is tremendously labor intensive and rotary drum mixer "downtime" is dramatically increased. Additionally, during the replacement procedure, damage to the rotary drum mixer is a major concern.
Furthermore, the contact sealing as described in the Merila patent is intended for use on rotary drums in iron ore pelletizing plants, i.e., rotary drums having a diameter of between 12" to 36" operating in low purity applications. Due to the vast exposure of almost the entire contact sealing to the product matter being mixed thereby creating traps for product matter to collect, a dangerous, unhealthful environment could be present if the contact sealing of the Merila patent is used in the mixing or production of pharmaceuticals or food destined for human consumption, which is generally mixed in rotary drums having larger diameters.
A second potential problem with horizontally mounted drum mixers is the possibility of particle grinding between the rotating drum/scoop section combination and the stationary hood. When the drum mixer is used to mix hard abrasive particles such as in the mineral, glass and plastics industries, particle grinding can have very damaging effects. Particle grinding can significantly increase the power required to rotate the drum mixer, leading to increased load on the entire drum mixer drive system. Particle grinding can also lead to wear between the rotating drum/scoop section combination and the stationary hood, and can especially lead to wear of the seal between the rotating drum and the stationary hood. Wear can exacerbate the particle grinding and lead to failure of the seal. Additionally, particle grinding will reduce particle size of the product matter being mixed, which is often an undesired side effect of mixing.
Another potential problem with horizontally mounted drum mixers involves the cleanliness and complete emptying of the drum mixer. The discharge chute for drum mixers is often raised above the lowest point in the drum mixer. Raising the discharge chute allows for gravitational discharge into a container which is placed below the discharge chute. Complete emptying of the drum mixer, which is necessary both to avoid product waste and for cleaning of the drum mixer, is only accomplished if all the product matter in the mixer is adequately raised to the discharge chute.

Particulate drum mixer with scoop section and seal assembly with bladder


A removal apparatus is provided which includes a travelling frame, first and second carriages provided on the travelling frame, first and second cross frames provided on the first and second carriages, first and second cross carriages provided on the first and second cross frames, first and second vertical units provided on the first and second cross carriages, and first and second chucking units secured to the first and second vertical units. In addition, a control unit is provided for synchronously controlling the movement of the first and second carriages, the first and second cross carriages, and the first and second vertical units so as to enable the first and second chucking units to be moved in three dimensions for removal of a molded product from a molding machine.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a removal apparatus for molded product and a method for removing molded products.
2. Background of the Invention
In the prior arts, a removal apparatus for molded product, which takes out molded products by moving and controlling a chuck portion in three-dimensional directions, has been already known, wherein the apparatus is provided with a cross travelling carriage supported so that it reciprocates in the axial direction (cross direction) of a molding machine on a cross frame of a carriage reciprocating in a direction (longitudinal direction) orthogonal to the axial line of the molding machine on a travelling frame fixed on a fixed surface plate of the molding machine, and a vertical unit which moves a chuck portion for holding molded products in the vertical direction.
It is necessary to attach a large-sized chucking portion that is capable of holding large-sized products, in order to remove large-sized products such as a bumper, dash panel, etc., of a vehicle by using the removal apparatus for molded product. But, since the large-sized chucking portion itself is heavy, in order for such a large-sized chucking portion to move at high accuracy and at a high speed, the vertical unit, cross frame, cross travelling carriage, and carriage and/or travelling frame must be made large-sized to have high rigidity, and the drive mechanism must be required to have a high power output. As a result, the conventional removal apparatus for molded product is large-sized and very heavy.
Also, it is necessary to design the chucking portion itself so as to have a holding force suitable for large-sized products, and the removal apparatus for molded product will be provided exclusively for the purpose.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a removal apparatus for molded product which is capable of removing large-size products using a light-weight and small-sized universal chucking portion and a method for removing molded products.
It is another object of the invention to provide a molded product taking apparatus whose production cost is reduced by decreasing the scale and weight thereof, and a method for removing molded products.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a removal apparatus for molded product which is capable of removing large-sized molded products while keeping the size thereof small, and a method for removing molded products.
To accomplish those objects, the removing apparatus for molded product of the present invention comprises a travelling frame extending between the upper part of a molding section and a release position outside a molding machine in a direction orthogonal to the axial line direction of the molding machine, first and second carriages individually controlled so as to reciprocate in said direction orthogonal to the axial line on said travelling frame, first and second cross carriages individually controlled so as to reciprocate in the axial line direction on the first and second cross frames provided so as to extend in the axial line direction of the respective first and second carriages, first and second vertical units provided on the first and second cross carriages, which move first and second chucking units holding a molded product, respectively, in the vertical direction and a means for controlling to individually move the first and second carriages, first and second cross carriages, and first and second vertical units.

Removal apparatus for molded product and method for removing molded products


A yarn tensioning device which is arranged to impart a high unwinding tension to a feed yarn in a yarn draw-out phase of operation and to impart a low unwinding tension with a large yarn draw-back capacity. The yarn tensioning device is is particularly suitable for use on a textile machine which is arranged to produce at three-dimensional fabric by interweaving a large number of yarns 24 fed from yarn carriers 20 which are driven by a carrier drive mechanism to shift the respective positions along predetermined loci of movements within a common carrier shifting plane. Mounted on each carrier 20 is a high tensioning mechanism which acts with a small yarn draw-back capacity and a high yarn tensioning capacity for a feed yarn 24 being unwound from a bobbin 23, in combination with a low tensioning mechanism 22 which acts on the feed yarn with a large yarn draw-back capacity and a low tensioning capacity. As a result, a high yarn tensioning force is applied to the feed yarn by the high tensioning mechanism 21 in a yarn draw-out phase of operation, and a low yarn tensioning force is applied to the feed yarn by the low tensioning mechanism 22 in a yarn draw-back phase of operation past a limit point of yarn draw-back by the high tensioning mechanism 21.

1. Field of the Art
This invention relates to yarn tensioning method and device suitable for use on textile weaving machines, and more particularly to yarn tensioning method and device which can be effectively used especially on textile weaving machines for fabrication of three-dimensional braids such as square braider, magnaweave, three-dimensional braider and the like.
2. Prior Art
In case of a weaving machine which is directed to the fabrication of braid type three-dimensional fabrics as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application H4-41756, namely, in case of a weaving machine which is arranged to produce three-dimensional fabrics by interweaving yarns fed from a number of yarn carriers, which are driven from a carrier drive mechanism to shift the respective positions along predetermined loci of movements in a common carrier moving plane, it is necessary to provide a yarn orientation angle setting means in order to make the orientation angles of the respective yarns substantially uniform by beating actions in a stabilized manner or in order to control the yarn orientation angles arbitrarily.
The inventor of the present invention proposed an effective means for setting such orientation angles in a prior Japanese Patent Application H4-180408. In a weaving process by a braid type three-dimensional textile weaving machine without an orientation angle setting means of this sort, the greater the yarn draw-out rate in each weaving cycle of the textile to be fabricated, the smaller becomes the orientation angle of the textile. If the orientation angle becomes too small, the resulting fabric cannot be regarded as substantially three-dimensional fabric any longer.
On the other hand, in case of the above-mentioned braid type three-dimensional textile weaving machine, the yarn orientation angle in three-dimensional fabric can be increased by the use of a yarn tensioning device as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application H2-178176 or by the use of a yarn tensioning device as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication H4-47054. However, a greater orientation angle is reflected by a greater yarn draw-out angle from the yarn tensioning device, so that, when a bobbin is moving away from the center of the fabric being woven, it becomes necessary to draw out the yarn by more than an amount to be consumed by the weaving operation. It follows that, when the bobbin is approaching the center of the fabric, this time there arises a necessity for drawing back the yarn toward the bobbin to take up an excess amount of yarn which would remain overfluously after consumption by weaving operation. In this regard, as will be explained below, the conventional yarn tensioning devices fail to cope with these problems to a sufficient degree.
Illustrated schematically in FIG. 16 is a typical yarn tensioning device which has been well known in the art.
This yarn tensioning device basically includes a bobbin 3 rotatably mounted on a support shaft 2 which is erected at an eccentric position on a carrier, a clutch 4 mounted on the bobbin 3 and provided with clutch claws, and a rocking lever 5 pivotally supported on the carrier 1 for rocking movements about a fulcrum point 6 in a center portion thereof and engageable at a force end portion thereof with one of the claws of the clutch 4 to block the rotation of the bobbin 3.
The yarn which is unwound from the bobbin 3 is led out through yarn guides 8, 9 and 10, of which the yarn guides 8 and 10 are fixedly located on the carrier 1 while the yarn guide 9 is provided on a slider member 13 which is slidable along a guide shaft 11 under the influence of the tension in the feed yarn against a biasing force of a tension spring 12. When the tension spring 12 is compressed by a predetermined biasing force the slider member 13 is brought into engagement with a contact member 14 which is connected to one end of the rocking lever 5, thereby releasing the bobbin 3 from the blocking action of the rocking lever 5 against biasing action of a return spring 15.
Therefore, when the feed yarn 7 from the bobbin 3 is drawn out, the tension spring 12 is compressed to a certain extent by the force which acts on the yarn, and the slider member 13 is lifted to push the contact member 14, rocking the lever 5 and turning the fore end portion of the lever 5 out of engagement with a claw of the clutch 4. As a result, the bobbin 3 is turned by one pitch of the claws of the clutch 4, lowering the tension in the feed yarn to a slight degree. Therefore, the slider member 13 is returned under the influence of the biasing force of the tension spring 12, and the rocking lever 5 is also returned under the influence of the biasing force of the return spring 15 to block the rotation of the bobbin 3 again by engagement with the clutch 4.
In this connection, it is known in the art that a pendant weight can be employed in substitute for the above-described tension spring 12 to apply a biasing force to the yarn 7 in a similar manner.
The above-described conventional device makes it possible to cope with fabrics involving large yarn draw-out angles, although it relies on the action of the same tensioning mechanism in both yarn draw-out and draw-back phases of operation, applying substantially the same tensioning force on the yarn in the yarn draw-out and draw-back phases of operation. However, the yarn draw-out phase requires a force for disengaging the lever 5 from a claw of the clutch 4 in contrast to the yarn draw-back phase which does not, so that in average there is a tendency of the tension in the feed yarn becoming slightly higher in the yarn draw-out phase than in the yarn draw-back phase of operation.
On the other hand, on a braid-type three-dimensional fabric weaving machine, for example, the fabric and yarns are in the relationship as schematically shown in FIG. 17. As seen in this figure, a fabric weaving process involves yarns 7a which are tensioned in a direction of densifying the fabric and yarns 7b (indicated by bald lines) which are tensioned in a direction of undensifying the fabric. The yarns which are tensioned in the densifying direction are the yarns which are drawn out or wound off from the bobbins on outward bobbin movements away from the center of the fabric, while the yarns which are tensioned in the undensifying direction are the yarns which are drawn back or rewound toward the bobbins on inward bobbin movements toward the center of the fabric. Therefore, if arrangements are made to apply different tensioning forces to the yarns in these two different phases of operation, namely, to apply a high tensioning force to the yarns in a draw-out phase and to apply a low tensioning force to the yarn in a draw-back phase, it becomes possible to increase the orientation angle all the more for densification of the fabric utilizing the beating effects of the highly tensioned feed yarns.
However, it is difficult to increase the yarn orientation angle especially in case of a yarn tensioning device of the arrangements as shown in FIG. 16, in which substantially a constant tensioning force is applied to the yarn throughout the yarn draw-out and draw-back phases of a weaving operation.
Besides, from the standpoint of increasing the amount of the yarn winding on the bobbin 3 and suppressing fluctuations in yarn tensioning force as caused by movements of the yarn carrier 1 durig a weaving operation the yarn guide 10, which serves to withdraw the yarn from the bobbin 3, is most desirably located above a bobbin support shaft which is erected at the center of the carrier 1. However, according to the known yarn tensioning device shown in FIG. 16, the bobbin support shaft 2 is located in an eccentric position relative to the center line of the carrier for the purpose of locating the bobbin and yarn tensioning device in such spaces on the carrier as would keep them out of contact with bobbins and yarn tensioning devices on other approaching carriers. while locating the yarn tensioning device in a position which would not interfere with the operation of replacing the bobbin for yarn replenishment.
The location of the bobbin 3 in an eccentric position as in the above-described prior art arrangement requires to minimize the bobbin diameter in a degree commensurate with its eccentricity despite a corresponding reduction in size of the yarn winding on the bobbin. In addition, the location of the yarn tensioning device at one side of the bobbin ensures easy mounting and dismantling of the bobbin at the time of its replacement. However, since the yarn 7 is withdrawn from a position deviated from the center of the carrier 1, there is no guarantee that a predetermined tensioning force is constantly exerted on the yarn 7 without influenced by the movements of the carrier which is shifted and turned in step with with the progress of a weaving process
In this regard, it would be the best choice to mount the yarn tensioning device on a bobbin support shaft 2 which is erected at the center of the yarn carrier 1, and to withdraw a yarn 7 from a bobbin 3 through a yarn guide 10 which is located over the bobbin support shaft 2 at the center of the carrier 1. In such a case, however, there arises a necessity for providing suitable means which would facilitate the mounting and dismantling of the bobbin 3 at the time of its replacement. In case of a textile weaving machine which is arranged to weave three-dimensional textiles like 3-D braids by driving a large number of yarn carriers in a carrier shifting plane, the yarn tensioning device on each carrier are required to be smaller in size and diameter, and this makes the bobbin mounting and dismantling operations more difficult.

Yarn tensioning method and device for textile weaving machines


A mechanical coupling device and methods of use for concentrating dynamic force transmitted from a dynamic force actuator to a panel. The device comprises a concentrator surface that is coupled to an elastic panel. The concentrator surface is a continuous region with a surface area that may be smaller, larger, or the same surface area as a region in contact with a dynamic force actuator. The concentrator surface transmits a dynamic force to a region of the panel coupled to the concentrator surface.

Typical electrodynamic force actuators are designed with a cylindrical voice coil, the top surface of which has an adhesive material applied to it so it may be bonded to the object to which the vibrational force is to be applied. The contact area between the force exciter and the panel is annular in typical applications. A problem with this configuration is that at high frequencies the area of the panel within the force actuator's annular contact area may vibrate out of phase with the panel area exterior to the exciter's annular contact area. This occurs at the resonant frequency of the first "drum head" mode of the panel area interior to the annular contact region. Under these conditions, and due to the phase reversal between the vibrating region within the annular contact area and the panel area exterior to the contact annulus, the net acceleration of the panel integrated over the entire panel area decreases noticeably. The total radiated sound pressure is proportional to the net acceleration integrated across the entire panel so there is a noticeable dip in the sound pressure at the frequency where this occurs. Often this can be in the region around 10 kHz, which leads to a noticeable deficit of high frequency content in the radiated sound.
There is a need for a device that will enable dynamic force actuators to perform without noticeable dips in sound pressure occurring at certain frequencies.

Method and device for force concentration to enhance sound from flat panel loudspeakers


Described are a system and method of transmitting packets over a network having a plurality of nodes. A multicast packet is received by one of the nodes. For a period of time, that one node counts the number of retransmissions of the multicast packet that the node receives from one or more other nodes in the network. When the period of time elapses, the node retransmits the multicast packet if the number of counted retransmissions is less than a predetermined number.

An important development in the technology of networking was the separation of the physical address from the logical address of a node. Although all physically addressable nodes can listen in to a message, the physical address attached to the message determines which nodes listen to the remainder of the message. The separation of the physical address from the logical address makes routing possible. When a node sends a message addressed to a particular logical address, that node actually only determines, by the use of routing tables and other information, to which physically addressable node it should forward the message. The receiving node determines, by the physical address attached to the message, to listen to the message. By the logical address, the receiving node determines whether, in turn, to forward the message and determines by routing tables, how to get the attention of the appropriate node or nodes to forward the message.
IP (Internet Protocol) Multicasting uses a special set of IP addresses ('Class D') each of which represents not an individual node but a potentially broadly distributed set of nodes that all wish to be recipients of the same messages. Correspondingly, IP (Multicasting uses physical addresses that are not uniquely assigned to an individual node, but rather to a self-selected set of nodes that set themselves up to pay attention to messages with that physical address.
In order to distribute multicast messages, a collection of routers is set up (the Multicast Backbone, or MBONE), all of which are set up to listen for incoming multicast messages and to relay the messages to all their subnets for which there is at least one node that is interested in receiving the messages. The routers obtain this information about interested nodes by periodically broadcasting a query to that effect across each of their subnets. Those nodes that are interested in receiving the class of messages indicated in the query respond positively to the query, but only after listening for a random amount of time to find out if any other nodes respond (in which case the nodes do not need to respond.) This system prevents a network-paralyzing flood of responses. If the router has gotten a positive response for a particular class of messages, the router will in turn respond positively when queried about this same class. In this way, the 'interest' in a particular class of messages propagates upstream, whereas the messages propagate downstream. Through this mechanism, all interested nodes are reached with the minimum number of packets possible.

Combining multi-hop and multicast wireless networking in classroom-like settings


A novel organic cation transporter (OCT) gene, OCT 6, and use thereof is described. The OCT6 gene is preferentially expressed in human hematopoietic tissues, including CD34+ cells and leukemia cells. Its narrow tissue distribution, substrate specificity, and close homology to other cell membrane transporters make OCT6 an attractive target for the treatment of myeloid diseases.

The lipid bilayer of the cellular membrane insulates the intracellular milieu from exposure to hydrophilic compounds. Unlike lipophilic compounds that can diffuse through cellular membranes, water-soluble compounds usually require specific transport mechanisms to gain access to the intracellular space. The regulation of the traffic of polar compounds in both directions across the cellular membrane is a complex process involving several large families of transport proteins.
Most often in cancer research, drug transport is thought of as a mechanism of cellular drug resistance, as drug efflux pumps such as the products of the MDR1 and MRP genes have been shown to be mechanisms of resistance to lipid-soluble anticancer drugs. However, drug transport is a two-way street, and mechanisms also exist for pumping drugs into cells. For polar, water-soluble anticancer agents, drug uptake, and not drug efflux, is the critical determinant of cellular drug accumulation.
Most cancer chemotherapy employs drugs that are lipid-soluble that can easily penetrate the cell membrane of cancer cells. One advantage of using lipid-soluble drugs is that they easily gain intracellular access to different types of cancer cells, so many cancer cells appear to be initially sensitive to these drugs. The disadvantage is that cancer cells learn to increase the activity of drug efflux pumps in the cell membrane to pump lipid-soluble drugs out of the cell, resulting in drug resistance.
In contrast, potential water-soluble anticancer drugs may not survive the preclinical screening process since there is a great deal of variability in the expression of drug transport genes in different types of cancer cells. Variability in transport gene expression may result in variability in accumulation of polar, water-soluble drugs. One approach to more effectively utilize water-soluble anticancer drugs is to identify which of the dozens of transport genes are actually expressed in tumors.
The importance of carrier-mediated anticancer drug uptake is exemplified in reduced folate carrier (RFC) mediated uptake of methotrexate (MTX). Methotrexate (MTX), a reduced folate analogue, is scavenged and retained in cells by mechanisms designed to secure folates from the environment. The major mechanism of MTX uptake at pharmacologic concentrations is the reduced folate carrier (RFC), an OAT transporter with a Km for MTX between approximately 0.8-26 μM. Decreased RFC activity has been observed in several in vitro models of transport-mediated MTX resistance (Biochem. Pharmacol. 11: 1233-1234, 1960). Once rodent and human genes encoding proteins with RFC activity were isolated, the molecular explanations for decreased RFC activity emerged. RFC1 transfection into the transport-deficient MTXR ZR75 cell line resulted in a 20-fold increase in 6-hour MTX uptake and a concomitant 250-fold increase in sensitivity to MTX relative to control cell clones, showing that the RFC1 gene reconstitutes RFC activity and has a significant impact on MTX cytotoxicity (Moscow, et al., Cancer Res. 55: 3790-3794, 1995).
In different cell lines, MTX transport deficiency has been ascribed either to mutations in the RFC gene or in decreased expression of the RFC gene product. Several studies have demonstrated that RFC1 gene expression is an important determinant of sensitivity to MTX. In in vitro studies, we have found that RFC1 RNA levels correlate with MTX sensitivity in a panel of non-selected cell lines, including breast cancer cell lines (Moscow et al., Int J Cancer. 72: 184-190, 1997).
A plethora of genes with the ability to transport MTX out of the cell have been reported, including MRP1, MRP2, MRP3, MRP4, the organic anion transporters hOAT2 and hOAT3, and the mitoxantrone-resistance protein (BCRP/MXR). However, despite the multitude of MTX export genes, clinical studies have shown a relationship between the expression of RFC1, the mechanism of MTX uptake, and prognosis in Acute Lymphoid Leukemia (ALL) and osteosarcoma. As a result, RFC1 expression and MTX uptake are now implicated as determinants of clinical sensitivity in several types of tumors. Thus, the role of RFC1 in mediating sensitivity of its cytotoxic drug substrates has become a prototype that illustrates the potential role of transporters, like OAT and OCT genes, in determination of anticancer drug selectivity and toxicity.
However, there is a need to identify additional channels, or transporters, that are found in specific cancers, to enable the targeting of different cancers with anticancer agents that are substrates for those transporters.

Organic cation transporter preferentially expressed in hematopoietic cells and leukemias and uses thereof

University of Kentucky Research Foundation


Methods are provided for base capacitance compensation of traces in a touchpad sensor. Compensation areas are calculated by evaluating the differences between the base capacitances of the traces, or the differences between the base capacitances of the traces and a target value. The compensation areas are electrically connected to respective traces to equalize the base capacitances of the traces. Alternatively, a relationship between the areas of the traces and the distances from the traces to a grounding layer for equalizing the base capacitances of the traces is derived and from which the areas of the traces or the position of the grounding layer are adjusted.

Due to the compactness, low cost, low power consumption and long lifetime, touchpad has been widely used in various electronic products, for example notebook computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile phone and other electronic systems. Touchpad serves as an input device where users could touch or slide thereon by an object, for example finger or fingers, to control the cursor on a window in relative movement or absolute coordinate movement to support various input functions such as text writing, window scrolling and button pressing. Conventionally, the sensor of a touchpad has symmetrical structure such as the square shape shown in FIG. 1. The traces of the touchpad sensor all have same shape and area, and thus the base capacitances of the traces are symmetrically distributed across the touchpad sensor. The sensed capacitive values caused by an object touching on the touchpad sensor are also symmetrical and linear across the touchpad sensor as shown in FIG. 2. However, the shape and structure of a touchpad sensor would be changed with different applications and produces asymmetrical sensing characteristics accordingly. An asymmetrical touchpad sensor refers to one including at least one of the features of the touchpad sensor, such as the shape of the sensor, the thickness of each sensing layer in the sensor, the area of the traces, and the distances between the traces to the grounding layer, that is asymmetrical. In a touchpad sensor, the base capacitance of a trace is proportional to the area of the trace and the inverse of the distance between the trace and the grounding layer, or simply represented byC=∈×(A/d)  [Eq-1]where C is the base capacitance of the trace, ∈ is the dielectric constant, A is the area of the trace, and d is the distance between the trace and the grounding layer. The sensed capacitive value of the trace caused by an object touching isS∝(ΔC/C)  [Eq-2]where ΔC is the differential capacitance of the trace caused by the object touching. Therefore, the area of the trace and the distance between the trace and the grounding layer both are factors of determining the base capacitance of the trace. For example, in a circular touchpad sensor 100 shown in FIG. 3, the traces X0 to X6 along the horizontal direction have different lengths and different areas. From the equation Eq-1 it is concluded that, if all the traces of a touchpad sensor are spaced from a grounding layer with a same distance, the trace having greater area will have greater base capacitance. Accordingly, the base capacitances of the group of traces X0 to X6 and the group of traces Y0 to Y6 are asymmetrically distributed across the touchpad sensor 100. As illustrated by the equation Eq-2, when an object operating on the touchpad sensor 100, the sensed capacitive value S will vary with position across the touchpad sensor 100 as shown in FIG. 4, since the traces X0 to X6 and Y0 to Y6 of the touchpad sensor 100 have different base capacitances therebetween. The asymmetricity and nonlinearity of the sensed capacitive value S will cause the touchpad having misjudgment to an operation or undesired offset in the judged position to a touch of an object operating thereon.
Therefore, it is desired a compensation to a touchpad for uniform sensed capacitive values thereof.

Base capacitance compensation for a touchpad sensor


Techniques are described for a real-time visualization of data in an integrated authoring environment. In one example, a method includes receiving text information. The method also includes comparing the dynamically entered text information against a data source, wherein the comparing comprises applying natural language processing (NLP) to determine one or more assertion statements in the text information that references data from the data source. The method also includes retrieving the referenced data associated with the one or more assertion statements from the data source. The method further includes generating a visual representation of the referenced data associated with the one or more assertion statements. The method also includes displaying the visual representation, wherein the visual representation is integrated with an authoring interface.

The writing of articles or compositions based on factual data includes activities of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information. An author writes articles or written compositions to discuss the news and which may contain supporting quantitative data, such as eyewitness accounts, photographs, statistics, graphs, recollections, polls, and so forth. Articles or written compositions may further include an author's conclusion or opinion based upon such data.

Data analysis results authoring and peer review

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and apparatus for improving the safety of a surgical procedure involving delivery of laser energy to a tissue, involves enhancing or increasing the detectability of radiation emitted by the tissue or any portion of a surgical instrument or device by providing a sacrificial material that absorbs radiation emitted during the surgical procedure, increasing the temperature of a surface on which the material is disposed and/or causing damage radiation to be emitted in a way that can be detected by monitoring the temperature of the surface and/or radiation, including infrared and/or visible light, emitted by the surface. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the radiation absorbing material is a sheath arranged to surround the fiber.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to various improvements to the methods and apparatus disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2009/0062782 and 2009/0149845, and other similar laser treatment methods and apparatus involving monitoring of the treatment site for conditions such as overheating. The improvements include:    a. Provision of a structural element made of a material that absorbs selected wavelengths of radiation emitted during the surgical procedure, and that in response heats up or emits radiation in a way that can more easily and reliably be detected by the treatment site monitoring arrangement, whether by monitoring radiation transmitted back through the laser deliver conduit or fiber, or by a sensor or detector at the treatment site;    b. Use of other coatings to enhance detection, such as inclusion of a dark coating material to increase contrast between parts of an instrument that are overheating and other parts of the instrument;    c. Positioning of a overheating detector of the type disclosed in the parent application on a bare fiber rather than in an introducer or catheter; and    d. Provision of an improved treatment site monitoring method.
The above listed improvements may be used separately or in any combination with each other or with any elements of the system disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2009/0062782 and 2009/0149845, or in combination with other surgical laser methods and systems, including those described in U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2009/0062782 and 2009/0149845 as prior or related art. While the methods and apparatus of the invention may be used with a variety of surgical laser procedures, it is especially useful for urological and varicose vein treatment applications where thermal runaway has been a particular problem.
The structural element of the invention may be disposed in or integrated with an instrument, such as a coating on an endoscope, introducer, or any other instrument present at a location where overheating might occur. Alternatively, the structural element may be a discrete element such as a sheath that can be inserted into the instrument or disposed to protect any part of the instrument and/or tissues at the treatment site. If the structural element is a sheath, then the sheath may be arranged to be inserted into an endoscope with the fiber withdrawn slightly into the sheath, thereby protecting the working channel of the endoscope from mechanical damage from the relatively sharp tip of the fiber without interfering with movement of the fiber.
In addition, the apparatus of the invention may include or be used with components for monitoring radiation absorption by the radiation absorbing structural element, either by monitoring the temperature of the radiation absorbing structural element, or by monitoring radiation emitted by the structural element.
Still further, a support guide may be added to ensure that the fiber tip avoids contact with the working channel of an instrument such as an introducer or endoscope.
2. Description of Related Art
A number of copending patent applications, prior patents, and prior publications, address the problem of detecting and preventing damage due to overheating of tissues and/or instruments/devices used to deliver laser energy to tissues during laser surgery or therapeutic laser procedures. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0062782 (based on U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/047,819) discloses a safety feedback control unit in which radiation resulting from overheating at the location of the surgery is detected and used to control fiber position, laser activation, or rate of pullback. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0149845 (based on U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/073,922) discloses a radiation feedback system in which a sensor at the treatment end of the fiber monitors wavelengths indicative of temperature at the treatment end so that overheating of tissues can be detected before the flash of light from pyrolytic burning occurs, and monitoring of the output of the laser by downstream deflection, absorption, or fiber movement in response to overheating detection. Many of the principles disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2009/0062782 and 2009/0149845 have been implemented in the LaserGuard™ system made by Optical Integrity, Inc. of Panama City, Fla.
One feature of the LaserGuard™ system is that it not only seeks to detect damage radiation from overheated tissues or instruments/devices, but also to enhance sampling detection by slightly bending a fiber anywhere along the fiber to leak non-coherent radiation caused by overheating and thereby detect the overheating while minimizing losses to the laser transmission are kept to a minimum. However, while the LaserGuard™ system has been effective in detecting overheating in a variety of laser surgery applications so as to prevent injury to the patient and protect other devices such as stone baskets and stone cones, it has been found that some treatment applications are still subject to overheating or burning of tissues, and that the likelihood of problems increases with the number of times a particular instrument is used. This is a critical problem given the cost of surgical instruments and the need to hold down costs if at all possible without sacrificing the safety of the patient.
The inventor has investigated the cause of continued overheating problems, even in systems with temperature or damage radiation feedback, and found that the cause can in many cases be traced to erosion or wear at the tips of the laser delivery instruments. This is particularly true where transmissive caps are provided at the end of the fiber, either to prevent fiber contact with tissues or to preserve the glass to air interface in a liquid environment. Unfortunately, the fiber cap surface erodes quickly when the fiber tip is buried into the tissue causing the temperature to rise. When that temperature exceeds 1000 degrees C., the cap absorbs infrared radiation due to free electron absorption, which can quickly erode the cap's surface and allow water into the cap destroying the glass to air interface. Continued lasing heats the water in the cap until the cap blows off like a bullet, sometimes lodging into surrounding tissue requiring surgical extraction.
It would seem that a feedback detection system should be able to detect the overheating before the cap is blown off. However, the feedback system has trouble detecting contact with a foreign surface because the surface prevents the damage radiation from reaching the detector, and therefore the amount of damage radiation available to the detector is relatively small. For example, if a partially transmitting surface is surrounded by a temperature conductive surface such as a tissue, much of the damage radiation will be absorbed by the conductive surface, and therefore will not reach the detector in time to enable termination or modulation of the laser energy being delivered and prevent damage caused by the overheating.
This invention addresses the problem of incomplete or delayed detection of overheating by providing sacrificial elements such as coatings or sheaths arranged to absorb damage radiation and emit warning radiation before the damage radiation would otherwise be detected by direct monitoring. In addition, coatings may be provided to enhance the detection of warning or damage radiation by, for example, increasing the contrast between the radiation to be detected and background radiation.
With respect to the embodiment in which the sacrificial element is a coating, those skilled in the art will appreciate that instrument coatings are known in the art. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0149845 mentions coating of the working channel of the catheter or introducer with Teflon™ or a similar protective material, so that an overheating fiber may be withdrawn into the working channel where damage will be minimal due to the protective effect of the coating. However, the known coatings are intended to be survive the treatment procedure, rather than being sacrificed before damage actually occurs.
With respect to the embodiment in which the sacrificial element takes the form of a sheath that surrounds the laser delivery fiber and serves to mechanically protect the instrument through which the fiber is inserted into the patient, the "sheath" of this embodiment differs from the conventional sheath in that it is designed to avoid affecting insertion of the fiber into the scope. Instead, its purpose is solely to absorb specific wavelengths of radiation in order to enhance detection of the radiation.
Those skilled in the art will of course appreciate that "sheaths" have long been used to protect surgical instruments inserted into a patient. For example, LISA Laser Products OHG of Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany sells disposable fiber insertion sheaths under the tradename FlexGuard™, which are used to guide fibers along a path established by bending the sheath, which remains deflected during insertion of the laser fiber. These sheaths are not suitable for use in connection with the present invention, and do not correspond to the sheaths described herein, not only because they are not designed to burn away upon overheating, thereby amplifying damage radiation, but also because the sheaths of the present invention are designed to be as flexible as possible so as not to interfere with positioning of the fiber.
In order to carry out the function of absorbing specific wavelengths of radiation while still maintaining flexibility, the sheath of the present invention must be relatively thin, whereas the FlexGuard™ sheaths must be thick enough to hold a particular shape when bent, and also to protect the inside of the working channel of a ureterorenoscope into which the fiber is inserted, as explained in LISA Laser Products product literature on the FlexGuard™ sheaths and in LISA Laser's U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,608. Unlike FlexGuard™, the sheath of the preferred embodiment is easily inserted at the same time as the fiber and therefore does not have the same limitations such as decreased water flow and loss of deflection because the scope is already in position and the fiber acts as a means to stiffen the polyimide or PET sheath.
The FlexGuard™ sheath is not the only prior sheath. Protective sheaths have been used in a variety of surgical applications, to protect optical fibers and other instruments such as the Nitinol shape memory instruments described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,966,906 (Brown) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,706,053 (Boylan), but none of the prior sheaths is designed to be sacrificed upon overheating in order to increase the detectability of damage radiation emitted during the overheating.

Apparatus and method for detecting overheating during laser surgery


A mechanical chock has a pair of anchoring cams mounted in rotation and in opposition on a common support spindle. Each cam includes a bearing surface having a predetermined profile. The bearing surface of the first cam presents a convex face, whereas the bearing surface of the second cam has a concave face, so as to obtain three bearing points or zones in the separated blocking position.

The invention relates to a mechanical chock with cams for climbing and mountaineering, and comprising:                at least one pair of anchoring cams mounted in rotation and in opposition on a common support spindle, each cam comprising a bearing surface having a predetermined profile,        an attachment means securedly affixed to a central body of the spindle, which is equipped with a first half-spindle for receiving the first cam and a second half-spindle for receiving the second cam,        and means for operating the cams between a separated blocking position and a retracted releasing position.

Mechanical chock with cams for climbing and mountaineering


A semiconductor device includes: a circuit region having a function element formed on a semiconductor substrate; a scribe region located between the circuit region and another circuit region formed spaced from the circuit region, the scribe region including a cutting region and non-cutting regions provided at both sides of the cutting region; a first interlayer insulating film formed in the scribe region on the semiconductor substrate; a first dummy pattern made of conductive material and formed in the first interlayer insulating film in the cutting region; and a second dummy pattern made of conductive material and formed in the first interlayer insulating film in each of the non-cutting regions. The ratio, per unit area, of the area of the first dummy pattern to the area of the cutting region is lower than the ratio, per unit area, of the area of the second dummy pattern to the area of the non-cutting regions.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device having a multilevel interconnection structure.
Interconnect layers in a semiconductor device having a multilevel interconnection structure are generally formed by using a method (a damascene process) in which a trench formed in an interlayer insulating film for each interconnect layer is filled with a metal film. The metal film deposited over the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate is subjected, for example, to a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process for removal of unnecessary part thereof, such that the metal film is left only in the trench. In this polishing process, in an area where the wiring pattern formed in the interlayer insulating film is sparse, the film thickness of the wiring pattern becomes smaller as compared with an area in which the wiring pattern is dense, because the polishing speed varies. To prevent such film thickness variation, a method is adopted in which a pseudo wiring pattern is provided as a dummy pattern in the area where the wiring pattern is sparse. The dummy wiring pattern thus provided prevents pattern dishing occurring in the CMP process.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-235357 describes semiconductor devices in which a uniform dummy pattern is provided in a scribe region and in circuit regions on the semiconductor substrate for prevention of dishing in CMP process.
FIG. 10(a) shows the planar structure of a scribe region, a region which is cut when a semiconductor wafer having conventional semiconductor devices is divided into chips. FIG. 10(b) shows the structure in cross section taken along the line Xb-Xb in FIG. 10(a).
As shown in FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b), a plurality of circuit regions 2, in which function elements (not shown) are formed, are provided spaced from each other on the principal surface of a semiconductor substrate 1, and seal rings 3 made of conductive material are formed to surround the circuit regions 2. And a scribe region 4, a region which is cut to obtain the individual circuit regions 2, is formed between the circuit regions 2.
On the principal surface of the semiconductor substrate 1, first interlayer insulating films 11 and second interlayer insulating films 12 are stacked alternately. In the circuit regions 2, interconnects (not shown) made of conductive material are formed in the first interlayer insulating films 11, while vias (not shown) made of conductive material are formed in the second interlayer insulating films 12. On the other hand, in the scribe region 4, a dummy pattern 107, which is a uniformly spaced isolated pattern (an island-shaped pattern) made of conductive material, is formed in the first interlayer insulating films 11. In this way, the dummy pattern 107 is provided at uniform intervals in the scribe region 4 on the semiconductor substrate 1 so as to prevent dishing in CMP process.
However, when the scribe region 4 of the conventional semiconductor devices is cut by a dicing blade, the dicing blade cuts the conductive material of the dummy pattern 107. The cutting part of the dicing blade thus becomes clogged with the conductive material to cause the cutting ability of the dicing blade to degrade, leading to a problem in that chipping is likely to occur in the resultant semiconductor chips.
Nevertheless, if the dummy pattern 107 is not provided in the scribe region 4, the aforesaid problem, i.e., the occurrence of dishing in the CMP process, arises.


An integrated circuit structure comprising a substrate having an upper surface; a gallium nitride layer disposed on the upper surface of the substrate; and a photoconductive semiconductor switch laterally disposed alongside a transistor on the gallium nitride layer integrated into the integrated circuit structure wherein a regrown gallium nitride material is disposed on the photoconductive semiconductor switch and operatively coupled with the wafer.

The present disclosure is directed to the improved gallium nitride (GaN) integrated circuit technology, particularly, a structure that includes both GaN photoconductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) and/or photoconductively switched transistor and GaN transistors and accompanying integrated circuit structures.
Currently on-chip GaN on Si High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) switches and RF devices are controlled through electrical signals and are limited by the constraints of traditional semiconductor device design, and fabrication. For example, switching speed is limited to device geometry, and the on-off current ratio. Another example includes the breakdown voltage of the device, which is the maximum voltage the device can handle before catastrophic device failure. This voltage is determined by the breakdown of the HEMT semiconductor material and/or dielectric when electric field peak at the drain side, which is a function of the applied drain bias and gate to drain distance, exceed the breakdown fields of the materials. The maximum operating voltage of current state of the art GaN HEMT switches, operating is a safe operating region below the breakdown voltage, is approximately 650 V. Photoconductive Semiconductor Switches (PCSS) and photoconductively switched transistors are different devices that offer high voltage switching capabilities, ultra-fast switching speeds, or rapid energy pulses that are switched by light instead of by biases applied by metal gates. As such, they offer the potential for increased operating voltages relative to traditional GaN HEMI switches and RF devices.
Further, existing GaN PCSS structures are stand-alone devices, fabricated through nonplanar liftoff based processing, that are connected with transistors, integrated circuits (ICs), and light sources (e.g. lasers and light emitting diodes), as part of a larger module, either through wire bonding or circuit board design.
What is needed for maximum performance and functional density is compact integration photoconductive semiconductor switches and photoconductively switched transistors.

Photoconductive semiconductor switch laterally fabricated alongside GaN on Si field effect transistors


Disclosed is a piston reset apparatus for a multichip module that includes a base with multiple projections and two unit associating pegs extending from opposite ends of the base, a hat disposed upwardly of the base and including multiple adjustable pistons vertically adjustable within the hat, each of the plurality of adjustable pistons being disposed in alignment with one of the multiple projections, a mass equivalent plate disposed upwardly of the hat and being configured to hold a spring loaded sleeve, the spring loaded sleeve including a plurality of springs, each of the springs being aligned with and configured to apply pressure upon one of the multiple pistons, a spring loaded clamp disposed upwardly of the plate and including a spring loaded portion and a retaining portion, the retaining portion defining two cavities configured to fixedly associate with an associating groove defined by each of the unit associating pegs.

1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates generally to a piston reset apparatus, and more particularly to a piston reset apparatus for a multichip module
2. Description of the Background
All semiconductor chips do not necessarily generate the same level of heat or function satisfactorily at the same temperature. Thus, in MCM (multichip module) products, it is critical to position heat dissipating slugs properly with respect each chip. By properly positioning these slugs, heat may be appropriately dissipated, and chips may be maintained at proper functioning temperatures. A factor affecting the rate and amount of heat dissipated from a chip is the spacing between the chip and the heat slug.
A typical assembled MCM product consists of a hat that includes an array of pistons. Each of these pistons acts as a heat slug for a respective chip.
The height of some of the pistons is fixed in the hat, while others of the pistons are moveable and their heights may be adjusted to provide appropriate spacing for each respective chip. Sometimes there is a need to readjust the height of pistons. In order to allow the hat to be re-used, pistons must be first reset or repositioned near their initial positions prior to a being subjected to height adjustment.
The piston reset apparatus and operation presently used makes use of a plate that pushes equally on all movable pistons until the plate contacts the fixed pistons. For a variety of reasons, this apparatus and operation does not always provide proper positioning of the pistons for the MCM product subsequently assembled. As such, a more effective manner of resetting moveable pistons in an MCM would be desirable.

Piston reset apparatus for a multichip module and method for resetting pistons in the same


An ignition coil is constructed of a center core, a primary coil, a secondary coil, and an outer circumferential core. The center core and the outer circumferential core are connected with each other via a first magnetoresistive member on one axial end side. The center core and the outer circumferential core are connected with each other via a second magnetoresistive member on the other axial end side. A permanent magnet is arranged in an axially central portion of the center core. A magnetic passage is formed of the center core, the permanent magnet, the first magnetoresistive member, the outer circumferential core, and the second magnetoresistive member. Magnetic flux generated by the primary coil is reduced through the first and second magnetoresistive members, and is reverse-biased by the permanent magnet.

According to JP-A-3-136219, a conventional ignition coil generates high voltage electric power, and the high voltage electric power is supplied to an ignition plug via a mechanical distributor and a high-tension cord. Presently, ignition coils are individually provided to cylinders of an internal combustion engine to directly supply high voltage power to ignition plugs. When the diameter of an ignition plug is reduced, the cross-sectional area of an engine water jacket arranged around an ignition plug can be increased, so that cooling efficiency of the engine can be enhanced. Therefore, the diameter of an ignition plug needs to be reduced in order to enhance fuel efficiency of a vehicle and to enhance engine power.
According to JP-A-3-136219, the conventional ignition coil has a structure, in which output electric power can be enhanced without jumboizing. That is, an ignition coil can be small sized applying the structure of the ignition coil, when output voltage is the same. The ignition coil includes a core, a permanent magnet, a primary bobbin, a secondary bobbin and a case. The core partially forms a closed magnetic passage, in which the permanent magnet is provided. A primary coil is wound on the primary bobbin. A secondary coil is wound on the secondary bobbin. The case receives the above components. The core is constructed of a first core and a second core that are made of silicon steel plates. The first core has a T-shaped cross-section, and the second core has an E-shaped cross-section in the radial direction. The permanent magnet is arranged between a radially central protrusion of the first core and a radially central protrusion of the second core to generate magnetic flux in an opposite direction as magnetic flux generated by the first coil. That is, magnetic flux generated by the first coil is reverse-biased by the magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnet. Therefore, magnetic flux passing through the closed magnetic passage is reduced by magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnet. However in this structure, magnetic flux generated by the primary coil does not change, and voltage induced in the secondary coil, i.e., output voltage of the secondary coil does not change. Accordingly, magnetic saturation can be avoided even the cross-sectional area of the closed magnetic passage is reduced. As a result, the diameter of the closed magnetic passage (magnetic circuit) can be reduced, while maintaining output voltage.
However, magnetic flux generated by the primary coil is substantially large in the ignition coil. By contrast, magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnet for reverse biasing in the magnetic passage is limited. Magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnet cannot be easily increased, because magnetic property of the permanent magnet cannot be easily enhanced and the size of the permanent magnet is limited. Accordingly, magnetic flux passing through the closed magnetic passage cannot be sufficiently reverse-biased for reducing the magnetic flux, and the ignition coil is difficult to be small sized.

Ignition coil having magnetic flux reducing inner structure


Power Over Ethernet (POE)/universal power over Ethernet (UPoE) may be enabled at multigigabit port-channel connections. This may allow for additional speed support in auto-negotiation messages while employing multigigabit speeds. An integrated connector module (referred to herein as a “ICM”) compatible with UPoE with a modified local physical layer (PHY) circuit may be capable of supporting multi-gigabit data rates (such as between 1 G to 10 G, e.g., 2.5 G and 5 G) as to not limit the data rates to 1 G. The ICM may provide multi-gig data transmission through a first plurality of pins comprising a multi-gig data pin area. Furthermore, the ICM may provide UPoE power to support the multi-gig transmission through a second plurality of pins comprising a UPoE power pin area.

Current cabling infrastructures provide data communications over networks such as Ethernet networks. Many of the current cabling infrastructures use Category 5e copper cables. Wireless access points may experience tremendous demand for more bandwidth beyond the 1 Gigabit Ethernet that may presently be provided through present Category 5e infrastructures. Furthermore, the access points typically require power to be provided to them across the infrastructure cabling.
There exists a need to leverage the existing customer cabling infrastructure to allow for additional bandwidth and power delivery upgrades for the next generation of wireless technology. This needs to be accomplished while maintaining customer technology as plug and play while the cable plant is upgraded. Current Ethernet standards do not provide an adequate solution.


The present invention concerns an apparatus for registering weight and/or water content of fit and sick individuals, where the apparatus includes a weighing cell including at least two electric conducting plates on which is applied a voltage from a power supply, and that the at least two electric conducting plates are disposed with mutually opposite faces and with adjustable spacing, so that an individual or a well-defined part of the individual may be placed between the at least two electric conducting plates. and a measuring unit including means for registering the change in capacity between the at least two electric conducting plates and means for converting the capacity change into a numerical number which is correlated with the weight and/or the water content of the individual.

The basic idea behind the invention comes from the agricultural sector where disadvantages have been found by the existing methods for weight determination of individuals on different stages of the growth period.
Subsequently, in the period of development, other areas of application have been found, as e.g. the health sector, where there are drawbacks by the existing methods for water content determination of individuals on different stages of a period of sickness.
In the agricultural sector, it is important for the farmers raising animals for slaughter to get the greatest possible growth rate from the amount of feed used simultaneously with providing for the environment by e.g. reducing the discharge of nitrogen.
Experience shows that the optimal feeding of the single animal for growing as fast as possible without achieving an undesirable large fat percentage is to provide it with feed with a content of energy and protein suitable for the growth stage of the animal during the growth period.
The feed may e.g. contain different amounts of grain, proteins, vitamins, minerals and/or drugs.
It will be optimal that the farmer keeps a close eye on the weight of the animal, so that the ratio between the feed grade/protein level, and the growth of the animal is registered whereby the composition and feed amount may be adjusted.
In order to achieve maximum optimisation in growth of an animal in its entire growth period, it is necessary that the animal is weighed at least once a day, and that this measurement is compared with the dispensed amount of feed and feed grade and protein level.
For weighing loose animals, there are used types of weighing apparatuses that are typically designed with a plate on weigh cells and a cage for keeping the animal on the plate during weighing.
A number of weighing systems are described in patent publications as WO 01/17340, WO 98/47351, U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,719 and GB 2,220,834 that may identify an animal walking on a weight and where the result is used for special feeding of single individuals.
The problem with the above types of weights is that they are very expensive and the weight installation requires some space and some maintenance as they are continually placed in an aggressive stable environment.
There is described an apparatus in DE-A1-44 32 849 where the mass of an item may be determined. The drawback of this apparatus is that its system of a measuring cell and a coil in a oscillatory circuit cannot be used for measuring conducting items, as e.g. living individuals, as the oscillator of the apparatus will stop oscillating if an electric conducting item passes the measuring cell.
In the health sector it is important to register the water content of a patient for e.g. diagnosis at dehydration of the patient or by accumulation of water in the patient's body, so that a real treatment of the patient may be performed.
Today, diagnosis occurs on the basis of the symptoms displayed by the patient, which is at a time where the patient has advanced into the period of sickness.
Therefore, it would be optimal if it was possible at an early time in the period of sickness to perform a sure diagnosis forming basis of a treatment, and subsequently check this diagnosis at regular time intervals by means of a registration apparatus.
DE-A1-44 46 346 describes an apparatus, which makes it possible to measure the change in body part electrolyte volume, which body part is positioned between two capacitor plates.
The disadvantage of the apparatus according to DE-A1-44 46 346 is that the measurement of the electrolyte volume change only concerns the body part volume and not the body part weight.
According to DE-A1-44 46 346 the resonant frequency is preferably described in MHz range. This is, however, a disadvantage as frequencies in MHz range causes the capacitor plates to act as an antenna, and it is impossible to measure any electrolyte volume change.
Furthermore, high resonant frequency demands smaller capacitor plates and a small distance between the capacitor plates for functioning. This only allows measurement of a small electrolyte volume; hence the apparatus does not apply to large body parts or entire animals, e.g. pigs.
From looking at FIGS. 2 and 3 and the complying description one derives that the electrical circuits shown are either oscillating circuits or simple measuring bridges. The oscillating circuit does not function properly as no frequency variation occur due to the use of only one resistor and one capacitor in the circuit, thus the oscillating circuit only acts as a non-oscillating filter. The simple measuring bridge only measures change in electrolyte volume
According to EP-A2-1 091 215 a bioelectric impedance measuring apparatus for humans is described having a number of electrodes. Measurement is only performed, when a barefooted person is positioned on the electrodes, hence being in galvanic contact with the electrodes, as current is sent through the electrodes into the person's body and the impedance is measured and the data is computed into different body constitutions.
It is not possible to imagine an animal standing accurately enough for current to be sent through the feet/legs in order to measure impedance. Furthermore, the apparatus does not measure accurately, when a hoofed animal is positioned on the electrodes, as the hooves function as an electrical isolator. Another disadvantage is that the hooves of any animal, e.g. pig hooves, are dirty and the dirt intervenes with the impedance measurement.
It does not appear from EP-A2-1 091 215 that two sets of electrodes can be arranged opposite each other, instead it appears that the person is in galvanic contact with both sets of electrodes, which allows the apparatus to measure the conductivity and compute the person's weight.

Apparatus for the registration of weight


Methods and systems of delivering ultra-high purity gas to a point of use are claimed and described. The methods include providing a source of ultra-high purity liquid (the source preferably at a pressure and temperature sufficient to maintain the liquid in substantially the liquid phase); transporting (preferably via pressure in the source alone) the ultra-high purity liquid from the source to one or more means to effect a phase change of the ultra-high purity liquid to an ultra-high purity gas; effecting a phase change (preferably at or near equilibrium vaporization conditions) of the ultra-high purity liquid to form an ultra-high purity gas in the one or more means to effect the phase change; and routing the ultra-high purity gas from the means to effect the phase change to a point of use (preferably with no intermediate, potentially impurity-generating media between the means to effect the phase change and the point of use other than ultra-clean conduit).

1. Brief Description of the Invention
This invention pertains in general to the delivery of ultra-pure gases, primarily reactive gases, to a point of use. More specifically, this invention relates to methods and systems to deliver ultra-pure gases which are liquefied at room temperature with a vapor pressure above atmospheric pressure to semiconductor tools and other points of use.
2. Prior Art
Ultra-high purity (UHP) electronics specialty gases (ESG's) are needed for the integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing industry. Typical purity requirements at state of the art manufacturing are 10-100 parts per billion (ppb) for molecular impurities, less than 1 particle/M.sup.3 of size greater than 0.05 micrometer, and 10-1000 parts per trillion (ppt) for metallic impurities, in accordance with the recently published SIA Roadmap.
Because of the increasing size of the wafer fabs, as well as for reasons of cost reduction, quality and safety, it is desired to increase the mass flow rate of the ESG's used on a single manufacturing site. Cost reduction has been attempted frequently in practice by reducing the number of cylinder cabinets on a site and merely increasing the flow rate extracted from ESG storage cylinders, with sometimes application of thermal energy onto the cylinders. However, this solution is of limited capability because imperfect cylinder exchange procedure is a well known practical source of contamination and of its subsequent detrimental consequences.
Moreover, in the case of ultra-pure ESG's which are liquefied at room temperature with a vapor pressure above atmospheric pressure, high mass flow rate gas delivery involves the extraction of a biphasic gas-liquid aerosol from the storage container of pressurized liquid ESG, because the energy of vaporization is difficult to compensate in practice from an external heat source.
An increased mass flow rate extraction of exclusively gas phase ESG is possible by introducing large size containers as a means of bulk storage for delivery of these ESG's, via increased thermal transfer to the pressurized ESG liquid phase due to a larger liquid-gas interface area. The limiting value of pure gas phase supply will depend mostly on flow rate and duration, depending on the specific ESG physical properties and on the container thermo-mechanical properties.
It has been proposed to solve the problem by improving the thermal energy exchange at the evaporating liquid surface and/or by trapping or volatilizing the liquid phase droplets of the aerosol. These means indeed alleviate the problem within an intermediate range of mass flow rates but become insufficient for the exceedingly high mass flow rates needed in modern installations. Also, the perfect removal of the liquid phase droplets is extremely difficult or impossible at such high flow rates.
The undesirable consequences of such biphasic mist extraction for ESG delivery are extremely severe, especially:
1. the loss of the purification phenomenon intrinsic in the evaporation of the pressurized liquid into gas phase; PA1 2. the introduction of liquid phase into devices designed for gas flow control, which cannot function properly under such circumstances; and PA1 3. many ESG's are practically significantly more corrosive in their liquid phase, more so if not of ultra-high purity, and above conditions frequently involve materials corrosion, with the subsequent detrimental consequences on contamination control and safety. PA1 (a) providing a source (preferably a bulk source) of an ultra-high purity liquid, the ultra-high purity liquid having the characteristic of being liquefied at room temperature with a vapor pressure above atmospheric pressure; PA1 (b) transporting (preferably via pressure in source pressure alone which is above atmospheric, although pumping means may be employed in some embodiments) the ultra-high purity liquid from the source to one or more means to effect a phase change of the ultra-high purity liquid to form an ultra-high purity gas at a pressure less than the source pressure; PA1 (c) effecting a phase change (preferably at or near equilibrium vaporization conditions) of the ultra-high purity liquid to form an ultra-high purity gas in the one or more means to effect the phase change, the means to effect the phase change having a means to effect phase change pressure less than the source pressure but higher than the second station (preferably the means to effect phase change pressure is atmospheric pressure); and PA1 (d) routing the ultra-high purity gas from the means to effect the phase change to the second station, the second station preferably at or near a point of use (preferably with no intermediate, potential impurity-generating media between the means to effect the phase change and the second station other than ultra-clean conduit). PA1 (a) a container (preferably a bulk container) adapted to be filled at least partially with ultra-high purity liquid, the ultra-high purity liquid in a container having the characteristic of being liquefied at room temperature with a vapor pressure above atmospheric pressure, the container having mechanical strength to withstand a pressure and temperature sufficient to maintain the ultra-high purity liquid in substantially the liquid phase; PA1 (b) means for transporting the ultra-high purity liquid from the container to one or more means to effect a phase change of the ultra-high purity liquid to form an ultra-high purity gas, the means for transporting having first and second ends, the first end connected to one or more containers of ultra-high purity liquid, and at the second end connected to one or more means to effect phase change; PA1 (c) one or more means to effect phase change connected to the container via the means for transporting, each means to effect phase change comprising means sufficient to vaporize the ultra-high purity liquid (preferably at or near equilibrium vaporization conditions) to form an ultra-high purity gas in the one or more means to effect phase change; and PA1 (d) conduit (preferably ultra-clean) connecting each of the phase change devices to a station distal from the means to effect phase change, preferably a point of use (preferably with no intermediate, potentially impurity-generating media between the phase change device and the point of use other than ultra-clean conduit).
Therefore it would be advantageous for many industries, including the semiconductor manufacturing industry, if high purity, ultra-pure and/or ultra-high purity gases could be delivered to a point of use with avoidance of most or all of these detriments.

Methods and systems for delivering an ultra-pure gas to a point of use

L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et, l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


A toe correction apparatus and a method for manufacturing the same are provided. The toe correction apparatus includes: a first sensor attachable to a first side of a hallux proximate to a second toe for measuring first pressure information between the hallux and the second toe; and a processor, configured to determine a degree to which the hallux bends to the second toe according to the first pressure information, and control an inflation amount or a deflation amount of an adjustable airbag between the hallux and the second toe according to the degree to which the hallux bends to the second toe.

Hallux valgus is a deformity symptom in which an angle that a hallux inclines outwardly is more than 15 degrees greater than a physiological angle. The main cause of the hallux valgus is that the metatarsophalangeal joint at the bottom of the hallux is dislocated, and thus the hallux bends outwardly and a bone of the hallux protrudes outwardly. In addition to causing squeezing of deformed toes against other toes, swelling and inflammation of the hallux tends to occur at an inner side and an back portion thereof due to friction between a shoe and a foot of the user, a thick skin and a bursa is prone to be formed at an outside of the protruded bone, thereby resulting in permanent deformation of toes and continuous pain. The hallux valgus is more common in women, and a male-female ratio is about 1:40.
There are many reasons for hallux valgus, about half of which are related to genetic factors. In addition, flexibility of ligaments decreases with age, which is also one reason why the hallux valgus is more common in middle-aged and elderly women. Other common reasons leading to the hallux valgus are: a habit of wearing shoes, abnormal foot structure and joint inflammation. First, the women often wear high-heeled shoes and pointed shoes, thus the body weight wholly tends to be concentrated in the front of a foot. When pointed shoes are worn, a forefoot of the foot is squeezed in a narrow triangular area, a toe may be in an abnormal state for a long time and thus hallux valgus is caused. Second, a common type of the abnormal foot structure is flatfoot, which is prone to cause hallux valgus. Third, rheumatoid arthritis, gout and other diseases tends to destroy an abnormal balance structure of a foot soft tissue and a bone joint. The hallux valgus deformity may be caused due to the above reasons in the combined action of various internal and external factors.

Toe correction apparatus and method for manufacturing the same


A printed media product, such as a trading card, that has a substrate and an encoded data element applied to a surface of the substrate containing information. The encoded data element includes first, second, and third data layers with first, second, and third patterns of encoded, colored dots defined by a binary encoding scheme. The dots of the first, second, and third layers are different colors separately resolvable by a scanner with decoding software. The colors of the dots are cyan, yellow, and magenta, and the layers are printed so that the dots overlap. The binary encoding scheme includes a two dimensional run length limited code. The printed media product includes a graphics element that can be interpreted by a human user, and typically, the information encoded in the encoded data element layers is related to the information in the graphics element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to encoding digital data in printed media or materials, and more particularly, to trading cards and other printed media products that include graphics and text that is visible and understandable to a human user and that further include a data file including data, such as multi-media data, that is dot encoded. The dots are colored, such as cyan, yellow, and magenta, and are printed over the top of each other with each particular color representing a layer or plane of data, i.e., a subset of the encoded data file. A scanner with a decoding module can resolve each color separately, decode the set of dots in that layer or plane, and then combine the decoded data files into a single data file that can be further processed by a user application file, such as an audio or video output application.
2. Relevant Background
A recent and growing trend is the inclusion of binary or digital data on numerous products and objects, such as identification cards, grocery and other retail products, driver's licenses, and myriad other goods. Often, the data is encoded and printed in a symbol, such as a bar code, that can be readily printed with existing printer technology and then optically scanned by a fixed or hand held scanner that decodes the symbol to obtain the digital data. In other words, digital or binary data can be provided on a printed substrate or media rather than just on magnetic media such as floppy and hard disks and optical media such as compact disks. While bar codes contain a relatively small amount of information, encoding methods have been, and are continuing to be, developed that allow more and more information to be placed on printed substrates and products. As printing and scanning technologies and densities increase, there will be a significant increase in the demand for data files on a diverse range of printed media and that there will be a demand for the amount of information provided in such files to be much larger.
An example of relatively simple encoded data file is a barcode (or uniform product code (UPC) symbol) found on almost all retail products. Barcodes have been available for encoding data for over thirty years. A traditional one-dimensional bar code is a machine-readable code consisting of a series of bars and spaces printed in different ratios. Bar code symbologies are essentially alphabets in which different widths of bars and spaces are combined to form characters to encode data. However, traditional barcodes encode at most a couple of dozen digits. Rather than providing a complete set of useful information, the standard bar code when decoded by an optical scanner provides a key to a database containing detailed information that must be accessed on an ongoing basis.
Two dimensional ("2D") barcodes were developed as one method of encoding more useful data in a printed label or symbol. 2D barcodes can encode more information in less space than traditional barcodes by storing data along the length and the height of the barcode, i.e., in two directions or dimensions. In 2D barcodes, because the vertical redundancy is gone, techniques must be used to prevent misreads. Most two dimensional codes use check words to insure accurate reading. One well-known 2D barcode is the PDF417 barcode, which does not require an external database as the symbol includes all the related information in a portable data file. The widespread use of bar codes has resulted in the technology to create one-dimensional and 2β barcodes being well-developed and relatively inexpensive.
More recently, color has been used to allow data to be encoded. For example, colored bar arrays bearing encoded information are used for color-coding electrical and electronic resistors. In another example of the use of color in encoding data, U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,261 to Shamir describes a technique of representing encoded information in terms of a matrix of bar-like or dot-like regions that are encoded by variables of both color and intensity. The system provides color coded dots, bars or regions arranged to form super pixels in which each super pixel is defined by a series of minute areas, each having a distinct color within or without the visible spectrum, with each minute area having a predetermined intensity or shade of color much like conventional shades of gray. The use of color has provided some useful advances in encoding data but often has been utilized in a manner that significantly increases costs or adds to the complexity of the printing or the scanning equipment.
There remains a need for methods of encoding high-density, multi-media data on printed media or substrates. Preferably, such a method would be useful for encoding data in a manner that allows existing printer and scanner technology to be utilized but that provides a significant increase over existing encoding techniques in the volume of data that can be stored in the same amount of space. By using at existing printer and scanner technology, costs of implementing the data-encoding and decoding methods can be controlled.

Printed media products including data files provided in multiple layers of encoded, colored dots