A flash device comprising a power source; a main capacitor adapted to be charged by the power source; a flash firing unit operable to consume charge stored in the main capacitor to emit a flash light; a switching unit disposed in a discharge loop for the main capacitor through the flash firing unit; a trigger circuit for exciting the flash firing unit in response to a flash firing command; a pulse output unit, which is operable to output some kinds of pulses, the duty factors of the pulses being different from each other, for inputting a selecting command and for outputting one of the pulses in accordance with the selecting command; and a control unit for causing the switching unit to be switched on and off repeatedly in response to the pulse outputted from the pulse output unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a flash device capable of achieving a high speed synchronism by intermittently firing for a long time.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, the intensity of light emitted from a flash tube used in the flash device depicts a generally peak-shape, rapidly increasing immediately after the actual firing and terminating in a very short time, for example, a few milliseconds. Because of this, in a photographic camera having a focal plane shutter mechanism, at a higher shutter speed than the flash synchro speed (for example, 1/60 second), the synchronized flash firing cannot be achieved. In other words, in the camera having the focal shutter mechanism, the shutter does not open full at the higher shutter speed than the flash synchro speed and a slit defined between the first and second blinds traverse a frame of photographic film, therefore, whenever the flash device is fired, only a portion of the frame of photographic film is exposed by the flash light. The consequence is that a photographic picture the subject of which has been uniformly exposed under flash lighting cannot be obtained.
In order to obviate the above discussed problem, an attempt has been made to repeatedly firing the flash tube in a pulsated fashion to emit light of a character similar to that exhibited by a FP-class flash bulb so that, even at the shutter speed higher than the flash synchro shutter speed, the synchronized flash lighting can be attained. An example of this flash device is disclosed in the Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 61-98334 published in 1986.
It has, however, been found that, in the prior art flash device capable of achieving a high speed synchronization, since the intensity of light emitted (effective value) is fixed, a flash synchronized photo-taking in which a shutter speed and an aperture are selected at the will of a photographer cannot be performed, the reason for which will now be discussed.
The illumination intensity Efl of an object to be photographed which is illuminated by the flash device can be expressed as follows. EQU Efl=I/D.sup.2 ( 1)
wherein I represents the intensity (effective value) of light emitted from the flash device and D represents the distance from the flash device to the object. Accordingly, the illumination intensity E of the object can be expressed as follows if the illumination intensity under ambient lighting is expressed by Es. EQU E=Efl+Es (2)
Therefore, assuming that the object is a completely diffusible plane having a reflectance .rho., the brightness B of the object can be expressed by the following equation. EQU B=.rho./.pi..multidot.E (3)
When the equation (3) is expressed in terms of APEX system, it results in. EQU Bv=log.sub.2 (B/NK) (4)
wherein each of N and K represents a constant.
Since according to the APEX system, the aperture value Av, the shutter speed Tv, the film speed Sv and the brightness Bv of the object have the following relationship. EQU Av+Tv=Bv+Sv (5)
the following equation establishes. EQU Av+Tv=Sv+log.sub.2 (.rho./NK.pi.).multidot.(Es+I/D.sup.2) (6)
In general, since the film speed is fixed and since the reflectance .rho. and the illumination intensity Es under ambient lighting are also fixed once the object to be photographed is determined, the sum of the shutter speed Tv and the aperture value Av is a function of the intensity I of flash light and the distance D.
Assuming that the intensity I of flash light is fixed and once the distance D is determined, the sum of the shutter speed Tv and the aperture value Av are fixed. Accordingly, if the shutter speed Tv (or the aperture value Av) is set to a desired value, the aperture value Av (or the shutter speed Tv) is naturally determined.
As hereinabove discussed, with the prior art flash device, the flash photography cannot be performed with the shutter speed and the aperture value selected as desired.


A cutting tool for cutting the outer shells of shellfish such as crabs, shrimp, and the like. The tool includes an elongated handle and one or more longitudinally-outwardly-extending ends that include V-shaped openings. The openings include inner, angularly-opposed cutting edges, and the bisector of the angle defined by the cutting edges extends in a generally perpendicular direction relative to the handle longitudinal axis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hand-held tool for easily cutting the shells of shellfish, such as crabs, shrimp, lobsters and the like, to more quickly and conveniently access the shellfish meat and remove it from the shell. More particularly, the present invention relates to a hand-held tool that has a shell cutter that includes at least one V-shaped cutting edge for cutting along and through a shellfish shell, and a bulbous, rounded end to assist in the removal of the shellfish meat from the shell after the shell has been cut open.
2. Description of the Related Art
Shellfish meat has been and continues to be a very popular food item. However, unless the shellfish meat happens to have been removed from the shell and either packaged or served after removal from the shell, one must himself remove the meat from the shell by slicing open the shell in order to access the meat to allow it to be removed for consumption.
Typically, shellfish, including crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters, which each have relatively tough outer shells, are sold in restaurants or for home consumption with the meat within the shell. Consequently, after cooking, the shell must be cut open using a suitable cutting device in order to access the meat. And although different forms of shell cutting devices have been proposed in the past for accessing shellfish meat, they have drawbacks that render their use inconvenient or problematical. For example, many previously-proposed shellfish cutting devices had one or more pointed ends that rendered their use potentially dangerous, and that also limited portability of the cutting devices in that they could be not be conveniently carried in one's pocket without making a hole in the pocket or sticking the wearer. The presence of pointed ends made attempts to carry such devices in one's pocket unsafe. In addition to the pointed ends, the previously-proposed devices also were generally large or lengthy, which also contributed to the unlikelihood of their being conveniently carried in one's pocket.
Furthermore, and in addition to the safety aspect, many of the previously proposed devices were not designed in such a way as to aid in conveniently removing the meat from the shell after the shell had been sliced open. Accordingly, the use of the previously-proposed devices was inconvenient, both from a cutting standpoint as well as from a meat removal standpoint.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the deficiencies inherent in the previously-proposed devices, and to provide a shellfish shell cutting and meat removal tool that is both quick and easy to use to cut a shell, that is safe to use and carry without a case or cover, and that also facilitates the removal of the shellfish meat once the shell has been cut.


A metallurgical composition is provided for making compacted parts, comprising: (a) at least about 80 percent by weight of an iron or iron-based powder; (b) up to about 20 percent by weight of at least one alloying powder; (c) from about 0.05 to about 2 percent by weight of a binding agent comprising a C14-C30 fatty alcohol; and (d) from about 0.001 to about 0.2 percent by weight of a flow agent.

In industry the use of metal products manufactured by compacting and sintering iron-based powder compositions is becoming increasingly widespread. The quality requirements of these metal products are continuously raised, and as a consequence new powder compositions having improved properties are developed. One of the most important properties of the final, sintered products is the density and dimensional tolerances, which have to be consistent. Problems with size variations in the final product often originates from inhomogenities in the powder mixture to be compacted. These problems are especially pronounced with powder mixtures including pulverulent components, which differ in size, density and shape, a reason why segregation occurs during the transport, storage and handling of the powder composition. This segregation implies that the composition is non-uniformly composed, which in turn means that parts made of the powder composition are differently composed and consequently have different properties. A further problem is that fine particles, particularly those of lower density such as graphite, cause dusting during the handling of the powder mixture.
The small particle size of additives also create problems with the flow properties of the powder, i.e. the capacity of the powder to behave as a free-flowing powder. An impaired flow manifests itself in increased time for filling a die cavity with powder, which means lower productivity and an increased risk of variations in density in the compacted component, which may lead to unacceptable deformations after sintering. Further, in order to eject the compacted component from the die, minimize the wear of the die surface and to obtain parts having good surface finish without scratches it is essential that the force required to eject the component from the die is low.
Attempts have been made at solving the problems described above by adding different binding agents and lubricants to the powder composition. The purpose of the binder is to bind firmly and effectively the small size particles of additives, such as alloying components, to the surface of the base metal particles and, consequently, reduce the problems of segregation and dusting. The purpose of the lubricant is to reduce the internal and external friction during compaction of the powder composition and above all to reduce the force required to eject the finally compacted product from the die.
Various organic binding agents have been developed see e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,483,905 (Engstrom), 4,676,831 (Engstrom) 4,834,800 (Semel), 5,298,055 (Semel), 5,290,336 (Luk), 5,368,630 (Luk). The U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,469 (Storstrom) provides a brief review of the use of binding agents in the powder metallurgy industry.
In the recently published patent publication WO 2005/061157 a binding/lubricating combination of polyethylene wax and ethylene bisstearamide is disclosed. In the powder composition used for compaction, the polyethylene wax is present as a layer or coating on the iron or iron-based particles and binds the alloying element particles and the ethylene bisstearamide particles to the iron or iron-based particles. It is preferred that the composition also includes a fatty acid and a flow agent. A good combination of AD, flow, bonding and lubrication properties for the powder metallurgical composition, containing a binding/lubricating combination including the polyethylene wax and ethylene bisstearamide is achieved when the mean molecular weight of the polyethylene wax is between 500 and 750.
It has now been found that iron-based compositions having remarkably improved apparent density and also improved flow, can be obtained if fatty alcohols are used instead of polyethylene wax. All in all it has been found that fatty alcohols in combination with flow agents give interesting results as regards apparent density and flow. The apparent density is essential for the tool design. A powder with low apparent density needs higher filling height which results in unnecessarily high pressing tools, and this in turn will result in longer compaction and ejection strokes. As previously mentioned the flow is important for the productivity. It has also unexpectedly been found that when the new powder metal compositions, which include fatty alcohols as a binder and a flow agent, are compacted, the obtained green compacts have excellent weight stability, i.e. low weight scatter within a set of green compacts. This property is naturally of outmost importance for the production of high performance product.
Fatty alcohols have been mentioned in the patent literature in connection with lubrication in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,472. Specifically this patent teaches that small amounts of fatty alcohols can be included in lubricants mainly consisting of amides or diamides. The patent does not concern bonded mixtures.
Also the Japanese patent application 04-294 782, publication number 06-145701 mentions that fatty alcohols can be used as lubricants. Specifically mentioned are C30 alcohols, C50 alcohols and C60 alcohols. The application text also mentions higher fatty alcohols as binders.


Disclosed is a recessed hinge to make a temple elastic with respect to a respective end piece of a frame of a pair of spectacles. The hinge includes at least a male hinging element pivoted to at least a corresponding female element. The male hinging element includes at least a tie-rod able to slide with respect to the temple, a bushing arranged inside the temple and axially associated with the tie-rod, and an elastic means loaded between the bushing and an abutment element attached to the tie-rod. The female element includes a seating made in the end piece by removing material. The male hinging element also includes a hook element, solid with the tie-rod, housed in the seating, which articulates on a pin arranged inside the seating.

Various technical solutions are known of elasticized hinges for the articulation of the temples with respect to the frame of a pair of spectacles, attached to the temples themselves, and each comprising at least a male hinging element pivoted to at least a corresponding female element protruding from a respective lateral zone, or endpiece, of the frame and able to function as an abutment and support for the temples, both in the closed condition and in the open condition, both during opening and during closing of the temple.
The male hinging element comprises a tie-rod able to slide with respect to the temple having one end pivoted to the female element, a bushing attached inside the temple and with respect to which the tie-rod slides, and an elastic means which exerts an adjustable pressure against the bushing.
Other embodiments of elasticized hinges provide to replace the tie-rod with a box-like structure, solid with the male hinging element, which houses the elastic means, while the male hinging element is in any case hinged to the corresponding female element which protrudes from the endpiece of the frame.
In both these techniques, in order to make the device effective, it is necessary, however, that the bushing be attached to the end of the temple, so as to guarantee the compression of the elastic means, and hence the thrust that the latter makes in order to keep the temple normally against the frame. This attachment is normally made by applying screws or pins, or by making a boss or similar on the temple, in correspondence with the zone where the bushing is positioned.
Another type of known attachment provides to introduce a ball between the bushing and the temple, as described in the European Patent EP-B-0166822 in the name of OBE-Werk. This solution in any case repeats the state of the art as described above, wherein the female element protrudes from the frame of the spectacles.
Another form of attachment of the bushing to the end of the temple is described in the European Patent EP-B-0003928 in the name of LAMY & Fils, wherein the bushing is thrust by the elastic means against the bottom of a compartment in which the tie-rod slides. This solution is not only difficult to achieve and actuate during the assembly step, but also has the disadvantage that the male element must necessarily be pivoted to a female element that protrudes from the frame.
In these and in other known elasticized hinges, in order to ensure a correct pressure of each temple against the relative endpiece, apart from the normal and adjustable pre-loading, it is necessary to have a supplementary compression of the elastic means during the assembly step, as well as a centering and application of the screw, or join pin, to pivot the male element to the female element and to ensure the desired alignment of the male and female elements of the hinge.
Also because of the limited size of the parts to be hinged, these operations constitute a very difficult and demanding working and assembly step for the workers.
Moreover, the fact that the female elements or, in some cases, the male element, protrude from the ends of the frame is a problem later in the bossing step, since these parts have to be individually protected.
Not least of the disadvantages of known solutions are the high cost, the complex assembly and the difficulty of finding spare parts.
One purpose of the present invention is to achieve an elasticized hinge which allows to hinge the temples in an elasticized manner to the relative endpieces of the frame of a pair of spectacles, simply by bringing close the female elements and the male hinging elements, that is, without needing to exert supplementary compressions of the elastic means, in order to allow the alignment of the female elements and the male elements.
Another purpose of the invention is to achieve a hinge that allows to determine the correct degree of loading of the elastic means, so as to ensure over time the desired degree of elasticity of the movement of each temple, without this load being subject to variations when it is joined to its frame.
Another purpose of the invention is to ensure the bushing is stably joined to the temple without needing pins, screws, or bossing or otherwise.
Another purpose of the present invention is to make a hinge having an extremely limited cost and whose hinging elements are invisible and do not protrude from the temple and from the frame, so that no protection has to be provided during the bossing steps, and at the same time to ensure a long-lasting cleanliness and duration of the hinge itself.
Yet another purpose is to achieve a hinge which, together with the possibility of a normal elastic horizontal opening of the temples, also allows an adjustable orthogonal, and also partly rotational, opening of the temples, also in the event of knocks or irregular strains; also, to make possible a determinate pantoscopic adjustment of the frame.
Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.

Recessed hinge to make the temples of spectacles elastic


Disclosed is a resin composition produced by melt-kneading a white pigment and a wholly aromatic thermotropic liquid crystal polyester. The resin composition can retain the excellent heat resistance and moldability of the wholly aromatic thermotropic liquid crystal polyester and have a satisfactory level of white light reflectance. The resin composition comprises 35 to 100 parts by weight of a white pigment particle and 100 parts by weight of a wholly aromatic thermotropic liquid crystal polyester, wherein the white pigment particle comprises 3 to 15 mass % of aluminum oxide and 97 to 85 mass % of a white pigment produced by a process including a roasting step and having a surface treated with the aluminum oxide (provided that the sum total of the white pigment and aluminum oxide is defined as 100 mass %). The resin composition can be produced by a process including a melt-kneading step.

Optical devices using LED such as a lighting system or display device have been used in a wide range of fields. Such an optical device comprises an LED element mounted on a circuit pattern on a substrate by electrically conductive adhesive, solder or the like with necessary wire connections by wire bonding, and a reflector (reflecting frame) provided around the LED element for enhancing the light utilization rate of LED, and the LED element located within the reflector being sealed by a translucent resin is used. As the white LED, various types are conventionally known, and such LED is generally adapted, for example, to obtain white light by combining a plurality of LEDs of green (G), blue (B), red (R) and the like, or to utilize the effect of wavelength conversion by mixing a fluorescent material to the sealing resin. For the wavelength conversion, blue LED is mainly used, but ultraviolet ray emitting LED is also usable as light source. As the reflector, a molding of a resin composition filled with white pigment particles composed of metal oxide may be used.
The reflector containing such resin composition is requested to have heat resistance to heating process of solder or the like for mounting the LED element on the substrate, heat generation during thermosetting of the sealing resin, heating for connecting an LED device to another member, heating in the use environment of the LED device, or the like, and to maintain a high reflectance during the subsequent period including usage. Further, the white LED is particularly requested to maintain a satisfactory reflectance in an area of 500 nm or less. From this point, a resin composition comprising a thermotropic liquid crystal polyester excellent in heat resistance, particularly, a wholly aromatic thermotropic liquid crystal polyester having a melting point exceeding 320° C. and white pigment has come to be used for the LED reflector (refer to, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Kohyo Publication No. H6 (1994)-38520
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-256673
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-232210

Wholly aromatic thermotropic liquid crystal polyester resin composition, injection molded article thereof, and optical device using the molded article


A method and system is provided for auto formatting changes to computer program source code stored in a code repository. The code comprises a plurality of separately identifiable sections each of which includes non-functional formatting information which differs between at least some of the sections. In response to a user input request a selected source code section is extracted and edited via a user interface. A set of formatting rules is determined automatically from at least the code section being edited. This set of rules is one of a plurality of possible sets corresponding to the separately identifiable sections. The edited code is then formatted according to the determined set of formatting rules and stored in the code repository.

It is common for commercial computer programs to be developed by a team of programmers over a relatively long period of time. During development, the current version of the program source code is generally stored in a code repository from which files or other portions can be extracted for modification and testing. It will frequently arise, in large teams, that code is modified by a person other than the original author.
Source code consists of functional code in a given programming language but also includes non-functional formatting aspects which are essentially a matter of author preference. Different developers have different code formatting preferences, for example on which lines curly braces "{" and "}" should be placed, or how many tabs or spaces should be used for indentation of new lines and how many blank lines should be left between lines of functional code.
Such options may run into the hundreds and various development platforms, such as Eclipse, from the Eclipse Foundation, or Visual Studio (trademark of Microsoft Corporation) provide auto formatting tools that can be configured to a user's formatting preferences. Provided the code is syntactically correct, invoking the tool formats the code in the current file to the configuration specified by the user.
If a programmer opens a file formatted in a different style to their own, edits it and then uses a formatting tool different from that used by the original author, the file can look very different, because different formatting options have been employed. The original author, or anyone else looking at the change history of a file, e.g. to determine how a particular fix was made or what things have changed recently, may then have difficulty monitoring the changes made, which can be a cause of inefficiency and frustration.
Also, using a so called "diff" tool to highlight differences between successive instances of the same code will highlight not only the functional changes but also the formatting changes which will likely be large in number and obscure the significant functional changes. For this reason and generally, it is good practice to attempt to minimise the number of changes made during development of a large computer program.
Of course, for a completely newly written program, one solution is to enforce a given set of coding standards so that everyone uses the same formatting settings, thus ensuring consistency of file format across the code base. This is not possible where a long lived product includes code from previous versions ("legacy code"), which may be written in a number of different programming languages and in a number of formats or styles.
Various approaches to the problems of mixed formats are known in the prior art.
In US Patent Application Publication 2004/0122791 A1 for a "Method and System for Automated Source Code Formatting" (Sea et al. assigned to Hewlett-Packard Company), source code files may be extracted from a store for editing. In the store, the files are stored in a standard format. Once extracted for editing, however, they are reformatted to a programmer's preferred format. After editing they are "re-reformatted" to the standard format and stored back in the repository.
The prior art also includes a source code formatter, known as "Polystyle" (available on the Internet from polystyle.com) which reformats source code to a selected style. The selected style may be an existing style or may be determined from personal examples of the programmer's code. The style for reformatting is then chosen by the programmer.
None of the above prior art offers an automated solution to the problem of how best to format edited versions of earlier developed code in such a way as to minimise formatting changes and hence to facilitate their diagnosis by the originator.

Automatic formatting of computer program source code

International Business Machines Corporation


An airhandling unit for an HVAC system includes a cabinet having an electric motor driven centrifugal blower disposed therein. The blower includes a scroll or volute type blower housing which may be formed of opposed releasably connectable housing parts. The blower housing parts include opposed sidewalls with axially extending compound curved portions which cooperate with an end wall which is configured to have portions which are not of substantially constant increasing radial distance from the blower impeller axis of rotation. However, a constantly increasing airflow cross-sectional flow area is provided within the blower housing for blower discharge air. The disposition of the blower housing sidewalls with respect to the cabinet walls provides improved airflow distribution for air flowing into the blower air inlet openings.

Centrifugal airhandling blowers are widely used for circulating air in residential and commercial heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Electric motor driven centrifugal blowers or fans mounted in volute or scroll type blower housings are particularly widely used in HVAC systems wherein the blower housing is mounted in a cabinet which may also contain heat transfer equipment such as a refrigerant fluid heat exchanger or a furnace heat exchanger, for example.
One problem faced by prior art airhandling blowers is the inability to expand the capacity of the blower within a given cabinet size beyond a certain blower housing size, since the physical dimensions of the blower housing of increased capacity prevent installation in a cabinet without redesigning or increasing the size of the cabinet itself. To this end, a blower housing of the type described herein and in the above-referenced patent application has been developed. However, further improvements in the efficiency and airflow capacity of a blower, including a blower housing of the type generally as described in the above-referenced patent application, in combination with a cabinet, such as an air handler cabinet or furnace cabinet, have been realized in accordance with the present invention.

Blower housing and cabinet with improved blower inlet airflow distribution


The present invention provides optimized transfection reagents comprising mixtures of cationiclipoids. In particular, the present invention provides DNA delivery vehicles based on identifying the optimal hydrophobicity of novel cationic phospholipid derivatives that, alone or in combination, form complexes with DNA (lipoplexes) and exhibit enhanced transfection activity.

There are approximately four thousand different genetic diseases, many highly debilitating and frequently resulting in death at an early age. Because almost all of these diseases involve a defective protein, conventional treatment is difficult. A direct approach to treating such diseases involves providing a competent gene in the proper cells to compensate for the mutation. This requires some form of effective transfection process. Transfection is a process whereby a nucleic acid, primarily DNA, is transferred to a target cell and codes for an expressed protein. Transfection is implemented typically to modify the gene complement of the recipient cell for controlled expression of a particular gene. The means by which "foreign" DNA can be packaged and delivered to a host cell are many and varied. The most efficient of these make use of viruses, but viral vectors have shortcomings, not the least of which is the potential for immune response or disease transmission. It has become apparent that lipid-like compounds (e.g., lipoids) can be used to deliver DNA to cells. The lipoids that are most efficient in delivering DNA to cells are positively charged. Cationic lipoids are naturally attracted to and spontaneously form complexes with polyanionic DNA. Such complexes, or "lipoplexes," are useful as transfection vehicles both in vitro and in vivo. Lipoplexes offer several advantages in that they provide a high DNA packing density, lower immunogeneicity, and are likely to be able to transport DNA of considerably larger size than the viral vectors. The possibility of targeting lipidic carriers to specific cell types also makes them attractive candidates for gene therapy. However, the delivery of whole genes is not the only form of gene therapy. Previous research has demonstrated that antisense gene therapy may be useful to inhibit expression of genes that cause disease. Additionally, recent research on the RNAi effect has shown that administration of particular RNA oligonucleotides could be an especially effective way of silencing genes that are deleterious. Similarly, it has become newly appreciated that DNA oligonucleotides engineered for high affinity binding to particular gene sequences may be useful in gene therapy given the proper delivery system. These kinds of developments make it clear that gene therapy is likely to evolve in a variety of different ways and that different modes will be effective with different diseases.
To date, the primary approach to improving the transfection properties of cationic lipids has been the synthesis of new kinds of cationic amphipaths or the inclusion of non-cationic helper lipids. While such approaches have met with some success, improved transfection reagents that provide efficient transfection (e.g., efficient nucleic acid uptake, low toxicity) are needed.

Combinations of transfection lipids exhibiting increased transfection efficiencies


A media resource access control method and device, where the method includes: receiving, by a universal plug and play (UPnP) media server, a media resource identifier sent by a control point and acquiring preset verification information corresponding to the media resource identifier; receiving a media resource acquisition request sent by a UPnP media player, where the media resource acquisition request contains to-be-verified information; and verifying the to-be-verified information by using the preset verification information, and if the verification is passed, sending a media resource corresponding to the media resource identifier to the UPnP media player.

A universal plug and play (UPnP)/digital living network alliance (DLNA) standard has implemented media sharing applications on a home network, where the standard defines three entities, respectively: a media renderer, a media server, and a control point. Specifically, the control point queries a media server for media resource information, where between the control point and the media server is under device protection (DP). When the control point has permission to access the media server, the media server returns information such as a uniform resource identifier (URI) list to the control point, and then the control point selects a URI and sends it to the media renderer, and lastly, the media renderer requests from the media server a media resource indicated by the URI, and plays the media resource.
However, other control points may guess or intercept a URI on the media server and then easily steal a protected media resource on the media server.

Media resource access control method and device


An insulative cover is wrapped around a container of intravenous (IV) solution to assist in maintaining the solution at a desired temperature. The cover has an inside pocket for a heat pack that can be activated to warm the IV solution. A loop of hanging cord carried by the cover is insertable through a hole of the container for supporting the container from the cover.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a special holder for a standard container of intravenous (IV) solution for keeping the solution warm without inhibiting convenient dispensing of the solution from the container.
2. Prior Art
IV solutions usually are packaged in disposable bags of flexible clear plastic having holes at the top for hanging of the bags and couplings at the bottom for connection to standard IV tubes.
Sometimes it is desirable or necessary to administer an IV solution in a cold environment. The IV solution can cool quickly to the point where it is less than an ideal temperature for introduction into the body. In such a situation, the bag of IV solution may be stored in a warm location until immediately prior to use. Nevertheless, the solution may cool undesirably during the time that it is being administered. In emergency situations in cold climates, for example, it is difficult to maintain a desired temperature of the solution. Similarly, some surgical operations are conducted outdoors or in cool rooms, such as some veterinary operations, and maintaining IV solutions at desired temperatures can be difficult.

Holder and warmer for IV solution containers


Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) mask blanks, methods for their manufacture and production systems therefor are disclosed. The EUV mask blanks comprise a substrate; a multilayer stack of reflective layers on the substrate; a capping layer on the multilayer stack of reflecting layers; and an absorber layer on the capping layer, the absorber layer comprising an alloy of molybdenum (Mo) and antimony (Sb).

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, also known as soft x-ray projection lithography, is used for the manufacture of 0.0135 micron and smaller minimum feature size semiconductor devices. However, extreme ultraviolet light, which is generally in the 5 to 100 nanometer wavelength range, is strongly absorbed in virtually all materials. For that reason, extreme ultraviolet systems work by reflection rather than by transmission of light. Through the use of a series of mirrors, or lens elements, and a reflective element, or mask blank, coated with a non-reflective absorber mask pattern, the patterned actinic light is reflected onto a resist-coated semiconductor substrate.
The lens elements and mask blanks of extreme ultraviolet lithography systems are coated with reflective multilayer coatings of materials such as molybdenum (Mo) and silicon (Si). Reflection values of approximately 65% per lens element, or mask blank, have been obtained by using substrates that are coated with multilayer coatings that strongly reflect light within an extremely narrow ultraviolet bandpass, for example, 12.5 to 14.5 nanometer bandpass for 13.5 nanometer ultraviolet light.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional EUV reflective mask 10, which is formed from an EUV mask blank, which includes a reflective multilayer stack 12 on a substrate 14, which reflects EUV radiation at unmasked portions by Bragg interference. Masked (non-reflective) areas 16 of the conventional EUV reflective mask 10 are formed by etching buffer layer 18 and absorbing layer 20. The absorbing layer typically has a thickness in a range of 51 nm to 77 nm. A capping layer 22 is formed over the reflective multilayer stack 12 and protects the reflective multilayer stack 12 during the etching process. As will be discussed further below, EUV mask blanks are made on a low thermal expansion material substrate coated with multilayers, a capping layer and an absorbing layer, which is then etched to provide the masked (non-reflective) areas 16 and reflective areas 24.
The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) specifies a node's overlay requirement as some percentage of a technology's minimum half-pitch feature size. Due to the impact on image placement and overlay errors inherent in all reflective lithography systems, EUV reflective masks will need to adhere to more precise flatness specifications for future production. Additionally, EUV blanks have a very low tolerance to defects on the working area of the blank. Furthermore, while the absorbing layer's role is to absorb light, there is also a phase shift effect due to the difference between the absorber layer's index of refraction and vacuum's index of refraction (n=1), and this phase shift that accounts for the 3D mask effects. There is a need to provide EUV mask blanks having a thinner absorber to mitigate 3D mask effects.

Extreme ultraviolet mask absorber materials


A photothermographic material comprising a photosensitive silver halide emulsion layer on one surface of a support is to be exposed to laser light having a wavelength of less than 700 nm. The silver halide of the emulsion layer has a grain size of 0.01-0.1 .mu.m. A suitable dye is contained in the emulsion layer such that the layer may have an absorbance of 0.3-1.2 at the exposure wavelength. An image containing minimized interference fringes is obtainable.

This invention relates to a photothermographic material and more particularly, to a photothermographic material for laser exposure.
Typical prior art means for outputting the image information of medical diagnosis apparatus such as MRI and X-ray CT involves scanning photosensitive material with a laser beam for exposure. Semiconductor laser diodes featuring high output and stability are commonly used as a light source therefor.
Since a photothermographic system is free of a fixation step of dissolving away silver halide, the photosensitive material used therein must be free of haze. The silver halide grains must be reduced in size in order to minimize haze.
However, a photosensitive material comprising a microparticulate emulsion or having high transparency tends to produce interference fringes as a result of reflection of laser light in the interior of the material. As one solution to interference fringes, JP-B 10735/1994 discloses an improved photosensitive material, which is not successful in extinguishing interference fringes.
Attempts to extinguish interference fringes are also made on the laser scanning exposure system. JP-A 113548/1993 discloses a laser scanning exposure method of scanning a transparent layer with a laser beam at such an offset angle that no interference may occur between reflected light rays from upper and lower interfaces of the transparent layer. Interference fringes are not extinguished where there is more than one layer having a different refractive index from the support.


The present invention relates to a new application of the liquid epitaxial method, especially the manufacturing of epitaxial monocrystalline semiconductor layers having high crystalline perfection in multi-layer arrangements on an intermediate layer of an insulating material and/or carbon and/or metal for the manufacturing of a three-dimensional semi-conductor structure, in which low mechanical stresses are present and the charge carrier capacity is available between 10.sup.14 and 10.sup.21 per cubic centimeter, wherein very low process temperatures can be used, namely between 300.degree. and 900.degree. C. The seeding for the epitaxial layer is performed in openings made in the intermediate layer, wherein the monocrystalline material is exposed. From the openings the intermediate layers become overgrown laterally and in a monocrystalline fashion. The repeated application of the liquid epitaxy in the described fashion will permit a three-dimensional integration in monocrystalline multi-layer structures which are extremely devoid of defects.

Methods and apparatus for the manufacturing of epitaxial layers by liquid epitaxial processes have been described in West German Patent 24 45 146 as well as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,988. In these methods and apparatus a substrate which is to be provided with an epitaxial layer is brought into a short time contact through centrifugal forces with a liquid, usually a metal melt which contains the layer material. Such methods and apparatus are also preferably used for the performing of the method according to the present invention.

Liquid phase epitaxial process for producing three-dimensional semiconductor structures by liquid phase expitaxy

Max Planck-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Wissenschaften e.V.


A color changer for use with a wide angle light source which includes a frame, a plurality of planar dichroic filter strips mounted on the frame and aligned substantially parallel to each other. The filter strips have identical predetermined optical filtering characteristics with first and second sets of the filter strips movable along a common axis so as to vary the gap between them and at least alternate ones of the filter strips in each of the first and second sets set at an angle such that, when the color changer is positioned in a beam of light transmitted from the wide angle light source, a substantially constant angle of incidence is maintained with respect to light from the light source incident on the alternate ones of the dichroic filter strips.

A variety of colour changers have been developed to control the colour of light transmitted from a source. Such devices are used widely to provide theatrical, decorative and architectural lighting.
Conventional colour changers make use of dichroic filters to vary the colour of light transmitted from a source. Dichroic filters reflect selected wavelengths while transmitting other wavelengths thereby allowing one to produce a desired colour. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,187, issued Jul. 5, 1983 to Bornhorst, discloses a system for varying the transmitted colour from a light source using four aligned dichroic filters within the path of the light beam. Each filter is pivotable so as to vary the angle of incidence of the light falling upon the filter, thereby varying the wavelength of light transmitted. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,321, issued Jul. 22, 1986 to Bornhorst, sets of overlapping dichroic filters are aligned in a light source. Each filter is rotatable around an axis so as to vary the angle of incidence which, in turn varies the hue and saturation of the filtered light beam, thereby producing a range of colours with a limited number of filters.
While the prior art systems provide useful mechanisms for varying the colour of light produced with a light source, they are not well suited for use with wide angle light sources, such as with floodlights. When a flood light or other light source with a wide area of coverage is used with a dichroic filter, the angle of incidence of light falling on the filter varies across the face of the filter. It is well known that wavelength of light transmitted by a dichroic filter is a function of the angle of the incident beam to the normal at the point of incidence. As discussed above, prior art colour changers make use of this principle to produce a variety of colours using only a few filters. In such conventional devices, however, the area provided by the filters for receiving a light beam is comparatively small and the rays of light from the source must be directed towards the filters in an orientation substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis of the light source. This arrangement is not suitable for wide angle coverage.
In order to produce a desired distribution of light conventional devices rely on a system of lenses positioned after the filters and in the path of the filtered beam. However, when designing a light source with a wide area of coverage, it is desirable to avoid the complexity and cost of lenses and to rely entirely on a reflector that produces the required distribution of light. A number of such wide coverage light sources are commonly made and come in a variety of shapes. As these light sources do no use lenses, colour filters for such sources must cover a large area equal at least to the size of the face of the reflector. Moreover, as wide coverage light sources are very bright, a non-absorbing dichroic filter is necessary to provide a low maintenance colour medium.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved colour changer which can be used with a light source to cover a large area and provide at the same time improved uniformity of colour.


An automated playlist chaser (APC) improves the recovery time and robustness of playlists to component failures and/or human errors in a content sourcing and editing environment. Following detection and correction of an error in a content sourcing subsystem controlled by a playlist, the APC retrieves a last known good playlist from a playlist archive and automatically builds a new playlist for resynchronization of the subsystem. Building the new playlist involves iteratively solving for the first new program segment entry in the new playlist and the new “on-air time,” “start-of message,” and “duration” attributes for the entry as a function of a reference time (e.g., the present time of day), the original on-air time for the entry, the subsystem recovery time, the APC processing time, and the queuing delay of the audio-video source for the program segment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to multimedia communications networks and, more specifically, to playlist recovery systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent advances in digital-multimedia-content (DMC) compression, storage, and distribution technologies have led to the availability of hundreds of channels of multimedia services (e.g., movies, live broadcasts, infomercials, advertisements, and music) to the average consumer via satellite direct-to-home (DTH), digital cable, over-the-air (OTH) broadcast high-definition television (HDTV) systems, and broadband Internet.
As the number and variety of multimedia services increase, so does the need to manage the "on-air" aspects of this content. For example, as part of their service offerings, Home Box Office (HBO) (a division of Time Warner Inc.) supplies multimedia programs (e.g., "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City") via satellite uplink and other high-speed transport systems to service providers (e.g., cable and DTH satellite providers) around the world. With so many paying subscribers viewing their content, HBO and other multimedia service providers have an obligation to minimize interruptions or errors in the streaming of this content from their on-air facilities.
A typical content sourcing facility (e.g., on-air facility for video services) typically includes a redundant cluster of content (e.g., video and audio) sources ultimately feeding an on-air source selector that feeds an uplink transponder or broadband network interface. These content sources commonly include a combination of tape players, live broadcast feeds, and digital video servers. An on-air manager typically is employed to manage a playlist that describes the title, duration, and start/stop times of various pieces of multimedia content or program segments. The playlist is effectively a master document that describes what is played, when, and in what sequence. This list includes not just entries corresponding to relatively long-duration movie or program segments, but also commercials, shorts, and commercial insertion opportunities. It also includes various text, audio, and video segment overlay sequences corresponding to overlap intervals between program segments. The latter includes the well-know "squeeze-and-tease" intervals where, for example, the trailer or credits at the end of one program segment are scaled to a fraction of the screen size and displayed simultaneously with the start of a subsequent program that is scaled to the remaining available screen.
It is common for a playlist to be supported by various editing applications that allow a user to make routine maintenance, or last-minute rush modifications, to the on-air program sequence. Such modifications, especially the last-minute variety, can sometimes result in corruption of the playlist. Additionally, failure of the video content sources (e.g., tape players, pre-recorded media players such as DVD players, and video servers) and/or infrastructure (e.g., switchers, routers, or time-base generators) can lead to the need to recover, edit, and restart a playlist. The process of calculating and restarting a content stream on a backup server or tape unit via correction and reinstantiation of a playlist is called "playlist chasing."
Until recently, the limited number of content channels, as well as the nature of the content sources (e.g., tape playback units), made the task of maintaining and fixing errors in the playlist (i.e., playlist chasing) manageable without significant automation. However, as the variety and number of concurrent streams increase, and the content sources change from easily manageable resources, such as tapes, to less directly manipulable sources, such as video servers, the need has become acute for a system to manage and automatically correct playlist errors.


A pair of upper and lower semiconductor switching elements can switch between the conductive state and the non-conductive state when control voltages vary. A controller controls the levels of the control voltages to alternately turn on the upper and lower semiconductor switching elements. The controller controls the absolute value of the second control voltage of the lower semiconductor switching element so as to reach a mean voltage before and after the time of transition between the conductive state and the non-conductive state of the upper semiconductor switching element. The mean voltage is lower than the absolute value of a threshold voltage and higher than a reference voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device including upper and lower semiconductor switching elements, which are connected in totem pole and turned on alternately.
2. Description of the Related Art
A DC-DC converter is known as a device for converting a DC input voltage to a DC output voltage of a different level. The DC-DC converter generally comprises an upper semiconductor switching element and a lower semiconductor switching element connected in serial or so-called totem pole between an input voltage and a reference voltage. It also comprises an inductor connected from a node between these two semiconductor switching elements to a load. The upper semiconductor switching element may comprise a transistor such as a MOSFET or an IGBT. The lower semiconductor switching element may comprise a diode. The use of the diode causes a problem associated with a large power loss because it has a large forward voltage. Therefore, the lower semiconductor switching element may often comprise a voltage-controlled semiconductor element, such as a MOSFET, having low power consumption on conduction and capable of conduction controlling by a gate voltage in synchronous with conduction/non-conduction of the upper semiconductor switching element.
If both the upper and lower semiconductor switching elements comprise voltage-controlled semiconductor elements such as MOSFETs, it is required to prevent a through current from flowing through the upper and lower semiconductor switching elements when they are made conductive at the same time due to logic in the controller or noise. Therefore, between a conductive period of only the upper semiconductor switching element and a conductive period of only the lower semiconductor switching element, a period (dead time) is set to make both the transistors non-conductive. The dead time is determined to have such a length that prevents both the transistors from entering the state of conduction at the same time even if outer perturbation like a noise changes the time to turn on/off both the transistors. The dead time, if it is determined excessively longer, causes an increase in power loss. Therefore, various proposals have been made to minimize the required length of the dead time. For example, a publication of JP-A 2003-134802 discloses a circuit, which includes a comparator that detects if a control voltage applied to one of semiconductor switching elements lowers below a threshold voltage. The output from the comparator is employed to switch the conduction state of the other of the semiconductor switching elements (paragraphs [0016]-[0019], FIGS. 1 and 6).
In the circuit disclosed in the publication, however, after the comparator detects that the control voltage to one of the upper or lower semiconductor switching elements lowers below the threshold voltage, the control voltage to the other of the upper or lower semiconductor switching elements is elevated up to the threshold voltage or higher to switch the other from the non-conductive state to the conductive state. Accordingly, procedures of detection by the comparator and transition of the control voltage after the detection are essentially required and the dead time still exists.

Semiconductor device configured to control a gate voltage between a threshold voltage and ground


In a process for creating a mask on the surface of an integrated circuit workpiece, a first layer of resist is applied to the surface of the workpiece. An upper portion of this first layer is metallized. A second layer of photoresist is applied to the first layer. The second layer of photoresist is selectively exposed and developed. Using the developed second layer as a mask, exposed respective areas of the metallized upper portion of the first layer are etched, and the non-metallized portions of the first layer are subsequently etched. The result is a metallized mask on the surface of the workpiece that avoids the problems of high topographical relief and irradiation reflections from the workpiece surface.

Surface imaging lithography is a major requirement for patterning current integrated circuit layers. Small critical dimensions coupled with severe wafer topography and radiation reflection from the integrated circuit surface make the patterning of certain integrated circuit levels extremely difficult using standard lithographic techniques. Further, the use of high numerical aperture or short wavelength steppers reduces the focus budget for any lithography process. Consequently, the patterning of most levels for advanced circuit technologies requires the use of new non-standard lithographic processes.
Three basic surface-imaging technologies have been heretofore proposed. A first of these basic technologies is the group of single-layer technologies, including the DESIRE.RTM. process. Other surface-imaging technologies include bilayer processes, including SABRE, and various trilayer processes.
The DESIRE.RTM. process was introduced by B. Roland, R. Lombaerts and F. Coopmans in their paper "DESIRE: A New Approach for Silicon Incorporation In Dry Developed Resists", 1986 Dry Process Symposium, Pages 98-103. This process requires the use of a special resist. Only negative-tone resist for the DESIRE process is currently available, which leads to duplication of stepper reticles as well as to limitations for exposing levels such as contacts. This process is sensitive to many process parameters and requires tight control of silylation and etching conditions, especially temperatures, to obtain reproducible results.
With standard bilayer processes, a special resist is required for the top layer, which doubles as both the imaging and the silylable layer. No resist combining these two functions in an acceptable manner has been commercially available. One of the major drawbacks of the standard bilayer processes is the swelling of the imaging layer during silylation. Typical of the standard bilayer processes is the process disclosed in McColgin, William C et al. "Silicon-Added Bilayer Resist (SABRE) System", Proceeddings SPIE, Volume 920 pages 2-9.
Finally, there are trilayer processes. In these processes, the following problems are associated with the use of an oxide, or any other masking material, to form the intermediate layer: cracking of the resist due to different thermal expansion coefficients for the intermediate and bottom/top layers, particle formation during the deposition of the intermediate layer, and difficult cleaning of the hard-baked bottom layer. To summarize, several schemes have been proposed to solve problems associated with high-relief integrated circuit topography and radiation reflection problems. Nevertheless, a need persists in the industry for a microlithography system that demonstrates the processing and manufacturing characteristics necessary for acceptance as a standard lithography technique.


A composite gate electrode layer incorporates a diffusion-retarding barrier layer disposed at the bottom of the gate electrode layer to reduce the amount of dopant which diffuses into the gate dielectric layer from the gate electrode layer. A lower nitrogen-containing gate electrode layer provides a diffusion-retarding barrier layer against dopant diffusion into the gate dielectric layer disposed therebelow, and an upper gate electrode layer is formed upon the lower layer and is doped to form a highly conductive layer. Together the first and second gate electrode layers form a composite gate electrode layer which incorporates a diffusion-retarding barrier layer adjacent to the underlying gate dielectric layer. The barrier layer may be formed by annealing a first polysilicon layer in a nitrogen-containing ambient, such as N.sub.2, NO, N.sub.2 O, and NH.sub.3, by implanting a nitrogen-containing material, such as elemental or molecular nitrogen, into a first polysilicon layer, and by in-situ depositing a nitrogen-doped first polysilicon layer. Diffusion of dopants into the gate dielectric layer may be retarded, as most dopant atoms are prevented from diffusing from the composite gate electrode layer at all. In addition, the nitrogen concentration within the gate dielectric layer, particularly at or near the substrate interface, may be maintained at lower concentrations than otherwise necessary to prevent dopant diffusion into the underlying substrate. The present invention is particularly well suited to thin gate dielectrics, such as a those having a thickness less than approximately 60 .ANG. when using a p-type dopant, such as boron.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the manufacture of insulated gate field effect transistors, and more particularly to the structure and doping of gate electrodes therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
An insulated-gate field-effect transistor (IGFET), such as a metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), uses a gate electrode to control an underlying surface channel joining a source and a drain. The channel, drain and source are located in a semiconductor substrate, with the channel being doped oppositely to the drain and source. The gate electrode is separated from the semiconductor substrate by a thin insulating layer (i.e., a gate dielectric layer) such as an oxide. The operation of the IGFET involves application of an input voltage to the gate electrode, which sets up a transverse electric field in the channel in order to modulate the longitudinal conductance of the channel.
In typical IGFET processing, the source and drain are formed by introducing dopants of a second conductivity type (P or N) into the semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type (N or P) using a patterned gate electrode as a mask. This self-aligning procedure tends to improve packing density and reduce parasitic overlap capacitances between the gate electrode and the source/drain regions. Polysilicon (also called polycrystalline silicon, poly-Si, or just "poly") thin films are typically used as the gate electrode. Since polysilicon has the same high melting point as a silicon substrate, it can be deposited prior to source and drain formation. The polysilicon is anisotropically etched through openings in a photoresist mask to provide a gate electrode which forms a mask during formation of the source and drain by ion implantation. Photolithography is used to create patterns in the photoresist mask that define the gate electrode.
The gate electrode is typically doped by the same ion implantation as are the source and drain. For example, boron is frequently implanted to form the source and drain in a P-channel IGFET, and the boron is also implanted into the gate electrode of the IGFET to create a P-type polysilicon gate electrode. However, because boron is such a "light" atom (i.e., low atomic mass), boron implanted into the polysilicon gate electrode can easily diffuse downward along the grain boundaries of the polysilicon and into the gate oxide, and may diffuse ultimately into the underlying channel region. The presence of such boron in the channel affects the device parameters of the IGFET, especially the threshold voltage, and the presence of boron in the gate oxide can affect the reliability of the IGFET. Both effects are tremendously undesirable.
A number of techniques have been utilized to reduce diffusion of dopants, especially boron, into the gate dielectric and into the underlying channel. One such method is disclosed by Fang, et al, in a paper entitled "Low-Temperature Furnace-Grown Reoxidized Nitrided Oxide Gate Dielectrics as a Barrier to Boron Penetration," IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 13, No. 4, April, 1992, which includes a nitridation of a partially grown gate oxide, followed by an additional oxidation step. Polysilicon is then deposited on the reoxidized nitrided oxide and etched to form gate electrodes.
Other similar methods are disclosed by Joshi, et al in a paper entitled "Oxynitride Gate Dielectrics for P+-polysilicon Gate MOS Devices," IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 14, No. 12, December, 1993, which compares several similar methods of forming oxynitride gate dielectrics.
While such methods are helpful in reducing boron penetration into the channel, the desired gate oxide thickness continues to decrease. The effectiveness of earlier techniques may diminish with decreasing gate oxide thickness. Accordingly, there is a need for improved techniques for reducing dopant penetration (especially boron) into the gate oxide and into the channel region.

Composite gate electrode incorporating dopant diffusion-retarding barrier layer adjacent to underlying gate dielectric


A composition for an encapsulant, an encapsulant, and an electronic device, the composition including an adhesion-promoting agent, the adhesion-promoting agent including an epoxy group in an amount of about 2.0 to about 5.0 mmol/g, at least one first polysiloxane that includes a hydrogen bound to a silicon at a terminal end thereof, and at least one second polysiloxane that includes an alkenyl group bound to a silicon at a terminal end thereof.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to a composition for an encapsulant, an encapsulant, and an electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A light emitting device, e.g., a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting device (OLED), a photoluminescent (PL) device, or the like, may be applied to, e.g., a domestic electric device, a lighting device, a display device, various automatic devices, or the like. The light emitting device may display intrinsic colors of a light emitting material, e.g., blue, red, and green in a light emission part, or white by combining light emitters displaying different colors. Such a light emitting device may include an encapsulant having a packaging or encapsulation structure.

Composition for encapsulant, encapsulant, and electronic device


A level boom is provided for a piece of strip mining equipment traveling on caterpillar-type chassis, which piece of equipment is temporarily moved on oblique roadways during operation. The position of the boom in relation to the skeletal structure is corrected with simple means. A piece of strip mining equipment with a boom, which can be lifted and lowered and at the free end of which, e.g., a bucket wheel for picking up a load is arranged, is connected to the substructure of the piece of equipment in a pivot axis. The lifting movement is brought about by a lifting cylinder. A tilting support, which carries the boom, is arranged in the pivot axis for lifting and lowering the boom. A bolt connection is provided on one side in the pivot axis for leveling between the tilting support and the boom, and the actuating element for leveling as well as a step bearing for absorbing lateral forces which the actuating element is unable to absorb, are located on the other side. Since the actuating element for lifting and lowering the boom is arranged in the pivot axis for leveling, no additional support elements are needed.

It is especially suitable for the use of caterpillar-type bucket wheel excavators on roadways with differently sloped planes in the direction of travel. The present invention is also suitable for use in transfer equipment, e.g., combined stacker-reclaimers. It has been known that the substructure and the superstructure are leveled in relation to the chassis in bucket wheel excavators which temporarily operate, in relation to the direction of travel of the equipment, in the oblique position during the pickup of the load. It is possible due to this leveling, e.g., to efficiently mine oblique layers, and favorable conditions are created for the ability to function and the stability of the equipment.
The technical means for leveling are arranged in the prior-art solutions between the frame of the chassis and the ring support belonging to the substructure. According to DD 279 037, it comprises mainly a cardan joint on the side of one caterpillar support and two devices for ensuring adjustability in height on the side of the other caterpillar support. Since the entire load of the device is introduced onto the chassis via these assembly units, it is necessary to design these assembly units as robust units. The special design of the cardan joint as well as of the vertical guides and of the means for compensating movements require technically and technologically expensive solutions.
This is remedied by the present invention.

Device for lifting, lowering and leveling booms of strip mining equipment


A mounting assembly device, system and method support multimedia/video distribution functionalities. The mounting assembly includes a front face and a rear housing sized to fit within a conventional wall box, e.g., a single gang box. The mounting assembly includes a balun that is adapted to receive and convert signals, such that signals received by the balun may be transmitted from a coaxial cable to twisted pair cable, and vice versa. Additional communication modalities may be supported by the mounting assembly device/system, e.g., conventional jack/plug based communications and/or wireless communications.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure is directed to mounting assemblies for communication applications and, more particularly, to mounting assemblies that include multimedia/video distribution functionality. The disclosed mounting assemblies are generally sized for mounting in or with respect to a conventional wall box and, beyond the disclosed multimedia/video distribution functionality, may additionally support one or more supplemental jack, wireless and/or connector-based communication modalities.
2. Background Art
In the field of communications, technological developments continue to drive the adoption of enhanced communication technologies. For example, it has become commonplace for individuals to employ laptop computers with wireless communication capabilities to access and communicate across networks. Once wireless communication is established with a network, the laptop user can generally establish and/or engage in far reaching network-based communications, e.g., over local area networks, wide area networks, the Internet, etc. The backbone for such network-based communications, e.g., cabling, routers, switches, servers, nodes and the like, are generally known to persons skilled in the art. Wireless connectivity is generally achieved through the transmission and receipt of radio waves and/or microwaves. The electronic device that is to communicate in a wireless fashion typically includes a network interface card (NIC) or like device to support the wireless exchange of data communications. At the receiving end of the wireless communication, an access point is typically required. The access point typically takes the form of a hardware device and/or computer software that acts as a communication hub for users of a wireless device to connect to a wired network, e.g., a LAN, WAN and/or the Internet.
A wireless access point functions as a bridge between a wired and a wireless network, functioning like a wireless hub connecting all the wireless devices together and then connecting them to a wired network. A wireless network access point is an essential part of a wireless network in that the access point facilitates connection to the Internet and/or another network. Many wireless access points are now built into wireless routers so that the features of a broadband router and a wireless access point are provided in one unit. Wireless access points are also appearing in what may be termed "hot spots" in hotels, train stations and airports. These access points are making wireless Internet connectivity available to travelers/individuals who can connect to the Internet or a desired network, e.g., a corporate network via a virtual private network (VPN), through wireless communication technology.
With reference to the patent literature, commonly assigned U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0152306 to Bonnassieux is directed to an advantageous Wi-Fi access point device and system. The disclosed access point facilitates integration of operative aspects of a Wi-Fi access point in a wall using, for example, standard switch and outlet boxes and/or standard wall plates. Wiring structures, such as a 110 block, may be incorporated into the disclosed access point to facilitate connection to a wired network. Further, integration of complementary connections within the access point is supported, for example, data, voice, video, CATV or other like connection types. The entire contents of the foregoing, commonly assigned patent publication are incorporated herein by reference.
A second commonly assigned U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0152323 to Bonnassieux et al. discloses a plug-in Wi-Fi access point device and system. In this second patent publication, an access point device is provided that is configured for Wi-Fi communication that may be directly plugged into a face plate/workstation, thereby obviating the need for a patch cord. The disclosed plug-in functionality also offers security from removal by unauthorized personnel, non-obtrusiveness in relation to other face plate/workstation jacks, and the ability to be powered through an Ethernet connection to avoid the need for a separate power source. The disclosed plug-in Wi-Fi access point device includes a housing, Wi-Fi access point circuitry within the housing, and a connector mounted on a face of the housing for direct plug-in into an Ethernet jack of a face plate/workstation. A locking or self-locking mechanism, an integrated hub/switch/router, and the inclusion of at least one integrated voice, video and/or data jack for voice, video or data communication, are also disclosed. The entire contents of the foregoing, commonly assigned patent publication are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,108,331 and 7,027,431 to Thompson discloses an access node or access port that has a plurality of physical connectors on the front face thereof for connection to a variety of signal-receiving and signal-transmitting devices. The Thompson access ports include RJ-45 connectors, RCA connectors, serial connectors, Ethernet connectors, and coaxial cable connectors. Conduits, i.e., signal-carrying media such as media converters, deliver signals to the access port. The signals are converted to and from addressed data packets carried in a packet stream over the conduits. Separate from the access port, a central node or node zero receives signals from outside sources, converts the signals to addressed data packets, and sends the packets over the conduit(s) as a packet stream to the access port. The access port/access node takes packets that are addressed to such access port/access node, converts the packets back into the original signals, then feeds the signals to appropriate connectors on the access port/access node. The Thompson access port/access node is also provided with a transceiver in wireless communication with another transceiver connected to a device outside the node using RF or infrared communication.
Prior art efforts have also been directed to facilitating video signal distribution. For example, Z-Band, Inc. (Carlisle, Pa.) offers an RF broadband video distribution system that broadcasts satellite, cable TV, security cameras, and other video-on-demand (VOD) services over twisted pair cable. In a commercially available version of the Z-Band system, 79 analog or hundreds of digital video channels may be simultaneously broadcast over Category 5, Category 6 or better cable. The Z-Band system includes a bi-directional, plug-and-play, active hub and balun system that facilitates distribution of video signals, e.g., throughout a building or campus at 90 meters from closet to drop. Future generations of the Z-Band system are reported to provide an 860 MHz, high definition video hub and intelligent balun. Aspects of Z-Band's technology are reflected in the patent literature (U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,386 to Flickinger et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,340 to Flickinger et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,833 to Preschutti et al.; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0083474 to Hennenhoefer et al.; and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0083475 to Hennenhoefer et al.).
Despite efforts to date, a need remains for improved mounting assembly designs and systems that provide and combine various communication functionalities. In addition, a need remains for mounting assembly designs and systems that support communications in a compact geometry, e.g., a unit that is sized to mount, in whole or in part, with respect to a conventionally sized wall box. These and other needs are satisfied by the disclosed mounting assemblies and systems, as will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from the description which follows.

Mounting assembly with video distribution functionality


A receptacle includes a first panel, a second panel opposite the first panel, and a third panel contiguous with the first and second panels on different sides. An opening is formed between a first side of the first panel and a second side of the second panel. A lid covers the opening. A first portion of the lid is contiguous with the first side of the first panel and with a second portion of the lid that folds into an interior of the receptacle. One of the first and second panels has a perforation extending from a first end of the second side of the one of the first and second panels to a second end of the second side of the one of the first and second panels. A portion of the perforation is positioned away from the second side of the one of the first and second panels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to receptacles, such as boxes, enclosing a commercial product and packaging arrangements comprising a receptacle enclosing an ink cartridge to be used with an image printing apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known to package an ink cartridge, which is used with an image printing apparatus, such as an inkjet printer, in a packaging bag in a depressurized state, and to enclose the packed ink cartridge in a paper box, which is distributed to market. Known paper boxes are used not only for enclosing an ink cartridge, but also for enclosing many kinds of commercial products.
Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, a known paper box 130, such as the paper box described in JP-A-2003-128050, can be closed again after the box has been opened. Paper box 130 has substantially a hexahedron shape having a front panel 131, a left-side panel 132, a right-side panel 133, an upper-side panel 134, a lower-side panel 135, and a back panel 136. To build paper box 130, front panel 131 and back panel 136 are folded with respect to lower-side panel 135, and then upper-side panel 134 is glued on a bonding surface 140. Accordingly, a double-layered lid 147, including bonding surface 140 and upper-side panel 134, is formed. Subsequently, left-side panel 132 is glued on a left-side folding panel 138, such that left-side face of paper box 130 is closed. A commercial product then is inserted into paper box 130 from the right-side face of paper box 130, which is open. Subsequently, right-side panel 133 is glued on a right-side folding panel 139, such that the right-side face of paperbox 130 is closed, and the building of paperbox 130 is complete. A perforated line 145 is formed in a folded portion between back panel 136 and bonding surface 140, except for the center portion of the folded portion. Back panel 136 has a semicircular perforated line 144 formed therein, and semicircular perforated line 144 is connected to perforated line 145. Consequently, a push-in area 141 defined by the folded portion and perforated line 144 is formed in back panel 136.
To open paper box 130, push-in area 141 is pushed into an interior of paper box 130, such that back panel 136 is broken along perforated line 144. Subsequently, lid 147 is rotated upward about a folded portion between front panel 131 and upper side panel 134. When this occurs, the folded portion between bonding surface 140 and back panel 136 is broken along perforated line 145, and then the upper face of paper box 130 is opened. Back panel 136 has a cut 142 formed therethrough. When a user intends to close paper box 130 again, an upper-side of a hanging panel 143 extending from upper-side panel 134 is turned and oriented downward and then is inserted into cut 142. Accordingly, hanging panel 143 engages with back panel 136, and the upper face of paper box 130 is closed.
Lid 147 of paper box 130 is reinforced by upper-side panel 134 being glued on bonding surface 140, i.e., lid 147 is double-layered. Therefore, paper box 130 is opened without breaking portions of paper box 130 other than perforated lines 144 and 145. Nevertheless, in order to reinforce lid 147, upper-side panel 134 is glued to bonding surface 140 when paper box 130 is built, which complicates the building of paper box 130.
Moreover, right-side panel 133 is glued on right-side folding panel 139, and left-side panel 132 is glued on left-side folding panel 138. Covering the openings of paper box 130 by gluing portions of paper box 130 complicates the building of paper box 130.
Referring to FIG. 12, another known paper box, such as the paper box described in JP-A-10-119958, can indicate whether the paper box previously has been opened. Paper box 110 has a front panel 113, a back panel 118 opposite front panel 113, and a lid 111 which is contiguous with back panel 118. Lid 111 has an upper panel 115 contiguous with back panel 118, and a distal strip 114 extending from upper panel 115. Lid 111 is configured to be folded, such that distal strip 114 is positioned in an interior of paper box 110. Front panel 113 has a perforated line 117 formed therein at a position which distal strip 114 contacts, when the box is closed. Perforated line 117 has a substantially arcuate shape extending from the upper side of front panel 113 toward the center of front panel 113. A push-in area 112 defined by perforated line 117 is formed at front panel 113. An index portion 120 is formed inside push-in area 112. Index portion 120 is defined by a portion of perforated line 117 and a perforated line 119. Index portion 120 is configured to be separatable from push-in area 112 along a portion of perforated line 117 and a portion of perforated line 119. Push-in area 112 is glued to distal strip 114. The glue is not applied to perforated lines 117 and 119.
Paper box 110 may be opened in such a manner that lid 111 is opened without separating push-in area 112 from front panel 113. When such an opening is carried out, front panel 113 is broken along the portion of perforated line 117 and the portion of perforated line 119 surrounding index portion 120 when lid 111 is pulled upward, and then index portion 120 is removed from front panel 113. Consequently, an opening is formed at a portion of front panel 113 where index portion 120 was removed. This opening indicates that paper box 110 previously has been opened.
When the distance between front panel 113 and back panel 118 of paper box 110 is increased, the length of distal strip 114 extending from upper panel 115 may need to be increased to close lid 111 securely. When the length of distal strip 114 is increased, distal strip 114 may interfere with a product enclosed in paper box 110 when paper box 110 is opened, which may make it difficult to open paper box 110.
The previous opening of paper box 130 may be recognized when index portion 120 is found removed from push-in area 112. Nevertheless, if distal strip 114 is glued to the inner surface of front panel 113 after paper box 110 is opened, index portion 120 may be at the same position as before paper box 110 was opened. In such a case, it may be difficult to recognize the previous opening of paper box 110.

Receptacles, such as boxes, and packaging arrangements which include such receptacles


The invention is related to methods and compositions for improving feeding and/or production characteristics in animals. In an embodiment, the invention includes a method for improving feeding characteristics of an animal including administering a first composition comprising an effective amount of saponins to the animal, and administering a second composition comprising an effective amount of a preservative to the animal. In an embodiment, the invention includes a method for improving production characteristics of an animal including administering a first composition comprising an effective amount of saponins to the animal, and administering a second composition comprising an effective amount of a preservative to the animal.

Of the total costs involved with livestock production, feed costs are the most significant. Accordingly, maximizing feeding efficiency and productive output are of the utmost importance to the livestock industry.
Different techniques have been utilized in order to improve feeding efficiency and/or productive output in animals including the use of various feed additives. Examples of feed additive techniques can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,571 (Blagdon et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,596 (Smith et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,327 (Cummins). However, many feed additives are insufficiently beneficial.
Accordingly, a need exists for methods and compositions that will improve feeding characteristics such as feeding efficiency and/or productive output in animals.

Saponin and preservative compositions and methods


The present invention discloses an approximately π-shaped improved bone plate structure, fixed on a bone of an animal for maintaining the relative positions of different portions of the bone. One of the other features of the present invention is that bone plate structure comprises at least one contouring portion for allowing the surgeons to intra-operatively adjusting the shape in accordance with the shape of the bone. Furthermore, the present invention may fit the bone with multi-axis, decreasing stress concentration, preventing the opening portion from being unsuitably covered and preventing the wound deformation from being pressed.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an improved bone plate structure and more particularly, an approximately π-shaped improved bone plate structure.
2. Description of the prior art
Since the knee is one of the most important joints for bearing weight, the condition thereof affects the flexibility of action so as to relate to all activities required in daily life.
The symptom of degenerative arthritis of the knee generally comprises knee pain, knee weakness and lack of popliteal flexibility. Moreover, while the symptoms aggravate, pain occur on the proximal tibial articular surface of the knee, and may possibly causes the back pain, calf pain or ankle pain jointly. Meanwhile, the articular cartilage of medial knee gradually deteriorates to forms a varus knee due to the heavier loads at the medial condyle. Therefore, it is almost impossible for the sufferer to squat or to walk for a long time normally so as to seriously affect the quality of life of the sufferer.
However, with the development of medicine science, several treatments for curing the degenerative arthritis have been discovered recently. The treatments can be generally divided into two different aspects of medical treatment and surgical treatment. More specially, the surgical treatment may further comprises the treatment of total knee replacement and high tibial osteotomy.
Furthermore, the full artificial knee joint replacement treatment shall not be firstly considered since the artificial knee joint has plurality of disadvantages of expensive, relatively short service life, relatively high risk of infections and high difficulty and cost of treatment thereof unless the gonarthritis has already spread to the entire surface of the articular, or the gonarthritis is too serious for medicine treatment, or the knee pain of the sufferer cannot be retard consistently. Furthermore, after the full artificial knee joint replacement treatment, the sufferer shall no longer able to take the high strength sport such as running or mountaineering. Meanwhile, the allowable rotating angle of the knee is limited.
Therefore, instead of the full artificial knee joint replacement treatment, the treatment of high tibial osteotomy is preferred if the gonarthritis of the knee is only limited to only part of the proximal tibial articular surface.
A high tibial osteotomy looks to realign the knee to evenly share weight between both the inside and outside of the knee. This is achieved by cutting the bone and then taking a wedge of bone out at about two centimeters away from the tibial articular end, forming a filling portion thereon and adding a wedge of bone therein.
This high tibial osteotomy surgery has a long recovery period as the cut essentially fractures the main weight bearing bone of the lower leg. Even after surgically fixing the bone in its new position, it is unable to take any weight for a significant period of time. This has a major implication for work, lifestyle and everyday activities.
Accordingly, a bone plate structure is required to reinforce the bone after the surgery so as to share the weight of the sufferer in order to avoid the fracture of the tibial. Traditionally, the bone plates are T shaped, I shaped or L shaped which is only capable of covering a small and very limited portion of the proximal tibial articular surface. Please refer to the FIG. 1, FIG. 1 depicted a schematic figure of an I-shaped bone plate of a prior art. In the Taiwan patent publication No. 200800094, the reference discloses an I-shaped bone plate having a small head portion which is utilized to be fixed on the proximal tibial articular surface. Since the surface area of head portion of the bone plate becomes very limited, the bone plate is relatively difficult to be fixed on the surface previously described and the bone plate may has loosing and shaking problem. Moreover, the bone plate structure may deform because of the stress concentration, damaging the bone plate inside of the body of the sufferer and hurting the sufferer. Furthermore, the traditional bone plate design covers the filling portion, retarding the user to observe or to process any treatment to the wound of the said opening filling portion via the tradition bone plate.
Therefore, a need exists to develop a bone plate which is capable of fitting the bone with multi-axis, decreasing stress concentration, preventing the opening filling portion from being unsuitably covered and preventing the wound deformation from being pressed by minimum cost.

NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


The present invention provides an aperture-fed patch antenna assembly that is recessed into a conductive surface of an external shell of an electronic device. In one embodiment, an antenna feed attached to a removable core of the electronic device may be removed from the external shell without requiring a manual disconnecting of the antenna feed from a wireless radio modem in the electronic device. The patch antenna assembly includes a shim having an aperture therein and positioned between a primary dielectric and a printed circuit board to create a secondary dielectric between the primary dielectric and the printed circuit board. In one embodiment, the primary dielectric is ceramic and the shim is plastic.

The field of the invention relates to antennas, and particularly to patch antennas recessed within housings of electronic devices such as computers.
Patch antennas, also called microstrip patch antennas, are common in the art. A exemplary patch antenna may include a transmission line feed, multiple dielectrics, and a metallized patch on one of the dielectrics. Conventional patch antennas are directly coupled to their feeds by coaxial cables.
When conventional patch antennas are used in electronic devices two disadvantages result. First, the coaxial cable connection requires manual disassembly if the antenna or the element to which the antenna is affixed or incorporated is extracted from the electronic device. Second, the patch antenna assembly often noticeably protrudes from the housing of the electronic device and detracts from the device""s cosmetic appearance.
A solution is needed that provides a patch antenna assembly that is easily extracted from its feed with minimal or no disassembly by the user. Additionally, the patch antenna assembly should be capable of being virtually hidden within an external housing of an electronic device.
The present invention provides an aperture-fed patch antenna assembly that is recessed into a conductive surface of an external shell of an electronic device. In one embodiment, an antenna feed attached to a removable core of the electronic device may be removed from the external shell without requiring a manual disconnecting of the antenna feed from a wireless radio modem in the electronic device. The patch antenna assembly includes a shim having an aperture therein and positioned between a primary dielectric and a printed circuit board to create a secondary dielectric between the primary dielectric and the printed circuit board. In one embodiment, the primary dielectric is ceramic and the shim is plastic.

Recessed aperture-coupled patch antenna with multiple dielectrics for wireless applications


The present invention provides methods of calibrating a deposition device, which is preferably a vapor deposition device, and more preferably is a physical vapor deposition device. One of the methods includes the steps of: (1) determining a resistance-temperature relationship of a substance located on a semiconductor wafer, a resistance of the substance being a function of a temperature of said semiconductor wafer; (2) placing the semiconductor wafer in the deposition device; (3) heating the heater to a known temperature; and (4) measuring a resistance of the substance, the resistance-temperature relationship allowing a relationship between a temperature of the semiconductor wafer and the known temperature to be determined, thereby to allow the deposition device to be calibrated.

In the processing of semiconductor wafers, the wafers are frequently heated to elevated temperatures for processing in vacuum deposition devices, such as physical vapor deposition chambers. Thermal treatment of the wafers is sometimes a necessary or incidental component of a coating or etching process and at other times is the essence of the process itself, such as in rapid thermal processing, annealing or degassing. The temperature of the wafer is critical to producing a high quality, reliable wafer. If the temperature goes awry, either high or low, then the material or metal properties and microstructure of the interconnect changes, which has a direct impact on the reliability of the material or metal films that have been deposited, and in the worse case, it may result in a device failure.
In attempts to maintain control over the wafer temperature within the vacuum deposition device, various temperature schemes have been employed in these deposition devices. Thermocouples, for example, attached to or held in contact with the wafer, or mounted in the wafer support have been used. However, these devices are known to be slow to respond to temperature changes and often introduce a source of wafer contamination. Moreover, the wafers are usually moving in and out of the deposition device in a relatively short time frame, which can range from 10 seconds to 3 minutes. Attaching thermocouples directly to the wafer slows the transfer process, and thus the overall process, down to undesirable levels. Additionally, to maintain the vacuum required for high quality deposition of the materials, vacuum feed throughs for the thermocouples should be present. Thus, the equipment has to be modified with the vacuum feed throughs, which makes the process extremely cumbersome. Such direct thermocouple contact with the wafer can also require very long pump down times such that it takes hours to do one temperature measurement. Therefore, the process for periodically measuring wafer temperature becomes impracticable.
Pyrometers have also been employed to measure wafer temperature. While such pyrometer techniques avoid direct contact with the wafer being processed, they have the disadvantage of being sensitive to the emissivity of the material of which the wafer or coatings added to it are made; emissivity is also subject to change during processing.
Optical methods for indirectly measuring the temperature of an article by measuring its thermal expansion have also been used. These optical methods provide an advantage of being related only to the coefficient of thermal expansion of the material that forms a structural core of the wafer, which is constant and can be reliably determined. However, such optical methods also suffer from disadvantages. For example, some optical methods include the formation of images of the article that require equipment, such as optical sensors, to be placed close to the article where their accuracy can be affected by the process within the chamber. Such methods are in practice used off-line, and where so used, atmospheric refraction can also detract from the accuracy of the measurement process. Furthermore, where articles such as semiconductor wafers are mounted on a support within a sealed chamber for thermal processing, misalignment or distortion of the support may alter the wafer position and render optical temperature determination methods unreliable. Yet other optical methods involve specially designed equipment and methods to over come these problems, which is not completely desirable. The reason for this undesirability is that the specially designed equipment and methods associated with that equipment must be used, which precludes the use of conventional physical vapor deposition equipment and methods in the semiconductor wafer manufacturing process.
In addition, the deposition equipment manufacturer provides curves that relate heater block temperatures to the semiconductor wafer temperature. These curves, however, can be unreliable with respect to different deposition devices because each deposition device may vary with respect to another, thereby causing inaccuracies in the application of the standardized curves. Moreover, the physical properties of wafers may vary from one to another, which may also make cause additional inaccuracies in the application of the standardized curves.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a way of accurately determining the temperature of a semiconductor wafer while it is in a conventional deposition device and calibrating the device based on the temperature of the heater within the deposition device as it relates to the wafer temperature. The method of the present invention addresses these needs.

Systems and methods for determining semiconductor wafer temperature and calibrating a vapor deposition device