What is claimed is:
1. An arterial-pulse-wave detecting apparatus, comprising:
a plurality of pulse-wave detecting devices which are adapted to be worn on a plurality of portions of a living subject, respectively, and detect respective pulse waves that are produced in synchronism with each other from respective arteries of the plurality of portions of the subject;
a memory device which stores the respective pulse waves produced in synchronism with each other and detected by the plurality of pulse-wave detecting devices; and
a pulse-wave-display control means for controlling a display device to display the respective pulse waves produced in synchronism with each other and stored by the memory device, such that the respective pulse waves are superposed on each other.
2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pulse-wave-display control means controls the display device to display the respective pulse waves produced in synchronism with each other, such that respective minimal points of the respective pulse waves coincide with each other.
3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pulse-wave-display control means controls the display device to display the respective pulse waves produced in synchronism with each other, such that respective rising points of the respective pulse waves coincide with each other.
4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pulse-wave-display control means controls the display device to display the respective pulse waves produced in synchronism with each other, such that respective amplitudes of the respective pulse waves are equal to each other.
5. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an area-difference determining means for determining a difference between respective areas of the respective pulse waves displayed on the display device by the pulse-wave-display control means such that the respective pulse waves are superposed on each other, wherein the pulse-wave-display control means controls the display device to display the difference determined by the area-difference determining means.
6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of pulse-wave detecting devices comprise two pulse-wave-detecting devices which include respective portions adapted to be worn on left and right portions of the subject, respectively, that are located at respective positions symmetrical with each other with respect to a median line of the subject, and detect the respective pulse waves produced from the respective arteries of the left and right portions of the subject, and wherein the pulse-wave-display control means controls the display device to display the respective pulse waves produced from the respective arteries of the left and right portions of the subject, such that the respective pulse waves are superposed on each other.
7. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising the display device which displays the respective pulse waves produced in synchronism with each other and stored by the memory device, such that the respective pulse waves are superposed on each other in a common two-dimensional coordinate system which is defined by a first axis indicative of time and a second axis indicative of pulse-wave magnitude.
8. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
a stenosis-related-information obtaining means for obtaining, based on a shape of the pulse wave detected by each of the plurality of pulse-wave detecting devices, stenosis-related information that changes in relation with stenosis of an artery of an upstream portion of the subject that is located upstream of a corresponding one of the plurality of portions of the subject in a direction in which blood flows in the artery; and
a stenosis judging means for making, based on the stenosis-related information obtained by the stenosis-related-information obtaining means, a judgment about the stenosis of the artery of the upstream portion of the subject.
9. An apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a judging means for judging, based on the area difference determined by the area-difference determining means, whether the subject is suspected to have arteriostenosis, wherein the pulse-wave-display control means controls, when the judging means makes a positive judgment, the display device to display information indicating that the subject is suspected to have arteriostenosis.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A coating process apparatus for forming a coating film on a substrate to be processed, comprising:
a holding mechanism which holds the substrate to be processed in an approximately horizontal posture;
a coating liquid supply mechanism supplying a predetermined coating liquid to a top surface of the substrate to be processed held by the holding mechanism;
a rotation mechanism rotating the substrate to be processed held by the holding mechanism; and
a process container accommodating the holding mechanism and capable of exhausting an atmosphere around the substrate to be processed from a bottom, wherein
the process container includes:
a first cup having an outer circumferential wall surrounding an outside of the substrate to be processed, and
an airflow control member having a cross section of an approximately rectangular shape defined by an upper ring portion having a vertical cross section of an approximately triangular shape and protruding upward, and a lower ring portion having a cross section of an approximately triangular shape and protruding downward, and provided close to a periphery of the substrate to be processed in the first cup so as to surround an outer circumference of the substrate to be processed, wherein
an exhaust passage substantially exhausting an atmosphere around the substrate to be processed is provided between the airflow control member and the outer circumferential wall of the first cup, and wherein
a space between an apex of the upper ring portion and an upper end of the outer circumferential wall defines an atmosphere extraction port for the exhaust passage.
2. The coating process apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a base angle of an inside of the upper ring portion of the airflow control member is larger than or equal to 24 degrees, but smaller than or equal to 34 degrees.
3. The coating process apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a height of the upper ring portion is greater than or equal to 10 mm, but less than or equal to 18 mm.
4. The coating process apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a base angle of an inside of the lower ring portion included in the airflow control member is larger than or equal to 25 degrees, but smaller than or equal to 35 degrees.
5. The coating process apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upper ring portion and the lower ring portion are integrated with each other.
6. The coating process apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the outer circumferential wall of the first cup includes a cylindrical vertical wall, and an inclined wall connected in a consecutive arrangement to an upper end of the vertical wall and inclined inwardly and upward.
7. The coating process apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the inclined wall is approximately in parallel with an outer inclined surface of the upper ring portion.
8. The coating process apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a protrusion for suppressing a counterflow of an airflow flowing into the exhaust passage is provided inwardly of an upper end portion of the inclined wall constituting the outer circumferential wall of the first cup.
9. The coating process apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the process container further includes a second cup having an inclined wall expanding obliquely downward and outward from below the substrate to be processed,
a drain passage which drains the coating liquid dispersed from the substrate downward is provided between the airflow control member and the inclined wall of the second cup, and a clearance between the airflow control member and the substrate to be processed defines a drain port of the drain passage.
10. The coating process apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the second cup further includes a cylindrical vertical wall extending downward from a lower end of the inclined wall thereof, and
the exhaust passage and the drain passage are merged with each other at a clearance formed between the outer circumferential wall of the first cup and the vertical wall of the second cup, and exhausting and draining are carried out through a bottom of the process container.
11. The coating process apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the airflow control member is laid out in such a way that a vertex defined by mated inner edges of the upper and lower ring portions is higher than a position of the top surface of the substrate to be processed, so that the coating liquid dispersed from the substrate to be processed substantially strikes an inner inclined wall of the lower ring portion to be guided to the drain passage.
12. The coating process apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the airflow control member is provided in such a way that a vertex defined by mated inner edges of the upper and lower ring portions is higher than a position of the top surface of the substrate to be processed, so that the airflow flowing in a vicinity of the periphery of the substrate to be processed substantially ascends along an inner inclined wall of the upper ring portion and flow into the exhaust passage via the atmosphere extraction port.