1-19. (canceled)
20. An apparatus, comprising:
at least one processor;
at least one memory including computer program code, and user interface;
the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:
control obtaining in a wireless manner information on a purchase independent identifier related to a retailer from an object external to the apparatus;
determine the identification of a retailer on the basis of the identifier;
control the transmission of a purchase independent query to the network server, the query comprising the identification of the retailer;
control the reception of a response from the server, the response comprising information on available retailer related benefits of the user;
and if there are available benefits, control the communication, utilizing the user interface, of the information on the benefits to the user.
21. The apparatus of claim 20, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:
if there are no available benefits, control the communication, utilizing the user interface, of information related to the retailer.
22. The apparatus of claim 20, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:
if there are available benefits, control the user interface to display an animation.
23. The apparatus of claim 20, the apparatus comprising a near field communication transceiver capable of obtaining information from a radio-frequency identification tag being on an object external to the apparatus.
24. The apparatus of claim 20, the apparatus comprising a camera; and the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus further to perform:
control the camera to photograph a graphical code being on a surface of an object external to the apparatus; and
decode information from the graphical code.
25. The apparatus of claim 20, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus further to perform:
decode from the object external to the apparatus an universal resource locator comprising an Internet address.
26. The apparatus of claim 20, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus further to perform:
control the transmission of identification related to the user of the apparatus and the identification of the retailer in a single message.
27. The apparatus of claim 20, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus further to perform:
control the transmission of identification related to the user of the apparatus and the identification of the retailer in separate messages.
28. A server comprising:
a communication interface,
a memory interface, and
a processor,
wherein the processor is configured to cause the server at least to perform:
maintain via the memory interface a connection to a database comprising information on users, benefits offered by retailers and which users are eligible for which benefit;
receive via the communication interface a purchase independent query regarding a user and a retailer;
determine if the user is eligible for a benefit in the retailer;
transmit via the communication interface a response on the basis of the determination.
29. A method in an apparatus, comprising:
controlling a detector to obtain wirelessly from an object external to the apparatus information on a purchase independent identifier related to a retailer;
determining the identification of a retailer on the basis of the identifier;
controlling the transmission of a purchase independent query to the network server, the query comprising the identification of the retailer;
controlling the reception of a response from the server, the response comprising information on available retailer related benefits of the user;
and if there are available benefits, controlling the communication of the information on the benefits to the user.
30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:
controlling the communication, utilizing the user interface, of information related to the retailer if there are no available benefits.
31. The method of claim 29, further comprising:
controlling the user interface to display an animation if there are available benefits.
32. The method of claim 29, utilizing a near field communication transceiver to obtain information from a radio-frequency identification tag from an object external to the apparatus.
33. The method of claim 29, utilizing a camera to photograph a graphical code being on a surface of an object external to the apparatus; and
decode information from the graphical code.
34. The method of claim 29, further comprising:
decoding from the object external to the apparatus an universal resource locator comprising an Internet address.
35. The method of claim 29, further comprising:
controlling the transmission of identification related to the user of the apparatus and the identification of the retailer in a single message.
36. The method of claim 29, further comprising:
controlling the transmission of identification related to the user of the apparatus and the identification of the retailer in separate messages.
37. A method in an apparatus, comprising:
maintaining a database comprising information on users, benefits offered by retailers and which users are eligible for which benefit;
receiving a purchase independent query regarding a user and a retailer;
determining if the user is eligible for a benefit in the retailer;
transmitting a response on the basis of the determination.
38. A computer readable storage medium comprising one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the steps of:
controlling a detector to obtain wirelessly from an object external to the apparatus information on a purchase independent identifier related to a retailer;
determining the identification of a retailer on the basis of the identifier;
controlling the transmission of a purchase independent query to the network server, the query comprising the identification of the retailer;
controlling the reception of a response from the server, the response comprising information on available retailer related benefits of the user;
and if there are available benefits, controlling the communication of the information on the benefits to the user.
39. A computer readable storage medium comprising one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the steps of:
maintaining a database comprising information on users, benefits offered by retailers and which users are eligible for which benefit;
receiving a purchase independent query regarding a user and a retailer;
determining if the user is eligible for a benefit in the retailer;
transmitting a response on the basis of the determination.
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 quartz glass crucible for pulling up a silicon single crystal, comprising:
a quartz glass crucible body having a hollow cylindrical top portion forming an opening into the quartz glass crucible, a bottom portion forming a circular depression with a centrally-located bottom dead center point and a bent portion interconnecting the top portion and the bottom portion to form an inside surface of the quartz glass crucible body, the quartz glass crucible body having an opaque outer layer formed by melting natural silica powder and a transparent layer structure formed on the inside thereof, characterized in that the transparent layer structure includes a transparent layer made of natural quartz glass with a thickness of 0.4 to 5.0 mm covering the entirety of the inside of the opaque outer layer, and a transparent layer made of a synthetic quartz glass having a lower transparent layer portion and an upper transparent layer portion, the lower transparent layer portion formed on and covering a lower portion of the transparent layer made of the natural quartz glass of the inside of the crucible and having:
a thickness extending in a range from 0.15 to 0.55 L selected from a thickness range of 0.2 to 1.5 mm,
the upper transparent layer portion having a thickness of 0.1 mm or less and formed on and covering an upper portion of the transparent layer made of the natural quartz glass of the inside of the crucible in a range from 0.6 to 1.0 L,
wherein L is a distance extending along the inside surface of the quartz glass crucible body, as viewed in cross-section, from the bottom dead center point to the opening into the quartz glass crucible body and
wherein the range of 0.15 to 0.55 L is inclusive of the bottom portion and the bent portion and is exclusive of the top portion.
2. The quartz glass crucible for pulling up a silicon single crystal according to claim 1, characterized in that an average OH group concentration CA in the transparent layer made of a synthetic quartz glass is from 100 to 300 ppm, an average OH group concentration CB in the transparent layer made of natural quartz glass is from 60 to 150 ppm, an average OH group concentration CC in the opaque outer layer made of natural quartz glass is from 20 to 60 ppm, and they satisfy the relation: CA>CB>CC.
3. A method for producing a quartz glass crucible for pulling up a silicon single crystal according to claim 1, characterized by making an inner cavity of a quartz glass crucible base body mounted on a rotatable mold a high temperature atmosphere, feeding natural silica powder to the high temperature atmosphere in the inside of an opaque outer layer after or during the formation of the opaque outer layer by partially melting the inner cavity to form the transparent layer made of natural quartz glass on the entire inner surface of the opaque outer layer by melting and vitrifying the natural silica powder, and then feeding a synthetic silica powder and melting and vitrifying the synthetic silica powder to form the transparent layer made of a synthetic quartz glass on the inside of the crucible in the range from at least 0.15 to 0.55 L in terms of a distance L from the center of the bottom of the inner surface of the quartz glass crucible having the transparent layer made of natural quartz glass to the upper end face along the inner surface of the crucible.
4. A quartz glass crucible for pulling up a silicon single crystal, said quartz glass crucible having an opaque outer layer made of natural quartz glass and a transparent layer formed on the inside thereof, characterized in that the number of brown rings per unit area (cm2) observed in the range from the initial surface level of a silicon melt to 0.3 M in terms of a length M from the initial surface level of the silicon melt to the surface level of the remaining melt after pulling up a single crystal measured along the inner surface of the quartz glass crucible is 1.8-fold or more greater than the number of brown rings observed in the range up to 0.3 M above the surface level of the remaining melt.
5. The quartz glass crucible for pulling up a silicon single crystal according to claim 4, characterized in that the number of brown rings per unit area (cm2) observed in the range from the initial surface level of a melt to 0.3 M is 2.5-fold or more greater than the number of brown rings observed in the range up to 0.3 M above the surface level of the remaining melt.
6. The quartz glass crucible for pulling up a silicon single crystal according to claim 4, said quartz glass crucible having an opaque outer layer made of natural quartz glass and a transparent layer formed on the inside thereof, characterized in that a transparent layer made of natural quartz glass or a mixture of natural and synthetic quartz glasses is formed on the inner surface of the crucible in the range from the initial surface level of a silicon melt to 0.3 M in terms of a length M from the initial surface level of the silicon melt to the surface level of the remaining melt after pulling up a single crystal measured along the inner surface of the quartz glass crucible, a transparent layer made of a synthetic quartz glass is formed on the inner surface of the crucible in the range up to 0.3 M above the surface level of the remaining melt, and the number of brown rings per unit area (cm2) observed in the range from the initial surface level of the melt to 0.3 M is 1.8-fold or more greater than the number of brown rings observed in the range up to 0.3 M above the surface level of the remaining melt.
7. The quartz glass crucible for pulling up a silicon single crystal according to claim 6, characterized in that the number of brown rings per unit area (cm2) observed in the range from the initial surface level of a melt to 0.3 M is 2.5-fold or more greater than the number of brown rings observed in the range up to 0.3 M above the surface level of the remaining melt.
8. The quartz glass crucible for pulling up a silicon single crystal according to claim 4, said quartz glass crucible having an opaque outer layer made of natural quartz glass and a transparent layer formed on the inside thereof, characterized in that the inner surface of the crucible in the range from the initial surface level of a melt to 0.3 M is subjected to an etching treatment or a sandblast process, and the number of brown rings per unit area (cm2) observed in the range after it is used for pulling up a silicon single crystal is 1.8-fold or more greater than the number of brown rings observed in the range up to 0.3 M above the surface level of the remaining melt which is not subjected to the etching treatment or the sandblast process.
9. The quartz glass crucible for pulling up a silicon single crystal according to claim 8, characterized in that the number of brown rings per unit area (cm2) observed in the range from the initial surface level of a melt to 0.3 M is 2.5-fold or more greater than the number of brown rings observed in the range up to 0.3 M above the surface level of the remaining melt.
10. The quartz glass crucible for pulling up a silicon single crystal according to claim 4, characterized in that the number of brown rings observed in the range up to 0.3 M above the surface level of the remaining melt is 0.02 to 0.9cm2.
11. The quartz glass crucible for pulling up a silicon single crystal according to claim 4, characterized in that the number of brown rings per unit area (cm2) observed in the range from the initial surface level of a melt to 0.3 M is 2.0 to 5.0cm2.
12. A method for producing a quartz glass crucible for pulling up a silicon single crystal according to claim 4, characterized by making an inner cavity of a quartz glass crucible base body mounted on a rotatable mold a high temperature atmosphere, feeding natural silica powder or a powder mixture of natural and synthetic silicas to the high temperature atmosphere in the inside of an opaque outer layer after or during the formation of the opaque outer layer by partially melting the inner cavity to form a transparent layer made of natural quartz glass or a mixture of natural and synthetic quartz glasses in the range from the initial surface level of a melt to 0.3 M by melting and vitrifying the natural silica powder or the powder mixture of natural and synthetic silicas, and then feeding a synthetic silica powder and melting and vitrifying the synthetic silica powder to form a transparent layer made of a synthetic quartz glass on the inner surface of the crucible in the range up to 0.3 M above the surface level of the remaining melt.