Author: claimsbot

1. A coupling member that is fitted to a post, and supports one shelf board member within a half area of the coupling member in a diametrical direction when viewed from a front side, the coupling member comprising:
two members that are fitted to each other to hold the post from either side,
each of the two members including a first tapered section that gradually increases in diameter in a downward direction, and is formed on an opposite side of the coupling member, and a second tapered section that gradually slopes inward in the downward direction,
the coupling member being fitted to the post so that the first tapered sections are positioned on a right outer circumferential surface and a left outer circumferential surface, and the second tapered section are positioned on the front side and a back side when viewed from the front side, and
the first tapered section of one member among the two members and the second tapered section of another member among the two members being disposed within the half area of the coupling member in the diametrical direction that extends in a lateral direction when viewed from the front side, and the first tapered section of the other member and the second tapered section of the one member being disposed within the other half area of the coupling member in the diametrical direction that extends in the lateral direction when viewed from the front side when the coupling member is fitted to the post.
2. The coupling member according to claim 1,
wherein each of the two members includes a main body that has an inner circumferential surface having a shape that corresponds to a shape of a side surface of the post, and arm sections that extend from either side of the main body in a diametrical direction of the post, and
the first tapered section is formed by an outer circumferential surface of the main body, and the second tapered section is formed by each of the arm sections.
3. The coupling member according to claim 2,
wherein the arm section or arm sections of the one member and the arm section or arm sections of the other member are alternately disposed when the coupling member is fitted to the post.
4. The coupling member according to claim 1, further comprising an elongated protrusion or a protrusion that is formed on the inner circumferential surface of the main body, and engages the post.
5. The coupling member according to claim 1, the coupling member being formed of a metal, a resin, or a composite thereof.
6. The coupling member according to claim 1, wherein the two members have an identical shape and identical dimensions.
7. An assembly shelf comprising the coupling member according to claim 1.
8. An assembly shelf comprising:
four posts on which the coupling member according to claim 1 is respectively secured, a plurality of locking grooves or locking holes being formed in each of the four posts in a longitudinal direction at regular or irregular intervals; and
a shelf board member, third engagement sections being respectively formed at four corners of the shelf board member, each of the third engagement sections including a third tapered section that comes in contact with the first tapered section of the one member of the coupling member, and a fourth tapered section that comes in contact with the second tapered section of the other member of the coupling member,
the shelf board member being secured by fitting the third engagement section to the coupling member, and the shelf board member being disposed between an axial center of one post among the four posts and an axial center of another post among the four posts when viewed from a front side.
9. The assembly shelf according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of locking grooves are annular or partially annular.
10. The assembly shelf according to claim 8, wherein each of the third engagement sections includes an engagement main body that has an inner circumferential surface having a shape that corresponds to a shape of a side surface of the coupling member, and a flange that extends inward from each end of the engagement main body.
11. The assembly shelf according to claim 8, wherein the third tapered section has an inner circumferential shape that corresponds to a shape of a side surface of the coupling member, and corresponds to the first tapered section of the one member.
12. The assembly shelf according to claim 8, wherein the fourth tapered section is formed on a side of a flange of the third engagement section that faces the third tapered section, and corresponds to the second tapered section of the other member.
13. The assembly shelf according to claim 8, wherein the third tapered section of the shelf board member presses the one member of the coupling member against the post, and the fourth tapered section of the shelf board member presses the other member of the coupling member against the one member, so that the two members of the coupling member hold the post.
14. An assembly shelf comprising:
four posts on which the coupling member according to claim 2 is respectively secured, a plurality of locking grooves or locking holes being formed in each of the four posts in a longitudinal direction at regular or irregular intervals; and
a shelf board member, third engagement sections being respectively formed at four corners of the shelf board member, each of the third engagement sections including a third tapered section that comes in contact with the first tapered section of the one member of the coupling member, and a fourth tapered section that comes in contact with the second tapered section of the other member of the coupling member,
the shelf board member being secured by fitting the third engagement section to the coupling member, and the shelf board member being disposed between an axial center of one post among the four posts and an axial center of another post among the four posts when viewed from a front side.
15. An assembly shelf comprising:
four posts on which the coupling member according to claim 3 is respectively secured, a plurality of locking grooves or locking holes being formed in each of the four posts in a longitudinal direction at regular or irregular intervals; and
a shelf board member, third engagement sections being respectively formed at four corners of the shelf board member, each of the third engagement sections including a third tapered section that comes in contact with the first tapered section of the one member of the coupling member, and a fourth tapered section that comes in contact with the second tapered section of the other member of the coupling member,
the shelf board member being secured by fitting the third engagement section to the coupling member, and the shelf board member being disposed between an axial center of one post among the four posts and an axial center of another post among the four posts when viewed from a front side.
16. An assembly shelf comprising:
four posts on which the coupling member according to claim 4 is respectively secured, a plurality of locking grooves or locking holes being formed in each of the four posts in a longitudinal direction at regular or irregular intervals; and
a shelf board member, third engagement sections being respectively formed at four corners of the shelf board member, each of the third engagement sections including a third tapered section that comes in contact with the first tapered section of the one member of the coupling member, and a fourth tapered section that comes in contact with the second tapered section of the other member of the coupling member,
the shelf board member being secured by fitting the third engagement section to the coupling member, and the shelf board member being disposed between an axial center of one post among the four posts and an axial center of another post among the four posts when viewed from a front side.
17. An assembly shelf comprising:
four posts on which the coupling member according to claim 5 is respectively secured, a plurality of locking grooves or locking holes being formed in each of the four posts in a longitudinal direction at regular or irregular intervals; and
a shelf board member, third engagement sections being respectively formed at four corners of the shelf board member, each of the third engagement sections including a third tapered section that comes in contact with the first tapered section of the one member of the coupling member, and a fourth tapered section that comes in contact with the second tapered section of the other member of the coupling member,
the shelf board member being secured by fitting the third engagement section to the coupling member, and the shelf board member being disposed between an axial center of one post among the four posts and an axial center of another post among the four posts when viewed from a front side.
18. An assembly shelf comprising:
four posts on which the coupling member according to claim 6 is respectively secured, a plurality of locking grooves or locking holes being formed in each of the four posts in a longitudinal direction at regular or irregular intervals; and
a shelf board member, third engagement sections being respectively formed at four corners of the shelf board member, each of the third engagement sections including a third tapered section that comes in contact with the first tapered section of the one member of the coupling member, and a fourth tapered section that comes in contact with the second tapered section of the other member of the coupling member,
the shelf board member being secured by fitting the third engagement section to the coupling member, and the shelf board member being disposed between an axial center of one post among the four posts and an axial center of another post among the four posts when viewed from a front side.
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 gateway comprising:
an interface to a network utilizing a block storage protocol;
an interface to a wide area network; and
a storage module coupled to said block storage protocol network interface and said wide area network interface to receive and operate on block storage commands received over said block storage protocol network interface, to convert said block storage commands into cloud storage commands and to provide cloud storage commands over said wide area network to allow data based on the block storage commands to be operated on using the cloud storage commands.
2. The gateway of claim 1, wherein said block storage protocol is a Fibre Channel protocol.
3. The gateway of claim 1, wherein said cloud storage commands utilize a REST protocol.
4. The gateway of claim 1, wherein said block storage commands comprise FCP commands.
5. The gateway of claim 1, wherein said block storage commands are received through frame redirection.
6. The gateway of claim 5, wherein said frame redirection is done transparently.
7. The gateway of claim 1, wherein said block storage commands are received through virtualization.
8. The gateway of claim 1, wherein said storage module includes:
a block protocol module coupled to said block storage protocol network interface to receive and operate on block storage commands, said block protocol module appearing as a LUN;
a cloud storage module coupled to said wide area network interface and said block storage module to provide cloud storage commands and to exchange commands and data with said block storage module; and
a block to object mapping table coupled to at least one of said block protocol module and said cloud storage module to hold data mapping storage blocks to storage objects,
wherein at least one of said block protocol module and said cloud storage module performs a mapping of storage blocks to storage objects.
9. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the gateway is a virtual machine executing on host server.
10. A method comprising:
receiving a block storage protocol command and data;
mapping said block protocol command and data to a cloud storage command and object; and
providing a cloud storage command and object to a cloud storage provider.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein said block storage protocol is a Fibre Channel protocol.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein said cloud storage commands utilize a REST protocol.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein said step of mapping includes utilizing a mapping table to hold data mapping blocks to objects.
14. The method of claim 10, wherein said block storage command comprises a FCP command.
15. The method of claim 10, wherein said block storage command is received through frame redirection.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein said frame redirection is done transparently.
17. The method of claim 10, wherein said block storage commands are received through virtualization.
18. The method of claim 10, wherein the method is performed on a virtual machine executing on a host server.
19. A system comprising:
a cloud storage data center including:
an interface to a wide area network;
storage units for storing data objects;
a front end coupled to said interface and said storage units to receive cloud storage commands and data objects from said interface and to exchange data objects with said storage units according to said cloud storage commands; and

a block storage network including:
a server;
a storage unit;
a fabric coupling said server and said storage unit and for carrying block storage commands and data; and
a gateway coupled to said fabric, said gateway including:
an interface to said fabric;
an interface to a wide area network; and
a storage module coupled to said fabric interface and said wide area network interface to receive and operate on block storage commands and data received over said fabric interface, to convert those block storage commands and data into cloud storage commands an data objects and to provide cloud storage commands and data objects over said wide area network to allow data based on the block storage commands to be operated on using the cloud storage commands.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein said block storage commands are Fibre Channel commands.
21. The system of claim 19, wherein said cloud storage commands utilize a REST protocol.
22. The system of claim 19, wherein said block storage commands comprise FCP commands.
23. The system of claim 19, wherein said block storage commands are received through frame redirection.
24. The system of claim 23, wherein said frame redirection is done transparently.
25. The system of claim 19, wherein said block storage commands are received through virtualization.
26. The system of claim 19, wherein said storage module includes:
a block protocol module coupled to said fabric interface to receive and operate on block storage commands and data, said block protocol module appearing as a LUN;
a cloud storage module coupled to said wide area network interface and said block storage module to provide cloud storage commands and data objects and to exchange commands and data with said block storage module; and
a block to object mapping table coupled to at least one of said block protocol module and said cloud storage module to hold data mapping storage blocks to data objects,
wherein at least one of said block protocol module and said cloud storage module performs a mapping of storage blocks to data objects.
27. The system of claim 19, wherein the gateway is a virtual machine executing on host server.

1. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:
forming gate electrodes in a non-bipolar transistor region of a semiconductor substrate;
placing a polysilicon layer over the gate electrodes in the non-bipolar transistor region and over the semiconductor substrate within a bipolar transistor region;
forming a protective layer over the polysilicon layer, the protective layer having a weight percent of hydrogen that is less than about 9% and is selective to silicon germanium (SiGe) deposition, such that SiGe does not form on the protective layer; and
forming emitters for bipolar transistors in the bipolar transistor region, including forming a SiGe layer under a portion of the polysilicon layer.
2. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the protective layer is resistive to a hydrofluoric etch.
3. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the protective layer comprises oxides, nitrides or combinations thereof.
4. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the protective layer is a silicon oxynitride stack.
5. The method recited in claim 4, wherein a first layer of the protective layer is formed by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process, including flowing N2O at a flow rate ranging from about 40 sccm to about 450 sccm, flowing SiH4 at a flow rate ranging from about 75 sccm to about 175 sccm and flowing an inert carrier gas at a flow rate ranging from about 1500 seem to about 3500 sccm, and at a temperature ranging from about 350\xb0 C. to about 450\xb0 C. and a pressure ranging from about 3 torr to about 10 torr and wherein the deposition is conducted at a power ranging from about 75 watts to about 200 watts.
6. The method recited in claim 4, wherein a second layer of the protective layer is formed by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process, including flowing N2O at a flow rate ranging from about 40 sccm to about 450 sccm, flowing SiH4 at a flow rate ranging from about 75 sccm to about 175 sccm and flowing an inert carrier gas at a flow rate ranging from about 1500 sccm to about 3500 sccm, and at a temperature ranging from about 350\xb0 C. to about 450\xb0 C. and a pressure ranging from about 3 torr to about 10 torr and wherein the deposition is conducted at a power ranging from about 75 watts to about 200 watts.
7. The method recited in claim 4, wherein a third layer of the protective layer is formed by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process, including flowing N2O at a flow rate ranging from about 40 sccm to about 450 sccm, flowing SiH4 at a flow rate ranging from about 75 sccm to about 175 sccm and flowing an inert carrier gas at a flow rate ranging from about 1500 seem to about 3500 sccm, and at a temperature ranging from about 350\xb0 C. to about 450\xb0 C. and a pressure ranging from about 3 torr to about 10 torr and wherein the deposition is conducted at a power ranging from about 75 watts to about 200 watts.
8. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the semiconductor device is an integrated circuit and the gate electrodes form a part of non-bipolar transistors and the method further includes forming dielectric layers over the non-bipolar transistors and the bipolar transistors and forming interconnects over and within the dielectric layer to interconnect the bipolar transistors and the non-bipolar transistors.
9. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:
forming gate electrodes in a non-bipolar transistor region and over a semiconductor substrate;
placing a polysilicon layer over the gate electrodes in the non-bipolar transistor region and over a bipolar transistor region of the semiconductor substrate;
forming a dielectric layer over the polysilicon layer;
forming a protective layer over the polysilicon layer, the protective layer having a weight percent of hydrogen that is less than about 9%, wherein the protective layer is selective to silicon germanium (SiGe) deposition, such that SiGe does not form on the protective layer;
forming a silicongermanium (SiGe) layer over a collector tub and under a portion of the polysilicon layer within the bipolar transistor region;
forming an emitter layer for bipolar transistors in the bipolar transistor region and over the protective layer and the SiGe layer;
patterning the dielectric layer, the protective layer and the emitter layer, including removing the protective layer from the non-bipolar transistor region; and
patterning the polysilicon layer.
10. The method recited in claim 9, wherein the protective layer is resistive to a hydrofluoric clean.
11. The method recited in claim 9, wherein the protective layer comprises silicon oxynitride.
12. The method recited in claim 11, wherein:
a first layer of the protective layer is formed by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process, including flowing N2O at a flow rate of 68, flowing SiH4 at a flow rate of about 125 sccm and flowing an inert carrier gas at a flow rate of about 2500 sccm;
a second layer of the protective layer is formed by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process, including flowing N2O at a flow rate of about 270 sccm, flowing SiH4 at a flow rate of about 125 sccm and flowing an inert carrier gas at a flow rate of about 2500 sccm; and
a third layer of the protective layer is formed by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process, including flowing N2O at a flow rate of about 350 sccm, flowing SiH4 at a flow rate of about 125 sccm and flowing an inert carrier gas at a flow rate of about 2500 sccm, and wherein the protective layer is formed at a temperature of about 410\xb0 C., a pressure of about 6 torr, and at a power of about 130 watts.
13. The method recited in claim 9, wherein the semiconductor device is an integrated circuit and the gate electrodes form a part of non-bipolar transistors and the method further includes forming dielectric layers over the non-bipolar transistors and the bipolar transistors and forming interconnects over and within the dielectric layer to interconnect the bipolar transistors and the non-bipolar transistors.

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. An apparatus for processing and stacking printed forms adapted to feed said forms for processing downstream thereof comprising:
a dual registering stacking interface for receiving continuously fed forms, transversely registering said forms and selectively stacking and transporting said forms to a first output end;
a sequencer merger for receiving said forms from said first output end, directing said forms in a selected order and transporting said forms to a second output end, said sequencer merger adaptable to process said forms as a stack of forms;
an accumulator for accumulating forms into a single set and transporting said forms to a third output end from which said forms are fed therefrom;
a folder for folding said accumulated forms and transporting said forms to a fourth output end; and,
a collector for receiving said folded forms from the fourth output end and transporting them to a fifth output end for further use or processing downstream thereof, said collector and said folder having a common drive, said collector including a drive pulley operably engaged to said drive and having an input shaft mounted thereon, at least one belt pulley arranged along said input shaft, each said at least one belt pulley having a transport belt engaged thereto for carrying folded pieces along a path, said collector further including at least one other belt pulley each engaged to a transport belt and being mounted on an output shaft at an output end thereof to be rotatable with a first said at least one belt pulley, said collector having a selectively moveable pinch mechanism operable to pinch a folded form against a transport belt and moveable away therefrom upon the transporting of said form outwardly of said output end, and a disengagement clutch for disengaging said input shaft from said drive pulley to stop transport belt movement.
2. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said moveable pinch mechanism includes a pinch roller mounted on a pivoting arm operable to sequentially move said pinch roller away from said transport belt and towards a transport belt when a folded form is transported thereat, whereby said disengagement clutch is selectively operable to disengage the input shaft from said drive pulley whereby a transport belt is stopped until the apparatus is signaled to feed a form from the output end of the collector.
3. The apparatus as in claim 2 wherein the collector includes retainers at the output end for capturing forms thereat until the apparatus is signaled to feed forms from the output end of the collector for further use or processing downstream.