All The Claims

1. An alcoholic beverage dispenser comprising:
a base having multiple compartments therein, each compartment for receiving an individual beverage container;
a plurality of valves each for engaging an opening of an individual beverage container for controlling the flow of liquid from the individual beverage container; and
a dispensing system within the base for receiving liquid from all of the individual beverage containers and dispensing the received liquid to a receiving outlet.
2. The beverage dispenser according to claim 1 wherein the dispensing system comprises:
a valve comprising a gear wheel thereabout and having a stem extending therefrom, the valve secured about the opening of a beverage container;
a valve receiving plate comprising a lanyard having gear engaging beads thereon, the lanyard extending outwardly from the base and rotatable within the valve receiving plate;
a manifold tube having a proximal end and a distal end and plurality of receiving stems for receiving the valve stems, wherein the distal end extends outwardly from the base;
a connector on the distal end of the manifold tube for connecting the dispensing system with the receiving outlet; and
a control valve for controlling the flow of liquid through the connector into the receiving outlet.

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 method for making a switch, the method comprising:
forming an insulating layer over a substrate;
forming a resistive heater element over the insulating layer;
depositing a thermally conductive electrically insulating barrier layer over the heating element;
forming openings in the barrier layer aligned with ends of the resistive heater element;
forming a phase change material (PCM) element over the barrier layer spaced apart and proximate to the resistive heater element comprising:
forming a patterned photoresist over the barrier layer with an opening overlying and aligned with the resistive heater element;
depositing PCM to form the PCM element; and
removing the patterned photoresist and excess PCM by applying a chemical solvent lift-off material; and

forming conductive lines from ends of the PCM element and control lines from ends of the resistive heater element.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the PCM element being formed in its amorphous state, and further comprising performing an anneal process to change the PCM element from its amorphous state to its crystalline state.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the performing of an anneal at a pressure between about 1\xd710\u22128 Torr to 1000 Torr and a temperature between about 100\xb0 C. to about 900\xb0 C. for about 30 seconds to about 24 hours, such that the PCM element remains above the crystallization temperature during the anneal with oxygen content less than 20% maintained during the anneal.
4. The method of claim of 1, wherein the chemical solvent lift-off material is acetone, isopropyl alcohol, andor 100% pure N-methyl pyrrolidone.
5. The method of claim of 1, wherein the depositing PCM comprises sputtering PCM at sputter condition powers ranging from about 0.1 to 5.0 Wcm2 and pressures ranging from about 1.0 mTorr to about 50.0 mTorr to provide optimized crystalline resistivity.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming conductive lines from ends of the PCM element and control lines from ends of the resistive heater element comprises:
forming a patterned photoresist over the barrier layer and the PCM element with trenches extending from both ends of the PCM and trenches extending from both openings in the barrier layer aligned with ends of the resistive heater element;
depositing a conductive material to form conductive lines extending from each end of the PCM element and control lines extending from each end of the resistive heater element; and
removing the patterned photoresist and excess conductive material by applying a chemical solvent lift-off material.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the chemical solvent lift-off material is acetone, isopropyl alcohol, andor 100% pure N-methyl pyrrolidone.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising forming a passivation layer over a portion of the control lines, the conductive lines, the PCM element and portions of the resistive heater element to protect the active elements from the environment.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the resistive heater element is formed from a material comprising one of nickel chromium silicon (NiCrSi), nickel chromium (NiCr), Tungsten (W), Titanium-Tungsten (TiW), Platinum (Pt), Tantalum (Ta), Molybdenum (Mo), Niobium (Nb), and Iridium (Ir); the barrier layer is formed from a material comprising one of Silicon Nitride (SiN), Aluminum Nitride (AlN), Silicon Dioxide (SiO2), Silicon Carbide (SiC); and the PCM element is formed from a material that is one of germanium telluride (GeTe), germanium antimony telluride (GeSbTe), and germanium selenium telluride (GeSeTe).
10. A method for making a phase change material (PCM) switch, the method comprising:
forming an insulating layer over a substrate;
forming a resistive heater element over the insulating layer;
depositing a thermally conductive electrical insulating barrier layer over the resistive heating element;
forming openings in the barrier layer aligned with ends of the resistive heater element;
forming a patterned photoresist over the barrier layer with an opening overlying and aligned with the resistive heater device;
sputtering PCM in its amorphous state to form a PCM element;
removing the patterned photoresist and excess PCM by applying a chemical solvent lift-off material;
performing an anneal process to change the PCM element from its amorphous state to its crystalline state to enhance its immunity to deleterious effects caused by further processing; and
forming conductive lines from ends of the PCM element and control lines from ends of the resistive heater element.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the performing of an anneal at a pressure between about 1\xd710\u22128 Torr to about 1000 Torr and a temperature between about 100\xb0 C. to about 900\xb0 C. for about 30 seconds to about 24 hours, such that the PCM element remains above the crystallization temperature during the anneal with oxygen content less than 20% maintained during the anneal.
12. The method of claim of 10, wherein the chemical solvent lift-off material is acetone, isopropyl alcohol, andor 100% pure N-methyl pyrrolidone.
13. The method of claim of 10, wherein the sputtering PCM comprises sputtering PCM at sputter condition powers ranging from about 0.1 to 5.0 Wcm2 and pressures ranging from about 1.0 mTorr to about 50.0 mTorr to provide optimized crystalline resistivity.
14. The method of claim 10, further comprising performing a cleaning on ends of the PCM element and resistive heater element prior to forming conductive lines from ends of the PCM element and control lines from ends of the resistive heater element.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the forming conductive lines from ends of the PCM element and control lines from ends of the resistive heater element comprises:
forming a patterned photoresist over the barrier layer and the PCM element with trenches extending from both ends of the PCM and trenches extending from both openings in the barrier layer aligned with ends of the resistive heater element comprises:
depositing an ohmic contact on each end of the PCM element and the resistive heater element;
depositing a diffusion barrier on each ohmic contact;
depositing contact material into the trenches and in contact with the diffusion barriers to form the conductive lines and the control lines; and
removing the patterned photoresist and excess conductive material by applying a chemical solvent lift-off material.
16. The method of claim 15, further comprising forming a passivation layer over a portion of the control lines, the conductive lines, the PCM element and portions of the resistive heater element to protect the active elements from the environment.
17. The method of claim 10, wherein the resistive heater element is formed from a material comprising one of nickel chromium silicon (NiCrSi), nickel chromium (NiCr), Tungsten (W), Titanium-Tungsten (TiW), Platinum (Pt), Tantalum (Ta), Molybdenum (Mo), Niobium (Nb), and Iridium (Ir); the barrier layer is formed from a material comprising one of Silicon Nitride (SiN), Aluminum Nitride (AlN), Silicon Dioxide (SiO2), Silicon Carbide (SiC); and the PCM element is formed from a material that is one of germanium telluride (GeTe), germanium antimony telluride (GeSbTe), and germanium selenium telluride (GeSeTe).
18. A method of making a phase change material (PCM) switch, the method comprising:
forming a resistive heater element;
forming a PCM element proximate the resistive heater element;
forming a thermally conductive electrical insulating barrier layer positioned between the PCM element and the resistive heating element; and
forming conductive lines extending from ends of the PCM element and control lines extending from ends of the resistive heater element comprising:
forming a patterned photoresist over the barrier layer and the PCM element with trenches extending from both ends of the PCM and trenches extending from both openings in the barrier layer aligned with ends of the resistive heater element;
depositing a conductive material to form conductive lines extending from each end of the PCM element and control lines extending from each end of the resistive heater element; and
removing the patterned photoresist and excess conductive material by applying a chemical solvent lift-off material.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the PCM element is formed over the resistive heating element.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein the resistive heating element is formed over the PCM element.
21. The method of claim 18, wherein the resistive heating element comprises a first resistive heating element and a second resistive heating element, the PCM element being formed over the first resistive heating element and the second resistive heating element being formed over the PCM element.
22. The method of claim 18, wherein the forming the resistive heating element comprises forming four sides of resistive heating material that substantially surrounds at least a portion of the PCM element.
23. The method of claim 18, wherein the forming of the PCM element further comprises depositing PCM in one of an amorphous, semi-crystalline or crystalline state.

1. A selenium removal system for removing selenium from a fluid, comprising:
A solids removal unit for processing a fluid;
An oils removal unit coupled to receive the fluid from the solids removal unit;
A soluble organics removal unit coupled to receive the fluid from the oils removal unit;
A thiosulfate removal unit coupled to receive the fluid from the soluble organics removal unit;
A selenium removal unit coupled to receive the fluid from the thiosulfate removal unit, said selenium removal unit further comprising a sorbent tellurium material; and
A polish treatment unit coupled to receive the fluid from the selenium removal unit, the polish treatment unit to remove residual constituents that might otherwise prevent recycling of the fluid.
2. The selenium removal system according to claim 1, further comprising:
a reducing agent injector coupled to receive the aqueous stream from the selenium removal unit 208.
3. The selenium removal system according to claim 1, further comprising:
a selenium precipitate remover coupled to receive the fluid from the selenium removal unit.
4. The selenium removal system according to claim 1, further comprising:
a reducing agent injector coupled to receive the fluid from the selenium removal unit; and
a selenium precipitate remover coupled to receive the fluid from the reducing agent injector.
5. The selenium removal system according to claim 1, further comprising:
a sorbent selenium material used in the selenium removal unit.
6. The selenium removal system according to claim 1, further comprising:
a sorbent sulfur material used in the selenium removal unit.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

What is claimed is:

1. A method for operating a noise compensating gain controller in an optical amplifier to avoid overshoot of a selected gain level during amplification transients, wherein said amplifier receives an optical input formed from a signal component and a noise component, comprising the steps of:
(a) determining a difference in the amount of amplification necessary to bring the combination of said signal and noise component forming said optical output to said selected gain level;
(b) determining an adjustment of said difference necessary to bring the signal component of the output to said selected gain level, a post-transient steady-state condition of said optical input, and
(c) changing the amplification in accordance with said difference either prior to or simultaneously with said adjustment.
2. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 1, further comprising the step of determining that the power of said transient is larger than a preselected threshold level prior to implementing steps (a)-(c).
3. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 1, wherein said amplification is changed in accordance with said difference determined in step (a) prior to changing said amplification in accordance with the adjustment determined in step (b).
4. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 3, wherein step (b) is not commenced until step (a) is completed and the amplification is changed in accordance with said difference.
5. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 1, wherein steps (a) and (b) are implemented simultaneously by said noise compensating gain controller such that said amplification difference and adjustment are determined at substantially the same time, and wherein said amplification is then changed simultaneously in accordance with said difference and adjustment.
6. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 5, wherein said controller includes a processor circuit for computing said amplification difference of said amplification adjustment requires more processing time than the computation of said amplification difference and wherein said processor simultaneously determines said difference and said adjustment.
7. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 6, further comprising the step of protracting the processing time for the determination of said amplification difference such that it becomes simultaneously equal to the processing time for the determination of said amplification adjustments.
8. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 7, wherein the processing time for the computation of said amplification difference is protracted by cutting an execution rate for said computation in half.
9. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 6, wherein said processor performs a plurality of tasks in addition to said computations for said amplification adjustment, and further comprising the step of disabling one or more of said tasks to allow said processor to complete both computations simultaneously.
10. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 9, further comprising the step of monitoring changes in said input power at regular intervals, and terminating said disabling step when said input power does not change by a least a selected threshold amount between said regular intervals.
11. A method for operating a noise compensating gain controller in an optical amplifier to avoid overshoot of a selected gain level during amplification transients, wherein said amplifier receives an optical input formed from a signal component and a noise component, comprising the steps of:
(a) determining a difference in the amount of amplification necessary to bring the combination of said signal and noise component forming said optical output to said selected gain level;
(b) determining an adjustment of said difference necessary to bring the signal component of the output to said selected gain level in accordance with an imperically derived formula;
(c) changing the amplification in accordance with said difference either prior to or simultaneously with said adjustment.
12. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 11, wherein said adjustment of step (b) is computed in accordance with the formula:
PoutASEmGc
wherein
PoutASE
is the power of the noise component of the amplifier output, Ga sensed gain level, 0<m<0.1 and 0.01<c<0.1.
13. The method according to claim 12 wherein m0.001534 and c0.032978.
14. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 11, further comprising the step of determining that the power of said transient is larger than a preselected threshold level prior to implementing steps (a)-(c).
15. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 14, further comprising the step of determining whether the power change of said transient is larger than between about 0.05 dB and 0.50 dB.
16. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 11, wherein said amplification is changed in accordance with said difference determined in step (a) prior to changing said amplification in accordance with the adjustment determined in step (b).
17. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 16, wherein step (b) is not commenced until step (a) is completed and the amplification is changed in accordance with said difference.
18. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 11, wherein steps (a) and (b) are implemented simultaneously by said noise compensating gain controller such that said amplification difference and adjustment are determined at substantially the same time, and wherein said amplification is then changed simultaneously in accordance with said difference and adjustment.
19. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 18, wherein said controller includes a processor circuit for computing said amplification difference of said amplification adjustment requires more processing time than the computation of said amplification difference and wherein said processor simultaneously determines said difference and said adjustment.
20. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 19, further comprising the step of protracting the processing time for the determination of said amplification difference such that it becomes simultaneously equal to the processing time for the determination of said amplification adjustments.
21. A method of operating a noise compensating gain controller according to claim 18, wherein said processor performs a plurality of tasks in addition to said computations for said amplification adjustment, and further comprising the step of disabling one or more of said tasks to allow said processor to complete both computations simultaneously.