A fluid strut includes a frangible locking member including a generally cylindrical locking pin mounted to an outer cylindrical housing of the strut and extending radially inwardly toward a gas spring cylinder. The locking pin is movable between operative and inoperative positions. In the operative position, the spring-loaded frangible locking pin extends into engagement with the gas cylinder and can advance radially to a locking position once the outer housing extends beyond the location of the gas cylinder. In an inoperative position, the locking pin is held in a retracted position. The end of the locking pin has a reduced diameter, such that, if a purposeful force is placed upon the strut when in a locked position, the pin can shear, allowing the rod to be retracted within the cylinder and the closure member to be closed without damage.

The present invention relates to a fluid strut, such as a gas spring, which can be locked in an extended position with a frangible or breakaway plunger-type lock.
Fluid struts, also known as gas springs or cylinders, are frequently employed to assist in the opening and holding open of closures, covers, or lids for a variety of products, including vehicle hoods, hatchback lids, trunk lids, and, in some cases, doors. Their use facilitates the opening and holding open of such devices. They have found application in a variety of fields, including storage trunks in vessels, such as power boats, storage and office cabinets and lockers, and other environments in which relatively heavy closure doors are required to be opened easily and maintained in an open position. In some applications where the closure member is relatively heavy, for additional safety, it is desired to lock the strut in a mechanically locked position to prevent any accidental closure of the cover when accessing the storage or other compartment to which the closure member is attached.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,855 discloses one locking approach in which a spring-loaded plunger lock is employed to automatically lock the gas strut rod when in an extended position, preventing the inadvertent collapsing of the gas strut when in an extended position. Although this provides the desired safety feature, in the event the user inadvertently or otherwise fails to remove the lock and slams the cover, such as a vehicle hood, trunk lid, or the like, downwardly against the locking pressure, serious damage can occur to the structural part of the vehicle or other closure member involved.
Accordingly, there is a need for a strut system in which the strut can be locked in a fully open or extended position, preventing inadvertent closure of a closure member with which the strut is employed. The system should allow, upon application of a closing force above a certain level, the strut to overcome the locking feature and allow closure of the covered compartment without damage to the closure member.

Lockable fluid strut with frangible lock


A greeting card system comprises a card member. The card member includes a first window. The system includes a gift card attached to the card member. The gift card is activated through use of a code that is displayed in the first window. Accordingly, a greeting card system is provided that allows for immediate use of a gift card. The system minimizes fraud or theft of the card through the use of an activation code thereon.

At present, greeting cards are purchased, and gift cards are purchased. Heretofore a person purchasing both would typically have to go to two different sources to obtain both the greeting card and gift card, or at the very least would have to make two different purchases.
An additional issue is that a gift card must also be activated prior to its use, requiring an additional step before the customer can make immediate use of the gift card. What is needed is a system that overcomes the above-identified issues. The present invention addresses such a need.

Greeting card system including a window to allow for inventory and activation


The present invention prevents a phenomenon that some electrons emitted from electron sources are charged to partition walls from influencing trajectories of the electrons thus preventing the shortage of excitation of phosphor layers. An image display device includes electron sources to which an electric current is supplied from scanning signal lines by way of current supply electrodes. The image display device also includes partition walls which are arranged on at least some of the scanning signal lines. Further, the current supply electrodes are connected with the electron sources on a downstream side of the scanning signal lines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a self-luminous flat-panel-type image display device, and more particularly to an image display device which arranges thin-film-type electron sources in a matrix array.
2. Description of the Related Art
As one self-luminous flat-panel-type image display (FPD) having electron sources which are arranged in a matrix array, a field emission type image display device (FED: Field Emission Display) which uses minute integrative cold cathodes and an electron emission type image display device have been known. As the cold cathode, there have been known a thin-film-type electron source such as a Spint-type electron source, a surface-conducive-type electron source, a carbon-nanotube-type electron source, an MIM (Metal-Insulator-Metal) type electron source which is formed by stacking a metal layer, an insulator and a metal layer in this order, or an MIS (metal-insulator-semiconductor) type electron source which is formed by stacking a metal layer, an insulator and a metal layer in this order or a metal-insulator-semiconductor-metal type electron source.
With respect to the MIM type electron emission element, for example, electron emission elements which are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Hei7(1995)-65710 (patent literature 1) and Japanese Patent Laid-open Hei10(1998)-153979 (patent literature 2) have been known. Further, as the metal-insulator-semiconductor-type electron sources, there have been known the MOS-type electron sources which are reported in J. Vac. Sci. Techonol. B11(2) p. 429-432 (1993) (non-patent literature 1). With respect to the metal-insulator-semiconductor-metal-type electron sources, there have been known HEED-type electron sources which are reported in "High-efficiency-electro-emission device, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. Vol 36, pL 939" (non-patent literature 2), EL-type electron sources which are reported in "Electroluminescence, Applied Physics vol 63, No. 6, p. 592" (non-patent literature 3) or the like, porous-silicon-type electron sources which are reported in "Applied Physics vol 66, No. 5, p. 437" (non-patent literature 4)
The self-luminous-type FPD includes a display panel which is constituted of a back panel which is provided with the above-mentioned electron sources, a face panel which is provided with phosphor layers and an anode to which an accelerating voltage for allowing electrons emitted from an electron source to impinge on the phosphor layers is applied, and a sealing frame which seals an inner space defined between both facing panels into a given vacuum state. The back panel includes the above-mentioned electron sources formed on the back substrate, while the face panel includes the phosphor layers formed on a face substrate and the anode to which the accelerating voltage for forming an electric field which allows the electrons emitted from the electron sources to impinge on the phosphor layer is supplied. By combining driving circuits to the display panel, the self-luminous-type FPD is constituted.
Each electron source constitutes a unit pixel by forming a pair with the corresponding phosphor layer. Usually, one pixel (color pixel) is constituted of unit pixels of three colors consisting of red (R), green (G), blue (B). Here, in case of the color pixels, the unit pixel is also referred to as a sub pixel.
A distance between the back panel and the face panel is held at a given interval using members referred to as partition walls. The partition walls are formed of a plate-like body which is made of an insulating material such as glass, ceramics or a material having conductivity to some extent. Usually, the partition walls are mounted for every plurality of pixels at positions which do not obstruct the operation of the pixels.


An inhalation device for delivering doses of medicament to a user comprising: —a canister (5), said canister being adapted to accommodate the medicament to be dispensed to a user, and —a counter (15) which is connected to the canister (5). According to the invention —the canister (5) is adapted to receive the counter (15) on a base end (6a), —the counter and/or the canister further having contact parts (18, 20) for their attachment having means for increasing the friction and thereby allowing the counter to fixedly be attached onto the canister in a range of different positions in the lengthwise direction, —the counter further being adapted to during the process to assemble the counter to the canister, be urged onto the canister until the length of the counter and canister together is within a predefined tolerance of a predefined length.

Inhalers are commonly used for delivery of a wide range of medicaments. The inhaler holds a canister of medicament, the canister being actuated by compression to deliver a dose of medicament through a mouthpiece to a user.
Canisters for holding a suspension or solution of a pharmaceutical substance in a propellant under pressure are well known. One such known canister to be used in an inhalation device comprises a can coupled with a valve. The valve consists of a body comprising a chamber, a valve stem (which extends from a head of the body) and a metering chamber, selectively communicable by the valve stem to the atmosphere via an L-shaped conduit within the valve body. The valve stem is axially displaceable between a first, extended position in which the metering chamber, and hence the canister, is closed to the atmosphere (since the L-shaped conduit is disposed wholly outside the metering chamber), and a second, depressed position, in which the metering chamber is in open communication with the outlet provided by the L-shaped conduit in the valve stem and through which a metered dose of propellant containing pharmaceutical substance is delivered. The valve stem is inserted into a stem body component, which is part of the mouthpiece and housing of the device. The patient applies a compressive force between the base of the canister, held in an inverted position in the housing, and the stem body which forces the valve stem into the canister. When the valve stem has been depressed sufficiently to open the metering channel, the inhaler will discharge a single dose. This is known as the firing point. This technology is well known and described in many parts of the prior art. For example in Respiratory Drug delivery, Ed Peter Byron, CRC press, 1991, and in Lung Biology in Health and Disease, Vol 94, Inhalation Aerosols, A J Hickey, Publisher Marcel Decker, 1996 and in Pharmaceutical Preformulation and Formulation, Ed Mark Gibson, Chapter 10, Inhalation Dosage Forms, IHS Health Group, 2001.
It is important for the patient to be able to ascertain the level of medicament remaining in the canister. This requirement is met by the use of a dose counter accessory either attached to or part of the inhaler device. It is obvious that this counter must be accurate in that over-counting results in medicament being left in the inhaler unnecessarily resulting in more repeat prescribing with their resultant costs and inconvenience to patient. It also means that in an emergency situation the patient may not use the inhaler in the belief that it is empty when it is not. Conversely, undercounting could result in the inhaler being empty of medicament before the patient has a replacement, which could be dangerous for the patient and reduce patient compliance. Regulatory guidelines require the over and undercounting errors to be minimised.
An inhaler traditionally contains from 120 to 200 doses (shots) so any counter must be reliable, accurate and easy to read. There are many examples of dose counters in the prior art, some located near the valve region of the canister and some attached to the base of the canister which due to the fact that the canister is in an inverted position in the inhaler mouthpiece means that the counter is on the top of the assembled inhaler and can be easily viewed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,627 a dose counter attached to the base of the actuator is described. The counter measures the displacement of the top of the canister relative to the valve stem. The counter is not attached to the canister and therefore a problem is that the user can swap canisters between actuators and that would cause the indicator of the counter to display the incorrect number of doses remaining in the canister. Furthermore a problem with the inhalation device according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,627 is that the actuator and counter assembly are difficult to clean and are vulnerable to damage with water and cleaning products.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,822 a counter attached to the base of the canister, i.e. on the top of the inhalation device, is disclosed. One embodiment of this inhalation device measures the displacement of the canister base relative to the actuator body. A problem with the counter disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,822 is miscounting since the counter relies on the displacement of the canister and the canister length due to manufacturing variables is a length with a variable tolerance. A large tolerance of the canister length has the potential to cause miscounting.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,358 a counter attached to the base of the canister is disclosed where the counter counts when a certain force is reached. The counter is attached to the canister but does not require alignment with the actuator body since it relies on the force of the spring in the counter mechanism being less than the force of the spring in the metering valve, such that the counting occurs before firing. A problem with such a counter is that the force of the counting spring and the metering valve need to be accurately controlled, and may vary with use.
However positioning the counter on the base of the canister would be preferred since the visibility of the counter would be good and furthermore the counter could be securely fixed to the canister.
In this text we will refer to a fire point, which is the amount of compression of the canister that is necessary for delivering a dose of medicament and a count point, which is the amount of compression of the canister that is necessary for affecting the counter to count one dose.

Inhalation device and a method for assembling said inhalation device


A method of the present disclosure includes performing, by a processing device, a first image registration between a reference image of a patient and a motion image of the patient to perform alignment between the reference image and the motion image, wherein the reference image and the motion image include a target position of the patient. The method further includes performing, by the processing device, a second image registration between the reference image and a motion x-ray image of the patient, via a first digitally reconstructed radiograph (DRR) for the reference image of the patient. The method further includes tracking at least a translational change in the target position based on the first registration and the second registration.

Image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) uses images, such as treatment planning images obtained prior to radiation delivery or intra-treatment images obtain during treatment delivery, to identify the location of a treatment target (either directly or relative to a known structure within the body of a patient) within a treatment room reference frame relative to a treatment planning image reference frame. In IGRT, challenges arise when attempting to locate a target region (or a structure) within the body of the patient that moves, either just prior to, or during the course of radiation treatment, from its location within the body when the treatment planning image was acquired. Image registration provides the ability to locate a target region within the body by comparing the image content between two or more images.

Image registration of treatment planning image, intrafraction 3D image, and intrafraction 2D x-ray image


An improved mounting and housing of edge connector assemblies used in conjunction with printed circuit boards, which improvement combines the advantages of a flexible cable connector in accommodating any desired locations of the male prongs of the disk drive or another computer peripheral such or a tape drive, floppy drive, optical drive, etc. with the edge connector advantages of easy slidable connecting motion and elimination of the problem of plugging in the connector backwards. A pair of spaced apart elongated slots are formed in the test printed circuit board adjacent one edge of the board. Two edge connectors are supported by two separate frame members with one edge connector in the first frame member and the second edge connector in the second frame member, and the first frame member and edge connector supported therein is slidably attached at any given location along the length of one of the slots while the second frame member and edge connector supported therein is slidably attached at any given location along the length of the other slot. Then the two frame members and edge connectors supported therein can be moved to any desired location along the length of their respective slots to thereby accommodate the locations of the pair of mating male prongs of the disk drive to be tested.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in the mounting and housing of edge connector assemblies used in conjunction with printed circuit boards. The edge connector is used to connect a disk drive, or another computer peripheral such as a tape drive, floppy drive, optical drive, etc. to the printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When testing and preparing a disk drive prior to final assembly, it is necessary to plug the disk drive into a test system. In the prior art, two conventional plug in assemblies are used. The most common assembly is a flexible cable which has a mating female plug member at one end to accommodate the male fingers from the disk drive and a PC joining plug at the other end of the cable to plug into the printed circuit board in the computer. While the flexible cable provides a flexible connector assembly to accommodate various disk drives, it also presents several problems. First, when testing a lot of disk drives, the constant motion of plugging the flexible cable into one drive after another creates a substantial possibility of damaging the cables or the mating prongs or pins on the disk drives. In addition, a second problem is the likelihood that the cable will be plugged in backwards, causing faulty readings and possible power shortages. Plugging in the cable backwards may also damage the disk drive or the computer printed circuit board.
Another common assembly is a fixed edge connector which is attached to the test printed circuit board at a location adjacent one edge, with the mating female openings aligned with the edge and ready to receive the male prongs or pins from the disk drive. This method of connection is a substantial improvement over the flexible cable because it allows for a simple sliding motion of the male prongs of the disk drive into the female openings of the edge connector, thereby substantially reducing the possibility of damaging either the edge connector or the disk drive prongs. It also eliminates the possibility of plugging in the edge connector backwards into the disk drive. One drawback with the fixed edge connector is that the location of the mating male prongs on the disk drive are not always the same from one drive to the next. With the flexible cable this is not a problem because the connector member of the cable can be easily moved to the location of the mating male prongs of the disk drive. With a fixed pair of edge connectors, such movement is not possible. A typical test printed circuit board has two spaced apart edge connectors, which utilizes any combination of two from 20, 34 and 50 pin connectors. Since the mating prongs of different disk drives are spaced at different locations, the prongs from one disk drive may be accommodated in a given test printed circuit board with two fixed edge connectors which pin size matches the prongs from the disk drive. Therefore, it is necessary to have a multiplicity of different test printed circuit boards with the various combinations of correct pin numbers and spaced apart location of the two edge connectors to accommodate the various disk drive prong configurations.
Therefore, a significant need exists for a connector assembly which combines the advantages of a flexible cable connector in accommodating any desired locations of the male prongs of the disk drive with the edge connector advantages of easy slidable connecting motion and elimination of the problem of plugging in the connector backwards.

Specialized frame for retaining an edge connector on a printed circuit board


In an approach to analyzing a path on a graph, a computer receives a graph comprising a plurality of vertices and edges, each edge linking two vertices. The computer, for each one of said plurality of vertices, analyzes edges linked to said one of plurality of vertices to determine a number of outbound links from said one of plurality of vertices, orders said edges, and assigns a value to each ordered edge. The computer, for the graph, receives a path comprising a plurality of edges linking two of said plurality of vertices through at least one other of said plurality of vertices, encodes said path, the encoding using said number of outbound links and said assigned values of each of said one or more edges linking said two of said plurality of vertices, compresses the encoded path, and analyzes said path on said graph using said compressed, encoded path.

The present invention relates to data compression, and more specifically to path compression of a network graph by encoding hops within a path.
Data compression is a technique used ubiquitously across many domains in computing, in order to optimize the storage or network requirements for a given system. In lossless compression, the original message can be perfectly reconstructed (decompressed) from the compressed version of the message. The most commonly used compressors work by removing redundancy in data by exploiting the patterns that appear within it. The extent they can do this is fundamentally limited by the data's predictability; a measure of its entropy. Many domain-specific compression algorithms are in use which make assumptions about the underlying data to improve compression performance JPEG, GIF, PNG (image compression formats) and MP3, FLAC (audio compression formats) are examples of both lossless and lossy domain-specific algorithms that make such assumptions.
Many analytical problems can be modelled as the interacting nodes of a graph. One of the most common structures of practical use in graph analytics is the path. While graph compression is a very active area of research, and specialized compression techniques have been devised to aid in the storage, transmission and computation of data on a variety of graph problems, known graph compression techniques do not address compression of paths within a graph.
Delta encoding within the context of graphs has been tried, but delta encoding has not been applied so as to incorporate the actual structure (connectivity of nodes) of the graph itself.

International Business Machines Corporation


An array substrate for a fringe field switching mode liquid crystal display device includes a plurality of gate lines on a substrate; a gate insulating layer on the plurality of gate lines; a plurality of data lines crossing the plurality of gate lines to define a plurality of pixel regions; a thin film transistor electrically connected to the gate and data lines in each pixel region; a pixel electrode having a plate shape in each pixel region, and connected to a portion of the thin film transistor; a first passivation layer on the pixel electrode and over the thin film transistor; and a common electrode on the first passivation layer and having a plurality of openings of a bar shape in each pixel region, wherein a center portion of each opening overlaps the pixel electrode, and both ends along a major axis of each opening protrude beyond the pixel electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fringe field switching (FFS) mode liquid crystal display (LCD) device, and more particularly, to an array substrate for an FFS mode LCD device capable of improving transmittance and aperture ratio and an FFS mode LCD device including the array substrate. The FFS mode LCD device can display a high quality image.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A related art liquid crystal display (LCD) device uses optical anisotropy and polarization properties of liquid crystal molecules. The liquid crystal molecules have a definite alignment direction as a result of their thin and long shapes. The alignment direction of the liquid crystal molecules can be controlled by application of an electric field across the liquid crystal molecules. As the intensity or direction of the electric field is changed, the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules also changes. Since incident light is refracted based on the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules due to the optical anisotropy of the liquid crystal molecules, images can be displayed by controlling light transmissivity.
Since the LCD device including a thin film transistor (TFT) as a switching element, referred to as an active matrix LCD (AM-LCD) device, has excellent characteristics such as high resolution and display of moving images, the AM-LCD device has been widely used.
The AM-LCD device includes an array substrate, a color filter substrate and a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween. The array substrate may include a pixel electrode and TFT, and the color filter substrate may include a color filter layer and a common electrode. The AM-LCD device is driven by an electric field between the pixel electrode and the common electrode resulting in excellent properties of transmittance and aperture ratio. However, since the AM-LCD device uses a vertical electric field, the AM-LCD device has a bad viewing angle.
An in-plane switching (IPS) mode LCD device may be used to resolve the above-mentioned limitations. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the related art IPS mode LCD device. As shown in FIG. 1, the array substrate and the color filter substrate are separated and face each other. The array substrate includes a first substrate 10, a common electrode 17 and a pixel electrode 30. Though not shown, the array substrate may include a TFT, a gate line, a data line, for example. The color filter substrate includes a second substrate 9, a color filter layer (not shown), for example. A liquid crystal layer 11 is interposed between the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 9. Since the common electrode 17 and the pixel electrode are formed on the first substrate 10 on the same level, a horizontal electric field "L" is generated between the common and pixel electrodes 17 and 30.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views showing turned on/off conditions of the related art IPS mode LCD device. As shown in FIG. 2A, when the voltage is applied to the IPS mode LCD device, liquid crystal molecules 11a above the common electrode 17 and the pixel electrode 30 are unchanged. But, liquid crystal molecules 11b between the common electrode 17 and the pixel electrode 30 are horizontally arranged due to the horizontal electric field "L". Since the liquid crystal molecules are arranged by the horizontal electric field, the IPS mode LCD device has a characteristic of a wide viewing angle. FIG. 2B shows a condition when the voltage is not applied to the IPS mode LCD device. Because an electric field is not generated between the common and pixel electrodes 17 and 30, the arrangement of liquid crystal molecules 11 is not changed. However, the IPS mode LCD device has poor aperture ratio and transmittance.
A fringe field switching (FFS) mode LCD device has been introduced to resolve the above-mentioned limitations. In the FFS mode LCD device, the liquid crystal molecules are driven by a fringe field.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of an array substrate for the related art FFS mode LCD device. As shown in FIG. 3, an array substrate includes a substrate 41, a gate line 43, a data line 51, a thin film transistor (TFT) "Tr", a common electrode 75 and a pixel electrode 60. The gate line 43 and the data line 51 are formed on the substrate 41 and cross each other to define a pixel region "P". The gate line 43 is insulated from the data line 51 due to a gate insulating layer (not shown). The TFT "Tr" is formed in each pixel region "P" and connected to the gate and data lines 43 and 51. The TFT "Tr" includes a gate electrode 45, the gate insulating layer, a semiconductor layer (not shown), a source electrode 55 and a drain electrode 58. The gate electrode 45 is connected to the gate line 43, and the source electrode 55 is connected to the data line 51.
The pixel electrode 60 is formed in each pixel region "P". The pixel electrode 60 is electrically connected to the drain electrode 58 of the TFT "Tr" through a drain contact hole 59. The pixel electrode 60 has a plate shape and includes a plurality of openings "op". Each of the openings "op" has a bar shape. In addition, the common electrode 75 having a plate shape is formed on an entire surface of a display region of the substrate 41. The common electrode 75 overlaps the pixel electrode 60. Although the common electrode 75 is formed on an entire surface of the display region of the substrate 41, the common electrode 75 corresponding to one pixel region "P" is marked by a dot-line.
In the array substrate for the FFS mode LCD device having the above structure, when voltages are applied to the common electrode 75 and the pixel electrodes 60, a fringe field is induced between the pixel and common electrodes 60 and 75.
In the above array substrate for the FFS mode LCD device, the openings "op" of the pixel electrode 60 perfectly overlaps the common electrode 75. In this case, an uniform electric field is not generated at both end portions of the opening "op" along a major axis of the opening "op". The end portions, where non-uniform electric field is generated, may be referred to as a disclination area "DA". Namely, the liquid crystal molecules in the disclination area "DA" have non-uniform arrangements. Since the FFS mode LCD device has a less transmittance in the disclination area "DA" than other areas with an ON state, there are dark images in the disclination area "DA", as shown in FIG. 4 showing a picture showing a pixel region of an array substrate for the related art FFS mode LCD device.
The FFS mode LCD device has a decrease of transmittance and displaying quality due to the disclination area.
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the related art FFS mode LCD device. As shown in FIG. 5, the FFS mode LCD device 40 includes a first substrate 42, a second substrate (not shown) and a liquid crystal layer (not shown) interposed therebetween.
On the first substrate 42, a gate line 44, a data line 52, a thin film transistor (TFT) "Tr", a common electrode 76 and a pixel electrode 61 are formed. The gate line 44 and the data line 52 are formed on the first substrate 42 and cross each other to define a pixel region "P". The gate line 44 is insulated from the data line 52 due to a gate insulating layer (not shown). The TFT "Tr" is formed in each pixel region "P" and connected to the gate and data lines 44 and 52. The TFT "Tr" includes a gate electrode 46, the gate insulating layer, a semiconductor layer (not shown), a source electrode 56 and a drain electrode 59. The gate electrode 46 is connected to the gate line 44, and the source electrode 56 is connected to the data line 52.
The pixel electrode 61 is formed in each pixel region "P". The pixel electrode 61 is electrically connected to the drain electrode 59 of the TFT "Tr". The pixel electrode 61 has a plate shape and includes a plurality of openings "op". Each of the openings "op" has a bar shape. The pixel electrode 61 is disposed inside of the pixel region "P". Namely, the pixel electrode 61 does not overlap the gate and data lines 44 and 52 and is spaced apart from the gate and data lines 44 and 52 by a predetermined distance. The reason why the pixel electrode does not overlap the gate and data lines 44 and 52 is that there is a parasitic capacitance between the gate line 44 the pixel electrode 61 and between the data line 52 and the pixel electrode 61 such that a distortion in an electrical field is generated when the pixel electrode overlaps the gate and data lines 44 and 52 with the gate insulating layer (not shown) therebetween. Accordingly, to prevent these problems, the pixel electrode does not overlap the gate and data lines 44 and 52.
In addition, the common electrode 76 having a plate shape is formed on an entire surface of a display region of the first substrate 42. The common electrode 76 overlaps the pixel electrode 61. Although the common electrode 76 is formed on an entire surface of the display region of the first substrate 42, the common electrode 76 corresponding to one pixel region "P" is marked by a dot-line. The first substrate 42, where the gate line 44, the data line 52, the TFT "Tr", the pixel electrode 61 and the common electrode 76 are formed, may be referred to as an array substrate.
In the array substrate for the FFS mode LCD device having the above structure, when voltages are applied to the common electrode 76 and the pixel electrodes 61, a fringe field is induced between the pixel and common electrodes 61 and 76.
On the second substrate (not shown) facing the first substrate 42, a color filter layer (not shown) and a black matrix 85 are formed. The color filter layer includes color filter patterns of red, green and blue colors. The color filter patterns correspond to the pixel region "P". The black matrix 85 is disposed to correspond to boundaries of the pixel region "P". Namely, the black matrix 85 corresponds to the gate line 44, the data line 52 and the TFT "Tr".
In the above array substrate for the FFS mode LCD device, the openings "op" of the pixel electrode 60 perfectly overlaps the common electrode 75. In this case, an uniform electric field is not generated at both end portions of the opening "op" along a major axis of the opening "op". The end portions, where non-uniform electric field is generated, may be referred to as a disclination area "DA". Namely, the liquid crystal molecules in the disclination area "DA" have non-uniform arrangements. Since the FFS mode LCD device has a less transmittance in the disclination area "DA" than other areas with an ON state, there are dark images in the disclination area "DA".
Since light is abnormally transmitted in the disclination area "DA", there is a decrease of displaying quality. Accordingly, the black matrix 85 extends to shield the disclination area "DA". When the black matrix 85 has wider area, there is a decrease in aperture ratio and transmittance.

Array substrate for fringe field switching mode liquid crystal display device and fringe field switching mode liquid crystal display device including the same


A pole module for attachment to one or more adjacent pole modules to provide a pole assembly comprising two or more pole modules is disclosed here. The pole module comprises an elongated body that defines a cavity extending from a first end of the pole module to a second end of the pole module. The pole module further comprises a first installation interface for attaching the first end of the pole module to a second end of a first adjacent pole module and a second installation interface for attaching the second end of the pole module to a first end of a second adjacent pole module. The pole module further comprises a first connection interface and a second connection interface. A cabling arrangement is arranged in the cavity. The cabling arrangement comprises a plurality of cables connecting the first connection interface to the second connection interface.

Many installations of outdoor electrical and/or communication appliances require installation at a certain height from a ground level to ensure or enable their proper operation. Typical examples of such appliances include luminaires for outdoor lighting, transceivers of a telecommunication or broadcasting system, surveillance cameras, sensor devices applied for meteorological measurements, solar panels, etc. While in some cases such appliances can by installed in existing structures such as walls of buildings, in may scenarios their installation at a proper operating height require usage of a pole, a post, a mast, a pylon, a tower or another vertical support structure that enable their positioning at a suitable height with respect to their environment.
Traditionally, vertical support structures of the type discussed above have traditionally served for a single primary purpose (such as outdoor lighting or telecommunications), while the support structure may have found further use as an installation platform for one or two additional electrical and/or communication appliances. Recent developments in the field of telecommunications especially in terms of bandwidth available for data transmission have paved the way also for increased number of services that may make use of such appliances, thereby calling for solutions where such support structures are designed to serve multiple purposes form the outset instead of serving a single primary purpose such as outdoor lighting or telecommunications. Without losing generality, such a vertical structure that enables installation of a plurality of such electrical and/or communication appliances may be referred to as a smart pole.
Due to increase and continuous evolution of various services that may make use of electrical appliances installed in a smart pole, the smart pole is required to accommodate electrical and/or communication appliances of different types in different numbers and to cater for their requirements for power supply and connectivity in a manner that makes it applicable for different usage scenarios.

Pole structure suitable for providing a smart pole


Manufacturing methods for the formation of positive electrodes and the balancing of Coulombic capacities of positive and negative electrodes for use in a heterogeneous electrochemical capacitor (HES) having a PbO2|H2SO4|C system. Exemplary methods make it possible to manufacture capacitors with both non-formed and pre-formed positive electrodes. Capacitors produced by the exemplary methods may be used, for example, as secondary power sources to level loads of power networks, power electric vehicles, cellular and mobile communications, emergency lighting systems, telecommunications, and solar and wind energy storage devices.

Pre-formed, non-polarizable electrodes are commonly used to manufacture different DEL HES', in particular, capacitors having a PbO2|H2SO4|C system. In a HES having a PbO2|H2SO4|C system, use is made of a positive electrode with lead dioxide (PbO2) active material, such as is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,195,252 and 6,842,331. Electrodes with a lead dioxide active material are used as positive electrodes for lead-acid batteries, and are currently manufactured using various methods. A mixture of metal lead (Pb) powders and different lead oxides (Pb3O4 and PbO) are frequently used for the manufacture of positive electrodes with PbO2 active material. A paste is manufactured by mixing powders and an aqueous solution of sulfuric acid. The resulting paste is puttied in a positive electrode grid and then dried. After the electrode is dried it is formed. As a general rule, the amount of lead sulfate (PbSO4) in the dry non-formed active material does not exceed 5%. The formation process makes it possible to oxidize all the active material to a lead dioxide.
Positive electrodes are typically formed by one of two main methods. According to a first method, positive electrode plates are formed in combination with negative electrodes before the associated lead acid battery or HES having a PbO2|H2SO4|C system is formed. In order to manufacture lead-acid batteries, both positive and negative pre-formed electrodes are used. In the manufacture of a HES, pre-formed positive electrodes are used.
According to a second method, positive and negative electrodes are formed after assembly of a battery. The second method is primarily used for the manufacture of advanced lead-acid batteries, and is easier, ecologically safer, and less costly than the first method.
When a formation method for a positive electrode is available, it is possible to use positive electrodes pre-formed and made of lead oxide. However, this method is not optimal, and does not allow for the manufacturing of capacitors with high and stable specific energy, capacity parameters, or improved cost. When a HES with pre-formed positive electrodes is assembled, the positive electrodes are fully charged, while the negative electrodes are fully discharged. To provide for serviceability of a capacitor, both the positive and negative electrodes need to be in a fully charged state. Therefore, when a capacitor is manufactured using formed positive electrodes, an additional process is performed after assembly to balance the Coulombic capacities of the capacitors' positive and negative electrodes.
The technology and process of balancing the Coulombic capacities of capacitor electrodes' depends upon the design and overall dimensions of the electrodes. In addition, known techniques for balancing Coulombic capacities require labor-intensive, costly and long procedures. Because high rates of oxygen recombination are typical of all HES' having an aqueous electrolyte, the process of balancing sealed capacitors becomes more complicated. In particular, a HES having a PbO2|H2SO4|C system where the porous carbon DEL electrode is negative, is quite complicated. High oxygen recombination in the capacitor's negative electrode results in high efficiency of the oxygen cycle and impedes the evolution of oxygen from the capacitor during its charge, which in turn appreciably decreases the efficiency of the balancing process.
In one known method of forming and charging a DEL capacitor negative polarizable carbon electrode, a HES is manufactured using a pre-formed positive electrode with a PbO2/PbSO4 active material and a negative electrode based on activated carbon materials. An aqueous solution of sulfuric acid is used as an electrolyte. The capacitor, prior to its sealing, is placed in a sealed chamber through which an inert gas flow (nitrogen or argon) is circulated. Thereafter, the capacitor is charged. The process of charging the capacitor is complete when the potential of the negative electrode reaches a pre-set value. After the potential reaches this pre-set value, the capacitor is sealed. During the charging phase, the positive electrode generates oxygen, and the negative electrode produces hydrogen. To provide effective removal of hydrogen and oxygen from the capacitor, separators and/or electrodes having extended channels are used.
This method of forming and charging a DEL capacitor negative polarizable carbon electrode has many drawbacks that prevent the manufacture of capacitors with high specific energy parameters and low cost. This method of capacitor manufacturing does not take into account the current state of the art with respect to the manufacture of PbO2/PbSO4 positive electrodes. This omission makes it impossible to manufacture commercial capacitors having wide applications. The aforementioned capacitor design allows for only one plate of the positive electrode to be used; making it impossible to manufacture a capacitor with high capacitance and discharge energy. To manufacture capacitor systems having high discharge energies by this known method, it is required to connect many capacitor cells, which brings about an abrupt deterioration of the specific parameters, an increase in cost and a decrease in the reliability of capacitor system operation.
When capacitors having a PbO2|H2SO4|C system are manufactured as described above, the pre-formed positive electrode is fully charged. However, the negative electrodes are in a discharged state. To provide a functional capacitor after assembly, the Coulombic capacities of the positive and negative electrodes need to be balanced. To make balancing the Coulombic capacities possible, the negative electrode is overcharged. Because the Coulombic capacity of the positive electrode is considerably higher than that of the negative electrode, the process must be repeated several times. This need to repeat the balancing step increases the time and cost of the capacitor manufacturing process.
Since the positive electrodes are in a charged state during the initial stage of the Coulombic capacity balancing step, oxygen is evolved in the positive electrode. The rate of the oxygen evolution increases along with a growth of the positive electrode's state of charge. The oxygen diffuses to the negative electrode and discharges it, which prevents the balancing process. As a result of this discharge, the negative electrode is not fully charged, and the specific energy and capacity parameters of the capacitor do not reach their maximum values. To effectively balance the Coulombic capacities of the positive and negative electrode it is necessary to charge the capacitor under conditions that ensure a full charge of the negative electrode. For a maximum charge of the negative electrodes of a HES, it is necessary to remove the oxygen from the capacitor. The efficiency of the Coulombic capacity balancing process depends upon the efficiency of the oxygen removal. The oxygen removal process is particularly important for capacitors having large electrodes.
According to the previously described known method, the oxygen is removed during the Coulombic capacity balancing process by a flow of inert gas. This method of oxygen removal has several drawbacks. First, an inert gas flow may effectively remove the oxygen only from the periphery of the electrodes. Since the oxygen creates excessive pressure inside the capacitor case, the penetration of the inert gas flow into the central portion of the electrodes is impeded. Even high intensity inert gas flow will not effectively remove oxygen from the central portion of the capacitors. A non-uniform removal of oxygen from the capacitor will result in a non-uniform charge of the negative electrodes.
Therefore, this method of oxygen removal does not provide efficient balancing of electrode capacities across a broad range of capacitor designs and sizes. It may only be effective for capacitors having one positive plate and two negative plates of small dimensions. Additionally, the use of an inert gas flow makes it impossible to perform an effective and uniform removal of oxygen during a Coulombic capacity balancing process. Thus, the use of this known method will result in a strong and non-uniform heating of the capacitor, which will have a negative affect on the parameters of the non-polarized electrodes thereof.
Second, the inert gas may partially fill the pores of DEL capacitor negative electrodes by displacing the electrolyte. As a result, the polarization resistance of the polarizable electrodes may increase while charging the electrodes. Additionally, the potential of DEL capacitor negative electrodes may appreciably shift toward lower values at low levels of charge. Consequently, the manufacturing method described above does not allow for: 1) an accurate and correct determination of the charge of the negative electrode; 2) a full balancing of an electrode's capacities; or 3) a high and maximum specific parameters of a HES.
In order to manufacture capacitors with high specific energy and capacity parameters, activated carbon materials with large, developed areas are frequently used. A large developed surface area may be covered by pores having a diameter of about 0.5-3 nm. Another portion of the surface is covered by pores of small dimension making it difficult to fill with electrolyte. Therefore, the value of the capacitance of activated carbon DEL capacitor polarizable electrodes depends considerably on the rate of the filling of the electrodes' pores by the electrolyte. An effective filling of the polarizable electrodes' pores by the electrolyte is important to provide for maximum energy and capacity parameters and an appropriate balance of the Coulombic capacities. Depending on the parameters of the porous structure and manufacturing process of the DEL capacitor electrodes, the filling of small size pores by the electrolyte may take several days under normal conditions. To speed up this process, different methods of carbon electrode wetting by the electrolyte are employed.
The values of the polarization resistance and potential of DEL capacitor electrodes are related to the filling of the pores by the electrolyte. A partial filling of the pores results in a DEL capacitor electrode having elevated values of the polarization resistance and the potential's polarization. Therefore, during the charge of a HES there occurs a rather strong polarization of the potentials toward the negative area of only the near surface layers of the DEL capacitor negative electrodes, while the deeper layers of the electrodes are charged to a lesser extent. (See, e.g., S. A. Kazaryan et al., J. Electrochem. Soc., 153 (9), A1655-A1671, 2006).
In this case, immediately after the charge current of the capacitors is turned off, the potential of the negative electrodes shift unevenly toward positive values. Due to this effect, there occurs decomposition of the electrolyte and evolution of hydrogen in the capacitor's negative electrode in the area of the potentials of the electrolyte's thermodynamic stability. (See, e.g., B. Pillay and J. Newman, J. Electrochem. Soc., Vol. 143, No 6, 1996). A similar effect takes place when oxygen is removed from capacitors by an inert gas flow. A non-uniform effect of the inert gas on the DEL capacitor electrodes results in uneven distribution of the charge current density and the potential of the electrodes along the surface area and thickness. In the portions of the DEL capacitor electrodes where there is a strong effect of the inert gas, the potential decreases and hydrogen is evolved. The hydrogen displaces the electrolyte from the electrodes' pores. This, in turn, brings about further growth of the polarization resistance of the polarizable electrodes, which has a negative effect on the parameters of the capacitors and the process of balancing the Coulombic capacities.

Method of manufacturing heterogeneous electrochemical capacitors having a double electric layer and of manufacturing and balancing the coulombic capacities of electrodes for use therein


A pallet comprises an upper load supporting surface having a peripheral edge, and a lower surface having a peripheral edge. The lower surface has substantially the same dimensions as the upper load supporting surface. A plurality of peripheral supports are provided at or near the peripheral edge of the lower surface and extend upwardly therefrom to the upper load supporting surface so that the upper load supporting surface and the lower surface are spaced from each other and define sides of the pallet. Each side of the pallet has a first opening and a second opening which are defined by the upper load supporting surface, the lower surface, and a pair of peripheral supports. Inclined surfaces are provided on the lower surface.

This invention relates to a material handling pallet and pallet system. More particularly, the invention is for a pallet and pallet system having structure and features which facilitate easier inventory control, management and movement, as well as the movement of such inventory through various stages, including manufacture, storage and transportation.
Further, the present invention relates to the design and implementation of a material handling accessory, which may be in the form of a pallet and pallet system.


A method and system in accordance with the present invention provides for a method and circuit for oversampling using a delay element in which input clock signals and input data signals are affected by phase and time delays to provide for the circuit generating samples providing a greater granularity of detail over a period, thereby reducing error probabilities.

In signal processing, various timing information, such as frequency, phase, or skew, is often gathered from a signal or series of signals having a sampling frequency higher than the bandwidth or frequency of the sampled signal(s) when oversampling.
By oversampling the incoming data stream, transition locations may be determined, valid data bits extracted and analyzed from the oversampled data, and bit boundaries identified for selecting preferred samples for bit recovery. Operationally, in oversampling, one method is recognized to first provide a common data stream to a plurality of flip-flops, generate multiple phases of a base clock, and provide each of the clock phases to a different flip-flop of the plurality of flip-flops. Oversampling improves the frequency at which the base clock alone would have sampled the data signal as the frequency of the data signal sampled is increased over the base clock frequency alone by the approach. In some oversampling approaches, an oversampling factor is applied which is the number of clock phases used to initiate the oversampling.
However, oversampling, particularly at higher oversampling rates, typically requires the use of multiple clock phases that often consume several digital clock managers (DCMs) and global clock resources. The approach may result in an inefficient use of resources such as where using multiple DCMs may create jitter in output thereby decreasing the precision of the sampling points, for instance. The approach may also create the need for additional clocks thereby creating a complex system requiring complicated data routing and additional system resource demands. Similarly, there are disadvantages such as increase of chip size, increase of current consumption and increase of cost in such traditional approaches.
Similarly, when attempting to increase the number of samples during a signal period for an available input signal, often an approach may include adding more flip-flops and more clock signals. A circuit comprised as such would then oversample an incoming serial data stream (i.e., input signal), evaluating data transition locations such as rising and falling waveforms, and extract data bits from the oversampled data following processing. After which, the oversampled data can then be analyzed to locate bit boundaries. However, while the addition of such may increase the number of samples, it also additionally provides for most cost, complexity and routing in order to maintain timed spacing, where such complexity does not necessarily ensure improved accuracy in all cases.
What is desired is an approach that increases the granularity of sampling within a single clock cycle without increasing the complexity of the addition of complicated resources and routings, thereby traversing the shortcomings of the typical approach and reducing error.
As used herein the terms device, apparatus, system, etc. are intended to be inclusive, interchangeable, and/or synonymous with one another and other similar arrangements and equipment for purposes of the present invention though one will recognize that functionally each may have unique characteristics, functions and/or operations which may be specific to its individual capabilities and/or deployment.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method of and circuit for oversampling a signal in an integrated circuit without added complexity.

Multiple samples with delay in oversampling in phase


A signaling system for detecting power line discontinuity in a power distribution system having a local power generator in a feeder line employs a signal generator that provides a local generator control signal with a preset protocol continuously and is located in the power distribution system upstream of said local power generator. A power detector terminates the local generator control signal and a signal detector in said feeder line detects the presence of the signal and triggers the shutdown of the local generator when the signal is not detected by the signal detector for a predefined period of time.

Distributed generation (DG) refers to the scheme of generating power by a large number of small generators connected at the power distribution system. Most distributed generators hereinafter referred to as Local Generators (LG) use renewable resources such as wind, solar and small hydro for power generation. DG has recently gained a lot of momentum in the power industry due to market deregulation. One of the problems faced by DG industry is to make sure that the LGs work in a safe environment and they can disconnect from the grid if any portion of the power distribution system where the LGs are connected becomes isolated from the main power supply due to, for example, faults. The objective is to protect the LGs and neighboring customers from electrical damage because most LGs cannot regulate voltage and frequency by themselves when operating in an electrical island. The current industry practice is to disconnect all LGs immediately after the occurrence of islands. Typically, a LG should be disconnected within 300 ms to 1 second after loss of main supply (MS) e.g. supply from the main generator (MG) according to prevalent DG interconnection standards. To achieve such a goal, each LG must be equipped with an islanding detection device. The common devices used for this purpose are modified versions of under/over voltage and under/over frequency relays. Representative examples of such relays are the Rate of Change of Frequency Relay (ROCOF) and the Vector Surge Relay (VSR), which is also known as vector shift or voltage jump relay. Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 6,815,932 which presents an improved implementation of the frequency-based islanding detection concept. It is known if the generation and load have a large mismatch in a power system, the frequency of the system will change. In view of the fact that the frequency is constant when the feeder is connected to the distribution system i.e. the MG, it is possible to detect the islanding condition by checking the amount and rate of frequency change. The ROCOF and VSR relays are based on such principles. This is the simplest islanding detection technique. However, it cannot function properly or fast enough if the generation and load mismatch is small. They often result in nuisance trips of LGs as well.
In order to overcome the above problem, active schemes that require a LG to inject small signals (or disturbances) to the system have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,766 proposes to connect a switchable resistor at the LG terminal to disturb the total power output of the LG-resistor set. The degree of resultant power fluctuation is used to detect islanding conditions. U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0098671 A1 proposes to inject voltage or current signals that will be used to determine the impedance of the system connected to the LG. U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0165036A1 lets the LG inject white noise to the supply system for islanding detection. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,219,623B1, 6,810,339B2, 6,172,899B1 proposes to shift the frequency or voltage of the LG as a disturbance. The shift is controlled in such a way as to result in a positive feedback to the frequency, which will make it easier to detect islanding conditions using frequency-based concepts. All of the above active methods suffer one common drawback, which is the interaction among the signals injected by different LGs. The interactions will degrade the quality of the signals, leading to less reliable detection of islanding conditions. Another problem faced by these methods is that some of the schemes, such as the positive feedback schemes, can only be implemented on inverter-based local generators.
In addition to the above local information based islanding detection schemes, techniques that use telecommunication means to trip islanded LGs have been used in industry. With this 'transfer-trip' scheme, each LG is equipped with a cellular phone like receiver. The isolating breakers each has a transmitter that sends a trip signal to the LG receivers if it opens. With current telecomm technologies, there is no major technical problem to do so. The problem is the cost and complexity. Firstly, it is expensive for areas that are not covered by radio communications. Secondly each breaker needs a transmitter and there could be several of them between the LG and the substation or MS. Thirdly, some of breakers need to be reconfigured and equipped with the capability of interfacing with the signal transmitter.
Fourthly, feeder segments including their LGs could be reconnected to a different system due to the practice of feeder reconfiguration. In this case, An LG signal receiver must have the capability to decide which signal transmitters it should listen to.
In summary, as more and more distributed generators are added to utility systems, it is highly desirable to have a reliable and low cost islanding detection technique. This is especially true for the synchronous machine based local generators.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,340,880 and 4,658,238 disclose a method of transmitting intelligence signals over the power transmission lines by adding at intervals a signal wave form to a carrier wave form to produce a composite wave form and the added signal wave form and on the carrier wave form and the intervals there between are detected and used to aid in deciphering the information being transmitted

Power signaling based technique for detecting islanding conditions in electric power distribution systems


A hydro-pneumatic pressure vessel includes a container unit, a connector unit and a protecting unit. The container unit includes an elastic diaphragm dividing an inner space of the container unit into a water chamber and an air chamber. The connector unit includes a water fitting connected to the container unit and formed with a water port. The protecting unit includes a protecting member and a resilient connecting member interconnecting the water fitting and the protecting member. The protecting member is movable from an open position to a blocked position for blocking the water port so as to prevent the diaphragm from being squeezed by an air pressure of the air chamber into the water port.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a pressure vessel, more particularly to a hydro-pneumatic pressure vessel with a protecting unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hydro-pneumatic pressure vessels are at present widely used in industrial and residential pump piping system, for example, for stabilizing water pressure and absorbing water hammers.
The basic configuration of a hydro-pneumatic pressure vessel includes a first vessel, a second vessel coupled to the first vessel and an elastic diaphragm that is made of rubber and that is disposed for dividing an inner space in the first and second vessels into a water chamber and an air chamber. A water fitting and an air valve are provided respectively on the first and second vessels to communicate fluidly and respectively the water chamber and the air chamber. Hydro-pneumatic pressure vessels with such configuration are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,192,350, 4,351,363, 4,723,577, 4,784,181, etc. In the above, the diaphragm illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,181 is a bladder-type diaphragm.
When the water pressure drops suddenly, the diaphragm may be pushed toward the water fitting by the pressure inside the air chamber. Consequently, a portion of the diaphragm may be damaged due to being squeezed into a water ports of the water fitting. To alleviate the damage, some solutions are disclosed in the present art. For example, in a first solution, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,192,350 and 4,351,363, a metal block is embedded in the portion of the diaphragm that would be drawn to the water port during the deformation of the diaphragm. In a second solution, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,577, the thickness of the portion of the diaphragm is increased. In a third solution, as shown in FIG. 1, another conventional pressure vessel has the water fitting 101 welded to a plate 105 formed with a plurality of small holes 102. The water chamber 103 communicates with the water fitting 101 via the small holes 102, while the diaphragm 104 can be blocked by the plate 105.
The above-mentioned solutions have a favorable effect in a hydro-pneumatic pressure vessel having an air pressure in the air chamber under 16 kg/cm2. However, when the hydro-pneumatic pressure vessel is used in skyscrapers, the air pressure must be enhanced to 25 kg/cm2 or higher for the practical necessity. As a result, all the above mentioned solutions can hardly attain the effect as in a lower pressure application. In the first solution, the connection between the rigid metal block and the elastic diaphragm may be affected under such high pressure. In the second solution, the portion of the diaphragm may be damaged. In the third solution, the diaphragm 104 may be squeezed into the small holes 102.


A powder, such as an abrasive powder, is delivered from a pressure vessel having an outlet in the floor communicating with a flow of pressurized gas. A container of the particulate material is located within the pressure vessel and has an outlet to dispense small portions of the particulate material. The material in the container is at substantially the same pressure as that in the pressure vessel itself.

The invention relates to a pneumatic device arranged to deliver a particulate material. One illustrative example of the device is to pneumatically deliver abrasive or polishing dental powder material. More particularly but not exclusively the invention is useful in so-called micro-airabrasion e.g. in dentistry.
It is one object of the invention to provide a device for this purpose which is clean and reliable and easy to maintain.
According to the invention in one aspect there is provided apparatus for pneumatically delivering particulate material, the apparatus comprising a pressure vessel having an outlet in the floor communicating with a flow of pressurised gas; a container for the particulate material to be delivered, the container being located in the vessel above the floor and having an outlet located to supply a small amount of particulate material to the outlet in the vessel floor; the container being arranged so that the material in the container is at substantially the same pressure as in the remainder of the vessel; and means for supplying pressurised gas in the vessel whereby the material is delivered via the vessel outlet at substantially uniform pressure.
Preferably the container is mounted within the vessel so that it may be surrounded by pressurised gas and the particulate material in the container is at substantially uniform gas pressure throughout its height. Most preferably the container is replaceable, and provided as an accessory. This can be sealed to avoid the risk of contamination before installation in the vessel.
Preferably at least the upper part of the container has translucent or transparent walls. When the container is mounted in a pressure vessel which protrudes above a housing the operator, e.g. a dentist, can easily see the level of material in the container.
Preferably the vessel is vibrated by a motor. Preferably the apparatus includes at least one switch arranged to energise or de-energise the motor in synchronism with the supply of pressurised gas.
Preferably the access to the interior of the vessel is via a top cap which has a pressure resistant seal, for example by a bayonet fitting arrangement.
In another aspect the invention provides a method of delivering particulate material pneumatically, the method comprising locating a container of the particulate material in a pressure vessel having an outlet in the floor, the outlet communicating with a flow of pressurised gas, the container having an outlet arranged to deliver a small amount of the particulate material to the vessel outlet; and supplying pressurised gas into the vessel to entrain particulate material from the container and substantially maintain pressurised gas in the vessel and one the particulate material in the container, whereby the material is delivered via the vessel outlet at substantially uniform pressure.
In another aspect, the invention provides a container for use in apparatus as defined, the container housing the particulate material, and having an exit port in the floor above a platform which together define an open sided chamber, the chamber being releasably sealed by a stopper, the top of the container also having a releasable seal.


A method is provided for modifying an image. The method comprises displaying an image, the image comprising a portion of an object; and determining if an edge of the object is in a location within the portion. The method further comprises detecting movement, in a member direction, of an operating member with respect to the edge. The method still further comprises moving, if the edge is not in the location, the object in an object direction corresponding to the detected movement; and modifying, if the edge is in the location, the image in response to the detected movement, the modified image comprising the edge in the location.

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program.
In recent years, a touch panel which can detect contact with an operating object has been in widespread use. Since such a touch panel can detect a position at which the operating object comes into contact, a user can perceive the position at which the operating object comes into contact (for example, refer to JP 2010-157189A).
Further, a touch panel which can detect proximity of the operating object thereto has also been in widespread use. Since such a touch panel can detect a position to which the operating object comes close, the user can grasp the position to which the operating object comes close.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program


A handheld device includes a housing and a keypad assembly configured within the housing. The keypad assembly includes one or more groups of keys configured for movable positioning between a first orientation in which a top surface of an individual key is exposed to a user, and a second orientation in which the top surface of the key pivotally retracts into the housing so as to expose an edge surface of the key.

The present invention relates generally to handheld device technologies and, more particularly, to a handheld device having a pivotally retractable keypad assembly.
Keyboards and keypads are used on a wide variety of handheld devices such as, for example, telephones, mobile communication devices, remote control devices, and the like. The size of keyboards has continued to shrink over time as newer and smaller handheld devices become popular. As the size of such handheld devices has decreased, the more important it has become to utilize the entire keyboard surface as efficiently as possible.
In addition to traditional numerical keypads used for dialing a telephone number, next generation smart phones and mobile computing devices for example may also include additional interfaces such as touch screen or form factor QWERTY keypads to facilitate text messaging, e-mailing, web browsing and other functions. One such configuration may be the so-called slider phone that includes a sliding cover that may be opened to expose the additional keyboard for increased text input functionality. In devices like this (or with other folding or clamshell style devices), a significant amount of internal device real estate is reserved to accommodate the keypad and associated mechanism. This in turn results in a larger or thicker housing that is not as desirable as a thinner, albeit less functional, alternative.

Handheld device having pivotally retractable keypad assembly


The present invention relates to an antenna arrangement for a portable radio communication device, such as a mobile phone, including RF circuitry and a portable radio communication device comprising such an antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement is characterized in that a first connection portion (17; 25) of an antenna element (10) extends in a first direction in a plane defined by the substantially planar antenna element (10) and a second connection portion (18; 26) of the antenna element (10) extends in a second direction opposite said first direction, such that the sum of said extensions is constant.

As portable radio communication devices, such as mobile phones, become smaller the electronic components contained within the devices, e.g. the antennas, will also need to be smaller. The electrical connections between these components are realized by means of connectors, which should provide good and well-defined electrical contact between the components and which should be insensitive to small variations in manufacturing dimensions and in the mounting process.
Therefore, an elastic type or a spring type of connector is becoming increasingly attractive for small components. Such connectors are known to provide reliable electrical connection between components. Spring features of a connector provide a well-defined contact and the flexibility to avoid tolerances build up when manufacturing dimensions are not all perfectly exact. The compliance is also needed to accommodate departures from planarity as is common in high volume manufacturing processes where contact pads may not be exactly planar.
The conventional method of electrically connecting an electronic component, being of a miniature size, is to interpose, between the electronic component and a printed circuit board, an electrical connector such as a spring-loaded contact, such as a pogo pin.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2004/0051673 an antenna arrangement is disclosed utilizing e.g. pogo pins to connect an antenna element to a PCB. Such an antenna arrangement of the above-mentioned US patent application is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The antenna arrangement comprises an antenna element 1 supported by a support structure 2. The support structure 2 comprises a first and a second aperture 5 and 6, into which a first and a second connection portion 7 and 8 are positioned. A first and a second connection device 3 and 4, such as pogo pins, are arranged in the apertures 5 and 6 to fixate the connection portions 7 and 8 to the support structure 2.
A problem with the antenna arrangement disclosed in the above-mentioned US patent application is illustrated in FIGS. 3-5. FIG. 3 illustrate the two apertures 5 and 6, for simplicity positioned adjacent each other. When the antenna element 1 is mounted in a correct position on the support structure 2 the connection portions 7 and 8 have a desired length extending in the plane of the antenna element 1, as illustrated in FIG. 3. When the antenna element 1 is mounted in a position displaced from the correct position the length of the connection portions 7 and 8 extending in the plane of the antenna element 1 either is increased or decreased as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 respectively. Such mounting deviations result in that the resonance frequency/frequencies for the antenna arrangement is/are spread from the desired resonance frequency/frequencies, which is not desirable.

Antenna arrangement for a portable radio communication device, and a portable radio communication device comprising such an antenna arrangement


A drainage device is provided for a motor vehicle, which serves for discharging liquid out of the water box of a motor vehicle. The drainage device includes, but is not limited to a line portion, which is at least partially incorporated in an insulating structure for the front wall of the motor vehicle. A motor vehicle is also provided with a water box and a drainage device that is fluidically connected to the water box.

Motor vehicles usually comprise a water box, which is arranged below the windshield and serves for collecting the liquid striking the windshield. The liquid collected in the water box is usually discharged downwards on the vehicle with a drain. However, in the case of motor vehicles up to now the drain is relatively voluminous.
Therefore, at least one object is to provide a drainage device for discharging liquid out of the water box of a motor vehicle with the features mentioned at the outset, which can be space-savingly integrated in the motor vehicle.

Drainage device for discharging liquid out of the water box of a motor vehicle


A gas measurement system is provided that includes a mechanism for customizing gas supplied to the system. The system further includes a plurality of test locations that can be serviced by a common vessel portion and common sampling and testing infrastructure. The system further includes a controller that is able to control the customization of the supply gas and the location of the common vessel portion.

Gas exchange chambers are used to monitor static states of plants and the composition of the immediately surrounding air once plants are allowed to exchange gasses with supplied ambient air.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an open gas exchange measuring system is disclosed including: a controller; a test chamber; a customizable gas source that provides gas to the test chamber, the gas source being controlled by the controller, the controller providing for customizing characteristics of the gas provided to the test chamber as desired; and a measuring device.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a gas measuring system is disclosed including: a controller; a gas source; a measuring device; a plurality of fixed lower test chamber portions, each lower test chamber portion having a position suitable for receiving a test subject, and a moveable upper test chamber portion. The moveable upper portion being sealable to each of the plurality of lower test chambers; the controller controlling the composition of gas supplied to upper test chamber portion from the gas source, the controller controlling the position of the moveable upper test chamber.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a gas measuring system is provided including: a test chamber; a gas source; a first test chamber portion; a second test chamber portion; a third test chamber portion; and a controller including a data storage member. The data storage member including a plurality of instructions thereon that, when invoked by the controller, cause the system to perform the steps of: placing the second test chamber portion in contact with the first test chamber portion; customizing gas flow from the gas source to the first test chamber portion to provide a first gas to the first test chamber portion via the second test chamber portion, the first gas having a first set of desired customized characteristics; moving the second test chamber out of contact with the first test chamber portion and into contact with the third test chamber portion; and customizing gas flow from the gas source to the to the third test chamber portion to provide a second gas to the third test chamber portion via the second test chamber portion, the second gas having a second set of desired customized characteristics.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.


Layer processing to grow a layer structure upon a substrate surface comprises supplying a vapor mixture stream to the substrate (28) to deposit constituents, monitoring growth with an ellipsometer (12) and using its output in real-time growth control of successive pseudo-layers. A Bayesian algorithm is used to predict a probability density function for pseudo-layer growth parameters from initial surface composition, growth conditions and associated growth probabilities therewith, the function comprising discrete samples. Weights are assigned to the samples representing occurrence likelihoods based on most recent sensor output. A subset of the samples is chosen with selection likelihood weighted in favor of samples with greater weights. The subset provides a subsequent predicted probability density function and associated pseudo-layer growth parameters for growth control, and becomes a predicted probability density function for a further iteration of pseudo-layer growth.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to layer processing and to a method and a system therefor, and more particularly (although not exclusively) to such a method and system for processing semiconductor material layers.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
In techniques for processing materials in thin layers inter alia for integrated circuits, there is a well-known problem of controlling linear dimensions (eg layer thickness or etch depth) and chemical composition in real time, ie during growth of a layer or while etching a surface. This problem is particularly relevant to growing layers of materials by low pressure vapour phase epitaxy (LPVPE). A degree of control over growth is available by controlling the relative proportions of partial pressures of constituent gases in a LPVPE source gas stream to be decomposed to produce a deposited layer. The prearranged sequence of gas mixtures, substrate temperatures and growth times is included in a growth recipe, the proportions of which should at least approximately be preserved in a layer grown from it. However, in practice there is drift in the calibration of gas flow control apparatus, which means growth diverges from the prearranged recipe, and the composition of a growing layer can alter unless there is some means for monitoring and controlling the layer composition and thickness in real time. Unfortunately it is not possible to make direct measurements of the parameters of layer thickness and chemical composition in real time during growth. To do so it is necessary to interrupt growth of a specimen and remove it from growth apparatus, which is most unattractive because it is time consuming, it interrupts the growth process and it may contaminate the layer being grown.
As a partial and indirect approach to solving the problem of monitoring chemical composition and linear dimensions in real time, it is known to use spectroscopic ellipsometry. Ellipsometry can be used for measurements on a growing specimen or a specimen being etched, but it does not give the necessary composition and thickness information directly. It uses reflection of light from a specimen surface to give optical parameters, but these involve a convolution of dimensions and refractive index which cannot be separated. This problem occurs in the growth of alloys such as silicon germanium alloy (Si1xe2x88x92xGex), where it is important to have accurate control over the alloy composition parameter x as well as layer thickness. It is particularly important in the growth of superlattices where the composition parameter x in a material system such as Si1xe2x88x92xGex alternates between successive layers in the region of eg 100 Angstroms thick.
However, it is possible to infer dimensions and composition from ellipsometric measurements combined with information from the chemical process taking place, eg a model of the process of a material being etched or of LPVPE layer growth derived from the gas mixture recipe. This again leads to further difficulties in practice because successive ellipsometric measurements taken at time intervals in the region of 1 or 2 seconds may be inaccurate or xe2x80x9cnoisyxe2x80x9d, and do not necessarily give acceptable results for layer process control except under favourable circumstances.
In Appl. Phys. Lett. 57 (25), December 1990, Aspnes et al described optical control of growth of AlxGa1xe2x88x92xAs by organometallic molecular beam epitaxy. They disclosed a closed-loop control system for epitaxial growth of a homogeneous semiconductor crystal using monochromatic ellipsometry. The system related to homogeneous growth of a single layer where composition was controlled to remain constant. There was no disclosure of control of layer thickness.
In Thin Solid Films, 220, 1992, Urban reported development of artificial neural networks for real time in-situ ellipsometry data reduction They described monochromatic ellipsometry for a single homogeneous layer grown upon a substrate. The neural network was trained to provide seed values for an iterative model fitting routine which fit the layer composition and thickness parameters to the measured ellipsometric angles. There was no disclosure of using the resulting estimate to control growth.
In Thin Solid Films, 223, 1993, Johs et al describe using multi-wavelength ellipsometry for real-time monitoring and control during growth of CdTe by metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE). They disclosed making ellipsometry measurements at twelve wavelengths in less than three seconds. They introduced the virtual-interface method for determining the characteristics of the near-surface region of the growing crystal. They wished to estimate the rate of growth of homogeneous material (constant composition). The estimates of near-surface layer composition were obtained by fitting the parameters of the virtual-interface model (dielectric constants and layer depth) using an iterative model fitting algorithm. This relied upon using the algorithm to fit layer composition parameters to the most recent ellipsometry measurements.
In Applied Surface Science 63 (1993) pp 9-16, Duncan and Henck describe an etching process using a specimen with a known refractive index; ellipsometric measurements then gave thickness or etch depth directly. The specimen was SiO2 2000 Angstroms thick upon an Si substrate. The etch depth measurements had uncertainties in the range 3 to 23 Angstroms. Measurements were made every 2 seconds approximately, and about 100 seconds were needed to etch through the specimen, so the incremental etch depth between measurements was 40 Angstroms. In consequence the uncertainty in the incremental etch depth varied between 15% and 57%, despite the SiO2/Si system being favourable for ellipsometric measurements; these materials have very different refractive indices of 1.4 and 3.9 respectively at 2 eV, and they are therefore easily discriminated by optical measurements.
In layer growth processing of compounds, eg alloys such as Si1xe2x88x92xGex, it is desirable to determine the thickness and composition of the layer contribution grown between successive pairs of ellipsometric measurements at intervals of 1-2 seconds. Si1xe2x88x92xGex, is grown at a rate of about 1 Angstrom per second, so layer contributions are 1-2 Angstroms thick. Since the composition of the layer contribution is unknown so also is the refractive index, and therefore the thickness cannot be determined directly. Si and Ge have similar refractive indices, eg 3.9 and 4 at 2 eV, and consequently the refractive index of Si1xe2x88x92xGex, is not very sensitive to changes in x and ellipsometric measurements give more inaccurate results than those for the SiO2/Si system.
In Diagnostic Techniques for Semiconductor Materials Processing II, Pang et. al. Eds, pp 87-94, Materials Research Soc., Pittsburgh, Pa. 1996, Vincent et. al. presented a method for in-situ estimation of etch rate using an extended Kalman filter based method for multi-wavelength reflectometry. Its possible application in real-time control was referred to but implementation details were not disclosed.
In the International Conference on Characterisation and Metrology for VLSI Technology, Gaithersburg, Md. USA, March 1998, Pickering et al disclose real-time process control using spectroscopic ellipsometry for Si/SiGe epitaxy. Si1xe2x88x92xGex was grown with x in the range 0 to 0.2xe2x80x94ie variable composition. They discussed the composition/growth rate correlation problem required for control of very thin near-surface layers. It was suggested that a principal component analysis algorithm might be used to obtain an estimate of growth rate which is independent of alloy composition. Moreover an analysis of composition based on an artificial neural network algorithm was given which was compared with SIMS data; after adjustment by scaling to allow for the lack of growth rate data given by this approach, a discrepancy of 0.02 for x in the range 0 to 0.2 was obtained, ie an error of at least 10% even when scaled.
It is an object of the invention to provide an alternative method and apparatus for layer processing.
The present invention provides a method of layer processing comprising applying material to a surface to etch it or produce growth upon it, monitoring the surface with a sensor to provide an output indicating change therein, and using the output in generating a control input for layer processing, characterised in that the control input is generated partly on the basis of the sensor output and partly on the basis of change prediction from surface state prior to the change and processing conditions responsible for it.
The invention has the advantage that it does not rely on a potentially inaccurate or noisy sensor output as the only determinant of control. Instead it incorporates prediction based on prior surface and processing, which has the effect of counteracting sensor measurement uncertainty.
The control input is preferably generated in accordance with a Bayesian algorithm taking into account change probability based on prior surface state and material supply.
In a preferred embodiment, the method of the invention comprises growing a layer structure upon a heated substrate surface, comprising supplying a vapour mixture stream to the substrate for decomposition of stream constituents and selective deposition, monitoring growth upon the surface with an ellipsometric sensor providing an output in response, and using sensor output in controlling growth, characterised in that the method includes controlling growth partly on the basis of the sensor output and partly on the basis of change prediction from surface growth status prior to the change and stream constituents and substrate temperature responsible for it. A Bayesian algorithm may be employed in control of growth modelled as deposition of successive pseudo-layers upon the substrate to provide for the prediction of the composition and thickness parameters of a subsequent pseudo-layer on the basis of the stream constituents and substrate temperature during its growth and the composition of the respective preceding pseudo-layer.
The method of the invention may include growing successive pseudo-layers upon the substrate surface, together with the following steps undertaken during growth:
a) deriving a predicted probability density function for pseudo-layer growth parameters from initial surface composition, growth conditions and growth probabilities associated therewith, the function comprising discrete samples;
b) assigning weight values to the discrete samples in accordance with respective occurrence likelihoods derived on the basis of most recent sensor output;
c) selecting a subset of the discrete samples, selection likelihood being weighted in favour of samples with greater weight values;
d) using the subset to provide a subsequent predicted probability density function and controlling growth in accordance with the pseudo-layer growth parameters indicated thereby,
e) iterating steps (b) to (e) until growth is complete.
In an alternative aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for layer processing comprising means for applying material to a surface to etch it or produce growth upon it, the apparatus having predetermined processing characteristics in terms of material supply and surface condition, a sensor for monitoring the surface to provide an output indicating change therein, and control means for layer processing control responsive to the sensor output, characterised in that the control means is operative partly on the basis of the sensor output and partly on the basis of change prediction from surface state prior to the change and processing conditions responsible for it. The control input may be generated in accordance with a Bayesian algorithm taking into account change probability based on prior surface state and material supply.
The apparatus may be arranged to grow a layer structure upon a heated substrate surface, and comprise means for supplying a vapour mixture stream to the substrate for decomposition of stream constituents and selective deposition, an ellipsometric sensor for monitoring growth upon the surface and providing an output in response, and growth control means responsive to the sensor output, characterised in that the growth control means is operative partly on the basis of the sensor output and partly on the basis of change prediction from surface growth status prior to the change and stream constituents and substrate temperature responsible for it. The growth control means may employ a Bayesian algorithm in control of growth modelled as deposition of successive pseudo-layers upon the substrate surface, and provide for the prediction of the composition and thickness parameters of a subsequent pseudo-layer on the basis of the stream constituents and substrate temperature during its growth and the composition of the respective preceding pseudo-layer.
The apparatus may be arranged to grow successive pseudo-layers upon the substrate surface, and the growth control means is arranged to carry out the following steps undertaken during growth:
a) derive a predicted probability density function for pseudo-layer growth parameters from initial surface composition, growth conditions and growth probabilities associated therewith, the function comprising discrete samples;
b) assign weight values to the discrete samples in accordance with respective occurrence likelihoods derived on the basis of most recent sensor output;
c) select a subset of the discrete samples, selection likelihood being weighted in favour of samples with greater weight values;
d) use the subset to provide a subsequent predicted probability density function and controlling growth in accordance with the pseudo-layer growth parameters indicated thereby,
e) iterate steps (b) to (e) until growth is complete.