A unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film comprising a laminate having a transparent resin film 3 in which a sublimable dye is diffusible, a white coating layer 2 on the transparent resin film 3, a light-shielding color coating layer 1 on the white coating layer 2, a pressure sensitive adhesive layer 4 on a surface of the transparent resin film 3 opposite to a surface on which the white coating layer 2 is provided, and a separator 5 on the pressure sensitive adhesive layer 5, in which throughholes having an area of 10 mm2 or less are formed in an opening ratio in the range of 30 to 70% and resins that constitute the white coating layer 2 and the light-shielding color coating layer 1 have no affinity for the sublimable dye. Also disclosed is a unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film, comprising a dye image on the ornamental film, the image being obtained by superimposing a transfer paper having recorded thereon an image with an ink containing a sublimable dye, contacting the transfer paper with the ornamental film and heating the transfer paper to pass the sublimable dye through the light-shielding color coating layer 1 and the white coating layer 2 to thereby transfer dye the transparent resin film in a high density.

The present invention relates to a unidirectionally penetrable (or one-way see-through) ornamental film that is applied to a glass window, a transparent acrylic plate or the like.
Hitherto, a unidirectionally penetrable film called oneway vision has been known. This comprises a film painted in a light-shielding color such as black on one surface thereof and in white on another surface thereof, and a pressure sensitive adhesive layer and a separator provided on the light-shielding color surface. The film is perforated with a number of throughholes of a diameter of approximately 1 to 2 mm in an opening ratio of approximately 30 to 70%. When in use, the separator is peeled off and then applied to a glass window of a room. When viewing the outside from inside the room in a daytime through the film, one views a bright world through a number of throughholes arranged overall the light-shielding color surface, so that he or she can see the outside through it, with a feeling that the eyesight has not been blocked so much due to illusion of sight. On the contrary, when viewing the inside of the room from outside through the film, it is almost impossible for one to view the inside since he or she views the darker world through the throughholes. In this manner, oneway vision film has a function of a blind against seeing from one direction while sufficiently maintaining an eyesight from another direction.
Recently, various images have been laid on the white surface of such a unidirectionally penetrable film in order to improve advertising or amenity effects. At present, in order to lay an image on the white surface of the film for that purpose, an image recorded on an electrostatic recording paper using a color electrostatic plotter is transferred to the white surface of a film by heat-pressing. This is because the principle can be utilized that a 3 to 5 xcexcm-thick dielectric layer (composed of a resin) onto which an image is fixed can be peeled off as a whole by giving moisture to it or by heating it.
The film used in the method described above has the structure in which an image is laid on its white surface and a pressure sensitive adhesive layer is laminated on the light-shielding color surface and in an in situ operation, the film is applied to the outer side of a glass window. The film applied to the outer side when viewed from the outside has the defect of losing the feeling of transparency inherent to the glass window that would otherwise be retained. Other defects of this film are as follows. It tends to be peeled off from the glass. The throughhole portion comprises protrusions and depressions so that it is readily befouled and difficult to clean. In this case, the thin resin film of the dielectric layer containing the transferred image is designed to cover the throughholes, which also damages the transparent feeling of throughholes. In addition, the image as it is not resistant to light under direct sunshine. To improve the light resistance of the image, there is no way other than laminating an ultraviolet ray shielding film, which not only further deteriorates the transparent feeling but also increases the production costs.
Therefore, a unidirectionally penetrable film having improved advertising and amenity effects that maintains transparent feeling of a glass window and that of throughhole portion, is hardly peeled off from the glass window, is hardly befouled and has light resistance is keenly desired.
The present inventors previously disclosed the technology on the xe2x80x9cmethod for fabricating an imaged filmxe2x80x9d (Japanese Patent No. 2,934,948 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,789,341).
This is a technology using a laminate film comprising a transparent resin film in which a sublimable dye can be diffused and a white resin film that has no affinity for a sublimable dye, and a transfer paper on which an image has been recorded with an ink containing a sublimable dye is contacted and heated to diffuse the sublimable dye through the white resin film into the transparent resin film to develop a transferred image on the side of transparent film.
This technology shows that upon heating, a sublimable dye is imagewise transferred through a laminate film comprising a white resin film that has no affinity for the sublimable dye and a transparent resin film that allows diffusion of the sublimable dye therein by diffusing from the surface of the white resin film to the side of the transparent resin film on the opposite side of the laminate film independently of color.
The present inventors have made extensive studies with a view to solving the problems of the unidirectionally penetrable film described above and as a result they have found that use of an ornamental film comprising a laminate having a transparent resin film in which a sublimable dye is diffusible, a white coating layer on the transparent resin film, and a light-shielding color coating layer on the white coating layer, in which resins that constitute the white coating layer and the light-shielding color coating layer have no affinity for the sublimable dye can fundamentally dissolve the above-described problems. The present invention is based on this discovery.
More particularly, by superimposing a transfer paper having recorded thereon an image with an ink containing a sublimable dye onto the light-shielding color surface of the ornamental film and contacting the transfer paper therewith and heating the transfer paper, the sublimable dye on the transfer paper can be passed through the light-shielding color coating layer and white coating layer to thereby transfer the dye to the transparent resin film in a high density. On this occasion, if a pressure sensitive adhesive layer and a separator thereon are further provided on the side of the transparent resin film, a transferred image appears so that it can be viewed from the side of the pressure sensitive adhesive layer. In this state, the separator can be peeled off and the pressure sensitive adhesive layer of the ornamental film having the transferred image backed by the white coating layer can be applied as it is to the inner side of a glass window. Throughholes, if any, formed in the ornamental film in a predetermined opening ratio make it possible to use the ornamental film as a unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film through which the outside can be viewed clearly from the inside the glass window but the inside cannot be viewed from the outside.
That is, the present invention provides the following unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film before image transfer and unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film after image transfer.
1. A unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film comprising a laminate having a transparent resin film 3 in which a sublimable dye is diffusible, a white coating layer 2 on the transparent resin film 3, a light-shielding color coating layer 1 on the white coating layer 2, a pressure sensitive adhesive layer 4 on a surface of the transparent resin film 3 opposite to a surface on which the white coating layer 2 is provided, and a separator 5 on the pressure sensitive adhesive layer 4, wherein resins that constitute the white coating layer 2 and the light-shielding color coating layer 1 have no affinity for the sublimable dye.
2. A unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film according to 1 above, wherein the transparent resin film 3 comprises a laminate film having a transparent resin support film 3a and a transparent coating layer 3b in which the sublimable dye is diffusible, the transparent coating layer being laminated on the transparent resin support film 3a.
3. A unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film according to 1 above, wherein the resin having no affinity for the sublimable dye is selected from the group consisting of a fluoro resin, a silicone resin and an olefin resin.
4. A unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film according to 1 above, wherein the light-shielding color of the light shielding color coating layer 1 is a color selected from the group consisting of black, intense dark achromatic color and intense dark chromatic color.
5. A unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film according to 1 above, wherein the transparent resin film 3 contains an ultraviolet absorbent.
6. A unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film according to 2 above, wherein at least one of the transparent resin support film 3a and transparent coating layer 3b contains an ultraviolet absorbent.
7. A unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film according to any one of 1 to 6 above, wherein the ornamental film is formed with throughholes 6 having an area of 10 mm2 or less in an opening ratio of 30 to 70% overall surfaces thereof.
8. A unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film according to 7 above comprising a dye image on the light-shielding color coating surface of the ornamental film, the image being obtained by superimposing a transfer paper having recorded thereon an image with an ink containing a sublimable dye, contacting the transfer paper with the ornamental film and heating the transfer paper to pass the sublimable dye through the light-shielding color coating layer and the white coating layer to thereby transfer the dye to the transparent resin film in a high density.
9. A unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film, comprising a transparent resin film 3 in which a sublimable dye is diffusible, a white coating layer 2 on the transparent resin film 3, and a light-shielding color coating layer 1 on the white coating layer 2, wherein the transparent resin film 3 is dyed with an image comprising the sublimable dye and is formed with throughholes 6 having an area of 10 mm2 or less in an opening ratio of 30 to 70% overall surfaces thereof, the ornamental film being applied to a transparent element on the side of the transparent film.

Unidirectionally penetrable ornamental film


A method and apparatus for plating a metal onto a substrate. The apparatus includes a fluid basin configured to contain a plating solution, an anode fluid volume positioned in a lower portion of the fluid basin, a cathode fluid volume positioned in an upper portion of the fluid basin, an ionic membrane positioned to separate the anode fluid volume from the cathode fluid volume, a plating electrode centrally positioned in the anode fluid volume, and a deplating electrode positioned adjacent the plating electrode in the anode fluid volume.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to a plating cell having a deplating electrode positioned radially outward of a plating electrode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Metallization of sub-quarter micron sized features is a foundational technology for present and future generations of integrated circuit manufacturing processes. More particularly, in devices such as ultra large scale integration-type devices, i.e., devices having integrated circuits with more than a million logic gates, the multilevel interconnects that lie at the heart of these devices are generally formed by filling high aspect ratio, i.e., greater than about 4:1, interconnect features with a conductive material, such as copper or aluminum. Conventionally, deposition techniques such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD) have been used to fill these interconnect features. However, as the interconnect sizes decrease and aspect ratios increase, void-free interconnect feature fill via conventional metallization techniques becomes increasingly difficult. Therefore, plating techniques, i.e., electrochemical plating (ECP) and electroless plating, have emerged as promising processes for void free filling of such features.
In an ECP process, for example, sub-quarter micron sized high aspect ratio features formed into the surface of a substrate (or a layer deposited thereon) may be efficiently filled with a conductive material, such as copper. ECP plating processes are generally two stage processes, wherein a seed layer is first formed over the surface features of the substrate, and then the surface features of the substrate are exposed to an electrolyte solution, while an electrical bias is applied between the seed layer and a copper anode positioned within the electrolyte solution. The electrolyte solution generally contains ions to be plated onto the surface of the substrate, and therefore, the application of the electrical bias causes these ions to be urged out of the electrolyte solution and to be plated onto the biased seed layer.
Conventional electrochemical plating cells generally utilize soluble anodes, e.g., a copper anode in a copper plating system. Soluble anodes generally operate as both an anodic electrode, as well as a source of replenishment for the copper ions. However, the use of soluble anodes presents several challenges. For example, additives in the plating solution, i.e., levelers, suppressors, accelerators, etc., are known to react or break down when they contact the anode. Additionally, soluble anodes are prone to developing layers of material on the surface thereof during plating operations, which has a detrimental effect upon plating uniformity. Further, conventional plating cells also face challenges related to copper from the plating solution plating onto the electrical contacts (cathode electrodes) that are used to electrically contact the substrate during plating operations. When the copper plates on these contacts, the electrical resistance and/or the shape of the contacts may be changed, which also has a negative effect upon plating uniformity.
Therefore, there is a need for a plating cell configured to minimize additive breakdown at the anode via use of an insoluble anode, while also providing for a way to remove the copper that accumulates on the substrate contact pins.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Insoluble anode with an auxiliary electrode


A stereoscopic display device includes a pair of OLED microdisplays in a Head Mounted Display. An emulation video signal is provided to the display device. The emulation video signal includes alternating frames of left and right video data. An enable signal is provided to the left and right displays to control when image data in the display is updated so as to update data with corresponding frame data of the emulation signal. The updating of data in the combined display is at the standard rate while the updating of data in each display is at half the standard rate.

The present invention is related to video display devices, and particularly to generating and displaying an emulation signal by a three dimensional (3-D) emulation display device.
3-D emulation devices, or stereoscopic image projectors, generally include a video screen and associated shutter glasses. The shutter glasses are adapted to be head worn by the user. Generally, the screen is rigidly coupled to the shutter glasses so as to maintain alignment of the screen and the user field of view. The screen provides a sequence of alternating images corresponding to a right eye view and a left eye view. The shutter glasses are adapted to alternate between blocking the view of the right eye and of the left eye according to synchronization with the screen so as to allow for delivering a right view image to the right eye and a left view image to the left eye. The right eye view and left eye view images can be generated by various methods including digital transformation of a two dimensional video, generation of a dual view digital video by a video processor, or by employing a stereoscopic video camera.
The shutter lenses of the shutter glasses must operate at a very high frequency so as to avoid image flicker and noticeable degradation. Such frequency is ordinarily greater than 120 Hz, which is double the standard rate of 60 Hz. Furthermore, the corresponding video data is synchronized to be delivered at the shutter frequency. Thus, the video data display consumes substantial power and imposes a limiting factor on image resolution.
The shutter glasses commonly employ LCD shutters to provide electronically controlled shutter operation. However, the slow LCD response time, even at the low frequency of 120 HZ, causes some image degradation. Thus, there is a need for a system and method for delivering 3D stereoscopic video, which reduces power consumption and improves image quality.
In accordance with the present invention there is presented an emulation device adapted to receive a single channel of data, which includes data for both a left eye view and for a right eye view, and display the data on corresponding left eye and right eye displays of the device.
In one embodiment, the invention provides a method for delivering a video signal to a three dimensional emulation device having a left display associated with a left display view and a right display associated with a right display view. The method includes receiving an emulation signal, which includes frame data alternating between frame data for the left display view and frame data for the right display view. The method provides the emulation signal to the left display and to the right display. The method provides an enable signal to the left display and to the right display. The enable signal has a first state over a period corresponding to the frame period and has a second state over a subsequent period corresponding to the frame period. The enable signal is also synchronized with the emulation signal to provide the first state when the emulation signal provides the left view data and to provide the second state when the emulation signal provides the right view data. Accordingly, the left display is adapted to refresh display data in response to the first state of the clock signal and the right display is adapted to refresh display data in response to the second state of the clock signal.
In another embodiment, the invention provides a method for providing emulation video data to a 3-D emulation display device having a right display and a left display. The method includes receiving video frame data having a frame period. The method transforms frame data to generate an emulation signal, which includes consecutive frame data alternating between a left view transform and a right view transform of video frame data. The method provides the emulation signal to the right display and to the left display. Finally, the method provides an enable signal to right display and to left display. The enable signal has a first state over a time corresponding to a frame period and a second state over a time corresponding to a subsequent frame period. Therefore, the left display is adapted to update the frame data in response to the first state of the enable signal and the right display is adapted to update frame data in response to the second state of the enable signal. The enable signal is provided in synchronization with the emulation signal whereby the first state of the enable signal corresponds to the emulation signal providing left view data and the second state of the enable signal corresponding to the emulation signal providing right view data.
In yet another embodiment, the invention provides an emulation video signal display system. The system includes a video processor having a video output and a synchronization output. The video processor provides an emulation video signal to the video output. The emulation video signal includes frame data alternating between frame data for a left display view and frame data for a right display view. The emulation video signal provides each frame data over a frame period. The system also includes an enable signal generator having a control input and an enable output. The control input is coupled to the synchronization output of the video processor. The enable output provides an enable signal having a first state over a period corresponding to the frame period and having a second state over a subsequent period corresponding to the frame period. The enable signal is synchronized with the emulation signal to provide the first state when the emulation signal provides frame data for the left display view and to provide the second state when the emulation signal provides frame data for the right display view. The system further includes a first memory element having a data input, an update input, and a data output. The data input is coupled to the data output of the video processor to receive the emulation signal. The update input is coupled to the enable output of the enable signal generator. The first memory is adapted to update data in response to the first state of the enable signal. The system includes a second memory element having a data input, an update input, and a data output. The data input coupled to the data output of the video processor to receive the emulation signal. The update input coupled to the enable output of the enable signal generator. The second memory is adapted to update data in response to the second state of the enable signal. Finally, a left display has a data input coupled to the data output of the first memory element and a right display has a data input coupled to the data output of the second memory element.

Three dimensional display emulation method and system


A fire detection system comprising a control panel comprised of one or more controllers for controlling a plurality of devices. A pair of lines are operably connected to the control panel and the devices for communicating signals between said control panel and said devices. A circuit for providing a polarity sensing power and signal interface is provided between the control panel and devices to reduce to reduce system maintenance. The circuit includes a rectifier circuit operably connected the pair of lines wherein the rectifier circuit is comprised of at least two transistors for providing the circuit with a low-impedance path to ground and providing the circuit with a polarity insensitive output. Capacitors may be operably connected to the transistors in the rectifier circuit to keep the transistors turned on when a low voltage is applied to the rectifier circuit.

In fire safety systems, control panels are commonly employed to control devices such as smoke detectors via a two-line connection. From the two-line connection such devices will derive power, transmit and receive communication signals from the control panel. Intervening circuitry, comprised of a full-wave rectifier including four diodes, is generally connected to the two-line connection and is operatively located between the control panel and each device in the system to extract power and signals from the two-line connection to the sensor. The problem with such full-wave rectifier circuitry is that when the diodes in the rectifier are isolated, stray noise gets inside of diode bridge, producing a bias that causes signals between devices and the control panel to be lost.
Another problem with such rectifier circuits is that a soon as the rectifier circuit begins to develop a signal, the ground point of the circuit can become more negative that the diodes in the circuit, which may cause the diodes to stop conducting, disconnecting the circuit. This problem is magnified when any lines from monitoring or measuring equipment are connected to the rectifier circuit. These lines may pick-up noise and this noise may directly couple with internal capacitances of the circuit, driving the ground of the circuit even further negative.
A further problem with known systems where two-line connections are provided, from a control panel to one or more devices, is that due to human failure, the lines are commonly reversed, causing additional time and expense to correct the polarity reversal. Typically, such systems are polarity sensitive, so that they can be installed in only one manner. In order to reduce system commissioning time and expense, it is desirable to have an automatic polarity sensing power and signal interface between the control panel and the devices to eliminate the need to correct the polarity reversal.
It is therefore a primary object of the invention to provide a rectifier circuit with limited susceptibility to noise. It is a further object of the invention to provide an automatic polarity sensitivity power and signal interface.
These and other objects are achieved in accordance with the invention herein described. In fire safety systems, smoke detectors operate commonly with a two-line connection to a control panel. On these two lines the smoke detector derives power and transmits/receives communication signals. The present invention implements a full-wave rectifier comprising, in the preferred embodiment, a pair of diodes and a pair of transistors. The disclosed circuit automatically detects a polarity reversal at the two-line connection and still provides a proper output. The disclosed full-wave rectifier and accompanying circuitry below, provides a polarity insensitivity feature when two input lines are reversed, without requiring the use of logic circuitry. Further, the pair of transistors provides a low-impedance ground potential, substantially limiting noise within the rectifier circuit. The pair of transistors are used with the disclosed rectifier circuit to provide a low impedance path back to the internal ground from whichever of the two lines on the two-line connection is negative. The full-wave rectifier with two transistors and two diodes provides a low distortion output signal with a polarity insensitivity feature when the two input lines are reversed. As the transistors in the rectifier circuit provide resistance in both directions, noise is further limited since a path for noise is always provided between the internal ground and the negative line.
One object of the present invention is to provide a fire safety system having a control panel comprised of one or more controllers for controlling a plurality of devices which report system events back to the control panel. Preferably, a pair of lines are operably connected to the control panel and the plurality of devices for communicating signals between the control panel and the devices. At least one rectifier circuit may be operatively connected between the pair of lines and at least one device, such that the at least one rectifier circuit is comprised of at least a first transistor and a second transistor. Each transistor provides the rectifier circuit with a low-impedance ground path when turned on. The transistors further provide the circuit with a polarity insensitive output. Preferably, a sensing circuit is operatively connected between the rectifier circuit and at least one device. Each device may be provided with a device controller. Together, the sensing circuit and the device controller extract a signal from the rectifier circuit to be received by the device.

Fire detection system including an automatic polarity sensing power and signal interface


A new and distinct variety of nectarine tree (Prunus persica sub species nuciperisica), and which is denominated varietally as ‘Burnectthirty’, and which further produces an attractively colored yellow-fleshed, non-melting, acidic clingstone nectarine, which is mature for harvesting and shipment approximately May 18 to May 25 under ecological conditions prevailing in the San Joaquin Valley of central California.

The present variety of nectarine tree resulted from an on-going program of fruit and nut tree breeding. The purpose of this program is to improve the commercial quality of available deciduous fruit and nut varieties, and rootstocks, by creating and releasing promising selections of prunus, malus, punica and regia species. To this end we make both controlled and hybrid cross pollinations each year in order to produce seedling populations from which improved progenies are evaluated and selected.
The seedling 'Burnectthirty' was originated by us from a population of seedlings grown in our experimental orchards which are located near Fowler, Calif. The seedlings, grown on their own roots, were the result of a controlled cross made in February of 2007, of the yellow-fleshed nectarine tree, 'Burnectwentytwo' (U.S. Pat. No. 21,724), which was the seed parent; and the white-fleshed nectarine tree, 'Burnectwentythree' (U.S. Pat. No. 17,890) and which was used as the pollen parent. One seedling, identified as Q56.074, and which is the present variety, exhibited especially desirable characteristics, and was marked for subsequent observation. After the 2009 fruiting season, the new, present variety, was selected for advanced evaluation, and repropagation.


Data produced from a transmission source facsimile are received by a simulated communication circuit network, and thus received data are compressed and temporarily stored into a memory. After the data have been compressed, the data stored in the memory are read out and transmitted to an other party's facsimile via an external communication circuit network. Since the data transmitted to the other party's facsimile via the external communication circuit network are compressed data, a time required for transmission can be relatively shortened. Accordingly, a rapid data transmission can be achieved without the facsimile being replaced by a rapid type facsimile which is expensive. Further, various additional functions of a facsimile can be directly enjoyed from those intrinsically owned by the transmission source facsimile. In addition, such arrangements may be made that a time presumably required for communication via the simulated communication circuit network is measured as a presumed time of communication in the normal transmission mode, while an actual time of communication in which a rapid transmission has been done by means of highly compressed data is measured, and that both the presumed communication time and the actual communication time are notified to the user so that the user can realize having saved the communication cost by means of the transmission involving data compression.

The present invention generally relates to an adaptor device for a facsimile, and more particularly to such a device which, by means of data compression, allows data to be transmitted to the other party in a shorter time than a transmission time normally required or consumed by a facsimile.
The present invent ion further relates to an adaptor device for a facsimile which, by means of data compression, allows data to be transmitted to the other party in a shorter time than a transmission normally required by a facsimile and by which a user can be notified of both an actual transmission time that has been actually required for a transmission utilizing data compression, and a presumed transmission time that would have been required if the transmission had been done without data being compressed, so that the user can realize having saved the communication cost by means of such transmission utilizing data compression.
For now existing facsimile devices, there are various standards such as G1, G2, G3 depending on the technique utilized therein for compressing data, and a required data transmission time varies depending on the standard. The facsimile devices are connected directly to an external telephone circuit network. This means that data transmission time is determined by the specific or intrinsic performance of the facsimile device used. To save the communication cost, a shorter transmission time is more is preferable. But, there the problem that facsimile devices which can achieve a shorter transmission time tends to be higher in the manufacturing cost . On the other hand, there are some facsimile devices which can achieve a relatively short transmission time and can also be manufactured at a relatively low cost, but most of those devices are unsatisfactory in that they do not have a function for cutting papers or other various functions, or images provided thereby are poor in quality.


The present invention features a tire pressure sensor mounting system to mount a tire pressure sensor on a wheel rim directly. The system comprises a singular mounting piece with a rim strap and at least two side straps to securing a tire pressure sensor. The side straps are disposed along the rim strap with extension direction perpendicular to the rim strap. Both the rim strap and side straps have lock means to securely lock the tire rim and tire pressure sensor respectively.

Many modern cars now come with built-in tire pressure sensors as part of a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) that allow all four tire pressures to be read simultaneously from inside the car. TPMS can be divided into direct and indirect systems. Direct TPMS employ pressure sensors on each tire, either internal or external. The sensors physically measure the tire pressure in each tire and report it to the vehicle's instrument cluster or a corresponding monitor, sometimes also the temperature inside the tire. These systems can identify under-inflation in any combination, of one tire or all four, simultaneously. Typically, the sensor is connected to a tire valve. When the valve breaks, sensor would normally have to be replaced, which is time-consuming due to reprogramming new sensor and cost unfriendly. Therefore, it is desirable for a system with the tire pressure sensor mounted on wheel rim directly without connections to the tire valve.
Any feature or combination of features described herein are included within the scope of the present invention provided that the features included in any such combination are not mutually inconsistent as will be apparent from the context, this specification, and the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art. Additional advantages and aspects of the present invention are apparent in the following detailed description and claims.


The invention concerns a headlamp for vehicles with a reflector comprising a reflector opening for receiving a gas discharge lamp, with an ignition device for operating the gas discharge lamp, with holding means for releasably connecting the ignition device to a reflector, with electromagnetically compatible contact means arranged between the ignition device and the reflector, wherein the holding means includes a holding element which together with the ignition device and the gas discharge lamp forms a common unit, and the electromagnetically compatible contact means is integrated in the holding element, in such a way that, in a locking position of the holding element with the reflector, there is an electrically conductive connection between the ignition device and the reflector.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a headlamp for vehicles with a reflector comprising a reflector opening for receiving a gas discharge lamp, with an ignition device for operating the gas discharge lamp, with holding means for releasably connecting the ignition device to a reflector, with electromagnetically compatible contact means arranged between the ignition device and the reflector.
2. Related Art
From DE 202 08 295 U1 is known a headlamp for vehicles with a reflector, a gas discharge lamp and an ignition device, in which the ignition device and the gas discharge lamp form a common unit. For electromagnetically shielding the junction between the lamp/ignition device unit and the reflector there is provided as the electromagnetically compatible contact means an electromagnetically compatible shield plate which is ring-shaped and arranged between a surface of the reflector neck and a surface of the ignition device. The electromagnetically compatible shield plate has mounting openings to which is attached a holding spring. The holding spring is fitted by means of an adapter part arranged on the rear side of the ignition device, so that there is a rigid connection between the lamp/ignition device unit and the reflector. A drawback of the known headlamp is that, to fix the lamp/ignition device unit with the reflector, several holding means must be provided, namely the stirrup-shaped holding spring, the adapter part and the electromagnetically compatible shield plate.
From U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,657 B1 is known a headlamp for vehicles, in which a socket of the gas discharge lamp is connected to a reflector. The lamp socket has flexible tabs which with their free ends extend in a rearward direction and form reliable electrical contacting with a plug arranged on the rear side of the socket. From U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,856 B2 is known a headlamp for vehicles with a reflector, a gas discharge lamp and an ignition device, in which the ignition device and the gas discharge lamp form a common unit. As holding means for fastening the reflector to the ignition device, bell-shaped holding elements extend rearwardly from the reflector neck. For electromagnetic shielding, electromagnetically compatible contact means are designed as metal clips which encompass the reflector neck and a peripheral surface of the ignition device in a frame-like, clamp-like fashion.
From DE 201 07 817 U1 is known a headlamp for vehicles with a reflector, a gas discharge lamp arranged in an opening of the reflector and an ignition device, wherein on the ignition device on the one hand and in the region of the reflector opening on the other hand are provided holding means for the releasable connection of the ignition device to the reflector. The holding means comprise latch hooks or latch surfaces, such that the ignition device is connected to the reflector by a bayonet fastening. The gas discharge lamp is attached to the reflector by means of a receiving device in the region of the reflector opening. For electromagnetic shielding of the junction between the ignition device and the reflector there is provided an electromagnetically compatible contact means which is constructed as a spring washer and arranged in planar fashion between a housing of the ignition device and a surface of the reflector neck. The spring washer is flexible and undulating in the direction of rotation, so that it adapts in the sense of good contacting between the mutually facing surfaces of the ignition device and the reflector neck. A drawback of the known headlamp is that the electromagnetically compatible contact means must additionally be kept ready for assembly of the headlamp.


A method of adaptive inspection includes receiving data characterizing one or more images of an inspection region of an industrial machine acquired by an inspection system operating based on a first set of operating parameters. The inspection region includes a site feature. The method also includes determining, by an analytical model, one or more characteristics of the inspection region from the received data characterizing the one or more images of the inspection region. The method further includes generating a control signal based on the one or more characteristics of the inspection region and/or a user input. The inspection system is configured to perform a new inspection of the inspection region based on the control signal.

Video inspection devices, such as video endoscopes or borescopes, can be used to take depth measurements on an object (e.g., lowest points in anomalies such as pits or dents, heights of welds, measurements of offsets or clearances between surfaces, etc.). Additionally, video inspection devices can be used to observe defects (e.g., tears, cracks, scratches, etc.) on a surface of an object (e.g., an industrial machine). In many instances, the surface of the object is inaccessible and cannot be viewed without the use of the video inspection device. For example, a video inspection device can be used to inspect the surface of a blade of a turbine engine on an aircraft or power generation unit to identify any anomalies to determine if any repair or further maintenance is required. In order to make that assessment, it is often necessary to obtain highly accurate-dimensional measurements of the surface to verify that the anomaly does not fall outside an operational limit or required specification for that object.


A stabilizing mechanism for a hand-held device, such as a video camera, through which a user looks, includes a stabilizing rod which is coupled to the bottom surface of the device and extends over the shoulder of the user. The rod is preferably a light-weight, telescoping rod which can be pressed into a small pocket size device. In another embodiment, the stabilizing rod is coupled to the interior of the device and extends through an opening in the rear portion of the device. In either embodiment, the rod is preferably light-weight and telescoping, so that it can be substantially reduced in length. For either embodiment, the rod preferably can be rotated by an angle which is sufficient so that the rod can be positioned over either shoulder of the user when it is held in operating position.

This invention relates to a mechanism for stabilizing a hand-held device, such as a video camera, through which a user looks.
Hand-held video cameras are a popular way to take home movies. While these cameras are small, portable, light-weight, and convenient, the picture quality can be unsatisfactory due to tremors and jitters in the user's hand when holding the camera. These tremors and jitters can be eliminated with some current mechanisms, such as tripods. A tripod is mounted to the underside of the camera and uses the ground for stability. A tripod involves set-up effort, and extra weight and bulk for the typical consumer. Consequently, it detracts from the advantages of a hand-held camera, namely small size, portability, and quick maneuverability.


An adhesive of the invention is used for polarizing plate to provide a transparent protective film on at least one side of a polarizer and comprises a resin solution comprising a polyvinyl alcohol-based resin, a crosslinking agent and a colloidal metal compound with an average particle size of 1 nm to 100 nm, wherein 200 parts by weight or less of the colloidal metal compound is added to 100 parts by weight of the polyvinyl alcohol-based resin. The adhesive for polarizing plate can reduce the occurrence of knicks.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an adhesive for polarizing plate. The invention further relates to a polarizing plate and manufacturing method thereof using the adhesive for polarizing plate. The polarizing plate alone or an optical film obtained by laminating the polarizing plate can constitute an image display such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display or PDP.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the liquid crystal displays, for example, it is indispensable to dispose polarizers on both sides of a glass substrate providing a surface of a liquid crystal panel according to an image formation scheme adopted in the display. A polarizer is generally obtained in a procedure in which a polyvinyl alcohol-based film is dyed with a dichroic material such as iodine, thereafter, the film is crosslinked with a crosslinking agent and then, mono-axially stretched to thereby form a film. Since the polarizer is manufactured by stretching, it is easy to shrink. Since a polyvinyl alcohol-based film comprises a hydrophilic polymer, the film is very easily deformed especially in a humidified condition. Since the film itself is weak in mechanical strength, there has been a problem that the film is torn. Hence, adopted is a reinforced polarizing plate manufactured in a procedure in which a transparent protective film or transparent protective films each made from triacetyl cellulose or the like are adhered to on one side or both sides of a polarizer. The polarizing plate is manufactured by adhere the transparent protective film onto a polarizer using an adhesive.
In recent years, the range of uses of liquid crystal displays has been increased and extended to cover from portable terminals to large screen home TVs, and their standards have been defined for each application. In particular, portable terminal applications, which must be portable for users, strongly demand durability. For example, polarizing plates are required to have water resistance to such an extent that their properties and form will not change even under humidified conditions such as conditions causing dew condensation.
As mentioned above, a polarizer may be reinforced in strength with a transparent protective film to form a polarizing plate before use. As an adhesive for polarizing plate used in adhesion of the polarizer and the transparent protective film to each other, an aqueous type adhesive is conventionally preferable and, for example, a polyvinyl alcohol-based adhesive obtained by mixing a crosslinking agent into a polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution has been employed. A polyvinyl alcohol-based adhesive may cause peeling at the interface between a polarizer and a transparent protective film in a humidified environment. This is considered because a polyvinyl alcohol-based resin, which is a main component of the adhesive, is a water-soluble polymer and a possibility of dissolution of an adhesive occurs in a situation of dewing. In order to cope with the problem, a proposal has been offered of an adhesive for polarizing plate containing a polyvinyl alcohol-based resin having an acetoacetyl group, and a crosslinking agent (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (JP A) No. 7-198945).
The preparation of polarizing plates has a problem in which knicks (knick defects) can occur when a polarizer is bonded to a transparent protective film with the above-mentioned polyvinyl alcohol-based adhesive interposed therebetween. Knicks are defects of local irregularities formed at the interface between the polarizer and the transparent protective film. Against such knicks, there is proposed a method that includes using, as a polarizer, a polyvinyl alcohol film with a controlled water content and with its surface treated with a calendar roll under specific conditions, and laminating the film and a transparent protective film (see JP-A No. 10-166519. Knicks are particularly easy to occur when a polyvinyl alcohol-based resin having an acetoacetyl group is used for the polyvinyl alcohol-based adhesive.

Adhesive for polarizing plate, polarizing plate, manufacturing method therefor, optical film and image display


An airflow generation device having a first dielectric substrate made from a rubber elastic material, a first electrode on or near by a first surface of the first dielectric substrate, a second electrode on a second surface, and a second dielectric substrate made from a rubber elastic material covering the second electrode. It makes the airflows generated by plasma caused from partial gas near by the first surface through applied voltage into the first electrode and the second electrode, and bonding portions between the first electrode and the second electrode and the first dielectric substrate, bonding portions between the second electrode and the second dielectric substrate, and bonding portions between the first dielectric substrate and the second dielectric substrate are bonded by chemical bonds with chemically crosslinking.

An airflow generation device, which generates an airflow by control of discharge plasma flow and suppresses to quit the flow generated on a blade, is used in order to raise efficiency of rotation of the rotating blade of wind-power generation by the wind as power source or to reduce noise when the blade cuts the wind. Also an airflow generation device is used for a vehicle or a building in order to reduce fricative noise between the air and the vehicle that moves at high speed or noise caused by so-called strong winds blowing through the tall buildings.
According to thus control of the airflow by the discharge plasma, the airflow of thin jet flow referred to as an ion wind is induced on a subjected object such as the blade or the vehicle due to an action of the discharge plasma generated by an applied high voltage between electrodes which confront and sandwich an insulating material. The airflow interacts boundary layer portions of the flow thereof, and it accelerates the flow on the boundary layer portions or gives disturbance. Thereby, quitting thereof is suppressed, and the flow around the subjected object becomes smooth.
The patent document 1 discloses an airflow generation device which comprises a dielectric substrate having a main surface, a first electrode provided on the main surface, a second electrode provided with a gap from the first electrode at a first direction along the main surface in the dielectric substrate, a third electrode provided between the first electrode and second electrode at the first direction and provided at least partially at a deep position in the dielectric substrate from the second electrode, and electric source for applying a voltage for discharge to the first electrode, the second and third electrodes.
For thus dielectric substrates, so far, inorganic insulators such as alumina, glass, mica, and ceramics, and organic insulators such as polyimide, glass epoxy material, and rubber have been conventionally used. Up to now, those dielectric substrates and electrodes are bonded by cure adhesion or adhesion by using an adhesive.
An airflow generation device using materials such as an inorganic insulating material for dielectric substrate, which is hard and has no extensibility, cannot follow expansion and contraction caused by creeping of the blade or changing temperature, or dings caused by hitting hails, hailstones, birds, or insects and causes disconnection or breakage, after the airflow generation device is provided onto the blade of wind turbine generator of the wind-power generation.
An airflow generation device using resins such as the polyimide or the glass epoxy material as the dielectric substrate cannot be used with a subjected object for long period out of doors, because those resins are inferior in electric resistance or weather resistance and gradually deteriorate and decompose by repeated discharge plasma or by weather or climate change.
An airflow generation device using general synthetic rubber as dielectric substrates has comparatively well following-property onto a flexible subjected object such as a blade and so on. However, when metal electrodes and dielectric substrates are vulcanized and adhered, the synthetic rubber is slightly shrunk and thereby curved and undulated to a direction of thickness due to difference between both of heat expansion coefficients thereof. The synthetic rubber is bond to the electrodes so as to have unhomogeneous concave-convex surface. Therefore the electrodes do not become flat and accuracy of distance between electrodes or thickness of the dielectric substrate becomes diminished. Accordingly, plasma discharge is preferentially generated at a short portion of a distance between the electrodes or a thin portion of thickness of the dielectric substrates and the plasma vitiates homogeneousness thereof to longer direction. Thereby, an airflow generated by the plasma vitiates homogeneousness thereof. Therefore it vitiates a control effect of a flow around the blade by the airflow so that use efficiency of the wind becomes diminished or noise becomes bigger due to uneven plasma flow.
On the other hand, if electrodes and dielectric substrates are bonded with an adhesive, the adhesive is chemically deteriorated to be peeled off easily because it is exposed with weather and baking heat on a blade of a wind turbine generator getting continuously centrifugal force or on a vehicle or a construction. Therefore reliability or safety for control of discharge plasma flow on the electrodes cannot be acquired.

Airflow generation device and manufacturing method for same

TOSHIBA ENERGY SYSTEMS & SOLUTIONS CORPORATION


Methods of synthesizing transition metal dichalcogenide nanoparticles include forming a metal-amine complex, combining the metal-amine complex with a chalcogen source in at least one solvent to form a solution, heating the solution to a first temperature for a first period of time, and heating the solution to a second temperature that is higher than the first temperature for a second period of time.

Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to two-dimensional (2D) materials. More particularly, it relates to 2D nanoparticles.
Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
The isolation of graphene via the mechanical exfoliation of graphite [K. S. Novoselov, A. K. Geim, S. V. Morozov, D. Jiang, Y. Zhang, S. V. Dubnos, I.V. Grigorieva and A. A. Firsov, Science, 2004, 306, 666] has sparked strong interest in two-dimensional (2D) layered materials. The properties of graphene include exceptional strength, and high electrical and thermal conductivity, while being lightweight, flexible and transparent. This opens the possibility of a wide array of potential applications, including high speed transistors and sensors, barrier materials, solar cells, batteries, and composites.
Other classes of 2D materials of widespread interest include transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) materials, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), as well as those based on Group 14 elements, such as silicene and germanene. The properties of these materials can range from semi-metallic, for example, NiTe2 and VSe2, to semiconducting, for example, WSe2 and MoS2, to insulating, for example, h-BN.
2D nanosheets of TMDC materials are of increasing interest for applications ranging from catalysis to sensing, energy storage and optoelectronic devices.
TMDC monolayers are atomically thin semiconductors of the type MX2, where M a transition metal element (Mo, W, etc.) and X a chalcogen element (S, Se, or Te). A single layer of M atoms is sandwiched between two layers of X atoms. A MoS2 monolayer is 6.5 Å thick. Of the 2D TMDCs, the semiconductors WSe2 and MoS2 are of particular interest because, while largely preserving their bulk properties, additional properties arise due to quantum confinement effects when the dimensions of the materials are reduced to mono- or few layers. In the case of WSe2 and MoS2, these include the exhibition of an indirect-to-direct band gap transition, with strong excitonic effects, when the thickness is reduced to a single monolayer. This leads to a strong enhancement in photoluminescence efficiency, opening new opportunities for the application of such materials in optoelectronic devices. Other materials of particular interest include WS2 and MoSe2.
The discovery of graphene illustrates how new physical properties may emerge when a bulk crystal of macroscopic dimensions is thinned down to one atomic layer. Like graphite, TMDC bulk crystals are formed of monolayers bound to each other by van der Waals attraction. TMDC monolayers have properties that are distinctly different from those of the semi-metal graphene. For example, TMDC monolayers MoS2, WS2, MoSe2, WSe2 and MoTe2 have a direct band gap, and can be used in electronics as transistors and in optics as emitters and detectors. Group 4 to 7 TMDCs predominantly crystallise in layered structures, leading to anisotropy in their electrical, chemical, mechanical and thermal properties. Each layer comprises a hexagonally packed layer of metal atoms sandwiched between two layers of chalcogen atoms via covalent bonds. Neighboring layers are weakly bound by van der Waals interactions, which may easily be broken by mechanical or chemical methods to create mono- and few-layer structures.
The TMDC monolayer crystal structure has no inversion center, which allows access to a new degree of freedom of charge carriers, namely the k-valley index, and to open up a new field of physics: "valleytronics."
The strong spin-orbit coupling in TMDC monolayers leads to a spin-orbit splitting of hundreds meV in the valence band and a few meV in the conduction band, which allows control of the electron spin by tuning the excitation laser photon energy.
The work on TMDC monolayers is an emerging research and development field since the discovery of the direct bandgap and the potential applications in electronics and valley physics. TMDCs may be combined with other 2D materials like graphene and hexagonal boron nitride to make van der Waals heterostructure devices.
A semiconductor can absorb photons with energy larger than or equal to its bandgap. This means that light with a shorter wavelength is absorbed. Semiconductors are typically efficient emitters if the minimum of the conduction band energy is at the same position in k-space as the maximum of the valence band, i.e., the band gap is direct. The band gap of bulk TMDC material down to a thickness of two monolayers is still indirect, so the emission efficiency is lower compared to monolayered materials. The emission efficiency is about 104 times greater for a TMDC monolayer than for bulk material. The band gaps of TMDC monolayers are in the visible range (between 400 nm and 700 nm). The direct emission shows two transitions called A and B, separated by the spin-orbit coupling energy. The lowest energy and therefore most important in intensity is the A emission. Owing to their direct band gap, TMDC monolayers are promising materials for optoelectronics applications.
In its multilayer form, MoS2 is a silvery black solid that occurs as the mineral molybdenite—the principal ore for molybdenum. MoS2 is relatively unreactive. It is unaffected by dilute acids and oxygen. MoS2 is similar to graphite in its appearance and feel. It is widely used as a solid lubricant due to its low-friction properties and robustness. As a TMDC, MoS2 possesses some of graphene's desirable qualities (such as mechanical strength and electrical conductivity), and can emit light, opening possible applications such as photodetectors and transistors.
For high-performance applications, flat, defect-free material is required, whereas for applications in batteries and supercapacitors, defects, voids and cavities are desirable.
Mono- and few-layer 2D nanosheets may be produced using "top-down" and "bottom-up" approaches. Top-down approaches involve the removal of layers, either mechanically or chemically, from the bulk material. Such techniques include mechanical exfoliation, ultrasound-assisted liquid phase exfoliation (LPE), and intercalation techniques. Bottom-up approaches, wherein 2D layers are grown from their constituent elements, include chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), as well as solution-based approaches including hot-injection.
A number of approaches to synthesize 2D nanosheets have been described in the prior art, the most common of which include mechanical exfoliation, LPE and CVD, with a small number of reports of solution-based approaches predominantly utilizing hot-injection techniques. While mechanical exfoliation provides highly crystalline flakes, the process is low yielding, offers poor thickness control and is unscalable. LPE offers a scalable route to the production of 2D nanosheets, and may be carried out under ambient conditions using less hazardous chemicals than other techniques. However, as with mechanical exfoliation, it provides poor thickness control, along with low reaction yields, and produces small flakes. Poor reaction yields are also typical of CVD syntheses. Advantages of this method include large area scalability, uniformity and thickness control. However, the quality of the resulting material is not comparable to that of mechanically exfoliated flakes, with the so-produced flakes typically being small and displaying poor long-term stability. Solution-based synthetic approaches are of increasing interest and have the potential to provide control over the size, shape and uniformity of the resulting 2D materials. Yet, further improvements are required to provide the ultimate combination of a scalable method of synthesis that generates flakes with the desired crystallographic phase, tunable and narrow size and shape distributions, and capped with a volatile ligand.
There are few literature reports of the colloidal synthesis of 2D quantum dots made via a "bottom up" approach. Most are "top down" exfoliation-based methods—i.e. methods wherein a bulk material is exfoliated to provide a 2D material. Solution-based approaches for the formation of 2D flakes are highly desirable, as they may offer control over the size, shape and uniformity of the resulting materials, as well as enabling ligands to be applied to the surface of the materials to provide solubility and, thus, solution processability. The application of organic ligands to the surface of the materials may also limit the degradation, as observed for CVD-grown samples, by acting as a barrier to oxygen and other foreign species. The resulting materials are free-standing, further facilitating their processability. However, the solution-based methods thus far developed do not provide a scalable reaction to generate 2D layered materials with the desired crystallographic phase, tunable narrow shape and size distributions and a volatile capping ligand, which is desirable in that it can be easily removed during device processing. One promising reference for MoS2 used the single-source precursor ammonium tetrathiomolybdate ((NH4)2MoS4). [H. Lin, C. Wang, J. Wu, Z. Xu, Y. Huang and C. Zhang, New J. Chem., 2015, 39, 8492] However, the reported method produces an insoluble material. It is contemplated that an organic-soluble material would be highly advantageous for certain applications and/or ease of use.
One of the challenges in the production of 2D layered materials is to achieve compositional uniformity, whether high-quality, defect-free, or defect-containing material is required, on a large scale. Further challenges include forming 2D flakes with a homogeneous shape and size distribution.
Thus, there is a need for a synthesis method that produces 2D nanoparticles with uniform properties that can be solution-processed.

Methods for the synthesis of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) nanoparticles


Display time for a billboard message is varied in proportion to measured speed of one or more vehicles. This may include varying not only the time a message is presented on the billboard, but also varying the density of the message. An overall message may be broken into segments displayed a sequence of billboards depending on the speed, e.g., for a faster moving vehicle the message has more segments. If the speed of a vehicle is great enough, the message segments are also reduced to fewer words or graphics, which may also be larger. Also, clusters of vehicles are detected and a billboard message display is varied in response to the clusters, which may include display time or segmentation variation, so as to more nearly optimize the number of persons who are able to see the message. Further, a billboard is rotated per vehicle speed, distance, length or clusters.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to billboard, and, more particularly, dynamically-controlled display of information on billboards.
2. Related Art
Billboards are a widely used way to present advertising, public service announcements and the like. One of the most common types of billboards is a large board mounted high alongside a road and having a printed advertisement pasted to the surface of the board. Limitations of this relatively static arrangement have led to many improvements over the years. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,828, granted to Lutterbach , et al., Apr. 23, 1996, describes a system in which the conventional board that posts printed material is replaced by a large-screen video display system.
A number of improvements for billboards have been suggested that relate to customized information display depending on traffic situations. U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,116, granted to West, Sep. 22, 1992, describes positioning an advertising display device next to a traffic control signal and coordinating the display device with the traffic control signal to selectively make an advertising message invisible or visible to drivers depending on when the advertising message will or will not adversely distract drivers. West indicates that showing advertising during red lights and stalled traffic may decrease driver boredom and irritability, while avoiding safety issues that would be of concern if an advertising message was otherwise shown next to a traffic signal. U.S. Patent Application 20030001796 filed by Wampler, et al., published on Jan. 2, 2003, describes an advertising billboard system with a display unit that displays one message during commuter rush hours and a different message at other times.
Some of the teachings in the prior art for traffic-dependent customizing of billboard information relate more particularly to vehicle speed or location. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,731,940 granted to Nagendran, May 4, 200, describes a way to determine locations of mobile device users, who may be in moving vehicles, and to send customized information directly to the users or to electronic billboards near their vehicles. Nagendran further suggests that user location information can be aggregated and time sampled to determine traffic density and vehicle speed, which can also be dynamically displayed on billboards. This is presumably proposed by Nagendran as a way to notify drivers who are near a billboard some distance from the location where traffic is congested. U.S. Patent Application 20030233275, filed by Melvin, published on Dec. 18, 2003, describes a system in which vehicle-specific advertising is automatically displayed on billboards in response to characteristics of vehicles that are measured in real-time. Melvin points out that this presents an challenge for computational resources which relates to vehicle speed, because if a vehicle is approaching a billboard at high speed then processing must be fast in order to analyze the vehicle's characteristics and generate or select vehicle-specific information for the billboard message. For example, Melvin states that "allowable processing time" is only about 3.4 seconds for a vehicle traveling toward a billboard at 60 miles per hour that is sensed 100 yards before the billboard is viewable from the vehicle.
While the above references teach useful ways of displaying billboard information that is customized in some manner according to traffic conditions, vehicle characteristics, vehicle locations or vehicle speed, the need still exists for additional improvement in this field.

Method, apparatus and computer program product for dynamic display of billboard information

International Business Machines Corporation


Verification and categorization of data in a system that interfaces with common knowledge repositories having different application programming interfaces. The system inputs a data tree structure with categories of information. The relationships in the data tree are queried against common knowledge repositories. A report of potentially erroneous categorizations in the data tree may be output for further review.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to information classification and verification and more specifically to the verification of a categorization of data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data may be stored or categorized by an information technology system. For example, in some customer management systems, data may include customer addresses and streets. Merchandising data may include categories of fruit such as apples and oranges, or a category of grocery may include fruits and vegetables. The accuracy of the data categorization impacts the reliability of the information that may be retrieved by a particular system. However, data that is categorized in a specific format is often input manually into a data structure depending on the application and may therefore be subject to error. Existing methods to check whether data is correctly categorized require specialized methods to check the categorization of data. Often, these methods are specific to information systems that store the categorized data. For example, specific code may need to be written to verify that data in a particular database or information system is categorized properly.


In a geo-location system, the location of an object in space is determined by transmitting polarized signals towards the object. To prevent erroneous determinations due to signals which reach the object after reflection the transmitted signals are polarized. The receiver at the object includes a cross-polarization discriminator and accepts only directly transmitted signals and not reflected signals which have been cross-polarized by the reflection. The transmitted signals may be ultra-wide band signals which can penetrate into buildings. An object whose location can thus be determined can also transmit polarized signals to another object which can not be reached by signals from the original transmitter. Further the ultra-wide band signals may utilize transmission in discontinuous frequency bands to avoid interference with existing systems.

This invention relates to geo-location systems, which determine the unknown location of an object or node by employing signal time-of-flight information from known transmitting locations to determine the distance between the known locations and the unknown location of the receiving node or object.
There are two general types of geo-location systems, one type employing narrow band electromagnetic waves and the other ultra-wide band waves. An example of a narrow band geo-location system is the Global Positioning System (GPS), which has a carrier frequency of 1575.42 and a chip rate of 1.023 MHz (0.06% fractional bandwidth). An example, of an ultra wide-band system is the precision locations system made by MultiSpectral, Inc., that uses a 400 MHz wide signal at 1400 MHz carrier frequency (27% fractional bandwidth).
Geo-location systems rely on the time of flight from known fixed location beacons. The receiving node or object whose location is to be determined needs to receive at least three beacons from known location transmitters in order to fix its location in space. However, these systems rely on the positioning being transmitted directly from the transmitting beacons, whereas in fact a signal from a transmitting location may be both received directly but also received via reflection from an interposed object.
This problem can be seen in FIG. 1 which is a generic depiction of a geo-location system including three transmitters 10, 11, and 12 which transmit beams 15, 16, and 17 towards the node 20 whose location is to be determined. Beams 16 and 17 go directly to receiver 20 but beam 15 is split with beam 15a being reflected off a reflecting object 22, such as a metallic object, so that its time of flight is not a true indication of the distance between transmitter 10 and receiver 20. Further, beam 15b may have to pass through an absorbing obstruction 23, such as foliage, which does not cause the beam to be reflected but considerably reduces its power. Thus if the receiver 20 is to distinguish between the two beams 15a and 15b on the basis of which is the stronger of the two, it would select beam 15a, thereby providing erroneous information to the determination of the location of the receiver based on the three received beams.
Another problem with present geo-location systems is that GPS systems cannot be used to determine the location of nodes or objects within buildings or behind walls, as the short wavelength signal of such systems does not penetrate through walls. Ultra-wide band geo-location systems have the ability to penetrate walls and other non-reflecting objects due to the low frequency content of their signal. However, ultra-wide band systems occupy such large bandwidths that, even through there power is low, they can interfere with other currently operating systems. Ultra-wide band time-of-flight systems will also suffer the same ambiguity problem arising for reflections and absorbing obstructions, as discussed above.
It is therefore an object of our invention to provide geo-location systems, which are not subject to the problems and defects of these known systems, as discussed above.
In accordance with one aspect of our invention the receiving node discriminates between directly received signals and those whose path included a reflection on the basis of the polarization of the received signal. When an electromagnetic wave is reflected from a surface, its polarization is generally shifted, such as from right hand circular to left hand-circular, which is referred to as depolarization. The received de-polarized signal is considered cross polarized to the original signal. Since the transmitter is always transmitting the same polarization, which is known to the receiver, any received signals having a polarization different from the polarization as transmitted, is a cross polarized signal which indicates a reflection having occurred in the path. While a path, which includes multiple reflections, could cause the receiver to receive a signal with the same polarization as the original signal, such a received signal would be at a much lower power level and would not significantly interfere with the determination of the receiver""s location.
In accordance with another aspect of our invention wherein the transmitted signals are ultra-wide band signals, in addition to distinguishing between multi-path signals and direct signals based on signal polarization, transmission occurs in discontinuous frequency bands to provide the benefit of low frequency penetration and high frequency resolution without creating interference over a large frequency range with existing systems.


The inventive system and method presented herein combines and integrates information to provide a more effective single rating of vegetation health and biomass. As a result the present invention provides for an objective biomass rating which produces a single numerical measure of vegetation biomass and health that can be used for quantitative comparative assessment of vegetation in research trials and in plant production. The inventive system and method further provides for remote-sensing of vegetation health and biomass based on combined assessments of morphological data (extracted from sources such as high-resolution elevation raster-maps or point-clouds produced by photogrammetric or LiDAR sensors) and radiometric data (such as spectral reflectance maps generated from multi- or hyper-spectral imaging systems).

Measurement of health and biomass is useful in vegetation related research and development as well as commercial plant (agri-/horti-/silvi-culture, etc) production. For example, agriculture input producers may conduct research to measure the effectiveness of a new compound by measuring its effects on plant biomass and health between treated and untreated samples. However typical methods are complex and do not provide mosaic images to allow for review of objective data related to a VROI.
It should be appreciated that growers may like to identify areas with potentially reduced yield as candidates for interventions. Typically, remote sensing approaches to assessing the amount and health of vegetation use either a morphological approach of measuring the size and shape of the vegetation, or a radiometric approach that assesses the biophysical properties of the vegetation by measuring the absorbed/emitted/reflected electromagnetic radiation (light). Both approaches have drawbacks, such as limited assessment of canopy understory and lack of account for vegetation quality in morphological measurements, and disregard of vegetation volume in radiometric approaches.
Thus there remains an unmet need for remote-sensing based on combined assessments of morphological data (extracted from sources such as high-resolution elevation raster-maps or point-clouds produced by photogrammetric or LiDAR sensors) and radiometric data (such as spectral reflectance maps generated from multi- or hyper-spectral imaging systems).

Systems and methods for rating vegetation health and biomass from remotely sensed morphological and radiometric data


A SRAM memory is composed of FD-SOI transistors, and performance of the memory cell is improved by controlling an electric potential of a layer under a buried oxide film of a SOI transistor constituting a driver transistor. Performance of the SRAM circuit in the low power voltage state is improved. In the SRAM memory cell composed of the FD-SOI transistor, an electric potential of a well under a BOX layer is controlled to control a threshold voltage Vth, thereby increasing a current. Thus, the operations of the memory cell can be stabilized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit formed with static memory (SRAM) circuits integrated on a semiconductor chip. More specifically, this invention relates to circuit configuration allowing for reduction of an operating voltage for a SRAM integrated circuit device.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 33 shows a conventional type of a SRAM memory cell circuit. Symbols BL and BLB each indicates a bit line, WL a word line, Vdd a power line, and Vss a ground potential line. Further, reference numerals 111 and 112 denote a transfer transistor for access to a memory cell, 113 and 114 a driver transistor for driving a memory node for maintaining therein data for the memory cell, 115 and 116 a load transistor for supplying an electric charge for maintaining data in the memory cell, and 117 and 118 a storage node. Lowering a power voltage is the most simple and most effective method for reducing power consumption in a circuit. When a power voltage is low, however, a current in a transistor also drops, which disadvantageously causes such programs as lowering of an operating speed and degradation of operational stability.
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-114399 discloses the technique for raising a current, by connecting the back gates of a transfer transistor and a driver transistor in a SRAM memory cell and a gate, when the transistors are ON respectively. Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-353340 discloses the technique for raising a current, by connecting the back gates of six transistors each constituting a SRAM memory cell and a gate, when the transistors are ON respectively. Further Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 11-16363 discloses the technique for raising a current in each of a driver transistor and a transfer transistor in a SRAM memory cell with a word line activated therein, by connecting back gates (or layers under a buried oxide film when an SOI (Silicon on Insulator) structure is used) of the transfer transistor and the driver transistor for the memory cell to a word line.
Representative examples of the pass transistor logic circuit described in Embodiment 12 are described in "PRINCIPLE OF CMOS VLSI DESIGN, A System Perspective" by Neil H. E. Weste and Kamran Eshraghin, SECOND EDITION, p. 304-307.


A method of communication between a first object and a second object is disclosed. A first direct method call is made on an intermediary object from the first object. The first direct method call contains information regarding a location in memory of the intermediary object and a name of the method to be called on the second object. The name of the method to be called on the second object is delivered from the intermediary object to a message queue object. The name of the method to be called on the second object is accessed from the message queue object by the second object.

The present invention relates to object oriented programming. More specifically, the present invention relates to a secure method of communication with untrusted JAVA(trademark) objects.
JAVA(trademark) is a portable language that generates intermediate code that can be downloaded and run on a machine with a JAVA(trademark) interpreter. The portability of JAVA(trademark) applets allows processing to be off-loaded to a local system that has the potential capability of performing the processing at a faster rate than the source of the applet.
Because applets are designed to be loaded from a remote site and then executed locally, security is an important issue. In order to prevent untrusted code from damaging the local system, web browsers with JAVA(trademark) interpreters often implement safeguards that restrict what applets can do. Some safeguards include, preventing applets from running any local executable program and preventing applets from communicating with any host other than their originating host. Other safeguards include preventing applets from reading or writing the local computer""s file system and preventing applets from finding information about the local client system other than the JAVA(trademark) version used, the name and version of the operating system, the characters used to separate files, paths, and lines.
The safeguards implemented by web browsers, however, are ineffective in providing a secure method of communication between untrusted objects from the untrusted code and objects in the local system. The safeguards implemented by current web browsers allow trusted objects to communicate with other trusted objects in the local system by making direct method calls directly on the objects in the local system. Direct method calls are messages from one object to another that request the receiving object to carry out one of its methods. A direct method call typically consists of three parts: a reference to the receiver object, the name of the method in the receiver object to be executed, and any parameters that the method may require to fulfill its charge. If untrusted objects were allowed to make direct method calls to other objects in the local system, untrusted objects could potentially do damage to a file system, a network, invoke methods in an inappropriate manner, or negatively affect other parts of the local system.
Thus, a method for inter-object communication among objects that minimizes the dangers associated with allowing untrusted objects to make direct method calls is desired.
A method of communication between a first object and a second object is disclosed. A first direct method call is made on an intermediary object from the first object. The first direct method call contains information regarding a location in memory of the intermediary object and a name of the method to be called on the second object. The name of the method to be called on the second object is delivered from the intermediary object to a message queue object. The name of the method to be called on the second object is accessed from the message queue object by the second object.
A method for requesting a channel of communication with a receiver object via a trusted intermediary is disclosed. A first direct method call is made to a session object to request a channel with the receiver object. A location in memory of a channel object is received from the session object on behalf of the receiver object.
A method of allocating a channel of communication is disclosed. A direct method call is received from a session object on behalf of a sender object requesting a channel of communication. The direct method call contains an object identifier (ID) of the sender object. A degree of access to grant the sender object is determined. A channel object with the degree of access appropriate for the sender object is created. A location in memory of the channel object is returned to the session object.
A method for arbitrating a channel of communication between a first object and a second object is disclosed. A first direct method call is received from the first object requesting a channel of communication with the second object. The first direct method call contains an object identifier (ID) of the first object and the second object. A second direct method call is made to the second object requesting the channel of communication on behalf of the first object. A location in memory of a channel object is received from the second object. The location in memory of the channel object is sent to the first object.