A method for driving the backlight unit of the liquid crystal display includes: comparing the strength of a soft start signal with a predetermined signal through a comparator circuit, and generating a first comparison signal or a second comparison signal according to the comparison result; outputting a first frequency from a frequency modulation circuit according to the first comparison signal; and increasing the rising rate of the output voltage of a boost converter according to the first frequency. Therefore, the rising rate of the output voltage is increased, thereby solving the screen-flickering problem.

A liquid crystal display is mainly consists of a liquid crystal display panel and a backlight unit. The liquid crystal display panel includes a color filter substrate, a thin film transistor substrate, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the thin film transistor substrate and the color filter substrate. Since the liquid crystal display panel itself is a non-emissive device, the backlight unit is required to provide light for achieving the display function; that is, the backlight unit is employed to provide sufficient brightness and uniform light source, thereby allowing the liquid crystal display to display images normally.
Presently, the development of the light-emitting diode (LED) light source has a breakthrough influence on the liquid crystal display products. The significant improvement on the luminous efficacy of the LED allows it to have half the efficiency of a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL). Further, LED is a low-power spontaneous light source, usually used as auxiliary light source for power efficiency products. Hence, various studies had equipped the backlight unit of liquid crystal display with LEDs as a light source thereof.
Generally, when using LEDs as a backlight light source, a plurality of LEDs is electrically connected to each other in series. Therefore, in order to drive the LEDs, a higher direct voltage (DC voltage) is required. As a result, a DC-DC boost converter is provided in the driving system of the backlight unit to drive the LEDs.
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of the DC-DC boost converter. The DC-DC boost converter 100 includes a DC power source 110, an inductor 120, an output capacitor 150, a diode 130, and a bipolar junction transistor (BJT) 140.
The DC power source 110 includes a negative electrode terminal and a positive electrode terminal connected to one end of the inductor 120. The other end of the inductor 120 is connected to the collector of the BJT 140 and the anode of the diode 130. The cathode of the diode 130 is grounded via the output capacitor 150. The emitter of the BJT 140 is grounded, and the base of the BJT 140 is electrically connected to a switch circuit 160. The switch circuit 160 is used to control the on and off of the BJT 140. Here, the voltage of the DC power source 110 equals to the input voltage of the DC-DC boost converter 100.
In the following description, referring to FIG. 1, the action of the DC-DC boost converter 100 will be explained. As shown in FIG. 1, it is assumed that when the switch circuit 160 provides the BJT 140 with a voltage signal of low electric potential, the BJT 140 is turned off, and after a sufficient period of time, all the components are in ideal state and the voltage of the two ends of the output capacitor 150 equals to the input voltage.
Next, charging and discharging process of the boost converter will be described. During the charging process, the switch circuit 160 provides the base of the BJT 140 with a voltage signal of high electric potential, and the BJT 140 is turned on. At this time, electrical current from the DC power source 110 flows through the inductor. The diode 130 prevents the capacitor from discharging to the ground. Since the DC power source 110 inputs direct current, the electrical current within the inductor 120 increases linearly by a constant ratio, wherein the ratio is related to the size of the inductor 120. With the current within the inductor 120 increases, the energy stored in the inductor 120 also grows.
During the discharging process, the switch circuit 160 provides the base of the BJT 140 with a voltage signal of low electric potential, and the BJT 140 is turned off. At this time, owing to the characteristics of the inductor 120, the current flowing through thereof will go slowly from the initial current value stored during the discharging process to zero, instead of becoming zero immediately. The original circuit is broken; hence, the current of the inductor 120 may only discharge through the output capacitor 150. That is, when the inductor 120 begins to charge the output capacitor 150, the voltage of the two ends of the output capacitor 150 will rise. The voltage of the two ends of the output capacitor 150 equals to the output voltage of the DC-DC boost converter 100.
In practice, during the charging process, the current flowing through the inductor 120 has a constant maximum value. Thus, if the difference between the input voltage and the output voltage is too big, for instance, the input voltage being 24V and the output voltage being 300V, then it requires multiple charging and discharging processes to achieve desired output voltage. Therefore, the more often the DC-DC boost converter 100 charges and discharges, the faster the output voltage rises.
However, when the output voltage reaches the desired voltage value, the loading (not shown) of the DC-DC boost converter 100 starts to work normally, which means that the loading begins the power consumption thereof, decreasing the voltage of the two ends of the output capacitor 150. In order to maintain a constant output voltage, the DC-DC boost converter 100 has to continue the charging and discharging process.
An oscillator is generally used in the switch circuit of the backlight unit for outputting a constant frequency in order to control the on and off of the bipolar junction transistor, and thereby maintain the stability of the output voltage. Yet, when turning on the liquid crystal display, a certain amount of time is required to allow the voltage of the two ends of the output capacitor to reach the voltage value enough for driving the loading. The loading herein refers to the light emitting diodes employed as the light source of the backlight unit. Due to the characteristics of the light emitting diode, a small amount of electrical current will flow through the light emitting diode when the output voltage rises to a certain value even though the desired voltage value has not yet reached, causing the light emitting diodes to glimmer a faint light. At this point, because the voltage rising time takes long enough, human eyes may see the light emitting diodes lighting up slowly, and perceive that the light emitting diodes are flickering.
Hence, a method for driving backlight unit of liquid crystal display and the system thereof that could prevent human eyes from perceiving the flickering of the LEDs is required in order to overcome the foregoing deficiencies.

Driving method for backlight unit of liquid crystal display and system thereof

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.


The invention is directed to a miniaturized optically imaging system with high lateral and axial resolution for endomicroscopic applications. To provide a miniaturized optical head which permits an appreciable increase in photon efficiency with high lateral and axial spatial resolution compared to conventional GRIN optics the plane side of a refractive, plano-convex, homogeneous lens defines a plane entrance surface of the optical system, and first and second GRIN lenses are arranged along the optical axis orthogonal to the entrance surface, wherein the first GRIN lens being arranged downstream of the refractive lens for reducing the divergence of the highly divergent light bundle transmitted from the object through the refractive lens, and the second GRIN lens being provided for adapting the light bundle transmitted by the first GRIN lens to the aperture and object field size of the downstream transmission system.

a) Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a miniaturized optically imaging system with high lateral and axial resolution, particularly for endoscopic applications, which uses at least one GRIN lens system with a radial refractive index profile which generates an optical imaging of near-surface areas of an object in an image plane for an optical transmission system.
b) Description of the Related Art
Miniature optics play an important role for microscopy imaging, particularly in endomicroscopy. Endomicroscopic examination instruments are characterized by an optical image recording head which is small in diameter (a few millimeters) and in which the image must be transmitted over very long distances compared to the diameter.
Miniature optics of this kind image the surface of the object at high resolution in the micrometer range. The image is generated in transmitted light mode, in fluorescence microscopy, reflection microscopy, confocal microscopy or by scanning multiphoton fluorescence excitation.
In applications of this type, gradient-index (GRIN) lenses are used for the construction of miniature optics based on experience because they have a remarkably good imaging quality with typical small diameters between 0.2 and 2.0 mm and can be favorably integrated in small lens systems because of their generally plane optical surfaces. In GRIN lenses, the optical image-generating action is based on building a refractive index profile in the lens medium and, therefore, the refraction between two media (e.g., between air and glass) at curved surfaces is not necessarily needed for image formation. Therefore, miniature optics are comparatively simple to assemble. Miniaturized optics of this kind are known, for example, for endoscopic applications from EP 1 283 413 B1 and for laser scanning microscopes from DE 100 15 455 A1.
The solutions mentioned above are disadvantageous with respect to the imaging quality that can be achieved, which is clearly deficient primarily because of a low photon efficiency, a limited lateral and axial resolving capacity (due to the known relatively low numerical aperture of GRIN lenses of about 0.55) and the chromatic aberration of the GRIN lenses.

Miniaturized optically imaging system with high lateral and axial resolution


An apparatus and method for operating a fuel cell power system utilizing a low voltage power source and system power to power an airmover. The fuel cell power system uses a low voltage power source to power the airmover during start-up and transitions to using system power to power the airmover as the fuel cell stack increases its voltage output. During a shutdown operation the fuel cell power system transitions from using system power to using the low voltage power source to power the airmover enabling a purging operation to be performed. A controller coordinates the operation of the airmover between using the low voltage power source and using electrical power produced by the fuel cell stack to power the airmover.

Fuel cells can be used as a power source in many applications. For example, fuel cells can be used in electrical vehicular power plants to replace internal combustion engines and in stationary applications to produce electrical power. In proton exchange membrane (PEM) type fuel cells, hydrogen is supplied to the anode of the fuel cell and oxygen is supplied to the cathode. PEM fuel cells include a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) comprising a thin, proton transmissive, non-electrically conductive solid polymer electrolyte membrane having the anode catalyst on one of its faces and the cathode catalyst on the opposite face. The MEA is sandwiched between a pair of electrically conductive elements that serve as current collectors for the anode and cathode. The conductive elements contain appropriate channels and/or openings therein for distributing the fuel cells' gaseous reactants over the surfaces of the respective anode and cathode catalysts. A typical PEM fuel cell and its MEA are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,272,017 and 5,316,871 issued respectively Dec. 21, 1993 and May 31, 1994 and assigned to General Motors Corporation.
The term "fuel cell" is typically used to refer to either a single cell or a plurality of cells depending on the context. A plurality of individual cells are commonly bundled together to form a fuel cell stack. Each cell within the stack comprises the MEA described earlier. A group of adjacent cells within the stack is referred to as a cluster.
In PEM fuel cells, hydrogen (H2) is the anode reactant (i.e., fuel) and oxygen is the cathode reactant (i.e., oxidant). The oxygen can be either a pure form (O2) or air (a mixture of O2 and N2). The anode reactant is typically supplied to the fuel cell from a pressurized storage tank or from a fuel reformer. The cathode reactant can also be supplied to the fuel cell stack from a pressurized storage tank or can be drawn from the surrounding environment by use of an airmover.
The airmover typically consists of an electric motor and a compressor, either centrifical, mixed flow, blower or screw type. The airmover typically uses a high-voltage motor to drive the compressor. During normal operation of the fuel cell system, the high voltage power produced by fuel cell stack is used to drive the airmover and, thus, supply the fuel cell stack with the cathode reactant. During start-up of the fuel cell system, however, the fuel cell stack is not producing enough power and is unavailable to power the airmover. Furthermore, during a shutdown operation it may be desired to perform a purging operation using the airmover while the fuel cell stack is not producing sufficient power to power the airmover. Accordingly, there is a need to provide a power source to drive the airmover during start-up and/or shutdown of the fuel cell system.
In some fuel cell systems, a low voltage power supply, such as a 12-volt automotive battery, is available. Prior attempts to utilize the 12-volt battery for powering the airmover during start-up have used a separate low voltage motor, separate windings in an existing motor, or a 12-volt blower. These methods, however, have proven to be complex and/or result in the addition of extra components to the system that can add weight and/or take up valuable space.

Low voltage compressor operation for a fuel cell power system


An optical proximity sensor adapted to be mounted in a liquid-jet instrument having a spray head for spraying a jet of liquid. The optical sensor evaluates a distance between the sensor and a surface onto which the liquid is to be sprayed.

More particularly, the embodiments of the present invention relates to an optical proximity sensor adapted to be mounted in a liquid-jet instrument having a spray head for spraying of jet of liquid, the optical senor serving to evaluate a distance between it and a given surface onto which the liquid is to be sprayed.
French Patent Application FR 2 841 498 describes, in particularly, a writing instrument that includes such an optical sensor which can, for example, be formed by an infrared light-emitting diode (LED) which sends an incident light beam towards the given surface so as to form a light spot on said given surface and a reflected light beam which is then received, for example, by a photodiode which then issues a signal representing the reflected light beam. The signal representing the reflected light beam is then analyzed by a processor unit in order to evaluate the distance between the optical sensor and the given surface in order to trigger or not to trigger activation of the liquid spray head so as to spray or not spray a certain quantity of liquid onto the given surface, such as a writing surface.
In known writing instruments, the light-emitting element of the optical sensor can be mounted in the writing instrument anywhere that is in the vicinity of the spray head, and the light-receiving element is also mounted on any support that can be different while also being situated in the vicinity of the spray head. It can thus be understood that mounting the various light-emitting and light-receiving elements one after another complicates mounting the optical sensor as a whole on the liquid-jet instrument without being certain that the light-emitting and the light-receiving elements are always in the same relative positions. That uncertainty as to the relative positions of the light-emitting and of the light-receiving elements can give rise to errors in evaluating the distance between the optical sensor and the given surface, which also modifies the sensitivity of the optical sensor from one liquid-jet instrument to another.

Optical proximity sensor for a liquid-jet instrument, and a liquid-jet instrument equipped with such a sensor


Some embodiments provide a program that provides data protection for a device when synchronizing a set of keychains stored on the device with a set of other devices. The program receives keychain data for synchronizing the set of keychains stored on the device with the set of other devices. The keychain data is specified as belonging to a protection domain. The program determines whether a set of conditions defined for the protection domain is satisfied. When the set of conditions is determined as satisfied, the program allows access to the keychain data in order to process the keychain data and synchronize the set of keychains stored on the device with the set of other devices.

Sharing data among multiple devices is an increasingly popular feature for users of multiple devices. The data-sharing feature is implemented by updating entire files and, in some cases, entire sets of files specified for syncing among the multiple devices. Many applications that provide a data-sharing feature send and receive the data among the multiple devices in an unprotected manner.


A method of forming an integrated circuit structure includes providing a semiconductor substrate including a top surface; forming a first insulation region and a second insulation region in the semiconductor substrate; and recessing the first insulation region and the second insulation region. Top surfaces of remaining portions of the first insulation region and the second insulation region are flat surfaces or divot surfaces. A portion of the semiconductor substrate between and adjoining removed portions of the first insulation region and the second insulation region forms a fin.

With the increasing down-scaling of integrated circuits and increasingly demanding requirements to the speed of integrated circuits, transistors need to have higher drive currents with increasingly smaller dimensions. Fin field-effect transistors (FinFET) were thus developed. FIG. 1 illustrate a cross-sectional view of a conventional FinFET, wherein the cross-sectional view is made crossing the fins rather than the source and drain regions. Fins 100 are formed as vertical silicon fins extending above substrate 102, and are used to form source and drain regions (not shown) and channel regions therebetween. Shallow trench isolation (STI) regions 120 are formed to define fins 100. Gate 108 is formed over fins 100. Gate dielectric 106 is formed to separate fins 100 from gate 108.
In the formation of STI regions 120, a wet etch is used to recess the top surfaces of STI regions 120 to form fins 100. It is observed that with the wet etching, the center portions of the surfaces of STI regions 120 are lower than the portions of surfaces close to fins 100. The top surfaces of STI regions 120 are referred to as having a smiling profile.
It is realized that the parasitic capacitance (shown as capacitors 110) is generated between gate 108 and semiconductor strips 122, wherein STI regions 120 act as the insulator of parasitic capacitor 110. The parasitic capacitance adversely affects the performance of the respective integrated circuit, and needs to be reduced.

STI shape near fin bottom of Si fin in bulk FinFET

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


An automated dispensing assembly includes a base, and a shuttle mounted in the base and movable under automated control between a loading position and a dispensing position. The shuttle includes a cavity configured to carry an object, such as cover. The depth of the cavity in the shuttle is approximately the same (or less) as the thickness of one of the objects. A storage module is mounted proximate the shuttle. The storage module is configured to store a plurality of objects and includes an opening exposing the next object to be dispensed. The cavity is positioned adjacent the opening in the storage module in the loading position and an edge of the cavity separates the object to be dispensed from the other objects in the storage module as the shuttle moves to the dispensing position.

Diagnostic laboratories have long used archaic, manual, and cumbersome techniques that often lead to poorly reproducible and inaccurate results. Even today, most molecular and cell-based diagnostic systems use outdated and non-integrated technologies unable to cost-effectively perform massively parallel-scale analyses. System capabilities are further stressed by the genomics revolution that has accelerated demand for potential markers for use in target validation in drug discovery and development. Consequently, additional automation and parallelism are sought to enable efficient specimen handling, processing and analysis.
With the emphasis on lowering costs throughout the health-care industry, efforts are continuously being made to reduce the amount of labor involved, and the associated cost. The primary cost component of preparing and staining a specimen on a slide is labor. Accordingly, many efforts have been devoted to reduce the labor cost component of preparing a slide.
Microscope slide covers are typically thin, fragile, and have relatively accurately plane polished surfaces so that when stacked together they tend to adhere to one another and are difficult to separate. Separation can only reliably be accomplished by sliding one over its immediate neighbor, but this in practice is not easy to accomplish because groups of the slips tend to slide as packs from an end of a stack of such slips and the extraction of a single slip from such a pack requires care and dexterity. Where large numbers of covers have to be routinely applied to microscope slides, this operation can represent a significant proportion of the total workload of the technicians.

Systems and methods for dispensing objects


In an injection-molding machine, the rapid traversing over long distances takes place with the aid of linear drives (L1, L2), the xe2x80x9crotorxe2x80x9d (H1, H2) which is a component part of the machine construction.

The present invention relates to a surface-pressure generating device, for use particularly in an injection-molding machine, having a stationary platen, and a movable platen which can be moved linearly in relation to the stationary platen, guided by tie bars. Material to be compressed, or molds to be clamped are arranged between said moving platen and said stationary platen.
Surface-pressure generation, in which a movable platen rests on a platen which can be arrested in an operating position, is generally disclosed in DE 43 36 572 C2. Here, the stationary platen and movable platen for an injection-molding machine are jointly moved relatively rapidly by a first traversing mechanism, then the stationary platen is arrested in the operating position. The injection-molding operation is started. To support the forces emanating from the flow front of the polymer, the movable platen is moved by a second traversing mechanism. While the first traversing mechanism is intended to bring about rapid movement over a relatively long path without strong force, a relatively high force is initiated by the second traversing mechanism over a short path. The first traversing mechanism is usually either a hydraulic drive or an electromotive drive, in which the rotary motion of the electric motor is converted into a linear motion by a gear mechanism. Although a hydraulic drive can initiate a linear motion relatively easily, it requires the use of special hydraulic fluids, which are not always desirable. Also, the use of a conventional electric motor means that the original rotational motion of the rotor first has to be converted into a linear motion.
The object of the present invention is to design a surface-pressure generating device in such a way that a rapid traversing mechanism is designed so as to be technically simple. This object is achieved in the present invention by arranging the primary part of a linear motor for the linear traversing on at least one of the tie bars; and with the secondary part of the motor being realized by the other tie bar. As a result, it is possible to realize a drive just by adding a primary part of a linear motor into the construction. The mechanisms are simply incorporated into the drive. The German text of the originally filed application is incorporated herein by reference.
It has been found to be advantageous if the linear motor is designed as an asynchronous motor, since there is no need for a special design of the tie bars, as would be necessary for synchronous operation. Moreover, the fact that the primary part of the linear motor is cylindrically engaged around the respective tie bar means that a high motor output can be achieved with a small volume.

Surface-pressure generating device in an injection-molding machine


A node device in a blockchain receives an asset issuance transaction from an asset issuer, where the asset issuance transaction comprises a commitment value and a proof for performing a zero-knowledge proof with respect to the commitment value, and where the commitment value is calculated by inputting at least an asset type of a target asset object issued by the asset issuer to a commitment function. The zero-knowledge proof with respect to the commitment value based on the proof is initiated. It is determined that the asset type of the target asset object is in a set of legal asset types allowed to be issued by the asset issuer. In response to determining that the asset type of the target asset object is in the set of legal asset types allowed to be issued by the asset issuer, the commitment value to the blockchain is issued for storage.

Blockchain technology, also known as distributed ledger technology, is an emerging technology in which several computing devices jointly participate in "accounting" and jointly maintain a complete distributed database. The blockchain technology has been widely used in many fields because of its properties of decentralization, open and transparent, each computing device participating in database records, and quickly synchronizing data among the computing devices.

Method, apparatus and electronic device for blockchain-based asset issuance


In an example embodiment, an apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory including computer code. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: receiving at a mobile station from a base station in a wireless network, a channel quality threshold and a power adjustment value; measuring a downlink channel quality associated with each of a plurality of resource blocks in a downlink direction from the base station; selecting one or more of the resource blocks that have a channel quality that is greater than or equal to the channel quality threshold; and performing the following for each of the selected one or more resource blocks: determining a transmission power for transmitting a sounding signal via the resource block based upon the measured downlink channel quality for the resource block and power adjustment value; and transmitting, via a wireless transceiver, the sounding signal in an uplink direction to the base station via the resource block using the determined transmission power for the resource block.

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a telecommunications technology often aimed at providing wireless data over long distances (e.g., kilometers) in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access. A network based upon WiMAX is occasionally also called a Wireless Metropolitan Access Network (WirelessMAN or WMAN); although, it is understood that WMANs may include protocols other than WiMAX. WiMAX often includes a network that is substantially in compliance with the IEEE 802.16 standards, their derivatives, or predecessors (hereafter, "the 802.16 standard"). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks, Part 16, IEEE Std. 802.16-2004.
One particular derivative of the 802.16 standard is the, as yet finished, 802.16m standard that attempts to increase the data rate of wireless transmissions to 1 Gbps while maintaining backwards compatibility with older networks. IEEE 802.16 Broadband Wireless Access Working Group, IEEE 802.16m System Requirements, Oct. 19, 2007.
Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) is a telecommunications technology often aimed at providing wireless data over shorter distances (e.g., meters or tens of meters) in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access. A network based upon the WLAN standard is occasionally also referred to by the common or marketing name "WiFi" (or "Wi-Fi") from Wireless Fidelity; although it is understood that WLAN may include other shorter ranged technologies. WiFi often includes a network that is substantially in compliance with the IEEE 802.11 standards, their derivatives, or predecessors (hereafter, "the 802.11 standard").

Transmission power control for sounding signal for wireless networks


A snowmobile ski comprising a longitudinally extending runner having a bottom surface, a generally flat elongate bar having a top and bottom surface, and a steering skag extending longitudinally of the runner on the bottom side of the bar. The flat bar is generally contoured to abut the bottom surface of the runner, and furthermore extends forwardly beyond the skag and laterally and longitudinally beyond the skag so that a skag track in the snow encountered by the ski and the skag track left by the skag in the snow will be at least partially filled in by the bar.

This invention relates to improving the steerability of a snowmobile and more particularly to eliminating the problem of snowmobile ski darting and tracking.
Snowmobile skis typically have elongated steering skags carried on the bottom of the ski that act as a type of keel to increase the bite of the ski in the snow when the ski is turned. Ski skags leave an impression in the snow corresponding to the profile of the ski and skag. Particularly in wet or compacted snow, a snowmobile ski coming upon the impression left by a previous snowmobile ski will tend to follow the same track (especially if the temperature has dropped causing the wet snow to freeze). This effect is known as Tracking or darting. Darting forces the snowmobile operator to compensate or correct for the tracking steering forces by oversteering the vehicle to maintain directional stability. Darting can be quite severe particularly if the snow containing the initial track was wet and has refrozen (such as on a sunny winter day followed by a cold night--typical snowmobiling weather).
The skag of a snowmobile following such a track will naturally situate itself in the previous impression and a considerable effort is required to steer out of such a track. Over time, darting can cause the driver to become fatigued from the effort of steering.
A need exists, therefore, for a snowmobile ski that eliminates the problem of darting. Ideally, such a ski would not only be able to steer easily despite encountering a skag impression but would also leave little skag impression behind it so that later machines that come upon the track will not dart.


There is provided a power transmission control device included in a power transmission device in a contactless power transmission system that transmits power from the power transmission device to a power receiving device by electromagnetically coupling a primary coil to a secondary coil to supply the power to a load of the power receiving device. The power transmission control device includes a controller controlling the power transmission control device, a host interface communicating with a power transmission-side host, and a register section accessible from the power transmission-side host via the host interface. The controller shifts into a communication mode that executes communication between the power transmission-side host and a power receiving-side host, when the power transmission-side host writes, via the host interface, a communication request command that requests the communication between the hosts in the register section. Then, the controller transmits the communication request command to the power receiving device.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a power transmission control device, a power transmission device, a power receiving control device, a power receiving device, and an electronic apparatus.
2. Related Art
Recently, contactless power transmission (non-contact power transmission) has been highlighted as a technique allowing power transmission using electromagnetic induction, without contact between metal portions. For example, there is a disclosed technique in which the contactless power transmission is applied to charging of mobile phones and household appliances, such as a cordless handset of a phone system.
JP-A-2006-60909 is an example of related art regarding the contactless power transmission. In this technique, an authentication code is transmitted and received between a power transmission side (a primary side) device and a power receiving side (a secondary side) device to achieve ID authentication so as to detect insertion of a foreign object or the like.
Thus, in the above technique, for appropriate contactless power transmission between the power transmission side device and the power receiving side device, transmission of an authentication code is executed, whereas the technique is not ready for data transmission at an application level higher than that. Accordingly, there has yet been no method for achieving data communication between a power transmission side host and a power receiving side host, for example, by effectively utilizing a charging time of an electronic apparatus.

Power transmission control device, power transmission device, power receiving control device, power receiving device, and electronic apparatus


A fixing device is disclosed, including: a fixing rotative body, a heat source, and a control part. The control part conducts a printing temperature control which varies an ON ratio per unit time of the heat source based on a detection result of the temperature detecting part to maintain a printing target temperature in a printing state, conducts a waiting temperature control which performs an ON/OFF control based on the detection result of the temperature detecting part to maintain a waiting target temperature in a waiting state after a printing operation ends, and conducts a forcible ON control which forcibly turns on the heat source for a predetermined time before starting the ON/OFF control when the detection result of the temperature detecting part after the printing operation ends is lower than the waiting target temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a fixing device and an image forming apparatus including the fixing device, such as a copier, a printer, or the like using an electro-photographic technology.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, for example, in an image forming apparatus using an electro-photographic scheme, a toner image is formed on an image carrier, and the toner image is transferred onto a recording medium. After the toner image is transferred, the recording medium is carried to a fixing device, and is heated and pressed by the fixing device, so as to fix the toner image on the recording medium and then eject the recording medium.
In general, as illustrated in FIG. 1, in the fixing device, a fixing belt 52 is set around a fixing roller 53 and a heating roller 54 internally having a heat source 55, and the fixing belt 52 is clipped and pressed by the fixing roller 53 and a pressure roller 51. A paper sheet (recording medium) 59 is passed through between nip parts of the fixing roller 53 and the pressure roller 51. An entry guide 57 is provided to guide the paper sheet 59 to the nip parts at an upstream side above the nip parts formed by the fixing roller 53 and the pressure roller 51, and an output guide 58 for guiding the paper sheet 59 from the nip parts to be ejected is provided at a downstream side. That is, the fixing roller 53 rotates in a direction of an arrow A1 and the fixing belt 52 moves in a direction of an arrow A2. In this case, the pressure roller 51 contacting and pressing the fixing roller 53 through the fixing belt 52 rotates in a direction of an arrow A3. The paper sheet 59 passes through the nip parts by being guided by the entry guide 57 in accordance with a direction of an arrow B, and is carried out from the nip parts by being guided by the output guide 58.
In the fixing device, it is required to assure a capability of stably fixing an image while maintaining a target heating temperature. Conventionally, a technology has been used to control turning on and off the heat source (heater) 55 for heating the heating roller 54 based on a temperature of the fixing belt 52 detected by a temperature detecting part 56. In detail, in a case in which a temperature detected by the temperature detecting part 56 is lower than a target control temperature being a predetermined value, a duty of turning on electricity for the heat source (heater) 55 is set to be 100% and the heat source (heater) 55 is turned on. In a case in which the temperature detected by the temperature detecting part 56 is higher than the predetermined value, the duty of turning on electricity for the heat source (heater) 55 is set to be 0% and the heat source (heater) 55 is turned off. The above-described temperature control scheme is called an on/off control scheme which is disclosed by Japanese Patent No. 3746913.
In the fixing device applying the on/off control scheme, a temperature ripple with respect to a target control temperature becomes greater. Accordingly, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 60-163102 discloses a PID (Proportional, Integral, and Derivative) control for optimizing multiple parameters depending on deviations of a detected temperature and the target control temperature by combining a control algorithm with proportions, integrals, and derivatives. In the PID control, the duty of turning on electricity to a heater (heat source) varies in a range of 0% through 100%.
On the other hand, an object of Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2008-122757 is to make the temperature ripple smaller and stably shorten a rising time. A control technology is disclosed to vary the duty of turning on electricity to be a value calculated by using a detection result of the temperature detecting part based on a predetermined algorithm.
As described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2008-122757, in a fixing device using the PID control alone, the temperature ripple becomes smaller. However, since the PID control frequently turns on and off the heater (heat source) even in a waiting state, energy consumption becomes greater than that of the on/off control.
On the contrary, in a case of switching from the on/off control to the PID control after printing, an overshoot becomes greater due to a temperature inside the fixing part after printing, and it takes time to assure the capability of fixing an output image.
In the above-described conventional fixing device, it is difficult to suppress the overshoot when moving to the waiting state after printing, without making the temperature ripple greater.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus


A point-welding clamp structure for side by side tightly clamping and locating different plate-shaped metal pieces in their true relative positions so as to facilitate the point-welding operation. The point-welding clamp structure includes a body section and a base section for clamping the different metal pieces. A second adjustment section is disposed on the body section and a third adjustment section is disposed on the base section. By means of operating the second and third adjustment sections, the metal pieces with different thickness can be securely clamped and located by the point-welding clamp structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a metal processing technique, and more particularly to an improved point-welding clamp structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of metal processing, different metal pieces are generally connected with each other by means of welding. Point-welding technique is widely applied to various fields not only including industrial product manufacturing, but also daily implement manufacturing. For example, point-welding technique is often applied to car body repair for recovering or modifying the original configuration of the car body. FIG. 1 shows a conventional point-welding clamp 1 for fixing the metal pieces in their true relative positions to facilitate the successive welding operation.
In structure, the conventional point-welding clamp 1 includes a frame-like main body 2 and a connection plate 3. The main body 2 has an opening 4 on a first side. The connection plate 3 has a first end and a second end. The first end of the connection plate 3 extends out of the main body 2 through the opening 4. The second end of the connection plate 3 has a threaded rod 5 passing through a second side of the main body 2. A nut 6 is screwed on the threaded rod 5. A press bar 7 is fitted through a perforation 8 formed at the first end of the connection plate 3 in adjacency to the main body 2.
In use, an operator inserts two different metal pieces to be welded together between the main body 2 and the press bar 7 with the adjacent edges of the metal pieces in abutment with two sides of the connection plate 3. By means of the nut 6, the connection plate 3 can be driven and displaced to tightly clamp and locate the metal pieces between the main body 2 and the press bar 7. Under such circumstance, the operator can perform point-welding operation to the two metal pieces.
In practice, the different metal pieces often have unequal thickness. However, the gap between the main body 2 and the press bar 7 of the conventional point-welding clamp 1 is uniform. Therefore, when using the conventional point-welding clamp 1 to clamp and locate two different metal pieces with different thickness, the metal pieces can be hardly both securely clamped and located. As a result, the application range of the conventional point-welding clamp 1 is limited.


A liquid crystal display device having thin film transistors which can alleviate the required alignment accuracy of a semiconductor film while suppressing the generation of an optical leak current is provided. The liquid crystal display device includes: a transparent substrate; gate electrodes which are stacked above the transparent substrate; source electrodes and drain electrodes which are stacked above the gate electrodes; and semiconductor films each of which is stacked above the gate electrode and controls an electric current between the source electrode and the drain electrode based on an electric field generated by the gate electrode, wherein the semiconductor film is formed into a planar shape, and includes a first region which overlaps with the gate electrode in plane and a second region which does not overlap with the gate electrode in plane, and the source electrode and the drain electrode are not connected to the semiconductor film in the second region, and are connected to the semiconductor film in the first region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device which displays an image by allowing light from a backlight to pass through a substrate on which thin film transistors (TFTs) are formed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a liquid crystal display device, there has been known an active-matrix-type liquid crystal display device which performs a display control of pixels using thin film transistors (TFTs). Such a liquid crystal display device is constituted of a liquid crystal panel including a TFT substrate on which thin film transistors are formed in a matrix array, and a backlight which supplies light to the liquid crystal panel.
As the device structure of the thin film transistor, there has been a bottom gate structure in which a gate electrode is arranged below a semiconductor film made of amorphous silicon (a-Si), polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) or the like. FIG. 9A is a plan view showing one example of a thin film transistor having the conventional bottom-gate structure, and FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view of the thin film transistor shown in FIG. 9A. As shown in FIG. 9B, a gate electrode GT is arranged on a transparent substrate GA and, further, a semiconductor film AS is formed over the gate electrode GT.
FIG. 10A is a plan view showing one example of a thin film transistor having the conventional bottom-gate structure, and FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view of the thin film transistor shown in FIG. 10A. As shown in FIG. 10A, a semiconductor film AS is formed inside the gate electrode GT as viewed in a plan view, and the semiconductor film AS is shielded from light of a backlight radiated from a side below a transparent substrate GA. Accordingly, such a thin film transistor shown in FIG. 10A can suppress the occurrence of an optical leak current which deteriorates image quality of a liquid crystal display device.
JP-A-5-313192 discloses, as shown in FIG. 12 and the like in the same document, a thin film transistor where the whole semiconductor film is shielded from light of a backlight by a gate electrode.

Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Co., Ltd.


A seatbelt retractor is disclosed. The seatbelt retractor includes a frame, a spindle, and a torsion member. The frame is attached to a structural member of a vehicle. The spindle is rotatably supported in the frame. The spindle includes a slot for accommodating a seatbelt webbing. The torsion member is coupled to the spindle, and the torsion member has a first engagement end, a second engagement end and an intermediate engagement portion disposed between the first and second engagement ends. The intermediate engagement portion includes an engagement portion and a non-engagement portion, wherein the engagement portion couples the torsion member to the spindle and the non-engagement portion is proximate the seatbelt webbing and allows seatbelt webbing to pass through the slot without interference.

A seatbelt system is one type of safety system used in vehicles today to prevent or reduce vehicle occupant injury during a vehicle collision. Typically, the seatbelt system includes seatbelt webbing that is stored in a retractor when not in use and protracted from the retractor and secured around the vehicle occupant when in use. The retractor includes a spring for retracting the seatbelt webbing from the retractor. The webbing is wound around a spool or spindle. If the retractor is a load limiting retractor the spindle is coupled to a torsion bar. During normal use and when the vehicle is not involved in the vehicle collision, the spindle freely rotates when the webbing is retracted or protracted from the retractor. However, during a vehicle collision, the seatbelt webbing must be prevented from protracting from the retractor in order to restrain the vehicle occupant's movement toward the vehicle interior. A locking mechanism is provided in the retractor to prevent further protraction of the seatbelt webbing by preventing the one end of the torsion bar and spindle from rotating.
During a vehicle impact and when the spool and torsion bar are rotationally locked, it is desirable to "pay out" some portion of the seatbelt webbing to prevent peak loading on the vehicle occupant. Thus, the torsion bar provides the desired "pay out" feature by twisting a predetermined amount during vehicle impact allowing the seatbelt webbing to "payout." A further enhancement to seatbelt retractors is a torsion bar that allows multiple levels of load limiting. The multiple levels of load limiting are achieved through the use of a multi-segmented torsion bar. Current multi-segmented torsion bars are designed to prevent interference with the seatbelt webbing which is routed through the spool and past the torsion bar. This is achieved in conventional retractors by designing the segments between splines to be no shorter than the width of the seatbelt webbing. If the webbing does not pass over the spline, a supplemental sleeve or spacer may be used. Thus, the size and packaging of the seatbelt retractor are significantly constrained either by width of the seatbelt retractor or diameter of the spindle.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved seatbelt retractor that provides a multiple load-limiting feature and is able to be packaged in smaller retractors. Further, the seatbelt webbing of the new and improved retractor should not interfere with the multiple load-limiting torsion bar and be capable of installation through the retractor spindle with supplemental components.


A flexible battery includes a first substrate layer with a first cell portion, a second cell portion, and a bridge portion connecting the first and second cell portions. An electrical bridge electrically couples a first electrochemical cell to a second electrochemical cell in series or parallel, and an electrical bridge is flexible and extends across the bridge portion of the first substrate layer. A second substrate layer is connected to the first substrate layer such that both of the first and second electrochemical cells are separately sealed. The flexible battery is configured to be folded over itself along the bridge portion such that the first and second electrochemical cells are arranged in a covering relationship. Optionally, an open gap area is disposed over the bridge portion of the first substrate to facilitate folding the flexible battery over itself along a line extending through the bridge portion.

For the past one hundred years or so, scientists have been making Carbon/Zinc portable power sources for various applications. In the early days of portable power, these power sources were very large compared to today's standards. For example, the very popular "Igniter Cell" made by Eveready was about 3″ diameter and about 9″ tall and was used in many applications such as radios, buzzers, Xmas lighting, etc. These large cells, as well as some smaller versions, such as the famous Eveready #6 (about 2″ dia.×6″ tall) and the smallest unit cell of the day, the #950 (D size), were commonly made into battery packs with voltages exceeding 40 volts in some applications. These were similar in size, and even larger, than today's car batteries, for uses in lighting devices, radios and car ignition systems. In the mid 1900's, with the advent of advanced electronics such as the transistor, the electrical requirements for portable power sources were drastically reduced. Consequently, cell sizes could also be reduced to include C's, AA's, and AAA's, and even small button cells. This power reduction has continued into the twenty-first century, where applications such as smart labels, smart credit cards, sensors, data loggers, novelty devices such as greeting cards and badges, etc., now require a maximum current of milliamperes, with many applications requiring as little as a few microamperes at about 1.5-3.0 volts. These applications also have the requirement that the power sources be flat and very thin to maintain their low profiles and portability.
In the past twenty-five years, various approaches for making thin, flat cells and batteries were attempted by numerous scientists and corporations. These include the widely known instant film battery pack developed by Polaroid. This battery pack was used in each package of Polaroid instant film. This allowed Polaroid to have a fresh battery in the camera each time the user placed a new pack of film in the camera. This high cost battery with multiple layers and a metal foil laminate package is a high voltage, high current battery, capable of igniting flash bulbs and powering motors, for example, and is not a realistic competitor of the new thin low cost batteries that are needed. In addition to Polaroid, others have tried to develop thin batteries in various electrochemical systems.
In recent years, printed electronics on flexible substrates has become a new process and growing in popularity. In this process, the circuit is printed as well as some of the electronic components. Typically this type of circuit could include a display, IC chip, sensor, antennae, lights and a low capacity power source such as a flat printed battery. In some applications, the power source could also be printed in a totally integrated manner. However, there remain some other applications where economic considerations and/or technical or compatibility considerations make it difficult or non-feasible to print the power source on the circuit. Thus, the power source can be integrated in a different manner. In order to reduce costs, the power source can be a printed as a flat battery that is provided as a complete cell/battery for later integration into the desired circuit. A typical cell can provide about 1.5 volts DC. Where greater voltages are required, it is conventionally known to connect two or more cells in series to increase the voltage. Similarly, multiple cells can be connected together in parallel to increase the effective capacity, as well as increase the current capability. For example, a battery can include two cells electrically connected in series to provide 3 volts DC. Still, it is desirable to reduce the overall size of the battery, even with multiple cells, for use in small circuits.
Co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 11/110,202 filed on Apr. 20, 2005, Ser. No. 11/379,816 filed on Apr. 24, 2006, Ser. No. 12/809,844 filed on Jun. 21, 2010, Ser. No. 13/075,620 filed on Mar. 30, 2011, and Ser. No. 13/625,366 filed on Sep. 24, 2012, as well as issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,029,927, 8,268,475, 8,441,411 are incorporated herein by reference, discuss new designs and methods of manufacture of a flat cell and battery.
With the growing market needs for low cost, low capacity thin flat cells, it would be beneficial to produce a thin, flat, printable flexible cell that is versatile and inexpensive to mass-produce. Printable, disposable thin cells that are well suited for low-power and high-production volume applications would be useful, especially if they offer adequate voltage, sufficient capacity, and low-cost solutions. Conventional low-profile batteries typically have few of these attributes, if any. Still, it is possible to utilize a low-profile battery (i.e., a coin cell or button cell), or any other type of battery, in the instant electrical device.


An arrangement for attaching an object to a fan blade so that the orientation of the object can be adjusted to achieve a desired orientation while the fan blade is rotated by the fan. The object is attached to the bottom end of an invisible filament. The top end of the invisible filament is attached to an enlargement, such as a button. The button is captured between the fan blade and an elastic band that encircles the fan blade. The button can be manually rotated to thereby rotate the invisible filament and the object so that the object is oriented in the desired manner when rotated by the fan. The object can be of the type that flies with a natural orientation, such as a bird, airplane, space ship, etc.

Ornaments abound in the lives of many persons for the aesthetic pleasure of the viewer. One area for displaying ornaments involves the use of ceiling and other types of fans where the ornaments are attached to or suspended from the blades of such types of fans. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,658,129 and Des. 364,223 and a host of other related patents disclose the practice of placing decorative ornaments directly to the underside of the fan blades. Other patents, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,011,499 and 5,516,264, and others disclose the use of fan blade covers, where the underside of the covers are decorated with ornaments and designs.
The ornaments and designs attached to the underside of the fan blades themselves, or to the underside of the fan blade covers are readily observable when the fans are not operating, i.e., when the fan blades are stationary.
Those skilled in the art have found that decorative ornaments can be suspended from the fan blades and observed while the fan is operating. Decorative ornaments suspended from fan blades are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,971,854 and 7,011,499. Such ornaments are known as mobile type of ornaments that are commonly suspended over or near an infant's bed. Indeed, other ornaments can be of the type that are constructed for moving, such as airplanes, rockets, race cars, etc. Thus, the movement of the ornament while the fan blade is rotating simulates the real life situation. The flying type of this type of ornament is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,937.
It can be seen from the foregoing that there is a need for an arrangement in which objects having a natural orientation during flight can be attached to a fan blade so that when the fan rotates the blade, the object maintains its natural orientation.

Flying object attached to a ceiling fan blade


Embodiments may relate to techniques or circuitry for the control of a clock signal by a phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit. The technique may include the identification of a first parameter related to a gain of a digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) and a second parameter related to a resolution of a time-to-digital converter (TDC). The technique may then include the identification of a third parameter related to filter coefficients of a loop filter of the PLL circuit based on the first and second parameter. The circuit may then output a clock signal based on the first, second, and third parameters. Other embodiments may be described or claimed.

A phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit may be used to convert a reference frequency to a desired clock frequency which may be used by various components of an electronic device. One measure of quality of the clock frequency may be the amount of jitter, or variation, in the clock frequency. It may be desirable to minimize the jitter for the sake of consistency in the electronic device.

Self-tuning phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit

ANALOG DEVICES INTERNATIONAL UNLIMITED COMPANY


A semiconductor memory device includes at least one cell array and first and second bit line sense amplifying units. A cell array includes a plurality of bit line pairs and a plurality of bit line equalizers connected to each other through a signal line. Each bit line equalizer equalizes a corresponding bit line pair. The first and the second bit line sense amplifying units are alternately connected to the bit line pairs and receive respective bit line equalization signals.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly to a cell array for storing data and a bit line sense amplifier (BLSA) for sensing data by amplifying voltages loaded at a bit line pair.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional semiconductor memory device having a shared BLSA structure. The semiconductor memory device having the shared BLSA structure provides a BLSA shared by a plurality of cell arrays. A BLSA of the semiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 1 is shared by two cell arrays.
As shown, the semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of block selection units, a plurality of bit line equalization signal (BLEQ) generation units, a plurality of cell arrays, and a plurality of BLSA units. A block selection unit, e.g., BLOCK SELECTION UNIT 0, selects a corresponding cell array of the semiconductor memory device to/from which the data is input/output. A BLEQ generation unit, e.g., BLEQ GENERATION UINT 0, generates a bit line equalization signal, e.g., BLEQ 0, for initializing a bit line pair by equalizing voltages loaded at the bit line pair. A cell array, e.g., CELL ARRAY 0, stores the data. A BLSA unit, e.g., BLSA 0, senses voltage differences between the voltages loaded at the bit line pair.
FIG. 2 is a detailed diagram of two cell arrays and a BLSA depicted in FIG. 1.
The second BLSA unit BLSA 1 is shared by the two cell arrays CELL ARRAY 0 and CELL ARRAY 1. The second BLSA unit BLSA 1 includes a BLSA 201, two bit line equalizers 202U and 202D, a precharger 203, two isolators 204U and 204D, and an output unit 205. The BLSA 201 amplifies a voltage difference between voltages loaded at a bit line pair, e.g., BLU and BLBU. A bit line equalizer, e.g., 202U, equalizes the voltages loaded at the bit line pair, e.g., the upper bit line pair BLU and BLBU, in response to the bit line equalization signal BLEQ. The precharger 203 precharges the bit line pairs at a precharge voltage VBLP in response to the bit line equalization signal BLEQ. The isolators 204U and 204B isolate the cell array units CELL ARRAY 0 and CELL ARRAY 1 and the BLSA 201. In detail, the first isolator 204U isolates the first cell array CELL ARRAY 0 and the BLSA 201; and the second isolator 204D isolates the second cell array CELL ARRAY 1 and the BLSA 201. The output unit 205 outputs the data loaded at the bit line pair to the output line SIO and SIOB in response to an output signal YI, which is generated based on a column address.
The block selection unit shown in FIG. 1 selects a corresponding cell array in response to an active command. In case that the first cell array CELL ARRAY 0 is required to be selected, the first block selection unit BLOCK SELECTION UNIT 0 outputs a first block selection signal bs_0. In response to the first block selection signal bs_0, the first and the second BLEQ generation units BLEQ GENERATION UNIT 0 and BLEQ GENERATION UNIT 1 respectively disable the first and the second BLEQ signals BLEQ0 and BLEQ1 to a logic low level. Accordingly, the first and the second BLSA units BLSA 0 and BLSA 1 neighboring the first cell array CELL ARRAY 0 no longer equalize their respective bit line pairs. That is, the NMOS transistors M0 to M3, which receive the BLEQ signal, are turned off. Meanwhile, the other block selection signals, e.g., bs_1, are enabled at a logic high level and, therefore, the bit line pairs included in unselected cell arrays, e.g., CELL ARRAY 1, are equalized. After a precharge command is activated, the BLEQ signal BLEQ becomes a logic high level. Thereafter, the bit line pair of the first cell array CELL ARRAY 0 is precharged with the precharge voltage VBLP.
As mentioned above, when the first cell array CELL ARRAY 0 is selected in response to the active command, the bit line equalizers included in the first and the second BLSA units BLSA0 and BLSA1 do not perform an equalization operation. Herein, the down bit line pair BLD and BLBD included in the second cell array CELL ARRAY 1 and connected to the second BLSA unit BLSA 1 is disconnected with the second BLSA unit BLSA 1 by the second isolator 204D. The down bit line pair BLD and BLBD is disconnected during an active operation. When the first cell array CELL ARRAY 0 starts to perform the active operation in response to the active command, the down bit line pair BLD and BLBD are precharged with the precharge voltage VBLP. While the first cell array CELL ARRAY 0 proceeds the active operation, a current leakage occurs in the down bit line pair BLD and BLBD and, therefore, voltage levels loaded at the down bit line pair BLD and BLBD are lowered. In this case, when the second BLSA unit BLSA 1 starts a precharge operation, a precharge time increases because the voltage level loaded at the down bit line pair BLD and BLBD has been lowered. Further, in a memory device with large capacity, the size of the cell array is much larger than that of the BLSA unit. Accordingly, a conventional method for equalizing the bit line pair, arranged both in the BLSA unit and the cell array, by only using the bit line equalizer included in the BLSA unit spends long time and, therefore, is inefficient.

Semiconductor memory device having bit line equalizer in cell array


A method for monolithically fabricating a light field sensor with an array of microlens. Each microlens is formed directly on a surface including a plurality of pixels of the light field sensor formed on a wafer. The manufacturing system performs a preparation of the surface including the plurality of pixels formed on the wafer. The manufacturing system deposits a layer of photoresist on the surface of the wafer. The manufacturing system performs a patterning on the deposited layer to form one or more blocks of cured photoresists. The manufacturing system performs a thermal curing of the one or more blocks of uncured photoresists to form an array of microlens of the light field sensor. Each microlens covers at least one of the plurality of pixels of the light field sensor formed on the wafer.

The present disclosure generally relates to methods of manufacture for sensor arrays, and specifically to a method of manufacture of an array of microlens over an array of pixels in an image sensor of the light field camera.
Some types of the light field camera use an array of microlenses placed in front of an image sensor to sense the intensity, color and directional information from the scene. The image sensor and the array of microlenses are placed at a distance of separation in order to focus the light field on the array of microlenses at its focal plane. The distance of separation is determined by several factors such as a width of each pixel in the image sensor, a focal depth of the micro-lens, and a width of the micro-lens. In conventional light field cameras, any variation in the distance of separation results in a misfocus causing a blurring in the images. Furthermore, the coupling of the array of microlenses to the image sensor requires proper alignment which may be difficult to maintain over extended periods of time due to environmental factors.
Accordingly, the design of conventional light field cameras has a limitation of precise placement of the array of microlenses on the image sensor due to the lack of a monolithic process.

Manufacturing an on-chip microlens array


A voltage regulator circuit comprises an amplifier (10) having a first input coupled to a first reference voltage node; a power pass element (20) having a control terminal coupled to an output of the amplifier, an input coupled to a power supply input of the voltage regulator circuit, and an output coupled to an output of the voltage regulator circuit; a feedback circuit (30, 31) having an input coupled to the output of the power pass element and an output coupled to a second input of the amplifier; and a compensation module (60) comprising a transistor (61), wherein a gate or base terminal of the transistor is coupled to a second reference voltage node, a drain or collector terminal of the transistor is coupled to the output of the amplifier, and a source or emitter terminal of the transistor is coupled to the power supply input of the voltage regulator circuit. The voltage regulator circuit is capable to increase the power supply rejection ratio of low drop-out voltage regulators.

Low drop-out voltage regulators (LDO) are widely used in portable electronic equipment such as a cellular phone, digital cameras, and portable media players, etc., to provide a constant voltage power supply for analog and/or digital circuits. The power supply rejection ratio (PSRR) of the LDO, indicating the capability of suppressing power supply noise from its output, is normally of importance.
A conventional existing LDO is shown in FIG. 1. Such a circuit is e.g. disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,205,831 B2. The existing LDO includes an error amplifier 10, power transistor 20, feedback resistors 30 and 31, load resistors 33 and 34, load capacitor 40. FIG. 1 also shows a power-supply 55, reference voltage Vref, as well as output voltage Vout 51. In the conventional existing LDO, as shown in FIG. 1, the power supply noise is suppressed by a negative feedback circuit comprising the error amplifier 10 and the power transistor 20.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a small signal equivalent of a voltage regulator circuit of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, a transconductor 21 and a resistor 36 represent the transconductance and the drain source resistance, respectively, of the power transistor 20 of FIG. 1. The PSRR for the LDO based on the small signal equivalent shown in FIG. 2 is given by:
                              P                                                              S                                                              R                                                              R                =                                            A              v                                      A              dd                                =                                                    V                in                                            V                out                                      ≈                                          A                EA                                          β                                                                                R                op                                                          G                mp
Av is the open loop gain of negative feedback loop of the LDO, Vin is the voltage of power-supply input 50 of the LDO, and Vout is the voltage of output 51 of the LDO.
Furthermore, AEA is the differential gain of the error amplifier 10, β a feedback factor which is the ratio of the resistance of resistor 30 to the sum of the resistances of the resistor 30 and 31, Rop is the drain source resistance of the power transistor 20, and Gmp is the transconductance of the power transistor 20.
There is a need for a low drop-out voltage regulator that, for example, consumes a relatively small area, and/or can provide an improved PSRR without necessarily increasing its open loop gain.


The print screen frame tensioning system, generally rectangular in shape and fabricated from extruded rectangular tubular rails, when assembled, each side rail of the frame has a longitudinal channel, circular in cross sectional area, formed in each of the tubular rails for substantially the length of the tubular rails for receipt of a locking rod, the locking rod being axially serrated and the longitudinal channel being axially serrated, each locking rod having a tensioning fitting formed on one of its longitudinal ends, the frame having a plurality of throughbores in its side walls for receipt of a locking bolt, the frame and print screen being assembled by placing the frame on a support, spreading the screen or fabric material across the frame, positioning the locking rods in their respective longitudinal channels in their respective tubular rails, selectively engaging the fitting end of the lock rods to rotate them and thus cause tension on the screen or fabric panel, and simultaneously tightening the plurality of locking bolts in selective throughbores during the tensioning process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fabric stretchers and more particularly to an apparatus for tensioning and re-tensioning screen fabric for use in screen printing processing or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Stretching frames are used for a wide variety of applications. One prevalent use for such frames is in the field of graphic arts. In the medium of oil painting, the canvass must be stretched into a taught plane so the paint may be applied onto a firm and stationary surface. Frequently the frame used for such art is made of wood and the canvass is attached to one side and then pulled across to the opposite side where it is anchored. Such frames may be fashioned so that a wedge may be driven into each of the corners of the frame to provide tension for the tightening of the canvas.
Printing screens may be used for transfer of inks for the creation of an art work or in the printing industry. Screen mesh as used in the screen print industry is manufactured from polyester and is typically supported and tensioned between opposing sides of a four sided frame. The mesh, when uniformly stretched in a taught plane, provides the foundation for a stencil. Printing ink is then forced through the open areas of the stencil by means of a blade or squeegee creating an image in the shape of the stencil on the work piece positioned beneath the screen. To achieve optimum results, several factors must be considered. The screen must be maintained at the recommended working tension throughout the print run so the pattern is transferred with accuracy. Tension variation must be kept to a minimum. Off contact must be kept to a minimum.
During the printing stroke, the squeegee blade deflects the fabric downwards forcing it into direct contact with the work piece during its passage across the screen. This deflection causes the fabric to be stretched from its undisturbed condition. The constant cycle of stretching and snapping back accelerates the deterioration of both the screen and the stencil. Proper tensioning decreases off contact, improves image quality and provides longer stencil and image life. Additionally, as the screen mesh undergoes these distorting forces during the print stroke, the stencil in the screen may also be distorted, especially if the contact between the screen and the fabric is redundant. This can result in a slightly distorted image on the work piece.
Typical tubular alloy roller frames used to stretch the screen mesh utilize tubes positioned on all four sides of the frame. The screen is pulled over these tubes and locked in place. In doing so, the frame may become slightly distorted and this distortion can cause the off contact distance between the screen and the work piece to vary across the print area with a consequent reduction in print quality and often they require rigidizing trusses to correct.
The majority of screen frames currently available do not allow the mesh and stencil to be easily removed and reinstalled on the frame. Consequently screens must be stored mounted on their frames between print runs. Removal of the mesh and accurate reinstallation for later use represents an improvement over the prior art. Applicant""s print screen frame tensioning apparatus addresses these problems and represents a novel contribution to the screen printing industry.
An object of the present invention is to provide for a novel print screen frame tensioning apparatus which allows for the accurate tensioning of the screen.
A further object of the present invention is to provide for a novel print screen frame tensioning apparatus which is easily assembled and has few moving parts.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide for a novel print screen frame tensioning system which allows for the screen to be stored for reuse without the necessity of maintaining the screen on the frame.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a classical cross sectionally square or rectangular rails which are easier to work with and provide superior sealing of the ink well.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide for a novel print screen frame tensioning apparatus which maintains its square shape during tensioning.
The print screen frame tensioning system, generally rectangular in shape and fabricated from extruded rectangular tubular rails, when assembled, each side rail of the frame has a longitudinal one way channel, circular in cross sectional area, formed in each of the tubular rails for substantially the length of the tubular rails for receipt of a locking rod, the locking rod being axially serrated and the longitudinal channel being axially serrated, each locking rod having an additional tensioning fitting formed on one of its longitudinal ends for lateral tensioning, the frame having a plurality of throughbores in its side walls for receipt of a plurality of locking bolts, the frame and print screen being assembled by placing the frame on a support, spreading the screen or fabric material across the frame, positioning the locking rods in their respective longitudinal channels in their respective tubular rails, selectively engaging the end of the lock rods with a wrench to rotate them and thus cause tension vertically on the screen or fabric panel, and simultaneously tightening the plurality of locking bolts in selective throughbores during the tensioning process. There are two dimensions necessary to achieve maximum uniform tension of the fabric panel, vertical and lateral. Vertical being the center point of each panel to the center of each rail and lateral being the center of each rail to both ends of each rail.


A system, method and computer readable media for overcoming the inherent limitations on the number of possible channels in a channel map. An enhanced channel launch application is used for adding channels to a channel map. A network couples a headend to a conditional access device. The headend includes a profile services server and the conditional access device includes a channel addition interface. The channel addition interface is used by a user to add a channel to a channel map associated with the conditional access device, the channel addition interface adding the channel to the channel map when the channel addition interface receives user input to create the channel, the created channel being added to a channel map to create an modified channel map individualized for the user.

An enhanced channel launch is implemented by configuring an asset in the video-on-demand (VOD) structure, wherein an associated channel points directly at that asset so that when that channel is selected by a user the content of the asset is displayed. The content associated with the asset may include video-on-demand assets or some number of other folders and assets within the video-on-demand sub directory. Enhanced channel launch controls how channels get created and substantiated.
With traditional broadcast video, the creation and maintenance of broadcast channels evolved to include video-on-demand based channels. However, the channel paradigm has a basic limitation on the number of channels and functionality that originated at the beginning of the system concept development. Those limitations have been perpetuated through the years. The channel number limitations have been addressed in various ways.
The original channel number design was based on memory limitations of the set-top box. Only a limited amount of non-volatile RAM was available to store channel maps and actual bit maps that represented features for each channel. Thus, an arbitrary number was selected based on the number of bits available to the application and non-volatile RAM used. In addition, there was a limitation regarding support of a maximum number channels based on a data field that was set by the controller software. Thus, a combination of controller code availability and DRAM in the set top created a limitation on the number of channels.
The configuration that resulted in channel number limitations was then hard coded into the different media platforms. Even though new hardware would have more DRAM and more non-volatile RAM, replacing the control system became extremely problematic. Some efforts to address these limitations have involved very specific and proprietary methods. However, such methods are not extensible to other platforms.
For example, many recently developed platforms cannot implement these proprietary methods. One relatively new platform is the Tru2way® platform, which was formerly known as OCAP (OpenCable Application Platform). The Tru2way® platform is based on a set of standards that is freely and widely available throughout the industry. Such industry companies may include players in the cable industry, consumer electronics manufacturers, and multiple systems operators (possibly even including satellite operators). The Tru2way® systems include a system control process that provides a specific mechanism of data delivery as well as for application development. In addition, subscribers are being provided a Tru2way® based programming guide, which is an electronic interactive programming guide.
While new features and interactivity are possible, such platforms still have a limited number of channels that may be used. The limitation on the number of channels deriving from the legacy channel numbering system needs to be surmounted. A numbering and/or symbolic naming system that is not constrained by these limitations as a mechanism of identifying and selecting channels is needed.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for providing application and server based control of dynamic channel mapping.

Application and server based control of dynamic channel mapping


A container formed of an erected body blank and a pair of erected wall blanks made of corrugated board material, and a method of forming same. The body blank has a bottom panel and an erected, upstanding pair of end wall panel areas at opposite ends of said bottom panel. Each of the pair of wall blanks has an end wall portion and at least one extension portion. The erected pair of wall blanks are disposed generally along a perimeter of the bottom panel of the erected body blank adjacent to the end wall panels such that the end wall portions of the pair of wall blanks and the upstanding pair of end wall panel areas of the body blank are attached together, and the at least one extension portion extends inside of the perimeter of the bottom panel.

The present invention relates to paperboard containers and, more particularly, to a shipping container of corrugated liner board material and method for manufacturing same.
RSC (regular slotted container) and HSC (half slotted container) boxes are in common use in shipping a variety of products where it is desired to have complete protection of the product, i.e., protection against both shipping damage and pilferage. However, such containers have distinct disadvantages which are inherent in their basic design. Thus, in the case of both the RSC and HSC containers, the bottom closure comprises foldable bottom flaps which are interleaved when folded to provide a two-ply floor for the product, the floor having gaps. In the case of the RSC container, the lid is also comprised of interleaved foldable top flaps. The double thickness of the material in both the bottom and top of such containers comprising the overlapping portions of the folded flaps contribute nothing to the stacking strength of the container and thus are useful only in the sense of protection of the product against pilferage. Accordingly, there has been a long felt need for a shipping container design, which without increasing the amount of corrugated board used, results in a shipping container of increased stacking strength that has a gapless floor, and yet provides complete protection of the shipped product against pilferage.
Although sometimes so employed, HSC and RSC containers are ill adapted to serve as display containers. When so used, they are provided with a tear out panel or panels in a side wall or opposite side walls of the container. When these are removed, the stacking strength of the container is greatly reduced, comprising substantially only the single ply or thickness of corrugated liner board in the opposite end walls. These end walls, although intact, are then prone to buckling in view of the removal of the tear out panels of the side walls.
Moreover it would be desirable for shipping containers to be provided with one or more sides already opened so that the goods in the container are partially exposed and accessible without greatly affecting the strength and structural integrity of the containers.
A related concern with shipping containers is that when the strength is built solely into the outer perimeter walls thereof, an offset vertical force, such as may be caused by a box that is stacked on top which is offset, may cause the underlying box to collapse or crush.
It is thus an object of the present invention to overcome the foregoing and other disadvantages of HSC and RSC containers.

Shipping container and method of manufacturing same


Information verification includes: presenting, to a plurality of independent verifiers, a verification task associated with a social media item obtained from a social media-based platform, the verification task being associated with an expected result; receiving, from the plurality of independent verifiers, a plurality of responses in response to the verification task; determining, using one or more computer processors, a verification result based at least in part on the plurality of responses; determining whether there is a disagreement between the verification result and the expected result; and in the event that there is a disagreement between the verification result and the expected result, performing an action in response to the disagreement.

Social media has become an important way for online users to connect with each other, create content, and exchange information. As social media sites such as Facebook®, Twitter®, LinkedIn®, etc. become more popular, many companies are becoming interested in leveraging social media information for business purposes. For example, Hearsay Social™ provides an enterprise social media platform that aggregates content generated on various social media sites and uses the content for sales and marketing purposes.
A large amount of data is constantly generated on social media sites and is ever-changing. New content can be added, existing content can be modified, and old content can be removed. The aggregated content should accurately reflect the additions, modifications, and deletions of content. Given the large amount of data that is constantly generated on the social media sites, however, verification of the aggregated content has become a challenging task. It can be expensive to implement and maintain special software designed for the purpose of data verification. Further, any defects in the software logic can still lead to incorrect results.


There is provided a permanent magnet rotary motor in which manufacture of a stator core is facilitated. The permanent magnet rotary motor includes P rotor magnetic pole sections and N slots. In this permanent magnet rotary motor, a least common multiple LCM (P, N) is set to be different from a least common multiple LCM (P/2, N), and an exciting winding is wound on each of N stator magnetic pole sections arranged in a peripheral direction so that a 120° current phase difference is obtained. N/2 divided cores 13A, 13C, 13E, 13G, 13I, and 13K of a first divided core group and N/2 divided cores 13B, 13D, 13F, 13H, 13J, and 13L of a second divided core group constitute a stator core 2. Cross-sectional shapes of the divided cores in the first and second divided core groups arranged on both sides of each of slots 9A to 9L taken in a direction perpendicular to an axis line passing through the center of a rotor 3 are shaped to be axisymmetrical with respect to a virtual line PL passing through the middle of an opening portion 9a or 9b of each slot and the axis line of the rotor 3. An open angle Wa of an opening portion 9a is set to be smaller than an open angle Wb of an opening portion 9b.

The present invention relates to a permanent magnet rotary motor in which a rotor including rotor magnetic pole sections formed of permanent magnets rotates.
Permanent magnet rotary motors have the rotor and a stator. Some rotors have a rotor core and the rotor magnetic pole sections formed of the permanent magnets. Some stators have a stator core including a plurality of stator magnetic pole sections, a plurality of slots having openings that open toward the rotor core, and exciting windings of at least two phases wound on these stator magnetic pole sections. It is known that, in the motor that uses the permanent magnets for the rotor magnetic pole sections, pulsating torque (cogging torque) and a thrust force are produced at the time of no-load operation. Such cogging torque hinders smooth rotation of the motor, thus causing vibration and speed variation of the motor. As an approach to reducing the cogging torque, there have been hitherto proposed formation of a slot with an oblique groove, hereinafter referred to as a skew, in the stator core or the rotor core, or use of a permanent magnet with the center of an inner circular arc thereof not aligned with the center of an outer circular arc thereof, hereinafter referred to as the permanent magnet of an eccentric type. However, formation of the skew may reduce the torque or reduce the productivity of the motor. Further, use of the permanent magnet of the eccentric type cannot increase the magnetic flux density of the motor, so that higher torque density cannot be achieved.
Then, in order to address these problems, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 15967/2004 (Patent Document 1) discloses a permanent magnet rotary motor in which each of stator magnetic pole sections of a first type and each of stator magnetic pole sections of a second type are arranged alternately. Each of the stator magnetic pole sections of the first type has a pair of projecting portions that project in the peripheral directions of a rotor in a magnetic pole surface portion provided at the leading end of the stator magnetic pole section. On the other hand, each of the stator magnetic pole sections of the second type does not have the pair of projecting portions. In this permanent magnet rotary motor, at the tip of each stator magnetic pole section, a torque pattern having a waveform different from that of a torque pattern generated at the tip of other stator magnetic pole section adjacent thereto is generated. A variation in the torque generated in adjacent stator magnetic pole sections are thereby cancelled out with each other, thus preventing the cogging torque generated in the rotor.
In the permanent magnet rotary motor disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3505347 (Patent Document 2), each of the two types of stator magnetic pole sections are alternately arranged in the peripheral direction of a rotor. The dimensions of the magnetic pole surfaces of the two types of stator magnetic pole sections in the peripheral direction are different.
Further, in a permanent magnet rotary motor disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 178298/1999 (Patent Document 3), each of the two types of stator magnetic pole sections is alternately arranged in the peripheral direction of a rotor. The curvatures of the magnetic pole surfaces of the two types of the stator magnetic pole sections are different.
In a permanent magnet rotary motor disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 309625/2001 (Patent Document 4), widths of openings of a plurality of slots formed in a stator core in the peripheral direction of a rotor are made different alternately.
In the permanent magnet rotary motor constituting the stator core as described above, however, two types of divided cores having different shapes of the projecting portions provided at the leading ends of the stator magnetic pole sections must be prepared. Thus, in order to manufacture the stator core, the number of component types must be increased, and manufacture of the assembly of the stator core thus may become complicated.
In the permanent magnet rotary motor in Patent Document 4, in particular, has eight poles and 24 slots. Accordingly, a least common multiple LCM (P, N) of the number of rotor magnetic pole sections P(8) and the number of slots N (24) and a least multiple LCM (P/2, N) of a half of the number of the rotor magnetic pole sections ½ P(8) and the number of the slots N(24) are an equal value of 24. Further, phase of a current flowing through two of adjacent windings arranged in the peripheral direction of the rotor are shifted as indicated in the sequence of +U, +U, +V, +V, +W, +W, and the like so that currents that flow through the adjacent windings have a phase difference of an electrical angle of 120° respectively. When the open angles of the slots are set as described above in such the permanent magnet rotary motor, magnetic leakage flux is suppressed. An induced voltage is therefore improved. However, the torque is reduced, so that torque ripple is increased.


A data storage device may comprise a disk comprising a plurality of zones, each comprising a plurality of data tracks, a head having a reader spaced away from a writer by a gap, and a controller. The controller may be configured to, upon detecting a media defect in one of the zones: determine a width of data tracks in the zone in which the media defect is detected; calculate a minimum number of contiguous tracks in the zone in which the media defect is detected whose aggregate width is at least as great as the gap between the reader and writer; and margin the detected media defect with a number of tracks immediately adjacent to the detected media defect that is at least equal to the calculated minimum number of contiguous tracks.

In disk drives, defects on the media surface can cause the read channel to repeatedly detect incorrect data (hard errors). Very large defects may result in hard errors that are too long for the disk drive ECC algorithm to detect. Defect scans are used in the manufacturing process to flag those sectors with large defects so they are excluded from use during normal drive operation. The defect scan may comprise two main steps:                1. Write entire media surface with a high frequency repeating patterns;        2. Read back each sector and check for unusual changes in head signal amplitude.
A high frequency pattern is written to maximize the probability of actually writing a transition on a small defect. If a transition is written on a defect, the resulting magnetic head amplitude increases or decreases based on the type of defect. A decrease in magnetic material on the media correspondingly decreases the amplitude of the read back signal (resulting in a localized read back signal drop-out) and an increase in magnetic material on the media correspondingly increases the amplitude of the read back signal (resulting in a localized read back signal drop-in).
Based upon the number of detected defects, it may be determined whether the disk drive is useable or not. The disk drive may fail the manufacturing process when too many defects are detected. Conventionally, if the disk drive is determined to be usable given the number and severity of the detected defects, a predetermined space around the detected defect is designated as a margin that becomes unavailable for user data. However, experience has shown that a detected defect may spread or "grow" from its original position during subsequent use of the disk drive. Such defects are commonly known as thermal asperities (TA) and often manifest themselves outside of the predetermined margins designated around the detected media defect. In some cases, the disk drive may ultimately fail in the hands of the end user, due to such grown defects. Conventionally, disk drives use a fixed number of sectors or tracks to margin TAs. As a result, the disk drive may either under margin or over margin the TA. If the disk drive under margins the TA by designating too few sectors and/or tracks around a TA as margin and thus unavailable for storage and retrieval of user data, the disk drive becomes prone to head and media collisions, which damage and degrade the performance of the head. If the drive over margins a TA by designating a greater number of sectors or tracks than necessary, the drive may not meet the target capacity.

Methods and devices for adaptive margining


A device, such as a MEMS device, with stress tuning to achieve a desired stack stress across the wafer. The stress tuning includes trimming a stress compensation layer over a target layer having different stresses in different target layer regions. The trimming may include ion beam trimming to produce a stress compensation layer having different thicknesses over the different target layer regions to balance the stress of the target layer to a desired stress. The desired stress may result in almost zero residual stress to produce an almost flat MEMS device.

Devices, such as microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices, have numerous applications, such as sensors, microphones and filters. MEMS devices include free-standing structures. For example, MEMS devices include free-standing structures with arbitrary clamping and geometries, such as cantilever structures. However, a major problem encountered with conventional MEMS devices is residual stress in the free-standing structures of the MEMS devices. Residual stress may result in bending, buckling or even failure in the release of the free-standing structure, depending on the stress. Furthermore, conventional processes for forming MEMS devices result in highly non-uniform stress distribution across the wafer map. The variation may be due to variations in process conditions across the wafer. The variation in stress affects the free-standing structures of the MEMS devices differently, depending on the stress at the location of the wafer. Such high non-uniformity in the stress distribution across the wafer undesirably contributes to a large variation in device performance, including failures. This negatively affects reliability and yields.
The present disclosure is directed to MEMS devices with localized strain and stress tuning to improve reliability and yields.

Devices with localized strain and stress tuning

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