A process to regenerate iron-based hydrogen sulfide sorbents using steam. The steam is preferably mixed with hydrogen-containing gas and/or an inert gas, such as nitrogen. In a preferred embodiment, the sorbent is first exposed to the steam and then exposed to a hydrogen-containing gas at regeneration conditions.

The present invention relates to a process for regenerating iron-based hydrogen sulfide sorbents comprising treating a spent iron-based hydrogen sulfide sorbent with steam. In a preferred embodiment, the iron-based sorbent is first contacted with steam, preferably mixed with at least one of a hydrogen gas and an inert gas, such as nitrogen, followed by contacting with hydrogen under regeneration conditions.
The removal of sulfur from feedstocks is a fundamental process of the refining and petrochemical industries. One process for removing sulfur from a feedstock is hydrodesulfurization. Hydrodesulfurization involves the reaction of sulfur in the feedstock with hydrogen over supported noble metals, such as Pt, Pd, or supported non-noble metal catalysts, especially Co/Mo and Ni/Mo catalysts, at fairly severe temperatures and pressures thereby forming hydrogen sulfide.
The performance of the hydrodesulfurization catalysts, especially those containing a noble metal, can be inhibited by the presence of hydrogen sulfide. The use of sorbents to remove hydrogen sulfide produced during desulfurization improves the effectiveness of the overall hydrodesulfurization process.
The performance of a hydrogen sulfide sorbent depends on a variety of properties. Thermodynamics and kinetics of sulfidation clearly are important, because they determine the overall sulfur capacity before breakthrough at some predetermined level of hydrogen sulfide. Other important sorbent properties include stability and regenerability in extended use, the operating conditions required for regeneration, and the composition of the regeneration off-gas, which largely determines the choice of a downstream sulfur recovery process. A practical limitation on the use of any hydrogen sulfide sorbent is the ability to regenerate the sorbent. Zinc oxide, one of the most promising and widely studied sorbents, has a very high equilibrium constant for sulfidation, but it is difficult to regenerate. The use of zinc oxide may, therefore, be limited by economic constraints relating to the level of sulfur being processed, the reactor volumetrics required, and issues pertaining to removal and disposal of the spent sorbent. These limitations are relieved if the sorbent is capable of multicycle operation made possible by a means for regenerating the sorbent.
Regenerable solid sorbents currently used for treating hot gaseous streams are typically based on metal oxides and are regenerated under oxidizing conditions at temperatures frequently greater than about 600xc2x0 C. The regeneration of these sorbents using an oxidizing atmosphere requires an initial displacement of combustible organics, which not only is costly, but can also be hazardous.
Regeneration using hydrogen gas has been proposed as an alternative to oxidizing conditions for sorbents containing one or more of iron, cobalt, nickel, and/or copper. The use of hydrogen gas is effective for cobalt, nickel, and copper containing sorbents, but it is difficult to achieve substantially complete regeneration of an iron-containing sorbent using hydrogen alone. Therefore, methods are needed for the substantially complete regeneration of iron-containing sorbents using a non-oxidizing atmosphere.
The present invention provides a process for regenerating a spent iron-based hydrogen sulfide sorbent, comprising: exposing the spent iron-based hydrogen sulfide sorbent to a sufficient concentration of steam under conditions effective for the steam to regenerate the spent iron-based hydrogen sulfide sorbent.
In a preferred embodiment the spent iron-based sorbent is treated with steam in a first step, followed by being treated with hydrogen in a second step.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention a mixture of steam and hydrogen are used in the first treatment step.
In still another preferred embodiment of the present invention a mixture of steam and hydrogen and an inert gas are used in the first treatment step.
The present invention uses steam, preferably in combination with at least one of hydrogen and an inert gas, to regenerate an iron-based spent hydrogen sulfide sorbent. In a more preferred embodiment, the spent iron-based sorbent is contacted with a mixture of steam and at least one of hydrogen and nitrogen gas in a first treatment step, followed by being treated with hydrogen in a second treatment step, both steps being conducted under sorbent regeneration conditions.
It is within the scope of this invention that the iron-based sorbents be either bulk iron materials, or iron on a suitable support, such as an inorganic oxide. Non-limiting examples of suitable iron-based supported regenerable sorbents include, but are not necessarily limited to: 5 Fe/Al2O3, 10 Fe/SiO2, and 20 Fe/ZrO2, wherein the numbers 5, 10, and 20 refer to the wt. % Fe based on the total weight of the sorbent. As previously mentioned, the hydrogen sulfide sorbent may be employed as a metal oxide or as bulk iron. If bulk iron is used as the sorbent in may be used as one or more type of finely divided skeleton metal, including Raney metals, ponderous metals, Rieke metals, and metal sponges.
If a support material is used, it is preferably one that will increase at least one of the surface area, pore volume, and pore diameter of the overall sorbent. Suitable support materials include, but are not limited to alumina, silica, zirconia, carbon, silicon carbide, kieselguhr, amorphous and crystalline silica-aluminas, silica-magnesias, aluminophosphates, boria, titania, and combinations thereof. Preferred support materials include alumina, silica, and zirconia. The iron or iron oxide may be loaded onto these support materials by conventional techniques known in the art. Such techniques include impregnation by incipient wetness, adsorption from an excess impregnating medium, and ion exchange. In a preferred embodiment, the regenerable sorbents are prepared by conventional impregnation techniques using aqueous solutions of iron halides, oxides, hydroxides, carbonates, nitrates, nitrites, sulfates, sulfites, carboxylates and the like. The iron or iron oxide loadings may vary with the quantity of sulfur to be adsorbed per cycle, the cycle frequency, and the regeneration process conditions and hardware. Iron loadings will range from about 2 wt. % to about 80 wt. %, preferably from about 3 wt. % to about 60 wt. %, and more preferably from about 5 wt. % to about 50 wt. %, based on the total weight of the regenerable sorbent. After impregnation onto a support, the sorbent typically is dried, calcined, and reduced; the latter may either be conducted ex situ or in situ, as preferred. The regenerable sorbent may comprise iron only, or iron with one or more additional metals.
In addition to its activity as a hydrogen sulfide sorbent, Fe is also a hydrocracking metal. Unless its hydrocracking activity is suppressed, Fe may cause hydrocracking of the other hydrocarbon stream being treated, leading to the production of low value light gas. The hydrocracking activity of the sorbent metal can be suppressed by incorporating from about 1 wt. % to about 10 wt. %, preferably from about 1.5 wt. % to about 7 wt. %, and most preferably from about 2 wt. % to about 6 wt. %, of a metal selected from Group IB or Group IVA of the Periodic Table of the Elements, such as Cu, Ag, Au, Sn, or Pb, preferably Cu.
Hydrogenolysis also can be suppressed by incorporating a small amount, preferably from about 0.01 wt. % to about 1 wt. %, of one or more of the elements selected from Group VIA of the Periodic Table of the Elements. The Periodic Table of the Elements referred to herein appears on the inside cover of the Merck Index, Twelfth Edition, Merck and Co., 1996.
Accordingly, the sorbent may be presulfided conventionally, for example, by exposing the virgin sorbent to dilute hydrogen sulfide in hydrogen at a temperature from about 200xc2x0 C. to about 400xc2x0 C. for about 15 minutes to about 15 hours, or until sulfur breakthrough is detected. Sulfur levels of the presulfided sorbent will range from about 0.01 to about 1.0 wt. %, preferably from about 0.02 to about 0.7 wt. %, most preferably from about 0.02 to about 0.5 wt. %. Alternately, the iron-based sorbent can be pre-sulfided by exposing the sorbent, preferably in its virgin, or fresh, form to a dilute aqueous solution of from about 1 vol. % to about 10 vol. % sulfuric acid under impregnation conditions.
Regeneration of the sorbent using a reducing environment generally requires more severe temperatures than those employed during the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) reaction. Typical regeneration temperatures are from about 100xc2x0 C. to about 700xc2x0 C., preferably from about 250xc2x0 C. to about 600xc2x0 C., and more preferably from about 275xc2x0 C. to about 550xc2x0 C. A most preferred regeneration temperature range is from about 500xc2x0 C. to about 550xc2x0 C. The regeneration process is operable over a range of temperatures and pressures consistent with the intended objectives in terms of product quality improvement and consistent with any downstream process with which this invention is combined in either a common or sequential reactor assembly. Operating pressures may range from about 0 to about 3000 psia, preferably from about 50 to about 1000 psia, at H2 gas rates of from about 10 to about 2,000 SCF/hr/lb. of sorbent (standard cubic feet per hour per pound), preferably about 100 to about 1,000 SCF/hr/lb of sorbent.
Hydrogen is a preferred component of the regeneration process of the present invention. Hydrogen may be supplied from a hydrogen-containing stream of pure hydrogen or inert gases, preferably nitrogen. It is preferred that the hydrogen-containing stream be substantially free of sulfur, which can be achieved by conventional technologies known in the art. The hydrogen-containing stream will contain from about 50 vol. % to about 100 vol. % hydrogen, preferably from about 70 vol. % to about 100 vol. % hydrogen, and more preferably from about 80 vol. % to about 100 vol. % hydrogen, with any remainder being an inert gas or saturated light hydrocarbon gases.
When hydrogen gas only is employed as the regeneration medium, the iron may be incompletely regenerated. However, substantially complete regeneration of an iron-based sorbent material, such as Fe/ZrO2, may be achieved for at least several cycles by using a combination of steam and hydrogen. While regeneration may be performed under conventional conditions, a preferred process for regenerating a spent iron-based sorbent in accordance with the present invention is to heat the spent iron-based sorbent from about 400xc2x0 C. to about 600xc2x0 C., preferably to about 500xc2x0 C., in a mixture comprising from about 5 vol. % to about 95 vol. % steam, preferably from about 10 vol. % to about 80 vol. % steam, more preferably from about 15 vol. % to about 60 vol. % steam, most preferably from about 20 vol. % to about 50 vol. % steam. In another preferred embodiment, a mixture comprising about 20 vol. % steam combined with hydrogen and optionally one or more inert or light hydrocarbon gases is heated to about 500xc2x0 C. for about 0.25 hour to about 10 hour, preferably for about 1.5 hour. Thereafter, the iron-based sorbent is exposed to hydrogen at regeneration conditions for about 30 minutes.
Among the properties desired in a regenerable hydrogen sulfide sorbent are capacity to absorb hydrogen sulfide, regenerability, and the retention of both qualities over multicycle adsorption-regeneration sequences. Although it is preferred that both capacity and regenerability for a given sorbent approach about 100%, it should be understood that this level is not a requirement for a commercially effective regenerable hydrogen sulfide sorbent. A capacity and regenerability that allow a frequency of regeneration that is reasonable and compatible with the overall process objective are acceptable and adequate. With this qualification in mind, an xe2x80x9ceffective regenerated capacityxe2x80x9d is from about 5% to about 100%, by weight, of a first cycle capacity, preferably from about 10% to about 100% of a first cycle capacity, most preferably from about 20% to about 100% of a first cycle capacity. A xe2x80x9cfirst cycle capacityxe2x80x9d refers to the sorbent capacity of a fresh or xe2x80x9cvirginxe2x80x9d sorbent material.
In a preferred embodiment, the iron-based sorbent is used in distillate and naphtha hydrodesulfurization (HDS) processes to sorb hydrogen sulfide as it is generated. Typical hydrodesulfurization processes are well known in the art and are represented by the disclosures of one or more of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,925,239, 5,928,498, and/or 5,935,420, all incorporated herein by reference.
Typical hydrodesulfurization conditions include temperatures from about 40xc2x0 C. to about 500xc2x0 C. (104-930xc2x0 F.), preferably about 200xc2x0 C. to about 450xc2x0 C. (390-840xc2x0 F.), and more preferably about 225xc2x0 C. to about 400xc2x0 C. (437-750xc2x0 F.). Operating pressures include about 50 to about 3000 psig, preferably about 50 to about 1200 psig, and more preferably about 100 to about 800 psig at gas rates of about 50 to about 10,000 SCF/B, preferably about 100 to about 750 SCF/B, and more preferably about 500 to about 5000 SCF/B. The liquid hourly space velocity may be varied over the range of about 0.1 to about 100 V/V/Hr, preferably about 0.3 to about 40 V/V/Hr, and more preferably about 0.5 to about 30 V/V/Hr. The liquid hourly space velocity is based on the volume of feed per volume of catalyst per hour, i.e., V/V/Hr.
Various sorbent bed configurations may be used in the practice of the present invention. Examples of suitable bed configurations include, but are not necessarily limited to, fixed beds, non-fluidized moving beds, fluidized beds, or a slurry of HDS catalyst and sorbent in a continually stirred tank reactor (xe2x80x9cCTSRxe2x80x9d) or slurry bubble column.
Fixed bed configurations may be operated in either of cocurrent and countercurrent modes, i.e., with hydrogen-containing treat gas flowing over the HDS catalyst in the same or opposite direction to the sulfur-containing feed. In another embodiment, the hydrogen-containing treat gas is employed in a xe2x80x9conce-throughxe2x80x9d arrangement and is, therefore, not recycled. Countercurrent HDS arrangements may be preferred in cases where increased contacting between the sulfur-containing feed, treat gas, and catalyst would be desired and in cases where H2S stripping would be beneficial. Fluidized beds may be advantageous in conjunction with processes where continuous regeneration of the sorbent is needed. In addition, flow-through, fluidized bed technology that includes a disengaging zone for catalyst and sorbent may be useful to regenerate sorbent particles.
Those skilled in the art are aware that the choice of bed configuration for an HDS catalyst and a sorbent depends upon the objective of the overall process, particularly when the process is integrated with one or more subsequent processes, or when the objective of the overall process is to favor the selectivity of one aspect of product quality relative to another. However, it should be noted that it is preferred that the sorbent not be placed upstream of the HDS catalyst.
A preferred embodiment uses a stacked bed configuration with a swing reactor designed to permit regeneration of spent sorbent while a fresh sorbent is placed in service. In a stacked bed configuration, the HDS catalyst is stacked, or layered, above and upstream of a sorbent bed. The stacked beds either may occupy a common reactor, or the HDS catalyst may occupy a separate reactor upstream of the reactor containing the sorbent. Such a dedicated reactor sequence would be useful, for example, when it is desired that the HDS catalyst and the sorbent be exposed to different reactor temperatures.
In another embodiment, the sorbent and HDS catalyst are used in a mixed bed configuration. In this configuration, particles of the HDS catalyst are intimately intermixed with those of the sorbent. In both the stacked bed and the mixed bed configurations, the HDS catalyst particles and the sorbent particles may be of similar or identical shapes and sizes. The particles of one component may also differ, for example, in shape, density, and size from the particles of the second component. The use of particles having different sizes may be employed, for example, when a simple physical separation of the bed components is desired upon discharge or reworking. It should be noted that when the sorbent and the HDS catalyst are used in combination, that undesirable desulfiding of the catalyst may result from sorbent regeneration. In such cases, it may be desirable to, for example, adjust the regeneration conditions to lessen the affects of catalyst desulfiding to provide for re-sulfiding the catalyst prior to re-use, to separate the catalyst and sorbent prior to sorbent regeneration, or some combination thereof. Resulfiding may also be accomplished when the catalyst is exposed to the sulfur-containing feed.
In yet another embodiment, the two components are blended together to form a composite particle incorporating both the HDS catalyst and the iron-based sorbent. For example, a finely divided, powdered Pt on alumina catalyst is uniformly blended with a regenerable iron-based sorbent and the mixture is formed into a common catalyst particle by conventional techniques. Or, the regenerable sorbent may also be incorporated into the support, and Pt, for example, may be impregnated onto the sorbent containing support, such as alumina.
In another two component configuration, a support, preferably an alumina support, is impregnated with a noble metal, preferably a Pt salt and iron. Both metals may be distributed uniformly throughout the resulting catalyst particle, or the iron component may be deposited preferentially on the outside of the particle to produce a rim, or eggshell, sorbent- or HDS catalyst-rich zone.
A three-component bed configuration may also be used. In one embodiment, denoted as mixed/stacked bed, a mixed bed containing the HDS catalyst and iron-based sorbent is configured upstream of a single bed of HDS catalyst. In another embodiment, known as a stacked/stacked/stacked configuration, the three components are layered from top to bottom as follows: HDS catalyst/iron-based sorbent/HDS catalyst. In one embodiment, three component systems may occupy a common reactor. In another embodiment, a three-component system may be used in a two-reactor train in which the HDS catalyst/sorbent occupy a lead reactor in a mixed or stacked configuration and a HDS catalyst occupies the tail reactor. This arrangement allows for the operation of two reactor sections at different process conditions, especially temperature, and imparts flexibility in controlling process parameters such as selectivity and product quality.
The composition of the bed is independent of configuration and may be varied in accordance with the specific or integrated process to which the invention is applied. If the capacity of the sorbent is limiting, the composition of the bed must be consistent with the expected lifetime, or cycle, of the process. These parameters are in turn sensitive to the sulfur content of the feed being processed and to the degree of desulfurization desired. For these reasons, the composition of the bed is flexible and variable, and the optimal bed composition for one application may not serve an alternative application equally well. In general, the weight ratio of the sorbent to the hydrodesulfurization catalyst may range from about 0.01 to about 1000, preferably from about 0.5 to about 40, and more preferably from about 0.7 to about 30. For three component configurations, these ranges apply to the mixed zone of the mixed/stacked arrangement and to the first two zones of the stacked/stacked/stacked design. The hydrodesulfurization catalyst present in the final zone of these two arrays is generally present at a weight ratio that is equal to or less than the combined weight compositions of the upstream zones.
The process of the present invention may be used as a stand-alone process for, for example, fuels, lubes, and chemicals applications. Alternately, the process may be combined and integrated with other processes in a manner so that the net process affords product and process advantages and improvements relative to the individual processes not combined. The following embodiments are included to illustrate, but not limit, uses for the process of this invention.
Processes relating to fuels processes include: desulfurization of gasoline range feed and product streams; desulfurization of distillate streams; desulfurization of FCC streams preceding recycle to 2nd stage process; desulfurization of hydrocracking feeds; multi-ring aromatic conversion through selective ring opening; aromatics saturation processes; sulfur removal from natural, synthesis, and recycle gas streams and from field condensate streams. Processes relating to the manufacture of lubricants include: hydrocracking, product quality improvement through mild finishing treatment; optimization of white oil processes by decreasing catalyst investment and/or extending service factor. Processes relating to chemical processing include: substitute for environmentally unfriendly nickel based hydroprocesses; preparation of high quality feedstocks for olefin manufacture through various cracking processes and for the production of oxygenates by oxyfunctionalization processes; production of solvent and polymer grade olefins and aromatics.

Regeneration of iron-based hydrogen sulfide sorbents

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company


A receiver, including a memory unit and a processor, wherein the memory unit stores a sorted parity check matrix that is sorted according to reliabilities of columns; wherein reliabilities of columns are responsive to values of information elements of a soft demodulated received information block, wherein the processor is adapted to: (a) iterate over columns of the sorted parity check matrix to find independent columns and dependent columns; (b) find non-redundant dependent columns out of the dependent columns; wherein the finding is responsive to a relationship between a reliability of a dependent column and a reliabilities of multiple independent columns on which the dependent column depends; (c) select, out of a group of combinations of columns, a selected combination; wherein each combination of the group equals a syndrome; wherein the group of combinations includes independent columns and the non-redundant dependent columns; and (d) correct errors in response to the selected combination.

Recently, much progress has been achieved in designing error control coding (ECC) and soft decision decoding (SDD) to closely approach the Shannon limits. A classic lower bound on the "block error rate" (BLER) for finite block length and given code rate R is the sphere packing bound of Shannon, denoted SP59.
Some desired properties in ECC for modern communications systems are: (i) Optimal (in the sense of maximum likelihood decoding, or maximum posterior decoding) or near optimal that can approach the SP59 bound; (ii) Adaptive complexity to channel condition: It is highly desired to introduce optimal and near-optimal maximum likelihood (ML) decoders whose complexities are adaptable to the noise level of the channel. Ideally, it is desirable to reduce the number of computations at high signal to noise ration (SNR) and thus reduce drastically the inherently exponential decoding complexity. This will also result in reducing the average power consumption of the decoding algorithm; (iii) Ease of implementation and reduced (average and worst-case) complexities: Inherently, complexity at low signal-to-noise levels, e.g. near capacity, tends to be exponential for optimal SDD. It is desired to have procedures which automatically adapt to the channel conditions. That is, allowing very low number of computations at high signal-to-noise levels, and relatively more complexity at lower signal-to-noise levels; (iv) Generic decoding procedures: it is desirable to implement ECC procedures in which the code used can be easily replaced with other code (by changing one of the code parameter as the length, dimension, minimum Hamming distance etc.) to better suit the needs. The decoding procedures should ideally be general enough to decode substantially any linear block code from the same family. Furthermore, the decoding procedure should not require an algebraic Hard Decoder (HD) as part of the soft decision decoding procedure, like most known SDD approaches.
The brute force approach to solve the problem includes of computations of all Euclidean distances between received vector and all codewords, and is known to be an NP-hard problem. While efficient approaches as Low-density parity-check code (LDPC) and Turbo-codes for long codes that approach the SP59 are recently available, the problem for short blocks of less length shorter than 1000 bits is open. An important example for such case is sending short packages over wireless communications systems, in which channel signal-to-noise conditions are considerably changing.
Most prior art approaches require algebraic HD and many repeated operations of the hard decoder are required when the channel noise is high and signal-to-noise ratio is low. It is desirable to acquire an algorithm that can be applied efficiently to large number of block codes, and which does not require any hard decision decoder as part of the SDD scheme.

Method and system for soft decision decoding of information blocks


A computer implemented method for ensuring the quality of processed corporate entity data, the method comprising: sequentially processing the corporate entity data through a series of serially connected drivers, the serially connected drivers comprise a data collection driver, an entity matching driver, an identification number driver, a corporate linkage driver, and a predictive indicator driver; and conducting a quality assurance of the corporate entity data as it is processed in each of the driver, wherein the quality assurance comprises: (i) sampling the corporate entity data from each the driver periodically, thereby generating sample data; (ii) evaluating the sample data; and (iii) adjusting the processing based upon the evaluation, thereby producing high quality data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of data processing and, more particularly, to a method of processing data associated with businesses.
2. Description of the Related Art
To be successful, businesses need to make informed decisions. In risk management, businesses need to understand and manage total risk exposure. They need to identify and aggressively collect on high-risk accounts. In addition, they need to approve or grant credit quickly and consistently. In sales and marketing, businesses need to determine the most profitable customers and prospects to target, as well as incremental opportunity in an existing customer base. In supply management, businesses need to understand the total amount being spent with suppliers to negotiate better. They also need to uncover risks and dependencies on suppliers to reduce exposure to supplier failure.
The success of these business decisions depends largely on the quality of the information behind them. Quality is determined by whether the information is accurate, complete, timely, and consistent. With thousands of sources of data available, it is a challenge to determine which is the quality information a business should rely on to make decisions. This is particularly true when businesses change so frequently. In the next thirty minutes, 120 businesses addresses will change, 75 business telephone numbers will change or be disconnected, 30 new businesses will open their doors, 20 chief executive officers (CEOs) will leave their jobs, 15 companies will change their names, and 10 businesses will close.
Conventional methods of providing business data are incomplete. Some providers collect incomplete data, fail to completely match entities, have incomplete numbering systems that recycle numbers, fail to provide corporate family information or provide incomplete corporate family information, and merely provide incomplete value-added predictive data. It is an object of the present invention to provide more complete and accurate business data. This includes complete and accurate data collection, entity matching, identification number assignment, corporate linkage, and predictive indicators. This completeness and accuracy produces high quality business information that businesses trust and depend on for making business decisions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present invention relates to compositions and methods for generating populations of tissue precursor cells from pluripotent cells, and preferably induction of stem cells into definitive endoderm to generate anterior foregut endoderm from pluripotent cells. The anterior foregut endoderm cells can then be differentiated into an alveolar epithelial type II cell.

Lung disease is the third-leading cause of death in the United States, with more than 400,000 deaths annually (Longmire T A, et al. 2012. Cell Stem Cell 10(4):398-411, Petersen T H, et al. 2011. Material today 14(5):196-201). Lung transplantation is a possible treatment for people who have end-stage lung disease. Lung transplantation is limited by the low availability of donor lungs. Moreover, surgical, medical and immunological complications cause considerable morbidity and mortality in this population. As a result, many patients die each year while on a waiting list or because of transplant complications (Longmire T A, et al. 2012. Cell Stem Cell 10(4):398-411, Nichols J E, et al. 2012. J Cell Biochem 113(7):2185-2192, McCurry K R, et al. 2009. Am J Transplant 9(Part 2):942-958).
Transplantation of adult lung stem and progenitor cells or alveolar cells, isolated from human lung, is emerging as an alternative to whole organ transplantation (Wang D, et al. 2007. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 104(11):4449-4454). However, this approach is also limited by the scarcity of human epithelial cells, and the difficulties of expanding these cells in vitro. Moreover, the successful engraftment of such cells in vivo in injured lungs has not yet been demonstrated (Wang D, et al. 2007. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 104(11):4449-4454, Tesei A, et al. 2009. Cell Prolif 42(3):298-308, Fujino N, et al. 2012. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 46(4):422-430).
One potential future treatment for severe lung disease is transplantation with engineered lungs that are capable of gas exchange. To avoid immunological rejection, such engineered lungs should be created using individual-specific (autologous) lung and airway cells (Nichols J E, et al. 2012. J Cell Biochem 113(7):2185-2192, Petersen T H, et al. 2010. Science 329(5991):538-541, Badylak S F, et al. 2012. Lancet 379(9819):943-952). Therefore, a significant emphasis is being placed on identifying a reliable source of functional lung epithelial cells to be used in lung-related therapies (Petersen T H, et al. 2011. Material today 14(5):196-201, Kotton D N, et al. 2012. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 185(12):1255-1260).
Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are the product of adult somatic cell reprogramming to an embryonic-like state by inducing a "forced" expression of specific pluripotent genes (Takahashi K, et al. 2007. Cell 131(5):861-872, Yu J, et al. 2007. Science 318(5858):1917-1920). It is postulated that the use of human iPS cells may be the most effective strategy to develop respiratory epithelial cells that may be valuable in lung-related cell therapies and tissue engineering (Nishikawa S, et al. 2008. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 9(9):725-729, Green M D, et al. 2011. Nat Biotechnol 29(3):267-272, Mou H, et al. 2012. Cell Stem Cell 10(4):385-397). Given that iPS cells can be derived from the patient to be treated, they could provide a cell source that is genetically identical to the patient, allowing tissue generated from these cells to avoid immune rejection (Badylak S F, et al. 2012. Lancet 379(9819):943-952, Yu J, et al. 2007. Science 318(5858):1917-1920).
The differentiation of human embryonic stem and iPS cells (hESCs and iPSCs, respectively) into pulmonary epithelium has been challenging. Several research groups have reported the successful differentiation toward a range of pulmonary epithelial cell types, including both alveolar type II cells (AETII cells) and other airway epithelium, using a variety of protocols (Longmire T A, et al. 2012. Cell Stem Cell 10(4):398-411, Wang D, et al. 2007. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 104(11):4449-4454, Green M D, et al. 2011. Nat Biotechnol 29(3):267-272, Mou H, et al. 2012. Cell Stem Cell 10(4):385-397, Van Haute L, et al. 2009. Respir Res 10:105, Ali N N, et al. 2002. Tissue Eng 8(4):541-550, Rippon H J, et al. 2006. Stem Cells 24(5):1389-1398, Samadikuchaksaraei A, et al. 2006. Tissue Eng 12(4):867-875). However, conditions for directing hESCs or iPSCs to differentiate along an alveolar epithelial lineage with high homogeneity have not yet been reported, and most protocols generate a mixed population of epithelial cells from hESCs or iPSCs.
Recently, the focus in organ engineering has centered on decellularizing complex organs such as heart, liver, and kidney, and using the acellular matrices as scaffolds for repopulation with organ-specific cells. Because the decellularized organ has the extracellular matrix template, it contains appropriate three-dimensional (3D) architecture and regionally-specific sites for cellular adhesion (Nichols J E, et al. 2012. J Cell Biochem 113(7):2185-2192, Petersen T H, et al. 2010. Science 329(5991):538-541). With extracellular matrix derived from donor lungs, the capacity to regenerate lung tissue from autologous cells (e.g., autologous iPS-derived epithelium) would therefore constitute a major medical advance. One way to accomplish this in lung engineering is to differentiate human iPSCs into respiratory epithelial cells and/or into putative postnatal stem cells of the respiratory system, and to reseed the lung acellular matrix with these cells (Badylak S F, et al. 2012. Lancet 379(9819):943-952).
There is a need in the art for regeneration of lung tissue from autologous cells. The present invention addresses this unmet need in the art.

Differentiation of human iPS cells to human alveolar type II via definitive endoderm


Described herein is a method of dyeing the hair. The method includes applying to the hair a hair color composition including one or more direct dye compounds and rinsing the hair with water. The one or more direct dye compounds each include a yellow chromophore, one or two permanent cations, one to four incipient cations, and one or more hydrophobic moieties. The incipient cations are pendant to the core structure and are neutral. The one or more direct dye compounds enter the hair shaft after the hair color composition is applied to the hair. The hair color composition has a pH of from about 7 to about 11. The pH of the hair after rinsing is from about 3.5 to about 6. The rinsing of the hair causes one or more of the one to four incipient cations to change from neutral to positively charged inside of the hair shaft.

In general, direct dye products last only 6-10 shampoos and are hence known as semi-permanent. However, many consumers want more permanent results, and therefore default to oxidative dye products that contain hydrogen peroxide or other oxidants. Providing vibrant violet-blue to blue colors is challenging, because many of the vibrant dyes are not sufficiently stable for permanent haircolor compositions, and those that are stable to hair dyeing conditions are not sufficiently vibrant. The direct dye compounds and the method described herein can be used in either direct dye or oxidation dye products.
The permanent alteration of the color of keratinous fibers, in particular human hair, by the application of hair dyes is well known. In order to provide the consumer with the shade, longevity, and the intensity of color desired, an oxidative coloring process involving complex chemical reactions is utilized. Permanent hair dyeing formulations typically comprise primary intermediates (also known as oxidative hair dye precursors or developers) and couplers (also known as color modifiers or secondary intermediates). These dye precursors are sufficiently small, polar and soluble to diffuse into the hair shaft where, once activated by an oxidizing agent under basic conditions, such as hydrogen peroxide, the primary intermediates react with other dye precursors, e.g., couplers, to form larger colored chromophores in the hair shaft. The chromophores formed in the hair shaft do not readily diffuse out of the hair during subsequent washing with water and/or detergents because they are bigger, less polar and soluble than dye precursors that diffused in.
Hair colorant products are typically sold in the form of kits containing a dye component (e.g., a dye solution) and an oxidizing component (e.g., a hydrogen peroxide solution). In use, the dye component is mixed with the oxidizing component and the resultant mixture is applied to hair. When the two components are mixed, oxidizing agents present in the oxidizing component begins to oxidize primary intermediates present in the dye component and the oxidized primary intermediates begin to react with couplers to form chromophores. Since coloring hair is one of the beauty routines, it is highly desirable that the dyeing process, excluding bleaching, be rather a physical process, which would allow it to be aligned with many other beauty routines such as applying lip color and facial touchups. The challenge is to still meet all of the other requirements of hair color (e.g., washfastness, resistance to perspiration, little or no bleeding of color from the hair when it is wet, evenness, etc.).
Many attempts have been made by the hair color industry to enhance the washfastness of direct dyes by either forming a covalent bond between chromophore and proteins inside hair or increasing the number of binding sites, typically cationic centers, on the chromophore. However, each attempt has its drawbacks. The approach through covalent bonding does not differentiate proteins in hair from skin. The approach through multiple binding sites on the dyes (i.e. multiple positive charges to interact with negative sites on hair, either by bonding several monocationic dyes together or by installing multiple cationic centers on a single chromophore) runs into the obstacles of uneven color due to uneven damage (negative charges) along the length of the hair fibers and reduced dye penetration into hair fibers because the dyes are typically at least twice as large as common oxidative dye precursors. An increase in the number of binding sites minimizes bleeding and color loss caused by rinsing by providing stronger hair-chromophore interactions. However, the same strong binding force to the cuticle also prevents the chromophores from penetrating deep into the cortex of hair, because it is difficult for dyes with multiple positive charges to diffuse through negatively charged networks of keratin proteins. Additionally, since polycationic dyes remain bound to the hair surface rather than penetrating into the fiber, it is difficult to produce dark shades, due to limited binding sites on the surface of hair.
In dye chemistry, use of heterocyclic components in the chromophore leads to pure, intense colors. Pure, intense yellows are particularly important in hair dyeing, because they are necessary to deliver attractive gold and warm shades that are rich and brilliant rather than muted, as when less pure colors are used. They not only are needed for adding brightness, but they also can be used to give the appearance of lightening. For yellow direct dyes, one of the challenges is that some the heterocyclic moieties in dyes, such as thiazolium and pyridinium can be unstable under in-use conditions, particularly in the presence of oxidants like hydrogen peroxide.
Accordingly, there is a need for a direct dye compound with improved washfastness without the drawbacks previously described, and these imidazolium azo dyes meet all the criteria of color, stability, and fastness to be used as permanent hair dye compounds.

Method of coloring hair with washfast yellow imidazolium direct dye compounds


A heat transfer sheet including at least a dye layer of cyan color formed on the surface of a substrate sheet, the dye contained in said dye layer including a mixture of at least two kinds of cyan dyes, one of the cyan dyes which has a maximum absorption on the shortest wavelength side being a cyan dye having absorption characteristics with a narrow absorption width.

This invention relates to a heat transfer sheet, more particularly, to a heat transfer sheet capable of forming an image having excellent color reproducibility as well as sharpness of the printed image.
Various heat transfer methods have been known in the art, and among them, there has been proposed a method in which a sublimable dye is used as the recording material. The dye is carried on a substrate sheet such as a polyester film to form a heat transfer sheet. By using the transfer sheet, various full colors are formed on an image-receiving sheet having a dye receptive layer with a sublimable dye such as paper or plastic film.
In the above full-color heat transfer method, in most cases, by use of heat transfer sheets of 3 or 4 colors of yellow, magenta, cyan (and black) or a heat transfer sheet having these 3 or 4 colors formed plane successively on a continuous substrate sheet, a thermal head is actuated by the electrical signals formed by resolving the original into 3 or 4 colors to effect printing with matching of the 3 or 4 colors on one heat transfer image-receiving sheet, thereby reproducing the full-color image on the image-receiving sheet.
The image thus formed is very sharp, since the colorant used is a dye having excellent transparency, whereby the obtained image is excellent in reproducibility and gradation of the intermediate color, similar to the image according to the offset printing or gravure printing of the prior art, and further can form an image of high quality comparable with full-color photographic image.
In forming the color image comprising the 3 primary colors, all of the respective colors should have high spectral characteristics. In particular, in the case of a cyan dye, it should ideally have an absorption curve of so-called block type, having no absorption at around 540 nm or shorter and absorbing the wavelengths longer than that.
However, existing cyan dyes exhibit the so called hanging bell type absorption curve, with its skirt on the shorter wavelength side extending to the range of 540 nm or shorter, whereby there is the problem that the lightness and the chromaticity of the cyan image color formed becomes lower due to absorption of 540 nm or lower.
Such problem becomes more marked as the image density is made higher. Further, since the components of 540 nm or lower fall within the green light region, there is the problem that the intermediate color of green, etc. formed by primary color mixing with yellow dye, etc. during image formation becomes indistinct.
Also, generally speaking, dyes which are excellent in sharpness are inferior in light resistance and bleeding resistance. On the contrary, dyes which are excellent in light resistance and bleeding resistance have a tendency to be inferior in sharpness. Thus, both sharpness and other properties such as light resistance, etc. cannot be obtained easily in most cases. On the other hand, the image-receiving sheet comprises a resin layer having dye dyability formed on the surface of a film or a sheet in most cases. These resin layers, however, are generally tinted with yellow and therefore there is involved the problem that sharpness of the transferred dye is degraded.
As the method for solving the above drawbacks, it may be conceivable to add a fluorescent brightening agent in the dye receptive layer so as to extinguish the yellow tint of the receptive layer and also enhance sharpness of the transferred dye.
However, since fluorescent brightening agents are compounds which absorb UV-ray and emit blue to violet light, and inevitably tend to extinguish yellow color thereby causing a problem that color forming characteristics and sharpness of yellow colors are degraded, whereby there is the problem that color reproducibility and color forming characteristics of yellow colors of full-color originals are lowered.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat transfer sheet capable of forming a transferred image having excellent sharpness and color reproducibility in a heat transfer recording system by use of a sublimable dye.


Methods are provided that enable the ability to use a less aggressive liner processes, while producing structures known to give a desired high stress migration and electro-migration reliability. The present invention circumvents the issue of sputter damage of low k (on the order of 3.2 or less) dielectric by creating the via “anchors” (interlocked and interpenetrated vias) through chemical means. This allows the elimination or significant reduction of the sputter-etching process used to create the via penetration (“drilling, gouging”) into the line below in the barrier/seed metallization step. The present invention achieves the above, while maintaining a reliable copper fill and device structure.

Generally, semiconductor devices include a plurality of circuits that form an integrated circuit including chips, thin film packages and printed circuit boards. Integrated circuits (ICs) can be useful for computers and electronic equipment and can contain millions of transistors and other circuit elements that are fabricated on a single silicon crystal substrate. For the device to be functional, a complex network of signal paths will normally be routed to connect the circuit elements distributed on the surface of the device. Efficient routing of these signals across the device can become more difficult as the complexity and number of integrated circuits are increased. Thus, the formation of multilevel or multilayered interconnect schemes such as, for example, dual damascene wiring structures, have become more desirable due to their efficacy in providing high speed signal routing patterns between large numbers of transistors on a complex semiconductor chip. Within the interconnect structure, metal vias run perpendicular to the silicon substrate and metal lines run parallel to the silicon substrate.
Presently, interconnect structures formed on an integrated circuit chip consists of at least about 2 to 8 or more wiring levels fabricated at a minimum lithographic feature size designated about 1× (referred to as "thinwires") and above these levels are about 2 to 4 or more wiring levels fabricated at a thickness and pitch equal to about 2× and/or about 4× the minimum thickness and pitch of the thinwires (referred to as "fatwires"). In one class of structures, the thinwires are formed in a low dielectric constant (k) organosilicate glass (OSG) dielectric layer that includes atoms of Si, C, H and O, and the fatwires are made in a silicon dioxide dielectric layer having a dielectric constant of about 4. In anther class of structures, thinwires are formed in one type of low dielectric constant (k) organosilicate glass (OSG, SiCOH), some fatwires are made in the same or a different variant of SiCOH, and some fatwires may be made of silicon dioxide or silicon dioxide doped with fluorine. Additionally, other values of multipliers such as 1.4×, 6×, 8×, etc. have been used for wiring levels rather than just the traditional 2× and 4× fatwires.
With microelectronics industry's gradual transition to porous dielectrics (k of less than 2.5) for interconnect integration, new integration challenges have emerged. One key issue is related to the poor mechanical properties of the low k dielectrics. The very low modulus, E, typically less than 5 GPa, contributes to the undesirable deformation of the previously constructed profile shapes in the ILD material during the physically aggressive liner sputtering process that is commonly practiced in semiconductor processing. A typical defect induced by aggressive liner sputtering is the unacceptable roughening of the trench bottoms. This raises concerns about the integrity of the liner coverage at these roughened interfaces, related plating defectivity and, most importantly, the stress migration/electromigration reliability.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,071 to Myers et al. disclose a high performance and reliable interconnect structure for preventing via delamination. Specifically, Myers et al. provide a multilayer interconnect structure comprising a titanium aluminide electromigration shunt layer, an aluminum alloy bulk conductor and a titanium aluminide capping layer formed on an insulating layer of a semiconductor substrate. A second insulating layer is formed on and around the multilayer interconnection. A via connection comprising tungsten has a first portion with a first width which extends through the insulating layer and through the capping layer of the interconnection line, and a second portion wider than the first portion, which is formed on the bulk conductor and underneath the capping layer to thereby lock the via connection into the interconnection.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,548,905 to Park et al. (corresponding to U.S. Publication No. 2002/0109234 A1) provides a semiconductor device in which electromigration is prevented, reliability concerns are reduced and resistance of the via contact interface at a multilayer Cu line is lowered. In accordance with Park et al., the semiconductor device having these properties comprises a lower copper line formed on a substrate; an interlayer insulating layer formed on the lower copper line; an upper copper line formed on the interlayer insulating layer; a copper via contact formed within the interlayer insulating layer for electrically connecting the lower copper line and the upper copper line; a concave recess formed within the lower copper line, the concave recess being vertically aligned and arranged below the copper via contact; and a patterned barrier layer formed at a bottom portion of the concave recess, wherein the lower copper line and the copper via contact are directly electrically connected at an interface along sides of the concave recess.
It is noted that in Park et al. it is desired that the etch into the Cu line be half the depth of the line and 1.25× the width of the definition via. This significant depth leads to significant undercut and can also lead to excessive over-etch (based on statistical process variations in high-volume manufacturing) that could cause undesired voiding of the subsequent Cu metal fill. Furthermore, Park et al. design their structure such that liner coverage is substantially absent on the sidewalls of the recess into the Cu line in order that the Cu via to Cu line contact will occur with their stated objective of the elimination of the additional electrical resistivity that a liner barrier material introduces into the via/line contact. Moreover, the etchant behavior suggested in Park et al. will produce a structure with a significant undercut behavior that would be detrimental to a reliable contact design.
FIGS. 1A-1E are pictorial representations depicting the prior art process disclosed in Park et al. FIG. 1A shows a structure 10 formed just prior to the construction of the copper recess. Specifically, prior art structure 10 includes a lower interlevel dielectric (ILD) 12 which includes a Cu wiring region 14 embedded therein. For clarity, the liner coverage of the Cu wiring region 14 is not illustrated, but it is normally present. The structure 10 also includes a first dielectric cap 16 that is located over the lower ILD 12 and the Cu wiring region 14; the first dielectric cap 16 is opened at this point of the prior art process exposing a surface of the Cu wiring region 14. Atop the first dielectric cap 16 is an upper ILD 18 that has a line opening 20 and a via opening 22 located therein. The materials and processing steps used in forming the prior art structure 10 are conventional and are well known in the art.
Prior art FIG. 1B illustrates the structure 10 after the Cu wiring region 14 has been recessed by a conventional etching process. Reference numeral 24 denotes the recessed opening provided in the Cu wiring region 14. In FIG. 1B, letter "a" refers to a critical diameter of the via opening 22, letter "b" refers to the undercut beneath the dielectric cap 16 during the Cu etch, letter "c" refers to the depth of the etch into the Cu wiring region 14, and letter "d" denotes the full thickness of the Cu wiring region 14. In Park et al., it is disclosed that 1.25a=c, c=b, and c=d/2. That is, Park et al. disclose that the recess etched into the metal line should be half the depth of the line and 1.25× the width of the via.
Prior art FIG. 1C illustrates the structure of FIG. 1B after liner and seed liners have been deposited. It is noted that the liner 26 is discontinuous because of the difficulty in bridging the large undercut that is provided by the Park et al. process; the sides of the undercut denoted by reference numeral 28 are not covered by liner 26 (see FIG. 1C). Note that in FIG. 1C the liner (26) deposition is line of sight and does not extend beyond the direct aperture of the via opening. In Park et al., the very large etch recess results in this discontinuous liner 26 and enables increased surface area for Cu-to-Cu connection. An unfortunate result of this very large etch recess is that the electrical connection necessary for efficient electrolytically plated copper fill of this very large etch recess is very difficult to achieve. The typical liner and seed for the subsequent metallization structure become discontinuous at the upper part of the etched recess and thus the electrical connection for the electrochemical fill of this recess must find alternative pathways for electrical circuit closure. Park et al. argue that a sputtering process will not provide sufficient electrical connection for proper electroplating of their concave recess and suggest the use of a CVD copper seed layer to provide electrical connection to the discontinuous copper line in order to enable the electrochemical plating of their concave recess. However, it has been found that a CVD Cu seed layer has poor adhesion to many materials, both dielectric and conductive and this consequently leads to poor electromigration reliability of the Cu interconnect.
Prior art FIG. 1D shows the ideal structure after Cu 30 deposition which fills the recessed opening 24, the via opening 22, and the line opening 20. Prior art FIG. 1E illustrates the structure after planarization and deposition of a second dielectric cap 32. As shown, the second dielectric cap 32 covers the Cu filled line and the upper ILD 18.
In view of the above, there is a need for providing a structure and methods of chemically formed anchored metallic vias in which the depth of the anchoring is substantially less than ½ the anchored—to interconnect thickness—that in turn requires a Cu etch that is highly controllable on the nanometer scale. There is also a need for providing an etched recess with an improved electrical pathway through the use of a sufficiently continuous liner or non-CVD Cu seed layer for subsequent electrochemical deposition of the metal fill; whereby, the sufficiently continuous liner or seed layer enables the fill of the recess etched into the lower copper line resulting in a device that meets a high level of functional reliability. The applicants of the present application have determined that the electrical pathway may be maintained by a sufficiently continuous liner if the etch recess is designed to a different dimensional ratio such that the resultant IR drop (where I=current, R=resistance) from the deposited liner or seed layer is sufficiently small to maintain a proper current level for copper fill, and that this can produce a reliable device structure.

Structure and method of chemically formed anchored metallic vias

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and apparatus for managing radio resources in one or more wireless communication networks. At least one radio resource manager (RRM) is provided within a network node, or as an independent entity. The RRM monitors performance on wireless communication links of the network(s) and interacts with nodes associated with those links to change the configuration on a particular wireless communication link if its performance (i.e., quality) falls below an established threshold. Information regarding current resource usage of the network is sent to the RRM by the nodes. Each of the nodes may send a quality report to the RRM including wireless communication link quality measurements and performance statistics. Alternatively, the RRM may perform the wireless communication link quality measurements. The RRM facilitates the broadcasting of information regarding current resource usage of one network to other networks to avoid collisions and interference.

A wireless access network comprises a plurality of nodes, such as access points (APs), (i.e., base stations), access routers and wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU). The nodes are connected to each other to establish a backhaul network. Traffic which originates from or is destined to the network is routed through the backhaul network.
The backhaul network may be established with wireless communication links. Establishing a backhaul network with wireless communication links has advantages over a wired backhaul network, such as ease of deployment, low cost and flexibility to implement future changes.
In a wireless backhaul network, interference from other co-deployed networks not only affects the radio links between the nodes and WTRUs operating in the affected region, but also the links between the network nodes.
A mesh network is a network comprising a plurality of nodes, each of which is connected to at least one neighboring node such that traffic may be routed via one or more hops through the network. In the mesh network, a degradation of the link throughput between two nodes is carefully observed for routing purposes, since the throughput on a critical link could affect the overall performance of the network. The degradation can be caused by several factors, such as an increase in interference. As the degradation exceeds a certain level, an alternative routing path is allocated through the mesh network. The time-varying and dynamic nature of the mesh network topology makes it necessary to take interference into account beyond initial deployment.
For example, if a wireless backhaul network is deployed next to an existing wireless network, additional interference generated by the subsequent network can bring down some of the links in the existing network. This is a potential problem, especially in public bands such as the 2.4 GHz industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band with scarce frequency channels.
When two mesh networks are operating simultaneously in the same proximity, one or more of the nodes of a first mesh network may roam close to a second mesh network. This may cause interruption or severe interference to the second mesh network. This is especially problematic with radio equipment having relaxed adjacent channel protection and receiver sensitivity requirements. Therefore, there is a need for dynamic radio resource management and access coordination for the radio access network.

Method and apparatus for managing wireless communication network radio resources


A head-up display that allows an observer to visually recognize a virtual image in a viewpoint region of the observer is provided. The head-up display includes: a display device that has a display surface and displays an image on the display surface; and a first optical system that has a concave mirror, and a lens condensing the light and disposed between the concave mirror and the display surface. The first optical system causes a beam exiting from the display surface to form an intermediate image via the lens and the concave mirror, the intermediate image being enlarged from the image displayed on the display surface.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a head-up display that allows an observer to visually recognize a virtual image, and a mobile object equipped with the head-up display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2008-180759 discloses a display device that realizes stereoscopic display. The display device includes: a display panel which is an image forming unit that forms an image; an image-formation optical system that optically forms an image of the image formed by the image forming unit; and an image-formation position varying unit that is provided on the input side of the image-formation optical system and varies the position of the image optically formed by the image-formation optical system. The image-formation position varying unit includes a relay optical system that forms an intermediate image between the image forming unit and the image-formation optical system. By the relay optical system varying the position of the intermediate image, respective positions of a plurality of images successively switched by the image forming unit are varied.

Head-up display and mobile object equipped with head-up display

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


The present disclosure provides methods, devices and computer program products for encoding and decoding of a vector of parameters in an audio coding system. The disclosure further relates to a method and apparatus for reconstructing an audio object in an audio decoding system. According to the disclosure, a modulo differential approach for coding and encoding a vector of a non-periodic quantity may improve the coding efficiency and provide encoders and decoders with less memory requirements. Moreover, an efficient method for encoding and decoding a sparse matrix is provided.

In conventional audio systems, a channel-based approach is employed. Each channel may for example represent the content of one speaker or one speaker array. Possible coding schemes for such systems include discrete multi-channel coding or parametric coding such as MPEG Surround.
More recently, a new approach has been developed. This approach is object-based. In system employing the object-based approach, a three-dimensional audio scene is represented by audio objects with their associated positional metadata. These audio objects move around in the three-dimensional audio scene during playback of the audio signal. The system may further include so called bed channels, which may be described as stationary audio objects which are directly mapped to the speaker positions of for example a conventional audio system as described above.
A problem that may arise in an object-based audio system is how to efficiently encode and decode the audio signal and preserve the quality of the coded signal. A possible coding scheme includes, on an encoder side, creating a downmix signal comprising a number of channels from the audio objects and bed channels, and side information which enables recreation of the audio objects and bed channels on a decoder side.
MPEG Spatial Audio Object Coding (MPEG SAOC) describes a system for parametric coding of audio objects. The system sends side information, c.f. upmix matrix, describing the properties of the objects by means of parameters such as level difference and cross correlation of the objects. These parameters are then used to control the recreation of the audio objects on a decoder side. This process can be mathematically complex and often has to rely on assumptions about properties of the audio objects that is not explicitly described by the parameters. The method presented in MPEG SAOC may lower the required bitrate for an object-based audio system, but further improvements may be needed to further increase the efficiency and quality as described above.
All the figures are schematic and generally only show parts which are necessary in order to elucidate the disclosure, whereas other parts may be omitted or merely suggested. Unless otherwise indicated, like reference numerals refer to like parts in different figures.


An electrical plug-in connection (1) for data transmission, including a plug (2) and a socket (3), the plug (2) has a plug housing (4) and a plug-in extension (5) which projects beyond the plug housing (4) and has electrical contacts (6), and the socket (3) has a socket housing (7) with a receiving channel (8) for the plug housing (4). A plug-in extension receptacle (9) with electrical mating contacts (10) is provided, and in a fully inserted state, the plug-in extension (5) is inserted into the plug-in extension receptacle (9) for connecting the electrical contacts (6) to the electrical mating contacts (10). The plug housing (4), at least in regions, is arranged within the receiving channel (8). The socket (3) has a locking device (11) for locking the plug housing (4) in the receiving channel (8) in the fully inserted state and an operating element (12), which projects beyond the socket housing (7), for releasing this locking arrangement.

The present invention relates to an electrical plug-in connection for data transmission, comprising a plug and a socket, wherein the plug has a plug housing and a plug-in extension which projects beyond the plug housing and has electrical contacts, and the socket has a socket housing with a receiving channel for the plug housing, and the plug-in connection has a plug-in extension receptacle with electrical mating contacts, wherein, in a fully inserted state, the plug-in extension is inserted into the plug-in extension receptacle for the purpose of connecting the electrical contacts to the electrical mating contacts, and the plug housing, at least in regions, is arranged within the receiving channel.
Electrical plug-in connections of the said type are known, for example, from WO 2017/063005 A1. In the said document, the socket housing is arranged in a recessed manner directly in the housing of an electrical device. The plug housing of the cable plug which is inserted into this socket is held with a friction fit given a correspondingly small amount of play between the plug and socket housing.
Other measures for securing the plug housing in the socket against being pulled out which are known by prior public use include screw arrangements or else locking devices with pivotable locking levers on the plug housing.

Electrical plug-in connection for data transmission


A fixed electrode and a movable electrode to be used to drive each arm are formed at a drive unit. As a voltage is applied between the fixed electrode and the movable electrode, the movable electrode is caused to move by coulomb force, thereby driving the arm 3 in a closing operation. By detecting a change occurring in the electrostatic capacity between the fixed electrode and the movable electrode at this time, a decision can be made as to whether or not the sample has been gripped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nanogripper device used to handle an ultrasmall machine and a method for detecting that a sample is gripped by a nanogripper device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The robust progress in micro-machining technologies achieved by adopting semiconductor processing technologies has invigorated interest in research and development of ultrasmall machines. Ultrasmall machines on the order of microns are handled by using ultrasmall pincettes (hereafter referred to as nanogrippers) (see Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. H7-52072). Various types of actuators such as electrostatic actuators, thermal actuators and piezoelectric actuators have been proposed to be used to open/close nanogrippers.
For instance, electrostatic actuators in the related art include an actuator that employs a comb-shaped electrode. This actuator opens/closes the arms as the voltage applied to the electrode is controlled. In addition, in the device disclosed in the publication quoted above, an actuator that engages in reciprocal movement is used to open/close the arms incrementally in predetermined steps.

Nanogripper device and method for detecting that a sample is gripped by nanogripper device


A fluid dispensing closure is provided for use on a squeeze-type container. The closure includes a resilient dome member projecting convexly outwardly over the opening. The dome member defines at least one slit extending through the dome member. The dome member is sufficiently resilient to have a normally closed configuration in which the slit is sealed closed when the pressure inside the dome member equals the pressure outside the dome member. The dome member is sufficiently flexible to be deformed further outwardly from and relative to the normally closed configuration for opening the slit when the container is squeezed to exert a predetermined fluid pressure against the inside of the dome member whereby the fluid product can discharge from the container through the open slit.

A variety of packages, including dispensing packages or containers, have been developed for personal care products such as shampoo, lotions, etc., as well as for other fluid materials.
A popular package design is the squeeze bottle or flexible container which is intended to be squeezed by the user to dispense the product. Such a container typically includes closure through which the product is dispensed. In some designs, the closure automatically closes the dispensing opening and also permits venting of air into the container to equalize the inside and outside pressures when the squeezing pressure is released from the container.
While some such prior art designs are functional, there are a number of disadvantages with such prior art designs. For example, some closures may require the fabrication and subsequent assembly of three or more separate pieces to form the closure.
Some closures do not dispense the fluid product as well as would be desired, and the structural components of the closure may tend to lose the required flexibility or resiliency characteristics that are desirable for continued, long-term operation.
Some types of closures are susceptible to accumulation and congealing of the fluid product at and around the dispensing orifice structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,007 discloses a resiliently deformable container having a discharge orifice equipped with a self-sealing dispensing valve in the form of a concave diaphragm formed of a resilient material that includes a generally straight line slit from which the fluid product can be dispensed. In operation, when the container is squeezed, a threshold pressure is exceeded to effect inversion of the diaphragm valve from its inwardly concave sealed position to an outwardly distended, convex, open position permitting discharge of the fluid product from the container. The patent describes the structure as inverting by a "snapthrough buckling" so as to pass through an unstable dead-center closed position by "snap-back buckling".
In many fluid dispensing applications, it would be desirable to provide an improved dispensing closure having advantages not found in the closure disclosed in the above-discussed U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,006. In particular, the use of a concave diaphragm valve which inverts by snap-through buckling of the type disclosed in the patent can cause the fluid product to be expelled in a sudden, and not easily controllable, discharge. Indeed, owing to the snap-through buckling action of the resilient diaphragm, the fluid product can be undesirably expelled in a "spitting"-like discharge. It can be difficult for the average user to gently discharge only a small amount of the fluid product. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved closure that has a substantially reduced tendency to "spit" out the fluid product and that can be relatively easily controlled with respect to the discharge of initially small amounts of the product.
The use of a concave flexible diaphragm of the type disclosed in the above-discussed U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,006 necessarily results in the discharge end of the closure being generally blunt with a recess. Thus, during the initial positioning and aiming of the container and dispensing closure, the precise point at which the fluid product will be discharged from the inverted flexible diaphragm can be somewhat difficult to judge for the average user. If, for example, it is desired to apply only a very small drop of product on the tip of one's finger, then the initially inverted closure diaphragm, being recessed, would necessarily be located some small distance away from the finger. Owing to the closure structure surrounding the recessed diaphragm, the exact location of the point where the fluid product will be discharged is not readily visualized. Thus, in many applications, it would be desirable to provide an improved closure wherein the point of fluid product discharge is readily observed and initially accessible to facilitate the more precise deposit of a very small amount of the fluid product at a given location.
It would also be desirable to provide such an improved dispensing closure structure with a suitable configuration for functioning, if desired, as an applicator. Then, during and after the discharge of the fluid product from the closure, the closure could be used to spread or otherwise engage the deposited fluid product.
It would also be advantageous to provide such an improved dispensing closure with a configuration that would quickly respond when pressure is applied to squeeze the container. The closure described in the above-discussed U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,006 requires a snap-through buckling movement of the diaphragm from an inwardly concave orientation to an outwardly convex orientation. Until this movement has occurred, the fluid product cannot be dispensed. In some applications, it would be beneficial if a closure could be made more sensitive to the applied squeezing pressure and could therefor function to discharge the fluid product with a reduced "lead time" required to actuate or deform the closure structure to the open position.
As previously noted, the resilient diaphragm valve disclosed in the above-discussed U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,006 is said to invert by snap-through buckling during operation. In some applications, a dispensing closure must be operated many thousands of times. Repeated and severe flexing of some resilient materials might eventually cause failure of the materials or loss of the desired resiliency. Thus, it would be beneficial to provide an improved dispensing closure which would operate with a reduced flexure movement and with reduced stresses so as to provide a relatively greater life cycle. The employment of an improved dispensing closure configuration that operates with reduced flexure and with reduced stresses would desirably permit the fabrication of the closure from other, and less expensive, materials that would otherwise be susceptible to tearing or other failure after a large number of operation cycles.
Further, it would be desirable to provide an improved dispensing closure for use with a squeeze-type package wherein the product flow out of the closure would be cleanly cut off or terminated when the squeezing pressure is released. Also, such an improved dispensing closure should desirably accommodate the dispensing of the fluid product when the container is either upright or inverted. Finally, such an improved dispensing closure should operate to discharge the fluid product without accumulating an undesirable amount of fluid product on the exterior of the closure.

Flexible dispensing closure having a slitted resilient outlet valve and a flanged vent valve


Disclosed herein is multiple filter controller comprising two filters; an inlet valve that regulates the directional inflow of a fluid through the filters; and an outlet valve that regulates the directional outflow of the fluid from the filters. Further disclosed is a method for maintaining a working fuel system comprising: passing the fuel through a first filter; monitoring an amount of pressure as the fuel passes through the first filter; detecting when the pressure has reached a predetermined level; redirecting the fuel from the first filter to a second filter when the predetermined level has been detected by manipulating an inlet valve such that the inlet valve stops the flow of the fluid to the first filter and redirects the flow of the fluid to a second filter; and repairing or removing the first filter from the fuel system while the fuel is simultaneously flowing through the second filter.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a multiple filter controller and to a system incorporating the multiple filter controller. More specifically, the invention relates to a multiple filter controller, wherein the multiple filter controller comprises at least two filters in-line with a common inlet valve, a common outlet valve, and a throughput system, wherein the multiple filter controller can detect a faulty filter and can alert an operator of the need to repair or replace the faulty filter with a workable filter.
2. Background of the Invention
During normal use, filters often clog, restrict, tear, or otherwise undergo physical alterations such that the filters fail to optimally perform. Such alterations can create obvious problems whenever a system's successful operation depends on the continuous working performance of a filter.
Nowhere is the need for a filter's continuous optimal performance more evident than where a filter is responsible for the continued operation of an engine, such as an internal combustion engine. For example, fluids used in conjunction with an internal combustion engine, such as engine lubricating oil, transmission fluid, engine coolant, and engine fuel, often require continuous filtering so as to prevent contaminants in the fluid from depositing on and adversely affecting components of the engine and related systems. On internal combustion engines, which are operated continuously or near-continuously for long periods of time, such as diesel engines used to generate electrical power and diesel engines in trucks, trailers, recreational vehicles, and boats, the large quantity of fluid passing through the filter, in combination with partially contaminated fluids such as lower quality diesel fuel, result in operational difficulties and/or unexpected engine shut-downs due to premature filter plugging.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional diesel fuel system comprises a fuel tank 1 in-line with a primary filter 2, wherein primary filter 2 is in-line with a fuel pump 3. A secondary filter 4 connects fuel pump 3 with injector pump 5, wherein injector pump 5 comprises injection nozzles that send the fuel from injector pump 5 into an engine. During normal use, fuel storage tank 1 collects dirt, water, varnishes, rust, and bacteria. The increased level of contaminants in tank 1 cause primary fuel filter 2 to clog at a much faster rate than if fuel storage tank 1 did not collect such debris. As the clog prevents the fuel from reaching the engine, the engine ultimately shuts down. However, prior to shutdown, engine driven fuel pump 3 will naturally increase its vacuum to draw more fuel across primary filter 2. Because of this increase in vacuum, any loose hose clamps or poor connections will allow air to enter the fuel system, wherein such excess air reduces the overall efficiency of the system.
Accordingly, it is important to have a device comprising multiple filters capable of continuous operation such that a backup filter can quickly and easily replace a malfunctioning filter without the need to shut down the entire system. However, in many cases changing the malfunctioning filter can result in significant problems in priming and bleeding the system, which results in significant leakage of the fluid into the environment. Therefore, what is needed is a device comprising a backup filter that can be activated without the need to first remove or disassemble the now malfunctioning filter.


The EMI spectrum of a display device is to comply with respective norms. Therefore, the clock for loading data into data drivers of a display panel is designed to be variable. Consequently, the electromagnetic radiation produced by the loading clock is broadened thereby reducing the peak amplitude. Thus, the limitations of radiation norms can be complied with.

Today, the Plasma technology makes it possible to achieve flat colour panels of large size and with very limited depth without any viewing angle constraints. The size of the displays may be much larger than the classical CRT picture tubes.
Referring to the last generation of European TV, a lot of work has been done to improve its picture quality. Consequently, a new technology like the Plasma one has to provide a picture quality as good as or better than the old standard TV technology. In the field of picture quality, the brightness of the screen is of paramount importance.
However, the electronic parts of the actual plasma technology give rise to electromagnetic radiation. In order to assure the compatibility of PDP (plasma display device) products with other electronic components (VCR, DVD, PC, Mobile phone . . . ), it is necessary to put a filter in front of the screen. Two major sources of radiation exist:                Sustain frequency (a solution is not subject of the current document)        Data driving (a solution is presented in the current document)
For the rest of the document, the case of a standard PDP using 40 MHz data drivers shall be considered in order to simplify the exposition. The selling of such a product requires given norms to be respected in the fields of radiation as shown FIG. 1, for the case of data drivers working at 40 MHz and high content screen (cell R, G, B alternately ON and OFF).
The limit for consumer applications according to the European norm is depicted in the figure (class B norm). One peak linked to the data driver frequency (40 MHz), exceeds the limit of the norm. In order to fulfil the requirements of the norm, a front filter may be applied in front of the panel. One goal of this filter is to suppress the EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference) using the so-called faraday principle: the filter is a transparent layer covered by a thin grid of metal. The basic assembly of a screen with a filter is illustrated in FIG. 2. The panel 1 together with the drivers 2 and the power electronic 3 is arranged in a housing 4 which stops the EMI at the backside of the display device. The front filter 5 in front of the panel 1 stops the EMI emitted from the front side of the panel.
Nevertheless, this filter 5 has only a reduced transparency with an actual value between 50% and 60% for consumer applications (for professional applications the norm is not so strict and the transparency is better: 65% to 75%). This filtering is really mandatory since if the front filter is removed from a plasma panel, even an IR remote control is not able to work properly. In other words, if the brightness shall be increased as well as the addressing speed also the radiation will be increased, that will require a stronger filter with even less transparency.
For further reducing the EMI related to the data driving it is necessary to know some aspects of PDP data driving.
In order to activate the plasma cells before lighting a first stage called writing or addressing stage has to be performed. During this stage, each line electrode (compare FIG. 3) of the PDP will be selected one after the other by respective drivers Line Driver 1, Line Driver 2 etc. During each selection, binary data information (cell ON or OFF) will be given on all the data electrodes Y (column electrodes) at one time. To do that, the column electrodes Y are linked to so-called data drivers Data Driver 1 to Data Driver 27 which act as registers (serial input and parallel output) working at a given data clock (e.g. 40 MHz in the present example). The line and data drivers are controlled and driven by PDP controller. Furthermore, the line electrodes X are arranged on a front plate of a PDP and the column electrodes Y on the back plate. In the concrete case of a single scan WVGA PDP having a screen with 852 pixels×480 lines 852×3 (R+G+B)=2556 cells have to be written through data drivers. Today drivers have commonly two parallel inputs and 96 parallel outputs to the column electrodes Y so that 48 clocks are needed to load the driver (48/40=1.2 μs). Finally, since 2556/96=26.625, 27 data drivers are required to write all the cells. The 36 data outputs that are in excess, will not be connected but will be filled up with zeros (OFF) from the plasma control IC.
In this connection it has already been proposed to have a jitter in the data clock. This means that various clocks for each cell at each point of time are used. In that case a jitter generator is added on the data driver clock with a kind of random effect. However, one has to guarantee that the overall loading speed will not exceed the expected writing speed. Such appliance of jitter is not very efficient.
Moreover, according to the document EP 1 365 382 various addressing time periods per line may be used as shown in FIG. 4. The length of the addressing period is different from line to line. Concerning the evolution of the addressing time per line there are three categories of dependency:                A panel homogeneity dependency: this parameter is related to the fact that the panel does not have the same behaviour among the whole screen.        A dependency of priming efficiency: the priming operation enables a rapid writing but its efficiency could decrease in time (depending on panel technology).        A dependency of sustain efficiency: the writing operation is directly followed by the sustain operation. Since the efficiency of the writing operation is linked to the capacity effect of the panel, this could change with the delay to the sustain operation.
In the amount of sub-fields there may be two different categories as already explained in a previous document EP 1 250 696:                Sub-field preceded by a priming also called primed sub-field (PSF)        Sub-field not preceded by a priming also called refreshing sub-field (RSF)
In FIGS. 5 and 6 two examples of addressing time per PDP lines for the two previous categories of sub-fields are depicted.
FIG. 5 shows an example of the overall addressing speed for a primed sub-field. In a region around line 160 the addressing time is lower than 1 μs per line. At the large line numbers the addressing time per line increases rapidly.
In contrast to that FIG. 6 shows an example of the overall addressing speed for a non-primed sub-field. Although the addressing time is always larger than 1 μs per line it does not essentially increase at the large line numbers.
Obviously, depending on the panel technology, the curve of the addressing speed can have different behaviours. All the curves presented here are only examples related to a specific technology. In any case, a characterization of the panel speed should be made specifically for each technology and each new process.
However, according to the technology introduced in EP 1 365 382 only the addressing speed was changed. In other words, the clock of the data drivers should correspond to the fastest addressing period per line to suit various addressing speeds as disclosed in EP 1 365 382:                In case of FIG. 5, the fastest addressing speed is 0.93 μs requiring a data driver working at 51.61 MHz.        In case of FIG. 6, the fastest addressing speed is 1.23 μs requiring a data driver working at 39.02 MHz.
Indeed, it is necessary to have the data drivers (compare FIG. 3) loaded before writing (i.e. addressing) the line and so the only requirement is to have a loading speed smaller than the addressing period. The loading speed and consequently the data driver clock is kept constant. However, this has a dramatic impact on the EMI as explained in the introduction.

Method and device for driving a display device with line-wise dynamic addressing


A moisture sensing apparatus, system and method. In general, a surface can be provided, and one or more conductor pairs located in a plane of the surface. Each conductor of the conductor pair(s) is insulated from one another. Water droplets forming on the conductor pair(s) thereby provide a quantifiable measurement of water on the surface. A controller can be electrically connected to the conductor pair(s), wherein the controller provides data indicative of whether or not the conductor pair is shorted.

Moisture sensing devices are utilized in number of sensing applications. One type of a conventional moisture sensing device is a humidity sensor, which can provide for the measurement of relative humidity (RH) over wide RH ranges (e.g., 1%-100%), but which continues to be a challenge in design and construction. Moisture sensing devices can be implemented in the context of semiconductor-based sensors utilized in many industrial applications. Solid-state semiconductor devices are found in most electronic components today. Semiconductor-based sensors, for example, are fabricated using semiconductor processes.
Many modern manufacturing processes, for example, generally require measurement of moisture contents corresponding to dew points between −40° C. and 180° C., or a relative humidity between 1% and 100%. Such devices do not, however, adequately measure the amount of moisture collected on a particular surface, which is an important factor in maintaining the efficiency and safety of manufacturing facilities. There is thus a need for a durable, compact, efficient moisture detector that can be used effectively in these processes to measure very small moisture content on surfaces.
Moisture can be measured by a number of techniques. In a semiconductor-based system, for example, moisture can be measured based upon the reversible water absorption characteristics of polymeric materials. The absorption of water into a sensor structure causes a number of physical changes in the active polymer. These physical changes can be transduced into electrical signals which are related to the water concentration in the polymer and which in turn are related to the relative humidity in the air surrounding the polymer. Such devices, however, are limited in range and efficiency and do not adequately detect moisture on surfaces.
Two of the most common physical changes are the change in resistance and the change in dielectric constant, which can be respectively translated into a resistance change and a capacitance change. It has been found, however, that elements utilized as resistive components suffer from the disadvantage that there is an inherent dissipation effect caused by the dissipation of heat due to the current flow in the elements necessary to make a resistance measurement. The result is erroneous readings, among other problems.
It is therefore believed that a solution to some of the problems associated with conventional moisture sensing devices involves the design and implementation of discrete components and circuits, based on simple principles of electrical conducting circuits, which to date have not been fully implemented in moisture sensing applications.


A control circuit of a switching regulator includes a control pin for coupling with an external resistor; a resistor detecting circuit for detecting a resistance of the external resistor; a current generating module for generating a corresponding control current according to a detection result of the resistor detecting circuit; an oscillating circuit for generating a clock signal; and a mode-switching circuit. When the mode-switching circuit configures the oscillating circuit to operate in a resistor-controlled mode, the oscillating circuit generates the clock signal according to the control current so that the clock signal has a frequency corresponding to the resistance of the external resistor. When the mode-switching circuit configures the oscillating circuit to operate in a signal-controlled mode, the oscillating circuit generates the clock signal according to an external synchronous signal coupled with the control pin so that the clock signal is synchronized with the external synchronous signal.

The disclosure generally relates to a control circuit of a switching regulator and, more particularly, to a control circuit with multiple clock frequency setting modes.
A conventional control circuit of some switching regulators is equipped with a frequency setting pin and a synchronous signal pin. The frequency setting pin is utilized to couple with an external resistor for determining the frequency of an internal clock signal of the control circuit. The synchronous signal pin is utilized for receiving an external synchronous signal so that the control circuit configures the internal clock frequency to be synchronized with the external synchronous signal.
The above two pins provides a higher selection flexibility in setting the frequency of the clock signal of the control circuit, but require to occupy more chip packaging areas. Apparently, the pin count of the control circuit should be reduced if it is required to further reduce the chip packaging area of the control circuit.

Switching regulator control circuit with multiple clock frequency setting modes


The invention provides a display device and an electronic device, each of which has one of a structure in which a substrate provided with a light emitting element which performs bottom light emission and a substrate provided with a light emitting element which performs top light emission are attached, and a structure in which two substrates, each of which is provided with a light emitting element which performs bottom light emission are attached. By attaching two substrates, each of which is provided with a light emitting element, displays are provided on the front and back of the display device, thus a high added value can be realized. One of the two substrates, each of which is provided with a light emitting element also functions as a sealing substrate for another substrate, thus a compact, thin, and lightweight display device can be obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device including a self-luminous element and to an electronic device using a display device including a light emitting element.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a display device using a self-luminous element typified by an electroluminescence element has been developed. A display device using a self-luminous element has advantages such as high image quality, wide viewing angle, thin design without a backlight, and lightweight. A portable electronic device which has been actively spread in these years is required to have a high added value in accordance with the diversification of its applications. Nowadays, a portable electronic device having a sub display on the back of a normal display is provided (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-285445
In many cases, a display device using a self-luminous element includes an element substrate provided with a pixel portion including a light emitting element and a sealing substrate provided to face the element substrate. Therefore, an electronic device provided with a sub display on the back of a normal display has two pairs of an element substrate and a sealing substrate, that is, four substrates in total.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.