Row addressing circuitry for implementing random row selection, pre-writes, and bi-directional scrolling includes a plurality of decoders, each connected to an address bus, each having a decoder enable input, and each producing row enable signals for rows of a pixel array. Row enable information for each row from each decoder is logically combined together to produce composite row drive information. Beneficially, each decoder is connected to the same address bus, and each decoder enable signal is produced from a common controller. By using the row enable signals, in synchronization with address information on the address bus, the correct row drive information, such as pre-writes or image information, is applied to each of pixels. Bi-directional scrolling can be implemented by enabling two rows to accept the same image information.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electro-optic color display systems. More particularly, it relates to electro-optic color display systems with decoders that implement bi-directional row scanning and pre-writing.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Display systems having colored light bars that sequentially scroll across an electro-optic light panel to produce a color image are well known. Such display systems are particularly useful for displaying color images that are continuously updated by frames, such as in color televisions. Typically, each frame is composed of color sub-frames, usually red, green and blue sub-frames.
Such display systems employ an electro-optic light panel that is comprised of individual pixel elements that are organized in a matrix of rows and columns. The individual pixels elements are modulated in accordance with pixel image information. Typically, the pixel image information is applied to the individual pixel elements by rows during each frame period. Such a matrix array of pixel elements is preferably xe2x80x9cactivexe2x80x9d in that each pixel element is connected to an active switching element of a matrix array of switching elements.
Because each color sub-frame must be addressed during each frame period, the sub-frame addressing rate is three times faster than the frame rate. At present, a preferred electro-optic light panel is a reflective active-matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) that is produced on a silicon substrate and that employs a twisted nematic (TN) effect liquid crystal. Thin film transistors (TFTs) are usually used as the active switching elements. Such panels can support a high pixel density because the TFTs and their interconnections can be integrated onto the silicon substrate. Moreover, reflective active-matrix liquid crystal displays can be addressed at a much higher rate than transmissive active-matrix liquid crystal displays. However, a TN reflective active-matrix liquid crystal display requires about 100 microseconds to image a pixel element. In contrast, a row of pixel image information can be produced and applied to the pixel elements in about 5 microseconds. Another problem with current reflective TN active-matrix liquid crystal displays is that the pixel capacitance varies according to the applied voltage.
One problem with taking a relatively long time to image a pixel element is that the image accuracy of the pixel depends on that pixel""s residual state, which in turn depends on previously imaged information. This means that the brightness of a particular pixel depends on the brightness of the previous image displayed by that pixel. Two-dimensional look-up tables can be used to provide correction values for new pixel image to correct for residual states.
The problems of slow response time and varying pixel capacitance versus voltage in reflective TN active-matrix liquid crystal displays can be reduced by using an electro-optic material having a faster response time and a reduced voltage-dependent capacitance. One class of such materials is the ferroelectric LC. However, ferroelectric LC materials have a memory effect in that the image that was produced (the prior image) must be overcome by a new image. Auxiliary xe2x80x9cblanking pulsesxe2x80x9d that reset the pixels prior to imaging new pixels can significantly reduce the memory effect problem. Such blanking pulses can be applied during a line selection period via row electrodes in combination with a common counter-electrode. In practice, the use of two xe2x80x9cpre-writexe2x80x9d blanking pulses has proven more successful than using a single xe2x80x9cpre-writexe2x80x9d blanking pulse.
Pre-write blanking schemes usually require special circuitry for generating the blanking pulses. In the prior art, that special circuitry was not readily integrated into the driver circuitry that converted incoming pixel information, which is usually digital, into analog signals suitable for driving the active-matrix liquid crystal display.
Prior art circuitry for driving active-matrix liquid crystal displays usually used shift registers. However, in scrolling color applications (such as with a computer display screen), non-contiguous rows sometimes need to be accessed. Thus, multiple shift registers, operating in parallel, are required. Furthermore, if bi-directional scanning is desired, even more dedicated shift registers are required.
A known alternative to shift registers in some applications is the decoder. Decoders can enable random row selections. However, prior attempts to use decoders for presenting row information, producing pre-writes to compensate for memory effects, and to implement bi-directional scrolling proved impractical. Therefore, a new technique of using decoders to address rows (or columns) of a display device would be useful. Even more beneficial would be a new technique of using decoders to implement random row (or column) selection, pre-writes, and bi-directional scrolling of display devices.
The principles of the present invention provide a new technique of using decoders to implement random row (or column) selection and pre-writes in a display. Those principles can further enable bi-directional scrolling.
Drive circuitry according to the principles of the present invention can operate an electro-optic display device such that color artifacts caused by residual states are reduced or eliminated by pre-write blanking pulses. That drive circuitry can also implement bi-directional scrolling. Such drive circuitry includes a plurality of decoders, each connected to an address bus, each having a row select enable, and each producing a row select signal for a row of a pixel array. Select signals from the various decoders are combined for each pixel in the pixel array row together to produce pixel drive information for a pixel driver. Beneficially, each decoder is connected to the same address bus, and each row select enable signal is produced by a common controller. By using the row select enable lines, in synchronization with address information on the address bus, the correct pre-writes and image information is applied to a pixel driver for each row of pixels.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, color artifacts caused by the residual states of the pixels in an electro-optic display device from previously addressed data signals are substantially reduced or eliminated by signals from at least one of the plurality of decoders, while image information is produced by another of the plurality of decoders.
Preferably, the common controller enables the decoders, as required, to produce a desired image, to pre-write row of pixels to prepare for the next image, and to enable bi-directional scanning.

Decoder based row addressing circuitry with pre-writes


An electron beam recording medium with a coating, which is applied to a substrate, is sensitive to electron beam radiation and has an organic rare earth metal type phosphor, is suitable for the irreversible writing of information with low-intensity electron beams.

The invention relates to an electron-beam recording medium with a coating, applied to a substrate, which contains a phosphor and is sensitive to electron-beam radiation.
The electron beam-sensitive coating is also designated hereinafter as the "phosphor coating" or "storage coating" for the sake of simplicity.
A recording medium of the above-mentioned type is known from DE-OS No. 19 63 374. The phosphors mentioned herein are thallium-doped potassium iodide and manganese-doped potassium magnesium fluoride. When data is written with an electron beam, the phosphors luminesce; at the same time, defects are formed which extinguish the luminescence. These defects can be eliminated or healed by heating. This medium, therefore, is a recording medium for the reversible recording of data.
In the known recording medium the storage of data is based on the formation of areas of different degrees of radiation defects on the surface of the electron-luminescent phosphor, i.e. the thickness of the phosphor coating is to be selected in such a way that it is almost penetrated, but not quite by the electron beam which bombards the coating. Storage on the surface has the disadvantage that the stored information is sensitive to contact, weathering the other surface-damaging influences.
The use of phosphors based on halogenide crystals in electron beam recording media has the further disadvantage that these crystals are hygroscopic. This makes the production of phosphor-based recording media which is simple in principle somewhat more difficult, and care must be taken to ensure that the phosphors are protected against air humidity during subsequent use of the recording medium.
In addition, local defect concentration differences of the aforementioned type have a tendency to even out. This effect is presumably due to diffusion. The diffusion rate of the defects depends both on the concentration gradients of the defects in the crystals and on the temperature. It increases with both. The result of this is that there is a permanent tendency towards information loss. In the patent mentioned earlier, this effect which is particularly prominent at elevated temperature is intended after all as an erasure mechanism for the written information.
The intrinsic tendency of the phosphor type contained in the known recording medium to restore the chemical equilibrium by diffusion of accumulations of localized defects imposes a natural limit on the highest number of 0.fwdarw.1 items of information which can be written per unit surface. According to the above-mentioned patent, only 10.sup.7 bits of digital information are stored on a disc of 4.times.6 mm.sup.2.
DE-OS No. 30 32 611 describes organic rare earth metal salt type phosphors which are capable of emitting radiation when subjected to excitation by, among other things, electron bombardment and which are suitable, among other things, as photographic materials, picture-resolving materials or high-resolution materials, and as basic materials for the field of optoelectronics.


The present invention provides a wide bandgap semiconductor device encompassing: (a) a drift layer of a first conductivity type made of a wide bandgap semiconductor material; (b) a body region of a second conductivity type made of the wide bandgap semiconductor material, disposed at the top surface of and in the drift layer; (c) a source region of the first conductivity type disposed in the body region; (d) a channel layer of the first conductivity type, disposed in the body region neighboring to the source region and further disposed in the drift layer; and (e) a gate electrode including semiconductor layer at the bottom so that the semiconductor layer directly contact with the top surface of the channel layer, the semiconductor layer made of a semiconductor material having a different bandgap energy from that of the wide bandgap semiconductor material.

1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to a wide bandgap semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the wide bandgap semiconductor device, which are particularly adapted for high voltage applications. The invention particularly relates to a field effect transistor (FET) using wide bandgap semiconductor as a base material and a method for manufacturing the FET.
2. Description of the Related Art
Historically, early stage in semiconductor industry, silicon (Si) material having a bandgap energy Eg=1.1 eV, or the gallium arsenide (GaAs) material having a bandgap energy Eg=1.4 eV has been firstly adopted for practical use. Compared with these preceding semiconductor materials, other semiconductor materials having wider bandgap energy Eg than these Si and GaAs are now referred as xe2x80x9cwide bandgap semiconductorxe2x80x9d. For example, zinc telluride (ZnTe) having a bandgap energy Eg=2.2 eV, cadmium sulfide (CdS) having a bandgap energy Eg=2.4 eV, zinc selenide (ZnSe) having a bandgap energy Eg=2.7 eV, a gallium nitride (GaN) having a bandgap energy Eg=3.4 eV, zinc sulphide (ZnS) having a bandgap energy Eg=3.7 eV and diamond having a bandgap energy Eg=5.5 eV are well known as the examples for the wide bandgap semiconductors. In addition, silicon carbide (SiC) is another example of wide bandgap semiconductor. The bandgap energy Eg of 2.23 eV is reported for 3Cxe2x80x94SiC, 2.93 eV is reported for 6Hxe2x80x94SiC, and 3.26 eV is reported for 4Hxe2x80x94SiC.
Generally, these wide bandgap semiconductors are superior in thermal and chemical stability, and wide bandgap semiconductors are superior in radiation immunity. In particular, because SiC is superior in these characteristics, applications in various industrial fields are expected. For example, SiC FETs are expected for high frequency devices and power devices having high reliability and stability.
In a channel region of an earlier SiC FET, a depletion layer is extended from in a gate region when a reverse bias is applied to a gate electrode so as to block current of carriers flowing from a source region to a drain region from, thereby achieving the off-state (See Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-299475). And the current flowing from the source to drain regions is controlled by drain voltage in an on-state by drain voltage. In other words, the negative feedback effect ascribable to the resistance in the channel caused by depletion layer at pinch off potential provides saturated drain current versus drain voltage characteristics, wherein the depletion layer extends to a drift region from the interface between a p-body regions and the drift region. In this way, switching operations of high current with high voltage is expected for the SiC FETs.
However, in the earlier SiC FETs, it is necessary to electrically insulate the gate electrode from the source region, which provides the limitation of the miniaturization of cell. And, there was a problem that reduction of the specific on-resistance normalized by chip area is not enough. In addition, there was another problem that the performance of the Schottky barrier formed between the gate electrode and SiC layer is determined uniquely by the kind of metallic material being employed in the Schottky gate electrode.
In addition, it is difficult to obtain a high breakdown voltage in the Schottky gate electrode structure. To obtain a high breakdown voltage, it is better to use nickel (Ni) among various metallic materials, because Ni has a high work function. However, because the etching of Ni film by photolithographic process is difficult, we must employ the lift-off process to delineate the Ni Schottky gate electrode, which unsuitable for the miniaturization of the SiC devices.
In view of these situations, it is an object of the present invention to provide a wide bandgap semiconductor device, which can achieve the miniaturization of the wide bandgap semiconductor device, reducing enough the specific on-resistance of the wide bandgap semiconductor device, which is normalized by the chip area of the wide bandgap semiconductor device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a wide bandgap semiconductor device having high breakdown voltage and the manufacturing method of the wide bandgap semiconductor device, by which a Schottky gate structure having a desired barrier height can be formed selectively and easily.
To achieve the above-mentioned objects, a feature of the present invention inheres in a wide bandgap semiconductor device encompassing: (a) a drift layer of a first conductivity type made of a wide bandgap semiconductor material; (b) a body region of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type made of the wide bandgap semiconductor material, disposed at the top surface of and in the drift layer; (c) a source region of the first conductivity type made of the wide bandgap semiconductor material, disposed at the top surface of and in the body region; (d) a channel layer of the first conductivity type made of the wide bandgap semiconductor material, disposed at the top surface of and in the body region neighboring to the source region and further disposed at the top surface of and in the drift layer; and (e) a gate electrode including semiconductor layer at the bottom so that the semiconductor layer directly contact with the top surface of the channel layer, the semiconductor layer made of a semiconductor material having a different bandgap energy from that of the wide bandgap semiconductor material.
Another feature of the present invention inheres in a wide bandgap semiconductor device made of wide bandgap semiconductor material for controlling current flowing from source means to drain means by gate means, comprising: (a) drift means for transporting carriers by drift field between the source means and drain means; (b) body means disposed in the drift means for storing the carriers to be injected into the drift means; (c) source means disposed in the body means for providing the carriers so that the carriers can serve as the current flowing from the source means to the drain means; (d) channel means disposed at the top surface of the body means neighboring to the source means and further disposed at the top surface of the drift means for providing a current path between the source means and drain means; and (e) gate means directly contact with the top surface of the channel means so that an edge of gate means reaches to the source means, for controlling potential in the channel means, and simultaneously for achieving electrical isolation between the gate means and source means.
Still another feature of the present invention inheres in a method for manufacturing a wide bandgap semiconductor device, encompassing the steps of: (a) forming a drift layer of a first conductivity type made of a wide bandgap semiconductor material on a base material made of the wide bandgap semiconductor material; (b) forming a body region of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type made of the wide bandgap semiconductor material at the top surface of and in the drift layer; (c) forming a source region of the first conductivity type made of the wide bandgap semiconductor material at the top surface of and in the body region; (d) forming a channel layer of the first conductivity type made of the wide bandgap semiconductor material at the top surface of and in the body region neighboring to the source region and further at the top surface of and in the drift layer; (e) depositing a semiconductor layer having a different bandgap energy from that of the wide bandgap semiconductor material directly on the channel layer; and (f) doping impurity atoms from the top surface of the semiconductor layer.
Yet still another feature of the present invention inheres in a method for manufacturing a wide bandgap semiconductor device, encompassing the steps of: (a) forming a drift layer of a first conductivity type made of a wide bandgap semiconductor material on a base material made of the wide bandgap semiconductor material; (b) forming a body region of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type made of the wide bandgap semiconductor material at the top surface of and in the drift layer; (c) forming a channel layer of the first conductivity type made of the wide bandgap semiconductor material at the top surface of and in the body region neighboring to the source region and further at the top surface of and in the drift layer; (d) depositing a semiconductor layer having a different bandgap energy from that of the wide bandgap semiconductor material directly on the channel layer; (e) delineating the semiconductor layer so as to form a window portion, exposing a portion of the body region, and to form a pattern of a gate electrode; and (g) doping the first conductivity type impurity atoms from the top surface of the semiconductor layer so as not dope the bottom portion of the semiconductor layer, and simultaneously doping the portion of the body region exposed in the window portion, thereby simultaneously forming the gate electrode directly contacting with the top surface of the channel layer and a source region of the first conductivity type at the top surface of and in the body region.
Other and further objects and features of the present invention will become obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiments about to be described in connection with the accompanying drawings or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employing of the present invention in practice.

Wide bandgap semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same


A handheld device is provided for aiding in attaching a fishing line to a fishing hook having an eye. The device includes a holder having a first end and a second end. At least one of the first end and the second end includes an opening through which the hook can be securely coupled. An end of the fishing line is inserted through the eye of the fishing hook to tie a fishing knot. The device can also include a fishing lure extending from at least one of the first end and the second end. The opening can be one of a slit, a groove, a slot, a hole, and a notch.

Fishing is an ancient and worldwide practice with various techniques and traditions. The practice of catching or attempting to catch fish with a hook is known as angling. The hook is usually attached by a line to a fishing rod and can be dressed with lures or bait.
Several steps are necessary to manually tie a hook onto a fishing line. The end of the fishing line is inserted through the eye of the hook. Next, the end of the line is wrapped around a line going back to the reel ("reel line") several times, forming twists. The end of the line is passed through a loop that exists between the eye of the hook and the twists. The end of the line is passed through a second loop that was created in the previous step. Then, a knot is formed by pulling the end of the line; the knot is slid down to the eye, and tightened by pulling the reel line. The end of the line is trimmed, resulting in a knot (or uni-knot).
Given the above description of manually tying a knot, it will be widely appreciated that tying a knot is a challenging undertaking, particularly for senior citizens having reduced visual acuity and dexterity, or for those having sustained significant hand injuries. In addition, fishermen fishing in the dark, in poor light conditions, or in cold weather, will have more difficulty hooking a line, with its many twists and loops.
It would therefore be advantageous if there were a handheld device for aiding in attaching a fishing line to a fishing hook.

Method and handheld device for tying a fishing knot


Disclosed are various embodiments for identifying complementary items to items available for sale, lease, download, rent, etc. by different merchants in an electronic commerce system and presenting the complementary items alongside requested items in a user interface to improve a user experience when interacting with the electronic commerce system. The user interface includes a first user interface object that includes the requested items and a second user interface object that includes the complementary items to the requested items. The complementary items are displayed in the second user interface object in vertical alignment with a position of the corresponding requested item in the first user interface object.

An electronic commerce system may include listings of items offered for sale, lease, download, rent, etc., by many different merchants. Users may use the electronic commerce system to purchase, lease, download, rent, etc., items of interest. In some instances, users may wish to repeat behavior with respect to particular items of interest.

Providing complementary items to requested items


In at least one aspect, the present invention comprises a system and method of creating a probability of delinquency database using historical loan data and a plurality of loan factors, for use in determining a loan rate, the method comprising: identifying a plurality of multi-level loan factors; creating a pool from the historic loan data, wherein the first pool contains records relating to the plurality of multi-level loan factors; separating the pool into a set of groups based on the multi-level loan factors, calculating a probability of delinquency for each group; and arranging the probability of delinquency for each group into a database such that the probability of delinquency for each group is accessible for any combination of multi-level loan factors.

This application relates generally to business methods for evaluating loans, and more particularly, to a system and method for providing a mortgage loan pricing model for various lending scenarios.
In general, loans are often classified as either a prime loan or a sub-prime loan. Sub-prime mortgage loans are loans which do not meet the criteria of the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Mortgage Corporation (collectively, the "Agencies") for purchase by the Agencies. Typically, sub-prime loans have one or more credit issues related to the borrower which the Agencies have determined would increase the probability of the loan payments on such loans not being made to the lender when due.
There is a market for sub-prime loans, however, through whole loan purchasers and ultimately, through investors in securities other than those issued by the Agencies. However, pricing of such loans in the past has been driven primarily by guesswork and competition.
It is desired to remove some of this guesswork and provide a reliable, fair, and consistent evaluation for all loans, including sub-prime loans.


Methods for improved adhesion of an optical coating to a polarizing film incorporated onto an optical-quality plastic construct are disclosed. Preferred methods include treating a surface of the film by mechanical and/or chemical means and applying an optical coating to the treated film for effecting a coated, polarized optical-quality plastic part. Such mechanical and chemical means include exposing the polarizing film to a caustic solution at a concentration greater than or equal to 10%, roughening the surface of the film in a uniform manner, and utilizing plasma exposure to peen the surface and then chemically modify it. A particularly preferred technique involves uniform physical roughening, namely, forming grooves having a substantially uniform direction substantially aligned with the axis of light absorption, exposing this roughened surface to a caustic solution having a concentration of 10% or greater, and then dipping the roughened surface into an overcoat solution and withdrawing it substantially perpendicular to the direction of the grooves.

The field of the present invention relates to robust polarizing films, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polarizing films, incorporated onto optical-quality plastic parts, such as eyewear, and particularly to improved adhesion of coatings applied to the polarizing films.
As disclosed in the above-identified prior related applications, optical-quality parts may include ophthalmic lenses (semi-finished or finished prescription or non-prescription blanks), lenses, goggles, visors, shields, polarized facemasks or shields, and polarized display devices or windows that require low haze. If polarized, such optical-quality plastic parts may include a number of different types of polarizers on the surface of the optical construct or actually incorporated into the optical construct itself.
Polarizers may include conventionally well-known polyvinylalcohol (PVA) films and the like. As PVA and other typical films are particularly susceptible to heat and other environmental damage, should this type of polarizer film be used on the outside surface of an optical construct, those skilled in the art understand that the polarizer would have to be protected. Such protection is typically in the form of two outside plastic sheets with the polarizer sandwiched thereinbetween, sometimes referred to as a xe2x80x9cwaferxe2x80x9d. In other words, in order to have an optical-quality polarized plastic part where the polarizer is adhered to the outside surface of the optical construct, if the polarizer is a conventional polarizer, the polarizer needs to be in the form of a wafer or the like.
If the polarizer is in the form of a wafer, delamination between the wafer and the construct is of paramount concern, and frequently is the downfall of such conventional optical parts. Alternately, if a strong bond is achieved between the wafer and the construct, further environmental stresses may cause delamination within the wafer itself, separating the needed protective layers from the fragile polarizer. Thus, the bonds between the many layers of the wafer and the construct have usually been the Achilles"" heel of conventionally made optical parts. Moreover, as light must travel through a protective plastic sheet before it reaches the polarizing film, birefringence may occur, resulting in a loss of quality of the polarizing properties when compared to the film by itself. And if a coating is used on the wafer, one skilled in the art must be concerned about the delamination of the coating from the wafer as well.
In an effort to solve such typical problems with conventional polarized optical parts, a more xe2x80x9crobust,xe2x80x9d durable, stable polarizer needed to be discovered to replace the conventionally used polarizers that had so many undesirable properties, such as PVA polarizers. As fully disclosed in their related applications, the inventors discovered that PET had many desirable properties, but this robust material was inert and could not be bonded to constructs using conventionally known techniques. Novel bonding techniques to xe2x80x9cintegrally bondxe2x80x9d (interpenetrated bonding or bonding at the molecular level) the PET polarizing film to the optical construct, as well as an optional optical coating, are fully disclosed in the parent applications.
With respect to optical coatings, as set forth in the parent applications, it may be desirable to overcoat the optical parts for increased physical or optical performance. Common overcoats include scratch or abrasion-resistance layers, anti-reflection coatings, mirrored coatings, and anti-fogging layers. These different coatings may be applied to different surfaces (e.g., a scratch resistant coating on one surface, and a tinted or mirror coating on another), depending on the application.
Such coatings may be applied in the liquid state by roll, spin or dip coating, for example. Depending on the chemistry of the coating solution, the liquid film may be converted to a harder, solid layer by thermal, ultraviolet, infrared or other means of irradiation, reactive initiators or other reactive methods. Vacuum-deposited coatings may be applied as an alternate to the liquid coating, or in addition to cured liquid coatings. Such vacuum coatings may provide additional protection from physical wear, environmental degradation, or further control of the optical properties of the part. For instance, the liquid or vacuum deposited coatings may alter light throughput in a particular energy region to give anti-reflective or reflective (mirror) properties, alter the perceived color of the part, or reduce exposure to emissions such as infrared or ultraviolet emissions.
Similar to the bond between the polarizer film and the optical construct, it is again imperative that excellent adhesion between the polarizer film and the overcoat is achieved to ensure product integrity during use, or during post-processing steps such as shaping, grinding, or edging the part. The parent applications disclose treatments that can be used to improve adhesion to subsequent coatings, including certain chemical modifications of the preferred PET polarizing film surface that lead to improved adhesion of subsequent coatings.
Recognizing the consumer market""s constant demand for better performance from optical parts, the present inventors have improved upon the technology disclosed in the parent applications. More specifically, the present inventors recognized that further enhancement of adhesion between a robust polarizer, such as the PET film, a polyester film or the like, and an optical coating is not only desired but put perhaps critical to preventing failure under extreme conditions such as prolonged exposure to the sun (e.g., leaving your sunglasses on the dashboard) or other such similar abuse.
In an effort to meet the demand for constantly better performance, the present inventors used more aggressive treatments on polarizing films to further enhance the bond between the film and subsequent coatings. In doing so, however, the inventors discovered that more aggressive treatments were often accompanied by physical or chemical damage that deleteriously compromised the required optical quality of either the polarizer and/or the optical and physical properties of the resultant part. The inventors particularly found that more aggressive treatments to the preferred robust (and hence more inert) polarizing films, such as PET films, may be deleterious to their sought-after properties (one skilled in the art understands that the surface treatments proposed in the parent applications, let alone the more aggressive treatments referred to here, may destroy the polarizing properties of the more traditional films such as PVA films). Improved adhesion between film and overcoat, leading to enhanced environmental performance, without compromise of optical or physical properties is therefore desired.
The preferred embodiments relate to methods for improved adhesion of an optical coating to a polarizing film incorporated onto an optical-quality plastic construct comprising treating a surface of the film by mechanical and/or chemical means and applying an optical coating to the treated film for effecting a coated, polarized optical-quality plastic part.
In one aspect of the invention, the treatment may comprise exposing the polarizing film to a caustic solution at a concentration greater than or equal to 10%. In yet another aspect, the treatment may comprise forming grooves having a substantially uniform direction on a surface of the film, dipping the film incorporated onto the construct in a solution comprised of the optical coating, and withdrawing the film in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of the grooves.
Another aspect may comprise physically treating a surface of the film by plasma exposure to peen the surface and thereby create a substantially uniform surface roughness, and then chemically treating the substantially uniform surface by plasma exposure.
Such disclosed treatments may be used alone or in combination with another to advantageously effect improved adhesion between the polarizing film and the coating, as well as between subsequent coatings, to thereby enhance environmental performance without compromising the desired optical and physical properties of the film or the resultant optical-quality part.

Method for improved adhesion of an optical coating to a polarizing film


A bicycle seat position changer is provided which allows the rider to quickly change the effective seat tube angle of the bicycle without requiring the use of tools. The seat position changer allows the rider to move the seat between a forward position and a rearward position, allowing a rider to select a more aerodynamic position or a traditional road position while riding, as required for comfort or by riding conditions. The seat position changer allows the rider to adjust the seat position between the forward and rearward positions while maintaining a consistent difference in seat-to-bottom-bracket length. In one embodiment the consistent difference in seat-to-bottom-bracket length is close to zero and imperceptible to the rider.

Bicycles have been around since the early 1800s. The design of the bicycle is continuously being improved, increasing its efficiency in various aspects. The result is that today we have sleek, lightweight and fast bicycles which are capable of efficiently transferring the energy from the cyclist's legs to the wheels of the bicycle.
Cyclists have many different bicycle styles to choose from, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. However, there are generally two positions used for road cycling, a more upright position as seen when using road bikes, hybrids and mountain bikes, and a more aerodynamic, forward leaning position as seen on time-trial or triathlon bicycles. Cycling enthusiasts frequently desire the advantages of both riding positions. For example, an aerodynamic, forward leaning position is often desirable at higher speeds, when a rider is seeking to minimize wind resistance. The more upright position is often preferred on road bicycles when the rider is climbing hills, maneuvering within a group of riders, or maximizing comfort.
One of the big differences in design on bicycles with these two different styles of riding is the seat (aka "saddle") position. Specialized bicycles, such as those designed for triathlons or time trials, have steeper seat tube angles that place the saddle further forward relative to the bottom bracket. This allows the rider to assume a more aerodynamic position where arms are extended further forward onto cantilevered aero bars and shoulders are lowered, thus reducing a rider's frontal area and creating a more aerodynamic shape. Clip-on aero bar extensions have been developed for road bicycles to allow riders to achieve a similar aerodynamic position, but their use puts the rider in an uncomfortably stretched out position due to the limited forward travel adjustment of the typical seat. Another problem can occur when lowering the torso to assume an aerodynamic position: For a rider bending down and forward into aerobars without adjusting the saddle position, the rider's hip-angle (the angle between the rider's torso and upper leg at the top of the pedal stroke) can become cramped and uncomfortable.
Road bicycle seat posts typically allow adjustment to the height, tilt, and fore-aft position of the saddle within a limited range. However, if a road bicycle cyclist desires to have a more aerodynamic position, he requires specialized seat posts to place the saddle in a significantly further forward position. Once installed, the seat post does not allow the seat to be moved back to a position that would be suitable for normal upright road riding without reinstalling the traditionally positioned seat post.
Likewise, typical saddles assemblies require adjusting the tilt or "seat angle" by loosening a bolt, physically manipulating the position of the saddle to the desired seat angle or tilt, then tightening the bolt to hold the saddle in fixed position. For a rider wanting to change riding styles during a ride, changing the seat angle requires getting off the bicycle to perform these adjustments. For a rider wanting to frequently alternate between two riding styles, there is no way to rapidly, easily, and reliably switch between two reliably consistent seat angles.
The traditional saddle position on a road bike can be uncomfortable when using aero bars and the forward saddle position used with aero bars is not suitable when conditions call for a more traditional upright road position. Switching seat posts is time consuming, may require the use of tools, and typically cannot be done in the middle of a ride. There is thus a need for a means to easily adjust the saddle position during a ride that does not require the use of tools or the replacement of a seat post.


A single test transducer or a line array of test transducers is placed above the transducers of an array under test and provided with a simulated flow noise signal. The response of all of the transducers under test is derived and stored whereupon the test transducer or line array of test transducers is moved to a subsequent position wherein the process is repeated. After all positions are indexed, the stored signals representing the outputs of all of the transducers of the array under test for all transmissions are combined and processed to derive a transducer array output signal for analysis purposes.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention in general relates to the testing of sonar systems, and particularly to an arrangement of the type which eliminates need for movement of the sonar system through the water environment.
2. Background Information
Vehicle-carried sonar systems which travel through the water environment are limited in performance by virtue of unwanted noise which is generated during the course of travel. A predominant source of noise is flow noise caused by turbulence in the boundary layer surrounding the moving sonar array and as speed of movement through water increases, the flow noise may become the dominant noise in a well designed sonar receiver, particularly when operation is at the lower frequencies.
The detrimental effects of flow noise can be significantly reduced by a number of techniques such as streamlining of the carrying vehicle, proper placement of the transducers of the sonar array on the vehicle and geometric or amplitude shading of the transducers, to name a few. If the response of the sonar system to the flow noise can be determined, corrective measures may be taken. The performance of the sonar system can be significantly increased by reducing the effects of flow induced noise.
Measuring flow noise and flow noise performance of a sonar system in the field is a technically difficult and very expensive undertaking. For example, propelling the sonar array through the water on a carrying vehicle creates not only flow noise but additionally, propulsion noise which is difficult, if not impossible, to separate from the flow noise. To eliminate propulsion noise complications, the array may be given what is known as a pop-up test wherein the sonar array is mounted on a buoyant vehicle that is pulled to the bottom of a body of water and released to rise to the surface using its own buoyancy as the propulsive force. Although this eliminates the propulsion noise such tests are very expensive and require a variety of specially designed and instrumented pop-up vehicles.
In order to eliminate the requirement for in situ testing, an alternative approach in common use is that of static test equipment. With such arrangement, a calibration array of test transducers is assembled, with the transducers of the calibration array being placed over the transducers of the sonar array under test, with an acoustic coupling medium between them. The movement of turbulence over the array under test is simulated by providing the test transducers with test signals indicative of a dynamic representation of moving vortices, such test signals being known a priori. Although this test arrangement provides some advantages, the calibration array to match the sonar array under test is very expensive and in many instances may equal or exceed the expense of the array under test. Further, a calibration array made for one system will not generally be applicable to other arrays of different size and shape.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sonar test system which is more or less universal in its ability to test different sonar arrays, and at reduced expenses.


A photo printer system comprises a magnetic storage for storing a print data sent from a host computer, a bit map memory for storing a print dot data, and a printer engine for printing the contents of the bit map memory. The system includes a program which operates on the magnetic storage to serve as an external storage for the host computer and on the bit map memory to serve as a cache memory in response to a data read/write command issued by the host computer, and a CPU which controls the execution of the program. At least in a non-print process mode, the system forms a data path so that the host computer can access to the bit map memory and magnetic storage so as to have a bidirectional data read/write operation. In another mode, the system forms a data path so that image data picked up with an image scanner is saved directly in the bit map memory and the image data is sent to the host computer by request.

The present invention relates to a photo printer, and particularly to a photo printer controller having a nonvolatile memory, such as a large-capacity magnetic storage, and a volatile memory, such as a bit map memory. The invention further relates to a photo printer controller suitable for use in a computer system including an image scanner as an input device, and to the method of operation of the system.
Photo printers represented by laser beam printers, featuring low-noise, high-quality and high-speed, are now replacing conventional wire dot matrix printers and creating a new market known as desk-top publishing. A photo printer is controlled by a printer controller which converts coded print data of characters, figures and graphs sent from a host computer into print dot data which is stored in a bit map memory. The photo printer controller incorporates the bit map memory having several megabytes capacity with a magnetic storage, such as a hard disk, or floppy disk for storing character fonts and saving temporarily print data sent from the host computer, and the bit map memory has a capacity of 2 megabytes for storing a A3-size page in a print density of 300 DPI (dot per inch), or 8 megabytes for a print density of 600 DPI, as described in Japanese publication "NIKKEI ELECTRONICS", Feb. 9, 1987, pp. 144-145
Another article in "NIKKEI ELECTRONICS", Apr. 20, 1987, pp. 160-161, describes that a conventional desk-top publishing system includes a personal computer as a host computer which is directly connected with an image scanner and a photo printer with a built-in controller, and image data picked up by the image scanner is processed for enlargement, reduction, etc., by the CPU of the host computer and text areas and graphic areas are merged to complete a document page. The amount of data transferred from the image scanner to the host personal computer is as large as 1 megabyte for a A4-size page in 2-tone (black/white) printing with an image scanner having a dot density of 300 DPI.
Conventional photo printer controllers have their interface with host computers limited to one-way data ,transmission from host computer to printer, as in the CENTRONICS interface, or to low-speed bidirectional data transmission as slow as 19 kilobits/sec, as in the RS232C interface, and have their software designed to perform one-way control for solely printing data sent from the host computers. Therefore, when the printer is not working, the large-capacity magnetic storage and the bit map memory in the controller are idle (refer to U.S. Pat. No. 4 694,405).
Recently, standardization of the interface is under way for small computer's peripheral devices including hard disk units, floppy disk units, image scanners and printers, and this SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) provides a capability of 1.5 megabytes/sec, bidirectional, parallel data transmission.
In order for a small computer system to have a faster access to its hard disk or floppy disk storage, it is known that the storage needs to be provided with a memory for buffering disk transaction data. However, in the case of a conventional small computer system including a storage with associated cache memory and a photo printer, memories are separated in the host computer and photo printer, resulting in their inefficient use.
On the other hand, when a desk-top publishing system is designed to deal with a full-page data at once, a conventional host personal computer needs to have a memory of that capacity, resulting in an expensive system. In addition, the host computer has its system bus occupied by the high-speed data transfer from the image scanner, and it cannot be used for other processing during the data reading.
In an opposing case where a host personal computer is provided with only a small-capacity memory and image data from an image scanner is written into the memory in blocks, the system expends excessive time for data writing and the print quality of the written image can be degraded at the boundary of data writing blocks due to the structure of the image scanner. The combination of an image scanner and a printer controller for completing a printing system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,099.
In any of the foregoing system configurations, when image data is to be edited for enlargement, rotation, etc., the data needs to be divided into small blocks for processing due to the limited memory capacity, and this will require an intricate management and troublesome operations.

Photo printer having a host computer assist function and method of controlling the same


There are provided system and method of classifying defects in a specimen. The method includes: obtaining one or more defect clusters detected on a defect map of the specimen, each cluster characterized by a set of cluster attributes comprising spatial attributes including spatial density indicative of density of defects in one or more regions accommodating the cluster, each given defect cluster being detected at least based on the spatial density thereof meeting a criterion; for each cluster, applying a cluster classifier to a respective set of cluster attributes thereof to associate the cluster with one or more labels of a predefined set of labels, wherein the cluster classifier is trained using cluster training data; and identifying DOI in each cluster by performing a defect filtration for each cluster using one or more filtering parameters specified in accordance with the label of the cluster.

Current demands for high density and performance associated with ultra large scale integration of fabricated devices require submicron features, increased transistor and circuit speeds, and improved reliability. As semiconductor processes progress, pattern dimensions such as line width, and other types of critical dimensions, are continuously shrunken. This is also referred to as the design rule. Such demands require formation of device features with high precision and uniformity, which, in turn, necessitates monitoring of the fabrication process, including frequent and detailed inspections of the devices while they are still in the form of semiconductor wafers, including both finished devices and/or unfinished devices.
The term "specimen" used in this specification should be expansively construed to cover any kind of wafer, masks, and other structures, combinations and/or parts thereof used for manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuits, magnetic heads, flat panel displays, and other semiconductor-fabricated articles.
The complex manufacturing process of specimens is not error-free and such errors may cause faults in manufactured devices. The faults may include defects that can harm operation of the device, and nuisances, which may be defects, but do not cause any harm or malfunction of the manufactured device. By way of non-limiting examples, defects may be caused during the manufacturing process, due to faults in the raw material, mechanical, electrical or optical errors, human errors or others. Further, defects may be caused by spatio-temporal factors, such as temperature changes of the wafer occurring after one or more manufacturing stages during the examination process, which may cause some deformations of the wafer. The examination process can also introduce further alleged errors, for example due to optical, mechanical or electrical problems in the examination equipment or process, which thus provide imperfect captures. Such errors may produce false positive findings, which may seem to contain a defect, but no actual defect exists at the area.
In many applications, the type, or class, of a defect is of importance. For example, defect may be classified into one of a number of classes, such as a particle, a scratch, process, or the like.
Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "examination" used in this specification should be expansively construed to cover any kind of detection and/or classification of defects in an object. Examination is provided by using, e.g., non-destructive examination tools during or after manufacture of the object to be examined. By way of non-limiting example, the examination process can include scanning (in a single or in multiple scans), sampling, reviewing, measuring, classifying and/or other operations provided with regard to the object or parts thereof, using one or more examination tools. Likewise, examination can be provided prior to manufacture of the object to be examined and can include, for example, generating an examination recipe(s). It is noted that, unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "examination" or its derivatives used in this specification are not limited with respect to the size of the inspected area(s), to the speed or resolution of the scanning or to the type of examination tools. A variety of non-destructive examination tools includes, by way of non-limiting example, optical tools, scanning electron microscopes, atomic force microscopes, etc.
Examination process can include a plurality of examination steps. During the manufacturing process, the examination steps can be performed a multiplicity of times, for example after the manufacturing or processing of certain layers, or the like. Additionally or alternatively, each examination step can be repeated multiple times, for example for different wafer locations or for the same wafer locations with different examination settings.
By way of non-limiting example, run-time examination can employ a two-step procedure, e.g. inspection of a specimen followed by review of sampled defects. During the inspection step, the surface of a specimen or a part thereof (e.g. areas of interest, hot spots, etc.) is typically scanned at relatively high-speed and/or low-resolution. The captured inspection image is analyzed in order to detect defects and obtain locations and other inspection attributes thereof. At the review step the images of at least part of defects detected during the inspection phase are, typically, captured at relatively low speed and/or high-resolution, thereby enabling classification and, optionally, other analyses of at least part of defects. In some cases both phases can be implemented by the same inspection tool, and, in some other cases, these two phases are implemented by different inspection tools.
Most often, the goal of examination is to provide high sensitivity to defects of interest while suppressing detection of nuisance and noise on the wafer. There is a need in the art for improving the sensitivity of defect detection.
General Description
In accordance with certain aspects of the presently disclosed subject matter, there is provided computerized system of capable of classifying defects in a specimen, the system comprising a processing and memory circuitry (PMC) configured to: obtain one or more defect clusters detected on a defect map of the specimen, each given defect cluster characterized by a respective set of cluster attributes comprising one or more spatial attributes, wherein the one or more spatial attributes include spatial density indicative of density of defects in one or more regions on the defect map accommodating the given defect cluster, and each given defect cluster is detected at least based on the spatial density thereof meeting a density criterion; for each given defect cluster, apply a cluster classifier to a respective set of cluster attributes thereof to associate the given defect cluster with one or more labels of a predefined set of labels, wherein the cluster classifier is trained using cluster training data comprising a plurality of pre-labelled defect clusters and cluster attributes thereof; and identify DOI in each given defect cluster by performing a defect filtration for each given defect cluster using one or more filtering parameters, wherein the one or more filtering parameters are specified in accordance with the label of the given defect cluster.
In addition to the above features, the system according to this aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter can comprise one or more of features (i) to (xii) listed below, in any desired combination or permutation which is technically possible:                (i). The defect map can comprise non-clustered defects, and the PMC can be further configured to identify DOI in the non-clustered defects by performing a defect filtration for the non-clustered defects using one or more filtering parameters, and combine the identified DOI in each given defect cluster and the identified DOI in the non-clustered defects to provide an overall DOI information of the specimen.        (ii). The one or more spatial attributes can be selected from a group comprising spatial density, area, defect count, shape, and aspect ratio of the one or more regions on the defect map accommodating the given defect cluster.        (iii). The set of cluster attributes can further comprise a filter rate related attribute.        (iv). The filter rate related attribute can be a cluster filter rate indicative of the number of defects filtered out when applying a defect filter in a given defect cluster as relative to the total number of defects in the given defect cluster. The defect filter can be trained using defect training data comprising a plurality of pre-classified defects and defect attributes thereof.        (v). The criterion can be specified differently for defect clusters with different spatial characterizations.        (vi). Each label can be indicative of a given defect cluster class. The given defect cluster class can at least represent that a defect cluster classified thereto comprises an expected percentage of a specific category of defects or a type of defects in a specific category that meets classification criterion of the given defect cluster class. The specific category can be selected from a group constituted of Defects of Interest (DoI) and nuisance.        (vii). The predefined set of labels can comprise a first label and a second label. The first label can be indicative of a first class at least representing that a defect cluster classified thereto comprises an expected percentage of DOI that meets a first class classification criterion, and the second label can be indicative of a second class at least representing that a defect cluster classified thereto comprises an expected percentage of nuisance that meets a second class classification criterion.        (viii). The one or more filtering parameters can comprise a working point.        (ix). The defect filtration for the non-clustered defects can be performed using a defect filter with a training working point. The defect filter can be trained in a training process based on defect training data comprising a plurality of pre-classified defects and defect attributes thereof. The training working point is a working point selected to be used in the training process.        (x). The working point specified in accordance with the label of a given defect cluster can be selected as relative to the training working point based on a classification sensitivity corresponding to the label.        (xi). The predefined set of labels can comprise a first label and a second label. The first label can be indicative of a first class at least representing that a defect cluster classified thereto comprises an expected percentage of DOI that meets a first class classification criterion, and the second label can be indicative of a second class at least representing that a defect cluster classified thereto comprises an expected percentage of nuisance that meets a second class classification criterion.                    The working point specified in accordance with the first label can be selected as a sensitive working point as relative to the training working point, and the working point specified in accordance with the second label can be selected as an aggressive working point as relative to the training working point.                        (xii). The system can further comprise an examination tool configured to examine the specimen and obtain the defect map thereof.
In accordance with another aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter, there is provided a computerized method of classifying defects in a specimen, the method comprising: obtaining, by an I/O interface, one or more defect clusters detected on a defect map of the specimen, each given defect cluster characterized by a respective set of cluster attributes comprising one or more spatial attributes, wherein the one or more spatial attributes include spatial density indicative of density of defects in one or more regions on the defect map accommodating the given defect cluster, and each given defect cluster is detected at least based on the spatial density thereof meeting a density criterion; for each given defect cluster, applying, by a processing and memory circuitry (PMC) operatively connected to the I/O interface, a cluster classifier to a respective set of cluster attributes thereof to associate the given defect cluster with one or more labels of a predefined set of labels, wherein the cluster classifier is trained using cluster training data comprising a plurality of pre-labelled defect clusters and cluster attributes thereof; and identifying, by the PMC, DOI in each given defect cluster by performing a defect filtration for each given defect cluster using one or more filtering parameters, wherein the one or more filtering parameters are specified in accordance with the label of the given defect cluster.
This aspect of the disclosed subject matter can comprise one or more of features (i) to (xii) listed above with respect to the system, mutatis mutandis, in any desired combination or permutation which is technically possible.
In accordance with another aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly embodying a program of instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of method of classifying defects in a specimen, the method comprising: obtaining one or more defect clusters detected on a defect map of the specimen, each given defect cluster characterized by a respective set of cluster attributes comprising one or more spatial attributes, wherein the one or more spatial attributes include spatial density indicative of density of defects in one or more regions on the defect map accommodating the given defect cluster, and each given defect cluster is detected at least based on the spatial density thereof meeting a density criterion; for each given defect cluster, applying a cluster classifier to a respective set of cluster attributes thereof to associate the given defect cluster with one or more labels of a predefined set of labels, wherein the cluster classifier is trained using cluster training data comprising a plurality of pre-labelled defect clusters and cluster attributes thereof; and identifying DOI in each given defect cluster by performing a defect filtration for each given defect cluster using one or more filtering parameters, wherein the one or more filtering parameters are specified in accordance with the label of the given defect cluster.
This aspect of the disclosed subject matter can comprise one or more of features (i) to (xii) listed above with respect to the system, mutatis mutandis, in any desired combination or permutation which is technically possible.

Method of defect classification and system thereof


A system and method for suggesting love interests and friendships based on inferred information to users within a social network is disclosed. Data is retrieved from a database. The database includes data from users that achieved relationships. The data also includes a list of each user's connections, the user's activities on the social network and the user's interests. The data is input into a network and the network is trained to predict a likelihood of a successful connection. Data from unconnected users is retrieved and put into the trained network to predict a possible relationship. A connection suggestion is sent to the two unconnected users.

Social networks are becoming an increasingly popular way for people to stay connected and develop new friendships. This increasing popularity of social networks has given rise to many social network services that have developed various ways users of the social network can communicate and stay connected. Users within a social network can send each other messages, monitor other users' activities on a daily basis, share interests and discuss common topics. Social networking services have provided a great forum for users to remain in close contact despite geographic distance or uncoordinated schedules.
Some social networking services attempt to provide the ability to make new connections based on existing connections and mutual connections. For example, if two users are connected to the same person, a suggestion might be sent to the two users to connect with each other. The suggestions sent to the users in this example are the result of a direct comparison of the users' social graphs. Thus, if two users have a common friend (or many common friends) then perhaps those two users know each other or would like to know each other.
Other social networking services attempt to provide the ability to make new connections by connecting users who have similar interests. For example, on-line dating and match-making services provide ways for users to connect with each other based on common and/or similar interests. For example, if one person likes horseback riding and going to the movies, they may be interested in meeting another person who also likes horseback riding a going to the movies. In this example, connection suggestions are the result of a comparison of the explicitly declared interests input by users.
Existing social network services therefore provide ways users can connect with each other through a comparison of users' social graphs (connections) or users' information. However, absent the mutual connection or common interests correlations mentioned above, two users who might end up forming a successful connection may never be connected.

Predicting likelihood of a successful connection between unconnected users within a social network using a learning network


A switchable anti-peeping device and a manufacturing method thereof, and a display device are provided. The switchable anti-peeping device, including a first substrate and a second substrate provided opposed to each other and a light control layer therebetween, wherein the first substrate includes a first base substrate, and a first light orientation layer and a first electrode layer which are provided on the first base substrate, and the second substrate includes a second base substrate, and a second electrode layer provided on the second base substrate, and the first light orientation layer defines an angle of emergence of light passing through the first light orientation layer, and the light control layer is capable of switching between a transparent state and a scattering state. The switchable anti-peeping device can achieve switching between a wide viewing angle and a narrow viewing angle, thereby meeting real-time requirements of people in different situations.

A typical anti-peeping technology includes a glasses type and a naked eye type, the anti-peeping technology of the glasses type performs separation protection of confidential information by an auxiliary external device, and the anti-peeping technology of the naked eye type achieves anti-peeping by controlling an angle of incident light which is incident on a display panel.
However, a technology for achieving switching between anti-peeping and normal display is relatively rare; by using a directional backlight technology, switching between a wide viewing angle and a narrow viewing angle can be achieved, but this technology poses an extremely high requirement on fabrication of a light guide plate and a light source, and it is difficult for an ordinary backlight manufacturer to meet a design requirement. The light source includes, for example, an organic light emitting diode (LED) lighting bar. However, with an anti-peeping film, only anti-peeping display can be achieved, and anti-peeping switching can be achieved by combining with other auxiliary device, but costs of the anti-peeping film and the auxiliary device are both high, and there is greater difficulty for mass production.

Display device comprising switchable anti-peeping device with light orientation layer


Provided is a focus unit fastening device for a projector, in which a plurality of fastening portions for coupling a focus unit to the projector by pushing and inserting the focus unit into the projector are formed integrally with a main body housing and the focus unit. The focus unit fastening device includes a projector main body housing, a focus unit engaged to the main body housing, a first fastening portion provided on the main body housing and the focus unit to fasten the focus unit to the main body housing by pushing the focus unit in a first direction and to prevent the focus unit from moving in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and a second fastening portion provided on the main body housing and the focus unit to fasten the focus unit to the main body housing by pushing the focus unit in the first direction and to prevent the focus unit from moving in the first direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a focus unit fastening device for a projector, and particularly, to such a focus unit fastening device in which a plurality of fastening portions for coupling a focus unit to the projector in such a manner as to push and insert the focus unit into the projector, are formed integrally with a main body housing and the focus unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a "projector" refers to a device that forms an image on a display device, passes light generated from a light source through the display device, and projects the passed light onto an external screen, thereby showing the image on the screen.
Recently, the projector has been miniaturized for mounting and use on a portable terminal.
A portable terminal equipped with a projector is disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-810260 granted on Feb. 27, 2008 and titled "Portable Terminal with Projector", and Korean Patent Registration No. 10-735422 granted on Jun. 27, 2007 and titled "Image Offset Controlling Apparatus for Liquid Crystal Display Projector and Mobile Phone Therewith", both of which are assigned to the present assignee and are incorporated herein by reference.
As shown in FIG. 1, a miniaturized projector 1 includes a main body 2, an image projecting window 3 provided on a side of the main body 2, a lens assembly 4 installed in a position corresponding to the window 3, and a focus unit 7 provided on another side of the main body 2 to adjust the focus of a screen by the lens assembly 4.
The focus unit 7 is engaged to the main body 2 of the projector 1 by using a plurality of screws 5.
As shown in FIG. 1, the plurality of screws 5 is required to engage the focus unit 7 to the main body 2 of the projector 1. An engaging area 8 for the plurality of screws 5 must be provided on the main body 2 of the projector 1, thereby increasing the width of the focus unit 7, the screw-engaging space of the projector 1, the overall size and thickness of the projector, and the number of parts and thus the manufacturing cost of the product. Moreover, the value of the product is decreased due to an increase in the number of assembly processes required to make the product.
The engaging area 8 formed by injection on the main body 2 of the projector 1 and an injection-molded portion of the projector 1 may be easily damaged by impact generated due to droppage of the projector 1.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device for engaging a focus unit to a projector by pushing and inserting the focus unit into the projector, instead of by using a plurality of screws.

Focus unit fastening device for projector


A device for smoothing out and pressing together the free projecting end extending over the filling material of filled sacks, said sacks comprising side walls which are inwardly folded and there being two movable pairs of fingers engaging in the sack in the plane of the opened sack or a plane being parallel to said plane as well as a plane being lateral to said plane, whereby said fingers of each of said pair of fingers are arranged at a distance in the transverse direction of the sack opening and two rods or knives are arranged, said rods or knives being movable against each other and are extendable from the outer side of the sack between the fingers of each pair of fingers engaging in the sack, and, if necessary, on both sides of a closable loading funnel of a sack filling station. In order to secure a perfect smoothing out of possible folds in the projecting end of the sack, it is intended that the fingers of each pair of fingers engaging in the sack are arranged eccentrically on disks rotatable against each other.

(1) Field of the invention
The invention refers to a device for smoothing out and pressing together the free projecting end extending over the filling material of filled sacks, said sacks comprising side walls which are inwardly folded and there being two movable pairs of fingers engaging in the sack in the plane of the opened sack or a plane being parallel to said plane as well as a plane being lateral to said plane, whereby said fingers of each of said pair of fingers are arranged at a distance in the transverse direction of the sack opening and two rods or knives are arranged, said rods or knives being movable against each other and are extendable from the outer side of the sack between the fingers of each pair of fingers engaging in the sack, and, if necessary, on both sides of a closable loading funnel of a sack filling station.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In presently known inventions the fingers of each pair of fingers, after engaging in the sack, are moved against the wall of the sack together, whereby both pairs of fingers are moved in directions running oppositely one to each other. Thus an extension of the projecting end of the filled sack occurs, whereinafter the knives are moved through the fingers causing the inward fold in both side walls to be produced.
Here, however, the disadvantage arises that the fingers of each pair of fingers in the transverse direction of the sack opening or in the direction of the side walls of the sack are arranged too closely to each other in order to ensure sufficiently strong folds in the side walls in the projecting end of the sack. Thus it can happen that a fold in the area extending into the folded side walls, in particular where wider sacks are concerned, is not smoothed out properly and during the subsequent pressing together of the front and back side of the projecting end of the sack crushing folds might occur, which cause considerable problems when closing the sacks, especially when the sacks are sown or sealed.

Device for smoothing out and pressing together the free projecting end extending over the filling material of filled sacks


A counterbalancing assembly and a non-vertically hinged door assembly incorporating the same include a first pair of torque rods directly connected between the door and a frame which produce a partial counterbalancing torque. A second pair of torque rods acting through cams produce an augmenting counterbalancing torque such that the sum of the partial and augmenting torques fully counterbalance the door throughout its arc of motion.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to non-vertically hinged doors and associated counterbalancing mechanisms. More particularly, it relates to counterbalancing mechanisms which substantially exactly counterbalance the weight of the door at all angles throughout its arc of motion.
2. Description of Related Art
There are numerous applications in which a door is mounted with a non-vertical hinge line and requires counterbalancing. Such applications include, among others, hatch covers for roof openings, flush mounted sidewalk doors, and exterior basement entrance doors.
Doors for use in these applications are often made of metal, for strength and durability and, accordingly, can be quite heavy. Counterbalancing allows the door to be opened and closed more easily, and improves safety by reducing the tendency of the door to close rapidly and with great force when released.
Typically, partial counterbalancing has been derived from one or more torque rods, springs, gas cylinders or weights. Torque rods have been particularly widely used because they provide a counterbalancing torque as a result of the rotation of one end of the rod relative to the other. Thus, the opposite ends of the torque rod may be connected to the door and the door frame, respectively, to provide a simple, but reliable, counterbalancing mechanism. Through appropriate selection of the torque rod diameter and length, a variety of doors of different weights and sizes may be approximately counterbalanced with this direct connection method.
Torque rods also have the advantage that their long, thin shape can be positioned out of the way behind, or within the thickness of the door frame, producing a door assembly that takes the minimum space when held in inventory and is easy to transport through the distribution chain. Moreover, torque rods are extremely rugged and reliable, an important consideration in doors which are often used for exterior access or in exposed locations.
However, a torque rod counterbalancing design using the simple direct connection between door and frame does not provide perfect counterbalancing. This is because a torque rod provides a counterbalancing torque which, in the usual operating range, is linearly proportional to the amount of rotation or twist applied to it. In contrast, a non-vertically hinged door requires a counterbalancing torque which is non-linearly related to the opening angle of the door. The weight of the door unsupported by a non-vertical hinge line increases as a sinusoidal function of the opening angle.
As a result, counterbalancing systems using torque rods directly connected between the door and the frame only provide exact counterbalancing for the door at two different opening angles of the door. These angles may be found on a graph of torque (measured at the hinge line) versus opening angle (zero degrees equals closed) where the line of torque rod generated counterbalancing torque intersects the cosine curve of the torque due to the unsupported weight of the door. For a horizontally hinged door, the entire weight of the door is unsupported by the hinge when the door is just being opened, and all the weight is supported by the hinge as it reaches the fully open, ninety degree, position.
While the specific two opening angles where the door is exactly counterbalanced in a linear counterbalancing system are under the designer's control, they have usually been selected to be at approximately the fully open and fully closed positions. At the fully open position no counterbalancing torque is required, and the torque rod is not twisted. At the fully closed position, the torque rod is adjusted to provide the exact counterbalance torque required for the full weight of the door. Unfortunately, except at these two angles, the door is insufficiently counterbalanced and may begin to move if released.
In addressing this deficiency, subsequent designs for counterbalancing systems have used a cam system with single or multiple torque rods to nearly exactly counterbalance the door throughout its range of motion. In these designs, the torque rod is not directly connected between the door and the frame, but instead acts through a cam which modifies the linear torque produced by the torque rod to match the sinusoidal torque needed to balance the weight of the door. Doors with counterbalancing mechanisms of the cam-based type are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,873,791 and 5,136,811.
In such cam-based designs, the entire counterbalancing force for the door is applied through the cam mechanism. The present invention, however, uses a hybrid direct connection/cam based design. A portion of the counterbalancing torque is produced by one or more torque rods directly connected between the door and the door frame, and the remainder of the counterbalancing torque (the "augmenting" torque), as needed to provide nearly exact sinusoidal counterbalancing, is applied by one or more additional torque rods through a cam system.
By applying the majority of the counterbalancing torque with the directly connected torque rod, less force passes through the cam system, which reduces friction and wear as compared to earlier designs. Another advantage lies in the flexibility of the choices available in a hybrid direct connection/cam based torque rod design. Because torque rods are often available only in standard diameters, it may be difficult to match the counterbalance requirements of some doors. With the hybrid design, differently sized torque rods may be combined to optimally match the counterbalancing requirements of a wide variety of doors.
Yet another advantage lies in the fact that the augmenting torque rod counterbalancing system may be provided as a factory installed option to a door also sold with only direct torque rod counterbalancing, or it may be used as an add on field installed accessory for an existing directly counterbalanced door.
Bearing in mind the above, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved counterbalanced door and counterbalancing assembly in which the counterbalancing is performed in part by a counterbalancing mechanism producing linear counterbalancing and in part by an augmenting counterbalancing mechanism to counterbalance the door throughout its arc of motion.

Door assembly with augmented counterbalancing


In one or more embodiments, two or more devices may interface with a computing system over multiple communication channels. A connection may be established between a computing system and two or more devices communicating data using different communication protocols. The communication protocol of the two or more devices may be determined and a general transport protocol for communicating data with the two or more devices based on the respective communication protocols may be imposed on the communication protocol of the two or more devices. Data may be communicated with the two or more devices based on the general transport protocol. An event may be performed at the vehicle computing system or the two or more devices based on the data.

1. Technical Field
One or more embodiments relate to an interface for communicating data between a number of devices and a vehicle computing system. The number of devices may communicate data over different communication protocols. In some embodiments, the number of devices may be wired or wireless devices.
2. Background Art
Various examples of tools exist in the art for facilitating communication between multiple terminals over a communication network.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,602,782 issued to Doviak et al. discloses an apparatus and method for intelligent routing of data between a remote device and a host system. More specifically, Doviak et al. provides for transparent communication between a remote or mobile device and a fixed communication host network. A remote network controller that logically resides between the host network and the existing infrastructure(s) are used to provide communications network contact with one or more remote devices. The remote network controller is connected to the host communication network as a protocol-appropriate communications controller so that remote devices are indistinguishable to the host network from the locally-attached devices. Each remote device may be provided with an asynchronous serial data interface to communicate with a mobile data controller. The mobile data controller, in combination with the remote network controller, provides end-to-end data communication such that incompatible protocols are transparent to the remote device and host communication network. A router may be provided which selects a communications network in accordance with user configured parameters. The router communicates over a plurality of incompatible networks and is capable of using a variety of different protocols. Switching between the plurality of incompatible networks is transparent to the remote device and host communication network.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0150197 to Werner discloses a connection of clients for management of system. Werner discloses generating an instance of a program object for a client system, the client system being of a computer platform type, the program object being compatible with a plurality of different computer platform types. Werner further discloses connecting the instance of the program object with an interface of a server and managing an application on the server using the instance of the program object.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0156315 to Wood et al. discloses a method, computer-readable medium and apparatus for providing a graphical user interface in a client-server environment. Wood et al. specifically discloses a client program in a client/server relationship that receives commands creating a specific implementation of graphical user interface components and receives any data to be displayed in the interface components from the server program. As the end user interacts with the client, the client returns events and data to the server for processing. The commands and events constitute a protocol, published via an API. The transmission of commands events between the client and server is accomplished without linking the programs. The specific GUI implementation is specified by the server application and revealed to the client only at run time.

Methods and systems for interfacing with a vehicle computing system over multiple data transport channels


An ignition timing control system for an internal combustion engine, for controlling an ignition timing of the engine, is provided. A charging efficiency of the engine is calculated according to the intake air flow rate and the engine rotational speed which are detected, and a knock limit ignition timing is calculated according to the engine rotational speed and the charging efficiency. A knock correction value is calculated according to the knocking detection result by a knock sensor, and a learning parameter table, in which first and second learning parameters are set, is updated based on the engine rotational speed and the knock correction value when the knocking is detected. The learning parameter table is retrieved according to the engine rotational speed, to calculate the first and second learning parameters. Each-cylinder correction values are calculated corresponding respectively to a plurality of cylinders of the engine using the charging efficiency, the first learning parameter, and the second learning parameter and the ignition timing of the engine is controlled using the knock limit ignition timing and the each-cylinder correction value.

Patent Document 1 (shown below) discloses a control system which performs an engine control using the charging efficiency of the engine as a parameter indicative of the engine load. According to this control system, an engine control parameter, for example, a basic ignition timing is calculated by retrieving a map according to the engine rotational speed and the charging efficiency, and the basic ignition timing is corrected in the transient operating condition of the engine to perform the ignition timing control.

Ignition timing control system for internal combustion engine


A gel electrolyte battery in which adhesion between a layer of an active material of an electrode and a gel electrolyte is raised to provide for sufficient mobility of lithium ions, and a method for the preparation of the gel electrolyte battery. The gel electrolyte battery is comprised of a battery device accommodated in an exterior material of a laminated film and sealed in it on heat fusion. The method for the preparation of the gel electrolyte battery includes a battery device preparation step of layering a positive electrode and a negative electrode via a gel electrolyte to form the battery device, an accommodating step of accommodating the battery device from the battery device preparation step in the laminated film, and a heating step of heating the battery device, accommodated in the laminated film in the accommodating step, under a pressured state.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a gel electrolyte battery having a gel electrolyte.
2. Description of Related Art
As a power source for a portable electronic equipment, such as a portable telephone set, a video camera or a notebook personal computer, the importance attached to batteries is increasing. For reducing the size and weight of the electronic equipment, such a battery is desired which not only is of a large capacity but also is lightweight and space-saving. Viewed in this light, a lithium battery, having a high energy density and high output density, is suited very much. A lithium battery, employing a carbon material as a negative electrode material, has an average discharge voltage of not lower than 3.7 V and undergoes lesser cyclic deterioration during charging/discharging, so that it has a merit that a high energy density can readily be realized.
The lithium battery is desired to exhibit flexibility and shape freedom, and lithium batteries of various shapes, such as a sheet battery of thin thickness and large area, or a card battery of a thin thickness and a small area, are also desired. However, in the conventional technique of enclosing a battery device comprised of positive and negative electrodes and an electrolytic solution within an exterior metallic can, it is difficult to fabricate batteries of variable shapes such as those depicted above. Moreover, the use of the electrolytic solution tends to complicate the manufacturing process or renders it necessary to provide leakage-resistant means.
For overcoming the above-mentioned problems, such battery is being envisaged which uses a solid electrolyte employing an electrically conductive organic high polymer material or organic ceramics, or a gelated solid electrolyte having an electrolytic solution impregnated into a matrix polymer, referred to below as a gel electrolyte. With the solid electrolyte battery, employing the solid electrolyte, or with the gel electrolyte battery, employing the gel electrolyte, in which the electrolyte is immobilized, it is possible to fabricate the battery using a film-shaped exterior material to a reduced thickness, thus providing a higher energy density than is possible with the conventional battery.
However, the gel electrolyte battery has a deficiency that, since the electrolytic solution is held in the matrix polymer, the electrolytic solution cannot sufficiently seep into the layer of the active materials of the electrodes. As a result, lithium ions cannot be migrated sufficiently across the electrodes, with the result that a desired battery capacity cannot be achieved.
Moreover, in a gel electrolyte battery, the solvent in the gel electrolyte tends to be decomposed at the time of activation charging to evolve gases, with the result that local gaps are produced between the layer of the active material and the gel electrolyte to impair the adhesion between the layers of the active materials of the electrodes and the gel electrolyte. If such gap is produced between the layer of the active material and the gel electrolyte, the battery in storage is deteriorated appreciably in battery voltage to prove a reject to lower the production yield. Moreover, lithium ion migration across the electrodes is retarded to render it extremely difficult to realize the desired battery capacity.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for the preparation of a non-aqueous electrolyte battery in which adhesion between the layers of the active materials of the electrodes and the gel electrolyte is improved and kept to prevent voltage troubles from occurring to improve the production yield to enable the fabrication of a non-aqueous electrolyte battery having a high battery capacity.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a method for preparation of a gel electrolyte battery in which a battery device is accommodated in an exterior material of a laminated film and sealed therein by heat fusion, in which the method includes a battery device preparation step of layering a positive electrode and a negative electrode via a gel electrolyte to form the battery device, an accommodating step of accommodating the battery device from the battery device preparation step in the laminated film and a heating step of heating the battery device, accommodated in the laminated film in the accommodating step, under a pressured state.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for preparation of a gel electrolyte battery in which a battery device is accommodated in an exterior material of a laminated film and sealed therein by heat fusion, in which the method includes a battery device preparation step of layering a positive electrode and a negative electrode via a gel electrolyte to form the battery device, an accommodating step of accommodating the battery device from the battery device preparation step in the laminated film, a charging step of charging the battery device accommodated in the laminated film in the accommodating step, a discharging step of discharging the battery device following the charging step and a heating step of heating the battery device from the discharging step under a pressured state.
According to the present invention, the seeping of a gel electrolyte into the electrode is accelerated by applying pressuring and heating to a battery device provided with the gel electrolyte. Since the pressuring and heating are applied to the battery device, the adhesion between the gel electrolyte layer and a layer of the active material of the electrode is restored to improve the production yield, even if a gap is produced between the layer of the active material of the electrode and the gel electrolyte due to gases evolved in activation charging. As a result, the adhesion between the layer of the active material of the electrode and the gel electrolyte is improved to provide a gel electrolyte battery having a high capacity and superior charging/discharging characteristics and operational reliability.