A method of enhancing a digital image that was transmitted with a reduced amount of digital data representing the digital image in which the differences between pixels in the digital image before compression are compared to corresponding pixels in a compressed version of the digital image and in which a statistical distribution of the differences is evaluated to determine which of the differences should be corrected. A receiver identifies portions of a received digital image that are to be enhanced, and a transmitter forms an error image for the identified portions. The amount of digital data in the error image may be reduced by selecting for transmission parts of the error image in which the amount of digital data that is needed to enhance the received digital image is less than a predetermined number of bits, the predetermined number of bits being selected from the distribution of the differences so as to enhance at least a predetermined percentage of the received digital image. Portions of the received image may be enhanced to have zero image loss.

The present invention relates generally to digital data processing and transmission techniques, and particularly to methods for transmitting digital video images.
Systems for transmitting video images by means of electrical or electromagnetic signals are known, and discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,128,776 and 5,426,513 that are assigned to the assignee hereof and incorporated by reference.
A video image to be transmitted is typically divided into an array of picture elements or pixels. Each pixel represents the video image at one small point of the pixel array. In some systems, a pixel may be represented by a single digital bit, either a zero or a one, indicating either the presence or absence of white in the portion of the image represented by the pixel. In more sophisticated systems, each pixel is represented by plural digital bits which permit each pixel to have more than binary values of zero and one. For example, if four bits are used to represent a pixel then the pixel may have up to sixteen different values, generally ranging from white to black. Finally, in color systems, each pixel may be represented by three sets of plural digital bits, each of the plural digital bits of a set representing the amount of one of the primary colors (red, blue or green) present at the portion of the visual image represented by the pixel. Such a scheme is often utilized in digitizing television images.
A standard broadcast color television picture may be adequately digitized into an image 768 pixels wide and 488 pixels high with each pixel having a depth of 24 bits (8 bits each of red, blue and green). Each screen image then contains approximately 375,000 pixels or approximately 9 million bits of digital data. While such large amounts of data can readily be sent by large bandwidth transmission and receiving equipment, it is often desired to send such digital video images by less expensive and more readily available low speed equipment such as HF (high frequency) radio and telephone voice lines. Such low speed devices typically operate at anywhere from 1200 to 9600 bits per second. If a single digital television image is sent via such a low speed transmission link, for example, a 2400 bps link, approximately 65 minutes would be needed to send a single image. In a tactical military situation, a transmission of such duration is usually desired to be avoided as such a long duration transmission could readily be detected and jammed.
While visual images in the form of television signals may be transmitted quite accurately by VHF equipment, VHF transmissions are generally limited to the line of sight between the transmitter and the receiver. Consequently, it is often desired to send television and other video image signals at other than VHF frequencies. For example, the use of HF signal carriers often permits worldwide communication between transmitter and receiver as the HF signal can be bounced or reflected off the ionosphere and back to earth. However, conventional HF systems do not have sufficient bandwidth to send real time television signals.
Many of the known video image transmission systems transmit an entire screen of data. Often, however, only certain portions of the screen are of interest and some portions of the image may be more important than others. One known system transmits an image and increases image detail as a user zooms in on an area of interest, although the system is not practical for relatively slow data rate transmission systems. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,520 to Inga, et al.
Moreover, selective enhancement techniques of the prior art are relatively fixed in that the operators have little opportunity to determine how the image is to be enhanced after having selected the portions that are to be enhanced. It would, for example, be desirable to afford users with the opportunity to select an enhancement level that may be economically achieved. In some systems, important portions are retransmitted in their entirety, thereby replacing the previous, more compressed, data. To avoid transmission of a portion in its entirety, it is also known to remove some high frequency components, or to select certain, less important, portions of the image for more compression than other portions. However, these systems do not evaluate the differences between the original and the compressed images so that image enhancements may be economically provided. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,212 to Ligtenberg and U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,548 to Wilson, et al.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method of enhancing a compressed digital image that obviates the problems of the prior art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel method of enhancing a digital image that was transmitted with a reduced amount of digital data in which differences between pixels in the uncompressed and the compressed digital image are compared and a statistical distribution of the differences is evaluated to determine which of the differences may be corrected to enhance the digital image more efficiently.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel method for enhancing a received digital image in which a receiver identifies portions of the digital image that are to be enhanced, in which a transmitter forms an error image for the identified portions, and in which the amount of digital data in the error image is reduced by selecting for transmission parts of the error image in which the amount of digital data that is needed to enhance the received digital image is less than a predetermined amount.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel method of transmitting a digital image that is selectively enhanced in which amount of digital data to be transmitted to enhance the image is selected for transmission based on the pixel-by-pixel differences between pixels in selected portions of the received image and the corresponding pixels in the uncompressed image, and in which at least a predetermined percentage of the pixels are corrected.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel method of enhancing a digital image that was transmitted with a reduced amount of digital data in which differences between pixels in the uncompressed and the compressed digital image may be reduced to zero in selected portions of the image.


An object of the present invention is to provide ferrite particles having a high magnetic permeability in a frequency band of 1 MHz to 1 GHz. Another object is to provide a resin composition containing the ferrite particles and an electromagnetic wave shielding material composed of the resin composition. The ferrite particles are composed of a single crystalline body having an average particle size of 1 to 2000 nm and has a spherical particle shape, wherein the ferrite particles contain substantially no Zn, 3 to 25 wt % of Mn, and 43 to 65 wt % of Fe, and a real part μ′ of a complex magnetic permeability measured using a molding composed of the ferrite particles and a binder resin has a maximal value in a frequency band of 100 MHz to 1 GHz.

It has been conventionally known that ferrite particles are sintered to make a sintered compact for use in a magnetic core material, an electromagnetic wave shielding material or the like (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1).
As an electromagnetic wave shielding material using ferrite particles, a resin composition containing ferrite particles formed into a sheet form is considered. Through attachment of an electromagnetic wave shielding material in a sheet form to digital electronic devices such as personal computers and mobile phones that require shielding of electromagnetic waves, leakage of electromagnetic waves to the outside of the electronic devices, mutual interference of electromagnetic waves between internal circuits of an electronic device, and malfunction of the electronic devices due to external electromagnetic waves can be prevented.
It is desired for ferrite particles to be able to shield electromagnetic waves in a wide frequency band for used an electromagnetic wave shielding material for electronic devices. However, no specific numerical values for electromagnetic wave shielding performance are shown at all in Patent Literature 1.
On the other hand, in Patent Literature 2, ferrite particles composed of a single crystalline body having an average particle size of 0.3 μm to 1 μm and having an octahedral particle structure are disclosed, and ferrite particles containing Fe, Mn and Zn are shown. The magnetic permeability measured using a compressed molding composed of a mixture of the ferrite particles disclosed in Patent Literature 2, alkali borosilicate glass powder and polyvinyl alcohol is 1000 or more at a frequency of 1 MHz. However, no electromagnetic wave shielding performance in a frequency band higher than 1 MHz is shown at all in Patent Literature 2.
Further, in Patent Literature 3, ferrite particles composed of a single crystalline body having an average particle size of 0.1 μm to 30 μm and having a spherical particle shape (including polyhedrons similar to a sphere) are disclosed, and ferrite particles containing Fe, Mn and Zn and ferrite particles containing Fe, Ni and Zn are shown. The ferrite particles containing Fe, Mn and Zn disclosed in Patent Literature 3 have, when a relative magnetic permeability μ′ (hereinafter referred to as "real part of a complex magnetic permeability μ′") is measured using a compressed molding obtained by adding 10 wt % of water, a real part of a complex magnetic permeability μ′ of 32 to 60 in a frequency band of 1 MHz to 450 MHz, while a real part μ′ of 0 in a frequency band of 550 MHz to 1 GHz. As a result, an electromagnetic wave shielding material made from the ferrite particles according to Patent Literature 3 has a problem of incapability of shielding electromagnetic waves in a frequency band of 550 MHz to 1 GHz.

Ferrite particles, resin compositions and electromagnetic wave shielding material


An automated plant watering device and method of watering for use with any existing planter 20 wherein a digital timer 12 is used to set the days, times and duration of watering for the associated plant 14. The water 26 is transferred from a reservoir 18 to the soil in the planter 20 via a small submersible pump 28 disposed within the reservoir. A sensor 16 disposed within the reservoir 18 detects a low water condition and activates a visual 34 and/or audible 36 alarm to alert the user that the reservoir needs to be refilled. An auxiliary reservoir 38 may be used to feed the primary reservoir 18 via a siphon hose 42 when the caretaker anticipates being absent for a prolonged period and would be unable to refill the reservoir when needed. An additional element of the present invention includes an aerator 40 that will emit a fine mist to the leaves of the plant during the winter months. An additional element of the present invention is a splitter 45 to water multiple planters.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to watering devices and, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for watering houseplants wherein a digital timer and a pump are used to transfer water from a remoter reservoir to the soil in a planter in which a houseplant resides. The timer sets the time and duration for watering as well as on what days watering is to take place.
Caring for houseplants requires a specific watering schedule that varies from plant to plant. Some plants need to be watered each day and others only need water a few times a week thereby requiring the caretaker of the plant to pay attention to multiple schedules when a plurality of plants are being taken care of since overwatering or underwatering houseplants puts the health of the plants at risk and could kill them. Furthermore, the absence of the caretaker for any duration requires having someone else care for the plants and hope that they are diligent regarding the watering schedule for each plant. The health of the plants is important because they bring beauty to the area they are in, enhance the quality of the air, are the result of nurturing over a period of time and are often quite expensive to purchase.
The present invention seeks to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art by introducing an automated plant watering device and method of watering for use with any existing planter wherein a digital timer is used to set the days, times and duration of watering for the associated plant. The water is transferred from a reservoir to the soil in the planter via a small submersible pump disposed within the reservoir. A sensor disposed within said reservoir detects a low water condition and activates a visual and/or audible alarm to alert the user that the reservoir needs to be refilled. An auxiliary reservoir may be used to feed the primary reservoir via a siphon hose when the caretaker anticipates being absent for a prolonged period and would be unable to refill the reservoir when needed. A splitter may be used to water two planters simultaneously.
An additional element of the present invention includes an aerator that will emit a fine mist to the leaves of the plant during the winter months when plants most frequently die because of the low humidity in the air. The aerator will compensate for the lack of humidity and help provide year round plant care capabilities wherein the user only has to fill the reservoir when needed and add nutrients to the soil occasionally.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other watering devices designed for watering plants, while these watering devices may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.

Apparatus and method for watering a houseplant


Data captured with respect to a human may be analyzed and applied to a visual representation of a user such that the visual representation begins to reflect the behavioral characteristics of the user. For example, a system may have a capture device that captures data about the user in the physical space. The system may identify the user's characteristics, tendencies, voice patterns, behaviors, gestures, etc. Over time, the system may learn a user's tendencies and intelligently apply animations to the user's avatar such that the avatar behaves and responds in accordance with the identified behaviors of the user. The animations applied to the avatar may be animations selected from a library of pre-packaged animations, or the animations may be entered and recorded by the user into the avatar's avatar library.

Various applications will display a visual representation that corresponds to a user that the user can control through certain actions, such as selecting buttons on a remote or moving a controller in a certain manner. The visual representation is a computer representation that typically takes the form of a two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) model and is rendered in various applications, such as computer games, video games, chats, forums, communities, instant messaging services, and the like. The visual representation may be in the form of an avatar, a fanciful character, a cartoon image or animal, a cursor, a hand, or the like. Many computing applications such as computer games, multimedia applications, office applications, or the like provide a selection of predefined animated characters that may be selected for use in the application as the user's avatar. Typically, the animations performed by an avatar are selected from a library of animations. Users can choose for their avatars to perform specific animations from that library by pressing buttons or keys on a remote, for example.

Bringing a visual representation to life via learned input from the user


A system and method for simultaneous charging, tracking and monitoring one or more equipments, comprising actuating a coordinator using a management server for transmitting UHF radio waves; receiving the transmitted UHF radio waves by a receiver; converting the UHF radio waves into DC power by employing an energy harvesting IC for charging a battery pack of said equipment, and simultaneously activating an RFID tag for receiving one or more operational parameters related to said equipment by employing said one or more sensors and transmitting said received one or more operational parameters by using short range data communication protocol via said coordinator.

Radio Frequency Identification also referred to as RFID is a well known method for auto-identification and tracking of an equipment or device. Specifically in hospitals asset tracking & remote monitoring of medical devices is becoming need of the hour. Further, especially in case of surgical equipments where sealable enclosure is preferred for sterilization of the equipment, it is necessary to read back or monitor vital parameters of the device such as number of use committed (for a multi-use device) without accessing the enclosed equipment. Therefore, without any external connectors or displays the only feasible method to monitor such devices is through wireless technology such as RFID.
Asset tracking by means of auto-identification utilizes RFID technology wherein an RFID tag storing a unique identification number is attached to a device or asset that uniquely defines the asset. An RFID reader is enabled to wirelessly interrogate the RFID tag attached to an asset by using RF field. Such RF field is received by the RFID tag that transmits the unique identification number to the RFID reader. An RFID tag may be a passive RFID tag that does not require a battery or an active RFID tag that requires a battery power supply. RFID system also exist wherein the RFID tag can be used either/or in passive/active mode, such RFID tags have great utility in especially in sealed devices where no physical access to the tag is possible after sealing.
Another vital need today is monitoring of devices especially in hospitals. Monitoring a device or equipment means reading a plurality of device parameters such as sensory data that requires a two-way communication between a wireless interrogator or transceiver and the device. Such a two-way communication usually requires a large amount of power, thereby draining the device battery. Low-power/Low data rate communication protocols such as Short Range Data (SRD)/IEEE 802.15.4/Bluetooth low energy (BLE) and the like are generally recommended for a two-way communication. Utilizing a global communication standard leads to communication interoperability between equipments procured from different vendors.
Further, any device driven by rechargeable batteries requires charging at regular intervals of time. RFID technology enables contactless charging of rechargeable batteries. Such contactless charging is becoming useful for medical devices especially where surgical equipments have battery sealed in an enclosure to maintain/enhance sterilization of such equipments. Contactless charging carries a far lower risk of electric shock when compared with conductive charging, as there are no exposed conductors. In case of contactless charging, the power source necessary for generating the power required to charge batteries is derived from the principles of energy harvesting. One of the methods is by deriving a DC voltage-current directly from a radio field (RF/Wireless). A typical set up consists of a radio-frequency transmitter which radiates at a given high frequency and power level as applicable. The RF field may or may not be modulated. The radiated RF field is captured by a receiver antenna and forwarded to a charging circuit; such circuit converts the RF field directly to DC at a given voltage level e.g. 3.3V. Such DC power is used to recharge batteries using trickle charging method. Majority of reliable implementations till this point of time, use near-field methods like magnetic coupling, electrostatic coupling etc which are limited to short ranges only. Longer range wireless charging method is becoming promising at UHF/microwave range (high gain antennas) and increased sensitivity of the receiver module. Ability to charge batteries using wireless over longer ranges is very useful when the battery driven device is completely sealed and batteries cannot be replaced further and where application needs permit longer hours of battery charging e.g. over night hours.
Therefore the three major potential needs for sealed equipment such as a sealed medical device are sealed enclosure with integrated battery charger & battery pack requiring contactless transfer of charge, asset tracking of such equipments especially in hospital environment, remote monitoring as well as actuation of such equipments using a management server such as hospital management server. More value addition may be brought in if the sealed equipments contain appropriate sized memory block to store critical manufacture/service data related to the particular equipment and Sensory data which will be retained for a long time.
However, only a system integration approach using standard products for incorporating all the above stated features cannot help as the space inside an equipment is a severe constraint. Further, battery power usage and very high degree of reliability is mandatory. Therefore, there is a need to devise a method that uses minimum hardware footprint, space constraint, high power efficiency, battery usage primarily reserved for the device operation, minimum interference effects, low cost and interoperability etc.
In order to solve the above mentioned problems, the present application proposes a system and method that utilizes a combination of distinct methods operating at a single frequency specifically using radio wave propagation as the fundamental physical phenomenon in a unique way to serve the need with minimalistic hardware.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be explained in the following description of the invention having reference to the appended drawings.

System and method for simultaneous wireless charging, tracking and monitoring of equipments


A touch panel may include a substrate; a printing part formed on a bezel area of the substrate; and a plurality of electrodes provided on the substrate and the printing part and including conductive wires configuring a plurality of unit cells having a mesh shape. Portions of wires configuring each of the plurality of unit cells overlapped with a boundary line between the substrate and the printing part among the plurality of unit cells are disconnected.

The present disclosure relates to a touch panel.
Capacitive type touchscreens may include a plurality of electrodes having a predetermined pattern and defining a plurality of nodes in which changes in capacitance are generated by touch interactions. In the plurality of nodes distributed on a two-dimensional plane, a change in self-capacitance or a change in mutual-capacitance may be generated by a touch interaction. Coordinates of a touch interaction may be calculated by applying a weighted average method, or the like, to the changes in capacitance generated in the plurality of nodes.
In a touch panel, a sensing electrode recognizing a touch interaction may include indium tin oxide (ITO). However, indium is a rare earth metal which is relatively expensive and has accordingly low competitiveness in price. In addition, global indium reserves are expected to be severely depleted within the next decade, such that a stable supply thereof may not be possible.
Accordingly, a research for forming electrodes using opaque conductive wires has been conducted, wherein electrodes formed of the conductive wires have excellent electrical conductivity and may allow for currents to be smoothly supplied as compared with ITO or a conductive polymer.
In the case that such opaque conductive wires are used as electrodes for the touchscreens, the conductive wires are designed to have a fine line width and a regular pattern in order to prevent the conductive wires from being seen by users. However, since an aperture ratio of the electrode in a portion thereof adjacent to a bezel area of the touch panel is sharply reduced and regularity of the conductive wires is lost, the portion adjacent to the bezel area may be somewhat dark when viewed and the conductive wires in the portion may be able to be seen by the user.


Systems and methods are described that permit a user to configure an identification strategy at run time to facilitate user input of data. The identification strategy may include a parsing grammar and a search algorithm. The parsing grammar may be used to parse user input, and the search algorithm may be used to search a database for the user input. A configuring user may configure the parsing grammar at run time to accept data in a customized form to suit the user's input style. The search algorithm may be configured accordingly as well.

Computer user interface forms provide a method of entering data into a computer system. These predefined forms typically include various interface components, including fields where the user enters text. Because computers require rigid precision in the data that they process and humans are often limited in their ability to recall the precise input required, software designers implement facilities to assist users in filling in the precise data required. These facilities often receive user input, parse the input into a computer-understandable form, and perform a search in a database of valid input data for likely matches. Once a match is found, the user instructs the system to fill in the field with the match. For example, on many airline booking sites, the user enters text into free form fields. These fields may be the departure and destination airports for the flight search. These sites generally require a unique three-letter code to be entered for the airports. However, the form fields sometimes permit the user to enter the unique code, a city name, a city and state, or a point of interest. The system then searches allocated database(s) for any matches to the user input and presents the user with possible matching airports from which the user may select. Once the user makes a selection, the system fills in the data and submits the form with the selected airport codes.
A problem arises because users may enter data differently. Even a slight change in the form of the input may prevent the parser from parsing the free form input and hence prevent the system from matching the input. For example, one individual may enter a city and state as [city], [state] while another individual may enter [state]: [city]. If the latter format is not anticipated by the software developer, the system will be unable to parse the input. Therefore, systems and methods are desirable that permit a user to configure an input parser and search algorithm at run time to customize the way that data is input into the system.


Using a thin plate seed crystal 10 having a different material from a bulk crystal to be grown and having a great diameter, before crystal growth is started, a temperature in the lower portion of a solution 12s in which material is solved into a solvent (or a melt 12m) is set to a higher temperature than the upper portion to cause convection so that the surface of seed crystal 10 is rinsed by the convection by keeping in the state for a predetermined period. Then, the crystal growth is started by the Bridgman method or gradient freezing method. In this case, a temperature gradient may be provided on the surface of seed crystal 10 by inclining the seed crystal 10 such that nucleation of crystal growth is generated at a position whose temperature is lowest on the surface of seed crystal 10 upon the start of crystal growth, or a small concave or protrusion portion may be formed in advance on the surface of seed crystal 10 such that nucleation of crystal growth is generated at the small concave or protrusion portion. Thereby, a bulk single crystal of good quality can be manufactured with a high yield.

Conventionally, as a method of growing a compound semiconductor bulk single crystal are known the vertical Bridgman (VB) method in which a growth vessel (crucible) filled with a melt is gradually moved to grow a crystal in an upward or downward direction in relation to a heating furnace having a temperature gradient or a vertical gradient freezing (VGF) method in which a vertical temperature gradient is provided in a melt and the melt is gradually cooled to grow a crystal.
In the VB method and VGF method, a crucible is typically used in which the bottom of the crucible is inclined down toward the center of the bottom. A bulk single crystal is obtained by locating a seed crystal having the same composition as the crystal to be grown and having a diameter considerably smaller than the crystal to be grown, on the center of the bottom of the crucible, to solidify a melt; or by naturally generating a nucleus at the center of the bottom of the crucible without using the seed crystal to solidify the melt.
As a growth method of a compound semiconductor bulk crystal, a liquid encapsulated Czochralski (LEC) method is known in which a melt is covered by encapsulating material such as B.sub.2 O.sub.3 in the crucible and the seed crystal is brought into contact with the surface of the melt to grow a crystal by gradually pulling up the seed crystal. This method is widely used. The seed crystal used in this method also has the same material as the crystal to be grown and a considerably smaller diameter than it, like the above-mentioned VB method and VGF method.
However, since in the II-VI group compound semiconductor such as CdTe, thermal conductivity is low and shearing stress is small, there is a problem in that a single crystal of good quality cannot be obtained with a high yield in the above-mentioned conventional VB method, VGF method and LEC method. Further, there is also another problem in the conventional VB method and VGF method. Nucleation of polycrystal growth is generated during the growth of crystal shoulder portion corresponding from the center of the bottom of the crucible to a straight portion of the crucible. In addition, since the shoulder portion must be formed in the conventional VB method, VGF method and LEC method, there is another problem in that the straight portion is short so that the number of wafers cut out from the crystal decreases.
In the VB method, VGF method and LEC method, a method is proposed in which a crystal having shorter shoulder portion is grown by using a seed crystal having a diameter greater than that of the conventional methods. However, since the shoulder portion cannot be completely removed, the portion is not yet solved, i.e., nucleation of polycrystal growth is generated during the growth of shoulder, as described above.
Further, because the seed crystal is the same material as the crystal to be grown, there is another problem in that it is very difficult to control the amount of the seed crystal molten by the melt within a predetermined level, wherein a portion of the seed crystal in contact with the melt is molten upon seeding.
The seed crystal which is the same material as the crystal to be grown is typically used but there is a case that the seed crystal which is a different material is used in a special example. For instance, when there is no suitable GaP seed crystal to grow a GaP single crystal, the GaP single crystal is first grown by the LEC method using an InAs single crystal as the seed crystal and then a GaP seed crystal is cut out from the obtained crystal ingot to use in the subsequent manufacture of a GaP single crystal. In this method, however, there is a problem in that a single crystal to be obtained (GaP in the above example) cannot be directly obtained from the seed crystal having the different material (InAs in the above example) and the material of the seed crystal which is the different composition dissolves in the material melt so that a crystal having a different composition is grown.
In the liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) method, there is an example in which a CdTe single crystal film is grown on a sapphire substrate (aluminum oxide: Al.sub.2 O.sub.3). However, a thin film of CdTe crystal is only obtained and a bulk crystal cannot be obtained.
Alternatively, there is a method in which a bulk crystal is grown on the sapphire substrate by a vapor phase epitaxy method. In the method, however, there is a problem in that the growth rate is very slow and a large size of crystal cannot be grown.
As described above, in the conventional VB method, VGF method and LEC method, or a method using a large diameter of seed crystal in these methods, a bulk single crystal of good quality cannot be obtained with a high yield.
The present invention is accomplished in the light of above circumstances. The object of this invention is to provide a method of growing a bulk single crystal of good quality with a high yield.


A retardation layer capable of effectively restraining the display quality deterioration without generating a bright and dark pattern in the display image even when a retardation layer is disposed in between a liquid crystal cell and a polarizing plate. The retardation layer includes a plurality of minute units (domains) having molecular structure of cholesteric structure. Moreover, in the retardation layer, the helical pitch of the molecular structure is adjusted such that the selective reflected wavelength of the selected reflected light deriving from the molecular structure is shorter than the wavelength of the incident light on the retardation layer.

As a conventional common liquid crystal display apparatus, as shown in FIG. 15, one comprising a polarizing plate 102A on the incident side, a polarizing plate 102B on the output side, and a liquid crystal cell 104 can be presented. The polarizing plates 102A and 102B are constituted so that only a linearly polarized light (it is shown schematically by an arrow in the figure) having a vibration surface in a predetermined vibration direction is selectively transmitted, and they are provided facing to each other in the crossed Nicol state so that each of their vibration direction is perpendicular with each other. Moreover, the liquid crystal cell 104 comprises a large number of cells corresponding to the pixels, and is disposed in between the polarizing plates 102A and 102B.
Here, in such liquid crystal display apparatus 100, a case of employing VA (vertical alignment) system, wherein a nematic liquid crystal having a negative dielectric anisotropy is sealed in the liquid crystal cell 104 (in the figure, the liquid crystal director is shown schematically with dot lines), will be presented for an example. When the linearly polarized light, which has been transmitted through the incident side polarizing plate 102A, is transmitted through a portion of non-driven state cell, among the liquid crystal cell 104, its phase is not shifted, so as to be blocked by the output side polarizing plate 102B. On the other hand, when it is transmitted through a portion of the driven state cell, among the liquid crystal cell 104, the phase of the linearly polarized light is shifted so that a quantity of light corresponding to the phase shift amount is transmitted through the output side polarizing plate 102B, so as to be output. Thereby, by optionally controlling the driving voltage of the liquid crystal cell 104 per each cell, a desired image can be displayed on the output side polarizing plate 102B side. The liquid crystal display apparatus 100 is not limited to those having the above-mentioned aspect of the light transmission and blockage. A liquid crystal display apparatus having the configuration in which the output light from a portion of the non-driven state cell, among the liquid crystal cell 104, is transmitted through the output side polarizing plate 102B so as to be output, whereas the output light from a portion of the driven state cell is blocked by the output side polarizing plate 102B has also been proposed.
Considering the case in which the linearly polarized light is transmitted through a portion of the non-driven state cell, among the above-mentioned VA system liquid crystal cell 104, the liquid crystal cell 104 has a birefringence so that the refractive index in the thickness direction and the refractive index in the plane direction differ with each other. Therefore, among the linearly polarized light transmitted through the incident side polarizing plate 102A, the incident light along the normal line of the liquid crystal cell 104 is transmitted through the same without being its phase shifted. However, among the linearly polarized light transmitted through the incident side polarizing plate 102A, the phase of the incident light in the direction inclined with respect to the normal line of the liquid crystal cell 104 is shifted when transmitting the liquid crystal cell 104, so as to be elliptically polarized. This phenomenon derives from the function of the liquid crystal molecules, aligned in the vertical direction in the liquid crystal cell 104, as a positive C plate. The size of the generated phase difference with respect to the light (transmitted light) transmitted through the liquid crystal cell 104 is influenced by the birefringence value of the liquid crystal molecules sealed in the liquid crystal cell 104, the thickness of the liquid crystal cell 104, the wavelength of the transmitted light, or the like.
Due to the above-mentioned phenomenon, even when a cell in the liquid crystal cell 104 is in the non-driven state so that a linearly polarized light is inherently to be transmitted as it is and blocked by the output side polarizing plate 102B, a part of the output light, which is in a direction inclined with respect to the normal line of the liquid crystal cell 104, is leaked from the output side polarizing plate 102B.
Therefore, in the above-mentioned conventional liquid crystal display apparatus 100, a problem is involved in that the display quality of an image observed from a direction inclined with respect to the normal line of the liquid crystal cell 104 is deteriorated mainly due to the contrast deterioration, compared with an image observed form the front side (problem of viewing angle dependency).
In order to improve the problem of viewing angle dependency in the above-mentioned conventional liquid crystal display apparatus 100, various techniques have been developed so far. As one of them, for example as it is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open (JP-A) Nos. 3-67219 or 4-322223, a liquid crystal display apparatus, in which the optical compensation is carried out by using a retardation layer (retardation layer showing the birefringence) having a cholesteric regularity molecular structure and disposing such retardation layer in between a liquid crystal cell and a polarizing plate, is known.
Here, in a retardation optical element having a cholesteric regularity molecular structure, a selective reflected wavelength represented by λ=nav·p (p: helical pitch in the helical structure of the liquid crystal molecules, nav: average refractive index in the plane orthogonal to the helical axis) is adjusted, for example as disclosed in JP-A Nos. 3-67219 or 4-322223, so as to be smaller than or larger than the wavelength of the transmitted light.
In the retardation optical element as mentioned above, as in the case of the above-mentioned liquid crystal cell, the phase of the incident linearly polarized light, in a direction inclined with respect to the normal line of the retardation layer, is shifted when transmitting the retardation layer so as to be elliptically polarized. This phenomenon derives from the function of the cholesteric regularity molecular structure as a negative C plate. The size of the phase difference generated with respect to the transmitted light through the retardation layer (transmitted light) is influenced by the birefringence value of the liquid crystal molecules in the retardation layer, the thickness of the retardation layer, the wavelength of the transmitted light, or the like.
Therefore, by use of the above-mentioned retardation optical element, by optionally designing the retardation layer such that the phase difference generated by the liquid crystal cell of the VA system, which acts as a positive C plate, and the phase difference generated in the retardation layer, which acts as a negative C plate, can be offset, the problem of the viewing angle dependency of the liquid crystal display apparatus can dramatically be improved.
On the other hand, in JP-A No. 7-175065, a liquid crystal display comprising a large number of micro domains, of about several μm to several tens μm diameter, that are not fixed is disclosed as a liquid crystal cell of the TN (twisted nematic) system. Achiral nematic liquid crystal layer used as a TN liquid crystal is designed so as to function as an optical rotation layer, not to function as a retardation layer. Therefore, the twist angle of the above-mentioned TN liquid crystal is designed such that the twist angles of the above-mentioned large number of micro domains are same in a range of 0 degree to about 270 degrees (0 to 0.75 pitch when converted to the chiral pitch). In the case the chiral pitch of the TN liquid crystal is presumed to be 1 or more pitches, the selective reflected wavelength of the TN liquid crystal is longer than the wavelength of an incident visible light.
In SID '93 Digest, 622 (1993), R. Holding et al. discloses, similarly as a liquid crystal cell forming method of the TN system, a liquid crystal display comprising a liquid crystal layer, in an amorphous state, which is not fixed. A chiral nematic liquid crystal layer used as a TN liquid crystal is designed so as to function as an optical rotation layer, not to function as a retardation layer. Therefore, the twist angle of the above-mentioned TN liquid crystal is designed to be 90 degrees (0.5 pitch when converted to the chiral pitch). The TN system includes a normally black mode in which a TN cell is interposed between two polarizing plates with the absorption axes provided parallel, and a normally white mode in which a TN cell is interposed between polarizing plates cross Nicol. According to SID '93 Digest, 622 (1993) by R. Holding et al., when TN liquid crystal display comprising a liquid crystal layer, in an amorphous state, which is not fixed is made into a normally black mode, the transmission is as much as 3% so as to induce the contrast deterioration. In the case the chiral pitch of the TN liquid crystal is presumed to be 1 or more pitches, the selective reflected wavelength of the TN liquid crystal is longer than the wavelength of an incident visible light.
In also SID'94 Digest, 915 (1994), Y. Iimura et al. disclose, similarly as a liquid crystal cell forming method of the TN system, a liquid crystal display comprising a liquid crystal layer in an amorphous state. The above-mentioned liquid crystal layer in the amorphous state has a 10 to 100 μm brush width, with several domains present therebetween, and the directors of the adjacent domains are substantially continuous. A chiral nematic liquid crystal layer used as a TN liquid crystal is designed so as to function as an optical rotation layer, not to function as a retardation layer. Therefore, the twist angle of the above-mentioned TN liquid crystal is designed to be 90 degrees (0.5 pitch when converted to the chiral pitch). In the case the chiral pitch of the TN liquid crystal is presumed to be 1 or more pitches, the selective reflected wavelength of the TN liquid crystal is longer than the wavelength of an incident visible light.
Moreover, JP-A No. 2002-258053 discloses a mono-domain circularly polarized light extracting optical element in which directors of liquid crystal molecules, in the entire range of the liquid crystal layer surface having cholesteric regularity, are coincident. Thereby, the bright and dark pattern, observed at the time of interposing the cholesteric liquid crystals between the polarizing plates in a cross Nicol state, is dissolved.
However, in the case the above-mentioned retardation optical element (retardation layer having the molecular structure of the cholesteric regularity) is disposed between the liquid crystal cell and the polarizing plate, even though the problem of viewing angle dependency can be improved, there is a problem that a bright and dark pattern is generated in the displayed image and that the display quality is extremely deteriorated, except the case of JP-A No. 2002-258053.

Retardation layer and liquid crystal display apparatus using the same


A headquarters system generates structure information, and obtains nationwide news from a resource system according to the structure information. The headquarters system delivers the structure information and the nationwide news to a branch system. The branch system obtains local news from a resource system according to the structure information received from the headquarters system, and delivers the nationwide news and the local news to a plurality of destinations according to the structure information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for delivering data to devices connected via a communications network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, when data is delivered, a device at a delivery source must prepare the information identifying a delivery destination (hereinafter referred to as "destination information" or "delivery destination information"), and data to be delivered for each delivery destination.
FIG. 1 explains an existing general data delivering system. This figure depicts the device at a data delivery source and an external storage medium accessed by this device. Note that this system is assumed to deliver data based on a user instruction (delivery request).
A data managing unit 501 makes a data storing unit 502 collect the data corresponding to a user instruction. The data storing unit 502 obtains the data to be delivered to a user from an external storage medium 511 according to an instruction from the data managing unit 501. Then, the data managing unit 501 provides a data transferring unit 503 with the data collected by the data storing unit 502 and the destination information of that data. The data transferring unit 503 issues a data transfer instruction to a communication controlling unit 504. The communication controlling unit 504 then delivers the requested data to the user according to the data transfer instruction.
When data is delivered to a plurality of destinations with the above described system, the above stated process is repeatedly executed or a multi-cast transmission is performed if it is possible. The method repeating the above described process, however, imposes a heavy load on a device at a delivery source. On the other hand, the multi-cast transmission can only transmit the same data to all of destinations.
As a known method delivering data that differs depending on each destination, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 6-152917 is known. This publication recites the technique with an improved merging capability. Hereinafter, the technique relating to Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 6-152917 is explained by referring to FIGS. 2, 3A, and 3B.
FIG. 2 explains an existing data delivering system with a merging capability. This figure depicts a device at a data delivery source and an external storage media accessed by that device. Here, it is assumed that data in a common format (hereinafter referred to as "combined data") shown in FIG. 3A is generated and delivered to each destination. The combined data is composed of a variable portion which differs depending on each destination, and a common portion which is common to all of destinations.
A data managing unit 521 makes a common data storing unit 522 collect common data which is common element data to be delivered to a destination, for example, according to a user instruction. The common data storing unit 522 then collects the common data from an external storage medium 531, and passes the collected data to the data managing unit 521. This collected data is stored in the common portion of the combined data, but its variable portion is empty at this stage.
Next, the data managing unit 521 makes a variable data storing unit 523 collect variable data. The variable data storing unit 523 therefore collects variable data from an external storage medium 532, and passes the collected data to the data managing unit 521. It should be noted that variable data includes destination information for identifying corresponding destination, and element data to be delivered to corresponding destination, for example, as shown in FIG. 3B.
The data managing unit 521 separates the variable data into the destination information and the element data. Then, the data managing unit 521 inserts (merges) element data-1 into the variable portion of the combined data, attaches destination information-1 to the combined data, and passes the combined data to a data transferring unit 524. The data transferring unit 524 issues a data transfer instruction to a communication controlling unit 525. The communication controlling unit 525 delivers the common data into which the element data-1 is inserted to the user identified by the destination information-1 according to the data transfer instruction. Thereafter, combined data into which element data-2 through element data-n are respectively inserted are delivered to respective users identified by destination information-2 through destination information-n.
In addition to the above described method, methods for delivering data that differs depending on each destination have been proposed. For example, the technique recited in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 63-16749, the technique recited in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-311831, etc. are proposed. With the former method, all candidate data to be inserted into a variable portion are delivered from a delivery source to destinations along with common data, and the users at the destinations respectively select necessary information. With the latter method, data is delivered in a form (image, audio, text, etc.) requested by each destination.
However, conventional data delivering methods have the following problems.
(1) A delivery source system must store all data to be delivered to corresponding destinations, or at least prepare all data to be delivered to corresponding destinations. Accordingly, the load on the delivery source system becomes heavy. Additionally, most of the known methods cannot start a data delivery until all data (to be delivered to all of destinations) are collected, when data that differs depending on each destination is delivered. Therefore a data delivery delay becomes problematic in this case.(2) A delivery source system must store the information about all of destinations (such as IP or mail addresses, system names, or the like). Therefore, the operations for managing destinations become complicated in the delivery source system.(3) A delivery source system must generate (or assemble) all of delivery data, when data that differs depending on each destination is delivered. Therefore, the load on the delivery source system becomes heavy.(4) All of delivery data are output from a delivery source system, when data that differs depending on each destination is delivered. Therefore, lines or paths adjacent to the delivery source system are occupied by that data delivery.


A method of operating a vehicle with a hydrostatic circuit. The method includes providing a hydrostatic circuit having first and second hydraulic kits that are fluidly connected to one another by first and second fluid lines. A by-pass valve is placed between the first and second hydraulic lines and is controlled in order to actuate the by-pass valve when certain predetermined conditions are present in order to relieve pressure within the hydrostatic circuit.

This invention relates to vehicles powered by hydromechanical transmissions. More specifically this invention relates to an improved hydrostatic circuit with a by-pass valve and method of using the same.
When a vehicle is suddenly stopped due to an external force such as a curb, log, brakes or the like the transmission ratio must either be reduced quickly toward zero or secondary means must be incorporated to unload torque transfer between the transmission and the engine. In a hydromechanical transmission when sudden vehicle loading occurs the hydraulic pressure on one side of the recirculating flow path between the hydraulic rotating kit rises quickly. During braking or other external means to stop the vehicle, the torque transfer results in a sudden loading of the engine which tends to decrease engine speed. If the load is too high the engine stops running or is killed, especially at low throttle settings when the engine output torque levels are at their lowest levels.
A hydromechanical transmission (HMT) or hydrostatic transmission (HST) subjected to fast changing load conditions of stopping and starting must have a means to prevent transmitting torque settings from the vehicle drive train to the engine output shaft when the vehicle throttle is set at low power settings. Changing load conditions are normally handled to maintain engine speed by adjusting the HMT or HST ratio setting or by including a clutching mechanism between the engine and transmission at low speeds. Sometimes in practice a reversing mechanism such as a one way clutch is included to allow the transmitting of torque back to the engine in a first direction. This tends to speed up the engine in the first direction but in an opposite direction prevents the engine from slowing down.
In general this practice keeps the engine from being loaded by the transmission in a way that it would kill the engine. However the disadvantage of the clutch is that it allows vehicle free wheeling in the opposite direction. Additionally because a clutch is friction based it is prone to wear resulting in loss of torque transfer ability and eventual failure.
The option of adjusting the HMT or HST ratio to prevent killing the engine also has disadvantages. Specifically some conditions require a response that is faster than the ratio setting hardware is capable of providing. The logic must decide if the adjustment should be to reduce or increase the ratio and this decision requires knowledge of the direction the torque needs to be transmitted between the engine and transmission in order to provide the needed breaking to prevent the engine kill. Therefore the direction that the ratio needs to be adjusted depends upon operator input, deceleration requirements and external loading due to application of brakes and/or terrain.
Therefore a principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of operating a hydrostatic circuit to avoid killing an engine under predetermined conditions.
Yet another object of the present invention is to prevent free wheeling of a vehicle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hydrostatic circuit that eliminates the need for a clutch.
These and other objects, features, or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the specification and claims.


A fish-bite indicator has a rotary part which is engaged by a fishing line when the indicator is in use, such that longitudinal movement of the fishing line causes the rotary part to rotate. Sensor means are provided to produce a signal for every rotation or part rotation of the rotary part. A counter is connected to the sensor means and constructed to issue an indicator signal in dependence upon each signal or each given count of signals it receives from the sensor means, the counter being constructed so that the number of each given count is alterable. A manually adjustable member is connected to the counter to enable that count to be altered thereby to enable the sensitivity of the indicator to be varied. The invention also extends to a fish-bite indicator comprising a housing having wall means which define (a) a sealed interior of the housing and (b) an enclosure immediately adjacent to the sealed interior. A rotary part is mounted within the enclosure so as to be rotatable therein and has at least one permanent magnet. A magnetic-field sensor is positioned within the sealed interior adjacent to the enclosure, so that rotation of the rotary part by a fishing line when the indicator is in use alters the condition of the magnetic-field sensor to generate a signal indicative of a fish-bite.

The present invention relates to fish-bite indicators. Fish-bite indicators provided hitherto have been so constructed that, to alter their sensitivity, it has been necessary to dismantle them.
A first aspect of the present invention seeks to provide a remedy to this problem.
Accordingly the first aspect of the present invention is directed to a fish-bite indicator having a rotary part which is engaged by a fishing line when the indicator is in use, such that longitudinal movement of the fishing line causes the rotary part to rotate, sensor means provided to produce a signal for every rotation or part rotation of the rotary part, a counter connected to the sensor means and constructed to issue an indicator signal in dependence upon each signal or each given count of signals it receives from the sensor means, the counter being constructed so that the number of each given count is alterable, and a manually adjustable member connected to the counter to enable that count to be altered thereby to enable the sensitivity of the indicator to be varied.
With such an indicator, an angler can readily adjust its sensitivity, without dismantling it, to suit the prevailing wind, wind undertow and water movement conditions.
One previously proposed fish-bite indicator is described in prior British Patent Specification No. 1,503,596. The indicator described in that specification comprises a support for a fishing rod, and a pulley wheel mounted on the support in such a fashion that the line of the rod is able to pass over the pulley wheel so that movement of the line will rotate the wheel. The wheel rotates about a shaft, and is rigidly connected to a rotary member a part of which is positioned between an emitter-detector pair. The latter is located within a housing which also encloses electronic circuitry for producing an alarm signal upon rotation of the pulley wheel.
In such a prior construction, the pulley wheel is exposed to the elements, and ingress of water into the housing along the shaft is possible, so that the indicator may be subject to failure or an erroneous signal.
A second aspect of the present invention seeks to provide a remedy.
Accordingly, this aspect of the invention is directed to a fish-bite indicator comprising a housing having wall means which define (a) a sealed interior of the housing and (b) an enclosure immediately adjacent to the sealed interior, the indicator further comprising a rotary part mounted within the enclosure so as to be rotatable therein and having at least one permanent magnet, the indicator further comprising a magnetic-field sensor positioned within the sealed interior adjacent to the enclosure, so that rotation of the rotary part by a fishing line when the indicator is in use alters the condition of the magnetic-field sensor to generate a signal indicative of a fish-bite.
Preferably, means by which a fishing line can engage the rotary part are in the form of a slot in the enclosure.
The enclosure is desirably provided with drainage means to enable any river water or rain water which finds its way into that enclosure to flow out of the enclosure to reduce the likelihood that such water will accumulate therewithin.
The slot provided as a means to enable a fishing line to engage a rotary part may extend downwardly to an intended bottom of the enclosure, so that the slot itself also constitutes the drainage means.
In a preferred construction, means are provided at an intended bottom of the indicator to enable it to be attached to the top of a bank stick.
The housing may be shaped to have a bifurcated form to provide a seat for a fishing rod, with the enclosure which contains the rotary part positioned immediately underneath the base of the bifurcation.
A preferred construction of fish-bite indicator incorporates the features of both the first and the second aspects of the present invention.


In a method of fabricating an integrated silicon-germanium heterobipolar transistor a silicon dioxide layer arranged between a silicon-germanium base layer and a silicon emitter layer is formed by means of Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) to ensure enhanced component properties of the integrated silicon-germanium heterobipolar transistor.

Silicon-germanium heterobipolar transistors in which the base electrodes are formed by a silicon-germanium layer feature substantially higher cut-off frequencies than transistors fabricated by conventional methods, since the injection of germanium atoms into the base layers of the transistors reduces the band gap energy. The silicon-germanium base layer is normally applied either by implantation or, like the emitter layer thereabove, by epitaxial growth. Provided between the silicon-germanium base layer and the emitter layer is a silicon dioxide layer. The oxide of the silicon dioxide layer is normally produced by thermal oxidation of silicon in tube furnaces in which batches of up to 200 wafers are oxidized simultaneously. The thermal inertia of these furnaces necessitates lengthy processing, resulting in the wafers being maintained at very high temperatures for a relatively long time. The electronic properties of bipolar transistors are determined, among other things, by the properties of this silicon dioxide layer.

Method of fabricating an integrated silicon-germanium heterobipolar transistor and an integrated silicon-germanium heterobipolar transistor


An upper die portion of a die head for aligning probe pins in first array of first micro-holes formed in lower die portion of the die head, which generally includes a spacer portion and is adapted to contact lower die portion is typically positioned between second surface and support frame and includes a second array of second micro-holes adapted to receive probe pins generally is in contact or close proximity to first assembly aid film and has a third array of third micro-holes adapted to receive probe pins and third array of third micro-holes are patterned to align with one another but are both offset with first array of first micro-holes by approximately the lateral distance between probe tip and probe head.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vertical pin integrated circuit probing device, and more particularly to an assembly apparatus and method for loading probe pins into a die head assembly of the vertical pin integrated circuit probing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,297,657 and 6,633,175 illustrate vertical pin probing devices and are incorporated by reference as if fully disclosed in their entireties herein.
One type of vertical pin probing devices utilizes a buckling beam die design. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,297,657, an integrated circuit or other device under test is supported on a movable chuck. The integrated circuit typically has a pattern or matrix of contact pads to be simultaneously probed by a vertical-pin integrated circuit probing device, such as the probe head sold under the brand name COBRA® by Wentworth Laboratories of Brookfield, Conn. The probing device includes a lower die with a group of holes and an upper die with a group of holes separated by a spacer and carrying multiple vertical pin probes. The die materials are typically made of a plastic insulating material such as those sold under the brand name Delrin®, an acetal resin that is a registered trademark E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co of Wilmington, Del., a low expansion metal such as those sold under the brand name Invar®, a nickel alloy that is a registered trademark of Imphy, S.A., or a ceramic such as silicon nitride.
Each probe pin has a probe tip that protrudes from a hole in the lower face of the lower die and an exposed head that protrudes from holes in the upper side of upper die. Holes containing opposing ends of the vertical probe pins are slightly offset from one another and the probe pins are curved in a snake-like configuration to promote buckling, so as to create substantially uniform contact pressure on the integrated circuit pads despite any slight vertical unevenness or misalignment.
With reference to FIG. 1, a partially-assembled portion of a buckling beam die 10 as known in the prior art includes of a lower die 12, probe pins 14, and an assembly aid film 16. Lower die 12 contains an array of micro-holes 18 into which probe tips 20 are inserted. Assembly aid film 16 contains a matching pattern of micro-holes 22 punched into the film. One edge 24 of a small piece of assembly aid film 16 is adhered, e.g., using tape or similar, to top 26 of lower die 12 so that it is approximately positioned over micro-holes 18. Each probe tip 20 is inserted into one of lower die micro-hole 18, and then probe head 28 is inserted up through a corresponding micro-hole 22 in assembly aid film 16 to hold probe pin 14 in position. This process is continued until each of probe pins 14 are in place. Insertion of probe heads 28 requires lifting assembly aid film 16 to provide sufficient clearance to slip each probe head under the film and up through the proper one of micro-holes 18. As the assembly proceeds, it is necessary to tie down assembly aid film 16 periodically to prevent it from lifting up off probe heads 28 of the contacts that have already been installed. Regardless, assembly aid film 16 occasionally lifts off probe heads 28 resulting in the need for a partial or complete re-assembly. The process of fitting probe heads 28 up through micro-holes 22 in assembly aid film 16 also presents opportunities for each of probe pins 14 to be inadvertently bent.
After each of probe pins 14 have been loaded into lower die 12 and assembly aid film 16, it is necessary to cut the film so that it fits entirely inside an upper die cavity, and to remove the tie-down wires. This process often results in assembly aid film 16 lifting off one or more of probe heads 28, again requiring a partial or complete re-build of the assembly. After assembly aid film 16 has been cut and the wires removed, it is necessary to install an upper die 30. As shown in FIG. 2, this requires aligning upper die 30, which has an array of micro-holes 32 matching the pattern of micro-holes 18 and 22 in lower die 12 and assembly aid film 16, respectively, over array of probe pins 14 such that each of probe heads 28 lines up with a respective one of the micro-holes in the upper die. This is a delicate operation, as typically each of thousands of probe pins 14 must pass through one of micro-holes 32 simultaneously in order to avoid bending probe pins. Consequently, each of micro-holes 32 in upper die 30 are larger than those in lower die 12 and in assembly aid film 16 to facilitate assembly. Also, still referring to FIG. 2, upper die 30 is conventionally made by starting with a round disk of polyimide material of approximately 0.1 inch thickness, and milling out a cavity 34 leaving a thin "web" on the order of 0.010″ thick through which the pattern defining array of micro-holes 32 is drilled. It is often difficult to keep such a thin web of material flat across the array due to unbalanced internal stresses in the material after milling, moisture absorption, etc., and may result in a relatively low yield rate for upper dies.
After upper die 30 is installed, alignment pins (not shown) are inserted to correctly align the upper die with lower die 12 dies, and screws (not shown) are installed to hold the upper and lower dies together. Probe heads 32 are then lapped in order to arrive at a consistent over-all probe pin length throughout the array. One consequence of the lapping process is that lapping debris passes through over-sized micro-holes 32 in upper die 30 and collects on assembly aid film 16 inside the head assembly. This debris is conductive and must be removed to avoid electrical shorting between contacts. It is therefore necessary to remove upper die 30 after lapping in order to adequately remove the debris. The removal of upper die 30 presents a further opportunity for assembly aid film 16 to lift off probe heads 28, requiring a partial or full re-build of the assembly. It also requires upper die 30 alignment and assembly to be repeated, presenting another opportunity for bending probe pins 14 if alignment is not perfect.
One of the advantages of buckling beam technology is repair-ability. Since the probe pins are not permanently bonded to the test electronics, it is possible to replace damaged probe pins rather than discard the entire assembly. The repair process with the conventional design as illustrated in FIG. 2 may be problematic. The repair process requires removal of upper die 30 to gain access to probe pins 14. A damaged one of probe pins 14 is then extracted by pulling it through assembly aid film 16, and re-inserting a new probe pin through the same assembly aid film hole. There are several problems that may arise when using this technique. First, the removal of upper die 30 may cause assembly aid film 16 to lift off one or more of probe heads. Static electricity sometimes results in assembly aid film 16 adhering to the underside of upper die 30 and coming completely off the array, resulting in the need for a complete re-build.
Assuming upper die 30 is successfully removed, any of probe pins 14 that are damaged must then be withdrawn through assembly aid film 16. Since micro-holes 22 in assembly aid film 16 are "tight", e.g., with a diameter on the order of 0.0001 inch larger than the diameter of typical probe pin 14, the assembly aid film must be slightly torn in order for the probe pin "swage" to pass through the film. This "tugging" on assembly aid film 16 presents another opportunity for the film to lift off of one or more of probe pins 14.
Assuming a damaged one of probe pins 14 is successfully removed and another probe pin inserted, the particular one of micro-holes 22 in assembly aid film 16 is now enlarged, causing potential difficulties in aligning the new probe pin with its associate micro-hole 32 in upper die 30. Also, enlarged one of micro-holes 22 in assembly aid film 16 allows probe pin 14 more freedom of movement, which may allow it to contact a neighboring probe pin in tight tolerance applications resulting in an electrical short circuit.


A semiconductor chip has a semiconductor body with a bottom side and a top side arranged distant from the bottom side in a vertical direction, an active and a non-active transistor region, a drift region formed in the semiconductor body, a contact terminal for externally contacting the semiconductor chip, and a plurality of transistor cells formed in the semiconductor body. Each of the transistor cells has a first electrode. Each of a plurality of connection lines electrically connects another one of the first electrodes to the contact terminal pad at a connecting location of the respective connection line. Each of the connection lines has a resistance section that is formed of at least one of: a locally reduced cross-sectional area of the connection line section; and a locally increased specific resistance. Each of the connecting locations and each of the resistance sections is arranged in the non-active transistor region.

Transistors, such as IGFETs (insulated gate field effect transistors), which include MOSFETs and IGBTs, are widely used as electronic switches in different kinds of applications, such as inverters, voltage regulators, current regulators, or drive circuits for driving electric loads, such as lamps, valves, motors, etc. Transistors that are commonly employed as power transistors include a plurality of identical transistors cells arranged in a transistor cell field and electrically connected in parallel.
In many modern power transistors, vertical field plates taking advantage of the "charge compensation principle" are used for achieving a low on-resistance (RON) of the transistor. In the charge "compensation principle," field plates, which are electrically connected to a source zone or to an emitter zone of the transistor, extend into the drift zone of the transistor in order to compensate charges provided by dopants that cause the type of conductivity (n or p) of the drift zone. However, the field plates result in an increase of the output capacitance of such transistors. As a consequence thereof, switching the transistor alternately on and off leads to undesired over-voltage peaks caused by unavoidable inductances of an electronic circuit to which the transistor is connected. As the height of the over-voltage peaks increases with the slew rate of the electric current through the transistor, conventional transistors seek to reduce the slew rate using a damping resistor connected in series with the field plates, which, in view of the required high ampacity of that resistor, wastes a lot of chip space. Further, the switching behaviour of the transistor cells of such a transistor is inhomogeneous, that is, the transistor cells do not switch simultaneously on and off.
Therefore, there is a need for a transistor with a low on-resistance, a low output capacity and a homogeneous switching behaviour.

Semiconductor chip with integrated series resistances


A door assembly for an air conditioner indoor unit includes a door mounting plate, a door, a guiding part, and a drive assembly. The door mounting plate includes a receiving groove and a guiding groove. The door is configured to be movable in a direction approaching and away from the door mounting plate. The guiding part is connected with the door, located at a side of the door facing the door mounting plate, and movably disposed in the guiding groove. The drive assembly is configured to drive the door to move, and is disposed in the receiving groove.

In order to prevent the particulate pollutants in the air from entering the air conditioner along the air outlet when the air conditioner stops running, thereby affecting the quality of the air sent by the air conditioner, a door is usually provided to close the air outlet when the air conditioner stops running. However, by adopting the related technology, the door is limited and guided by the driving mechanism during its opening or closing, resulting in poor limiting and the guiding effect.

Door assembly for air conditioner indoor unit and air conditioner indoor unit having the same

GD MIDEA AIR-CONDITIONING EQUIPMENT CO., LTD.


There is a micro-machining apparatus for removing the micro-machining dust generated at the time of machining while a workpiece M is machined within a liquid W using a probe tip. The apparatus includes a stage on which the workpiece is to be placed; a probe having the probe tip, a machining device having a moving means that moves the stage and the probe relative to each other to machine the workpiece by the probe tip, and a micro-machining dust removing device having a first electrode and a second electrode that are arranged in the liquid so as to sandwich the probe tip therebetween, and a voltage application means that applies a voltage to between both the electrodes to move the micro-machining dust in the liquid.

The present invention relates to a micro-machining dust removing device that removes the micro-machining dust generated when a workpiece, such as a photomask, is machined (for example, cut) using a probe tip, a micro-machining apparatus having the micro-machining dust removing device, and a micro-machining dust removing method.
In recent years, with advancement of nanotechnology, high technology of microscopic regions, such as nano-machines, electronic devices, and memories, attracts attention, and improvements in machining technology of the regions are requested. As one of such a micro-machining means, a method using a scanning probe microscope (SPM) attracts attention. Although the scanning probe microscope has not yet lead to the machining technology for mass production like semiconductor processes, this apparatus itself is an apparatus that is simple and comparatively low-cost, and yet has nano-scale high machining accuracy. Therefore, attention is paid to using the scanning probe microscope for a trial production technique and mask correction, etc. of fundamental devices in next-generation high-density memories, nano electronics, nano-machines, etc.
As the simplest method in the machining technology using this scanning probe microscope, a method of directly scratching (cutting) a surface, using a probe of an atomic force microscope (AFM) is known.
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-2005-266650
[Patent Document 2] JP-A-2004-318091
However, the following problems are left behind the above conventional method.
That is, since the conventional technique is mechanical cutting that directly scratches a workpiece with a probe, fine cutting dust, i.e., nano-scale micro-machining dust will be generated inevitably. Meanwhile, since this machined dust has a property of being charged at the time of cutting, it easily adheres again to a probe tip of the probe, the surroundings of cutting traces, etc.
Here, if the micro-machining dust has adhered to the cutting traces or their surroundings, the micro-machining dust become obstructive and consequently the cutting traces might be recognized visually. Thus, problems occur in that the subsequent additional machining cannot be performed, or machining with high repeatability cannot be performed.
Thus, in order to eliminate such problems to the utmost, there is a case that cleaning is performed after the machining to remove the micro-machining dust. Meanwhile, although this cleaning generally includes a physical removing method using a dry ice cleaner, or a removing method using wet cleaning, all these methods require a workpiece to be transferred to a separate apparatus after being once detached from a machining apparatus. Therefore, there is a problem in that time and efforts are taken, and throughput decreases. In addition to this problem, there is a disadvantage that the dry ice cleaner is very expensive, and the wet cleaning also requires much time.
Moreover, even if such cleaning is performed, there is also a possibility that the micro-machining dust cannot be removed, and the above disadvantage before the cleaning is performed cannot be overcome. Particularly in a case where the workpiece is a photomask formed on glass, transmittance may be lowered if micro-machining dust remains.
Meanwhile, when micro-machining dust adheres to the probe tip, the probe tip to be used as a cutting edge might be covered with the micro-machining dust. Thus, the workpiece will not be gradually shaved off. Particularly in a case where a diamond probe tip is used, the workpiece will not be promptly shaved off since a chemical change is caused if ferrous micro-machining dust adheres thereto. Further, even in a case where the micro-machining dust promotes oxidation, abrasion progresses, and thus the workpiece will also not be shaved off.
As described above, when micro-machining dust adheres to the probe tip or cutting traces, various disadvantages, such as significant decline in machining accuracy and deterioration on cutting quality, are caused. Therefore, a machining process requires micro-machining dust be removed by a new method instead of the cleaning having many disadvantages. However, a means that is effective to remove the micro-machining dust generated during machining in the machining process using the atomic force microscope has not yet been found out.
The invention has been made in consideration of such a situation, and the object of the invention is to provide a micro-machining dust removing device that can surely and efficiently remove the micro-machining dust generated during machining of a workpiece from a probe tip or machining traces without causing a decrease in throughput, a removal-processing apparatus having the micro-machining dust removing device, and a micro-machining dust removing method.

Micro-machining dust removing device, micro-machining apparatus, and micro-machining dust removing method

National University Corporation Shizuoka University


An internal combustion engine is provided in which the temperature of an exhaust gas gradually decreases from its upstream side to its downstream side, and the temperature of a working medium of a heat exchanger, which flows in the opposite direction to the exhaust gas, gradually increases from its upstream side to its downstream side. The temperature difference between the exhaust gas temperature and the working medium temperature is the smallest at the interface between a liquid phase region and a two-phase region of the working medium, and since a catalyst device is incorporated at the upstream side, relative to the flow of exhaust gas, of the vicinity of the position where the temperature difference is the smallest, it is therefore possible for the heat exchanger to utilize the heat generated by the catalyst device effectively. Since the catalyst device is disposed in the two-phase region of the working medium, in which the temperature is constant, and this constant temperature is a temperature at which the catalyst is active, the catalyst can exhibit a stable exhaust gas purification performance.

It is well known that a catalyst of an exhaust gas purification system has a certain temperature region in which its exhaust gas purification performance is exhibited effectively. For example, in a case where the catalyst cannot exhibit sufficient performance because its temperature is less than a temperature at which the catalyst is active, the catalyst temperature is increased to a temperature at which the catalyst is active by placing the exhaust gas purification system in a position at the most upstream side of an exhaust passage, where the temperature of the exhaust gas is high; heating the exhaust gas purification system by means of an electric heater; or heating the exhaust gas purification system with a combustion gas generated in a combustor heater. On the other hand, when the catalyst temperature of the exhaust gas purification system increases beyond a catalyst degradation temperature, since the catalyst is degraded and the exhaust gas purification performance is lowered, the air-fuel ratio of the internal combustion engine is made richer than the theoretical air-fuel ratio, and the catalyst is cooled by utilizing the heat of vaporization of unburned fuel, thereby maintaining the catalyst temperature at less than the catalyst degradation temperature.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 60-93110 discloses an internal combustion engine having an exhaust gas purification system provided in an exhaust passage, a heat exchanger being disposed in each of the exhaust passage on the upstream side of the exhaust gas purification system and the exhaust passage on the downstream side thereof, thereby achieving a balance between the temperature performance of the exhaust gas purification system and the waste heat recovery performance of the heat exchangers.
Placing the exhaust gas purification system in the position at the most upstream side of the exhaust passage in order to maintain the catalyst temperature at the temperature at which the catalyst is active causes the problem that the exhaust gas purification system interferes with an internal combustion engine body or its auxiliary equipment, and the layout is difficult. Providing an electric heater or a combustor heater requires extra thermal energy, thus causing the problem that the overall energy consumption of the system increases. On the other hand, making the gas mixture rich and cooling the catalyst by means of the heat of vaporization of excess fuel in order to maintain the catalyst temperature at less than the catalyst degradation temperature causes the problem of high fuel consumption.
Moreover, in the arrangement disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 60-93110, it is inherently difficult to control the catalyst temperature automatically. Since the heat exchanger provided in the exhaust passage on the upstream side of the catalyst acts as extra thermal capacity, the thermal energy of the exhaust gas is absorbed by the heat exchanger when starting the internal combustion engine from cold, and the temperature of the catalyst provided on the downstream side of the heat exchanger cannot be increased rapidly to the temperature at which the catalyst is active. On the other hand, when the catalyst temperature exceeds the catalyst degradation temperature, since the heat exchanger on the upstream side of the catalyst carries out heat exchange between the exhaust gas and the working medium to decrease the temperature of the exhaust gas, and this cooled exhaust gas cools the catalyst to a temperature below the catalyst degradation temperature, there is the problem that the temperature responsiveness of the catalyst is poor and rapid temperature control is difficult.
Furthermore, although the catalyst generates heat in an exhaust gas purification reaction, in the arrangement disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 60-93110 the heat generated by the catalyst in the exhaust gas purification reaction is not utilized effectively in the heat exchanger.


A calibration system for a rotary encoder comprises a rotary encoder disposed on a manufacturing substrate, the rotary encoder including an encoder pattern. The calibration system also includes a calibration pattern written onto a surface of the substrate, the calibration pattern comprising a ring that includes a grating pattern, where a radial position of the grating pattern corresponds to an error value of the position of the encoder pattern. A method of calibrating the errors of a rotary encoder and a method of fabricating a high resolution rotary encoder on a surface of a manufacturing substrate are also provided.

The present invention relates generally to manufacturing systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and system for calibrating an encoder and for the fabrication of a high resolution rotary encoder using interference lithography.
The demand for new products with more features in smaller areas has resulted in an increasing demand to manufacture smaller features at higher yields. The accuracy of the position information during manufacturing becomes more important in designing the manufacturing systems. For example, roll-to-roll processing has continued to be a preferred manufacturing method because of its cost-effectiveness. Therefore, the position/velocity accuracy in a roll process continues to present a challenge as ever smaller feature sizes are employed.
The position information for such systems is typically obtained from encoders. An optical encoder typically includes an encoder pattern, in the form of a grating, detectors and registration electronics. In a rotary encoder, the encoder pattern or the grating is typically written at the edge of disk on a planar substrate. Encoder patterns are often periodic structures, typically in the form of lines (i.e., similar to a grating structure) equally spaced apart from each other. The spacing of the lines used in the encoders can vary from hundreds of nanometers to tens of microns. Thus, the resolution of a rotary encoder is determined by its pitch and the length of its grating. Although a smaller line spacing is usually chosen for higher resolution, the accuracy in its line spacing can still be a limiting factor on the highest achievable resolution and accuracy for any given encoder. In fact, such commercially available encoders have inherent limitations in their resolution, their absolute accuracy and their repeatability. In addition, an external disturbance such as mechanical vibrations and temperature fluctuations perturbs the accuracy of the readings. Since conventional encoders are not located next to the substrate where manufacturing takes place, the external disturbances affect the position of the encoder and substrate differently. Therefore, the position readings obtained from the encoders does not reflect the actual position of the substrate to the degree of accuracy required for products with smaller feature sizes. The size of commercially available encoders are generally about 5-7 cm in radius. On the other hand, tape encoders may be written in long lengths through a step and repeat lithography techniques or some type of micro-replication printing process. However, this tape encoder when mounted to a cylindrical role will have a discontinuity at the splice.

Method and system for calibrating a rotary encoder and making a high resolution rotary encoder


Some demonstrative embodiments include apparatuses, devices, systems and methods of channel switching. For example, a video source device may include a radio to establish a peer to peer (P2P) connection over a first wireless communication channel between the video source device and a video sink, the P2P connection to stream from the video source device to the video sink content to be displayed on a display device, and to receive from the video sink a message including type information indicating a type of the display device; and a controller to initiate, based on the type of the display device, a channel switch procedure to switch the P2P connection from the first wireless communication channel to a second wireless communication channel.

A 2.4 Gigahertz (GHz) wireless communication band is being used by many wireless communication devices, e.g., a cordless phone, a baby video monitor, a microwave oven and/or Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) devices. As a result, a transmission from a video source device to a wireless display device of a video stream over the 2.4 GHz band may experience latency and/or may have a reduced quality.
A 5 GHz wireless communication band is being used less, e.g., compared to the 2.4 GHz band. Therefore, it may be beneficial to transmit the video stream over the 5 GHz wireless communication channel.
However, due to regulatory constraints, the 5 GHz wireless communication channel is restricted to be used only at an indoor location.

Apparatus, system and method of channel switching


Apparatus and methods of selecting special characters in a mobile communication terminal are provided. The method includes storing a set of European alphabet letters in a memory, inputting an alphabet letter to be converted in a European alphabet letter, determining a mode conversion key has been activated, displaying a plurality of European alphabet letters corresponding to the inputted alphabet letter on a pop-up window when it is determined that the mode conversion key has been activated, wherein the European alphabet letters are read from the memory, and selecting a desired one of the displayed European alphabet letters.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to apparatus and methods of selecting special characters in a mobile communication terminal.
2. Background of the Related Art
Generally, as the functions of mobile communication terminals (hereinafter abbreviated "terminal" or "terminals") develop, character input functions are more frequently used. Such functions used to be just for inputting, for example, names into a phone directory. Lately, terminals have functioned as a personal digital assistant (PDA), as a time scheduler, for Internet communication, and the like, as well as a phone directory, thereby requiring more character input. Therefore, in order to provide users with various character input functions, character inputs for various languages are required. Specially, when alphabet letters are edited in an editing mode, inputs for special characters, such as alphabet letters from the European alphabet, for example, "ë, Ë or e", are required as well as the basic English language 26 letter alphabet.
A related art method of selecting special characters includes the steps of selecting a predetermined alphabet letter and selecting an European alphabet letter by a toggle method using a predetermined key during a special character input mode.
For instance, to input an European alphabet letter "À", as shown in Table 1 below, a user, first pushes a key "2 (A,B,C)" on a key pad to input the alphabet letter "A", and then pushes a predetermined key, in this case "O", to select a special character input mode. Once the user selects the special character input mode, a plurality of European alphabet letters, which are stored as related to or associated with the alphabet letter "A", are displayed on an LCD screen, as shown in Table 2 below. In this case, "_" indicates the location of the cursor, that is, the location where the special character is required, and two or three European alphabet letters are displayed on the screen therebelow.
TABLE 1Store phone number0123-456-7890Please input name!MOOA—
TABLE 2Store phone number0123-456-7890Please input name!MOOA—ÀÁ Â
When a plurality of the European alphabet letters are displayed, the user pushes the key "0", known as the "toggle key", repeatedly to search the displayed European alphabet letters. That is, when the key "0" is pushed repeatedly, the plurality of the European alphabet letters show up in the following order: ÀÁ Â. The user then selects the desired "À" among the toggled European alphabet letters.
However, this related art method of searching for special characters requires a minimum of two key inputs (2,0) and a maximum of seven key inputs (2,0,0,0,0,0,0) to select the desired European alphabet letter. That is, the user has to push the keys "2" and "0" to select "À". Further, the user has to push the keys "2" and "0", and then push the key "0" successively five times to select "Å".
Moreover, the related art method of searching for special characters requires the user to push the key "0" an additional five times if the user mistakenly passes the search location of the desired European alphabet letter. Furthermore, when a particular European alphabet letter is not available, the user will only recognize this through a plurality of trial and error inputs. Consequently, the related art method of searching for special characters is inconvenient and requires a plurality of key manipulations, thereby preventing fast character input.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A muzzle brake having a body portion; a central borehole aperture extending through said body portion, having a central borehole aperture diameter; a first expansion chamber disposed within the central borehole aperture, proximate said initial end, wherein said first expansion chamber has a diameter greater than the central borehole aperture diameter; first baffle walls defining a first baffle port; second baffle walls defining a second baffle port; third baffle walls defining a third baffle port; a pair of expansion apertures, wherein said pair of expansion apertures are formed at an acute angle to one another; and a pair of baffle apertures, wherein said pair of baffle apertures are formed at an acute angle to one another.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of firearms. More specifically, the present invention relates to an enhanced muzzle brake for firearms.
2. Description of Related Art
A muzzle brake is a device that is attached to the terminal end of a muzzle of a firearm that redirects propellant gases to counter recoil and unwanted barrel rise that normally occurs during the normal firing sequence.
During normal operation of a firearm, and particularly a rifle, when a round is fired, gas from the burning propellant forces the bullet through the barrel. As the bullet travels down and out of the barrel, the bullet and the propellant gases act on barrel, along the longitudinal axis, or centerline, of the barrel, to produce a recoil force. Because of the difference between the longitudinal axis of the barrel and the average point of contact between the firearm and the user (the average point where the user resists the recoil force), the muzzle end of the firearm's barrel rotates upward.
Muzzle brakes typically utilize one or more slots, vents, holes, and/or baffles to divert and/or redirect the propellant gases as they leave the barrel. Generally, muzzle brakes divert and/or redirect the propellant gases horizontally (left and right), at some angle that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the barrel.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles, or the like, which has been included in the present specification is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present disclosure as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.