A pixelized scintillation layer is taught in which high aspect ratio columns of scintillation material are formed. The columns may be sized and spaced to correspond to the sizing and spacing of an underlying sensor array, or they may be sized such that there is plurality of columns for each pixel. A method for forming the pixelized scintillation layer includes the step of forming openings such as wells, vias, or channels in a body, for example by etching a thick photoresist, ion beam etching, anodic etching, etc., and the step of filling the openings with scintillation material. A completed image sensing apparatus is also taught.

The present invention relates to image capture devices, such as x-ray sensors, and more particularly to a digital (pixelized) scintillation layer.
Image capture devices of the type to which the present invention pertains are typically designed to capture relatively large images employing a radiation source outside the visible light spectrum, for example those employing an x-ray source. Due to the large image area size, for example greater than several square inches, image capture device in this class will generally include an amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) sensor array. This array includes a plurality of pixels, each containing at least a photodiode and a transistor connected to data and scan lines. Other devices of the type to which the present invention pertains include CCD image sensors and CMOS image sensors, both of which being typically smaller than a-Si:H arrays. Diode-addressing-logic rather than transistor logic may also be employed to read out the a-Si:H array.
Radiation outside of the visible light spectrum cannot be directly detected efficiently by an a-Si:H sensor. Rather, the source radiation must be converted into visible light prior to its detection by the sensor array. This is accomplished by a scintillation layer, often disposed immediately adjacent to the sensor array. A scintillator, or scintillation layer, is a layer of material that emits optical photons in response to ionizing radiation. Optical photons are photons with energies corresponding to wavelengths between 3,000 and 8,000 angstroms. Thus, the scintillation layer converts source radiation energy, such as x-ray, into visible light energy, which may then be detected by the sensor array. Since the effect of a scintillation layer is typically to convert relatively few, high energy source photons into relatively many, low energy optical photons, such layers are also known as photomultiplier layers. When a scintillation layer is combined with a support layer (such as polyester film), the combination is known as screen or an x-ray intensifying screen.
Examples of scintillation layer material for this application include GdO.sub.2 S.sub.2, Csl, Csl:TI, BaSO.sub.4, MgSO.sub.4, SrSO.sub.4, Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4, CaSO.sub.4, BeO, LiF, CaF.sub.2, etc. A more inclusive list of such materials is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,377, which is incorporated herein by reference. Commercial scintillation layers may contain one or more of these materials, and screens incorporating such mixtures are sold under the trademarks Trimax, from 3M Corp., Cronex, from Dupont Corp., and Lanex, from Kodak Corp.
Resolution is a critical criteria for any image capture device. In the case of devices of the type described above, a number of factors determine device resolution. However, the focus for the purposes of this description is on the effects the scintillation layer material and structure have on resolution. If a continuous, homogeneous scintillation layer is used, for example in devices in which one of the aforementioned commercial intensifying screens is applied directly over a sensor array, scattering and multiple reflections within the intensifying screen distribute the light energy from the point of generation. This results in a distribution of light over several or more discrete sensors, or pixels, and is referred to as an increase in the line spread function (LSF), and a degradation of the modulation transfer function (MTF). For a scintillation layer having an attenuation constant .mu., and thickness d, the MTF at spatial frequency .rho. is the Fourier transform of LTF, and is given by [reference Albert Macovski, "Medical Imaging Systems," Prentice Hall, 1983, pp. 66] ##EQU1##
FIG. 1 is an illustration of the effects of this distribution, showing those relevant portions of an image capture device 2, although not to scale. Device 2 includes a sensor array 12, having numerous pixels identified as 14.sub.n-3, 14.sub.n-2, 14.sub.n-1, 14.sub.n, 14.sub.n+1, 14.sub.n+2, 14.sub.n+3 etc., and a continuous, homogeneous scintillation layer 22 disposed over array 12. A radiation source 24 emits radiation energy e, which may be partly or completely absorbed, scattered or transmitted by subject 26. Transmitted radiation energy is incident upon scintillation layer 22. When a photon from radiation source 24 excites material in scintillation layer 22, its energy is converted into optical photons, the extent of which may be detected by one or more of pixels 14.sub.n etc. The detection by pixels 14.sub.n etc. is read out and controlled by circuitry 16, which may, for example, cause the image to be displayed on a monitor 18 or the like (the details of which being beyond the scope of this invention).
Importantly, when the optical photons spread out and are scattered within scintillation layer 22 they are detected by more than one of pixels 14.sub.n etc. This effect is illustrated by the width w of the plot 4 of intensity versus position for a line of source photons striking scintillation layer material, referred to as the Line Spread Function, shown in FIG. 1. It will be appreciated that the narrower the width of such a plot, the narrower the distribution of the optical photons within the scintillation layer 22, and hence the better the resolution performance (image clarity and accuracy) of the device, since (a) the location of the point of incidence of the source radiation can be more accurately determined, and (b) the signal loss is reduced and a more accurate sensing of the energy of the optical photons can be made.
Table 1 list results of measured performance of various scintillation layers, and illustrates the tradeoff between resolution and efficiency, where .eta.=1-e.sup.-.mu.d is the fraction of incident x-ray photons that are absorbed by the scintillation material, and .rho..sub.10% is the value of .rho. such that MTF(.rho.)/MTF(0)=10%. A known benefit of solid state image capture devices is the ability to obtain an image with a lower source radiation dosage than typical film image capture devices (i.e., x-ray). So, efficiency is a critical parameter for image capture devices, since a decrease in efficiency results in an increase of the required dosage of source radiation needed to obtain an image. The various scintillation layers in Table 1 are manufactured by Kodak, contain GdO.sub.2 S.sub.2, and are sold under the trademark Lanex.
TABLE 1 Screen Film .eta. (55 KeV) .rho..sub.10% (90 KeV) [mm.sup.-1 ] Fast TMG .75 3.0 Regular TMG .58 3.5 Medium TMG .41 4.3 Fine TMG .18 8.8
There are several ways known to counteract the spreading out of the optical photons within scintillation layer 22. The first is to reduce the thickness d of the layer. This reduces the distance the optical photons may travel in the scintillation layer. However, the thinner the scintillation layer, the lower its conversion efficiency, since there is less scintillating material with which a source photon may collide. This thickness/resolution tradeoff is well known in the art. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,355.
Another approach known in the art is to employ thallium doped cesium iodide (Csl:TI) as a scintillation layer. Csl:TI is deposited as a film in thickness up to 400 .mu.m by a high temperature process such as vacuum sputtering. There is generally a relatively large mismatch between the thermal expansion coefficient of the substrate and of Csl:TI. As the two bodies cool, the stresses resulting from the mismatch cause micro cracks to form in the Csl:TI structure. These cracks run perpendicular to the plane of the deposited film, and are generally spaced apart by between 10 and 20 .mu.m. The cracks form boundaries through which the optical photons do not pass. Thus, confinement structures are formed in the scintillation layer, and the Csl:TI layer may be made relatively thick without thereby degrading resolution. This type of structure, and indeed any in which the scintillation material confines the dispersion of optical photons in a direction in the plane of the scintillation layer, is referred to herein as a pixelized scintillator.
This approach has several disadvantages. First, Csl is a toxic material. And in fact, TI is a very toxic material. Thus, using such material presents environmental health and safety concerns, as well as special permitting requirements for facilities handling this material. Second, films of Csl:TI are very fragile, and special handling procedures must be employed during manufacture of the films and devices employing the films. Third, Csl:TI is hygroscopic. Water attracted by the film negatively effects luminescence. Thus, additional processing, use of desiccants, etc. are required.
An alternative to the basic Csl:TI application is the creation of physically isolated, columnar structures of scintillation material. There are numerous ways to accomplish this. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,041,456 teaches forming a layer of scintillation material, dicing said layer, and reassembling same such that the joints between adjacent die present an optical boundary. However, die cutting requires substantial handling and introduces manufacturing inconsistencies. Furthermore, resolution is limited due to the practical limit on the size of each die.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,645 teaches creating laser-cut slots between regions of scintillation material, and filling said slots with optically opaque material. U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,377 teaches laser ablation of a continuous scintillation layer to form discrete scintillation material regions. These laser processing techniques cannot produce acceptable resolution, however, as the limit of control of the laser is too large to obtain the desired region-to-region spacing. Furthermore, the ablation process produces debris which affects performance of the scintillation material and introduces region-to-region variation in response. Finally, the process is relatively complex, difficult to control, and expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,355 teaches forming a pixelized scintillation layer by depositing Csl onto pads formed in or on a substrate. The Csl selectively grows on the pads to form columnar scintillation structures. U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,882 teaches forming scintillation material on mesas formed with sloped walls, again so that the scintillation material selectively grows in the form of columns. These alternatives also present significant problems. For example, the process of forming the pads is relatively complex, with numerous steps, introducing complexity and/or yield issues. Also, it is difficult to form such layers over regions larger than a few square inches. Lastly, because it uses Csl, it suffers from the disadvantages previously mentioned regarding that material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,996, teaches forming depressions in etchable substrate material, such as glass, plastic, a ceramic, a thin metal layer such as Al or Ti, or crystalline or amorphous silicon or germanium. The surface of the etched substrate is then covered with scintillation material by vacuum deposition. Properties of the evaporation are used to confine the deposited material to columns located in the depressions etched 5-20 .mu.m into the substrate. The columns then extend out of the depressions by 300-1000 .mu.m. The depth of 5-20 .mu.m of the depression is carefully controlled as required by the deposition process taught by the reference to allow the scintillation material to be selectively deposited therein. Should, for example, the depression depth exceed the specified 20 .mu.m, the process results in the deposition of the scintillation material not only in the depressions, but also on the ridges (element 16 in the reference) between the depressions. This reduces the effective separation between columns of scintillation material (element 19 in the reference), resulting in the problems associated with continuous films of scintillation material, such as loss of resolution, etc., since the reference relies on the air or vacuum gaps (elements 20 in the reference) to isolate the columns.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved pixelized scintillation layer providing high resolution, high conversion efficiency, environmental safety, ruggedness, and an improved method for making same.

Method of making a pixelized scintillation layer and structures incorporating same


A photovoltaic device includes a monocrystalline or polycrystalline semiconductor layer of one conductivity type, a substantially intrinsic substantially amorphous semiconductor layer having a predetermined thickness small enough to avoid producing carriers therein. The substantially intrinsic, substantially amorphous layer is formed on the one conductivity type semiconductor layer, and a substantially amorphous semiconductor layer of the opposite conductivity type is formed on the intrinsic, semiconductor layer.

In general, photovoltaic devices are classified into a monocrystal type, a polycrystalline type and a substantially amorphous type depending on the type of semiconductor layers used as photoelectric conversion layers. The present specification relates to devices having a substantially amorphous conversion layer. In recent years, active studies and developments have been made particularly in connection with photovoltaic devices of the polycrystal type and the substantially amorphous type.
The reason for the attention paid to the just mentioned devices is seen in that it is easy to form such a polycrystalline type or substantially amorphous type photovoltaic device with a large area as compared to a conventional monocrystalline type photovoltaic device. Further, the polycrystalline type or substantially amorphous type photovoltaic device requires a lower energy in its manufacture, and hence a reduction in manufacturing cost can be expected. However, although numerous results of the studies have been obtained, the polycrystalline type or substantially amorphous type photovoltaic device is still inferior in its performance relative to the monocrystalline type photovoltaic device.
Thus, as new attempts to develop photovoltaic devices, studies have been in progress recently for achieving still higher photoelectric conversion efficiencies by forming semiconductor junctions which appropriately combine a substantially amorphous semiconductor layer and a polycrystalline semiconductor layer, or a substantially amorphous semiconductor layer and a monocrystalline semiconductor layer while maintaining their respective preferable properties.
Normally, however, excellent semiconductor junctions cannot be formed merely by contacting semiconductor layers of different conductivity types with each other. For example, even if a monocrystalline semiconductor layer of one conductivity type and a substantially amorphous semiconductor layer of the opposite conductivity type, or a polycrystalline semiconductor layer of one conductivity type and an amorphous semiconductor layer of the opposite conductivity type are directly contacting each other to form a pn junction, a sufficient photoelectric conversion efficiency cannot be obtained, because many of the carriers generated in the semiconductor layers by irradiation with light, disappear by recombination in the vicinity of the interface of the pn junction, and hence the carriers cannot be collected efficiently.
It is considered that the recombination of the carriers is due to localized energy levels in a polycrystalline semiconductor or in an amorphous semiconductor.
That is, generally the quality of a substantially amorphous semiconductor film deteriorates substantially when doped with conductivity type determining impurities. The deterioration is represented as an increase in localized levels within the energy band gap. The localized energy levels increase the energy levels at the interface of the pn junction whereby an increase in the recombination of carriers is caused by the increased interface energy levels.
Further, since a polycrystalline semiconductor film includes a large number of grain boundaries therein and the crystal grains have random orientations, the polycrystalline semiconductor film has increased interface energy levels. Also, there is another disadvantage because impurities are liable to segregate into the grain boundaries in the polycrystalline semiconductor film.


According to one embodiment, a reproduction apparatus includes an execution unit configured to execute an advanced application, a detection unit configured to detect a series of keys which are operated by a user while the advanced application is executed, a recording unit configured to record key macro information formed of the detected series of keys and operation timings of the series of keys, and a key event generating unit configured to read the key macro information recorded by the recording unit and to generate a series of key events corresponding to the series of keys at the operation timings.

1. Field
One embodiment of the present invention relates to an optical disk reproduction apparatus such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) player.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the reproduction of advanced content of HD DVD (High Definition Digital Versatile Disc), for the purpose of various interactive settings by a user, an advanced application using an ECMA script and a markup language is executed. For instance, a user can customize a content reproducing method (such as language selection, display method, and audio selection). However, when content reproduction is temporarily stopped, and then started again, if an application that explicitly stores setting information in the ECMA script or the markup language is not provided, the setting content (setting of the customized reproducing method) is reset.
In this way, the advanced application using the ECMA script and the markup language is executed, whereby various customizations depending on content are realized. However, it is impossible to provide a setting storage function in a generic format applicable to all the applications, because the program itself of the ECMA script should be analyzed.
Meanwhile, a key macro function that stores a procedure of key operation by a user to repeatedly reproduce the key operation is described in Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2005-27114 (paragraph 0041). In this document, when a user operates an operation key of a remote control device or the like in the reproduction of an optical disk to select and reproduce a favorite scene or tune, the procedure of the key operation by the user is stored, whereby when the optical disk having been reproduced one time is reproduced again, the optical disk can be reproduced in accordance with the stored key operation. Therefore, when a user operates the operation key of the remote control device or the like in the reproduction of the optical disk to select and reproduce a favorite scene or tune, the procedure of the key operation by the user is stored, whereby when the optical disk having been reproduced one time is reproduced again, the optical disk can be reproduced in accordance with the stored key operation.
However, in the key macro function described in Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2005-27114, the reproduction of each scene or tune is completed in the reproduction of the optical disk, and then when a scene or tune to be reproduced next time is selected by a numeric key, the key macro function simply stores the operation order of the numeric key. When the reproduction of each scene and tune is completed during the second or more reproduction of the optical disk, the key macro function selects the next scene and tune in accordance with the stored operation order of the numeric key. Meanwhile, in the advanced application, also in the case where the timings of different or the same applications are different, different definitions may be given to the same key. For instance, a B key becomes a determination key or a bookmark registration key depending on the timing, and therefore the selection operation cannot be reproduced simply by storing a type of the operated key.
In the reproduction of the advanced content of HD DVD in the prior art, the advanced application realizes that the user can perform various settings by the interactive operation. However, if the application that stores the setting content is not provided, the setting content is reset, whereby the same operation should be performed again.

Optical disk reproduction apparatus and optical disk reproducing method


A novel operator is disclosed for use in combination with a butterfly fire and volume control damper, which operator may be concealed behind a standard concentric diffuser. Only a screwdriver aperture need be provided in the diffuser to facilitate the volume adjustment of the butterfly damper. In response to excessive heat in the vicinity of the damper, the blades of the damper will move to their fully closed position. Once activation conditions have passed, the damper may be reset by replacing the releasing device which separated in response to said heat.

The present invention relates to butterfly fire dampers for use in air ducts, particularly those which are intended for use as fire, smoke and/or air control dampers and which are intended to automatically move between the open and closed positions in response to the presence of fire or, (when a remotely activatable releasing device is used) in response to the receipt of a fire or smoke activated signal, and/or to be moved to an intermediate position to allow preselected volumes of air therethrough.
Multiple, folding blade fire dampers having a plurality of blades disposed within a frame having an inwardly depending flange are known in the prior art, as for example, in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,814,165 and 3,866,657. In my U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,156, a single blade fire damper is described. In this regard, please refer to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,009,473 (Hennan); 2,148,530; 3,337,991 ( Adams); 3,720,153 (Jardinier et al); French Pat. No. 2,307,228 (Barbarin) and my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,972.
The present invention also relates to the field of operators, and more particularly to the field of damper operators which actuate butterfly dampers in response to heat or remote signals but which are resettable immediately after the passage of activation conditions so that they may again respond to fire conditions. The present invention also relates to operators which are adapted to set the position of a damper's blades to regulate the volume of air passing therethrough under normal conditions. Finally, the present invention relates to such operators which may be reset while providing only limited manual access to the vicinity of the damper blades.
Conventionally, fusible or meltable releasing devices have been employed, such as fusible links in cables which are held under tension in normal conditions and which are activated by the melting of the link and the link break cable to deploy the blades of a fire or smoke damper into their activated positions.
More recently, bimetallic links, such as those illustrated in my previously issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,889,314 entitled, "HEAT ACTUATED LINK" and 3,725,972 entitled "FIRE LINK AND METHOD OF ACTUATING SAME" have been described wherein a mounting element having a bimetallic strip attached thereto, which cooperates therewith, may engage a pawl having an aperture therein which is engaged by a bimetallic element in the normal position and which is released thereby as the tip of the bimetallic element separates from the striker portion of the mounting element thereof to release the pawl. These bimetallic links have conventionally been installed by attaching a cable to either the pawl, the mounting element, or both, in a manner similar to that use for the fusible or meltable links described above. These bimetallic links have exhibited certain advantages over the prior art fusible links in that following a return to temperatures, the link may be reset by reinserting the pawl into the remaining link assembly.
Unfortunately, prior art devices of the type described above have usually been installed in butterfly dampers in a manner which prevents those butterfly dampers from being used for volume control purposes. Additionally, such releasing devices have often been located in positions which require complete access to the butterfly damper, and particularly to the remote blade portions thereof where the link is most often located. In certain installations, such as smoke tunnels, ducks, plenums, etc., human access to reset or replace releasing devices is limited. Additionally, relatively skilled personnel must be employed in order to reset or replace the aforementioned releasing devices. In the case of bimetallic links, these people must at least understand the proper method of inserting the pawl so that it is properly gripped by the remaining portion of the link.
For one approach to this problem, please refer to my previously issued U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,248, dated Mar. 12, 1974 entitled, "REMOTELY RESETTABLE FIRE DAMPER".

Low cost, diffuser concealable, volume control, heat responsive, resettable, butterfly damper operator

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An inexpensive approach to identify automobile 3rd brake lamp failures by drilling 2 holes, 1 in the reflector, and 1 in the outer housing, then covering the inner portion of hole in the outer body with a red plastic lens to allow the flowing filament to shine thru the outer body, thereby allowing the driver to detect 3rd brake lamp malfunction by observing the housing assembly in the rear view mirror.

This invention relates to vehicle safety devices and specifically to collision avoidance lamps mounted high on so equipped vehicles such as rear shelf or upper areas of the rear windows. While collision avoidance lamps have been standard equipment on most automobiles since 1986, as yet this inventor has not seen any means for a car operator to readily be able to recognize the fact that their 3rd brake lamp is not functioning.

3rd brake light burnout detection system


A magnetic picture display device is described. The invention includes a horizontal ground surface, a planar item to be displayed, a first support element and at least one front surface-contacting member. The display item has a front surface, a rear surface and at least one edge. The first support element has at least one ground surface contacting portion and at least one rear surface contacting portion. The rear surface-contacting portion includes ferromagnetic material. The front surface-contacting member includes a high-strength magnet. To use the invention the ground surface contacting is located on the ground surface and the rear surface of the item is located on the rear surface contacting portion of the first support element. The front surface contacting member is located on the front surface of the item at a point closest to the rear surface contacting portion of the first support element. This causes the ferromagnetic material in the front surface-contacting member to attract the ferromagnetic material in first support element and causes a magnetic field to flow through the item. The display device thus formed balances the item between its edge and the ground surface contacting portion of the first support element. Another variation of the invention includes an edge-engaging member having a first end and a second end. The first end is attached to the first support element and the second end includes a notch sized, shaped and located to engage and constrain an edge of the item to be displayed. In a further variation of the invention a second support element is provided having at least one ground surface contacting portion and at least one front surface contacting portion. The front surface-contacting portion includes a high-strength magnet. The display device balances the item to be display between its edge, the ground surface contacting portions of the first support element and the second support element.

Various types of picture frames and mounting devices have been developed employing magnetic means to retain the picture or object to be displayed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,834 issued to Tardiff incorporates a transparent plastic plate and a plurality of holding bars with integrally molded hooks on each end engaged over the opposite side edges of the plate. Shallow offsets along the edges of the bars co-act with the back of the plate to form slots that supportingly receive the edges of cards to display them through the plate. Permanent magnets on the bars magnetically support the plate, bars and the cards from iron walls of cabinets and appliances.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,965,599 issued to Ebner, magnets are disposed within recesses in a background member or plaque and these magnets engage metallic plates or foil elements permanently affixed to the back of a picture to be displayed for secure mounting thereof to the plaque in a predetermined orientation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,174, issued to Blegen employs a picture frame made from a flexible magnetic sheet material. A gift card is held to the back surface of the frame with double face tape. The frame is then attached magnetically to a metallic surface. U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,444 issued to Liao is a neon light box that has ferrometallic bars on the window and the top cover, to which a transparent cover with magnetic bars fixed thereon is attached to provide a space for displaying an advertisement slide.
While other variations exist, the above-described designs for picture frames and transparency display boxes are typical of those encountered in the prior art. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a means for displaying cards, photographs and similar items without the need for a bulky frame. It is a further objective of the invention that most, if not all of the edges of the display item be visible. It is yet a further objective of the invention that the display means be capable of orienting the display item in both a landscape and portrait orientation. It is still a further objective that the display means be simple and economical to manufacture. While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified.


The invention relates to a display control apparatus and method that make it possible to easily recognize detailed information relating to an overlap time slot in an apparatus capable of setting recording reservations for programs whose broadcast time slots overlap with each other. Program-11 that will be broadcast from 11 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. on channel-123 and program-14 that will be broadcast from 11:40 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. on channel-124 have an overlap broadcast time of 11:40 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. Of a block of program-11, a portion of the overlap time slot is given a color (hatched) meaning that an action corresponding to a set reservation will be executed in spite of the overlap in broadcast time with the other program. Of a block of program-14, a portion of the overlap time slot is given a color (dotted) meaning that an action corresponding to a set reservation will not be executed because of the overlap in broadcast time with the other program. The invention can be applied to equipment for processing TV programs such as STBs.

What is called the EPG (electronic program guide) in which program guide data to be used for program selection are transmitted being multiplexed with program data such as video and audio and other data and are displayed on a reception-side display device is known in such a field as digital broadcast.
Using an EPG, users can not only select a program to watch but also, for example, select a program to be reserved for recording to store it in a DVCR (digital video cassette recorder), a hard disk recorder, or the like that is connected to the display device.
For example, a user can set a recording reservation by selecting a desired program from programs in a displayed EPG by manipulating a remote controller or the like and then depressing a recording reservation button.
For a program for which a recording reservation has been set, a prescribed icon or the like that informs a user of the setting of the recording reservation is displayed in the EPG.
Incidentally, there are recording devices such as DVCRs and hard disk recorders that allow setting of recording reservations for programs whose broadcast times overlap with each other. This function allows users to set, in the case where, for example, a setting to perform recording in the same time slot every day has already been made, a recording reservation for another program to be broadcast in that time slot without the need for taking care about such an existing setting.
FIG. 1 shows an EPG example that is displayed by an apparatus that allows, as mentioned above, setting of recording reservations for programs whose broadcast times overlap with each other.
In FIG. 1, the horizontal axis represents the time and the vertical axis represents channels. Although in the example of the figure programs that are broadcast on channel-127 to channel-131 are omitted, actually the titles etc. of programs to be broadcast in the time slots shown are displayed like those of channel-123 to channel-126.
As shown in the figure, for example, the broadcast times of program-1 (European Soccer) and program-3 (Money Talk) overlap with each other and the broadcast times of program-2 (World Martial Arts) and program-3 also overlap with each other. Icons indicating that recording reservations are set for these programs are displayed on the left of their program names, respectively.
In the example of FIG. 1, reservation icons 11, 12, and 13 are displayed on the left of the titles of program-1, program-2, and program-3, respectively.
By checking such reservation icons, a user can easily recognize for what programs recording reservations are set.
FIG. 2 shows an example in which recording reservations have been set by using an EPG and detailed information of those settings is displayed in list form.
In this example, detailed reservation information of program-1, program-2, and program-3 for which reservations are set in FIG. 1 is displayed as reservation information-1, reservation information-2, and reservation information-3, respectively.
Each piece of reservation information, for example, reservation information-1, is such that a program title, a channel, a broadcast date and time, etc. are displayed and a reservation icon 11 etc. are displayed on their right.
By referring to such a list display, a user can also recognize easily for what programs recording reservations are set.
However, although displaying, for example, an EPG as shown in FIG. 1 allows a user to easily recognize for what programs recording reservations are set, there is a problem that in the case where broadcast time slots overlap with each other he cannot obtain, on the EPG, more detailed information such as an overlap time slot and which reserved program will be recorded during the overlap time slot.
In the case of FIG. 1, for example, although the user can recognize that the broadcast time slots of program-1 and program-3 overlap with each other, he cannot recognize a specific overlap time slot at a glance. And the user cannot recognize which of program-1 and program-3 will be recorded in the overlap time slot.
Further, a technique is known in which program blocks for which recording reservations etc. are set are displayed in a different color than program blocks for which no such settings are made. However, even in such a case, as in the above-described example, a user cannot recognize detailed information such as an overlap time slot at a glance.


A rapid prototyping process is provided by which prototype components can be fabricated that are suitable for conceptual evaluations. The rapid prototyping process of this invention is more efficient than comparable prior art processes, in that the previous requirement to completely process a prototype article within a single process chamber is eliminated, such that different process steps can be conducted simultaneously on different articles within a single process system. The process entails the steps of forming a prototype within a process chamber that generates the prototype through successively depositing and sintering individual layers of a powder material that fuses together so as to form the prototype. The prototype is then removed from the process chamber and cooled within a separate cooling chamber through which a nonoxidizing cooling medium flows.

The fabrication of prototypes has long been a technique employed to evaluate the conceptual and functional feasibility of articles proposed for manufacture. Traditional prototyping techniques have generally entailed designing a component, followed by the manufacture of tooling from which the prototype is produced. While computer-aided design (CAD) techniques have become widely used in the design of both prototype and manufactured components, the conventional reliance on manufactured tooling to physically produce a prototype has been the dominating factor in determining when a prototype will become available, particularly for prototypes having complex geometries.
To reduce this lead time, CAD techniques have become more fully integrated with computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) techniques to eliminate the requirement for prototype tooling. Such methods include "rapid prototyping" (RP) processes, which generally entail the fabrication of a prototype from a material that is selectively cured or fused to form a unitary prototype. With rapid prototyping techniques, the period between prototype design and delivery can often be drastically reduced from several months required to fabricate prototype tooling, to as little as a few days.
Variations of rapid prototyping processes exist, with primary differences being the type and condition of the material being used to form the prototype, and the manner in which the material is fused or cured. Various materials can potentially be used, including powdered plastics, metals and ceramics. One known process involves the use of a photosensitive polymer in a liquid form. The liquid polymer is contained in a vat and successively cured in a manner that results in cured layers being successively fused together to form a unitary prototype. Suitable materials for this particular process are those that can be cured through exposure to a high-intensity light source, such as a laser beam, and include such materials as polycarbonates, nylons and investment casting waxes.
Regardless of the type of material used, rapid prototyping processes are generally adapted to quickly and accurately deposit several thousand individual layers, each having a thickness of typically less than about 0.5 millimeter, and fuse the deposited layers to form a desired prototype. Computer data and a machine controller controls the entire process such that only selective portions of the material are cured or fused in order to achieve the desired geometry for a given prototype.
While the fabrication of prototypes in the above manner eliminates the requirement for prototype tooling, further improvements in process efficiency would be desirable. A significant shortcoming of prior art rapid prototyping techniques is the common requirement that the prototypes be sintered and cooled within a processing chamber containing an atmosphere that will not oxidize, and therefore weaken, the sintered prototype. Cooling generally requires several hours, during which time a suitable nonoxidizing gas is flowed through the processing chamber. Consequently, the chamber is nonproductive during the cooling phase of the process, such that the overall efficiency of the process is significantly reduced.
Accordingly, it would be desirable if a rapid prototyping process existed by which a prototype could be fabricated from fused materials, yet avoided the requirement of employing a single chamber for all of the steps entailed in the process.

Rapid prototyping process and cooling chamber therefor


An organic light emitting diode display includes a flexible substrate, an organic light emitting diode disposed over the flexible substrate, and an encapsulation film disposed over the flexible substrate to encapsulate the organic light emitting diode, with the organic light emitting diode interposed between the encapsulation film and the flexible substrate. A thermal conduction layer contacts the flexible substrate, wherein the thermal conduction layer faces the organic light emitting diode and the flexible substrate is interposed between the thermal conduction layer and the organic light emitting diode. A first film is disposed over the encapsulation film, and a second film is disposed over the thermal conduction layer.

1. Field
The described technology relates generally to an organic light emitting diode display, and more particularly, to an organic light emitting diode display with organic light emitting diodes, and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays have been recently highlighted as display devices for displaying images. The organic light emitting diode display has a self emissive characteristic, and generally differs from a liquid crystal display (LCD) in that it does not require a separate light source and has relatively small thickness and weight. Furthermore, the organic light emitting diode display exhibits other high quality characteristics, such as low power consumption, high luminance, and short response time.
A flexible organic light emitting diode display in which organic light emitting diodes are formed on a plastic substrate and encapsulated by a thin film has been recently developed. As the flexible organic light emitting diode display generally has very thin thickness overall, films with relatively large thicknesses may be attached to the top and the bottom surfaces of the flexible organic light emitting diode display in order to increase the mechanical strength thereof. In this case, however, it is difficult to dissipate heat generated from the organic light emitting diodes to the outside of the display due to the thick films.
If the heat generated from the organic light emitting diodes is not properly dissipated to the outside of the flexible organic light emitting diode display, the temperature of the flexible organic light emitting diode display can be elevated and cause the flexible organic light emitting display to become defective, and have shortened lifespan or operation failures.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the described technology and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Organic light emitting diode display and method of manufacturing the same


An engine intake control apparatus for an engine that comprises at least one combustion chamber operatively connected to an intake port and an intake valve associated with each intake port, wherein the intake valve is adapted to open and close the intake port is disclosed herein. The intake control apparatus comprises a variable valve operating mechanism and a controller. The variable valve operating mechanism is configured and arranged to selectively change a valve closing timing and a valve lift amount of the intake valve. The controller is configured and arranged to control the variable valve operating mechanism when the engine is in a low load condition. The valve closing timing is determined such that an actual compression ratio of the engine is reduced relative to the actual compression ratio when the engine is operating in a high load condition. The valve lift amount is smaller when the engine is in the low load condition relative to the valve lift amount when the engine is in the high load condition. A method for controller an engine is also disclosed.

An intake controller is known in which timing for opening intake valves is substantially fixed, and the effective intake stroke is variably regulated by altering the timing for closing the intake valves based on an engine load in an attempt to reduce the pumping loss. Such an intake controller is disclosed in published Japanese Patent Application No. 55-87835.
However, in the intake controller disclosed published Japanese Patent Application No. 55-87835, because the timing for closing the intake valves comes significantly ahead of bottom dead center BDC in the intake stroke, the intake air in the cylinders expands adiabatically to bottom dead center BDC despite the suction stroke, so that the temperature inside the cylinders also drops as the pressure inside the cylinders drops. Although the compression stroke begins once bottom dead center BDC is passed, because almost nothing but adiabatic expansion and compression are present until the in-cylinder pressure at which the adiabatic expansion began is reached, that is, the in-cylinder pressure has merely been restored; the actual compression begins from the point at which the in-cylinder pressure is restored. Thus, the actual compression ratio drops significantly as the timing for closing the intake valves comes further ahead of bottom dead center BDC. Because this drop in the actual compression ratio results in a significant drop in the temperature of the air-fuel mixture inside the cylinders at compression top dead center TDC, the combustion rate drops due to the deteriorated combustion state. According, fuel economy is adversely impacted.
Also, when the timing for closing the intake valves is advanced in an engine equipped with a variable valve operating mechanism, it is feasible to improve the thermal efficiency of the engine by adhering a heat insulating material on the wall surfaces of the combustion chambers, partially or entirely, to prevent the pumping loss reduction effect from being lost. However, because the heat transfer rate increases when heat insulating materials, such as ceramic material, are used, at a high temperature generated at high engine load, the temperature of the intake air inside the combustion chambers increases so that undesirable knocking occurs. In addition, intake air filling efficiency at high load is also essential in that the volume of air is decreased to the extent that the temperature of the intake air increases, and a tradeoff occurs, resulting in a drop in torque

Intake control apparatus for an engine and method


The present invention relates to an output-current detection IC chip for diode sensors and a diode sensor device, which reduce the influence by a leak current of a protection circuit. The present invention is equipped with a sensor unit in which anodes of N (N being an integer of 2 or more) diode sensors are connected to each other, a common terminal connected to a connection portion where the anodes are connected to each other, N input terminals connected to cathodes of the diode sensors, N+1 protection circuits connected to the input terminals and the common terminal, an I-V conversion circuit which converts an output current of each diode sensor into a voltage, a chopper circuit which switches the polarity of the output current and inputs the same to the I-V conversion circuit, and a dummy protection circuit connected to the input of the I-V conversion circuit.

It has heretofore been known that in a system of processing signals from a plurality of detection elements, one ends of the plural detection element are made common for a reduction in the number of terminals and due to structural constraints (refer to, for example, Patent Literature 1).
It has also been known that in a circuit which processes signals from sensors in which one ends of a plurality of detection elements are made common, a chopper operation adapted to perform signal processing by switching the orientation of each detection element is performed to cancel an offset.
Further, there has been proposed an infrared sensor module equipped with an infrared sensor, an IC element which performs signal processing on an output signal of the infrared sensor, and a package in which the infrared sensor and the IC element are stored. Moreover, it is general that in a semiconductor device such as an IC, an ESD protection circuit is provided on a chip to prevent the device from destruction due to electrostatic discharge (ESD: Electro-Static Discharge).
A sensor device equipped with a sensor element and an IC element signal-processing an output voltage of the sensor element often amplifies the output voltage to perform its signal processing because the amplitude of the output voltage of the sensor element is small and the output impedance of the sensor element is high. For example, since in the above-described infrared sensor module, the amplitude of the output voltage of the infrared sensor as the sensor element is small, and the output impedance of the infrared sensor is high, an amplifier circuit which amplifies the output voltage of the infrared sensor, an A/D conversion circuit which analog-to-digital converts the analog output voltage of this amplifier circuit, etc. are considered to be provided in the IC element.
For example, the sensor device described in Patent Literature 2 relates to a sensor device in which an ESD protection circuit is provided in each of an infrared sensor as a sensor element and an IC element. This is one provided with offset canceling unit which, in order to avoid the occurrence of an offset voltage caused by a leak current flowing through each ESD protection circuit and a reduction in S/N ratio, cancels an offset voltage determined by a leak current flowing through a sensor unit due to a first ESD protection circuit and a second ESD protection circuit and the impedance of the sensor unit.
Further, there has been illustrated in Patent Literature 3, a configuration which is provided with a sensor element, a signal processing device that processes an output current of the sensor element, and a correction arithmetic unit that performs a temperature correction, and in which the output current from the sensor element is converted into a voltage by a current-voltage converter.
Moreover, there has been illustrated in Patent Literature 4, a configuration which is provided with a sensor unit, a switch, and a full differential amplifier and performs signal processing on an output voltage from the sensor unit. In this Patent Literature 4, the output voltage from the sensor unit is chopper-modulated by the switch to perform its signal processing.

Output-current detection chip for diode sensors, and diode sensor device


A process and apparatus are described for patterning a masked metal layer to form a layer of metal interconnects for an integrated circuits structure which removes metal etch residues, while inhibiting or eliminating erosion of the photoresist mask, by providing an amplitude modulation of the RF bias power supplied to the substrate support of the substrate being etched. The amplitude modulation of the RF power superimposes short pulses of RF power of sufficient magnitude (pulse height) and of sufficient duration (pulse width) to remove metal etch residues as they form during the etch process without, however, eroding the photoresist etch mask during the etch process sufficiently to adversely impact the patterning of the metal layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process and apparatus for etching metal useful in the formation of integrated circuit structures. More particularly, this invention relates to a process and apparatus for etching metal portions of integrated circuit structure which exhibits high selectivity to photoresist mask material while also exhibiting good removal of metal etch residues.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the construction of integrated circuit structures, one or more metal interconnect layers are used to electrically connect together individual semiconductor devices formed on a substrate to thereby form desired electronic circuits. Conventionally such metal interconnects are constructed by first depositing a metal layer over the structure and then patterning the metal layer by forming a photoresist mask over the metal layer and then etching the exposed portions of the metal layer. The metal layer usually comprises aluminum and a low pressure plasma etch, using chlorine-based chemistry, is generally used to etch the aluminum metal. However, the aluminum metal used to form such aluminum metal interconnects typically comprises an alloy of aluminum and another metal, e.g., copper, in minor amounts, i.e., 10 wt. % or less, and may also contain small amounts of impurities. Such alloying materials and impurities can produce etch residues during the patterning of the metal layer, which residues must also be removed from the surface of the integrated circuit structure.
The successful removal of such residues has, in the past, required the use of high energy ion bombardment which is obtained by applying a high bias power to the substrate support on which the substrate rests during the etching process. By high power is meant a bias power equivalent to a bias power of at least 200 watts when a metal layer on a six inch diameter silicon substrate is being etched, with such equivalent power levels sometimes reaching as high as 1000 watts. While the use of such high bias power will result in successful removal of etch residues generated during the patterning of the metal layer, such a solution, in turn, generates a further problem: erosion of the photoresist mask. Erosion of the photoresist etch mask, in turn, can result in too much of the metal being etched away, resulting in an undesirable thinning and/or undercutting of the metal lines, or in extreme cases, complete etching away of the metal lines, resulting in an open circuit in the wiring structure being created. Such erosion of the photoresist mask can begin to occur when an equivalent bias power of greater than about 100 watts is used, and this erosion reaches an unsatisfactory level when equivalent bias power levels as high as 200 watts are utilized.
It would, therefore, be desirable to have a process and apparatus for the patterning of a metal layer in the construction of an integrated circuit structure wherein etch residues formed during the etching of the metal layer would be removed during the patterning process while still inhibiting or eliminating erosion of the photoresist mask.

Process and apparatus for etching metal in integrated circuit structure with high selectivity to photoresist and good metal etch residue removal


Systems and methods are described for learning the discriminative power-invariance tradeoffs for classification of input data (“tradeoff learning system”). In various embodiments, the tradeoff learning system receives multiple classifiers (“base classifiers”) and employs a learning technique to produce a combined classifier. Each received base classifier achieves a different level of tradeoff. The learning technique then decreases a function of kernel weights associated with each of the received classifiers to produce the combined classifier. By decreasing the function of kernel weights, the tradeoff learning system computes a combined classifier that classifies input data more accurately than the received multiple classifiers.

A classifier is a function that classifies inputs by computing a function on a set of inputs. Classifiers are generally computed from a set of learning data and then employed to classify input data. Many practical applications employ classifiers, including pattern recognition, regression estimation, "SPAM" detection, intrusion detection, and so forth. Classifiers can be used to determine, for example, whether an image contains a particular type of object, such as a chair.
A support vector machine (SVM) is a type of classifier. An SVM operates by identifying a hyper-surface in a space of possible inputs by analyzing training data. The hyper-surface attempts to divide "positive" examples in the space of possible inputs from "negative" examples by maximizing the distance ("Euclidian distance") between the nearest of the positive and negative examples to the hyper-surface. An input is classified as positive or negative depending on which side of the hyper-surface the classifier places the input.
Multiple classifiers can be designed or "learned" to classify data, and these classifiers can be distinguished from one another based on the tradeoff they achieve between discriminative power and invariance. Discriminative power is a measure of a capability to distinguish between types of inputs, e.g., chairs in images. Invariance is a measure of a capability to distinguish between attributes of the inputs, e.g., rotation, zoom, color, and so forth. As examples, image patches, when compared using standard Euclidean distance, have almost no invariance but very high discriminative power because a classifier can compare image patches pixel-by-pixel to determine whether there is a match, but it cannot resolve attributes of the input (e.g., rotation). Alternatively, a constant function has very high invariance but no discriminative power because a classifier employing the function can compute the result of the constant function to classify an input, but different types of objects may not be adequately defined by the constant function.
Classifiers are often generated between these two extremes of discriminative power and invariance, and the concomitant tradeoff affects the generalization performance of classifiers. However, this tradeoff often varies according to the specific classification task at hand. As an example, if all objects in images are known to be chairs of a certain design but in various positions, discriminative power can be traded off to improve invariance. As another example, when classifying digits, a rotationally invariant classifier may not be desirable because then a "6" could be mistaken for a "9." If the task was simplified to distinguish between just "4" and "9," then it would be preferable to have full rotational invariance if the digits could occur at any arbitrary orientation. However, "4" and "9" can be confused during image classification. If a rich training corpus of training data is available with digits present at various different orientations, then a more discriminative and less invariant classifier can be employed to classify input data. In this scenario, the data itself would provide the rotation invariance. When multiple classifiers are available to classify data, it can be difficult to decide how to automatically combine the classifiers to provide accurate classification.

Learning tradeoffs between discriminative power and invariance of classifiers


An antenna apparatus includes a structure configured to mount within a stock race to permit animals to pass therethrough. One or more antenna coils are attached to or within the structure and provide a magnetic field laterally across the structure. The coils may be arranged in a Helmholtz configuration to provide a substantially uniform field in a read zone. The structure may have an open top and the side walls of the structure may be slanted forwards.

Low frequency RFID devices may be used to identify farm animals. The RFID device is interrogated (read) by a suitable reader that incorporates an antenna.
A number of problems can arise where the interrogation occurs as animals move through a stock race. Animals may baulk upon seeing a tag reader above the race, and may hesitate, run backwards, or jump out of the race. As well as causing race inefficiency, the animals may be hurt or undesirably stressed by this process.
A further problem that can occur in animal identification systems is that two or more animals' heads, and therefore also their tags, may enter or be present in a read zone of an antenna at the same time. This can cause a tag collision and may result in one or more tags not being read. This can occur when animals follow each other too closely or when animals do not move through the reader in single file, and is especially a problem with a mixture of different sized animals.
The present invention may provide an improved antenna apparatus, or may at least provide the public with a useful choice.


An apparatus for and method of reducing transistor body effect when detecting and correcting a phase error between clock signals using delay-locked and phase-locked loop circuits. The clock signals are provided to an equal number of circuit elements in cross-coupled XOR circuits. The circuit includes a transconductance circuit having at least two PMOS transistors with their substrates directly connected to their sources.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to delay-locked loop circuits. In particular, the invention relates to reducing the body effect of circuit elements in delay-locked loop circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the design of delay-locked or phase-locked loops, the phase detector is an important component. The basic idea of the loop is to measure the phase difference between two clock signals, or more specifically, to measure the timing difference between two rising edges of two clock signals, and then to feed back this timing difference information to a component such as a voltage controlled delay chain. The delay chain adjusts the timing delay of one (or both) of the clock signals, thereby bringing the timing difference to zero. A timing difference of zero is also called a phase alignment of zero, which means that the clock signals transition at the same time. In such a case the output of the phase detector should indicate that no phase adjustment is necessary.
However, there are two situations in which poor phase detector design can lead to phase alignment errors. First, a poor design may cause the phase detector to feed back adjustment information even when the two clock edges are already in alignment. Second, a poor design may cause the phase detector to misdetect zero phase alignment and not feed back adjustment information, even when the two clock signals are not in alignment. These errors are called static phase alignment errors.
One way in which the design of the phase detector contributes to static phase alignment error is when the clock signals must drive different numbers of transistors, some of which have body effect and some of which do not. For example, FIG. 1 shows an XOR phase detector circuit. Node 17 supplies power and node 19 is connected to ground. Node 18 connects the substrates of the transistors to ground. Clock signal 11 drives only one gate of transistor 13 but clock signal 12 drives two gates of transistors 14 and 15. So even if the designer sizes the transistors 13-15 to get equal loading for clock signals 11-12, clock signal 11 drives transistor 13 without body effect but clock signal 12 drives transistors 14-15 which do have body effect.
This body effect results from a voltage difference between the substrate and the source of each transistor. Transistor 13 has no body effect because its substrate is connected to node 18 and its source is connected to node 19, both of which are ground nodes. On the other hand, transistor 14 has body effect because, although its substrate is connected to node 18, its source is connected to the drain of transistor 13. Similarly, transistor 15 has body effect because its source is connected to the drain of transistor 16. Thus, it is easier for clock signal 11 to turn on its gate than for clock signal 12 to turn on its gates. The phase detector will then sense clock signal 11 differently than clock signal 12. This difference will contribute to the system static phase alignment error.
Another contribution to the error is the design of the charge pump. The output of the charge pump drives an adjustment circuit such as a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). For generation of a good, low jitter VCO output, a small charge pump output ripple is needed. However, for many existing charge pumps, the output node is connected to rapidly switching PMOS and NMOS transistors, which will generate noise at the output node and lead to a large ripple.
A third contribution to the error is the design of the transconductance stage. FIG. 2 illustrates a typical transconductance circuit. The difference between currents I.sub.1 and I.sub.2 is proportional to the difference between the gate-to-source voltages of M1 and M2. However, this assumes that the gate-source voltages of M5 and M7 are both V.sub.B. This is not correct if transistor body effect is considered, even when M5 and M7 are the same size and source the same current. This is because the threshold voltage of M5 is larger than that of M7 because the source-substrate voltage of M5 is not zero. This means the gate-source voltages of M5 and M7 cannot both be equal to V.sub.B. The same is true for M6 and M8.
Body effect occurs when the potential of the substrate of a MOSFET is different from the source potential. The body effect increases the threshold voltage of the MOSFET. The body effect contributes to nonlinearity. A way is needed to overcome the body effect in both the phase detector and the transconductance circuit in a delay-locked loop circuit.

XOR differential phase detector with transconductance circuit as output charge pump


Current flowing through a load is monitored by a transformer (Tr1) having a small mutual inductance. The secondary coil is shorted through a rectifier circuit to deliver a charge which, in a first preferred embodiment, is connected to a log charge translator circuit comprising matching diodes (D9, D7 and D10, D8) and a capacitor (C2) to provide a capacitor voltage proportional to the log of the charge delivered through the rectifier circuit. The capacitor is reset after each measurement. In a modified embodiment, the log translator circuit comprises a pair of transistors (T1, T2) and a capacitor (C2). According to the preferred embodiments, two measurements of the capacitor voltage are taken each half cycle at a time determined by the absolute value of the line voltage. The measurements per half cycle are stored in words in a stack and processed through a three or five cycle algorithm for determining fluctuations which will cancel out disturbances caused by nuisance loads that are repetitive or continuously varying. In a described embodiment, a pushdown stack of 60 words is used with fluctuations compared by a microcontroller to a selected limit. Measurements for the last half second of measurements are considered, ignoring the first and last measurement, and when the sum of the fluctuations exceeds the selected limit an arc is indicated and a circuit interrupter is tripped. A self test button is connected to the microcontroller which, when depressed, results in charging of the capacitor to stimulate the detection of an arc.

Arc detection on alternating current (AC) power lines are known in the art. Examples of prior art detectors include U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,402 to McEachern et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,651 to Baxter et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,223 to Zuercher et al. McEachern et al. teach the comparison of adjacent cycles to detect waveform disturbances. Baxter et al. teach the comparison of the current cycle to a reference cycle built up from many prior cycles and Zuercher et al. teach the use of cumulative difference signals at predetermined points over many cycles to detect arcs. However, the McEachern et al. and Baxter et al. comparison signals suffer from nuisance tripping caused by varying loads. This limitation is addressed in Zuercher et al. by further analysis of the signal to detect arcs. All three approaches require relatively costly, power-hungry, fast digital processing because a plurality of points per cycle need to be sampled.


Disclosed herein is a system and method of providing a warning to a pedestrian using a laser beam. In particular, objects present in a detection area of a front impact sensor provided on a vehicle are detected. A movement path vector of a first moving object that is moving in a direction identical to that of the vehicle, among the objects present in the detection area, is generated. When the movement path vector of the first moving object falls within an error range of a movement vector of the vehicle, the first moving object is designated as belonging to a group of laser warning target candidates, and thereafter an emission angle of a laser beam is generated. The laser beam is emitted through a laser light based on the emission angle of the laser beam.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for a system and method of providing a warning to a pedestrian using a laser beam when the pedestrian is located ahead of a direction in which a vehicle is moving.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 1, when pedestrians are located ahead of the traveling direction of a vehicle 1, existing schemes presented to date are configured so that a driver may manually operate a horn provided in the vehicle 1 to emit a sound. However, when a driver operates a horn in an area having a quiet surrounding environment, such as a residential street or a school, this can create noise pollution. In particular, a disadvantage of such a scheme is that third parties have to listen to a loud horn sound which may also cause a pedestrian stress. Further, due to local characteristics, in specific sections, traffic laws may prohibit a driver from operating a horn. In such an area, there is no method of notifying a pedestrian that a vehicle is traveling.
With the rapid development of automobile technology, noise emitted from a traveling vehicle have been decreased more and more. In particular, with the popularization of environment-friendly vehicles, such as electric vehicles, a scheme for providing a warning to a pedestrian using a device other than the horn is required.
The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the better understanding of the background of the present invention, and is not intended to mean that the present invention falls within the purview of the related art that is already known to those skilled in the art.

System and method of providing warning to pedestrian using laser beam


A detection device of a GOA circuit of a display panel includes a signal supply unit for supplying a test signal to the GOA circuit; an acquisition unit for determining whether each of the GOA units in the GOA unit group of the GOA circuit has an output signal, if there is an output signal, acquiring the output signal of each of the GOA units in the GOA unit group; wherein part of the GOA units in the GOA circuit constitute the GOA unit group, the GOA unit group at least includes an initial GOA unit and a distal GOA unit of the GOA circuit; a processing unit for determining whether the GOA circuit is abnormal based on the acquired output signal of each of the GOA units in the GOA unit group.

The Gate Driver on Array (GOA) technology is a process technology of directly fabricating a gate driver IC on an array substrate to replace the driving chip fabricated by an external silicon wafer. The application of this technology can reduce the production process, reduce the product cost, and improve the integration level of the thin film field effect transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel.
In recent years, the GOA technology has been comprehensively developed and widely applied. According to the distribution of the GOA units, the GOA panel can be classified into a unilateral GOA panel (fabricating the GOA units at the left side of the array substrate) and a bilateral GOA panel (fabricating the GOA units at both left and right sides of the array substrate, to perform driving from two sides simultaneously). From the aspects of timing control and unit TFT design, the GOA panel can also be classified into a 9T/13T (wherein T represents a TFT structure, 9T namely means that each GOA unit consists of nine TFTs, 13T namely means that each GOA unit consists of 13 TFTs) structure, a capacitive (which means that the GOA unit contains capacitors) structure, etc.
Although the GOA technology can realize a high integration level of the circuit in the display panel, it results in some problems in testing of the display panel. For example, when the GOA circuit is tested conventionally, it has to light up the display panel and supply a data signal to observe whether the GOA circuit is abnormal based on the displayed image. Therefore, the test to the GOA circuit of the display panel in the prior art can only be judged manually, which has a low efficiency and is easy to misjudge.

Detection device and detection method of a GOA circuit of a display panel

BOE (HEBEI) MOBILE DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Methods, systems, and techniques for providing a pseudo permanent communications connection using temporary connection protocols are described. Example embodiments provide a Enhanced Communications Layer that provides such connections by means of a layer incorporated in the client side and server side communications stacks. The ECL maintains a pool of connections that are opened and used in a staggered fashion to reduce the amount of connection setup and teardown.

HTTP is a type of "single connection per single payload" protocol. That is, whenever data is transferred in the payload of a packet, and thereafter received, the connection is shut down. By design of the HTTP protocol, a connection is setup and made, a request (e.g., an HTTP request) is transmitted from a client device (client) to a server computing system (server), a response (e.g., an HTTP response) from server is received at the client, and the connection is closed. The request may be to request data from the server (e.g., an HTTP "GET"), for example, an html page at a designated uniform resource identifier (uri or url); or the request may be to transmit (send, forward, communicate, etc.) data to the server (e.g., an HTTP "POST"). The response from the server is typically to send the html page located at the uri specified with the response or to receive the data sent by the client. The payload of an HTTP packet contains the data (e.g., the uri, posted data, or html page).
There are a couple of exceptions to this. In one extension to HTTP, a multi-part response to an HTTP request allows more than one response to be received for a single connection. However, the connection is still is effectively one HTTP request per connection, because a client cannot interpret and re-send data, based on the response(s), without making another connection to the server. In addition, some browsers, such as Internet Explorer, which support multiple payloads, include a size limitation on certain elements of the multi-part message.
Comet style programming, which provides a web application model, improves or eliminates connection setup time by making the connection ahead of time, and keeping the connection open, in anticipation that data that will be sent to a browser. This model anticipates that a server will push data to a browser, without the browser (or other application executing on the client) explicitly requesting it using an HTTP request. It is a type of "push" protocol. But even these connections eventually have to be closed.
See, for example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_(programming).
Use of HTTP connections is not efficient due to the overhead on both the client and the server in setting up and closing out the connections. Use of such connections also introduces latency in communication between the client and server, because each connection has to be established before a request can be made. Also, there is no provision for providing state information across connections, as each connection is independent of another. Hence, there is no support for persistency or state-full information across connections, unless duplicate state information is passed in a subsequent request, or state identifiers are used.
Other single payload per single connection type protocols have similar deficiencies.

Permanent connection oriented communication using parallel single connection circuits


An apparatus for generating a constant dc output voltage from a dc input voltage having a varying magnitude includes an inductor for storing an electrical charge and a semiconductor switch for controlling the application of the input voltage to the inductor. The apparatus further includes an error amplifier which compares the output voltage to a reference voltage and generates an error signal voltage proportional to the difference between the two voltages. An analog voltage divider generates a control voltage proportional to the ratio of the error signal voltage to the input voltage. The control voltage is applied to a pulse width converter which controls the duty cycle of the semiconductor switch responsive to changes in the input voltage such that the output voltage remains constant.

This invention relates to switching voltage convertors, and, more particularly, to switching voltage convertors for providing a constant dc voltage from the voltage available on the subscriber loop of a telephone network.
In recent years there have been significant advances in the development of equipment to be used in conjunction with residential and business telephone services. Such advances include add-on devices such as low-cost speaker phones, automatic dialers, automatic answer machines, and the like. In addition, the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (CCITT) has recently specified a four-wire "S" interface standard for digital customer access (DCA) in an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) which allows direct digital communications as well as improved digitized voice communications within a customer's residential or business facility. Devices which have been designed to work with this improved interface have sophisticated analog and digital circuits which require well-regulated voltages.
Typically, the add-on devices are electrically connected to the subscribers' telephone lines to receive and transmit signals thereon. A number of voltage convertor devices have been developed for providing the power to the add-on devices from the telephone lines. These voltage convertor devices take advantage of the fact that a typical subscriber telephone line provides a voltage differential of approximately 40 volts across the telephone lines when the receiver is on hook. Therefore, this voltage can be used to provide a source of dc power during the on hook condition. Typically, the add-on devices have internal batteries which are charged during the on hook condition to provide a continuing source of dc power when the receiver is off hook.
A typical voltage requirement for an exemplary add-on telephone circuit is 5 volts dc. This 5 volt source of power must be derived from the nominal 40 volts between the subscriber lines. Generally, a further requirement is imposed that the power tapped from the subscriber telephone loop be maintained at or below 400 mW. In order to provide a maximum amount of power at the 5 volt level for the add-on circuits, it has been found to be particularly advantageous to use a switching voltage convertor to provide the voltage for the add-on circuits. Although switching voltage convertors are well known to the art, it has been found that the convertors generally available suffer from problems with regulation. That is, although the differential voltage on the telephone subscriber loop is nominally 40 volts, fluctuations in the loading of the subscriber networks can cause the voltage to vary such that it is as low as 20 volts and as high as 48 volts. Thus, the switching voltage convertors must be designed to provide a nominal output of 5 volts while the input voltage to the convertor varies by more than 20 volts. Thus, a switching voltage convertor for use with a telephone subscriber network must be capable of suppressing variations in the output voltage over a wide range of variations in the input voltage.
Various apparatus and methods have been developed in the art to suppress variations in the output voltage of switching voltage convertors. However, the apparatus are typically complex and require a large number of control components, many of which cannot be incorporated into a single integrated circuit. Thus, a need exists to provide a control circuit for a switching voltage convertor for providing a constant output voltage over a wide range of input voltages.

Switching convertor for generating a constant magnitude dc output voltage from a dc input voltage having a varying magnitude


A covered self-expanding vascular occlusion device and a method of making and using the device. The device comprises a braided wire member with at least two axially spaced securing members affixed to the braided wire member and a thin film covering at least half of the device. The braided member can be moved between a larger diameter ball-like shape or conical shape in its relaxed position, and a smaller diameter cylindrical shape in its stretched position. The film covering is applied to the device by first stretching a portion of film to form a shape similar to a portion of a device to be covered by the film, then inserting the device into the shape formed in the film so that the film covers at least half of the device, and trimming the film to separate the covered device from the remaining film. The device is used by installing it on the end of a tubular introducer where it is held in its relaxed position until needed. A sliding member inside of the introducer tube then pulls the device into the tube, moving the device to its stretched position as it does so. The sliding member is pulled out of the tube, releasing the device and leaving it inside of the tube and in its stretched condition. The tube is installed in a catheter, and the device pushed from the tube into, through, and out of the catheter where upon exiting the catheter the device then opens to its relaxed condition, lodges in the blood vessel, and immediately and completely occludes the vessel.

Not applicable.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally to medical devices. More particularly, the invention relates to vaso-occlusion devices used in radiology and embolotherapy.
2. Background Information
In embolotherapy, it is often desirable to occlude blood flow in a section of vasculature for purposes such as controlling internal bleeding, stopping blood supply to tumors, and relieving vessel-wall pressure in a region of a vessel aneurysm. Numerous devices have been developed for this purpose. U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,069 describes devices and methods such as cross-linking liquids, cyanoacrylate resins, balloons and helical wire coils. Helical coils found favor, but because they are dimensioned to engage the walls of the vessel, they are relatively stiff and difficult to advance through a catheter.
The device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,069 provides a smaller coiled wire that, when tensioned, would have a linear configuration allowing it to easily be advanced through a catheter to the desired site. When the wire exits the catheter, it relaxes and takes a random convoluted shape to form a space-filling mass lodged in the vessel at the site of release. However, because the final shape of the relaxed coil in the blood vessel is random, the precise location and specific length the device occupies in the vessel cannot be guaranteed.
Another problem with wire coils is providing enough occlusion to allow a blood clot to form. A partial solution is to coat the wire with fibers such as dacron or cotton, but recanalization can occur by resorption of the clot by the bodies fibrinolytic system. The fiber coating also increases the friction between the coated wire and the catheter making it more difficult to advance the coils through the catheter. Another way to combine fibers and coiled wire is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,911 where flexible fiber loops extend outward from windings of the coil at regular intervals.
An alternative to helical wire coils is tubular braided devices made from radiopaque fibers or wires as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,849. These braided structures are significantly smaller than the vessel into which they are to be introduced, so they could easily be pushed through a catheter. The tubular structure could be straight, or convoluted into a variety of shapes such as a circle, a xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x9d or a figure xe2x80x9c8xe2x80x9d. Topically a plurality of devices are introduced at a site in the vasculature. The braided wires may have additional fibrous elements attached to them to increase the occludability of the device.
Another braided structure is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/608,110, titled Self Expanding Vascular Occlusion Device, filed on Feb. 28, 1996. A braided tubular structure is compressed axially, which expands it diametrically. The structure is then heat-set in that shape. In one embodiment, the expanded portion is heat-set in the form of a disk. In another embodiment the device has two sections, each forming a disk which is then shaped into a cone, the final heat-set shape being similar to two cones attached end to end. One of these devices is straightened to its cylindrical braided form to advance it through a catheter. When it exits the catheter, the device returns to its formed shape and lodges in the blood vessel. Additional fibrous material may be attached inside the core of the device to improve its occludability.
Vascular occlusion with all of these devices depends on the flow of blood being restricted enough by the presence of a large quantity of fibrous material in the blood stream. Initial deployment of such devices significantly reduces blood flow, but flow may not completely stop it. Clots soon form in the deployed device or devices which further reduce blood flow. Blood flow eventually may be completely stopped by the device. This takes time. The effectiveness of such occlusion may also be quite variable. It is desirable
An alternative to helical wire coils is tubular braided devices made from radiopaque fibers or wires as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,849. These braided structures are significantly smaller than the vessel into which they are to be introduced, so they could easily be pushed through a catheter. The tubular structure could be straight, or convoluted into a variety of shapes such as a circle, a xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x9d or a figure xe2x80x9c8xe2x80x9d. Typically a plurality of devices are introduced at a site in the vasculature. The braided wires may have additional fibrous elements attached to them to increase the occludability of the device.
Another braided structure is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/608,110, titled Self Expanding Vascular Occlusion Device, filed on Feb. 28, 1996. A braided tubular structure is compressed axially, which expands it diametrically. The structure is then heat-set in that shape. In one embodiment, the expanded portion is heat-set in the form of a disk. In another embodiment the device has two sections, each forming a disk which is then shaped into a cone, the final heat-set shape being similar to two cones attached end to end. One of these devices is straightened to its cylindrical braided form to advance it through a catheter. When it exits the catheter, the device returns to its formed shape and lodges in the blood vessel. Additional fibrous material may be attached inside the core of the device to improve its occludability.
Vascular occlusion with all of these devices depends on the flow of blood being restricted enough by the presence of a large quantity of fibrous material in the blood stream. Initial deployment of such devices significantly reduces blood flow, but flow may not completely stop. Clots soon form in the deployed device or devices which further reduce blood flow. Blood flow eventually may be completely stopped by the device. This takes time. The effectiveness of such occlusion may also be quite variable. It is desirable for a vascular occlusion device to be self-expanding, accurately positionable, and to completely occlude a blood vessel immediately upon deployment.
Despite the need in the art for a vascular occlusion device which overcomes the disadvantages, shortcomings and limitations of the prior art, none insofar as is known has been developed.
A covered self-expanding vascular occlusion device comprises a braided wire member with at least two axially spaced securing members affixed to the braided wire member and a thin film covering at least half of the device. Moving the securing members axially relative to each other moves the braided wire member to shape a portion of the braided wire member intermediate the first and second securing members. The device is movable between a first stretched position in which the braided wire portion extends in an essentially cylindrical configuration to a maximum axial length and a minimum diameter, and a second relaxed position in which the axial length of the braided wire portion is reduced and its diameter is increased. In the relaxed position, the braided wire portion has a ball-like shape.
The film covering is applied to the device by first stretching a portion of film to form a shape similar to a portion of a device to be covered by the film, then inserting the device into the shape formed in the film so that the film covers at least half of the device, and trimming the film to separate the covered device from the remaining film. Stretching of the film is preferably accomplished by inserting a pin having a tip shaped similar to that of the device into a portion of film held in a fixture. The pin is withdrawn from the stretched film, the device is mounted on the end of a mandrel, and inserted into the stretched film. The film is made tight on the device preferably by further stretching of the film. After the film is trimmed, the covered device is removed from the mandrel.
The device is used by installing it on the end of a tubular introducer where it is held in its relaxed position until needed. A sliding member inside of the introducer tube then pulls the device into the tube, moving the device to its stretched position as it does so. The sliding member is pulled out of the tube, releasing the device and leaving it inside of the tube and in its stretched condition. The tube is installed in a catheter and the device pushed from the tube into, through, and out of the catheter where upon exiting the catheter the device then opens to its relaxed condition, lodges in the blood vessel, and immediately and completely occludes the vessel.
Alternative embodiments of the vascular occlusion device of the present invention include features for (1) melting film to wires to prevent film migration distally upon implantation, (2) providing holes in film to permit the device to open faster and to remain in place, (3) urinary incontinence treatment, (4) alternative expanded forms, and (5) film creation processes.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a self-expanding vascular occlusion device which can completely occlude a blood vessel immediately upon deployment. The features, benefits and objects of this invention will become clear to those skilled in the art by reference to the following description, claims and drawings.

Covered self-expanding vascular occlusion device