The present disclosure includes a method that allows one to obtain high quality alignment of nematic or smectic liquid crystal (LC) polymer glasses in thin films. The present disclosure also includes thin films of aligned smectic or nematic LC main-chain polymer glasses, including aligned chiral smectic C* ferroelectric LC main-chain polymer glasses. The disclosure also includes electro-optical devices, including electro-optical devices comprising aligned chiral smectic C* ferroelectric LC main-chain polymer glasses.

Liquid crystals (LCs) exhibit signature structural features over a large hierarchy of length scales ranging from molecular to macroscopic. The covalent chemical structure of the LC molecules (mesogens, ˜10-100 Å)) provides the anisotropic fluid self-assembly termed a liquid crystal (˜1000 Å-1 μm). However, at macroscopic length scales (˜100s of μm-100 inches) an LC sample will typically possess a great many defects, and the LC will exist as a polydomain.
In order to be useful in applications, typically the LC structure must be controlled over macroscopic length scales in at least one dimension, by a process generally termed alignment. In many LC devices, such as lap top computer displays, high quality alignment (that is alignment without defects perceivable when viewing the display) must be achieved in samples on the order of 5 μm in thickness and ˜100 square inches in area.
Alignment is typically obtained by contacting the LC with a pair of solid substrates, at least one of which has been treated to cause a uniform LC structure over large length scales, forming an LC cell. Often such aligning substrates are comprised of solid glass plates, which my also possess other functionality, such as color filter arrays, thin film transistor arrays or other electrodes, with means of applying electric fields to the LC for electro-optic switching. The glass plates are coated with a polymer thin film, this film having been rendered anisotropic by mechanical rubbing. Such a rubbed polymer film alignment layer then provides the desired uniform alignment of the LC.
The LC mesogens are typically organic molecules possessing a rigid core and one or two flexible tails (FIG. 1A). The mesogens have a large aspect ratio (i.e. they are long and thin); the average long axis of the mesogens being termed the molecular
The LC mesogens are typically organic molecules possessing a rigid core and one or two flexible tails (FIG. 1A). The mesogens have a large aspect ratio (i.e. they are long and thin); the average long axis of the mesogens being termed the molecular director. In the LC phase, the molecular directors are oriented along an axis at the length scale of the LC self-assembly, also termed the director. It is the goal of alignment to orient the LC director macroscopically.
Smectic LCs exhibit at least one phase in which the mesogenic molecules self-assemble into a layered structure with quasi long-range positional order in one dimension; along the layer normal. High quality alignment of smectic LCs requires, in addition to uniform macroscopic orientation of the LC director, also obtaining a macroscopic structure wherein the layers are uniform (e.g. flat and parallel) over the entire sample.
LC main-chain polymers comprise mesogenic monomer units linked covalently along the molecular director to form a polymer possessing two or more mesogenic units (FIG. 1B). In such polymers it is possible to heat the sample into an isotropic fluid phase, and on cooling progress through LC phases, at least one of which is a nematic or smectic phase, and finally freeze into an organic glass possessing the structure of the nematic or smectic LC phase from which the freezing occurs. Smectic LC glasses in particular are useful for various photonic applications, such as second order nonlinear optics applications, especially when the glass freezes from a chiral smectic C* (SmC*) ferroelectric LC (FLC) phase, or from a polar smectic C (SmCP) banana phase, or other polar phases whose structures are well known to those familiar with the smectic LC art; however, in most photonic applications these glasses are only useful if alignment of the smectic layers can be achieved. Furthermore, in many such applications, the LC glass should preferably be a thin film oriented between solid substrates, forming an LC cell as described above.

Aligned liquid crystal thin films and glasses

The Regents of the University of Colorado


The invention relates to a system and a method for providing information in an automation system, which permits scaled access to said information. The system contains storage means for storing information in the form of an information hierarchy, whereby said storage means form hierarchical tiers and to enhance the information the system comprises first storage means of lower-level hierarchical tiers for the provision of information to second storage means of higher-level hierarchical tiers. The system also contains an engineering system for generating the information from projected information of the automation system and for the automatic projection of the storage means and access means, for accessing the stored information.

Programmable automation systems, bus systems for controlling and/or adjusting Automation processes or plant generally contain what is known as a runtime system for runtime sequence control of an automation component, a machine or a system as well as what is referred to as an engineering system to create and edit control programs intended for execution in the run time system. Usually much of the information identifying that the automation system (see e.g. components of the automation system, technological relationships etc) is his only at available in the engineering system or can only be called via this system. Furthermore information is stored on central servers which perform the overall information processing.

Provision of information in an automation system


The invention relates to a method for performing charged particle beam proximity effect correction, comprising the steps of: receiving a digital layout pattern to be patterned onto a target using one or more charged particle beams; selecting a base proximity function comprising a sum of an alpha and a beta proximity function, wherein said alpha proximity function models a short range proximity effect and said beta proximity function models a long range proximity effect, wherein a constant η is defined as a ratio between the beta proximity function and the alpha proximity function in said sum, with 0<η<1;                determining a modified proximity function which corresponds to said base proximity effect function wherein the alpha proximity function has been replaced by a Dirac delta function, and        using an electronic processor, performing a deconvolution of the digital layout pattern with the modified proximity function to produce a corrected layout pattern.

The invention relates to a method for proximity effect correction, e.g. as may be performed in a charged particle lithography system. Typically, in a charged particle beam lithography system at least one beam of charged particles is directed onto a resist-layer of a wafer to form a desired pattern in the resist. The achievable pattern resolution within the resist depends on how well the spatial charged particle energy deposition can be controlled within the resist. When a charged particle beam is directed onto a position on a substrate which is coated with resist, some of the incident charged particles are scattered on their trajectories through the resist.
In forward scattering, a charged particle of the beam of charged particles may collide with an electron of the substrate or the resist. This causes the charged particle to be deflected from its trajectory and to deposit part of its energy in the substrate or resist.
The charged particles may also collide with a nucleus of an atom in the substrate or resist, resulting in a substantially elastic backscattering event which causes the charged particle to be deflected to a much greater extent than it would be when colliding with an electron.
Due to forward scattering and backscattering of the charged particles, the actual dose, or energy deposition, and thus the developed pattern, is wider than the desired pattern scanned by the charged particle beam on the surface of the resist. This phenomenon is called the proximity effect. When modelling the proximity effect typically use is made of a point spread function, which is often referred to as a proximity effect function. The point spread function depends on factors such as the materials of the target and the resist used, resist thickness, the primary beam energy and/or the development process used for developing the resist. When these factors are known, a corresponding point spread function may be calculated without empirically determining the point spread function. Alternatively the point spread function may be estimated using empirical methods, an brief overview of which is given in the article "Experimental study of proximity effect corrections in electron beam lithography", Jianguo Zhu et al., Proc. SPIE vol. 2437, Electron-Beam, X-Ray, EUV, and Ion-Beam Submicrometer Lithographies for Manufacturing V, pg. 375 (May 19, 1995); doi: 10.1117/12.209175.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,638,247 B2, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for performing an electron beam proximity correction process in which both a short range (caused by forward scattering) and a long range (caused by backscattering) proximity effect correction is carried out on a received layout, wherein a dose value is formulated for each feature using the results of both the short range and the long range proximity effect corrections. In an embodiment, the long range proximity effect correction is carried out using a grid-based deconvolution method.
Applicant has found that when the received layout contains high spatial frequencies, e.g. contains very small features, known methods which make use of deconvolution or approximations thereof are susceptible to errors which lead to undesired variations in the calculated value of the dose which is to be delivered to the resist. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for charged particle beam proximity effect correction.

Proximity effect correction in a charged particle lithography system


The infrasound generating device based on a displacement-feedback type vibration exciter comprises a displacement-feedback type vibration exciter system, an infrasound generating chamber (3) and a laser vibrometer (1); the displacement feedback mechanism is adopted in the vibration exciter (2). The piston (31) is driven by the vibration exciter to move in a sinusoidal manner in the cavity (35) of the airtight infrasound generating chamber (3) and the standard infrasonic pressure signal with low harmonic distortion can be achieved. The displacement of the moving part (22) of the vibration exciter (2) can be measured by the laser vibrometer (1) through the measurement beam (15) injecting into the vibration exciter (2) through the optical channel running through the vibration exciter and the standard infrasonic pressure can also be obtained. The value of the standard sound pressure produced by the infrasound generating chamber is calculated. Such value is used as the calibration reference for the infrasound sensors (4) to be calibrated in order to achieve the primary calibration of the infrasound sensors. The standard infrasonic sensor can be installed inside the infrasound generating chamber (3) and the output of the standard infrasonic sensor can be used as the reference for the infrasonic sensor (4) to be calibrated in order to achieve the secondary calibration of the infrasound sensors. This invention has the advantages of technical maturity, high feasibility, easy to realize, high calibration accuracy and so on.

The infrasound exists widely in nature and human life, such as volcanic eruption, earthquake, nuclear explosion, rocket launching, supersonic aircraft flight, etc. In recent years, infrasound detection has received more and more attention in environmental protection, military surveillance and so on. In addition, the infrasound has the characteristics of long propagation distance, strong penetration ability and difficult to be detected, etc. So the infrasound is adopted more and more widely in the areas of military, medical, industry and so on.
Infrasonic sensors are crucial to the detection and application of the infrasound. According to the metrological verification regulations, an infrasonic sensor must be calibrated for its performance indicators such as the sensitivity before delivery or after being used for a period of time. The infrasound calibration system is an important guarantee for the development of the infrasonic sensor technology. The infrasound generating device produces standard infrasonic pressure signal and the calibration of the infrasonic sensor is conducted with the primary method or the secondary method. The infrasound generating device is an important component in the infrasound calibration system. The accuracy of the outputted infrasonic pressure signal of the device directly determines the calibration accuracy of the infrasonic sensor. At present, most of the infrasound generating devices are achieved by the motor or vibrator driving the piston to reciprocate and then the sinusoidal infrasonic pressure signal is generated. However, due to the nonlinear parameters, the harmonic distortion of generated infrasonic pressure signal is large and the calibration accuracy of the infrasonic sensor is then affected.

Infrasound generating device based on a displacement-feedback type vibration exciter

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF METROLOGY P. R. CHINA


Automatic vehicle window control systems and methods are provided herein. An example method includes determining a first operating height of a first window of a vehicle, determining a second operating height of a second window of the vehicle, comparing the first operating height with the second operating height, and selectively adjusting the first operating height or the second operating height to be substantially equal to one another when the first operating height and the second operating height are not substantially equal.

Car enthusiasts care very much about their car's appearance and prefer to optimize vehicle appearance. It is estimated that people from the ages 16-24 spend a total of 7.2 billion dollars customizing their cars every year. With the prevalence of social media, this new generation of customers cares more than ever about vehicle appearance and the social aspect of their vehicle. By way of example, Mustang drivers (and sport vehicles in general) may prefer to roll both their front windows down part way rather than all the way. These drivers may also prefer the windows to be exactly equivalent, especially convertible units or cars with a sun/moon roof.


A lithographic printing ink contains a lithographic varnish containing an alkali soluble or dispersible binder material which is the reaction product of an acid functional hard resin with a fatty ester oil and/or an alkyd resin.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is concerned with improvements in and relating to printing inks, especially printing inks for use in lithographic printing processes such as offset lithography.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is an essential requirement of inks for use in lithographic printing processes that they be oleophilic in character and, accordingly, in order to wash them from printing apparatus it has been considered necessary to use organic solvent systems as wash media. It has been proposed, e.g. in WO94/06873, to provide lithographic inks which can be washed from printing apparatus by the use of aqueous wash media, such inks containing at least one component containing free carboxylic acid groups so that the component can be rendered hydrophilic by complete or partial neutralization of the carboxylic acid groups, i.e. by using an alkaline aqueous wash medium. In the unneutralized form the component is sufficiently hydrophobic to make it suitable for use in a lithographic printing ink.
Typically, the carboxylic acid group-containing component used in the various lithographic inks particularly described in WO94/06873 is an alkyd resin having an acid value of 25 mgKOH/g or more and, in order to obtain washability, using an aqueous alkaline wash, for the ink as a whole, relatively large amounts of such alkyd resins have to be employed, with consequent restraints on flexibility of formulation often with a reduction in the potential printing properties of the resultant ink.


The invention discloses a method, a device and a system for verifying based on a verification diagram, and a storage medium, and the method includes: generating an input interface diagram according to a verification diagram including a basic information element and verification information, where the input interface diagram includes the basic information element of the verification diagram except for the verification information; transmitting the verification diagram and the input interface diagram to a terminal; receiving sliding path information inputted on the input interface diagram presented on the terminal; and determining whether the sliding path information matches the verification information, and if so, the verification is successful. The invention is advantageous for preventing the erroneous verification information inputted into a verification code input box caused due to an erroneous touch on an input keyboard, thereby improving the success rate of login authentication on a terminal user by a web-hosting server.

With the rapid development of a mobile Internet technology, various applications have emerged. When using the applications, a user is sometimes required to experience an authentication on account name login to enjoy more and further services. To prevent an attack from a malicious automated login tool on a terminal, a web-hosting server transmits a verification diagram and a verification input box to the terminal. The verification diagram is formed by interfering patters or symbols, and verification information including a group of randomly generated digits and/or symbols. The terminal user understands the verification information in the verification diagram and then inputs the verification information into the verification input box. The web-hosting server completes the login authentication on the terminal user by determining the correctness of the input information in the verification input box.
However, for the existing terminals such as mobile phones, tablet computers, personal digital assistants and other mobile electronic devices, the terminal user needs to input characters one by one when inputting the verification information. When the terminal display screen is relatively small, an erroneous touch to a small input keyboard can be easily caused, leading to the errors of the verification information inputted in the validation input box, thus affecting the login authentication on the terminal user by the web-hosting server.

Method, device and system for verifying based on verification diagram, and storage medium

Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited


An IC package primarily includes a chip, a plurality of electrical connecting components, and a chip carrier including a substrate, a die-attaching layer, and at least one bonding wire. The substrate has a top surface and a bottom surface wherein the top surface includes a die-attaching area for being disposed with the die-attaching layer. The chip is attached to the die-attaching area by the die-attaching layer and is electrically connected to the substrate by the electrical connecting components. Both ends of the bonding wire are bonded respectively to two interconnecting fingers on the top surface of the substrate, and at least a portion of the bonding wire is encapsulated in the die-attaching layer such that some wirings or vias formed on a conventional substrate are not needed. Therefore, the substrate can have a simpler structure and fewer numbers of wiring layers; consequently, the substrate cost can be reduced.

(A) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip package, particularly to a chip package having reduced wiring layers of a substrate.
(B) Description of the Related Art
In IC packages, multi-layer substrates are widely implemented for chip carriers and for electrical connections. However, the substrate cost is about 30% of the overall package cost, and the substrate cost increases as the wiring layers increase.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional IC package 100 primarily comprises a substrate 110, a die-attaching layer 120, a chip 130, and a plurality of electrical connecting components 140. The substrate 100 has a top surface 111, a bottom surface 112, and a plurality of inner fingers 113 disposed on the top surface 111. The back surface 132 of the chip 130 is attached to the top surface 111 of the substrate 110 by the die-attaching layer 120. A plurality of bonding pads 133 are disposed on the active surface 131 of the chip 130 wherein the bonding pads 133 of the chip 130 are electrically connected to the inner fingers 113 of the substrate 110 by the electrical connecting components 140 such as bonding wires. An encapsulant 150 is formed on the top surface 111 of the substrate 110 to encapsulate the chip 130 and the electrical connecting components 140. The IC package 100 further comprises a plurality of external terminals 160 disposed on the bottom surface 112 of the substrate 110 for external electrical connections. Before packaging, the substrate 100 must be fabricated to have all required wiring layers and vias; therefore, the substrate cost cannot be effectively reduced.

IC package reducing wiring layers on substrate and its carrier


A photovoltaic device is disclosed. In one aspect, the device is formed in a semiconductor substrate. It has a radiation receiving front surface and a rear surface. The device may have a first region of one conductivity type, a second region with the opposite conductivity type adjacent to the front surface, and an antireflection layer. The rear surface is covered by a dielectric layer covering also an inside surface of the via. The front surface has current collecting conductive contacts. The rear surface has conductive contacts extending through the dielectric. A conductive path is in the via for photogenerated current from the front surface. By having the dielectric all over, no aligning and masking is needed. The same dielectric serves to insulate, provide thermal protection, and helps in surface and bulk passivation. It also avoids the need for a junction region near the via, hence reducing unwanted recombination currents.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to photovoltaic devices such as solar cells. More particularly it relates to metal wrap through solar cells improved by specific passivation scheme, and to a cost effective method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Most solar cells described in the prior art can be subdivided into several categories according to their general structure.
One of these categories is the group of the so called back-contacted solar cells, meaning that both ohmic contacts to the two oppositely doped regions of the solar cells are placed on the back or non-illuminated surface of the solar cell. This concept avoids or reduces shadowing losses caused by the front metal contact grid on standard solar cells.
The most straightforward way to fabricate back contact solar cells is to place the carrier collecting junction between semiconductor regions of opposite doping close to the back surface of the cell ("back-junction" cell). The document "1127.5-Percent Silicon Concentrator Solar Cells" (R. A. Sinton, Y. Kwark, J. Y. Gan, R. M. Swanson, IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. ED-7. No. 10, October 1986) describes such a device.
Since the majority of photons are always absorbed close to the front surface of the cell, the generated carriers in these regions have to diffuse through the entire base region of the cell towards the carrier collecting junction close to the back surface. For this concept, high quality material with minority carrier diffusion lengths longer than the cell thickness is needed, which makes this solution not applicable for most solar grade materials which generally have short diffusion lengths. Additionally, a perfect front surface passivation is required for cells having the carrier collecting junction close to the back surface.
The largest group of solar cells has the carrier collecting junction close to its front surface. The current from these solar cells is collected by a metal contact to the doped region on the front surface and by a second contact to the oppositely doped region on the back surface. Although this front grid structure can be optimized relatively easily in order to get high collection efficiencies, the trade off between resistance losses and shading losses necessitates a coverage of the front surface by 6-12% of the total area.
Another group of solar cells combines the two approaches. Such solar cells have both external contacts to the oppositely doped regions on the back surface and the collecting junction close to the front surface. The collected current from the front surface is lead through openings, which extend through the entire wafer, to the back surface. Using this structure, shading losses normally arising from the front metallization grid are greatly reduced.
The document WO 1998/054763 (EP 0 985 233 B1) describes such a structure hereafter called Metal Wrap Through (MWT).
Despite their decreased shadowed area those MWT solar cells are still generally efficiency limited due to excessive shunt like recombination happening in the via and under the rear emitter bus bars (as disclosed e.g. in documents: "Processing and comprehensive characterization of screen-printed MC-Si Metal Wrap Through (MWT) Solar cells", Clement et al., Proceedings of the 22nd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, Milan, Italy (2007), p1400-1402; "Lifetime studies on laser drilled vias for application in Emitter-Wrap-Through-Solar Cells", Mingirulli et al., Proceedings of the 22nd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, Milan, Italy (2007), p 1415-1418).

Photovoltaic cells having metal wrap through and improved passivation


A backlight unit for a liquid crystal display panel includes a lamp, a plurality of optical sheets, a light guide that guides light from the lamp toward the optical sheets, and a reflector facing a rear surface of the light guide. The light guide includes a first plurality of geometric shapes at the rear surface thereof that substantially directs the light incident on the light guide toward the optical sheets, and a second plurality of geometric shapes at a peripheral portion of the rear surface thereof to prevent the reflector from sticking to the light guide, a density of the second plurality of geometric shapes is less than the density of the first plurality of geometric shapes.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to a backlight unit for a liquid crystal display device.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Until recently, display devices have typically used cathode-ray tubes (CRTs). Presently, many efforts and studies are being made to develop various types of flat panel displays, such as liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, plasma display panels (PDPs), field emission displays, and electro-luminescence displays (ELDs), as a substitute for CRTs. Of these flat panel displays, LCD devices have many advantages, such as high resolution, light weight, thin profile, compact size, and low voltage power supply requirements.
In general, an LCD device includes two substrates that are spaced apart and face each other with a liquid crystal material interposed between the two substrates. The two substrates include electrodes that face each other such that a voltage applied between the electrodes induces an electric field across the liquid crystal material. The induced electric field changes the alignment of the liquid crystal in the direction of, and according to the intensity of the induced electric field, thereby changing the light transmissivity of the LCD device. Thus, the LCD device displays images by varying the intensity of the induced electric field.
The LCD devices need a backlight unit to supply light. The backlight unit is categorized into an edge type and a direct type. The edge type backlight unit includes a light source located at a side of the LCD device. The direct type backlight unit includes a light source located at the bottom of the LCD device.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an edge type backlight unit according to the related art. Referring to FIG. 1, the edge type backlight unit 20 includes a light guide plate 30, a lamp 24 as a light source, a reflector 22 below the light guide plate 30, and a plurality of optical sheets 29 on the light guide plate 30. The optical sheets 29 include a diffusion sheet and at least one condensing sheet. A pattern at a bottom surface of the light guide plate 30 provides a uniform plane of light.
Since the light guide plate 30 and the reflector 22 are adjacent to each other, the light guide plate 30 may stick tightly to the reflector 22 due to static electricity produced at opposing surfaces of the light guide plate 30 and the reflector 22. The backlight unit 20 produces heat during operation, and the heat expands the light guide plate 30 and the reflector 22. However, the light guide plate 30 and the reflector 22 have different thermal expansion rates, and the reflector 22 is thinner than the light guide plate 30. Accordingly, the heat expansion may cause the reflector 22 to wrinkle. A luminance in a display region of the LCD device corresponding to the wrinkled region of the reflector 22 may be different from the luminance in another display region. Accordingly, such variations in luminance across the LCD device may cause defects, such as stains, on the display screen of the LCD device, and display quality is thus degraded.

Backlight unit and liquid crystal display device including the same


One aspect of the invention relates to a method for reducing salt content in an aqueous cadaverine salt composition comprising adjusting the pH of the aqueous cadaverine salt composition to provide a first composition comprising an aqueous cadaverine composition and a solid composition, wherein the pH of the aqueous cadaverine composition is at least about 12; and removing the solid composition from the first composition to provide the aqueous cadaverine composition. Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for the purification of cadaverine from an aqueous cadaverine salt composition using the salt-reducing method described herein; and obtaining cadaverine from the aqueous cadaverine composition.

Bio-based cadaverine is a valuable platform chemical involved in the production of partially or fully bio-based products, such as partially or fully bio-based Nylon 56 and Nylon 510. Bio-based cadaverine can be synthesized via lysine decarboxylation of lysine in microorganisms. However, currently available purification processes produce bio-based cadaverine with undesired contamination, or require toxic organic solvents in the purification processes.
Thus, there is a need to provide a purification method of bio-based cadaverine to produce bio-based cadaverine of high quality without the use of organic solvent.


An image sensor including a plurality of photoelectric converter elements each operable to convert an optical signal into an electric signal, a plurality of channel selector switches selectively turned on and off to selectively connect and disconnect output portions of the corresponding photoelectric converter elements to and from a common signal line, in synchronization with a clock pulse signal, and a resolution setting portion operable to receive a resolution setting timing signal, and first and second resolution setting signals, and to select one of a plurality of on-off control patterns of the channel selector switches, for thereby setting an image resolution value of the image sensor, on the basis of on-off states of the first and second resolution setting signals upon at least one of rising and falling of the resolution setting timing signal. Also disclosed are an image reading device including the image sensor, and an image resolution setting method using the resolution setting timing signal and the first and second resolution setting signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image sensor, an image reading device, and an image resolution setting method.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Conventional facsimile machines, copying machines and manually operated image scanners use image sensors. A typical example of such image sensors is shown in FIG. 11, wherein P1a-P1e represent respective photoelectric converter elements such as phototransistors arranged to produce an electric current (image signal) upon detection of a light, and P2 represents a power input terminal through which a line voltage VDD is applied to the image sensor. P3a-P3e represent respective channel selector switches connected to electric-charge output portions of the respective photoelectric converter elements P1a-P1e, and P4 represents a shift register array which consists of shift registers P4a-P4f and which is operable in response to a start signal S1, to sequentially turn on and off the channel selector switches P3a-P3e in a predetermined order (e.g., in the order of P3a→P3b→P3c→P3→dP3e) at a time interval corresponding to a period of a clock pulse signal CLK, so that image signals generated by the respective photoelectric converter elements P1a-P1e sequentially outputted from an image-signal output terminal P11 through a common signal line P7, in a predetermined order (e.g., in the order of the image signals of the elements P1a→P1b→P1c→P1d→P1e). Further, P5 represents a start-signal input terminal through which the start signal S1 is applied to the shift register array P4, and P6 represents a clock pulse input terminal through which the clock pulse signal CLK is applied to the shift register array P4.
P8 represents a flip-flop arranged to keep generating an ON signal during an operation of the shift register array P4 after the Shift register array P4 is started in response to the start signal S1, that is, during a time period from the moment when the start signal S1 is applied to the first shift register P4a, to the moment when the start signal S1 is outputted from the sixth shift register P4f. P9 represents a chip selector switch which is connected in series with the common signal line P7 and which is brought to an open state upon reception of the ON signal from the flip-flop P8. P10 represents a switch which is connected between the common signal line P7 and a ground terminal P12 and which is alternately opened and closed according to a change in the level of the clock pulse signal CLK.
Then, an operation of the conventional image sensor will be described. Initially, the start signal S1 and the clock pulse signal CLK are applied from an external device to the shift register array P4 through the start-signal input terminal P5 and the clock-pulse input terminal P6, respectively The start signal S1 has a period two times that of the clock pulse signal CLK, and is applied to the shift register P4a of the shift register array P4, upon falling of the clock pulse signal CLK.
When the start signal S1 is applied to the shift register P4a, this shift register P4a is started. As a result, the shift register P4a holds the channel selector switch P3a in its closed state for a length of time corresponding to the period of the clock pulse signal CLK, so that the image signal generated by the photoelectric converter element P1a is outputted from the image-signal output terminal P11 through the common signal line P7. Then, the shift register P4a returns the channel selector switch P3a to its open state, and transfers the received start signal S1 to the next shift register P4b.
Thus, the start signal S1 is sequentially transferred to the shift registers P4b, P4c, P4d and P4e in this order of description, so that the image signals generated by the photoelectric converter elements P1b-P1e are sequentially outputted from the image-signal output terminal P11. Further, the start signal S1 is transferred from the last shift register P4f through a terminal P13 to an image sensor in the next stage IC.
In the field of this type of image sensor, there has been proposed a method of setting the image resolution in one of two steps by selecting one of two values of an electric current to be outputted to an image-signal output terminal 11, according to a control signal CONTROL received from an external device. An example of this proposed image resolution setting method is disclosed in JP-5-227362A.
In the proposed image resolution setting method, however, the image resolution is variable in only two steps corresponding to the respective high (H) and low (L) levels of the control signal. On the other hand, there has been a need of setting the image resolution in more than two steps or multiple steps, depending upon a specific application of the image sensor.

Image sensor, image reading device, and image resolution setting method


Systems and methods are disclosed for optimizing Robust Header Compression (RoHC) to protect against context desynchronization resulting from a burst of lost packets. In one embodiment, a method of operation of a radio node to adapt a RoHC compressor of a radio node based on a transmit channel quality metric is provided. In another embodiment, systems and methods relating to improved RoHC SN decoding are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of operation of a radio node includes determining a size of a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Sequence Number (SN) gap for a radio link between the radio node and a second radio node, and performing RoHC SN decoding based on the size of the PDCP SN gap.

Robust Header Compression (RoHC) is used in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks to minimize the amount of information transmitted over the air. RoHC is defined in Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comments (RFC) 3095, "RObust Header Compression (ROHC): Framework and four profiles: RTP, UDP, ESP, and uncompressed." In particular, in 3GPP LTE, RoHC is utilized in the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer to minimize the amount of information in Internet Protocol (IP)/User Datagram Protocol (UDP)/Real-Time Protocol (RTP) headers by taking advantage of the repetitive (correlated) nature of some of the fields in the IP/UDP/RTP headers. This is particularly beneficial for Voice over IP (VoIP) traffic where the amount of data being transmitted is typically much smaller than the size of the uncompressed IP/UDP/RTP headers. RoHC defines a "compressor," which is the sender of RoHC compressed packets, and a "decompressor," which is the receiver of the RoHC compressed packets.
RoHC uses a compression technique that eliminates or minimizes fields that have to be sent to the decompressor. In particular, RoHC uses a compression technique that eliminates or minimizes fields that are static (do not change) or that are correlated to a field called "Sequence Number" (SN), which is more specifically referred to herein as a RoHC SN. Uncorrelated fields are sent "as is" (or uncompressed). At all times, the compressor and decompressor maintain "state information" that describes what fields are inferred and how those fields are correlated to the SN. This state information is also referred to as context information or as a context of the compressor/decompressor. In consequence, in the highest state of compression, it is enough for the compressor to only send the SN and the uncorrelated fields to allow the decompressor to correctly reconstruct the original packet.
In RoHC, the SN is also usually compressed in that the SN is not sent in its entirety. In particular, for the SN field, RoHC uses Window-based Least Significant Bits (W-LSB) encoding. In essence, W-LSB encoding sends only the last k_c least significant bits of the SN field, where k_c is a computed value. The smaller the size of k_c, the more efficient the compression.
When the compressor and the decompressor operate at a compression level of k_c least significant bits for the SN field, a loss of a burst of 2k_c packets will result in an incorrect inference of the value of bit k_c+1 of the SN field at the decompressor and, therefore, an error in decompression (or decoding) of the true SN value. RFC 3095, Section 126.96.36.199.4, entitled "Correction of SN LSB wraparound," describes a repairing mechanism for the SN after a decompression failure. In particular, after a decompression failure, an attempt is made to add a value of 2k_c to the last good reference SN at the decompressor (i.e., the full SN value for the last successfully decompressed packet at the decompressor). The decompressor then retries decompression, or decoding, of the W-LSB encoded SN using the new reference SN. As a consequence, this standard repair mechanism protects against loss of a burst of 2k_c+1 packets. For the most efficient compression case, where RoHC Packet Type UO-0 packets are sent, the k_c value is 4. Thus, in this case, the standard repair mechanism can protect against loss of a burst of at most 25=32 packets. Furthermore, changes in the pattern of correlated fields may occur during the burst of lost packets. While the compressor will flag those changes to the decompressor, the packets that are flagging the changes are lost. As a result, the decompressor will not receive the changes in the correlation patterns, which leads to some fields being incorrectly reconstructed during decompression, while other fields may be correctly reconstructed during decompression.
For radio links in general and radio links in a cellular communications network in particular, the communication channel is subject to temporary fading as well as interference from neighbor cells. As a result, bursts of lost packets are a real possibility. In particular, in a cellular communications network, the possibility of bursts of lost packets increases as the user device, or mobile terminal, approaches the edge of a cell. Further, in some cases, the size of a burst of lost packets may exceed 2k_c+1 packets, which leads to loss of "synchronicity" between the decompressor and the compressor (i.e., the decompressor is no longer able to successfully decompress packets from the compressor). This is referred to as context desynchronization.
When the decompressor loses synchronicity with the compressor, the RoHC standard defines a mechanism for recovery. The recovery mechanism entails an exchange of signals between the compressor and the decompressor followed by reverting to a state where packets are sent with little or no compression. This recovery mechanism is costly. In particular, the recovery mechanism requires extra signaling between the decompressor and the compressor (e.g., transmitting feedback negative acknowledgements) to inform the compressor of the loss of synchronization. The compressor must then react by generating and transmitting less compressed RoHC packet types. In addition, the recovery mechanism results in a delay before the compressor and the decompressor are able to return back to the RoHC peer-to-peer highest possible compression state due to round-trip delays associated with signaling, reaction to the received signals at the compressor, and possibly acknowledgements sent to the new RoHC packet types generated by the compressor. The recovery mechanism also results in wasted radio link, or air link, bandwidth because end user packets are discarded while the compressor and the decompressor attempt to regain synchronicity and reach the highest compression state. Further, the first few user packets sent by the compressor when attempting to regain synchronicity are sent in a less compressed form. In the worst case, the first few user packets when attempting to regain synchronicity are sent as uncompressed Initialization and Refresh (IR) packets. The less compressed or uncompressed packets translate to wasted air link bandwidth. The recovery mechanism also requires a substantial amount of time to regain synchronicity between the compressor and the decompressor. Lastly, the recovery mechanism results in a poor end-user experience in terms of the percentage of correctly decompressed packets being received and the time taken to recover from a burst of lost packets.
In light of the discussion above, there is a need for systems and methods for RoHC optimization to more efficiently and proactively protect against context desynchronization resulting from a burst of lost packets.


An implant having a porous layer and a molding method thereof includes: a substrate having a bone contact surface being in part in direct contact with a bone of a patient; a porous layer having a void inside; a connecting layer disposed between the bone contact surface and the porous layer to attach the bone contact surface to the porous layer; and a rib detachably coupled to the porous layer, wherein the connecting layer includes at least one constituent component identical to one of constituent components in the bone contact surface to be integrated into the porous layer and the bone contact surface, thereby firmly attaching the porous layer to the bone contact surface. Accordingly, bonding of dissimilar metals is facilitated by inducing the attachment of the bone contact surface of the implant to the porous layer having a void inside, formed by dissimilar metals, through the connecting layer including at least one constituent component identical to one of constituent components of the bone contact surface.

In case a bone in a joint area is destroyed or joint damage causes the joint to malfunction due to arthritis or bone tumor, the joint is resected and an artificial joint is replaced in the resected joint area through a surgical procedure. Such artificial joint replacement surgery is targeted, such as at shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle joints. A stem, a peg, a spike, and the like may be formed in an implant to attach the artificial joint to a bone of a patient, and improved attachment may be achieved by applying bone cement to a bone contact surface of the implant, which contacts the bone of the patient.
Such artificial joint replacement surgery may cause side effects, such as an osteolysis phenomenon where the bone attached to a prosthesis is dissolved, infection at the surgical site, dislocation of the prosthesis, nerve paralysis, and pain, the cause of which can be found in improper attachment of the implant placed inside the body of the patient to the bone of the patient.
Accordingly, inducing natural bone growth of the patient may be of more importance than a securing means, such as a stem and bone cement, in artificial joint replacement surgery. Consequently, there is a tendency in the relevant art to adopt a porous structure that can promote bone growth of the patient on the bone contact surface of the implant.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art representing a knee bone implanted with an artificial knee joint implant, disclosed in Korea Patent No. 10-1704954 (2017 Feb. 9). Referring to FIG. 1, the artificial knee joint implant 90 mainly comprises a femoral element 91 attached to a distal end of a femur F, a tibial element 93 attached to a proximal end of a tibia T, and a bearing element 95 disposed between the femoral element 91 and the tibial element 93.
Setting aside the bearing element 95, the femoral element 91 and the tibial element 93 retains the bone contact surface which directly contacts with the bone of the patient. In order to maintain a state where the femoral element 91 and the tibial element 93 are secured stably to the bone of the patient for a long period of time, not only should the bone contact surface be strongly attached to the bone of the patient at the time of surgery, but also the implant should conglutinate with the bone of the patient by stimulating natural bone growth of the patient.
This does not apply only to the case of the artificial knee joint implant 90 but also to bone contact surfaces of all implants used in artificial joint surgery.
As described above, in order to advance bone growth of the patient, it is common to form a porous layer having numerous voids in the bone contact surface of the implant, which can quickly promote conglutination of the implant with the bone overall as the bone of the patient grows and develops in between minute voids of the porous layer.
The porous layer may be formed by biomaterials which are biocompatible and nontoxic, such as titanium, titanium alloy, cobalt-chromium, magnesium, and the like, to suppress side effects on body after artificial joint surgery. In manufacturing the implant having such porous layer, after a prosthesis having a smooth surface (hereinafter, "substrate") is manufactured, the porous layer is separately coated to the bone contact surface of the substrate.
However, the process of coating the porous layer to the substrate presents difficulty since bonding the substrate to the porous layer, which may be made of different materials, is required. This is because bonding the same materials is simple, whereas bonding the dissimilar materials is not easy. Therefore, the relevant industry is looking for a technique which may more easily and firmly attach the porous layer that can prompt bone growth and development of the patient to the bone contact surface of the substrate.

Implant having porous layer and molding method thereof


Techniques are provided herein for enabling a virtual private network (VPN) using a bidirectional, full duplex transport channel configured to send and receive application layer data packets. At a source network device that hosts a VPN client, the VPN client is configured with a bidirectional, full duplex transport channel that is configured to send and receive Open Systems Interconnection application layer data packets. The VPN client is also configured with a virtual network interface that operates to virtually link the VPN client with the transport channel.

Network devices may communicate with each other along data paths in a network. As the network topology grows and more network devices are added to the network, secure and reliable communications between the network devices may be desired. In this regard, virtual private networks (VPNs) may be established in the network that include some of these network devices to ensure secure communications between the network devices. For example, a company or business may enable a VPN within its network, and a public network (e.g., the Internet) may be used to route communications between a remote device and devices within the company's VPN. Thus, remote devices can use "virtual" connections via a public network to connect and exchange secure communications with devices within a VPN. These communications can also be encrypted so that devices that are not authenticated or otherwise allowed to access the VPN are unable to decrypt and access the communications.

Use of virtual network interfaces and a websocket based transport mechanism to realize secure node-to-site and site-to-site virtual private network solutions


A ridge vent for ventilating a roof of a building via a hole along a roof ridge to atmosphere, the ridge vent comprising a first ridge vent panel: a flange portion for resting on the roof, the flange portion having an opening for overlapping with the hole, the flange portion having a first flange portion positioned to one side of the opening and a second flange portion positioned to another side of the opening, such that the first flange portion and the second flange portion are at an acute angle with respect to one another; a frame portion coupled to the flange portion and having sides extending upwardly from the flange portion about the opening, the frame portion for maintaining a cap portion in a spaced apart relationship with the flange portion; the cap portion connected to the frame portion and covering over the opening; a first corrugated filter plate extending between the cap portion and the flange portion and positioned transversely between the opening and the atmosphere, the first corrugated filter plate positioned to said one side of the opening; and a second corrugated filter plate extending between the cap and the flange portion and positioned transversely between the opening and the atmosphere, the second corrugated filter plate positioned to said another side of the opening; wherein the corrugated filter plates providing for a passage of air between the atmosphere and the opening, the corrugated filter plates having a pore size sufficient for facilitating the air passage of air through the corrugated filter plates while blocking passage of atmospheric particles through the corrugated filter plates.

Ridge vents provide the necessary ventilation to the roof of a house or other building, inhibiting condensation in the roof due to the infiltration or otherwise collection of moisture into the roof or attic cavity. Various ridge vents can employ vanes, grates, filters and louvers to permit air to be channeled between the roof and the atmosphere along the ridge of the building, while trying to inhibit rain from entering the roof through the vent. A variety of caps and covers have been used to act as a guard to prevent the infiltration of rain. However, prior art vents have thus far been ineffective in inhibiting the infiltration of snow and rain into the attic space, particularly in cases of snow storms, rain storms, and the like.
In the construction of various types of buildings, wood products are widely used as a base layer for a roof. That is, sheets of OSB sheathing or plywood are generally nailed or screwed to roof trusses or rafters to establish decking for the roof, typically followed by shingles being secured upon the sheets. Particularly when constructing a residential home, it is also common to form the roof with a peak and provide venting of an attic space at the peak or ridge of the roof via a ridge vent. Typically, a hole in the sheathing is established along the peak, with the sheathing opening directly into an attic space of the building. A ridge vent assembly, typically formed of various elongated, perforated members arranged in an overlapping manner, or otherwise rolled along in a continuous length, is then mounted over the sheathing opening along the entire peak. More specifically, the ridge vent assembly can include flanges mounted along each side of the peak, with the flanges sitting atop the shingles or otherwise interlaced with the shingles. With this construction, heated air that collects in the attic space is permitted to escape from the residence through the ridge vent assembly, thereby providing for a more energy efficient, configuration, particularly during summer months when an owner may be trying to cool the air in the home while the attic space contains rather hot air.
Certainly, the roof needs to be constructed in a manner which prevents the ingress of rain water. It is considered desirable to provide an arrangement which eases aspects of the overall construction, substantially inhibits the ingress of water/snow adjacent a ridge roof assembly and allows unobstructed flow of ventilation air moving under the sheathing and exiting the ridge vent.
Known ridge vents are typically formed using a non-woven synthetic fiber mat having randomly aligned fibers located over a vent slot at the roof ridge. Cap shingles are then installed over the non-woven synthetic fiber mat. The synthetic fiber mat allows for air flow through the slot at the roof ridge, while addressing ingress of moisture and debris. However, while this type of vent may not be effective at stopping the ingress of most moisture coming up the roof slope, for example due to wind driven rain.
Other known ridge vent systems utilize an open-celled foam material with an upper membrane of closed cell that covers the ridge vent slot. However, this comes in short lengths that must be pieced together. Additionally, the foam materials can retain moisture in the cells due to the meniscus forces of the water in the open cells, reducing the effective ventilation area, and thus defeating the purpose of the ridge vent.
Depending on the installation techniques used, generally all of the prior known systems can allow leakage due to wind driven rain, unless they account for such wind driven precipitation using adequate blocking techniques while at the same time making sure that there is a continued adequate (a specified minimum) amount of air flow through the ridge vent in the presence of the wind driven moisture. There needs a ridge vent design that provides for adequate air flow in the presence of wind driven precipitation, while inhibiting the infiltration of such wind driven precipitation into the roof cavity.


Disclosed is a pulse signal combination circuit for combining N input pulse signals sequentially effective within each display period into an output pulse signal, N being an integer greater than 1, including N output control units and a pulse signal output end. A first control end of an nth output control unit is configured to receive an nth input pulse signal, a second control end thereof is configured to receive an (n+1)th input pulse signal, and an output end thereof is connected to the pulse signal output end. The nth output control unit is configured to, within a time duration of each display period after the nth input pulse signal is effective for the first time and before the (n+1)th input pulse signal is effective for the first time, output the nth input pulse signal to the pulse signal output end, where n is a positive integer less than N.

For an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel, it is required to combine a plurality of single-pulse driving signals which are effective in a time-division manner and have different pulse widths into a multiple-pulse gate driving signal, so as to meet the need of pixel compensation. However, based on the principle of single pulses, it is very difficult to generate the multiple-pulse gate driving signal with a single unit circuit in the related art. In addition, for a large-sized OLED display panel, when a gate driver circuit is merely used to generate the single-pulse gate driving signal, more thin film transistors (TFTs) are required to drive pixels. As a result, a pixel structure of the OLED display panel will be complex and an effective light-emitting area of the OLED will be reduced.

Pulse signal combination circuit, display panel and display device


An algorithm to reduce a peak current for a transmitter module with multiple laser diodes (LDs) is disclosed. When the current temperature of the LDs is higher than the target temperature, the thermo-electric cooler (TEC) controller is first activated then the LD driver to drive the LDs is subsequently activated with a substantial delay. When the ambient temperature of the LDs is lower than the target temperature, the LD driver is first driven; then, the TEC controller is subsequently activated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to a method to activate or start an optical transmitter module that installs a semiconductor laser diode (LD), an LD driver, and a thermo-electric cooler (TEC) to control a temperature of the LD.
2. Related Background Arts
An optical transceiver usually provides an optical transmitter to transmit an optical signal and an optical receiver to receive another optical signal. The optical transmitter often installs a TEC to mount the LD thereon in order to set an oscillation wavelength of the LD and optical power output from the LD by maintaining a temperature of the LD in constant. The optical transceiver often installs other optical and electrical components. When the optical transceiver is powered on, or recovered from a power saving mode; a large current sometimes flows in the optical transceiver, which is often called as a rush current. In particular, when a difference between an ambient temperature and the target temperature of the LD is large, the rush current flowing in the TEC often becomes large. In order to reduce the rush current, one type of optical transceivers restricts a current flowing in the TEC depending on the current temperature of the LD and an ambient temperature in the optical transceiver.
An enhanced transmission speed and capacity by an optical transceiver with a small-sized package have been continuously requested in the field of the optical communication. Assembly density of an optical transceiver, and/or an optical transmitter is further increased, which inevitably makes a position of a driver to drive the LDs close enough to the TEC, or a driver is sometimes directly mounted on the TEC. In such an arrangement, heat generated by the driver affects the terminal stability of the TEC, and the rush current of the TEC becomes larger.

Optical transmitter having multiple optical sources and a method to activate the same


An electrophotographic photosensitive element is here disclosed which comprises a conductive substrate and at least a photosensitive layer formed on the conductive substrate, the electrophotographic photosensitive element being characterized in that the photosensitive layer contains, as a charge transport material, a compound represented by the formula (1), (2) or (3) ##STR1##

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photosensitive element, and more specifically, it relates to an electrophotographic photosensitive element equipped with a photosensitive layer containing a charge generating materials and a charge transport material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As photoconductive materials of photosensitive elements which have been heretofore used in an electrophotographic system, there are inorganic materials such as selenium (Se), cadmium sulfide (CdS), zinc oxide (ZnO) and amorphous silicon (a-Si). These inorganic photosensitive elements have many advantages, but simultaneously they have various disadvantages such as being toxic, the difficulty of disposal and high cost. Therefore, in recent years, many organic photosensitive elements using organic materials which are free from these disadvantages have been suggested and already put into practice.
These photosensitive elements can be classified into a function separating type photosensitive element having a multi-layer structure in which a material for generating a charge carrier (hereinafter referred to as "charge generating material") and another material for receiving the generated charge carrier and transport it (hereinafter referred to as "charge transport material") are used in separate layers, and a single layer type photosensitive element in which the charge generation and the charge transport are carried out in one layer. In general, the function separating type photosensitive element is more often used because of having a wide selectable range of materials and being capable of heightening sensitivity.
As charge transport materials, there are a material using a photoconductive polymer such as a polyvinylcarbazole, and a material obtained by dispersing/dissolving a low-molecular photosensitive material in a binder polymer. The photoconductive polymer, when used singly, is insufficient in film forming ability and adhesive properties, and in order to improve these points, a plasticizer, a binder polymer and the like are used. However, the employment of these components may give rise to the deterioration of the sensitivity and the increase of residual surface potential, which are practical problems. On the other hand, in the case that the low-molecular photosensitive material is dispersed/dissolved in the binder polymer, the photosensitive element having excellent mechanical properties can easily be obtained by suitably selecting the polymer. However, the thus obtained photosensitive element is not considered to be sufficient in sensitivity and stability. For example, a diaryl alkane derivative described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,989 has little problem of compatibility with the binder polymer, but it is poor in stability to light. Thus, if this derivative is used for the photosensitive layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive element and then repeatedly subjected to charging and exposure, the sensitivity of the photosensitive element gradually deteriorates.
Furthermore, in the case that stilbene compounds described in Japanese Laid-open Application No. 65440/1983 are repeatedly used, stability is not satisfactory, though charge retention ability, sensitivity and the like are relatively good. In addition, these compounds have a problem regarding the sensitivity at low surface potential.


A flat panel display device includes a driver circuit board, a resin frame, and a metal sheet, the edge portion of which is provided with a U-shaped engagement portion to receive the resin frame. The metal sheet reinforces the resin frame and also shields electromagnetic wave noises from the driver circuit board.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a flat panel display device used for note type personal computers, car navigation systems, portable television receiver sets and the like and, more particularly, to an improvement to a mechanical structure of a flat panel display device.
The structure of a conventional flat panel display device will be explained hereinafter with reference to FIG. 9. The flat panel display device 100 includes a passive display element, such as a liquid crystal display panel 105, and a back lighting system to illuminate the display panel 105.
The back lighting system is provided with a light guiding plate 107, and a lamp and its cover (not shown). The light guiding plate 107 is held in a resin frame 102. The display panel 105 is disposed on the light guiding plate 107 and the resin frame 102. The light guiding plate 107 conducts light beams from the lamp and irradiate them toward the panel 105. A driver circuit board 104 to generate driving signals for the display panel 105 is provided underneath the resin frame 102 and is connected to the panel 105 through a tape carrier package (TCP) 106. The TCP 106 comprises a flexible printed circuit film and a driver integrated circuit (IC) 161 mounted on the film. An upper surface peripheral and a surrounding edge wall of the flat panel display device 100 are covered with a metal bezel 108 assembled in a picture-frame form by L-shaped cross-section metal girders.
The light guiding plate 107, a receiving portion 121 of the resin frame 102 and the driver circuit board 104 are piled in thickness-direction structure in the conventional flat panel display device 100. A portable-type flat panel display device, however, is required to be smaller in size, thinner in thickness and lighter in weight than the conventional flat panel display device. In order to comply with those requirements, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the receiving portion 121. Since an enclosing frame portion 122 of the resin frame 102 encloses the outer edge of the light guiding plate 107, it is also desirable that the width of the enclosing frame portion 122 (the distance between the outer edge surface of the light guiding plate 107 and that of the resin frame 102) is made as narrow as possible. Such structural changes may result in reduction of the mechanical strength of a flat panel display. Thus, it is difficult to secure sufficient reliability therefor against mechanical shocks or vibrations occurred in ordinary use or in use on a vehicle.
Further, the driver circuit board 104 is not prevented from electromagnetic interference with electronic components on the side of the display panel 100. Electromagnetic wave noises are not well suppressed in such a conventional flat panel display device. Particularly, electromagnetic wave noises increase as the mainstream of a flat panel display device is changed from the video graphic application (VGA; 480.times.640 pixels) to the super video graphic application (SVGA; 600.times.800 pixels). It is to be still changed from the excellent graphic application (XGA; 768.times.1024) to the super excellent graphic application (SXGA; 1024.times.1280). It is, therefore, indispensable to prevent the driver circuit board 104 from such electro-magnatic wave interference with other electronic components. Although the driver circuit board 104 may be contained in a metal case to avoid the interference, it does not always meet the requirements for flat panel display devices, such as small sizes and light weight.
An object of the present invention is to provide a flat panel display device with features of small size, thin thickness and light weight.
An object of the invention is to provide a flat panel display device with sufficient mechanical strength and high reliability. A frame of the flat panel display device is particularly strengthened to protect a display panel.
An object of the invention is to provide a flat panel display device which substantially prevents electromagnetic wave noises generated by a driver circuit board from interfering with other electronic components.
A first aspect of a flat panel display device in accordance with the present invention includes a substantially rectangle-shaped resin frame defined by four girders, a picture-frame like bezel, a display panel and a driver circuit board to drive the display panel. The front of the display panel is supported by the resin frame and the bezel while the driver circuit board is disposed under the back surface of the display panel. A metal sheet is provided between the driver circuit board and the display panel to shield electromagnetic wave noises generated from the driver circuit board. The metal sheet is engaged with or jointed to the resin frame to increase the strength of the resin frame as a reinforcement plate.
With the above-described structure, a portable-type flat panel display device is provided with features of a small size and lightweight and, at the same time, the metal sheet functions as a reinforcement plate so that the strength of the frame to protect the display panel can be increased and the reliability thereof can be also enhanced. Further, the metal sheet can effectively avoid leaking electromagnetic wave noises generated from the driver circuit board.
A second aspect of a flat panel display device in accordance with the invention is characterized in folded portions which is U-shaped in cross-section and is provided at the edges of the metal sheet to engage or joint the resin frame.
With this structure, even though the metal sheet is thin in thickness, a flat panel display device is provided with sufficient strength.
A third aspect of a flat panel display device in accordance with the invention is characterized in the metal sheet with a substantially right triangle shape, the slop of which is substantially consistent with a diagonal line of the display panel.
This particular structure materializes the flat panel display device with features of light weight and sufficient strength.
A fourth aspect of a flat panel display device in accordance with the invention is characterized in the metal sheet or a light guiding plate together therewith only disposed between the display panel and the driver circuit board.
This structure materializes the flat panel display device with a thin thickness.
A fifth aspect of a flat panel display device in accordance with this invention includes a resin frame defined by a substantial rectangle of four girders, a picture-frame like bezel and a display panel. The front of the display panel is supported by the resin frame and the bezel while the driver circuit board is disposed under the back surface of the display panel. A supporting member or a reinforcement plate made of a metal sheet is provided at a place corresponding to a diagonal line of the rectangle or at places corresponding to the corners thereof.
This structure materializes a flat panel display device with features of a small size and light weight. At the same time, the strength of the frame structure and the reliability thereof are maintained or increased to protect the display panel.
The above-stated and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description when taken with the accompanying drawings. It will be understood, however, that the drawings are for purposes of illustration and are not to be construed as defining the scope or limit of the invention, reference being had for the latter purpose to the claims appended hereto.


While it is well known to power traffic control devices (for example, traffic lights) by an alternative energy source during power outages, some embodiments of the present invention additionally have: (i) a set of control computer(s), remote from the various traffic control devices, that is powered by an alternative energy source during a power outage; and/or (ii) a communication network, for communications between the set of control computer(s) and the various traffic control devices, that is powered by an alternative power source during a power outage. The use of alternative power to power the control computer(s) (for example, a hub) and/or the communication network allows the traffic control devices to continue to operate in a coordinated manner as instructed by the control computers, thereby avoiding a situation where the traffic lights begin operating independently of each other during a power outage.

The present invention relates generally to the field of traffic control systems that include traffic control devices (for example, traffic lights) and a set of traffic control computer(s) located remotely from the various traffic control devices out in the field (for example, located at traffic control headquarters). The set of traffic control computer(s) communicates with the various traffic control devices over a wide area network, such as the internet. At least some of the examples discussed herein will have only a single traffic control computer for the sake of simplicity of reader understanding. Some traffic control systems will have additional components, such as IoT (Internet of Things) type sensors, toll gate readers and the like.
The Wikipedia entry for "traffic light control and coordination" (as of 2 Feb. 2021) states as follows: "The normal function of traffic lights requires more than slight control and coordination to ensure that traffic and pedestrians move as smoothly, and safely as possible. A variety of different control systems are used to accomplish this, ranging from simple clockwork mechanisms to sophisticated computerized control and coordination systems that self-adjust to minimize delay to people using the junction . . . . A traffic signal is typically controlled by a controller mounted inside a cabinet . . . . [M]odern traffic controllers are solid state. The cabinet typically contains a power panel, to distribute electrical power in the cabinet; a detector interface panel, to connect to loop detectors and other detectors; detector amplifiers; the controller itself; a conflict monitor unit; flash transfer relays; a police panel, to allow the police to disable the signal; and other components . . . . Battery backup[.] In the areas that are prone to power interruptions, adding battery backups to the traffic controller systems can enhance the safety of the motorists and pedestrians. In the past, a larger capacity of uninterruptible power supply would be required to continue the full operations of the traffic signals using incandescent lights. The cost for such system would be prohibitive. After the newer generations of traffic signals that use LED lights which consume 85-90% less energy, it is now possible to incorporate battery backups into the traffic light systems. The battery backups would be installed in the traffic controller cabinet or in their own cabinet adjacent to the controller. The battery backups can operate the controller in emergency mode with the red light flashing or in fully functional mode . . . . Attempts are often made to place traffic signals on a coordinated system so that drivers encounter a green wave, a long string of green lights (the technical term is progression). The distinction between coordinated signals and synchronized signals is very important. Synchronized signals all change at the same time and are only used in special instances or in older systems. Coordinated (progressed) systems are controlled from a master controller and are set up so lights 'cascade' (progress) in sequence so platoons of vehicles can proceed through a continuous series of green lights . . . . More recently even more sophisticated methods have been employed. Traffic lights are sometimes centrally controlled by monitors or by computers to allow them to be coordinated in real time to deal with changing traffic patterns. Video cameras, or sensors buried in the pavement can be used to monitor traffic patterns across a city . . . . Traffic light systems are designed using software such as LINSIG, TRANSYT or VISSIM." (footnote(s) omitted)

Prediction method for resilient interconnected traffic management


A front suspension and steering mount cradle is disclosed for front-wheel-drive and all-wheel drive motor vehicles which provides improved component packaging, noise isolation, and heat shielding. The cradle includes laterally spaced apart supporting end arches integrally joined by a transversely extending inverted U-section saddle, wherein each arch is defined by an upper section terminating in downwardly diverging front and rear legs. Each front leg ends in a pivot pin fitting for connection to a suspension arm front pivot bushing while each rear leg terminates in a footpad housing connection for a rear bushing fitted on a rearward extending stem of each arm. Each cradle forward leg provides a pedestal bracket for supporting a frame front isolator assembly while each rear footpad supports a frame rear isolator assembly. A pair of upstanding engine mounting flanges on the saddle bight wall insure exact powertrain orientation. Inner surfaces of the cradle walls are formed with fastener bosses for readily mounting steering gear and anti-sway bar assemblies in a manner whereby the cradle shields the assemblies from engine catalytic converter heat, impingement from stones, and the like.

It is known in the art relating to powertrain and front suspension mounting arrangements for front-wheel-drive vehicles to provide a rigid subframe cradle, separate from the vehicle body, to support such arrangements. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,517, issued Dec. 23, 1980, to Harlow, Jr. et al., a front-wheel-drive vehicle is shown having a powertrain with a transversely positioned engine and transmission together with independent front wheel suspensions each with a control arm. The Harlow patent discloses a cradle to which the control arms are swingably mounted while a plurality of cushion mounts support the cradle at high impedance points on the vehicle body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,870, issued Dec. 27, 1994 to Smith et al., discloses a mounting structure for a vehicle front engine and an operatively interconnected transmission mounted on a subframe cradle. The Smith cradle also supports each front wheel suspension system lower control arm by means of its pair of legs adapted to be pivotally connected at their ends to a side of the cradle.


Disclosed is an air supply system that provides filtered ventilation to a protected zone which is maintained at a positive pressure so as to prevent contaminants from infiltrating therein. The system further discloses a three-stage air filter apparatus that provides all the necessary filtering to remove contaminants from the air that may be created by chemical, biological and radiological conditions.

1.0 Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to air filtering systems and, more particularly, to an air supply system that is particularly suited to filter and remove contaminants created by chemical, biological or radiological conditions.
2.0 Description of the Related Art
Tactical locations, such as naval warships and land based buildings used for command information centers, have long been pressurized to protect against airborne intrusion therein of chemical, biological and radiological contaminations. Such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,371, which is incorporated herein by reference. Although the existing systems that provide for a pressurized environment serve well their intended purpose, it is desired that further improvements be provided thereto.
The filters used in such pressurized systems are commonly placed in relatively small environments, such as air ducts. It is desired that a compact filtering apparatus be provided wherein all the filtering required to purge the air of contaminants is located in one compact structure.
The pressurized environment provided by the air filtering systems needs to be maintained at a predetermined positive pressure. It is desired that a system be provided that monitors for the pressure within the enclosed environment and maintains the pressure therein within a desired limit.

Air supply system particularly suited to remove contaminants created by chemical, biological or radiological conditions

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


Individual probes on micro-arrays are re-scaled and corrected with a set of probe dependent coefficients derived from genomic-DNA hybridization signals. A dynamic range for gDNA binding is determined by measuring a concentration signal curve. Signals for each probe are measured during multiple hybridizations within a linear range. Concentration insensitive probes are then found for two sets of experiments. Probes are discarded based on a threshold compared to their standard deviation divided by their average in each set. The correction coefficients are used to calculate a corrected intensity for each probe. Probes having high uncertainty (0.5 in one embodiment) are discarded. A weighting factor for each probe is determined along with an uncertainty factor. Finally, a call for each gene is made, such as absent, marginal or present.

Gene expression analysis is becoming more common now that sequence information for DNA is readily available. One way of obtaining information about genes involves the use of an array of probes. One type of probe is made on a silicon array of cells, consisting of DNA fragments or oligomers attached at each cell. The DNA probe is used to hybridize marked RNA transcripts, or more typically their cDNA counterparts, produced by a target gene. The DNA probe in the array is exposed to the RNA transcripts or cDNAs, which then attach or hybridize to the DNA probes if they match. Unattached RNAs or cDNAs are washed away, and the array is exposed to laser light causing the attached RNA associated fluorophores to fluoresce. The amount of fluorescence is measured and is representative of the expression level of the gene.
Millions of independent gene expression measurements are made each year using different probes. There are serious obstacles to accurately mining and systematically integrating the measurements. Since probes exhibit different sensitivities, it is difficult to compare results from different probes. Several problems are encountered, including how to compare expression levels between different genes, how to determine absolute expression values, and how to eliminate cross-hybridization signals. The present invention provides a means to overcome these difficulties.

Probe correction for gene expression level detection


A Human-Machine Interface (HMI) system comprises a machine interface, a processing system, and a user interface. The machine interface receives operational data associated with an operation of a machine. The processing system processes the operational data associated with the operation of the machine to determine a trend in the operational data. The user interface displays a graphical representation of the trend, and receives a first user input and a second user input simultaneously on a surface of the user interface. The processing system processes the first user input and the second user input to determine a change in the trend. The user interface displays a graphical representation of the change in the trend.

Industrial environments include automobile manufacturing factories, food processing plants, and microprocessor fabrication facilities. The typical industrial environment includes various machines, such as pumps, motors, and robots. These machines continually produce data that indicates the current status of the machines, such as the machine's pressure, temperature, or speed.
The typical industrial environment also includes a Human-Machine Interface (HMI). The HMI receives and processes the status data from the machines to generate various graphical displays. The graphical displays indicate the current and historical status of the machines. For example, an HMI graphical display might indicate the pressure of a pump, the speed of a motor, or the output of a robot. The HMI may also control the machines. For example, the HMI might turn on a pump, speed-up a motor, or stop a robot.
The HMI may allow a user to manipulate various graphical displays. Unfortunately, the user must operate traditional input devices such as a keyboard and mouse to cause a desired alteration of a graphical display. This method of image manipulation may be too slow, inefficient, or cumbersome for some users.

Human-machine interface having multiple touch trend manipulation capabilities