An extension apparatus for attachment to a tailgate of a vehicle has a first panel with a generally flat surface, a second panel hingedly connected to the first panel. The second panel is movable between a first position in surface-to-surface contact with first panel and a second position in coplanar relationship to the first panel. At least one strap is provided for securing the first panel to a surface of the tailgate.

Pickup trucks and similarly configured vehicles are equipped with a cargo bed in which cargo of a variety of sorts can be transported. A limitation on the versatility of such vehicles arises when the cargo to be transported is longer than the cargo bed, and this projects from the end of the vehicle. The situation frequently occurs when transporting construction materials and machinery. This prompts significant practical and safety concerns during transportation of the cargo. For instance, the cargo can be damaged if its weight causes the portion projecting beyond the bed to become deformed. Furthermore, the cargo is likely to fall from the back of the bed if it cannot be adequately secured. At a minimum, this latter occurrence can result in severe damage to the cargo. Of even greater concern is that the transportation of oversized cargo may present a hazard to other motorists if the cargo happens to fall from the bed while the vehicle is in transit.
Often as a temporary solution to the problem, a person will ride in the cargo bed along with the cargo during transit in order to monitor the cargo, and possibly even hold the cargo to prevent its falling from the vehicle. However, this solution not only needlessly exposes persons to potentially life-threatening hazards, but is also an inefficient use of manpower. Therefore, the prior art has suggested various alternatives to allow the safe transportation of oversized cargo in cargo beds that are otherwise inadequate to sufficiently support the length of the cargo.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,932, issued on Oct. 27, 1998 to S. DeSimone, describes a bed extension for use with vehicles equipped with cargo beds. The bed extension is configured to enable oversized cargo to be securely carried on a cargo bed. The bed extension is constructed of struts and/or tubing that promotes the structural rigidity of the extension while contributing minimal weight. When stowed, the bed extension occupies the same space as the tailgate of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,724, issued on Jan. 12, 1999 to E. R. Jarman, describes an apparatus for extending vehicle cargo areas. This apparatus includes a main panel having a first end adapted for pivotally attaching to a tailgate. The main panel includes non-planar section formed therein. A pair of side walls are pivotally attached opposite sides of the main panel. The apparatus is positionable in a stowed position having the side panels folded into abutment with the main panel such that the non-planar sections of the side walls nest with the non-planar sections of the main panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,801, issued on Jul. 4, 2000 to Owen et al., describes a tailgate extension assembly that is selectively positionable between a variety of orientations. The extension mechanism includes a tailgate protector mounted onto the vehicle tailgate, an extender frame movably attached to the tailgate protector allowing for separate movement of the extender frame relative to the tailgate protector. Support arms extend between the vehicle and the extender frame for selectively positioning the extender frame relative to the vehicle tailgate and also supporting the extender frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,836, issued on Apr. 22, 2003 to J. Rigau, describes a vehicle bed modular system for increasing the functionality of the pickup truck bed. This system has a rectangular panel and mounting plates positioned on the interior of the vehicle bed. The mounting plates are positioned so as to permit installation of a rectangular panel alternately in a parallel and vertical orientation relative to the bed of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,841, issued on Apr. 22, 2003 to Burdon et al., describes a tailgate bed extender that has a tray mounted on a vehicle tailgate and a rear frame pivotally coupled to the tray. Side arms are pivotally coupled to opposing side edges of the rear frame and are attachable to the vehicle truck bed. A hinge assembly has a rotation axis is movable relative to the tray and joins the rear frame to the tray. The tailgate bed extender is rotatable from a stored position in which the rear frame abuts the tray to a loading position in which the rear frame is at an angle of approximately 270° to the tray.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,038, issued on Nov. 21, 1995 to G. M. Sauri, describes a vehicle tailgate extender having an extension member retractably mounted between inner and outer tailgate walls. The extension member is movable between operative and stowed positions in which the stowed position of the extension members is substantially entirely enclosed by the tailgate walls. In the operative position, the extension member extends from an opening at a top surface of the tailgate located intermediate of the tailgate walls.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0121794, published on Sep. 5, 2002, also shows an auxiliary tailgate with a retractable stop. The tailgate is movable between an open frame and an enclosed clam-shell configuration.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tailgate extension device which is portable.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a tailgate extension device that can be easily applied onto the tailgate of the bed of a pickup truck.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tailgate extension device which minimizes damage to the finish on the surfaces of the tailgate.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a tailgate extender which provides extra cargo-carrying capacity to the bed of the pickup truck.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a tailgate extension device which allows side rails or cargo netting to be secured thereto.
It is a still a further object of the present invention to provide a tailgate extension device which is easy to use, relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.


In a communication terminal device and a method of originating a call, the number of operations at the time of originating a call in a communication terminal device can be reduced. When the send key is depressed for a long period after inputting a numerical sequence by the numeral keys, the call origination based on the input numerical sequence itself is performed. In contrast, when the send key is depressed for a short period after inputting a numerical sequence, the call origination based on the telephone number read from the storage address corresponding to the input numeral sequence is performed. In this manner, the originating operation as to the telephone number stored in the telephone directory memory can be performed by inputting a numeral sequence corresponding to the storage address and depressing the send key, and the originating operation as to an arbitrary special telephone number can be performed merely by inputting a numerical sequence and depressing the send key. Accordingly, the communication terminal device can be obtained which can reduce the number of operations at the time of originating a call and hence provide excellent operability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication terminal device, and is applicable to, for example, a portable telephone (such as GSM.multidot.USDC.multidot.PDC), a digital cordless telephone (such as PHS.multidot.DECT.multidot.CT-2) or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, there are some telephones which are provided with such a function that, by merely inputting a designated number of one to three figures and depressing a send key, the origination operation can be performed automatically. A telephone number of a destination is read out from a memory area corresponding to the designated number and then the originating operation is performed based on the telephone number thus read. When such a function is employed, since the originating operation can be performed by operating keys four times at most, the originating operation is attained conveniently without inputting all of the long telephone number. Such a telephone is also provided with a function that the originating operation can be performed as to the specified special telephone numbers (for example, "O" (operator), "911" (police in the United States) by merely inputting a number corresponding thereto and depressing the send key.
However, since such a telephone is adapted to have this function as to only the specified special telephone numbers, the originating operation can not be performed by the minimum number of operation steps as to special telephone numbers other than the specified special telephone numbers.

Communication terminal device and call originating method


A flow sensor element and a method for self-cleaning of the flow sensor element are provided, in which a temperature-measuring element and a heating element are arranged on a carrier element, and these elements can form a multiple-part ceramic component. The temperature-measuring element has a platinum thin-film resistor on a ceramic substrate for the temperature measurement and is heated with an additional platinum thin-film resistor. A measurement device, in particular an anemometric measurement device of a flow sensor, contains film resistors mounted in at least one opening of a cover or a hollow body. Two of the film resistors have resistance values differing by one to three orders of magnitude. The anemometric measurement device has a temperature sensor and a heat output sensor set in a carrier element. The temperature sensor has a temperature-measuring resistor and a heat conductor, as platinum thin-film or thick-film resistors, on a ceramic substrate.

The invention relates to a flow sensor element having film resistors, in particular having a temperature sensor based on a platinum thin-film resistor and a heat output sensor based on a platinum thin-film resistor. Advantageously, the temperature sensor and the heat output sensor are arranged on a carrier element. Electrically conductive tracks and connection surfaces for the electrical contacting of temperature sensors and heat output sensors arranged on a ceramic substrate have proven effective. In addition, the invention relates to the production and application of such a flow sensor element.
Such flow sensor elements are known from European patent application publication EP 1 065 476 A1. There, a thermal air flow sensor is disclosed, in which a sensor element having a heating resistor and a resistive temperature-measuring element is arranged countersunk in a recess of a ceramic laminate body and fixed with ceramic cement. Due to the adhesive bond and the countersunk arrangement of the sensor element with or in the ceramic laminate, the sensor element exhibits marked reactive inertness for changes in temperature of the measurement medium. The electrical contacts are covered in the flow region with an epoxy resin, so that the device cannot be used at temperatures above 300° C. In addition, the arrangement is complicated and therefore cost-intensive.
German published patent application DE 102 25 602.0 discloses a temperature sensor having a total thickness of 10 to 100 μm, which has a metallic film substrate with an electrically insulating coating, on which a platinum thin-film resistor is arranged as a temperature-sensitive element. The temperature sensor is used in the region of a cooling body for a semiconductor component.
German published patent application DE 195 06 231 A1 discloses a hot-film anemometer having a temperature sensor and a heat output sensor. The heat output sensor is arranged like a bridge in a recess of a plastic carrier plate. The platinum temperature thin-film elements for the temperature sensor and for the heat output sensor are arranged on a ceramic substrate, which is advantageously formed from aluminum oxide.
German published patent application DE 199 41 420 A1 discloses a sensor element for temperature measurement on a metallic substrate, which has an insulation layer as a membrane. Here, the membrane spans a recess in the metallic substrate. The platinum thin film is here arranged on the membrane in the region of the recess.
German published patent application DE 101 24 964 A1 discloses a sensor for measuring flow rates of gases or liquids, the sensor having a carrier membrane constructed in the form of a flag. The carrier membrane is advantageously formed of a plastic and features an electrically conductive track made of platinum and electrical feed lines. The use of such a sensor having a carrier membrane made of plastic is not possible above 300° C.
European patent application publication EP 1 431 718 discloses a quick-response flow sensor element for measuring mass flow rates of hot gaseous or fluid media. For this purpose, a temperature-measuring element and a heating element each have a metallic carrier film with an electrically insulating coating, on which the platinum thin-film resistors are arranged. Contamination causes the measured value to drift.

Flow sensor element and its self-cleaning


An object is to provide a zoom lens system that can realize high image quality, a large aperture and a small size simultaneously and that can optically compensate blur of the image due to hand blur, vibration or the like, an imaging device and a camera. The present invention relates to a zoom lens system, in order from the object side to the image side, comprising a first lens unit having positive optical power, a second lens unit having negative optical power, a third lens unit having positive optical power and a fourth lens unit having positive optical power, wherein variable magnification is achieved by moving at least three lens units in an optical axis direction, focusing is achieved by moving the fourth lens unit in the optical axis direction, blur of the image is compensated by moving the third lens unit in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis, and at least one of a condition (1): 0<(|ΔL|·fW)/(fT·IM)<10×10−2 and a condition (2): 0.005<(|ΔL3|·fW)/(fT·IM)<0.15 (here, Z=fT/fW>8.0) is satisfied, an imaging device and a camera.

In the prior art, in image shooting devices such as a digital video camera and a digital still camera, blur of the image at the time of image shooting is a problem. Thus, a function of preventing this is indispensable.
For example, an image shooting device described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-66500 comprises a zoom lens system in which variable magnification is achieved by moving the first lens unit, the second lens unit and the fourth lens unit in the optical axis direction, and in which blur of the image due to hand blur is compensated by moving the third lens unit in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis.
Further, an image shooting device described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-295059 comprises a zoom lens system in which variable magnification is achieved by moving the first lens unit, the second lens unit, the third lens unit and the fourth lens unit in the optical axis direction, and in which blur of the image due to hand blur is compensated by moving the third lens unit in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-66500
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-295059

Zoom lens system, imaging device and camera


A synchronous rectifier for use with a clamped-mode power converter uses in one embodiment a hybrid rectifier with a MOSFET rectifying device active in one first cyclic interval of the conduction/nonconduction sequence of the power switch and a second rectifying device embodied in one illustrative embodiment as a low voltage bipolar diode rectifying device active during an alternative interval to the first conduction/nonconduction interval. The gate drive to the MOSFET device is continuous at a constant level for substantially all of the second interval which enhances efficiency of the rectifier. The bipolar rectifier device may also be embodied as a MOSFET device. The subject rectifier may be used in both forward and flyback power converters.

Self synchronized rectifiers refer to rectifiers using MOSFET rectifying devices having control terminals which are driven by voltages of the windings of the power transformer in order to provide the rectification of the output of the transformer. Use of synchronous rectifiers has been limited however by the inefficiency of these rectifiers in buck derived converter topologies. Efficiency is limited due to the nature of switching of buck derived converters (i.e. buck, buck-boost, boost converters including forward and flyback topologies) and due to the variability of the transformer reset voltages in the forward type converters. This variability of reset voltage limits the conduction time of one of the MOSFET rectifiers, diminishing the effectiveness and efficiency of the rectifier. This is because the rectifying devices do not conduct for the full switching period and the gate drive energy of one of the rectifiers is dissipated.

Low loss synchronous rectifier for application to clamped-mode power converters


A method and system for detecting focus spots. Data from a file created during stepper operation is extracted to get field coordinate position, leveling scheme, and tilt with respect to the x- and y-axes, and wafer height with respect to the focal plane for the multiple fields on the multiple wafers in a production batch. A delta value is calculated for the x- and y-axes tilt data which averages the tilt of each field with its surrounding fields. Delta values are placed in a 3-dimensional data structure linking neighboring fields and corresponding fields on subsequent wafers. Focus spots are detected by the repeated presence of data spikes over the sum of the arithmetic mean and some multiple of the standard deviation of the delta values.

Photolithography is used to produce semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs). Such a process uses photographic techniques to impart patterns for the construction of ICs on wafers. Due to the extremely small size of these intricate circuits, the manufacturing process must be excessively monitored to ensure that contaminating particles are not present. A particle may be inadvertently introduced to the process, often times becoming sandwiched between the wafer and its retaining vacuum platform. The intruding particle causes a region of the wafer to be subject to improper focusing by the photographing unit.
Improper focusing on such a wafer region causes what is known as a focus spot. Such spots are recognizable by human inspectors and are a major problem for chip makers. Focus spots can affect perhaps 4% of all batches. There is a need in the art for an automated system for focus spot detection. Such a system could inspect a batch of wafers soon after their production, thus saving the time lag experienced as human inspectors more slowly examine the wafers.
Such a system could save expense as well as time. Frequently, a surface contaminant will remain on the vacuum platform and will cause focus spots in several wafers at the same location. By detecting the appearance of a focus spot soon after the batch has been completed, engineers can be notified to clean the vacuum platform before the next batch of wafers is introduced.
The detection method must also be accurate. False focus spot detection is detrimental to the manufacturing process because such false flagging of batches will cause added work for human inspectors, and will cause unnecessary interruption of the manufacturing process for machine inspection and cleaning.


Embodiments of the present invention employ differential acceleration computations for detecting free fall conditions. The differential acceleration computations can be based on two-axis or three-axis acceleration measurements, and therefore can be implemented using a two-axis accelerometer or a three-axis accelerometer (or combinations of accelerometers that enable acceleration measurements in two or three axes). When a free fall condition is detected, an appropriate signal can be generated, for example, to place a HDD in a protected state before damage is likely to occur. Differential acceleration measurements can also be used to detect a “safe” condition following a free fall condition.

Hard disk drives (HDDs) are becoming more widely used than ever before, due to the explosive growth in the introduction of portable equipment such as laptop computers, portable media players (PMPs), and handsets. As more and more devices incorporate HDDs, the need has become more pressing to protect them from shocks produced by severe impacts when a product that contains one is dropped accidentally. To increase the ability of HDDs to survive such events, their impact resistance must be enhanced.
There are generally two approaches to establishing the necessary impact resistance, active and passive.
Passive approaches have been in use for a long time; they simply cushion the device with impact-absorbing materials, usually rubber or gels. Gels, which tend to be better able to absorb an impact, are more widely used than rubber. However, gels cannot protect devices from damage caused by falls of more than one meter; this precludes their use in portable entertainment equipment. Devices such as handsets, MP3 players, and PMPs need to be protected for a drop of more than 1.5 meters (the average height of a human ear above the ground). A passive approach to HDD protection is described in Naoki Asakawa, "Tech Analysis: HDD for Mobile Phones Withstand 1.5-Meter Drop," Nikkei Electronics Asia, January 2005, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Among active approaches, there are generally two alternatives for protecting HDDs. One is to increase cache memory capacity so that the HDD is in a read or write mode less often. This approach would also tend to reduce power consumption and heating, but it is costly and fails to deal with the impact that can occur should the HDD be in a read or write mode at the instant the fall begins. The second approach is to employ accelerometers to detect a drop and then generate a signal that causes an HDD head to be recalled to a safe zone. If this can occur before the product hits the floor or other stationary surface, a collision between head and platter will be prevented. This approach was first used commercially in a notebook PC released by IBM in October 2003.
A simple model for free fall of an object is depicted in FIG. 1, where the Z axis of the falling object is assumed to be perpendicular to the surface of the earth. In FIG. 1(a), the object is assumed to be stationary, so that the accelerations along the X and Y axes are both zero, hence the force along the Z axis, governed by Newton's second law, will have the value of 1 g (32.174 feet/second/second at sea level), corresponding to the stationary acceleration force due to gravity.
In FIG. 1(b) the object is allowed to fall. The accelerations along the X and Y axes remain the same, zero g, but now the accelerometer that measures acceleration along the Z axis, being accelerated at the same rate as the object to which it is fastened, will record a value of zero g.
A more general case for a falling object is shown in FIG. 2. Here the edges of the cube form arbitrary angles with regard to the orthogonal coordinate system.
In FIG. 2(a), the object is depicted in a generalized arbitrary orientation; its edges form angles α, with respect to the X axis; β, with respect to the Y axis; and γ, with respect to the Z axis. At zero-g acceleration, the voltage output of each axis sensor is VCC/2. Accordingly, the outputs for the three axes will be:Xoutput=VCC/2±[(sensitivity)(1 g)(sin α)]  (1a)Youtput=VCC/2±[(sensitivity)(1 g)(sin β)]  (1b)Zoutput=VCC/2±[(sensitivity)(1 g)(sin β)(cos γ)]  (1c)
"Sensitivity" refers to the output of the sensor per g. For the ADXL320, when powered by +3 V, the sensitivity will be 174 mV/g. If the direction of the detected linear acceleration corresponds with the positive direction of a coordinate axis—X, Y, or Z—its sign will be positive and its output will add to VCC/2; otherwise it will be negative and will subtract from VCC/2.
When the object is dropped suddenly, the accelerations along all three axes become zero because, regardless of the orientation of the object to the coordinate system, no acceleration will be detected along any axis since, as explained above, the accelerometer is accelerating towards the earth at the same rate as the falling body.
For portable equipment, we must also consider any angular acceleration that may be imparted to the object, as shown in FIG. 3.
In order to simplify the calculation of the angular acceleration, the analysis will be confined to the plane determined by the X and Y axes, thereby simplifying the analysis.
If the angular velocity is ω and the radius of rotation is R, then the angular acceleration (AC) is:AC=ω2R  (2)
Therefore, the components of the angular acceleration along the X and Y axes will be:ACX=ω2R sin θ  (3a)ACY=ω2R cos θ  (3b)
So, in reality, the falling body will generally exhibit both linear acceleration and angular acceleration, a combination of the various cases discussed above.
To compute the time that will elapse when an object falls, starting with a velocity of zero perpendicular to the earth at the instant of the fall, we can use the following equation based upon Newton's second law of motion:
                    t        =                                            2                            h                        g                                              (        4        )
where h is the height of the fall and g is the gravitational acceleration, 32.174 feet/second/second. To get a sense of the time available to respond to a fall, we can assume a height of 3 feet. Using equation (4), time=432 ms.
Traditionally, the HDD protection algorithm has been based on free-fall modeling, as explained below, in which the outputs of the sensors contained in the accelerometers can be easily captured by a digital oscilloscope or other data sampling system.
A "test sled" can be assembled using two ADXL320 dual-axis accelerometers. The axes of the accelerometers are aligned with the X, Y, and Z axes, as depicted in FIG. 4, thereby providing values of acceleration along the X, Y, and Z coordinates. (The Y1 output is redundant and is not used.) The outputs of the coordinate axes are sampled by a 12-bit ADC contained in an ADuC832 precision analog microcontroller, which integrates the sampled data and feeds it to an internal 8052-compatible core processor. The sampled data is then transferred to the computer—via an RS-232 interface—for analysis.
FIG. 5 shows the sequence of responses sensed by the two sensors. Values X and Y are supplied by one accelerometer, the values Z and Y1 are supplied by the other accelerometer. Note also that the plot is divided into four consecutive intervals labeled: "static," "rollover," "free-fall drop," and "impact." The sampling interval, shown along the X axis, is determined by the ADC, which is clocked at 200 Hz for each variable, or one sample of each variable every 5 milliseconds. The Y-axis scale represents the values delivered by the 12-bit ADC in an Analog Devices ADuC832 smart-transducer front end, plotted for all four axes.
The test sled, placed at the edge of the table and caused to roll over, imparting angular acceleration—as depicted in FIG. 4—produces the rollover data shown in FIG. 5. (The Z-axis value, apparently not-equal-to-zero-g output in static mode, is caused by the unbalanced installation of the accelerometer.)
When the sled is pushed off the table, the values are all constant near their respective zero levels during this free-fall-drop interval, in line with the above assertion that during the free fall the outputs of all the accelerometers will be zero-g output. It might also be noted that the zero-g output for the accelerometers along different axes in the same time interval is not quite the same.
The traditional HDD protection algorithm is generally based on the data obtained in the arrangement just described. The system monitors the acceleration along the X, Y, and Z axes of the object. If the root-sum-of-squares value calculated from Equation 5 is equal to or less than the threshold value, a signal is sent to the computer associated with the HDD causing the head to park safely before the portable device collides with the floor.√{square root over (X2+Y2+Z2)}≦Threshold  (5)
The choice of the threshold value is governed by the specific response-time requirement, as well as the sensor's parameters—such as sensitivity, sensitivity change due to temperature, operation voltage, noise density, package alignment error, sensor resonant frequency and the working temperature range of the equipment. Normally, the threshold value can be determined from experiments, like the one described above. For example, a designer might choose a threshold value of 0.4 g.
U.S. Reissue Pat. No. RE 35,269 describes a disk drive protection scheme that uses a three-axis accelerometer. This reissue patent and its parent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,929, are hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
As the name implies, a three-axis accelerometer can detect accelerations in each of three axes, typically referred to as the X, Y, and Z axes. The X, Y, and Z axes are typically normal to one another. A drop or fall condition may be detected using a three-axis accelerometer by measuring the X, Y, and Z axis accelerations and computing the square root of the sum of the squares of the X, Y, and Z axis acceleration measurements. If that value is less than a predetermined threshold (say, less than 0.4 g), a drop or fall condition may be inferred and a disk protection mechanism may be activated.
Three-axis accelerometers are typically expensive and large. Also, the above-mentioned algorithm for detecting a drop or fall may fail if the device is spinning as it drops or falls.

Accelerometer-based differential free fall detection system, apparatus, and method and disk drive protection mechanism employing same


A facility for producing a composite aerial image is described. The facility receives information specifying a geographic area. The facility obtains an aerial image showing the specified geographic area that was prepared using one or more aerial image sections. Each aerial image section covers a geographic area defined in terms of spherical coordinates, and was constructed by copying a portion of a master aerial image that was selected using rectangular coordinates into the master image that were determined by directly transforming the spherical coordinates defining the covered geographic area. The facility obtains information indexed to one or more distinguished geographic locations within the specified geographic area and, for each distinguished geographic location, composites into the obtained aerial image a visual indication of the information that is indexed to the distinguished geographic location.

It has become common to dynamically display aerial images, such as aerial photographs, in response to user interactions. For example, a user visiting an aerial imaging web site may type a postal address in order to display an aerial image centered on that address at a medium level of magnification. The user may perform additional interactions to zoom in or out, or to pan in various compass directions. In some cases, the displayed image is overlaid or otherwise composited with various additional features, including roads, political boundaries, geographic names, or real property parcels.
Such dynamic display of aerial images is typically performed using image data captured and processed as follows. First, a number of photographs are taken of the relevant geographic region from an aerial platform, such as an airplane or a satellite. Each photograph is tagged with polar or other spherical coordinates—e.g., latitude-longitude pairs—identifying the area shown. The photographs are then concatenated together on the surface of a 3-dimensional solid representing the Earth, such as a sphere or a spheroid. Because the images are generally ultimately displayed on a flat surface, the coordinates with which it is indexed on the surface of a 3-dimensional solid must be transformed into coordinates in a single plane before being incorporated in a displayed image. This transformation is commonly accomplished by (1) performing a cylindrical projection in which points on the surface of the sphere or spheroid representing the Earth are projected onto the lateral surface of a cylinder whose central axis coincides with a polar axis of the sphere or spheroid that corresponds to the Earth's polar axis and that intersects the sphere or spheroid at the equator (i.e., a cylindrical projection in which the standard parallel is the equator), (2) then unrolling the lateral surface of the cylinder to produce a plane, sometimes called a "master image." This master image is then divided into a 2-dimensional array of rectangular portions, called "tiles." When a dynamic aerial image request is received for a particular location and magnification level, one or more tiles about the location are retrieved, joined, and trimmed in a manner that satisfies the request, and returned.
Unfortunately, the conventional approach described above has important disadvantages. First, it tends to distort the horizontal scale of tiles near extreme latitudes of the covered region, i.e., portions of the region nearest a pole. FIG. 1 is a map diagram showing the distortion effect suffered by conventional approaches at extreme latitudes. Tiles 110, 120, 130, 140, and 150 are tiles from the Northern hemisphere that progress in a direction from South to North. The width of these tiles is constant in terms of longitude. For example, each tile may have a longitudinal width of 0.01° longitude. However, as the tiles move closer to the pole, that is, as they move North, their width in distance declines. For example, it can be seen that the width 123 in distance at the top of tile 120 is smaller than the corresponding width 113 at the top of tile 110. Indeed, when tile 150 is reached, the width in distance is substantially reduced to width 153. In performing the cylindrical projection using the equator as the standard parallel, the conventional approach has the effect of expanding the width of the image for each tile to a degree that increases with proximity to a pole. For example, it can be seen that the width of the image for tile 150 is increased dramatically from width 153 to width 156, a horizontal magnification of about 200% relative to images at the standard parallel latitude. As a result, a visual feature shown in tile 140 would appear twice as wide (but no taller) than a feature of the same size shown in tile 110. This distortion effect can significantly impair the recognizability of aerial imagery, and the ability to form accurate spatial perceptions from it.
The conventional approach also has the disadvantage that it tends to magnify conversion errors from latitude/longitude coordinates commonly used to refer to locations into planar coordinates in the master image. FIG. 2 is a map diagram showing the location and accuracy disadvantage suffered by the conventional approaches. The diagram shows a master image 200 that has been divided into tiles using the conventional approach, beginning from an origin of 122.00° West, 47.50° North. The tiles are each intended to represent an area 0.01° wide and 0.01° tall. The conventional approach proceeds by converting this spherical width and height into distance. In particular, it converts the 0.01° width to 0.4665 miles, and the 0.01° height to 0.690 miles. It moves to the right by this width distance and down by this height distance from the origin to define the first tile 210. It moves to the right by the width distance again to define the tile 230 immediately to the East, and down again by the height distance to define the tile 240 immediately to the South, proceeding this way until the master image has been completely divided into tiles. The borders between adjacent tiles defined in this manner are shown in the diagram by broken lines. For example, tile 210 begins at the origin and is bordered by the first broken line segments to the right and down, respectively. It is typical for a certain amount of error to be present in the converted distances, introduced by errors in measurement, errors in calculation, and/or rounding error. While the inaccuracy of area covered by tiles resulting from this error can be small near the origin—as reflected by the relatively small difference between tile 210 and corresponding intended tile area 260, this inaccuracy worsens at greater distances from the origin. For example, it can be seen that tile 220 is significantly dislocated from its intended tile area 270, to such an extent that a displayed aerial image that relied upon tile 220 would not contain the correct information, would show visual features of the image in the wrong positions, and would accordingly poorly coordinate the positions of the visual features of the aerial images with composited external visual information. As an example, a house visual feature 272 is included in the master image at the position shown. While its position places it in the center of intended tile area 270, it is actually included at the lower left hand corner of corresponding tile 220. The house that is the subject of this visual feature is at the center of a real estate parcel 271. Because the conventional approach believes that the tile 220 corresponds to the area of intended tile area 270, however, it will composite the parcel boundary visual information 221—i.e., the outline of the parcel—in the center of tile 220. Rather than surrounding the house visual feature as it should, the displayed parcel boundary excludes the house. This is not helpful to a user who wishes to understand how buildings are situated on a parcel, how the parcel is situated relative to visual features of the surrounding neighborhood, etc.
Accordingly, a process for generating dynamic aerial images that provide optimized aerial image portions for accurate compositing with other visual information would have significant utility.

Techniques for accurately synchronizing portions of an aerial image with composited visual information


An actuator, especially for seat adjusting devices with at least one electrical engine having subordinated reduction gear and a disconnecting device for manual operation. The generic actuator is provided with a disconnecting device that can be used in all operating processes in a large number of different applications and that guarantees reliable functioning of the disconnecting device without being over-dimensioned and thus uneconomical. The disconnecting device has a coupling insertion spring which determines the release force of the disconnecting device and a reset spring is provided which resets an actuating device.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention is related to an actuator, especially for seat adjusting devices having at least one electric motor with a subordinate reduction gear and a disconnecting device for manual operation.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Electrical actuators are for comfort or adjustment of inaccessible adjusting links. In case of a voltage failure or other such defects, it should be possible to adjust the links manually; this is normally the case with seat elements too. As actuators usually have high-reduction, partly self-locking reduction gears, a manual adjustment to create the required torque is possible only with the help of a coupling between the electric motor and the reduction gear or within the reduction gear.
An actuator for seat adjustment devices is known from DE-OS 102 30 591, in which the drive path between an electric motor and an output means of the actuator can be interrupted manually, where a traction rope transfers the force of a manually activated lever to a disconnecting device, which blocks the gear ring of a planetary gear against rotation during the operation of the electric motor, but allows rotation in the manual mode.
FIG. 1 shows parts of an actuator 1 according to the state of the prior art, with a planetary gear 9 consisting of a sun gear 20 attached to a shaft 22, planet gears 21 that are mounted on a planet carrier (not shown) and a gear ring 5 that is simultaneously an integral part of a disconnecting device 4. The gear ring 5 has a coupling means 7 formed from a ring 17 on its peripheral side 6 as cutouts in which the counter-coupling means 8 intervenes on being impacted by a spring. The coupling means 7, 8 are mutually coordinated in such a way that a clearance-free coupling connection results in the coupled condition. The counter-coupling means 8 is a part of a swivel device 23 consisting of a coupling shaft 18, the ends of which are either integrated into one piece, or connected permanently to a traction lever 11 on one side and a counter-coupling means 8 on the other side. Together with one of these rotary bearings fixed to the housing, the coupling shaft 18 forms a swivel joint 15, where the swivel device 23 consisting of a coupling shaft 18, traction lever 11 and counter-coupling means 8 can swivel around a swivel axis 19. The coupling shaft 18 has a supporting means 24 facing the counter-coupling means 8 which is impacted by a coupling insertion spring 12 guided to an expansion mandrel 13 in such a way that the gear ring 5 of the planetary gear 9 is locked against rotation in the normal operation mode. The expansion mandrel 13 has a set base 14 that supports the coupling insertion spring 12 as a compression spring. The disconnecting device 4 can be disengaged manually over a Bowden control cable 10 (only indicated here).
FIG. 2 illustrates an actuator 1 according to the state of the prior art, having a housing 16 (displayed as opened) in which the following items are arranged: planetary gear 9 with the sun gear, planet gears, a planet carrier 25 and the gear ring 5, the coupling means 7 arranged on the peripheral side of the gear ring as a first component of the disconnecting device 4, the swivel device 23 consisting of the counter-coupling means 8, the coupling shaft 18 that is mounted in the housing 16 and the traction lever 11 that is in active connection with the Bowden control cable 10.
The Bowden control cable 10 that is held in place by a support 26 impacts the traction lever 11 and swivels the coupling shaft in the process and therefore, also the counter-coupling means 8 against the force of the coupling insertion spring 12 from the coupling means 7. To achieve zero clearance, coupling means 7 and counter-coupling means can be designed in the shape of a trapezium, so that the spring force of the coupling insertion spring 12 always takes care of adjacent coupling surfaces.
With the Bowden control cable not activated, the compression spring 12 holds the counter locking means 8 in its grip without any clearance with one of the latching means 7 and ensures that the gear ring 5 is quasi attached to the drive housing. This enables the operation of a customary actuator consisting of an electric motor and a reduction gear for setting an adjusting unit, e.g., a seat element, where the sun gear 20 drives the planet gears 21 interlocked with the gear ring 5 and therefore, the planet carrier that functions as the output of this gear level of the actuator. If the Bowden control cable is activated, the traction lever 11 swivels, and the counter-coupling means 8 connected via the coupling shaft 18 with the traction lever 11 around the swivel axis 19, where the counter-coupling means swivels away laterally from the coupling means 7. The swivel movement displaces the expansion mandrel 13 in its axial direction by the supporting means 24, which presses the compression spring 12 over the base 14, stretching it, so that an insertion movement of the counter coupling means with the Bowden control cable released takes place automatically. If necessary, the gear ring is locked only after activating the electric motor, as soon as the counter-coupling means 8 is brought in agreement with one of the coupling means 7.
In the disconnected condition, the gear ring 5 can be rotated freely in the housing. A reverse counter force from the adjusting unit can no longer be accepted by the gear ring 5 in this condition, hence the planet gears 21 roll during manual activation of the adjusting unit (e.g., seat element) and the planet carrier driven by it on the sun gear, and carry the gear ring along. The Bowden control cable enables or simplifies manual activation.
The known disconnecting device covers a single reset spring which tries to maintain the engaged position of the disconnecting device on the one hand, and resets the manually operated lever on the other hand. As such disconnecting devices are not designed for a single application for economical reasons, and it must be possible to adapt them to a large number of installation geometries, the disconnecting device must be designed to withstand all expected forces. Traction ropes have the unique property that the rope length protruding from a rope supporting system changes according to the number and amount of bending angles in the rope course. This longitudinal change leads to a partial disengagement of the disconnecting device so that under unfavorable conditions, the gear ring can be released without activating the manually operated lever, while it remains securely locked in other installation geometries. Moreover, the friction ratios of the traction rope can be influenced by different bending angles so that the insertion force which feeds the reset spring is not adequate in each and every case to ensure a safe insertion of the disconnecting device. In applications in which the traction rope of the Bowden control cable follows the movement of the adjustment, this factor can lead to situations in which the coupling disengages. This would make the actuator ineffective.
Hence, the task of the present invention is to provide a generic actuator with a disconnecting device that can be used for a large number of different applications and installation conditions and that guarantees a reliable function of the coupling device in all processes and methods without being over-dimensioned and therefore uneconomical.


A system for surgical planning and assessment of spinal deformity correction is provided that has a spinal imaging system and a control unit. The spinal imaging system is configured to collect at least one digitized position of one or more vertebral bodies of a subject. The control unit is configured to receive the at least one digitized position, and calculate, based on the at least one digitized position, an optimized posture for the subject. The control unit is configured to receive one or more simulated spinal correction inputs, and based on the inputs and optimized posture, predict an optimal simulated postoperative surgical correction.

The spinal column is a highly complex system of bones and connective tissues that provide support for the body and protect the delicate spinal cord and nerves. The spinal column includes a series of vertebral bodies stack atop one another, each vertebral body including an inner or central portion of relatively weak cancellous bone and an outer portion of relatively strong cortical bone. Situated between each vertebral body is an intervertebral disc that cushions and dampens compressive forces exerted upon the spinal column. A vertebral canal containing the spinal cord is located behind the vertebral bodies. The spine has a natural curvature (i.e., lordosis in the lumbar and cervical regions and kyphosis in the thoracic region) such that the end plates of the upper and lower vertebrae are enclosed toward one another.
There are many types of spinal column disorders, including scoliosis (abnormal lateral curvature of the spine), excess kyphosis (abnormal forward curvature of the spine), excess lordosis (abnormal backward curvature of the spine), spondylolisthesis (forward displacement of one vertebra over another), and other disorders caused by abnormalities, disease, or trauma (such as ruptured or slipped discs, generative disc disease, fractured vertebrae, and the like).
Patients that suffer from such conditions often experience extreme and debilitating pain, as well as diminished nerve function. Posterior fixation for spinal fusions, decompression, deformity, and other reconstructions are performed to treat these patients. The aim of posterior fixation in lumbar, thoracic, and cervical procedures is to stabilize the spinal segments, correct multi-axis alignment, and aid in optimizing the long-term health of the spinal cord and nerves.
Spinal deformity is the result of structural change to the normal alignment of the spine and is usually due to at least one unstable motion segment. The definition and scope of spinal deformity, as well as treatment options, continues to evolve. Surgical objections for spinal deformity correction include curvature correction, prevention of further deformity, improvement or preservation of neurological function, and the restoration of sagittal and coronal balance. Sagittal plane alignment and parameters in cases of adult spinal deformity (ASD) are becoming increasingly recognized as correlative to health related quality of life score (HRQOL). In literature, there are significant correlations between HRQOL scores and radiographic parameters such as Sagittal Vertical Axis (SVA), Pelvic Tilt (PT) and mismatch between pelvic incidence and lumbar lordosis.
Spinal disorders, such as degenerative processes of the human spine, loss of disc height and lumbar kyphosis, result in a reduced HRQQL. The skeleton compensates for changes in the spine caused by these disorders to maintain balance and horizontal gaze of the subject. However, such compensation requires effort and energy from the subject and is correlated to a lower HRQQL score. Current surgical planning tools do not evaluate or include compensatory changes in a subject, leading to an undercorrection of a deformity in a patient that undergoes the surgical plan and procedure. Therefore, a need continues to exist for systems and methods that include compensatory changes as part of surgical planning.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for spinal correction surgical planning


A vasodilator delivery system is provided for producing and maintaining the erection of a male penis during intercourse. The vasodilator is contained in a transdermal patch. The transdermal patch comprises a thin, smooth-edged layered structure for dispensing a suitable vasodilator to the penis skin surface. In each embodiment of the patch, a vasodilator is applied to the skin of the user and is sealed against unwanted contraindicated leakage and contact with the internal tissues of a sex partner.

It is medically well known that there are many causes of male impotence, but that one potential solution to the problem of impotence is to provide dilation of the blood vessels of the penis in order to provide an erection.
Consequently, a reliable method of providing penile vasodilation is needed. It is well known that there are a number of pharmaceutically active vasodilator materials. Among vasodilators known for producing penile erection by injection are, individually or in combination, papaverine, phentolamine, and prostaglandin E-1. A combination of the three aforementioned vasodilators is apparently preferred for medically injecting into the penis to produce erection. One such combination provides 4.4 mg Papaverine, 0.15 mg phentolamine and 1.5 mcg Prostaglandin in an injection comprising a 0.25 cc volume. Papaverine has been medically injected into a male penis for producing erection in doses from 30-120 mg.
Vasodilators thus being known for clinically producing erections, there remains to be developed a system of delivery of an effective vasodilator, such as prostaglandin, without the need for a painful injection into the male user. A system of drug delivery which has become known is the use of transdermal patches to deliver pharmaceutical materials percutaneously.
Such transdermal patches are known for assisting users to quit smoking, as with NICODERM.backslash. of Marion Merrell Dow Inc. of Kansas City, Mo. 64114 or HABITROL.backslash. of Basel Pharmaceuticals, Division of Ciba-Geigy Corp., Summit, N.J. 07901. NICODERM.backslash. is a nicotine transdermal system in which the user attaches a medication-containing patch to the skin for varying time periods over several weeks. The patches comprising the system contain medication in varying doses. HABITROL.backslash. includes a patch having an adhesive layer attached to a patch having an imbedded pad soaked with a solution of nicotine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,158 of Ruwart describes transdermal antisecretory agents for gastrointestinal disease.
Such transdermal patches have advantages over oral administration of medications, in that the transdermal medication is not interfered with by gastric acids or enzymes, nor does the liver have the ability to interfere during the effective period of drug administration. Transdermal patches are generally layered structures, with the bottom-most, skin-facing layer comprised of an adhesive having microholes. Above this adhesive layer is a medication-containing layer, and a waterproof cover layer is generally provided. The adhesive serves to attach the patch to the skin and the medication in the central layer is provided to the skin through the microholes in the adhesive layer. The medication enters the bloodstream by percutaneous absorption, or, in common parlance, transdermal penetration. A further advantage of the patches is that, to an important extent, they reduce or eliminate user mistakes and forgetfulness. In addition, transdermal patches provide slow-release, measured medication over a period of time much longer than would be available if similar medication were taken orally.
Transdermal patches have been discussed for use with cancer patients ("Skin Patch Fights Cancer's Agony", USA Today, V. 120, p. 14-15, February 1992) to treat diabetics ("Skinside Out", by Deborah Erickson, Scientific American, V. 265, p. 128+, November, 1991) for cardiac patients ("Helping The Medicine Go Down-Or In", by Suzanne Wooley, Business Week, p. 84, Jan. 22, 1990; L. Gourse, "Patchwork Medicine", Science 85, V. 6, P. 79+, October 1985; Kaplan, G. "This Won't Hurt-Really", Nation's Business, V. 73, p. 25, August 1985) and to treat hormonal symptoms ("The Anti-Aging Patch for Women" Good Housekeeping, by S. Fields et al., V. 208, p. 163-164, February 1989; "Patching Up Your Health", Prevention, by Heidi Rodale, (Emmaus, Pa.) V. 40, p. 76-81, January 1988; "Hot Flash!", P. McCarthy, Health, (New York, N.Y.) V. 19, p. 29, November 1987; "More About Estrogen Skin Patches", Saturday Evening Post, (C. Servaas) V. 259, p. 52-54, January/February 1987, Newsweek, V. 107, p. 69, Jun. 30, 1986), and transdermal patches have even been discussed for use in administering cosmetics and perfume. (Corie Brown, "From Making Hearts to Winning Them", Business Week, p. 153+, Nov. 16, 1987).
In "New Way to Take Medicine", Good Housekeeping, V. 203, p. 191, August 1986, author Harriet Manley discusses the mechanism by which medication flows from the patch to the skin.
In "Transdermal Drug Delivery", Cosmetics & Toiletries, V. 106, P. 97, May, 1991, author Gary W. Cleary discusses methodology, applicable models (including the various types of transdermal patches), and the factors of importance in skin permeation.
Other literature discussing transdermal patches includes "Patching Up Drug Deliveries", Newsweek, V. 107, P. 69, Jun. 30, 1986, by M. Clark, and "New Technology Allows Medicine Without Pills", Jet, V. 69, p. 20, Jan. 20, 1986.
Nowhere in the prior art has there been a combination of a vasodilator and a transdermal patch for providing male erections, wherein the vasodilator is administered in through a selected patch which contains an edgewise peripheral impermeable boundary, or is isolated within the inside of a condom, to prevent direct contact of the vasodilator with the woman's female reproductive system. By isolating the vasodilator away from direct contact with the woman's fragile vaginal tissues, the threat of hemorrhaging within the vagina and surrounding reproductive organs is eliminated.
With this new and useful combination of elements, a third natural element in producing male erections for sexual intercourse is the well known use of condoms. Condoms are increasingly important in preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, and, with the present invention, they will serve to provide enhanced, hygienic and safe sexual activity for men who otherwise are unable to have sex.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,577,345 of McEwen discloses a prophylactic condom having a reinforced cap to prevent breakage of the condom at the tip of the condom. U.S. Pat. No. 2,586,674 of Lonne discloses a prophylactic condom with reinforced annular extensions for structural integrity of the condom.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,136,417 of Clinch discloses a method of treating the surface of a condom with a lubrication oil deposited upon the surface of the condom. U.S. Pat. No. 2,600,212 of Dal Borgo describes a method of applying a layer upon a surface with the application of heat. U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,546 of Chem discloses a patch bandage in general. U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,225 of Czirely describes a shortened condom which is adhesively attached to the skin.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,215 of Anderson discloses a hydrogel pad attachable to the skin for electro stimulation treatment of injured body limbs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,094 of Micklus describes a condom which is coated for a low coefficient of friction. U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,420, U.S. Pat. Nos. 31,454, 4,306,551 and 4,307,717 of Hymes disclose substrate pads for attaching to the skin as electrodes or bandages. U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,494 of Hogin discloses a condom with an annular ring strap to hold the condom in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,910 of Conway describes a condom catheter having an adhesive to prevent leakage during urinary medical tests. U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,790, also of Conway describes a condom having an adhesive to maintain the condom in place. U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,548 of Reddy discloses a condom saturated with a spermacide solution. U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,688 of Hauser describing a urinary catheter with a pressure adhesive. U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,600 of Meadows discloses a condom with structural parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,723 of Harmon describes a condom with adhesive to hold the condom in place. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,032 also of Harmon discloses a condom with adhesives to hold the condom in place.
Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,032 of Harmon describes a condom having internally sprayed spermacide medicine, and auxiliary texturized portions to increase stimulation, but does not suggest the use of a transdermal patch within a condom, wherein the transdermal patch emits a vasodilator directly to the skin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,991 to Boeck teaches a vasodilator such as nitroglycerine coated onto the inner surface of a condom for producing a penile erection. The problems with Boeck which are solved by the present invention are (1) that nitroglycerine is generally not an effective vasodilator for producing a penile erection; and (2) a major danger in using the invention of Boeck is that indiscriminate coating of the inner condom surfaces with vasodilator creates a risk of unwanted exposure of the users sex partner to the vasodilator--with potentially dangerous results for the sex partner.
With Boeck, a female sex partner could be exposed to unwanted inadvertent percutaneous vasodilator absorption if the condom ruptures or comes off during sexual intercourse. In addition, if the male condom user of Boeck's invention is not careful in applying and removing the invention, inadvertent female exposure to the vasodilator could occur.
The manner in which the present invention solves Boeck's problem of contraindicated sex partner exposure to vasodilator is to provide a transdermal vasodilator patch for a male user with or without a condom. The patch of the present invention contains the vasodilator in a sealed system, permitting it only to come in contact with the skin of the male user for desired percutaneous transdermal absorption.
Furthermore, nowhere in the prior art is there discussed the use of discreetly obscuring the view of a vasodilator patch for male erections, by secreting the patch within the condom, for example, or adhered to the skin of the male scrotum, but in any case discretely out of view from a sex partner to avoid embarrassment to the male user. Harmon also discusses adhesives for use in condoms. The adhesive can comprise any well known sticky surgical grade adhesive or other pressure sensitive adhesive known to the art, applied by any conventional means, for example as more particularly described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,638,790 and 4,475,910.
Additional prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,145 of Birnbaum, which teaches the sustained protracted topical drug delivery of prostaglandin, from a transdermal bandage over a prolonged period of time, such as 24 hours, for a continuous reduction of blood pressure. The other non-prolonged drug delivery methods described in Birnbaum '145 include topical application of a cream or lotion or AQUATAIN.RTM. solution on a cotton swab, by oral capsules or injection by needle.
However, the transdermal patch of the present invention is applied immediately upon demand before sexual intercourse, such as within minutes before. Because of the spontaneous nature of sexual intercourse, in the present invention the administration of the vasodilator occurs on demand, such as in the situation of direct injections of vasodilators into a penis, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,118 of Latorre. In contrast to Latorre '118, the administration of the present invention is painless and it solves a long felt need that has existed since Latorre '118 was published in 1978.
Unlike the demand activation of the present invention, and of Latorre '118, the patch of Birnbaum '145 is delivered over a prolonged 24 hours, which is contraindicated given the spontaneity of sexual intercourse and the need for inducing erection on demand.
Furthermore, other prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,996 of Kwiatek and U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,282 of Campbell. However, Campbell '282 is concerned with sustained, protracted release of testosterone over a prolonged period of time, such as 8-24 hours or more, that would overcome the problems associated with low overall levels of testosterone. However, neither Campbell '282 or Birnbaum '145 describe the transdermal application of a vasodilator to induce an erection upon demand before sexual intercourse.
The prior art is unsatisfactory, because the devices described therein do not have an immediate delivery on demand of a vasodilator for inducing an erection, as in Latorre '118 or in the present invention without the painful injection of Latorre '118 and priapism or possible resultant formation of scar tissue and subsequent loss of penile function.
In fact, the prolonged sustained administration of testosterone does not cause an immediate erection on demand before sexual intercourse, as it is directed to raising hormone levels, not to immediate delivery of a vasodilator to engorge penile blood vessels with blood to induce an erection.
To that end, Birnbaum '145 and Campbell '282 are directed to a composition and delivery of a particular medication for sustained, prolonged use with impotence or blood pressure irregularities. Thus, the general use of a sustained, prolonged administration of a medication, in conjunction with a transdermal patch, would be suspect as to their effectiveness or expectation of success, unless they could induce an erection on demand before sexual intercourse.
Simply using testosterone or prostaglandin in prolonged delivery whether similar or not, would therefore not provide any expectation of success.
The use of the transdermal delivered vasodilator on demand before sexual intercourse in the present invention would be discouraged, if not clearly taught away from Birnbaum '145 or Campbell '282.
Other patents concerning "on demand" use of a vasodilator to induce an erection before sexual intercourse, include U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,059 of Buhl which discloses injection of a guanidine vasodilator directly into a penis to induce an erection. Buhl '059 also mentions "transdermal application" but there is no discussion or enabling disclosure for a transdermal patch. In that sense, the word "transdermal" is equated with "topical" administration, such as direct application upon the skin of a medication. See Buhl '059 at column 2, lines 62-67.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,323 of Milne describes inducing penile erections with vasodilators, but either by injection or topical transdermal delivery. However, the "transdermal delivery" in Milne '323 is topically applied to the penis or by iontophoresis, wherein an electrical current applies a solution to the skin. See Milne '323 at column 4, lines 16-24. In contrast to Milne '323, Applicant's specification at page 1, lines 9-18 discusses that a barrier is needed to avoid direction contamination by a vasodilator of the female genital tissues, with resultant bleeding problems.
While U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,466 of Gioco discusses a transdermal patch for delivery of a vasodilator to induce an erection, it was filed first on Aug. 13, 1993, which is after Applicant's first filed parent patent application filed under Ser. No. 08/069,976 on May 28, 1993.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,603 of Rubin discloses topical administration of isoxsuprine and caffeine, and nitroglycerine and caffeine for the treatment of impotence.
However, in Rubin '603, the delivery route is described as topical administration by direct contact from squeeze tubes, spray misters, or lotions and ointments applied by cotton swabs. Rubin '603 does not disclose transdermal patches.
Except for Gioco '466, which was filed on Aug. 13, 1993 after Applicant's parent patent application of May 28, 1993, the other three patents of Buhl '059, Milne '323 and Rubin '603 all point to the need for an "on demand" method of inducing erections without contaminating the internal genital tissues of the user's sexual partner, but none of the three make the extra step of suggesting a transdermal patch.
Moreover, Latorre '118 described the need for an "on demand" method of inducing an erection, but Latorre '118 solved the problem with direct injection of a vasodilator into the penis with its attendant problems of pain, possible infection, possible scar tissue and priapism.
Additional prior art includes the orally ingested pill sold under the tradename VIAGRA.RTM., however it is an oral medication which is systemic, and has been known to cause ocular problems.
As an advancement over the solution of Latorre '118 for an "on demand" method of inducing an erection, what the present invention has done is solve a long felt need in the 19 years since Latorre '118 addressed the same problem with the aforementioned attendant problems.
Therefore the method of the present invention of applying a vasodilator from a transdermal patch for on demand use before sexual intercourse is not described or suggested by the prior art.


A liquid crystal display device includes a display unit having matrix type pixels defined by gate and data lines crossing with each other, a data driver to supply a data voltage to be supplied to the data lines via output lines, the output lines being less in number than the data lines, a plurality of demultiplexers, each including a plurality of switching devices having a gate terminal, source terminal and a drain terminal, wherein the gate terminals are supplied with a plurality of control signals, the source terminals are commonly connected to the corresponding output line, and the drain terminals are individually connected to one side of the data lines, respectively, a data line check unit activated to supply a test data voltage to the other side of the data lines when the data driver is inactive, a plurality of signal input lines individually connected to the gate terminals, respectively, an input terminal supplied with a cutoff signal to be inputted to the signal input lines to turn off the switching devices, and a switching unit electrically connecting/disconnecting the input terminal to/from the signal input lines according to an external control signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display device and driving method thereof.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device displays a picture corresponding to a video signal (i.e., "data voltage") using a display unit having a plurality of pixels defined by gate and data lines crossing with each other. Each pixel of the display unit consists of a liquid crystal cell adjusting light transmittance according to a corresponding data voltage. A thin film transistor (TFT) acts as a switching device to supply a data voltage from a data line to the liquid crystal cell. The LCD device also includes a gate driver for driving the gate lines and a data driver for driving the data lines. In a liquid crystal panel where the TFT is formed of polysilicon having high electric charge mobility, the gate and data drivers are built in the liquid crystal panel. In such a case, a demultiplexer unit is provided between the data driver unit and the display unit. The demultiplexer unit connects a plurality of data lines to one output line of the data driver, thereby reducing a required number of drive ICs (integrated circuit) needed to configure the data driver.
An LCD device provided with a demultiplexer unit according to a related art is explained with reference to the attached drawings as follows. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an LCD device according to a related art.
As shown in FIG. 1, an LCD device according to the related art includes of a display unit 111 on which m-gate lines GL1 to GLm and n-data lines DL1 to DLn perpendicularly cross each other to form (m×n) pixels arranged in a matrix form. A TFT is provided at each intersection of the gate and data lines. A gate driver 101 provides a scan pulse voltage SP to the gate lines GL1 to GLm and a data driver 102 supplies data voltages VD1 to VDk to the data lines DL1 to DLn of the display unit 111. A demultiplexer unit 105 is connected between the display unit 111 and the data driver 102, and a timing controller 106 controls the gate driver 101, the data driver 102, and the demultiplexer unit 105.
The timing controller 106 generates a plurality of control signals to control the drive timing of the gate and data drivers 101 and 102 and aligns pixel data to be applied to the data driver 102. Further, the timing controller 106 generates a plurality of control signals to control the demultiplexer unit 105.
The data driver 102 has a number of output lines OL1 to OLk connected to the output pins (not shown) of the data driver 102. The number of output pins (k) is equal to the number of output lines OL1 to OLk. However, the number of output lines OL1 to OLk connected between the data driver 102 and the demultiplexer unit 105 is smaller than a number of the data lines DL1 to DLn. The demultiplexer unit 105 is explained in detail as follows.
FIG. 2 shows a detailed schematic diagram of the demultiplexer unit 105 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows a diagram of drive waveforms of a first demultiplexer DEMUX1 shown in FIG. 2 during a random horizontal sync interval.
As shown in FIG. 2, the demultiplexer unit 105 includes k-demultiplexers DMUX1 to DEMUXk connected between the data driver unit 102 and n-data lines DL1 to DLn of the display unit 111. Each of the demultiplexers DEMUX1 to DEMUXk includes first to third switching devices SW1 to SW3 connected in parallel to one output line OLk and to three of the data lines DL1 to DLn, respectively. The first to third switching devices SW1 to SW3 are turned on at different times in one horizontal period by first to third control signals C1 to C3 supplied from the timing controller 106, respectively. The gate driver 101 sequentially supplies a scan pulse voltage SP to m-gate lines GL1 to GLm during one frame. As shown in FIG. 3, a gate high voltage VGH, which is a high logic voltage of the scan pulse voltage SP, is maintained to drive a corresponding gate line during one horizontal sync period. In this case, the gate high voltage VGH is set to a voltage level that is greater than a threshold voltage of the TFT. Conversely, a gate low voltage VGL is a low logic voltage of the scan pulse voltage SP set as an off-voltage of the TFT.
During a horizontal sync period Hi of driving a selected gate line, the data driver 102 sequentially supplies k-data voltages VD1 to VDk to k-output lines OL1 to OLk connected to the k-demultiplexers DEMUX1 to DEMUXk, respectively. The k-data voltages VD1 to VDk supplied to the k-demultiplexers DEMUX1 to DEMUXk are synchronized with the first to third control signals C1 to C3 from the timing controller 106 to supply three data voltages from each of the k-data voltages VD1 to VDk to the three data lines connected to each of the demultiplexers DEMUX1 to DEMUXk to supply data signals to the n-data lines DL1 to DLn.
More specifically, in each of the k-demultiplexers DEMUX1 to DEMUXk, a gate electrode of the first switching device SW1 is connected to a signal input line IL of the first control signal C1. Likewise, a gate electrode of the second switching device SW2 is connected to a signal input line IL of the second control signal C2, and a gate electrode of the third switching device SW3 is connected to a signal input line IL of the third control signal C3. Hence, when the first to third control signals C1 to C3, as shown in FIG. 3, are sequentially shifted to a high state in one horizontal sync period Hi, the first to third switching devices SW1 to SW3 of each of the demultiplexers DEMUX1 to DEMUXk are driven in sequence from of the first switching device SW1 to the third switching device SW3. The data driver 102 sequentially outputs the corresponding data voltages VD1 to VDk to correspond to the drive sequence of the first to third switching devices SW1 to SW3. As a result, the first demultiplexer DEMUX1, as shown in FIG. 3, sequentially supplies the data voltage for R (red) to the first data line DL1 via the first switching device SW1, the data voltage for G (green) to the second data line DL2 via the second switching device SW2, and the data voltage for B (blue) to the third data line DL3 via the third switching device SW3.
In the LCD device of the related art, the display unit 111, the gate driver 101, data driver 102, and each of the demultiplexers DEMUX1 to DEMUXk to drive the display unit 111 are built into an LCD panel 100. In particular, the data driver 102 of a chip-type is mounted on the LCD panel 100 (e.g., chip on glass "COG"). The timing controller 106 is provided external to the LCD panel 100.
To check whether the image according to the data voltages VD1 to VDk is correctly displayed on each of the pixels, the related art liquid crystal display device further includes a gate line check unit of checking a presence or absence of errors on the gate lines GL1 to GLm and a data line check unit of checking a presence absence of error on the data lines DL1 to DLn. A liquid crystal display device having a gate line check unit and a data line check unit according to the related art is explained in detail as follows.
FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an LCD device having a gate line check unit and a data line check unit according to the related art. As shown in FIG. 4, an LCD device according to the related art includes of a display unit 111 on which m-gate lines GL1 to GLm and n-data lines DL1 to DLn perpendicularly cross each other to form (m×n) pixels arranged in a matrix form. A TFT is provided at each intersection of the gate and data lines. A gate driver 101 provides a scan pulse voltage SP to the gate lines GL1 to GLm and a data driver (not shown) supplies data voltages VD1 to VDk to the data lines DL1 to DLn of the display unit 111. A plurality of demultiplexers DEMUX1 to DEMUXk is connected between the display unit 111 and the data driver (not shown). A timing controller (not shown) controls the gate driver 101, the data driver (not shown), and the demultiplexers DEMUX1 and DEMUXk. A gate line check unit 403 checks for a presence or absence of errors on the gate lines GL1 to GLm by supplying a test scan pulse voltage VT to the gate lines GL1 to GLm of the display unit 111. A data line check unit 404 checks for a presence or absence of errors on the data lines DL1 to DLn by supplying test data voltages VTR (red), VTG (green), and VTB (blue) to the data lines DL1 to DLn of the display unit 111. In particular, each of the demultiplexers DEMUX1 to DEMUXk has the same configuration of the demultiplexer shown in FIG. 2.
The gate line check unit 403 is connected to one end of each of the gate lines GL1 to GLm and the gate driver 101 is connected to the other end of each of the gate lines GL1 to GLm. Similary, the data line check unit 404 is connected to one end of each of the data lines DL1 to DLn and the data driver 102 is connected to the other end of each of the data lines DL1 to DLn via the demultiplexers DEMUX1 to DEMUXk, respectively.
The gate line check unit 403 includes m-fourth switching devices SW4 supplying the test scan pulse voltage VT to the m-gate lines GL1 to GLm in response to a fourth control signal C4. Namely, one of the fourth switching devices SW4 is connected to one gate line. In particular, gate terminals of the fourth switching devices SW4 are connected in parallel to be supplied with the fourth control signal C4 in common. Drain terminals are individually connected to the gate lines GL1 to GLm, respectively, and source terminals are connected in parallel to be supplied with the test scan pulse voltage VT in common.
The data line check unit 404 includes n-fifth switching devices SW5 supplying the test data voltages VTR, VTG, and VTB to the data lines DL1 to DLn in response to a fifth control signal C5. In particular, gate terminals of the fifth switching devices SW5 are connected parallel to each other to be supplied with the fifth control signal C5 in common. Drain terminals are individually connected to the data lines DL1 to DLn, respectively, and source terminals are supplied with one of the test data voltages VTR, VTG, and VTB.
As previously described, the gate and data line check units 403 and 404 are provided to check whether the gate and data lines GL1 to GLm and DL1 to DLn are in proper operating conditions. When the gate and data line check units 403 and 404 are activated, the gate and data drivers 101 and 102 are deactivated. Specifically, the gate and data line check units 403 and 404 are to temporarily operate the gate and data lines GL1 to GLm and DL1 to DLn before the LCD device is activated by the gate and data drivers 101 and 102 for normal operation. Hence, while the gate and data line check units 403 and 404 are in operation, the gate and data drivers 101 and 102 are disabled. Conversely, during normal operations, the gate and data line check units 403 and 404 are disabled while the gate and data drivers 101 and 102 and the timing controller (not shown) are activated.
The display unit 111, the gate driver 101, the data driver (not shown), the gate line check unit 403, the data line check unit 404, and the demultiplexers DEMUX1 to DEMUXk are built into the LCD panel (not shown). Similar to the description above in relation to FIGS. 1 and 3, the data driver is mounted on the LCD panel in the form of a chip. The timing controller is provided external the LCD panel.
In the related art, the process of checking the gate and data lines GL1 to GLm and DL1 to DLn is carried out prior to loading the data driver 102 and the timing controller 106. Hence, the gate and data drivers 101 and 102 are disabled in the checking process. First, by applying the fourth control signal C4 to the gate line check unit 403, the fourth switching devices SW4 of the gate line check unit 403 are turned on. Once the fourth switching devices SW4 are turned on, each of the fourth switching devices SW4 outputs the test scan pulse voltages VT to the gate lines GL1 to GLm, respectively. Hence, all of the TFTs connected to the gate lines GL1 to GLm become active.
Subsequently, by applying the fifth control signal C5 to the data line check unit 404, the fifth switching devices SW5 of the data line check unit 404 are turned on. Once the fifth switching devices SW5 are turned on, each of the fifth switching devices SW5 outputs one of the test data voltages VTR, VTG, and VTB to the data lines DL1 to DLn. In particular, test R data voltages VTR are supplied to every third data line starting with the first data line DL1, i.e., the first data line DL1, the fourth data line DL4, to the (n−2)th data line DLn−2. Similarly, the test G data voltages VTG are supplied to every third data line starting with the second data line DL2, i.e., the second data line DL2, the fifth data line DL5, to the (n−1)th data line DLn−1. Likewise, the test B data voltages VTB are supplied to every third data line starting with the third data line DL3, i.e., the third data line DL3, the sixth data line DL6, to the nth data line DLn. The test data voltages VTG, VTG, and VTB supplied to the data lines DL1 to DLn are supplied to liquid crystal cells of the pixels via the TFTs turned on by the gate line check unit 403.
In this way, all of the pixels can be tested to display different images according to the test data voltages VTR, VTG, and VTB. In doing so, the success/failure of the gate and data lines GL1 to GLm and DL1 to DLn, i.e., proper connection/disconnection, can be confirmed by checking the abnormality of the picture displayed on the display unit 111. For instance, absence of images horizontally along a certain gate line indicates that the pixels connected to that gate line are not operating. Likewise, absence of images vertically along a certain data line indicates that the pixels connected to that data line are not operating. Moreover, if a specific pixel fails to display an image, such a condition indicates that the TFT connected to that particular pixel is malfunctioning.
In performing the above-explained test process, the first to third switching devices SW1 to SW3 connected to each of the demultiplexers DEMUX1 to DEMUXk need to be prevented from becoming active. If the first to third switching devices SW1 to SW3 are turned on, the active switches SW1 to SW3 create a circuit path between the data lines connected thereto, thereby short-circuiting the data lines DL1 to DLn. In such a case, the test R, G, B data voltages VTR, VTG, and VTB supplied to the data lines DL1 to DLn via the data line check unit 404 become mixed, thereby preventing proper testing of the pixels.
To prevent the first to third switching devices SW1 to SW3 in each of the demultiplexers DEMUX1 to DEMUXk from becoming active during the testing process, a cutoff signal VOFF is supplied to each of the signal input lines IL connected to the gate terminals of the first to third switching devices SW1 to SW3 to maintain their off-states. The cutoff signal VOFF is supplied from an external source by an operator via input terminals 411. The input terminal 411 is connected to one end of each of the signal input lines IL. Because one input terminal is connected to one input line IL, many input terminals 411 are needed to satisfy a large-scale display device with higher resolution.
As the display device becomes larger in scale to achieve higher resolution, the number of the data lines DL1 to DLn increases accordingly. In other words, as the number of the data lines DL1 to DLn increases, the number of the switching devices in the demultiplexers DEMUX1 to DEMUXk increases. As the number of the switching devices increases, the corresponding number of the input terminals 411 increases as well. Since the input terminals 411 are formed on the LCD panel 100, an area for accommodating the input terminals 411 increases in size to accommodate the increased number of input terminals 411. Hence, the increasing number of the input terminals 411 contravenes the effort to reduce the size of the LCD panel. Moreover, because the fourth control signal C4, the test scan pulse voltage VT, the fifth control signal C5, and the test data voltages VTR, VTG, and VTB are all provided from an external source, additional input terminals (not shown in the drawing) needed for inputting these signals and voltages also contribute to the size reduction problem.


The present invention generally relates to a context-aware security self-assessment method or module that determines the context in which the device is used and based on this, assesses the devices security settings. The context may refer to the system environment, the applications the device is used for, and/or the current life-cycle stage of the device, without being limited to said contexts. The method of the present invention preferably prioritizes and rates the security relevant findings and presents them in combination with mitigation options through a web interface, a configuration tool, or through notifications in the control system.

Industrial devices, in contrast to consumer devices, typically do not assist the user or operator in an assessment of the cyber security relevant settings. For example, an operator can enable insecure protocols that are not needed in a system, and a typical device is unaware that this setting is insecure and unneeded.
US 2012/0180133 discloses a system to perform a cyber security risk assessment on a plurality of process control networks and systems comprising a plurality of primary network assets at an industrial process facility. A central cyber security risk assessment computer comprises a scanning module configured to identify networks and systems topology of the plurality of process control networks and systems for the industrial process facility.
Moreover, static cyber security self-assessments are known in the customer router industry. Asus, for example, in cooperation with Trend Micro, has integrated a self-assessment feature in a router family (RT-AC87U, RT-AC68U) that checks for certain static settings, e.g., password length requirements met, UPnP disabled, port forwarding disabled, configuration interface access disabled from the Internet, Telnet access disabled, etc., to improve the overall security of both the device and the system.
A self-assessment feature is a good way to train awareness of cyber security, and to show that the vendor knows about the importance of security and how to best secure its products, thereby establishing a stronger trust relationship with the customer. However, a self-assessment feature in industrial devices cannot be implemented in the same way as it is done in known consumer IT products. The problem is that industrial devices are often used in very different ways and systems. Therefore, a setting that is considered secure in one system is not necessarily secure in another system. In addition, industrial systems often undergo various stages in their lifecycle, ranging from engineering and commissioning to factory acceptance tests, and, finally, operation. At each stage, different security settings are sensible. For example, a communication protocol such as Telnet might be used during engineering, but should be turned off in the operational phase.


A semen extender composition is provided. The semen extender composition includes a sperm cell protecting amount of phospholipid, an effective amount of surfactant to reduce ice crystal formation during freezing of the composition; a carbohydrate, and a biological buffer to provide a semen extender use solution having a pH of between about 6.9 and about 7.5, and wherein the use solution exhibits an osmolality of about 250 mOsM to about 350 mOsM. Methods for manufacturing and using a semen extender composition are provided.

Semen for artificial insemination is often preserved by freezing. Freezing semen is an effective preservation method, but there is a problem with maintaining potency after thawing. Semen extender compositions are frequently used to preserve the viability of the sperm after thaw.
Many semen extender compositions utilize egg yolk. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,130,034 to Aitken; U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,039 to Rajamannan; U.S. Pat. No. 3,718,740 to Hafs et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,003 to Kolas. A commercial semen extender composition that utilizes raw egg yolk is available under the name Biladyl® from Minitube GmbH. In general, the egg yolk is added to the composition just prior to the addition of the semen.
Attention has focused on providing sperm extender compositions that do not include egg yolk. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,140,121 to Ellington et al. and European Patent No. EP 685 556.

Semen extender composition and methods for manufacturing and using


A substantially transparent display substrate is provided. The substantially transparent display substrate includes a base substrate; multiple insulating layers on the base substrate and in a display area of the substantially transparent display substrate; and a plurality of grooves in at least a first insulating layer of the multiple insulating layers, wherein at least one of the plurality of grooves at least partially extending into the first insulating layer. The display area includes a plurality of subpixel regions spaced apart from each other by an inter-subpixel region. A respective one of the plurality of subpixel regions includes a light emitting sub-region and a substantially transparent sub-region. At least a portion of a respective one of the plurality of grooves is about an edge of the substantially transparent sub-region of the respective one of the plurality of subpixel regions.

In present, various types of display apparatus can be found in people's daily life, including liquid crystal display apparatus, organic light emitting diode display apparatus, etc.
Substantially transparent display apparatus is also a type of display apparatus having a promising market potential, since the substantially transparent display apparatus is substantially transparent and can show the background of the display apparatus, which can provide a nice and special experience to users.

Substantially transparent display substrate, substantially transparent display apparatus, and method of fabricating substantially transparent display substrate


The present invention provides a curable coating composition comprising. (a) a first component comprising at least two functional groups, at least one of which is a carbamate or urea group that is the reaction product of: PA1 (b) a curing agent having a plurality of functional groups that are reactive with component (a), and PA1 (c) a second component having functional groups that are reactive with component (a) or component (b) or both components (a) and (b).. (1) a hydroxyl group that is the result of a ring-opening reaction between an epoxy group and an organic acid group, and PA2 (2) cyanic acid or a carbamate or urea group;

Curable, or thermosettable, coating compositions are widely used in the coatings art, particularly for topcoats in the automotive and industrial coatings industry. Color-plus-clear composite coatings are particularly useful as topcoats for which exceptional gloss, depth of color, distinctness of image, or special metallic effects are desired. The automotive industry has made extensive use of these coatings for automotive body panels.
Single-layer topcoats and the clearcoats of color-plus-clear composite coatings, however, require an extremely high degree of clarity and gloss to achieve the desired visual effect. Such coatings also require a low degree of visual aberrations at the surface of the coating in order to achieve the desired visual effect such as high distinctness of image (DOI). As such, these coatings are especially susceptible to a phenomenon known as environmental etch. Environmental etch manifests itself as spots or marks on or in the finish of the coating that often cannot be rubbed out. It is often difficult to predict the degree of resistance to environmental etch that a high gloss topcoat or color-plus-clear composite coating will exhibit. Many coating compositions known for their durability and/or weatherability when used in exterior paints, such as known high-solids enamels, do not provide the desired level of resistance to environmental etch when used in high gloss coatings such as the clearcoat of a color-plus-clear composite coating.
Various compositions have been proposed to meet the above requirements for use as the topcoat coating or as the clearcoat of a color-plus-clear composite coating, including polyurethanes, acid-epoxy systems and the like. However, many prior art systems suffer from disadvantages such as coatability problems, marginal compatibility with the pigmented basecoat, solubility problems, and marginal appearance. Moreover, while one-pack compositions are preferred to two-pack compositions (in which the reactive component must be separated before application to prevent premature reaction), very few one-pack coating compositions have been found that provide satisfactory resistance to environmental etch, especially in the demanding environment of automotive coatings.
There is also a continuing desire to reduce the volatile organic content (VOC) of coating compositions. Previous low-VOC coating compositions generally have had less environmental etch resistance. Reducing the VOC must be done without sacrificing the rheological properties of the coating composition required for trouble-free application of the composition while maintaining the desired level of appearance. In addition, it is desirable to provide coatings with a good combination of properties such as durability, hardness, flexibility, and resistance to scratching, marring, solvents, and acids.
Curable coating compositions utilizing carbamate-functional resins are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,693,724, 5,693,723, 5,639,828, 5,512,639, 5,508,379, 5,451,656, 5,356,669, 5,336,566, and 5,532,061, and U.S. application Ser. Nos. 08/886,321, filed Jul. 1, 1997, 08/698,529, filed Aug. 15, 1996, 08/719,670, filed Sep. 25, 1996, 08/166,277, filed Dec. 13, 1993, 08/339,999, filed Nov. 15, 1994, 08/333,917, filed Nov. 3, 1994, 08/176,608, filed Jan. 3, 1994, 08/287,351, filed Aug. 8, 1994, 08/804,239, filed Feb. 20, 1997, 08/333,804, filed Nov. 3, 1994, 08/884,613, filed Jun. 30, 1997, 08/885,638, filed Jun. 30, 1997, 08/513,587, filed Aug. 10, 1995, 08/867,547, filed Jun. 2, 1997, 08/547,514, filed Oct. 24, 1994, 08/547,513, filed Oct. 24, 1994, 08/547,174, filed Oct. 24, 1994, 08/698,524, filed Aug. 15, 1996, 08/698,526, filed Aug. 15, 1996, 08/667,261, filed Jun. 20, 1996, 08/698,528, filed Aug. 15, 1996, 08/698,522, filed Aug. 15, 1996, 08/698,572, filed Aug. 15, 1996, 08/698,523, filed Aug. 15, 1996, 08/673,935, filed Jul. 1, 1996, 08/886,321, filed Jul. 1, 1997, and 08/831,810, filed Apr. 2, 1997, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. These coating compositions can provide significant etch advantages over other coating compositions, such as hydroxy-functional acrylic/melamine coating compositions. It may often be desirable, however, to provide still further improvements in the above-described coating properties. In particular, it has been discovered that coating compositions having improved properties are obtained by blending carbamate- or urea-functional resins with resins having carbamate, urea, and/or different functionalities or bringing different properties to the cured coating formed from the combination. The blends of the present invention provide coatings that have improved environmental etch resistance and improved exterior durability (weathering or exposure durability), as well as lower volatile organic content (VOC).

Curable coating compositions containing blends of carbamate-functional compounds