In accordance with the present invention, there is provided multiple embodiments of a semiconductor package including two or more semiconductor dies which are electrically connected to an underlying substrate through the use of conductive wires, some of which may be fully or partially encapsulated by an adhesive or insulating layer of the package. In a basic embodiment of the present invention, the semiconductor package comprises a substrate having a conductive pattern disposed thereon. Electrically connected to the conductive pattern of the substrate are first and second semiconductor dies. The first semiconductor die and a portion of the substrate are covered by an adhesive layer. The second semiconductor die, the adhesive layer and a portion of the substrate are in turn covered by a package body of the semiconductor package.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuit chip package technology and, more particularly, to a semiconductor package including stacked semiconductor dies which are separated from each other by an adhesive layer alone or in combination with an insulative layer, the semiconductor dies being electrically connected to an underlying substrate through the use of conductive wires, some of which may be fully or partially encapsulated by the adhesive layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor dies are conventionally enclosed in plastic packages that provide protection from hostile environments and enable electrical interconnection between the semiconductor die and an underlying substrate such as a printed circuit board (PCB) or motherboard. The elements of such a package include a metal leadframe, an integrated circuit or semiconductor die, bonding material to attach the semiconductor die to the leadframe, bond wires which electrically connect pads on the semiconductor die to individual leads of the leadframe, and a hard plastic encapsulant material which covers the other components and forms the exterior of the semiconductor package commonly referred to as the package body.
The leadframe is the central supporting structure of such a package, and is typically fabricated by chemically etching or mechanically stamping a metal strip. A portion of the leadframe is internal to the package, i.e., completely surrounded by the plastic encapsulant or package body. Portions of the leads of the leadframe extend externally from the package body or are partially exposed therein for use in electrically connecting the package to another component. In certain semiconductor packages, a portion of the die attach pad or die pad of the leadframe also remains exposed within the package body. In other semiconductor packages, the metal leadframe is substituted with a laminate substrate to which the semiconductor die is mounted and which includes pads or terminals for mimicking the functionality of the leads and establishing electrical communication with another device.
Once the semiconductor dies have been produced and encapsulated in the semiconductor packages described above, they may be used in a wide variety of electronic devices. The variety of electronic devices utilizing semiconductor packages has grown dramatically in recent years. These devices include cellular phones, portable computers, etc. Each of these devices typically includes a printed circuit board on which a significant number of such semiconductor packages are secured to provide multiple electronic functions. These electronic devices are typically manufactured in reduced sizes and at reduced costs, which results in increased consumer demand. Accordingly, not only are semiconductor dies highly integrated, but also semiconductor packages are highly miniaturized with an increased level of package mounting density.
In currently known semiconductor packages, the electrical connection of the semiconductor die to the leadframe or the underlying substrate is most typically accomplished through the use of electrically conductive wires. As indicated above, these conductive wires are used to electrically connect pads on the semiconductor die to individual leads of the leadframe or the pads or terminals of the substrate. These conductive wires are usually made of gold due to its excellent reliability and electrical conductivity. As also indicated above, these conductive wires are typically covered by the hard plastic encapsulant material which ultimately forms the package body of the semiconductor package. This encapsulant material is often an epoxy molding compound (EMC) which itself has excellent thermal property, electrical property, and a high level of formability, thus making such material well suited to protecting the semiconductor die and the conductive wires.
In addition to the foregoing, even though semiconductor packages have been miniaturized, space on a printed circuit board remains limited and precious. Thus, there is an ongoing need to find semiconductor package designs which maximize the number of semiconductor packages that may be integrated into an electronic device, yet minimize the space needed to accommodate these semiconductor packages. One method to minimize space needed to accommodate the semiconductor packages is to stack the semiconductor packages, individual semiconductor dies, or other devices on top of each other, or to stack the semiconductor dies or other devices within the package body of a semiconductor package. However, in those semiconductor packages including stacked semiconductor dies, there is typically a need to interpose an insulative film between the semiconductor dies to prevent current leakage flow. However, in known stacked die semiconductor package designs, the integration of the insulative film into the semiconductor package often gives rise to difficulties in controlling the thickness thereof. Additionally, stresses and delaminations are sometimes caused due to the differences in the thermal expansion coefficients between the insulative film and those materials to which it is attached within the semiconductor package. Further, in known semiconductor package designs wherein an adhesive film, alone or in combination with an insulative film, is interposed between the stacked dies, manufacturing difficulties are often encountered in stacking a top die on a bottom die when the size of the top die exceeds that of the bottom die. Such manufacturing difficulties include the slow production rates and high production costs attributable to the obstacles which typically arise in attempting to ensure that the encapsulant material used to form the package body of the semiconductor package adequately flows between the top and bottom dies. Therefore, a new solution is needed, such solution being provided by the present invention which is discussed in detail below.

Stacked semiconductor package and method of making same


A novel microorganism producing a nontoxic, non-antigenic exopolysaccharide is taught. The exopolysaccharide has neutral sugars migrating at the same rate as mannose, fucose, fructose and galactose, acidic sugars migrating at the same rate as fucose and amine sugars migrating at the same rate as glucose and fucose, and wherein the ratio of galactose:fucose:glucose:mannose is about 1:2:3:6. The microbe and the exopolysaccharide have uses as a biofilm in geologic applications and have several consumer uses as food and drug polymers and use as a plasma extender.

The invention pertains to a novel non-pathogenic microbe that produces a non-toxic, non-antigenic exopolysaccharide. The exopolysaccharide can be used as a biofilm in environmental engineering and agricultural applications and as a filler or polymer in consumer and medical applications. Biofilm applications are described first, then particular medical applications are described.
The term "biofilm" is used to describe an organic material that includes microorganisms embedded in a polymer matrix of their own making. The matrix consists largely of exopolysaccharides and is a tough, elastic, mucoidal material that adheres strongly to soil particles. Growth of a biofilm in a sandy soil is achieved by injecting a bacterial and nutrient solution into soil specimens. The resulting biofilm treatment is used to clog soil pores, thereby reducing the ability of the soil to transmit fluids.
Examples of biofilms are produced by certain strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas species. A problem with the use of K. pneumoniae is that Klebsiella is a genus that includes a number of human pathogens. Furthermore, the pathogenicity of K. pneumoniae itself is associated with its ability to create a mucoidal exopolysaccharide used in attachment and colonization that helps the pathogen evade both the non-specific and specific immune clearing defensive mechanisms.
Another example of a biofilm is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,959, by Costerton, which discloses the use of a microbial process for selectively plugging a subterranean formation. In the process taught, a highly permeable stratum or zone in a subterranean reservoir is plugged using Klebsiella or Pseudomonas bacteria that were starved to reduce their size prior to being injected into the target zone. The bacteria regain full cell size, proliferate and commence production of biofilm-forming exopolysaccharides upon exposure to minimal nutrient containing media. The biofilm produced by these bacteria selectively seal off the high permeability zones of a formation and reduce aqueous flow through the zone.
In addition to the above described biofilm uses, there has been a need for perfusion solutions and blood substitutes. Currently available and approved compounds, however, have so far failed to meet the increasing demands on our blood provider system. A number of blood substitutes have been developed over the last few years to attempt to meet the increasing demand for blood, blood substitutes and plasma expanders. Unfortunately, many of the plasma expanders that are currently in use fail as the small molecules on which they depend to provide osmotic pressure readily traverse capillary beds as a consequence of the negative osmotic pressure found in post-arterial capillary beds. The loss of osmotic potential, makes the long-term use of current plasma expanders for maintaining proper ionic or fluid balance or plasma volume in a mammalian subject unsatisfactory.
Those blood substitutes that have an impermeable substance to maintain volume use human serum albumin or a mixture of plasma proteins as the oncotic agent. These substitute plasma proteins depend on the same blood and plasma supply as our current blood provider system, therefore failing to meet the increased demand for these products.
A number of patents have issued to Segall that are directed to blood and plasma substitutes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,442, and the reissue thereof, discloses a number of solutions used in blood substitution of living subjects all of which include at least some concentration of a cardioplegia agent, usually potassium ion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,442 discloses surgical methods, particularly in respect to instrument placement and the control of pulmonary wedge pressure generally applicable to perfusion of subjects. U.S. Pat. No. 5,130,230 discloses a blood substitute that may be used as a system of solutions in which a number of solutions, are used sequentially to completely replace the blood of living subjects. U.S. Pat. No. 5,130,230 discloses that the blood substitute comprises "an aqueous solution of electrolytes at physiological concentration, a macromolecular oncotic agent, a biological buffer having a buffering capacity in the range of physiological pH, simple nutritive sugar or sugars, and magnesium ion in a concentration sufficient to substitute for the flux of calcium across cell membranes."
In addition to the patented inventions described above, a number of commercially available products have been used for the treatment of hypovolemic patients. These include: HESPAN (6% hetastarch in 0.9% sodium chloride injection, PENTASPAN (10% pentastarch in 0.9% sodium chloride injection [both by DUPONT PHARMACEUTICALS, Wilmington Del.]), MACRODEX (6% dextran 70 in 5% dextrose injection or 6% dextran 70 in 0.9% sodium chloride injection [PHARMACIA, INC., Piscataway, N.J.]) and RHEOMACRODEX (10% dextran 40 in 5% dextrose injection or 10% dextran 40 in 0.9% sodium chloride injection [PHARMACIA, INC., Piscataway, N.J.]). All of these products, however, depend on compounds that are polymeric and that often dissociate or are broken down by natural physiologic enzymes with time. Alternatively, bacteria may take advantage of these newly supplied nutrient sources, causing severe septicemia in patients that are infected by pathogens at the time of injury. Thus, a need remains for a better oncotic agent.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Microbial exopolysaccharide and uses thereof

The Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


A display panel and a display device are provided. The display panel includes an array substrate, an opposite substrate, and a liquid crystal layer between the array substrate and the opposite substrate. The array substrate is located above the opposite substrate near a light emerging side of the display panel. A photosensitive device is disposed inside the assay substrate, and a path for the photosensitive device to receive ambient light avoids a color resist layer in the display panel. The photosensitive device is not affected by the color resist layer when receiving infrared light from the outside, which can eliminate red spots on a display screen.

With the continuous development of display technology, more and more additional functions have been integrated into the display device. From original push-button mobile phones to today's smart touch mobile phones, methods of human-mobile phone interaction have been drastically changed. The method of sense control interaction may become the next generation of the methods of human-mobile phone interaction, and has potential application value.
The conventional method of sense control interaction mainly comprises voice control, light sensing, etc. The method of sense control interaction using near-infrared emission and near-infrared reception are mainly applied to distance sensors. The sensor used as a separate module needs to occupy a certain space, and may only achieve a single function of distance detection, such as remote light interaction, whiteboard education, novel display technology, etc. As shown in FIG. 1, an infrared sense control display panel 100 comprises an array substrate 101, a liquid crystal layer 102, and a color filter substrate. A surface of the array substrate 101 is provided with a light sensor 1011. The color filter substrate comprises a substrate 1031, a blue color resist 1032 on a surface of the substrate 1031, a green color resist 1033, and a red color resist 1034. When the infrared emission tube emits red light 104, and the red light 104 reaches the blue color resist 1032 and the green color resist 1033, part of the red light 104 is absorbed, and the red light 1041 passing through the red color resist 1034 arrives at the light sensor 1011, resulting in a relatively small detection range of the light sensor 1011. Therefore, the sensitivity of the light sensor 1011 is poor. As shown in FIG. 2, after the red light is incident, the blue color resist 1032 and the green color resist 1033 do not allow red light to enter, and the red light can only pass through the red color resist 1034. A red spot 1051 appears on a display screen 105 corresponding to the red color resist 1034. A shape of the red spots 1051 is rectangular, forming a bright spot on the screen and resulting in image errors.
Based on the above, it is necessary to design a novel display panel to solve the problem that the light sensor is integrated on one side of the array substrate in the related art, the infrared range collected by the light sensor is relatively small, and the infrared light that passes through the red color resist forms a light spot on the screen, which causes errors of the screen image and affects display quality of the screen.

TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.


An electrochemical device comprises, at least, a first electrode, a second electrode, and an electrolyte layer having an ionic conductivity. The first and second electrodes oppose each other by way of the electrolyte layer. The first and second electrodes comprise a composite particle containing an electrode active material, a conductive auxiliary agent having an electronic conductivity, and a binder adapted to bind the electrode active material and conductive auxiliary agent to each other. In the composite particle, the electrode active material and conductive auxiliary agent are electrically coupled to each other without being isolated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrochemical device such as primary battery, secondary battery (lithium ion secondary battery in particular), electrolytic cell, and capacitor (electrochemical capacitor in particular).
2. Related Background Art
Electrochemical capacitors such as nonaqueous electrolytic secondary batteries like lithium ion secondary batteries, and electrochemical capacitors like electric double layer capacitors have been expected to become power supplies or backup power supplies for small-size electronic devices such as portable devices, and auxiliary power supplies for hybrid cars.
Therefore, the electrochemical devices have been required to have a structure which can easily attain such a smaller size and a lighter weight that they can be accommodated within a limited space where they are to be placed.
Known as an electrochemical device intended to attain such a smaller size and a lighter weight is one having a film-like form as follows.
One having a thin-film structure has been known, in which two composite package films (laminate films) each comprising a synthetic resin layer and a metal layer such as metal foil are overlaid on each other, their edge parts are heat-sealed (thermally fused) so as to produce a lightweight case (sealing bag) employed as an outer container for sealing constituents of an electrochemical device such as a pair of electrodes (anode and cathode) and an electrolyte (see, for example, the nonaqueous electrolytic secondary battery disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-294221 and the nonaqueous electrolytic battery disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-138040). In this case, the pair of electrodes are connected to respective metal leads each having one end for electric connection and the other end projecting out of the case.
The above-mentioned electrochemical device is mainly constituted by a cathode, an anode, and an electrolyte layer (e.g., a layer made of a liquid electrolyte or solid electrolyte) disposed between the cathode and the anode. Conventionally, the cathode and/or anode has been made by way of the steps of preparing an electrode coating liquid (e.g., in a slurry or paste form) containing an electrode active material, a binder (a synthetic resin or the like), a conductive auxiliary agent, and a dispersant and/or solvent; applying the coating liquid to a surface of a collector member (e.g., a metal foil); and then drying the coating liquid, thereby forming a layer containing the electrode active material (hereinafter referred to as "active material containing layer") on the surface of the collector member.
In this method (wet method), there is a case where the conductive auxiliary agent is not added to the coating liquid. There is also a case where, instead of the coating liquid, a kneaded product containing an electrode active material, a binder, and a conductive auxiliary agent is prepared without using the dispersant and solvent, and is formed into a sheet by using a hot roll and/or hot press. A conductive polymer may further be added to the coating liquid, so as to form a so-called "polymer electrode". When the electrolyte layer is solid, there is a case where a method comprising the step of applying a coating liquid to a surface of the electrolyte layer is employed.

Electrochemical device having opposing electrodes


A resistor comprising a substantially continuous resistor element being formed into a plurality of element panels with each panel having at least two holes provided therein. Adjacent element panels are connected in series by a bend in the resistor element. At least two support tubes comprising an insulating material are provided to support the resistor element. A plurality of conductive washers are provided adjacent each hole on both sides of each element panel to provide a conductive heat sink near each support tube hole in the element panels. Insulating washers are spaced between adjacent conductive washers. Two end walls are provided adjacent opposing sides of the resistor element to receive the support tubes.

Resistors are used in a variety of commercial applications where it is necessary to convert excessive amounts of electrical energy to thermal energy. The thermal energy can be dissipated through the use of a forced cooling mechanism. Subway cars, trains and other large transportation vessels are among the many applications for resistors as described herein.
More particularly, resistors can be used to dissipate electrical energy generated by electrical motors which drive the wheels of large cargo trucks, thus, retarding the speed of the wheels. Conventional trucks are typically propelled by an engine which directly drives the wheels, and pad or disk brakes are used to stop or slow the vehicle. However, it is often necessary, for example, in mining operations, for a truck carrying large loads, i.e., ore, to repetitively carry those loads down steep grades. The disk or pad brakes as used on a conventional truck are quickly worn under such conditions.
Thus, mining trucks are typically outfitted with a diesel engine which drives individual electrical motors to propel individual wheels. As the truck goes down the side of a large hill or mountain the electrical motors retard the movement of each wheel thereby generating large amounts of current. The current is transmitted through electrical conductors to a bank of resistors where the current is transformed to thermal energy. Thermal energy is dissipated through forced cooling of the resistor elements.
Such resistors are often subjected to extremely harsh conditions and must be relatively substantial in construction and design to withstand the harsh operating conditions. Resistors often operate at temperatures of about 500.degree. C. and are frequently used on trucks which traverse unimproved roads, for example, in a mountain mine or logging area. Thus, resistors must be capable of withstanding severe conditions.
Other design considerations must also be taken into account when designing a resistor. For example, it is desirable to maximize the amount of surface area of the resistor elements within each resistor. For a given material of a given thickness, the amount of electrical energy which can be transformed to thermal energy and dissipated increases as the surface area of the resistor element increases. However, it is often necessary to force cool the resistor elements to continuously remove the thermal energy from the surface of the resistor elements. Forced cooling generally requires a gap or spacing between individual panels of each resistor element. Thus, the resistor element within the resistor volume must be carefully designed to maximize surface area of the resistor element while at the same time providing sufficient air flow through the resistor elements for cooling purposes. Additionally, the resistor elements must be properly supported to maintain structural integrity under harsh working conditions.
In the past, individual resistor plates have been used wherein the ends of the resistor plates were connected in series to form a stack of spaced resistor elements. This conventional configuration has at least two major flaws, both occurring at the connection between individual panels. The panels were typically spot welded. This created localized areas of overheating because the connection between the panels was not uniform. Additionally, the current traveling down one element had to make a 180.degree. turn to travel up the second element. This transition occurred in a very short and abrupt manner at the connection of the two panels.
To alleviate the problems associated with individual element panels, some resistor manufacturers have used thin resistor elements bent into a fan fold continuous resistor configuration. The fan fold resistor element eliminated the need for welding or otherwise connecting individual element panels and allowed for a smooth transition from one panel to another. The transition between panels generally occurred over a smooth substantially "U" shaped bend at the end of each element panel. However, the fan fold resistor element configuration proved to be physically unstable. As the length of each individual element panel, i.e., the distance between the "U" shaped bends increased, so did the failure rate of the resistors due to the instability of the individual element panels. The instability was generally caused by movement of the element panels as the element panels reached operating temperatures and became soft and/or pliable. This problem was dealt with in the past by making the length of the individual panel members shorter and supporting the ends of the resistor element bends.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,526 which issued to Kirilloff et al., is typical of grid resistors of the past which utilized fan fold resistor elements. As can be seen, the Kirilloff et al. resistor utilizes eight individual fan folded resistor elements. Approximately every other "U" shaped bend between resistor element panels is supported by a bar running between the individual resistor elements. The support bars running between resistor elements are nonconductive and do not provide any resistance, i.e., they are not part of the element and serve only as support. The eight individual resistor elements are connected in series at their ends. Thus, a considerable amount of the resistor space is consumed by support bars which are not resistive, take up considerable space, add weight and are relatively intricate in design and manufacture. Additionally, because the individual resistor elements are connected in series at their ends, there are 16 connections providing multiple points for failure. Also the individual connections are heavier and more substantial than the thin resistor element, thus, the connections also add considerable weight to the overall resistor product.
There has been a continuing need for resistor elements which are light weight, easy and relatively inexpensive to manufacture and utilize elongated element panels to eliminate the need for multiple elements. Additionally, there is a need for the elimination of the supports for the individual bends of the resistor element due to the complexity, and added weight and cost of the bend supports.

Resistor with elongated resistor element panels


A durable two-component developing agent for electrophotography is provided that can not only suppress scattering of a toner into an inside of an apparatus but also obtain a high image density and can stably obtain a high-quality image even in use for a long period of time. The two-component developing agent for electrophotography includes a toner, and a carrier. The carrier contains a core material and a coating layer formed on a surface thereof. The coating layer is a silicone resin coating layer containing dendritic titanium oxide. Therefore, it is possible to not only suppress scattering of the toner but also obtain a sufficient image density and to form a high-quality image without reducing the image density even in use for a long period of time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a two-component developing agent for electrophotography.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrophotographic technique applying a Carlson process has widely been used in an image forming method using a developing agent. The image forming adopting the Carlson process is performed by a charging step, an exposing step, a developing step, a transferring step, a fixing step a cleaning step, a charge-removing step and the like. In the charging step, a surface of a photoreceptor is uniformly charged. In the exposing step, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor by exposing the thus-charged photoreceptor. In the developing step, a visible image is formed by allowing a developing agent such as a toner to adhere to the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor. In the transferring step, a toner image is transferred onto a recording material by charging the recording material with a polarity opposite to that of the toner. In the fixing step, the visible image transferred onto the recording material is fixed by applying measures such as heat and pressure. In the cleaning step, the toner left over on the surface of the photoreceptor without having been transferred to the recording material is recovered. In the charge-removing step, the charge on the photoreceptor is removed. By performing these steps, an image forming apparatus making use of an electrophotographic process forms a desired image on the recording material. A developing system based on the electrophotographic technique is roughly divided into a one-component developing system and a two-component developing system.
The one-component developing system is a system in which a layer made only of the toner is formed on a surface of a developing roller, the thus-formed layer is allowed to be disposed adjacent to the surface of the photoreceptor and, then, development is performed.
The two-component developing system is a system in which magnetic particles denoted as a carrier and the toner which have been friction-charged by mixing therewith are formed as a developing agent layer on the surface of the developing roller that holds a magnet inside and, then, the development is performed by allowing the toner to electrostatically adhere to the photoreceptor. Although an apparatus of the two-component developing system is somewhat complicated compared with that of the one-component developing system, since the two-component developing system is easy to set a potential of the toner and excellent in a property of responding to a high-speed operation and stability, the two-component developing system is mainly used in a medium- to high-speed printer. In the two-component developing system, a two-component developing agent constituted by the toner and the carrier is used.
The toner to be used in the two-component developing agent can be obtained by, for example, a crushing method in which a binder resin, an coloring agent, a charge control agent and a wax as an anti-offset agent are melt-kneaded, cooled to be solidified, crushed and, then, classified, or a polymerization method such as a dispersion polymerization method or an emulsion polymerization method. The thus-obtained toner is mixed with the carrier, to thereby prepare the two-component developing agent.
The carrier, which is constituted by particles having magnetism each denoted as a core material, and a resin coating layer to be formed on a surface of the core material, bears a function of stably charging the toner in a developing apparatus and transporting the toner to a developing region. The core material determines an amount of the carrier to adhere to the developing roller which holds the magnet inside in accordance with magnetic properties which the core material itself has. Further, the resin coating layer mainly bears a function of imparting the charge to the toner and determines a state in which the toner adheres to the carrier. In the two-component developing system which develops the electrostatic latent image by making use of an electrostatic attraction, in order to obtain a favorable visible image, it is necessary that a frictional chargeability of the toner to be determined mainly based on a relation with the carrier is favorable. Therefore, designs of the core material of the carrier and the resin coating layer to be formed on the surface of the core material and setting of a coating amount come to be important.
In recent years, a higher speed and a smaller size of each of a copying machine and a printer has been attempted. In order to stably obtain a high-quality image for a long period of time, durability and environmental stability of the developing agent itself has been required.
As for the two-component developing agent which is excellent in both durability and stability, one two-component developing agent in which a coating layer is contained in an amount, based on 100 parts by weight of the core material of the carrier, of from 0.1 to 5.0 parts by weight and the coating layer is an organic resin having a nitrogen-containing compound is proposed (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 4-177369 (1992)).
However, when this developing agent is used in, for example, a copying machine which has realized a smaller size and a higher operation speed, the coating layer of the carrier is peeled off in use over a long period of time, to thereby expose a surface of the core material which is intrinsically weak. As a result, there is a problem in that initial carrier characteristics have been changed to a great extent to cause a deterioration of an image quality.
Further, in recent years, a two-component developing agent which is excellent in durability and stability by adding a metallic oxide such as titanium oxide into a resin of a coating layer of a carrier is proposed (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 2003-66656). However, since this developing agent is characterized by allowing the metallic oxide contained in the resin of the coating layer to have a density gradient, a production process comes to be extremely complicated. Therefore, there is a problem in that it is difficult to perform a mass-production by such technique as described above and, then, a low-priced product cannot be supplied to customers in a consistent manner.
Further, a toner tends to have a small particle size to meet demand of a higher image quality. When a specific surface area of the toner is increased in accordance with a decrease of the particle size, frictional charge comes to be large, to thereby increase an adhering force between toners themselves and between the toner and the carrier. As a result, fluidity of the developing agent is decreased and, then, since the toner is not stably supplied to the photoreceptor, there is a problem in that an image density is decreased. On the other hand, when a stirring force in a developing apparatus is increased for the purpose of enhancing the fluidity of the developing agent, a endurance life of the developing agent is shortened. Further, when a potential of the toner is decreased for the purpose of preventing the image density from being decreased, an adhering force between the toner and the carrier is decreased, to thereby allow the adhering force between the toners themselves to be over the former adhering force. As a result, toners are aggregated with each other and, then, flowed onto the photoreceptor as an aggregated block and, accordingly, although the image density is increased, the image quality is deteriorated and, also, the toner is scattered, to thereby cause a problem in that an inside of the apparatus is contaminated. Under these circumstances, a two-component developing agent which can balance these contradictory properties and exhibit only an advantage is strongly required.

Two-component developing agent for electrophotography


A liquid drop ejector includes a substrate and a liquid chamber for receiving a liquid. The liquid chamber is positioned over the substrate and includes a nozzle plate, a chamber wall and a liner layer. The nozzle plate and the chamber wall include an organic material. The liner layer includes an inorganic material. The liner layer is located on the nozzle plate and the chamber wall such that the inorganic material is contactable with the liquid when the liquid is present in the chamber.

Drop-on-demand (DOD) liquid emission devices have been known as ink printing devices in ink jet printing systems for many years. Early devices were based on piezoelectric actuators such as are disclosed by Kyser et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,398 and Stemme in U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,120. A currently popular form of ink jet printing, thermal ink jet (or "bubble jet"), uses electrically resistive heaters to generate vapor bubbles which cause drop emission, as is discussed by Hara, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,421. Although the majority of the market for drop ejection devices is for the printing of inks, other markets are emerging such as ejection of polymers, conductive inks, or drug delivery.
In the past, print head fabrication involved the lamination of a nozzle plate onto the printhead. With this method alignment of the nozzle to the heater is difficult. Also the thickness of the nozzle plate is limited to above a certain thickness. Recently monolithic print heads have been developed through print head manufacturing processes which use photo imaging techniques. The components are constructed on a substrate by selectively adding and subtracting layers of various materials.
Ohkuma et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,606 discloses a method of monolithically fabricating an ink flow path and chamber with a nozzle plate. FIG. 1 shows the prior art with a substrate 1 containing electrothermal elements 2, and an ink feed port 3. A photo-patternable resin 5 is formed on top of a dissoluble resin that defines the ink flow path including chamber 4. The dissoluble resin is subsequently removed to form the ink flow path and chamber.
In this method of forming ink flow path and chamber; the adjoining of the substrate 1 containing the electrothermal elements 2 and the ink flow path-forming member relies on the adhesion force of the resin 5 constituting the flow path-forming member. In the ink jet head, the flow path and chamber is constantly filled with ink in the normal state of use so that the periphery of the adjoining portion between the substrate and the flow path-forming member is in constant contact with the ink. Therefore, if the adjoining is achieved by the adhesion force only of the resin material, constituting the flow path-forming member, this adhesion can be deteriorated by the influence of the ink. The adhesion is especially poor in alkaline inks.
In addition, in most thermal ink jet heads the resin material adheres to in different regions an inorganic layer such as silicon nitride or silicon oxide. In other regions the resin is adhering to a tantalum layer used for cavitation protection. Such tantalum layer has a lower adhesion force than the silicon nitride layer to the resinous material constituting the flow path-forming member. Therefore the resin may peel off of the tantalum layer. In order to prevent this from occurring, Yabe in U.S. Pat. No. 6,676,241 discloses forming an adhesion layer composed of polyetheramide resin between the substrate and the flow path-forming member. In this case improved adhesion can be maintained between silicon nitride or Tantalum layer and adjoining flow path member resin. However it is important that this adhesion layer be properly patterned so that no portion is in contact with the electrothermal element. Patterning of this layer includes extra steps in the fabrication, increasing expense and lowering yield. Also since the resin constituting the flow path member is still in contact with the ink it could swell causing stresses to develop between it and the adhesion layer again causing delamination of the flow path member.
Stout et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,739,519 also discloses a method of monolithically fabricating an ink flow path and chamber with a nozzle plate using photodefinable epoxy over a sacrificial resist layer or alternatively, with a double exposure of a photodefinable epoxy. The patent discusses the problem of continued adhesion between the epoxy nozzle plate and the substrate. Since the epoxy has a much larger thermal coefficient of expansion than the substrate thermal stresses can develop during firing of the heaters leading to delamination. The patent proposes the use of a primer layer between nozzle plate and substrate. However the epoxy interface is still in close proximity to the heater.
The nozzle plate formed from a resin material is gas permeable. Therefore the ink in the chamber below the nozzle plate is subjected to increased evaporation. As a result, properties of the ink, such as viscosity, in the chamber may change causing degradation of ejection characteristics. Also, air from the outside entering the chamber can cause bubble formation again degrading the ejection. Inoue et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,616 discloses adding a metal layer to the top of the nozzle plate resin to prevent air ingestion. However care must be taken that good adhesion is formed between the resin and metal layer. Also the metal must be compatible with the ink so that it does not corrode. Higher temperature deposited materials cannot be used due to the thermal restrictions of the resin material.
With the inside of a chamber formed with epoxy another issue is the wetting of the chamber walls with the ink. It is important that the inner chamber walls be wetting with the ink. Otherwise priming of the head will be difficult. Also, after a drop is ejected the chamber is depleted of ink and must completely refill before another drop can be fired. Non-wetting walls will impede the refill process. The contact angle of the epoxy wall can be lowered, for example, by exposure to oxygen plasma. However the surface returns to a non-wetting state over time. Also the oxygen plasma roughens the surface of the epoxy that again impedes refill.
It would therefore be advantageous to have an alternative choice for the inner chamber wall that is wetting with the ink, such as silicon oxide or silicon nitride. Such layers have excellent adhesion to the substrate layers used in the printhead. These layers are deposited at high temperatures and have other excellent properties for use in contact with the ink such as; material robustness, low thermal expansion, low moisture absorption and moisture permeability,
Ramaswami et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,482,574 discloses an all-inorganic chamber by depositing a thick 5-20μm layer of oxide, patterning and etching to form the chamber, filling and planarizing a sacrificial layer, depositing a nozzle plate, and removing the sacrificial material. It is difficult to process such thick layers of oxide with long deposition and etch times. Such thick layers also have a tendency to crack due to stress build-up.
In commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,786 a chamber formation method is disclosed for a thermal actuator drop ejector. Non-photoimageable polyimide is patterned as the sacrificial layer allowing deposition of a high temperature inorganic structural layer such as silicon oxide or silicon nitride to form the chamber walls and nozzle plate. In this case only one deposition of the inorganic layer is needed to define both chamber walls and nozzle plate. Although this process eliminates the disadvantages of a polymer nozzle plate, a silicon oxide layer is a brittle material so that a printhead with chambers made this way can be more fragile. Also, thicker inorganic nozzle plates are harder to produce. Another aspect of an inorganic nozzle plate is that it is difficult to form a nozzle with a retrograde profile. A nozzle with a retrograde profile is advantageous for drop ejection stability and refill.
There is therefore a need for a chamber formation process that provides good adhesion to the substrate, an inner chamber material with good stability and wetting properties with respect to the ink, adjustable nozzle plate thickness, a nozzle with a retrograde profile, and a top surface, which is non-wetting with the ink.

Liquid drop ejector having improved liquid chamber


A fine pitch adjuster that includes a housing, a wheel gear positioned within the housing and coupled to a ball stud, wherein rotation of the wheel gear provides inward and outward longitudinal translation of the ball stud relative to the housing, and a clutching worm input drive including, an inner drive sleeve having a shaft portion and a head portion, the shaft portion including a plurality of sleeve slots formed therein and a plurality of engagement ribs, and an outer worm gear sleeve having worm gear threads, the worm gear threads coupled at least indirectly to the wheel gear, and an inner chamber, the outer worm gear sleeve including a plurality of grooves extending longitudinally along the inner chamber for mating engagement with the plurality of engagement ribs, wherein rotation of the inner drive sleeve provides clutchable engagement with the outer worm gear sleeve to rotate the wheel gear.

Vehicles such as automobiles typically have several lamps that can be fixed in a housing supporting a reflector and a lens which are often securely fit into mounting brackets attached to the vehicle. Together, a lamp (or lamps) and a mounting bracket form a complete lamp assembly. Once the lamp assembly has been manufactured and installed into a vehicle, the lamp must be adjusted to the proper aim. Typically, the adjustment is in both the vertical and horizontal directions although, depending on the type of lamp and applicable regulations, adjustment in only one direction may be required.
One method of adjusting the aim of the lamp involves using an adjuster. The adjuster can be formed as part of the mounting bracket, part of the housing, or can be a separate part between the housing and the mounting bracket (or the reflector directly if no separate mounting bracket is used). One known type of adjuster includes a housing and an ball stud extending therefrom. The ball stud is engaged to the reflector directly or to a mounting bracket on which the reflector is positioned. Actuation or operation of the adjuster causes the ball stud to move. Such movement causes the mounting bracket and/or reflector to pivot or otherwise move with respect to the housing, thereby adjusting the aim of the lamp. One example of this type of adjuster is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,773,153 to Burton, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. The housing of the adjuster in this Burton design has an opening and a gear positioned inside the housing. The gear is functionally engaged to a ball stud. An input shaft is positioned in the opening and interacts with the gear. Actuation of the input shaft results in rotation of the gear and engaged ball stud. The gear translates actuation of the input shaft into axial movement of the ball stud and its ball stud end. Numerous variations exist on this general concept.
Various automotive headlight and headlight assembly designs use LED and/or high intensity discharge (HID) light sources for primary illumination. The importance of proper aiming of these very bright vehicle headlights to avoid glare that can blind oncoming drivers is known. As optimal nighttime visibility with minimal impact of glare is the main purpose for headlights, the proper aiming of headlights will be of increased importance to the automotive market. Generally, headlight aiming is performed by the manufacturer of the vehicle during assembly using desired criteria. Typical headlamp adjusters have low gear ratios that provide a faster, albeit coarse, adjustment. These adjusters allow for quick adjustment during assembly, but unfortunately these coarse adjustments do not allow for a high degree of fine adjustment, as one might desire with a precise and bright light source, such as provided by LEDs.
Although various right angle headlamp adjusters are known, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,354,183; 5,707,133; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,971 to Burton et al., which are incorporated by reference, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,426 to Lewis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,494 to Eckenrode et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,399 to Van Duyn et al., these mechanisms only provide a coarse adjustment resulting in a relatively large linear movement of an associated ball stud component.


An outside rear-view mirror for a vehicle, which is designed to support an image-detector device is disclosed. The assembly comprises a casing with a reflector fastening device and a detector fastening device configured to mount either a first reflector installed over the detector fastening device, hiding them, or a second reflector, smaller than the first one, leaving the detector fastening device clear and available for the installation of the image detector device in operating conditions.

According to state of the art, it is known to incorporate an image detector device, as a CCD camera, in an outside rear-view mirror assembly of a vehicle to provide a rear image reflected by the reflector and representative digitalized data of an image captured by the image detector device, said data being susceptible to be used later on by electronic means, in order to provide, for example, warning signals to the driver.
A known method to execute this function consists in designing a casing provided with specific configuration for the installation of a reflector, reserving a part of the space available within the casing for other specific configurations for the installation of the image detector device. A disadvantage of this system, however, is that the mentioned casing comprising specific configurations, may only be used for installing a reflector together with an image detector device. When it is not desired to fit a vehicle with an image detector device, for example for the basic versions of a model, it is necessary to manufacture a casing with specific configurations for the installation of one single deflector occupying all the space available within the casing. Therefore, this makes it necessary to provide two different moulds for the manufacture of one or the other of the casings, with a corresponding rising in costs.
It is also known to design a casing provided with specific configurations for the installation of a reflector and an image detector device, where the reflector is of a transparent type at the non-reflecting side and is located covering the image detector device, so that the image detector device acquires information through the reflector. Even though with this construction it would be possible to use the same casing for the installation of a conventional reflector omitting the image detector device, the acquisition of information with the detector through the transparent reflector may present problems, due to non-desired reflects depending on the light conditions.
The object of the present invention is to solve the previous mentioned drawbacks providing an outside rear-view mirror assembly of vehicle adapted for the optional incorporation of an image detector device, where a single casing is usable for the installation of a reflector substantially occupying the space available within the casing, or a reflector occupying a part of the available space together with an image detector device, associated with an adapter occupying the remaining space within the casing.

Vehicle outside rear-view mirror assembly prepared for carrying an image detector device


Systems, methods and computer program products for DDL replication are described herein. An embodiment includes a replication agent to instantiate one or more DDL triggers in a primary database and a replication server to provide DDL command text to a replicate database based on said DDL triggers. The replication agent uses the DDL trigger(s) to capture one or more DDL events and retrieve a transaction log associated with the DDL events. The replication agent processes the transaction log to obtain DDL command text. The DDL command text is then sent to a replicate database by the replication server where it is executed in an appropriate user context. In this way, DDL commands in may be replicated using DDL trigger(s) and session context switching.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to database systems, and more particularly to replication of data definition languages (DDL).
Background Art
Data replication is the process of maintaining multiple copies of a database object in a distributed database system. Performance improvements can be achieved when data replication is employed, since multiple access locations exist for the access and modification of the replicated data. For example, if multiple copies of a data object are maintained, an application can access the logically "closest" copy of the data object to improve access times and minimize network traffic. In addition, data replication provides greater fault tolerance in the event of a server failure, since the multiple copies of the data object effectively become online backup copies if a failure occurs.
Languages used for data manipulation and replication, such as SQL, can be divided into two main sublanguages, namely the data definition language (DDL) and the Data Manipulation Language (DML).
The data definition language comprises commands used to create and destroy databases and database objects. After the database structure is defined with DDL, database administrators and users can utilize the data manipulation language (DML) to insert, retrieve and modify the data included within it.
In some cases, databases may assist replication of DDL commands, keeping a log of DDL command text. However, not all databases support this feature.
Therefore, what is needed is a system, method and computer program product that allows replication of DDL commands in environments where DDL command text is not logged, stored or recorded.

Method and system for data definition language (DDL) replication


A semiconductor device having a recess channel structure includes a semiconductor substrate having a recess formed in a gate forming area in an active area; an insulation layer formed in the semiconductor substrate so as to define the active area and formed so as to apply a tensile stress in a channel width direction; a stressor formed in a surface of the insulation layer and formed so as to apply a compressive stress in a channel height direction; a gate formed over the recess in the active area; and source/drain areas formed in a surface of the active area at both side of the gate.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device having a stressor or stress applying layer and a method for manufacturing the same.
As semiconductor memory devices are made smaller, existing MOSFET structures have been found to be inadequate in is providing a sufficient threshold voltage margin and refresh characteristics. Accordingly, various studies are being conducted to ensure the semiconductor device is provided with the sufficient threshold voltage as well adequate refresh characteristics, i.e., to counter the short channel effects.
One type of semiconductor devices uses a recess channel structure as a solution to the short channel effects experienced by the conventional lateral semiconductor device. The recess channel structure is a structure in which a channel area is recessed in U-shape to lengthen the effective channel length. This enables the device to minimize the short channel effects. Therefore, the recess channel structure is employed in many recent semiconductor devices.
Particularly, formation of a shallow junction has been used to ensure a Drain Induced Barrier Lowering (DIBL) margin according to a decrease in a channel length before the recess channel structure is suggested. Of course, even in this case, formation of a Punch Through Stop Layer through an ion implantation process to below the source and the drain for cutting off a drift current due to a strong electric field between a source and a drain is applied as a basic process.
However, because it is necessary to reduce a depletion area of the source and the drain through the shallow junction in order to form a channel length of nm range, a transistor having a three dimensional shape, such as, the recess channel structure, has been implemented recently.
In the recess channel structure, the current flows in a plurality of directions on a plurality of surfaces instead of in a single direction on a single surface as in the conventional transistor. One issue associated with the recess channel structure is that electron mobility may be inconsistent from one another.
Specifically, FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional MOSFET device having a recess channel structure, FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a crystal plane and a current flow and FIG. 3 is a graph for explaining an electron mobility according to the crystal plane. With reference to the drawings, description to the conventional MOSFET device having a recess channel structure will be made.
Referring to FIG. 1, an isolation layer 104 for defining active areas 102 is formed on a semiconductor substrate 100, a recess R is formed in the active area 102, a gate 120 is formed on the recess R and source/drain areas 122 are formed in a surface of the active area 102 at both sides of the gate 120.
In FIG. 1, a reference symbol 108 denotes a threshold voltage adjusting area, 110 denotes a gate insulation layer, 112 denotes a polysilicon layer, 114 denotes a metal based layer, 116 denotes a hard mask layer and 118 denotes a gate spacer.
The MOSFET device having such recess channel structure is generally formed on the semiconductor substrate 100 consisting of silicon lattices on the basis of a surface (110). Further, unlike current flows in a single direction <110> on the surface (100) in a planar MOSFET device, is as shown in FIG. 2, at least two types of current exist in the MOSFET device having the recess channel structure formed on the semiconductor substrate 100 on the basis of the surface (110), i.e., a current flow A flowing in the direction <110> along the surface (100) at a bottom of the recess and a current flow B flowing in a direction <100> along the surface (110) at a side surface of the recess. At this time, the current flow in the MOSFET device having the recess channel are in a sequence of (110)/<100>, (100)/<110> and (110)/<100>.
Comparing the two current flows occurring in the MOSFET device having the recess channel, as shown in FIG. 3, it can be appreciated that an electron mobility in the current flowing horizontally along the bottom of the recess, i.e. flowing direction <110> along surface (100) is larger than an electron mobility in the current flowing vertically along the side surface of the recess, i.e. flowing direction <100> along surface (110).
Therefore, an electron mobility in the MOSFET device having the recess channel is generally determined by the electron mobility in the current flowing horizontally along the bottom of the recess, i.e. flowing direction <110> along surface (100).
However, in the MOSFET device having the recess channel, the low electron mobility in the current flowing vertically along the side surface of the recess, i.e. flowing direction <100> along surface (110) causes a slow operation speed, particularly a slow writing time. Therefore, the electron mobility in the current flowing direction <100> along surface (110) should be increased to improve the operation speed of the MOSFET device having the recess channel.

Semiconductor device having recess channel structure and method for manufacturing the same


A wafer bake apparatus includes an air flow control unit of pneumatic cylinder structure operating interlockingly with a wafer lift unit and induces the air flow between a wafer and a hot plate. Therefore, when a wafer is placed in a baking position the air between the wafer and the hot plate descends. As a result, the wafer is no longer under the influence of air resistance, and can be more accurately placed in the baking position. In addition, when the baked wafer is lifted to an unloading position, the air between the hot plate and the wafer ascends, which in turn supports the wafer and prevents the distortion of the wafer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wafer bake apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a wafer bake apparatus is used to volatilize the solvent of a photoresist coating on a wafer.
Semiconductor fabrication is largely divided into cleaning, heat treatment, impurity implantation, thin film formation, lithography, and planarization processes. Particularly, the lithography process consists of many steps: exposing a pattern, developing, etching, and photoresist removing. As for the exposing a pattern, a desired pattern on a mask substrate or reticle is projected onto the surface of a wafer at a reduction ratio. In fact, this process is a vital technique of all the processes and requires the most expensive equipment available. Once the pattern is formed, an etching process is performed using the photoresist pattern as a mask.
Before coating the photoresist for forming a pattern on the wafer, the surface of the wafer should be dry. In order to remove water (moisture) from the surface of the wafer, the wafer is usually heated at a predetermined temperature. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a related art wafer bake apparatus for heating a wafer at a predetermined temperature.
As shown in FIG. 1, the wafer bake apparatus includes a process chamber 1, a hot plate 2, and a wafer lift unit 3 for moving a wafer W to a baking position and an unloading position. The wafer W is placed on a plurality of proximities 4 disposed on the hot plate 2. The process chamber 1 has a cover 5, and the wafer lift unit 3 has lift pins 3a to be inserted into a plurality of through holes 2a that are formed in the hot plate 2.
In the wafer bake apparatus, the wafer W is usually lifted by a robot (not shown) onto the lift pins 3a protruded upwards from the hot plate 2. Then, as the wafer lift unit 3 descends the wafer W is placed on the baking position, i.e., on the proximities 4 of the hot plate 2, to be baked (please refer to FIG. 2).
When the baking is complete the wafer W is moved to the unloading position as shown in FIG. 3 by means of the lift pins 3a which ascend by the wafer lift unit 3. Then the robot (not shown) unloads the wafer W from the unloading position.
However, the related art wafer bake apparatus has defects. For instance, as the size of the wafer increases and the separation distance (or gap) between the hot plate 2 and the wafer W is maintained less than 100 μm, air resistance from outside negatively affects the wafer delivery performance by the wafer lift unit 3. As a result, the wafer W is not properly carried and is often damaged.
As FIG. 2 illustrates, sometimes the wafer W is not properly placed at the baking position due to the air resistance between the hot plate 2 and the wafer W. Also, as FIG. 3 illustrates, when the baked wafer W is moved to the unloading position the wafer W can be distorted due to air resistance above the wafer W.


A sanitary absorbent napkin has a laminate structure coprising a first liquid-permeable sheet of material, a second liquid-permeable sheet of material disposed adjacent the first sheet, and an absorbent member for absorbing liquid and disposed adjacent to the second sheet. The second sheet is arranged to receive the liquid deposited on the first sheet and to transfer liquid to the absorbent member. The napkin has a thickness of less than or equal to about 5 mm, when dry, and a penetration time of less than 15 seconds.

The present invention relates generally to sanitary absorbent articles and in particular to feminine sanitary absorbent napkins which are thin, yet highly absorbent.
Externally worn, sanitary absorbent napkins are one of the many kinds of feminine protection devices currently available. The development of materials having a high liquid absorption capacity per unit volume has allowed the required overall thickness of sanitary napkins to be reduced, thereby providing a product which is more comfortable and less obtrusive to wear. Thin sanitary napkins are generally constructed of multiple layers of material each having a particular function, as for example disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,786 to T. W. Osborne III. The sanitary napkin disclosed in this document includes a top sheet, an acquisition or transfer sheet, an absorbent core and a barrier sheet. The top sheet serves as the initial layer onto which liquid is first deposited and comprises a material which is pervious but non-absorbent to liquids, to provide a contact surface with the wearer which remains dry. The acquisition sheet which lies between the top sheet and the absorbent core acts to spread liquid from a localized position on the top sheet over a wider area so that liquid is presented to the absorbent core over a relatively large proportion of its surface area. Thus, the acquisition layer is made from a material which has good lateral wicking characteristics. The acquisition layer also serves as an intermediate buffer, providing initial absorption and temporary retention of liquid to allow time for the liquid to be drawn into the absorbent core after its initial deposition on the top sheet.
The absorbent core serves as the main reservoir for liquid deposited on the sanitary napkin and therefore has a high liquid absorption capacity. Materials used for the absorbent core include wood pulp, creped cellulose wadding, absorbent foams and sponges, polymeric fibers and polymeric gelling agents. The material should also be capable of retaining liquid under pressure to prevent rewetting of the acquisition layer and top sheet.
The barrier sheet is made from a material which is impervious to liquid absorbed into the absorbent core and serves as a protective barrier between the absorbent core material and the wearers clothing.
In the above construction, the acquisition or transfer layer is designed to promote lateral irrigation of liquid so that the absorbent core is effective in rapidly and efficiently drawing liquid away from the acquisition layer. However, a drawback of this known construction is that liquid can be drawn all the way to the edge of the acquisition layer and wet the top sheet resulting in undesirable leakage of liquid from the napkin, discomfort to the wearer and staining of the wearer""s garments.
Therefore, there is a need for a thin sanitary absorbent napkin which reduces the risk of leakage.
According to the present invention there is provided a sanitary napkin adapted to be worn in the crotch portion of an undergarment comprising: a first liquid-permeable sheet of material, a second liquid-permeable sheet of material disposed adjacent the first sheet, an absorbent member for absorbing liquid and disposed adjacent the second sheet, said second sheet being arranged to receive liquid deposited on said first sheet and to transfer the liquid to said absorbent member, wherein said napkin has a thickness of less than or equal to about 5 mm, when dry, and a penetration time of less than 15 seconds.
The xe2x80x9cpenetration timexe2x80x9d is defined as the time taken for the napkin to absorb a predetermined quantity of a specific liquid in accordance with the test procedure described in detail below. The inventors have found that a construction which gives a penetration time of less than 15 seconds prevents dispersion of liquid to the edges of the transfer layer thereby virtually eliminating the risk of leakage through the edge of the top sheet. In contrast, it has been found that known, thin sanitary absorbent napkins, which have a tendency to leak through the above mechanism, have penetration times of about 25 seconds.
Preferably, the first liquid permeable sheet has an open pore structure and little absorption capacity to allow liquid to be drawn rapidly away from the upper, body-facing surface into the adjacent second liquid-permeable sheet.
In a preferred embodiment, the second liquid-permeable sheet comprises a material having a structure with relatively open pores for efficiently absorbing liquid from the first sheet. The second sheet may comprise a material having a density in the range from about 0.04 to 0.05 g/cc, a basis weight of between about 80 and 110 g/m2 and a thickness in the range of about 2 to 3 mm.
In a preferred embodiment, the napkin has at least one and preferably a plurality of spaced-apart, elongate channel formations arranged to direct liquid therealong for subsequent absorption into the second sheet. The channel(s) extend generally in the plane of the napkin, i.e. laterally, e.g. generally parallel to the surface of the first and/or second sheets. The channels may be formed in the first and/or second sheets and/or between the two. The channel(s) may extend obliquely to the longitudinal axis and may be linear or arcuate. The inventors have found that the provision of channels has an effect on reducing the penetration time as defined by the test procedure described hereinbelow. Advantageously, the channel(s) may be formed by applying pressure to localized regions of the napkin, for example by embossing, which has the simultaneous effect of densifying the material at the floor of the channel, enabling liquid to flow further along the channel before being absorbed. Advantageously, the second sheet may include fusible fibers such as thermoplastic fibers. It has been found that thermoplastic fibers conveniently assist in providing the requisite combination of liquid permeability and wicking properties and at the same time assist in the formation of the channels by embossing and in preserving the shape of the channels over time.
In a preferred embodiment, the absorbent member includes superabsorbent material and may include a mixture of cellulosic fibers and superabsorbent material.
Preferably, the absorbent member comprises an absorbent material having a basis weight of from about 100 g/m2 to about 700 g/m2 which has been air-laid as a bottom layer of pulp, a middle layer of pulp and superabsorbent polymer disposed in amongst the pulp, and a top layer containing at least some pulp.
In a preferred embodiment, the absorbent member has a density of more than about 0.25 g/cc, and more preferably from about 0.3 to 0.4 g/cc.
Preferably, the absorbent member includes from about 5 weight percent to about 60 weight percent superabsorbent polymer, and more preferably in the range of about 30 to 40 weight percent superabsorbent polymer.
In a preferred embodiment, the absorbent material has a basis weight in the range from about 150 g/m2 to about 350 g/m2 and more preferably in the range from about 200 g/m2 to about 300 g/m2.


The present invention relates to a vehicle chassis having a lower level, an intermediate level, and two lateral sides subject to static and dynamic loads. At least one lateral side comprises a reinforcing truss mounted between the lower and intermediate levels for supporting the static and dynamic loads. The truss includes an upper longitudinal beam mounted at the intermediate level of the chassis; a lower longitudinal beam mounted at the lower level, spaced from and parallel to the upper longitudinal beam; and at least two connecting members extending perpendicularly between the upper and lower longitudinal beams. The connecting members cooperate with the upper and lower beams to define at least one bay having an outline substantially in registry with the outline of the at least one storage compartment.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a truss for a vehicle chassis and, more particularly, to a chassis for large vehicles having an opening in one of their lateral sides. It also relates to a method to reinforce a vehicle chassis.
2) Description of the Prior Art
Large motorized vehicles, such as recreational vehicles (RVs), motor homes, and busses, have a chassis on which the body and the mechanical workings of the vehicle, such as the suspension, the motor, and the drive train, are mounted.
An important portion of the bending rigidity (or flexural rigidity) of a conventional vehicle chassis is ensured by a lateral structural truss (FIG. 1) mounted above the passenger floor on each lateral side of the vehicle chassis. The lateral structural truss usually consists of a lower beam mounted at the height of the passenger floor and an upper beam mounted parallel to the lower beam and above the latter. The lower and upper beams are connected with diagonal members. Since the entirety of the lateral structural truss is located above the passenger floor level, the payload volume of the storage compartments located below the passenger floor level is not reduced. For most motorized vehicle users, spacious storage compartments are usually a desired characteristic.
However, when an opening is created in one of the lateral walls of the vehicle, above the passenger floor, to insert a door, a slide-out compartment and the like, the lateral structure of the vehicle chassis is cut. To maintain the bending rigidity of the vehicle chassis despite the discontinuity of the lateral structural truss, a reinforcing truss is added to the vehicle chassis below the opening. Usually, the reinforcing truss consists of a lower beam and an upper beam connected with diagonal members and is mounted below the passenger floor of the vehicle (FIG. 2) in the storage compartments. In that position, the reinforcing truss considerably reduces the available spacing in the storage compartments and their accessibility. Moreover, this reinforcing truss can only take the stresses applied on the vehicle chassis in a static mode, i.e. when the vehicle is stationary. To reinforce the vehicle chassis when the vehicle is moving, locking mechanisms are mounted to the lateral structure on each side of the opening. These locking mechanisms are usually cumbersome inside the vehicle and increase the manufacturing costs, the vehicle weight, and the complexity to assemble the vehicle.


A compound for use in organic EL devices comprisingXn—Ywherein X is a compound of the formula and Y is a linking group

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an organic electroluminescent (EL) device, and more particularly, to a compound for use in a device of the type wherein an electric field is applied across a thin film of an organic compound to emit light.
2. Background Art
Organic electroluminescent (EL) devices include a thin film containing a luminescent organic compound interleaved between an electron injecting electrode and a hole injecting electrode. Electrons and holes are injected into the thin film where they are recombined to create excitons. Light is emitted by utilizing luminescence (phosphorescence or fluorescence) upon deactivation of excitons.
The organic EL devices are characterized by plane light emission at a high luminance of about 100 to 10,000 cd/m2 with a voltage of about 10 volts and light emission in a spectrum from blue to red color by a simple choice of the type of fluorescent material.
Doping is one technique for producing light emission of any desired color from organic EL devices. It was reported in Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., 10, 527 (1971) to change emission color from blue to green by doping anthracene crystals with a minor level of tetracene. With respect to organic thin film EL devices having a multilayer structure, it was reported in JP-A 63-264692 to incorporate in a host material having a light emitting function a minor amount of a fluorescent dye capable of emitting light different from that of the host material in response to light emission from the host material as a dopant to form a light emitting layer, thereby changing the color of light emission from green to orange or red.
With respect to long wavelength light emission of yellow to red, known light emitting materials or dopant materials include laser dyes capable of red oscillation (EPO 281381), compounds capable of exciplex emission (JP-A 2-255788), perylene compounds (JP-A 3-791), coumarin compounds (JP-A 3-792), dicyanomethylene compounds (JP-A 3-162481), thioxanthene compounds (JP-A 3-177486), mixtures of a conjugated polymer and an electron transporting compound (JP-A 6-73374), squalirium compounds (JP-A 6-93257), oxadiazole compounds (JP-A 6-136359), oxynate derivatives (JP-A 6-145146), and pyrene compounds (JP-A 6-240246).
It is reported in J. Am. Chem. Soc., 118, 2374–2379, 1996, that benzofluoranthene derivatives have a very high fluorescent quantum yield. JP-A 10-330295 and JP-A 11-233261 disclose organic EL devices having a light emitting layer in which a variety of host materials are doped with dibenzo[f,f′]diindeno[1,2,3-cd:1′,2′,3′-lm]perylene derivatives derived from benzofluoranthene.
Other light emitting materials disclosed heretofore include condensed polycyclic aromatic compounds (JP-A 5-32966 and 5-214334). Also dopant materials proposed heretofore include various condensed polycyclic aromatic compounds (JP-A 5-258859).
However, few of the prior art fluorescent materials could produce light emission of a color close to pure blue. From the standpoint of achieving full color displays of high quality, it would be desirable to have a high efficiency pure blue fluorescent material.

Compounds for use in organic EL devices and organic EL devices

Abstract: and R1 to R8 and a to d are hydrogen, an alkyl group, an aryl group which may be substituted, an allyl group which may be substituted, a heterocyclic group which may be substituted, an amino group, or an arylamino group which may be substituted.


A lifting litter box comprising a base, where the base includes a lifting mechanism; a frame secured above the base, where the frame is lifted and lowered by the lifting mechanism; and a litter box positioned atop the frame, where the lifting mechanism lifts the litter box to an extended position for cleaning and then lowers the litter box once clean. The lifting mechanism may be battery operated and/or manually operated to enable lifting anytime desired by the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a litter box with a lifting device to raise the box thereby allowing easier disposal and cleaning of the inner contents.
2. Description of Related Art
Owning a pet provides a loving and lasting relationship between the animal and their owner. Along with the love is the responsibility of cleaning the animal's untidiness and waste. Cats and even some trained dogs use litter boxes as their preferred place to deposit their waste.
The litter in the box creates a solid mass once wet to make discarding any waste simple and convenient. This way the pet is able to remain indoors to relieve themselves, never having to go outdoors.
A common problem encountered is that cleaning the litter boxes is tedious requiring the pet owner to repeatedly bend over when scooping the litter waste. Many times this is difficult for elderly owners or those with back injuries, because they must strain and twist into uncomfortable positions for such a simple task. To address this issue, some litter boxes are self-cleaning automatically scooping the waste into a provided waste receptacle. While this is helpful, the user is still required to bend over to reach the receptacle and discard the waste, thereby causing strain and stress on the user's back.
Therefore, it would be beneficial in the art to provide a litter box that assists the user when cleaning a litter box. It would also be desirable in the art to provide a litter box that is elevated to position the box at a more convenient level for the user when cleaning.


A fuel injection controller includes a current-increase control portion applying a voltage to the coil so that the coil current is increased to a first target value, and a current-hold control portion applying the voltage to the coil so that the increased coil current is held at the first target value. A maximum electromagnetic attracting force to start a valve opening is referred to as a required valve-opening force. A saturated electromagnetic attracting force by the coil current of the first target value is referred to as a static attracting force. The first target value is established in such a manner that the static attracting force is greater than the required valve opening force.

JP-2012-177303A shows a fuel injection controller which controls a fuel injector. The fuel injector has a coil. When the coil is energized, the coil generates an electromagnetic force which lifts up a valve body to inject a fuel. The fuel injection controller controls an energization start time of the coil and an energization period, whereby a fuel injection start time and a fuel injection quantity are controlled.
In the fuel injection controller, as shown in FIG. 7B, after an energization of the coil is started, a voltage-application is continued until the coil current reaches a target peak value Ipeak. The target peak value Ipeak is required to lift up the valve body to the maximum lift position.
The electric current required to hold the valve body at the maximum lift position is less that the target peak value Ipeak. Because, when the electromagnetic force is increased, a magnetic field change is large and a inductance is also large. Meanwhile, when the electromagnetic attracting force is kept at a constant value, the inductance is small.
In the above conventional controller, when the coil current reaches the target peak value, the coil current is decreased and is kept at a hold value (hold which is smaller than the target peak value Ipeak.
When a temperature of a coil is increased, an electric resistance of the coil is also increased. As shown by dashed lines in FIGS. 7A and 7B, a time period t10-t20 in which the coil current reaches the target peak value Ipeak becomes longer. As a result, since an increasing ratio ΔF of attracting force becomes smaller (dashed line in FIG. 7C), a valve opening start time "ta" is delayed and a valve opening period Tact becomes shorter.
According to a temperature characteristic of the coil current, an increasing ratio ΔI of the electric current is varied. As the result, the increasing ratio ΔF of attracting force is varied, so that the valve opening start timing "ta" and the valve opening period Tact are varied. That is, since the valve opening start timing "ta" and the valve opening period Tact receive an influence of the temperature characteristic, a fuel injection accuracy relative to the energization start time t10 and the energization period Ti is deteriorated.
Especially, in a case that a multi-stage injection is conducted in one combustion cycle, it is required that small amount fuel is injected with high accuracy. In such a small injection, a deviation of the injection start time "ta" becomes large, so that the injection accuracy due to the temperature characteristic is further deteriorated.

Fuel injection controller and fuel-injection-control system


An all-ion implanted gallium-nitride (GaN) junction field-effect transistor (JFET) and method of making the same. Also disclosed are various ion implants, both n- and p-type, together with or without phosphorous co-implantation, in selected III-V semiconductor materials.

1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to gallium nitride (GaN) junction field-effect transistors (JFETs) and to methods of making such transistors.
2. Background Art
Gallium nitride (hereinafter GaN) is an attractive material for use in high temperature, high power electronic devices due to its high bandgap (3.39 eV), high breakdown field (.about.5.times.10.sup.6 V/cm), high saturation drift velocity (2.7.times.10.sup.7 cm-s.sup.-1), and chemical inertness. Morkoc, et al., J. Appl. Phys. 76(3), p. 1363, Aug. 1, 1994. Metal semiconductor FETs (MESFETs), high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), heterostructure FETs (HFETs), and metal insulator semiconductor FETs (MISFETs) have all been developed using epitaxial AIN/GaN structures. Khan, et al, Appl. Phys. Lett. vol. 62, p. 1786 (1993); Khan, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. vol. 63, p. 1214 (1993); Binari, et al., Proc. 1994 ISCS, 9/94, Inst. Phys., Bristol, UK, pp. 492-496 (1995); and PCI Proceedings, pp. 353-365, October 1986.
The patent literature also describes the use of GaN. U.S. Pat. No. 4,985,742, to Pankove, entitled "High Temperature Semiconductor Devices Having at Least One Gallium Nitride Layer", discloses the application of GaN layers to other semiconductors to act as a contact or window layers. No JFET use or structure is disclosed. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,192,987 and 5,296,395, to Khan, et al., respectively titled "High Electron Mobility Transistor with GaN/Al.sub.x GA.sub.1-x N Heterojunctions" and "Method of Making a High Electron Mobility Transistor", both disclose the use of GaN which is epitaxially doped, lacks a p/n junction gate, and lacks p-type doping.
The use of ion implantation doping in semiconductor devices employing GaAs JFET's was described by Zolper, et al., "An All-Implanted, Self-Aligned, GaAs JFET with a Nonalloyed W/p.sup.+ -GaAs Ohmic Gate Contact", IEEE Transaction on Electron Devices, vol. 41, pp. 1078-1082, July, 1994; Sherwin, et al., "An All Implanted Self-Aligned Enhancement Mode n-JFET with Zn Gates for GaAs Digital Application," IEEE Electron Device Letters, vol. 15, pp. 242-244, July, 1994; and Zolper, et al., "Enhanced High-Frequency Performance in a GaAs Self-Aligned, n-JFET Using a Carbon Buried p-Implant," IEEE Electron Device Letters, vol. 15, pp. 493-495, December 1994.
GaN thin films have been developed in the prior art by epitaxial growth on c-sapphire. Yuan, et al., "High Quality P-Type GaN Deposition on c-Sapphire Substrates in a Multiwafer Rotating-Disk Reactor", J. Electrochem Soc., vol. 142, pp. L163-L65, September 1995. Such GaN films have also been ion implanted, that is, n- and p-type regions have been produced in GaN using Si.sup.+ and Mg.sup.+ /P.sup.+ implantation and subsequent annealing. Pearton, et al., entitled "Ion Implantation Doping and Isolation of GaN," Appl. Phys. Lett. vol. 67, pp. 1435-1437, September 1995. Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) etching of GaN films in various gaseous plasmas has also been accomplished in the prior art. Shul, et al., "Plasma Chemistry Dependent ECR Etching of GaN," Mater. Res. Soc., Symposium AM, November 1995.
The prior art fails to disclose, however, production of a GaN JFET fabricated with ion implantation doping, as noted by recent publications of Applicants. Zolper, et al., "Ion-Implanted GaN Junction Field Effect Transistor," Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 68, pp. 2273-2275 , 15 Apr., 1996; Zolper, et al., "III-Nitride Ion Implantation and Device Processing", Electrochemical Society Meeting, May 1996; Zolper, et aL, "Gallium Nitride Junction Field Effect Transistor for High Temperature Operation", 3rd International High Temperature Electronic Conf., June 1996; and Zolper, et al., "P- and N-Type Implantation Doping of GaN with Ca and O", Materials Research Society April 1996.

Gallium nitride junction field-effect transistor


A polymer matrix type heater filled with a conductive particulate moiety is disclosed wherein the preferable polymer is a polyurethane shape-memory polymer and the preferable filler is spherical thermal carbon black particles. Optional insulating fillers may be added to adjust the thermal and electrical properties of the heater. The resulting self-regulating heater has fast heat-up, sharp turnoff, and negligible temperature fluctuation.

It is well known in the art that combining a conventional polymer with an electrically conductive filler can create an electrically conductive composition which exhibits a positive temperature coefficient of resistivity ("PTC"). By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,729 to Carmone et al. teaches a conductive PTC polymer which can be an epoxy resin, polyimide, unsaturated polyester, silicone, polyurethane, or phenolic resin doped with fiber shaped conductive materials. The fibers can be carbon fibers, carbon fibers coated with a metal or an alloy, graphite fibers, graphite fibers coated with a metal or an alloy, graphite intercalation compound fibers, metal fibers, ceramic fibers, or ceramic fibers coated with a metal or an alloy. The material is characterized by the fact that the plastic material of the matrix is a thermosetting resin rather than a thermoplastic polymer. The conductive particles preferably have a large size (>1 micron) and are in fibrous form. U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,121 to Horsma et al. describes self-regulating PTC compositions with reduced thermal runaway problems, comprising a cross-linked elastomer, a thermoplastic polymer, and carbon black. The elastomer component may be polyurethane. The carbon filler is identified as Vulcan XC-72, a high surface area species. U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,926 to Fouts, Jr. et al. reveals conductive polymer compositions comprising a polymeric material having dispersed therein conductive particles composed of a highly conductive material and a particulate filler. Fouts teaches the use of carbon black with an average particle size between 0.01 and 0.07 microns.
The PTC property of the composition means that as the temperature of the composition rises, so does the internal resistance thereof. For many of these substances, the flow of electric current therethrough causes the temperature of the material to rise through Joules heating, and therefore the resistance. As the temperature rises, the polymer matrix expands, causing the conductive moieties (usually carbon black) to lose contact with one another. The electrical resistance thus rises, eventually creating conditions similar to an open circuit. The resulting rise in resistance is greater than would be seen in a conventional resistive heating medium.
These characteristics make the composition suitable for many applications including heaters, sensors, and switches. Essentially, when a voltage is applied, the composition emanates internally generated heat, which simultaneously causes the resistance therein to rise. As the resistance rises, the current flowing through the composition is reduced. Eventually, the composition reaches a temperature at which the current is almost completely cutoff, preventing the composition from getting any hotter than the temperature at the current cutoff level.
These compositions that are most suitable for heaters have a certain critical temperature at which point the thermal coefficient of resistivity becomes very large. This creates a turnoff effect for the heater at the critical temperature. The more distinct the change in the thermal coefficient of resistivity, the sharper the turnoff effect for the heater. Despite many advances in the art, the change in the thermal coefficient of resistivity of existing compositions is still far short of ideal. The prior art heaters do not have a sharp turnoff effect. Also the prior art carbon filled polymer matrix heaters exhibit fluctuations in temperature even after the turnoff point is reached.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an electrically conductive polymer composition for a heater that exhibits a positive temperature coefficient of resistivity.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a composition that has a narrow range of temperatures in which the composition changes from conductive to resistive.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide such a composition that exhibits negligible fluctuations in temperature once a critical temperature is reached.
Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the specification described herein below.

Self-regulating polymer composite heater


The present invention concerns compositions, which comprise a solvent, which is suitable for a medium of variable transmittance in a solution-phase electrochromic device, and a UV-stabilizer, which is an ester of 2-cyano-3,3-diphenyl acrylic acid. Among embodiments of the invention are solutions used as media of variable transmittance in electrochromic devices, especially single-compartment, self-erasing, solution-phase electrochromic devices. The UV-stabilizer provides to the compositions of the invention stability against degradation from exposure to ultraviolet radiation, including that from the sun. Among applications of electrochromic devices comprising solutions according to the invention are use as variable transmittance components in variable reflectance, outside, rearview mirrors for automobiles.

A major problem which limits the usefulness and useful lifetime of materials exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation is degradation associated with such exposure. This degradation results from decomposition and other chemical reactions of organic compounds in the materials initiated by absorption by such compounds of photons of ultraviolet light. Materials exposed to sunlight are especially susceptible to degradation due to UV-exposure, because a significant component of sunlight is UV-radiation. Among such materials are paints, plastics, fabrics and dyes.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,108, which is incorporated herein by reference, solutions of electrochromic compounds are described. These solutions are useful as the media of variable transmittance in single-compartment, self-erasing, solution-phase electrochromic devices. The devices, in turn, are useful as the variable transmittance components in variable transmission light filters, such as windows, and variable reflectance mirrors, such as anti-glare rearview mirrors in automobiles. Components of the solutions of electrochromic compounds described in the aforementioned patent, especially the electrochromic compounds themselves, readily absorb UV photons and, as a consequence, undergo degradative reactions upon exposure to UV light. Thus, windows and rearview mirrors, wherein such solutions are employed to provide variable transmittance or reflectance, have useful lifetimes significantly limited in environments, such as on the outside walls of buildings or on the outside of automobiles, where they are exposed for extended periods of time to ultraviolet light, as from the sun.
There has existed a need, then, to stabilize materials, which comprise UV-radiation-absorbing organic compounds, against degradation caused by exposure to UV-light. Many ultraviolet stabilizer agents, which are compounds which provide such stabilization, when combined with compounds susceptible to UV-degradation, are known in the art. Ultraviolet stabilizer agents absorb ultraviolet radiation competitively with other compounds in a stabilized composition or are capable, without decomposition of the stabilizer itself, of dissipating the energy acquired upon absorption of a UV-photon by the materials being stabilized. Such agents must also satisfy a number of other requirements, depending on properties of the compositions to be stabilized. For example, the agents must be sufficiently soluble in such a composition and must not interact with other components in the composition in a way that interferes with using the composition for its intended purpose. Thus, an ultraviolet stabilizer agent for use in a plastic must not, at a concentration high enough to provide the desired stability, adversely affect, for example, the strength of the plastic. Similarly, an ultraviolet stabilizer agent for use in a solution of electrochromic compounds employed as a medium of variable transmittance to visible light in an electrochromic device must not interact with the electrochromic compounds in a way that so significantly reduces their changes in absorbance to visible light upon oxidation or reduction that they cease to function effectively as electrochromic compounds and must not compete with the electrochromic compounds for oxidation or reduction at the electrodes of an electrochromic device.
Among ultraviolet stabilizer agents, known to stabilize plastics, are the compound ethyl-2-cyano-3,3-diphenyl acrylate, sold by BASF (Parsippany, N.J., USA) under the trademark Uvinul N-35 and by Aceto Corporation (Flushing, N.Y., USA) under the trademark Viosorb 910; the compound (2-ethylhexyl)-2-cyano-3,3-diphenyl acrylate, sold by BASF under the trademark Uvinul N-539; the compound 2-(2-hydroxy-4-methyl-phenyl)benzo[d]triazole, sold by Ciba-Geigy Corp. under the trademark Tinuvin P; the compound 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone, sold by American Cyanamid under the trademark Cyasorb UV 9; and the compound 2-ethyl-2'-ethoxyoxalanilide, sold by Sandoz Color & Chemicals under the trademark Sanduvor VSU.
The present invention is directed to stabilization against degradation upon exposure to UV-radiation of solutions, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,108, which are useful as the media of variable transmittance in electrochromic devices, especially single-compartment, self-erasing, solution-phase electrochromic devices.