The invention is directed to a swipe with at least one ionization reagent associated with the swipe for detecting target analytes and methods of detecting the target analyte molecules that can indicate the presence of, for example, explosives, narcotics, chemical warfare agents, biological warfare agents, or toxins. The swipe can be used to transfer molecules from a surface to the swipe for further analysis. In particular, the swipes can include an ionization reagent that is preferably a low volatility compound and capable of forming ionization reagent-analyte complexes with target analytes. The swipe can also include multiple ionization reagents with different volatilities such that they are released sequentially during a thermal ramp-up. Alternatively, the swipe can have multiple ionization reagents associated with spatially separated portions of the swipe such that they can be releasable sequentially to detect multiple target analytes.

The evolving threats posed by concealed explosives or the intentional release of toxic chemicals demand new ways to detect these threats and protect the public. Typically, the techniques for identifying threat molecules involve ionizing a sample and then detecting whether the threat molecule (analyte) is present. The detection mechanisms include ion mobility spectrometry (IMS), differential mobility spectrometry (DMS), field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS), and mass spectrometry (MS), all of which rely upon ionization of the analyte or a complex that includes the analyte. In fact, one of these techniques (IMS) is currently used in nearly every airport in the United States as a means to prevent concealed explosives from getting on aircraft.
Given the importance of these techniques to public safety, considerable effort has been devoted to develop the best means to collect the sample from the environment, present the sample to the instrument, and to also ionize it efficiently and if possible selectively, in order to provide the greatest detection capability.
In almost all instances, ionization is achieved selectively by performing the ionization under ambient-pressure conditions in the presence of an ionization reagent in a technique known as ambient-pressure ionization (API) (also sometimes called atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization). In API, the target analyte is drawn into a space containing both an ionization source and the ionization reagent, and ionization of the target molecule takes place through ion-molecule collisions. The ionization reagent is selected such that rapid achievement of charge equilibrium results in charge or proton transfer from the reagent to the target molecule.
Since many of the explosive and chemical threats have low vapor pressure and exist as traces of particulates or thin films on surfaces, the most common way to collect the sample requires a swipe or swab substrate which provides a physical mechanism to both collect and preconcentrate a sample taken from a surface of a suspect object for subsequent presentation to the ionization space of the detection instrument. The substrate media, which is called a "swipe," can be thermally heated to desorb the target analyte into the vapor phase for subsequent ionization and detection. This methodology is currently used in fielded IMS systems that detect explosives, where detection relies on efficient collection and presentation of low-vapor analytes such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazacyclohexane (RDX) and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) into the instrument, and use of ionization reagents that enhance the formation of negative ions via chloride adduction, such as methylene chloride.
In such explosive detection systems, the substrate is typically positioned in a thermal desorber located on the inlet side of the detection system. Thermal heating of the solid particles on the swipe induces a solid-to-vapor phase transition and releases the analyte molecules as a vapor, usually guided into the sensor inlet by a carrier gas, and the ionization reagent is introduced as a vapor within a separate carrier gas. Properties of commercially-available swipe media have been optimized over the years for increased efficiency of particle collection from surfaces (mechanical or electrostatic), efficient transfer and release of analyte into the chemical sensor, thermal stability, and low chemical background of the substrate.

Reagent impregnated swipe for chemical detection


Disclosed are thermal transfer elements and processes for patterning solvent-coated layers and solvent-susceptible layers onto the same receptor substrate. These donor elements and methods are particularly suited for making organic electroluminescent devices and displays. The donor elements can include a substrate, an optional light-to-heat conversion layer, and a single or multicomponent transfer layer that can be imagewise transferred to a receptor to form an organic electroluminescent device, portions thereof, or components therefor. The methods offer advantages over conventional patterning techniques such as photolithography, and make it possible to fabricate new organic electroluminescent device constructions.

The present invention relates to methods and materials for making and patterning organic electroluminescent devices as well as to organic electroluminescent devices so made and to displays employing organic electroluminescent devices.
Many miniature electronic and optical devices are formed using layers of different materials stacked on each other. These layers are often patterned to produce the devices. Examples of such devices include optical displays in which each pixel is formed in a patterned array, optical waveguide structures for telecommunication devices, and metal-insulator-metal stacks for semiconductor-based devices.
A conventional method for making these devices includes forming one or more layers on a receptor substrate and patterning the layers simultaneously or sequentially to form the device. In many cases, multiple deposition and patterning steps are required to prepare the ultimate device structure. For example, the preparation of optical displays may require the separate formation of red, green, and blue pixels. Although some layers may be commonly deposited for each of these types of pixels, at least some layers must be separately formed and often separately patterned. Patterning of the layers is often performed by photolithographic techniques that include, for example, covering a layer with a photoresist, patterning the photoresist using a mask, removing a portion of the photoresist to expose the underlying layer according to the pattern, and then etching the exposed layer.
In some applications, it may be difficult or impractical to produce devices using conventional photolithographic patterning. For example, the number of patterning steps may be too large for practical manufacture of the device. In addition, wet processing steps in conventional photolithographic patterning may adversely affect integrity, interfacial characteristics, and/or electrical or optical properties of the previously deposited layers. It is conceivable that many potentially advantageous device constructions, designs, layouts, and materials are impractical because of the limitations of conventional photolithographic patterning. There is a need for new methods of forming these devices with a reduced number of processing steps, particularly wet processing steps. In at least some instances, this may allow for the construction of devices with more reliability and more complexity.
The present invention provides new thermal transfer donor elements and methods of patterning using thermal transfer donor elements. The donors and methods of the present invention are particularly suited to patterning solvent-coated materials on the same substrate as solvent-susceptible materials. This can be especially useful in constructing organic electroluminescent displays and devices as well as components for organic electroluminescent displays and devices.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a method for making an organic electroluminescent device that includes the step of thermally transferring a light emitting polymer layer and a small molecule layer from one or more thermal transfer donor elements to a receptor so that the light emitting polymer layer and the small molecule layer are disposed between an anode and a cathode on the receptor.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a thermal transfer donor element for use in making organic electroluminescent devices that includes, in the following order, a substrate, a light-to-heat conversion layer, an interlayer, and a thermal transfer layer that has, in the following order, a release layer, a cathode layer, a light emitting polymer layer, a small molecule hole transport layer, and an anode layer.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for patterning a first material and a second material on a receptor, which method includes selectively thermal transferring the first material proximate to the second material on the receptor from a first donor element, the first material being formed on the donor element by solution coating using a solvent, the second material being incompatible with the solvent used to coat the first material, wherein at least one of the first and second materials is an organic electroluminescent material, an organic conductor, or an organic semiconductor.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for patterning materials that includes forming a donor element that has a substrate and a multicomponent thermal transfer layer, the thermal transfer layer having at least a first layer that includes a solvent-coated material and a second layer that includes a solvent-susceptible material, the solvent-susceptible material being incompatible with the solvent used to coat the solvent-coated material, wherein the first layer is disposed between the second layer and the donor substrate. Next, the thermal transfer layer of the donor is placed proximate a receptor and the multicomponent transfer layer is selectively thermally transferred from the donor element to the receptor. At least one of the solvent-coated material and the solvent-susceptible material is an organic electroluminescent material, an organic conductor, or an organic semiconductor.
In still another aspect, the present invention provides a method for patterning materials that includes the steps of thermally transferring selected portions of a first transfer layer from a first donor element to a receptor, the first transfer layer containing a first material, the first material being solution-coated from a solvent onto the first donor, and thermally transferring selected portions of a second transfer layer from a second donor element to the receptor, the second transfer layer containing a second material, the second material being incompatible with the solvent. At least one of the first and second materials is an organic electroluminescent material, an organic conductor, or an organic semiconductor.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method for making a thermal transfer donor element, which method includes forming a donor element that has a donor substrate and a transfer layer, the transfer layer being formed by (a) solution coating a first material using a solvent, (b) drying the first material to substantially remove the solvent, and (c) depositing a second material such that the first material is disposed between the donor substrate and the second material, the second material being incompatible with the solvent used to coat the first material.
In another aspect, the present invention provides an organic electroluminescent display that includes a first organic electroluminescent device disposed on a display substrate, the first organic electroluminescent device having an emitter layer that is a light emitting polymer, and a second organic electroluminescent device disposed on the display substrate, the second organic electroluminescent device having an emitter layer that is an organic small molecule material.
In another aspect, the present invention provides an organic electroluminescent display that includes an organic electroluminescent device disposed on a display substrate, the organic electroluminescent device including, in the following order from the substrate, a first electrode, a small molecule charge transport layer, a polymer emitter layer, and a second electrode.
The above summary of the present invention is not intended to describe each disclosed embodiment or every implementation of the present invention. The Figures and the detailed description which follow more particularly exemplify these embodiments.
It should be understood that by specifying an order in the present document (e.g., order of steps to be performed, order of layers on a substrate, etc.), it is not meant to preclude intermediates between the items specified, as long as the items appear in the order as specified.

Thermal transfer element and process for forming organic electroluminescent devices


Provided is a microscope optical system in which the occurrence of flare due to unnecessary-order diffracted light exited from a diffractive optical element is suppressed. A microscope objective lens MS is configured by including an objective lens OL which has a diffractive optical element GD and converts light from an object into a substantially parallel light flux, and a second objective lens IL which forms an image of the object by focusing the substantially parallel light flux from the objective lens OL, and is configured such that, in case where an m-th order of diffracted light from the diffractive optical element GD is used for the image formation, the following expression is satisfied: |θ|>tan−1(0.06/D) when the light of a maximum NA emitted from the object located on an optical axis enters the diffractive optical element.

Use of a diffractive optical element in a microscope optical system provides advantages in chromatic aberration correction, and the like, over the prior art, and makes if possible to design a low-cost microscope objective lens with high optical performance. However, when a diffractive optical element is used in a microscope optical system, not only the order of diffracted light contributing to the image formation but also the other orders of diffracted light (hereinafter referred to as "unnecessary-order diffracted light") pass through the microscope objective lens, and hence flare is caused. It is known that, in order to obscure the flare caused by the unnecessary-order diffracted light exited from the diffractive optical element, it is only necessary to increase the size of the spot, which is formed on the image surface by the unnecessary-order diffracted light (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).

Microscope optical system and microscope system


In a multi-piece golf ball comprising a solid core, an intermediate layer, and a cover, the intermediate layer and/or the cover is formed of a heated mixture having a melt index of at least 1.0 dg/min and comprising (a) an olefin-carboxylic acid random copolymer and/or (d) a metal ion-neutralized olefin-carboxylic acid random copolymer and/or a metal ion-neutralized olefin-carboxylic acid-carboxylate random copolymer; (b) a fatty acid or derivative having a molecular weight of at least 280; and (c) a neutralizing basic inorganic metal compound. All expressed in Shore D hardness, the intermediate layer has a hardness of 40-63, the cover has a hardness of 45-68, and they satisfy the relationship: the hardness of solid core at its centerxe2x89xa6the hardness of intermediate layerxe2x89xa6the hardness of cover.

This invention relates to multi-piece golf balls of at least three layers including a solid core, an intermediate layer and a cover, which are improved in feel, control and flight performance.
In the past, a variety of improvements were made on wound golf balls and solid golf balls. One typical attempt is to optimize the gage and hardness of the core and cover of a two-piece solid golf ball.
While most prior art solid golf balls have a two-layer structure consisting of a solid core and a cover, the recent trend has moved to a multilayer structure having an intermediate layer disposed between the solid core and the cover. Many attempts have been made to optimize the respective layers. For instance, JP-A 9-313643 discloses a three-piece golf ball which is improved in flight performance, durability, feel and controllability by optimizing the hardness distribution of the core alone and the overall hardness distribution of the ball including the core, intermediate layer and cover.
Also, JP-A 10-305114 discloses a multi-piece golf ball which is improved in flight performance and feel by optimizing the hardness balance among the core, intermediate layer and cover as well as the dimples.
Nowadays, golf players have a variety of diverse requirements, and further improvements in feel, controllability and flight performance are needed.
An object of the invention is to provide a multi-piece golf ball of at least three layers including a solid core, an intermediate layer and a cover, which is improved in feel, controllability and flight performance.
Regarding a golf ball comprising a solid core, an intermediate layer and a cover, the inventor has attempted to use a heated mixture of any one of the following compositions (1), (2) and (3) and having a melt index of at least 1 dg/min as the material of which the intermediate layer and/or the cover is made.
Composition (1) comprising the following:
(a) 100 parts by weight of an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer and/or an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate random copolymer,
(b) 5 to 80 parts by weight of a fatty acid or fatty acid derivative having a molecular weight of at least 280, and
(c) 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of a basic inorganic metal compound capable of neutralizing acid groups in components (a) and (b).
Composition (2) comprising the following:
(d) 100 parts by weight of a metal ion-neutralized olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer and/or a metal ion-neutralized olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate random copolymer,
(b) 5 to 80 parts by weight of a fatty acid or fatty acid derivative having a molecular weight of at least 280, and
(c) 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of a basic inorganic metal compound capable of neutralizing acid groups in components (d) and (b).
Composition (3) comprising the following:
100 parts by weight of a mixture of (a) an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer and/or an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate random copolymer and (d) a metal ion-neutralized olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer and/or a metal ion-neutralized olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate random copolymer,
(b) 5 to 80 parts by weight of a fatty acid or fatty acid derivative having a molecular weight of at least 280, and
(c) 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of a basic inorganic metal compound capable of neutralizing acid groups in components (a), (d) and (b).
It has been found that the multi-piece golf ball whose intermediate layer and/or cover is formed of the above-formulated material is improved in rebound and flight distance. This improvement in rebound leads to the advantage that there is left a room for further improvements in feel and controllability.
Continuing investigations in order to take the advantage to a full extent, the inventor has found that the improvement in rebound contributes to a softening of feel, and with respect to controllability, the same allows the cover to be softened so that an increased spin receptivity is expectable.
More specifically, the hardnesses of the respective layers of the multi-piece golf ball are such that the intermediate layer has a Shore D hardness of 40 to 63, the cover has a Shore D hardness of 45 to 68, the Shore D hardness of the solid core at its center is not greater than the Shore D hardness of the intermediate layer, which is not greater than the Shore D hardness of the cover. When the ball is hit, the ball receives the impact force over its entirety, rather than local concentration of the impact force, so that the energy loss associated with ball deformation is minimized. This leads to good rebound or restitution, an increase of travel distance and a soft feel. Additionally, the cover can be made so soft that spin receptivity is increased to provide for good controllability. The present invention is predicated on these findings.
In a first aspect, the invention provides a multi-piece golf ball comprising a solid core, an intermediate layer enclosing the solid core, and a cover enclosing the intermediate layer, wherein
at least one of the intermediate layer and the cover is formed of a heated mixture comprising
(a) 100 parts by weight of an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer or an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate random copolymer or both,
(b) 5 to 80 parts by weight of a fatty acid or fatty acid derivative having a molecular weight of at least 280, and
(c) 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of a basic inorganic metal compound capable of neutralizing acid groups in components (a) and (b), the heated mixture having a melt index of at least 1.0 dg/min,
the intermediate layer has a Shore D hardness of 40 to 63, the cover has a Shore D hardness of 45 to 68, the Shore D hardness of the solid core at its center is not greater than the Shore D hardness of the intermediate layer, which is not greater than the Shore D hardness of the cover.
In a second aspect, the invention provides a multi-piece golf ball comprising a solid core, an intermediate layer enclosing the solid core, and a cover enclosing the intermediate layer, wherein
at least one of the intermediate layer and the cover is formed of a heated mixture comprising
(d) 100 parts by weight of a metal ion-neutralized olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer or a metal ion-neutralized olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate random copolymer or both,
(b) 5 to 80 parts by weight of a fatty acid or fatty acid derivative having a molecular weight of at least 280, and
(c) 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of a basic inorganic metal compound capable of neutralizing acid groups in components (d) and (b), the heated mixture having a melt index of at least 1.0 dg/min,
the intermediate layer has a Shore D hardness of 40 to 63, the cover has a Shore D hardness of 45 to 68, the Shore D hardness of the solid core at its center is not greater than the Shore D hardness of the intermediate layer, which is not greater than the Shore D hardness of the cover.
In a third aspect, the invention provides a multi-piece golf ball comprising a solid core, an intermediate layer enclosing the solid core, and a cover enclosing the intermediate layer, wherein
at least one of the intermediate layer and the cover is formed of a heated mixture comprising
100 parts by weight of a mixture of (a) an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer or an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate random copolymer or both and (d) a metal ion-neutralized olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer or a metal ion-neutralized olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate random copolymer or both,
(b) 5 to 80 parts by weight of a fatty acid or fatty acid derivative having a molecular weight of at least 280, and
(c) 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of a basic inorganic metal compound capable of neutralizing acid groups in components (a), (d) and (b), the heated mixture having a melt index of at least 1.0 dg/min,
the intermediate layer has a Shore D hardness of 40 to 63, the cover has a Shore D hardness of 45 to 68, the Shore D hardness of the solid core at its center is not greater than the Shore D hardness of the intermediate layer, which is not greater than the Shore D hardness of the cover.
In one preferred embodiment, the solid core is formed of a polybutadiene-based rubber composition and has a diameter of 33 to 41 mm and a deflection of 2.5 to 7.0 mm under an applied load of 100 kg.
In another preferred embodiment, the intermediate layer has a gage of 0.3 to 3.0 mm, the cover has a gage of 0.3 to 3.0 mm, and the total gage of the intermediate layer and the cover is at least 1.0 mm.


An aspect of some embodiments of the present invention relates to an eyewear article for reducing glare. The eyewear article comprises an upper opaque or semi-opaque panel and a lower opaque or semi-opaque panel. The upper panel and lower panels are separated by a slit, the slit being configured for being placed in front of a user's eye to enable light propagating from a task located ahead of the user's eye to reach the user's eye, and the upper and lower panels being configured for preventing at least a portion of light propagating from at least some locations other than the task from reaching the user's eye.

Glare is the difficulty of seeing in the presence of bright light such as direct or reflected sunlight or artificial light. Glare is caused by the luminance of the glare source being comparable or higher than the luminance of an object or scene being looked at (the task). Factors such as the angle between the task and the glare source and eye adaptation have significant impacts on the experience of glare. Glare can be generally divided into two types, discomfort glare and disability glare. Discomfort glare results in an instinctive desire to look away from a bright light source or difficulty in seeing a task. Disability glare impairs the vision of objects without necessarily causing discomfort. This could arise for instance when driving westward at sunset. Disability glare is often caused by the inter-reflection of light within the eyeball, reducing the contrast between task and glare source to the point where the task is difficult to distinguish.
Glare from direct or reflected sunlight is a serious problem for many people, especially the elderly. Glare causes eye strain, headaches, and is the cause of many auto accidents.
Sunglasses are often worn to reduce glare; polarized sunglasses are designed to reduce glare caused by light reflected from non-metallic surfaces such as water, glossy printed matter or painted surfaces. An anti-reflective treatment on some eyeglasses reduces the glare caused by reflection of glare light from the lens to a person's eye.


To feed a plurality of cut sheets of paper to a recorder, in a one-by-one picking up manner, a stack plate supports the cut sheets placed on a paper stacking side thereof, a spring member is provided on an opposite side to the paper stacking side of the stack plate, a feed roller is rotated to force out in a paper feed direction a top sheet of the cut sheets placed on the stack plate, as the stack plate is elastically urged by the spring member toward the feed roller, a pawl member separates the top sheet from the rest, as it is forced in the paper feed direction by the feed roller, and a convex stripe part is provided on the paper stacking side of the stack plate, the stripe part extending in a crossing direction with the paper feed direction.

The present invention relates to a device and a method for automatically picking up to feed one by one a plurality of cut sheets of paper without jamming or like feed errors.
In particular, the present invention relates firstly to an automatic paper feed device including a stack plate for placing thereon a plurality of cut sheets of paper, a spring member for upwardly biassing the stack plate, a feed roller for forcing one of the cut sheets to slide and a pawl member for separating that one of the cut sheets to be forced to slide from the rest, secondly to a cut sheet cassette for accommodating therein a plurality of cut sheets of paper, the cassette being cooperative with a paper feed system including a pickup roller rotatable in frictional contact with a top sheet of the cut sheets, to thereby pick up the top sheet from the cassette into the system, and thirdly to a cut sheet feeding method for feeding a plurality of cut sheets of paper in a one-by-one picking up manner from a cut sheet cassette into a paper feed system.
As a basic concept, it has been and is typical for such a device, cassette or method to pick up a top sheet from a neat stack of sheets of paper each cut into a predetermined size such as an A3 (297 mm.times.420 mm), A4 (210 mm.times.297 mm) or A5 size (148 mm.times.210 mm) in an A series or a B4 (257 mm .times.364 mm) or B5 (182 mm.times.257 mm) size in a B series in Japan, or a letter (215.9 mm.times.279.4), legal (215.9 mm.times.355.6 mm) or double letter (279.4 mm.times.431.8 mm) size in the United States of America.

Device and method for feeding cut sheets of paper in a one-by-one picking up manner without jamming


A wavelength filter for use with optical fibers comprises a plurality of filter units, each unit comprising first and second collimating lenses separated by a filter element, the filter elements of the two units being capable of passing first and second wavelengths respectively, and each unit being such as to reflect light transmitted by the filter element of each of the other units. A first of the units has its first lens connected to an input optical fiber and also connected to a first connecting optical fiber positioned so that one of these optical fibers is capable of receiving light from the other fiber reflected off the filter element of the first unit. The first unit has its second lens connected to a second connecting optical fiber carrying light of a first wavelength transmited from the input optical fiber through the first filter unit. A second of the units has its first lens connected to the first connecting optical fiber and its second lens connected to the second connecting optical fiber and to an output optical fiber in transmitted light relationship with the first connecting optical fiber. The second connecting optical fiber and the output optical fiber are positioned so that one of these latter fibers is capable of receiving light from the other reflected off the filter element of the second unit.

One known form of WDM filters is a so-called dichoric filter, an example of which is shown in FIG. 1. Dichoric filter technology offers wide channel passbands, flat channel passbands, low insertion loss, moderate isolation, low cost, high reliability and ruggedness, high thermal stability, and moderate filter roll-off characteristics,
The filter shown in FIG. 1 is a conventional three-port dichoric filter, and comprises one or more layers of dielectric material coated onto a glass substrate 10 with lenses 11 and 12 to focus the incoming and outgoing optical signals. The choice of dielectric material, the number of dielectric layers coated onto the substrate, and the spacing of the layers are chosen to provided the appropriate transmissive and reflective properties for a given target wavelength. For example, if .lambda.1 is the target wavelength to be transmitted through the filter, the number and spacing of the dielectric layers on the substrate 10 would be chosen to provided (1) a specified tolerance passband around .lambda.1, and (2) the necessary isolation requirements for all other transmitted wavelengths, for example a wavelength .lambda.2, transmitted by a second transmitter.
The dichoric filter unit is constructed by placing self-focusing lenses 10 and 11 on either side of a filter element comprising the dielectric substrate 10. These lenses, which are collimating lenses such as quarter-pitch GRIN (Graded Index) lenses or so-called "SELFOC" lenses (produced under the trade name "SELFOC"; the mark is registered in Japan and owned by the Nippon Sheet and Glass Co. Ltd.,) focus incoming light onto a particular location on the dielectric substrate filter element.
Attached to the lenses 11 and 12 through an adhesive bonding process are, typically, single mode optical fibers. For convenience, the location at which optical fibers attach to the lenses 11 and 12 are called ports: port 1 is P1, port 2 is P2, and port 3 is P3. Connected to the ports are optical fibers 14, 15, and 16 respectively. For example, all of the light (comprised of .lambda.1 and .lambda.2) passing through fiber 14 connected to port P1 is focused by lens 11 onto a single location on the dielectric substrate 10.
Since the substrate is coated to pass wavelengths around .lambda.1, virtually all of the light at .lambda.1 passes through the dielectric substrate 10 and, is collimated by lens 11 onto port P3, and passes away from the filter on optical fiber 16. Any other wavelength incident on the filter through port P1 (e.g. light of wavelength .lambda.2) is reflected off the multilayer substrate 10, focused back through the first lens 11 to port P2, and passes away from the filter unit on optical fiber 15. Likewise, the filter performs the same function for light travelling in the opposite direction.
Instead of the glass substrate 10, the filter element may be constituted by thin layers of dielectric material 10a coated on the end of one of the lenses 11, with the other lens 12 also having its inner end secured to this material. This is illustrated in FIG. 1a.
In these filters, the light suffers attenuation both in transmittance through the filter element and in reflectance off the filter element, the loss in transmittance being larger than the loss in reflectance. The attenuation is measured as transmission and reflectance attenuation ratios T and R for transmittance and reflectance respectively, i.e:
Light intensity input x T=Intensity of fight transmitted; PA1 Light intensity input x R=Intensity of fight reflected,
where both T and R<Unity; and T<R
The types of filter shown in FIGS. 1 and 1a are suitable for separating out one wavelength of fight from a fight signal containing a mixture of wavelengths, or for separating a light signal containing two different wavelengths into fight signals having the separate wavelengths. However, it is sometimes required to separate out more than one wavelength from a plurality of more than two wavelengths, and to have the resultant mixed wavelengths leaving from a single fiber. It may also be desirable to use a filter arrangement in which all the separated wavelengths had the same amount of attenuation when passing through the filters.

Wavelength filter arrangements for use in fiber optics


Disclosed are a system for operating a mobile robot based on cleaning area information and a method thereof. A mobile robot based on cleaning area information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a memory which stores a plurality of cleaning area information in which at least a part of a cleaning available area is changed; and a controller which controls to select one cleaning area information among the plurality of stored cleaning area information, recognize a position on a cleaning area map which configures the selected cleaning area information and perform cleaning on the cleaning available area from the recognized position.

Initial cleaning robots performed random cleaning while traveling by themselves, and there were areas wherein cleaning could not be performed due to the presence of obstacles and/or the condition of the floor surface.
In order to compensate for this, techniques have been developed to perform cleaning based on a map, and such map-based cleaning robots are operated in two main ways.
In the first method, the cleaning robot uses a map stored internally to perform cleaning and transmits the cleaning progress or completion status to a user terminal. In the second method, the cleaning robot provides the user with its internally stored map, and the user then uses the received map to transmit commands.
However, since the existing such map-based cleaning robots use only one map, inconvenience can be incurred because a new cleaning map needs to be created whenever the working environment changes in order to perform cleaning.

System for operating mobile robot based on complex map information and operating method thereof


A process for producing cellulosic shaped objects includes extruding and coagulating a solution of chemical wood pulp in a tertiary amine oxide, and possibly a liquid that does not dissolve wood pulp and is miscible with the tertiary amine oxide, the solution capable of being shaped into objects, the process of producing the shapeable solution employing a first wood pulp with a higher degree of polymerization and a second wood pulp with a lower degree of polymerization, and whereby initially a solution of the first wood pulp with a higher degree of polymerization in the tertiary amine oxide and possibly non-dissolving liquid, and a composition containing the second wood pulp with a lower degree of polymerization, tertiary amine oxide, and possibly non-dissolving liquid, are prepared separately, and the solution and composition are subsequently at least mixed to obtain the shapeable solution.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for producing cellulosic shaped objects by extruding and coagulating a solution of chemical wood pulp in a tertiary amine oxide, and possibly a liquid that does not dissolve wood pulp and is miscible with the tertiary amine oxide, the solution capable of being shaped into objects, the process of producing the shapeable solution employing a first wood pulp with a higher degree of polymerization and a second wood pulp with a lower degree of polymerization.
2. Description of Related Art
EP-A-0 648 808 discloses a shapeable cellulose solution made from wood pulp in the tertiary amine oxide N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) and a liquid that does not dissolve wood pulp and is miscible with the tertiary amine oxide, such as water. The wood pulp used is a mixture of two wood pulps, where the first wood pulp has a degree of polymerization, hereafter referred to as DP, between 500 to 2000 and the second wood pulp a DP of 90% or less of the DP of the first wood pulp and lying in the range between 350 and 900. The mixture ratio of the first wood pulp to the second is from 95:5 to 50:50 by weight.
Cellulosic shaped objects are produced from this cellulose solution, whereby the aim is high speed with a process stability that does not lead to degradation of the mechanical properties of the cellulosic shaped objects.
Solutions of wood pulp in the tertiary amine oxide NMMO are generally not anhydrous. In order to produce a shapeable solution of wood pulp in NMMO and water, the concentrations of the three-phase solution, i.e., wood pulp, NMMO, and water, must be adjusted such that each lies in a predetermined range, the so-called solution region in a ternary diagram (see for example WO094/28212).
EP-A-0 553 070 discloses tertiary amine oxides that can be used for producing shapeable and/or spinnable cellulosic solutions and that permit the production of practically anhydrous cellulose solutions. While solutions of wood pulp in NMMO with a wood pulp concentration of 12% by weight and 77.5% by weight NMMO, for example, have a water content of 10.5% by weight, a solution of cellulose in tertiary amine oxides according to EP-A-0 553 070 can be anhydrous or have a very low water content.
In the production of cellulosic solutions in NMMO and water, the procedure is normally that a pre-mixture, also termed suspension, is first produced, in which water is present to such an excess that the wood pulp is not dissolved in NMMO. Water is removed from this suspension under elevated temperature and reduced pressure, for example in an extruder, thin-film evaporator, or evacuable mixer or masticator until the solution region has been reached. This solution is then shaped into the desired objects, such as fibers, filaments, or hollow fibers, in a spinneret, or extruded to form films or membranes, and routed via an air gap into a precipitation bath for coagulating the cellulose. After coagulation, the shaped objects are washed in baths to remove NMMO and then dried.
Such a process is also used for producing the cellulose solution in accordance with EP-A-0 648 808, although production of the suspension uses not only one wood pulp but rather initially two wood pulps with differing DPs, mixed together, before they are brought into contact with NMMO and water to prepare the suspension.
The cellulose solution disclosed in EP-A-0 648 808 permits the production of cellulosic fibers at high spinning rates, and their mechanical properties such as tensile strength and elongation at break correspond to those of fibers made from a solution of only one wood pulp.
It has been shown, however, that the process employed in EP-A-0 648 808 for producing the cellulose solution, whereby wood pulps with differing DP are mixed initially, can lead to problems when wood pulps are used where one has a very high DP, such as 7000, and does not result in a cellulose solution with good shaping properties.

Process for producing cellulosic shaped objects


This game system is provided with a plurality of information processing apparatuses that are capable of communicating with each other and include at least a first information processing apparatus and a second information processing apparatus, and a control unit that controls the plurality of information processing apparatuses. The first information processing apparatus includes a first display unit and a first touch panel that detects contact on the first display unit, and the second information processing apparatus includes a second display unit and a second touch panel that detects contact on the second display unit.

Heretofore, various types of game apparatuses provided with two screens have been proposed. For example, in a game apparatus described in Patent Literature 1, two LCD screens, namely, a first display unit and a second display unit, are arranged across a gap. In this game apparatus, one game space can be displayed using two display units. For example, an object displayed on the first display unit can be displayed so as to move to the second display unit across the gap between the first display unit and the second display unit.

Game system with common display spanning multiple reconfigurable apparatuses


Techniques for bonding structural features together in an enclosure of an electronic device are disclosed. A structural feature may be ultrasonically soldered to the enclosure to provide structural support and form a magnetic circuit within the device. Also, ultrasonic welding can bond various features to an interior region of the enclosure without leaving a mark or trace to an exterior region of the enclosure in a location corresponding to the various features. Further, one or more features can be actuated against the enclosure to bond the one or more features by friction welding. In addition, a rotational friction welding machine can rotate a feature having a relatively small diameter at relatively high speeds against the enclosure to drive the feature into the enclosure and frictionally weld the feature with the enclosure. Also, the friction welding does not leave any an appearance of cosmetic deformation on the exterior region.

An enclosure of an electronic device is generally associated a protective cover for several internal components of the electronic device. There is a general trend to decrease the overall form factor of electronic devices and in turn the enclosure. For example, an enclosure of a laptop computing device may be formed from aluminum having a reduced thickness. A decrease in enclosure thickness may correspond to an enclosure with reduced strength and rigidity.
One method for increasing the strength and rigidity of the enclosure requires adhesively securing a rigid structure to an interior region of the enclosure. However, the bond strength between rigid structure and the enclosure is typically insufficient and the rigid structure may become detached from the enclosure. Further, when the rigid structure and the enclosure are formed from a metal, the adhesive includes a thermal conductively substantially less than that of the rigid structure and the enclosure. Accordingly, the adhesive may act as a thermal barrier between the rigid structure and the enclosure, causing heat generated from internal components may to remain in the electronic device rather than dissipate from the electronic device. This may lead to damage to the internal components, and in turn, the electronic device.

Techniques for joining one or more structures of an electronic device


The protective instrument for suturing is formed by a rigid longitudinally concavo-convex body member having rounded edges and blunt ends. It is provided with a handle, so that in use the concave portion is facing the inner surface of the incision and the convex portion faces the viscera, organs, vessels, nerves or other parts of the patient under operation. The purpose of the instrument is to guide the suture needle in replacement of the gloved finger of the surgeon, whereby pricks in the surgeon's finger or in the patient's viscera or other organs are avoided, preventing the infections or lesions which such pricks may cause.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a protective instrument for suturing, particularly for protecting the surgeon's hands against possible pricks which may infect the surgeon in the case of patients suffering from infectious diseases (hepatitis, AIDS, etc) when sewing the suture for joining the two parts of an incision, as well as to avoid pricking organs, viscera or other parts underneath the said parts of the incision, as is the case of laparotomies, heart surgery, neck surgery or the like, since the tip of the needle must be detected by feeling below the first concealed portion of the wall to be joined, when this is perforated, to guide it towards the concealed portion of the second part, drawing the thread with it.
When working without any instrument, only with the gloved hand, the surgeon runs a substantial risk of pricking his finger when feeling for the invisible needle tip or of pricking a viscera, a vessel or a nerve, with the possibility of causing infections or lesions, whereby means of fortune providing some degree of protection have been used. One of such means consists of using a piece of leather or the like inserted below the envolving wall, either abdominal or any other, to retain and protect the viscera, vessels, etc. Likewise narrow sheetlike valves of malleable metal of the type normally used as incision separators are applied in the same way.
The need for such instrument protecting against pricks is expressed in the article by R. J. Heald, published in "The British Journal of Surgery" where, in the Spanish Edition of April 1991, page 278, third paragraph it is said, ". . . surgeons will have to banish the habit of using a finger of the left hand for guiding the suture needle on its way through the tissues".
The instrument of the present invention responds to the above mentioned criteria of protection, although at the same time an attempt is made to achieve greater security in leading the needle in both directions on the inside of the area of the patient's body where the incision to be sutured has been made, thereby improving the suturing job and providing, at the same time, greater security as far as the need to protect against pricks is concerned.


To provide a novel branched siloxane-silalkylene copolymer whose molecule contains a plural number of silicon-bonded hydrogen atoms or silicon-bonded alkoxy groups.. Carbosiloxane dendrimer that contains at least one siloxane unit with the general formula EQU X.sup.1 R.sup.1.sub.a SiO.sub.(3-a)/2. {R.sup.1 is C.sub.1 to C.sub.10 alkyl or aryl, a is an integer from 0 to 2, and X.sup.1 is the silylalkyl group with the following formula at i=1 ##STR1##. (R.sup.1 is C.sub.1 to C.sub.10 alkyl or aryl, R.sup.2 is C.sub.2 to C.sub.10 alkylene, R.sup.3 is C.sub.1 to C.sub.10 alkyl, X.sup.i+1 is the hydrogen atom or the above-defined silylalkyl group at i=i+1, i is an integer with a value from 1 to 10 that specifies the generation of the said silylalkyl group, and b.sup.i is an integer from 0 to 3 with the proviso that b.sup.1 in at least one X.sup.1 in each molecule is an integer from 0 to 2)}. wherein when more than 1 is present these siloxane units may be the same or different, and whose core is a polysiloxane structure that contains at least 2 silicon atoms and the aforesaid siloxane unit(s).

Dendrimers are polymers with a narrow molecular weight distribution that have a highly branched structure which elaborates radially from a single core. Dendrimers are characterized by a low viscosity, high reactivity, high solubility, and low glass-transition temperature and as a consequence their applications have been the subject of study. The following are examples of the already known organosilicon dendrimers: siloxane dendrimers (refer to Rebrov et al., Dokl. Acad. Nauk. SSSR, 309, 367 (1989) and Masamune et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 112, 7077 (1990)), carbosiloxane dendrimers (refer to Kakimoto et al., Macromolecules, 24, 3469 (1991); Japanese Published Patent Application (Kokoku or Examined) Number Hei 7-17981 (17,981/1995); and Sheiko et al., Macromol. Rapid Commun., 17, 283 (1996)), and carbosilane dendrimers (refer to Roovers et al., Macromolecules, 26, 963 (1993) and Japanese Published Patent Application (Kokoku or Examined) Number Hei 8-311205 (311,205/1996)). This literature also discloses carbosiloxane dendrimers in which the siloxane bond and silalkylene bond occur in alternation (refer to Japanese Published Patent Application (Kokoku or Examined) Number Hei 7-17981 and Sheiko et al., Macromol. Rapid Commun., 17, 283 (1996)). However, the carbosiloxane dendrimers disclosed therein are limited to dendrimers in which the starting reagent that forms the dendrimer core is a silane compound bearing a plural number of vinyl or allyl groups bonded to a single silicon atom, and the methods disclosed therein can only produce low-molecular-weight dendrimer at a low number of generations. The synthesis by a one-step polymerization method of highly branched polymer in which the siloxane bond and silalkylene bond alternate has also been disclosed (refer to Mathias et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 113, 4043 (1991)), but this method cannot produce dendrimer with a narrow molecular weight distribution. In sum, then, there has yet to appear carbosiloxane dendrimer that has a highly branched structure in which the siloxane bond and silalkylene bond alternate, that can also be prepared in a high-molecular-weight form, and that exhibits a narrow molecular weight distribution.
Organosilicon polymers containing a plural number of silicon-bonded hydrogen atoms in each molecule are used as crosslinkers in hydrosilylation-based crosslinking reactions and as precursors for the synthesis of functional organosilicon polymers. Desire has recently arisen for the development of novel crosslinkers that can exhibit a high crosslinking efficiency and can generate cured products having excellent properties (e.g., mechanical strength, adhesiveness, and durability) and for the development of novel precursors that would lead to the synthesis of functional organosilicon polymers with unique reactivities. In addition, organosilicon polymers containing a plural number of silicon-bonded alkoxy groups in each molecule are known to be useful as coatings, as starting materials for paint vehicles, and as crosslinkers for moisture-curing compositions. In this case again desire has recently arisen for the development of highly reactive organosilicon polymers that would be useful for improving end-product performance, such as mechanical strength, adhesiveness, and durability. The functional groups bonded at the branch terminals of a dendrimer as a general rule are highly reactive, and in addition a narrow molecular weight distribution can be expected to generate a uniform reactivity. Accordingly, dendrimer bearing the aforementioned reactive groups at its branch terminals would be well-suited for satisfying the desires alluded to above.
The present inventors developed the present invention as a result of extensive investigations directed to solving the problems described above. In specific terms, the object of the present invention is to provide a novel carbosiloxane dendrimer that has a highly branched structure in which the siloxane bond and silalkylene bond alternate and that contains silicon-bonded hydrogen and/or silicon-bonded alkoxy.


The invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a sandal or shoe having an outsole with a socklining on top of and in direct contact with the outsole for directly contacting a user's foot and a cushion having a thickness between approximately ⅛ and 1½ inches, where the cushion is placed between said outsole and said socklining. The sandal or shoe also includes at least one material partially covering a user's foot extending across the socklining for holding the sandal onto a user's foot and a securing mechanism extending from the at least one material through the socklining to the outsole for securing the socklining directly to the outsole.

A variety of different shoe constructions are used by the footwear industry. For the most part, each shoe construction has characteristics that make it particularly well-suited for specific applications. For example, some shoe constructions are selected for their durability, others for their flexibility and comfort, while still others are selected for their aesthetic appeal.
In general, shoe construction typically involves a number of manufacturing operations or steps. Normally, a significant number of manufacturing operations generally results in a more expensive shoe. In a market where competitive price is often desired, there appears to be a need to make shoes in an efficient manner. Conventionally, a shoe construction may involve an upper being stitched to a forepart of an outsole by a hand stitch and the rearpart of the outsole may be attached to the upper by adhesive after a lasting operation. Lasting is typically where a last, an object which simulates a user's foot, is inserted into the upper and the upper is often then pulled taught around the last and secured to a tuck, which is removably attached to the bottom of the last. The tuck generally provides a structure that is adhered to the rearpart of the outsole, which in turn results in the upper being secured to the outsole in the rearpart of the shoe. Without a tuck, it may be difficult to secure the upper to the outsole.
A traditional insole is often wrapped with a wrapper around its peripheral edge to help prevent the edge of the insole from wear. The insole with the wrapper is then typically secured to the tuck or outsole. In a separate operation, a socklining may then be adhered directly to the top of the insole for providing a surface adapted to receive a user's foot because the insole's surface is often coarse.
Another shoe construction, cementing, also often involves a number of manufacturing operations. Cementing components of a shoe, such as the upper to the outsole, typically involves a surface preparation step where the surfaces to be cemented, or glued, are clean of debris and readied, which may also include roughening. Further, there may be an application step where the cement is applied to the surfaces. This step may also involve measuring and evenly distributing the glue over the surface.
Further, there may be a pressing step where the surfaces are pressed together. Pressing is believed to reduce air that may be trapped between the surfaces and enhances adhesion. Pressing may also include aligning the surfaces so that the peripheries of the components are flush with one another.
Additionally, once the components are pressed together, cementing often requires a waiting period for the cement to cure, or dry. Generally, not only does cementing involve some or all of the above mentioned manufacturing operations, it also involves time, particularly the curing time.
It is believed that the number of steps and time involved, especially if user intervention is required, negatively affects cost and efficiency. The cementing process may be further complicated if the surfaces to be glued are uneven or difficult to reach.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,369,589 to Summey ("Summey") and 3,821,827 to Nadler ("Nadler") appear to disclose a shoe having cement or glue to secure the upper to the midsole or outsole. Summey seems to disclose the pressing and aligning operations as well as user intervention described above. Summey also seems to disclose an insole as a part of the shoe.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,223 to Long ("Long") seems to relate to a shoe having an upper, socklining, and outsole sewn together. A cushion seems to be enclosed by the socklining and the socklining may in turn be enclosed along a peripheral edge by athe upper. A stitch may secure the socklining and upper to the outsole by penetrating the upper that is folded about the socklining and the peripheral edge of the socklining. Hence, the socklining does not appear to be sewn directly to the outsole.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,301 by Issler ("Issler") appears to disclose a shoe having a channel in the bottom surface of the outsole and an upper in contact with a top surface of the outsole, where a stitch passes from the upper to the channel without passing to the bottom surface of the outsole. The channel seems to protect the stitch from wear due to contact between the bottom surface and the ground. However, because the channel appears to be placed within a confined space, dirt, sand, or other debris may get trapped in the space and, as a result, cause wear to the stitch. Moreover, the socklining seems to be adhered to the outsole or cushion, where adhering or gluing the socklining often increases the number of operations and/or cost for constructing the shoe. Furthermore, should the gluing operation prove to be messy, clean up operations may be needed to clean the excess glue.
The sockliner of Issler may be modified to be merely placed on top of the outsole or cushion without adherence. However, in these situations, the sockliner is often attached to a structure, such as a tuck or insole, and the entire unit is then placed on top of the outsole or cushion. Without a tuck or insole, the sockliner may not remain on top of the outsole or cushion as it may tend to slide around due to its lack of structural integrity.
Additionally, in all of the above references, the cushioning appears to extend upwardly into an interior volume of the shoe, which is typically where a user's foot is placed. Because the interior volume is often sized to accommodate the user's foot, increasing the amount of cushioning to enhance comfort may lead to decreased room for the foot. As a result, the foot may be squeezed, leading to a reduced amount of comfort. Therefore, although greater cushioning may be desired, it is often limited due to the amount of interior volume that would typically be sacrificed.
What is desired, therefore, is a shoe that may be constructed in a more efficient manner, including reduced manufacturing costs and less manufacturing operations. What is also desired is a shoe that is efficiently manufactured without sacrificing aesthetic appeal. A further desire is a shoe having enhanced comfort without compromising proper fit.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for improved shoe construction


In a method of manufacturing a vertical type light-emitting diode, a multilayered structure of group III nitride semiconductor compounds is epitaxy deposited on an irregular surface of a substrate. The substrate is then removed to expose an irregular surface of the multilayered structure corresponding to the irregular surface of the substrate. A portion of the exposed irregular surface of the multilayered structure is then etched for forming an electrode contact surface on which an electrode layer is subsequently formed. With this method, no specific planarized region is required on the irregular surface of the substrate. As a result, planarization treatment of the substrate is not necessary. The same substrate with the irregular surface can be reused for fabricating vertical and horizontal light-emitting diodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a light-emitting diode and more particularly to a method of manufacturing group III nitride semiconductor vertical type light-emitting diodes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are widely used in many applications, such as exterior illumination lamps, interior lights, electric appliances requiring displays such as notebook computers, cellular phones, etc. Many direct-gap semiconductors have been used for fabricating LEDs. For example, gallium nitride (GaN) based LEDs are extensively used for emitting blue light because of its wide band gap (about 3.48 eV), higher light emission efficiency, high mobility, stable chemical properties and heat stability. In the current trend, a particular focus is also made on the development of LEDs, especially vertical light-emitting diodes (VLEDs), that have higher emission efficiency, higher yield and low fabrication cost.
Various approaches have been proposed for improving light emission of VLEDs. For example, one known approach consists of forming regular or irregular coarse patterns on the surface of various gallium nitride layers in the VLED to increase effective surface area of light emission. To this end, the gallium nitride layer structure of the VLED is usually formed on a surface of a sapphire substrate that is provided with regular or irregular uneven patterns. Then, the sapphire substrate is removed to obtain a multilayered structure with a coarse patterned surface. Two electrode structures are subsequently formed on two opposite sides of the multilayered structure, one on the coarse patterned surface, the other on another surface of the multilayered structure opposite the coarse patterned surface.
The regular or irregular uneven surface pattern can increase the effective emission area of the VLED, and reduce lattice mismatch for improving the crystalline quality of the epitaxy layer formed on the substrate. However, the uneven contact surface between the electrode and the multilayered epitaxy structure may result in non-uniform voltage distribution and higher resistance. One solution to this issue is to specifically leave an even and planarized area on the coarse surface of the sapphire substrate, such that the multilayered structure formed subsequently has a corresponding even contact surface for forming the electrode. This approach requires the application of a surface treatment on the sapphire substrate, which increases the cost of the substrate. In addition, while VLED structures require to form electrodes on opposite surfaces of the active multilayered structure, other LED structures (e.g., "horizontal" LED) may have all the electrodes formed on a same side of the multilayered structure and do not need such specifically-treated substrate.
Therefore, there is a need for a manufacturing method that can address the foregoing issues and fabricate a VLED in a more cost-effective manner.

Method of manufacturing a vertical type light-emitting diode


This invention provides an isolated nucleic acid encoding a human MCH1 receptor, a purified human MCH1 receptor, vectors comprising isolated nucleic acid encoding a human MCH1 receptor, cells comprising such vectors, antibodies directed to a human MCH1 receptor, nucleic acid probes useful for detecting nucleic acid encoding human MCH1 receptors, antisense oligonucleotides complementary to unique sequences of nucleic acid encoding human MCH1 receptors, transgenic, nonhuman animals which express DNA encoding a normal or mutant human MCH1 receptor, methods of isolating a human MCH1 receptor, methods of treating an abnormality that is linked to the activity of a human MCH1 receptor, as well as methods of determining binding of compounds to mammalian MCH1 receptors.

Throughout this application, various publications are referenced in parentheses by author and year. Full citations for these references may be found at the end of the specification immediately preceding the sequence listings and the claims. The disclosure of these publications in their entireties are hereby incorporated by reference into this application to describe more fully the state of the art to which this invention pertains.
Neuroregulators comprise a diverse group of natural products that subserve or modulate communication in the nervous system. They include, but are not limited to, neuropeptides, amino acids, biogenic amines, lipids and lipid metabolites, and other metabolic byproducts. Many of these neuroregulator substances interact with specific cell surface receptors which transduce signals from the outside to the inside of the cell. G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent a major class of cell surface receptors with which many neurotransmitters interact to mediate their effects. GPCRs are predicted to have seven membrane-spanning domains and are coupled to their effectors via G-proteins linking receptor activation with intracellular biochemical sequelae such as stimulation of adenylyl cyclase.
Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is a cyclic peptide originally isolated from salmonid (teleost fish) pituitaries (Kawauchi et al., 1983). In fish the 17 amino acid peptide causes aggregation of melanin within the melanophores and inhibits the release of ACTH, acting as a functional antagonist of .alpha.-MSH. Mammalian MCH (19 amino acids) is highly conserved between rat, mouse, and human, exhibiting 100% amino acid identity, but its physiological roles are less clear. MCH has been reported to participate in a variety of processes including feeding, water balance, energy metabolism, general arousal/attention state, memory and cognitive functions, and psychiatric disorders (for reviews, see Baker, 1991; Baker, 1994; Nahon, 1994; Knigge et al., 1996). Its role in feeding or body weight regulation is supported by a recent Nature publication (Qu et al., 1996) demonstrating that MCH is overexpressed in the hypothalamus of ob/ob mice compared with ob/+mice, and that fasting further increased MCH mRNA in both obese and normal mice during fasting. MCH also stimulated feeding in normal rats when injected into the lateral ventricles (Rossi et al., 1997). MCH also has been reported to functionally antagonize the behavioral effects of .alpha.-MSH (Miller et al., 1993; Gonzalez et al, 1996; Sanchez et al., 1997); in addition, stress has been shown to increase POMC mRNA levels while decreasing the MCH precursor preproMCH (ppMCH) mRNA levels (Presse et al., 1992). Thus MCH may serve as an integrative neuropeptide involved in the reaction to stress, as well as in the regulation of feeding and sexual activity (Baker, 1991; Knigge et al., 1996).
The gene encoding the MCH precursor (ppMCH) has been cloned and encodes two additional peptides, neuropeptide EI (13 AA) and neuropeptide GE (19AA) (Nahon et al., 1989), which may also have biological activity. MCH peptide is synthesized primarily in hypothalamic neurons (the zona incerta and lateral hypothalamus) which project diffusely to many brain areas and to the pituitary (Bittencourt et al., 1992); NEI has also been identified in medium from explanted hypothalamic neurons (Parkes and Vale, 1993). Localization studies of the mRNA indicate that MCH is also present in the periphery (testes and GI tract; Hervieu and Nahon, 1995) but the highest concentrations are in the hypothalamus. There is also evidence for differential tissue-dependent processing of proMCH in mammals. A shorter MCH gene transcript that may result from alternate splicing was found in several brain areas and peripheral tissues, and a different peptide form was also found in the periphery (Viale et al., 1997). In humans, the gene encoding authentic MCH has been localized to chromosome 12, but two copies of a variant (truncated) gene are present on chromosome 5 (Breton et al., 1993); the functional significance, if any, of the variant is not yet known. Finally, the rat MCH gene may encode an additional putative peptide in a different reading frame (Toumaniantz et al., 1996).
Although the biological effects of MCH are believed to be mediated by specific receptors, binding sites for MCH have not been well described. A tritiated ligand ([.sup.3 H]-MCH) was reported to exhibit specific binding to brain membranes but was unusable for saturation analyses, so neither affinity nor B.sub.max were determined (Drozdz and Eberle, 1995). Radioiodination of the tyrosine at position thirteen resulted in a ligand with dramatically reduced biological activity (see Drozdz and Eberle, 1995). In contrast, the radioiodination of the MCH analogue [Phe.sup.13, Tyr.sup.19 ]-MCH was successful (Drozdz et al., 1995); the ligand retained biological activity and exhibited specific binding to a variety of cell lines including mouse melanoma (B16-F1, G4F, and G4F-7), PC12, and COS cells. In G4F-7 cells, the K.sub.D =0.118 nM and the B.sub.max.about.1100 sites/cell. Importantly, the binding was not inhibited by .alpha.-MSH but was weakly inhibited by rat ANF (Ki=116 nM vs. 12 nM for native MCH) (Drozdz et al., 1995). More recently specific MCH binding was reported in transformed keratinocytes (Burgaud et al., 1997) and melanoma cells (Drozdz et al., 1998), where photo-crosslinking studies suggest that the receptor is a membrane protein with an apparent molecular weight of 45-50 kDaltons, compatible with the molecular weight range of the GPCR superfamily of receptors. No radioautoradiographic studies of MCH receptor localization using this ligand have been reported as yet.
Signal transduction mechanisms for MCH receptors remain obscure. No direct evidence supporting G-protein coupling exists in mammals, but two lines of weak evidence exist in teleost fish for G.sub..alpha.q - and/or G.sub..alpha.i -type coupling: 1) indirect evidence exists for MCH acting via phospholipase C in teleost fish melanophores (phospholipase C inhibitors and protein kinase C inhibitors shift the MCH dose-response curve to the right, and TPA mimics MCH at low doses (Abrao et al., 1991)); and 2) MCH-elicited pigment aggregation in fish melanophores is associated with a reduction in basal cAMP levels, similar to that observed with norepinephrine (Svensson et al., 1991; Morishita et al., 1993). Arguing against G-protein coupling is the general structural homology of MCH with ANF, whose receptors are not in the GPCR superfamily. Recently the actions of MCH were reported to be mediated via activation of a phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase pathway which is typical of tyrosine kinase and cytokine receptors (Qu et al., 1998); however, since multiple signaling pathways (receptor cross talk) may produce this mediator no conclusions can be reached regarding MCH signal transduction pathways in mammalian systems.
The localization and biological activities of MCH peptide suggest that the modulation of MCH receptor activity may be useful in a number of therapeutic applications. The role of MCH in feeding is the best characterized of its potential clinical uses. MCH is expressed in the lateral hypothalamus, a brain area implicated in the regulation of thirst and hunger (Grillon et al., 1997); recently orexins A and B, which are potent orexigenic agents, have been shown to have very similar localization to MCH in the lateral hypothalamus (Sakurai et al., 1998). MCH mRNA levels in this brain region are increased in rats after 24 hours of food-deprivation (Herve and Fellman, 1997); after insulin injection, a significant increase in the abundance and staining intensity of MCH immunoreactive perikarya and fibres was observed concurrent with a significant increase in the level of MCH mRNA (Bahjaoui-Bouhaddi et al., 1994). Consistent with the ability of MCH to stimulate feeding in rats (Rossi et al., 1997) is the observation that MCH mRNA levels are upregulated in the hypothalami of obese ob/ob mice (Qu et al., 1996), and decreased in the hypothalami of rats treated with leptin, whose food intake and body weight gains are also decreased (Sahu, 1998). MCH appears to act as a functional antagonist of the melanocortin system in its effects on food intake and on hormone secretion within the HPA (hypothalamopituitary/adrenal axis) (Ludwig et al., 1998). Together these data suggest a role for endogenous MCH in the regulation of energy balance and response to stress, and provide a rationale for the development of specific compounds acting at MCH receptors for use in the treatment of obesity and stress-related disorders.
In all species studied to date, a major portion of the neurons of the MCH cell group occupies a rather constant location in those areas of the lateral hypothalamus and subthalamus where they lie and may be a part of some of the so-called "extrapyramidal" motor circuits. These involve substantial striato- and pallidofugal pathways involving the thalamus and cerebral cortex, hypothalamic areas, and reciprocal connections to subthalamic nucleus, substantia nigra, and mid-brain centers (Bittencourt et al., 1992). In their location, the MCH cell group may offer a bridge or mechanism for expressing hypothalamic visceral activity with appropriate and coordinated motor activity. Clinically it may be of some value to consider the involvement of this MCH system in movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and Huntingdon's Chorea in which extrapyramidal circuits are known to be involved.
Human genetic linkage studies have located authentic hMCH loci on chromosome 12 (12q23-24) and the variant hMCH loci on chromosome 5 (5q12-13) (Pedeutour et al., 1994). Locus 12q23-24 coincides with a locus to which autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia type II (SCA2) has been mapped (Auburger et al., 1992; Twells et al., 1992). This disease comprises neurodegenerative disorders, including an olivopontocerebellar atrophy. Furthermore, the gene for Darier's disease, has been mapped to locus 12q23-24 (Craddock et al., 1993). Dariers' disease is characterized by abnormalities I keratinocyte adhesion and mental illnesses in some families. In view of the functional and neuroanatomical patterns of the MCH neural system in the rat and human brains, the MCH gene may represent a good candidate for SCA2 or Darier's disease. Interestingly, diseases with high social impact have been mapped to this locus. Indeed, the gene responsible for chronic or acute forms of spinal muscular atrophies has been assigned to chromosome 5q12-13 using genetic linkage analysis (Melki et al., 1990; Westbrook et al., 1992). Furthermore, independent lines of evidence support the assignment of a major schizophrenia locus to chromosome 5q11.2-13.3 (Sherrington et al., 1988; Bassett et al., 1988; Gilliam et al., 1989). The above studies suggest that MCH may play a role in neurodegenerative diseases and disorders of emotion.
Additional therapeutic applications for MCH-related compounds are suggested by the observed effects of MCH in other biological systems. For example, MCH may regulate reproductive functions in male and female rats. MCH transcripts and MCH peptide were found within germ cells in testes of adult rats, suggesting that MCH may participate in stem cell renewal and/or differentiation of early spermatocytes (Hervieu et al., 1996). MCH injected directly into the medial preoptic area (MPOA) or ventromedial nucleus (VMN) stimulated sexual activity in female rats (Gonzalez et al., 1996). In ovariectomized rats primed with estradiol, MCH stimulated luteinizing hormone (LH) release while anti-MCH antiserum inhibited LH release (Gonzalez et al., 1997). The zona incerta, which contains a large population of MCH cell bodies, has previously been identified as a regulatory site for the pre-ovulatory LH surge (MacKenzie et al., 1984). MCH has been reported to influence release of pituitary hormones including ACTH and oxytocin. MCH analogues may also be useful in treating epilepsy. In the PTZ seizure model, injection of MCH prior to seizure induction prevented seizure activity in both rats and guinea pigs, suggesting that MCH-containing neurons may participate in the neural circuitry underlying PTZ-induced seizure (Knigge and Wagner, 1997). MCH has also been observed to affect behavioral correlates of cognitive functions. MCH treatment hastened extinction of the passive avoidance response in rats (McBride et al., 1994), raising the possibility that MCH receptor antagonists may be beneficial for memory storage and/or retention. A possible role for MCH in the modulation or perception of pain is supported by the dense innervation of the periaqueductal grey (PAG) by MCH-positive fibers. Finally, MCH may participate in the regulation of fluid intake. ICV infusion of MCH in conscious sheep produced diuretic, natriuretic, and kaliuretic changes in response to increased plasma volume (Parkes, 1996). Together with anatomical data reporting the presence of MCH in fluid regulatory areas of the brain, the results indicate that MCH may be an important peptide involved in the central control of fluid homeostasis in mammals.

DNA encoding a human melanin concentrating hormone receptor (MCH1) and uses thereof


In accordance with embodiments of this disclosure a light guide includes a flexible substrate having two outer surfaces with at least one of the two outer surfaces defining a light emitting area. At least one edge of the flexible substrate is configured to receive light from a light source coupled to the edge. The light guide further includes a plurality of light extraction features formed within the flexible substrate in between the two outer surfaces. The light extraction features may be arranged according to a controlled distribution that affects a propagation of light in between the two outer surfaces and an emission of light from the light emitting area.

Edge lighting may be desirable in an aircraft because, in an edge-lit system, a light source and its associated hardware can be placed in a convenient (out of the way) location while a light guide transmits light from the light source to a light emitting surface. On the other hand, backlit systems require the light source to be positioned directly behind the light emitting surface. This makes installation of backlit systems more complicated. For example, backlit systems may require additional wiring in order to have the light source positioned behind the light emitting surface; or in some cases, it may be impossible to install the light emitting surface at a desired location due to wiring and/or spatial limitations.
Acrylics are often used for edge lighting. However, most acrylics do not meet aviation industry standards because they are too flammable to be used on an aircraft. The next viable option would be polycarbonate, which is inherently flame-retardant. However, polycarbonate has a high transmission loss when light travels through it. This material characteristic of polycarbonate renders it a non-ideal material for a light guide. There is a need for new edge lighting solutions, particularly ones that meet aviation industry standards.

Flexible light guide and lighting system


A process of forming mask images having high contrast at the edges thereof and possessing high heat resistance and high durability comprising imagewise exposing a photographic light-sensitive material comprising a transparent support having thereon, in succession, a mask layer and a layer of an emulsion of a silver halide in a binder followed by development without employing fixing processing to form silver images at the image areas, removing the silver forming the silver images at the image areas with an aqueous solution containing ceric sulfate and sulfuric acid; then reducing the silver halide remaining at the non-image areas to silver; halogenating the silver formed in the non-image areas with an aqueous solution containing dichromate ions and halogen ions; heating the photographic material above about 200.degree. C. to thermally decompose the binder in the silver halide emulsion layer; removing selectively the thermally decomposed binder at the image areas with a solution capable of removing the thermally decomposed binder to uncover areas of the mask layer thereunder, and thereafter removing by etching the uncovered areas of the mask layer. The mask images formed can be used for making photo masks having high resolving power and high edge contrast as well as excellent durability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process of forming mask images and, more particularly, to a process of forming mask images having high resolving power, high contrast, high heat resistance, and high durability utilizing silver halide photographic images.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known that images of metallic silver are obtained in a silver halide photographic emulsion layer of a photographic light-sensitive material with a silver halide emulsion layer on a support by imagewise exposing and developing the photographic light-sensitive material. However, the silver images formed in a manner such as is described above are unsuitable for uses wherein high heat resistance is required since, when the silver halide emulsion layer with the silver images therein is heated to a high temperature of from about 150.degree. to about 200.degree. C., the binder present in the emulsion layer is thermally decomposed and discolors.
One of the fields requiring heat resistant images is super microphotography. A photographic film of a 35 mm size having a photographic image of an original of 9.times.14 inches (23.times.36 cm.sup.2) size reduced to about 1/10 thereof is usually called a "microfilm" and a photographic film having a photographic image further reduced to about 1/10 (about 2.times.3 mm.sup.2) is usually called a "super microfilm". That is, a microfilm is a photographic film containing photographic images whose size is reduced to about 1/10 of the size of the original and a super microfilm is a photographic film containing photographic images whose size is reduced to about 1/100 of the size of the original. The term "super microfilm" or "super microphotographic film" is used in this specification with the above-described meaning.
The image size of a super microfilm is 2.times.3 mm.sup.2 as described above or smaller and in order to project the microfilm image on a transmission type screen by enlarging to the original size, the microfilm image must be enlarged to about 100 times the size thereof (or about 10,000 times from an area standpoint the area of the microfilm image). Therefore, where the brightness of the image projected on a screen must be 100 luxes, the brightness must be 10,000,000 luxes on the images of the super microfilm when the transmission density of the screen is 1. In practice, since there is a loss of brightness due to the projection lenses, the photographic images of a super microfilm is illuminated by light of several million additional luxes. If a silver halide emulsion layer of a super microfilm containing photographic images is continuously illuminated with such an intense light, the temperature of the silver halide emulsion layer increases to a few hundred degrees (.degree.C.) due to the heat generated by the light absorbed in the emulsion layer, which results in a decomposition of the binder present in the emulsion layer and a coloring or a darkening of the images projected on the screen. In this case, the silver image-containing areas of the emulsion layer particularly tend to absorb light and hence the temperature of these areas first increases to decompose the binder in the emulsion layer and this phenomenon spreads gradually to the surrounding areas. Even the binder at the non-image areas of the silver halide emulsion layer increases, when the binder is colored slightly, the absorption coefficient of light, which results in an acceleration of the decomposition of the binder.
Also, emulsion masks and hard masks have hitherto been used in general as photo masks for micro electronic fabrication, but emulsion masks have a low contrast at the edges of the images, a weak mechanical strength, and a low durability. Also, hard masks have a high durability but they must be prepared using a complicated process. Furthermore, in order to produce hard masks, a photoetching process is required and since the photoresist used in this case has low sensitivity, there is the disadvantage that the time required for the exposure increases.
A process described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,567,447 is known as a process of making photo masks, etc. In the process described therein, the binder portions of a photographic light-sensitive material are heated after imagewise exposure and development to form gelatin binder areas containing silver images therein on the transparent support of the photographic material and exposed areas of the transparent support without silver images, after forming a layer of a metal such as chromium over the entire surface of the photographic material, the surface thereof is treated with a metal removing solution, whereby the metal layer is removed at the above-described image-containing areas while the metal layer remains as it is at the unexposed areas of the transparent support, and then the surface is treated with an aqueous nitric acid solution, whereby the silver image-containing gelatin binder areas described above are removed to provide a photomask.
However, since in the process as described above, a metal layer such as a chromium layer is formed after forming silver image-containing gelatin binder areas by heating, it has been found that the above-described technique has the following disadvantages. That is, the means and the conditions for forming the above-described metal layer are restricted (for example, if the surface of the support is treated with a strong acid or a strong alkali for improving the adhesion of the surface and the metal layer, the binder is dissolved, which makes it difficult to treat the surface using a strong acid or strong alkali and further it is unsuitable to treat the exposed surface of the support with an abrasive powder since in such case the binder is also scraped off), the treatment procedure is complicated and unwieldly, there is a possibility of reducing the durability of the photomask obtained since the surface of the ultimately obtained metallic mask images is also etched by the above-described metal removing solution and is chemically denatured (for example, when aluminum is used as the metal and sodium hypochlorite is used for removing aluminum on the silver image portions, aluminum at the non-image areas is also removed since sodium hypochloride is an etchant for aluminum), and also the edges of the photomask images obtained are not smooth or sharp.
Thus, various intense investigations for resolving these problems as mentioned above were made and as the result thereof it was found that in the cases of imagewise exposing a photographic light-sensitive material having a mask layer and a silver halide emulsion layer formed on a transparent support followed by development and fixing, heating the binder layer of the photographic material to a high temperature to thermally decompose the binder, and selectively removing the binder on the non-image areas with a solution for removing the thermally decomposed binder (for example, an aqueous solution of sodium hypochlorite), the binder at the silver image-containing areas remained together with the silver images and was not removed and further the remaining silver image areas possess a so-called resist property, that is non-permeability to an etching solution applied to the uncovered areas of the mask layer and of substantially not being swollen by the etching solution.
Furthermore, it was also found that in the cases of imagewise exposing the photographic light-sensitive material as described above followed by development and subjecting such to a silver removing bleach treatment to form silver halide images, heating the binder layer of the photographic material to a high temperature to thermally decompose the binder, and selectively removing the binder at the non-image areas with a solution for removing the thermally decomposed binder, the binder at the silver halide image-containing portions remained together with the silver halide images without being removed and further the remaining silver halide image areas had a resist property to the etching solution applied to the uncovered portions of the mask layer.
These discoveries provided the basis for U.S. patent application Ser. No. 666,996 filed Mar. 15, 1976. That is, as described therein, a photographic light-sensitive material having a mask layer and a silver halide emulsion layer formed on a transparent support is imagewise exposed, developed, and fixed to form silver images, the photographic material is heated to temperatures higher than about 250.degree. C., preferably higher than about 300.degree. C., binder is removed at the non-image areas with a binder removing solution to uncover the mask layer in the areas where the gelatin is removed, and then the uncovered mask layer is removed with an etching solution. By this process, a so-called nega-posi type image composed of the mask layer remaining at the image-exposed portions is formed.
Where a posi-posi type image is desired, that is, to leave the mask layer at the non-image areas in the above-described process, a so-called reversal development is carried out. That is, after imagewise exposing and developing the photographic light-sensitive material having the above-described layer structure without applying a fixing processing thereto, the silver images obtained are removed with a bleach solution, the silver halide remaining at the non-image areas is reduced to silver, and then the photographic material is heated and subjected to the subsequent treatments as described for the above process. An aqueous solution containing an alkali metal dichromate and sulfuric acid is used as the bleach solution in the reversal development.
However, it has now been found that when the silver images are bleached with a bleaching solution containing bichromate ions, the binder is hardened at the silver image areas to cause the following difficulties. That is, it has been found that when the heating treatment, which is the step after bleach treatment, is performed at a sufficiently high temperature above about 300.degree. C., and then the photographic material is treated with a binder removing solution, binder is selectively removed at the non-silver image areas to provide a very desirable result, while when the heating treatment is carried out at a low temperature below about 300.degree. C., the removal speed of binder at the non-image areas decreases since the binder is hardened. Thus, it is difficult under such heating conditions to selectively dissolve off with a binder removing solution the non-silver image areas formed after the removal of silver images by bleaching.


A housing structure with a single pivoted damper member is provided as a replacement for the draft hood associated respectively with the flue outlet and vent pipe inlet in a gas heater system. The normal flue outlet for the gas system connects to a first passage in the housing and the normal overhead vent inlet connects to a second passage in the housing above the first passage. First ends of the passages adjacent to their connections to the flue outlet and vent pipe inlet are closed off and second ends open out in a common plane. Communicating with the second ends is an ambient atmosphere opening so that under conditions where the second ends of the passages are open, proper exhausting of gases passing up through the flue to the vent takes place. The single damper itself is mounted to swing in a manner to close off both passages simultaneously when in a first position and also isolate these passages from the ambient atmosphere inlet. In this first position, heat is retained in the heater as well as the room. When the damper member is swung to a second position, the ends of both passages are simultaneously opened so as to be in communication with each other as well as the ambient atmosphere opening.

In gas heater systems such as a hot water tank heating system, there is normally provided a flue outlet pipe extending into an overhead draft hood with a venting pipe passing up through the ceiling or roof of a room containing the system. Normally, a damper is provided for the overhead venting pipe to prevent heated air in a room from escaping through the vent pipe when the vent pipe is not being used to exhaust gases passing from the flue pipe. Further, the draft hood places the vent pipe in communication with the atmosphere so that when the damper is opened to receive gases from the flue pipe, unexpected downdrafts through the vent pipe in a reverse direction during actual operation of the main heaters can escape to the atmosphere rather than be funneled completely down the flue pipe where it can spread the gas flames and possibly cause a fire.
In addition to the normally provided damper in the vent pipe, it has been proposed to provide a damper in the flue pipe. By closing such a flue pipe damper when the heater is not in operation, heat is retained in the heater system which feature is important in the case of a hot water tank heater for optimum operating efficiency. Such second dampers in the flue pipe are normally not provided, but constitute custom type installations but have proved to be advantageous. In fact, it has been proposed in prior art to provide an appropriate coupling between the vent pipe damper and the flue pipe damper when added so that both could be operated simultaneously. Actually, however, it would be more desirable if the necessity for two separate dampers, even though operated simultaneously, could be avoided and a single damper suffice for all functions.


A flexible display device that can suppress spread of cracks of an inorganic layer is provided. A flexible display device includes a flexible substrate including a display area and a periphery surrounding the display area, an inorganic layer formed on the flexible substrate, a display unit formed on the display area, and a thin film encapsulation layer covering the display unit. The inorganic layer includes an opening disposed on a periphery between edges of the flexible substrate and the thin film encapsulation layer.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to a flexible display. More particularly, example embodiments relate to a flexible display manufactured by scribing a flexible mother board into predetermined number of panels.
2. Description of the Related Art
A flat panel display includes a substrate and a display unit including a plurality of pixels formed on the substrate. The flat panel display may have a bending characteristic when the substrate is formed of a flexible material like a plastic film instead of a rigid material like glass. The flexible display device may be a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a self-emissive organic light emitting diode (OLED) display.
The flexible display device is manufactured through a process in which a plurality of display units and a plurality of thin film encapsulation layers are formed on a mother board, an upper protection film and a lower protection film are layered in the flexible mother board, and the mother board is separated to individual flexible display devices by cutting scribe lines between individual flexible display devices. The upper protection film, the lower protection film, and the flexible mother board are cut by putting strong pressure on the mother board using a cutting knife.
The strong pressure is applied as an impact to the flexible display device and, at the same time, a bending force is applied to the flexible display device during a cutting process. Thus, inorganic layers (such as a barrier layer, a buffer layer, and various insulating layers) close to the scribe lines are damaged, thereby causing cracks. The cracks generated in the inorganic layer are spread toward a thin film encapsulation layer during a post-process after the cutting, thereby causing panel shrinkage due to a loss of an encapsulation function of the thin film encapsulation layer.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form a prior art.