An edge-light type backlight system including a point light source, a light guide panel including a light incident part into which light enters from the point light source and a light emitting surface from which light is emitted, and an optical path-changing unit which changes a propagation path of light traveling inside the light guide panel. The light incident part includes a light incident surface on which a prism pattern is formed, the light incident surface facing the point light source, and first and second surfaces extending from the light incident surface in a direction in which light travels inside the light guide panel and adapted to reflect light passing through the light incident surface to reduce a direction angle, the first and second surfaces being opposite to each other with respect to an optical axis.

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 2003-23978, filed on Apr. 16, 2003, with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight system, and more particularly to an edge-light type backlight system using a light guide panel and a point light source.
2. Description of the Related Art
Backlight systems are used in flat panel displays (FPDs), such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs) to ensure proper luminance or brightness. Backlight systems are classified according to arrangement of light sources as direct-light type backlight units in which a plurality of lamps installed under FPD directly emit light to a liquid crystal panel, and edge-light type backlight units in which a lamp installed along one edge side of a light guide panel emits light to a liquid crystal panel.
Edge-light type backlight systems can use both a rod-shaped light source and a point light source. As a representative rod-shaped light source, there is a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) which consists of a tube with electrodes at both ends thereof. As a representative point light source, there is a light emitting diode (LED). CCFLs have many advantages, such as being able to emit strong white light, obtain high luminance and uniformity and being applied to large FPDs. However, CCFLs have disadvantages as well, such as being operated by a high-frequency AC signal and has a narrow operating temperature range. LEDs are inferior to CCFLs when it comes to luminance and uniformity, but have advantages in that they are operated by a DC signal, have a longer life span and a wider operating temperature range, and can be made thin.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a related art edge-light type backlight system using a point light source, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the related art edge-light type backlight system of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, three LEDs 20 acting as point light sources are installed along one edge surface 11 of a light guide panel 10. A holographic pattern 30 is formed at a bottom surface 13 of the light guide panel 10 to function as an optical path-changing unit which emits light introduced from the LEDs 20 to a light emitting surface 12.
The LEDs 20 emit light toward the edge surface 11 of the light guide panel 10. Since the LEDs 20 are point light sources, they emit light at all angles within ±90 degrees of an optical axis 21. FIG. 3 is a graph of the intensity of light emitted by an LED versus angle with respect to the LED's optical axis. As shown in FIG. 3, the angles at which the intensity is half maximum are about 45 degrees.
Light emitted from the LEDs 20 enters the light guide panel 10 through the edge surface 11. The light is refracted while passing through the edge surface 11, narrowing its spread. When the light guide panel 10 is made of polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) and has a refractive index of about 1.49, light propagating through the light guide panel 10 has a spread of ±42 degrees or less. In this case, no light reaches regions indicated by reference numeral 40 between the LEDs 20 directly; light can only reach the regions 40 after several reflections inside the light guide panel 10. Since the amount of reflected light reaching the regions 40 is smaller than the amount of light directly reaching other regions, the regions 40 include dark areas.
When there are dark areas, a screen of an FPD illuminated by the backlight system suffers unevenness in brightness across the areas.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-043717 discloses another edge-light type backlight system using a point light source.

Light guide panel of edge-light type backlight system and edge-light type backlight system employing the same


The semiconductor device of the present invention includes a search memory mat having a configuration in which a location with which an entry address is registered is allocated in a y-axis direction, and key data is allocated in an x-axis direction and a control circuit connected to the search memory mat. In the search memory mat, a plurality of separate memories is formed such that a region to which the key data is allocated is separated into a plurality of regions along the y-axis direction. The control circuit includes an input unit to which the key data is input, a division unit which divides the key data input to the input unit into a plurality of pieces of key data, and a writing unit which allocates each piece of divided key data by the division unit into the separate memory using the divided key data as an address.

In recent years, with the advent of the era of cloud computing, high performance of Internet switches and routers and reduction in power consumption are urgent needs. Further, as a search engine of the Internet, one capable of reliably performing a search operation at a high speed with low power consumption has been sought. To respond to the request, in recent years, Internet switches and search engines using the CAM have been increased.
Here, in a typical CAM, search data called key data is input to a typical CAM when search of data stored in the CAM is performed. When the same data as the key data is stored in a memory, the CAM outputs an address called an entry address in which the key data is stored. Typically, to realize such a search function, an access to all memory spaces in the CAM is required, and thus, there has been a problem of not only complication of a circuit configuration but also an increase in the power consumption. Especially, the problem of an increase in the power consumption becomes increased with an increase in the scale of the CAM. Therefore, currently, it has become a serious problem.
To address the problem, Patent Literature 1 proposes a data search device for achieving low power consumption while making the most of a high-speed search performance of the CAM. The data search device of Patent Literature 1 newly orders a plurality of pieces of rule data in which priorities have been determined according to the order of size, and allocates the rule data to a plurality of memory blocks according to the order. Further, the search device designates one memory block to be searched and executes search processing when searching data. As described above, the data search device of Patent Literature 1 activates only the one designated block and does not need to activate other blocks when performing the search processing. Therefore, the data search device can reduce the power consumption to that extent at the time of search, compared with a normal CAM.

Semiconductor device and method of writing/reading entry address into/from semiconductor device


A method of forming an LTCC structure having at least one open cavity on each of first and second opposing sides is disclosed that includes the steps of forming a first LTCC structure including a first side having a plurality of cavities and a second side, subjecting the first LTCC structure to a first pressure, forming a second LTCC structure including a first side having a plurality of cavities and a second side, subjecting the second LTCC structure to a second pressure, arranging the first LTCC structure and the second LTCC structure such that the first LTCC structure second side faces the second LTCC structure second side, and subjecting the placed-together first and second LTCC structures to a third pressure to join the first LTCC structure to the second LTCC structure. A product formed by the subject method is also disclosed.

Multilayered ceramic structures may be used to form electronic devices such as ceramic capacitors, multilayered ceramic integrated circuits (MCIC), multichip modules, integrated circuit packaging, high temperature sensors (such as exhaust gas sensors), fuel cells, and fuel cell reformer systems. Multilayered structures also find application in transmit/receive modules in phased array radars. These devices may be used as substrates to support and interconnect electronic components mounted thereon, and, to this end, may include open cavities on one or more surfaces for receiving the electronic components.
Such multilayered structures are often made by laminating together layers or sheets of unfired ceramic tape, known in the art as "green-tape," and then firing the laminated layers to form a finished structure. Green tape is commercially available, for example, from the DuPont Company under the product designation #951AT. The tape contains a material formulation which can be a mixture of glass and ceramic fillers which sinter at about 850° C., and exhibits thermal expansion similar to alumina. Low-temperature processing permits the use of air-fired resistors and precious metal thick film conductors such as gold, silver, or their alloys.
In electronic applications, one or more of the green-tape layers may include metallized portions to provide conduction pathways for electrical current in the finished multilayered structure. The green-tape layers may also have portions punched out to define vias, channels, or cavities. A method of forming cavities in a multilayer LTCC substrate is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,803, entitled "Template Type Cavity-Formation Device for Low Temperature Cofired Ceramic (LTCC) Sheets" which patent is hereby incorporated by reference.
LTCC structures may be formed with open cavities on one or more faces in which integrated circuit devices or other circuit elements can be mounted. Laminating layers of green tape to form such LTCC structures requires that a constant pressure be applied to the stacked sheets of green tape. This is a relatively straightforward process when the top and bottom surfaces of the tape stack are planar. When the outer surfaces include cavities for mounting electronic components, however, it becomes difficult to apply an even pressure to both the outer surface and the floors of the cavities.
One method for applying an even pressure during a lamination process includes the use of silicone molds having a pattern of projections complimentary to a pattern of cavities on the stack of green tape layers so that the projections extend into the cavities and apply an even pressure to the floors of the cavities. Another method, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,535, entitled "Method and Apparatus of Producing Cavities in LTCC Substrates" and incorporated herein by reference, uses a flexible rubber sheet that conforms to the shape of the cavities when pressure is applied.
Such prior art methods work reasonably well for structure having cavities in only one surface. In these conventional methods, the structures are placed against a flat, substantially rigid, back plate while pressure is applied to the surface of the structure having cavities. However, when forming an LTCC structure having cavities in two opposing sides using known methods, a flat back plate cannot be used because this method tends to deform the cavity floors. Sometimes the floors are bowed, sometimes punctured, and in most cases a finished structure is produced that has a floor too distorted to be useful. Such floors may have a flatness variation greater than 2 mils per inch, for example; a flatness variation of less than or equal to about 1 mil per inch is required for many applications. It is therefore desirable to provide a method of increasing the flatness of portions of LTCC structures. It is also desirable to provide a method of forming LTCC structures having at least one cavity in each of first and second opposing faces that produces cavity floors with a flatness variation less than about 1 mil per inch.

Method of laminating low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) Material


A differential or relative measurement between an orthogonal measurement vector and another measurement vector can be used to determine the location where fluid accumulation is occurring or the local change in such fluid accumulation. This can help diagnose or treat infection or hematoma or seroma at a pocket of an implanted cardiac rhythm management device, other implanted medical device, or prosthesis. It can also help diagnose or treat pulmonary edema, pneumonia, pulmonary congestion, pericardial effusion, pericarditis, pleural effusion, hemodilution, or another physiological condition.

Cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices can help assist heart function, such as by providing pacing electrostimulations to evoke responsive heart contractions, providing cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) electrostimulations to coordinate the spatial nature of a heart contraction of one or more heart chambers, providing antitachyarrhythmia pacing, cardioversion, or defibrillation shocks to interrupt a tachyarrhythmia, or providing neurostimulation to influence sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system response.
Diagnosing the physiological condition of a patient can involve determining whether fluid accumulation has occurred. For example, congestive heart failure (CHF) patients can have poor cardiac output (CO) from the heart. This can lead to fluid buildup in the lungs (e.g., pulmonary edema) or in the limbs (e.g., peripheral edema). Fluid accumulation status can be monitored by monitoring tissue impedance. Tissue impedance monitoring can involve injecting a test current into the tissue, and monitoring a resulting voltage. The resulting voltage can provide an indication of tissue impedance. The tissue impedance can provide an indication of how wet the tissue is. As the tissue becomes wetter, its impedance decreases.
Wang U.S. Pat. No. 7,149,573 discloses an example of tissue impedance monitoring, including determining contributing physiological impedance factors, such as lung resistivity, blood resistivity, heart muscle resistivity, skeletal muscle resistivity, heart volume and lung volume. (See Wang '573 at Abstract.) Wang's impedance determination apparently relies upon parallel vectors—Wang's test current is injected between electrodes defining a test current vector therebetween, and the resulting voltage is measured between electrodes defining a response voltage vector therebetween, and the response voltage vector is substantially parallel in direction to the test current vector. (See, e.g., Wang '573 at col. 9, lines 30-60.)


A flow controlling assembly configured to permit air flow between a first chamber and a second chamber. A frame member includes a damper contacting surface at least partially surrounding a frame opening configured to permit the air flow therethrough. A damper plate includes a frame contacting surface configured to contact the damper contacting surface when the damper plate is in a closed position. A hinge assembly is disposed between the frame member and the damper plate. The hinge assembly is configured to permit the damper plate to rotate on a rotational axis relative to the frame member and to permit the rotational axis to translate relative to the frame member.

The described technology relates to a flow controlling assembly and method, such as for a refrigerator.
In a known refrigerator, air in a freezer compartment is cooled by a cooling system. Such a cooling system is well known. This cooled air is directed to a fresh food compartment of the refrigerator, through the use of a damper disposed between the freezer and fresh food compartments. By this arrangement, a single cooling system can be used to cool both the freezer and fresh food compartments. The damper is associated with an electromechanical system that either fully opens or fully closes the damper. For example, when the cooling system is deenergized, the damper is fully closed so that the temperature in the freezer compartment is maintained below a predetermined minimum temperature. When the cooling system is energized, the damper is fully opened so that the cooled air flows from the freezer compartment to the fresh food compartment.
The known refrigerator suffers from numerous disadvantages. For example, a separate control system and numerous electrical and mechanical components are required to control the opening and closing of the damper. Thus, control of the damper is relatively complicated, and installation and service of the control system increase the initial and maintenance costs of the refrigerator. Further, because the damper is either fully opened or fully closed, the flow of the cooled air from the freezer compartment to the fresh food compartment cannot be precisely controlled. As a result, the electrical efficiency of the refrigerator is decreased.


An antifuse memory cell having a P.sup.+ polysilicon doping in a region directly under an intrinsic silicon programming layer. The P.sup.+ polysilicon region is surrounded by an N.sup.- polysilicon doped region, and the two regions are sandwiched between layers of silicon dioxide insulation. The interface between the two regions is a P-N junction, in fact, a diode. The diode does not suffer from a diffusion current that increases with increasing levels of N.sup.- doping, therefore the N.sup.- polysilicon can be heavily doped to yield a very conductive bit line interconnect for a memory matrix. The interconnect line widths can be very narrow, and further microminiaturization is aided thereby. The top metalization is aluminum and serves as a word line interconnect in the memory matrix.

This invention relates generally to semiconductor memory devices, and more specifically to read only memory ROM and antifuse-based programmable read only memory (PROM) cells having improved ON and OFF characteristics that allow advanced levels of microminiaturization. The invention especially relates to the concurrent fabrication of high quality isolation diodes and low resistance buried (lower) wiring layers used typically as bit lines in memory matrices.
Certain nonvolatile memories that incorporate Schottky barrier diodes are based on antifuse memory cells (elements that act opposite to fuses). The antifuse memory cells typically comprise an intrinsic silicon (defined as silicon with negligible impurities) film deposited over a Schottky barrier diode (see, FIG. 3). Such memory cells have a substrate 1, a first insulation layer 2, a polycrystalline silicon film (polysilicon layer) 5, a second insulation layer 7, a titanium layer 8, an intrinsic silicon film 9, and an aluminum interconnect 10. A Schottky barrier diode is created at the interface of the polysilicon layer 5 and the titanium layer 8 that is deposited on layer 5.
Individual memory cells are often arranged in matrices to get the smallest possible memory array size. FIG. 4 is an example of such a matrix. Each cell is equivalent to a programmable switch in series with an isolation diode. The data stored is represented by the switch either being ON and OFF. The diodes in FIG. 4 are Schottky barrier diodes. Silicon film 9 has a high resistance before being programmed. Such a condition in an antifuse cell is often spoke of as the OFF (unprogrammed) state. This is opposite to fuse link type PROMs where the fuses are blown open by programming to be in their OFF state. To program an antifuse memory cell, a voltage of about 20 volts is applied across silicon film 9, this causes a dielectric breakdown to occur with a resulting current flow that forms a conductive bridge (by a mechanism not fully understood by those skilled in the art).
Attempts to further microminiaturize antifuse memory cells of the prior art have encountered major structural problems. At very fine geometries, large variations in data read sensing currents occur due to the necessary arrangement of memory cells into a matrix. FIG. 3 is a prior art antifuse memory cell comprised of a substrate 1, an insulating layer 2, a polysilicon layer 5 that serves double duty as a bit line interconnect, a second insulating layer 7, a refractory metal layer 8 that forms a Schottky barrier diode interface with polysilicon layer 5, an intrinsic silicon layer 9 that is so pure it functions as an insulator until a programming voltage is applied and changes its structure, and an aluminum metalization 10 that serves as a word line interconnect. FIG. 4 shows sixteen memory cells positioned at the intersections of four bit lines and four word lines. As mentioned, the bit lines (vertical lines in FIG. 4) are typically made of the n-polysilicon layer 5, and as such it needs to have high doping levels in order to be sufficiently conductive. But too high a level of doping will disable the Schottky barrier diode. The word line select lines (horizontal lines in FIG. 4) use the aluminum interconnect 10. Although the sheet resistance value of the aluminum is under 30 milli-ohms/square, the sheet resistance of silicon with a high impurity level that is still low enough to be compatible with a Schottky barrier diode is very high, usually over 1,000 .OMEGA./square. Higher levels of impurities (over 1.times.10.sup.22 cm.sup.-3) can be injected to lower the resistance value to about 100 .OMEGA./square. But the diffusion current (the reverse biased current in the Schottky barrier diode) gets too high, and the diode ceases to effectively isolate the memory cells from one another. The parasitic resistance values also vary greatly as a function of the positions of the cells from the current sensing circuit. Even cells programmed the same way will show great differences in sense current if one cell is close to and the other cell is relatively far from the current sensing circuit. This complicates programmed data sensing and makes data reading difficult.
Further variability in read sensing currents also stems from the fact that the greater the current during programming of a memory cell, the lower an ON resistance that cell will have during reading. The farthest out cells receive the least amount of programming current and return the least amount of read current for two reasons. The first was just mentioned and the second is that the read sense bit line lines add their own resistance to the read current.
To combat this problem, the prior art has had to make the polysilicon lines wider, but this runs contrary to efforts to microminiaturize PROM memories beyond present day levels.
A prior art memory cell in FIG. 7 has a substrate 21, a first insulation layer 22, a lower layer wiring 34 (e.g., polycrystalline silicon film containing a high impurity concentration), a semiconductor film 33 (e.g., polycrystalline film containing impurity on the order of 1.times.10.sup.17 atoms per cm.sup.-3), a second insulation film 29, a metal film 32, e.g., titanium or platinum, an intrinsic silicon film 30 (e.g., impurity-free polycrystalline film), and a wiring layer 31 (e.g., aluminum film). The intrinsic silicon film 30 is formed on top of what constitutes a Schottky barrier diode. The diode comprises metal film 32 and semiconductor film 33. When programmed, the memory cell will connect wiring layer 31 through film 30 to the metal 32 side of the Schottky diode. The intrinsic silicon film 30 acts as an insulator before programming. Programming applies a voltage of about 20 V across the intrinsic silicon film, a dielectric breakdown occurs in the intrinsic silicon film and current flows causing structural changes that permanently short across layer 10.
In the prior art there are problems that occur during heat treatment. Impurities from (for example FIG. 7) layer 34 can migrate into the semiconductor film 33, which is part of a Schottky barrier diode, that causes deterioration in the performance of the Schottky barrier diode. A conventional way to further microminiaturize a memory cell has been to make the lower layer wiring 34 a silicon film have a high concentration impurity (over 1.times.10.sup.21 atoms per cm.sup.-3). Silicon film can be made very thin. Semiconductor film 33 is injected with a small amount of impurity. Heat treatment is used to activate the impurities. At this point, impurities in the lower layer wiring 34 will surge into the semiconductor film 33 during programming, and will end up in the metal film 32. The distance between layer wiring 34 and the metal film 32 (the film thickness of the semiconductor film 33) is very small. An acceptable concentration of impurities (such as phosphorus, boron, or arsenic) for semiconductor film 33 is 1.times.10.sup.20 atoms per cm.sup.-3. If the concentration gets too high, there is a problem with reverse current (diffusion current) in the Schottky barrier diode that gets too high. Experiments have shown that the difference in absolute values of the ON current and OFF current are as much as six orders of magnitude. But, if impurities are allowed to get to the metal film, the figure drops to less than one order of magnitude. When such a cell is fabricated as an antifuse-based PROM cell, current from other memory cells cannot be isolated.
Another prior art memory device is illustrated in FIG. 10, and it comprises a substrate 41, a first insulation layer 42, a lower layer wiring layer 43 (e.g., polycrystalline silicon containing impurity in high concentration), a semiconductor film 44 (e.g., polycrystalline silicon containing impurity on the order of 1.times.10.sup.17 atoms per cm.sup.-3), a second insulation film 45, a metal film 46 (e.g., titanium or platinum), an intrinsic silicon film 47 (e.g., a polycrystalline silicon film that does not contain impurities), and a wiring layer 48 (e.g., aluminum film). Much of the structure has been described above. But FIG. 10 shows a sectional view of three cells.
FIG. 12A to FIG. 12E show a prior art method of manufacturing a memory cell. In FIG. 12A, a first insulation layer 122 of SiO.sub.2 film is deposited 3,000 .ANG. thick on a substrate 121 with a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method or a hot oxidation method in an oxygen atmosphere. A silicon film 123 is next deposited 5,000 .ANG. thick with a CVD method leaving a polycrystalline silicon film by pyrolyzing monosilane gas at a temperature of about 620.degree. C. Then a group V element (for example phosphorus or arsenic) is injected to make n-type region 128. A conventional ion driving method is used. The dose amount should be about 1.times.10.sup.14 atoms per cm.sup.-2. In FIG. 12B, the unnecessary parts of silicon film 123 are removed by a conventional photo-etching method. In FIG. 12C, a resist mask 125 is formed outside the area of where a p-type region 129 will be. A group III element (boron for example) is then injected, driven by a conventional ion driving method, with a dosage level higher than the dosage level for the group V element, about 1.times.10.sup.15 atoms per cm.sup.-2. Therefore, the n-type region 128 is eliminated to make p-type region 129. In FIG. 12D, the resist mask 125 is removed, and a second insulation layer 127 of SiO.sub.2 film is deposited 2,000 .ANG. thick using a CVD method. A heat treatment follows to activate the group V and group III impurities. Annealing is preferably then done at 1,000.degree. C. for one minute in a nitrogen atmosphere using a halogen lamp. Next, contact holes 130 are positioned in the second insulation layer 127 in n-type region 128 and p-type region 129 using a photo-etching method. In FIG. 12E, aluminum is deposited with a sputtering method to produce a wiring layer 131 on top of the second insulation layer 127 and contact holes 130. Unnecessary portions of layer 131 are removed with a photo-etching method. A P-N junction diode is thus constructed at the interface of regions 128 and 129.
A few prior art read only memory (ROM) devices are programmed by an ion injection method to change the value of the threshold voltage of single transistor cells, like the one shown in FIG. 18A. (See, Y. Shacham-Diamand, et al., "A NOVEL ION-IMPLANTED AMORPHOUS SILICON PROGRAMMABLE ELEMENT", IEDM 87, pp. 194-197.) In FIG. 18B, such a device comprises a substrate 281, a gate film 282, a gate electrode 283, a high concentration diffusion layer 284, an LDD-type low concentration diffusion layer 285, an LDD-type side wall insulation film 286, an interlayer insulation film 287, and an aluminum wiring layer 288. Here the ROM data write-in is done by forming impurity layer 289 by ion injection before or after forming interlayer insulation film 287 to change the threshold voltage. Also, FIG. 18C is a plan view, where "A" is a single memory cell unit and space 290 is an element separation gap.
The commercial pressures on technology to make memories more dense have come to the point where a memory cell (such as in FIG. 18) consists of a single transistor contacted at its gate electrode by aluminum interconnect 288. But high speeds have not been possible because the ON resistance of the transistor itself does not proportionally drop when scaling down the overall device size.
The present invention solves the above problems, in at least one embodiment it does so by separating the Schottky diode construction from the material used to interconnect the memory cells in read sense columns. The vertical bit line lines can be heavily doped and thus can be highly conductive, even at very fine line widths.


An apparatus of low angle interpolation is disclosed, which includes a low angle calculation circuit, a direction decision circuit, a post-processing circuit, an interpolator and a line buffer. According to a counterclockwise operating matrix and a clockwise operating matrix whose shapes look like triangles, the invention calculates sum of absolute differences (SAD) for each specified angle to correctly detect edges, thereby minimizing jaggies and frequency alias.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to imaging processing technology, particularly to an apparatus and method of low angle interpolation.
2. Description of the Related Art
The process of converting interlaced video signals into progressive video signals is called deinterlacing. There are various deinterlacing techniques, including intra-field deinterlacing, inter-field deinterlacing, motion adaptive deinterlacing, motion compensated deinterlacing and so forth. The low angle interpolation method, one of intra-field deinterlacing methods, is utilized to detect edges, find edge directions or edge angles and thereby perform interpolation along the edge directions.
Thus, a need exists for a new method and apparatus for correctly detecting edges and obtaining the correct edge directions in order to minimize the jaggies and frequency alias effectively.

Apparatus and method for low angle interpolation


A burner pan comprises a large top plate conforming to the entire burner area for providing convenient support for the logs and wide flexibility in the configuration and location of the gas flame ports. The burner pan comprises a plurality of gas ports disposed along the outer periphery of the top plate, a burner plenum subjacently disposed along the outer periphery of the top plate for delivering gas to the gas ports, and a dead air space in the center of the burner pan. The burner plenum is formed between a shallow gas-tight outer housing shell which defines the outer peripheral walls of the burner plenum and a smaller inner shell adapted to fit within the outer shell which defines the inner peripheral walls of the burner plenum and circumscribes a substantially sealed central dead air space which is essentially free from the burner gas.

Gas fireplaces are well known and typically include a gas burner positioned beneath a plurality of artificial logs, typically made of a non-combustible material, such as ceramic or cement, to simulate the appearance of natural wood logs. One type of gas burner is the "sand pan burner" in which the gas nozzles are buried below the surface of a non-combustible material such as sand or vermiculite contained in a relatively large shallow pan. The gas permeates and disperses through the material and ignites upon entering the atmosphere, thereby creating an orange/yellow flame dispersed over the bed of material and simulating a bed of glowing embers such as coals or ashes. Other types of gas burners include straight and U-shaped gas delivery tubes and pan-shaped burners comprising a plurality of gas ports to produce flames underneath the logs. The gas ports have been configured as a single slot-shaped port, a single row of circular ports or a plurality of uniformly or symmetrically distributed ports.
A natural wood burning fire has certain characteristics including a non-symmetrically distributed flame in which the flames will typically "flicker" so that one portion of fire has a relatively concentrated flame pattern while another portion has a relatively sparse flame concentration. In addition, some of the flames in a natural fire will be taller and/or wider than other flames and will directly impinge on the logs or will appear to emanate from the logs. The fire will also have a "glowing" bed of coals or embers emitting a smaller flame pattern than the logs.
Conventional gas fireplaces have been largely unsuccessful in simulating the pleasing aesthetic appearance of a wood-burning fire, especially with respect to the natural flickering flame pattern and the non-symmetrical distribution of the fire because many typical gas burner systems produce a homogenous and symmetrical distribution of flames. Since direct impingement of the flame on the artificial logs typically cools the flame and creates a highly inefficient and dirty yellow flame and unacceptable levels of soot and carbon monoxide (CO), attempts to direct the gas flame away from the logs and redistribute the flame concentration including, for example, flame deflectors, have only enhanced the poor simulation of a natural wood fire.
Typical gas burners have other problems in addition to the poor simulation of a natural wood burning fire. Not only are the gas burners relatively expensive to manufacture but the U-shaped and straight gas burners require a relatively complex system of grates and/or pins to insure that the logs are properly positioned and mounted above the gas burner. In other instances, the artificial logs are not interchangeable between gas burners and must be specially manufactured to fit with the specific gas burners. Many gas burners, especially the large pan-shaped burners, are inefficient and poorly designed to have relatively large internal gas plenums. When the fireplace is turned off, the gas remaining inside the plenum is inefficiently burned or otherwise disposed. In other instances, the entire volume of gas may ignite simultaneously to create an undesirable "flash burn" inside the fireplace or, if the flame is extinguished, escape into the room.


What is disclosed is a system and method for selecting the optimal wavelength ban combination for a multi-band infrared camera system which is optimized for skin detection. An objective function is constructed specifically for this application from classified performance and the algorithm generates wavelengths by maximizing the objective function. A specific wavelength band combination is selected which maximizes the objective function. Also disclosed is a 3-band and 4-band camera system with filters each having a transmittance of one of a combination of wavelength bands optimized to detect skin in the infrared band. The camera systems disclosed herein find their intended uses in a wide array of vehicle occupancy detection systems and applications. Various embodiments are disclosed.

Skin detection using a multi-band near-infrared (NIR) camera and its application to face recognition and human occupancy detection in a vehicle is well documented. As shown in FIG. 5, the characteristic of human reflectance in the NIR range includes a drop from 1000 nm to 1450 nm, a small rise to 1650 nm, a drop to 1900 nm, and then remains relatively constant for a range of wavelengths. As such, the full extraction of skin reflectances in the image requires many wavelength bands. Simply adding an increased number of wavelength bands to the camera increases the cost of the imaging system.
Accordingly, what is needed is an infrared camera system designed to maximize the detection of skin in infrared images acquired over 3 or 4 filter bands thereby enabling a cost-effective solution to vehicle occupancy detection systems and applications.

Multi-band infrared camera system optimized for skin detection


An apparatus for recovering an oil-based liquid from a body of liquid including the oil-based liquid. The apparatus includes a pair of cooperating rollers defining a nip therebetween, an endless loop of oil-based liquid absorbent material that passes through the nip and extends from the cooperating rollers along a path into the oil-based liquid in the body to absorb the oil-based liquid from the body, and a diverter engaged with the material and spaced from the cooperating rollers along the path. The material is conveyed by the cooperating rollers along the path from the body and squeezed at the nip by the cooperating rollers to force the oil-based liquid to flow along the material. The diverter guides the oil-based liquid away from the material as the oil-based liquid flows along the material from the cooperating rollers. A scraper is engaged with the material ahead of the cooperating rollers along the path to remove debris from material prior to the material passing through the cooperating rollers.

Oil-based liquid refineries have many underground pipes for transporting the oil-based liquid. Gasoline service stations have underground pipes and tanks. Leaky pipes and tanks result in the oil-based liquid polluting the ground and ground water.
Solvents made from oil-based liquid are useful as cleaners. These solvents were often disposed of by pouring them on the ground which also results in pollution of the ground and ground water. Military bases are notorious for having disposed of solvents in this manner.
These subterranean oil-based liquid pollutants are often referred to as free products and they collect in what is known as fresh water sands. Some oil-based liquids are less dense, i.e., lighter, than water and float on the water surface. Other oil-based liquids are denser, i.e., heavier, than water and the water floats on the oil-based liquid.
It is difficult to clean up these subterranean oil-based liquids. Presently, a well is drilled into the ground to form a sump into which the oil-based liquid and water flow and from which the oil-based liquid is pumped to the surface. Often the water is pumped with the oil-based liquid, contaminating the oil-based liquid. Due to the cost of separating them, the oil-based liquid and water are either burned or buried which is expensive and results in a waste of the oil-based liquid--a non-renewable resource.
Skimmers are known for removing sump oil-based liquid located near the earth's surface. The skimmers are inserted in a hole and have a downwardly extending belt that is externally supported by a rigid rod along the path the belt travels. The distance the belt extends down is fixed because the length of the rod is fixed and cannot be varied in response to variations in the oil-based liquid or water levels. When the water level rises so that the belt extends into the water, the amount of water contaminating the oil-based liquid increases. The contaminated oil-based liquid is burned or buried which results in a loss of a nonrenewable resource. Also, the need for the rod limits the distance the belt can extend down because as the distance increases the length and diameter of the rod must also increase to support the belt.
Oil-based liquid that is denser than water often flows to, and collects under, the water in a lagoon, pond or lake making it difficult to remove, especially when the water is very deep. The water interferes with the removal.
Oil-based liquids are also useful as cleaners in many manufacturing processes, such as metal manufacturing. For example, in aluminum manufacturing, water, coolant and a water-soluble oil-based liquid are used in a washing/cooling step for the hot aluminum. Impurities, e.g., magnesium oxide and aluminum, become emulsified in some of the oil-based liquid in this step. The resulting hot water, coolant, oil-based liquid and emulsion are collected in a sump where the emulsion separates out to the top.
The water, coolant and oil-based liquid are pumped from the sump and used again in the washing/cooling step with make-up water, coolant and oil-based liquid. The emulsion is preferably not used in the washing/cooling step. Rigid hoops of an allegedly emulsion absorbent material have been rotated through the emulsion in an attempt to remove it from the sump. Unfortunately, the hoops do not absorb the emulsion, due in part to the graphite-like nature of the emulsion, and are ineffective. Because the emulsion cannot be removed, the interface between the emulsion and the recyclable water, coolant and oil-based liquid is not visible through the emulsion. Excess make-up water, coolant and oil-based liquid must be used to avoid accidentally pumping the emulsion.
A method and apparatus that can vertically lift the oil-based liquid using a free hanging ribbon is highly desirable.

Apparatus for recovering oil-based liquid

c/o Hydrocarbon Recovery Inc., Hi-Way OneSouth, P.O. Box 371


The present invention provides a lateral link for suspension systems wherein the distance between opposite ends of the lateral link increases in a tight or sudden turn, so as to enhance controllability, stability, and riding comfort of the vehicle.

Suspension systems for vehicles are devices that prevent vibrations or impacts from being directly transmitted from the road to a vehicle body when it is traveling so as to prevent damage to the vehicle body and cargo and enhance the riding comfort of the vehicle. One type of suspension system that has been widely used is the solid axle rear suspension system, i.e. rigid beam or rigid axle rear suspension system, which utilizes a single piece of metal as a common axle for both wheels sprung beneath the car's undercarriage. Pivots located between the axle and the wheel spindles allow the wheels to swivel on each end. These suspension systems can be further classified by the types of springs employed, e.g. parallel leaf spring type using leaf springs, coil spring type, link type in which a plurality of links is combined, torsion beam type using a cross beam as an axle, etc.
Solid axle rear suspension has a simple and strong design, offering great load bearing capacity. In addition, variations of tread and camber are relatively small when the wheels undergo vertical movement. However, since both wheels in a solid axle suspension share the same axle, the up or down movement of one wheel causes a like movement in the other wheel, thereby detracting from the riding comfort and steering ability of the vehicle. Therefore, there is a need in the art for improvements to suspension systems which provide stability and greater control of the vehicle.

Lateral link for vehicle suspension systems


To ensure that a down frame in an off-road motorcycle body frame is lightweight, rigid and easy to weld, a down frame extending downward obliquely and backward from a main frame ahead of an engine is divided along its length into a down frame front portion and a down frame rear portion. Welding joins these portions, which abut each other in the longitudinal direction. The down frame front portion is a pipe wrought product formed by extrusion molding and the down frame rear portion is a casting. Since the down frame is welded along a straight welding line extending along its length, welding is easy. Since a main joint and a lower joint are provided integrally with the down frame rear portion as a casting, a separate gusset can be omitted.

A publicly known motorcycle body frame includes: a head pipe; a main frame extending downward obliquely and backward from it above an engine; a down frame extending downward obliquely and backward ahead of the engine; a lower frame extending longitudinally under the engine with its front end connected with the lower end of the down frame; and a center frame connecting the rear end of the lower frame and the rear end of the main frame vertically, where the down frame and the main frame are connected by a stiffener pipe.
It is also known that for the purpose of reinforcement, gussets formed by forging are welded to the joints of the down frame, formed from a wrought product made by extrusion molding, etc., with the stiffener pipe and with the lower frame (for example, see JP-A No. 2004-256073).


A corpectomy cage includes a main body, a first end cap, and a second end cap. The main body is shaped as a hollow rectangular prism, and includes a first end and a second end. The first end has a plurality of first receivers formed therein, and the second end has a plurality of second receivers formed therein. The first end cap includes a plurality of first legs configured to be received within respective first receivers to removably engage the first end cap with the first end of the main body. Similarly, the second end cap includes a plurality of second legs configured to be received within respective second receivers to removably engage the second end cap with the second end of the main body. Each of the end caps further includes a plurality of teeth arranged opposite the plurality of legs.

The present disclosure relates to a corpectomy cage to be implanted in a patient. A corpectomy is a surgical procedure wherein all or a portion of the vertebral body and adjacent intervertebral discs are removed to relieve pressure or decompress the spinal cord and nerves. A corpectomy cage is a rigid body that is used to fill the space created by the vertebrae removal and maintain the desired post-operative spacing and angles between remaining vertebral bodies or discs.
To provide a cage having the height necessary to maintain the desired post-operative spacing, two types of cages are generally available, namely a fixed height cage and an expandable cage. A fixed height cage is manufactured to have a specific height selected to best fit the cavity and maintain the desired spacing. However, due to practical constraints, a fixed height cage is not specifically manufactured for each patient or surgery. Moreover, the exact required height specifications of the corpectomy cage may not be known until surgery is underway. Accordingly, fixed height cages are provided in premade sets with multiple cages having different heights. The surgeon then selects one fixed height cage from the set that best fits the cavity created by the removed vertebral body.
Alternatively, an expandable cage includes a physical mechanism that enables varying the height of the cage to meet the required height specifications. Thus, only one expandable cage is provided and is adjusted to best suit the cavity and desired spacing. Such expandable cages typically include telescoping members that can be adjusted by the physical mechanism and then fixed or set at the selected height prior to or after insertion.
Both types of cages have limitations and problems. Fixed height cages, which can include solid cages, have superior structural integrity, but are difficult to place. The fixed cage must be exactly the right height to fit in the cavity created by the removed vertebral body and to maintain the desired spacing. Otherwise, if the height of the cage is too large, it can cause over-distraction to the vertebral bodies or damage the vertebral body above and below the cage. If the height of the cage is too small, it can move from its position and will not be able to maintain the desired spacing. Thus, as mentioned above, fixed height cages are provided in sets having several cages of various heights to accommodate different patient anatomies and surgical applications. This inherently results in wasted materials. Additionally, only a finite number of pre-selected heights are available in any given set.
Because expandable cages are able to be adjusted precisely to the desired size, they are easier to place and are more able to meet the exact required height specification. However, the inclusion of the physical mechanism used to expand the cage increases the complexity of manufacture, which increases costs. Additionally, the physical mechanism may fail in vivo post-operatively, which can lead to catastrophic results.
In addition to the height of the cage, which is selected to maintain a desired spacing between remaining vertebral bodies or discs, the lordotic angle of the cage is also selected to accommodate different patient anatomies and surgical applications. The lordotic angle refers to the natural curvature of the lumbar and cervical regions of the spine. When all or a portion of the vertebral body and adjacent intervertebral discs are removed from the lumbar or cervical region of the spine, the end faces of the corpectomy cage that is inserted into the site and abut the remaining vertebral bodies or discs must be angled to maintain the desired post-operative curvature.
One way to provide the desired lordotic angles to the ends of the corpectomy cage is by fixed angle attachments that are interchangeably attachable to a main body of the cage. Fixed angle attachments can be selected for and attached to each of the ends of the corpectomy cage. Like the fixed height cage, fixed angle attachments are structurally stable, but must be provided in a set of attachments having a variety of angles. Thus, the fixed angle attachments are inherently available having only a finite number of predetermined fixed angles. Additionally, if the attachments are insecurely attached to the corpectomy cage, unintended movement or detachment of the attachments from the corpectomy cage in vivo post-operatively could lead to catastrophic results.
Another way to provide the desired lordotic angles to the ends of the corpectomy cage is by an integral adjustable mechanism or mechanisms that enables varying and setting the lordotic angle of each end of the cage independently. Such cages often include ends which rotate relative to the remainder of the cage to adjust the angle of the end surface relative to the remainder of the cage. Thus, one cage is provided and each end is adjusted to achieve the desired lordotic angle. Such cages having adjustable ends are more complex and costly to produce, and if the adjustable mechanism fails in vivo post-operatively, the results could be catastrophic.
It is possible to combine either of a fixed height and an expandable cage with either of fixed angle attachment ends and adjustable ends to achieve the desired height and lordotic angles of the corpectomy cage.
There is a need for a corpectomy cage having a height and lordotic angles that can be easily tailored to the anatomy of the patient and the specific surgical application.


A deposition oxide interface with improved oxygen bonding and a method for bonding oxygen in an oxide layer are provided. The method includes depositing an M oxide layer where M is a first element selected from a group including elements chemically defined as a solid and having an oxidation state in a range of +2 to +5, plasma oxidizing the M oxide layer at a temperature of less than 400° C. using a high density plasma source, and in response to plasma oxidizing the M oxide layer, improving M-oxygen bonding in the M oxide layer. The plasma oxidation process diffuses excited oxygen radicals into the oxide layer. The plasma oxidation is performed at specified parameters including temperature, power density, pressure, process gas composition, and process gas flow. In some aspects of the method, M is silicon, and the oxide interface is incorporated into a thin film transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the fabrication of integrated circuit (IC) devices, and more particularly, to a deposition oxide interface with improved oxygen bonding and a method for forming the same oxide interface using high-density plasma.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a schematic of a stacked gate structure for a thin film transistor (TFT) (prior art). The proper performance of devices employing an oxide interface depends, in part, on the characteristics of the oxide interface within the device structure. A TFT using silicon oxide is presented as an illustration, however, it is understood that the discussion applies to other IC devices and to other types of oxides as well. In FIG. 1, oxide layers form the gate insulator. The bulk, or physical, characteristics and the interface, or electrical, characteristics of the gate insulator are very important for the operation of a TFT. Silicon dioxide (SiO2) is a suitable dielectric for the fabrication of TFTs because of its excellent micro structural and electrical characteristics.
Typically, conventional fabrication and post-depositional processing of SiO2 thin films are performed at temperatures greater than 400° C. hereafter referred to as high temperatures. High temperatures are used to enhance bulk and interface characteristics for device applications and to attain economically feasible rates of production. However, even at high temperatures, the quality of silicon oxide generated by a conventional deposition process, such as plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), is degraded by incomplete oxidation, impurity bonding, non-stoichiometric oxide bonding, and low density. Incomplete oxidation causes a percentage of silicon oxides in the oxide layer to take the form SiOx, where x is less than 2. Impurity bonding results in the formation of undesirable compounds such as SiOH or SiH in the oxide. The impurities in these compounds, for example hydrogen, are typically derived from a precursor used as part of the deposition process. Non-stoichiometric SiO2 is formed when the deposition process does not supply sufficient energy for SiO2 produced by the process to reach equilibrium. SiOx, non-stoichiometric SiO2, and impurity compounds produce an undesired reduction in oxide layer density and adversely affect oxide layer bulk and interface characteristics.
The next generation of higher density display devices, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), requires high performance TFT driver components processed at temperatures less than 400° C., hereafter referred to as low temperatures. Processing TFT components at low temperatures enables the integration of oxide films on glass, plastic, and other low temperature substrates. These low temperature substrates can be used to fabricate high performance, high resolution, thin, lightweight, low-power displays. Further, a process temperature in the range of 100-300° C. does not damage transparent and flexible plastic substrates. A conventional deposition process, such as PECVD, can be performed at low temperatures. Unfortunately, performing conventional deposition processes at low temperatures exacerbates the oxide quality problems noted above and results in lower oxide deposition rates. In addition, increasing power or other processing variables at low temperatures to enhance deposition rates leads to interface damage and other problems resulting in lower interface quality.
It would be advantageous if a low temperature process could improve the bulk and interfacial properties of a deposition oxide.
It would be advantageous if a process could effectively oxidize a deposition oxide film regardless of a substrate temperature.

Method for forming an oxide with improved oxygen bonding


A contact system of a circuit breaker includes a fixed contact. The contact system also includes a moveable contact arm assembly comprising at least one moveable contact arm having a moveable contact thereon, the moveable contact arm moveable to define a closed condition and a blow open condition. The contact system further includes a carrier assembly operatively coupled to the moveable contact arm. The contact system yet further includes a latch plate operatively coupled to the carrier assembly. The contact system also includes a trip shaft operatively coupled to the carrier assembly, the trip shaft having a non-circular region defining an engagement surface disposed in contact with the latch plate in the closed condition. The contact system further includes a biasing portion of the moveable contact arm configured to rotate the trip shaft out of engagement with the latch plate and into the blow open condition.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to circuit breakers and, more particularly, to a contact system of a circuit breaker.
An electrical switching apparatus, such as a circuit breaker, provides protection for electrical systems from electrical fault conditions such as, for example, current overloads, short circuits, abnormal voltage and other fault conditions. Typically, circuit breakers include a housing and an operating mechanism which opens separable electrical contacts to interrupt the flow of current through the conductors of an electrical system in response to certain fault conditions.
To maintain a high withstand current rating, the contacts must be maintained in a closed condition at the current withstand rating. On the other hand, the short circuit let-through current must be capable of opening the contacts quickly during a short circuit condition. The drawback of having the contacts clamped or otherwise maintained in a tight closed condition is that the contacts may not be able to open quickly at the short circuit current level that the circuit breaker is rated for. Therefore, it is desirable to reliably disengage the contacts to the blow open condition of the circuit breaker in as rapid of a manner as possible, while ensuring that the contacts remain in the closed condition during normal operation of the circuit breaker.

Moveable contact arm releases latch plate engagement in a circuit breaker


The present disclosure provides a method wherein preceding and succeeding data elements of a data element to be sent next are analyzed in order to set a signal pattern which can be correctly recovered on the receiving side in spite of intersymbol interference. More particularly, depending on the transmission characteristics of the transmission path, the content of a window within the data stream to be sent wirelessly is examined in order to determine an energy content with which a data symbol has to be sent so that the data can be recovered securely.

1. Field of Invention
The present disclosure relates to wireless data transmission with predictive transmission adjustments in an implantable hearing prosthesis such as cochlear implants, direct acoustic stimulation devices and middle ear devices.
2. Related Art
Typical implantable hearing prosthesis are semi-implantable and consist of an implantable part including a receiving coil and an external part. The external part may be a Behind-The-Ear (BTE) hearing aid device that houses a microphone, a speech processor, a transmitter and a battery. The BTE is connected to a transmitter coil and sends power and data to the implant via a transmitter coil. The transmitter coil and implanted receiving coil are positioned proximate to each other by two magnets.
The speech processor converts the analog signal of the microphone into encoded digital signals. The transmitter modulates a RF (radio frequency, e.g. 5 MHz) carrier with the encoded digital signal. The transmitter also comprises coil drivers for driving the transmitter coil based on the modulated RF carrier. The transmitter coil inductively couples to the implanted receiving coil so that both data and energy are transmitted into the implanted device. Thereby, the transmission path is designed to transmit energy and data as efficiently as possible, i.e. the transmission losses are as low as possible and the data integrity is as high as possible. The modulated RF carrier comprises a sequence of pulses, which may be pulse width modulated, frequency modulated or amplitude modulated. In the case of amplitude modulated carriers, the carrier may be, e.g., modulated by switching on and off selected pulses. Thereby, a predetermined number of on/off-switched pulses define a data symbol containing a predetermined amount of information. In any case of modulation type, the series of pulses define a stream of energy and information which is used by the receiver.
Due to band-pass limitations and the resonant nature of the transmission path, an effect occurs, generally known as intersymbol interference (ISI). Thus, in a sentence, the basic problem of such devices is intersymbol interference caused by the band-pass filtering effect of inductively coupled resonant circuits.

Wireless data transmission with predictive transmission adjustment


In a stem for a semiconductor device comprising a flat metal plate, a lead and a sealing glass portion, an inner surface of a through-hole made in the flat metal plate is provided with irregularities. Percent defective regarding airtightness on welding for cap sealing and stem fixing is remarkably improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stem, viz. a header for a semiconductor device and in particular to a stem for a semiconductor device on which discrete semiconductor chips or pellets are mounted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In stems for a semiconductor device in the prior art, as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C, a disc-shaped flat metal plate 1 was formed with cylindrical through-holes 2 therein according to a cutting or pressing process and thereafter the plate 1 was subjected to an etching treatment with an acid or the like, for example, at 30.degree.-50.degree. C. for about one minute and an oxidation treatment by being heated in an oxidizing atmosphere, e.g. air. Then, a lead 4 was secured and hermetically sealed to the hole 2 by softening or melting a sealing glass portion 3. After an oxide film formed on the surface of the plate 1 was etched by using HF, plating treatment (e.g. Ni or Au plating) was performed to provide the stem. Accordingly, the inner surface or inner wall of the hole 2 made in the flat metal plate 1, which was in contact with and was adhered to the glass portion 3 as shown in FIG. 1C, remained substantially unchanged during such etching treatment and oxidation treatment, i.e. remained substantially in the same state as that on the forming working. The contact surface was smooth as lower than 10 .mu.m of Rmax.
Accordingly, the length along the contact surface between the inner surface of the hole 2 made in the flat metal plate 1 and the glass portion 3, which extends from the upper surface A of the plate 1 to the lower surface B, is substantially equal to the linear distance between the upper and lower surfaces A and B.
Such a prior art stem for a semiconductor device has a problem that when a chip mounted on the stem is sealed with a cap by an electric resistance welding or the stem is fixed by a laser welding and the like, adhesion of the glass portion 3 to the inner surface of the hole 2 is loosened, resulting in a loss of airtightness. Namely, heat generated on a portion to be welded on welding is conducted to the joint area between the glass portion 3 and the flat metal plate 1, and then the adhesion of the glass portion 3 to the inner surface of the hole 2 is loosened by thermal stresses caused by a difference between the thermal expansion of the glass portion and that of the flat metal plate which are caused by the elevation in temperature.
The length along the joint area between the glass portion and the inner surface of the hole in the prior art is shorter than that in case where the contact surface has substantially irregularities, since the contact surface in the former is smooth or flat. The adhesion between the glass portion and the inner surface of the hole made in the flat metal plate is easily loosened and thus it is hard to obtain a high airtightness.

Hermetically sealed metal stem or header for semiconductor device


A one piece closure for a container is described in which the closure has a break-open, reclosable lid. The lid is formed integrally with the closure and is defined by frangible lines of weakness formed in the closure. In use, the lid is initially held in its closed position by way of the unbroken frangible lines of weakness. The user exerts a downward force on the lid so as to break the lid from the closure. The lid is hinged to the closure by means of molded-in-place hinges. The lid has a lid closing tab integrally molded with the lid with the closing tab being disposed on the other side of the hinge line from the lid. As the lid and the closing tab are broken clear of the closure, the lid rotates downwardly about the hinge line into the container and the closing tab rotates upwardly. As the lid move to its fully open position, a locking tab on the bottom face of the lid snap locks into position and cooperates with the closure thus positively holding the lid in its fully open position and preventing the "memory" of the molded in place hinges from partially reclosing the lid. The lid may be re-closed by pushing in the opposite direction on the closing tab thereby to free the locking tab from the closure and to rotate the lid upwardly about the hinge line until the lid and the closing tab are substantially co-planar with the cover.

This invention relates to an end closure for a shake and pour container, and more particularly, to such a plastic end closure which has a break open frangible lid which, in its initial closed position, seals the container and which, in its subsequent open and reclosable position, controls access to the contents of the container.
Shake and pour containers are well known in the art, and are typically spiral wound paperboard containers with various liners and barriers incorporated therein to protect the product. Alternatively, the container may be molded of a suitable plastic resin or the like. Such containers are often utilized for grated cheese, coffee creamer, or other granular, flowable products. The plastic end closures for these shake and pour containers generally include a cover which is mounted on one end of a canister-type container and which has a frangible, push-open lid which is sealed to the cover when closed. When initially packaged and shipped, the push-open lid forms a tamper-evident seal with the end cover, preventing spillage or spoiling of the product. To open the shake and pour container, pressure is exerted upon the push-open lid, breaking the frangible seal lines forming the perimeter of the lid, and bending it into the container along a molded hinge line. Next, to prevent the product from spilling from the container or from spoiling, a rotatable closure pivotally secured to the cover is rotated to a closed position covering the opening formed by the lid. To dispense the product, the rotatable closure typically contains openings or gratings which may alternately be aligned with the push-open lid opening, thereby allowing the product to be dispensed from the shake and pour container at a controlled rate. Alternatively, a second hinged lid cover is provided which snaps securely in place over the opening formed by the push-open lid. When the product is to be dispensed from containers having this type of end closure, the second lid is unsnapped and bent upward, exposing the push-open lid opening and allowing the product to be poured or shaken out.
However, with such prior art plastic end closures, the molded in place hinge line of the push-open lid has a "memory" such that after the initial opening of the push-open lid, the lid tends to spring back at least partially towards its initial closed position, thus partially blocking the pouring or shaking of the product from the container. Additionally, the necessity of providing either an rotatable cover or second hinged lid adds to the complexity and manufacturing cost for the end closures.
In an effort to prevent such push-open plastic end closure lids from springing back and partially blocking the pouring opening, certain prior art closures were provided with means for engaging the push-open lid and retaining it in its fill open position. One such example of such the is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,572 which utilizes a tab on the underside of the frangible lid. This tab, when pushed to its fully open position, engages a gripping member molded on the underside of the cover to lock the lid in its fully open position. However, in use it has been found that consumers may not push the lid to its fully open position so that the locking tab engages the gripping member. Additionally, a second cover means is required to close the container for storage after the frangible seal of the push-open lid has been broken.
Accordingly, alternative means for holding the push-open lid in an open position have been developed. One such alternative end closure is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,338 in which the push-open lid has a tab extending opposite the lid opening such that when in an open position, the tab extends upward from the end closure, and engages with a rotating cover, thereby holding the push-open lid in an open position. While providing a solution to the problem of "memory" in the push-open lid hinge, this end closure still requires a two piece manufacture, as a rotating cover is needed to secure the lid in an open position and to close the container for subsequent storage.

One-piece closure with re-closable break away lid


A method for the coding of images represented by source signals by means of which a luminance signal is formed by linear combination, using positive coefficients of the source signals, and at least one color signal, the luminance and color signals being digitized, sampled at the same resolution, and subjected to a reversible mathematical transformation in the frequency domain. The method comprises the steps of quantizing and assigning a code value to the continuous component and to each component of a set of alternating components of the transformed luminance signal, and quantizing and assigning a code value to only the continuous component of each of the transformed color signals, a set of alternating components being reconstructed by estimation during the decoding for each of the transformed color signals. The method can be applied to color images of any type represented as the superimposition of monochromatic images, whether the images are still images or motion images.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is that of the coding of color images. More specifically, the invention relates to the coding of color images constituted by a set of at least two independent, monochromatic channels or images. This coding may notably be the coding of three signals, red, green and blue, coming from pick-up instruments or cameras and used for the reproduction of the images, for example on a television screen.
The coding of these signals is very often necessary, to compress the information that they contain. This is notably the case when it is desired to transmit them, in order to reduce their bit rate, or store them, for example on tape or digital disk, in order to reduce the space that they occupy.
The invention can be applied as much to the coding of still images as to that of motion images. It depends neither on the standard of the image nor on the type of prior and/or subsequent processing undergone by the signals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There already exists an international standard for the coding of still color images, the ISO 10 918 standard, also known by the designations JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group) and ISO-DCT. This standard is unaffected by the type of color space used to represent a color picture. Indeed, it considers a color image to be a plurality of monochromatic images processed independently.
The JPEG standard enables the simultaneous processing of up to 256 monochromatic channels. In practice, there are 1, 3 or 4 channels. In certain cases, however, there is a larger number of images. Thus many satellites, for example meteorological observation satellites, deliver the three standard color signals as well as several signals corresponding to shots taken in the infrared range. It can be clearly seen that, in this case, it is very important to code these images, in order to reduce their transmission bit rate, limit the space needed for their storage or, again, enable their delivery by the telephone system.
There is a similar known standard for the coding of motion color images. This is the ISO 11172 standard or MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) standard.
In both cases, the color image is therefore considered to be the sum of three (or more) independent channels or matrices of pixels. The choice of these channels is therefore a matter of application.
Three color space representations are presently used as a matter of common practice: YUV, RGB (red, green, blue) and JMC (yellow, magenta, cyan) or JMCK.
The YUV representation is derived from the CCIR recommendation 601. The three dot matrices are respectively the matrices of the luminances with full resolution (Y) and two color difference matrices D.sub.R (U) and D.sub.B (V) filtered with half-resolution in both directions, horizontal and vertical. This choice results from the implicit assumption, which is an obvious one in the context of a television studio, that the conversion between the image-taking color space and the coding space is done on analog signals, for which the matrix processing and filtering operations present no technological difficulties.
The analog-digital conversion done after these operations leads to a representation of 16 bits per pixel instead of 24 (a monochromatic pixel being coded on an octet). An ADCT (adaptive discrete cosine transform) compression is done on this already compressed image by analog means. This transformation assigns quantization values variable as a function of the rank or order of the coefficient considered and of the quality or bit rate desired.
At restitution, it is necessary to carry out a reverse matrix processing operation which is generally obtained after a digital-analog conversion. However, in a microcomputer or computer communications environment, the matrix processing and filtering should be done digitally, for want of specialized analog circuits in the equipment of this range. These operations prove to be particularly costly in terms of processing time.
Moreover, in addition to the technical difficulties, the operations of sub-sampling filtering in both directions introduce fuzziness during the reconstruction of the images.
The RGB color space representation is the direct representation of the image-shooting step and of the reproduction step. It calls for no filtering operation but gives the compressor a representation with 24 bits per pixel (or three independent representations with 8 bits per pixel). Its performance characteristics in terms of compression/quality ratio are therefore lower than those of the YUV representation, which has only 16 bits per pixel before compression. By contrast, it is easier to implement in a microcomputer or computer communications context, owing notably to the fact that there is no filtering.
The trichromatic or quadrichromatic JMC(K) or YMC(K) representation is the one resulting from a separation of colors for printing. It is well suited to the printed reproduction of documents but, for the purpose of screen display, it requires a return to the RGB space. Furthermore it is constituted by a primary representation, before compression, with 24 to 32 bits per pixel. It is well suited to the world of publishing and of computer-aided page make-up but less well suited to computer communications.
It is thus seen that the RGB representation, which is more universal, is the most promising one from the viewpoint of the applications and of the simplicity of the processing operations. However, it proves to be less efficient as regards the data compression algorithms.
The YUV representation is often preferred to the RGB representation, despite the complexity of the processing. The main drawback of the YUV representation is the need for a filtering operation which, when done by digital methods, calls for a prohibitive amount of time if it is done by software, or else calls for the use of a DSP (digital signal processor) or specialized circuits. Moreover, this filtering naturally leads to a loss of image quality, notably by producing fuzzy contours.

Method for the coding of color images at high compression rate without filtering, corresponding decoding method, coder, decoder and applications


A device for optionally or selectively drawing in a cutout from a stack of several cutouts, or taking over a cutout from a separating cutting device, which separates the cutout from a material web, includes a vacuum guide roller in which the cutout coming from the stack or the cutout that has been taken over can be passed to a subsequent work station for processing of the cutout in a work cycle, at a cycle speed. This device reduces both production costs and machine maintenance costs, reduces the amount of space required for the machine and generates less noise. The vacuum guide roller is configured as a segment roller in which optionally or selectively the cutout can be drawn in from the stack and accelerated to the cycle speed, or the cutout taken over from the separating cutting device can be accelerated to the cycle speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device and a method for optionally or selectively drawing in a cutout from a stack of several cutouts, or taking over a cutout from a separating cutting device, which separates the cutout from a material web. Cutouts in the sense of the present invention can be not only envelope cutouts, but also, for example, label cutouts or cutouts for lids to close off containers, particularly food containers.
2. The Prior Art
Two types of envelope production machines are known. In one type of machines, ready-cut envelope cutouts made available in stacks are drawn in by way of a so-called single-sheet intake. The drawn-in cutouts are then processed to produce envelopes. Such machines are usually referred to as sheet machines, where the term "sheet" indicates that individual cutout sheets are processed. In contrast to this type of machine, in the other type of machine, a material web, i.e. paper web rolled up onto a supply roll is processed to produce envelopes. Here, the material web is drawn into the machine directly from the supply roll, and cut to size at a suitable location of the processing path, by a separating cutting machine. In this way, the envelope cutouts are formed only within the envelope production machine. Such machines are referred to as roll machines.
So-called combination machines are also known, in which the operator of the machine can decide, as needed or on the basis of other circumstances, whether he/she wants to process cutouts that are present individually, by way of single-sheet intake, or a material web, i.e. paper web that has been wound up onto a supply roll. FIG. 3 shows that region of a combination machine known from the state of the art in which optionally or selectively, cutouts that are present individually or a material web can be drawn in.
If the combination machine is operated in the single-sheet intake operating mode, a single-sheet intake device 7 is used. In this connection, the bottommost cutout of a stack 2 that consists of several cutouts is pulled out from stack 2, by means of a first segment roller 8 that rotates clockwise and has suction air applied to it.
Segment rollers are known in the state of the art and have two different radii. These radii extend over a certain circumference region of the roller, in each instance, so that a step, which can be rounded off, occurs at two points of the circumference, in each instance. The segment roller usually rotates at a constant speed of rotation and works together with a counter-roller, which preferably consists of rubber and is passively driven by the segment roller. The envelope cutouts move through between the segment roller and the counter-roller, whereby only that circumference region of the segment roller that has the greater radius comes into contact with the cutout. The step of the segment roller that first comes into contact with the cutout to be accelerated is referred to as the grab edge. Since a segment roller accelerates the cutout in sudden manner after it has grabbed it, the segment roller is also referred to as a rip roller.
In FIG. 3, a segment roller 8 accelerates the cutout drawn in from stack 2 to the so-called cycle speed of the envelope production machine, and passes it, with precise register, to a transport roller 9 to which suction air is applied and which rotates counterclockwise. Transport roller 9 in turn passes the cutout on to a vacuum guide roller 10 that rotates clockwise. Vacuum guide roller 10 passes the cutout on further to a first work station 11 of the envelope production machine. Vacuum guide roller 10 is a cylindrical roller having suction air openings in the mantle surface, which are used to hold the cutouts on the roller circumference temporarily.
If the known envelope production machine is supposed to draw a material web 12 in from a supply roll, in contrast to single-sheet intake, the web guide or feed device 13 shown in FIG. 3 is used. Material web 12, which comes from a supply roll, not shown, is passed to a shape-cutting device 14 by way of a plurality of deflection rollers, which are not of particular interest here; the device essentially performs shaping cuts at the two edges of the material web. In FIG. 3, a one-piece material web 12 continues to be transported below a shape-cutting device 14. A separating-cut or cutting device 15 finally separates envelope cutouts from material web 12.
A second segment roller 16 that rotates clockwise and has suction air applied to it then grabs the separated cutout with its grab edge, and accelerates it to cycle speed. Finally, transfer of the accelerated cutout to vacuum guide roller 10 occurs, which passes it on further to a subsequent work station 11.
The known combination machine according to FIG. 3 has several disadvantages. For example, the production and maintenance costs in connection with the two segment rollers 8 and 16 are relatively high, and of course these high costs are undesirable. Furthermore, the so-called format change-over times, i.e. the time periods that are required to refit the machine from a first envelope format to a second envelope format are relatively long. These format change-over times are long because, in particular, two segment rollers 8 and 16 have to be replaced. Furthermore, the combination machine according to FIG. 3 requires not only the two segment rollers 8 and 16 but also additional transport rollers and deflection rollers, some of which have to have suction air applied to them cyclically. This arrangement results in both an increased generation of noise, and a greater need for space.

Device and method for optionally drawing in a cutout from a stack of several cutouts, or taking over a cutout from a separating cutting machine


Provided is a defoamer for a fermenter. A defoamer for a fermenter according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a body (100) having a first hollow (110) at a central portion thereof and having a disk shape; a support (200) having a second hollow (210) connected with the first hollow (110), and extending from an upper surface (120) and a lower surface (130) of the body (100); and a plurality of first vanes (310, 320, 330, 340, 350, 360, 370, and 380) mounted on the lower surface (130) of the body (100).

When a biochemical reaction of microorganisms and a fermentation process are used to acquire a fermentation object, foams are formed in fermentation culture media due to introduced oxygen, carbon dioxide produced by fermentation of microorganisms, and the like.
When foams are excessively produced during the fermentation process, the fermentation process is badly influenced and productivity deteriorates.
In order to solve the problem, a foam reduction agent for suppressing production of foams in the fermenter may be introduced, but when the foam reduction agent is excessively introduced, a problem may be caused in the quality of the product.
In order to solve the problems of the excessive introduction of the foam reduction agent, a method for removing foams by installing a mechanical defoamer in the interior of the fermenter has been developed.
Among the conventional defoamers, the disk defoamer is installed in a shaft of an agitator in the interior of a fermenter to remove surrounding foams by using a centrifugal force generated through rotation of the shaft, and has a different effect according to the form of the defoamer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,673,599 discloses a disk defoamer used for a fermenter, but defoaming efficiency deteriorates due to a small effective defoaming area, defoaming capacity significantly deteriorates when the height of the foams of broth is higher than the height of the defoamer, and the weight of the defoamer is heavy and the structure of the defoamer is very complex so that the defoamer is not suitable for a large-scale fermenter due to a danger of contamination and danger of damage.

Defoamer for fermenter, and microorganism fermenter using defoamer for fermenter


Provided are a porous composite expressed by Chemical Formula 1 and having a porosity of 5% to 90%, and a method of preparing the same:MOx  <Chemical Formula 1>                where M and x are the same as described in the specification.

Recently, lithium secondary batteries have received the most attention due to their characteristics of high energy density and long lifetime. In general, a lithium secondary battery includes an anode formed of a carbon material or a lithium metal alloy, a cathode formed of lithium metal oxide, and an electrolyte in which a lithium salt is dissolved in an organic solvent.
Lithium has been initially used as an anode active material constituting the anode of the lithium secondary battery. However, since lithium may have low reversibility and safety, a carbon material has currently been mainly used as the anode active material of the lithium secondary battery. Although the carbon material may have a lower capacity than lithium, the carbon material may have smaller volume changes as well as excellent reversibility and may also be advantageous in terms of cost.
Recently, the demand for high-capacity lithium secondary batteries has gradually increased as the use of the lithium secondary battery has expanded. As a result, a high-capacity electrode active material replaceable with a low-capacity carbon material has been required. For this, research into using a (semi) metal, such as silicon (Si) and tin (Sn), which exhibits a higher charge and discharge capacity than a carbon material and is electrochemically alloyable with lithium, as an electrode active material has been undertaken.
In a case where the (semi) metal electrochemically alloyable with lithium, such as silicon, is used, cracks or fine particles may be generated due to the changes in volume caused by repeated charge and discharge of a battery, and thus, the battery may degrade. As a result, capacity of the battery may decrease. Also, there has been a case in which oxide of the (semi) metal was typically used as an electrode active material in order to reduce the cracks or fine particles due to the changes in volume. However, in this case, since lithium oxide or lithium metal oxide, as an irreversible phase caused by an initial reaction with lithium ions, is formed, an initial efficiency of the battery may decrease.

Porous composite and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract: According to the present invention, since a molar ratio (x) of oxygen to a molar ratio of (semi) metal in the porous composite is controlled, an initial efficiency of a secondary battery may be increased. Also, since the porous composite satisfies the above porosity, a thickness change rate of an electrode generated during charge and discharge of the secondary battery may be decreased and lifetime characteristics may be improved.


A technique for reducing the power threshold at which stimulated brillouin scattering ("SBS") occurs within an optical fiber by directly modulating a conventional laser generating an optical signal propagated along that fiber. The modulation is accomplished by employing an alternating waveform to induce a dither upon the laser output. The specific frequency of the alternating waveform is chosen to be very much lower than the low frequency cut-off of any receiver coupled to the optical fiber, but sufficiently high enough to efficiently suppress the Brillouin gain. This dithering causes the laser to be frequency modulated, thereby broadening the effective linewidth of the laser output and increasing the SBS power threshold.

The combination of high powered, narrow linewidth laser optical sources and low-loss single-mode optical fiber, opens the possibility of signal degradation and increased bit error rates caused by a host of nonlinear fiber-related phenomena hitherto considered inconsequential with respect to conventional fiber-optic systems. These non-linear phenomena include stimulated Brillouin scattering ("SBS"), stimulated Raman scattering, self-phase modulation, and, if two or more optical channels are involved, cross-phase modulation and four-photon mixing.
Brillouin scattering within a fiber results from photons being scattered by localized refractive index variations induced by sound or acoustic waves. These refractive index variations are caused by sonic vibrations in the glass lattice that makes up the fiber core. Furthermore, owing to the dependence of refractive index on light intensity in the nonlinear regime, the presence of intense light in the fiber will also induce lattice vibrations which in-turn induce sound waves, that then scatter more light. Ultimately, light from an intense forward propagating signal (referred to as a "pump signal") can provide gain for a backward propagating or "Stokes" signal. This scenario is a classical description of SBS. SBS threshold power ("P.sub.SBS ") is arbitrarily defined as the level of input optical pump signal power ("P.sub.pump ") at which the power of the backward Stokes signal ("P.sub.Stokes ") becomes equal to P.sub.pump at the fiber input. SBS threshold power increases with the linewidth of the light being propagated along a fiber. For this reason, concern over the adverse effects of SBS was minimal until the debut of narrow linewidth laser sources. Now, however, as narrow linewidth lasers become more readily available, and as such lasers are likely to be the optical source of choice for future fiber transmission systems, SBS has the potential for significantly contributing to signal degradation at relatively low input power levels.
Some previous SBS suppression techniques required the use of exotic lasers, and/or employing particular types of specially fabricated fibers as the transmission media. This is obviously not a practical solution for use with existing optical fiber systems and commercially available laser technology. Other methods of increasing the power threshold at which SBS occurs involve employing lasers having increased linewidths to generate the signals propagated via the optical fiber systems. However, these methods have proved undesirable as an increased linewidth typically results in degrading the dispersion characteristics of the propagating optical signal.

Reduction of stimulated brillouin scattering in a fiber optic transmission system


A mirror assembly comprising a U shaped perimeter frame and a planar mirror pivotally mounted to the frame. To mount the mirror assembly to the vehicle, there are a plurality of suction cups adjustably mounted at various locations along the frame so that these can be moved to the proper position. The angular position of the frame is set by means of a positioning arm pivotally connected to the frame and slide mounted to the U shaped frame. The assembly is arranged so that the mirror and the mounting arm can be moved to a collapsed position so as to lie within the plane defined by the frame.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hitch viewing mirror assembly and method, where the mirror assembly can be mounted at the rear end of a vehicle in a manner to provide the driver of the vehicle a view of the hitching area at the rear end of the vehicle.
b) Background Art
The common way of connecting a towing vehicle to a trailer is to provide at the rear end of the towing vehicle a ball hitch, which engages a connecting socket member of the trailer. To make the hitch connection, the vehicle is backed toward the trailer so that the ball hitch is aligned in front of the trailer socket connection, and then is moved to a location just beneath the socket of the trailer hitch connection. After this, the front end of the trailed is lowered to make the ball and socket connection. This usually requires two people to accomplish this task effectively.
Various devices have been proposed to enable the driver to more effectively align the vehicle with the trailer hitch connection and move the vehicle to the proper hitching location. One method is to provide a viewing mirror located at the rear end of the vehicle or at the forward end of the trailer, so that the driver is provided with a line of sight from the driver forwardly to the rear view mirror at the driver location, back to hitch connection mirror and then to the hitching location. A review of the U.S. patent literature has revealed a number of these patents, which are the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,310 (Staggs) discloses a trailer hitch mirror alignment device where the mirror 70 is mounted to a pair of extendable arms. The base plate by which the device is mounted to the back of a pickup truck or some other object has magnets by which it can be mounted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,468 (Stephens) shows a trailer hitch alignment device where the mirror is mounted to the forward end of the trailer. The mirror has two halves which fold over on one another at a center line. The mirror is mounted in the lower half, and the upper half serves as a cover to be moved down over the mirror.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,182 (Haworth) shows a trailer hitch alignment device which is mounted to the tailgate of a pickup truck. The mirror is a convex mirror to expand the field of vision. In FIG. 2 of the patent, it shows the reflected line of sight going down toward the back of the pickup truck and also toward the trailer hitch.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,342 (Quesada) shows a hitch viewing mirror where there is a first version for mounting it to the tailgate of a pickup truck, and a second version mounting the mirror to a back window of a station wagon or van. In the second version there are two angle mounting members, with the upper arm of each angle member attaching to the window by means of the suction cup, and the lower arm portions resting against the window.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,913 (Quesada) shows substantially the same apparatus as shown in the later issued Quesada patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,342) discussed immediately above.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,669 (Wun) shows a rear mounted mirror device which appears to be more of a general purpose rear mirror to provide the driver with a complete view of the rear of the vehicle so that it can be backed up safely and easily. The mirror is mounted so that it can be moved to various angles, and this is done by means of a motor through a screw rod.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,606 (Granno) shows a hitch viewing mirror that is mounted to a trailer between the two gas tanks mounted on the front of the trailer. There is an extendable horizontal arm mounted to a stationary structure, and at the end of the horizontal arm there is a vertically adjustable straight arm to which the mirror is attached. The mirror is convex and enables the person to have a line of sight from the driver's seat to the rearview mirror and thence backwardly to the mirror mounted on a trailer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,966 (Lowell, Jr.) shows a device for facilitating alignment with a trailer hitch, where there is a rotatable shaft 34 on which is mounted a mirror that provides a view of the trailer hitch. At the lower end of the rotatable shaft there is an extendable measuring tape, and the free end of the tape is connected by a ring and a suction cup to the back of the vehicle so that the length of tape 41 gives an alignment reference line from the middle of the rear trailer hitch. There is further an arrow like indicator which also is mounted to the shaft. When this element is pointing directly rearwardly, the vehicle is in proper alignment with the trailer hitch.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,914 (Dietrich) shows a hitch guide mirror mounted to the trailer hitch apparatus itself.
To the best knowledge of the applicants, none of the prior art trailer hitch assist devices, such as those described above, have been widely accepted.
It is an object of the present invention to provide such an assembly having a desirable balance of features, such as practicality, effectiveness, convenience of operation, capability of being manufactured at a reasonable cost, and adaptability to be used with various types of vehicles. Also, the mirror of the assembly provides a sufficiently extensive viewing area, and is sufficiently versatile that it can be mounted to a variety of vehicles and still effectively provide a proper view of the hitching area. The assembly should be sufficiently compact so that it can be easily stowed when not in use. Also, the mirror assembly of the present invention is arranged so that it can be easily and reliably positioned and not be affected by the vibrations that may occur due to the operation of the vehicle.

Hitch viewing mirror assembly and method