This invention discloses laminates comprising dyed liquid crystalline polymer based polarizers in the middle with a non-peelable, non-liquid crystalline polymeric cover layers, prepared by a process of coextrusion. The laminates are suitable to prepare liquid crystal display devices therefrom. An illustrative laminate comprises a dyed liquid crystal polymer as the polarizing film with polyethylene terephthalate as the cover layers.

Polarizers are important components of liquid crystal displays. Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are widely used components in applications such as, for example, Notebook Personal Computers (PCs), calculators, watches, liquid crystal color TVs, word processors, automotive instrument panels, anti-glare glasses and the like. A useful review article, for example, is "Digital Displays" by in Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Third edition, Volume 7, page 726 (1979), Wiley-lnterscience Publication, John Wiley & Sons, New York. Typically, Polarizers are used in the form of film, the polarizer film (also called polarizing film). In an LCD, the liquid crystal elements are generally sandwiched between two layers of polarizing films.
Traditional polarizing films comprise a stretched polymer film such as, for example, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a dichroic absorber and other optional layers. The dichroic absorber is usually iodine or a dichroic dye that is absorbed in the polymer film. However, there are several disadvantages with such films that make them unsuitable for advanced and sophisticated applications. Some such disadvantages include, for example, non-uniformity, separation of the absorber over time, susceptibility to moisture and the like. For this reason, liquid crystalline polymer-based polarizers are being developed for polarizers. The process of molding or extrusion generally achieves a high degree of stable orientation in such polymers.
Pending U.S. Pat. application, Ser. No., 08/460,288, filed Jun. 2, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,296 discloses novel liquid crystalline polymer compositions useful in polarizer applications. Illustrative compositions disclosed therein are liquid crystalline polyesters which comprise repeat units corresponding to the formula: EQU -P.sup.1 !m-P.sup.2 !n-P.sup.3 !q-
wherein P.sup.1, P.sup.2 and P.sup.3 represent monomeric moieties with P.sup.1 being an aromatic hydroxy carboxylic acid, P.sup.2 being an aromatic dicarboxylic acid and P.sup.3 being a phenol; and m, n and q represent mole percent of the respective monomers ranging from 5-70 mole percent individually. Additional monomers may also be present. A preferred composition in the same patent is a film-forming wholly aromatic thermotropic liquid crystal polyester which comprises five monomeric moieties derived from 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, terephthalic acid, 4,4'-dihydroxybiphenyl, 6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid, and resorcinol in a molar ratio 30:20:10:30:10 respectively. Such LCPs are converted to polarizing films by combining them with suitable dichroic absorbers and then melt extrusion to yield the films. After melt extrusion, the polarizer films are subjected to further processing steps which include lamination to an optically transparent polymeric layer which is generally a thermoplastic. This lamination may require the use of adhesives depending on the adhesion of the polymeric layer to the melt extruded polarizer film.
Melt extruded LCP films, however, typically exhibit a degree of machine direction-oriented surface texture and therefore need polishing prior to further use. In the case of LCPs for polarizers, the films, especially in the required thickness of 1 mil (25 .mu.m) or less, easily fibrillate and are also damaged easily during processes such as, for example, slitting and winding operations. Subsequent lamination of the polarizer films to the optically transparent polymeric layer preserves these defects and hence substantially reduces the utility of the film in devices where surface quality is critical for optical applications. Furthermore, preparing a polarizing film followed by further lamination to a thermoplastic involves extra steps which make the process uneconomical in addition to possible creation of additional defects.
One way to reduce the defects would be to coextrude the polarizer film with the optically transparent cover layer. This would avoid the separate lamination step later as well as the creation of additional defects on the polarizing LCP film. Coextruded laminates of LCPs containing other LCPs as surface layers on both sides are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,530 discloses such laminates prepared by coextrusion. Copending U.S. Pat. application, Ser. No. 08/761,042, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,744,204 filed of even date herewith, describes a coextrusion process for LCPs. In that case, the cover layers are non-adherent, and are peeled off after the coextrusion. A typical LCP for polarizer applications, on the other hand, is a mixture of an LCP polymer and a dichroic dye, where the dye has been dissolved in, blended with or absorbed in the LCP. A suitable process that provides a laminate from which the cover layers need not be peeled off will be highly useful for such LCPs.
There is a need for an improved polarizer laminate with improved surface characteristics.
It is an objective of this invention to provide improved quality LCP-polarizer laminates.
It is an additional objective of this invention to provide polarizing films with improved surface quality.
It is a further objective of this invention to provide LCP films which contain surface protecting films thereon that need not be delaminated during further processing steps.
It is a further objective of this invention to provide polarizer films which contain surface protecting films thereon that need not be delaminated but may be suitable for processing to a device by conventional processing methods.
It is a still further objective of this invention to provide polarizer laminates prepared by fewer number of steps and with fewer defects.
Other objectives and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art as well as from the following description and Examples.

Polarizer laminates comprising coextruded liquid crystal polymer moieties and integral thermoplastic cover layers


The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems, and computer readable media for producing realistic camera motion for stop motion animation. One method includes moving an object in a first space, wherein at least a portion of the movement is effected by human or other living organism. The method further includes tracking motion of the object as the object is moved in the first space and generating corresponding tracked motion data. The method further includes generating, using the tracked motion data, robot control information for controlling a robot to move a physical stop motion animation camera in a stop motion animation set. The method further includes controlling, using the robot control information, the robot to move the stop motion animation camera in the stop motion animation set.

Stop motion animation is a process where a scene is photographed frame by frame, and objects in the scene are changed between frames so that when the frame images are played back in rapid succession, the objects in the scene appear to be animated continuously. Stop motion animation is used in movies and television. For example, in the film The Empire Strikes Back, stop motion animation was used to animate models of All Terrain Armored Transport (AT-AT) walkers to produce footage of the machines walking across the surface of the fictitious ice planet Hoth.
When capturing images for stop motion animation, it may be desirable in some instances to move the scene acquisition camera around the scene. One example of a situation in which camera movement is needed is when the camera viewpoint represents the viewpoint of a human character or of a camera held by a human character within the scene. If the human is moving in the scene, the camera should also move. If the camera movement is to be realistic, i.e., like a human in this example, the camera movement should emulate human movement. Another example in which moving the stop motion animation camera during scene acquisition is desirable to simulate the viewpoint of a flying object. In The Empire Strikes Back, animators programmed camera movements in software to simulate a camera affixed to flying spaceship, a camera on a crane and dolly, and other types of movements. In order to effect such movements, the programmers defined camera start, end and in some cases intermediate points, and the computer software interpolated between the points. The interpolated camera positions were then used to control robotic motion control rigs to physically move the stop motion animation cameras within the scene.
Existing methods for producing camera motion for stop motion animation may appear synthetic because the result lacks the natural complexity of a motion that is sensed when a camera motion is performed in space with physical beings and physical objects. Humans and moving objects may move in irregular patterns which are difficult to manually program into camera robot motion control systems.
Accordingly, in light of these difficulties and with the interest of creating stop-motion camera performances with specific characteristics of movement, there exists a need for methods, systems, and compute readable media for producing realistic camera motion for stop motion animation.

Methods, systems, and computer readable media for producing realistic camera motion for stop motion animation

THE TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNYSYLVANIA


Systems and methods relating to zero voltage switching for inverters. A full bridge inverter is used in conjunction with a passive auxiliary circuit and an output filter. A control system controls the current by way of the auxiliary circuit and injects a high quality current to a power grid. The control system adjusts the duty ratio and switching frequency of the gate pulses applied to the power semiconductors in the full-bridge inverter. As well, the control system adjusts the phase shift between gate pulses for both the leading leg and lagging leg power semiconductors to control the current passing through the auxiliary circuit.

DC/AC inverters are commonly used for various applications such as renewable power conditioning systems, electric vehicles, etc. In particular, DC/AC inverters are widely used as the second stage in two-stage renewable energy power conditioning systems. The DC/AC inverter usually operates under hard-switching conditions (i.e., neither the voltage nor the current of the power switches is zero during the switching transitions). The power semiconductors of the DC/AC inverter are switched under very high voltage at the intermediate DC-bus (usually more than 400 volts). Therefore, power semiconductors' switching losses for such inverters significantly contribute to the overall losses of the power conditioning system. In particular, the reverse recovery losses of the body diodes of the power semiconductors are inevitable for such a structure. The switching frequency of the inverter is therefore very limited (usually in the range of 10-20 kHz).
It should be noted that, for inverters, having a low switching frequency gives rise to a number of issues. Inverters with a low switching frequency require larger filters at the output to be able to inject a high quality current to the utility grid according to the strict regulatory standards. Also, a low switching frequency creates a high amount of current ripple across the inverter output inductor. This current ripple increases the core losses of the inductor as well as its high frequency copper losses. In addition, chopping the DC-bus voltage creates a significant amount of conduction and emission EMI noise, which may affect the operation of the control system and highly degrade the system reliability. Based on the above, hard-switching limits the switching frequency of the inverter and, because of this, imposes a substantial compromise in the design of the output filter and on the overall performance of the power conditioning systems.
While there are different soft-switching techniques reported in the literature, these techniques generally require many extra active/passive circuits. In particular, extra active circuits highly deteriorate the reliability of the system due to the additional complexity imposed by the active components. Also, the effectiveness of these techniques is questionable. Some studies have shown that these soft-switching techniques may add more losses to the inverter and, accordingly, greatly offset whatever advantages they may offer. Because of this, most industrial products use conventional hard-switching inverters in conjunction with a large filter to result in reliable power conditioning systems. Even though the performance of these systems is highly compromised with hard-switching and bulky lossy filters, industry prefers to use a reliable, well-known solution for the inverter.
Auxiliary circuits have been used to provide soft-switching condition for the power semiconductors of a voltage source inverter. Some soft-switching circuits use a combination of an active circuit in conjunction with passive circuits to provide soft-switching conditions. However, this approach has its drawbacks. Generally, active circuits increase the complexity of the power circuit while reducing the reliability of the systems. In addition, the losses related to the auxiliary circuits usually greatly offset the advantages of soft-switching and compromises the overall inverter performance. FIG. 1 shows a conventional auxiliary circuit used to provide soft-switching for a leg of the inverter. According to FIG. 1, usually, the auxiliary circuit includes a resonant circuit with a very high amount of peak current/voltage in conjunction with a bi-directional switch. Because of this, there are significant amount of losses which can be attributed to the auxiliary circuit. As well, there can be an added requirement that the passive components should be able to withstand the high amount current/voltage during switching transitions.
Based on the above, there is a need for a simple and practical solution which, preferably, can provide soft-switching for the power semiconductors without compromising system reliability. There is a need for solutions which mitigate if not overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.


A program capable of individually decoding video data and audio data from data storing, mixed together, the video data, the audio data, and attribute data interleaved, wherein an SYS parse routine parses data MXF_D to extract system data SYS; a PIC parse routine parses the data MXF_D to extract video data PIC and decodes the related extracted video data PIC based on system data SYS extracted by the SYS parse routine 61, and an SOU parse routine parses the data MXF_D to extract audio data SOU and decodes the related extracted audio data SOU based on the system data SYS extracted by the SYS parse routine.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a program for decoding video data and audio data, a data processing method, and a system of the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of file exchange formats of video data and audio data is the "Material Exchange Format (MXF)". The MXF is composed of meta data included in header data and a plurality of frame data etc. Each frame data includes 1 frame's worth of video data, the audio data corresponding to that, and system data etc. indicating attributes of the video data and audio data. Namely, in data of the MXF, the video data, the audio data, and the system data are stored interleaved together. In the MXF, by describing in the meta data and system data the attributes such as the coding scheme, compression method, data structure, time code, and edit content of the video data and audio data in each frame data, file exchange is enabled with a format not depending upon the attributes of the video data and audio data.
In a PC or other computer, when performing processing to reproduce video data and audio data, it is necessary for the video data and the audio data to exist as separate video file data and audio file data. Due to this, there is the problem that the computer cannot reproduce video data and audio data by MXF data as it is. Further, when performing processing for reproducing video data and audio data input from a process for conversion in synchronization, due to the processing load, sometimes the video data cannot be reproduced at normal speed or more. In this case, there is the problem that the reproduced image and sound cannot be synchronized.

Program, data processing method, and system of same


A golf ball marker is carried in open display on a fabric article of golf clothing or other fabric golf accessory and remains in position due to the force of magnetism. To produce this effect, a layer of magnetic material is secured in position in contact with a concealed side of a layer of fabric in the article of golf clothing or other golf accessory. The golf ball marker is constructed of a ferrous material so that when it is placed into contact with an exposed surface of the same layer of fabric against which the magnetic material is secured opposite the layer of magnetic material, the ball marker is held by the force of magnetic attraction against the exposed surface of the to fabric layer. The ball marker remains in position until purposefully dislodged by a force that opposes the magnetic field created by the magnetic material. This force may be applied by the thumb and forefinger of the golfer's hand to remove the golf ball marker from the fabric layer. The layer of magnetic material may be incorporated into the bill or band of a hat or cap, the bill or band of a golf sun visor, the closure flap of a golfing glove, or in a golf towel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for releasably securing a golf ball marker to a fabric golf accessory, such as a golf hat, a sun visor, a golfing glove, or a towel, and an improvement to a fabric golf accessory by the combination of a magnetic material therewith.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Golf ball markers have been used for many, many years in order to mark the position of a golf ball on a fairway or green during a game of golf engaged in by competitive players. Golf ball markers are typically formed as small, disc-shaped structures, usually fabricated from metal. Conventional golf ball markers are often stamped from a ferrous material, usually steel or iron. Some conventional golf ball markers have a plain, unadorned appearance, although in more competitive golfing circles ball markers having surface embellishments on their faces are now widely utilized. Conventional ball markers may include the sculptured and/or painted reproductions of a golf course or tournament logo, a country club insignia, a corporate or university logo or insignia, or more personalized surface embellishments. Whatever the particular adornment adopted for a golf ball marker by a player, more often than not the player is proud to display the ball marker, since it is frequently indicative of courses or tournaments in which the player has participated or otherwise attests to the players experience or competence in participation in the game of golf.
While a player may be happy to display a ball marker, in conventional use, golf ball markers offer only a limited opportunity for such display. More often, when a golfer's ball lies in the field of play, the ball marker is typically carried in the golfer's pocket, and is thus concealed from view. Furthermore, when a golf ball marker is carried in a player's pocket, the player is often forced to dig and fumble through the contents of the pocket in order to retrieve it. Golf ball markers have similar sizes and shapes to coins of currency, which are often carried in the same pocket. A golf ball marker therefore cannot be separated easily from the other contents of the pocket by the sense of touch. The retrieval of a golf ball marker for use thereby creates a source of annoyance and distraction to the golfer.
Systems for enhancing the convenience of access and extent of display of golf ball markers have been devised in the past. For example, golf ball markers may be releasably mounted by means of magnets in golf divot tools that are utilized to repair divots and spruce up golf greens. Golf divot tools may be formed with one or more shallow, disc-shaped recesses therein at the bottom of which a flat slab of magnetic material is permanently secured. A ferrous ball marker formed of steel or soft iron may then be releasably held in position in the recess or tray of a golf divot tool by the magnetic force of attraction of the magnetic material. As a consequence, when the divot repair tool is utilized the ball marker is conveniently accessible and is also displayed for all to see. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,295,683 and 5,305,999 disclose and describe divot tools of different configurations in which golf ball markers are releasably mounted by the force of magnetic attraction. Also, the tool of U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,999 includes a clip that may be attached to the belt, cap, shoe, pocket, or golf bag of a golfer. As a consequence, when the divot tool is carried in this manner the golf marker is more easily retrieved and is also prominently displayed. Nevertheless, since divot tools themselves are used only on limited occasions, the opportunities for conveniently retrieving a golf ball marker by releasably mounting it on a divot tool are somewhat limited.


In an image processing apparatus that performs a dither processing using a dither matrix based on the result of determination of the segmentation class to which the pixel to be processed belongs, to perform the dither processing, any of a plurality of pairs of threshold values is selected according to the result of determination of the segmentation class, and the selected pair of threshold values are compared with the value of the pixel to be processed, which are set so that in correspondence with each position of a dither matrix of a same configuration and a same size, a different dither processing is performed according to the result of determination of the segmentation class on part of the dither matrix and a same dither processing is performed irrespective of the result of determination of the segmentation class on the remainder of the dither matrix.

The present invention relates to an image processing method, an image processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus that perform a dither processing using a dither matrix based on the result of determination of the segmentation class to which the pixel to be processed belongs, and to a recording medium where a computer program is recorded for causing a computer to perform the dither processing using the dither matrix based on the result of determination of the segmentation class to which the pixel to be processed belongs.
In recent years, since the digitization of OA apparatuses has rapidly proceeded and the demand for color image output has increased, output apparatuses such as electrophotographic digital color copiers and inkjet and thermal transfer printers have become widespread. For example, image information inputted from input apparatuses such as digital cameras and image scanners and image information created on computers are outputted by using these output apparatuses. In these output apparatuses, a pseudo tone reproduction processing is frequently performed on the inputted image information.
A method of the pseudo tone reproduction processing is the multi-level dither method. For example, on the pixels of a dither matrix as shown in FIG. 1 (here, the numerals in the cells represent the order in which higher output values are assigned), quantization is performed based on the comparison of the pixel values and a plurality of corresponding threshold values, and one of a plurality of output values is outputted or an output value converted based on a conversion table is outputted.
A technology has been proposed such that by using a dither matrix of a concentrated type having a number, k (k≧2), of cores, forming a screen angle and making the frequency of occurrence of dots whose densities are not the highest level not more than k within the dither matrix, an improvement in reproducibility and the stabilization of image quality such as smooth tone representation are attained and by making the density level difference between dots not more than 1 by uniformly increasing the density within the dither matrix, resolution is maintained within a permissible range and the halftone dots are well-balancedly expressed to thereby prevent the screen angle from disappearing (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-189774 (1986)).
For the pixels determined to be the edge area by the segmentation processing, in order to clearly reproduce characters and thin lines, unlike the multi-level dither processing for the area other than the edge area, for example, the same tone correction processing is applied to all the pixels by using a 1×1 dither matrix or a multi-level dither processing that makes the density level difference between dots not more than 1 is applied to the same input value.
As a technique to make moire difficult to occur in the halftone area while reproducing a lower density in the multi-level dither processing, a technique has been proposed such that in the low density part, the output values are distributed to the pixels in a predetermined order within the dither matrix so as to locally increase and in the high density part, the output values are distributed to the pixels one by one in a predetermined order within the dither matrix so as to uniformly increase (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-257893).

Image processing method, image processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, and recording medium


In a one-time-programming (OTP) memory cell, dual-voltage sensing is utilized to determine whether the memory cell has experienced a non/soft breakdown or a hard breakdown. The drain current of the memory cell is read when the gate voltage is at a first predetermined voltage, and if the read drain current is greater than a predetermined current level, then a hard breakdown is detected. One or more additional readings of the current may be obtained to determine that a hard breakdown has occurred. If the read drain current is less than the predetermined current level, then a non/soft breakdown is detected. The threshold voltage of the memory cell may be shifted, and a second reading of the drain current may be obtained when the gate voltage is at a second predetermined voltage in case the memory cell experiences a non/soft breakdown.

High-dielectric-constant (HK) metal-gate (MG) one-time-programming (OTP) memory devices with thin gate dielectric layers have been used as logic devices in semiconductor integrated circuits. A typical logic HK-MG OTP memory device may experience a non-breakdown or soft breakdown or a hard breakdown. Non-breakdowns or soft breakdowns (non/soft breakdowns) and hard breakdowns typically have different sensing spots and windows for typical logic HK-MG OTP memory devices. When the gate dielectric of a logic HK-MG OTP memory device becomes thinner, soft breakdowns are more likely to occur than hard breakdowns. In a soft breakdown, which may occur more frequently than a hard breakdown in a logic HK-MG OTP memory device with a thin gate dielectric layer, the gate maintains control to the channel. A close soft breakdown is a case in which the gate still maintains control to the channel but is close to a hard breakdown. Non-breakdown is similar to the case of soft breakdown but there is no gate leakage jump and gate can fully control channel with shifted threshold voltage. In contrast, when a hard breakdown or a close hard breakdown occurs, the gate loses control to the channel. There exists a need for reliably detecting soft breakdowns, close soft breakdowns and hard breakdowns in logic HK-MG OTP memory devices with thin gate dielectric layers.

Logic high-dielectric-constant (HK) metal-gate (MG) one-time-programming (OTP) memory device sensing method


This invention relates to a method for measuring the creative value added to a communication, such as an advertisement in the media of print, television or radio. In a preferred embodiment, the invention provides a quantitative measure of the creative value added to a communication. To this end, a communication test sample is compared to a creativity neutral control which is a communication which intentionally lacks any creativity.

This invention relates to quantitative methods for evaluating the effectiveness of a particular communication.
More particularly, the invention concerns a method for quantifying the effectiveness of creativity in communications, thus enabling advertisers to preselect the best communication strategies, themes and executions for their purpose so as to maximize the persuasive effect and cost effectiveness of media expenditure.
Mass communications such as television, print, radio and the Internet are used by the sponsors of products, services, or social ideas to present their offerings to the public. These communications are professionally prepared and placed by advertising and public relations agencies who are paid a fee for this purpose. Because of the high cost of media, as well as the desire to persuade as large an audience as possible, methods have been created to evaluate concepts and executions on the part of advertisers, promoters, political organizations and the like. Such methods are commonly referred to as concept testing or pre-testing and have been performed using field surveys, personal interviews and focus groups to generate and evaluate a communication concept before it is run to modify, select or reject it. Testing is typically conducted by professional market research agencies which recruit samples of respondents statistically representative of the prospective audience to create a test audience. The research process may be quantitative, meaning the findings are projectable by the use of mathematical sampling theory; or may be qualitative, in which the responses of individuals are noted. Because quantitative findings cannot be statistically projected, judgement rather than sampling theory is used to make decisions regarding the subject communication.
The market research agencies recruit the respondents for pretesting, administer the test questions and collect and process the answers to questions. If the testing is quantitative, a questionnaire is used and answers are recorded either by the interviewer or by the respondent. In order to eliminate position bias, the question sequences are normally rotated. The data recorded may include one or more measure of the respondents interest in the product or service communicated, and attitude toward it, as well as such control data as demographics, brand preferences and purchasing habits.
Existing techniques for measuring the effectiveness of communication include techniques often called pre-post, comparative, recall, normative levels and on-air. The pre-post technique requires the recording of a respondent's attitude toward a product both before and after seeing an advertisement. A typical overall measure of the respondent's interest in buying the product is measured on a 1-10 scale. The comparative technique requires providing several advertisements to a respondent at one time and comparing their effectiveness in terms of buying interest and attitudes to the product attributes. The recall technique involves showing respondents several advertisements and thereafter asking them to name those which they can recall. Meanwhile, the normative levels technique involves comparison of a communication test sample with the average levels of similar, previous tests among similar products, which are used as performance bench marks. Finally, the on-air technique entails placing recording devices in sample respondent's homes to record their viewing patterns.
Testing techniques for determining the effectiveness of communication are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,647,964 and 5,041,972. U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,964 discloses an apparatus including a television monitor connected to three (3) distinct video tape recorders. A respondent controls a switch interconnected to the video recorders so that only one program is in operation at any one time. The respondent's viewing patterns are then analyzed to determine the effectiveness of television commercials. U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,972 discloses the use of a linear attribute scale ranging from 0-10. Using a handheld controller, the respondent causes a cursor to move along the attribute scale for computer recording.
Many of the above test methods seek to isolate the advertisement from extraneous factors for clinical assessment. Other test methods seek to increase the realism of the test environment by inserting the test advertisement among other advertisements as they would appear in print or television. Sometimes these methods will be combined. However, these conventional tests do not measure the "creativity" of the advertisement. Instead the testing techniques measure the combined effects of the attributes of the product, the already established goodwill of the company, popularity of the particular item being sold, as well as the creativity of the advertisement.
Creativity is the novel way in which a message is presented with the intent of drawing attention to a particular audience, positioning a product as appealing as possible, and generating interest in the purchase of the item. The use of humor, color, situation, demonstration, etc. adds to the interest in appeal of a product. Conversely, misjudged creativity can detract from the appeal of a product. Furthermore, creativity can increase the persuasive power of a message by attracting greater attention or changing important audience attitudes, or can negate a message by being dull, setting the wrong tone, or giving offense. Creativity is of crucial importance to advertisers because it can achieve more without having to cost more.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide a method for quantitatively measuring the creative value added to a communication, such as a print, television or radio advertisement.

Method of measuring the creative value in communications


A housing (15) fixed to a reference block (1) is provided with a guide hole (20) into which a plug portion (3) of a movable member (2) is allowed to be inserted. Inside this guide hole (20) is arranged an outer sleeve (21) vertically movably, and this outer sleeve (21) is advanced upward by a predetermined advancing stroke by a coned disc spring (25). An inner sleeve (31) which is allowed to fit outside the plug portion (3) is wedge-engaged with the outer sleeve (21) from above, and this inner sleeve (31) is adapted to be diametrically expandable and diametrically contractible. The inner sleeve (31) is moved vertically by an output member (36).

This kind of clamping apparatus is conventionally described in Patent Document 1 for example. The clamping apparatus presented in the Patent Document 1 is constituted in such a way that a plurality of rotary clamps are arranged around a work placed on a work pallet, and clamping member of the rotary clamps press the work from above.
Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,118


A power interface circuit (64) is provided that uses an n-channel MOSFET (66) to control the switching of a power supply (46) to a TDMA power amplifier (58). When turned on, the n-channel MOSFET (66) connects the power supply (46) to the power amplifier (58), and when turned off, it disconnects the power supply from the power amplifier. The power interface circuit (64) includes a switch control circuit (70) that controls the switching state of the n-channel MOSFET (66) in response to a switch control signal. The switch control signal has a first binary state during which the n-channel MOSFET (66) is turned off and a second binary state during which the n-channel MOSFET is turned on.

This invention generally relates to the field of power interface circuits and, more particularly, to power interface circuits for time division multiple access (TDMA) transmitters.
TDMA communication systems have been widely used in today's digital cellular systems, to communicate voice and data between a plurality of portable or mobile transceiver units. In such systems, a radio frequency channel is subdivided into a number of TDMA channels comprising time slots during which the transceiver units communicate TDMA messages with each other. Each transceiver unit includes a TDMA transmitter that transmits bursts of messages during an assigned transmit channel and a TDMA receiver that receives the messages during an assigned receive channel.
In order to minimize battery current drain, a critical resource in the portable communication units, certain components of the TDMA transmitter and receiver may be energized only during their assigned channels. Moreover, even during the assigned channels, transmitter components may be turned off during periods of silence to still further reduce consumption. For example, each transmitter includes a radio frequency power amplifier (RFPA), which draws relatively significant battery current when energized. Thus, the transmitter is equipped with a power interface circuit that selectively couples the supply voltage to the RFPA only during an assigned transmit channel, to minimize battery current drain. Generally, such power interface circuit includes a switch that connects and disconnects the supply voltage to and from the RFPA under the control of a switch control signal.
Conventionally, p-channel metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) have been used as switches in the power interface circuits. FIG. 1 shows schematic diagram of one conventional power interface circuit 10 that uses such p-channel MOSFET 12, which is biased through resistors 11 and 13 to selectively connect and disconnect a supply voltage provided on line 14 to an RFPA 16. In response to a voltage supply control signal on line 18, which has two binary states, the p-channel MOSFET is turned on to connect the supply voltage to the RFPA 16 during one binary state and is turned off to disconnect the supply voltage from the RFPA 16 during another binary state.
To turn on the p-channel MOSFET 12, a negative voltage is applied across the transistor's gate-to-source junction that increases (or enhances) the conductivity of its p-channel. Under the arrangement of FIG. 1, a negative gate voltage, i.e. ground, is applied to the p-channel MOSFET, through a bipolar transistor 20, to turn on the p-channel MOSFET, and a positive gate voltage, i.e. V.sub.SUPPLY, is applied to turn it off.
Because of the desire to minimize the size and cost of portable communication units and increase their transmission speed, manufacturers are continuously searching for ways to reduce the size of the circuitry used in such units, while increasing their switching speed. Compared to p-channel MOSFETs, n-channel MOSFETs occupy two to three times less die space and provide faster switching speeds. They could also be configured to protect the RFPA from voltage peaks through simple regulation circuits, for example, by coupling a Zener diode at the gate of the MOSFET. Thus, the n-channel MOSFETs are an attractive alternative to p-channel MOSFETs in communication system switching applications.
Despite the advantages offered by the n-channel MOSFETs, their use in portable communication units have been limited because in order to use the n-channel MOSFET as a switch, the MOSFET must be biased to operate in an on-state. Biasing the n-channel MOSFET in the on-state requires application of a gate voltage that is more positive than the supply voltage; a task not easily achievable given the supply voltage is the highest voltage available in the communication unit.
Thus, there exists a need for a power interface circuit that can bias an n-channel MOSFET to provide selective switching between the supply voltage and the RFPA of a TDMA transmitter. The present invention addresses this need.

Power interface circuit for a TDMA transmitter


This invention provides a system and method for displaying color match information on an acquired image of an object. A model/pattern having a plurality of color test points at locations of stable color is provided. A display process generates visible geometric shapes with respect to the color test points in a predetermined color. An alignment process aligns features of the object with respect to features on the model so that the geometric shapes appear in locations on the object that correspond to locations on the model. The geometric shapes can comprise closed shapes that surround a region expected to be stable color on the object. Such shapes can define circles, squares, diamonds or any other acceptable closed or open shape that is visible to the user on the display.

Machine vision systems, also termed "vision systems" herein, are used to perform a variety of tasks in a manufacturing environment. In general, a vision system consists of one or more cameras with an image sensor (or "imager") that acquires grayscale or color images of a scene that contains an object under manufacture. Images of the object can be analyzed to provide data/information to users and associated manufacturing processes. The data produced by the image is typically analyzed and processed by the vision system in one or more vision system processors that can be purpose-built, or part of one or more software application(s) instantiated within a general purpose computer (e.g. a PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone).
Common vision system tasks include alignment and inspection. In an alignment task, vision system tools, such as the well known PatMax® system commercially available from Cognex Corporation of Natick, Mass., compares features in an image of a scene to a trained (using an actual or synthetic model) pattern, and determines the presence/absence and pose of the pattern in the imaged scene. This information can be used in subsequent inspection (or other) operations to search for defects and/or perform other operations, such as part rejection.
It is challenging for a vision system to match certain imaged features to trained patterns. This can result from a lack of high-contrast edges (which most pattern matching tools use to base matching decisions). The existence of clutter—contrast features that are separate from the expected edges—can be employed to assist matching decisions, as described in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/580,153, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING CLUTTER IN AN ACQUIRED IMAGE, filed Dec. 24, 2014, by Jason Davis, et al, the teachings of which are incorporated by reference as useful background information. This system and method operates to discern grayscale-based clutter in a runtime image, and more particularly, it allows determination of a clutter score that enables matching of candidate poses with respect to a trained pattern. The trained pattern is provided with a set of clutter test points (also termed "probes") that represent a level of emptiness in the trained pattern. A runtime pose with a coordinate space for the image with respect to the trained pattern is established. The clutter test points are then mapped onto the coordinate space for the image, and the level of emptiness is determined at the mapped clutter test points. Based upon the level of emptiness, a level of clutter in (at least a portion of) the acquired image is determined.
In many applications of machine vision it is desirable to match patterns that contain distinct image information other than edges—such as color. Similar to how clutter estimates are less stable in regions of high gradient, color is typically least stable at the object edges and/or transitions between different object colors in the image. Hence probes that are established to match color are most effectively deployed in regions remote from high gradient. Nevertheless, inaccurate matches between trained and runtime color images can occur, and in color image training and runtime color matching, there is an absence of a clear metric of successful versus unsuccessful color matches that alert the user and/or automated systems.

System and method for representing and displaying color accuracy in pattern matching by a vision system


An organic light emitting device (OLED) comprising an anode, an organic emissive layer, a cathode, and an ion-complexing material layer, and a display using the OLED, are provided. The ion-complexing material layer is arranged between the anode and the cathode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic light emitting device and a display using the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A structural element of an organic light emitting device (organic light emitting diode; OLED) operates based on the principle of electroluminescence. Electrons and holes are injected into a semiconductor material so that they recombine and become electrically neutral. Excited molecules derived from, for example, polyflourenes, generate light when they transit back to the base state. Various known organic compounds for OLEDs may be classified into small molecular weight compounds (SM-OLEDs) and polymeric organic compounds (pLEDs).
Various phenomena, for example, electron conduction (electron transport), hole conduction, and light emission, are involved in the operational efficiency of the OLED, which is defined as the ratio of the amount of emitted light to injected charge carriers. Most materials used in OLEDs are responsible for one of the phenomena, i.e., electron conduction, hole conduction, and light emission. Use of multi-layered structural elements, which are combined together, has been suggested for higher efficiency. In this structure, one layer plays may play a prominent part in conducting holes while another layer in conducting electrons. These multiple layers may be arranged in a predetermined manner for an OLED with higher energy efficiency. Methods of arranging specific material layers for a higher OLED are disclosed in various references.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,211 discloses an increase in the efficiency of an SM-OLED by improved injection of electrons into a cathode. In a similar approach, use of a metal having a minor outlet work for the cathode is suggested in Appl. Phys. Lett., 1991, 58, 1992 (Heger et al.).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,569 discloses an increase in the efficiency of an SM-OLED by improved injection and conduction of holes. A specific layer made of tertiary amines is used to lower energy barriers between structural elements of the OLED, thus improving hole injection and conduction.
WO 2003001569 A2 (Princeton University) discloses an OLED with a structure including an anode, a polymeric hole transport layer and emissive layer, a low molecular weight exiton blocking layer, a low molecular weight electron-conducting layer, and a cathode. Polyvinylkarbazol (PVK) is used as a hole conductor in the OLED. To obtain a full color display, the PVK layer is doped with luminescent coloring materials to define green, red, and blue spectrum areas thereon. Furthermore, an exiton blocking layer made of a low molecular weight material is disposed between the PVK layer and the cathode.
Although the efficiency of the structural layers of the OLED may be improved, the OLED may require a high energy input for a predetermined level of brightness, and it may have a short life span due to poor durability.

Organic light emitting device and display using the same


An anti-fog composition is provided that includes a superabsorbent polymer that along with a wetting agent are dissolved in a solvent. The superabsorbent polymer excludes hydroxylated acrylate and methacrylate polymers. The composition upon being applied to a substrate with the excess composition removed, an anti-fog film is formed on the substrate without resort to heat treatment and vacuum processing or other complex application processes associated with. The composition is well suited for formation of an end user kit for applying such a film to a substrate. Such a kit includes a container for the composition or a wipe wet with the composition. The container being a bottle or a propellant filled aerosol canister. Upon wiping residual composition from the substrate, the anti-fog film is produced without resort to prior art and complex application processes.

The nucleation of water droplets on a substrate from ambient atmosphere poses an ongoing problem for viewing and vehicle operation under high humidity conditions. The operation of automobiles, spacecraft, and aircraft are all compromised by poor visibility associated with fog condensation on a viewing substrate of such vehicles and craft. Other transparent viewing surfaces also exhibit diminished performance as a result of droplet nucleation on such surfaces. These other surfaces include glasses, goggles, camera lenses, and binoculars. Additionally, with unmanned aerial vehicles and underwater craft proliferating, concerns about visual impairment associated with condensation on viewing substrates in such unmanned vehicle has become an increasingly urgent problem.
Traditionally, for preventing fog on various substrates, a method of coating a surface with a surfactant that has wetting property is generally used. The duration of the anti fog effect by using this method is limited and regular re-application is required. Moreover, the performance under high humidity conditions is not good because the surfactant cannot hold a large amount of water that condensed on the surface. Hence, the conventional anti-fog develops rivulets of water and has a streaked transparency.
More recently, the field has learned to appreciate that substrate fogging can be inhibited by coating a substrate with a water-absorbing material, as opposed to a surfactant that simply modifies the wetting properties of a substrate. Water absorbing materials that have been used include starch-based polymers, cellulose-based polymers, polyvinyl alcohol-based polymers, acrylic polymers, and polyether-based polymers. The use of these water absorbing polymers has extended the duration of an anti-fog effect relative to surfactant-based compositions. Water absorbing material deposition techniques for an anti-fog film include reliance on heat treatment (U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,680), vacuum processes (U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,683), and dip-, spray-, or spin-coating (U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,613). A characteristic common to these anti-fog film deposition techniques is the inclusion of two or more treatment steps to apply an anti-fog film. Additionally, these techniques require a catalyst needed to crosslink the polymer into a final film, heat treatment to temperatures of greater than 80° C., vacuum process or the necessity to remove the substrate from the substrate mounting in order to perform the dip coating, spray coating or spin coating to achieve an optically smooth anti-fog film, or combinations of these processes. As a result of these limitations associated with prior art techniques for applying a water-absorbing material containing anti-fog film onto a substrate, the ability to reapply such an anti-fog composition while a substrate is in field use is severely hampered.
Thus, there exists a need for a moisture absorbing anti-fog composition and a process for the use thereof that is readily applied in the field to a substrate through resort to the conventional trigger spray application, propellant aerosol, or a sponge or cloth for wipe application onto the substrate desired to have an anti-fog film thereon. There also exists a need for a process to apply such a composition from a kit to provide an anti-fog film on a substrate.

Moisture absorbing anti-fog composition and process for the use thereof


Apparatus for stripping waste material from a paperboard web in a die cutter or die cutting section of a press that includes an outer pin cylinder, carrying self cleaning stripper pin mechanisms, and an inner ejection cylinder mounted eccentrically within the outer pin cylinder by a mounting arrangement that has a longitudinally extending non-rotatable beam with a pair of trolleys mounted thereon that carry rollers engagable with the inner surface of the ejection cylinder to keep the ejection cylinder in a predetermined position at all times with respect to the pin cylinder for engagement with said stripper pin mechanisms.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cutting presses or die cutting sections of printing presses, and, more particularly, to apparatus for stripping waste material from a web of paperboard.
2. Description of the Background Art
A background art search directed to the subject matter of this invention conducted in the United States Patent and Trademark Office disclosed the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
______________________________________ 2,711,935 2,778,286 2,986,086 3,320,864 3,359,843 3,371,584 3,467,450 3,513,756 3,877,353 4,137,829 4,367,069 4,613,321 5,087,237 ______________________________________
None of the patents uncovered in the search discloses apparatus for stripping waste material from a paperboard web in a die cutter which apparatus includes an outer pin cylinder, carrying self cleaning stripper pin mechanisms, and an inner ejection cylinder, mounted eccentrically within the outer pin cylinder by a mounting arrangement that includes a longitudinally extending non-rotatable beam having a pair of trolleys fixedly mounted thereon and carrying rollers engagable with the inner surface of the ejection cylinder, to keep the ejection cylinder in a predetermined position at all times with respect to the pin cylinder for engagement with said stripper pin mechanisms.


The present invention relates to an improved microprocessor having a memory system with several caches that can be operated to provide virtual memory. Among the caches included in the microprocessor are conventional caches that store data and instructions to be utilized by the processes being performed by the microprocessor, and that are typically arranged in a cache hierarchy, as well as one or more translation lookaside buffer (TLB) caches that store a limited number of virtual page translations. The improved microprocessor also has an additional cache that serves to store a virtual hash page table (VHPT) that is accessed when TLB misses occur. The introduction of this VHPT cache eliminates or at least reduces the need for the microprocessor to look for information within the caches of the cache hierarchy or in other memory (e.g., main memory) outside of the microprocessor when TLB misses occur, and consequently enhances microprocessor speed.

Microprocessors typically employ one or more caches to store data and instructions for use by the processes being executed. Often, these caches take the form of a cache hierarchy including two or three caches that are physically positioned successively farther away from the processor. The use of such caches makes it possible for the processor to access information more rapidly than would otherwise be the case if the processor had to obtain the information from main memory or some other memory device.
Although the information stored in caches can be accessed significantly faster than the information stored in other memory devices such as main memory, caches are only able to store relatively small amounts of information. That is, only a relatively small portion of all of the information required by a process being executed by a processor typically resides in the cache(s). Nevertheless, even though a cache at any given time may only store a fraction of the total amount of information that may be required by a given process, the operation of the cache can be managed in such a way that at any given time the cache holds much if not all of the information that is required by the process at that particular time. Information desired by a process that is absent from a cache can usually be transferred to the cache from another memory device.
Because information is stored in multiple memory devices including cache(s), main memory, and elsewhere, and because as discussed above such information is often moved among the different memory devices (e.g., to and from the caches), it would be difficult to compose processes for execution on a processor if those processes were themselves responsible for controlling the movement and storage of information and keeping track of the locations of the information to allow for accessing of that information. Instead of burdening the processes with such responsibilities, many modern microprocessors implement "virtual memory" systems in which the microprocessors organize and manage the operations of the various memory devices in such a manner that, from the perspective of the processes, the overall memory appears to take on a standardized form independent of the particular memory devices that are available.
To implement such a virtual memory system, actual physical memory locations or addresses are mapped to corresponding virtual addresses, typically in a one-to-one manner. Rather than having to access the actual memory addresses, processes operating on the processor merely refer to the virtual addresses. By virtue of a page table or similar map that stores the correspondences between the physical and virtual addresses, the referred to virtual addresses are converted into the actual physical addresses and as a result the data at those actual memory addresses can then be provided to the processes requesting that data.
Due to its size, the page table itself is stored in main memory. However, for much the same reasons that the substantive information desired by processes operating on the processor are stored in cache(s) (in particular, to facilitate the speed of accessing the stored information), portions of the page table that are most relevant to the processes being performed at a given time can also be stored in a specialized cache termed a translation lookaside buffer ("TLB"). When a process requests information at a given virtual address, the processor first consults the TLB cache rather than the page table in main memory to obtain the mapping or translation of that virtual address into a corresponding physical address. If the TLB cache does not include the desired translation, such that a "TLB miss" occurs, then the desired translation is obtained from the page table and inserted into the TLB.
Although the use of a TLB cache improves the speed with which a desired translation can be obtained, the TLB cache by itself fails to address another problem associated with the accessing of such translations. Because the amount of data in a page table is typically very large, the process of searching through a page table for a desired translation can itself take a relatively large amount of time. To reduce the time associated with such searching, rather than consulting standard page tables, many conventional processors instead consult a modified version of page table termed a virtual hash page table ("VHPT") in main memory that assigns codes or hashes to the different translation information. The codes are typically representative of the different translations but are shorter in length, and consequently it is possible to search through the translations as represented in the VHPT, by a hardware or software-implemented "page walker", at a quicker pace than would be possible if a standard page table was being searched.
While the use of a TLB cache in conjunction with a VHPT in main memory improves the rapidity with which a processor can obtain desired address translation information, it would be desirable to achieve even faster rates of obtaining desired translations than are achieved with current systems. In particular, it would be desirable to improve the speed with which a processor is able to obtain desired translation information from the VHPT when TLB misses occur. Although inclusion of VHPT information within one or more of the caches of the cache hierarchy of the microprocessor might initially appear to provide some benefit, insofar as the caches can be accessed more quickly than main memory, this does not in fact provide any significant benefit.
More particularly, the caches of the cache hierarchy are operated in a manner that takes advantage of a "temporal locality" principle. That is, the caches are operated so as to favor the continued storing of information that has been more recently accessed by the processor and to overwrite/replace information that has been less recently accessed, with the underlying presumption being that the more recently a given piece of data has been requested, the more likely it is to be requested again in the future. Although caching information based upon the temporal locality principle works well generally in terms of making available to the processor that information which is most likely to be of use to the processor at a given time, the caching of VHPT entries within the caches of the cache hierarchy based upon this principle does not work well. TLB misses, and consequently searches for VHPT entries, occur with such a low frequency relative to the frequency with which other types of information (e.g., substantive information) are requested that relevant VHPT entries stored in the cache hierarchy are usually replaced/overwritten before those entries are requested again.
Therefore, it would be advantageous if a new system and method could be developed that enhanced the speed at which stored data could be accessed by a processor. More particularly, it would be advantageous if such a new system and method increased the speed at which appropriate VHPT entries representing correspondences between virtual and physical addresses could be obtained by the processor in response to TLB misses, such that the data stored at the physical addresses corresponding to those virtual addresses could be more rapidly accessed by the processor.

System and method for responding to TLB misses

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A fan shroud for an outdoor unit of an air conditioner is positioned between an axial fan and a grill. The axial fan has multiple fan blades and is designed to pull air through a heat exchanger toward the grill. The fan shroud includes an inflow portion and an outflow portion diverging outwardly. The inflow portion has substantially an inwardly U-bent section for generating a primary vortex. The U-bent section has two generally parallel legs connected at one end to define a closed end further from the grill and disconnected at another end to define an open end closer to the grill. The U-bent section extends along the entire circumference of the inflow portion. The open end and the closed end of the U-bent section are positioned between a front edge and a rear edge of each fan blade.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an outdoor unit of an air conditioner, and more particularly, a fan shroud for that unit. The fan shroud allows air to flow smoothly through the outdoor unit.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
An air conditioner, using the refrigeration cycle, compresses, condensates, expands and evaporates to control ambient air a refrigerant temperature and humidity. Generally, the air conditioner, with various devices for refrigeration cycle is divided into an indoor unit and an outdoor unit. The indoor unit contains an evaporator that evaporates a liquid refrigerant, to cool the ambient air. A condenser, which condenses the refrigerant from vapor into liquid, is the major element in the outdoor unit.
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross section of an outdoor unit with a conventional fan shroud.
Referring to FIG. 1, the outdoor unit 2 contains a motor 4, a fan blade 6, and a heat exchanger 8. The motor 4 drives the fan blade 6 to cause air to flow over the heat exchanger 8. That is, the air flows into the outdoor unit through rear side via the heat exchanger 8 thereof by rotation of the fan 6, and flows out of the outdoor unit through front side thereof. A fan shroud 10 is located in front of the fan 6 as an air discharge passage, and a grill 12 located in front of the fan shroud 10 protects the unit. The conventional fan shroud 10 has a converging-diverging nozzle form, 10b and 10a. That is, an inflow portion 10a (on the fan side) of the fan shroud as well as an outflow portion 10b (on the grill side) have outwardly diverged forms. The outflow portion 10b has a greater diameter than the inflow portion.
The manner in which the conventional fan shroud operates will be explained by the referring FIG. 1. The refrigerant, vaporized in the evaporator (not shown) in the indoor unit, is compressed in the compressor (not shown), and then flows into the heat exchanger 8. The refrigerant in the heat exchanger 8 exchanges heat with outside air condenses, and flows back into the indoor unit. That is, the fan 6 rotates, pulling air into the outdoor unit through a rear side thereof, and exchanges heat with the refrigerant. The air, with its elevated temperature due to passing over the heat exchanger flows out of the outdoor unit through the fan shroud 10 and the grill 12.
The conventional fan shroud for an outdoor unit of an air conditioner has the following problems. The outwardly diverged inflow portion 10a of the conventional fan shroud 10 causes great vortexes at the outflow portion 10b, and with the vortexes, the turbulence noise increases making the entire noise of the outdoor unit greater. These vortexes in the downstream in turn reduce the air discharge area, which degrades the heat exchange performance.

Fan shroud for outdoor unit of air conditioner


Systems for positioning a work piece relative to a tool. These systems may include, among others, apparatus and methods, such as a worktable for a drill press or similar machine, for positioning a work piece, such as wood, plastic, metal, and/or other material, relative to a tool, such as a cutting, shaping, and/or finishing tool. The worktable may be configured, among others, to position a work piece in two planes relative to the axis of the tool.

Tools are devices used to perform or facilitate mechanical work. The term "tool" may be used to denote the entire instrument (such as a hammer or screwdriver) or only a portion of the instrument (such as a cutting or shaping part in a machine or machine tool). Tools typically are used to perform some action on a "work piece," such as a piece of wood, metal, or plastic, and may be used alone and/or in conjunction with a worktable or workbench used to support the work piece and/or tool.
Drill presses are exemplary tools used mainly for producing or modifying holes in a work piece. These work pieces most commonly are positioned by marking the work piece with the center location of a desired drill hole. The work piece is then placed under the cutting tool and moved around on the table until the center of the tool corresponds with the mark. The work piece may then be clamped to the table for drilling. Unfortunately, this method suffers from two significant drawbacks. The first drawback is that it is hard to position the work piece accurately under the tool. This is increasingly more difficult with large drills. In particular, as drills increase in diameter, the web or center of the drill typically increases in size making it harder to estimate the true centerline of the tool. The second drawback is that clamping work pieces of various sizes can be cumbersome, time consuming, and/or the cause of further errors in work piece positioning.
Several drill press positioning systems are available on the market. These systems range from simple stopping fence arrangements, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,185,470, issued Jul. 30, 1963, to systems that incorporate a flat table with a calibrated fence and stop in two planes, such as the Incra Drill Press Table. The simple stopping fence arrangements have no real measurement functions, acting only as a support during drilling, and a reference for subsequent parts that are to be drilled at the same location. The Incra table requires accurate tracks in the table to guide the fence with as little play as possible as it is moved into different positions.
Some of the shortcomings in the positioning systems discussed above are addressed by the drill press table shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,129, issued Apr. 4, 1995, to Steussy. Unfortunately, while the Steussy table has advantages over current systems, it still is deficient in several areas. The principal deficiency in the Steussy table is that even though the table has a stop that rides along a fence, the pivoting nature of the design makes it impossible to provide a measurement function in this plane because the center or zero position of the fence changes with each pivot adjustment. Another deficiency in the Steussy table arises because the table of a drill press typically is mounted to a column; thus, when a height adjustment is made to the table, the table is allowed to rotate around the column, thereby requiring the tool to be changed to recalibrate the table position.


An improved sandpaper cutting guide is disclosed having a series of recesses to receive different sized pieces of sandpaper. The longer side of a standard sized sheet of sandpaper is placed in one of the slots for cutting the sheet in half or the end of the standard sized sheet may be placed in another slot for cutting a one-third sheet piece. A cutting tool is inserted through a slit in the guide and drawn across the guide to cut a selected one of several smaller, also standard, piece sizes from the sheet. The same slit guides the cutting tool for all sizes with size being determined by the recess into which the sheet is placed. Access openings are provided to aid in removal of the cut piece from the guide. Preferably, recesses are provided for cutting the standard sized sheet into halves, thirds, quarters or sixths.

Hand held sanders come in many sizes and shapes and find widespread use among both professionals and amateur home craftsman. Both manual sanding blocks and portable electric sanders require sandpaper pieces smaller than the standard sheet size. Such sanders require frequent replacement of the abrasive surface as the abrasive material is quickly consumed during operation of the sander. Packages of precut replacement sandpaper sized to fit the particular tool are sometimes available, but such precut replacements tend to be relatively expensive. Moreover, maintaining several different stocks of precut paper (of perhaps several different degrees of abrasiveness or grit) for several different sanding devices is troublesome.
In order to save money, users will often cut or tear standard sized sheets of sandpaper into smaller pieces for use with their sanders. This can prove to be relatively time consuming, requiring careful measuring to obtain the most pieces from a sheet as well as to obtain the right size sheet for a particular application. An incorrect cut or tear may produce the correct size smaller piece for a certain application, but also produce a remaining portion of the sheet not suited to the production of further smaller sheet portions. That is, an inappropriate cut may result in generating increased scrap. It can also be wasteful, as when the sheet does not tear or cut as intended, with the result that the piece can not be used.
Cutting devices to assist the amateur craftsman in cutting replacement pieces of sandpaper have been suggested. Such devices usually take the form of paper cutters, ticket cutters and wallpaper cutters and are not designed specifically for cutting sandpaper. However, U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,992 to Martin and U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 296,864 to Moulton et al both disclose abrasive sheet measuring and cutting boards with a permanently attached serrated edge for cutting sandpaper. These patented arrangements represent an improvement over the somewhat standard technique of laying the sandpaper sheet along the edge of a table top or other straight edged surface and simply tearing along that surface, but in either case, the tendency for paper to tear along a line other than that of the surface still results in the frequent generation of scrap pieces.


A memory module includes a memory hub coupled to several memory devices. The memory hub includes history logic that predicts on the basis of read memory requests which addresses in the memory devices from which date are likely to be subsequently read. The history logic applies prefetch suggestions corresponding to the predicted addresses to a memory sequencer, which uses the prefetch suggestions to generate prefetch requests that are coupled to the memory devices. Data read from the memory devices responsive to the prefetch suggestions are stored in a prefetch buffer. Tag logic stores prefetch addresses corresponding to addresses from which data have been prefetched. The tag logic compares the memory request addresses to the prefetch addresses to determine if the requested read data are stored in the prefetch buffer. If so, the requested data are read from the prefetch buffer. Otherwise, the requested data are read from the memory devices.

Computer systems use memory devices, such as dynamic random access memory ("DRAM") devices, to store data that are accessed by a processor. These memory devices are normally used as system memory in a computer system. In a typical computer system, the processor communicates with the system memory through a processor bus and a memory controller. The processor issues a memory request, which includes a memory command, such as a read command, and an address designating the location from which data or instructions are to be read. The memory controller uses the command and address to generate appropriate command signals as well as row and column addresses, which are applied to the system memory. In response to the commands and addresses, data are transferred between the system memory and the processor. The memory controller is often part of a system controller, which also includes bus bridge circuitry for coupling the processor bus to an expansion bus, such as a PCI bus.
Although the operating speed of memory devices has continuously increased, this increase in operating speed has not kept pace with increases in the operating speed of processors. Even slower has been the increase in operating speed of memory controllers coupling processors to memory devices. The relatively slow speed of memory controllers and memory devices limits the data bandwidth between the processor and the memory devices.
In addition to the limited bandwidth between processors and memory devices, the performance of computer systems is also limited by latency problems that increase the time required to read data from system memory devices. More specifically, when a memory device read command is coupled to a system memory device, such as a synchronous DRAM ("SDRAM") device, the read data are output from the SDRAM device only after a delay of several clock periods. Therefore, although SDRAM devices can synchronously output burst data at a high data rate, the delay in initially providing the data can significantly slow the operating speed of a computer system using such SDRAM devices.
One approach to alleviating the memory latency problem is to use multiple memory devices coupled to the processor through a memory hub. In a memory hub architecture, a system controller or memory controller is coupled to several memory modules, each of which includes a memory hub coupled to several memory devices. The memory hub efficiently routes memory requests and responses between the controller and the memory devices. Computer systems employing this architecture can have a higher bandwidth because a processor can access one memory device while another memory device is responding to a prior memory access. For example, the processor can output write data to one of the memory devices in the system while another memory device in the system is preparing to provide read data to the processor. Although computer systems using memory hubs may provide superior performance, they nevertheless often fail to operate at optimum speed for several reasons. For example, even though memory hubs can provide computer systems with a greater memory bandwidth, they still suffer from latency problems of the type described above. More specifically, although the processor may communicate with one memory device while another memory device is preparing to transfer data, it is sometimes necessary to receive data from one memory device before the data from another memory device can be used. In the event data must be received from one memory device before data received from another memory device can be used, the latency problem continues to slow the operating speed of such computer systems.
One technique that has been used to reduce latency in memory devices is to prefetch data, i.e., read data from system memory before the data are requested by a program being executed. Generally the data that are to be prefetched are selected based on a pattern of previously fetched data. The pattern may be as simple as a sequence of addresses from which data are fetched so that data can be fetched from subsequent addresses in the sequence before the data are needed by the program being executed. The pattern, which is known as a "stride," may, of course, be more complex.
Although data prefetching can reduce memory access latencies in conventional computer systems, prefetching of data has not been effectively used in a manner that provides optimum performance in computer systems using memory hubs. In particular, the vast amount of data that can be addressed in a computer system having several memory hubs makes it difficult to accurately predict which data will be subsequently needed. Furthermore, even if the data that will be required can be correctly anticipated, it can be unduly time consuming to couple the data from memory devices in a memory module, and through a memory hub in the memory module to a prefetch buffer in the system controller or memory controller. The need to couple the data from the memory module to the prefetch buffer can also reduce the memory bandwidth of the system if the data are being prefetched at a time when normal memory accesses are being attempted.
There is therefore a need for a computer architecture that provides the advantages of a memory hub architecture and also minimize the latency problems common in such systems, thereby providing memory devices with high bandwidth and low latency.

Memory hub and access method having internal prefetch buffers


Disclosed is a liquid crystal driving device, which is without a gate PCB, having improved uniformity of screen, and a driving method thereof. The liquid crystal driving device comprises: a sequence recognition means for recognizing sequence of a pertinent gate driver IC by a pulse width of a vertical start signal inputted in synchronization with a vertical synchronous signal, and generating a Carry signal and location data of the pertinent gate driver IC; and a gate-off voltage generation means for receiving a first gate-off voltage and the location data of the pertinent gate driver IC, and outputting a second gate-off voltage which is generated by subtracting a voltage attenuation quantity corresponding to the location data of the gate driver IC from the first gate-off voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal driving device and a driving method thereof, and more particularly to a liquid crystal driving device driving liquid crystal so that an image is displayed uniformly throughout all of a liquid crystal screen, and a driving method thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) technology has been developed to secure a lower price, a lighter weight, a lower power, and higher reliability. Therefore, a line-on-glass type (hereinafter, referred to "LOG-type") of liquid crystal display device has been developed and produced, the LOG-type liquid crystal display device having a lower substrate on which signal line patterns are formed so as to provide a pertinent drive signal and a pertinent data signal to each of a plurality of gate driver ICs (Integrated Circuits) and a plurality of source driver ICs, without a gate Printed Circuit Board (hereinafter, the Printed Circuit Board is referred to "PCB") and a Flexible Printed Circuit board (hereinafter, referred to "FPC")
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a LOG-type liquid crystal display device without a gate PCB in accordance with the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, the LOG-type liquid crystal display device includes: a liquid crystal panel 10 formed by combining an upper substrate 10a and a lower substrate 10b, with liquid crystal interposed between the substrates 10a and 10b; a source PCB 12; a plurality of source driver ICs 16, each of which is packaged in a TCP (Tape Carrier Package) 14, electrically connecting the source PCB 12 with one side portion of the lower substrate 10b; a plurality of gate driver ICs 20 packaged in TCPs by ones and electrically connected to another side portion of the lower substrate 10b; and signal line patterns 22 formed along bonding portion of the TCPs 18 and the gate driver ICs 20 so as to provide a power, a drive signal, and control signals for driving the gate driver ICs 20.
The liquid crystal panel 10 includes: a plurality of data lines DLs arranged in a column direction; a plurality of gate lines GLs arranged in a row direction; a plurality of thin-film transistors STs arranged with a matrix pattern in regions of intersection of the data lines DLs and the gate lines GLs; and liquid crystal capacities CLC formed between each of the thin-film transistors STs and a common electrode. Also, the liquid crystal panel 10 is constructed in such a manner that gate-on/off signals provided through the source driver PCB 12 so as to drive the gates of the thin-film transistors STs are applied to the gate lines GLs in sequence through the signal line patterns 22, and a data signal applied through the source driver ICs 16 is applied to the data lines DLs. The TCP may be replaced by a COF (Chip on Film).
FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the signal line patterns 22 shown in FIG. 1, in which the same reference numerals are used to designate the same or similar components. In FIG. 2, a reference numeral 24 designates a plurality of output channels for transmitting a drive signal, which is outputted from the gate driver ICs 20, to the liquid crystal panel 10.
In the conventional liquid crystal display device having such a construction, the signal line patterns 22 include a resistance component, and the values of the resistance component R1 and R2 are determined in accordance with material, thickness, and width of used metal. For example, in the case of an amorphous silicon thin-film transistor LCD (a-Si TFT LCD), a resistance value of the signal line patterns 22 ranges from few ohms to hundreds of ohms. In particular, when the signal line patterns are formed on the liquid crystal panel 10, the resistance value is increased because the pattern formation is small. Therefore, whenever a gate drive signal for switching on/off the gate of the thin film transistor ST (see FIG. 1) passes each of the gate driver ICs 20, a garadual voltage drop necessarily occurs.
FIG. 3 is a waveform view showing gate drive signals of gate driver ICs in accordance with the prior art. In FIG. 3, a reference character "GD1" designates a first gate drive signal of a first gate driver IC, a reference character "GD2" designates a second gate drive signal of a second gate driver IC, and a reference character "GD3" designates a third gate drive signal of a third gate driver IC.
As shown in FIG. 3, a level of a gate-off voltage VGO1 of the first gate driver IC is changed by flowing current and resistance of the signal line patterns 22, while the level of a gate-off voltage is more and more increased according to approach to the gate driver IC of the final end. To be more specific, a level of a second gate-off voltage VGO2 of the second gate driver IC rises to a higher level as compared to the level of the first gate-off voltage VGO1 of the first gate driver IC, and a level of a third gate-off voltage VGO3 of the third gate driver IC rises to a higher level as compared to the level of the second gate-off voltage VGO2 of the second gate driver IC.
Meanwhile, like the case of the signal line patterns 22 for applying a gate drive signal, delay of data voltage signal is caused also in other signal line patterns (not shown), which is formed on one side portion of the lower substrate 10b of the liquid crystal panel 10 so as to apply a data signal to the data lines DLs, due to impedances of the signal lines itself and data lines DLs.
Such voltage drop and signal delay caused by the signal line patterns decrease amplitude of a gate drive signal, and causes variance in charge quantity and leakage quantity of data voltage according to an on/off characteristic curve of the TFT (Thin-Film Transistor). Such a phenomenon becomes more and more severe due to increase in length of the signal lines, which is caused according to development tendencies of liquid crystal display devices towards high resolution, large scale, and decrease of charging time (one horizontal period) due to increase of frame frequency. As a result, it cause a screen quality problem, such as a block phenomenon showing that blocks of gate driver ICs display different brightness from each other, variation of uniformity and flicker between an upper end and a lower end of a screen, and degradation of response speed.
A variety of methods may be used to solve the problem described above. One method of them is to compensate the rise of the gate-off level by extending the width of the signal line patterns 22 so that resistance value lessens. However, it is difficult to apply this method to practical use because of constraint condition on design. That is, it is because the area for forming the signal line patterns 22 in the lower substrate of the liquid crystal display device is limited, also because the width of the signal line patterns 22 formed on a bonding portion of the gate driver ICs 20 is narrow.
Another method is to sufficiently secure area for forming the signal line patterns 22 in the lower substrate by extending size of the liquid crystal panel. However, this is not matched with recent request for a low price and a light weight, and also causes another problem in that it is difficult to correspond to an international standard in size of goods.
Still another method is to coincide a resistance value of an inside signal line patterns existed in the gate driver ICs 20 with that of the signal line patterns of the panel so that non-uniformity of a screen caused at boundary faces among the gate driver ICs 20 is reduced. However, this method has an economic problem in that design of the gate driver ICs 20 must be changed every time according to several variables, such as size and resolution of a liquid crystal panel, etc.
FIG. 4 is a view showing data waveforms and charging curves of pixels of each gate line in a liquid crystal display device according to the prior art. In FIG. 4, a reference numeral 1 designates a gate voltage waveform applied to an upper end of gate lines, a reference numeral 2 designates a data voltage waveform applied to the upper end of gate lines, and a reference numeral 3 designates a charge voltage of a pixel in the upper end of gate lines. Also, a reference numeral 1′ designates a gate voltage waveform applied to a lower end of gate lines, a reference numeral 2′ designates a data voltage waveform applied to the lower end of gate lines, and a reference numeral 3′ designates a charge voltage of a pixel in the lower end of gate lines.
As shown in FIG. 4, gate-on voltage decrease of ΔVGon causes decrease of gate-on current, gate-off voltage decrease of ΔVGoff causes increase of leakage current, and charging quantity as much as ΔVc is decreased.
FIG. 5 is a view showing a characteristic curve of data currents according to gate voltages in a liquid crystal display device in accordance with the prior art. In FIG. 5, a reference character 'a' designates a current characteristic region when the gate-on voltage is applied, and a reference character 'b' designates a leakage current characteristic region when the gate-off voltage is applied.
FIG. 6 is a view showing charge voltages of data according to gate lines in a liquid crystal display device in accordance with the prior art. Herein, X-axis designates gate lines and Y-axis designates charge voltages. Also, in FIG. 6, a reference character 'd' designates a desired charge voltage level, a reference character 'e' designates real charge voltage levels, and a reference character 'f' designates a region in which a block phenomenon is caused.
As shown in FIG. 6, in each of the gate lines driven by a plurality of gate drivers (Driver0, Driver1, Driver2), decrease of charge voltage in accordance with signal delay of the data lines is caused.

Liquid crystal driving device and driving method thereof


During operation of an integrated fire and flight control (IFFC) system in a coupled aiming mode, the occurrence of a weapon (172), weapon mount (145) or sensor (146) reaching a constraint limit (210) indices a fade-in of a constraint limiting axis command signal (140) for a respective attitude axis as the aircraft attitude reference, replacing the flight control system attitude feedback error signal (111) for the respective attitude axis. The constraint limiting axis command signals provide the aircraft attitude reference only while the pilot manually depresses and holds an enable switch (920). The pilot command stick input (90) remains the primary input to the IFFC system to thereby provide override capability for pilot command maneuvers.

The combat uses for helicopter aircraft have changed dramatically over the years to include contact with opposing forces, including reconnaissance and combat aircraft assistance of troops on the front line. This type of use subjects helicopters to numerous threats, and therefore new helicopter designs incorporate offensive weapons, such as Gatling guns and rocket launchers.
Initially, the primary control of helicopter weapons was accomplished by the pilot aiming the aircraft at the target prior to firing. Correction for misses was accomplished by the pilot adjusting the attitude of the aircraft prior to expending additional ordnance. As technology developed, tracking and sensing systems were used to locate the target and determine the aircraft attitude necessary to aim the weapon so as to account for outside forces acting on the ordnance, e.g., wind, aircraft speed, etc. Such a system typically displays a "cross-hair" indicative of actual aircraft attitude and a geometric shape indicative of the required aircraft attitude to provide a high probability of striking the target with the weapon. The pilot is required to maneuver the aircraft so as to place the cross-hair in the firing solution defined by the shape prior to firing the weapon. The aiming instructions e.g., cross-hair and geometric shape, are typically displayed on a control panel, a heads-up display, or helmet-mounted display which provides the pilot with visual information relating to the target position, own ship attitude, heading, speed and altitude.
Although such aiming systems improved weapons delivery accuracy, the pilot is still under a significant burden to regulate aircraft heading and pitch attitude. It is well-known that a skilled helicopter pilot can control aircraft attitude within about 1 degree of pitch and yaw. Although this may seem very accurate control, a 1 degree variation in pitch or yaw will have a significant effect on the trajectory of a projectile.
One solution to the above mentioned problem of weapons delivery accuracy is to provide the aircraft weapons systems with articulated mountings, e.g. rocket launchers and gatling guns articulated in azimuth and/or elevation. The fire control solution is then used to control the pointing direction of the weapon mount to improve weapons delivery accuracy and reduce pilot workload. However, when the weapons mount reaches the limits of its travel, i.e., constraint limit, the fire control system is no longer capable of controlling the weapon mount to point the weapon directly at the firing solution.
Additionally, certain sensors used for target tracking and weapons targeting have constraint limits. For example, a nose mounted, forward looking radar may only be able to detect and track targets within a limited area relative to the nose of the aircraft, e.g., plus or minus 130 degrees. If a target is allowed to move outside the field of operation defined by the sensor constraint limits, the sensor will lose track of the target.

Helicopter integrated fire and flight control having constraint limiting control