Patents Examined by Tuyet T. Vo
  • Patent number: 6586887
    Abstract: A high-frequency power supply apparatus for a plasma generation apparatus having a modulator for generating an intermittent high-frequency output on the basis of a modulation reference signal and a peak value setting signal, the high-frequency power supply apparatus having: a first control loop for comparing the peak value of the intermittent high-frequency output detected by a peak value detector with a preset peak value of the high-frequency output so that the output controller controls the peak value of the high-frequency output to be the preset peak value; and a second control loop for calculating an average value of the intermittent high-frequency output based on the preset peak setting value and a preset duty ratio setting value and generating a modulation reference signal for controlling the modulator on the basis of the average value of the high-frequency output detected by a monitor and the average value of the high-frequency output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2003
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Yasuo Oogoshi, Youji Takahashi, Tadamitsu Kanekiyo, Tsuyoshi Umemoto
  • Patent number: 6583587
    Abstract: A discharge lamp lighting circuit adapted to control a transient power corresponding to a cooling condition or a light-out time of a discharge lamp without using a capacitor or storage device having a large capacity, thereby reducing a cost and a size. Power control in a steady state of a discharge lamp is carried out in response to a detection signal for a voltage and a current in the discharge lamp, and a power to be transiently applied to the discharge lamp is controlled before a transition to the power control. The power to be transiently applied is set to be higher than the power in the steady state, thereby promoting light emission of the discharge lamp. An increment in the transient applied power which exceeds the power in the steady state is specified corresponding to a voltage applied to the discharge lamp, a variation in the voltage and a time elapsed from a time that the discharge lamp is lighted up or a start of an operation of a lighting circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2003
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masayasu Ito, Hitoshi Takeda
  • Patent number: 6580229
    Abstract: A discharge lamp driving device capable of detecting a lamp life end reliably in a high or low temperature environment for circuit protection, yet preventing the occurrence of the cataphoresis phenomenon. Impedance elements Z1 and Z1 are inserted respectively between one filament ends of individual discharge lamps La1 and La2 and a node (the ground) having no high frequency amplitude in order to detect a difference between AC components of individual lamp voltages VLa1 and VLa2 in closed loops of the discharge lamps La1 and La2 and the impedance elements Z1 and Z1 in order to judge whether or not the depletion of the emitter occurs. Thus, it is possible to reliably judge the presence of abnormality even when the amplitudes of the lamp voltages VLa1 and VLa2 varies in a range of low to high temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2003
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshinobu Murakami, Joji Oyama, Toshiya Kanja, Shigeru Ido, Naokage Kishimoto
  • Patent number: 6577065
    Abstract: An electric lamp is provided which includes a sealed thin-walled outer envelope containing a fill gas having a high thermal conductivity. A lamp capsule is contained within the outer envelope and is in series with an oxidizable fuse also contained within the outer envelope. The fill gas serves to reduce the temperature of the fuse during normal operation of the lamp thereby reducing the power loss in the fuse, increasing overall lamp efficacy and eliminating glow of the fuse. The lamp capsule is quickly extinguished if the outer envelope is broken and the fuse exposed to air. In one embodiment, an incandescent lamp is provided wherein the lamp capsule is a tungsten halogen capsule, the fuse is a tungsten coil wire and the fill gas is helium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2003
    Assignee: Osram Sylvania Inc.
    Inventor: Michael R. Kling
  • Patent number: 6573651
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to simplified OLED structures comprising an anode layer, a hole injecting layer (HIL) in direct contact with the anode layer, an emissive organic electron transporting layer (ETL) in direct contact with the hole injecting layer, and a cathode layer in direct contact with the emissive organic electron transporting layer. The hole injecting material used in the hole injecting layer is characterized, in particular, as being an organic material having an ionization potential that is not more than about 0.7 eV greater than the ionization potential of the material used for the anode layer. The emissive organic electron transporting layer comprises an organic electron transporting material and an organic hole-trapping emissive material, for example, an organic phosphorescent material that produces emission from a triplet excited state of an organic molecule.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2003
    Assignee: The Trustees of Princeton University
    Inventors: Chihaya Adachi, Marc A. Baldo, Stephen R. Forrest
  • Patent number: 6568774
    Abstract: The invention improves an operating method, already described in the prior application 198 39 329.6, for a silent discharge lamp L, in which, using the forward transformer principle, a voltage pulse effecting a forward ignition is impressed from a primary circuit P via a transformer T into a secondary circuit S containing the silent discharge lamp L, and the secondary circuit S thereafter executes a half wave which, as a consequence of the polarization, leads to a back ignition in the discharge lamp L. The improvement consists essentially in that an inductance of the transformer T which governs a transformer current is temporally varied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2003
    Assignee: Patent-Treuhand-Gesellschaft fuer Elektrische Gluehlampen mbH
    Inventors: Lothar Hitzschke, Frank Vollkommer
  • Patent number: 6570349
    Abstract: A second grid is supplied with a low potential acceleration voltage. A fourth grid and a sixth grid are supplied with a first focus voltage. A third grid and a seventh grid are supplied with a dynamic focus voltage (Vf2+Vd). A prefocus lens having a horizontal and vertical focusing function is formed between the second grid and the third grid. An asymmetrical lens section having a horizontal diverging function and a vertical focusing function is formed between the third grid and the fourth grid. The prefocus lens and the asymmetrical lens section are electrostatically coupled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2003
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Junichi Kimiya, Syunji Ookubo, Takahiro Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 6566819
    Abstract: A touch operated control system is provided that advantageously provides enhanced functionality, including a programmable timer that sets a light coupled to the dimmer to OFF after a predetermined period of time. The control system generally includes a conductive housing provided with a power receptacle, a power switch, a fuse, and a printed circuit board mounted within the housing. The printed circuit board includes switching circuitry by means of a programmed integrated circuit operationally connected to the housing, and a timer is operationally connected to the switching circuitry. By touching the housing, the switching circuitry is activated to automatically connect or remove power to or from the power receptacle. The sequence and duration of the touch activation function varies the system response to provide enhanced control, functionality and flexibility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2003
    Inventor: Gregory A. Wolff
  • Patent number: 6559604
    Abstract: A method of the invention for forming a pixel-defining layer on an OLED panel is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2003
    Assignee: Ritdisplay Corporation
    Inventors: Tien-Rong Lu, Yih Chang
  • Patent number: 6555969
    Abstract: Reducing the manufacturing cost of an EL display device and an electronic device furnished with the EL display device is taken as an objective. A textured structure in which projecting portions are formed on the surface of a cathode is used. External stray light is diffusely (irregularly) reflected by the action of the projecting portions when reflected by the surface of the cathode, and therefore a defect in which the face of an observer or the surrounding scenery is reflected in the surface of the cathode can be prevented. This can be completed without using a conventionally necessary high price circular polarizing film, and therefore it is possible to reduce the cost of manufacturing the EL display device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 6552502
    Abstract: Light source device which includes a discharge lamp which contains at least 0.15 mg mercury per cubic millimeter of the volume of the discharge space, a pair of electrodes opposite one another to create the main discharge and spaced a distance from one another of less than or equal to 2.5 mm, and an auxiliary electrode arranged such that it does not come into contact with the discharge space for the main discharge. The light source device further including a feed circuit to feed the discharge current to the electrodes for the main discharge, and a starter which produces a high voltage between one of the electrodes of the two electrodes for the main discharge and the auxiliary discharge, such that the starter produces a voltage two to five times as high as the voltage necessary for starting the main discharge in the lamp at the room temperature state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2003
    Assignee: Ushiodenki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masashi Okamoto, Mineo Nakayama, Izumi Takaya
  • Patent number: 6552494
    Abstract: Herein described is a driver circuit of a fluorescent lamp having a first and a second electrode and igniting when the voltage between the first and second Electrode exceeds a given threshold voltage. The driver circuit comprises an inductance coupled to a supply voltage and to a terminal of the first electrode a first condenser coupled to the other terminal of the first electrode and to a terminal of the second electrode, a control device comprising a first and a second system of switches capable of guaranteeing oscillations of a voltage signal on the inductance and on the first condenser up to the ignition of the lamp. The driver circuit comprises a device associated to the control device and capable of acting on the first system of switches so as to regulate the frequency of the oscillations from a frequency greater than the resonance frequency of the inductance and of the first condenser to the same resonance frequency so as to guarantee a preheating of the first and second electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2003
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics s.r.l.
    Inventors: Vincenzo Randazzo, Atanasio La Barbera
  • Patent number: 6545419
    Abstract: An improved double chamber ion source comprising a plasma generating chamber, a charge exchange chamber and a divider structure therebetween. The charge exchange chamber includes magnetic shielding material to reduce exposure of interior components to magnetic field lines externally generated. The double compartment ion source further comprises inclusion of a heat shield and/or a cooling system to overcome deleterious effects caused by increased temperature in the plasma generating chamber. The divider structure has a plurality of apertures having a configuration to reduce surface area on the divider structure in the charge exchange chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: Advanced Technology Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: Michael C. Vella
  • Patent number: 6545425
    Abstract: A communications system that includes one or more free space electron switches. The free space electron switch employs an array of electron emitters, where each emitter is responsive to an RF or optical input signal on an input channel. Each emitter includes a cathode that emits electrons in response to the input signal. Each emitter further includes a focussing/accelerating electrode for collecting and accelerating the emitted electrons into an electron beam. Each emitter further includes an aiming anode that directs the beam of electrons to a desired detector within an array of detectors that converts the beam of electrons to a representative RF or optical signal on an output channel. Each emitter may include a modulating electrode that generates an electric field to modulate data onto the beam of electrons. The communications systems employing the switch can be an ISDN, DSLAM networks, packet routing systems, ADSL networks, PBX systems, local exchange systems, etc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: Exaconnect Corp.
    Inventor: Michel N. Victor
  • Patent number: 6545717
    Abstract: A display system (10) which includes a CRT feedback current simulating circuit (20) to simulate the cathode feedback current directly from the from the red, green and blue output biases of the video processor (13). Furthermore, the display system (10) applies blanking to the references pulses applied to the CRT output driving stage (16) so that the reference pulses will not be visible during a vertical underscanned condition. Shifting the generation of the cathode feedback current prior to the application of the blanking prevents any significant distortion, modification or skewing of the cathode feedback current sensed by the AKB sensing circuitry (19) of the video processor (13).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
    Inventors: William G. Miller, Mark Laramie, Gregg Keck
  • Patent number: 6545421
    Abstract: An actuator having a fixed portion, a vibrating portion supported on the fixed portion so as to undergo vibrations, and an actuating portion including a first and a second electrodes formed on both sides or one side of a deformable layer is provided. The actuator generates a displacement motion by holding the offset electric potential of the first electrode at a desired valve and variable-controlling an electric potential of the second electrode. A cathode for emitting electrons is formed on the actuator. The current controlling element changes the position of the cathode with respect to the plate by the displacement motion of the actuator obtained by changing an electric potential difference of the second electrode to the offset electric potential, and adjusts the offset position of the cathode according to the offset electric potential, to adjust a control range of a current value taken out of the plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yukihisa Takeuchi, Tsutomu Nanataki, Iwao Ohwada
  • Patent number: 6545432
    Abstract: A ballast (10) for powering a gas discharge lamp includes a lamp-out detection circuit (300) that quickly responds to a lamp-out condition. Lamp-out detection circuit (300) receives a portion of the lamp current and provides a detection voltage. The detection voltage remains at a first average level while the lamp is conducting current in a normal manner, but quickly decreases below a second level if the lamp ceases to conduct current. In a preferred embodiment, ballast (10) includes an inverter (100) and a resonant circuit (210,220) that are normally operated at a high frequency. The detection voltage is coupled to an enable input (112) of an inverter drive circuit (110), and the inverter (100) is either shut off or operated in a low-power mode within less than ten high frequency cycles after occurrence of a lamp-out condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: Osram Sylvania Inc.
    Inventor: John G. Konopka
  • Patent number: 6545411
    Abstract: A capillary discharge plasma display panel with an optimized capillary aspect ratio is disclosed in the present invention. More particularly, a capillary discharge plasma display panel includes first and second substrates, at least one first electrode on the first substrate, a first dielectric layer on the first electrode including the first substrate, at least one second electrode on the second substrate, a second dielectric layer on the second electrode including the second substrate, wherein the second dielectric layer has at least one capillary discharge site corresponding to each second electrode and the capillary discharge site has a diameter approximately twice as great as a depth, thereby generating a continuous plasma discharge from the capillary discharge site, and at least one discharge space between the first and second dielectric layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: Plasmion Displays, LLC
    Inventors: Dae-II Kim, Steven Kim, William Kokonaski
  • Patent number: 6545433
    Abstract: A ballast circuit for operating a discharge lamp is equipped with a timer for measuring the service life of the lamps, and with means for increasing the power supplied to the lamp as the number of burning hours increase. The decrease in efficiency associated with the increase in burning hours is compensated thereby.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
    Inventors: Marcel Beij, Arnold Willem Buij
  • Patent number: 6538398
    Abstract: A circuit for driving a cathode ray tube (CRT) with cathode current detection. Specifically, the present invention discloses a CRT driver circuit comprising a push-pull configuration comprising upper and lower stages of darlington paired transistors. In the lower stage, a lower prestage circuit generates a video output signal in response to a video input signal that is amplified to drive a cathode electrode of a coupled CRT. In the upper stage, an upper prestage circuit of transistors drives a voltage divider for splitting a high voltage supply between the transistors in the lower prestage circuit. In both the upper and lower stages of darlington paired transistors, upper and lower output stages of transistors are electrically active only during transient periods of the video input signal. As such, a cathode current from a static test signal can be measured from an output through the lower prestage circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2003
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventor: Hon Kin Chiu