Abstract: A system and method for processing usage data within a local data processing system installed on a remote apparatus. The system comprises: a central server for receiving information from the remote apparatus, and processing the information to obtain a usage payment; and a local data processing system installed on the remote apparatus, having: a monitoring system for gathering usage data from the remote apparatus; a processor for managing the usage data; a communications system for communicating information from the processor to the central server; and a security system, wherein the security system includes an encryption system for securing information transmitted to the central server, and for securing information processed by the central server.

Abstract: A metallized pattern, used as an electrical conductor, is altered by means of standard lithographic processes to have regions of interspersed missing metal, or voids, in a specified region of the pattern. The voids in the conducting pattern allow radiation, emanating from various angles, to penetrate through the voids so that a glue seal, disposed underneath the pattern, can be exposed to the radiation and thus activated and cured. The preferred application is found in flat panel displays where radiation is required to cure a glue seal that affixes two substrates to one another. The openings in the metallized pattern in the region of the glue seal minimize the shadowing, caused by the solid portions of the pattern, which can result in the lack of glue seal curing or polymerization. The absence of shadowing assures that the glue seal is fully cured and will not contaminate the liquid crystal after final processing.

Abstract: A system using several wavelengths, preferably from the output of a single laser, is described for curing a dual cure glue seal that affixes two substrates to form a liquid crystal display panel. Here the liquid crystal is already in place before the glue seal is cured so that a high temperature bake to promote the sealant curing is not permissible . The multiple wavelengths from the single source of radiation result both from frequency doubling and mixing of the fundamental laser to achieve frequency tripling. Generally a UV wavelength is required for curing the photolytic component of the glue seal so that in the present invention the fundamental from a ˜1 micron (1000 nm) wavelength laser is frequency tripled. The UV is scanned along the entire peripheral region of the glue seal.

Abstract: A self-alignment process for the precise alignment in a deposited diamond-like carbon (DLC), which results in a wider viewing angle for the display being manufactured. The process involves ion bombardment, which is swept across the liquid crystal panel in a two-pass process. In one embodiment, both ion sweeps are aligned at a 45-degree angle with respect to the bottom edge of the panel. The first pass is accomplished without any electrical bias on the panel. During the first pass the impinging ions may be at an angle with respect to a point on a plane defined by the surface of the panel that is less than 90 degrees. The second ion sweep is accomplished with the impinging ions at a second angle, greater than 90 degrees up to 180 degrees with respect to the point on the plane defined by the surface.

Abstract: An apparatus and method allow to deposit ordinary checks from home or office. A special scanner is used to scan an endorsed check for deposit. The check may have printed thereon encryptions in at least selected locations. Scanning the endorsed check with the scanner to generates a digitized version of the check. The scanner virtually partitions the digitized version of the check into a plurality of regions. These regions may be stripes or zones. Each region is successively examined to extract from the digitized version of the check information from that region. The information extracted from a region is encrypted and transmitted to a bank. Upon acknowledgment from the bank, at least some of the regions of the plurality of regions voided by a form of indelible but non-invasive (e.g. allowing reading after voiding) marking such as punched holes, burned areas, overprinting of a pattern. The processing by the scanner continues until all regions have been processed.

Abstract: A metallized pattern, used as an electrical conductor, is altered by means of standard lithographic processes to have regions of interspersed missing metal, or voids, in a specified region of the pattern. The voids in the conducting pattern allow radiation, emanating from various angles, to penetrate through the voids so that a glue seal, disposed underneath the pattern, can be exposed to the radiation and thus activated and cured. The preferred application is found in flat panel displays where radiation is required to cure a glue seal that affixes two substrates to one another. The openings in the metallized pattern in the region of the glue seal minimize the shadowing, caused by the solid portions of the pattern, which can result in the lack of glue seal curing or polymerization. The absence of shadowing assures that the glue seal is fully cured and will not contaminate the liquid crystal after final processing.

Abstract: An apparatus and method allow to deposit ordinary checks from home or office. A special scanner is used to scan an endorsed check for deposit. The check may have printed thereon encryptions in at least selected locations. Scanning the endorsed check with the scanner to generates a digitized version of the check. The scanner virtually partitions the digitized version of the check into a plurality of regions. These regions may be stripes or zones. Each region is successively examined to extract from the digitized version of the check information from that region. The information extracted from a region is encrypted and transmitted to a bank. Upon acknowledgment from the bank, at least some of the regions of the plurality of regions voided by a form of indelible but non-invasive (e.g. allowing reading after voiding) marking such as punched holes, burned areas, overprinting of a pattern. The processing by the scanner continues until all regions have been processed.

Abstract: A system for processing containers, includes a sensor for sensing contents of a closed container, an identifier applicator for applying, based on an output of the sensor, a predetermined identifier to the container, a controller for controlling the sensor and the identifier applicator, and a read-out device for reading the identifier and communicating a result of read-out of the identifier to the controller.

Abstract: The invention describes methods for locating a treatment device disposed within a living body by means of magnetic fields that are produced by Barkhausen jumps, principally from amorphous tag wires with high permeability that exhibit reentrant flux reversal. When wires of this type are attached to concealed treatment devices such as catheters, interrogation or scanning of the tag wire by a low frequency ac magnetic field affords an accurate means for locating the treatment devices using a sensor coil to detect the magnetic field signal from the wire locating tag. The strength of the field detected by the position of a sensor coil with respect to the locator tag is used to determine the location of the tag. A favorable signal to noise detection ration is obtained as the signal emitted by the wire is at a very high frequency compared to that of the frequency of the interrogation field.

Abstract: A method of joining two panels during the manufacturing of a LCD display employing the ODF (One Drop Fill) assembly technique. Using this method, the liquid crystal is deposited on one of the substrate's interior to the glue seal. The glue seal is pre-deposited near the peripheral edge of the substrates. The two substrates are then brought in contact with one another. The glue seal must be cured rapidly in order to seal the entire periphery while avoiding contamination between the glue seal, in the liquid state and the liquid crystal. The present invention teaches the use of a non-epoxy glue sealant, which is cured using photoinitiators. Experimental research has discovered the use of photons that are derived from laser beams and the control thereof. This allows for a faster, lower temperature cure.

Abstract: The invention is a method for curing a sealant used to affix two substrates to one another. The sealant requires curing by heat or uv photons. To overcome the shadowing caused by metal patterns, the uv light is directed in a path towards said sealant, and a light diffusion element is positioned in the optical path. The diffusion element causes a diffusion of the optical radiation so as to enable some of the diffused optical radiation to avoid the metallization features and to be incident on the sealant. If the sealant is of the dual cure type, the curing thereof is further aided by application of heat.

Abstract: The invention is a method for curing a sealant used to affix two substrates to one another. The sealant requires curing by heat or uv photons. To overcome the shadowing caused by metal patterns, the uv light in the form of laser light is delivered at slant angles without losing light due to strong reflections caused by shallow angles of incidence. Several embodiments are described including a modulation technique for a providing scanned uv beam. Another method utilizes a sufficiently strong pulsed stationary or moving laser beam that can heat the regions of a metallized pattern to provide thermal energy for curing the sealant while providing uv photons through open regions of the metal pattern to access the sealant so as to afford a photolytic cure of a hybrid sealant.

Abstract: A combination of a radio frequency identification transponder (RFID Tag) and to a magnetic electronic article surveillance (EAS) device is disclosed.

Abstract: A radio frequency (RF) tagging system is used to monitor vehicles passing through an area access to one or more vehicle storage area(s). One or more of the vehicles stored in the storage area is equipped with a RF tag which has vehicle ID information about the vehicle stored in a tag memory contained on the tag. The tag communicates with a base station when passing through the area accesses, (entering or leaving). A central and preferably one or more remote computers accesses status information that might include vehicle identification, customer, lot identification, time of day, and vehicle and lot status. The information is used in security or marketing functions. The security function can include a paging system for sending alarms and/or messages to a manager or security personnel. The marketing function can include determining how long or how many times different makes an model of vehicle are chosen by customers for test drives.

Abstract: A tag structure suitable for attachment to an object and for being remotely sensed, includes at least one soft magnetic element mounted for being excited in an inhomogeneous magnetic field. The soft magnetic element includes first and second ends and is clamped at at least one of the first and second ends. Each soft magnetic element responds to the excitation to produce a unique, time-varying magnetic field corresponding to its resonant frequency, when excited. A system incorporating the tag includes an excitation device and a detector for detecting the mechanical vibrations of the soft magnetic element.

Abstract: An ultrasonic jet semiconductor wafer cleaning method and apparatus for removing debris from a surface of a semiconductor wafer as the wafer is rotated about a prescribed axis in a cleaning plane whereby a housing having a principal axis, an inlet port, and an outlet port is provided. The method further includes producing focused ultrasonic waves of acoustic energy concentric with and incident the outlet port to form a jet stream of cleaning liquid released through the outlet port; adjustably positioning a focal point of the focused ultrasonic waves between a first focal point position and a second focal point position along an axis; and sweeping the housing in an reciprocating manner along a sweep path.

Abstract: A radio frequency (RF) multibit tag structure useful for identifying objects of interest is described. An array of thin cantilevers of slightly different lengths produced by differential etching are coated with a soft magnetic material which upon interrogation with an RF magnetic field vibrate at their resonant frequencies in the presence of an appropriate bias or direct current (DC) field. The oscillating magnetic fields generated by the vibrating bars and the stationary DC field can be readily detected by a receiver and processed to determine the code of the tag and thus provide information related to the object.

Abstract: A programmable tag for being readable remotely and in a manner which does not require that the tag be held in a particular orientation, includes a first layer of material with electron spin resonance absorption, a second layer of hard magnetic material, and a third layer of soft permeable magnetic material. The second layer and third layer are in close proximity to the first layer. The second layer and the third layer impose a magnetic bias field on the first layer.

Abstract: A tag structure suitable for attachment to an object includes one or more bimorphs comprised of a thin strip of a magnetostrictive material attached to a thicker bar of hard magnetic material. The tag is preferably excited using either magnetic or acoustic fields, tuned to the resonance of the bimorphs. The excitation induces strain in the bimorph which causes mechanical vibrations in the bimorph which are sensed acoustically or magnetically, giving rise to a code. A device for detecting the output of the tag is provided along with a device for decoding the output from the detecting means thereby to identify the object.

Abstract: An identification tag which can be encoded with multiple bits of information and can be remotely interrogated and read includes a plurality of magnetic elements. The information is stored in the magnetic elements which produce a large domain wall displacement (Barkhausen jump) at a particular magnetic field.