Abstract: A sliding hinge has an upper casing, a lower casing and a spring. The upper casing is attached to a cover of an electronic appliance. The lower casing is mounted slidably on the upper casing and is attached to a base of the electronic appliance. The spring is flat in cross section and is mounted between and connects pivotally to the upper and lower casings. Because the spring is flat in cross section, the strength of the spring can be increased without increasing the thickness of the spring. Therefore only use one single spring is strong enough to hold the cover and the base of the electronic appliance.

Abstract: A flat hinge assembly has a base and a body. The base is mounted securely on a keyboard of a plane electronic device and has at least one protrusion. The body is mounted pivotally on the base and has a pivoting leaf and an extending leaf. The pivoting leaf has a proximal end mounted pivotally on the base. The extending leaf is mounted securely on a monitor of the plane electronic device, is mounted slidably on the pivoting leaf and has at least one slot selectively engages with the protrusion of the base. With such an arrangement, the monitor of the plane electronic device can be push to coincide with the keyboard, so that the plane electronic device may have a smallest volume for carrying conveniently. Furthermore, the monitor can be pivoted to an appropriate angle to avoid reflecting light and facilitate users to watch.

Abstract: A hinge with a torsion spring has a base, a pintle, at least one torsion spring, two joint members, and two washer assemblies. The base is attached to a support of an LCD display, and the pintle is mounted through the base. The torsion spring is mounted around the pintle, one end of the torsion spring is attached to the base, and the other end is attached to the joint member. When the angle of the display is adjusted, the joint members rotate relative to the pintle. With the torsion resilience provided by the torsion spring, the support will not be rotated with the joint members, so that the users can adjust the display angle with one hand.

Abstract: A rechargeable, stackable, thin film, solid-state lithium electrochemical cell, thin film lithium battery and method for making the same is disclosed. The cell and battery provide for a variety configurations, voltage and current capacities. An innovative low temperature ion beam assisted deposition method for fabricating thin film, solid-state anodes, cathodes and electrolytes is disclosed wherein a source of energetic ions and evaporants combine to form thin film cell components having preferred crystallinity, structure and orientation. The disclosed batteries are particularly useful as power sources for portable electronic devices and electric vehicle applications where high energy density, high reversible charge capacity, high discharge current and long battery lifetimes are required.

Abstract: A multi-directional hinge for a notebook computer has a seat with a pintle. A base is rotatably mounted on the seat and has a hollow flange formed at a central portion of the base for receiving the pintle. Multiple rotating washers are provided outside the pintle and received in the base. A first positioning washer is provided outside the pintle and abuts the rotating washers. A bottom cover is provided under the rotating washers and fastened at a bottom end of the pintle. Whereby, a horizontal view angle of an LCD monitor of the notebook computer can be adjusted, and the LCD monitor can be positioned at the desired viewing angle and will not freely leave this position if unintentionally touched.

Abstract: A multi-layered, active, thin film, solid-state electrochromic device having a high reflectivity in the near infrared in a colored state, a high reflectivity and transmissivity modulation when switching between colored and bleached states, a low absorptivity in the near infrared, and fast switching times, and methods for its manufacture and switching are provided. In one embodiment, a multi-layered device comprising a first indium tin oxide transparent electronic conductor, a transparent ion blocking layer, a tungsten oxide electrochromic anode, a lithium ion conducting-electrically resistive electrolyte, a complimentary lithium mixed metal oxide electrochromic cathode, a transparent ohmic contact layer, a second indium oxide transparent electronic conductor, and a silicon nitride encapsulant is provided. Through elimination of optional intermediate layers, simplified device designs are provided as alternative embodiments.