3563results about How to "Increase reflection" patented technology

An adaptive interface for a programmable system, for predicting a desired user function, based on user history, as well as machine internal status and context. The apparatus receives an input from the user and other data. A predicted input is presented for confirmation by the user, and the predictive mechanism is updated based on this feedback. Also provided is a pattern recognition system for a multimedia device, wherein a user input is matched to a video stream on a conceptual basis, allowing inexact programming of a multimedia device. The system analyzes a data stream for correspondence with a data pattern for processing and storage. The data stream is subjected to adaptive pattern recognition to extract features of interest to provide a highly compressed representation which may be efficiently processed to determine correspondence. Applications of the interface and system include a VCR, medical device, vehicle control system, audio device, environmental control system, securities trading terminal, and smart house. The system optionally includes an actuator for effecting the environment of operation, allowing closed-loop feedback operation and automated learning.

A method of manufacturing improved thin-film solar cells entirely by sputtering includes a high efficiency back contact/reflecting multi-layer containing at least one barrier layer consisting of a transition metal nitride. A copper indium gallium diselenide (Cu(In_XGa_1-x)Se₂) absorber layer (X ranging from 1 to approximately 0.7) is co-sputtered from specially prepared electrically conductive targets using dual cylindrical rotary magnetron technology. The band gap of the absorber layer can be graded by varying the gallium content, and by replacing the gallium partially or totally with aluminum. Alternately the absorber layer is reactively sputtered from metal alloy targets in the presence of hydrogen selenide gas. RF sputtering is used to deposit a non-cadmium containing window layer of ZnS. The top transparent electrode is reactively sputtered aluminum doped ZnO. A unique modular vacuum roll-to-roll sputtering machine is described. The machine is adapted to incorporate dual cylindrical rotary magnetron technology to manufacture the improved solar cell material in a single pass.

A passive investment system based on indices created from various metrics is disclosed. The indexes may be built with metrics other than market capitalization weighting, price weighting or equal weighting. These metrics may include, but are not limited to book value, sales, revenue, earnings, earnings per share, income, income growth rate, dividends, dividends per share, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, etc. Non-financial metrics may also be used to build indexes to create passive investment systems. Additionally, a combination of financial non-market capitalization metrics may be used along with non-financial metrics to create passive investment systems. Once the index is built, it may be used as a basis to purchase securities for a portfolio. As the data underlying the indexes changes because of, e.g., economic activity, the index may be updated and may be used as a basis to rebalance the portfolio. Alternatively, the index can be rebalanced when a pre-determined threshold is reached. Specifically excluded are widely-used capitalization-weighted indexes and price-weighted indexes, in which the price of a security contributes in a substantial way to the calculation of the weight of that security in the index or the portfolio. Valuation indifferent indexes of the present invention avoid overexposure to overvalued securities and underexposure to undervalued securities, as compared with conventional capitalization-weighted and price-weighted. Also specifically excluded are equal weighting weighted indexes.

This invention relates to a front electrode/contact for use in an electronic device such as a photovoltaic device. In certain example embodiments, the front electrode of a photovoltaic device or the like includes a multilayer coating including at least one transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer (e.g., of or including a material such as tin oxide, ITO, zinc oxide, or the like) and/or at least one conductive substantially metallic IR reflecting layer (e.g., based on silver, gold, or the like). In certain example instances, the multilayer front electrode coating may include one or more conductive metal(s) oxide layer(s) and one or more conductive substantially metallic IR reflecting layer(s) in order to provide for reduced visible light reflection, increased conductivity, cheaper manufacturability, and/or increased infrared (IR) reflection capability. At least one of the surfaces of the front glass substrate may be textured in certain example embodiments of this invention.

A speech processing apparatus includes a statistics collecting module operable to collect, for each of a prescribed utterance units of a speech in a training speech corpus, a prescribed type of acoustic feature and statistic information on a plurality of paralinguistic information labels being selected by a plurality of listeners to a speech corresponding to the utterance unit; and a training apparatus trained by supervised machine training using said prescribed acoustic feature as input data and using the statistic information as answer data, to output probability of allocation of the label to a given acoustic feature, for each of said plurality of paralinguistic information labels, forming a paralinguistic information vector.

The need for a more readily usable interface for programmable devices is widely recognized. The present invention relates to programmable sequencing devices, or, more particularly, the remote controls for consumer electronic devices. The present invention provides an enhanced interface for facilitating human input of a desired control sequence in a programmable device by employing specialized visual feedback. The present invention also relates to a new interface and method of interfacing with a programmable device, which is usable as an interface for a programmable video cassette recorder.

This invention relates to a front electrode/contact for use in an electronic device such as a photovoltaic device. In certain example embodiments, the front electrode of a photovoltaic device or the like includes a multilayer coating including at least one transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer (e.g., of or including a material such as tin oxide, ITO, zinc oxide, or the like) and/or at least one conductive substantially metallic IR reflecting layer (e.g., based on silver, gold, or the like). In certain example instances, the multilayer front electrode coating may include one or more conductive metal(s) oxide layer(s) and/or one or more conductive substantially metallic IR reflecting layer(s) in order to provide for reduced visible light reflection, increased conductivity, cheaper manufacturability, and/or increased infrared (IR) reflection capability.

Apparatus, systems, and methods are provided for localizing lesions within a patient's body, e.g., within a breast. The system may include one or more markers implantable within or around the target tissue region, and a probe for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic signals to detect the one or more markers. During use, the marker(s) are into a target tissue region, and the probe is placed against the patient's skin to detect and localize the marker(s). A tissue specimen, including the lesion and the marker(s), is then removed from the target tissue region based at least in part on the localization information from the probe.

This invention describes a radiation-emitting semiconductor component based on GaN, whose semiconductor body is made up of a stack of different GaN semiconductor layers (1). The semiconductor body has a first principal surface (3) and a second principal surface (4), with the radiation produced being emitted through the first principal surface (3) and with a reflector (6) being produced on the second principal surface (4).

The invention also describes a production method for a semiconductor component pursuant to the invention. An interlayer (9) is first applied to a substrate (8), and a plurality of GaN layers (1) that constitute the semiconductor body of the component are then applied to this. The substrate (8) and the interlayer (9) are then detached and a reflector (6) is produced on a principal surface of the semiconductor body.

An embodiment is directed to a method and a system for assisting the targeting of a target with an elongate instrument, wherein the instrument is to be inserted into a living object's body part along a predetermined trajectory extending between an entry point of said instrument into said body part and a target point associated with said target. The method comprises an instrument directing assisting step for generating and displaying an image allowing a user to assess to which extend the longitudinal axis of the instrument is aligned with the vector connecting the target point and the tip portion of said instrument. Also, the method comprises an instrument guiding assisting step of generating and displaying an image allowing a user to assess to which extent the instrument motion during insertion thereof coincides with the predetermined trajectory.

The invention relates to a water-base soil resistant heat-reflecting phase-changing thermal insulating coating system and a preparation method thereof. The coating system is composed of a reflected radiation top coat and a phase-changing thermal insulating primary coat. The top coat mainly comprises a film forming matter, a heat-reflecting paint, an infrared-emitting padding and hollow glass microballoons. The visible light reflectivity is 95%, the all-band reflectivity is 87%, the reflectivity of 3 to 5 microns is 0.92, and the reflectivity of 8 to 13.5 microns is 0.93%. In five times of cycle, the soil resistance is 10%. The primary coat is mainly composed of a film forming matter, phase-changing microballoons, hollow glass microballoons and expanded perlite. The primary coat is 3mm+ in thickness, and the top coat is 60 to 80 microns in thickness; when the temperature of the thermal surface reduces 15 to 20 DEG C, the temperature of the back surface reduces 8 to 15 DEG C.

An electrode structure is disclosed for enhancing the brightness and/or efficiency of an LED. The electrode structure can have a metal electrode and an optically transmissive thick dielectric material formed intermediate the electrode and a light emitting semiconductor material. The electrode and the thick dielectric cooperate to reflect light from the semiconductor material back into the semiconductor so as to enhance the likelihood of the light ultimately being transmitted from the semiconductor material. Such LED can have enhanced utility and can be suitable for uses such as general illumination.

In accordance with the invention, a photonic device comprises a semiconductor substrate including at least one circuit component comprising a metal silicide layer and an overlying layer including at least one photoresponsive component. The metal silicide layer is disposed between the circuit component and the photoresponsive component to prevent entry into the circuit component of light that penetrates the photoresponsive component. The silicide layer advantageously reflects the light back into the photoresponsive element. In addition, the overlying layer can include one or more reflective layers to reduce entry of oblique light into the photoresponsive component. In an advantageous embodiment, the substrate comprises single-crystal silicon including one or more insulated gate field effect transistors (IGFETs), and/or capacitors, and the photoresponsive element comprises germanium and/or germanium alloy epitaxially grown from seeds on the silicon. The metal silicide layer can comprise the gate of the IGFET and/or an electrode of the capacitor.

An apparatus for imaging a tooth has at least one illumination source for providing an incident light having a first spectral range for obtaining a reflectance image of the tooth and a second spectral range for exciting a fluorescence image of the tooth. A first polarizer having a first polarization axis and a compensator in the path of the incident light of the first spectral range are disposed to direct light toward the tooth. A second polarizer is disposed to direct light obtained from the tooth toward a sensor and has a second polarization axis that is orthogonal to the first polarization axis. A lens is positioned in the return path to direct image-bearing light from the tooth toward the sensor for obtaining image data. A filter in the path of the image-bearing light from the tooth is treated to attenuate light in the second spectral range.

The present invention relates to an image capturing device for reflex reduction, comprising at least one wave emitter (2) for emitting electromagnetic waves towards the object and at least one image capturing device (1), directed towards the object. The wave emitter (2) is arranged to emit said waves towards the object alternately from at least two points, said points being separated such a distance (B) that disturbing reflexes, resulting from waves emitted from different points and appearing in an image captured with said image capturing device, are seperable. Further, the device comprises processing means (7), adapted to receive at least two images, acquired with illumination from different angles, and to generate a reflex reduced image.

The invention relates to a high-temperature-resistant thermal insulation and heat preserving ceramic coating and a preparation method thereof. The coating is prepared from the following raw materials in percentage by weight: 30-50 percent of film forming substance, 30-40 percent of high-temperature-resistant filler, 10-15 percent of hollow micro beads, 2-5 percent of thermal insulation fiber and 2-8 percent of aid and solvent. The coating has the toughness of an organic coating and the rigidity and hardness of an inorganic coating, has high adhesion, can be used at the high temperature of 400-1,200 DEG C for a long time, and is resistant to chemical reagents, acids, alkalis and oil. A coating film has high surface intensity, and can bear strong shear force without being damaged when a high-temperature pipeline is required to be connected mechanically. The coating has excellent heat preserving performance, and the surface temperature of a pipeline of 350 DEG C can be lowered to be below 100 DEG C by coating the coating outside the pipeline in the thickness of 4-6 millimeters. The coating can be widely applied to heat-resistant protection of the inner and outer surfaces of equipment such as high-temperature steam pipelines, metallurgy high-temperature furnaces, high-temperature valves, high-temperature containers and the like.

An assembly and method for continuous blockage of a nerve in a patient. The assembly includes a needle comprising a hollow needle conduit having a shaft portion and a tip portion, a generally non-conductive layer disposed along a length of the conduit shaft portion, and an echogenic surface extending along at least a portion of the needle. A catheter having a bore for transmittal of an anesthetic to the nerve is receivable in the shaft portion of said needle. Following insertion of the needle tip in the vicinity of the nerve by electrical nerve stimulation and ultrasound visualization, the catheter is passed through the needle conduit such that the distal end of the catheter extends beyond the distal tip of the needle. The catheter has an echogenic portion, such as a ribbon wrapped around the distal end of the catheter, and the catheter echogenic portion is guidable in the vicinity of the nerve under ultrasound imaging. Following placement of the catheter, the needle may be removed, leaving the catheter in position for delivering continuous, spaced doses of the anesthetic over a selected period of time.

The invention provides a quantitative characterization method of low penetration double-medium sandstone oil reservoir microscopic aperture structure, which comprises the following steps: selecting experiment samples, effectively combining various experiments, distributing samples, processing and analyzing experiment test data, combining macroscopic background and microscopic rock core, and combining static state analysis and dynamic production reality, thereby realizing quantitative characterization of ultra-low penetration double-medium sandstone oil reservoir microscopic aperture structure from qualitative analysis and semi-quantitative evaluation. The invention has the advantages that more comprehensive influence factors and micro crack, aperture throat parameter and nuclear magnetic resonance movable fluid parameter are considered, so the characterization result can better reflect change characteristics of ultra-low penetration double-medium sandstone oil reservoir microscopic aperture structure, which are consistent to the production exploitation real cases of the oil field, thereby effectively avoiding one-sidedness and limitation of single aspect evaluation result.

Methods and apparatuses for creating solar cell assemblies with bonded interlayers are disclosed. In summary, the present invention describes an apparatus and method for making a solar cell assembly with transparent conductive bonding interlayers. An apparatus in accordance with the present invention comprises a substrate, a first solar cell, coupled to a first side of the substrate, wherein the first solar cell comprises a first Transparent Conductive Coating (TCC) layer coupled to a first polarity electrode of the first solar cell, and a second solar cell, the second solar cell being bonded to the first solar cell by bonding the first TCC layer to the second solar cell.

An LED module includes an electrical insulation material including a first surface having a total reflectivity of not less than 80% with respect to light with a wavelength of 450 nm, a via hole penetrating through the electrical insulation material, a wiring pattern on a second surface of the electrical insulation material, a metal filler formed in the via hole and electrically connected to the wiring pattern, and an LED chip bonded to a surface of the metal filler on the first surface of the electrical insulation material, and sealed with a resin.

The invention is directed biopsy site markers and methods of marking a biopsy site, so that the location of the biopsy cavity is readily visible by conventional imaging methods, particularly by ultrasonic imaging. The biopsy site markers of the invention have high ultrasound reflectivity, presenting a substantial acoustic signature from a small marker, so as to avoid obscuring diagnostic tissue features in subsequent imaging studies, and can be readily distinguished from biological features. The several disclosed embodiments of the biopsy site marker of the invention have a high contrast of acoustic impedance as placed in a tissue site, so as to efficiently reflect and scatter ultrasonic energy, and preferably include gas-filled internal pores. The markers may have a non-uniform surface contour to enhance the acoustic signature. The markers have a characteristic form which is recognizably artificial during medical imaging. The biopsy site marker may be accurately fixed to the biopsy site so as to resist migration from the biopsy cavity when a placement instrument is withdrawn, and when the marked tissue is subsequently moved or manipulated.

A pet door comprising a flap defining a pet access opening, a door flap pivotally mounted in the opening about a pivot axis located at an upper edge of the door flap, a latch mechanism to bar the door flap from opening in at least one direction, and a control mechanism for disabling the latch mechanism to permit the door flap to open in the said at least one direction, the control mechanism including an infrared radiation detector which is mounted above a lower edge of the pet access opening and defines a downwardly directed receiving zone for infrared radiation.