Author: claimsbot

1. A video display system comprising:
a video display unit time-divisionally performing switching between a plurality of video streams to display the video streams, thereby emitting linear polarized display light; and
shutter eyeglasses performing switching between open state to transmit incident light and closed state to block the incident light in synchronization with the switching between the video streams in the video display unit, each eyeglass in the shutter eyeglasses including a liquid crystal device, an entrance-side polarization plate provided on a light entrance side of the liquid crystal device and an exit-side polarization plate provided on a light exit side thereof,
wherein polarization degree in the entrance-side polarization plate is lower than that in the exit-side polarization plate.
2. The video display system according to claim 1, wherein the polarization degree in the entrance-side polarization plate is from 0.200 to 0.900 both inclusive.
3. The video display system according to claim 2, wherein the polarization degree in the exit-side polarization plate is 0.998 or more.
4. The video display system according to claim 1, wherein a phase difference plate is further provided between the entrance-side polarization plate and the exit-side polarization plate.
5. The video display system according to claim 1, wherein
the plurality of video streams are configured of a left-eye video stream and a right-eye video stream, the video streams having a parallax therebetween, and
the shutter eyeglasses have a left-eye liquid crystal device and a right-eye liquid crystal device, each controlled to alternately open and close in synchronization with switching of display between the left-eye video stream and the right-eye video stream.
6. A video display system comprising:
a video display unit emitting linear polarized display light; and
shutter eyeglasses switching transmittance thereof in regard to the display light, each eyeglass in the shutter eyeglasses including a liquid crystal device, a shutter-entrance-side polarization plate provided on a light entrance side of the liquid crystal device and a shutter-exit-side polarization plate provided on a light exit side thereof,
wherein polarization degree in the shutter-entrance-side polarization plate is lower than that in the shutter-exit-side polarization plate.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A network for communicating detection of hostile fire, the network comprising:
a first system mountable at a first position, the first system being operative during the day and at night to determine whether the first position is an intended target of a fired unguided energetic projectile, the first system including:
an infrared (IR) camera mountable at the first position, said IR camera having a field of view (FOV) and a predetermined sensitivity sufficient to capture a heat signature of the fired unguided energetic projectile, the heat signature including at least one of a firing component generated upon firing of the projectile, a tracer-related component, and a friction component generated by friction as the projectile travels through the troposphere, pixels of the IR camera being operative to capture a portion of a trail of energy associated with the heat signature of the fired projectile;
an image processor operative to receive signals from said IR camera corresponding to the captured portion of the trail of energy, said image processor being operative to post-process in substantially real time the signals from said IR camera and to make a determination as to whether the first position was the intended target of the fired projectile by analyzing calculated vertical and horizontal miss distances of the fired projectile, the vertical and horizontal miss distances being calculated based on a product of the vertical and horizontal pixel trails, respectively, in the captured portion of the trail of energy as functions of time and projectile velocity,
wherein horizontal and vertical miss distances are measured based on the rate of change the projectile trail (first derivative) and the rate of rate of change of the projectile trail (second derivative), where the first derivative is calculated by
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and the second derivative is calculated by
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and the product of the horizontal and vertical pixel trail comprises a mathematical product of the first and second derivative; and
a transmitter to transmit to a second system mountable at a second position of the network signals indicating that the first position is subject to hostile fire based on the determination by said image processor that the first position was the intended target of the fired projectile.
2. The network of claim 1, wherein the second system includes:
a receiver to receive the signals indicating that the first position is subject to hostile fire; and
an alert system operatively to generate timely audible, visible, andor tactile hostile fire indication in response to the received signals indicating that the first position is subject to hostile fire.
3. The network according to claim 1, wherein each of the first and second positions is one of a helicopter, a ship, an aircraft, a ground vehicle, a building, and a person.
4. The network according to claim 1, wherein the transmitter is operative to transmit signals indicating that the first position is subject to hostile fire to the second system and to one or more additional systems mountable to respective additional positions, and the second system is operative to transmit signals that the first position is subject to hostile fire to the one or more additional systems.
5. The system according to claim 1, wherein said IR camera is calibrated so as to set one or more miss distance thresholds indicative of hostile fire based on known velocities or velocity ranges of select known-to-be hostile projectiles and corresponding distance ranges of said projectiles.
6. The network according to claim 1,
wherein the transmitter of the first system is operative to transmit data associated with a determined location or location area associated with the fired projectile to the second system, the determined location or location area being determined based on the signals from said IR camera corresponding to the captured portion of the trail of energy, and
wherein the second system includes:
a receiver to receive the signals indicating that the first position is subject to hostile fire and the determined location or location area data; and
a countermeasure system at the second position that is operative to deploy one of a soft-kill and a hard-kill weapon in response to the determination that the first position was subject to hostile fire, the weapon being deployed to the determined location or location area associated with the fired projectile.
7. The network according to claim 1, wherein the first system is configured and operative to capture and process multiple heat signatures from multiple fired projectiles and to determine whether any of the fired projectiles is intended for the first position.
8. The network according to claim 1, wherein the first position is a first vehicle, the first system is mounted on the first vehicle, the second system includes a data storage unit to electronically store vehicle data from the first system regarding the first vehicle, the data including one or more of a travel path, velocity or speed of the first vehicle, a velocity or speed of the first vehicle versus time, an altitude, an orientation, a time, a location of the first vehicle in relation to the fired unguided energetic projectile, a location of the fired unguided energetic projectile, hitlikely hit data, and damage assessment data.
9. The network according to claim 1,
wherein the second system includes:
an infrared (IR) camera mountable at the second position, said IR camera having a field of view (FOV) and a predetermined sensitivity sufficient to capture a heat signature of the fired unguided energetic projectile, the heat signature including at least one of a firing component generated upon firing of the projectile, a tracer-related component, and a friction component generated by friction as the projectile travels through the troposphere, pixels of the IR camera being operative to capture a portion of a trail of energy associated with the heat signature of the fired projectile, the captured portion of the trail of energy being a two-dimensional representation over time; and
an image processor operative to receive signals from said IR camera corresponding to the captured portion of the trail of energy, said processor being operative to post-process in near real time the signals from said IR camera and to make a determination as to whether the second position was the intended target of the fired projectile by analyzing calculated vertical and horizontal miss distances of the fired projectile, the vertical and horizontal miss distances being calculated based on a product of the vertical and horizontal pixel trails, respectively, in the captured portion of the trail of energy as functions of time and projectile velocity, the functions of time and projectile velocity consisting of a rate of change of the projectile trace and the rate of rate of change of the projectile trace; and
a transmitter to transmit to the first system signals indicating that the second position is subject to hostile fire,
wherein the first system is operative to determine a location or location area of an origin of the fired unguided energetic projectile based on the post-processed signals from said IR camera of the first system and from the post-processed signals from said IR camera of the second system received by the first system, and
wherein the second system is operative to determine the location or location area of the origin of the fired unguided energetic projectile based on the post-processed signals from said IR camera of the second system and from post-processed signals from said IR camera of the first system received by the second system.
10. The system of claim 1,
wherein the system is configured to represent the captured portion of the trail of energy as a two-dimensional representation over time, and
wherein the functions of time and projectile velocity include a rate of change of the projectile trace and the rate of rate of change of the projectile trace.
11. The network of claim 1, wherein the second system includes an infrared (IR) camera, said IR camera having a field of view (FOV) and a predetermined sensitivity sufficient to capture a heat signature of the fired unguided energetic projectile.

1. Method for the production of silicon from silyl halides, wherein in a first step, the silyl halide is converted, with the generation of a plasma discharge, to a halogenated polysilane, which is subsequently decomposed to silicon, in a second step, with heating.
2. Method according to claim 1, wherein compounds of the type HnSiX4\u2212n (X=F, Cl, Br, I; n=0-3) or mixtures of them are used as silyl halides.
3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the plasma discharge is generated in a gas that consists of silyl halide or contains it.
4. Method according to claim 1 wherein the plasma discharge is generated in a gas into which a gas that consists of silyl halide or contains it is subsequently mixed.
5. Method according to claim 3, wherein the gas in which the plasma discharge is generated additionally contains hydrogen andor a diluting inert gas andor admixtures that promote the plasma discharge.
6. Method according to claim 1, wherein the plasma discharge is supported by means of the introduction of free charge carriers into the discharge zone.
7. Method according to claim 6, wherein the free charge carriers are generated by means of applying a high voltage between electrodes.
8. Method according to claim 1, wherein the plasma discharge is generated by means of radiating in an electromagnetic alternating field.
9. Method according to claim 1, wherein the production of the halogenated polysilane takes place at a pressure of 0.1 to 1000 hPa.
10. Method according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the gas that contains silyl halide when it enters into a reactor in which production of the halogenated polysilane takes place lies between minus 67\xb0 C. and 100\xb0 C., and the temperature of the gas mixture that leaves the reactor amounts to less than 400\xb0 C.
11. Method according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the wall of the reactor in which production of the halogenated polysilane takes place is held to less than 400\xb0 C.
12. Method according to claim 1, wherein the temperature for decomposition of the halogenated polysilane amounts to more than 500\xb0 C.
13. Method according to claim 1, wherein the decomposition of the halogenated polysilane takes place under reduced pressure.
14. Method according to claim 1, wherein a gas stream is passed through the apparatus being used, during the decomposition of the halogenated polysilane.
15. Method according to claim 14, wherein the gas stream that is passed through the apparatus during the decomposition of the polysilane contains hydrogen.
16. Method according to claim 14, wherein the gas stream that is passed through the apparatus during the decomposition of the polysilane consists of inert gases.
17. Method according to claim 1, wherein the decomposition to silicon takes place within or outside of a reactor.
18. Method according to claim 1, wherein the gas in which the plasma discharge is generated contains hydrogen halide.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A steering column assembly for a vehicle, comprising:
a steering column for operatively mounting a hand controller used for controlling steering of the vehicle;
a support member disposed adjacent said steering column;
a rake pivot connection coupling said steering column to said support member enabling said steering column to pivot about an axis of said rake pivot connection along a rake adjust path for adjusting a rake position of said steering column; and
a torsion spring disposed about said axis acting between said steering column and said support member to provide a constant spring bias force therebetween.
2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said torsion spring is wound about said axis.
3. The assembly of claim 2, wherein said support member comprises a pivot bolt.
4. The assembly of claim 3 wherein said support member comprises a bracket mountable stationarily to support structure of the vehicle.
5. The assembly of claim 4 wherein said torsion spring includes at least a pair of axially spaced coiled body sections encircling said pivot bolt.
6. The assembly of claim 5 wherein said coiled body sections terminate at free ends thereof in end leg portions.
7. The assembly of claim 6 wherein said coiled body section are joined by an intermediate leg portion.
8. The assembly of claim 7 wherein said end leg portions engage one of said steering column and said bracket, and said intermediate leg engages the other of said steering column and said bracket.
9. The assembly of claim 8 wherein said intermediate leg portion is angularly offset form said end leg portions.
10. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said steering column includes a rake adjust released lock mechanism positionable between an unlocked condition for enabling pivotable rake movement of said steering column about said axis and a locked condition for securing said column in a selected position of rake adjustment.
11. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said steering column is adjustable telescopically.
12. The assembly of claim 11 wherein said steering column includes an upper column jacket and a lower column jacket, said upper column jacket being selectively slideable telescopically relative to said lower column jacket.
13. The assembly of claim 12 wherein said torsion spring is carried by said lower column jacket in spaced, non-reactive relation to said upper column jacket so as not to impair the telescopic adjustment of said upper and lower column jackets.
14. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said torsion spring exerts substantially uniform counter-active spring force through said adjustment of said rake position along said rake adjust path.
15. The assembly of claim 14 wherein said torsion spring supports said steering column unassisted in any position of rake adjustment along said rake adjustment path.
16. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said steering column includes an upper column jacket, a lower column jacket, and an upper steering shaft extending through said upper and lower column jackets.
17. The assembly of claim 16 wherein said upper steering shaft includes a lower joint end that angulates with said pivotal rake movement of said steering column.