All The Claims

1. A negative electrode, wherein:
a negative electrode current collector has a conductive foil including a conductive substrate and a multiplicity of conductive lumpy projections provided at a surface of said substrate; and
said multiplicity of lumpy projections are so disposed that a plurality of said lumpy projections are aligned substantially in one direction to form a lumpy projection row and that a plurality of said lumpy projection rows are arrayed side by side at a predetermined interval in a direction substantially orthogonal to said one direction.
2. The negative electrode as set forth in claim 1, wherein said conductive foil is an electrolytic copper foil wherein a multiplicity of copper particulates serving as said multiplicity of lumpy projections are formed by an electrolytic treatment so as to cover substantially the whole part of a surface of an untreated copper foil serving as said substrate.
3. The negative electrode as set forth in claim 2, wherein said lumpy projection rows are arrayed side by side at a pitch of 1.3 to 2.8 \u03bcm.
4. The negative electrode as set forth in claim 2, wherein said electrolytic copper foil has a surface roughness in terms of ten-point mean roughness Rz of 1.5 to 5 \u03bcm.
5. The negative electrode as set forth in claim 1, wherein a negative electrode active material layer is formed to have a surface shape reflecting the shape of said lumpy projections of said negative electrode current collector.
6. The negative electrode as set forth in claim 1, wherein a negative electrode active material layer is formed by a vapor phase process andor a sintering process.
7. The negative electrode as set forth in claim 1, wherein a negative electrode active material layer contains elemental silicon or a silicon compound as an ingredient.
8. The negative electrode as set forth in claim 7, wherein said negative electrode active material layer contains oxygen as an ingredient, and the content of oxygen is 3 to 40 at %.
9. The negative electrode as set forth in claim 8, wherein said negative electrode active material layer has a high oxygen concentration layer high in oxygen concentration and a low oxygen concentration layer low in oxygen concentration, disposed in the thickness direction of said negative electrode active material layer.
10. A secondary cell comprising:
a positive electrode,
an electrolyte, and
a negative electrode as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 9,
wherein said negative electrode extends, in the direction in which said lumpy projection rows are arrayed side by side, during charging to form an extended negative electrode, and
wherein a region capable of accommodating said extended negative electrode is provided at a side of said negative electrode in the direction in which said negative electrode extends.
11. The secondary cell as set forth in claim 10, wherein said positive electrode and said negative electrode are rolled in an overlapping condition to form a rolled electrode body, and the roll axis direction of said rolled electrode body is a direction intersecting said one direction along which each said lumpy projection row is formed.
12. The secondary cell as set forth in claim 11, wherein said roll axis direction is said direction in which said lumpy projection rows are arrayed side by side.
13. The secondary cell as set forth in claim 11, wherein an outer package accommodating said rolled electrode body is of a tubular type, and a space is present between said outer package and a spacer provided on a side of the rolled electrode body in the roll axis direction.
14. The secondary cell as set forth in claim 13, wherein said outer package is composed mainly of iron or an iron alloy.
15. The secondary cell as set forth in claim 10, wherein said electrolyte contains a fluorine-containing compound in which a part or the whole part of hydrogen in a cyclic carbonic acid ester or chain carbonic acid ester is replaced by fluorine.
16. The secondary battery as set forth in claim 15, wherein said fluorine-containing compound is difluoroethylene carbonate.

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 liquid crystal display device comprising:
pixels;
individual and common electrodes provided for the pixels; and
a flicker compensation circuit provided with a capacitor through which a common voltage is supplied to the flicker compensation circuit, a variable resistor which changes the common voltage supplied through the capacitor, a switch which selects one of two different voltages, and an output circuit which combines an output of the variable resistor with that of the switch and supplies thus combined outputs to the common electrode as compensated common voltages.
2. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, further comprising:
a controller to selectively control a first display mode with a first vertical scanning direction and a second display mode with a second vertical scanning direction reverse to said first vertical scanning direction.
3. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 2, wherein said switch selects a first voltage at the first display mode and a second voltage at the second display mode.
4. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 3, wherein said liquid crystal display device is used for a car navigation.
5. A flicker compensation circuit, comprising:
a capacitor through which a common voltage is supplied;
a variable resistor which changes the common voltage supplied through the capacitor;
a switch which selects one of two different voltages; and
an output circuit which combines an output of the variable resistor with that of the switch.

1. A driving method of a liquid crystal display device, the method comprising:
generating a first control signal having a change of state at a time delay with respect to a vertical synchronization signal;
applying a scan pulse to gate lines in response to the change of state of the first control signal;
applying data to source lines in response to a change of state of a second control signal;
controlling a backlight unit having a plurality of lamps depending on the change of state of at least one of the first control signal and the second control signal; and
wherein a turn-on time point of a first lamp of the lamps is synchronized with the change of state of at least one of the first control signal and the second control signal.
2. The driving method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the act of controlling a backlight unit comprises controlling a backlight unit sequentially depending on the change of state of at least one of the first control signal and the second control signal.
3. The driving method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the change of state of the first or the second control signal is a rising edge of a pulse.
4. The driving method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the change of state of the first or the second control signal is a falling edge of a pulse.
5. The driving method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the scan pulse is sequentially applied to a group of gate lines.
6. The driving method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the second control signal comprises a horizontal synchronization signal.
7. The driving method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the second control signal comprises a source start pulse.
8. The driving method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the change of state of the second control signal is time delayed with respect to the vertical synchronization signal.
9. The driving method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the time delay is greater than or about equal to about a pixel capacitor charging time.
10. The driving method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the first lamp is turned on depending on the change of state of at least one of the first control signal and the second control signal.
11. The driving method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the first lamp is turned on for a predetermined period of time.
12. The method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the backlight unit comprises:
determining a turn-on time point of the first lamp on the basis of the change of state of the first or the second control signal;
lighting the first lamp during a lighting duration; and
lighting a second lamp of the plurality of lamps after the lighting duration of the first lamp.
13. The driving method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 12, wherein the lighting duration is a predetermined period of time.
14. The driving method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 12, wherein the lighting duration is a predetermined number of changes of state of the second control signal.
15. The driving method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 12, wherein the turn-on time is delayed with respect to the vertical synchronization signal by at least approximately a pixel capacitor charging time.
16. The driving method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 12, where the change of state of the second control signal is delayed with respect to the vertical synchronization signal.
17. A liquid crystal display device comprising:
a LCD panel, including gate and data lines;
a backlight unit disposed behind the LCD panel;
an electronics unit, adapted to receive signals including data and a vertical synchronization signal, the electronics unit outputting a first control signal having a time delay with respect to the vertical synchronization signal, and a second control signal associated with a horizontal synchronization signal;
a gate driver for applying a scan pulse to gate lines depending on a change of state of the first control signal;
a source driver for applying data to source lines depending on a change of state of the second control signal;
a driving unit for driving the backlight unit having a plurality of lamps in accordance with the change of state of the first control signal or the second control signal; and
wherein a turn-on time point of a first lamp of the lamps is synchronized with the change of state of at least one of the first control signal and the second control signal.
18. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 17, wherein the scan pulse is sequentially applied to a group of gate lines.
19. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 17, wherein the backlight unit comprises a plurality of lamps.
20. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 19, wherein each lamp is turned on for a predetermined time.
21. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 20, wherein the plurality of lamps are turned on for a varying predetermined times.
22. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 19, wherein the first lamp of the plurality of lamps is turned on based on the change of state of the first control signal or the second control signal.
23. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 22, wherein a second lamp of the plurality of lamps is turned on after the change of state of the first control signal and a predetermined number of changes of state of the second control signal.
24. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 17, wherein the LCD panel comprises pixels, each pixel having a capacitor, the capacitor having a charging time constant, and wherein the change of state of the first control signal with respect to the vertical synchronization signal by a time at least equal to approximately a pixel capacitor charging time constant.
25. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 24, wherein the LCD panel comprises pixels, each pixel having a capacitor, the capacitor having a charging time constant, and wherein the change of state of the second control signal with respect to the horizontal synchronization signal by a time at least equal to approximately a pixel capacitor charging time constant.
26. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 17, wherein the LCD panel comprises pixels, each pixel having a capacitor, the capacitor having a charging time constant, and wherein the change of state of the second control signal with respect to the horizontal synchronization signal by a time at least equal to approximately a pixel capacitor charging time constant.
27. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 22, wherein the first of the plurality of lamps is disposed behind a first predetermined number of gate lines, and the second of the plurality of lamps is disposed behind a second predetermined number of gate lines, and the first lamp is turned on depending on a change of state o the first control signal or the second control signal applied to a first of the second predetermined number of gate lines.
28. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 22, wherein a second lamp is turned on after a predetermined time.
29. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 17, wherein the change of state of the first or the second control signal is a rising edge of a pulse.
30. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 17, wherein the change of state of the first or the second control signal is a falling edge of a pulse.
31. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 17, wherein the control signal is a first gate start pulse following the start of the vertical synchronization signal.
32. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 17, wherein the first control signal comprises a gate start pulse following the start of the vertical synchronization signal.
33. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 17, wherein the second control signal comprises a source start pulse following the start of the horizontal synchronization signal.

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

What is claimed is:

1. A magnetic disk apparatus comprising:
a spindle motor for rotating a magnetic disk;
first means for selectively generating either a first pulse-train signal or a second pulse-train signal which differs from the first pulse-train signal in pulse frequency; and
second means for, when the first means generates the first pulse-train signal, controlling the spindle motor to rotate at a first rotational speed in response to the first pulse-train signal, and for, when the first means generates the second pulse-train signal, controlling the spindle motor to rotate at a second rotational speed in response to the second pulse-train signal, the second rotational speed differing from the first rotational speed.
2. A magnetic disk apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising:
third means for reading a signal from the magnetic disk;
fourth means for discriminating data from the signal read by the third means;
fifth means for determining whether or not the fourth means normally discriminates the data from the signal read by the third means; and
sixth means for, in cases where the fifth means determines that the fourth means normally discriminates the data, controlling the first means to unchange one of the first and second pulse-train signals which is currently generated by the first means, and for, in cases where the fifth means determines that the fourth means does not normally discriminate the data, controlling the first means to change one of the first and second pulse-train signals which is currently generated by the first means to the other of the first and second pulse-train signals.
3. A magnetic disk apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the first means comprises means for generating a fixed-level signal in response to a motor stop signal, and the second means comprises means for, when the first means generates the fixed-level signal, stopping the spindle motor in response to the fixed-level signal.
4. A magnetic disk apparatus comprising:
a spindle motor for rotating a magnetic disk;
first means associated with the spindle motor for generating a first signal having a period which decreases as a rotational speed of the motor increases;
second means for generating a second signal having a train of pulses, wherein a pulse frequency of the second signal is initially equal to a first frequency;
third means for counting pulses in the second signal during every time interval corresponding to the period of the first signal, and generating a third signal depending on a total number of the counted pulses for every time interval corresponding to the period of the first signal;
fourth means for generating a fourth signal representing a deviation of the third signal generated by the third means from a fifth signal being a reference signal;
fifth means for controlling the rotational speed of the spindle motor in response to the fourth signal generated by the fourth means to nullify the deviation of the third signal from the reference signal;
sixth means for reading a sixth signal from the magnetic disk;
seventh means for detecting actual data in the sixth signal read by the sixth means;
eighth means for determining whether or not the seventh means successfully detects the actual data;
ninth means for, when the eighth means determines that the seventh means successfully detects the actual data, maintaining the pulse frequency of the second signal at the first frequency; and
tenth means for, when the eighth means determines that the seventh means does not successfully detect the actual data, changing the pulse frequency of the second signal from the first frequency to a second frequency different from the first frequency to change the rotational speed of the spindle motor which is controlled by the fifth means.