System and method for facilitating data transfer between logic systems and a memory according to various conditions. Embodiments include systems and methods for facilitating and improving throughput of data transfers using a shared non-deterministic bus, a system and method for managing a memory as a circular buffer, and a system and method for facilitating data transfer between a first clock domain and a second clock domain. Embodiments may be implemented individually or in combination.

2. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates generally to data transfer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Global navigational satellite systems (GNSS) such as GPS and GLONASS have been in existence for many years. Initially, these technologies were typically deployed in stand-alone GNSS devices. However, more recently, with the increasing popularity of multi-functional wireless devices (such as smartphones, laptop computers, and/or other mobile devices), it is becoming desirable to implement GNSS functionality in multi-functional wireless devices. Multi-functional devices may offer the convenience of their multiple functions in a single device, and opportunities may exist for increased efficiency and compactness in terms of overall system design, however, there are significant challenges in optimizing individual functional groups which historically have most commonly been implemented in a stand-alone manner, such as GNSS, for use in a multi-functional device. Accordingly, improvements in the field would be desirable.

System and method for improving throughput of data transfers using a shared non-deterministic bus


The inventive device comprises a tool holder, which can be displaced in an x-direction, in a y-direction that is perpendicular thereto, and in a z-direction that is perpendicular to both the x-direction and the y-direction, and which can rotate about the z-direction A solid matter dosing head, provided as a tool, is automatically attached in a removable manner to the tool holder by means of a permanent magnet. The tool can be easily exchanged for another tool due to this automatic removable attachment of said tool to the tool holder involving the use of a permanent magnet.

The present invention relates to a device having a tool holder, which can be displaced in an x direction and a z direction which is perpendicular to the x direction, and a first tool in the form of a metering head, which can be removably secured to the tool holder.
Devices of this type are used, inter alia, for automatically metering substances into a plurality of reaction vessels or test tubes which are arranged, for example, next to one another.
In a device which is known as Caco-2 Assay produced by Mettler Toledo Bohdan, Greifensee, Switzerland, there are two tool holders with different tools. The tool holders can be displaced in a horizontal x direction, a horizontal y direction which is perpendicular to the x direction, and a vertical z direction which is perpendicular to the x and y directions, and in this way can serve reaction vessels arranged next to one another under the control of software. One of the tools is designed for metering liquid as a metering head in the form of a four-needle head with four parallel hollow needles which can be spread apart. The other tool is a gripper for handling substance plates which have a multiplicity of recesses for holding substance. To weigh matter which can be handled by the device, there is a balance, on which, by way of example, a corresponding substance plate or a test tube is placed.
Although the two fixedly installed tools do make it possible to handle liquids and solids, they do not, for example, allow a solid to be metered directly into a reaction vessel. Moreover, there are two tool holders which have to be able to move independently of one another, in which context it must be ensured that they do not collide with one another. Finally, accurate weighing out of a defined quantity of substance is relatively complex.
In view of the drawbacks of the devices of the prior art which has been described above, the invention is based on the object of providing a device which allows a very wide range of forms of substances to be handled as simply as possible.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Device having a tool holder and a tool which can be secured removeably


A single pass color xerographic printing system with a single polygon, single optical system Raster Output Scanning (ROS) system has a multiple wavelength laser diode source for the ROS which images the multiple beams at a single station as closely spaced spots on a multiple layer photoreceptor with each photoreceptor layer sensitive to or accessible to only one of the multiple wavelengths.

This invention relates to a single pass color xerographic printing system with a single polygon, single optical system Raster Output Scanning (ROS) system, and, more particularly, to a multiple wavelength laser diode source for the ROS which images the multiple beams at a single station as closely spaced spots on a multiple layer photoreceptor with each photoreceptor layer sensitive to only one of the multiple wavelengths or only accessed by one of the multiple wavelengths.
In xerographic printing (also called electrophotographic printing), a latent image is formed on a charged photoreceptor, usually by raster sweeping a modulated laser beam across the photoreceptor. The latent image is then used to create a permanent image by transferring and fusing toner that was electrostatically attracted to the latent image, onto a recording medium, usually plain paper. While other methods are known, the most common method of sweeping the laser beam is to deflect it from a rotating mirror. A multifaceted, rotating polygon mirror having a set of related optics can sweep the beam or sweep several beams simultaneously. Rotating polygon mirrors and their related optics are so common that they are generically referred to as ROSs (Raster Output Scanners), while printers that sweep several beams simultaneously are referred to as multispot printers.
When a xerographic printer prints in two or more colors, it requires a separate latent image for each color printed, called a system color. Color prints are currently produced by sequentially transferring overlapped images of each system color onto an intermediate transfer belt that is passed multiple times, once for each system color, over the photoreceptor. The built-up image is then transferred to a single recording medium. Such printers are called multiple pass printers.
Conceptually, one can build up multiple colors on a photoreceptor or intermediate transfer belt that is passed through the system only once, in a single pass, by using a sequence of multiple xerographic stations, one for each system color. The built-up image on the photoreceptor or ITB can be transferred to a recording medium and fused in a single pass. Additionally, tandem xerographic stations can sequentially transfer images directly to the recording medium in a single pass. Such a printer, called a multistation printer, would have a greater output than a multipass printer operating at the same raster sweep speed because the rasters for each color are operating simultaneously in the single pass printer. However, the introduction of multistation printers has been delayed by 1) cost problems, at least partially related to the cost of multiple xerographic stations and the associated ROSs, and 2) image quality problems, at least partially related to the difficulty of producing similar spots at each imaging station and subsequently registering (overlapping) the latent images on the photoreceptor or transfer/recording medium.
In the practice of conventional bi-level xerography, it is the general procedure to form electrostatic latent images on a xerographic surface by first uniformly charging a charge retentive surface such as a photoreceptor. The charged area is selectively dissipated in accordance with a pattern of activating radiation corresponding to desired images. The selective dissipation of the charge leaves a latent charge pattern on the imaging surface corresponding to the areas not exposed by radiation.
This charge pattern is made visible by developing it with toner by passing the photoreceptor past a single developer housing. The toner is generally a colored powder which adheres to the charge pattern by electrostatic attraction. The developed image is then fixed to the imaging surface or is transferred to a receiving substrate such as plain paper to which it is fixed by suitable fusing techniques.
Modern business and computer needs often make it advantageous and desirable to reproduce or print originals which contain two or more colors. It is sometimes important that the copy reproduced or printed also contain two colors.
Several useful methods are known for making copies having plural colors. Some of these methods make high quality images, however, there is need for improvements. In particular, it is desirable to be able to print images having two or more highlight colors rather than being limited to a single highlight color. It is also desirable to be able to produce such images in a single pass of the photoreceptor or other charge retentive surface past the printing process areas or stations.
One method of producing images in plural (i.e. two colors, black and one highlight color) is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,890 to W. E. Bixby in which a charge pattern of either a positive or negative polarity is developed by a single, two-colored developer. The developer comprises a single carrier which supports both triboelectrically relatively positive and relatively negative toner. The positive toner is a first color and the negative toner is of a second color. The method develops positively charged image areas with the negative toner and develops negatively charged image areas with the positive toner. A two-color image occurs only when the charge pattern includes both positive and negative polarities.
Plural color development of charge patterns can be created by the method disclosed by F. A. Schwertz in U.S. Pat. No. 3,045,644. Charge patterns are developed of both a positive and negative polarity. The development system is a set of magnetic brushes, one of which applies relatively positive toner of a first color to the negatively charged areas of the charge pattern and the other of which applies relatively negative toner to the positively charged areas.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,816,115 to R. W. Gundlach and L. F. Bean discloses a method for forming a charge pattern having charged areas of a higher and lower strength of the same polarity. The charge pattern is produced by repetitively charging and imagewise exposing an overcoated xerographic plate to form a composite charge pattern.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,848, a multi-color printer uses an additive color process to provide either partial or full color copies. Multiple scanning beams, each modulated in accordance with distinct color image signals, are scanned across the printer's photoreceptor at relatively widely separated points, there being buffer means provided to control timing of the different color image signals to assure registration of the color images with one another. Each color image is developed prior to scanning of the photoreceptor by the next succeeding beam. Following developing of the last color image, the composite color image is transferred to a copy sheet. In an alternate embodiment, an input section for scanning color originals is provided. The color image signals output by the input section may then be used by the printing section to make full color copies of the original.
Proposed prior art multistation printers have usually included individual ROSs (each comprised of separate polygon mirrors, lenses, and related optical components) for each station. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,847,642 and 4,903,067 to Murayama et al. involve such systems. Problems with these systems include the high cost of producing nearly identical multiple ROSs and the difficulty of registering the system colors.
A partial solution to the problems of multistation xerographic systems with individual ROSs is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,903 to Kawamura et al. The '903 patent, particularly with regards to FIG. 6, discusses a recording apparatus (printer) having multiple recording stations and multiple lens systems, but only one polygon mirror. With only one polygon mirror and associated drive motor, the cost of the system is reduced. However, differences in the lenses and mirror surfaces still could cause problems with color registration.
Another approach to overcoming the problems of multistation printers having individual ROSs is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,312 to Matuura et al. The '312 patent illustrates spatially overlapping a plurality of beams using an optical beam combiner, deflecting the overlapped beams using a single polygon mirror, separating the deflected beams using an optical filter (and polarizers or additional filters if more than two beams are used), and directing the separated beams onto associated photoreceptors. The advantage of overlapping the laser beams is a significant cost reduction since the ROS is shared.
However, an actual embodiment of the '312 apparatus would be rather complicated and expensive, especially if four system colors are to be printed. The use of optical beam combiners to overlap beams so that they have similar optical axes would be difficult, expensive, and time consuming. Obtaining similar sized spots on each photoreceptor would also be difficult as it would be difficult to establish the same optical path lengths for each beam. Finally, it would also be difficult to ensure that the latent images on the photoreceptors are registered. Each of these problems is at least partially related to the relative positions of the laser sources.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,359, commonly assigned with the present application and herein incorporated by reference, the multiwavelength closely spaced diode laser sources of the ROS of the color printing system are passed through a common optical system including polygon and then separated by filters to address multiple xerographic stations simultaneously.
This concept enables savings in both space and cost in color applications since several optical systems are combined into one, for example in a four color system a single polygon ROS would be used instead of four.
While this multiple wavelength single polygon ROS systems offers significant cost and space saving advantages, a number of remaining limitations beckon for a solution. Due to the focussing requirement of keeping the same pathlength for each wavelength beam, the split beam system imposes a number of geometrical limitations. After splitting a bundle of four beams (for a full color application), the different scanning beams are most conveniently focused along four scan lines all in a common plane. Therefore such a system is compatible with a tandem drum architecture. To be used with multiple xerographic stations on a single photoreceptor only a belt architecture appears practical. It would be difficult to maintain equal pathlengths when imaging the four split beams at different positions around the periphery of a drum. The necessity to use a tandem engine or belt architecture with the split beam system restricts the compactness of the machine footprint which can be achieved.
In addition while the multiple wavelength single polygon ROS with split beams eliminates the need for multiple polygons and associated optical elements it introduces the need for beam splitting elements and additional folding mirrors. These components add cost and complexity.
The registration problems associated with color xerographic printing are addressed by the multiple wavelength single polygon with split beams from the point of view of scanning bow and wobble errors. The use of a single polygon and associated optical system should minimize relative scanning bow and wobble errors at the separate imaging stations. However registration problems associated with relative image placement errors and with image transfer positioning errors are not addressed by this system.
This concept of a multiwavelength single polygon ROS addresses the general need for compact color printing systems to take advantage of the exploding color printing market. However there is still a strong need to reduce the size and complexity of color printing systems even further. There is also a need to improve the registration errors inherent in xerographic color printing systems which use tandem drums, intermediate transfer belts and multiple passes.
It is an object of this invention to provide a multiple wavelength, single ROS, single imaging station on single photoreceptor, single pass, full color, high speed printing system.
It is another object of this invention to provide a multiple wavelength laser beam source for a single polygon, single optics, ROS for use in a single pass color xerographic unit.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a multiple wavelength sensitive, multiple layer photoreceptor for use with a single polygon, single optics, ROS in a single pass color xerographic unit.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a multiple wavelength xerographic printing system without the need for beam splitters or beam separation.

Color xerographic printing system with multiple wavelength, single optical system ROS and multiple layer photoreceptor


A collapsible ladder for use primarily for athletic training and the like has a plurality of spaced-apart, substantially rigid rungs secured with collapsible connectors to a plurality of spaced-apart, substantially rigid spacers extending therebetween. In one disclosed embodiment, the collapsible connectors are strips of flexible material extending between the rungs and spacers. Another disclosed embodiment has a second set of rungs aligned substantially parallel to the plurality of spaced-apart rungs along a common central set of spacers. The collapsible connectors allow the ladder to be quickly and easily transitioned between an extended, operational position, and a collapsed, storage position.

Training ladders are elongate spaced apart rungs that are positioned on the ground and substantially parallel to each other. A typical training exercise using the ladder involves the athlete attempting to quickly run between the rungs without touching them with his or her feet.
Typical training ladders include a plurality of substantially rigid, elongate, rungs that are spaced apart from each other by a webbing of flexible material such as rope, nylon strips or the like. During use of these known training ladders, the rungs tend to become displaced as the athlete inadvertently contacts them or the webbing holding them apart. Accordingly, these known ladders are typically staked to the ground in an effort to keep them in place during use. These stakes tend to become lost during use and storage of the ladder.
Moreover, such staking limits the ease of use of the ladder. For example, if an athlete inadvertently positions his or her foot under the webbing while performing an exercise drill and then lifts their foot without first removing it from under the webbing, he or she can easily trip, particularly when the webbing is staked to the ground.
In addition, the webbing tends to become tangled when the ladder is collapsed and stored, thereby compromising the user's ability to easily set-up the ladder for future use.


A refiner (1, 18, 19) for refining fibrous material has a first refining surface (4, 11) and a second refining surface (4, 11), arranged at least partly substantially opposite to form a refiner chamber (12) to which material to be defibrated is arranged to be fed. The first or second refining surface is arranged to move in relation to the opposite refining surface. The first refining surface has elongated openings (14, 15) through which fibrous material to be refined is arranged to be fed into the refiner chamber, and/or the second refining surface has elongated openings (14, 15) through which fibrous material refined in the refiner chamber is arranged to be discharged. The elongated openings provided through the refining surface are arranged at an angle transverse to the blade bars and blade grooves of the refining surface on the first and/or second refining surface.

The invention relates to a refiner for refining fibrous material, the refiner comprising at least one first refining surface and at least one second refining surface, which are arranged at least partly substantially opposite to one another in such a manner that a refiner chamber, to which material to be defibrated is arranged to be fed, is formed between them, and at least either the first refining surface or the second refining surface is arranged to move with respect to the opposite refining surface, and the first refining surface and the second refining surface comprise blade bars and blade grooves between the bars.
The invention further relates to a method for refining fibrous material, the method comprising refining fibrous material with a refiner which comprises at least one first refining surface and at least one second refining surface which are arranged at least partly substantially opposite to one another in such a manner that a refiner chamber, to which material to be defibrated is fed, is formed between them, and in which at least either the first refining surface or the second refining surface is arranged to move with respect to the opposite refining surface, and in which the first refining surface and the second refining surface comprise blade bars and blade grooves between the bars.
The invention further relates to a blade segment for a refiner intended for refining fibrous material, the blade segment comprising a refining surface with blade bars and blade grooves between the bars.
Refiners for treating fibrous material typically comprise two, possibly even more, refining surfaces substantially opposite to one another, between which there is a refiner chamber to which fibrous material to be refined is fed. At least one of the refining surfaces is arranged to move relative to the opposite refining surface. The refining surface may be formed of one integral structure, or it may be formed of a plurality of refining surface segments arranged adjacent to one another, whereby the refining surfaces of individual refining surface segments form one uniform refining surface. The refining surfaces may also comprise specific blade bars, i.e., bars, and blade grooves, i.e., grooves, between the bars, whereby fibrous material is refined between the blade bars of opposite refining surfaces and both the material to be refined and the already refined material are able to move on the refining surface in the blade grooves between the blade bars. On the other hand, the refining surface may comprise protrusions and recesses between the protrusions. The blade bars and blade grooves of the refining surfaces or the protrusions and recesses of the refining surfaces may be made of the basic material of the refining surface or a different material. The protrusions may also be formed of ceramic grits attached to the refining surface by previously known methods. The refining surfaces, i.e., the blade surfaces, may also be formed of separate lamellas arranged adjacent to one another or at a distance from one another and fixed to form a refining surface. The refining surface may also comprise a very large number of small protrusions and recesses between them, in which case the refiner operates by a grinding principle.
The refiner chamber is a volume which is formed between the refining surfaces of a stator and rotor and where refining takes place. The refining is carried out by mutual pressing and motion of the refining surfaces under frictional forces between the refining surfaces and the material being refined and, on the other hand, under frictional forces created inside the material being refined. The surface area formed by the refining surfaces of the rotor and stator between them is the refining area, in which the refining between the refining surfaces of the rotor and stator takes place in the refiner chamber. The shortest distance between the refining surfaces of the rotor and stator in the region of the refining area is the blade gap.
To boost the production of refiners, it is important to be able to guide the fibrous material to be refined efficiently between the opposite refining surfaces for refining. At the same time, it is naturally important to be able to remove the already sufficiently refined material from between the refining surfaces in such a manner that the already refined material does not block up the refiner chamber between the refining surfaces and thus weaken the production of the refiner. Particularly in refining surfaces comprising blade bars and blade grooves between the bars, the guiding of fibrous material between the opposite blade bars has been made more efficient by providing at the bottom of the grooves special dams that force the material being refined to move away from the bottom of the grooves and on between the opposite refining surfaces. However, the effect of the dams is local and thus does not substantially benefit the whole area of the refining surface. The dams also considerably diminish the hydraulic capacity of the refining surface.
By changing the height of the blade groove bottom and/or the volume of the blade groove, it is also possible to try to force the flow of the material being refined to move between the opposite refining surfaces and thus make the refining more efficient. In addition, by tilting the blade bars, it is also possible to try to affect the flow of material being refined and thus force the material being refined to pass between the opposite blade bars.
A problem with all these solutions is, however, that they do not significantly improve the guiding of the material being refined into the refiner chamber without simultaneously weakening the production capacity of the refiner.

Refiner and method for refining fibrous material


Multi-purpose holster apparatus is provided which is suitable for holding a variety of objects including portable tools, mobile telephones, flashlights, cameras, etc. The holster employs a rigid or semi-rigid frame which has a section which mates with a corresponding section on the object to be holstered. The frame is attachable to a belt or a waistband to allow a rapid drawing of the object that is holstered.

The subject invention provides a multi-purpose holster apparatus that is an improvement over conventional holster devices, and offers an alternative to restrictive devices such as camera holders, portable tool belts, harnesses, etc. The subject holster can be used as a support for potable tools, mobile telephones, cameras, video cameras, flashlights, etc., and fulfills the long felt need for a holder which permits ready access and secure attachment. In its preferred embodiment, the subject holsters provide a readily accessible camera holder that can comfortably secure a camera in a lens down position to a user's belt or waistband and a mobile telephone holder that securedly attaches to a user's belt.
Holster-type holders are well known in the art. However, no holder/holster to date provides the accessibility and security provided by the notch, sliding clip and thumb-lock mechanism fastening means of the subject device.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,209,968, issued Oct. 5, 1965 to Flanagan, discloses a belt clip attachment for a camera which utilizes the thumb screw to directly affix the camera to a bracket which can be attached to a belt. The camera is operated with the bracket attachment still in place thus adding bulk to the camera and inconvenience to the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,706, issued May 12, 1981 to Gould, discloses a belt support that holds a camera in a lens down position. This support attaches a camera to the user's belt by means of a strip of an elastic material. U.S. Pat. No. 4,120,434, issued Oct. 17, 1978 to Hewes, also discloses a belt supported camera caddy which holds the camera in a lens down position. Neither of these patents, however, disclose applicant's easy access system for attaching a camera to a holster apparatus or the closable lens strap design of the subject invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,616, issued Oct. 2, 1973 to Brunstetter, discloses a camera holster which comprises a "pocket" for inserting a camera. The entire pocket and camera is then attached to a belt. As in typical of the prior art, immediate access to the camera is prohibited.
Other holster-like apparatuses described in the prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,753, issued Nov. 11, 1989 to Ridings, which describes a belt supported tool carrier, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,928,063, issued Sep. 26, 1933 to Lehmann, which describes a holder for a headed tool. In contrast, the subject invention is not limited to use with headed tools.
Unlike earlier holders, the slide-plate and corresponding receptacle of the subject invention permits a variety of objects to be securely affixed to the user's belt while allowing the user immediate access to the object. Although the subject invention is particularly suitable for use with cameras having long lens and video cameras, it is adaptable to hold a plethora of different devices.


A combination isomerization and liquid phase adsorptive separation process has been developed. In this arrangement, a C5+ naphtha stream is split into a heavy hydrocarbon stream comprising normal heptane and higher boiling hydrocarbons, an isomerization and adsorption zone feed stream comprising pentanes and lower boiling hydrocarbons, and a desorbent stream containing hexanes. The isomerization and adsorption zone feed stream is combined with an isomerization section effluent to form a combined feed to an adsorptive separation section. In the adsorption separation section, normal pentanes are selectively adsorbed on an adsorbent material, and a raffinate stream comprising hexanes and isoparaffins is recovered and passed to a deisohexanizer column. A desorbent stream containing normal hexane is recovered as a sidecut from the deisohexanizer column and is combined with the desorbent stream containing the hexanes from the naphtha splitter to supply the desorbent for the adsorptive separation section. The extract stream that is recovered from the adsorptive separation section is passed to the isomerization section. A bottoms stream comprising C7 and higher boiling hydrocarbons is withdrawn from the bottom of the deisohexanizer column. A high-octane isomerate is taken overhead from the deisohexanizer column as a product stream.

This invention relates generally to the isomerization of hydrocarbons. This invention relates more specifically to the isomerization of light paraffins using a solid catalyst and the separation of more highly branched paraffins from less highly branched and non-branched paraffins by liquid phase adsorptive separation and distillation.
High-octane gasoline is required for modern gasoline engines. Formerly it was common to accomplish octane number improvement by the use of various lead-containing additives. As lead is phased out of gasoline for environmental reasons, it has become increasingly necessary to rearrange the structure of the hydrocarbons used in gasoline blending in order to obtain high-octane levels. Catalytic reforming and catalytic isomerization are two widely used processes for this upgrading.
A gasoline blending pool normally includes C4 and heavier hydrocarbons having boiling points of less than 215xc2x0 C. (419xc2x0 F.) at atmospheric pressure. This range of hydrocarbons includes C4-C6 paraffins and especially the C5 and C6 normal paraffins that have relatively low octane numbers. The C4-C6 hydrocarbons have the greatest susceptibility to octane improvement by lead addition and were formerly upgraded in this manner. Octane improvement can also be obtained by using isomerization to rearrange the structure of the paraffinic hydrocarbons into branched-chain paraffins or reforming to convert the C6 and heavier hydrocarbons to aromatic compounds. Normal C5 hydrocarbons are not readily converted into aromatics, therefore, the common practice has been to isomerize these lighter hydrocarbons into corresponding branched-chain isoparaffins. Although the C6 and heavier hydrocarbons can be upgraded into aromatics through hydrocyclization, the conversion of C6""s to aromatics creates higher density species and increases gas yields with both effects leading to a reduction in liquid volume yields. Therefore, it is common practice to charge the C6 paraffins to an isomerization unit to obtain C6 isoparaffin hydrocarbons. Consequently, octane upgrading commonly uses isomerization to convert C6 and lighter boiling hydrocarbons to higher octane C6 isoparaffin hydrocarbons and reforming to convert C7 and higher boiling hydrocarbons to higher octane aromatic and isoparaffin hydrocarbons.
The effluent from an isomerization reaction zone will contain a mixture of more highly branched and less highly branched paraffins. In order to further increase the octane of the products from the isomerization zone, normal paraffins, and sometimes less highly branched isoparaffins, are typically recycled to the isomerization zone along with the feed stream in order to increase the ratio of less highly branched paraffins to more highly branched paraffins entering the isomerization zone. A variety of methods are known to treat the effluent from the isomerization zone for the recovery of normal paraffins and monomethyl branched isoparaffins for recycling these less highly branched paraffins to the isomerization zone.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,966,528 B1 issued to Haensel discloses a process for the isomerization of C6 hydrocarbons and the adsorptive separation of normal hydrocarbons from branched chain hydrocarbons. The process adsorbs normal hydrocarbons from the effluent of the isomerization zone and recovers the unadsorbed hydrocarbons as product, desorbs straight chain hydrocarbons using a normal paraffin desorbent, and returns the desorbent and adsorbed straight chain hydrocarbons to the isomerization zone.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,755,144 B1 shows a process for the isomerization of a pentane/hexane feed and the separation of normal paraffins from the isomerization zone effluent. The isomerization zone effluent is separated by an adsorbent separation zone that includes facilities for the recovery of desorbent from the normal paraffin containing stream that is recycled to the isomerization zone. An extract stream that contains isoparaffins is sent to a deisohexanizer column that separates isopentane and dimethyl butane as a product stream and provides a recycle stream of less branched isohexane that is returned to the isomerization zone.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,717,784 B1 and 4,804,802 B1 disclose processes for the isomerization of a hydrocarbon feed and the use of adsorptive separation to generate normal paraffin and monomethyl-branched paraffin recycle streams. The effluent from the isomerization zone enters an adsorbent separation zone that contains a 5A-type sieve and a ferrierite-type sieve that adsorb normal paraffins and monomethyl-branched paraffins, respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,802 B1 discloses steam or hydrogen as the desorbent for desorbing the normal paraffins and monomethyl-branched paraffins from the adsorption section and teaches that steam or hydrogen may be recycled with the normal paraffins or monomethyl-branched paraffins to the isomerization zone.
One method of separating normal paraffins from isoparaffins uses adsorptive separation under liquid phase conditions. In such methods, the isomerization effluent contacts a solid adsorbent having a selectivity for normal paraffins to effect the selective adsorption of normal paraffins and allow recovery of the isoparaffins as a high-octane product. Contacting the normal paraffin-containing adsorbent with the desorbent material in a desorption step removes normal paraffins from the adsorbent for recycle to the isomerization zone. Both the isoparaffin and normal paraffin-containing streams undergo a separation for the recovery of desorbent before the isoparaffins are recovered as a product and the normal paraffins recycled to the isomerization zone. Liquid phase adsorption has been carried out in conventional swing bed systems as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,966,528 B1. The use of simulated moving bed systems for the selective adsorption of normal paraffins is also known and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,755,144 B1. Simulated moving bed systems have the advantage of increasing recovery and purity of the adsorbed and non-adsorbed components in the isomerization zone effluent for a given unit of adsorbent material.
In liquid phase adsorption systems, the adsorbent contains selective pores that will selectively adsorb at least one component in the feed mixture. The selective pore volume is limited and the quantity of such pores must accommodate the desired volume of components to be adsorbed from the feed mixture. The desorbent material is also a selectively adsorbed component. Therefore, an extract column is typically used to recover desorbent, otherwise any desorbent that passes through the reactors of the isomerization zone and enters the adsorption section increases the amount of adsorbed component in the feed mixture and requires additional adsorbent. If the quantity of selectively adsorbed components is increased without increasing the available selective pore volume for a given unit of feed, it was is believed that the purity of the extract and raffinate streams from the adsorption section decreased. Therefore, the extract column has been viewed as necessary for the desorption stage of the adsorption section since the loaded adsorbent contains normal paraffins and desorbent material as adsorbed components and all of these adsorbed components must be displaced by the desorbent. Without the extract column, desorbent flow during the desorption step would increase if traditional desorbent to pore volume ratios are maintained thereby placing a greater quantity of desorbent in circulation and increasing the amount of selective pore volume needed during the feed step of the adsorption process. Under the conventional system, without some method of rejecting desorbent material from the recycled extract stream, the selective pore volume and desorbent requirements would continue to progressively increase.
Most moving bed adsorption processes also use a desorbent material that has a different composition than the primary components in the feed stream to the adsorption section. As a result, the desorbent material is typically recovered from the raffinate material that it has desorbed for reuse in the adsorption section. It has been the usual practice to use a raffinate column to separate the desorbent material from the raffinate stream. U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,525 B1 teaches that the combination of an isomerization zone for the isomerization of C5-C6 paraffins and an adsorptive separation section for the recycle of low octane paraffins to the isomerization section can be operated with a single fractionation column for the separation of raffinate, extract, product, desorbent and heavier hydrocarbon components.
In broad terms, the invention is an arrangement for a combination of an isomerization section for the isomerization of C5 and C6 paraffins and an adsorptive separation section for the separation of the isomerization zone effluent. This arrangement is structured such that an overall feed stream is separated in a first fractionation zone, preferably a naphtha splitter column, to provide feed and desorbent to an adsorption section. Effluent from an isomerization zone along with the feed generated in the first fractionation zone enter an adsorption section that is used to separate the adsorption section feed and effluent into a raffinate stream and an extract stream. The separation is conducted by contacting the adsorption section feed and effluent with an adsorbent and desorbing the adsorbed components from the adsorbent using the desorbent from the first fractionation zone and desorbent from a second fractionation zone. The raffinate from the adsorption section enters a second fractionation zone, preferably a deisohexanizer, that supplies an overhead isomerate product stream, a bottoms stream of heavy hydrocarbons and a sidecut stream of desorbent material comprising at least normal hexane. This arrangement also increases the octane of the isomerate product recovered overhead from the deisohexanizer through the recovery of monomethylpentanes with the desorbent material as it is removed from the deisohexanizer column. The monomethylpentanes are ultimately recycled through the isomerization zone and converted to higher-octane isomers. The extract stream is passed to the isomerization zone for the generation of isomerized products. The isomerization zone effluent is recycled to the adsorption section. In a specific embodiment of the invention, the naphtha splitter column and/or the deisohexanizer may be divided wall columns. In another specific embodiment of the invention, the overhead stream from the first fractionation zone may be routed past the adsorption zone and be combined with the extract and introduced directly to the isomerization zone. Other objects, embodiments, and aspects of this invention are described in the following detailed description of the invention.

Liquid phase adsorptive separation with hexane desorbent and paraffin isomerization


The disclosed technology discloses a color filter substrate comprising a base substrate, a black matrix, a color filter layer and a common electrode layer; wherein the color filter layer has post projection(s) formed therewith. The post projections function as post spacers to support and maintain the cell gap of a liquid crystal cell between the array substrate and color filter substrate.

Embodiments of the disclosed technology relate to a color filter substrate and a liquid crystal display.
Thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCD) have become a dominant kind of flat plate displays in the market due to the advantages of low power consumption, good portability, various applications, high quality, and so on.
At present, a thin film transistor liquid crystal display is formed by injecting liquid crystal material between an array substrate and a color filter substrate after assembling the array substrate and the color filter substrate together. The orientation of the liquid crystal material is controlled by applying voltages on the electrodes on the array substrate and the color filter substrate to form an electric field. The optical characteristics of liquid crystal molecules, such as optical anisotropy, birefringence effect, etc., are utilized to control the luminous flux through the liquid crystal material, thus desired patterns can be displayed on the display panel. Since the cell gap of a liquid crystal cell formed by assembling an array substrate and a color filter substrate together affects the luminous flux through the liquid crystal cell directly, maintaining the cell gap of the liquid crystal cell plays a significant role in improving display uniformity of liquid crystal displays, optimizing display performance, etc.
In order to maintain the uniformity of the cell gap of a liquid crystal cell throughout a liquid crystal display, spacers with certain thickness are conventionally provided between the array substrate and the color filter substrate of the liquid crystal display. Spacers can have two types. One process is to spread ball spacers (BSs) of an uniform size on the array substrate or the color filter substrate by spraying during an assemble process, and the ball spacers of an uniform size are used to maintain the uniformity of the cell gap of the formed liquid crystal cell.
The advantages of this method lie in that ball spacers have good elasticity, are of a low price, and can be applied in a simple process. However, during the spraying process, the number and positions of ball spacers are difficult to control, and ball spacers are easy to aggregate, which may decrease contrast ratio of liquid crystal displays. Thus this method is mainly applied to LCDs for which high display performance are not required.
The other one is to form post spacers (PSs) on the color filter substrate which has been prepared with a black matrix, a color filter layer, and a common electrode layer; PSs are formed as projections in columns on the color filter substrate with a photolithography process by using a mask, and are used to maintain the cell gap of the later formed liquid crystal cell. Because the position, height, appearance of post spacers can be precisely controlled in the photolithography process, the liquid crystal displays using post spacers have significant advance in display performance as compared with the liquid crystal displays using ball spacers.
Presently, in the preparation process of the color filter substrates of TFT-LCDs with post spacers to support and maintain the liquid crystal cell gap, typically a photoresist lithography process is used according to the production design requirements to conduct a photolithography process on a black matrix layer, a color filter layer, and a post spacer layer to obtain the required layer structure. That is, the different kinds of photoresist, which include pigments, small molecule acrylic monomers with multiple functional groups (or other oligomers), ultraviolet light aggregation initiator, organic solvent, pigment dispersing agent and additives for improving coating performance, are used as the materials for forming the black matrix layer, the color filter layer, and the post spacer layer,
In order to enhance the color purity in pixels, a black matrix (BM) for shielding light is typically formed with photoresist filled with carbon. Further, in order to prevent light leakage, the black matrix is generally formed below the boundary between the color filter units of different colors; the color filter units (color pixels) typically are formed with photoresist respectively filled with red (R) pigment, green (G) pigment or blue (B) pigment. Post spacers are generally formed with photoresist of good developing property, high mechanical hardness and strong adhesiveness. In general, the various kinds of photoresist used for forming a color filter substrate are negative types of photoresist. As shown in FIG. 1, in preparing a color filter substrate, firstly a black matrix photoresist layer 5 is deposited on a glass substrate 1 as a base substrate, dried and exposed with ultra violet (UV) light by using a mask, and then subject to a development with a developing solution to remove the unexposed portion after drying and exposure; a black matrix photoresist pattern opposite to the mask pattern is left on the substrate. Subsequently, a red pixel photoresist layer 6, a green pixel photoresist layer 7 and a blue pixel photoresist layer 8 are respectively formed on the glass substrate 1 formed with the black matrix photoresist pattern, and similarly, each kind of photoresist of different color is respectively dried, exposed with a mask, and developed with a developing solution to remove the unexposed portion to obtain color pixels; the color pixel photoresist patterns opposite to the mask patterns for the color pixels of different colors. A common electrode layer 9 is formed on the glass substrate 1 described; then a post spacer layer 10 is formed, dried, exposed with a mask and then developed with a developing solution to remove unexposed portion, and post projections used as post spacers for supporting and maintain the liquid crystal cell gap are formed. Finally, a liquid crystal molecule alignment layer 11 is applied the surface on the glass substrate 1 as described above and treated, and the preparation of the color filter substrate is completed here. The formed structure of color filter substrate is shown in FIG. 1.
In the color filter substrate formed in the above method, since the bonding force between the post spacers 10 and the underlying common electrode layer 9 is weak, it is easily for the post spacers 10 to undergo parallel offset under external pressure, resulting in the change of the cell gap of the formed liquid crystal cell, such that the adverse phenomena of display nonuniformity of the liquid crystal display, light leakage and touch mura (brightness nonuniformity due to the nonuniformity of the liquid crystal cell gap under an external force) are invoked, which affects the display performance and compression resistance performance of the liquid crystal display.

Color filter substrate and liquid crystal display

CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


The present invention teaches a transport device for transporting elongated narrow object in a hands-free manner. The apparatus uses a transport device having three contiguous sides forming an open channel. The elongated narrow object is secured to the channel using one or more binding straps. The transport device may be worn on a wearer's back during transport.

In some instances, it may be necessary to transport a narrow elongated object when your hands are otherwise occupied, or there is a need to keep your hands-free for performing other tasks. Prior art hands-free transportation devices are typically a back pack-type (sack-like) design, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,578,953 issued Feb. 28, 2017 to He-Jen Chueh. The '953 patent discloses various embodiments of a sack-like transport device suitable for transporting small manageable items that easily fit therein. Such conventional sack-like transport devices are typically secured to a wearer's back using a pair of arm straps affixed to the sack. The wearer need only insert each arm into the arm strap, and the back pack may be worn on the users back, thereby keeping the wearers hand free to perform other tasks.
Unfortunately, sack-like back pack transport devices are not suitable for transporting elongated objects with dimensions that exceed the length or width of the sack. Conventionally, a user wanting to transport an elongated object must use his hands. What is needed is a method for hands-free transport of an elongated narrow object.

Apparatus for hands-free transport of an elongated narrow object


This invention provides compounds and methods of use thereof in suppressing, inhibiting, preventing, or treating a pathogenic effect on a cell, including, inter alia, infection with intracellular pathogens. Also provided are compounds and methods of use thereof in suppressing, inhibiting, preventing, or treating an infection in a subject.

Lipid-conjugates are thought to inhibit the enzyme phospholipase A2 (PLA2, EC 184.108.40.206). Phospholipase A2 catalyzes the breakdown of phospholipids at the sn-2 position to produce a fatty acid and a lysophospholipid. The activity of this enzyme has been correlated with various cell functions, particularly with the production of lipid mediators such as eicosanoid production (prostaglandins, thromboxanes and leukotrienes), platelet activating factor and lysophospholipids. Lipid-conjugates may offer a wider scope of protection of cells and organisms from injurious agents and pathogenic processes, including the prevention and treatment of microbial infections.
Microbial infections (e.g., infections by viral or bacterial species) account for significant morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Although significant resources have been dedicated to identifying compounds having antimicrobial properties, microbial infections continue to present a significant human health risk.
There are relatively few effective pharmaceutical compositions intended or adapted for antiviral, antifungal, or antiparasitic therapy. A major obstacle in the development of antiviral agents is the difficulty in distinguishing viral replicative mechanisms from host replicative processes. An additional limitation of existing antiviral drugs is that they have a narrow antiviral spectrum and are often ineffective against the latent virus.
There are a much larger number of existing antibacterial agents, which has led to a significant decrease in morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases in this century. This important public health contribution has been largely due to the widespread use of antibiotics that target specific nutrient, cell wall, DNA, RNA and protein biosynthetic pathways that are particular to pathogenic bacteria. However, in recent years the capacity to manage infectious diseases has been threatened by the emergence of bacterial strains that are no longer susceptible to currently available antimicrobial agents. The widespread use of available antibacterial agents has led to the development of increasing numbers of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
In fact, the usefulness of most existing antimicrobial treatments are limited by the development of multidrug resistance and the emergence of long-term toxicities. Other challenges include creating a drug that is broadly applicable in combating many different types of microbial infections, which is especially important in the treatment of immunocompromised individuals.

Use of lipid conjugates in the treatment of infection

Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem


The present invention relates to a manufacturing system which accepts a custom order of product from a customer and custom manufactures a product without sacrificing manufacturing efficiency. The manufacturing system includes the featuring steps of inputting the required specification of a product, creating the product design based on the design information of the product transmitted from a designing department, status data from the production department, and the input required specification, showing the created product design to the customer, selectively indicating a product to be purchased, transmitting the specification of the selected product to the production department, and producing a product based on the selected product specification.

The present invention relates to a manufacturing system which is capable of receiving an order from a customer and manufacture the order. More particularly, the invention relates to an order manufacturing system and an order manufacturing method which is able to define a specification in keeping with the requirement of a customer, as is compatible with the efficiency of the manufacturing system itself and, further manufacture the orders issued by a customer based on the defined specification.
As the conventional system for flexibly changing the manufacturing method according to various kinds of products, the manufacturing system for implementing the proper manufacturing methods for various kinds of product has been proposed in JP-A-56-102455. This manufacturing system includes a modularized compound producing system, an information processing system for managing a production process and schedule, and a control system for controlling each device included in the compound production system based on the information supplied by the information processing system.
The conventional manufacturing system has been configured on the assumption that the specification of product to be manufactured is pre-defined and has been intended for efficient manufacturing of the product with pre-defined specification. In these days, however, each customer is likely to have his or her own need for product. Hence, the recent key point of the manufacturing system lies in that the product designed according to each customer's specification is allowed to be manufactured as efficiently as possible. In defining the specification of product, if the specification is defined merely on the requirement of the customer, some disadvantageous conditions may appear such as difficulty in producing the product and less efficient use of equipment, resulting in an increase in the product price too much. If the specification of the product does not meet the requirement of a customer, production is discontinued.

Custom-made manufacturing system and custom-made manufacturing method


A polyurethane resin is composed of a polyol component, a polyisocyanate component and optionally, a chain extender component. At least a portion of the polyol component or chain extender component is a siloxane polyol component represented by the following formula (1) and/or formula (2): ##STR1## wherein R means an alkyl group, R' denotes a hydrogen atom or C.sub.1-5 alkyl group, k, l and m stand for 1-250, 0-5 and 0-50 respectively, and n is an integer of 1-3 in the formula (1) and an integer of 2-3 in the formula (2). A thermal recording material containing the polyurethane resin as a heat-resistant layer is also disclosed.

1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to polyurethane resins and heat-sensitive recording media (hereinafter called "thermal recording materials"), and more specifically to silicone-modified polyurethane resins excellent in stick-free property, antiblocking property and flexibility and also to thermal recording materials making use of such resins, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,212.
2) Description of the Related Art
Polyurethane resins have already found a wide variety of utility as binders for various coating agents, coating compositions and inks, films, formed and molded articles, etc. Polyurethane resins suitable for various applications have been proposed.
These polyurethane resins can be obtained basically by reacting a polyol component, a polyisocyanate component and if necessary, a chain extender. Polyurethane resins of various physical properties have been provided depending on the kinds of these individual components, their combinations and the like.
For some applications of polyurethane resins, for example, heat-resistant layers of thermal recording materials and magnetic recording media, stick-free property to thermal heads, antiblocking property between films themselves, etc. are however required in some instances. In general, sufficient flexibility is also required for these applications in order to permit the formation of thin films.
Introduction of one or more aromatic components and many polar bonds into a polyurethane chain is however indispensable to impart high tack-free property and the like. In many instances, this has led to sacrifice of flexibility.
There is accordingly an outstanding demand for the development of a polyurethane resin excellent in high-temperature tack-free property, antiblocking property and the like and superb in flexibility.

Dainichiseika Color & Chemicals Mfg. Co., Ltd.


Systems and methods for controlling application usage on a user device are disclosed. According to some embodiments, usage information is received from the user device. Whether one or more trigger criteria associated with a usage control mode are satisfied is determined based on the received usage information. If the trigger criteria are satisfied, application usage on the user device is controlled according to the usage control mode to reduce or eliminate distractions to the user. Otherwise if the trigger criteria are not satisfied, access to all applications is allowed on the user device.

Portable computing device usage takes up a significant portion of our everyday lives, to the extent that excessive portable computing device usage can affect a person's day-to-day activities and social relationships. Herein, the term "portable computing device" is used to denote computing devices, such as laptop computers, mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, or any similar portable computing device. For example, portable computing device usage at a family dinner takes away from quality family time spent together. Portable computing device usage in academic environments can interfere with student learning and academic performance. Other times, portable computing device usage can be outright dangerous. For example, using a portable computing device while walking along a street can lead to dangerous conditions and possibilities of accidents.
There exists a need, therefore, for ways to limit or control portable computing device access in circumstances such as those described above.

Systems and methods for context-aware application and content access control


A limited coalescence method of making polymer particles having an average particle size of 3 .mu.m or less comprising dispersing the polymer particles in an organic liquid diluent after they are separated from the aqueous suspension medium in which they are prepared, to thereby eliminate or substantially avoid agglomeration between the polymer particles upon drying.

In many applications for polymer particles it is very important for such particles to be reasonably small and have a narrow size distribution. Such polymer particles are very useful matting agents, opacifying agents and spacers, particularly in photographic and electrostatographic materials such as toners and carriers. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,994,312 and 5,055,371 describe the use of small polymer particles to provide voids in polymeric shaped articles such as polyester sheets. Such sheets exhibit unique properties, including texture, opacity and whiteness which make them particularly suitable photographic supports and receiver sheets for electrostatic toner images.
The preparation of polymeric particles having controlled average particle size and narrow size distribution by a technique that has become known as "limited coalescence" is described in several patents including, for example, the aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,994,312 and 5,055,371 and U.S. Pat. Nos . 2,932,629; 2,934,530; 4,833,060; 4,835,084 and 4,965,131.
In the limited coalescence method, as illustrated by the aforementioned patents, polymer particles are prepared by forming an aqueous suspension of polymer droplets in a medium containing small particles of a solid stabilizer to form droplets having a layer of such solid stabilizer particles on their surfaces (often referred to as an oil phase) in the aqueous medium (aqueous phase), forming solid polymer particles from the droplets and recovering the polymer particles. During the course of the process, coalescence of the oil (discontinuous) phase takes place to form larger size droplets. These droplets are limited in size by the presence of the particles of the solid stabilizer (often referred to as a suspension stabilizer or suspension stabilizing agent) in the aqueous (continuous) phase. The solid stabilizer particles limit coalescence from taking place by a mechanism that is generally believed to be a physical phenomenon of preventing, by physical separation, one droplet from wetting another and thereby joining together to form a larger droplet. Solid polymer particles that are covered with a layer of smaller stabilizer particles are formed from the droplets and recovered. For some applications of the polymer particles such as in some electrostatographic toners the smaller stabilizer particles are removed from the surfaces of the polymer particles, as illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,833,060 and 4,835,084. In other applications such as their use in photographic supports or in electrostatographic receivers, the presence of such stabilizer particles on the surfaces of the polymer particles is desirable. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,994,312 and 5,055,371.
A problem that can occur in a limited coalescence method of making polymer particles of controlled size and size distribution, and which is particularly troublesome with polymer particles having an average particle size of less than 5 .mu.m, is that such particles tend to agglomerate and form clumps of particles. The formation of such agglomerates defeats the purpose of utilizing the limited coalescence method in the first place to achieve small particles and a narrow particle size distribution,
In conventional prior art limited coalescence methods, it is accepted practice to separate the polymer particles from the aqueous reaction medium in which they are prepared, for example, by collection on a fine mesh screen or filter, and then wash the separated particles, i.e., the filter cake, with water prior to drying. Suitable washing techniques include rinsing or spraying the filter cake with water, which is commonly known as displacement washing, or dispersing the filter cake in water, which is commonly known as reslurry washing. Although such washing methods are usually acceptable for larger polymer particles, for example those having an average particle size of 5 .mu.m or more, for example, 5, 10 or 25 .mu.m, undesirable particle agglomerates form when these methods are used with smaller size polymer particles such as those having an average particle size of 5 .mu.m or less. In earlier work conducted prior to this invention, we found that using methanol as the wash liquid to displacement wash polymer particles prepared in a limited coalescence method improved particle separation, provided that polymer particles had an average particle size of 4 .mu.m or more. This improved method has been used successfully by us for several years to provide free-flowing polymer particles having an average particle size of 4 .mu.m or more. Unfortunately, even this improved method is not effective to avoid the formation of polymer particle agglomerates when the average particle size of the polymer particles is 3 .mu.m or less. Such small particle agglomerates require further processing such as milling and classification procedures that add to processing times and cost. Polymer particles having an average particle size of 3 .mu.m or less are useful for all of the purposes discussed previously herein, but they are particularly useful in photographic supports of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,312 where they provide a relatively smooth surface which improves handling characteristics of the supports.
The problem of this invention is to provide a method of making polymer particles having an average particle size of 3 .mu.m or less using a limited coalescence method which avoids or substantially eliminates the formation of polymer particle agglomerates or clumps upon drying.


In an image forming apparatus, a controller performs development of toner patterns corresponding to a first halftoning method and a second halftoning method. One of the toner patterns contains first patch images for the first halftoning method, and another one contains second patch images for the second halftoning method. The controller performs development of only one out of both a first patch image (one of the first patch images) and a second patch image (one of the second patch images) if an absolute value of a difference between the number of dots in the first patch image and that in the second patch image is equal to or less than a predetermined value and an absolute value of a difference between the number of dot-level edges in the first patch image and that in the second patch image is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to image forming apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image forming apparatus that forms an image by electronic photography process, such as printer, copier, facsimile, and multi-function peripheral thereof, for instance, a toner image is developed on a photoconductor drum, and the toner image is transferred onto an intermediate transfer belt, and then transferred from the intermediate transfer belt to a sheet of print paper, and finally the toner image is fixed on the sheet of print paper.
In such image forming apparatus, when necessary or periodically, toner density and its gradation are adjusted. In a four-color image forming apparatus, toner density and its gradation are adjusted for each of four colors.
To print a scanned document, by using a threshold conversion process (e.g. an error diffusion process or a screen process) chosen according to the type of the document, some image forming apparatuses generate data of an image to be printed. Otherwise, for a single page, a plurality of threshold conversion processes may be used. Therefore, gradation adjustment must be performed for the error diffusion process and the screen process separately.
In the case that the apparatus performs automatic gradation adjustment of the error diffusion process, for instance, the apparatus has a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores data of a pattern image generated by a single-threshold conversion from plain patch images corresponding to grades in a gradation, and forms a toner pattern image based on the data, detects the pattern image by a sensor, and then performs gradation adjustment based on the detection by the sensor. Alternatively, the apparatus performs the error diffusion process for each of pixels sequentially to generate data of a pattern image of single-threshold conversion, and stores the generated data in a RAM (Random Access Memory); and then forms a toner pattern image based on the data, detects the pattern image by a sensor, and then performs gradation adjustment based on the detection by the sensor.


A backlight inverter to light a plurality of CCFLs is provided which supplies a stable clamp current without influence of the CCFL temperature, and which stabilizes the LCD surface brightness immediately from the start of lighting the CCFLs, and a method of driving the backlight inverter is also provided. In a backlight inverter including a plurality of inverter transformers and adapted to light a plurality of CCFLs, two primary windings of each of the inverter transformers are connected in series to each other, and a resonant circuit is formed of a leakage inductance and capacitances at the secondary side of each of the inverter transformers, wherein the inverter transformers are operated at a frequency which is lower than an intermediate frequency between the series resonance frequency and the parallel resonance frequency of the resonant circuit, and which is higher than a frequency at which the phase characteristic curve has its peak.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight inverter to drive a light source of a backlight device for a liquid crystal display, and particularly to a backlight inverter to light a plurality of lamps for a large liquid crystal television, and also to a method of driving the backlight inverter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a liquid crystal display (hereinafter referred to as LCD) is extensively used as a display device for a personal computer, and the like. The LCD requires a lighting system such as a backlight for illuminating its screen. In order to illuminate such a LCD screen brightly, a plurality of cold cathode fluorescent lamps (hereinafter referred to as CCFL) are used as the light source and are discharged and lit simultaneously.
Generally, at the time of starting discharging a CCFL, a high frequency voltage of about 60 kHz and 1600 V is to be generated out of a DC input voltage of about 12 V at the secondary side of an inverter transformer, and therefore an inverter circuit is employed which includes an inverter unit incorporating a full bridge circuit or a Royer circuit and adapted to drive a backlight. Once the CCFL discharge starts, such an inverter circuit operates to step the voltage at the secondary side of the inverter transformer down to about 600 V which is required for keeping the CCFL discharging. Usually, this voltage control operation is performed by pulse width modulation (PWM).
In some conventional backlight inverter circuits, a resonant circuit is formed of a leakage inductance at the secondary side of a transformer and a parasitic capacitance of a discharge lamp connected as a load, and the primary side of the transformer is driven at the resonance frequency of the resonant circuit (refer to, for example, Patent Document 1).
This drive by the resonance frequency, however, involves a phase difference between voltage and current at the primary side of the transformer and does not necessarily provide good power efficiency. Also, a resonance frequency of a high order is found at the secondary side of the transformer, and it possibly happens that the transformer operates at such a resonance frequency or operates under the influence of such a resonance frequency, thus complicating the transformer designing. And, a CCFL for a backlight undergoes substantial fluctuations of lamp impedance depending on temperature and lamp current, especially immediately after cold starting. The large fluctuation of lamp impedance causes fluctuation in lamp voltage, and consequently the parasitic capacitance formed at the lamp is caused to fluctuate, too.
In order to deal with the difficulties described above, a backlight inverter disclosed in Patent Document 2 is structured with a transformer including a resonant circuit formed of a parasitic capacitance of a discharge lamp, and an H-bridge circuit to drive the primary side of the transformer at a frequency which is lower than the resonance frequency of the resonant circuit and also at which the voltage-current phase difference θ at the primary side of the transformer is kept within a predetermine range from the minimum point. This enhances the power efficiency of the transformer and also makes the transformer less susceptible to the influences of the frequency of a high order, thus facilitating the transformer designing.
Patent Document 3 discloses a method of driving an inverter, which stabilizes the oscillating operation thereby preventing lamps from flickering and circuit elements from generating noises. This method drives an inverter provided with a step-up transformer which operates such that a DC current is applied to the input winding, the current applied is turned on and off by a switch element, and an alternate voltage is outputted from the output winding, wherein the inverter is driven at a frequency staying out of the frequency range where the input-output voltage phase difference of the step-up transformer is between 50 to 130 degrees. Consequently, the turn number of windings, the air gap, and the degree of coupling are adjusted thus deteriorating the power efficiency, but the fluctuation of the output voltage due to the fluctuation of load impedance is reduced thus stabilizing the oscillation.
Since the driving method described above is adapted for lighting one CCFL or a couple of CCFLs, it is difficult for one backlight inverter to stably light more CCFLs, for example eight to sixteen CCFLs, and the lamp voltages of the individual CCFLs fluctuate causing fluctuation of the currents flowing in the parasitic capacitances of the CCFLs, which makes the brightness unstable causing the screen image of the LCD to flicker.
Also, in a backlight for a large television, a plurality of CCFLs are disposed behind the LCD, and in order to achieve a low cost backlight inverter, the plurality of CCFLs are lit such that a plurality of field effect transistor (FET) bridges, each of which is connected to a plurality of inverter transformers, are driven by one control IC. In such a structure, the CCFL undergoes a substantial fluctuation according to lamp current, especially immediately after cold starting. The substantial fluctuation of lamp impedance leads to fluctuation of lamp voltage, and consequently current flowing in the parasitic capacitance of the CCFL is caused to fluctuate. Thus, at the time of cold starting, even if the control IC of the backlight inverter functions to control the lamp current, the current flowing in the parasitic capacitance is caused to fluctuate due to the fluctuation of the lamp voltage. As a result, the lamp current flowing in the CCFL is not stabilized, and the brightness becomes instable causing the screen image of the LCD to flicker. If the lamp temperature becomes stabilized, then the lamp current is also stabilized thus easing and eliminating the flickering image, but it takes several minutes after start-up before the stabilization is reached, and the stabilization must be reached more rapidly. This flickering problem may be simply solved if the lamp current is controlled by providing one control IC for each of the CCFLs, but this solution approach pushes up production cost of the backlight inverter significantly.    Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 6,114,814    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-168585    Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-201457

Backlight inverter and method of driving same


In one embodiment, a computer network-based live chat having three or more participants is hosted. A record of the live chat is archived in a central location accessible by each participant. The archived record is provided to a requesting participant after completion of and/or during the live chat. The requesting participant may be, for example, any one of the three or more participants. The requesting participant may make the request from any remote location in communication with the central location. In another embodiment, a system for enabling access to a multi-user chat archive includes a multi-user instant messaging (IM) server, a state manager, an archive database, and an archive manager. The archive database is configured to store an archived record of the live chat in a central location. In this embodiment, the central location is accessible by each of the chat participants from any remote location in communication with the central location.

The present invention relates to web communication and archiving, particularly to web communication between three or more users.
The emergence and development of computer networks and protocols, including the World Wide Web (or simply "the web"), now allows many remote users to communicate with one another. Different types of communication tools have been developed for the web which allow users to communicate in different ways through a browser. One popular type of communication tool is instant messaging (also called chat). Instant messaging (IM) allows users to communicate over the web in real time. A user uses a client program (called an IM client) that communicates with an instant messaging service over the web. The IM client has a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows a user to input text and view text.
IM communication generally involves typing text. For example, two users chatting may type lines of text in each of their IM client programs. The instant messaging service passes the typed text between the IM clients. The lines of text may resemble a conversation in that successive lines of text are displayed in a temporal sequence along with an indication of the user who typed the text. Often this indication of the user is a display of the user's screen name (also called an IM address). A compilation of these messages exchanged between the users is commonly referred to as a chat. IM clients have historically had simple GUIs with rectangular window displays in which the text of a chat is made to scroll as the conversation proceeds.
Different IM services and IM client programs have different features relating to the chat experience. For example, IM services often provide presence information that indicates whether people on a user's list of contacts are currently online and available to chat. Some IM services also allow a user to set an "online status" or "away message" so that other users are aware of the user's availability to chat. Finally, users can often personalize their profiles to change graphical features associated with their chat. For instance, a user often has a screen name which is displayed to another to identify himself or herself when he or she is chatting. The screen name itself may be selected by the user (or assigned by the IM service). A user may also choose different font colors, font styles, symbols, or personalized images to be displayed along with his or her screen name. An example IM service includes the Google Talk service from Google, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.
Many existing IM services are limited to communications between only two participants. In these systems, if a first user wishes to interact with more than one other user, the first user must open separate chats with each other user. This requires a user to switch between multiple windows and transfer text from one window to another if the user wants to share information with a user other than the user participating in the chat. Additionally, existing IM services provide only limited archiving capability, if any, and the archives are not easily accessible from multiple locations.
Users need a capability for interacting with more than one other participant in a chat. Such users also need a capability for accessing and searching through their previous chats.

Multi-user chat search and access to chat archive