Automatic dishwashing detergent compositions comprising diacyl peroxide bleaching agent and blooming perfume composition containing blooming perfume ingredients having a boiling point of less than about 260xc2x0 C. and a ClogP of at least about 3, and delayed blooming perfume ingredients having a boiling point of less than about 260xc2x0 and a ClogP of less than about 3, wherein the weight ratio of blooming perfume ingredients to delayed blooming perfume ingredients is from about 0.25 to about 1.5.

The present invention relates to automatic dishwashing detergent compositions comprising a diacyl peroxide bleaching agent and a blooming perfume composition containing blooming perfume ingredients and delayed blooming perfume ingredients. Preferred methods for cleaning dishware are included.
Builders, surfactants, alkalinity, and bleaching chemicals traditionally have been used in automatic dishwashing detergent (ADD) compositions to promote soil removal from dishes, soil antiredeposition and anti-spotting benefits. However, strong alkalis like sodium hydroxide and bleaches such as hypochlorite can be damaging to, or leave a film upon, glasses, dishware or silverware. Accordingly, milder ADD compositions have been developed that make use of a source of hydrogen peroxide. Diacyl peroxide bleaching agents are particularly effective at removing stains, especially carotenoid, from plastic dishware. However, such bleaching agents have strong base odors that can be difficult to mask or cover up with perfume compositions. This is especially true in liquid, gel and paste compositions where the bleaching agents can more readily degrade or react with other ingredients in the composition and introduce off odors.
Plastic dishware also tends to pickup residual food malodors or other malodors from the dishwashing process. It is desirable to formulate perfume compositions for ADD products that can cover up or mask such malodors and give the impression that washed items, particularly plastic dishware, are fresh and clean at the end of the washing cycle when the consumer removes them from the machine. However, the perfume smell should not linger significantly or adhere noticeably to the washed items.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,143,707, Trinh et al, issued Nov. 7, 2000, discloses automatic dishwashing detergent compositions comprising blooming perfume compositions containing blooming perfume ingredients, and optionally, delayed blooming perfume ingredients, and non-blooming perfume ingredients. The compositions can also contain bleaching agents, including diacyl peroxides.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,162, Rapisarda et al, issued Feb. 18, 1992, discloses cleaning compositions containing bleach-stable yellow colorant and either a chlorine bleach or an oxygen bleach. The compositions may be automatic dishwashing detergents, and preferably have a lemon-like scent. Various perfume ingredients and perfume compositions are disclosed.
It has now been discovered that automatic dishwashing detergent compositions comprising a blooming perfume composition and an effective amount of a diacyl peroxide bleaching agent can be formulated to provide cleaning and stain removal (e.g., carotenoid stain removal) benefits, while also providing a positive scent signal to consumers during use.
Taken broadly, the present invention encompasses automatic dishwashing detergent compositions comprising, by weight:
(a) from about 0.01% to about 5% of a blooming perfume composition comprising from about 15% to about 60% of blooming perfume ingredients having a boiling point of less than about 260xc2x0 C. and a ClogP of at least about 3, and from about 15% to about 70% of delayed blooming perfume ingredients having a boiling point of less than about 260xc2x0 C. and a ClogP of less than about 3, wherein the weight ratio of blooming perfume ingredients to delayed blooming perfume ingredients is from about 0.25 to about 1.5 and said blooming perfume composition comprises at least about 40% by weight of blooming perfume ingredients and delayed blooming perfume ingredients; and
(b) an effective amount of diacyl peroxide bleaching agent.
The above blooming perfume composition provides superior perfume effects in that it masks the base odors from the diacyl peroxide bleaching agent in the composition, while providing a pleasant fragrance in the area surrounding the automatic dishwashing machine during and after use. The perfume composition covers up or masks residual food malodors and/or other malodors from the dishwashing process, including on washed items such as plastic dishware that tend to pick up such malodors. The perfume composition thus gives the impression that the washed items are fresh and clean at the end of the washing cycle when the items are removed from the machine. The ingredients of the perfume composition are also selected to minimize residual odor on washed items, particularly plastic items.
The present invention also encompasses cleaning methods; more particularly, a method of washing dishware in a domestic automatic dishwashing appliance, comprising treating soiled dishware in an automatic dishwasher with an aqueous bath comprising the composition as provided above.
All parts, percentages and ratios used herein are expressed as percent weight unless otherwise specified. All documents cited are, in relevant part, incorporated herein by reference.
Automatic dishwashing compositions of the present invention comprise a blooming perfume composition and an effective amount of diacyl peroxide bleaching agent, as described in more detail below.
Amounts of the essential ingredients can vary within wide ranges, however preferred automatic dishwashing detergent compositions herein (which have a 1% aqueous solution pH of from about 2 to about 12, more preferably from about 3 to about 11) comprise from about 0.01% to about 5%, preferably from about 0.03% to about 3%, and more preferably from about 0.05% to about 2%, of a blooming perfume composition.
Preferred compositions herein are in the form of liquids, gels or pastes and contain from about 40% to about 99%, preferably from about 60% to about 99%, more preferably from about 80% to about 99%, of water. Because of the reactivity of bleaching agents in such compositions, and the potential for generation of off odors, the benefits provided by the present blooming perfume composition containing base masking perfume ingredients are generally greater in such compositions.
By xe2x80x9ceffective amountxe2x80x9d herein is meant an amount, which is sufficient, under whatever comparative test conditions are employed, to enhance cleaning of a soiled surface. In automatic dishwashing, the soiled surface may be, for example, a plastic container with tomato stains or dishes soiled with simple starches or more complex food soils. The test conditions will vary, depending on the type of washing appliance used and the habits of the user. Of course, the performance of bleaches will be affected by such considerations, and the levels used in fully formulated detergent and cleaning compositions can be appropriately adjusted.
Blooming Perfume Composition
Blooming perfume compositions, as disclosed herein, can be formulated into automatic dishwashing detergent compositions and provide significantly better noticeability to the consumer than non-blooming perfume compositions not containing a substantial amount of blooming perfume ingredients. Additionally, residual perfume is not desirable on many surfaces, including dishes, glasses and cutlery, especially those made of plastic, rubber and silicone.
A blooming perfume ingredient is characterized by its boiling point (B.P.) and its octanol/water partition coefficient (P). The octanol/water partition coefficient of a perfume ingredient is the ratio between its equilibrium concentrations in octanol and in water. The preferred perfume ingredients of this invention have a B.P., determined at the normal, standard pressure of about 760 mm Hg, of about 260xc2x0 C. or lower, preferably less than about 255xc2x0 C.; and more preferably less than about 250xc2x0 C., and an octanol/water partition coefficient P of about 1,000 or higher. Since the partition coefficients of the preferred perfume ingredients of this invention have high values, they are more conveniently given in the form of their logarithm to the base 10, logP. Thus the preferred perfume ingredients of this invention have logP at 25xc2x0 C. of about 3 or higher.
Boiling points of many perfume compounds can be found in the following sources:
Properties of Organic Compounds Database CD-ROM Ver. 5.0
CRC Press,
Boca Raton, Fla.;
Flavor and Fragrance-1995,
Aldrich Chemical Co.,
Milwaukee, Wis.;
STN database/on-line,
Design Institute of for Physical Property Data,
American Institute of Chemical Engineers;
STN database/on-line,
Beilstein Handbook of Organic Chemistry,
Beilstein Information Systems; and
Perfume and Flavor Chemicals,
Steffen Arctander,
Vol. 1, II-1969.
When unreported, the 760 mm boiling points of perfume ingredients can be estimated. The following computer programs are useful for estimating these boiling points:
MPBPVP Version 1.25 ĉ 1994-96 Meylan
Syracuse Research Corporation (SRC)
Syracuse, N.Y.; and
ZPARC,
ChemLogic, Inc.,
Cambridge, Mass.
The logP of many perfume ingredients has been reported; for example, the Pomona92 database, available from Daylight Chemical Information Systems, Inc. (Daylight CIS), Irvine, Calif., contains many, along with citations to the original literature. However, the logp values are most conveniently calculated by the Pamona Med Chem/Daylight xe2x80x9cCLOGPxe2x80x9d program, Version 4.42 available from Biobyte Corporation, Claremont, Calif. This program also lists experimental logp values when they are available in the Pomona92 database. The xe2x80x9ccalculated logPxe2x80x9d (ClogP) is determined by the fragment approach of Hansch and Leo (cf., A. Leo, in Comprehensive Medicinal Chemistry, Vol. 4, C. Hansch, P. G. Sammens, J. B. Taylor and C. A. Ramsden, Eds., p. 295, Pergamon Press, 1990, incorporated herein by reference). The fragment approach is based on the chemical structure of each perfume ingredient, and takes into account the numbers and types of atoms, the atom connectivity, and chemical bonding. The ClogP values, which are the most reliable and widely used estimates for this physicochemical property, are preferably used instead of the experimental logp values in the selection of perfume ingredients which are useful in the present invention.
Thus, when a perfume composition which is composed of ingredients having a B.P. of about 260xc2x0 C. or lower and a ClogP, or an experimental logp, of about 3 or higher, is used in an automatic dishwashing detergent composition, the perfume is very effusive and very noticeable when the product is used.
Table 1 gives some non-limiting examples of blooming perfume ingredients, useful in automatic dishwashing detergent compositions of the present invention. The blooming perfume compositions of the present invention contain at least 2 different blooming perfume ingredients, preferably at least 3 different blooming perfume ingredients, more preferably at least 4 different blooming perfume ingredients, and even more preferably at least 5 or more different blooming perfume ingredients. Furthermore, the blooming perfume compositions of the present invention contain from about 15 to about 60% of blooming perfume ingredients, preferably from about 20 to about 50% of blooming perfume ingredients, more preferably from about 25 to about 40% of blooming perfume ingredients. The blooming perfume compositions herein preferably should not contain any single blooming ingredient at a level that would provide, by weight, more than about 2% of that ingredient to the total dishwashing composition, more preferably not more than about 1.5%, and even more preferably not more than about 0.5%, of the dishwashing composition.
The perfume composition itself preferably should not contain more than 60% of any single perfume ingredient.
Most common perfume ingredients, which are derived from natural sources, are composed of a multitude of components. For example, orange terpenes contain about 90% to about 95% d-limonene, but also contain many other minor ingredients. When each such material is used in the formulation of blooming perfume compositions of the present invention, it is counted as one ingredient, for the purpose of defining the invention. Synthetic reproductions of such natural perfume ingredients are also comprised of a multitude of components and are counted as one ingredient for the purpose of defining the invention.
The blooming perfume composition of the present invention also contain from about 15% to about 70%, preferably from about 20% to about 50%, more preferably from about 25% to about 40%, by weight, of delayed bloomingxe2x80x9d perfume ingredients. The delayed blooming perfume ingredients of this invention have a B.P., measured at the normal, standard pressure, of about 260xc2x0 C. or lower, preferably less than about 255xc2x0 C.; and more preferably less than about 250xc2x0 C., and a logP or ClogP of less than about 3. Thus, when a perfume composition is composed of some preferred blooming ingredients and some delayed blooming ingredients, the perfume effect is longer lasting when the product is used. Table 2 gives some non-limiting examples of delayed blooming perfume ingredients useful in automatic dishwashing detergent compositions of the present invention. Delayed blooming perfume ingredients are used primarily in applications where the water will evaporate, thus liberating the perfume.
Plastic dishware items are difficult to get fully dry in an automatic dishwashing machine. Due to the hydrophobic nature of plastic surfaces, water tends to collect in tiny droplets which evaporate less readily from the surface than does the thin water film formed on less hydrophobic surfaces such as ceramics. This slower drying of plastic surfaces is used to advantage in the present compositions where, because of the high concentration of delayed blooming ingredients, there will be a constant release of perfume materials from the perfume dispersed in the tiny water droplets on plastic dishware surfaces. This will occur over a longer period than for conventional blooming perfumes due to the relatively high level of delayed blooming perfume ingredients in the present compositions. Thus, plastic items removed from the dishwasher even a considerable time after the cycle has finished will give the impression of being clean and fresh, and any malodors will be masked. A major advantage of this approach is that the delayed blooming perfume ingredients are not very residual to the plastic since they are not very hydrophobic. The delayed blooming perfume ingredients will thus eventually evaporate with the water droplets, leaving no taint on the plastic dishware.
The weight ratio of blooming perfume ingredients to delayed blooming perfume ingredients in the present compositions should be from about 0.25 to about 1.5, preferably from about 0.5 to about 1.35, more preferably from about 0.75 to about 1.2. The blooming perfume compositions also contain at least about 40 wt. % of the combined blooming perfume ingredients and delayed blooming perfume ingredients, preferably at least about 50 wt. % of the combined perfume ingredients, more preferably at least about 55 wt. % of the combined perfume ingredients, and even more preferably at least about 60 wt. % of the combined perfume ingredients. The blooming perfume compositions of the present invention contain at least 2 different delayed blooming perfume ingredients, preferably at least 3 different delayed blooming perfume ingredients, and more preferably at least 4 or more different delayed blooming perfume ingredients.
In the perfume art, some auxiliary materials having no odor, or a low odor, are used, e.g., as solvents, diluents, extenders or fixatives. Non-limiting examples of these materials are ethyl alcohol, carbitol, dipropylene glycol, diethyl phthalate, triethyl citrate, isopropyl myristate, and benzyl benzoate. These materials are used for, e.g., solubilize or diluting some solid or viscous perfume ingredients to, e.g., improve handling and/or formulating. These materials are useful in the blooming perfume compositions, but are not counted in the calculation of the limits for the definition/formulation of the blooming perfume compositions of the present invention.
Non-blooming perfume ingredients are those having a B.P. of more than about 260xc2x0 C. Table 3 gives some non-limiting examples of non-blooming perfume ingredients that have a ClogP of less than about 3. In certain automatic dishwashing detergent compositions, some non-blooming perfume ingredients can be used in small amounts, e.g., to improve overall perfume odor.
The blooming perfume compositions of present invention preferably also comprise from about 1% to about 30%, preferably from about 2% to about 30%, more preferably from about 3% to about 25%, of non-blooming perfume ingredients having a B.P. of more than about 260xc2x0 C. and having a ClogP of at least about 3. These ingredients are particularly effective at masking base odors from the diacyl peroxide-bleaching agent. When used at the low levels herein, an improved blooming perfume composition is obtained that betters masks base odors while still minimizing residual perfume on dishes and tableware. Table 4 provides some non-limiting examples of such base masking perfume ingredients.
In the following tables, measured boiling points are taken from the above-mentioned sources.
Estimated boiling points are an average of those determined by the above-mentioned computer programs.
The predicted ClogP at 25xc2x0 C. was determined by the following computer program:
Panoma MedChem/Daylight ClogP V. 4.42
Perfumes suitable for use in automatic dishwashing detergent compositions can be formulated from known fragrance ingredients, and for purposes of enhancing environmental compatibility, the perfume is preferably substantially free of halogenated fragrance materials and nitromusks.
The compositions of this invention may contain an effective amount of various moisture-activated encapsulated perfume particles, as an optional ingredient. These are described in detail in U.S. Patent 6,143,707, Trinh et al., incorporated herein by reference. The encapsulated particles act as protective carriers and reduce the loss of perfume prior to use. Such materials include, for example, cyclodextrin/perfume inclusion complexes, polysaccharide cellular matrix perfume microcapsules, and the like. Encapsulation of perfume minimizes the diffusion and loss of the volatile blooming perfume ingredients. Perfume is released when the materials are wetted, to provide a pleasant odor signal in use. Especially preferred are cyclodextrin inclusion complexes.
The optional water-activated protective perfume carriers allow the use of lower levels of perfume in the detergent compositions herein because of the reduced loss of the perfume during manufacturing and use. Due to the minimal loss of the volatile ingredients in the blooming perfume compositions, perfume compositions that incorporate water activated protective perfume carrier can contain less blooming perfume ingredients than those used in the free, unencapsulated form. The encapsulated and/or complexed perfume compositions typically contain at least about 20%, preferably at least about 30%, and more preferably at least about 40%, blooming perfume ingredients. Optionally, but preferably, compositions that contain encapsulated and/or complexed perfume also comprise free perfume in order to provide consumers with a positive scent signal before the composition is used.
Bleaching Agent
The composition of the present invention generally contain from about 0.1% to about 10%, preferably from about 0.3% to about 7%, more preferably from about 0.5% to about 5%, and most preferably from about 0.7% to about 3%, of diacyl peroxide of the general formula:
RC(O)OO(O)CR
wherein each R, independently, is a hydrocarbyl group. Each R can be an alkyl, aryl, heterocyclic, imino, amino, or floro group. Preferably no more than one R is a hydrocarbyl chain of longer than ten carbon atoms, more preferably at least one has an aromatic nucleus.
The preferred diacyl peroxides have a melting point greater than about 30xc2x0 C., preferably greater than about 50xc2x0 C., most preferably above 70xc2x0 C.
The diacyl peroxide should be present in the form of insoluble or relatively insoluble particles having a particle size of from about 0.1 to about 30 microns, preferably from about 0.5 to about 20 microns, more preferably from about 1 to about 10 microns. Preferably, at least about 25%, more preferably at least about 50%, even more preferably at least about 75%, most preferably at least about 90%, of the particles are smaller than 10 microns, preferably smaller than 6 microns. Compositions having larger size diacyl peroxide particles are more difficult to stabilize in the preferred liquid or gel compositions of the invention, particularly during storage for longer periods of time, and often result in increased deposition and filming on dishware during use in automatic dishwashing machines. Diacyl peroxides within the above particle size range have also been found to provide better stain removal from plastic dishware, while minimizing undesirable deposition and filming, than larger diacyl peroxide particles. The preferred diacyl peroxide particle size thus allows the formulator to obtain good stain removal with a low level of diacyl peroxide, which reduces deposition and filming. Conversely, as diacyl peroxide particle size increases, more diacyl peroxide is needed for good stain removal, which increases deposition on surfaces encountered during the dishwashing process.
Examples of suitable diacyl peroxides include dibenzoyl peroxide, benzoyl lauryl peroxide, benzoyl succinyl peroxide, di-(2-methybenzoyl) peroxide, diphthaloyl peroxide, and mixtures thereof. Preferably, the diacyl peroxide is selected from dibenzoyl peroxide, dicumyl peroxide, diphthaloyl peroxide, and mixtures thereof. A particulary preferred diacyl peroxide is dibenzoyl peroxide.
Optional Ingredients
Preferred liquid or gel compositions of the present invention contain a viscoelastic, thixotropic thickening agent. The thickening agent is used at a level of from about 0.1% to about 5%, preferably from about 0.2% to about 3%, most preferably from about 0.3% to about 2%, by weight of the composition. The type and level of thickener should be selected to provide the desired product thickness and stability, while minimizing undesired properties such as deposition and filming on plastic surfaces.
Preferably, the thickening agent is a polymer with a molecular weight of at least about 500,000, preferably from about 500,000 to 10,000,000. The polymeric thickening agent can be, but is not limited to, a cross-linked polycarboxylate polymer.
The cross-linked polycarboxylate polymer is preferably a carboxyvinyl polymer. Such compounds are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,798,053, Brown, issued on Jul. 2, 1957, incorporated herein by reference. Methods for making carboxyvinyl polymers are also disclosed in Brown. Carboxyvinyl polymers are substantially insoluble in liquid, volatile organic hydrocarbons and are dimensionally stable on exposure to air.
Various carboxyvinyl polymers, homopolymers and copolymers are commercially available from B. F. Goodrich Company, New York, N.Y., under the trade name Carbopol(copyright). These polymers are also known as carbomers or polyacrylic acids. Carboxyvinyl polymers useful in formulations of the present invention include Carbopol 910 having a molecular weight of about 750,000, Carbopol 941 having a molecular weight of about 1,250,000, and Carbopols 934 and 940 having molecular weights of about 3,000,000 and 4,000,000, respectively. More preferred are the series of Carbopols, which use ethyl acetate and cyclohexane in the manufacturing process, for example, Carbopol 981, 984, 980, and 1382, and their easy-to-disperse equivalents such as Carbopol ETD2001, ETD2050 and ETD2020.
Preferred polycarboxylate polymers of the invention are non-linear, water-dispersible, polyacrylic acid cross-linked with a polyalkenyl polyether and having a molecular weight of at lease 750,000, preferably from about 750,000 to about 4,000,000.
Highly preferred examples of these polycarboxylate polymers for use in the present invention are Sokalan PHC-25(copyright), a polyacrylic acid available from BASF Corporation, the Carbopol series resins available from B. F. Goodrich, and the Polygel series available from 3-V Chemical Corporation. Mixtures of polycarboxylate polymers as herein described may also be used.
The polycarboxylate polymer-thickening agent can be used alone or with inorganic clays (e.g. aluminum silicate, bentonite, fumed silica). The preferred clay-thickening agent can be either naturally occurring or synthetic. A preferred synthetic clay is the one disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,598, incorporated herein by reference. Naturally occurring clays include some smectite and attapulgite clays as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,590, incorporated herein by reference.
Other types of thickeners, which can be used in this composition, include natural gums, such as xanthan gum, locust bean gum, guar gum, and the like. Semi-synthetic thickeners such as the cellulosic type thickeners: hydroxyethyl and hydroxymethyl cellulose (ETHOCEL and METHOCEL(copyright) available from Dow Chemical) can also be used. Mixtures of polymeric thickening agents, semi-synthetic, and natural thickeners herein described may also be used.
Preferred liquid or gel compositions of the present invention contain from about 40% to about 99%, preferably from about 60% to about 99%, more preferably from about 80% to about 99%, and most preferably from about 90% to about 99%, by weight of water.
The compositions may also contain minor amounts of solvents in which the diacyl peroxide will not dissolve. Suitable solvents useful herein are glycerol, dimethyl siloxanes, sorbitol, and mixtures thereof. If present, such solvents represent less than about 20%, preferably less than about 10%, most preferably less than about 5%, by weight of the composition.
The compositions herein should not contain significant amounts of solvents capable of dissolving the diacyl peroxides herein. Examples of such solvents are N-alkyl pyrrolidones, such as N-ethyl pyrrolidone, diactone alcohol, alkyl ethers, cyclic alkyl ketones, and mixtures thereof. Amines, ethers and low molecular weight primary and secondary alcohols (about C1-C6) also are preferably not present, since it is believed that they may introduce stability problems. Preferably, the compositions herein contain no more than about 5% by weight of such solvents. More preferably, the compositions contain no more than about 2% by weight of such solvents. Most preferably, they are substantially free of such solvents.
Preferred liquid or gel compositions herein have a pH, measured at a concentration of 1% by weight in water, of from 2 to about 10, preferably from about 3 to about 9, more preferably from about 4 to about 8, and most preferably from about 5 to about 7. At higher pHs, the diacyl peroxide particles are degraded and stain removal performance is reduced, particularly in the presence of agents that solubilize the diacyl peroxide such as surfactants.
The compositions may thus comprise a pH-adjusting component selected from water-soluble alkaline inorganic salts and water-soluble organic or inorganic builders. Preferred pH-adjusting components are selected from the group consisting of: sodium/potassium carbonate or sesquicarbonate; sodium/potassium silicate, preferably hydrous sodium silicate having SiO2:Na2O ratio of from about 1.:1 to about 2:1; sodium/potassium citrate; citric acid; sodium/potassium bicarbonate; sodium/potassium borate, preferably borax; and sodium/potassium hydroxide; and mixtures thereof.
Alkali metal silicates also provide protection against corrosion of metals and inhibit corrosion of glasswares and chinawares, as described in EP 717,102, published Jun. 19, 1996, incorporated herein by reference. However, the silicate type and level must be selected such that the pH stays within the desired pH range.
The pH-adjusting system can be complemented (e.g., for improved sequestration in hard water) by other optional detergency builder salts selected from phosphate or nonphosphate detergency builders known in the art, which include the various water-soluble, alkali metal, ammonium or substituted ammonium borates, hydroxysulfonates, polyacetates, and polycarboxylates. Preferred is the alkali metal, especially sodium, salts of such materials. Alternate water-soluble, non-phosphorus organic builders can be used for their sequestering properties. Examples of polyacetate and polycarboxylate builders are the sodium, potassium, lithium, ammonium and substituted ammonium salts of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid, ethylenediamine disuccinic acid (especially the S,S-form); nitrilotriacetic acid, tartrate monosuccinic acid, tartrate disuccinic acid, oxydisuccinic acid, carboxymethyloxysuccinic acid, and mellitic acid, and sodium benzene polycarboxylate salts. Water insoluble builder like zeolites can also be used as builders.
The compositions of the present invention may also contain various other ingredients known for use in bleaching compositions, particularly compositions for use in automatic dishwashing machines. Generally, the compositions herein contain from about 0.01% to about 20%, preferably from about 0.1% to about 15%, more preferably from about 0.5% to about 10%, by weight, of such optional ingredients.
Heavy metal ion sequestrants (chelants) are useful components herein. These components may also have calcium and magnesium chelation capacity, but preferentially bind heavy metal ions such as iron, manganese and copper. If present, the heavy metal ion sequestrant is preferably used at a level of from 0.005% to 5%, more preferably from 0.05% to 1%, by weight of the composition.
Heavy metal ion sequestrants, which are acidic in nature, having for example phosphonic acid or carboxylic acid functionalities, may be present either in their acid form or as a complex/salt with a suitable counter cation such as an alkali or alkaline metal ion, ammonium, or substituted ammonium ion, or any mixtures thereof. Preferably any salts/complexes are water-soluble. The molar ratio of said counter cation to the heavy metal ion sequestrant is preferably at least 1:1.
Suitable heavy metal ion sequestrants for use herein include the organo aminophosphonates, such as the amino alkylene poly (alkylene phosphonates) and nitrilo trimethylene phosphonates. Preferred organo aminophosphonates are diethylene triamine penta (methylene phosphonate) and hexamethylene diamine tetra (methylene phosphonate).
Other suitable heavy metal ion sequestrants for use herein include nitrilotriacetic acid and polyaminocarboxylic acids such as ethylenediaminotetracetic acid, ethylenetriamine pentacetic acid, or ethylenediamine disuccinic acid. Especially preferred is ethylenediamine-N,Nxe2x80x2-disuccinic acid (EDDS), most preferably present in the form of its S,S isomer, which is preferred for its biodegradability profile.
Still other suitable heavy metal ion sequestrants for use herein are iminodiacetic acid derivatives such as 20-hydroxyethyl diacetic acid or glyceryl imino diacetic acid.
A preferred chelant is an organo diphosphonic acid or one of its salts/complexes. The organo diphosphonic acid is preferably a C1-C4 diphosphonic acid, more preferably a C2 diphosphonic acid, such as ethylene diphosphonic acid, or most preferably ethane 1-hydroxy-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP).
The compositions of the present invention can additionally contain an additional amount of oxygen bleach or chlorine bleach.
The oxygen bleach should be sufficient to provide from 0.01% to about 8%, preferably from about 0.1% to about 5.0%, more preferably from about 0.3% to about 4.0%, most preferably from about 0.8% to about 3% of available oxygen (AvO) by weight of the composition.
The peroxygen bleaching systems useful herein are those capable of yielding hydrogen peroxide in an aqueous liquor. These compounds include, but are not limited to, hydrogen peroxide, the alkali metal peroxides, organic peroxide bleaching compounds such as urea peroxide and inorganic persalt bleaching compounds such as the alkali metal perborates, percarbonates, perphosphates, and the like. Mixtures of two or more such bleaching compounds can also be used.
Preferred peroxygen bleaching compounds include sodium perborate, commercially available in the form of mono-, tri-, and tetra-hydrate, sodium pyrophosphate peroxyhydrate, urea peroxyhydrate, sodium percarbonate, and sodium peroxide. Particularly preferred are sodium perborate tetrahydrate, sodium perborate monohydrate and sodium percarbonate. Percarbonate is especially preferred because of environmental issues associated with boron.
Suitable oxygen-type bleaches are further described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,934 (Chung et al), issued Nov. 1, 1983, and peroxyacid bleaches described in European Patent Application 033,259, Sagel et al, published Sep. 13, 1989, both incorporated herein by reference, can be used.
The optional peroxygen bleach component may be formulated with an activator (peracid precursor). The activator is present at levels of from about 0.01% to about 5%, preferably from about 0.1% to about 4%, more preferably from about 0.5% to about 2%, by weight of the composition. Preferred activators are selected from the group consisting of benzoylcaprolactam (BzCL), 4-nitrobenzoylcaprolactam, 3-chlorobenzoylcaprolactam, benzoyloxybenzenesulphonate (BOBS), nonanoyloxybenzenesulphonate (NOBS), phenylbenzoate (PhBz), decanoyloxybenzenesulphonate (C10-OBS), benzolyvalerolactam (BZVL), octanoyloxybenzenesulphonate (C8-OBS), perhydrolyzable esters and mixtures thereof, most preferably benzoylcaprolactam and benzolyvalerolactam. Preferred bleach activators are those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,130,045, Mitchell et al, and 4,412,934, Chung et al, and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,998,350 and 5686,401, and EP 699,230 all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The mole ratio of peroxygen bleaching compound (as AvO) to bleach activator in the present invention generally ranges from at least 1:1, preferably from about 20:1 to about 1:1, more preferably from about 10:1 to about 3:1.
The compositions of the present invention may also contain a bleach catalyst material, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,430,243; 5,246,621; 5,244,594; 4,246,612; 5,227,084; 5,194,416; 5,114,606; and 5,114,611.
Other bleach catalysts are described, for example, in European patent application publication no. 408,131 (cobalt complex catalysts), European patent application publication nos. 384,503 and 306,089 (metallo-porphyrin catalysts), U.S. 4,728,455 (manganese/multidentate ligand catalyst), U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,748 and European patent application publication no. 224,952 (absorbed manganese on aluminosilicate catalyst), U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,845 (aluminosilicate support with manganese and zinc or magnesium salt), U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,373 (manganese/ligand catalyst), U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,557 (ferric complex catalyst), German Pat. Specification 2,054,019 (cobalt chelant catalyst), Canadian 866,191 (transition metal-containing salts), U.S. Pat. No. 4,430,243 (chelants with manganese cations and non-catalytic metal cations), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,455 (manganese gluconate catalysts).
Compositions of the present invention can comprise detergent surfactants, provided the surfactant type and level are selected to maintain the desired diacyl peroxide particle size. Low foaming nonionic surfactants (LFNIs) are preferred, and can be present in amounts from 0.1% to about 15% by weight, preferably from about 0.25% to about 10%, most preferably from about 0.5% to about 5%. LFNIs are most typically used to provide the improved water-sheeting action (especially from glass), which they confer to the product. They also encompass non-silicone, phosphate or nonphosphate polymeric materials further illustrated hereinafter which are known to defoam food soils encountered in automatic dishwashing.
Preferred LFNIs include nonionic alkoxylated surfactants, especially ethoxylates derived from primary alcohols, and blends thereof with more sophisticated surfactants, such as the polyoxypropylene/polyoxyethylene/polyoxypropylene reverse block polymers. The PO/EO/PO polymer-type surfactants are well known to have foam suppressing or defoaming action, especially in relation to common food soil ingredients such as egg.
In a preferred embodiment, the LFNI is an ethoxylated surfactant derived from the reaction of a monohydroxy alcohol or alkylphenol containing from about 8 to about 20 carbon atoms, excluding cyclic carbon atoms, with from about 6 to about 15 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of alcohol or alkyl phenol on an average basis.
A particularly preferred LFNI is derived from a straight chain fatty alcohol containing from about 16 to about 20 carbon atoms (C16-C20 alcohol), preferably a C18 alcohol, condensed with an average of from about 6 to about 15 moles, preferably from about 7 to about 12 moles, and most preferably from about 7 to about 9 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of alcohol. Preferably the ethoxylated nonionic surfactant so derived has a narrow ethoxylate distribution relative to the average.
The LFNI can optionally contain propylene oxide in an amount up to about 15% by weight. Other preferred LFNI surfactants can be prepared by the processes described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,163, issued Sep. 16, 1980, Builloty, incorporated herein by reference.
Preferred compositions herein containing the LFNI make use of ethoxylated monohydroxy alcohol or alkyl phenol and additionally comprise a polyoxyethylene, polyoxypropylene block polymeric compound; the ethoxylated monohydroxy alcohol or alkyl phenol fraction of the LFNI comprising from about 20% to about 80%, preferably from about 30% to about 70%, of the total LFNI.
Suitable block polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropylene polymeric compounds that meet the requirements described herein before include those based on ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, glycerol, trimethylolpropane and ethylenediamine as initiator reactive hydrogen compound. Polymeric compounds made from a sequential ethoxylation and propoxylation of initiator compounds with a single reactive hydrogen atom, such as C12-18 aliphatic alcohols, do not generally provide satisfactory suds control in the instant compositions. Certain of the block polymer surfactant compounds designated PLURONIC(copyright) and TETRONIC(copyright) by the BASF-Wyandotte Corp., Wyandotte, Mich., are suitable in compositions of the invention.
A particularly preferred LFNI contains from about 40% to about 70% of a polyoxypropylene/polyoxyethylene/polyoxypropylene block polymer blend comprising about 75%, by weight of the blend, of a reverse block co-polymer of polyoxyethylene and polyoxypropylene containing 17 moles of ethylene oxide and 44 moles of propylene oxide; and about 25%, by weight of the blend, of a block co-polymer of polyoxyethylene and polyoxypropylene initiated with trimethylolpropane and containing 99 moles of propylene oxide and 24 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of trimethylolpropane.
Suitable for use as LFNI in the compositions are those LFNI having relatively low cloud points and high hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB). Cloud points of 1% solutions in water are typically below about 32xc2x0 C. and preferably lower, e.g., 0xc2x0 C., for optimum control of sudsing throughout a full range of water temperatures.
LFNIs, which may also be used, include a C18 alcohol polyethoxylate, having a degree of ethoxylation of about 8, commercially available SLF18 from BASF, and any biodegradable LFNI having the cloud point properties discussed herein above.
The compositions herein can additionally contain an anionic surfactant, in an amount from 0 to about 5%, preferably from about 0.1% to about 3%, more preferably from about 0.25% to about 1%, by weight of the composition.
Suitable anionic surfactants include branched or linear alkyl sulfates and sulfonates. These may contain from about 8 to about 20 carbon atoms. Other anionic surfactants include the alkyl benzene sulfonates containing from about 6 to about 13 carbon atoms in the alkyl group, and mono- and/or dialkyl phenyl oxide mono- and/or di-sulfonates wherein the alkyl groups contain from about 6 to about 16 carbon atoms. All of these anionic co-surfactants are used as stable salts, preferably sodium and/or potassium.
Preferred anionic surfactants include sulfobetaines, betaines, alkyl (polyethoxy) sulfates (AES) and alkyl (polyethoxy) carboxylates, which are usually high sudsing. Optional anionic surfactants are further illustrated in published British Patent Application No. 2,116,199A; U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,027, Hartman; U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,851, Rupe et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,849, Leikhim, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The preferred anionic surfactants of the invention in combination with the other components of the composition provide excellent cleaning and outstanding performance from the standpoints of residual spotting and filming. However, many of these co-surfactants may also be high sudsing thereby requiring the addition of LFNI, LFNI in combination with alternate suds suppressors as further disclosed hereinafter, or alternate suds suppressors without conventional LFNI components.
The compositions of the invention can optionally contain an alkyl phosphate ester suds suppressor, a silicone suds suppressor, or combinations thereof. Levels in general are from 0% to about 3%, preferably from about 0.001% to about 2%. Typical levels tend to be low, e.g., from about 0.01% to about 1% when a silicone suds suppressor is used. Preferred non-phosphate compositions omit the phosphate ester component entirely.
It is preferable to avoid the use of simple calcium-precipitating soaps as antifoams in the present compositions as they tend to deposit on the dishware. Indeed, phosphate esters are not entirely free of such problems and the formulator will generally choose to minimize the content of potentially depositing antifoams in the instant compositions.
Compositions herein may additionally contain a dispersant polymer. Dispersant polymers are generally compatible with the diacyl peroxide (i.e. do not solubilize the diacyl peroxide) and typically are used at levels up to about 10%, preferably from about 0.1% to about 6%, more preferably from about 0.2% to about 4% by weight of the composition. Dispersant polymers are useful for improved filming performance of the present compositions, especially in higher pH embodiments, such as those in which pH exceeds about 9.5. Particularly preferred are polymers, which inhibit the deposition of calcium carbonate or magnesium silicate on dishware.
Dispersant polymers suitable for use herein are illustrated by the film-forming polymers described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,080 (Murphy), issued Apr. 5, 1983, incorporated herein by reference.
Suitable polymers are preferably at least partially neutralized or alkali metal, ammonium or substituted ammonium (e.g., mono-, di- or triethanolammonium) salts of polycarboxylic acids. The alkali metal, especially sodium salts are most preferred. While the molecular weight of the polymer can vary over a wide range, it preferably is from about 1000 to about 500,000, more preferably is from about 1000 to about 250,000, and most preferably, from about 1000 to about 5,000.
Other suitable dispersant polymers include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,308,067 issued Mar. 7, 1967, to Diehl, incorporated herein by reference. Unsaturated monomeric acids that can be polymerized to form suitable dispersant polymers include acrylic acid, maleic acid (or maleic anhydride), fumaric acid, itaconic acid, aconitic acid, mesaconic acid, citraconic acid and methylenemalonic acid. The presence of monomeric segments containing no carboxylate radicals such as methyl vinyl ether, styrene, ethylene, etc. Is suitable provided that such segments do not constitute more than about 50% by weight of the dispersant polymer.
Copolymers of acrylamide and acrylate having a molecular weight of from about 3,000 to about 100,000, preferably from about 4,000 to about 20,000, and an acrylamide content of less than about 50%, preferably less than about 20%, by weight of the dispersant polymer can also be used. Most preferably, such dispersant polymer has a molecular weight of from about 4,000 to about 20,000 and an acrylamide content of from about 0% to about 15%, by weight of the polymer.
Particularly preferred dispersant polymers are low molecular weight modified polyacrylate copolymers. Such copolymers contain as monomer units: a) from about 90% to about 10%, preferably from about 80% to about 20% by weight acrylic acid or its salts and b) from about 10% to about 90%, preferably from about 20% to about 80% by weight of a substituted acrylic monomer or its salt and have the general formula: xe2x80x94[(C(R2)C(R1)(C(O)OR3)] xe2x80x94wherein the incomplete valencies inside the square braces are hydrogen and at least one of the substituents R1, R2 or R3, preferably R1 or R2, is a 1 to 4 carbon alkyl or hydroxyalkyl group, R1 or R2 can be a hydrogen and R3 can be a hydrogen or alkali metal salt. Most preferred is a substituted acrylic monomer wherein R1 is methyl, R2 is hydrogen and R3 is sodium.
The low molecular weight polyacrylate dispersant polymer preferably has a molecular weight of less than about 15,000, preferably from about 500 to about 10,000, most preferably from about 1,000 to about 5,000. The most preferred polyacrylate copolymer for use herein has a molecular weight of 3500 and is the fully neutralized form of the polymer comprising about 70% by weight acrylic acid and about 30% by weight methacrylic acid.
Other suitable modified polyacrylate copolymers include the low molecular weight copolymers of unsaturated aliphatic carboxylic acids disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,530,766, and 5,084,535, both incorporated herein by reference.
Preferred polymers also include polyacrylates with an average molecular weight of from about 1,000 to about 10,000, and acrylate/maleate or acrylate/fumarate copolymers with an average molecular weight of from about 2,000 to about 80,000 and a ratio of acrylate to maleate or fumarate segments of from about 30:1 to about 1:2. Examples of such copolymers based on a mixture of unsaturated mono- and dicarboxylate monomers are disclosed in European Patent Application No. 66,915, published Dec. 15, 1982, incorporated herein by reference.
Other dispersant polymers useful herein include the polyethylene glycols and polypropylene glycols having a molecular weight of from about 950 to about 30,000, which can be obtained from the Dow Chemical Company of Midland, Mich. Such compounds for example, having a melting point within the range of from about 30xc2x0 to about 100xc2x0 C. can be obtained at molecular weights of 1450, 3400, 4500, 6000, 7400, 9500, and 20,000. Such compounds are formed by the polymerization of ethylene glycol or propylene glycol with the requisite number of moles of ethylene or propylene oxide to provide the desired molecular weight and melting point. The polyethylene, polypropylene and mixed glycols are referred to using the formula HO(CH2CH2O)m(CH2CH(CH3)O)n(CH(CH3)CH2O)OH wherein m, n, and o are integers satisfying the molecular weight and temperature requirements given above.
The present compositions may also contain corrosion inhibitor. Such corrosion inhibitors are preferred components of machine dishwashing compositions in accord with the invention, and are preferably incorporated at a level of from 0.05% to 10%, more preferably from 0.1% to 5% by weight of the total composition. Suitable corrosion inhibitors include paraffin oil, typically a predominantly branched aliphatic hydrocarbon having a number of carbon atoms in the range of from 20 to 50. Preferred paraffin oil is selected from the predominantly branched C25-45 species with a ratio of cyclic to noncyclic hydrocarbons of about 32:68. A paraffin oil meeting these characteristics is sold by Wintershall, Salzbergen, Germany, under the trade name WINOG 70.
Other suitable corrosion inhibitor compounds include benzotriazole and any derivatives thereof, mercaptans and diols, especially mercaptans with 4 to 20 carbon atoms including lauryl mercaptan, thiophenol, thionapthol, thionalide and thioanthranol. Also suitable are the C12-C20 fatty acids and hydroxy fatty acids, or their salts, especially aluminum tristearate. Phosphonated octa-decane and other anti-oxidants such as betahydroxytoluene (BHT) are also suitable.
Bleach-stable dyes (such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,562, Roselle et al, issued Dec. 22, 1987) can also be added to the present compositions in appropriate amounts.
Method for Cleaning
The present invention also encompasses a method for cleaning dishware in an automatic dishwashing machine, said method comprising contacting said dishware with an aqueous bath comprising the automatic dishwashing detergent composition herein. In a preferred embodiment, the method encompasses cleaning plastic dishware surfaces while minimizing deposition, comprising contacting said surfaces with an aqueous wash liquor comprising from about 10 ppm to about 300 ppm of the above diacyl peroxide particles having a particle size of from about 0.1 to about 30 microns. The wash liquor preferably has a pH of from about 2 to about 11, preferably from about 2 to about 10, for good cleaning performance.
The diacyl peroxide particles in the wash liquor preferably have a particle size from about 0.5 to about 20 microns, more preferably from about 1 to about 10 microns, for best stain removal, while minimizing filming due to deposition of larger diacyl peroxide particles. Filming can also increase if the diacyl peroxide particles are solubilized, or if the concentration of the diacyl peroxide in the wash liquor exceeds about 300 ppm. In a preferred embodiment, the aqueous wash liquor comprises from about 20 to about 250 ppm, more preferably from about 50 to about 200 ppm, most preferably from about 50 to about 150 ppm, of the diacyl peroxide particles.
For compositions herein intended for cleaning dishwashing machines, where deposition of diacyl peroxide particles and filming are not noticeable to consumers, it will be appreciated that larger diacyl peroxides particles and higher levels thereof may be used, and the optional cleaning ingredients herein may be preferred.
The aqueous wash liquor is formed by dispersing the bleaching composition herein in a dishwashing machine. In a preferred embodiment, the bleaching composition herein is a thixotropic gel that is dispensed from the main wash dispensing cup of the automatic dishwashing machine. This provides adequate contact time for the diacyl peroxide particles to bleach and remove stains from plastic surfaces during the washing process. In contrast, dosing during the pre-wash may not allow enough active bleaching species to survive until the main wash for optimum performance. Alternatively, thicker products may be formulated that release an adequate amount of diacyl peroxide particles during the washing process, even when dispensed at the beginning of the process. For example, a thickened product can be dispensed from a tube or bottle onto the door (including in an open dispensing cup) or bottom of the machine, or directly onto stained dishware in the machine. The dishwashing machine can then be operated, with or without a fully formulated, automatic dishwashing detergent composition added to one or both dispensing cups. The products of the present invention can also be dosed from a device placed inside the machine, so long as there is adequate contact time between the diacyl peroxide particles and the surfaces to be bleached. However, dosing of the diacyl peroxide in the final rinse generally provides insufficient contact time for optimum bleaching performance.
Additionally, a package for the bleaching composition herein preferably is substantially impermeable to water, carbon dioxide, and light. Plastic bottles, including refillable or recyclable types, as well as conventional barrier cartons or boxes are generally suitable. When ingredients are not highly compatible, e.g., mixtures of silicates and citric acid, it may further be desirable to coat at least one such ingredient with a low-foaming nonionic surfactant for protection. There are numerous waxy materials, which can readily be used to form suitable coated particles of any such otherwise incompatible components.
The package preferably contains instructions on the use of the composition herein with the package containing the composition or with other forms of advertising associated with the sale or use of the composition. The instructions may be included in any manner typically used by consumer product manufacturing or supply companies. Examples include providing instructions on a label attached to the container holding the composition; on a sheet either attached to the container or accompanying it when purchased; or in advertisements, demonstrations, and/or other written or oral instructions which may be connected to the purchase or use of the composition. The instructions should guide the user on the optimum methods for using the composition herein, including preferred dosage levels to obtain the desired concentration of diacyl peroxide in the wash liquor, and the preferred contact time and wash liquor temperature for optimum performance. For preferred compositions herein, intended for use in bleaching and removing stains from plastic dishware, the instructions direct the user to fill the main wash dispensing cup of the automatic dishwashing machine and run the machine without adding their regular detergent. Other preferred compositions of the invention can be dispensed from the pre-wash dispensing cup, or as otherwise described above, particularly if they contain sufficient thickener to provide for release of at least a portion of the diacyl peroxide in the main wash cycle. Such compositions are preferably used in conjunction with a regular automatic dishwashing detergent composition. Other preferred compositions herein intended for use as a machine cleaning product to de-stain and clean plastic surfaces on the interior of an automatic dishwashing machine preferably include instructions for use thereof. For example, the instructions may direct the user to fill the main wash dispensing cup with the product and run the machine empty.
The following examples illustrate the compositions of the present invention. These examples are not meant to limit or otherwise define the scope of the invention. All parts, percentages and ratios used herein are expressed as percent weight unless otherwise specified.
Perfume A and B are examples of preferred blooming perfume compositions of the invention. The perfumes also contain preferred blooming, delayed blooming, and base masking perfume ingredients herein.

Automatic dishwashing compositions comprising diacyl peroxide bleach and blooming perfume


Embodiments of a receiver for using a first oscillator signal provided by a crystal resonator to support multiple, different functionalities are provided. The receiver comprises a phase-locked loop (PLL) configured to provide a second oscillator signal based on the first oscillator signal provided by the crystal resonator; a first mixer configured to mix a received signal received over a first input path with the second oscillator signal received over a second input path to provide a first frequency-shifted signal; and an automatic frequency controller (AFC) configured to estimate a frequency offset of the second oscillator signal and adjust the PLL to compensate for the frequency offset. The receiver further can include solutions for mitigating potential sources of noise caused by the frequency of the first oscillator signal not being compensated for by the AFC.

There exist two commonly implemented front-end architectures in radio frequency (RF) receiver design; namely, the homodyne architecture and the superheterodyne architecture. The homodyne architecture down-converts a desired carrier (or channel) in a received signal directly from RF to baseband, whereas the superheterodyne architecture down-converts a desired carrier (or channel) in a received signal to one or more intermediate frequencies (IFs) before down-conversion to baseband. In general, each of these front-end architectures typically employ an antenna to receive a signal, a low noise amplifier (LNA) to provide gain to the signal, and one or more down-conversion and filtering stages.
In both front-end architectures, the down-conversion stage(s) include a mixer for mixing the received signal with a local oscillator (LO) signal to down-convert the desired carrier in the received signal to baseband or some non-zero IF for further processing. The LO signal in the homodyne architecture is ideally tuned to have a frequency identical to the desired carrier such that the carrier is down-converted to baseband. The LO signal in the superheterodyne architecture (or at least one LO signal in the superheterodyne architecture), on the other hand, is ideally tuned to have a frequency that is offset from the frequency of the desired carrier by an amount equal to the chosen IF such that the carrier is down-converted to the IF.
There is often a small frequency error (or offset), however, in the LO signal from its ideal frequency. This error causes the desired carrier to be down-converted to a frequency position other than what is expected (i.e., to a frequency position other than at baseband in a homodyne architecture and to a frequency position other than at the chosen IF in the superheterodyne architecture). Proper recovery of the information modulated onto the desired carrier generally requires that the carrier be down-converted (very close) to the expected frequency location.
Therefore, automatic frequency correction is often employed at the receiver to estimate and compensate for any frequency error in the LO signal, such that the desired carrier is down-converted (very close) to its expected frequency position (i.e., very close to baseband in a homodyne architecture and very close to the chosen IF in the superheterodyne architecture). FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional homodyne receiver 100 that performs automatic frequency correction. As illustrated in FIG. 1, conventional homodyne receiver 100 includes a front-end 105 for performing amplification, down-conversion, and filtering, and a baseband processing section 110 for performing decoding or demapping.
Front-end 105 specifically includes an antenna 115, a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 120, a mixer 125, a phase-locked loop (PLL) 130, a digitally controlled crystal oscillator (DCXO) 135, a crystal resonator 140, a low-pass filter 145, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 150, and a digital signal processor (DSP) 155. In operation, antenna 115 is configured to receive an RF signal that includes a desired carrier. The desired carrier can be positioned within a frequency band defined by a particular communications standard. For example, the desired carrier can be positioned within a frequency band defined by the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard.
After being received, the RF signal is provided to LNA 120, which provides sufficient amplification to the RF signal to overcome the noise of subsequent stages in front-end 105, for example. The amplified RF signal is then mixed by mixer 125 with a LO signal provided by PLL 130. PLL 130 provides the LO signal based on a reference oscillator signal provided by DCXO 135 and crystal resonator 140 (i.e., PLL 130 provides the LO signal as some multiple or fractional multiple of the reference oscillator signal). The LO signal is ideally controlled by PLL 130 to have a frequency equal to the desired carrier such that the mixing operation, performed by mixer 125, results in the carrier being down-converted to baseband. The down-converted signal is then filtered by low-pass filter 145 to remove unwanted frequency components, converted to a digital signal (i.e., a sequence of discrete values) by ADC 150, and processed by DSP 155.
Baseband processing section 110 receives the down-converted and filtered signal from DSP 155 and performs further processing. As illustrated in FIG. 1, baseband processing section 110 includes baseband processor 160 and an automatic frequency controller (AFC) 165. Baseband processor 160 is configured to perform decoding or demapping to recover information transmitted over the carrier. AFC 165 is configured to estimate and compensate for any frequency error in the LO signal provided by PLL 130, such that the desired carrier is down-converted (very close) to its expected frequency position (i.e., very close to baseband in the homodyne architecture illustrated in FIG. 1).
AFC 165 can estimate the frequency error using, for example, the down-converted carrier or the information recovered from the carrier by baseband processor 160. The estimated frequency error can then be used by AFC 165 to adjust a frequency at which crystal resonator 140 oscillates and, thereby, the frequency of the reference oscillator signal. Specifically, AFC 165 can adjust the frequency at which crystal resonator 140 oscillates using DCXO 135. For example, DCXO 135 can include a tunable capacitor coupled in parallel (or series) with crystal resonator 140. In general, adding and removing capacitance across a crystal resonator, such as crystal resonator 140, will respectively cause the resonance of the crystal resonator to shift upward and downward.
As noted above, the reference oscillator signal provided by DCXO 135 and crystal resonator 140 is used by PLL 130 as a reference signal to generate the LO signal used by mixer 125. Thus, the frequency of the reference oscillator signal provided by DCXO 135 and crystal resonator 140 can be adjusted by AFC 165 to compensate for the estimated frequency error in the LO signal provided by PLL 130.
Although adjusting the frequency of the reference oscillator signal presents a viable solution for reducing the frequency error in the LO signal provided by PLL 130, this solution has drawbacks. One notable drawback is that the reference oscillator signal provided by DCXO 135 and crystal resonator 140 potentially can no longer serve as a reference clock for other functionalities supported by the device containing homodyne receiver 100. For example, many communication devices, such as cellular phones, provide support for wireless local area network (WLAN) and Global Positioning System (GPS) functionalities in addition to cellular communication functionalities. Even though the reference oscillator signal of a single crystal resonator, such as crystal resonator 140, can be used to support each of these additional functionalities, the sudden changes in frequency of the reference oscillator signal that are caused by AFC 165 to support one functionality are not acceptable to many of the other functionalities, such as GPS.
Therefore, what is needed is a system and method for performing automatic frequency correction in a receiver without adjusting the resonance of the crystal resonator.
The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawing in which an element first appears is typically indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.

Long-term drift mitigation for radio frequency receivers utilizing a free-running crystal


A method, apparatus, system, article of manufacture, and computer-readable storage medium provide for the ingestion of personalized information to provide customization. A request to customize a user's interactive experience on a website or application is received from a user. Personalized information based on a user's activities is ingested. The user activities are independent from activities on the website or application. A database is searched based on the personalized information and search results are produced. The user's interactive experience is customized based on the search results.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to customizing data streamed to a user, and in particular, to a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for ingesting a user's personal information/preferences and automatically returning a customized stream/experience based thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable music players (e.g., iPods™, iPhone™, MP3 players, etc.) have been adopted and used by users throughout the world. Similarly, social networking sites such as MySpace™ and Facebook™ have become increasingly popular. It is desirable to provide a new or existing user on a social networking site with a customized experience based on the user's interests with little to no effort by the user (i.e., irrespective of the user's activities on the social networking site). Prior art mechanisms fail to provide an easy and efficient mechanism for a user to create a personalized network on a social networking site that is customized based on the user's preferences with minimal user effort. Such problems may be better understood with an explanation of prior art portable music devices and social networking sites.
Social networking sites each have their own unique user interface, terminology, preferences, etc. In addition, once a user has selected a social networking site, the user becomes increasingly invested in the selected site through usage of the site. It is difficult to get the user to switch to an alternative social network once a user has become invested in a particular site. As a result, significant competition exists (between social networking sites) to entice both initial users and users of alternative social networks. To entice users, social networks attempt to simplify and ease the adoption process while also customizing the content for a particular user in a transparent/semi-transparent manner.
Prior art methods provide no capability to customize content (with minimal user effort) without use of the social network itself by the user. For example, to customize content, prior art systems may present a series of questions to a user (e.g., marital status, likes/dislikes, preferred music type/category, etc.). In addition, to provide recommendations (e.g., music, movies, food, products, advertising, etc.) to such users (that are particularly relevant and customized for that user) requires significant use of the social network itself by the user. The more time the user spends on a social network, the more customized the information becomes that is displayed to the user. Accordingly, there is no capability to provide initial customization or continued customization on user's preferences that are unrelated to the time spent on the social network itself.
Such customization may take various forms depending on the social network utilized. For example, on the MySpace™ social networking site, particular advertisements, featured games, and news may be displayed. Additionally, various artists/musicians may be displayed and news relating to a user's friends/identified musicians may be displayed (e.g., via an "activity stream" for a defined category such as friends, status, photos, music, bulletins, videos, links, apps, blogs, events, etc.). In this regard, an "activity stream" shows what a user's friends are doing (such as recent photo updates and photo uploads). One major task with using a new social network is that of identifying "friends" on the social network. Further, a user may be very interested in music and would like to have bands of interest identified for him/her without having to spend a significant amount of time on the social network. Prior art mechanisms fail to provide such customization without a significant investment of time by the user utilizing the social network itself.
In conjunction with the above, prior art mechanisms fail to integrate and/or utilize a user's preferences (i.e., based on data external from and independent from social networking site data) on a social networking site. In this regard, a user may have many preferences or may have established profiles independent from social network site data. For example, a user may have a media viewing/listening device (e.g., MP3™ player, cellular phone, personal digital assistant [PDA], computer, iPod™, iPad™, Nook™, etc.) that is frequently used by the user. Personalized information about the user may be captured by software based on the music player. For example, a media player application (e.g., iTunes™, Windows™ Media Player™, QuickTime™, Android Market™, etc.) may store information about the user's viewing/listening preferences. Such information may include for example, the content of a user's music library, last song played, songs most played, type of movie watched, etc. may be stored. However, such personalized information is not utilized by social networking sites to customize their website experience.
Alternatively, websites frequented by a user may also have a profile for such a user. Such profile information may include books purchased (e.g., via Amazon™, BarnesNNoble™, etc.), movies rented/watched (e.g., via Netflix™). Further yet, information about the user's location (e.g., via global positioning system [GPS]) may be stored by cellular phone companies, in a user's cellular phone (or other GPS device). In this regard, a variety of types of personalized/customized information for a user may be available from a variety of sources. However, prior art methodologies do not utilize nor access such information to provide a customized user experience on a social networking site.
In view of the above, what is needed is an efficient and easy mechanism to utilize a user's preferences/personalized information to customize data and information displayed on a social networking site.

Metadata ingestion to stream customization


Techniques for sorting data include (1) obtaining records containing variable length key fields, (2) expanding the variable length key fields into fixed length key fields in a temporary structure, (3) sorting the temporary structure based on the fixed length key fields, and (4) reorganizing the data containing the variable length key fields in accordance with the sorted temporary structure. Reorganized data can replace the original data or be saved to temporary storage where it can later be merged with other reorganized data. Temporary storage of reorganized data does not incorporate the expanded fixed length key information used in the temporary structure.

The present invention relates to sorting techniques and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a system and methods for sorting data having variable length sort key fields.
The process of sorting an object generally involves (1) reading the object from external storage, often referred to as "unloading" the object, (2) passing the object's data to a utility that reorders/sorts the data in accordance with a specified sort key and (3) writing the sorted data back to the object's file on external storage, often referred to "reloading" the object. It will further be understood that all sort routines compare items of the same size. That is, the size of an object's sort key must be constant from record to record during the sort operation. As used herein, the term 'object' refers to any collection of data that may be sorted. For example, an array or list of elements, one or more tables in a relational database or a collection of records within a conventional file structure. One of ordinary skill in the art will understand that an object typically includes one or more records, that records are comprised of one or more fields, that one or more fields are designated as a sort key and that sorting reorders an object's records based on the value of the records' sort keys.
One prior art technique for sorting objects having variable length keys is shown in FIG. 1. Sort routine 100 reads and pads a record from the object being sorted (block 105). The act of padding converts variable length key fields to fixed length key fields of a size great enough to accommodate any value that the key may assume. Once padded, the record is written to an intermediate file (block 110). If there are additional records to pad (the 'NO' prong of block 115), processing continues at block 105. If the object has been completely unloaded (the 'YES' prong of block 115), a sort utility is invoked that reorders and then stores the padded records in a result file (block 120). Each sorted and padded record is then retrieved from the result file, unpadded and reloaded into the object (blocks 125, 130 and 135). The act of unpadding adjusts the size of each record's sort key to its original size. Using pad and unpad processes can be very intensive to intermediate storage since a padded copy of the entire object (possibly an entire database) needs to be created. Given that many keys are a fraction of the size that must be supported; the padded copy of an object can be several times the size of the original. In addition, since a single object can not generally be retained in working memory, the time required to write and read an intermediate file having expanded sort keys can consume a significant portion of the total time needed to sort the object (e.g., the total elapsed time from block 105 to block 135).
To mitigate some of the aforementioned drawbacks, certain commercially available sort applications support input and output routine customization. These user-created, application specific, programs are commonly referred to as E15 (input) and E35 (output) programs. As illustrated in FIG. 2, after obtaining a record from (unsorted) object 200, E15 program 205 pads the record's sort key and passes the padded record to E15 interface 210. Sort routine 215 accepts input from E15 interface 210, sorts the records in accordance with the specified key and manages the transfer of padded data to and from intermediate storage 220. Following completion of the sort operation, sort routine 215 passes the sorted and padded records through E35 interface 225 to E35 program 230 which then unpads the records and reloads object 200.
One significant drawback to prior art sorting techniques is that for large objects (e.g., databases and/or large database objects) comprising tens of megabytes to tens of terabytes, the time required to transfer padded data to and from intermediate storage can comprise a significant portion of the total time required to unload, sort and reload the target object. In addition, the amount of intermediate storage needed to retain padded data can be a significant use of resources. Thus, it would be beneficial to provide techniques (methods and devices) to sort data that is more time and resource efficient than current techniques.

Reorganizing database objects using variable length keys


Disclosed is a system and method for controlling the playback speed, and user experience, of watching slow motion video content on a touch sensitive computing device such as a mobile phone, tablet or laptop with a touch sensitive screen. Key features of the disclosure are the simplicity of the user interface and the instant visual feedback given to the user.

Slow motion video (commonly abbreviated to "slowmo") is an effect in video making whereby time appears to have slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian Priest August Musger in the 20th century.
Slowmo can provide an exciting view of everyday events and it is typically used to demonstrate skill and style in sport events, to recapture a key sporting moment as a slowmo replay or to demonstrate natural phenomena such as a drop of water hitting a leaf.
The creation of a Slowmo video starts with high speed capture by the camera. This was called "overcranking" is early film making. The recorded film would then be played back at a normal, or slower frame rate making the motion appear slower. If the subject was captured at 120 fps, and played at 30 fps for example, the motion would appear at quarter speed.
Slowmo requires both faster capture and slower playback. If a user was to just use slower playback on an un-overcranked video the playback would result in stuttered motion. The degree of slowdown varies depending on the application, a 2-4× slowdown is considered standard for replays or effects. Slowmo pushes the technical boundaries of camera systems for more frame per second and for the playback system to ensure a smooth slow down of the video and an enhanced user experience of a quick motion action. The introduction of slowmo video capture and playback in the iPhone 5s by Apple, Inc in 2013 and the introduction of slowmo for the popular GoPro action camera range, often used in extreme action videography, from GoPro, Inc in 2013 introduced the concept and experience of slowmo to the masses.
Once the video has been captured using overcranking, the user typically edits the file using a a specialist slowmo software media player on a computing device which enables the user to select with mouse clicks the speed of playback during certain sections of the video to create a video experience that the user can share with other people using social media applications, or can be hosted on video websites. When a user plays the video they quite often have mouse click, or touch screen controls to very the speed of the whole video playback in predefined steps and forward or rewind the video while it is playing.
These type of touch interfaces are typically representations of buttons on the media player, similar to the controls on a DVD or media player connected to a TV or AV device.
In 2008 Gehani disclosed a method for electronic playback of a standard non-overcranked video using touch gestures on a computing device, mobile phone, or tablet which incorporated a touch screen interface. By swiping a finger left or right across the video while it is playing, the video would fast forward, or rewind at a sped proportionate to the length and speed of the swipe. This enabled a more intuitive user interface for controlling the playback of a video on a portable device. Gehani also disclosed a method to increase the speed of play by tapping on the screen, where every tap would increase the video playback speed by a defined amount.
Later in 2012 Andres disclosed in his application a similar method to control the navigation of the video during playback using swipe controls on a touch sensitive screen, and to show the navigation using a plurality of frames in a file strip below the video.
Checkley in 2014 disclosed a method of "press and hold" to navigate to a specific point in a video sequence. He also disclosed a method to change the speed of the video by mapping points on the touch screen interface to specific speed settings for example 2× or 4×.
While these example provide methods to control video navigation and step changes in speed what makes the method in the present application unique from Gehani, Andres and Checkley is the simplicity of the control of the speed of the video in a slowmo playback, and the enhancement of the user experience through cleaner visual feedback of the slowmo. There is no need to represent buttons on the media player window which distract from the user experience of the slowmo, and there is no requirement to swipe across the screen thereby distracting the user from seeing the slowmo action on the screen.

Slow motion video playback method for computing devices with touch interfaces


A charge and discharge circuit and a battery pack, both capable of voluntarily perform proper switching between a charge operation and a discharge operation of a secondary battery according to various situations, are provided. The charge and discharge circuit of a secondary battery is one capable of charging the secondary battery E2 by a power source voltage and of supplying power from the secondary battery E2 to an external device 3. Then, the charge and discharge circuit includes a bidirectional regulator 10 capable of adjusting an output in both of a charge direction of feeding the current to the side of the secondary battery E2 and a discharge direction of feeding the current from the secondary battery E2 to the side of the external device 3, a charge and discharge detecting circuit 20 for detecting a direction of the current flowing in the secondary battery E2, and a switching control circuit 30 for switching the operation direction of the bidirectional regulator 10 based on the detection of the charge and discharge detecting circuit 20.

For example, in a system, such as a portable telephone and some digital cameras, which enables the charge of the apparatus with a secondary battery remaining being loaded therein, it is general that a charge and discharge circuit 5 is provided with a bidirectional regulator circuit 120 as shown in FIG. 19, and that the bidirectional regulator circuit 120 adjusts a current and a voltage at the time of charge and discharge. Moreover, the switching between the charge operation and the discharge operation of the bidirectional regulator circuit 120 is generally performed based on the switched states of the terminals for the connection with a power source device 2 and set equipment 3 of a power supply destination. That is, if the power source device 2 is connected to the charge and discharge circuit 5 based on the switched state of a terminal connection switching circuit 110, then the bidirectional regulator circuit 120 is made to perform a charge operation; and if the power source device 2 is not connected, then the bidirectional regulator circuit 120 is made to perform a discharge operation.
Moreover, the following techniques were disclosed as the related art of the present invention. For example, Patent publication 1 disclosed the technique of performing the charge of an auxiliary power source (secondary battery) by the use of a bidirectional converter when the electric power of a main power source was superfluous, and of performing the discharge of the auxiliary power source at the starting time of a system, when the electric power of the main power source was insufficient, in a power source device for performing power supply from the main power source and the auxiliary power source.
Moreover, Patent Publication 2 disclosed the technique of connecting a bidirectional converter at the preceding stage of a battery to make the bidirectional converter perform a charge operation and a discharge operation based on a discharge instruction and a charge instruction in a photovoltaic power generating provision connecting a solar cell, the battery, and a load with one another.
Moreover, Patent Publication 3 disclosed a bidirectional converter to perform the charge of a battery as a step-down chopper circuit at the time of charge, and to perform the discharge of the battery as a step-up chopper circuit at the time of discharge.    Patent Publication 1: Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. H6-245543    Patent Publication 2: Japanese Patent Application No. H5-055467    Patent Publication 3: Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-304644

Charge and discharge circuit of secondary battery and battery pack


Automatic identification of media content is at least partially based upon visually capturing a still or video image of media content being presented to a user via another device. The media content can be further refined by determining location of the user, capturing an audio portion of the media content, date and time of the capture, or profile/behavioral characteristics of the user. Identifying the media content can require (1) distinguishing a rectangular illumination the corresponds to a video display; (2) decoding a watermark presented within the displayed image/video; (3) characterizing the presentation sufficiently for determining a particular time stamp or portion of a program; and (4) determining user setting preferences for viewing the program (e.g., close captioning, aspect ratio, language). Thus identified, the media content appropriately formatted can be received for continued presentation on a user interface of the mobile device.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a mobile operating environment, and more particularly, to visually identifying visual media content captured by a camera-enabled mobile device.
2. Background
Over several decades, developments in digital image processing have attempted to automate certain vision capabilities, such as image recognition. Computer vision has attempted to recognize obstacles in order to allow for autonomous navigation. Optical character recognition relies upon techniques such as detecting a skew in an image and performing character shape correlations. Surveillance systems attempt to recognize biometric data such as faces in order to maintain security.
One example of image processing is generating a digital key signature for each known segment of a video broadcast program that can be later matched by a digital key signature generated for an unknown segment. Such techniques were used for automated tracking by broadcast advertisers to see what commercials were aired in particular markets. Such processing benefited from being able to sample a high fidelity version of the broadcast video signal. In addition, such sampling and analysis could be performed by equipment that had a high processing capacity for the time. As such, the image processing was performed by devices that were generally not mobile nor intended for consumer use.
Advances in technology have resulted in smaller and more powerful computing devices. For example, there currently exist a variety of portable personal computing devices, including wireless computing devices, such as portable wireless telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and paging devices that are small, lightweight, and easily carried by users. More specifically, portable wireless telephones, such as cellular telephones and Internet Protocol (IP) telephones, can communicate voice and data packets over wireless networks. Further, many such wireless telephones include other types of devices that are incorporated therein.
Digital signal processors (DSPs), image processors, and other processing devices are frequently used in portable personal computing devices that include digital cameras, or that display image or video data captured by a digital camera. Such processing devices can be utilized to provide video and audio functions, to process received data such as image data, or to perform other functions. Digital imaging technology allows for compact devices to capture image data, as well as enhance and transmit image data.
Instances can arise where a user is consuming media content in some venue, but would like to watch or read that data on the go, on their mobile device. Desiring to continue watching or reading this content after leaving the venue, the user desires to easily locate this content without an extensive search. This can be especially true given a lack of direct access to the source of the media content. In addition, unlike audio recognition, numerous complications can arise in performing automated vision recognition of a segment of media content. Trying to capture an image or video segment through a viewfinder of a portable personal computing device can be complicated by the orientation of the image and extraneous images within the field of view.

Identifying visual media content captured by camera-enabled mobile device


A knife sheath of tough flexible material, comprises a back wall, a front wall attached at its periphery to said back wall to form a knife-receiving pouch, and a pair of laterally spaced slits in said front wall for receiving a wearer's belt, said slits being offset in the longitudinal direction, whereby when the wearer's belt is passed through said offset slits said pouch sits at a forward angle on the wearer's belt and snugly located on the wearer's hip and tucked in the belt.

Sportsmen often have a need to carrying a sporting knife, either of the fixed blade or folding blade type, and for this purpose it is convenient to carry the knife in some kind of sheath, from which it is quickly accessible. Conventional sheaths have a pair of parallel slits in the back wall of a pouch for the knife through which a belt can be passed. Such sheaths suffer from the disadvantage that they tend to ride along the belt into an awkward an uncomfortable position and generally flop around, and furthermore the angle of the sheath is such that the knife cannot be conveniently and comfortably accessed, the user often having to put his arm into an awkward position to remove the knife. Some sportsman have adopted the habit of tucking the knife into their belt, but such a practice is dangerous for a fixed-blade knife, and inconvenient because the knife will often fall out.
An object of the invention is to provide a knife sheath which alleviates the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art.


A capturing device includes a display section that changes between and displays a three-dimensional (3D) image and a two-dimensional (2D) image, and a controller that performs an image display control for the display section, wherein the controller changes a display mode of an image displayed on the display section, from a 3D image display to a 2D image display, in accordance with preset setting information, at the time of performing a focus control process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capturing device, an image processing method, and a program. More particularly, the present invention relates to a capturing device which changes between images displayed on a display section (monitor) of the capturing device to stereoscopic images (3D images) and flat images (2D images) according to a state of the device and displays the images, an image processing method, and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, capturing devices (cameras) have been developed which take images from plural viewpoints which enable display of stereoscopic images (3D images) as three-dimensional images. Such capturing devices take images from different viewpoints, for example, images for a left eye and images for a right eye. In addition, there have been also proposed devices which can display 3D images on monitors which are display sections provided in capturing devices.
For example, in Japanese Patent No. 3935812 or Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-251403, there is disclosure of a configuration of a display section where stereoscopic images (3D images) can be displayed with the naked eye. As disclosed in the related arts, the stereoscopic images can be viewed with the naked eye by using a display configuration having polarizers or lenticular lenses, or by using a display configuration employing an image splitter type.
In addition, Japanese Patent No. 3935812 discloses the configuration where images displayed on the display section can be freely changed to a display for stereoscopic images (3D images) and a display for flat images (2D images) by user operated keys which can be operated by the user.
Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-251403 discloses the configuration where positions of images displayed on the display section are changed by user operated slide switches which can be operated by the user, such that a stereoscopic effect in 3D image display (stereoscopic display) is changed.
As described above, many configurations are proposed where 2D images and 3D images can be changed and displayed using a single display section.
However, the configurations disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3935812 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-251403 have a problem in that an image displayed on the display section fails to change its display mode without the operation of a user. That is to say, when images displayed on the display section are 3D images, if these are to be changed to 2D images, it is necessary for a user to operate an input section such as switches and the like provided in the device. It is also necessary for a user to operate the input section in a case where 2D images are changed to 3D images.
However, for example, when a focus adjustment is performed, there are cases where whether or not focus is correct may be confirmed while viewing the image displayed on the monitor, but, at this time, when images displayed on the monitor are stereoscopic images (3D images), it is difficult to confirm that the capturing device is in focus.

Capturing device, image processing method, and program