A developing apparatus includes a developer carrying member for carrying a developer thereon and developing an electrostatic image formed on an image bearing member with a developer, a developer layer thickness regulating member provided in contact with the developer carrying member for regulating the thickness of the layer of the developer carried on the developer carrying member, and an electrically conductive particle provided in the portion of contact between the developer carrying member and the developer layer thickness regulating member, in a state in which the developer does not exist between the developer carrying member and the developer layer thickness regulating member.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a cartridge and a developing apparatus for application to an electrophotographic apparatus such as a laser beam printer or a copying machine and an electrostatic recording apparatus or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 9 of the accompanying drawings shows an image forming apparatus as an example using a conventional developing apparatus. In FIG. 9, the reference numeral 101 designates the main body of the image forming apparatus, which is a printer engine. The reference numeral 111 denotes a cylindrical photosensitive drum, which is an image bearing member, and it is rotated in one direction about the axis thereof. A charging roller 103 is constituted by a mandrel 103a and a rubber material 103b disposed on the mandrel 103a, and uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 111.
After the surface of the photosensitive drum 111 has been uniformly charged, a laser beam 55 corresponding to the time-series electrical digital image signal of image information is outputted by an exposing apparatus 102, and is turned back toward the surface of the photosensitive drum by a mirror 56, whereby a latent image is formed on the drum 111.
A developing apparatus 208, as shown in FIG. 11 of the accompanying drawings, is provided with runners 209 on the opposite end portions of a developing sleeve 105, which is a developer carrying member, and the runners 209 contact the photosensitive drum 111 to thereby keep a predetermined gap between the developing sleeve 105 and the photosensitive drum 111. The developing sleeve 105 receives a drive force transmitted from a photosensitive drum gear 211 to a developing sleeve gear 212 to thereby effect rotation, and a toner 109 applied onto the developing sleeve 105 flies onto the photosensitive drum 111 in a developing area as soon as a bias is applied to the developing sleeve 105 through a sliding contact (not shown) and effects reversal developing to thereby visualize the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 111.
The design of the apparatus is such that a developing bias comprising a DC bias and an AC bias superimposed one upon the other is provided between the photosensitive drum 111 and the developing sleeve 105 by an engine controlling portion (not shown) provided with a power source for driving the image forming apparatus, and a high voltage circuit for supplying a bias for forming an image.
The image on the photosensitive drum 111 visualized by the toner 109 is transferred to a transfer material 114 by a transferring apparatus 110. The transfer material 114 is contained in a sheet supplying cassette 117 and is fed by a sheet feeding roller 116, and is synchronized with the image on the photosensitive drum 111 by registration rollers (not shown) and is fed to the transferring apparatus 110. The visible image by the toner 109 transferred to the transfer material 114 by the transferring apparatus 110 is conveyed to a fixing apparatus 115 with the transfer material 114, and is fixed on the transfer material 114 by heat or pressure and becomes a recorded image.
On the other hand, the residual toner 109 untransferred on the photosensitive drum 111 after the transfer is removed by a cleaning blade 113 in a cleaning apparatus 112. The surface of the photosensitive drum 111 from which the toner 109 has been removed is again charged by the charging roller 103 and repeats the above-described process.
As the conventional developing apparatus, a developing apparatus 208 using a magnetic one-component toner, which is a developer, is shown in detail in FIG. 10 of the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 10, the developing sleeve 105 as a developer carrying member is a non-magnetic developing sleeve formed by a pipe of aluminum or stainless steel, and a magnet roll 106 alternately formed with a plurality of magnetic poles N and S is disposed therein immovably relative to the developing sleeve 105.
The surface of the developing sleeve 105 is worked to an appropriate surface roughness so as to be capable of carrying a desired amount of toner. At a location on the developing sleeve 105, as a developer layer thickness regulating member (hereinafter referred to as the developing blade), a developing blade 107a of e.g. urethane rubber or silicone rubber fixed to a supporting metal plate 107b is made to abut against the sleeve with predetermined pressure.
The toner 109 attracted to the developing sleeve by a magnetic force is regulated to a suitable amount by frictional charging by being carried on the developing sleeve, and by the developing blade 107a portion, and thereafter is given appropriate charges (triboelectricities) by frictional charging by being rubbed between the developing sleeve and the developing blade, and is carried to a developing area. The toner 109 carried to the developing area as described above, when a bias is applied to the developing sleeve 105, flies from the developing sleeve 105 and develops the latent image on the photosensitive drum.
In such a developing apparatus as described above, generally with respect to quality confirmation, such as appearance inspection in the assembling step, and the prevention of toner leakage during distribution, it is often the case that as shown in FIG. 12 of the accompanying drawings, the toner is contained in a toner container 104 by a toner seal 50 and the toner does not adhere onto the developing sleeve until the developing apparatus is delivered to the hand of a user. The user, when the user uses a new developing apparatus for the first time, can pull the toner seal 50, for example, toward this side in FIG. 12, to thereby bring about the state of the developing apparatus as shown in FIG. 10, and can bring the developing apparatus 208 into a usable state in which as indicated by the arrow C in FIG. 10, the toner 109 flows from within the toner container 104 toward the developing sleeve 105, and is attracted to the developing sleeve 105.
However, if the user rotates the developing sleeve by mistake with the toner seal 50 remaining provided, when the developing blade is formed of an elastic material such as urethane rubber, there are the problems that the developing blade is turned up in the direction of rotation of the developing sleeve due to the frictional resistance between the developing blade and the developing sleeve, and it becomes impossible to effect uniform and good toner coating, and the problems that deep frictional contact flaws are formed on the surfaces of the developing blade and the developing sleeve, and if thereafter the developing sleeve is coated with the toner to thereby form an image, vertical streaks attributable to the frictional contact flaws will occur on a halftone image or a solid black image (a full-page black image).
Also, for the convenience of the step of assembling or inspecting the developing apparatus in a factory, it is necessary to rotate the developing sleeve in a state in which the toner is absent on the developing sleeve, and there has been required a technique which does not cause frictional contact flaws on the developing blade and the developing sleeve or the turning-up of the developing blade even when the toner is absent on the developing sleeve.
Regarding this problem, it is conceivable to use a lubricant in the frictional contact portion between the developing blade and the developing sleeve. So, it is conceivable to use a slight amount of toner as the lubricant, but depending on the custody situation in a state in which temperature/humidity is very high such as the export by a ship or the transportation in summertime, the toner may sometimes deteriorate and be fusion-bonded on the developing blade and the developing sleeve and therefore, it is not preferable to use the toner as the lubricant.
So, in order to solve this problem, there is a method of using silicone resin particles or the like as the lubricant, and apply them to that surface of the developing blade which abuts against the developing sleeve. As a method of applying the lubricant, there is a method of applying to the developing blade a solution having powder particles dispersed in volatile liquid (the powder particles should have solvent resistance to the volatile liquid), and in this method, powder particles left after the liquid has been completely volatilized are used as the lubricant (this method will hereinafter be referred to as the liquid applying method). It is for uniformly applying the lubricant that the lubricant is once dispersed in the liquid.
Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H8-211728 proposes a method of powder-applying a lubricant directly to the developing sleeve. According to this method, improvement can be made over a halftone vertical streak which may occur in a method of applying liquid to the developing blade.
Also, as lubricating particles, use is made of organic materials such as silicone resin, poly-ethylene tetrafluoride, poly-ethylene trifluoride and polyvinylidene fluoride, or an inorganic material such as molybdenum sulfide. Among these, silicone resin is particularly suitable with respect to heat resistance and humidity resistance.
On the other hand, as a technique which does not cause maintenance work, such as the user filling the developing apparatus with the toner when the toner in the developing apparatus has been exhausted, a technique of making the photosensitive drum, the cleaning apparatus, the charging apparatus, the developing apparatus, etc. integral with each other to thereby provide a process cartridge is popular. As shown in FIG. 13 of the accompanying drawings, the photosensitive drum 111, the charging roller 103, the cleaning apparatus 112 and the developing apparatus 208 are united together by packaging 12 and made into an integral type cartridge 206. The process cartridge has the easy maintenance property that when the toner in the developing apparatus has been used up, the process cartridge is simply exchanged relative to a printer main body, whereby a desired image can be easily obtained again, and is designed such that as soon as the toner in the developing apparatus is used up, the other devices end their lives substantially at the same time, and is a technique which enables a stable quality of image to be obtained until the toner is used up.
However, in a case where use is made of the above-described lubricant according to the conventional art, when the lubricant applied to the developing apparatus adheres to the photosensitive member or the charging roller which is charging means due to vibration or the like in the assembling step or by the transportation of the process cartridge, a black spot of the pitch of the charging roller has sometimes occurred on an image in a portion to which the lubricant has adhered because the lubricant is insulative.
Also, if the lubricant is insulative, a faulty image has sometimes occurred due to the charge-up of the developer at the beginning of the use of the developing apparatus.

Developing apparatus, cartridge and image forming apparatus


An attachment assembly for securing excavation teeth to the loading or dipper bucket on large excavation equipment. The assembly includes a bucket lip adapted to be secured to a loading or dipper bucket, and a plurality of shanks adapted to be secured to the lip and carry the excavation teeth. The lip defines a forward edge extending transversely thereacross and defining a plurality of spaced first curvilinear bearing surfaces. Each of the shanks carried by the bucket lip defines a lateral channel therein adapted to receive a portion of the bucket lip and terminating in a second curvilinear bearing surface. The second curvilinear bearing surface abuts and mates with one of the first curvilinear bearing surfaces on the bucket lip upon shank being disposed thereover. The first and second curvilinear bearing surfaces define equal radius segments of a constant radius circle such that the shank can be aligned parallel to at an angle at up to fifteen degrees with respect to the central longitudinal axis of the bucket lip with the abutting and mating relationships of the first and second bearing surfaces being maintained so as to prevent bearing fracture within the shank during use. The mating relationships of the bearing surfaces defined by the bucket lip and shanks obviate the need to provide differently configured shanks for left, right and central mounting on bucket lips provided with conventional arcuate or spade-shaped forward edges and additionally allows the outer most shanks to be angled outwardly from the central axis of the lip to provide a digging clearance for the bucket.

The present invention relates generally to an attachment assembly for connecting large excavation teeth to the loading or dipper bucket of large earth excavation equipment. Tooth attachment assemblies for large excavation equipment, typically include a number of large shanks which are spaced along and secured to the forward lip of the shovel dipper or loader bucket such that they project forwardly therefrom. A digging tooth or tooth point fits over the projecting end of each of the shanks and is secured thereto by an attachment pin.
For years, the lips of these large loader and dipper buckets comprised massive metal castings, often a foot thick, which were welded onto the bucket. Because these lips were cast, the massive size was necessary to provide the bucket lip with sufficient strength and durability to withstand the stress of large scale earth excavation. The forward edges of these bucket lips on which the shanks were mounted were not always straight, but often convexly curved or spade-shaped, as many people felt that these configurations provided superior digging characteristics. The teeth, however, must be in parallel axial alignment with the central axes of the bucket and bucket lip. To align the tooth-carrying shanks on these lips, the forward edges of the lips were formed with a plurality of projecting alignment horns which would engage the interior of the shanks and provide the desired parallel axial alignment of the shanks and the excavation teeth secured thereto. To enable earth to pass more readily over the thick blunt portions of the lips between the shanks and teeth, the forward edge of the lips were beveled. Lip protectors somewhat similar in configuration to the tooth carrying shanks, albeit smaller, were secured to the lips between the shanks to prevent damage to the forward tapered edge of the lip during earth excavation. On those bucket lips having curved or spade-shaped forward edges, these lip protectors were differently configured depending upon whether they were to be mounted on the right side, left side or in the center of the lip to obtain proper alignment of the lip protectors. Accordingly, it was necessary to provide three different configurations of lip protectors.
Because of the size and weight of these large cast bucket lips, the carrying capacity of the buckets was reduced. To decrease the weight of the lip and thereby increase the carrying capacity of the bucket, considerably thinner bucket lips were developed which were formed from thin plates of high strength alloy steel. Because these thinner plates could not be provided with integral alignment horns, it became necessary to employ three different configurations of shanks as well as lip protectors for use on the right, left and center portions of these preferred lighter weight lips employed convex or spade-shaped forward edges. In addition, without the benefit of the alignment horns which also prevented lateral movement of the shanks, the shanks had to be welded onto the lip which made shank replacement a difficult, timely and expensive process. As a result, the industry sought an attachment assembly which employed these thinner and lighter steel plate bucket lips to retain the increased carrying capacity resulting therefrom, but which could carry the tooth point mounting shanks without the need for welding to reduce the costs of shank replacement. The attachment assembly of the present invention not only satisfies this need but also obviates the need for differently configured shanks and lip protectors on bucket lips having convex or spade-shaped forward edges. The attachment assembly of the present invention, while primarily intended for use on large earth excavation equipment, is also adaptable for use on smaller excavation equipment as well.

Attachment assembly for excavation teeth


‘FL09-216’ is a new and distinct southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) variety distinguished at least by a low chilling requirement, vigorous, bushy growth habit, high early yield, good field disease resistance, and large fruit that are sweet and exhibit small, dry picking scars.

The invention relates to a new and distinct hybrid variety of southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) plant named 'FL09-216'. 'FL09-216' originated as a seedling that was generated from a cross performed in Gainesville, Fla. during February of 2006 between 'FL01-06' (unpatented), as the female (seed) parent, and 'C99-42' (Kirra) (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 20,695), as the male (pollen). The seedling was planted in a high-density field nursery in May of 2007, and the first fruit were evaluated in April of 2008. After the second year of fruiting in the original field, 'FL09-216' was propagated by softwood stem cuttings during the spring of 2009. The softwood stem cuttings were rooted in Gainesville, Fla. during summer 2009. 'FL09-216' was established in a pre-commercial field experiment with 15-plant test plot during winter of 2010 for a variety test in Windsor, Fla. It was during this variety test that the experimental code 'FL09-216' was assigned. Based on the growth, yield and fruit quality of this plot, 'FL09-216' was repropagated by softwood stem cuttings and additional experimental test plots ranging from 5 to 45 plants were established for experimental research trials throughout Florida in 2014. These plots have been observed during flowering and ripening each year since establishment, and no mutations or off-type plants have been observed.


The present invention relates to a compound, which can be used in the prevention and treatment of infections with pathogenic Neisseria species, in particular N. gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis (the gonococcus and the meningococcus, respectively), and other pathogenic bacteria (e.g. Haemophilus species or Moraxella catarrhalis), and which can be used for disinfecting a substrate from said bacteria. Moreover, the present invention relates to a corresponding pharmaceutical composition comprising said compound.

The enormous power of antibiotics in combating infectious diseases has sustained unprecedented advances in medicine and contributed to the increases in life expectancy and overall quality of life of the human population. However, there are alarming signs that the protection afforded by antibiotics is on the decline. This is particularly true for a growing number of bacterial pathogens, which have become resistant to the majority of antimicrobial drugs. Some strains even have acquired resistances against all available antibiotics rendering infections by these "super-bugs" virtually untreatable. While antibiotic resistance is on the rise, the number of newly approved antibiotics has continuously declined and the industrial pipeline is by and large empty. Two facts contribute to this shortage: First, the majority of existing antibiotics target only very few cellular targets. Second, the existing antibiotics belong to a small number of distinct chemical classes. Consequently, resistance development is fast, cross-resistances are common, and evolved resistance genes can be mobilized by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) to additional bacterial species. Discovering both new antibiotic classes and new cellular targets is thus a prime goal for the future treatment of bacterial infections.
Based on the global disease burden and the associated societal and economic costs, the world health organization WHO has released a priority list of bacterial pathogens, where there is an urgent need of novel treatment options. These species require particular attention due to the lack of available vaccines and the increasing occurrence of multi-drug resistant strains and thus should be in the focus of current national and international efforts to device and further develop novel ways of protection and/or treatment.
One pathogen, which the WHO has identified as high priority, is Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the causative agent of the genital tract infection gonorrhoea. With an estimated 80 million affected people annually, gonorrhoea is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. Caused by the human-restricted pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae, infections cannot only trigger an acute inflammatory response in the genital tract, but can lead to disseminated disease and infertility in both sexes. Furthermore, gonococcal infections promote the spread of HIV.
N. meningitidis is a closely related pathogen, which is the causative agent of bacterial meningitis. Meningococcal meningitis is a severe, life-threatening disease, which belongs to the reportable infectious diseases. In Germany, the annual incidence ranges below 0.5 cases/100.000 people, while annual meningococcal epidemics are known from the sub-Saharan "meningitis belt" in Africa with approximately 30.000 cases annually. Fortunately, N. meningitidis infections can be prevented by vaccination.
In contrast, a vaccine against N. gonorrhoeae is not available and the gonococcus has already developed resistances against most antibiotics including ciprofloxacin. The only remaining treatment options for gonococcal infections are based on ceftriaxone, an extended-spectrum cephalosporin requiring intravenous application. However, also first resistances against this current last-resort antibiotic have been reported and the complete lack of additional treatment options poses an imminent threat. Thus, novel antibiotics against N. gonorrhoeae are urgently required. Preferably, such compounds should be also effective against multi-resistant N. gonorrhoeae and against the closely related pathogen Neisseria meningitidis, but should not affect non-pathogenic, commensal Neisseriae. Such a species-selective antibiotic compound could for example reduce the risk of fast resistance development in commensal non-target species and the transfer via HGT to the pathogenic Neisseriae species, the gonococcus and the meningococcus. Since N. gonorrhoeae is associated with a defined clinical picture and can be readily diagnosed, a species-specific antibiotic could be of enormous value in this indication and reduce the risk of resistance development in commensal non-target species.
Thus, the technical problem underlying the present invention is to provide a compound, which can be used in the prevention and treatment of infections with pathogenic Neisseria species and/or other pathogenic bacteria such as Haemophilus species or Moraxella catarrhalis, preferably in the treatment of infections with pathogenic and/or multi-resistant species, as well as a corresponding pharmaceutical composition.


A card guide is provided that is suitable for use in connection with a card cage system of an electronic equipment enclosure. The card guide includes one or more engagement elements configured to interact with corresponding structure of the chassis of the electronic equipment enclosure so that the card guide lacks any degree of freedom when the card guide is positioned within a fully assembled electronic equipment enclosure. At least one of the engagement elements is configured and arranged to enage the corresponding structure of the chassis in a permanent snap-fit type arrangement.

1. Technological Field
This invention is generally concerned with electronic equipment racks and related systems and devices. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to card guides and card guide systems for removably retaining electronic modules within an electronic equipment rack.
2. Related Technology
Electronic equipment enclosures are used in a number of different industries and applications and generally serve to receive one or more pieces of electronic equipment and devices in such a way that the individual electronic components can operably interact with each other and/or with the electronic equipment enclosure. In some instances, such electronic equipment enclosures are configured to permit the use of one or more "plug-in" functional modules that electrically and mechanically interface with the electronic equipment enclosure and/or with other functional modules.
More specifically, many electronic equipment enclosures include a chassis within which is disposed an internal structure configured to removably receive one or more functional modules in a desired arrangement. Such internal structures are often referred to as "card cages." The card cage is configured so that a user can define the functionality of the electronic equipment enclosure by selecting particular functional modules to be employed in the electronic equipment enclosure. In the event that it is desired to modify the functionality of a particular electronic equipment enclosure, such changes can be made simply by positioning additional functional modules in the card cage of the electronic equipment enclosure and/or by removing selected functional modules from the card cage of the electronic equipment enclosure.
Although card cages and their constituent elements enhance the flexibility and functionality of the associated electronic equipment enclosure, various problems nonetheless remain with conventional card cage systems, and especially card guides. Some exemplary problems relate to the fact that conventional card guides are typically retained in position within the chassis through the use of fasteners such as screws, pins, or bolts.
In particular, each card guide may require several fasteners in order to ensure that the card guide is securely positioned within the chassis. Moreover, because the card guide must be connected to different parts of the chassis structure, various types and sizes of fasteners may be required to install a single card guide. Thus, conventional card guides and related systems are often quite complicated and time-consuming to install. This aspect, at least, of conventional card cage systems tends to detract from the flexibility that the card cage otherwise lends to the electronic equipment rack, since the use of multiple and different fasteners makes it rather difficult to readily reconfigure the card cage should the need arise.
A related concern with conventional card guides relates to the fact that the use of multiple fasteners to attach a card guide to the chassis necessarily requires that the card guide and the chassis each define complementary screw holes or similar openings into which the fastener must be inserted. This arrangement is problematic at least because it is often difficult to ensure that the various screw holes of the card guide and chassis are properly aligned for assembly. This problem is aggravated by the fact, noted earlier herein, that each card guide typically requires multiple fasteners for installation. Thus, the configuration and arrangement of typical card guides tends to complicate and impair the installation of the card guide in the chassis.
Yet another problem with conventional card guides and related systems and devices is that, due to the structure and arrangement of the card guide and the associated chassis, it is not always possible to locate screw holes in the locations necessary to ensure proper and secure positioning of the card guide within the chassis, so that less than optimal locations must be selected. Thus, proper positioning of the card guide is compromised, resulting in an unstable and/or misaligned card guide that hampers ready insertion, alignment, and removal of cards. Further, inserted cards may not function properly if they are misaligned within the card cage.
In view of the foregoing discussion, what is needed are card cages and card guides that can be quickly and readily aligned, and securely installed, in an electronic equipment chassis without requiring the use of fasteners. Further, such card cages and card guides should be configured so that they reliably maintain their position within the chassis once installed.


A method and a device for coupling a PCB sheet are disclosed. If a defective PCB is found after the manufacture of continuously arranged circuit patterns, then the defective PCB sheet portion is removed to replace it with a new PCB sheet portion. That is, a defective circuit pattern sheet 2′ is removed from continuously arranged circuit patterns of a first PCB sheet 4a. After removal of the defective circuit pattern sheet 2′, the first PCB sheet 4a is position-located by means of a position locating means 12. Then the space which is formed by removing the defective circuit pattern sheet 2′ is filled with a second PCB sheet 4b on which a good quality circuit pattern 2b is printed. Then the first PCB sheet 4a and the second PCB sheet 4b are coupled together by using an adhesive means 14.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a device for coupling a printed circuit board (to be called PCB below) sheet, in which a plurality of PCBs are continuously arranged on a sheet when manufacturing the PCBs, and if a defective PCB is found after the manufacture, then the defective PCB sheet portion is removed to replace it with a new PCB sheet portion. Particularly, the present invention relates to a method and a device for coupling a PCB sheet, in which in a continuously printed PCBs on a sheet, a defective portion is removed, a first PCB sheet formed by the removal is located by a position locating means to be filled with a second PCB sheet of a good quality circuit pattern, and an adhesive material is spread on a space area between the first PCB sheet and a second PCB sheet, thereby making the arrangement of the PCBs continuous. Thus the defective PCB is removed, and a good quality PCB is replaced into the place in an easy manner, so that the defective PCB can be turned to a good quality portion.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, as shown in FIG. 1, in the conventional PCB sheet structure, a plurality of circuit patterns 51, 51′ and 51″ are arranged and continuously printed upon a PCB sheet 52.
In this conventional PCB sheet 52, the plurality of the circuit patterns 51, 51′ and 51″ are printed, and then, the quality of the total of the circuit patterns is checked by using a jig and a fixture. Then the acceptable PCB sheets 52 are used as the final product. However, if anyone of the plurality of the circuit patterns is defective, then the whole PCB sheet on which the plurality of the circuit patterns 51, 51′ and 51″ are printed has to be discarded.
That is, if any one of the plurality of the circuit patterns is found, to be defective upon inspecting them, even the good circuit patterns have to be discarded.
As a result, the material loss is high because of the discarding of the total sheet, and the workability and productivity are aggravated, as well as increasing the production cost.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Device for coupling PCB sheet having position deciding jig part


Provided are aqueous pigment ink sets for color inkjet recording which solve the degeneration of the color balance of printed matter. One aqueous pigment ink set includes yellow ink, cyanide ink, and magenta ink, wherein the sedimentary degree of yellow ink is 40% or less, the sedimentary degree of cyanide ink is 30% or less, and the sedimentary degree of magenta ink is 15% or less.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to aqueous pigment ink sets for color inkjet recording, color inkjet recording method, and color inkjet recorded matter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Demands for pigment ink in place of dye ink as the ink for color inkjet recording have been increasing in recent years. This is due to pigment ink being superior to dye ink in terms of various physical properties such as light resistance and water resistance.
Nevertheless, as pigment ink is water-insoluble, it is necessary to prepare ink in the form of an aqueous dispersed liquid with pigment particles dispersed in water. When this aqueous dispersed liquid; i.e. pigment ink, is stored in the ink storage chamber of a printer for a long period of time, sedimentation of pigment particles will occur in the ink liquid. Thus, a gradient will occur to the density of the pigment particles in the ink liquid, and differences will arise between the coloration of the image printed with the ink at the upper part of the ink storage chamber and the coloration of the image printed with the ink at the bottom of the ink storage chamber.
Upon studying the dispersibility of the aqueous pigment ink suitable as the ink for color inkjet recording, the present inventors have discovered that the sedimentary degree of the aqueous pigment ink differs for each ink color, and that certain colors of ink tend to sediment more than other colors. Further discovered was that the sedimentation of certain colors influenced the coloration of printed matter more than other colors. Therefore, if an ink set prepared by combining various aqueous pigment inks without consideration to the differences in the sedimentary degree or the influence to the coloration caused by such sedimentation is stored in the ink storage chamber of a printer for a long period of time, differences will arise in the sedimentary degree between the pigment ink of the various colors, and there were cases in which the color balance of the printed matter degenerated.
While conducting an intense study for a method of not degenerating the aforementioned color balance, the present inventors discovered that this problem can be resolved by combining selected inks upon providing a difference in altitude to the upper limit of the sedimentary degree of the respective inks in accordance with a certain fixed rule. The present invention was devised pursuant to such discovery.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to an aqueous pigment ink set for color inkjet recording, comprising: yellow ink; cyan ink; and magenta ink; wherein the sedimentary degree of yellow ink is 40% or less, the sedimentary degree of cyan ink is 30% or less, and the sedimentary degree of magenta ink is 15% or less.
The present invention further relates to an aqueous pigment ink set for color inkjet recording, comprising: yellow ink; cyan ink; magenta ink; and black ink; wherein the sedimentary degree of yellow ink is 40% or less, the sedimentary degree of cyan ink is 30% or less, the sedimentary degree of magenta ink is 15% or less, and the sedimentary degree of black ink is 15% or less.
The present invention further relates to an aqueous pigment ink set for color inkjet recording, comprising: yellow ink; cyan ink; magenta ink; and light cyan ink and/or light magenta ink; wherein the sedimentary degree of yellow ink is 40% or less, the sedimentary degree of cyan ink is 30% or less, the sedimentary degree of light cyan ink is 30% or less, the sedimentary degree of magenta ink is 15% or less, and the sedimentary degree of light magenta ink is 15% or less.
The present invention further relates to an aqueous pigment ink set for color inkjet recording, comprising: yellow ink; cyan ink; magenta ink; light cyan ink and/or light magenta ink; and black ink; wherein the sedimentary degree of yellow ink is 40% or less, the sedimentary degree of cyan ink is 30% or less, the sedimentary degree of light cyan ink is 30% or less, the sedimentary degree of magenta ink is 15% or less, the sedimentary degree of light magenta ink is 15% or less, and the sedimentary degree of black ink is 15% or less.
The present invention further relates to an aqueous pigment ink set for color inkjet recording, comprising: green ink and/or orange ink; yellow ink; cyan ink; and magenta ink; wherein the sedimentary degree of green ink is 60% or less, the sedimentary degree of yellow ink is 40% or less, the sedimentary degree of orange ink is 40% or less, the sedimentary degree of cyan ink is 30% or less, and the sedimentary degree of magenta ink is 15% or less.
The present invention further relates to an aqueous pigment ink set for color inkjet recording, comprising: green ink and/or orange ink; yellow ink; cyan ink; magenta ink; and black ink; wherein the sedimentary degree of green ink is 60% or less, the sedimentary degree of yellow ink is 40% or less, the sedimentary degree of orange ink is 40% or less, the sedimentary degree of cyan ink is 30% or less, the sedimentary degree of magenta ink is 15% or less, and the sedimentary degree of black ink is 15% or less.
The present invention further relates to a color inkjet recording method for recording images by using the ink sets mentioned above.
The present invention further relates to color inkjet recorded matter having recorded thereon images using the ink sets mentioned above.
The aqueous pigment ink sets for color inkjet recording (hereinafter simply referred to as the xe2x80x9cpigment ink setxe2x80x9d) of the present invention are explained in detail below.
A pigment ink set according to the present invention comprises: yellow ink; cyan ink; and magenta ink; wherein the sedimentary degree of yellow ink is 40% or less, the sedimentary degree of cyan ink is 30% or less, and the sedimentary degree of magenta ink is 15% or less. According to this structure, the pigment ink set of the present invention is capable of realizing printed matter superior in color balance as the influence to the coloration of printed matter caused by sedimentation is set appropriately.
As ink to be included in the pigment ink set of the present invention, other than the requisite structural elements of yellow ink, cyan ink, and magenta ink, for example, used may be black ink, light cyan ink, light magenta ink, green ink, orange ink, and so on. Further, as ink to be included in the pigment ink set of the present invention, other than those mentioned above, used may be red ink, blue ink, and so forth as necessary.
The expression xe2x80x9csedimentary degreexe2x80x9d used herein shall mean the degree of pigment particles that sediment when ink is placed still. Specifically, as explained in the Examples described later, the sedimentary degree may be measured with the following method.
One hundred and ten milliliters of ink is put into a sample bottle having an inside diameter of 30 mm, and the bottle is placed still standing with care so as not to inflict vibration thereto. Immediately after placing the bottle, 10 ml of the uppermost layer of the ink is sampled, and the initial absorbancy is measured. Then, after having left the bottle still standing for 6 months, 10 ml of the uppermost layer of the ink is sampled, and the absorbancy after placement is measured. The sedimentary degree can be calculated from the following formula (1):
P=100xc3x97(Axe2x88x92B)/Axe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
Here, P is the sedimentary degree (%), A is the initial absorbency, and B is the absorbency after placement.
In the present invention, the sedimentary degree of the respective inks may be adjusted by appropriately selecting the type and amount of dispersant to be used in accordance with the type and particle size of the pigment to be used.
Further, the sedimentary degree of the respective inks may also be adjusted by appropriately controlling the particle size of the pigment to be used, type of dispersion apparatus to be used, method of classification treatment, dispersion time (agitation time of the mixture containing the pigment and dispersant), etc.
Without particular restrictions other than the point of the aforementioned sedimentary degree, arbitrary pigments (i.e., inorganic pigments and/or organic pigments) and arbitrary dispersants may be used as the pigment and dispersant in the present invention.
Even upon using an ink set preserved within the ink storage chamber for a long period of time until printing, the color image obtained with the method of recording images using the pigment ink set of the present invention is capable of making the degeneration of color balance of the overall color image visually inconspicuous as differences in the shading between the respective inks will not arise easily.
Moreover, the color inkjet recorded matter having recorded thereon images using the pigment ink sets of the present invention is prominent in that the color balance of the overall color image is well balanced.
The pigment ink set of the present invention is now explained in detail pursuant to the preferred embodiments thereof.
The pigment ink set according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes at least yellow ink, cyan ink, and magenta ink. In this ink set, the sedimentary degree (Y) of yellow ink is 40% or less, preferably 30% or less; the sedimentary degree (C) of cyan ink is 30% or less, preferably 20% or less; and the sedimentary degree (M) of magenta ink is 15% or less, preferably 10% or less. In this ink set, it is preferable that the sedimentary degree (M) of magenta ink, the sedimentary degree (C) of cyan ink, and the sedimentary degree (Y) of yellow ink satisfy the following relationship:
M less than C less than Y
Further, in the ink set of the first embodiment, it is preferable that yellow ink, cyan ink, and magenta ink have sedimentary degrees in the order conforming to the differences in altitude of their respective lightness.
Therefore, if the lightness of these inks become yellow ink greater than cyan ink greater than magenta ink in this order from high to low, the sedimentary degree of the respective inks are set to be the same as the order of such lightness. In other words, here, by setting the sedimentary degree of the respective inks to be yellow ink greater than cyan ink greater than magenta ink in this order from high to low, the effects of the present invention are improved.
The term xe2x80x9clightnessxe2x80x9d used herein shall indicate the L* in the L*a*b* color system set forth by CIE (Commission Internationale de l""Eclairage) in 1976, and shall mean the brightness of printed matter (images) upon printing on recording media with the same printing duty.
The pigment ink set according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes at least yellow ink, cyan ink, magenta ink, and black ink. In this ink set, the sedimentary degree (Y) of yellow ink is 40% or less, preferably 30% or less; the sedimentary degree (C) of cyan ink is 30% or less, preferably 20% or less; the sedimentary degree (M) of magenta ink is 15% or less, preferably 10% or less; and the sedimentary degree (K) of black ink is 15% or less, preferably 5% or less. In this ink set, it is preferable that the sedimentary degree (M) of magenta ink, the sedimentary degree (C) of cyan ink, the sedimentary degree (Y) of yellow ink, and the sedimentary degree (K) of black ink satisfy the following relationship:
Kxe2x89xa6M less than C less than Y
Further, similar to the reason of the ink set described in the first embodiment, in the ink set of the second embodiment, it is preferable that yellow ink, cyan ink, magenta ink, and black ink have sedimentary degrees in the order conforming to the differences in altitude of their respective lightness.
The pigment ink set according to the third embodiment of the present invention includes at least magenta ink, cyan ink, yellow ink, and light magenta ink and/or light cyan ink. In this ink set, the sedimentary degree (Y) of yellow ink is 40% or less, preferably 30% or less; the sedimentary degree (C) of cyan ink is 30% or less, preferably 20% or less; the sedimentary degree (Lc) of light cyan ink is 30% or less, preferably 20% or less; the sedimentary degree (M) of magenta ink is 15% or less, preferably 10% or less; and the sedimentary degree (Lm) of light magenta ink is 15% or less, preferably 10% or less.
In this ink set, it is preferable that the sedimentary degree (M) of magenta ink, the sedimentary degree (Lm) of light magenta ink, the sedimentary degree (C) of cyan ink, the sedimentary degree (Lc) of light cyan ink, and the sedimentary degree (Y) of yellow ink satisfy the following relationship:
Lmxe2x89xa6M less than Lcxe2x89xa6C less than Y
Moreover, the aforementioned xe2x80x9clight magentaxe2x80x9d means a light shade of magenta, and the aforementioned xe2x80x9clight cyanxe2x80x9d means a light shade of cyan. The light magenta ink used in this invention, in comparison to ordinary methods, for example, can be prepared easily by reducing the amount of pigment content to be used in the preparation of magenta ink. The light cyan ink used in this invention also, in comparison to ordinary methods, for example, can be prepared easily by reducing the amount of pigment content to be used in the preparation of cyan ink.
The pigment ink set according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention includes at least magenta ink, cyan ink, yellow ink, light magenta ink and/or light cyan ink, and black ink. In this ink set, the sedimentary degree (Y) of yellow ink is 40% or less, preferably 30% or less; the sedimentary degree (C) of cyan ink is 30% or less, preferably 20% or less; the sedimentary degree (Lc) of light cyan ink is 30% or less, preferably 20% or less; the sedimentary degree (M) of magenta ink is 15% or less, preferably 10% or less; the sedimentary degree (Lm) of light magenta ink is 15% or less, preferably 10% or less; and the sedimentary degree (K) of black ink is 15% or less, preferably 5% or less.
In this ink set, it is preferable that the sedimentary degree (K) of black ink, the sedimentary degree (M) of magenta ink, the sedimentary degree (Lm) of light magenta ink, the sedimentary degree (C) of cyan ink, the sedimentary degree (Lc) of light cyan ink, and the sedimentary degree (Y) of yellow ink satisfy the following relationship:
Kxe2x89xa6Lmxe2x89xa6M less than Lcxe2x89xa6C less than Y
The pigment ink set according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention includes at least magenta ink, cyan ink, yellow ink, green ink, and orange ink. In this ink set, the sedimentary degree (G) of green ink is 60% or less, preferably 50% or less; the sedimentary degree (Y) of yellow ink is 40% or less, preferably 30% or less; the sedimentary degree (O) of orange ink is 40% or less, preferably 30% or less; the sedimentary degree (C) of cyan ink is 30% or less, preferably 20% or less; and the sedimentary degree (M) of magenta ink is 15% or less, preferably 10% or less. In this ink set, it is preferable that the sedimentary degree (M) of magenta ink, the sedimentary degree (C) of cyan ink, the sedimentary degree (O) of orange ink, the sedimentary degree (Y) of yellow ink, and the sedimentary degree (G) of green ink satisfy the following relationship:
M less than C less than Oxe2x89xa6Y less than G.
The pigment ink set according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention includes at least magenta ink, cyan ink, yellow ink, green ink, orange ink, and black ink. In this ink set, the sedimentary degree (G) of green ink is 60% or less, preferably 50% or less; the sedimentary degree (Y) of yellow ink is 40% or less, preferably 30% or less; the sedimentary degree (O) of orange ink is 40% or less, preferably 30% or less; the sedimentary degree (C) of cyanide ink is 30% or less, preferably 20% or less; the sedimentary degree (M) of magenta ink is 15% or less, preferably 10% or less; and the sedimentary degree (K) of black ink is 15% or less, preferably 5% or less.
In this ink set, it is preferable that the sedimentary degree (M) of magenta ink, the sedimentary degree (C) of cyan ink, the sedimentary degree (O) of orange ink, the sedimentary degree (Y) of yellow ink, the sedimentary degree (G) of green ink, and the sedimentary degree (K) of black ink satisfy the following relationship:
Kxe2x89xa6M less than C less than Oxe2x89xa6Y less than G.
In the aforementioned first to sixth embodiments, the sedimentary degree of the respective inks may be adjusted by appropriately selecting, from preferable examples and ranges described later, the type and amount of dispersant to be used in accordance with the type and particle size of the pigment to be used.
As pigments of the respective inks conforming to the pigment ink sets of the aforementioned first to sixth embodiments, in addition to titanium oxide and iron oxide as inorganic pigments, used may be carbon black manufactured with well-known methods such as the contact method, furnace method, or thermal method. Further, as organic pigments, used may be azo pigments (including azolake, insoluble azo pigments, condensed azo pigments, chelate azo pigments, etc.), polycyclic pigments (e.g., phthalocyanine pigments, perylene, pigments, berynone pigments, anthraquinone pigments, quinacridone pigments, dioxygen pigments, thioindigo pigments, isoindolinone pigments, and quinophthalone pigments), dye chelates (e.g., basic dye chelates and acidic dye chelates), nitro pigments, nitroso pigments, aniline black pigments, and so on.
As pigments of the respective inks especially conforming to the pigment ink sets of the aforementioned first to sixth embodiments, used are the following pigments.
C.I. pigment yellow 74, 109, or 110 is used as the yellow pigment; C.I. pigment red 122 is used as the magenta pigment; C.I. pigment blue 15:3 is used as the cyan pigment; C.I. pigment black 7 is used as the black pigment; C.I. pigment orange 36 or 43 is used as the orange pigment; and C.I. pigment green 7 or 36 is used as the green pigment.
With respect to the particle size of the pigment, the cumulative average diameter is preferably 0.01 xcexcmxcx9c0.25 xcexcm, and more preferably 0.05 xcexcmxcx9c0.2 xcexcm. The expression xe2x80x9ccumulative average diameterxe2x80x9d is, upon seeking the cumulative curve of the particle size when the overall volume of the aggregate of subject particles is 100%, the diameter when such cumulative curve is 50%. This cumulative average diameter is sometimes referred to as the central diameter or media diameter, and is generally used as the average diameter of dispersed particles such as pigment dispersed liquids and so on.
In the first to sixth embodiments, it is preferable to prepare ink from pigment dispersed liquids obtained from dispersing the pigments with dispersants. As a preferable dispersant, used may be well-known dispersants; for example, macromolecular dispersants or surface active agents, utilized for preparing conventional pigment dispersed liquids.
As macromolecular dispersants, used may be natural macromolecular compounds; for example, proteins such as glue, gelatin, casein and albumin; natural rubbers such as gum arabic and tragacanth gum; glucoside such as saponin; alginic acid derivatives such as alginic acid, alginic acid propyleneglycol ester, triethanolamine alginate, and ammonium alginate; and cellulose derivatives such as methylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, hydroxyethylcellulose, and ethylhydroxyethylcellulose.
Moreover, synthetic macromolecular compounds may be used as macrcmolecular dispersants. As such synthetic macromolecular compounds, for example, used may be polyvinylalcohol; polyvinylpyrolidone; acrylic resin and its derivatives such as polyacrylic acid, acrylic acid-acrylonitrile copolymer, potassium acrylate-acrylonitrile copolymer, vinyl acetate-acrylate ester copolymer, and acrylic acid-alkyl acrylate ester copolymer; styrene-acrylic acid resins such as styrene-acrylic acid copolymer, styrene-methacrylic acid copolymer, styrene-methacrylic acid-acrylic alkyl ester copolymer, and stryene-xcex1-methylstyrene-acrylic acid-acrylic alkyl ester copolymer; styrene-maleic acid; styrene-maleic anhydride; vinylnaphthalene-acrylic acid copolymer; vinylnaphthalene-maleic acid copolymer; and vinyl acetate copolymers such as vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer, vinyl acetate-fatty acid vinyl ester-ethylene copolymer, vinyl acetate-maleic acid ester copolymer, vinyl acetate-crotonic acid copolymer, and vinyl acetate-acrylic acid copolymer; and the salts thereof.
Among the above, particularly preferable are copolymers formed from monomers having a hydrophobic group and monomers having a hydrophilic group, and polymers formed from monomers having both a hydrophobic group and hydrophilic group. As the aforementioned salts, used may be salts composed of the likes of diethylamine, ammonia, ethylamine, triethylamine, propylamine, isopropylamine, dipropylamine, butylamine, isobutylamine, triethanolamine, diethanolamine, aminomethylpropanol, and morpholine. The weight-average molecular weight of these copolymers is preferably 3,000xcx9c30,000, and more preferably 5,000xcx9c15,000.
Furthermore, surface active agents preferable as dispersants are, for example, anionic surface active agents such as fatty acid salt, higher alkylcarbooxylic acid salt, higher alcohol sulfuric acid ester salt, higher alkylsulfonic acid, condensation product of higher fatty acid and amino acid, sulfosuccinic acid ester salt, naphthenic acid salt, liquid fatty oil sulfuric acid ester salt, and alkylallylsulfonic acid salt; cationic surface active agents such as fatty acid amine salt, quarternary ammonium salt, sulfonium salt, and phosphonium; and nonionic surface active agents such as polyoxyethylene alkyl ether, polyoxyethylene alkyl ester, solbitan alkyle ester, and polyoxyethylenesolbitan alkyl ester.
The additive amount of these dispersants is, to 1 part by weight of pigment, preferably in the range of 0.06xcx9c3 parts by weight, and more preferably in the range of 0.125xcx9c3 parts by weight.
In addition, it is preferable that the respective inks utilized in the pigment ink sets of the first to sixth embodiments include a wetting agent. As preferable examples of such wetting agents, there are diethyleneglycol, polyethyleneglycol, polypropyleneglycol, ethyleneglycol, propyleneglycol, butyleneglycol, triethyleneglycol, 1,2,6-hexanetriol, thioglycol, hexyleneglycol, glycerine, trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane, urea, 2-pyrolidone, N-methyl-2-pyrolidone, and 1,3-dimethy-2-imidazolidinone. More preferably, used are those having an ethylene oxide group, and most preferably, used is diethylene glycol.
In addition to these wetting agents, it is preferable to further add a low boiling point organic solvent to the respective inks. As preferable examples of such low boiling point organic solvents, there are methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, iso-propanol, n-butanol, sec-butanol, tert-butanol, iso-butanol, n-pentanol, ethyleneglycol monomethyl ether, ethyleneglycol monoethyl ether, diethyleneglycol monomethyl ester, diethyleneglycol monoethyl ether, triethyleneglycol monomethyl ether, triethyleneglycol monoethyl ether, and particularly preferable is monohyydric alcohol.
The appropriate additive amount of these wetting agents is 0.5xcx9c40% by weight of ink, and preferably 2xcx9c20% by weight of ink. Moreover, the appropriate additive amount of low boiling point organic solvents is 0.5xcx9c10% by weight of ink, and preferably 1.5xcx9c6% by weight of ink.
The respective inks utilized for the pigment ink sets of the first to sixth embodiments may include a surface-active agent. As preferable examples of surface active agents, there are anionic surface-active agents (e.g., sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, sodium laurate, ammonium polyoxyethylenealkylethersulfate), nonionic surface active agents (e.g., polyoxyethylene alkyl ether, polyoxyethylene alkyl ester, polyoxyethylene solbitan fatty acid ester, polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ether, polyoxyethylene alkylamine, polyoxyethylene alkylamide), and these may be used independently or in a mixture of two or more types of agents. It is further possible to use acetyleneglycol (Olefin Y, Sulfinol 82, 104, 440, 465, 485, and TG [all manufactured by Air Products and Chemicals Inc.]).
The respective inks utilized in the pigment ink sets of the first to sixth embodiments may also include saccharides. As examples of such saccharides, there are monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides (including trisaccharides and tetrasaccharides) and polysaccharides. Preferably used are glucose, mannose, fructose, ribose, xylose, arabinose, galactose, aldonic acid, glycyseal, sorbitol, maltose, cellobiose, lactose, sucrose, trehalose, and maltotriose. Included in the aforementioned polysaccharides are alginic acid, xcex1-cyclodextrin, and cellulose.
As derivatives of these saccharides, there are reducing sugars of such saccharides; for example, sugar alcohol, sugar oxide (e.g., aldonic acid, uronic acid), amino acid, and thio sugar. Particularly preferable is sugar alcohol, and maltitol, sorbitol, etc. are specific examples thereof.
The content of these saccharides is preferably 0.1xcx9c40% by weight of ink, and more preferably 0.5xcx9c30% by weight of ink.
The respective inks utilized for the pigment ink sets of the first to sixth embodiments may also include a resin emulsion. The term xe2x80x9cresin emulsionxe2x80x9d means an emulsion wherein the continuous phase is water, and the dispersion phase may be the likes of the following resin compositions. As resin compositions of the dispersion phase, there are acrylic resins, vinyl acetate resins, styrene-butadiene resins, vinyl chloride resins, acrylic-styrene resins, butadiene resins, and styrene resins.
According to the mode particularly conforming to the first to sixth embodiments, it is preferable that the above-mentioned resin is a polymer having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic portions. Further, although there is no particular restriction on the particle size of these resin compositions upon forming an emulsion, the particle size is preferably 150 nm or less, and more preferably 5xcx9c100 nm.
These resin emulsions may be obtained by emulsifying and polymerizing monomers in water as necessary with a surface-active agent. For example, emulsions of acrylic resins or styrene-acrylic resins may be obtained by emulsifying and polymerizing (meta) acrylic acid ester or styrene, (meta) acrylic acid ester, and (meta) acrylic acid in water with a surface-active agent. It is preferable that the proportion of mixing the resin composition and the surface-active agent ordinarily be 1000:1xcx9c10:1. Favorable water resistance and permeability of ink can be obtained when the amount of surface-active agent used is less within the aforementioned range. Although there is no particular restriction on the surface-active agent, preferable examples are anion surface-active agents (e.g., sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, sodium laurate, ammonium polyoxyethylenealkylethersulfate), nonionic surface-active agents (e.g., polyoxyethylene alkyl ether, polyoxyethylene alkyl ester, polyoxyethylene solbitan fatty acid ester, polyoxyethylenealkylphenylether, polyoxyethylene alkyl amine, polyoxyethylene alkyl amide), and these may be used independently or in a mixture of two or more types of agents. It is further possible to use acetyleneglycol (Olefin Y, and Sulfinol 82, 104, 440, 465, and 485 [all manufactured by Air Products and Chemicals Inc.]).
An appropriate proportion of resin as the dispersion phase component and water shall be in the range of water 60xcx9c400 parts by weight, preferably 100xcx9c200 parts by weight, based on resin 100 parts by weight.
As the resin emulsions described above, used may be those conventionally known. For example, the respective resin emulsions described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-1426, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 3-56573, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 3-79678, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 3-160068, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 4-18462 may be used as is.
Moreover, resin emulsions on the market may also be used. For example, used may be Microgel E-1002, E-5002 (styrene-acrylic resins emulsion; manufactured by Nippon Paint Co., Ltd.), Voncoat 4001 (acrylic resins emulsion; manufactured by Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, Incorporated), Voncoat 5454 (styrene-acrylic resins emulsion; manufactured by Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, Incorporated), SAE 1014 (styrene-acrylic resins emulstion; manufactured by Nihon Zeon K.K.), and Cybinol SK-200 (acrylic resins emulsion; manufactured by Saiden Chemical K.K.).
The respective inks utilized for the pigment ink sets of the first to sixth embodiments may also include, as necessary, pH regulation agents, antiseptics and/or mildew-proof agents.
The respective inks utilized for the pigment ink sets of the first to sixth embodiments may be prepared by dispersing and mixing the aforementioned compositions with an appropriate method. Preferably, a mixture having excluded therefrom organic solvents and volatile compositions is mixed with an appropriate disperser (e.g., ball mill, sand mill, atrighter, roll mill agitator mill, Henshell mixer, colloid mill, supersonic homogenizer, jet mill, ong mill) and made into a homogeneous composition, and organic solvents and volatile compositions are added thereto. Thereafter, it is preferable that the composition obtained above is subjected to filtering (preferably a decompressed or compressed filteration using a metal filter, membrane filter, etc.) or centrifugation for removing the large particles and foreign matter which are causes of clogging.

Aqueous pigment ink sets for color inkjet recording, color inkjet recording method, and color inkjet recorded matter


The invention concerns a means for the at least partial production of reproduction of biological parts, especially or organs for living beings in which a carrier with an active ingredient complex is coated or in which the carrier contains an active ingredient complex, and the active ingredient complex has the following components, which are difference from one another and are specifically suited to each biological part to be produced, in the form of at least one structural component on the basis of extracellular material specifically suited to the cells of each of the biological parts to be produced, at least one recruiting component, at least one adhesion component, and at least one growth and/or maturation component. The method according to the invention can be used for the production, reproduction, or stabilization of vertebral structures; to treat osteoporosis, psuedoarthrosis, and bone defects; to fill large bone defects; and to heal endoprostheses.

The invention is concerned with means for the at least partial production or reproduction of biological parts, especially of organs for living-beings, which contains, among other things, an active ingredient complex with the following components, which are different from one another and are specifically suited to each biological part to be produced, in the form of at least one structural component on the basis of extracellular material specifically suited to the cells of each biological part to be produced, at least one recruiting component, at least one adhesion component, and at least one growth and/or maturation component.
In the prior art, an active ingredient complex for the production of biological parts, especially of organs for living-beings, with the mentioned components is already known. In this known active ingredient complex, the structural component can consist, for example, of various types of collagen, elastin, or proteoglycans. As recruiting component for this active ingredient complex, especially chemotactic substances should be mentioned, for example, peptides such as N-F-Met-Leu-Phe- and/or metabolites of arachidonic acid such as leukotrienes.
Proteins of the type of fibronectin or laminin, but also cell-adhesion molecules such as L-CAM, N-CAM, and matrix-adhesion molecules such as cytotactin, tenascin, collagen types IV, V, and VII, synthetic peptides, and trans-membrane compound proteins such as integrin can be used as adhesion components. The examples for adhesion components that were mentioned first—fibronectin and laminin—are to be classified in the area of matrix-adhesion molecules for the purposes of the active ingredient complex explained here. As additional components, the active ingredient complex mentioned shows (or comprises) at least one growth and/or maturation component, preferably in the form of one or several cytokines. Examples of such cytokines are the colony-stimulating factors for the production of blood, the fibroblast growth factor for the production of connective tissue, the epidermal growth factor for the production of skin, the cartilage inducing factor for the production of cartilage, the lymphocyte-activating factor as well as spleen peptides for the production of the spleen or the lymph nodes, the T-cell growth factor as well as thymus peptides for the production of thymus, the bone growth factor as well as the transforming growth factor for the production of bones, and the angiogenesis factor for the production of blood vessels. Moreover, the following cytokines are used: interleukins, insulinlike growth factors, tumor-necrosis factor, prostaglandins, leukotrienes, transforming growth factors, growth factor derived from platelets, interferons as well as growth factor derived from endothelial cells.
The details of this active ingredient complex can be taken from German patent DE 39 36 568.9, whose disclosure is expressly included herewith.
In order to be able to be used for the production or reproduction of biological parts, the active ingredient complex must be available in highly purified form. The production of this active ingredient complex is thus both time-consuming and expensive. For example, when using this active ingredient complex to fill up bone defects with bones, one needs an amount of the active ingredient complex that fills up the entire bone defect. The fact that the active ingredient complex is highly effective, but nonetheless very expensive, is therefore a disadvantage.
If larger bone defects are to be filled, the inserted implant that consists of the active ingredient complex must also have a sufficient mechanical stability of its own so that it is not compressed by the surrounding soft tissue. The active ingredient complex after its production has a cotton-like consistency. For this reason, the application mentioned either must be compressed—which leads to a higher mechanical stability, but also to excessive consumption of material—or a sufficiently stable carrier must be employed together with the active ingredient complex. The combination of a carrier with the active ingredient complex is, however, hardly free of problems. According to the existing knowledge on the active ingredient complex and its complex mode of action, one should be concerned at least about a hindrance of the formation or reproduction of each of the biological parts to be treated, e.g., the regeneration of bone. The risk of a reaction toxic to the tissue was also suspected.
Moreover, applications of the active ingredient complex in disorders or defects have not been possible if the implants consisting of the active ingredient complex are subject to such high mechanical stresses that even the mechanical stability of a compressed material does not suffice.

Agent for the manufacture of biological parts including an active ingredient complex and carrying materials suitable for the active ingredient complex


A measurement device having a pair of legs. Each leg has a measurement point and a fulcrum end, the fulcrum ends providing a pivot point for the legs so that the measurement points arcuately move apart from one another. The measurement device has a transducer assembly connected to at least one of the legs which measures leg displacement and generates a distance signal. The measurement device has a programmable processing unit adapted to process the distance signal and display a distance measurement on an electronic display.

The present invention relates to measurement devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a hand held measuring instrument, such as a compass, used to measure scaled or unscaled distances on a surface.
A wide variety of measurement device are known in the art. Examples of simple measurement devices include rulers and tape measures. More complex devices include rulers with sliding or rotating position indicators. Also known are compasses and calipers having mechanical or electronic displays. Examples of a variety of measurement devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,557,428, 3,113,381, 4,270,273, 4,388,759, 4,612,656, 4,839,833, 4,915,112, 4,941,267, and 5,327,907, each of which are wholly incorporated herein by reference. Other devices include rolling measurement devices used to trace an arc or a convoluted boundary.
However, these measurement devices fail to provide a simple, yet highly accurate measurement device for use in applications where measurements are based on a printed scale and where a high degree of precision is required. These applications include taking measurements on a variety of medical scans, such as X-ray films, radiographs, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), ultrasound nuclear medicine and the like. Similar measurement devices are required in other medical applications, such as medical physics and cardiology where the measurement of heart rates and timing of events in the cardiac cycle are necessary. Non-medical applications often require accurate measurements on scaled medium. These include, for example, architectural or engineering drawings, aeronautical and nautical navigation charts, and clothing pattern designs.
More specifically, the prior art measurement devices suffer from one or more of the following disadvantages. Most of the prior art devices have a design that is unfamiliar to the average user and, therefore, require a learning process to be used properly. Many require two hands to use. Most only work well when placed on a planar surface, rather than in situations where a linear measurement in three dimensional space is needed. Other designs, such as rolling measurement devices, do not trace straight lines well and can only approximate linear distances. Other designs have structural features that block the user""s view of the item measured, the boundary of the item or the area surrounding the measured item.
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a measurement device having a pair of legs. Each leg has a measurement point and a fulcrum end, the fulcrum ends providing a pivot point for the legs so that the measurement points arcuately move apart from one another. The measurement device has a transducer assembly connected to at least one of the legs which measures leg displacement and generates a distance signal. The measurement device has a programmable processing unit adapted to process the distance signal and display a distance measurement on an electronic display.

9898 E. Alabama Pl., Building 8, Apt. 301


An example particle accelerator includes a coil to provide a magnetic field to a cavity; a cryostat comprising a chamber for holding the coil, where the coil is arranged in the chamber to define an interior region of the coil and an exterior region of the coil; magnetic structures adjacent to the cryostat, where the magnetic structures have one or more slots at least part-way therethrough; and one or more magnetic shims in one or more corresponding slots. The one or more magnetic shims are movable to adjust a position of the coil by changing a magnetic field produced by the magnetic structures.

Particle therapy systems use an accelerator to generate a particle beam for treating afflictions, such as tumors. The accelerator typically includes an electromagnet having a superconducting coil. The superconducting coil is maintained on a cryostat that is positioned between two magnetic structures called yokes. Precise positioning of the coil can be important. If the coil is improperly positioned, magnetic forces generated by the yokes can physically damage the coil and/or prevent the extraction of the particle beam. Physical movement of the particle accelerator can, however, affect the position of the coil.


The invention comprises a non-rotating shaft for supporting a mechanical element of a roll segment in a continuous casting machine, having an essentially circular cross-section. The circular cross-section presents a portion having a smooth peripheral, wherein the distance between any point of the portion and a center of the circular cross-section is shorter than a radius of the circular cross-section. Furthermore, the circular cross-section presenting the portion extends axially, which defines a section of the shaft meant to a least partly receive the mechanical element, and the section of the shaft is meant to receive a load at least partly at the portion. In addition, according to a second aspect, the invention comprises a segment roll for a continuous casting machine, which comprises the non-rotating shaft according to the first aspect.

It is well known that bearings have shorter bearing life when used in harsh environments. This applies to bearings used in continuous casting machines. The continuous casting process is characterized by high loads on the rollers of the segment rolls, on which the slab, billet, bloom or beam blank runs. Furthermore, the process is characterized by high temperatures, high humidity, high contamination etc. A number of segment roll designs have been proposed. One such segment roll is introduced in EP1537927, which describes the configuration of a segment roll with a non-rotating shaft supporting a number of roll segments. EP1537927 provides a solution that facilitates transporting of the segment roll. Furthermore, it ascertains the sealing effect of each roll segment, and also that the bearings supporting the roll segments are not subjected to scratches or other damages during assembly.
Still, there is a need to ascertain a good osculation between the inner ring of the bearing and the shaft, and to facilitate service and replacement of the roll segments in the segment roll.

Non-rotating shaft for a continuous casting machine