A liquid discharging head includes a discharge port for discharging liquid, a liquid passage communicated with the discharge port, a bubble generating area for generating a bubble in the liquid in the liquid passage, the bubble generating area including a heater for heating the liquid in the liquid passage, and a movable member disposed in a confronting relation to the bubble generating area in the liquid passage and adapted to be shifted by pressure caused by generating the bubble at the bubble generating area to direct the pressure toward the discharge port and to be returned to its initial position by negative pressure due to contraction of the bubble, and wherein resistance of the movable member against the liquid in the liquid passage when it is shifted is smaller than that when it is returned.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid discharging head for discharging desired liquid by generating a bubble formed by applying thermal energy to the liquid, and more particularly, it relates to a liquid discharging head having a movable member displaced by generating a bubble, a head cartridge having such a liquid discharging head, and a liquid discharging apparatus.
The present invention is applicable to recording apparatuses such as printers for effecting the recording on a recording medium such as a paper sheet, a thread sheet, a fiber sheet, a cloth, a leather sheet, a metal sheet, a plastic sheet, glass, wood, ceramic sheet and the like, copying machines, facsimiles having a communication system, and word processors having a printer portion, and to industrial recording apparatuses combined with various processing devices.
Incidentally, in this specification and claims, a term xe2x80x9crecordingxe2x80x9d means not only application of a significant image such as a character or a figure onto a recording medium but also application of a meaningless image such as a pattern onto a recording medium.
2. Related Background Art
It is already known to provide an ink jet recording method, i.e., so-called bubble jet recording method in which change in state of ink including abrupt change in volume (generation of a bubble) is caused by applying energy such as heat to the ink and the ink is discharged from a discharge port by an acting force based on the change in state to adhere the ink onto a recording medium, thereby forming an image on the recording medium. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,129, a recording apparatus using such a bubble jet recording method generally includes discharge ports for discharging ink, ink passages communicated with the discharge ports, and electrothermal converters as energy generating means disposed in the liquid passages and adapted to generate energy for discharging the ink.
According to such a recording method, a high quality image can be recorded at a high speed with less noise, and, in a head carrying out this method, since the discharge ports for discharging the ink can be arranged with high density, a recorded image having high resolving power and a color image can easily be obtained by a compact recording apparatus. Thus, recently, the bubble jet recording method has been applied to many office equipments such as printers, copying machines, facsimiles and the like, and is also applied to industrial systems such as print apparatuses.
As the application of the bubble jet technique to various field is increased, the following various requirements have recently been desired.
For example, regarding the requirement of improvement in energy efficiency, a heat generating element has been optimized by adjusting a thickness of a protection film. This method is effective in the point that transfer efficiency of generated heat to liquid is enhanced.
Further, in order to obtain a high quality image, there has been proposed a driving condition for providing a liquid discharging method capable of discharging the ink effectively at high speed due to stable bubble formation, and, in view of high speed recording, there has also been proposed the improvement in a liquid passage design to obtain a liquid discharging head in which liquid corresponding to discharged liquid can be refilled to the liquid passages quickly.
Among various liquid passage designs, a liquid passage structure as shown in FIGS. 44A and 44B is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-199972. The liquid passage structure and a head manufacturing method disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-199972 are inventions based on a back-wave (pressure directing toward a direction opposite to a direction to the discharge port, i.e., pressure directing toward a liquid chamber 12) generated due to bubble generation. The back-wave is known as loss energy, since it is not directed toward the discharge port.
The invention shown in FIGS. 44A and 44B includes valves 10 spaced apart from bubble generating areas of heat generating elements 2 and disposed opposite to discharge ports 11 with respect to the heat generating elements 2.
In FIG. 44B, the valve 10 has an initial position where a leaf of the valve is contacted with a ceiling of a liquid passage 3, and, when the bubble is generated, the leaf of the valve is suspended into the liquid passage 3. In this technique, the energy loss is suppressed by controlling a part of the back-wave by means of the valves 10.
However, with the above-mentioned arrangement, as can be understood from the observation of the case where the bubble is generated in the liquid passage 3 containing the liquid to be discharged, suppression of the part of the back-wave is not practical to the discharging of the liquid.
As mentioned above, the back-wave itself does not relate to the liquid discharging directly. At the time when the back-wave is generated in the liquid passage 3, as shown in FIG. 44A, a part of pressure of the bubble which directly relates to the liquid discharging already establishes a condition that the liquid can be discharged from the liquid passage 3. Accordingly, it is apparent that, even when the part of the back-wave is suppressed, the suppression does not influence upon the liquid discharging greatly.
On the other hand, in the bubble jet recording method, since the heating of the heat generating element contacted with ink is repeated, ink deposit is accumulated on a surface of the heat generating element due to overheat of ink. Depending upon the kind of ink, a large amount of deposit is accumulated on the heat generating element, with the result that the generation of the bubble becomes unstable, thereby causing the poor ink discharging. Further, when the liquid to be discharged is easily deteriorated by heat or when liquid in which an adequate bubble is hard to be formed is used, it has been desired that the liquid to be discharged is not deteriorated and good liquid discharging is achieved.
In view of the above problems, there has been proposed a liquid discharging method wherein liquid (bubble liquid) in which a bubble is formed by heat is different from liquid (discharge liquid) which is to be discharged and the liquid is discharged by transmitting pressure generated by bubble formation to the discharge liquid, as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 61-69467 and 55-81172, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,259. In such a method, the discharge liquid (ink) is completely isolated from the bubble liquid by a flexible diaphragm made of silicone rubber and the like to prevent the discharge liquid from directly contacting with the heat generating elements and the pressure generated by the bubble formed in the bubble liquid is transmitted to the discharge liquid by deformation of the flexible diaphragm. With this arrangement, the deposit can be prevented from being accumulated on the heat generating elements and degree of freedom of selection of the discharge liquid can be increased.
However, in the arrangement in which the discharge liquid is completely isolated from the bubble liquid, since the pressure due to the formation of the bubble is transmitted to the discharge liquid by expansion/contraction deformation of the flexible diaphragm, the pressure of the bubble is greatly absorbed by flexible diaphragm. Further, since a deformation amount of the flexible diaphragm is not so great, although the advantage of separation between the discharge liquid and the bubble liquid can be obtained, energy efficiency and/or discharging ability may be worsened.
The present invention premises that fundamental discharging feature of a conventional method for discharging liquid by forming a bubble (particularly, bubble formed by film-boiling) in a liquid passage is improved to the extent that could not be considered by conventional techniques from the point of view which could not be supposed conventionally.
The premise is obtained by first technical analysis based on operation of a movable member in the liquid passage for analyzing the principle of a moving mechanism of the in the liquid passage to provide a new liquid discharging method utilizing a bubble (which could not be obtained in the conventional techniques) and a head used in such a method on the basis of the principle of the liquid discharging, second technical analysis based on the principle of the liquid discharging due to the formation of the bubble, and third analysis based on a bubble forming area of a bubble forming heat generating element.
On the basis of these analyses, by providing a positional relation between a fulcrum of the movable member and a free end of the movable member in such a manner that the free end is positioned near the discharge port, i.e., at a downstream side of the fulcrum, and by arranging the movable member in a confronting relation to the heat generating element or the bubble forming area, a new technique for positively controlling the bubble is obtained.
In this new technique, it is most important that a downstream side growth portion of the bubble is considered in view of energy (which can be applied from the bubble itself to the liquid discharge) in order to improve the discharging feature or ability remarkably. That is to say, the discharging efficiency and discharging speed can greatly be improved by directing the downstream side growth portion of the bubble toward the discharging direction efficiently. The inventors proposed a high technical level (greatly higher than the conventional technical levels) in which the downstream side growth portion of the bubble is positively shifted toward the free end of the movable member. In the high technical level, it was found that it is preferable to consider structural factors of the movable member and the liquid passage associated with the growth of the bubble at a downstream side of the heat generating area for forming the bubble (for example, at a downstream side of a center line passing through a center of area of the electrothermal converter in the liquid flowing direction) or at a downstream side of a center of area of a surface for controlling the bubble formation, and that a refilling speed can greatly be increased by considering the arrangement of the movable member and the structure of the liquid supply passage.
Particularly, the present invention aims to utilize the above-mentioned discharging principle more effectively and provides more stable discharging feature by improving the construction or arrangement of the movable member.
A first object of the present invention is to provide a liquid discharging head which can suppress side loss of bubble pressure caused by displacement of a movable member due to formation of a bubble and improve discharging efficiency and a discharging force more effectively.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a liquid discharging head which enhances orientation of the growth of a bubble and improves discharging efficiency and a discharging force more effectively.
A third object of the present invention is to provide a liquid discharging head which can surely prevent bubble liquid from mixing with discharge liquid and perform good liquid discharging.
In addition, a fourth object of the present invention is to provide new liquid discharging principle by fundamentally controlling a bubble generated.
A fifth object of the present invention is to provide a liquid discharging head which can greatly reduce accumulation of heat in liquid on a heat generating element and reduce pressure of a residual bubble remaining on the heat generating element, thereby achieving good liquid discharging, while improving discharging efficiency and a discharging force.
A sixth object of the present invention is to provide a liquid discharging head which can prevent an inertia force of a back-wave from acting toward a direction opposite to a liquid supplying direction and increase refill frequency by reducing a retard amount of meniscus by utilizing a valve function of a movable member, thereby increasing a recording speed.
A seventh object of the present invention is to provide a liquid discharging head which can reduce deposit on a heat generating element, can widen application range of discharge liquid, and can enhance discharging efficiency and a discharging force.
An eighth object of the present invention is to provide a liquid discharging head which can increase degree of freedom of selection of liquid to be discharged.
A ninth object of the present invention is to provide a liquid discharging head which can be manufactured easily and cheaply by reducing the number of parts constituting liquid introduction passages for supplying a plurality of liquids and can be made compact.
To achieve the above objects, the typical aspects of the present invention are as follow.
Namely, the resistance to the liquid in the flow passage when the movable member is displaced is smaller than the resistance for returning the movable member to the initial position.
Additionally, the movable member has a recessed shape at the side (the second liquid flow passage) faced to the bubble generating area when the movable member is displaced due to the bubble. According to this arrangement, the movable member has a portion for enclosing the bubble at a surface directly receiving the pressure due to the generation of the bubble. More particularly, accoring to the present invention, there is provided a liquid discharging head comprising a discharge port for discharging liquid, a bubble generating area for generating a bubble in the liquid, a movable member disposed in a confronting relation to the bubble generating area and shiftable between a first position and a second position more spaced apart from the bubble generating area than the first position, and side members integrally formed with at least parts of the movable member on its both sides and shiftable together with the movable member and adapted to cover sides of a bubble generated, and wherein the movable member is shifted from the first position to the second position by pressure due to generation of the bubble in the bubble generating area, and the bubble is more expanded downstream than upstream of a direction toward the discharge port by the shifting of the movable member.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging head comprising a discharge port for discharging liquid, a liquid passage including a heat generating element for generating a bubble in the liquid by applying heat to the liquid and a supply passage for supplying the liquid onto the heat generating element from an upstream side of the heat generating element along the heat generating element, a movable member disposed in a confronting relation to the heat generating element and having a free end near the discharge port and adapted to displace the free end by pressure generated by generation of the bubble, thereby directing the pressure toward the discharge port, and side members integrally formed with at least parts of the movable member on its both sides and shiftable together with the movable member and adapted to cover sides of a bubble generated.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging head comprising a discharge port for discharging liquid, a heat generating element for generating a bubble in the liquid by applying heat to the liquid, a movable member disposed in a confronting relation to the heat generating element and having a free end near the discharge port and adapted to displace the free end by pressure generated by generation of the bubble, thereby directing the pressure toward the discharge port, and side members shiftable together with the movable member and adapted to cover sides of a bubble generated, and a supply passage for supplying the liquid onto the heat generating element from upstream of a surface of the movable member near the heat generating element.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging head comprising a first liquid passage communicated with a discharge port, a second liquid passage including a bubble generating area for generating a bubble in the liquid by applying heat to the liquid, a movable member disposed between the first liquid passage and the bubble generating area and having a free end near the discharge port and adapted to displace the free end toward the first liquid passage by pressure generated by generation of the bubble in the bubble generating area, thereby directing the pressure toward the discharge port of the first liquid passage, and side members integrally formed with at least parts of the movable member on its both sides and shiftable together with the movable member and adapted to cover sides of a bubble generated.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging head comprising a grooved member including a plurality of discharge ports for discharging liquid, a plurality of grooves for forming a plurality of first liquid passages directly communicated with the respective discharge ports, and a recess forming a first liquid chamber for supplying the liquid to the plurality of first liquid passages; an element substrate on which a plurality of heat generating elements for generating a bubble in the liquid by applying heat to the liquid are disposed; and a separation wall disposed between the grooved member and the element substrate and adapted to constitute a part of wall of second liquid passages corresponding to the heat generating elements and having a movable member shiftable toward the first liquid passages by pressure caused by generating a bubble at a position confronting to the heat generating element; and wherein the movable member is provided at least parts of its both sides with side members shifted together with the movable member and adapted to cover both sides of the bubble generated.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging apparatus for discharging recording liquid by generating a bubble, comprising the above-mentioned liquid discharging head, and a drive signal supplying means for supplying a drive signal for discharging the liquid from the liquid discharging head.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging head comprising an element substrate on which a plurality of discharge energy generating elements for generating a bubble for discharging liquid are disposed, a plurality of discharge ports provided in correspondence to the plurality of discharge energy generating elements and each directly communicated with a common liquid chamber to which the liquid is supplied, a bubble generating area for generating a bubble in the liquid, and a movable wall disposed in a confronting relation to the bubble generating area and shiftable between a first position and a second position more spaced apart from the bubble generating area than the first position, and wherein the movable wall has a free end downstream of a liquid flowing direction and further wherein the movable wall is shifted from the first position to the second position by pressure caused by generating the bubble in the liquid by means of the discharge energy generating means to direct the pressure toward the discharge port, thereby discharging the liquid from the discharge port.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging method performed in a liquid discharging head including an element substrate on which a plurality of discharge energy generating elements for generating a bubble for discharging liquid are disposed, and a plurality of discharge ports provided in correspondence to the plurality of discharge energy generating elements and each directly communicated with a common liquid chamber to which the liquid is supplied, comprising the steps of providing a movable wall disposed in a confronting relation to a bubble generating area for generating a bubble in the liquid and shiftable between a first position and a second position more spaced apart from the bubble generating area than the first position, and shifting the movable wall from the first position to the second position by pressure caused by generating the bubble in the liquid by means of the discharge energy generating means to direct the pressure toward the discharge port, thereby discharging the liquid from the discharge port.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging head comprising a discharge port for discharging liquid, a liquid passage including a heat generating element for generating a bubble in the liquid by applying heat to the liquid and a supply passage for supplying the liquid onto the heat generating element from upstream side of the heat generating element along the heat generating element, and a movable member disposed in a confronting relation to the heat generating element and having a free end near the discharge port and a fulcrum disposed at an upstream side of the free end and including a recess having a width smaller than a maximum diameter of the discharge port at at least free end of the movable member confronting to the heat generating element and adapted to shift the free end by generation of the bubble to direct pressure caused by the generation of the bubble toward the discharge port.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging head comprising a discharge port for discharging liquid, a heat generating element for generating a bubble in the liquid by applying heat to the liquid, a movable member disposed in a confronting relation to the heat generating element and having a free end near the discharge port and a fulcrum disposed upstream of the free end and including a recess having a width smaller than a maximum diameter of the discharge port at at least free end of the movable member confronting to the heat generating element and adapted to shift the free end by generation of the bubble to direct pressure caused by the generation of the bubble toward the discharge port, and a supply passage for supplying the liquid onto the heat generating element from upstream of the movable member along a surface of the movable member near the heat generating element.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging head comprising a discharge port for discharging liquid, a first liquid passage communicated with the discharge port, a second liquid passage including a bubble generating area for generating a bubble in the liquid by applying heat tot he liquid, and a movable member disposed in a confronting relation to the bubble generating area between the first liquid passage and the bubble generating area and having a free end near the discharge port and a fulcrum disposed at an upstream side of the free end and including a recess having a width smaller than a maximum diameter of the discharge port at at least free end of the movable member confronting to the heat generating element and adapted to shift the free end toward the first liquid passage by generation of the bubble to direct pressure caused by the generation of the bubble toward the discharge port of the first liquid passage.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging head comprising a grooved member including a plurality of discharge ports for discharging liquid, a plurality of grooves for forming a plurality of first liquid passages directly communicated with the respective discharge ports, and a recess forming a first liquid chamber for supplying the liquid to the plurality of first liquid passages; an element substrate on which a plurality of heat generating elements for generating a bubble in the liquid by applying heat to the liquid are disposed; and a movable member disposed in a confronting relation to the element substrate between the grooved member and the element substrate and adapted to constitute a part of wall of second liquid passages corresponding to the heat generation elements and having a free end near the discharge port and a fulcrum disposed upstream of the free end and including a recess having a width smaller than a maximum diameter of the discharge port at at least free end of the movable member confronting to the heat generating element and adapted to shift the free end toward the first liquid passage by generation of the bubble to direct pressure caused by the generation of the bubble toward the discharge port of the first liquid passage.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a head cartridge comprising the above-mentioned liquid discharging head and a liquid container for holding the liquid supplied to the liquid discharging head.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging apparatus comprising the above-mentioned liquid discharging head, and a drive signal supplying means for supplying a drive signal for discharging the liquid from the liquid discharging head.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging head comprising a discharge port for discharging liquid, a liquid passage communicated with the discharge port, a bubble generating area for generating a bubble in the liquid in the liquid passage, and a movable member disposed in a confronting relation to the bubble generating area in the liquid passage and adapted to be shifted by pressure caused by generating the bubble at the bubble generating area to direct the pressure toward the discharge port and to be returned to its initial position by negative pressure due to contraction of the bubble, and wherein resistance of the movable member against the liquid in the liquid passage when it is shifted is smaller than that when it is returned.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging head comprising a discharge port for discharging liquid, a first liquid passage communicated with the discharge port, a second liquid passage including a bubble generating area for generating a bubble in the liquid by applying heat, and a movable member disposed between the first liquid passage and the bubble generating area and adapted to be shifted toward the first liquid passage by pressure caused by generating the bubble at the bubble generating area to direct the pressure toward the discharge port and to be returned to its initial position by negative pressure due to contraction of the bubble, and wherein resistance of the movable member against the liquid in the first liquid passage when it is shifted is smaller than that when it is returned.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging head comprising grooved member including a plurality of discharge port for discharging liquid, a plurality of grooves for forming a plurality of first liquid passages directly communicated with the respective discharge ports, and a recess forming a first liquid chamber for supplying the liquid to the plurality of first liquid passages; an element substrate on which a plurality of heat generating elements for generating a bubble in the liquid by applying heat to the liquid are disposed; and a movable member disposed between the grooved member and the element substrate and adapted to constitute a part of wall of second liquid passages corresponding to the heat generating elements and adapted to be shifted toward the first liquid passage by pressure caused by generating the bubble at the heat generating element to direct the pressure toward the discharge port and to be returned to its initial position by negative pressure due to contraction of the bubble, and wherein resistance of the movable member against the liquid in the first liquid passage when it is shifted is smaller than that when it is returned.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a head cartridge comprising the above-mentioned liquid discharging head, and a liquid container for containing the liquid to be supplied to the liquid discharging head.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging apparatus comprising the above-mentioned liquid discharging head, and a drive signal supplying means for supplying a drive signal for discharging the liquid from the liquid discharging head.
Alternatively, the present invention may provide a liquid discharging apparatus comprising them above-mentioned liquid discharging head, and a recording medium conveying means for conveying a recording medium onto which the liquid discharged from the liquid discharging head is to be adhered.
As mentioned above, according to the liquid discharging head of the present invention based on the new discharging principle, since the sides of the generated bubble are covered by the side members, the pressure directing to the directions transverse to the liquid flowing direction is also directed toward the liquid flowing direction. And, the bubble growing direction itself is also oriented toward the downstream side, with the result that the growth of the downstream bubble portion becomes greater than the growth of the upstream bubble portion. Consequently, since the liquid near the discharge port can efficiently be discharged toward the discharge port, the discharging efficiency can be improved in comparison with the conventional techniques. For example, in a most preferable embodiment of the present invention, the discharging efficiency could be improved by twice or more in comparison with the conventional techniques.
Particularly, when the movable member has a flexible diaphragm including expansion/contraction portions constituting both sides of the movable member and the expansion/contraction portions are utilized as the side members, the displaced amount of the movable member is regulated by the expansion/contraction portions. As a result, since the degree of opening of the liquid passage near the discharge port caused by the displacement of the movable member becomes constant and bubble pressure acting toward the discharge port also becomes constant, the stable discharging can be achieved.
According to the characteristic arrangement of the present invention, even if the head is placed under a low temperature condition and/or a low humidity condition for a long time. The poor discharging can be prevented. If the poor discharging occurs, merely by effecting a recovery treatment such as preliminary discharge and/or suction recovery, the normal condition can easily be restored.
Specifically, even under a long term placement condition wherein many conventional bubble jet heads having 64 discharge ports occur the poor discharging, in the head of the present invention, only about a half or less of the discharge ports cause the poor discharging. Further, when such head is restored by the preliminary discharge, it was found that, in the conventional head, about 1000 preliminary discharges must be effected for each discharge port; whereas, in the head of the present invention, the head can be restored merely by about 100 preliminary discharges. This means that the recovery time and the liquid loss during the recovery operation can be reduced and the running cost can be reduced greatly.
Further, according to the arrangement of the present invention in which the refilling feature is improved, the response in the continuous liquid discharging, stable growth of the bubble and stability of liquid droplets can be improved, thereby permitting high speed recording due to high speed liquid discharging and high quality image recording.
The other advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed explanation of respective embodiments of the present invention.
Incidentally, in the specification and claims, the terms xe2x80x9cupstreamxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cdownstreamxe2x80x9d are referred to regarding the liquid flowing direction from the liquid supply source through the bubble generating area (or movable member) to the discharge port, or the constructional direction.
Further, the term xe2x80x9cdownstream sidexe2x80x9d regarding the bubble itself mainly means a discharge port side portion of the bubble directly relating the liquid discharging. More particularly, it means a bubble portion generated at a downstream of a center of the bubble in the liquid flowing direction or the constructural direction or at downstream of a center of the area of the heat generating element.
Further, in the specification and claims, the term xe2x80x9csubstantially closedxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9csubstantially sealedxe2x80x9d means a condition that, when the bubble is growing, before the movable member is shifted, the bubble cannot escape through a gap (slit) at a downstream side of the movable member.
In addition, the term xe2x80x9cseparation wallxe2x80x9d means a wall (which may include the movable member) disposed to separate the bubble generating area from an area directly communicated with the discharge port in a broader sense, and means a wall for distinguishing the liquid passage including the bubble generating area from the liquid passage directly communicated with the discharge port and for preventing the mixing of the liquid in both liquid passages in a narrower sense.


Disclosed is a process for preparing a diaryl oxalate which comprises the step of transesterifying a dialkyl oxalate or/and an alkylaryl oxalate with an aryl alcohol in the presence of a tetra(aryloxy)titanium as a catalyst, wherein the tetra(aryloxy)titanium is fed into a reaction system of the transesterification as an aryl alcohol solution of the tetra(aryloxy)titanium which is prepared by reacting a tetraalkoxy titanium and an excess amount of the aryl alcohol and removing a by-producing alkyl alcohol.

The diaryl oxalate is useful for a starting material of a diaryl carbonate by decarbonylation, which has widely been used as a monomer for preparing a polycarbonate by the melting method, and is a compound having attracted attention in recent years. The diaryl oxalate can be prepared by transesterification of a dialkyl oxalate and an aryl alcohol, and the dialkyl oxalate to be used can be prepared from carbon monoxide and an alkyl nitrite.
It has been proposed a sequential process for preparing a diaryl carbonate from carbon monoxide and an alkyl nitrite through a dialkyl oxalate and a diaryl oxalate (see Patent Literature 1).
It has also been proposed a process for preparing a diaryl oxalate which comprises transesterifying a dialkyl oxalate and an aryl alcohol in the presence of a transesterification catalyst, to form an alkylaryl oxalate as an intermediate while removing a by-producing alkyl alcohol by distillation, then, subjecting the alkylaryl oxalate to disproportionation reaction in the presence of a catalyst to form a diaryl oxalate while removing an unreacted dialkyl oxalate by distillation, and recovering the diaryl oxalate by distillating the reaction mixture (see Patent Literature 2).
Further, as a catalyst to be used for preparing a diaryl oxalate by transesterifying a dialkyl oxalate and an aryl alcohol in the presence of a catalyst, it has been proposed to use a titanium compound, a tin compound, a lead compound, a zirconium compound, a molybdenum compound and a ytterbium compound, and among these, a titanium compound has been most preferably used (see Patent Literature 3).
Examples of the titanium compound may be mentioned TiX3, Ti(OAc)3, Ti(OMe)3, Ti(OEt)3, Ti(OBu)3, Ti(OPh)3, TiX4, Ti(OAc)4, Ti(OMe)4, Ti(OEt)4, Ti(OBu)4, Ti(OPh)4 (wherein Ac represents an acetyl group, Me represents a methyl group, Et represents an ethyl group, Bu represents a butyl group, Ph represents a phenyl group, and X represents a halogen atom), and in particular, Ti(OPh)4 [tetra(phenoxy) titanium] is preferred as a catalyst showing excellent transesterification ability.
However, a tetra(aryloxy)titanium such as tetraphenoxy titanium, etc., easily decomposes by reacting with a minute amount of water. Also, the tetra(aryloxy)-titanium is in a solid state at normal temperature, and complicated operations such as solid-liquid separation, etc., are required for purifying the same.
Moreover, it is difficult to use the solid state tetra(aryloxy)titanium for a continuous preparation process of the diaryl oxalate, so that the tetra(aryloxy)titanium is required to be in a liquid state by melting it with heat or dissolving it in a solvent. However, the tetra(aryloxy)titanium is sparingly soluble in the dialkyl oxalate, and has less solubility in an aryl alcohol, which causes increase in a number of processing apparatuses, whereby there is a problem that the preparation steps of the diaryl oxalate are complicated.
The diaryl oxalate obtained by the above-mentioned preparation method, etc., becomes a diaryl carbonate by decarbonylation, and as a final use, it becomes a starting material for a polycarbonate by the melt polycondensation with a bisaryl alcohol A.
The polycarbonate has widely been used for a disc such as CD and DVD, and a plastic lens as an engineering plastic having high transparency. Therefore, to heighten transparency of the resin, it is required not to contain any coloring component for the diaryl carbonate which is a starting material of the polycarbonate, and further for the diaryl oxalate which is a starting material of the diaryl carbonate.
Also, in the above-mentioned preparation method, the reaction and purification by separation are carried out by using a plural steps of a distillation column, but according to the investigation of the preparation method by the present inventors, it was found that corrosion or thinned-down of material was observed at the portion contacting with a reaction mixture, such as the distillation column, storage tank, piping, etc., which are made of an austenitic stainless steel such as SUS304 regulated by JIS G 4304 and generally used for a material of an apparatus such as the distillation column, etc., whereas no compound containing a halogen atom is contained in the reaction mixture, whereby the preparation for a long period of time was difficult.
Furthermore, in the alkyl alcohol removed by the distillation according to the above-mentioned preparation method, impurities with a low boiling point formed at the time of the transesterification are contained, and when they are recycled into the dialkyl oxalate preparation step, unfavorable states that lowering in yield or selectivity of the forming reaction or increase in formed impurities are caused.


Containers are provided which provide controlled dispensing for items such as saltshakers. Such containers can be produced in a simple and economical manner and can be adapted to different types of products, such as different types of salt. Such containers are particularly useful for dispensing fine salt.

It is known that containers, mostly made of cardboard and having a substantially parallelepipedal shape, provided with pouring spouts are commonly used for pouring various kinds of products in granule or powder form, such as salt, sugar and soluble food products. These spouts are made of metallic material (aluminium), plastic material or cardboard, and are fixed to a pivotable tab formed in a wall of the container, possibly by making a cut in this wall in the shape of an inverted U, the tab being fixed to a central portion of the spout. The pouring spout is inserted in the pouring opening and is movable between a retracted, closed position and an extracted position in which it is possible to pour a certain quantity of a product contained in the container.
Recently it has been proposed that pouring spouts should also be applied to saltshakers for containing fine table salt. These containers, generally of cylindrical shape and made of plastic material, have two pouring openings, namely a first opening for pouring the salt in bulk and a second opening for sprinkling a controlled portion of salt. This second pouring opening has a dispensing spout associated with a perforated wall that covers the pouring opening and allows the salt to pass out through the circular perforations only.
Saltshakers of the aforesaid type are limited in that a certain diameter of the perforations generally provides good controlled dispensing of salt having a specific degree of fineness, but the perforations impede the pouring of the salt if it has a coarser particle size, or allow too much salt to pass out if the salt has a finer particle size. Since salt is hygroscopic, the perforations easily tend to become occluded when moisture is present, especially in the case of salt which is not very fine. It would therefore be necessary to provide different types of saltshaker, having walls with perforations whose diameters are differentiated according to the degree of fineness of the salt contained.


A display device and a method for starting up at a low temperature utilizing a heating unit of the display device or an external heating unit to increase the environmental temperature of the display device are disclosed. After the environmental temperature inside the display device reaches a starting-up temperature, the display device can be started up in the low-temperature environment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display system, especially to a projection display device and a method for starting up at a low temperature.
2. Descriptions of the Related Art
With the international commerce being flourishing, products are not localized around the place of production. On the contrary, cheap and fine products could possess more global competitiveness and be more popular under the trend of internationalization. However, the local customs, geographical features, and the climate are different all over the world. Thus, it is essential to adjust products to meet different requirements among different places. Among that the factors we should consider, the influence caused by climate is an important one. Since climates in the world are diverse in different places and may be cold, hot, dry or humid, the functions of products are frequently affected in different environments. Especially for the delicate electronic products, they contain various electronic components with various standards of working temperature. Temperature variations in different operating environments could be one of the critical factors to determine whether the electronic products are operating normally or not.
Take a projection display device for example, there are a plurality of electronic components disposed in the projection display device on the market. Each electronic component has a certain range of working temperature. The functions of the component may be abnormally operated in the environmental temperature which is out of the range of working temperature. Especially, the projection display device possesses a few key components which have to be started up normally in a working temperature higher than 10° C. to proceed with the subsequent operations. If the components are started up in an environmental temperature lower than the normal standards, some abnormal actions would be caused and the components would not recover to work normally even the environmental temperature has risen back to the specification temperature thereof.
Thus, a device and a method designed for starting up a projection display device at a low temperature are badly needed for ensuring the products normally operated in a cryogenic environment.

Display device and method for starting up at a low temperature


An image forming apparatus is disclosed. A generation section generates color image data Y, M, and C and monochrome image data K. A first control section permits monochrome printing of the image data K when the generation section generates only the image data K. When the generation section generates color and monochrome image data, a determination section determines whether the image data Y, M, and C each correspond to a white image. A second control section deletes the image data Y, M, and C and permits monochrome printing of the image data K, when a determination result of the determination section is an affirmative result. A third control section permits color printing corresponding of the image data Y, M, C and K when the determination result of the determination section is a negative result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of color printing and monochrome printing, and an image forming method employed in the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In image forming apparatuses such as copy machines, printers, etc., image pattern data corresponding to a document image is analyzed, thereby generating image data Y indicating a yellow image, image data M indicating a magenta image, image data C indicating a cyan image, and image data K indicating a black image. Specifically, if the image pattern data corresponds to a monochrome image, only image data K is generated. If the image pattern data corresponds to a color image, image data items Y, M, C and K are generated.
However, there is a case where even if the image pattern data corresponds to a monochrome image, image data items Y, M and C are generated as well as image data K, based on the analysis result. In this case, although it is sufficient if monochrome printing using only a black developer is performed, color printing using all developers is performed. As a result, a yellow developer, magenta developer and cyan developer are wasted.
In light of the quality of printing as well, it is not preferable that color printing is performed instead of monochrome printing when monochrome printing should be performed.

Image forming apparatus and image forming method


An apparatus for electromagnetically connecting surface equipment to a rotating downhole tool string comprises a plurality of electrical conductors, first and second differential interfaces, and at least one electromagnetic shield. The plurality of electrical conductors have first ends terminating at the surface equipment and second ends terminating at the downhole tool string. The first differential interface is electrically connected to the first ends and the second differential interface is electrically connected to the second ends the electrical conductors. The first and second differential interfaces are adapted to transmit and receive a reference-independent differential signal. The electromagnetic shield surrounds and shields the electrical conductors and is connected to ground at one end. The apparatus is stationary relative to rotation of the tool string. Disclosed is an apparatus for electromagnetically connecting a computer to a rotating downhole tool string comprising a plurality of electrical conductors, first and second differential interfaces, and an electromagnetic shield grounded to a drill rig at one end.

The present invention relates to the field of network connections, particularly connections to an electromagnetic network along a drill string used in oil and gas exploration, or along the casing and other equipment used in oil and gas production.
Electromagnetic noise is common on a drilling rig and around a drill string when used in exploration and production of oil and gas, and may interfere with the transmission and reception of electromagnetic signals. An electromagnetic shield, such as a shield in a coaxial cable, commonly used to reduce noise may conduct current between differing potentials on a drill rig and may be a source of electromagnetic noise. Many systems have been developed to compensate for or eliminate the effects of electromagnetic noise.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,557 discloses a cable and modular connector system for a power and data transmission network. The cable includes a pair of power conductors and a pair of signal conductors disposed in an insulative cover. The conductors are positioned to minimize differential mode noise imposed on the signal conductors by external sources.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,318 discloses a method and system for transmitting data over twisted pair copper wires using a low frequency offset, differential voltage, on-off keying (OOK) transmission technique wherein a floating reference ground set positive or negative for the differential nature of the transmission may be required. The OOK modulated offset low frequency is being keyed to the floating ground reference that is set to a minimum signal to noise ratio (SNR) level. The SNR level may be set by adjusting the voltage separation between floating ground and the offset of the sinusoidal low frequency wave.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,682 discloses a borehole telemetry system which has a transmitter located in the borehole, a surface receiver, and surface signal sensors for receiving the transmitted signal. The method places noise sensors where the reception of noise is maximized. Simultaneous measurements are taken of the ambient noise with the noise sensors and the signal sensors. The relationship between the measurements of the noise and signal sensors is determined. The transmitted signal is then received by the signal sensors and simultaneous measurements of the ambient noise are made by the noise sensors. The noise portion of the transmitted signal as received by the signal sensors is determined from the simultaneous noise measurements and the determined relationship. A received signal having reduced noise is then produced by removing the noise portion.


Bulk softened fibrous structures, especially bulk softened, polar agent-free fibrous structures, and methods for making such fibrous structures are provided.

Sanitary tissue products often utilize fibrous structures that contain lotion and/or softening agents. Typically, such agents are designed to isolate to the surface of the sanitary tissue paper. In the case of a lotioned sanitary tissue product, surface isolation promotes the lotion transferring to the user's skin while in the case of a softened sanitary tissue product, surface isolation makes effective use of the softening agent by limiting it to a zone or zones of a the surface that are important for the perception of softness by a user.
Surface isolation is achieved by using lotions and/or softeners that have a relatively high melting point and/or contain bonding moieties which are capable of forming bonds with the fibers comprising the fibrous structure.
Formulators have found known surface isolation treatments to be lacking in providing bulk softness since they do not effectively migrate within and among fibers in order to maximally plasticize such fibers.
Accordingly, there is a need for fibrous structures that contain a bulk softening agent, sanitary tissue products comprising such fibrous structures and methods for making such fibrous structures.


Systems and methods are provided for dispersing a liquid coolant in a radiant dryer. The system comprises a dryer of a printing system. The dryer includes a heating element within an interior of the dryer that is able to heat a web of printed media as the web travels through the interior. The dryer also includes a liquid dispersal unit within the interior that is able to project liquid droplets of coolant onto the web as the web travels through the interior, in order to control the temperature of the web.

Entities with substantial printing demands typically use a production printer. A production printer is a high-speed printer used for volume printing (e.g., one hundred pages per minute or more). Production printers include continuous-form printers that print on a web of print media stored on a large roll.
A production printer typically includes a localized print controller that controls the overall operation of the printing system, and a print engine (sometimes referred to as an "imaging engine" or a "marking engine"). The print engine includes one or more printhead assemblies, with each assembly including a printhead controller and a printhead (or array of printheads). An individual printhead includes multiple tiny nozzles (e.g., 360 nozzles per printhead depending on resolution) that are operable to discharge ink as controlled by the printhead controller. A printhead array is formed from multiple printheads that are spaced in series across the width of the web of print media.
While the printer is in operation, the web of print media is quickly passed underneath the nozzles, which discharge wet ink at intervals to form pixels on the web. A radiant dryer may be installed downstream from the printer to dry this wet ink. The radiant dryer assists in drying the ink on the web after the web leaves the printer. A typical radiant dryer includes an array of lamps that emit infrared light and heat. The lamps help to dry the ink onto the web as the web passes through the dryer.
Even when a web of print media moves quickly through a dryer, it has a chance of scorching or burning while drying. This is because some portions of the web are darker than other portions of the web, and will absorb more radiant infrared energy from the dryer. For example, a dark marked portion of the web may absorb more energy than un-marked portions or light marked portions of the web. Such an uneven distribution of heat to different portions of the web can also cause permanent warping and distortion of the web.

Liquid dispersal in radiant dryers for printing systems


A gable-top carton and a corresponding carton blank are set forth. The upstanding fin of the carton comprises a centrally disposed depressed region that facilitates stacking of the cartons on top of one another in a manner that results in a more even load distribution on the fins of the lower cartons than obtained when stacking conventional gable-top cartons. A further advantage is realized in the corresponding carton blanks in that the corresponding blanks may be disposed in a top-to-top manner along the width of a web of material whereby savings in material and production costs results.

Gable top cartons have been known for the better part of the twentieth century. Their characteristic simplicity and resealability have helped to sustain their popularity as containers for traditional liquid food products such as milk and juice, but in recent years they have been used for products ranging from ammunition to Epsom salts.
Gable-top containers are manufactured from container blanks that are comprised of a flexible laminate which includes a carrier layer of paper between external liquid-tight plastic layers. Stacks of such blanks are supplied to the packaging machine, usually at an input magazine. The blanks have previously been folded and side-sealed so that they obtain a substantially square cross-section when erected within the packaging machine. These blanks are fed individually to the input of the packaging machine where the blanks are formed, filled, and sealed to produce a gable-top container that is filled with product.
The blanks from which the gable-top containers are manufactured are in the form of material sheets which have been detached from a continuous web of packaging material and have been given an outer contour which is adapted to provide the required size and shape of the finished container. For a gable-top container, the blanks have a substantially four-sided configuration in which two parallel lateral edges are straight and define the sides of the blank while a further pair of parallel transverse edges are irregular and define the top and bottom of the blank. The non-uniform edges make it difficult, if not impossible, to establish a rational cutting of the blades edge-in-edge with each other. As such, there is an appreciable amount of waste material associated with the cutting of the blanks from the continuous web of material. This not only brings about increased material costs, but also renders the manufacturing of the blanks difficult since the excess material that is continuously generated during the production process must be removed in a manner which does not interfere with the production process.
One reference addressing the problem of wasted material is U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,386, to Billberg. The '386 patent is directed to a packaging container, such as a gable-top container, which is provided with partly straight, parallel lateral edges, and partly transverse edges which are indented according to a regular pattern which is repeated over the width of the blank. As a result of the indentations, the edges of the blanks can be cut and formed without substantial waste.
When fully folded, filled, and sealed, the known blanks, such as the type disclosed in the '386 patent, form a gable top carton that includes a gabled top structure, including an upstanding fin. The gable top structure engages a plurality of side panels. Traditionally, each side panel is generally perpendicular to each adjacent side panel. The panels are each divided from one another by a single vertical score line extending the entire height of the sidewall. These side panels form the characteristic hollow rectangular body of the container and define the volume of product that a carton can hold.
Such gable-top containers containing product are frequently transported in standard-sized crates. Low volume gable-top containers are thus often transported in the same size crates as used to transport the high volume gable-top containers. In the case of the low volume gable-top containers, however, the containers are stacked within the generally standard-sized crates whereby the upstanding fin of a lower gable-top container engages the bottom of the gable-top container immediately above it.
The present inventor has disclosed a gable-top container having an upstanding fin and a corresponding interlocking container blank. The gable-top container can be readily stacked and can be formed from an interlocking container blank that substantially reduces the amount of material wasted in the blank manufacturing process.

Stackable gable top carton and corresponding top interlocking carton blank


A method and system for providing an aggregate view of information that a user may need is provided. A desktop assistant system collects information items that a user may need such as scheduling information and recently received messages. The desktop assistant system may also identify documents that the user may need and contacts with whom the user may need to communicate based on analysis of the collected scheduling information and the collected messages. The desktop assistant system then displays indications of the collected scheduling information, the collected messages, the identified documents, and the identified contacts so that the user has an integrated view of the needed information items.

Users of computer systems may access information items of various types to assist them in performing their daily tasks. The types of information items may include messages, calendar information, documents, contact information, and other information sources. The messages may include electronic mail messages, Voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP") messages, instant messages, and voice mail messages. The calendar information may include scheduled meetings and to-do lists. The documents may include reports, memoranda, design documents, letters, and so on. The contact information may include electronic mail addresses, telephone numbers, and presence information. The other information sources may include web databases, RSS feeds, news services, and so on. Typically, different information client applications are used to support different types of information. For example, a user who wants to send a message using instant messaging and electronic mail would need to have installed on their computer system an electronic mail client application and an instant messaging client application. As another example, a user who wants to access a SQL database would need a SQL client application, and a user who wants to access a web database would need a web client application. Each client application, however, provides its own interface or context for its information items. An electronic mail client application may provide a context that includes from, to, subject, and input fields and icons for creating messages, sending messages, replying to messages, resolving addresses, and so on. An instant messaging client application may provide a context that includes a list of contacts that are online, a pop-up window that is displayed when a message arrives, and a chat window for displaying and inputting instant messages.
When a user wants to plan out their day, the user may need to access information items of many different types. For example, a user may want to review calendar information about a scheduled meeting, review documents related to the scheduled meeting, have discussions with other invitees before the meeting, review electronic mail messages relating to the meeting, and so on. It can be a very difficult task for a user to gather all the needed information because the user may need to access many different information client applications.
In addition, a user who is performing a task may be bombarded with messages sent from others that are unrelated to the task being performed. For example, a user who is preparing a financial statement for a corporation may receive an instant message from a personal friend or may receive an electronic mail message reporting a recent news event. The user may get distracted by such unrelated messages, resulting in loss of concentration and lower efficiency. Although the user could effectively go offline to avoid being interrupted by any messages, the user would not be able to receive very important messages that are related to the task being performed.

Desktop assistant for multiple information types in a timeline view


An article of functional jewelry includes a magnetically responsive substrate with front and back surfaces, a bend dividing the substrate into first and second substantially planar regions, and a holding device. A magnet holds the article in position by sandwiching a piece of fabric between the magnet and the substrate. The holding device may include an aperture penetrating the first region forming a loop that supports an object such as a pair of eyeglasses or a scarf.

Field
This invention is in the field of functional jewelry. In particular, it concerns a jewelry finding including holding features.
Background
Many useful items are used so frequently that people keep them close at hand. Some items may be conveniently disposed about the body, such as eyeglasses perched atop the head or a pencil carried behind an ear. Items may also be carried in pockets, in purses, on chains about the neck, or by hand. However these methods may be unsightly, difficult to access, susceptible to loss, or cause damage to clothing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,749 to Horovitz entitled Small Article Holder Including Magnet Means, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, describes a variety of devices to support eyeglasses about the body. Horovitz further discloses his own invention of an eyeglass holder fastened to a section of fabric magnetically. The holder is described as a decorative base member with a ring secured to the base member. Another embodiment discloses a hook depending from the decorative base member. The base member is described and illustrated as a flat body attached to a disk on the rear surface. The disk and a separate magnet hold the device to an article of clothing. While this device may be satisfactory for some applications, it is difficult to insert and remove items from a flat device attached to fabric without risk to the item or the fabric. Further, a particular decorative base member may appeal to some but not others.
Thus there remains a need for a jewelry finding that may support a decorative setting, that adheres magnetically to clothing or other fabrics, and that provides a convenient and safe holding device that retains commonly used articles.


A modular energy barrier system has at least one energy barrier module. The module has a substantially rigid casing and an energy absorbing filler material. The casing has at least one frangible side. The filler material is disposed inside the casing. The casing is adapted to be connected to a base support so that the module is interposed between the base structure and an energy source and the at least one frangible side of the casing is oriented to face energy released by the energy source.

1. Field of the Exemplary Embodiments
The exemplary embodiments described herein relate to an energy barrier system and, more particularly, to an energy barrier system that may be rapidly erected and redeployed.
2. Brief Description of Related Developments
Present temporary deployment protection systems used for example, to shield structures from blasts or detonations are primarily in the form of sandbags. Though long proven to be very effective against blast effects, the sandbags are filled with sand at the time of use and a considerable amount of time and manpower is required to fill the sandbags. Once filled the sandbags are heavy and cumbersome. In addition, large numbers of sandbags are needed to achieve desired absorber effects against blasts, and even small structures employ significant number of sandbags. Further, sandbags have little effect in suppressing flash that may accompany blasts. Flash absorber systems are known, but these systems are fragile, readily susceptible to damage which is an encumbrance to rapid installation of such a system and limits the duration areas where such a system may be used.

Rapidly installable energy barrier system


This surge voltage arrester has two connecting fittings (1, 2) which are braced with respect to one another. At least one pellet (7) consisting of varistor material is clamped in between the connecting fittings (1, 2).. It is intended to create a surge voltage arrester which can be produced using simple means and which, in addition, can be cast around in a simple manner. This is achieved in that at least two insulating clamping elements, which are arranged symmetrically, are provided for bracing the connecting fittings (1, 2). The clamping elements, the at least one pellet (7) and, partially, the connecting fittings (1, 2) have insulating plastic material cast around them to form a monolithic block.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is based on a surge voltage arrester.
2. Discussion of Background
EP-A1-0281,945 discloses a surge voltage arrester having two fittings which are braced with respect to one another by means of an insulating rod. The insulating rod passes through varistor elements, which are constructed in a cylindrical shape and are arranged in layers to form a stack, in their center. The fittings bound the stack of varistor elements. The described arrangement has insulating material cast around it, insulating material also being fitted inside the stack in the region around the insulating rod.
The production of such a surge voltage arrester requires a number of process steps. In particular, the casting around the insulating rod may necessitate special knowledge.


A goods handling method includes the steps of sequentially taking out a desired number of goods from a group of accumulation of goods formed of a plurality of goods accumulated in a height direction, a plurality of goods accumulated in a depth direction, and one or more goods accumulated in the width direction and discharging such removed goods into a container, the goods handling method further including the steps of arranging the height of a bottom surface of goods to be removed among the group of accumulation of goods generally equal to the height of a goods receiving table and thereafter, removing the goods onto the receiving table, discharging such removed goods into the container, moving goods on the second row to the front row after all goods on the front row have been removed, and then removing the goods, and a goods handling apparatus for carrying out the method.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a goods handling method and an apparatus thereof for removing a desired number of goods from a group of accumulated goods which is formed by accumulating goods and discharging such removed goods into a container, and more particularly to a goods handling method and an apparatus thereof which can be suitably used for picking up goods in a distribution center or for similar purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As the prior art regarding a goods handling method and an apparatus thereof, there are known, for example, those as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Early Laid-open Publication Nos. Sho 50-128876 and Sho 56-48550. The prior art disclosed in these publications will be described. In Japanese Utility Model Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 50-128876, there is disclosed an automatic type part warehouse an end face of which is divided into lines (lateral direction) and rows (vertical direction), end faces of each line and row are provided with a window for removing and storing goods cases, a plurality of goods cases being stored on an inclined floor in the inner direction, wherein an elevator having a lateral width equal to one line portion the warehouse is vertically movably disposed in such a manner as to contact the end face of the take-out window, and by reciprocally moving a rotatable sucking pad mounted on the elevator in the depth direction of the warehouse, the part case can be taken out to the elevator side without being interfered with by a part case stopper mounted to an end portion of the inclined floor.
Also, in Japanese Utility Model Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 56-48550, there is disclosed a brick feeder for feeding bricks accumulated on a lifter by pushing out bricks on the top stage onto a feed conveyor by a pusher at every stage as the lifter is lifted up stage by stage.
However, the above-mentioned prior art had the following problems.
That is, in the automatic type part warehouse disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 50-128876, although part cases (goods) can be taken out, one by one, from the end faces of the take-out windows formed by dividing the end face of the warehouse in lines and rows, there is no description or suggestion at all about a plurality of desired goods being removed from a group of accumulated goods formed by accumulating goods and such removed goods are discharged into a container, etc.
Also, as the brick feeder disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Early Laid-open Publication. No. Sho 56-48550 is designed such that the bricks (goods) can be taken out at every stage, a desired number of goods cannot be taken out. Also, in case there is formed a step between goods which are arranged in the goods take-out direction, it sometimes happened that goods were caught by the step and could not be taken out or goods were damaged. Furthermore, there is no description or suggestion at all about how goods, which have been taken out onto the feed conveyor are discharged into a container.

Goods handling method and apparatus thereof


The construction of display devices often involves the replication of a single pixel design a large number of times. Full color display devices are often constructed on the principle of utilising multiple primary colors in order to form a final destination color. Previously, the degree of complexity of the pixel arrangement devoted to each primary color was substantially the same. The present invention discloses devoting a variable degree of complexity to each primary color in a pixel layout depending on the perceptual response of the human eye to the particular primary color. For example, there is disclosed a pixel arrangement having red, green and blue primary colors wherein substantial complexity is devoted to the green primary color with a lesser complexity devoted to the blue primary color.

The background of the invention will now be described with reference to the following drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional single pixel of a CRT type display.
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a single pixel 1 of a normal Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) type display device. Each pixel is made up of a Red 2, Green 3 and Blue 4 phosphor dot or pixel elements. These dots are so small that when grouped together with a large number of other pixels, the light emanating from the individual dots is perceived by the viewer as a mixture of the corresponding three colors. A wide range of different colors can thus be produced by a pixel element by variation of the strength with which each phosphor dot is excited.
The display of color images in these devices is normally achieved by storing an associated value for each pixel of the display and sending this value to an intensity conversion means with the display at the requisite time. The number of different possible values stored for each pixel element of a pixel corresponds with the number of different colors which may be displayed by the display device and hence the resolution with which the device can display a given picture. With a television signal, a similar procedure is adopted of sending a pixel value to the screen corresponding to a required illumination of each particular pixel. Such procedures are well known by those skilled in the art.
By way of example, a 24 bits per pixel color display system divided into 8 bits for each of the three colors red, green and blue will be assumed. This corresponds to 2.sup.8 or 256 separate intensity levels of each red, green and blue respectively, giving 2.sup.24 different color values. A color display capable of displaying this many colors can approximate a continuous tone image to such a degree that for all practical purposes the display can be considered to be a continuous tone display.
Colors are often displayed on a computer display according to a particular model. The red, green, blue (RGB) color model is one that is in common use with CRT and color raster display devices. Other color display models include cyan, magenta, yellow (CMY) often used in color-printing devices. An example of the RGB model is the NTSC picture display standard in common use with computer displays.
As the intensity of each phosphor dot can be varied in an analogue manner, the optical center of the illumination from the phosphor dot is the centre of that dot regardless of the light intensity produced. Additionally, when multiple primary pixel elements are used to display a given color, the perceived optical center of the illumination remains substantially in the same place. Effectively, the position of a pixel is at its optical centre of illumination and, as such, all images displayed on a workstation CRT assume that the optical centers of pixel are in a regular rectangular grid.
Many display devices are unable to actually display the full range of color provided by, for example, a 24 bit input pixel. For example, a black and white raster image display can only display 2 colors, namely black and white and is known as a bi-level device. Other color display devices can only display a finite number of discrete intensity levels for each color unit. By way of further example, in a color bi-level device, such as a bilevel ferro-electric liquid crystal display (FLCD), each illumination area on the screen can be at just two intensity levels, either fully on or fully off
If the display device receives an input which has been generated on the basis that each pixel is able to display a larger number of intensity levels than can actually be displayed, then there will be an error in the color displayed, being the difference between the exact pixel value required to be displayed and the approximated value actually displayed.
Methods of generating input signals to discrete type displays have been developed to increase the number of apparent colors displayable on an discrete color display device such as a bi-level color display. The methods used are known generally as halftoning. For an explanation of the different aspects of halftoning the reader is referred to a standard textbook such as `Digital Halftoning` by Robert Ulichney, published in 1991 by MIT Press.
In order to increase the number of possible intensity levels per pixel group methods of utilizing varying size sub-pixels have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,695 (Green / Thorn EMI) discloses a pixel pattern arrangement where sub-pixels of varying size are used in relation to monochrome displays. The use of sub-pixels of varying size is also disclosed in European Patent Application 361,981 (Nakagawa et. al. / Sharp).

Luminance weighted discrete level display


A system and method for wireless streaming link break-in is disclosed. A first device transmits digital packets to a second device over a wireless streaming link. A third device synchronizes itself with the second device. Once the third device is synchronized with the second device, the third device transmits command request packets to the second device during a data receive window. The wireless streaming link is inactive during the data receive window. The second device responds to the request during a next data receive window.

Wireless streaming link designs typically consist of multiple data packets that are sent at a regular interval from a first device to a second device. In order to minimize power consumption, the on-air time of the link is not constant. Rather, when all data has been sent, the link is inactive for a specific period of time. Once synchronized to the stream, the second device listens for data packets at specific timeslots on specified frequencies according to a streaming protocol. In some such designs, beacons are transmitted by the second device in order to enable a third device to synchronize with the second device.


A solar cell includes a substrate having a horizontal surface, and an electrode layer on the substrate. The electrode has a plurality of vertical surfaces substantially perpendicular to the horizontal surface, and light-harvesting rods are coupled to the vertical surface of the electrode.

The present invention relates to solar cells and, more particularly, to photovoltaic solar cells.
Attempts to prepare molecular-based solar cells have generally employed molecules in conjunction with semiconducting films (often TiO2) or nanorods (such as CdSe). Conventional molecular-based cells employ several designs. For example, a monolayer of pigment or a thin film of pigment can be deposited on the semiconductor surface. As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,827 to Grätzel proposes a monolayer of pigment bound to a mesoporous semiconductor surface. The solar cells proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,827 to Grätzel generally require that the pigment be contained in a diffusive charge carrier, such as a gel or polymeric hole transport layer, to transport electrons.
In each of these designs, the absorption of light by the pigment can result in electron injection into the semiconductor. The hole residing on the pigment is then transferred (typically by a diffusive redox-active agent in a liquid) to the counterelectrode to complete the circuit. High solar-energy conversion efficiency typically requires absorption of most of the incident light across the solar spectrum, a high quantum yield of electron injection, a low quantum yield of charge recombination at the electrode surface, efficient electron transport in the semiconductor to the external circuit, and efficient transport of the hole to the counterelectrode.
However, in practice, conventional molecular-based cellular designs are limited in their efficiency. For example, a monolayer of photon-absorbing pigment typically absorbs only a tiny fraction of the incident light. A thin film can absorb much of the incident light, but the resulting excited-state energy may not reach the semiconductor surface, or the hole generated upon electron injection at the semiconductor may be trapped in the thin film and not reach the counterelectrode. In a monolayer of pigment bound to a mesoporous semiconductor surface, the mesoporous nature of the semiconductor material ensures high absorption of light. However, the mesoporous structure also presents many opportunities for electron-hole recombination. The efficiencies of these solar cells range from <1% for monolayer pigments to a few percent for thin film pigments and generally to a maximum of ˜10% for monolayers bound to a mesoporous semiconductor surface.
Quantum dots have also been used in solar cells. Quantum dots can provide intensive absorption, and the wavelength of absorption can be tuned by altering the size of the particles. However, the organization of the quantum dots in a superstructure to efficiently channel energy remains a challenge.

Nano-structured photovoltaic solar cell and related methods


A topic identification system identifies topics of online discussions by iteratively identifying topic words or keywords of the online discussions and identifying language patterns associated with those keywords. The topic identification system starts out with an initial set of keywords and identifies language patterns that each include a keyword. The topic identification system then uses the identified language patterns to identify additional keywords of the online discussion that match the patterns. The topic identification system then again identifies language patterns using the keywords including the newly identified keywords. The topic identification system may repeat the process of identifying language patterns and keywords until a termination criterion is satisfied.

Many web sites and advertisement placement services generate considerable revenue from the placement of advertisements. The revenue model for many web sites is a clickthrough model in which an advertiser pays for placement of the advertisement only when a user clicks on the advertisement. The advertiser and the web site provider both have incentives to ensure that advertisements are likely to be of interest to the user of the web page. If the advertisement is not of interest, then the user is unlikely to click on the advertisement. For example, if the web page relates to the locations of basketball courts provided by a city and the advertisement relates to buying flowers, the user interested in the location of basketball courts is unlikely to be interested in buying flowers. If the user does not click on the advertisement, the web site provider loses revenue it might have received if the advertisement had been of interest to the user. If the user does click on the advertisement, the advertiser will pay for the advertisement even though the advertiser is unlikely to generate revenue from that placement because the user is unlikely to purchase flowers.
To help ensure that advertisements may be of interest to the user of a web page, advertisements are selected based on relevance to the content of the web page. To help ensure that advertisements are related to the content of a web page, the advertisers may specify a target word for placing an advertisement. If a web page is related to the target word, then the advertisement may be assumed to be related to the content of the web page. For example, an advertiser who is advertising basketball shoes may specify target words of "basketball shoe," "basketball court," and "basketball." The advertiser may be willing to pay more for the advertisement when it is placed on a web page that contains the target word "basketball shoes" than the other two because it is more specific to the product being advertised.
Advertisements are often placed on display pages (e.g., web pages) for online discussions such as instant messaging sessions, discussion threads, web logs ("blogs"), and so on. Advertisements that relate in some way to the topic of an online discussion are generally effective when placed with the online discussion. However, it probably would not be effective to place an advertisement for courtside tickets for a basketball game with an online discussion relating to analysis of opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court even though the advertisement and online discussion are related in some way to the keyword "court." An advertisement relating to online access to briefs filed with the Supreme Court is related to the topic of the online discussion. Such an advertisement is likely to be more effective than an advertisement for courtside tickets. The effectiveness of the advertisements for online discussions depends in large part on the effectiveness of identifying the topics of the online discussions. Although several attempts have been made to identify the topics of online discussions, these attempts have not proved to be completely satisfactory.
Identifying the topics of online discussions is also useful in many applications other than the placement of advertisements. For example, if online discussions are categorized according to their topics, users can browse the categories to locate online discussions of interest. As another example, a search engine service for online discussions may input a query and output an indication of online discussions that match the query. The search engine service may rank the matching online discussions higher when the topics of the online discussion match the terms of the query. For example, if the query is "supreme court," then a matching online discussion whose topics include "courts" would have its ranking increased. Another example of an application that uses the topic of an online discussion is the generating of discussion summaries. A summary of an online discussion may be generated by selecting the most relevant sentences to the topics of the online discussion. The relevance of a sentence may be based in part on whether the sentence contains a word relating to a topic of the discussion.

Identification of topics for online discussions based on language patterns


A ballast control integrated circuit for driving at least one gas discharge lamp comprising a first oscillator circuit for producing a first oscillating signal; a driver circuit for driving first and second output transistors connected in a half bridge configuration; the driver circuit being provided with pulsed signals derived from the first oscillating signal for generating pulsed drive signals for driving the first and second transistors; and a dimming control circuit responsive to a dimming input signal to drive the driver circuit such that the driver circuit provides the pulsed drive signals in bursts thereby to dim the lamp in dependence on the level of the dimming input signal. The ballast control integrated circuit also provides overcurrent and overvoltage sensing and allows master/slave operation.

The present invention relates to flourescent lamp ballasts and more particularly, to a ballast controller for CCFL/EEFL (cold cathode flourescent lamps and external electrode flourescent lamps) which are typically used in back lighting applications for display devices, for example LCD displays and LCD televisions. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to a ballast controller integrated circuit for such lamps.


A catalyst based on titanium oxide, zirconium oxide or combinations thereof for decomposing HCN in gases, which additionally comprises:. molybdenum, vanadium, tungsten, manganese, silicon, selenium, tellurium, niobium, tantalum, sulfur, phosphorus in the form of their oxides, hydrated oxides, other compounds, or combinations thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a catalyst based on titanium oxide and/or zirconium oxide for decomposing HCN in gases and also to a process for decomposing HCN in gases.
2. Description of the Background
Numerous hydrocarbon-containing gas mixtures, such as, for instance, the gas mixtures obtained in the gasification of coal or oil or other hydrocarbon-containing substances, have to be freed of acid gas constituents such as H.sub.2 S before they are further processed. The H.sub.2 S removal is customarily, particularly in the case of low H.sub.2 S contents, carried out by gas scrubbing using a chemically or physically active solvent. Since HCN present in the gas mixture is dissolved by the solvents customarily used and because HCN is not completely removed from the solvent in the regeneration of the solvent, the result is HCN enrichment of the solvent, often even decomposition of the solvent by HCN. HCN is therefore removed by catalytic decomposition in a manner known per se prior to acid gas scrubbing.
Furthermore, in many industrial processes it is desirable to decompose HCN in gases without in the process catalyzing other reactions than the HCN decomposition in the gas.
The as yet unpublished, German Patent Application 43 19 234 teaches a process for removing HCN from gas mixtures containing at least HCN and sulfur compounds, particularly from gas mixtures obtained by partial oxidation or gasification of coal or oil. The process is the catalytic decomposition of HCN, with the gas mixture being brought into contact with a catalyst which decomposes the HCN by hydrogenation and/or by hydrolysis. COS present in the gas mixture is at least partially decomposed by hydrolysis over this catalyst. In particular, catalysts are employed in which the catalyst support is on titanium oxide and/or zirconium oxide. Chromium trioxide is a further catalytically active component.
Catalysts containing chromium trioxide can present problems in their preparation and disposal because of the high toxicity of chromium trioxide, since strict safety and environmental protection obligations have to be met when handling chromium trioxide. Furthermore, the catalysts of the prior art have an activity which is too low, so that either large reactor volumes or high reaction temperatures are required. A need, therefore, continues to exist for a catalyst of improved activity for the removal of HCN from HCN containing gases.

Catalyst and process for decomposing HCN in gases


A method of applying a UV gel manicure to a fingernail and a method for achieving a UV gel fingernail extension. First a nail appliqué made of dry nail enamel is applied to a fingernail. A UV gel is then applied with a brush on top of nail appliqué and is cured using a UV lamp. The result is a UV manicure that applied faster than a conventional UV manicure and it is healthier for a nail. UV nail extensions are achieved by applying an appliqué which overhangs from a fingernail and applying and curing UV gel on top of the appliqué.

The application of UV gel to fingernails is an increasingly popular method of decorating fingernails in place of ordinary nail enamel. In this process, a salon technician spreads a layer of UV gel on a fingernail and then sets the finger under a UV light which cures the gel. Normally, several gel layers are required. For example, a base coat of UV gel is followed by a pigment-containing UV gel coat and then one or more sealing UV gel coats are applied thereafter. Each of individual layers must be individually brushed on a by a technician and then fully cured under a UV light before an additional coat can be applied. This makes the process extremely time-consuming and burdensome. The skilled technician time that is required in addition to the cost of the materials makes the process very expensive. In fact, a typical UV gel application could take well over an hour and sometime more to apply. If a nail extension is required, the process requires even more labor and skill—thereby increasing the time and cost thereof.
In addition to the time and expense associated with UV applications, there are potential health risks as well. The application requires repeated exposure to UV waves and the gel when cured in contact with a fingernail may damage and weaken the nail. Furthermore, once the UV gel is cured on a fingernail—it is very difficult to remove.
Typically, the layers must be filed off or left to grow out with the natural nail as conventional nail polish removers do not work.

Method and apparatus for enhancing UV gel nail application


Incorporation of organic amines as neutralization agents in based phase inversion emulsification (PIE) processes to provide emulsification of high molecular amorphous and high molecular branch amorphous polyester resins, which are traditionally difficult to emulsify. The organic amines facilitate emulsification of these resins to achieve desired particle size with a narrow size distribution.

The present embodiments provide toners, and in particular, emulsion aggregation (EA) toners. These toners exhibit a low melt temperature while simultaneously exhibiting excellent relative humidity sensitivity regarding charging properties. Also described are methods of making such toners.
Advantages of the toners described herein include, for example, the ability to incorporate crystalline materials into the toner to achieve low melting characteristics without sacrificing relative humidity sensitivity.
Low melting, including ultra low melting, toners are known. For example, such toners may be comprised of an amorphous polyester material having a crystalline polyester material mixed therein. The crystalline polyester material imparts the low melting temperature to the polyester toner. An example of such a low melting polyester toner is described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,830,860 and U.S. Pat. Publication No. 2008/0153027, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Polyester toners have been prepared utilizing amorphous and crystalline polyester resins. The incorporation of these polyester resins into toner requires that the resins first be formulated into emulsions prepared by solvent containing batch processes, for example solvent-based phase inversion emulsification (PIE) is known in the art. Ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) is known in the artas a "basic neutralization agent" in the polyester emulsification process. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 8,192,913. The ammonium hydroxide inverts the resin dissolved oil phase (resin/solvent solution) in water to form a stable aqueous emulsion.
In the PIE process, the type of base or neutralizing agent and ratio of neutralizing agent to resin or solvent plays a very critical role. There are many input process parameters such as resin composition, resin molecular weight and acid value that can vary which make it impossible to emulsify high molecular weight branched amorphous polyester resins to produce the desired particle size range (e.g., 100-250 nm) and a narrow particle size distribution. Lot-to-lot variations of resin acid value, viscosity, and resin softening point requires adjustments in the PIE process parameters such as neutralization ratio and solvent ratio to achieve the desired toner particle size. Determining such adjustments is time-consuming and requires much trial and error to identify the exact conditions that will allow a resin lot to be successfully emulsified. Moreover, even with these modifications some polyester resins are not successfully emulsified, with failed batches where particle size was greater than 400 nm. In particular, certain high molecular weight branched amorphous polyester resins with lower acid values are not emulsified when ammonia hydroxide is used as the neutralization agent.
Therefore, there is a need to identify a new neutralization agent for the preparation of polyester latexes suitable for polymers possessing a variation in parameters such as lower acid value, higher softening point and the like.


siRNA-conjugated liposomes and micelles, methods of making such conjugates, and methods of using such conjugates, such as for the delivery of siRNA to cells to reduce expression of target polypeptides in such cells, are described.

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) is a short double stranded RNA. It behaves like a mediator of the RNA interference phenomenon silencing the specific gene expression by triggering the cleavage of a target messenger RNA (mRNA) at post-transcriptional level in the cytoplasm (Hamilton, et al., Science 1999; Elbashir, et al., Nature (2001)). siRNA is a powerful tool to control cellular processes at a post-transcriptional level. Its great potency is due to the high sequence-specific inhibition efficiency (Novina et al., Nature (2004) 430:161-164). Thus, siRNA strategy has been strongly considered for the down-regulation of certain proteins in the areas of functional genomics and genomic therapeutics.
Although siRNA has been used as a therapeutic agent for various genetic diseases, its therapeutic application is still limited because of its instability against nucleases. Thus, what is needed are siRNA molecules that are more stable, and thus more active and useful as therapeutic agents.