A combination backpack and splash guard used by a bicycle rider. The combination is designed to protect the bicycle rider's clothing from water and mud during wet weather and when riding through water and mud puddles. Also, the backpack and splash guard provides for carrying various items when riding a bicycle. Further, the backpack and splash guard includes reflective material and/or reflective tape sewn thereon for providing greater visibility to approaching vehicles under dark conditions. The backpack and splash guard includes an outside waterproof back cover with adjustable reflective shoulder straps and waist straps. The shoulder straps and waist straps are used to secure the back cover to a back of a bike rider. An inside back cover, made of mesh material, is attached to a rear face of the outside back cover with a storage opening between the tops of the outside and inside covers. The storage opening is used for receiving different items therethrough and storing the items between the outside and inside covers. A waterproof splash guard cover is attached to a bottom of the outside cover and is suspended therefrom for covering a bicycle seat and the rider's seat. The splash guard cover is adjustably attached along a length of a front face of the outside back cover or the inside back cover also forming an additional storage pocket when splash protection is not required. The backpack and splash guard is made in various widths and lengths for children and adults who enjoy riding in the outdoors.

(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to seat covers, backpacks and like products and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a combination backpack and splash guard used by bicycle riders and others during outdoor activities such as walking, running, roller blading, motorcycle riding, etc.
(b) Discussion of Prior Art
With the proliferation of different types of bicycles for outdoor activities, many of today's bicycles do not have front and rear wheel fenders. The reason being, people wish to ride bikes that are lightweight, streamlined, strong and rugged in construction. Therefore, fenders have been eliminated on many of the new styles of mountain bikes, racing bikes, etc. Because many of today's popular bikes do not have fenders, a bike rider will be splashed on the seat and the back by a rear tire when riding through water and mud puddles and when riding in the rain.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,185,362 to Wakefield and 5,003,634 to Brinkman, a foldable seat cover with belt and a combination seat-pack with belt are disclosed. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,707 to Neta, a seat warmer is described which can be converted into a muffler. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,829 to Kaplan, a seat cover for skiers is described which can be rolled onto a belt for storage. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,859 to Hamberg, a piece of supplementary clothing is shown which includes a lower pad for sitting on.
None of the above prior art patents related to seat covers, seat warmers and clothing disclose or teach the unique features, objects, advantages and clothing design of the subject combination backpack and splash guard for bicycle riders as described herein.

Combination backpack and splash guard for bicycle rider


The present invention relates to a method for improving the solubility of vegetable proteins. More specifically, the invention relates to methods for the solubilization of proteins in vegetable protein sources, which methods comprise treating the vegetable protein source with an efficient amount of one or more phytase enzymes, and treating the vegetable protein source with an efficient amount of one or more proteolytic enzymes. In another aspect, the invention provides animal feed additives comprising a phytase and one or more proteolytic enzymes.

Protein is an essential nutritional factor for a.o. mammals and layers. Most livestock and many human beings get the necessary proteins from vegetable protein sources. Important vegetable protein sources are e.g. cereals, legumes and oilseed crops.
Hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, such as soy protein hydrolysates, find application as nutrients, e.g. as nutritional additives to foods and beverages. Hydrolyzed proteins are absorbed more easily than unhydrolysed protein, whey protein hydrolysates are considered having the highest nutritional value. Several methods for preparing protein hydrolysates are known and described in the literature, cf. e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,805 and WO 92/15696.
Essentially all food and feed substances originating from plants contain phytate and phytic acid as a storage phosphorus source [cf. review in E. Graf (ed.), Phytic Acid, Chemistry and Applications, Minneapolis, U.S.A., 1986]. About 75-78% of the phosphorus in cereals is bound as phytic acid. Phytate comprises 1-3% of all nuts, cereals, legumes, oil seeds, spores and pollen. Complex salts of phytic acid are termed phytin.
Phytic acid chelates minerals such as calcium, zinc, magnesium, and iron, thereby decreasing the bio-availability of nutritionally important minerals, and is generally considered an anti-nutritional factor. In vitro studies indicate that phytic acid inhibits the peptic digestion of some animal proteins, whereas the trypsin digestion was unaffected [cf. Knuckles et al., Journal of Food Science. 1989 54 1348-1350].
Phytases are enzymes which catalyze the conversion of phytate to inositol and inorganic phosphorus. Phytases have been obtained from e.g. Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Saccharomyces and Aspergillus.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,548 it has been suggested to add microbial phytase to feedstuffs of monogastric animals in order to avoid supplementing the feed with inorganic phosphorus.
It has also been conceived that phytases may be used in the processing of soy. Thus EP-A-0 420 358 reports that soybean meal contains high levels of the anti-nutritional factor phytate which renders this protein source unsuitable for application in baby food, as well as in feed for fish, calves and other non-ruminants, since the phytate chelates essential minerals present therein.
In summary it has previously been suggested to use phytase enzymes either for exploiting the phosphorus bound in the phytate/phytic acid present in vegetable protein sources, or for exploiting the nutritionally important minerals bound in phytic acid complexes.
However, there is a need for improving the availability of the proteins present in vegetable sources, e.g. cereals, legumes and oilseed crops, since an increased availability leads to higher yields of protein hydrolyzing processes as well as nutritional benefits, i.e. improved protein utilization.

Method for improving the solubility of vegetable proteins


In an image forming apparatus including a periodic replacement part detachably mounted to the apparatus main body, the periodic replacement part is provided with a storage medium storing information on the replacement part. The information stored in the storage medium can at least be read on the main body side of the image forming apparatus using a communication portion communicating through a radio wave.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer and a copying machine including a periodic replacement part detachably mounted at the main body thereof and a replacement part used therefor, in which a storage medium holding information on a replacement part is stored in the main body of the replacement part, and the information on the replacement part is used for controlling the main body of the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in the image forming apparatus such as a printer and a copying machine as described above, there has been a general tendency to input information on a replacement part such as a toner cartridge to the main body of the apparatus and control the apparatus based on the input information in order to better the commercial value of the apparatus or improve the operability. For example, according to a practiced technique, in a network printer connected with a personal computer, information on the toner remaining amount of a toner cartridge, for example, is input to the printer main body. The input information is transmitted to a host computer, and the toner remaining amount is displayed at the monitor of a user interface for the host computer, so that the user can readily know the time to exchange the toner cartridge.
Also in the image forming apparatus such as a printer and a copying machine as described above, information on replacement parts such as a toner cartridge is input to the main body of the apparatus so that various replacement parts are identified from one another or kinds of toner in the toner cartridges are identified from one another.
As a method of inputting such information on a replacement part to the apparatus main body as described above and controlling the apparatus based on the input information, a replacement part such as a toner cartridge may be provided with a storage medium which can be used for information transmission to the main body of the apparatus.
A drawer connector is generally used as a conventional coupling device for transmitting information between the recording medium provided at a replacement part such as a toner cartridge as described above and the main body of the apparatus. This is because the drawer connector can be electrically connected in association with the mounting of the replacement part.
The conventional technique described above, however, suffers from the following disadvantages.
1) The drawer connector is connected in one direction and therefore the direction of connecting the replacement part is restricted. For example, a toner cartridge is typically inserted in the axial direction of the apparatus main body, then turned by a prescribed angle and set. However, it would not be possible to connect the drawer connector by such operation in view of the structure because the drawer connector is basically connected in one direction.
2) The drawer connector requires certain force for connection, which could impair the operability of the replacement part. The drawer connector should be operated with different kinds of force for different parts, and the user might prematurely judge that the mounting is complete when the replacement part is not completely mounted, in other words, a mounting fault could result.
3) If toner or the like sticks to the connecting portion of the drawer connector, a connection fault could be caused.
4) When there are multiple replacement parts in an image forming apparatus, a drawer connector for each part is necessary, which increases the size and cost of the device.
5) The recording medium provided at a replacement part to be connected using a drawer connector cannot be reduced in size as the result of using the drawer connector. The drawer connector used should have about six to ten pins, in other words the drawer connector is large in size, which increases the size and cost of replacement parts.
6) If a replacement part such as a toner cartridge is attached to a rotating body in a rotary developing device, the rotating part and the stationary part must be electrically connected, and therefore the reliability at the contact of the rotary part and the stationary part is low.
The present invention is therefore directed to a solution to the disadvantages associated with the conventional technique described above, and provides an image forming apparatus provided with information on a replacement part as an input to a main body thereof, and controlled based on the information, and a replacement part used therefor, in which the direction of connecting the replacement part is not restricted, the operability of the replacement part is not lowered, the size and cost of the apparatus or the replacement part are not increased and yet the information on the replacement part can surely be input to the apparatus main body.
More specifically, according to an aspect of the present invention, in an image forming apparatus having a periodic replacement part detachably mounted to a main body thereof, the replacement part includes a storage medium storing information on the replacement part. The information stored in the storage medium can at least be read on the main body side of the image forming apparatus by the communication portion communicating through a radio wave. In this structure, the storage medium provided at the replacement part and the apparatus main body side communicate by the communication portion communicating through a radio wave, so that the method of mounting the replacement part can be set as desired and the operability can be improved. Since a drawer connector for transmitting information is not necessary for the storage medium of the replacement part, the size of the storage medium can be reduced, so that the replacement part itself can be reduced in size.
Note that the replacement part is, for example, a toner cartridge, but the invention is not limited to this and is applicable to any replacement part used in an image forming apparatus such as a photoreceptor drum, a fuser, a transfer roll, an intermediate transfer body (such as a drum and a belt), and a waste toner box. The term xe2x80x9cperiodicxe2x80x9d in xe2x80x9cthe periodic replacement partxe2x80x9d means that the replacement is expected for the part, and the part actually does not have to be periodically replaced.
The information stored in the storage medium of the replacement part such as a toner cartridge storing toner is the used amount of the toner, the number of prints, information on the manufacture (such as the date of manufacture), user information, monitored information on the use environment such as temperature and humidity, and the number of reuse. Note, however, that the information stored in the storage medium of the replacement part is not limited to these kinds, and may include various kinds of information on the replacement part or the image forming apparatus using the replacement part.
Furthermore, an image forming apparatus having a periodic replacement part detachably mounted to a main body of the apparatus has multiple replacement parts, and a single communication portion is used as a communication portion on the main body side of the apparatus to storage media of the multiple replacement parts. In this structure, only the one communication portion on the apparatus main body side is necessary to the storage media of the multiple replacement parts, and therefore the size and cost of the apparatus can be reduced.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a periodic replacement part detachably mounted to an image forming apparatus is provided with a storage medium storing information on the replacement part. The information stored in the storage medium can at least be read on the main body side of the image forming apparatus by a communication portion communicating through a radio wave. In this structure, the storage medium provided at the replacement part and the image forming apparatus communicate by the communication portion communicating through a radio wave, and therefore the method of mounting the replacement part can be set as desired, so that the operability is improved. A drawer connector for information transmission is not necessary for the storage medium in the replacement part, and therefore the size of the storage medium can be reduced, so that the replacement part itself may be reduced in size.

Image forming apparatus and replacement part used therefor


A flexible touch screen panel in which metal wire sensing patterns are formed as a touch sensor on a first surface of a flexible thin film is provided. The flexible touch screen panel includes a thin film divided into an active area and a non-active area adjacent to the active area, sensing patterns in the active area on a first surface of the thin film, and sensing lines in the non-active area on the first surface of the thin film and connected to the sensing patterns. The sensing patterns include nanowire.

1. Field
Aspects of embodiments of the present invention relate to a touch screen panel and, more particularly, to a flexible touch screen panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
A touch screen panel is an input device capable, for example, of inputting a user's instruction by selecting instruction contents displayed on a screen of an image display device, or the like, with, for example, a human hand or an object. To this end, the touch screen panel may be provided on a front surface of the image display device to convert a contact position directly contacted by the human hand or the object into an electric signal. The instruction contents selected at the contact position is then recognized as an input signal. Since the touch screen panel may be substituted for a separate input device that operates by being connected to the image display device, such as a keyboard or a mouse, application fields thereof have been gradually extended.
Implementation types of touch screen panels include resistive type touch screen panels, photosensitive type touch screen panels, capacitive type touch screen panels, and the like. Among them, the capacitive type touch screen panels operate by sensing a change in capacitance formed between conductive sensing patterns and neighboring other sensing patterns or a ground electrode, or the like, when a human hand or an object contacts the touch screen panel, thereby converting a contact position into an electric signal.
A touch screen panel as described above may be attached to an outer surface of the image display device, such as a liquid crystal display device or an organic light emitting display device, as part of a product manufacturing process. Therefore, the touch screen panel may benefit from characteristics such as high transparency and a thin profile. In addition, flexible image display devices have been recently developed. As such, touch screen panels attached to the flexible image display may also benefit from being flexible.
However, in order to form sensing patterns for implementing a touch sensor in the capacitive type touch screen panel, processes such as thin film forming, pattern forming, or the like, may be used. Therefore, the capacitive type touch screen panel may require properties such as high heat resistance and chemical resistance, or the like. However, capacitive type touch screen panels (that use, for example, sensing patterns or the like) have been formed on glass substrates. Since glass substrates should have sufficient thickness (for example, thickness of a predetermined value or more) to function properly as substrates (for example, be capable of being carried in the manufacturing process), characteristics such as sufficient thinness and flexibility may not be satisfied.
In addition, sensing patterns of capacitive type touch screen panels have been made of indium tin oxide (ITO), but metal oxide films such as ITO may be easily damaged by warping or other physical stresses. Further, high deposition temperature and/or high annealing temperature may be needed to provide proper conductivity of the metal oxide film. However, adhesion of the metal oxide film to a substrate in which moisture is easily absorbed, such as a plastic or organic substrate that is used as a flexible substrate (for example, a polycarbonate substrate), may deteriorate.
In addition, a polarizing plate may be attached to the outer side of the image display device in order to improve outdoor visibility or the like. When a touch screen panel is attached to an upper portion of the image display device, the polarizing plate may be attached to an outer surface of the touch screen panel. Further, the polarizing plate and the touch screen panel may go through processes in which they are each separately manufactured and then bonded or assembled together. However, this may lead to problems in the touch screen panel, such as an increase in overall thickness, a reduction in process efficiency, a reduction in yield, or the like.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A semiconductor memory circuit device having memory cells constructed on a BiCMOS gate array includes amplifying means constituted by a bipolar transistor connected to the output stage of each of memory cells arranged in a matrix form on a semiconductor substrate and formed in a gate array memory cell configuration by use of the Master slice approach. The amplifying means amplifies the potential level of readout data of the memory cell and output the same to an output line, thus enhancing the driving ability of the output line and reducing the whole readout time for reading out data from the memory circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor memory circuit device such as a random access memory (RAM) constituted by basic cells formed on a semiconductor substrate according to the Master slice approach, and more particularly to a semiconductor memory circuit device in which time for data readout is reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, the master slice approach is known as a technique of forming an integrated circuit on a semiconductor substrate.
With the Master slice approach, basic cells corresponding to logic gates such as NAND gates or NOR gates are first formed on the semiconductor substrate in a matrix form, for example. After this, wirings are formed to interconnect the basic cells so as to form an integrated circuit according to the purpose of application thereof.
The integrated circuit formed by use of the Master slice approach includes a gate array type integrated circuit. The gate array type circuit may be used in CMOS gate arrays to constitute random access memories (which are hereinafter referred to as RAMs).
The RAMs constituted by use of CMOS arrays generally include write-in drivers, a plurality of memory sections constituting memory cells, readout inverters and the like, and the RAMs are connected to at least one input line and at least one output line.
That is, write-in data is written into at least one memory cell via the input line. The write-in data is read out from the memory cell in response to a readout signal and output via the output line. A value of a potential level corresponding to the data held in the memory section is output via the output line by means of the readout inverter as the readout data output from the output stage of the memory cell.
Thus, since the output line is driven according to the potential level of the readout data output from the output stage of each memory cell, the whole readout time of the RAMs is determined by the driving ability of the output stage of each memory cell.
In general, in order to reduce the readout time, it may be effective to enhance the driving ability of the output stage by changing the dimensions of the element constituting the memory cell. However, as described before, since the gate array type memory cell is an integrated circuit which is formed by interconnecting previously formed circuit elements, it becomes impossible to form the individual RAMs by use of elements having proper dimensions so as to meet the purpose of application.
As a result, if a large number of memory cells are connected to one output of memory cell, the potential level of data output from the output stage of the RAM becomes low speed and is not high speed enough to drive the output line. Therefore, it is difficult to operate the memory cells at a high speed operation and reduce the readout time of the RAMs.

Semiconductor memory circuit device having memory cells constructed on a Bicmos gate array


A method for diagnosing and improving mobile device connectivity in a network includes executing an instruction set stored on a read-only memory (ROM) of a mobile device to perform a first device performance evaluation associated with services on the mobile device that include a short message service (SMS), a multimedia messaging service (MMS), a voice calling service, and a mobile data service. The device identifies a hardware performance deficiency based at least in part on the first device performance evaluation, and issues at least one command to alter a device component setting on the device. The command is configured to alter a setting associated with the hardware performance deficiency. The device performs a second device performance evaluation, and determines whether the hardware performance deficiency is abated. The device generates a message to a network server indicative of a connectivity failure when the hardware performance deficiency is not abated.

Cellular communication providers may maintain large infrastructures for providing wireless data communications for mobile devices. A cellular services infrastructure can include geographically distributed base stations as well as centralized communication services. For management of a large services infrastructure, a provider may use a network fault management system to monitor and respond to network outages, impairments, and other malfunctions. A network fault management system can be configured to receive information from different parts of a network infrastructure and to present information regarding network status to network administrators. A mobile device application may also work as part of the large services infrastructure. Some device-ran applications may evaluate device functionality and network connectivity, and respond to network outages, impairments, and other malfunctions. Conventional mobile device applications may not have access to some settings on the mobile device, which can limit remedies that may be performed by the application or off-device mechanisms.

Mobile device network performance restoration and improvement


A wear assembly for securing a wear member to excavating equipment that includes a base having a nose and a wear member having a socket. The nose and socket are each provided with one or more complementary stabilizing surfaces in central portions thereof.

Wear parts are commonly attached along the front edge of excavating equipment, such as excavating buckets or cutterheads, to protect the equipment from wear and to enhance the digging operation. The wear parts may include excavating teeth, shrouds, etc. Such wear parts typically include a base, a wear member and a lock to releasably hold the wear member to the base.
In regard to excavating teeth, the base includes a nose which is fixed to the front edge of the excavating equipment (e.g., a lip of a bucket). The nose may be formed as an integral part of the front edge or as part of one or more adapters that are fixed to the front edge by welding or mechanical attachment. A point is fit over the nose. The point narrows to a front digging edge for penetrating and breaking up the ground. The assembled nose and point cooperatively define an opening into which the lock is received to releasably hold the point to the nose.
These kinds of wear parts are commonly subjected to harsh conditions and heavy loading. Accordingly, the wear members wear out over a period of time and need to be replaced. Many designs have been developed in an effort to enhance the strength, stability, durability, penetration, safety, and ease of replacement of such wear members with varying degrees of success.


In an inkjet deposition apparatus, a print head is translated in a transverse direction relative to a substrate and the deviation of the print head relative to a first alignment mark is measured. The inkjet head is then translated in a longitudinal direction relative to the substrate and the deviation of the print head to a further alignment mark is measured. A correction factor for a control unit for translation stage of the apparatus is then generated from the measured deviations.

In recent years there has been an increase in the number of products which require, as part of their fabrication process, the deposition of organic or inorganic soluble or dispersible materials such as polymers, dyes, colloid materials and the like on solid surfaces. One example of these products is an organic polymer electroluminescent display device. An organic polymer electroluminescent display device requires the deposition of soluble polymers into predefined patterns on a solid substrate in order to provide the light emitting pixels of the display device. Further examples include the deposition of materials for forming organic polymer thin film transistors (TFTs) on a substrate and interconnects between chips assembled on the substrate using fluidic self assembly (FSA). The substrate may, for example, be formed of glass, plastics or silicon.
Typically, the substrate is a rigid substrate, thereby providing a rigid display device. However, products comprising flexible displays, which may be rolled or folded, are increasingly sought after, in particular where a large display is required. Such flexible displays provide substantially improved weight and handling characteristics and are less likely to fail due to shock during installation of the display device or use of the display device. In addition, relatively small display devices comprising a large display area may be conveniently provided.
In the manufacture of semiconductor display devices, including light emitting diode (LED) displays, it has been conventional to use photolithographic techniques. However, photolithographic techniques are relatively complex, time consuming and costly to implement. In addition, photolithographic techniques are not readily suitable for use in the fabrication of display devices incorporating soluble organic polymer materials. Concerns relating to the fabrication of the organic polymer pixels have, to some extent, hindered the development of products such as electroluminescent display devices incorporating such materials to act as the light emitting pixel elements.
In addition, the use of etch masks, such as photo masks for photolithography or metal shadow masks for patterning by evaporation deposition, is well known in conventional fabrication techniques. Hence, these processes will not be described in detail in the context of the present invention. However, such conventional fabrication techniques present severe process concerns for a number of devices including large scale display devices. Indeed, the etching and deposition of relatively long but extremely narrow lines has, for a long period of time, presented severe fabrication difficulties as it is very difficult to produce mechanically robust masks which will provide the required definition in the finished product. For example, a metal shadow mask for evaporation deposition for a large scale display device will inevitably exhibit some sagging or bowing in the central unsupported portion of the mask. This leads to an uneven distance between the mask and the substrate at the edge and the centre of the substrate respectively, thereby giving rise to uneven width and thickness of the deposited lines and adversely affecting the quality of the display.
Organic semiconducting polymers may be printed in high resolution patterns using inkjet technology and are therefore an attractive alternative to the more conventional semiconductor materials, such as silicon, for the production of light emitting diodes for flat display panels and field effect transistors.
Consequently, it has been proposed to use inkjet technology to deposit the soluble organic polymers in the fabrication of, for example, electroluminescent display devices and thin film transistors. Inkjet technology is, by definition, ideally suited to the deposition of such soluble or dispersible materials. It is a fast and inexpensive technique. In contrast to alternative techniques such as spin coating or vapour deposition, it instantly provides patterning without the need for an etch step in combination with a lithographic technique. Furthermore, the high specification processing techniques, such as vacuum and deposition processing, are not required, as is the case for the fabrication of inorganic semiconductors. The investment in capital equipment to fabricate devices can therefore also be reduced. Additionally, when compared to a spin coating technique there is less waste of the organic material as the material is deposited in very small quantities directly as the requisite predefined patterns.
However, the deposition of the soluble organic materials onto the solid surface using inkjet technology differs from the conventional use of the technology, to deposit ink on paper, and a number of difficulties are encountered. In particular, there is a primary requirement in a display device for uniformity of light output and uniformity of electrical characteristics. There are also spatial limitations imposed in device fabrication. As such, there is the non-trivial problem to provide very accurate deposition of the soluble polymers onto the substrate from the inkjet print head. This is particularly so for colour displays as respective polymers providing red, green and blue light emissions are required to be deposited at each pixel of the display.
Substrate sizes can be relatively large and are typically 40 cm×50 cm or larger. To assist the deposition of the soluble materials it has been proposed to provide the substrate with a layer which includes a pattern of wall structures defined in a de-wetting material so as to provide an array of wells or elongate trenches, bounded by the wall structures, for receiving the material to be deposited. Such a patterned substrate will be referred to hereinafter as a bank structure. When organic polymers in solution are deposited into the wells, the difference in the wettability of the organic polymer solutions and the bank structure material causes the solution to self align into the wells provided on the substrate surface.
However, it is still necessary to deposit the droplets of organic polymer material in substantial alignment with the wells in the bank structure. Even when such a bank structure is used, the deposited organic polymer solution adheres to some extent to the walls of the material defining the wells. This causes the central area of each deposited droplet to have, at best, a thin coating of deposited material, perhaps as low as 10% of the material in comparison to the material deposited at the walls of the bank structure. The deposited polymer material at the centre of the wells acts as the active light emissive material in the display device and if the polymer material is not deposited in accurate alignment with the wells, the amount and therefore the thickness of the active light emissive material can be further reduced. This thinning of the active light emissive material is of serious concern because the current passing through the material in use of the display is increased which reduces the life expectancy and the efficiency of the light emissive devices of the display. This thinning of the deposited polymer material will also vary from pixel to pixel if deposition alignment is not accurately controlled. This gives rise to a variation in the light emission performance of the organic polymer material from pixel to pixel because the LEDs constituted by the organic material are current driven devices and, as stated above, the current passing through the deposited polymer material will increase with any decrease in the thickness of the deposited material.
This performance variation from pixel to pixel gives rise to non-uniformity in the displayed image, which degrades the quality of the displayed image. This degradation of image quality is in addition to the reduction in operating efficiency and working life expectancy of the LEDs of the display. It can be seen therefore that accurate deposition of the polymer materials is essential to provide good image quality and a display device of acceptable efficiency and durability, irrespective of whether a bank structure is provided.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional inkjet deposition machine 100 which can be used for rigid or flexible substrates. The machine comprises a base 102 supporting a pair of upright columns 104. The columns 104 support a transverse beam 106 upon which is mounted a carrier 108 supporting an inkjet print head 110. The base 102 also supports a platen 112 upon which may be mounted a substrate 114, which is typically glass and has a maximum size of 40 cm×50 cm. The platen 112 is mounted from the base 102 via a computer controlled motorised support or translation stage 116 for effecting movement of the platen 112 both in a transverse and a longitudinal direction relative to the inkjet print head, as shown by the axes X and Y in FIG. 1. As the movement of the platen 112, and hence the substrate 114 relative to the inkjet head 110 is under computer control, arbitrary patterns may be printed onto the substrate by ejecting appropriate materials from the inkjet head 110 onto predetermined positions on the substrate. The computer control is further used to control the selection and driving of the nozzles and a camera may be used to view the substrate during printing. To enhance the accuracy of printing, position feedback may be provided for the translation stage, thereby allowing the position of the platen to be continually monitored during motion. In addition, a signal used for communicating between the translation stage and computer control can be used as a clock for timing inkjet ejection.
Two distinct techniques can be implemented to synchronise the position of the droplets to the substrate. One technique is the use of a signal as a trigger source for the timing of the ejection according to the velocity of the substrate. By matching the frequency of the ejection from the head to this velocity, a certain deposition spacing of droplets can be achieved. By changing the ratio of the two, the spacing between deposited droplets can be varied. Alternatively, another technique involves the use of the signal used in a position encoder system implemented in the translation stage. The position encoder is used in the translation stage to accurately determine the position of the moving platen. The position encoder sends a signal to the controller as a series of electrical pulses, the position and velocity of the stage is determined from this signal. This signal can therefore also be implemented as the timing signals for the inkjet head.
In either of the above cases, there is a requirement that the position of the head to the substrate is accurate to within microns to obtain uniform patterning of the material on to the substrate with the desired accuracy. To achieve this, accurate control of the positioning of the stage is crucial.
However, positional errors arising from mechanical limitations of the translation stage can occur, which can limit the positional accuracy of the inkjet print head 110 relative to the platen 112 and therefore the substrate 114 on which the high resolution patterning is required. Such limitation in positional accuracy may arise from the following exemplary causes.
The translation of the stage, and hence the platen, along its path may be erroneous, i.e. the distance actually translated by the stage may be marginally longer or shorter than the required distance which has been programmed into the machine. This can be explained with reference to FIG. 2, where the intended translation space is shown by the solid line rectangle defined by the points A, B, C, D, i.e. the actual points on the substrate which must be reached by the inkjet head; and the actual translation space, which is shown by the dotted line parallelogram defined by the points A, B′, C′, D′ and resulting from errors in the translation length and construction angle θ between the x and y axes of the translation system.
These errors in the translation length may occur in one or both of the axes shown in FIG. 2 and it can be seen from FIG. 2 that instead of the translation length from the point A (origin point) being either x or y, for example, the actual translation may be x+Δx or y+Δy. Errors may also be anticipated resulting from the combination of the two axes in an x-y configuration, where there may be an error in the construction angle subtended by the two axes. For printing of an accurate pattern, the angle subtended by the two axes should be exactly 90° but frequently this is not the case due to the manufacturing tolerances of the inkjet machine. If the subtended angle is not exactly 90°, it is to be expected that the position of the stage away from the origin point A will be in error and, at substantially large displacements from the point A, the erroneous positioning of the stage would be likely to cause unacceptable offsets in the deposited droplets from the inkjet head.
It will be appreciated that preparation alignment of the translation stage relative to the print head is required prior to actual deposition of droplets from the inkjet head to ensure that the translation stage and the head are aligned in both the x and y directions throughout the intended translation space, as defined by the points A, B, C and D in FIG. 2.

Inkjet deposition apparatus and method with horizontal and vertical axes deviation correction


For use in combining and/or splitting a 3-wavelength multiplexed light, in which if central wavelengths of the three bands are denoted as λ1, λ2 and λ3, in a relation that 0.92≦λ2/λ1≦1.08, 0.20≦λ3/λ1≦0.92 or 1.08≦λ3/λ1≦5.00, the wavelength multiplexing and demultiplexing device comprises two optical filters of different characteristics, supported by one of more optical substrates combined in a single package, wherein, when a 3-wavelength multiplexed light is led to a first filter A for splitting the 3-wavelength multiplexed light into light of a band of λ3 and a 2-wavelength multiplexed light of λ1 and λ2, and when the 2-wavelength multiplexed light is led to a second filter B for splitting the 2-wavelength multiplexed light into light of a band of λ1 and light of a band of λ2, an optical edge filter is used for the filter A and an optical band-pass filter is used for the filter B.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wavelength multiplexing and demutiplexing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dielectric multi-layer films are generally used as the anti-reflection films coated on the surfaces of spectacle lenses or as the television color-separation filters coated on glass substrates. With the miniaturizing trend of devices, in color separation filters used in liquid crystal projectors and cameras, etc. or laser detection mirrors used in DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) devices, those models have come to be required which are structured such that a dielectric multilayer film is held between two prism-shaped glass substrates and a light is incident at an angle on the dielectric multilayer film. In the communications sector, to cope with the huge increase in traffic on the Internet, the introduction of multiple-wavelength transmission technology has been pushed forward and, above all, there is requirement for filters, including a dielectric multilayer film serving as an edge filter or a band-pass filter formed on the glass substrate to separate light of different wavelengths.
In optical communication, by combining 3-terminal modules in cascade, it becomes possible to combine (multiplex) or separate (de-multiplex) light of various wavelengths, but because modules are required as many as the number of waves combined or separated, and the likely results are increases of device cost, area required, and installation cost. As is disclosed in JP-A-8-82711 and "Optical Engineering" by Yoichi Fujii, Agune Shofusha, 1993, pp168-169, modules have been proposed which incorporate a plurality of band-pass filters and edge filters in a single module to thereby combine or separate multiple wavelengths; however, since the beam-splitting angle is small, a problem arises that if one is going to mount a laser for transmission and a diode for reception, it is necessary to secure a long optical path, which leads to increases in device size and installation cost. If one tries to reduce the size of the device, it is necessary to use a laser/diode array, which results in cost increase. If an attempt is made to achieve downsizing without cost increase, it is required to increase the beam-splitting angle, in which case, however, a problem arises that a deviation becomes large between P-wave and S-wave of the output light, which results in a deterioration of the beam multiplexing/demultiplexing characteristics.
To improve the deterioration problem of characteristics which depends on the p-polarized light and the s-polarized light at a high deviation angle, or a high incident angle, in other words, to improve the problem that a considerable deviation occurs in the amplitude wavelength characteristics of the outgoing light depending on the polarizing direction of the incident light, Si is used for the high refractive index layer of a dielectric multilayer filter in JP-A-2000-162413. If a substance with high refractive index, such as Si, Ge, ZnS, ZnSe, for example, is used for the high refractive index layer, the characteristic differences in the amplitude characteristics can be improved, but as disclosed in JP-A-2000-162413, when TiO2 or SiO2 is used for the low refractive-index layer, if left as it stands for a long time at a high temperature of 85° C. and a high relative humidity of 85%, oxygen of TiO2 or SiO2 diffuses to the side of the high refractive-index layer, causing a decrease in the refractive index of the Si or Ge layer, a wavelength shift by a rise of the refractive index of the low refractive-index layer, and changes in the optical characteristics. A problem with ZnS or ZnSe is that because of the low adhesion to SiO2 or TiO2, the ZnS or ZnSe tends to break away.
If the medium of incidence is air with a refractive index of 1, the characteristic differences due to different polarizing directions can be reduced. However, with the optical parts of late, in which the degree of element integration has become very high owing to the trend of miniaturization, the filters are used often in direct contact with other optical parts, such as fiber capillary tubing, prisms or waveguides. In such a case, when air is used as the incident medium, it is necessary to employ the air sandwich structure. If the air sandwich structure is used, it follows therefore that an anti-reflection film is formed to suppress changes in the amplitude due to multiple reflections at the bonding surfaces. Because this anti-reflection film is made optimal to the air with a refractive index of 1, if a resin or the like is allowed to infiltrate to the light transmission surface in a bonding process, the transmission characteristics will deteriorate, and therefore it is required to adopt such a bonding structure as to prohibit an unwanted intrusion of resin, which is another factor of cost increase. Instead of this, if mere resin bonding is used, a decrease in process yield will result.
There is another method which adjusts the planes of polarization of the incident light to eliminate the differences in characteristics due to the different planes of polarization. If any one of the polarized light is extracted by using a polarizer, this results in a decrease in the amount of light. If, after splitting the incident light into an s-polarized light and a p-polarized light and the polarization states are made uniform by converting the s-polarized light into the p-polarized light or the p-polarized light into the s-polarized light, this method makes it necessary to provide a part to convert the planes of polarization, thus increasing the size of the device and raising the cost.


A liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes a liquid crystal panel having a vertical alignment type liquid crystal layer, and a drive circuit for supplying a driving voltage to the liquid crystal panel, and performs display in a normally black mode. At least at panel temperature 40° C., a rise transmittance Tr is equal to or greater than 75% of the transmittance in the highest gray scale level displaying state, and a decay transmittance Td is equal to or less than 8% of the transmittance in the highest gray scale level displaying state. At a panel temperature T1 below 40° C., the decay transmittance Td is greater than 4% and equal to or less than 8% of the transmittance in the highest gray scale level displaying state, and when displaying an intermediate gray scale level which is higher than a gray scale level displayed in a previous vertical scanning period, the drive circuit supplies an overshoot voltage OSVT1 which is lower than a just overshoot voltage JOSVT1 for the panel temperature T1.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, a driving method thereof, and an electronic device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device suitably used for the purpose of displaying moving pictures, a driving method thereof, and an electronic device incorporating such a liquid crystal display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, liquid crystal display devices (hereinafter referred to as "LCDs") have been in wide use. The mainstream has heretofore been TN-type LCDs in which nematic liquid crystal having a positive dielectric anisotropy is employed in a twist alignment. However, TN-type LCDs have a problem in that they have a large viewing angle dependence associated with the orientation of liquid crystal molecules.
Therefore, so-called alignment-divided vertical alignment type LCDs have been developed to improve on the viewing angle dependence, and applications thereof are becoming more and more widespread. For example, Japanese Patent No. 2947350 discloses an MVA-type liquid crystal display device, which is one species of alignment-divided vertical alignment type liquid crystal display device. The MVA-type liquid crystal display device is an LCD which performs display in a normally black (NB) mode by using a vertical alignment type liquid crystal layer which is provided between a pair of electrodes. Domain restriction means (e.g., slits or protrusions) are provided so that liquid crystal molecules in each pixel will lean or incline in a plurality of different directions under an applied voltage.
Recently, there has been a rapidly increasing need to display moving picture information, not only on liquid crystal television sets, but also on PC monitors and portable terminal devices (such as mobile phones or PDAs). In order to display high-quality moving pictures on an LCD, it is necessary to reduce the response time (i.e., increase the response speed) of the liquid crystal layer, and it is a requirement that a predetermined gray scale level be reached within one vertical scanning period (typically one frame).
As for MVA-type LCDs, Japanese Patent No. 2947350 discloses, for example, that the response time between black and white can be reduced to 10 msec or less. It is also described that, by providing regions differing in distance between protrusions within each pixel to give regions with different response speeds, improvement in apparent response speed can be attained without reducing the aperture ratio (see FIGS. 107 to 110 of Japanese Patent No. 2947350, for example).
On the other hand, as a driving method for improving the response characteristics of an LCD, there is known a method (referred to as "overshoot driving") that involves applying a voltage (referred to as an "overshoot voltage") which is higher than a voltage (a predetermined gray scale voltage) corresponding to a gray scale level that needs to be displayed. By applying an overshoot voltage (hereinafter referred to as an "OS voltage"), the response characteristics in gray scale display can be improved. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-231091 discloses an MVA-type LCD which operates by overshoot driving (hereinafter "OS driving").
However, through detailed study, the inventors of the present invention have found a new problem which occurs when OS driving is applied to an alignment-divided vertical alignment type LCD, such as the aforementioned MVA-type LCD. This problem will be described with reference to FIG. 11.
FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating changes in transmittance over time when OS driving is performed for an MVA-type LCD which performs display in a normally black mode. In FIG. 11, the solid line represents transmittance corresponding to a target gray scale level, whereas the dotted line and the dot-dash line show transition of the actual transmittance.
In general, there are two types of response of a liquid crystal layer: "rise" and "decay". A "rise" is a change in the display state in response to an increase in the voltage applied across the liquid crystal layer. A "decay" is a change in the display state in response to a decrease in the voltage applied across the liquid crystal layer. In an LCD of a normally black mode, "rise" corresponds to an increase in transmittance, whereas "decay" corresponds to a decrease in transmittance.
FIG. 11 illustrates a case where response occurs in the order of a decay and then a rise. As shown by the dot-dash line in FIG. 11, it is preferable that a transmittance corresponding to a target gray scale level be reached within one vertical scanning period. However, in an actual LCD, as shown by the dotted line, transmittance may not decrease to the transmittance corresponding to the target gray scale level within one vertical scanning period, during a decay response. When an OS voltage for a rise response is applied in this state, the transmittance will become higher than the transmittance corresponding to the target gray scale level, thus causing a substantial shift to the white side (hereinafter referred to as "white shift").

Liquid crystal display device, driving method thereof, and electronic device


In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to marking orthodontic devices. In some embodiments, a carrier for orthodontic appliances comprises a base that is additively manufactured and comprising a plurality of wells configured to house orthodontic appliances and a marking integral to the base, wherein the marking identifies one or more of the orthodontic appliances and locations for the orthodontic appliances. In some embodiments, an orthodontic appliances comprises a body including features and a bonding surface, wherein the orthodontic appliance is additively manufactured and includes a marking integral to the orthodontic appliance, wherein the marking is located on one or more of the body and the bonding surface.

Orthodontic clinicians seek to correct malocclusions by use of many different devices, such as braces, retainers, pallet expanders, positioners, etc. Braces, one of the most commonly used devices, include a number of orthodontic appliances such as brackets, archwires, and ligatures. The brackets are affixed to a patient's teeth and the archwire passes through slots in the brackets designed to receive the archwire. The ligatures secure the archwire within the slots. Because no two patients have identical malocclusions or facial geometries, the prescription for each patient's braces must be selected by the clinician. A prescription for braces typically includes specifically selected brackets, archwires, and ligatures.
In current systems, clinicians order a number of orthodontic appliances (e.g., brackets). In the example in which the orthodontic appliances are brackets, there is typically an identification scheme that allows the clinician to identify which bracket is which. For example, the brackets may be provided in a container that includes some sort of coding (e.g., numbering, lettering, etc.) included with the container. However, this coding is not integral to the container. Rather, application of the coding is a post-process event. As one example, the container can include a number of compartments and the appliances are placed in the compartments. The coding is then applied to the container to identify the appliance housed in each compartment. For example, a sticker can be applied to, or a code written by hand on, the container. There is significant risk of error because the coding is created and provided separately from the container. Accordingly, a need exists for better systems and methods of marking orthodontic devices.
Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

Systems and methods for marking orthodontic devices


An electrophotographic printer is configured to print a three-dimensional texture on a substrate by applying clear toner in locations corresponding to where texture is desired. The clear toner for texture may be applied either after, or before, other colors (e.g., CMYK) are applied to the substrate. The clear toner may be applied during the same pass as the other colors in an electrophotographic printer (10) having five imaging units (20C, 20M, 20Y, 20K, and 20X). Alternatively, the clear toner may be applied during a second pass of the substrate through the electrophotographic printer (10) if, on the first pass, all five imaging units are occupied with different colored toners. An electrophotographic printing system that includes a front-end station for scanning a document coupled to an electrophotographic printer (10) allows an operator to add texture to a scanned document.

FIG. 1a shows a prior art electrophotographic (EP) printer 10, such as the NexPress® 2100. The electrophotographic (EP) printer 10 includes five imaging units (also referred to as development stations or electrostatographic image-forming modules) 20C, 20M, 20Y, 20K, and 20X. These stations are generally arranged in tandem and are shown in FIG. 1a in a specific arrangement with cyan, magenta, yellow, black, and a fifth station in order. Each station includes elements that are similar from station to station and are shown in FIG. 1a to have similar referenced numerals with a suffix of C, M, Y, and K to refer to the station to which such element is respectively associated. Since each station is identical in construction, the specific elements specified herein are shown in FIG. 1a at one station only, but should be understood to apply in like manner to each station. Each station includes a primary image-forming member, for example, a drum or roller, 22. Each roller 22 has a respective photoconductive surface 24 having one or more layers upon which an image or a series of images is formed. To form a toned image, the outer surface of the rollers 22 are uniformly charged by a primary charger such as a corona charging device 26, or by any other suitable charger such as a roller charger, a brush charger, etc. The uniformly charged surface 24, is typically exposed by an image writer or exposure device 28, which is generally an LED or other electro-optical exposure device. Any alternative exposure device may be used, such as an optical exposure device to selectively alter the charge on the surface 24 of the roller 22. The exposure device 28 creates an electrostatic image that corresponds to an image to be reproduced or generated. This electrostatic image is developed by applying marking particles to the latent image on the photoconductive drum 22 by a toner developing station 30. Each toner development station 30 is associated with a particular type of toner marking particle and magnetic carrier particle, which is typically in a preferred toner concentration and is attracted by a certain voltage supplied by a power supply (not shown). The image is transferred onto a transfer drum 32. After the transfer is made from the photoconductive drum 22, the residual toner image is cleaned from the surface 24 of the drum 22 by a suitable cleaning device 34. The cleaning device 34 then prepares the surface 24 of the drum 22 for reuse to form subsequent toner images. The intermediate or transfer drum 32 likewise is coated by a transfer surface 36, which can include one or more layers. The intermediate transfer drums 32 are each cleaned by respective cleaning devices 44 to prepare the transfer drums for reuse.
The imaging units 20C, 20M, 20Y, 20K, and 20X generally are in contact with a transport device, such as the shown endless belt or web 38, which can include receiver members adhered thereto for receipt of the paper or other media 15 that is to receive the image. In the alternative, the belt or web provided should not be restricted to the belt or web shown in FIG. 1a since the image transfer can be made on any suitable surface capable of receiving paper or other media as it passes between the imaging units. The web 38 can also detachably retain the paper electrostatically or by mechanical devices such as grippers. Typically, receiver members are electrostatically adhered to belt 38 by the deposit of electrostatic charges from a charging device, such as, for example, by using a corona charger 40. A sheet of paper 15 is shown in FIG. 1a proceeding along the belt 38 through each of the five imaging stations.
As shown in FIG. 1a, the transfer drum 32 interacts with the paper 15 along the belt 38 to transfer the electrostatic image from the transfer surface 36 of the transfer drum 32. The paper 15 then proceeds in tandem order through each developing station. Once the paper 15 has passed through each imaging unit 20, the paper 15 proceeds to a detack charger 42 to deposit a neutralizing charge on the paper 15 to separate the paper 15 from the belt 38. The paper 15 proceeds past the detack charger 42 and is transported to a remote location for operator retrieval. The transfer of images in each imaging unit 20C, 20M, 20Y, 20K, and 20X are performed without the application of heat to negate any fusing or sintering of toner images transferred to the paper 15 until the paper 15 enters a fuser 44 downstream. The paper 15 utilized herein can vary substantially in thickness and it is contemplated that this paper should not be limiting in any manner. For example, the paper can be thin or thick, include various paper stocks, transparencies stock, plastic sheet materials, and foils.
Although not shown, appropriate sensors of any well-known type, such as mechanical, electrical, or optical sensors, for example, generally are utilized in the printer to provide control signals for the printer. Such sensors may be located along the paper travel path, including along the belt 38, between the paper supply, and through the imaging units and the fusing station. Additional sensors may be associated with the photoconductive drums, the intermediate drums, any transferring mechanisms, and any of the image processing stations. Accordingly, the sensors can be provided to detect the location of the paper through its travel path in relation to each of the imaging units and can transmit appropriate signals indicative of the paper location. Such signals are input into a logic and control unit (not shown), which can include a microprocessor. Based on such signals and on the microprocessor, the control unit can output signals to the printer to control the timing operations of the various development stations or imaging units to process images and to control a motor (not shown) that drives the various drums and belts.
An electrophotographic system may include a front-end station 150 that is coupled either by wired, or wireless, connection, to the electrophotographic (EP) printer 10. As seen in FIG. 1b, the front-end station 150 may include a scanner 152 having a scanning head 154 for scanning documents. In addition, the front end station has a personal computer or the like, including a display 156, a keyboard 158 and a pointing device, such as a mouse 160 or the like, to interface with an operator. The front-end station may be a unit that is separate and distinct form the electrophotographic (EP) printer, as shown in FIG. 1a, or it may be part stand-alone unit. Software in the front-end station allows one to receive and edit job tickets, print process information, print content information, and the like.
The present invention addresses the problem of how to apply a three-dimensional texture to an electrophotographic image using an electrophotographic (EP) printer.

System and method for creating a three-dimensional texture in an electrophotographic image


A motor fan bracket is molded of a fiber reinforced thermoset polyester. The motor/fan bracket has an annular frame and an annular bearing housing concentric with the frame and supported by inwardly extending arms. The annular bearing housing has a bearing-receiving cavity configured in cross section as an equilateral polygon such that each face of that cavity is tangential to a bearing received therein.

It is well known that in motor/fan assemblies, a motor/fan shaft is typically maintained within a bearing received within a bore in the fan end bracket. In the past, such fan end brackets have typically been of metal construction, formed by a stamping or metal die casting process. Similarly, the cup adapted for receiving the bearing has typically been pressed or stamped into a support member that traverses an end of the fan end bracket. Bearing-receiving cups or receptacles have typically been accurately formed by the press or stamping process. Accordingly, the bearing can be easily placed into its receptacle during the manufacturing and motor assembly process.
Recently, it has become desirable to form many of the structural components of motors from molded plastics. It has particularly become known to employ thermoset plastics for that purposes. However, shrinkage and the like which is experienced when a molded piece cools or is cured often results in distortion of various features on the molded part. Specifically, when using fiberglass reinforced thermoset polyester, it has been found that the bearing cup at the end of the fan end bracket is given to distortion during the cooling/curing process of the thermoset material unless great care is given in the manufacturing process. When the bore is made as a complete cylindrical bore, defined by a cylindrical wall, the bore often deforms to an elliptical or egg shape in cross section, rather than a circular configuration as is necessary for receiving the bearing. As a consequence, there is a high rejection rate of such molded fan end brackets, while even those which might be acceptable require significant reworking. Simply stated, the rejection rate or the rework rate of such molded fan end brackets has been found to be undesirably high. Moreover, with the wall of the bearing bore being designed to make total circumferential contact with the bearing, the necessary rework to attain that constant receipt is significant.
While the molding of fan end brackets and other motor/fan assembly parts from thermoset materials is highly desirable, the rejection or rework rate for such parts often negates the benefits achieved over the prior art metal stamped or die castparts. Notably, the primary area of concern with respect to the fan end bracket is that the bearing bore be sufficiently configured to nestingly receive the bearing during the manufacturing process. The other problems inherent with the plastic molding process have been less egregious.
In view of the foregoing, it is most desirable that a molded thermoplastic fan end bracket be devised that has either a uniformly formed bearing receptacle, or one which has minimal distortions which are easily reworked.

Bearing bore construction for fan end bracket


A method and apparatus are provided for analyzing the elemental constituents of fluid streams in the cellulose pulp industry, such as liquid with dissolved solids for treatment of cellulose pulp or from the treatment of cellulose pulp, or liquid slurries including comminuted cellulose material. Continuous on-line elemental analyses are made of one or more such fluid streams, and at least the partial elemental make-up (either material, or of elements added for marking) of the streams determined. Then one or more processes for acting on the fluid streams are controlled to optimize the processes as a result of the analyses made. The invention is particularly useful in the continuous on-line analysis of black liquor utilizing prompt gamma neutron activation analysis, and controlling the operation of an evaporator or recovery boiler. The invention is also applicable to a paper pulp slurry in which case the carbon content of the slurry is analyzed to determine the precise solids consistency, and may employ NMR or 'H-MR.

In the production of cellulose pulp, pulp production processes, and chemical recovery processes are typically designed so that control is accomplished by obtaining empirical data ultimately used to control the processes, or by sacrificing process optimization in order to utilize simple equipment. While some pulp processes do utilize continuous monitoring of slurry qualities in controlling pulp treatment based upon such an analysis, these typically are performed utilizing density measurements. For example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,590 a method of maintaining uniformity of the cellulose material fed to a continuous digester is practiced by using gamma absorption techniques to determine the density of the chips slurry just prior to introduction into the digester, and then subsequent to treatment. In co-pending application Ser. No. 07/782,828 filed Oct. 25, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,159, the feed of cellulose material to a continuous digester is controlled by continuously determining a quality related to mass flow of the material being fed by passing a stream of nuclear particles through the flow of material to determine its density, utilizing a feed chute, and a chips meter. However, most processes do not utilize continuous monitoring techniques because they have not heretofore provided information that is highly useful in effecting subsequent controls of process conditions and equipment.
There are some systems (e.g. "The Drywood System") that have been marketed for the pulp and paper industry that utilize neutron radiation for measurement of the water content in the incoming wood chip flow. These are based on the principal of measuring the total quantity of the wood chip inflow on a conveyor belt by utilizing conventional gamma ray measurements to calculate the mass of the chips on the conveyor based on attenuation of the gamma rays when they pass through the conveyed material. In addition to this measurement, the same flow of wood chips is irradiated with fast neutrons. The back scattered or penetrated neutron spectrum is measured. Since the fast neutrons quickly slow down in any material containing light nuclei, the neutron energy spectrum shifts to lower energies. In other words the neutrons thermalize in the media. The efficiency of thermalization is dependent on the proportions of nuclei with different masses in the media where the thermalization is taking place. Based on this phenomena, it is possible to find the ratio of hydrogen atoms to heavier carbon and oxygen atoms in the flow of wood chips, which is being irradiated in this measurement system. The system works reasonably well with water contents from about 20-60%, but becomes very inaccurate as the water content increases. While this measurement does utilize both gamma radiation and neutron radiation, it does not measure elemental composition and is based on observing neutron thermalization and gamma attenuation only.
According to the present invention a method and apparatus are provided for continuously analyzing fluid streams associated with the production of cellulose pulp, and for effecting process control of equipment as a result of such analysis. According to the invention, continuous on-line elemental analyses are made. The fluid streams may be conventional streams, or specifically "marked" to facilitate analysis. By determining what amount of various chemical constituents of a fluid stream, various controls can be implemented.
The invention is particularly useful in analyzing black liquor, which contains dissolved solids, including lignin, as a result of digestion of cellulose, but the invention is also useful for analyzing slurries containing comminuted cellulose material. While continuous on-line elemental analysis has heretofore been known in a number of industries, such as in the coal, oil, cement, and mining industries, such as for determining the ash content of coal, or the elemental analysis of cement, or the amount of silica in coal for a gasifier installation, utilizing the conventional equipment (such as manufactured by Science Applications International Corporation, MDH-Motherwell Inc., and Gamma-Metrics), such techniques have not heretofore been applied to the pulp and paper industry.
One reason elemental analysis techniques have not been applied to the pulp and paper industry undoubtedly is because many of the prior art techniques are applied to solid materials, rather than liquids, and solid materials are much easier to analyze. Regardless of the reasons why such techniques have not been applied in the pulp and paper industry heretofore, however, it has been found according to the invention that such techniques can be very beneficial for a number of pulp applications, and can clearly justify the continuous on-line monitoring equipment necessary to practice such techniques.
According to one basic aspect of the present invention, a method for effecting process control of equipment used for the production of cellulose pulp is provided. The method comprises the following steps: (a) Making continuous on-line elemental analyzes of one or more fluid streams comprising liquid with dissolved solids for treatment of cellulose pulp or from the treatment of cellulose pulp, or liquid slurries including comminuted cellulose material. (b) Determining at least the partial elemental makeup of the one or more fluid streams. And, (c) in response to (b), controlling (either automatically or manually) one or more processes for acting on the one or more fluid streams to optimize the one or more processes.
Step (a) is preferably practiced by bombarding the fluid stream being analyzed with radioactive particles or radiation, and detecting radioactive particles or radiation as a result of that bombardment. One particularly preferred technique is prompt gamma neutron activation analysis, although other techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) (and in particular proton magnetic resonance ('H-MR), proton activation analysis, and X-ray fluorescence, can be utilized. In the case of NMR or 'H-MR, there will be additional benefits of determining the concentrations of various molecules or chemical substances in the process flow in addition to the elemental composition. In addition, it may be possible to determine the distribution of the various substances in the process flow, for example, to find out whether the flow is homogenous and whether the chemicals are bound to pulp fibers or flowing freely in the aqueous part of the slurry. There may also be the further step (d), prior to step (a), of adding a marking chemical (e.g. chlorides or bromides) to one or more fluid stream (e.g. a pulp fiber slurry), and then step (b) is practiced to detect the amount of marking chemical.
As earlier indicated, one of the best utilizations of the techniques according to the invention in a pulp and paper mill is with respect to black liquor. For example, step (a) may be practiced prior to entry of the black liquor into an evaporator, and step (c) practiced to control operation of the evaporator. Alternatively, the black liquor may be strong black liquor (after evaporation), so that step (a) is practiced just prior to entry of the black liquor into a recovery boiler, and step (c) is practiced by controlling operation of the recovery boiler, such as the primary and secondary air supplies. Alternatively, step (c) may be practiced to effect emergency shutoff of the black liquor feed in cases a suddenly elevated hydrogen/carbon ratio indicates an undesirable high water content in the black liquor feed. Such high water content could lead to a steam explosion if left uncontrolled. When black liquor is the fluid stream being analyzed, it has been found that when the liquor stream has a flow cross-sectional dimension of about 14-20 centimeters, particularly using the prompt gamma neutron activation analysis technique, the results are optimized. In such a situation, a germanium semi-conductor detector is typically used, shielded from a neutron emitter by about 2-3 centimeters of lead radiation shielding, or a sodium iodide (NaI) detector may be used.
While the invention is particularly useful for the analysis of black liquor, and subsequent control of black liquor handling steps, the invention is also applicable to determination of density of slurries. However rather than determining density or water content or consistency in a manner such as that of conventional gamma ray absorption devices (as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,590), according to the invention the amount of carbon in a slurry is analyzed. Alternatively the amount of many of the trace chemicals in the fibers in the slurry can be measured to use as a basis for density measurement, which then may be utilized to determine the precise solids consistency. Then the amount of treatment chemical added to the slurry may be controlled downstream, or the slurrying liquid/cellulose material ratio may be controlled upstream of where the analysis takes place.
The invention is capable of determining the amount of sulfur, sodium, calcium, chlorine, potassium, hydrogen, carbon, or combinations of these elements, in the fluid stream, and a common radiation source may be associated with a plurality of fluid streams (e.g. disposed in a circle therearound), with a plurality of detectors, one associated with each of the streams; or a single movable detector may be provided. Analysis takes place utilizing a computer.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of analyzing a fluid stream comprising a liquid with dissolved solids produced during the production or treatment of cellulose pulp, to determine the amount of one or more elements therein, is provided. The method comprises the following steps: (a) Causing the liquid with dissolved solids produced during the production or treatment of cellulose pulp to continuously flow in a first direction. (b) Directing radiation toward the flowing liquid (e.g. in a second direction, substantially perpendicular to the first direction), to bombard the solids in the liquid. (c) Detecting the radiation passing through or emanating from the flowing liquid as a result of step (b). (d) Converting the detected radiation to electrical signals. And, (e) analyzing the electrical signals with a computer to determine the amount of one or more elements present in the liquid.
Steps (c)-(e) may be practiced by detecting the radiation with a cryostatically cooled detector, or a suitable crystal material detector (e.g. an NaI detector), to produce a signal, modulating the signal emitted by the detector to a short step pulse without changing the amplitudes, converting the analog pulses into digital form, dividing the pulses according to their amplitudes into channels, and analyzing the multiple channels to form a spectrum.
According to yet a still further aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for analyzing pulp mill liquids is provided. The apparatus comprises: A neutron source. A conduit for the liquid to be analyzed, and having an interior cross-sectional dimension of about 14-20 centimeters. A detector mounted on the opposite side of the conduit from the gamma ray source. And, about 2-3 centimeters of lead radiation shielding provided between the detector and the neutron source.
According to still another embodiment of the invention, analysis apparatus is provided comprising the following elements, for performing multiple analyses at the same time and relatively inexpensively: A source of neutrons. A plurality of conduits each disposed in operative association with the source of neutrons. A gamma ray detector associated with each of the conduits, and disposed on the opposite side of each of the conduits from the neutron source, or a single detector that is manually or mechanically movable from one location to another. And, lead shielding operatively associated with each of the gamma ray detectors.
The invention also contemplates apparatus for analyzing elemental constituents of flowing fluent material, comprising the following components: A first, main conduit. Second and third branch conduits connected to the first conduit. The second conduit having an operative portion thereof with an interior flow path of about 2-6 centimeters. The third conduit having an operative portion thereof with an interior flow path greater than that of the second conduit. A neutron source (e.g. Californium) disposed in operative association with both the second and third conduit operative portions. And at least one detector associated with the second and third conduit operative portions for detecting gamma radiation or the like associated with the neutron source after bombardment of fluent material flowing through said conduits.
The invention also contemplates a method of determining one or more of at least the partial elemental makeup, concentrations of molecules, concentrations of chemical substances, distribution of flow, and whether chemicals are freely flowing or bound to pulp fibers, of a stream of cellulose pulp fibers slurry. The method comprises the steps of: (a) Making continuous on-line analysis of the stream by NMR (e.g. 'H-MR). (b) Determining (e.g. with a computer) desired features of the analysis; and (c) in response to (b), controlling one or more processes for acting on the stream to optimize the one or more processes.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide for the effective analysis, and typically subsequent control, of processes and equipment in a cellulose pulp mill, by continuous on-line elemental analysis. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention, and from the appended claims.

Continuous elemental analysis of process flows


A method and system for resizing images in a computer system. A plurality of buffers are dynamically created in the memory of the computer system. Among the created buffers are a horizontal sampling buffer and two vertical sampling buffers. The horizontal sampling buffer is filled with data from a plurality of rows of the source image. The horizontal sampling buffer is composed of sub-buffers, each constituting a subset of the horizontal sampling buffer. Each sub-buffer is bytewise transposed to provide easy access to different channels of the image data. A filter is then applied to the transposed data with a result being stored in another buffer. The filtered data is then retransposed to assume its original configuration. The retransposed data is stored in a vertical sampling buffer previously created. The foregoing steps are repeated to fill a second vertical sampling buffer. Thereafter throughout the processing, two vertical sampling buffers remain continuously filled to allow vertical filtering without concern for invalid data. When data is no longer needed in one of the vertical sampling buffers for the ongoing filtering, it can be refilled with new data corresponding to the next group of vertical neighbors. By buffering the data, various symmetries can be exploited and known problems such as edge conditions and alignment issues can be handled early in the resizing scheme providing for more efficient processor operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to graphical resizing of images. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and system for backward mapping graphical data several bytes at a time.
2. Related Art
Resizing graphical data is generally well-known in the art. Two commonly used approaches are forward mapping and backward mapping. In a forward map, the algorithm asks: for each source pixel, where does it land in the destination image? Conversely, for a backward map, the question is for each destination pixel, where does it come from in the source image? A forward map requires arbitration between pixels landing in the same destination, while a backward map requires a certain amount of work for each pixel to determine which source image pixel or pixels it came from, and then it is never necessary to revisit that pixel again.
In a backward mapping scheme, once it has been established for each destination pixel, where it comes from in the source or sources, it is necessary to determine for each source pixel contributing to the destination pixel, a co-efficient of contribution of that source pixel. Typically, for cases where there is more than one source pixel contributing, either two or four pixels are deemed to provide the contribution. This corresponds to bi-linear, and bi-cubic filtering, respectively. The calculation of these coefficients is generally well-known in the art and while computationally intensive, it need be done only once for each row and once for each column. The calculated coefficients are then stored in an array to be accessed during subsequent processing. The above-described scheme will allow one to do either pure horizontal or pure vertical resizing. However, in the event that it were desirable to do both vertical and horizontal resizing at the same time, it would, of course, be necessary to choose some square of source pixels and weight them all with appropriate coefficients. This would require a pixel-by-pixel coefficient calculation and manipulation. By choosing the filter coefficients correctly, it is possible to do stretching in a separable way, i.e. first horizontal stretching and then vertical, or vice versa. Such techniques are well-known in the art.
Coefficients are selected by choosing a geometrical point that is the center of the destination pixel and establishing the function that maps points in the source to the destination, thereby generating a scaled translation where the destination is a linear function in x and y. The inverse of the function yields the point in the source from which the data comes. If the selected point is not the center of the source pixel, it is necessary to interpolate the source data to determine the relative distances between various source pixel centers and weight them accordingly. Thus, the filter coefficients are a function of subpixel position of a backward mapped destination point.
In "Resampling Algorithms for Image Resizing and Rotation" Proc. SPIE Digital Image Processing Applications, vol. 1075, pp. 260-269, 1989, Joseph Ward and David R. Lok provide an algorithm for quantizing the subpixel positions down to e.g. 1/32nd or 1/256th of a pixel and provides ready-made tables of filters which apply for a pixel in that area. Each area is known as a bin. Thus, for each bin, a different filter coefficient is established.
It is relatively straight forward to write a program in C or a C variant to read individual source pixels from a source image and resize them individually. However, there is no straightforward way to operate on multiple adjacent pixels of source data. Operating on multiple pixels of adjacent source data is further complicated by the fact that the data may well be stored in unknown formats. For example, graphical data is commonly stored in band interleaved format where, for example, three successive bytes in memory represent red, green, and blue components of a single pixel. This complicates the issue where it is desired to multiply the adjacent pixel in memory by a filter, since for an arbitrary section of image data, it is not clear whether four bytes represent four pixels or 11/3 pixels. By operating on multiple bytes simultaneously, the speed over standard resizing algorithms can be vastly increased. Therefore, it is desirable to develop a method where multiple bytes of data can be operated on simultaneously without regard for their memory format.


A water-based magenta ink composition comprises an aqueous medium and a magenta dye dissolved therein, which employs Color Index Number Acid Red 52 as the magenta dye and contains 5 to 15% by weight of a polyhydric alcohol alkyl ether having a vapor pressure of 0.1 mmHg or below at 20.degree. C.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a water-based magenta ink composition suited for ink-jet recording, and an ink-jet recording process making use of it.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ink-jet recording is a system in which ink droplets are formed by ink ejection methods of various types (e.g., a system utilizing electrostatic attraction, a system in which mechanical vibration or displacement is imparted to ink by the use of a piezoelectric device, and a system in which ink is heated to cause it to bubble and a pressure produced when it bubbles is utilized), and part or the whole of them is caused to adhere to recording mediums such as paper to make a record.
As ink compositions used in such ink-jet recording systems, those prepared by dissolving or dispersing water-soluble dyes or pigments of various types in water or mixed solvents of water and water-soluble organic solvents are known and put into use. Such ink compositions are required to have various performances most suited for what they are used. For example, they are required to cause no precipitation or aggregation even when unused for a long period of time, to cause no clogging at nozzles and in ink channels of the head of an ink-jet printer and to ensure good print quality. In particular, the performances most required are i) the recording performance or liquid stability that the ink composition does not cause clogging of, and deposits at, nozzles and ink channels of the inkjet printer head when recording is performed using the ink composition, when the recording is paused and also when the recording is stopped over a long period of time, ii) the quick-drying performance that recorded images quickly dry and do not blur even when touched with fingers, iii) the print quality performance that recorded characters, ruled lines and so forth are free from whiskery blurs (i.e., feathering), free from mutual color mixture of different colors at their boundary areas (i.e., bleeding) and formed as sharp images, and iv) the less smelling properties that ink itself less smells.
In comparison between dyes and pigments, the pigments are dispersed in ink mediums without dissolving, whereas the dyes completely dissolve in ink mediums. Hence, dye ink compositions may cause clogging at nozzles and in ink channels of the head of the ink jet printer with difficulty and have much superior liquid stability, compared with pigment ink compositions. Accordingly, many inks for ink-jet printers are dye ink compositions. As such dye ink compositions, water-based dye ink compositions formed of water and dyes dissolved therein are prevalent, and those in which water-soluble dyes having various chemical structures are dissolved in water or mixed solvents of water and water-soluble organic solvents and various additives are optionally added are chiefly used at present.
However, even for such water-based dye ink compositions having been made commercially available, it is difficult to satisfy all the liquid stability, quick-drying performance, print quality performance, stability and less smelling properties. Various improvements are studied but not yet satisfactory. Also, the sharpness and color tone of recorded images may change depending on the type of dyes used. With regard to ink compositions making use of acid dyes capable of giving especially sharp images, they have a poor water resistance. Moreover, among the acid dyes, Color Index Number Acid Red 52 can form magenta color with a sharp and good color tone, and on the other hand especially have a poor water resistance, having a great problem.

Water-based magenta ink composition and ink-jet recording process employing the same