An electro-migration verifying method is comprised of: a data inputting process step; a netlist updating process step (first process operation) for updating a netlist which is constructed by a wiring line parasitic element and a device element based upon a current density limit value database, a characteristic variation database, and wiring line current information; a current density calculating process step (second process operation) for calculating current density of the wiring line parasitic element from a device current and the updated netlist; a wiring line current information updating process step (third process operation) for updating the wiring line current information based upon the current density; a current density limit value comparing/judging process step (fourth process operation) for judging whether or not a current density value is located within the current density limit value based upon the updated wiring line current information and the current density limit value database; an electro-migration verifying process step constituted by the first process operation up to a fifth process operation of a step judging process step (fifth process operation) for judging a repetition process operation from step information; and a result outputting process step.

1. Filed of the Invention
The present invention is related to an electro-migration verifying method of a semiconductor integrated circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, as factors for deteriorating reliability of semiconductor integrated circuits (LSIs), the electro-migration (EM) phenomenon is known. This electro-migration phenomenon implies that when a current flows through a wiring line, since electrons collide with atoms constituting the wiring line, the atoms are moved, and thus, an atomic array is deformed, so that a short circuit and/or a disconnection of the wiring line are conducted. Although the above-described electro-migration phenomenon itself is known since ancient times, very recently, this electro-migration phenomenon may cause a serious problem due to the following reasons: That is, since there is great progress in very narrowing process technology, semiconductor integrated circuits have been manufactured in very fine and current density has been more and more increased. As to deteriorations of the semiconductor integrated circuits caused by this electro-migration (EM) phenomenon, there are two types of deteriorations, namely, an instantaneous deterioration caused by instantaneous large currents, and a progressive deterioration caused by that currents flow therethrough for a long time. Thus, as technical ideas of simulating these deteriorations so as to verify the simulated results, electro-migration verification has been proposed.
The conventional electro-migration verification corresponds to such a method that a circuit simulation is carried out so as to calculate current density with respect to wiring lines and vias within a layout, and then, the calculated current density is compared with limit values of the current density for judgement purposes (refer to, for example, patent publication 1). Also, as circuit simulators and functions of P & R tools, the conventional electro-migration verification contains calculating functions of current density and functions of comparing/judging the calculated current density with the limit values of the current density (refer to, for instance, non-patent publication 1).    Patent Publication 1: JP-A-2005-251057    Non-patent Publication 1: US Synopsys company's tool "Hsimplus", "AstroRail", URL dated on Feb. 21, 2006 is URL:htto://www.synopsys.com.
Conventionally, a binary judgement has been carried out which judges whether or not current density of a specific portion within a layout exceeds a limit value of the current density; when the current density exceeds the limit value of the current density, this condition has been judged as "correction is required"; and a layout correction has been carried out after electro-migration verification has been accomplished. In a so-called "signal wiring line" such as a wiring line between a driver cell and a load cell, even if a branch is present, normally, there is only one path of a current which flows between specific two points within a wiring line. If such a wiring line is employed, then the judgement of the conventional technique has no problem.
On the other hand, very recently, while mesh structures have been used in power supply wiring lines and the like, a plurality of such current paths are present that currents flow between two specific points within wiring lines. Then, even in such a case that a specific portion of a layout is disconnected, if other current paths are not disconnected, then there are some possibilities that the layout need not be corrected. Apparently, in order to achieve high reliability, layouts must be corrected in such a manner that a circuit disconnection does not partially occur. However, in LSIs of current deep sub-micron processes, congestion degrees of wiring lines are extremely high. Accordingly, there is no question that corrections of layouts may conduct increases of semiconductor chip areas. As a consequence, in wiring lines having current paths under redundant condition such as power supply wiring lines, disconnected portions of the wiring lines are correctly judged, and correction necessities of layouts are correctly judged, so that reductions of chip areas of LSIs can be realized, and at the same time, higher reliability of wiring lines thereof can be achieved.
However, the conventional electro-migration verification has the following problems. That is, such a case that a wiring line is partially disconnected and thus current paths are changed in a half way has not been modeled in the conventional electro-migration verification. As a result, especially, as to such a wiring line that a plurality of current paths are present, the disconnected portions cannot be correctly judged, but also, necessities of layout corrections cannot be correctly judged.

Electro-migration verifying apparatus, electro-migration verifying method, data structure and netlist used in the same


An electrode material for a rechargeable lithium battery, characterized in that said electrode material comprises a fine powder of a silicon-based material whose principal component is silicon element, said fine powder having an average particle size (R) in a range of 0.1 μm≦R<0.5 μm. An electrode structural body for a rechargeable lithium battery, having an electrode material layer comprising said silicon-based material fine powder. A rechargeable lithium battery whose anode comprising said electrode structural body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrode material for a rechargeable lithium battery in which oxidation-reduction reaction of lithium is used, said electrode material comprising a fine powder of a silicon-based material whose principal component is silicon and which has an average particle size in a range of more than 0.1 μm to less than 0.5 μm which means that when said average particle size is represented by R, 0.1 μm≦R<0.5 μm, where the silicon-based material fine powder preferably contains oxygen element in a small amount such that at least particles constituting the silicon-based material fine powder are covered by a thin oxide film with respect their surfaces. The present invention also relates to an electrode structural body comprising said electrode material and a rechargeable lithium battery whose anode comprising said electrode structural body. The present invention includes a process for the production of said electrode structural body and a process for the production of said rechargeable lithium battery.
2. Prior Art
In recent years, the global warming of the earth because of the so-called greenhouse effect due to an increase in the content of CO2 gas in the air has been predicted. For instance, in thermal electric power plants, thermal energy obtained by burning a fossil fuel is being converted into electric energy, and along with burning of such fossil fuel, a large amount of CO2 gas is being exhausted in the air. Accordingly, in order to suppress this situation, there is a tendency of prohibiting to newly establish a thermal electric power plant. Under these circumstances, so-called load leveling practice has been proposed in order to effectively utilize electric powers generated by power generators in thermal electric power plants or the like, wherein a surplus power unused in the night is stored in rechargeable batteries installed at general houses and the power thus stored is used in the daytime when the demand for power is increased, whereby the power consumption is leveled.
Now, for electric vehicles which do not exhaust any air polluting substances such as CO2, NOx, hydrocarbons and the like, there is an increased demand for developing a high performance rechargeable battery with a high energy density which can be effectively used therein. Besides, there is also an increased demand for developing a miniature, lightweight, high performance rechargeable battery usable as a power source for portable instruments such as small personal computers, portable type MD players, video cameras, digital cameras and cellular phones.
As such miniature, lightweight and high performance rechargeable battery, there have proposed lithium ion batteries of the so-called rocking chair type in that a carbonous material such as graphite capable of intercalating lithium ion at intercalation sites of its six-membered network plane provided by carbon atoms in the battery reaction upon charging is used as an anode material and a lithium intercalation compound capable of deintercalating said lithium ion from the intercalation in the battery reaction upon charging is used as a cathode material. Some of these lithium ion batteries have been put to practical use.
However, for any of these lithium ion batteries whose anode comprising the carbonous material (the graphite), the theoretical amount of lithium which can be intercalated by the anode is only an amount of ⅙ per carbon atom at the most. Because of this, in such lithium ion battery, when the amount of lithium intercalated by the anode comprising the carbonous material (the graphite) is made to be greater than the theoretical amount upon charging or when charging is performed under condition of high electric current density, there will be an unavoidable problem such that lithium is deposited in a dendritic state (that is, in the form of a dendrite) on the surface of the anode. This will result in causing internal-shorts between the anode and the cathode upon repeating the charge-and-discharge cycle. Therefore, it is difficult for the lithium ion battery whose anode comprising the carbonous material (the graphite) to achieve a high capacity.
Now, rechargeable lithium batteries in which a metallic lithium is used as the anode have been proposed and they have attracted public attention in a viewpoint that they exhibit a high energy density. However, such rechargeable battery has not been put to practical use because the charge-and-discharge cycle life is extremely short. A main reason why the charge-and-discharge cycle life is extremely short has been generally considered as will be described in the following. The metallic lithium as the anode reacts with impurities such as moisture or an organic solvent contained in an electrolyte solution to form an insulating film or/and the metallic lithium as the anode has an irregular surface with portions to which electric field is converged, and these factors lead to generating a dendrite of lithium upon repeating the charge-and-discharge cycle, resulting in internal-shorts between the anode and cathode. As a result, the charge-and-discharge cycle life of the rechargeable battery is extremely shortened.
In order to eliminate the problems of the rechargeable battery in which the metallic lithium is used as the anode, specifically, in order to suppress the progress of the reaction between the metallic lithium of the anode and the moisture or the organic solvent contained in the electrolyte solution, there has been proposed a method in that a lithium alloy such as a lithium-aluminum alloy is used as the anode. However, this method is not widely applicable in practice for the following reasons. The lithium alloy is hard and is difficult to wind into a spiral form and therefore, it is difficult to produce a spiral-wound cylindrical rechargeable battery. Accordingly, it is difficult to attain a rechargeable battery having a sufficiently long charge-and-discharge cycle life. It is also difficult to attain a rechargeable battery having a sufficient energy density similar to that of a primary battery in which a metallic lithium is used as the anode.
There are various proposals in order to such problems as described in the above. Particularly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,679 discloses an anode for a rechargeable lithium battery, comprising a powder of an alloy comprising a metal element such as Ni or Cu and Sn or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,340 discloses an anode for a rechargeable lithium battery, comprising a collector comprising a first metal such as Ni or Cu which is incapable of being alloyed with lithium which is generated upon charging and an electrode layer on said collector, comprising said first metal and a second metal such as Si or Sn which is capable of being alloyed with lithium which is generated upon charging.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,432,585 B1 discloses an anode for a rechargeable lithium battery, having an electrode material layer containing 35 wt. % or more of a grained host matrix material comprising Si or Sn and which has an average particle size in a range of from 0.5 to 60 μm.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. Hei.11(1999)-283627 discloses an anode for a rechargeable lithium battery, comprising an amorphous phase-bearing metallic material of Si or Sn.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No.2000-311681 discloses an anode for a rechargeable lithium battery, comprising a particulate of an amorphous Sn-A (transition metal element) with a substantially non-stoichiometric composition.
International Laid-open Publication WO 00/17949 discloses an anode for a rechargeable lithium battery, comprising a particulate of an amorphous Si—A (transition metal element) with a substantially non-stoichiometric composition.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No.2000-215887 discloses an anode material for a rechargeable lithium battery, comprising a particulate comprising a number of separate particles of a metal or a semimetal capable of being alloyed with lithium, said particles having a surface covered by a carbon layer, specifically, silicon particles whose surfaces are covered by a carbon layer, wherein the carbon layer is formed by a method of subjecting a carbon supply source such as benzene or the like to a chemical evaporation treatment through thermal decomposition.
By the way, as one of the compounds comprising Li and Si, there is known a Li4.4Si alloy compound. For this compound, when a maximum theoretical electricity storable capacity is calculated by presuming that the Li can be entirely released in the electrochemical reaction, the maximum theoretical electricity storable capacity becomes to be 4200 mAh/g. In view of this, it has been expected that if a silicon-based material could be put to use as an anode material for a rechargeable lithium battery, it will be possible to attain a rechargeable lithium battery having a high capacity. And various studies have being conducted in order to achieve an anode comprising such silicon-based material which enables to produce a rechargeable lithium battery having a high capacity.
However, any of the anodes described in the above-mentioned documents is difficult to attain an electrode performance in that lithium can be inserted or leased at a high electricity quantity which is exceeding 1000 mAh/g. Thus, there is an increased demand for providing a high capacity anode for a rechargeable lithium battery, having an electrode performance in that lithium can be inserted or leased at a high electricity quantity which is exceeding 1000 mAh/g.

Electrode material for rechargeable lithium battery, electrode structural body comprising said electrode material, rechargeable lithium battery having said electrode structural body, process for the production of said electrode structural body, and process for the production of said rechargeable lithium battery


The present invention achieves data relocation in accordance with a user's policies, in an environment where a plurality of storage devices are combined. The volumes belonging to storage devices A–D are managed virtually integrally. A host recognizes a plurality of storage devices A–D as a single virtual storage device. The user is able to group the volumes belonging to the storage system, as a plurality of storage layers 1–3. For example, storage layer 1 can be defined as a high-reliability layer, storage layer 2, as a low-cost layer, and storage layer 3, as an archive layer. Each storage layer is constituted by a group of volumes corresponding to respective policies (high reliability, low cost, archiving). The user designates volumes to be moved V1 and V2, in group units, and indicates a storage layer forming a movement destination, whereby the data is relocated.

The present invention relates to a storage system and a data relocation control device.
The storage system is constituted by comprising at least one or more storage device, known as a disk array sub-system, for example. This storage device provides a storage region based on a RAID (Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks), wherein disk drives, such as hard disk drives, semiconductor memory drives, or the like, are arranged in an array configuration, for example. A host computer (hereinafter, called "host") accesses the logical storage region provided by the storage device and reads or writes data.
The amount of data managed by businesses and organizations such as regional authorities, educational institutions, financial institutions, government and municipal offices, and the like, is growing steadily year on year, and storage devices are added and replaced as this data volume increases. As the data volume increases and the composition of storage systems becomes more complicated in this way, techniques have been proposed for improving the efficiency of use of storage systems by locating the data relating to various application programs, such as main management software and database management software, in suitable locations according to the value of that data (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2003-345522, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-337790, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-67187, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-249853, and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2004-70403.)
The respective reference patents mentioned above disclose techniques for relocating data by copying data stored in one volume to another volume, on the basis of disk performance information and use information.
However, in the techniques described in these references, it is necessary to relocate data individually, in volume units, and the user is not able to move volumes between freely defined layers, and hence usability is poor. Moreover, in the techniques described in the aforementioned patent references, since data is relocated in volume units, it is difficult to relocate data in a group of related volumes, together, in one operation. Furthermore, the techniques described in the aforementioned patent references focus exclusively on the relocation of the data, and do not give consideration to the processing after relocation of the data. Therefore, usability is poor from this viewpoint also.

Storage system and data relocation control device


Disclosed are a depth image processing method, a depth image processing apparatus (10), and an electronic device (100). The depth image processing method is applied in the electronic device (100) including a depth image capturing apparatus (20) configured to capture an initial depth image. The depth image processing method includes: obtaining (01) target depth data for a number of regions of interest of the initial depth image; determining (02) whether the number of regions of interest is greater than a predetermined value; grouping (03), in response to the number of regions of interest being greater than the predetermined value, the number of regions of interest based on the target depth data to obtain a target depth of field; obtaining (04) a target blurring intensity based on the target depth of field; and blurring (05) the initial depth image based on the target blurring intensity to obtain a blurred depth image.

Cameras in smartphones are becoming more and more popular, and blurring is a common way of taking pictures with cameras. Currently, a blurring method is to define a depth of field according to a subject, and then blur the part outside the range of the depth of field. However, when a number of people or a group of people are photographed at the same time, only a portrait of the subject can be kept clear and other parts will be blurred out, resulting in a poor user experience.

Depth image processing method, depth image processing apparatus and electronic device

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


A retaining key for a turbine nozzle includes a key body having top and bottom surfaces, a pair of sides and a pair of ends including a forward end having a pair of horizontal shoulders on opposite sides of a center rib, the shoulders located substantially midway between the top and bottom surfaces such that the forward end has a substantially inverted T-shaped profile, and a rearward end having a first surface portion extending from and substantially perpendicular to the top surface and a second surface portion extending at an acute angle downwardly and toward the forward end and intersecting the bottom surface.

The present invention relates to apparatus for retaining nozzles stacked one against the other in a groove of a carrier of a turbine. The invention particularly relates to a new nozzle retention key for retaining the nozzles in carrier grooves at the horizontal joint faces between upper and lower carrier halves, which does not require mechanical fastening of the key to the carrier.
In steam turbines, there is typically an annular carrier for supporting the axially spaced, circumferential arrays of fixed nozzles. The annular carrier is usually divided into a pair of carrier segments or halves, each of which extends arcuately 180°. The carrier halves are secured to one another at opposed horizontal joint faces to form a 360° array of nozzles at each axially spaced turbine stage position. Typically, the nozzles comprise an airfoil having a radial outer dovetail-shaped base for reception in a generally correspondingly dovetail-shaped groove in the carrier. Generally, the opposite side faces of each base of the respective nozzles are angled relative to the axis of the turbine, enabling the base to accommodate the angularity of the airfoil. When the nozzles are installed in each carrier half groove, the nozzle bases are stacked one against the other within the grooves forming a semi-circular array of nozzles.
The first nozzles loaded into a carrier, especially the carrier upper half, require a retention key to prevent the first and subsequently added nozzles from falling out of the dovetail during assembly. This same problem can also surface in connection with both the upper and lower carrier halves during disassembly or shipping of the carrier segments.
One current key design requires a machined pocket in the carrier at the horizontal joint face; a tapped hole in the machined pocket; and a screw to retain the key in the pocket.
There is a need for a new key design that eliminates the screw and the need for tapping the carrier to thereby also eliminate the possibility of breaking either a tap or a screw in the carrier.


An aircraft is provided with an integrated galley refrigeration unit and vehicle cabin air conditioning packet. A control selectively determines whether the provision of cooled air into an air cooled galley takes precedent over the provision of cooled air into the passenger cabin. Valving is provided to selectively provide cold fluid to a recirculation air heat exchanger, which supplies supplemental cooled air for delivery into the passenger cabin. This refrigeration air heat exchanger is utilized when precedent is given to providing cooled air to the cabin. On the other hand, the valve is maintained in an off position when it is determined that the air cooled galleys should take precedent.

This application relates to a control and method for controlling a galley refrigeration unit for aircraft food galleys, and an air conditioning unit for supplying air to an aircraft cabin, where both of the units are controlled to provide the most efficient operation.
Aircrafts are provided with a number of subsystems. In the aircraft passenger cabin, the temperature of the air is controlled by an air conditioning pack. This air conditioning pack supplies air to the cabin at a temperature as desired. The load on the air conditioning pack will vary with ambient temperature. As is known, when the aircraft is at altitude, the ambient temperature is often quite cold, and the air conditioning pack must be able to heat the air. At other times, the air conditioning pack must be able of cooling the air delivered to the cabin.
In addition, aircrafts are provided with galleys to store food for the passengers. The food must be kept at refrigeration temperatures for a period of time. Thus, the galleys are typically provided with a refrigeration unit. The loads on the galley refrigeration unit, and the load on the air conditioning pack are not constant. Thus, both units are made larger than may be necessary.

Integrated control system for combined galley refrigeration unit and cabin air conditioning system


An information display displays predetermined information on a display screen, the type of drawing element is detected for each pixel of the display screen (step S105), a brightness correction LUT is set based on the type of drawing element (step S106), and the brightness is corrected for each pixel based on the selected brightness correction LUT group (step S107).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information display which displays predetermined information on a display screen.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conventional technology of this type is disclosed by, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. H6-83287 describing a liquid crystal display detecting the illumination of the surrounding portion of the display screen by an illumination sensor, and largely correcting the brightness of the gray-scale portion of a display target when the detected illumination is large, thereby improving the visibility of the image of a photograph, etc.
The technology of displaying a character on the above-mentioned liquid crystal display can be the technology (antialiasing) of displaying a smooth and readable character by representing the stroke width of a potion smaller than one pixel as a gray-scale outline of a character.
However, the former of the above-mentioned conventional technology simply, equally, and largely corrects the brightness of a gray-scale portion of a display target. Therefore, for example, if the outline of a character is represented as a gray-scale portion by antialiasing, the brightness of the stroke forming part of a character is corrected. As a result, the stroke width of a character is thinned, thereby lowering the visibility of the character.
The present invention has been developed to solve the problems of the conventional technology, and aims at providing an information display capable of improving the visibility of each display target.


Provided is a lithographic printing plate comprising a support substrate having disposed thereon a hydrophilic layer interposed between the substrate and an ink-accepting ablative-absorbing surface layer. The ink-accepting surface layer comprising a one or more polymers and a sensitizer characterized by absorption of laser radiation. The printing plate may also comprise a primer layer underlying the ink-accepting surface layer with an adhesion-promoting agent present in the primer layer. Also provided are methods of preparing such lithographic printing plates, and methods of preparing imaged lithographic printing plates from such lithographic printing plates by imagewise exposure to a laser and a subsequent cleaning step with water or with a cleaning solution.

The present invention relates in general to lithography and more particularly to systems for imaging lithographic printing plates using digitally controlled laser output. More specifically, this invention relates to a novel lithographic printing plate especially suitable for directly imaging and utilizing with a wet lithographic printing press.
Traditional techniques for introducing a printed image onto a recording material include letterpress printing, gravure printing, and offset lithography. All of these printing methods require a plate. To transfer ink in the pattern of the image, the plate is usually loaded onto a plate cylinder of a rotary press for efficiency. In letterpress printing, the image pattern is represented on the plate in the form of raised areas that accept ink and transfer it onto the recording medium by impression. Gravure printing cylinders, in contrast, contain a series of wells or indentations that accept ink for deposit onto the recording medium. Excess ink must be removed from the cylinder by a doctor blade or similar device prior to contact between the cylinder and the recording medium.
The term xe2x80x9clithographic,xe2x80x9d as used herein, is meant to include various terms used synonymously, such as offset, offset lithographic, planographic, and others. By the term xe2x80x9cwet lithographic,xe2x80x9d as used herein, is meant the type of lithographic printing plate where the printing is based upon the immiscibility of oil and water, wherein the oily material or ink is preferentially retained by the image area and the water or fountain solution is preferentially retained by the non-image area. When a suitably prepared surface is moistened with water and an ink is then applied, the background or non-image area retains the water and repels the ink while the image area accepts the ink and repels the water. The ink on the image area is then transferred to the surface of a material upon which the image is to be reproduced, such as paper, cloth, and the like. Commonly the ink is transferred to an intermediate material called the blanket, which in turn transfers the ink to the surface of the material upon which the image is to be reproduced. In a dry lithographic printing system that does not utilize water, the plate is simply inked and the image transferred directly onto a recording material or transferred onto a blanket and then to the recording material.
Aluminum has been used for many years as a support for lithographic printing plates. In order to prepare the aluminum for such use, it is typically subject to both a graining process and a subsequent anodizing process. The graining process serves to improve the adhesion of the image to the plate and to enhance the water-receptive characteristics of the background areas of the printing plate. The graining and anodizing affect both the performance and the durability of the printing plate. Both mechanical and electrolytic graining processes are well known and widely used in the manufacture of lithographic printing plates. Processes for anodizing aluminum to form an anodic oxide coating and then hydrophilizing the anodized surface by techniques such as silication are also well known in the art, and need not be further described herein. The aluminum support is thus characterized by having a porous, wear-resistant hydrophilic surface which specifically adapts it for use in lithographic printing, particularly where long press runs are required.
The plates for an offset press are usually produced photographically. The aluminum substrate described above is typically coated with a wide variety of radiation-sensitive materials suitable for forming images for use in the lithographic printing process. Any radiation-sensitive layer is suitable which, after exposure and any necessary developing and/or fixing, provides an image which can be used for printing. Lithographic printing plates of this type are usually developed with an aqueous alkaline developing solution which often additionally comprises a substantial quantity of an organic solvent.
To prepare a wet plate using a typical negative-working substractive process, the original document is photographed to produce a photographic negative. This negative is placed on an aluminum plate having a water-receptive oxide surface coated with a photopolymer. Upon exposure to light or other radiation through the negative, the areas of the coating that received radiation (corresponding to the dark or printed areas of the original) cure to a durable oleophilic state. The plate is then subjected to a developing process that removes the uncured areas of the coating (i.e., those which did not receive radiation, corresponding to the non-image or background areas of the original), thereby exposing the hydrophilic surface of the aluminum plate.
Throughout this application, various publications, patents, and published patent applications are referred to by an identifying citation. The disclosures of the publications, patents, and published patent applications referenced in this application are hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure to more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains.
As is evident from the above description, photographic platemaking processes tend to be time consuming and require facilities and equipment adequate to support the necessary chemistry. Efforts have been made for many years to manufacture a printing plate which does not require development or which only uses water for development. In addition, practitioners have developed a number of electronic alternatives to plate imaging, some of which can be utilized on-press. With these systems, digitally controlled devices alter the ink-receptivity of blank plates in a pattern representative of the image to be printed. Such imaging devices include sources of electromagnetic radiation, produced by one or more laser or non-laser sources, that create chemical changes on plate blanks (thereby eliminating the need for a photographic negative); ink jet equipment that directly deposits ink-repellent or ink-accepting spots on plate blanks; and spark-discharge equipment, in which an electrode in contact with or spaced closely to a plate blank produces electrical sparks to physically alter the topology of the plate blank, thereby producing xe2x80x9cdotsxe2x80x9d which collectively form a desired image (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,075). Because of the ready availability of laser equipment and its amenability to digital control, significant effort has been devoted to the development of laser-based imaging systems. These systems include:
1) Argon-ion, frequency-doubled Nd-YAG and infrared lasers used to expose photosensitive blanks for traditional chemical processing, as for example described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,506,779; 4,020,762; 4,868,092; 5,153,236; 5,372,915; and 5,629,354. In an alternative to this approach, a laser has been employed to selectively remove, in an imagewise pattern, an opaque coating that overlies a photosensitive plate blank. The plate is then exposed to a source of radiation, with the unremoved material acting as a mask that prevents radiation from reaching underlying portions of the plate, as for example described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,168.
However, the need for high writing speeds, coupled with the constraint of the low-powered lasers favored by industry, has resulted in a requirement for printing plates that have a very high photosensitivity. Unfortunately, high photosensitivity almost always reduces the shelf life of these plates.
2) Another approach to laser imaging uses thermal-transfer materials, as for example described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,945,318; 3,962,513; 3,964,389; 4,395,946; and 5,395,729. With these systems, a polymer sheet transparent to the radiation emitted by the laser is coated with a transferable material. The transfer side of this construction is brought into contact with an acceptor sheet, and the transfer material is selectively irradiated through the transparent layer. Irradiation causes the transfer material to adhere preferentially to the acceptor sheet. The transfer and acceptor materials exhibit different affinities for fountain solution and/or ink, so that removal of the transparent polymer sheet with the unirradiated transfer material still on it leaves a suitably imaged, finished plate. Typically, the transfer material is oleophilic, and the acceptor material is hydrophilic.
Plates produced with transfer type systems tend to exhibit short useful lifetimes due to the limited amount of material that can effectively be transferred. Airborne dirt can create an image quality problem depending on the particular construction. In addition, because the transfer process involves melting and resolidification of material, image quality further tends to be visibly poorer than that obtainable with other methods.
3) Other patents describe lithographic printing plates comprising a support and a hydrophilic imaging layer which, upon imagewise laser exposure, becomes oleophilic in the exposed areas while remaining hydrophilic in the unexposed areas, as for example disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,793,033; 4,034,183; 4,081,572; and 4,693,958. However, these types of lithographic printing plates suffer from the lack of a sufficient degree of discrimination between oleophilic image areas and hydrophilic non-image areas, with the result that image quality on printing is poor.
4) Early examples utilizing lasers used the laser to etch away material from a plate blank to form an intaglio or letterpress pattern, as for example described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,506,779 and 4,347,785. This approach was later extended to production of lithographic plates, e.g., by removal of a hydrophilic surface to reveal an oleophilic underlayer, as for example described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,094. These early systems generally required high-power lasers, which are expensive and slow.
More recently, other infrared laser ablation based systems for imaging hydrophilic plates have been developed. These operate by laser-mediated removal of organic hydrophilic polymers which are coated onto an oleophilic substrate such as a polyester/metal laminate or onto an oleophilic polymer coating on a metal support. Use of these materials between the ablation coating and the heat absorbing metal support provides a thermal barrier material which reduces the amount of laser energy required to ablate or physically transform the hydrophilic surface layer, as for example described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,353,705; and 5,570,636. Laser output either ablates one or more plate layers, or physically transforms, the oleophobic or hydrophilic surface layer, in either case resulting in an imagewise pattern of features on the plate.
One problem with this approach is that the hydrophilic non-image areas are not sufficiently durable to permit long printing runs, and are easily scratched. Also, the hydrophilic coatings are not like the traditional hydrophilic grained and anodized surfaces and generally are considered outside the mainstream of conventional printing. One other disadvantage of these plates is that they are negative working, since the portions removed by ablation are the image regions that accept ink. When lasers with a large spot size are used for imaging, the size of the smallest printed dot is as large as the spot size. Consequently, the image quality on printing is not high. For example, a 35 micron laser spot size would print its smallest dot size at 35 microns with a negative working plate. On a 200 lines per inch (lpi) halftone screen, this is equivalent to a 5% to 6% dot.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,971 extends the benefit of the traditional grained metal plate to ablative laser imaging and also provides the advantage of a positive working plate. These plates are positive working since the portions not removed by ablation are the image regions that accept ink. This construction includes a grained metal substrate, a hydrophilic protective coating which also serves as an adhesion-promoting primer, and an ablatable oleophilic surface layer. The imaging laser interacts with the ablatable surface layer, causing ablation thereof. When lasers with a large spot size are used for imaging, the size of the smallest printed dot can be very small since the large spot size laser beam can be programmed to remove material around a very small area. Although the smallest hole in a solid printed area is large, this does not seriously affect print quality since very small holes in solids tend to fill in with ink. Consequently, the image quality on printing is high. After imaging which removes at least the surface layer and also at least some of the hydrophilic protective layer, the plate is then cleaned with a suitable solvent, e.g., water, to remove portions of the hydrophilic protective layer still remaining in the laser-exposed areas. Depending on the solubility properties of the residual plug of the partially ablated hydrophilic protective layer in the cleaning solvent, including solubility changes from the damage caused by the laser exposure, the cleaning reveals the hydrophilic protective coating at less than its original thickness, or reveals the hydrophilic metal substrate in the laser where the hydrophilic protective coating is entirely removed by the cleaning solvent. After cleaning, the plate behaves like a conventional positive working grained metal wet lithographic plate on the printing press.
However, adhesion of the remaining oleophilic surface coating to the hydrophilic protective layer has proven a difficult problem to overcome. Loss of adhesion can result if the protective hydrophilic thermal barrier layer in the non-image areas of the plate are damaged or degraded during laser imaging. Too much solvent or solubilizing action by the cleaning solution or the fountain solution on press can corrode the walls, eliminating the underlying support provided by the hydrophilic barrier layer around the periphery of the image feature and degrading small image elements. This leads to a major loss of image quality. Small dots and type are often removed during cleaning or early in the print run. Efforts to improve the adhesion of the ablatable surface coating and/or its durability to permit longer printing runs typically leads to a significant increase in the laser energy required to image the plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,780 describes a lithographic printing plate comprising an anodized aluminum support having thereon an oleophilic image-forming layer comprising an infrared-absorbing agent dispersed in a film-forming cyanoacrylate polymer binder. The hydrophilic protective layer has been eliminated. The ""780 patent describes low required laser energy, good ink receptivity, good adhesion to the support, and good wear characteristics. Print runs of more than 8,200 impressions are shown in the examples.
Despite the many efforts directed to the development of a laser imageable positive working wet lithographic printing plate, there still remains a need for plates that require no alkaline or solvent developing solution, that look and perform like a conventional lithographic printing plate on press, that are sensitive to a broad spectrum of laser energy (700 nm to 1150 nm), that provide a high resolution image, and that will be long running at high resolution on press (greater than 100,000 impressions).
One aspect of the present invention pertains to a positive working, wet lithographic printing member imageable by laser radiation comprising (a) an ink-accepting surface layer comprising one or more polymers and a sensitizer, said sensitizer being characterized by absorption of the laser radiation and the surface layer being characterized by ablative absorption of the laser radiation, (b) a hydrophilic layer underlying the surface layer, which hydrophilic layer comprises a crosslinked, polymeric reaction product of a hydrophilic polymer and a first crosslinking agent and is characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation and by being not soluble in water, and (c) a substrate.
The term xe2x80x9cprinting member,xe2x80x9d as used herein, is synonymous with the term xe2x80x9cplatexe2x80x9d and pertains to any type of printing member or surface capable of recording an image defined by regions exhibiting differential affinities for ink and/or fountain solution. As used herein, for the purpose of determining the weight per cent of the organic sulfonic acid component, the term xe2x80x9cpolymersxe2x80x9d includes all the materials which are polymeric film formers, including monomeric species which polymerize or combine with a polymeric species, such as, for example, a monomeric crosslinking agent, to form the polymeric film component of the ablative-absorbing layer.
Suitable hydrophilic polymers for the hydrophilic layers of the printing members of the present invention include, but are not limited to, polyvinyl alcohols and cellulosics. In a preferred embodiment, the hydrophilic polymer is a polyvinyl alcohol. In one embodiment, the first crosslinking agent is a zirconium compound. In one embodiment, the first crosslinking agent is ammonium zirconyl carbonate. In a preferred embodiment, the first crosslinking agent is ammonium zirconyl carbonate, and the ammonium zirconyl carbonate is present in an amount greater than 10% by weight of the polyvinyl alcohol, and, more preferably, present in an amount of 20 to 50% by weight of the polyvinyl alcohol. In another preferred embodiment, the hydrophilic layer further comprises a second crosslinking agent. In one embodiment, the hydrophilic layer further comprises a crosslinked, polymeric reaction product of a polyvinyl alcohol and the second crosslinking agent. In one embodiment, the second crosslinking agent is a melamine. In one embodiment, the hydrophilic layer further comprises a catalyst for the second crosslinking agent. In one embodiment, the catalyst is an organic sulfonic acid component.
In one embodiment of the printing members of the present invention, the thickness of the hydrophilic layer is from about 1 to about 40 microns. In one embodiment, the thickness of the hydrophilic layer is from about 2 to about 25 microns.
In one embodiment of the printing members of this invention, suitable substrates comprise non-metal substrates and non-hydrophilic substrates, preferably papers, polymeric films, and non-hydrophilic metals such as non-hydrophilic aluminum. In one embodiment, the substrate is a hydrophilic metal. Suitable metals for the hydrophilic metal substrate include, but are not limited to, aluminum, copper, steel, and chromium. In a preferred embodiment, the metal substrate is grained, anodized, silicated, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, the metal substrate is aluminum. In a preferred embodiment, the metal substrate is an aluminum substrate comprising a surface of uniform, non-directional roughness and microscopic depressions, which surface is in contact to the hydrophilic layer and, more preferably, this surface of the aluminum substrate has a peak count in the range of 300 to 450 peaks per linear inch which extend above and below a total bandwidth of 20 microinches.
In one embodiment of the printing members of this invention, the ablative-absorbing layer comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: sulfonated carbon blacks having sulfonated groups on the surface of the carbon black, carboxylated carbon blacks having carboxyl groups on the surface of the carbon black, carbon blacks having a surface active hydrogen content of not less than 1.5 mmol/g, and polyvinyl alcohols. In a preferred embodiment, the sulfonated carbon black is CAB-O-JET 200. In another preferred embodiment, the carbon black is BONJET BLACK CW-1. In one embodiment, one or more polymers of the ablative-absorbing layer comprises a crosslinked, polymeric reaction product of a polymer and a crosslinking agent. In a preferred embodiment, the crosslinked, polymeric reaction product is selected from the group consisting of: crosslinked reaction products of a crosslinking agent with the following polymers: a polyvinyl alcohol; a polyvinyl alcohol and a vinyl polymer; a cellulosic polymer; a polyurethane; an epoxy polymer; and a vinyl polymer. In one embodiment, the crosslinking agent is a melamine.
In one embodiment of the printing members of this invention, the ablative-absorbing surface layer comprises a polyvinyl alcohol. In one embodiment, the polyvinyl alcohol is present in an amount of 20 to 95 per cent by weight of the total weight of polymers present in the ablative-absorbing layer. In one embodiment, the polyvinyl alcohol is present in an amount of 25 to 75 per cent by weight of the total weight of polymers present in the ablative-absorbing layer. Suitable polymers for use in combination with polyvinyl alcohol in the ablative-absorbing layer include, but are not limited to, other water-soluble or water-dispersible polymers such as, for example, polyurethanes, cellulosics, epoxy polymers, and vinyl polymers.
In a preferred embodiment, the ablative-absorbing layer comprises greater than 13 weight per cent of an organic sulfonic acid component. In one embodiment, the organic sulfonic acid component is present in an amount of 15 to 75 weight per cent of the total weight of polymers present in the ablative-absorbing layer of the printing member of the present invention. In another embodiment, the organic sulfonic acid component is present in an amount of 20 to 45 weight per cent of the total weight of polymers present in the ablative-absorbing layer.
In one embodiment, the thickness of the ablative-absorbing surface layer of the printing members of this invention is from about 0.1 to about 20 microns. In a preferred embodiment, the thickness of the ablative-absorbing surface layer is from about 0.1 to about 2 microns.
In one embodiment, the surface layer of the printing member of the present invention comprises a polymer and a crosslinking agent. Suitable polymers in the surface layer include, but are not limited to, polyurethanes, epoxy polymers, nitrocellulose, and polycyanoacrylates. In one embodiment, the crosslinking agent in the surface layer is a melamine. In one embodiment, the surface layer of the printing member of this invention further comprises an organic sulfonic acid component. In a preferred embodiment, the organic sulfonic acid component in the surface layer is a component of an amine-blocked p-toluenesulfonic acid.
Another aspect of the present invention pertains to positive working, wet lithographic printing members imageable by laser radiation, which printing member comprises (a) an ink-accepting surface layer comprising one or more polymers and a sensitizer, the sensitizer being characterized by absorption of the laser radiation and the surface layer being characterized by ablative absorption of the laser radiation; (b) a hydrophilic layer underlying the surface layer, which hydrophilic layer comprises one or more polymers and is characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation and by being compatible with but not soluble in water; and, (c) a substrate; wherein the hydrophilic layer comprises (i) a porous layer comprising a crosslinked, polymeric reaction product of a hydrophilic polymer and a first crosslinking agent, and (ii) a second crosslinking agent contained within pores of the porous layer. In one embodiment, the hydrophilic polymer of the hydrophilic layer is selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl alcohols and cellulosics. In one embodiment, the hydrophilic polymer is a polyvinyl alcohol. In one embodiment, the first crosslinking agent is a zirconium compound, and preferably the zirconium compound is ammonium zirconyl carbonate present in an amount greater than 10% by weight of the polyvinyl alcohol. In one embodiment, the hydrophilic layer further comprises a crosslinked, polymeric reaction product of a polyvinyl alcohol and the second crosslinking agent, preferably a melamine crosslinking agent. In one embodiment, the hydrophilic layer further comprises a catalyst for the second crosslinking agent, which catalyst is contained within pores of the porous layer. In a preferred embodiment, the catalyst is an organic sulfonic acid component. In one embodiment, the hydrophilic layer further comprises a polymer contained within pores of the porous layer. In one embodiment, the polymer contained within pores of the porous layer is the same as one or more polymers of the surface layer. In one embodiment, the polymer contained within pores of the porous layer is a hydrophilic polymer.
Another aspect of the present invention pertains to a positive working, wet lithographic printing member imageable by laser radiation comprising (a) an ink-accepting surface layer comprising one or more polymers and a sensitizer, the sensitizer being characterized by aborption of the laser radiation and the surface layer being characterized by ablative absorption of the laser radiation; (b) a hydrophilic layer underlying the surface layer, the hydrophilic layer comprising one or more polymers and being characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation; and (c) a substrate; wherein interposed between the surface layer and the hydrophilic layer is a primer layer comprising an adhesion-promoting agent, the primer layer being characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation. In one embodiment, the adhesion-promoting agent comprises a crosslinked, polymeric reaction product of a hydrophilic polymer and a crosslinking agent. In one embodiment, the hydrophilic polymer is a polyvinyl alcohol. In one embodiment, the crosslinking agent is a melamine. In one embodiment, the primer layer further comprises a catalyst, preferably the catalyst is an organic sulfonic acid component. In a preferred embodiment, the primer layer comprises an organic sulfonic acid component, the primer layer being characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation. In one embodiment, the primer layer comprises a zirconium compound.
In a preferred embodiment of the printing members of the present invention, the substrate is selected from the group consisting of non-metal substrates and non-hydrophilic metal substrates.
Another aspect of the present invention pertains to a three layer product design of the printing members, the members comprising (a) an ink-accepting surface layer comprising one or more polymers and being characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation; (b) a second layer underlying the surface layer, the second layer comprising one or more polymers and a sensitizer, the sensitizer being characterized by absorption of the laser radiation and the second layer being characterized by ablative absorption of the laser radiation; (c) a hydrophilic third layer underlying the second layer, the third layer comprising a crosslinked, polymeric reaction product of a hydrophilic polymer and a first crosslinking agent and being characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation and by being not soluble in water; and, (d) a substrate. In one embodiment, the hydrophilic third layer comprises (i) a porous layer comprising a crosslinked, polymeric reaction product of a hydrophilic polymer and a first crosslinking agent; and (ii) a second crosslinking agent contained within pores of the porous layer. In a preferred embodiment, the printing member further comprises a primer layer interposed between the second and the third layers, the primer layer comprising an adhesion-promoting agent.
Another aspect of this invention pertains to methods for preparing a positive working, wet lithographic printing member, as described herein for both two layer and three layer product designs with highly crosslinked layers and with various approaches for interaction of the crosslinking chemistry by interfacial reactions between two adjacent layers. The ablative-absorbing layers for use with the highly crosslinked but hydrophilic layers of the present invention are not limited to organic sensitzers, but may also include metallic layers as the ablative-absorbing layer, such as for example, titanium metal layers, as are well known in the art of laser ablation imaging.
Another aspect of the present invention pertains to methods of preparing an imaged wet lithographic printing plate, the method comprising the steps of (a) providing a wet lithographic printing member of the present invention; (b) exposing the printing member to a desired imagewise exposure of laser radiation to ablate the ablative-absorbing layer of the member to form a residual layer in the laser-exposed areas of the ablative-absorbing layer, the residual layer being in contact to the hydrophilic layer; and (c) cleaning the residual layer from the hydrophilic layer with water or a cleaning solution; wherein the hydrophilic layer is characterized by the absence of removal of the hydrophilic layer in the laser-exposed areas during steps (b) and (c).
In one embodiment, the surface layer of the printing member of this invention is further characterized by being not soluble in water or in a cleaning solution. The term xe2x80x9ccleaning solution,xe2x80x9d as used herein, pertains to a solution used to clean or remove the residual debris from the laser-ablated region of the print member of this invention and may comprise water, solvents, and combinations thereof, including buffered water solutions, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,971. In a preferred embodiment, the surface layer is further characterized by being not soluble in water or in a cleaning solution and by durability on a wet lithographic printing press.
In one embodiment, the ablative-absorbing second layer of the three layer designs of the printing members of the present invention is ink-accepting. In one embodiment, the ablative-absorbing second layer of the three layer designs of the printing members of the present invention is further characterized by not accepting ink and by accepting water on a wet lithographic printing press.
In one embodiment, the ablative-absorbing second layer of the printing member of this invention comprises an infrared sensitizer. In one embodiment, the infrared sensitizer in the ablative-absorbing second layer is a carbon black. In a preferred embodiment, the carbon black of the infrared sensitizer of the ablative-absorbing layer comprises sulfonate groups on the surface of the carbon black, and most preferably the carbon black is CAB-O-JET 200. Suitable polymers in the ablative-absorbing second layer include, but are not limited to, nitrocellulose; polycyanoacrylates; polyurethanes; polyvinyl alcohols; polyvinyl acetates; polyvinyl chlorides; and copolymers and terpolymers thereof. In one embodiment, one or more of the polymers of the ablative-absorbing second layer is a hydrophilic polymer. In one embodiment, the crosslinking agent of the ablative-absorbing second layer is a melamine.
Another aspect of the present invention pertains to a positive working, wet lithographic printing member imageable by laser radiation comprising (a) an ink-accepting surface layer characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation, as described herein; (b) a second layer under the surface layer, which second layer comprises one or more polymers and is characterized by the ablative absorption of the laser radiation, as described herein; (c) a hydrophilic third layer underlying the second layer, which third layer is characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation; and (d) a substrate; wherein the second layer comprises greater than 13 weight per cent of an organic sulfonic acid component, as described herein, based in the total weight of polymers present in the second layer. In one embodiment, the thickness of the third layer of the printing member of this invention is from about 1 to about 40 microns. In one embodiment, the thickness of the third layer is from about 2 to about 25 microns.
In one embodiment, the hydrophilic third layer of the printing member of the present invention comprises a hydrophilic polymer and a crosslinking agent. Suitable hydrophilic resins for the third layer include, but are not limited to, polyvinyl alcohols and cellulosics. In a preferred embodiment, the hydrophilic polymer of the third layer is polyvinyl alcohol. In one embodiment, the crosslinking agent is a zirconium compound such as, for example, ammonium zirconyl carbonate.
In one embodiment, the hydrophilic third layer of the printing member of this invention is characterized by being not soluble in water or in a cleaning solution.
Suitable substrates for this aspect of the printing member of the present invention, which printing member comprises a hydrophilic polymeric or third layer interposed between the ablative-absorbing layer and the substrate, are either hydrophilic or non-hydrophilic/ink-accepting and include, but are not limited to, metals, papers, and polymeric films. Suitable polymeric films for the substrate include, but are not limited to, polyesters, polycarbonates, and polystyrene. In one embodiment, the polymeric film of the substrate is treated to make it hydrophilic. In one embodiment, the substrate is a polyester film, preferably a polyethylene terephthalate film. Suitable metals for the substrate include, but are not limited to, aluminum, copper, chromium, and steel. In a preferred embodiment, the metal of the substrate is grained, anodized, silicated, or a combination thereof. In a preferred embodiment, the substrate is aluminum.
One aspect of the present invention pertains to a positive working, wet lithographic printing member imageable by laser radiation comprising (a) an ink-accepting surface layer characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation, as described herein; (b) a second layer underlying the surface layer, which second layer comprises one or more polymers and is characterized by the ablative absorption of the laser radiation, as described herein; and (c) a hydrophilic substrate, as described herein; wherein interposed between the second layer and the hydrophilic substrate is a primer layer comprising an adhesion-promoting agent. The primer layer is characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation.
In one embodiment, the adhesion-promoting agent of the primer layer comprises a zirconium compound. In one embodiment, the adhesion-promoting agent of the primer layer comprises ammonium zirconyl carbonate. In one embodiment, the adhesion-promoting agent of the primer layer comprises zirconium propionate.
In another embodiment, the adhesion-promoting agent of the primer layer comprises an organic sulfonic acid component, preferably an aromatic sulfonic acid, and more preferably p-toluenesulfonic acid. In one embodiment, the organic sulfonic acid component in the primer layer interposed between the ablative-absorbing second layer and the hydrophilic substrate is present in an amount of 2 to 100 weight per cent of the primer layer, preferably in an amount of 50 to 100 weight per cent of the primer layer, and most preferably in an amount of 80 to 100 weight per cent of the primer layer.
In one embodiment, the thickness of the primer layer interposed between the second layer and the substrate is from about 0.01 to about 2 microns, and preferably from about 0.01 to about 0.1 microns.
Another aspect of the present invention pertains to a positive working, wet lithographic printing member imageable by laser radiation comprising (a) an ink-accepting surface layer characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation, as described herein; (b) a second layer underlying the surface layer, which second layer comprises one or more polymers and is characterized by the ablative absorption of the laser radiation, as described herein; (c) a hydrophilic third layer underlying the second layer, which third layer is characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation, as described herein; and (d) a substrate, as described herein; wherein interposed between the second and the third layer is a primer layer comprising an adhesion-promoting agent. The primer layer is characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation.
In one embodiment, the adhesion-promoting agent of the primer layer comprises a zirconium compound. In one embodiment, the adhesion-promoting agent of the primer layer comprises ammonium zirconyl carbonate. In one embodiment, the adhesion-promoting agent of the primer layer comprises zirconium propionate. In another embodiment, the adhesion-promoting agent of the primer layer comprises an organic sulfonic acid component, preferably an aromatic sulfonic acid. In one embodiment, the organic sulfonic acid component in the primer layer interposed between the second and the third layer is present in an amount of 2 to 100 weight per cent of the primer layer, preferably in an amount of 50 to 100 weight per cent of the primer layer, and most preferably in an amount of 80 to 100 weight per cent of the primer layer.
In one embodiment, the thickness of the primer layer interposed between the second and the third layer is from about 0.01 to about 2 microns, and preferably from about 0.01 to about 0.1 microns.
In a preferred embodiment, the method of preparing a positive working, wet lithographic printing member imageable by laser radiation comprises (a) providing a grained and anodized metal substrate, (b) coating a hydrophilic polymer layer on the substrate, which polymer layer comprises a hydrophilic polymer and a crosslinking agent and subsequently curing the polymer layer, (c) coating an intermediate layer over the polymer layer, which intermediate layer comprises an ablative-absorbing sensitizer, a hydrophilic polymer, and a crosslinking agent, and subsequently curing the intermediate layer to form an ablative-absorbing layer, and (d) coating an ink-accepting surface layer over the intermediate layer, which surface layer comprises a polymer and a crosslinking agent, and subsequently curing to form a thin durable ink-accepting surface layer; wherein the intermediate layer further comprises greater than 13 weight per cent of an organic sulfonic acid component based on the total weight of polymers present in the second layer. In a more preferred embodiment, the surface layer of the printing member further comprises an organic sulfonic acid component.
The lithographic printing members of this invention are positive working plates. The second layer, which is ablative absorptive, and the surface layer, which is ink-accepting, oleophilic, hydrophobic, and durable, are ablated and substantially completely removed in a post-imaging cleaning step in the regions exposed to the laser radiation so that the non-exposed regions serve as the ink-transferring surface in lithographic printing. After imaging, in a preferred embodiment, when a hydrophilic third layer is present underlying the ablative-absorbing second layer, a crosslinked hydrophilic polymeric third layer remains on the plate in the laser imaged areas, along with a quantity of ablation by-products or residual composite layer, typically loosely bound to the hydrophilic third layer. The hydrophilic third layer enhances the clean-up of the by-product or residual composite layer, since it is much easier to remove from the hydrophilic third layer than from a hydrophilic substrate, such as a grained and anodized aluminum surface. One advantage of the present invention is that the lithographic printing member or plate can be used to print immediately, since fountain solution will easily clean the ablation debris or residual composite layer from the plate. In the course of a long printing run, the hydrophilic third layer, when present, typically is not solubilized, and non-hydrophilic substrates may be utilized. Optionally, the hydrophilic third layer may only very slowly solubilize, and hydrophilic substrates are then preferred so that, if the hydrophilic third layer is removed by solubilization, the hydrophilic substrate is uncovered underneath. In this latter case, the printing characteristics of the non-image areas are not affected since one hydrophilic layer is merely exchanged for another. On the other hand, the hydrophilic third layer under the non-exposed image areas of the present invention provides an excellent adhesion primer for this image layer since it is nearly impossible to undercut through solubilization, particularly when the hydrophilic third layer is crosslinked.
The superiority of the lithographic printing member of the present invention over those previously known is particularly manifest in its ability to be imaged rapidly with relatively inexpensive diode lasers with large spot sizes, its ease of cleaning, its excellent image resolution and printing quality, its resistance to water, alkali, and solvents which provides excellent durability and image adhesion on the printing press, and its low cost of manufacture.
The presence of greater than 13 weight per cent of an organic sulfonic acid component based on the total polymers present in the ablative-absorbing second layer and, optionally, the presence of an organic sulfonic acid component in the ink-accepting surface layer, in the hydrophilic third layer when present, and in a primer layer when present, significantly enhances the combination of high laser sensitivity, high image resolution, ease of cleaning the residual composite layer formed in the laser-exposed areas, and the excellent durability, adhesion, and water and fountain solution resistance of the ink-accepting image areas on the printing press that are desired in lithographic printing utilizing direct imaging by lasers.
Yet another aspect of the present invention pertains to a positive working, wet lithographic printing member comprising an ablative-absorbing layer as an ink-accepting surface layer, wherein the ablative-absorbing layer comprises greater than 13 weight per cent of an organic sulfonic acid component, as described herein, based on the total weight of polymers present in the ablative-absorbing layer. The high weight per cent of an organic sulfonic acid component in the ablative-absorbing surface layer provides the lithographic printing member with the combined benefits of rapid imaging, ease of cleaning the residual non-ablated debris in the laser imaged areas, excellent image resolution and quality, and resistance to water for excellent durability and image adhesion on the printing press, but without requiring the additional non-ablative absorbing, ink-accepting overcoat surface layer of other aspects of this invention. Thus, another aspect of the present invention pertains to a positive working, wet lithographic printing member imageable by laser radiation comprising (a) an ink-accepting surface layer, which surface layer comprises one or more polymers and is characterized by the ablative absorption of laser radiation, as described herein; (b) optionally, a hydrophilic polymeric layer, which hydrophilic polymeric layer underlies the surface layer and is characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation, as described herein; and, (c) a substrate, as described herein; wherein the surface layer further comprises greater than 13 weight per cent of an organic sulfonic acid component based on the total weight of polymers present in the surface layer.
Further, still another aspect of the present invention pertains to a positive working, wet lithographic printing member imageable by laser radiation comprising (a) an ink-accepting surface layer, which surface layer comprises one or more polymers and is characterized by the ablative absorption of the laser radiation, as described herein; (b) optionally, a hydrophilic polymeric layer, which hydrophilic polymeric layer underlies the surface layer and is characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation, as described herein; and, (c) a substrate, as described herein; wherein interposed between the hydrophilic polymeric layer and the surface layer is a primer layer comprising an adhesion-promoting agent. The primer layer is characterized by the absence of ablative absorption of the laser radiation. In one embodiment, the adhesion-promoting agent of the primer layer comprises a zirconium compound. In one embodiment, the adhesion-promoting agent of the primer layer comprises ammonium zirconyl carbonate. In one embodiment, the adhesion-promoting agent of the primer layer comprises zirconium propionate. In another embodiment, the adhesion-promoting agent of the primer layer comprises an organic sulfonic acid component, preferably an aromatic sulfonic acid. In one embodiment, the organic sulfonic acid component in the primer layer interposed between the hydrophilic polymeric layer and the ablative-absorbing surface layer is present in the amount of 2 to 100 weight per cent of the primer layer, preferably in an amount of 50 to 100 weight per cent of the primer layer, and most preferably in an amount of 80 to 100 weight per cent of the primer layer. In one embodiment, in addition to the presence of the primer layer, the ablative-absorbing surface layer further comprises greater than 13 weight per cent of an organic sulfonic acid component based on the total weight of polymers present in the ablative-absorbing surface layer.
As one of skill in the art will appreciate, features of one embodiment and aspect of the invention are applicable to other embodiments and aspects of the invention.
The above-discussed and other features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated and understood by those skilled in the art from the following detailed description and drawings.

Lithographic printing members having secondary non-ablative layers for use with laser imaging apparatus


A system for providing one-step dimming of indicator lights in an illuminating indicating device while allowing adjustable control of the general illumination of the device. The system includes a first current drain (176) coupled to an indicator light source (32-42) for drawing a first current through the indicator light source. A second current drain (186), controlled by control circuitry (198), couples to the indicator light source (32-42) for selectively drawing additional current through the indicator light source (32-42). In a preferred embodiment, the first current drain (176) couples to the second current drain (186) to regulate the additional current draw by the second current drain (186). Preferably, the control circuitry (198) is responsive to an illumination signal to prevent the additional current draw during a low ambient light condition. For general illumination of the indicator device (10), an illumination light source (56-60) responsive to the illumination signal may also be included.

The present invention relates generally to illuminating indicators, and more particularly, to controlling lighting intensity in such devices.
Illuminating indicators used in automobiles are typically designed to accommodate two operating conditions: a high ambient light condition and a low ambient light condition. Regardless of the ambient light conditions, the illuminating indicator must provide an indication at an intensity which is discernible by the viewer. Oftentimes the intensity required to achieve the desired contrast during high ambient light conditions produces an undesirably intense indication during low ambient light conditions. To remedy this situation, the indicator lights may be coupled to a vehicle dimmer switch which allows the operator to adjustably control the intensity of lights responsive to it to an intensity which is comfortable to the driver. However, the inventors herein have recognized that it is not entirely satisfactory nor always desirable to dim the indicating lights along with the lights used for general illumination purposes.
Accordingly, a need exists for an illuminating indicating apparatus which provides one-step dimming of the indicating lights during a low ambient light condition while still providing the driver with the ability to adjustably control the general illumination of the apparatus to a comfortable intensity level.

System for controlling lighting in an illuminating indicating device


An exercise device is provided having (a) an axle unit convertible into a hammer type exercising device, (b) an adjustable stand (c) a resistance unit attached to the axle unit, and a detachable handle elements. The axle unit is rotatably and releasably attached to the adjustable stand for permitting rotation of the axle unit about a horizontal axis. The resistance unit is attached to the axle unit for biasing the axle unit in a given position. The handle elements are attached to the axle unit for permitting the user to forcibly counter the bias provided by the resistance unit to permit exercise of the upper body. The axle unit is removable from the resistance unit and the adjustable stand, and may be converted into dumb bell or to a hammer, and by utilization of the resistance unit may be converted to a wrist roller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to exercise devices, and more particularly relates to exercise devices for enhancing grip strength and upper body strength.
2. Background of the Invention
Prior exercise equipment has typically involved the ability to enhance one or more areas of strength in the body. Prior efforts to improve wrist strength have utilized such devices as the Thor's hammer, which in its basic form has typically involved a bar having a weight at one end thereof, and utilization thereof has typically involved grabbing the unweighted end and using a hammer motion to enhance the strength of the wrist. Such devices, however, have had limited utility for the strengthening of other portions of the body.
Consequently, there is a need for a hammer type exercising device which allows for adaptation for strengthening other parts of the body such as the upper body.


An oxidation resistant, microporous polyolefin web exhibiting high-strength mechanical and low electrical resistance properties is a solid matrix that includes an ultrahigh molecular weight polyolefin component and a friable precipitated silica component. The ultrahigh molecular weight polyolefin component provides high-strength mechanical properties to the web. The friable precipitated silica component is broken down into predominately discrete silica aggregates dispersed throughout the microporous web to maintain a low electrical resistance in the presence of an electrolyte. In an alternative preferred embodiment, a polyethylene web includes an antioxidant coating that is applied to the separator web following extraction of the majority of the process oils and drying of the extraction fluid from the separator pores. The resultant “sheath” of antioxidant protects the mechanical integrity of the polyethylene separator by suppressing polyethylene degradation.

The recombinant cell and the flooded cell are two different types of commercially available lead acid battery designs. Both types include adjacent positive and negative electrodes that are separated from each other by a porous battery separator. The porous separator prevents the adjacent electrodes from coming into physical contact and provides space for an electrolyte to reside. Such separators are formed of materials that are sufficiently porous to permit the electrolyte to reside in the pores of the separator material, thereby permitting ionic current flow between adjacent positive and negative plates.
One type of recombinant battery, a VRLA battery, typically includes an absorptive glass mat (AGM) separator composed of microglass fibers. While AGM separators provide high porosity and uniform electrolyte distribution, they offer little control over the oxygen transport rate or the recombination process. Furthermore, AGM separators exhibit low puncture resistance, which is detrimental to the operation of the VRLA battery in a high vibration environment, such as within an automobile. Low puncture resistance is problematic for two reasons: (1) the incidence of short circuits increases and (2) manufacturing costs are increased because of the fragility of the AGM sheets. One attempt to produce a VRLA battery having improved separator puncture resistance and oxygen recombination entailed the use of a polyethylene separator having a gelled electrolyte design. The battery included a sulfuric acid electrolyte and cross-linked silica particles that formed a three-dimensional gel.
In the second type of lead acid battery, the flooded cell battery, only a small portion of the electrolyte is absorbed into the separator. Flooded cell battery separators typically include porous derivatives of cellulose, polyvinyl chloride, organic rubber, and polyolefins. More specifically, microporous polyethylene separators are commonly used because of their ultrafine pore size, which inhibits dendritic growth while providing low electrical resistance, good oxidation resistance, and excellent flexibility.
Thus most flooded lead acid batteries include polyethylene separators. The term "polyethylene separator" is something of a misnomer because these microporous separators require large amounts of precipitated silica to be sufficiently acid wettable. The volume fraction of precipitated silica and its distribution in the separator generally control its electrical properties, while the volume fraction and orientation of polyethylene in the separator generally control its mechanical properties.
Most types of commercially available precipitated silica are available as powders with the as-received individual particles having diameters in a range of approximately 5–50 micrometers. As shown in FIG. 1, a silica particle 10 is comprised of multiple interconnected silica aggregates 20, each of which has a diameter of about 0.1 to about 0.2 micrometer. Each individual silica aggregate 20 is comprised of multiple covalently bonded primary particles 30, each of which has a diameter of about 20 nanometers.
Silica particles 10 derive their porosity from the interstices between and within silica aggregates 20. The degree of hydrogen and/or covalent bonding between silica aggregates 20 determines the friability of the commercially available precipitated silica. The amount of hydrogen and/or covalent bonding between silica aggregates 20 can be influenced by the precipitation and drying processes used to manufacture the commercially available precipitated silica.
Commercially available precipitated silica is typically combined with a polyolefin, a process oil, and various minor ingredients to form a separator mixture that is extruded at an elevated temperature through a slot die to form an oil-filled sheet. The oil-filled sheet is calendered to its desired thickness and profile, and the majority of the process oil is extracted. The sheet is dried to form a microporous polyolefin separator and is slit into an appropriate width for a specific battery design.
During battery manufacture, the separator is fed to a machine that forms "envelopes" by cutting the separator material and sealing its edges such that an electrode can be inserted to form an electrode package. The electrode packages are stacked such that the separator acts as a physical spacer and an electronic insulator between positive and negative electrodes. An electrolyte is then introduced into the assembled battery to facilitate ionic conduction within the battery.
The primary purposes of the polyolefin contained in the separator are to (1) provide mechanical integrity to the polymer matrix so that the separator can be enveloped at high speeds and (2) to prevent grid wire puncture during battery assembly or operation. Thus, the hydrophobic polyolefin preferably has a molecular weight that provides sufficient molecular chain entanglement to form a microporous web with high puncture resistance. The primary purpose of the hydrophilic silica is to increase the acid wettability of the separator web, thereby lowering the electrical resistivity of the separator. In the absence of silica, the sulfuric acid would not wet the hydrophobic web and ion transport would not occur, resulting in an inoperative battery.
Consequently, the silica component of the separator typically accounts for between about 60% and about 80% by weight of the separator, i.e., the separator has a silica-to-polyethylene weight ratio of between about 2.7:1 and about 3.5:1. One reason a large amount of silica is required is that the silica particles are not completely broken down into their individual aggregates during the extrusion process, thereby providing insufficient silica dispersion throughout the separator web. Increasing the amount of silica in the web relative to the amount of mechanical integrity-stabilizing polyolefin results in low electrical resistance at the expense of puncture resistance.
In response to the commercial demand for increased puncture resistance, some separator manufacturers have attempted to decrease the concentration of silica in the polyethylene separator. However, this undesirably increases the electrical resistance. Further, these separators displayed inadequate acid wettability. One attempt to increase the acid wettability of the low concentration silica separators involved applying a combination hydrophobic/hydrophilic surfactant coating to the web. While the surfactant successfully increased the acid wettability and decreased the electrical resistance of the separator, it complexed with the soluble lead oxides of the battery and degraded to form a black scum that interfered with battery operation. Moreover, the use of a surfactant introduced a significant additional processing expense.
It is therefore desirable to cost-effectively produce a microporous polyethylene separator having a material composition that provides increased puncture resistance and high oxidation resistance while maintaining a low electrical resistance.
A related, but separate, concern involves the addition of an antioxidant to the separator. Antioxidants are added to the polyethylene separator to protect its mechanical integrity by preventing polyethylene degradation during processing and use. These antioxidants are typically added to the separator formulation before extrusion to reduce oxidation and molecular weight reduction of the polymer matrix during the extrusion process. It has been discovered in many cases that most of the added antioxidant material is not present in the separator web following solvent extraction. In fact, only about 20% to about 30% of the initial antioxidant concentration is present in the final separator. Much of this loss occurs during solvent extraction of the process oil from the separator web. In addition, some of the antioxidant is thermally degraded during the extrusion and extraction processes.
It is therefore further desirable to produce a microporous polyethylene battery separator that more efficiently maintains and distributes the antioxidant throughout the web.

Lead acid battery separator with improved electrical and mechanical properties


There are provided, on the POS device unit side, a physical keyboard having a plurality of physical keys arranged thereon; a screen keyboard comprising a plurality of screen keys arranged and displayed on a screen having a touch panel arranged thereon adjacent the physical keyboard; and a key data transfer control unit which connects each of the physical keyboard and the screen keyboard to an input port, and transfers key data from an output port in accordance with the sequence of key operations of the physical keyboard and the screen keyboard. A keyboard control unit which notifies the key data transferred from the key data transfer control unit to the application processing unit for execution of processing is provided in the POS main body. When physical keys and screen keys are operated in succession, the key data are transferred in the sequence of key operations and notified to the application.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an input information processing apparatus for processing input information entered from a keyboard used in a POS system, a method therefore, and a program therefore. More particularly, the present invention relates to an input information processing apparatus for processing a device input entered from a physical keyboard and a screen keyboard based on a touch panel, a method therefore and a program therefore.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional POS system used in a supermarket or the like, a POS device unit having a barcode reading scanner, a card reader, an LCD, a keyboard and the like is separately arranged on a product checkout lane from a POS main body having a cash register. The POS device unit arranged on the checkout lane reads out product barcodes through the scanner, enters the number of goods with ten-keys and subjects the input to a calculation processing. When a product barcode reader is not provided, a unit price is derived by operating the screen keys, and the number of goods is entered through the ten-keys for calculation processing. In the conventional POS system as described above, the POS main body corresponds to the personal computer, to which individual devices of the device unit are cable-connected. The ten-keys are connected via the sasme device interface as the keyboard of the personal computer, and for the screen keyboard, it is connected via a mouse interface having a transfer rate higher than that of a keyboard.
In the conventional POS system as described above, however, the interface for the physical keyboard such as ten-keys and the interface for the screen keyboard comprising a touch panel provided on the LCD are separately provided, with furthermore different transfer rates. This causes a problem in that, when the physical keys and the screen keys are pressed in succession, notifications to the application are changed over in sequence. When managing the system by assigning numeral keys or multiplication key to the physical keyboard, and products to the screen keys, and a shopping basket contains three identical products, the operator operates keys in sequence of "3", "×", and then the "product key". In this case, the route of the keyboard interface transmitting the key operation of the physical keys "3" and "×" is different from the route of the mouse interface communicating the operation of the screen key "product key". Since the mouse interface has a higher transfer rate, a successive and rapid key operation may sometimes result in earlier arrival of the screen key at the application. For example, when entering three cucumbers and one Japanese radish, keys are pressed in a sequence of "3", "×", "cucumber" and "radish". When entering a single piece of product, "1" and "×" can be omitted. In this case, input of the screen key "cucumber" may be notified earlier to the application than the physical keys "3" and "×", resulting in a sequence of "cucumber", "3", "×", and then "radish", leading to a sale of a single cucumber and three radish. In order to avoid an error in which a changed-over sequence of key operations is notified to the application, it is inevitable to slowly conduct successive key operations, this in turn causing a problem of operability.
Operation of the screen keyboard is transmitted to the application by the mouse interface upon pressing and then releasing the key. The response from the application to the key operation is therefore felt dull.
A click sound is given for a key operation to beat rhythm. When alternately operating the physical and screen keys by causing the both interfaces to have the same transfer rate, response sounds for the individual key operations are ill-timed, this leading to a problem of a more difficult operation resulting from the ill-timed tempo. Furthermore, when the finger is shifted while being in touch with the screen keyboard, the key data of the key from which the finger is released is notified to the application, as if the screen key at the shift position were pressed, thus causing a problem in that a malfunction occurs for a quick operation of the screen keyboard.

Input information processing apparatus, method and program


A new distinct variety of grapevine named ARRAELEVEN abundantly forms attractive medium-to-large seedless berries having green / creamy yellow skin coloration in medium-to-large clusters. The fruit displays a sweet Muscat flavor and is firm in texture. The fruit commonly is ready for harvesting during the end of July in San Joaquin Valley of Central California, U.S.A, and displays good eating qualities as a table grape. The fruit firmness renders the fruit well amenable for handling, shipping, and storage.

A breeding program was initiated during the late 80's near Bakersfield in San Joaquin Valley of Central California. In 1989, during this breeding program, a new variety of Vitis vinifera was created by deliberate cross breeding of two parent plants by emasculation of the pollen bearing organ of the male and introducing pollen from another male origin. The female parent of the new variety was the GAW2 which is a light green, obtuse ovoid shaped grape variety bearing a very small remainder of seed rudiment (non-patented in the United States). The male parent (i.e. the pollen parent) of the new variety was GRAPAES (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,696) which is an oval shaped, creamy green colored, seedless variety with a Muscat flavor.

Agricultural Research and Development Limited Liability Company


The storage devices of a storage device set (e.g., a RAID array) may generate a nonvolatile representation of the configuration of the storage device set, including logical disks, spaces, storage pools, and layout and provisioning plans, on the physical media of the storage devices. A computer accessing the storage device set may also generate a volatile memory representation of the storage device set to use while accessing the storage devices; however, the nonvolatile representation may not be performant due to its different usage and characteristics. Presented herein are techniques for accessing the storage device set according to a volatile memory representation comprising a hierarchy of logical disks, slabs, and extents, and an accessory comprising a provisioning component that handles slab accesses while applying provisioning plans, and that interfaces with a lower-level layout component that translates slab accesses into storage device accesses while applying layout plans to the storage device set.

Within the field of computing, many scenarios involve the storage of data on a storage device set, such as a set of hard disk drives managed by a storage controller. The storage device set may be configured in many ways, e.g., with various addressing schemes, forms of capacity aggregation of the capacities of the storage devices, and resiliency and provisioning plans. For example, various storage pools may be generated, wherein a logical disk or logical volume is presented using the shared capacity of two or more storage devices or storage regions thereof.
The configuration of the storage device set is often stored on the physical media of one or more of the storage devices, e.g., as a set of representations of one or more storage devices, one or more storage pools, spaces manifested from the storage pools, and physical extents that are allocated from the physical storage regions of the storage devices and mapped to corresponding logical storage regions of the spaces. The persistence of the representation of the storage device set on the physical storage devices may enable storage services to recover from a failure (e.g., a power failure that erases the volatile memory of computer using the storage device set, or the reconstruction of the data of a failed storage device onto a substitute storage device through the use of a resilient storage plan).

Volatile memory representation of nonvolatile storage device set


Disclosed is a picture interaction method, which includes: setting a corresponding relation between a picture material moving speed and a user heartbeat frequency; presenting a picture material; shooting a user body image group, analyzing the user body image group so as to monitor a blood color difference, and calculating a user heartbeat frequency according to the blood color difference; and determining a picture material moving speed corresponding to the user heartbeat frequency according to the calculated user heartbeat frequency, and controlling moving of the picture material based on the determined picture material moving speed.

With rapid development of computer technologies and network technologies, the Internet and instant messaging technologies play an increasingly more important role in daily life, study and work of people. Besides, with development of the mobile Internet, the Internet is also developing towards mobility.
Today's society has entered a highly developed information age, an enterprise competition form has also transformed from a past single competition form that mainly focuses on product functions and quality into a compound competition form that uses an enterprise image, a product, a brand, and the like as important means and main tendency. The form transformation is inseparable from rapid development of modern picture presenting industry.
In conventional picture presenting activities, basic elements such as group of picture, picture content, a picture content audience, and picture representation reflect civilization degrees of ages in a certain area. All of these image elements serving as a type of culture reflect society and economy traces of ages to varying degrees.
In a current picture presenting method, normally, a picture material is provided by a picture supplier directly, and pictures are presented actively on a network in a unidirectional mode. However, this presenting manner does not take a personal participating degree of a picture audience into consideration, and is therefore just a type of partial picture presenting; this displaying manner lacks effective interaction with a picture browsing audience, so that an interaction success rate is low.

Picture interaction method, apparatus, system and mobile terminal

Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited