Extremely hydrophobic nitric oxide (NO) releasing polymers are disclosed. The extremely hydrophobic NO-releasing polymers provided are extensively cross-linked polyamine-derivatized divinylbenzene diazeniumdiolates. These polymers can be loaded with extremely high NO levels and designed to release NO in manners than mimic natural biological systems. The NO-releasing extremely hydrophobic polymers provided can maintain a sustained NO release for periods exceeding nine months. Also provided are related medical devices made using these NO-releasing extremely hydrophobic polymers.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a simple diatomic molecule that is a powerful signaling compound and cytostatic agent found in nearly every tissue including endothelial cells, neural cells and macrophages. Mammalian cells synthesize NO using a two step enzymatic process that oxidizes L-arginine to N-ω-hydroxy-L-arginine, which is then converted into L-citrulline and an uncharged NO free radical. Three different nitric oxide synthase enzymes regulate NO production. Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (NOS1, or nNOS) is formed within neuronal tissue and plays an essential role in neurotransmission; endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS3 or eNOS), is secreted by endothelial cells and induces vasodilatation; inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS2 or iNOS) is principally found in macrophages, hepatocytes and chondrocytes and is associated with immune cytotoxicity.
Neuronal NOS and eNOS are constitutive enzymes that regulate the rapid, short-term release of small amounts of NO. In these minute amounts NO activates guanylate cyclase which elevates cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) concentrations which in turn increase intracellular Ca+2 levels. Increased intracellular Ca+2 concentrations result in smooth muscle relaxation which accounts for NO's vasodilating effects. Inducible NOS is responsible for the sustained release of larger amounts of NO and is activated by extracellular factors including endotoxins and cytokines. These higher NO levels play a key role in cellular immunity.
Nitric oxide's therapeutic potential has been studied in a diverse number of clinical indications including cancer, coronary artery heart disease, restenosis, hypertension, angiogenesis, and sexual dysfunction. Moreover, recent studies have demonstrated that NO also possesses considerable in vivo and ex vivo antimicrobial activity (Fang, F. C., 1997. Perspectives series: host/pathogen interactions. Mechanisms of Nitric Oxide-antimicrobial activity. J Clin Invest Jun. 15; 99 (12):2818-25; Fang, F. C., 1999. Nitric Oxide and Infection, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers: New York; see also: U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,666 [the "'666 patent"] filed Apr. 24, 1995 and issued to Green at al.; the entire contents of both are hereby incorporated by reference) and is thus suitable for use in the treatment of infectious diseases.
Nitric oxide's unique combination of physiological properties has made it an ideal candidate for treating vascular diseases, specifically ischemic heart disease. Ischemic heart disease results when blood flow to the heart is restricted, usually as a result of a blockage in the one or more coronary arteries. Most forms of ischemic heart disease are treated using coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery or by restoring blocked vessel patency using transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and/or stent placement.
However, CABG and PTCA can fail due to restenosis, a multi-factorial process whereby the previously opened vessel lumen narrows and becomes re-occluded. Restenosis has been found to occur in approximately 30% to 50% of angioplasty and other transcatheter patients within three to six months (Currier, J. W. et al. 1995. Restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty: have we been aiming at the wrong target? J Am Coll Cardiol; 25:516-520). Restenosis is initiated when thrombocytes (platelets) adhere to a vessel injury site caused by balloon inflation and initiate thrombogenesis (clot formation) and/or vascular smooth muscle cell over-proliferation (hyperplasia). As a result, the previously opened lumen begins to narrow, restricting or occluding the injured vessel. Recently, researchers have demonstrated that the anti-thromobogenic and anti-smooth muscle proliferative effects of NO can significantly reduce restenosis in animals (Bohl, K. S. et al. 2000. Nitric oxide-generating polymers reduce platelet adhesion and smooth muscle cell proliferation. Biomaterials; 21(22): 2273-8; Buergler, J. M. et al. Use of nitric-oxide-eluting polymer-coated stents for prevention of restenosis in pigs. Coron. Artery Dis.; 11(4): 351-7; Janero, D. R. et al. Nitric oxide and postangioplasty restenosis: pathological correlates and therapeutic potential. 29(12): 1199-221; Le Tourneau, T. et al. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. Role of nitric oxide in restenosis after experimental balloon angioplasty in the hypercholesterolemic rabbit: effects on neointimal hyperplasia and vascular remodeling. 33 (3): 876-82). Consequently, significant interest has been directed at developing medical devices that focus the anti-restenotic effects of NO directly on anatomical sites at greatest risk for restenosis.
Another method for treating an ischemic organ, especially the heart, is to revascularize the affected area by inducing the growth of new blood vessel and capillaries. This process, called angiogenesis, has received considerable attention as an alternative to CABG and PTCA for the treatment of ischemic heart disease (Dulak, J. et al., 2000. Nitric oxide induces the synthesis of vascular endothelial growth factor by rat vascular smooth muscle cells. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol; March;20(3): 659-666). Compounds shown to induce or up-regulate angiogenesis include nitric oxide, fibroblast growth factor (FGF) vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and members of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) family such as transforming growth factor alpha (TGF alpha), transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta), betacellulin, amphiregulin, and vaccinia growth factor among other factors. Nitric oxide is involved in the regulation of these biochemicals; therefore under certain conditions NO may exert angiogenic effects.
The in vivo use of NO-releasing compounds to induce angiogenesis, prevent restenosis, reduce unwanted thrombogenicity, and promote wound healing appears to be promising. However, the current NO-releasing techniques have failed to fully mimic the natural NO release associated with endothelial cells. As previously mentioned, natural NO production is regulated by a combination of constitutive and inducible enzymes. Endothelial cells, the primary regulator of vascular homeostasis, are provided with continuous low levels of NO release through constitutive enzyme (eNOS) activity. Moreover, when required, inducible enzymes (iNOS) can provide cells with momentary bursts of NO. In principle, such transient physiological bursts of NO can be mimicked using polymers or metallic surfaces coated with NO-donating materials that release NO immediately upon exposure to aqueous physiological environments. However, the sustained delivery of low levels of NO by endothelial cells has proven to be much more difficult to simulate with NO-releasing materials.
Another daunting task has proven to be the preferential or selective delivery of NO to specific target organs. Nitric oxide reacts readily with a variety of biomolecules and can be toxic when administered systemically. Previous efforts to provide therapeutic NO levels have generally relied on NO prodrugs such as glyceryl trinitrate and sodium nitroprusside. These compounds, unlike NO gas, are generally stable; however, their pharmacological activity is usually short lived. Moreover, the enzymes and co-factors necessary to convert glyceryl trinitrate into NO are rapidly depleted. Hence, repeated use of this compound over short time periods results in the development of drug tolerance. Prolonged use of sodium nitroprusside can lead to the excessive generation of highly toxic cyanide which can accumulate as a result thus limiting its long-term use. Consequently, significant attention has been directed towards the development of NO generators or donor compounds that can be used for the sustained localized therapeutic administration of NO without toxic side effects.
Nitric oxide-releasing compounds suitable for in vivo applications have been developed by a number of investigators. As early as 1960 it was demonstrated that nitric oxide gas could be reacted with amines to form NO-releasing anions having the following general formula:R—R′N—N(O)NO−  Formula 1Salts of these compounds spontaneously decompose and release NO in solution. (R. S. Drago et al J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1960, 82, 96-98.)
Nitric oxide-releasing compounds with sufficient stability in aqueous physiological buffers to be useful as therapeutics were ultimately developed by Keefer et al. as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,954,526, 5,039,705, 5,155,137, 5,212,204, 5,250,550, 5,366,997, 5,405,919, 5,525,357 and 5,650,447 and in J. A. Hrabie et al, J. Org. Chem. 1993, 58, 1472-1476, all of which are herein incorporated by reference. Briefly, Hrabie et al. describes NO-releasing intramolecular salts (zwitterions) having the general formula:R N[N(O)NO]−(CH2)xNH2+R′  Formula 2Stable NO-releasing compounds of Formula 2 (nitric oxide/nucleophile complexes) have been coupled to a wide range of amine containing polymers whose backbone molecular structure is non- or poorly cross-linked (Smith D. J. et al. 1996 Nitric oxide-releasing polymers containing the [N(O)NO]− group. J Med Chem 39:1148-1156, Pulfer, S. K. et al. 1997 Incorporation of nitric oxide-releasing crosslinked polyethyleneimine microspheres into vascular graft. J. Biomed Mater Res. 37:182-9, Mowery, K. A. et al. 2000. Preparation and characterization of hydrophobic polymeric films that are thromboresistant via nitric oxide release. Biomaterials 21:9-21, Bauer, J. A. et al. 1998. Evaluation of linear polyethyleneimine/nitric oxide adduct on wound repair:therapy verses toxicity. Wound Repair and Regeneration, Vol. 6 No. 6:569-576. The[N(O)NO]− (abbreviated herein after at NONO) containing compounds thus described release NO via a first order reaction that is predictable and easily quantified. Such NO-donor compounds are commonly known in the art as diazeniumdiolates.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,919 ("the '919 patent") is an example of a patent that describes methods for bonding or coupling diazeniumdiolate NO-releasing groups to biologically acceptable polymers. Examples of such polymers include polyolefins, such as polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyterafluoroethylene, polyvinylidene, or derivatized polyolefins such as polyethyleneimine, polyesters, polyethers, polyurethanes and the like. The NO-release totals for the polymers cited in the '919 patent were measured in the range of 3 to 11 nmol/mg. Implantable medical devices composed of biologically acceptable forms of such polymers represent a potential means for the site-specific NO delivery to a particular tissue or target organ.
Significant progress has been made in the preparation, formulation, and protective group derivatization of diazeniumdiolated amines. U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,137 discloses general methods of preparing polyamine/nitric oxide complexes suitable for treating cardiovascular diseases. The '666 patent describes a novel means of formulating a diazeniumdiolated amine by impregnating such moieties in multilamellar liposomes. Liposome encapsulated diazeniumdiolates are shielded from the aqueous milieu until phagocytized by a macrophage. Once inside the macrophage, the liposome encapsulated diazeniumdiolate releases its contents into the lumen of the phagolysome and there is a corresponding generation of NO as the "free" diazeniumdiolate moieties. In vitro studies have shown that the method described in the '666 patent is a particularly effective means of killing phagocytized pathogenic microorganisms within macrophages. Liposome encapsulation of diazeniumdiolates appears to function entirely as a means of enhancing the delivery of such compounds to cells as there is no corresponding extension in the half-life of NO release vs. non-encapsulated diazeniumdiolates.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,997 discloses techniques by which the distal oxygen atom of the diazeniumdiolate anion can be derivatized through the covalent attachment of a protective group. Such modified diazeniumdiolates are generally quite stable when exposed to aqueous buffers under conditions of physiological temperature and pH. However, certain organs are able to metabolically remove the protective group from protected diazeniumdiolates with the concomitant formation of the parent diazeniumdiolate moiety.
The availability of stable NO-releasing diazeniumdiolates has greatly advanced the potential for developing NO-delivering medicaments. However, there is still a need for even better control over the duration of in vivo NO release. Specifically, there is a need to develop NO-donating polymeric materials that are capable of sustained NO release in physiological buffer solutions for periods lasting several months to years. Moreover, there is a need to develop materials that can better mimic in situ NO production where NO bursts are followed by sustained lower level release of NO delivered directly to a target organ or group of cells.

Highly cross-linked, extremely hydrophobic nitric oxide-releasing polymers and methods for their manufacture and use


An integrated video decoding system with spatial/temporal video post-processing is disclosed. The integrated video decoding system includes a video decoder for decompressing an input data stream, and an integrated post-processing stage coupled to the video decoder. According to one aspect of the present invention, the integrated post-processing stage combines a temporal filter, a de-interlacer, and optionally a deblocking filter. The integrated post-processing stage further utilizes a single memory system used by the temporal filter and the de-interlacer.

Digital video and digital video compression has become ubiquitous throughout the content generation, distribution, broadcast, editing, and storage markets. In general, image sequences may be compressed as either spatial only (JPEG, DV, MPEG Intra pictures) or both temporally and spatially (MPEG, H.261, H.263, H.264). The dominant compression schemes are block-based (MPEG2, MPEG1, DV, MPEG4) and 'lossy'.
A compressed video stream is an encoded sequence of video frames. Each frame is a still image. A video player displays one frame after another, usually at a rate close to 30 frames per second. Frames can be encoded in three types: intra-frames (I-frames), forward predicted frames (P-frames), and bi-directional predicted frames (B-frames). Non-intra frames are encoded using information from outside the current frames that has already been encoded. There are two types of non-intra frames, predicted frames (P-frames) and bidirectional frames (B-frames). In non-intra frames, motion compensated information is used for a macroblock, which results in less data than directly (intra) encoding the macroblock.
An I-frame is spatially encoded as a single image, with no reference to any past or future frames. After the I-frame has been processed, the encoded frame will be transmitted to a decoder, where it is decoded as a reconstructed image and stored. The encoded I-frame is also decoded at the encoder to provide a reconstructed version of the image identical with the one that will be generated by the decoder. This reconstructed image is used as a reference frame to encode non-intra frames.
A P-frame is encoded relative to the past reference frame, which can be an I- or P-frame. The past reference frame is the closest preceding reference frame. Before the image is transformed from the spatial domain into a frequency domain using the DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform), each macroblock is compared with the same block in the reference image. If the block is part of a static background, it will be the same as the corresponding block in the reference image. Instead of encoding this block, the decoder is instructed to use the corresponding block from the reference image. If the block is part of motion in the scene, then the block may still be present in the reference image, just not is the same location. A motion vector is used to instruct the encoder where in the reference image to get the data, typically using a value having x and y components. The process of obtaining the motion vector is known as motion estimation, and using the motion vector to eliminate or reduce the amount of residual information to encode is known as motion compensation. The encoding for B-frames is similar to P-frames, except that motion vectors may refer to areas in both past and future reference pictures.
Once the compressed video stream is received by a decoder (e.g., MPEG or DV), the decoder decompresses the video and performs a scaling operation and perhaps overlays graphics ('sub-picture' in DVD-Video) prior to display. Newer compression schemes such as MPEG4, H.26L, and H.263+, as well as older, low bit rate standards such as H.261 also apply deblocking filters to reduce the effects of the DCT block boundary artifacts (Note that not all block-based standards use DCT). Progressive output (also known as 'line doubling' or 'de-interlacing') delivers higher vertical resolution and is typically generated by a pixel-adaptive nonlinear filter applied between fields to generate interpolated pixels. Large screen televisions employ special purpose hardware to detect coherent pan sequences in NTSC film material, and generate interpolated frames to reduce the motion artifacts of 3:2 pulldown ('Judder').
The decode process typically is performed in raster order left to right and top to bottom, although this need not be the case (example: DV). Additionally, some coding schemes may decode multiple pictures simultaneously. In the decode process, the reconstructed pixel data is created in an on-chip memory system and written back out to external memory (e.g., SDRAM). Previously decoded images may be accessed to provide reference pixel information used in the reconstruction of predicted images. The fetching and storage of pixel information consumes SDRAM 'bandwidth' and can be the bottleneck to system performance. Providing higher bandwidth to memory typically increases system cost, either in the form of a 'wider' memory interface (e.g., 32 bit instead of 16 bit wide memory) or in the form of faster memories (more power consumption, typically more expensive). In integrated system-on-chip video codec solutions, especially those with a Unified Memory Architecture (UMA), SDRAM bandwidth is one of the critical resources limiting system performance.
Co-pending patent application Ser. No. 10/256,190, discloses a content adaptive video processor in which scene classification is used to supply control input to a temporal filter to modify the behavior of the temporal filter according to current characteristics of the content to more effectively reduce artifacts in the image sequence. In addition, the temporal filtering may be applied in the encoding system and/or the decoding system, and in or out of the encoding and decoding loops. In this system, a motion estimation unit is utilized by both a motion-compensated temporal filter (MCTF) and a motion-compensated de-interlacer (MCDI).
Motion estimation tasks, however, require memory space for reference and target images, SDRAM bandwidth to fetch the pixels from these images, and computational resources to perform pixel comparisons and compute candidate motion vectors. In hierarchical motion estimation schemes, decimated (reduced resolution) versions of the reference and target images must be generated as well prior to performing motion estimation.
Typically, there is a pipelined architecture for performing both the MCTF and MCDI processes that includes the following three steps. The first step generates decimated images for the motion estimation engine; performs temporal analysis to detect repeated fields (for film material) and to detect scene cuts; measures spatial analysis metrics across the images to detect the location and severity of macroblocking, localized frequency content, edges and other features; and measures image differences and picture-level metrics to identify scene cuts, classify scenes, and invoking specialized processing modes for the identified scene type. (e.g., recognize film content for MCDI).
The second step is to perform motion estimation (ME). Typically, several stages of ME (e.g., hierarchical or telescopic motion estimation) may occur in sequence, each using the results from the previous stage. Additionally, multi-candidate ME may add stages, using different hierarchies or target blocks (e.g., field and frame).
The third step is to perform either MCTF or MCDI, respectively, in which the ME vector candidates are evaluated, block mode selected, and the temporal filtering and de-interlacing steps are performed using the information from the previous stages.
In a non-integrated system, (such as might occur in a system with both a decoder and de-interlacing chip) these three steps occur separately for MCTF and MCDI, and SDRAM space, SDRAM bandwidth, decimation, and estimation effort is duplicated. Additionally, image fetches and processing for spatial analysis and scene classification (e.g., to detect scene changes) is duplicated as well.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved video decoder system. The present invention addresses such a need.

Integrated video decoding system with spatial/temporal video processing


To provide an image display device having a circuit for solving burning phenomenon without increasing the size of the circuit. An image display device is provided having a display unit formed using display devices, a signal line for inputting a display signal voltage to the display unit, and a display control unit for controlling the display signal voltage, the image display device comprising a detection power source, a switch for causing a current of the detection power source to flow to the display device, a detection circuit for detecting the current, and a detection information storage circuit for storing information, and compensating the display signal voltage, using the information, wherein using a first reference voltage, and current detection is carried out, the detection circuit feeds back the current detected to set a second reference voltage different from the first reference voltage, and carries out current detection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display device. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image display device which has a display area comprising, e.g., an EL (Electro Luminescence) device, an organic EL device, or another type of light emitting display device (a pixel).
2. Description of the Related Art
An image display device of this type has characteristic that the light emission brightness of a display device (a light emitting device) thereof is proportional to the amount of current flowing through the device. Therefore, by controlling the amount of current flowing through the device, it is possible to make gradation display.
However, e.g., an organic EL device has characteristic that brightness difference will be caused between a pixel which keeps lighting and an otherwise pixel due to deterioration of the device characteristic. Such brightness difference among the display devices is perceived by human eyes as "burning phenomenon", contributing to shortening of the lifetime of the image display device.
In view of the above, e.g., JP 2004-38209 A discloses a technique for solving the above described "burning phenomenon", utilizing a means for measuring the amount of current flowing through respective display devices and compensating for the deterioration, based on the measured current amount.

PANASONIC LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY CO., LTD.


According to a gas table 1, combustion gas (including the flame) is jetted from a flame port 17 of a burner 14 diagonally upward entirely twisted in the burner circumferential direction. The combustion gas flows into plural combustion gas routes sectioned into spiral shape, and hits trivet claws 22, and goes through. That is, the combustion gas is guided in spiral shape by the trivet claws 22, and exhausted along a cooking container P bottom surface toward the outer circumferential direction. As a result, in the combustion gas route, the combustion gas is always subject to direction changing force and the flow thereof is disturbed, and accordingly, a heat transmission border film is unlikely to be formed on the cooking container P bottom surface, and the heat of the combustion gas is transmitted to the bottom surface of the cooking container P preferably.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooking stove wherein a cooking container is put on a trivet and heated and cooked by a burner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in the field of cooking stoves, a gas table 1 as shown in FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 has been known. In the gas table 1, a burner 14 of a spontaneous combustion type Bunsen burner is arranged at the center position of an opening arranged in a top plate 12, and a drip plate 18 is put around the burner. A cooking container P is put on a trivet 20 arranged above around the burner 14, and heated by combustion of the burner 14. Reference number 15 denotes a burner main body, and 16 denotes a burner head.
The trivet 20 is integrally structured of plural L-shaped trivet claws 22 onto which the cooking container P is put and a trivet ring 21 to be the base of the respective trivet claws 22, and is put on the top plate 12.
In the inner circumferential side of the trivet ring 21, an inclined jaw portion inclined downward to the center of the ring (hereinafter, simply referred to as jaw portion) 21c is formed.
Between this trivet ring 21 and the top plate 12, and between the trivet ring 21 and the drip plate 18, a clearance gap for supplying secondary air is formed.
Further, in recent years, as shown in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-161449, a cooking stove has been in practical use wherein the trivet claws 22 are made low and the clearance gap between the burner 14 and the cooking container P is made small for improving the heating efficiency of the cooking container P.
In this cooking stove, as shown in FIG. 17, the jaw portion 21c of the trivet 20 is extended to the vicinity of a main flame port 16a of the burner head 16, and secondary air is supplied to the base of the flame to the tip thereof.
The combustion gas of the burner 14 is discharged to the outside through the clearance gap (ring-shaped combustion gas route) between the cooking container P and the trivet ring 21. Reference number 23 donates a protruded portion that is inserted into the top plate 12 and supports the trivet ring 21.
By this structure, while the combustion performance is preferably maintained, the height of the trivet claws 22 is lowered to make the cooking container P close to the burner head 16, and the combustion gas of the burner 14 is prevented from diffusing by means of the trivet ring 21. Thus, the combustion gas at high temperatures contact with the cooking container P precisely, thereby increasing the heating efficiency of the cooking container P.
On the other hand, in this kind of cooking stoves, there are cooking stoves characterized by the structure of the trivet concerning improvement of thermal efficiency.
For example, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. H02-140210, a trivet is proposed to have a spiral partition wall on the top surface of the trivet ring, and in the center position of the partition wall, a protrusion protruding upward is arranged as a kettle loading portion.
Further, in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-166718, a cooking stove is proposed. Wherein, a direction of a flame of an outer flame type burner is inclined by a specified angle in the burner circumferential direction to the straight line connecting the center of the burner and a flame port, and the a trivet is formed so as to be inclined in the same manner. Thus, a distance in which the flame contacts with the cooking container can be made long.
However, in the cooking stove as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-161449, a high temperature combustion gas is prevented from diffusing by the trivet ring 21, and accordingly, the temperature of the trivet ring 21 becomes extremely high. As a result, the combustion gas heat is dissipated through the trivet ring 21, which has been a problem. In particular, in a cooking stove of forced combustion type where combustion air is forcibly supplied to the burner 14, and the combustion gas of the burner 14 is forcibly exhausted, it is possible to make the distance between the burner 14 and the cooking container P further shorter. However, since the high temperature combustion gas goes through on the surface of the trivet ring 21, the rate of the heat that is dissipated from the rear surface of the trivet 21 to the outside increases further more.
Further, in the case when the height of the trivet claws 22 is made low in this manner, it is possible to increase the contact area of the cooking container P and the combustion flame, but on the other hand, the contact area of the trivet claws 22 on which the cooking container P is put and the combustion flame increases further more.
Accordingly, as the flame is cooled down by the trivet claws 22 to deteriorate the combustion property, carbon monoxide gas generates, which has been another problem.
Furthermore, the heat energy of the flame is absorbed by the trivet claws 22, the heat transmission efficiency to the cooking container P declines.
Moreover, since the trivet claws 22 are heated up by the combustion flame, the durability of the trivet 20 is lost, and there is a fear of a burn injury to its user, which has been still another problem.
Further, in those conventional cooking stoves, although it has been considered to make the cooking container P close to the burner head 16, it was not considered to further improve the heating efficiency by the way to flow the combustion gas in the ring-shaped combustion gas route formed between the upper surface of the trivet ring and the bottom surface of the cooking container P, and there is room for improvement.
In general, the combustion gas (including the flame) generated by a burner is discharged through the ring shaped combustion gas route to the outside, and while the combustion gas passes through the route, its temperature goes down and its volume flow rate decreases. Further, since the ring shaped combustion gas route has a cross sectional area which increases toward the outside, the speed of the combustion gas in the combustion gas route becomes slower, so that the heat flow is dissipated toward the outside.
On the other hand, the heat transmission rate between the combustion gas and the cooking container becomes preferable when the combustion gas is passed through narrow ring shaped combustion gas route.
As a result, in the conventional cooking stoves, the heat flow is dissipated more at the outside in the ring shaped combustion gas route and sufficient heat exchange cannot be made.
On the other hand, in the cooking stove wherein a natural combustion type burner that supplies air necessary for combustion by natural draft force is used, if the distance between the bottom surface of the cooking container P and the burner 14 is made short, and the combustion space is made narrow, the draft force is not formed and the supply and discharge of combustion air cannot be made smoothly. Therefore, there is a limitation to make the combustion space narrow, which means that the distance between the burner 14 and the cooking container P becomes wide, so that the contact area of the combustion flame and the bottom surface of the cooking container P cannot be increased. Further, since the combustion space must be made wide, the combustion heat is dissipated unnecessarily in the combustion space, and the combustion heat is cooled down by ambient air flowing into the combustion space. Consequently, desired heating efficiency cannot be obtained.
Furthermore, even if the combustion gas flow is controlled so that the combustion gas is efficiently guided to the cooking container P for the purpose of improving the heating efficiency, it is difficult to control the combustion gas flow by only the natural draft force.
Accordingly, before the combustion heat is transmitted to the cooking container P sufficiently, the combustion gas is discharged to the outside, and there is a limitation in improvement of heating efficiency.
In the trivet of the Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. H02-140210, the cooking container is put on the protrusion arranged in the partition wall, the combustion gas route between the bottom surface of the cooking container and the trivet ring is not separated but interconnected at the upper portion. Therefore, the combustion gas (including the flame) of the burner does not circulate but just flows in the emission direction at the bottom surface of the cooking container.
Further, in the burner of the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-166718, the jetting direction of the combustion gas is inclined and the trivet claws are formed so as to be inclined in the same direction. Accordingly, the combustion gas just flows diagonally to the emission direction, and the combustion gas does not sufficiently contact with the cooking container.
Namely, in any of these burners, the combustion gas flows under the cooking container in laminar flow state to the outside.
In this case, on the bottom surface of the cooking container, a heat transmission border film of a thin air layer is formed, and which works as a heat insulation layer. Thus, the heat transmission of the combustion gas to the cooking container has not been achieved.
As a result, it has been impossible to obtain high heating efficiency.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to solve the above problems with the prior art, and to eliminate energy loss arising from the trivet structure and the kinds of burners and obtain high heating efficiency.


A soldering apparatus includes transfer rails as a first transfer means for transferring a printed circuit board, transfer rails as a second transfer means provided in parallel to a transfer direction of the printed circuit board to be transferred by the transfer rails, a muffle as a first reflow furnace main body for heating the printed circuit board transferred by the transfer rails, a muffle as a second reflow furnace main body for heating a printed circuit board transferred by the transfer rails, and a main frame as a frame for housing the muffle and the muffle. The main frame includes an opening/closing part as a first opening/closing means for opening/closing the muffle, and an opening/closing part as a second opening/closing means for opening/closing the muffle.

A reflow device has been generally used as an example of a soldering apparatus for soldering an electronic component(s) onto a printed circuit board. The reflow device includes a transfer means for transferring the printed circuit board, and the inside of the reflow device is divided into a preheating zone, a main heating zone, a cooling zone, and the like from the upstream of a transfer direction of the printed circuit board. Paste solder is printed on the printed circuit board in advance, an electronic component(s) is (are) mounted on this printed circuit board and they are heated by the reflow device to solder the electronic component(s) onto the printed circuit board.
Patent Documents 1 and 2 respectively disclose reflow devices in each of which a plurality of transfer means is arranged in parallel in a reflow furnace to improve the efficiency of soldering and shielding means is provided between the respective transfer means.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-170906    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent No. 5463129

Reflow soldering apparatus having independently openable main bodies


An image forming apparatus having an image forming device for forming an image on a recording material, a fixing member for fixing the image formed on the recording material in a fixing nip, and a pressure member brought into pressure contact with the fixing member to form the fixing nip, the hardness of the pressure member being smaller than the hardness of the fixing member, wherein the image forming apparatus is operable in a mode for inserting the recording material into the fixing nip so that the image forming surface of the recording material is brought into contact with the pressure member, and subjecting the recording material to a preheating process, and then forming the image.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic printing method or an electrostatic recording method, and particularly to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer or a facsimile apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of a conventional image forming apparatus will hereinafter be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9 of the accompanying drawings.
As shown in FIG. 8, a copying machine 801 as an image forming apparatus applies a laser beam to the surface of an image bearing member 803 uniformly charged by a charging device 802, in accordance with image information to form an electrostatic latent image.
The electrostatic latent image is developed into a toner image by a developing apparatus 804, whereafter the toner image on the image bearing member 803 is transferred onto a recording material S by a transfer device 805. The unfixed toner image on the recording material S in this state is heated and pressure-fixed by a fixing device 806 to obtain a fixed image.
The fixing device 806, as shown in FIG. 9, has a fixing roller 808 provided with a halogen heater 807 therein, a pressure roller 809 disposed in opposed relationship with the fixing roller 808, a cleaning web 810 for cleaning the fixing roller 808, etc.
The fixing roller 808 comprises of a hollow mandrel of aluminum having a thickness of 12 mm and a silicon rubber layer of the order of 100 μm as an intermediate layer provided thereon, and covered with fluorine resin such as PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) of the order of 20 μm so as to form a surface layer.
The pressure roller 809 comprises a mandrel of stainless steel and a silicone rubber layer having a thickness of 5 mm provided thereon, and covered with a tube of PFA (tetrafluoroethylene perfluoroalkylvinyl ether copolymer resin) of the order of 100 μm so as to form a surface layer.
The temperature of the fixing roller 808 is controlled so as to be maintained at 200 degrees by a control device 812. The unfixed toner 813 on the recording material S is fixed in the fixing area (fixing nip) between the fixing roller 808 and the pressure roller 809, and is permanently fixed on the recording material S.
The fixing roller 808 provided with the heater therein as described above adopts a silicone rubber layer having a small thickness in order to efficiently receive heat from the halogen heater 807 in the interior of the mandrel, and suppress the inconvenience that the silicone rubber layer is stripped off from the mandrel. Also, the pressure roller 809 adopts a silicone rubber layer thicker than that of the fixing roller 808 in order to increase the area per unit time in which the recording material S passes through the fixing nip. Further, the rubber layer of the fixing roller can be made thin to thereby shorten the time required to raise the temperature of the fixing roller to a fixing temperature, i.e., the so-called warmup time.
The outer diameter of each of the fixing roller 808 and the pressure roller 809 is 60 mm. The cleaning web 810 is formed of nonwoven fabric of polyamide or the like, and is impregnated with silicone oil. The cleaning web 810 is brought into contact with the surface of the fixing roller 808, and is taken up in a direction opposite to the direction of the rotation of the fixing roller 808 at a speed of 0.05 mm/s only during image formation to thereby remove the toner offset on the fixing roller 808.
A thermistor 811 for detecting the temperature of the fixing roller 808 is brought into contact with an area of the surface of the fixing roller 808 which the recording material S passes. The output of the halogen heater 807 is controlled on the basis of the temperature detected by the thermistor 811.
The maximum output of the halogen heater 807 during image formation is 1500 W, and can heat and fix 60 sheets of recording materials S of e.g. A3 size per minute. The rotating speed of the fixing roller 808 is controlled to 500 mm/s.
However, in such a fixing device as shown in FIG. 9, when embossed paper having a high demand for the printing of a note of invitation, an invitation card, a catalog, a pamphlet, etc. is passed, there is a case where the rubber layer of the fixing roller does not follow the irregularities of the surface due to embossing. In that case, the surface of the fixing roller becomes incapable of directly contacting with and heating the surfaces of the concave groove portions of the embossed paper, and thus, the fixability of the toner transferred to the groove portions is reduced.
As the result, there arise a problem such as an image fault due to a reduction in the density of the groove portions, and the problem that the toner which cannot be completely fixed is offset on the fixing roller in a great deal, and cannot be completely remove by the cleaning web to thereby contaminate the next recording material or contaminate the fixing device itself.

Image forming apparatus with preheating mode operating before image formation


A system including at least one computer and code executable thereby for implementing a mechanism for monitoring performances of applications of an application chain. The system includes an arrangement forming a measuring repository on the one hand for measuring levels of use of resources of applications during periods of degradation of performances of the applications, and by application and by period of the application chain, in a memory storing these levels of use. The arrangement is further operable to: establish a repository of use data by defining and storing in at least one memory, by resource and by application, thresholds of acceptable performance of the level of use of the measuring repository; constitute a categorization module of performance problems as a function of measuring and use repositories; and implement an alert mechanism when the monitoring mechanism detects a performance problem of the applications or when the problem is resolved.

In the scope of the activities of the chief information officers (CIOs), intervention is required when the respect of the quality of service of an application is above critical thresholds or when the application does not work. In general, this situation is explained by the fact that no monitoring is in place on the infrastructure hosting the solution and/or back up in alerts is not done or is done too late. In this case, it is generally very difficult to find the origin of the problem to correct it, as the data necessary for analysis of the problem are not or no longer available.
Solutions for monitoring IT infrastructure are known from the prior art. These solutions diagnose problems of contentions on the servers, but fail to make the link between saturation of resources and applications of the information system. These solutions initiate technical intervention only to resolve the problem, but fail to respond to the levels of "service-level agreements" to be guaranteed by the CIOs (chief information officers) to their business departments to ensure proper performance and proper respect of the quality of service of applications or servers of an application chain.
In this context, it is interesting to propose a solution for eliminating the disadvantages of the prior art by rectifying the problems of application performance of a computer system.

Mechanism for monitoring and alerts of computer systems applications


A trace amount of a polytetrafluoroethylene resin is incorporated with an abrasive pigment prior to or during the preparation of an aqueous pigment slurry or is applied to dry pigment to reduce the abrasivity of the pigment. The treated pigment can be employed in the manufacture of filled and coated paper.

This invention relates to a simple means for reducing the abrasivity of abrasive pigments such as calcined clay and titanium oxide pigments used by the paper industry.
Calcined kaolin and titania pigments have been used for several decades in a number of industrial applications such as paper coating, paper filling, paints, plastics, etc. In those applications they impart to the finished products a number of desirable properties: brightness, opacity and hiding power. In the case of calcined kaolin pigments, paper coating and filling applications require almost exclusively ultrafine fully calcined kaolin pigments such as Ansilex 93.RTM. pigment manufactured by Engelhard Corporation. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,523, Fanselow, et al., the teachings of which are incorporated herein by cross-reference.
These fully calcined pigments have an undesirable property, namely, they are relatively abrasive when compared to noncalcined (hydrous kaolin pigments) or, in some cases, partially calcined (metakaolin) pigments. For example, conventional so-called "low abrasion" calcined kaolin pigments typically have an Einlehner abrasion value of about 20 mg. An ultrafine calcined kaolin pigment which has recently been introduced to the paper industry has a lower abrasion but appears to have lower scatter properties than that of the somewhat coarser but more abrasive products such as ANSILEX 93 pigment. In practical terms, increased abrasivity translates into increased wear of web forming screens (wires) on paper making machines, dulling of paper slitter knives, wear of printing plates when they come into contact with coated paper containing fine calcined pigments in the coating formulation, and, in general, wear of any surfaces coming into contact with these pigments. Titanium dioxide pigments are generally significantly more abrasive than fully calcined kaolin pigments.
The Einlehner abrasion test simulates the wear of the web forming screens, other paper-making machine wear and printing plate wear; while another test, the filled-sheet needle abrasion test simulates wear on slitter and knife wear in the paper finishing and converting operations.
Paper makers are becoming increasingly demanding in their need for lower abrasion. To overcome the problem, suitable kaolin can be calcined at temperatures less than those required to produce fully calcined pigments. In this instance, calcination temperature is controlled to produce the form of pigment known as metakaolin. It is known, however, that the brightness of a metakaolin pigment is always poorer, generally by about 2-3%, than that of fully calcined pigments derived from the same clay calciner feed. However, even metakaolin pigments may be more abrasive than paper makers may desire. Examples of patents disclosing calcination of kaolins to provide pigments include: U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,523, Fanselow, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,014,836, Proctor; U.S. Pat. No. 3,058,671, Billue; U.S. Pat. No. 3,343,943, Billue; U.S. Pat. No. 3,171,718, Gunn, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,948, McConnell, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,782, Brown, et al. Many of these patents make reference to the desirability of reduced abrasivity but in all cases achieve such result by kaolin crude selection and/or processing conditions utilized in steps carried out prior to the final calcination of the original hydrous kaolin feed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,517, Dunaway; U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,673, Jones, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,924, Raythatha, et al. disclose the addition of: particulate oxidizable materials, particularly sawdust; aliphatic diols; and colloidal or fumed silica, respectively, to clays prior to calcination in order to obtain performance benefits, including reduced abrasivity, in the calcined clay.
Originally kaolin pigments were supplied in dry form to the end users. The demand for pigments in aqueous slurry form developed with the availability of appropriate shipping and handling facilities. Since the cost of shipping water is an undesirable expense, it is desirable to provide pigment slurries as concentrated as is feasible, consistent with the necessity of formulating slurries that are sufficiently fluid to be pumped yet are resistant to settling. This posed no significant problem when formulating slurries of hydrous (uncalcined kaolins); using conventional anionic clay dispersants such as condensed phosphate salts and conventional clay handling equipment, 70% solids slurries of fine particle size coating grade hydrous kaolin were readily achieved.
Slurries of fine particle size calcined kaolin pigments containing about 50% solids have been commercially available for several years and require the use of organic polymers to prevent sedimentation. The "normal" procedure of making such slurries of calcined kaolin slurries is first to make an aqueous solution of a thickening agent, such as CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose), in water containing a microbicide, then add a dispersant, such as C211 (sodium polyacrylate) and mix the slurries in a high shear mixer.
Patents related to the stabilization and rheology enhancement of aqueous slurries of calcined kaolin include U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,062, Lein, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,268, Ince, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,324, Eggers, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,147, Tapper.
Other patents relating to the production of slurries of calcined kaolin clay or calcined pigments derived from kaolin clay are U.S. Pat. No. 3,582,378, Miller and U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,574, Sennett, et al., both assigned to the assignee of the subject patent application.
Applicant's copending applications, U.S. Ser. No. 07/898,116 and U.S. Ser. No. 07/971,006 (both also assigned to the assignee of the instant application) relate to the use of various surfactants to reduce abrasion.
The present application relates to the use of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin particles to reduce Einlehner abrasion.
The use of PTFE resins to control dusting of fine powders is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,838,064, 3,838,092, 3,974,089 and 3,993,584. After the PTFE resin is added, it is subjected to treatment intended to fibrillate the resin, resulting in a random network of PTFE fibers distributed throughout the fine powder.

Use of polytetrafluoroethylene resin particles to reduce the abrasion of abrasive pigments


This invention relates to a tire tread compound that can be used in manufacturing tires having outstanding traction characteristics without compromising treadwear and rolling resistance. The tire tread compounds of this invention are made utilizing an isoprene-butadiene rubber having a high glass transition temperature and having SnR.sub.3 end groups, wherein R represents an alkyl group, such as a tertiary-butyl group. These isoprene-butadiene rubbers are made by reacting an isoprene-butadiene rubber having a glass transition temperature which is within the range of about -50.degree. C. to about 0.degree. C. with a tin compound of the formula SnR.sub.3 X, wherein R represents an alkyl group and wherein X represents a halogen. This invention more specifically discloses a tire tread rubber composition which is comprised of (1) about 60 phr to about 95 phr of an isoprene-butadiene rubber having a glass transition temperature which is within the range of about -50.degree. C. to about 0.degree. C. and having --SnR.sub.3 end groups, (2) about 5 phr to about 30 phr of natural rubber and (3) up to about 25 phr of a rubbery polymer having a low glass transition temperature which is within the range of about -85.degree. C. to about -55.degree. C., with the proviso that the total amount of the natural rubber and the rubbery polymer having a low glass transition temperature does not exceed about 40 phr. The rubbery polymer having a low glass transition temperature will typically be high cis-1,4-polybutadiene, isoprene-butadiene rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber or styrene-isoprene-butadiene rubber.

Typically, tire tread rubber formulations include a blend of rubbers of varied glass transition temperatures. Rubbers having low glass transition temperatures normally improve treadwear and rolling resistance and rubbers having high glass transition temperatures typically improve traction characteristics. However, it is normally difficult to improve the rolling resistance of a polymer system that contains a large amount of a polymer having a high glass transition temperature (Tg), such as an isoprene-butadiene rubber having a glass transition temperature which is within the range of about -50.degree. C. to about 0.degree. C. The high hysteresis characteristics of the rubber having the high glass transition temperature reduces rebound. The level of filler utilized can be reduced to improve rebound characteristics, but this increases cost and affects other compound properties. Increasing the cure level improves the rebound values, but it also affects other compound properties.
Low rolling resistance is an important characteristic of tires because good fuel economy is virtually always an important consideration. To attain good rolling resistance, rubbers in the tire tread compound having high glass transition temperatures also generally have high molecular weights (a Mooney ML 1+4 viscosity of about 70 to about 90). Isoprene-butadiene rubber having a low glass transition temperature can be utilized in such tire tread compounds to improve processing. However, when these low Tg isoprene-butadiene rubbers have a high molecular weight, the rubber compound becomes very difficult to process. On the other hand, decreasing the molecular weight of the isoprene-butadiene rubber improves processability but increases rolling resistance. The inclusion of low molecular weight isoprene-butadiene rubber in the tire tread rubber compound also increases cold flow which results in processing difficulties at tire manufacturing plants.
Good treadwear is also an important consideration because it is generally the most important factor which determines the life of the tire. The traction, treadwear and rolling resistance of a tire is dependent to a large extent on the dynamic viscoelastic properties of the elastomers utilized in making the tire tread. In order to reduce the rolling resistance of a tire, rubbers having a high rebound have traditionally been utilized in making the tire's tread. On the other hand, in order to increase the wet skid resistance of a tire, rubbers which undergo a large energy loss have generally been utilized in the tire's tread. In order to balance these two viscoelastically inconsistent properties, mixtures of various types of synthetic and natural rubber are normally utilized in tire treads. For instance, various mixtures of styrene-butadiene rubber and polybutadiene rubber are commonly used as a rubber material for automobile tire treads. However, such blends are not totally satisfactory for all purposes.
Rubbers having intermediate glass transition temperatures (-70.degree. C. to -40.degree. C.) compromise rolling resistance and treadwear without significantly increasing traction characteristics. For this reason, blends of rubbers having low glass transition temperatures and rubbers having high glass transition temperatures are frequently utilized to attain improved traction characteristics without significantly compromising rolling resistance or treadwear. However, such blends of rubbers having low glass transition temperatures and rubbers having high glass transition temperatures exhibit poor processability. This major disadvantage associated with such blends has greatly hampered their utilization in making tire tread compounds.
Tin-coupled polymers are known to provide desirable properties, such as improved treadwear and reduced rolling resistance, when used in tire tread rubbers. Such tin-coupled rubbery polymers are typically made by coupling the rubbery polymer with a tin coupling agent at or near the end of the polymerization used in synthesizing the rubbery polymer. In the coupling process, live polymer chain ends react with the tin coupling agent thereby coupling the polymer. For instance, up to four live chain ends can react with tin tetrahalides, such as tin tetrachloride, thereby coupling the polymer chains together. However, rubbery polymers having glass transition temperatures of greater than about -50.degree. C. are difficult to couple with tin compounds, such as tin tetrahalides. It is accordingly not commercially feasible to couple rubbery polymers having a glass transition temperature which is within the range of about -50.degree. C. to about 0.degree. C.

High performance tire tread rubber composition


A data management resource receives event log data indicating content consumption by multiple subscribers in a network environment. The data management resource converts the event data into bit strings stored in a multi-dimensional information array. One dimension of the multi-dimensional information array represents the multiple subscribers. Another dimension of the multi-dimensional information array represents time. The bit strings stored in the multi-dimensional information array indicate at what time, if any, a respective subscriber tunes to consume particular. The data compression resource stores a compressed rendition of the multi-dimensional array information in a repository for subsequent application of queries.

In general, conventional data compression includes encoding information using fewer bits than a respective original bit representation. Thus, conventional data compression techniques have been used to reduce data storage requirements associated with corresponding content.
Data compression can be lossy or lossless. For example, as its name suggests, lossy compression includes removing less needed bit information during compression. When decompressing data compressed using a lossy compression algorithm, the removed bit information is lost and cannot be retrieved. In certain instances, loss of a small amount of data may not be particularly important when reproducing a rendition of an original signal or image.
Lossless compression may be more desirable over lossy compression because it may be undesirable to lose bit information upon reconstruction of a rendition of the original data.
It is sometimes desirable to compress event data obtained in a cable network environment. For example, a cable network environment may include many subscribers that tune to different content available over many different available channels. Log information collected in the cable network environment can specify which content subscriber's select for consumption. Typically, keeping track of tuning information for many subscribers over many different viewable channels produces an inordinate amount of data to manage.
As discussed above, content consumption information can be compressed using conventional algorithms. However, even standard compression of content consumption information can require a large amount of storage capacity to store respective data.


A water-absorbent resin having high absorption capacity and a slight amount of water-soluble ingredients is produced by a process, which includes polymerizing a water-soluble monoethylenic unsaturated monomer in the presence of a crosslinking agent, and using a bifunctional compound represented by the following general formula 1 as the crosslinking agent; ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are a hydrogen atom or a methyl group independently, and --(X)-- is a divalent organic group combined in a straight chain type by an optional arrangement of a structural unit (A) of --(CO--CH.dbd.CH--CO--O).sub.L -- and l=1-5, a structural unit (B) of --(CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.m -- and m=2-100, and a structural unit (C) of --(R.sup.3 O).sub.n -- and n=0-20, in which R.sup.3 is a C.sub.3 -C.sub.4 alkylene.

The present invention relates to a process for producing a water-absorbent resin. In detail, this invention relates to a process for producing a water absorbent resin, which has high absorption capacity and in which water-soluble ingredients are contained in only a small amount.
The water-absorbent resin has been so far used for various kinds of water-absorbent materials such as a paper diaper (or a disposable diaper), physiological articles, a soil water-retentive agent. As a water-absorbent resin of this type, there have been known a hydrolysis product of a starch-acrylonitrile graft copolymer, a neutralized product of a starch-acrylic acid graft copolymer, a crosslinked product of acrylic acid or an acrylate polymer, a partially crosslinked product of polyethylene oxide, a crosslinked product of carboxymethylcellulose and the like. Why the crosslinked polymer is used as a water-absorbent resin is to prevent conversion into a sol by its infinite swelling in absorbing water followed by swelling.
In the above-described crosslinked polymers, a crosslinked polymer obtained by copolymerizing a water-soluble monoethylenic unsaturated monomer such as acrylic acid in the presence of a crosslinking agent is of low cost as raw materials, superior in water-absorbent properties, and needs not to care about decomposition, so that it is a main current of the water-absorbent resin.
Preferable crosslinking agents so far known are N,N'-methylenebis(meth)acrylamide, N-methylol(meth)acrylamide, (poly)ethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate or (poly)propylene glycol di(meth)acrylate (refer to U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,922), glycerol tri(meth)acrylate, trimethylolpropane tri(meth)acrylate, triallylamine, triallyl cyanurate, triallyl phosphate, di(2-acryLoyloxyethyl) acid phosphate (refer to JP-B-62-56888), glycidyl (meth)acrylate, polyethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (refer to U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,922), glycerol and the like.
The real situation of conventional water-absorbent resins produced by using the aforementioned crosslinking agents is that, as the absorption capacity becomes higher, the amount of water-soluble ingredients becomes larger. If such a water-absorbent resin having a large amount of water-soluble ingredients is used for a diaper and the like during a long time, there is a problem that a slime generates on the diaper surface, and another problem that the liquid permeability becomes bad and thereby, the water-absorbent capacity and liquid-dispersing character decrease, so that a leak easily occurs. Conversely, if reduction of the water-soluble ingredients in a water-absorbent resin is intended by increase of the amount of a crosslinking agent, the water-absorbent capacity decreases and an usable range of the water-absorbent resin is limited.

Process for producing water-absorbent resin


Compounds comprising a peroxide and a peroxide curable blend essentially consisting of hydrocarbon elastomers containing at least an acrylic monomer and of fluorinated VDF-based elastomers having in the polymer chain at least 5% by moles of hydrogenated groups C.sub.1 of the type ##STR1## --CH.sub.2 -- and/or --CH.sub.3, the amount of fluorinated rubber in the elastomeric blend being comprised from 5 to 75% by weight, said elastomers of the blend not containing iodine and/or bromine.

The fluorinated elastomers (FKM) perfomance, intended as the set of mechanical properties, compression set, thermal and chemical resistance, are notably higher than those of hydrocarbon rubbers. Such high performances of fluorinated elastomers involve however rather high costs making their use very restricted. This is due to the higher cost of the monomers and to the process technology used in their preparation.
As a consequence the users of elastomers are obliged to choose between two elastomeric families which are completely different in terms of performances and costs: fluorinated elastomers and hydrocarbon elastomers.
There was the need to have available elastomers showing superior properties in terms of thermal and chemical resistance compared with hydrocarbon elastomers used at present.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,399 describes a blend formed by an iodine-containing fluoroelastomer and a hydrogenatd elastomer, said blend is crosslinked by peroxidic way. Besides, it is pointed out that the fluoroelastomers to be used must contain a peroxidic cure-site, for example iodine.
It is also known in the art, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,034, a co-curable blend formed by a fluoroelastomer and a hydrocarbon elastomer showing good properties after curing. In said patent the blend is crosslinked by peroxidic way in the case the fluoroelastomer contains a cure-site, particularly bromine. If the fluoroelastomer does not contain a cure-site, such as bromine or iodine, then an ionic crosslinking system is used, for example amines or bisphenol in combination with quaternary phosphonium salts.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,399 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,034, the crosslinking through peroxidic way of the blends of hydrocarbon and fluorinated elastomers is characterized by the presence of iodine and/or bromine cure-sites in the fluoroelastomer.
Said fluoroelastomers, well known in the art, can be prepared in the presence of cure-site monomers containing iodine and/or bromine, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,565, U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,165 and EP 199,138 Patents, and/or in the presence of chain transfer agents containing iodine and/or bromine, where said transfer agents give rise to iodinated and/or brominated endgroups, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,770 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,553.
Said iodine and/or bromine containing fluoroelastomers during the vulcanization, in the presence of an organic peroxide, have the disadvantage to develop toxic substances such as methyl and ethyl iodide and bromide. Methyl iodide and bromide are particularly harmful.
In order to solve such drawbacks, in EP 373,973 substances capable to prevent, or at least to substantially reduce methyl and ethyl iodide and bromide emissions are described.
To this purpose in U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,272 specific peroxides, such as bis-(1,1-dimethylpropyl) peroxide, are described as capable of reducing the above emissions.

Blends of fluorinated and acrylic elastomers


An optical element is manufactured using a replication tool comprising a negative structural feature defined in a replication side of the replication tool, and a peripheral feature formed in the replication side of the replication tool adjacent the negative structural feature. The negative structural feature defines the shape of the optical element. A replication material is disposed between a substrate and the replication tool, which are moved toward each other. The peripheral feature confines the replication material to a predetermined area of the substrate. The replication material can be hardened to form the optical element from the replication material attached to the substrate.

Replicated optical elements include refractive elements such as lenses and diffractive and/or refractive micro-optical elements for influencing an optical beam in a pre-defined manner.
When optical elements are produced by replication, there is often a basic configuration involving a substrate and replication material on a surface thereof. The replication material can be shaped and hardened in the course of a replication process. Often, the dimension perpendicular to the named substrate surface—the thickness or height of the replicated structures, also termed z-dimension—is important and is well-defined and controlled. Since the other dimensions of the element are defined by the replication tool—this being the nature of the replication process—also the volume of the replicated element is well defined. However, small volumes of dispensed liquid or viscous material are generally difficult and costly to control. Since elements that are only partially filled are defective and lost, it is therefore advantageous to dispense excess replication material. By this, one makes sure that also for replication material volumes that fluctuate between different elements, no or only few elements are lost.
Of special interest are the wafer-scale fabrication processes, where an array of optical elements is fabricated on a disk-like ("wafer-") structure, which subsequent to replication is separated ("diced") into the individual elements or stacked on other wafer-like elements and after stacking separated into the individual elements. Wafer scale refers to the size of disk like or plate like substrates of sizes comparable to semiconductor wafers, such as disks having diameters between 2 in and 12 in. In conventional wafer-scale replication processes, replication material for the entire, wafer-scale replica is disposed on the substrate in a single blob. However, there might be areas sideward of the element where replication material is not wanted in later replication steps. In certain applications, the fabricated elements must for example be used in combination with other elements, and the residual material will impair the function of the combined structure.
In such an array replication process, excess material can ooze out sideward from the element volume. For example, miniature optical lenses can be replicated above the surface of a wafer carrying semiconductor chips each embodying a CCD or CMOS-camera sensor array. The residual material, if it covers critical areas, can interfere with further processing steps of the stack comprising the semiconductor wafer and the lenses, e.g., bonding.
A structured (or micro-structured) element can be manufactured by replicating/shaping (moulding or embossing or the like) a 3D-structure in a preliminary product using a replication tool. The replication tool comprises a spacer portion protruding from a replication surface. A replicated micro-optical element is referred to as replica.
The spacer portions can allow for an automated and accurate thickness control of the deformable material on the substrate. They can include "leg like" structures built into the tool. In addition, the spacers can prevent the deformation of the micro optical topography since the spacers protrude further than the highest structural features on a tool.
The spacer portion is preferably available in a manner that it is distributed over at least a portion of the replication tool, for example, over the entire replication tool or at the edge. This means that features of the spacer portion are present in an essential fraction of the replication tool, for example, the spacer portion includes a plurality of spacers distributed over the replication surface of the replication tool. The spacers can allow for an automated and accurate thickness control of the replication material layer.
The replication process can be an embossing process, where the plastically deformable or viscous or liquid replication material for the product to be shaped is placed on a surface of a substrate, which can have any size. In the embossing step, the spacer portions abut against the top surface of the substrate. The surface thus serves as a stop face for the embossing, which can control the thickness (height, z-dimension) of the replicated elements. Other ways of controlling the z-dimension include measuring the distance between a tool plane and a substrate plane, and actively adjusting this distance at different places by a robot. The embossing step and/or the spacer portion, however, can cause residual material to remain in the areas between the elements, and for example, also around the periphery of each of the elements.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A food service system and method utilizing a food carrier for the delivery of high quality meals that are hot and safe to eat. The food carrier preferably comprises a body having an interior, an exterior and an opening, said interior defining a compartment; sealing means disposed around said opening; a door that covers said opening, said door being configured to seal against said sealing means when a partial vacuum or pressure is created in said compartment; a passageway connecting said interior and said exterior; a valve on said passageway; and a dish configured to fit within said compartment. The method comprises collecting data on favorite prepared foods from pre-registered households in predetermined communities and utilizing the data to purchase, prepare and deliver, with the utmost convenience utilizing the food carrier, ready-to-eat dishes at affordable prices.

The present invention relates generally to a foodservice system and method utilizing a food carrier for the delivery of high quality meals that are hot (or cold) and safe to eat with a fresh appearance. More particularly, this invention concerns an apparatus and method for packaging and delivering freshly-prepared, fine hot food.
The background art is characterized by U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,683,889; 2,543,524; 2,591,151; 2,883,835; 3,130,288; 3,353,886; 3,410,109; 3,516,218; 3,536,132; 3,633,381; 3,805,018; 3,952,794; 4,182,405; 4,570,800; 4,904,848; 5,052,369; 5,082,115; 5,111,664; 5,297,616; 5,485,921; 5,497,883; 5,598,713; 5,711,164; the disclosures of which patents are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
Background art food carriers are not designed for the specific uses envisioned by the applicant. Most involve complicated arrangement of several parts which makes them impractical to use, expensive and difficult to manufacture and maintain.
There is a need to satisfy customers who do not want to leave their homes to have dinner in a restaurant. A special container is needed for delivering to where the customer wants to be, at home, enjoying fine food without having to do anything to it. There is also a need for a convenient service to cater at home and renew a traditional American way of entertaining. There is also a need for fine food that is safe to eat with a guaranteed temperature above 140 degrees.

Apparatus and method for delivering freshly-prepared fine food


A CMOS imaging system provides low noise read out and amplification for an array of passive pixels, each of which comprises a photodetector, an access MOSFET, and a second MOSFET that functions as a signal overflow shunt and a means for electrically injecting a test signal. The read out circuit for each column of pixels includes a high gain, wide bandwidth, CMOS differential amplifier, a reset switch and selectable feedback capacitors, selectable load capacitors, correlated double sampling and sample-and-hold circuits, an optional pipelining circuit, and an offset cancellation circuit connected to an output bus to suppress the input offset nonuniformity of the amplifier. For full process compatibility with standard silicided submicron CMOS and to maximize yield and minimize die cost, each photodiode may comprise the lightly doped source of its access MOSFET. Circuit complexity is restricted to the column buffers, which exploit signal processing capability inherent in CMOS. Advantages include high fabrication yield, broadband spectral response from near-UV to near-IR, low read noise at HDTV data rates, large charge-handling capacity, variable sensitivity with simple controls, and reduced power consumption.

Most currently available video cameras use charge coupled devices (CCDs) for generating video images. Although these cameras are suitable for many applications, the relatively high cost of CCD-based camera technology limits its use in high volume commercial markets, such as personal computer teleconferencing, for example.
The higher cost of CCD camera systems results from a combination of factors, such as many mask levels for CCD processes; lower yields for the photosensor due to high complexity; shared pixel real estate for the photosensor and CCD shift register, which requires micro-optics or alternative die-area doubling frame transfer schemes (or otherwise limits the optical fill factor); front-illuminated designs that may require photodetection through overlying polysilicon layers, which generally degrade response in the blue and near-UV regions of the spectrum; complex interface and signal processing electronics that may not be compatible with battery operation; support electronics functions that are not readily integrated onto the CCD imager; and interface electronics that require high voltage clock drivers and DC biases to operate the CCD and the video signal conditioning amplifier (including correlated double samplers and other circuitry needed to manipulate the video into the proper protocol).
Various MOSFET-based alternatives to CCD sensors are also known in the prior art for lower cost applications. Hitachi, for example, has produced a MOS-based photodiode imaging array for high-volume applications, including camcorders (Hitachi Part No. HE98221). This basic scheme, commonly referred to as a passive pixel sensor, typically includes an array of pixels connected to an amplifier by horizontal and vertical scanners. Each passive pixel (i.e., having no pixel-based amplification) comprises a silicon photodiode and a pixel access transistor.
Early passive pixel devices fabricated using n-MOS technology were not competitive with emerging CCD-based imagers, except for niche applications such as spectrometry, because the read noise (including blooming and fixed pattern noise) was too high. Furthermore, the circuitry servicing each column did not adequately extract the low-level signal current in the presence of switching noise, vertical smear noise, and random noise. The column buffer, generally comprising a bipolar transistor in emitter follower configuration with a correlated double sampler, typically yielded temporal and fixed pattern noise that was about an order of magnitude higher than that produced by competing CCDs. Nevertheless, companies such as EG&G Reticon continue to produce MOS photodiode arrays having passive pixel designs with various multiplexing schemes.
The advantage of producing imagers using conventional MOS fabrication technologies, rather than esoteric CCD processes requiring many implantation steps and complex interface circuitry, has led to successive improvements. The column buffer was refined by using an enhancement-depletion inverter to provide greater amplification with a small area of wafer "real estate." The amplifier gain effectively reduced the column capacitance, and thus suppressed kTC noise and pattern noise. Low-light level performance was improved by about a factor of three (to a minimum scene illumination of 40 lux) relative to previous MOS imagers.
Subsequently, amplification was relocated to the pixel by means of a phototransistor. Cell-based amplification imagers are sometimes referred to as active pixel sensors. The Base-Stored Image Sensor (BASIS) used a bipolar transistor in emitter follower configuration, with a downstream correlated sampler, to suppress random and temporal noise. By storing the photogenerated signal on the phototransistor's base to provide cell-based charge amplification, the minimum scene illumination was reduced to 10.sup.-3 lux in a linear sensor array. The minimum scene illumination was higher (.apprxeq.0.01 lux) in a related two-dimensional BASIS imager having 310,000 pixels because the photoresponse nonuniformity was relatively high (.ltoreq.2%). Although this MOS imager had adequate sensitivity, the pixel pitch was considered too large (at about 13 .mu.m).
An active pixel sensor comprising a three-transistor pixel is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,696 (Uno). The cell-based source-follower amplifier is augmented with a CMOS column buffer providing fixed pattern noise cancellation. In this scheme, at least one of the three transistors in the pixel is relatively large to minimize amplifier 1/f noise. A large S/N ratio with low pattern noise can be achieved, but the pixel optical fill factor is relatively small.
A compact passive pixel image sensor that can be fabricated using various technologies, including CMOS, NMOS, Bipolar, BiMOS, BiCMOS, or amorphous silicon, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,266 (Denyer). Denyer buffers the output signal from the passive pixels with charge-integrating column amplifiers to extract the signal from each pixel. However, Denyer does not disclose circuitry to minimize vertical streak noise, minimize random thermal noise, suppress fixed pattern noise, or improve testability.
Because of the complexity and relatively high cost that limit use of CCD-based imaging systems in high volume commercial markets, and the limitations of prior art active and passive pixel sensors, there is a need for new electronic imaging systems that offer significant reductions in cost and power requirements. Because the amplification requirements of a sensor system are quite formidable, considering the small charge originating at each pixel within an array, the amplifier design, whether realized in on-chip or external circuitry, must be rather sophisticated.

Low noise amplifier for passive pixel CMOS imager


A gauge head assembly for use with a magnetically actuated dial includes a cylindrical body formed from a magnetic material having a cylindrical sidewall with an threaded outer surface, wherein the sidewall defines an axially extending passage for receiving a tubular insert formed from a substantially non-magnetic material, the insert having a closed first end and a second open end with a collar extending radially outward at the second open end and wherein the insert is secured in the passage with the closed first end adjacent the first end of the body.

The use of magnetically-actuated indicator dials with float-type liquid level gauges is known. A receiving magnet connected to a dial indicator is magnetically coupled (typically through a gauge head) to a second magnet that moves in response to a change in liquid level in the tank. Such gauges are used with liquefied petroleum gases such as propane, butane and the like referred to herein as LPG. One such gauge is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,650 issued Mar. 28, 2002 to Swindler et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
A major advantage of magnetically actuated dials is that such dials do not require a mechanical coupling extending through the wall of a tank. However, the magnetic field of the receiving magnet must freely interact with the magnetic field of the second magnet. Thus, the material separating the receiving magnet from the second magnet must be substantially non-magnetic. For purposes of this application, the term "non-magnetic" refers to materials having a relative magnetic permeability (compared to vacuum), μr, similar to that of non-ferrous metal materials such as aluminum, copper, zinc, brass, and austenitic stainless steels, and substantially lower than that of ferrous metal materials. Consequently, prior art gauge heads have been fabricated from non-magnetic materials, typically brass. These gauge heads are typically fabricated as a single-piece unit adapted to be threadedly engaged with a corresponding fitting in the tank. These gauge heads are configured to receive a magnetically actuated dial on the exterior of the tank with a second magnet mechanically coupled to a float assembly inside the tank.
For a variety of reasons, e.g., material cost, a single-piece gauge head fabricated entirely from a non-magnetic material is not always desirable. Thus, there exists a need for a gauge head that can be fabricated in part from a ferrous metal material that still provides a low magnetic permeability "window" through which the receiving magnet of a magnetic dial and a second magnet can be magnetically coupled.

Gauge head assembly with non-magnetic insert


A dielectric ceramic composition which comprises a composition represented by xBaO.yNd.sub.2 O.sub.3.zTiO.sub.2 (where 8.5.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.20, 5.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.23, 62.ltoreq.z.ltoreq.85, and x+y+z=100), Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 in an amount not more than 15 wt % of the amount of said composition, and Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 in an amount not more than 2 wt % of the total amount of the principal components BaO, Nd.sub.2 O.sub.3, TiO.sub.2, and Y.sub.2 O.sub.3. And a relative permittivity .epsilon.r of the dielectric ceramic is not less than 59, its dielectric loss (tan .delta.) is 3.times.10.sup.-4 .about.8.times.10.sup.-4 (2.7 GHz), and its temperature coefficient of resonant frequency .tau.f may be -30.about.+10 ppm/.degree.C. This microwave ceramic dielectric will be used for dielectric resonators in the microwave frequency region, microwave IC substrates, and impedance matching of microwave circuits.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ceramic composition to be made into a microwave ceramic dielectric, more particularly, to a ceramic composition to be made into a microwave ceramic dielectric which has a high Q value, a high relative permittivity, and a temperature coefficient permissible to practical use, and also exhibits its good quality invariably regardless of the firing temperature. The microwave ceramic dielectric will be used for dielectric resonators in the microwave frequency region, microwave IC substrates, and impedance matching of microwave circuits.
2. Prior Art
There is known a ceramic composition for a microwave ceramic dielectric (simply referred to as a dielectric ceramic composition hereinafter) which is composed of BaO, Nd.sub.2 O.sub.3, and TiO.sub.2 (as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 79753/1988). It has a disadvantage of being limited in the range of optimum firing temperature. In other words, it varies in characteristic properties (such as relative permittivity .epsilon.r, temperature coefficient of resonant frequency .tau.f, and Q value) depending on the firing temperature even though it has the same composition. This makes it difficult to obtain products of uniform quality. Moreover, it has a little high temperature coefficient of resonant frequency, i.e., +10 to 20 ppm/.degree.C., whereas the desirable value is in the neighborhood of 0 ppm/.degree.C.

Microwave dielectric ceramic composition


A one-shot air purge apparatus for an inkjet cartridge for removing air accumulated within the cartridge. The inkjet cartridge comprises a print cartridge base and a replaceable ink receptacle. The replaceable ink receptacle comprises an ink supply coupled to an ink supply seal and a vacuum chamber coupled to an air purge seal. The print cartridge base comprises a printhead, a sub-receptacle coupled to the printhead and an ink supply needle which has an eyelet, an air pocket reserve in which the air accumulates coupled to an air purge needle that has an eyelet. The ink supply needle eyelet is coupled to the ink supply seal before the air purge needle eyelet is coupled to the air purge seal of the vacuum chamber.

The present invention relates to inkjet printing apparatus and is concerned, more particularly, with the purging of air from a permanent inkjet cartridge base after a new ink supply has replaced a previous ink supply.
In a thermal ink jet printer, energy pulses, in a printhead, are used to heat and vaporize ink in an ink channel formed in the printhead. This vaporized ink creates vapor bubbles that grow to fill the channels and expel ink that was in the channel out through a set of orifices on the face of the printhead. The orifices are shaped to direct the ink outward onto a recording medium. Ink then refills the channel inside the printhead, usually by capillary action, which in turn draws ink into the printhead from an ink supply.
It is usually necessary to prime a printhead of an inkjet printer before use, to remove air and ensure that the printhead is full of ink. Priming, for example, may be carried out by applying suction to the ink ejecting orifices to draw ink into the printhead from the ink supply under pressure. Some approaches use a suction cap over the orifices to recover the ink ejection function of the printhead after a period of non-use. In many such printers, the printhead receives its supply of ink from a sub-receptacle, which in turn receives its supply of ink from a main receptacle. Air collects in the sub-receptacle and is removed by applying suction to the sub-receptacle before suction is supplied to the printhead orifices. The mechanism providing the suction adds additional cost and complexity to the printer.
Some printers reduce complexity by just using a replaceable ink cartridge that incorporates a pressure regulating mechanism within the ink supply. The pressure regulating mechanism inside the ink cartridge increases the size and cost of the cartridge body. The increased size of the cartridge body in turn requires a greater carriage mass and cost, thereby discouraging production of more compact, portable, and low-priced inkjet printers. A significant number of improvements in printheads and pressure regulator mechanisms have occurred over the years. These improvements are now yielding improvement in the useful life of printheads and pressure regulators which exceeds the expected use of the supply of ink. Thus, when the user discards the ink cartridge, the printhead and pressure regulating mechanisms are also discarded, even though they may have a significant period of usable life remaining. Disposal of these parts, which may still be useful, and any remaining ink in the ink supply results in an increased cost to the user and is an inefficient use of resources.
To address problems with disposable ink cartridges, some inkjet printers have permanent, refillable remote ink supplies that are not mounted to the carriage. Such ink supplies, because they are stationary within the printer, are not subject to all of the size constraints of an ink supply that is moved with the carriage. Usually, the printhead will include a small ink reservoir that is periodically replenished by moving the printhead to a refilling station that has a stationary built in reservoir. See, for example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,998.
Other printers use replaceable remote reservoirs that are not located on the carriage and do not move with the printhead during printing. Replaceable reservoirs are often plastic bags filled with ink. The bag is provided with a septum that can be punctured by a hollow needle, for coupling ink inside the bag to the printer and which allows ink to flow from the bag to the printhead. The bag may be squeezed or pressurized in some other manner to cause ink to flow from the reservoir.
An example of an inkjet printing system using ink reservoirs is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,811. In this system, ink is drawn from a stationary reservoir and pressurized to propel the ink through a supply tube to a first ink containment receptacle in an ink jet cartridge mounted on a movable printer cartridge. A regulator mechanism within the cartridge body intermittently opens to supply ink to a second ink containment receptacle in the cartridge that couples with the printhead orifices through a sub-receptacle which contains an ink filter. The regulator maintains a sufficient backpressure on the ink to prevent it from drooling out of the printhead.
All of these different printer systems are plagued by unwanted air that enters the ink reservoir, supply lines and cartridge in a variety of ways. Air is primarily introduced into the system by evolving as gas when ink is heated at the printhead. Other sources of air ingestion are from empty supply lines before printer initialization, by "air gulping" through fluid interconnects during start up or operation and by diffusion through the walls of system components (such as cartridge body walls or tubes). Air in the ink supply system can cause "dry firing" of the drop generator (usually a resistor or piezo electric actuator), which damages the printhead. Alternatively, gas bubbles in supply lines can interfere with hydraulic flow through supply lines or capillary movement of ink through the small orifices at the printhead.
Printer vendors have tried many different approaches to eliminate unwanted gas in the ink supply flow path. Some inkjet cartridges (such as the cartridges used in the HP 2000C inkjet printer available from Hewlett-Packard Co.) are designed with empty internal space to "warehouse" air over the life of the cartridge. The additional space required for warehousing air in the moveable cartridge increases the size of the printer to accommodate the bulky cartridge over its path of movement. Another vendor's printer uses an air separator between an ink reservoir and cartridge body to remove air from the ink supply flow path, but this solution requires complex additional components that increase the size and cost of the printer.
Therefore, a new ink supply system is needed that can be replaceable, yet allow for the use of a permanent printhead, and which allows for production of low cost and non-complex printers than existing designs.

One shot air purge for replaceable ink supply