A method for driving a liquid crystal device to record an image on the liquid crystal device is provided. The liquid crystal device has: a pair of electrodes; and a liquid crystal layer of cholestric liquid crystal sandwiched between the pair of electrodes. The method includes: applying a voltage V1 higher than a threshold value of a phase change to the homeotropic phase to make the liquid crystal layer to be in a homeotoropic phase; applying selectively two voltages V2H and V2L higher than the voltage V1 to each portion of the liquid crystal layer; and applying a voltage V3 under a condition of such a magnification and application time that a portion to which the voltage V2H has been applied changes to a planar phase and a portion to which the voltage V2L has been applied changes to a focal conic phase.

(i) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a driving method of writing an image on a liquid crystal device, and an apparatus for driving the liquid crystal device.
(ii) Background Art
For a reason, such as earth environment preservation such as forest resources protection, or office environment improvements called "space save", an expectation for a rewritable marking technique as a hard copy technology shifting to paper is high.
Hard copy of paper has excellent convenience, which does not belong to a conventional electronic display, such as (1) it provides bright and high-contrast reflective full-color display, convenient reading, and a high information display density, (2) it has a light, thin and flexible structure, can be seen at a comfortable posture, and provides a wide selection range of irradiation conditions, (3) it has a memory characteristic in display, can provide information display and retention with no power, and enables less eye fatigue through flickless display, and (4) it can provide easy look through simultaneous display of plural sheets at low cost, and convenient comparison and browsing of information, and so on.
For this reason, the paperlessness of office has not been accelerated, as expected, resulting in a behavior in which information displayed on an electronic display is printed on paper as a hard copy and is read. Therefore, a display medium replacing paper requires the reappearance of various convenience unique to the above paper document in addition to a rewriting function for realizing resource saving and waste saving.
Research has been done on a variety of rewritable marking techniques with further improved convenience. As one direction, a technique by a liquid crystal device in which liquid crystal and an optical conductor are stacked enables repetitive writing/erase to be implemented, and has been in the spotlight as realizing other excellent characteristics.
The introduction of this technique will be described below. A planar phase represented by cholesteric liquid crystal (chiral nematic liquid crystal) induces a selective reflection phenomenon in which in a state where incident light parallel to screw axes is divided into right linear light and left linear light, the screws interfere and reflect a circular polarization component parallel to a twist direction and permit transmission of the remaining light. A center wavelength λ and a reflection wavelength width a of reflected light has a relationship of λ=n·p, and Δλ=Δn·p, respectively, wherein p is a screw pitch, n is an average refractive index within a plane orthogonal to the screw axes, and Δn is birefringence. The reflected light by the cholesteric liquid crystal layer of the planar phase is tinged with a clear color dependent on the screw pitch.
Cholesteric liquid crystal having positive dielectric anisotropy exhibits three states: namely, a planar phase in which screw axes become perpendicular to the surface of a cell to thus induce the above-described phenomenon of selectively reflecting incident light as shown FIG. 16A, a focal conic phase in which screw axes become essentially parallel to the surface of a cell to thus permit transmission of incident light while the incident light is slightly scattered forward as shown in FIG. 16B, and a homeotropic phase in which the screw structures become untied and liquid-crystal directors are oriented in the direction of an electric field to thus allow transmission of incident light.
Of the above three phases, the planar phase and the focal conic phase can be bistably present in a field-free state. Consequently, the phase of cholesteric liquid crystal is not uniquely determined with respect to the strength of an electric field applied to a liquid crystal layer. When the planar phase is an initial state, the phase changes from the planar phase, the focal conic phase, and the homeotropic phase, in this sequence with an increase in the strength of the electric field. When the focal conic phase is an initial state, the phase changes from the focal conic phase to the homeotropic phase in this sequence in accordance with an increase in the strength of the electric field.
When the strength of the electric field applied to the liquid crystal layer is abruptly reduced to zero, the planar phase and the focal conic phase remain intact, and the homeotropic phase changes to the planar phase.
Consequently, immediately after application of a pulse signal the cholesteric liquid crystal layer exhibits a switching behavior such as that shown in FIG. 17. In the case where an initial state is the planar phase, when the voltage of the applied pulse signal is Vph or more, there is achieved a selective reflection state obtained as a result of the homeotropic phase having changed to the planar phase, as indicated by the white circles. When the voltage ranges between Vpf and Vph, a transmission state realized by the focal conic phase is achieved. When the voltage is Vpf or less, a state realized before application of the pulse signal becomes continual; namely, the selective reflection state realized by the planar phase is achieved.
Meanwhile, in the case where an initial state is the focal conic phase, when the voltage of the applied pulse signal is Vfh or more, there is achieved the selective reflection state obtained as a result of the homeotropic phase having changed to the planar phase, as indicated by the black circles. When the voltage of the applied pulse signal is Vfh or less, a state realized before application of the pulse signal becomes continual; namely, the transmission state realized by the focal conic phase is achieved.
In the drawing, the vertical axis represents normalized reflectance. Reflectance is normalized on the assumption that the maximum reflectance is 100 and that the minimum reflectance is zero. It is assumed that a phase change of the planar phase and the homeotropic phase assumes a threshold voltage of Vph, a phase change of the planar phase and the focal conic phase assumes a threshold voltage of Vpf, and a phase change of the focal conic phase and the homeotropic phase assumes a threshold voltage of Vfh. Furthermore, there is a transition region between the planar phase, the focal conic phase and the homeotropic phase. Normalized reflectance defined as a threshold level is represented by dotted lines. In the drawing, normalized reflectance 50 is indicated by a threshold level.
The liquid crystal device of this technique implements a monochrome display of black and white with a memory characteristic in a field-free state or a color display with a memory characteristic in a field-free state, by means of switching (A) a selective reflection state realized by the planar phase and (B) a transmission state realized by the focal conic phase by utilization of the bistable phenomenon of the cholesteric liquid crystal.
Furthermore, in the liquid crystal device of this technique, the self-retention type liquid crystal compound and the organic photoconductor can be formed by coating an undiluted solution or through a laminate process. The liquid crystal device can be fabricated conveniently at low cost. Furthermore, both the self-retention type liquid crystal compound and the organic photoconductor can easily realize resolutions required for hard copy and, therefore, can enhance display resolving power of the liquid crystal device.
The liquid crystal device of this technique can perform writing of an image by forming an image although exposure is not performed over the whole surface at the same time and scanning the surface of the liquid crystal device by use of an exposure device of a scanning system (for example, a laser light exposure device) or a light-emitting diode array.
There is shown in FIG. 18 a diagram showing a shape in which an image is written using the exposure device of the scanning system by means of a general method of driving a liquid crystal device. As illustrated in FIG. 18, the liquid crystal device of this technique includes a display layer (i.e., a liquid crystal layer) and an OPC layer (i.e., a photoconductive layer), which are laminated with, for example, a light-blocking layer intervened therebetween between a pair of electrode substrates. After the whole surface of the display layer is reset to the planar phase, the surface on the OPC layer side is exposed like an image using an exposure device, such as a line head or a beam scanner, with a bias voltage being applied to the pair of the electrodes, thereby recording a writing image on the surface.
As mentioned above, the liquid crystal layer at the time of writing forms a desired writing image by obtaining contrast between a portion at which a phase changes from the planar phase to the focal conic phase and a portion at which a phase does not change from the planar phase to the focal conic phase depending on whether exposure is performed. A phase change from the planar phase to the focal conic phase needs some degree of time. Specifically, the liquid crystal layer completes the phase change by taking several hundreds of ms (approximately 200 ms or more). Accordingly, since a writing time of several hundreds of ms is taken every scan line (or 1 pixel), a great period of time is taken to write the whole surface of the liquid crystal device. For this reason, it could be said that the above technique is not sufficient regarding practical use in writing.
There is also a technique for significantly shortening a writing time taken every scan line (or 1 pixel) by reducing time necessary for a phase change.

Method apparatus for driving liquid crystal device and apparatus for driving liquid crystal device


The present invention relates to a thiol compound represented by formula (1): wherein R1, R2 and n have the same meanings as in the specification, method for producing the compound, and to a photosensitive composition and a black matrix resist composition using the same which have high sensitivity and excellent property of retaining a line width in fine line patterns at the time of alkaline development, that is, being excellent in development latitude.

Photosensitive compositions are used in various fields including printing plates, color proofs, color filters, solder resists and photo-curing ink. In particular, in recent years, curing at room temperature, fast-curing and solvent absence, which are the most characteristic properties of photo-curing, have received attention in various fields including those applications from the viewpoints of environmental concerns, energy saving, safety in working, production costs and the like and many studies and developments have been made on photosensitive compositions.
Photosensitive compositions are each mainly composed of a photopolymerization initiator, a binder resin, a compound having an ethylenically unsaturated bond which cures by a polymerization reaction, and various kinds of additives, and the kinds of the components depend on use to which the photosensitive composition is applied.
The compounds which constitute the photopolymerization initiator are selected by their photosensitive wavelengths and polymerization initiating properties. The binder resin, the compound having an ethylenically unsaturated bond, and the additives are selected by polymerizability and physical properties of a desired cured product. They are used for a photosensitive composition in combinations.
However, some binder resins, some compounds each having an ethylenically unsaturated bond, and some additives occasionally cause problems as follows in the photosensitive compositions. (1) Sufficient energy for initiating photopolymerization is not obtained; (2) preservation stability is not obtained; (3) since irradiation light does not reach deep enough in a desired cured product owing to the thickness thereof, curing does not proceed sufficiently; (4) oxygen inhibition occurs at the portion where the photosensitive composition contacts the air; and (5) property of retaining a line width of fine line patterns at alkaline development is inferior.
For those problems, various measures have been taken; for example, irradiation with greater light energy, use of an excess amount of a photopolymerization initiator, and placement of an oxygen shielding membrane. Also for energy saving and reduction in production cost, a photosensitive composition having more excellent photosensitivity is desired.
Of those, in the development of color filters to be used for color televisions, liquid crystal display devices, solid-state image sensing devices, cameras and the like, pigment-dispersing resists for color filters have been studied for an improvement in productivity and high definition. In such applications, there have been growing demands on photosensitive compositions such as one to be cured at lower energy, one to be cured more quickly, one capable of forming finer patterns, and one having a greater depth of curing.
A color filter is usually manufactured by forming a lattice-like black-colored matrix (black matrix) on the surface of a transparent substrate such as glass or a plastic sheet and then forming three or more different hue patterns of red, green, blue and the like to an accuracy of several micrometers. Of those, the black matrix is arranged for improving contrast and preventing malfunction of TFT. Though a resist for forming the black matrix (black matrix resist) has a high light-blocking effect and thus can be hardly photo-cured by nature, high sensitivity has become demanded with growth in the size of a glass substrate to be used. At the same time, the black matrix resist with which no substantial change in line width of fine line patterns occurs even after being exposed to an alkaline developer for a long time, i.e., one having an excellent development latitude has been demanded strongly.
In late years, liquid crystal displays have come into use for television sets and thus demands have risen for color filters having excellent chromatic contrasts. In addition, there is a demand for a pigment in a concentrated amount but it may lead to less sensitivity. Therefore, for improving the sensitivity of the photosensitive composition and a black matrix resist composition for a color filter, the use of polyfunctional thiol compounds has been proposed (JP 10-253815 A, JP 10-253816 A, JP 10-253817 A, JP 2004-149755, etc.).
However, polyfunctional thiol compounds, which have been proposed heretofore, have aliphatic polyol components provided as their basic skeletons, so that photo-cured products thereof might cause a problem of smaller line widths of fine line patterns due to their inferior alkali-resistant development properties, although the sensitivity of the composition can be enhanced. In other words, there has been a problem of insufficient development latitude. In particular, for the black matrix resist on which lattice-like patterns should be formed, a phenomenon in which the line width of fine line patterns becomes small has become a very critical problem.

Thiol compound and photosensitive composition using the same


A method, apparatus and program storage device for providing automatic recovery from premature reboot of a system during a concurrent upgrade is disclosed. A concurrent code-load to a plurality of storage controllers of a storage system is initiated. A code-load failure is detected. The stage of the code-load failure is identified. A code-load recovery process based upon the identification of the stage that the code-load failure occurred is initiated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a computer systems, and more particularly to a method, apparatus and program storage device for providing automatic recovery from premature reboot of a system during a concurrent upgrade.
2. Description of Related Art
Storage controllers are used in storage systems to control arrays of hard disk drives including storing data in a distributed manner in multiple disk drives and having redundancy information (such as parity information) as well as data to be stored in the disk drives. To prevent data loss in the event of a disk drive failure, storage controllers may be configured to provide a range of different types of data redundancy including for example RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 0+1. Host computer typically do not see devices that correspond directly to the individual disk drives; rather storage controllers create logical devices. If a disk drive fails, the storage controller uses the redundancy information to recover the information stored in the failed disk drive.
In addition, a storage controller may be configured with a plurality of storage clusters, each of which provides for selective connection between a host computer and storage devices and each preferably being on a separate power boundary. Each cluster might include a multipath storage director with first and second storage paths, a cache memory and a non-volatile storage ("NVS") memory.
In many storage products, two or more controllers are used to provide redundancy. This redundancy can prevent interruption of service in the event of a software or hardware failure on one of the controllers. In addition, the redundancy can be leveraged when code (software or firmware) updates are provided. One type of code update process is re called concurrent code-load. Concurrent code-load processes generally require the computer system to be fully operational before a code-load upgrade is begun.
Errors and other unforeseen circumstances can cause the code-load upgrade process to fail in the middle due to a premature reboot of the system. Premature reboot of a system can lead to a degraded system state including where either only one controller is active (either running on the old code or the new code) or where one controller is running with the new code and the other controller is left running on the old code which may also result in unanticipated errors. In the former case, the overall system is exposed to a single point of failure and significant performance degradation.
Recovering from premature reboot failures can be a lengthy and expensive process. Manually restoring a system to a fully operational state so that a code-load upgrade can be retried often requires a trained system administrator with knowledge of the internal code-load actions. In addition, where there are multiple clusters, it is typically difficult to achieve a fully operational state if the premature reboot occurred after an update of only one of the clusters. Because of this, the user may be required to switch back to the original code level to reach a fully operational state. In addition, many users do not have sufficient knowledge of internal code-load actions to fix a code-load failure and must contact field service personnel.
It can be seen that there is a need for an improved method of recovering from premature reboot of a system during a concurrent code-load upgrade.

Method, apparatus and program storage device for providing automatic recovery from premature reboot of a system during a concurrent upgrade

International Business Machines Corporation


In a non-volatile memory device with a buried control gate, the effective channel length of the control gate is increased to restrain punchthrough, and a region for storing charge is increased for attaining favorably large capacity. A method of fabricating the memory device includes forming the control gate within a trench formed in a semiconductor substrate, and forming charge storing regions in the semiconductor substrate on both sides of the control gate in a self-aligning manner, thereby allowing for multi-level cell operation.

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-0112200, filed on Dec. 24, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the same, and more particularly, to a non-volatile memory device allowing for multi-level cell operation and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Non-volatile memory device, such as Electrically Erasable Programmable ROMs (EEPROMs) and flash memory devices, maintain the integrity of data stored in a memory cell irrespective of whether a supply of electric power is removed from the device. In contemporary systems, there is a continued progression from the use of optical disc or magnetic disc storage systems to the use of semiconductor device based storage. There is thus an increased need for flash memory based storage units. In such a flash memory unit, data is typically stored in a floating gate. Recently, however, a nitride layer has been employed as a charge trapping layer in a flash memory device with a Metal Oxide Nitride Oxide Silicon (MONOS) structure or a Silicon Oxide Nitride Oxide Silicon (SONOS) structure.
As the packing density of the flash memory devices continues to increase, studies have been carried out on the formation of a control gate within a semiconductor substrate. One example of this is provided in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002-0071315, published Jun. 13, 2002, and entitled "Non-volatile Memory having embedded word lines".

Non-volatile memory device with buried control gate and method of fabricating the same


A glass panel comprising a pair of glass sheets (1, 2) disposed with respective faces thereof confronting each other in face-to-face relationship with a gap (V) therebetween and with peripheral edges of the glass sheets (1, 2) being bonded with a bonding sealant (4) to be sealed thereby; an evacuating port (5) for evacuating gas present within said gap (V) to the outside; and a getter (7) for coming into contact with the gas within said gap (V), wherein said evacuating port (5) includes a getter-retaining space (6) for retaining said getter (7) therein, said port (5) being formed in one (1) of said pair of glass sheets (1, 2), said getter (7) being retained within said getter-retaining space (6), said evacuating port (5) being closed and sealed by means of a lid (8). After the peripheral edges of the glass sheets (1, 2) are bonded and sealed by a bonding sealant (4), the gas present within said gap (V) is drawn and evacuated through said evacuating port (5) with said getter (7) being retained within said getter-retaining space (6), then, said evacuating port (5) is closed and sealed by bonding a lid (8) to said one glass sheet (1).

The getter provided in such glass panel serves to come into contact with gas present within the gap between the opposed glass sheets, thereby to adsorb and eliminate undesired gas component contained in the gas. Conventionally, there is known a construction wherein separately from the evacuating port, one of the pair of glass sheets includes a getter retaining space for retaining the getter therein (Japanese Patent No. 3082046).
Further, there are also known a construction wherein the glass sheet including the evacuating port includes a glass tube communicating with the evacuating port and projecting from the glass sheet and a further construction wherein to inner faces of the opposed glass sheets, there are formed, by deposition or sputtering, thin films made of getter material (Japanese Patent No. 3082046).
However, in the case of the construction wherein the dedicated retaining space for retaining the getter is provided separately from the evacuating port, a special manufacturing process is needed for forming the retaining space dedicated to the getter in the glass sheet, thus inviting cost increase of the glass panel.
Further, in the case of the further construction wherein the getter is retained in a glass tube, a relatively thick glass tube is required for retaining the getter. And, as this glass tube projects from the glass sheet, there arises the problem of increased risk of damage in the glass tube. Moreover, in the case of the further construction in which thin films made of getter material are formed on the inner faces of the opposed glass sheets, an operation for deposition or sputtering is required, thus again inviting cost increase of the glass panel.

Glass panel and method of manufacturing the glass panel


The presently disclosed embodiments are directed to charging devices which produce a negative corona. The present embodiments pertain to the use of a positive charging device, such as a scorotron, after the erase lamp and before negative charging station in the xerographic cyclic to mitigate the undesirable changes in charge transport layer electrical properties that result from exposure to corona while negatively charging the photoreceptor during latent image formation.

The present embodiments relate generally to charging devices and in particular to charging devices which produce a negative corona. The present embodiments are directed to improved development systems and apparatuses that comprise a charging device that reduces print defects such as image ghosts and related methods. It is to be appreciated that the following embodiments may be used in both drum-based and belt-based xerographic printing systems.
In xerographic copiers and printing machines commonly used today, a photoconductive insulating member, namely, photoreceptor is usually charged to a negative potential, and thereafter exposed to a light image of an original document or laser exposure for digital documents, which are to be reproduced. The exposure discharges the photoconductive insulating surface in exposed or background areas to create an electrostatic latent image on the member which corresponds to the image areas contained within the original or digital document. Subsequently, the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive insulating surface is made visible by developing the image with a developing powder referred to in the art as toner. During development the toner particles are attracted from the carrier particles by the charge pattern of the image areas on the photoconductive insulating area to form a powder or toned image on the photoconductive area. This image may be subsequently transferred to a support surface such as copy paper to which it may be permanently affixed by heating or by the application of pressure. Following transfer of the toner image to the support surface the photoconductive insulating surface may be discharged and cleaned of residual toner to prepare for the next imaging cycle.
Various types of charging devices have been used to charge or precharge photoconductive insulating layers. In commercial use, for example, are various types of corona generating devices to which a high voltage of 5000 to 8,000 volts may be applied to the corotron device thereby producing a corona spray which imparts electrostatic charge to the surface of the photoreceptor. One particular device takes the form of a single corona wire strung between insulating end blocks mounted on either end of a channel or shield.
A recently developed corona charged device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,650 to Davis et al., commonly referred to in the art as a dicorotron wherein the corona discharge electrode is coated with a relatively thick dielectric material such as glass so as to substantially prevent the flow of DC current there through. The delivery of charge to the photoconductive surface is accomplished by means of a displacement current or capacitive coupling through the dielectric material. The flow of charge to the surface to be charged is regulated by means of a DC bias applied to the corona bias shield. In operation an AC potential of from about 5,000 to 7,000 volts at a frequency of about 4 KHz produces a true corona current, an ion current of 1 to 2 milliamps. This device has the advantage of providing a uniform negative charge to the photoreceptor. In addition, it is a relatively low maintenance charging device in that it is the least sensitive of the charging devices to contamination by dirt and therefore does not have to be repeatedly cleaned.
In the dicorotron device described above the dielectric coated corona discharge electrode is a coated wire supported between insulating end blocks and the device has a conductive auxiliary DC electrode positioned opposite to the imaging surface on which the charge is to be placed. In the conventional corona discharge device, the conductive corona electrode is also in the form of an elongated wire connected to a corona generating power supply and supported by end blocks with the wire being partially surrounded by a conductive shield which is usually electrically grounded. The surface to be charged is spaced from the wire on the side opposite the shield and is mounted on a conductive substrate.
In addition to the desirability to negatively charge one type of photoreceptor, it often is desired to provide a negative precharge to another type photoreceptor such as selenium alloy prior to its being actually positively charged. A negative precharging is used to neutralize the positive charge remaining on the photoreceptor after transfer of the developed toner image to the copy sheet and cleaning to prepare the photoreceptor for the next copying cycle. Typically in such a precharge corotron an AC potential of between 4,500 and 6,000 volts rms at 400 to 600 Hz may be applied. A typical conventional corona discharge device of this type is shown generally in U.S. Pat. No. 2,836,725 in which a conductive corona electrode in the form of an elongated wire is connected to a corona generating AC voltage.
Another device, which is frequently used to provide more uniform charging and to prevent overcharging, is a scorotron which can be comprised of one, or more corona wires or pin arrays with a conductive control grid or screen of parallel wires or apertures in a plate positioned between the corona wires and the photoconductor. A potential is applied to the control grid of the same polarity as the corona potential but with a much lower voltage, usually several hundred volts, which suppresses the electric field between the charge plate and the corona wires and markedly reduces the ion current flow to the photoreceptor.
Certain difficulties have been observed when using corona charge devices that produce a negative corona. One common problem is related to latent image ghost. The latent image ghost may occur when the print image has been changed from one job to another job. For instant, in the first print job, the copier or printer would print multiple copies of one image. In the next job, a new and different image would be printed. Unfortunately, the old image from the first job would often show up as some faint ghost image in the print copies of the new job. There have been various theories or speculations as to the root causes of the latent ghost image. One commonly held viewpoint is some undesirable charge trapping occurs in the photoreceptor preventing it to fully discharge to the pristine state that is completely devoid of latent image voltage from the first print job. Hence in the next print job, the trapped charges related to an old image are released and manifest as a print ghost in new print copies. In other cases, even changing the size of printing substrate or paper from one job to another can lead to some latent ghost image of paper edge. One reason is that the paper shields photoreceptor surface from the charging corona of transfer corotron that is typically used in assisting the transferring of toner from photoreceptor to paper. As a result, after multiple copies of printing, the area of photoreceptor not shielded by paper would experience some changes in electrical properties, such as charging and discharging behaviors that deviate from that of another area which has been shielded by the paper. In the next print job when a larger sheet of paper is used and it would span both areas of photoreceptor, the outline of former smaller paper would emerge as a paper edge ghost. In general, image ghosts degrade the print quality, and is unacceptable in many printing applications. One common way to prevent image ghost is using massive erase light to flood expose photoreceptor to remove trapped charges. Unfortunately, this traditional approach to suppressing image ghost has limited success. Furthermore, an extremely high dose of erase light can damage or fatigue photoreceptor due to photochemical reaction, resulting in more print defects and poorer charging property.
The development of latent image strongly depends on the electrical and photodischarge behavior of photoreceptor. In xerographic machines, such as laser printers, with a discharge area development (DAD) system, the photoreceptor surface is initially charged uniformly to certain negative voltage VH in darkness, and then exposed with imaging laser light to discharge the surface of photoreceptor to a lower voltage, namely, latent image voltage VL. In principle, the area of photoreceptor which receives more exposed light will have a lower latent image voltage, which then will develop a darker image with toner. Two areas received the same amount of light should acquired the same latent image voltage VL and develop same density (lightness or grey levels) of toned image. However, complications arise due to some alteration of photoreceptor properties under the normal xerographic printing conditions, especially in a long print job of, says, several hundred or thousand copies of same image. Photoreceptor areas may be subjected to different stresses such as, light exposure, photodischarge, electrical charging, and other factors. The corona effluents generated from a negatively charge source is known to cause some change in electrical and photoelectrical properties of photoreceptors comprised of organic, and inorganic materials. Most commonly noticed effect is the charging, and photo-discharge behaviors. These undesirable changes are strongly suspected to cause print quality issues such as halftone image lightening, deletion, and corona related ghosting. The link between negative corona exposure and image quality issues in organic and inorganic photoreceptors has not been well understood. So far, the primary way to mitigate print quality issues related to corona has been to alter print engine settings. In severe cases, the only viable solution is to install a new photoreceptor to replace the fatigued one that image ghost can not be satisfactorily eliminated. This would increase component and service costs, and also reduce the productivity due to shutdown time of printer. No satisfactory solution has been identified that completely remedies the problem.
Thus, as the demand for improved print quality in xerographic reproduction is increasing, there is a continued need for achieving improved performance, such as finding a way to minimize or eliminate print defects in photoreceptors. A convenient, yet easy to implement solution is highly desirable for enhancing operation reliability of xerographic printers.

Apparatus and methods for suppressing photoreceptor image ghost


Conveying gas containing sulfur through a sulfur tolerant planar solid oxide fuel cell (PSOFC) stack for sulfur scrubbing, followed by conveying the gas through a non-sulfur tolerant PSOFC stack. The sulfur tolerant PSOFC stack utilizes anode materials, such as LSV, that selectively convert H2S present in the fuel stream to other non-poisoning sulfur compounds. The remaining balance of gases remaining in the completely or near H2S-free exhaust fuel stream is then used as the fuel for the conventional PSOFC stack that is downstream of the sulfur-tolerant PSOFC. A broad range of fuels such as gasified coal, natural gas and reformed hydrocarbons are used to produce electricity.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to fuel cells and more particularly to fuel cell systems that can be used in sulfur environments.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fuel cells liberate electrochemical energy from fuel streams containing hydrogen and/or other gases. A particular type of fuel cell, known as a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), has the ability to produce energy from hydrocarbon fuels at efficiencies far greater than traditional combustion engines, potentially as high as 80% for integrated systems. The discovery of a feasible energy production process is very important, given that natural gas and oil reserves are at low levels and continue to diminish. Though coal is also a limited resource, very large quantities still exist in many countries, including the USA. Coal can be used as a fuel for SOFCs if it is gasified to form a fuel known as "coal syngas".
A diagram demonstrating how a typical SOFC works is shown in FIG. 1. Another simple diagram of a basic SOFC is shown in FIG. 2. Since SOFC are electrochemical devices, they consist of three main components: an anode, a cathode and an electrolyte. As shown in FIG. 1, available CO and H2 in the fuel stream are utilized at the SOFC anode. H2 oxidizes more readily than CO due to the faster diffusion rate of H2 into the porous anode. The fuel stream reacts in the triple phase boundary (the area where the fuel, oxygen ions, and electrons produced by the oxidation are present) of the anode. The electrons produced by oxidation constitute the electrical power produced by the fuel cell. After reaching a power load, the electrons travel to the cathode of the SOFC where oxygen from air is reduced to oxygen ions (O2−). The oxygen ions then travel across an electrolyte, such as yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ), that only allows the passage of oxygen ions. The ions then complete the circuit when they reach the anode.
During operation, a fuel stream containing H2 and/or CO flows over the anode, while the cathode is exposed to either oxygen or air. When a load is applied to the system, oxygen reduces at the cathode to form oxide ions as noted above and according to the following:O2+4e−→2O2−  (1)These ions migrate through the electrolyte to the anode, where they react with the fuel stream components to produce an electrical charge according to the following:2CO+2O2−→2CO2+3e−  (2)2H2+2O2−→2H2O+4e−  (3)
H2S is a colorless, poisonous gas that is present in gasified coal and can cause many problems throughout SOFC systems, most notably to the anode. The SOFC shown in FIG. 1 shows little to no resistance in H2S-containing environments. The activity of a typical SOFC anode drops considerably after exposure to H2S concentrations as small as 2 ppm. In the presence of larger concentrations of H2S, this effect can be irreversible.
Therefore, in order to use gasified coal as a fuel source for SOFCs, either the anodes in the SOFC must be tolerant to H2S, or there must be no H2S present in the inlet fuel stream. The removal of H2S from fuel streams is expensive. Such costly fuel treatments to remove impurities as H2S prevent SOFC from competing with more traditional power generation methods. State-of-the-art sulfur tolerant anodes effectively react H2S, but show poor results when attempting to oxidize H2, making them inappropriate for power production.
H2S is typically removed during coal gasification by the Claus process, where a partial oxidation with air produces elemental sulfur and water. This process consists of two consecutive steps:2H2S+3O2→2SO2+2H2O  (4)2H2S+SO2→3S+2H2O  (5)The former reaction is carried out at temperatures nearing 1400 K as a non-catalytic combustion, while the latter reaction is a reversible catalytic process taking place over an equilibrium reactor train. The efficiency of this reaction scheme is limited by multiple side reactions, including the oxidation of sulfur:S+O2→SO2  (6)and a reverse Claus process:3S+H2OSO2+H2S  (7)
The largest contemporary obstacles to industrial or distributed use of SOFC are their susceptibility to poisoning by H2S impurities and the necessary costs of fuel treatment to remove H2S from syngas. While SOFC have shown encouraging stability and performance in systems containing only H2 and H2O, it is costly and difficult to locate and/or produce large quantities of pure elemental hydrogen. The damage to SOFCs if the H2S is not removed is unacceptable.
Due to the high operating temperature of the SOFC, H2S can also thermally decompose:H2S→½S2+H2  (8)The elemental sulfur and hydrogen produced by this chemical reaction may further react in the electrochemical reactionsH2+O2−→H2O+2e−  (9)½S2+2O2−→SO2+4e−  (10)where E0 for the reactions described by Equations (11) and (12) are 1.185 and 0.883 V, respectively. The simultaneous presence of H2S along with SO2 produced by the reaction described by Equation 12 at the SOFC anode may lead to their consumption via the reverse Claus process.
The contemporary standard for SOFC anodes is a metal such as Ni or Pt. These metals possess excellent catalytic activity toward H2 and CO oxidation at the temperatures (˜1000° C.) reached during SOFC operation. However, conventional SOFC anodes such as Ni or Pt are poisoned by H2S present in syngas, causing poor electrochemical performance and even irreversible system failure. For example, platinum catalyzes the oxidation of H2S to sulfur oxides at temperatures above 300° C. Researchers have examined the use of Pt as an anode in a SOFC utilizing an H2S-containing fuel stream, but Pt anodes have poor longevity when used with H2S-containing fuel streams due to the formation of PtS, which increases the interfacial resistance between the Pt anode and the YSZ electrolyte leading to detachment of Pt from YSZ. Fuel streams containing both 5% H2S (balance H2) and pure H2S have been tested, and it was found that longer anode lifetimes were achieved when using the dilute H2S feed.
Prior studies utilizing Pt as a SOFC anode in H2S-containing systems predominantly tested systems containing YSZ as the electrolyte. Such studies utilized ceria-based electrolytes in an effort to reduce the SOFC operating temperature. While low overpotentials and high current exchange densities were observed in such systems as in other Pt anode SOFC systems, the ceria electrolyte has been found to develop electronic conductivities in reducing environments and demonstrate poor long-term stability in a H2S environments. Corroborating the results of the previous researchers mentioned, the Pt anode demonstrated a steady loss in activity with time due to the formation of PtS.
Given that Pt anodes proved to be inappropriate for SOFC systems utilizing H2S-containing feeds, attention was given to contemporary Ni/YSZ anode SOFCs. A study using impedance analysis and DC polarization showed extensive sulfur poisoning due to the formation of NiS during operation. Since NiS has a melting point below the operating temperature of SOFCs, Ni-based anodes are susceptible to melting during operation with H2S-containing fuels. Differences in thermal expansion between Ni/YSZ and NiS can also prove problematic. Analogous to the results found for Pt anodes, it was found that the degree of sulfur poisoning on Ni/YSZ anodes is proportional to the total H2S content in the incoming fuel stream. Another study found that the polarization resistance for Ni/YSZ anodes doubled when a H2 fuel stream containing 5% H2S was utilized, while yet another study found that sulfur poisoning on Ni/YSZ anodes became irreversible after exposure to 105 ppm H2S at 1273 K.
Due to the infeasibility of Pt and Ni-based SOFC anodes in H2S environments, researchers have turned their attention to anodes made of perovskite oxides, which is a term for compounds having the generic composition ABO3. One study examined the properties of a wide range of perovskites based on lanthanum chromite (La1-xAxCr1-yByO3). While most of the materials tested somewhat fulfilled the requirements of an SOFC anode, none of the materials were found to have a combination of properties superior to Ni/YSZ. Poor conductivity, lacking activity toward hydrogen oxidation, and thermal expansions not matching those of YSZ or ceria-based electrolytes were among the disadvantages associated with using these materials as SOFC anodes.
Conventional studies of the properties of LaxSr1-xTiO3 (LST) found it to meet all requirements for SOFC anodes, and others successfully tested SOFCs utilizing LST anodes using fuel streams with concentrations of H2S ranging from 10 to 5000 ppm. These anodes showed little degradation over time and even showed an increase in activity when 5000 ppm H2S was present. This phenomenon was attributed to the SOFC oxidizing ˜12% of the available H2S, producing additional electricity.
LST anodes also oxidize other fuel gas species present in the fuel stream, such as H2, along with H2S, although the literature shows that LST does not have high electrocatalytic activity toward any fuel species. The overall electrocatalytic performance of LST anodes was noted in the literature to be far below that found using existing anode materials, such as Ni/YSZ. The maximum power density found using LST anodes is 175 mW/cm2, while power densities of up to 1.8 W/cm2 have been demonstrated by other contemporary systems.
More recent studies have shown that a perovskite known as lanthanum strontium vanadate (LaxSryVO3 or LSV) is not only resilient to H2S when used as a SOFC anode in 0-10% H2S environments, but further shows excellent activity toward H2S oxidation. LSV, however, does not show strong activity toward oxidation of other fuel gas species.
Studies using a Pt anode were also carried out for comparison. Performance of SOFCs utilizing LSV anodes showed no significant deterioration during a 48 hour period of operation in H2S environments. Moreover, the performance of the LSV anode appeared to increase as H2S concentration increased.

Solid oxide fuel cell process and apparatus


A vehicle bumper system includes a beam, and an energy absorber with top and bottom horizontal sections and a mid-horizontal section. The horizontal sections form top and bottom nose portions that are semi-rigid but initially collapsible with a parallelogram motion that shifts the top and bottom portions vertically up (or down) upon-impact. Horizontal impact forces are converted in part to vertical forces during an initial stroke of a frontal impact, “catching” an impacted human being. Then during a further continuing impact stroke, the top and bottom horizontal sections provide a “throwing” action. End sections of the energy absorber extend around ends of a bumper beam, forming a collapsible corner that, during impact, initially absorbs energy at a low rate to “catch” a person, and then develops increasing lateral forces that “throw” the person during a continuing impact stroke.

The present invention relates to bumpers for passenger vehicles designed to reduce pedestrian injury upon impact, and more particularly relates to a bumper having an energy absorber optimized to provide a relatively soft initial impact and a "throwing" force after initial impact to a pedestrian struck by the bumper.
Automotive bumper systems in the United States have been designed for resistance to damage at low and high vehicle speeds and for high-energy absorption at high impact speeds. Recently, pedestrian safety has begun to receive increasing attention. However, design of bumpers for pedestrian safety is complicated by several conflicting functional requirements. Obviously, the human body cannot withstand high-energy impacts nor sharp impacts without substantial damage to muscle and bone tissue. However, it is difficult to reduce the magnitude and rate of energy transfer from a bumper to a pedestrian upon impact, especially immediate transfer of energy from a "sharp" impact, because vehicle bumpers are usually limited to a relatively short stroke by components behind the bumper, such as a radiator and other engine components, and also limited by other front-end components and supporting structure. This is especially true of smaller and more compact vehicles. Further, the bumpers must be made of strong materials in order to maintain their shape and appearance over time, and to provide their primary function of being a "bumper" for the vehicle to push away items and to prevent damage to the vehicle. The problems are further complicated by aerodynamic designs, where corners of the bumper system are swept and curved back into the vehicle fenders, which further limits bumpers strokes and the bumper's ability to collapse or flex. Also, the problem is compounded by the fact that bumpers are at knee-height, such that pedestrian-related vehicular accidents often involve trauma to the pedestrian's knees. Joints and exposed bones are particularly prone to injury upon impact.
Accordingly, a bumper system is desired solving the aforementioned problems and having the aforementioned advantages.


The present invention relates to: a labeling dye having excellent fluorescent intensity and photostability; and a kit.

Fluorescence is the most commonly used technique for non-destructively tracking or analyzing biological molecules in the field of life science.
Although there are biomolecules which emit light independently, such as a green fluorescent protein (GFP), generally, after biological tissues or cells and biological materials at lower levels are stained with fluorescent dyes, or biological molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids are labeled with fluorescent dyes, an accompanying optical system can detect a fluorescence signal, thereby obtaining visualized data by various techniques.
In order to apply fluorescent dyes, those, which have low photobleaching and quenching and a high molecular extinction coefficient and quantum efficiency when generally present in a medium in which most of the biomolecules are present, that is, an aqueous solution and are stable under various pH conditions, are preferred.
Although various fluorescent dyes have been used in various research areas, fluorescent dyes which satisfy the above-described conditions are extremely rare.
As the background art related to the present invention, there is Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2017-0026245 (published on Mar. 8, 2017), and the aforementioned document discloses a perylene-based compound, a method for preparing the same, and a fluorescent dye including the same.


Systems, device, and methods are provided for imaging at least one target object within a medium, including acquiring multiple sets of RF signals and generating plurality of DAS images and analyzing the plurality of DAS images to detect one or more target object in the plurality of DAS images and further visualizing the at least one target object.

Radio Frequency (RF) technology use to provide advanced detection capabilities is known for more than a century. The first patent for a system designed to use continuous-wave radar to locate buried objects was submitted by Gotthelf Leimbach and Heinrich Löwy in 1910, six years after the first patent for radar itself (patent DE 237 944).
Today, various devices and methods use GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) or DAS (Delay and Sum) solutions for sensing or imaging subsurface elements such as sensing objects or elements covered or surrounded in a medium. These methods use electromagnetic radiation in the microwave band (UHF/VHF frequencies) of the radio spectrum, to detect the reflected signals from subsurface structures.
However, the data provided by prior imaging devices of hidden objects is poor and can be less than ideal in at least some instances. For example, although prior sensing devices such as radar sensing devices can provide general data of the location of hidden objects the data may be of little significance to at least some users as it doesn't include an accurate image and location of the hidden targets. Additionally, prior sensing devices sometimes provide false detection results which include for example identifying objects in the medium, such as a wall, as targets while these objects are actually portions of the imaged wall and not targets. Moreover, while for some type of walls prior imaging devices provide a clear image of the walls' inner sections for other types of walls these imaging devices provide a distorted view including unclear visual images of the walls which may not be used to identify targets within the wall.
Many other examples exist where radar devices do not adequately convey relevant parameters of an object covered, embedded or surrounded by a medium, and it would be helpful to provide an accurate image of the object to a user.
One of the reasons for such distorted views of walls and objects within the walls is the structure and content of some walls. Homogenous walls such as gypsum walls defer from inhomogeneous walls such as lath & plaster walls not only by their material content but also by their electromagnetic characteristics. For example, while RF signals are reflected substantially equally from each point of the homogenous wall forming, for example, clear DAS images of the homogenous wall, RF signals are reflected unequally from each point or some points of the inhomogeneous wall forming distorted DAS images of the inhomogeneous wall. These distorted images typically include reverberations and trails of signals which obviously may not be used to identify the structure of the inhomogeneous wall, hence detect objects within or behind the walls.
In light of the above, an improved imaging devices, systems and methods that overcome at least some of the above-mentioned deficiencies of the prior devices would be beneficial. Ideally, such imaging devices and systems would be a compact, integrated with a consumer device such as a cellular telephone, sufficiently rugged and low in cost to be practical for end-user measurements of well-hidden items, convenient to use.

Systems, devices and methods for imaging objects within or behind a medium using electromagnetic array


The invention describes two types of multimode optical waveguides having special dip in the refractive index profile of their core providing conditions for propagation of a higher order mode with sharp central peak which field carries considerable part of the mode energy, while the fields of all other modes in the waveguide are mostly concentrated outside of this central peak region. The waveguide of the first type guides the mode only with one central peak while the mode in the waveguide of the second type has also an additional peak at the interface between the waveguide core and cladding providing a possibility to detect any influence on the mode field in its outer region by measuring the signal in the central peak of the mode.. The useful properties of these two kinds of modes can be employed for designing new wavelength selective waveguide components for optical communications and sensors applications: an optical waveguide modulator, amplitude and interferometric sensors for different applications, bistable nonlinear components for logic switching and optical memory, wavelength selective chemical sensors of both amplitude and interferometric type, etc. Employing a material exhibiting electro-optical properties provides a possibility of tuning of the components proposed as well as fabrication of the sensors of electric fields.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to optical waveguides, optical waveguide components for signal processing and optical waveguide sensors for various physical fields, and more specifically to multimode optical waveguides having a specific refractive index profile of their core providing a possibility to guide a higher order mode with sharp central peak of its field and to optical components and sensors based on this waveguide designed for optical fiber communication systems, sensor systems and other optical devices for industrial and medical applications.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
Integrated optical waveguides and optical fibers are key components of optical fiber communication systems, optical sensors and other optical devices for various industrial and medical applications. All these components and sensors essentially consist of an optical waveguide having a core region and outer cladding with lower refractive index. Many types of various optical waveguide components and sensors have been developed for different industrial and medical applications.
The most sensitive sensors and the most commonly used waveguide components for optical fiber communication systems usually employ single-mode waveguides or fibers since these waveguides provide good compatibility with typical single-mode fiber network and reduced modal noise. Employing the single-mode waveguide in optical sensors provides a possibility to design interferometric sensors which are much more sensitive than the sensors of amplitude type. The multimode waveguides having larger cross section than single-mode waveguides, however, are basically more convenient to deal with in practice. In some specific applications such as chemical sensors based of Fourier spectroscopy in middle infrared range of spectrum, moreover, one must use multimode fibers since single-mode fibers operating in middle infrared are not available. The modal noise of speckle pattern resulting form the interference of many modal fields in a multimode waveguide is the main problem to be overcome in order to employ these waveguides especially in interferometric sensors and components. Therefore, multimode waveguides are usually used only in sensors of amplitude type where the sum of intensities of all waveguide modes is detected. Sensitivity of such sensors, however, is much lower than the sensitivity of single-mode interferometric sensors. Therefore it is very important to design highly sensitive sensors and components based on multimode rather than on single-mode waveguides. This problem can be solved by providing a single-mode regime of operation in the multimode waveguide since each selected mode is more sensitive to external influence to be detected than whole set of the modes carried by the waveguide.
It have been proposed to use computer generated holograms for selective excitation and detection of some specific modes inside a multimode fiber in order to realize sensors with enhanced and tunable sensitivity by switching from one operating mode to another. This method being very attractive from physical point of view is practically not very convenient since it is difficult to integrate the computer generated holograms in a standard single-mode optical fiber network. It is desirable to have a possibility of creating a single mode regime of operation in a multimode waveguide without employing the computer generated holograms, which usually also require complicated input-output optics.

Multimode optical waveguides, waveguide components and sensors


An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium by conveying the recording medium in a direction orthogonal to a scanning direction of a carriage having a recording head includes a first detecting unit mounted on the carriage and configured to detect the recording medium; a second detecting unit placed upstream from the first detecting unit in the direction that the recording medium is conveyed and configured to detect the recording medium; and a control unit configured to control operations of the image forming apparatus based on a detection result from the first detecting unit or the second detecting unit.

A serial-type image forming apparatus is a type of image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile, a copier, a plotter, or a multifunction copier having functions of a printer, facsimile, and copier. A serial-type image forming apparatus normally includes one or more recording heads (print heads) mounted on a carriage which recording heads are made of liquid drop spraying heads that spray drops of recording liquids (for example, inks). In such a serial-type image forming apparatus, the carriage is moved to serially scan a recording medium (hereafter called a paper sheet, but not limited to a sheet of paper, and may also be called recording paper, a transfer medium, a printing medium, or the like) in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the recording medium is conveyed; and the recording medium is conveyed intermittently a recording width at a time. An image is formed (recorded or printed) on the recording medium by repeating conveying and recording steps alternately.
In such an image forming apparatus, if the edges of a paper sheet are detected incorrectly, liquid drops may be sprayed onto an area outside of the paper sheet. This may deteriorate the image quality or smear a conveying unit such as a conveyor belt. Patent document 1 discloses an image forming apparatus that has a paper sheet sensor mounted on a carriage for scanning a paper sheet widthwise and is thereby able to accurately detect the edges of the paper sheet on a plane close to the image forming area.    [Patent document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-237693
In an image forming apparatus having recording heads for spraying liquid drops, the nozzles of the recording heads and a paper sheet sensor for detecting the leading edge of a paper sheet must be aligned appropriately. However, because of irregularities in assembling, the distance between the recording head nozzles and the paper sheet sensor may vary. This makes it necessary to align the recording head nozzles and the paper sheet sensor (this process is called "registration adjustment").
On the other hand, the demand is high for an increased printing speed of image forming apparatuses. When printing multiple pages, the printing speed can be increased by narrowing the distance between a preceding paper sheet and a succeeding paper sheet (hereafter called a distance between paper sheets). However, in a configuration where a sensor for detecting the leading edge of a paper sheet is mounted on a carriage, there is a time gap between when the scanning of a preceding paper sheet is finished and when the detection of the leading edge of a succeeding paper sheet is started, because the carriage has to be moved to a specified position so that the sensor is able to detect the leading edge of the succeeding paper sheet. This time gap makes it difficult to reduce the distance between paper sheets below a certain level. In other words, improvement in techniques for detecting the leading edge of a paper sheet has a great effect in improving the printing speed of an image forming apparatus.
One way to solve the above mentioned problem is to provide a second paper sheet sensor placed upstream from a first paper sheet sensor on the carriage in the paper conveying direction and thereby to detect the leading edge of a paper sheet using the first and second paper sheet sensors.
However, providing multiple paper sheet sensors for detecting the leading edge of a paper sheet makes it necessary to perform registration adjustment for each of the paper sheet sensors and therefore complicates the process of registration adjustment.


A scroll compressor includes a housing, a fixed scroll, and a movable scroll. A compression chamber is formed between the movable scroll and the fixed scroll. An opposing wall is located in and fixed to the housing. A back pressure region is formed between the opposing wall and the movable scroll, and a back pressure in the back pressure region urges the movable scroll toward the fixed scroll. An annular sealing member is arranged between the movable scroll and the opposing wall. The movable scroll includes a holding portion that holds the sealing member. The sealing member includes a rubber portion, which elastically deforms in the holding portion, and a resin portion, which is made of a material harder than the rubber portion. The resin portion at least partially projects out of the holding portion toward the opposing wall. The resin portion is in contact with the opposing wall.

The present invention relates to a scroll compressor.
Generally, a scroll compressor includes a fixed scroll, which is fixed to a housing, and a movable scroll, which orbits with respect to the fixed scroll. The fixed scroll includes a fixed base plate and a fixed spiral wall projecting from the fixed base plate. The movable scroll includes a movable base plate and a movable spiral wall projecting from the movable base plate. The fixed spiral wall and the movable spiral wall are engaged with each other to define a compression chamber. The orbital movement of the movable scroll decreases the volume of the compression chamber and compresses refrigerant.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-144045 describes an example of a scroll compressor that includes an elastic body arranged between the housing and the movable base plate of the movable scroll. A reactive force produced by a compression stroke produces a reactive force that acts on the movable scroll in the thrust direction. The elastic body counters the reactive force to enhance the sealing of the compression chamber.
Referring to FIG. 7, a scroll compressor 110 of the publication includes a housing 100, which accommodates a movable scroll 101 including a movable base plate 102. An elastic body 103 (sealing member) is arranged on the back surface of the movable base plate 102. The elastic body 103 is flat and annular and made of a metal material such as a carbon tool steel. In the housing 100, an opposing wall 105 is arranged at the side of the movable scroll 101 facing away from the fixed scroll 104. The opposing wall 105 faces toward the movable scroll 101. The back surface of the movable base plate 102 includes a contact portion 102a. The elastic body 103 is fixed in the housing 100 between the movable scroll 101 and the opposing wall 105 so that the elastic body 103 and the contact portion 102a are pressed against each other. The pressing between the elastic body 103 and the contact portion 102a is ensured at any orbital position of the movable scroll 101 relative to the fixed scroll 104.
In the housing 100, a back pressure chamber 107 (back pressure region) is defined at the inner side of the contact portion 102a. The pressing between the elastic body 103 and the contact portion 102a seals the back pressure chamber 107 from the region at the outer side of the contact portion 102a in the housing 100. The supply of refrigerant to the back pressure chamber 107 generates pressure (back pressure) acting to urge the movable scroll 101 toward the fixed scroll 104. This enhances the sealing of the compression chamber 108.
In addition, the opposing wall 105 includes a recess 105a that allows for elastic deformation of the elastic body 103. The pressing between the elastic body 103 and the contact portion 102a elastically deforms the elastic body 103 toward the opposing wall 105. The deformed elastic body 103 produces a resilient force that acts to restore the original shape of the elastic body 103. This urges the movable scroll 101 toward the fixed scroll 104. Thus, the movable scroll 101 is urged toward the fixed scroll 104 even when the back pressure in the back pressure chamber 107 is insufficient such as when the scroll compressor 110 starts to operate. This enhances the sealing of the compression chamber 108.
However, the elastic body 103 of the scroll compressor 110 is made of metal. Thus, the pressing between the elastic body 103 and the contact portion 102a may not be able to sufficiently seal the back pressure chamber 107 from the region at the outer side of the contact portion 102a in the housing 100. This may result in the leakage of refrigerant from the back pressure chamber 107 to the region at the outer side of the contact portion 102a in the housing 100.
During a normal operation of the scroll compressor 110, the movable scroll 101 is urged toward the fixed scroll 104 by the urging force produced by the elastic deformation of the elastic body 103, as well as the urging force produced by the back pressure in the back pressure chamber 107. When the urging force of the back pressure in the back pressure chamber 107 sufficiently urges the movable scroll 101 toward the fixed scroll 104 and enhances the sealing of the compression chamber 108, the urging force produced by the elastic deformation of the elastic body 103 would result in excessive pressing of the movable scroll 101 against the fixed scroll 104. This increases the sliding resistance between the movable scroll 101 and the fixed scroll 104 when the movable scroll 101 orbits. The sliding resistance causes mechanical loss during normal operation of the scroll compressor 110.

Scroll compressor including a sealing member


A new Dental Floss Tool for orienting and securing a length of dental floss in a convenient to use manner. The inventive device includes a handle piece, an intermediate piece joined to and extending from the handle piece, and a head piece joined to and extending from the intermediate piece wherein the head piece includes a pair of spaced tines extending therefrom. Furthermore, a spool of dental floss is positioned within the handle piece. A working length of the dental floss extends from the handle piece and passes along the intermediate piece towards the head piece, across the pair of spaced tines, back towards the intermediate piece, and around a take-up wheel. While passing along the intermediate piece, the dental floss passes through an actuator button which, when actuated, causes the dental floss spanning the pair of spaced tines to move laterally.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dental floss holding and positioning tools and more particularly pertains to a new Dental Floss Tool for orienting and securing a length of dental floss in a convenient to use manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of dental floss holding and positioning tools is known in the prior art. More specifically, dental floss holding and positioning tools heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art dental floss holding and positioning tools include U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,232; U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,338; U.S. Pat. No. D354,154; U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,866; U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,000; U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,851; U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,750; and U.S. Pat. No. D301,071.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new Dental Floss Tool. The inventive device includes a handle piece, an intermediate piece joined to and extending from the handle piece, and a head piece joined to and extending from the intermediate piece wherein the head piece includes a pair of spaced tines extending therefrom. Furthermore, a spool of dental floss is positioned within the handle piece. A working length of the dental floss extends from the handle piece and passes along the intermediate piece towards the head piece, across the pair of spaced tines, back towards the intermediate piece, and around a take-up wheel. While passing along the intermediate piece, the dental floss passes through an actuator button which, when actuated, causes the dental floss spanning the pair of spaced tines to move laterally.
In these respects, the Dental Floss Tool according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of orienting and securing a length of dental floss in a convenient to use manner.


An image forming method comprising: developing an electrostatic latent image on a latent image carrier with toner to form a toner image, transferring the toner image; and using ultrasonic vibration in the developing step or in the transferring step is disclosed. The toner includes toner particles that contain a releasing agent having a melting point 40-75° C., and has a number-based median diameter D50 of 3.0 to 5.0 μm and a CV value of 12 to 20% in a number-based particle size distribution and/or a mean circularity of 0.975-1.000.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming method which forms a toner image of full color by performing a transfer process using supersonic oscillation, in particular, relates to an image forming method which performs the transfer process by supersonic oscillation using an oilless toner which has specific grain size distribution, or a toner with which the form and the particle size are specified.
2. Related Art
Recently, digital method becomes as the main stream of the image formation by the electrophotographic system. One of such the trends of the technology is a technology of full color image formation. One of the techniques to accelerate the colorization of the toner image is a full color image forming method employing an oil less toner containing a large amount of a parting agent in the toner particle (cf. Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection, hereinafter referred to as Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication, No. 2002-214821, paragraph 0049).
In digital image formation, since a dot picture image with a small 1200 dpi (dot number per inch, one inch is 2.54 cm) level may be visualized, when performing image formation, toner so called a small diameter toner whose particle size is several micron orders is used preferably.
Incidentally, in such the image formation employing the small diameter toner, the transfer ability becomes worse on the occasion of transfer of the image formed on the photoreceptor onto an image receiving material such as paper and OHP film. Especially, in an image formation of full color which superimposes the color toners of Y, M, and C so as to form a toner image, the tendency appears significantly, It was difficult to transfer a toner image stably and certainly on a transfer material from a photoreceptor surface or an intermediate transfer member, and also it was difficult to produce a full color picture image which has a good color balance and optical density.
Therefore, techniques have been investigated for surely transferring a toner image onto an image receiving material by applying a physical action to a photoreceptor, as the one measure, there was a method that when transferring a toner image on a transfer material, a supersonic wave was irradiated at a bearing body which bears a toner image, and a toner image was made to transfer efficiently on a transfer material from the bearing body surface in the action of the oscillation by a supersonic wave, (cf. for example, Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication Nos. 2002-100546, paragraph 0052-0061 and 2001-117381, paragraph 0035 and 0062).
However, the toner transfer methods employing ultrasonic waves disclosed in Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication Nos. 2002-100546 and 2001-117381 are methods which have been developed for toner which is employed while coating oil on an image receiving material on the occasion of fixing. And although the transfer using supersonic oscillation was tried with an oilless toner having a releasing agent, it did not go well at all in whether fill the performance for which present invention persons ask. When oilless toner was used, the releasing agent was detached from toner particles under the influence of the oscillation by a supersonic wave, and in a fixing process, a transfer material coiled around a fusing roller, and offset was generated.
Moreover, since, as for an oilless toner with which the releasing agent detached itself, an external additive agent also detaches itself with a releasing agent, an adhesion force of the oilless tone with a photoreceptor increases, toner particles with which the transfer rate fell were generated. Therefore, a toner image will become easy to be disordered if the oscillation by a supersonic wave is received, and as a result, there are problems that the color reproduction quality in a full color picture image falls, the toner image of each color do not superimpose well, and picture image scattering is generated.
The invention is accomplished according to the above situation. The object of the invention is to provide an image forming method without occurrence of the winding the image receiving material about the fixing roller and the offset by employing a toner from which the parting agent is not released when the ultrasonic waves are applied.
The invention is to provide an image forming method in which the toner image is not deformed even when the vibration of the ultrasonic waves are applied and the toner images can be exactly overlapped to form a full color image.

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


Images can be used to improve setting reminders and the usefulness of reminders. For example, a mobile device can enable the user to request a reminder that uses one or more images obtained from a camera of the mobile device. The user can set a time period for when the image-based reminder is provided to the user. The image can provide information about the reminder as well as a visual depiction of the location the reminder is intended. A location can be detected in conjunction with capturing an image, and the location can be used to form a reminder message. The image can also be analyzed to provide the content of a message (e.g., text can be identified in the image and inserted into the message or used to access a database of corresponding messages). The derived message and/or the image can be provided for the reminder.

People can set a reminder for a particular date and time. For example, a person might set an appointment into a calendar for a particular data and time. Most reminders are to perform tasks that are not related to a location. But, some reminders may be associated with a location. For example, a user typically would a meeting room number into the calendar. However, such manual entry by a user can be time consuming, particularly if one is using a mobile device, which often has a smaller form factor than a desktop computer.
Additionally, the information contained in an alert sent to the user is only as good as the information entered by the user. If the user has not entered a location for a reminder about a task (e.g., to purchase an item or service), the user may have to spend time to determine a location for fulfilling the task or even spend time remembering exactly what the task was.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide methods and devices to more easily set reminders on a mobile device and to make the reminders more useful.

Mobile device using images and location for reminders


A clothes dryer vent coupling system for connecting the vent outlet of a clothes dryer to an exhaust pipe in a room wall includes a rectangular housing secured to the wall and includes sides and a front wall. An outlet coupling on one side of the housing is connected to the exhaust pipe through rigid or flexible tubing. The front wall of the housing includes a round inlet opening facing forward. A connector coupling connected to the vent outlet at the back of the clothes dryer has a conical end but with openings therein. When the dryer is moved toward the room wall, the connector coupling is guided into and enters the inlet opening. Once in place, a rubber gasket around the connector coupling seals the coupling to the housing.

The installation of a conventional household clothes dryer exhaust system into an external vent can be problematic due to the limited space available to perform the work. Generally, a dryer is installed in a space just wide enough to receive it. As a result, it is difficult to make the dryer vent exhaust system connection to the external vent once the dryer is positioned near the wall. If the dryer vent connection is made when the dryer is away from the wall, it frequently results in the dryer flexible vent tubing becoming crushed, flattened or kinked upon positioning the dryer close to the wall, resulting in poor airflow.
It is also known to be advantageous to employ rigid tubing for the dryer vent exhaust system rather than flexible tubing since it provides better air flow and tends not to flatten or kink. However, it is difficult to hook up rigid dryer vent tubing to the external vent system because the tubing and vent must be positioned exactly for a telescopic inner connection to be made.
Addressing these issues, a dryer exhaust vent system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,490. This patent describes a dryer exhaust vent which locates reverse flow blocking vanes internally of the vent, in the vent housing, to serve as a closure for the inlet opening.
A universal dryer duct and vent is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,217. This patent discloses a dryer duct assembly which employs two universal elbow components so as to secure the dryer duct ventilation to the external wall.
Neither of these patents, however, addresses the problem of easy installation and a quick and easy connection of a dryer vent exhaust system employing rigid tubing into an external vent.
One attempt at providing a quick connect for a clothes dryer is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,129. The invention described therein includes a pipe extending rearwardly from the back of the dryer that is intended to enter an exhaust socket built into the wall behind the dryer. The problem with this system is obvious. If the vent in the wall does not align with the dryer vent, no connection will be made. Furthermore, if the arrangement works for a particular dryer, it may not work if the dryer needs to be replaced.
There is, therefore, a need for a vent exhaust system for a dryer that is universal allowing substantially any home dryer to be quickly and easily connected or disconnected to the ventilation system.


Nanodiamonds are grown under conditions where diamond-like organic seed molecules do not decompose. This permits engineered growth of fluorescent nanodiamonds wherein a custom designed seed molecule can be incorporated at the center of a nanodiamond. By substituting atoms at particular locations in the seed molecule it is possible to achieve complex multi-atom diamond color centers or even to engineer complete quantum registers. In addition, it is possible to grow ultra-small nanodiamonds, wherein each nanodiamond, no matter how small, can have at least one bright and photostable fluorescent emitter.

From the beginning of artificial diamond growth, nanodiamonds were grown from organic compounds. However, due to the emphasis on growing large diamonds, this early work was largely forgotten. Recently, the emergence of certain fluorescent color centers in diamonds has rekindled interest because of the need for better control over nanodiamond properties. For example, ultra-small high-quality nanodiamonds with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers are needed for future nanoscale magnetic sensing applications. In addition, more deterministic growth techniques are needed to fabricate large quantities of ultra-small nanodiamonds with near-unity yield of stable fluorescent emitters like the silicon-vacancy (SiV) or nickel-nitrogen centers. Unfortunately the high pressure high temperature (HPHT) growth of nanodiamonds starting from organic material has always required temperatures that were so high that the initial molecules were completely decomposed before the onset of diamond growth. This makes a bottom-up engineering approach to fluorescent nanodiamond fabrication impractical.


A reclining seat includes a first locking mechanism for locking a first backrest frame at a sloping position, and a second locking mechanism for locking a second backrest frame at the sloping position. The reclining seat further includes a first shaft for releasing the first backrest frame locked by the first locking mechanism, a second shaft for releasing the second backrest frame locked by the second locking mechanism, and a disengaging unit for transmitting only one-directional rotation of the first shaft to the second shaft. The disengaging unit includes a first plate mounted on the first shaft, and a second plate mounted on the second shaft. The second plate is engaged by the first plate when the first shaft rotates in one direction and is disengaged from the first plate when the first shaft rotates in the opposite direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the structure of a reclining seat.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicle's reclining seat with a seat belt retractor incorporated in the seat backrest is well known in the related art. This conventional reclining seat 100 is shown in FIG. 8.
The reclining seat 100 chiefly comprises a seat backrest 101 and a seat cushion 102.
The seat backrest 101 includes a laterally outer frame 103 disposed to form the laterally outer side of the seat backrest 101, a laterally inner frame 104 disposed to form the laterally inner side of the seat backrest 101, and an upper frame 105 connecting the upper end portion of the laterally outer frame 103 and the upper end portion of the laterally inner frame 104 together.
The laterally outer frame 103 of the seat backrest 101 has a shoulder anchor 107 provided at its upper end portion for supporting a seat belt 106. The seat cushion 102 includes a cushion frame 110. The cushion frame 110 has a lower anchor 108 provided at its laterally outer end portion for fixing the seat belt 106, and further has a buckle 109 provided at its laterally inner end portion for detachably fastening the seat belt 106. The seat belt 106 is drawn back into a retractor (not shown) provided interiorly of the seat backrest 101.
As shown in FIG. 8, a laterally outer locking mechanism 111 pivotally connects the laterally outer frame 103 of the seat backrest 101 with the rear outer end of the cushion frame 110, and is able to lock the laterally outer frame 103 at a desired sloping position with respect to the cushion frame 110.
Likewise, a laterally inner locking mechanism 112 pivotally connects the laterally inner frame 104 of the seat backrest 101 with the rear inner end of the cushion frame 110, and is able to lock the laterally inner frame 104 at the desired sloping position with respect to the cushion frame 110.
The laterally outer locking mechanism 111 is also equipped with a release lever 113, which is operated by a passenger. If the extreme end portion of the release lever 113 is lifted by the passenger, the locked state between the laterally outer frame 103 and the cushion frame 110 by the laterally outer locking mechanism 111 is released, and at the same time, a shaft 114 connecting the laterally outer locking mechanism 111 and laterally inner locking mechanism 112 together is rotated. The rotation of the shaft 114 releases the laterally inner frame 104 and cushion frame 110 locked by the laterally inner locking mechanism 112.
Conversely, if the lifted release lever 113 is lowered to its original position, the laterally outer frame 103 and cushion frame 110 are relocked and the laterally inner frame 104 and cushion frame 110 are relocked.
Note that the reclining seat 100 is constructed such that if relative rotation occurs between the laterally outer and inner locking mechanisms 111, 112 and the shaft 114, the locked state between the seat backrest 101 and the seat cushion 102 by the laterally outer and inner locking mechanisms 111, 112 is released.
That is, as shown in FIG. 9, if the front of a vehicle with the reclining seat 100 collides, the upper end portion of the laterally outer frame 103 is greatly tilted forward, but the laterally inner frame 104 is not particularly deformed. The reason is because the locked state between the laterally outer frame 103 and the cushion frame 110 by the laterally outer locking mechanism 111 is released.
That is, if the front of the vehicle running forward collides, the passenger is held in the reclining seat 100 by the seat belt 106 without being slipped out of the reclining seat 100, but a great load is applied to the seat belt 106 and also to the retractor 107 supporting an end of the seat belt 106. Because of this, the upper end portion of the laterally outer frame 103 is tilted forward.
If the upper end portion of the laterally outer frame 103 is tilted forward, the laterally outer locking mechanism 111 provided on the laterally outer frame 103 rotates in an anticlockwise direction in view from left side of the seat 100 indicated by an arrow A111 in FIG. 9. At this time, no deformation occurs in the laterally inner frame 104, so the laterally inner locking mechanism 112 does not rotate.
In addition, the laterally outer locking mechanism 111 and laterally inner locking mechanism 112 are constructed such that they allow the shaft 114 to rotate in the clockwise direction indicated by an arrow A114 in FIG. 9 but not to rotate in the opposite direction.
Therefore, even if the front of the vehicle collides and therefore the laterally outer locking mechanism 111 rotates in the anticlockwise direction, the shaft 114 will not rotate.
Because of this, if the front of the vehicle collides, and the laterally outer locking mechanism 111 rotates in the anticlockwise direction, relative rotation takes place between the laterally outer locking mechanism 111 and the shaft 114, even when the release lever 114 is not operated. As a result, the locked state between the laterally outer frame 103 and the shaft 114 by the laterally outer locking mechanism 111 is released. To solve such a problem, a technique has been proposed in Japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2004-290243 (hereinafter referred to as patent document 1). Note that in the following description of patent document 1, a reference numeral enclosed within brackets indicates a reference numeral employed in the drawings of patent document 1.
As shown in each FIG. 2-4, the technique of the patent document 1 aims to avoid rotate relatively between a rod (80) and a shaft (84a) even when the shaft (84a) connected with one seat back frame (12a) rotates as shown in FIG. 1 by such a manner that forming recesses (81) in the rod (80) and forming projections (85) in locking mechanisms (51a and 51b).
However, it is not prefer to form the recesses (81) in the rod (80) and form the projections (85) in the locking mechanisms (51a and 51b) as the technique of patent document 1 because the labor and cost of production must be increased due to high-precision process is required.
Further, in the technique of patent document 1, it is impossible to avoid relative rotation between the rod (80), which is a pipe, and the shafts (84a and 84b) beyond the length of recesses (81). Accordingly, when the shaft (84a) tries to move beyond the recesses (81), the rod (80) and the shafts (84a and 84b) rotate together. Consequently it is impossible to prevent the deformation of the seat back frame (12a) due to the unintentional releasing of locking mechanisms (51a and 51b) happens.

Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


Polymer beads are prepared containing an immobilized extractant for sorbing metal contaminants at concentrations of less than 1 mg/L in dilute aqueous solutions. A preferred polymer is polysulfone and the extractant can be a biomass material or a synthetic chemical compound sorbed into activated carbon. The polymer beads are prepared by dissolving the polymer in an organic solvent to form a solution, adding the extractant to the solution to form a mixture and injecting the mixture through a nozzle into water to form the beads.

The removal of metal contaminants from aqueous wastes is an important environmental issue, and although the problem of removing toxic and heavy metals from waters has been addressed for many years, few effective treatment options are available that are not reagent and energy requirement intensive, and where the metal values are recoverable in solutions amenable to being further concentrated, without the generation of hazardous sludges or other harmful waste products.
For example, conventional toxic metal recovery technologies have been inefficient when applied to solutions having metal concentrations ranging from less than 1 mg/L to about 100 mg/L.
In the chemical area of toxic metal recovery from dilute aqueous streams, the techniques of recovery have most commonly been by chemical precipitation, ion exchange, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, solvent extraction (liquid ion exchange), and chemical reduction (Rich, G., and K. Cherry. Hazardous Waste Treatment Technologies. Pudvan Publishing Co., 1987, 169 pp.); however, these procedures are characterized by the disadvantages of incomplete metal removal, high reagent and energy requirements, and generation of toxic sludge or other waste products that must be disposed of, and these disadvantages are particularly conspicuous at the low metal concentrations often encountered in waste waters, where federally-mandated cleanup standards dictate that effluents discharged to public waters contain <1 mg/L of metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, iron and manganese.
On the other hand, although living microbial populations have shown some promise in extracting metals from these solutions (Jennett, J. C., J. E. Smith, and J. M. Hassett. Factors Influencing Metal Accumulation by Algae, NTIS PB83-149377, 124 pp.), (Ngo, V., and W. Poole, Boosting Treatment Pond Performance. Pollution Eng., v. 19, No. 9, Sept 1987, pp. 62-63), Burton, M. A. S., and P. J. Peterson. Metal Accumulation by Aquatic Bryophytes From Polluted Mine Streams. Environ. Pollution, v. 19, No. 1, May 1979, pp. 39-46) and (Tsezos, M., The Selective Extraction of Metals From Solution by Microorganisms: A Brief Overview. Can. Metall. Q., v. 24, No. 2, June 1985, pp. 141-144), it has been found that the maintenance of a healthy microbial population is often difficult owing to the toxicity of the aqueous streams processed, and recovery of the metal-laden microorganisms from solution is also troublesome due to liquid-solid separation problems.
Colonization of polymeric and foam supports with living microorganisms have also received attention, but problems such as nutrient requirements, toxic shock, and recovery of metal values from these supports still exist (Frenay, J. et al. Microbial Recovery of Metals From Low-Grade Materials. Paper and Recycle and Secondary Recovery of Metals, ed. by P. R. Taylor, H. V. Sohn, and N. Jarrett. Pub. by The Metall. Soc., Inc., 1985, pp. 275-278).
It has been found that, immobilization of thermally-killed biomass in a granular or gel matrix (Brierley, J. A. et al. Treatment of Microorganisms With Alkaline Solution to Enhance Metal Uptake Properties. U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,894) and (Nakajima, A., T. Horidoshi, and T. Sakaguchi. Studies on the Accumulation of Heavy Metal Elements in Biological Systems. XXI. Recovery of Uranium by Immobilized Microorganisms. Eur. J. Appl. Microbiol. and Biotechnol., v. 16(2-3), 1982, pp. 88-91) eliminates the need to supply nutrients and the problem of toxic shock, however, these materials are subject to fracture and attrition after repeated loading-elution cycles, especially in acidic solutions. As the granules and gels physically deteriorate, maintenance of aqueous flows in downflow columns is difficult since the fine particles impede the flow. Additionally, recovery of metal values from the metal-laden granules is often difficult.
Solvent extraction has also shown promise for extracting metal values from dilute aqueous solutions, but solubility and entrainment losses of the organic reagents in the aqueous phase result in high reagent costs and contaminate the metal-free aqueous stream with organic compounds.
Attempts have also been made to immobilize solvent extraction reagents in polymeric substrates such as membranes (Nichols, L. D., A. S. Obermayer, and M. B. Allen. Bound Liquid Ion Exchange Membranes For Recovery of Chromium From Wastewater. NTIS PB82-250580, 1980, 33 pp.), and although losses of organic reagent were lower than those encountered with conventional liquid-liquid solvent extraction, the organic reagents slowly desorbed from the beads into the aqueous processing solutions. Also, organic-aqueous complexes frequently precipitated within the substrate pores and plugged the membranes.
Accordingly, there is a need for new and innovative technologies in the mineral processing industry to recover toxic metal values from the low-grade aqueous solutions encountered.

Polymer beads containing an immobilized extractant for sorbing metals from solution

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Interior