Abstract: A sheet feeding device includes a sheet table, a sheet sensor, a first actuator including a contact portion and a first screen, and a second actuator including an effector and a second screen. The first actuator rotates in a second direction when the contact portion is lifted by a sheet, and rotates in a first direction when the contact portion falls into a hole. The second actuator rotates in the second direction such that the second slit overlaps with the first slit, when the effector is subjected to pressure of the sheet. The first slit is formed so as to differ a size of an aperture, depending on whether the contact portion is in contact with the sheet, or in the hole. The second slit is formed so as to reduce the size of the aperture compared with when the effector is free from the pressure.

Abstract: Systems and methods for marking media are provided. The method may include preparing an image for printing on print media, the image including an indication of a first and a second event. The method may further include printing a first portion of the image on the print media, evaluating data and electing to print a second portion of the image wherein the second portion includes the indication of either of the first or second event.

Abstract: A process for preparing supported catalyst in pellet or coated monolith form is disclosed the method includes the steps of: forming a mixed metal carbonate complex having at least two metals by subjecting a first metal carbonate containing compound to ion exchange with desired metal cations; heat treating the resulting mixed metal carbonate complex to form a mixed oxide which consists of active metal oxides supported on a catalyst support; forming the resulting supported catalysts into pellets or coating the resulting supported catalyst onto a monolithic support. The catalysts may be used for treating effluents containing organic material in the presence of an oxidising agent.

Abstract: A process of steam separation using a separation membrane in a separation vessel where the separation membrane separates the vessel into an intake chamber and a recovery chamber. The separation membrane comprises at least one porous support; and a cross-linked hydrophilic polymer membrane material with an inorganic particulate material or a precursor to an inorganic particulate material. The membrane material is applied to the porous support. The process comprises supplying steam to be purified to the intake chamber of the vessel, the pressure in the intake chamber being greater than the pressure in the recovery chamber; and recovering the purified steam from the recovery chamber of the vessel.

Abstract: A liquid phase continuous reactor which includes a screw rotatably disposed within a barrel and defining a mixing zone therebetween whereby the relative rotation of the screw with respect to the barrel is adapted to axially transport materials disposed between the screw and the barrel while mixing the components wherein the land surface area between the spiral groove forms at least 50% of the surface area of the screw in a mixing zone.

Abstract: A display device configured to display and/or playback information received from a remote computer over a network. The device includes a processor coupled to a visual display and a memory storing computer-executable instructions and a device identifier. The device is coupled to the network by a network interface configured to send a request including the device identifier periodically to the remote computer. The remote computer is configured to receive messages from other remote computers for display and/or playback by the display device. In response to each request, the remote computer uses the device identifier to identify messages for the display device stored in a device account, which are subsequently downloaded by the display device for display and/or playback thereby. The processor is operable to display and/or playback information in the downloaded message.

Abstract: A display device configured to use an array of discrete light sources to display information received from a remote computer over a network. The device includes a processor coupled to the light sources and a memory storing computer-executable instructions and a device identifier. The device is coupled to the network by a network interface configured to send a request including the device identifier periodically to the remote computer. The remote computer is configured to receive messages from other remote computers for display by the display device. In response to each request, the remote computer uses the device identifier to identify messages for the display device stored in a device account, which are subsequently downloaded by the display device for display thereby. The processor is operable to turn selected ones of the discrete light sources on and off to display information in the downloaded message.

Abstract: Systems and methods for marking media are provided. The method may include preparing an image for printing on print media, the image including an indication of a first and a second event. The method may further include printing a first portion of the image on the print media, evaluating data and electing to print a second portion of the image wherein the second portion includes the indication of either of the first or second event.

Abstract: A method to guarantee bandwidth for a terabit multiservice switch including receiving control cells indicating that a destination port of an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network is congested, and reducing incoming traffic to the congested port to a guaranteed bandwidth of traffic until the destination port is uncongested, is disclosed.

Abstract: A process for preparing supported catalyst in pellet or coated monolith form is disclosed the method includes the steps of: forming a mixed metal carbonate complex having at least two metals by subjecting a first metal carbonate containing compound to ion exchange with desired metal cations; heat treating the resulting mixed metal carbonate complex to form a mixed oxide which consists of active metal oxides supported on a catalyst support; forming the resulting supported catalysts into pellets or coating the resulting supported catalyst onto a monolithic support. The catalysts may be used for treating effluents containing organic material in the presence of an oxidising agent.

Abstract: A liquid phase continuous reactor comprising a screw within a barrel, the screw and the barrel being relatively rotatable and defining a mixing zone therebetween, the barrel having at least one inlet for introduction of components for mixing into the barrel and an outlet for discharge of product from the barrel, the screw having at least one spiral groove whereby relative rotation of the screw and barrel is adapted to axially transport the components between the screw and the barrel while mixing the components and to extrude the product through the outlet, wherein the land surface area between the spiral groove forms at least 50% of the surface area of the screw in the mixing zone.

Abstract: A method of positioning an ink jet printhead in a printer includes dividing a bitmap into a plurality of rows of tiles. A subset of the rows of tiles to be printed in a next pass of the printhead is identified. Printable ones of the tiles in the subset of rows are identified. The printable tiles contain printable data. Within each printable tile, a top most location of the printable data and at least one of a left most location of the printable data and a right most location of the printable data are identified. A print medium is advanced in a feed direction until a portion of the print medium corresponding with the top most location of the printable data of at least one printable tile is substantially aligned with a top nozzle of the printhead.

Abstract: A method of positioning an ink jet printhead in a printer includes dividing a bitmap into a plurality of rows of tiles. A subset of the rows of tiles to be printed in a next pass of the printhead is identified. Printable ones of the tiles in the subset of rows are identified. The printable tiles contain printable data. Within each printable tile, a top most location of the printable data and at least one of a left most location of the printable data and a right most location of the printable data are identified. A print medium is advanced in a feed direction until a portion of the print medium corresponding with the top most location of the printable data of at least one printable tile is substantially aligned with a top nozzle of the printhead.

Abstract: An improved printer is provided that uses a hard disk drive resident in the printer to temporarily store some of the page data of print jobs received by this printer. Since disk access time is relatively slow as compared to access time of random access memory (RAM), only a minimal amount of pages are initially stored on the hard disk drive while the remaining pages of a print job continue to be stored in RAM, such that the pages on the hard disk drive are interleaved with those stored in RAM. Once the pages are stored on the hard disk drive, some of the areas of RAM where they previously resided are released, which allows the printer to free up some of its RAM. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, only every fourth page is initially stored on the hard disk drive, which effectively spreads out the effects of the slower disk access time across several pages as they are printed.

Abstract: For a multiprocess application including a plurality of work stations at which the application processes proceed simultaneously, such as a printer including serially aligned laser and inkjet print engines, a method of controlling job throughput includes providing a queue for each work station, providing job data to the queues for a plurality of jobs, and consecutively tracking for the jobs the progress of the process corresponding to the rate-determining step for the application for each of the jobs so that as each job is completed at a particular work station the work station begins the process of the work station for the next job.

Abstract: A high speed printing system including a host computer, a printer controller and a print engine. The printing system can operate in a normal mode where a high level page description language is used to convey page information from the host computer to the printer controller. The system further permits rasterization of a page to be printed at the host computer and the downloading of rasterized page data to the printer controller in a form that the data can be directly serialized to the print engine.

Abstract: An improved printer is provided that receives a print job from a host computer and divides the bitmap image of a page to be printed into a series of image blocks or tiles. Each image block containing non-null data will be stored in the printer's memory system, typically placed in a non-contiguous memory location with respect to other blocks. The null image data blocks will not be stored in the printer's memory system, but instead only their locations on the physical printed page will be stored in a "block list table." Each entry in the block list table contains the beginning address of the physical RAM area that contains one of the image data blocks, and also contains other variables or attributes concerning the particular image data block, such as whether or not this block is a regular non-null data block, or a "no-op" (or "NOP") block containing null data.

Abstract: An electrophotographic printer (1) adjusts high resolution data while preserving the resolution capabilities of the printer. Data in a 600.times.600 bit map is assigned alternately to two rows of a 300.times.1200 bit map. Excellent visual effects are realized.

Abstract: A process for producing a titanium product, which process includes: providing a titanium-containing material; and a leaching composition including: a source of ammonia or ammonium ions; a source of carbon dioxide or carbonate ions; and water; and contacting the titanium-containing material with the leaching composition to form an aqueous slurry for a time sufficient such to form a soluble titanium leach product; and isolating a leaching solution containing the titanium leach product so formed.