Abstract: An improved process is provided for reducing cellulosic biomass into air suspendable micropowder. Although the process is particularly suitable for processing empty fruit bunches of oil palms, it is adaptable to most cellulosic biomass. The incoming biomass has a water content of around 50% and is reduced to centimeter scale pieces by a chipper or similar device. These pieces are then processed by a tandem line of four pairs of grooved rollers each successive roller having a larger number of grooves. This process squeezes moisture from the biomass and reduces the material into millimeter scale pieces. After an optional drying stage, the material is fed into a terrace line of three or four essentially smooth rollers which squash the material and reduce the particle size into a micrometer scale. Finally, the material is suspended in an air stream and fractionated by a cyclone and bag filter system.

Abstract: A polyvinyl alcohol polymer capable of, in producing hydrolyzable cellulose using a cellulosic biomass as a basic material, readily disrupting the cellulosic biomass at a molecular level by imparting a suitable flow resistance to a solution containing the cellulosic biomass, or the like, thereby resulting in efficient production of hydrolyzable cellulose to be enabled; and a method for producing hydrolyzable cellulose using the polyvinyl alcohol polymer. Provided is a polyvinyl alcohol polymer for use in producing hydrolyzable cellulose using a cellulosic biomass as a basic material, the polyvinyl alcohol polymer having: an average degree of polymerization of no less than 200 and no greater than 5,000; a degree of saponification of no less than 70 mol % and no greater than 99.9 mol %; and a molecular weight distribution of no less than 2.2.

Abstract: The inventive process converts cellulosic biomass into a gel-like state that is readily hydrolyzed by appropriate enzymes. First the biomass is mechanically reduced in size. The biomass is then mixed and kneaded with an aqueous solution of a hydrophilic polymer that acts as a conditioning agent or as a co-solvent. During mixing the cellulose (and hemicellulose) in the biomass swells and becomes hydrated forming a viscous gel-like material. The processed material can then be thinned through the addition of water whereupon hydrolytic enzymes are mixed into the material and rapid hydrolysis into free sugars takes place. Dextrins are effective hydrophilic polymers for conditioning biomass. Polyvinyl alcohol is a particularly effective conditioning agent for use with biomass when converted into a viscous gel by adding borate ions.

Abstract: A polyvinyl alcohol polymer capable of, in producing hydrolyzable cellulose using a cellulosic biomass as a basic material, readily disrupting the cellulosic biomass at a molecular level by imparting a suitable flow resistance to a solution containing the cellulosic biomass, or the like, thereby resulting in efficient production of hydrolyzable cellulose to be enabled; and a method for producing hydrolyzable cellulose using the polyvinyl alcohol polymer. Provided is a polyvinyl alcohol polymer for use in producing hydrolyzable cellulose using a cellulosic biomass as a basic material, the polyvinyl alcohol polymer having: an average degree of polymerization of no less than 200 and no greater than 5,000; a degree of saponification of no less than 70 mol % and no greater than 99.9 mol %; and a molecular weight distribution of no less than 2.2.

Abstract: Cellulosic biomass is reduced to a micropowder with particles having average diameters below 5-10 micrometers with a significant fraction of the particles have diameters below 1 micrometer. Biomass (e.g., wood, agricultural waste or other plant materials) is first processed into pieces having a maximum diameter of about 10 mm. This is then dried to reduce its water content to no more than about 15% by weight and introduced into a disruptor which reduces the particle size to about 1 mm. Next the biomass is processed with a disc mill where edges of rotating discs travel along a groove pressing and squeezing the biomass, thereby breaking the biomass pieces into smaller and smaller particles. The resulting micropowder is extremely susceptible to enzymatic or chemical hydrolysis into constituent sugars. In addition, the micropowder can be suspended in an air stream and burned directly to provide heat to boilers and similar devices.

Abstract: The inventive process converts cellulosic biomass into a gel-like state that is readily hydrolyzed by appropriate enzymes. First the biomass is mechanically reduced in size. The biomass is then mixed and kneaded with an aqueous solution of a hydrophilic polymer that acts as a conditioning agent or as a co-solvent. During mixing the cellulose (and hemicellulose) in the biomass swells and becomes hydrated forming a viscous gel-like material. The processed material can then be thinned through the addition of water whereupon hydrolytic enzymes are mixed into the material and rapid hydrolysis into free sugars takes place. Dextrins are effective hydrophilic polymers for conditioning biomass. Polyvinyl alcohol is a particularly effective conditioning agent for use with biomass when converted into a viscous gel by adding borate ions.

Abstract: Cellulosic biomass is reduced to a micropowder with particles having average diameters below 5-10 micrometers with a significant fraction of the particles have diameters below 1 micrometer. Biomass (e.g., wood, agricultural waste or other plant materials) is first processed into pieces having a maximum diameter of about 10 mm. This is then dried to reduce its water content to no more than about 15% by weight and introduced into a disruptor which reduces the particle size to about 1 mm. Next the biomass is processed with a disc mill where edges of rotating discs travel along a groove pressing and squeezing the biomass, thereby breaking the biomass pieces into smaller and smaller particles. The resulting micropowder is extremely susceptible to enzymatic or chemical hydrolysis into constituent sugars. In addition, the micropowder can be suspended in an air stream and burned directly to provide heat to boilers and similar devices.

Abstract: The present invention is an improved type of distillation of water. Usual distillation is related to a liquid's boiling point. However, it is possible to distill significant quantities of water at temperatures well below the boiling point. During distillation a compound is taken from a liquid-phase to the gas phase and then condensed to the liquid again to get a pure liquid. The present invention uses water sprayed and adsorbed onto a solid surface such as micro-powder made from wood as a starting material. Absorbing water onto such a surface results in rapid evaporation with a relatively low temperature gradient when the water and particles are agitated. The present invention could be characterized as solid-phase distillation.

Abstract: An improved distillation of water. involves distilling significant quantities of water at temperatures well below the boiling point. During distillation, a compound is taken from a liquid-phase to a gas-phase and then condensed to the liquid-phase again to get a pure liquid. The present invention uses water sprayed (105) and absorbed onto a solid surface such as micro-powder (104) made from wood as a starting material. Absorbing water onto such a surface results in rapid evaporation with a relatively low temperature gradient when the water and particles are agitated. The present invention could be characterized as solid-phase distillation.

Abstract: The present invention is an improved type of distillation of water. Usual distillation is related to a liquid's boiling point. However, it is possible to distill significant quantities of water at temperatures well below the boiling point. During distillation a compound is taken from a liquid-phase to the gas phase and then condensed to the liquid again to get a pure liquid. The present invention uses water sprayed (105) and adsorbed onto a solid surface such as micro-powder (104) made from wood as a starting material. Absorbing water onto such a surface results in rapid evaporation with a relatively low temperature gradient when the water and particles are agitated. The present invention could be characterized as solid-phase distillation.

Abstract: An apparatus for transporting an electronic component includes a head for holding the component when the component is picked up from a suitable storage device. The head is movable relative to a base with an imaging apparatus being fixed to the head and allowing position of the component relative to the head to be determined while the component is being transported. A movable optical component is provided on the head which, in one position, contributes to defining an optical path between the component and the imaging apparatus, and in another position, is withdrawn. A further imaging apparatus may be provided, on the base or on the head with the further imaging apparatus detecting the position of large components, if the first imaging apparatus has a narrow filed of view for small components. Alternatively, when the further imaging apparatus is on the head, the imaging apparatus may detect the position to which the component is to be transported.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for detecting vertical and horizontal deformations of leads of a semiconductor device by illuminating the leads with a planar light beam and determining relative positions of the planar light beam on the leads on the basis of distribution of light rays reflected from the leads. Different lead deformations can be detected with one and the same mechanism within a short time. By applying the invention to a semiconductor device mounting apparatus, a single detector can be employed in common both for the detection of the semiconductor device position and the detection of reflections of the planar beam.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for grasping surface mounted devices such as an IC or the like by the hand of the robot and automatically and accurately loading them onto the contact pattern of a printed circuit board by means of an image processor are disclosed. According to this method, a measurement line is provided onto each image pattern of the pin array of the surface mounted device and the array of the contact pattern of the board, so that it may intersect at right angles with the direction of the pattern, and each position of the pin array and the array of the contact pattern is sought from the variation of the brightness on that line. In accordance with the result thus obtained, displacement of the position and that of the rotation over the entire surfaced part and the contact pattern are sought and the operation of the robot is controlled in accordance with that information.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for inspecting a three-dimensional surface shape and pattern of an object under inspection by images of the surface of the object, said images being formed by reflected light rays from the object illuminated by lights. The surface of the object is illuminated by first and second lights provided on the inspected surface side of the object and at different heights from the object, images of the reflected light rays from the surface of the object illuminated by the first and second lights are acquired by an imaging unit, a first image of the surface of the object illuminated by the first light and a second image of the surface of the object illuminated by the second light, both acquired by the imaging unit, are input separately, brightness values at the same pixel points of the first and the second images are subjected to a division process to obtain a value, and by using this value as the brightness value of the pixel, a third image is formed which is used for quality evaluation.

Abstract: Light projectors for slit lights are so arranged that at least two slit lines developed by projecting the slit lights on a chip component or the like obliquely thereto intersect each other, and the slit lines are imaged from above the component or the like by TV cameras so as to extend horizontally in the corresponding images. The shapes of the slit lines in the images are analyzed by an image processor, to detect the state change of the chip component or the like, such as the misplacement thereof. Further, if necessary, in order to enhance the contrast of the pattern of the slit line, the slit light is projected by a stroboscopic lamp within the exposure time of the TV camera, for a short time interval which is not longer than the exposure time.

Abstract: Character recognition method and system in which a character indicated in a printed, stamped, carved or other form is two-dimensionally imaged and stored as image data and the stored image data is subjected to an image processing to recognize the character. The recognition of the character is performed in such a manner that each time the comparison of plural kinds of feature vectors extracted from the character to be recognized and a dictionary vector of each candidate character in a group of candidate characters preliminarily prepared is made for one of the plural kinds of feature vectors, a candidate character having its dictionary vector away from the extracted feature vector by a distance not smaller than a predetermined value is excluded from the candidate character group. The dictionary vector for each candidate character is defined as an average vector for a variety of fonts.

Abstract: There are disclosed a method and an apparatus for properly recognizing the position and orientation of a whole object article from its partial shape. The method comprises the steps of first extracting an image of a partial shape from a two-dimensional picture image representing at least one portion of the object article whose position and orientation are to be recognized, then calculating at least one of a center of gravity, an intersection of straight lines and a linear equation with respect to each of the extracted feature shapes, thereby obtaining at least one feature parameter, and calculating the position and orientation of the whole object article by arbitrarily combining such feature parameters.

Abstract: A pattern recognition apparatus for recognizing a pattern derived from image data of an outline of an object region is disclosed. The apparatus comprises means for identifying the object region from the input image data, means for extracting outline pixels of the object region, means for polygon-approximating the object region based on a position relationship among the outline pixels to determine vertex coordinates of the approximation polygon, means for determining characteristic data representing a position and an attitude of the region based on the vertex coordinates, and means for superimposing the polygon-approximated object region pattern on a dictionary pattern based on the characteristic data and, determining a common region of the patterns to determine the identity of the patterns. High speed and highly reliable pattern matching is attained.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus suitably used with a visual recognition system or the like for measuring the shape of an object by the optical cutting process is disclosed in which irregularities of the reflection characteristics on the object or under an environment subjected to variations in external light are removed for measurement. A light flux parallel to a slit beam providing an optical cutting beam is irradiated on the object by an optical system. An original image not irradiated with any parallel illumination light is compared with an image obtained with a parallel beam irradiated to obtain reflection characteristics data on the object. This reflection characteristic data is used to correct an image formed at the time of irradiation of the optical cutting beam. When the optical cutting beam is irradiated, the existing image representing reflection characteristics is standardized with reference to the brightness of the optical cutting beam.

Abstract: A method for controlling an image processing device wherein the contour of a certain segment of an image, or pattern is polygonal-approximated so that it is represented by a row of vertex data and the row of vertex data is processed to recognize the shape of the segment. This method comprises the steps of describing an image processing procedure as a program by a programming language incorporating a group of image processing instructions, and executing this program by the image processing whereby several different image procedures can be performed for image processing according to different uses. This method also controls the image processing procedure using a program written by a programming language incorporating variables representing the structure inherent in the image data.