Abstract: Provided is a biaxially stretched polyester film in which a thickness is from 200 ?m to 800 ?m, fracture strength in both a longitudinal stretching direction and a lateral stretching direction is from 180 MPa to 300 MPa, an internal haze (Hin) is from 0.3% to 20%, a difference (?H=Hsur?Hin) between an external haze (Hsur) and the internal haze (Hin) is 2% or less, and an intrinsic viscosity is from 0.68 to 0.90, a method of the biaxially stretched polyester film, a solar cell power generation module using the biaxially stretched polyester film.

Abstract: Polymerizable composition, whose main component is MMA, is injected into a clad tube (12) of PVDF. Then the clad tube (12) is inserted into a polymerization reactor (33). Three heaters (35a to 35c) are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the polymerization reactor (33). The set temperature of the heater (35a) at the left is 56° C., that of the heater (35b) at the center is 58° C., and that of the heater (35c) at the right is 60° C. The polymerization reaction is performed with rotating drive rolls (34) at 500 rpm to 3000 rpm. As a result, an inner clad layer (40) with constant thickness, whose main component is PMMA, is formed. A core (41) is formed inside the inner clad layer (40) to obtain a preform (16). The preform (16) is drawn to be a POF (18) having a constant diameter.

Abstract: A cylindrical preform (11) is drawn in its longitudinal direction to be a plastic optical fiber (21) by a drawing process (27). The preform (11) is produced by polymerizing an inner clad material in a hollow portion of an outer clad pipe (23) to form an inner clad (15), and then polymerizing a core material in a hollow portion of the inner clad (15) to form a core (12). After the polymerization of the inner clad material, the outer clad pipe (23) is subject to a heating under reduced pressure (25) to reduce penetration of the inner clad material into the outer clad pipe (23), such that a concentration of the inner clad material and its polymer penetrated in said outer shell is no more than 1.6 wt. %. Accordingly, an unevenness viscosity of the melted preform (11) for the drawing is reduced and the obtained plastic optical fiber (21) has an uniform transmission property.

Abstract: A cylindrical outer clad section is formed by melt-extrusion molding of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) having a molecular structure in which the number of defect bonds of successive CF2 units and successive CH2 units constitutes not less than 4% with respect to a total number of bonds of CF2 units and CH2 units. Next, an inner clad section forming material is poured into a hollow portion of the outer clad section and polymerized to form a cylindrical inner clad section. A core section forming material is filled in a hollow portion of the inner clad section and polymerized to form a core section. Thus, a preform is fabricated. The preform is heat-drawn to obtain a POF. The POF has an outer clad in which small spherocrystals are formed. Average roughness Ra of an inner wall of the outer clad is less than 0.10 ?m.

Abstract: A preform (15) is hung from an arm (72) into a heating furnace (74). The heating furnace (74) has five heater units (90-94). A gas supply device (77) supplies nitrogen gas to the heating furnace (74). The heating furnace (74) is divided into five sections by orifices (95-100), and the temperature of each divided section is controlled by the heater units (90-94) provided in each section. A seal member (106) attached to the top side of the heating furnace (74) shields the heating furnace (74) from external air, so it is possible to prevent turbulence in the divided sections in the heating furnace (74).

Abstract: A cylindrical outer clad section is formed by melt-extrusion molding of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) having a molecular structure in which the number of defect bonds of successive CF2 units and successive CH2 units constitutes not less than 4% with respect to a total number of bonds of CF2 units and CH2 units. Next, an inner clad section forming material is poured into a hollow portion of the outer clad section and polymerized to form a cylindrical inner clad section. A core section forming material is filled in a hollow portion of the inner clad section and polymerized to form a core section. Thus, a preform is fabricated. The preform is heat-drawn to obtain a POF. The POF has an outer clad in which small spherocrystals are formed. Average roughness Ra of an inner wall of the outer clad is less than 0.10 ?m.

Abstract: A clad is produced by polymerizing methyl methacrylate and (meth)acrylic acid ester having alicyclic hydrocarbon group. A core is produced by an interfacial-gel-polymerization method. A first covering layer having a thickness being less than 500 ?m is formed on an outer surface of the clad to produce a single-fiber optical cable. A plurality of the single-fiber optical cables are bundled. A gap between the single-fiber optical cables is infused with a filler. The bundled single-fiber optical cables are covered with a second covering layer to produce a multi-fiber optical cable. Since the covering layer is thin, the multi-fiber optical cable has excellent flexibility and reduced bending loss.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method of manufacturing a preform for producing a plastic optical component comprising a graded-index core portion and a cladding portion in which the refractive index of the core portion continuously decreases from its center to the outer radius, and the refractive index of the cladding portion is smaller than that of the center of the core portion by 0.03 or more, comprising a first step of fabricating a polymer hollow tube for the cladding portion in which the inner wall of the polymer hollow tube has an arithmetic mean roughness of less than 0.4 ?m; and a second step of polymerizing a polymerizable composition in the hollow portion of the hollow tube to thereby form the core portion.

Abstract: A novel process for producing an optical transmission medium comprising a drawing step of drawing a molten portion of a preform to form the optical transmission medium is disclosed. In the process, the preform is heated by irradiation with laser light thereby being partially molten, and desirably rotated in a fixed direction, during the drawing step. An apparatus comprising a means for heating and melting partially a preform by irradiation with laser light and a means for drawing a molten portion of the preform is also disclosed. A novel plastic optical transmission medium is formed of a plastic wherein molecules are oriented in a certain direction not in parallel to the longitudinal direction of said medium is also disclosed.

Abstract: A polyester resin composition containing a thermoplastic polyester resin; a polyester copolymer containing a monomer having at least one of an amino group, an imino group, an amido group, and a sulfonic acid group; a layered silicate; and an antioxidant. The monomer having at least one of an amino group, an imino group, an amido group, and a sulfonic acid group is contained in the polyester copolymer in an amount of 5 to 15 mol %. The monomer having at least one of an amino group, an imino group, an amido group, and a sulfonic acid group is contained in the polyester resin composition in an amount of 1 to 5 mol % based on a total polyester content of the polyester resin composition. The antioxidant is contained in the polyester resin composition in an amount of 0.01% to 1.0% by mass.

Abstract: The present invention provides an image-receiving sheet for electrophotography, which is capable of providing an image excellent in gloss and which has an excellent offset resistance during a fixing step at a high temperature. The toner image-receiving layer comprises a polyester resin having the following characteristic properties: (1) said polyester resin containing at least 10%, based on the molar number of the whole polyhydric alcohol components, of bisphenol A as a polyhydric alcohol component; (2) said polyester resin has an intrinsic viscosity of 0.30 to 0.70; (3) said polyester resin has a flow-starting temperature of 100 to 160° C.; and (4) said polyester resin has a glass transition temperature ranging from 50° C. to a temperature lower than the fixing temperature by 10° C.

Abstract: A clad is produced by polymerizing methyl methacrylate and (meth)acrylic acid ester having alicyclic hydrocarbon group. A core is produced by an interfacial-gel-polymerization method. A first covering layer having a thickness being less than 500 &mgr;m is formed on an outer surface of the clad to produce a single-fiber optical cable. A plurality of the single-fiber optical cables are bundled. A gap between the single-fiber optical cables is infused with a filler. The bundled single-fiber optical cables are covered with a second covering layer to produce a multi-fiber optical cable. Since the covering layer is thin, the multi-fiber optical cable has excellent flexibility and reduced bending loss.

Abstract: A polyester resin composition containing a thermoplastic polyester resin; a polyester copolymer containing a monomer having at least one of an amino group, an imino group, an amido group, and a sulfonic acid group; a layered silicate; and an antioxidant. The monomer having at least one of an amino group, an imino group, an amido group, and a sulfonic acid group is contained in the polyester copolymer in an amount of 5 to 15 mol %. The monomer having at least one of an amino group, an imino group, an amido group, and a sulfonic acid group is contained in the polyester resin composition in an amount of 1 to 5 mol % based on a total polyester content of the polyester resin composition. The antioxidant is contained in the polyester resin composition in an amount of 0.01% to 1.0% by mass.

Abstract: The present invention is a polyester resin composition comprising an inorganic filler such as a swellable, lamellar silicate organized by an organizing agent, polyetherimide, and a polymer containing polyethylene naphthalate in a constituent unit thereof, which polymer is preferably a copolymer containing polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene naphthalate as copolymerized components.

Abstract: A process for producing a plastic optical member is provided that includes injecting a polymerizable monomer composition into a hollow plastic tube and polymerizing the composition within the hollow tube, wherein prior to injecting the composition one end of the hollow tube is sealed with a resin. The resin may have a composition different from that of the plastic forming the hollow tube. A process for producing a plastic optical fiber base material is also provided that includes injecting a polymerizable monomer composition into a hollow plastic tube and polymerizing the composition within the hollow tube, wherein prior to injecting the composition one end of the hollow tube is sealed with a resin. Furthermore, a process for producing a plastic optical fiber is provided that includes drawing the plastic optical fiber base material obtained by the above process. Moreover, also provided are a plastic optical member and a plastic optical fiber, which are produced by the above processes.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for producing plastic optical member comprising a core region and a clad region. The method comprises carrying out polymerization of a polymerizable monomer, thereby obtaining an area corresponding to the core region. The Polymerization is carried out in the presence of a polymerization initiator having a ten-hour, half-life decomposition temperature Th (° C.) (Tb−20≦Th; Tb is the boiling point (° C.) of the polymerizable monomer), at an initial polymerization temperature T1 (° C.) (Tb−10≦T1≦Tg; Tg is the glass transition point (° C.) of the polymer made of the polymerizable monomer), for a period which is equal to or longer than 10% of the half-life of the polymerization initiator at T1; and further carried out at an elevated temperature T2 (° C.

Abstract: The present invention provides an image-receiving sheet for electrophotography, which is capable of providing an image excellent in gloss and which has an excellent offset resistance during a fixing step at a high temperature.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a biaxial oriented polyester film and a method of manufacturing the same, in which sufficient suitability for the longitudinal stretching and transparency can be achieved in a film while a high slidability is ensured. Further, the present invention provides a photographic substrate and a photographic light-sensitive material utilizing the biaxial oriented polyester film having the above-described excellent characteristics. Specifically, a biaxial oriented polyester film and a method of manufacturing the same, a photographic substrate, and a photographic light-sensitive material are provided, and the biaxial oriented polyester film comprises 0.001 to 0.05% by weight of spherical silica particles with a number average particle diameter (Xm) of 0.20 to 0.50 &mgr;m and a particle size distribution represented by the following formula (1): 0.1≦|d90−Xm|/|d10−Xm|≦0.

Abstract: This invention provides a method of producing polyester and charging apparatus therefor capable of producing a high quality polyethylene naphthalate usable for photographic purpose from recovered polyethylene naphthalate which comprises subjecting an ester-forming derivative consisting essentially of naphthalene dicarboxylic acid or its lower alkyl ester and a diol compound consisting essentially of ethylene glycol to ester exchange reaction or esterification to produce polyethylene naphthalate, wherein recovered polyethylene naphthalate resin is charged before beginning of effusion of alcohol or water which is a by-product of the ester exchange reaction or esterification, and a charging apparatus comprising a slidable inner pipe capable of penetrating through a supply valve.

Abstract: A photographic film has a width of 35 mm and comprises a continuous support comprising polyester and at least one photographic layer provided thereon. The support has a thickness of 112 to 128 .mu.m. The polyester has recurring units comprising 60 to 85 molar % of ethylene-2,6-naphthalate unit and 15 to 40 molar % of ethylene terephthalate unit and satisfies the formula (1):-0.65.ltoreq.?NDA!+log ?NET!.ltoreq.0.28 (1)wherein ?NDA! represents a ratio of a number of 2,6-naphthalate unit to a total number of 2,6-naphthalate unit and terephthalate unit, and ?NET! represents a ratio of a number of ethylene unit which has a 2,6-naphthalate unit on one side and a terephthalate unit on the other side to a total number of an ethylene unit in the polyester.