1. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device, comprising:
a frame, the frame including a top portion;
a plurality of posts formed of an elastic material extending from the top portion of the frame, whereby a user may place at least one of the plurality of posts between a user’s toes;
wherein the posts have a length, a diameter, and a circumference, and wherein the posts have elastic properties; and
wherein each of the plurality of posts has an outer edge and further comprises a handle attached with the outer edge.
2. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the handles include an attachment mechanism, allowing user to connect the handles using a connector that connects with the attachment mechanism.
3. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 2, wherein the attachment mechanism includes holes formed through the plurality of handles such that a user can connect the handles by using a connector that passes through the holes.
4. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 3, wherein the elastic material is an elastomer gel.
5. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 4, wherein the frame is formed of an elastic material.
6. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 5, wherein the handle is formed as a ring to allow a user to grasp the ring and stretch a post.
7. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of posts has a length, an outer post surface, and a center post axis running the post length, and wherein the elastic material in the post has a density, with the density varying from the outer post surface to the center post axis.
8. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 7, wherein the frame has an outer frame surface, a frame length, and a center frame-axis running the frame length, and wherein the elastic material in the frame has a density, with the density varying from the outer frame surface to the center frame-axis.
9. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device, comprising:
a frame, the frame including a top portion;
a plurality of posts formed of an elastic material extending from the top portion of the frame, whereby a user may place at least one of the plurality of posts between a user’s toes; and
further comprising an electronic device attached with the foot-therapy and toe-aligning device.
10. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 9, wherein the electronic device is a device selected from a group consisting of a vibrating system for massaging and stimulating a user’s toes, a light system, a heating system, a sensor, a cooling system, and a pulsating pressure mechanism.
11. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 9, further comprising a motion sensor connected with an electronic device for actuating the electronic device.
12. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 9, further comprising a remote control connected with the electronic device for allowing a user to selectively control the electronic device.
13. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 9, wherein the electronic device is controlled by a processing unit.
14. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 13, further comprising a controller chip connected with the foot-therapy and toe-aligning device.
15. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 10, wherein the sensor is configured to provide feedback to a user when a predetermined threshold is reached.
16. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 15, wherein the feedback is provided in a manner selected from a group consisting of at least one of light, sound, vibration, and a change in temperature.
17. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1 further comprising an electronic device attached with the handle.
18. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the frame has an outer frame surface, a frame length, and a center frame-axis running the frame length, and where each of the plurality of posts has a length, an outer post surface, and a center post axis running the post length, and further comprising a magnet attached with the foot-therapy and toe-aligning device, where the magnet is attached with the foot-therapy and toe-aligning device in a manner selected from a group consisting of being positioned within a post, being attached with the outer post surface of the post, being positioned within an interior of the frame, being attached with the outer frame surface of the frame.
19. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of posts has an exposed outer edge and further comprises a plurality of handles connected with the outer edge of each of the plurality of posts, where a handle is connected with an outer edge, and further comprising a magnet attached with the handle.
20. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a port formed through at least one of the plurality of posts andor frame, the port being formed to allow a user to insert a material into the port for dispersal proximate to a user’s toes.
21. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the frame has an outer frame surface and where each of the plurality of posts has an outer post surface, and further comprising a reservoir formed in at least one of the following: the outer post surface and the outer frame surface, whereby a user may position a material into the reservoir.
22. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of posts has an exposed outer edge and further comprises a plurality of handles connected with the outer edge of each of the plurality of posts, where a single handle is connected with a single outer edge, and further comprising a reservoir formed in the handle.
23. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a footwear attached with the frame.
24. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device, comprising:
a frame, the frame including a top portion;
a plurality of posts formed of an elastic material extending from the top portion of the frame, whereby a user may place at least one of the plurality of posts between a user’s toes; and
wherein the frame is formed as a shoe sole insert, thereby allowing a user to place the foot-therapy and toe-aligning device within a shoe and wear the shoe while treating the user’s toes.
25. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a shoe sole insert attached with the frame, thereby allowing a user to place the foot-therapy and toe-aligning device within a shoe and wear the shoe while treating the user’s toes.
26. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1, wherein each handle is integrally formed with its corresponding post as a single piece.
27. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of posts has a length, an outer post surface, and a center post axis running the post length, and wherein the elastic material in the post has a density, with the density varying from the outer, post surface to the center post axis.
28. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the frame is formed of an elastic material and the frame has an outer frame surface, a frame length, and a center frame-axis running the frame length, and wherein the elastic material in the frame has a density, with the density varying from the outer frame surface to the center frame-axis.
29. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a sleeve for positioning over a toe post.
30. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a support structure disposed within the toe post.
31. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device, comprising:
a frame, the frame including a top portion;
a plurality of posts formed of an elastic material extending from the top portion of the frame, whereby a user may place at least one of the plurality of posts between a user’s toes; and
wherein the device is formed of a material that allows light to pass through the material.
32. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising an implantation element inserted within the frame.
33. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device for stretching a user’s toes, the foot-therapy and toe-aligning device comprising:
an elongated post formed of an elastic material, the elongated post having two opposing edges, whereby a user may use the two opposing edges to stretch the elongated post and place the now stretched elongated post between two adjacent toes, and where upon release, the elastic material of the post causes the post to conform its shape to fit snugly against the user’s toes: and
further comprising handles attached at each of the two opposing edges, whereby a user may use the handles to stretch the elongated post.
34. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device as set forth in claim 33, wherein the handles are integrally formed with the elongated post as a single piece.
35. A foot-therapy and toe-aligning device, comprising:
a frame with four separators for separating a plurality of toes, wherein the frame comprises a top portion, a bottom portion, a front portion, and a back portion, with the separators connecting the top portion with the bottom portion;
wherein the separators, in combination with the top portion and the bottom portion, form three holes through the frame for insertion of a plurality of toes, wherein each hole includes an entrance into the back portion, an exit from the front portion, and surrounding walls connecting the entrance with the exit;
wherein the four separators include two outer separators and two inner separators, such that each of the two outer separators include an inner portion that forms a surrounding wall in a corresponding hole and an outer portion that does not operate as a surrounding wall to a hole; and
wherein at least one of the top portion and the bottom portion includes at least one elongated section that extends beyond the outer portion of at least one of the two outer separators.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. A drying apparatus comprising:
a drying furnace containing therein hot plates, disposed in a plurality of stages in a vertical direction, on each of which is seated a platelike workpiece;
a gateway for the workpiece, said gateway being disposed on a front side of said drying furnace and being normally left open to face said plurality of stages of hot plates;
a chamber casing disposed on a rear side of said drying furnace; and
an exhaust chamber defined in said chamber casing, said exhaust chamber comprising a flow dividing plate having formed therein a plurality of ventilation holes each facing a gap between said plurality of stages of hot plates, said exhaust chamber being forcibly exhausted by exhaust means.
2. The drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said exhaust chamber comprises a plurality of exhaust ports which are disposed in vertical stages for connection to said exhaust means.
3. The drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said chamber casing is mounted on a rear side of said drying furnace so as to be capable of opening and closing such that each of said hot plates can be replaced through a rear opening of said drying furnace to be opened by opening said chamber casing.
4. The drying apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising rail members fixed, in a plurality of vertical stages, to an inside of side walls of said drying furnace, said rail members being engageable with side edges of each of said hot plates such that said hot plates are slidable in a back and forth direction.
5. The drying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a lifting mechanism for supporting said plural stages of hot plates by selectively lifting a workpiece off from said plural stages of hot plates, said lifting mechanism comprises:
a vertically elongated lifting member which is disposed on an outside of a side wall of said drying furnace so as to be movable up and down;
engaging members which are disposed in a plurality of vertical stages on an inside of said side wall so as to be engageable with a lower surface of side edges of the workpiece, said side edges being protruding beyond a workpiece seating surface of each of said hot plates; and
a reciprocating mechanism which connects said engaging members to said lifting member so as to be independently movable back and forth between an operating position falling inside a vertical projected area of said side edges of the workpiece and a retracted position outside of said projected area.
6. A workpiece processing apparatus comprising a plurality of processing units each comprising:
an imaging apparatus for coating a platelike workpiece with liquid droplets by using a liquid droplet ejection head;
a drying apparatus for drying the liquid droplets coated on the workpiece; and
a workpiece transport apparatus interposed between respective pair of said processing units so that the workpiece processed in each of said processing units is sequentially sent to a subsequent processing unit through said workpiece transport apparatus,
wherein the drying apparatus as set forth in claim 1 is used as said drying apparatus.
7. The workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the workpiece is a substrate for a color filter, and wherein said imaging apparatus introduces a function liquid containing therein a filter material into said liquid droplet ejection head and coats a multiplicity of pixel element regions on the substrate with function liquid droplets which form filter elements.
8. The workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the workpiece is a substrate for an organic EL device, and wherein said imaging apparatus introduces a function liquid containing therein an emitting function material into said liquid droplet ejection head and coats a multiplicity of pixel element regions on the substrate with function liquid droplets which form EL function layers.
9. The workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the workpiece is a substrate for a plasma display device, and wherein said imaging apparatus introduces a function liquid containing therein a metallic wiring material into said liquid droplet ejection head and coats a multiplicity of pixel element regions on the substrate with function liquid droplets which form element electrode function layers.
10. The workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the workpiece is a substrate for a plasma display device, and wherein said imaging apparatus introduces a function liquid containing therein a fluorescent function material into said liquid droplet ejection head and coats a multiplicity of pixel element regions on the substrate with function liquid droplets which form fluorescent function layers.
11. The workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the workpiece is a substrate for an electron emission device, and wherein said imaging apparatus introduces a function liquid containing therein an electrically conductive function material into said liquid droplet ejection head and coats a multiplicity of pixel element regions on the substrate with function liquid droplets which form electrically conductive function layers.
12. The workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising buffer means for temporarily keeping in stock the workpieces in said workiece transport apparatus, wherein the workpiece is discharged from said drying apparatus when the drying time in said drying apparatus for the workpiece has lapsed a predetermined time.