1. A lifting sling device comprising:
a panel of flexible sheet material having a first end, a second end opposite the first end, and opposite sides, said first end comprising a body portion formed of a substantially continuous region of said material, a pair of leg portions extending downwardly from said body region to said second end, wherein each side comprises first and second handles respectively disposed at or adjacent the first and second ends of the device and a third handle disposed intermediate said first and second ends of the device.
2. A lifting sling device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
reinforcement disposed along said opposite sides.
3. A lifting sling device as claimed in claim 2, wherein:
said reinforcement is provided by strips of webbing which extend from the first handle on one side of the device to the second handle on the other side of the device.
4. A lifting sling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
said handles comprise loops.
5. A lifting sling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
said second handles are of different colors with respect to each other and of the same color as the third handle on their respective opposite sides.
6. A lifting sling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
said first handles are of the same color with respect to each other and are of a different color with respect to said second handles.
7. A lifting sling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
said sides extend outwardly between their opposite ends.
8. A lifting sling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
said third handle on each side is positioned closer to its respective first handle than to its respective second handle.
9. A lifting sling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
said legs taper inwardly towards said second end of the device.
10. A lifting sling device as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
said legs comprise divergent inner side edges.
11. A method of carrying a person comprising:
placing the person upon a lifting sling device as claimed in claim 1, such that the buttocks of the person rest upon said body portion of the device and the legs of the person extend over the respective legs of the device;
crossing the leg portions of the device over each other to bring the second handles on each side to meet the third handles on respective opposite sides;
lifting the person by grasping said pairs of brought-together handles and said first handles.
12. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein:
the first handle and the brought-together handles on one side of the device are grasped by the respective hands of one person and the first handle and the brought-together handles on the other side of the device are grasped by the respective hands of another person.
13. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein:
the first handles on opposite sides of the device are grasped by the respective hands of one person and the brought-together handles on opposite sides of the device are grasped by the respective hands of another person.
14. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein:
the two first handles and the two sets of brought-together handles are respectively grasped by the hands of four persons.
15. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein:
the first handles on opposite sides of the device are grasped by the respective hands of one person and the brought-together handles on opposite sides of the device are respectively grasped by the respective hands of two persons.
16. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein:
the brought-together handles on opposite sides of the device are grasped by the respective hands of one person and the first handles on opposite sides of the device are respectively grasped by the respective hands of two persons.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An inkjet printer comprising a platen, which absorbs a pigment ink that overflows to the outside of a printing medium when edgeless printing is carried out on the printing medium by using an ink that employs a pigment as a colorant, moving a printing head along a guide shaft, and ejecting the pigment ink from the printing head, wherein
said platen is impregnated with a solid humectant with a melting point of 20\xb0 C. or higher and a solubility in water of 5 wt. % or higher at a temperature of 20\xb0 C., and said platen is further impregnated with a polyol with a vapor pressure of 0.1 mm Hg or less at a temperature of 20\xb0 C.
2. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein said solid humectant is of at least one kind selected from the group consisting of alcohols, esters, nitrogen compounds, and sugars.
3. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, comprising (a) means for housing a plurality of inks in the printer and (b) a plurality of inks housed in the means, wherein each ink housed in the printer contains a pigment as colorant.
4. An inkjet printing method comprising a step of causing a platen to absorb a pigment ink that overflows to the outside of a printing medium when edgeless printing is carried out on the printing medium by using an ink that employs a pigment as a colorant, moving a printing head along a guide shaft, and ejecting the pigment ink from the printing head, wherein
said platen is impregnated with a solid humectant with a melting point of 20\xb0 C. or higher and a solubility in water of 5 wt. % or higher at a temperature of 20\xb0 C., and
said platen is further impregnated with a polyol with a vapor pressure of 0.1 mm Hg or less at a temperature of 20\xb0 C.
5. The inkjet printing method according to claim 4, wherein the humectant is a compound of at least one kind selected from the group consisting of alcohols, esters, nitrogen compounds, and sugars.
6. The inkjet printing method according to claim 5, wherein the method comprises ejecting a plurality of inks from the printing head, each of the inks ejected in the method being a pigment ink.
7. The inkjet printing method according to claim 4, wherein the method comprises ejecting a plurality of inks from the printing head, each of the inks ejected in the method being a pigment ink.