1) A process for the fine division of pigments which comprises spraying a coarsely crystalline crude pigment andor a poorly dispersible prepigment in suspension form through nozzles to a point of conjoint collision in a reactor chamber enclosed by a housing in a microjet reactor, a gas or an evaporating liquid being passed into the reactor chamber through an opening in the housing for the purpose of maintaining a gas atmosphere in the reactor chamber, and the resulting pigment suspension and the gas or the evaporated liquid being removed from the reactor through a further opening in the housing by means of overpressure on the gas entry side or underpressure on the product and gas exit side.
2) The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the suspension is sprayed into the reactor chamber with a pressure of at least 50 bar, preferably from 500 to 5000 bar.
3) The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the temperature of the crude pigment or prepigment suspension is from 50 to 250 C., preferably from 0 to 180 C.
4) The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the suspension consists of not more than 30% by weight, preferably from 3 to 25% by weight, based on the overall weight of the suspension, of crude pigment andor prepigment.
5) The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the suspension comprises an aqueous, aqueous-organic or organic medium.
6) The process as claimed in claim 5, wherein the organic or aqueous-organic medium comprises C1-C10 alkanols, glycols, polyglycols, ethers, glycol ethers, ketones, aliphatic acid amides, urea derivatives, cyclic carboxamides, esters, nitriles, aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbons, aromatic heterocycles, hexamethylphosphoramide, 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone, dimethyl sulfoxide, sulfolane, or mixtures of these solvents with one another andor with water.
7) The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the suspension consists of from 0 to 40% by weight, preferably from 1 to 30% by weight, based on the overall weight of the crude pigment andor prepigment, of one or more auxiliaries selected from the group of the surfactants, nonpigmentary and pigmentary dispersants, fillers, standardizers, resins, waxes, defoamers, antidust agents, extenders, shading colorants, preservatives, drying retardants, rheology control additives, wetting agents, antioxidants, UV absorbers, and light stabilizers.
8) The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein crude pigments andor prepigments are used selected from the group of the perylene, perinone, quinacridone, quinacridonequinone, anthraquinone, anthanthrone, benzimidazolone, disazo condensation, azo, indanthrone, phthalocyanine, triarylcarbonium, dioxazine, aminoanthraquinone, diketopyrrolopyrrole, indigo, thioindigo, thiazineindigo, flavanthrone, isoindoline, isoindolinone, pyranthrone, isoviolanthrone, flavanthrone, anthrapyrimidine, or carbon black pigments or mixed crystals thereof.
9) The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gas is air, nitrogen or carbon dioxide.
10) The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conjoint collision point is located in a material-remote region of the reactor chamber.
11) The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the crude-pigment, prepigment andor pigment suspension is sprayed to a point of conjoint collision through two, three or more, preferably two, nozzles.
12) The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the suspension used is pumped through the microjet reactor in from 1 to 10, preferably from 1 to 7, passes or wherein the suspension is pumped in circulation through the microjet reactor.
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. A sheet guide apparatus, comprising:
a sheet tray in which a sheet is placed; and
a side guide having at least one abutting portion that abuts one of edges of the sheet placed in the sheet tray, wherein the sheet tray includes a groove formed along a direction perpendicular to an abutting surface of the abutting portion against the sheet,
wherein the side guide includes a sliding portion having slidable portions configured to slide on a pair of opposed side walls of the groove, at least one first slip preventing projection positioned at a first end of the sliding portion and at least two second slip preventing projections positioned at a second end of the sliding portion, wherein the first end is closer to the at least one abutting portion than the second end, and the side guide is configured to move along a groove direction as a longitudinal direction of the groove when the sliding portion is slid on the side walls, and
wherein the groove includes two cutouts, at least one first groove area and at least one second groove area positioned directly adjacent to the first groove area, wherein the two cutouts are configured to allow the slip preventing projections to pass therethrough, and the at least one second groove area has a groove width smaller than a groove width of the at least one first groove area and allows the slidable portions of the sliding portion to be slid in the second groove area, and wherein the at least one first slip preventing projection and the at least two second slip preventing projections are configured to only pass through the two cutouts, and
wherein the at least one first and the at least two second slip preventing projections are configured to prevent the sliding portion from separating from the groove when the at least one first and the at least two second slip preventing projections are at positions along the groove away from the two cutouts of the groove.
2. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the abutting surface is formed in parallel with a conveying direction of the sheet, and wherein the side guide guides the sheet in the conveying direction by means of the abutting portion abutting at least one of the edges of the sheet.
3. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sheet guide apparatus includes two side guides, and wherein the at least one abutting portion of each of the two side guides is arranged such that the abutting surface against the sheet faces each other and is in parallel with each other.
4. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: a cooperating mechanism that displaces a second side guide of the two side guides, when a first side guide of the two side guides is displaced in one direction, simultaneously in as direction opposite to the one direction.
5. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the at least one abutting portion is a plurality of abutting portions, and wherein the plurality of abutting portions are provided at predetermined intervals along the conveying direction.
6. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the at least one second groove area is an area in which the sliding portion is located when the at least one abutting portion abuts a sheet of a specified size placed in the sheet tray.
7. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the sheet of the specified size is a sheet of a maximum size among sheets of various sizes capable of being placed in the sheet tray.
8. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the at least one second groove area is provided at one of both ends of the groove in the groove direction.
9. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one second groove area and the at least one first groove area are connected such that the groove width of the at least one second groove area smoothly changes to the groove width of the at least one first groove area.
10. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sliding portion includes two end parts in the groove direction, at least one of the two end parts having at least one of a rounded corner and a chamfered corner formed in side surfaces of the sliding portion.
11. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sliding portion has varying widths along the groove direction, and wherein a width of at least one of two end parts of the sliding portion in the groove direction is larger than widths of remaining parts of the sliding portion.
12. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sliding portion includes a pair of surfaces facing the side walls of the groove and at least one protruding portion protruding from at least one of the pair of surfaces, and wherein at least one end surface of the protruding portion is adapted to be slid on a side wall of the at least one second groove area.
13. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the at least one protruding portion, is a plurality of protruding portions, and wherein at least one of the plurality of protruding portions has a protruding amount different from protruding amounts of the other protruding portions.
14. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 13, wherein a protruding amount of a protruding portion, which is located most close to the sheet to be placed among the plurality of protruding portions, is larger than protruding amounts of the other protruding portions.
15. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 13, wherein two protruding portions of the plurality of protruding portions are provided at two end parts of the sliding portion in the groove direction.
16. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet tray further includes a side wall that is located on a side of the at least one abutting portion opposite to a facing direction of the abutting surface of the abutting portion, and is parallel with the abutting surface.
17. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the side guide includes a plate member that is parallel with the side wall of the sheet tray; and wherein the at least one abutting portion is provided to the plate member.
18. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 17, wherein at least a part of the side wall of the sheet tray has a smaller height than the plate member.
19. The sheet guide apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the two cutouts are disposed along one portion of the groove in the longitudinal direction.
20. An image forming apparatus, comprising:
at least one sheet guide apparatus according to claim 1;
a printing mechanism that forms an image on the sheet; and
a conveying mechanism that conveys the sheet placed in the sheet guide apparatus to the printing mechanism.