1. A device for documentary assistance of at least one operator of an aircraft, in particular a pilot of the aircraft, for assisting said operator in the execution on the aircraft of at least one of a plurality of different tasks, said documentary assistance device being carried on board said aircraft and comprising:
a plurality of sources of computer data comprising at least data relating to said aircraft, to elements of the latter, as well as to the outside environment;
an activatable interrogation means, serving as interface between said operator and said documentary assistance device and capable of being activated by said operator so as to generate a request for information relating to the execution of at least one of said tasks;
an information presentation means; and
a central processing unit linked to said data sources, to said interrogation means and to said information presentation means and capable of searching said data sources, in response to the creation of a request for information by said interrogation means, for data relating to the execution of the corresponding task, of collecting the data thus searched for and of transmitting them, in the form of information, to said information presentation means with a view to their presentation to the operator,
wherein said sources of computer data comprise systems existing on the aircraft and associated with elements of said aircraft, wherein said central processing unit is capable of searching all said sources of computer data for all the data relating to the execution of a task and of collecting them into a plurality of groups exhibiting levels of details which differ, and wherein said information presentation means present at least one of these levels to the operator, said operator being able to select the other levels by way of said interrogation means so as to display the level which he wishes to consult.
2. The device as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said sources of computer data comprise databases.
3. The device as claimed in claim 1,
which furthermore comprises at least one monitoring means monitoring at least one particular parameter and capable of automatically activating said interrogation means so as to generate a request for information, as a function of the results of said monitoring.
4. The device as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said interrogation means and said information presentation means form part of one and the same dialogue interface comprising at least one screen and one keyboard.
5. The device as claimed in claim 4,
wherein said screen displays at least one navigation zone intended for creating requests for information and for selecting information to be presented and a work zone intended for presenting the selected information.
6. A process for documentary assistance of at least one operator of an aircraft, in particular a pilot of the aircraft, for assisting said operator in the execution on said aircraft of at least one of a plurality of different tasks, according to which process a request for information relating to the execution of a task is generated, and upon the generation of such a request, the following operations are carried out successively and automatically:
a) data relating to the execution of said task is searched for in a plurality of sources of computer data comprising at least data relating to said aircraft, to elements of the latter, as well as to the outside environment;
b) the data thus searched for is collected; and
c) information associated with at least some of the data thus collected is presented to said operator, by way of an information presentation means,
wherein in step a), all the data relating to the execution of said task is searched for in all said sources of computer data which comprise systems existing on the aircraft and associated with elements of said aircraft, wherein in step b), the data are collected according to several levels of details, and wherein in step c), at least one of these levels is presented to the operator, said operator being able to select the other levels so as to display the level which he wishes to consult.
7. The process as claimed in claim 6,
wherein said request for information is generated by an action of the operator.
8. The process as claimed in claim 6,
wherein said request for information is generated automatically, as a function of the result of the monitoring of a parameter.
9. The process as claimed in claim 6,
wherein said sources of computer data comprise at least some of the following data:
bibliographic data;
changing data;
data emanating from systems of the aircraft; and
data proposing actions to be undertaken.
10. The process as claimed in claim 6,
wherein in step c) at least some of the following information is presented to the operator, following the search for data:
the data themselves;
the place where the data are located;
the result of a processing carried out on the basis of the data; and
a proposal of calculation on the basis of the data.
11. The process as claimed in claim 6,
wherein a tree-like list making it possible to access the various information available is displayed.
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 image formation device, comprising:
a developer holding body having a developer holding surface which is configured to hold developer thereon and is located to be parallel with a main scanning direction; and
a developer supply unit configured to supply the developer to a first position facing the developer holding surface by carrying the developer in a developer transport direction intersecting with the main scanning direction through use of effect of an electric field,
the developer supply unit comprising a plurality of carrying electrodes each of which is formed to have a longer side extending along the main scanning direction,
the plurality of carrying electrodes being arranged along the developer transport direction to carry the developer when a drive voltage is applied to the plurality of carrying electrodes,
wherein the developer supply unit has a developer carrying area on which the developer is carried, and the developer carrying area is formed such that, in the main scanning direction, the developer carrying area becomes narrower from an upstream side in the developer transport direction toward the first position along the developer transport direction.
2. The image formation device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of carrying electrodes are formed such that in the main scanning direction, widths of the plurality of carrying electrodes become narrower from the upstream side in the developer transport direction toward the first position along the developer transport direction.
3. The image formation device according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of carrying electrodes is formed to have a triangular waveform when viewed as a plan view.
4. The image formation device according to claim 1,
wherein:
the developer supply unit comprises a plurality of guide plates each of which is formed to protrude from a developer carrying surface which faces the developer holding surface of the developer holding body and on which the developer is carried; and
the plurality of guide plates are arranged such that an interval between adjacent upstream edges of the plurality of guide plates in the developer transport direction is larger than an interval between adjacent downstream edges of the plurality of guide plates in the developer transport direction.
5. The image formation device according to claim 4,
wherein:
the number of the plurality of guide plates is three or more; and
the plurality of guide plates are formed such that intervals between adjacent ones of the upstream edges are equal to each other and intervals between adjacent ones of the downstream edges are equal to each other.
6. The image formation device according to claim 1, wherein the developer carrying area is formed such that, in the main scanning direction, the developer carrying area becomes wider from the first position toward an downstream side in the developer transport direction.
7. The image formation device according to claim 1, wherein in the vicinity of the first position, the plurality of carrying electrodes include carrying electrodes each of which is configured to have a recessed shape opened toward the first position when viewed as a plan view.
8. A developer supply device, comprising:
a developer carrying body configured to supply developer to a first position facing a developer holding surface of a developer holding body which is configured to hold the developer thereon and is configured such that the developer holding surface is parallel with a main scanning direction, by carrying the developer in a developer transport direction intersecting with the main scanning direction through use of effect of an electric field; and
a plurality of carrying electrodes each of which is formed to have a longer side extending along the main scanning direction,
the plurality of carrying electrodes being arranged along the developer transport direction to carry the developer when a drive voltage is applied to the plurality of carrying electrodes,
wherein the developer supply device has a developer carrying area on which the developer is carried, and the developer carrying area is formed such that, in the main scanning direction, the developer carrying area becomes narrower from an upstream side in the developer transport direction toward the first position along the developer transport direction.
9. The developer supply device according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of carrying electrodes are formed such that in the main scanning direction, widths of the plurality of carrying electrodes become narrower from the upstream side in the developer transport direction toward the first position along the developer transport direction.
10. The developer supply device according to claim 8, wherein each of the plurality of carrying electrodes is formed to have a triangular waveform when viewed as a plan view.
11. The developer supply device according to claim 8,
further comprising a plurality of guide plates each of which is formed to protrude from a developer carrying surface which faces the developer holding surface of the developer holding body and on which the developer is carried,
wherein the plurality of guide plates are arranged such that an interval between adjacent upstream edges of the plurality of guide plates in the developer transport direction is larger than an interval between adjacent downstream edges of the plurality of guide plates in the developer transport direction.
12. The developer supply device according to claim 11,
wherein:
the number of the plurality of guide plates is three or more; and
the plurality of guide plates are formed such that intervals between adjacent ones of the upstream edges are equal to each other and intervals between adjacent ones of the downstream edges are equal to each other.
13. The developer supply device according to claim 8, wherein the developer carrying area is formed such that, in the main scanning direction, the developer carrying area becomes wider from the first position toward an downstream side in the developer transport direction.
14. The developer supply device according to claim 8, wherein in the vicinity of the first position, the plurality of carrying electrodes include carrying electrodes each of which is configured to have a recessed shape opened toward the first position when viewed as a plan view.
15. A developer supply device, comprising:
a plurality of carrying electrodes each of which is formed to extend in a first direction; and
a developer holding area configured to include the plurality of carrying electrodes and to carry developer in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction when a drive voltage is applied to the plurality of carrying electrodes, so as to supply the developer to a developer holding member which holds the carried developer,
wherein the developer holding area has a portion where the developer holding area becomes narrower in the first direction from an upstream side in the second direction toward a downstream side in the second direction.
16. The developer supply device according to claim 15, wherein the developer holding area is formed to have a narrowest portion at a first position facing the developer holding member.
17. The developer supply device according to claim 16, wherein the plurality of carrying electrodes are formed such that widths of the plurality of carrying electrodes in the first direction become narrower from the upstream side in the second direction toward the first position along the second direction.
18. The developer supply device according to claim 15, wherein each of the plurality of carrying electrodes is formed to have a triangular waveform when viewed as a plan view.
19. The developer supply device according to claim 15,
further comprising a plurality of guide plates each of which is formed to protrude from a developer carrying surface which faces a developer holding surface of the developer holding member and on which the developer is carried,
wherein the plurality of guide plates are arranged such that an interval between adjacent upstream edges of the plurality of guide plates in the second direction is larger than an interval between adjacent downstream edges of the plurality of guide plates in the second direction.
20. The developer supply device according to claim 19,
wherein:
the number of the plurality of guide plates is three or more; and
the plurality of guide plates are formed such that intervals between adjacent ones of the upstream edges are equal to each other and intervals between adjacent ones of the downstream edges are equal to each other.