Author: claimsbot

1. A RFID tag comprising
a receiver input section for processing signals from a RFID reader, said receiver input section including an RF detector for converting signals received from a designated RFID reader to a baseband signal, including corrupted baseband signal segments attributable to noise or other RF interference on the received signal,
a data comparator for comparing the level of said baseband signal including any said corrupted baseband signal segments to a threshold level and for generating a data output representing portions of said baseband signal exceeding said threshold level,
a processor responsive to the baseband signal for tracking its signal level including the level of said corrupted baseband signal segments and for generating an adaptive level as said threshold level for said comparison, whereby to produce a comparator data output substantially free from said corruption, and
wherein said processor includes a peak signal detector and an amplifier with selectively adjustable gain for scaling the peak signal detected by said peak signal detector as said threshold level for said comparison.
2. The RFID tag of claim 1, wherein said processor includes an averaging circuit for tracking variations in the level of said baseband signal over selected intervals of time.
3. The RFID tag of claim 2, wherein said processor includes an amplifier with selectively adjustable gain for scaling the tracked variations of said baseband signal level as said threshold level for said comparison.

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 concentrated solution for photographic reversal baths, comprising:
a) stannous ions,
b) a chelating agent comprising an alkali metal salt of phosphonic or phosphinic acid, and
c) a biological growth control agent,
wherein said biological growth control agent comprises a mixture of at least one quaternary ammonium compound of formula (I) and at least one polymeric quaternary ammonium compound of formula (II),
R1(R2)N(R3)R4X(I)
5
wherein R1, R2, R3 and R4 are independently nonpolymeric aliphatic, heterocyclic or carbocyclic radicals,
X is a halide,
R5 and R6, which can be the same or different, each represent an alkyl radical of 1 to 4 carbon atoms, optionally substituted with an hydroxyl group,
A represents a divalent hydrocarbon radical of 1 to 10 carbon atoms, said divalent hydrocarbon radical being substituted with at least one hydroxyl radical,
n is an integer of from 2 to 100,
and wherein the total concentration of quaternary ammonium compounds (I) and (II) is less than or equal to 0.5 gl.
2. The solution of claim 1 wherein the concentration of quaternary ammonium (I) and (II) is less than or equal to 0.1 gl.
3. The solution of claim 1 wherein the chelating agent comprising an alkali metal salt of an organic phosphonic or phosphinic acid is obtained from a concentration more than or equal to 125 gl of the corresponding phosphonic or phosphinic acid and a corresponding metal base.
4. The solution of claim 1 wherein the concentration of stannous ions is more than or equal to 20 gl.
5. A ready-to-use reversal solution for photographic reversal bath, comprising
a) stannous ions,
b) a chelating agent comprising an alkali metal salt of phosphonic or phosphinic acid, and
c) a biological growth control agent,
wherein said biological growth control agent comprises a mixture of at least one quaternary ammonium compound of formula (I) and at least one polymeric quaternary ammonium compound of formula (II),
R1(R2)N(R3)R4X(I)
6
wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 and R6, X, A, are as defined above,
the concentration of quaternary ammonium (I) and (II) being less than or equal to 10 ppm.
6. The ready-to-use solution of claim 5 wherein the total concentration of quaternary ammonium compounds (I) and (II) is less than or equal to 5 ppm.
7. The ready-to-use solution of claim 5 wherein the concentration of stannous ions is more than or equal to 0.6 gl.
8. The ready-to-use solution of claim 5 obtainable by the dilution in water of the concentrated solution according to any of claims 1 to 4.
9. The solution of claim 1 or 5 wherein X is a chloride.
10. The solution of claim 1 or 5 wherein the quaternary ammonium (I) is selected from the group consisting of nonyltrimethylammonium chloride, dodecyl-trimethylammonium chloride, hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride, benzyltriethylammonium chloride, benzyldimethylphenylammonium chloride, tetrahexylammonium chloride, a benzalkonium chloride, a mixture of alkyltrimethylammonium chlorides, or mixtures thereof.
11. The solution of claim 10 wherein the quaternary ammonium (I) is a mixture of dodecyl-, tetradecyl- and hexadecyl-dimethylbenzyl-ammonium chlorides.
12. The solution of claim 1 or 5 wherein A is
7
13. The solution of claim 12 wherein the polymeric quaternary ammonium (II) is poly(2-hydroxyethylenedimethyliminio-2-hydroxypropylenedimethyliminiomethylene)dichloride.
14. The solution of claim 1 or 5 wherein said phosphonic or phosphinic acid is represented by formula (III) or (IV),
R7N(CH2POzM2)2(III)R8R9C(POzM2)2(IV)
wherein z is 2 or 3,
R7 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, an alkyl group of 1 to 12 carbon atoms, an alkylaminoalkyl group wherein each alkyl group has 1 to 12 carbon atoms, an alkoxyalkyl group of 2 to 12 carbon atoms, a cycloalkyl group of 5 to 10 carbon atoms in the ring, a 5- to 10-membered heterocyclic group having one or more nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur atoms in the heterocyclic ring, or CHR10POzM2.
R8 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, an alkyl group of 1 to 12 carbon atoms, an aryl group of 6 to 10 carbon atoms in the aromatic ring, a cycloalkyl group of 5 to 10 carbon atoms in the ring, a 5- to 10-membered heterocyclic group having one or more nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur atoms in the heterocyclic ring, POzM2 or CHR10POzM2,
R9 and R10 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, a hydroxy group, an alkyl group of 1 to 12 carbon atoms, or POzM2, and
M is hydrogen.
15. The solution of claim 14 wherein the chelating agent comprising an alkali metal salt is an alkali metal salt of aminotris(methylenephosphonic) acid.
16. The solution of claim 1 or 5 wherein it comprises a p-aminophenol as stannous ion stabilizer.
17. The solution of claim 1 or 5, being free of propionic acid.
18. The solution of claim 1 or 5, containing the combination of acetic acid with an acetate as buffering agent.
19. A method of processing an exposed color reversal photographic film comprising the circulation of said exposed film in a ready-to-use reversal solution according to any one of claims 5 to 18, and the color development of said film.

1-56. (canceled)
57. A mass spectrometer comprising:
a continuous ion source;
a first ion trap;
an ion mobility spectrometer downstream of said first ion trap, said ion mobility spectrometer comprising a plurality of electrodes having apertures therein through which ions may be transmitted, wherein in use a DC voltage gradient is maintained across at least a portion of said ion mobility spectrometer and at least some of said electrodes are supplied with an AC or RF voltage, and wherein at least some of said electrodes are housed in a vacuum chamber maintained in use at a pressure within the range 0.1-10 mbar;
a quadrupole mass filter downstream of said ion mobility spectrometer; and
an orthogonal time of flight mass analyser comprising a pusher andor puller electrode, orthogonal drift region and detector, said orthogonal time of flight mass analyser being arranged downstream of said quadrupole mass filter.
58. A mass spectrometer comprising:
a continuous ion source;
a first ion trap;
an ion mobility spectrometer downstream of said first ion trap, said ion mobility spectrometer comprising a plurality of electrodes having apertures therein through which ions may be transmitted, wherein in use a DC voltage gradient is maintained across at least a portion of said ion mobility spectrometer and at least some of said electrodes are supplied with an AC or RF voltage, and wherein at least some of said electrodes are housed in a vacuum chamber maintained in use at a pressure within the range 0.1-10 mbar;
a second ion trap downstream of said ion mobility spectrometer, said second ion trap comprising a plurality of electrodes having apertures through which ions may be transmitted, at least some of said electrodes being supplied in use with an AC or RF voltage;
an axial drift region downstream of said second ion trap; and
an orthogonal time of flight mass analyser comprising a pusher andor puller electrode, orthogonal drift region and detector, said orthogonal time of flight mass analyser being arranged downstream of said axial drift region.
59. An ion mobility spectrometer for separating ions according to their ion mobility, said ion mobility spectrometer comprising:
a plurality of electrodes having apertures wherein a DC voltage gradient is maintained across at least a portion of said ion mobility spectrometer and at least some of said electrodes are connected to an AC or RF voltage supply.
60. An ion mobility spectrometer as claimed in claim 59, wherein said ion mobility spectrometer comprises:
an upstream section comprising a first plurality of electrodes having apertures arranged in a vacuum chamber; and
a downstream section comprising a second plurality of electrodes having apertures arranged in a further vacuum chamber, said vacuum chambers being separated by a differential pumping aperture.
61. An ion mobility spectrometer as claimed in claim 60, wherein at least some of said electrodes in said upstream section are supplied with an AC or RF voltage having a frequency within the range 0.1-3.0 MHz.
62. An ion mobility spectrometer as claimed in claim 60, wherein said upstream section is arranged to be maintained at a pressure within the range 0.1-10 mbar.
63. An ion mobility spectrometer as claimed in claim 60, wherein at least some of said electrodes in said downstream section are supplied with an AC or RF voltage having a frequency within the range 0.1-3.0 MHz.
64. An ion mobility spectrometer as claimed in claim 60, wherein said downstream section is arranged to be maintained at a pressure within the range 10\u22123-10\u22122 mbar.
65. An ion mobility spectrometer as claimed in claim 60, wherein a first DC voltage gradient is maintained in use across at least a portion of said upstream section and a second DC voltage gradient is maintained in use across at least a portion of said downstream section, said first DC voltage gradient being greater than said second DC voltage gradient.
66. An ion mobility spectrometer as claimed in claim 59, wherein the ion mobility spectrometer comprises at least 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 or 100 electrodes.
67. An ion mobility spectrometer as claimed in claim 59, wherein at least 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95% of said electrodes have apertures which are of substantially the same size or area.
68-83. (canceled)
84. An ion mobility spectrometer as claimed in claim 59, further comprising, in combination:
a mass filter; and
a controller arranged to continuously vary a mass filtering characteristic of the mass filter so that multiply charged ions having a first charge state are onwardly transmitted in preference to singly charged ions.

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 forming apparatus comprising:
an image carrying member unit which includes an image carrying member, a cleaning device that removes a toner left on the image carrying member and a toner discharge portion that discharges the toner from the cleaning device and which is configured to be inserted with respect to a main body of the image forming apparatus with one end of the image carrying member unit in a longitudinal direction thereof first and removed with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus with another end of the image carrying member unit in the longitudinal direction thereof first;
a development device which includes a developer carrying member that supplies the toner onto the image carrying member, which is arranged adjacent to the image carrying member unit, and which is configured to be inserted with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus with one end of the development device in a longitudinal direction thereof first and removed with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus with another end of the development device in the longitudinal direction thereof first;
a developer collection mechanism which is arranged on a downstream side in a first direction in which the development device and the image carrying member unit are inserted with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus and to which the toner discharge portion that protrudes from the one end of the image carrying member unit in the longitudinal direction is coupled; and
a unit support tray which is provided such that the unit support tray is movable horizontally in the first direction and a second direction in which the development device and the image carrying member unit are removed from the main body of the image forming apparatus and which individually and removably supports the image carrying member unit and the development device,
wherein the unit support tray is moved in the first direction such that the toner discharge portion moves in a direction approaching the developer collection mechanism and the toner discharge portion and the developer collection mechanism are coupled whereas the unit support tray is moved in the second direction such that the toner discharge portion moves in a direction away from the developer collection mechanism and the coupling between the toner discharge portion and the developer collection mechanism is cancelled.
2. The image forming apparatus of claim 1,
wherein a retainer which is arranged on an upstream side in the first direction and which is openable and closeable in an updown direction by being pivoted about a lower end portion and a link member which couples the retainer and the unit support tray are provided, and
the unit support tray is moved in the first direction or the second direction as the retainer is opened or closed.
3. The image forming apparatus of claim 1,
wherein a first shutter member which opens and closes the toner discharge portion is provided, and the unit support tray is moved in the first direction such that the first shutter member opens the toner discharge portion whereas the unit support tray is moved in the second direction such that the first shutter member closes the toner discharge portion.
4. The image forming apparatus of claim 3,
wherein a first force application member is arranged which applies, to the first shutter member, a force acting in a direction in which the toner discharge portion is closed.
5. The image forming apparatus of claim 1,
wherein the development device includes a developer discharge portion which protrudes from the one end of the development device in the longitudinal direction and which is coupled to the developer collection mechanism, and the unit support tray is moved in the first direction such that the developer discharge portion and the developer collection mechanism are coupled whereas the unit support tray is moved in the second direction such that the coupling between the developer discharge portion and the developer collection mechanism is cancelled.
6. The image forming apparatus of claim 5,
wherein a second shutter member which opens and closes the developer discharge portion is provided, and the unit support tray is moved in the first direction such that the second shutter member opens the developer discharge portion whereas the unit support tray is moved in the second direction such that the second shutter member closes the developer discharge portion.
7. The image forming apparatus of claim 6,
wherein a second force application member is arranged which applies, to the second shutter member, a force acting in a direction in which the developer discharge portion is closed.
8. The image forming apparatus of claim 1,
wherein a container which has a supply port coupled to a feed port of the development device and which supplies the toner from the supply port to the development device through the feed port is included, in the development device, a feed port shutter which closes the feed port is provided and in the container, a supply port shutter which opens and closes the supply port is provided, and
the unit support tray is moved in the first direction such that the feed port shutter opens the feed port and the supply port shutter opens the toner supply port whereas the unit support tray is moved in the second direction such that the feed port shutter closes the feed port and the supply port shutter closes the toner supply port.
9. The image forming apparatus of claim 1,
wherein a drawer connector for electrically connecting the image carrying member unit and the development device to the main body of the image forming apparatus is provided on a downstream side in the first direction, and
the unit support tray is moved in the first direction such that the drawer connector is coupled whereas the unit support tray is moved in the second direction such that the coupling of the drawer connector is cancelled.
10. The image forming apparatus of claim 1,
wherein on the unit support tray, a first rib which serves as a guide member when the image carrying member unit is inserted or removed and a second rib which serves as a guide member when the development device is inserted or removed are formed, and
the second rib is inclined so as to be moved away from the first rib in the second direction.
11. The image forming apparatus of claim 1,
wherein a plurality of the image carrying member units and a plurality of the development devices are provided according to toners of different colors, and are arranged in corresponding positions on the unit support tray.
12. The image forming apparatus of claim 1,
wherein the image carrying member unit and the development device include a lock mechanism which individually retains a state where the image carrying member unit is fitted to the unit support tray and a state where the development device is fitted to the unit support tray and which can cancel the retainment.