Author: claimsbot

1. A process of using
a combination of
(a) a sulfonic acid of formula (I)
wherein
R is selected from the group consisting of linear alkyl residue, branched alkyl residue, linear alkenyl residue, and branched alkenyl residue; and
(b) at least one carboxylic acid selected from the group consisting of mono-carboxylic acid, di-carboxylic acid and tri-carboxylic acid, in the presence of
(d) at least one surfactant,
as an antimicrobial, the process comprising:
contacting the combination with a surface or material.
2. A process of using an aqueous formulation comprising, on 100 parts by weight (pbw) of the formulation,
(a) 0.5 to 5.0 pbw of a sulfonic acid of formula (I)
wherein
R is selected from the group consisting of linear alkyl residue, branched alkyl residue, linear alkenyl residue, and branched alkenyl residue; and
(b) 0.01 to 20.0 pbw of at least one carboxylic acid selected from the group consisting of mono-carboxylic acid, di-carboxylic acid and tri-carboxylic acid,
which formulation comprises at least 50 pbw of water,
as an antimicrobial, the process comprising:
contacting the formulation with a surface or material.
3. A process of using a formulation comprising
(a) a sulfonic acid of formula (I)
wherein
R is selected from the group consisting of linear alkyl residue, branched alkyl residue, linear alkenyl residue, and branched alkenyl residue; and
(b) at least one carboxylic acid selected from the group consisting of mono-carboxylic acid, di-carboxylic acid and tri-carboxylic acid, and
(c) a chloro benzene derivative,
as an antimicrobial, ethe process comprising:
contacting the formulation with a surface or material.
4. The process according to claim 2, wherein the formulation is
a ready-to-use formulation, said ready-to-use formulation comprising
(a) 0.1 to 5.0 wt.-% of the sulfonic acid of formula (I) and
(b) 0.05 to 20 wt. %, of the carboxylic acid based on the total formulation.
5. The process according to claim 2, wherein the formulation is
a home care formulation, selected from the group consisting of an all purpose cleaner, dishwashing liquid, descaling agent, a bath room cleaner, and a toilet bowl cleaner,
or
a disinfectant or sanitary detergent for hard surfaces, selected from the group consisting of a floor cleaner, a glass cleaner, a kitchen cleaner, a bath room cleaner, a sanitary cleaner, a toilet bowl cleaner, and a furniture cleaner.
6. The process according to claim 2,
wherein the formulation is essentially free of enzyme, iodine and iodide,
and is essentially free of elemental halogen, halogen oxides and halogen hydroxides.
7. The process according to claim 2, wherein the residue R in the sulfonic acid of formula (I) is selected from the group consisting of methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, ter-butyl, n-pentyl and n-hexyl,
and
wherein the carboxylic acid is selected from the group consisting of formic acid, acetic acid, propanoic acid, oxalic acid lactic acid, citric acid, tartaric, mandelic acid, benzoic acid, salicylic acid, glutaric acid, sorbic acid and succinic acid.
8. The process according to claim 2, wherein the weight ratio of the sulfonic acid of formula (I) to the carboxylic acid is from the range 0.01 to 20.0;
and wherein the formulation has a pH within the range from 0 to 4.0.
9. The process according to claim 2, wherein the formulation further comprises
(c) a chloro benzene derivative, which is of the formula (II)
wherein
X is O, S or \u2014CH2-
Y is Cl or Br,
Z is SO2H, NO2 or C1 to C4 alkyl,
k is 0 or 1,
l is 0 or 1,
m is 0, 1, 2, or 3,
n is 0, 1, 2, or 3,
o is 0 or 1,
where the chloro benzene derivative (c) is comprised in an amount from 0.01 to 10.0 wt.-%
andor
(d) a surfactant selected from anionic, cationic, nonionic and amphoteric surfactants, where the surfactant (d) is comprised in an amount from 0.1 to 40 wt.-% besides 50 to 99.8 wt-% of water,
where all percentages are relative to the total weight of the formulation.
10. A process for achieving an antimicrobial effect, on a hard surface, comprising:
contacting said hard surface with a liquid formulation of
(a) a sulfonic acid of formula (I)
wherein
R is selected from the group consisting of linear alkyl residue, branched alkyl residue, linear alkenyl residue, and branched alkenyl residue; and
(b) at least one carboxylic acid selected from the group consisting of mono-carboxylic acid, di-carboxylic acid and tri-carboxylic acid,
in the presence of
(c) a chloro benzene derivative
andor
(d) at least one surfactant.
11. A formulation comprising
(a) a sulfonic acid of formula (I)
wherein
R is selected from the group consisting of linear alkyl residue, branched alkyl residue, linear alkenyl residue, and branched alkenyl residue;
(b) at least one carboxylic acid selected from the group consisting of mono-carboxylic acid, di-carboxylic acid and tri-carboxylic acid; and
(c) a chloro benzene derivative.
12. A formulation comprising
(a) a sulfonic acid of formula (I)
wherein
R is selected from the group consisting of linear alkyl residue, branched alkyl residue, linear alkenyl residue, and branched alkenyl residue;
(b) at least one carboxylic acid selected from the group consisting of mono-carboxylic acid, di-carboxylic acid and tri-carboxylic acid; and
(d) a surfactant;
provided that the formulation is essentially free of enzymes; and provided that the formulation is essentially free of oxidants and is essentially free of iodine and iodide.
13. The formulation according to claim 12, which contains further comprising
(c) a chloro benzene derivative of the formula (II)
wherein
X is O, S or \u2014CH2-
Y is Cl or Br,
Z is SO2H, NO2 or C1 to C4 alkyl,
k is 0 or 1,
l is 0 or 1,
m is 0, 1, 2, or 3,
n is 0, 1, 2, or 3,
o is 0 or 1,
and
wherein (d) the surfactant is selected from anionic, cationic, nonionic and amphoteric surfactants.
14. The formulation according to claim 12, wherein the residue R in the sulfonic acid of formula (I) is selected from the group consisting of methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, ter-butyl, n-pentyl and n-hexyl, preferably the residue R of formula (I) is methyl or ethyl,
and
wherein the carboxylic acid is selected from the group consisting of formic acid, acetic acid, propanoic acid, oxalic acid lactic acid, citric acid, tartaric, mandelic acid, benzoic acid, salicylic acid, glutaric acid, sorbic acid and succinic acid.
15. The formulation according to claim 12, wherein said formulation is an aqueous formulation having,
a pH in the range of 0 to 4.0 and further comprises
(e) at least 50 wt. %, of water.
16. The formulation according to claim 12, wherein the weight ratio of the sulfonic acid of formula (I) to the carboxylic acid is in the range of 0.01 to 20.0.
17. The formulation according to claim 12, wherein said formulation is a ready-to-use formulation, which comprises
(a) 0.1 to 5.0 wt.-% of the sulfonic acid of formula (I) and
(b) 0.05 to 40 wt.-%, preferably 0.05 to 5.0 wt. %, of the carboxylic acid based on the total formulation.
18. The formulation according to claim 11,
wherein said formulation is a ready-to-use formulation, which comprises
(a1) 0.01 to 5.0 wt.-% of the sulfonic acid of formula (I),
(a2) 0.01 to 20.0 wt.-% of the carboxylic acid, and
(a3) 0.01 to 2.0 wt.-% of the chloro benzene derivative,
and optionally further comprises
(a4) 0.1 to 40.0 wt.-% of the surfactant,
based on the total weight of the formulation;
or wherein said formulation is a concentrate, and said concentrate comprises
(b1) 0.1 to 80 wt.-% of the sulfonic acid of formula (I),
(b2) 0.1 to 80 wt.-% of the carboxylic acid, and
(b3) 0.01 to 10.0 wt.-% of the chloro benzene derivative,
and optionally further comprises
(b4) 1.0 to 89.8 wt.-% of the surfactant,
based on the total formulation.
19. A process of using the formulation according to claim 12 as
(a) a home care formulation, selected from the group consisting of a disinfectant, all purpose cleaner, dish-washing liquid, descaling agent, a bath room cleaner, and a toilet bowl cleaner,
or
(b) a disinfectant or sanitary detergent of hard or soft surfaces, selected from the group consisting of a floor cleaner, a glass cleaner, a kitchen cleaner, a bath room cleaner, a sanitary cleaner, a toilet bowl cleaner, and a furniture cleaner,
or
(c) a product for clean in place,
the process comprising:
contacting the formulation with a home care surface or material, a hard or soft surface, or a clean in place surface or material.
20. A product selected from the group consisting of home care formulation, disinfectant of hard or soft surfaces, sanitary detergent of hard or soft surfaces, product for clean in place, all purpose cleaner, dishwashing liquid, descaling agent, bath room cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, floor cleaner, glass cleaner, kitchen cleaner, sanitary cleaner, and furniture cleaner,
wherein said product comprises a formulation according to claim 12.

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 seal arrangement for sealing off a slot between first and second mutually movable bodies, the arrangement comprises a first and a second member, the first member being arranged on the first body and the second member being arranged on the second body, whereby a labyrinth-shaped slit is formed between the first and the second members, and said slit being filled with a semi-solid material having lubricating properties so that, upon movement of one of the members, the material will slide along at least one of the members thereby forming a very thin labyrinth between said member and the material that substantially prevents passage of air, moisture and dirt.

2. The seal arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the first and second bodies are arranged concentrically one inside the other, and are mutually rotatable, thereby forming an annular slot.

3. The seal arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the first body is arranged inside the second body so that the annular slot is formed between an outer annular envelope surface of the first body, and an inner annular envelope surface of the second body, and wherein the first member is radially arranged on the outer envelope surface of the first body and the second member is radially arranged on the inner envelope surface of the second body.

4. The seal arrangement according to claim 3, wherein the first and second members of the seal are positioned at an axial distance from each other.

5. The seal arrangement according to claim 3, wherein the second member is a ring arranged on the inner envelope surface of the second body, the ring is provided with a radial flange that extends from the inner envelope surface of the second body and substantially all the way to the outer envelope surface of the first body leaving only a narrow gap therebetween.

6. The seal arrangement according to claim 3, wherein the first member is formed as an annular disc radially extending from the outer envelope surface of the first body substantially all the way to the ring of the second member, leaving only a narrow gap therebetween.

7. The seal arrangement according to claim 6, wherein the annular disc is positioned in the vicinity of the radial flange of the second member in the axial direction leaving a slit therebetween.

8. The seal arrangement according to claim 7, wherein the first member and the second member each comprise axial surfaces facing towards each other, each axial surface provided with at least one substantially axially extending tongue and whereby the tongue of the first member cooperates with the tongue of the second member thereby forming a labyrinth-shaped slit between them.

9. The seal arrangement according to claim 8, wherein each axial tongue is provided with a radially extending tip, and the tip of the tongue of the first member faces the tip of the tongue of the second member.

10. The seal arrangement according to claim 3, wherein the first member is a ring arranged on the outer envelope surface of the first body, the ring is provided with a radial flange which extends from the outer envelope surface of the first body and substantially most of the way to the inner envelope surface of the second body leaving only a narrow gap.

11. The seal arrangement according to claim 3, wherein the second member is a cup-shaped ring radially arranged on the inner envelope surface of the second body, the cup-shaped ring has an open side, and a cup-shaped portion facing towards the flange of the first member.

12. The seal arrangement according to claim 11, wherein the cup-shaped ring is positioned in the vicinity of the radial flange of the first member in the axial direction leaving a slit between them, and the cup-shaped ring extends radially from the inner envelope surface of the second body substantially all the way to the ring of the first member, leaving only a narrow gap therebetween.

13. The seal arrangement according to claim 11, wherein the cup-shaped ring is provided with a ring portion in contact with the inner envelope surface of the second body, the ring portion is provided with a free end that extends beyond the flange of the first member in the axial direction.

14. The seal arrangement according to claim 13, wherein the free end of the ring portion is provided with a radially extending lip.

15. The seal arrangement according to claim 10, wherein the flange of the first member is provided with at least one wavelike, annular corrugation facing the cup-shaped portion so that peaks of the corrugation extend a distance inside the cup-shaped portion.

16. The seal arrangement according to claim 10, wherein the flange of the first member is provided with at least one peak facing the cup-shaped portion, the peak extends a distance inside the cup-shaped portion.

17. The seal arrangement according to claim 15, wherein the cup-shaped portion is filled with the semi-solid material so that the wavelike, annular corrugation of the flange of the first member forms a corresponding wavelike, annular corrugation in the semi-solid material upon relative movement of the members.

18. The seal arrangement according to claim 16, wherein the cup-shaped portion is filled with the semi-solid material such that the at least one peak on the flange of the first member forms a recess in the semi-solid material corresponding to the peak, upon relative movement of the first and second members.

19. The seal arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the first and second bodies are arranged to form a slot therebetween, and the first and second bodies are mutually, linearly movable and wherein the first member of the seal is attached to the first body and the second member of the seal is attached to the second body.

20. The seal arrangement according to claim 19, wherein the first body is provided with a first groove in a surface facing the second body, the first member of the seal being positioned in the first groove, and the second body is provided with a second groove in a surface facing the first body, the second member of the seal is positioned in the second groove.

21. The seal arrangement according to claim 20, wherein the first member has a U-profile which legs of the U-profile are pressed into the groove of the first body, and the U-profile is provided with a wavelike corrugation on the surface facing the second member of the seal, the portion of the first member being provided with the corrugation extends a distance out from the first body towards the second body.

22. The seal arrangement according to claim 20, wherein the first member is a U-profile which legs of the U-profile are pressed into the groove of the first body, and the U-profile is provided with at least one outwardly directed peak on the surface facing the second member of the seal, the portion of the first member being provided with the at least one peak extends a distance out from the first body towards the second body.

23. The seal arrangement according to claim 20, wherein the second member of the seal has a U-profile which is pressed into the groove of the second body with the open portion of the U-profile facing towards the U-profile of the first member, and wherein the U-profile of the first member extends a distance into the U-profile of the second member forming a slit between the first and the second members.

24. The seal arrangement according to claim 23, wherein the second member is filled with the semi-solid material to such an extent that the wavelike corrugation forms a corresponding wavelike corrugation in the semi-solid material upon relative movement of the first and second members.

25. The seal arrangement according to claim 23, wherein the second member is filled with the semi-solid material to such an extent that the at least one peak forms a corresponding recess in the semi-solid material upon relative movement of one of the first and second members.

26. The seal arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the semi-solid material fills the labyrinth-shaped slit, the material having the property of releasing a friction reducing substance under influence of the heat, pressure or friction generated by the relative movement of the first and second members.

1. An information burying apparatus that buries a dot pattern corresponding to buried information on an image, comprising:
a storing unit configured to store, with dots of the dot pattern two-dimensionally arrayed and repeated generally at a predetermined period, plural dot patterns by shifting positions of the respective dots from positions at the predetermined period by a very small amount;
a selecting unit configured to select a dot pattern according to buried information out of the plural dot patterns in the storing unit; and
a superimposing unit configured to superimpose the dot pattern selected by the selecting unit on the image.
2. An information burying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dots have sizes equal to one another in an area near the dots.
3. An information burying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the a shift amount of the very small shift of the dots is controlled according to a second period integer times as large as a first period.
4. An information burying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the superimposing unit superimposes the dot pattern selected by the selecting unit on a base area of the image.
5. An information burying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storing unit, the selecting unit, and the superimposing unit are configured by software processing blocks.
6. An information burying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storing unit, the selecting unit, and the superimposing unit are configured by hardware blocks.
7. An information burying method for burying a dot pattern corresponding to buried information in an image, the information burying method having a storing unit, a selecting unit, and a superimposing unit in an image processing unit, the information burying method comprising:
in the storing unit, with dots of the dot pattern two-dimensionally arrayed and repeated generally at a predetermined period, storing plural dot patterns by shifting positions of the respective dots from positions at the predetermined period by a very small amount;
in selecting unit, selecting a dot pattern according to the buried information out of the plural dot patterns; and
in superimposing unit, superimposing the selected dot pattern on the image.
8. An image processing method having an input unit that inputs an original image and a halftone processing unit that applies halftone processing to a predetermined area of the original image, the image processing method comprising processing for:
selecting buried information; and
shifting dots of a halftone pattern in the halftone processing according to the selected buried information.
9. An image processing method according to claim 8, wherein, in the halftone processing, the shift of the dots is performed only in an area in which density is equal to or lower than predetermined density.
10. An image processing method according to claim 8, wherein the shift of the dots is performed according to shift of halftone dots.
11. An information burying apparatus comprising:
an input unit configured to input an image;
a first extracting unit configured to extract plural small areas from the image;
an analyzing unit configured to apply spectrum analysis to each of images of the plural small areas;
a determining unit configured to determine presence or absence of a predetermined pattern of pixels from a result of means for performing the spectrum analysis;
an adding unit configured to apply iterative addition to the pixels of the predetermined pattern in the plural small areas;
a position calculating unit configured to calculate a position of a peak pixel with respect to an output of means for performing the iterative addition; and
a second extracting unit configured to extract buried information from information concerning calculated plural peak positions.

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 microphone system comprising:
a primary microphone for producing a primary signal;
a secondary microphone for producing a secondary signal;
a selector operatively coupled with the primary microphone and the secondary microphone;
a base mechanically coupling the primary and secondary microphones such that the primary and the secondary microphones receive substantially the same mechanical signals; and
an output,
the selector selectively permitting one or both of at least a portion of the primary signal and at least a portion of the secondary signal to be forwarded to the output as a function of the noise in the primary signal, wherein the selector forwards at least a portion of the primary signal to the output if the noise is below about a predefined amount, and further wherein the selector forwards at least a portion of the secondary signal to the output if the noise is greater than about the predefined amount.

2. The microphone system as defined by claim 1 wherein the respective portions of the primary signal or secondary signal may be processed prior to being forwarded to the output.

3. The microphone system as defined by claim 1 wherein the primary microphone has a primary low frequency cut-off, the secondary microphone having a secondary low frequency cut-off, the secondary low frequency cut-off being greater than the primary low frequency cut-off.

4. The microphone system as defined by claim 3 wherein the primary microphone has a primary diaphragm and a primary circumferential gap defined at least in part by the primary diaphragm, the secondary microphone having a secondary diaphragm and a secondary circumferential gap defined at least in part by the secondary diaphragm, the secondary circumferential gap being greater than the primary circumferential gap.

5. The microphone system as defined by claim 1 wherein the portion of the primary signal is not forwarded to the output when the portion of the secondary signal is forwarded to the output.

6. The microphone system as defined by claim 1 wherein the portion of the secondary signal is not forwarded to the output when the portion of the primary signal is forwarded to the output.

7. The microphone system as defined by claim 1 wherein the primary microphone is mechanically coupled with the secondary microphone.

8. The microphone system as defined by claim 1 wherein the primary microphone has a primary diaphragm and a first air leakage rate past the primary diaphragm, further wherein the secondary microphone has a secondary diaphragm and a second air leakage rate past the secondary diaphragm, the first air leakage rate and second air leakage rate being different.

9. A microphone system comprising:
a primary microphone for producing a primary signal;
a secondary microphone for producing a secondary signal;
a base supporting the primary and secondary microphones such that the primary and secondary microphones receive the same mechanical signals;
an output; and
means for selectively permitting one or both of at least a portion of the primary signal or at least a portion of the secondary signal to be forwarded to the output as a function of the noise in the primary signal.

10. The microphone system as defined by claim 9 wherein the means for selectively permitting comprises a selector.

11. The microphone system as defined by claim 9 wherein the primary microphone has a primary low frequency cut-off, the secondary microphone having a secondary low frequency cut-off, the secondary low frequency cut-off being greater than the primary low frequency cut-off.

12. The microphone system as defined by claim 9 wherein the secondary microphone comprises a logical high pass filter.

13. The microphone system as defined by claim 9 wherein no more than one of the primary signal and the secondary signal is forwarded to the output at a given time.

14. The microphone system as defined by claim 9 wherein the primary microphone has a primary diaphragm and a first air leakage rate past the primary diaphragm, further wherein the secondary microphone has a secondary diaphragm and a second air leakage rate past the secondary diaphragm, the first air leakage rate and second air leakage rate being different.