All The Claims

1. A mechanism configured to electrify a rotator of an image forming apparatus, the mechanism comprising:
a conductive member having one of a cloth-like or sheet-like composition with slits therein such that the slits radially extend beyond an outer diameter of a contact member of the rotator received thereby, the conductive member being in electrical contact with an object configured to be electrified, the slits configured to receive the contact member therethrough and allow the conductive member to bend around the contact member when the conductive member is penetrated by the contact member such that an area in which a side surface of the conductive member and the contact member are in surface contact is increased while an edge of the slits do not contact the contact member, and the conductive member remaining slidably rotatable with respect to the contact member when the contact member penetrates the conductive member.
2. The mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a contact direction of the contact member with respective to the conductive member is a same direction as a bending direction of the conductive member.
3. The mechanism according to claim 1, wherein
the conductive member has a portion of the cloth-like or sheet-like composition cutout to form a flap therethrough, and
the conductive member is configured to receive the contact member through the cutout such that the flap of the conductive member is bent when the contact member penetrates through the cutout allowing the flap to substantially come into line contact with the contact member when the contact member penetrates through the cutout portion.
4. The mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of slits in the conductive member include a plurality of radial slits, the radial slits extending from an approximate center of a portion of the conductive member in a radial direction.
5. The mechanism according to claim 1, wherein
the conductive member has a portion of the cloth-like or sheet-like composition cutout to form at least two flaps therethrough,
the conductive member is configured to receive the contact member through the cutout such that the at least two flaps of the conductive member are bent when the contact member penetrates through the cutout, and
the shape of the flaps are such that a contact area between the conductive member and the contact member is reduced toward a center of a cross-section of the contact member when the contact member penetrates through the cutout.
6. The mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the conductive member is a conductive cloth formed of a cloth-like material that is woven with at least one fiber of polyethylene terephthalate fiber, nylon fiber, and polyester fiber and nickel and copper.
7. An image carrier unit comprising:
the mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the rotator is an image carrier that includes,
a cylindrical conductive base member,
at least one of an electrophotographic photoreceptor layer, an electrostatic recording dielectric layer, and a magnetic recording magnetic layer on the conductive base member,
a flange fixed to at least one end portion of the image carrier, and
a metal conductive member, a base end portion of the metal conductive member comes into contact with the conductive member and is mounted on the flange while a tip portion of the metal conductive member is fixed to an inner wall of the conductive base member,

wherein
the contact member is a shaft where the rotator is rotatable supported, the shaft passing through a center portion of the flange,
the conductive member is bent and comes into contact with the shaft when the shaft passes through the conductive member, and
the conductive base member and the shaft are electrically connected to each other through the contact between the metal conductive member and the conductive member.
8. A process cartridge that integrally supports at least one of the image carrier, a charging unit, a cleaning unit, and a developing unit and the process cartridge being detachably mounted on a main body, the process cartridge comprising:
the image carrier unit according to claim 7.
9. An image forming apparatus comprising:
the image carrier unit according to claim 7.
10. An image forming apparatus comprising:
the process cartridge according to claim 8.
11. A belt unit comprising:
the mechanism according to claim 1;
an endless belt that carries and conveys at least one of a transfer image and a transferrable image;
a plurality of rotary members, the belt being stretched along the plurality of rotary members and one of the plurality of rotary members serving as a driving rotary member;
a driving unit that drives the driving rotary member;
a driven rotary member that supports the belt in cooperation with the driving rotary member, at least one of the driving rotary member and the driven rotary member being a hollow rotary member that includes a cylindrical conductive base member, the hollow rotary member being the rotator;
a flange fixed to at least one end portion of the hollow rotary member; and
a metal conductive member, a base end portion of the metal conductive member coming into contact with the conductive member and the base end portion being mounted on the flange while a tip portion of the metal conductive member being fixed to an inner wall of the conductive base member, wherein
the contact member is a shaft where the hollow rotary member is rotatably supported, the shaft passing through a center portion of the flange,
the conductive member is bent and comes into contact with the shaft when the shaft passes through the conductive member, and
the conductive base member and the shaft are electrically connected to each other through the contact between the metal conductive member and the conductive member.
12. A fixing unit that conveys a sheet recording medium on which an unfixed transfer image is formed and that makes the sheet recording medium to pass a nip portion to thereby fix the unfixed transfer image to the sheet recording medium, the fixing unit comprising:
a heating member that includes a heat source and an elastic layer;
a pressurizing member that comes into press contact with the heating member to form the nip portion; and
the mechanism according to claim 1, wherein
the contact member is a rotating shaft disposed on at least one of the heating member and the pressurizing member, and
the rotating shaft on at least one of the heating member and the pressuring member causes the conductive member to bend and come into contact with the rotating shaft when the rotating shaft passes through the conductive member, thereby establishing electrical connection with the object via the conductive member.
13. A conveying unit that is rotatably supported by a supporting member configured to support a rotary shaft disposed on a conveying member for conveying a sheet recording medium, and that electrifies static electricity generated by triboelectric charge between the conveying member and the sheet recording medium, the conveying unit comprising:
the mechanism according to claim 1, wherein,
the contact member is the rotary shaft that is disposed on the conveying member and being conductive, and
the rotary shaft causes the conductive member to bend and come into contact with the rotary shaft when the rotary shaft passes through the conductive member, thereby establishing electrical connection, with the object via the conductive member.
14. A method of electrifying a rotator of an image
forming apparatus, the method comprising:
electrifying an object, the object electrically connected to a conducive member having one of a cloth-like or sheet-like composition with slits therein such that the slits radially extend beyond an outer diameter of a contact member of the rotator received thereby, the slits configured to receive the contact member therethrough; and
penetrating the slits of the conductive member with the contact member such that the conductive member bends around the contact member increasing an area in which a side surface of the conductive member and the contact member are in surface contact while an edge of the slits do not contact the contact member and the conductive member remains slidably rotatable with respect to the contact member.
15. A cloth-like or sheet-like conductive member having slits therein, a side surface of the slits configured to make surface contact with a contact member while an edge of the slits do not contact the contact member when the contact member penetrates the conductive member, the slits radially extending beyond an outer diameter of the contact member received thereby and the conductive member remaining slidably rotatable with respect to the contact member when the contact member penetrates the conductive member.
16. The conductive member according to claim 15, wherein the slits of the conductive member includes a plurality of first radial slits extending from an approximate center of the conductive member in a radial direction.
17. The conductive member according to claim 15, wherein a substantially circular portion of the conductive member corresponds to an area in which the contact member penetrates the conductive member, and
the conductive member has the slits therein in a shape of a wavy or broken line that crisscrosses the circular portion of the conductive member.
18. The conductive member according to claim 15, wherein a substantially circular portion of the conductive member corresponds to an area in which the contact member penetrates the conductive member, and
the slits of the conductive member include a plurality of first slits in the substantially circular portion thereof in a first direction and a plurality of second slits in the substantially circular portion in a second direction, the second direction being orthogonal to the first direction such that the substantially circular portion of the conductive member has a plurality of flaps therethrough.

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 method of preparing hydroxylated diamantanes selected from the group consisting of di-hydroxylated diamantane, tri-hydroxylated diamantane, tetra-hydroxylated diamantanes, and mixtures thereof, the method comprising the steps of:
a) reacting diamantane with N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) and Co(acac)2 (cobalt (II) acetylacetonate) in a reaction mixture;
b) concentrating the reaction mixture to form a concentrated product; and
c) recovering hydroxylated diamantanes from the concentrated product.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of adding additional portions of N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) and Co(acac)2 (cobalt (II) acetylacetonate) to the reaction mixture during step a).
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of dissolving the concentrated product in a solvent, and then extracting the resulting solution with water to form a water layer and a solvent layer.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of subjecting the solvent layer to silica gel column chromatography to recover di-hydroxylated diamantanes.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the solvent is methylene chloride.
6. The method of claim 3, further comprising the steps of dissolving the water layer in ethyl alcohol to form an ethyl alcohol solution, adding activated carbon to the ethyl alcohol solution, and then recovering tri-hydroxylated diamantanes from the activated carbon and ethyl alcohol solution.
7. The method of claim 3, further comprising the steps of:
a) dissolving the water layer in ethyl alcohol to form an ethyl alcohol solution;
b) adding activated carbon to the ethyl alcohol solution of step a);
c) concentrating the activated carbon and ethyl alcohol solution of step b) to a concentrated product;
d) dissolving the concentrated product of step c) in methylene chloride and tetrahydrofuran; and
e) passing the dissolved concentrated product of step d) through a silica gel column to elute a methylene chloride and tetrahydrofuran fraction and a tetrahydrofuran and ethyl alcohol fraction.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of recovering di-hydroxylated diamantanes from the methylene chloride and tetrahydrofuran fraction.
9. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of recovering tri-hydroxylated diamantanes from the tetrahydrofuran and ethyl alcohol fraction.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of dissolving the concentrated product in a large excess of methylene chloride to precipitate a solid, and then recovering tetra-hydroxylated diamantane as the precipitated solid.

1. A machine readable medium providing executable program instructions for causing a data processing system to perform a method of managing data, the method comprising:
storing metadata for a plurality of files created by at least one software application which is executable on a data processing system, wherein the type of information in metadata for files of a first type differs from the type of information in metadata for files of a second type;
storing a file system directory which maintains information spec g at least one of (a) a relationship between metadata for a first file, of the plurality of files, and the first file; and (b) a location of the metadata for the first file.
2. A medium as in claim 1 wherein the first file includes a persistent identifier and the metadata for the first file includes the persistent identifier.
3. A medium as in claim 2 wherein the persistent identifier provides a persistent association between the first file and the metadata for the first file.
4. A medium claim 1 wherein the file system directory maintains information specifying both the relationship and the location and wherein the metadata is stored in a database which is searched by a searching system.
5. A machine implemented method comprising:
storing metadata for a plurality of files created by at least one software application which is executable on a data processing system, wherein the type of information in metadata for files of a first type differs from the type of information in metadata for files of a second type;
storing a file system directory which maintains information specifying at least one of (a) a relationship between metadata for a first file, of the plurality of files, and the first file; and (b) a location of the metadata for the first file.
6. A method as in claim 5 wherein the first file includes a persistent identifier and the metadata for the first file includes the persistent identifier and wherein the file system directory is separate from metadata.
7. A method as in claim 6 wherein the persistent identifier provides a persistent association between the first file and the metadata for the first file, and wherein the metadata is stored in a database which is searched by a searching system.
8. A data processing system comprising:
a metadata database storing a plurality of files created by at least one software application which is executable on a data processing system wherein the type of information in metadata for files of a first type differs from the type of information in metadata for files of a second type;
a file system directory operatively coupled to the metadata database, the file system directory maintaining information which specifies at least one of (a) a relationship between metadata for a first file, of the plurality of files, and the first file; and (b) a location of the metadata for the first file.
9. A machine readable medium providing executable program instructions for causing a data processing system to perform a method of managing data, the method comprising:
storing metadata for a plurality of files created by at least one software application which is executable on a data processing system, wherein the type of information in metadata for files of a first type differs from the type of information in metadata for files of a second type and wherein metadata for each file includes a persistent file identifier for the each file.
10. A method implemented in a data processing system, the method comprising:
storing metadata for a plurality of files created by at least one software application which is executable on a data processing system, wherein the type of information in metadata for files of a first type differs from the type of information in metadata for files of a second type and wherein metadata for each file includes a persistent file identifier for the each file.
11. A machine readable medium providing executable program instructions for causing a data processing system to perform a method of managing data, the method comprising:
generating, by an application program, metadata for a file accessible to the application program;
providing the metadata for the file to a metadata database having metadata for a plurality of files created by at least one software application, wherein the type of information in metadata for files of a first type differs from the type of information in metadata for files of a second type.
12. A medium as in claim 11 wherein the generating is in response to the application program’s creating or modifying the file and wherein the generating occurs without an importer of metadata.
13. A medium as in claim 11 wherein the providing occurs without a notification to a metadata processing software which manages the metadata database.
14. A medium as in claim 11 wherein the metadata database is a system wide database for a plurality of application programs.
15. A medium as in claim 11 wherein the metadata is received by a metadata management program from the application program.
16. A machine implemented method comprising:
generating, by an application program, metadata for a accessible to the application program;
providing the metadata for the file to a metadata database having metadata for a plurality of files created by at least one software application, wherein the type of information in metadata for files of a first type differs from the type of information in metadata for files of a second type.
17. A method as in claim 16 wherein the generating is in response to the application program’s creating or modifying the file and wherein the generating occurs without an importer of metadata.
18. A method as in claim 16 wherein the providing occurs without a notification to a metadata processing software which manages the metadata database.
19. A method as in claim 16 wherein the metadata database is a system wide database for a plurality of application programs.
20. A method as in claim 16 wherein the metadata is received by a metadata management program from the application program.

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 device comprising:
a first electrode and a second electrode;
a plurality of semiconductor nanowires in electrical communication with the first electrode and the second electrode;
a J-aggregate electrostatically associated with at least a portion of the plurality of semiconductor nanowires.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of semiconductor nanowires includes a Group II-VI compound, a Group II-V compound, a Group III-VI compound, a Group III-V compound, a Group IV-VI compound, a Group I-III-VI compound, a Group II-IV-VI compound, a Group IV compound, a Group II-IV-V compound, or a mixture thereof.
3. The device of claim 2, wherein the plurality of semiconductor nanowires includes ZnS, ZnSe, ZnTe, CdS, CdSe, CdTe, HgS, HgSe, HgTe, AN, AlP, AlAs, AlSb, GaN, GaP, GaAs, GaSb, GaSe, InN, InP, InAs, InSb, TlN, TlP, TlAs, TlSb, PbS, PbSe, PbTe, Si, Ge, or a mixture thereof.
4. The device of claim 3, the plurality of semiconductor nanowires includes a ligand bound to a surface of the semiconductor nanowire, wherein the ligand includes a first moiety having an affinity for a surface of the nanowire, and a second moiety bearing an electrostatic charge.
5. The device of claim 4, wherein the J-aggregate bears an electrostatic charge opposite to the electrostatic charge of the second moiety.
6. The device of claim 4, wherein the ligand is a polydentate ligand.
7. The device of claim 4, wherein the ligand includes more than one moiety bearing an electrostatic charge.
8. The device of claim 4, wherein the ligand is an oligomer or polymer.
9. A method of making a device, comprising:
forming a plurality of semiconductor nanowires;
contacting the plurality of semiconductor nanowires with a ligand, wherein the ligand includes a first moiety having an affinity for a surface of the nanowire, and a second moiety bearing an electrostatic charge;
contacting the plurality of semiconductor nanowires with a J-aggregate; and
arranging the plurality of semiconductor nanowires in electrical communication with a first electrode and a second electrode.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the plurality of semiconductor nanowires includes a Group II-VI compound, a Group II-V compound, a Group III-VI compound, a Group III-V compound, a Group IV-VI compound, a Group I-III-VI compound, a Group II-IV-VI compound, a Group IV compound, a Group II-IV-V compound, or a mixture thereof.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of semiconductor nanowires includes ZnS, ZnSe, ZnTe, CdS, CdSe, CdTe, HgS, HgSe, HgTe, AN, AlP, AlAs, AlSb, GaN, GaP, GaAs, GaSb, GaSe, InN, InP, InAs, InSb, TlN, TlP, TlAs, TlSb, PbS, PbSe, PbTe, Si, Ge, or a mixture thereof.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein forming the plurality of semiconductor nanowires includes:
contacting a first electrode and a second electrode with a reactant solution; and
applying an electric field across the first electrode and the second electrode, wherein at least one electrode includes a catalyst.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are supported on a substrate.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein the substrate includes glass, quartz, or silicon.
15. The method of claim 12, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are facing electrodes separated by a gap.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the gap is between 10 nm and 100 microns in width.
17. The method of claim 12, wherein at least one electrode includes platinum and titanium.
18. The method of claim 12, wherein the catalyst includes a seed particle.
19. The method of claim 12, wherein the catalyst includes bismuth.
20. The method of claim 12, further comprising heating the reactant solution to a growth temperature between 120\xb0 C. and 400\xb0 C.
21. The method of claim 12, wherein the reactant solution includes a metal source and a chalcogenide source.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein the metal source includes cadmium.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein the chalcogenide source includes selenium.