All The Claims

1. A layered film fabrication method comprising the steps of fabricating a layered film by layering at least a polarizing plate and an optical compensation layer, and performing defect inspection of the fabricated layered film; wherein
the defect inspection step includes the steps of
irradiating a light on the layered film from a light source arranged on the polarizing plate layered side of the layered film,
imaging a transmitted light image of the layered film by an imaging unit arranged on the optical compensation layer side of the layered film, and
detecting a defect existing in the layered film based on the transmitted light image imaged by the imaging unit; and
the imaging by the imaging unit is performed via an inspection polarization filter arranged adjacent to the imaging unit on a light path between the light source and the imaging unit, and an inspection retardation filter arranged between the inspection polarization filter and the layered film on the light path between the light source and the imaging unit.
2. A defect detection method of a layered film in which at least a polarizing plate and an optical compensation layer are layered; the method comprising the steps of:
irradiating a light on the layered film from a light source arranged on the polarizing plate layered side of the layered film;
imaging a transmitted light image of the layered film by an imaging unit arranged on the optical compensation layer side of the layered film; and
detecting a defect existing in the layered film based on the transmitted light image imaged by the imaging unit; wherein
the imaging by the imaging unit is performed via an inspection polarization filter arranged adjacent to the imaging unit on a light path between the light source and the imaging unit, and an inspection retardation filter arranged between the inspection polarization filter and the layered film on the light path between the light source and the imaging unit.
3. A defect detection device of a layered film in which at least a polarizing plate and an optical compensation layer are layered; the device comprising:
a light source arranged on the polarizing plate layered side of the layered film and irradiating a light on the layered film;
an imaging unit arranged on the optical compensation layer side of the layered film and imaging a transmitted light image of the layered film;
a defect detection unit for detecting a defect existing in the layered film based on the transmitted light image imaged by the imaging unit;
an inspection polarization filter arranged adjacent to the imaging unit on a light path between the light source and the imaging unit; and
an inspection retardation filter arranged between the inspection polarization filter and the layered film on the light path between the light source and the imaging unit.
4. The layered film defect detection device according to claim 3, wherein the optical compensation layer is a retardation layer having an orientation angle variation of retardation controlled to be within 4\xb0, and the inspection retardation filter has same characteristics as the retardation layer.
5. The layered film defect detection device according to claim 3, wherein the optical compensation layer includes a discotheque liquid crystal layer, and the inspection retardation filter is an inspection discotheque liquid crystal layer having the same characteristics.
6. The layered film defect detection device according to claim 3, further comprising a first optical axis adjustment unit for adjusting a relative angle position of a polarizing axis of the inspection polarization filter and a polarizing axis of the polarizing plate.
7. The layered film defect detection device according to claim 3, further comprising a second optical axis adjustment unit for adjusting a relative angle position of an optical axis of the inspection retardation filter and an optical axis of the optical compensation layer.
8. A layered film inspected by the defect detection device according to claim 3.
9. A layered film in which at least one optical layer is layered on the layered film according to claim 8.
10. An image display device including the layered film according to claim 9.

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 endoscope comprising:
a shaft having a deflectable distal end;
a main section at a proximal end of the shaft, where the main section forms a handle of the endoscope; and
a deflection control connected to the distal end, wherein the deflection control comprises a combined lock and deflection control member at the main section comprising a control lever pivotably connected to the main section at a pivot and extending away from the pivot in a general cantilever fashion, and a lock lever pivotably connected to the control lever, where a first end of the lock lever is configured to contact the main section and where a second end of the lock lever is configured to be pressed inward on the control lever towards the main section to pivot the first end out of contact with the main section.
2. An endoscope as in claim 1 wherein the combined lock and deflection control member is adapted to be moved to a selected location by a single finger of a user and thereby deflect the distal end, and wherein the combined lock and deflection control member is adapted to be locked at the user selected location by movement of the lock lever to a locked position by the single finger of the user.
3. An endoscope as in claim 1 wherein the control lever is connected to a control wire pulley of the deflection control, wherein the control wire pulley is connected to the deflectable distal end.
4. An endoscope as in claim 1 wherein the lock lever is biased by a spring on the control lever towards a locked position with the main section.
5. An endoscope as in claim 1 wherein the first end of the lock lever comprises a projection adapted to contact a lock section on the main section when the lock lever is at a locked position, and wherein the projection is disengaged from the lock section on the main section when the lock lever is pivoted on the control lever to an unlocked position.
6. An endoscope as in claim 5 wherein the lock sect ion on the main section comprises a curved insert mounted onto the main section.
7. An endoscope as in claim 5 wherein the lock section on the main section comprises recesses at predetermined locations along a curved path.
8. An endoscope as in claim 1 wherein a first section of the control lever is located at a first exterior side of the main section and a second section of the control lever is located at an adjacent second exterior side of the handle, where the control lever has a cantilevered curved shape over the first and second exterior sides.
9. An endoscope comprising:
a shaft having a deflectable distal end;
a handle at a proximal end of the shaft; and
a deflection control connected to the distal end, wherein the deflection control comprises;
a control lever pivotably connected to a first side of the handle, where the control lever extends from the first side of the handle in a general cantilever fashion, over an adjacent second side of the handle; and
a lock lever pivotably connected to the control lever, wherein the lock lever comprises a lock section adapted to contact a lock section on the handle.
10. An endoscope as in claim 9 wherein the control lever is connected to a control wire pulley of the deflection control, wherein the control wire pulley is connected to the deflectable distal end by a control wire.
11. An endoscope as in claim 9 wherein the lock lever is biased by a spring on the control lever towards a locked position with the handle.
12. An endoscope as in claim 9 wherein the lock lever is pivotably connected to the control lever by a pivot, where the lock lever includes a first end and a second end on opposite sides of the pivot, where the first end comprises the lock section of the lock lever, where the second end comprises a finger contact area for a user to depress the second end and pivotably rotate the lock lever on the control lever, and wherein the lock section of the lock lever is disengaged from the lock section on the handle when the lock lever is moved on the control lever to an unlocked position.
13. An endoscope as in claim 9 wherein the lock section on the handle comprises a curved insert mounted onto the handle.
14. An endoscope as in claim 9 wherein the lock section on the handle comprises recesses at predetermined locations along a curved path.
15. An endoscope as in claim 9 where the control lever has a longitudinally curved shape and where the lock lever has a longitudinally curved shape generally in a same direction of curvature as the control lever.
16. A method comprising:
pivotably connecting a control lever to a handle section of an endoscope, where the control lever is connected to a control wire pulley of a deflection control system of the endoscope, where the control lever is adapted to be rotated on the handle section to rotate the pulley; and
pivotably connecting a lock lever to the control lever, where the lock lever is adapted to pivot on the control lever between a locked position and an unlocked position, where in the locked position a locking section on a first end of the lock lever engages a lock section of the handle section, and where in the unlocked position the locking section on the first end of the lock lever does not engage the lock section of the handle section.
17. A method as in claim 16 further comprising locating a spring between the control lever and the lock lever to bias the lock lever towards the locked positron.
18. A method comprising:
rotating a lock lever in a first direction from a first locked position to a second unlocked position, where the lock lever is pivotably connected to a control lever, where the control lever is pivotably connected to a control wire pulley of a deflection control system of the endoscope; and
after the lock lever is moved to the second unlocked position, moving the lock lever and the control lever together in a second different direction to thereby rotate the control wire pulley.
19. A method as in claim 18 further comprising, after the lock lever and control lever are rotated in the second direction to a user selected location, allowing a spring to pivot the lock lever on the control lever in a third direction opposite to the first direction such that a lock section of the lock lever engages a lock section on a handle section of the endoscope.

1. A membrane for fluid separation prepared by a process comprising the steps of:
a) providing a polyimide polymer comprising a plurality of first repeating units of a formula (I), wherein said formula (I) is:
in which R1 of said formula (I) is a moiety having a composition selected from the group consisting of a formula (A), a formula (B), a formula (C), and mixtures thereof, wherein said formula (A), said formula (B), and said formula (C) are:
and in which R2 of said formula (I) is a moiety having a composition selected from the group consisting of a formula (Q), a formula (S), a formula (T), and mixtures thereof, wherein said formula (Q), said formula (S), and said formula (T) are:
in which Z of said formula (T) is a moiety having a composition selected from the group consisting of a formula (L), a formula (M), a formula (N), and mixtures thereof, wherein said formula (L), said formula (M), and said formula (N) are:
b) annealing said polyimide polymer to form an annealed polymer;
c) synthesizing a concentrated solution, wherein said concentrated solution comprises a solvent and said annealed polyimide polymer; and
d) forming a membrane.
2. The membrane of claim 1, wherein said annealing step is conducted by a process selected from the group consisting of mechanical annealing, thermal annealing, or combinations thereof.
3. The membrane of claim 2, wherein said annealing step is conducted for a period of time of about 6-30 hours at a temperature of about 100-250\xb0 C.
4. The membrane of claim 3, wherein said period of time is about 10-16 hours and said temperature is about 140-180\xb0 C.
5. The membrane of claim 4, wherein said annealing step is conducted under a vacuum of greater than about 15 inches of mercury.
6. The membrane of claim 1, wherein said concentrated solution comprises about 30 weight % said annealed polyimide polymer, wherein said solvent is NMP, and wherein said concentrated solution has a zero-shear complex viscosity of greater than about 90 Pa\xb7s at 40\xb0 C.
7. The membrane of claim 6, wherein said concentrated solution has a zero-shear complex viscosity of greater than about 150 Pa\xb7s at 40\xb0 C.
8. The membrane of claim 6, wherein said concentrated solution has a zero-shear complex viscosity in a range of about 150 Pa\xb7s to about 500 Pa\xb7s at 40\xb0 C.
9. The membrane of claim 1, wherein said membrane is a hollow fiber membrane.
10. The membrane of claim 1, wherein said polyimide polymer is selected from a group consisting of P84 polymer, P84HT polymer, or
11. The membrane of claim 10, wherein said polyimide polymer has an inherent viscosity of greater than about 0.52 dlgm.
12. The membrane of claim 10, wherein said annealed polyimide polymer is has an inherent viscosity of greater than about 0.58 dlgm.
13. The membrane of claim 1, wherein said annealing step increases an inherent viscosity of said polyimide polymer by at least about 5%.
14. The membrane of claim 1, wherein said annealed polyimide polymer further comprises a second repeating unit of a formula (II), wherein said formula (II) is:
wherein R1 and R2 are moieties as defined for formula (I) above, and
wherein said annealed polyimide polymer comprises less than about 3 mole % said second repeating units.
15. The membrane of claim 14, wherein said annealed polyimide polymer comprises less than about 1 mole % said second repeating units.
16. The membrane of claim 1, wherein said first repeating units comprise moieties selected from the group consisting of a formula (Ia), a formula (Ib), and mixtures thereof, wherein said formula (Ia) and said formula (Ib) are:
and wherein R1 is a moiety selected from the group consisting of said formula (Q) and said formula (S), and mixtures thereof.
17. The membrane of claim 16, wherein R1 is a moiety having a composition of:
a) said formula (A) in about 10-30% of said first repeating units; and
b) said formula (B) in about 70-90% of said first repeating units, and wherein said first repeating units of said formula (Ib) are about 30-50% of the total of said first repeating units.
18. A method of producing a fluid separation membrane, said method comprising the steps of:
a) providing a polyimide polymer comprising a plurality of first repeating units of a formula (I), wherein said formula (I) is:
in which R1 of said formula (I) is a moiety having a composition selected from the group consisting of a formula (A), a formula (B), a formula (C), and mixtures thereof, wherein said formula (A), said formula (B), and said formula (C) are:
and in which R2 of said formula (I) is a moiety having a composition selected from the group consisting of a formula (Q), a formula (S), a formula (T), and mixtures thereof, wherein said formula (Q), said formula (S), and said formula (T) are:
in which Z of said formula (T) is a moiety having a composition selected from the group consisting of a formula (L), a formula (M), a formula (N), and mixtures thereof, wherein said formula (L), said formula (M), and said formula (N) are:
b) annealing said polyimide polymer to form an annealed polymer;
c) synthesizing a concentrated solution, wherein said concentrated solution comprises a solvent and said annealed polyimide polymer; and
d) forming a membrane.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein said annealed polyimide polymer comprises a second repeating unit of a formula (II), wherein said formula (II) is:
wherein R1 and R2 are moieties as defined for formula (I) above, and
wherein said annealed polyimide polymer comprises less than about 3 mole % said second repeating units.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein said annealed polyimide polymer comprises less than about 1 mole % said second repeating units after said annealing step.
21. The membrane of claim 18, wherein said first repeating units comprise moieties selected from the group consisting of a formula (Ia), a formula (Ib), and mixtures thereof, wherein said formula (Ia) and said formula (Ib) are:
and wherein R1 is a moiety selected from the group consisting of said formula (Q) and said formula (S), and mixtures thereof.
22. The membrane of claim 18, wherein R1 is a moiety having a composition of:
a) said formula (A) in about 10-30% of said first repeating units; and
b) said formula (B) in about 70-90% of said first repeating units;

and wherein said first repeating units of said formula (Ib) are about 30-50% of the total of said first repeating units.
23. The method of claim 18, wherein said annealing step is conducted by a process selected from the group consisting of mechanical annealing, thermal annealing, or combinations thereof.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein said annealing step is conducted for a period of time of about 6-30 hours at a temperature of about 100-250\xb0 C.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein said period of time is about 10-16 hours and said temperature is about 140-180\xb0 C.
26. The method of claim 23, wherein said annealing step is conducted under a vacuum of greater than about 15 inches of mercury.
27. The method of claim 18, wherein said concentrated solution comprises about 30 weight % said annealed polyimide polymer, wherein said solvent is NMP, and wherein said concentrated solution has a zero-shear complex viscosity of greater than about 90 Pa\xb7s at 40\xb0 C.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein said concentrated solution has a zero-shear complex viscosity of greater than about 150 Pa\xb7s at 40\xb0 C.
29. The method of claim 27, wherein said concentrated solution has a zero-shear complex viscosity in a range of about 150 Pa\xb7s to about 500 Pa\xb7s at 40\xb0 C.
30. The method of claim 18, wherein said membrane is a hollow fiber membrane.
31. The method of claim 18, wherein said polyimide polymer is selected from a group consisting of P84 polymer, P84HT polymer, or mixtures thereof.
32. The method of claim 18, wherein the inherent viscosity of said annealed polyimide polymer is at least about 5% greater than the inherent viscosity of said polyimide polymer.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A breast pad and nursing bib apparatus comprising:
a cup-shaped base flap; and
a nursing flap;
wherein said nursing flap is hingedly coupled to said cup-shaped base flap and wherein said nursing flap may be rotated between a first closed position and second bib position.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cup-shaped base flap and said nursing flap have a front side which faces a breast and a back side which faces a woman’s clothing, said front side comprising an absorbent material and said back side comprising a liquid impermeable material.
3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said back side comprises a breathable material.
4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said front side of said cup-shaped base flap comprises adhesive areas.
5. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said front side of said nursing flap comprises adhesive areas.
6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising adhesive flaps hingedly coupled to said cup-shaped base flap.
7. The apparatus according to claim 4, 5 or 6 wherein said adhesive is hypo-allergic.
8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cup-shaped base flap comprises a self-supporting, contoured shape.
9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said nursing flap is of sufficient size and shape to extend underneath a woman’s breast in a self-supporting bib position.
10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said apparatus comprises an elastic fabric.
11. The apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising an attached wipe.
12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said attached wipe contains an agent selected from the group consisting of a cleaning agent, a medicinal agent and a skin benefit agent and combinations thereof.
13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said apparatus is disposable.
14. A breast pad and nursing bib apparatus comprising:
a cup-shaped absorbent base flap;
a nursing flap; and
a wipe;
wherein said nursing flap is hingedly coupled to said cup-shaped absorbent base flap, wherein said nursing flap may be rotated between a first closed position and second bib position, and wherein said wipe is attached to said apparatus.