Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Hideyuki Sugioka

Hajime Yamamoto

Fumitaka Goto

Kenji Shinjo

Toshihiko Bekki

Masami Amemiya

Junichiro Kanbe

Yutaka Inaba

Yukio Hanyu

Masanobu Asaoka

Takeo Yamazaki

Sunao Ichihara

Takayuki Yagi

Natsuhiko Mizutani

Tetsuo Kobayashi

Haruhiko Koto

Shuji Taue

Kiyoshi Ishikawa

An electroosmotic movable device is provided, which includes a liquid chamber that houses a liquid, a conductive movable structure that is placed in the liquid chamber and has a rotating shaft or a supporting point and further has a conductive portion, and an electrode for applying an electric field to the conductive movable structure. The conductive movable structure is enabled to move by an electroosmotic flow which occurs in an electric double layer portion formed by being paired with an electric charge induced in the conductive movable structure owing to the electric field which is applied from the electrode.

Electroosmotic movable device

A liquid mixing apparatus includes a flow channel configured to supply a liquid therethrough; a vortex-flow generating unit including a conductive member and an electrode, and configured to generate a vortex flow in the liquid in the flow channel by an electric field, the conductive member being provided in the flow channel, the electrode applying the electric field to the conductive member; a directional-flow generating unit connected to an end portion of the flow channel and configured to generate a flow of the liquid in a direction along the flow channel; and a switching unit configured to switch between the vortex flow and the directional flow.

Liquid mixing apparatus

A pump includes a flow passage through which a liquid containing an electrolytic solution is conveyed, a pair of electrodes in the flow passage to apply an electric field along the direction in which the liquid is conveyed, and a conductive member connected to one of the pair of electrodes and in contact with the liquid in the flow passage. The conductive member includes a sidewall portion that locally divides a flow of the liquid in the flow passage. The conductive member connected to one of the pair of electrodes may be a polyhedron or a column that is convex toward the electrode to which the conductive member is not connected.

Pump

An apparatus includes a device including a pair of electrodes and a channel producing an electro-osmotic flow or electrophoretic flow of a liquid by applying a voltage between the pair of electrodes, and an impedance connected to the pair of electrodes, wherein a voltage resulting from thermal noise is applied to the pair of electrodes by giving a temperature difference between the channel and the impedance, and thermal energy corresponding to the temperature difference is converted into a flow of the liquid, the flow of the liquid being mechanical energy.

Energy conversion apparatus

A fluid structure control device has a liquid chamber holding a solution containing an electrolyte dissolved therein and conductive particles dispersed in the solution, and a pair of electrodes for applying an AC voltage to the conductive particles in the liquid chamber. Electro-osmotic flows are caused to occur due to electric double layers induced at the interface between the solution and the conductive particles by application of a voltage, thereby producing interaction among the conductive particles to displace the conductive particles and change reversibly the dispersion state of the conductive particles in accordance with the applied voltage.

Fluid structure control device

An atomic magnetometer includes a light source for a probe beam and a medium in which the probe beam is to be propagated. The medium is a substance which changes a polarization rotation angle of the probe beam depending on a magnetic field intensity at a first measurement position and a magnetic field intensity at a second measurement position different from the first measurement position. The atomic magnetometer directly measures a difference between the magnetic field intensity at the first measurement position and the magnetic field intensity at the second measurement position as a difference in polarization rotation angle, along a propagation path of the probe beam.

Atomic magnetometer and magnetic sensing method

A magnetic sensing method comprises irradiating a pump light having a circularly polarized component and a probe light having a linearly polarized component onto a group of atoms contained in a cell so as to make the lights produce an intersection region and detecting a change of rotation angle of a plane of polarization of the probe light before and after passing the cell. The pump light and the probe light are irradiated in a state where a magnetic field of the direction in which the pump light strikes the intersection region is provided with a gradient.

Magnetic sensing method, atomic magnetometer and magnetic resonance imaging apparatus

A liquid driver system having a flow channel for delivering a liquid, includes a conductor member placed in the flow channel, electrodes for applying an electric field to the conductor member and delivering the liquid by application of a driving force to the liquid by electroosmotic flow produced around the conductor member by the electric field, and a first flow limiter at a position displaced from the conductor member to limit a liquid flow in a reverse direction of liquid flowing in forward and reverse directions relative to the conductor member, wherein a maximum length of the flow limiter is smaller than a length of the conductor member in the forward flow direction, and the flow limiter is placed relative to the conductor member, having a thickness (), such that a gap (&#x3b4;) between the conductor member and the flow limiter satisfies the relation of &#x3b4;&#x3c;c.

Liquid driver system using a conductor and electrode arrangement to produce an electroosmosis flow

An atomic magnetometer includes a cell containing an atomic group, a pump light source, a probe light source, a mirror, and a detector. The cell is disposed between the pump light source and the mirror and between the probe light source and the detector. A pump beam emitted from the pump light source is circularly polarized light. The pump beam passes through the cell and is reflected by the mirror and then passes through the cell again. The probe beam emitted from the probe light source is linearly polarized light. An optical path of the probe beam is parallel to the plane of incidence of the pump beam and is also parallel to the surface of the mirror. The optical path of the probe beam crosses the optical path of the pump beam in the cell. The probe beam which has passed through the cell enters the detector.

Atomic magnetometer and magnetic force measuring method

A fluid element is provided which comprises a flow path formed in a substrate for carrying a fluid, and a heating means provided in the flow path for heating the fluid, in which the fluid is heated using the heating unit, thereby forming a supercritical state of the fluid.

Microfluidic element

In calculating a displacement of a fluid, the displacement is calculated with the fluid regarded as an elastic structural body for a given period of time. This is founded on the idea that fluid is a substance that undergoes transition from a state (1) at time tto a state (2) at time tthrough a motion state in such manner that the fluid can be considered as an elastic body for a short period of time, after which all 'memory' of elastic deformation is lost, leaving only quantities of state.

Program for calculating displacement of fluid and method for acquiring variables

A micro liquid delivery device includes a flow channel for flowing a liquid, at least two pressure-generators for generating pressures provided in the flow channel, and a variable member placed between the pressure-generators and capable of transforming between a first stable state and a second stable state by a generated pressure. A branch of the flow channel is selected by transforming the variable member into the first stable state or the second stable state. A valve for changeover of flow channel branches includes a variable member placed between a pressure-generator and transformable between a first stable state and a second stable state by a generated pressure, with the valve serving to select a branch of flow channel branches by the variable member.

Liquid delivery device

A liquid discharging head for discharging liquid droplets utilizing generated bubbles by heating liquid to bubble comprises discharge port for discharging liquid droplets, bubbling chamber communicated with the discharge port for filling liquid; heat-generating member arranged in the bubbling chamber, being supported in a state of having gaps on both sides to the inner wall faces of the bubbling chamber; and supporting portion for supporting the heat-generating member. Then, after the generation of bubble in liquid by the heat-generating member, the sufrace temperature of the heat-generating member is made lower than the bubbling temperature at the time of bubble extinction by the heat radiation from the heat-generating member to the supporting portion side. In this way, it is made possible to prevent liquid from being heated again to generate bubble subsequent to the bubble extinction.

Liquid discharge head and recording apparatus provided with the liquid discharge head

An ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording apparatus which can be manufactured at low cost and with a continuous length by using nonlinear elements having MIM-type electrical characteristics to drive heat generating members having a bubble jet recording system so as to prevent the nonlinear elements from being destroyed by a heat generation of the nonlinear elements.

Growing community of inventors

Ebina, Japan

Hideyuki Sugioka