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fig1 illustrates a computer system 100 which is a simplified example of a computer system capable of restoring wakeup events after an invalid shutdown event computer system 100 includes processor 110 which is coupled to host bus 120 . a level two ( l2 ) cache memory 130 is also coupled to the host bus 120 . host - to - pci bridge 140 is coupled to main memory 150 , includes cache memory and main memory control functions , and provides bus control to handle transfers among pci bus 160 , processor 110 , l2 cache 130 , main memory 150 , and host bus 120 . pci bus 160 provides an interface for a variety of devices including , for example , lan card 165 . pci - to - isa bridge 170 provides bus control to handle transfers between pci bus 160 and isa bus 180 , ide and universal serial bus ( usb ) functionality 175 , power management functionality 172 , and can include other functional elements not shown , such as a real - time clock ( rtc ), dma control , interrupt support , and system management bus support . an example of pci - to - isa bridge 170 is the aforementioned piix4 . peripheral devices and input / output ( i / o ) devices can be attached to various interfaces 185 coupled to isa bus 180 . alternatively , many i / o devices can be accommodated by a super i / o controller ( not shown ) attached to isa bus 180 . i / o devices such as modem 187 are coupled to the appropriate i / o interface , for example a serial interface as shown in fig1 . the bios 190 is coupled to isa bus 180 , and incorporates the necessary processor executable code for a variety of low - level system functions and system boot functions , including the capability to restore wakeup events after an invalid shutdown event . bios 190 can be stored in any computer readable medium , including magnetic storage media , optical storage media , flash memory , random access memory , read only memory , and communications media conveying signals encoding the instructions ( e . g . signals from a network ). in order to implement wakeup on lan capability , lan card 165 is coupled to pci - to - isa bridge 170 and the power management functionality 172 through wake indicator 168 . similarly , to implement wakeup on ring indicated , the ring indicate line 188 couples to pci - to - isa bridge 170 and the power management functionality 172 . power management functionality 172 can include the logic and registers necessary to implement a power management standard such as acpi , and sleep states and wakeup events such as those described above . additionally , a nonvolatile memory , such as a battery backed sram ( not shown ) is used to store bios parameters , wakeup event information , and power state information . such a nonvolatile memory can be a separate component , or integrated within another component such as pci - to - isa bridge 170 . fig2 illustrates the operation the bios to restore wakeup event enablement after an invalid event such as a power loss . the process begins when a power on reset 210 occurs . the power on reset can be caused by valid events such as the occurrence of an enabled wakeup event ( e . g . a user pressing the computer system &# 39 ; s power button ), or invalid events such as the restoration of power to the computer system after a power failure . in either case , the bios is loaded and its execution begins as shown by item 220 . early in the bios code , the computer system is tested to determine if the power on reset was caused by an invalid event this can be accomplished , for example , by polling the power management functionality 172 to determine if the reset was caused by any one of the possible valid events . if not , then the bios concludes that the reset was caused by an invalid event . alternative methods of determining the validity of a power on reset event will be readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art . if the reset is due to an invalid event , the bios then determines if the pre - reset power state was the fully on power state , as shown in step 240 . information in nonvolatile memory , such as a power state flag , is examined by the bios in order to determine the appropriate power state for the computer system . if the power state flag indicates that the computer system was not in the fully on state prior to the invalid event , the appropriate wakeup event register or registers are restored as indicated in 250 . for example , if the wakeup on lan wakeup event was previously enabled , this information will be indicated in the nonvolatile memory . using this information , the bios resets the necessary bit or bits in the power management circuit &# 39 ; s register or registers . the bios then returns the system to the soft - off state , 275 , without having to continue execution of the bios code . if the reset is not due to an invalid event ( 230 ), or the pre - reset power state was the fully on power state ( 240 ), step 260 indicates that the remainder of the bios is executed in order to take the computer system to the fully on working state 270 . execution of the remainder of the bios can also include wakeup event enablement it should also be noted that restoration of other pre - reset power states ( e . g . intermediate sleep states ) is possible if sufficient pre - reset power state information was stored in a nonvolatile memory . accordingly , execution of bios code that includes wakeup event restoration such as 250 and some additional bios routines can be implemented without requiring all of the remaining bios code to be executed as in 260 . those having ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize suitable software implementations for the wakeup event and power state restoration described above , and the particular structures depicted in fig1 and 2 are merely illustrative of an exemplary set of suitable implementations . in addition to the various possible software implementations for the reset validity , wakeup event restoration , and power state selection routines , the same routines can be equivalently implemented in logic circuitry . the description of the invention set forth herein is illustrative and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims . variations and modifications of the embodiments disclosed herein may be made based on the description set forth herein , without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the following claims .
| 6Physics
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the instant invention is novel in that it provides for a collection of physical charm designs 12 that can be easily attached to bracelets , necklaces 10 , 20 , and other personal adornments in combinations of charm designs and the means for monitoring changes in the physical condition of the user . in particular , the instant invention provides for the user / wearer to display as a charm or linked bracelet a cartoon character in a high gloss paint finish in the center of the bracelet , or necklace with the user / wearer personal identification printed on the back of the charm or linked bracelet cartoon character . in the instant invention , the user / wearer postal address , telephone / cell phone numbers of next of kin , etc ., can be readily displayed . further in the instant invention , specific sports team logos of participating sports organizations ) which will provide additional detail information that can be attached to the child &# 39 ; s / user &# 39 ; s / wearer &# 39 ; s personal back - pack , purse , kit - pack etc . the invention is comprised essentially of a variety of bracelet , necklace 10 , 12 , 20 , and other personal wear adornments in a range of designs that incorporate both attractive 16 and useful medical information 18 about the user that is readily accessible to members of the public in the event of a change in the medical condition of the user . in the instant invention , the cartoon characters 16 can for example , be derived from the disney , nickolodeon or similar children &# 39 ; s media corporations cast of characters , can be changed with added links during the child &# 39 ; s developmental stages and provide the child / user / wearer some measure of self identification , independence and self expression . in the instant invention , specific sports team logos of participating sports organizations ) will provide additional detail information that can be attached to the child &# 39 ; s / user &# 39 ; s / wearer &# 39 ; s personal 48 back - pack , purse , kit - pack etc . similarly , in the instant invention , specific sports team logos of participating sports organizations ) which will provide additional detail information that can be attached to the child &# 39 ; s / user &# 39 ; s / wearer &# 39 ; s personal back - pack , purse , or kit - pack 48 . for each purchase of the said charms the organization owning the cartoon character will provide a card / certificate of authentication 50 providing additional personal information of the child / user / wearer . in yet a further embodiment of the instant invention , the necklace and bracelet designs , 10 , 20 , and children &# 39 ; s back packs , purses or kit - packs 48 , can be provided with any additional attachments such as those described above in items 16 , 18 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 32 , 34 , 36 , 38 , 40 , 42 , 44 , and 46 as disclosed in the following : 1 . a pictorial representation of the user &# 39 ; s preference for a cartoon character or sports logo in a variety of formats including but not limited to enamel or fluorescent paint , etching , or hologram on the front side 16 , and with user specific medical information on the reverse side 18 . 2 . a water tight bracelet or necklace closure clasp 14 with accommodation for a usb portal 29 . 3 . an embodiment 22 disclosing for example , the user &# 39 ; s specific allergy information . 4 . embodiments in the form of dc . battery power 21 and solar cell power 23 supplies for powering items including 24 , 26 , 28 , 30 , 32 , 34 , 36 , 38 , 40 , 42 , 44 and 46 . 5 . an embodiment 24 with an electronic chip attachment feature for digitally transferring information relating to the user &# 39 ; s medical information . 6 . an embodiment 25 providing an usb computer terminal capability . 7 . an embodiment 26 with an rfid , antennae or infra red tag attachment feature for transferring the user &# 39 ; s medical information . 8 . an embodiment 28 with a gps attachment feature with the user &# 39 ; s position information 9 . an embodiment 30 with a biomedical monitoring device attachment feature . 10 . an embodiment 32 with an audible device attachment feature . 11 . an embodiment 34 with a device attachment feature with visual alarm means . 12 . an embodiment with a biomedical monitoring device attachment feature 36 with audible alarm means . 13 . an embodiment 38 with an electronic chip embedded in an attachment feature . 14 . an embodiment 40 with a bar code data scan able for downloading user medical information in an attachment feature . 15 . an embodiment providing a two dimensional quick response ( qr ) bar code data scan 42 able for downloading user medical information in an attachment feature . 16 . an embodiment 44 with a biomedical monitoring device attachment feature with visual indications . 17 . an embodiment 46 wherein a combined visual and audible alarm is actuated in the event that the user exhibits abnormal medical conditions . for each purchase of the said charms from participating organizations with distinctive logos including but not limited to , sports teams in the nba , wnba , nfl , nhl , mls , the individual sports organization / team administrative contacts will provide a card / certificate of authentication providing additional personal information of the child / user / wearer ; providing additional personal information of the child / user / wearer . the invention provides a vast variety of charm designs in a variety of shapes and sizes and a broad range of medical information means specifically relating to the user &# 39 ; s medical conditions . the prime feature of the instant invention can be described in that for every purchase of bracelet , necklace , charm attachment , each child / user / wearer will be in receipt of an authenticated corporation card from a cartoon character ( from disney , nickolodeon or equal child media corporation ) and specific sports team logos of participating sports organizations ) which will provide additional detail information that can be attached to the child &# 39 ; s / user &# 39 ; s / wearer &# 39 ; s personal back - pack , purse , kit - pack etc . the instant invention discloses a medical information bracelet comprising : a one piece continuous member in material in for example , elastic , comprises hypoallergenic elastomer and the elastomer is coated with a hypoallergenic material ; wherein said bracelet further includes an individual &# 39 ; s medical information affixed to said bracelet wherein said medical information comprises one of said individual &# 39 ; s illnesses , medical history , condition , required medications , allergies , a personal physician or doctor , emergency contact information , or insurance information and wherein said information is affixed by stitching , embroidery , iron - on , coloring , screen printing , sewing on a badge , or a combination thereof . the instant invention provides for a bracelet or necklace closure water tight seal clasp 14 selected from a range of designs including but not limited to spring clasps , hinge clasps , hooks , spiral rings , jump rings , or toggle clasps . the instant invention further discloses that the closure clasp 14 or link 25 , can incorporate a usb portal 29 capable of storing digital data and accessing from the user &# 39 ; s internet account relating to the user &# 39 ; s medical history information . in addition , the instant invention provides the user to exhibit medical information in a readily retrievable manner by the use of attractive and decorative means in the form of a variety of other personal adornments such as wrist , ankle charm bracelets , headbands , neckbands , ankle - bands , leg - bands , and garment accessories such as neckties , belts , and garters . the instant invention disclose a computer - implemented method for providing a medical alert system , providing a database for storing medical information for an individual user and associating the stored medical information with a barcode of the individual user and sending to a computing device over an internet network . the instant invention discloses a system for identifying a person by means of attaching an identification apparatus to a person , the attachment means comprising a circuit configured to receive and store biometric information about the person when the circuit is in an active state , such that the circuit is configured to store new biometric information received from an external device after returning to the active state . the invention provides a novel arrangement for combining an ornamental adornment in the form of a bracelet , necklace , broach , that provides life saving information about the wearer to enable any bystander , or member of the public to alert medical authorities , medical first responders in the event that the user / wearer is involved in an accident , or a medical emergency rendering the user / wearer incapacitated . the instant invention provides an easy to use , versatile , simple array of designs of medical information that is readily accessible , audibly 32 and visually 34 and apparent and simple for the user to wear without in any way drawing attention to the presentation of the medical information means and avoiding causing any embarrassment to the user . the invention can readily incorporate a number of features that enhance the wearer &# 39 ; s capacity to relay important medical information to the public at large in an attractive , informative manner connecting with a variety of cognitive senses . the invention is capable of incorporating reusable or non - reusable identification device incorporating tamper resistant fastening for necklaces , bracelets . the materials used in making these items include the form of sterling silver 14 k and other similar types of metals . the instant invention is capable of providing identification information incorporated in children &# 39 ; s and youth accoutrements such as back packs and purses , denoting disney , nickelodeon and sports team logos . the invention is capable of incorporating medical identification information providing encoded biometric data such as fingerprints , retina scans , iris , blood , dna , in the form of electronic chip 38 data storage devices . the invention in a further embodiment can provide medical identification devices with bar - code information that would contain additional medical and personal information about the user and wherein the bar - codes 40 , 42 , are scanable to obtain additional health and personal information . the invention in yet a further embodiment can provide biomedical monitoring functions using devices in contact with the user &# 39 ; s skin whereby the user &# 39 ; s state of health can be detected using electronic control circuits 28 and data transmitting apparatus in the form of flexible electronic chips embedded in necklace or bracelet charms . the invention in yet a further embodiment can incorporate the use of rfid ( radio frequency identification ) circuits 26 embedded in necklace or bracelets charms whereby by means of a transponder can emit a wireless signal representative of medical information stored in the said transponder and responsive to changes in the user &# 39 ; s medical condition . the individual components of the instant invention are capable of being constructed in a variety of materials , in the form of rare and valuable metals including gold , silver , sterling silver , platinum and various alloys thereof . further the individual components of the instant invention are also capable of being constructed in a variety of other materials , in the form of corrosion resistant metals including stainless steel , nickel and chromium alloys , titanium , copper , bronze , and alloys thereof . further the individual components of the instant invention are also capable of being constructed in a variety of other non metallic materials , in the form of for example , plastics , hardened plastic , fiberglass , and combinations thereof . in yet a further invention design embodiment , the individual components of the bracelet , or necklace can be provided in a variety of metallic and non - metallic materials comprising elastomer hypoallergenic coatings . it will be evident that the plurality of embodiments of the instant invention disclosed herewith have a multiplicity of applications including but not limited to combining a vast range of physically attractive charms with a broad range of means for relaying medical information relevant to the user &# 39 ; s stable medical condition and importantly providing means for indicating important changes in the user &# 39 ; s medical condition . it will be evident that the instant invention medical id bracelets are different from other medical id bracelets because they have designed them with medical professionals / patients in mind based on experience from a registered nurse with er experience . specifically when working in the emergency room , the patients are received both conscious and unconscious and it is necessary to work expeditiously to save lives , and when patients are transported to the hospital by ambulance , and arrive before their loved ones and relatives , pertinent information such as allergies to medications remain unknown . it is evident from insights by contacts with numerous patients with health issues / allergies , that not wearing medical id bracelets results from the fact that visually medical id bracelets are ugly and unfashionable . recognizing these visual factors , the instant invention has created medical id bracelets where medical needs information meets current fashion trends , resulting in medical id bracelets that will be informative to medical staff and provide acceptable trendy fashion styles for both children , adolescents and adults . it is well known medically , that nurses , and doctors can be visually informed by being able to assess medical conditions / allergies on unconscious patients , and with a quick glance at the lifesaving information in the form of a medical id bracelet , or necklace , proper treatment can be rendered accurately and promptly . it is well understood that fashion visual trends have a significant influence on children , adolescents , and adults in their lives , and an opportunity to select images , such as , nickelodeon / disney characters and other media or sports team logos characters that they admire , in the form of medical id will be attractive and enhance self - esteem . it is also well known that children with chronic illnesses and allergies acquire self - esteem issues resulting from being the subject of bullying and feeling isolated and embarrassed about their condition . therefore , children with such medical conditions and allergies can be perceived inferior and different by their peers . in the instant invention therefore , a medical id charm bracelet would allow children and adolescents to display hanging embodiments from the bracelet displaying , for example , their favorite nickelodeon / disney character , and at the same time disclosing preexisting medical conditions . in this manner , children and adolescents would no longer feel ashamed to wear a medical id bracelet and instead would have a sense of pride in showing their preference for favorite media or sports team logos and specific characters or players . in addition , the instant invention by devising medical id link bracelets , or bracelets that are designed both for children , adolescents and also adults , can afford adults the same opportunity to wear their favorite sports teams while at the same time disclosing pertinent medical information and thereby provide practically universal application benefits . it will further be understood from the foregoing description that various modifications and changes can be readily incorporated in the preferred embodiments of the instant invention without departing from the essential inventive concept and from its true spirit . this specification description and the accompanying drawings are intended for the purposes of illustration only and should not be construed in a limiting sense .
| 0Human Necessities
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fig1 shows an illustrative embodiment of the present invention . a contact center comprises a central server 10 ( such as a modified version of the crm central 2000 server ™ of lucent technologies , inc . ), a set of data stores or databases 12 containing contact or customer related information and other information that can enhance the value and efficiency of the contact , and a plurality of servers , namely a fax server 24 , a web server 20 , an email server 16 , and other servers 13 , a private branch exchange pbx 28 ( or private automatic exchange pax ), a plurality of working agents 14 operating computer work stations , such as personal computers , and / or telephones or other type of voice communications equipment , all interconnected by a local area network lan ( or wide area network wan ) 36 . the fax server 24 , web server 20 and email server 16 are connected via communication connections 40 to an internet and / or intranet 44 . the other servers 13 can be connected via optional communication lines 22 , 32 to the pbx 28 and / or internet or intranet 44 . as will appreciated , other servers 13 could include a scanner ( which is normally not connected to the pbx 28 or internet or intranet 44 ), interactive voice recognition ivr software , voip software , video call software , voice messaging software , an ip voice server , and the like . the pbx 28 is connected via a plurality of trunks 18 to the public switch telecommunication network pstn 48 and to the fax server 24 and telephones of the agents 14 . as will be appreciated , faxes can be received via the pstn 48 or via the internet or intranet 44 by means of a suitably equipped personal computer . the pbx 28 , fax server 24 , email server 16 , web server 20 , and database 12 are conventional . in the architecture of fig1 when the central server 10 forwards a voice contact to an agent , the central server 10 also forwards information from databases 12 to the agent &# 39 ; s computer work station for viewing ( such as by a pop - up display ) to permit the agent to better serve the customer . as will be appreciated , the central server 10 is notified via lan 36 of an incoming real - time or non - real - time contact by the telecommunications component ( e . g ., pbx 28 , fax server 24 , email server 16 , web server 20 , and / or other server 13 ) receiving the incoming contact . the incoming contact is held by the receiving telecommunications component until the central server 10 forwards instructions to the component to forward the contact to a specific station or agent 14 . the server 10 distributes and connects these contacts to stations 14 of available agents based on set of predetermined criteria . the agents 14 process the contacts sent to them by the central server 10 . the memory 30 includes a plurality of sets 38 of call queues 42 and 46 . each set 38 of call queues 42 and 46 conventionally serves and holds contacts for a different work type and / or for real - versus non - real - time contacts . in the depicted embodiment , queues 42 serve non - real - time contacts while queues 46 serve real - time contacts . this embodiment is particularly suited for a customer relationship management ( crm ) environment in which customers are permitted to use any media to contact a business . in a crm environment , both real - time and non - real - time contacts must be handled and distributed with equal efficiency and effectiveness . within each set 38 of queues 42 and 46 , each queue holds contacts of a different priority and / or different type ( e . g ., e - mail , fax , electronic or paper documents , webform submissions , voice messages , voice calls , voip calls , text chat , video calls , and the like ). the priority of a contact is determined according to well known predefined criteria . depending upon the type of contact ( e . g ., voice , e - mail , fax , electronic or paper documents , etc . ), the priority of a contact is determined according to well known predefined criteria , as set forth in copending u . s . application ser . no . 09 / 669 , 257 “ an arrangement for controlling the volume and type of contacts in an internet call center ”, filed concurrently herewith , which is incorporated herein by this reference , and / or as set forth below . each queue 42 and 46 normally functions as a first - in , first - out ( fifo ) buffer memory , and includes a plurality of entries , or positions 50 , each for identifying a corresponding one enqueued contact . the position 50 at the head of the queue is considered to be position 1 , the next subsequent position 50 to be position number 2 , and so forth . memory 30 further includes an estimated wait time ( ewt ) function , ( or waiting time predictor ) 54 . as its name implies , this function determines an estimate of how long a contact that is placed in a queue 42 or 46 will have to wait before being delivered to an agent 14 for servicing . the estimate is derived separately by ewt function 54 for each queue 42 or 46 of each set 38 . for real - time contacts , the estimate is based on the average rate of advance of calls through positions 50 of the contacts &# 39 ; corresponding queue 46 . an illustrative implementation of ewt function 54 for real - time contacts is disclosed by u . s . pat . no . 5 , 506 , 898 . for non - real - time contacts , the estimate is determined differently than for real - time contacts . the technique ( s ) for estimating the ewt is set forth in copending u . s . provisional application entitled “ wait time prediction arrangement for non - real - time customer contacts ” having ser . no . 60 / 200 , 520 and a filing date of apr . 27 , 2000 , and in copending u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 641 , 403 , filed concurrently herewith and having the same title , and which are incorporated herein by this reference . the system records the time at which each item is serviced from its respective queue . the advance time is then calculated by measuring the time interval between the time of servicing of a first item in the first position 50 at the head of the queue and the time of servicing of a second , later item in the second position . stated another way , the advance time is determined by the following equation : the weighted average advance time wat can then be determined using the advance time , the estimated wait time ewt using the wat . to guard against substantial fluctuations in the advance time from certain types of events , a filter 58 is provided . the processor 34 sets an indicator 62 when a predetermined type of event occurs and the filter 58 discards the advance time associated with the marked item . predetermined types of events are as follows : ( a ) the respective queue has no working agents available for servicing items from the queue . this event occurs , for example , after normal working hours when the contact center is unstaffed . non - real - time contacts will remain in the queue during the unstaffed period . ( b ) the respective queue is empty . this event occurs , for example , during quiet periods in which there are no items in the queue . ( c ) the system clock is changed . this event occurs , for example , when the system clock is changed to or from daylight savings time . non - real - time contacts may remain in the queue during the clock change . ( d ) the system is nonoperational . this event occurs , for example , when the system is down for a time and then rebooted . non - real - time contacts may persist in the queue during the period the system is shut down . memory 30 can further include a contact - selection ( sel ) function 26 . function 26 is conventional in that , for each contact at the head of a queue , it determines , for real - time a current or oldest wait time or cwt , the weighted average advance time wat , the expected wait time ewt , and / or the predicted wait time pwt ( which is the sum of the cwt and wat ), and , for each available agent , it selects a contact from queues 42 and / or 46 for connection to and handling by that agent . this feature is further described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 905 , 793 , which is incorporated herein by this reference . in fig1 , the center 10 is shown as being connected via communication lines 40 to a plurality of interfaces 51 a - d ( e . g ., graphical user interfaces , etc .) between a customer and the contact center . as will be appreciated , communication lines 40 can alternatively conduct voice energy from a contacting entity . the center 10 can be connected to a web server 20 to provide collections ( or files ) of information stored in the memory ( not shown ) of the web server 20 for viewing by a contacting entity via trunks 40 and interfaces 51 . as will be appreciated , the files of information , such as web pages , can include features such as contact icons or informational messages to facilitate service of the contacting entity by the contact center 10 , and / or information regarding merchandise and / or services for sale to the contacting entity . to prioritize contacts , particularly contacts related to potential business sales , the memory 30 includes a router 80 for routing contacts to the appropriate queue 42 or 46 and a comparer 84 for providing input to the router 80 relating to the relative priority of each such contact . each interface 51 a - d is typically a computer , such as a personal computer , that includes a memory 70 and attached processor 74 . the memory 70 includes a web browser 76 , one or more web pages 78 , a data structure 82 , such as a shopping cart , for recording items ( goods or services ) selected by the customer for possible purchase , an identifier 86 , such as a cookie , that is unique to the customer and is referenced in some manner by the data structure 82 , and an evaluator 90 , such as an applet , for examining or evaluating the contents of the data structure 82 in response to a signal from the contact center 10 . as will be appreciated , a “ cookie ” is information that is stored on a user &# 39 ; s computer by a browser , typically at the request of software at a web - site . web - sites typically use cookies to recognize users who have previously visited them . the operation of the router 80 and comparer 84 will now be described with reference to fig1 and 2 . after a customer has viewed one or more web pages 78 and selected one or more items that have been recorded in the data structure 82 , the customer in box 100 sends a message to the contact center 10 , such as by clicking on an icon on a web page . the signal may itself be a contact for handling by a working agent 14 or initiate a contact with a working agent 14 . for example , the signal may contain the data structure 82 and attached cookie 86 and seek processing or completion of an order . alternatively , the signal could be a request for assistance via a voice or electronic contact . examples include an ip call from the customer &# 39 ; s computer to the agent &# 39 ; s computer , a voice call through a voice network that operates in collaboration with a datalink , escorted browsing of the customer by the agent over an ip link , a direct voice contact with an agent , and the like . in that event , the working agent or the customer could initiate the contact . for example , the customer can call the contact center or click a contact icon to cause the working agent to initiate a call to the customer . in box 104 , the evaluator 90 determines the value of one or more items in the data structure 82 . the evaluator 90 could , for example , determine the total value of the items in the data structure 82 . alternatively or at the same time , the evaluator 90 could determine the value of the highest value item in the data structure 82 . other permutations are possible , such as determining the average value of items in the data structure 82 . the evaluator 90 can perform this step in response to the clicking of the button in box 100 and / or continuously or periodically during the customer &# 39 ; s viewing of web pages 78 . in any event , the evaluator 90 forwards a signal to the comparer 84 via trunk 40 containing the results of the examination of the data structure 82 . in decision diamond 108 , the comparer 84 compares the value of the item ( s ) in the data structure 82 with a first predetermined value . in this case , the predetermined value is shown as being $ 200 , though any value can be used depending upon the application . if the value of the item ( s ) in the data structure 82 equals or exceeds the first predetermined value , the router 80 in box 112 assigns a high priority to the contact or signal and directs the contact to a high priority route point or queue . as will be appreciated , the route point is referred to as a vector directory number or vdn in the definity ® architecture of lucent technologies , inc . if the value of the item ( s ) in the data structure 82 is less than the first predetermined value , the processor 34 proceeds to decision diamond 116 in which the comparer 84 compares the value of the item ( s ) in the data structure to a second , lower predetermined value . in this case , the predetermined value is shown as being $ 50 , though any value can be used depending upon the application . if the value of the item ( s ) in the data structure 82 equals or exceeds the first predetermined value , the router 80 in box 120 assigns a medium priority to the contact or signal and directs the contact to a medium priority route point or queue . if the value of the item ( s ) in the data structure 82 is less than the first predetermined value , the router 80 in box 124 assigns a low priority to the contact or signal and directs the contact to a low priority route point or queue . fig3 depicts another mode of operation for the architecture of fig1 . in this architecture , the evaluator 90 examines the nature or type of items in the data structure 82 to pair the customer with a working agent having the skills to deal with the items and / or complete the order and / or to determine a priority to be assigned to the customer . in box 150 , the evaluator 90 examines the data structure 82 to identify the type or nature of items therein . in decision diamond 154 , the comparer 84 determines if the items include a first type of item . although the flowchart uses books as the first type of item , any type of item can be used . if the items include a first type of item , the router 80 in box 158 directs the contact to a queue or route point having agents skilled to service that type of item . in decision diamond 162 , the comparer 84 determines if the items include a second type of item . although the flowchart uses cd &# 39 ; s as the second type of item , any type of item can be used . if the items include a second type of item , the router 80 in box 166 directs the contact to a second queue or route point having agents skilled to service that type of item . in decision diamond 170 , the comparer 84 determines if the items include a third type of item . although the flowchart uses toys as the third type of item , any type of item can be used . if the items include a third type of item , the router in box 174 directs the contact to a third queue or route point having agents skilled to service that type of item . in the event that the data structure 82 does not contain any of the first , second , and third items , the router 80 in box 178 directs the contact to a generic ( fourth ) queue or route point for which no special skills of an agent are required . as will be appreciated , the architecture of fig3 can be used to identify item types having a high priority or desirability for servicing . for example , certain types of items can have a high success rate for completing sales , a high success rate for cross - selling other items and / or inventory is over - stocked . alternatively , the architecture can be used to identify low priority items or items that are less desirable for servicing . for example , certain types of items can have a low success rate for completing sales , a low success rate for cross - selling other items and / or a low availability in inventory . a number of variations and modifications of the invention can be used . it would be possible to provide for some features of the invention without providing others . for example in one alternative embodiment , the router can use information other than or in addition to that set forth above in prioritizing or directing the contact to a pertinent queue . such information includes one or more of the identification of a customer , a file address associated with the customer ( e . g ., a cookie ), the historical business relationship ( or prior business volume ) with the customer , and / or an estimated business value of the customer . for example , the latter factor could include the type of entity , wealth or financial resources of the entity and / or geographical location of the entity . in another alternative embodiment , the evaluator analyzes an electronic message , such as a webform , or an e - mail message and determines a value associated with an actual or potential ( nonelectronic ) order and / or items in the order to permit the router to rout the contact accordingly . in another embodiment , the evaluator input determines the type of request for contact . for example , the router may for high priority contacts cause the agent to contact the customer and for low priority contacts request the customer to call the agent . the present invention , in various embodiments , includes components , methods , processes , systems and / or apparatus substantially as depicted and described herein , including various embodiments , subcombinations , and subsets thereof . those of skill in the art will understand how to make and use the present invention after understanding the present disclosure . the present invention , in various embodiments , includes providing devices and processes in the absence of items not depicted and / or described herein or in various embodiments hereof , including in the absence of such items as may have been used in previous devices or processes , e . g . for improving performance , achieving ease and \ or reducing cost of implementation . the foregoing discussion of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description . the foregoing is not intended to limit the invention to the form or forms disclosed herein . although the description of the invention has included description of one or more embodiments and certain variations and modifications , other variations and modifications are within the scope of the invention , e . g . as may be within the skill and knowledge of those in the art , after understanding the present disclosure . it is intended to obtain rights which include alternative embodiments to the extent permitted , including alternate , interchangeable and / or equivalent structures , functions , ranges or steps to those claimed , whether or not such alternate , interchangeable and / or equivalent structures , functions , ranges or steps are disclosed herein , and without intending to publicly dedicate any patentable subject matter .
| 6Physics
|
before the present embodiments are described , it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular systems , methodologies or protocols described , as these may vary . also , the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure , which will be limited only by the appended claims . as used in this description and in the appended claims , the singular forms “ a ,” “ an ,” and “ the ” include the plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise . unless defined otherwise , all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art . as used herein , the term “ comprising ” means “ including , but not limited to .”“ document production device ” is an electronic device that is capable of receiving commands and printing text and / or images on a substrate . document production devices may include , but are not limited to , network printers , production printers , copiers and other devices that apply text and images using ink or toner . printing devices may also perform a combination of functions such as printing and scanning , in which case such devices may be considered to be multifunctional devices . printing devices may create two - dimensional documents , or they may create a graphical flat that can be converted to yield a three - dimensional item such as a package . fig1 illustrates a system for producing a printed substrate having structural features . such substrates may include , for example , a three - dimensional package , a pop - up document , a greeting card , or another item . as shown in fig1 , the system includes a memory containing recipient data 10 , and a data iterator 20 , a document instance generator 30 , and a structural design producer 40 that accesses and / or receives recipient records from the memory 10 . each recipient record in the memory 10 includes data corresponding to one or more objects to be printed on a customized substrate , such as a document , package flat , card , or other substrate . the term “ customized substrate ,” when used in this patent document , refers to a substrate that contains printed material and / or structural features that are customized based on a received record such as a recipient data record . each object represents an image or text , such as graphics , words , numbers , designs , colors , or other indicia that may be printed onto the substrate . the recipient records also may include data corresponding to at least one structural feature and / or data that can facilitate the creation of a structural feature . the data iterator 20 is a processor and / or a program instruction set running on a processor that selects a recipient record from the memory 10 and sends the object data from the record to the document instance generator 30 and the structural design producer 40 . optionally , a content buffer 22 may hold the data before delivery to the document instance generator 30 . if so , the data iterator 20 may operate as a producer , the document instance generator 30 may operate as a consumer , and the data iterator 20 and document producer 30 may operate together in a producer - consumer relationship . if so , the data iterator 20 may determine the layouts and content objects for the output sequence 32 . the document instance generator 30 is a processor and / or a program instruction set running on a processor that generates an output sequence 32 for rendering the customized substrate as a printed document . the output sequence 32 is generated in an object - oriented code , such as the variable print specification ( vps ) language , personalized print markup language ( ppml ), or portable document format ( pdf ). optionally , the document instance generator 30 may access a definitions dictionary 38 which contains reusable object names and definitions for the names , and the document instance generator 30 may use this information to generate the output sequence 32 . the definitions database may include the code formal or an image format specifying the object appearance . the output sequence is used by a rendering system 34 to print one or more objects from the output sequence onto a substrate to produce a customized flat substrate 50 . the rendering system 34 includes a computing device and a document production device , such as a processor and printer . referring to fig2 , an exemplary object printed on a substrate 60 may include any printed material , including but not limited to text 105 ( such as a mailing address , a customized message , other text ), custom graphics 110 ( such as an image of an item to be placed inside a custom package or a corporate logo ), a background 115 , or other material such as a unique identifier 120 such as a bar code , hash sequence , serial number , or other material . the printed objects also may include one or more reference marks 130 that other devices can use to identify known positions on the substrate and print additional material or apply structural features on the substrate . referring back to fig1 , the printed , flat substrate 50 exits the rendering system 34 and is received by a converting system 44 . a structural design producer 40 also receives the recipient record and uses the generator to generate a customized die line output code sequence 42 . the customized die line output code sequence also may be in an object - oriented code such as vps , vrml , ppml , adobe illustrator ( ai ), or pdf . the structural design producer 40 is a processor and / or a program instruction set running on a processor that be either common with and part of , or separate from , the processor and / or instruction set used as the document instance generator 30 . optionally , the structural design producer 40 may access a dies database 48 which contains layout information for pages of dynamic document instances , and the structural design producer 40 may use this information to generate the die line sequence 42 . the converting system 44 is an electromechanical device that applies cuts , creases , perforations , folds , and / or other structural features along the die lines . the converting system 44 receives the die line output code sequence 42 and uses the die line code sequence to identify positions to apply cuts , perforations , punches , folds , slits , inserts , adhesive coatings , indentations , and / or other structural features , thus yielding a customized , finished substrate 72 . the converting system may perform this using any now or hereafter known methods , such as by using the reference objects to locate positions on the substrate and applying die lines based on specific data found in a recipient data file and / or the die line output code sequence , edge detection techniques to apply a cut or perforation around an image edge , die line files selected based on a unique identifier printed on the substrate , or other methods . referring to fig2 , the structural features applied to the customized substrate may include cut or perforation lines such as a document border cut line 152 and an image cut line 154 , a crease or fold line 162 , 164 , 166 , or other lines that apply structure to the substrate . for the substrate 60 in fig2 , after the border cut line 152 and image cut line 154 are applied , the converting system may cut the substrate along the border cut line 152 and image cut line 154 . the converting system may then apply folds along the fold lines 162 and 164 , as well as fold line 166 , so that when the document is folded , the image 110 dimensionally separates from the background 115 to exhibit a three - dimensional structure . the system described above can thus produce multiple , customized printed three - dimensional documents , packages or other substrates for each recipient record in the recipients database . in some embodiments , the system can concurrently launch multiple production paths to concurrently generate individual parts of a three - dimensional object . fig3 is a process how illustrating an exemplary method of generating a customized , printed , three - dimensional substrate using a system such as that described above . referring to fig3 , a method of printing a customized printed substrate includes receiving a structural design template ( step 301 ) for a substrate to be printed ; receiving a recipient record ( step 303 ) from a recipients database or list ; using the recipient record to render one or more printed objects ( step 305 ) on the printed substrate ; and generating a die line code sequence ( step 307 ) based on the structural design template and the recipient record . the die line code sequence may include instructions for creating a first die line , such that the die line corresponds to data from the recipient record and a position on the substrate to which a structural feature will be applied . the method also may include appending the first code sequence to a first output code sequence in an object - oriented language ( step 313 ), and using a converting system to apply ( step 315 ) the structural features to the substrate along the die line or lines based on the code sequence . the application of structural features ( step 315 ) may include applying a crease , fold , cut , insert , slit , adhesive , perforation or other structural feature to the first substrate along the first die line . optionally , the method also may include identifying ( step 309 ) a computer - aided manufacturing definition for the converting system and ensuring ( step 311 ) that the instructions for creating the first die line are compatible with the computer - aided manufacturing definition . generating each die line code sequence ( step 307 ) may include generating a customized set of instructions for the die line based on the data from the corresponding recipient record . in some embodiments of the method , the rendering ( step 305 ) may include printing a unique identifier , such as a bar code , on the first substrate . if so , generating the code sequence may include using the unique identifier to identify and select the first die line . the method may be repeated for a second recipient record and corresponding second printed substrate , as well as additional records and substrates . if so , the code sequences for each substrate may be included in a single code sequence or in separate code sequences . optionally , before repeating the document creation for a new recipient , the method may include determining whether the additional document ( s ) should use the same structural design template or a new structural design template ( step 319 ). it will be appreciated that various of the above - disclosed and other features and functions , or alternatives thereof , may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications . various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives , modifications , variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims .
| 6Physics
|
exemplary embodiments are discussed in detail below . while specific exemplary embodiments are discussed , it should be understood that this is done for illustration purposes only . in describing and illustrating the exemplary embodiments , specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity . however , the embodiments are not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected . persons of ordinary skill in the relevant art will recognize that other components and configurations may be used without departing from the true spirit and scope of the embodiments . it is to be understood that each specific element includes all technical equivalents that operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose . therefore , the examples and embodiments described herein are non - limiting examples . referring now to the drawings , wherein like reference numbers generally indicate identical , functionally similar , and / or structurally similar elements , there is shown in fig1 an aiming device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention . aiming device 10 may , as shown in fig1 , comprise a laser gun sight for installation on a firearm 12 , typically a handgun . however , it may also comprise a sight for use on a shotgun , rifle , or archery bow . it generally comprises a module capable of projecting a spatial laser light pattern , means for mounting the laser module in substantial axial alignment with the barrel of the firearm 12 , a power source , and a switch to actuate the module . in this embodiment , the laser module is adapted to be attached to a mounting means such as a picatinny rail 19 that is affixed to the barrel 18 . the picatinny rail 19 ( also known as a mil - std - 1913 rail or stanag 2324 rail or a “ tactical rail ”) is a bracket used on some firearms in order to provide a standardized mounting platform . it facilitates quick mounting of the laser module without requiring realignment . use of a picatinny rail facilitates moving the device to different firearms , though any suitable method of attaching the module in substantial axial alignment to the firearm barrel is acceptable . a similar system is the weaver rail , which uses a pair of parallel rails and several slots perpendicular to such rails . one difference between the picatinny rail and the weaver rail is the size of these slots , although many rail - grabber - mounted accessories can be used on either type of rail . weaver rails have a slot width of 0 . 180 in ( 4 . 572 mm ), but are not necessarily consistent in the spacing of slot centers . the picatinny locking slot width is 0 . 206 in . ( 5 . 232 mm ) and the spacing of slot centers is 0 . 394 in . ( 10 . 008 mm ). because of this , with devices that use only one locking slot , weaver devices will fit on picatinny rails , but picatinny devices will not always fit on weaver rails . the other difference is that weaver rails are continuous , while picatinny rails are cut by the slots ( i . e ., like a dotted line ) to neutralize expansion caused by barrel heating . an actuation means or switch 14 is mounted on the side of the hand grip 16 so that the laser can be actuated by side pressure of the trigger finger . this is a common setup used with conventional single beam laser gun sights . switch 14 can be mounted on either side to accommodate left or right handed users . other means of actuation , such as tilt sensors or trigger mounted switches could also be used . the power source or battery 20 may be mounted in the rear of the laser module 10 , although it could easily be placed elsewhere on the firearm 12 . when the laser is actuated using switch 14 , a spatial laser light pattern is projected . the projection 24 can be seen on the target 26 . in this embodiment , the projected pattern is a series of concentric circles with a center dot . if the target is further away , as depicted by 28 , then only a portion of the pattern 25 is seen on the target indicating to the user that the target is further away and accuracy of the resultant shot would be greatly reduced . the large size of the projection ensures that it is easy to quickly locate the aiming point in a combat or law enforcement situation . the large projected image onto the target is also is a deterrent to violence as the target can see that he / she is well within lethal range of the firearm and should surrender peacefully . fig2 shows a detail of the laser gun sight . laser pattern generator 30 suitably comprises a lasiris ™ snf , model 507c , which projects 7 concentric circles and is manufactured by coherent inc . of montreal , canada . it contains a laser diode 32 , a diffraction grating 34 , and a focusing lens 36 to generate a focused projected laser pattern . the laser diode 32 has a power output of about 10 mw , which has been found to be satisfactory for a desired projection distance of up to 50 feet in both indoor and low light conditions . modules with higher output power ( up to 200 mw ) are available if more range is needed , or if the device is intended for use in broad daylight . the diffraction grating 34 generates the desired spatial light pattern . many patterns are possible as shown in fig3 , including rectangular grids and dot matrices . other custom designs can be produced by simply changing the diffraction grating . in the preferred embodiment , diffraction grating 34 was selected to generate a pattern of 7 concentric circles plus a center dot . this has been found to be a presently preferred embodiment of the invention . the concentric circle pattern provides instant feedback of depth perception and with a few hours of training users can judge the distance to the target by just flashing the concentric circle projection . the concentric circles are also intuitive as they superficially resemble a bull &# 39 ; s eye target that is familiar to all shooters . the center dot provides an aim point consistent with existing single dot laser gun sights , thus facilitating the transition from conventional single dot laser point type gun sights . lens 36 can be adjusted to focus a sharp image of the concentric circles at the desired range . in one embodiment , this was set to be in focus from 10 to 30 feet . in the preferred embodiment , a red laser ( i . e ., 635 nm wavelength ) was used . a green laser ( i . e ., 532 nm wavelength ) would be even better as the human eye perceives higher brightness at the lower wavelength for the same laser power output . fig4 shows how the beam diverges with distance from the laser gun sight . in the preferred embodiment , the fan angle 40 was 1 degree . with this fan angle , the innermost circle appears to be about 2 inches wide at position 42 ( i . e ., a distance of about 10 feet ) and the spacing between the concentric circles or “ intercircle spacing ” is about 1 . 5 inches . again , with a 1 degree fan angle , the innermost circle appears to be about 5 . 5 inches wide at position 44 ( i . e ., a distance of about 20 feet ) with an intercircle spacing 41 of about 2 inches . finally , with a 1 degree fan angle , the innermost circle appears to be about 8 . 3 inches wide at position 46 ( i . e ., a distance of about 30 feet ) with an intercircle spacing of about 4 . 3 inches . so , with this selected fan angle of 1 degree , the visual range of the sight is from about 5 to 30 feet . this roughly corresponds to the practical useful range of a handgun under real world conditions . other fan angles ( e . g ., from about 0 . 1 to about 2 degrees ) can be selected to adjust the sight to longer ranges . it is , thus , possible for the user to estimate the distance to the target from the apparent size and intercircle spacing of the projected spatial laser light pattern onto the target . with minimal training this perception of distance becomes intuitive and is performed subconsciously . this distance estimation technique based on the apparent size and intercircle spacing of the projected pattern works exceptionally well in poor lighting conditions where the human eye is not capable of significant depth perception due to lack of visual cues . in the preferred embodiment , the interbeam angle between circles was 0 . 77 degrees . this affects the spread of the concentric circles around the innermost circle . this coupled with the fan angle can be used to adjust the projected pattern of circles for different overall size of the projected circles as well as the intercircle spacing . while the disclosure has been described with reference to several embodiments , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure . in addition , many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof . therefore , it is intended that the disclosure not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for caring out this disclosure .
| 5Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting
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fig1 is a schematic illustration of a side view of one embodiment of a semiconductor wafer processing system 100 that establishes a representative environment of the present invention . it should be understood that the present invention is in no way limited to use with or in any particular wafer processing system . as shown in fig1 , processing system 100 includes a loading station 102 which has multiple platforms 104 for supporting and moving a wafer cassette 106 up and into a loadlock 108 . wafer cassette 106 may be a removable cassette which is loaded into a platform 104 , either manually or with automated guided vehicles ( agv ). wafer cassette 106 may also be a fixed cassette , in which case wafers are loaded onto cassette 106 using conventional atmospheric robots or loaders ( not shown ). once wafer cassette 106 is inside loadlock 108 , loadlock 108 and transfer chamber 110 are maintained at atmospheric pressure or else are pumped down to a vacuum pressure using a pump 112 . a robot 114 within transfer chamber 110 rotates toward loadlock 108 and picks up a wafer 116 from cassette 106 . a furnace 120 , which may also be at atmospheric pressure or under vacuum pressure , accepts wafer 116 from robot 114 through a gate valve 118 . robot 114 then retracts and , subsequently , gate valve 118 closes to begin the processing of wafer 116 . after wafer 116 is processed , gate valve 118 opens to allow robot 114 to pick - up and remove wafer 116 . optionally , additional furnaces may be added to processing system 100 , for example furnace 122 . in accordance with the present invention , furnaces 120 and 122 are rtp reactors , such as those used in thermal anneals . in other embodiments , reactors 120 and 122 may also be other types of reactors , such as those used for dopant diffusion , thermal oxidation , nitridation , chemical vapor deposition , and similar processes . reactors 120 and 122 are generally horizontally displaced , however in one embodiment , reactors 120 and 122 are vertically displaced ( i . e . stacked one over another ) to minimize floor space occupied by system 100 . reactors 120 and 122 are bolted onto transfer chamber 110 and are further supported by a support frame 124 . process gases , coolant , and electrical connections may be provided through the rear end of the reactors using interfaces 126 . as shown in fig2 , furnace 200 may generally include a closed - end processing chamber 208 , which defines an interior cavity 210 . disposed within interior cavity 210 is a processing tube 212 . externally , furnace 200 may be a metallic shell 202 made of aluminum or similar metal , having an opening provided on a face of shell 202 , configured to receive wafer 116 for processing . furnace 200 may enclose a thermal insulation material , such as thermal insulation 204 , which substantially surrounds processing chamber 208 so as to minimize or eliminate the escape of heat energy through shell 202 . insulation material 204 may include any suitable insulation material , such as ceramic fiber . optionally , to protect users and / or equipment near furnace 200 , the furnace may include a detachable water cooled jacket ( not shown ) or similar device , which may be used to externally surround furnace 200 . the water cooled jacket ensures that furnace 200 does not become too hot , so as to be a hazard to nearby equipment or personnel . in one embodiment , a plurality of heating elements 220 are used to surround a top and a bottom portion of processing tube 212 . in this embodiment , resistive heating elements 220 may be disposed in parallel across and external to process chamber 208 . each heating element 220 is in relative close proximity to each other element . for example , each resistive heating element 220 may be spaced between about 5 mm and about 50 mm , for example , between about 10 mm and about 20 mm . accordingly , the close spacing of heating elements 220 provides for an even heating temperature distribution in processing tube 212 . resistive heating elements 220 may include a resistive heating element core surrounded by a filament wire . the core can be made of a ceramic material , but may be made of any high temperature rated , non - conductive material . the filament wire is conventionally wrapped around the core to allow for an optimal amount of radiated heat energy to emanate from the element . the filament wire may be any suitable resistively heatable wire , which is made from a high mass material for increased thermal response and high temperature stability , such as sic , sic coated graphite , graphite , nicr , alni and other alloys . in one embodiment , resistive heating filament wire is made of a combination al — ni — fe material , known commonly as kantal a - 1 or af , available from omega corp . of stamford , conn . optionally , resistive heating elements 220 may be positioned in various configurations which may include , for example , circular , zigzag , cross - hatched patterns and the like . the variable patterns may be able to provide more optimal temperature distribution and further reduce the possibility of temperature fluctuations across the surface of the wafer . in yet another embodiment , furnace 200 includes heat diffusing members 222 , which are positioned proximate to and between heating elements 220 and processing chamber 208 . heat diffusing members 222 absorb the thermal energy output from heating elements 220 and dissipate the heat evenly across process chamber 208 and tube 212 . heat diffusing members 222 may be any suitable heat diffusing material that has a sufficiently high thermal conductivity , preferably silicon carbide , al 2 o 3 , or graphite . in one embodiment , furnace 200 may include up to any number of heating zones . in the embodiment shown in fig2 , furnace 200 includes three parallel heating zones , which include a central zone , referenced as zone 2 , and two adjacent outer zones , referenced as zones 1 and 3 . each heating element 220 can be apportioned to a specific heating zone . as described in more detail below , each heating zone has at least one temperature sensor 224 , which provides feedback to a controller 226 . as fluctuations in temperature within a heating zone are sensed by the temperature sensors , real - time controller 226 can cause the power from power supply 232 to increase or decrease , as necessary , to increase or decrease the energy output ( heat ) from each of resistive elements 220 . for example , if a drop in temperature is sensed in zone 1 , the thermal energy output from resistive heating elements 220 apportioned to zone 1 , increases until the temperature in zone 1 is returned to the desired level . in this manner , the temperature from zone - to - zone across the surface of wafer 116 may be kept substantially isothermal . the number of zones and the number of resistive elements 220 apportioned to each zone may vary based on the energy output desired . the size of each zone ( i . e . the heating volume ) is also variable . advantageously , the size of each zone can be scaled up or down as desired . for example , zone 2 can be scaled up for processing of larger wafers by re - apportioning heating elements 220 from zones 1 and zone 3 to zone 2 . this means that the number of heating elements 220 assigned to zone 2 is increased , while the number of heating elements assigned to zones 1 and 3 is decreased . the heating elements added to zone 2 are controlled by controller 226 to respond in the same manner as the heating elements already assigned to zone 2 . in one embodiment , temperature sensors , such as thermocouples , are embedded within heat diffusing members 222 . for example , thermocouples 224 a , 224 b and 224 c can be strategically placed such that they can provide feedback via lines 230 as to the temperature conditions of heat diffusing members 222 . for example , a first and a second thermocouple 224 a and 224 c are placed at each end of heat diffusing member 222 . a third thermocouple , thermocouple 224 b , is placed in the center of heat diffusing member 222 . in this configuration , the temperature of a zone ( e . g . zone 1 , zone 2 and zone 3 ) can be monitored with feedback provided to controller 226 . by positioning the thermocouples 224 a - 224 c at known positions on the heat diffusing members 222 , the temperature gradient can be determined with reference to a position within process chamber 208 . this data is used by controller 226 to control the temperature within each zone more precisely . thermocouples 224 a , 224 b and 224 c can be conventional r - type or k - type thermocouples available from omega corporation of stamford , conn . a microprocessor or process control computer 228 , generally controls the processing of a semiconductor wafer placed in the rtp reactor and may be used to monitor the status of the system for diagnostic purposes . in one embodiment , process computer 228 provides control signals to controller 226 in response to temperature data received from temperature sensors 224 . process computer 228 may also direct pressure setpoints to pump assembly 112 ( fig1 ) as well as gas and plasma inlet flow signals to mass - flow controllers in a gas network ( not shown ). in one embodiment , controller 226 is a real - time proportional integral derivative ( pid ), multi - zone controller , available from omega corporation . controller 226 provides control signals to a scr - based phase controlled power supply 232 , which provides power to the resistive heating elements 220 . advantageously , a direct line voltage of between about 100 volts and about 500 volts may be used to power resistive heating elements 220 . thus , no complex power transformer is needed in the present invention for controlling the output of resistive heating elements 220 . in operation , the multi - zone controller 226 receives temperature sensor outputs via sensing lines 230 , as well as the desired wafer temperature setpoint from computer 228 and delivers controlled power setpoints to the heating element power supply 232 . heating elements 220 increase or decrease their energy output in response to the increase or decrease in power supplied from power supply 232 . fig3 is a simplified illustration of process chamber 208 including processing tube 212 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . in one embodiment , processing tube 212 may be constructed with a substantially rectangular cross - section , having a minimal internal volume surrounding wafer 116 . in one embodiment , the volume of processing tube 212 is usually no greater than about 5000 cm 3 ; preferably the volume is less than about 3000 cm 3 . one result of the small volume is that uniformity in temperature is more easily maintained . additionally , the small tube volume allows furnace 200 ( fig2 ) to be made smaller , and as a result , system 100 may be made smaller , requiring less clean room floor space . the smaller furnace size , in conjunction with the use of the robot loader , allows multiple furnaces to be used in system 100 by vertically stacking the reactors as shown in fig1 . to conduct a process , processing tube 212 should be capable of being pressurized . typically , processing tube 212 should be able to withstand internal pressures of about 0 . 001 torr to 1000 torr , preferably between about 0 . 1 torr and about 760 torr . in one embodiment , processing tube 212 can be made of quartz , but may also be made of silicon carbide , al 2 o 3 , or other similarly suitable material . a wafer support device 302 may be used to support a single wafer within processing tube 212 . support device 302 may be made of any high temperature resistant material , such as quartz . support device 302 can have any height necessary , for example , a height of between about 50 μm and about 20 mm . in one embodiment , support device 302 includes standoffs positioned within processing tube 212 . the standoffs will generally have a height of between about 50 μm and about 20 mm . the total contact area between the standoffs and wafer 116 can be less than about 350 mm 2 , preferably less than about 300 mm 2 . standoffs 302 may be made of quartz or similar material . an opening 304 is defined at one end of processing tube 212 , which provides access to processing area 310 for the loading and unloading of wafer 116 before and after processing . opening 304 may be a relatively small opening , but with a height and width large enough to accommodate a wafer of between about 0 . 5 mm to about 2 mm thick and up to about 300 mm (˜ 12 in .) in diameter , and a robot arm of robot 114 ( fig1 ) passing therethrough . the height of opening 304 is no greater than between about 18 mm and about 50 mm , and preferably , no greater than about 30 mm . the relatively small opening helps to reduce radiation heat loss from processing tube 212 . also , the small opening keeps down the number of particles entering processing area 310 of processing tube 212 and allows for easier maintenance of the isothermal temperature environment . fig4 illustrates a magnified portion of processing tube 212 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . as shown , processing tube 212 can be formed having a hollow wall . for example , processing tube 212 can be formed having an outer wall 402 and an inner wall 404 which enclose an internal hollow cavity or passage way 406 . the thickness of outer wall 402 and inner wall 404 can be any thickness suitable to allow for high temperature processing of wafers in various pressure conditions . for example , the wall thickness can be between about 1 mm and about 5 mm . hollow cavity 406 can also be defined with any volume necessary to facilitate wafer processing . for example , hollow cavity 406 can have a thickness d of between about 0 . 5 mm and about 5 mm . hollow cavity 406 has an inlet 311 ( fig3 ), which allows a gas to be fed from a gas reservoir ( not shown ) into hollow cavity 406 . the gas may include , for example , any suitable carrier gas , such as he , h 2 , o 2 , ar , n 2 and the like and any processing gas , such as nh 3 , o 3 , sih 4 , si 2 h 6 , b 2 h 6 and other gases suitable for cvd applications , or a combination of both gases . hereinafter , the carrier gas , the process gas and the combination of both shall be referred to generally as “ the gas .” in one embodiment , a plurality of holes or outlets 408 are formed through inner wall 404 to allow for environmental communication between hollow cavity 406 and processing area 310 ( fig3 ). each outlet 408 can be sized to allow the various types of gases to move between hollow cavity 406 and processing area 310 . in one example , outlets 408 may be between about 0 . 1 mm to about 2 mm in diameter . outlets 408 can extend from substantially end 301 of processing tube 212 at opening 304 to a point 303 a fixed distance 305 from the gas entering end of processing tube 212 . distance 305 is designed to allow the flowing gases to reach a minimum temperature at a given flow rate before exiting out from outlets 408 . processing tube 212 can be fabricated using many well known fabrication techniques . for example , processing tube 212 may be welded , braised , assembled or cast . heat transferred to the flowing gas is a function of the thermal mass of the heater , the flow rate of the gas and the diameter of the outlets , as well as the type of gas , the residence time of the gas in hollow cavity 406 and the nominal temperature of hollow cavity 406 . each of these parameters can be adjusted until the exiting gas temperature is appropriate for a specific process . generally , the thermal mass and thermal energy output and capacity of the heating elements will be known . accordingly , for a given thermal energy output the gas can be made to flow through hollow cavity 406 at any desired rate , for example , between about 10 sccm to about 100 slm . the flow rate of gases is selected to ensure that the wafer remains stable upon the standoffs and that the pressure difference between the ambient environment outside of the processing tube and inside the processing tube is relatively small . hollow cavity 406 provides for heat exchange , such that the gas can be heated as it travels from inlet 311 through to the exit points of outlets 408 . the gas entering inlet 311 can be at ambient temperature or may be pre - heated prior to entering hollow cavity 406 . before the gas exits outlets 408 , the gas is made to flow through a distance 305 of hollow cavity 406 . the length of distance 305 is variable , but is at least long enough to provide the residence time for the gas to reach a desired minimum temperature before exiting outlets 408 into processing area 310 . in one embodiment , the gas is made to move through hollow cavity 406 at a flow rate which allows the gas to be heated at a rate of between about 1 ° c ./ s and about 1000 ° c ./ s . to between approximately 100 ° c . and 1400 ° c . as shown in fig3 , in one operational embodiment , wafer 116 is placed within processing tube 212 on standoffs 302 . a gas , such as a carrier gas combined with process gases , is allowed to flow through hollow cavity 406 . in one embodiment , the gas entering hollow cavity 406 can be pre - heated or , alternatively , can be at ambient temperature . in this example , the gas enters hollow cavity 406 as indicted by arrows 312 at approximately room temperature (˜ 25 ° c .). however , in either embodiment , the gas is heated to a processing temperature from heat transferred from heating elements 220 into heat diffusion material 222 and into process chamber 208 and finally , through outer wall 402 and inner wall 404 . initially , the gas flows a distance 305 within hollow cavity 406 to reach a minimum desired processing temperature . the flowing gas then reaches outlets 408 to enter processing area 310 . the flowing gas contacts wafer 116 in processing area 310 to heat wafer 116 using the effect of forced convection . the heated gas flows into hollow cavity 406 at a controlled rate . thus , the ramp rate control for heating wafer 116 can be correlated to gas flow rate control . as described in detail below , the gas flow can be continuous through the processing of wafer 116 , pulsed , flown during temperature ramp up only , or flown during cool down , or a combination of both . as illustrated in graph 500 of fig5 , wafers placed in furnace 200 and heated have different heating profiles and heating rates between a center portion and an edge portion of the wafer . for example , without gas flow through hollow cavity 406 of processing tube 212 , the wafer center 502 requires approximately 3 . 5 time units to reach a processing temperature of about 1000 ° c . the edge of the wafer requires about 2 . 5 time units to reach the same temperature . a wafer heated using forced convection assistance in accordance with the present invention , created by flowing gas through hollow cavity 406 and into processing area 310 , is heated at a center portion and an edge portion of the wafer with almost identical heating profiles . for example , the wafer center 506 and the wafer edge 508 reach the processing temperature of about 1000 ° c . at about the same time , in less than 1 time unit . a primary advantage of the present invention is the ability to conduct substantially slip - free rtp of a silicon wafer with lesser emissivity dependence and lesser pattern induced local heating effect . further , by controlling ramp rate control using gas flow rate control , the wafer can be heated rapidly and uniformly as illustrated in fig5 . fig6 illustrates the effect of another embodiment of the present invention in which forced convection enables forced cooling of the wafer while the wafer is within processing tube 212 . as shown in graph 600 , as the flow rate of gas through hollow cavity 406 ( fig4 ) is increased , the wafer temperature ramp rate is increased . however , at a given thermal output and with a particular gas flow rate , as indicated at 602 , the wafer temperature ramp rate begins to decrease . at this juncture , the effect of the forced convection is to remove energy from the wafer causing the wafer to cool . the forced cooling reduces the post - processed wafer to a temperature below the critical slip formation temperature without requiring the cooling of the entire process chamber 208 or requiring a separate cooling chamber . it should be understood that the wafer described above may be made of conventional materials commonly used in the industry , such as silicon , gallium arsenide , or other similar compound or the wafer may be a semiconductor wafer , made from quartz or glass . having thus described the preferred embodiments , persons skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . thus the invention is limited only by the following claims .
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[ 0043 ] fig2 a and 2b depict an electro - kinetic air transporter - conditioner system 100 whose housing 102 includes preferably rear - located intake vents or louvers 104 and preferably front and side - located exhaust vents 106 , and a base pedestal 108 . internal to the transporter housing is an ion generating unit 160 , preferably powered by an ac : dc power supply that is energizable or excitable using switch s 1 . ion generating unit 160 is self - contained in that other than ambient air , nothing is required from beyond the transporter housing , save external operating potential , for operation of the present invention . the upper surface of housing 102 includes a user - liftable handle member 112 to which is affixed a second array 240 of electrodes 242 within an electrode assembly 220 . electrode assembly 220 also comprises a first array of electrodes 230 , shown here as a single wire or wire - like electrode 232 . in the embodiment shown , lifting member 112 upward lifts second array electrodes 240 up and , if desired , out of unit 100 , while the first electrode array 230 remains within unit 100 . in fig2 b , the bottom ends of second array electrode 242 are connected to a member 113 , to which is attached a mechanism 500 for cleaning the first electrode array electrodes , here electrode 232 , whenever handle member 112 is moved upward or downward by a user . fig5 a - 7e , described later herein , provide further details as to various mechanisms 500 for cleaning wire or wire - like electrodes 232 in the first electrode array 230 , and for maintaining high resistance between the first and second electrode arrays 220 , 230 even if some moisture is allowed to pool within the bottom interior of unit 100 . the first and second arrays of electrodes are coupled in series between the output terminals of ion generating unit 160 , as best seen in fig3 . the ability to lift handle 112 provides ready access to the electrodes comprising the electrode assembly , for purposes of cleaning and , if necessary , replacement . the general shape of the invention shown in fig2 a and 2b is not critical . the top - to - bottom height of the preferred embodiment is perhaps 1 m , with a left - to - right width of perhaps 15 cm , and a front - to - back depth of perhaps 10 cm , although other dimensions and shapes may of course be used . a louvered construction provides ample inlet and outlet venting in an economical housing configuration . there need be no real distinction between vents 104 and 106 , except their location relative to the second array electrodes , and indeed a common vent could be used . these vents serve to ensure that an adequate flow of ambient air may be drawn into or made available to the unit 100 , and that an adequate flow of ionized air that includes safe amounts of o 3 flows out from unit 130 . as will be described , when unit 100 is energized with s 1 , high voltage output by ion generator 160 produces ions at the first electrode array , which ions are attracted to the second electrode array . the movement of the ions in an “ in ” to “ out ” direction carries with them air molecules , thus electro kinetically producing an outflow of ionized air . the “ in ” notion in fig2 a and 2b denote the intake of ambient air with particulate matter 60 . the “ out ” notation in the figures denotes the outflow of cleaned air substantially devoid of the particulate matter , which adheres electrostatically to the surface of the second array electrodes . in the process of generating the ionized air flow , safe amounts of ozone ( o 3 ) are beneficially produced . it may be desired to provide the inner surface of housing 102 with an electrostatic shield to reduces detectable electromagnetic radiation . for example , a metal shield could be disposed within the housing , or portions of the interior of the housing could be coated with a metallic paint to reduce such radiation . as best seen in fig3 ion generating unit 160 includes a high voltage generator unit 170 and circuitry 180 for converting raw alternating voltage ( e . g ., 117 vac ) into direct current (“ dc ”) voltage . circuitry 180 preferably includes circuitry controlling the shape and / or duty cycle of the generator unit output voltage ( which control is altered with user switch s 2 ). circuitry 180 preferably also includes a pulse mode component , coupled to switch s 3 , to temporarily provide a burst of increased output ozone . circuitry 180 can also include a timer circuit and a visual indicator such as a light emitting diode (“ led ”). the led or other indicator ( including , if desired , audible indicator ) signals when ion generation is occurring . the timer can automatically halt generation of ions and / or ozone after some predetermined time , e . g ., 30 minutes . indicator ( s ), and / or audible indicator ( s ). as shown in fig3 high voltage generator unit 170 preferably comprises a low voltage oscillator circuit 190 of perhaps 20 khz frequency , that outputs low voltage pulses to an electronic switch 200 , e . g ., a thyristor or the like . switch 200 switchably couples the low voltage pulses to the input winding of a step - up transformer t 1 . the secondary winding of ti is coupled to a high voltage multiplier circuit 210 that outputs high voltage pulses . preferably the circuitry and components comprising high voltage pulse generator 170 and circuit 180 are fabricated on a printed circuit board that is mounted within housing 102 . if desired , external audio input ( e . g ., from a stereo tuner ) could be suitably coupled to oscillator 190 to acoustically modulate the kinetic airflow produced by unit 160 . the result would be an electrostatic loudspeaker , whose output air flow is audible to the human ear in accordance with the audio input signal . further , the output air stream would still include ions and ozone . output pulses from high voltage generator 170 preferably are at least 10 kv peak - to - peak with an effective dc offset of perhaps half the peak - to - peak voltage , and have a frequency of perhaps 20 khz . the pulse train output preferably has a duty cycle of perhaps 10 %, which will promote battery lifetime . of course , different peak - peak amplitudes , dc offsets , pulse train waveshapes , duty cycle , and / or repetition frequencies may instead be used . indeed , a 100 % pulse train ( e . g ., an essentially dc high voltage ) may be used , albeit with shorter battery lifetime . thus , generator unit 170 may ( but need not ) be referred to as a high voltage pulse generator . frequency of oscillation is not especially critical but frequency of at least about 20 khz is preferred as being inaudible to humans . if pets will be in the same room as the unit 100 , it may be desired to utilize an even higher operating frequency , to prevent pet discomfort and / or howling by the pet . as noted with respect to fig5 a - 6e , to reduce likelihood of audible oscillations , it is desired to include at least one mechanism to clean the first electrode array 230 elements 232 . the output from high voltage pulse generator unit 170 is coupled to an electrode assembly 220 that comprises a first electrode array 230 and a second electrode array 240 . unit 170 functions as a dc : dc high voltage generator , and could be implemented using other circuitry and / or techniques to output high voltage pulses that are input to electrode assembly 220 . in the embodiment of fig3 the positive output terminal of unit 170 is coupled to first electrode array 230 , and the negative output terminal is coupled to second electrode array 240 . this coupling polarity has been found to work well , including minimizing unwanted audible electrode vibration or hum . an electrostatic flow of air is created , going from the first electrode array towards the second electrode array . ( this flow is denoted “ out ” in the figures .) accordingly electrode assembly 220 is mounted within transporter system 100 such that second electrode array 240 is closer to the out vents and first electrode array 230 is closer to the in vents . when voltage or pulses from high voltage pulse generator 170 are coupled across first and second electrode arrays 230 and 240 , it is believed that a plasma - like field is created surrounding electrodes 232 in first array 230 . this electric field ionizes the ambient air between the first and second electrode arrays and establishes an “ out ” airflow that moves towards the second array . it is understood that the in flow enters via vent ( s ) 104 , and that the out flow exits via vent ( s ) 106 . it is believed that ozone and ions are generated simultaneously by the first array electrode ( s ) 232 , essentially as a function of the potential from generator 170 coupled to the first array . ozone generation may be increased or decreased by increasing or decreasing the potential at the first array . coupling an opposite polarity potential to the second array electrode ( s ) 242 essentially accelerates the motion of ions generated at the first array , producing the air flow denoted as “ out ” in the figures . as the ions move toward the second array , it is believed that they push or move air molecules toward the second array . the relative velocity of this motion may be increased by decreasing the potential at the second array relative to the potential at the first array . for example , if + 10 kv were applied to the first array electrode ( s ), and no potential were applied to the second array electrode ( s ), a cloud of ions ( whose net charge is positive ) would form adjacent the first electrode array . further , the relatively high 10 kv potential would generate substantial ozone . by coupling a relatively negative potential to the second array electrode ( s ), the velocity of the air mass moved by the net emitted ions increases , as momentum of the moving ions is conserved . on the other hand , if it were desired to maintain the same effective outflow ( out ) velocity but to generate less ozone , the exemplary 10 kv potential could be divided between the electrode arrays . for example , generator 170 could provide + 4 kv ( or some other fraction ) to the first array electrode ( s ) and − 6 kv ( or some other fraction ) to the second array electrode ( s ). in this example , it is understood that the + 4 kv and the − 6 kv are measured relative to ground . understandably it is desired that the unit 100 operate to output safe amounts of ozone . accordingly , the high voltage is preferably fractionalized with about + 4 kv applied to the first array electrode ( s ) and about − 6 kv applied to the second array electrodes . as noted , outflow ( out ) preferably includes safe amounts of o 3 that can destroy or at least substantially alter bacteria , germs , and other living ( or quasi - living ) matter subjected to the outflow . thus , when switch s 1 is closed and 131 has sufficient operating potential , pulses from high voltage pulse generator unit 170 create an outflow ( out ) of ionized air and o 3 . when s 1 is closed , led will visually signal when ionization is occurring . preferably operating parameters of unit 100 are set during manufacture and are not user - adjustable . for example , increasing the peak - to - peak output voltage and / or duty cycle in the high voltage pulses generated by unit 170 can increase air flowrate , ion content , and ozone content . in the preferred embodiment , output flowrate is about 200 feet / minute , ion content is about 2 , 000 , 000 / cc and ozone content is about 40 ppb ( over ambient ) to perhaps 2 , 000 ppb ( over ambient ). decreasing the r2 / r1 ratio below about 20 : 1 will decrease flow rate , as will decreasing the peak - to - peak voltage and / or duty cycle of the high voltage pulses coupled between the first and second electrode arrays . in practice , unit 100 is placed in a room and connected to an appropriate source of operating potential , typically 117 vac . with s 1 energized , ionization unit 160 emits ionized air and preferably some ozone ( o 3 ) via outlet vents 150 . the air flow , coupled with the ions and ozone freshens the air in the room , and the ozone can beneficially destroy or at least diminish the undesired effects of certain odors , bacteria , germs , and the like . the air flow is indeed electro - kinetically produced , in that there are no intentionally moving parts within unit 100 . ( as noted , some mechanical vibration may occur within the electrodes .) as will be described with respect to fig4 a , it is desirable that unit 100 actually output a net surplus of negative ions , as these ions are deemed more beneficial to health than are positive ions . having described various aspects of the invention in general , preferred embodiments of electrode assembly 220 will now be described . in the various embodiments , electrode assembly 220 will comprise a first array 230 of at least one electrode 232 , and will further comprise a second array 240 of preferably at least one electrode 242 . understandably material ( s ) for electrodes 232 and 242 should conduct electricity , be resilient to corrosive effects from the application of high voltage , yet be strong enough to be cleaned . in the various electrode assemblies to be described herein , electrode ( s ) 232 in the first electrode array 230 are preferably fabricated from tungsten . tungsten is sufficiently robust to withstand cleaning , has a high melting point to retard breakdown due to ionization , and has a rough exterior surface that seems to promote efficient ionization . on the other hand , electrodes 242 preferably will have a highly polished exterior surface to minimize unwanted point - to - point radiation . as such , electrodes 242 preferably are fabricated from stainless steel , brass , among other materials . the polished surface of electrodes 232 also promotes ease of electrode cleaning . in contrast to the prior art electrodes disclosed by lee , electrodes 232 and 242 , electrodes used in unit 100 are light weight , easy to fabricate , and lend themselves to mass production . further , electrodes 232 and 242 described herein promote more efficient generation of ionized air , and production of safe amounts of ozone , o 3 . in unit 100 , a high voltage pulse generator 170 is coupled between the first electrode array 230 and the second electrode array 240 . the high voltage pulses produce a flow of ionized air that travels in the direction from the first array towards the second array ( indicated herein by hollow arrows denoted “ out ”). as such , electrode ( s ) 232 may be referred to as an emitting electrode , and electrodes 242 may be referred to as collector electrodes . this outflow advantageously contains safe amounts of o 3 , and exits unit 100 from vent ( s ) 106 . it is preferred that the positive output terminal or port of the high voltage pulse generator be coupled to electrodes 232 , and that the negative output terminal or port be coupled to electrodes 242 . it is believed that the net polarity of the emitted ions is positive , e . g ., more positive ions than negative ions are emitted . in any event , the preferred electrode assembly electrical coupling minimizes audible hum from electrodes 232 contrasted with reverse polarity ( e . g ., interchanging the positive and negative output port connections ). however , while generation of positive ions is conducive to a relatively silent air flow , from a health standpoint , it is desired that the output air flow be richer in negative ions , not positive ions . it is noted that in some embodiments , however , one port ( preferably the negative port ) of the high voltage pulse generator may in fact be the ambient air . thus , electrodes in the second array need not be connected to the high voltage pulse generator using wire . nonetheless , there will be an “ effective connection ” between the second array electrodes and one output port of the high voltage pulse generator , in this instance , via ambient air . turning now to the embodiments of fig4 a and 4b , electrode assembly 220 comprises a first array 230 of wire electrodes 232 , and a second array 240 of generally “ u ”- shaped electrodes 242 . in preferred embodiments , the number n1 of electrodes comprising the first array will preferably differ by one relative to the number n2 of electrodes comprising the second array . in many of the embodiments shown , n2 & gt ; n1 . however , if desired , in fig4 a , addition first electrodes 232 could be added at the out ends of array 230 such that n1 & gt ; n2 , e . g ., five electrodes 232 compared to four electrodes 242 . electrodes 232 are preferably lengths of tungsten wire , whereas electrodes 242 are formed from sheet metal , preferably stainless steel , although brass or other sheet metal could be used . the sheet metal is readily formed to define side regions 244 and bulbous nose region 246 for hollow elongated “ u ” shaped electrodes 242 . while fig4 a depicts four electrodes 242 in second array 240 and three electrodes 232 in first array 230 , as noted , other numbers of electrodes in each array could be used , preferably retaining a symmetrically staggered configuration as shown . it is seen in fig4 a that while particulate matter 60 is present in the incoming ( in ) air , the outflow ( out ) air is substantially devoid of particulate matter , which adheres to the preferably large surface area provided by the second array electrodes ( see fig4 b ). as best seen in fig4 b , the spaced - apart configuration between the arrays is staggered such that each first array electrode 232 is substantially equidistant from two second array electrodes 242 . this symmetrical staggering has been found to be an especially efficient electrode placement . preferably the staggering geometry is symmetrical in that adjacent electrodes 232 or adjacent electrodes 242 are spaced - apart a constant distance , y1 and y2 respectively . however , a non - symmetrical configuration could also be used , although ion emission and air flow would likely be diminished . also , it is understood that the number of electrodes 232 and 242 may differ from what is shown . in fig4 a , typically dimensions are as follows : diameter of electrodes 232 is about 0 . 08 mm , distances y1 and y2 are each about 16 mm , distance x1 is about 16 mm , distance l is about 20 mm , and electrode heights z1 and z2 are each about 1 m . the width w of electrodes 242 is preferably about 4 mm , and the thickness of the material from which electrodes 242 are formed is about 0 . 5 mm . of course other dimensions and shapes could be used . it is preferred that electrodes 232 be small in diameter to help establish a desired high voltage field . on the other hand , it is desired that electrodes 232 ( as well as electrodes 242 ) be sufficiently robust to withstand occasional cleaning . electrodes 232 in first array 230 are coupled by a conductor 234 to a first ( preferably positive ) output port of high voltage pulse generator 170 , and electrodes 242 in second array 240 are coupled by a conductor 244 to a second ( preferably negative ) output port of generator 170 . it is relatively unimportant where on the various electrodes electrical connection is made to conductors 234 or 244 . thus , by way of example fig4 b depicts conductor 244 making connection with some electrodes 242 internal to bulbous end 246 , while other electrodes 242 make electrical connection to conductor 244 elsewhere on the electrode . electrical connection to the various electrodes 242 could also be made on the electrode external surface providing no substantial impairment of the outflow airstream results . to facilitate removing the electrode assembly from unit 100 ( as shown in fig2 b ), it is preferred that the lower end of the various electrodes fit against mating portions of wire or other conductors 234 or 244 . for example , “ cup - like ” members can be affixed to wires 234 and 244 into which the free ends of the various electrodes fit when electrode array 220 is inserted completely into housing 102 of unit 100 . the ratio of the effective electric field emanating area of electrode 232 to the nearest effective area of electrodes 242 is at least about 15 : 1 , and preferably is at least 20 : 1 . thus , in the embodiment of fig4 a and fig4 b , the ratio r2 / r1 ≈ 2 mm / 0 . 04 mm = 50 : 1 . in this and the other embodiments to be described herein , ionization appears to occur at the smaller electrode ( s ) 232 in the first electrode array 230 , with ozone production occurring as a function of high voltage arcing . for example , increasing the peak - to - peak voltage amplitude and / or duty cycle of the pulses from the high voltage pulse generator 170 can increase ozone content in the output flow of ionized air . if desired , user - control s 2 can be used to somewhat vary ozone content by varying ( in a safe manner ) amplitude and / or duty . cycle . specific circuitry for achieving such control is known in the art and need not be described in detail herein . note the inclusion in fig4 a and 4b of at least one output controlling electrode 243 , preferably electrically coupled to the same potential as the second array electrodes . electrode 243 preferably defines a pointed shape in side profile , e . g ., a triangle . the sharp point on electrode ( s ) 243 causes generation of substantial negative ions ( since the electrode is coupled to relatively negative high potential ). these negative ions neutralize excess positive ions otherwise present in the output air flow , such that the out flow has a net negative charge . electrode ( s ) 243 preferably are stainless steel , copper , or other conductor , and are perhaps 20 mm high and about 12 mm wide at the base . another advantage of including pointed electrodes 243 is that they maybe stationarily mounted within the housing of unit 100 , and thus are not readily reached by human hands when cleaning the unit . were it otherwise , the sharp point on electrode ( s ) 243 could easily cause cuts . the inclusion of one electrode 243 has been found sufficient to provide a sufficient number of output negative ions , but more such electrodes may be included . in the embodiment of fig4 a and 4c , each “ u ”- shaped electrode 242 has two trailing edges that promote efficient kinetic transport of the outflow of ionized air and o 3 . note the inclusion on at least one portion of a trailing edge of a pointed electrode region 243 ′. electrode region 243 ′ helps promote output of negative ions , in the same fashion as was described with respect to fig4 a and 4b . note , however , the higher likelihood of a user cutting himself or herself when wiping electrodes 242 with a cloth or the like to remove particulate matter deposited thereon . in fig4 c and the figures to follow , the particulate matter is omitted for ease of illustration . however , from what was shown in fig2 a - 4b , particulate matter will be present in the incoming air , and will be substantially absent from the outgoing air . as has been described , particulate matter 60 typically will be electrostatically precipitated upon the surface area of electrodes 242 . as indicated by fig4 c , it is relatively unimportant where on an electrode array electrical connection is made . thus , first array electrodes 232 are shown connected together at their bottom regions , whereas second array electrodes 242 are shown connected together in their middle regions . both arrays may be connected together in more than one region , e . g ., at the top and at the bottom . it is preferred that the wire or strips or other inter - connecting mechanisms be at the top or bottom or periphery of the second array electrodes 242 , so as to minimize obstructing stream air movement . note that the embodiments of fig4 c and 4d depict somewhat truncated versions of electrodes 242 . whereas dimension l in the embodiment of fig4 a and 4b was about 20 mm , in fig4 c and 4d , l has been shortened to about 8 mm . other dimensions in fig4 c preferably are similar to those stated for fig4 a and 4b . in fig4 c and 4d , the inclusion of point - like regions 246 on the trailing edge of electrodes 242 seems to promote more efficient generation of ionized air flow . it will be appreciated that the configuration of second electrode array 240 in fig4 c can be more robust than the configuration of fig4 a and 4b , by virtue of the shorter trailing edge geometry . as noted earlier , a symmetrical staggered geometry for the first and second electrode arrays is preferred for the configuration of fig4 c . in the embodiment of fig4 d , the outermost second electrodes , denoted 242 - 1 and 242 - 2 , have substantially no outermost trailing edges . dimension l in fig4 d is preferably about 3 mm , and other dimensions maybe as stated for the configuration of fig4 a and 4b . again , the r2 / r1 ratio for the embodiment of fig4 d preferably exceeds about 20 : 1 . [ 0080 ] fig4 e and 4f depict another embodiment of electrode assembly 220 , in which the first electrode array comprises a single wire electrode 232 , and the second electrode array comprises a single pair of curved “ l ”- shaped electrodes 242 , in cross - section . typical dimensions , where different than what has been stated for earlier - described embodiments , are x1 ≈ 12 mm , y1 ≈ 6 mm , y2 ≈ 5 mm , and l1 ≈ 3 mm . the effective r2 / r1 ratio is again greater than about 20 : 1 . the fewer electrodes comprising assembly 220 in fig4 e and 4f promote economy of construction , and ease of cleaning , although more than one electrode 232 , and more than two electrodes 242 could of course be employed . this embodiment again incorporates the staggered symmetry described earlier , in which electrode 232 is equidistant from two electrodes 242 . turning now to fig5 a , a first embodiment of an electrode cleaning mechanism 500 is depicted . in the embodiment shown , mechanism 500 comprises a flexible sheet of insulating material such as mylar or other high voltage , high temperature breakdown resistant material , having sheet thickness of perhaps 0 . 1 mm or so . sheet 500 is attached at one end to the base or other mechanism 113 secured to the lower end of second electrode array 240 . sheet 500 extends or projects out from base 113 towards and beyond the location of first electrode array 230 electrodes 232 . the overall projection length of sheet 500 in fig5 a will be sufficiently long to span the distance between base 113 of the second array 240 and the location of electrodes 232 in the first array 230 . this span distance will depend upon the electrode array configuration but typically will be a few inches or so . preferably the distal edge of sheet 500 will extend slightly beyond the location of electrodes 232 , perhaps 0 . 5 ″ beyond . as shown in fig5 a and 5c , the distal edge , e . g ., edge closest to electrodes 232 , of material 500 is formed with a slot 510 corresponding to the location of an electrode 232 . preferably the inward end of the slot forms a small circle 520 , which can promote flexibility . the configuration of material 500 and slots 510 is such that each wire or wire - like electrode 232 in the first electrode array 230 fits snugly and friction ally within a corresponding slot 510 . as indicated by fig5 a and shown in fig5 c , instead of a single sheet 500 that includes a plurality of slots 510 , instead one can provide individual strips 515 of material 500 , the distal end of each strip having a slot 510 that will surround an associated wire electrode 232 . note in fig5 b and 5c that sheet 500 or sheets 515 may be formed with holes 119 that can attach to pegs 117 that project from the base portion 113 of the second electrode array 240 . of course other attachment mechanisms could be used including glue , double - sided tape , inserting the array 240 — facing edge of the sheet into a horizontal slot or ledge in base member 113 , and so forth . [ 0083 ] fig5 a shows second electrode array 240 in the process of being moved upward , perhaps by a user intending to remove array 240 to remove particulate matter from the surfaces of its electrodes 242 . note that as array 240 moves up ( or down ), sheet 510 ( or sheets 515 ) also move up ( or down ). this vertical movement of array 240 produces a vertical movement in sheet 510 or 515 , which causes the outer surface of electrodes 232 to scrape against the inner surfaces of an associated slot 510 . fig5 a , for example , shows debris and other deposits 612 ( indicated by x &# 39 ; s ) on wires 232 above sheet 500 . as array 240 and sheet 500 move upward , debris 612 is scraped off the wire electrodes , and falls downward ( to be vaporized or collected as particulate matter when unit 100 is again reassembled and turned - on ). thus , the outer surface of electrodes 232 below sheet 500 in fig5 a is shown as being cleaner than the surface of the same electrodes above sheet 500 , where scraping action has yet to occur . a user hearing that excess noise or humming emanates from unit 100 might simply turn the unit off , and slide array 240 ( and thus sheet 500 or sheets 515 ) up and down ( as indicated by the up / down arrows in fig5 a ) to scrape the wire electrodes in the first electrode array . this technique does not damage the wire electrodes , and allows the user to clean as required . as noted earlier , a user may remove second electrode array 240 for cleaning ( thus also removing sheet 500 , which will have scraped electrodes 232 on its upward vertical path ). if the user cleans electrodes 242 with water and returns array 240 to unit 100 without first completely drying 240 , moisture might form on the upper surface of a horizontally disposed member 550 within unit 100 . thus , as shown in fig5 n , it is preferred that an upwardly projecting vane 560 be disposed near the base of each electrode 232 such that when array 240 is fully inserted into unit 100 , the distal portion of sheet 500 or preferably sheet strips 515 deflect upward . while sheet 500 or sheets 515 nominally will define an angle θ of about 90 °, as base 113 becomes fully inserted into unit 100 , the angle θ will increase , approaching 0 °, e . g ., the sheet is extending almost vertically upward . if desired , a portion of sheet 500 or sheet strips 515 can be made stiffer by laminating two or more layers of mylar or other material . for example the distal tip of strip 515 in fig5 b might be one layer thick , whereas the half or so of the strip length nearest electrode 242 might be stiffened with an extra layer or two of mylar or similar material . the inclusion of a projecting vane 560 in the configuration of fig5 b advantageously disrupted physical contact between sheet 500 or sheet strips 515 and electrodes 232 , thus tending to preserve a high ohmic impedance between the first and second electrode arrays 230 , 240 . the embodiment of fig6 a - 6d advantageously serves to pivot sheet 500 or sheet strips 515 upward , essentially parallel to electrodes 232 , to help maintain a high impedance between the first and second electrode arrays . note the creation of an air gap 513 resulting from the upward deflection of the slit distal tip of strip 515 in fig5 b . in fig6 a , the lower edges of second array electrodes 242 are retained by a base member 113 from which project arms 677 , which can pivot about pivot axle 687 . preferably axle 687 biases arms 677 into a horizontal disposition , e . g ., such that θ ≈ 90 °. arms 645 project from the longitudinal axis of base member 113 to help member 113 align itself within an opening 655 formed in member 550 , described below . preferably base member 113 and arms 677 are formed from a material that exhibits high voltage breakdown and can withstand high temperature . ceramic is a preferred material ( if cost and weight were not considered ), but certain plastics could also be used . the unattached tip of each arm 677 terminates in a sheet strip 515 of mylar , kapton , or a similar material , whose distal tip terminates in a slot 510 . it is seen that the pivotable arms 677 and sheet strips 515 are disposed such that each slot 510 will self - align with a wire or wire - like electrode 232 in first array 230 . electrodes 232 preferably extend from pylons 627 on a base member 550 that extends from legs 565 from the internal bottom of the housing of the transporter - conditioner unit . to further help maintain high impedance between the first and second electrode arrays , base member 550 preferably includes a barrier wall 665 and upwardly extending vanes 675 . vanes 675 , pylons 627 , and barrier wall 665 extend upward perhaps an inch or so , depending upon the configuration of the two electrode be formed integrally , e . g ., by casting , from a material that exhibits high voltage breakdown and can withstand high temperature , ceramic , or certain plastics for example . as best seen in fig6 a , base member 550 includes an opening 655 sized to receive the lower portion of second electrode array base member 113 . in fig6 a and 6b , arms 677 and sheet material 515 are shown pivoting from base member 113 about axis 687 at an angle θ = 90 °. in this disposition , an electrode 232 will be within the slot 510 formed at the distal tip of each sheet material member 515 . assume that a user had removed second electrode array 240 completely from the transporter - conditioner unit for cleaning , and that fig6 a and 6b depict array 240 being reinserted into the unit . the coiled spring or other bias mechanism associated with pivot axle 687 will urge arms 677 into an approximate θ ≈ 90 ° orientation as the user inserts array 240 into unit 100 . side projections 645 help base member 113 align properly such that each wire or wire - like electrode 232 is caught within the slot 510 of a member 515 on an arm 677 . as the user slides array 240 down into unit 100 , there will be a scraping action between the portions of sheet member 515 on either side of a slot 510 , and the outer surface of an electrode 232 that is essentially captured within the slot . this friction will help remove debris or deposits that may have formed on the surface of electrodes 232 . the user may slide array 240 up and down the further promote the removal of debris or deposits from elements 232 . in fig6 c the user has slid array 240 down almost entirely into unit 100 . in the embodiment shown , when the lowest portion of base member 232 is perhaps an inch or so above the planar surface of member 550 , the upward edge of a vane 675 will strike the a lower surface region of a projection arm 677 . the result will be to pivot arm 677 and the attached slit - member 515 about axle 687 such that the angle θ decreases . in the disposition shown in fig6 c , θ ≈ 45 ° and slitcontact with an associated electrode 232 is no longer made . in fig6 d , the user has firmly urged array 240 fully downward into transporterconditioner unit 100 . in this disposition , as the projecting bottommost portion of member 113 begins to enter opening 655 in member 550 ( see fig6 a ), contact between the inner wall 657 portion of member 550 urges each arm 677 to pivot fully upward , e . g ., θ ≈ 0 °. thus in the fully inserted disposition shown in fig6 d , each slit electrode cleaning member 515 is rotated upward parallel to its associated electrode 232 . as such , neither arm 677 nor member 515 will decrease impedance between first and second electrode arrays 230 , 240 . further , the presence of vanes 675 and barrier wall 665 further promote high impedance . thus , the embodiments shown in fig5 a - 6d depict alternative configurations for a cleaning mechanism for a wire or wire - like electrode in a transporterconditioner unit . turning now to fig7 a - 7e , various bead - like mechanisms are shown for cleaning deposits from the outer surface of wire electrodes 232 in a first electrode array 230 in a transporter - converter unit . in fig7 a a symmetrical bead 600 is shown surrounding wire element 232 , which is passed through bead channel 610 at the time the first electrode array is fabricated . bead 600 is fabricated from a material that can withstand high temperature and high voltage , and is not likely to char , ceramic or glass , for example . while a metal bead would also work , an electrically conductive bead material would tend slightly to decrease the resistance path separating the first and second electrode arrays , e . g ., by approximately the radius of the metal bead . in fig7 a , debris and deposits 612 on electrode 232 are depicted as “ x &# 39 ; s ”. in fig7 a , bead 600 is moving in the direction shown by the arrow relative to wire 232 . such movement can result from the user inverting unit 100 , e . g ., turning the unit upside down . as bead 600 slides in the direction of the arrow , debris and deposits 612 scrape against the interior walls of channel 610 and are removed . the removed debris can eventually collect at the bottom interior of the transporter - conditioner unit . such debris will be broken down and vaporized as the unit is used , or will accumulate as particulate matter on the surface of electrodes 242 . if wire 232 has a nominal diameter of say 0 . 1 mm , the diameter of bead channel 610 will be several times larger , perhaps 0 . 8 mm or so , although greater or lesser size tolerances may be used . bead 600 need not be circular and may instead be cylindrical as shown by bead 600 ′ in fig7 a . a circular bead may have a diameter in the range of perhaps 0 . 3 ″ to perhaps 0 . 5 ″. a cylindrical bead might have a diameter of say 0 . 3 ″ and be about 0 . 5 ″ tall , although different sizes could of course be used . as indicated by fig7 a , an electrode 232 may be strung through more than one bead 600 , 600 ′. further , as shown by fig7 b - 7d , beads having different channel symmetries and orientations may be used as well . it is to be noted that while it may be most convenient to form channels 610 with circular cross - sections , the cross - sections could in fact be non - circular , e . g ., triangular , square , irregular shape , etc . [ 0095 ] fig7 b shows a bead 600 similar to that of fig7 a , but wherein channel 610 is formed off - center to give asymmetry to the bead . an off - center channel will have a mechanical moment and will tend to slightly tension wire electrode 232 as the bead slides up or down , and can improve cleaning characteristics . for ease of illustration , fig7 b - 7e do not depict debris or deposits on or removed from wire or wire - like electrode 232 . in the embodiment of fig7 c , bead channel 610 is substantially in the center of bead 600 but is inclined slightly , again to impart a different frictional cleaning action . in the embodiment of fig7 d , beam 600 has a channel 610 that is both off center and inclined , again to impart a different frictional cleaning action . in general , asymmetrical bead channel or through - opening orientations are preferred . [ 0096 ] fig7 e depicts an embodiment in which a bell - shaped walled bead 620 is shaped and sized to fit over a pillar 550 connected to a horizontal portion 560 of an interior bottom portion of unit 100 . pillar 550 retains the lower end of wire or wire - like electrode 232 , which passes through a channel 630 in bead 620 , and if desired , also through a channel 610 in another bead 600 . bead 600 is shown in phantom in fig7 e to indicate that it is optional . friction between debris 612 on electrode 232 and the mouth of channel 630 will tend to remove the debris from the electrode as bead 620 slides up and down the length of the electrode , e . g ., when a user inverts transporter - conditioner unit 100 , to clean electrodes 232 . it is understood that each electrode 232 will include its own bead or beads , and some of the beads may have symmetrically disposed channels , while other beads may have asymmetrically disposed channels . an advantage of the configuration shown in fig7 e is that when unit 100 is in use , e . g ., when bead 620 surrounds pillar 550 , with an air gap therebetween , improved breakdown resistance is provided , especially when bead 620 is fabricated from glass or ceramic or other high voltage , high temperature breakdown material that will not readily char . the presence of an air gap between the outer surface of pillar 550 and the inner surface of the bellshaped bead 620 helps increase this resistance to high voltage breakdown or arcing , and to charring . modifications and variations may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the subject and spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims .
| 7Electricity
|
with reference to fig1 , which illustrates a schematic view of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention . wherein a rotating member is a mirror 1 with a radius r and a height h . the mirror 1 having double reflecting surfaces is disposed on a platform 2 and driven by a driving device 3 as a motor in the platform 2 . further that , an angle encoder 4 is disposed in the driving device 3 . the preferred embodiments disclosed by the present invention may adopt a plane mirror as the principle of the present invention but not limit to ; others as convex mirror , concave mirror can be applied for different effects as well . an emitting module 5 is firmly disposed on the circumference , the distance of l , of the platform 2 and around the rotating path of the plane mirror 1 . the emitting module 5 is distributed a plurality of leds 51 , which quantity is defined as m and can be monochromatic or polychromic . the emitting module 5 receives the image - control signal of a control unit 6 for controlling images in order to emit light . the image - control signal from the control unit 6 is processed by an input video signal and a signal from the angle encoder 4 . if the angular resolution is 2k , the control unit 6 obtains a present angle value of the plane mirror 1 from the signal of the angle decoder 4 so as to acquire the mapped mirror image signal of a current mirror position , and send the signal to the emitting module 5 for producing the image in the plane mirror 1 . continuously to output the image signal of the mirroring position to the emitting module 5 can output the image via the input video signal . with reference to fig2 , which illustrates a schematic view of a relationship of the rotating angle and the mirror image of the present invention . as shown in fig2 , while the plane mirror 1 is at a position 1 ′, a mirror image of the emitting module 5 is i 1 , and the mirror image angle θi ( 1 ) is 90 °; while the plane mirror 1 moving to a position 2 ′ with a moving angle θ , another mirror image of the emitting module 5 is 12 . by the mirror theory , δaob = δi2ob , so that : according to equation ( 1 - 1 ), the mirror images of the mirror positions i 1 and i 2 are at the same circumference according to the radius l , and the rotating angle of the mirror images is defined as θi ( 2 )− θi ( 1 )= 2θ . then , the position of the mirror image of the emitting module is defined by that of 2 multiplied by the angle θ from the angle decoder . assuming that the resolution of the angle decoder is 2k , then the resolution of the mirror image is k . hence , a 2 - dimensional mirror image with the resolution of k * m can be shown on the circumference , which is defined by the center o , the radius l , and the height h . according to equation ( 1 - 2 ), while the plane mirror is rotated 180 °, the mirror image is rotated an angle , which is 360 ° defined by 2 θ . it is then that a 360 ° mirror image is twice appeared while the plane mirror is rotated a circle . as an example , the plane mirror is rotated 15 circles per second , a 360 ° image is appeared for 30 times per second . this frequency is within the scope of persistence of view of human beings , and therefore a static 2 - dimensional mirror image can be seen . with reference to fig3 , which illustrates a schematic view of position relationships of the mirror images produced by the plane mirror and the emitting module of the present invention . as shown in fig3 , the plane mirror 1 is rotated to six positions , which are m 1 , m 2 , m 3 , m 4 , m 5 , and m 6 in sequence , and the positions of the mirror images are i 1 , i 2 , i 3 , i 4 , i 5 , and i 6 in sequence . therefore , while the plane mirror 1 is rotated 180 °, the mirror image is then rotated 360 ° accordingly . as aforesaid equation ( 1 - 2 ), if the plane mirror is turned the angle θ , the mirror image is then turned the angle 2θ . if the rotating angle is between 180 ° to 360 °, the mirror image is restarted from another 360 ° image due to the plane mirror 1 with two reflecting surfaces . hence , if the resolution of the angle decoder is 2k in a circle , such as the angle of 360 °, that is , only the resolution k is mapped while at the angle of 180 °; but the mirror position of 180 ° is mapped to the mirror image of 360 °, so that the resolution of a generated image is only k . the control unit 6 in fig1 transforms the input image signals to the image with the resolution of k * m . wherein the resolution m is mapped to the m positions of plural leds 51 in the emitting module 5 . the control unit 6 uses the m image - control signals of the mapped kth column to control that the emitting module 5 emits light with corresponding brightness via a θk input by the angle decoder 4 . continuously , the resolution and height of the column of a mirror image are m and h . so that a 2 - dimensional image with a radius l and the height h is displayed . the refresh rate , as image refresh rate per second , of the image is 2f , wherein f is the rotating speed of the plane mirror . and the rotating angle of the plane mirror can be acquired by the angle encoder 4 . the angle encoder can be replaced by another way , which uses a switch as a light sensor or magnetic sensor , ex . hall - sensor , to be a start point , then a time tc for turning a circle is divided into 2k divisions averagely , therefore each division δt is equal to tc / 2k , and δt is corresponding to a time gap between each two columns of the emitting modules . the circumference of the mirror image is mapped an image with k columns , and the mapped image starts from the start point , defined as the angle of zero , an angle between each pair of columns is 360 °/ k . with reference to fig4 , which illustrates a schematic view of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig4 , the plane mirror 1 is a disc mirror and turned around a z - axis by the driving device 3 , such as a motor . the emitting module 5 is around the disc mirror 1 as well and shaped as an arc member . by way of the theory applied to the first preferred embodiment , the mirror image of the emitting module 5 is a spheral image with a radius l . the embodiment can construct a spheral display . with reference to fig5 , which illustrates a schematic view of a third preferred embodiment of the present invention . wherein there are n columns of emitting modules 5 disposed around the plane mirror 1 at different locations , where are defined by different angles θ . the emitting modules are named as ledm 1 , ledm 2 , . . . , and ledm n . each column of emitting module 5 has m pieces of leds 51 , which can be monochromatic or polychromic and mounted on different positions with different distances , such as several radii . if the resolution of rotating the plane mirror 1 a circle is 2k , and then the mirror images of the n columns of emitting modules 5 are displayed as n cylindrical images i 1 , i 2 , . . . , and i n with different radii , such as d 1 , d 2 , . . . , and d n . each cylindrical image is a 2 - dimensional image with the resolution m * k . therefore , the n cylindrical images forms i 1 , i 2 , . . . , and i n a 3 - dimensional mirror image with resolution n * m * k , which can be visible to the eyes . with reference to fig6 , which illustrates a schematic view of a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention . plural columns of the emitting modules ledm 1 , ledm 2 , . . . , and ledm n are averagely disposed around the plane mirror 1 and with the same radius in order to generate the mirror images through that the control unit controls each column of emitting module , and the mirror images are the same as each other . so that the image refresh rate per second can be increased and the image brightness is enhanced as well . the image refresh rate is 2fn , and the image brightness is then n times . as an example in fig6 , the three columns of emitting modules 5 are averagely disposed around the plane mirror 1 , the rotating speed f of the plane mirror 1 is equal to 10 circles / sec ., and therefore the image refresh rate r is 60 time / sec ., that is , r = 2 * 10 * 3 . detail description is as below : while turning the plane mirror 1 to the position angle θ ( t ), the relationships for the positions of the mirror images of the three columns of emitting modules 5 are as the three equations listed below : hence , for any mirror image angle θ i , three mirror position angles θ ( t1 ) , θ ( t2 ) , and θ ( t3 ) can be determined by equations ( 5 - 1 ), ( 5 - 2 ), and ( 5 - 3 ) as below : since the plane mirror 1 is turned 180 °, there are three mirror images generated . as a result , the refresh rate of the mirror image is 6f time / sec . with reference to fig7 , which illustrates a schematic view of a fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention . the embodiment adopts a polyhedral member to reflect , and it is assembled by n pieces of mirrors so as to become a polyhedral mirror set . if the polyhedral mirror set is turned around the central axis and the rotating speed is f circle / sec ., the refresh rate of the mirror image will be as r = nf time / sec . as an example in fig7 , the polyhedral mirror set 11 is shaped as a prism and assembled by three plane mirrors m 1 , m 2 , and m 3 . the point z is an origin for the coordinate x - y , and there is a column of emitting module 5 disposed at the coordinate (− l , 0 ). while the polyhedral mirror set 11 is at a first position and appeared by dotted lines , the mirror image of the column of emitting module 5 in the plane mirror m 3 is i 1 ; while the polyhedral mirror set 11 is at a second position and appeared by active lines , that is , the plane mirror m 3 is turned an angle θ , and the coordinate of the mirror image of the plane mirror m 3 can be determined by following equations : therefore the moving path of the mirror image is plotted and shown as an arc dotted line in fig7 . with reference to fig8 and fig9 , which illustrate two schematic views of the imaging theory of the present invention . in fig8 , while under the condition of l = 5d , the moving path of the mirror image of the column of emitting module 5 in the plane mirror m 3 is from i 1 to i 7 . as shown in fig9 , while the column of emitting module 5 is just located at the turning path , as a circumference , of the polyhedral mirror set 11 , that is , the condition of l = 2d , the moving path of the mirror image is from i 1 to i 7 , and the width of the mirror image is about 1 . 4d and smaller than the width of the polyhedral mirror set 11 . further that , the width of the polyhedral mirror set 11 is 2 √{ square root over ( 3 )} d . according to equations ( 7 - 1 ) and ( 7 - 2 ), the moving path of the mirror image is not a roundness curve ; on the other hand , while l & gt ;& gt ; d , equations ( 7 - 1 ) and ( 7 - 2 ) derive the equation of xi 2 + yi 2 = l 2 so as to make the moving path of the mirror image approach a roundness curve . the angle θi of the mirror image of the column of emitting module 5 can be determined from equations ( 7 - 1 ) and ( 7 - 2 ), and the angle θi is then equal to | tan − 1 ( yi / xi )|, but not equal to 2θ . so that this is not a linear relationship with the angle θ of the mirror position . by way of numeric operations , the non - linear relationship can be stored in a memory in order to let the control unit output the mapped image signal of the mirror image to produce a 2 - dimensional image . please refer to fig1 , which illustrates a schematic view of a dead space for observation in fig7 . as shown in fig1 , there is an observer p 1 , who can watch the mirror image of the column of emitting module 5 ; but another observer p 2 right in front of the column of emitting module 5 cannot watch the mirror image . to compensate the problem , more columns of emitting modules 5 can be disposed around the polyhedral mirror set 11 for different directions of observers . in fig1 , which illustrates a schematic view of a solution to solve the dead space for observation in fig1 , and there are three columns of emitting modules ledm 1 , ledm 2 , and ledm 3 averagely disposed . the moving path i 1 ′ of the mirror image of the emitting module ledm 1 can be watched by the observer p 1 ; the moving path i 2 ′ of the mirror image of the emitting module ledm 2 can be watched by the observer p 2 ; and the moving path i 3 ′ of the mirror image of the emitting module ledm 3 can be watched by the observer p 3 . as a result , a full - range image is displayed . referring to fig1 , which illustrates a schematic view of a sixth preferred embodiment of the present invention . that is another application to an irregular member . the column of emitting module 5 is irregularly shaped so as to form a special 3 - dimensional image while turning the plane mirror 1 . referring to fig1 , which illustrates a schematic view of a mirror image for fig1 . the mirror image is like a vase , since the shape of the column of emitting module 5 is designed as a half figure of a symmetric vase . as a conclusion , the shape of the emitting module 5 can be designed for any figure to meet any 3 - dimensional image . although this invention has been disclosed and illustrated with reference to particular embodiments , the principles involved are susceptible for use in numerous other embodiments that will be apparent to persons skilled in the art . this invention is , therefore , to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the appended claims .
| 6Physics
|
in each of the following figures , the same reference numerals are used to refer to the same components . while the present invention is described primarily with respect to a mold half alignment technique as applied to an injection / compression molding process , the present invention may be adapted to various processes including injection molding , compression molding , die casting , and other molding and casting processes that utilize multiple mold elements to form one or more mold cavities . the present invention may be applied to molds used to form complex shaped and deep contoured components , such as instrument panels , bumpers , door panels , interior trim panels , and other components known in the art . the present invention may apply to automotive , aeronautical , nautical , railway , commercial , and residential industries , as well as to other industries that utilize similar molding processes . in the following description , various operating parameters and components are described for one constructed embodiment . these specific parameters and components are included as examples and are not meant to be limiting . referring now to fig1 , a side sectional view of an injection / compression molding system 10 incorporating a compression wear plate lock adjustment system 12 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown . the adjustment system 12 has a mold 14 with adjustable compression wear plate locks 16 and angled mold locks 18 . the mold 14 has a cavity mold half 20 and a core mold half 22 . the cavity mold half 20 is mounted on a stationary platen 24 . the core mold half 22 is mounted on a moveable platen 26 that is translated along a mold closing line 28 . the core mating surface 30 of the core mold half 22 remains parallel to the cavity mating surface 32 of the cavity mold half 20 during actuation thereof . the mold closing line 28 extends perpendicular to the mating surfaces 30 and 32 . the cavity mold half 20 and the core mold half 22 may be mounted on either of the platens 24 and 26 . in operation , as the mold 14 is closed the wear plate locks 16 and the angled mold locks 18 assure proper alignment of the mold halves 20 and 22 . the wear plate locks 16 are integrally formed and are attached to one of the halves 20 and 22 and are in contact with the other half when the mold 14 is closed . for example , the wear plate locks 16 may be attached to the core mold half 22 and be in contact with the cavity mold half 20 when the mold 14 is closed or vice versa . the wear plate locks 16 include wear plates that are attached to one of the halves 20 and 22 , which is referred to as the lock mounting half , and are in contact with and adjacent to the other half or adjacent half . as the mold 14 is closed wear surfaces of the wear plates rub against the adjacent mold half and overtime form wear gaps therebetween . adjustability of the wear plate locks compensates for the wear gaps . sample wear plates are best seen in fig2 - 7 and example wear gaps g 2 are shown in fig6 . the angled mold locks 18 are coupled to the mold halves 20 and 22 . the wear plate locks 16 , the angled locks 18 , and the use thereof is described below in detail with respect to fig2 - 8 . the injection compression molding system 10 is shown for example purposes only . the injection compression molding system 10 includes an injection side 30 and a die / part actuation side 32 , which are controlled by a controller 33 . the injection side 30 includes a rotation servo motor 34 and an injection servo motor 36 , which are coupled to and are used to rotate and translate a screw 38 . the rotation and translation of the screw 38 causes the resin material 40 from within a hopper 42 to be injected into the mold 14 . the injected resin 40 , through applied heat and pressure , cures to form a part . the die / part actuation side 32 includes a die actuation motor 44 , which is used to open and close the mold 14 . the die actuation motor 44 is coupled to the moveable die 26 via a drive shaft 46 . the die actuation motor 44 rotates the drive shaft 46 to translate the core mold half 22 , thus , opening or closing the mold 14 . the die / part actuation side 32 may also include a part separation motor 48 and a part removal motor 50 . the part separation motor 48 is coupled to an ejection member 52 , which is used to separate the part from the core mold half 22 upon forming and cooling of the part . the part removal motor 50 is coupled to a part removing arm 54 and a pad 56 . the pad 56 is used to grab the part and remove it from the mold 14 upon curing thereof . during operation of the injection compression molding system 10 , the mold 14 is closed by translating the core mold half 22 towards the cavity mold half 20 . before the mold 14 is completely closed , the material 40 , which may be in the form of a thermoplastic or thermosetting resin , is injected into the mold cavity 58 . the further closing of the mold 14 compresses and thus spreads out the injected material within the mold cavity 58 . the wear plate locks 16 maintain alignment of the mold halves 20 and 22 during this injection / compression process . heat and pressure may be continuously applied until the injected material is cured to form the part . referring now to fig2 , a top and block diagrammatic view of the compression wear plate lock adjustment system 12 is shown . the lock adjustment system 12 includes the guide pins 60 , the wear plate locks 16 , and the angled mold locks 18 . as the mold 14 is closed , the guide pins 60 provide an initial rough alignment of the core mold half 22 with the cavity core half 20 . the wear plate locks 16 provide an intermediate fine alignment of the core mold half 22 with the cavity core half 20 . the angled mold locks 18 provide a final precise alignment of the core mold half 22 with the cavity mold half 20 when the mold is in a fully closed state . although the following is described with respect to the wear plate locks 16 being mounted on the core mold half 22 , they may be mounted on the cavity mold half 20 , as shown in fig7 . although a particular number of each of the locks 16 and 18 is shown and the locks 16 and 18 are shown at certain locations on the mold 14 , any number of each lock may be used and the locks 16 and 18 may be located in various other locations on the mold 14 . the wear plate locks 16 may be located on or at the corners 62 of the mold 14 , as shown , or may be located on the sides 64 of the mold 14 . the angled mold locks 18 may be located along the sides 64 , as shown , or may be located on the corners 62 . the angled mold locks 18 may also be located within the mold 14 such that all of the edges 66 of the angle mold locks 18 are within the outer periphery 68 of the mold 14 . referring now to fig3 - 5 , a side cross - sectional view of the mold 14 and a top close - up view and a side close - up view of one of the adjustable compression wear plate locks 16 are shown . the guide pins 60 , as shown , extend from lock towers 70 , which are integral portions of the core mold half 22 . the guide pins 60 extend within pin reception holes 72 in the cavity mold half 20 . the guide pins 60 and the pin reception holes 72 may be in various locations on the halves 20 and 22 . the guide pins 60 may be located on or off of the lock towers 70 and also or alternatively on the cavity mold half 20 and have respective pin reception holes 72 in the core mold half 22 . the guide pins 60 may be of various types , styles , and formed of various materials . the wear plate locks 16 are in the form of locking assemblies and include one or more wear plates 80 that provide contact rubbing surfaces 82 between the mold halves 20 and 22 . two wear plates in perpendicular relationship are shown per each corner wear plate lock . as the mold 14 is closed the mold contact surfaces 83 of the cavity mold half 22 rub on the contact rubbing surfaces 82 . the wear plates 80 are locked in position relative to the core mold half 22 via locking fasteners 84 . the position of the wear plates 80 is adjustable via adjustment blocks or elements 86 and wedge adjustment fasteners 88 . the adjustment elements 86 are coupled between the wear plates 80 and the lock towers 70 and / or the core mold half 22 . in the embodiment shown , the adjustment elements 86 are in the form of wedges . the adjustment fasteners 88 extend through associated recessed holes 90 in the adjustment elements 86 and into the wedge adjustment towers 92 . the wedge adjustment towers 92 are an integral portion of the core mold half 22 . the wear plates 80 are , in general , formed of a material that is softer than that of the mold halves 20 and 22 to prevent wear on the mold halves 20 and 22 . the surfaces 82 and 83 are formed of dissimilar materials to prevent galling . although the wear plates 80 are shown in rectangular form , they may be of various shapes . the wear plates 80 , the mold halves 20 and 22 , and the guide pins 60 may be formed of various materials , such as steel , aluminum , brass , or other suitable materials . in one embodiment , the guide pins 60 are formed of a hardened steel , which is slid into bushings 85 ( only one is shown ) formed of brass that are located within the cavity mold halve 20 , as shown in fig3 . the adjustment elements 86 are tapered to cause the wear plates 80 to shift in a direction approximately lateral or perpendicular to the shift direction of the adjustment elements 86 . arrows 94 show shift directions of the adjustment elements 86 . arrows 96 show shift directions of the wear plates 80 . each adjustment element 86 has a single tapered side 100 adjacent the lock towers 70 . this allows for unidirectional shifting of the wear plates 80 . in shifting the adjustment elements 86 , the adjustment gaps g 1 between the wedge adjustment towers 92 and the adjustment elements 86 are increased or decreased in size . the adjustment fasteners 88 are rotated to shift the adjustment elements 86 toward or away from the wedge adjustment towers 92 . the shifting of the adjustment elements 86 causes the wear plates 80 to shift toward or away from the lock towers 70 and the cavity mold half 20 as desired . the adjustment fasteners 88 are externally accessible and visible with respect to and when the mold 14 is closed . the locking fasteners 84 extend through associated slotted holes 102 in the wear plates 80 , through the adjustment elements 86 , and into the lock towers 70 . the locking fasteners 84 lock the wear plates 80 on and in position relative to the lock towers 70 . the locking fasteners 84 also lock the adjustment elements 86 into a selected position . the slotted holes 102 allow for unidirectional positioning of the wear plates 80 and the adjustment elements 86 with respect to the lock towers 70 . the fasteners 84 and 88 may be in the form of threaded bolts , as shown , or may be in some other form known in the art . the angled mold locks 18 may be integrally formed as part of the mold halves 20 and 22 , as shown . the angled mold locks 18 include a receiving half 110 and a projecting half 112 that engages therewith . the projecting half 112 , in effect , is keyed to match the receiving half 110 . the projecting half 112 fits within the receiving half 110 . in one embodiment , the halves 110 and 112 include angled locking surfaces 114 and 116 that are approximately 15 ° from the mold closing line 28 and extend along a displacement closing direction of the mold halves 20 and 22 . angles α and β are shown and represent the locking surface angles for the receiving surface 114 and the projecting surface 116 , respectively . of course , angles α and β may be different than that shown depending upon the application . in an alternative embodiment , the receiving half 110 is an integral part of the core mold half 22 and the projecting half 112 is an integral part of the cavity mold half 20 . referring now to fig6 , a top close - up view of a compression wear plate lock adjustment system 120 illustrating wear gaps g 2 and adjustment thereof in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown . during repeated use of the mold 122 , the wear plate surfaces 124 wear overtime creating the wear gaps g 2 between the wear plates 126 and the adjacent mold half 128 . the wear gaps g 2 may be compensated for through manual or systematic adjustment of the fasteners 130 and 132 in the adjustment system 120 . the adjustment system 120 may include one or more gap sensors 134 , a controller 136 , and a gap adjustment actuating mechanism 138 . the gap sensors 134 are used to detect the size of the wear gaps g 2 . the controller 136 in response to the wear gap size shifts the wear plates 126 by shifting the adjustment elements 140 via the actuating mechanism 138 . the gap sensor 134 may be coupled within one of the mold halves , as shown , or within the wear plates 126 , the adjustment elements 140 , and the lock towers 142 . the gap sensor 134 may be in the form of an infrared sensor , a contact sensor , a radar sensor , an ultrasonic sensor , or other gap or contact sensor known in the art . the gap sensor 134 may also be replaced with a pressure sensor . the position of the wear plates 126 may be adjusted in response to the applied pressure of the wear plates 126 on the adjacent mold half . although the adjustment mechanism 138 may be coupled to the adjustment fasteners 132 and to the locking fasteners 130 . the adjustment mechanism 138 may have linkages , robotic members , motors , and coupling members ( all of which are not shown ), as well as other devices known in the art for moving , rotating , loosening , tightening , or altering the state and position of the fasteners 130 and 132 . the controller 136 may be microprocessor based such as a computer having a central processing unit , memory ( ram and / or rom ), and associated input and output buses . the controller 136 may be an application - specific integrated circuit or may be formed of other logic devices known in the art . the controller 136 may be a portion of a central main control unit , a control circuit having a power supply , or may be a stand - alone controller as shown . referring now to fig7 , a side cross - sectional view of a mold 150 incorporating adjustable compression wear plate locks 152 and angled mold locks 154 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention is shown . the wear plate locks 152 are similar to the wear plate locks 16 and are fastened to the cavity mold half 158 as opposed to the core mold half 160 . the lock fasteners 162 extend through the wear plates 164 ( only one is shown ), through the adjustment elements 166 ( only one is shown ), and into the cavity mold half 158 . referring now to fig8 , a logic flow diagram illustrating a method of maintaining alignment of mold halves in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown . this method may be utilized during a high - volume manufacturing or production process . in step 200 , a mold , such as the mold 14 , is opened . the opening of the mold provides access to locking fasteners , such as the locking fasteners 84 , of adjustable compression wear plate locks , such as the wear plate locks 16 . in step 202 , wear plates , such as wear plates 80 , of the wear plate locks are unlocked . the locking fasteners are loosened or backed - off to allow for the wear plates to be repositioned . in step 204 , adjustment elements , such as the adjustment elements 86 , are backed - off to assure that the wear plates are not in contact with the adjacent mold half or mold contact surfaces , such as surfaces 83 . in step 206 , the mold is closed and the angled mold locks , such as the angled mold locks 18 , are engaged . in step 208 , the wear plates are brought into contact with the mold contact surfaces . in one embodiment , the adjustment fasteners are tightened , thereby , shifting the adjustment elements toward the wedge adjustment towers . the shift in the adjustment elements causes the wear plates to be shifted against the adjacent mold half . this position of the wear plates is referred to as the contact position . in step 210 , the mold is opened , thus separating the mold halves . in step 212 , the wear plates are locked in the contact position . the locking fasteners are tightened to prevent movement of the adjustment elements and the wear plates . the above - described steps are meant to be illustrative examples ; the steps may be performed sequentially , synchronously , simultaneously , or in a different order depending upon the application . the present invention provides a quick , easy , and consistent compression lock adjustment system . the present invention eliminates the need for shims as are often utilized between lock towers and wear plates . the present invention maintains accurate alignment between a core mold half and a cavity mold half including during wear plate position adjustment . the present invention allows for the position of the wear plates to be adjusted while the associated mold is in a closed state . this allows one to precisely determine the appropriate position of the wear plates . while the invention has been described in connection with one or more embodiments , it is to be understood that the specific mechanisms and techniques which have been described are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention , numerous modifications may be made to the methods and apparatus described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .
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this invention is in a tuned oscillator which comprises an active element 9 ( e . g ., gaas fet 1 ). a ferrimagnetic thin film resonator ( e . g ., yig thin film resonator 2 ) is connected in the feedback path of the active element . a d . c . magnetic field application means includes a permanent magnet which is used for applying a d . c . magnetic field to the ferrimagnetic thin film resonator and for producing a fixed magnetic field component . a coil for producing a variable magnetic field component ( e . g ., permanent magnet 4c and main coil 4b ), are provided with the coil providing feedback in a phl . a preferable form of this invention is an yig thin film resonator for the ferrimagnetic thin film resonator , with the iron ions of the yig thin film being replaced with nonmagnetic ions so as to compensate the thermal characteristics of the permanent magnet and the oscillating active element . according to the above - mentioned means , partof the magnetic field necessary for frequency tuning is provided by the permanent magnet , and the coil can have a reduced number of turns in proportion to the fixed magnetic field produced by the permanent magnet . the coil has its inductance accordingly reduced , and consequently the response of the frequency tuning is enhanced . the reduced number of the turns of coil results in a compact turned oscillator . a reduced coil current which results from the fixed magnetic field provided by the permanent magnet produces a tuned oscillator of low power consumption . the ferrimagnetic thin film resonator is readily manufactured with a thin film forming technology and mic ( microwave integrated circuit ), which results in the tuned oscillator being suited for large scale production , and makes it inexpensive . the feedback to the coil using a pll simplifies the circuit arrangement for channel selection . the yig thin film tuned oscillator can be used in a communication equipment as the local oscillator for converting if to the communication frequency . the yig thin film tuned oscillator ( will be termed &# 34 ; thin film yto &# 34 ; hereinafter ) enables the direct signal selection in the rf stage , and the if stage can be simplified . because the yig thin film tuning oscillator uses a thin film yig resonator of high q it has low phase noise and performs high quality communication . for example , low ber in data communication and high s / n ratio in video signal communication are possible . the present invention will be described in the following oder of the items . b . compensation of the thermal characteritics of the permanent magnet and the active element . c . microwave communication equipment using the thin film yto as a local oscillator . fig1 is a block diagram showing the thin fil yto embodying the present invention . as shown in fig1 the thin film yto of this embodiment consists mainly of a gaas fet 1 as an active element for oscillation , an yig thin film resonator 2 as a feedback element , an impedance matching circuit 3 , a d . c . magnetic field application means 4 for applying a d . c . magnetic field to the yig thin film resonator 2 , and a pll ( phase locked loop ) circuit 5 . a load impedance connected at the output of the thin film yto is indicated by z l . the condition of steady - state oscillation of this thin film yto is expressed in terms of the reflective yig seen from terminal a to the γ yig thin film resonator 2 and the reflectivity γ in seen from terminal a to the gaas fet 1 as an active element , as follows . the yig thin film resonator 2 has the structure similar to that described in detail in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 626 , 800 , and it comprises a ferrimagnetic yig thin film disk 2a formed on one main surface of a nonmagnetic ggg ( gadorinium gallium garnet ) substrate , for example , by liquid phase epitaxial growth and a microstrip line . actually , the yig thin film resonator 2 is formed together with the gaas fet 1 on one surface of a dielectric substrate such as alumina . the yig thin film disk is placed on a microstrip line formed on the surface of the dielectric substrate , while on another surface of the dielectric substrate there is formed a ground conductor . symbol m indicates the microstrip line . the yig thin film resonator 2 can readily be fabricated by the thin film forming technology such as liquid phase epitaxy ( lpe ) and mic technology , and therefore a tuned oscillator which is suitable for mass production and inexpensive can be obtained . owing to a high q value of the yig thin film resonator 2 , the thin film yto of this embodiment has low phase noise , and the use of ferromagnetic resonance provides the thin film yto with a satisfactory linear tuning characteristics . accordingly , by using the thin film yto as a local oscillator for communication equipment , high quality communication is made possible . the above - mentioned gaas fet 1 has its source connected to the microstrip line m and its drain is connected to the impedance matching circuit 3 . the gate of the gaas fet i is grounded through a feedback reactance lf . namely , the thin film yto of this embodiment is a tuned oscillator of the common gate , series feedback type . the d . c . magnetic field application means 4 is made up of a main coil 4b wound on a pole piece 4a which constitutes part of the yoke of the magnetic circuit , and a permanent magnet 4c made of nd 2 fe 14 b , ceco 5 , smco 5 , etc . the fixed magnetic field produced by the permanent magnet 4c and the variable magnetic field produced by the main coil 4b are merged to form a d . c . magnetic field h which are applied to the yig thin film resonator 2 perpendicularly to the surface of the yig thin film disk . the yig thin film resonator 2 is inserted in the gap of the magnetic circuit . the d . c . magnetic field h can be controlled in magnitude to allow frequency tuning by varying the current flowing in the main coil 4b . in the magnetic field h needed for frequency tuning , a fixed component is derived from the fixed magnetic field of the permanent magnet 4c and a variable component is derived from the variable magnetic field of the main coil 4b . for example although satellite communication and ground communication using microwave have different bands depending on each system , the communication band width is about 500 mhz per system , and if the thin film yto has a lower limit of a tuning range of 13 ghz , for example , the tuning range becomes 13 ghz to 13 . 5 ghz , and therefore the design is such that the permanent magnet 4c supplies a magnetic field for tuning 13 ghz and the main coil 4b supplies a magnetic field ( about 180 oe ) only for the remaining 500 mhz . consequently , the current of the main coil 4b can be reduced significantly as compared with the conventional yto which uses a yig sphere , and accordingly the power consumption of the main coil 4b can be reduced significantly as compared with the conventional apparatus . as a result , a low - power consumption thin film yto is provided . owing to a smaller number of turns of the main coil 4b , the thin film yto can be more compact . the main coil 4b has its inductance reduced in proportion to the decrease of the turns , and the speed of frequency tuning response can be improved . for example , data communications generally employ a pll synthesizer system because of the need of a high - stability local oscillator , and the local oscillator must have a response of frequency tuning higher than the upper - limit response required for the pll , and the above - mentioned enhancement of tuning response is advantageous in this respect . the main coil 4b is connected with the pll circuit 5 , which is connected to the output of the thin film yto . when channel selection is done with a channel selection circuit 6 connected to the pll circuit 5 , the oscillation output of the thin film yto supplied to the pll circuit 5 is lowered in frequency by a frequency divider , and is then compared with the reference frequency provided by a crystal oscillator , etc ., and a control current which reflects the result of the comparison is produced by the pll circuit 5 and it is fed back to the main coil 4b . in consequence , the current in the main coil 4b , i . e ., the magnetic field h applied to the yig thin fil resonator 2 , is varied in magnitude so that the intended channel is selected . as described , in this embodiment , a direct feedback results from the pll circuit 5 to the main coil 4b , and the circuit arrangement for channel selection can be simplified . the direct feedback from the pll circuit 5 to the main coil 4b is made possible due to the reduction in the number of turns of the main coil 4 , as mentioned above . as shown in fig1 the provision of an fm coil 4d in addition to the main coil 4b and permanent magnet 4c , allows the fm coil 4d to be used as a frequency modulator based on the base band signal . a conceivable method is to have a direct feedback from the pll circuit 5 to the fm coil , but in this case the circuit arrangement for channel selection becomes complex . b . compensation of thermal characteristics of the permanent magnet and the active element . since the permanent magnet 4c and the gaas fet 1 as an active element have inherent thermal characteristics , a change in the temperature causes a variation of oscillator characteristics . this embodiment performs compensation of the thermal characteristics of the permanent magnet 4c and gaas fet 1 , as follows . as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 745 , 380 , part of the iron ons of the yig are replaced with nonmagnetic ions such as gallium ( ga ) ion in accordance with the thermal characteristics of the permanent magnet , and the thermal characteristics of the yig thin film resonator 2 can be compensated up to the first order temperature coefficient . fig2 shows the results of measurements of the thermal characteristics of the yig thin film resonator , with the replacement amount of ga being varied . in fig2 the abscissa represents the saturated magnetization 4πms of the yig film at room temperature corresponding to the replacement amount of ga , while the ordinate represents the difference of resonance frequencies δf between 60 ° and - 30 ° c . fig2 reveals that δf is virtually nullified when 4πms is about 925 gauss . fig3 shows the result of measurement of the thermal characteristics of the yig thin film resonator having a virtually zero δf . fig3 reveals that the first - order thermal characteristics of the yig thin film resonator is virtually zero . between two closely located curves in fig3 the lower curve is the measurement which results in ascending temperatures , and the upper curve is the measurement which results in descending temperatures ( these are also applicable to fig4 an 6 ). fig4 shows the result of measurement of the thermal characteristics of the thin film yto using the yig thin film resonator . as will be appreciated from fig4 even at zero thermal characteristics of the yig thin film resonator , the variation of oscillation frequency of the thin film yto at - 30 ° to 60 ° c . is - 65 mhz to reflect the thermal characteristics of the gaas fet 1 as an active element . based on fig2 the quantity of replacement of ga is adjusted so that the saturated magnetization of the yig thin film is about 1015 gauss inclusive of the component attributable to the thermal characteristics of the gaas fet 1 as an active element . as a result , the yig thin film resonator has the thermal characteristics as shown in fig5 and the thermal characteristics of the thin film yto using the yig thin film resonator has its first - order coefficient nullified as shown in fig6 . the variation of oscillation frequency due to temperature in this case can be confined to the 10 mhz bend of the thermal characteristic curve shown in fig4 . the compensation of the thermal characteristics component of the active element is dependent on the q value of the yig thin film resonator , i . e ., the thermal characteristics of the resonator becomes dominant as the q value goes higher , and the thermal characteristics of the active element contributes less to the thermal characteristics of the thin film yto . although in the above explanation the thermal characteristics of thin film yto is nullified up to the first - order coefficient through the adjustment of the amount of replcement of ga , it is possible to nullify the thermal characteristics up to the second - order coefficient by the provision of a soft magnetic plate made of soft ferrite in the gap of the magnetic circuit , in addition to the adjustment of the ga replacement quantity as generally shown in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 746 , 884 . c . microwve communication equipment using the thin film yto for the local oscillator the microwave communication equipment has its rf stage divided briefly into an up - converter section which converts an intermediate frequency ( e . g ., 70 mhz or 140 mhz ) signal into a microwave frequency for transmission , and a down - converter section which converts a received microwave frequency into the intermediate frequency . since these sections have virtually symmetrical structures , the following describes only the up - converter section . fig7 shows the arrangement of the up - converter section of a double conversion mode of a microwave transmitter . in the microwve transmitter , the signal of the intermediate frequency ( if ) is mixed by a mixer 11 with an rf signal produced by a fixed oscillator 10 to obtain a signal of 1 ghz , for example , and thereafter a signal in the desired frequency band is extracted by a band - pass filter 12 . next , the signal is amplified by an if amplifier 13 , and then mixed by a mixer 15 with a signal of 13 ghz , for example , provied by a local oscillator 14 constituted by the foregoing thin film yto . consequently , a signal of 13 + 1 = 14 ghz is formed . next , the signal is fed through a band - pass filter 16 , and then amplified by a high power amplifier ( hpa ) 17 to produce an transmission output of 14 ghz . according to the microwave transmitter shown in fig7 the if signal is once converted into a high frequency of around 1 ghz , for example , and it is advantageous in prevent spurious waves from falling at a high level into the communication band . the local oscillator 14 formed by the thin film yto using the yig thin film resonator 2 of high q value enables low ber for data communication and large s / n , to obtain high - quality communication for image communication . moreover , the ability of signal selection in the rf stage simplifies the structure of if stage . next , fig8 shows the arrangement of the up - converter for single conversion mode . in the microwave transmitter , the if signal is amplified by an if amplifier 13 and thereafter mixed by a mixer 15 with the oscillation output of a local oscillator 14 which is constituted by the thin film yto so that it is frequency converted to a signal of 14 ghz . next , the signal is fed through a yig thin film tuning filter ( thin film ytf ) 18 such as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 626 , 800 so that a signal in the desired frequency band is extracted , and thereafter the signal is amplified by a high power amplifier 17 to produce a transmission output of 14 ghz . according to the microwave transmitter shown in fig8 high - quality communication takes place , as in the transmitter shown in fig7 and at the same time the if stage can be simplified . the use of single conversion mode is advantageous due to the simplicity of the structure as compared with the transmitter shown in fig7 . furthermore , the yig thin film tuning filter 18 is a tracking filter having a sharp response curve , and therefore it prevents spurious wves , such as the oscillation output of the thin film yto and the image signal , from falling at a high level into the communiation band . by separating the thin film yto and the yig thin film tuning filter by an offset frequency equal to if , they can be built in the gap of the same magnetic circuit as shown in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 704 , 739 . in this case , the control current produced by the pll is fed back to the common magnetic circuit , and therefore the tracking error can be eliminated in principle . although only the up - converter section of the microwave transmitter using the film yto as a local oscillator has been described , the up - converter and down - converter sections can share a local oscillator by choosing the tuning frequency of thin film yto between the transmission band and reception band . this example will be described in the following . as show in fig9 the satellite communication is a microwave linkage between ground stations 19 and 20 by way of a satellite ( space station ) 21 . the communication lines connecting the ground stations 19 and 20 necessitate a link from ground station 19 to satellite 21 to ground station 20 and another link from ground station 20 to satellite 21 to ground station 19 . a communication path from a ground station to a satellite is called an &# 34 ; up - link &# 34 ;, while a communication path from the satellite to a ground station is called a &# 34 ; down - link &# 34 ;. generally , different frequencies are used for the up - link and down - link . for example , in satellite communication of &# 34 ; c - band &# 34 ;, 6 ghz and 4 ghz are alloted to the up - link and down - link respectively , and in satellite communication of &# 34 ; ku band &# 34 ;, 14 ghz and 12 ghz are alloted to the up - link and down - link respectively . the ground stations 19 and 20 shown in fig9 have transceiver rf units each consisting of an up - converter section for converting if to the up - link microwave frequency and a down - converter section for converting the down - link microwve frequency to if . by choosing the oscillation frequency of the thin film yto to be between the up - link frequency band and down - link frequency band , the up - converter and down - converter can share a local oscillator formed by the thin film yto . fig1 shows an example of the transceiver rf unit of the double conversion mode for a microwave transceiver using the thin film yto for the local oscillator . as shown in fig1 , the if is converted to 1 ghz by the mixer 11 and is further mixed by the mixer 15 with a 13 ghz signal provided by the local oscillator 14 so that it becomes a 14 ghz signal , as mentioned previously , and after being filtered in filter 16 and amplified by a high power amplifier 17 , it is transmitted as a 14 ghz microwave with a parabolic antenna 22 . on the reception side , a microwave signal of 12 ghz , for example , is received by the parabolic antenna 22 and is amplified by a low noise amplifier ( lna ) 23 and , after a signal in the wanted frequency band has been extracted by a band - pass filter 24 , it is mixed with a 13 ghz signal provided by the local oscillator 14 and converted to a 1 ghz signal . the 1 ghz signal is amplified by an if amplifier 26 , and , after being fed through a band - pass filter 27 , it is mixed by a mixer 28 with a signal provided by the fixed oscillator 10 and an if signal is produced . switching of between transmission and reception is implemented by a duplexer 29 . selection as to whether the oscillation output of the local oscillator 14 is to be delivered to the mixer on the transmission side or the mixer 25 on the reception side is implemented by a hybrid circuit 30 , and selection as to whether the oscillation output of the fixed oscillator is to be delivered to the mixer 11 on the transmission side or to the mixer 28 on the reception side is implemented by a hybrid circuit 31 . since the local oscillator 14 and fixed oscillator 10 are shared by the up - converter and down - converter , the microwave transceiver can be simplified . features including high quality communication and the simplicity of the if stage are identical to the transmitter shown in fig7 and 8 . although specific embodiments of this invention have been described , the invention is not confined to the foregoing embodiments , but various modifications are possible within the technical concept of this invention . for example , in a microwave transceiver , the up - converter and down - converter are arranged in single conversion mode and double conversion mode , respectively , with the local oscillator of thin film yto being shared by the up - converter and down - converter , or vice verse . furthermore , also in the ground microwave communication , it is possible to configure a transceiver using a local oscillator of thin film yto , as in satellite communication . according to this invention , the d . c . magnetic field application means is made up of a permanent magnet for producing a fixed magnetic field component and a coil for producing a variable magnetic field component , and the coil can have its number of turns reduced to the extent equivalent to the fixed magnetic field produced by the permanent magnet , and accordingly the inductance of the coil can be reduced by that amount . consequently , the response speed of frequency tuning can be enhanced . the turning oscillator can be made smaller to the extent of reduction in the number of turns of the coil . furthermore , the coil current can be reduced by the amount equivalent to the fixed magnetic field produced by the permanent magnet , whereby a tuning oscillator of low power consumption can be produced . because of ease of manufacturing the ferrimagnetic thin film resonator , the tuning oscillator is suitable for large scale production and it is also inexpensive . because of the feedback to the coil is based on a pll , the circuit arrangement for channel selection can be simplified . further the local oscillator for converting the if to a transmission frequency is formed of a yig thin film tuning oscillator , which enables the signal selection in the rf stage , and consequently the if stage can be simplified . the yig thin film tuning oscillator uses a yig thin film resonator with a high q value , and therefore the phase noise is low and accordingly high quality communication is assured .
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[ 0042 ] fig1 through 5 , discussed below , and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present invention in this patent document are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the invention . those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present invention may be implemented in any suitably arranged wireless network gateway . [ 0043 ] fig1 illustrates exemplary communication network 100 , which implements wireless network gateway router 150 according to the principles of the present invention . communication network 100 comprises a plurality of base transceiver subsystems , including exemplary base transceiver subsystem ( bts ) 111 , bts 112 , and bts 113 . the base transceiver subsystems communicate wirelessly with a plurality of wireless terminals , including mobile stations 101 - 104 , which are located in the coverage areas of bts 111 - 113 . the wireless network portion of communication network 100 also comprises a plurality of base station controllers , including exemplary base station controller ( bsc ) 121 , bsc 122 , and bsc 123 . bts 111 - 113 are coupled to and controlled by base station controller 122 . each one of bsc 121 , bsc 122 and bsc 123 transmits voice data to , and receives voice data from , public switched telephone network ( pstn ) 160 via mobile switching center ( msc ) 140 . also , each one of bsc 121 , bsc 122 and bsc 123 transmits packet data to , and receives packet data from , the public internet 170 ( or a similar internet protocol ( ip ) based network ) via packet control facility ( pcf ) 130 and gateway router 150 . in alternate embodiments , pcf 130 may be integrated into bsc 122 . the operation of bsc 122 and pcf 130 is well known by those skilled in the art and has been well - defined in telecommunication standards , including the tia / eia / is - 2001 standard . the connection between pcf 130 to gateway router 150 comprises the radio network - to - packet data services network ( r - p ) interface ( if ). the r - p interface comprises the a10 and a11 interfaces defined in the tia / eia / is - 2001 standard . the a10 interface transfers mobile data bidirectionally between the wireless network and the packet data network . the all interface comprises the control signaling for the r - p sessions . the r - p interface may include one or more of asynchronous transfer mode ( atm ) links , frame relay ( fr ) links , and ethernet links , among others . [ 0046 ] fig2 is a high level block diagram of wireless network gateway router 150 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . gateway router 150 is a massively parallel distributed router comprising master switch module ( swm ) 205 , gigabit ethernet ( e - net ) switch fabric 210 , and a plurality of physical media devices ( pmd ) 215 with forwarding engines ( fe ), including exemplary pmd - fe 215 a , pmd - fe 215 b , pmd - fe 215 c , and pmd - fe 215 d . according to one embodiment of the present invention , each one of pmd - fe 215 a , pmd - fe 215 b , pmd - fe 215 c , and pmd - fe 215 d frames an incoming packet ( or cell ) from an ip network ( or atm switch ) to be processed in an input - output processor ( iop ) and performs bus conversion functions . gateway router 150 also comprises a plurality of input - output processors ( iops ), including exemplary iop 220 a , iop 220 b , iop 220 c , iop 220 d , iop 220 e , and iop 220 f . each one of iop 220 a , iop 220 b , iop 220 c , iop 220 d , iop 220 e , and iop 220 f buffers incoming internet protocol ( ip ) packets from subnets or adjacent routers . each one of iop 220 a , iop 220 b , iop 220 c , iop 220 d , iop 220 e , and iop 220 f also classifies requested services , looks up destination addresses from packet headers , and forwards packet to the outbound iop . finally , gateway router 150 comprises a plurality of physical media device - wireless access gateway ( pmd - wag ) service processors 230 , including exemplary pmd - wag service processors 230 a and 230 b . pmd - wag service processors 230 process the r - p sessions and the corresponding point - to - point protocol ( ppp ) sessions , including compression and encryption requirements . [ 0049 ] fig3 is a detailed block diagram of wireless network gateway router 150 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . gateway router 150 comprises a plurality of racks 310 , including exemplary racks 310 a and 310 b . the racks 310 are coupled to one another by gigabit ethernet switch fabric 210 . exemplary rack 310 a comprises a plurality of input - output physical media devices 315 , including exemplary input - output physical media device ( io pmd ) 315 a , io pmd 315 b , io pmd 315 c , and io pmd 315 d . each io pmd 315 is coupled to one of a plurality of input - output processors 320 , including exemplary input - output - processor ( iop ) 320 a , iop 320 b , and iop 320 c . input - output processors 320 are equivalent to input - output processors 220 in fig2 . input - output physical media devices 315 are equivalent to pmd - fe 215 a — pmd - fe 215 d in fig2 . gateway router 150 also comprises two switch modules 330 , namely switch module ( swm ) 330 a and swm 330 b , one of which functions as a master switch module . gateway router 150 further comprises two switch interface physical media devices 340 , namely switch interface physical media device ( sw if pmd ) 340 a and sw if pmd 340 b , and at least one pmd - wag service processor ( sp ) 230 . according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention , gateway router 150 may comprise up to thirty - eight ( 38 ) input - output processors 320 , many of which are coupled to two ( 2 ) input - output physical media devices 315 by separate 64 - bit ix buses . at least one iop 320 is coupled to at least one pmd - wag service processor ( sp ) 230 by a 64 - bit ix bus . each io pmd 315 has up to eight ( 8 ) ports for bidirectionally transferring packet data with external devices according to one or more protocols , including 10 / 100 ethernet connections . according to the advantageous embodiment , each iop 320 is coupled to swm 330 a by a first 1 gbps full duplex connection and to swm 330 b by a second 1 gbps full duplex connection . swm 330 a is further coupled to sw if pmd 340 a by up to four 10 gbps electrical connections and swm 330 b is coupled to sw if pmd 340 b by up to four 10 gbps electrical connections . finally , sw if pmd 340 a is coupled to gigabit ethernet switch fabric 210 by up to four 10 gbps optical connections and sw if pmd 340 b is coupled to gigabit ethernet switch fabric 210 by up to four 10 gbps optical connections . the remaining racks 310 of gateway router 150 , including rack 310 b , are functionally identical to rack 310 a and need not be described in further detail . gateway router 150 takes advantage of the distributed , massively parallel routing architecture and the error recovery mechanisms in the base router design . this design implements support for the r - p and ppp protocols in the pmd - wag service processor 230 and utilizes the master switch module ( swm ) 330 for resource allocation and error ( failure ) recovery . the r - p and ppp sessions are distributed across the one or more pmd - wag service processors 230 by the master swm 330 . gateway router 150 treats pmd - wag service processors 230 as a family of parallel packet data serving nodes ( pdsns ). r - p / ppp sessions are allocated to pmd - wag service processors 230 in a round robin fashion , except where an active binding already exists and is reassigned to the previous pmd - wag service processor 230 where the session existed previously . this architecture for resource allocation and assignment ensures the elimination of ghost sessions within gateway router 150 and the ability to recover from hardware or software failures while providing the capacity to handle the required traffic . r - p and ppp sessions are routed to the assigned pmd - wag service processor 230 . each pmd - wag service processor 230 processes the r - p and ppp protocols and forwards the resulting ip packets back to the corresponding iop 230 , where the iop 230 native routing functionality routes the traffic . each pmd - wag service processor 230 acts as an independent pdsn managed by the master swm 330 within a single logical pdsn that is connect to the wireless network portion of communication network 100 . the published ip address of the pdsn is that of the master swm 330 . thus , the initial r - p session communication establishing a session between the wireless network and the wireless access gateway router 150 is always with the master swm 330 . the master swm 330 keeps track of the binding information that identifies the mobile station ( ms ) and re - directs the session to one of the pmd - wag service processors 230 . the master swm 330 uses a round robin algorithm to allocate the mobile station r - p and ppp sessions . in the event the ms binding is already known to the master swm 330 , the master swm 330 directs the session back to the pmd - wag service processor 230 that last managed the session . advantageously , since the master swm 330 maintains and updates a redundant copy of all of the mobile station ( ms ) binding information for each mobile station , if a pmd - wag service processor 230 providing services to a particular mobile station fails , the communication session can still be saved . since the master swm 330 contains all of the ms binding information , master swm 330 can transfer the ms binding information to a new pmd - wag service processor 230 , which then resumes the communication session in place of the failed pmd - wag service processor 230 . an all r - p session registration message comes into the wireless access gateway router 150 from the wireless network via pcf 130 and is addressed to the master switch module ( swm ) 330 . the master swm 330 responds with a registration - denial message and the ip address of an available pmd - wag service processor 230 . the wireless network responds with another registration request sent to the assigned pmd - wag service processor 230 . the assigned pmd - wag service processor 230 establishes an r - p session with the wireless network . next , the mobile station negotiates a ppp session with the assigned pmd - wag service processor 230 . the assigned pmd - wag service processor 230 then performs aaa ( authentication , authorization , and accounting ) functions and subsequent data compression and / or encryption for the on - going session . thus , the assigned pmd - wag service processor 230 receives ppp packets from the mobile station and forwards the resulting ip packet ( s ) to the appropriate iop 320 for routing to internet 170 . the pmd - wag service processor 230 receives ip packets from internet 170 from an iop 320 and converts the packets to ppp messages that are forwarded to the correct iop card for routing to the mobile station . the link layer / network layer frames pass over the a10 connection between pcf 130 and wireless access gateway router 150 in both directions via , for example gre framing . gateway router 150 accepts the frames , strips the gre header , and processes them as normal incoming frames for the appropriate interface and protocol . packets traveling in the reverse direction are processed in the reverses manner , with wireless access gateway router 150 encapsulating the link layer / network layer data packets in gre frames and pcf 130 stripping the gre header before passing the frames over to the upper layer . at this point , there is a point - to - point link layer / network layer connection between the mobile station and wireless access gateway router 150 . [ 0061 ] fig4 depicts message flow diagram 400 , which illustrates the operation of wireless network gateway router 150 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . fig4 shows a mobile station - originated packet call setup . the message sequence in fig4 is utilized by wireless access gateway router 150 to establish every r - p and ppp session . this approach allows the incoming ms sessions to be distributed across the pmd - wag service processors 230 . only the r - p messages used to setup and close a session with wireless access gateway 150 are detailed below ( see tia / eia / is - 2001 for a description of the other messages ). initially , a mobile station ( i . e ., ms 101 ) begins a packet data call by transmitting an origination message 405 to bsc 122 ( and pcf 130 ) via bts 111 . bsc 122 responds by transmitting a base station acknowledgment ( bs ack ) order message 410 back to ms 101 . bsc 122 also transmits the complete l3 information for the call to msc 140 in a cm service request message 415 . msc 140 responds by transmitting assignment request message 420 back to bsc 122 , thereby assigning wireless network resources to the packet data call . thereafter , ms 101 and bsc 122 exchange messages ( generally designated 425 ) that set up a traffic channel . pcf 130 recognizes that no a10 connection associated with mobile station 101 is available and selects a pdsn ( i . e ., master swm 330 in wireless access gateway router 150 ) for the packet data call . in response , pcf 130 sends all - registration request message 430 to the selected pdsn and starts a timer t ( regreq ). the all - registration request is validated and the pdsn ( master swm 330 ) rejects the connection and proposes pdsn - tn ( one of pmd - wag service processors 230 ). master swm 330 does this by transmitting to pcf 130 an all - registration reply message 435 with a reject code of 88h ( i . e ., registration denied — unknown pdsn address ) and the address of the pdsn - tn in the home agent address field of the all - registration reply message 435 . pcf 130 then stops the t ( regreq ) timer . next , pcf 130 initiates establishment of the a10 connection with the pdsn - tn ( pmd - wag service processor 230 ) by sending an all - registration request message 440 to gateway router 150 . pcf 130 then starts the timer t ( rregreq ). the all - registration request is validated and the pdsn - tn ( pmd - wag service processor 230 ) accepts the connection by returning an all - registration reply message 445 with an “ accept ” indication and the lifetime value set to the configured trp value . both the pdsn - tn ( pmd - wag service processor 230 ) and pcf 130 create a binding record for the a10 connection . pcf 130 then stops timer t ( regreq ). thereafter , pcf 130 transmits assignment complete message 450 to msc 140 . at this point , pmd - wag service processor 230 , acting as pdsn - tn , establishes a ppp connection and performs mobile ip registration ( generally designated 455 ). user data is then transmitted bi - directionally between pmd - wag service processor 230 and ms 101 ( generally designated 460 ). the mobile session is closed when pcf 130 transmits all - registration request message 465 ( with accounting data values ) to pmd - wag service processor 230 . pmd - wag service processor 230 responds by transmitting all - registration reply message 470 back to pcf 130 . after the mobile session is closed , pmd - wag service processor 230 clears the r - p session binding kept by the master swm 330 by transmitting to the master swm 330 an all - r - p registration request message 475 in which the lifetime value is set to zero . the master swm 330 responds to pmd - wag service processor 230 with an all - registration reply message 480 , which indicates the mobile binding has been cleared . [ 0068 ] fig5 is a detailed block diagram illustrating selected software modules in wireless network gateway router 150 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . a mobile station , via pcf 130 , establishes r - p and ppp sessions to communicate with the pdsn in wireless access gateway router 150 . the r - p and ppp protocols are performed by software modules running in the pmd - wag service processor 230 . the master swm 330 a manages all pmd - wag service processors 230 . r - p and ppp session management is accomplished through r - p messages ( i . e ., ip protocol 505 , management r - p protocol 510 ) from the master swm 330 a . when a mobile station session is terminated , the pmd - wag service processor 230 informs the master swm 330 a so that the session information can be removed from ms bindings table 515 a . again , the r - p protocol is used to accomplish clearing mobile session entries from the ms bindings table 515 a . pmd - wag service processor 230 generates a r - p registration request with a lifetime equal to zero , in the same manner that the mobile network ends mobile session with pmd - wag service processor 230 , and forwards the message to master swm 330 a . the mobiles station and pmd - wag service processor 230 binding data in ms bindings table 515 a must remain in synchronization with the corresponding data in redundant backup swm 330 b so that failure of master swm 330 a is recoverable . sync software modules 520 a and 520 b perform the needed synchronization between master swm 330 a and redundant backup swm 330 b . although the present invention has been described in detail , those skilled in the art should understand that they may make various changes , substitutions and alterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form .
| 7Electricity
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fig1 shows a wind turbine 100 having a tower 102 and a nacelle 104 . a rotor 106 having three rotor blades 108 and a spinner 110 is arranged on the nacelle 104 . the rotor 106 is set in rotation by the wind during operation and thus drives a generator in the nacelle 104 . fig2 schematically shows an installation apparatus 1 and illustrates a rotor blade 2 already lifted for installation on a rotor hub . the rotor blade hangs substantially horizontally , which is generally the desired orientation , not only in the shown embodiment . here , the rotor blade has a blade root 4 and a blade tip 6 , however these are both illustrated here merely schematically . in a central region 8 of the rotor blade 2 , the rotor blade 2 is suspended at two fastening points 10 and hangs substantially from a crane rope 12 . a first guide rope 14 is arranged at the blade tip 6 , and a second guide rope 16 is arranged at the blade root 4 in order to be able to guide in particular the orientation of the rotor blade 2 from the ground 18 . each guide rope 14 and 16 has a force sensor 20 and 22 respectively . a tensile force between the first or second guide rope 14 , 16 and the blade tip or blade root 6 , 4 respectively can be recorded via the first or second force sensor 20 , 22 respectively . a sensor station 24 is arranged in the central region 8 of the rotor blade 2 and here forms a transducer . as measuring means , the sensor station comprises a gps compass 26 , an x - y inclination sensor 28 , and a height sensor 30 , as shown in the structure of fig3 . the gps compass 26 can detect the orientation of the rotor blade 2 in a horizontal plane , i . e ., can detect the orientation with respect to the four compass directions in order to show this clearly . the x - y inclination sensor 28 can detect the inclination of the rotor blade or its longitudinal axis and can likewise detect a rotation or a small angle of rotation of the rotor blade about its longitudinal axis . from the viewpoint of the inclination sensor 28 , these are two rotational coordinates that in particular are arranged at right angles to one another . together with the gps compass 26 , the angle of orientation of the rotor blade thus can be detected with respect in particular to three cartesian coordinates . this also illustrates , in the display 50 according to fig4 , the orientation symbol 52 , which represents these three axes of inclination or rotation x , y and z . the sensor station 24 additionally has the task of receiving values from the two force sensors 20 and 22 . the two force sensors 20 and 22 for this purpose each have a radio transmitter 21 and 23 respectively . fig3 illustrates the structure for this , and fig2 illustrates the distance existing between the force sensors 20 and 22 and the sensor station 24 . the sensor station 24 then transmits its data further to a ground station 32 , which is arranged on the ground 18 . the rotor blade 2 and therefore the sensor station 24 may be located for example at a height of 150 meters above the ground 18 . fig3 illustrates an internal structure of the sensor station , which also has a radio transmitter 34 . the radio transmitter 34 , which on account of its function can also be referred to as a collective radio transmitter , obtains wired signals , in any case in accordance with the embodiment of fig3 , from the gps compass 26 , the x - y inclination sensor 28 and the height sensor 30 . these three sensors may provide a plurality of data items to the radio transmitter 34 , for example in each case via a signal in a range from 4 to 20 ma . the radio transmitters 21 and 23 in turn send their information to the radio transmitter 34 . the radio transmitter 34 thus receives measurement data from five sensors , wherein at least the inclination sensor 28 sends data relating to two variables , specifically the inclination of the blade axis and the rotation of the rotor blade about the blade axis . this data is thus received firstly in the radio transmitter 34 and where necessary is pre - processed , but in any case is transmitted via a further radio link to a monitoring station 32 ′. the monitoring station 32 ′ may correspond to the ground station 32 according to fig2 . the monitoring station 32 ′, as shown in fig3 , in turn contains a radio transmitter 36 , which can be referred to as a ground radio transmitter 36 and which primarily receives data transmitted by radio from the radio transmitter 34 of the sensor station 24 . however , the ground radio transmitter 36 of the monitoring station 32 ′ may also transmit signals back to the sensor station 24 , such as fault signals , should there be any problems with the radio transmission , or other protocol data . in the monitoring station 32 ′ there is then a further transmission of the data in a wired manner to an input - output module 38 , which can introduce a further processing and distribution of the data . the data or a selection of the data can be transmitted to a control panel 42 via an sps module 40 , specifically a module having a memory - programmable control system . in addition , the data or some of said data may be transmitted to a network module 44 . the network module 44 , in particular as a wireless network module , can construct a wireless network and transmit to further terminal equipment , such as a laptop , surface equipment or other equipment . the structure according to fig3 advantageously uses three transmission types , specifically a wired transmission 46 , a transmission by wlan 47 and a transmission by radio 48 , i . e ., wirelessly , but different from transmission via known wlan technology . the transmission by wlan 47 is used in particular for transmission to the terminal equipment 49 illustrated symbolically . the display 50 in fig4 , besides the orientation symbol 52 , also shows a wind turbine symbol 54 , which in particular shows the height to be reached , in this example 136 meters . besides the wind turbine symbol 54 , two bar charts 56 and 58 , which illustrate the recorded force of the first and second force sensor 20 , 22 according to 2 , in both cases in the form of a bar , each also output a measurement value as a number . a status display and next to this the possibility to calibrate the sensors , which is indicated by the calibration field 60 , are located above the wind turbine symbol 54 . a calibration may be considered in particular for an air pressure sensor that incidentally also additionally can be received as a further measuring means in the sensor station 24 or can be connected thereto , in particular in order to compensate for weather - induced air pressure fluctuations . a calibration or a comparison may then be performed when the rotor blade has not yet been raised and is still located substantially on the ground . this calibration or comparison may also be performed with respect to the height position of the site of installation , or may be made necessary as a result thereof . the specific values of the orientation of the three coordinates x , y and z are illustrated individually below the orientation symbol 52 by corresponding diagrams , which provide both an analogue and a digital presentation with accurate specification of the respective angle . these are the z - angle display , which shows the orientation of the longitudinal axis in a horizontal plane , the x - angle display 64 , which shows the inclination of the rotor blade or the inclination of the longitudinal axis of the rotor blade , and the y - angle display 66 , which shows an angle of rotation of the rotor blade about its own axis . an assembly aid for the rotor blade mounting is thus proposed . it is thus possible to lift and to mount a rotor blade even with an obstructed view . a rotor blade location and position display is also available for this and is formed on the basis of measurement data . all three angles of rotation of the rotor blade are thus determined using a satellite compass and an x - y inclination sensor , specifically in particular all three possible cartesian angles of rotation . the height , i . e ., the vertical location of the rotor blade , is determined using an air pressure sensor . forces in the guide ropes can be tracked by means of force transducers , which may also be referred to as measuring clips . the sensors that are connected in a wired manner to a radio transmitter 34 in the sensor station 24 can forward their information to this radio transmitter 34 or collective radio transmitter 34 , for example via a measurement signal from 4 to 20 ma . in addition , the sensor station 24 for example may also contain an air pressure sensor . the values thereof can be used directly as air pressure values or can also be used to specify the height . the force transducers 20 and 22 of the guide ropes 14 and 16 respectively send their values by means of radio transmission to the sensor station 24 . from there , all measurement values , in the case of fig3 the 6 measurement values or 6 measurement signals , are sent using a further radio transmitter to the ground station 32 or monitoring station 32 ′. there , the measurement values are evaluated in a memory - programmable control system and are displayed on a control panel . the data is sent on from the ground station 32 or monitoring station 32 ′ via wlan and an ftp server , which is illustrated by the wlan transmission module 47 . it is then possible to display the same image as on the control panel 42 of the ground station 32 or the monitoring station 32 ′, for example using a laptop or other wlan - capable device , in particular using a normal internet browser . further ground staff can thus also follow the course of the installation process .
| 8General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology
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referring to the drawings and with particular reference to the claims herein , the present device comprises a body means 10 of thick steel and enclosed cylinder means 11 having a very thick upper end cap or drive head means 12 and a similarly thick lower end or extraction base means 13 being securely attached thereto as by welding at 23 . the base means 13 has an aperture 17 through its approximate center of sufficient diameter for the admittance of a rod member 14 having a shaft segment 15 and stake segment 16 , the rod member having a greater total length than the length of cylinder means 11 . the lower end of stake segment 16 is preferably provided with a point 25 for driving into the holding substrate such as soil , oyster bed , coral , or the like . an anvil 18 is formed or welded on the upper end of shaft segment 15 and comprises a thickened steel plate preferably provided with recesses 27 in its periphery such that it will by - pass air in its up and down cycle and avoid the development of pressure in the cylinder 11 which may develop as a result of the fairly close tolerances between anvil 18 and the inner wall 28 of cylinder 11 , and also the sealing of aperture 17 by dust shield 29 . such pressures would impede a rapid delivery of force to anvil 18 on either a downstroke or upstroke of the body means 10 . as best shown in fig1 and 6 , the inner wall surface 28 of cylinder 11 is preferably closely disposed about the periphery 30 of anvil 18 , e . g ., 10 - 50 thousandths of an inch . the upper surface 31 of the anvil is adapted to be forcibly struck by the inner surface 37 of drive head 12 as body 10 is propelled downwardly for driving stake segment 16 into a hard substrate . surface 37 is preferably slightly domed such as to insure a more axial strike of the anvil . the lower surface 32 of the anvil is equally well adapted to be struck by the lower extraction base means 13 as body 10 is propelled upwardly for extracting stake segment 16 from a substrate . the relatively close tolerances between the anvil periphery 30 and the inner wall surface 28 of the cylinder , as well as the similar tolerances between shaft segment 15 and aperture 17 provide for a smooth sliding action of the anvil and the elimination of uneven striking forces which otherwise would be applied to the anvil with the attendant jarring of the users hands and arms . in order to reduce the prospect of foreign particles such as sand or gravel entering the cylinder 11 through aperture 17 and inhibiting easy sliding action of the anvil and shaft within the cylinder , one embodiment of the present invention provides the aforementioned dust shield 29 affixed to body 10 by bolts 33 . this shield is preferably comprised of a sheet 34 of elastomeric material provided with an aperture 35 for rubbing but sliding contact with shaft segment 15 . the elastomeric material preferably is of flexible but durable polysiloxane , polyamide , tetrafluoroethylene , natural rubber , polyolein or the like and provides a dust seal around shaft segment 15 even as body 10 slides vigorously upwardly and downwardly on said segment . referring to fig1 a preferred indexing mounting generally designated 36 for the handles 24 is shown , which handles are shown oriented in their longitudinal plane 40 , see fig8 and comprise a handle base 38 having a boss portion 42 provided with an annular recess 46 providing an annular shoulder 48 , and having a stud bore 50 . a stud 52 is screwed into a threaded socket 54 in cylinder wall 74 and passes thru apertures 56 and 58 respectively in indexing washers 60 and 62 . the head 64 of stud 52 bears against shoulder 48 of base 38 when the stud is tightened in socket 54 for the purposes described below . washers 60 and 62 are provided with mating undulations such as radially extending ridges 66 and troughs 68 such that forced relative rotation between the two washers about stud axis 70 by the user will , in the first stage of rotation , tend to flatten the ridges as they pass over each other and then as the ridges and troughs again become aligned and the ridges spring back to their original configuration , the handles become angularly stabilized in the positions dictated by the user , e . g ., as shown by the dotted line handle in fig8 . it is noted that the spring characteristics or properties of the metal in the washers , and the dimensions of the washers are selected such that the handles may be rotated to a desired angular position by hand applied torque , administered for example , by an average size and strength female . of course , higher or lower torque requirements may be built into the washers , as desired . in this regard a compressible elastomeric backing such as 72 shown in fig9 or an equivalent means may be employed between washer 62 and wall 74 should it be desired to reduce the torque required to slide the ridges 66 over each other during the handle indexing adjustment operation . washer 62 , is held in non - rotative position in annular groove 76 cut into the cylinder wall 74 by pinning or spot welding or the like . washer 60 is preferably disc shaped and is non - rotatably fixed to boss 42 by spot welding or the like , or the washer configuration itself may be machine cut into the inner surface 82 of the boss . it is noted that each handle is preferably substantially symmetrically structured about its stud axis 70 in order to minimize any force moment which might otherwise occur and jar the user during the generation of high sticking forces . referring to fig7 another embodiment of an angularly adjustable and removable handle assembly 84 is shown and comprises an annular sleeve projection 86 formed on the boss 42 and slidably receives a round in cross - section mounting post 88 which is securely affixed to wall 74 and provides an angular adjustability of the handle around the longitudinal axis 89 of mounting post 88 . in this regard sleeve projection 86 is provided with a plurality , e . g ., six apertures 90 extending diametrically through opposite sides thereof , which apertures are circumferentially spaced around 86 and are adapted to align with hole 91 diametrically formed thru post 88 , whereby the handle can be secured in its desired angular position by stop pin 92 which is inserted through a desired pair of the cooperating apertures 90 and hole 91 . pin 92 may be provided with a means such as hole 43 for receiving a cotter pin or the like for keeping the pin in place during the stake driving or removing operation . the invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof , but it will be understood that variations and modification will be effected with the spirit and scope of the invention .
| 1Performing Operations; Transporting
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aspects of a process kit described herein can provide more efficient plasma processing while reducing the buildup of contaminants on surfaces of the process kit . contaminants on surfaces of the process kit could become particle sources that could contaminate substrates in the chamber and affect chip yield . fig2 a is an exploded side view of a process kit 200 according to various aspects for use in a plasma processing chamber . fig2 b shows the process kit 200 arranged in a plasma processing chamber 300 . the process kit 200 includes at least one or more of a diffuser 202 , an upper shield 220 , and a lower shield 250 , 270 . the diffuser 202 sits within an aperture 222 in the upper shield 220 such that process gas is injected through the diffuser 202 and the upper shield 220 in the middle or center of the upper shield 220 rather than along the perimeter of the upper shield 110 shown in fig1 . the upper shield 220 and the lower shield 250 , 270 include rounded corners that help to smoothly direct contaminants and / or substrate material removed by plasma out of the process region 246 and , as a result , to minimize buildup of such contaminants and / or substrate material on surfaces of the upper shield 220 and the lower shield 250 , 270 . the upper shield 220 includes a top 232 and a cylindrical liner 230 . interior surfaces 234 and 236 of the top 232 and interior surfaces 240 of the cylindrical liner 230 define boundaries of a process region 246 . a bottom 242 of the cylindrical liner 230 defines a plane 244 ( indicated by a dashed line ). the top 232 includes an aperture 222 located at the center of the top 232 . an inward portion of the interior surface 234 of the top 232 extends radially away from the aperture 222 and diverges from the plane 244 at greater radial distances . put differently , a distance ( indicated by arrow d ) from the plane 244 to the inward portion of the interior surface 234 is larger at larger radial distances from the aperture 222 . in various instances , the inward portion of the interior surface 234 could include a conical profile , wherein the distance from the plane 244 to the inward portion of the interior surface 234 increases linearly with respect to the radial distance from the aperture 222 . in various other instances , the inward portion of the interior surface 234 could include a curved profile , wherein the distance from the plane 244 to the inward portion of the interior surface 234 increases nonlinearly with respect to the radial distance from the aperture 222 . for example , as illustrated in fig2 , the inward portion of the interior surface 234 could have a circular profile . for example , in various aspects , the cylindrical liner 230 of the upper shield 220 has a diameter of approximately 16 inches and the circularly - curved inward portion of the interior surface 234 has a radius of curvature r 2 of approximately 35 inches . as another example , the radius of curvature r 2 of the circularly curved interior surface 234 could be between 30 inches and 40 inches . an outward portion of the interior surface 236 of the top 232 extends radially away from interior surface 234 and curves inwardly to meet the interior surface 240 of the cylindrical liner 230 . the outward portion of the interior surface 236 can define a radius of curvature r 1 of 1 . 1 inches in some instances . in various other instances , the outward portion of the interior surface 236 can define a radius of curvature r 1 of between 0 . 9 inches and 2 inches , for example . referring now to fig3 a and 3b , the diffuser 202 can be configured to fit within the aperture 222 of the upper shield 220 . the diffuser 202 includes a body 204 and a gas injection housing 212 . the body 204 can include threaded holes 210 that can align with holes 228 in the upper shield 220 . cap screws or other fasteners can be placed through the threaded holes 210 and into the holes 228 in the upper shield to secure the diffuser 202 to the upper shield 220 . the gas injection housing 212 can include a first outer cylindrical wall 215 and a second outer cylindrical wall 214 . the second outer cylindrical wall 214 can be arranged closer to the interior surface 234 of the upper shield 220 . the first outer cylindrical wall 215 can define a larger diameter than a diameter d 1 of the second outer cylindrical wall 214 . for example , in various instances , the first outer cylindrical wall 215 defines a diameter of 1 . 060 inches and the second outer cylindrical wall 214 defines a diameter d 1 of 1 . 030 inches . the diffuser 202 and gas injection housing 212 define an interior cylindrical cavity 206 that can be in communication with a process gas supply for a plasma processing chamber . an array of gas injection apertures 208 can be arranged in the gas injection housing 212 from the interior cylindrical cavity 206 to the second outer cylindrical wall 214 . as shown in fig3 a and 3b , the gas injection apertures 208 can be arranged around a circumference of the interior cylindrical cavity 206 and / or at different longitudinal locations along the interior cylindrical cavity 206 . in the exemplary diffuser 202 shown in fig3 a and 3b , there are four longitudinal rows of gas injection apertures 208 , and each row of gas injection apertures 208 includes twelve gas injection apertures 208 arranged around a circumference of the interior cylindrical cavity 206 . in various instances , each of the gas injection apertures 208 has a diameter of 0 . 030 inches . in various other instances , each of the gas injection apertures 208 includes a diameter between 0 . 020 inches and 0 . 040 inches . in various other instances , each of the gas injection apertures 208 could have a diameter of between 0 . 010 inches and 0 . 050 inches . fig4 illustrates the diffuser 202 installed in the upper shield 220 . referring also to fig2 , the upper shield 220 includes an aperture 222 that includes a first portion 224 that defines a first diameter and a second portion 226 that defines a second diameter d 2 . when the diffuser 202 is installed in the upper shield 220 , the body 204 of the diffuser 202 sits within the first portion 224 of the aperture 222 and the gas injection housing 212 sits within the second portion 226 of the aperture 222 . the diameter d 2 of the second portion 226 of the aperture 222 is equal to or greater than the diameter of the first outer cylindrical wall 215 of the diffuser 202 . for example , as described above , the diameter of the first outer cylindrical wall 215 of the diffuser 202 could be 1 . 060 inches in some instances . the diameter d 2 of the second portion 226 of the aperture 222 could be between 1 . 060 inches and 1 . 065 inches , for example . as a result , in some instances , the diffuser 202 can snugly fit within the aperture 222 of the upper shield 220 . as discussed above , the diameter d 1 of the second outer cylindrical wall 214 of the diffuser 202 is smaller than the diameter of the first outer cylindrical wall 215 . as a result , the diameter d 1 of the second outer cylindrical wall 214 is also smaller than the diameter d 2 of the second portion 226 of the aperture 222 . the smaller diameter d 1 of the second outer cylindrical wall 214 relative to the diameter d 2 of the second portion 226 of the aperture 222 results in an annular gap 232 between the upper shield 220 and the diffuser 202 . for example , as described above , the diameter d 1 of the second outer cylindrical wall 214 could be 1 . 030 inches . if the diameter d 2 of the second portion 226 of the aperture 222 in the upper shield 220 is 1 . 060 inches , then the resulting annular gap 232 would have a width of 0 . 015 inches . the annular gap 232 is in communication with the process region 246 defined by the upper shield 220 . in various instances , a length of the second outer cylindrical wall 214 is approximately 0 . 60 inches . as a result , an aspect ratio of the annular gap 232 ( defined as the length of the annular gap 232 divided by the width of the annular gap 232 ) would be 0 . 60 inches divided by 0 . 015 inches , or 30 to 1 . in various instances , the aspect ratio of the annular gap 232 can be between 20 to 1 and 40 to 1 . the annular gap 232 is also in communication with the interior cylindrical cavity 206 in the diffuser 202 via the gas injection apertures 208 . in various instances , the gas injection apertures 208 can be arranged in the interior cylindrical cavity 206 such that they exit through the second outer cylindrical wall 214 in the first third of a length of the second outer cylindrical wall 214 closest to the first outer cylindrical wall 215 . in such an arrangement , process gas flows into the interior cylindrical cavity 206 of the diffuser 202 in the direction of arrow g . the process gas then flows through the gas injection apertures 208 ( as indicated by arrows h ) and into the annular gap 232 ( as indicated by arrows i ). the process gas then moves along the annular gap 232 to enter the process region 246 defined by the upper shield 220 ( as indicated by arrows j ). the process gas enters the process region 246 in the shape of an annular ring . in various instances , the process gas can enter the process region 246 in a laminar flow arrangement . in the exemplary instance described above in which there are 48 gas injection apertures 208 each with the diameter of 0 . 030 inches , the total area of the gas injection apertures 208 would be 0 . 017 in . 2 . furthermore , for an annular gap 232 having an inner diameter d 1 of 1 . 030 inches and a gap of 0 . 015 inches , the total area for the annular gap 232 would be approximately 0 . 10 inches . thus , a ratio of the total area for the annular gap 232 to the total area of the gas injection apertures 208 is almost 6 to 1 . in various instances the ratio of the total area for the annular gap 232 to the total area of the gas injection apertures 208 can be between 4 to 1 and 15 to 1 . a combination of the large aspect ratio ( e . g ., 30 to 1 ) and ratio of total areas ( e . g ., 6 to 1 ) can result in a significant pressure drop of the process gas as it flows from the interior cylindrical cavity 206 into the process region 246 . this large pressure drop can ensure that the process gas enters the process region 246 in a laminar flow . referring again to fig1 and 2 , when the process gas enters the process region 246 in the direction of arrow j , electromagnetic energy ignites the process gas ( e . g ., argon ) into a plasma ( e . g ., plasma 130 ). the plasma can then spread radially outward in the process region 246 in the direction of arrow l . the diverging interior surface 234 of the upper shield 220 can encourage radially outward movement of the plasma . most of the plasma is contained in a region above the substrate ( e . g ., substrate 126 in fig1 ) by the electromagnetic energy . contaminants on the substrate and / or substrate material removed by ions from the plasma moves further radially outward in the direction of arrow l and are then deflected in a downward direction , as indicated by arrow m , by the inwardly curved surfaces of the outward portion of the interior surface 236 and the cylindrical liner 230 of the upper shield 220 . the contaminants and / or substrate material are directed toward the lower shield 250 , 270 . the relatively large radius of curvature of the outward portion of the interior surface 236 can promote movement of the contaminants and / or substrate material compared to a sharp corner or a smaller radius of curvature . put differently , a sharp corner or a corner with a small radius of curvature may cause the contaminants and / or substrate material flowing in the direction of arrow m to momentarily stagnate at the corner . such stagnation can allow the contaminants and / or substrate material to accumulate on the interior surfaces 234 , 236 , and 240 of the upper shield . in the exemplary lower shield 250 , 270 shown in the figures , the lower shield includes a first portion 250 in the second portion 270 . fig5 a and 5b illustrate a first portion 250 of the lower shield and fig6 a and 6b illustrate a second portion 270 of the lower shield . the first portion 250 includes a ring - shaped body 252 that includes a plurality of fastener holes 254 arranged around a circumference . a radially - inward facing side of the ring - shaped body 252 includes a plurality of outward - facing undercuts 260 that are arranged between the fastener holes 254 . a plurality of upward facing slots 262 can extend from each outward - facing undercut 260 to a top surface 261 of the ring - shaped body 252 . a plurality of downward - facing slots 258 can extend from each outward - facing undercut 260 toward a bottom surface 259 of the ring - shaped body 252 . for example , the upward facing slots 262 can include three slots 262 a , 262 b , and 262 c and downward - facing slots 258 can include three slots 258 a , 258 b , and 258 c . a set of the three slots 262 a , 262 b , and 262 c can be arranged at the same circumferential location on the ring - shaped body 252 , but at different radial locations . in the exemplary ring - shaped body 252 shown in fig5 a - 5c , slot 262 a is the most radially outboard slot , slot 262 b is the middle slot , and slot 262 c is the most radially inboard slot . similarly , a set of the three slots 258 a , 258 b , and 258 c can be arranged at the same circumferential location on the ring - shaped body 252 , but at different radial locations . in the exemplary ring - shaped body 252 shown in fig5 a - 5c , slot 258 a is the most radially outboard slot , slot 258 b is the middle slot , and slot 258 c is the most radially inboard slot . in certain instances , the slots 258 , 262 can define aspect ratios ( defined as a length of the slot from the outward - facing undercut 260 to an exterior surface of the ring - shaped body 252 divided by a width of the slot in a radial direction ) of 4 . 5 to 1 . for example , the length of each slot may be 0 . 45 inches and the width of each slot may be 0 . 10 inches , resulting in an aspect ratio of 4 . 5 to 1 . in various other instances , the aspect ratio for the slots may be between 3 to 1 and 6 to 1 , for example . in various instances , the bottom surface 259 of the ring - shaped body 252 can be arranged at an angle a relative to a horizontal bottom surface 264 such that the bottom surface 259 increases in height at larger radial distances . such an angle a can provide clearance for the slots 258 from the second portion 270 of the lower shield and from other structures , such as the bracket 312 shown in fig2 b . the outward - facing undercut 260 can include a similarly - angled surface so that the aspect ratios for the slots 258 are maintained . fig6 a and 6b illustrate the second portion 270 of the lower shield . the second portion 270 includes a vertical liner portion 274 and a horizontal liner portion 280 with a curved liner portion 276 there between . the curved liner portion 276 defines a radius of curvature r 3 . in certain instances , the radius of curvature r 3 may be 0 . 40 inches . in various other instances , the radius of curvature r 3 may be between 0 . 2 inches and 0 . 6 inches . the second portion 270 also includes a fastener flange 272 that includes a plurality of threaded holes 278 arranged there around . a transition from the horizontal surface 282 the fastener flange 272 includes a vertical lip 282 . fasteners , such as cap screws , can pass through the fastener holes 254 in the ring - shaped body 252 of the first portion 250 and engage the threaded holes 278 in the fastener flange 272 to fasten the first portion 250 and the second portion 270 together . fig7 illustrates the first portion 250 and second portion 270 of the lower shield assembled together . fig7 also illustrates a bottom portion of the cylindrical liner 230 of the upper shield 220 engaged with the first portion 250 of the lower shield ( e . g ., engaged in the plasma processing chamber 300 shown in fig2 b ). as shown in fig7 , the cylindrical liner 230 of the upper shield 220 can be separated from the first portion 250 of the lower shield such that an annular gap 271 is formed between an outward - facing surface 238 of the cylindrical liner 230 and an inward - facing upper surface 268 of the first portion 250 . the annular gap 271 can have a similar aspect ratio to the slots 262 . such an annular gap could function as a slot in addition to the slots 262 in the first portion 250 of the lower shield 250 , 270 . alternatively , the outward - facing surface 238 of the cylindrical liner 230 could lightly contact or be closely - spaced from the inward - facing upper surface 268 of the first portion 250 of the lower shield . when the first portion 250 of the lower shield is assembled with the second portion 270 , a bottom surface 264 of the first portion 250 rests on the fastener flange 272 . also , a lower inward - facing surface 266 of the first portion 250 is adjacent to the vertical lip 282 of the second portion 270 . in various instances , the inward - facing surface 266 contacts the vertical lip 282 . in various other instances , the inward - facing surface 266 may be separated from the vertical lip 282 by an annular gap . the first portion 250 and the second portion 270 create a flow path for contaminants and / or substrate materials to escape from the process region 246 . fig7 illustrates arrow m which is the flow of contaminants and / or substrate materials from the process region 246 after the materials have been redirected downwardly by the outward portion of the interior surface 236 and the cylindrical liner 230 of the upper shield 220 . the materials are turned radially outward , as indicated by arrow n , by the vertical liner portion 274 , the curved liner portion 276 , and the horizontal liner portion 280 of the second portion 270 of the lower shield . the materials enter the outward - facing undercuts 260 in the first portion 250 of the lower shield . the materials then flow in the direction of arrow o through the upward - facing slots 262 and in the direction of arrow p to the downward - facing slots 258 . fig2 b , illustrates the process kit 200 arranged in a plasma processing chamber 300 and the flow of process gas through the plasma processing chamber 300 . the plasma processing chamber 300 includes a lid 302 and chamber walls 304 . the diffuser 202 of the process kit 200 is installed in and attached to the upper shield 220 . the lower shield 250 , 270 is mounted to a pedestal 310 by a bracket 312 . the pedestal 310 can move up and down ( in the directions of arrow z ). the pedestal 310 may be moved downwardly ( away from the upper shield 220 ) to position the substrate supported on the pedestal 310 below the upper shield 220 to allow the substrate to be robotically transferred from the pedestal 310 . the pedestal 310 can be moved upwardly ( toward the upper shield 220 ) to engage the cylindrical wall 230 of the upper shield 220 with the first portion 250 of the lower shield ( as discussed above with reference to fig7 ) and , as a result , form the process region 246 . an edge ring 314 can surround and partially rest on a top surface of the pedestal . the edge ring 314 can ensure that plasma in the process region 246 extends across the entire substrate . the diffuser 202 , upper shield 220 , and lower shield 250 , 270 are grounded from the pedestal 310 and radiofrequency source . the edge ring 314 may be made of quartz or another electrically insulating material . in various aspects , the bracket 312 that attaches the lower shield 250 , 270 to the pedestal may also be made of an electrically insulating material , such as a plastic material . in various other aspects , the bracket 312 can be made of metal and an insulative material can be arranged between the bracket 312 and the pedestal 312 . a plurality of grounding rings 318 can be attached to a bracket 316 in the plasma processing chamber 300 . for example , referring again to fig5 a , the grounding rings 318 can be spaced apart circumferentially such that each grounding ring 318 is aligned with one of the fastener holes 254 in the first portion 250 of the lower shield . when the pedestal 310 is raised toward the upper shield 220 , the grounding rings 318 contact in the top surface 261 of the first portion 250 of the lower shield 250 , 270 , thereby electrically coupling the lower shield 250 , 270 to the grounded upper shield 220 and lid 302 of the plasma processing chamber 300 . the grounding rings 318 are generally hoop shaped and are elastically deformable in the direction of arrows z . as a result , the grounding rings 318 can maintain contact with the fasteners in the first portion 250 of the lower shield over a range of positions of the pedestal 310 and the lower shield 250 , 270 relative to the upper shield 220 . fig2 b illustrates the flow of process gas ( e . g ., argon ) into the plasma processing chamber 300 , through the process region 246 , and out of the plasma processing chamber 300 . the process gas enters the plasma processing chamber 300 through a port 308 in the lid 302 ( as indicated by arrow g ). the port 308 is in communication with the diffuser 202 such that the process gas passes through the diffuser 202 in the center of the upper shield 220 and into the process region 246 ( as indicated by arrows j ). in the process region 246 , the process gas is ignited into a plasma by electromagnetic energy . the plasma etches contaminants and / or substrate materials from a substrate on the pedestal 310 . the etched contaminants and / or substrate materials ( and any plasma that may escape from the electromagnetic field ) flow radially outward in the direction of arrows l . the etched materials are then deflected downward by the upper shield 220 toward the lower shield 250 , 270 in the direction of arrow m . the second portion of the lower shield 270 directs the etched materials radially outward in the direction of arrow n . the etched materials then pass through the slots 262 and 258 in the first portion 250 of the lower shield 250 , 270 in the directions of arrows o and p , respectively . the etched materials can then pass through the port 306 in the direction of arrow q to leave the plasma processing chamber 300 . testing of plasma processing chambers using the process kit 200 shown in fig2 a demonstrate an improvement in plasma processing efficiency . for example , a plasma processing chamber using a process kit like the process kit 200 shown in fig2 a has shown approximately a four - fold increase in flow of process gas and removed contaminant and / or substrate materials for a given operating pressure ( e . g ., 0 . 007 torr ). additionally , the curved surface 236 on the upper shield 220 and curved surface 276 on the lower shield 250 , 270 show significant reductions in the accumulation of contaminants and / or substrate materials on the upper shield 220 and lower shield 250 , 270 , which should result in fewer required maintenance steps for the process kit 200 .
| 7Electricity
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the pneumatic conveying apparatus according to fig1 contains a conveyor vessel 1 and an annular storage chamber 2 which is arranged coaxially with the conveyor vessel 1 . the conveyor vessel 1 is open at the lower end and projects into the storage chamber 2 and these two parts of the apparatus are connected to each other like communicating pipes . the conveyor vessel 1 and the storage chamber 2 are provided with a common pneumatic aerating base 4 . a conveyor nozzle 5 passes through the aerating base 4 and above it is located the inlet of a pneumatic feed pipe 6 which passes through the conveyor vessel 1 in a vertical direction . an air vent connection 7 and a material supply connection 9 provided with a bucket wheel charging valve 8 are provided in the upper region of the conveyor vessel 1 . the air - filled upper region 10 of the storage chamber 2 is connected to an air supply connection 12 regulated by a valve 11 and to an air extraction connection 14 regulated by a valve 13 . the space below the aerating base 4 is provided with an air supply connection 15 in which a constant quantity regulating valve 16 is arranged . a further such valve 17 is arranged upstream of the conveyor nozzle 5 . the conveying apparatus formed by the conveyor vessel 1 and the storage chamber 2 is supported on pressure sensitive cells 18 of known kind . in operation , the apparatus according to fig1 functions as follows : if there is atmospheric pressure in the upper region 10 of the storage chamber 2 ( as there always is above the air vent connection 7 in the upper region 24 of the conveyor vessel 1 ), then the respective filling levels 25a and 256 of material in the conveyor vessel 1 and in the storage chamber 2 are the same . the pneumatic aerating pressure ( introduced via the air supply connection 15 ) or the approximately equally great pneumatic pressure at the conveying nozzle 5 corresponds to the filling level in the conveyor vessel 1 or a specific conveying capacity . as such material is then delivered via the material supply connection 9 to the conveyor vessel 1 as is discharged via the conveyor pipe 6 . if for any reason fluctuations occur in the material supply , then the filling level in the conveyor vessel 1 is kept constant at the predetermined value by transferring material from the storage chamber 2 to the conveyor vessel in the event of any lowering of the filling level in the conveyor vessel 1 . this is achieved by increasing the pressure in the upper region 10 of the storage chamber 2 . on the other hand , if the filling level in the conveyor vessel 1 rises above the value corresponding to the desired conveying capacity , then the pressure in the upper region 10 of the storage chamber 2 is reduced and as a result material is transferred from the conveyor vessel 1 to the storage chamber 2 . if the discharge capacity of the conveyor vessel 1 is to be rapidly increased , which necessitates a corresponding increase in the filling level in the conveyor vessel 1 , then a correspondingly higher pressure is built up in the storage chamber 2 so that a filling level 27b is set in the storage chamber 2 and a filling level 27a is set in the conveyor vessel 1 . if a higher discharge capacity is required , material is promptly forced out of the storage chamber 2 into the conveyor vessel 1 . if on the other hand it is desired to reduce the discharge capacity of the conveyor vessel 1 by reducing the pressure in the storage chamber 2 ( effected by opening the valve 13 ) material is quickly transferred from the conveyor vessel 1 to the storage chamber 2 . the calibration of the pneumatic conveying apparatus using the method according to the invention is described below , and with regard to the symbols used reference is made to the explanation of symbols at the end of this specification . in tests of the invention it was established that there is a linear dependence between the conveying pressure p &# 39 ; and the conveying capacity m as shown in fig2 the empty resistance p &# 39 ; o being constant during conveying . the inclination of the straight lines is designated hereafter as the calibration factor k . according to fig2 the following relationship exists between the conveying capacity m , the calibration factor k and the pressure value p ( the difference between the conveying pressure p &# 39 ; and the empty resistance p &# 39 ; o ): it is the object of the calibration to determine the unknown calibration factor k . for calibration the material supply to the conveyor vessel 1 ( via the material supply connection 9 ) is interrupted . the filling level in the conveyor vessel 1 corresponding to the then currently required conveying capacity is kept constant in the manner already described by controlling the pressure in the upper region 10 of the storage chamber 2 . thus during calibration the later supply of material to the conveyor vessel 1 takes place exclusively through the storage chamber 2 . the reduction in the filling weight m of the whole conveying apparatus over the time t is a measurement for the conveying capacity : ## equ1 ## fig3 shows the reduction in the filling weight m occurring during the calibration process . it is assumed here that the calibration begins at the time t 1 and ends at the time t 2 . the filling weight at the beginning of the calibration process is m ( t 1 ) and at the end m ( t 2 ). equations 1 and 2 give : ## equ2 ## if the integration of the pressure value p ( t ) over the time is carried out by means of numeric integration in n sensing steps , then equation 5 can be written as follows : ## equ4 ## this gives the calibration factor which is sought as follows : ## equ5 ## fig4 shows a plot of the pressure p during the calibration process , in which it is assumed that during the calibration two alterations are made to the conveying capacity . with the calibration factor k thus obtained the theoretical value and the actual value for the conveying capacity are corrected . for example in the case of a factor k which is greater by 5 %, the theoretical value and the actual value are also raised by 5 %. the actual conveying capacity is not altered by this . at the beginning and end of the calibration process the filling weight signal is checked to ascertain whether there are any great signal fluctuations which are due to external disturbances . thus , the integration of the pressure value p at t 1 , taking the filling weight m ( t 1 ) existing at the beginning of the calibration , only begins after the filling weight has fallen approximately evenly after interruption of the material supply during a predetermined period of time ( see fig3 ). the integration of the pressure value p is only ended , and at the same time the filling weight m ( t 2 ) then existing is taken , when a minimum quantity δm ( min ) has been extracted and the filling weight has fallen approximately evenly during a predetermined further period of time . the calibration is interrupted when a predetermined maximum quantity δm ( max ) is exceeded . p &# 39 ;: conveying pressure ( air pressure upstream of the conveying nozzle 5 or pressure below or above the aerating base 4 ) pi : values of p at the n sensing times between i = 1 and i = n m ( t 1 ): filling weight at the beginning of the calibration ( time t 1 ) m ( t 2 ): filling weight at the end of the calibration ( time t 2 )
| 1Performing Operations; Transporting
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described below are chemical processes for forming partially acetalized polyvinyl alcohol foam particles having particle size , pore size , density and particle porosity that are suitable for inclusion in selected injectable , biologically acceptable , liquid media having a liquid medium specific gravity and desirably are dispersed sufficiently so not to aggregate nor to clump in delivery equipment during an embolization procedure . the particles may be substantially homogeneously suspended in the medium to so prevent the clogging . the methods for producing the partially acetalized polyvinyl alcohol foam or sponge particles are made up of : the steps of mixing polyvinyl alcohol reactant , at least one acidic catalyst , and at least one acetalizing agent under reaction conditions suitable for forming partially acetalized foam particles . the reaction medium may be stirred , perhaps after the combination of at least one substantially non - reactive liquid phase , such as water or an aqueous starch mixture or aqueous polyethylene oxide or aqueous polyethylene glycol mixture , with the polyvinyl alcohol reactant . alternatively , the reaction medium may be air - whipped prior to the acetalization reaction step thereby forming an air - whipped foam . the polyvinyl alcohol reactant may have a viscosity average molecular weight in a range having a lower boundary of 50 , 000 and an upper boundary of 200 , 000 or in a range having a lower boundary of 125 , 000 and an upper boundary of 175 , 000 . the polyvinyl alcohol reactant may have a percentage of saponification in a range having a lower boundary of 75 % and an upper boundary of 99 . 3 % or in a range having a lower boundary of 85 % and an upper boundary of 95 %. the acetalization reaction is acid catalyzed . the catalyst may be : a .) at least one organic acid , such as carboxylic acids , formic acid , acetic acid , propionic acid , butanoic acid , isobutanoic acid , pentanoic acid , caproic acid , caprylic acid , capric acid , benzoic acid and oxalic acid or b .) at least one inorganic acid , such as the salts of hydroacids , hydrochloric acid , hydrobromic acid and hydrofluoric acid ; salts of oxoacids , sulfuric acid , nitric acid , phosphoric acid , carbonic acid , boric acid , chloric acid , silicic acid , perchloric acid , chlorous acid , hypochlorous acid , chlorosulfuric acid , amidosulfuric acid , disulfuric acid and tripolyphosphoric acid ; salts of thioacids , and thiosulfuric acid . obviously , the catalyst may be of mixtures or combinations of any of these . the reactant acetalizing agent may be any compound performing the acetalization function , but may be at least one member selected from the group consisting of formaldehyde , formaldehyde dimethyl acetal , acetaldehyde , propylaldehyde , butyraldehyde , pentaldehyde , glutaraldehyde , long chain aldehydes ( e . g ., containing at least six c atoms ), trioxane , paraformaldehyde , benzaldehyde , phenylacetaldehyde , and their mixtures . typically , the reaction sequence will also include the steps of stirring the mixture , aging the mixture at a modestly elevated temperature , e . g ., about 30 ° c . to about 65 ° c . ( to achieve an acceptable level of conversion to acetal ), washing the mixture to remove extraneous reactants and the acidic catalyst , separating the particles , and grinding , cutting , chopping , or die cutting the particles to suitable sizes . these particles may be separated into specific size ranges by , e . g ., sieving them or by other appropriate sizing or separating procedures . as is shown in detail in the examples below , we have observed that varying the following reaction or reactant parameters directionally from the reaction conditions found in those examples produces the following changes to the particles . lowering the molecular weight of the feed polyvinyl alcohol generally lowers the overall biocompatibility , elasticity , tear strength , and resilience of the resulting particle . raising the molecular weight of the feed polyvinyl alcohol has the opposite effect on those particle parameters . for the practical reaction parameters discussed here , lowering the degree of hydrolysis of the feed polyvinyl alcohol generally increases both the level of achievable hydration and the rate at which the particle may be hydrated or hydrates . such a change increases the elasticity and resilience of the product particle . raising the degree of hydrolysis ( or degree of saponification ) of the feed polyvinyl alcohol causes the opposite effects to occur . similarly , within the scope of practical reaction conditions suitable for the particles discussed here , the extent of the reaction or conversion to acetal may be used to control the following particle parameters : lowering the extent of the reaction or conversion to acetal again increases both the level of achievable hydration and the rate at which the particle may be hydrated or hydrates , elasticity , resilience , and compressibility of the product particle but lowers the resulting modulus . again raising the extent of reaction will have the opposite effects on the product particle . we have observed that an increase of the initial reaction rate , e . g ., perhaps by increase of the initial reaction temperature or by increase in the catalyst or acetalizing agent concentration or any or all of these changes , lowers the particles &# 39 ; cell or pore size . lowering that initial rate increases the size of those pores or cells . the directional changes outlined above are used to tailor a particle suitable for suspension in a selected liquid delivery medium . the overall effects of the product particle parameters in an embolization procedure are these : as the bulk and polymer modulus or the polymer density go down , the particles become generally more compressible , conform to the tissue site more easily , and are able to penetrate further and pack more efficiently at the treatment site . numerically higher values of these parameters also cause higher point forces on delicate vessel surfaces . likewise , if the polymer and bulk modulus and density are higher and compressibility becomes lower , the penetration to a vessel treatment site is compromised or limited due to aggregation of inflexible particles . pore size has the following effect on particle uniformity . larger pores , in comparison to the size of the particle , may yield a particle having extraneous material hanging on the edges . these projections likely accentuate clogging in the delivery device via mechanical interlocking . conversely , particles with pores smaller by comparison with the particle diameter generally have more of a spherical shape and are less likely to clog during delivery . packing in a vascular cavity is typically more efficient , as well . other practical effects of particle pore ( or cell ) size as deposited in the vasculature are that small pores ( generally & lt ; 200 um ) do not permit ease of tissue in - growth . larger cell sizes permit a high degree of tissue in - growth . porosity of the product foam particle ( a value inversely related to the bulk foam , or relative , density ) exhibits the following in this polymer system : lowering the porosity increases the bulk foam density , bulk modulus , and resilience but lowers the particle &# 39 ; s compressibility . raising the porosity has opposite effects . in the reactive phase - separation process ( all of the examples used in this application ), the bulk density and porosity are controlled primarily through the relative proportion of intial pvaoh in the system . a greater amount of non - reactive phase ( lower relative pvaoh ) will ultimately wash out leaving a lower bulk density and higher porosity . care must be taken to include an appropriate starting amount of pvaoh , since too low an initial initial pvaoh amount will result in a collapsed solid mass . in the air - whipped process the bulk density is controlled by the amount of air whipped into the polymer . the greater the proportion of air , the greater the porosity and lower bulk density . the resultant degree of hydration inherent in the produced particle has several effects : if a particle exhibits lower hydration , it is generally less biocompatible and is generally less able to imbibe hydrophilic agents or solutions . the ability to imbibe non - hydrophilic agents is to be observed on a case - to - case basis . a high particle hydration rate , that is , during the period just prior to introduction into the body , is desirable because the particle is more rapidly suspended in the carrier medium . particles having comparatively lower hydration rates may initially float or sink depending upon bulk foam density and morphology and slow the period of time required for the embolization procedure . in any case , the particles produced by these methods and described here form a component of this invention . a following and separate procedure involves selecting appropriate partially acetalized polyvinyl alcohol foam particles produced by the processes discussed above appropriate for a particular injectable , biologically acceptable , liquid medium such that , once hydrolyzed , the particles are substantially suspendable or suspended in the selected liquid medium . the next step involves combining the selected particles and the medium to hydrate the particles and to produce the composition . the embolic composition used for forming an occlusion in a body opening or cavity , is a combination of hydrated , partially acetalized , polyvinyl alcohol foam particles made in the fashion described above and have particle size , pore sizes , and particle porosities selected to be generally suspended in a matched , selected injectable , biologically acceptable , liquid media . the homogeneous suspension generally provides for a predictable and even delivery of the particles to the selected site without clogging the delivery apparatus . the liquid media has a liquid medium specific gravity , generally in a range having a lower limit of about 1 . 0 and has an upper limit of about 1 . 50 , although the liquid medium specific gravity may fall in a range with a lower limit of about 1 . 1 and an upper limit of about 1 . 40 , or a lower limit of about 1 . 15 and an upper limit of about 1 . 40 . the liquid medium may be made up of one or more members selected from the group consisting of saline solution , radio - opacifiers , antibiotics , chemotherapy drugs , pharmaceuticals , growth factors , anti - growth factors , and natural and synthetic hormones or , perhaps one or more imaging or contrast agents . the radio - opacifiers may comprise one or more iodine - based imaging or contrast agents such as the well known and commercially available oxilan 300 , oxilan 350 , ultravist 150 , ultravist 240 , ultravist 300 , ultravist 370 , and omnipaque 350 . for certain uses , the liquid medium may also contain one or more anticoagulants , such as heparin ., or one or more clotting agents , such as thrombin . the particles may have a mean size falling in a range having a lower limit of about 20 μm and an upper limit of about 10 mm , possibly with a lower limit of about 30 μm and an upper limit of about 10 mm or a range with a lower limit of about 45 μm and an upper limit of about 2800 μm . several tailored size ranges are applicable : 1 .) lower limit of about 90 μm and an upper limit of about 2000 μm , 2 .) a lower limit of about 180 μm and an upper limit of about 1400 μm , 3 .) a lower limit of about 300 μm and an upper limit of about 1000 μm , 4 .) a lower limit of about 500 μm and an upper limit of about 750 μm , 5 .) a lower limit of about 180 μm and an upper limit of about 300 μm , 6 .) a lower limit of about 300 μm and an upper limit of about 500 μm , and 7 .) a lower limit of about 500 μm and an upper limit of about 710 μm . similarly , the particle porosity may fall in a range having a lower limit of about 50 % and has an upper limit of about 98 %, perhaps with a lower limit of about 80 % and an upper limit of about 96 %. combinations of these particle sizes and porosities and the liquid medium specific gravity are suitable for the composition , e . g ., where the particle size has a lower limit of about 30 μm and an upper limit of about 10 mm and where the liquid medium specific gravity has a lower limit of about 1 . 0 and an upper limit of about 1 . 50 ; or perhaps , where the particle size falls in a range that has a lower limit of about 180 μm and an upper limit of about 710 μm and where the liquid medium specific gravity has a lower limit of about 1 . 2 and an upper limit of about 1 . 4 . combinations suitable for certain liquid medium include those where the particle porosity has a lower limit of about 50 % and has an upper limit of about 98 % and where the liquid medium specific gravity has a lower limit of about 1 . 0 and has an upper limit of about 1 . 50 ; a particle porosity with a lower limit of about 80 % an upper limit of about 96 % and where the liquid medium specific gravity has a lower limit of about 1 . 2 and an upper limit of about 1 . 4 . the particles may further comprise radio - opacifiers , antibiotics , chemotherapy drugs , pharmaceuticals , growth factors , anti - growth factors , and natural and synthetic hormones as well as imaging or contrast agents such as barium sulfate , gold , tantalum , platinum , tungsten , bismuth oxide , and mixtures . the particles themselves may contain one or more anticoagulants such as heparin and one or more clotting agents , such as thrombin in certain rarely chosen instances . the particles may be sized , e . g ., ground , cut , chopped , or die - cut , to suitable sizes prior to their introduction into the liquid medium . the resulting composition generally is substantially non - clogging when passed through a catheter delivery system ; the homogeneous suspension also generally provides for a predictable and even delivery of the particles . additionally , the particles and medium may be associated , perhaps in a physical kit , for producing the dispersed composition by the hydration procedure discussed above . a mixture of 100 of polyvinyl alcohol ( pvaoh ), having a viscosity average molecular weight range of 85 , 000 to 146 , 000 and a percentage of saponification of approximately 99 % and 736 g of deionized water was heated to 95 ° c . for thirty minutes and set aside and allowed to cool to room temperature . a separate mixture of 20 g of potato starch 180 g of deionized water was heated to 80 ° c . and then added to the pvaoh solution and mixed thoroughly . to this resultant solution was added 45 g of approximately 98 % sulfuric acid and 76 g of approximately 37 % formaldehyde ( formalin solution ) to form the reactant mixture . after thorough stirring the reactant mixture was cured at 35 ° c . for 6 hours and then 55 ° c . for 6 hours and allowed to cool to room temperature . the resultant partially acetalized polyvinyl alcohol ( pvat ) sponge was then washed thoroughly to remove excess formaldehyde and sulfuric acid . the sponge was then ground into particles in a blender operating at approximately 20 , 000 rpm for 10 minutes with added water in ratio to sponge of approximately 2 : 1 . the resultant particles were isolated through a # 325 mesh screen and dried at 50 ° c . overnight . the particles were then separated into size ranges using astm standard sieves according to the table below . the particles hydrated slowly with consequent floating in solution early in the hydration process . we believe this to be due to the relatively high hydrolysis of the base or feed polymer and the consequent relatively high resistance to water absorption . such a result would translate into a relatively slower hydration rate . furthermore , the higher degree of hydrolysis allows for a more ordered association between polymer chains giving a high surface energy and thereby variously inhibiting the wetting ( e . g ., air bubbles were surface trapped ) and slowing the hydration rate . we repeated the same procedure as that of example 1 except that the percentage of saponification of the pvaoh was approximately 88 %. we noted a more rapid hydration of particles with a subsequent suspension in solution early in the hydration process . we believe that although the reaction composition and conditions were substantially identical to those in example 1 , the lower degree of hydrolysis of the base polymer permitted the rapid and more extensive water absorption . this is believed to be due to the less - ordered nature of the polymer chains — residual acetate groups disrupting chain alignment . the extensive water absorption allows for a closer approximation of the particle to the density of the solution ( water ). the same procedure as that of example 2 was repeated except that the temperature profile of the curing step was 55 ° c . for 16 hours . these particles exhibited rapid hydration followed by their ‘ separation ’ from water by sinking . we believe that , although the reaction composition is identical to example 2 ), the extended period of reaction at the elevated temperature caused a greater extent of conversion to the acetal functionality . the acetate residuals inherent in the base polymer permitted for surface hydration , but the extensive degree of conversion and crosslinking resulted in a tight network unable to imbibe water to the same degree . the density of the resultant polymer was greater than the water , thus it sank . the procedure of example 2 was repeated except that the mass of formalin solution was 85 g . these particles rapidly hydrated of particles and sank in the water . although the reaction temperature profile was identical to that of example 2 ), the greater concentration of formaldehyde caused a greater extent of conversion to the acetal functionality . the result was nevertheless the same as seen in example 3 ). in this instance , though , we believe that the result was due to the concentration variance instead of the temperature . the rate and extent of the acetal formation reaction is known to be directly related to temperature and hcho concentration ( arrhenius kinetics and 2nd order with [ pvaoh : hcho ]).
| 0Human Necessities
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in a binary phase - shift keyed random time hopping impulse radio ( th - ir ) system , the transmitted signal can be represented by the following model : s tr ( t ) = ∑ j = - ∞ ∞ d j k b ⌊ j / n f ⌋ k w tr ( t - jt f - c j k t c ) , ( 1 ) where w tr is the transmitted unit - energy pulse , t f is the average pulse repetition time , n f is the number of pulses representing one information symbol , and b is the information symbol transmitted , i . e ., zero or one . in order to allow the channel to be exploited by many users and avoid catastrophic collisions , a pseudo - random sequence { c j } is assigned to each user . this sequence is called the time hopping ( th ) sequence . the th sequence provides an additional time shift of c j t c seconds to the j − th pulse of the signal , where t c is sometimes called the chip interval . to prevent pulses from overlapping , the chip interval is selected to satisfy t c ≦ t f / n c . we consider coded ir systems where the d j &# 39 ; s are binary random variables , and where d i and d j are independent for i ≠ j , taking each values ± 1 with a probability of ½ , see fishler et al ., “ on the tradeoff between two types of processing gain ,” 40 th annual allerton conference on communication , control , and computing , 2002 . this systems can be regarded as an random — code division multiple access radio signal ( rcdma ) system with t f = t c . in this case , n f represents the processing gain . s j = { d ⌊ j / n c ⌋ j - n f ⌊ jn c ⌋ = c ⌊ j / n c ⌋ 0 otherwise . ( 2 ) then , assuming t f / t c = n c , without loss of generality , equation ( 1 ) can be expressed s tr ( t ) = ∑ j = - ∞ ∞ s j b ⌊ j / n f n c ⌋ k w tr ( t - jt c ) . ( 3 ) we assume that no data modulation is done during the acquisition stage , that is b j / n j n c = 1 ∀ j . in this case , the received signal over a flat fading channel in a single user system can be expressed as r ( t ) = ∑ j = - ∞ ∞ s j w rec ( t - jt c - τ ) + σ n n ( t ) , ( 4 ) where w rec ( t ) is the received uwb pulse , and n ( t ) is white gaussian noise with unit power spectral density . this model approximately represents the line - of - sight ( los ) case , with a strong first component . the number of cells in an uncertainty region is taken to be n = n f n c . one of these cells is the signal cell , while the others are non - signal cells . assuming no data modulation for the purposes of acquisition , then the template signal that is used in a serial search for the signal model in equation ( 3 ) can be expressed as follows : s m 2 ( c ) ( t ) = ∑ n = jn c ( j + m 2 ) n c - 1 s n w rec ( t - nt c ) , ( 5 ) where m 2 is the number of pulses , over which the correlation is taken . for a sequential block search ( sbs ) according to the invention , there are two different template signals . the first template signal is used for searching a block of cells , while the second template signal is similar to the one used in the serial search . the first template signal for the signal model described in equation ( 3 ) can be expressed as follows : s m 1 ( c ) ( t ) = ∑ i = 0 k - 1 ∑ n = jn c ( j + m 1 ) n c - 1 s n w rec ( t - nt c - it c - ( b - 1 ) kt c ) , ( 6 ) where b is the total number of blocks in the uncertainty region , each block including k cells , and where m 1 is the number of pulses , over which the correlation is taken . for simplicity , it is assumed that the total number of uncertainty cells can be expressed as n = kb . the value t c is taken as the minimum resolvable path interval . the output of the correlation of the received signal and the first template signal in equation ( 6 ) is used as a quick test to check if the whole block contains a signal cell , or not . the correlation output of the received signal and the second template signal is then used in a detailed search of a block . the index of the block that is currently being searched is b , with b = 1 initially . then , the sbs method can be described as follows : 1 ) check the b th block using the first template signal s m 1 ( b ) ( t ). 2 ) if the output of the b th block is not higher than a block threshold , τ b , then , go to step 6 . 3 ) if the output of the bth block is higher than the block threshold , τ b , then search the block in more detail , i . e ., cell - by - cell serial search with a signal threshold τ s , using the second template signal s m 2 ( c ) ( t ). 4 ) if no signal cell is detected in the block , go to step 6 . 6 ) set b =( b mod b )+ 1 and go to step 1 . when a false alarm ( fa ) occurs in the serial search part , the search resumes with the next cell after c time units , which is the penalty time in terms of frame time . in step 5 , “ the signal cell is detected ” means that the signal cell output exceeds the signal threshold , τ s . similarly , in step 4 , “ no signal cell is detected ” implies that the signal cell is not in the block , or the output of the cell is lower than the signal threshold τ r , even if the cell is in the block . [ 0045 ] fig1 shows the sbs method . the received signal 101 is correlated 110 with the first template signal of equation ( 6 ), and the output 111 is compared 120 to the block threshold τ b . if the block threshold is not exceeded 121 , the decision unit has a synchronization unit 130 adjusted 131 the delay of the first template signal , and another correlation 110 with the received signal is performed . when the block output 111 is higher than the block threshold τ b , the second template signal in equation ( 5 ) is employed and the cells in the block are serially searched . in other words , decision unit 120 compares the outputs with the thresholds and decides if the signal is detected 122 , or not 121 , while the synchronization unit 130 adjusts 131 the delays of the template signals and sends the corresponding one to the correlation unit . an average block search method is appropriate in harsh nlos conditions . the basic idea behind this method is to use an average value of a number of serial correlation outputs in order to see a considerable increase in the output values . this increase indicates the start of the signal cells . the received signal in this case is expressed as : r ( t ) = ∑ j = ∞ ∞ ∑ l = 1 l α l s j w rec ( t - jt c - τ l ) + σ n n ( t ) , ( 7 ) where α 1 is the amplitude coefficient and τ 1 is the delay of the l th multipath component . consider the outputs of the correlations of the received signal with the following template signal : s m ( c ) ( t ) = ∑ n = jn c ( j + m ) n c - 1 s n w rec ( t - nt c ) . ( 8 ) if the absolute values of the results of these correlations are z 1 , . . . , z n , then we can define w i = 1 k ∑ j = ik + 1 ( i + l ) k z j , ( 9 ) let i be the index of the averaged block currently being searched , with i = 0 initially . then , the abs method can be described follows : 1 ) check difference between successive averages w i mod b — w ( i − 1 ) mod b . 2 ) if the difference is not higher than a first threshold τ α go to step 6 . 3 ) if the difference is higher than τ α , check z ( i mod b ) k + 1 , . . . , z ( i mod b )+ 1 ) k serially , comparing to a second threshold , τ c . 4 ) if no signal cells detected , go to step 6 . 6 ) set i =( i + 1 ) mod b , and go to step 1 . [ 0061 ] fig2 shows abs method and system 200 . in this embodiment multiple correlators 210 averaging units 215 are used in parallel . a received signal r ( t ) 201 is first correlated 210 with a first template signals with different delays . then , the absolute values of these correlations are averaged 220 and compared to the previous averaged value by the decision unit 230 . if there is a significant increase in the average value and if any one of the serial search outputs in the corresponding block exceeds the threshold , the signal is detected 231 . if no detection 232 occurs , then , the delays of the template signal are adjusted by the synchronization unit 240 , and the same steps are followed again . note that even though the block diagram is shown for the case with k correlators and averaging units , the method and system can also be worked with only one correlator . in such a situation , the decision unit can perform the averaging and comparison tasks by storing a predetermined number of outputs of the single correlator . the sequential block search method according to the invention provides a quick method to find the location ( s ) of a signal cell of a uwb signal . first , the method quickly determines a smaller region where signal cells are likely to exist . then , it searches that region in detail to find the exact location of the signal . in this way , the time to acquire the uwb signal can be reduced considerably . in fact , the mean acquisition time of the sbs method becomes proportional to the square root of n for large signal - to - noise ratios . in contrast , the mean acquisition time of a prior art serial search is directly proportional to the number of cells in an uncertainty region . for practical values , the acquisition time using the sbs method is about the half of the serial search mean acquisition time . in harsh multipath conditions , an average block search reduces the acquisition time because the averaged values of serial search outputs are more reliable in detecting the start of the signal in some nlos situations . in this way , instantaneous increases in the single outputs are smoothed so that the frequency of false alarms is reduced . it should be noted that the invention can also be used in direct sequence — code division multiple access ( ds - cdma ) systems . although the invention has been described by way of examples of preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that various other adaptations and modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention . therefore , it is the object of the appended claims to cover all such variations and modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the invention .
| 7Electricity
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an exemplary sla pertinent to the practice of the invention stipulates , for each stream ( s , σ ), an aggregate offered bandwidth u sσ ( the “ contracted offered bandwidth ”) and an aggregate carried bandwidth v sσ ( the “ contracted carried bandwidth ”), v sσ & lt ; u sσ . implicitly , the ratio v sσ / u sσ is the contracted flow - acceptance ratio for the stream . it should be noted that this ratio cannot be precisely unity , because due to the statistical nature of the incoming traffic , only a network having infinite capacity could guarantee that 100 % of incoming calls will be accepted . for determining whether there is compliance with the terms of the sla , estimates of the actual offered and carried bandwidths are made , based on measurements . bandwidth can be measured directly by examining the offered and carried packets . alternatively , calls can be counted and the total bandwidth inferred from effective bandwidths associated with each of the calls . ( effective bandwidth is described in more detail below .) in either case , it is advantageous for the bandwidth measurements to be performed at the ingress node , i . e ., at the source node of the corresponding stream . initially , we will describe an sla monitoring scheme based on call - level accounting . later , we will discuss an example of sla monitoring based on packet - level ( i . e ., on data - level ) accounting . the numerical studies that we describe below used call - level accounting . an exemplary measurement procedure employs time windows , referred to here as “ sla windows ,” and it also employs exponential smoothing . the sla window length τ and the smoothing parameter α sla are also advantageously stipulated in the sla . let { tilde over ( v )} sσ ( n ) denote a measured value of carried stream bandwidth in time window n , and let ũ sσ ( n ) denote a measured value of offered stream bandwidth in the same time window . because each measurement involves some degree of estimation , we refer to these values as “ estimated ” bandwidth values in the following discussion . in the following discussion , it will be optional whether smoothed or unsmoothed values of { tilde over ( v )} sσ ( n ) and ũ sσ ( n ) are used . ( smoothed values were used in the numerical studies described below .) however , to illustrate one form of smoothing that is useful in this context , we here let { tilde over ( v )} sσ sm ( n ) and ũ sσ sm ( n ) represent smoothed values , and we let { tilde over ( v )} sσ raw ( n ) and ũ sσ raw ( n ) represent corresponding raw , i . e ., unsmoothed , values . then according to an illustrative smoothing technique , { tilde over ( v )} sσ sm ( n + 1 )= α sla { tilde over ( v )} sσ sm ( n )+( 1 − α sla ) { tilde over ( v )} sσ raw ( n ), and ũ sσ sm ( n + 1 )= α sla ũ sσ sm ( n )+( 1 − α sla ) ũ sσ raw ( n ). according to an exemplary sla , a compliant customer is one whose offered stream bandwidth does not exceed the contracted amount . the service provider promises to carry the same fraction of the estimated offered bandwidth as the proportion of contracted carried to contracted offered bandwidth . if the service provider carries a smaller fraction than what is promised , it is declared non - compliant and pays a penalty for each call that is lost ( i . e ., not carried ) while the service provider is in the non - compliant state . on the other hand , the customer is non - compliant if it offers more stream bandwidth than the contracted amount . in that event , the service provider promises to carry only the contracted amount of carried bandwidth . the service provider is declared non - compliant if it fails to carry the contracted amount . in that case it pays a penalty for lost calls , e . g . for lost bandwidth up to the contracted amount . advantageously , the monitoring of customer and service - provider compliance , and the declaration of corresponding compliant and non - compliant states , take place at the ingress node . [ 0027 ] fig1 illustrates an exemplary decision process for sla compliance . at block 5 , the estimated value ũ sσ ( n ) of the offered stream bandwidth is compared with the contracted value u sσ . the estimated value of the offered bandwidth ( and as will be seen below , also the estimated value of the carried bandwidth ) is determined at the end of the n &# 39 ; th sla window . however the variable “ sla_state ”, which takes the value “ compliant ” if the service provider is sla - compliant and the value “ non - compliant ” otherwise , is treated as uniform over the entire window . ( more generally , the pair of variables describing the respective states of sla compliance of the customer and the service provider are treated as uniform over the entire window .) we found that this approximation is helpful for controlling the processing burden , and that it permits averaging and tends to increase accuracy . the output of block 5 is “ yes ” if the estimated value of offered bandwidth is no greater than the contracted value . in that case , the customer is sla compliant , as represented by the left - hand side of the grid at the bottom of the figure , i . e ., quadrants a and b . if the output of block 5 is “ no ”, the customer is sla non - compliant , as represented by quadrants c and d . the test of whether the service provider is sla - compliant ( which , in turn , determines the value of the variable sla_state ) takes different forms , depending on the result of block 5 . in the case of a compliant customer , the test of block 10 applies . in block 10 , ratios are compared of carried bandwidth to offered bandwidth . if the ratio v sσ / u sσ of contracted values is no greater than the ratio { tilde over ( v )} sσ ( n )/ ũ sσ ( n ) of estimated values , the service provider is declared sla - compliant for window n , as indicated in quadrant a of the figure . otherwise , the service provider is declared sla non - compliant , as indicated in quadrant b . in the case of a non - compliant customer , the test of block 15 applies . according to the test of block 15 , the service provider is declared sla - compliant for window n if the contracted amount v sσ of carried bandwidth is no greater than the estimated amount { tilde over ( v )} sσ ( n ), as indicated in quadrant c of the figure . otherwise , the service provider is declared non - compliant , as indicated in quadrant d . every call that is carried generates revenue to the service provider and increments a flow revenue measure w sσ ( n ). for example , as shown in fig2 a previous cumulative revenue measure w sσ ( n − 1 ) ( shown in block 20 of the figure ) is incremented at summing point 30 by the current amount shown in block 25 to form the current cumulative revenue measure w sσ ( n ) for sla window n ( block 35 ). the current increment of block 25 is the product of the number m sσ ( n ) of calls of stream ( s , σ ) carried in window n , and a stream revenue parameter s sσ . by way of example , but not of limitation , we note that in numerical studies we set w sσ equal to the product of the effective bandwidth d s and the mean holding time h s of calls of service class s . the effective bandwidth can be adjusted to account , in a single parameter , for various packet - level factors such as burstiness , delay , jitter , and loss at network elements . if the service provider loses calls while in a state of sla non - compliance , it may be liable to pay a penalty . in the exemplary scheme of fig2 a previous value penalty sσ ( n − 1 ) of a cumulative flow penalty measure ( block 55 ) is incremented at summing point 60 by the current penalty increment to form a current value penalty sσ ( n ) of the cumulative measure for window n ( block 65 ). the current penalty increment is the value shown at block 40 of the figure . however , at multiplier 50 , the current penalty increment is given a multiplicative weight of 0 ( in which case it is not added to the cumulative value in block 65 ) if the service provider is sla - compliant in window n . otherwise , the penalty increment receives a multiplicative weight of 1 . as shown at block 40 , the penalty increment is exemplarily the product of three factors : the stream revenue parameter w sσ , the number n sσ ( n ) of calls of stream ( s , σ ) that are lost in sla window n , and an adjustable penalty multiplier m sσ , which is typically greater than 1 . various alternative penalty structures are also readily implemented . for example , the penalty structure of fig2 penalizes the service provider for all calls that are lost while the sla state of the network lies in quadrant d of fig1 even when the amount of offered bandwidth is grossly in excess of that stipulated in the sla . to discourage gross excesses of offered traffic , it will in some cases be advantageous to limit the factor n sσ ( n ) in block 40 of fig2 so that it includes only the difference between the measured ( i . e ., estimated ) and contracted values of carried bandwidth . at summing point 70 , the cumulative stream revenue value of block 35 and the cumulative stream penalty value of block 65 are combined as respective positive and negative contributions to the net stream revenue w_net sσ ( n ), as shown at block 75 . summing w_net sσ ( n ) over all streams gives a network - wide measure w_net ( n ) of cumulative net revenue , as shown in block 80 . in the preceding discussion , we have treated it as optional whether smoothed or unsmoothed values are used for { tilde over ( v )} sσ ( n ) and ũ sσ ( n ). according to our current belief , however , it will be especially advantageous to base the sla state determination on smoothed values , but to compute the revenue and penalty values based on the unsmoothed measurements of bandwidth offered and carried in each time window . as mentioned above , an alternative to call - level monitoring is to measure the offered and carried bandwidth at the packet ( or data ) level . leaky bucket techniques , for example , are readily used to perform such measurements . ( leaky bucket measurements will tell how much bandwidth was carried and how much was dropped or marked as non - compliant . thus , the amount offered is readily inferred .) in the context of packet - level measurements , we let ω sσ represent the revenue generated by the service provider for carrying a unit amount of data on stream ( s , σ ). thus , an expression appropriate in this context for the incremental gain in revenue for window n is w sσ ( n )− w sσ ( n − 1 )= { tilde over ( v )} sσ raw ( n ) τω sσ . a penalty structure that we believe will be especially advantageous in the context of packet - level measurements is defined by prescriptions ( i )-( iii ), below , for the value of the incremental penalty for time window n , i . e ., for penalty sσ ( n )− penalty sσ ( n − 1 ). the prescription are made with reference to quadrants a - d of fig1 . ( i ) if the network sla state for stream ( s , σ ) lies in quadrant a or c , the incremental penalty is zero . ( ii ) if the sla state lies in quadrant b , the incremental penalty is m s ω s σ τ [ ( v s σ u s σ ) u ~ s σ raw ( n ) - v ~ s σ raw ( n ) ] + ( iii ) if the sla state lies in quadrant d , the incremental penalty is m s ω sσ τ [ v sσ −{ tilde over ( v )} sσ raw ( n )] + the notation [. . . ] + signifies that if the bracketed quantity is less than zero , it should be set to zero . as noted , an off - line design process is advantageously employed for allocating ( in a statistical sense ) the offered traffic for each stream among the admissible routes for that stream . information passed from the design phase to the sla - management process will generally include u sσ and v sσ as well as the designed service - route loads x sr . we have found it advantageous to derive the loads x sr from the raw output of the design , which is based on mean values of traffic bandwidth , in a manner which reserves extra capacity in anticipation of traffic variability . thus , if the design process yields a mean value m sr of aggregate bandwidth carried on a service route , we set the corresponding load parameter x sr equal to m sr plus an additional increment related to traffic variability . although the standard deviation , for example , could be used as such a measure of variability , we have found that an adequate measure is provided by the square root of the mean value . accordingly , we have found it advantageous to set x sr = m sr + γ { square root }{ square root over ( m sr )}, where γ is a small non - negative number , typically about 0 . 5 . similarly , we have found it advantageous to set v sσ = m sσ − β { square root }{ square root over ( m sσ )}, where β is another small , non - negative number , also typically about 0 . 5 . in the preceding expression , m sσ is the mean carried aggregate bandwidth on stream ( s , σ ) obtained from the design process . as β increases , the contracted amount v sσ of carried bandwidth decreases more steeply with increasing traffic variability . thus , increasing β is appropriate for reflecting increasing aversion by the service provider to incurring penalties for lost calls . on the other hand , increasing β also tends to reduce the flow - acceptance ratio v sσ / u sσ contracted for in the sla . a penalty structure for lost calls , as described above , can optionally be included in the design process , although some additional complexity will result . in the numerical studies whose results we report below , we did not include the penalty structure in the design process . alternate revenue structures are also readily implemented . for example , the service provider might wish to demand a premium for carrying calls at the contracted bandwidth value when the amount of offered bandwidth exceeds the contracted value , i . e ., when the network state lies in quadrant c of fig1 . in such a case , a second - tier revenue parameter , larger than the basic stream revenue parameter w sσ , can be applied when the network state lies in quadrant c . such a second - tier parameter can be applied , e . g ., to all carried bandwidth , or it can be made to apply only to carried bandwidth in excess of the contracted amount . in the phase of network management that we refer to as “ route classification ,” each ingress node evaluates , for every time window n , a variable status sr ( n ) based on the bandwidth load , aggregated over calls , of each service route ( s , r ) from the ingress node , and it maintains a database of these variables . each variable status sr ( n ) is computed at the beginning of time window n and remains fixed during the window . this status variable is computed for each admissible route r for each stream having the given node as its ingress node , for each corresponding egress node , and for each service class s . [ 0047 ] fig3 illustrates an exemplary process for evaluating status sr ( n ). at block 85 , the measured bandwidth load z sr ( n ) on service route ( s , r ) at the beginning of window n is compared with the design load x sr . as indicated at block 90 , the loading status of the service route is declared “ undersubscribed ” ( i . e ., status sr ( n ) is set equal to us ) if the measured load is no greater than the design load . as indicated at block 95 , the loading status is declared “ oversubscribed ” ( status sr ( n ) is set equal to os ) if the measured load is greater than the design load . the loading status of service routes is important in the implementation of the phase referred to here as “ routing and admission control ,” which is described below . we will now describe an exemplary procedure for measuring the service - route bandwidth load z sr ( n ) using quantities computed from local measurements at the ingress node . this measurement procedure is based on a window of length τ and on exponential smoothing with a smoothing parameter α . a similar procedure , possibly using different values of the window length and smoothing parameter , is readily applied for computing the offered and carried stream loads ũ sσ ( n ) and { tilde over ( v )} sσ ( n ). let t represent a time value within the n &# 39 ; th window , i . e ., ( n − 1 ) τ ≦ t & lt ; nτ . let y sr ( t ) denote the aggregate bandwidth usage on service route ( s , r ) at time t . we note that y sr ( t ) increments by a unit of the effective bandwidth d s with each new call , and it decrements by the same amount with each call departure . let { overscore ( y )} sr ( n ) denote the mean bandwidth usage on the service route over the n &# 39 ; th window , i . e ., y _ sr ( n ) = 1 τ ∫ ( n - 1 ) τ n τ y s τ ( η ) η . let z sr ( n + 1 ) denote the exponentially smoothed estimate of bandwidth usage , aggregated over calls , on the service route at the start of the ( n + 1 )&# 39 ; th window . then according to our method , z sr ( n + 1 )= αz sr ( n )+( 1 − α ){ overscore ( y )} sr ( n ). it should be noted in this regard that because only the ingress node will have been setting up calls on service route ( s , r ), without interference from other nodes ( which of course may be ingress nodes as to calls for their own streams ), all the necessary load information is available to it . we now turn to a description of control algorithms for routing and admission control . we note first that these algorithms apply a methodology known as virtual partitioning ( vp ). in the vp methodology , the bandwidth capacity of each link l is regarded as a resource which is an object of contention by all service routes in which link l is included . in our application of vp , those contending service routes that are undersubscribed ( at a given time ) are given preference over oversubscribed service routes . as explained below , a procedure referred to here as bandwidth protection ( bp ) implements this preference when new calls associated with a given stream are set up . it should be noted that at call set - up , in an exemplary implementation , the ingress node sends to each link in a service route of interest a request and an indication of the value of status sr ( n ) for the service route of interest and current time window n . we now describe the bandwidth protection procedure with reference to fig4 . this procedure is advantageously performed at the ingress node . let l represent a link traversed by the potential service route , let c l represent the bandwidth capacity of link l , and let y l ( t ) represent the total bandwidth usage on the link at the time t of call set - up . ( obviously , y l ( t ) cannot exceed c l .) let ( s , r ) represent a potential service route that has been selected for routing an incoming call . at block 100 of the figure , a determination is made whether the status of the potential service route in the current window n is undersubscribed ( i . e ., whether status sr ( n ) equals us ). if the service route is identified as undersubscribed , a further determination is made at block 105 whether there is sufficient available bandwidth on the service route to accept the call . at block 105 , there will be deemed sufficient bandwidth only if at the time of call set - up , for every link l traversed by the potential service route , there is enough remaining capacity to accommodate the effective bandwidth d s of the incoming call , i . e ., only if , for all l ε ( s , r ), y l ( t )+ d s ≦ c l . if this condition is satisfied , the call is accepted , as indicated at block 115 . otherwise , the call is rejected , as indicated at block 120 . with reference once again to block 100 , if the service route is determined not to be undersubscribed , it is oversubscribed ( i . e ., status sr ( n ) equals os ). in that case , the determination whether there is sufficient available bandwidth on the service route to accept the call is made at block 110 . the test applied at block 110 is more demanding than the test applied at block 105 . at block 110 , each link l traversed by the service route is required to have remaining capacity not only for the effective bandwidth d s , but also for a quantity of bandwidth r { circumflex over ( d )}, referred to here as the bandwidth reservation . that is , the call is accepted ( at block 125 ) only if , for all l ε ( s , r ), y l ( t )+ d s + r { circumflex over ( d )}≦ c l . otherwise , the call is rejected ( at block 130 ). the bandwidth reservation r { circumflex over ( d )} forces our routing procedure to give preference to undersubscribed service routes in two respects . first , an attempt to route a call on an oversubscribed service route must satisfy a more demanding test than a routing attempt on an undersubscribed service route . second , enforcing the bandwidth reservation assures that after successfully routing a call on an oversubscribed service route , each link along that route will still have capacity to carry a call on at least one undersubscribed service route in which such link is included . ( depending on the value of r , there may be remaining capacity to carry calls on several undersubscribed service routes .) the bandwidth reservation described here is the product of two factors : the bandwidth protection parameter r and a quantity { circumflex over ( d )}. the bandwidth protection parameter is an adjustable , small positive number typically in the range 1 . 0 - 2 . 0 , and exemplarily about 1 . the quantity { circumflex over ( d )} is , e . g ., the greatest effective bandwidth over all service classes ; i . e ., { circumflex over ( d )}= max d s . it should be noted that an attempt to set up a call on a selected service route will succeed only if all the links in the service route accept the call after the bandwidth protection procedure of fig4 has been implemented . as noted , the quantity y l ( t ) represents the total bandwidth usage on a link l at the time t of call set - up . there are various ways for the ingress node to acquire this information concerning bandwidth usage on the links belonging to pertinent routes . one approach is for the ingress node to send out scout requests as needed , exemplarily by sending out specialized scout packets , which solicit usage information from the pertinent routers . such an approach is effective , but it contributes a relatively large amount of signalling traffic overhead to the network , which may be disfavored in at least some cases . an alternative approach , sometimes referred to as “ periodic flooding ,” is for the ingress node to broadcast periodic requests to the network . for usage information . this approach adds less traffic overhead than the use of scout packets , but late in the broadcast cycle , before the next request , the ingress node is generally forced to use outdated information . yet a third approach , which we believe will be advantageous in at least some cases , applies usage information that the ingress node has acquired through previous call set - up requests . the advantage of this approach is that it adds little or no signaling traffic overhead , and for at least some routes is as current as the most recent routing attempt . the use of previous call set - up attempts to acquire link usage information is discussed , e . g ., in the co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 565 , 737 , filed on nov . 30 , 1995 by r . gawlick et al . under the title , “ a method of admission control and routing of virtual circuits ,” and commonly assigned herewith . turning now to fig5 there is represented at block 135 a request to route a new call for stream ( s , σ ). blocks 140 and 145 represent an attempt to route the call according to a procedure known as sticky routing . sticky routing is described , e . g ., in r . j . gibbens et al ., “ dynamic alternative routing — modeling and behavior ,” proc . 12 th int . teletraffic congress , torino , 3 . 4a . 3 . 1 - 3 . 4a . 3 . 7 ( 1988 ). the ingress node has the option of attempting to route the new call on any admissible route for the pertinent stream . according to the sticky routing procedure , the preference is to use the last service route on which a call for the same stream was successfully routed . in our exemplary procedure of fig5 however , such a last service route ( denoted in block 140 as “ current ( s , r )”) may be selected only if it is undersubscribed in the current time window n . thus , if the test for undersubscribed status of block 140 is satisfied , the service route current ( s , r ) is selected for the routing attempt as indicated at block 145 . if the test of block 140 is not satisfied , then as indicated at block 150 , a determination is made whether , in the current time window , there is any service route in the admissible route set r ( s , σ ) that is undersubscribed . if there is at least one such service route , a set r us ( s , σ ; n ) of the admissible service routes at time window n is defined , and as indicated at block 155 , a member of that set , exemplarily a randomly chosen member , is selected for the routing attempt . if at block 150 no admissible undersubscribed service routes are found , then , as indicated at block 160 , a preferred one of the available oversubscribed service routes is selected . the preferred oversubscribed service route is the one that is determined to be maximally underloaded . in this context , the amount of underloading is the amount by which the design load x sr exceeds the aggregate bandwidth usage y sr ( t ) on a service route at time t . thus , the maximally underloaded route is the route of the admissible route set that minimizes the quantity y sr ( t )− x sr . it should be noted that the determination of a maximally underloaded route is readily determined at the ingress node , since the ingress node has possession of the values of y sr ( t ) and x sr . once a service route has been selected , the attempt to set the call up on the selected route is made at block 165 , where the bandwidth protection procedure of fig5 is implemented . a determination is made at block 170 whether the routing attempt was successful . if so , then in accordance with sticky routing , if used , the register containing the last successful service route current ( s , r ) is updated , as indicated at block 175 . if the test at block 170 indicates an unsuccessful attempt , then the call may be lost or , alternatively , a new attempt may be made to route the call according to a procedure , described below , that we refer to as crankback . if sticky routing is being applied , then if the test at block 170 indicates an unsuccessful routing attempt , current ( s , r ) is set to a null value , as indicated at block 180 . when an attempt to set up a call on a selected service route has failed , the likelihood that the service route can accept another call set - up request will be small initially , but will increase with time . accordingly , it will generally be advantageous to remove the selected service route from consideration for a period of time t rec , which we refer to as the recovery time . the removal of such a route from the route selection procedure for a period t rec is indicated in fig5 at block 180 . as indicated at block 185 , monitor data are updated with the results of the call set - up attempt of blocks 135 - 180 . by “ monitor data ” is meant information to be used in status decisions , revenue and penalty calculations , and the like . such information includes , e . g ., entries in databases at the ingress node that keep track of the number of calls carried and blocked , the carried and blocked bandwidth , and the like . as noted , if the call set - up attempt has failed , a new set - up attempt may be made by applying a crankback procedure . according to an exemplary crankback procedure , after block 185 , the procedure of blocks 140 - 185 is repeated until the new call has been routed , or until the set - up request has failed a specified number of times . in at least some cases , it may be advantageous to apply crankback only if certain conditions are satisfied . for example , in one form of selective crankback , a new set - up attempt is made only if loss of the call would cause the service provider to incur a penalty , i . e ., only if the service provider is currently sla - non - compliant with respect to the relevant stream . we have noted , above , that information passed from the off - line design phase to the sla management process will generally include the design value u sσ of offered stream bandwidth , the design value v sσ of carried stream bandwidth , and the mean values m sr of aggregate bandwidth carried on the respective service routes corresponding to each stream . from the values m sr , as noted , we obtain designed service - route loads x sr . we have also noted , above , that a vpn is defined when the sla specifies the amount of bandwidth that is to be made available , on demand , in each of a set of streams identified by the customer . the concept of sla compliance described above in regard to offered and carried stream bandwidth is readily extended to address compliance issues where a vpn has been specified . that is , where previously the tests of blocks 10 and 15 of fig1 were applied to quantities v sσ , u σ , { tilde over ( v )} sσ ( n ), ũ sσ ( n ) specific to a given stream ( s , σ ), the same tests are now applied to analogous quantities v s , σ ( v ) , u s , σ ( v ) , { tilde over ( v )} s , σ ( v ) ( n ), ũ s , σ ( v ) ( n ), which are specific to a given sub - stream ( s , σ ; v ) which belongs to a particular vpn having the index v . we refer to such a sub - stream as a “ vpn stream .” thus , a revenue and penalty structure as discussed above in connection with fig2 is readily devised to govern the net revenue that the service provider can collect from a customer by virtue of operating a vpn for the customer . one or more vpns may be specified as input to the off - line design phase . in such a case , service - route loads x sσ ( v ) that are analogous to the earlier - mentioned loads x sr but are specific to the traffic of particular vpns v , are obtainable , directly or after modification , from the design - phase output . we refer to the loads x sr ( v ) as “ vpn service - route design loads .” we have noted , above , that various service routes ( both for the same stream and for different streams ) contend for limited bandwidth capacity on those links that are shared among the sevice routes . if too much traffic is routed through a given link , a network roadblock can result . our bandwidth protection procedure helps to prevent such roadblocks by reserving link bandwidth on oversubscribed service routes that can be made available to undersubscribed service routes intersecting the same links . when vpns are introduced , additional forms of contention appear . for example , different vpns may now contend for the same link bandwidth , and within a single vpn , different streams as well as different routes belonging to the same stream may contend for the same link bandwidth . these forms of contention are readily dealt with by a simple extension of the bandwidth protection procedure of fig4 . the earlier concept is extended by defining a new variable status sr ( v ) ( n ), which is analogous to the above - defined variable status sr ( n ), but is specific to a service route belonging to vpn v . a vpn service route ( s , r ; v ) is declared undersubscribed , and status sr ( v ) ( n ) is set equal to us , if the measured load z sr ( v ) ( n ) on vpn service route ( s , r ; v ) in time window n is no greater than the design load x sr ( v ) . otherwise , the vpn service route is declared oversubscribed , and status sr ( v ) ( n ) is set equal to os . as in the procedure of fig4 a bandwidth reservation r 1 { circumflex over ( d )} is imposed if a call is routed on an oversubscribed vpn service route . within a given vpn , there also may be contention between the various classes of service associated with that vpn . that is , it will often be the case that the owner of a vpn is less concerned with the call acceptance rate for a particular class of service than he is with the cumulative acceptance rate of calls of all classes . such a vpn owner will wish to prevent calls of a particular service class to dominate the network resources and crowd out calls of other classes . in such an environment , it is useful to characterize a given vpn source - destination pair as oversubscribed if it is getting more than its designed share of traffic . a new call , of any service class , will be routed between an oversubscribed pair only if a bandwidth reservation r 2 ( v ) { circumflex over ( d )} is imposed on the resulting vpn service route . as a general rule , the bandwidth reservation parameter r 1 will be common to all vpns on the network , whereas the bandwidth reservation parameter r 2 ( v ) will be separately negotiated for each vpn . generally , r 2 ( v ) will be at least as great as r 1 . the preceding concepts are described in further detail with reference to fig6 . in box 190 , the variable status sr ( v ) ( n ) takes on the value us or os , as explained above . a further variable status σ ( v ) ( n ) is introduced in box 195 . this further variable is defined with reference to a vpn design load x σ ( v ) obtained by summing the load variables x sr ( v ) over all service classes and all admissible routes . that is , x σ ( v ) = ∑ s ∑ r ∈ ( v ) ( s , σ ) x s r ( v ) , where r ( v ) ( s , σ ) is the admissible route set for vpn stream ( s , σ ; v ). the design load x σ ( v ) is compared with a measured load z σ ( v ) ( n ) equal to the carried bandwidth in time window n for vpn streams ( s , σ ; v ), summed over all service classes . if z σ ( v ) ( n ) is no greater than x σ ( v ) , the variable status σ ( v ) ( n ) is set equal to us . otherwise , it is set equal to os . quadrant a of the figure represents the state in which both status sr ( v ) ( n ) and status σ ( v ) ( n ) are equal to us . in that case , an incoming call is accepted for routing on the proposed service route without imposing a bandwidth reservation . quadrant b of the figure represents the state in which status sr ( v ) ( n ) is os , but status σ ( v ) ( n ) is us . in that case , the call is accepted only if a bandwidth reservation r 1 { circumflex over ( d )} is available . quadrant c of the figure represents the state in which status sr ( v ) ( n ) is us , but status σ ( v ) ( n ) is os . in that case , the call is accepted only if a bandwidth reservation r 2 ( v ) { circumflex over ( d )} is available . quadrant d of the figure represents the state in which status sr ( v ) ( n ) and status σ ( v ) ( n ) are both os . in that case , the call is accepted only if both of the bandwidth reservations described above are available , i . e ., only if a total bandwidth reservation ( r 1 + r 2 ( v ) ){ circumflex over ( d )} is available . those skilled in the art will appreciate from the preceding discussion that vpn traffic can be studied at various levels of aggregation . at a low level of aggregation , traffic can be studied at the level of vpn service routes , identified by the triplet of indices ( s , r ; v ). ( it is understood that all the routes r referred to correspond to some given source - destination pair σ consisting of a source , i . e ., ingress , node σ 1 and a destination , i . e ., egress , node σ 2 .) at a higher level , traffic is aggregated over all routes corresponding to a given stream . this defines the vpn stream level , identified by the triplet of indices ( s , σ ; v ). at a still higher level , vpn stream traffic is aggregated over all service classes . this defines the vpn pipe level , identified by the pair of indices ( σ ; v ). it will be appreciated that the variable status σ ( v ) ( n ), defined above , refers to traffic loading at the vpn pipe level . at yet a higher level , vpn pipe traffic is aggregated over different source - destination pairs σ sharing a common ingress node σ 1 . in other words , all vpn pipe traffic from a given ingress node is aggregated together . this defines the vpn hose level , identified by the pair of indices ( σ 1 ; v ). the method described above with reference to fig6 is designed to regulate the sharing of bandwidth by vpn service - routes and vpn pipes . in at least some cases , it will be advantageous to apply the method of fig6 at a higher or lower level of aggregation than the vpn pipe level . that is , a variable analogous to status σ ( v ) ( n ) is readily devised at the vpn stream level or the vpn hose level , and applied in the method of fig6 in substitution for status σ ( v ) ( n ). we performed a numerical case study based on a fictitious network which has eight nodes ( n = 8 ), of which 10 pairs are directly connected , as shown in fig7 . the network has 20 directed links ( l = 20 ), one in each direction for each connected node pair . the typical bandwidth of a directed link is oc3 = 155 mbps , with the exception of the links connecting argonne ( 3 ) and princeton ( 4 ), and also houston ( 8 ) and atlanta ( 7 ), which have bandwidths of 2 × oc3 = 310 mbps . one measure of total resources in the network is 24 oc3 - hops . there are six service classes : voice , data 1 , data 2 , data 3 , data 4 , and video , indexed by s = 1 , 2 , . . . , 6 , respectively . the effective bandwidths of individual flows of these classes are d s = 16 , 48 , 64 , 96 , 384 and 640 kbps . voice ( s = 1 ) and video ( s = 6 ) are delay sensitive service classes , and their admissible route sets r ( s , σ ) consist only of routes with the minimum number of hops . there are a total of 68 routes for each of these two service classes . the four remaining are data service classes , all delay insensitive . their admissible route sets r ( s , σ ), s = 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , are identical and consist of routes with at most four hops . for each such s there is a total of 160 routes . the mean durations or holding times , h s , of flows of the service classes are as follows : h s = 1 , 1 , 1 , 4 , 4 , 6 . 67 , where the unit of time is 3 minutes . thus video flows last on average for 20 minutes . we next describe the aggregate bandwidths u s σ offered to streams ( s , σ ), that are also stipulated in the sla and used in the design . we define the matrices u s ={ u sσ }, s = 1 , 2 , . . . , 6 , and , furthermore , for compactness we define a single base matrix u from which we obtain u s = k s u , where k s is a scalar multiplier . the multipliers are k s = 0 . 39 , 0 . 14 , 0 . 12 , 0 . 14 , 0 . 11 , 0 . 10 . the total offered traffic for the real time services ( s = 1 and 6 ) are approximately balanced by that for data services . table i gives the matrix u . the conversion from carried flows to revenue is calculated on the basis that 16 kbps bandwidth carried for a unit of time generates unit revenue . the design for the case study was done by the techniques described in d . mitra et al ., “ atm network design and optimization : a multirate loss network framework ,” eeee / acm trans . networking 4 531 - 543 ( 1996 ). the design gives the flow acceptance ratios for individual streams that exceed 0 . 99 . we considered three scenarios , each with a distinctive traffic pattern that is characterized by the set of actual offered aggregate traffic for all streams ( s , σ ), i . e . for all service classes and ingress - egress node pairs . the traffic patterns are : ( i ) normal : the ideal case where the offered traffic u ( s , σ ) is identical to the stipulated quantities in the sla and design . ( ii ) balanced abnormal : half the node pairs , which are selected arbitrarily , have no offered traffic at all , while the other half have offered traffic for each of the service classes which are twice the sla / design values . ( iii ) unbalanced abnormal : 25 % of all node pairs , which are selected arbitrarily , have actual offered traffic for each of the service classes which are twice as much as their respective values in the sla / design , while for the remaining 75 % the actual offered traffic is as expected . the lifetimes or holding times of the flows are assumed to be exponentially distributed . whereas net revenue , w_net ( . . . ), and penalty ( . . . ) have been defined above to be cumulative , the results presented in this section are for unit time , i . e ., obtained from the cumulative quantities by dividing by the length of the simulated time . the sample path ( time and profile of every flow request ) was identically reproduced for all the trials in a given scenario . for every trial , 10 million flows are simulated . the statistics reported here are based on results collected after a transient period chosen to be sufficiently large for steady state to be reached . the number of flows that contribute to the statistics is sufficiently large to make the confidence intervals negligibly small . the parameters of interest in this study are β , the compensation parameter in the design / sla interface ; α and τ , the exponential smoothing parameter and window length in the measurement process , and , importantly , r , the band - width protection parameter . the measurement parameters have been chosen empirically . a larger α implies greater smoothing , just as a larger window length does . increasing either one improves the quality of the measurement but at the cost of a slower response to significant traffic fluctuations . in our studies , we have found that a satisfying compromise is to set τ equal to unity , the order of the average holding time , and to have α of 0 . 8 . also , for the results reported here we have taken the smoothing parameter and window length in the sla monitoring process to be the same as above . effect of the bandwidth protection . the effect of the bandwidth protection on the net revenue is indicated in tables ii , iii and iv for normal , balanced abnormal and unbalanced abnormal scenarios , respectively . for these studies , we fixed the parameters γ and β to 0 . 5 . here we do not apply the selective crankbacks and recovery - time mechanisms . for normal traffic conditions , the effect of the bandwidth protection and the penalty multiplier on the net revenue was found to be small . this is expected because the routing algorithm is optimized specifically for this traffic condition so as to maximize the revenue , and also the sla has been crafted so that the actual carried bandwidth is very close to the offered bandwidth , indicating a small loss ratio . as a consequence , the penalty is insignificant in comparison to the total generated revenue . moreover , the generated total revenue decreases slightly as we increase the bandwidth protection . this behavior indicates that bandwidth protection is being applied even in the normal condition because of the bursty nature of the offered traffic . turning next to the balanced abnormal traffic pattern , for the first time we observe a noticeable gap between the offered bandwidth and the actual carried bandwidth , even though the total offered bandwidth is close to normal . now most important is the effect of the bandwidth protection ; while the protection does not induce a dramatic loss in terms of total generated revenue , the penalty is reduced by one order of magnitude when one unit of bandwidth protection is applied and by another half when two units of bandwidth protection are applied . in the case of unbalanced abnormal traffic , this behavior is accentuated , and in both scenarios we see that a small protection is surprisingly beneficial and sufficient . depending on the penalty multiplier used , our results indicate that here , an optimal value for the bandwidth protection parameter is either 1 or 2 . effect of compensation parameter in design - sla interface . table v illustrates the effect of varying β for the three scenarios when the bandwidth protection parameter r = 1 , the other parameters being the same as above . table i base matrix u , in mbps — 14 . 1 16 . 5 2 . 4 21 . 2 11 . 8 4 . 7 7 . 1 16 . 5 — 56 . 6 7 . 1 73 . 1 35 . 4 14 . 1 21 . 2 18 . 9 58 . 9 — 9 . 4 87 . 2 42 . 4 16 . 6 25 . 9 2 . 4 7 . 1 7 . 1 — 9 . 4 4 . 7 2 . 4 2 . 4 18 . 9 70 . 7 84 . 9 9 . 4 — 54 . 2 18 . 7 30 . 7 11 . 8 33 . 0 37 . 7 4 . 7 49 . 5 — 9 . 4 14 . 1 4 . 7 11 . 8 14 . 1 2 . 4 18 . 9 9 . 4 — 4 . 7 7 . 1 18 . 9 23 . 4 2 . 4 28 . 3 14 . 1 4 . 7 — [ 0110 ] table ii normal traffic scenario penalty r , revenue per unit time net revenue per unit time bandwth per unit time m s = 1 (× 10 4 ) prtctn (× 10 4 ) ( × 10 4 ) m s = 1 m s = 5 m s = 10 0 7 . 46024 0 . 00775 7 . 452 7 . 421 7 . 383 1 7 . 45086 0 . 00585 7 . 445 7 . 422 7 . 392 2 7 . 44299 0 . 00616 7 . 437 7 . 412 7 . 381 3 7 . 34379 0 . 00656 7 . 428 7 . 402 7 . 369 [ 0111 ] table iii balanced abnormal traffic scenario penalty r , revenue per unit time net revenue per unit time bandwth per unit time m s = 1 (× 10 4 prtctn (× 10 4 ) (× 10 4 ) m s = 1 m s = 5 m s = 10 0 6 . 97299 0 . 21680 6 . 756 5 . 889 4 . 805 1 6 . 87995 0 . 01519 6 . 865 6 . 804 6 . 728 2 6 . 87025 0 . 00248 6 . 868 6 . 858 6 . 845 3 6 . 86073 0 . 00486 6 . 856 6 . 836 6 . 812 [ 0112 ] table iv unbalanced abnormal traffic scenario penalty r , revenue per unit time net revenue per unit time bandwth per unit time m s = 1 (× 10 4 prtctn (× 10 4 ) (× 10 4 ) m s = 1 m s = 5 m s = 10 0 8 . 43146 0 . 65547 7 . 776 5 . 154 1 . 877 1 8 . 28662 0 . 09143 8 . 195 7 . 829 7 . 372 2 8 . 22821 0 . 03907 8 . 189 8 . 033 7 . 838 3 8 . 19727 0 . 04961 8 . 148 7 . 949 7 . 701 [ 0113 ] table v effect of β for each traffic scenario traffic scenario β revenue (× 10 4 ) penalty m s = 1 (× 10 4 ) normal 0 . 0 7 . 44299 0 . 00924 0 . 5 7 . 44299 0 . 00616 balanced 0 . 0 6 . 87025 0 . 00710 abnormal 0 . 5 6 . 87025 0 . 00248 unbalanced 0 . 0 8 . 22821 0 . 07051 abnormal 0 . 5 8 . 22821 0 . 03907
| 7Electricity
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while the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications , it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto . those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications , applications and embodiments within the scope thereof and additional fields in which the present invention would be of significant utility . [ 0020 ] fig1 is an exploded view from the rear of this invention 10 . at the rear or of this invention is the first layer of material 14 . fastened in a medial opening 18 in this first layer 14 is a zipper 22 . next is the second layer of material 26 . both layers 14 , 26 are the same size , approximately rectangular with a width no greater than the width of a standard belt . finally , there are one or more segments of adhesive backed , hook and loop fastener 30 . the hook and loop fastener 30 is shown separated on fig1 . whether the hook 34 or loop 38 portion is outermost or innermost is , obviously , immaterial . however , it is important that the portions 34 , 38 are installed in alignment . on fig1 one can see the adhesive 42 on one portion and the loop face 46 on the other portion of the fastener 30 . [ 0021 ] fig2 is an exploded view from the front of this invention . at the front of the invention are one or more segments of adhesive backed , hook and loop fastener 30 . the hook and loop fastener 30 is shown separated on fig2 . whether the hook 34 or loop 38 portion is outermost or innermost is , obviously , immaterial but again , the portions 34 , 38 must be in approximate alignment . on fig2 one can see adhesive 42 on one portion and the loop face 46 on the other portion of the fastener 30 . next is the second layer of material 26 . finally there is the first layer of material 14 with the zipper 22 fastened in the opening 18 . this invention 10 can be made with any kind of material such as leather , nylon , cotton , etc . the layers of material 14 , 26 can be fastened together around their edges 50 , 54 in any fashion such as by welding , gluing and sewing . once fastened together , they form a flat pouch 58 ( see fig3 and 5 ). the interior 62 ( see fig5 ) of the pouch 58 is only accessible through the zipper 22 . the hook and loop fastener 30 is sold under the trade name velcro ®. it can be procured without adhesive but is typically supplied with double sided adhesive on the rear of each portion . [ 0023 ] fig3 is a view from the rear showing the pouch 58 fully assembled but detached from a belt 66 . in this figure one can see the rear 70 of the pouch 58 and the portions of hook or loop 48 adhered to the rear 74 of the belt 66 . [ 0024 ] fig4 is a view from the rear showing the pouch 58 attached to a belt 66 . the pouch 58 will usually be supplied with several extra portions of adhesive backed hook or loop fastener 30 so that the pouch 58 can be attached to several different belts 66 that the purchaser already owns . [ 0025 ] fig5 is an expanded cross sectional view at the line 5 - 5 of fig4 . what can be seen on fig5 starting at the front , are the belt 66 , the first layer of double sided adhesive 42 , a segment of hook and loop fastener 30 , the second layer of double sided adhesive 42 , and the flat pouch 58 . the segment of hook and loop fastener 30 is comprised of a portion of hook fastener 34 and a portion of loop fastener 38 . again , their exact order is immaterial but it will be noted that they are in alignment so that then can co - operate and make a fastener 30 when the portions 34 , 38 are pressed together . the pouch 58 is comprised of the second layer of material 26 attached around the edges 50 , 54 to the first layer of material 14 with he zipper 22 fastened into the opening 18 . it can be appreciated from fig5 that when the pouch 58 is attached to a belt 66 and the belt 66 is fastened around the user &# 39 ; s waist , the pouch 58 is hidden from view and the zipper 22 is inaccessible . the following reference numerals are used on fig1 through 5 : thus , the present invention has been described herein with reference to a particular embodiment for a particular application . those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the present teachings will recognize additional modifications , applications and embodiments within the scope thereof . it is therefore intended by the appended claims to cover any and all such applications , modifications and embodiments within the scope of the present invention
| 0Human Necessities
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the invention relates to novel inhibitors of urokinase for treating malignant tumors and metastasis . the dissemination and metastasis of solid tumors in surrounding tissue is made possible by their ability to break down the extracellular matrix in the environment of the tumor cell and / or penetrate the basal membrane . aside from various matrix metalloproteinases and cathepsins , the plasminogen activator urokinase ( upa ) is , in particular , of central importance in this process ( p . mignatti and d . b . rifkin , physiol . rev . 73 , 161 - 195 , 1993 ). thus , upa activates plasminogens ; the resulting plasmin is able to break down the components of the extracellular matrix ( fibrin , fibronectin , laminin and proteoglycans inter alia ) and also activate metalloproteases and prourokinase to give upa ( u . reuning et al ., int . j . oncol . 13 , 893 - 906 , 1998 ). both prourokinase and upa bind to the upa receptor ( upar ), which is a specific receptor located on the cell surface . this results in the activity of upa , and consequently plasminogen activation , being augmented and focused in the direct environment of the tumor cell . the importance of this cell - associated plasminogen activator system for tumor growth and tumor dissemination has been demonstrated both in cell - biological studies and in animal models . thus , the invasive potential of tumor cells is diminished by inhibiting the enzymatic activity of upa with the natural inhibitors pai - 1 and pai - 2 ( j .- f . cajot et al ., proc . natl . acad . sci . usa 87 , 6939 - 6943 , 1990 ; m . baker et al ., cancer res . 50 , 4876 - 4684 , 1990 ). in chick embryos , the formation of lung metastases caused by human carcinoma cells was almost completely inhibited by adding antibodies directed against upa ( l . ossowski et al ., cell 35 , 611 - 619 , 1983 ). in recent years , the clinical relevance of the factors involved in the plasminogen activator system ( upa , upar , pai - 1 and pai - 2 ) for the prognosis of patients who have solid malignant tumors has been intensively investigated . in particular , the content of upa in the tissue of various tumors has been found to be a prognosis factor . thus , patients who have a high upa level have a poorer prognosis than do those who have a low upa concentration in the tumor ( m . schmitt et al ., thromb . haemost . 78 , 285 - 296 , 1997 ; r . w . stephens et al ., breast cancer res . treat . 52 , 99 - 111 , 1998 ). an elevated concentrations of upar in the tumor tissue is also correlated with a poor prognosis ( h . pedersen et al ., cancer res . 54 , 4671 - 4675 , 1994 ; c . duggan et al ., int . j . cancer 61 , 597 - 600 , 1995 ). from the findings regarding the prognostic value of the upa content and upar content in tumor tissue , it can be assumed that synthetic upa inhibitors are able to suppress the invasion and dissemination of tumor cells . however , the number of upa inhibitors which are known thus far is relatively small . the majority possess only slight specificity and potency , as is the case for various benzamidine and β - naphthamidine derivatives ( j . stürzebecher and f . markwardt , pharmazie 33 , 599 - 602 , 1978 ). while the amiloride which is described by vassalli and belin ( febs letters 214 , 187 - 191 , 1997 ) as being a upa inhibitor is a specific inhibitor of upa , the inhibition is only weak ( k i = 7 μm ). 4 - substituted benzothiophene - 2 - carboxamidines have been found to be more active upa inhibitors ( k i = 0 . 16 μm in the case of compound 623 ). inhibitors of this type also inactivate upa which is bound to upar ( m . j . towle et al ., cancer res . 53 , 2553 - 2559 , 1993 ). the benzothiophene derivatives are very specific and they only have a low inhibitory effect on plasmin and tissue - type plasminogen activator ( tpa ); however , it is a very elaborate matter to synthesize compounds of this type . while 4 - aminomethylphenylguanidine derivatives have a comparable specificity , their inhibitory effect on upa ( k i = 2 . 4 μm for the most active compound ) is comparatively low ( s . sperl et al ., proc . natl . acad . sci . usa 97 , 5113 - 5118 , 2000 ). in contrast to this , nα - triisopropylphenylsulfonyl - 3 - amidinophenylalanine derivatives achieve micromolar k i values ( 0 . 41 μm in the case of the most active compound ); however , they are very nonspecific upa inhibitors , having the same or a stronger inhibitory effect on trypsin , thrombin and plasmin ( j . stürzebecher et al ., bioorg . med . letters 9 , 3147 - 3152 , 1999 ). wo 99 / 05096 discloses improved β - naphth - amidines which are very effective upa inhibitors . while this patent reports ic 50 values in the nanomolar range , it provides no data with regard to selectivity and biological activity . thus far , only a few peptides which are derived from the substrate sequence have been reported to be upa inhibitors . kettner and shaw ( methods in enzymology , 80 , 826 - 842 , 1981 ) described chloromethyl ketones which , while inhibiting upa irreversibly , are not suitable for in - vivo use . ep 18 32 71 discloses lysine derivatives which inhibit upa to a certain degree ; however , they also inhibit other comparable enzymes and can consequently only be used very specifically , or in a restricted manner , for medical purposes . the same applies to the low molecular weight polypeptides ( approx . 50 amino acids ) which are reported in wo 95 / 17885 to be upa inhibitors and which are derived from natural inhibitors . their peptide nature , and their molecular size , greatly restrict their in - vivo use . however , wo 00 / 05245 has very recently reported peptidyl aldehydes which contain an argine c - terminally and a d - serine in p3 and which effectively inhibit upa . however , the aldehyde function gives rise to instability and low selectivity . after the ser hydroxyl had been acylated , the key compound ibuoco - d - ser - ala - arg - h was observed to have a relative bioavailability of 87 % following s . c . administration ( s . y . tamura et al ., bioorg . med . chem . lett . 10 , 983 - 987 , 2000 ). furthermore , notable advances , with regard to both the inhibitory effect and the bioavailability , were achieved when using tripeptide derivatives of the d - phe - pro - arg type in the search for inhibitors of thrombin , an enzyme which is related to upa , when agmatine , trans - 4 - aminomethylcyclohexylamine or 4 - amidinobenzylamine was incorporated c - terminally . picomolar k i values were achieved and the oral bioavailability was improved ( t . j . tucker et al ., j . med . chem . 40 , 1565 - 1569 and 3687 - 3693 , 1997 ); however , no upa inhibitors were found . thus , while melagatran , which possesses a 4 - amidinobenzylamide residue c - terminally , inhibits trypsin ( k i = 2 . 0 nm ) and thrombin ( k i = 2 . 0 nm ) very nonspecifically , its inhibition of upa , with a k i = 6 . 3 μm , is three orders of size weaker ( d . gustafsson et al ., blood coagul . fibrinolysis 7 , 69 - 79 , 1996 ; wo 94 / 29336 ). the invention is based on the object of specifying an active compound which inhibits urokinase with high activity and specificity , which can be prepared by means of a synthesis which is as uncomplicated as possible , and which is also suitable for therapeutic applications . surprisingly , it has been found that acylated amidino - benzylamine in accordance with the formula i cited in patent claim 1 , in particular compounds of 4 - amidinobenzylamine in which x , r 1 , r 2 and r 3 give natural and / or unnatural amino acids , inhibit urokinase very effectively and selectively . in this connection , amidinobenzylamine forms a particularly active urokinase inhibitor if the amidino group is in the 4 position , gly and d - ser are bonded as amino acids and the compound possesses an n - terminal protecting group r 4 which is composed of an arylsulfonyl radical or aralkylsulfonyl radical . esters , in particular those with oxycarboxylic acids , can be employed as prodrugs if they are hydrolyzed during the course of enteral uptake . it has also been found , surprisingly , that some of these oxycarbonyl derivatives of the compounds according to the invention are also very strong urokinase inhibitors . aside from urokinase , the glycine derivatives inhibited other enzymes to a markedly lesser degree , which means that these amidinobenzylamine derivatives according to the invention constitute a novel group of highly active and very selective upa inhibitors . by contrast , compounds which do not carry any h as r 1 ( e . g . alanine derivatives ) no longer inhibit urokinase selectively but are also strong inhibitors of trypsin , thrombin and plasmin . as a rule , the compounds are present as salts with mineral acids , preferably as hydrochlorides , or as salts with suitable organic acids . the compounds of the formula i can be prepared in a relatively simple manner using known methods , as described below : the starting compound 4 - cyanobenzylamine is prepared by gabriel synthesis ( g . wagner and i . wunderlich , pharmazie 32 , 76 - 77 , 1977 ; b . c . bookser and t . c . bruice , j . am . chem . soc . 113 . 4208 - 4218 , 1991 ) from 4 - cyanobenzyl bromide . the boc - protected acetyloxamidinobenzylamine is obtained from the 4 - cyanobenzylamine which has been prepared in this way . the other amino acids and the r 4 protecting group are coupled on employing standard coupling methods and using boc as the n - terminal protecting group . the second amino acid can also be coupled directly as an n - arylsulfonyl - or n - aralkylsulfonyl - protected amino acid . the peptide analogs are synthesized sequentially , beginning with the acetyloxamidinobenzylamine . in order to synthesize the corresponding esters , the target compound is reacted with the corresponding acid chloride . most of the products crystallize well and can be readily purified in this way . in the final step , the inhibitors are purified by means of preparative , reversed - phase hplc . the invention will be explained in more detail below with the aid of two implementation examples : 20 g ( 0 . 151 mol ) of 4 - cyanobenzylamine were dissolved in 300 ml of h 2 o , 150 ml of dioxane and 150 ml of 1 n naoh . while cooling with ice , 37 . 5 ml of di - tert - butyl dicarbonate were added dropwise and the mixture was stirred at 0 ° c . for one hour and at room temperature for a further 24 hrs . the dioxane was removed in vacuo and the aqueous residue was extracted 3 times with ethyl acetate . the combined extracts were washed 3 times with a 5 % solution of khso 4 and 3 times with a saturated solution of nacl , dried over na 2 so 4 and concentrated in vacuo ( white crystals ). hplc : acetonitrile / h 2 o , elution at 44 . 1 % acetonitrile ; yield : 30 . 48 g ( 0 . 131 mol ), 87 %. as described by judkins et al . ( synthetic comm . 26 , 4351 - 4367 , 1996 ), 30 . 48 g ( 0 . 131 mol ) of boc - 4 - cyano - benzylamide were dissolved in 300 ml of abs . ethanol together with 13 . 65 g ( 0 . 197 mol ) of hydroxylamine × hcl and 34 ml ( 0 . 197 mol ) of diea . the mixture was boiled under reflux for 2 hrs and stirred overnight at room temperature . after that , the mixture was concentrated in vacuo and the residue was dissolved in approx . 200 ml of acetic acid and treated with 18 . 67 ml ( 0 . 197 mol ) of acetic anhydride . after 1 hr , the mixture was concentrated once again and the residue was dissolved in ethyl acetate and this solution was washed in each case 3 times , at 0 ° c ., with a 5 % solution of khso 4 and a saturated solution of nacl . after drying over na 2 so 4 and concentrating in vacuo , a white powder was obtained . hplc : acetonitrile / h 2 o , elution at 32 . 0 % acetonitrile ; yield : 31 . 3 g ( 0 . 102 mol ) 78 %. 5 mmol of boc - 4 - acetyloxamidinobenzylamide are dissolved in 20 ml of 1 n hcl in glacial acetic acid and the solution is left to stand at room temperature for 45 min . the mixture is then extensively concentrated in vacuo , after which the product is precipitated with dry diethyl ether , sintered off , washed once again with fresh ether , and dried in vacuo . in view of the quantitative conversion , the product was used for the next synthesis step without being purified any further . boc - gly - oh ( orpegen , heidelberg ) was coupled to 4 - acetyloxamidinobenzylamine in accordance with frérot et al . ( tetrahedron 47 , 259 ff ., 1991 ). for this , 2 . 064 g ( 9 . 3 mmol ) of 4 - acetyloxamidinobenzylamine × hcl and 1 . 629 g ( 9 . 3 mmol ) of boc - gly - oh were dissolved in approx . 25 ml of dmf . 4 . 84 g ( 9 . 3 mmol ) of pybop and 3 . 878 ml ( 27 . 9 mmol ) of tea were then added at 0 ° c . and the ph was adjusted to 9 with tea . after the mixture had been stirred at room temperature for 1 hr , it was concentrated in vacuo and the residue was taken up in ethyl acetate and this solution was washed , in each case 3 times , acidically , basically and neutrally , after which it was dried and concentrated . yield : 3 g ( 8 . 2 mmol ) 88 %. 3 g ( 8 . 2 mmol ) of boc - gly - 4 - acetyloxamidinobenzylamide were dissolved in 200 ml of 90 % acetic acid . 300 mg of 10 % palladium on active charcoal were then added under argon . the argon was replaced with a hydrogen atmosphere and the mixture was hydrogenated for 24 hrs while being stirred vigorously . the catalyst was filtered off and the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo . yield : 2 . 9 g ( 7 . 9 mmol ) 96 %. 2 . 9 g ( 7 . 9 mmol ) of boc - gly - 4 - amidinobenzylamide were dissolved in 100 ml of 1 n hcl in glacial acetic and the solution was left to stand at room temperature for 45 min . it was then extensively concentrated in vacuo and the residue was precipitated with dry diethyl ether ; after that , it was sintered off and the product was washed once again with fresh ether . after the product had been dried in vacuo , it was used without any further purification for the synthesis as described in item 1 . 8 . 229 mg ( 1 . 173 mmol ) of h - d - ser ( bz )- oh ( bachem , heidelberg ) and 408 μl ( 2 . 345 mmol ) of diea were dissolved in 50 ml of 50 % acetonitrile . 335 mg ( 1 . 76 mmol ) of benzylsulfonyl chloride were then added and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 12 hrs . it was then concentrated in vacuo and the residue was taken up with ethyl acetate and this mixture was washed , in each case 3 times , acidically and neutrally . after drying over sodium sulfate , the mixture was concentrated in vacuo . yield : 289 mg ( 0 . 827 mmol ) 71 %. 151 mg ( 0 . 433 mmol ) of benzylsulfonyl - d - ser ( bz )- oh and 121 mg ( 0 . 433 mmol ) of h - gly - 4 - amidinobenzylamide × 2 hcl were dissolved in a little abs . dmf . while cooling with ice , 225 mg ( 0 . 433 mmol ) of pybop and 230 μl ( 1 . 32 mmol ) of diea were added . after it had been stirred at room temperature for 1 hr , the mixture was concentrated in vacuo and the product was purified by hplc ( acetonitrile / h 2 o , 0 . 1 % trifluoroacetic acid , elution at 37 . 4 % acetonitrile ). 50 mg of hplc - purified benzylsulfonyl - d - ser ( bz )- gly - 4 - acetyloxamidinobenzylamide × tfa are dissolved in 50 ml of 90 % acetic acid and hydrogenated , at room temperature for 48 hrs , using 50 mg of 10 % palladium on active charcoal . after that , the catalyst is filtered off and the filtrate is concentrated in vacuo . the product is purified by hplc ( acetonitrile / h 2 o containing 0 . 1 % tfa , elution on analytical hplc at 21 . 4 % acetonitrile ) and converted into the hcl form using an ion exchanger . 30 mg ( 0 . 062 mmol ) of benzylsulfonyl - d - ser - gly - 4 - amidinobenzylamide × hcl are dissolved , at room temperature , in 3 ml of pyridine in the added presence of 1 ml of acetonitrile . 16 . 1 μl ( 0 . 124 mmol ) of isobutyl chloroformate are added while cooling with ice . the mixture is stirred for 30 minutes while cooling with ice and then stirred overnight at room temperature . the solvent is removed in vacuo and the product is purified by hplc ( elution on analytical hplc at 37 . 9 % acetonitrile ) and converted into the hcl form using an ion exchanger . configura - position of r 4 tion of r 3 r 3 r 2 x — r 1 amidino k i , μm h l ch 2 — oh h ch 2 4 21 boc l ch 2 — oh h ch 2 4 23 h d ch 2 — oh h ch 2 4 12 ac d ch 2 — oh h ch 2 4 41 bz — so 2 d ch 2 — oh h ch 2 4 0 . 036 cme — so 2 d ch 2 — oh h ch 2 4 0 . 048 bz — so 2 d ch 2 — o — bz h ch 2 4 0 . 84 bz — so 2 d ch 2 — oh h ch 2 — ch 3 4 0 . 0077 bz — so 2 d ch 2 — o — coo — h ch 2 4 0 . 39 ch 3 bz — so 2 d ch 2 — o — coo — h ch 2 4 0 . 50 ibu bz — so 2 d ch 2 — o — coo — h ch 2 — ch 3 4 0 . 043 ibu h d ch 2 — o — bz h ch 2 3 & gt ; 1 000 boc d ch 2 — o — bz h ch 2 3 & gt ; 1 000 bz — so 2 d ch 2 — o — bz h ch 2 3 & gt ; 1 000 in order to determine the inhibitory effect , 200 μi of tris buffer ( 0 . 05 m , 0 . 154 m naci , 5 % ethanol , ph 8 . 0 ; contains the inhibitor ), 25 μi of substrate ( bz - βala - gly - arg - pna in h 2 o ) and 50 μl of sc - urokinase were incubated at 25 ° c . after 3 min , the reaction was interrupted by adding 25 μi of acetic acid ( 50 %) and the absorption was determined at 405 nm using a microplate reader ( dynatech mr 5000 ). the k i values were determined in accordance with dixon ( biochem . j . 55 , 170 - 171 , 1953 ) by linear regression using a computer program . the k i values are the mean of at least three determinations . ac acetyl boc tert - butyloxycarbonyl bz benzyl diea diisopropylethylamine dmf n , n - dimethylformamide pybop benzotriazol - 1 - yl - n - oxytris ( pyrrolidino )- phosphonium hexafluorophosphate tea triethylamine tfa trifluoroacetic acid thf tetrahydrofuran cme cyclohexylmethyl ibu iso - butyl
| 2Chemistry; Metallurgy
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the inventors experimentally confirmed the fact that the combustion gas temperature and the exhaust gas temperature are indispensable to be taken into account in removal of the pollutants of the exhaust gas . for example , nitrogen oxides generally are produced at a high temperature and the ratio of increasing amount of the products of nitrogen oxides sharply increases at about 1 , 800 ° c . carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons tends to self - react when the exhaust gas temperature reaches a predetermined level . such self - reaction triggering temperature is about 750 ° c . with these facts in mind , when reading the graph in fig5 it will easily be seen that the conventional engine is completely ineffective in reducing of the pollutants in exhaust gas . as indicated by the dotted line in fig5 the combustion gas temperature is by far above 2 , 000 ° c . and then reduces to be 1 , 000 ° c . to 1 , 200 ° c ., and the temperature of the gas exhausted to the exhaust port passage through the exhaust valve port further reduces to 350 ° c . to 800 ° c . that is , the amount of nitrogen oxides generated is very large because of a high combustion temperature , and unclean exhaust gas including carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons are emitted to the exterior since the temperature of the gas exhausted to the exhaust system suddenly falls below the self - reaction triggering temperature . another experiment by the inventors confirmed the following facts , as shown in fig3 . first , carbon monoxide reduces in proportion to the air fuel ratio , and its reduction stops in the vicinity of the stoichiometric ratio ( 14 . 7 ). the amount of hydrocarbons is reduced with an increase of the air - fuel ratio and is increased as the air - fuel ratio increases over the stoichiometric ratio . second , nitrogen oxides increase with increase of the a / f ratio and reaches the peak near the stoichiometric , and then decreases with an increase of the a / f ratio . other experiments by the inventors show that the amount of the nitrogen oxides in the exhaust gas was proportionally related to the ratio of the piston stroke to the cylinder bore , as shown in fig4 and the exhaust gas temperature exhibited a tendency of increase with retardation of the ignition timing , as shown in fig6 the details of which will be referred to later . incidentally , the exhaust gas temperature in the fig6 experiment was measured in accordance with the 10 mode measuring method , japanese exhaust emission test procedure . the present invention is based on all of these experimental facts . in the present invention , the port passage in the cylinder head is formed into a siamese port passage communicating with the adjacent cylinders . the stroke - bore ratio of the engine is small . a heat insulating means is provided along the inner wall of the siamese port passage in the cylinder head . the exhaust pipe is also provided with a heat insulation structure . the ignition timing is so timed that the combustion gas temperature in the conbustion chamber is below 2 , 000 ° c . with such construction , the exhaust gas temperature is maintained above 750 ° c . over a volume of the exhaust passage following the exhaust valve port corresponding in amount to the engine displacement volume . in the present invention , these features mentioned above are systematically cooperatively combined so that the gas temperature distribution from the cylinder to the exhaust valve becomes more effective for reduction of the pollutants in exhaust gas , as indicated by the solid line in fig5 . it is to be noted that the ratio of surface area to volume in the combustion chamber may be made large for effecting a slower rate of combustion , and the exhaust valve , may set to open near the bottom dead center so as to retain the combustion gas in the combustion chamber for a long time for promoting oxidation in the cylinder . referring now to fig1 and 2 , there is shown an internal combustion gasoline engine of the type of a horizontal opposed - piston engine of which each bank is provided with two cylinders 15 incorporating the present invention , having an air cleaner 1 and a carburetor 2 as conventional , but improved so as to supply a relatively lean air fuel mixture ( 15 to 20 of the air - fuel ratio ) to the engine . there are provided an intake tube 3 and a combustion chamber 4 which is of a flat shaped type with about 4 cm - 1 ratio of surface area to volume ( s / v ). both exhaust valves 5 and 5 of the cylinders in each bank are arranged adjacent to each other and both exhaust valve ports communicate with a common port passage 16 in the cylinder head 14 , each via a branch port passage 17 , to provide a siamese port passage 6 . the siamese port passage 6 is provided with a liner 13 extending from the exhaust valve port to the common outlet of the siamese port passage 6 . reference numeral 8 designates an exhaust pipe following the siamese port passage 6 . the exhaust tube 8 is covered with a heat insulating pipe 7 over a region thereof . the heat insulated exhaust passage &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; comprising the siamese port passage 6 and the heat insulated region of the exhaust pipe 8 has a volume equal to the displacement volume of the corresponding cylinders . according to our experiments it is preferable to design the heat - retaining portion in the exhaust passage to physically correspond to the engine displacement volume . by such construction of the exhaust passage , the exhaust gas passing therethrough is heat - retained over this length of the exhaust passage . further , as shown in fig6 the exhaust system provided with the above liner and the heat - retaining means provides by far a higher exhaust gas temperature at both the a and b portions shown in fig2 when compared with that in the exhaust system without the liner and the heat - insulating means . moreover , in this invention , the ignition timing is adjusted to be retarded somewhat ( 10 ° to 20 ° of crank angle ) from the minimum advance for best torque ( mbt ). as described above , the air fuel mixture supplied is a lean mixture with the air fuel ratio ( 15 to 20 ) larger than the stoichiometric a / f ratio ( 14 . 7 ). the result is that , as seen from fig3 the pollutants of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons are reduced and the oxidation in the exhaust gas continues since a relatively large amount of oxygen resides in the exhaust gas . for further , improving such a reduction process of the pollutants , the ignition timing is delayed by a retarding ignition timing unit 18 , thereby to raise the exhaust gas temperature , as shown in fig6 and the port liner 13 and heat - retaining means are employed . as a result , the self - reaction of the pollutants , carbon monoxides and hydrocarbons , continues and the oxidation rapidly progresses , resulting in a remarkable reduction of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons . with respect to the shape of the combustion chamber , the s / v ratio is designed to be large so that the combustion chamber has a flat shaped space with a long flame propagation space . therefore , the combustion in the combustion chamber mildly progresses , so that the maximum combustion temperature may be lowered , thereby reducing remarkably the amount of the nitrogen oxides in the exhaust gas . such slow rate combustion causes the temperature of the combustion gas when exhausted from the exhaust value to rise with the result that the oxidation is further promoted in the port passage and the exhaust pipe . moreover , the ignition timing is set to be delayed as compared with the conventional engine and thus the maximum combustion temperature is restricted low . accordingly , this , together with the unique shape of the combustion chamber , serves to further reduce the amount of the nitrogen oxides in the exhaust gase . this also facilitates the oxidation of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons . as previously described , the retardation of the ignition timing causes the exhaust temperature to rise , as shown in fig5 thereby to provide a good condition for the oxidation after the gas is exhausted . the port passage 6 is wholly lined with the liner 13 which ends near the exhaust valve seat . the liner 13 serves to impede the transfer of heat to the cylinder head 14 and thus the fall of the exhaust temperature may be controlled to a minimum . the gas exhausted from the cylinder in response to the opening of the exhaust valve is most intensively oxidized in the port passage and is continuously oxidized in the exhaust pipe being maintained at a given temperature , thereby extremely reducing the pollutants in the exhaust gas . this results from the fact that the liner 13 is provided over the inner wall of the port passage and the exhaust valve is heat - insulated for heat retention so that the exhaust gas temperature may be maintained in the temperature range permitting the oxidation , i . e . above 750 ° c . it should be noted that the two exhaust valves 5 and 5 of the adjacent cylinders 15 and 15 are arranged adjacent each other and both adjacent exhaust valve ports of the respective adjacent exhaust valves 5 and 5 communicate with the common port passage 16 via branch port passages 17 and 17 , respectively , to form the siamese port passage 6 in the cylinder head 14 . the siamese port passage has the advantage of reducing carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons . more particularly , each branch port passage 17 is heated by the other adjacent branch port passage 17 , since both branch port passages 17 and 17 are closely disposed next to each other . therefore , the exhaust gases passing through the branch port passages may be maintained at a high temperature , so that oxidation of co and hc may be further enhanced . in addition , since the siamese port passage 6 is provided in the cylinder head 14 , a high heat maintainance effect may be expected and it is not necessary to provide an external , complex exhaust manifold , whereby the exhaust passage and exhaust pipe 8 are simplified and manufactured easily . the following table shows the result of the internal combustion gasoline engine according to the present invention in comparison with the conventional one . comparison is made with respect to three poisonous components in the exhaust gas and the temperatures at different places in the exhaust system . measurement for this comparison was made according to the japanese exhaust emission test procedure , 10 mode measuring method . __________________________________________________________________________ exhaust gas temperature ( 10 m test .) amount of exhaust gas a portion b portion co hc nox__________________________________________________________________________conventionalengine 600 ° c . 350 ° c . 12 g / km 2 . 2 g / km 1 . 8 g / kmengine ofthis invention 800 ° c . 750 ° c . 1 . 8 g / km 0 . 15 g / km 0 . 9 g / km &# 39 ; 75 emission mean mean meanstandard ( 20 m ) 2 . 10 0 . 25 1 . 20japan ) evaluation in conventional reduction reduction reduction engine , heat of about of about of about dispersion is large . engine of 85 % 93 % 50 % this invention has a remarkable heat - fulfils retaining . &# 39 ; 75 emission regulations__________________________________________________________________________ as seen from the above table , the three poisonous components of nirogen oxides , carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons are substantially reduced and the result of the reduction thereof satisfactorily fulfils the requirements of the japan &# 39 ; s strict 1975 emission standards . the engine of this invention with the additional known exhaust gas recirculation device can meet the more strict emission regulations to be enforced after 1975 . as seen from fig4 the engine with the small ratio of stroke to bore is effective in nitrogen oxide reduction because , in this case , the flaming distance is large and the combustion of the gas in the cylinder continues for a long time ( see fig4 ). in case the exhaust value is set so as to open at 50 ° before the bottom dead center to 20 ° after bottom dead center by mechanism 19 therefor ( although , in the case of the conventional one , it is opened at 47 ° to 60 ° before the bottom dead center ) and additionally the ignition timing is delayed , the combustion gas at a high temperature may remain in the combustion chamber for a long time with the result of facilitating oxidation . a known air injection system for secondary air supply may partly be used in the engine of this invention . the data results from many experiments by inventors which showed that there was no need for a secondary air supply for the reason that the a / f ratio is large when the car runs at a light load , i . e . it runs on a level road at a normal speed . on the other hand , when the car runs at a heavy load ( on the road of a high grade , for example ), the a / f ratio of the mixture taken in is small . thus , in this case , the supply of secondary air is necessary for increasing the a / f ratio . to cope with this problem , the internal combustion gasoline engine is provided with an intake passage 11 for secondary air communicating with the exhaust port passage 6 with its opening near the exhaust valve 5 and also communicating with an air cleaner 10 . a check valve 9 is disposed in the intake passage 11 , and is operated by the pulsation of the exhaust gases to open when the inner pressure of the exhaust passage is lowered below the atmospheric pressure , and to close when the former rises above the latter . the negative pressure given by the pulsation results in introduction of secondary air from the air cleaner 10 into the exhaust passage . in this case , the check valve 9 may be used in a manner that it is interlocked with an accelerator pedal and secondary air is supplied immediately after or with some time dleay after operating the pedal . the check valve 9 may also be controlled in its opening in response to the change of the negative pressure in the intake passage . when the car runs at heavy load , the temperature of the exhaust gas is high . in such case , the supply of secondary air may be controlled on the basis of the change of the exhaust gas temperature . referring now to fig5 the gas temperature of the present invention is compared with that of a conventional engine , whereby it may be noted that with the present invention the ignition timing is retarded to restrict the combustion gas temperature to under 2000 ° to reduce the amount of nitrogen oxides , and the exhaust passage temperature is maintained higher than that of the conventional engine to enhance the oxidation therein of co and hc .
| 8General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology
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the present invention is directed to a multi - part jumper cable for boosting the battery of a vehicle or for charging a vehicle battery using hermaphroditic connectors . the jumper cable system and battery charging system of the present invention are used by a myriad of vehicles , including motorcycles , all - terrain vehicles , snowmobiles , jet - skis , as well as a host of other larger type vehicles such as automobiles , semi - tractors , farm tractors , trucks , cargo and passenger vans , all of which utilize an electric battery source for starting an internal combustion engine . fig1 a , 1b , and 1 c illustrate the disposition and operational uses of the embodiment of the invention . specifically , fig1 a shows a cutaway view of a vehicle 10 showing a vehicle battery 80 , a first portion 12 of the multi - part jumper cable connected at one end to the battery terminals 34 , and a housing 90 containing a second portion 14 and a third portion 16 of the jumper cable . fig1 b and 1c show the versatility of the jumper cable system , by interchangeably jump starting various vehicles , equipped with the permanently installed cable portion , or not equipped with the permanently installed cable portion . fig1 b and 1c show the vehicle 10 having a deenergized battery being connected to an energized battery source , from at least another vehicle , with the modular cable connection therebetween . by utilizing the hermaphroditic connectors on the various cable portions , the polarity of the cable conductors is maintain between the batteries . thus ensuring the jump - start of the deenergized battery as a quick and ‘ foolproof ’ with reduced risk to damage , injury , and death . fig2 a shows a detailed view of a kit including all three sections that make up the multi - part jumper cable , i . e ., sections 12 , 14 , and 16 . the permanently installed cable section 12 includes two electrical cables 32 color - coded to distinguish between the positive cable ( typically red in color ) and the negative cable ( typically black in color ), so that a person using the cable will maintain proper polarity during use , i . e ., when “ jumping ” or “ boosting ” the deenergized battery . however , it is well known in the art that the specific color coding is solely arbitrary , so long as the two colors are individually distinguishable from each other . the housing 90 defines a storage compartment for the second and third portions , 14 and 16 . depending upon the type of vehicle , the storage compartment may be located under the seat as shown . alternatively , the storage compartment may be elsewhere , such as to the rear or either side of the seat . in other words , the storage compartment the second portion 14 of the multi - part jumper cable has first and second ends including hermaphroditic connectors , 42 and 48 , respectively , and a fuse 50 intermediate the two ends on one of the two cables , generally the positive cable 22 , the rating of the fuse should be on the order of 30 amperes . it , is noted that the fuse is disclosed in the second section 14 , however , it is well within the purview of the scope of the embodiments of the invention , that the fuse may be in any one or more of the segments . in this manner , the overall safety features would be a self - backup variation on the use of a defective fuse having an improper rating . the third portion 16 of the jumper cable is provided at one end with a hermaphroditic connection 46 . the opposite end of the third portion 16 of the jumper cable has positive and negative cables , 36 and 38 , respectively , and terminates in alligator type clamps 72 and 74 which are adapted for attachment to the terminal posts of a post - type charging battery , such as the type commonly used on passenger vehicles . as seen in fig2 b , the kit may include a myriad of connectors for the first section 12 and third section 16 . typically , the ends may have alligator clips 72 , 74 , additional end type connectors may be selected from the types of eyelets 34 or forked connectors 34 a , or any other type of end connectors available in the automotive industry for making temporary or permanent battery connections . when the battery 80 is undercharged and requires a “ jump ” or a “ boost ” from another battery , such as from a car battery , the vehicle is placed in relative proximity to the car ( or other vehicle ). jumper cable section 16 is removed from the storage compartment 90 and clamps 72 and 74 are attached to the respective positive and negative terminal posts of the post - type charging battery . then cable section 14 is removed from the storage compartment and one end ( i . e ., either connector 42 or 48 ) is connected to connector 40 of the first section and the opposite end ( i . e ., remaining connector 48 or 42 ) is connected to connector 46 of the second section , thereby completing the boosting circuit . hermaphroditic connectors 40 and 42 may be any known type of hermaphroditic connector in which the connectors are identical , and which can only be connected in a manner in which the polarity is ensured , i . e ., in which the positive terminal of the fully charged battery is directly connected with the positive terminal of the undercharged battery and the shape of the positive terminal on each connector is identical . preferably the hermaphroditic connector is of a type exemplified by the connector taught in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 963 , 102 , previously incorporated herein . it is noted that although the reference teaches a three - conductor cable , the same connector is used herein for connecting a two - connector cable , i . e ., a cable having a positive and a negative cable corresponding to the positive and negative poles of a vehicle battery . on the positive cable wire 22 a fuse 52 is provided . the fuse is contained in its own housing 50 with a protective cap 54 . the fuse is preferably a thirty ampere ( 30 a ) blade fuse that corresponds with the wire gauge size capable of “ jumping ” batteries , e . g ., ten gauge awg . thus , the second section 14 may be used either to connect a first jumper cable section 12 fixed to the battery of the vehicle receiving the jump start to a another first jumper cable section 12 attached to the charging battery on a second vehicle , or as an extension cable between the first jumper cable section 12 and third jumper cable section 16 to extend the length of the jumper cable when charging from a passenger car or other vehicle . a general length of the cable portions 12 and 16 should be approximately 3 feet , while cable portion 14 has general length of approximately 6 feet . when two vehicles are equipped with a 3 - piece kit as shown in fig1 b and 1c , one of the vehicles can then be used to “ jump - start ” the second by simply connecting the installed cable section 12 of the two vehicles together with the second section 14 . fig3 shows an optional battery charger 120 including a hermaphroditic connector 44 that ensures proper polarity in the wires 56 and 58 during use . the battery charger 120 shown in fig3 is switchable between a trickle charge mode for deep charging of the battery , and a starting mode for providing a current boost to the dead battery during starting of the vehicle . the hermaphroditic connector 44 may be attached directly to connector 40 of the first jumper cable section 12 , or indirectly through connector 42 or 48 of extension cable 14 . battery charger 120 may be included with the kit 110 ( fig2 ). alternatively , a rechargeable battery booster equipped with cables , 56 and 58 , and hermaphroditic connector 44 may be substituted for battery charger 120 . the jumper cable kit may be provided with as little as two parts , for example , the kit may be included as a accessory item for a model vehicle having a permanently connected first section manufactured in the vehicle , as seen in fig1 . the accessory item kit would therefore include the second section cable portion and the third section cable portion having only a single connection adapter ( e . g ., alligator clamps ). the jumper cable kit may include a myriad of components , making the versatility of the kit useable for virtually every battery powered electric starter internal combustion engine . in addition , a total kit may further include a battery charging device ( see fig3 ), including the three jumper cable portions , first section 12 , second section 14 and third section 16 . both the first and third sections 12 and 16 may each include plural segments having the various end connections as alternatives . it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above , but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims .
| 7Electricity
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fig1 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention . one - man operated lifter 1 is utilized to lift hot water heater 2 onto elevated platform 3 . in the embodiment shown in fig1 , pan 4 sits on top of table 3 and lifter 1 is able to lift heater 2 over the top edge of pan 4 so that heater 2 is placed inside pan 4 . preferably , lifter 1 is fabricated from lightweight , strong aluminum and weighs approximately 65 pounds . prior to lifting heater 2 , strap 5 is wrapped around heater 2 as shown . fig2 a shows further details of strap 5 as it is wrapped around heater 2 . protective pads 9 are placed underneath strap 5 to protect heater 2 . the ends of strap 5 are looped around water heater pipe nipples 6 ( see also fig3 ) utilizing hooks 7 . ratchet 8 is utilized to tighten strap 5 securely around heater 2 ( see also fig4 ). after strap 5 is secured around heater 2 , lifter 1 is connected to rings 9 b of strap 5 ( fig5 ). fig5 shows ring 9 b connected to strap 5 . ring 9 b connects to loop 10 of lifter 1 as shown . fig6 shows a front view of inner lifter arm 14 , outer lifting arm holding tubes 11 b . outer lifting arms 11 are slid into outer lifting arm connector tubes 11 b and are connected to straps 5 of heater 2 . in fig7 the user has pressed downward on outer extension arm 12 c of lifter 1 to cause heater 2 to be lifted . pivot stabilizer arms 13 are shown connected to inner extension arm 12 b . in one preferred embodiment the distance from the far end of outer extension arm 12 c to wheels 15 is approximately 11 feet , the distance from wheels 15 to the far ends of outer lifting arms 11 is approximately 5½ feet . connecting arms 13 preferably hold inner lifter arm 14 and inner extension arm 12 b separated at an angle of approximately 110 - 125 degrees . fig8 shows pivot stabilizer arms 13 connected to inner extension arm 12 b and inner lifter arm 14 . pivot stabilizer arms 13 hold inner lifter arm 14 rigid at a preferred angle for lifting , as shown in fig8 . lifting arms 11 are lifting heater 2 off the ground ( fig8 ). the user has pushed lifter 1 towards table 3 and lifter 1 has rolled towards table 3 on wheels 15 . heater 2 is positioned above pan 4 on table 3 . in fig9 the user has eased up downward force on outer extension arm 12 c which has caused heater 2 to be lowered into pan 4 on table 3 . heater 2 is now in the correct position on table 3 inside pan 4 . the user now will disconnect lifter 1 from straps 5 and then remove straps 5 from heater 2 . after heater 2 has been installed the user will need to disassemble lifter 1 so that he can easily roll it to his vehicle , place it inside the vehicle and transport it to the next job location . in fig1 , the user has removed outer lifter arms 11 from outer lifter arm connector tubes 26 and has set them aside . in fig1 the user has disconnected inner lifter arm 14 from pivot stabilizer arms 13 by removing connector pins . the user has positioned inner lifter arm 14 on the ground as shown . in fig1 the user has disconnected inner extension arm 12 b from pivot stabilizer arms 13 by removing connector pins . the user has positioned inner extension arm 12 b on the ground as shown and has set pivot stabilizer arms 13 aside . in fig1 , the user has removed the connector pin that holds middle extension arm 12 a and outer extension arm 12 c in an extended position attached to inner extension arm 12 b . the user is pushing middle extension arms 12 a and outer extension arm 12 c inside inner extension arm 12 b for storage . in fig1 the user has pivoted pivotally attached inner extension arm 12 b so that it is lying on top of inner lifter arm 14 . the user has inserted connector pin 93 to secure inner extension arm 12 b to inner lifter arm 14 . in fig1 the user has inserted outer lifter arms 11 into connector tubes 26 of inner lifter arm 14 . outer lifter arms 11 are held in place by connector pins 94 . outer lifter arms 11 allow for lifter 1 to be stored upright as shown . in fig1 and 17 the user has connected pivot stabilizer arms 13 to inner extension arm 12 b by using connector pins 95 . fig1 shows lifter 1 fully disassembled and then reassembled so that it is ready for easy transport . the user can now easily roll lifter 1 to his vehicle for storage and transport . fig1 shows another preferred embodiment of the present invention . for lifter 100 , inner extension arm 52 b is pivotally connected to inner lifter arm 102 . outer extension arms 11 are inserted into outer lifter arm tubes 102 a and 102 b , as shown . lifter 100 includes pivot stabilizer arm 101 . pivot stabilizer arm 101 is preferably a flexible cable that is threaded through holes in inner lifter arm 102 and connected to connection pins 105 . flexible cable 101 allows for easier assembly and disassembly of lifter 100 . for example , in fig1 the user has removed outer lifter arms 11 and has pinned them to inner lifter arm 102 . outer lifter arms 11 hold lifter 100 upright as shown . in fig2 the user has pivoted inner extension arm 52 b upward and has pinned it to inner lifter arm 102 likewise the user has clasped pivot stabilizer arm 101 to inner extension arm 52 b as shown . lifter 100 is now ready to me transported and stored . fig2 shows another preferred embodiment of the present invention . in fig2 inner lifter arms 102 have been separated by approximately 8 inches . this allows for greater separation of outer lifter arms 11 which is important when lifting very large hot water heaters . fig2 shows closer separation of inner lifter arms 102 similar to that depicted in fig1 . although the above - preferred embodiments have been described with specificity , persons skilled in this art will recognize that many changes to the specific embodiments disclosed above could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention . for example , it is possible to use rings 77 in place of hooks 7 . it is also possible to substitute cam buckles 78 for ratchets 8 ( see fig2 b ). therefore , the attached claims and their legal equivalents should determine the scope of the invention .
| 1Performing Operations; Transporting
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fig2 a and 2b illustrate example camera fields of view with blocking zones in accordance with this invention . fig2 a corresponds to fig1 a , and illustrates blocking zones 230 surrounding each tree 130 . fig2 b corresponds to fig1 b , and illustrates blocking zones 260 , 250 encompassing the doorway 160 and mirror / window 150 . these blocking zones are illustrated as rectangles , although one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the shape of the zone is immaterial to the principles of this invention . in a preferred embodiment of this system , a graphic interface is provided , wherein a reference image corresponding to a field of view of a camera is presented to a user , and the user identifies the bounds of each blocking zone by “ drawing ” each blocking zone on the reference image . from the user &# 39 ; s drawing , the coordinates of the bounding vertices of the blocking zone are determined and stored . preferably , each blocking zone 230 , 250 , 260 is sufficiently sized to include the extent of motion of objects that may appear within the zone but may not constitute reportable motion . that is , a blocking zone 260 is typically associated with a relatively stationary object that exhibits some movement , such as a tree that sways , or a door that swings in a doorframe , and generally encompasses the extent of the movement . for example , the blocking zone 260 about the doorframe 160 includes the extent of the swing of the door , so as to potentially exclude the motion of the door from the reportable motion . a blocking zone 260 is also typically associated with segments of an image within which inconsequential / immaterial movement may occur , such as views through a window or doorway to an area beyond the secured area , movements within a mirror image , and so on . in a preferred embodiment of this invention , the blocking zone 260 is defined relative to a given view of the camera , rather than relative to the display screen . in this manner , if the view of the camera changes , such as via the use of a pan - tilt - zoom ( ptz ) camera arrangement , the blocking zone 260 will retain its relationship to the object to which it is associated , such as the doorframe 160 . fig3 illustrates an example flow diagram of a surveillance system that includes blocking zones in accordance with this invention . for ease of understanding , this invention is described with reference to a single camera surveillance system , although one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the principles of this invention are not limited to a single camera system . at 310 , an image is received from a camera , and optionally recorded . this image may be processed before recording , to reduce storage requirements ; for example , the image may be converted into an mpeg format and stored in this form . in like manner , the image may be processed to facilitate subsequent operations or processes that use the image . for example , stationary background images may be subtracted from the current image , to highlight foreground objects . similarly , some image processing may be applied to reduce the effects caused by varying lighting or other environmental changes . optionally , the recording of the images from the camera may be postponed until some suspicious activity is detected , or until some alarm is signaled . at 315 , the image is processed to identify potential objects of interest , using techniques common in the art . for example , to qualify as an object of interest , identified clusters of pixels may need to be at least some minimum size , some reasonable shape , and so on . at 320 , the track , or path , of each identified object of interest is recorded , using techniques common in the art . if the object is newly identified , a track is created for this object . if the object is determined to correspond to an object in prior images , the current location of the object is concatenated to the existing track . optionally , only the track of each reportable object ( detailed below ) is recorded ; but , because the storage requirements for tracking is relatively insubstantial , all detected objects are tracked . if an object disappears from view without having been declared reportable ( detailed below ), the track of that object is deleted . also optionally , albeit less efficient , if the track of a non - reportable object is not recorded , when the object is determined to be a reportable object , the recorded images can be used to “ backtrack ” the path of the reportable object to create a complete track of the object &# 39 ; s movements . the loop 330 - 375 processes each object , using the aforementioned blocking zones of this invention . for ease of presentation and explanation , all regions of a scene are considered to correspond to one or more zones , and these zones include both blocking and non - blocking zones . blocking zones may overlap , so that an object can be located in more than one zone at any given time ; a non - blocking zone is defined as any region that does not include a blocking zone . at 335 , the status of the object is checked . all objects are initially marked as being non - reportable . if the object has previously been deemed to be reportable , no further processing is required for this object . if , at 340 , the non - reportable object is a new object , the initial status of the object is determined , at 345 - 355 . if , at 345 , the new object is located within one or more blocking zones , a list of the initial blocking zones that include this new object is created , at 350 . if , on the other hand , at 345 , the new object is located in a non - blocking zone , the object is marked as being reportable . if , at 340 , the non - reportable object is not a new object , the object &# 39 ; s prior zone ( s ) is checked , at 360 , to determine whether a zone - change has occurred . a zone - change is defined herein as a movement / transfer of an object from one zone into another zone . if the object , for example , transfers from a blocking zone to a non - blocking zone , or from a set of multiple zones into a single zone , or into a different set of multiple zones , a zone - change has occurred . if an object merely disappears from a zone , and does not appear in another zone , a zone - change has not occurred . ( one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that if an object disappears and does not appear in another zone , it will not be identified as an object in 315 , and hence will not be included in the loop 330 - 375 . the prior statement is included in the event that this invention is embodied differently from the flow diagram of fig3 .) if a zone change has not occurred , at 360 , no further processing is required , and the object remains as a non - reportable object . if , on the other hand , at 360 , a zone change has occurred , the zone or zones from which the object has departed is / are removed from the list of initial blocking zones that was created at 350 . if , at 370 , this deletion results in an empty list of blocking zones , the object is marked as reportable , at 355 ; otherwise , if there remains at least one blocking zone in the list associated with the object , the object remains non - reportable . if an object initially appears outside all blocking zones , the object is deemed to be a reportable object , at 355 . if an object initially appears within a single blocking zone , such as a blocking zone that includes a mirror or window , the single blocking zone is included in the list of blocking zones associated with the object , at 350 . if the object eventually disappears from the single blocking zone and reappears in another zone , the single blocking zone is removed from the list , the list is determined to be empty , and the object is deemed to be a reportable object . note that if the object is merely a reflection in a mirror , or an image outside a window , and the initial blocking zone includes the mirror or window , the list associated with this object will never be depleted , because the object will not undergo a zone - change , at 360 , and its status as a non - reportable object will not change . if , on the other hand , the object is a person standing in front of the mirror or window , the object will be deemed to be reportable , at 355 , as soon as the object leaves the blocking zone surrounding the mirror or window , at 360 - 365 . if an object initially appears in a set of overlapping blocking zones , such as the overlap of blocking zones 230 a and 230 b in fig2 a , the list associated with the object will contain blocking zones 230 a and 230 b . if the object moves to the right , and leaves zone 230 a , this zone , 230 a , will be removed from the list of initial blocking lists that was created at 350 of fig3 . at this point , the list will still contain blocking zoned 230 b , and thus will not be empty , and the status of the object will remain as non - reportable , at 370 . if the object continues to move to the right , or turns around and travels to the left , and eventually also leaves blocking zone 230 b , then zone 230 b is removed from the list , the list is determined to be empty , and the object is deemed to be reportable . on the other hand , if the object is a branch of one of the trees in zones 230 a , 230 b that appears in the overlap of 230 a , 230 b , it will not be deemed to be reportable unless it travels beyond 230 a and also travels beyond 230 b , which is highly unlikely if the zones are properly defined . thus , branches swaying within the overlay area and somewhat beyond will not be deemed to be reportable , whereas a person who appears in the overlay area and eventually moves beyond the overlap areas 230 a , 230 b will be identified as a reportable object . note that the list that is used to determine whether a non - reportable object becomes a reportable object is created when the object is initially identified within one or more blocking zones , and the only actions on this list are potential deletions . once the list becomes empty , the object is declared to be reportable , and thereafter the blocking zones have no effect on the tracking of the reportable objects . in this manner , the masking effects provided by the conventional exclusion zones is effectively provided for objects that never travel beyond their original blocking zone , whereas , as contrast to the conventional exclusion zones , the blocking zones have no effect on objects that travel beyond their initial blocking zones , or objects that initially appeared outside of a blocking zone . the loop 380 - 395 assesses each reportable object to determine whether to sound an alarm , at 385 - 390 , using techniques common in the art . because only reportable objects are assessed , non - reportable objects , such as reflections in mirrors , swaying branches , and the like that remain within their initial blocking zone do not generate false alarms . for completeness , fig4 illustrates an example surveillance system in accordance with this invention . one or more cameras 410 provide images to an image processor 420 . the images are also provided to a recorder 470 , in either their original form or in a processed formed , such as an mpeg encoding . the image processor 420 optionally pre - processes the images to facilitate the recognition of objects within each image , for example , by subtracting a stationary background image from each image . an object recognizer 430 receives the images from the image processor 420 , and identifies potentially reportable objects , using conventional techniques such as recognition based on size and / or shape of groups of adjacent pixels exhibiting common motion . an object tracker 440 records the track or path of each identified object . the object tracker 440 also distinguishes between reportable objects and non - reportable objects , based on whether each object that initially appears within a blocking zone eventually leaves the blocking zone , as detailed above . the object tracker 440 provides the identification and track of each reportable object to an alarm detector / processor 450 , for subsequent notification to a user terminal 460 of any potential or actual alarm conditions . the foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the invention . it will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements which , although not explicitly described or shown herein , embody the principles of the invention and are thus within its spirit and scope . for example , one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the object tracking , at 320 in fig3 , could be limited to the tracking of reportable objects , by placing the tracking process after the loop 330 - 375 . similarly , in fig4 , the object recognizer 430 could be configured to only report reportable objects to the object tracker 440 . in like manner , the detection of a zone - change at 360 in fig3 could be limited to a comparison of the current zone of the object to the list of initial blocking zones to determine whether the object has departed the initial zones . these and other system configuration and optimization features will be evident to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of this disclosure , and are included within the scope of the following claims . a ) the word “ comprising ” does not exclude the presence of other elements or acts than those listed in a given claim ; b ) the word “ a ” or “ an ” preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements ; c ) any reference signs in the claims do not limit their scope ; d ) several “ means ” may be represented by the same item or hardware or software implemented structure or function ; e ) each of the disclosed elements may be comprised of hardware portions ( e . g ., including discrete and integrated electronic circuitry ), software portions ( e . g ., computer programming ), and any combination thereof ; f ) hardware portions may be comprised of one or both of analog and digital portions ; g ) any of the disclosed devices or portions thereof may be combined together or separated into further portions unless specifically stated otherwise ; and h ) no specific sequence of acts is intended to be required unless specifically indicated .
| 6Physics
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the following detailed description is of the best presently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention . this description is not to be taken in a limiting sense , but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating general principles of embodiments of the invention . the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims . in certain instances , detailed descriptions of well - known devices and mechanisms are omitted so as to not obscure the description of the present invention with unnecessary detail . fig1 - 9 illustrate one embodiment of a trash can assembly 20 according to the present invention . the assembly 20 has an outer shell 22 and an inner liner 24 that is adapted to be retained inside the outer shell 22 . the outer shell 22 is a four - sided shell that has four side walls , including a front wall 42 . it is also possible to provide the outer shell 22 in a generally cylindrical , oval or egg shape . the inner liner 24 can have the same , or different , shape as the outer shell 22 . the lid is made up of two separate lid portions 26 and 28 that are split at about the center of the outer shell 22 , each of which is hingedly connected to an upper support frame 130 ( see fig7 ) along a top side edge of the outer shell 22 in a manner such that the lid portions 26 , 28 pivot away from each other ( see arrows aa in fig4 ) when they are opened . the outer shell 22 and its lid portions 26 and 28 can be made of a solid and stable material , such as a metal . the upper support frame 130 can be secured to the opened top of the outer shell 22 , and can be provided in a separate material ( e . g ., plastic ) from the outer shell 22 . each lid portion 26 , 28 has a side edge 30 that has a sleeve 32 extending along the side edge 30 . a shaft ( not shown ) is retained inside the sleeve 32 and has opposing ends that are secured to one side edge of the upper support frame 130 , so that the lid portion 26 , 28 can pivot about an axis defined by the shaft and its corresponding sleeve 32 . an l - shaped bracket 34 is secured at the rear end of each lid portion 26 , 28 . one leg of the bracket 34 is secured to the underside of the lid portion 26 , 28 , and the other leg of the bracket 34 has an opening 40 that is adapted to receive an upper hooked end 36 of a corresponding lifting rod 38 . in addition , a toe - kick recess 44 can be provided on the outer shell 22 adjacent the base 46 of the outer shell 22 , and is adapted to receive a foot pedal 48 that is pivotably secured to a pedal bar 60 in the base 46 . the toe - kick recess 44 can be formed as part of the base 46 , and the outer shell 22 would define a curved cut - out to receive the recess 44 . the curved cut - out in the shell 22 can be made by first cutting out a properly sized and configured hole in the body of the outer shell 22 , and then inserting a plastic curved panel that defines the actual recess 44 . the recess 44 extends into the interior confines of the outer shell 22 ( as defined by the periphery of the outer shell 22 ). the recess 44 also extends upwardly for a short distance from the base 46 . the pedal bar 60 is made of a material ( e . g ., metal ) that carries some weight , and extends from the foot pedal 48 along the base 46 and is then pivotably coupled to the lifting rods 38 that extend upwardly along the rear of the outer shell 22 to connect the lid portions 26 , 28 . the pedal bar 60 and the lifting rods 38 operate to translate an up - down pivot motion of the pedal 48 to an up - down pivot motion for the lid portions 26 , 28 . each of these components will be described in greater detail hereinbelow . referring now to fig3 - 6 , the base 46 of the outer shell 22 has a raised or domed base panel 52 and a skirt or flange portion 50 that extends from the base panel 52 . in one embodiment of the present invention , the base panel 52 , the skirt 50 and the recess 44 can be formed in one plastic piece . the pedal bar 60 is retained under the base panel 52 and inside the skirt 50 . the pedal bar 60 has two short side walls 64 . the front of the pedal bar 60 is attached to the pedal 48 , and the rear of the pedal bar 60 has two opposite holes 62 . one of the holes 62 is provided on each of the two opposing side walls 64 , and each hole 62 receives a lower hooked end 66 of a corresponding lifting rod 38 . a fulcrum rod 68 extends through the two side walls 64 of the pedal bar 60 at a location that is closer to the front of the pedal bar 60 than the rear of the pedal bar 60 . thus , the pedal bar 60 can be pivoted about a pivot axis defined by the fulcrum rod 68 . in particular , the pedal bar 60 can be pivoted between two positions , a first rest position as shown in fig2 where the pedal 48 is at a vertically higher position than the rear of the pedal bar 60 , and a second open position ( where the lid portions 26 , 28 are opened ) as shown in fig5 where the pedal 48 is pressed to a vertically lower position than the rear of the pedal bar 60 . thus , the fulcrum rod 68 is positioned at a location that is closer to the front of the pedal bar 60 than the rear of the pedal bar 60 so that the portion of the pedal bar 60 that is rearward of the fulcrum rod 68 would be greater ( and therefore heavier ) than the portion of the pedal bar 60 that is forward of the pedal bar 60 , thereby causing the rear of the pedal bar 60 to be at a vertically lower position than the pedal 48 when in the rest position of fig2 . as shown in fig5 , the base panel 52 defines a recessed region 70 with a soft material 72 ( e . g ., a foam sponge ) secured below the recessed region 70 . the recessed region 70 acts as a stop member in that it prevents the rear of the pedal bar 60 from being raised to a vertical level that exceeds the vertical position of the recessed region 70 , as shown in fig5 . the soft material 72 therefore functions as a noise and contact absorber so that there will be minimal noise and wear on the pedal bar 60 when it contacts the recessed region 70 . in many applications , given the dimensions of the base 46 , it will be difficult to first position the pedal bar 60 inside the base 46 and then attempt to fit a lengthy fulcrum rod inside the base 46 and insert the fulcrum rod through the pedal bar 60 . therefore , the present invention provides a novel method for securing the fulcrum rod 68 in its desired position with respect to the base 46 and the pedal bar 60 . first , referring to fig6 , the base panel 52 is provided with a column 74 that extends vertically downwardly from the base panel 52 , and the column 74 has a horizontal bore ( not shown ) that opens towards the center of the base 46 . next , the fulcrum rod 68 is extended through opposing and aligned openings in the two side walls 64 so that the two opposing ends 76 , 78 of the fulcrum rod 68 extend beyond the side walls 64 . in the next step , the pedal bar 60 and the fulcrum rod 68 are positioned inside the base panel 52 , with one end 76 of the fulcrum rod 68 positioned inside the bore of the column 74 . the other end 78 of the fulcrum rod 68 has a flat configuration with a hole ( not shown ), so that a screw 80 can be threaded through the hole in the end 78 to secure the fulcrum rod 68 to the base panel 52 . a pair of springs 84 and 86 are provided to normally bias the lid portions 26 , 28 to the closed position shown in fig2 . referring to fig2 - 4 , each spring 84 , 86 has a first end 90 that is secured to the base panel 52 , and a second end 92 that is secured to a bent portion 94 of one of the lifting rods 38 . thus , when the assembly 20 is not experiencing any external forces ( i . e ., it is in the closed position ), the springs 84 , 86 will normally bias the lifting rods 38 in the downward vertical direction , thereby causing the lid portions 26 , 28 to be closed . the springs 84 , 86 also prevent the lower hooked ends 66 from becoming disengaged from the rear of the pedal bar 60 , and takes out any slack in the linkage involving the lifting rods 38 . the assembly 20 provides a motion damper 96 that functions to dampen the closing motion of the lid portions 26 , 28 so that the lid portions 26 , 28 can close slowly and not experience a hard slamming motion . the motion damper 96 is illustrated in greater detail in fig9 , and can be embodied in the form of the “ rotary motion damper ” sold by itw delpro of frankfort , ill ., although other known and conventional motion dampers can be utilized without departing from the scope of the present invention . the motion damper 96 has a toothed bar 98 with a row of teeth 100 positioned along a side thereof . one end of the toothed bar 98 has a pair of aligned openings 102 . a platform 104 has a pair of guides 106 that receive the toothed bar 98 . a toothed damping wheel 108 is carried on the platform 104 and is adapted to engage the teeth 100 on the toothed bar 98 as the platform 104 experiences relative movement in both directions ( see arrows a and b ) along the toothed bar 98 . assuming that the damping wheel 108 remains stationary , when the toothed bar 98 moves in the direction b , the damping wheel 108 does not offer any resistance so the toothed bar 98 can move smoothly and quickly in the direction b . however , when the toothed bar 98 moves in the direction a , the damping wheel 108 does offer resistance so the toothed bar 98 can only move very slowly in the direction a . the motion damper 96 is positioned in the interior of the outer shell 22 , and is secured to both the base panel 52 and the pedal bar 60 . in particular , the platform 104 has a connecting element 110 that is secured to a bracket ( not shown ) in the base panel 52 . the bracket can be secured to the base panel 52 by a screw 116 as shown in fig2 . in addition , the end of the toothed bar 98 with the aligned openings 102 extends through an opening in the base panel 52 , and a damping rod 112 secured to the pedal bar 60 extends through the openings 102 ( see fig5 and 6 ) to couple the toothed bar 98 to the pedal bar 60 . thus , the platform 104 of the motion damper 96 is essentially fixed at a stationary position with respect to the base panel 52 , and the toothed bar 98 can be moved up or down ( i . e ., in the directions b or a ) as the rear end of the pedal bar 60 is pivoted up or down by the pedal 48 . the operation of the trash can assembly 20 will now be described . when the assembly 20 is not in use , the lid portions 26 , 28 are normally closed as shown in fig2 . at this position , the springs 84 and 86 are relaxed and do not exert any bias . to open the lid portions 26 , 28 , the user steps on the pedal 48 , which pivots the pedal bar 60 about the fulcrum rod 68 with the pedal 48 moving vertically downward , and the rear end of the pedal bar 60 being pivoted vertically upwardly . the soft material 72 provides a buffer or absorber to minimize any noise that may be caused by the pedal bar 60 contacting the recessed region 70 . as shown in fig3 - 5 and 7 - 8 , the rear end of the pedal bar 60 pushes the lifting rods 38 upwardly , so that the lifting rods 38 will push the lid portions 26 , 28 open about the pivoting of the shafts in the sleeves 32 . the lid portions 26 , 28 will pivot away from each other to expose the top of the of the outer shell 22 . simultaneously , the damping rod 112 will push the toothed bar 98 upwardly ( i . e ., in the direction b in fig9 ). as described above , the damping wheel 108 will not offer any resistance to the movement of the toothed bar 98 , so the entire lifting motion of the rear of the pedal bar 60 and the lifting rods 38 will be smooth and relatively quick . at this opened position , the springs 84 and 86 are stretched and therefore biased . as long as the user maintains his or her step on the pedal 48 , the bias of the springs 84 , 86 is overcome , the rear of the pedal bar 60 will remain in the position shown in fig5 , and the lid portions 26 , 28 will remain opened . when the user releases the pedal 48 , the combined weight of the pedal bar 60 ( i . e ., a pulling force ) and the lid portions 26 , 28 ( i . e ., pushing forces ), as well as gravity and the natural bias of the springs 84 , 86 , will cause the lid portions 26 , 28 will pivot downwardly to their closed positions . in other words , the lifting rods 38 , the toothed bar 98 and the pedal bar 60 will all experience a downward motion . in this regard , the fact that the fulcrum rod 68 is positioned closer to the pedal 48 ( i . e ., the front of the pedal bar 60 ) means that the rear of the pedal bar 60 is actually heavier , and will exert a force to aid in pulling the lifting rods 38 down in a vertical direction . however , the damping wheel 108 will resist the downward vertical movement ( i . e ., in the direction of arrow a in fig9 ) of the toothed bar 98 , so the entire downward motion of the rear of the pedal bar 60 and the lifting rods 38 will be slowed . by slowing this downward motion of the pedal bar 60 and the lifting rods 38 , the lid portions 26 , 28 will close slowly , and the pedal bar 60 will be lowered slowly , all to avoid any annoying loud slamming actions or noises . referring now to fig2 and 7 , the upper support frame 130 has a border shoulder 132 that extends along its inner periphery which is adapted to receive the upper lip 140 of the inner liner 24 so that the inner liner 24 can be suspended on the shoulder 132 inside the outer shell 22 during use . the support frame 130 has opposing ends 134 and 136 , with a scalloped groove 138 formed in each end 134 , 136 . the scalloped grooves 138 allow the user to insert his or her fingers into the grooves 138 under the upper lip of the inner liner 24 to lift the inner liner 24 from the interior of the outer shell 24 when the lid portions 26 , 28 are opened . this provides a convenient way for the user to remove the inner liner 24 from the outer shell 22 , without requiring the user to grab or grip unnecessarily large portions of the inner liner 24 . the hinged connection of the lid portions 26 , 28 to the upper support frame 130 shown in fig7 can be modified as shown in fig1 - 14 . in fig7 , each lid portion 26 , 28 has a metal shaft that is retained in a sleeve 32 and has opposing ends that are secured to the upper support frame 130 in a manner such that the corresponding lid portion 26 or 28 can pivot about an axis defined by the shaft and the sleeve 32 . the sleeve 32 can be formed by curling part of the edge of the metal lid portion 26 , 28 in a manner that leaves a longitudinal opening along the length of the sleeve 32 between the outermost edge of the sleeve 32 and the lid portion 26 , 28 . this curling is best illustrated in fig1 in connection with the sleeve 32 a . the metal shaft can be retained inside this sleeve 32 . unfortunately , the metal - on - metal contact between the shaft and the sleeve 32 causes wear and tear , and result in the generation of squeaky noises when the shaft pivots inside the sleeve 32 . in addition , after extended use , food , dust and other waste matter may enter the interior of the sleeve 32 via the longitudinal opening , which may impede the pivoting motion of the shaft inside the sleeve 32 . the present invention provides a modified connection in fig1 - 14 that overcomes these drawbacks . the same numeral designations will be used to designate the same elements in fig7 and 10 - 14 , except that an “ a ” will be added to the designations in fig1 - 14 . in the embodiment shown in fig1 - 14 , the metal shaft 200 is retained inside a non - metal ( e . g ., plastic ) tube 202 , which is in turn retained inside the sleeve 32 a , as best shown in fig1 . the tube 202 has a generally cylindrical configuration with a protruding edge 204 extending along the length of the tube 202 . the protruding edge 204 is configured as a somewhat rectangular block that is adapted to fit snugly into the longitudinal opening of the sleeve 32 a , thereby blocking the longitudinal opening and preventing dust and particles from entering the interior of the sleeve 32 a . as best shown in fig1 , the tube 202 does not completely fill up the interior space of the sleeve 32 a . the tube 202 has an interior bore 206 through which two separate shaft pieces 208 can be inserted . both shaft pieces 208 can be identical in construction , with one provided at each of the opposing ends of the tube 202 . the shaft pieces 208 can be made from metal . as best shown in fig1 , each shaft piece 208 has a smaller - diameter inner section 210 and a larger - diameter outer section 212 . the inner section 210 is inserted into the bore 206 at one end of the tube 202 , and the outer section 212 has a larger diameter to ensure that part of the shaft piece 208 remains outside the bore 206 . to assemble the lid portion 26 , 28 , the user or manufacturer first inserts the tube 202 into the sleeve 32 a in a manner such that the protruding edge 204 is snugly fitted into the longitudinal opening of the sleeve 32 a . the sleeve 32 a and its tube 202 are then placed into the appropriate location on the side edge of the upper support frame 130 as shown in fig1 . then , as shown in fig1 , the inner section 210 of each shaft piece 208 is inserted through bores 218 in the upper support frame 130 that are aligned with the bore 206 of the tube 202 when the sleeve 32 a and its tube 202 are positioned in the upper support frame 130 . the inner section 210 will extend through the bore 218 in the upper support frame 130 and then into the bore 206 of the tube 202 . a portion of the outer sections 212 of the shaft pieces 212 will be exposed to the outside of the bore 218 , but most of the outer sections 212 will be positioned inside the bore 218 . with one shaft piece 208 provided at each opposing end of the tube 202 and sleeve 32 a , the lid portions 26 , 28 can pivot about the axis defined by these shaft pieces 208 . a small opening 220 is provided on the protruding edge 204 adjacent each end of the tube 202 . the free end of the inner section 210 of each shaft piece 208 is positioned adjacent this opening 220 . as a result , a user can remove the lid portions 26 , 28 by inserting a sharp - tip object ( e . g ., screw - driver ) through the openings 220 ( see fig1 ) and pushing the inner section 210 of each shaft piece 208 out of the bores 206 and 218 . thus , the provision of the non - metal tube 202 provides two immediate benefits . first , the protruding edge 204 prevents dust and particles from entering the interior of the sleeve 32 a . second , the non - metal material of the tube 202 eliminates the metal - on - metal contact or grinding of a pivoting metal shaft within a metal sleeve . fig1 and 15 also illustrate another modification , where a non - metal ( e . g ., plastic ) washer 230 can be provided to prevent the undesirable metal - to - metal grinding between the bracket 34 and the upper hooked end 36 of the lifting rod 38 . specifically , a plastic washer 230 can be positioned in the opening 40 in the bracket 34 . the washer 230 can have a sleeved configuration with a flange 232 so that the upper hooked end 36 can extend through the washer 230 . as a result , the washer 230 acts as a separating layer between the metal upper hooked end 36 and the metal bracket 34 . fig1 - 9 illustrate the use of one inner liner 24 , but it is also possible to provide two or more inner liners . for example , fig1 and 17 illustrate two inner liners 24 a and 24 b that can be configured to fit snugly , and in side - by - side fashion , inside the outer shell 22 . the provision of two inner liners 24 allows the user to sort the trash , for example , to separate recycleable waste matter from other waste matter . the above detailed description is for the best presently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention . this description is not to be taken in a limiting sense , but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating general principles of the invention . the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims . in certain instances , detailed descriptions of well - known devices , components , mechanisms and methods are omitted so as to not obscure the present description with unnecessary detail .
| 8General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology
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fig1 shows diagrammatically an electric impedance imaging system in the form of a magnetic resonance imaging system that is adapted for performing electric properties tomography imaging of an object . a magnetic resonance generation and manipulation system 1 applies a series of rf pulses and switched magnetic field gradients to invert or excite nuclear magnetic spins , induce magnetic resonance , refocus magnetic resonance , manipulate magnetic resonance , spatially and otherwise encode the magnetic resonance , saturate spins , and the like to perform mr imaging . more specifically , a gradient pulse amplifier 3 applies current pulses to selected ones of whole - body gradient coils 4 , 5 and 6 along x , y and z - axes of the examination volume . a rf transmitter 7 transmits rf pulses or pulse packets , via a send -/ receive switch 8 , to a rf antenna 9 to transmit rf pulses into the examination volume . a typical mr imaging sequence is composed of a packet of rf pulse segments of short duration which taken together with each other and any applied magnetic field gradients achieve a selected manipulation of nuclear magnetic resonance . the rf pulses are used to saturate , excite resonance , invert magnetization , refocus resonance , or manipulate resonance and select a portion of a body 10 positioned in the examination volume . the mr signals may also be picked up by the rf antenna 9 . for generation of mr images of limited regions of the body 10 , for example by means of parallel imaging , a set of local array rf coils 11 , 12 , 13 are placed contiguous to the region selected for imaging . the array coils 11 , 12 , 13 can be used to receive mr signals induced by rf transmissions effected via rf antenna 9 . however , as described above , the array coils 11 , 12 , 13 may also be used to sequentially transmit rf pulses into the examination volume . the resultant mr signals are picked up by the rf antenna 9 and / or by the array rf coils 11 , 12 , 13 and demodulated by a receiver 14 preferably including a preamplifier ( not shown ). the receiver 14 is connected to the rf coils 9 , 11 , 12 and 13 via send -/ receive switch 8 . a host computer 15 controls the gradient pulse amplifier 3 and the transmitter 7 to generate any of a plurality of imaging sequences , such as echo planar imaging ( epi ), echo volume imaging , gradient and spin echo imaging , fast spin echo imaging , and the like . for the selected sequence , the receiver 14 receives a single or a plurality of mr data lines in rapid succession following each rf excitation pulse . a data acquisition system 16 performs analog - to - digital conversion of the received signals and converts each mr data line to a digital format suitable for further processing . in modern mr devices the data acquisition system 16 is a separate computer which is specialized in acquisition of raw image data . ultimately , the digital raw image data is reconstructed into an image representation by a reconstruction processor 17 which applies a fourier transform or other appropriate reconstruction algorithms . the mr image may represent a planar slice through the patient , an array of parallel planar slices , a three - dimensional volume , or the like . the image is then stored in an image memory where it may be accessed for converting slices , projections , or other portions of the image representation into appropriate format for visualization , for example via a video monitor 18 which provides a man - readable display of the resultant mr image . for practical implementation of the invention , the mr device 1 comprises the programming for carrying out the above described method . the program may be carried out for example by the reconstruction means 17 or a further computer or hardware component attached to the device 1 . with respect to fig2 , an example implementation of the described iteration to determine τ u is sketched . a suitable function set ƒ k has to be chosen to decompose the unknown phase distribution τ u = σ k a ku ƒ k using the superposition coefficients a ku . an appropriate function set , which reflects the typically smooth nature of σ u , ensures a minimum number of coefficients a ku required to approximate τ u . the easiest function set is given by delta peaks . in this case , however , each voxel is iterated separately , yielding the maximum number of required a ku . a polynomial or fourier function set is more appropriate to describe τ u during the iteration . the iteration can start , e . g . with a constant or randomly determined phase or with δ uv . the determination of τ u inside the volume of interest ( voi ) can be split into separate iterations on subvolumes of the voi . this typically accelerates the calculation . however , for decreasing subvolumes , the risk of multiple solutions of eq . ( 4 ) increases , and a suitable compromise has to be found . a suitable error function e has to be chosen for minimization , e . g . e =( σ u − σ v ) 2 + λ ( ε u − ε v 2 , ( 28 ) a simulation has been performed assuming two transmit ( tx ) channels . a subvolume of 10 × 10 × 5 voxels inside an elliptical , off - center phantom with constant ε has been chosen . the 3d phase distribution was decomposed into ( a ) four 0 ./ 1 .- order polynomials , ( b ) ten 0 ./ 1 ./ 2 .- order polynomials . fig2 shows the error function for 100 iterations . as can be seen , including not only 0 ./ 1 .- order polynomials but also 2 .- order polynomials improves results . using up to second order polynomials , the two underlying ( regularized ) terms of the error function are shown . using up to first order polynomials yields larger iteration errors than using up to second order polynomials . using up to second order polynomials , the two underlying terms of the error function eq . ( 28 ) are shown , regularized with λ = 0 . 001 . fig3 illustrates simulated conductivity profiles of a spherical phantom . ept reconstruction was performed on segmented compartments . as mentioned above , the segmentation can be performed e . g . on the anatomic mr images acquired for the b1 or b0 mapping performed for ept . in fig3 , a comparison between ept reconstruction with and without segmentation is given , using a simulated , spherical phantom with σ = 0 . 3 ( 0 . 5 ) s / m in the left ( right ) hemisphere . a strong ringing artefact along the compartment boundary can be removed by the described segmentation technique in combination with the flexible calculus operations . further , according to the above described method , boundary voxels were extrapolated from the next two non - boundary voxels of the corresponding compartment . a pixel - by - pixel reconstruction is plotted in fig3 . as can be seen in fig3 , the conductivity 100 determined without segmentation deviates strongly from the true conductivity 102 at the area of transition from the left to the right hemisphere of the phantom . in contrast , by segmented ept reconstruction a respective determined conductivity 104 reflects well the conductivity transition from the left phantom part to the right phantom part and vice versa . fig4 illustrates b1 maps simulated with fdtd for an eight channel transmit system . exemplarily , local sar was estimated via ept and h + was simulated for the legs of a person in an eight channel transmit system . the simulation was performed using fdtd with the visible human at 5 mm grid resolution . the quadrature excitation ( h + & gt ;& gt ; h − ) was compared with a b1 shimmed excitation ( h 30 ˜ h − ). fig4 a shows a transversal cut through the mr bore of the device . shown are the feet of a person , wherein the feet have a geometrical symmetry plane 400 . the position of coil number 1 ( reference numeral 402 ) is given by a reflection of the spatial position of coil number 8 ( reference numeral 404 ) against said symmetry plane 400 . the same holds for the other illustrated coils 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 and 7 . the top row in fig4 b shows a simulated map of the positive circularly polarized magnetic field component of the excitation rf field or each respective coil of the coils with numbers 1 - 8 . respective simulated maps of corresponding negative circularly polarized magnetic field components at the respective coil positions are illustrated in the second row of fig4 b . as expected , h + and h − have only a low correlation . in a further step , second maps of the negative circularly polarized magnetic field components at the respective coil positions are reconstructed in the following manner : in order to reconstruct h − for coil number 1 which is located in fig4 a opposite to coil number 8 , the map of the positive circularly polarized magnetic field component of the excitation rf field at coil position 8 is reflected against the geometrical symmetry plane 406 . the position of this symmetry plane 406 is equivalent to the position of the symmetry plane 400 in the object . as a consequence , a right - left mirrored map of h + coil 8 is obtained , which correlates very well to h − at coil position 1 , as shown in fig4 b . consequently , due to the patient &# 39 ; s approximate left - right symmetry , the mirrored h + maps have a correlation of 95 to 99 % with the corresponding h − maps . employing this technique , local sar profiles can be obtained in a highly reliable manner , as shown in fig5 . in fig5 a , a quadrature excitation was employed , whereas in fig5 b an rf shimming method was used . in both , the quadrature and the rf shimming case , h − has a high correlation with the correct local sar as assuming h + = 0 , particularly for the rf shimming case . consequently , the simulation example shows that a proposed invention yields significantly better conductivity and local sar reconstruction than neglecting h − . in the following , an alternative approach for determining the local sar is discussed : the local sar given above in eq . ( 5 ) can be rewritten to in order to estimate the local sar in accordance with the alternative approach outlined above with respect to eq . ( 29 ), the following simplifications are performed : by using a quadrature body or head coil , h − = h z = 0 can be assumed . further as described above , by measuring the phase φ + employing for example by a ( turbo -) spin echo sequence and setting the amplitude h + constant , σ can be obtained from eq . ( 26 ) b . for example the amplitude h + is set constant to the nominal rf field strength of the scan proportional to b 1max and flip angle , i . e . of the order of 10 μt . in opposite to the calculation of σ or ε , an absolute value is required for local sar . further , for the estimation of the local sar , ε is required . here , three possibilities may be employed . first at all , since for most human tissue types ωε & lt ;& lt ; σ is fulfilled , ε = 0 may be assumed . alternatively , eq . ( 27 ) a can be used to estimate ε via the measured φ + , i . e . by setting the amplitude h + constant . alternatively , ε can be set to a constant value , e . g . to the ε of water . in the following , the practical applicability of this approach for determining the local sar is demonstrated : first , the electromagnetic fields for a sphere with homogeneous electric properties in a quadratic body coil are simulated using the software package concept ii ( concept ii , technical university hamburg - harburg , dep . theo . elec . engin ., germany ). then , eq . ( 29 ) is applied assuming h + = const . this simulation was multiply repeated with 0 . 1 s / m & lt ; σ & lt ; 1 . 9 s / m and 0 . 01 s / m & lt ; ωε & lt ; 0 . 19 s / m . the correlation of local sar between standard ept and phase - based ept was determined . as shown in fig6 , this correlation is found to be more than 95 % for all reported types of human tissue ( crosses ) at a main magnetic field of 1 . 5 t . in the following , the practical applicability of this approach for determining the permittivity and conductivity is demonstrated : to this goal , the approach is applied to simulations based on the visible human ( nlm 1996 , “ the visible human project ”). both the reconstructed σ assuming h + = const as well as the reconstructed ε assuming φ + = const yields reasonable results . this can be seen from fig7 . fig7 a and 7 b compare the reconstructed a of the head of the visible human for the case of full reconstruction ( fig7 a ) and for the case of a reconstruction assuming h + = const as discussed above ( fig7 b ). the correlation of the images is ˜ 99 %. fig7 c and 7 d compare the reconstructed ε of the head of the visible human . for the case of full reconstruction ( fig7 c ) and for the case of a reconstruction assuming φ + = const as discussed above ( fig7 d ). the main differences between the images are in pixels dominated by boundary errors , thus irrelevant . thus , the main impact of the assumption φ + = const on the reconstructed ε are found in pixels dominated by boundary errors , which is thus irrelevant and demonstrates well the practical applicability of this approach .
| 6Physics
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referring initially to fig1 a disc player 1 is presented in accordance with the present invention . the disc player 1 can be seen to comprise a lid 2 , a base 3 , a spindle motor 4 and an optical pick - up unit ( opu ) 5 . on the perimeter of the base 3 is a locking mechanism 6 ( described in detail below ) and a series of operating controls 7 for the disc player 1 . further details of the base 3 are presented in fig2 . here the base 3 is viewed from the underside in the absence of a bottom section and the locking mechanism 6 . the base 3 can be seen to further comprise a chassis section 8 , a wind vane locating pin 9 and fixing pins 10 for securing the bottom section . the chassis section 8 comprises an opu locator 11 , a spindle motor locator 12 and an integrated damping system 13 . the integrated damping system 13 itself comprising five moulded plastic springs 14 located at the perimeter of the chassis section 8 . referring to fig3 , details of the locking mechanism 6 can be seen . the locking mechanism 6 comprises a wind vane 15 , shown in isolation in fig4 , an air vent 16 and a latch 17 . the latch further comprises a catch 18 and a side arm 19 , while the wind vane 15 comprises a locator 20 , a side arm 21 and a bias means ( not shown ). with the wind vane 15 located such that the locator 20 interacts with the wind vane locating pin 9 , the wind vane 15 is free to pivot between a locked position and an unlocked position . the locking mechanism 6 operates on the following principal . air pressure generated from the internally spinning disc is employed to activate the wind vane 15 , thus moving it from the unlocked position to the locked position . in the locked position the wind vane 15 prevents the manual operation of the latch 17 hence stopping the lid 2 from being opened . when the disc spins the air is drawn to the perimeter of the base 3 thus creating an air pressure build up around the edge of the disc . this air passes through the air vent 16 and wafts against the wind vane 15 causing it to pivot about the wind vane locating pin 9 . as long as the disc remains spinning , the airflow is maintained and locking mechanism 6 is maintained in the locked position , preventing the lid 2 from being opened . when the operator requires to open the lid 2 , they manually activate the software to stop the disc , thus resulting in the air pressure acting against the wind vane 15 subsiding and so the bias means acts to return the wind vane 15 to the unlocked position . the present invention has the advantage that the incorporation of an integrated damping system 13 within the base 3 of the disc player 1 eliminates the requirement for the manufacture and assembly of separate rubber av mounts . additionally , because the damping system 13 is integrated with the base 3 , this component can be manufactured to with greater accuracy , such that that the allowed clearance between the disc and the inner surface of the base 3 can be reduced . this reduction enhances the miniaturisation of the dimensions of the disc player . as a direct result of this miniaturisation the overall wind drag experienced by the disc is reduced , thus having the effect of reducing the current required to drive the spindle motor . an obvious advantage of this will be an increase in the lifetime of battery cells employed by portable disc players . further advantages of the present invention are that the locking mechanism 6 prevents the need for a disc break , since the disc will always be stationary before the lid 2 is opened . the locking mechanism 6 also removes the need for the electronics normally associated with a write lock . in addition , since the locking mechanism 6 is activated by the airflow generated by a spinning disc there is no need for it to use any electrical components such as motors , solenoids or associated gear mechanisms . as the locking mechanism 6 draws no current it provides a particularly attractive feature for portable devices that employ battery power sources . a yet further advantage of the present invention is that as there are no wires or connectors required for the operation of the locking mechanism 6 the disc player 1 is both easier and cheaper to assemble . the foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed . the described embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . therefore , further modifications or improvements may be incorporated without departing from the scope of the invention herein intended .
| 6Physics
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the sensor of the present invention may easily be fabricated using any of the techniques known in the art of microchip fabrication . in fact , due to the relatively large size of the sensors and their interconnects ( well in excess of 1 μm ) fabrication processes which are now approaching obsolescence for microchip fabrication find renewed life when used to fabricate the present invention . an example of a typical process flow is illustrated in fig1 a - 1e below . fig1 a shows a picoslider ( approximately 1 . 25 mm × 1 mm × 0 . 3 mm ) in preparation for sensor fabrication . unlike the invention of imai , the present invention can be fabricated directly on a standard al 2 o 3 . tic slider ( 100 ). a thin layer of polysilicon ( 110 ) is deposited using low pressure chemical vapor deposition ( lpcvd ). this layer ( 110 ) is typically greater than about 100 å thick . a second layer comprised of dielectric material ( 120 ) is then formed . a preferred embodiment uses a sio 2 formed by thermal oxidation of the polysilicon layer ( as shown in fig1 b ). however , dielectrics such as silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride may be deposited using lpcvd to form the dielectric material ( 120 ). the dielectric layer ( 120 ) is formed to a thickness sufficient to electrically isolate subsequently formed layers from the underlying slider and polysilicon . the dielectric layer ( 120 ) is pattern masked with photoresist ( not shown ). the pattern allows the formation of a lower electrode ( 135 ) and the lower electrode interconnects ( 130 ) ( as shown in fig1 c ). the electrode and interconnects are made of conducting materials which include , but are not limited to , polysilicon , doped polysilicon , silicides , and metals . a preferred material is aluminum . once the electrodes are formed , the surface is masked again ( not shown ) and zno ( 140 ) is sputtered onto the electrode ( 135 ) to a thickness of approximately 2 μm ( as shown in fig1 d ). the mask is removed . alternatively , pure zn metal can be sputtered onto the electrode ( 135 ). the zn is later thermally oxidized to form piezoelectric zno . at this point , the zno ( 140 ) can be masked while an optional layer of electrically isolating material ( 150 ) is formed on the surface ( as shown in fig1 e ). this isolating layer prevents subsequently formed interconnects from shorting with the lower electrode interconnects ( 130 ). typically , the isolation layer ( 150 ) is comprised of sio 2 but may be practiced using other electrically isolating materials ( such as silicon nitride , silicon oxynitride , boropolysilicate glass , etc .). shorting may also be avoided by forming subsequent interconnects such that they do not overlap with previously formed lower electrode interconnects ( 130 ). the surface is masked again and a layer of electrically conducting material is formed over the zno sensor ( 140 ), as the top electrode ( 165 ), and as top electrode interconnects ( 160 ). the preferred material is al , but any conducting material will serve the purposes of the present invention , including , but not limited to , polysilicon , doped polysilicon , suicides , and metal . subsequently , the top can be covered with an optional passivation / protection layer ( 170 ), which is composed of electrically isolating material , typically comprised of sio 2 . during glidehead testing , asperities in the disk surface collide with the glidehead . these collisions produce a series of dynamic reactions in the glidehead , each of which must be accounted for , measured , and analyzed . fig2 a - 2f show a series of glideheads subject to typical deformation patterns caused by impacts with asperities on a disk surface . the x - axis represents horizontal motion with the y - axis representing vertical motion . each impact causes vibrational modes in the glidehead . these modes are dependent on how asperities impact and deform a glidehead during use . each of the torsional and bending shapes depicted have specific natural resonant frequencies ( or modes ) which may be used to analyze asperities on the disk surface . as can be seen from the wide range of vibrational conformations of fig2 a - 2f , sensors must be placed at a variety of locations in order to fully analyze the impact of each asperity . a the sensors of the present invention can be fabricated on any surface of the glidehead , but the preferred embodiments construct the sensors on the top and side surfaces of glideheads . fig3 a shows an overhead view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention as fabricated by the previously described method . fig3 b is a perspective of the same slider and sensors . fig3 b shows five zno sensors ( 310 , 310 t ) fabricated on a al 2 o 3 . tic slider ( 300 ). the comer sensor ( 310 ) dimensions are variable and may be as large as 100 μm × 100 μm × 2 μm , but , typically are 100 μm × 20 μm × 2 μm . these sensors ( 310 ) are each located on or near the four corners of the glidehead . electrical interconnects ( 320 ) connect each sensor to analyzing instrumentation ( not shown ) through connection site ( 330 ). typically , the bottom electrode ( 135 of fig1 e ) is grounded . the top electrode is typically connected to amplification circuits ( not shown ) which amplify the signal during signal processing . a somewhat larger sensor ( 310 t ) may be fabricated and used to detect flexing stress or temperature variation in the slider . the larger sensor ( 310 t ) is fabricated onto the side surface of the glidehead . the length dimension of this sensor may be quite long , extending nearly the entire width of the slider ( 300 ). this sensor is also connected using an interconnect ( 320 ). the fabrication methods used to construct sensors ( 310 ) are largely the same for sensor ( 310 t ). the signals sent by the five sensors can be processed by using any of a number of methods known in the art . a typical example is set forth in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 581 , 021 by flechsig , et al . using such methods the sensors of the present invention sense vibrational response of the sliders to contact with disk asperities , while by careful frequency ( or mode ) selection the signal - to - noise ratio is enhanced . such techniques provide an accurate picture of the disk surface . although the present invention has been described with reference to certain specific embodiments , it should be understood that numerous substitutions and variations can be made in materials selection , sensor orientation , sensor enhancement , and manufacture without departing from the true nature and scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims .
| 6Physics
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referring more specifically to the drawings , for illustrative purposes the present invention is embodied in methods and apparatus generally illustrated in fig1 through fig4 . it will be appreciated that the apparatus embodiments may vary as to configuration and as to the details of the parts , and that the methods may vary as to the specific steps and sequence , without departing from the basic concepts as disclosed herein . the present invention relates to devices and methods for high - speed high - contrast imaging in one , two or three dimensions that enable image acquisition of transparent media without the need for chemical staining that may be applied in a broad range of applications from semiconductor process monitoring to biological screening . the embodiments of fig1 and of fig2 a and fig2 b are variations of the same theme and are used to illustrate the preferred apparatus of the invention . turning now to the schematic diagram of fig1 , one embodiment 10 of the apparatus of the invention is schematically shown . the illustrated apparatus 10 is one adaptation of the invention for differential interference contrast serial time - encoded amplified microscopy of a sample in one dimension . however , two dimensions can be acquired by two orthogonally oriented 1d spatial dispersers etc . three dimensions can also be acquired by extracting the depth information of the object to be imaged . initially , a broadband laser pulse is provided from a broadband laser 12 . in the embodiment shown , the broadband laser pulse source 12 is preferably a femtosecond mode - locked fiber laser 14 with a center wavelength of 1560 nm and a pulse repetition rate of ˜ 37 mhz . a highly nonlinear fiber 16 and optical band - pass filter 18 following the laser produce a train of pulses with ˜ 20 nm bandwidth centered at 1591 nm as an illumination beam . it should be appreciated that a broadband pulsed beam can be generated in numerous ways without departing from the teachings of the present invention . the optical pulses from laser 12 are sent to an optical fiber collimator 20 to ensure a collimated beam 26 in free - space . a half - wave plate ( hwp ) 22 and a quarter - wave plate ( qwp ) 24 are optionally used before the diffraction gratings 28 and 30 to ensure maximum diffraction efficiency of the diffraction gratings . using a pair of diffraction gratings 28 , 30 with around 1100 lines / mm groove density , pulses that are spatially - dispersed into a 1d rainbow pattern are produced and ultimately enable a 1d line - scan of the object . an alternative to creating a 1d rainbow pattern is to use virtually imaged phased arrays ( vipa ). another alternative is to use prisms to create the specially dispersed 1d rainbow pattern . in this illustration , the 1d spatially - dispersed beam from the diffraction gratings 28 , 30 is re - sized using two pairs of cylindrical telescope lenses ( a vertical pair 32 and a horizontal pair 34 ) to allow manipulation of the beam in both vertical and horizontal directions . in another embodiment , the beam is resized using a pair of spherical telescopic lenses or by adjusting the orientations of diffraction gratings . then , the manipulated 1d spatially - dispersed beam is sent to a half - wave plate 36 and a polarizer 38 to rotate the polarization state of the light and ensure an approximately 45 - degree linear polarization incident on the nomarski prism 40 . the nomarski prism 40 splits the illumination beam into two orthogonally - polarized 1d rainbow patterns ( 0 and 90 degrees ). another cylindrical lens 42 is used to make the two orthogonally - polarized 1d rainbow patterns parallel with respect to each other . also , a cylindrical lens 42 , spherical lens 44 and an objective lens 46 are used to focus the illumination onto the sample 48 and ensure a collimated rainbow pattern on the sample object 44 . the design of the nomarski prism 40 and the following optics 42 , 44 and 46 in this illustration are such that the two orthogonally - polarized beams are ˜ 3 μm apart at the object in the direction normal to the direction of the line scan , illustrated schematically in fig3 . referring specifically to fig3 , the beam trace of each wavelength component of the illumination beam through the nomarski prism 40 and a single objective lens 46 is generally shown . the θ shown in fig3 is the angle of linear polarization . the two polarized beams are incident to the transparent object such that two incident points on the object are illuminated by each wavelength but with two different polarizations . a mirror 50 is placed at the back of the sample object 48 in the embodiment of fig1 and fig3 in order to return the phase - encoded beams back to the same optics . this scheme results in double passing of the illumination beams through the object 48 , and as a result doubles the phase shifts . after recombining the phase - encoded beams using the same lenses 42 , 44 and 46 and nomarski prism 40 , the spectrally - encoded beam is spatially - compressed using the same pair of diffraction gratings 28 , 30 , and associated optics . the beam is directed back into an optical fiber 68 using an optical - fiber collimator 20 . in this configuration , the polarizer 38 before the nomarski prism 40 acts the analyzer in the conventional differential interference contrast microscopy . the spectrally - encoded returning beam from fiber 68 is directed to a spool of dispersive fiber 54 ( with a preferred dispersion value of − 662 ps / nm ) via an optical circulator 52 to perform amplified dispersive fourier transformation . the dispersive fiber 54 is optically pumped by four continuous - wave lasers 56 , 58 , 60 and 62 providing center wavelengths at 1450 nm , 1470 nm , 1490 nm , and 1505 nm for distributed raman amplification . in the dispersive medium 54 , the spectrum of each interfered pulse is converted into an amplified temporal waveform . the time - encoded optical pulses are then captured by a high - speed photodetector 64 ( bandwidth & gt ; 10 ghz ) and digitized by a real - time digitizer 66 with a 16 ghz bandwidth and 50 gs / s sampling rate , for example . digital signal processing including background and noise removal may be performed offline to reconstruct the image of the object 48 under examination . turning now to the embodiment of fig2 a and fig2 b , an alternative configuration of the apparatus is generally shown . this embodiment is particularly suited for high - throughput imaging such as cellular screening applications . the broadband pulse laser source 70 is preferably a femtosecond mode - locked fiber laser 72 with a center wavelength of 1560 nm and a pulse repetition rate of ˜ 37 mhz . a highly nonlinear fiber 74 and optical band - pass filter 76 following the laser produces a train of pulses with ˜ 20 nm bandwidth centered at 1591 nm as an illumination beam . although this configuration is preferred , other laser sources can also be used . the optical pulses from broadband laser source 70 may be sent to an optical fiber collimator 78 to ensure a collimated beam in free - space . the beam is directed through a half - wave plate ( hwp ) 80 and a quarter - wave plate ( qwp ) 82 to the first diffraction grating 84 to a second diffraction grating 86 . the optional half - wave plate 80 and a quarter - wave plate 82 are used before the diffraction gratings to ensure maximum diffraction efficiency of the diffraction gratings . a pair of diffraction gratings 84 , 86 with approximately 1100 lines / mm groove density is preferred but any groove density may be used . the groove density of the diffraction grating determines the spatial resolution i . e . the number of resolvable points and the higher the groove density the better the spatial resolution . accordingly , the spatial resolution of the diffraction gratings can be selected based on the characteristics of the objects to be imaged . the 1d spatially - dispersed beam from the second diffraction grating 86 is re - sized using two pairs of cylindrical telescope lenses ( vertical 88 and horizontal 90 ) in vertical and horizontal directions . then , the 1d spatially - dispersed beam is sent to a half - wave plate 92 and a polarizer 94 to rotate the polarization state of the light and ensure a 45 - degree linear polarization incident on the nomarski prism 96 . the nomarski prism 96 splits the illumination beam into two orthogonally - polarized 1d rainbow patterns ( 0 and 90 degrees ). another cylindrical lens 98 is used to make the two orthogonally - polarized 1d rainbow patterns parallel with respect to each other . also , a spherical lens 100 and an objective lens 102 are used to focus the illumination onto the sample object 104 and ultimately ensure a collimated rainbow pattern on the object 104 . the design of the nomarski prism 96 and the following optics are such that the two orthogonally - polarized beams are preferably separated between approximately ˜ 1 μm and approximately ˜ 5 μm apart at the object in the direction normal to the direction of the line scan . another objective lens 106 and a spherical lens 108 are present on the other side of the sample object 104 to collect the transmitted beams . a cylindrical lens 110 then focuses the two orthogonally - polarized beams on the cross point of the second nomarski prism 112 . the second nomarski prism 112 is normally identical to the first nomarski prism 96 . an analyzer ( i . e ., polarizer ) 114 picks up the interfered components of the recombined beam . after recombining the phase - encoded beams using the second nomarski prism 112 , the spectrally - encoded beam is re - sized and spatially - compressed using two pairs of cylindrical lenses ( horizontal 118 and vertical 120 ) and a pair of diffraction gratings ( preferably the same groove density as the first pair ), respectively . accordingly , the beam from the half wave plate 116 is preferably sized by telescoping lenses 118 and 120 and directed to the third diffraction grating 122 and fourth diffraction grating 124 . the beam is then coupled into an optical fiber 142 using an optical - fiber collimator 126 in fig2 b . the resulting spectrally - encoded beam is directed to a spool of dispersive fiber 128 ( with dispersion value of − 1373 ps / nm ) to perform amplified dispersive fourier transformation , in this embodiment . the dispersive fiber 128 is optically pumped by four continuous - wave lasers 130 , 132 , 134 and 136 at 1450 nm , 1470 nm , 1490 nm , and 1505 nm for distributed raman amplification . optical amplification of the dispersive fiber 128 allows detection of low signals and therefore improves the sensitivity of the technique . in the dispersive medium 128 , the spectrum of each interfered pulse is converted into an amplified temporal waveform . the time - encoded optical pulses are then captured by a high - speed photodetector 138 ( bandwidth & gt ; 10 ghz ) and digitized by a real - time digitizer 140 with 16 ghz bandwidth and 50 gs / s sampling rate . digital signal processing including background and noise removal can then be performed offline to reconstruct the image of the object 104 . a differential phase contrast image of the object 104 is obtained with very fast shutter speed and high frame rates . referring now to the flow diagram of fig4 , one embodiment of the method 100 for differential interference contrast serial time encoded amplified microscopy is generally shown . the apparatus shown schematically in fig1 and in fig3 are illustrations of an apparatus that is capable of performing the method . at block 110 , at least one spatially dispersed orthogonally polarized laser beam is produced from a laser light source , a spatial disperser and a nomarski prism . the light source can be incoherent light source , a broadband pulse laser light source and a swept frequency continuous - wave laser light source , for example . as illustrated in fig1 and fig2 a and fig2 b , the beam from the laser light source is prepared for exposure on the sample by being spatially dispersed and polarized before being directed through the nomarski prism to the sample . spatial dispersion is preferably accomplished with a pair of diffraction gratings but other spatial dispersers may also be used . the spatial dispersive element may also include optical lenses for focusing or half wave plates and quarter wave plates to maximize diffraction efficiency if diffraction gratings are used . the prepared spatially dispersed beam is directed to the sample at block 120 of fig4 , preferably with one or more objective lenses . the spatial information from the exposed sample is encoded onto the spectrum of the beam at block 130 . at block 140 , the exposed spatially dispersed beams are reflected back through the sample specimen with a reflector as shown in the embodiment shown in fig3 . the back reflection from the sample goes back through the objective lens , nomarski prism and disperser in this embodiment . the encoded back reflection is mapped into a temporal waveform with a temporal disperser to produce a serial time - domain waveform at block 150 of fig4 . at this point the optical spectrum that is encoded with the image of the sample appears as a serial sequence in time . the temporal dispersive element is preferably a dispersive fiber and a process called amplified dispersive fourier transform ( adft ) is preferably used to map the encoded spectrum into a temporal waveform using group velocity dispersion . other transforms may also be used . at block 160 , the serialized images are processed . typically they are detected by a photodiode and then digitized and manipulated with digital processing . it will be seen that the apparatus and the embodiments illustrated in fig1 through fig4 , map an image into a serial time - domain waveform that allows the images to be captured with a single - pixel detector , eliminating the need for ccd / cmos imagers and the associated trade - off between imaging sensitivity and speed . this mapping is generally accomplished in two steps . the first step is space - frequency mapping . the spatial information of an object is encoded into the spectrum of a broadband laser pulse using a spatial disperser and nomarski prism . two spatially - dispersed orthogonally - polarized beams are produced such that each wavelength component of the beam travels through adjacent points on the object with different polarizations . consequently , the beams experience different phase shifts associated with the optical path lengths ( i . e ., the product of the refractive index and thickness ) of the two incident points on the object . by recombining the two phase - encoded beams using the same or another nomarski prism , the differential phase information is converted into an intensity modulation . in other words , the optical path length difference between the two incident points results in constructive / deconstructive interference for each wavelength . the second step is frequency - time mapping . the image - encoded spectrum is then converted into a temporal data stream and stretched in time , preferably through a process called amplified dispersive fourier transformation ( adft ). adft maps the spectrum of the encoded optical pulse into a temporal waveform using group velocity dispersion . at the same time , the dispersive fiber is pumped with supplemental laser light sources to amplify the image signal and compensate for losses . the time stretch allows the image to be digitized by a conventional electronic digitizer . also , the optical image amplification overcomes the loss of signal at high frame rates . the present invention can provide one - dimensional , two dimensional or three - dimensional imaging . the one - dimensional schemes like those shown in fig1 or fig2 a and fig2 b use diffraction gratings or prisms to generate a 1d pattern for illuminating a specimen . the two - dimensional schemes use two orthogonally oriented 1d dispersers and the frequency - time mapping process is the same as with the 1d schemes . three - dimensional imaging is acquired by recovering the absolute phase shift that is caused by the sample as compared with the relative phase shift recovered in the 2d scheme and the use of a reference beam split before the nomarski prism . by interfering the reference beam with the sampling beam , the absolute phase shift converts into intensity information . the invention may be better understood with reference to the accompanying examples , which are intended for purposes of illustration only and should not be construed as in any sense limiting the scope of the present invention as defined in the claims appended hereto . in order to prove the concepts of the invention , a computer model was created for the system described schematically in fig2 a and fig2 b that used a crenated sample with a 30 μm width to test the system . the model specimen was meant as a crude example of a typical application such as identification of a certain type of diseased cells . in this simulation , the resolution is assumed to be 0 . 5 micron and the two adjacent points are 0 . 2 μm apart . these are typical numbers for a conventional dic microscope . the model of fig2 a and fig2 b was used and a broadband pulse laser was adopted to generate the probe beam . the beam was mapped into space using a spatial - disperser such as diffraction grating or prism . the spatially - dispersed beam was split into two beams with orthogonal polarization states using a nomarski / wollaston prism . the two beams were focused on the sample such that every two adjacent points were illuminated by a certain wavelength but with two different polarizations . after traveling through the sample , the two polarized beams are combined using a second nomarski / wollaston prism . the optical path difference between the two adjacent points results in constructive / deconstructive interference of certain wavelengths . the spatially dispersed and spectrally - encoded pulses are spatially compressed using another diffraction grating ( or prism ). the amplified dispersive fourier transformation was performed to convert the spectrum of the pulses into time and amplify them simultaneously . distributed amplification can be achieved using raman amplification and dispersion compensating fibers . a single - pixel photodetector and a commercial digitizer can be used to receive the time - encoded pulses . post - signal processing is performed to construct the images . in one implementation , a broadband laser pulse is dispersed in one dimension using a diffraction grating . it therefore performs a 1d line scan of the sample . the process is repeated by subsequent laser pulses that arrive at the laser pulse repetition frequency ( typically tens of mhz ). at the same time , the samples — cells in the flow cytometry application — are moving in the axial direction — perpendicular to the line - scanning direction . hence each line scan creates a single 1d image but at an incrementally different axial line compared to the adjacent pulses . two dimensional images are then obtained by these line scans . the scan rate of this technique is determined by the repetition rate of the pulse laser . the technique can also be extended to 3d imaging by recovering the absolute phase shift caused by the sample , compared to the relative phase shift in 2d approach described above . in the 2d configuration , the interference process converts to amplitude the relative phase shift difference between the two orthogonally - polarized beams . this provides information about the relative optical path length between two adjacent in - plane points . the axial information , which must be recovered for 3d imaging , is contained in the absolute phase shift . this phase shift can be recovered by adding a reference beam . as seen in the embodiment of fig2 a and fig2 b , the beam is split into two beams before the nomarski prism and combined back after the second nomarski prism . therefore , the overall intensity detected by the photodetector can be written as : as can be seen in the expression above , the amplitude modulation is now a function of both the absolute phase shifts ( φ 1 and φ 2 ) and the differential phase shift ( φ 2 − φ 1 ). assuming φ 2 − φ 1 & lt ;& lt ; φ 1 , φ 2 , the terms cos ( φ 2 ) and cos ( φ 1 ) cause faster modulations compared to the term cos ( φ 2 − φ 1 ). by low - pass filtering i t , dc term and the low frequency term ( cos ( φ 2 − φ 1 )) are extracted . thus , absolute phase values , φ 1 and φ 2 , and therefore the sample thickness ( axial dimension ) at both points can be found , leading to a 3d image . in contrast to conventional light microscopes , the methods can image samples with refractive index similar to their surroundings . moreover , picking up the sample profile of two points , which are ≧ 0 . 2 μm apart , will result in unrivaled resolution among standard optical microscopes . in order to illustrate the methods for fabrication and the functionality of the differential interference contrast serial time encoded amplified microscopy system , an imager apparatus was constructed according the general schematic shown in fig1 . both one dimensional and two dimensional images of a sample were obtained . the second dimension of the images was obtained by translating the sample in the direction orthogonal to that of the line scans . the sample was a transparent material with periodically refractive - index modulation ( i . e . a transmission grating with groove density of ˜ 70 lines / mm ). the optical source was a mode - locked laser with a center wavelength of 1560 nm and a pulse repetition rate of 36 . 1 mhz . a highly nonlinear fiber and optical band - pass filter following the laser produced a train of pulses with ˜ 20 nm bandwidth centered at 1591 nm was used as an illumination beam . using a pair of diffraction gratings with 1100 lines / mm groove density , the pulses were spatially - dispersed into a 1d rainbow pattern enabling 1d line - scanning of the test object . the 1d spatially - dispersed beam was sent to a half - wave plate and a polarizer to rotate the polarization state of the light and ensure 45 - degree linear polarization incident on the nomarski prism . the nomarski prism split the illumination beam into two orthogonally - polarized 1d rainbow patterns ( 0 and 90 degrees ). the design of the nomarski prism and the optics that followed were such that the two orthogonally - polarized beams were ˜ 3 μm apart on the object in the direction normal to the direction of the line scan as shown in fig3 . a mirror was placed at the back of the sample to return the phase - encoded beams through the same optics , which resulted in double passing of the illumination beams through the object , and hence , doubles the phase shifts . after recombining the phase encoded beams using the same nomarski prism , the spectrally - encoded beam was directed to a spool of dispersive fiber ( with dispersion value of − 662 ps / nm ) via an optical circulator to perform amplified dispersive fourier transformation . the time - encoded optical pulses were then captured by a high - speed photodetector and digitized by a real - time digitizer with 16 ghz bandwidth and 50 gs / s sampling rate ( tektronix — dpo71604 ). digital signal processing including background and noise removal was performed offline to reconstruct the images . the number of image pixels was found to be n = d . δλ . fdig = 662 , where d is the total dispersion in the dispersive fiber ( d =− 662 ps / nm ), δλ is the optical bandwidth ( δλ = 20 nm ), and fdig is the sampling rate of the digitizer ( fdig = 50 gs / s ). the number of resolvable points was estimated to be ˜ 100 from the spectral resolution of the adft process . accordingly , the dwell time ( shutter speed ) was found to be ˜ 60 ps from the bandwidth of each subpulse or wavelength component ( 20 nm / 100 ) in the line scan . the temporal waveform indicated the repetitive pulses ( corresponding to the line scans ) detected by a single - pixel photodetector had a 36 . 1 mhz frame rate . in other words , real - time capture of time - domain pulses enabled pulse - to - pulse ( frame - by - frame ) image acquisition at 36 . 1 mhz rate in this example . the design of transmission grating was such that the refractive - index modulation is small and the reflections from different points on the sample were below the sensitivity of a conventional steam imager . with the nomarski prism , the system provided the differential phase - contrast in imaging of the sample and showed significant contrast - enhancement using the apparatus . the observed high - intensity lines in the obtained image were ˜ 14 μm apart , which agreed with the specifications of the transmission grating ( i . e ., 70 lines / mm groove density ). in order to further demonstrate the functionality of the methods and imager , the apparatus shown in fig1 was constructed and used for high - speed , high - contrast imaging of fast - flowing unstained white blood cells . white blood cells were isolated from whole blood by hypotonic lysis of red blood cells and re - suspended in phosphate buffered saline . the optical source that was used was a mode - locked laser with a center wavelength of 1560 nm and a pulse repetition rate of 36 . 1 mhz . a highly nonlinear fiber and optical band - pass filter following the laser produces a train of pulses with ˜ 20 nm bandwidth centered at 1591 nm as an illumination beam . using a pair of diffraction gratings with 1100 lines / mm groove density , the pulses were spatially - dispersed into a 1d rainbow pattern enabling 1d line - scanning of the object . the 1d spatially - dispersed ( i . e ., 1d rainbow ) were sent to a half - wave plate and a polarizer to rotate the polarization state of the light and to ensure a 45 - degree linear polarization incident on the nomarski prism . the nomarski prism split the illumination beam into two orthogonally - polarized 1d rainbow patterns ( 0 and 90 degrees ). the design of the nomarski prism and the following optics are such that the two orthogonally - polarized beams are ˜ 3 μm apart at the object in the direction normal to the direction of the line scan as illustrated in fig3 . a mirror 50 was placed at the back of the object to return the phase - encoded beams to the same optics , which results in double passing of the illumination beams through the object , and hence , doubles the phase shifts as illustrated in fig1 . after recombining the phase - encoded beams using the same nomarski prism 40 , the spectrally - encoded beam is directed to a spool of dispersive fiber ( with dispersion value of − 1373 ps / nm ) via an optical circulator to perform amplified dispersive fourier transformation . the time - encoded optical pulses are then captured by a high - speed photodetector and digitized by a real - time digitizer with 16 ghz bandwidth and 50 gs / s sampling rate ( tektronix — dpo71604 ). digital signal processing including background and noise removal was performed offline to reconstruct the image of the object under test . also , in order to uniformly position and flow cells to be imaged , inertial microfluidic technology was employed . this technology enabled focusing and ordering of cells at very fast flow rate , while eliminating the need for sheath fluid . the cells had a flow speed of ˜ 1 m / s in the direction orthogonal to that of the line scans providing 400 - 500 image pixels in the flow direction . the number of image pixels in this demonstration was found to be n =| d | δλf dig = 1373 , where d is the total dispersion in the dispersive fiber ( d =− 1373 ps / nm ), δλ is the optical bandwidth ( δλ = 20 nm ), and f dig is the sampling rate of the digitizer ( f dig = 50 gs / s ). the number of resolvable points was estimated to be ˜ 175 from the spectral resolution of the adft process . accordingly , the dwell time ( shutter speed ) was found to be ˜ 40 ps from the bandwidth of each sub - pulse or wavelength component ( 20 nm / 175 ) in the line scan . the temporal waveform that was observed indicated the repetitive pulses ( corresponding to the line scans ) detected by a single - pixel photodetector and illustrates the operation of apparatus at a 36 . 1 mhz frame rate . in other words , real - time capture of time - domain pulses enables pulse - to - pulse ( frame - by - frame ) image acquisition at a 36 . 1 mhz rate . for purposes of comparison , 2d images were obtained with the apparatus and with a conventional steam imager . the two dimensional images captured by the apparatus were based on the relative phase shift between the illumination beams when propagating through the cell , while the images captured by steam showed the reflectivity from the surface of the cell . interestingly , the image contrast of the white blood cell captured by apparatus was & gt ; 10 times higher than that of captured by a conventional steam apparatus . this was due to poor refractive - index contrast of unstained white blood cells compared to their aqueous surrounding . interestingly , since the apparatus reveals the optical density of the cell ( i . e ., the product of refractive index and size ), it is capable of distinguishing different types of cells that are similar in size , and provides a path to high - throughput imaging - based flow cytometry and cell sorting . from the discussion above it will be appreciated that the invention can be embodied in various ways , including the following : 1 . an apparatus for optical imaging , comprising a broadband pulsed laser light source ; a spatial disperser stage operably coupled to the light source producing a polarized spatially dispersed beam ; a nomarski prism operably coupled to the spatial disperser stage ; an objective lens configured to direct a spatially dispersed beam from the nomarski prism to a specimen ; a mirror ; a temporal disperser stage configured to map a back - reflected spectrum into a temporal waveform ; an optical detector ; and a digitizer . 2 . the apparatus of embodiment 1 , wherein the broadband pulsed laser source comprises : a mode - locked laser ; a highly non - linear fiber ; a bandpass filter ; and a fiber collimator . 3 . the apparatus of embodiment 1 , wherein said spatial disperser stage comprises : a half - wave plate ; a quarter - wave plate ; a pair of diffraction gratings ; a pair of vertical telescoping lenses ; a pair of horizontal telescoping lenses ; a half wave plate ; and a polarizer . 4 . the apparatus of embodiment 1 , the objective lens further comprising : a cylindrical lens operably coupled to the nomarski prism ; and a spherical lens operably coupled with an objective lens . 5 . the apparatus of embodiment 1 , wherein the temporal disperser stage comprises : an optical circulator ; a spool of dispersive fiber operably coupled to the optical circulator ; and a plurality of optical pumping continuous wave lasers coupled to the dispersive fiber operating at different center wavelengths . 6 . an apparatus for optical imaging , comprising : a broadband pulsed laser light source ; an encoding spatial disperser stage operably coupled to the light source producing a polarized spatially dispersed beam ; a first nomarski prism operably coupled to the spatial disperser stage ; a first objective lens configured to direct a spatially dispersed beam from the nomarski prism to a specimen ; a second objective lens ; a second nomarski prism operably coupled to the second objective lens ; a second spatial disperser stage ; a temporal disperser stage operably coupled to the second spatial disperser stage ; an optical detector ; and a digitizer . 7 . the apparatus of embodiment 6 , wherein said broadband pulsed laser source comprises : a mode - locked laser ; a highly non - linear fiber ; a bandpass filter ; and a fiber collimator . 8 . the apparatus of embodiment 6 , wherein the first and second spatial disperser stages comprise : a half - wave plate ; a quarter - wave plate ; a pair of diffraction gratings ; a pair of vertical telescoping lenses ; a pair of horizontal telescoping lenses ; a half wave plate ; and a polarizer . 9 . the apparatus of embodiment 6 , wherein the first and second objective lenses further comprise : a cylindrical lens operably coupled to the nomarski prism ; and a spherical lens operably coupled with and an objective lens . 10 . the apparatus of embodiment 6 , wherein the temporal disperser stage comprises : an optical circulator ; a spool of dispersive fiber operably coupled to the optical circulator ; and a plurality of optical pumping continuous wave lasers coupled to the dispersive fiber operating at different center wavelengths . 11 . a method of optical imaging , comprising : generating orthogonally polarized spatially dispersed beams with a broadband pulsed laser source , a spatial disperser and a nomarski prism ; exposing a sample to the spatially dispersed beams ; encoding spatial information of the sample into the spectrum of the exposed spatially dispersed beam ; mapping the encoded spectrum into a temporal waveform with a temporal disperser to produce an encoded serial time - domain waveform ; processing the encoded serial time - domain waveform to produce an image . 12 . the method of embodiment 11 , wherein the broadband pulsed laser source is produced by passing a laser beam from a mode - locked laser through a highly non - linear fiber , bandpass filter and fiber collimator . 13 . the method of embodiment 11 , wherein the spatial disperser comprises a first diffraction grating , a second diffraction grating , optical lenses and a polarizer . 14 . the method of embodiment 13 , wherein the spatial disperser further comprises a half wave plate and a quarter wave plate disposed in a beam path prior to the first diffraction grating . 15 . the method of embodiment 11 , wherein the exposed spatially dispersed beam from the sample is further directed through an objective lens , a second nomarski prism , an analyzer , a half wave plate , optical lenses , a third diffraction grating and a fourth diffraction grating before temporal mapping . 16 . the method of embodiment 11 , further comprising : amplifying the mapped encoded serial time - domain waveform by optical pumping of a temporal dispersive element with at least one secondary light source . 17 . the method of embodiment 11 , further comprising : exposing the sample to a second spatially dispersed beam generated from a broadband pulsed laser source , a spatial disperser and a nomarski prism oriented orthogonally to a first spatially dispersed beam . 18 . the method of embodiment 17 , further comprising : recovering the absolute phase shift caused by the sample ; and generating a three - dimensional image . 19 . the method of embodiment 11 , wherein the processing comprises : capturing the waveform with a photodiode ; digitizing the captured waveform to provide a digital signal ; and processing the digital signal to produce an image . 20 . a method of optical imaging , comprising : generating a plurality of spatially dispersed beams with broadband pulsed laser source , a spatial disperser and a nomarski prism ; exposing a sample to the spatially dispersed beams ; encoding spatial information of the sample into the spectrum of the exposed spatially dispersed beam ; reflecting the exposed spatially dispersed beam back through the sample and nomarski prism ; mapping the encoded spectrum into a temporal waveform with a temporal disperser to produce an encoded serial time - domain waveform ; processing the encoded serial time - domain waveform to produce an image . although the description above contains many details , these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention . therefore , it will be appreciated that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art , and that the scope of the present invention is accordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims , in which reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “ one and only one ” unless explicitly so stated , but rather “ one or more .” all structural , chemical , and functional equivalents to the elements of the above - described preferred embodiment that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims . moreover , it is not necessary for a device or method to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the present invention , for it to be encompassed by the present claims . furthermore , no element , component , or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element , component , or method step is explicitly recited in the claims . no claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35 u . s . c . 112 , sixth paragraph , unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “ means for .”
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referring more particularly to fig1 of the drawings , there is shown a general block diagram of a computer hardware system comprising a central processing unit ( cpu ) 10 and a random access memory ( ram ) unit 11 . computer programs stored in the ram 11 are accessed by cpu 10 and executed , one instruction at a time , by cpu 10 . data , stored in other portions of ram 11 , are operated upon by the program instructions accessed by cpu 10 from ram 11 , all in accordance with well - known data processing techniques . cpu 10 may , of course , comprise multiple processors and interact with multiple memory units 11 by way of caches for data and / or instructions , all as is also well - known in the data processing art . as suggested by line 17 , cpu 10 may , in fact , be one of a plurality of central processing units in a multiprocessor or distributed processing system . similarly , as suggested by line 18 , ram 11 may be one of a plurality of random access memories serving the data processing system of fig1 . central processing unit ( cpu ) 10 also controls and accesses a disk controller unit 12 which , in turn , accesses digital data stored on one or more disk storage units such as disk storage unit 13 . in normal operation , programs and data are stored on disk storage unit 13 until required by cpu 10 . at this time , such programs and data are retrieved from disk storage unit 13 in blocks and stored in ram 11 for rapid access . central processing unit ( cpu ) 10 also controls an input - output ( io ) controller 14 which , in turn , provides access to a plurality of input devices such as crt ( cathode ray tube ) terminal 15 , as well as a plurality of output devices such as printer 16 . terminal 15 provides a mechanism for a computer operator to introduce instructions and commands into the computer system of fig1 and may be supplemented with other input devices such as card and tape readers , remotely located terminals , optical readers and other types of input devices . similarly , printer 16 provides a mechanism for displaying the results of the operation of the computer system of fig1 for the computer user . printer 16 may similarly be supplemented by line printers , cathode ray tube displays , phototypesetters , graphical plotters and other types of output devices . the constituents of the computer system of fig1 and their cooperative operation are well - known in the art and are typical of all computer systems , from small personal computers to large main frame systems . the architecture and operation of such systems are well - known and , since they form no part of the present invention , will not be further described here . in fig2 there is shown a graphical representation of a typical software architecture for a computer system such as that shown in fig1 . the software of fig2 comprises an access mechanism 20 which , for simple personal computers , may comprise no more than turning the system on . in larger systems , providing service to a larger number of users , login and password procedures would typically be implemented in access mechanism 20 . once access mechanism 20 has completed the login procedure , the user is placed in the operating system environment 21 . operating system 21 coordinates the activities of all of the hardware components of the computer system ( shown in fig1 ) and provides a number of utility programs 22 of general use to the computer user . utilities 22 might , for example , comprise assemblers and compilers , mathematical routines , basic file handling routines and system maintenance facilities . one such utility software program is shown as resource locking mechanism 29 . mechanism 29 serves to assign resources such as one of the memories such as memory 11 , one of the disk storage units such as unit 13 , or one of the processing units such as unit 10 , to the various software processes forming the other components of fig2 . locking mechanism 29 utilizes a plurality of resource request queues 19 to insure the assignment of resources to the requesters in the same order as the requests are made . locking mechanism 29 will be described in greater detail in connection with fig3 and 4 . the computer software system of fig2 typically also includes a plurality of application programs such as application software 23 , 24 , . . . 25 . application software 23 - 25 might , for example , comprise an editor , a spread sheet program , a graphics package , a data base manager , and so forth . each of the application programs 23 through 25 includes or provides access to a plurality of programmed processes 26 , 27 , . . . 28 , respectively . it is the programmed processes 26 through 28 which actually perform the tasks necessary to carry out the purpose of the corresponding application program . in order to make effective use of these application packages , the user must be able to execute the processes 26 - 28 at the time , and in the sequence , necessary to accomplish the user &# 39 ; s goals . in many applications such as those depicted in fig2 it is vital that failed processes be detected in order to carry out a desired failure recovery procedure . the present invention is concerned with methods and apparatus for performing such failure detection . each of the processes 26 , 27 , . . . 28 includes the necessary routines to carry out this failure detection as shown in the flow charts of fig3 , 5 and 6 . the routines shown as flow charts in fig3 , 5 and 6 , are also shown as pseudocode in the appendix to this specification . it is believed that the creation and execution of the computer programs necessary to carry out these processes are readily apparent to those skilled in the programming art from the present disclosure . in fig3 there is shown a flowchart of an exclusive lockout algorithm useful in realizing the fault detection scheme of the present invention . the algorithm of fig3 assigns a resource ( imaginary in the present case ) exclusively to one resource which is at the top of a queue of requesters for that resource . the procedure of fig3 is disclosed in greater detail at pages 56 and 57 of the aforementioned text by m . raynal . the procedure illustrated in fig3 is contained in the resource locking mechanism 29 of fig2 . beginning at terminal box 30 , box 39 is entered where a variable qno ( i ) is set to zero . each of the processes of the system of fig2 is represented by a separate entry on a resource queue in request queues 19 of fig2 . each entry on each of the queues is accompanied by a priority number qno which represents the sequence in which the entries are to be retrieved from the queue . this priority number for the monitored process is set to zero in box 39 to insure the highest priority to the monitored process . the qno &# 39 ; s , of course , determine the order in which the imaginary resource is assigned to the various requesters , starting at the lowest qno and proceeding to ever greater qno &# 39 ; s . since all of the qnos are initialized to the highest possible number ( maxno = infinity = all 1 &# 39 ; s ), they cannot assigned to the resource until their queue number is set to some lower value . in box 31 , the monitored process , process ( i ), is then assigned a priority number , qno ( i ), which is greater than any other finite priority number on the queue for that resource , i . e ., qno ( i )= maxqno + 1 . where maxqno = max {( qno ( i ): iε { 1 , 2 , . . . , j ( max ); qno ( i )≠∞} and j ( max ) is the total number of processes , monitored and monitoring , requesting a lock . the process to be monitored is normally the first process to request the imaginary resource , and hence has the lowest queue number , qno ( i )= 1 . all of the other processes of the system ( the monitoring processes ) request shared locks on this resource after the exclusive lock is granted , and hence have lower queue numbers and are not assigned the resource at this time . it is possible that two or more requesters will simultaneously request the same resource and be assigned the same queue number . as will be seen , this ambiguity is resolved by arbitrarily numbering the requesters , and using the requester &# 39 ; s number to resolve the ambiguity that arises when two different requesters are assigned the same qno . the lockout algorithm of fig3 is therefore able to deal with any number of simultaneous requests , thereby insuring an exclusive assignment regardless of ambiguities in the ordering of requests . the resource requester queues 19 of fig2 are each an array with a number of entries corresponding to the number of requesters , i . e ., the number of processes in the monitoring strategy . if j is an index into this array , then the value of j varies from 1 to j ( max ), where j ( max ) is the total number of requesters . in box 32 , the index j is set to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. in decision box 33 , the current value of j is tested to determine if this value is less than j ( max ). if the current value of j is less than j ( max ), box 36 is entered where j is incremented by one . box 37 is then entered to determine if the value of j is equal to the value of i , the priority value of the process requesting the exclusive lockout . if they are equal , decision box 33 is re - entered to test for the next entry in the array . if i and j are not equal , box 38 is entered , where the procedure simply waits until either the queue number for this process is less than the queue number for the jth process , or the queue numbers are the same , but the index number i for this process is less than the index number j . in either case , decision box 33 is re - entered and loop 36 - 37 - 38 repeated until the last entry in the queue has been visited . at that point , decision box 33 is exited to box 34 where the imaginary resource is assigned exclusively to the current process . in box 35 , the queue number of this process is then assigned the largest possible value to prevent the assigned resource from participating in future competitions for this resource . as previously indicated , the algorithm of fig3 can be used to assign an imaginary resource in the exclusive mode to each of the processes of fig2 to be monitored . thereafter , these same imaginary resources are requested by all of the other processes of fig2 in a shared mode . one procedure for assigning shared mode locks is shown in fig4 . turning then to fig4 there is shown an algorithm for assigning shared locks to all of the monitoring processes in the system of fig2 . the procedure of fig4 is also implemented in the resource locking mechanism 29 of fig2 . starting at terminal box 40 , box 41 is entered where each process requests a shared lock on the imaginary resource assigned to another process . in decision box 42 , it is determined whether or not an exclusive mode lock currently exists for this resource . if not , the process is assigned a shared lock on the imaginary resource , indicating that the process having an exclusive lock on this resource has relinquished that exclusive lock and hence has failed . if the exclusive lock is in place , the shared lock cannot be granted and the procedure terminates in terminal box 44 . in fig5 there is shown a detailed flowchart of the exclusive lock request procedure taking place in each process to be monitored . starting at terminal box 50 , box 51 is entered to request the exclusive lock . once the exclusive lock has been requested , all of the other monitoring processes are notified to release their shared lock to permit the exclusive lock to be granted . in decision box 52 it is determined if all of the processes have been notified . if not , box 55 is entered to notify the next process , and decision box 52 re - entered to determine if all of the other processes have yet been notified . once all of the other processes have been notified , box 53 is entered to perform whatever other functions have been assigned to this process . the process then terminates in terminal box 54 . it can be seen in fig5 that each process to be monitored requests and exclusive lock on an imaginary resource and notifies every other process to release its shared lock on that resource . after these shared locks are released , the exclusive lock is granted to the process to be monitored . the processes with such exclusive locks can now be monitored as shown in fig6 . turning to fig6 there is shown a detailed flowchart of the procedure by means of which the processes are monitored . starting in terminal box 60 , box 61 is entered to request a shared lock for the imaginary resource exclusively assigned to the process being monitored . in decision box 62 , if the shared lock request is granted ( by the procedure of fig4 ), decision box 68 is entered to determine if the process being monitored has started execution . if the monitored process has started execution ( box 68 ), and if the shared lock has been granted ( box 62 ), that indicates that the monitored process which had the exclusive lock has failed . in box 63 , that failure is reported to the failure recovery apparatus . if the shared lock is not granted , or if the monitored process has not yet started , or after process failure has been reported , decision box 64 is entered to determine if an exclusive lock on that resource has been requested , indicating that the failed process has been restarted and is now operative . if so , box 65 is entered to release the shared lock on that resource , thereby allowing the restarted process to obtain an exclusive lock on the imaginary resource . in box 66 , the shared lock is again requested to reset the monitoring function . thereafter , in box 67 , the other functions assigned to this process are performed . if there is no extant request for an exclusive lock , as determined in decision box 64 , indicating that the failed process is still out of service , box 67 is entered directly to continue to carry out the functions of this process while the failed process is being repaired and restarted . it can be seen that the procedures of fig3 , 5 and 6 cooperate to provide a monitoring function for all of the software processes of a data processing system . the failure of a software process is signaled by the release , by that process , of an exclusive lock on an imaginary resource , exclusively assigned to that process . such a release of the exclusive lock is detected by the granting of a shared lock to one of the other processes in the system for the very same imaginary resource . such imaginary resources are no more than names or other identifications by means of which the failed processes can be uniquely identified . the fail - safe nature of the resource assigning algorithms insures the detection of all software failures , which can then be used to trigger a failure recovery algorithm . one such failure recovery algorithm is disclosed in the copending application of m - t . chao , ser . no . 158 , 228 , filed feb . 19 , 1988 , and assigned to applicant &# 39 ; s assignee . it can be seen that the processes of fig3 , 5 and 6 cooperate to provide a dynamic detection of software failures in any of the other processes of fig2 . pseudo - code listings for each of these failure detection processes are included in the appendix . the correspondence between the listings and fig3 , 5 and 6 are obvious and will not be further described here . also shown in the appendix is a combined listing of all of the pseudocode required to implement the present invention in a multiprocessing environment . this &# 34 ; combined multiprocess code &# 34 ; includes both the &# 34 ; exclusive request &# 34 ; function and the &# 34 ; process monitoring &# 34 ; function . the combined code of the appendix deals with a system comprising n processors p ( 1 ), p ( 2 ), . . . , p ( n ) in which a failure of any process p ( k ), where k = 1 , 2 , . . . , n needs to be detected . each of the processes p ( 1 )- p ( n ) monitors the other ( n - 1 ) processes . the failure of any process is then reported by any one of the remaining ( n - 1 ) processes and the failure reporting capability will remain intact as long as there is one other process to report the failure . it should also be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments of the present invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the teachings of the present invention . ## spc1 ##
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with reference to the drawings , fig1 shows a computer - type circuit including two digital - to - analog converters 12 and 14 . binary numbers are supplied to the digital - to - analog converter 12 as indicated by the inputs 16 . an output voltage e ref appears on lead 18 interconnecting the digital - to - analog converter 12 with the converter 14 . the level of the voltage e ref will be proportional to the magnitude of the binary number which is applied on the input leads 16 to the converter 12 . a second binary number is supplied to the converter 14 on leads 20 . with a signal corresponding to the reference voltage being supplied to a weighting network of the type disclosed below , the output on lead 22 will be an analog signal which is proportional to the product of the first binary number applied on leads 16 and the second binary number applied on leads 20 . accordingly , the circuit shown in fig1 is a high speed multiplier having a digital input and an analog output . a widely used method of implementing digital - to - analog conversion employs a ladder network to establish the required binary weighting between the various bit currents , which are switched in accordance with the binary digits or &# 34 ; bits &# 34 ; which are present at the input signals . the biasing on the ladder network is commonly provided by a voltage - to - current conversion circuit which establishes a current in the ladder network which is directly proportional to a voltage reference source . fig2 illustrates a schematic circuit diagram showing a known method of accomplishing the biasing of a ladder network such as network 24 of fig2 from a reference voltage e ref such as that applied to input terminal 26 of the circuit of fig2 . in fig2 a sum node is created at the positive input 28 to the operational amplifier 30 by virtue of the negative feedback produced by the inversion of the output from the operational amplifier 30 by the transistor q 0 and the subsequent feedback from the collector 32 of transistor q 0 to the input terminal 28 of the operational amplifier 30 . the resistor 34 is also designated r ref and is at the input to the operational amplifier terminal 28 . the current i ref flowing through the resistor r ref is given by the following formula : where e ref is the voltage applied to the input terminal 26 , and r ref is the resistance of the designated input resistor . in formula ( 1 ), it is assumed that the sum node at point 28 is a virtual ground . if the input bias current to the operational amplifier 30 is assumed to be negligibly small , then the current in the collector 32 of transistor q 0 will be equal to i ref and the current i 1 in the collector circuit of transistor q 1 will be directly proportional to i ref with transistors q 0 and q 1 being viewed as a precision current mirror and with the ratio of i 1 to i ref being determined by the ratio of r s to r and the relative emitter scalings or areas of transistors q 0 and q 1 . typical element values used in actual designs might involve a reference voltage e ref having a maximum value of approximately 10 volts , r ref = 20 , 000 ohms , ( or 20k ); r s = 8k , r = 4k , and r / 2 = 2k , with the letter k standing for thousands of ohms in reference to resistor values , and with the area of the emitter of transistor q 1 scaled to be twice that of transistor q 0 . these typical values would result in i ref equal to about 0 . 5 ma ( milliampere ) and i 1 = 1 ma , with equal current densities in both transistors q 0 and q 1 . in fig2 the current ladder 24 including the network of resistors r and r / 2 is conventional . current flows continuously through the transistors q 0 , q 1 , q 2 , q 3 . . . q n , with the current through each successive transistor q 1 , q 2 , q 3 . . . q n being equal to i 1 , i 1 / 2 , i 1 / 4 , i 1 18 . . . i 1 / 2 n . the binary input to the digital - to - analog converter of fig2 is provided by switches , shown schematically in fig2 by the mechanical switches s 1 , s 2 , s 3 . . . s n , with the state of the successive switches corresponding to the successive digits of the input binary number . instead of the mechanical switches shown in fig2 transistor switching circuitry is normally employed , of course . an analog representation of the input digital signal is developed in terms of the summation of currents flowing through selected transistors q 1 , q 3 and q 4 , for example which are directed by the switches to flow through the sum output lead 39 . as the input voltage e ref changes , the biasing current to all of the transistors q 1 , q 2 etc . changes , and the binary currents shift correspondingly , while still retaining their binary weighting relative to one another . the circuit of fig2 provides two important functions . first , the current i 1 and the subsequent binary multiples are all directly proportional to the voltage e ref . secondly , the effect of temperature is compensated as long as the emitter - to - base voltages of transistors q 0 and q 1 do not change significantly with respect to one another with changes in temperature , and as long as the sum node 28 remains a virtual ground . and this last proviso will be maintained , as long as the offset voltage temperature coefficient of the operational amplifier 30 is not unduly large . as mentioned above , the circuit of fig2 does have the disadvantage that a relatively large number of devices are required to implement the operational amplifier and the associated compensation circuitry . further , the size of the compensation capacitor , which is normally equal to approximately 20 to 80 picofarads , will limit the slew rate of the amplifier and the corresponding speed at which e ref is permitted to change while maintaining the required output accuracy from the unit . the present invention as described below in connection with fig3 and 4 , maintains the two important functions of the circuit of fig2 while alleviating the main disadvantages . fig3 illustrates a basic form of the circuit of the present invention . the arrangement of fig3 provides that the point 38 between the input resistor 40 ( r ref ) and the emitter of transistor q 11 will set at approximately ground potential for any value of e ref , in a manner similar to point 28 at the input to the operational amplifier 30 in fig2 . in the following analysis it will be initially assumed that all transistor base - to - collector gains β are very large . the fact that base currents are finite may be corrected by subsequent minor additions to the circuit as discussed below . where v be1 and v be2 are respectively the base - emitter voltage drops of transistors q 11 and q 12 . the current i ref is split equally at the emitters of q 11 and q 13 , assuming that q 11 and q 13 are identical devices . thus , neglecting base current error , the current at the collector of transistor q 13 will be i ref / 2 . q 15 and q 14 form a precision current mirror , having a factor of 2 , with the emitter area of transistor q 14 being twice as large of that of transistor q 15 , and resistor r 14 being one - half the value of resistor r 15 . the mirror arrangement of transistors q 14 and q 15 forces equal current densities through the two transistors , and accordingly forces twice the current through transistor q 14 as through transistor q 15 . the current at the collector of transistor q 11 is i ref / 2 by virtue of the equal split of the emitter currents flowing through transistors q 11 and q 13 . accordingly , in order to satisfy the requirements of kirchoff &# 39 ; s current law at node 42 , the collector of transistor q 12 must supply a current equal to i ref / 2 . the mirror arrangement of transistors q 14 and q 15 has therefore forced identical currents through the emitters of transistors q 11 and q 12 . with transistors q 11 and q 12 being identical devices , then at equal currents their base - to - emitter voltages will be equal . that is , the following relationship will obtain : it may be noted that this relationship is identical to that of equation ( 1 ) for the circuit of fig2 . the ladder network of resistances 24 , the current control transistors q 1 , q 2 etc ., and the switching circuitry for fig3 is the same as that described above in connection with fig2 . the current bias supplied to point 46 will vary proportionally to the input voltage e ref supplied to the terminals 48 and 50 at the input to the circuit of fig3 . to indicate the order of magnitude of typical voltages which might be present in the circuit of fig3 the input voltage e ref might typically range from 0 to 10 volts depending on the output of the previous digital - to - analog converter 12 ( see fig1 ). the negative voltage supplied to terminal 52 may be minus 15 volts . the voltage drop across resistor r in the emitter circuit of transistor q 1 may be about 4 volts maximum . with r being taken equal to 4 , 000 ohms , the current i 1 may be about 1 milliampere . for the mirror - connected transistors q 14 and q 15 , in order for transistor q 14 to carry twice as much current as transistor q 15 the emitter area of transistor q 14 is twice that of transistor q 15 , and the resistance of resistor r 14 associated with transistor q 14 is half that of resistance r 15 . the relative magnitudes of the resistors r 14 and r 15 , and that of the resistors in the ladder network including resistor r in the emitter circuit of transistor q 1 may be chosen for appropriate division of current , and more specifically , r 14 may be chosen to be equal to r , with the resistance of resistor r 15 therefore being equal to 2r . instead of having q 11 and q 13 identical , as discussed above , the emitter areas of these two transistors may be varied , with transistor q 13 drawing several times the current of transistor q 11 , for example . the configuration of the mirror connected transistors q 14 and q 15 and their associated resistors would then be varied , to still force twice the current flow through transistor q 14 as through q 11 so that the transistor q 12 ( still identical to transistor q 11 ) will carry equal current , to produce the desired virtual ground at point 38 . also , if desired , or if other circuit parameters make it desirable , the emitter of transistor q 12 may be fixed at some constant voltage level other than ground . then , point 38 will not be at a virtual ground potential , but at the constant voltage level of the emitter of transistor q 12 . fig4 shows a further implementation of the basic circuit of fig3 and includes the emitter followers q 16 and q 17 to reduce the base current errors introduced by the fact that the base - collector gain β of all devices is finte . in addition , the resistors r x and r y are included to provide a voltage drop so that the collector potentials of the current mirror elements q 11 - q 13 , and q 14 - q 15 more closely match . the implementation shown in fig4 shows an important feature in the use of the split collectors on transistor q 16 to compensate for the base current loss of transistors q 11 , q 12 and q 13 . the base current is in essence summed back into the collector outputs to keep current levels independent of the lateral pnp collector gain factor b , as long as all units track , or maintain their relative operating characteristics with varying temperature . in fig4 the resistor 54 may be provided with the terminal 56 to provide a high impedance negative input terminal , and its other terminal connected to point 58 , the grounded emitter of transistor q 12 . by locating the optional resistor 54 having a resistance value equal to 40k , twice that of r ref , as indicated by the dashed lines in fig4 emitter current is supplied to q 12 and a high impedance node is created at point 58 , as far as the external connection is concerned . concerning currents in various circuit branches of fig4 they are estimated to be as follows . the emitter current to transistors q 11 and q 13 from r ref is approximately one - half milliampere , or 0 . 250 microamp each ; base current of q 12 to point 60 , about 10 microamperes ; base current of transistor q 11 to point 60 , about 5 microamperes ; emitter current to q 16 , about 15 microamperes ; collector current from q 13 , about 245 microamperes ; base current from transistor q 16 to point 62 , about 245 microamperes ; current in lead 64 , about 10 microamperes ; current in lead 66 , about 5 microamperes ; current in lead 68 , about 250 microamperes ; and current to collector of transistor q 14 , about 500 microamperes . in summary , relative to the present invention , it has the advantages , as compared with the circuit of fig2 that ( 1 ) the implementation is much simpler , and requires less integrated circuit chip area ; ( 2 ) no frequency compensation is required to stabilize the circuit against oscillation ; and ( 3 ) the circuit has a faster time response . for completeness , it is noted that so - called &# 34 ; current mirrors &# 34 ; have been described in a number of texts , and one such text disclosing some mirror circuits is &# 34 ; integrated circuit engineering &# 34 ;, by arthur b . glaser et al ., addison - wesley publishing co ., reading , mass ., 1977 . in closing , it is to be understood that the above - described preferred embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention . thus , by way of example and not of limitation , mirror circuit modifications , or the use of other components to accomplish specific disclosed functions , are within the contemplation of the invention . accordingly , the present invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosed and described embodiments .
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reference will be initially made hereinafter to fig1 to 2 and 5 of the drawings . as shown therein , the bleed valve consists of a cylindrical housing 1 which is closed off on the topside 1 ″ by means of a preferably detachably inserted cover 2 , and of a generally likewise cylindrical floating body 3 which is disposed in the housing 1 in such a manner as to be able to move in the direction of the longitudinal axis 5 thereof . the floating body 3 can be guided in a non - rotatable manner inside the housing 1 in relation to the axis thereof by virtue of means which are known per se and are effective in a positive - locking manner . the housing 1 is provided on the topside with two mutually adjacent inlet orifices 4 and an outlet orifice 6 which extends in a coaxial manner with respect to the axis 5 is located in the cover 2 . the outlet orifice terminates on the outer side in a connecting piece 7 which is intended for the connection of an output line . the floating body 3 is supported in a manner known per se on the underside by way of a spring ( 32 ), on the base 1 ′ of the housing 1 , the mode of operation of the spring will be explained hereinafter . the floating body is provided with an annular - cylindrical chamber 8 which is open towards the underside 3 ′ of the floating body and extends substantially coaxially with respect to the axis 5 , wherein the spring is supported on the closed chamber base 9 of the chamber . the topside 3 ″ of the floating body 3 is characterised by a ring - like arrangement of identically configured support fingers 10 which extends substantially coaxially with respect to the longitudinal axis 5 . the support fingers are integrally formed with the floating body 3 at uniform peripherally spaced intervals and protrude from the otherwise planar topside , which is radial in relation to the axis 5 , of the floating body . the reference numeral 11 designates an approximately conically - shaped guide mandrel which is located in a central position inside the ring - like arrangement and protrudes from the topside 3 ″ and whose significance will be explained hereinafter . in the illustrated exemplified embodiment , the guide mandrel extends a shorter distance axially in the direction towards the topside 1 ″ than the support fingers 10 ( see fig2 ). the reference numeral 12 designates a support disc which in the peripheral region forms an annular step which is adjoined by an annular flange 13 . the support disc 12 comprises a central circular opening 14 , into which protrudes a cylindrical projection 16 which is formed integrally with a sealing disc 15 and by means of which the sealing disc is releasably connected to support disc 12 . the sealing disc 15 overlies the support disc 12 on its side facing away from the floating body 3 , i . e ., the support disc has a counter surface 12 ′ for bearing against the sealing disc ( see fig2 ). the annular step of the support disc 12 encompasses the outer side of the arrangement of support fingers 10 and as a result thereof is subjected to a substantially axially directed guiding movement . a guiding or centring effect is also exerted by virtue of the guide mandrel 11 which protrudes into the open end 16 ″ of the projection 16 facing towards the guide mandrel . the projection 16 also forms a continuous connection 16 ′ ( a fluid conduit ) between its open end 16 ″ facing towards the guide mandrel 11 and its open end 16 ′″ facing towards the valve seat 19 . the reference numerals 17 , 17 ′ designate two angular retainer elements which are attached in a mutually diametrically opposed manner to the floating body 3 , each having an abutment section 17 ″ extending over the annular flange 13 , and which are intended to engage the top of the annular flange 13 as seen in fig4 to lock in place a pivot axis 30 of the support disk 13 and thus the sealing disc 12 at an incline as further discussed below . the axial lengths of the retainer elements are different in dimension as shown . this means that the potential movements of the support disc 12 with respect to the two retainer elements 17 , 17 ′ accordingly will be different . in each case , according to the dimensions of the two retainer elements 17 , 17 ′ the entire system consisting of a support disc and sealing disc 12 , 15 is subjected to an approximately cardanic suspension or mobility on or with respect to the floating body . put another way , when the valve is in the fully closed position as shown in fig3 , the support disc and sealing disc 12 , 15 , can pivot about the mandrel 11 generally in any direction relative to the floating body 3 , i . e ., pivotally move about two mutually perpendicular pivot axes 30 and 31 as shown in fig5 . the pivot axis 30 passes through the retainer elements 17 , 17 ′ as shown . however , when the valve starts to open , i . e ., as the float moves downwardly as illustrated in fig4 , the abutment section 17 ″ of the shorter retainer element 17 engages the support disk 12 before the longer retainer element 17 ′ does , thereby causing the pivot axis 30 to move to and be locked into an inclined pivot axis position 11 ′ relative to the longitudinal axis 5 . on the other hand , the other pivot axis 31 which is not affected by the retainer elements 17 , 17 ′ can remain perpendicular to the axis 5 and thus is not inclined . as used herein , a non - inclined pivot axis 30 , 31 would be perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 5 , while an inclined pivot axis 30 ( 11 ′) would not be perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 5 . thus , when the pivot axis 30 is inclined as shown by 11 ′, this pivot axis causes the support disc and sealing disc 12 , 15 to be in the inclined position having a longitudinal axis 5 ′ relative to the housing longitudinal axis 5 . this allows the left side of the sealing disk 15 to pull away from the valve seat 19 before the right side as shown in fig4 and as further described below . the outlet orifice 6 is characterised by a comparatively short tubular element 18 which extends coaxially with respect to the axis 5 and protrudes into the housing 1 and whose free end 19 ′ forms a valve seat 19 for the sealing disc 15 . as shown in detail in fig6 , a bleed valve of this type is intended for installation into the topside wall 20 of the fuel tank 21 of a vehicle . the fuel tank is filled to a permissible level 22 , so that in the type of installation shown where the housing 1 is located almost completely inside the tank , the inlet orifices 4 communicate merely with the head space 23 above the fluid . other types of assembly of the bleed valve , in which the housing is located substantially outside the tank , are equally possible , wherein the inlet orifices have to be placed in different positions accordingly . however , this will be not be discussed further hereinafter . as is known per se , the position of the floating body 3 inside the bleed valve , which is oriented vertically in the installed condition , is determined according to the forces which act upon the floating body , namely a resilient force which acts upon its underside 3 ′, a lifting force in dependence upon the fluid level inside the housing 1 and a mass force , wherein the spring in conjunction with the material of the floating body 3 is selected with the proviso that in the open position of the valve as illustrated in fig2 which is normally characterised by the absence of a lifting force , the resilient force is overcome by the mass force of the floating body 3 including the parts which are connected thereto and the floating body 3 sinks to the base 1 ′ of the housing 1 . in this case , a continuous connection ( ventilation flow path ) is established between the inlet orifices 4 and the outlet orifice 6 , so that it is possible to ventilate and similarly bleed the tank substantially without any hindrance . the sealing disc 15 in this position thus does not have any contact with the valve seat and the support disc 12 lies on the underside on the guide mandrel 11 which at the same time exerts a centring effect upon the sealing disc or the support disc . a radial guiding effect is also exerted by the support fingers 10 , the radial outer sides of which are disposed at a small spacing with respect to the radial inner side of the annular step of the support disc 12 . reference will also be made hereinafter to the fig3 , 4 of the drawings , in which functional elements which correspond to those illustrated in fig1 , 2 , 5 or 6 are designated with like reference numerals so as to obviate any repetition of the description in this respect . the closed state of the bleed valve as illustrated in fig3 is characterised by virtue of the fact that e . g . under the influence of a lifting force which is effective in addition to the resilient force and the mass forces , the floating body 3 has moved inside the housing 1 upwardly in the direction of the cover 2 , so that the sealing disc 15 lies against the valve seat 19 . the stabilising effect of the support disc 12 provides a reliable and reproducible sealing effect . at the same time , in this position the projection 16 is urged into sealing abutment against the guide mandrel 11 . the retainer elements 17 , 17 ′ do not function when the valve is in this position . the closed state of the bleed valve can occur as a result of the tank being overfilled or in the event of an orientation of the position of the axis of the valve which deviates substantially from the vertical orientation and which can be instigated by corresponding vehicle movements , in particular swinging movements , the negotiation of turns with a change in orientation , but also as a result of an accident , e . g . a vehicle overturning . the cardanic suspension of the sealing disc 15 serves to provide a uniform sealing effect , to an extent dependent upon the different dimensions of the retainer elements 17 , 17 ′, along the valve seat 19 and the guide mandrel 11 even when the valve is in an inclined position , since any offset of the axes of the floating body 3 and of the housing 1 can be compensated for . the state illustrated in fig4 where the valve starts to open anew following on from a closed state is characterised by the fact that the sealing disc 15 becomes gradually detached from the valve seat 19 , wherein the detachment procedure is initiated as a result of the movement of the floating body 3 in the direction towards the base 1 ′ of the housing 1 by virtue of the retainer element 17 which in axial terms is relatively shorter , and correspondingly the valve begins to open at a point on the periphery of the valve seat , so that the sealing disc 15 assumes a temporary inclined position with respect to the axis 5 . the expenditure of energy required for the detachment can be kept low in this manner , i . e ., it is easier to unseat the sealing disc from the valve seat . furthermore , the detachment procedure also initially causes the projection 16 to lift off from the guide mandrel 11 , with the consequence that starting from the inlet orifices 4 a continuous connection 16 ′ is established via the projection 16 to the outlet orifice , thus further facilitating the detachment procedure . a bleed valve of this type , in particular its housing , can be disposed in the wall of the fuel tank , in this case it can form a supporting structure on the outer side or can even protrude at least partially into the tank . as an alternative to this wall attachment , it is also possible to use a particular holding device , in which the housing is received and which provides a connection to the outlet orifice , wherein this holding device is held on a pump unit or another component or is disposed together with an independent line system on the inner side of the tank . as a result , a structural element intended for use in a fuel tank is provided with the bleed valve in accordance with the invention and is characterised by a simple structural design and satisfies all operational requirements in a reliable and reproducible manner .
| 8General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology
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referring first to fig1 the firearm barrel muzzle end portion mounted complete firearm sight and mount is illustrated and is designated generally by the number 10 . as illustrated , the combined sight and mount 10 is shown attached or mounted on the muzzle end barrel portion 12 of a small arm firearm designated generally by the number 14 , which in this case is a rifle . it should be understood that the sight and mount invention can be mounted on any type of small arm firearm including , but not limited to rifles , carbines , shotguns , machineguns , submachineguns , long barreled pistols and revolvers and the like and any reference herein to small arm or small arm firearm or firearms or small arm firearm or small arm firearms is meant to include all of these types of weapons or firearms . it will be noted in fig1 that the center of gravity c . g ., designated by the number 16 , of the sight and mount 10 is illustrated as being a distance x from the breech end of the rifle barrel 20 that is designated by the number 21 . the significance of this distance x and the center of gravity c . g . 16 as well as the weight , represented by the letter w of the sight and mount 10 will be hereinafter described in detail . fig2 and 3 illustrate an enlarged view of the sight and mount 10 set forth in fig1 with portions thereof broken away for clarity . it should be noted that the optical sight portion 22 is integral with the sight mount portion 24 and that both of these portions 22 and 24 are made from a suitable plastic material that in the preferred embodiment is acital , abs , or polyethylene and graphite compositions and any reference herein to plastic shall mean such a material or materials unless specifically stated or modified by appropriate qualifying language . as illustrated in fig2 the forward or muzzle pointing end 26 of the sight and mount 10 has a substantially circular hollow ring shaped member portion 28 that holds an optical lens 30 that is made from optical quality plastic materials . located at the opposite mount end portion from the portion 24 is the breech or rear pointing portion 32 . the sight portion on this rear pointing portion 32 has a hollow housing 34 with an opening 36 and a hollow interior 38 . a light emitting diode or the like 40 is located in position within the interior 38 to project a light beam 42 so that an illuminated dot 44 appears on the lens 30 . the diode or the like 40 is electrically connected to and is powered by a battery 46 that is also located in the cavity or hollow interior 38 , or elsewhere at a suitable location . as illustrated in fig2 the upper portion of the muzzle end 26 of the mount portion 24 has a generally rectangular shaped slot 48 that extends through the mount portion 24 that is sized and shaped to receive a mounting band 50 . in a similar manner , the breech or rear pointing portion 32 also has a generally rectangular slot 52 located in and that extends through the upper portion of the mount portion 24 and this slot 52 is also sized and shaped to also receive another mounting band 50 . each strap or mounting band 50 has a closing or fastening device designated by the number 51 , the sight and mount invention 10 also includes an elongated member 54 whose length is substantially equal to the length of the sight portion 24 that is sized and shaped to be located below the firearm barrel muzzle end portion 12 . as best illustrated in fig3 the elongated member 54 has a cross section that forms part of a portion of a circular shaped ring and its interior surface 56 is shaped to substantially conform to the exterior of the muzzle end barrel portion 12 . the same is true with the interior surface 58 of the sight mount portion 24 in that the interior surface 58 is also shaped to substantially conform to the exterior of the muzzle end barrel portion 12 . the elongated member 54 is made from the same type of plastic material as the integral optical sight and mount 10 . both the elongated member 54 and the bands 50 serve to clamp the optical sight portion 22 with the integral sight mount portion 24 to the muzzle end barrel portion 12 . it should be noted in fig3 that both elevation and windage are provided respectively by the threaded screws 60 and 62 that are threaded into respective threaded holes in a diode base 64 that rigidly mounts the light emitting diode 40 . fig4 and 5 illustrate another embodiment of the firearm barrel muzzle portion mounted complete firearm sight and mount that is designated generally by the number 66 . this combination optical sight and sight mount 66 has a hollow tubular sight tube 68 and an elongated semi - circular cross section integral sight mount 70 located adjacent to and below the hollow tubular sight tube 68 . both the sight tube 68 and the sight mount portion 70 are combined together and are made from the same plastic material as the previous embodiment 10 in fig2 and 3 . the sight tube 68 has a plurality of clear optical quality plastic lenses 72 and 74 . in addition , the sight tube 68 has a reticle disk 76 , or the like , that is made of clear optical quality material that may be a plastic material and has a reticle 78 . the term reticle as used herein means any type of device that can be used within a firearm scope sight for aiming or assisting in aiming the firearm including but not limited to dots illusionary or otherwise , rectangles , so called cross hairs , duplex reticles , tapering posts , and any combination of the foregoing . two adjusting knobs 80 and 82 are provided for respectively adjusting the reticle 78 for windage and elevation . the reticle 78 can be self illuminating to make it easier to see especially at night or during periods of low light or visibility . this can be accomplished by coating the reticle 78 with a florescent material such as tritium or the like in a manner known in the art . two rectangular shaped slots 84 and 86 are provided in and extend through the upper portion of the sight mount 70 that are similar to the slots 48 and 52 illustrated in fig2 . these slots 84 and 86 are sized and shaped to receive respective mounting bands 50 that are the same as those set forth in fig2 and 3 . an elongated member 88 , that is similar to the previously described elongated member 54 in fig2 and 3 , is also provided and this member 88 also has a cross section that forms part of a portion of a circular shaped ring and also its interior surface 90 is shaped to substantially conform to the exterior of the muzzle barrel end portion 12 . the same is true with the interior surface 91 of the sight mount portion 70 . this elongated member 88 may be made from the same type of plastic as the combined sight tube 68 and the sight mount 70 . both the elongated member 88 and the bands 50 serve to clamp the combined optical sight and sight mount 66 with its tubular sight tube 68 and and elongated semi - circular cross section integral sight mount 70 to the muzzle end barrel portion 12 in a manner similar to for the elongated member 54 and the associated bands 50 set forth in fig2 and 3 . fig6 and 7 illustrate a sight mount only without any sight for use on the muzzle end portion 12 that is designated generally by the number 92 . an elongated member 94 is also provided for use as part of the mount assembly 92 that is substantially similar to the elongated members 54 and 88 that were previously discussed . both the curved inner surface 96 of an upper sight mount portion 97 and the curved inner surface 98 of the elongated member 94 are substantially shaped to correspond to the exterior of the muzzle end barrel portion 12 . it will also be noted that three substantially rectangular shaped slots 100 , 102 , and 104 are provided in and extend through the upper portion of the sight mount 92 that are sized and shaped to receive the three mounting bands 50 that were previously described . both the elongated member 94 and the bands 50 serve to clamp the optical sight mount 92 to the muzzle end barrel portion 12 in a manner similar to the embodiments set forth in fig2 through 5 . the sight mount 92 also includes a series of projections 106 located on the upper surface 108 of the sight mount 92 that are sized and shaped to receive standard type scope mounting rings such as those known as weaver type rings . fig8 through 10 illustrate another embodiment of the firearm barrel muzzle portion mounted complete firearm sight and mount that is designated generally by the number 120 . this combination optical sight and sight mount 120 has a hollow tubular sight tube 122 and an elongated integral sight mount designated generally by the the number 124 located adjacent to and below the hollow tubular sight tube 122 . both the sight tube 122 and the sight mount portion 124 are combined together and are made from the same plastic material as the previous embodiment 10 illustrated in fig2 and 3 and the previous embodiment 66 set forth in fig4 and 5 . as illustrated in fig1 , the sight tube 122 is cut away to show the internal structural features of the sight tube 122 that are similar to those set forth in fig2 for the embodiment of the invention 10 . as illustrated , the sight tube 122 has an optical lens 126 in the interior of its forward portion 128 that is similar to the optical lens 30 illustrated in fig2 . in addition , a light emitting diode or the like 130 is located in position within the interior of the rear portion 132 of the sight tube 122 to project a light beam 134 so that an illuminated dot 136 appears on the lens 126 . the diode or the like 130 is electrically connected to and is powered by a battery 138 that is located in a cavity 140 in the hollow interior of the rear portion 132 , or elsewhere within the sight tube 122 in a manner similar to that for the embodiment set forth in fig2 . as illustrated in fig9 the sight mount portion 124 is substantially cylindrical with a hollow substantially circular shaped interior surface 142 to substantially conform to the outside generally cylindrical surface 144 of the firearm muzzle end barrel portion 12 . as best illustrated in fig8 and 9 , the sight mount portion 124 is split or has two portions 146 and 148 . the purpose of this split or two portions 146 and 148 is to allow the installation of the sight mount portion 124 on the muzzle end barrel portion 12 even when the muzzle end barrel portion 12 has a fixed or rigid iron front sight such as the fixed sight 150 illustrated in fig8 through 10 . each of these portions 146 and 148 that provide the split or openings g1 and g2 have two respective spaced apart projecting tab portions 154 , 156 and 158 , 160 that are located opposite each other as illustrated in fig8 and 9 . as indicated in fig8 and 10 , the the sight mount portion 124 has a portion thereof designated by the number 161 that is cut away or removed so that the sight mount portion 124 is divided into two clamping portions 163 and 165 . the removed portion 161 and resulting two clamping portions 163 and 165 comprise means for reducing the weight of the sight mount portion 124 of the combination of the sight and sight mount 120 . the respective tabs 154 and 156 and 158 and 160 of the tab portion pairs are secured to each other by the respective screws 162 and 164 . through the use of these bolts or screws 162 and 164 the respective tab portions are clamped together or biased toward each other . this results in the interior surface 142 of the sight mount portion being clamped against the outside surface 144 of the firearm muzzle end barrel portion 12 to secure the sight mount portion 124 and the combined sight and mount 120 in place on the firearm muzzle end barrel portion 12 as illustrated in fig8 through 10 . in order to locate the sight and mount 120 on the firearm barrel 12 , the bolts or screws 162 and 164 are removed and the combined sight and mount 120 is rotated about the long axis a of the firearm muzzle end barrel portion 12 to a position where the front sight 150 can pass through the resulting respective gaps g1 and g2 located between the tab portions 154 and 156 and 158 and 160 that are illustrated in fig8 . then the combined sight and mount 120 would be pushed onto the muzzle end barrel portion 12 with the sight mount portion 124 surrounding a portion of the muzzle end barrel portion 12 and the front sight 150 would pass through the respective gaps g1 and g2 . the combined sight and mount 120 would then be rotated about the long axis a of the firearm muzzle end barrel portion 12 to its desired position and then the bolts or screws 162 and 164 would be inserted into their respective holes 166 and 168 and into their respective nuts 167 and 169 and tightened to secure the combined sight and mount 120 in place on the muzzle end firearm barrel portion 12 . removal of the combined sight and mount 120 would be accomplished by removing the screws 162 and 164 and rotating the combined sight and mount 120 to a position where the front sight 150 could pass through the gaps g1 and g2 and then the combined sight and mount 120 would be pushed or pulled forward and off of the firearm muzzle end firearm barrel portion 12 . consequently , the combined sight 120 and mount is easily and rapidly installed or removed from the firearm muzzle end barrel portion 12 . the previously described firearm barrel muzzle portion mounted self contained or complete firearm sight and mount embodiments 10 , 66 . 120 and the mount or base 92 are manufactured and used in the following manner . all of the large components of the sight and mount are made from a light weight plastic that should be high in strength , not affected by oil , water or the like and should not have discernible physical changes when subjected to atmospheric temperature variations . the various lenses should be made from a high grade optical material that can be a clear optical grade plastic that should be shock and abrasion resistant . the mounts and sighting tubes should be made from plastic that in the preferred embodiments has a color additive that will be compatible with the firearm upon which it is intended to be used , or most likely to be used , such as black or silver . this can be accomplished by the inclusion of colored particles such as those designated by the numbers 110 , 112 , 114 and 170 in the respective firearm sight and mount embodiments 10 , 66 and 120 and the mount 92 . in the preferred embodiments , the various windage and elevation knobs can also be made of plastic with a color additive to match the scope tube . with respect to the weight of the sight and mount combination 10 , 66 , 120 or the sight mount 92 with its sight ( not shown ), such as that represented by the letter w in fig1 it is important that the weight and the distance x , in inches , from the breech end 21 of the barrel 20 to the center of gravity c . g . of the sight and mount combination 16 , such as the combination 10 , 66 , or 120 be governed by the following equation to determine the maximum weight w for that firearm : ## equ1 ## in order to use the embodiments 10 or 66 it is only necessary to attach the appropriate embodiment 10 or 66 to the firearm muzzle end barrel portion 12 by use of the appropriate mounting bands 50 that can be tightened through various means known in the art , such as by screws or clips ( not shown ). this will cause the appropriate sight mount portion 24 or 70 and the associated elongated members 54 and 88 to conform to the outside surface of the muzzle end barrel portion 12 at or near the location of the bands 50 . the same is true with respect to the mount or base 92 and its elongated member 94 and the associated mounting bands 50 and the firearm muzzle end barrel portion 12 . in order to use the embodiment 120 it is only necessary to attach the combined sight and mount 120 to the firearm muzzle end barrel portion 12 by use of the the bolts or screws 162 and 164 in the previously indicated manner . since only plastic comes into contact with the firearm muzzle end barrel portion 12 in all of the embodiments , marring of the finish of the muzzle end barrel portion 12 is completely avoided . although the invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments , it will be appreciated and understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims .
| 5Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting
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the method and the device for communication for a host device with an ipv4 application according to the embodiments of the invention will be illustrated in detail below by specific embodiments in conjunction with the drawings . in the transition stages from ipv4 to ipv6 , a situation in which ipv4 , ipv6 and dual stack technologies coexist will appear for a considerably long time . the implementation of such three technologies on terminals , networks and service platforms determines that different application scenes will appear in the network . various service scenes , which are caused by different deployment environments , the change of service implementation modes , and different technology combinations of host device application type , host device protocol stack type , network type and service platform type , are possible to appear in the transition stages from ipv4 to ipv6 . in order to implement different host device translation functions in specific application scenes , in the embodiments of the invention , a dynamic loading mechanism of translation function is put forward on the host device , the dynamic loading logic of which is as shown in fig1 . when the ipv4 - ipv6 translation function of the host device is started , ipv6 applications will not be effected , and the translation function will only process data and call requests initiated by an ipv4 application . after the translation function of the host device is initialized , a dynamic loading logic will learn a type of the current network via a network type judging function . when the host device lies in an ipv6 network , a judging logic starts an ipv4 - ipv6 stateless translation function through a host device translation loading module , the start of the function may guarantee that data packets sent from all the ipv4 applications on the host device can be translated via the host device translation module , so that the data packets may be transferred over the ipv6 network . because this function will not effect ipv6 applications , the ipv6 applications on the host device will develop a service in a normal communication mode . when the host device lies in an ipv6 network , under the situation that the type of the communication opposite end is an ipv6 communication opposite end , a logic judging function will start an ipv4 - ipv6 stateful translation function via the host device translation loading function , i . e ., the host device will establish an ipv4 - ipv6 mapping state information locally , thereby realizing the mapping of an ipv6 address of the communication opposite end to an ipv4 address in the host device , so as to be identified by the ipv4 application . under the situation that the type of the communication opposite end is an ipv4 or dual stack communication opposite end , the host device translation function will keep the ipv4 - ipv6 stateless translation . when the host device lies in an ipv4 - ipv6 dual stack network , according to the type of dns response , when the type of the communication opposite end is an ipv6 communication opposite end , the host device will start the ipv4 - ipv6 stateful translation function , so that an ipv4 application on the host device under this environment can obtain a capability of communicating with the ipv6 communication opposite end . during a specific implementation , the type of the communication opposite end ( i . e ., address type ) may be determined according to the type of the dns response information related to the current application session . the type of the dns response information reflects the service type , and also reflects the type of the communication opposite end and the type of the data packet processed by the communication opposite end . generally , in the dns response information that belongs to an ipv4 service , the type identification is a , and it is referred to as a - type dns response information . a - type dns response information indicates that the address of the communication opposite end is an ipv4 address and the data packet processed by the communication opposite end is an ipv4 data packet . however , for the dns response information that belongs to an ipv6 service , the type identification is aaaa , and it is referred to as aaaa - type dns response information . aaaa - type dns response information indicates that the address of the communication opposite end is an ipv6 address and the data packet processed by the communication opposite end is an ipv6 data packet . when a host device with an ipv4 application communicates with a communication opposite end via an ipv6 network , delivery via the ipv6 network after converting an ipv4 packet header of an ipv4 data packet into an ipv6 packet header is concerned . therefore , the embodiments of the invention provides a method for converting an ipv4 packet header of an ipv4 data packet into an ipv6 packet header , the method includes the following process . the host device combines an ipv4 source address in the ipv4 data packet with an ipv6 prefix allocated to the host device to generate an ipv6 source address in the ipv6 packet header of a converted ipv6 data packet ; and combines an ipv4 destination address in the ipv4 data packet with a set well - known prefix ( wkp ) to generate an ipv6 destination address in the ipv6 packet header of the converted ipv6 data packet . the above conversion method according to the embodiments of the invention will be illustrated in conjunction with specific flows . as shown in fig2 , one embodiment of the invention provides a method for data communication for a host device with an ipv4 application , the method includes the following steps . s201 : the ipv4 application generates an ipv4 data packet to be sent to a communication opposite end . s 202 : the host device with the ipv4 application converts an ipv4 packet header of the ipv4 data packet into an ipv6 packet header when determining that the type of a network the host device lies in is an ipv6 network , and sends the converted data packet to the communication opposite end via the ipv6 network . in order to transmit the generated data packet in the ipv6 network , the host device converts the ipv4 packet header of the generated ipv4 data packet into the ipv6 packet header . specifically , the host device converts the format of the packet header of the generated ipv4 data packet into the format of the packet header of the ipv6 data packet , and converts the ipv4 addresses of the host device and the communication opposite end in the packet header into ipv6 addresses , but the transmission layer and data part of the data packet are not converted . the protocol in the ipv4 packet header is converted into next header in the ipv6 packet header , and tos in the ipv4 packet header is converted into traffic class and flow label in the ipv6 packet header ; total length in the ipv4 packet header is converted into payload length in the ipv6 packet header ; ttl in the ipv4 packet header is converted into hop limit in the ipv6 packet header ; version in the ipv4 packet header is converted into version in the ipv6 packet header , where the conversion of packet header format refers to converting the content of each field in the ipv4 packet header into the corresponding field of the ipv6 packet header . the specific method of address conversion is as follows : the conversion from an ipv4 address into an ipv6 address employs a stateless address translation mode , thereby realizing the packaging of a data packet sent by the host device to the ipv6 network . specifically , a 96 - bit ipv6 prefix is added to the front of the ipv4 address to form an ipv6 address . the ipv6 prefix belongs to well - known prefix , which may be specified by the network operator . the ipv4 addresses of the host device and the communication opposite end in the packet header are converted into the corresponding ipv6 addresses according to a corresponding relationship table . during a specific implementation , the step of sending the converted data packet to the communication opposite end via the ipv6 network includes : the host device sends the converted data packet to an nat device via the ipv6 network when determining that the type of the communication opposite end is an ipv4 communication opposite end ; and the nat device converts the ipv6 packet header of the received data packet into an ipv4 packet header , and forwards the data packet to the ipv4 communication opposite end . the nat device does not need to convert the whole data packet , no conversion of the transmission layer and data part of the data packet is concerned , and the ipv4 data packet may be obtained by only converting the packet header part , thus the ipv4 data packet is forwarded . thus , in comparison with a prior art device set on the border of the ipv6 and ipv4 networks , the parsing and converting works on a data packet may be greatly reduced , and the processing load on the system may be lowered , so that single point of failure may be avoided as best as possible . if the type of the communication opposite end is an ipv4 communication opposite end , after the ipv4 communication opposite end receives the data packet forwarded by the nat device , the method further includes : the ipv4 communication opposite end sends an ipv4 data packet returned to the host device to the nat device ; the nat device converts an ipv4 packet header of the ipv4 data packet into an ipv6 packet header , and delivering the data packet to the host device via the ipv6 network ; and the host device returns the received data packet to the ipv4 application . during a specific implementation , a mapping table of the corresponding relationship between ipv4 addresses and ipv6 addresses is also maintained in the host device , and before the ipv4 application generates the ipv4 data packet to be sent to the communication opposite end , the method further includes : the host device maps an ipv6 address of an ipv6 communication opposite end into an ipv4 address as an ipv4 destination address in the ipv4 packet header of the ipv4 data packet , according to the stored mapping table of the corresponding relationship between ipv4 addresses and ipv6 addresses , when determining that the type of the communication opposite end is the ipv6 communication opposite end . during a specific implementation , when the host device with an ipv4 application determines that the type of the network in which the host device lies is ipv6 - ipv4 dual stack network and the type of the communication opposite end is an ipv6 communication opposite end , before the ipv4 application generates the ipv4 data packet to be sent to the communication opposite end , the host device maps the ipv6 address of the ipv6 communication opposite end into an ipv4 address as an ipv4 destination address in the ipv4 packet header of the ipv4 data packet , according to the stored mapping table of the corresponding relationship between ipv4 addresses and ipv6 addresses . based on the same technical conception , one embodiment of the invention provides a host device with an ipv4 application , the host device includes : a dynamic loading module , configured to judge the type of a network in which the host device lies , and load a packet header translation module when judging that the type of the network in which the host device lies is an ipv6 network ; the packet header translation module , configured to convert an ipv4 packet header of an ipv4 data packet , generated by the ipv4 application and to be sent to a communication opposite end , into an ipv6 packet header ; and an interface module , configured to send the data packet converted by the packet header translation module via the ipv6 network . fig3 is a flow chart showing a method for a host device with an ipv4 application to obtain an ipv4 address of a communication opposite end and carry out data communication via an ipv6 network according to one embodiment of the invention , and the method includes the following steps . step s 301 : the ipv4 application generates an ipv4 dns request data packet according to an obtained ipv4 address and a dns address . step s 302 : the host device converts an ipv4 packet header in the ipv4 dns request data packet into an ipv6 packet header , generates a dns request data packet carried by ipv6 , and sends it to a dns server corresponding to the dns address via the ipv6 network . step s 303 : the ipv4 application receives a dns response message data packet returned by the dns server , and determines the ipv4 address of the ipv4 communication opposite end to be communicated with . step s 304 : the host device converts an ipv4 packet header in a generated ipv4 data packet into an ipv6 packet header , and sends the data packet to a network address translation ( nat ) device via the ipv6 network . step s 305 : the nat device converts the ipv6 packet header in the data packet received from the ipv6 network into an ipv4 packet header , and sends the data packet to the ipv4 communication opposite end . in another embodiment , when the host device with the ipv4 application has learned the ipv4 address of the communication opposite end , the host device directly generates the ipv4 data packet to be sent to the ipv4 communication opposite end , and then the above step s 304 and step s 305 are executed , thereby realizing the data communication with the ipv4 communication opposite end . in order to realize the communication between a host device with an ipv4 application and an ipv4 communication opposite end , as an example , one specific signaling interaction process for the above method according to the embodiment of the invention may be realized by employing the following scheme 1 . scheme 1 : an ipv4 packet header is converted into an ipv6 packet header by newly adding a packet header translation module and an address translation module on the host device , where the specific functions thereof are as follows . the packet header translation module ( header translation ) mainly accomplishes the conversion of an ipv4 packet header generated by an ipv4 application into an ipv6 packet header . after the packet header translation module receives an ipv4 data packet sent by the ipv4 application , it translates the source ipv4 address and the destination ipv4 address of the data packet into ipv6 addresses , thereby realizing the conversion of ipv4 packet header to ipv6 packet header . during the translation process , the translation methods for the source address and the destination address are different . where the ipv6 source address is formed by combining the ipv6 prefix allocated by the operator network and the ipv4 source address , while the ipv6 destination address is formed by combining a well - known prefix ( wkp ) set in the embodiment of the invention and the ipv4 destination address . by the above processing , the ipv4 packet header in the original data packet is replaced by the ipv6 packet header . during the packet header conversion process , the transmission layer and data part of the data packet , except for the icmp packet , are kept unchanged . the address translation module ( address translation ), when the packet header translation module executes an address translation from the ipv4 packet header to the ipv6 packet header , maintains prefix information needed in the mapping process from the ipv4 address to the ipv6 address and provides a translation rule for the packet header translation module . specifically , two types of prefix information are saved by the address translation module , i . e ., the ipv6 prefix allocated by the operator and the well - known prefix ( wkp ) set by the embodiment of the invention , which are used to translate the source address and the destination address respectively . for the source address , the address translation module adds the ipv6 prefix allocated by the operator to form an ipv6 source address ; but for the destination address , a wkp is added to form an ipv6 destination address . in conjunction with the above modification on the host device , the host device obtains an address allocated via a dynamic host configuration protocol ( dhcp ) server in the ipv6 network , then sends a dns request for the communication opposite end and communicates the related data stream according to the opposite end address replied by the dns . the specific flow is as shown in fig4 , which includes the following steps . 1 ) before communication , the host device requests the dhcp server to allocate an address , and sends a dhcp discovery message . 2 ) the dhcp server responds to the request message , and allocates an ipv6 prefix , an ipv4 address and a domain name system ( dns ) server address to the host device ; the ipv4 address may be a public address or a private address ; the returned dns server address may be an ipv4 address , or an ipv6 address of a dns device located in the ipv6 network . when the returned dns server address is an ipv4 address , related dhcp extension needs to be performed . fig4 illustrates a flow when the returned address is an ipv4 address . when the returned address is an ipv6 address of a dns64 , the related processing procedure is as shown in fig5 below . 3 ) the ipv4 application in the host device initiates an ipv4 dns request according to the obtained ipv4 address , where the request message is captured by the packet header translation module before it is sent to the ipv6 network , and the address information of the packet header is converted . 4 ) the packet header translation module sends source address information and destination address information in the ipv4 data packet to the address translation module for processing . 5 ) for the destination address , the address translation module adds the wkp to form an ipv6 destination address ; for the source address , the address translation module adds the ipv6 prefix allocated by the dhcp to the host device to form an ipv6 source address . after the above translation , the address translation module returns the ipv6 address header information to the packet header translation module . 6 / 7 ): the packet header translation module sends the corresponding data packet of the dns request message to a network address translation nat 64 device ( in the embodiment of the invention , the nat64 device is an example of the network address translation device ) according to the obtained ipv6 header information . 8 ) after the nat64 device receives the dns request message data packet , it accomplishes the conversion from the ipv6 packet header to the ipv4 packet header . during the conversion process , if the ipv4 address used by the ipv4 application is a private address , the translation process of the nat64 is a stateful translation , and it needs to map the resource ipv6 address into a public ipv4 address , while the wkp needs to be removed from the destination ipv6 address ; if the ipv4 address used by the ipv4 application is a public address , the translation process of the nat64 is a stateless translation process , and it only needs to remove the corresponding prefix when processing the source address and the destination address . the conversion from the ipv6 packet header to the ipv4 packet header is accomplished in the above process . 9 ) the nat64 device sends the request message data packet to an ipv4 dns server . 10 ) the ipv4 dns server returns an ipv4 address of the communication opposite end ( taking the address of the ipv4 server as an example ) to the nat64 device . 11 ) the nat64 device processes the dns response message , adds the corresponding prefixes to the source address and the destination address respectively , and accomplishes the stateless conversion from the ipv4 packet header to the ipv6 packet header . if the ipv4 application uses a private address , it further needs to find the corresponding ipv6 source address information according to the mapping state information stored on the nat64 device . 12 ) the nat64 device sends the dns response data packet to the host device . 13 ) after the host device receives the dns response message , it returns the dns response message to the ipv4 application . 14 ) the host device initiates an application data request according to the obtained ipv4 address of the communication opposite end , where the application request message is captured by the packet header translation module before it is sent to the ipv6 network , and the address information of the packet header is converted . 15 ) the packet header translation module sends the source address information and the destination address information in the ipv4 data packet to the address translation module for processing . 16 ) for the destination address , the address translation module adds the wkp to form an ipv6 destination address ; for the source address , the address translation module adds the ipv6 prefix allocated by the dhcp to the host device to form an ipv6 source address . after the above translation , the address translation module returns the related ipv6 address header information to the packet header translation module . 17 / 18 ) the packet header translation module sends a data request data packet to the nat64 device according to the obtained ipv6 header information . 19 ) after the nat64 device receives the data request message data packet , it accomplishes the conversion from the ipv6 packet header to the ipv4 packet header . during the conversion process , if the ipv4 address used by the ipv4 application is a private address , the translation process of the nat64 is a stateful translation , and it needs to map the resource ipv6 address into a public ipv4 address , while the wkp needs to be removed from the destination ipv6 address , and the related application layer gateway ( alg ) processing is performed . if the ipv4 address used by the ipv4 application is a public address , the translation process of the nat64 device is a stateless translation process , it only needs to remove the corresponding ipv6 prefixes when processing the source address and the destination address , and no alg processing is needed . the conversion from the ipv6 packet header to the ipv4 packet header is accomplished in the above process . 20 ) the nat64 device sends the request message to the communication opposite end , i . e ., the ipv4 application server . 21 ) the ipv4 application server returns a response message to the nat64 device . 22 ) the nat64 device processes the response message returned by the ipv4 server , adds the corresponding prefixes to the source address and the destination address respectively , and accomplishes the stateless conversion from the ipv4 packet header to the ipv6 packet header . if the ipv4 application uses a private address , it further needs to find the corresponding ipv6 address information according to the mapping state information stored on the nat64 and perform alg - related processing . 23 ) the nat64 device sends the application response data to the host device . 24 ) the host device receives the application response data and then returns it to the ipv4 application . when the dhcp server responds to the request message and allocates an ipv6 prefix , an ipv4 address and a dns server address to the host device , if the returned dns server address is an ipv6 address of dns server , the related processing procedure is as shown in fig5 , which includes the following steps . 1 ) before communication , the host device requests the dhcp server to allocate an address , and sends a dhcp discovery message . 2 ) the dhcp server responds to the request message and allocates an ipv6 prefix , an ipv4 address and an ipv6 address of a dns server to the host device ; here , the ipv4 address may be a public address or a private address . 3 ) the ipv4 application initiates a dns request according to the obtained ipv4 address , where the request message is captured by the packet header translation module before it is sent to the ipv6 network , and the address information of the packet header is converted . 4 ) the packet header translation module sends the source address information in the ipv4 data packet to the address translation module for processing . 5 ) the address translation module adds the ipv6 prefix allocated by the dhcp to the host device to form an ipv6 source address . the destination address is an ipv6 address , and may be directly used . after the above translation , the address translation module sends the ipv6 address header information to the packet header translation module . 6 / 7 ) the packet header translation module sends a dns request data packet to the dns server located in the ipv6 network ( dns6 ) according to the obtained ipv6 header information . 8 ) after the dns server located in the ipv6 network receives the request message , it queries whether the corresponding ipv4 address record of the communication opposite end is stored . 9 ) when the corresponding ipv4 address record of the communication opposite end is stored on the dns server located in the ipv6 network , the dns server located in the ipv6 network directly sends the dns response data packet to the host device . 10 ) after the host device receives the dns response message , it returns the dns response message to the ipv4 application . 11 ) when no corresponding ipv4 address record is stored on the dns server located in the ipv6 network , the dns server located in the ipv6 network forwards the related dns request to the ipv4 dns server and converts the ipv6 address in the dns request message into an ipv4 address . 12 ) the dns server located in the ipv6 network sends the related dns request to the ipv4 dns server . 14 ) after the dns server located in the ipv6 network receives the response message from the related ipv4 dns server , it converts the ipv4 packet header thereof into an ipv6 packet header . 15 ) the dns server located in the ipv6 network sends the dns response message data packet to the host device . 16 ) after the host device receives the dns response message , it returns the dns response message to the ipv4 application . after the ipv4 application determines the ipv4 address of the communication opposite end according to the received dns response message , the process of data packet delivery with the communication opposite end is the same as steps 14 - 24 in fig4 , and the description thereof is omitted . as shown in fig6 , one embodiment of the invention provides another method for data communication for a host device with an ipv4 application , the method includes the following steps . s 601 : the ipv4 application invokes an ipv4 socket api function to initiate an application data request to a communication opposite end . s 602 : the host device with the ipv4 application converts the invoking of the ipv4 socket api function into the invoking of an ipv6 socket api function when determining that the type of a network the host device lies in is an ipv6 network , generates an ipv6 data packet , and sends the ipv6 data packet to the communication opposite end via the ipv6 network . specifically , the host device employs socket translation method : after the host device converts the ipv4 socket api function for packaging a data packet into an ipv6 socket api function and converts the parameters of the ipv4 socket api function into the parameters of the ipv6 socket api function , it packages the information sent by the ipv4 application into an ipv6 data packet by invoking the ipv6 socket api function . during a specific implementation , the step of sending the ipv6 data packet to the communication opposite end via the ipv6 network includes : the host device sends the ipv6 data packet to an nat device via the ipv6 network when determining that the communication opposite end is an ipv4 communication opposite end ; and the nat device converts an ipv6 packet header of the received ipv6 data packet into an ipv4 packet header , and forwards the data packet to the ipv4 communication opposite end . based on the same technical conception , one embodiment of the invention further provides a host device with an ipv4 application , including : a dynamic loading module , configured to judge the type of a network in which the host device lies , and load a socket translation module when judging that the type of the network in which the host device lies is an ipv6 network ; the socket translation module , configured to convert the invoking of an ipv4 socket api function into the invoking of an ipv6 socket api function and generate an ipv6 data packet , when the ipv4 application module executes the ipv4 application and invokes the ipv4 socket api function to initiate an application data request to a communication opposite end ; and an interface module , configured to send the ipv6 data packet generated by the socket translation module via the ipv6 network . fig7 is a flow chart showing another method for a host device with an ipv4 application to obtain an ipv4 address of a communication opposite end and carry out data communication via an ipv6 network according to one embodiment of the invention , and the method includes the following steps . step s 701 : the host device with the ipv4 application requests a dhcp server in the ipv6 network to allocate an address . step s 702 : the host device judges whether the dns response returned by the dhcp server conveys an ipv4 record or an ipv6 record ; when the obtained dns response conveys an ipv4 record , the flow turns to step s 703 ; and when the obtained dns response conveys an ipv6 record , the flow turns to step s 705 . step s 703 : the ipv4 application generates an ipv4 dns request data packet according to the obtained ipv4 address and the dns ipv4 address . step s 704 : the host device converts an ipv4 packet header in the ipv4 dns request data packet into an ipv6 packet header , generates a dns request data packet carried by ipv6 , and sends the dns request data packet carried by ipv6 to a dns server corresponding to the dns ipv4 address via the ipv6 network ; then the flow turns to step s 707 . step s 705 : the ipv4 application invokes an ipv4 socket api function to initiate a dns request according to the obtained ipv4 address and the dns ipv6 address . step s 706 : the host device converts the invoking of the ipv4 socket api function into the invoking of an ipv6 socket api function , generates a dns request data packet carried by ipv6 , and sends the dns request data packet carried by ipv6 to a dns server corresponding to the dns ipv6 address . step s 707 : the ipv4 application invokes the ipv4 socket api function to initiate an application data request to the ipv4 communication opposite end , after receiving a dns response message data packet returned by the dns server and determining the ipv4 address of the ipv4 communication opposite end to be communicated with . step s 708 : the host device converts the invoking of the ipv4 socket api function into the invoking of the ipv6 socket api function , generates an ipv6 data packet , and sends the ipv6 data packet to an nat device via the ipv6 network . step s 709 : the nat device converts the ipv6 packet header in the data packet received from the ipv6 network into an ipv4 packet header , and sends the data packet to the ipv4 communication opposite end in the ipv4 network . in another embodiment , when the host device with the ipv4 application has learned the ipv4 address of the ipv4 communication opposite end , it directly generates an ipv4 data packet to be sent to the ipv4 communication opposite end , and then the above step s 705 to step s 709 are executed , thereby realizing the data communication with the ipv4 communication opposite end . in order to realize the communication between a host device with an ipv4 application and an ipv4 communication opposite end , as an example , one specific signaling interaction process for the above method according to the embodiment of the invention may be realized by employing the following scheme 2 . scheme 2 : a dns judging and processing module , a socket translation module , a packet header translation module and an address translation module are newly added to the host device . the dns judging and processing module is configured to judge whether a received dns response is an ipv4 record or a ipv6 record ; when it is a ipv4 record , the packet header translation module is started ; and when it is a ipv6 record , the socket translation module is started . the socket translation module is configured to realize the mutual translation between an ipv4 socket api function and an ipv6 socket api function . when a socket function invoking initiated by an ipv4 application is detected , the function invoking may be intercepted and replaced by an ipv6 api function corresponding to the ipv4 api function . during the conversion process , a conversion from ipv4 parameters to ipv6 parameters may also be carried out on the related api input parameters . the packet header translation module ( header translation ) mainly accomplishes the conversion from an ipv4 packet header of an ipv4 dns request message generated by the ipv4 application to an ipv6 packet header . after the packet header translation module receives the dns request message initiated by the ipv4 application , it translates a source ipv4 address and a destination ipv4 address of the data packet into ipv6 addresses , thereby realizing the conversion of ipv4 packet header to ipv6 packet header . during the translation process , the translation methods for the source address and the destination address are different . where the ipv6 source address is formed by combining an ipv6 prefix allocated by the operator network and the ipv4 source address , while the ipv6 destination address is formed by combining the well - known prefix ( wkp ) set in the embodiment of the invention and the destination ipv4 address . by the above processing , the ipv4 packet header in the original data packet is replaced by an ipv6 packet header . during the packet header conversion process , the data part of the dns request is kept unchanged . the address translation module ( address translation ), when the socket translation module needs to carry out a conversion from ipv4 input parameters to ipv6 input parameters , may maintain prefix information needed in the mapping process from an ipv4 address to an ipv6 address and provide the mapping information to the socket translation module . specifically , two types of prefix information may be saved on the address translation module , i . e ., the ipv6 prefix allocated by the operator and the well - known prefix ( wkp ) set in the embodiment of the invention , which are used to translate the source address and the destination address respectively . for the source address , the address translation module may add the ipv6 prefix allocated by the operator to form an ipv6 source address ; but for the destination address , the wkp may be added to form an ipv6 destination address . in conjunction with the above modification on the host device , during the implementation of scheme 2 , the host device obtains an address via a dhcp server , then sends a dns request for the communication opposite end and communicates the related data stream according to the opposite end address replied by the dns . the specific flow is as shown in fig8 , which includes the following steps . 1 ) before communication , the host device requests the dhcp server to allocate an address , and sends a dhcp discovery message . 2 ) the dhcp server responds to the request message and allocates an ipv6 prefix , an ipv4 address and a dns server address to the host device ; here , the ipv4 address may be a public address or a private address ; the returned dns server address may be an ipv4 address , or may be an ipv6 address of a dns device located in the ipv6 network . when the returned dns server address is an ipv4 address , related dhcp extension needs to be performed . fig8 illustrates a flow when the returned dns server address is an ipv4 dns server address . when the returned address is an ipv6 address of a dns64 , the related processing procedure is as shown in fig9 below . 3 ) the ipv4 application in the host device initiates an ipv4 dns request according to the obtained ipv4 address and the dns ipv4 address , where the request message may be captured by the packet header translation module before it is sent to the ipv6 network , and the address information of the packet header may be converted . 4 ) the packet header translation module sends the source address information and the destination address information in the ipv4 data packet to the address translation module for processing . 5 ) for the destination address , the address translation module adds the wkp to form an ipv6 destination address ; for the source address , the address translation module adds the ipv6 prefix allocated by the dhcp to the host device to form an ipv6 source address . after the above translation , the address translation module returns the ipv6 address header information to the packet header translation module . 6 / 7 ) the packet header translation module sends the corresponding data packet of the dns request message to a network address translation nat64 device according to the obtained ipv6 header information . 8 ) after the nat64 device receives the dns request message , it accomplishes the conversion from the ipv6 packet header to an ipv4 packet header . during the conversion process , if the ipv4 address used by the ipv4 application is a private address , the translation process of the nat64 device is a stateful translation , and it needs to map the resource ipv6 address into a public ipv4 address , while the wkp needs to be removed from the destination ipv6 address ; if the ipv4 address used by the ipv4 application is a public address , the translation process of the nat64 is a stateless translation process , and it only needs to remove the corresponding prefixes when processing the source address and the destination address . the conversion from the ipv6 packet header to the ipv4 packet header is accomplished in the above process . 9 ) after packet header conversion , the nat64 device sends the dns request message to an ipv4 dns server . 10 ) the dns server returns an address of the communication opposite end ( for example , an ipv4 server ) to the nat64 device . 11 ) the nat64 processes the dns response message , adds the corresponding prefixes to the source address and the destination address respectively , and accomplishes the stateless conversion from the ipv4 packet header to the ipv6 packet header . if the ipv4 application uses a private address , it further needs to find the corresponding ipv6 source address information according to the mapping state information stored on the nat64 . 12 ) the nat64 device sends the dns response data packet to the host device . 13 ) after the host device receives the dns response message , it sends the dns response message to the ipv4 application . 14 ) the ipv4 application in the host device initiates an application data request according to the obtained ipv4 address of the communication opposite end . the socket translation module may capture the current system invoking and carry out an ipv6 socket api conversion . the ipv6 parameter information needed by the socket api function may be obtained by querying the address translation module via the socket translation module . 15 ) the socket translation module sends the source address information and the destination address information in the ipv4 data packet to the address translation module for processing . 16 ) for the destination address , the address translation module adds the wkp to form an ipv6 destination address ; for the source address , the address translation module adds the ipv6 prefix allocated by the dhcp to the host device to form an ipv6 source address . after the above translation , the address translation module sends the related ipv6 address header information to the socket translation module . 17 / 18 ) the socket translation module invokes an ipv6 socket api according to the obtained ipv6 header information , and this process realizes the packaging of the ipv4 application request data in an ipv6 data packet , and the original data part is kept unchanged . subsequently , the host device sends the data packet to the nat64 device . 19 ) after the nat64 device receives the data request message , it accomplishes the conversion from an ipv6 packet header to an ipv4 packet header . during the conversion process , if the ipv4 address used by the ipv4 application is a private address , the translation process of the nat64 is a stateful translation , and it needs to map the resource ipv6 address into a public ipv4 address , while the wkp needs to be removed from the destination ipv6 address , and the related alg processing is performed . if the ipv4 address used by the ipv4 application is a public address , the translation process of the nat64 is a stateless translation process , it only needs to remove the corresponding prefixes when processing the source address and the destination address , and no alg processing is needed . the conversion from the ipv6 packet header to the ipv4 packet header is accomplished in the above process . 20 ) the nat64 device sends the application request message to the ipv4 application server of the communication opposite end . 21 ) the ipv4 application server returns a response message to the nat64 device . 22 ) the nat64 device processes the returned response message , adds the corresponding ipv6 prefixes to the source address and the destination address respectively , and accomplishes the stateless conversion from an ipv4 packet header to an ipv6 packet header . if the ipv4 application uses a private address , it further needs to find the corresponding ipv6 address information according to the mapping state information stored on the nat64 and perform alg - related processing . 23 ) the nat64 device sends application response data to the host device . 24 ) after the host device receives the application response message , it sends the application response message to the ipv4 application . when the dhcp server responds to the request message and allocates an ipv6 prefix , an ipv4 address and a dns server address to the host device with an ipv4 application , if the returned dns server address is an ipv6 address of dns server , the related processing procedure is as shown in fig9 , which includes the following steps . 1 ) before communication , the host device requests the dhcp server to allocate an address , and sends a dhcp discovery message . 2 ) the dhcp server responds to the request message and allocates an ipv6 prefix , an ipv4 address and an address of a dns server located in the ipv6 network to the host device ; here , the ipv4 address may be a public address or a private address . 3 ) the ipv4 application initiates a dns request according to the obtained ipv4 address , where the dns request is initiated by invoking ipv4 socket api - gethostbyname q . the socket translation module may capture the current system invoking , carry out the conversion to ipv6 socket , and use the corresponding api - getaddrinfo ( ) to form the corresponding dns request . the ipv6 parameter information needed by the related api may be obtained by querying the address translation module via the socket translation module . 4 ) the socket translation module sends the source address information in the invoked ipv4 socket api function to the address translation module for processing . 5 ) the address translation module adds an ipv6 prefix allocated by the dhcp to the host device to form an ipv6 source address . the destination address is an ipv6 address , and may be directly used . after the above translation , the address translation module sends the ipv6 address header information to the socket translation module . 6 / 7 ) the socket translation module invokes an ipv6 socket api according to the obtained ipv6 header information , forms a dns request message , and sends it to the dns6 device . 8 ) after the dns server located in the ipv6 network receives the request message , it queries whether the corresponding ipv4 address record of the communication opposite end is stored locally . 9 ) when the corresponding ipv4 address record of the communication opposite end is stored on the dns server located in the ipv6 network , the dns server located in the ipv6 network directly sends the dns response data packet to the host device . 10 ) after the host device receives the dns response message data , it returns the dns response message data to the ipv4 application . 11 ) when no corresponding ipv4 address record of the communication opposite end is stored on the dns server located in the ipv6 network , the dns server located in the ipv6 network may forward the related dns request to a dns server located in the ipv4 network ( dns4 ) and convert the ipv6 address in the dns request message into an ipv4 address . 12 ) the dns server located in the ipv6 network sends the related dns request to the dns server located in the ipv4 network . 13 ) the dns server located in the ipv4 network returns a dns response message . 14 ) after the dns server located in the ipv6 network receives the response message from the related dns server located in the ipv4 network , it converts the ipv4 packet header thereof into an ipv6 packet header . 15 ) the dns server located in the ipv6 network sends the dns response data to the host device . 16 ) after the host device receives the dns response message , it returns the dns response message to the ipv4 application . after the ipv4 application determines the ipv4 address of the communication opposite end according to the received dns response message , the process of data packet delivery with the communication opposite end may be the same as steps 14 - 24 in fig8 , so the description thereof is omitted . a structural diagram of a host device with an ipv4 application corresponding to the above scheme 1 is as shown in fig1 , the host device includes : an ipv4 application module 1001 , configured to execute an ipv4 application ; a packet header translation module 1002 , configured to convert an ipv4 packet header in an ipv4 data packet sent by the ipv4 application module 1001 into an ipv6 packet header ; and an address translation module 1003 , configured to provide a mapping between an ipv4 address and an ipv6 address . where the packet header translation module 1002 is configured to capture the ipv4 packet header in the ipv4 data packet , send an ipv4 source address and an ipv4 destination address in the ipv4 packet header to the address translation module 1003 , receive an ipv6 source address and an ipv6 destination address returned by the address translation module 1003 and form the ipv6 packet header . the address translation module 1003 is configured to receive the ipv4 source address and the ipv4 destination address sent by the packet header translation module 1002 , combine the ipv4 source address with an ipv6 prefix allocated to the host device and generate an ipv6 source address , and combine the ipv4 destination address with a stored well - known prefix and generate an ipv6 destination address , and return the ipv6 source address and the ipv6 destination address to the packet header translation module 1002 . a structural diagram of a host device corresponding to the above scheme 2 is as shown in fig1 , the host device includes : an ipv4 application module 111 , configured to execute an ipv4 application ; a dns judging and processing module 112 , configured to judge whether the received dns response conveys an ipv4 record or an ipv6 record ; when it is an ipv4 record , a packet header translation module is started ; and when it is an ipv6 record , a socket translation module is started ; a packet header translation module 113 , configured to convert an ipv4 packet header in an ipv4 data packet sent by the ipv4 application module into an ipv6 packet header ; a socket translation module 114 , configured to convert the invoking of an ipv4 socket api function into the invoking of an ipv6 socket api function , when the ipv4 application module 111 executes an ipv4 - related application to invoke the ipv4 socket api function ; and an address translation module 115 , configured to provide a mapping between an ipv4 address and an ipv6 address . where the packet header translation module 113 is configured to capture the ipv4 packet header in the ipv4 data packet , and send an ipv4 source address and an ipv4 destination address in the ipv4 packet header to the address translation module 115 , receive an ipv6 source address and an ipv6 destination address returned by the address translation module 115 , and form the ipv6 packet header . the socket translation module 114 is configured to capture the invoking of the ipv4 socket api function , send an ipv4 source address and an ipv4 destination address in the invoked ipv4 socket api function to the address translation module 115 , receive an ipv6 source address and an ipv6 destination address returned by the address translation module 115 , and convert into the invoking of the ipv6 socket api function . the address translation module 115 is configured to receive the ipv4 source address and the ipv4 destination address sent by the socket translation module 114 , combine the ipv4 source address with an ipv6 prefix allocated to the host device and generate an ipv6 source address , and combine the ipv4 destination address with a stored well - known prefix and generate an ipv6 destination address , and return the ipv6 source address and the ipv6 destination address to the socket translation module 114 . in conclusion , by the invention , at the same time an ipv6 system is deployed , the normal communication of a traditional ipv4 application may be guaranteed , and it is made transparent and imperceptible for the application , thereby realizing an ipv6 transition technology that has a backward compatibility with the ipv4 . during the communication process of a host device with an ipv4 application via an ipv6 network , a two - way stateless address translation process may be realized , the data packet processing load of a border nat gateway may be lowered , and the extensibility of system deployment may be further improved . different prefixes are allocated to the source address and the destination address , so that the routability and accessibility of application data may be guaranteed , and at the same time , the polymerizability of prefix in the original routing system will not be destroyed . those skilled in the art may understand that all or a part of the steps for realizing the method of the above embodiments may be accomplished by instructing related hardware via a program , and the program may be stored in a computer - readable storage medium , for example , a rom / ram , a diskette and a compact disc . it may also be understood that the device structures shown in the drawings or the embodiments are illustrative only and represent logic structures . where a module shown as a separated part may or may not be physically separated , and a component shown as a module may or may not be a physical module . the above description only illustrates preferred embodiments of the invention . it should be noted that various modifications and variations can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention , and all these modifications and variations are intended to be contemplated by the invention .
| 7Electricity
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a digital fluorography apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to fig1 . as shown in fig1 the digital fluorography apparatus comprises x - ray tube 1 , high - voltage generator 2 , i . i . 4 , optical attenuator 5 , tv camera 6 , image processing unit 7 , tv monitor 8 , reference video signal setting device 9 , video signal comparing unit 10 , fluorographic condition control unit 11 , and imaging condition control unit 12 . x - ray tube 1 is driven by a high voltage applied from high - voltage generator 2 , and radiates x - rays toward object 3 . x - rays transmitted through object 3 are converted into an optical image by i . i . 4 , and the optical image is supplied to tv camera 6 through optical attenuator 5 . optical attenuator 5 comprises at least one optical attenuation filter detachably arranged midway along the optical path for the optical image extending from i . i . 4 to tv camera 6 , and an optical aperture for focusing a light beam propagating along the optical path . attenuator 5 can thus vary the amount of light carrying optical image data stepwise or continuously within a predetermined range upon manual operation or in response to a control signal . for example , an nd ( neutral density ) filter is used as the optical attenuation filter . image processing unit 7 performs necessary image processing of a video signal obtained from tv camera 6 . tv monitor 8 displays an image - processed video signal from unit 7 or a non - image - processed video signal as a visible image . reference video signal setting device 9 produces a reference video signal level for obtaining an x - ray image having an appropriate contrast and density on tv monitor 8 . video signal comparing unit 10 consists of maximum value detector 21 and comparator 22 , as shown in fig2 . maximum value detector 21 detects the maximum value of a video signal supplied from tv camera 6 through unit 7 . comparator 22 compares the maximum value detected by detector 21 with a set value from setting device 9 , and produces a signal corresponding to a difference therebetween . the signal generated from comparing unit 10 ( comparator 22 thereof ), i . e ., a signal corresponding to the difference between the maximum value detected by detector 21 and the set value from setting device 9 , is supplied to fluorographic condition control unit 11 . fluorographic condition control unit 11 is enabled in a fluorography mode , and controls the voltage from high - voltage generator 2 upon reception of the signal from comparing unit 10 . more specifically , unit 11 comprises tube voltage change setting device 25 , initial voltage setting device 26 , voltage data storage device 27 , and adder 28 . initial voltage setting device 26 supplies initial voltage data in the fluorography mode to storage device 27 . since the initial voltage set by device 26 is an initial value for automatic tube - voltage control , it need not be accurately determined , and is selected in advance by an operator in accordance with parameters such as the thickness of an object . device 25 supplies data indicating an appropriate change amount of the voltage to adder 28 in response to the output from comparing unit 10 . adder 28 adds data stored in storage device 27 to the output from device 25 ( if the output from device 25 is a negative value , the output therefrom is subtracted from the data stored in device 27 ). the sum from adder 28 is supplied to high - voltage generator 2 as a fluorographic tube voltage setting output . at the same time , the sum from adder 28 is stored in device 27 , and is added to the next output from device 25 . control unit 12 is enabled in the imaging mode , and controls high - voltage generator 2 in response to the storage content of device 27 of control unit 11 , thus controlling a - voltage of x - ray tube 1 in the imaging mode . more specifically , control unit 12 comprises imaging condition setting device 31 , attenuation ratio setting device 32 , imaging tube current setting device 33 , and imaging voltage setting device 34 , as shown in fig3 . in the imaging mode , setting device 33 supplies set data for an imaging current set in advance by manual operation to high - voltage generator 2 . condition setting device 31 produces parameter data corresponding to the thickness of object 3 based on fluorographic voltage data stored in device 27 of unit 11 . attenuation ratio setting device 32 stores a table for obtaining optimal attenuation ratio data of optical attenuator 5 that corresponds to parameter data in the imaging mode , and obtains the attenuation ratio data of attenuator 5 in response to the output data from device 31 . imaging voltage setting device 34 stores a table for obtaining an optimal imaging voltage corresponding to parameter data and imaging current data , and obtains optimal tube voltage data of high - voltage generator 2 in response to the parameter data supplied from device 31 and imaging tube current data supplied from device 33 . the attenuation ratio data output from device 32 is supplied to attenuator 5 , and the attenuation ratio of attenuator 5 is controlled accordingly . the imaging tube voltage data from device 34 is supplied to high - voltage generator 2 together with imaging current data from device 33 , and x - rays are radiated in accordance with these data to perform an imaging operation . the operation of the digital fluorography apparatus with the above arrangement will now be described . the following control operation in the fluorography mode is performed using the initial fluorographic tube voltage set by device 26 of unit 11 . x - rays are radiated from x - ray tube 1 by the high voltage supplied from generator 2 . the x - rays radiated from tube 1 pass through object 3 , and an image corresponding to the transmitted x - rays is converted into an optical image by i . i . 4 . the optical image output from i . i . 4 is attenuated at an attenuation ratio manually set in optical attenuator 5 in advance , and is then supplied to tv camera 6 . the optical image is converted into a video signal by tv camera 6 , and is subjected to appropriate image processing by image processing unit 7 to be displayed on monitor 8 . during the fluorography , the video signal generated from unit 7 is supplied to comparing unit 10 . in unit 10 , detector 21 first detects a maximum luminance level in the input image ( one frame ) from the video signal . the maximum luminance level is supplied to comparator 22 . comparator 22 also receives an optimal luminance level set in setting device 9 , and compares it with the detected value . from the comparison result , comparator 22 supplies control unit 11 with a signal corresponding to a difference between the maximal value of the video signal and the optimal luminance level set in device 9 . in control unit 11 , setting device 25 supplies adder 28 with a control signal corresponding to a change amount of the voltage for making the maximum level of the video signal equal to the optimal luminance level set in device 9 , in accordance with the signal supplied from comparator 22 . adder 28 adds the change amount to the voltage stored in storage device 27 ( an initial value set by device 26 ), and the sum is supplied to high - voltage generator 2 as a voltage setting signal . the voltage setting signal is also supplied to storage device 27 to update the storage content thereof . in this way , automatic control of the fluorographic tube voltage by control unit 11 is performed . the storage content of device 27 is supplied to control unit 12 when the system is switched to the imaging mode , and is used to control imaging conditions . setting devices 32 and 34 of control unit 12 store the relationship ( fig4 ) between the fluorographic tube voltage and imaging voltage , which are obtained as follows . for the thickest object 3 , the gain of a tv camera system consisting of i . i . 4 , attenuator 5 , tv camera 6 , unit 7 , and tv monitor 8 is adjusted so that the optimal imaging voltage of x - ray tube 1 coincides with the upper limit ( e . g ., 80 kv ) of an effective imaging voltage range . in this state , different object 3 having different thickness are sequentially sampled to measure the relationship between the respective thicknesses of object 3 and the optimal voltage of x - ray tube 1 , and the measured data is stored as a table corresponding to line a in fig4 . next , thickness p of object 3 , with which the optimal voltage of x - ray tube 1 is below lower limit p of the effective imaging voltage range ( e . g ., 60 kv ), is obtained with reference to line a . the attenuation ratio of attenuator 5 between the output section of i . i . 4 and the incident section of tv camera 6 is adjusted to attenuate the amount of light incident on tv camera 6 , so that the optimal voltage for object 3 having thickness p coincides with upper limit p &# 39 ; of the effective imaging voltage range . in this state , the relationship between thickness p of object 3 and the optimal tube voltage of x - ray tube 1 is measured , and the measured data is stored as a table corresponding to line b ( fig4 ). in addition , with reference to line b , thickness q of object 3 , with which the optimal voltage of x - ray tube 1 is below lower limit q of the effective imaging voltage range , is obtained . again , the attenuation ratio of attenuator 5 is adjusted to attenuate an amount of light incident on tv camera 6 , so that the optimal voltage of x - ray tube 1 for object 3 having thickness q coincides with upper limit q &# 39 ; of the effective imaging voltage range . in this state , the relationship between thickness q of object 3 and the optimal imaging voltage is measured , and the measured data is stored as a table corresponding to line c ( fig4 ). such relationships are sequentially obtained until the optimal imaging tube voltage of x - ray tube 1 for the thinnest portion of object 3 exceeds the lower limit of the effective imaging voltage range . the relationships shown in fig4 are then stored in devices 32 and 34 of control unit 12 as tables for the optical attenuation ratio and the voltage , with the thickness of object 3 being a parameter . when the system is switched from the fluorography mode to the imaging mode , the fluorographic tube voltage resulting from automatic control of unit 11 is stored in storage device 27 . the thickness of given object 3 can be estimated from the fluorographic voltage when object 3 having an unknown thickness is subjected to fluorography and the fluorographic voltage is automatically controlled to make the luminance of the output image constant . the optimal voltage can thus be obtained from the estimated thickness of object 3 , with reference to the relationship in fig4 . therefore , when the system is switched from the fluorography mode to the imaging mode , the voltage stored in storage device 27 is converted into parameter data corresponding to the thickness of object 3 by setting device 31 of control unit 12 . an imaging current is set in setting device 33 in advance by manual operation . the parameter data is supplied to setting device 32 to obtain an optical attenuation ratio corresponding to the thickness of object 3 . the parameter data and the imaging current data are supplied to setting device 34 to obtain an imaging voltage . attenuator 5 receives the attenuation ratio data obtained by setting device 32 , and high - voltage generator 2 receives the imaging tube current data set by device 33 and imaging voltage data set by device 34 . therefore , the attenuation ratio of attenuator 5 in the tv camera system is set in accordance with the attenuation ratio data and , at the same time , x - ray tube 1 is driven by generator 2 at the voltage and current in accordance with the imaging voltage and current data . upon x - ray radiation under these conditions , x - ray imaging and image processing are performed , thus obtaining an image having the highest diagnostic effect . in the first embodiment , a case has been exemplified wherein mainly the voltage is controlled . next , a second embodiment will be described wherein a voltage and a current are controlled at the same time . in the second embodiment , a combination of a voltage and a current is predetermined , and control is performed in accordance with this combinatorial function in an automatic condition setting mode . as shown in fig5 in the combinatorial function , the voltage is gradually increased by minimum control units while the current is set at a lower limit value ( minimum value ) for actual application until it reaches the lower limit of the effective voltage range . within the effective voltage range , after the current is increased by minimum control units ( one or several steps ), the voltage is increased by one minimum control unit ( one step ). the number of current steps corresponding to one step of the voltage is a value obtained by dividing the number of current steps from the upper to lower limit of the tube current with the number of voltage steps from the upper to lower limit of the effective voltage . over the upper limit of the effective voltage range , the voltage is increased while the current is set at the maximum value . control of the imaging voltage and the current associated with the thickness of an object is performed in accordance with the above combinatorial function , so as to form tables for the optical attentuation ratio , the imaging voltage , and imaging current with respect to parameter data corresponding to the thickness of the object , as previously described . when both the voltage and current are controlled , a thickness range of object 3 within which optimal fluorography can be performed can be widened . in this case , in imaging condition control unit 12 &# 39 ; shown in fig6 parameter data output from imaging condition setting device 41 is commonly supplied to attenuation ratio setting device 42 , imaging current setting device 43 , and imaging voltage setting device 44 , the attenuation ratio of optical attenuator 5 is controlled by device 42 , and high - voltage generator 2 is controlled by devices 43 and 44 . in a third embodiment of the present invention , a combinatorial function of a tube voltage and a current is determined so that an output x - ray dose increases linearly . in general , an x - ray dose changes exponentially in accordance with a voltage , and changes linearly in accordance with a current . for this reason , with the combinatorial function of the second embodiment , a change in dose can be generally expressed as shown in fig7 ( in practice , however , it is not expressed by a smooth curve but by complicated polygonal lines ). in contrast to this , as shown in fig8 when the current is decreased by a predetermined amount each time the voltage is increased by one step , a combinatorial function which allows linear increments of output dose can be formed , as shown in fig9 . when the combinatorial functions shown in fig8 and 9 are utilized for control in the imaging mode , the output dose can be smoothly controlled by simultaneously controlling the voltage and current . in this way , a thickness range of an object which allows fluorography can be widened , and optimal imaging can be realized for a variety of objects having various thicknesses . the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings , and various changes and modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , when a combinatorial function of a tube voltage and a current is used as in the second and third embodiments , an x - ray dose can be controlled over a wide range . therefore , even if control of optical attenuator 5 in the imaging mode is omitted , a practical apparatus can be provided . in the above embodiments , in the fluorography mode , automatic control is performed using a constant current while changing only a voltage . however , control by means of the combinatorial function of the tube voltage and current shown in fig5 or 8 can be performed for controlling the fluorographic conditions . in this case , since an x - ray dose determined by the combination of the voltage and current in the fluorography mode corresponds with the thickness of an object , parameter data can be obtained from this x - ray dose . when fluorographic condition control using the combinatorial function of the voltage and current is performed , parameter data corresponding to the thickness of the object can be more precisely obtained than that obtained from only the voltage , which changes stepwise . therefore , high - precision control can be realized . in addition , the present invention is not limited to an apparatus of continuous x - ray radiation type , which continuously radiates x - rays , but can be applied to an apparatus of intermittent radiation type , which radiates x - ray pulses . in the apparatus of this type , a radiation time , i . e ., a pulse width , can be controlled in place of control of a current , or in combination therewith .
| 7Electricity
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a disc according to this invention is played in a device that contains an optical disc drive and a software player environment , which is capable of playing back content stored on the disc . alternatively , the device may contain an optical disc drive and a hardware playback environment . in one embodiment , disc drive is housed within a mobile phone and the content comprises entertainment content such as a full - length movie . in other embodiments the disc drive may be housed within other types of devices , such as pdas , and the disc may contain other types of content , such as educational content . fig1 a and 1b are external views of a mobile phone 10 containing an optical disc drive of the kind described above . the components of mobile phone 10 are enclosed in a housing 11 , typically made of plastic . the front side of housing 11 supports a keypad 12 and a video display 14 . between keypad 12 and display 14 is a set of disc drive controls 16 , including , for example , “ play ,” “ fast forward ,” “ pause ” and “ reverse ” buttons . as shown in fig1 b , the back side of housing 11 includes a battery compartment access door 18 and an optical disc drive access door 20 . when a disc eject button 22 is depressed , drive access door 20 and a cartridge load module 32 swing outward , allowing a cartridge 34 containing the optical disc to be inserted into a cartridge load module 32 . a block diagram of optical drive electronics 70 and a battery 75 and cpu / memory 80 inside mobile phone 10 are shown in fig2 . cpu / memory 80 can be connected to optical drive electronics 70 via a bus 600 . optical drive electronics 70 contains two basic components : an optical controller section 602 and a pick - up module 604 . the main element of optical controller section 602 is an optical controller ic 606 . the optical controller section 602 also contains a voltage regulator 608 , a flash memory 610 , a static random - access memory ( sram ) 612 , a motor driver ic 614 and a laser driver ic 616 . motor driver ic 614 and laser driver ic 616 receive control signals from the optical controller ic 606 . voltage regulator 608 is powered by a direct connection 618 to battery 75 of mobile phone 10 and is controlled by an on / off control line that is connected to cpu / memory 80 via bus 600 . the software player would typically reside in a nonvolatile memory in cpu / memory 80 the other major component of optical drive electronics 70 is pick - up module 604 . pick - up module 604 includes a media detect switch 620 , an opto - electric ic ( oeic ) and forward photodiode ic ( fpic ) 622 , course tracking control circuitry 624 , fine tracking control circuitry 626 , focus control circuitry 628 and the spindle motor control circuitry 630 . the digital controller ic within optical controller ic 606 includes the servo digital signal processor ( dsp ) required to implement the servo / seek functions of the optical disc drive , the microprocessor required to control the disc drive and the interface between the disc drive and mobile phone 10 , the analog - to - digital ( a / d ) and digital - to - analog ( d / a ) converters required to interface to optical pick - up module 604 , the read - back channel , the encoder - decoder ( endec ), the error correction circuitry ( ecc ), the media detect switch , and the physical format circuitry . the front - end processor within optical controller ic 606 includes the analog circuitry required to interface the electronics within the pick - up module 604 , such as the oeic / fpic 622 , with the digital controller ic . the front - end processor also contains the analog electronics required to control motor driver ic 614 and laser driver ic 616 in addition to analog equalizers for the data channel . flash memory 610 contains the operating software ( firmware ) for the microprocessor within optical controller ic 606 and sram memory 612 can be used to buffer the data being read from optical disc 400 . motor driver ic 614 is required to drive the carriage drive ( coarse tracking ) motor 370 , the fine servo motor 500 , and the motor in spindle assembly 50 . a user begins the process of playing the optical disc by opening the door 20 and inserting cartridge 34 into mobile phone . closing the door 20 causes the software player inside the disc drive to read and identify the type of content stored on the optical disc within cartridge 34 by means of flags in the lead - in portion of the disc . if the disc is marked to contain the desired type of content , the optical drive reports this information to the mobile phone , which then activates the software player environment . the optical disc contains a description file in extensible markup language ( xml ). the software player initially requests an xml description file that is stored on the disc . the xml description file contains one or more screens to be shown in display 14 or on an external display with the video signal transmitted through an analog or digital video output port . together the series of screens form a menu that is used to access the entertainment or other content on the disc . upon parsing the xml description file , the player will identify the screen that has been marked as the default screen . if no screen is marked as default , the first screen listed in the xml description file is then considered the default . the software player then begins to parse the information in the first screen in the xml description file , which may include graphic , video and audio objects . these objects are referenced by the xml description file and the file associated with each object is stored on the disc . the software player then requests the files referenced by the screen . once each file of the screen has been received by the player , the player decodes the file and begins to use the screen layout description to composite the screen for presentation to the user on display 14 or on an external display with the video signal transmitted through an analog or digital video output port . thus screens are built from the definition listed in the xml description file and the graphic , audio and video objects stored on the disc . a single screen typically provides a graphical interface to the user to obtain access to at least one presentation and potentially to additional screens . objects defined in a screen may have actions associated with them that instruct the player . the user has the option of instigating these actions by means of navigating through the objects of the screen and selecting one . ultimately , the user begins the playback of the main audio / video content by instigating that action via the graphical interface provided by a screen . the audio / video content ( presentation ) contains audio and video data that is presented to the user sequentially . to summarize , the xml description file provides file location information , menu layout and functionality information , and audio / video presentation information for the content stored on the optical disc . the former contains a general information section , which provides information allowing a content owner to easily identify the content associated within the xml description file ( for example , the title of the main content and a copyright notice ), and a presentation information section , which contains a list of the audio / video content ( presentations ) stored on the disc . the menu information section is a part of the menu system resource data that allows the software player to present an organized system of access control to the user in the form of a graphical interface . this graphical interface allows a user to select screens or audio / video content to view and alter the compositing of a screen . in one embodiment , the maximum recommended size of the menu system resource data is 15 megabytes ( mb ). a single xml document , named vvd_menu . xml , is located at the root of the disc file system . the vvd_menu . xml document may be created during content authoring and may be required to be validated against a schema document . preferably , the schema document is valid to the w3c xml schema , which can be found at http :// www . w3 . org / 2001 / xmlschema . the definition of the menu system xml schema is shown in the appendix . the “ function element ” contains a limited set of application program interface ( api ) commands . by limiting the set of available commands that the software player is responsible for exhibiting , a limited set of functionality and incompatibilities between commands is lowered . the commands include the ability to begin playback of a presentation , begin playback of a presentation at a specific time in the presentation , as cross - referenced to an element contained in the xml description file , begin playback of a presentation and return to the graphical interface screen that contained the command to initiate playback , begin playback of a presentation at a specific time in the presentation , as cross - referenced to an element contained in the xml description file and return to the graphical interface screen that contained the command to initiate playback , change graphical interface screens from the current screen to another screen defined in the xml description file , set the audio or subtitle track that will be used during playback of a presentation , change menu object source , compositing location , compositing dimensions . the display frame of the screens which constitute the access control system is quantified in pixels to match the common sizing methodology of graphical content creation applications and output displays . the access control display frame is fixed at the highest resolution of primary video output with an aspect ratio of 16 : 9 anamorphic widescreen . the content of presentations is encoded using mpeg4 avc ( h . 264 ). however , the set of mpeg4 avc bitstream decoding elements is reduced so as to limit the resources required by the software player while maximizing the quality of the video output . beginning with mpeg4 avc standard profiles ( e . g ., profile high ) and levels ( e . g . level 3 ) and discarding specific elements , a finely - tuned list of decoder requirements is established . non - essential elements , such as the 4 : 0 : 0 color format and video field decoding are removed from the player decoding requirements list . interlaced source data is deinterlaced using the highest quality methods before it is encoded and stored on the disc . additionally , the average and peak bit rates of both video and audio content are limited to decrease the chances that different content titles will tax the software player beyond its playback capabilities . in one embodiment , the combined average bitrate is limited to 2048 kilobits per second ( kbps ). video data is limited to 1597 kbps ; audio data is limited to 448 kbps ; and the security and subtitle data is limited to 3 kbps . the peak bitrate of the combined data stream is limited to 8000 kbps and the maximum duration of the peak bitrate is set at 3 seconds . a presentation may be encoded on the disc in one of several frame sizes ( width / height ) and may be shown on an output display in one of several frame sizes , e . g ., the format of ntsc , pal , enhanced definition tv , hdtv as well as common computer displays such as 320 × 240 , 400 × 240 , 640 × 480 , 480 × 272 , 800 × 480 , 854 × 480 . therefore , the data must be scaled , and for this purpose various data points of the intended display content and the identified output resolution are incorporated into a scaling algorithm . the scaling algorithm is designed to ensure that no unintended distortion and any intended distortion of the content is incorporated into the scaling process with the final output matching the output display resolution . par = pixel aspect ratio ( as stored in the mpeg4 file format header ) else h t = h d /((( w e * par )/ h e )/ w d / h d ) the target height and target width represent the height and width to which the encoded data are scaled to provide an optimal full - screen playback the player software creates a black matte to fill the top / bottom or left / right of the display if the video frame does not match the display frame . the video frame is centered in the display frame . for 16 : 9 displays , the player software provides a stretch function to present a 4 : 3 presentation in full - screen height and width , with no black areas along the edges of the display . in addition , the player is capable of “ zooming ” to fit the presentation to the height and width of the display , i . e ., by cropping or discarding data from the top / bottom or left / right sides of the frame . the pixel width and height of all encoded frames must be divisible by eight . except as necessary to satisfy the multiple - of - eight requirement , black matte is not included in the encoded content frame . for presentations encoded in a 4 : 3 format , a pixel aspect ratio ( par ) of 1 : 1 is specified in the mpeg4 file header . the encoded frame size is 640 pixels wide by 480 pixels high . for widescreen presentations , the encoded frame size is from 648 to 720 pixels wide and up to 480 pixels high . the pixel aspect ratio ( par ) is specified in the mpeg4 file header . the following are several examples : 1 . 5 : 1 content is 720 × 480 , encoded at 720 × 480 with a par of 1 : 1 . 1 . 66 : 1 content is 800 × 480 , encoded at anamorphic 720 × 480 with a par of 1 . 11 : 1 . 1 . 78 : 1 content is 854 × 462 , encoded at anamorphic 720 × 480 with a par of 1 . 186 : 1 . 1 . 85 : 1 content is 854 × 462 , encoded at anamorphic 720 × 464 ( matte of two total lines of black , top and bottom ) with a par of 1 . 186 : 1 . 2 . 40 : 1 ( 2 . 39 : 1 ) content is 854 × 356 , encoded at anamorphic 720 × 360 ( matte of four total lines of black , top and bottom ) with a par of 1 . 186 : 1 . while specific embodiments of this invention have been described , it is to be understood that these embodiments are illustrative and not limiting . many alternative or additional embodiments in accordance with the broad scope of this invention will be apparent to persons of skill in the art . used to specify the list of screens within the menu system on the disc used to specify an instance of a single screen within the menu system used to specify the layering order of a single instance of a layer . layers used to specify a single instance of an object within a layer . as a button . the lack of the button element with an object used to specify the relative path and file name to a piece of media used to specify the relative path and file name to a piece of media used to specify a unique id number for the focus of a button used to specify the id of a different button which will become button of focus if the user navigates “ up ”. if not specified , used to specify the id of a different button which will become button of focus if the user navigates “ down ”. if not specified , used to specify the id of a different button which will become button of focus if the user navigates “ left ”. if not specified , used to specify the id of a different button which will become button of focus if the user navigates “ right ”. if not specified , used to specify a parameter sent to the function of an action on focus as opposed to requiring a user activate the button used to specify an interval in milliseconds after which the action
| 7Electricity
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as illustrated in the drawing , a hollow tube 10 of stainless steel , copper , carbon fiber reinforced plastic or other suitable material , preferably of about 1 . 8 cm in outside diameter and about 1 . 6 cm inside diameter is approximately 87 cm in length . a first set 12 a of five gas release perforations 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 and 16 , each of about 0 . 16 cm in diameter are formed in the tube 10 in alignment with longitudinal tube axis 17 . the perforation 12 is spaced about 38 cm from tube end 20 and each of the subsequent perforations 13 , 14 , 15 and 16 are spaced , commencing with the perforation 13 and progressing toward opposite tube end 21 by successive distances of about 7 . 6 cm , measured each from the next adjoining of the perforations . a set 22 a ( fig2 ) of five gas release perforations ( of which only perforations 18 and 22 are shown in the drawing ) are similar to the first set 12 a of the perforations 12 through 16 . the set 22 a , however , is formed on the side of the tube 10 , that is opposite to the side of the tube 10 occupied by the perforation set 12 a . the perforations in the second set 22 a , also are in alignment with the longitudinal tube axis 17 but are staggered relative to the spacing for the first set 12 a of the perforations 12 through 16 . thus , the gas release perforation 22 in the second set 22 a is spaced 3 . 8 cm from the perforation 15 and 3 . 8 cm from the next adjacent perforation 16 in the first perforation set 12 a . the tube end 20 ( fig1 ) has a shank 23 that is welded or otherwise appropriately secured in hollow center 24 ( fig2 ) of the tube 10 . as shown , the shank 23 is designed for engagement by a chuck ( not shown ) for a battery powered drill ( also not shown ). a sears “ craftsman ” hand impact drill , identified through product number 11581 , has been satisfactory for use in accordance with the invention . to establish fluid communication with the hollow center 24 ( fig2 ) of the tube 10 , a nipple 25 ( fig1 ) is brazed , or otherwise joined to a matching opening ( not shown in the drawing ) in the surface of the tube 10 . for the purpose of the invention , a galvanized steel screw nipple is preferred for this use . a threaded end 26 protrudes from the nipple 25 to engage a corresponding female thread in valve outlet 27 to establish a gas - tight connection with a valve 28 . it has been found that a 0 . 6 cm inside diameter brass ball valve , manufactured by mueller / b & amp ; k and identified through product number 107 - 701 has been suitable for helium gas flow control in accordance with the invention as described subsequently . inlet 30 for the valve 28 , moreover , has a gas adapter 31 with a surface that is serrated in order to make a gas tight connection between the valve 28 and one end of a flexible clear vinyl conduit 32 . in turn , the other end of the conduit 32 establishes gas communication with a small , portable helium canister 33 . with respect to the helium canister 33 , two canisters , each having 0 . 25 cubic meters of helium gas under a pressure ( when full ) of at least 260 pounds per square inch ( psi ), for a total of 0 . 5 cubic meters at standard atmospheric pressure and temperature provide a suitable herbicidal effect when the canister 33 ( only one of which canisters is shown in the drawing ) are applied in sequence in accordance with the invention . further in this connection , helium canisters sold by balloon time under product number sku 114710 with a helium purity of 94 % to 96 % were used with the method and apparatus described herein and have produced the desired kudzu vine herbicidal result . naturally , for kudzu eradication over larger areas , large helium tanks also have been used with great success . in operation , the chuck on a battery powered drill ( not shown in the drawing ) connects the drill to the drill shank 23 . the tube 10 is placed near a kudzu vine stem as that stem protrudes above the earth with the longitudinal tube axis 17 of the tube 10 generally perpendicular to the surface of earth 35 to press drill bit 11 against the soil . preferably a 1 . 6 cm diameter black oxide coated drill bit is suitable for this purpose . the drill is energized and the torque applied by the drill turns the tube 10 and the drill bit 11 , causing the drill bit 11 and the balance of the tube 10 to bore into the earth . the drilling is continued until all of the perforations in the two perforation sets 12 a and 22 a are well below the surface of the earth , whereupon the drill is deactivated and disconnected from the shank 23 . a first of the two helium canisters 33 is then coupled through the flexible conduit 32 and the gas adapter 31 to the valve 28 . valve handle 34 is shifted to a valve open position and helium gas flows from the canister 33 , through the valve 28 and into the hollow center 24 ( fig2 ) of the tube 10 . once in the tube 10 , under the gas pressure supplied by the helium canister 33 , the helium gas disperses into soil 36 surrounding the tube 10 through the perforations in the sets 12 a and 22 a and migrates in the soil 36 to kudzu vine root 37 . upon depletion of the helium in the canister 33 , the valve handle 34 is shifted to close the valve 28 . with the valve 28 closed , the helium canister 33 is removed and replaced with a fresh , full helium canister , whereupon the process practiced with the first canister 33 is repeated until the helium in the second canister also is depleted . field trials have shown that four weeks after exposure to helium in the manner described above , in two test sites all of the kudzu vines so treated were destroyed . at a third test site an estimated 95 % of the kudzu was destroyed . the effect , moreover , of this kudzu vine treatment on surrounding plant life was found to be surprisingly beneficial , as observed not only through the growth of new grass but also through new leaf growth . after treatment , the second , depleted canister and the associated flexible conduit 32 are detached from the gas adapter 31 . the drill is reconnected to the shank 23 and the drill is reenergized , albeit with the torque reversed , to enable the tube and the bit to be withdrawn from the ground . when treatment is complete and the tube 10 and the associated drill bit 11 have been withdrawn from the earth , the spoil ( not shown in the drawing ) from the original drilling is used to fill the hole left by the tube and the drill bit . in passing it can be inferred from the accumulated data that other inert gases — argon , neon , krypton and xenon , for instance , might also be commercially acceptable kudzu vine herbicides .
| 8General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology
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[ 0043 ] fig4 shows a schematic diagram of a magnetic memory device according to each of embodiments of the present invention , arranged in a magnetic field . in the magnetic memory packaging shown in fig4 a magnetic guide 2 of a high permeability magnetic material is arranged in contact with or in close proximity to a magnetic memory 1 . in this way , the effect of the disturbing magnetic field on the magnetic memory 1 can be reduced by the passing of the magnetic flux leakage in the vicinity of the magnetic memory 1 through the magnetic guide 2 without the introduction of the magnetic flux leakage into the magnetic memory 1 . ( 1 ) the magnetic guide of a high permeability magnetic material is arranged for the magnetic memory . ( 2 ) the permeability of the magnetic guide is at least ten times larger than that of the storing layer of the magnetic memory . ( 3 ) the magnetic memory is not hermetically sealed by the magnetic guide , but at least one side of the parallelepipedal magnetic guide is open . by meeting the requirements ( 1 ) and ( 2 ), the magnetic flux of the disturbing magnetic field are prevented substantially from passing through the storing layer of the magnetic memory . in the case where the requirement ( 3 ) is met , the package can be prevented from becoming bulky . further , it is unnecessary to make measurable changes on the conventional packaging technique and thus a magnetic memory device for household use can be obtained without the increase of the cost . the optimum distance between the magnetic memory and the magnetic guide , the size , material , permeability , etc . of the magnetic guide are determined in accordance with the specific device structure of the magnetic memory . [ 0053 ] fig5 a shows a magnetic memory device according to an embodiment of the present invention . the package structure is that of normal sip package . a magnetic memory chip 11 is mounted on a die pad 12 a of a lead frame 12 and bonded thereon by a die bonding agent ( adhesive ). the terminal pad of the magnetic memory chip 11 and the inner leads 12 b of the lead frame 12 are connected to each other by bonding wires 14 , and then the die pad 12 a of the lead frame 12 , the magnetic memory chip 11 , the inner leads 12 b of the lead frame 12 , and the bonding wires 14 are molded with a resin 13 . [ 0055 ] fig5 b is a plan view showing a pattern of a lead frame 12 of the magnetic memory device shown in fig5 a . the lead frame 12 of the magnetic memory device includes the die pad 12 a , the inner frames 12 b and the outer frames 12 c . in the magnetic memory device of this embodiment , the die pad 12 a of the lead frame 12 is located at a center of the package . however , as shown in fig6 a lead frame may be employed in which the die pad 12 a of the lead frame 12 is located at a corner of the package . generally , the material used for this type of lead frame is a cu material or a fe material ( see japanese patent application kokai no . 9 - 74159 , for example ). according to this embodiment , in contrast , the lead frame 12 is configured of a conductive magnetic material of high permeability . as a result , the lead frame 12 constitutes a magnetic guide and the effect of the disturbing magnetic field on the magnetic memory can be suppressed . in order to reduce the contact resistance of the bonding portions between the magnetic memory chip and the inner lead portions 12 a of the lead frame 12 , the inner lead portions are plated with a precious metal . on the other hand , in order to improve the solderability for connection of the outer lead portions 12 c of the lead frame 12 with connection pads of an external substrate , the outer lead portions are plated with a precious metal or solder . preferable magnetic materials of the lead frame 12 include the grain - oriented electrical steel , permalloy , a permalloy alloy with various elements added , a metal crystal material such as sendust and finemet , a metal amorphous foil , a ferrite material , etc . the shield performance is determined by the permeability of these magnetic materials . in a strong magnetic field , however , the saturation magnetization of the film should also be taken into consideration . thus , a material may be selected in accordance with the required shield performance . let b be the saturation magnetization of the film , μ the specific permeability of the shield material , and hmax an expected maximum external magnetic field . then , the relation b & lt ; 4 πμmax is the condition required of the shield material . in the case where hmax is 20 oe and μ is 10 3 , for example , b is about 2 t , in which case the grain - oriented electrical steel with fe as a main component is useful . in the case where hmax is 50 oe and μ is 10 3 , on the other hand , b is about 0 . 7 t , in which case an alloy of the permalloy group is effective . hmax is determined taking into consideration only the vector component of the direction of easy axis of magnetization of the storing layer of the memory . a resin mixed with a high - permeability magnetic particulate may be used as the resin 13 . a suitable high - permeability magnetic material includes an oxide such as ferrite of spinel type or ferrite of garnet type . more specifically , a resin with mn — zn ferrite and an additive , or a resin with yttrium iron garnet and an additive is used . the addition of these magnetic materials may reduce the insulation characteristic of the resin . therefore , a normal resin may be used for the portions contacted by the outer lead portion while a high - permeability magnetic material is added only for the other portions . the lead frame 12 described with reference to fig5 a , 5b and 6 is a high - permeability magnetic material in its entirety . as an alternative , the surface of the conventional lead frame body of cu or fe is covered with a high - permeability magnetic material as a magnetic guide . the high - permeability magnetic film can be formed by plating , vacuum deposition or sputtering . as another alternative , a resin paste containing high - permeability magnetic powder such as ferrite can be coated . [ 0066 ] fig7 shows a magnetic memory device according to another embodiment of the present invention , in which the magnetic memory device is of a multi - chip package type . the magnetic memory chips 11 a , 11 b are superposed on the die pad 12 a of the lead frame 12 and bonded by die bonding agents 15 a , 15 b . the chips 11 a , 11 b may not always be both a magnetic memory chip , but the chip 11 a may be a logic ic chip , while the chip 11 b may be a magnetic memory chip . also according to this embodiment , like in the aforementioned embodiments , the lead frame 12 is configured of a high - permeability magnetic material . as an alternative , a high - permeability magnetic material covered frame may be used , in which the surface of the conventional lead frame body of cu or fe is covered with a high - permeability magnetic material as a magnetic guide . the high - permeability magnetic film can be formed by plating , vacuum deposition or sputtering . as another alternative , a resin paste containing high - permeability magnetic powder such as ferrite can be coated . in the configuration shown in fig7 the lead frame 12 is made of a nonmagnetic metal of high heat radiation characteristic , and at least one of the die bonding agents 15 a , 15 b for bonding the chip contains a high - permeability magnetic material . as a result , the die bonding agents 15 a , 15 b act as a magnetic guide . such die bonding agents may be a resin agent of coating type with particulates of a high - permeability magnetic material mixed in the resin agent . as another alternative , as shown in fig8 a sheet member may be used , which comprises a foil member 22 of high - permeability magnetic material is held between the adhesive resin sheets 21 a , 21 b . in the configuration of fig7 the lead frame 12 and the die bonding agents 15 a , 15 b may be the same as the conventional ones , while the sealing resin 13 may be modified to function as a magnetic guide . in this case , the resin with high - permeability magnetic particulates mixed therein is used for only one of the portion 13 b of the resin 13 which covers the upper surface of the chip and the portion 13 a of the resin 13 covering the lower surface of the chip . a suitable high - permeability magnetic material includes an oxide such as ferrite of spinel type or ferrite of garnet type . more specifically , a resin with mn — zn ferrite and an additive , or a resin with yttrium iron garnet and an additive is used . the addition of these magnetic materials may reduce the insulation characteristic of the resin . therefore , a normal resin may be used for the portions contacted by the outer lead portion while a high - permeability magnetic material is added only for the other portions . the third to fifth embodiments described above may be combined . specifically , in the configuration of fig7 the lead frame 12 is used as a magnetic guide , while the die bonding agents 15 a , 15 b are also used as a magnetic guide . as an alternative , the lead frame 12 is used as a magnetic guide , while the upper portion 13 b or the lower portion 13 a of the sealing resin 13 is used as a magnetic guide . as another alternative , the die bonding agents 15 a , 15 b are used as a magnetic guide , while the upper portion 13 b or the lower portion 13 a of the sealing resin 13 is used as a magnetic guide . as a further alternative , these members can all be used as a magnetic guide . [ 0078 ] fig9 shows a magnetic memory device according to a further embodiment of the present invention . in the package structure in this embodiment of fig9 a ceramic laminate board 31 is fixed on the peripheral portion of a heat sink 33 , and a magnetic memory chip 11 is bonded to the central portion of the heat sink 33 by a die bonding agent 34 . the outer terminal of the magnetic memory chip 11 is connected by bonding wire 36 to each layer wiring 37 of the ceramic laminate board 31 , and the wiring of each layer is connected by a through - wiring 38 to solder balls 32 arranged on one surface of the laminate 31 . the magnetic memory chip 11 and its peripheral portion are sealed by resin molding 35 . in this package structure , according to this embodiment , the heat sink 33 is configured of a high - permeability magnetic material and used as a magnetic guide . in the case where a high heat radiation characteristic is required , the body of the heat sink 33 is formed of cu , al or the like , and a high - permeability magnetic film is formed on the surface of the heat sink body , as in the second embodiment , as a magnetic guide . in the package structure shown in fig9 the heat sink 33 is formed of a non - magnetic metal , and the die bonding agent 34 is mixed with a high - permeability magnetic material . as an alternative , a sheet member with a high - permeability magnetic foil member held by resin sheets as shown in fig8 is used as a die bonding agent 34 . in this way , by using the die bonding agent 34 as a magnetic guide , the effect of the disturbing magnetic field to the magnetic memory can be suppressed . in the package structure of fig9 the heat sink 33 and the die bonding agent 34 are the same as the conventional ones . a resin with high - permeability magnetic particulates mixed therein is used as a sealing resin 35 which may function as a magnetic guide . a suitable high - permeability magnetic material is an oxide such as ferrite of spinel type or ferrite of garnet type . more specifically , a resin with mn — zn ferrite and an additive or a resin with yttrium iron garnet and an additive is used . the seventh to ninth embodiments can be combined . specifically , in the configuration of fig9 the heat sink 33 is used as a magnetic guide , while the die bonding agent 34 is also used as a magnetic guide . as an alternative , the heat sink 33 is used as a magnetic guide , while the sealing resin 35 is also used as a magnetic guide . as another alternative , the die bonding agent 34 is used as a magnetic guide , while the sealing agent 35 is also used as a magnetic guide . further , all of these members can be used as a magnetic guide . [ 0088 ] fig1 shows a magnetic memory device according to a further embodiment of the present invention . in the package structure in this embodiment of fig1 , a wiring 42 for leading a terminal of the magnetic memory chip 11 formed on a surface of a base board 41 , and a solder ball 43 is formed on the wiring at the peripheral portion of the wiring 42 . a magnetic memory chip 11 is face - down bonded on the surface of the base board 41 , and the chip portion is covered with the sealing resin 44 . in this package structure , the base board 41 is made of a high - permeability magnetic material and used as a magnetic guide . in the package structure of fig1 , the base board 41 may be the same as the conventional ones containing no magnetic materials . a resin with high - permeability magnetic particulates mixed therein is used as a sealing resin 44 , which can thus be rendered to function as a magnetic guide . an oxide such as ferrite of spinel type or ferrite of garnet type is suitable as a high - permeability magnetic material . more specifically , a resin with mn — zn ferrite and an additive or a resin with yttrium iron garnet and an additive is used . as an alternative , the base board 41 is made of a high - permeability magnetic material while a resin with high - permeability magnetic particulates dispersed therein is used as a sealing resin 44 , and both of them are rendered to function as a magnetic guide . [ 0095 ] fig1 shows a magnetic memory device according to a further embodiment of the present invention . in the package structure in this embodiment of fig1 , a base board 51 having a chip mounting portion formed as a depression is a two - side wiring board , and the wirings 52 and 53 on the two sides thereof are connected by way of via - contact layer 54 . a magnetic memory chip 11 is bonded on the base board 51 by a die bonding agent 55 , and covered with a sealing resin 56 . in this package structure , the die bonding agent 55 is mixed with a high - permeability magnetic material . as an alternative , a sheet member having a high - permeability magnetic foil sandwiched by resin sheets is used as a die bonding agent 55 , as shown in fig8 . by using the die bonding agent 55 as a magnetic guide in this way , the effects of the disturbing magnetic field on the magnetic memory can be suppressed . in the package structure of fig1 , a resin with high - permeability magnetic particulates are mixed in the sealing resin 56 is used , which functions as a magnetic guide . as an alternative , both the sealing resin 56 and the die bonding agent 55 can be used as a magnetic guide . it will thus be understood from the foregoing description that according to the embodiments of the present invention , a magnetic memory device free of the effect of the disturbing magnetic field can be easily provided . additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art . therefore , the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein . accordingly , various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents .
| 7Electricity
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the present invention will be clearer from the following description when viewed together with the accompanying drawings , which show , for purpose of illustrations only , the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention . referring to fig1 - 6 , a three - dimensional measurement system for a marked line for adhering a sole to an upper and a three - dimensional measurement method therefore in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention are shown . the three - dimensional measurement system c in accordance with the present invention is used to measure the sole a and the upper b which are moved in pair by a conveyor d of a shoe production line . the “ sole a and upper b in pair ” here means that the sole a and the upper b can constitute a complete shoe . fig1 shows that a shoe is formed when the sole a is adhered to the upper b . fig2 shows that the sole a is concave structured and therefore has a three - dimensional sole inner surface a 1 , and a contour line a 2 defining the area of the three - dimensional sole inner surface a 1 . fig3 shows that the upper b is convex structured and therefore has a three - dimensional upper lower surface b 1 , and a processing marked line b 2 defining an adhering area to which the sole inner surface a 1 of the sole a is to be adhered . referring to fig4 and 5 , the three - dimensional measurement system c includes : a database 10 , a processor 20 , a three - dimensional scanner 30 and an identification device 40 , and is used to measure the three - dimensional surface data of the sole inner surface a 1 , so that the location of the processing marked line b 2 of the upper b can be obtained by processing the three - dimensional surface data of the sole inner surface a 1 and the three - dimensional surface data of the upper b . the database 10 is stored with three - dimensional surface data 101 of various to - be - adhered uppers b . in this embodiment , the upper b is made based on a cnc ( computer numerical control ) shoe last , therefore , the upper b is conformed to the shape of the shoe last . the three - dimensional surface data of the last corresponding to specific uppers b can be stored in the database 10 and used as the three - dimensional surface data 101 of the uppers b . the method for obtaining the three - dimensional surface data 101 of the uppers b is not limited thereto and can also be obtained by digitizing the scanned images . the three - dimensional scanner 30 is mounted on the conveyor d via a slideway 31 to scan the sole a . a projector 33 and a video camera 34 are slidably mounted on the slideway 31 via a rack 32 . the projection lines l of the light rays 331 generated from the projector 33 are located within the coverage area z of the video camera 34 . the projection lines l of the three - dimensional scanner 30 are projected onto different parts of the sole inner surface a 1 of the sole a to create a set of deformation 301 along with the movement of the sole a . measuring the displacement distance between the rack 32 and the slideway 31 can create a projection - line displacement data 302 . in this embodiment , the measurement is performed by the three - dimensional scanner 30 based on triangulation principle , and the projector 33 is a laser projector for projecting laser rays . the identification device 40 is used to identify a built - in identification data 401 in a tag of the various uppers b which are carried by the conveyor d . in this embodiment , each of the uppers b on the conveyor d is provided with a rfid tag 42 . the identification device 40 is equipped with a reader 41 to read and send the built - in identification data 401 of the rfid tag 42 to the processor 20 . or , each of the uppers b can be provided with a barcode label 43 in which is stored the built - in identification data 401 , so as to enable the reader 41 of the identification device 40 to identify the uppers b . the processor 20 is connected to the database 10 , the three - dimensional scanner 30 and the identification device 40 , and serves to read the three - dimensional surface data 101 of the database 10 and the built - in identification data 401 to obtain a three - dimensional surface data 202 of the upper which is conformed to the upper b . then the processor 20 reads the set of deformation 301 and the projection - line displacement data 302 of the three - dimensional scanner 30 to create a three - dimensional inner surface data 201 of the sole . the processor 20 conducts calculation based on the three - dimensional inner surface data 201 of the sole and the three - dimensional surface data 202 of the upper , and transfers the contour line a 2 of the sole inner surface a 1 of the sole a to the upper lower surface b 1 of the upper b to form a processing marked line b 2 . what mentioned above are the structural relations of the embodiment of the present invention , for a better understanding of the operation and function of the three - dimensional measurement system c for a marked line for adhering the upper to the sole in accordance with the present invention , reference should be made to fig1 and 4 - 6 in conjunction with the following description . referring to fig5 and 6 , the three - dimensional measurement method in accordance with the present invention is used to measure the sole a and the upper b which are carried in pair by the conveyor d of a shoe production line , so as to obtain a digital data of the processing marked line b 2 for adhering the sole to the upper , and thus achieving the purposes of automatic production , improving production efficiency and quality . the three - dimensional measurement method in accordance with the present invention comprises the steps of : a step s 1 of obtaining a three - dimensional surface data of a sole , a step s 2 of obtaining a three - dimensional surface data of an upper , a step s 3 of modifying the sole inner surface , and a step s 4 of marking line on the upper . the step s 1 of obtaining a three - dimensional surface data of a sole includes : moving the sole a carried by the conveyor d into the coverage area z of the video camera 34 of the three - dimensional scanner 30 , shooting and measuring with the three - dimensional scanner 30 the set of deformation 301 formed by the projection lines l moving along with the movement of the sole a and the projection - line displacement data 302 which are then outputted to and processed by the processor 20 , so as to obtain the three - dimensional inner surface data 201 of the sole inner surface a 1 of the sole a . the step s 2 of obtaining a three - dimensional surface data of an upper includes : moving the upper b carried on the conveyor d to the identification area of the identification device 40 , the processor 20 uses the identification device 40 to read a built - in identification data 401 in a tag of the upper b and read the three - dimensional surface data 101 of the upper from the database 10 via the identification data 40 , thus obtaining a three - dimensional surface data 202 of the upper which is conformed to the upper b . the step s 3 of modifying the sole inner surface includes : processing , by the processor 20 , the three - dimensional inner surface data 201 of the sole and the three - dimensional surface data 202 of the upper , digitally controlling the sole inner surface a 1 of the sole a to create a three - dimensional surface which is conformed to the upper lower surface b 1 of the upper b on the sole inner surface a 1 of the sole a . in this embodiment , the step s 3 further includes : a step s 3 of obtaining cross sectional data and a step s 32 of modifying . the step s 31 of obtaining cross sectional data includes : processing , by the processor 20 , the three - dimensional inner surface data 201 of the sole and the three - dimensional surface data 202 of the upper , obtaining curve data of plural cross sections formed when the sole inner surface a 1 of the sole a is superimposed on the upper lower surface b 1 of the upper b . the step s 32 of modifying includes : outputting , by the processor 20 , the curve data of plural cross sections to a digital control machine 50 , and modifying , by the digital control machine 50 , the three - dimensional surface which is formed by the sole inner surface a 1 of the sole a is superimposed on the upper lower surface b 1 of the upper b , based on the curve data of plural cross sections . the step s 4 of marking a line on the upper includes : processing , by the processor 20 , the three - dimensional inner surface data 201 of the sole and the three - dimensional surface data 202 of the upper , and transferring the contour line a 2 of the sole inner surface a 1 of the sole a to the upper lower surface b 1 of the upper b to form the processing marked line b 2 . in the step s 4 of this embodiment , the processor 20 obtains the contour line data of the sole inner surface a 1 of the sole a by processing the three - dimensional inner surface data 201 of the sole , then integrates and processes the contour line data of the sole inner surface a 1 of the sole a and the three - dimensional surface data 202 of the upper to obtain the positional data of the marked line of the upper b , and outputs the positional data to the digital control machine 50 to allow the digital control machine 50 to process within the area defined by the processing marked line b 2 of the upper lower surface b 1 of the upper b . referring to fig7 , steps s 41 to s 46 are carried out to calculate the contour line . steps s 41 , s 42 include inputting sole inner surface data and the last inner surface data into the processor 20 , the step s 43 includes performing primary positioning based on known coordinates , and then performing detailed positioning based on adhering area . then the step s 44 is performed to project the inner surface data of the sole onto the upper , meanwhile , material elasticity can be set to simulate the effect when the sole is attached to the upper . finally , in the step s 45 the contour line after deformation is projected onto the upper data , so as to complete the contour line calculation of the step s 46 , and the calculated contour line is outputted for later roughening and glue application . it should be noted that when the sole a and the upper b which are carried in pair are arranged in a parallel manner on the conveyor d , the three - dimensional measurement system c of the present invention can be provided with another scanner to scan the three - dimensional surface data of the upper b in addition to the three - dimensional scanner 30 for scanning the sole inner surface a 1 . when the three - dimensional scanner 30 are arranged linearly in a front and back manner on the conveyor d , the three - dimensional scanner 30 can scan and send the three - dimensional inner surface data of the sole a and the three - dimensional surface data of the upper b to the processor 20 . in summary , with the three - dimensional measurement system c and the three - dimensional measurement method thereof in accordance with the present invention , the sole a and the upper b can be moved on the production line during the adhering operation . the three - dimensional scanner 30 is capable of acquiring the precise three - dimensional inner surface data of various soles a , which is then used in combination with the three - dimensional measurement method and the three - dimensional surface data of the upper b , to allow the processor 20 to calculate the processing marked line ( for adhering the sole to the upper ) which can be used as reference parameters for automatic roughening treatment and glue application of the upper b , thus achieving the purposes of automatic production , improving production efficiency and quality . while we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention , it is clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention .
| 6Physics
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referring to fig1 , a video surveillance system 10 is shown in block diagram form . video surveillance system 10 comprises a plurality of cameras from 1 through n , which are labeled 12 , 14 , and 16 , connected to a network 18 . network 18 can be a closed network , local area network or wide area network , such as the internet . a digital video recorder 20 is also connected to network 18 for recording the video from cameras 12 , 14 , and 16 . if desired , video surveillance system 10 can include a plurality of digital video recorders , which can be network video recorders or digital video recorders which can be connected directly to a display or workstation . as used herein , recorded video includes full - motion video and still photographs taken at intervals . storage 22 is connected to network 18 to provide additional storage for recorded video which can be transferred from dvr 20 for short - term or long - term storage . storage 22 can be connected to network 18 as shown or directly to dvr 20 , such as an expansion box . workstation 24 is connected to network 18 to provide a user with a display and input capability . workstation 24 can be a general purpose computer with software for implementing the present invention and provide a graphical user interface for searching recorded video data or it can be simply a display and user input device for accessing video surveillance system 10 and utilizing the video data search capabilities of the present invention . the graphical user interface software for searching the recorded video data can reside anywhere in the system such as , for example , dvr 20 or storage 22 . fig2 illustrates one embodiment of workstation 24 for implementing the present invention . processor 26 is connected to rom 28 , ram 30 , and storage 32 , which can be a hard disk drive , compact disc drive , optical drive , and the like . processor 26 implements a software program for displaying a graphical user interface that is stored in rom 28 or storage 32 . processor 26 provides output signals to display 36 to display the graphical user interface for implementing the present invention . user input device 34 can be a mouse , jog / shuttle controller , keyboard , or other suitable input device connected to processor 26 to provide user input to search the stored video data according to the present invention . the recorded video data searched by workstation 24 can be stored in dvr 20 or storage 22 of video surveillance system 10 , or in storage 32 . a graphical user interface for implementing the present invention is displayed in fig3 . window 38 contains icons 40 , 42 , and 44 , which graphically represent cameras 12 , 14 , and 16 from fig1 . window 46 is the area for the display of recorded video . window 46 is shown in quad mode , i . e ., a two by two matrix in which a different camera could be displayed in each quadrant ; however , other configurations can be used as well as is known in the art . window 48 contains a time graph 50 which , by way of example , shows the time period from september 2003 to september 2005 . line 52 shows the chosen point in time on time graph 50 . for illustration purposes , line 52 is shown at time jul . 19 , 2004 — 05 : 55 : 36 pm . line 52 can be moved , for example , by using a mouse to move pointer 56 onto slider 54 , clicking a mouse button and moving slider 54 to the desired time and then releasing the mouse button . the scale of time graph 50 can be changed by the user , for example , by rotating the wheel on a mouse . the scale of time graph 50 an be changed from years as shown in fig3 to months , days , hours , minutes , and seconds as shown respectively in fig4 - 8 . fig4 shows the time period on time graph 50 from jun . 17 through sep . 29 of 2004 . fig5 shows the time period on time graph 50 from jul . 23 through aug . 1 of 2004 . fig6 shows the time period on time graph 50 from 11 : 46 am through 8 : 46 pm of jul . 24 , 2004 . fig7 shows the time period on time graph 50 from 16 : 38 pm through 17 : 07 pm , i . e ., 4 : 38 pm through 5 : 07 pm of jul . 24 , 2004 . fig8 shows the time period on time graph 50 from 4 : 54 : 37 pm through 4 : 55 : 06 pm of jul . 24 , 2004 . as the mouse wheel is rolled , time graph 50 changes to the next scale or farther with a fluid motion . at the same time , slider 54 can be moved along time graph 50 to the desired point in time . if the mouse wheel is rotated in the opposite direction , time graph 50 changes to the next longer period of time , such as from seconds to minutes , or farther depending upon the amount of rotation of the mouse wheel . accordingly , the user can move through time by moving slider 54 back and forth across time graph 50 and rotating the mouse wheel to zoom in or out in time as desired . the scale of time graph 50 can be changed in other ways , such as by moving pointer 56 to icon 66 to go to a scale showing a shorter time period such as from hours to minutes or by moving pointer 56 to icon 68 to go to a scale showing a longer time period such as from hours to days . bar 58 indicates that video was recorded at that time . the width of bar 58 indicates the length of the recorded video , and depending upon the scale of time graph 50 , varying degrees of detail of recorded video are shown . this can be seen clearly by referring to fig8 where bar 60 indicates a segment of recorded video that is significantly longer than bar 62 . depending upon the scale , bars 60 and 62 may be indicated as a single bar as the user zooms out in time or may not be shown at all . in addition , bar 58 can be displayed in different colors to indicate different types of recordings , such as an alarm event , motion detection event , or continuous recording such as on a recorded schedule . other user input devices can be used to interact with the graphical user interface , such as a jog / shuttle controller , keyboard and similar devices . once slider 54 has been moved to the point of interest as shown in fig8 , the video segment of interest indicated by bar 64 can be displayed by clicking the mouse button . this process can be implemented in a number of ways , for example , by clicking the left or right mouse button , double clicking one of the mouse buttons or any other user input to signal processor 26 to retrieve and play the desired video . the user selects the video data to be searched by selecting the camera of interest . the user moves pointer 56 onto the desired icon , i . e . one of icons 40 , 42 , and 44 , clicks and holds a mouse button , drags the selected camera icon to time graph 50 , and then releases the mouse button to indicate to processor 26 that data for the selected camera should be displayed on time graph 50 . other methods can be used for selecting the camera , for example , pointer 56 can be moved to icon 70 and the mouse button clicked to indicate to processor 26 that the user wishes to select a camera . the user then moves pointer 56 to one of icons 40 , 42 , or 44 and selects the desired camera to be active on time graph 50 . icon 72 can be used to indicate to processor 26 that the video recorded at the time selected on time graph 50 should be displayed . in addition , the system and method of the present invention facilitates the exporting of selected video . the desired video can be searched as previously described . once slider 54 has been moved to the beginning of the desired video clip , pointer 56 is moved to icon 74 and activated by a click of a mouse button . slider 54 is then moved to the end of the desired video clip . pointer 56 is then moved to icon 74 and activated again by a click of a mouse button to provide user input to processor 26 indicating the end of the video clip to be exported . pointer 56 is then moved to icon 78 , and the user then clicks a mouse button to indicate to processor 26 to retrieve the selected video data from storage 32 , storage 22 , or dvr 20 , and provide the video data to the device selected by the user , for example , to a compact disc drive for recording on a compact disc or to network 18 for transmitting to another location connected to network 18 . to remove the export designations placed by the foregoing process , the user moves pointer 56 to icon 76 and clicks a mouse button . window 48 includes an indication of which camera is currently active on time graph 50 . numeral 80 points to this indication , which is shown for illustration purposes as camera 1 . window 48 also contains an indication of the type of search is being displayed in window 46 . numeral 82 indicates that a quick search is currently active , referring to the use the functions associated with time bar 50 . in addition , other types of searches can be performed by special algorithms , and is indicated by numeral 84 referring to enhanced search results , which can be activated by moving pointer 56 to box 86 and clicking a mouse button . in addition , different screen configurations can be chosen by placing pointer 56 on the desired configuration , such as a 2 × 2 screen displayed indicated by numeral 88 . any number of other screen configurations for window 46 can also be used , such as 1 × 1 , 3 × 3 , 4 × 4 , 1 × 5 , and 1 × 12 or other suitable screen configuration to meet the user &# 39 ; s information display needs . multiple cameras can be selected and displayed in separate quadrants of window 46 with all of the displayed video being video that was recorded at the chosen point in time . the video streams are recorded separately along with an indication of the time the video was recorded . the cameras are synchronized by a system clock for surveillance system 10 that can reside in workstation 24 , dvr 20 or any suitable location on network 18 so that any combination of cameras can be selected for viewing the recordings at a selected point in time . this function can be implemented , for example , by using pointer 56 to drag the additional cameras to the desired quadrant of window 46 to indicate to processor 26 that the user also want to also view the recorded video , if any , from the additionally selected cameras that was recorded at the selected time on time graph 50 . fig9 illustrates the steps that a user goes through in utilizing the present invention . at block 100 , the user selects a display configuration for the video display window , for example , 2 × 2 , as shown in fig3 . the user then selects the camera of interest to search the recorded video on time graph 50 . at blocks 104 , 106 , and 108 , the user then moves slider 54 back and forth and zooms in or out in scale to select the time on time graph 50 at which the recorded video is to be displayed . at block 110 , the user provides a user input signal , such as clicking a mouse button to indicate to processor 26 that the display of the selected recorded video should be initiated . fig1 illustrates the steps that processor 26 performs in waiting for , receiving , and responding to user input when the search function of the present invention has been initiated . at decision point 112 , processor 26 waits for an input from a user indicating that a video clip has been selected for display . if the appropriate user input is received , processor 26 displays the selected video clip at block 114 . if the appropriate user input is not received at decision point 112 , processor 26 checks to see if a change graph scale input has been received from a user at decision point 116 . if the appropriate user is received , at block 118 processor 26 changes the graph scale . if the appropriate user input is not received at decision point 116 , then processor 26 returns to decision point 112 and the process continues until the search function has be discontinued by the user . it is to be understood that variations and modifications of the present invention can be made without departing from the scope of the invention . it is also to be understood that the scope of the invention is not to be interpreted as limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein , but only in accordance with the appended claims when read in light of the foregoing disclosure .
| 7Electricity
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hereinafter , a preferred embodiment of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings . [ 0029 ] fig1 is a block diagram showing in outline the arrangement of a camera - integrated type vtr arranged according to the invention as an embodiment thereof . referring to fig1 an image pickup part 10 is composed of an optical system lens , a ccd image sensor , an automatic focusing mechanism , a zooming mechanism , etc . the image pickup part 10 operates , in accordance with instructions from a camera system control device 12 , to adjust focus , an amount of light , etc ., for a field of view , to convert an optical image of the field of view obtained through the optical system lens into a video signal and to supply the video signal to a camera signal processing device 14 . the camera signal processing device 14 then processes the video signal in a predetermined manner in accordance with instructions from the camera system control device 12 , and supplies the processed video signal to a vtr block 16 . a camera system operating device 18 is composed of various switches and dials ( for af on / off , ae auto / lock and programmed ae actions , etc .). a system control device 20 is arranged to supply the camera system control device 12 with information on an operation performed by the operator on the camera system operating device 18 . the camera system control device 12 is composed of a microcomputer , etc ., and is arranged to control the entire camera system according to instructions coming from the system control device 20 and the camera system operating device 18 . the vtr block 16 includes , among others , a mechanism part , a mechanism driving part arranged to drive the mechanism part , a mechanism part servo control device composed mainly of a microcomputer , and a video and audio signal processing part . in accordance with the instructions from the system control device 20 , the vtr block 16 records and reproduces video signals on and from a recording medium , sends the video signals to an evf ( electronic viewfinder ) 22 and also sends out the video signals from an output terminal which is not shown . a vtr system operating device 24 is composed of switches of varied kinds related to the vtr system and the whole apparatus ( including up , down , right , left , execution , menu , reproduction ( playback ), fast - feeding / reverse - feeding , pause and start / stop switches ). information on any operation that is performed on the vtr system operating device 24 by the operator is supplied to the system control device 20 . a power supply mode switch 26 is provided for allowing the operator to select the power supply mode of the main body of the vtr ( including on / off switching of power for the camera , vtr and editing ). information on the selected state of the switch 26 is supplied to the system control device 20 . an osd ( on - screen display ) control device 28 is arranged to convert information of varied kinds of the main body into display character signals and to supply these signals to the evf ( electronic viewfinder ) 22 in accordance with the instructions of the system control device 20 . the osd control device 28 also supplies the vtr block 16 with character signals to be recorded , such as a title , a date , etc . the evf 22 is composed of either a crt or a liquid crystal display panel or the like which is arranged to show video images to the operator . the evf 22 displays not only the display of video images but also information of varied kinds in characters and symbols and guide information when a menu is set there . the system control device 20 is composed of a microcomputer for total control over the above - stated various parts and has various functions , such as a timer function as will be described later herein . the system control device 20 is thus arranged to control the power supply mode , a shift to the operating mode of the vtr block 16 , various information displays , an editing mode , various shooting modes , storing and holding an editing program , etc . the system control device 20 is further arranged to supply an infrared remote control signal generating device 30 with signals for remotely operating an external recording apparatus . the infrared remote control signal generating device 30 is thus caused to transmit control signals to an outside space with infrared rays used as a carrier wave . an infrared remote control signal receiving device 32 is arranged , on the other hand , to receive infrared remote control signals from the outside and to supply the system control device 20 with data codes corresponding to the infrared remote control signals received . [ 0035 ] fig2 and 4 are flow charts jointly showing a flow of operation of the embodiment of the invention . fig5 and 7 show examples of displays made while the operation of the embodiment is in process . fig8 is a timing chart showing various actions of the embodiment . remote operation command codes applicable to the respective recording apparatus in use vary with the manufacturers of recording apparatuses . in the case of the embodiment , remote operation command codes of applicable manufacturers are arranged to be selected by using one item on a menu . referring to fig5 and 7 which show menu pictures , when a menu cursor 40 is located at an item reading “ recorder select ”, if an execution key of the vtr system operating device 24 is pushed by the operator , a selected code action verification is executed . referring to fig2 at a step s 1 , a check is made to find if an operation is performed to start the execution of the selected code action verification . if so , the flow proceeds to a step s 2 . at the step s 2 , preparation is made for transmission of the remote operation command codes of the recording apparatus of the manufacturers currently being selected . at a step s 3 , a command transmission timing timer cmd . timer is initialized to 0 . 0 second and is then caused to start counting time . the timer cmd . timer operates within the system control device 20 to up count at every 0 . 1 second after the start . at a step s 4 , the system control device 20 causes the infrared remote control signal generating device 30 to transmit a recording pause cancel command to the recording apparatus at the same time as the step s 3 . at a step s 5 , a display reading “ recorder ; rec ” is made at a section 42 of the menu picture which is provided for indicating an acting state in which the recording apparatus is to be operated upon receipt of the recording pause cancel command . at a step s 6 , the flow of operation waits until the count value of the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer reaches 5 . 0 seconds . when the count value of the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer reaches 5 . 0 seconds , the flow proceeds to a step s 7 . at the step s 7 , a timing adjusting clock display timer adjust . timer is initialized to a value of + 5 . 0 . at a step s 8 , a cut - out timing adjusting clock is started to be displayed . the cut - out timing adjusting clock may be displayed in the same size as other character displays , and , however , is preferably displayed in a larger size than other character displays as shown at a section 44 in fig5 . at a step s 9 , the flow waits until the count value of the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer is updated by 0 . 1 second . the flow then proceeds to a step s 10 . at the step s 10 , the count value of the timing adjusting clock display timer adjust . timer is decremented by 0 . 1 . the display of the cut - out timing adjusting clock ( for example , the section 44 in fig5 ) is also updated . at a step s 11 , the steps s 9 and s 10 are repeated until the count value of the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer reaches 10 . 0 seconds . when the count value of the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer is found to have reached 10 . 0 seconds at the step s 11 , the flow proceeds to a step s 12 which is shown in fig3 . at the step s 12 , a recording pause command is transmitted to the recording apparatus . at a step s 13 , the acting state in which the recording apparatus is to be operated upon receipt of the recording pause command is displayed as “ recorder ; rec pause ”, as shown in a section 43 in fig6 . at a step s 14 , the flow waits until the count value of the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer is updated by 0 . 1 second . after updating of the timer , the flow proceeds to a step s 15 . at the step s 15 , the count value of the timing adjusting clock display timer adjust . timer is decremented by 0 . 1 . the display of the cut - out timing adjusting clock ( for example , the section 44 in fig5 ) is also updated accordingly . at a step s 16 , the flow repeats the steps s 14 and s 15 until the count value of the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer reaches 11 . 0 seconds . when the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer reaches 11 . 0 seconds , the flow proceeds to a step s 17 to bring the display of the cut - out timing adjusting clock to an end . a display resulting from this step is shown in fig6 . at a step s 18 , the flow waits until the count value of the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer reaches 20 . 0 seconds . when the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer reaches 20 . 0 seconds , the flow proceeds to a step s 19 . at the step s 19 , the recording pause cancel command is transmitted to the recording apparatus . at a step s 20 , the acting state in which the recording apparatus is to be operated upon receipt of the recording pause cancel command is displayed as “ recorder ; pause ”, as shown in the section 44 in fig7 . then , the flow proceeds to a step s 21 which is shown in fig4 . at the step s 21 , the timing adjusting clock display timer adjust . timer is initialized to 0 . 0 second . at a step s 22 , a cut - in timing adjusting clock is started to be displayed . as in the case of the cut - out timing adjusting clock , although the cut - in timing adjusting clock may be displayed in the same size as other display characters , it is preferably displayed in a larger size than other display characters , as shown in a section 46 in fig7 . at a step s 23 , the flow waits until the count value of the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer is updated by 0 . 1 second . when the count value of the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer is updated , the flow proceeds to a step s 24 . at the step s 24 , the count value of the timing adjusting clock display timer adjust . timer is decremented by 0 . 1 . the display of the cut - in timing adjusting clock , which is , for example , as shown in the section 46 in fig7 is also updated accordingly . at a step s 25 , the steps s 23 and s 24 are repeated until the count value of the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer reaches 25 . 0 seconds . when the count value of the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer has reached 25 . 0 seconds at the step s 25 , the flow proceeds to a step s 26 to put out the display of the cut - in timing adjusting clock . at a step s 27 , the flow waits until the count value of the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer reaches 30 . 0 seconds . when the count value of the command transmission timing timer cmd . timer reaches 30 . 0 seconds , the flow proceeds to a step s 28 to transmit the recording pause command to the recording apparatus . at a step s 29 , the display of the acting state in which the recording apparatus is to be operated is put out , and the selected code action verification comes to an end . further , the signals for the displays of various kinds are line - outputted . therefore , a recording medium for timing adjustment can be perfectly completed by connecting the display signals to the line inputs of the recording apparatus and actually performing a recording action under the work of the above - stated selected code action verification . incidentally , when a signal recorded on the recording medium for timing adjustment is reproduced , clock display data which is obtained at a change - over point from the display of the cut - out timing adjusting clock to the display of the cut - in timing adjusting clock becomes a timing adjustment value applicable to each adjustment of timing . therefore , the data thus obtained is set as timing adjustment data for each timing . [ 0049 ] fig9 is a flow chart showing an operation in the editing mode in the embodiment . fig1 and 11 show by way of example displays made during the operation . referring to fig9 at a step s 31 , a check is made to find if an editing execution mode is turned on by the execution key of the vtr system operating device 24 . if not , the flow of operation proceeds to a step s 39 . at the step s 39 , the vtr is permitted to accept remote operation commands , and a display “ s_off ” indicating inhibition of acceptance of remote operation commands , shown at a part 50 in fig1 , is put out . then , the flow proceeds to a step s 40 to shift the mode of display to a normal editing mode display as shown in fig1 , and returns to the step s 31 . in the display shown in fig1 , display parts 52 - 1 to 52 - 8 indicate the contents of a preset editing program . as shown , editing program parts no . 1 to no . 8 have already been registered . in the case of fig1 , the whole space of the picture has already been fully used for display of information . there is left no room for any more information display . if the editing execution mode is found at the step s 31 to have been turned on by the execution key of the vtr system operating device 24 , the flow proceeds to a step s 32 . at the step s 32 , the system control device 20 inhibits acceptance of remote operation commands at the vtr for the purpose of preventing the editing work from being suspended by any erroneous operation from the outside . at the same time , the system control device 20 causes the command acceptance inhibition display “ s_off ” to be turned on , as shown at the display part 50 in fig1 . at the next step s 33 , an editing execution mode display is turned on as shown in fig1 . at a step s 34 , only the display of a part of the editing program currently in process of execution is inverted as shown by way of example at a part 54 in fig1 . in the case of this display example , the editing program is indicated at a part 56 and a part of the editing program which is currently in process of execution is shown in an inverted state at the part 54 in fig1 . the inverted display part clearly shows that the first part of the editing program is now in process of execution . at a step s 35 , a check is made to find if a date code has been turned on . if so , the flow proceeds to a step s 36 to turn on a display of date code as shown at a part 58 in fig1 . if not , the flow proceeds to a step s 37 to put out the display of date code . at the next step s 38 , a check is made to find if the editing action of the whole editing program has been finished . if not , the flow returns to the step s 33 to repeat the step s 33 and steps subsequent thereto . if so , the flow returns to the step s 31 . as will be readily understood from the foregoing description , the start and end of the verifying work on the action of the command codes selected to be actually used become clear , so that the reliability of the verifying action can be enhanced by the arrangement of the embodiment described above . further , the arrangement for making a display of clock adjusted to the timing of transmission of the command codes while the selected code action verification is in process enables the editing work to be accurately carried out , because a recording medium which facilitates timing adjustment for accurate editing work can be prepared at the same time as the process of the selected code action verification by virtue of the arrangement described above . the arrangement for making a clock display in a size larger than a normal character display size permits easy clock confirmation during the process of setting a timing adjusting value . the arrangement for providing a means for inhibiting acceptance of commands while the editing work is in process ( in the editing execution mode ) effectively enables the operator to clearly know whether acceptance of commands is being inhibited or not . the arrangement for making a display provided during the process of setting the editing program ( editing program setting mode ) different from a display provided during the process of executing the editing work ( editing execution mode ) enables some item that cannot be displayed in the editing program setting mode because of the limited space but must be displayed in the editing execution mode , such as a date display , to be displayed as necessary .
| 6Physics
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reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments of the invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . the present invention relates to a method and circuit for setting a programmable delay cell in a signal path and using a reference clock to calibrate the oscillator clock frequency of an oscillator that includes the delay cell . the circuit preferably uses two counting circuits or counters that are controlled by calibration and control logic in which one counter is clocked by the reference clock and the other is clocked by the oscillator circuit clock . in general , after a predetermined time , the calibration and control logic compares the two count values and determines if the programmable delay cell of the oscillator circuit needs to be adjusted . in a preferred embodiment , the sequence followed in the method is to clear the counters , start the counters , stop the counters , compare the counts , and , then , accordingly adjust the programmable delay cell value and / or repeat the earlier steps . if the oscillator circuit is determined to need adjustment , the calibration and control logic circuit so adjusts the programmable delay cell . the present invention may then provide a suitable delay path formed from a portion of the oscillator circuit for passing an external or source clock signal . fig1 shows a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a circuit of the present invention . as shown in fig1 , the major components of the scheme are two counters 10 , 50 , calibration and control logic 30 , and an oscillator 60 - 100 that includes a programmable delay cell 70 . the programmable delay cell 70 may be implemented through complementary metal oxide semiconductor ( cmos ) inverters , differential delay cells , buffers and multiplexers , or the like . the oscillator is preferably a ring oscillator . the first counter 10 is clocked by a reference clock refclk and the second counter 50 is clocked by the clock generated by the ring oscillator . the first counter 10 and the second counter 50 are capable of counting up to a certain number and resetting to begin counting again . in a preferred embodiment , the total size of the circuit is determined by the size of the programmable delay cell 70 and a few hundred logic gates . except for the programmable delay cell , all other cells used to design the logic are not timing critical . in one embodiment , the calibration and control logic 30 starts both counters simultaneously and stops the counters simultaneously after a predetermined period of time . then , the calibration and control logic 30 compares the count values to determine the operating frequency of the oscillator clock with respect to the reference clock . optionally , prior to the calibration and control logic 30 , combination logic 20 and 40 may be used to generate the waveforms shown in fig2 . any correctable discrepancy determined by the calibration and control logic is resolved by making an adjustment to the programmable delay cell . if the programmable delay cell is adjustable only in increments , the calibration and control logic or other calculating and control circuitry provides the nearest delay value to the programmable delay cell to approximate the desired frequency of the oscillator clock . fig2 shows a timing diagram relating inputs to the calibration and control logic . the reference clock counter generated pulse n_out , one of the two illustrated inputs , is shown as having a duration of a * n where n represents the number of counts before reset by the reference clocked counter 10 and a represents the clock period of refclk . the period of the reference clock refclk is given as a nanoseconds although a different unit of time may be used , such as picoseconds , microseconds , or milliseconds . thus , the duration of n_out ( from the beginning to the end of the count ) is a * n . similarly , if the propagation delay of the ring oscillator is given as b nanoseconds ( or other unit of time such that a and b are measured in the same units of time ), then the period of the ring oscillator is given as 2 * b nanoseconds . if the number of cycles count_m counted by the ring oscillator counter is m , then the duration of m_out ( from beginning to end of the count ) is 2 * b * m . the waveform m_out may be a low duty cycle waveform as shown in fig2 in which the high level pulse occupies a relatively small portion of the count period or may be a 50 - 50 duty cycle waveform or a high duty cycle waveform . the present invention uses the reference clock as a guide for setting the ring oscillator frequency through the programmable delay cell . for example , if it is desired that the oscillator clock frequency be twice the reference frequency , the programmable delay cell is set ( to the closest approximation or exactly ) to 90 degrees of the period a ; in other words , b is set to a / 4 ( equation 1 ). if duration_n equals duration_m by adjusting the delay of the programmable cell , then a * n = 2 * b * m ( equation 2 ). substituting b = a / 4 yields m = 2 * n ( equation 3 ). thus , satisfying equations 1 and 2 provides equation 3 . in the case where the desired programmable delay is 90 degrees , the counter value of count_m is set equal to twice the number of count_n . for the purposes of this example , the value of the left side of equation 2 , a * n , is fixed . in order to satisfy equation 2 , the value of b may be changed by adjusting the delay of the programmable delay cell until 2 * b * m equals a * n . in one embodiment , the calibration and control logic ( or similar circuitry ) detects the durations of duration_n and duration_m and sends control settings to adjust the delay of the programmable delay cell until it finds the two durations are equal . once equations 2 and 3 are satisfied , the propagation delay of the ring oscillator will be one fourth of the period of the reference clock a . for any given frequency of the reference clock , m and n can be properly chosen to get the desired phase shift / delay . then the counters may be deactivated to save power as well as to reduce switching noise . no pvt variations will change the counter values or the period of the reference clock ( i . e ., the values of m , n and a remain the same ). in the case of multiple circuits , each delay network ( or device ) of an oscillator circuit will adjust the delay of its programmable delay cell to satisfy equation 2 . thus , the value of b for different delay networks or different devices will still be the same regardless of the pvt conditions . thus , b is the only variable for adjusting oscillator clock frequency and / or setting a delay . fig3 shows a functional block diagram an embodiment of the circuit in which the delay scheme is embedded into a clock tree circuit . the path r is the ring oscillator , which consists of a nand gate 320 , a multiplexer 340 , the programmable delay cell 350 , and three clock buffers 360 , 370 , and 380 . the reference clock refclk may be provided by an off chip voltage controlled oscillator , a crystal oscillator , or the like , proximately disposed to the ring oscillator circuit . the resolution of the programmable delay buffer increments determines a number of cycles needed in a count cycle and the delay adjustment ( or , deskew ) capability . with reasonably sized counters , the circuit can accurately set the delay settings . the accuracy depends on the step size of the programmable delay cell . the present invention can set the desired delay to within one step size and has the ability to calibrate the set delay for process , voltage , and temperature variations for every device used with it . using current technology , designing a delay cell with the step sizes of 20 picoseconds or smaller is quite achievable . the clock tree in fig3 may have two , three , four , or more levels and may use temporary clock nets each of which are turned on or off independently , as described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 429 , 714 , entitled “ process , voltage and temperature independent clock tree deskew circuitry - temporary driver method ,” herein incorporated by reference in the entirety . the clock tree may be implemented through various combinations of transistors , resistors , capacitors , flip flops , electrically erasable programmable read only memory , microcontroller , firmware , flash memory , and the like . each level of the clock tree may be phase detectable and phase adjustable ( or , skew detectable and skew adjustable ). the calibration and control logic circuit preferably performs boolean and arithmetic operations . during the calibration mode , the multiplexer 340 selects the r path . the calibration logic continues to adjust the delay of the programmable delay cell until it finds the desired delay value . then , the multiplexer 340 switches input to the other input . the desired phase / delay includes the delay of the programmable delay cell as well as the propagation delay of the whole clock network . the delay is also adjusted to current conditions of processing , voltage , and temperature . that eliminates the need of delay adjustment on the data path . once the period of the reference clock and the values of the two counters are set , the desired delay will be the same device to device although the delay settings to the programmable delay cells will not necessarily be the same . this is because process , voltage , and temperature might not be the same for different devices . since the delay along the clock nets of the clock tree connected to the initial “ clock ” buffer may not be identical due to intra die interconnect process variations and due to different neighboring routes , the first level of clock buffers may not all turn on at the same time . additional differences in turn on times may be caused by intra die transistor variation , variations in signal line lengths , and differing capacitive effects . however , the input signal paths of each clock buffer 360 , 370 , 372 , 380 , 382 , 384 , and 386 of a given level may be designed to be of the same length , to have a symmetric layout with other input signal paths of the same level , and to have a layout similar in other respects such as to experience various environmental affects , such as parasitic capacitance , in the same way and to the same degree . thus , the clock signal into each level of clock buffer is presumed to be identical to the clock signal of the other clock buffers of the same level ( e . g ., 380 , 382 , 384 , and 386 ). in other words , the clock buffer signal paths are balanced which results in fewer and minimal adjustments . the path distances of a clock tree used with the oscillator circuit having a programmable delay cell may be balanced and symmetric to enhance the synchronization of the clock signals in different branches of the clock tree . after the calibration mode , the counters and the rest of the logic can be disabled to save power . in fig3 , the oscillator circuit path r may be disabled by disabling nand gate 320 while a signal path is still provided that has a desired propagation delay value . then , an external clock ( or , source clock ) 330 may be switched through by multiplexer 340 to provide a clock signal with a desired delay value . since the programmable delay cell and clock buffers are also used in the actual circuit , there is almost no additional power consumption . the programmable delay cell may be implemented in numerous configurations . fig4 - 6 illustrate three examples of implementations of the programmable delay cell . features of the various implementations may be combined to achieve desired operational results . fig4 shows a multiplexer 430 that selects one of n delays through the value of the address bits input to the multiplexer . each delay each is formed of a pair of serial inverters 410 - 412 , 414 - 416 , and 418 - 420 . fig5 shows a multiplexer 530 that selects one of n delays determined by a selected input that is tied to a unique capacitive load in which a higher capacitive value leads to a greater delay value because of the rc time constant established by the selected capacitance 514 , 518 , 522 , 526 and multiplexer switch input resistance . the first stage buffer 510 and second stage buffers 512 , 516 , 520 , 524 may be inverters . fig6 shows an embodiment in which the delay is formed of a fixed number of stages 602 , 604 , 610 , 616 , 622 , 628 , 634 in which the input of one or more of the stages may be switchable connected to a capacitance 608 , 614 , 620 , 626 , 632 through a switch 606 , 612 , 618 , 624 , 630 . the capacitances 608 , 614 , 620 , 626 , 632 may be of the same capacitive value , may each be of a unique capacitance value , may have capacitive values scaled in relation to the other capacitors , or the like . other variations of the programmable delay cell are contemplated by the present invention . fig7 illustrates an embodiment of a method of the present invention . the counters clocked by the reference clock refclk and the oscillator clock osc clk are cleared or reset 710 . a delay is loaded into a stage of the oscillator 715 from the calibration and control circuit , through a latch loaded by an external device , or in another manner . both counters are enabled simultaneously through the release of the reset line 720 . the oscillator clock may be derived from the reference clock or may be generated through a ring oscillator . after a period of time , the counting is stopped simultaneously for the two counters 725 . the stopping may be a function of the reference clock counter reaching a certain count value . likewise , the oscillator clocked counter may determine the end of the count period . alternatively , the calibration and control logic or other circuit may determine when to stop counting . the reference clocked count and the oscillator clocked count are compared 730 . if the clocked count values are sent to the calibration and control logic , the comparison may be performed by an arithmetic logic unit or other circuitry . if reference clock counter generated pulse n_out and oscillator clock counter generated pulse m_out are sent to the calibration and control logic , the comparison may be performed using a shift register to measure the relative durations of the two pulses or a counting circuit may count the number of m_out pulses during the period of time n_out is a logic high value . if the oscillator clock frequency is determined to be within the desired parameters , such as within an acceptable range or of a desired value 735 , the counters are reset 740 and calibration stops 745 . otherwise , a new delay is determined and the new delay value is loaded into the programmable delay cell of the oscillator 750 , the counters are reset 755 , and counting resumes 720 . the present invention may be practiced through a variety of implementations . for example , the counters of fig1 and 3 may be reset on a particular count , may be stopped by control logic , or may rollover continuously . the duty cycle of the waveforms generated from the counter outputs may be altered to comply with a particular application . the calibration and control logic may receive as input either a clock frequency the oscillator is to operate or a delay value . an initial delay value may be preset at the time of manufacture , may be set by dual in line switches , may be loaded into the calibration and control logic circuitry , or may otherwise be input . periodic calibrations may be employed to guard against frequency drift problems . the reference clocked counter and the oscillator clocked counter preferably are reset together , but may be reset independently through the calibration and control logic , through an operator , or through other circuitry . the propagation delays of the counter and combination logic timed by the reference clock is preferably closely matched with or identical to the propagation delays of the counter and combination logic timed by the oscillator clock . instead of combination logic that receives the count values and generates a corresponding waveform , the count may be provided directly to the calibration and control logic . an arithmetic logic unit may be used to compare the two count values . it is believed that the present invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood by the forgoing description . it is also believed that it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form , construction and arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention or without sacrificing all of its material advantages , the form hereinbefore described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof . it is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes .
| 7Electricity
|
the phrase “ nucleated red blood cells ” or “ nrbcs ” refer to blood cells that are generally larger and more immature than reticulocytes and mature red blood cells ( rbcs ). these immature , nucleated stages of the erythrocyte generally occur within the bone marrow . they appear as metarubricytes in small numbers in response to acute blood loss or anemia . circulating nucleated rbcs can be metarubricytes or younger cells , such as rubricytes . the phrase “ genetic status ” may include any chromosomal or single gene status of the fetus which is different from that of the mother . usually , it will be desirable to screen the fetus for abnormal conditions where it will be apparent that the mother does not possess the condition and therefore would have a different genetic status . examples of chromosomal abnormalities for which screening may be desired include aneuploidy , of chromosomes 13 , 18 , 21 , x or y , and the like . examples of single gene disorders for which screening may be performed include huntington &# 39 ; s disease , cystic fibrosis , and the like . in addition to screening for abnormal conditions , the fetus gender may be determined by screening for the y chromosome which will necessarily be absent in the mother . a preliminary separation of red blood cells may be obtained by a single density gradient to separate mononuclear cells , including nucleated red blood cells , from a whole blood sample . since nrbcs are more dense than white blood cells , it is necessary to use greater density gradients to recover a high yield of nrbcs . using a 520 mosm , single density gradient of 1 . 119 g / ml , a minimum of 4 cells / ml are identified ( kwon , et al ., prenat diagn ( 2007 ) 27 ( 13 ): 1245 - 50 ). the sample is then applied to a slide such that the cells are in a monolayer at a density sufficient to view about 1000 cells in a single field . the fixed cells are differentially stained for nuclear and cytoplasmic material using may - grunwald - giemsa staining mavrou , et al ., prenat diagn ( 2007 ) 27 : 150 - 153 ). identification and location of cells may be based on simple color and intensity discrimination of various cell types after staining red blood cells will be anuclear . red and white blood cells , containing a stained nucleus , will be have a dark blue nucleus and a light blue cytoplasm , nucleated red blood cells will have a bright pink / purple cytoplasm and a dark blue nucleus . fetal nucleated blood cells need not be separately identified from maternal nucleated blood cells . for example , the fetal cells are not distinguished from maternal cells , e . g ., by the labeling of a specific fetal marker ( s ), e . g ., fetal hemoglobin , ε - globin , etc . an auto - focusing microscope may be used to image areas on a cell plate holding 1000 cell equivalents per image , with a 1000 pixels per cell ( a megapixel camera equivalent ). the illumination comes from a fiber bundle with a multiplicity of selective wavelengths of light . images are then sequentially taken , e . g ., using wavelengths selected to enhance color enhancement and contrast , including without limitation red and blue wavelengths . ratiometric techniques , known in the art , are used to discriminate between cell types . image ( pixel ) coordinates combined with stage coordinates are used to “ locate ” the cells on the substrate . the digital microscope also provides the thermocycling and the display for the technician to perform fish subsequent to location . the successful use of automated auto - focusing microscopes for the detection and analysis of rare cell populations , including fetal nucleated blood cells circulating in maternal blood , has been demonstrated . see , e . g ., oosterwijk , et al ., am j hum genet ( 1998 ) 63 : 1783 - 92 ; bajaj , et al ., cytometry ( 2000 ) 39 : 285 - 94 ; merchant and castleman , human reproduction update ( 2002 ) 8 ( 6 ): 509 - 21 . autofocusing microscopes and accompanying software are known in the art and commercially available . see , e . g ., u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 239 , 170 and 5 , 790 , 710 ; pct publ . nos . wo 2000 / 075709 and wo 1996 / 001438 . microscopes with digital autofocus systems are commercially available from , e . g ., olympus america and oplenic , hangzhou , china ( on the worldwide web at oplenic . com ). imaging software is available from , e . g ., genetix , hampshire , great britain , and meyer instruments , houston tex . currently available techniques for analysis include fish and standard pcr methods . fish is the preferred method of analysis as it is fda cleared and can be applied to cells that are still tethered to the slide , removing the need to extract cells from the plate . both whole cell techniques and free - dna techniques require discrimination between fetal in origin genetic material , i . e . fetal specific markers ( on the worldwide web at cellbio . dote . hu / angol / description_maygrunwald . pdf ; toeger , et al ., molecular human reproduction ( 1999 ) 5 ( 12 ) 1162 - 1165 ); and wataganara et al ., ann n y acad sci . ( 2004 ) 1022 : 90 - 9 ). in addition , free dna techniques are statistical in nature due to the uncertainty of not knowing how many cells the genetic material originated from . analysis of samples employ an effective method that combines the strengths of both cell - based techniques and free - dna techniques by analyzing a combined sample , thereby removing the need to determine maternal or fetal origin while retaining the knowledge of the number of cells . for aneuploidy , the method involves looking for a number of chromosomes / number of nucleated cells greater than 2 , or by looking for the occurrence of at least one nucleated cell which is positive for aneuploidy ( an abnormal number of a specific chromosome ). thus , a sample of maternal blood may be separated and then applied to a slide . in an exemplary embodiment , separation is accomplished using a density gradient column that retains most mononuclear cells and discards most non - nucleated red blood cells . nucleated red blood cells ( nrbcs )— both maternal and fetal — are identified by computer image processing of visible - light microscopic images . fish analysis is performed on all nrbcs applied to the slide , e . g ., at least about 1 , 5 , 50 , 75 , 100 , 150 , 200 , 300 , or more , fnrbcs , and statistical techniques are used to infer the existence of certain genetic traits or disorders in the fetus . a positive finding of aneuploidy indicates a chromosomal abnormality . a positive finding of a y chromosome , indicates that the fetus is male . the methods find use in the determination of the presence of chromosomal abnormalities ( e . g ., aneuploidy ) or in determining the gender of the fetus . the methods find further application in the prediction of potential hypertensive events that may lead to premature birth ( e . g ., pre - eclampsia ), e . g ., by testing for elevated numbers of nucleated red blood cells in relation to a range considered to be normal numbers of nucleated red blood cells ( lana , et al ., am fam physician ( 2004 ) 70 : 2317 - 24 ; and mavrou , et al ., prenat diagn ( 2007 ) 27 : 150 - 153 ). evaluating populations of nucleated red blood cells from the mother can also be used to evaluate the fetus for the presence genetic disorders including cystic fibrosis , or for rhd incompatibility using diagnostic methods known in the art ( on the worldwide web at americanpregnancy . org / prenataltesting /). the following examples are offered to illustrate , but not to limit the claimed invention . draw whole blood into edta or into cpd , cpd - a to prevent coagulation . preserve a smear of the blood sample . transfer a sample of blood into a 15 ml tube . if the hematocrit is appreciably higher or lower than 50 %, use less or more blood as appropriate to end with a packed red cell volume of ˜ 3 ml after centrifugation . the blood is centrifuged to reduce the serum content , to reduce clot formation during the lysis and fixation phase of the procedure . spin at 2000 g for 10 minutes . remove the vial from the centrifuge and verify that the volume of the packed red cell layer is approximately 3 ml . the serum and platelets can be discarded to concentrate the target cell population ( nucleated rbc &# 39 ; s ). the nucleated red cells have a density close to wbc &# 39 ; s and younger rbc &# 39 ; s that are found close to or in the buffy layer . the buffy coat layer which separates the packed rbc &# 39 ; s from the serum , should not be removed as waste . using a pipette , remove the top serum layer . remove as much serum as possible , while making sure to leave the buffy coat undisturbed . this step requires care . transfer the buffy and red cell layer ( along with whatever is left of the serum ) into a 50 ml tube . measure the volume of the packed red cells , and add approximately 6 times that volume of nufix ™ ( qcsciences , richmond , va .). nufix lyses the non - nucleated rbc &# 39 ; s but stabilizes nucleated cells such as nrbc &# 39 ; s and wbc &# 39 ; s . the blood cells have to be mixed and resuspended in the nufix because the cells are denser than the liquid . if the cells are not adequately suspended , the nufix will not lyse all the rbc &# 39 ; s to completion . gently mix the tube using a back - and - forth motion by hand to suspend the packed red cells . set the sample upright for 30 minutes ( give or take 10 minutes ). spin the nufix - blood sample at 450 g for 12 minutes . while the sample is spinning , prepare a glycerin - nufix solution ( 1 : 3 glycerin : nufix by volume ). extract the supernatant from the nufix - blood sample , leaving 1 ml of solution in the bottom of the centrifuge tube . mix the remaining supernatant through the pellet to resuspend the cells . pour 1 ml of glycerin solution into a 15 ml round - bottom tube . pipette the 1 ml of nufix - blood solution down the side of the tube so that it forms a layer above the glycerin solution . spin at 450 g for 6 minutes . remove the supernatant without disturbing the pellet . gently mix the remaining supernatant through the pellet to yield approximately 0 . 5 ml of resuspended cells in solution . preserve at least one smear of the final sample . the resuspended cells in solution include nrbc &# 39 ; s , other nucleated cells , erythrocyte ghosts , and some platelets . the cell suspension contains the target cell population at higher concentration compared to the starting whole blood sample . removal of most of the rbcs reduces the number of hemoglobin containing cells that need to be interrogated to identify a nucleated rbc . reducing the number of rbc &# 39 ; s also reduces the volume of cells to be analyzed . a relatively small volume of cells can be more conveniently turned into a relatively small monolayer , several orders of magnitude smaller than a monolayer composed of billions of rbc &# 39 ; s , compared to a monolayer composed of millions of nucleated cells . a capillary fixture for monolayer creation is assembled using two microscope slides ( 50 mm × 75 mm × 1 mm ) [ premiere microscope slides — vwr # 48300 - 309 ]. the slides are cleaned using soapy water and rinsed with isopropyl alcohol to accelerate drying . the cell immobilization substrate ( bottom slide in the capillary ) is coated with a cell affixing medium such as poly - d - lysine [ bd biosciences , vwr # 47743 - 736 ]. the top left corner of the cell immobilization slide is marked using a carbide tipped scribe such that the 75 mm edge is parallel to the x axis , the 50 mm edge is parallel to the y axis , and the poly - d - lysine side is facing up . teflon ® tape [ mcmaster - carr 76475a41 ] is used to create 300 um tall standoffs 2 . 5 mm wide along the short edges of the capillary cap ( top slide ). after the coating process is completed and the standoffs are attached to the top slide , the slides are affixed face to face to create a capillary in such a way that the long edges of the slides are coincident , the spacing between the slides is 300 um , and the coated surface of the immobilization slide is toward the inside of the capillary . the internal volume of this capillary cavity is approximately 1 ml . the cell suspension that results from the enrichment step is diluted to a final volume of 1 ml using phosphate buffered solution [ accugene 1x pbs — vwr # 12001 - 764 ]. the diluted solution is gently resuspended into the pbs by gently shaking the centrifuge tube . the diluted cell suspension is introduced into the capillary using a pipette . after the cells have been allowed to settle for approximately 30 minutes , the excess liquid is drawn out of the capillary using an absorbent cloth [ kimwipe — vwr # 21905 - 026 ] held against the edge of the capillary opening . after the excess liquid has been removed from the capillary chamber , the cells are allowed to dry in room temperature air for 30 minutes . after drying , the capillary cap ( top slide plus teflon spacers ) is removed and the immobilization slide is allowed to air dry at room temperature for another 30 minutes . after drying , the immobilization slide is placed onto an upright microscope [ olympus bx40 fitted with ludl mac2000 controller ] with the poly - d - lysine coated side facing up , toward the microscope objective . the slide is clipped into place on a mechanical microscope stage capable of moving to and recording accurate xyz locations [ micos ms - 4 for xy , z is read from the focus control of the ludl mac2000 ]. this microscope is configured to allow imaging of the slide using light transmitted through the cells to be interrogated . the immobilization slide is aligned by centering the top left , bottom left , and bottom right corners at the center of the field of view , aligned with the center of the microscope reticle . at each of these locations , the xy and focus location of the mechanical positioners is recorded by a computer controlling the motion system . the computer then calculates a motion path to allow digital images to be acquired in such a manner that the complete immobilization slide is imaged . this is accomplished by moving to xy and focus locations that are separated in x and y by the size of the camera &# 39 ; s field of view and stepping through all of these locations until the entire slide has been imaged . at each location , three images are acquired : one using 420 nm transmitted light ( blue ), one using 520 nm transmitted light ( green ), and one using 620 nm transmitted light ( red ). nucleated red blood cells in each field of view are identified and distinguished from white blood cells based on the absorption ratios of the three wavelengths of light . each time a field of view including nucleated red blood cell is located , the xy location is stored in a data file to allow that field of view having the nrbc &# 39 ; s to be revisited after the genetic testing has been performed . after the complete slide has been imaged , the slide is processed for genetic testing using a fluorescent in - situ hybridization ( fish ) protocol as follows . the cells are not stained with giemsa . store slides with smears or monolayers covered with seal wrap at room temperature . to conserve reagents , isolate the target cells to be probed with a marking pen underneath the slide or monolayer , or use a pap - pen directly on the smear or monolayer . the pap - pen will provide a barrier so that the reagents will not run across the entire slide . to prevent non - specific binding of the reporter containing the fluorescent tagged antibody to the probe , block the target cells with 10 % normal mouse serum in tbst ( 1 . 2 ( w / v ) % tris , 8 . 7 ( w / v ) % nacl , 0 . 5 % ( v / v ) tween - 20 , 0 . 1 ( w / v ) % sodium azide ) for 10 min under 740 torr vacuum chamber at room temperature . incubate slides for 10 min in 2 × ssc ( 0 . 15 m nacl and 0 . 015 m sodium citrate , ph 7 . 0 ) prewarmed to 37 ° c . in a staining container in a 740 torr vacuum chamber . dehydrate sequentially in 70 %, 85 % and 100 % ethanol series , 2 min each at atmospheric pressure . air dry . redraw the circle with a pap - pen . vysis ® dna probes are prepared by combining 7 μl buffer ( comes together with vysis probes ), 1 μl dh2o , 1 μl of each probe ( for example cep6 , spectrum green probe and cep17 spectrum orange probe ). centrifuge 1 - 3 seconds , vortex , and recentrifuge . heat for 5 min . at 73 ° c . in a water bath to denature . use immediately ( or keep for a short while longer at 73 ° c . if required ). place denaturant solution ( 70 % formamide / 2 × ssc ) in 73 ° c . water bath inside staining jar . denature slide for 5 min . dehydrate in 70 %, 85 % and 100 % ethanol for 2 min . each . air dry . apply 10 μl denatured probe and cover with a cover glass . mark hybridizing area on the slide using a diamond scribe or pap - pen . seal carefully with rubber cement . place slides in a pre - warmed humidified box ( wrapped in metal foil to protect against light ) and incubate 2 hours in a 740 ton vacuum at 42 ° c . place 0 . 4 × ssc / 0 . 3 % np - 40 in a 73 ° c . water bath . remove cover glass and immediately place into wash tank with 0 . 4 × ssc / 0 . 3 % np - 40 . leave all slides in staining jar for 2 min . place slides in 2 × ssc / 0 . 1 % np - 40 at room temperature 1 min . air dry slides in darkness . apply 20 μl of vectashield with dapi solution to the target area and put on cover glass ( make sure it covers hybridized area ). examine slides on a fluorescence microscope . denaturant solution : 49 ml formamide , 7 ml 20 × ssc , 14 ml dh2o , ph to 7 . 0 - 8 . 0 , store at 4 ° c . after the cells have been processed according to the fish protocol and the target nrbc &# 39 ; s labeled , the immobilization slide is placed onto an upright microscope [ olympus bx40 fitted with ludl mac2000 controller ] with the poly - d - lysine coated side facing up , toward the microscope objective . the slide is clipped into place on a mechanical microscope stage capable of moving to and recording accurate xyz locations [ micos ms - 4 for xy , z is read from the focus control of the ludl mac2000 ]. this microscope is configured to allow imaging of the slide using coaxial fluorescent imaging . the immobilization slide is aligned by centering the top left , bottom left , and bottom right corners at the center of the field of view , aligned with the center of the microscope reticle . at all of the locations previously determined to be nucleated red blood cells , analysis of the fish results is performed based on the specific fish protocol that is followed . the results of many nucleated red blood cell fish analyses are combined using statistical algorithms to improve the confidence in the final data that is reported . it is understood that the examples and embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only and that various modifications or changes in light thereof will be suggested to persons skilled in the art and are to be included within the spirit and purview of this application and scope of the appended claims . all publications , patents , and patent applications cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes .
| 2Chemistry; Metallurgy
|
referring first to fig1 there is shown a partially sectioned , general view of an interrupting device 10 with which the pre - insertion resistor mechanism 12 of the present invention may be used . the interrupting device 10 depicted in fig1 is similar to one embodiment of the interrupting device shown in co - pending , commonly - assigned , co - filed u . s . patent application , ser . no . 951 , 687 , filed oct . 16 , 1978 , in the name of bernatt . it should be understood that the pre - insertion resistor mechanism 12 of the present invention is usable with other types of circuit interrupting devices 10 with only minor modifications thereof , as should be clear from the following description . typical of such interrupting devices are those depicted in commonly - assigned u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 030 , 481 ; 3 , 163 , 736 ; 3 , 508 , 022 ; and 3 , 769 , 477 . the interrupting device 10 is here briefly described for purposes of completing the background and environment of use of the mechanism 12 of the present invention . the interrupting device 10 includes an open - ended , elongated , insulative , generally cylindrical housing 14 , typically of porcelain and preferably having on the surface thereof a plurality of leakage - distance - increasing skirts 16 . the housing 14 contains the various elements of an interrupting unit 18 , as well as the mechanism 12 of this invention . the housing 14 is closed and preferably sealed at each open end by appropriate end members 20 and 21 , which may be attached to the housing 14 by any convenient means . the left - hand end member 20 is electrically connected to , and has attached thereto an end housing 22 including a pressure relief and pressure indicating mechanism 24 , which is more completely described in commonly - assigned , co - pending , co - filed u . s . patent application , ser . no . 951 , 686 , filed oct . 16 , 1978 in the name of bernatt . the right - hand end member 21 may have attached thereto , and be in electrical contact with , a housing 26 for an operating mechanism ( not shown , but indicated generally at 28 ) which may include a sensing and tripping mechanism for opening the interrupting device 10 and a high - speed closing mechanism for closing the device . the sensing and tripping mechanism of the operator 28 may be of the type more completely disclosed in co - pending , commonly - assigned , u . s . patent application , ser . no . 930 , 774 , filed aug . 3 , 1978 now u . s . pat . no . 4 , 203 , 083 in the names of opfer and vojta ; the closing mechanism may be of any known type . the interrupting device 10 is connected into a circuit ( not shown ) via a first terminal pad 30 which may be formed integrally with the housing 22 and which is therefore electrically connected to the left - hand end member 20 . a second circuit connection to the device may be provided by a second terminal pad 32 which may be formed integrally with the housing 26 and which is therefore electrically connected to the right - hand end members 21 . the interrupting unit 18 of the interrupting device 10 includes a stationary contact 34 and a movable contact 36 . the movable contact 36 normally engages the stationary contact 34 as shown in fig2 and is movable along a first path generally concurrent with the major axis of the housing 14 in a first direction to disengage the contacts 34 and 36 ( fig3 ) and in a second opposed direction along the first path to re - engage the contacts 34 and 36 ( fig2 ). the stationary contact 34 includes an elongated , conductive member 38 which is attached by any convenient method to an elongated conductive support 40 . the support 40 is in turn mounted to and electrically connected with a double - flanged member 42 which is mounted to and electrically connected with the left - hand end member 20 . referring additionally to fig3 the movable contact 36 into which the stationary contact 34 is insertable during engagement between the contacts 34 and 36 preferably terminates in a plurality of contact fingers 46 formed integrally with a conductive collar 48 . the collar 48 is connected by any convenient method to the left end of a movable , elongated conductive tube 50 . the conductive tube 50 is in turn connected at its right - hand end to an attachment nipple 52 ( fig1 b ) which is connected to the left end of an operating rod 54 connected to and reciprocated by the operating mechanism 28 . as more completely described in the co - pending application of opfer and vojta , the operating rod 54 moves through the right - hand end member 21 . a flexible bellows 56 is sealed between the connection nipple 52 and the right - hand end member 21 to prevent the leakage from within the housing 14 of pressurized arc - extinguishing gas contained therein . a cylinder 60 of a piston - cylinder arrangement 62 is defined by the outside of the tube 50 and the inside of a movable , coaxial metal cylinder 64 surrounding the tube 50 . the metal cylinder 64 is attached ( as by crimping , deformation , magnaforming , or the like ) as indicated at 66 to a peripheral groove 68 formed in a first sleeve 70 . the first sleeve 70 is connected to the left - hand end of the tube 50 near the mounting of the sleeve 48 thereto for movement therewith . a stationary piston 72 of the piston - cylinder arrangement 62 is carried by a hollow support 74 which is attached , at its right - hand end , to the right end member 21 and which coaxially surrounds the operating rod 54 and the tube 50 . thus , the piston 72 is stationary while the members defining the cylinder 60 of the piston - cylinder arrangement 62 , namely the tube 50 and the metal cylinder 64 , are jointly movable . a second sleeve 80 is connected to the left - hand end of the tube 50 in a manner similar to , and near , the first sleeve 70 . a portion 81 of the sleeve 80 surrounds the movable contact 36 . the sleeves 70 and 80 may be formed integrally if convenient . the second sleeve 80 carries on the portion 81 a nozzle structure 82 which initially surrounds both the movable and the stationary contacts 34 and 36 . the cylinder 60 of the piston - cylinder arrangement 62 is connected by passageways 84 formed through transverse walls 86 of the sleeves 70 and 80 to a chamber 88 defined between the movable contact 36 and the interior wall of the nozzle structure 82 . generally , the interrupting device 10 of the co - pending application of bernatt operates as follows . when circuit interruption is desired , the operating rod 54 is moved rightwardly . such rightward movement compresses the bellows 56 , but maintains gas pressure within the housing 14 , which may be pressurized through a filling port 90 in the right - hand end plate 21 with an arc - extinguishing gas such as sf 6 , or the like . rightward movement of the operating rod 54 also rightwardly moves the tube 50 ( via the connection nipple 52 ) and the movable contact 36 righwardly . additionally , both sleeves 70 and 80 move rightwradly at the same time due to their connection to the tube 50 . rightward movement of this entire assembly causes the movable contact 36 to disengage the stationary contact 34 and to open a gap therebetween . simultaneously , the volume of the cylinder 60 of the piston - cylinder arrangement 62 is decreased due to the relative movement of the piston 72 and both the metal cylinder 64 and the tube 50 . such volume decrease forces the sf 6 gas within the cylinder 60 through the passageways 84 into the chamber 88 , and from there to and across the gap now being opened between the stationary and movable contacts 34 and 36 . ultimately , at a subsequent current zero , the high - voltage arc , which is formed between and terminates on the contacts 34 and 36 , is extinguished . a constriction 92 in the rightwardly moving nozzle structure 82 ensures that the gas flowing therepast reaches sonic or near sonic velocity to further aid in circuit interruption . the significance of describing herein the type of circuit interrupting device 10 disclosed in the copending application of bernatt is that it is easy and convenient to tie - in mechanically to appropriate structure of the mechanism 12 , in this case the sleeve 70 , which moves simultaneously with the movable contact 36 . various modifications , well within the skill of the art , can be made to other types of prior art circuit interrupting device to provide a member or members which similarly move simultaneously with a movable contact anmd which are accessible for attachment to , or operation of , the mechanism 12 . referring now to fig1 - 3 , the pre - insertion resistor mechanism 12 of the present invention is shown and described in greater detail . the pre - insertion resistor mechanism 12 includes one or more resistors 100 which may be coaxially arranged about a ceramic support member 102 which extends from , and is attached to , the flange member 42 . the support member 102 preferably coaxially surrounds the support 40 . as noted , there may be one or more resistors 100 . typically , such resistors 100 are made of a carbon composition , and where more than one resistor 100 is used , they may be arranged end - to - end as shown . the resistor 100 , or one end of an end - to - end arrangement thereof , is connected at one end to the flanged member 42 . to facilitate such electrical connection , any convenient conductive structure , generally indicated at 104 , may be utilized . thus , one end of the resistor or resistors 100 is in constant electrical contact with the left - hand end member 20 and the terminal pad 30 . the other end of the resistor or resistors 100 carries a stationary electrode assembly 106 which may be mounted both to the resistor or resistors 100 and to the support member 102 . the stationary electrode assembly 106 includes a single cylindrical , or a plurality of , l - shaped ( in cross - section ) members generally designated 110 , mechanically mounted by and electrically connected with a mounting ring 112 . the mounting ring 112 traps the members 110 between itself and a cylindrical mounting pad 113 mounted on the support member 102 . the member or members 110 carry thereon one or more stationary electrodes 114 . the stationary electrodes 114 may be in a finger - like arrangement coaxial with the axis of the housing 14 . preferably , a single circular , toroidal stationary electrode 114 is used . the stationary electrode 114 is made of a refractory material which is capable of withstanding high temperatures and which is possessed of sufficient electrial conductance . preferred materials for the stationary electrode 114 are copper - tungsten , carbon or graphite . the stationary electrode 114 is in electrical contact with the left - hand terminal pad 30 via the resistor or resistors 100 , the conductive structure 104 , the flanged member 42 , the end member 20 , and the bell housing 22 . a cylindricl , conductive sleeve 120 surrounds the sleeves 70 and 80 and is movable relative thereto . electrical continuity is maintained between the sleeve 120 and the sleeves 70 and 80 by a sliding contact 121 held in a groove in the sleeve 80 . the sleeve 120 carries , at its left - hand end , one or more refractory movable electrodes 122 which are arranged to mate with and normally engage the stationary electrode 114 . the movable electrodes 122 are preferably made of copper - tungsten , carbon or graphite . the sleeve 120 carries on the outer surface thereof one or more flexible leaf spring - like members 124 , ( only one is shown ), preferably mounted as by brazing or welding at their left - hand end to the sleeve 120 near the electrodes 122 . the right - hand end of the leaf spring 124 is formed outwardly in a flare 125 and carries a finger 126 biased by the normal configuration of the leaf spring 124 to extend through an opening or notch 128 formed through the right end of the sleeve 120 . the finger 126 normally extends into an opening 129 formed in the right end of the sleeve 70 to engage a shoulder 130 forming a wall of the opening 129 . the opening 129 is normally aligned with the opening 128 . conveniently , the openings 128 and 129 are in the vicinity of the crimping 66 of the metal cylinder 64 to the first sleeve 70 . during an opening operation of the interrupting device 10 , the operating rod 54 is moved rightwardly . such rightward movement moves the connection nipple 52 and the tube 50 rightwardly . additionally , the movable contact 36 and the sleeves 70 and 80 attached to the tube 50 more rightwardly . such rightward movement of the sleeve 70 moves the sleeve 120 rightwardly due to the normal engagement between the finger 126 on the leaf spring 124 and the shoulder 130 . such rightward movement moves the movable electrode 122 away from the stationary electrode 114 , breaking electrical contact therebetween ( compare fig2 and 3 ). the breaking of this contact occurs before the stationary and moveable contacts 34 and 36 completely disengage due to the amount of overlap 131 therebetween , as may be seen in fig2 . thus , the pre - insertion resistors 100 are removed from the circuit between the terminal pads 30 and 32 prior to the disengagement of the stationary and movable contacts 34 and 36 . accordingly , circuit interruption is effected by such contacts 34 and 36 , and not arc is formed between the electrodes 114 and 122 . the above - described rightward movement of the tube 50 also causes rightward movement of the metal cylinder 64 . both of which move relative to the piston 72 causing a decrease in the volume of the cylinder 60 defined thereby . therefore , circuit interruption by the contacts 34 and 36 is aided by the sf 6 gas which is forced at high velocity by the piston - cylinder arrangement 62 through the passageways 84 , the chamber 88 , and the nozzle 82 to the now - opening gap between the contacts 34 and 36 . rightward movement of all of the above elements continues , and , at some subsequent current zero , the circuit is interrupted and the arc formed between the contacts 34 and 36 is extinguished . mounted to the hollow support 74 by a grooved ring ( fig1 b ) is a stationary tubular member 142 which holds , at its left end , a cam ring 144 . the cam ring 144 includes , in part , cam surfaces 146 so arranged that near the extreme of the rightward movement of the finger 126 , the cam surfaces 146 engage the flare 125 . as shown in phantom in fig2 engagement of the flare 125 by the cam surfaces 146 flexes the leaf spring 124 outwardly to disengage the finger 126 from the shoulder 130 by moving the finger 126 out of the opening 129 . a compression spring 150 located between the sleeves 70 and 80 , on the one hand , and the sleeve 120 , on the other hand , is normally compressed between an &# 34 ; l &# 34 ; member 152 attached to the sleeve 120 and the bottom 154 of a blind passage 156 formed in the sleeves 70 and 80 . in its compressed state , the compression spring 150 biases the sleeve 120 and the movable electrode 122 carried thereby leftwardly , that is , toward the stationary electrode 114 . such biasing action of the compression spring 150 is normally prevented from effecting such leftward movement of the movable electrode 122 , however , due to the normal engagement between the finger 126 and the shoulder 130 . when the elements which move in conjunction with the operating rod 54 are near the full extent of their rightward movement , and the finger 126 disengages the shoulder 130 , the compression spring 150 moves the sleeve 120 and the movable electrode 122 leftwardly toward the stationary electrode 114 as shown in fig3 . the cam surfaces 146 are so arranged that they not only flex the leaf spring 124 and the finger 126 outwardly , but also prevent the finger 126 from reentering the opening 129 as long as the sleeves 70 and 80 are positioned rightwardly , as in fig2 and 3 . accordingly , having been moved outwardly by flexing of the leaf spring 124 , the finger 126 is free to ride on and over the outer surface of the sleeve 70 . thus , the compression spring 150 advances the movable electrode 122 back toward the stationary electrode 114 when the contacts 34 and 36 are fully separated defining the gap therebetween . this movement of the electrode 122 is accompanied by leftward movement of the sleeve 120 , the leaf spring 124 , the flare 125 , the finger 126 , and the member 152 . leftward movement of the movable electrode 122 is limited by engagement of a screw 157 or the like with the right end of a slot 158 formed in the sleeve 120 . the screw 157 may be mounted to the second sleeve 80 . subsequent reclosing of the contacts 34 and 36 is effected by leftward movement of the operating rod 54 . such leftward movement moves not only the movable contact 36 leftwardly , but also the sleeves 70 and 80 attached to the tube 50 . leftward movement of the sleeves 70 and 80 moves the sleeve 120 and the movable electrode 122 leftwardly due to the force of the spring 150 and the friction between the sliding contact 121 and the sleeve 120 . however , due to the previous initial leftward movement of the movable electrode 122 by the compression spring 150 , the movable electrodes 122 contact the stationary electrodes 114 prior to re - engagement of the contacts 34 and 36 ( see fig3 ). arcing occurs between the electrodes 114 and 122 until the electrodes are in physical engagement , at which point the pre - insertion resistors 100 are placed in parallel between the now - closing gap between the contacts 34 and 36 . a moment later , the contacts 34 and 36 re - engage as the sleeves 70 and 80 slide relative to the sleeve 120 , to condition the interrupting device 10 for normal current carrying . relative sliding between the sleeves 70 , 80 and the sleeve 120 moves the finger 126 toward the openings 128 , 129 and recompresses the spring 150 . ultimately , the finger 126 reenters the openings 128 and 129 to reengage the shoulder 130 . when the contacts 34 and 36 re - engage , they of course shunt the majority of the current away from the pre - insertion resistors 100 which therefore carry current only momentarily . the function of the pre - insertion resistors 100 is to reduce the inrush current on reclosing of the interrupting device 10 . such inrush current may be especially high and potentially damaging to the circuit containing the device 10 , especially when such device 10 switches a capacitor bank , which may result in inrush currents of 30 , 000 amperes or so . the device 10 is able to withstand fault closing currents as high as 40 , 000 amperes symmetrical . initially , when the electrodes 114 and 122 engage , the pre - insertion resistors 100 &# 34 ; see &# 34 ; the full line - to - ground voltage available in the circuit . at this instant , the inrush current is limited by such resistors 100 to a value ( 2 , 000 - 4 , 000 amperes ) equal to the line - to - ground voltage divided by the vector sum of the resistive value of the resistors 100 and the surge impedance of the circuit . shortly thereafter , current flow through the device 10 is limited by the steady - state impedance of the bank and the rest of the circuit , dropping , typically , to the vicinity of 100 to 400 amperes . when the contacts 34 and 36 re - engage , the 2 , 000 - 4 , 000 ampere current again flows , thus ensuring that only minimal distress of circuit occurs . one type of rather complicated prior art pre - insertion resistor mechanism is shown in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 072 , 836 to bischofberger . in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 072 , 836 , a stationary auxiliary contact is electrically and mechanically connected to a stationary main contact , the latter being selectively engaged by and disengaged from a movable main contact . a stationary , electrically conductive sleeve surrounds and is in continuous sliding electrical contact with , the movable main contact . a complexly - shaped carrier member is attached to the movable main contact and extends away therefrom through a slot in the sleeve . the carrier holds for sliding movement a multi - material rod , a front portion of which is conductive and an intermediate portion of which is insulative . the conductive front portion of the rod is a movable auxiliary contact positioned to engage and disengage the stationary auxiliary contact . a resistor has one end connected to the sleeve and the other end contacted to a contact member carried by an insulating tube which surrounds the rod and is carried by the sleeve . the contact member is in continuous , sliding electrical contact with the movable auxiliary contact . a spring acts between the carrier and a collar mounted to the rod to bias the movable auxiliary electrode toward the stationary electrode . a latch lever on the carrier is spring biased to engage the collar and to hold the rod and the carrier for joint movement with the carrier . a cam on the sleeve is positioned to disengage the latch lever from the collar when the carrier is in a given position with respect to the sleeve . when the main contacts and the auxiliary contacts engage , the spring is compressed between the carrier and the collar ; the latch lever engages the collar to prevent relative movement of the rod and the carrier . the resistor is paralleled with the engaged main contacts via a path that includes : the movable main contact , the sleeve , the one end of the resistor , the resistor , the other end of the resistor , the contact member , the movable auxiliary contact , the stationary auxiliary contact , and the stationary main contact . the insulative portion of the rod and the insulating tube are required to prevent shorting of the resistors . as the movable main contact moves to separate the main contacts , the carrier moves to separate the auxiliary contacts . after a certain amount of movement by the movable main contact and the carrier , the cam disengages the latch lever from the collar , permitting the spring to move the rod and the movable auxiliary contact back in an advanced position toward the stationary auxiliary contact . thus , following full opening of the main contacts , when the movable main contact moves toward the stationary main contact , the spring holds the movable auxiliary contact in its advanced position so that the auxiliary contacts engage before the main contacts . this parallels the resistor , via the above - described path , with the closing gap between the main contacts . following engagement of the auxiliary contacts , relative motion between the carrier and the collar recompresses the spring therebetween . as the main contacts re - engage , the latch lever again latches the collar . the mechanism of u . s . pat . no . 4 , 072 , 836 is quite complicated to make and to assemble . the structure and nature of the carrier , its attachment to the movable main contact , and the manner of associating the rod therewith are all quite complex . the compound nature of the rod -- conductive and non - conductive -- is undesirable from a manufacturing standpoint . additionally , the u . s . pat . no . 4 , 072 , 836 mechanism uses to sliding contact interfaces , one between the contact member and the movable auxiliary contact , and the other between the sleeve and the movable main contact . it is usually desirable to minimize the number of sliding contacts in circuit interrupting devices . a comparison of the present invention with the u . s . pat . no . 4 , 072 , 836 mechanism will show how much simpler to make and assemble the former is . no complicated carried is required ; parts are coaxial and simply configured . there are no compound -- conductive , non - conductive -- parts . sliding electrical contacts have been kept to a minimum -- one , to be precise . the above description is intended merely to show one preferred embodiment of the present invention . it should be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications therein may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention . for example , the structure of the disclosed interrupting device 10 with which the present invention is described may be altered to varying degrees and still be usable with the pre - insertion resistor mechanism 12 of the present invention . moreover , other interrupting devices differing substantially from the design of the interrupting device 10 depicted in the figures may be utilized with the pre - insertion resistor mechanism 12 of the present invention . such different interrupting devices need only have a member which is movable with , or is tied to , a structure which moves with a movable interrupting contact for carrying the movable electrode structure as described herein . a stationary cam surface , or the like , similar to the cam surface 146 is easily incorporated into the device for permitting free movement of the movable electrode 122 back toward the stationary electrode 114 when the interrupting device is at or near its full opened position . additionally , it may be desired to simplify the mechanism 12 , as for example , by eliminating the spring 150 , the finger 126 , the leaf spring 124 , and the opening 128 . in this event , and referring to fig . 4 , the cam ring 144 may be modified by forming the cam surfaces 146 into an abutment 160 in the path of the end of the sleeve 120 . after sufficient rightward movement of the sleeves 70 and 80 , which carry the sleeve 120 therewith due to friction , the abutment 160 is engaged by the sleeve 120 , causing it and the electrodes 122 to remain stationary as the sleeves 70 and 80 continue to move . such action positions the electrodes 122 in their advanced position , similar to that shown in fig3 . a ball detent 162 in the sleeve 70 may co - act with one or more dimples 164 formed in the sleeve 120 in aid of the friction between the sliding contact 121 and the sleeve 120 to hold the electrodes 122 advanced during closing of the contacts 34 and 36 .
| 7Electricity
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a cmos image circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention is now described below with reference to fig1 . referring to fig1 a sensor array 10 includes a plurality of cells ( pixels ) 12 arranged at arrays of rows r 1 - rm and columns c 1 - cn . in order to read images from all cells 12 in one row , the cells are activated at the same time . a timing and control logic block 20 provides row selection signals rowsel on row selection lines rsl 1 - rsl m so as to select an activated row . a reset signal reset on reset lines rst 1 - rst m as generated by control logic block 20 is also provided to the cells 12 . a charge induced by light from the respective active cells 12 is read out , as a corresponding voltage , on respective column data lines 14 1 - 14 n coupled to the cells 12 in respective columns c 1 - c n . at a specific time , a voltage on respective columns 14 i corresponds to an image charge of only one activated cell in an associated column ci and an activated row . signal lines 16 1 - 16 m transfer voltages vdd and vtg for driving the cells 12 from the timing and control logic block 20 to the cells 12 . a ramp signal generator 30 generates a ramp signal vramp in response to a ramp enable signal ramp_en from the timing and control logic block 20 . the ramp signal vramp is a time varying reference signal that is varied with a predetermined inclination or slope . a counter 40 counts the period of a clock signal clk in response to a counter enable signal cnt_en . analog - to - digital converters ( adcs ) 50 1 - 50 n are connected to lower portions of the columns c 1 - c n , respectively . analog - to - digital converters 50 j receive a voltage vpxl j on the column data line 14 j , a ramp signal vramp generated from the ramp signal generator 30 , and an output cnt of the counter 40 to output a digital word d j . digital words d j outputted from the analog - to - digital converters 50 j are provided to an image data processor . circuit construction associated with one column of the cmos image circuit shown in fig1 is explained in detail as follows , with reference to fig2 . referring to fig2 a memory cell 12 includes nmos transistors 101 - 104 and a photodiode pd 1 . the nmos transistor 101 has a drain coupled to a power supply voltage vdd , a source coupled to a node 110 , and a gate connected to a reset signal reset through a reset signal line rst . the nmos transistor 102 has a current path disposed between a cathode of the photodiode pd 1 and the node 110 , and a gate coupled to a voltage vtg . the anode of the photodiode pd 1 is coupled to a ground voltage . the nmos transistor 103 has a drain coupled to a power supply voltage vdd , a source , and a gate coupled to the node 110 . the nmos transistor 104 has a drain coupled to the source of the nmos transistor 103 , a source coupled to a node 14 , and a gate connected to a row selection signal rowsel through a row selection line rsl . when the photodiode pd 1 is exposed to light , a voltage vpxl of the node 14 is determined according to intensity of the light . for example , as the intensity of the light becomes high , the voltage vpxl is lowered . the analog - to - digital converter 50 includes a correlated double sampling ( cds ) circuit 51 and an output circuit 52 . the cds circuit 51 has capacitors c 1 and c 2 and switches sw 1 and sw 2 . one end of the capacitor c 1 is coupled to the output circuit 52 . the switch sw 1 selectively connects the node 14 with the other end of the capacitor c 1 in response to a switching signal s 1 . one end of the capacitor c 2 is coupled to the output circuit 52 . the switch sw 2 selectively connects a ramp signal vramp from the ramp signal generator 30 with the other end of the capacitor c 2 . the switching signals s 1 and s 2 are provided from the timing and control logic block 20 . the output circuit 52 includes an inverter circuit 121 , a capacitor c 3 , an inverter 122 , switches sw 3 and sw 4 , and a latch 123 . the inverter circuit 121 has an input terminal for receiving an analog signal va outputted from the cds circuit 51 and an output terminal for outputting an output signal vout . the switch sw 3 connects an input terminal of the inverter circuit 121 with an output terminal thereof in response to a switching signal s 3 . the capacitor c 3 is coupled between the inverter circuit 121 and the inverter 122 . the inverter 122 has an input terminal for receiving the output vout of the inverter circuit 121 and an output terminal . the switch sw 4 connects an input terminal of the inverter 122 with an output terminal thereof . the latch 123 latches an output cnt of a counter 40 , and outputs data word d . the switching signals s 3 and s 4 are provided from the timing and control logic block 20 . an inverter circuit according to a first embodiment of the invention is now described below with reference to fig3 . in the first embodiment , an enable signal en is active high . referring to fig3 inverter circuit 121 includes an inverter 201 having a pmos transistor p 1 and an nmos transistor n 1 , and includes an enable transistor n 2 . the enable transistor n 2 is an nmos transistor . the pmos transistor p 1 has a source coupled to a power supply voltage vdd , a drain coupled to an output terminal of the inverter circuit 121 , and a gate coupled to an input terminal of the inverter circuit 121 . the nmos transistor n 1 has a drain coupled to the output terminal of the inverter circuit 121 , a source , and a gate coupled to the input terminal of the inverter circuit 121 . the enable transistor n 2 has a drain coupled to the source of the nmos transistor n 1 , a source coupled to a ground voltage vss , and a gate coupled to the enable signal en provided from control logic block 20 . when the enable signal is high , the inverter circuit 121 is enabled to receive an analog signal va inputted to the input terminal of the inverter 121 , and to invert and amplify the analog signal va . on the other hand , when the enable signal is low , the inverter circuit 121 does not operate . an inverter circuit according to a second embodiment of the invention is now described with reference to fig4 . in the second embodiment , an enable signal en is active low . referring to fig4 an inverter circuit 121 includes an inverter 201 having a pmos transistor p 1 and an nmos transistor n 1 , and includes an enable transistor p 2 . the enable transistor p 2 is a pmos transistor . the pmos transistor p 2 has a source coupled to a power supply voltage vdd , a drain , and a gate coupled to the enable signal en provided from a control logic block 20 . the pmos transistor p 1 has a source coupled to the pmos transistor p 2 , a drain coupled to an output terminal of the inverter circuit 121 , and a gate coupled to an input terminal of the inverter circuit 121 . the nmos transistor n 1 has a drain coupled to the output terminal of the inverter circuit 121 , a source , and a gate coupled to the input terminal of the inverter circuit 121 . when the enable signal en is low , the inverter circuit 121 is enabled to receive an analog signal va inputted to the input terminal of the inverter circuit 121 , and to invert and amplify the analog signal va . on the other hand , when the enable signal en is high , the inverter circuit 121 does not operate . the present invention will now be described more fully with regard to a preferred embodiment adopting the inverter circuit 121 shown in fig3 . a timing diagram of signals used in a cmos image circuit according to an embodiment of the invention is illustrated in fig5 . with reference to fig2 fig3 and fig5 in a reset sampling period when a reset signal reset on a reset signal line rst provided from the timing and control logic block 20 is high , a potential of the node 110 is set to a voltage vdd - vth that is defined by a threshold voltage of the nmos transistor 101 . a voltage vpxl of the node 14 increases in proportion to a voltage of the node 110 . the voltage of the node 110 sets a gate potential of a source follower transistor 103 . the transistor 103 amplifies a voltage applied to gate terminal of the transistor 103 . when the row selection transistor 104 is turned on by the row selection signal rowsel on the row selection line rsl , the voltage of the node 110 is detected by the cds circuit 51 which detects the corresponding voltage on the column line , and which provides the detected voltage to the output circuit 52 . in more detail , during the reset sampling period , the switches sw 1 , sw 2 , and sw 3 are switched on in response to the switching signals s 1 , s 2 , and s 3 of logic high , and the enable signal en is high . since the output vout of the inverter circuit 121 is fed back to the input terminal of inverter circuit 121 , an analog signal va inputted to the input terminal of the inverter circuit 121 is vdd / 2 . although the switching signals s 1 , s 2 , and s 3 subsequently become low , the analog signal va is maintained at the vdd / 2 level by way of the capacitor c 1 . in a signal sampling period , as the voltage vtg becomes high , the charge of the node 110 is transmitted to the photodiode pd 1 . the voltage of the photodiode pd 1 is in proportion to the intensity of light incident thereon . the voltage of the node 110 sets the gate potential of the source follower transistor 103 , so that the voltage vpxl of the column line 14 is set to a voltage corresponding to the voltage of the node 110 . the switches sw 1 and sw 2 are switched on in response to the switching signals s 1 and s 2 of logic high . the analog signal va is equivalently lowered with the variation degree h 1 of the voltage vpxl . subsequently , the switching signal s 1 becomes low and the switching signal s 2 is kept high . after the switching signal s 1 becomes low , the ramp enable signal ramp_en and the counter enable signal cnt_en are activated high . in response to the ramp enable signal ramp_en of logic high , the ramp signal generator 30 generates a ramp signal vramp rising with a constant inclination . since the switching signal s 2 is high , the analog signal va rises with the same rate as the ramp signal vramp . in response to the counter enable signal cnt_en of logic high , the counter 40 starts to count cycles of the counter enable signal cnt_en of logic high . because the enable signal en is deactivated low from a first falling edge to a second falling edge of the switching signal s 1 , the inverter circuit 121 does not operate during that period . if the inverter circuit 121 did not have the enable transistor n 2 , the source of the nmos transistor n 1 would have been directly coupled to the ground voltage vss , and since the analog signal va as inputted to the input terminal of the inverter circuit 121 is vdd / 2 , a current path would have been formed between the power supply voltage vdd and the ground voltage vss through the pmos transistor p 1 and the nmos transistor n 1 of the inverter circuit 121 . this would lead to an increase in power consumption of the inverter circuit 121 . however , with the enable transistor n 2 coupled between the source of the nmos transistor n 1 and the ground voltage vss , unnecessary power consumption is suppressed . although the inverter 121 is in a disabled state , there is no influence on the operation of the analog - to - digital converter 50 , because the analog signal va inputted to the input terminal of the inverter circuit 121 is stored in the capacitors c 1 and c 2 . when the analog - to - digital converter 50 of fig2 operates , part of signals inputted / outputted to / from the analog - to - digital converter 50 as illustrated in fig6 . referring to fig6 as the enable signal en is deactivated low at the first falling edge of the switching signal s 1 , the output signal vout of the inverter circuit 121 becomes high . when the enable signal en is activated high at the second falling edge of the switching signal s 1 , the inverter circuit 121 outputs an output signal vout according to the analog signal va inputted to the input terminal of the inverter circuit 121 . [ 0044 ] fig7 a shows output data based on the illuminance of light in the cmos image circuit according to the present invention , and fig7 b shows output data based on the luminance of light in an inverter circuit without an enable transistor . in view of fig7 a and fig7 b , it sould be understood that the enable transistor ( n 2 of fig3 and p 2 of fig4 ), stabilizes operation of the inverter circuit 121 . according to the present invention , the power consumption of an analog - to - digital converter is reduced . as a result , the power consumption of a cmos image device is reduced . while the present invention has been illustrated and described with regard to particular embodiments thereof , it will be understood that numerous modifications and substitutions may be made to the embodiments described and that numerous other embodiments of the invention may be implemented without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims .
| 7Electricity
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embodiments of the present invention will now be described , by way of example , with reference to the accompanying drawings . referring to fig1 a card validator according to the present invention comprises a box - like housing 1 which has a raised portion 1 a in one corner . a slot 2 extends down one side of the body 1 and into the raised portion 1 a . the slot 2 is blocked off within the raised portion 1 a but opens through the opposite end of the body 1 . the depth of the slot 2 is such that a card 3 can be held conveniently while it is swiped along the slot 2 . the validator is for validating cards 3 having both a magnetic stripe 4 and an embedded integrated circuit . the same data can be read from both the magnetic stripe 4 and the embedded integrated circuit . the data programmed into the integrated circuit is accessible via electrical contacts 5 . a red light - emitting diode 6 and a green light - emitting diode 7 project through the top of the body 1 . referring to fig2 a magnetic reading head 8 is mounted in a wall of the slot 2 for reading the data from the magnetic stripe 4 of a card 3 being swiped past . a set of contacts 9 is positioned in the same wall of the slot 2 towards its closed end . the contacts 9 are positioned so that , when a card 3 being swiped is arrested by the closed end of the slot 2 , they make contact with respective contacts 5 on the card 3 . referring to fig3 the body 1 ( fig1 ) houses processing circuitry 10 , including a microprocessor 11 and non - volatile memory 12 , a magnetic stripe reader 13 , including the head 8 , and a chip card interface 14 , including the contacts 9 . outputs of the processing circuitry 10 are connected to the red and green light - emitting diodes 6 , 7 . in order to perform chip data integrity checks , keys are provided on key programming cards 3 . these cards are identified by a characteristic signature recorded in their magnetic stripes . the operation and use of the card validator of fig1 will now be described with reference to fig4 . when a user wishes to validate a card 3 or program in integrity checking keys , the user swipes the relevant card 3 along the slot 2 towards its closed end , i . e . in the direction indicated by the arrow in fig1 . as the card 3 passes the head 8 , the data recording in its stripe 4 is read by the magnetic stripe reader 13 . this data is preceded by twenty ‘ 0 ’&# 39 ; s and is followed by a check character . the data read by the magnetic stripe reader 13 is stored by the microprocessor 11 ( step s 1 ). as the card 3 reaches the end of the slot 2 , its contacts 5 mate with the contacts 9 of the chip card interface 14 . the microprocessor 11 reads the data from the chip in the card 3 via the chip card interface 14 ( step s 2 ). if the data from the magnetic strip includes a characteristic signature , the microprocessor 11 recognises the card 3 as a key programming card ( step s 3 ). if the card 3 is recognised as a key programming card , the microprocessor 11 simply stores the data read from the card &# 39 ; s chip in the non - volatile memory 12 ( step s 4 ). if the card 3 is not a key programming card , the microprocessor 11 performs an integrity check ( step s 5 ) on the data from the card &# 39 ; s chip using a key from the nonvolatile memory 12 . if the data fails the integrity check , the microprocessor 11 causes the red light - emitting diode 6 to light up ( step s 6 ). if , however , the integrity check is passed , the microprocessor 11 compares the data from the chip ( step s 7 ), which corresponds to data recorded in the magnetic stripe 4 , with the data read from the magnetic stripe 4 . if the data from the two sources match , the microprocessor 11 causes the green light - emitting diode 7 to light up ( step s 8 ), otherwise the microprocessor 11 causes the red light - emitting diode to light up ( step s 6 ). if the green light - emitting diode 7 lights up , the user knows that it is safe to perform a transaction and pass the card 3 through the conventional card - reading transaction terminal or take an impression of the card 3 . however , if the red light - emitting diode 6 lights up , the user know that the card has been tampered with or damaged and should be rejected . referring to fig5 and 6 , in a second embodiment , the processing circuitry 10 includes a communications interface 15 . the microprocessor 11 is programmed so that the validator operates as described above with reference to fig4 ( steps s 11 to s 18 ) except that in an additional step s 19 ( fig6 ) an alarm signal is transmitted to a remote location , e . g . to security staff , using the communications interface when a card 3 fails the data integrity test or the data comparison test . referring again to fig5 and to fig7 in a third embodiment , the microprocessor 11 is programmed so that the validator operates as described above with reference to fig4 ( steps s 20 to s 27 ) except that data read from the card &# 39 ; s chip is communicated between the chip in a card 3 and a computer - based point - of - sale apparatus via the communications interface 15 ( step s 28 ) after a card has been validated . it should be noted that the data transmitted to the point of sale terminal is the data read from the card &# 39 ; s chip not the result of the validation process . consequently , the user can use the card validator as a chip card interface when the chip card processing infrastructure becomes available for the user and cards no longer have magnetic stripes . in the second and third embodiments , the communications interface 15 may also be used for loading integrity check keys . it will be appreciated that many modifications may be made to the embodiments described above . for instance , key programming cards may be identified by data stored in their chips .
| 6Physics
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fig1 is a block diagram that schematically illustrates a system 20 for functional coverage analysis , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . a simulator 22 runs a suite of tests on a design under test , and a trace analyzer 24 generates trace files , containing lists of events that occurred during testing . ( an “ event ” in this context , as explained above , is a particular combination of values of attributes of the design under test , which corresponds to a line in the trace file in the embodiment of fig1 .) the trace files are processed by a coverage tool 26 in order to track the coverage of the testing program . to process and display the coverage results , coverage tool 26 typically uses a schema 28 and a coverage model 30 that are provided by a user 32 of the tool . the schema is a list of attributes that defines the part of the design to be tested , and thus defines the area over which the test coverage is to be measured by tool 26 . each attribute has a bounded set of values , which is referred to as the attribute domain . the model , which is based on the schema , represents the space of events that are of interest in evaluating the test coverage and indicates which events are legal . since each event is specified by multiple attributes , the cross - product space in which the model is defined is typically multi - dimensional . in order to simplify the presentation of the model , the user may choose projections of the model that allow the model to be more readily visualized in two -, three - or n - dimensional space , wherein n is the number of the attributes in the projection . additionally or alternatively , the user may select certain sub - domains or partitions of the model for analysis and presentation . in this exemplary embodiment , coverage tool 26 comprises a trace processor 34 , which arranges the coverage information from the trace files into a coverage database 36 , which is held in a suitable memory . the organization of the database is determined by a database generator 38 , on the basis of schema 28 . as testing by simulator 22 progresses , trace analyzer 24 and trace processor 34 add data to coverage database 36 , indicative of the events that have been covered . a coverage analyzer 40 processes the information in the coverage database and , on the basis of model 30 , presents the coverage model on an output device 42 , such as a terminal display or a printer . based on this presentation , user 32 is able to identify holes in the coverage that has been achieved , as well as blocks of events that have been covered , at various points in the course of testing by simulator 22 . the user may then specify additional tests to be performed by simulator 22 in order to plug holes that remain in the coverage model . additionally or alternatively , the coverage model may be applied by an automatic test generator , either autonomously or under the guidance of a user , in generating additional tests . typically , coverage tool 26 comprises one or more general - purpose computer processors , which are programmed in software to carry out the functions described herein . the software may be downloaded to the processor in electronic form , over a network , for example , or it may alternatively be supplied on tangible media , such as optical , magnetic or electronic memory media . the different functional elements of the coverage tool may be implemented as different processes running on the same computer , or they may alternatively be divided among different computers . furthermore , these elements may be integrated with other components of system 20 on a single computer . alternatively , some or all of these elements may be implemented in dedicated hardware or on a combination of hardware and software components . the coverage information in database 36 typically identifies three types of events : covered events , non - covered events , and illegal events . as an example , the above - mentioned article by lachish et al . describes a coverage model of a floating point processor . the elements of the model are shown below in table i : the coverage model might be expressed semantically as “ test that all instructions produce all possible target results in the various rounding modes supported by the processor both when rounding did and did not occur .” each combination of the attribute values that has been tested then becomes a covered event , while legal combinations that have not been tested are non - covered events . the semantically - expressed functional model , however , also includes illegal events . for example , the result of a “ fabs ” ( absolute value ) instruction should , in fact , never be negative . thus , events of the form & lt ; instr = fabs , result ={−}, . . . & gt ; are illegal . the embodiments that follow illustrate methods that may be used by coverage analyzer 40 in dealing with illegal events in presentation of the coverage model on output device 42 . fig2 is a simplified map 50 of an exemplary coverage model in a two - dimensional cartesian cross - product space . the model is based on two attributes , arbitrary referred to as x ( on the horizontal axis ) and y ( on the vertical axis ), both having integer domains { 1 , . . . , 6 }. each pair of possible values of the attributes is an event , represented by a corresponding square in the map . the map shows covered events 52 in the model , along with illegal events 54 and non - covered events 56 . although the embodiments shown in the figures present a coverage model in simple cartesian space , the principles of the present invention may also be applied to coverage models in other types of multi - dimensional spaces . examples of such spaces include trees , hybrid coverage spaces , and unions of cartesian spaces . these and other types of coverage representation are described by piziali in functional verification coverage and analysis ( kluwer academic publishers , boston , 2004 ). fig3 is a schematic map 60 showing a simplified presentation of the coverage model of fig2 that is generated by coverage analyzer 40 , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , illegal events 54 are aggregated with covered events 52 into a quasi - covered area 62 . the remainder of the map provides a clear presentation of aggregated holes 64 , representing the areas of the cross - product space that remain to be covered by further testing . the user can clearly see in map 60 , for example , that the attribute value y = 3 has not yet been tested at all . there is no need for user 32 to specify tests that will cover the illegal events in the space , and thus there is no harm in aggregating the illegal events with the covered events . formally , if the set of covered events is denoted c , and the set of legal events is denoted l , the method used to generate map 60 may expressed by the pseudocode in table ii below : the tilde (˜) indicates negation . the function “ aggregate ” collects adjacent events that meet the criterion of “ raw data ,” i . e ., events that are legal but non - covered , so as to form holes of rectangular shape . any suitable algorithm may be used for this purpose . in the example shown in fig3 , “ aggregate ” collects events having the same y value and adjacent x values in order to form holes that are as long as possible . then , if two of these holes with adjacent y values have the same starting and ending x values , the two holes are merged together . the result in the present example is the set of holes & lt ;{ 2 , 3 , 4 }, 1 & gt ;, & lt ; 6 , 1 & gt ;, & lt ;{ 1 , 2 }, 2 & gt ;, & lt ;{ 4 , 5 , 6 }, 2 & gt ;, & lt ;{ 1 , . . . , 6 }, 3 & gt ;, & lt ;{ 5 , 6 },{ 5 , 6 }& gt ;. other aggregation algorithms may be used to give holes of other shapes . algorithms that may be used for this purpose are described , for example , in the above - mentioned article by lachish et al . fig4 is a schematic map 70 showing a simplified presentation of the coverage model of fig2 that is generated by coverage analyzer 40 , in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , illegal events 54 are aggregated with non - covered events 56 with the aim of giving holes that are well generalized , even if a certain number of illegal events are included in the holes as a result . as shown in fig4 , this strategy results in the definition of two large holes 74 , with a covered space 72 that also includes a number of illegal events . the upper hole & lt ;{ 1 , . . . , 6 },{ 1 , 2 , 3 }& gt ; includes three illegal events 76 . ( although illegal events 76 are marked in map 70 for the sake of conceptual clarity , the illegal events may be hidden within holes 74 for ease of visualization when coverage models of larger and more complex spaces are presented to the user .) this presentation is advantageous , however , in that it enables user 32 to visualize more readily and intuitively the areas of the cross - product space that remain to be covered and to devise more efficient , generalized test definitions to cover these areas . the method used to generate map 70 may be expressed in pseudocode form as follows : according to this strategy , holes are constructed by the “ aggregate ” function , as described above , over the union of all non - covered and illegal events ( equivalent to ˜( c ∩ l )). the holes are then evaluated , and any hole that contains no legal events is discarded from the set of holes . in other words , as long as a hole contains a single legal non - covered event , that hole is presented to the user . alternatively , other criteria may be applied in order to determine which illegal events to subsume in the coverage holes that are presented to the user . in particular , the actual distribution of illegal events in each “ impure ” hole may be used in determining how the hole is presented . (“ impure ” in this context refers to a coverage hole that contains one or more events that are not actually legal non - covered events .) for example , step ( 4 ) in table iii may specify that only holes containing a relatively low percentage of illegal events are preserved and presented to the user . additionally or alternatively , it may be required that the illegal events be distributed sparsely within the area of the hole , rather than clustered together . as another option , a similar strategy may be used to aggregate covered and illegal events ( as in the example of fig3 and table ii ), so that areas in the cross - product space that contain only illegal events are distinguished from covered areas 62 . further additionally or alternatively , when illegal events 76 are mixed into holes 74 , coverage processor 40 may generate an indication to user 32 of the “ purity ” of the holes . for example , the coverage processor may compute and display the density of illegal events within each hole . the holes may also be sorted for the user according to criteria such as geometrical size or absolute size ( eg ., the number of legal , non - covered events that the hole actually contains ), purity , or dimension ( the number of attribute values that are not covered at all in the hole ). other criteria for aggregating , evaluating and sorting holes or covered areas that include illegal events will be apparent to those skilled in the art and are considered to be within the scope of the present invention . in an alternative embodiment of the present invention , not shown in the figures , sparsely - distributed covered , legal events are included in holes that are presented to user 32 of system 20 . for example , if events 76 in fig4 were legal events that had already been covered by testing in simulator 22 , these events might still be included in the presentation of hole 74 in order to give a clearer , more generalized definition of the hole boundaries . typically , covered events are included in a hole only if they are relatively widely spread and constitute no more than a predetermined percentage of the events in the hole . furthermore , if a lightly - covered hole ( i . e ., a hole containing some legal events ) contains another large hole that is either a pure hole or has a significantly lower coverage percentage , then this purer hole is typically displayed instead of the larger lightly - covered hole . although the embodiments described hereinabove deal primarily with the presentation of coverage holes , the principles of the present invention are also applicable , mutatis mutandis , to the dual problem of aggregating and displaying coverage blocks , i . e ., large covered spaces in the coverage model . visualization of such blocks may similarly be used in determining effective tests to cover the remaining non - covered spaces in the coverage model . furthermore , although the embodiments described above relate to simulation - based testing of a hardware design , the principles of the present invention may similarly be applied in other areas in which coverage may be an issue , such as software testing or production testing . it will thus be appreciated that the embodiments described above are cited by way of example , and that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove . rather , the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the various features described hereinabove , as well as variations and modifications thereof which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not disclosed in the prior art .
| 6Physics
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in all the embodiments illustrated the seat portions of the saddle ( 1 ) are preferably , but not essentially , designed to provide support directly below the ischial tuberosities of a cyclist . the seat portion ( 2 ) and the structure for attaching the saddle ( 1 ) to the frame of a bicycle need not be described in detail as they may vary widely to meet particular requirements not relevant to this invention . the support ( 3 ) for the seat portion ( 2 ) has secured thereto a spring plate ( 4 ). this plate ( 4 ) is secured at end ( 5 ) to the seat portion ( 2 ) support ( 3 ) and has a cantilevered forwardly extending end ( 6 ). the plate ( 4 ) is shown to have a shallow depth indicated at ( 7 ) but a substantial width indicated at ( 8 ). the plate ( 4 ) is preferably made of suitable spring steel but it will be appreciated that other materials can be used which will provide similar lateral support and longitudinally flexibility . the plate ( 4 ) is moulded into the separate seat portion ( 2 ) and nose portion ( 9 ), the material for which will be known to those skilled in the art . it will be appreciated that the design of the plate ( 4 ), including the dimensions and materials from which it is made , will be selected to give a compromise of least pressure to the pelvic area of the cyclist combined with adequate lateral support for the necessary balance of a cyclist during use . it will be appreciated that the plate ( 4 ) has a predetermined fixed resilience and this is not always desirable . the nose portion ( 9 ) should flex to meet the variable requirements of cyclists . to provide this for different cyclists additional resilient resistance can be provided by the inclusion of a tension spring ( 10 ) between the operatively upper parts of the nose portion ( 9 ) and the seat portion ( 2 ). the anchor assembly ( 11 ) within the seat portion ( 2 ) includes a screw ( 11 ) which enables the tension of spring ( 10 ) to be adjusted as required . this embodiment is illustrated in fig4 and 5 . referring to both of these embodiments , the nose portion ( 9 ) of the saddle ( 1 ) has an outer resilient covering similar to that of seat portion ( 2 ). these coverings are however separate but they may have an outer elastic or foldable sheath ( not shown ) which enables the nose portion ( 9 ) to flex relative to the seat portion ( 2 ) as shown in fig3 and 5 but without resulting in the gap ( 12 ) between the portions . as an alternative , suitably flexible or deformable material may be used to bridge the area between the nose ( 9 ) and seat portions ( 2 ) where the gap ( 12 ) would otherwise be formed . the saddle ( 1 ) has the advantages of the stability of the conventional fixed nose saddle providing balance to the cyclist . however the downward resilient flexibility under low pressure prevents the discomfort , and sometimes serious damage to the soft tissue to the pelvic outlet area of the cyclist . the combination of the spring plate ( 4 ) and tension spring ( 10 ) enables the benefits of the flexibility to be optimized . it will however be appreciated that the saddle may be varied in many ways from the embodiments described without departing from the scope of the invention . for example the flexible movement of the nose portion ( 9 ) can be obtained using a hinge assembly biased to hold the nose portion ( 9 ) in its normal position but allowing the hinge to open when downward pressure is exerted on the nose portion ( 9 ). one such further modified embodiment is illustrated in fig6 and 7 . in this embodiment the nose portion ( 9 ) has its end contiguous to the seat portion ( 2 ) enlarged and the upper edges ( 13 ) of this end are rounded . the end is rebated at ( 14 ) into the front end of the seat portion ( 2 ) as shown and the components are so chosen that the movement of the nose portion ( 9 ) relative to the seat portion ( 2 ) substantially avoids the formulation of the gap ( 12 ) when the nose portion ( 9 ) is flexed downwardly . this is achieved by securing the plate ( 4 ) to the under surfaces of the saddle portions ( 2 ) and ( 9 ). as an example of a further variation the flexible characteristics can be obtained during a moulding process wherein the saddle portions are moulded integrally from suitable synthetic resin materials . the invention thus provides a saddle ( 1 ) which is both safe and comfortable in use .
| 1Performing Operations; Transporting
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fig2 illustrates an environment in which a system and method for optimized distribution of calls to call center resources may operate , according to embodiments of the invention . as illustrated in that figure , a caller 102 may initiate a call via a voice network 104 . the caller 102 may initiate that call in a variety of ways , for instance by initiating a cellular call or other wireless call to a customer support number , or by dialing an ( 800 ) number via a landline connection through the public switched telephone network ( pstn ) or other link . the call may likewise be initiated via a voice over internet protocol ( voip ) call or connection , or establishing a voice call or hybrid voice / data call via other wired or wireless channels , links or connections . the call may in embodiments be or include a direct - dialed , transferred , multi - party conference or other call or connection . once the call is initiated , according to embodiments of the invention in one regard the incoming call may be communicated to a routing engine 106 , which may for example be or include a server or other resource . the routing engine 106 may for instance be incorporated in an advanced intelligent network ( ain ) configuration or network , a signaling system 7 ( ss7 ) network or other communications network or fabric , and may in embodiments include or interface to intelligent call management ( icm ) hardware , software or other resources . according to embodiments of the invention , the routing engine 106 may host rules - based logic and other control to be applied to the incoming call , to analyze , route and manage the call during its duration . according to embodiments of the invention in one regard , the routing engine 106 may route the call directly to an automated call response resource 108 , before additional call processing takes place . that is , according to embodiments of the invention in one regard , the call may be transmitted to the automated call response resource 108 before further call discrimination and selective routing to remote resources , such as acds or others , takes place . as illustrated in fig2 , the automated call response resource 108 itself may be , include or interface to , for example , a set of interactive voice response farms 110 . that collection may include one or more interactive voice response farms each containing one or more interactive voice response units , for instance units presenting voice menus to prompt for keypad touch - tone , to capture voice responses for voice recognition processing , to receive telephone typewriter ( tty ) data , or to capture or process other input or data from , via or related to caller 102 and their inquiry . according to embodiments of the invention in one regard , the call may be distributed to one of the set of interactive voice response farms 110 based on load balancing criteria . thus routing engine 106 may transfer the call to an available ivr farm which , for example , has the greatest processor idle time , available bandwidth or the largest number of open or momentarily unused ports . other load balancing or other criteria may be used . it may be noted that according to embodiments of the invention in another regard , the automated call response resource 108 may periodically report utilization rates and other data to the routing engine 106 , to permit load balancing assignments to take place on a current basis . that updating may occur at comparatively short intervals of minutes or seconds , or more or less time according to implementation . that updating may be facilitated in embodiments where one provider owns or operates network connections between the routing engine 106 and automated call response resource 108 , including to reduce cost and contention in that updating channel . however , because in all cases the incoming call is directly transmitted to the set of interactive voice response farms 110 within automated call response resource 108 based on fast decisioning criteria , the call may arrive at a voice response unit within an interactive voice response farm in a comparatively short time , which in cases may be on the order of 250 milliseconds , or more or less . the caller 102 may thus be connected to an interactive voice response menu or other prompt or sequence in real - time or near - real - time after initiating the call and reaching the voice network 104 . the caller 102 may thus be engaged by the interactive voice response processing algorithms of the set of interactive voice response farms 110 . the caller 102 may be presented , for example , with a voice menu prompting them to enter keypad or touch - tone data , voice response data , tty data or other responses or data to capture details of their inquiry or other request . for example , the caller 102 may be prompted to speak or enter a telephone account number , a credit card account number , or other account , subscription or other number or identifier . the caller 102 may for example select a sequence of selections , prompts , notices , alerts and other messages and responses while connected to the automated call response resource 108 . in embodiments that connection and associated responses and data capture may generally take place for a few seconds to a few minutes or more or less , depending on the nature of the caller &# 39 ; s inquiry , resulting menu trees and other factors . the data captured up to the point that the initial interactive voice response interaction is complete may in embodiments be encapsulated in call information 114 , an object which may then be transmitted to the routing engine 106 . call information 114 may in one regard contain , for example , both call data and caller data as well as other information . call data may be or include data such as the dialed number identified via dialed number identification service ( dnis ), calling number data such as a ten - digit or other telephone number generated via automatic number identification service ( ani ) or other services , time of day or date of call origination , the carrier over which the call arrives or which bills or services the call , or other call parameters related to or identifying the originating call . caller data may contain , for instance , caller entered data such as touch - tone , keypad , voice response or other inputs , for instance in response to a voice prompt , tty or other menu or interface , such as for example account , subscriber , user name , social security or other identifiers or data . caller data may likewise in embodiments include data retrieved from past transactions or exchanges , for instance automatically retrieved or identified via the caller &# 39 ; s calling number , whether identified automatically or entered by the caller . other types , categories and formats of data are possible . the routing engine 106 may receive the call information 114 , and based on that data evaluate or determine a call type or call category for the in - process call . that is , the routing engine 106 may host and execute rules - based logic or other decisioning algorithms which identify , for example , a customer calling from their home telephone number who has correctly entered a product serial number for a product purchased less than 12 months ago may have a probable warranty or repair service call or inquiry . other call types or categories may include , for example , cellular or other telephone or telecommunications account inquiries , for instance for billing , subscription , service , cancellation , or other purposes . other types of calls such as financial inquiries or transactions including telephone banking inquiries or brokerage trades , mail order transactions , hotel , airline or other travel or other reservations , rebate or refund processing , locator services or other call categories , inquiries or types are possible . based on the call information 114 , the routing engine 106 may distribute any still - pending , incomplete or unsatisfied calls or inquiries to one of a further set of automatic call distributors 112 . the set of automatic call distributors 112 may be or include local or remote call distribution trunks or exchanges , which for instance in embodiments may be located off - premises , which in cases may be on a related or on a separate network from the resources of the owner or operator of the automated call response resource 108 . in embodiments , any one or more of the automatic call distributors within the set of automatic call distributors 112 may be dedicated or linked to specific customer support tasks or other resources . for example , one automatic call distributor may be dedicated to subscription or retention support , and connect with resources tailored to those functions . those resources may include , for example , a group of customer service representatives ( csrs ) who may be experienced in account subscriptions , and who may be supplied with application tools , such as databases or data mining tools , to resolve subscription , billing , service or other issues . each of the automatic call distributors may likewise connect to or communicate with a set of quality assurance or other automated voice recording resources as appropriate , to generate further queries , inputs or data access , including by way of caller voice recording . those ivr or other resources may for example be configured with menus or other interfaces to prompt the user for account subscription or other transactional information . because the routing engine 106 may in one regard assimilate a comparatively expanded degree of call , caller and related information before routing calls to specific units having specific customer support functions within the set of automatic call distributors 112 , the accuracy or appropriateness of overall call distribution may be enhanced . that is , the likelihood that caller 102 may be connected to or presented with information satisfying their inquiry may be greater compared to , for example , known platforms in which calls are routed to remote automatic call distributors before comparable information is known . moreover , and as illustrated in fig3 , call distribution efficiency according to embodiments of the invention may also be increased . that is , the total elapsed time during various stages of processing according to the invention may be economized , since the initial call routing to the automated call response resource 108 based on load balancing or other network factors may take place in real - time or near - real - time , as noted on the order of 250 milliseconds , or more or less . the caller 102 may then enter interactive voice response processing in the set of interactive voice response farms 110 , during which the dwell time may as illustrated be on the order of 30 seconds to 3 minutes , or more or less . during that period of processing the caller 102 is however still engaged in interactive prompts , and less likely to experience an impression of unnecessary wait time and delay . following the completion of the interactive voice response or similar session , the routing engine 106 may be able to make a determination of an appropriate destination , for example to a unit or site within the set of automatic call distributors 112 , within another comparatively short , real - time or near - real - time period , which as illustrated may be on the order of ½ second , or more or less . upon intake in the set of automatic call distributors 112 , the caller 102 may experience a wait time of , illustratively , 3 – 6 seconds or more or less while the call is sent to an appropriate csr , ivr or other matched resource . at this stage , further processing may be performed to calculate , for example , csr workload , for example by measuring the number of calls in queue or other metrics to distribute the call to an appropriately assigned representative . csr skill or toolsets may also be considered . other processing or ordering may be performed on calls for distribution to the set of automatic call distributors 112 . thus , according to the invention in one regard , from call intake to call completion the caller 102 may overall be expected to generally experience a significantly reduced or nominal amount of wait time during the processing of their call , compared to known support platforms . this is again in part possible among other things because of the immediate or near - immediate connection of calls upon to the automated call response resource 108 , as well as the front - end capture of call information 114 permitting accurate evaluations of call type and routing by routing engine 106 , before redirecting calls to matched csr or other resources . it may be noted that is cases , calls transferred to a given automatic call distributor or other resource in the set of automatic call distributors 112 may yet on occasion reach a csr or other resource not capable of satisfying the inquiry . in such cases , the call may be placed back into queue for further processing , for example , to be transmitted to routing engine 106 to redirect the call to another automatic call distributor or resources , for instance based on any updated call information 114 gained , or otherwise . fig4 illustrates overall call flow processing and distribution logic , according to embodiments of the invention . in step 402 , a customer service or other call may be initiated , for instance by a consumer or other caller 102 calling a wireless customer service number via a cellular connection , an ( 800 ) landline or other channel or connection . in step 404 , the call may access the switched long distance network or other networks or links , such as cellular telephone over the air connections , voice over ip ( voip ) connections or other wired , wireless , optical or other channels or connections . in step 406 , the call may be received in routing engine 106 , which may for example consist of one or more servers , routers or other hardware or infrastructure supporting circuit switched , packet switched or other routing or connections . in step 408 , the call may be automatically routed to an automated call response resource 108 , such as the set of interactive voice response farms 110 or other site or resources which may directly receive and respond to inbound or other calls . in embodiments , individual calls may be routed via routing engine 106 or otherwise to a given ivr farm or individual ivr units in the set of interactive voice response farms 110 , based on load balancing , failover or other network conditions within the automated call response resource 108 . in embodiments , a given ivr unit or farm in the set of interactive voice response farms 110 may have a certain number of ports or bandwidth available for new call assignment , and each farm may be maintained at 80 % load or other load , bandwidth or other levels . in embodiments of the invention in one regard , because in one respect the routing engine 106 already knows the initial destination to which the call will be directed , and also because load balancing information may be computed quickly or updated frequently , the latency or delay time in connection the call to the automated call response resource 108 may be minimal , in embodiments on the order of 250 milliseconds , or more or less . according to embodiments of the invention in another regard , because the automated call response resource 108 may in embodiments be co - located within the network of the provider providing the toll - free customer support or other service , the cost of transferring the call to the automated call response resource 108 may likewise be reduced to comparatively modest levels . in step 410 , automated call self - service , such as capture of caller entered digits or other caller data ( ced ) via keypad or voice recognition responses in response to voice menus or natural speech recognition engines , or other types of caller interaction or response , may be performed via the automated call response resource 108 . for example , the caller may be prompted to enter a credit card or other account number , a cellular telephone number , a social security or other identification code , or other information to the automated call response resource 108 . in further embodiments , the routing engine 106 may transmit part or all of call information 114 to the automated call response resource 108 . in those cases the automated call response resource 108 may respond to the call based or based in part on that information , for example , by presenting the user with a pre - loaded voice menu of access choices to an account which has been identified by a lookup against the calling number as a home telephone number , or by processing other call data . for some callers , the automated or self - service response provided via the automatic rollover to automated call response resource 108 may be sufficient to satisfy their inquiry , and the call may be terminated . the call may be terminated for example by automatic termination by the automated call response resource 108 , by the caller hanging up or otherwise . in step 412 , any uncompleted calls may be returned from the automated call response resource 108 to the routing engine 106 , for further discrimination and processing . in step 414 , the routing engine 106 or other control logic may route the call to an acd destination within set of automatic call distributors 112 , selecting an acd for instance based on call information 114 , and in cases other data or factors , such as load balancing between the set of automatic call distributors 112 , location or connection costs of those resources . in step 416 , call distribution processing may be performed via an acd or other distribution control , such as voice switching , assignment of a csr or other representative or agent , or other call processing or conditioning . in step 418 , the call may be transferred to a csr or other agent for live interaction , as appropriate . in step 420 , call transaction messaging may be performed , for instance , by a csr who may capture caller account or other data in a “ screen pop ” or other action , such as transmitting an email to the caller or other destination , or entering call information into a database . in cases the interaction with an agent or consultant may be sufficient to satisfy the caller &# 39 ; s inquiry and the call may be likewise terminated . in some portion or percentage of calls reaching the set of automatic call distributors 112 , the processing by the initial stage of acd and / or csr or other agent resources may not be sufficient to satisfy the caller &# 39 ; s inquiry or transaction . for instance , the caller may be inquiring regarding a transaction or bill from months or a year ago or more , the data for which may not be accessible to the csr within their tool set . in those and other cases , processing may proceed to step 422 in which an acd - to - acd transfer may be initiated . in step 424 , long distance or other lines or connections may be accessed to transfer the as - yet unsatisfied call to another acd or other site or resource . in step 426 , the call may be routed and transferred to the next acd or other resource in the set of automatic call distributors 112 or otherwise , for example to a site connected to database resources having archival records or other data . in step 428 , voice switching via the next acd may be performed , and in step 430 self - service voice processing or live agent interaction may be presented , as appropriate . in embodiments the call may be redirected further successive acd sites , if the inquiry is not satisfied , as appropriate . in step 432 , after ultimate satisfaction of the caller &# 39 ; s inquiry or transaction , processing may repeat , return to a prior processing point , jump to a further processing point or end . the foregoing description of the invention is illustrative , and modifications in configuration and implementation will occur to persons skilled in the art . for instance , while the invention has generally been described in terms of inbound customer service or other calls arriving over a single voice network , in embodiments the communications links over which calls are initially received may include multiple landline or air interfaces or networks , or voice - enabled data networks such as voice over ip ( voip ) networks , combinations of the same or others networks or connections . for further example , while the automated call response resource 108 has been described in terms of implantations incorporating a set of interactive voice response farms 110 , in embodiments other automated or programmed voice or other response units may be used . similarly , while embodiments of the invention have been illustrated as operating under control of a single routing engine 106 , in embodiments multiple local or remote routing engines or other decision logic may be implemented . other hardware , software or other resources described as singular may in embodiments be distributed , and similarly in embodiments resources described as distributed may be combined . again , while the invention has been illustrated generally in terms of call center networks supporting consumer level service functions , in the platform of the invention may be applied to government , corporate , academic or other support environments . the scope of the invention is accordingly intended to be limited only by the following claims .
| 7Electricity
|
referring now to the drawings , wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views , the principles of the present invention will be explained before describing the structure of the embodiment . in fig2 circles c1 , c2 and c3 represent outlines of conductors 12a , 12b of fig1 . when these circles c1 , c2 and c3 contacts each other , a radius r of a circle c circumscribing the circles c1 , c2 and c3 is represented by the following equation : ## equ2 ## where r is the radius of the circles c1 , c2 and c3 and x is the distance between center of the circle c and the center of the circle c1 . therefore diameter d 1 of the circle c is about 4 . 3r . in fig3 when the circles c1 and c2 contact each other at the center of a corresponding circumscribing circle c &# 39 ;, diameter d 2 of the circle c &# 39 ; is smaller than diameter d 1 of the circle c . in fig3 two small circles c4 , c5 of radius r 1 inscribed within the circle c &# 39 ; and the circles c1 , c2 can be described . when y is a distance between the center of circle c &# 39 ; and the center of small circle c4 , c5 and θ 2 is angle of the line linking both centers of the circles c1 and c2 and the line linking both centers of the small circles c4 and c5 , the following relations are given : by eliminating θ 2 and y from above equations ( 3 ), ( 4 ) and ( 5 ), the following equation ( 6 ) is derived : thus the diameter d 2 ( d 2 = 2r 2 ) of the circle c &# 39 ; becomes smaller than the diameter d 1 of the circle c if one of the three conductors 12a , 12b and 14 of fig1 is divided into two conductors which are circumscribed by the circle c &# 39 ;, along with the circles c1 and c2 as shown in fig3 . therefore according to equation ( 1 ) the stray capacitance of cable as shown in fig3 can be smaller than that of cable as shown in fig1 and 2 . now , an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig4 . the two low voltage conducting lines 20a , 20b contact each other at the center axis of the cable assembly 4 . these conducting lines 20a , 20b includes 19 stranded or twisted copper wires for conductor 21a , 21b and are covered by insulating conduits 22a , 22b made of e . g ., polytetrafluoroethylene sold under the trademark &# 34 ; teflon &# 34 ;. the diameter of conducting lines 20a , 20b is about 1 . 6 mm . two bare high voltage conducting lines 24a , 24b each having a diameter 1 . 1 mm are disposed so that each conducting lines 24a , 24b contacts both the conducting lines 20a , 20b . these conducting lines 24a , 24b include 30 stranded or twisted copper wires for conductors . the opposite ends of these conducting lines 24a , 24b are connected in parallel to the same terminals located at opposite ends of the lines 24a , 24b . in other words current flowing between the terminals is divided into the two conducting lines 24a , 24b . these conducting lines 20a , 20b and 24a , 24b are twisted along the center axis of the cable assembly 4 or the contact point of conduct lines 20a , 20b . a semi - conductive thin tape 25 is bound around them to form a cable core 26 . this tape 25 reduces non - uniformities in the electrical field in the cable core 26 to increase the insulating voltage of the cable assembly 4 . the surface of the tape 25 is covered with an insulating layer 24 , such as an ep rubber , whose thickness is 5 . 8 mm . the surface of the insulating layer 27 is covered with a shield layer 18 formed of wires such as copper of thin - gilt copper interwoven with fibers , such as cotton fibers . a sheath 19 made of , e . g ., chloroprene or vinyl and having a thickness of 1 . 2 mm surrounds the shield layer 18 . the diameter of this cable assembly 4 is about 19 . 4 mm . each dimension is shown in the following table 2 . table 2______________________________________ conductors high voltage low voltage______________________________________structure ( lines / mm ) 30 / 0 . 18 19 / 0 . 32diameter ( mm ) 1 . 1 1 . 6thickness of semi - -- -- conductive rubber ( mm ) thickness of -- 0 . 3insulating rubber ( mm ) thickness of semi - 0 . 2conductive tube ( mm ) diameter of core ( mm ) 4 . 8thickness of high 5 . 8voltage insulatinglayer ( mm ) thickness of 0 . 3shielding layer ( mm ) thickness of sheath ( mm ) 1 . 2total diameter ( mm ) 19 . 4______________________________________ this cable assembly can link three pairs of terminals . in fig7 two conductors 21a , 21b are respectively connected to filament coils 73 , 74 for large and small focus spots of a cathode 72 of an x - ray tube 7 . the other ends of conductors 21a , 21b are connected to a filament circuit . the two conductors 24a , 24b are connected to a common terminal of the filament coils 73 , 74 . the other ends of conductors 24a , 24b are connected to one output terminal of a high voltage transformer . of course , it is possible to use this cable assembly to link a pair or two pairs of terminals . in fig7 this cable assembly can link an anode 71 of the x - ray tube 7 and the other output terminal of the high voltage transformer . in this case it is preferable to short the conductors 21a , 21b and 24a , 24b at both input and output terminals . it is economical to do so without fabricating a particular cable for the anode . the cable assembly as defined in table 2 is capable of operating at an x - ray operating voltage and current of 75 kv and 0 to 2000 ma , respectively . the filament circuit can provide a filament current and voltage of 5a and about 1ov , respectively , to the coils 73 , 74 . the diameter d &# 39 ; 2 of the cable core 26 of the cable assembly 4 according to the present invention is smaller than that of a conventional cable . therefore the stray capacitance of the cable assembly of the present invention is smaller according to the equation ( 1 ). furthermore the thickness of the insulating conduit 22a , 22b and the semi - conductive tape 25 of the cable assembly 4 are thinner than the conventional cable of table 1 . therefore the diameter of the cable core 26 of the cable assembly 4 is about 4 . 8 mm thinner than the 8 . 5 mm diameter of the cable core of table 1 . the stray capacitance c x of the conventional cable 3 of table 1 measures 280 to 300 ( pf / m ) while the calculated value of this stray capacitance is 290 ( pf / m ). on the other hand the stray capacitance c &# 39 ; x of the cable assembly 4 according to the present invention measures 120 to 150 ( pf / m ) while its calculated value is 153 ( pf / m ). in case that the same insulating conduit and semiconductive tube as table 1 is used , the diameter of the cable core is reduced to 8 . 0 mm from 8 . 5 mm if the conductors are arranged as shown in fig3 . since the diameter d of the insulating layer is about 16 . 5 mm , the stray capacitance is reduced approximately 92 % based on the following calculation using the above - noted equation ( 1 ): another embodiment according to the present invention is shown in fig6 . in this embodiment , the cable assembly 6 is similar to the cable assembly 4 as shown in fig4 except for the two high voltage conductors 24c , 24d . the total area of the cross - sections of conductors 24a , 24b as shown in fig4 is 8 / 9 πr 2 . it is slightly less than cross - sectional areas of conductors 21a , 21b . in the case of tabie 2 , since the areas of the conductor 21a and summed conductors 24a and 24b are 8 . 0 mm 2 and 7 . 6 mm 2 , the resistance of conductors 24a and 24b increases . however , in the embodiment as shown in fig6 the cross - sectional areas of conductors 24c , 24d are oval areas which are circumscribed by the tape 25 and conducting lines 20a , 20b . the resistance of the cable 6 can be equal to or less than that of conductors 21a , 21b . the stray capacitance of the cable assembly 6 is the same as that of the cable assembly 4 . obviously , numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein .
| 7Electricity
|
the present invention relates to high brightness fiber optic illumination systems . in particular , the present invention represents an led based light source for improved illumination systems relative to arc lamp and other led based light source systems . the illumination system 10 of fig1 is comprised of one or more led die or die array modules 12 , 24 and 26 spectrally and spatially combined by means such as dichroic beam splitters 42 and 44 coupled to a common source aperture 52 which substantially conserves the etendue or area , solid angle , index squared product . a preferred embodiment of the system couples into an optical fiber bundle to provide the high luminous power and high brightness required for medical endoscopic applications . other high brightness applications include , but are not limited to , projection systems , industrial illumination , photo curing , spot lights , and medical photodynamic therapy . prior to led based systems conventional arc lamp based projection systems were used comprised of a short arc lamp typically of the high pressure mercury , metal halide , or xenon lamp variety . the primary disadvantage of the short arc technology is lamp life , which is typically in the 500 to 1000 hour range . the cost of the arc lamp itself and the service cost to replace the lamps over the life of the product can be many multiples of the original cost of the complete illumination system . this drive hospital costs up which in turn drive the costs of medical insurance up . additional benefits of the led technology include reduced power consumption , low voltage operation , light intensity stability , ability to control correlated color temperature ( cct ) and color rendering index ( cri ), and the ability to modulate the source . the ability to modulate the source can be a significant benefit . for example , most of the endoscopic systems in use today are coupled to a video camera . typically video cameras incorporate an electronic shutter and typically the video signal is not integrated continuously . thus , there is an opportunity to modulate the led source in synchronization with the shutter . during the time when the shutter is closed , the led light source does not need to be on . thus , for example , if the shutter was open 50 % of the time , the light source could be modulated in synchronization producing 50 % less heat . thus , for the same average input power to the led light source the light output could be increased by an amount dependant on the operating point of the led source with respect to efficiency . a more conventional approach to producing white light by leds is to deposit a phosphor powder , typically of ce : yag ( cerium doped yttrium aluminum garnet , y 3 al 5 0 12 : ce 3 + ) suspended in an encapsulant material such as silicone , onto a blue led die or die array with a peak wavelength between about 445 nm and 475 nm . the light absorbed by the phosphor is converted to yellow light which combines with the scattered blue light to produce a spectrum that appears white . the apparent color temperature is a function of the density and thickness of the phosphor suspended in the encapsulant . while this approach is efficient , the amount of white light produced per unit area per unit solid angle is fundamentally limited by the amount of blue light extracted from the blue led die or die array , the quantum efficiency of the phosphor , the phosphors thermal quenching , and the back scattering , which is a function of the particle size of the phosphor or other luminescent material . while it is feasible to place a solid phosphor such as single crystal ce : yag over the top of the blue led die or die array , the change in effective path length with angle which increases from normal incidence as the rays approach the plane of the led die emitting surface produces a change in spectrum with angle resulting in a non - uniform far field distribution and undesirable color variation . furthermore , the efficiency of such a device would be limited by the total internal reflection of such a luminescent material due to its high index of refraction unless the surface was in contact with an index matching medium or included a structure to increase extracted radiance such as a photonic lattice , surface roughened or micro - lens array . the heart of the invention of fig1 is the led source module 12 comprised of a central rod 14 of luminescent material such as single crystal or sintered ceramic ce : yag , and other luminescent materials including : ( lu 1 - x - y - a - b y x gd y ) 3 ( al 1 - z - c ga z si c ) 5 o 12 - c n : cea a pr b with 0 & lt ; x & lt ; 1 , 0 & lt ; y & lt ; 1 , 0 & lt ; z & lt ;/= 0 . 1 , 0 & lt ; a & lt ;= 0 . 2 , 0 & lt ; b & lt ;= 0 . 1 , and 0 & lt ; c & lt ; 1 for example lu 3 al 5 o 12 : ce 3 + , y 3 al 5 o 12 : ce 3 + and y 3 al 4 . 8 si 0 . 2 o 11 . 8 n 0 . 2 : ce 3 + emitting yellow - green light ; and ( sr 1 - x - y ba x ca y ) 2 - z si 5 - a al a n 8 - a o a : eu z 2 + where 0 & lt ;= a & lt ; 5 , 0 & lt ; x & lt ;= 1 , 0 & lt ;= y & lt ;= 1 , and 0 & lt ; z & lt ;= 1 for example sr 2 si 5 n 8 : eu 3 + , emitting red light . other candidates include ( sr 1 - a - b ca b ba c ) si x n y o z : eu a 2 + where a = 0 . 002 to 0 . 20 , b = 0 . 0 to 0 . 25 , c = 0 . 0 to 0 . 25 , x = 1 . 5 to 2 . 5 , y = 1 . 5 to 2 . 5 , and z = 1 . 5 to 2 . 5 for example srsi 2 n 2 o 2 : eu 2 + ; ( sr 1 - u - v - x mg u ca v ba x )( ga 2 - y - z al z in z s 4 ): eu 2 + for example srga 2 s 4 : eu 2 + ; ( sr 1 - x - y ba x ca y ) 2 sio 4 : eu 2 + for example srbasio 4 : eu 2 + ; ( ca 1 - x sr x ) s : eu 2 + where 0 & lt ; x & lt ;= 1 for example cas : eu 2 + and srs : eu 2 + ; ( ca 1 - x - y - z sr x ba y mg z ) 1 - x ( al 1a + b b ) si 1 − b n 3 − b o b : re n where 0 & lt ;= x & lt ;= 1 , 0 & lt ;= y & lt ;= 1 , 0 & lt ;= z & lt ;= 1 , 0 & lt ;= a & lt ;= 1 , 0 & lt ;= b & lt ;= 1 and 0 . 002 & lt ;= n & lt ;= 0 . 2 and re is either europium ( ii ) or cerium ( ill ) for example caalsin 3 : eu 2 + or caal 1 . 04 si 0 . 96 n 3 : ce 3 + ; and m x v + si 12 -( m + n ) al m + n o n n 16 - n , with x = m / v and m comprised of a metal preferably selected from the group comprising li , m , ca , y , sc , ce , pr , nd , sm , eu , gd , tb , dy , ho , er , tm , yb , lu or mixtures including for example ca 0 . 75 si 8 . 625 al 3 . 375 n 0 . 625 : eu 0 . 25 as disclosed in u . s . patent application ser . 11 / 290 , 299 to michael r . krames and peter j . schmidt ( publication # 2007 / 0126017 ) which is herein explicitly incorporated by reference in its entirety ; and nano - phosphors embedded in a suitable matrix such as high index plastic or glass , with led die positioned along its length in a linear array of die or a single long led die attached to a high thermal conductivity board 18 , such as copper or aluminum core printed circuit board , which in turn is attached to heat sink 20 . the luminescent rod 14 would have the properties of high absorption of light in one part of the spectrum , blue in the case of ce : yag , emission with high quantum yield in a wavelength region generally longer than the excitation wavelength band , high index of refraction to trap a significant portion of the luminescent light produced such that it is guided or transmitted down the length of the rod toward an emitting aperture 52 . the emitting aperture would be index matched to an optical concentrator 22 such as a compound parabolic concentrator ( cpc ), compound elliptical concentrator ( cec ), compound hyperbolic concentrator ( chc ), taper , or faceted optic . the concentrators would generally be index matched and of solid dielectric , although liquids could work as well . the purpose of the concentrator is two - fold . first , it would be made of a material with an index of refraction approaching that of the rod ( approximately 1 . 82 for ce : yag ) and second , it would act to convert the light emitted over a hemisphere ( 2π steradians ) to an area and solid angle that can be readily imaged through dichroic beam splitters and re - imaging optics while substantially preserving the etendue ( area , solid angle , index squared product ) thereby maximizing the brightness . the output spectrum of the ce : yag rod source would cover the range between about 500 nm and 700 nm , with the predominant contribution in the green spectrum centered around 555 nm . the combination of this light with that from a blue led module 24 would produce white light suitable for many applications . for medical illumination , however , the relative spectral content is typically required to result in a high color rendering index ( cri ) on the order of 85 or greater . to accomplish this it is necessary to add additional light in the red spectral region from a third led source module 26 . in fig1 dichroic beam splitter 42 would transmit the red light of led module 26 and reflect the blue light of led module 24 . dichroic beam splitter 44 would transmit the combined blue and red spectrum of combined led modules 26 and 24 and reflect the green or yellow light of led module 12 . the combined white light spectrum from led modules 12 , 24 , and 26 would then be imaged by lens elements 46 and 50 to stop the input aperture 52 of fiber optic light bundle 54 . the lens elements 46 and 50 could be comprised of multiple lens elements which may include glasses or plastics of different dispersions to help optimize image quality . the lens systems stop 48 would assure that the extent of the far field of the light from each led module was similar so as not to result in color fringe effects at the edge of the illumination field . the size of each led source and their collection optics would be sized such as to produce substantially similar near and far field distributions for each led module . the lens system could also include diffractive or reflective components to help reduce the number of or optical elements and to reduce overall package size . the relative position of the led modules 12 , 24 , and 26 are interchangeable assuming that the dichroic beam splitters were changed in spectral characteristics to accommodate different arrangements . for example , led modules 12 and 24 could be switched in position such that beam splitter 42 would transmit red light , reflect blue and green light and beam splitter 44 would transmit red and green and reflect blue light . the spectrum of the led modules in a different system could include ultraviolet through mid infrared light assuming the optical elements where made of the proper transmitting materials and anti - reflection or reflection coatings . the led modules 24 and 26 would be comprised of an led array either index matched or not index matched to the collection optic depending on the extraction efficiency and method of the led die . for example blue die form cree ( ez1100 ) includes a micro lens array such that the benefit from index matching does not compensate for the increase in the etendue due to the index squared effect . thus for the case of these high performance blue die higher brightness is achieved by not index matching . the red die that are commercially available at this time do not typically include microstructures on their surface to significantly enhance extraction efficiency and thus do benefit from encapsulation , not from a brightness standpoint , but from an efficiency standpoint which due to decreased thermal load translates into improved performance . the collection optics could be comprised of similar optics as detailed for the led module 12 , however , in the case of the blue die , the cpc , taper , or other concentrator could be designed for no index matching . heat sinks 12 , 25 , and 34 of fig1 could be made out of any high thermal conductivity material including but not limited to copper and aluminum . the led or led arrays 16 , 30 , and 38 would be attached to led printed circuit boards ( pcbs ) 18 , 28 , and 36 which would in turn be thermally and mechanically attached to heat sinks 12 , 25 , and 34 respectively . in a preferred embodiment the pcbs would be made out of a high thermal conductivity material including but not limited to copper , diamond , aluminum , or composite materials . ideally the thermal resistance between the back side of the led die or die arrays would be minimized by direct eutectic attachment , soldering , or thermally conductive epoxy . the high thermal conductivity pcbs would act as heat spreaders thereby reducing the heat flux into the heat sinks 12 , 25 , and 34 . the heat sinks could be cooled by direct convection with air , conduction with various coolant fluids such as water , or radiation into the surrounding environment . heat pipes of various constructions have also been found to work very effectively as heat sinks heat pipes and diamond could also be used as the pcb material as they both are very effective heat spreaders with performance well above that of pure copper . fig2 shows a detailed view 60 of the led module 12 of fig1 from the side and in cross section as indicated in 70 . the luminescent rod 14 , which in a preferred embodiment would be single crystal or transparent sintered polycrystalline ce : yag would be characterized by high absorption in a spectral region such as blue in the region of 460 nm and very low extinction for wavelengths greater than the excitation wavelength band above 500 nm to 510 nm . the rod material 14 would also be characterized by exhibiting luminescence of the absorbed excitation light with high quantum yield . thus the led array 16 would in a preferred embodiment be comprised of blue led die such as those manufactured by cree inc . called ez1000 which are dimensionally on the order of 1 mm square by 0 . 120 mm thick . the light from the led array would be transmitted through the outer wall of luminescent rod 14 . the extinction coefficient of rod 14 would be doped to a level resulting in substantially all of the blue light being absorbed within the dimension of the rod prior to exiting the rod through its other side . to the extent that the excitation light was not absorbed with the first pass through the rod 14 , mirrors 72 could be positioned with a reflective surface close to the rod so as to cause the excitation light to pass back into the rod one or more times to maximize absorption by the rod . the reflectivity of the led die is on the order of 80 % which would also act to couple light that was not absorbed on the first pass through the rod back into it for another opportunity to be absorbed . the light could take multiple passes to be substantially absorbed . given the finite reflectivity of the mirrors 72 and diffuse reflectivity of the led die 16 it would be best to chose an extinction that would result in the order of 80 % or more of the excitation light being absorbed on the first pass through the rod 14 . alternatively , the sides of the rod through which the excitation light is not passing initially could be coated with a high reflectivity coating . it would be critical , however , that the reflectivity be very close to 100 % so as not to loose substantial luminous power upon multiple reflections as the luminescent light is transmitted toward the output aperture 62 . in a preferred embodiment the outside surface of the rod would not be coated at all so as to allow a substantial portion of the light generated within the rod to be guided by total internal reflection ( tir ) up the rod toward output aperture 62 . the fact that the luminescent material 14 has a relatively high index of refraction is fortunate as the higher the index of refraction the greater percentage of the light that is generated within the rod will be guided by tir toward the output aperture 62 . the luminescent light generated within the rod 14 would be substantially isotropic and thus would travel equally in all directions . thus half of the light that is bound to the rod by tir would travel in a direction opposite to the output aperture 62 toward mirror 66 which would act to send the light emitted in that direction back toward output aperture 62 , thereby substantially doubling the light reaching output aperture 62 . the mirror could also be effectively coated directly onto the end face of rod 14 in the vicinity of mirror 66 . fig3 shows an alternative embodiment 80 of the mirror elements 66 of fig2 comprised of modified mirror elements 82 containing the addition of small holes 84 through which high pressure air would cool rod 14 by high pressure air impingement . the holes would be sufficiently small as to minimally affect the mirrored surface area of mirrors 82 . high pressure air impingement has several times the film coefficient and thus heat transfer as compared to standard connected low pressure air . the effect of the slight increase in the index of refraction of the medium surrounding rod 14 on tir would be minimal . if direct contact cooling fluid was used without the sides of the rod being reflective , the higher than air index of refraction of the fluid would result in more loss out through the sides due to the decreased tir internal angle , thereby reducing overall led module efficiency . the reason it may be important to provide a means of removing heat build up from the rod is that there would be a small but finite heat absorption , convection and conduction to the rod from the led array 16 that would cause an increase in temperature of the rod if there were no means of removing this heat . this heat rise would result in reduced led module performance due to thermal quenching of the luminescent rod material . increasing the temperature of the rod material can decrease the quantum efficiency . fig4 shows an alternative embodiment 120 of led module 12 of fig1 where two modules 12 have been positioned in sequence to form a single multi - spectrum source . for example rod 122 of 120 could be made of a luminescent material with properties similar to those described for rod 14 for which the excitation band is within the long wavelength ultraviolet spectrum in the region of 240 nm to 420 nm . the high transmission region of the material would be in wavelengths longer than 420 nm and its luminescence could be in the blue to blue - green spectral region . likewise rod 124 could have similar absorption properties but comprise luminescence in the green to red region of the spectrum . both rods 122 and 124 would be characterized by high transmission in the spectral region containing wavelengths longer that 420 nm . the mirror 66 would act to reflect any light transmitted in the direction opposite output coupler 22 back toward 22 . in this way , led light module 120 could contain the full and desired spectrum of the white light source and would not require supplemental led modules 24 and 26 of fig1 nor dichroic beam splitters 42 and 44 . it would be necessary to use an index matching material between the two rods 122 and 124 such as melted schott sf6 glass or other suitable index matching material . alternatively , a single material or ceramic such as yag ( yttrium aluminum garnet ) could use different dopants in the regions corresponding to rods 122 and 124 such that the rod is continuous and there is no need for an index matching medium . alternatively , more than one dopant could be used evenly over the entire length of a single rod assuming the dopants did not interfere and reduce quantum efficiency . the length of the rods and excitation led arrays could be increased to achieve higher flux out of collection optic 22 . this is the primary distinction and advantage of this technology over prior art comprised of a thin planar luminescent material , as the out put can be increased by increasing the length of the rod rather than increasing the power density of the excitation source thereby resulting in output flux many multiples of that which could be achieved by prior art . the output of the system of fig4 could alternatively be directly coupled to an optical fiber bundle without the need for re - imaging optics . fig5 represents alternative cross sectional areas for rods including but not limited to circular , square , rectangular , and multiple sided polygons such as a hexagon and octagon . generally , even number of sides polygons have better spatial mixing than those with an odd number of sides although either could be used . likewise , the optical concentrator that would be index matched to one of the rod configurations could have a similar cross sectional shape . for example a rectangular or square cpc or taper could be used . a theta by theta cpc comprised of a taper coupled to a cpc such as described by welford and winston ( high collection nonimaging optics , w . t . welford and r . winston , academic press , 1989 ) could be used . fig6 shows various configurations 100 of a combination of luminescent rod and output concentrators . for example the rods 102 , 108 , and 114 , could be index matched to output couplers in the form of a taper 104 , cpc 110 , or combined theta by theta taper and cpc 116 . in general the concentrators would be made out of a material that is transparent and of similar index of refraction and would be coupled by means of an index matching medium . alternatively , the two components comprising a rod and concentrator could be mated by heating the components and allowing them to melt together . alternatively , the rod and concentrator could be made out of the same material such as ceramic ( phosphor particles sintered at temperatures on the order of 1800 ° celsius and under pressure causing the material to become transparent and substantially homogeneous ) such as ce : yag which could be doped in the region of the rod and not doped in the region of the concentrator thereby eliminating the need for index matching . fig7 shows a plot of index of refraction of the concentrator versus coupling efficiency for the case of ce : yag rod which has an index of refraction on the order of 1 . 82 for two rod geometries circular and square in cross section . the out - coupling efficiency into air ( index of refraction 1 ) of 30 % assumes that all the light emitted by the led die is absorbed within the rod and that one end of the rod is coated with a mirror with reflectivity of 100 %. thus , the efficiency can be improved by the order of 80 % by index matching to a concentrator with an index of refraction approaching that of the rod . the data also assumes that the output face of the concentrator is anti - reflection coated to minimize losses due to fresnel reflections at the air / dielectric interface . fig8 shows empirical data for a white light source transmitted through the side of a ce : yag rod of 1 mm in thickness as well as guided down its length of 50 mm . the cerium doping was 0 . 15 %. the data shows that for the 1 mm path length more than 90 % of the blue light was absorbed . the rod was not coated , so the maximum expected transmission would be on the order of 84 % due to fresnel reflection which is observed at a wavelength of about 400 nm where the ce : yag rod is substantially transparent . the fact that the output is above the expected maximum transmission for wavelengths greater than 500 nm is due to the contribution from the luminescent light emitted by the absorbed blue light in the incident white light . the broader absorption band shown in the 50 mm length is due to the fact that beer &# 39 ; s law is acting over 50 times the length exponentially . it is also apparent that the material does exhibit some degree of self absorption for which some of the absorbed light emitted as phosphorescence is absorbed through the length . thus for some applications it may be important to limit the length of the rod to minimize absorption at the short end of the emitted spectrum and to minimize heating due to self absorption . fig9 shows the combined spectrum of the system of fig1 with the thick black vertical lines representing the spectral region of the dichroic beam splitters . the current to the individual sources can be adjusted to result in a cri greater than 90 at a cct on the order of 5700 ° kelvin which is consistent with the values typical of short arc xenon lamps . the blue spectrum shown here is comprised of three blue led peak wavelength centered around 445 nm , 457 nm and 470 nm . the red band is comprised of the combination of led center wavelengths peaked near 630 nm and 650 nm . the effect of increasing the spectral widths in the blue and red spectral regions is primarily to increase the cri . the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above - described exemplary embodiments , but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents .
| 5Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting
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as seen in fig1 and 2 , a resealable pouch 10 includes a front panel 12 and a back panel 14 that are connected , such as by folding , heat seal , and / or adhesive , along three peripheral edges to define a sealable interior space 16 therebetween , and an opening 18 is defined along a top edge 20 where the front and back panels are not connected so as to allow access to the interior space . a resealable elongate closure mechanism 22 extends along the front and back panels 12 , 14 near the opening 18 between a left edge 24 and a right edge 26 of the pouch 10 to allow the opening to be repeatedly sealed and unsealed , thereby closing and opening , respectively , the opening . preferably , the closure mechanism 22 provides an airtight seal such that a vacuum may be maintained in the interior space 16 for an extended period of time , such as days , months , or years , when the closure mechanism is sealed fully across the opening 18 . in one embodiment , the pouch 10 may include a second opening through one of the panels 12 , 14 covered by a vacuum check valve 28 to allow air to be evacuated from the interior space 16 and maintain the vacuum when the closure mechanism 22 has been sealed . the pouch 10 may also include relief on or along an interior surface of one or both of the front and back panels 12 , 14 to provide air flow channels 30 between the panels when a vacuum is being drawn through the check valve 28 . in this manner , the pouch 10 provides a complete evacuable system within which food , for example , may be stored in a reusable vacuum pouch . as best seen in fig2 , the closure mechanism 22 includes a closure element 32 that releasably interlocks and seals with an opposing closure element 34 . each closure element 32 , 34 has a substantially constant elongate cross - sectional profile that extends longitudinally between the left edge 24 and right edge 26 of the pouch 10 to form a continuous seal therealong when fully interlocked with the opposing closure element . in one embodiment , closure element 32 is disposed along the front panel 12 and the closure element 34 is disposed along the back panel 14 opposite the first closure element so as to resealably interlock along an entire length thereof . the closure element 34 has an elongate closure profile including a sealing section spaced between two interlocking members 36 , 38 , each projecting from a common side of a base member 40 . in one embodiment , the interlocking member 36 has an arrow - shaped male interlocking profile , and the interlocking member 38 has a channel - shaped female interlocking profile . the arrow - shaped male interlocking profile 36 includes a shaft extending outwardly from the base member 40 and a symmetrical head with barbs extending from opposite sides of a distal end of the shaft spaced from the base member . the channel - shaped female interlocking profile 38 includes two spaced arms extending from the base member 40 , each arm having an in - turned hook at a distal end thereof , to form a channel therebetween . the sealing section of the closure element 34 includes a sealing wall 42 and a sealing wall 44 spaced apart and projecting outwardly from the base member 40 . the sealing walls 42 , 44 in one embodiment are tapered , having a tip that is narrower than a base , thereby forming a tapered channel 46 therebetween . in one embodiment , the sealing walls 42 , 44 and the male and female interlocking profiles 36 , 38 are all approximately the same height from the base member 40 . the closure element 32 has an elongate second closure profile including a sealing section spaced between two interlocking members 48 , 50 , each projecting from a common side of a base member 52 . in one embodiment , the interlocking member 48 has a channel - shaped female interlocking profile , and the interlocking member 50 has an arrow - shaped male profile , complementary with the respective male and female interlocking profiles 36 , 38 , respectively , of the closure profile 34 . the sealing section of the closure element 32 includes at least one sealing rib that wedges into the tapered channel 46 between the opposing sealing walls 42 , 44 . in one embodiment , the sealing section includes a first sealing rib 54 disposed between a second sealing rib 56 and a third sealing rib 58 . each sealing rib 54 , 56 , 58 has a bulbous head 60 , such as a cross member , spaced from the base member 52 proximate a distal end of a wall 62 , which projects from the base member 52 . in one embodiment , each sealing rib 54 , 56 , 58 has a t - shaped cross - section . in other embodiments , the bulbous head 60 may have other shapes that project laterally from the wall 62 , such as rounded , asymmetrical , slanted , or multiple projections , for example . in a sealed state , the male interlocking profile 50 is interlocked with the female interlocking profile 38 , and the female interlocking profile 48 is interlocked with the male interlocking profile 36 . the bulbous head 60 of the sealing rib 54 is wedged tightly into the tapered channel 46 against the sealing walls 42 , 44 . the sealing wall 42 is wedged tightly between and against the bulbous heads 60 of the sealing rib 54 and the sealing rib 56 , and the sealing wall 44 is wedged tightly between and against the bulbous heads 60 of the sealing rib 54 and the sealing rib 58 . preferably , the geometry of the sealing walls 42 , 44 and the sealing ribs 54 , 56 , 58 is such that , when the interlocking profiles 36 , 38 , 48 , 50 are occluded together in the sealed state , the distal ends of the sealing walls are spaced from the base member 52 and the bulbous heads 60 are spaced from the base member 40 , thereby ensuring four air tight seals across the closure profiles 32 , 34 between the interlocking profiles 36 , 48 and 38 , 50 . further , the sealing sections are spaced from each interlocking member 36 , 38 , 48 , 50 , which provides a sealing section that forms an air tight seal independently of the interlocking members . of course , more or fewer sealing walls and sealing ribs may be used in other embodiments to form more or fewer air tight seals across the closure profiles . in order to develop differential opening and closing forces , one of the closure elements may be secured continuously to the respective panel along the entire profile of the base member , and the other closure element may be secured partially to the respective panel along only a portion of the profile . for example , in one embodiment , the closure element 34 is connected with the back panel 14 continuously between the interlocking member 36 and the interlocking member 38 . the closure element 32 is connected with the front panel 12 continuously between the interlocking member 48 and an interior side of the sealing rib 58 , and an interior end of the closure element 32 is unconnected with the front panel 12 between the interior end of the base 52 and the interior side of the sealing rib 58 . in this manner , differential opening and closing forces may be developed because the interior end and interlocking profile 50 of the base 52 of at least the closure element 32 is allowed to hinge away from the front panel 12 , thereby minimizing an opening force caused by the contents pushing outwardly against the front and back panels 12 , 14 . in other embodiments , the interior end of either or both closure profiles 32 , 34 may be unconnected with the respective panel 12 or 14 , or the interior end of both closure profiles may be connected with the respective panel . the closure elements 32 , 34 may be connected with the respective front and back panels 12 , 14 by many means , such as with adhesives or heat or ultrasonic welding . in one embodiment , the closure elements 32 , 34 are connected with the respective panels 12 , 14 using an intermediate layer 64 of connecting material , such as thermoplastic weld material , disposed between and connecting the base member 40 , 52 of the closure element with the respective panel 14 , 12 . in this embodiment , a hot layer of thermoplastic weld material 64 applied between each closure element 32 , 34 and the respective panel 12 , 14 melts and attaches to both the panel and the base member , thereby forming a thermoplastic weld therebetween , which in some embodiments may provide a good continuous air tight seal between each panel and the respective closure member . in one embodiment , the top edge 20 of one or both of the front and back panels 12 , 14 extends upwardly beyond an exterior end of the respective closure profile 32 , 34 . one or more grip ridges 66 project from an interior side of one or both of the panels 12 , 14 between the top edge 20 and the respective closure member 32 , 34 to provide additional finger traction for opening the closure mechanism . in a further embodiment , one or both of the closure elements 32 , 34 may include one or more textured portions , such as a bump or crosswise groove in one or both of the interlocking members 36 , 48 , in order to provide a tactile sensation , such as a series of clicks , as a user draws the fingers along the closure mechanism to signify sealing of the closure elements across the opening . in another embodiment , all of the closure elements 36 , 38 , 48 , 50 include textured portions along the length of the profile to provide tactile and / or audible sensations when closing the closure mechanism 22 . in one embodiment , the front and back panels 12 , 14 and closure mechanism 22 are formed by known extrusion methods . for example , the panels 12 , 14 may be extruded of thermoplastic material as a single continuous single - or multi - ply web , and the closure profiles 32 , 34 may be extruded of the same or different thermoplastic material separately as continuous lengths or strands . the panels 12 , 14 in one embodiment may be formed of multi - layer air impermeable film , such as an evoh ply adhesively secured between polypropylene and low density polyethylene plies . one panel , such as the back panel 14 , may be embossed or otherwise textured with a pattern , such as a diamond pattern , on both sides spaced between a bottom edge 68 and the closure mechanism 22 and may have a smooth area adjacent the bottom edge and top edge . the closure elements in one embodiment 32 , 34 may be extruded primarily of molten polyethylene with various amounts of slip component , colorant , and talk additives in a separate process . the fully formed closure profiles 32 , 34 may then be attached along opposite edges of one side of the web by placing or extruding a strip of molten thermoplastic weld material 64 onto the web along or adjacent to each edge of the web and immediately placing a closure member 32 , 34 onto each strip of molten thermoplastic weld material . the thermoplastic weld material 64 may then be allowed to cool , the web folded together between the two edges to place the closure members 32 , 34 in opposing resealable relation , and the web severed transverse to the web direction into discrete pouches , in a manner well known in the art , to form the pouch 10 . according to another embodiment , the web , intermediate layer of connecting material 64 , and the closure elements 32 , 34 may be extruded together simultaneously , and subsequently cooled , folded , and cut . if used , the check valve 28 may be formed on and / or attached to the web prior to folding . of course , various details shown in fig1 and 2 may be modified within the spirit of the present invention . for example , the specific orientation of the closure profiles 32 , 34 with respect to the interior 16 may be altered from the orientation shown in the drawings , such that , for example , the male interlocking profile 36 and the female interlocking profile 48 may be disposed on the interior side 16 of the sealing sections . in addition , the location and / or use of the check valve 28 and the air flow channels 30 may be modified as desired . other methods and materials suitable for forming structures of the present invention may be also be used . a pouch according to the present invention may be used to pack and store perishable items contained therein in an air - free or vacuum environment . according to one embodiment , the closure mechanism of the present invention can provide an air tight seal that is separate from the interlocking members so as to provide a more secure air tight seal . clearly , many other and varied uses of the pouch and closure mechanism disclosed herein are also possible . numerous modifications to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description . accordingly , this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is presented for the purpose of enabling those skilled in the art to make and use the invention and to teach the best mode of carrying out same . the exclusive rights to all modifications which come within the scope of the appended claims are reserved .
| 8General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology
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fig1 is a top , somewhat schematic view of an exemplary four - passenger aircraft 10 that includes the present invention . as is typical , aircraft 10 has two control columns or yokes 11 and 12 , either extending toward seats 15 and 16 from the instrument panel , or extending from front wall 18 , as shown , or extending upwardly as sticks , or pedestals from the floor , in front of seats 15 and 16 . airbag storage and actuating assemblies 20 and 21 are , respectively , attached to ( or constructed as an integral element of ) each of the yokes 11 and 12 , or are attached to the instrument panel . assemblies 20 , 21 are connected to airbag actuating control circuitry via cable 19 of fig2 . the airbags associated with assemblies 20 , 21 are each configured to produce dual lobes when actuated , such as 22 and 23 for assembly 20 , and 25 and 26 for assembly 21 . lobes 22 and 25 extend toward front wall 18 , while lobes 23 and 26 extend toward the respective occupants of seats 15 and 16 . fig2 presents a side view of yoke 11 , and the airbag actuation sequence from this yoke &# 39 ; s airbag assembly 20 . discharge of expansion gas at assembly 20 causes the airbag to expand , as is generally illustrated by the three sequential airbag positions 22a / 23a , 22b / 23b and 22c / 23c . the airbag is configured such that the forwardly - directed lobe 22 engages the aircraft &# 39 ; s front wall 18 at approximately the same time that the full extension of rear - facing lobe 23 engages the front of the pilot , or occupant in seat 15 . as a result , yoke 11 is maintained in a neutral position , and is not forced into a undesirable motion . as an example , an airbag inflation / deflation sequence takes place in about 1 / 10th second . rear seats 31 and 32 of aircraft 10 , fig1 likewise include airbag assemblies 33 and 34 which expand from the rear of seats 15 and 16 upon actuation thereof . by operation of the present invention , actuation of airbag assemblies 20 , 21 , 33 , 34 , in response to an initial accelerating impact upon aircraft 10 , will be effected only when normal aircraft operating parameters , such as aircraft weight , aircraft altitude , aircraft speed , and / or aircraft angle of attack indicate that airbag inflation will not be a hindrance to safety ; for example , an airbag inflation / deflation event will not be a hindrance to the pilot regaining aircraft control when aircraft operating circumstances indicate that continued aircraft control is likely . while the operating parameters of aircraft weight , altitude , speed , and / or angle of attack are suggested , these parameters are not to be taken as a limitation on the spirit and scope of the invention , since it is recognized that the aircraft operating parameters that are selected in accordance with the spirit and scope of the invention may vary ( for example , with aircraft size and type ). as used herein , the term acceleration force is to be considered generally synonymous with terms such as g force and deceleration force . mounted toward the tail of aircraft 10 are arrays 40 of conventional acceleration - activated sensor strings 41 , 42 and 43 . sensor strings 41 - 43 are made up of multiple sensors to enhance reliability . the central string , made up of sensors 41a , 41b and 41c , is essentially aligned with the central axis of aircraft 10 and , therefore , corresponds to the normal direction of travel of aircraft 10 . the left string of sensors 42a - 42c and right string of sensors 43a ≧ 43c are each offset in alignment from central string 41 , such as by 30 - degrees . this allows sensing of acceleration forces even when aircraft 10 is moving in a direction that is displaced from directly straight ahead , which frequently happens because of air currents , winds and the like . of course , it is possible to include additional strings of sensors in a fan pattern in an even more offset relation to the central axis of aircraft 10 . the majority voting , signal thresholding , or signal verification circuitry for responding to the output signals produced by array 40 , is mounted ( for example , at 44 ), and is likewise conventional . circuitry 44 is coupled to receive the acceleration signals and , when appropriate , to activate all of the above - mentioned aircraft airbag assemblies . the sensors of array 40 are activated by an injury - threatening acceleration that is located on the longitudinal aircraft axis , or is within a range of angular displacement from that axis , such as approximately 30 - degrees on either side thereof . single sensors , or strings 41 - 43 , are acceptable , but it is preferable to include two or more sensors in each full set of acceleration sensor strings for redundancy . if three sensors are used , as shown , and a majority output from at least two of the three sensors is needed to activate the airbag ( s ), the prospect of a false activation of the airbag ( s ) becomes very remote . fig3 is a diagrammatic showing of a feature of the invention , whereby inflation of aircraft airbag 82 adaptively takes place as a result of an output 81 from aircraft acceleration sensors 80 only when certain aircraft operating parameters or conditions are meet . in this figure , two aircraft - operating parameters 83 and 84 are arbitrarily designed as condition a and condition b . as stated , it is preferred , but not critical to the invention , that sensors 80 provide an output 81 only when a threshold or verification condition , such as majority voting , has been satisfied . an inhibit network 85 receives , as control inputs , output 81 from sensors 80 , output 86 from condition 84 , output 87 from condition 84 , and output 88 from a pilot &# 39 ; s manual airbag inhibit or on / off switch 89 . an output signal 90 from inhibit network 85 , when present , operates to activate an inflation / deflation event for airbag 82 . as an example of the operation of fig3 but without limitation hereto , network 85 is constructed and arranged to provide activation of airbag 82 only when signal 81 is present , and signal 88 is not present , and signal 86 is present , and signal 87 is not present , as is shown in fig3 . in other words , airbag 82 will be activated , or fired , only when all four of the following criteria are met : ( 1 ) acceleration sensor 80 indicates the presence of an excessive acceleration force on the aircraft , ( 2 ) the pilot has not disabled airbag actuation by operation of switch 89 , ( 3 ) aircraft operating parameter 83 is present , ( 4 ) aircraft operating parameter 84 is not present . as a feature of the invention , a visual or audio display 200 may be provided in all such embodiments of the invention to thereby alert the pilot to the fact that airbag 82 has been disabled . fig4 is a diagrammatic showing of a feature of the invention , whereby aircraft airbag 82 is provided with a variable inflation profile , or time of inflation by way of controllable delay network 95 . as with fig3 inflation of aircraft airbag 82 takes place as a result of an output 81 from aircraft acceleration sensors 80 . again , it is preferred , but not critical to the invention , that sensors 80 provide an output 81 only when a threshold condition , such as majority or magnitude voting , has been satisfied . controllable delay network 95 receives as three control inputs , output 81 from sensors 80 , output 96 from an aircraft condition 97 , such as aircraft ground and / or air speed , and output 98 from an aircraft condition 99 , such as 84 aircraft weight . an output signal 100 from network 95 , when present , operates to activate an inflation / deflation event for airbag 82 . as an example of the operation of fig4 but without limitation hereto , network 95 is constructed and arranged to provide activation of airbag 82 whenever signal 81 is present . however , the airbag &# 39 ; s time of inflation and / or the airbag &# 39 ; s inflation profile ( for example , a profile as shown in fig2 ) is controlled in accordance with a time delay and / or time delay profile that is adaptively established by aircraft conditions 97 and 99 . in accordance with the invention , the output signals 96 , 98 , representative of aircraft conditions 97 , 99 , may be binary signals , or they may be analog signals reflecting the magnitude of aircraft conditions 97 and / or 99 , it being recognized that aircraft speed and weight are important parameters , but are shown here as examples only . fig5 is a detailed showing of the invention that includes the features of fig3 and 4 , whereby the airbag assemblies 20 , 21 , 33 , 34 of fig1 are controlled in accordance with the invention . as stated , in accordance with the invention , actuation of airbag assemblies 20 , 21 , 33 , 34 is effected in response to an acceleration output signal from acceleration sensors 41 , 42 , 43 only when aircraft operating parameters ( for example , aircraft weight , altitude , speed , and / or angle of attack ) indicate a positive benefit would result from an airbag inflation , should an airbag inflation / deflation event occur . while not a limitation on the invention , it is contemplated that the control aspects of fig5 be implemented by the use of an adaptive programmable controller or apc 46 . apc 46 is shown as having four inputs . of course , as is usual , apc 46 would be programmed to accept many other inputs . a first input to apc 46 comprises input 47 that is present upon acceleration sensors 41 , 42 , 43 , indicating the occurrence of an excessive acceleration force on aircraft 10 , signal 47 being implemented by the output of a majority voting , verification , or thresholding network 48 of conventional construction and arrangement . a second input to apc 46 comprises an enable input 49 that enables apc 46 to operate upon the entry of certain arming information by the aircraft pilot . nonlimiting examples of such information are pilot headphones on , seat belt ( s ) fastener , and an aircraft usage authorization code . a third input to apc 46 comprises an input 50 that indicates the status of real - time aircraft operating parameters 64 . nonlimiting examples of such operating parameters are aircraft weight , aircraft ground and / or air speed 65 , aircraft altitude 66 , and aircraft angle of attack 67 relative to the horizontal . other aircraft operating parameters that are useful in accordance with the spirit and scope of the invention will be apparent to those of skill in the art ; for example , the rate of change of altitude and / or speed , and a combination of any of these parameters . a fourth input 51 to apc 46 comprises an optional pilot - operable manual on / off switch 52 that can be selectively actuated by the pilot to completely disable inflation of airbag assembly 62 . five exemplary outputs are shown for apc 46 . 0f course , as is usual , apc 46 would be programmed to perform many other functions that are not related to the invention . a first output 55 from apc 46 operates to control flight data recorder 56 in a conventional manner . a second output 57 from apc 46 operates to activate emergency locator transmitter 58 , as will be described in relation to fig6 . a third output 59 from apc 46 operates to activate pilot display 60 in order to provide the pilot with visual and / or audio information relative to the operation of aircraft 10 and / or operation of the invention . a fourth output 161 from apc 46 operates to activate airbag assembly 62 , which comprises one or more of the airbag assemblies 20 , 21 , 33 , 34 of fig1 in accordance with the invention . while not a limitation on the invention , airbag assembly 62 is activated upon the energization of a well - known trigger means 63 . as explained relative to fig4 a controllable signal delay means may be provided to give a controlled profile of , or time of , inflation of airbag assembly ( for example , in accordance with aircraft weight ). a fifth output 61 , 64 , 161 from apc 64 operates to interrogate majority vote network a second time . for example , should excessive acceleration signal 47 be of marginal value , then it may be desirable to again interrogate acceleration sensors 41 , 42 , 43 to determine that an excessive acceleration event has in fact occured . fig6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control circuitry of fig5 . operation of programmed apc 46 to implement the invention begins at start event 70 . start event 70 occurs in a nonlimiting manner , as by manual operation of a start key by the pilot , or perhaps by operation of strain gages that are associated with the engine start of aircraft 10 . as a first decision to be made , block 178 determines if on / off switch 52 of fig5 is set to the off position . if it is , box 75 is enabled to inhibit activation of the airbag assembly . if switch 52 is set to the on position , decision box 71 becomes operable to continuously monitor output signal 47 from acceleration sensors 41 , 42 , 43 . as long as output 47 is not present , the operation of fig6 loops at decision box 71 . when an output signal 47 from acceleration sensors 41 , 42 , 43 is detected , decision box 72 operates to determine if ground and / or air speed 65 is above a given value whose magnitude is not critical to the invention , and will vary from one aircraft type to another . if aircraft speed 65 is above the given value , then decision box 73 operates to determine if aircraft altitude 66 is above a minimum value whose magnitude is again not critical to the invention , and will vary from one aircraft type to another . if aircraft altitude 66 is above the critical value , then decision box 74 operates to determine if aircraft angle of attack 67 is below a critical value whose magnitude is again not critical to the invention , and will vary from one aircraft type to another . as will be appreciated , the apc work flow of fig6 can be readily modified by those skilled in the art to include other aircraft operating parameters , such as aircraft weight , without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . when an abnormal acceleration has occurred , but aircraft operation parameters 65 , 66 , 67 are such that airbag activation is not desirable , then airbag assembly 62 of fig5 is inhibited by function box 75 . however , when any one of the aircraft operating parameters 65 , 66 , 67 indicates that airbag inflation is desirable , then function box 76 is enabled to activate airbag assembly 62 . fig6 shows that function box 78 is enabled to activate emergency locator transmitter 58 of fig5 concurrently with activation of airbag assembly 76 . as an alternative procedure , function 78 can be enabled earlier in the process ( for example , by way of a yes output from function box 71 ). for purposes of convenience , the invention has been described while making reference to activation airbag assembly 62 in the absence of any one of the aircraft operation parameters 65 , 66 , 67 . however , it is within the spirit and scope of the invention to require the boolean operation of conjunction , logical multiplying , or anding of a number of such operation parameters as a determination of whether or not airbag assembly 62 is to be actuated in response to acceleration output signal 47 . fig7 shows a feature of the invention , whereby a plurality of the apc circuitry of fig5 is used to control airbag assembly 63 in a delayed manner relative to the actuation of a telescoping aircraft yoke 220 , as described in the above - mentioned related copending patent entitled &# 34 ; aircraft control yoke &# 34 ;. as is described in this copending patent application , yoke 220 comprises a generally horizontal tubular member 222 that extends outward from the aircraft &# 39 ; s generally vertical control panel ( not shown ). yoke member 222 is selectively movable in and out , as is represented by arrow 223 , as the pilot controls aircraft pitch . yoke member 222 is releasably attached to a second tubular yoke member 224 by a releasable coupling means ( not shown ). yoke member 224 terminates at pilot control grips or handles ( not shown ). by the use of these hand grips , the pilot controls aircraft pitch by moving yoke 222 , 224 , as is represented by arrow 223 , and the pilot controls aircraft roll by rotating yoke 222 , 224 about its axis 221 . as is described in this copending patent application , upon the need to inflate or activate an airbag assembly , such as 62 , yoke members 222 , 224 automatically uncouple , and a force means , such as gas - generating pellet 203 , selectively operates to provide a force in cavity 230 , thus causing yoke member 224 to move a given distance to the right , as is represented by arrow 231 . thus , airbag assembly 62 and telescoping yoke 222 , 224 are operated generally concurrently . means are provided , in accordance with this copending patent application , to enable the pilot to selectively and manually reset yoke 222 , 224 to its coupled position after an inflation / deflation event of airbag assembly 62 . an object of this embodiment of the present invention is to ( 1 ) activate airbag assembly 62 as a function of a combination of an excessive acceleration force signal 47 , and the real - time aircraft operating parameter signals 50 , as above described , and ( 2 ) to activate yoke air source trigger 203 of the above - mentioned copending patent application in a controlled manner prior to the activation of airbag assembly 62 . with reference to fig7 and as above described , excessive acceleration force input 47 provides a first input 47 to apc 46 , and real - time aircraft operating parameters provide a second input 50 to apc 46 . as a result , output 61 is applied to a first input 200 of an and gate 201 . output 61 from apc 46 also operates as an actuating input 202 to effect extension of an aircraft yoke with which airbag assembly 62 is associated and , more specifically , the immediate firing of yoke air source trigger 203 , as is described in the above - mentioned copending patent application . in addition , output 61 from apc 46 provides an enable input 204 to a second apc 204 that is constructed and arranged to perform the identical function that is performed by apc 46 ; i . e ., inputs 47 and 50 are also applied to apc 205 , and generally it is expected that apc 205 will then provide an output 206 that is functionally identical to output 61 from apc 46 . while output 206 from apc 205 can be connected to the second input 207 of and gate 201 in fig7 output 206 is shown connected to an nth apc 208 that is also constructed and arranged to perform the identical function that is performed by apcs 46 and 208 ; i . e ., inputs 47 and 50 are also applied to apc 208 , and generally it is expected that apc 208 will then provide an output 209 that is functionally identical to output 61 from apc 46 and output 206 from apc 205 . it will be appreciated that a number of apcs can be inserted in a string between apc 205 and 208 . should a predetermined number of apcs in the string 46 to 208 fail to provide an output signal in response to inputs 47 and 50 , yoke trigger source 203 will be activated , but airbag assembly 62 will not be activated . in this embodiment of the invention , all , or a predetermined number of apcs in the string , must provide an output indicating that airbag 62 should be inflated . that is , apc 46 must provide a first input 200 to and gate 201 , all intermediate apcs ( such as apc 205 ) must provide an enable input to the next apc in the apc string , and the last apc in the apc string ( such as apc 208 ) must provide a second input 207 to and gate 201 . only when these conditions are satisfied will airbag 62 experience an inflation / deflation event . fig8 shows another feature of the invention , whereby the apc circuitry of fig5 is used to control airbag assembly 63 in a delayed manner relative to the actuation of a telescoping aircraft yoke , as described in the above - mentioned copending patent application . an object of this embodiment of the invention is to ( 1 ) activate airbag assembly 62 as a delayed function of both an excessive acceleration force signal 47 and the real - time aircraft operating parameter signals 50 , as above described , and ( 2 ) to thereafter activate yoke air source trigger 203 of the above - mentioned copending patent application . as above described , excessive deceleration force input 47 provides a first input 47 to apc 46 , and real - time aircraft operating parameters provide a second input 50 to apc 46 . as a result , output 61 is applied to delay network 64 to activate airbag assembly 62 with a time delay of about 10 milliseconds . output 61 from apc 46 also operates as an actuating input 202 to effect extension of an aircraft yoke with which airbag assembly 62 is associated , as is described in the above - mentioned copending patent application . this effect is achieved by the immediate ( i . e ., with no time delay ) activation of yoke air source trigger 203 . thus , the yoke that is associated with airbag assembly 62 is caused to extend and move away prior to the extension of airbag assembly 62 . fig9 shows a variation of the fig7 embodiment of the invention wherein a verification , or thresholding network , such as majority voting network 300 , receives the outputs 200 , 206 and 209 from apcs 46 , 205 and 208 , respectively . in this embodiment of the invention , airbag assembly 62 is actuated as a function of all , or a designated number of the n apc circuits of fig7 determining that aircraft operating parameter , or parameters 50 , indicate a likelihood for continued control of the aircraft . the embodiment of the invention shown in fig9 does not require the sequential apc enable function of fig7 ; however , this sequential enable feature can be used in the fig9 embodiment , if desired . while the invention has been described in detail while making reference to preferred embodiments thereof , it is recognized that those skilled in the art will , upon learning of the invention , readily visualize yet other embodiments that are within the spirit and scope of the invention . thus , the spirit and scope of the invention is not to be limited by the above detailed description .
| 1Performing Operations; Transporting
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the casting - integrated , direct acting solenoid hydraulic valve 10 shown in fig1 and 2 includes a valve body 12 formed of cast metal , preferably an aluminum alloy . the valve body 12 contains a valve spool 14 , formed with lands 16 - 19 ; a compression spring 20 urging the spool rightward ; an adapter 22 ; an armature pin 24 extending through the adapter and contacting the spool ; an electromagnetic solenoid 26 , which actuates the pin to move leftward when the solenoid is energized and allows the spool to move rightward when the solenoid is deenergized ; and a second compression spring 28 for maintaining the pin in contact with the spool . preferably spring 20 has a relatively low spring constant so that control pressure produced by valve 10 is substantially zero when no electric current is supplied to energize the solenoid 26 . the valve body 12 is formed with control ports 30 , 42 through which control pressure communicates with the chamber 32 containing the spool 14 ; a line pressure port 34 , through which line pressure communicates with the chamber ; sump port 36 , through which hydraulic fluid flows from the chamber to a low pressure sump ; and a exhaust ports 38 , 40 , through which the chamber 32 communicates with a low pressure exhaust . adapter 22 is continually held in contact with an installation datum or reference surface 46 formed in sump port 34 by the elastic force produced by a resilient clip 44 , which is secured to the outer surface of a housing 45 that encloses the solenoid 26 . in operation , valve 10 regulates control pressure in port 30 and feedback pressure in port 42 by producing a first sum of the force of spring 20 and the rightward net force due to control pressure in port 42 acting on the differential areas of lands 16 and 17 . balancing the first sum of forces is a second sum of leftward forces comprising the force of the solenoid - actuated pin 24 and the force of spring 28 . as the force of pin 24 increases , valve 10 opens a connection through metering edge 49 between line pressure in port 34 and control pressure in ports 30 , 42 . as metering edge 49 open , control pressure increases . when control pressure increases sufficiently for the current position of pin 24 , the differential feedback control pressure on lands 16 , 17 causes the metering edge 49 to close and metering edge 48 to open a connection between control pressure port 30 and to the low pressure exhaust through chamber 32 , exhaust port 38 and passage 72 . a single flycutting tool concurrently machines both of the metering edges 48 , 49 and the installation datum or reference surface 46 in the valve body . the solenoid module 50 includes adapter 22 , solenoid 26 , housing 45 and spring 28 . all edges that requiring precise relative positions are cut in a single operation for improved tolerances and manufacturing efficiency . metering edges are precision machined rather than cast for improved edge quality , location accuracy , and zero draft . high precision tolerances enable close control of leakage and pressure regulation accuracy . close tolerances enable flow control with a short stroke magnetic section 50 . a single metering control pressure port 30 at spool land 18 ( meter out - meter in , as shown in fig1 ) or dual metering control pressure ports 30 , 38 at control land 52 ( meter out - meter out , as shown fig3 ) can be accommodated with no change in tolerances . a clear division of tolerance responsibility is established for the two manufacturing groups . the valves shown in fig1 - 3 enable standard main control ( multi - bore including worm trail ) configurations while providing magnet interface tolerances . a control pressure bleed port 38 provides for spool position control and stability . tracking response is improved with no dead - zone to cross . low frequency hunting across the dead - zone is also prevented . in fig2 the diameter of control land 17 is larger than the diameter of land 16 of valve 10 ′. the large diameter land 16 of valve 10 ′ defines a large diameter spool end damper 60 for enhancing stability , permitting use of a relatively large diameter , contamination resistant damper port 62 . damper 60 is formed outside of the feedback path 64 for minimum feedback lag and improved stability . the diameter of damper 60 is large relative to the difference in diameter of the lands 16 and 17 . the large diameter of spool land 16 and damper 60 combined with flow notches enables high flow with short stroke magnet as well as fly cut manufacturing technique . the axial surface 68 of adapter 22 is located in chamber 32 due to contact with reference surface 46 such that , when solenoid 26 is deenergized and spool 14 moves rightward in the chamber , land 19 contacts surface 68 before the armature pin 24 contacts a stop surface 70 in the solenoid module , thereby preventing spring 28 from becoming fully compressed due to contacts among its coils . in this way , the spool end feature provides positive stop for forced over travel protection of the solenoid module 50 . damping chamber 60 is provided with an oil reservoir using an elevated vent 66 and fed from the control pressure bleed port 42 . the casting - integrated , direct acting solenoid hydraulic valves 10 , 10 ″ each includes a latch valve 80 formed in the valve body 12 of cast metal . valve 80 includes a spool 82 , formed with lands 84 , 86 ; a compression spring 87 urging spool 82 rightward ; exhaust port 88 ; line port 90 , connected to a source of line pressure whose magnitude is substantially constant ; an outlet port 92 , through which a clutch or brake 94 of the transmission is actuated ; a control port 96 communicating through passage 64 with control pressure ports 30 , 42 of regulator valve 10 ; and a control pressure feedback port 98 also communicating through passage 64 with control pressure ports 30 , 42 of regulator valve 10 . in operation , valve 80 supplies actuating pressure through line 100 to the cylinder 102 of a hydraulic servo that actuate the transmission control element 94 . when control pressure generated force is lower than spring installed load , spring 87 forces spool 82 to the right - hand end of the chamber , thereby closing line port 90 , opening control port 96 and communicating fluid at control pressure to the control element 94 through outlet port 92 and line 100 . as control pressure increases , spool 82 moves axially leftward along the valve chamber due to a force produced by control pressure in feedback port 98 acting in opposition to the force of spring 87 . after the clutch is fully engaged and control pressure increases further land 86 gradually closes port 96 , and land 84 maintains line port 90 closed . as control pressure increases further , land 86 closes control port 96 , and land 84 opens a connection between line port 90 and output port 92 , thereby bypassing valve 80 and pressurizing control element 94 using line pressure , which is based on static capacity of applied clutches . if control pressure increases further after valve 80 is latched , line pressure alone is applied to fully engage the control element 94 . the spool 14 of regulating valve 10 is maintained in its regulating position while valve 80 is latched . valve 80 is delatched by reducing control pressure , which causes land 84 to close line port 90 , and land 86 to reopen a connection between control port 96 and the transmission control element 94 through outlet port 92 and line 100 . fig4 shows the variation of outlet pressure in port 92 in response to current in solenoid 26 . the first portion of the relation occurs as control pressure is increased while control port 96 is connected to outlet port 92 and line port is closed . the second portion 106 occurs after point 108 where control port 96 closes and constant line pressure through port 90 opens to outlet port 92 bringing the control element to full capacity at 110 . the two portions allow for increased pressure to current resolution ( reduced gain ) while maintaining overall achievable pressure range , as seen when compared variation of system without latch feature . the feedback chamber 102 of valve 80 is not exhausted when valve 80 is latched , thereby eliminating the possibility of entrapping air in the lines feeding control element 94 . because the feedback chamber 102 of valve 80 is not exhausted when valve 80 is latched , those lines need not be refilled when valve 80 is delatched . the regulator valve 10 and latch valve 80 in combination provide functional advantages in transition states of clutch control by performing the latch transition while maintaining regulation control . as fig5 shows , upon delatching valve 80 , the position 112 of spool 14 of the regulator valve 10 remains in a control metering position because its spool was regulating to the deadheaded circuit 96 and compliance volume 98 while latched and provides superior transition when switched to regulating to the line 100 and control element 94 compared to a vbs - regulator - latch valve system 114 . a vbs - regulator - latch system commonly experiences pressure undershoots 116 past the desired delatch pressure 118 , whereas the delatch pressure transient 120 produced by the combination of valves 10 , 80 closely tracks the desired delatch pressure 118 with virtually no undershoot . the latch valve is applicable to both vbs / vfs actuated spool valves and direct acting solenoid controlled systems . in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes , the preferred embodiment has been described . however , it should be noted that the alternate embodiments can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described .
| 8General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology
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referring to the drawing , a sterile aqueous solution of fermentable sugar from any source containing from about 10 to about 40 weight percent sugar , and preferably from about 15 to about 25 weight percent sugar , is taken from storage or directly from a saccharification unit in which the sugar is obtained by the hydrolysis of cellulose or starch , and is introduced through line 10 into a first temperature regulated , agitated fermentation vessel provided with ph control and means for introducing nutrients and the small amounts of oxygen conventionally employed for maintaining proper yeast metabolism during fermentation . sterile aqueous fermentable sugar can also be introduced , if desired , through lines 10 and 10a into a second fermentation vessel 29 having a construction identical or similar to that of the first . in the event the sugar solution contains more than 20 weight percent sugar , it is preferable to dilute the solution to about this level of sugar , advantageously with the nitrogen - rich still bottoms obtained from an ethanol distillation unit such as described in the aforesaid u . s . pat . no . 4 , 256 , 541 . the use of still bottoms when available possesses the two - fold advantage of recyling nitrogen to the fermentation system which would otherwise be lost upon concentration of the ethanol during distillation , and reducing process water consumption by avoiding water build - up in the stillage effluent . in addition to sugar , the foregoing solution may also contain significant amounts of partial hydrolysates ( e . g ., up to about 40 weight percent of the total carbohydrate present ) which can be saccharified to fermentable sugar under the influence of the saccharifying enzyme produced by the fermenting yeast and / or added saccharifying enzyme . a pumpable slurry of ethanol - producing yeast organisms free of contaminating organisms is conveyed from yeast storage into fermentation vessel 11 through line 12 . the yeast in fermentation vessels 11 and 29 can be maintained at a level of from about 2 to about 8 weight percent , and preferably at a level of from about 3 to about 6 weight percent , of the fermentation medium ( based on dry weight of yeast ). once continuous fermentation has started and a steady state has been achieved , there will be no need to add more yeast since sufficient quantities of make - up yeast are grown in fermentation vessel 11 . the temperature of the medium in each fermentation vessel is advantageously kept at a level of from about 68 ° f . to about 104 ° f ., and preferably at a level of from about 86 ° f . to about 99 ° f . the ph of each fermentation vessel is similarly regulated and can range from about 3 . 5 to about 5 . 5 and preferably from about 4 . 0 to 4 . 6 . conditions , themselves known in the art , are so maintained in fermentation vessel 11 as to maintain a relatively high rate of yeast cell propagation and viability therein . in general , it is desirable to maintain a level of viability of at least about 80 percent and preferably , at least about 90 percent , and an ethanol level ( by weight ) of from abut 5 percent to about 8 percent , and preferably from about 6 percent to about 7 percent , in fermentation vessel 11 . aqueous effluent containing ethanol , yeast cells and unconverted fermentably sugar is withdrawn from fermentation vessel 11 through line 13 and is driven by pump 14 through line 15 past cooler 16 ( which removes a sufficient amount of heat of fermentation from the effluent to maintain optimum temperature levels in vessel 11 ) and back to the fermentation vessel through line 17 . optionally , part or all of the effluent passing through line 17 can be diverted through lines 17b and 33 into second fermentation vessel 29 . a portion of the effluent is diverted from line 15 to line 18 where it enters first yeast separator 19 . the yeast separator , which can be a gravity separator , filter or preferably , a centrifuge , separates the fermentate into two streams : a first yeast slurry or &# 34 ; cream &# 34 ; which enters a first yeast slurry holding tank 21 through line 20 and a substantially yeast - free partial fermentate which enters partial fermentate surge tank 23 through line 22 . when the amount of yeast in fermentation vessel 11 falls significantly below a predetermined level , as much yeast slurry is taken as is necessary to restore such level from first yeast slurry holding tank 21 through line 24 and recycled by pump 25 through line 26 back to the fermentation vessel . the remaining portion of the yeast is delivered by pump 25 through lines 27 and 28 to a second fermentation vessel 29 . substantially yeast - free partial fermentate is taken from partial fermentate surge tank 23 through line 31 and is delivered by pump 32 through line 33 to second fermentation vessel 29 . a portion of the partial fermentate can also be recycled back to fermentation vessel 111 through line 34 so as to contribute to the maintainence of conditions favoring high yeast cell propagation therein . conditions of fermentation in the second fermentation vessel 29 are regulated in a known and conventional manner so as to provide a high level of conversion of the remaining sugar to ethanol . yeast viability in the vessel is preferably maintained at a level of at least about 70 percent and preferably at a level of a least about 80 percent . the ethanol concentration in the second fermentation vessel is desirably kept at a level of from above about 8 weight percent , and preferably , from about 10 to about 12 weight percent , of the fermentation medium therein . optimum temperature control is obtained by circulating effluent from line 35 by pump 36 through line 37 past cooler 38 and through line 39 back to the second fermentation vessel . a portion of the effluent is routed through line 40 where it is separated by a second yeast separator 41 into a second yeast slurry which enters second yeast slurry holding tank 43 through line 42 , and a substantially yeast - free final fermentate which enters final fermentate surge tank 45 through line 44 . yeast slurry is withdrawn from second yeast slurry holding tank 43 through line 46 and recycled by pump 47 through lines 48 and 28 back to second fermentation vessel 29 in amounts necessary to maintain a predetermined high level of yeast cells therein . excess yeast slurry is purged from the system through line 49 . final fermentate is taken from the tank 45 through line 50 and is forced by pump 51 through line 52 to storage or directly to a distillation unit for the recovery of ethanol in concentrated , e . g ., anhydrous form . a portion of final fermentate can also be recycled through line 52 back to second fermentation vessel 29 to help maintain conditions therein favoring high rates of ethanol production . metabolically evolved carbon dioxide gas containing ethanol is conveyed from each of fermentation vessels 11 and 29 through vent lines 54 and 55 , and common line 56 to a carbon dioxide gas absorption tower or scrubber for recovery of the ethanol . the data below represent a typical material balance for an ethanol fermentation process which is capable of producing up to 120 gallons / day of approximately 10 weight percent ethanol . table__________________________________________________________________________material balance for 120 gallons / day ethanol ( 10 weight percent ) process linecomponent 10 18 26 28 33 34 40 48 49 52 53 54 55 56__________________________________________________________________________water 294 . 14 978 . 95 337 . 41 8 . 48 290 . 70 342 . 37 996 . 95 409 . 93 8 . 81 290 . 45 295 . 71 0 . 53 0 . 25 0 . 78glucose 75 . 67 89 . 72 30 . 93 0 . 78 26 . 65 31 . 35 23 . 00 1 . 81 0 . 04 1 . 29 1 . 30 -- -- -- ethanol 71 . 48 24 . 58 0 . 62 21 . 19 25 . 09 104 . 10 46 . 25 0 . 99 32 . 78 33 . 36 0 . 38 0 . 18 0 . 56glycerol -- 6 . 98 2 . 48 0 . 06 2 . 12 2 . 34 10 . 28 4 . 65 0 . 10 3 . 28 3 . 36 -- -- -- nutrientsand vitamins -- 5 . 20 1 . 78 0 . 04 1 . 55 1 . 64 5 . 14 2 . 19 0 . 04 1 . 55 1 . 58 -- -- -- live yeast -- 61 . 20 59 . 70 1 . 50 -- -- 61 . 16 59 . 88 1 . 28 -- -- -- -- -- dead yeast -- 10 . 65 10 . 39 0 . 26 -- -- 22 . 63 22 . 51 0 . 48 -- -- -- -- -- oxygen -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 . 34 -- 0 . 34nitrogen -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2 . 04 -- 2 . 04carbon dioxide -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 23 . 07 12 . 43 35 . 50total ( lb / hr ) 369 . 81 1224 . 00 467 . 26 11 . 74 342 . 21 402 . 79 1223 . 26 546 . 86 11 . 74 329 . 35 335 . 31 26 . 36 12 . 86 39 . 22__________________________________________________________________________
| 8General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology
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fig1 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of a data communication system 100 . the system 100 comprises a computer 102 , a server 104 and a data display device 106 incorporated in a mobile device 108 . in preferred embodiments the mobile device is a wristwatch , which is described later with reference to fig2 . the wristwatch may be a realisation of the mobile device or personal article . the computer 102 comprises data item specification software 110 for browsing data sources to locate and specify data items of interest to the user . the computer 102 , in conjunction with the software 110 , represent a form of realisation of at least part of a data specification means or selector . the software 110 is used to compile address data 112 containing addresses of data items for transmission to , and use by , data capture software 114 executable at the server 104 . the server 104 and the data capture software 114 represent a form of realisation of at least part of a data capture means or data capturer . in preferred embodiments , the address data 112 comprises urls of web - pages , such as , for example web - pages 116 and 118 , that are accessible by the internet 120 and respective web - servers 122 and 124 . for the purposes of illustration , the web - pages 116 and 118 are depicted as comprising respective data items 126 and 128 of interest to the user ( not shown ) stored on respective hdds 130 and 132 . the address data additionally comprises data identifying the specific location within the web - pages 116 and 118 of the data items 126 and 128 of interest . in preferred embodiments , the data item specification software 110 , in addition to collating address data 112 for data items of interest , also allows the time or frequency of retrieval of the data items to be specified , optionally , together with an indication of whether the data should be stored at the server in anticipation of receipt of a download request from the watch , forwarded to the wristwatch in anticipation of receipt of a request to display an item of data or forwarded to the wristwatch together with an indication that the user should be notified of the arrival of the data item or items . the computer 102 also supports mobile device configuration software 134 that is used to configure the mobile device 108 to receive and display the data items 126 and 128 of interest . the configuration software 134 allows the user to select an icon to be associated with each data item 126 and 128 . the icon will be displayed on the display of the mobile device to support selection of the data items for display . preferably , the configuration software produces configuration data 136 comprising icon data 138 , representing an icon or a number of icons , and metadata 140 that describes the data to be displayed or associated with the icon or icons . the mobile device 108 may be configured using the configuration data 136 via any suitable form of communication channel . for example , the mobile device 108 may communicate with the computer 102 and receive the configuration data via a direct link . the direct link may be a direct physical link , such as , for example , usb or a radio link using , for example , bluetooth , ieee 802 . 11b or some other wireless protocol . alternatively , the configuration data may be forwarded to the server 104 where the data capture software 114 can be arranged to forward the configuration data 136 to the mobile device using the existing radio communication infrastructure . the server 104 comprises , as indicated above , data capture software 114 that retrieves , using the address data 112 , and stores a copy 142 of a requested one of the data items 130 and 132 . the request for one of the data items is received from the mobile device 108 via a radio transceiver 144 operating under the control of communication software 146 . the transceiver 144 is arranged to exchange , via a suitable antenna 148 , data with the mobile device 108 wirelessly . the mobile device 108 , as indicated above , comprises a display 106 for displaying , amongst other things , selected data items . the mobile device 108 comprises a processor 150 , which in preferred embodiments , operates the device as a wristwatch and displays the time on the display 106 . the processor 150 is also operable to support data exchanges , using a radio transceiver 152 , with at least one of the server 104 and the mobile device configuration software 134 . the mobile device 108 comprises a memory 154 . the processor 150 is arranged to configure the memory 154 for storing the icon data 138 and , preferably or optionally , to configure the memory 154 in light of the metadata 140 to ensure that there is sufficient storage 156 available to store the selected data items associated with icon data 138 , that is , the metadata is arranged to ensure that a sufficient number of words are available to store the selected data associated with the icon data . the memory 154 can store , in the described embodiment , up to eight icons and can be configured to store selected data items corresponding to the eight icons . the icons are displayed on the display 106 and can be selected using a corresponding selection mechanism or means 158 . the selection mechanism or means 158 is used to select one of the displayed icons , which , in turn , causes a download request , corresponding to the selected icon , to be sent to the server 104 via the transceiver 152 . the data capture software 114 returns the selected data item , extracted from the stored copies 142 of the data items , corresponding to the selected icon . referring to fig2 , there is shown a preferred embodiment of a mobile device 108 in the form a wristwatch 200 . the wristwatch 200 comprises a body 202 bearing a liquid crystal display ( lcd ) 204 . the lcd 204 comprises a central data display portion 206 and a number of peripheral display regions 208 , which , together , perform the primary function of displaying the current time under the control of the processor 150 . the time may be displayed in numerical form using appropriate digits or in an analogue - type form using simulated analogue hands . in preferred embodiments , the lcd comprises eight peripheral display regions . preferably , the display regions form an annulus , with any given region being shaped as a truncated sector , or part annulus . the regions 208 and data display portion 206 are used , as a secondary function , to display the icons and corresponding data items in response to user actuation of one of a number of control buttons 210 to 214 . fig2 shows two regions 216 and 218 as containing respective icons 220 and 222 . in the illustrated example , the icons represent a current temperature , ° c ., and a sterling - dollar exchange rate , £/$. a rotatable bezel 224 to select one of the display regions 208 , that is , one of the regions containing an icon such as , for example , one of regions 216 and 218 . a currently selected icon is , in a preferred embodiment , indicated by having an increased display intensity relative to the other icons . in a preferred embodiment , as the bezel is rotated , the display intensity of the currently selected icon is increased relative to the other icons , which all assume the same relatively lower intensity . rotating the bezel 224 causes the change in intensity to step through the displayed icons , in effect , those regions that do not contain an icon are preferably not selectable . this facilitates speedier selection of a desired item of information . selecting an icon using the bezel 224 automatically causes a download request , corresponding to the selected icon , to be transmitted to the server 104 , which responds by forwarding the data item corresponding to the selected icon . the received data item is stored within one of the storage locations 156 corresponding to the selected icon and displayed on the central portion 206 of the lcd 204 . in preferred embodiments , the change in intensity is ephemeral , that is , it lasts for a predetermined period of time . this is done primarily to save power consumption . the watch also comprises the customary bracelet , strap or other means 226 to allow it to be worn by the user . it can be appreciated that the wristwatch , in addition to functioning as a watch , that is with time , date , chronograph , alarm etc . also has the additional function of being capable of displaying downloaded data . the manner of use of the system is as follows : on purchasing a wristwatch 200 , a user also receives the ip address of the server 104 , an identification code , password and software corresponding to the data item specification software 110 and the mobile device configuration software 134 . using the software loaded on to the computer 102 , the user gains access to a number of pages hosted by the server 104 that have the following objects : to enable up to eight internet site web - pages to be identified , and then to further identify the location a specific data item embedded within the web - pages . the user may , for example , specify the address of a meteorological web page as one of the eight addresses , and within that page identify a temperature being reported , say , for a city . another seven data items may be similarly identified . the user also specifies for each data item , the manner in which the data item should be captured . the capture might occur once in response to a request received from the wristwatch 200 , repeatedly in response to a request received from the wristwatch 200 or repeatedly irrespective of a request having been received from the wristwatch 200 . for example , a temperature reading for the city may be captured from the meteorological web page in response to a request or repeatedly following the request , or simply repeatedly in readiness for a request once specified . having specified to the server 104 the data items to be retrieved together with the periodicity or frequency of retrieval , the server 104 can retrieve the specified data items at the appropriate time or times . in preferred embodiments , on completion of a download , the wristwatch is arranged to produce an audible alert to indicate that the selected data item has been downloaded . having a continuing interest in the temperature , the user may execute a predetermined number , for example , two , of rapid movements of the bezel 224 , to and from the “° c .” icon or region , consequently generating and communicating a request for repeated downloads to the server 104 . in response , the server 104 monitors the data item , capturing it , for example , every hour and automatically downloads any change to the wristwatch 200 . if the user no longer wishes to be updated regularly , the bezel 224 may be placed in a neutral position , consequently generating and communicating “ stop monitoring message ” that is sent to the server 104 , which causes the data capture software to cease obtaining the data item . alternatively , or additionally , the monitoring mode of the data capture software may be terminated , for a currently selected icon , using the buttons 210 to 214 . in an alternative embodiment the watch may be provided with icons pre - configured . this avoids the need for the user to go through the steps of selecting sites of interest , but obviously does not permit reselection of sites of interest . it is envisaged that , for example , in accordance with this embodiment , when purchasing the watch , the user will select a watch at least partly upon the basis of the sites with which it is configured . alternatively configuration ( and possibly reconfiguration ) may take place at the retail outlet for example . in a further modification the icons can be printed on a suitable substrate ( re - writable if desired ) at the time of configuration , thus obviating the need to provide a dedicated region of the watch &# 39 ; s dynamic display for this purpose . other articles , such as key rings , pens or other writing instruments , jewellery or other adornments , pen knives or tools , bags , purses or wallets , spectacles , a game or plaything , or an item of clothing or footwear may not be normally provided with a display and , thus in order to adapt them for use as part of a data communication system , a display has to be provided in the case of a pen , for example , the display may be mounted of the body of the pen so as to be visible when held in normal writing manner . in the case of spectacles , by way of another example , the display could be a partially reflective surface to the lenses on to which information may be projected . fig3 shows a number of flowcharts 300 depicting the operation of an embodiment of the present invention . at step 302 , the data item specification software collates address and location data for an item of interest . that address and location data is stored and added to an address data file 112 containing address and location data for previously selected data items , if any , at step 304 . a corresponding icon to be display on the mobile device is selected at step 306 . data representing the icon at added , at step 308 , to the mobile device configuration data 136 together with metadata describing the nature of the selected data item , such as , for example , the number of words required to store a selected data item . a determination is made , at step 310 , as to whether or not the data item specification process has been completed . if the determination is that the data item specification process has not been completed , control is returned to step 302 . if the determination is that the data item specification process has been completed , the file 112 containing the address and location data is transmitted to the server 104 for use by the data capture software 114 at step 312 . the mobile device is configured using the collated configuration data 136 at step 314 . the configuration data 136 is received and acted upon by the mobile device at step 316 . the configuration process involves storing the icon data in memory and ensuring that a sufficient number of words of the memory are associated with each icon data to allow the storage of data corresponding to any requested data . the server 104 , at step 318 , receives the address data 112 for the specified data items and forwards that address data 112 to the data capture software 114 . the mobile device 108 detects an input representing a request for a data item from the user at step 320 . a download request is generated and sent to the server 104 at step 322 . the server 104 receives the download request at step 324 . the data capture software 114 , at step 326 , retrieves , preferably , in real - time , the selected data item using the address and location data 112 . at step 328 , the retrieved data item is transmitted to the mobile device 108 . the mobile device 108 receives the retrieved data item at step 330 and displays the received data item at step 332 . although the above embodiments have been described with reference to the real - time download of data items from the web - pages 126 and 132 in response to download requests received from the wristwatch , embodiments are not limited to such an arrangement . for example , embodiments can be realised in which the data capture means retrieves the data items in advance and caches those items until requested by the user of the wristwatch . alternatively , or additionally , the retrieved data items might be retrieved and forwarded to the memory of the wristwatch 200 in anticipation of user selection at some time in the future . whether the data is downloaded in real - time or not will depend to a certain extent upon the time sensitivity or importance of the data . although the above embodiments have been described with reference to a download request being sent automatically to the server 104 upon selection of a region , embodiments are not limited to such an arrangement . embodiments can be realised in which the automatic download request is not sent until one , or a combination , of the buttons 210 to 214 has been actuated . alternatively , the download request may not be generated and sent until an icon or region has been selected for a predetermined period of time . in both embodiments , the amount of traffic generated by the selection process will be reduced as compared to embodiments in which the download requests are generated and sent automatically . this may have the additional advantage that the battery of the wristwatch may last longer since fewer transmissions are made as compared to the automatic generation and transmission of download requests . the above embodiments have been described with reference to the intensity of the icons changing as the icons are selected using the bezel . however , embodiments of the present invention are not limited to such an arrangement . embodiments can be realised in which the bezel comprises a marker that is used to indicate which icon is currently selected . the region or icon selected is that region or icon that is closest to the marker of the bezel 224 . furthermore , the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to using a bezel as the selection mechanism or means . embodiments can be realised in which one , or a combination , of the buttons 210 to 214 can be used to select the icon of interest . for example , the first button 210 , when depressed , in conjunction with the third button 214 may cause the currently selected icon to change intensity and each subsequent depression may select the next clockwise icon . the above described data specification means is indicated as collating the address data of the selected data items . however , embodiments can be realised in which the data specification means , working with the data capture means , merely specifies the data items of interest and the data capture means collates the address data corresponding to those data items . also , the data capture means can , in response to the user specifying the timing of the data capture , using the data specification means , be used to collate the timing information rather than that information being collated at the data specification means . furthermore , although the above embodiments have been described such that each display regions is operated to display icons , embodiments can be realised in which selected ones of the display regions are used to display icons , that is , in use , not all regions may be used to display icon data . the above embodiments have been described with reference to the use of metadata to configure the memory of the mobile device . however , embodiments can be realised in which the memory of the device is pre - configured to receive data items have a particular size . such embodiments would remove , or at least reduce , the need for metadata to be specified and transmitted to the mobile device . furthermore , the collation of the metadata may be undertaken by the data capture means , which can then conveniently communicate that information to the mobile device using the transceiver 144 and communication software 146 . advantageously , the embodiments of the present invention allow article , having a primary function , to assume also a secondary function , which is related to data display . the reader &# 39 ; s attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification , and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference . all of the features disclosed in this specification ( including any accompanying claims , abstract and drawings ) and / or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed , may be combined in any combination , except combinations where at least some of such features and / or steps are mutually exclusive . each feature disclosed in this specification ( including any accompanying claims , abstract and drawings ) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same , equivalent or similar purpose , unless expressly stated otherwise . thus , unless expressly stated otherwise , each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features . the invention is not restricted to the details of any foregoing embodiments . the invention extends to any novel one , or any novel combination , of the features disclosed in this specification ( including any accompanying claims , abstract and drawings ), or to any novel one , or any novel combination , of the steps of any method or process so disclosed .
| 6Physics
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the subject matter is now described with reference to the drawings , wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout . in the following description , for purposes of explanation , numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the subject matter . it can be evident , however , that subject matter embodiments can be practiced without these specific details . in other instances , well - known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing the embodiments . as used in this application , the term “ component ” is intended to refer to hardware , software , or a combination of hardware and software in execution . for example , a component can be , but is not limited to being , a process running on a processor , a processor , an object , an executable , and / or a microchip and the like . by way of illustration , both an application running on a processor and the processor can be a component . one or more components can reside within a process and a component can be localized on one system and / or distributed between two or more systems . functions of the various components shown in the figures can be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software . when provided by a processor , the functions can be provided by a single dedicated processor , by a single shared processor , or by a plurality of individual processors , some of which can be shared . moreover , explicit use of the term “ processor ” or “ controller ” should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software , and can implicitly include , without limitation , digital signal processor (“ dsp ”) hardware , read - only memory (“ rom ”) for storing software , random access memory (“ ram ”), and non - volatile storage . moreover , all statements herein reciting instances and embodiments of the invention are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents . additionally , it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future ( i . e ., any elements developed that perform the same function , regardless of structure ). content delivery systems are typically comprised of one or more gateway server devices and several different types of client content / service receivers . the content / service receivers go through many phases in an operational software download and boot process . thus , it is helpful to track and report the boot progress dynamically . the systems and methods disclosed herein allow content / service receivers to dynamically report their boot status and / or error codes to a display for easier troubleshooting between an end - user and a content / service provider &# 39 ; s technical support . in one instance , there is a common interface ( display ) shown to the end - user which keeps reporting up - to - date information during the various download / boot - up phases involved in one single screen so that any problem that occurs , can easily be troubleshot by visual inspection . fig1 shows a block diagram of a dynamic boot reporting system 100 that utilizes a dynamic boot reporting component 102 which can operate within a boot process 108 to retrieve information from boot components 104 and relay it as boot status information 106 . the boot process 108 is typically associated with a content / service receiver that facilitates in displaying content / services to an end - user . these types of devices , such as set top boxes , allow remote content / service providers to interface with various display devices such as , for example , televisions / monitors and the like . the content / service receivers can be connected to the content / service provider via various types of networks such as , for example , satellite networks , telephone networks ( e . g ., dsl , etc . ), cable networks , and / or cellular networks and the like . the content / service receivers can be connected via wired means and / or wireless means to one or both of the content / service provider and / or to a local display device ( e . g ., a device used to display the provided content and / or a device used to facilitate status information and the like ). for example , a wireless content / service receiver can utilize cellular communications to receive content / services from a provider and utilize , for example , bluetooth technology ( i . e ., short - range wireless , etc .) to transmit the content / services to a local display device . the techniques disclosed herein are also not limited to only ip based content / service receivers and can be applied to non - ip content / service receivers as well . the dynamic boot reporting component 102 typically operates within the boot process 108 to allow real - time reporting of the status of the boot components 104 . the boot components 104 can include , but are not limited to , software drivers associated with various components of a content / service receiver . the drivers are generally required to provide a controllable interface to lower level firmware that controls various hardware . however , the boot components 104 can also include any component of the content / service receiver that interacts and / or powers - up with the boot process 108 . for example , the integrity of a lookup table and / or other database / memory location can be checked during the boot process 108 . this information can then become part of the boot status information 106 reported by the dynamic boot reporting component 102 . other boot status information 106 can include , for example , connected device ( e . g ., displays , networks , etc .) statuses such as , for example , power status , and / or connection status , etc . the boot status information 106 is reported as it occurs by the dynamic boot reporting component 102 . this can aid in troubleshooting the boot process 108 . in fig2 , a dynamic boot reporting system 200 employs a dynamic boot reporting component 202 to obtain boot component status information 204 and report it as boot status information 206 . the dynamic boot reporting component 202 employs an acquisition component 208 and a reporting component 210 . the acquisition component 208 receives boot component status information 204 . the boot component status information 204 is obtained from various components of a content / service receiver that relay status information during a boot process and can include , but is not limited to , information from software drivers , hardware blocks , middleware , application , memory , and / or data and the like . the acquisition component 208 can accept optional acquisition preferences 212 . the optional acquisition preferences 212 can include preferences as to which boot components to receive information from and / or interface / protocol information necessary to interface with various boot components . thus , the optional acquisition preferences 212 can allow the acquisition component 208 to be updated / changed as necessary to make it compatible with different firmware and / or to modify content delivery parameters , and / or models , etc . of content / service receivers . the optional acquisition preferences 212 can be obtained by the acquisition component 208 via a local interface ( e . g ., from a connected display device and / or input device ) and / or via a remote interface ( e . g ., over a network ) and the like . the reporting component 210 obtains the boot component status information 204 from the acquisition component 208 and dynamically reports it as boot status information 206 . the boot status information 206 can be utilized , for example , to aid a troubleshooting process . the boot status information 206 can appear locally relative to the content / service receiver such as , for example , on a display device connected to the content / service receiver and / or on an integrated content / service receiver display . the boot status information 206 can also appear remotely such as , for example , on a display located near a content provider service technician and the like . thus , the reporting component 210 can report the boot status information 206 via any communication means to any location . as noted above , the communication means can include wired and / or wireless networks and the like . the reporting component 210 can also include multiple interface protocols to allow the boot status information 206 to be reported to multiple locations . the reporting component 210 can also be integrated with a content / service receiver &# 39 ; s video components to report the information via a connected display device using an osd . the reporting component 210 can also obtain optional reporting preferences 214 . the optional reporting preferences 214 can include preferences , for example , as to what boot status information is to be reported . thus , the optional reporting preferences 214 can allow the reporting component 210 to be updated / changed as necessary to make it compatible with boot processes , end - users and / or content / service receiver models , etc . the optional reporting preferences 214 can be obtained by the reporting component 210 via a local interface ( e . g ., from a connected display device and / or input device ) and / or via a remote interface ( e . g ., over a network ) and the like . this can greatly enhance a troubleshooting process by eliminating detailed information that is unlikely to assist a technician . this is usually important when the technician is assisting an unknowledgeable end - user over a telephone , etc . because the end - user may not be able to adequately interpret complicated data . on the other hand , the reported information may not be detailed enough to assist the technician . thus , in one instance , dynamic boot reporting system 200 can receive optional reporting preferences 214 via a remote interface and / or a technician can guide an end - user to submit the reporting preferences 214 via a local interface ( e . g ., front panel controls , switch and / or button , etc .). looking at fig3 , an example of a dynamic boot reporting system 300 with various interfaces 308 - 312 in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment is shown . in this example , the dynamic boot reporting system 300 utilizes a dynamic boot reporting component 302 running in a boot process 306 . the boot process 306 is generally associated with a content / service receiver . the dynamic boot reporting component 302 obtains boot status information from various boot components 304 and reports the information as boot status information via various interfaces 308 - 312 . the various interfaces 308 - 312 are not meant to be a conclusive list of possible interfaces and do not limit the techniques disclosed here in any manner . as an example , the dynamic boot reporting component 302 can interface with a local display device to relay information via an osd interface 308 to an end - user 314 and the like . the dynamic boot reporting component 302 can also interface with a content / service receiver to relay information via an integrated content / service receiver display 310 . other localized means of relaying information to an end - user 314 are also possible such as , for example , utilizing an audio interface to relay the boot status information to the end - user and / or directly to a technician 314 via a communication means ( e . g ., cell phone , telephone , etc .). in a typical trouble shooting process , a remote technician 316 is using the end - user 314 as an information relay component . thus , the end - user 314 can be partially and / or wholly eliminated from the information relaying by utilizing audio as mentioned and / or by having the dynamic boot reporting component 306 report the boot status information to a remote location device 312 . the remote location device 312 can be , for example , a display device and / or an audio device and the like . this allows the technician 316 direct access to the boot status information from the dynamic reporting component 302 and can substantially reduce troubleshooting time by eliminating the end - user 314 from the process . thus , the flexibility of the dynamic boot reporting system 300 substantially increases its worth in troubleshooting problems associated with a content / service receiver . the boot status information can be relayed to an end - user and / or technician via any means such as , for example , via a graphical user interface . referring to fig4 , an example 400 of a graphical user interface ( gui ) 402 associated with a dynamic boot reporting system in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment is shown . the example gui is only one representation of possible guis that can be used with the techniques disclosed herein and is not meant to limit guis in any manner . the techniques disclosed herein can utilize a set of status and / or error codes pertinent to an ip content / service receiver designs , but can also be expanded to any mode of content / service receiver operation easily . in one instance , a software component in the boot - code defines an event - based mechanism , wherein a driver &# 39 ; s status from different components corresponding to different phases in the boot process can be substantially simultaneously propagated from the driver to an application layer inside the boot code . a simple thread in the application layer of the boot code can then handle events and / or route them to appropriate fields of , for example , an on screen display ( osd ). one advantage of these techniques is that operators involved with equipment provisioning / customer support centers can easily troubleshoot boot issues associated with a content / service receiver . this reduces the call - volume and / or call - time ( from the user of the content / service receiver , etc . ), which saves money for the operator / support center , providing a better profit margin on the operations . in one example , the text indicators 404 , 406 at the top corners of the gui 402 can have the following definitions . this example is not meant to limit the possible information that can be displayed on the gui and is only meant as an example representation of a few types of data that can be provided by techniques disclosed herein . for example , the sequence of digits (‘ a / b / c / d / e / f ’) in the text indicator 404 on the top left hand side can represent data as indicated the tables below . table 1 shows possible states of a dhcp algorithm ( noted in the example 400 as “ a ” indicator ). this information can be utilized to assist in troubleshooting connection problems in ip based content / service receivers and the like . table 2 indicates which ip address is in use or can display zeros if the address is not known ( noted in example 400 as “ b ” indicator ). this information is helpful in determining network addressing issues and the like , since the operator , for example , can connect to a particular receiver of their choice , using the ip address , and do more troubleshooting remotely , as desired . table 3 “ c ” indicator definition of sap status indicator meaning 0 none 1 init 2 waiting for announcement e3 invalid announcement received e4 sap received , but no matching manufacturer / model id e5 sap received , but no size info e6 sap received , but no mtftp / tftp server info 7 sap complete table 4 “ d ” indicator definition of mtftp / tftp status for unit indicator meaning 0 none 1 tftp in progress 02 mtftp in progress 03 tftp complete 04 mtftp complete b0 mtftp recent block shown in “ e ” b1 beginning to show percent complete b2 beginning to show file version in “ z ” e0 tftp file not found e1 tftp timeout e2 tftp file too big e3 mtftp file not found e4 mtftp timeout e5 mtftp file too big table 6 “ f ” indicator definition on unit screens indicator meaning 10 unit init 20 unit is downloading file 30 download image validation 90 download finished a0 abort a1 awaiting user input e0 invalid image e1 usb enumeration failure the sequence of digits (‘ v / w / x / y / z ’) of the text indicator 406 on the top right hand corner can be defined as follows . v manufacturer id w model id x unit version y unit software version z software version to be downloaded the order and / or arrangement of the indicators are not generally significant except for ease of interpretation , and the indicators can appear in any order anywhere on the gui 402 . the gui 402 also is not required to have all of the indicators noted above . the gui 402 can have additional information such as , for example , download status and / or warnings / messages 408 and / or a completion status graphical indicator 410 and the like . the text indicators 404 and 406 can also be represented utilizing graphical means as well . the gui 402 itself can be located , for example , on a content / service receiver ( e . g ., on a display built into the content / service receiver ), on a display device attached to the content service / receiver , and / or on a remote display device connected to a network associated with the content service / receiver ( e . g ., displayed remotely so a remote technician can view the gui directly ) and the like . in view of the exemplary systems shown and described above , methodologies that can be implemented in accordance with the embodiments will be better appreciated with reference to the flow charts of fig5 - 7 . while , for purposes of simplicity of explanation , the methodologies are shown and described as a series of blocks , it is to be understood and appreciated that the embodiments are not limited by the order of the blocks , as some blocks can , in accordance with an embodiment , occur in different orders and / or concurrently with other blocks from that shown and described herein . moreover , not all illustrated blocks may be required to implement the methodologies in accordance with the embodiments . in fig5 , a flow diagram of a method 500 of dynamically reporting boot status information in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment is shown . the method 500 starts 502 by acquiring status information from boot components during and / or after a boot process of a content / service receiver 504 . the boot component status information can be acquired from various components of a content / service receiver that relay status information during a boot process and can include , but is not limited to , information from software drivers , memory , and / or data and the like . optional acquisition preferences can be used to augment the acquisition process . the optional acquisition preferences can include preferences as to which boot components to receive information from and / or interface / protocol information necessary to interface with various boot components . thus , the optional acquisition preferences can allow the acquisition process to be updated / changed as necessary to make it compatible with different firmware and / or models , etc . of content / service receivers . the optional acquisition preferences can be obtained for the acquisition process via a local interface ( e . g ., from a connected display device and / or input device ) and / or via a remote interface ( e . g ., over a network ) and the like . the status information is then dynamically reported during and / or after the boot process 506 , ending the flow 508 . optional reporting preferences can be used to augment the reporting process . the optional reporting preferences can include preferences , for example , as to what boot status information is to be reported . this can allow the reporting process to be updated / changed as necessary to make it compatible with boot processes , end - users and / or content / service receiver models , etc . the optional reporting preferences can be obtained via a local interface ( e . g ., from a connected display device and / or input device ) and / or via a remote interface ( e . g ., over a network ) and the like . interfaces such as , for example , guis and the like can be provided to allow user interactions with the reported information . for example , end - users and / or remote technicians and the like can interact with the displayed information to allow more details and / or definitions of error codes and the like to be displayed . looking at fig6 , a flow diagram of a method 600 of utilizing dynamic boot status information to troubleshoot a boot process in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment is depicted . the method 600 starts 602 by acquiring and reporting boot status information for a content / service receiver during and / or after its boot process 604 . the boot status information can be acquired from various components of a content / service receiver that relay status information during a boot process and can include , but is not limited to , information from software drivers , memory , and / or data and the like . the reported dynamic boot status information is then employed in a boot troubleshooting process 606 , ending the flow 608 . the reported dynamic boot status information can be employed in the troubleshooting process directly and / or indirectly . for example , the boot status information can feed directly into a troubleshooting process such as , for example , an automated troubleshooting process that can utilize the boot status information to analyze problems . the boot status information can also be used indirectly and / or relayed via a third party for use in a troubleshooting process as well . the above method 600 includes both machine automated , human interaction , and / or hybrid ( e . g ., machine / man interaction ) troubleshooting processes . turning to fig7 , a flow diagram of a method 700 of relaying the dynamic boot status information to various interfaces in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment is illustrated . the method 700 starts 702 by acquiring and reporting boot status information for a content / service receiver during its boot process 704 . the boot status information can be acquired from various components of a content / service receiver that relay status information during a boot process and can include , but is not limited to , information from software drivers , memory , and / or data and the like . the reported dynamic boot status information is then relayed to a local and / or a remote location 706 , ending the flow 708 . local locations can include , but are not limited to , devices connected to a content / service receiver and / or devices integrated into a content / service receiver . remote locations can include , but are not limited to , devices connected via a network , including wired and / or wireless networks and the like . the networks can include , but are not limited to , the internet , an intranet network , digital subscriber line ( dsl ) networks , satellite networks , cellular networks and the like . the communication protocols for relaying the information can vary widely , but are not limited to , any available standard and / or proprietary protocols and the like . devices can include , but are not limited to , visual , aural , and / or other sensory devices and the like ( e . g ., speakers , displays , touch feedback systems — braille , etc .). in other instances , a data packet , transmitted between two or more devices , that facilitates content delivery is comprised of , at least in part , information relating to dynamically reporting boot process information for a receiver of a content delivery system . it is to be appreciated that the systems and / or methods of the embodiments can be utilized in content / service delivery facilitating computer components and non - computer related components alike . further , those skilled in the art will recognize that the systems and / or methods of the embodiments are employable in a vast array of electronic related technologies , including , but not limited to , computers , settop boxes , mobile communication devices , and / or handheld electronic devices , and the like . what has been described above includes examples of the embodiments . it is , of course , not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the embodiments , but one of ordinary skill in the art can recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the embodiments are possible . accordingly , the subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations , modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims . furthermore , to the extent that the term “ includes ” is used in either the detailed description or the claims , such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “ comprising ” as “ comprising ” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim .
| 6Physics
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prior to describing the wdm cross - connect of the present invention , the variables that are typically used to describe the properties of a wdm cross - connect will be defined . a detailed discussion of the wdm cross - connect of the present invention will then be provided , which will include a proof that utilizes these variables and that demonstrates the wide - sense , non - blocking nature of the wdm cross - connect of the present invention . a k × k wdm cross - connect that supports n & gt ; 1 wavelengths may be defined as a directed acyclic graph c =( v , a , λ ) where v is the set of nodes , a is the set of arcs between the nodes , λ ={ λ 1 , λ 2 , . . . , λ n } is the set of available wavelengths , and k is an integer equal to the number of input and output fibers . an arc is typically viewed as corresponding to a fiber having a single direction along which signals are permitted to flow . the node set v is partitioned into four subsets , namely , the set of input nodes , i , the set of output nodes , o , the set of optical switches , s , and the set of wavelength interchangers , w . sets i and o each contain k nodes . each node in the set i has an indegree of 0 and an outdegree of 1 whereas each node in set o has an outdegree of 0 and indegree of 1 . an arc directed out of a node in set i corresponds to an input fiber and an arc directed into a node in set o corresponds to an output fiber . a node in set w has an indegree 1 and an outdegree 1 whereas the indegree and outdegree of a node in set s are unconstrained , although in current practice they are likely to have an input degree and an output degree equal to 2 . the topology of a cross - connect as given by the directed acyclic graph is typically referred to as the fabric of the cross - connect . however , this definition of the fabric assumes that the wavelength interchangers are part of the fabric . in accordance with the present invention , the fabric is considered to be separate from the wavelength interchangers . therefore , in accordance with the present invention , the fabric should be considered as including the optical switches , the optical fibers and the nodes , which correspond to the locations where the optical fibers connect to the optical switches . it should be noted that this definition of the fabric is being used herein for illustrative purposes to describe the various aspects of the present invention . a demand , d , is defined as a 4 - tuple ( w , x , y , z ), where w is an input node , x is a wavelength , y is an output node and z is a wavelength . the wavelengths x and z will be referred to as the input and output wavelengths , respectively . a route , r , in c is a directed path from a node in set i to a node in set o . along each of the fibers in a route r , one of the n wavelengths is assigned such that consecutive fibers are assigned the same wavelength , unless the common node of the fibers is in set w . a route for a demand d =( w , x , y , z ) is a route from input node w to output node y such that , on the corresponding input fiber , the route is assigned wavelength x and on the corresponding output fiber , the route is assigned wavelength z . a valid demand set is a set of demands that satisfies the following conditions : ( i ) for each input node , a , and each wavelength , λ , there is at most one demand with both a as the input node and λ as the input wavelength ; and ( ii ) for each output node , b , and each wavelength , λ , there is at most one demand with both b as the output node and λ as the output wavelength . a demand set d ={ d 1 , d 2 , . . . , dm } is said to be satisfied by a cross - connect if there exists a set of routes r ={ r 1 , r 2 , . . . , rm } where : ( i ) r i is a route for d i , 1 ≦ i ≦ m ; and ( ii ) if for some value i ≠ j , r i and r j share some fiber , f , then they must be assigned distinct wavelengths along fiber f . such a route set , r , is referred to as a valid routing of the demand set d , and r is said to satisfy d . a wavelength interchanger , wi i , services a particular demand , d i , if the demand d i is routed through wavelength interchanger wi i . a discussion of the wdm cross - connect 10 of the present invention will now be provided with reference to fig3 . in accordance with the present invention , the fabric of the cross - connect 10 comprises three parts 11 , 12 and 19 . parts 11 and 12 are interconnected by one or more wavelength interchangers 13 . part 19 is connected to the input fibers 14 and to the output fibers 16 . the three parts 11 , 12 and 19 will be referred to hereinafter as fabric f 1 , fabric f 2 and fabric f 3 . the fabrics f 1 , f 2 and f 3 comprise the optical switches and the optical fibers that are connected to the optical switches at nodes of the fabrics . therefore , the fabrics themselves f 1 , f 2 and f 3 can be viewed as not including any devices for changing the wavelength of any signal . the operations of the wdm cross - connect 10 are controlled by the controller 15 , which may be , for example , a microprocessor programmed with appropriate software to execute the routing algorithm of the present invention . each of the fabrics f 1 , f 2 and f 3 can be any wdm cross - connect fabric that has a topology of any wide - sense or strictly non - blocking cross - connect . for example , each cross - connect could have a cross - bar design . any demand whose input and output wavelengths differ will be routed through f 1 11 to some wavelength interchanger 13 and then through f 2 12 . any demand whose input and output wavelengths are the same will be routed from a corresponding input optical fiber 14 of the first fabric f 1 11 through fabric f 3 19 and output onto an output optical fiber 16 of fabric f 2 12 . since f 1 , f 2 and f 3 can be based on standard wide - sense , non - blocking cross - connects , known algorithms a 1 , a 2 and a 3 exist for routing through f 1 , f 2 and f 3 , respectively . therefore , the routing algorithm of the present invention will only need to determine which wavelength interchanger 13 to route a demand through or which demand is to be routed through fabric f 3 19 . the algorithms a 1 and a 2 and a 3 may then be used as subroutines to route demands through the fabrics in the wdm cross - connect 10 . since full wavelength interchangers ( i . e ., devices that can change the wavelength of all signals entering it ) are currently , and are likely to remain , complicated and expensive devices , simpler devices that permit wavelength interchange amongst only a small number of wavelengths are of interest . thus , the problem of designing optimal wide - sense , non - blocking wdm cross - connects for the case where there are only two or three available wavelengths will now be discussed . in order to demonstrate the concepts of the present invention , it will be shown that a wide - sense wdm cross - connect can be designed that uses fewer wavelength interchangers than would be required for a similar strictly non - blocking wdm cross - connect . showing that the wdm cross - connect of the present invention is a wide - sense , non - blocking wdm cross - connect can be demonstrated by showing that there is a wavelength interchanger available for any new demand . first , it is assumed that the wdm cross - connect comprises 2k − 1 wavelength interchangers 13 and that new demand d exists of type ( x , y ). when this demand is made , there can be , at most , k − 1 existing demands using input wavelength x and k − 1 other existing demands using output wavelength y . in the worst case , therefore , each demand uses its own wavelength interchanger . this means that there are , at most , 2k − 2 wavelength interchangers that are blocked from servicing the new demand . therefore , if the wdm cross - connect 10 comprises 2k − 1 wavelength interchangers , then there must be one that can service the new demand . this is true even if the wdm cross - connect 10 does not use any algorithm for routing the demands . this gives rise to the question of whether or not fewer than 2k − 1 wavelength interchangers can be used if an algorithm is used to route the demands , which would enable the wavelength interchangers to be used more wisely . in accordance with the present invention , it has been determined a k × k wide - sense , non - blocking wdm cross - connect can be designed that utilizes only 2 wavelengths ( i . e ., colors ) and which requires only k wavelength interchangers . at least k wavelength interchangers are required since k demands that each require a change from a wavelength λ 1 to a wavelength λ 2 could occur . therefore , each demand would need its own wavelength interchanger . similarly , since , in the present example , there are only two types of demands ( i . e ., those that change from λ 1 to λ 2 and those that change from λ 2 to λ 1 ), each of k wavelength interchangers could service one of each type of such demands . that is , any routing algorithm that routes any demand whose input and output wavelengths differ through any of the available wavelength interchangers , and that routes any demand whose input and output wavelengths are the same through f 3 , is a routing algorithm that will always succeed . thus , for a k × k wdm cross - connect , k wavelength interchangers are both necessary and sufficient for the case of 2 colors ( i . e ., 2 wavelengths ). it will now be shown that a routing algorithm can be used that ensures using 8k / 5 wavelength interchangers in a cross - connect of the design shown in fig3 will result in a wide - sense , non - blocking wdm cross - connect in the case where there are three wavelengths . it is assumed here that three wavelengths are r , g and b are used . it will be shown that if express routes exist , which means that if there is a ( r , r ), ( b , b ) or ( g , g ) demand , then the wdm cross - connect 10 can route these demands without using a wavelength interchanger . the manner in which a determination can be made as to an upper bound on the number of wavelength interchangers that are needed for a wide - sense , non - blocking k × k cross - connect will now be discussed . demands of type ( b , g ), ( g , r ) and ( r , b ) will be defined herein as class a demands and demands of type ( g , b ), ( r , g ) and ( b , r ) will be defined herein as class b demands . the phrase class ( d )= a is used herein to indicate that demand d is a class a demand . the phrase class ( d )= b is used herein to indicate that demand d is a class b demand . constraints c a and c b are defined to mean that there are fewer than 7k / 5 wavelength interchangers that service a class a demand and 7k / 5 wavelength interchangers that service a class b demand , respectively . this assumes that there are only 8k / 5 wavelength interchangers available in the wdm cross - connect 10 . the motivation for defining constraints c a and c b is to demonstrate that , if there is a wavelength interchanger that is servicing class a demands , then it can be used to serve new class a demands ( i . e ., demands of a type other than those it is already servicing ). however , if these were the only constraints considered , problems relating to withdrawals might not be handled . stating the problem this way requires the re - use of wavelength interchangers already servicing the same class of demands ( as desired ), while avoiding problems that might result from withdrawals . thus , the proof is as follows : letting w ( x , y ) be the set of wavelength interchangers that service a type ( x , y ) demand , x , yε { r , b , g } and letting w ( x , y )=| w ( x , y )|, constraints c (( x , y ), ( y , z )), where x , y , zε { b , r , g }, are defined as c (( x , y ), ( y , z )): w ( x , y )+ w ( y , z )−| w ( x , y )∩ w ( y , z )|≦ 6k / 5 . such a constraint requires that the number of wavelength interchangers that service a type ( x , y ) demand and / or a type ( y , z ) demand is no more than 6k / 5 . six kinds of these constraints exist . the motivation for the c (( x , y ), ( y , z )) constraints is that when it is desired to insert a new type ( x , z ) demand , it can be blocked by other type ( x , z ) demands , namely , by type ( x , y ) demands or type ( y , z ) demands . thus , if there are , at most , 6k / 5 total of the latter two blockages , then there can be at most 2k / 5 remaining type ( x , z ) demands , which would need , at most , 8k / 5 wavelength interchangers to handle them . demands d 1 and d 2 are said to be mirror opposite demands if d 1 is a type ( x , y ) demand and d 2 is a type ( y , x ) demand , where x is one of r , b , or g and y is one of r , b , or g , but x and y are not the same . in order to prove that this constraint can be maintained as new demands are added ( or withdrawn ), an additional kind of constraint will be considered . letting e ({ g , r }) be the number of wavelength interchangers that are servicing mirror opposite demands of the type ( g , r ) and ( r , g ), letting e ({ b , g }) be the number of wavelength interchangers servicing mirror opposite demands of type ( g , b ) and ( b , g ), and letting w be the number of wavelength interchangers servicing mirror opposite demands of type ( b , r ) and ( r , b ), a constraint t ({ g , r }, { b , g } can be defined as e ({ g , r })+ e ({ b , g })≦ 4k / 5 . for the other pairs of mirror demands , analogous constraints can be defined . then , the routing algorithm of the present invention is as follows : route any new demand so that all constraints mentioned above are maintained . it will now be proven that such a set of constraints can always be maintained . that is , it will be shown that a routing algorithm can be created that will always be able to find a routing that does not violate any of the constraints . it will now be shown that these constraints can always be maintained when new demands are presented . throughout this proof , it will be assumed that a given a type ( b , g ) demand d is to be inserted . let a be the set of wavelength interchangers that service a type ( g , r ) demand but no other class a demand , b be the set of wavelength interchangers that service a type ( r , b ) demand but not other class a demand , c be the set of wavelength interchangers that service a type ( b , g ) demand ( they can also service other class a demands ) and d be the set of wavelength interchangers that service a type ( g , r ) and a type ( r , b ) demand but no type ( b , g ) demand . define α =| a |, β =| b |, γ =| c | and δ =| d |. the c a constraint could be forced to be violated if α + β + γ + δ = 7k / 5 and all these wavelength interchangers are blocked so that the wdm cross - connect 10 is prevented from routing the new type ( b , g ) demand through them . then , each wavelength interchanger in a must also be servicing a mirror opposite demand of type ( r , g ) and every wavelength interchanger b must be servicing a type ( b , r ) demand . however , for a wavelength interchanger in d to be blocking a type ( b , g ) demand , it must already be servicing a type ( b , g ) demand , but this contradicts the definition of d . thus , δ = 0 ( i . e ., d = 0 ). every wavelength interchanger in a and c services a demand with output wavelength g ( before d is routed ) and so α + γ & lt ; k . every wavelength interchanger in b and c service demands with input wavelength b and so β + γ & lt ; k . also , the total number of wavelength interchangers in a and b is inductively assumed to be bounded to be no more than 4k / 5 since it has been assumed that t ({ g , r }, { r , b }) holds true . that is , α + β ≦ 4k / 5 . adding these three inequalities results in the following : therefore , α + β + γ & lt ; 7k / 5 , and this contradicts the assumption that α + β + γ + δ = 7k / 5 ( since δ = 0 ). now , it will be shown that the t ({ g , r }, { b , g }) kind of constraints never need be violated either . supposing that e ({ g , r })+ e ({ b , g })= 4k / 5 , and a new type ( b , g ) demand d must be routed . supposing there are some available wavelength interchangers that are currently servicing a type ( g , b ) demand and that t ({ g , r }, { b , g }) would be violated if demand d is routed through one of them . thus , these wavelength interchangers can be thought of as being “ blocked ” from being used for routing d since that would cause the constraint to be violated . it will now be considered what could prevent routing d through some wavelength interchanger other than those servicing a type ( g , b ) demand . a wavelength interchanger might be servicing a type ( b , r ) demand or a type ( r , g ) demand , and that would block the routing of d through it . supposing there are a total of s wavelength interchangers blocked by any of these three types of demands . however , all of these types of demands are from class b and it has been shown that there are already 4k / 5 wavelength interchangers servicing class b demands ( namely , the 4k / 5 wavelength interchangers servicing the e ({ g , r })+ e ({ b , g })= 4k / 5 mirror opposite demands ). therefore , there are no more than 8k / 5 − 7k / 5 = k / 5 wavelength interchangers unaccounted for so far . of course , there could be some number , t , of wavelength interchangers blocked by demands of type ( b , g ) ( the same type as d ), but since the e ({ g , r })+ e ({ b , g })= 4k / 5 wavelength interchangers blocked with mirror opposite demands all have a g output wavelength , it is known that t & lt ; k / 5 , since d also has a g output wavelength . therefore , less than 8k / 5 wavelength interchangers have now been accounted for , and so there must be some wavelength interchanger left over that is not blocked ( i . e ., either in the usual sense or in the sense that routing d through it would increase the number of wavelength interchangers servicing mirror opposite demands ). therefore , d can be routed through one of these wavelength interchangers . now , the question of how the constraint c (( b , g ), ( g , x )) can be violated will be considered . considering the c (( b , g ), ( g , r )) constraint and supposing that it is about to be violated , the number of wavelength interchangers servicing one or both of these types of demands is 6k / 5 , and the demand d is blocked from going through any of them . such wavelength interchangers are either ( i ) already servicing a type ( b , g ) demand or , otherwise , ( ii ) servicing a type ( g , r ) demand as well as a type ( r , g ) demand . however , that would mean that there are 6k / 5 & gt ; k wavelength interchangers servicing demands with g output . thus , the set w 1 of wavelength interchangers servicing a type ( g , r ) demand that can also service d must be non - empty . similarly , considering the case of the other constraint c (( b , g ), ( r , b )) that d might be forced to violate , it is known that the set w 2 of wavelength interchangers that are currently servicing a type ( r , b ) demand that are not blocked from servicing d is also non - empty . however , the question remains of whether there exists a wavelength interchanger in w 1 ∩ w 2 . clearly , if there is some wavelength interchanger in d , then it is in w 1 ∩ w 2 . on the other hand , if it is assumed that δ = 0 ( i . e ., d = 0 ), then α + γ = β + γ = 6k / 5 and α + β + γ & lt ; 7k / 5 . this implies that γ = k , but since d has not been routed yet , it is known that γ & lt ; k . more explicitly , therefore , it can be seen that the constraints c a and c b are relevant , the real work is done by the c (( x , y ), ( y , z )) constraints , which are maintainable by maintaining the t ( ) constraints , since if those are maintained , it is never necessary to use more than 8k / 5 wavelength interchangers . this is true since , for demand d , at most 6k / 5 wavelength interchangers are blocking it that do not service a demand of the same type as d , and at most 2k / 5 − 1 other demands of the same type as d can exist . therefore , there is always at least one wavelength interchanger available . the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments . however , those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments explicitly described herein . those skilled in the art will understand that modifications may be made to the embodiments discussed above that are within the scope of the present invention . it will also be understood that the present invention is not limited with respect to the types of components that are used to create the cross - connect 10 of the present invention . those skilled in the art will understand that a variety of different components may be used to produce the fabrics f 1 11 , f 2 12 and f 3 19 and the wavelength interchangers 13 . those skilled in the art will also understand that a variety of different types of controllers may be used for the controller 15 that performs the routing algorithm of the present invention .
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as shown in fig1 - 7 , a golf club head 20 has an adjustable keel zone member 100 . the adjustable keel zone member 100 is positioned on a sole 26 of the golf club head 20 . the golf club head 20 also preferably has a body 22 with a crown 24 , a front wall 30 and the sole 26 . the golf club head 20 also has a heel end 36 , an aft end 37 and a toe end 38 . the golf club head 20 is preferably a multiple material golf club head such as disclosed in foster et al ., u . s . patent application ser . no . 12 / 240 , 425 , filed on sep . 29 , 2008 , for a golf club head , which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . alternatively , the golf club head 20 is a club head such as disclosed in murphy et al ., u . s . pat . no . 7 , 383 , 577 for a multiple material golf club head , which is hereby incorporated by reference . alternatively , the golf club head 20 is a club head such as disclosed in williams et al ., u . s . pat . no . 7 , 390 , 269 for a golf club head , which is hereby incorporated by reference . alternatively , the golf club head 20 is a club head such as disclosed in gibbs et al ., u . s . pat . no . 7 , 448 , 960 for a golf club head with variable face thickness , which is hereby incorporated by reference . alternatively , the golf club head 20 is a club head such as disclosed in hocknell et al ., u . s . pat . no . 7 , 413 , 520 for a golf club head with high moment of inertia , which is hereby incorporated by reference . alternatively , the golf club head 20 is a club with an interchangeable shaft such as disclosed in hocknell et al ., u . s . pat . no . 7 , 427 , 239 for a golf club with interchangeable head - shaft connection , which is hereby incorporated by reference . alternatively , the golf club head 20 is a club with an interchangeable shaft such as disclosed in evans et al ., u . s . patent application ser . no . 12 / 208 , 137 , filed on sep . 10 , 2008 , for a golf club with removable components , which is hereby incorporated by reference . the adjustable keel member 100 is preferably located in the fore - aft direction by the “ equilibrium line ” as shown in fig1 , which lies outside of shaft 21 . the adjustable keel member 100 is preferably located in the heel - toe direction by the target lie angle as defined in fig1 . an edge of the adjustable keel member 100 , oriented roughly parallel to the x axis contacts the ground at any lie angle within the desired range . the size of the adjustable keel member 100 is preferably a 1 ″ by 1 ″ square zone . the actual shape of the adjustable keel member 100 may be square , circular , triangular or other shape . the invention describes an adjustable keel member 100 on the sole of a club head located preferentially with respect to the club cg ( center of gravity ). within this adjustable multi - edged surface the club head will contact the ground for any of a wide range of practical orientations ( lie angles ) at address . the adjustable keel member 100 can be rotated to cause one of several edges to engage the ground plane , thus preferentially modifying the face angle at address without affecting loft of the head at square impact . the address lie angle may be very different for different golfers . as a result , if the design intent is for the club to appear to have the same face angle for all golfers it must be stable over a wide range of address lie angles . as shown in fig9 , prior art drivers survey exhibit the undesirable behavior of excessive variation in face angle at different address lie angles as shown in fig9 . the sole surface within a defined proximity of the natural sole keel point (“ keel zone ”) is such that even if the club is addressed at different lie angles ( 40 - 60 deg ) the resulting perceived face angle will be constant within +/− 0 . 5 deg . the “ line of equilibrium ” is defined as a line that runs from a point on the underside of the grip at 5 ″ below the butt end thru the club center of gravity and extending thru the head . the keel zone is defined relative to this line . the adjustable keel member 100 is positioned in a keel zone of the golf club , which is defined as a local prismatic surface on the sole of a club head . the keel zone surface is prismatic to the “ x ” axis which is oriented in the fore - aft ( front - back ) direction of the head at nominal design orientation . the keel zone is located in the fore - aft direction by the “ equilibrium line ” described in the previous section . the keel zone is located in the heel - toe direction by the target lie angle as defined in table 1 . the center of the keel zone contacts the ground at the target lie angle and the zone is equally dispersed about the contact point in the heel and toe directions . the size of the keel zone is preferably 0 . 5 ″ wide fore - aft and 1 . 0 inches wide heel - toe as measured when viewed from along the vertical axis . the keel zone surface is within 0 . 05 ″ of this definition across the full extent of the surface . within this local prismatic surface the club head will contact the ground for any of a wide range of practical orientations ( lie angles ) at address . this causes the club to appear to have a stable face angle even when addressed at different lie angles . an equilibrium line of a golf club 19 is shown in fig1 , and runs from a point on the underside of the grip , preferably at 5 inches below the butt end through the club center of gravity and extending through the head . the sole surface , within a defined proximity of the sole keel point , is such that even if the club is addressed at different lie angles , between 40 - 60 degrees , the resulting perceived face angle will be constant within +/− 0 . 5 degrees . in one embodiment , the adjustable keel member 100 preferably has a width ranging from 0 . 50 - 0 . 60 inches in the fore - aft direction , centered on the equilibrium line and a width between 1 . 00 - 1 . 10 inches in the heel - toe direction located by the target lie angle . in this embodiment , the keel zone shape is prismatic to the surface of the sole , with a raised surface that is consistent in the heel - toe direction , and a surface that follows the contours of the club head in the front - aft direction . the golf club head 20 , when designed as a driver , preferably has a volume from 200 cubic centimeters to 600 cubic centimeters , more preferably from 300 cubic centimeters to 500 cubic centimeters , and most preferably from 350 cubic centimeters to 480 cubic centimeters . the volume of the golf club head 20 will also vary between fairway woods ( preferably ranging from 3 - woods to eleven woods ) with smaller volumes than drivers . the golf club head 20 preferably has a mass no more than 225 grams , and most preferably a mass of 180 to 215 grams . preferably the golf club head 20 has a body 22 that is composed of titanium , titanium alloy , stainless steel or other iron - alloys . alternatively , the body 22 may be composed of a lightweight metallic material , such as magnesium alloys , aluminum alloys , magnesium , aluminum or other low density metals . fig1 illustrates a golf club with a closed face angle . the golf club has a club head , a shaft with a grip attached at a butt end of the shaft . the keel zone makes the face angle of the golf club appear consistent at various lie angles . as shown in fig1 , the adjustable keel member 100 is positioned in a keel zone 102 of the golf club head 20 , preferably using a threaded bolt 101 placed through an aperture 111 of the adjustable keel member 100 and secured in a threaded aperture 112 within the keel zone 102 . the bolt 101 is removed for adjustment of the adjustable keel member 100 in order to adjust the face angle of the golf club 19 . as shown in fig1 , the adjustable keel member 100 is preferably triangular in shape with a first apex point 105 , a second apex point 106 and a third apex point 107 . a first edge 108 is between the first apex point 105 and the second apex point 106 . a second edge 109 is between the second apex point 106 and the third apex point 107 . a third edge 110 is between the first apex point 105 and the third apex point 107 . in a preferred embodiment , the first edge 108 has a constant height . the second edge 109 has a height that decreases from the second apex point 106 to the third apex point 107 . the third edge 110 has a height that decreases from the first apex point 105 to the third apex point 107 . preferably the third apex point 107 has a height h 2 as shown in fig1 , which is lower than a height h 1 for first and second apex points 105 and 106 . preferably the angle of inclination αk from the first or second apex points 105 and 106 to the third apex points 107 is three degrees . the adjustable keel member 100 is preferably composed of a metal material such as titanium alloy , aluminum alloy , stainless steel or a like material . fig1 - 22 show a golf club 19 with various face angles . fig2 shows the adjustable keel member 100 is a neutral position . fig2 and 25 show a golf club 19 grounded and at address . fig1 ( a ) illustrates a cross - sectional view of the golf club head 20 with the adjustable keel member 100 . the adjustable keel member 100 has a raised surface that remains consistent in the heel - toe direction . fig2 ( a ) illustrates a cross sectional view of the golf club head 20 and adjustable keel member 100 in the fore - aft direction . the adjustable keel member 100 has a raised surface that mimics the surface contours of the sole shape . in some embodiments , the heel end of the keel zone has a higher raised surface than the toe end . in other embodiments , the toe end of the alignment line has a higher raised surface than the heel end of the alignment line . an alternative embodiment is shown in fig2 - 32 . a golf club head 42 is generally designated . in a preferred embodiment , the club head 42 is generally composed of three components , a face component 60 , a mid - body 61 , and an aft - weight component 65 . the mid - body 61 preferably has a crown section 62 and a sole section 64 . the mid - body 61 optionally has a ribbon section 90 . the golf club head 42 , when designed as a driver , preferably has a volume from 200 cubic centimeters to 600 cubic centimeters , more preferably from 300 cubic centimeters to 500 cubic centimeters , and most preferably from 420 cubic centimeters to 470 cubic centimeters , with a most preferred volume of 460 cubic centimeters . the volume of the golf club head 42 will also vary between fairway woods ( preferably ranging from 3 - woods to eleven woods ) with smaller volumes than drivers . the golf club head 42 , when designed as a driver , preferably has a mass no more than 215 grams , and most preferably a mass of 180 to 215 grams . when the golf club head 42 is designed as a fairway wood , the golf club head preferably has a mass of 135 grams to 200 grams , and preferably from 140 grams to 165 grams . the face component 60 is generally composed of a single piece of metal , and is preferably composed of a formed or forged metal material . more preferably , the metal material is a titanium material . such titanium materials include pure titanium and titanium alloys such as 6 - 4 titanium alloy , sp - 700 titanium alloy ( available from nippon steel of tokyo , japan ), dat 55g titanium alloy available from diado steel of tokyo , japan , ti 10 - 2 - 3 beta - c titanium alloy available from rti international metals of ohio , and the like . other metals for the face component 60 include stainless steel , other high strength steel alloy metals and amorphous metals . alternatively , the face component 60 is manufactured through casting , machining , powdered metal forming , metal - injection - molding , electro chemical milling , and the like . the face component 60 generally includes a striking plate ( also referred to herein as a face plate ) 72 and a return portion 74 extending laterally inward from a perimeter 73 of the striking plate 72 . the striking plate 72 typically has a plurality of scorelines 75 thereon . the striking plate 72 preferably has a thickness ranging from 0 . 010 inch to 0 . 250 inch , and the return portion 74 preferably has a thickness ranging from 0 . 010 inch to 0 . 250 inch . the return portion 74 preferably extends a distance ranging from 0 . 25 inch to 1 . 5 inches from the perimeter 73 of the striking plate 72 . in a preferred embodiment , the return portion 74 generally includes an upper lateral section 76 , a lower lateral section 78 , a heel lateral section 80 and a toe lateral section 82 . thus , the return 74 preferably encircles the striking plate portion 72 a full 360 degrees . however , those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize that the return portion 74 may only encompass a partial section of the striking plate 72 , such as 270 degrees or 180 degrees , and may also be discontinuous . the upper lateral section 76 preferably extends inward , towards the mid - body 61 , a predetermined distance to engage the crown section 62 . in a preferred embodiment , the predetermined distance ranges from 0 . 2 inch to 1 . 2 inch , more preferably 0 . 40 inch to 1 . 0 inch , and most preferably 0 . 8 inch , as measured from the perimeter 73 of the striking plate 72 to the rearward edge of the upper lateral section 76 . in a preferred embodiment , the upper lateral section 76 is substantially straight and substantially parallel to the striking plate 72 from the heel end 166 to the toe end 168 . the perimeter 73 of the striking plate 72 is preferably defined as the transition point where the face component 60 transitions from a plane substantially parallel to the striking plate portion 72 to a plane substantially perpendicular to the striking plate 72 . alternatively , one method for determining the transition point is to take a plane parallel to the striking plate 72 and a plane perpendicular to the striking plate portion , and then take a plane at an angle of forty - five degrees to the parallel plane and the perpendicular plane . where the forty - five degrees plane contacts the face component is the transition point thereby defining the perimeter of the striking pl the heel lateral section 80 is substantially perpendicular to the striking plate 72 , and the heel lateral section 80 preferably covers a portion of a hosel 54 before engaging an optional ribbon section 90 and a bottom section 91 of the sole section 64 of the mid - body 61 . the heel lateral section 80 is attached to the sole section 64 , both the ribbon section 90 and the bottom section 91 , as explained in greater detail below . the heel lateral section 80 extends inward a distance from the perimeter 73 a distance of 0 . 2 inch to 1 . 2 inch , more preferably 0 . 40 inch to 1 . 0 inch , and most preferably 0 . 8 inch . the heel lateral section 80 is preferably straight at its edge . at the other end of the face component 60 is the toe lateral section 82 . the toe lateral section 82 is preferably attached to the sole section 64 , both the ribbon 90 and the bottom section 91 , as explained in greater detail below . the toe lateral section 82 extends inward a distance from the perimeter 73 a distance of 0 . 2 inch to 1 . 2 inch , more preferably 0 . 40 inch to 1 . 0 inch , and most preferably 0 . 8 inch . the toe lateral section 82 preferably is preferably straight at its edge . the lower lateral section 78 extends inward , toward the aft - body 61 , a distance to engage the sole portion 64 . in a preferred embodiment , the distance d ranges from 0 . 2 inch to 1 . 2 inch , more preferably 0 . 40 inch to 1 . 0 inch , and most preferably 0 . 8 inch , as measured from the perimeter 73 of the striking plate portion 72 to the edge of the lower lateral section 78 . the mid - body 61 is preferably composed of a non - metal material , preferably a composite material such as continuous fiber pre - preg material ( including thermosetting materials or thermoplastic materials for the resin ). other materials for the mid - body 61 include other thermosetting materials or other thermoplastic materials such as injectable plastics . alternatively , the mid - body 61 is composed of low - density metal materials , such as magnesium or aluminum . exemplary magnesium alloys are available from phillips plastics corporation under the brands az - 91 - d ( nominal composition of magnesium with aluminum , zinc and manganese ), am - 60 - b ( nominal composition of magnesium with aluminum and manganese ) and am - 50 - a ( nominal composition of magnesium with aluminum and manganese ). the mid - body 61 is preferably manufactured through metal - injection - molding . alternatively , the mid - body 61 is manufactured through casting , forming , machining , powdered metal forming , electro chemical milling , and the like . the mid - body 61 is preferably manufactured through bladder - molding , resin transfer molding , resin infusion , injection molding , compression molding , or a similar process . in a preferred process , the face component 60 , with an adhesive on the interior surface of the return portion 74 , is placed within a mold with a preform of the mid - body 61 for bladder molding . such adhesives include thermosetting adhesives in a liquid or a film medium . a preferred adhesive is a two part liquid epoxy sold by 3m of minneapolis minn . under the brand names dp420ns and dp460ns . other alternative adhesives include modified acrylic liquid adhesives such as dp810ns , also sold by the 3m company . alternatively , foam tapes such as hysol synspan may be utilized with the present invention . a bladder is placed within the hollow interior of the preform and face component 60 , and is pressurized within the mold , which is also subject to heating . the co - molding process secures the mid - body 61 to the face component 60 . alternatively , the mid - body 61 is bonded to the face component 60 using an adhesive , or mechanically secured to the return portion 74 . the crown portion 62 of the mid - body 61 engages the ribbon section 90 of sole section 64 outside of the engagement with the face component 60 . the crown section 62 preferably has a thickness in the range of 0 . 010 to 0 . 100 inch , more preferably in the range of 0 . 025 inch to 0 . 070 inch , even more preferably in the range of 0 . 028 inch to 0 . 040 inch , and most preferably has a thickness of 0 . 033 inch . the sole section 64 , including the bottom section 91 and the optional ribbon section 90 , which is substantially perpendicular to the bottom section 91 , preferably has a thickness in the range of 0 . 010 to 0 . 100 inch , more preferably in the range of 0 . 025 inch to 0 . 070 inch , even more preferably in the range of 0 . 028 inch to 0 . 040 inch , and most preferably has a thickness of 0 . 033 inch . in a preferred embodiment , the mid - body 61 is composed of a plurality of plies of pre - preg , typically six or seven plies , such as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 248 , 025 , entitled composite golf head and method of manufacturing , which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . the hosel 54 is preferably at least partially disposed within the hollow interior of the club head 42 , and is preferably located as a part of the face component 60 . the hosel 54 is preferably composed of a similar material to the face component 60 , and is preferably secured to the face component 60 through welding or the like . alternatively , the hosel 54 may be formed with the formation of the face component 60 . the club head 42 preferably has a heel end 166 , a toe end 168 and an aft - end 170 that are substantially straight . as shown in fig3 , the heel end 166 has a distance , “ dhw ”, from a furthest forward extent of the club head 42 to a furthest rearward extent of the club head 42 that preferably ranges from 2 . 00 to 5 . 00 inches , more preferably from 3 . 0 to 5 . 0 inches , and most preferably from 4 . 5 to 5 . 0 inches . as shown in fig3 , the toe end 168 has a distance , “ dtw ”, from a furthest forward extent of the club head 42 to a furthest rearward extent of the club head 42 that preferably ranges from 2 . 00 to 5 . 00 inches , more preferably from 3 . 0 to 5 . 0 inches , and most preferably from 4 . 5 to 5 . 0 inches . as shown in fig3 , the aft end 170 has a distance , “ daw ”, from a widest extent of the heel end 166 of the club head to a widest extent of the toe end 168 of the club head 42 that preferably ranges from 2 . 00 to 5 . 00 inches , more preferably from 3 . 0 to 5 . 0 inches , and most preferably from 4 . 5 to 5 . 0 inches . in one embodiment , the distances dhw , dtw and daw are all equal in length ranging from 4 . 0 to 5 . 0 inches . in an alternative embodiment , the distances dhw and dtw are equal in length ranging from 4 . 5 to 5 . 0 inches . in a preferred embodiment , the aft weight component 65 is preferably positioned on a rear inlaid portion 68 of the mid - body 61 . the aft - weight component 65 generally includes two parts , a cap and a weight member . the weight member is preferably bonded to the cap using an adhesive material . the aft weight component 65 increases the moment of inertia of the club head 42 , influences the center of gravity , and / or influences other inherent mass properties of the golf club head 42 . the cap is preferably composed of a light - weight material , most preferably aluminum or an aluminum alloy . the cap generally has a thickness ranging from 0 . 02 to 0 . 10 inch , and most preferably from 0 . 03 inch to 0 . 04 inch . the cap preferably has a mass ranging from 5 to 20 grams , and most preferably approximately 10 grams . individually , each weight member has a mass ranging from 5 grams to 30 grams . each weight member is preferably composed of a material that has a density ranging from 5 grams per cubic centimeters to 20 grams per cubic centimeters , more preferably from 7 grams per cubic centimeters to 12 grams per cubic centimeters . the “ dumbbell ” like shape of the weight member allows for the mass of the aft - weight component to be focused for a fade golf drive , a neutral golf drive or a draw golf drive . each weight member is preferably composed of a polymer material integrated with a metal material . the metal material is preferably selected from copper , tungsten , steel , aluminum , tin , silver , gold , platinum , or the like . a preferred metal is tungsten due to its high density . the polymer material is a thermoplastic or thermosetting polymer material . a preferred polymer material is polyurethane , epoxy , nylon , polyester , or similar materials . a most preferred polymer material is a thermoplastic polyester polyurethane . a preferred weight member is an injection molded thermoplastic polyurethane integrated with tungsten to have a density of 8 . 0 grams per cubic centimeters . in a preferred embodiment , each weight member is composed of from 50 to 95 volume percent polyurethane and from 50 to 5 volume percent tungsten . also , in a preferred embodiment , each weight member is composed of from 10 to 25 weight percent polyurethane and from 90 to 75 weight percent tungsten . those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize that other weighting materials may be utilized for the aft weight component 65 without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention . the placement of the aft weight component 65 allows for the moment of inertia of the golf club head 42 to be optimized . alternatively , the weight member is composed of tungsten loaded film , tungsten doped polymers , or similar weighting mechanisms such as described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 386 , 990 , entitled a composite golf club head with an integral weight strip , and hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize that other high density materials , such as lead - free pewter , may be utilized as an optional weight without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention . yet another embodiment of the present invention , which comprises two contact points between a sole or bottom surface of the golf club and the ground , is disclosed in fig3 a , 33 b , 34 a , 34 b , 35 a - c , and 36 a - c . as shown in fig3 a , 33 b , 35 a - c and 36 a - c , a golf club head 200 has a body 220 with a front wall 230 , a crown 240 , a sole 260 , a heel end 270 , an aft end 280 , and a toe end 290 . the golf club head 200 further has an adjustable fitting member 300 positioned within a recessed area 310 in the sole 260 towards the aft end 280 of the golf club head 200 . the recessed area 310 preferably is closer to the heel end 270 of the golf club head 200 than the toe end 290 . the fitting member 300 preferably is secured to the sole 260 of the golf club head 200 with a bolt 320 that passes through a bore 301 in the fitting member 300 and engages a threaded bore 315 in the recessed area 310 of the sole 260 . an alternative embodiment of this design may dispense with the recessed area 310 altogether and permit the fitting member 300 to be directly attached to the surface of the sole 260 . an alternative embodiment may also employ other methods of attaching the fitting member 300 to the sole 260 of the club head 200 . as shown in fig3 a and 34b , the fitting member 300 preferably is triangular in shape and has three apex points 302 , 303 , 304 having differing heights . by rotating the fitting member 300 , the apex points 302 , 303 , 304 , each of which is located 120 degrees from the others , enable a golfer to adjust the face angle of the club to which the fitting member 300 is affixed to be oriented in open , neutral , or closed positions . in this embodiment , when the fitting member 300 is oriented such that the golf club has an open position , the club has a face angle of 2 degrees open . when the fitting member 300 is oriented such that the golf club has a neutral position , the club has a face angle of 0 degrees . when the fitting member 300 is oriented such that the golf club has a closed position , the club has a face angle of 2 degrees closed . the face angles may differ in alternative embodiments ; for example , a golf club head 200 with a fitting member 300 may have a face angle of 4 degrees open in open position and 4 degrees closed in closed position . as shown in fig3 a and 34b , each apex point 302 , 303 , 304 is assigned an indicium . the apex point having a “ neutral ” indicium 304 has the greatest , or most extended , height h 1 of the fitting member 300 . the apex point having a “ closed ” indicium 302 has the smallest , or most retracted , height h 3 of the fitting member . the apex point having an “ open ” indicium 303 has a height h 2 that is midway between that of the neutral 304 and closed 302 apex points . in other words , the apex point marked “ neutral ” 304 has a greater height h 1 than the heights h 2 , h 3 of both of the apex points marked “ closed ” and “ open ” 302 , 303 , and the apex point marked “ open ” has a greater height h 2 than the height h 3 of the apex point marked “ closed ” 302 . in the present embodiment , the fitting member 300 is adjusted by rotating the fitting member 300 such that the indicium that is highest along the vertical z axis represents the effective face angle . in other words , when a golfer wishes the club head 200 to have an open face angle , as shown in fig3 a and 36a , the golfer adjusts the fitting member 300 so that the apex point labeled “ open ” 303 is highest along the z axis and the apex point that contacts the ground is the one that is most retracted — the apex point marked “ closed ” 302 . fig3 a shows that , in this configuration , the golf club contacts the ground 400 at two points , a first point 410 near the front wall 230 of the golf club head 200 , and a second point 420 where the apex point marked “ closed ” 302 contacts the ground 400 . conversely , when a golfer wishes the club head 200 to have a closed face angle , as shown in fig3 c and 36c , the golfer adjusts the fitting member 300 so that the apex point labeled “ closed ” 302 is highest along the vertical z axis and the apex point that contacts the ground is the one that is most extended — the apex point marked “ neutral ” 304 . fig3 c shows that , in this configuration , the golf club contacts the ground 400 at two points , a first point 410 near the front wall 230 of the golf club head 200 , and a second point 420 where the apex point marked “ neutral ” 304 contacts the ground 400 . when a golfer wishes the club head 200 to have a neutral face angle , as shown in fig3 b and 36b , the golfer adjusts the fitting member 300 so that the apex point labeled “ neutral ” 304 is highest along the vertical z axis and the apex point that contacts the ground is one that has a medium height h 2 — the apex point marked “ open ” 303 . fig3 b shows that , in this configuration , the golf club contacts the ground 400 at two points , a first point 410 near the front wall 230 of the golf club head 200 , and a second point 420 where the apex point marked “ open ” 303 contacts the ground 400 . for each of these three positions , a golfer can place the club at address by rotating the club head 200 through its shaft axis until the apex point of the fitting member 300 that is located lowest along the z axis touches the ground . the adjustably oriented fitting member 300 of this invention changes the height of the most rearward contact point 420 between the club and the ground . the most forward contact point 410 between the club and the ground is provided by the sole 260 proximate the front wall 230 . this contact point 410 may be proximate the junction where the sole 260 and the front wall 230 or face meet . having two distinct contact points 410 , 420 on or connected with the sole 260 , particularly when these contact points 410 , 420 are spaced well enough apart from each other , creates a stable sole 260 which allows a golfer to obtain a desired face angle , both measured and perceived . the golf club head 200 of this embodiment , when designed as a driver , preferably has a volume from 200 cubic centimeters to 600 cubic centimeters , more preferably from 300 cubic centimeters to 500 cubic centimeters , and most preferably from 420 cubic centimeters to 470 cubic centimeters , with a most preferred volume of 460 cubic centimeters . the volume of the golf club head 200 will also vary between fairway woods ( preferably ranging from 3 - woods to eleven woods ) with smaller volumes than drivers . the golf club head 200 preferably is a multiple material golf club head such as disclosed herein , and the fitting member 300 is preferably composed of an aluminum alloy . in alternative embodiments , however , the club head 200 may be made of any material or material combinations disclosed herein , and the fitting member 300 may comprise hard plastic , graphite composite , magnesium , titanium or another metallic alloy . from the foregoing it is believed that those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize the meritorious advancement of this invention and will readily understand that while the present invention has been described in association with a preferred embodiment thereof , and other embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings , numerous changes , modifications and substitutions of equivalents may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention which is intended to be unlimited by the foregoing except as may appear in the following appended claims . therefore , the embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined in the following appended claims .
| 0Human Necessities
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as shown in fig1 an optical source 1 provides light to a single mode fiber 2 which is coupled to a first fiber coupler 3 which acts as a fiber directional power splitter . fiber coupler 3 splits the light and directs it into two output fibers 4 and 5 . the light directed into fiber 5 from coupler 3 is not used in the embodiment as shown in fig1 but it could be used for monitoring purposes . alternatively , as will be discussed below with reference to fig4 the output can be used in connection with a photo detector . the light from the upper port of coupler 3 is directed into the fiber 4 and propagates along fiber 4 an arbitrary length l 1 limited only by the loss of the fiber to a remotely located fiber optic sensor 6 . the fiber optic sensor 6 may be constructed as shown in fig2 by mounting the fiber 4 in a glass capillary 7 and polishing the combined fiber and capillary flat . depending on the application , capillaries of outside diameter from 0 . 25 to 4 mm can be used . a partially reflective surface 8 is optically coated with , for example , a dielectric coating to create the partial reflection . this partially reflective fiber surface produces the first optical signal reflected from the sensor back along the fiber 4 . for an acoustic sensor , a highly reflective diaphragm surface 9 is fabricated from a polyester membrane approximately 0 . 5 to 5 microns thick and separated from the partially reflective surface 7 by a gap d 1 . the membrane or diaphragm may be mounted to an external structure 10 which may then be attached to the capillary holding the fiber . in practice , the external structure 10 is also a capillary of a larger diameter than the fiber capillary 7 . capillaries for the larger structure may vary from 0 . 3 to 6 mm in size . in the preferred approach , the diaphragm is attached with adhesive to the flat end of the larger capillary , with the highly reflective surface 9 preferably on the inside . the large capillary 10 is slid over the fiber capillary 7 to form the air gap d 1 between the reflective surfaces and then glued into place . a second gap can be left in the adhesive to provide static pressure relief . alternate pressure relief techniques could include a hole or notch in the larger capillary 10 , or even holes in the diaphragm . the alignment of the two capillaries is such that a reflection from the totally reflective diaphragm provides the second reflection along fiber 4 for the optical sensor . the air gap d 1 between the two reflective surfaces of the sensor is approximately 50 microns for the embodiment used in a medical application . an alternate approach would be to coat the fiber 4 with the partially reflective coating and then mount the fiber in the capillary . yet another approach could use an uncoated fiber attached to a graded index lens ( such as those provided by nsg america ) with the end of the lens appropriately coated to provide the partially reflective surface . the larger capillary 10 would then mount over the selfoc lens . and another approach would be to use a concave polish on the fiber capillary to form a gap , of approximately 50 microns between the fiber at the center of the capillary surface 8 to the end of the capillary . because of the excellent tolerances associated with optical polishing , the reflective diaphragm surface 9 can be mounted directly to the capillary end providing a high degree of accuracy and repeatability for the gap distance . many alternative approaches are possible in light of these teachings . for example , convex polishing is possible as are a variety of mechanical implementations not utilizing capillaries . the light transmitted from the partial reflective surface is airborne for a short distance d 1 , the size of the gap between the partially reflective fiber surface 8 and the totally reflective diaphragm surface 9 . it is desired that a large portion of both reflected light beams be coupled back into fiber 4 . this produces two guided waves propagating in the reverse direction in fiber 4 towards the coupler 3 . when these light waves encounter coupler 3 , a portion of the light is directed to the optical source 1 and the other portion is directed to a second fiber coupler 11 by a connecting fiber 12 . the fiber length between couplers 3 and 11 is usually of the order of 1 meter , however , the length of the fiber connecting the two couplers is limited only by the loss of the fiber 12 . light from the coupler 11 is propagated down a fiber 14 to a reference transducer 15 . the fiber 14 may be of any arbitrary length l 2 which is limited only by the loss of the fiber . as with the remote sensor 6 , this reference transducer 15 is provided with a partially reflecting surface 16 which reflects part of the light back along fiber 14 . light is also transmitted across an air gap of distance d 2 and a sufficient portion is reflected back by a reflective surface 17 . these reflected light waves are also reverse propagated in the fiber 14 to the coupler 11 . as with the coupler 3 , a portion of the reverse propagated light on coupler 11 is transmitted by the connector fiber 12 towards the source 1 through coupler 3 . the remainder is made incident on a light detector 18 where it is converted to an electrical analog . the configuration thus described constitutes a four beam interferometer . the four paths can be described using the following expressions ( which ignore the common paths from the source 1 to coupler 3 , coupler 3 to coupler 11 , and coupler 9 to the detector 18 ): ## equ1 ## the light travelling through these four paths interfere , producing 6 interference terms which are : ## equ2 ## wherein : e n = the electric field amplitude for path n v x , y = the visibility ( correlation ) coefficient for fields x and y inspection of the 6 interference terms shows that all the phase terms come from the air gaps in the sensor 6 and the transducer 15 . it has been assumed that polarization or birefringence effects are negligible for the air gaps and that the reflections are normal . the ideal optical source 1 for this configuration is a white light source . this is a source which has a very short coherence length . if d 1 = d 2 , and the white light source is used , then v 1 , 2 = v 1 , 3 = v 1 , 4 = v 2 , 4 = v 3 , 4 = 0 and v 2 , 3 is approximately one . this greatly simplifies the six interference terms leaving only one interference expression with a value , namely the fourth term . rewriting the expression under these conditions results in : p . sub . det = 3e . sub . 1 . sup . 2 + 3e . sub . 2 . sup . 2 + 3e . sub . 3 . sup . 2 + 3e . sub . 4 . sup . 2 + 2e . sub . 2 e . sub . 3 cos [ k ( 2d . sub . 1 - 2d . sub . 2 )] ( iii ) at present , there are no commercially available white light sources which can produce an ideal white light source having any appreciable power coupling into a single mode fiber . a device which closely resembles the spectral characteristics of a white light source , however , is a light emitting diode ( led ). most leds are surface emitting devices having emitting surfaces greater than 50 microns wide . these devices , however , do not couple much light into a single mode fiber and are impractical for use in a coherence selective sensor . in recent years , however , an led type device has been developed which overcomes the power coupling problem . it is called an edge light emitting diode ( eled ). it has a very small emitting diameter , typically 2 - 4 microns . the spectrum and coherence ( visibility ) of an eled device are shown in fig3 . this particular eled device is manufactured by oki and has a model number oe352g - 010 . when driven at 90 ma , it produces a power output at 25 ° c . of 150 micro - watts from the fiber pigtail . it is clear from the optical spectrum that this device is not a white light device . the peak power occurs around a wavelength of 1320 nm with power falling off by 30 db ( 1000x ) for 100 nm wavelength variation in either direction . the normalized coherence or visibility function is shown below the spectrum in fig3 . it is plotted against optical path length difference in microns . if 2d 1 and 2d 2 for the optic sensor system of fig1 are selected to be 120 microns or greater , and matched to within 15 microns of each other , then equation iii would be a valid equation because the visibility for the interference terms 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 and 6 would be 0 . 001 or less and the visibility for term 4 would be close to 1 . from this example , it can be seen that the eled has clearly demonstrated that it is an excellent source for coherence selective sensors . the preferred optical source which is capable of delivering more power than the eled , but having similar characteristics , is the super luminescent diode ( sld ). this type of optical source is constructed like a laser diode , but an optical absorber is built ( processed ) in - between the two laser facets . this absorber defeats the round trip cavity gain enough to prevent lasing , but with the addition of the reflection of the back facet , the device becomes a &# 34 ; super fluorescent &# 34 ; device , producing more output power than a standard eled . sld devices have the capability of delivering up to 350 micro - watts into a single mode fiber . some selected sld devices can deliver over 500 micro - watts . these sources are also available from oki , for example . the pertinent optical parameters for the coherence selective sensor 1 are the loss budget of the optical configuration , including fiber splices , connectors , component loss and the relative intensity noise ( r in ) of the optical source . the optical loss budget for each of the four paths listed in ( i ) is approximated in table 1 . the reflections from surfaces 8 and 16 are 25 % while reflections from surfaces 9 and 17 are 100 %. the mode overlap loss between the optical mode for light being back reflected from either the sensor or the reference transducer into the fiber and the propagating mode of that fiber is approximately 3 db . table 1______________________________________optical loss prediction for four optical paths path 1 path 2 path 3 path 4______________________________________config . power split - 12 . 0 - 12 . 0 - 12 . 0 - 12 . 0 ( double pass ) reflections - 11 . 0 - 11 . 5 - 11 . 5 - 12 . 0connector ( double pass ) - 2 . 0 - 2 . 0 - 2 . 0 - 2 . 0coupler loss ( double pass ) - 1 . 0 - 1 . 0 - 1 . 0 - 1 . 0______________________________________ the four fiber optic splice locations will be between the optical source 1 and coupler 3 , between coupler 3 and coupler 11 , between coupler 11 and the reference transducer 15 and between coupler 11 and the detector 18 . the splice between coupler 11 and the reference transducer 15 will be double passed , making a loss equivalent to 5 splices . the coherence selective sensor system configuration shown in fig1 is one which allows the combination of a remote &# 34 ; all fiber &# 34 ; sensor and a local optical processor ( including the reference transducer ) to constitute a single interferometric entity . both of the optical paths are present in the argument of the cosine term of equation iii . this means that any change in the path length of the sensor 6 or the reference transducer will change the phase of the interference signal . the reference path is adjusted to maintain interferometric quadrature . a servo system employed to maintain interferometric quadrature is shown in fig1 . the servo system guarantees that the interferometer will always be operating in its linear range . the optical signal generated from the interference described in equation iii , is detected as an amplitude signal on the detector 18 , which is preferably a photodetector , and amplified by an amplifier 20 . the signal is then multiplied in mixer 22 with the signal from a local oscillator 24 . the output of mixer 22 is a base band signal 25 combined with unwanted harmonics of the signal from the local oscillator 24 . the base band signal 25 is filtered with loop filter 26 which optimizes the closed loop transfer function of the servo . the loop filter 26 also removes any signals or harmonics associated with the local oscillator frequency . the filtered signal may then be amplified by amplifier 28 . a dither signal is applied to the servo as a means to determine whether or not the interferometer is in quadrature . this dither signal has a frequency well above the frequency range of interest for the sensor , and is generally sinusoid . a complete discussion of this type of interferometric servo system can be found in bush et al ., &# 34 ; synchronous phase detection for optical fiber interferometric sensors &# 34 ;, applied optics , vol . 22 , no . 15 , at p . 2329 ( aug . 1 , 1983 ). if a linear reference transducer 15 is used in the servo , the voltage feedback signal 30 ( to the reference transducer 15 ) will be linearly proportional to the entire phase of the interferometer . this feedback voltage will linearly track the sensor displacement ( and optical phase ) and is thus a replica of the desired signal . in the preferred embodiment , the transducer 15 consists of a mirror , attached to a piezoelectric actuator ; for example , tokin america nla - 2 × 3 × 9 and nla 2 × 3 × 18 . the physical construction of the transducer is similar to that of the sensor . the piezoelectric actuators act as devices to produce a proportional mechanical displacement for a given input signal . the first actuator 17 generates the optical dither signal while second device 32 provides the feedback element for the servo system . the advantage of using two actuators is that a smaller actuator with a higher resonant frequency can be used for the dither signal while a large actuator with a larger displacement per volt can be used for the feedback loop . although these devices are incorporated into the preferred embodiment , any device including mechanical , magnetic , hydraulic , etc ., could be used for the transducer element in alternate configurations . an alternate configuration would use a single piezoelectric actuator in place of the devices 17 and 32 . in such case , the signal from the local oscillator may be combined with the servo signal 30 in a summer with the combined signal fed back to the single piezoelectric actuator . to more easily understand the optical parameters which determine system performance , the electronic servo system will be considered as a &# 34 ; noiseless &# 34 ; system . in practice , this is a good assumption when the quiescent optical level on the detector 18 is greater than one micro - watt . a well used measure for determining optical performance of an interferometric sensor is to describe the minimum detectable ( dynamic or ac ) phase shift normalized to a 1 hertz resolution ( or noise equivalent ) bandwidth . if we assume equation iii holds for the coherence selective sensor system , and an optical power can be specified for the pigtailed optical source , the minimum detectable phase shift for the optical system may be predicted . from table 1 , the background intensity is determined from the first four terms in equation iii . this intensity level can be identified as an equivalent loss term when referenced to the optical source . taking the loss terms from table 1 , the equivalent loss ( from source to detector ) is determined to be 21 . 5 db . alternately , this means that the dc intensity level seen on the detector will be 0 . 071 % of the source intensity . it is this quiescent level which produces the ( assumed shot ) noise floor of the system . in order to equate this noise to a phase shift , the full fringe intensity for the interfering terms needs to be calculated . from equation iii and table 1 , the intensity produced by a π / 2 phase shift is approximated to be 1 / 6 that of the dc quiescent term . this would represent an equivalent loss ( for the peak signal ) of approximately 29 . 3 db . if this number is scaled for an rms value , it becomes a 32 . 3 db loss . this is all the information required to determine the minimum detectable phase shift . the minimum detectable phase is listed in table 2 for sources ranging from 100 to 4000 micro - watts . the calculation was made by determining the shot noise created by the quiescent offset and taking the ratio of it to the signal produced by a π / 2 interferometric phase shift . since the interferometer is linearized by the servo , this optical signal represents one radian . table 2______________________________________ minimum detectable phaseoptical power ( rms per root hz ) ______________________________________100 μw 8 . 5 μrad200 μw 6 . 0 μrad300 μw 4 . 9 μrad400 μw 4 . 2 μrad500 μw 3 . 8 μrad750 μw 3 . 1 μrad1000 μw 2 . 7 μrad2000 μw 1 . 9 μrad4000 μw 1 . 3 μrad______________________________________ table 2 shows the expected square root dependence with the input optical power . it is interesting to note that if a multi - longitudinal line laser diode had the proper coherence nulls in its visibility function , it could produce a minimum detectable performance of less than 2 micro - radians . in order to do this , the laser diode would have to have a relative intensity noise measurement less than - 120 db . performance equivalent or better than this number for devices operating at 1 . 3 micron wavelengths is available . see chen et al ., and &# 34 ; short - coherence - length and high - coupling - efficiency pulsed diode laser for fiber optic sensors ,&# 34 ; optics letters , vol . 13 , no . 8 at p . 628 ( august 1988 ). an alternative configuration shown in fig4 of the fiber optic interferometric sensor system consists of eliminating coupler 11 . in this configuration , the fiber 14 extends from coupler 3 to the reference transducer 15 . detector 18 is connected to the end of fiber 5 . in this configuration , for cw operation of the optical source 1 , a large light level establishes a high noise floor on the detector 18 due to the direct coupling from the optical source 1 to the detector 18 ; thus reducing the signal to noise ratio . the optical source is gated with pulse source 40 at approximately a 50 per cent duty cycle . the frequency is chosen such that for the combined lengths l 1 and l 2 , the return pulse from the sensor and transducer arrives at detector 18 at a different time than for the light directly coupled from the source 1 . thus , although the signal out of the optical source is on only 50 per cent of the time , the output of the detector is continuous . the received signal is then gated so that the detector output is only measured during the presence of the return signal of interest form the sensor and transducer . this is achieved with analog switch 42 . the switch is only at the appropriate pulse arrival time . an optional filter can be used to filter out high frequency switching noise prior to the mixer . as an example , if the combined length of the fibers l 1 and l 2 are 20 meters greater than the direct path from the optical source , a 10 mhz modulation of the source and sampling rate would provide the correct output . this rate is easily achieved for commercially available optical sources . longer lengths would require lower modulation frequencies . a start - up auto calibration is employed to adjust the modulation frequency to correct value for a given sensor length . the peak output power of the optical source 1 can be higher under these conditions than for cw operation , as long as the average power remains constant . this configuration provides 3 db lower loss than that of fig1 due to the elimination of one trip through an optical coupler . while a presently preferred embodiment of practicing the invention has been shown and described with particularity in connection with the accompanying drawings , the invention may otherwise be embodied within the scope of the following claims .
| 6Physics
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fig1 shows a presently - preferred embodiment 101 of a mobile alarm device . mobile alarm device 101 is a mobile alarm clock . like most alarm clocks , device 101 is placed on a nightstand next to the user &# 39 ; s bed . mobile alarm device 101 has an exterior body 103 that contains and protects the internal workings of the clock . on the front of the clock is a liquid crystal diode or light - emitting diode ( lcd / led ) 105 for displaying the time . an on / off switch 109 activates or de - activates the alarm clock &# 39 ; s alarm . a snooze button 107 turns off the alarm for a predetermined period of time . not shown , but included in most alarm clocks are buttons for choosing whether a time value or and alarm lime value is to be set and buttons for advancing the values of the alarm time value or time value . mobile alarm device 101 further contains a pair of wheels 111 ( i and ii ). these wheels allow mobile alarm device 101 to be propelled forward in response to an alarm event such as the snooze button being activated . wheels 111 ( i and ii ) are slightly larger than the body of the alarm clock 103 to allow mobile alarm device 101 to move . wheels 111 ( i and ii ) are also larger to allow for the absorption of shock when mobile alarm device 101 rolls off the nightstand onto the floor . springs may be added to the axle holding wheels 111 ( i and ii ) to further absorb shock from the fall . the case 103 has the parts of the clock within situated as to create a low center of gravity . this arrangement keeps the orientation of the mobile alarm device such that the lcd / led 105 remains visible . after moving forward and dropping off the nightstand onto the floor , mobile alarm device 101 moves to another point in the room . when mobile alarm device 101 &# 39 ; s alarm goes off again , the user can only turn off the alarm by getting out of bed and finding mobile alarm device 101 . fig2 shows a schematic of the internals of a presently - preferred embodiment of mobile alarm device 101 . schematic 201 contains a controller 203 that controls the logic of mobile alarm device 101 , including the time , alarm , and propulsion functions . power to mobile alarm device 101 is supplied by battery 205 . time is displayed on lcd / led 105 . lcd / led 105 can also display the time at which the alarm should go off . the alarm can be set using switch 213 to have lcd / led 105 display the alarm time . the time displayed on lcd / led 105 can be set using advance button 207 . advance button 207 can also be used to advance the time of the alarm clock when switch 213 is not set . in a preferred embodiment , the alarm is audible and is provided via speaker 211 ; in other embodiments , the alarm may be any physical manifestation that is capable of awaking the user . when the alarm sounds , the user may either turn the alarm off or activate snooze button 107 . in the latter case , controller 203 responds by turning off the alarm and setting the alarm so that it will go off again after a snooze period has elapsed . additionally , controller 203 activates motor controller 215 that directs motors 217 connected to wheels 111 ( i and ii ) to propel mobile alarm device 101 forward , so that it falls from the nightstand where it has been placed . internal circuit board 201 is designed to help absorb the shock of falling from the nightstand . after landing on the floor , mobile alarm device 101 continues to move . controller 203 may vary the times and directions of motion such that each time the user activates the snooze button , the mobile alarm device stops at a different location . controller 203 may change the direction of mobile alarm device 101 by independently varying the speed of each of the motors 217 that drive wheels 111 ( i and ii ). if one wheel 111 ( i ) is turning faster than another wheel 111 ( i ), mobile alarm device 101 will turn around the slower wheel . wheels 111 ( i and ii ) can also be moved in opposite directions to make mobile alarm device 101 pivot . after a predetermined time has elapsed , mobile alarm device 101 comes to rest . when the snooze period expires , the alarm goes off again . the individual who activated the snooze button must now get up and locate mobile alarm device 101 in order to deactivate the alarm by activating switch 109 . now that the individual is out of bed , the alarm clock has completed its function . logic in controller 203 can cause mobile alarm device to become mobile in response to any kind of alarm event for which becoming mobile is desirable . in addition to the pressing of the snooze button , the alarm event could be the first instance of an alarm being signaled , a second instance of the snooze button being pressed , or a pre - programmed time , to name a few examples . in an alternate embodiment , controller 203 can include a microprocessor . the microprocessor may be capable of downloading new programs , and if it is , the user can change the kind of alarm event mobile alarm device 101 responds to and the way the device responds to the alarm event by downloading a new program for the device . fig3 shows a flowchart 301 of how controller 203 responds to an alarm event . flowchart 301 starts when the clock &# 39 ; s alarm has been set ( 303 ). audible alarm 211 is signaled ( 305 ) when a the time to which the alarm was set is reached ( 305 ). the user either switches the alarm off using switch 109 or depresses snooze button 107 ( 307 ). either action turns off audible alarm 211 ( 309 ). if the alarm has been switched off , then proceed to end ( 319 ). if snooze button 107 has been depressed , move mobile alarm device 101 forward for a first predetermined period of time ( 313 ). the period of time chosen is long enough for mobile alarm device 101 to reach the edge of a nightstand and fall to the floor . continue to move after mobile alarm device 101 is on the floor . controller 203 uses randomly - generated parameters which it provides to motor controller 215 to determine the direction of movement , its speed , and the length of time it continues in a given direction . the movement continues for a second predetermined period of time ( 315 ). mobile alarm device 101 moves in the directions specified by the direction parameters until the second time period has elapsed ; at that point , mobile alarm device 101 comes to rest ( 317 ). when the snooze period has elapsed , ( 321 ), the alarm is sounded ( 305 ). the manner in which mobile alarm device 101 behaves may be improved by adding components that make mobile alarm device 101 aware of itself and its environment . counters that record the rotation count of wheels 111 ( i and ii ) can be used to determine whether mobile alarm device 101 has stopped moving forward . a slow change indicates that mobile alarm device 101 is making no forward movement . counter rate increase to a steady state indicates forward movement . the counters could also be used to determine if mobile alarm device 101 is in mid - air as it would be when dropping off a nightstand . during the period of the fall , wheels 111 ( i and ii ) would spin at a higher rate . watching the higher counter rate could allow the controller 203 to determine when to start changing the direction of movement of mobile alarm device 101 . when the manner in which wheels 111 ( i and ii ) are rotating indicates that no forward movement is occurring , mobile alarm device 101 can evade the obstacle by reversing direction , turning , and moving on in the new direction . sensors that make mobile alarm device 101 aware of its external environment can also be used . proximity sensors could let the alarm device know how close it is to another object , allowing it to turn before hitting the object . there are many types of proximity sensors : sonic sensors , radio wave sensors , magnetic sensors , or photo - beam sensors , to name a few . the kind of sensor used will of course depend on factors like cost and the kind of environment mobile alarm device 101 is to be used in . fig5 shows a mobile alarm avoiding an object in its path in response to a sensor . in a first instance 503 the alarm device 101 is proceeding forward across the floor of a room towards an object 505 . in instance 507 the alarm device 101 strikes the object 505 . collision sensor 513 detects a physical collision or a potential collision . that a collision or potential collision has been detected is relayed to controller 203 . controller 203 causes motor controller 215 to have motors 217 reverse direction . this in turn causes mobile alarm device 101 to reverses direction ( 509 ) and proceed away from the object ( 511 ). the sensitivity of mobile alarm device 101 to its environment will vary with the sophistication of its sensors and the amount of computing power and memory it has . to give an extreme example , if mobile alarm device 101 can detect the presence of objects either by running into them or by using photonic or sonic sensors , mobile alarm device 101 can be placed on the floor and be permitted to “ explore ” its surroundings . as it does so , it can make a map of the surroundings . it can then use the map to determine the route it will take when it is moving in response to an alarm event . fig4 shows a several views of a mobile alarm device with docking station . mobile alarm device 401 is in a docking station 405 that contains a mechanism for charging battery 205 held in the body of mobile alarm device 103 . mobile alarm device 401 contains a set of wheels 407 for propelling mobile alarm device 401 from its docking station 405 . mobile alarm device 403 separates itself from the docking station 405 after snooze button 107 has been depressed . the time display need not be part of mobile alarm device 101 , but can instead remain on the nightstand , where it can be easily viewed by the sleeper . the minimal requirements for mobile alarm device 101 are that it be mobile , start moving in response to an alarm event , and have a switch which turns off the alarm . if the alarm is in mobile alarm device 101 , the switch can turn off the alarm directly ; otherwise mobile alarm device 101 can generate a signal in response to the switch that in turn causes the time display on the night stand to turn off the alarm . the time display and the mobile alarm device 101 can contain communications equipment such that they can share information by radio or infrared . if there is a docking station , the time display can be part of the docking station . fig6 shows several different ways of making the mobile alarm mobile . tracks instead of wheels allow mobile alarm device 601 to cross more varied terrain such as a deep shag carpet where a wheeled mobile alarm device 101 may become bogged down . a tracked mobility unit with arms allows alarm device 603 to climb over objects in its path or ascend or descend stairs . a mobility unit with legs like an insect allows alarm device 605 to walk across its terrain . alarm device 605 is weighted so that it always falls on its back . like an insect , it can right itself . the mobility units shown in fig6 are illustrative and exemplary only ; any device which makes it possible for mobile alarm device 101 to move out of reach of the sleeper may be employed in place of the wheels used in mobile alarm device 101 or of any of the mobility units shown in fig6 . the foregoing detailed description has disclosed to those skilled in the relevant technologies how to make and use a mobile alarm device and has further disclosed the best mode presently known to the inventor for implementing the mobile alarm device . it will however be immediately apparent to those skilled in the relevant technologies that the mobile alarm device may be implemented in many other ways . for example , mobility units that pull , winch , or vibrate could be used ; many different kinds of alarm events can cause the mobile alarm device to begin moving , and many techniques can be used to define how the mobile alarm device moves . these techniques may include varying the behavior of the mobile alarm device in response to sensors . users may be able to vary the behavior of a mobile alarm device by programming it themselves or by downloading a preexisting program . at the other technological extreme , mobile alarm devices with simple behaviors can even be implemented in mechanical clockwork . for all of the foregoing reasons , the detailed description is to be regarded as being in all respects exemplary and not restrictive , and the breadth of the invention disclosed herein is to be determined not from the detailed description , but rather from the claims as interpreted with the full breadth permitted by the patent laws .
| 6Physics
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hereinafter , the several preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the appended drawings . the following preferred embodiments of the present invention are not intended to limit the present invention in scope . that is , an image forming apparatus in accordance with the present invention is partially or entirely modifiable in structure , as long as the image forming apparatus resulting from the modification is capable of evaluating its transferring member in electrical resistance in terms of the lengthwise direction of the transferring member . in other words , the present invention is also applicable to an image forming apparatus having multiple photosensitive drums disposed in contact with its intermediary transferring member or recording medium conveying member , and an image forming apparatus which directly transfers a toner image from its photosensitive drum ( s ) or photosensitive belt ( s ) onto a recording medium . further , the present invention is also compatible with such a transferring means as a transfer belt that circularly rotates , although , in such a case , a lengthwise direction may be read as being a widthwise direction . the following descriptions of the preferred embodiments primarily concern the portions of an image forming apparatus , which are essential to the formation and transfer of a toner image . however , the present invention is applicable to various image forming apparatuses , such as a personal printer , a commercial printer , a copying machine , a facsimile machine , a multifunction image forming apparatus , etc ., which are made up of devices , equipment , housings ( casings ), etc ., in addition to the above - mentioned portions . incidentally , the general items related to the image forming apparatus , its transferring member , etc ., will not be illustrated , to avoid repeatedly describing the same items . fig1 is a schematic drawing of the image forming apparatus in the first embodiment of the present invention , and shows the general structure of the apparatus . fig2 is a perspective view of the primary transfer roller of the image forming apparatus . fig3 is a flowchart of the control sequence for the image forming operation of the image forming apparatus . referring to fig1 , the image forming apparatus 100 in the first embodiment is a monochromatic image forming apparatus . it has a photosensitive drum 1 and an intermediary transfer belt 7 . the photosensitive drum 1 is horizontally disposed in contact with the intermediary transfer belt 7 . a toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 , which is an image bearing member , is transferred ( primary transfer ) onto the intermediary transfer belt 7 in a transfer portion s 1 . then , it is conveyed by the intermediary transfer belt 7 to a transfer portion s 2 , in which it is transferred ( secondary transfer ) onto a recording medium p . the photosensitive drum 1 is rotationally driven . the image forming apparatus 100 has a charging apparatus 2 , an exposing apparatus 3 , a developing apparatus 4 , a primary transfer roller , and a cleaning apparatus 6 , which are disposed in the adjacencies of the photosensitive drum 1 , in a manner to surround the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 . the photosensitive drum 1 is made up of a cylindrical substrate and a photosensitive layer . the substrate is formed of aluminum . the photosensitive layer is formed of amorphous silicon , which normally is chargeable to the positive polarity . the photosensitive layer covers virtually the entirety of the peripheral surface of the cylindrical substrate . the photosensitive drum 1 is 84 mm in external diameter , and 330 mm in length . the photosensitive drum 1 is grounded through its substrate . it is rotationally driven by a motor ( not shown ) at a process speed of 300 mm / sec in the direction indicated by an arrow mark r 1 . as the photosensitive drum 1 is rotated , the charging apparatus 2 uniformly charges the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 to roughly + 500 v ( dark potential level vd ). more specifically , the charging apparatus 2 discharges corona ( collection of positively charged particles ) in the adjacencies of the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 . as a result , the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 becomes charged . an electrical power source d 3 supplies the charging apparatus 2 with the positive voltage for discharging corona . the exposing apparatus 3 scans the uniformly charged portion of the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 , with the beam of laser light which it projects , while modulating the beam according to the image formation data . as a result , the numerous exposed points of the uniformly charged portion of the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 reduce in potential level to roughly + 200 v ( light potential level vl ), effecting ( writing ) of an electrostatic image on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 . more specifically , the exposing apparatus projects a beam of laser light by driving its laser light source , while modulating the beam of laser light with the image formation data obtained by developing the image data ( turning on or off a laser light source according to image formation data ). the projected beam of laser light is deflected by a rotational mirror in a manner to scan the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum in the direction parallel to the axial line of the photosensitive drum . the developing apparatus 4 has a developer container 4 a , which contains black toner , which is a single component developer , which normally becomes charged to the negative polarity while it is stirred in the developer container 4 a . the developing apparatus develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 , and it causes the negatively charged toner to adhere to the latent image on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 . the developing apparatus 4 has a development sleeve 4 b , which is disposed so that there is a minute gap between its peripheral surface and the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 . it is rotated in the opposite direction from the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 1 . as it is rotated , the black toner is borne in a thin layer on its peripheral surface of the development sleeve 4 b . the developing apparatus 4 also has a stationary magnet 4 c , which is disposed in the center of its hollow . as the development sleeve 4 b is rotated , the black toner on the peripheral surface of the development sleeve 4 b is made to crest by one of a magnetic pole of the magnet 4 c , rubbing therefore , the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 . an electrical power source d 4 outputs to the development sleeve 4 b the combination of a development voltage vdc , which is roughly + 300 v of dc voltage , and an ac voltage , which is 1 . 2 k vpp in peak - to - peak voltage and 3 khz in frequency . as the combination is applied to the development sleeve 4 b , the black toner selectively adheres to the electrostatic image on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 , the black toner adheres to the numerous points of the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 , the potential level of which has reduced to a dark potential level vd , which is positive relative to the development voltage vdc . in other words , the electrostatic latent image is normally developed . the black developer does not adhere to the points of the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 , the potential level of which was made negative relative to the development voltage vdc by the exposure . as will be evident from the description given above , the exposing apparatus , charging apparatus , and developing apparatus make up a toner image forming means , which forms a toner image on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 . the intermediary transfer belt 7 is an endless belt . it is supported by a driver roller 8 , a tension roller 9 , and a backup roller 10 , by being stretched around them . it is rotationally driven by the driver roller 8 at a process speed of 300 mm / sec . however , there is roughly ± 0 . 5 % of a difference δv between the referential ( preset ) process speed of 300 mm / sec and those of the intermediary transfer belt 7 and photosensitive drum 1 . the intermediary transfer belt 7 is formed of an electrically resistive substance , more specifically , a mixture of polyimide resin , and a charge prevention agent , such as carbon black , which is dispersed in polyimide resin to adjust the volume resistivity of the mixture to a value in a range of 10 6 - 10 10 ω · cm . the intermediary transfer belt 7 is roughly 0 . 1 mm in thickness and 600 mm in circumference . the primary transfer roller 5 ( transferring member ) is kept pressed against the photosensitive drum 1 by a pair of springs ( not shown ), which press on the lengthwise ends of the transfer roller 5 , with the intermediary transfer belt 7 pinched between the primary transfer roller 5 and photosensitive drum 1 , forming thereby the transfer portion s 1 , in which the toner image is transferred onto the intermediary transfer belt 7 . the primary transfer roller 5 is rotated in the direction indicated by an arrow mark r 4 by the circular movement of the intermediary transfer belt 7 , upon which it is kept pressed . an electrical power source d 1 transfers ( primary transfer ) the toner image formed and borne on the photosensitive drum 1 , onto the intermediary transfer belt 7 by applying a transfer voltage v 1 , which is a positive dc voltage , between the grounded photosensitive drum 1 and primary transfer roller 5 . the transfer current , which flows through the transfer portion s 1 as the transfer voltage v 1 is applied thereto , separates the toner image from the photosensitive drum 1 , and electrostatically adheres to the portion of the intermediary transfer belt 7 , which is being moved through the transfer portion s 1 , while remaining pinched between the primary transfer roller 5 and photosensitive drum 1 . referring to fig2 , the primary transfer roller 5 is made up of a metallic core 5 a and an elastic layer 5 b . the metallic core 5 a is made of stainless steel , and is 8 mm in diameter . the elastic layer 5 b is formed of electrically conductive urethane sponge , covering virtually the entirety of the peripheral surface of the metallic core 5 a , and is 4 mm in thickness and 300 mm in length . the primary transfer roller 5 is roughly 1 × 10 7 ω · cm ( 23 ° c ., 50 % rh ) in electrical resistance . the resistance value was obtained by measuring the amount of electrical current , which flowed when a voltage of 1 , 500 v was applied between a metallic roller and the metallic core 5 a , while the primary transfer roller 5 is rotated in contact with the metallic roller by the rotation of the metallic roller at a peripheral velocity of 300 mm / sec , with the presence of a contact pressure of 5 n ( 500 gf ). referring to fig1 , the cleaning apparatus 6 has a cleaning blade 6 a , which is placed in contact with the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 , in such a manner that its cleaning edge is on the upstream side of its base portion in terms of the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 1 . the cleaning apparatus 6 ( cleaning blade 6 a ) removes the transfer residual toner , that is , the toner remaining on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 after being moved through the transfer portion s 1 , by rubbing ( scraping ) the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 . the secondary transfer roller 11 is kept pressed against the backup roller 10 by being pressed by a pair of springs upon its lengthwise ends , one for one , with the presence of the intermediary transfer belt 7 between the secondary transfer roller 11 and backup roller 10 . it forms the transfer portion s 2 between the intermediary transfer belt 7 and secondary transfer roller 11 . the secondary transfer roller 11 ( transferring member ) is made up of a metallic core and an elastic layer . the metallic core is formed of stainless steel , and is 12 mm in diameter . the elastic layer is formed of electrically conductive urethane sponge , covering virtually the entirety of the peripheral surface of the metallic core . the elastic layer is 6 mm in thickness and 330 mm in length . the electrical resistance value of the secondary transfer roller 11 was measured with the use of a method similar to the method used for measuring the electrical resistance value of the primary transfer roller 5 . when it was measured with the application of 3 , 000 v , it was roughly 6 × 10 7 ω · cm ( 23 ° c ., 50 % rh ). an electrical power source d 2 transfers ( secondary transfer ) the toner image borne on the intermediary transfer belt 7 , onto the recording medium p by applying a transfer voltage v 2 , which is a positive dc voltage , between the grounded backup roller 10 , and the secondary transfer roller 11 . the transfer current , which flows through the transfer portion s 2 while the transfer voltage v 2 is applied to the secondary transfer roller 11 , supplies the toner image with the transfer charge , separating thereby the toner image from the intermediary transfer belt 7 , so that the toner image electrostatically adheres to the portion of the recording medium p , which is being conveyed through the transfer portion s 2 , while remaining pinched between the intermediary transfer belt 7 and secondary transfer roller 11 . the recording mediums p are pulled out one by one from a sheet feeding apparatus 14 , and delivered to a pair of registration rollers 15 . as each recording medium p reaches the pair of registration rollers 15 , it is kept on standby by the registration rollers 15 , and then , is released by the registration rollers 15 , to be fed into the transfer portion s 2 in synchronism with the arrival of the toner image on the intermediary transfer belt 7 at the transfer portion s 2 . as the recording medium p arrives at the transfer portion s 2 , it is conveyed through the transfer portion s 2 while remaining pinched between the secondary transfer roller 11 and intermediary transfer belt 7 . the cleaning apparatus 12 has a cleaning blade 12 a , which is placed in contact with the intermediary transfer belt 7 in such a manner that its cleaning edge is on the upstream side of its base portion , in terms of the rotational direction of the intermediary transfer belt 7 . the cleaning apparatus 12 ( cleaning blade 12 a ) removes the transfer residual toner , that is , the toner remaining on the intermediary transfer belt 7 after being moved through the transfer portion s 2 , by rubbing ( scraping ) the intermediary transfer belt 7 . after the toner image was transferred ( secondary transfer ) onto the recording medium p , while it was conveyed through the transfer portion s 2 , the recording medium p is conveyed to the fixing apparatus 13 , through which the recording medium p is conveyed through the fixing portion s 3 of the fixing apparatus , while remaining pinched between the two rollers of the fixing apparatus 13 . while the recording medium p is conveyed through the fixing portion s 3 , it is subjected to heat and pressure . as a result , the toner image on the recording medium p is welded ( fixed ) to the surface of the recording medium p . an image density sensor 19 detects the density of the toner image on the intermediary transfer belt 7 by measuring the reflected amount of the infrared light which it projects upon the toner image , and then , outputs a signal which reflects the measured density of the toner image to a control portion 110 . a temperature - humidity sensor 103 detects the ambient temperature and humidity of the photosensitive drum 1 and developing apparatus 4 , and outputs signals ( analog voltages ), which reflect the detected values of temperature and humidity , to the control portion 110 . a control panel is in the form of a touch sensitive liquid crystal display . an operator can make the control panel 108 display various information by inputting required information into the control portion 110 through the control panel 108 . referring to fig3 , as well as fig1 , the control portion 110 carries out steps s 14 - s 17 if it is immediately after the pre - rotation ( yes in s 11 ), immediately after the post - rotation ( yes in s 12 ), or immediately after a two hundredth copy was made since the last evaluation of the primary transfer roller 5 , or the like , in nonuniformity in electrical resistance ( yes in s 13 ). the control portion 110 optimizes the transfer portions s 1 and s 2 in transfer efficiency by setting values for the transfer voltage v 1 and transfer voltage v 2 by carrying out an active transfer voltage control ( atvc ) sequence , which will be described later . after the setting of the transfer voltages v 1 and v 2 , the control portion 110 sets the values for the parameters for the formation of an electrostatic image ( s 15 ), and the values for the parameters for the development of the electrostatic latent image ( s 16 ), so that the density level at which a toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 converges to a preset value . after setting the values for the electrostatic image formation parameters and electrostatic latent image development parameters , the control portion 110 calculates the amount ( extent ) of the electrical resistance nonuniformity of the first and second transfer rollers 5 and 11 in terms of their lengthwise direction , by functioning as a calculating portion ( s 17 ). then , the control portion 110 determines whether or not the calculated extent of the electrical resistance nonuniformity of the first and second transfer rollers 5 and 11 is within a tolerable range . if the calculated extent of the electrical resistance uniformity is beyond the tolerable range , the control portion 110 interrupts the image forming operation , and displays across the control panel 108 a message which prompts the operator to replace the unsatisfactory roller ( s ), by functioning as an information outputting means . if it is not immediately after the pre - rotation , immediately after the post - rotation , or immediately after the two hundredth copy has just been made , since the last evaluation of the electrical resistance nonuniformity of the primary transfer roller 5 , or the like ( no in s 13 ), the control portion 110 carries out the image formation ( s 18 ). it is also as soon as the steps s 14 - s 17 are completed , that the control portion 110 carries out the image forming operation ( s 18 ). fig4 is a graph showing the relationship between the transfer current and transfer efficiency . fig5 is a graph showing the changes in the electrical resistance value of the primary transfer roller , which occurred as a substantial number of copies of a solid white image were continuously made , while keeping constant the transfer voltage , and the changes in the electrical resistance of the primary transfer roller , which occurred when a substantial number of copies of a solid black image were continuously made , while keeping constant the transfer voltage . fig6 is a graph showing the relationship between the amount of constant voltage applied to transfer ( primary transfer ) a solid white image , and the amount of the corresponding transfer current , and the relationship between the amount of constant voltage applied to transfer ( primary transfer ) a solid black image , and the amount of the corresponding transfer current . hereafter , in order to avoid a repetition of the same description , only the setting of the constant voltage to be applied to the primary transfer roller 5 will be described . the steps to be taken to set the value for the constant voltage to be applied to the secondary transfer roller 11 are the same as the steps to be taken to set the values for the primary transfer roller 5 . referring to fig4 , as well as fig1 , the transfer efficiency of the transfer portion s 1 is highest when the current density of the primary transfer roller 5 per unit length in terms of the lengthwise direction of the transfer portion s 1 is within a specific range . fig4 , however , shows the relationship between the transfer current and transfer efficiency , in the first embodiment , when the image forming apparatus 100 was operated under a specific condition . in other words , the range in which the current density is highest is affected by the temperature and humidity of the environment in which the image forming apparatus 100 is operated , and the electrical properties of the toner . referring to fig4 , in the left portion of the graph , more specifically , when the transfer current density is below the range above which the transfer efficiency is in the highest range , it is impossible to transfer all the negatively charged toner particles on the photosensitive drum 1 so that a so - called “ weak current white spot ” is liable to occur . in the portion of the graph , more specifically , when the transfer efficiency is also below the range above which the transfer efficiency is in the highest range , an electrical charge is injected into the toner particles , reversing the toner particles in polarity . thus , the toner particles having just been transferred onto the intermediary transfer belt 7 transfer back onto the photosensitive drum 1 from the intermediary transfer belt 7 , in response to the transfer voltage v 1 . that is , a so - called “ strong current white spot ” is liable to occur . next , referring to fig5 , which shows the results of the test in which 100 , 000 copies of a solid white image and 100 , 000 copies of a solid black image were continuously made , while applying + 1 , 500 v of constant voltage to the primary transfer roller 5 , as well as fig1 , the resistance value of the primary transfer roller 5 gradually increased with the increase in the cumulative number of copies made . further , the resistance value of the primary transfer roller 5 increased faster when 100 , 000 copies of a solid white image were continuously made than when the 100 , 000 copies of a solid black image were continuously made . the reason for the occurrence of the phenomenon described above is as follows : when a solid black image is transferred , the electrical resistance value of the transfer portion s 1 is higher by the resistance value of the toner layer , and therefore , the electrical current , which flows through the elastic layer ( 5 b in fig2 ) of the primary transfer roller 5 , is lower in density , than when a solid white image is transferred . when the first solid black image was transferred in the transfer portion s 1 while applying + 1 , 500 v of constant transfer voltage , the current density was 1 . 56 μa , whereas when the first solid white image was transferred in the transfer portion s 1 while applying + 1 , 500 v of constant transfer voltage , the current density was 2 . 34 μa . the primary transfer roller 5 in the first embodiment is made up of a rubber sponge , which is capable of conducting ions . therefore , as electrical current flows through the primary transfer roller 5 , the primary transfer roller 5 becomes nonuniform in ion distribution , increasing thereby in electrical resistance . the rate of this increase in the electrical resistance of the primary transfer roller 5 is greatly affected by the density of the electrical current that flows into the primary transfer roller 5 , and the cumulative amount of electrical current that flows into the primary transfer roller 5 . referring to fig6 , which shows the results of the test in which the amount of the transfer current which flowed through the transfer portion s 1 when a solid white image was transferred by applying 0 - 2 , 200 v of constant voltages to the primary transfer roller 5 , and when a solid black image was transferred by applying 0 - 2 , 200 v of constant voltage to the primary transfer roller 5 , as well as fig1 , the amount of constant voltage necessary to make a given amount of transfer current flow when transferring a solid black image was higher by 200 v - 300 v than the amount of constant voltage necessary to make the same amount of transfer current to flow when transferring a solid white image . the reason for the above - described phenomenon is as follows : when a solid black image is transferred , the electrical resistance value of the transfer portion s 1 is higher , by the amount of the electrical resistance of the toner layer , than when a solid white image is transferred . therefore , in order to make the same amount of electrical current as the amount of current that flows through the transfer portion s 1 when a solid white image is transferred , when a solid black image is transferred in the transfer portion s 1 , the constant voltage to be applied to the primary transfer roller 5 to transfer a solid black image must be higher than the amount of constant voltage to be applied to the primary transfer roller 5 to transfer a solid white image . further , one of the electrical properties of the electrically conductive urethane sponge used as one of the materials for the elastic layer ( 5 b in fig2 ) of the primary transfer roller 5 is that as electrical current continuously flows through the urethane sponge in the same direction , the urethane sponge increases in electrical resistance . therefore , in a case when the transfer voltage applied to the primary transfer roller 5 is kept constant , if the electrical resistance of the primary transfer roller 5 increases , the amount by which electrical current flows into the transfer portion s 1 through the primary transfer roller 5 reduces , making it impossible to maintain the current density at the necessary level shown in fig4 . therefore , during the periods in which no image is formed , the control portion 110 sets the constant transfer voltage v 1 by carrying out the atvc ( active transfer voltage control ) sequence . the periods in which no image is formed are the pre - rotation period , that is , the period in which the image forming apparatus 100 is started up , the post - rotation period , that is , the period from the formation of the last copy to when the image forming apparatus 100 is turned off , and the period right after the image forming operation is suspended , because the cumulative number of copies made since the last setting of the constant voltage by the control portion 110 has reached a preset value . referring to fig5 , which shows the relationship among the cumulative number of copies made and the increase in the electrical resistance of the primary transfer roller 5 , which are the factors involved in the atvc , the resistance value of the primary transfer roller 5 continuously rises even during the continuous formation of two hundred copies . however , as long as the amount of increase in the electrical resistance of the primary transfer roller 5 is roughly equivalent to two hundred copies , it does not occur that the transfer efficiency deviates far enough from the range in which it is highest , to cause a toner image to be unsatisfactorily transferred . the atvc sequence to be carried out by the control portion 110 is as follows : the control portion 110 applies multiple voltages , which are different in magnitude , by controlling the power source d 1 , and measures the amount of the current which flows into the primary transfer roller 5 at each voltage level , through a current detection circuit a 1 . then , the control portion 110 obtains the proper value for the constant voltage to be applied to make a target amount ( 50 μa ) of current flow , based on the data regarding the relationship between the constant voltage applied to the primary transfer roller 5 , and the amount of transfer current caused to flow by the constant voltage . then , the control portion 110 controls the power source d 1 to output to the primary transfer roller 5 a constant voltage of the obtained value . for example , if the amount of transfer current detected when + 1 , 400 v of constant voltage was applied was 45 μa , and the amount of transfer current detected when + 1 , 600 v of constant voltage was applied was 55 μa , the control portion 110 sets the value for the constant voltage to be applied during an image formation , to + 1 , 500 v . then , the control portion 110 selects the target value for the transfer current , which corresponds to the ambient temperature and humidity of the developing apparatus , from one of the tables in a data storage apparatus 109 , based on the output of the temperature - humidity sensor 103 . here , for descriptive convenience , it is assumed that the selected target value for the transfer current , which corresponded to ambient temperature and humidity of 23 ° c . and 50 % rh , respectively , was 50 μa , and the value for the constant voltage to be applied to the primary transfer roller 5 , which corresponded to the target value 50 μa for the transfer current , was set to + 1 , 500 v . the constant voltage , which is to be applied to the secondary transfer roller 11 during an image forming operation , is also set through an atvc sequence , similar to that used for setting the constant voltage to be applied to the primary transfer roller 5 . here , it is assumed that the constant voltage was set to + 300 v to so that 50 μa ( target amount ) of transfer current would flow . after the completion of the atvc sequence , the parameters for electrostatic image formation were set . that is , first , the voltage level for the image area ( dark potential level vd ) was set to roughly + 500 v . then , the light potential level vl ( which corresponds to points of peripheral surface of photosensitive drum 1 , to which no toner is to be adhered , corresponds to solid white areas ) was set to roughly + 200 v . then , the control portion 110 forms on the photosensitive drum 1 an electrostatic latent image , which corresponds to a test patch , using the values set for the electrostatic latent image formation parameters . then , it forms an image of the test patch ( test patch image formed of toner ) on the photosensitive drum 1 by developing the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 1 , using the last set of values for the development parameters . then , it transfers ( primary transfer ) the toner image of the test patch from the photosensitive drum 1 onto the intermediary transfer belt 7 by applying the constant voltage set through the atvc sequence , to the primary transfer roller 5 . then , it measures the density of the toner image of the test patch on the intermediary transfer belt 7 by the image density sensor 19 . next , the control portion 110 adjusts the power source d 4 in output , that is , the dc voltage vdc to be outputted to the development sleeve 4 b by the power source d 4 . more specifically , if the toner image of the test patch was excessively high in density , the control portion 110 reduces the density level at which toner adheres to the photosensitive drum 1 , by reducing the dc voltage vdc , whereas if the toner image of the test patch was excessively low in density , the control portion 110 increases the density level at which toner adheres to the photosensitive drum 1 , by increasing the dc voltage vdc . with the employment of the above - described control , the amount , per unit area , by which toner is deposited on the photosensitive drum 1 , to form a toner image , converges to a preset referential value . therefore , the value of the electrical resistance of the toner layer ( toner image ), per unit length of the toner layer in terms of the lengthwise direction of the transfer portion s 1 , converges to a preset referential value . in the first embodiment , it is assumed that the development voltage vdc to be applied to the development sleeve 4 b was set to + 300 v , and the ac voltage to be applied to the development sleeve 4 b in combination with the development voltage vdc was set to 1 . 2 kvpp in peak - to - peak voltage and 3 khz in frequency . fig7 is a schematic drawing for describing the primary transfer of the test image . fig8 is a flowchart of the control sequence for evaluation of the nonuniformity of the primary transfer roller in electrical resistance . fig9 is a schematic drawing for describing the first measurement ( first detection ) of the transfer current , which uses the first test image g 1 . fig1 is a drawing of the equivalent circuit of the transfer portion s 1 during the first measurement ( first detection ). fig1 is a schematic drawing of the second measurement ( second detection ), in which a test image g 2 is used . fig1 is a drawing of the equivalent circuit of the transfer portion s 1 during the second measurement ( second detection ). referring to fig7 , as well as fig1 , if a substantial number of copies of an image , which is nonuniform in density in terms of the direction parallel to the lengthwise direction of the primary transfer roller 5 , are continuously made by the image forming apparatus 100 , the primary transfer roller 5 gradually becomes nonuniform in electrical resistance in terms of its lengthwise direction . if the nonuniformity continuously grows , some portions of the primary transfer roller 5 are liable to become unsatisfactory in terms of transfer performance . thus , the control portion 110 evaluates the primary transfer roller 5 in terms of its lengthwise nonuniformity in electrical resistance for every two hundred copies formed by the image forming apparatus 100 . then , if it determines that the extent of the nonuniformity is outside the preset range , it prompts a user ( operator ) to replace the unsatisfactory primary transfer roller 5 through the control panel 108 . more specifically , the control portion 110 forms a toner image of the test image g 1 ( fig9 ) and a toner image of the test image g 2 ( fig1 ). the test image g 1 is nonuniform in the amount of toner per unit area ( which , hereafter , may be referred to as a toner deposition amount ), in terms of the direction parallel to the axial line of the primary transfer roller 5 . the test image g 2 is different from the test image g 1 only in the positioning of the solid white area and solid black area . then , it measures the amount of the transfer current , which flows through the transfer portion s 1 when the toner image of the test image g 1 is transferred , and when the toner image of the test image g 2 is transferred . the size of the test image g 1 is the same as a size of an a 4 recording medium . the half of the test image g 1 in terms of the direction parallel to the lengthwise direction of the primary transfer roller 5 is solidly white ( solid white portion gw ), and the other half is solidly black ( solid black portion gb ). the test image g 2 is reverse in toner distribution to the test image g 1 in terms of the direction parallel to the axial line of the primary transfer roller 5 . the amount of toner deposition , which corresponds to the solid white portion gw of the test image g 1 or g 2 , is virtually 0 mg / cm 2 , and that which corresponds to the solid black portion gb of the test image g 1 or g 2 is 0 . 65 mg / cm 2 . in terms of the direction parallel to the moving direction of the intermediary transfer belt 7 , the length of the test image g 1 is 60 mm , and so is that of the test image g 2 , which are greater than the circumference of the primary transfer roller 5 . the test images g 1 and g 2 are opposite in the positioning of the solid white portion and solid black portion . therefore , the impedance of the transfer portion s 2 , while the toner image of the test image g 1 passes through the transfer portion s 2 is equal to that of the transfer portion s 2 , while the toner image of the test image g 2 passes through the transfer portion s 2 . incidentally , it is presumed that two impedances are equal , which means that the difference between the two impedances is no more than ± 1 %. after the adjustment of the toner image density level , the control portion 110 makes the image forming apparatus 100 form the toner image of the test image g 1 and the toner image of the test image g 2 , using the electrostatic image formation parameters and electrostatic image development parameters , which were set immediately before the adjustment . then , the control portion 110 makes the image forming apparatus 100 transfer ( primary transfer ) the developed electrostatic image ( toner image of test image ) by applying to the primary transfer roller 5 the constant voltage which was applied immediately before the adjustment . with the employment of the above - described control , the toner deposition amount is restored to the previous level . that is , the electrical resistance of the toner layer is made the same as that when the primary transfer roller 5 was evaluated the last time in its nonuniformity in electrical resistance . when determining the amount of the transfer current , the amount of transfer current is measured no less than eight times per full rotation of the transfer roller , while rotating the primary transfer roller 5 no less than one full turn . then , the averages of the no less than eight transfer current values , which correspond to the no less than eight measurements , is adopted as the amount of the transfer current , minimizing the errors attributable to the nonuniformity in electrical resistance of the primary transfer roller 5 in terms of its rotational direction . further , the deviation in the output voltage of the power source d 1 is kept below ± 1 . 5 %, keeping thereby the deviation of the transfer current attributable to the deviation of the constant voltage below roughly 1 μa . if the amount of the transfer current , which flowed when the toner image of the test image g 1 was transferred , is the same as that which flowed when the toner image of the test image g 2 was transferred , the control portion 110 determines that the primary transfer roller 5 is uniform in the electrical resistance in terms of its lengthwise direction . referring to fig7 , the toner image of the test image g 1 and the toner image of the test image g 2 are the same in the amount of the electrical resistance measured in terms of the direction parallel to the lengthwise direction of the primary transfer roller 5 , that is , in the sum of the resistance of the portion 5 e and the resistance of the portion 5 f in terms of the direction parallel to the lengthwise direction of the transfer portion s 1 . therefore , as long as the primary transfer roller 5 is not nonuniform in electrical resistance in terms of its lengthwise direction , the amount of the transfer current , which flows when the toner image of the test image g 1 is transferred , is the same as that when the toner image of the test image g 2 is transferred . if the difference in the amount of transfer current , which corresponds to the test image g 1 and that which corresponds to the test image g 2 , is no less than a preset amount , the control portion 110 warns a user ( operator ) that the primary transfer roller 5 is seriously nonuniform in electrical resistance in terms of its lengthwise direction . referring to fig9 , as well as fig1 and 7 , the control portion 110 makes the image forming apparatus 100 form a toner image of the test image g 1 on the photosensitive drum 1 , conveys the formed toner image of the test image g 1 to the transfer portion s 1 , and transfers ( primary transfer ) the toner image onto the intermediary transfer belt 7 in the transfer portion s 1 . while transferring the toner image of the test image g 1 , the control portion 110 makes the current detection circuit a 1 , which is a current amount detecting portion , measure the amount of the transfer current i 1 ( s 23 ). referring to fig1 , in which reference character r 1 stands for the electrical resistance of the portion 5 f of primary transfer roller 5 ; reference character t 1 , the impedance of the solid black portion gb ; reference character r 2 , the electrical resistance of the area 5 e ; and reference character t 2 stands for the impedance of the solid white portion gw , the electrical current , which flows through the portion of the circuit , which is made up of the serially connected resistors r 1 and t 1 , and the electrical current which flows through the portion of the circuit , which is made up of the serially connected resistors r 2 and t 2 , join , creating the transfer current i 1 . further , the control portion 110 makes the image forming apparatus 100 form a toner image of the test image g 2 on the photosensitive drum 1 , conveys the formed toner image of the test image g 2 to the transfer portion s 1 , transfer ( primary transfer ) the toner image onto the intermediary transfer belt 7 in the transfer portion s 1 . while transferring the toner image of the test image g 2 , the control portion 110 makes the current detection circuit a 1 , which is a current amount detecting portion , measure the amount of the transfer current i 2 ( s 24 ). referring to fig1 , the toner image of the test image g 2 is a reverse image to the toner image for the test image g 1 in the positioning of the solid black portion and solid white portion . the electrical resistance of the solid black portion is t 1 , and the electrical resistance of the solid white portion is t 2 . referring to fig1 , the electrical current which flows through the portion of the circuit , which is made up of the serially connected resistors r 1 and resistance t 2 , and the electrical current which flows through the portion of the circuit , which is made up of the serially connected resistance r 2 and resistance t 1 , join , creating thereby the transfer current i 2 . the control portion 110 calculates the values of the resistance r 1 and resistance r 2 , based on the amount of the transfer currents i 1 and i 2 , respectively . then , it obtains the current density distribution of the primary transfer roller 5 in terms of the lengthwise direction of the primary transfer roller 5 ( s 25 ). then , the control portion 110 finds the current density range in which the transfer efficiency ( which was described before with reference to fig4 ) is satisfactorily high , by reading the table in the data storing apparatus 109 . then , it determines whether or not the density of the electrical current , which contributed to the transfer ( primary transfer ) of the solid black portion of the toner image of the test image g by flowing through the black portion , is within the above - mentioned high transfer efficiency range ( s 26 ). if the current density is outside the high transfer efficiency range ( no in s 26 ), the control portion 110 interrupts ( stops ) the image forming operation , and displays a message that prompts a user ( operator ) to replace the primary transfer roller 5 ( s 27 ). the control portion 110 evaluates the secondary transfer roller 11 in lengthwise nonuniformity in electrical resistance by carrying out an operation sequence similar to the operational sequence carried out to evaluate the primary transfer roller 5 . the control portion 110 is capable of functioning as a portion for outputting an information regarding an anomaly . thus , if the current density was outside the high transfer efficiency range , the control portion 110 interrupts ( stops ) the image forming operation , and displays the message that prompts a user ( operator ) to replace the secondary transfer roller 11 . that is , in the case of an image forming apparatus having a display portion , the message is displayed on the display portion . in the case of a printer , or the like , which does not have a display portion , the control portion 110 outputs a visual signal , an acoustic signal , and / or the like . the extent of the nonuniformity of the secondary transfer roller 11 in electrical resistance may be evaluated by obtaining the difference or ratio between the value of the resistance r 1 and the value of the resistance r 2 , and comparing the obtained difference or ratio with the referential values stored in advance in the data storing apparatus 109 . further , the extent of the nonuniformity of the secondary transfer roller 11 in electrical resistance may be evaluated by obtaining the difference or ratio between the value of the transfer current i 1 and the value of the transfer current i 2 , and then , comparing the obtained difference or ratio with the referential values . in other words , the nonuniformity of the primary transfer roller 5 ( or secondary transfer roller 11 ) in electrical resistance can be easily evaluated using a method other than the method used in this embodiment , as long as the method other than that in this embodiment measures both the amount of the transfer voltage , which corresponds to the toner image of a test image , and the amount of the transfer voltage , which corresponds to the toner image of another test image , which is the same in electrical resistance value , but is reverse to the first test image in the positional relationship between the solid white portion and solid black portion . more specifically , in the first measurement , the control portion 110 makes the image bearing member ( 1 , 7 ) bear a toner image of the first test image g 1 , which is nonuniform in the toner deposition amount in terms of the direction parallel to the rotational direction of the image bearing member . then , it measures the amount of the transfer current , which flows through the transfer portion ( s 1 , s 2 ), to which the constant voltage is being applied , while the toner image is moved through the transfer portion , with the use of the current detecting portion ( a 1 , a 2 ). in the second measurement , the control portion 110 makes the image bearing member ( 1 , 7 ) bear a toner image of the second test image g 2 , which is reverse to the first test image g 1 , in the positional relationship , between the solid white portion and the solid black portion , and measures the amount of current ( transfer current ), which flows through the transfer portions ( s 1 , s 2 ), to which the constant voltage is being applied , while the toner image of the second test image g 2 is moved through the transfer station ( s 1 , s 2 ), with the use of the current detecting portion ( a 1 , a 2 ). if the difference between the value of the transfer current detected in the first measurement and that in the second measurement is greater than a preset value , the control portion 110 outputs the message that prompts a user to replace the transferring member ( 5 , 10 , and 11 ). in other words , in order to decide whether or not the nonuniformity of the transferring member in electrical resistance in terms of the lengthwise direction of the transferring member is outside the tolerable range , the control portion 110 relies on the fact that the relationship between the transfer current value obtained in the first measurement and that obtained in the second measurement is affected by the extent of the nonuniformity of the transferring member in electrical resistance in terms of the lengthwise direction of the transferring member . if the nonuniformity is beyond the tolerable range , the control portion 110 outputs a warning . outputting a warning means at least one among stopping the image formation , transmitting a warning signal to an external device , starting up another apparatus , displaying a message , or the like , etc . in the first measurement , the amount of current which flows through the serial combination of the transferring member , is possibly nonuniform in electrical resistance in terms of its lengthwise direction and the toner image of the first test image g 1 , in the transfer portion . thus , if the transferring member is uniform in electrical resistance , the value of the transfer current directly reflects the resistance value of the toner image of the test image g 1 in the transfer portion . in the second measurement , the amount of the current which flows through the combination of the transferring member , which is possibly nonuniform in electrical resistance in terms of its lengthwise direction , and the toner image of the test image g 2 , is detected . thus , if the transferring member is free of nonuniformity in electrical resistance , the value of the transfer current directly reflects the resistance value of the toner image of the test image g 2 . therefore , if the transferring member is free of nonuniformity in electrical resistance , the relationship between the transfer current value detected by the first measurement and the transfer current value detected by the second measurement is such that can be computed based on a simple characteristic , that is , the size , of the toner image of the test image g 1 and the size of the toner image of the test image g 2 . thus , it may be determined that the further the relationship between the transfer current value obtained in the first measurement and the transfer current value obtained in the second measurement from “ their relationship which corresponds to when the transferring member is free of nonuniformity in electrical resistance ”, which is computed based on the size of the toner image of the test image g 1 and the size of the toner image of the test image g 2 , the greater the extent of the nonuniformity of the transferring member in electrical resistance . fig1 is a schematic drawing for describing the equivalent circuit of the primary transfer portion . referring to fig1 , reference character rd stands for the electrical resistance of the photosensitive drum 1 ; reference character ritb , the electrical resistance of the intermediary transfer belt 7 ; reference character rt , the electrical resistance of the toner image ; and reference character rr stands for the electrical resistance of the primary transfer roller 5 . further , reference character t stands for the electrical resistance of the portion of the transfer portion , which excludes the electrical resistance of the primary transfer roller 5 and contributes to the nonuniformity in electrical resistance of the primary transfer portion s 1 . the constant voltage v applied from the power source d 1 causes the transfer current i to flow through the serial circuit made up of the photosensitive drum 1 , toner image , intermediary transfer belt 7 , and primary transfer roller 5 . the value of the transfer current i can be obtained from the following equations : in a case when a substantial number of toner images of the test image g 1 are continuously transferred ( primary transfer ), the portion 5 e of the primary transfer roller 5 continuously transfers the solid white portion of the toner image of the test image g 1 , and the portion 5 f of the primary transfer roller 5 continuously transfers the solid black portion of the toner image . since electrical current flows through the solid white image portion of the toner image by a greater amount than the amount by which it flows through the solid black portion of the toner image , the electrical resistance r 2 of the portion 5 e becomes greater than the electrical resistance r 1 of the portion 5 f , making the primary transfer roller 5 nonuniform in electrical resistance . in reality , it is possible that a minute amount of electrical current c will leak into the toner - free portion of the image . in this embodiment , however , it is assumed that the effects of this minute amount of electrical current c are negligibly small . if a toner image of the test image g 1 is transferred ( primary transfer ) by applying the constant voltage v , the value of the overall resistance r 1 of the transfer portion when the constant voltage v is applied , the value of the transfer current i 1 , which flows through the transfer portion when the constant voltage v is applied , can be obtained by the following equations : i 1 = v / r 1 = v ( t 1 + t 2 + r 1 + r 2 )/{( t 1 + r 2 )( t 2 + r 1 )}. next , referring to fig1 , in the case where a toner image of the test image g 2 is transferred ( primary transfer ) by a constant voltage v , the value of the overall electrical resistance r 2 of the transfer portion to which the constant voltage v is applied , and the value of the transfer current i 2 , which flows through the transfer portion while the constant voltage v is applied thereto , can be obtained from the following equations : i 2 = v / r 2 = v ( t 1 + t 2 + r 1 + r 2 )/{( t 1 + r 2 )( t 2 + r 1 )}. the difference δi between the amount of transfer current i 1 and the amount of the transfer current i 2 can be obtained from the following equation : δ i = i 1 − i 2 = v ( t 1 r 2 + t 2 r 1 − t 1 r 1 − t 2 r 2 )/( r 1 + t 1 + r 2 + t 2 ) ( 1 ) the electrical resistance t 1 and electrical resistance t 2 in equation ( 1 ) are constant , and are stored in advance in the data storing apparatus 109 . when the primary transfer roller 5 is brand - new , it is virtually uniform in electrical resistance in terms of its lengthwise direction . therefore , r 1 ≈ r 2 , and , therefore , δi = 0 . in the above - described case , the primary transfer roller 5 has become nonuniform in electrical resistance in its lengthwise direction ( r 2 & gt ; r 1 ). there is the difference δi ( δi & lt ; 0 ) between the amount of the transfer current i 1 , which corresponds to the test image g 1 , and the amount of the transfer current i 2 which corresponds to the test image g 2 . the overall electrical resistance r 5 of the primary transfer roller 5 can be obtained from the following equation : substituting equation ( 2 ) for r 5 in equation ( 1 ) yields the following equation : δ i = v ( t 1 − t 2 ){( r 5 − r 2 )( t 1 + t 2 + r 2 )+ r 2 r 5 }{ r 2 r 5 − r 2 ( r 5 − r 2 )}/[( t 2 + r 2 )( t 1 + r 2 ){ t 1 ( r 5 − r 2 )+ r 2 r 5 }{ r 2 r 5 + t 2 ( r 5 − r 2 )}]. ( 3 ) the value of the electrical resistance r 5 can be obtained from an equation ( r 5 = v / i 5 ) by detecting the amount of the transfer current i 5 , which flows when transferring ( primary transfer ) a solid white image by applying the constant voltage v , the value of which is set through the atvc sequence carried out immediately before the transfer . the values of the difference δi (= i 1 − i 2 ), t 1 , and t 2 are known . therefore , the value of the electrical resistance r 2 can be computed . thus , the value of the electrical resistance r 1 can be calculated using equation ( 2 ), which shows the relationship among the resistance r 1 , resistance r 2 , and resistance r 5 (= 1 /( 1 / r 1 + 1 / r 2 )). with the value of the electrical resistance r 1 and the value of the electrical resistance r 2 known , the amount of the current which contributes to the toner image transfer by flowing through the solid black portion , the portion of the primary transfer roller 5 , the electrical resistance of which is r 1 , and the portion of the primary transfer roller 5 , the electrical resistance of which is r 2 , while the constant voltage v is applied , can be calculated . therefore , the current densities im 1 and im 2 , which correspond to the solid black portion of the test image g 1 and the solid black portion of the test image g 2 , respectively , can be calculated . thus , the point in time at which the primary transfer roller 5 is to be replaced is determined by obtaining the current densities im 1 and im 2 , which correspond to the solid black portion of the test image g 1 and the solid black portion of the test image g 2 , respectively , with the use of the above - described method . the nonuniformity of the secondary transfer roller 11 in electrical resistance in terms of its lengthwise direction is also evaluated by obtaining the current densities , which correspond to the solid black portion of the test image g 1 and the solid black portion of the test image g 2 , using a sequence similar to that used to evaluate the primary transfer roller 5 . fig1 is a graph for describing the unsatisfactory transfer which occurred as a large number of toner images of the test image g 1 or g 2 were continuously made . referring to fig1 , as well as to fig7 , a test in which 5 , 000 copies ( toner images ) of the test image g 1 were continuously made was carried out . during the test , the portion 5 e of the primary transfer roller 5 , which corresponded to the solid white portion gw of the test image g 1 became higher in electrical resistance than the portion 5 f of the primary transfer roller 5 , which corresponded to the solid black portion gb of the test image g 1 , by an amount equivalent to the cumulative difference between the amount of the transfer current which flowed through the portion 5 f , that is , the portion corresponding to the solid black portion gb , and the amount of the transfer current which flowed through the portion 5 e , that is , the portion corresponding to the solid white portion gw . as described above , the primary transfer roller 5 has a property that , as electrical current flows through the primary transfer roller 5 in a specific direction , it increases in electrical resistance by the amount corresponding to the cumulative amount of the electrical current . further , the electrical current , which flows through the transfer portion s 1 , flows more through the portion of the transfer portion s 1 , which corresponds to the solid white portion gw , which is lower in electrical resistance than the solid black portion gb , than through the portion of the transfer portion s 1 , which corresponds to the solid black portion gb . therefore , even if it is ensured by the atvc sequence that the total amount by which the transfer current flows through the primary transfer roller 5 is constant at 50 μa , the difference in electrical resistance between the portion 5 e , by which the solid white portions gw are continuously transferred , and the portion 5 f , by which the solid black portions gb are continuously transferred , gradually increases , eventually making the primary transfer roller 5 significantly nonuniform in electrical resistance in terms of its lengthwise direction . therefore , the density ( a / cm ) of the electrical current c , which flows at the time of the primary transfer of the portion of the toner image of the test image g 1 , which corresponds to the solid black portion of the test image g 1 , is different from the density ( a / cm ) of the electrical current c , which flows at the time of the primary transfer of the portion of the toner image of the test image g 2 , which corresponds to the solid black portion of the test image g 2 . during the pre - rotation step , which was carried out immediately before the starting of an image forming operation for continuously making a large number of copies , the primary transfer roller 5 was evaluated regarding its lengthwise nonuniformity in electrical resistance . then , during the image forming operation , the primary transfer roller 5 was evaluated regarding its lengthwise nonuniformity in electrical resistance , for every two hundredth copy . each time the primary transfer roller 5 was evaluated regarding the lengthwise nonuniformity in electrical resistance , the atvc sequence was carried out to reset the constant voltage to a specific value , which made the overall amount by which the transfer current flowed through the primary transfer roller 5 be 50 μa . referring to fig1 , in the first embodiment , the unsatisfactory transfer , which is referred to as a “ weak current white spot ” occurred when the current density ib was no more than 2 . 14 μa / cm , and the unsatisfactory transfer , which is referred to as a “ strong current white spot ” occurred when the current density ib was no less than 2 . 76 μa . therefore , as long as the current density ib was in the range between 2 . 14 μa / cm and 2 . 76 μa / cm ( 2 . 14 μa / cm & lt ; ib & lt ; 2 . 76 μa / cm ), the control portion 110 ( fig1 ) allowed the image forming apparatus 100 to carry out ( continue ) the image forming operation . however , when the current density ib was outside the above - mentioned range , the control portion 110 interrupted the image forming operation , and displayed a message that prompts a user to replace the primary transfer roller 5 . after the completion of the first atvc sequence , a solid white image was formed while applying + 1 , 500 of constant voltage . the amount of the transfer current , which was detected during this image forming operation , was 75 μa . thus , when there was no toner image in the transfer portion s 1 , the calculated impedance of the transfer portion s 1 was 2 × 10 7 ω . this impedance was the sum of the impedance of the photosensitive drum 1 , the impedance of the intermediary transfer belt 7 , and the impedance of the primary transfer roller 5 , which made up the transfer portion s 1 . further , the initial electrical resistance of the primary transfer roller 5 itself was 1 × 10 7 ω . therefore , the sum ( 2 × t 2 ) of the impedance of the photosensitive drum 1 and the impedance of the intermediary transfer belt 7 was 1 × 10 7 ω . on the other hand , when the amount of the transfer current was detected while a solid black image were transferred , the sum ( 2 × t 1 ) of the impedance of the photosensitive drum 1 , the impedance of the intermediary transfer belt 7 , and the impedance of the toner image , was 2 × 10 7 ω . this operation sequence was intended to obtain the impedances t 1 and t 2 , which corresponded to the image portion ( portion of image , which is made up of toner ) and a non - image portion ( portion of image , which is free of toner ). thus , the value of the impedance t 1 and the value of the impedance t 2 were obtained by carrying out the operational sequence during the pre - rotation period , which was immediately before the first image was formed by the image forming apparatus 100 . thereafter , before starting an image forming operation in which a large number of copies were continuously made , the amount of the transfer current i 1 and the amount of the transfer current i 2 were measured , while forming a toner image of the test image g 1 ( fig1 ) and a toner image of the test image g 2 ( fig1 ). the amount of the transfer current i 1 and the amount of the transfer current i 2 were both roughly 62 . 5 μa . in other words , the current amount difference δi calculated using equation ( 1 ) was zero , confirming that the primary transfer roller 5 was virtually free of nonuniformity in electrical resistance in terms of its lengthwise direction . thereafter , an operation for continuously forming two hundred copies of the test image g 1 was started , and two hundred toner images of the test image g 1 were continuously transferred ( primary transfer ) onto the intermediary transfer belt 7 in the transfer portion s 1 to which the constant voltage of + 1 , 500 v was being applied . after two hundred copies of the test image g 1 were outputted , the atvc sequence was carried out . as a result , the constant voltage was set to + 1 , 530 v , which was higher by 30 v than the preceding constant voltage value . after the completion of the adjustment regarding the toner image density , a toner image of the test image g 1 and a toner image of the test image g 2 were formed while applying the constant voltage of + 1 , 530 v and measuring the amount of the transfer current i 1 and the amount of the transfer current i 2 , in order to evaluate the lengthwise nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 . the difference δi between the amount of the transfer current i 1 and the amount of the transfer current i 2 was roughly 0 . 2 μa . then , the value of the electrical resistance r 1 of the primary transfer roller 5 and the value of the electrical resistance r 2 of the primary transfer roller 5 were obtained based on the obtained value of the difference δi . then , the value of the current density ib 1 and the value of the current density ib 2 were calculated . the calculated value of the current density ib 1 , which corresponded to the solid black portion of the test image g 1 , was 2 . 39 μa / cm , and the calculated value of the current density ib 2 , which corresponds to the solid black portion of the test image g 2 was 2 . 37 μa / cm . in other words , the current densities ib 1 and ib 2 are both higher than 2 . 14 μa / cm and lower than 2 . 76 μa / cm ( 2 . 14 μa / cm & lt ; ib & lt ; 2 . 76 μa / cm ). thus , the operation for forming a two hundred first toner image of the test image g 1 and the rest of the interrupted image forming operation was restarted . the image forming operation in which a large number of copies of the test image g 1 were continuously made and in which the primary transfer roller 5 was evaluated for every two hundredth copy , was carried out , was interrupted after roughly 30 , 000 copies were made , and a message that prompts a user to replace the primary transfer roller 5 was displayed . then , the constant voltage was set to + 1 , 985 v through the atvc sequence . then , the amount of the transfer current i 1 and the amount of the transfer current i 2 were measured while applying a constant voltage of + 1 , 985 v . the difference δi between the transfer current i 1 and transfer current i 2 had increased to 4 . 0 μa . as described above , the deviation of the amount of the transfer current , which is attributable to the deviation of the constant voltage , was roughly 1 μa . therefore , the current amount difference δi of 4 . 0 μa was a reliable value . from the results of the test , which was carried out to measure the amount of transfer current while applying the constant voltage of 1 , 985 v after the atvc sequence , the electrical resistance r 5 of the primary transfer roller 5 measure after roughly 30 , 000 copies were made was 3 . 97 × 10 7 ω . the value of the impedance t 1 , which corresponded to the solid black portion of the test image g 1 and was obtained first , was 4 × 10 7 ω , and the value of the impedance t 2 , which corresponds to the solid white portion of the test image g 1 , were 2 × 10 7 ω . substituting these values for the parameters in equations ( 3 ) and ( 4 ), the calculated value of the electrical resistance r 1 and that of the resistance r 2 were 3 . 2 × 10 7 ω and 4 . 85 × 10 7 ω , respectively . thus , the current density ib 1 , which corresponded to the solid black portion of the test image g 1 was 2 . 60 μa / cm , which was greater than 2 . 14 μa / cm and less than 2 . 76 μa / cm ( 2 . 14 μa / cm & lt ; ib & lt ; 2 . 76 μa / cm ). however , the current density ib 2 , which corresponds to the solid black portion of the test image g 2 , was 2 . 14 μa / cm , which was smaller than the smallest value in the proper range ( 2 . 14 μa / cm & lt ; ib & lt ; 2 . 76 μa / cm ). next , a toner image of the test image g 2 was formed by forcefully restarting the interrupted image forming operation . the obtained copy confirmed that the so - called “ weak current white spot ” ( unsatisfactory transfer attributable to unsatisfactory amount of transfer current ) had occurred to the portion of the toner image , which corresponded to the solid black portion of the test image g 2 , confirming that the judgment made by the control portion 110 was correct . incidentally , in this embodiment , in consideration of measurement errors , if the difference δi is no less than 3 . 5 μa , it is determined that the extent of the lengthwise nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 in its lengthwise direction has reached the level which will result in the formation of an unsatisfactory image . referring to fig1 , as well as to fig7 , regardless of the increase in the cumulative number by which toner images of the test image g 1 were made , it is ensured by the atvc that the average value of the overall electrical resistance of the primary transfer roller 5 remains constant at 2 . 4 μa / cm . however , the portion 5 e of the primary transfer roller 5 , which transfers ( primary transfer ) the portion of the toner image , which corresponds to the solid white portion gw , is greater than the portion 5 f of the primary transfer roller 5 , which transfers the portion of the toner image , which corresponds to the solid black portion gb of the test image g 1 , in the speed at which their electrical resistance increases . therefore , the current density , which corresponds to the portion 5 e , which transfers ( primary transfer ) the solid black portion when a toner image of the test image g 2 is transferred ( primary transfer ), is made smaller than the current density , which corresponds to the portion 5 f , which transfers the solid black portion gb when a toner image of the test image g 1 is transferred . further , the amount of difference between the current density , which corresponds to the solid black portion the when the test image g 1 is transferred ( primary transfer ) and the current density , which corresponds to the solid black portion when the test image g 2 is transferred ( primary transfer ), gradually increases with the increase in the cumulative number of the copies , which are continuously made . thus , as a large number of toner images of the test image g 1 are continuously transferred ( primary transfer ) by the primary transfer roller 5 , it becomes impossible for a sufficient amount of transfer current to flow through the portion 5 e of the primary transfer roller 5 , which corresponds to the solid white portion gw of the test image g 1 , and , therefore , the amount by which the toner fails to be transferred from the photosensitive drum 1 increases . that is , the so - called “ weak current white spot ” is liable to occur . on the other hand , as a large number of toner images of the test image g 2 are continuously transferred ( primary transfer ), an excessive amount of transfer current flows through the portion 5 f , and , therefore , the toner particles , which come into contact with the portion 5 f are reversed in polarity , being thereby transferred back onto the photosensitive drum 1 . that is , the so - called “ strong current white spot ” is liable to occur . incidentally , in the past , the point in time at which the primary transfer roller 5 is to be replaced was determined based on the overall electrical resistance of the primary transfer roller 5 . further , the upper limit for the electrical resistance r 5 was set according to the maximum output value of the power source d 1 . in the case of the image forming apparatus 100 in this embodiment , when the value of the constant voltage exceeded 5 kv , a defective image , more specifically , an image suffering from the white spots attributable to excessively high voltage was formed . therefore , it did not occur that the upper limit of the constant voltage is set to a value greater than 5 kv . however , replacing the primary transfer roller 5 as the value of the constant voltage exceeds 5 kv does not solve the problem that a large number of the same or similar copies are continuously made , the primary transfer roller 5 gradually becomes nonuniform in electrical resistance , which results in unsatisfactory transfer . further , the method , which relies on the overall current density of the transfer portion s 1 to control the point in time at which the primary transfer roller 5 is to be replaced , also cannot solve the problem that as a substantial number of the same or similar copies are continuously made , the primary transfer roller 5 gradually becomes nonuniform in electrical resistance , which results in unsatisfactory transfer . referring to fig1 , even if the overall current density of the transfer portion s 1 is kept constant by the atvc , regardless of the changes in the electrical resistance value of the primary transfer roller 5 , it is still possible that a part or parts of the primary transfer roller 5 fail to satisfactorily transfer the toner particles . that is , even if the atvc sequence is executed using a solid black toner image , so that the center value of the current density i will become 2 . 38 μa / cm , a part or parts of the primary transfer roller 5 may fail to satisfactorily transfer the toner particles because of the lengthwise nonuniformity of the primary transfer roller 5 in electrical resistance . therefore , regardless of which of the methods described above was employed , it was necessary that as soon as a part or parts of the primary transfer roller 5 actually failed to satisfactorily transfer the toner particles , whether or not the primary transfer roller 5 was to be replaced was determined by an expert to replace the primary transfer roller 5 before the value of the constant voltage reached 5 kv . in comparison , in the first embodiment , the primary transfer roller 5 , which is an example of a transferring member , forms the transfer portion s 1 , which is an example of a transfer portion , by being pressed against the photosensitive drum 1 , which is an example of an image bearing member , with the intermediary transfer belt 7 , which is an example of a transfer medium , placed between the primary transfer roller 5 and photosensitive drum 1 . the power source d 1 , which is an example of an electrical power supplying means , transfers a toner image from the photosensitive drum 1 , which is an example of an image bearing member , onto the intermediary transfer belt 7 , which is an example of a transfer medium , by applying transfer voltage to the transfer portion s 1 , which is an example of a transfer portion . the current detection circuit a 1 , which is an example of a current amount detecting means , detects the amount of the electrical current c , which flows through the transfer portion s 1 , which is an example of a transfer portion , while the transfer voltage is applied thereto . in step s 23 , which is an example of a first transfer current amount measuring step , the amount of transfer current is measured using a toner image of the test image g 1 , which is an example of an image which is made up of a solid white portion gw and a solid black portion gb , that is , an image which is extremely nonuniform in density . in step s 24 , which is an example of a second transfer current amount measuring step , the amount of transfer current is measured using a toner image of the test image g 2 , which is an example of an image , which is different from the test image g 1 only in the density distribution . the control portion 110 determines whether or not the extent of the lengthwise nonuniformity in electrical resistance of the primary transfer roller 5 has exceeded the tolerable range , based on the results from step s 23 , which is an example of the first transfer current measurement , and the results from step s 24 , which is an example of the second transfer current measurement . then , if it determines that the measured extent of the lengthwise nonuniformity of the primary transfer roller 5 in electrical resistance has exceeded the tolerable range , it outputs a warning signal . outputting a warning signal means at least one among transmitting a warning signal to an external device , displaying some warning message ( sign ), or the like , etc . in other words , the control portion 110 generates a message that concerns ( at least resultantly ) the possibility that the unsatisfactory transfer attributable to the lengthwise nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 , which is an example of a transferring member , may occur , based on the results from steps s 23 and s 24 , in which the amount of transfer current was measured . further , the control portion 110 is capable of issuing a warning signal , a warning message , a simple electrical signal , or an evaluation report , which are examples of an output which shows the result of the evaluation , by accessing the referential values or data base in the data storing apparatus 109 , and carrying out various computational processes . further , the control portion 110 outputs a message that recommends , requests , or demands a user to replace the transfer roller , and / or outputs an evaluation report , so that the primary transfer roller 5 will be resultantly replaced . therefore , while the value of the constant voltage is as low as + 1 , 985 v , which is significantly lower than + 5 , 000 v , the control portion 110 is capable of predicting the occurrence of the problem that a part or parts of the primary transfer roller 5 fail to satisfactorily transfer the toner particles , and outputting a message that requests a user to replace the primary transfer roller 5 . therefore , it is possible to prevent all types of the unsatisfactory toner particle transfers which will possibly occur before the value for the constant voltage will have to be set to + 5 , 000 v while roughly 30 , 000 copies will be outputted . fig1 is a flowchart of the control sequence for evaluating the nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller in the second embodiment of the present invention . fig1 is a schematic drawing for describing the transfer current amount measuring first step , which uses a test image g 3 . fig1 is a schematic drawing for describing the transfer current amount measuring second step , in which a test image g 4 is used . except for a part of the control sequence for evaluating the lengthwise nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 , the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment . therefore , the structural components and portions thereof , the portions of a test image , the control sequence steps , etc ., in fig1 - 17 , which are the same as the counterparts in fig1 - 4 , are given the same referential symbols as those given to the counterparts in the fig1 - 4 , one for one , and will not be described , to avoid repeating the same descriptions . referring back to fig1 , the control portion 110 detects an image , the copy of which will be continuously made by a large number , based on the output of a video counter 104 . then , it creates , by computation , a test image g 3 , which accurately reflects the above - mentioned image , and a test image g 4 , which is reverse in the positioning of the solid black portion and solid white portion . then , the control portion 110 carries out a primary transfer roller evaluation sequence , which is similar to that in the first embodiment , using the test images g 3 and g 4 . the video counter 104 obtains the image density distribution ( in terms of the direction parallel to the direction of the primary scanning line ) of an image to be formed ( copied ), by processing the image data of the received job . more specifically , it obtains the image density distribution of each portion of the image , which corresponds to each of the primary scanning lines . then , it adds up all the image density distributions obtained through the above - described processes . thus , the final image density distribution is the sum of all the image density distributions , which correspond to all the scanning lines , one for one . the image density was calculated per one centimeter in terms of the direction parallel to the primary scanning lines . the video counter 104 obtains the image density distribution in the direction parallel to the primary scan lines , for every image which the image forming apparatus forms . then , it adds up all the image density distributions it obtained since the last evaluation , and outputs to the control portion 110 , the data for identifying the toner image deviation on the photosensitive drum 1 . referring to fig1 , as well as to fig1 , the control portion 110 obtains the cumulative data from the video counter 104 ( s 21 ). referring to fig1 , the control portion 110 creates the test image g 3 , which is made up of a single solid black portion and two solid white portions . the positioning of the solid black portion corresponds to the high value ranges of the density distribution derived from the cumulative data . referring to fig1 , the control portion 110 creates the test image g 4 , which is made up of two solid black portions and a single solid white portion . it is a reverse image of the test image g 3 in terms of the positioning of the solid white portion and solid black portion ( s 22 ). as with the relationship between the test images g 1 and g 2 in the first embodiment , the test images g 3 and g 4 are created so that they are the same in the sum of the overall length of the solid black portion and overall length of the solid white portion in terms of the direction parallel to the lengthwise direction of the primary transfer roller 5 . therefore , the test images g 3 and g 4 are equal in electrical resistance value . the control portion 110 creates a pair of test images . one of the test images is made up of a single solid black portion , and two identical solid white portions , which are half in length in terms of the direction parallel to the lengthwise direction of the primary transfer roller ( transfer portion ). the other test image is made up of two identical solid black portions , and a single solid white portion , which is twice the solid black portion in length . thus , the sum of the solid black portions , which correspond to the high density portions of the image , the cumulative data of which was detected by the video counter 104 , is equal to the sum of the solid black portions , which corresponds to the low density portions of the image , the cumulative data of which was detected by the video counter 104 . thus , in a case where multiple copies of the test image g 3 were continuously made , the control portion 110 evaluates the lengthwise nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 by forming a toner image of the test image g 3 and a toner image of the test image g 4 . needless to say , in a case where multiple copies of the test image g 1 were continuously made , a toner image of the test image g 1 and a toner image of the test image g 2 are automatically made through the same process . the control portion 110 forms a toner image of the test image g 1 on the photosensitive drum 1 , conveys the image to the transfer portion s 1 , and transfers ( primary transfer ) the image onto the intermediary transfer belt 7 in the transfer portion s 1 . further , it measures the amount of transfer current i 1 by the current detection circuit , while transferring the image ( s 23 ). next , the control portion 110 forms a toner image of the test image g 2 on the photosensitive drum 1 , conveys the image to the transfer portion s 1 , and transfers ( primary transfer ) the image onto the intermediary transfer belt 7 in the transfer portion s 1 . further , it measures the amount of the transfer current i 2 by the current detection circuit a 1 , while transferring the image ( s 24 ). then , the control portion 110 calculates the value of the electrical resistance r 1 ( resistance of low resistance portion of transfer roller ) and the value of the electrical resistance r 2 ( resistance of high resistance portion of transfer roller ), based on the value of the transfer current i 1 and the value of the transfer current i 2 . then , it obtains the current density distribution in terms of the direction parallel to the lengthwise direction of the primary transfer roller 5 ( s 25 ). then , the control portion 110 accesses the data storing apparatus 109 and reads the ranges in which the transfer efficiency is high , as it was described with reference to fig4 , and determines whether or not the value of the density of the current which flowed through the portions of the primary transfer roller 5 , which corresponded to the solid black portions to transfer ( primary transfer ) the toner particles , is in the high transfer efficiency range ( s 26 ). if the current density is outside the high transfer efficiency range ( no in s 26 ), the control portion 110 interrupts the image forming operation or prohibits the continuation of the image forming operation , and displays a message that prompts a user to replace the primary transfer roller 5 ( s 27 ). the control portion 110 also evaluates the secondary transfer roller 11 using an evaluation sequence similar to that used for evaluating the primary transfer roller 5 . if the obtained current density is outside the high transfer efficiency range , it interrupts the image forming operation or prohibits the continuation of the image forming apparatus , and displays a message that prompts a user to replace the secondary transfer roller 11 . incidentally , the nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the transfer rollers 5 and 11 may be evaluated by obtaining the ratio between the value of the transfer current i 1 and transfer current i 2 , and comparing the obtained ratio with the referential values ( data ) stored in advance in the data storage apparatus 109 . either way , as long as two toner images , which are the same in overall resistance value , but are reverse in terms of the positioning of their solid black portions and solid white portions , are used , and both the amount of transfer current which flows when one of the toner images is transferred , and the amount of transfer current which flows when the other toner image is transferred , are measured , a method other than the one used in this embodiment , which makes it possible to easily evaluate the nonuniformity , electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 ( or secondary transfer roller 11 ), may be used . fig1 ( a ) and 18 ( b ) are schematic drawings for describing the first measurement of the transfer current , in which the test image g 1 is used . fig1 ( a ) and 19 ( b ) are schematic drawings for describing the second measurement of the transfer current , in which the test image g 2 is used . fig2 ( a ) and 20 ( b ) are schematic drawings for describing the first measurement of the transfer current , in which the test image g 3 is used . fig2 ( a ) and 21 ( b ) are schematic drawings for describing the second measurement of the transfer current , in which the test image g 4 is used . of fig1 ( a )- 21 ( b ), the drawing referenced by ( a ) is a test image , and the drawing referenced by ( b ) is an equivalent circuit of the transfer portion . referring to fig1 , the test image g 3 is made up of a single solid black portion and two solid white portions equal in length ( size ). the solid black portion occupies the center portion of the image . its size is equivalent to 50 % of the size of the test image g 3 . the two solid white portions sandwich the solid black portion . their size is equivalent to 25 % of the size of the test image g 3 . 50 , 000 copies of the test image g 3 were continuously made in an ambience which was 23 ° c . in temperature , and 50 % rh in humidity . then , the lengthwise nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 was evaluated using a method similar to that used in the first embodiment , in which a toner image of the test image g 1 and a toner image of the test image g 2 were used , and the atvc sequence was carried out for every two hundred copies . in the case of the first embodiment , the control portion 110 interrupted the image forming operation , and displayed a message that prompted a user to replace the primary transfer roller 5 , when the cumulative count of the copies made reached roughly 30 , 000 . in the case of this embodiment , however , the message that prompts a user to replace the primary transfer roller 5 was not displayed even after the cumulative count of the copies made exceeded 31 , 000 . further , the examination of the copies of the test images g 1 and g 2 formed for the evaluation of the nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 , which was carried out immediately after the completion of the 30 , 000th copy , revealed that the unsatisfactory transfer had already begun . that is , the portion of the primary transfer roller 5 , which continuously transferred the solid white portions , had increased in electrical resistance . therefore , the unsatisfactory transfer ( under current white spots ) had occurred to the portion of the toner image , which corresponded in position to the solid black portion of the test image g 1 and the portion of the toner image , which corresponded in position to the solid black portion of the test image g 2 . the value to which the constant voltage was set through the atvc sequence , which was carried out immediately after the completion of the 30 , 000th copy , was + 1 , 985 v , as it was set in the first embodiment . however , the difference δi between the amount of the transfer current i 1 , which was measured when the test image g 1 was used , and the amount of the transfer current i 2 , which was measured when the test image g 2 was used , was virtually 0 μa . therefore , the control portion 110 determined that the electrical resistance r 1 and electrical resistance r 2 of the primary transfer roller 5 were equal in value . the center portion of the test image g 3 is solid black , which is high in impedance t 1 , whereas the two lateral portions of the test image g 3 are solid white , being relatively low in impedance t 2 . therefore , the portions of transfer portion s 1 , which correspond to the solid white portions of the test image g 3 , one for one , are higher in current density than the portion of the transfer portion s 1 , which corresponds to the solid black portion of the test image g 3 . thus , the electrical resistance r 2 , which corresponds to the lateral portions of the primary transfer roller 5 , that is , the portions which continuously transferred the solid white portions of the toner image , are higher in value than the electrical resistance r 1 , which corresponds to the center portion of the toner image . referring to fig1 ( b ), there is the following relationship between the overall impedance r 1 ′ of the test image g 1 and the total amount of electrical current i 1 ′, which flows through the test image g 1 when the constant voltage v is applied : referring to fig1 ( b ), there is the following relationship between the overall impedance r 2 ′ of the test image g 2 and the total amount of electrical current i 2 ′, which flows through the test image g 2 when the constant voltage v is applied : therefore , the amount of the difference δi (= i 2 ′− i 1 ′) is 0 : therefore , at least in the case where multiple copies of the test image g 3 are continuously made , the control sequence in the first embodiment , which uses the test images g 1 and g 2 , cannot accurately detect the lengthwise nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 . referring to fig2 ( b ), there is the following relationship between the overall impedance r 3 ′ of the test image g 3 and the total amount of electrical current i 3 ′, which flows through the test image g 3 when the constant voltage v is applied : referring to fig2 ( b ), there is the following relationship between the overall impedance r 4 ′ of the test image g 4 and the total amount of electrical current i 4 ′, which flows through the test image g 4 when the constant voltage v is applied : the amount of the difference δi between the amount of the transfer current which flows when the test image g 3 is used , and the amount of the transfer current which flows when the test image g 4 is used can be obtained from the following equation : δ i = i 4 ′− i 3 ′= 2 v ({ 1 /( r 2 + t 1 )+ 1 /( r 1 + t 2 )− 1 /( r 1 + t 1 )− 1 /( r 2 + t 2 )} ( 5 ). because of the difference between the solid white portion and solid black portion , t 1 ≠ t 2 . after the operation in which multiple copies were continuously made , the primary transfer roller 5 is nonuniform in electrical resistance . therefore , r 1 ≠ r 2 . therefore , the transfer current difference is not zero : δi ≠ 0 . therefore , the control portion 110 can accurately evaluate the lengthwise nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 , by measuring the amount of difference δi obtained using the test images g 3 and g 4 , as it was capable in the first embodiment , using the test images g 1 and g 2 . the lengthwise nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 was evaluated for every two hundred copies , using the test images g 3 and g 4 . after the production of 30 , 000 copies of the test image g 3 , the constant voltage was set to + 1 , 985 v by the atvc sequence . then , the amount of the transfer current i 3 ′ was measured by making a toner image of the test image g 3 , and the amount of the transfer current i 4 ′ was measured by making a toner image of the test image g 4 . the difference δi between the amount of the transfer current i 4 ′ and the amount of the transfer current i 3 ′ was 4 . 0 μa . then , the density of the current which flowed through the portion of the transfer portion s 1 , which corresponds to the solid black portion of the test image g 3 , and the density of the current which flowed through the portion of the transfer portion s 1 , which corresponds to the solid black portion of the test image g 4 were calculated using the same procedure as was used in the first embodiment . the amount of the current which flowed through the portion of the transfer portion s 1 , which corresponded to the solid black portion of the test image g 3 was 2 . 6 μa / cm . however , the amount of transfer current which flowed through the transfer portion s 1 , which corresponded to the solid black portion of the test image g 4 was 2 . 14 μa / cm , which was insufficient . thus , the control portion 110 stopped the image forming operation after the completion of roughly 30 , 000 copies . then , it displayed the message that prompts a user to replace the primary transfer roller 5 . fig2 is a drawing of the test images in the third embodiment . except for a part of the control sequence for evaluating the lengthwise nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 , the third embodiment is the same as the first embodiment . referring to fig2 , as well as to fig1 , the control portion 110 evaluates the lengthwise nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 using four different test images g 5 a , g 5 b , g 5 c , and g 5 d . the four test images g 5 a , g 5 b , g 5 c , and g 5 d are the same in size , and are made up of a combination of a solid black portion and a solid white portion , or a combination of a solid black portion and two solid white portions . in terms of the lengthwise direction of the test images , the solid black portion of each test image g occupies ¼ of the test image . the four test images are different in the position of the solid black portion in terms of the lengthwise direction of the test image ; as seen from the direction perpendicular to the lengthwise direction of the transfer roller , the four solid black portions are staggered from the adjacent ones by a length equal to the length of each solid black portion . after the completion of the atvc sequence , and adjustment of the image forming apparatus in the density level , the control portion 110 measures the amount of the transfer current i 5 a , the amount of the transfer current i 5 b , the amount of the transfer current i 5 c , and the amount of the transfer current i 5 d , by making a toner image of the test images g 5 a , a toner image of the test images g 5 b , a toner image of the test images g 5 c , and a toner image of the test images g 5 d . if the transfer currents i 5 a , i 5 b , i 5 c , and i 5 d are the same in value , the control portion 110 determines that the primary transfer roller 5 is not nonuniform in electrical resistance in terms of its lengthwise direction . the test images g 5 a , g 5 b , g 5 c , and g 5 d are the same in electrical resistance value . therefore , as long as the primary transfer roller 5 is not nonuniform in electrical resistance in its lengthwise direction , the transfer currents i 5 a , i 5 b , i 5 c , and i 5 d are equal in value . however , when the transfer currents i 5 a , i 5 b , i 5 c , and i 5 d are not equal in value , the control portion 110 calculates the difference δi between the highest transfer current value and lowest transfer current value , and compares the amount of the difference δi with a preset threshold value β . then , if δi & gt ; β , the control portion 110 stops the image forming operation , and displays the message that prompts a user to replace the primary transfer roller 5 . fig2 is a flowchart of the control sequence , in the fourth embodiment , for evaluating the nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 . except for a part of the control sequence for evaluating the lengthwise nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 , the fourth embodiment is the same as the first embodiment . thus , the structural components and portions thereof , the portions of images , the control sequence steps , etc ., in fig2 , which are the same as the counterparts in fig8 , are given the same referential symbols as those given to the counterparts in the fig8 , one for one , and will not be described again , to avoid repeating the same description . referring to fig2 , as well as to fig1 , the control portion 110 forms a toner image of the test image g 1 on the photosensitive drum 1 , and measures the amount of the transfer current i 1 ( s 23 ). then , it forms a toner image of the test image g 2 on the photosensitive drum 1 , and measures the amount of the transfer current i 2 ( s 24 ). then , the control portion 110 calculates the amount of the electrical resistance r 1 and the amount of electrical resistance r 2 from the transfer currents i 1 and i 2 , respectively , and the value of the current density which corresponds to the solid black portion of the test image g 1 , and the value of the current density which corresponds to the solid black portion of the test image g 2 ( s 25 ). if both the value of the current density corresponding to the solid black portion of the test image g 1 and the value of the current density corresponding to the solid black portion of the test image g 2 are within the high transfer efficiency range ( yes in s 26 ), it permits the continuation of the rest of the interrupted image forming operation . however , if at least one of the value of the transfer current density , which corresponds to the solid black portion of the test image g 1 , and the value of the transfer current density , which corresponds to the solid black portion of the test image g 2 , is outside the high transfer efficiency range ( no in s 26 ), the control portion 110 reads the data regarding the density distribution of the images to be formed thereafter , using the video counter 104 . then , if the obtained density distribution is identical to the density distribution of the image which was being formed before the atvc sequence was carried out the last time ( yes in s 29 ), the control portion 110 permits the continuation of the rest of the interrupted image forming operation . however , if the former is not identical to the latter , the control portion 110 interrupts or prohibits the continuation of the image forming operation , and displays the message that prompts a user to replace the secondary transfer roller 11 . in the first embodiment , when the evaluation of the lengthwise nonuniformity in electrical resistance of the primary transfer roller 5 revealed that the nonuniformity in electrical resistance of the primary transfer roller 5 is outside the tolerable range , the control portion 110 unconditionally prohibited the continuation of the interrupted image forming operation . however , in the case when multiple copies of the test image g 1 have been continuously made , even if the nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 is outside the tolerable range , the unsatisfactory transfer is unlikely to occur , as long as it is the formation of a toner image of the test image g 1 that is continued thereafter . that is , the unsatisfactory transfer is liable to occur when an image , for example , the test image g 1 , which has been copied , is switched to another image , for example , the test image g 2 , which is completely different in density distribution from the image which has been copied . that is , the switching of the image to be copied changes the transfer portion ( s 1 ) in the density distribution of the toner image to be transferred ; the portion of the transfer portion , through which the solid white portion of the preceding toner image have been moved , is made to accommodate the portion of the solid black portion of the toner image of the new image to be copied . thus , in this portion of the transfer portion , the higher impedance of the solid black portion adds to the electrical resistance of the corresponding portion of the primary transfer roller 5 , which has been increased by continuously facing the solid white portion of the toner image of the preceding image to be copied . thus , this portion of the transfer portion s 1 becomes insufficient in the amount of transfer current , failing to satisfactorily transfer the toner particles . that is , as long as the images to be continuously copied are the same in density distribution , the unsatisfactory transfer is unlikely to occur . in the fourth embodiment , therefore , the replacement of the primary transfer roller 5 is postponed until the next time the primary transfer roller 5 is evaluated in its lengthwise nonuniformity in electrical resistance . therefore , the employment of this embodiment can reduce the image forming apparatus 100 in the length of downtime , slightly improving the image forming apparatus 100 in the availability factor . in the first embodiment , after making roughly 30 , 000 copies , the image forming operation is interrupted ( stopped ) if the value which shows the extent of the lengthwise nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of the primary transfer roller 5 becomes greater than the values in the tolerable range . this setup is intended to prevent unsatisfactory transfer , which is likely to occur when an image forming operation , which is being carried out to make a large number of copies of the same image is interrupted to carry out another image forming operation to form a copy or copies of another image , which is significantly different in density distribution . even after the portion of the transfer portion s 1 , which corresponded to the solid white portion of the toner image , fell in transfer current density below 2 . 14 μa / cm ( bottom limit ) because the portion of the primary transfer roller 5 , which corresponded to the solid white portion of the toner image , increased in its electrical resistance r 2 , the portion of the transfer portion s 1 , in which the solid black portions of the toner image were continuously transferred was 2 . 60 μa / cm in current density , which is in the tolerable range of 2 . 14 μa / cm - 2 . 74 μa / cm . fig2 is a schematic drawing of the image forming apparatus in the fifth embodiment of the present invention , and shows the general structure of the apparatus . fig2 is a schematic drawing of the image forming apparatus in the sixth embodiment , and shows the general structure of the apparatus . referring to fig2 , the image forming apparatus 200 is a full - color image forming apparatus which has an intermediary transfer belt 7 , and yellow , magenta , cyan , and black image forming portions sa , sb , sc , and sd , respectively . the four image forming portions are juxtaposed in tandem , in the straight line along the horizontal portion of the loop which the intermediary transfer belt 7 forms . the image forming portions sa , sb , sc , and sd are roughly the same in structure , although they are different in the color of the toner with which their developing apparatus is filled . the transfer rollers 5 a , 5 b , 5 c , and 5 d are kept pressed against the photosensitive drum 1 a , 1 b , 1 c , and 1 d , with the presence of the intermediary transfer belt 7 between the transfer rollers 5 a , 5 b , 5 c , and 5 d and photosensitive drum 1 a , 1 b , 1 c , and 1 d , respectively , forming four transfer portions . after four toner images are formed on the photosensitive drum 1 a , 1 b , 1 c , and 1 d , one for one , they are sequentially transferred in layers onto the intermediary transfer belt 7 , and are conveyed by the intermediary transfer belt 7 to the nip between the intermediary transfer belt 7 and a secondary transfer roller 11 , in which they are transferred together ( secondary transfer ) onto the recording medium . the transfer rollers 5 a , 5 b , 5 c , and 5 d of the image forming apparatus 200 , and the secondary transfer roller 11 of the image forming apparatus 200 , can also be evaluated in their nonuniformity in electrical resistance , using an evaluation sequence similar to those in the first to fourth embodiments . that is , they can be evaluated in their lengthwise nonuniformity in electrical resistance , at a satisfactory level of accuracy , simply by performing the above - described operation for adjusting the density level at which a toner image is formed , in conjunction with the atvc sequence , that is , without the need for providing the image forming apparatus with an electrical resistance measuring apparatus dedicated to the measurement of the electrical resistance of the transfer rollers . referring to fig2 , the image forming apparatus 300 is a full - color image forming apparatus , which has a recording medium conveying belt 7 b , and yellow , magenta , cyan , and black image forming portions sa , s b , sc , and sd , respectively . the four image forming portions are juxtaposed in tandem , in a straight line along the horizontal portion of the loop which the intermediary transfer belt 7 b forms . the image forming portions sa , sb , sc , and sd are roughly the same in structure , although they are different in the color of the toner with which their developing apparatus is filled . the transfer rollers 5 a , 5 b , 5 c , and 5 d are kept pressed against the photosensitive drum 1 a , 1 b , 1 c , and 1 d , with the presence of the intermediary transfer belt 7 b between the transfer rollers 5 a , 5 b , 5 c , and 5 d and photosensitive drum 1 a , 1 b , 1 c , and 1 d , respectively , forming four transfer portions . after four toner images are formed on the photosensitive drum 1 a , 1 b , 1 c , and 1 d , one for one , they are sequentially transferred in layers onto the recording medium p , which is borne on the intermediary transfer belt 7 and is conveyed by the intermediary transfer belt 7 b . the transfer rollers 5 a , 5 b , 5 c , and 5 d of the image forming apparatus 300 can also be evaluated in their nonuniformity in electrical resistance , using an evaluation sequence similar to those in the first to fifth embodiments . that is , they can be evaluated in their lengthwise nonuniformity in electrical resistance , at a satisfactory level of accuracy , simply by performing the above - described operation for adjusting the density level at which a toner image is formed , in conjunction with the atvc sequence , that is , without the need for providing the image forming apparatus with an electrical resistance measuring apparatus dedicated to the measurement of the electrical resistance of the transfer rollers . incidentally , in the first to fifth embodiments , and miscellaneous embodiments , the test images were made up of one or more solid black portions gb and one or more solid white portions . however , the preceding embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention in scope . that is , a test image has only to be nonuniform in the amount of toner deposition in terms of the direction parallel to the lengthwise direction of the transfer roller . for example , a test image may be made up of one or more solid black portions , which is 0 . 65 mg / cm 2 in the amount of toner deposition , and one or more solid halftone portions , which is 0 . 25 mg / cm 2 in the amount of toner deposition . as will be evident from the above description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention , according to the present invention , the formation of an image suffering from defects attributable to the nonuniformity , in electrical resistance , of a transferring member , can be prevented , with the use of a simple method . while the invention has been described with reference to the structures disclosed herein , it is not confined to the details set forth , and this application is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the purposes of the improvements or the scope of the following claims .
| 6Physics
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tests for inhibitory effects of cpt and derivatives thereof on the attachment of fouling organisms barnacles are sessile cirripedia with calcareous shells and widespread . they firmly attach to the surfaces of vessels and various offshore artificial facilities , and are one of the major marine fouling organisms as well as one of the major target organisms in the study of antifouling technology . adults of balanus albicostatus were collected from the rocks and piers at baicheng coast in xiamen , and their cypris larvas were obtained by culturing in laboratory . it is the attachment of the cypris larvas that causes the barnacles to change from swimming life to attaching life . thus , inhibition of the attachment of the cypris larvas can verify the antifouling activity of the compounds . cpt and 10 - hydroxyl - cpt were dissolved in ethyl acetate respectively , and a series of concentration gradient were set according to the results of pre - experiment . 1 ml of each solution was taken to a petri dish respectively , 1 ml of ethyl acetate was taken to another blank petri dish serving as control group . after the solvents evaporated completely and the compounds were distributed evenly on the bottom surfaces and the side surfaces of the petri dishes , each petri dish was added with 10 ml of membrane filtrated seawater ( filtrated by membrane with pore size of 0 . 22 μm , the same below ). each experimental group and control group had 3 paralleled cups , and each cup was added with about 30 cypris larvas of balanus albicostatus . stereomicroscope was used to observe the attachment of the cypris larvas 48 h after the addition , and the ec 50 values of cpt and 10 - hydroxyl - cpt , which are half inhibition concentrations for the attachment of cypris larvas of balanus albicostatus , were determined . ( ec 50 refers to the effective concentration for inhibiting 50 % of the attachment of the tested organisms . the lower the value is , the higher the antifouling activity will be , the same below .) the test results are showed in fig1 and 2 . the results show that cpt and 10 - hydroxyl - cpt can both significantly inhibit the attachment of cypris larvas of balanus albicostatus at low concentration , showing efficient antifouling activity . the half inhibition concentrations ( ec 50 ) of cpt and 10 - hydroxyl - cpt for the attachment were 1 . 73 μg ml − 1 and 1 . 78 μg ml − 1 respectively . ( 2 ) test for inhibitory effect on the attachment of bugula bugulas are marine bryozoan and widespread in various sea areas in the world . they often attach to the surfaces of marine artificial facilities like mariculture netting , cages , vessels , buoys , etc ., and they are important marine fouling organisms as well . bugula neritina , also called multicellular bugula , its adults were collected from the fish culture net bins in western sea area of xiamen and put into an aquarium filled with fresh seawater after back to the laboratory to induce the release of their swimming larvas . it is the attachment of their swimming larvas that causes the bugulas to change from swimming life to attaching life . thus , inhibition of the attachment of the swimming larvas can verify the antifouling activity of the compounds . cpt and 10 - hydroxyl - cpt were dissolved in ethyl acetate respectively , and a series of concentration gradient were set according to the results of pre - experiment . 1 ml of each solution was taken to a petri dish respectively ; 1 ml of ethyl acetate was taken to another blank petri dish serving as control group . after the solvents evaporated completely and the compounds were distributed evenly on the bottom surfaces and the side surfaces of the petri dishes , each petri dish was added with 10 ml of membrane filtrated seawater . each experimental group and control group had 3 paralleled cups , and each cup was added with about 30 larvas of bugula neritina . stereomicroscope was used to observe the attachment of the larvas of bugula neritina 48 h after the addition , and the half inhibition concentrations for the attachment of larvas of bugula neritina , ec 50 values of cpt and 10 - hydroxyl - cpt were determined . the test results are showed in fig3 and 4 . the results show that cpt and 10 - hydroxyl - cpt have significant inhibitory effect on the attachment of larvas of bugula neritina , and the ec 50 values were 15 . 02 μg ml − 1 and 5 . 93 μg ml − 1 respectively . ( 3 ) test for inhibitory effect on the attachment of mussels by produced byssal threads mussels are common bivalve in marine fouling biocenoses , widespread , and are one of the major target organisms in the study of marine antifouling technology . mussels explore surfaces by their feet , looking for attachment substrate . if proper surfaces for attaching were found , mussels would produce byssal threads to attach to them . thus if the compounds inhibited mussels to produce byssal threads , the compounds could be proved to have antifouling activity . perna viridis were collected from the fish net bins in offshore sea area of zhangzhou , and in which those with shell length of 1 . 4 ˜ 2 . 4 cm were selected and washed with seawater , followed by gent cut - off of the byssal threads . and then the perna viridis were washed with membrane filtrated seawater . cpt were first dissolved in a trace of dimethyl sulfoxide , and then mixed with membrane filtrated seawater to prepare a series of concentration gradient . 4 ml of each solution was taken into a 12 - well plate , and each well was added with one perna viridis . 4 ml of membrane filtrated seawater containing a trace of dimethyl sulfoxide and one perna viridis were added into the control group . each experimental group and control group had 8 paralleled groups . after 24 - hours culture at room temperature , the amount of byssal threads produced by perna viridis were observed , and the half inhibition concentration of cpt for the attachment of perna viridis by produced byssal threads , ec 50 , were determined . the test results are showed in fig5 . the results show that cpt has significant inhibitory effect on the attachment of perna viridis by produced byssal threads , the ec 50 value was 10 . 78 μg ml − 1 . the other representative cpt derivatives listed in table 1 were tested by the same above methods , and generally the values of ec 50 were lower than 200 μg ml − 1 , which also had significant inhibitory effect on the attachment of fouling organisms , showing antifouling activity . cpt was well mixed with acrylic resin , rosin , iron oxide red , thixotropic agent and organic solvent , and also glass beads were added . the mixture was stirred in high - speed dispersion machine until the fineness of the paints was around 80 μm , then the glass beads were removed by filtration with 100 - mesh tulle , followed by discharge and obtaining the antifouling paint . marine antifouling paints containing compound of cpt and another antifouling agent were prepared by the same method stated in example 2 . the types and weight ratios for the compound of cpt and another antifouling agent respectively were cpt : cu 2 o ( 4 : 1 ), cpt : cu 2 o ( 2 : 1 ), cpt : cu 2 o ( 1 : 1 ), cpt : tcpm ( 1 : 1 ), cpt : znpt ( 1 : 1 ). five different marine antifouling paints were prepared according to the types and weight ratios above , wherein tcpm is n - 2 , 4 , 6 - trichlorophenyl maleimide , znpt is zinc pyrithione . antifouling efficiency in sea area test for antifouling paint containing cpt and paints containing compound of cpt and another antifouling agent as shown in table 2 , the tested antifouling agents were provided in three large groups : 1 ) cpt ; 2 ) compound of cpt and another antifouling agent ; 3 ) existing common antifouling agent ( as positive control ). all of the tested antifouling agents had a weight ratio of 20 % to the marine antifouling paints . the panel test in natural sea area was carried out referring to the national standard gb / t5370 - 2007 “ method for testing antifouling panels in shallow submergence ”. the prepared antifouling paints each were evenly coated on the epoxy resin panels ; paints with none antifouling agent and prepared by the same methods were provided as negative control ; each coated sample had 6 paralleled groups . the tested panels were fixed in iron frames after the paints had dried , and they were hanged on the test buoyant rafts in the sea area near dalipu island in xiamen in june , 2010 . after the tested panels had been immersed in seawater up to 3 , 6 , 9 and 12 months , they were then photographed , and the coverage ratios of the fouling organisms in each coated sample areas were analyzed and counted . herein , the coverage ratio of the fouling organisms is the ratio of surface area covered by marine large fouling organisms in the sample area divided by the whole surface area in the sample area ( the same below ), and the lower the value is , the higher the antifouling efficiency will be . the results of antifouling efficiency in sea area test on the prepared antifouling paints are shown in table 2 . during the test , the major large fouling organisms attaching to the tested panels were barnacles , mussels , oysters , sea squirts , sponges and bryozoans , etc . as can be seen from table 2 , the coverage ratios of the coated sample area with prepared antifouling agents containing cpt were far lower than the coverage ratios of the control coated sample area with none antifouling agent , which indicates that the paints prepared with cpt as antifouling agent have efficient antifouling performance , and the antifouling term is up to 12 months . as also can be seen from table 2 , among the antifouling agents which were used in the preparation of the paints with the same content of 20 % ( by weight ), cpt had better antifouling efficiency in sea area than the existing common antifouling agents of cuprous oxide ( cu 2 o ) and copper pyrithione ( cupt ). on the other hand , the compounds of cpt and another antifouling agent of cu 2 o , tcpm or znpt also showed certain antifouling efficiency , in which the cpt : cu 2 o ( 4 : 1 ) had the best antifouling efficiency . however , both the antifouling efficiencies and the antifouling terms of the group of compounds were not as good as the group of pure cpt , which further verifies that cpt has efficient antifouling activity . test for the application of antifouling paint containing cpt on the mariculture netting ( an artificial facility in water ) the preparation method of antifouling paint containing cpt was the same as stated in example 2 , the weight ratio of cpt in the antifouling paint was also set to 20 %. dip coating method was used , and the nettings were immersed in each of the prepared paints respectively , and then taken out to dry in the air . the nettings were fixed on plastic frames by ribbons respectively and hanged in the mariculture area of nacre in lingshui of hainan in november , 2010 . paint with none antifouling agent and prepared by the same method was provided as negative control ; the antifouling paint for wooden boats ( chlorinated rubber as base material and cuprous oxide as major antifouling agent ) which was bought from market was provided as positive control ; the clean netting that had never immersed in any paint was provided as blank control . each tested group had 3 paralleled groups . after the tested nettings had been immersed in seawater up to 3 , 6 , 9 and 12 months , they were then photographed , and the coverage ratios of the fouling organisms on the nettings respectively were analyzed and counted . the results of the test for application on the mariculture netting are shown in table 3 . during the test , the major large fouling organisms attaching to the nettings were bugulas , hydroides , sponges , sea squirts , oysters and seaweeds , etc . as can be seen from table 3 , the coverage ratios of fouling organisms on the nettings that coated with antifouling paint containing cpt were far lower than the nettings coated with none paint , which indicates that the antifouling paint containing cpt has good antifouling effect on mariculture netting , and the antifouling term is up to 12 months . on the other hand , the paint group with none antifouling agent did not show any antifouling effect , which indicates that the outstanding antifouling efficiency of marine antifouling paint containing cpt was derived from the antifouling activity of cpt . besides , it also can be seen from table 3 that the antifouling efficiency of marine antifouling paint containing cpt on the netting was better than the antifouling paint containing cu 2 o as main antifouling agent . generally , the results of the test indicate that the marine antifouling paint containing cpt has good antifouling application effect on mariculture netting . the preparation method of marine antifouling paint containing cpt was the same as stated in example 2 , the weight ratio of cpt in the marine antifouling paint was also set to 20 %. the prepared paint was evenly coated on each floating bed component in the same specification ( the floating bed component was a plastic foam board of 30 × 30 cm , coated with a plastic woven bag ). after the paints had dried , the floating bed components were fixed on bamboo frames , and hanged in the yundang lake in xiamen ( previously a natural harbor , due to the construction of the dam , it has become substantially enclosed artificial lagoon and exchanges part of water with western sea area of xiamen each day ) in august , 2010 . paint with none antifouling agent and prepared by the same method was provided as negative control ; the antifouling paint for wooden boats ( chlorinated rubber as base material and cuprous oxide as major antifouling agent ) which was bought from market was provided as positive control ; clean floating bed components that had never coated with any paint were provided as blank control . each tested group had 3 paralleled groups . after the tested floating bed components had been immersed in seawater up to 3 , 6 , 9 and 12 months , they were then photographed , and the coverage ratios of the fouling organisms on the floating bed component were analyzed and counted . the results of test for application on the floating bed are shown in table 4 . during the test , the major large fouling organisms attachting to the floating bed components were barnacles , bugulas , oysters , mytilopsis salleis , sea squirts , and seaweeds , etc . as can be seen from table 4 , the coverage ratios of fouling organisms on the floating bed components that coated with antifouling paint containing cpt were far lower than the floating bed components coated with none paint , which indicates that the antifouling paint containing cpt has good antifouling effect on floating bed components , and the antifouling term is up to 12 months . on the other hand , the paint group with none antifouling agent did not show any antifouling effect , which indicates that the outstanding antifouling efficiency of marine antifouling paint containing cpt was derived from the antifouling activity of cpt . besides , it also can be seen from table 4 that the antifouling efficiency of marine antifouling paint containing cpt on the floating bed components was better than the antifouling paint containing cu 2 o as main antifouling agent . generally , the results of the test indicate that the marine antifouling paint containing cpt also has good antifouling application effect on floating bed . “—” means the photos of the group in that month were forgotten to taken , and the coverage ratio of fouling organisms of this group was not counted .
| 2Chemistry; Metallurgy
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a first preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated generally in fig4 . this first preferred embodiment will be described in accordance with the concepts and systems theory which has been discussed above . it will first be presumed that 90 hz and 150 hz signals are summed at the detector of the receiver for the particular frequency being received . the output of the vhf localizer receiver is coupled into the present system on line 10 . the composite output from the glide slope receiver is coupled into the system through line 12 . a time devision multiplexing circuit 14a receives the localizer output 10 and the glide slope output 12 and will switch between these sources in order to make independent measurements of each of these signals . this time division multiplexer 14a serves another purpose in that , under control by the microprocessor , it will also provide the synchronous switching between the reference voltage level and ground in order to generate the rectangular waveform test signal . while this is a matter of circuit convenience , the synchronous switching is important for maintaining the proper control of the testing function . the time division multiplexer 14a is typically a portion of a 4052 integrated circuit chip . the test signal is generated by taking the output reference voltage from a zener diode 16 and coupling it through a voltage divider composed of resistors 18 and 20 . this output voltage is then coupled through circuit conductor 22 to a third input 14x of the time division multiplexer . a fourth input line 18 is coupled between ground potential and a fourth input 14y of the time division multiplexer 14a . when the microprocessor 24 senses a change in the ils receiver frequency , it will generate an output signal along circuit conductors 26a and b . these output lines carry various binary switching information through appropriate buffer amplifiers 27 to the appropriate switching controller 14c which is part of the time division multiplexer 14 . while these switchers are shown as being separated from the time division multiplexer 14 , they are actually part of the multiplexer 14 and are separated merely for the purposes of clarity in the schematic diagram . when the microprocessor 24 senses that a new ils frequency has been selected , it will generate a 30 hz signal of the proper duty cycle which is developed internally from a crystal controlled source and frequency divider network . since multiple control functions are required , various control output signals also will be generated . for the purpose of generating the test signal , the 30 hz signal of interest is generated along line 26b which is coupled to switcher 14c . this 30 hz signal which drives the switcher 14c will cause the multiplexer 14a to switch its output 14o between the inputs on lines 18 and 22 . thus , the output of the multiplexer 14a will be a rectangular waveform signal of known amplitude , determined by the zener 16 and the voltage divider 18 and 20 , and of a known duty cycle , determined by the microprocessor 24 which drives the switch 14c . in the first preferred embodiment of the present invention , the first test signal has a frequency of 30 hz and a duty cycle of 50 percent , indicating that the positive voltage is present for 1 / 2 of the cycle and the other half of the cycle is at ground potential . the second test signal has the same 30 hz frequency , but the duty cycle is changed to 32 percent . with regard to the first test signal , the output waveform is present for 800 milliseconds . this time period is required in order to allow the voltage level in each of the analog circuits within the system to achieve and maintain their steady state value ( with provisions made for the decay of all ringing and other transient switching signals .) the output of the multiplexer 14a may therefore be switched by the operation of the microprocessor 24 between the inputs to the multiplexer , namely the vhf localizer output 10 , the uhf glide slope output 12 , and the 30 hz rectangular waveform test signals of various duty cycles used for calibration . the output of the multiplexer 14a is coupled through a buffer amplifier 30 . the output of the buffer amplifier 30 is coupled into the two bandpass filters shown generally as 50 ( nominally the 90 hz filter ) and the second bandpass filter 52 ( nominally the 150 hz filter ). as previously discussed , each of these bandpass filters is well known in the art and comprises an operational amplifier with appropriate feedback so as to define a relatively sharp filtering function around the desired center frequency . the output of the first bandpass filter 50 is coupled through the circuit conductor 51 , through a rectifying diode 57 and a summing resistor 56 to the input of an operational amplifier 60 . in a similar manner the output of the second bandpass filter 52 is coupled through a circuit conductor 53 , through a rectifying diode 54 and a summing resistor 58 to the same input of the operational amplifier 60 . the summing resistors 56 and 58 , when taken together with the other feedback elements of the operational amplifier 60 , will determine the gain and frequency response of the filter . the operational amplifier 60 is used both as a summing amplifier and as an integrator in order to reduce the 90 hz and 150 hz ripple components , and harmonics thereof , produced by the rectification process . the output of the integrator 60 is a dc voltage representative of the ddm value for the signal along the x - axis of the plot illustrated in fig3 . this output voltage is coupled through a resistor 62 and capacitor 64c which form a low pass filter with a time constant which is substantially longer than any ripple frequency which may be present upon the output of the amplifier 60 . the dc output level from the low pass filter is coupled through the circuit conductor 45 to a first input of a phase locked loop voltage controlled oscillator 70 which is used as a voltage to frequency convertor . therefore , the dc output voltage from the integrator 60 will be converted by the voltage controlled oscillator ( vco ) 70 to a frequency which is dependent upon the deviation from the desired or nominal flight path . the standard output frequency of the vco 70 is nominally 80 khz . since the frequency of the output signal of the vco 70 is measured and processed by the same microprocessor 24 which generates the other frequencies used throughout the system , any drift or other undesirable change of this 80 khz signal frequency will be cancelled out and compensated for by programming in the microprocessor 24 . the output of the vco 70 is coupled through a circuit conductor 71 to the input of a transistor 72 which is utilized in a buffer amplifier arrangement for adjusting and matching the voltage and impedance requirements of the various circuit subsystems . the output of the amplifier 72 is coupled through a circuit conductor 73 back to an auxiliary input 24e of the microprocessor 24 . the microprocessor 24 is programmed to count the output frequency of the vco 70 for exactly one - thirtieth of a second at the end of each 800 millisecond calibration period . the earlier portion of the calibration period is utilized only to charge all of the capacitors and other circuit elements to their steady state value . the one - thirtieth second counting interval is chosen to minimize the effect of ripple on the dc voltage controlling vco 70 . ripple produces undesired frequency modulation of the vco output , which could result in an erroneous count , not exactly proportional to the dc voltage component . during one cycle of any sinusoidal ripple component , however , the vco frequency will be low for one - half the time and high , by an equal amount , for the other half . if the counting interval spans an integer number of cycles of a ripple component , then , that ripple component will not affect the accuracy of the measurement . the one - thirtieth second counting interval spans an integer number of cycles of every ripple component produced by the 90 hz and 150 hz signal components , so the resultant count is truly proportional to the dc component of the control voltage . integer multiples of one - thirtieth second , such as one - fifteenth second or one - tenth second , would produce the same result , and could be used if desired . returning now to the calibration mode , the microprocessor 24 will first count the number of cycles received during the one - thirtieth second sampling window , with this number of cycles being proportional to the dc voltage produced on circuit conductor 45 by the 90 hz and 150 hz components of the first calibration signal . this number is digitally stored in the microprocessor 24 and will correspond to point b illustrated on fig3 . it must be recalled that point b corresponds to the 50 percent duty cycle signal which has been generated and measured during the first 800 millisecond test period . it will then be necessary to initiate a second 800 millisecond test and calibration period corresponding to the 32 percent duty cycle test signal for measuring the parameters required for point a as illustrated in fig3 . the sampling of the error signal during the test calibration window is identical to the one previously described and will produce a number stored in the microprocessor 24 representative of the output frequency of the vco 70 which is proportional to the dc voltage produced by the 90 hz and 150 hz components of this second calibration signal . this second number will represent the value of the test signal at point a illustrated in fig3 . therefore , the terms a , b , ddm1 , and ddm2 in the algorithm have now been provided during the two 800 millisecond test periods . after the test and calibration cycle , the microprocessor 24 will switch into an operational mode . since the duty cycles and amplitude ( hence ddm1 and ddm2 ) for each of the calibration signals are known , and since the vco frequencies for each of the respective duty cycles have been determined and have been stored in ram cells in the microprocessor 24 , the algorithm ( see table 1 ) as described previously can now be invoked on a real - time basis . the input variable is the frequency which is actually measured by the system from the 90 hz and 150 hz signals from the receiver . then this value is inserted into the algorithm , the output or final value of the algorithm is representative of a point lying along the ideal line , as illustrated in fig3 with the same x or ddm value as the real - time measurement . thus , the actual deviation from the center line or desired flight path has been calculated using the algorithm and the stored values in order to determine circuit drift and other variables which must be eliminated from the calculations in order to provide an exact deviation measurement . in the preferred embodiment , shown in fig4 localizer and glide slope deviation measurements are made alternately . a 200 millisecond sampling period is dedicated to a localizer measurement , the next 200 millisecond period to a glide slope measurement , the following to localizer , etc . in this manner , each component of the instrument landing system is sampled every 400 milliseconds . this sampling rate is rapid enough that changes in the positions of the deviation indicators appear to be continuous . to make deviation measurements , the microprocessor 24 applies control signals to time division multiplexer 14 to cause it to select either the localizer signal on line 10 or the glide slope signal on line 12 . simultaneously , the time division multiplexer selects capacitor 64a for localizer operation , or capacitor 64b for glide slope operation . these capacitors , in conjunction with resistor 62 , filter the dc voltage applied to vco 70 , and provide a sample - and - hold function to minimize settling time as the circuit switches back and forth between localizer and glide slope operation . within each 200 millisecond sampling interval , the first 167 milliseconds are allowed for circuit stabilization to a steady - state condition , and the measurement is made during the last one - thirtieth second . the microprocessor 24 arithmetically filters the digital representations of the deviation from the localizer and glide slope centerlines to minimize the effects of perturbations in the received signals , and generates outputs which control deviation indicators . in the preferred embodiment , these outputs are serial bit digital words which convey the deviation information to a digital flight path deviation indicator . in alternative embodiments , these outputs could be in parallel digital form , with several bits simultaneously present on a plurality of circuit conductors , or voltage or current analogs of deviation , produced by applying the digital output from the microprocessor 24 to standard digital - to - analog converter devices . since there are two deviation indicators , one for left to right and the other for altitude deviation , the microprocessor 24 will be required to alternately provide the information to the appropriate deviation indicators . however , since both of these deviation measurements are processed through the same 90 hz and 150 hz bandpass filters and the same voltage measurement circuits , only one set of calibration measurements will be required in order to provide complete error cancellation information for the aforementioned algorithm . the microprocessor 24 will be programmed such that separate ram memories will be provided for the left to right and for the vertical deviation displays . each of these displays will be updated during every other 200 millisecond period . the preferred embodiment of the self - calibrating ils system has been described as an example of the invention and the method as claimed . however , the present invention should not be limited in its application to the details and constructions illustrated in the accompanying drawings and the specification , since this invention may be practiced or contructed in a variety of other different embodiments . also , it must be understood that the terminology and descriptions employed herein are used solely for the purpose of describing the general system and the preferred embodiment thereof , and therefore should not be construed as limitations on the invention or its operability .
| 6Physics
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an overview of an embodiment of a rapid access trigger lock system 100 is described with reference to fig1 . rapid access trigger lock system 100 may include a trigger lock comprising a primary section 102 and a secondary section 104 . a firearm 106 may be provided with a trigger guard 108 and a trigger 110 . primary section 102 and secondary section 104 may be configured to lock together to sandwich trigger guard 108 thereby preventing access to trigger 110 when the trigger lock is in a locked state . when placing the trigger lock onto a firearm , a locking bolt housing 112 may be guided through trigger guard 108 and inserted into a grooved cavity 114 . primary section 102 and secondary section 104 both may include a rubberized cushion 116 shaped to form a seal around trigger guard 108 when the trigger lock is in a locked state . the structure of the trigger lock may provide the means for removably securing a trigger lock to a firearm such that the trigger cannot be accessed or the firearm fired while the trigger lock is in the locked state . in the present embodiment , a locking bolt may be used to securely attach primary section 102 to secondary section 104 . however , alternative means for removably securing a trigger lock to a firearm are possible in other embodiments . furthermore , although this embodiment depicts a two - piece trigger lock , alternative single and multi - piece trigger locks are possible in other embodiments . the body of primary section 102 and secondary section 104 may be metallic in some embodiments . alternatively , other materials providing the requisite strength to provide support and prevent tampering are possible . primary section may further comprise a button 118 , a user interface 120 , and a radio frequency communication interface 122 . rapid access trigger lock system 100 may further include an access key 124 containing a radio - frequency identifier ( rfid ) 126 . in order to unlock a locked trigger lock , a user may position access key 124 within proximity to communication interface 122 . while access key 124 is in proximity to communication interface 122 , the user may press button 118 and thereby activate a trigger lock interrogation program which may transmit an interrogation signal . any nearby access keys 124 within proximity range of the interrogation signal may provide a response signal via rfid 126 containing the identifier of access key 124 . the trigger lock may receive the identifier and may perform authentication on the identifier . if the identifier is valid , the trigger lock may transition to an unlocked state . in the present embodiment , button 118 may be sized such that the user would only require one finger to press button 118 . therefore , provided that a valid access key 124 is within proximity range of the trigger lock , the trigger lock may be unlocked with only a single point of contact by the user . rapid access trigger lock system 100 may provide rapid access to a secured firearm in the case of an emergency without requiring the user to perform a complex procedure under stress . in the present embodiment , access key 124 is depicted as a bracelet . access keys 124 may be a wearable article such as a bracelet or a watch ; however , access key 124 may be any article that contains rfid 126 . in alternative embodiments , access key 124 may take the form of a ring as will be discussed in further detail below . by providing rfid 126 within an article worn by the user , the user may be relieved of the burden of trying to find the article to carry to the trigger lock during an emergency . with reference to fig2 the trigger lock is shown in the locked state from an overhead view facing downward towards the top of the slide of firearm 106 . primary section 102 has been inserted through the trigger guard of firearm 106 and mated with secondary section 104 . to secure the trigger lock to the firearm , primary section 102 may be rotated 90 degrees to lock into the grooves of grooved cavity 114 . although the present embodiment depicts primary section 102 being rotated into a locked position such that primary section 102 is oriented parallel to the slide of firearm 106 , in alternative embodiments primary section may be locked into a different orientation . such alternate orientations may include where primary section 102 is rotated into a locked position such that primary section 102 is oriented parallel to the grip of firearm 106 . in the present embodiment , a locking bolt is used to secure primary section 102 to secondary section 104 but other securing mechanisms are possible in alternative embodiments . for instance , there may be a clamshell type securing mechanism which when activated closes over the trigger guard of firearm 106 preventing access to the trigger . also , the clamshell mechanism may have teeth which extend into the trigger guard which prevent movement of the trigger while the clamshell mechanism is secured . with reference to fig3 a side elevation view of the trigger lock is depicted . the user may interact with components located on primary section 102 such as button 118 , for providing user input , and user interface 120 , for providing output to the user . in some embodiments , button 118 may be recessed so that the user may locate and activate button 118 using their sense of touch only . recessed button 118 permits a user to unlock a firearm in the dark or while maintaining visual focus in another direction . user interface 120 may be an led and provide a range of visual feedback to the user by flashing unique patterns . alternatively , user interface 120 may be a display , a vibrator or any other device to communicate with a user . communication interface 122 may be provided for sending and receiving signals including rfid interrogation signals . communication interface 122 may house communication equipment for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic signals . where the body of primary section 102 is metallic in some embodiments , communication interface 122 may include a durable , hard plastic covering which provides less attenuation of the signals . fig4 depicts the internal hardware components of the trigger lock disposed in primary section 102 . the trigger lock may comprise microprocessor 402 , database 404 , main battery 406 , backup battery 408 , servo motor 410 , locking bolt 412 , transceiver 414 for a wireless personal network , e . g ., bluetooth ®, rf transceiver 416 , and battery access door 418 . the trigger lock may be implemented using microprocessor 402 which processes stored software instructions to perform the functions of the trigger lock described in this specification . although the present embodiment uses a microprocessor , any computing device capable of processing software instructions may be used in alternative embodiments . database 404 may be used to store authorized identifiers and may be referenced by microprocessor 402 during identifier authentication . main battery 406 may provide electrical power to the trigger lock for use in performing the functions of the trigger lock described in this specification including those of button 118 and user interface 120 . backup battery 408 may be provided in some embodiments which provides backup power to database 404 to prevent erasure of authorized identifiers in the event that main battery 406 is exhausted . alternatively , database 404 may be stored in a non - volatile memory , eliminating the need for backup power . in the present embodiment , servo motor 410 may be provided to rotate locking bolt 412 to enable locking and unlocking of the trigger lock . in the present embodiment , locking bolt 412 may be disposed within locking bolt housing 112 . as described above , other locking mechanisms may be provided in alternative embodiments . communication interface 122 may include bluetooth ® transceiver 414 and rf transceiver 416 . rf transceiver 416 may be used to perform rf interrogation on nearby access keys 124 . in some embodiments , bluetooth ® transceiver 414 may be provided to communicate area unlock signals as will be described in greater detail below . although the present embodiment employs transceivers , other means of communicating electromagnetic signals , such as transmitter / receiver pairs may be used in alternative embodiments . battery access door 418 may be used to insert and remove main battery 406 and may positioned to allow access in both locked and unlocked states . with reference to fig4 and 5 a periodic wake - up process is depicted . in order to conserve battery life , microprocessor 402 may enter a low - power hibernation mode while the trigger guard is not being operated . however , microprocessor 402 may wake - up periodically to check the voltage of main battery 406 and to detect whether any area unlock signals are present . the concept of area unlock signals will be discussed further below . the periodic wake - up process may begin when a “ power down ” timer expires and microprocessor 402 powers up at block 502 . microprocessor 402 may then read the voltage of main battery 406 at block 504 . it may be determined whether the voltage of main battery 406 is below a threshold at block 506 . if the voltage of main battery 406 is below the threshold , microprocessor 402 may instruct user interface 120 to flash , display or otherwise indicate a “ low battery ” signal at block 508 . microprocessor 402 may then check for an area unlock signal at block 510 . it may be determined whether an area unlock signal has been received at block 512 . if an area unlock signal has been received at block 512 , microprocessor 402 may instruct servo motor 410 to unlock the trigger lock at block 514 , instruct user interface 120 to flash , display or otherwise indicate an “ unlocked ” signal at block 516 , and initiate an “ open lock ” timer at block 518 . at the expiration of the “ open lock ” timer , microprocessor 402 may instruct servo motor 410 to re - lock the trigger lock at block 520 . the “ open lock ” timer may provide a window during which the user can disassemble the trigger lock and remove it from the firearm . if the user fails to remove the trigger lock from the firearm during the window , the trigger lock may re - lock to prevent unauthorized access to the firearm trigger . if at block 512 it is determined that an area unlock signal has not been received , or if the trigger lock is re - locked at block 520 , microprocessor 402 may start the “ power down ” timer and re - enter the low - power hibernation mode at block 522 . as an alternative to the “ power down ” timer described above with regard to block 502 , the arrival of area unlock signal may trigger exit of the low power state . although the present embodiment depicts performing the read voltage and voltage determination at blocks 504 and 506 respectively , prior to performing area unlock signal check and determination at blocks 510 and 512 respectively , this process may be performed in a different order or simultaneously in alternate embodiments . similarly , although the present embodiment depicts blocks 514 , 516 , and 518 occurring in a particular order , this process may be performed in a different order or simultaneously in alternate embodiments . with reference to fig4 and 6 a key read process 600 is depicted . key read process 600 may begin when the user presses button 118 in block 602 . next , microprocessor 402 may power up from a low - power hibernation mode in block 604 . microprocessor 402 may then perform an rf interrogation process to read any nearby access keys 124 in block 606 and start a “ read ” timer in block 608 . microprocessor 402 may determine whether an access key 124 is read during the window provided by the “ read ” timer at block 610 . if the “ read ” timer expires without an access key 124 being read , microprocessor 402 may instruct user interface 120 to flash , display or otherwise indicate a “ no key ” signal at block 612 and re - enter the low - power hibernation mode at block 630 . alternatively , if it is determined at block 610 that an access key 124 is read during the window provided by the “ read ” timer , microprocessor 402 may determine whether rfid 126 provided by access key 124 is invalid at block 614 . if microprocessor 402 determines that rfid 126 is invalid at block 614 , microprocessor 402 may instruct user interface 120 to flash , display or otherwise indicate a “ bad key ” signal at block 616 and re - enter the low - power hibernation mode at block 630 . alternatively , if it determined at block 614 that rfid 126 is not invalid , microprocessor 402 may determine whether valid rfid 126 is a master key in block 618 . as discussed in more detail below , a master key may be a type of access key 124 which permits a user to program microprocessor 402 to accept a new access key 124 . if microprocessor 402 determines at block 618 that rfid 126 is a master key , microprocessor 402 may then perform a new user key creation process 700 at block 632 . once new user key creation process 700 is completed , microprocessor 402 may re - enter the low - power hibernation mode at block 630 . alternatively , if microprocessor 402 determines at block 618 that rfid 126 is not a master key , microprocessor 402 may instruct servo motor 410 to unlock the trigger lock at block 620 , instruct bluetooth ® transceiver 414 to transmit an “ area unlock ” signal ( as will be discussed in further detail below ) at block 622 , instruct user interface 120 to flash , display or otherwise indicate an “ unlocked ” signal at block 624 , and initiate an “ open lock ” timer at block 626 . at the expiration of the “ open lock ” timer , microprocessor 402 may instruct servo motor 410 to re - lock the trigger lock at block 628 . the “ open lock ” timer may provide a window during which the user can disassemble the trigger lock and remove it from the firearm . if the user fails to remove the trigger lock from the firearm during the window , the trigger lock may re - lock to prevent unauthorized access to the firearm trigger . if the trigger lock is re - locked at block 628 , microprocessor 402 may re - enter the low - power hibernation mode at block 630 . although the present embodiment depicts performing read access keys at block 606 prior to performing the start “ read ” timer block 608 , this process may be performed in a different order or simultaneously in alternate embodiments . similarly , although the present embodiment depicts blocks 620 , 622 , 624 , and 626 occurring in a particular order , this process may be performed in a different order or simultaneously in alternate embodiments . further , although the present embodiment provides a particular process for detecting an rfid identifier and distinguishing between unauthorized , authorized , and master key identifiers , this process may be performed using a different order in alternative embodiments . with reference to fig4 and 7 new user key creation process 700 is depicted . using process 700 , a user may add a new access key 124 with a new unique identifier stored in rfid 126 to the list of authorized access keys stored in database 404 . to facilitate this function , the user may be provided with a unique master key . the unique function of the master key may be to initiate process 700 when the master key is presented as access key 124 during key read process 600 . process 700 may be initiated upon a determination that the master key has been detected from key read process 600 at block 702 . once process 700 is initiated at block 702 , microprocessor 402 may initiate a “ key read ” timer , instruct user interface 120 to display or indicate a “ present new key ” signal , and interrogate nearby keys at block 704 . in response to the “ present new key ” signal , the user may position the new access key 124 within proximity to communication component 122 . if the “ key read ” timer expires without an access key 124 detected by microprocessor 402 , process 700 may end and microprocessor 402 may return to key read process 600 at block 710 . if an access key 124 is detected at block 704 but the rfid 126 identifier is already stored in database 404 , microprocessor 402 may instruct user interface 120 to display or indicate an “ already stored ” signal at block 706 . next , process 700 may end and microprocessor 402 may return to key read process 600 at block 710 . if an access key 124 is detected at block 704 and that access key 124 contains a new rfid 126 identifier , microprocessor 402 may add the rfid 126 identifier to database 404 and instruct user interface 120 to display or indicate a “ key added ” signal at block 708 . next , process 700 ends and microprocessor 402 may return to key read process 600 at block 710 . with reference to fig8 a process for providing an area unlock signal is depicted . in some embodiments , a user may have the ability to unlock a plurality of nearby trigger locks , or other devices , with a single contact of a first trigger lock . when a user presses button 118 of first trigger lock 802 while positioning a valid access key 124 within proximity of first trigger lock 802 , first trigger lock 802 may broadcast an area unlock signal 804 in addition to unlocking first trigger lock 802 . in this embodiment , access key 124 takes the form of a ring worn by the user ; however , access keys 124 may take other forms as described above . in the present embodiment , area unlock signal 804 sent from first trigger lock 802 may be received by a relay device 806 . relay device 806 may be a cellular telephone in some embodiments ; however other devices which can receive and broadcast electromagnetic signals may perform the role of relay device 806 in alternative embodiments . alternatively , no relay device may be necessary and area unlock signal 804 broadcasted from first trigger lock 802 may independently unlock nearby trigger locks , or other devices . upon receiving area unlock signal 804 , relay device 806 may transmit a relay signal 808 to secondary trigger locks 810 and 812 . relay signal 808 may be identical to area unlock signal 804 in some embodiments or different from area unlock signal 804 in alternative embodiments . relay signal 808 and area unlock signal 804 may be encrypted to provide additional protection from unauthorized access . in some embodiments , relay device 806 may be activated only by signals from those first trigger locks 802 that relay device 806 has been paired with . similarly , only those secondary trigger locks 810 and 812 may be activated which have been paired with relay device 806 . upon receiving relay signal 808 , secondary trigger locks 810 and 812 unlock . in the present embodiment , secondary trigger locks take the form of trigger lock 810 attached to a single firearm and / or lock 812 attached to a gun rack . relay signal 808 may be received by one or more secondary trigger locks and each secondary trigger lock may unlock one or more firearms in alternative embodiments . additionally , relay device 806 may be configured such that a user could initiate the relay signal 808 directly from the device 806 , e . g ., opening a trigger lock directly from a cellular telephone . one skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be practiced by other than the described embodiments , which are presented for purposes of illustration and not limitation , and the present invention is limited only by the claims that follow .
| 5Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting
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the present invention relates to a testing element , a testing apparatus , and a testing system which are used in a laboratory test . examples of a laboratory test include tests which use , as a main analysis mechanism , a chemical reaction such as a biochemical reaction . the tests include , but are not limited to , a genetic test and a protein test . a first aspect of the present invention relates to a testing element used in a laboratory test . a testing element according to the present invention includes an information recording section at the surface of and / or inside the testing element , and the information recording section stores information on a characteristic of the testing element . among testing elements used in testing apparatuses to detect values required for testing , there are many testing elements whose characteristics may change values to be detected . it is considered that these elements need to be calibrated before each use such that a value obtained by each element is equivalent to a value obtained by one of a reference measurement method and a measurement method specified by a vendor or the like . a characteristic of a testing element here refers to a parameter specific to the element which may affect variations in measured values . variations include an individual difference of an element generated during manufacture and an individual difference caused by a change with time and also include individual differences caused by sets of detection conditions , such as temperature , humidity , and reagent lot , and individual differences generated during use . individual differences generated during manufacture include one generated during a manufacturing process and one generated during assembly . many of the individual differences can be allowed for as margins of error at the time of designing while some are unavoidably generated . individual differences caused by a change with time include one caused by vibrations during transport and also include one caused by oxidation with oxygen in the air , one caused by moisture absorption or drying resulting from humidity , and one caused by erroneous operation at the time of installation of a testing element . since testing elements are used differently , objects to be considered as characteristics of the elements are different . for example , a characteristic in a first embodiment ( to be described later ) of this invention is a value of resistance used throughout a heater electrode system while a characteristic in a second embodiment ( also to be described later ) of this invention is dimensions , surface roughness , and the like related to the pressure resistance of a channel fluid path . the present invention is not limited to these . any other parameter , such as a current value in electrochemical measurement , may be used as a characteristic of the testing element according to the present invention as long as the parameter serves as a factor causing variations in measured values from elements and it requires calibration . the above - described factors cause variations in measured values from individual elements . in a setting for a laboratory test , it is thus necessary to measure in advance how much a value obtained by an element deviates from a reference value and adjust ( calibrate ) a value obtained by actual measurement , at the time of each measurement . in the present invention , the characteristic of an element is measured in advance as information on a characteristic and it is stored in the information recording section at the surface of and / or inside the testing element . by reading out a use condition and a result - correcting condition corresponding to the information on the characteristic of the element from a table prepared in advance and setting the conditions at the time of measurement , a measured value can be adjusted to an accurate value without the need of calibration before each measurement . the use condition is a condition for using the element and it is set so as to adjust the characteristic of the element . the result - correcting condition is a condition for correcting an obtained result according to the characteristic of the element . the conditions are prepared as control parameters in the table . as the information recording section for storing the information on the characteristic of the element which is placed in the testing element according to the present invention , any unit can be adopted as long as a balance between the amount of information stored and the cost of the testing element is achieved . for example , a one - dimensional bar code or a two - dimensional bar code ( e . g ., a qr code ( registered trademark )) may be used . in addition to this , information may be recorded using a non - contact semiconductor memory device ( a semiconductor chip which reads out information through wireless communication ), such as an rf - ic or a felica ( registered trademark ), and the information may be read out in a non - contact wireless manner . a manufacturing plant for the element , the date and time of manufacture , and the like may be recorded in the information recording section , in addition to the above - described information on the characteristic of the element which is measured in advance . the present invention can be suitably used especially in a testing element which has a micro structure and which performs a laboratory test using a fine amount of reactant . examples of such a testing element include a testing element which has a fine fluid path with a width of the order of micrometers formed so as to have a width of 1 μm to 900 μm , preferably 10 μm to 500 μm , and a depth of 10 μm to 1 , 000 μm , preferably 10 μm to 300 μm . the amount of reactant preferably falls within the range of 5 nl to 500 μl . alternatively , a testing element including a plurality of fluid paths and a plurality of heater electrodes for heating the interiors of the fluid paths can be used . such a testing element can subject a reagent ( containing a nucleic acid derived from a specimen ) flowing in the fluid paths to temperature cycles for a pcr ( polymerase chain reaction ) and thus it can be suitably used as an element for dna analysis using a pcr . in this case , characteristics of the fluid paths may be stored as respective pieces of information in the information recording section . a second aspect of the present invention relates to a testing apparatus for performing testing . when testing elements are set , a testing apparatus according to the present invention reads out information stored in an information recording section of each testing element with , e . g ., an infrared reader and sets a use condition and a result - correcting condition for the element based on the read - out information on a characteristic of the testing element . the testing apparatus according to the present invention includes a data record . the serial number of each testing element set in the testing apparatus , a characteristic of the element , a use condition , and a result when the element is used are recorded in the data record . statistical processing of such results enables calculation of use conditions and result - correcting conditions with fewer errors for the respective testing elements . other pieces of information , such as test type , reagent used , and test date and time , may be stored in the data record . a result of a test performed under a read - out use condition is statistically processed , and items necessary for the test , such as test type , reagent type , and the amount of reagent , are saved . by accumulating the pieces of information in a table and giving feedback when performing a similar test , prompt and efficient testing can be performed . alternatively , it is also possible to record a manufacturing plant , the date and time of manufacture , and the like of the testing element and use the pieces of information to control variations generated during a manufacturing process . if the elapsed time to use of the testing element is calculated from the date of manufacture and a use date and recorded , the elapsed time can also be used to correct a result brought about by a change with time . the temperature , humidity , and atmospheric pressure of the installation environment of the apparatus , vibrations around the apparatus , and the like may be measured and may be stored together with a test result . this enables an empirical rule ( e . g ., a rule that a difference occurs between a test result on a fine day and a test result on a rainy day ) to be verified as data and be applied to calibration and a finer testing can be enabled . a third aspect of the present invention relates to a testing system for performing testing . in the present invention , one or a plurality of testing apparatuses is connected to a testing system over a network , and a usage environment among the testing apparatuses is controlled . a testing system according to the present invention includes a database and a communication device . a table set downloaded from a wide area network is stored in the database . the testing apparatuses access the testing system and refer to tables stored in the testing system . the testing apparatuses update use conditions and result - correcting conditions in respective tables of the testing apparatuses , and then the apparatuses set use conditions and result - correcting conditions for testing elements . the communication device is connected to the wide area network . the testing system accesses respective remote servers prepared by vendors over the wide area network and it downloads table sets to be referred to by the testing apparatuses from the remote servers into the database . the testing system collects test results , use conditions , and pieces of information specific to the testing elements , such as a serial number specific to an element , from the testing apparatuses , and it complements the table sets stored in the database , with the collected pieces of information . with the above - described configuration , the latest table sets can be constantly downloaded from the remote servers of the vendors , and if a defective product ( unusable lot ) is found , information indicating , e . g ., discontinuance of use of a corresponding testing element can be acquired and be distributed to the testing apparatuses . the testing system can also share information with a testing system connected over the wide area network and perform subsequent tests with higher accuracy , by statistically processing pieces of information collected from the testing apparatuses and uploading the pieces of information to the network . the testing system can also constantly update and improve target test items based on the latest information by connecting to the remote servers prepared by the vendors . a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig1 to 4 . the present embodiment is directed to a test using a reaction in which the amount of fluorescence in a reagent is changed by introducing the reagent into a fine channel fluid path and continuously heating the reagent . as a method for continuously heating the reagent , a heater metal which produces heat is brought into contact with the channel fluid path containing the introduced reagent through a protective film . this enables prompt and stable heating . by using platinum as the material for the heater which produces heat , the temperature of the heating element is detected , by and measuring a value of resistance of the heater , according to a physical constant . accordingly , the relationship between the temperature of the reagent and the amount of fluorescence produced and measured at the temperature can be known . fig1 illustrates a testing element 40 used in the present embodiment . fig2 illustrates a testing apparatus 51 used in the present embodiment . in the testing element 40 , a reagent is introduced through a reagent inlet 1 and discharged through a reagent outlet 2 . a pump ( not shown ) is connected to the reagent outlet 2 . a negative pressure is generated by the pump to suck the reagent . the reagent moves through a channel fluid path 3 in contact with a heater electrode 4 . the reagent in the channel fluid path 3 is heated by the heater electrode 4 when the heater electrode 4 is powered through wiring electrodes 5 ( a ) and 5 ( b ). a value of resistance used throughout the system of the heater electrode 4 is recorded in an information recording section 10 , and information in the information recording section 10 is taken out from the information recording section 10 by a reading apparatus 11 . the reading apparatus 11 emits detection light 12 and acquires the information recorded in the information recording section 10 by using reflected return light . in the present embodiment , manufacturing process errors of individual testing elements generated during a testing element manufacturing process are measured . an item to be measured is a value of resistance . a process factor makes testing elements different in film thickness and the total amount of metal and thus it causes the test elements to have deviated values of resistance . a value of resistance also varies depending on the state of contact with a wiring metal . the amount of heat generated by input power varies with a change in a value of resistance in a testing element . to maintain a certain rate of temperature rise , power input to a heater metal which is arranged for each channel and which is in contact with the channel needs to be changed according to a deviation of the value of resistance of the heater metal . when a value of resistance in a testing element varies , an error occurs in a temperature to be measured . for this reason , values of resistance of respective channel fluid paths are measured in advance for each of testing elements , and the values are recorded on the surface of the testing element using a qr code ( registered trademark ) or a bar code . simultaneously , a manufacturing plant and the date and time of manufacture are recorded as information on characteristics of the testing element . although an example using a qr code ( registered trademark ) or a bar code as a commonly used unit is described herein , information may be recorded using a non - contact semiconductor memory device , such as an rf - ic or a felica ( registered trademark ), and may be read out in a non - contact wireless manner . a unit suitable for each case can be adopted in view of the balance between the amount of information used and the cost of a testing element . the testing element 40 is set in the testing apparatus 51 . simultaneously , a qr code ( registered trademark ) or a bar code is read with an infrared reader , and recorded information is passed as a use condition value to the testing apparatus . the testing apparatus refers to a table based on the read - out use condition value and it sets a use condition and a result - correcting condition . in the testing apparatus 51 in fig2 , information recorded in the information recording section 10 is taken out by the reading apparatus 11 and it is passed to a control circuit 15 . the control circuit 15 causes a wiring electrode ( a ) 21 and a wiring electrode ( b ) 22 to input power based on the passed information . a condition under which the testing element 40 is used and a result are recorded in a data record 30 . a use condition for the testing element 40 with even fewer errors can be calculated by statistically processing such results . the testing apparatus 51 stores a test type , a reagent used , a use date and time , the serial number of an element , and the like as data in the data record 30 together with a test result . the testing apparatus 51 statistically processes a result of performing a test based on a use condition and a result - correcting condition recorded in and read out from each testing element and saves items necessary for a test , such as test type , reagent type , and the amount of reagent . the elapsed time to use can be calculated from a manufacture date and a use date , and it can be used to calibrate a result considering a change with time . accumulated data can be promptly fed back when a testing element is used next time , and a similar test can be more efficiently performed . the testing apparatus 51 may measure the temperature , humidity , and atmospheric pressure of the installation environment of the apparatus , vibrations around the apparatus , and the like by using a thermometer , a hygrometer , and a vibration sensor and store the data together with a test result . in this case , establishment of an environment which can verify , as data , an empirical rule ( e . g ., a rule that a difference occurs between a test result on a fine day and a test result on a rainy day ) enables finer testing . in a testing system in fig3 , a testing system 50 is connected to one or a plurality of testing apparatuses 51 over a network 52 . the testing system 50 includes a database 53 and a communication device 54 , and the communication device 54 is connected to a wide area network 55 . the testing system 50 controls a usage environment among the plurality of testing apparatuses 51 . for example , the testing system 50 distributes table sets ( which may be part or the whole of a table ) to be referred to the testing apparatuses and updates items to be referred to in a table in each testing apparatus . the testing system 50 also collects pieces of information specific to testing elements , such as test results , use conditions , result - correcting conditions , and the serial number of an element , from the testing apparatuses , and complements the table sets with the collected pieces of information . the testing system accesses respective remote servers 56 ( which are connectable over a network ) prepared by vendors to download the latest data table sets . if a defective product ( unusable lot ) is found , the testing system acquires information indicating , e . g ., discontinuance of use of a corresponding testing element and distributes the information to the testing apparatuses . the testing system collects use information and result - correcting conditions from each testing apparatus , statistically processes the use condition and result - correcting condition of each testing element of each testing apparatus , and shares information with a testing system connected over a network such that subsequent tests can be performed with higher accuracy . the testing system can update and improve target test items by connecting to the remote servers prepared by the vendors . in this embodiment , the present invention has been described as use of a qr code ( registered trademark ). however , even if a semiconductor chip , such as an rf - ic , which wirelessly reads out information is embedded in an information recording section 19 , as illustrated in , e . g ., fig4 , information , such as a use condition , which is associated with use of a testing element , can be read out . a second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig5 . the present embodiment relates to a medical testing element , a medical testing apparatus , and a medical testing system , to which the present invention is applied . a medical testing element as referred to herein is typified by μ - tas , and the term generally indicates elements used in medical test and diagnosis and the like , such as a dna chip , a lab - on - a - chip , a microarray , and a protein chip . the present embodiment will describe a medical test which performs testing by continuously introducing a reagent into a fine channel fluid path . methods for continuously introducing a reagent include the process of sucking a reagent supplied to an inlet with , e . g ., a pipet by using a suction unit , such as a pump or a syringe , and the process of pressure - feeding a reagent supplied to an inlet by using a pressurization unit , such as a syringe . another available method includes the process of feeding a reagent by using ultrasonic waves or saw ( surface acoustic waves ). the process of generating a negative pressure by using a pump and sucking a reagent by utilizing a pressure difference will be described here . introduction of a reagent into a fine channel fluid path requires control of a fine pressure . generally , a dye or a fluorescent dye is introduced to make a reagent visible , and pressure is controlled while the state of the reagent in a channel fluid path is monitored , thereby sucking a desired amount of reagent and drawing the reagent to a desired position . if the state of the reagent is completely monitored , and the behavior of the monitored reagent is completely fed back for control of a pump , a desired amount of reagent can be drawn to a desired position . however , introduction of a stable amount of reagent and the process of promptly keeping a reagent at a desired position are difficult , due to a delay in a control feedback loop or the insufficient specifications of a monitor unit . in such a case , the process of measuring the pressure resistance of each channel fluid path in advance and informing the medical testing apparatus side of a different pressure resistance for each medical testing element enables a desired reagent to be handled in a short time . the pressure resistance of a channel fluid path results mainly from the dimensions ( opening area ) of the channel fluid path and surface roughness at an inner wall of the channel fluid path . there are several methods for forming a channel fluid path . among them , a method for creating a channel fluid path using sand blast will be exemplified without limitation hereinafter . a substrate is prepared , a resist material used in a semiconductor process is applied to the substrate , and a pattern is written by the method of , e . g ., lithography . after an unnecessary part of the resist material is removed , a desired pattern is left . the pattern is used as a mask , and particulate glass beads are blasted all over the substrate at high speed . due to the difference in hardness between the resist material and the material for the substrate , the substrate material is ground according to the written pattern , in which process microscopic asperities are unavoidably formed . by cleaning the resist material after a desired number of channel fluid paths are engraved , pattern fluid paths can be obtained while the substrate has a smooth surface . another flat substrate is compression - bonded to the substrate with the engraved pattern fluid paths . if a glass material is used as the material for the substrates , and two surfaces to be bonded are processed so as to have ultra - smooth surfaces , both the substrates can be brought into optical contact and be bonded to each other at this time . in the channel fluid paths thus formed , there are variations in the depths and forms of grooves formed by engraving as machining errors generated during sand blasting . surface roughness may occur also at the surface of each formed groove depending on the particle diameter of a glass bead used in sand blasting . generally , since a pattern for a plurality of channel fluid paths is formed in one substrate , and the plurality of channel fluid paths are cut off after being formed , 20 to 50 channel fluid paths for a testing element which are cut off from the same substrate are considered as being formed under relatively uniform conditions . dimensions and surface roughness , however , may differ depending on , e . g ., the blasting direction in sand blast . testing elements which are cut off from another substrate are often different in the dimensions of a channel fluid path and surface roughness because the testing elements include a lot error . with reference to fig5 , which is a schematic view of a medical testing element 41 used in the present embodiment , a reagent is introduced through a reagent inlet 1 and reacts at a reaction section 61 , while it is sucked by a pump ( not shown ) which is connected to a reagent outlet 2 . a mixed reagent ( a ) 62 and a mixed reagent ( b ) 63 which are to react with the reagent for a test are arranged in a channel fluid path . respective sections for the mixed reagents each include a unit configured to control pressure . each section can mix an arbitrary amount of reagent into the channel fluid path . the channel fluid path of the medical testing element 41 includes a form error 65 and surface roughness 64 which are generated during manufacture . the form error 65 and surface roughness 64 are responsible for non - uniformity in fluid path resistance throughout the element . in addition to such a difference specific to each channel fluid path that is generated during a manufacturing process , effects of surface modification during a storage period are non - negligible . in a liquid reagent in a fine fluid path , the flow velocity near the surface of the fluid path is substantially zero , and a laminar flow is established . how a flow velocity difference is generated largely depends on the surface condition . even a glass substrate of , e . g ., quartz glass , is expected to suffer various effects , such as effects from ultraviolet rays , effects of exposure to air containing oxygen and carbon dioxide , and effects of dust adsorption during transport or during use . surface modifications as described above cause variations in fluid path resistance . effects of a difference in fluid path resistance on control of a liquid reagent in a channel fluid path can be avoided by making the liquid reagent in the channel fluid path visible after setting of a testing element and changing a control parameter while monitoring the liquid . however , this requires a complicated mechanism , and desired control is difficult to achieve . an error generated during a manufacturing process can be avoided by measuring , in advance , channel dimensions , surface roughness , and the like and recording a measurement result in a medical testing element . for this reason , for each medical testing element , the dimensions and surface roughness of each channel fluid path are measured in advance , and a value of fluid path resistance of each channel of the medical testing element is calculated from measured values . the calculated values of fluid path resistance are recorded in an information recording section 10 at the surface of the medical testing element by using a qr code ( registered trademark ) or a bar code . simultaneously , a manufacturing plant and the date and time of manufacture are recorded as pieces of information . the present embodiment describes an example using a qr code ( registered trademark ) or a bar code as a commonly used unit . however , information may be recorded using a non - contact semiconductor memory device , such as an rf - ic or a felica ( registered trademark ), and may be read out in a non - contact wireless manner . the medical testing element 41 is set in a medical testing apparatus . simultaneously , a qr code ( registered trademark ) or a bar code is read with an infrared reader , and recorded information is passed as a use condition value to the medical testing apparatus . the medical testing apparatus refers to a table based on the read - out use condition value and sets a use condition and a result - correcting condition . the medical testing apparatus 41 stores a test type , a reagent used , a use date and time , the serial number of an element , and the like as data together with a test result . the medical testing apparatus statistically processes a result of performing a test based on use conditions recorded in and read out from medical testing elements and saves items necessary for a test , such as test type , reagent type , and the amount of reagent . the elapsed time to use can be calculated from a manufacture date and a use date , and the information can be used to calibrate a result considering a change with time . accumulated data can be promptly fed back when a testing element is used next time , and a similar test can be more efficiently performed . the medical testing apparatus measures the temperature , humidity , and atmospheric pressure of the installation environment of the apparatus , vibrations around the apparatus , and the like and stores the data together with a test result . establishment of an environment which can verify , as data , an empirical rule ( e . g ., a rule that a difference occurs between a test result on a fine day and a test result on a rainy day ) enables finer testing . a medical testing system controls a usage environment among a plurality of medical testing apparatuses . the medical testing system distributes table sets to be referred to the medical testing apparatuses and performs updating . the medical testing system also collects test results , use conditions and result - correcting conditions , and pieces of information specific to testing elements , such as the serial number of an element , from the medical testing apparatuses and complements the table sets with the collected pieces of information . the medical testing system accesses respective remote servers ( which are connectable over a network ) prepared by vendors to download the latest data table sets . if a defective product ( unusable lot ) is found , the medical testing system acquires information indicating , e . g ., discontinuance of use of a corresponding medical testing element and distributes the information to the medical testing apparatuses . the medical testing system collects use information and result - correcting conditions from each medical testing apparatus , statistically processes the use condition of each medical testing element of each medical testing apparatus , and shares information with a testing system connected over a network such that subsequent tests can be performed with higher accuracy . the medical testing system can update and improve target test items by connecting to host servers prepared by vendors . while the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments . the scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions . this application claims the benefit of japanese patent application no . 2011 - 100981 , filed apr . 28 , 2011 , which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety .
| 6Physics
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the present invention provides the ability for the predetection combiner to prevent capture by strong but distorted signals by using a prior knowledge of the form of an undistorted signal . that is , in some form , evaluate the overall quality of each of the received if signals to be used to weight the four individual channels on a system approach . long haul troposcatter systems in existence today use post detection combiners and the out - of - band noise detector as a measure of both signal quality and strength . the present invention utilizes the effective amplitude modulation index of each diversity channel as a measure of its quality . the diversity signal , as transmitted , may contain amplitude fluctuation which results in an effective amplitude modulation index . the channel multipath distortion as well as channel thermal noise will tend to increase the relative size of these fluctuations and therefore increase the amplitude modulation index . this measure can thus be used to weight each input if channel according to its quality without regard to the type of signal transmitted . the use of predetection combining has the advantage over the baseband combiner in the fm threshold region because all usable diversity signals are combined before detection instead of being demodulated individually and then combined as accomplished in a baseband combiner . this in turn will result in lowering the fm threshold . turning now to fig1 there is shown a prior art predetection combiner apparatus utilizing an agc unit 10 to receive the system 70 mhz if . input signal . the output signal of the agc unit 10 is applied simultaneously to mixer units 11 , 12 . the output of mixer 11 is filtered in filter unit 13 and applied to mixer unit 12 . the output signal of mixer unit 12 is applied to summing unit 14 which sums this signal with the output signals from the other system channels ( not shown ). the summed output signal from summing unit 14 is filtered in filter unit 15 and applied simultaneously to detector unit 16 and to the other system channels ( not shown ) in the troposcatter radio system . the detector unit 16 applies its output signal to agc unit 10 to condition the incoming 70 mhz i . f . input signal . there is shown in fig2 one channel of a basic four channel predetection combiner which has been modified to include a distortion weighting unit 20 . in fig2 the distortion weighting unit 20 correlates the amplitude distortion of the summed signal against the amplitude distortion on each input channel . the channel with the highest correlation will be attenuated the most . this process never resets , it is always working to minimize output distortion in a mean square sense for the combination of the four channels . fig3 shows the system channel distortion weighting apparatus for a two channel predetection combiner , the other two if channels which are not shown , being the same . as the input signal becomes distorted due to multipath propagation , unequal gains , excessive thermal noise , etc ., these amplitude fluctuations will increase with respect to the higher quality channels . by measuring the strength of the ac component of each signal envelope with respect to its average dc component , a measure of channel quality is thus obtained which reflects both channel distortion and background noise . with distortion weighting of this type , the predetection combiner operation becomes relatively independent of signal parameters . the operation of the system channel distortion weighting apparatus of fig3 will be better understood by the following discussion of the signal paths and waveforms in the present circuit . the discussion will refer only to one half of the circuit shown , however , it applies equally to the other portion of the block diagram since they are mirror images of each other . the diversity channel input signal which appears at point a is an amplitude distorted signal which was induced by channel distortion plus thermal noise . at point b , the diversity channel signal is the same as at point a except that the signal has been processed by the main agc gain . the main agc is utilized to control the level of the output signal . after envelope detection of the channel signal by the envelope detector , the signal at point c is an envelope ( no carrier present ) at a constant rms value . the envelope of point c is filtered in high pass filter 50 to remove the dc component and to provide the ac component of the envelope which is now proportional to the percentage amplitude distortion of the signal . the signal at point d is the envelope of point c ( the ac component of the envelope ) referenced about the baseline , zero . at point e , the ac component of amplitude fluctuations of the combiner output appear . there can be one of two possible conditions . in case 1 , the input channel envelope to point d contributes most to output distortion . in case 2 , another channel contributes most to output distortion . in other words , the signal at point e is different from the signal at point d . at point f , the filtered output of the correlator appears as the correlation between the single channel distortion envelope and the combiner output distortion envelope . in the present example , the correlation between point d and e is d times e for either case 1 or case 2 . in case 1 , the result is some positive voltage . in case 2 , the result is approximately zero dc . a dc value at correlator output will occur only when diversity input in question is significantly contributing to distortion on the output . resultant dc signal is then used to turn down gain on that channel . at point g , the output of the difference amplifier is the difference between individual channel distortion level ( dc proportional voltage ) and a reference distortion level . for case 1 , the individual channel distortion is greater than the reference distortion . therefore , the output at point g is voltage which reduces gain of that channel . for case 2 , the individual channel distortion is less than the reference distortion . therefore , the output at point g would be a voltage which increases the gain of that channel . the difference amplifier insures that the diversity channel is not attenuated more than necessary . thus , if all inputs are distorted , the difference amplifier will tend to minimize the output distortion by preventing any single channel to contribute to this distortion more than others . there is shown in fig4 , 8 and 10 a plot of the total probability distribution versus the baseband signal - to - noise ratio for a modified and an unmodified communications link from youngstown to verona . in fig5 , 9 and 11 , there is shown a plot of the total probability densities versus the baseband signal - to - noise ratio for a modified and an unmodified communications link from youngstown to verona . there is shown in fig1 and 13 a plot of the errors in a modified versus an unmodified system on a transmission link between youngstown and ontario . although the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment , it will be understood to those skilled in the art that the invention is capable of a variety of alternative embodiments within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .
| 7Electricity
|
benzimidazole is wellknown as a chemical compound , its first synthesis going back to over a hundred years ( synthesis by reaction of o - phenylenediamine with formic acid : wundt , ber . 11 , 826 ( 1878 )). this compound is very stable , particularly under heat , and it can withstand the action of concentrated acids , such as sulfuric and hydrochloric acids , and of alkalis . moreover , this compound has a wellknown biological activity , due to its chemical relation with histamine , and to its presence in the molecule of vitamin b12 ( where it forms a bridge between the cobalt and one of the lateral chains , bonding of said chain being achieved with an amino - alcohol residue ). benzimidazole and its derivatives are also already known to have pharmacological properties , which are not incompatible with their use within the scope of the present invention . for example , the action of some of its derivatives on vasomotricity has been described , as well as the action of others against malaria . it has also been shown that some of its derivatives exhibited remarkable fungicidal properties , of spectrum higher than that of griseofulvine , which are due to the blocking of the protein synthesis but which can be inhibited by the antagonist action of adenine , guanine , nucleic acids and vitamin b12 . . . a study of the various pharmacological properties of the benzimidazole and of its derivatives has revealed the innocuousness of those substances . in particular , the ld 50 of benzimidazole has been determined by the &# 34 ; up and down &# 34 ; method in mice . said ld 50 varies after 30 days , from 0 . 520 to 0 . 610 mg / g . in the course of his works , the applicant has determined the selective affinity and persistant concentration of benzimidazole and its derivatives , at the level of the gastro - duodenum mucosae , as well as the advantage that there is in ingesting said product or products at the same time as food products liable to cause stimulation and hypersecretion of said mucosae . the selective affinity of benzimidazole towards the gastric mucose in mice and dogs as well as in humans , was established by autoradiographic and gammagraphic techniques , using the benzimidazole labeled with carbon 14 or iodine 131 and injected by intraperitoneol or intraveinous route . it was found in both cases that the distribution of the labeled product was homogeneous already 15 minutes after the injection , but that after 3 hours , the radioactivity of most of the tissues was very low , except for that of the stomach and of the gastric contents which continue to increase and keeps up for over 6 hours to disappear within 24 hours . said tests have also shown that the benzimidazole is easily and totally eliminated , especially through the urinary system , and is free of any residual toxicity both in animals and humans , even at the concentrations observed at the level of the gastro - duodenum mucosae . the applicant also measured the ed 50 in mice ( 22 - 28 g ), in anti - salivation tests ( salivation induced by subcutaneous injection of pilocarpine : ed 50 & gt ; 100 mg / kg p . o .) and intestinal motricity tests ( using charcoal : ed 50 & gt ; 100 mg / kg p . o .). up to doses of over 100 mg / kg p . o ., the benzimidazole has no effect on salivation and does not reduce intestinal motricity . the present invention recommends the use of this compound and / or of at least one of its derivatives in food products . it is therefore the object of the present invention to provide food products which contain benzimidazole and / or at least one of its derivatives , and more particularly food products the ingestion of which is known to cause the stimulation and hypersecretion of the gastric and / or duodenum mucosae ; said food products being known for their acidity . according to the invention , said food products contain said benzimidazole and / or at least one of its derivatives , in efficient quantity to arrive at the expected result which is to improve assimilation by the body system . a perfect digestion of the products is thus reached in that said products have been made digestible . the combination of the food product with the benzimidazole , and / or at least one of its derivatives , according to the invention , is very advantageous . it makes it possible to abort any gastro - duodenum non - tumorous disorders , to prevent pains ( stomach pains ) from occurring , after the ingestion of products known to be difficult to digest . it has a preventive action . the applicant has further established that gastric disorders also affected young children and newborn babies . thus , according to one of its aspects , the invention relates to food products for children and / or newborn babies , which contain benzimidazole and / or at least one of its derivatives . one example is milk for newborn babies , in powder form if appropriate . examples of food products , which advantageously contain benzimidazole and / or one of its derivatives , according to the invention , are as follows : pasta , bread , sauces , jam , marmalade , jellies , sweets , ice - creams , chocolates , desserts , biscuits , coffee , tea , sausages , oils , . . . it will be noted at this stage that , in the present text , the terms &# 34 ; food product &# 34 ; includes drinks such as alcoholic drinks , fruit juices , gaseous or non - gaseous mineral waters , . . . the quantity of benzimidazole and / or analogue or analogues used is not critical insofar as the product is not toxic and has no secondary effects . an adult can ingest between 15 and 30 mg daily , against 5 to 15 mg for a newborn baby or a child ( 8 - 10 years old ) without any danger . it is of course advised to use a sufficient quantity of the product in order to obtain the expected result . incidently , it should be noted that the presence of the benzimidazole , and / or of at least one of its derivatives , in the food products , does not affect either their flavor , ( taste and smell ), or their appearance . bread containing , for 100 g , between 15 and 25 mg of benzimidazole and / or at least one of its derivatives ; coffee containing , for 1 kg , about 500 mg of benzimidazole and / or of at least one of its derivatives ; pasta containing , for 1 kg , about 150 mg of benzimidazole and / or of at least one of its derivatives ; sauces containing , for 100 g , between 50 and 60 mg of benzimidazole and / or of at least one of its derivatives ; jam containing , for 1 kg , about 100 mg of benzimidazole and / or of at least one of its derivatives ; alcoholized drinks such as whisky , cognac , liqueurs , wines , champagnes , . . . containing for example between 60 and 200 mg / liter of benzimidazole and / or of at least one of its derivatives ; beers containing for example between 30 and 70 mg / liter of benzimidazole and / or of at least one of its derivatives ; fruit juices or analogues , such as grape juice , orange juice , grapefruit juice , lemon juice , pineapple juice , peach juice , apple juice or lemonade , coca - cola or cider , . . . containing for example between 25 and 60 mg / liter of benzimidazole and / or of at least one of its derivatives ; gaseous or non - gaseous mineral water , . . . containing for example between 10 and 25 mg / liter of benzimidazole and / or of at least one of its derivatives . for making the bread which , according to the invention , contains benzimidazole and / or at least one of its derivatives , the flour used will advantageously contain between 20 and 25 mg of said benzimidazole and / or of at least one of its derivatives per kg . it is clear from the foregoing that the action of the benzimidazole and / or of at least one of its derivatives , is not strictly limited to such or such a quantity for such or such a type of product . the combination of a food product with benzimidazole , and / or at least one of its derivatives , does not either raise any elaboration problems , particularly due to the stability of said chemical substances . according to another of its aspects , the invention relates to a method for preparing a food product and to a method for treating a food product so as to facilitate its assimilation by the body system , said methods consisting in : either including benzimidazole and / or at least one of its derivatives , during the preparation of the food product ; or adding said benzimidazole and / or at least one of its derivatives in said prepared food product . the use of said benzimidazole and / or at least one of its derivatives during the preparation of the product and at the final product stage , cannot be excluded . the invention therefore proposes a novel use of the benzimidazole and of its derivatives , in food products , in order to make them easier to assimilate for the body system . in other words , the invention proposes a method to facilitate the assimilation of food products in the body system , which method consists in incorporating benzimidazole and / or at least one of its derivatives therein .
| 0Human Necessities
|
a data transmitting and receiving system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig2 is a block diagram of a data transmitting and receiving system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . the data transmitting and receiving system includes a transmission unit 100 for transmitting data , a receiving unit 200 for receiving data , and channels ch , chb , and chr for transmitting data between transmission unit 100 and receiving unit 200 . transmission unit 100 includes a transmission controller 110 , an error detection code generator 120 , a parallel - serial converter 130 , an output driver 140 , a pre - emphasis controller 170 , a receiving driver 180 , and a re - transmission determiner 190 . receiving unit 200 includes an input driver 210 , an equalizer controller 240 , a serial - parallel converter 250 , a receiving controller 260 , an error detector 270 , a re - transmission requester 280 , and a transmission driver 290 . as transmission controller 110 outputs k - bits output data ( dout ), error detection code generator 120 outputs s - bits error detection code ( ec ) associated with the output data ( dout ). parallel - serial converter 130 receives the k - bits output data ( dout ) and the s - bits error detection code ( ec ), performs a parallel to serial conversion , and outputs differential output data ( do and dob ). output driver 140 receives the differential output data ( do and dob ), converts this data in relation to the transmission characteristics of channels ch and chb , and generates output data signal ( do and dob ). in the illustrated embodiment , output driver 140 includes a transmission driver 150 and a pre - emphasis driver 160 . transmission driver 150 performs impedance - matching and differential amplification of the differential output data ( do and dob ). pre - emphasis driver 160 converts the differential output data ( do and dob ) based on the characteristics of channels ch and chb in response to a pre - emphasis control signal ( pre_con ) provided by pre - emphasis controller 170 , and outputs the converted data . output driver 140 combines the output signals from transmission driver 150 and the output signals from pre - emphasis driver 160 to generate output data signals ( do and dob ) suitable for transmission over channels ch and chb . channels ch and chb communicate the output data signals ( do and dob ) provided by transmission unit 100 to receiving unit 200 as distorted data signals ( di and dib ). that is , distorted data signals ( di and dib ) correspond respectively to the output data signals ( do and dob ), but have been distorted by the unique transmission characteristics of channels ch and chb . input driver 210 of receiving unit 200 includes a receiving driver 220 and a receiving equalizer 230 adapted to receive the distorted data signals ( di and dib ). receiving driver 220 performs impedance matching in order to receive as much of the distorted data signals ( di and dib ) as possible without any undesired signal reflections . also , receiving equalizer 230 restores data integrity to the distorted data signals ( di and dib ) in relation to an equalization control signal ( eq_con ) provided by equalizer controller 240 , and thereafter outputs differential input data ( di and dib ). serial - parallel converter 250 receives the differential input data ( di and dib ), performs a serial to parallel conversion , and outputs k - bits input data ( din ) to receiving controller 260 , and outputs s - bits error detection code ( ec ) along with the k - bits input data ( din ) to error detector 270 . error detector 270 analyzes the input data ( din ) and the error detection code ( ec ), determines whether an error is present in the input data ( din ), and outputs an error signal ( er ) to receiving controller 260 and re - transmission requester 280 indicating the error in the input data ( din ). receiving controller 260 ignores the input data ( din ) when it contains an error , but regularly performs an indicated operation when the input data ( din ) is error free . re - transmission requester 280 outputs error indication data ( edo ) and a corresponding equalization correction signal ( con 2 ) in response to the error signal ( er ). equalizer controller 240 receives the equalization correction signal ( con 2 ) from re - transmission requester 280 when it is necessary to adjust the equalization coefficient of receiving equalizer 230 , and thereby change the value of the equalization control signal ( eq_con ). transmission driver 290 impedance matches the error indication data ( edo ) in relation to the transmission characteristics of the “ return ” channel chr , amplifies the error indication data ( edo ), and thereby generates an error indication signal ( edo ). the error indication signal ( edo ) may become distorted error indication signal ( edi ) during its return communication through channel chr to transmission unit 100 . receiving driver 180 of transmission unit 100 corrects distortion in the distorted error indication signal ( edi ) to form return error indication data ( edi ). in response to the return error indication data ( edi ), re - transmission determiner 190 outputs a re - transmission signal ( retry ) and a pre - emphasis correction signal ( con 1 ). the re - transmission signal ( retry ) is applied to transmission controller 110 in order to request re - transmission of the errant data , and the pre - emphasis correction signal ( con 1 ) is applied to pre - emphasis controller 170 in order to change the pre - emphasis control signal ( pre_con ). in the data transmitting and receiving system shown in fig2 , when a bit error is apparent in the input data ( din ), it is assumed that the error is caused by random noise in the data channel , and a re - transmission of data is requested . however , when errors are detected in the same packet of input data ( din ) more than a predetermined number of times ( i . e ., following “ n ” retry attempts ), it is assumed that the errors are being caused by systematic noise , so that the equalization coefficient used by receiving equalizer 230 and / or the pre - emphasis coefficient used by pre - emphasis driver 160 should be corrected . for example , when errors are detected in the same input data ( din ) twice or more , the equalization coefficient and / or the pre - emphasis coefficient may be corrected accordingly . thus , after transmission unit 100 first transmits the output data signals ( do and dob ) and error detector 270 in receiving unit 200 detects an error , re - transmission requester 270 does not output the equalization correction signal ( con 2 ), but outputs only the error indication data ( edo ). also , when the corresponding error indication signal ( edo ) is output from transmission driver 290 of receiving unit 200 to transmission unit 100 , re - transmission determiner 190 does not generate the pre - emphasis correction signal ( con 1 ), but outputs only the re - transmission signal ( retry ) to allow transmission unit 100 to re - transmit data . therefore , since re - transmission requester 280 and re - transmission determiner 190 do not output the correction signals ( con 2 and con 1 ), respectively , the pre - emphasis control signal ( pre_con ) and the equalization control signal ( eq_con ) output from pre - emphasis controller 170 and equalization controller 240 are unchanged . however , if an error is again detected in re - transmitted data , re - transmission requester 280 outputs the equalization correction signal ( con 2 ) to equalization controller 240 so that equalization controller 240 may adjust the equalization control signal ( eq_con ). in response to the changed equalization control signal ( eq_con ), the equalization characteristics of receiving equalizer 230 are controlled so that data may be received without error . in another embodiment , the pre - emphasis correction signal ( con 1 ) may be output from re - transmission determiner 190 of transmission unit 100 instead of outputting the equalization correction signal ( con 2 ) from re - transmission requester 280 of receiving unit 200 . in this case , re - transmission determiner 190 of transmission unit 100 outputs the pre - emphasis correction signal ( con 1 ) so that pre - emphasis controller 170 may change the pre - emphasis control signal ( pre_con ). thus , the pre - emphasis characteristics applied by pre - emphasis driver 160 may be controlled so that data is transmitted without error . although both the pre - emphasis correction signal ( con 1 ) and the equalization correction signal ( con 2 ) may be output at the same time , only one of them is normally output because simultaneously altering more than one feedback loop variable may result in data errors unrelated to a control signal variation . thus , when a data transmitting and receiving system is implemented with a re - transmission determiner 190 and a re - transmission requester 280 capable of outputting their respective correction signals ( con 1 and con 2 ), only one of these circuits is typically enabled at any given point in time relative to the generation of a correction signal . therefore , a data transmitting and receiving system such as the one shown in fig2 is capable of re - transmitting data a predetermined number of times when there is an error in data transmission , and is further capable of preventing errors from occurring in the data transmission by correcting a pre - emphasis coefficient in transmission unit 100 or an equalization coefficient in receiving unit 200 when systemic errors are repeatedly detected . assuming as is typical that the data transmitting and receiving system has been initialized in relation to the anticipated channel conditions , it will only necessary to minimally correct the pre - emphasis coefficient or the equalization coefficient . fig3 a and 3b are circuit diagrams further illustrating the output driver shown in fig2 . as noted , output driver 140 of fig2 may includes transmission driver 150 and pre - emphasis driver 160 . in fig3 a , a transmission driver 151 includes two nmos transistors n 1 and n 2 as differential amplifiers . thus , the nmos transistors n 1 and n 2 differentially receive and amplify the differential output data ( do and dob ), respectively , and output the amplified data . two resistors r 1 and r 2 , which are connected to a power supply voltage vcc , are loads used for impedance - matching . typically , each of the resistors r 1 and r 2 has a defined resistance of ( e . g .,) 50ω . also , a constant current source cc 1 is connected to a ground voltage vss and keeps the driving capability of the transmission driver 150 constant . here , the constant current source cc 1 is typically embodied by an nmos transistor having a gate terminal to which a constant voltage is applied . a pre - emphasis driver 161 of fig3 a has almost the same configuration as transmission driver 151 . however , pre - emphasis driver 161 does not include a load for impedance - matching unlike transmission driver 151 . in addition , pre - emphasis driver 161 does not receive the power supply voltage vcc but is connected to an output signal of transmission driver 151 so that pre - emphasis driver 161 changes the output signals of transmission driver 151 and the output data signals ( do and dob ). transmission driver 151 receives the differential output data ( do and dob ) as input signals , and pre - emphasis driver 161 receives , as input signals , delayed differential output data ( ddo and ddob ) obtained by delaying the previous differential output data ( do and dob ) by a predetermined amount of time . also , a variable current source vc 1 is connected to the common ground voltage vss so as to control the driving capability of pre - emphasis driver 161 . the variable current source vc 1 controls the amount of current in response to the pre - emphasis control signal “ pre_con ” output from pre - emphasis controller 170 and may be embodied by a plurality of nmos transistors . in other words , the nmos transistors of the variable current source vc 1 have gate terminals to which respective bits of the pre - emphasis control signal “ pre_con ” are applied , and are enabled in response to the pre - emphasis control signal “ pre_con ” to control current supplied to the ground voltage vss . therefore , in output driver 140 of fig3 a , when transmission driver 151 outputs output signals which are impedance - matched and amplified in response to the differential output data ( do and dob ), pre - emphasis driver 161 pre - emphasizes the output signals of transmission driver 151 and transmits output data signals ( do and dob ). fig3 b illustrates another example of output driver 140 receiving only one data stream ( i . e ., a single output data —( do )) unlike output driver 140 of fig3 a which receives the differential output data ( do and dob ). a typical data transmitting and receiving system differentially transmits and receives data to enhance the accuracy of signals , but it is obvious that transmission unit 100 may output single data as well as differential data . when single data is output , two channels ch and chb need not be provided between transmission unit 100 and receiving unit 200 , but ( under the working assumptions illustrated above ) only a single channel ch is required , along with return channel chr . a transmission driver 152 of fig3 b is an inverter , which receives the single output data ( do ) as an input signal , inverts the output data ( do ), and outputs the inverted data . a pre - emphasis driver 162 of fig3 b includes a first plurality of inverters ( inv 11 through inv 1 n ), each of which receives and inverts the single output data ( do ), transfer portions ( hp 1 , through hpn ) which are enabled in response to pre - emphasis control signals ( pre_con 1 through pre_conn ) output from pre - emphasis controller 170 , delay the inverted single output data ( do ) by respectively different predetermined amounts of time , control the voltage levels of the delayed data , and output the data of which voltage levels are controlled . pre - emphasis driver 162 also includes a second plurality of inverters ( inv 21 through inv 2 n ), which receive the signals output from the transfer portions ( hp 1 through hpn ) and output the signals at respectively different levels . the single output data ( do ) is output as output signals that are controlled to respectively different levels and delayed by respectively different predetermined amounts of time . therefore , when transmission driver 152 receives the next single output data ( do ) and outputs the output signal , pre - emphasis driver 162 combines the output signals of second inverters ( inv 21 through inv 2 n ) and outputs a pre - emphasized output data signal ( dob ). since the output data signal ( dob ) is obtained by inverting and pre - emphasizing a single output data ( do ), receiving unit 200 must invert distorted data signal ( dib ) received through channel “ ch ”. fig4 a and 4b are block diagrams illustrating the possible implementations and corresponding operation of an equalizer adapted for use within embodiments of the invention . typically , a feed forward equalizer ( ffe ) or a decision feedback equalizer ( dfe ) may be used as the equalizer . fig4 a illustrates an ffe including a plurality of transfer portions ( hf 1 through hfn ), which receive an input signal ( vin ), delays the input signal ( vin ) for predetermined amounts of time , and output the delayed signals at respectively different levels . the transfer portions ( hf 1 , . . . , and hfn ) output the signals at respectively different levels in response to the input signal ( vin ) when the next input signal ( vin ) is applied and allow a combiner add 1 to combine the output signals with the next input signal ( vin ). in this case , the transfer portions ( hf 1 through hfn ) are selectively enabled to control the equalization intensity of the input signal ( vin ). in other words , the next input signal ( vin ) is equalized with reference to the previous input signal ( vin ). fig4 b illustrates a dfe , which includes a plurality of transfer portions ( hd 1 through hdn ) and a level determiner dm . when an input signal ( vin ) # is applied to the dfe , the level determiner dm determines the level of the input signal ( vin ) and outputs an output signal ( vout ) at a “ high ” or “ low ” level . then , the transfer portions ( hd 1 through hdn ) receive the output signal ( vout ), delay the output signal ( vout ) for predetermined amounts of time , and output the delayed signals at respectively different levels . the respective signals output from the transfer portions ( hd 1 through hdn ) are combined with the next input signal ( vin ) by a combiner add 2 and applied to the level determiner dm . in other words , the next input signal ( vin ) is equalized with reference to the previous output signal ( vout ). the ffe operates at high speed , but makes it difficult to determine timing because it delays and outputs signals in an analog manner . in contrast , although the dfe operates at low speed by use of feedback , the dfe refers to an output signal ( vout ) of which level is determined , so that it is resistant to noise . fig5 is a block diagram of an input driver adapted for use with the embodiment of the invention shown in fig2 . in fig5 , an ffe is used as input driver 210 of fig2 . input driver 210 includes a receiving driver 221 and a receiving equalizer 231 and has almost the same configuration as output driver 140 of fig3 a . distorted data signals ( di and dib ) are received from transmission unit 100 through channels ch and chb into receiving driver 221 . receiving driver 221 includes two nmos transistors n 5 and n 6 as differential amplifiers . thus , the nmos transistors n 5 and n 6 differentially receive and amplify the distorted data signals ( di and dib ) and output the amplified data . like the resistors r 1 and r 2 of fig3 a , two resistors r 3 and r 4 , which are connected to a power supply voltage vcc , are loads used for impedance - matching . typically , each of the resistors r 3 and r 4 has a resistance of 50ω . also , a constant current source cc 2 is connected to a ground voltage vss and keeps the driving capability of receiving driver 221 constant . here , the constant current source cc 2 is typically embodied by an nmos transistor having a gate terminal to which a constant voltage is applied . receiving equalizer 231 does not receive the power supply voltage vcc but is connected to an output terminal of receiving driver 221 so that receiving equalizer 231 changes the output signals of receiving driver 221 and outputs differential input data ( di and dib ). receiving driver 221 receive the distorted data signals ( di and dib ) as input signals , and receiving equalizer 231 receives , as input signals , delayed distorted data signals ( ddi and ddib ) obtained by delaying the received distorted data signals ( di and dib ) by a predetermined amount of time . also , a variable current source vc 2 is connected to a common ground voltage vss so as to control the driving capability of receiving equalizer 231 . the variable current source vc 2 controls the amount of current in response to the equalization control signal ( eq_con ) output from equalization controller 240 and may be embodied by a plurality of nmos transistors . in other words , the nmos transistors of the variable current source vc 2 have gate terminals to which respective bits of the equalization control signal ( eq_con ) are applied , and are enabled in response to the equalization control signal ( eq_con ) to control current supplied to the ground voltage vss . therefore , within input driver 210 of fig5 , when receiving driver 221 amplifies the distorted data signals ( di and dib ) and performs impedance - matching of the amplified data , receiving equalizer 231 equalizes the output signals of receiving driver 221 and outputs the differential input data ( di and dib ). according to the present invention as described above , when bit errors are detected more than a predetermined number of times during communication of data , a data transmitting and receiving system may be adjusted to a more optimal state of operation by correcting a pre - emphasis coefficient in the transmission unit or an equalization coefficient in the receiving unit without interrupting its regular operation to run a specialized mode designed to optimize system performance . therefore , a data transmitting and receiving system according to an embodiment of the invention may efficiently operated in real time without data loss . exemplary embodiments of the invention have been disclosed herein and , although specific terms are employed , they are used and are to be interpreted in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purpose of limitation . accordingly , it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims .
| 7Electricity
|
a depth image camera is known that generates a depth image in which each pixel has a pixel value corresponding to a distance to a subject that appears in the pixels . the position and the shape of the subject in the real space , which appears in the depth image , may be identified by analyzing the depth image generated by imaging the subject using the depth image camera . however , it may be difficult to identify a fingertip in the depth image that has been obtained by imaging a hand , depending on an imaging environment or the like . in such a case , the fingertip position is not identified accurately , so that there is a possibility that information different from information desired by the user is input to the input device . therefore , an object of the technology discussed in the embodiment is to provide an input device that detects the fingertip position even when it is difficult to identify the fingertip on the depth image . the input device is described below with reference to diagrams . such an input device detects a position at which the fingertip of a user has touched a table , from a depth image obtained by imaging the hand of the user using the depth image camera , and generates an input signal corresponding to the position . fig1 is a diagram illustrating a range of a distance that a depth image camera is able to represent on a depth image . for a hand 120 of the user , which is a subject in a certain distance range 110 , a depth image camera 100 generates a depth image having pixel values depending on a distance to the hand 120 . for example , as the distance to the hand 120 becomes larger , the values of the corresponding pixels on the depth image also become larger ( that is , the pixels become white as the distance becomes farther ). here , for example , it is assumed that a table 130 is provided at the position farther from the depth image camera 100 than the hand 120 , as the surface on which the finger touches when the user performs an input operation . in this case , on the depth image , pixels in which the table 130 appears and pixels in which the hand 120 appears have different pixel values . fig2 a is a diagram illustrating a depth image of a hand away from a table , which is obtained by the depth image camera . in a depth image 200 , a table 201 located relatively far from the depth image camera is represented relatively white , and a hand 202 located relatively near the depth image camera is represented relatively black . as described above , when the table 201 and the hand 202 are separated from each other , differences between the values of pixels included in the area in which the hand 202 appears and the values of pixels included in the surrounding area in which the table 201 appears become large on the depth image 200 . therefore , the fingertip position may be accurately identified on the depth image 200 . on the contrary , for example , when the user put the hand close to the table in order to perform an input operation , a difference between a distance from the depth image camera to the hand and a distance from the depth image camera to the table becomes small . therefore , in the depth image , differences between the pixel values of pixels in which the table appears and the pixel values of pixels in which the hand appears become small . fig2 b is a diagram illustrating a depth image when an index finger has come into contact with the table surface . in a depth image 210 , a difference between a distance from the depth image camera to the fingertip of the index finger and a distance from the depth image camera to the table 201 is small , so that it is difficult to identify the fingertip of an index finger 202 a of the hand 202 in the depth image 210 . therefore , the input device according to the embodiment obtains , in advance , the length of a finger from the finger base to the fingertip , which is used for an input operation by the user ( for example , an index finger ), based on a depth image obtained by capturing the finger by the depth image camera in a state in which the finger is away from the background , and stores the length in the storage unit . in addition , for example , when the input device detects an input operation , the input device sets , as the fingertip position , the position separated from the finger base by the length of the finger , which is stored in advance , in the longitudinal direction of the finger , which has been obtained on the depth image from the finger base and a portion in which the finger is identified . fig3 is a schematic perspective view of an input device . fig4 is a hardware configuration diagram of the input device illustrated in fig3 . an input device 1 includes a projection device 2 , a mirror 3 , a depth image camera 4 , a communication unit 5 , a storage unit 6 , and a control unit 7 . the units included in the input device 1 are accommodated in a housing 10 having a u - shaped in a vertical direction viewed from the side surface . in the following description , for convenience of explanation , the surface of the input device , which faces the user , is referred to as a front surface . the projection device 2 is , for example , a liquid - crystal projector , and is provided on the front surface side of the housing 10 so that the display surface faces upward . the projection device 2 projects video so as to display video on the display surface , in accordance with a video signal that has been received from the control unit 7 . the video from the projection device 2 is , for example , projected on the table surface or the like on which the housing 10 is provided so as to be reflected by the mirror 3 provided on the lower side of a top part 10 a of the housing 10 , which protrudes into the front surface side . the depth image camera 4 is an example of a depth image generation unit , and is provided in the top part so as to face downward so that the imaging range includes a range in which the video that has been projected from the projection device 2 appears . it is desirable that the depth image camera 4 is provided so that the surface of the table on which the housing 10 is mounted is included within the distance range in which the distance is represented as pixel values on the depth image . in addition , the depth image camera 4 generates a depth image in which the imaging range appears , at certain imaging cycles ( for example , 30 m sec to 100 m sec ). in addition , the depth image camera 4 outputs a depth image to the control unit 7 each time the depth image camera 4 generates the depth image . the communication unit 5 includes an interface used to connect the input device 1 to a further device and a control circuit of the interface . in addition , for example , the communication unit 5 transmits a video signal that has been received from a further device , to the control unit 7 . alternatively , the communication unit 5 outputs , to a further device , an input signal that has been received from the control unit 7 , which corresponds to an input from the user . the storage unit 6 includes , for example , a volatile or nonvolatile semiconductor memory circuit . in addition , the storage unit 6 stores a video signal indicating a video projected by the projection device 2 , various pieces of information used to detect an input operation from the user , for example , information used to detect the fingertip position of the user from the depth image . the control unit 7 includes one or a plurality of processors and the peripheral circuit . in addition , the control unit 7 is coupled to the projection device 2 , the depth image camera 4 , the communication unit 5 , and the storage unit 6 through a signal line , and controls the entire input device 1 . in addition , the control unit 7 detects the fingertip position of the user by analyzing the depth image that has been received from the depth image camera 4 . in addition , the control unit 7 detects an input from the user , based on the fingertip position , and generates an input signal corresponding to the input . a configuration element related on input processing including fingertip position detection processing , which is executed by the control unit 7 is described below in detail . fig5 is a functional block diagram of the control unit 7 . the control unit 7 includes a hand area detection unit 11 , a finger length measurement unit 12 , a registration unit 13 , a provisional contact determination unit 14 , a fingertip position calculation unit 15 , and a contact determination unit 16 . each of the units included in the control unit 7 may be provided , for example , as a function module achieved by a computer program executed on a processor included in the control unit 7 . the units may be provided in the input device 1 as a separate circuit , independent of the control unit 7 , or may be provided in the input device 1 as a single integrated circuit that achieve the functions of the units , independent of the control unit 7 . the finger length measurement unit 12 and the registration unit 13 are used for registration processing in which registration of the length of a certain finger of the user , and a reference image that is a depth image when an object that is a target to be touched is merely included in within the imaging range of the depth image camera 4 is performed in a case in which the user performs an input operation . in addition , the provisional contact determination unit 14 , the fingertip position calculation unit 15 , and the contact determination unit 16 are used for input processing . in addition , the hand area detection unit 11 is used for both of the registration processing and the input processing . the units related to the registration processing are described below . at first , in a case in which the user performs an input operation , the control unit 7 obtains , from the depth image camera 4 , a depth image when an object that is a target to be touched is merely included in the imaging range . in addition , the depth image is transmitted to the registration unit 13 . the registration unit 13 stores the depth image in the storage unit 6 as a reference image . the object that is the target to be touched when the user performs the input operation is , for example , a table on which the input device 1 has been mounted . in the following description , for convenience of explanation , the object that is the target to be touched when the user performs the input operation is referred to as a reference object . each pixel of the reference image has a pixel value corresponding to a distance between the position of the reference object corresponding to the pixel and the depth image camera 4 . after that , the control unit 7 obtains , from the depth image camera 4 , a depth image that has been obtained by imaging the hand of the user in a state in which the hand of the user is located over the reference object and closer to the depth image camera 4 than the reference object within the imaging range . at that time , it is desirable that the hand of the user is in the state in which merely a finger that touches the reference object is extended outward at the time of the input operation , and the other fingers are bent . in addition , the control unit 7 transmits the depth image to the hand area detection unit 11 . the hand area detection unit 11 detects a hand area that is an area in which the hand appears on the depth image . therefore , the hand area detection unit 11 calculates a difference absolute value between the pixel value of each of the pixels of the depth image and the pixel value of each of the corresponding pixels of the reference image . in addition , the hand area detection unit 11 obtains a difference image in which each of the pixels has each of the difference absolute values . the hand is closer to the depth image camera 4 than the reference object , so that differences between the pixel values of the pixels in which the hand appears and the pixel values of the corresponding pixels of the reference image are relatively large values . on the contrary , the pixel values of pixels in which the hand does not appear are identical to the pixel values of the corresponding pixels of the reference image . therefore , the hand area detection unit 11 generates a binary image including different values corresponding to pixels , the pixel values of which are equal to or more than a certain binarization threshold value , and pixels , the pixel values of which are less than the binarization threshold value , by comparing the pixel values with the binarization threshold value , for each of the pixels of the difference image . thus , in the binarization image , aggregate of pixels in which the pixel values of the difference image are the binarization threshold value or more corresponds to the hand area . the certain binarization threshold value may be a value that has been set in advance , or a value obtained from a statistic amount of the pixel values of the difference image , for example , an average value or a median value the pixel values of the difference image . the hand area detection unit 11 transmits the binary image of the hand area to the finger length measurement unit 12 . the finger length measurement unit 12 measures the length of the finger that touches the reference object at the time of the input operation , from the hand area . fig6 is a diagram illustrating processing in which the length of the finger is detected . as illustrated in fig6 , for the binary image indicating the hand area , which has been generated from the depth image , an x axis is set for the horizontal direction , and a y axis is set for the vertical direction . in addition , it is assumed that “ x = 0 ” is satisfied at the left edge of the binary image , and the value of “ x ” is increased as the value approaches the right edge . in addition , it is assumed that “ y = 0 ” is satisfied at the upper edge of the binary image , and the value of “ y ” is increased as the value approaches the lower edge . in this example , the hand of the user appears on the binary image in a state in which the index finger has been extended outward , and the tip end of the index finger faces upward . in the embodiment , the finger length measurement unit 12 traces a plurality of contour points pi ( x i , y i ) ( i = 0 , 1 , . . . and , m ) that are pixels on the contour of the hand area 601 in order from the lower left contour point p 0 ( x 0 , y 0 ), and identifies the contour point located at the fingertip . after that , the finger length measurement unit 12 obtains the position of the finger base by identifying the contour point corresponding to the finger base . in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 sets , as the length of the finger , a distance l between the position in the real space , which corresponds to the fingertip position on the binary image and the position in the real space , which corresponds to the finger base on the binary image . the finger length measurement unit 12 detects , as the contour point , a pixel the adjacent pixel of which is included in the background area that is the area from which the hand area is removed on the binary image , from among pixels included in the hand area . in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 sets the contour point that is the closest to the corner of the lower left end of the binary image , as the p 0 ( x 0 , y 0 ). in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 sets the contour point adjacent to the p 0 ( x 0 , y 0 ), as “ p 1 ( x 1 , y 1 )”. similarly , the finger length measurement unit 12 sets the contour point adjacent to the contour point pi ( x i , y i ) as “ p ( i + 1 )( x i + 1 , y i + 1 )”. after that , the finger length measurement unit 12 identifies the contour point located at the fingertip . therefore , the finger length measurement unit 12 obtains an increment in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction ( ax , ay ) of a line connecting the mutually - adjacent two contour points pi ( x i , y i ) and p ( i + 1 ) ( x i + 1 , y i + 1 ), in order from the contour point p 0 ( x 0 , y 0 ). however , “ ax =( x i + 1 − x i )” and “ ay =( y i + 1 − y i )” are satisfied . in the embodiment , the finger length measurement unit 12 obtains the increment ( ax , ay ) in order from the contour point closest to the lower left end of the contour of the hand area , so that “ ax & gt ; 0 ” and “ ay & lt ; 0 ” are satisfied while the contour point approaches the fingertip . in addition , the fingertip is located at the uppermost of the binary image , so that “ ax & gt ; 0 ” and “ ay & gt ; 0 ” are satisfied in the contour points on the right side of the fingertip . therefore , the finger length measurement unit 12 sets the contour point pi ( x i , y i ) at which a distance ct from the contour point p 0 ( x 0 , y 0 ) becomes a certain threshold value th 1 or more for the first time , and “ ax & gt ; 0 ” and “ ay & gt ; 0 ” are satisfied , as the contour point located at the fingertip . the number of pixels corresponding to the minimum value of the length of the finger , which is assumed on the binary image , is set as the threshold value th 1 . after that , the finger length measurement unit 12 detects the contour point on the left side of the finger and the contour point on the right side of the finger , which respectively correspond to the finger base . in the embodiment , the finger length measurement unit 12 sets the position at which a change in an inclination of the contour of the finger is large , as the contour point of the position of the finger base . therefore , the finger length measurement unit 12 sets the contour point located at the fingertip as the pt ( x t , y t ). in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 obtains an inclination a ( n ) of a line connecting mutually - adjacent two contour points pn ( x n , y n ) and p ( n − 1 )( x n − 1 , y n − 1 ), in order from the contour point pt ( x t , y t ) to the p 0 ( x 0 , y 0 ), in order to detect the contour point on the left side of the finger , which corresponds to the position of the finger base . the inclination a ( n ) is calculated by the following equation . a ( n )=| ay / ax |=|{ y n − 1 − y n }/{ x n − 1 − x n }| ( 1 ) the finger length measurement unit 12 compares an absolute value | a ( n − 1 )− a ( n )| of a difference between the inclination a ( n ) and the inclination a ( n − 1 ) with a threshold value th 2 . in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 sets the contour point p ( n − 1 ) ( x n − 1 , y n − 1 ) at which an absolute value | a ( n − 1 )− a ( n )| of the difference becomes the threshold value th 2 or more for the first time , as the contour point pl ( x l , y l ) on the left side of the finger , which corresponds to the position of the finger base . the threshold value th 2 is set , for example , at 0 . 7 . similarly , the finger length measurement unit 12 obtain an inclination a ′( n ) of a line connecting the mutually - adjacent two contour points pn ( x n , y n ) and the p ( n + 1 ) ( x n + 1 , y n + 1 ), in order from the contour point pt ( x t , y t ) to the pm ( x m , y m ), in order to detect the contour point on the right side of the finger , which corresponds to the position of the finger base . the inclination a ′ ( n ) is calculated by the following equation . a ′( n )=| ay / ax |=|{ y n + 1 − y n }/{ x n + 1 − x n }| ( 2 ) the finger length measurement unit 12 compares an absolute value | a ′( n + 1 )− a ′( n )| of a difference between the inclination a ′ ( n ) and the inclination a ′ ( n + 1 ) with the threshold value th 2 . in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 sets the contour point p ( n + 1 ) ( x n + 1 , y n + 1 ) at which the absolute value | a ′( n + 1 )− a ′( n )| of the difference becomes the threshold value th 2 or more for the first time , as the contour point pr ( x r , y r ) on the right side of the finger , which corresponds to the position of the finger base . the finger length measurement unit 12 sets the middle point between the contour point pl ( x l , y l ) on the left side of the finger and the contour point pr ( x r , y r ) on the right side of the finger , which respectively correspond to the positions of the finger base , as the finger base position pb ( x b , y b ). in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 sets a distance between the position in the real space , which corresponds to the finger base position pb ( x b , y b ) and the position in the real space , which corresponds to the contour point pt ( x t , y t ) of the fingertip , as the finger length l . in the embodiment , the contour point pt ( x t , y t ) of the fingertip and the finger base position pb ( x b , y b ) are obtained on the binary image that has been generated from the depth image . therefore , distances from the depth image camera 4 to the positions in the real space , which correspond to the pt ( x t , y t ) and the pb ( x b , y b ) are obtained from the values of the pixels corresponding to the coordinates of the pt ( x t , y t ) and the pb ( x b , y b ) on the depth image . in addition , coordinates of each of the pixels on the depth image uniquely correspond to a direction from the depth image camera 4 . therefore , the positions in the real space , which correspond to the pt ( x t , y t ) and the pb ( x b , y b ) are obtained from the distances from the depth image camera 4 to the positions in the real space , which respectively correspond to the pt ( x t , y t ) and the pb ( x b , y b ), and the coordinates of the pt ( x t , y t ) and the pb ( x b , y b ) on the depth image . the finger length measurement unit 12 transmits the finger length l to the registration unit 13 . fig7 and 8 are operation flowcharts illustrating the finger length measurement processing . the hand area detection unit 11 detects the hand area that is an area in which the hand of the user in a depth image that has been obtained by the depth image camera 4 , from the depth image ( step s 101 ). the finger length measurement unit 12 detects the contour point pi ( x i , y i ) ( i = 0 , 1 , . . . and , m ) of the hand area ( step s 102 ). the finger length measurement unit 12 resets the distance ct and an index i indicating the position of the contour point at 0 ( step s 103 ). after that , the finger length measurement unit 12 selects two adjacent contour points pi ( x i , y i ) and p ( i + 1 ) ( x i + 1 , y i + 1 ), and obtains an increment ( ax , ay ) in the horizontal direction and vertical direction of the line connecting the two contour points ( step s 104 ). in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 determines whether “ ax & gt ; 0 ” and “ ay & lt ; 0 ” are satisfied ( step s 105 ). when “ ax ≦ 0 ” or “ ay ≧ 0 ” is satisfied ( yes in step s 105 ), the finger length measurement unit 12 determines whether the distance ct is the threshold value th 1 or more ( step s 106 ). when the distance ct is the threshold value th 1 or more ( yes in step s 106 ), the finger length measurement unit 12 determines whether “ ax & gt ; 0 ” and “ ay & gt ; 0 ” are satisfied ( step s 107 ). when “ ax & gt ; 0 ” and “ ay & gt ; 0 ” are satisfied , the finger length measurement unit 12 identifies the contour point pi ( x i , y i ) as the fingertip position pt ( x t , y t ) ( step s 108 ). in step s 105 , when “ ax & gt ; 0 ” and “ ay & lt ; 0 ” are satisfied ( no in step s 105 ), the finger length measurement unit 12 adds “ 1 ” to the distance ct ( step s 109 ). in addition , in step s 106 , when the distance ct is less than the threshold value th 1 ( no in step s 106 ), or when “ ax ≦ 0 ” or “ ay ≦ 0 ” is satisfied in step s 107 ( no in step s 107 ), the finger length measurement unit 12 resets the distance ct at 0 ( step s 110 ). after step s 109 or s 110 , the finger length measurement unit 12 determines whether all contour points have been selected ( step s 111 ). when all of the contour points have been selected ( yes in step s 111 ), the finger length measurement unit 12 ends the finger length measurement processing without calculation of the length of the finger . in this case , it is desirable that the finger length measurement processing is executed , based on the depth image that has been obtained by imaging the hand of the user again . when not all of the contour points have been selected ( no in step s 111 ), the finger length measurement unit 12 adds “ 1 ” to the index i ( step s 112 ). after that , the finger length measurement unit 12 repeats the processing in step s 104 and the subsequent steps . as illustrated in fig8 , after the fingertip position has been identified in step s 108 , the finger length measurement unit 12 identifies the left and right contour points corresponding to the positions of the finger base . therefore , the finger length measurement unit 12 resets an index n indicating the position of the contour point at a number t of the contour point corresponding to the fingertip position ( step s 113 ). in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 selects the adjacent two contour points pn ( x n , y n ) and p ( n − 1 ) ( x n − 1 , y n − 1 ), and obtains an inclination a ( n ) of a line connecting the two contour points ( step s 114 ). in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 selects the adjacent two contour points p ( n − 1 ) ( x n − 1 , y n − 1 ) and p ( n − 2 ) ( x n − 2 , y n − 2 ), and obtains an inclination a ( n − 1 ) of a line connecting the two contour points ( step s 115 ). in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 determines whether an absolute value | a ( n − 1 )− a ( n )| of a difference between the inclination a ( n − 1 ) and the inclination a ( n ) is the threshold value th 2 or more ( step s 116 ). when the absolute value | a ( n − 1 )− a ( n )| is less than the threshold value th 2 ( no in step s 116 ), the finger length measurement unit 12 determines whether the index n is “ 2 ” ( step s 117 ). when the index n is “ 2 ” ( yes in step s 117 ), the contour point of the lower left edge has been already selected , so that the finger length measurement unit 12 ends the finger length measurement processing without identification of a contour point corresponding to the finger base . in this case , it is desirable that the finger length measurement processing is executed , based on the depth image that has been obtained by imaging the hand of the user again . when the index n is more than “ 2 ” ( no in step s 117 ), the finger length measurement unit 12 subtracts “ 1 ” from the index n ( step s 118 ). after that , the finger length measurement unit 12 repeats the processing in step s 114 and the subsequent steps . in addition , in step s 116 , when the absolute value | a ( n − 1 )− a ( n )| is the threshold value th 2 or more ( yes in step s 116 ), the finger length measurement unit 12 sets the contour point p ( n − 1 ) ( x n − 1 , y n − 1 ) as the contour point pl ( x l , y l ) located at the finger base on the left side ( step s 119 ). when the contour point pl ( x l , y l ) located at the finger base on the left side is obtained , the finger length measurement unit 12 resets the index n indicating the position of the contour point at the number t of the contour point corresponding to the finger position in order to obtain the contour point pr ( x r , y r ) located at the finger base on the right side ( step s 120 ). in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 selects the adjacent two contour points pn ( x n , y n ) and p ( n + 1 ) ( x n + 1 , y n + 1 ), and obtains an inclination a ′ ( n ) of a line connecting the two contour points ( step s 121 ). in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 selects the adjacent two contour points p ( n + 1 ) ( x n + 1 , y n + 1 ) and p ( n + 2 ) ( x n + 2 , y n + 2 ), and obtains an inclination a ′ ( n + 1 ) of a line connecting the two contour points ( step s 122 ). in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 determines whether an absolute value | a ′( n + 1 )− a ′( n )| of a difference between the inclination a ′ ( n + 1 ) and the inclination a ′ ( n ) is the threshold value th 2 or more ( step s 123 ). when the absolute value | a ′( n + 1 )− a ′( n )| is less than the threshold value th 2 ( no in step s 123 ), the finger length measurement unit 12 determines whether the index is “( m − 2 )” ( step s 124 ). when the index n is “( m − 2 )” ( yes in step s 124 ), the contour point of the lower right edge has been already selected , so that the finger length measurement unit 12 ends the finger length measurement processing without identification of a contour point corresponding to the finger base on the right side . in this case , it is desirable that the finger length measurement processing is executed , based on the depth image that has been obtained by imaging the hand of the user again . when the index n is less than “( m − 2 )” ( no in step s 124 ), the finger length measurement unit 12 adds “ 1 ” to the index n ( step s 125 ). after that , the finger length measurement unit 12 repeats the processing in step s 121 and the subsequent steps . in addition , in step s 123 , when the absolute value | a ′( n + 1 )− a ′( n )| is the threshold value th 2 or more ( yes in step s 123 ), the finger length measurement unit 12 sets the contour point p ( n + 1 ) ( x n + 1 , y n + 1 ) as the contour point pr ( x r , y r ) located at the finger base on the right side ( step s 126 ). after that , the finger length measurement unit 12 sets the middle point of the contour point pl ( x l , y l ) and the contour point pr ( x r , y r ) as the finger base pb ( x b , y b ) ( step s 127 ). in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 calculates a distance between the position in the real space , which corresponds to the fingertip position pt ( x t , y t ) and the position in the real space , which corresponds to the finger base pb ( x b , y b ), as the finger length l ( step s 128 ). in addition , the finger length measurement unit 12 ends the finger length measurement processing . the registration unit 13 stores the finger length l that has been received from the finger length measurement unit 12 , in the storage unit 6 . at that time , for example , when the control unit 7 has received identification information of the user through the communication unit 5 , the registration unit 13 may store the finger length l in the storage unit 6 so as to be associated with the identification information of the user . similarly , when the control unit 7 has received information indicating the type of the finger , the length of which has been measured by the control unit 7 ( for example , the index finger , the middle finger , or the like ) through the communication unit 5 , the registration unit 13 may store the finger length l in the storage unit 6 so as to be associated with the information indicating the type of the finger . the units related to the input processing are described below . the hand area detection unit 11 generates a binary image indicating a hand area , from a depth image , similar to the registration processing . in addition , the hand area detection unit 11 transmits the binary image to the provisional contact determination unit 14 . the provisional contact determination unit 14 is an example of a finger position identification unit , and obtains the position of a portion in the real space , which is included in the hand area , of a finger used for an input operation and the position in the read space of the finger base . at the time of execution of the input processing , the finger of the user , which is used for the input operation , approaches a reference object , so that it is probable that it is difficult to identify the fingertip of the finger on the depth image . therefore , the provisional contact determination unit 14 executes processing similar to that of the finger length measurement unit 12 , and identifies the contour point pt ( x t , y t ) of the tip end portion of the finger used for the input operation and the finger base pb ( x b , y b ) that are included in the hand area . the identified contour point pt ( x t , y t ) is the tip end portion of the finger , which is identified on the depth image , so that , in the following description , the contour point pt ( x t , y t ) is set as the provisional fingertip position . fig9 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a provisional fingertip position on the binary image and an estimated actual fingertip position . typically , when the user performs an input operation using the input device 1 , the user causes not the finger base but the fingertip to approach the reference object . therefore , even when it is difficult to identify the vicinity of the tip end of the finger in the depth image , it is probable that the finger base is identified . thus , as indicated by the dotted line in a binary image 900 , the hand area 901 does not include a part of the finger , but includes a portion close to the finger base . in addition , the provisional fingertip position pt ( x t , y t ) is detected in the vicinity of the finger base , as compared with the actual fingertip position p ( x , y ). the provisional contact determination unit 14 respectively obtain the positions in the real space , which correspond to the provisional fingertip position pt ( x t , y t ) and the finger base pb ( x b , y b ), from the values of the pixels corresponding to the provisional fingertip position pt ( x t , y t ) and the finger base pb ( x b , y b ) on the depth image . in addition , the provisional contact determination unit 14 obtains a distance from the reference object to the position of the provisional fingertip position pt ( x t , y t ) in the real space , as the height of the provisional fingertip . at the time of an input operation by the user , the user causes the fingertip to approach the reference object , so that it is assumed that the height of the provisional fingertip is reduced . thus , when the height of the provisional fingertip is less than the certain threshold value α , it is probable that the fingertip has come into touch with the reference object , that is , that the user has performed the input operation . therefore , when the height of the provisional fingertip is less than the certain threshold value α , the provisional contact determination unit 14 notifies the fingertip position calculation unit 15 of the positions of the provisional fingertip position pt ( x t , y t ) and the finger base pb ( x b , y b ) in the real space . the threshold value α is set , for example , depending on measurement accuracy of the depth image camera 4 . the threshold value α is set , for example , at the minimum value of a distance in which it is difficult to identify two objects at positions away from each other on the depth image . for example , the minimum value of a distance between the reference object and the hand , in which the hand is identified is obtained from a plurality of depth images obtained by imaging the hand using the depth image camera 4 while the distance between the reference object and the hand is changed , and the minimum value is set at the threshold value α . when the height of the provisional fingertip is the certain threshold value α or more , it is assumed that the user does not perform an input operation . therefore , in this case , the provisional contact determination unit 14 resets the provisional fingertip position pt ( x t , y t ) and the finger base pb ( x b , y b ). in addition , the provisional contact determination unit 14 executes the above - described processing when a depth image is obtained next time . the fingertip position calculation unit 15 calculates , as the fingertip position p , the position far from the position of the finger base in the real space by the finger length l , in the longitudinal direction of the finger , which has been obtained from the position of a portion of the finger used for the input operation in the real space , which is included in the hand area , and the position of the finger base in the real space . in the embodiment , the fingertip position calculation unit 15 obtains a direction from the position of the finger base in the real space to the position of the provisional fingertip position in the real space as the longitudinal direction of the finger . fig1 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a provisional fingertip position and an actual fingertip position , which is viewed from the side surface . in fig1 , the axis in the height direction in the real space , that is , the axis in the direction from the reference object to the depth image camera 4 is set as a z axis . however , “ z = 0 ” is satisfied at the position of the depth image camera 4 . in addition , in the real space , an axis corresponding to the x axis and an axis corresponding to the y axis on the depth image that are orthogonal to the z axis are respectively set as an x axis and y axis . in the z axis direction , an area close to a reference object 1000 as compared with the threshold value α is an area in which the fingertip is not detected , and an area far from the reference object 1000 as compared with the threshold value α is an area in which the fingertip is detected . thus , in a finger 1001 , the position at which the distance from the reference object 1000 is the threshold value α is detected as a provisional fingertip position pt . here , it is typically difficult for the finger to come into contact with the reference object while the user merely bends the fingertip . therefore , when the finger 1001 is extended outward straight , the actual fingertip position p is located on an extension line of a line 1002 connecting the finger base pb and the provisional fingertip position pt , which indicates the longitudinal direction of the finger , and is located away from the finger base pb toward the provisional fingertip position pt by the finger length l . thus , the actual fingertip position p ( px , py , pz ) in the real space is calculated by the following equation . m ( yz )=√{ square root over (( y 1 − y 2 ) 2 +( z 1 − z 2 ) 2 )} m ( xy )=√{ square root over (( y 1 − y 2 ) 2 +( x 1 − x 2 ) 2 )} here , “ m ( yz )” is the length on a yz plane in the real space , from the provisional fingertip position pt to the actual fingertip p , and “ m ( xy )” is the length on an xy plane in the real space , from the provisional fingertip position pt to the actual fingertip p . in addition , ( x1 , y1 , z1 ) respectively correspond to an x axis coordinate , a y axis coordinate , and a z axis coordinate of the provisional fingertip position pt in the real space . in addition , ( x2 , y2 , z2 ) respectively correspond to an x axis coordinate , a y axis coordinate , and a z axis coordinate of the finger base pb in the real space . in addition , “ θxy ” indicates an angle between the x axis and a line from the provisional fingertip position to the finger base on the xy plane in the real space . similarly , “ θyz ” indicates an angle between the y axis and a line from the finger base to the provisional fingertip position on the yz plane in the real space . the fingertip position calculation unit 15 notifies the contact determination unit 16 of the estimated actual fingertip position p ( px , py , pz ) in the real space . the contact determination unit 16 compares the coordinate pz in the z axis direction of the estimated actual fingertip position in the real space ( that is , a distance from the depth image camera 4 to the fingertip position ) with a contact determination threshold value d . the contact determination threshold value d is set as a distance from the depth image camera 4 to the reference object . in addition , the contact determination unit 16 determines that the fingertip have come into contact with the reference object when the pz is the distance d or more . the contact determination threshold value d may set as a value obtained by subtracting a margin 13 corresponding to a measurement error from the distance from the depth image camera 4 to the reference object ( for example , a few mm to 1 cm ). when the contact determination unit 16 determines that the fingertip has come into contact with the reference object , the contact determination unit 16 generates an input signal corresponding to the coordinates ( px , py ) on the xy plane of the fingertip position , and outputs the input signal to a further device through the communication unit 5 . fig1 is an operation flowchart illustrating the input processing including the fingertip position detection processing . each time the control unit 7 obtains a depth image by the depth image camera 4 , the control unit 7 executes the input processing in accordance with the following operation flowchart . in addition , in the following operation flowchart , step s 201 to s 204 correspond to the fingertip position detection processing . the hand area detection unit 11 detects a hand area that is an area in which the hand of the user appears in a depth image that has been obtained by the depth image camera 4 , from the depth image ( step s 201 ). the provisional contact determination unit 14 detects the finger base pb of the finger of the user , which is used for an input operation , and the provisional fingertip position pt , from the hand area , and obtains the positions of the finger base pb and the provisional fingertip position pt in the real space ( step s 202 ). in addition , the provisional contact determination unit 14 determines whether the height from the reference object to the provisional fingertip position pt is less than the certain threshold value α ( step s 203 ). when the height from the reference object to the provisional fingertip position pt is the certain threshold value α or more ( no in step s 203 ), the provisional contact determination unit 14 determines that the finger of the user is not in contact with the reference object . in addition , the control unit 7 ends the input processing . when the height from the reference object to the provisional fingertip position pt is less than that the certain threshold value α ( yes in step s 203 ), the fingertip position calculation unit 15 obtains the fingertip position in the real space . for example , the fingertip position calculation unit 15 sets , as the fingertip position , the position away from the finger base pb in the direction from the finger base pb to the provisional fingertip position pt by the finger length l that is stored in the storage unit 6 ( step s 204 ). the contact determination unit 16 determines whether a distance pz from the depth image camera 4 to the fingertip position is the contact determination threshold value d or more ( step s 205 ). when the distance pz is less than the contact determination threshold value d ( no in step s 205 ), the contact determination unit 16 determines that the finger of the user is not in contact with the reference object . after that , the control unit 7 ends the input processing . when the distance pz is the contact determination threshold value d or more ( yes in step s 205 ), the contact determination unit 16 determines that the finger of the user has come into contact with the reference object at the fingertip position . after that , the contact determination unit 16 generates an input signal corresponding to the coordinates of the fingertip position in the real space , and performs output of the input signal ( step s 206 ). in addition , the control unit 7 ends the input processing . as described above , such an input device may detect the fingertip position even when it is difficult to identify the finger of the user in the depth image obtained by imaging the finger of the user . in a modification , as a reference point used to set the longitudinal direction of the finger used for an input operation , the provisional contact determination unit may obtain a further point in the portion of the finger , which is included in the hand area , instead of the provisional fingertip position . for example , the provisional contact determination unit may respectively identify contour points pl 2 and pr 2 at positions away from the left and right contour points pl and pr of the finger base pb , by a certain distance , along the contour of the finger , and may obtain the middle point of the two contour points pl 2 and pr 2 , as the reference point used to set the longitudinal direction of the finger . in a further modification , the input device may be installed on a desktop computer or a display integrated computer . in this case , for example , a depth image camera is installed on the upper part of the display included in the computer so as to face downward . in addition , the computer detects the fingertip position of the finger of the user , which has come into contact with the table on which the computer has been mounted , in accordance with each of the above - described embodiments and the modification . in addition , for example , the computer displays a cursor at the position on the display , which corresponds to the fingertip position of the user in order for the user to confirm the input . in addition , a computer program that causes a computer to achieve each of the functions by the control unit of the input device according to each of the above - described embodiments and the modifications may be provided so as to be recorded to a computer readable medium such as a magnetic recording medium or an optical recording medium . all examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art , and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions , nor does the organization of such examples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority and inferiority of the invention . although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail , it should be understood that the various changes , substitutions , and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .
| 6Physics
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fig3 schematically illustrates an exemplary memory subsystem 200 with load - reduced memory modules in accordance with embodiments described herein . the memory subsystem 200 is designed , for example , to deliver higher speed and higher memory density with lower thermal dissipation as compared with conventional memory subsystems . as shown in fig3 , the memory subsystem 200 is coupled to a memory controller 201 , of any type well - known in the art . the memory subsystem 200 typically includes a plurality of memory modules 202 , such as dimms or rdimms , details of which are shown only for one for clarity . components of the memory modules 202 may be mounted on or in printed circuit boards ( pcbs ) 400 , which may be arranged in a vertical stack ( as shown ), or in a back - to - back array . each module 202 includes a plurality of memory devices 204 ( such as drams or sdrams ). the memory devices 204 may advantageously be arranged in a plurality of rows or ranks . in the embodiment illustrated in fig3 , the memory devices 204 are arranged in four ranks , designated a , b , c , and d , although embodiments with less than or more than four ranks may be employed . each memory module 202 is includes one or more load - reducing switching circuits 216 . the load - reducing switching circuits 216 bidirectionally buffer data signals between the memory controller 201 and the memory devices 204 . in the exemplary embodiment of this disclosure , each of the load - reducing switching circuits 216 is connected to one memory device 204 in each of the four ranks , a , b , c , and d . for the sake of this disclosure the devices in rank a are designated 204 a ; those in rank b are designated 204 b ; those in rank c are designated 204 c ; and those in rank d are designated 204 d . in the embodiment of fig3 , each load - reducing switching circuit 216 has the same bit width for example 8 bits , as the associated memory devices 204 . in other embodiments , the bit widths of the load - reducing switching circuits 216 and the memory devices 204 may be different . for example , the load - reducing switching circuits 216 may have a bit width of 16 and the memory devices 204 may have bit width of 8 with each load - reducing switching circuit 216 connected to two memory devices 204 in each rank . each memory module 202 includes a module controller 220 . the module controller 220 is coupled to address and control lines 240 ( e . g ., bank address signals , row or rank address signals , column address signals , address strobe signals , and chip - select signals ) from the system memory controller 201 . the module controller 220 registers address and control lines 240 in a manner functionally comparable to the address register of a convention rdimm . the registered address and control lines 240 are supplied to the memory devices 204 . additionally , the module controller 220 supplies control signals for the load - reducing switching circuits 216 . the control signals indicate , for example , the direction of data flow , that is , to or from the memory devices . the module controller 220 may produce additional chip select signals or output enable signals based on address decoding . in certain embodiments , the memory modules 202 may include electrical components that are electrically coupled to one another . the electrical components may be surface - mounted , through - hole mounted , or otherwise connected to the pcb 400 . these electrical components may include , but are not limited to , electrical conduits , resistors , capacitors , inductors , and transistors . in certain embodiments , at least some of these electrical components are discrete , while in other certain embodiments , at least some of these electrical components are constituents of one or more integrated circuits . various types of memory modules 202 are compatible with embodiments described herein . for example , memory modules having memory capacities of 512 mb , 1 gb , 2 gb , 4 gb , 8 gb , as well as other capacities , are compatible with embodiments described herein . in addition , memory modules having widths of 4 bytes 8 bytes , 9 bytes , 16 bytes , 32 bytes , or 32 bits , 64 bits , 72 bits , 128 bits , 256 bits , as well as other widths ( in bytes or in bits ), are compatible with embodiments described herein . furthermore , memory modules compatible with embodiments described herein include , but are not limited to , single in - line memory modules ( simms ), dual in - line memory modules ( dimms ) small - outline dimms ( so - dimms ), unbuffered dimms ( udimms ), registered dimms ( rdimms ), fully - buffered dimms ( fbdimms ), mini - dimms , and micro - dimms . in some embodiments , the pcbs 400 are mountable in module slots ( not shown ) of the computer system . the pcbs 400 of some such embodiments have a plurality of edge connections ( not shown ) configured to make electrical contact with corresponding contacts of the module slots and to the various components of the memory modules on the pcbs , thereby providing electrical connections between the computer system and the components of the memory module . memory devices 204 compatible with embodiments described herein include , but are not limited to , random - access memory ( ram ), dynamic random - access memory ( dram ), synchronous dram ( sdram ), and double - data - rate dram ( e . g ., ddr , ddr2 , ddr3 , etc ). in addition , memory devices having bit widths of 4 , 8 , 16 , 32 , as well as other bit widths , are compatible with embodiments described herein . memory devices 204 compatible with embodiments described herein have packaging which include , but are not limited to , thin small - outline package ( tsop ), ball - grid - array ( bga ), fine - pitch bga ( fbga ), micro - bga ( μbga ). mini - bga ( mbga ), and chip - scale packaging ( csp ). in some embodiments , the load - reducing switching circuits 216 may include one or more functional devices , such as a programmable - logic device ( pld ), an application - specific integrated circuit ( asic ), a field - programmable gate array ( fpga ), a custom - designed semiconductor device , or a complex programmable - logic device ( cpld ). in some embodiments , the load - reducing switching circuits 216 may be custom devices . in some embodiments , the load - reducing switching circuits 216 may include various discrete electrical elements ; while in other embodiments , the load - reducing switching circuits 216 may include one or more integrated circuits . each of the load - reducing switching circuits 216 , in accordance with an embodiment of this disclosure , is inserted into one or more of the data lines 218 connected to one memory device in each of the ranks a , b , c , d . thus , each load - reducing switching circuit 216 is connected to one each of the memory devices 204 a , 204 b , 204 c , and 204 d . each data line 218 thus carries data from the system memory controller 201 , through the load - reducing switching circuits 216 , to the memory devices 204 a , 204 b , 204 c , 204 d connected to each of the load - reducing switching circuits 216 . the load - reducing switching circuits 216 may be used to drive each data bit to and from the memory controller 201 and the memory devices 204 instead of the memory controller 201 and the memory devices 204 directly driving each data bit to and from the memory controller 201 and the memory devices 204 . specifically , as described in more detail below , one side of each load - reducing switching circuit 216 is coupled to a memory device in each rank , while the other side of the load - reducing switching circuit 216 is coupled to the corresponding data line 218 of the memory controller 201 . to reduce the memory device loads seen by the system memory controller 201 , the load - reducing switching circuit 216 is advantageously configured to be recognized by the system memory controller 201 as a single memory load . this advantageous result is desirably achieved in certain embodiments by using the load - reducing switching circuit 216 to electrically isolate the memory devices 204 from the memory controller 201 . therefore , in the example of fig3 , each data bit from the system memory controller 201 sees , for one memory module 202 , a single load , which is presented by one load - reducing switching circuit 216 , instead of the four memory devices 204 a , 204 b , 204 c , 204 d to which the load - reducing switching circuit 216 is coupled . in comparison to the standard jedec four rank dimm configuration ( see fig2 ), the memory system 200 may reduce the load on the system memory controller 201 by a factor of four . fig4 schematically illustrates an exemplary load - reducing switching circuit 216 compatible with embodiments described herein . in one embodiment , the load - reducing switching circuit 216 includes control logic circuitry 302 used to control the various components of the load - reducing switching circuit , which may include buffers , switches , and multiplexers among other components . the illustrated embodiment is 1 - bit wide and switches a single data line 218 between the memory controller 201 and the memory devices 204 . in other embodiments , the load - reducing switching circuit 216 may be multiple bits wide , for example , 8 bits , and switch a corresponding number of data lines 218 . in a multiple bit wide embodiment , the control logic circuitry 302 may be shared over the multiple bits . as a part of isolating the memory devices 204 from the system memory controller 201 , in one embodiment , the load - reducing switching circuits 216 allow for “ driving ” write data and “ merging ” read data . in the operational embodiment shown in fig4 , in a write operation , data entering a load - reducing switching circuit 216 via a data line 218 is driven onto two data paths , labeled path a and path b , preferably after passing through a write buffer 303 . the ranks of memory devices 204 are likewise divided into two groups with one group associated with path a and one group associated with path b . as shown in fig3 , rank a and rank c are in the first group , and rank b and rank d are in the second group . accordingly , the memory devices 204 a , 204 c of rank a and rank c are connected to the load - reducing switching circuits 216 by a first one of the two data paths , and the memory devices 204 b , 204 d of rank b and rank d are connected to the load - reducing switching circuits 216 by a second one of the two data paths . in other embodiments , the driving of write data and merging of read data may be performed over more than two data paths . as is known , column address strobe ( cas ) latency is a delay time which elapses between the moment the memory controller 201 informs the memory modules 202 to access a particular column in a selected rank or row and the moment the data for or from the particular column is on the output pins of the selected rank or row . the latency may be used by the memory module to control operation of the load - reducing switching circuits 216 . during the latency , address and control signals pass from the memory controller 201 to the module controller 220 which produces controls sent to the control logic circuitry 302 which then controls operation of the components of the load - reducing switching circuit 216 . for a write operation , during the cas latency , the module controller 220 , in one embodiment , provides enable control signals to the control logic circuitry 302 of each load - reducing switching circuit 216 , whereby the control logic circuitry 302 selects either path a or path b to direct the data . accordingly when the control logic circuitry 302 receives , for example , an “ enable a ” signal , a first tristate buffer 304 in path a is enabled and actively drives the data value on its output , while a second tristate buffer 306 in path b is disabled with its output in a high impedance condition . in this state , the load - reducing switching circuit 216 allows the data to be directed along path a to a first terminal y 1 , which is connected to and communicates only with the first group of the memory devices 204 , i . e ., those in ranks a and c . similarly , if an “ enable b ” signal is received , the first tristate 304 opens path a and the second tristate 306 closes path b , thus directing the data to a second terminal y 2 , which is connected to and communicates only with the second group of the memory devices 204 , i . e ., those in ranks b and d . for a read operation , the load - reducing switching circuit 216 operates as a multiplexing circuit . in the illustrated embodiment , for example , data signals read from the memory devices 204 of a rank are received at the first or second terminals y 1 , y 2 of the load - reducing switching circuit 216 . the data signals are fed to a multiplexer 308 , which selects one to route to its output . the control logic circuitry 302 generates a select signal to select the appropriate data signal , and the selected data signal is transmitted to the system memory controller 201 along a single data line 218 , preferably after passing through a read buffer 309 . the read buffer 309 may be a tristate buffer that is enabled by the control logic circuitry 302 during read operations . in another embodiment , the multiplexer 308 and the read buffer 309 may be combined in one component . in yet another embodiment , the multiplexer 308 and the read buffer 309 operations may be split over two tristate buffers , one to enable the value from y 1 to the data line 218 and another to enable the value from y 2 to the data line 218 . the load - reducing switching circuits 216 present a load on the data lines 218 from the write buffer 303 and the read buffer 309 . the write buffer 303 is comparable to an input buffer on one of the memory devices 204 , and the read buffer 309 is comparable to an output buffer on one of the memory devices 204 . therefore , the load - reducing switching circuits 216 present a load to the memory controller 201 that is substantially the same as the load that one of the memory devices 204 would present . similarly , the load - reducing switching circuits 216 present a load on the first and second terminals y 1 , y 2 from the multiplexer 308 and the first tristate buffer 304 ( on the first terminal y 1 ) and the second tristate buffer 306 ( on the second terminal y 2 ). the multiplexer 308 is comparable in loading to an input buffer on the memory controller 201 , and the first and second tristate buffers 304 , 306 are each comparable to an output buffer on the memory controller 201 . therefore , the load - reducing switching circuits 216 present a load to the memory devices 204 that is substantially the same as the load that the memory controller 201 would present . additionally , the load - reducing switching circuits 216 operate to ameliorate quality of the data signals passing between the memory controller 201 and the memory devices 204 . without the load - reducing switching circuits 216 , waveforms of data signals may be substantially degraded or distorted from a desired shape between source and sink . for example , signal quality may be degraded by lossy transmission line characteristics , mismatch between characteristics of transmission line segments , signal crosstalk , or electrical noise . however , in the read direction , the read buffer 309 regenerates the signals from the memory devices 204 thereby restoring the desired signal waveform shapes . similarly , in the write direction , the first tristate buffer 304 and the second tristate buffer 306 regenerate the signals from the memory controller 201 thereby restoring the desired signal waveform shapes . referring again to fig3 when the memory controller 201 executes read or write operations , each specific operation is targeted to a specific one of the ranks a , b , c , and d of a specific module 202 . the load - reducing switching circuit 216 on the specifically targeted one of the memory modules 202 functions as a bidirectional repeater / multiplexor , such that it drives the data signal when connecting from the system memory controller 201 to the memory devices 204 . the other load - reducing switching circuits 216 on the remaining memory modules 202 are disabled for the specific operation . for example , the data signal entering on data line 218 entering into load - reducing switching circuit 216 is driven to memory devices 204 a and 204 c or 204 b and 204 c depending on which memory devices are active and enabled . the load - reducing switching circuit 216 then multiplexes the signal from the memory devices 204 a , 204 b , 204 c , 204 d to the system memory controller 201 . the load - reducing switching circuits 216 may each control , for example , a nibble - wide data path or a byte - wide - data path . as discussed above , the load - reducing switching circuits 216 associated with each module 202 are operable to merge data read signals and to drive data write signals , enabling the proper data paths between the system memory controller 201 and the targeted or selected memory devices 204 . thus , the memory controller 201 , when there are four four - rank memory modules , sees four load - reducing switching circuit loads , instead of sixteen memory device loads . the reduced load on the memory controller 201 enhances the performance and reduces the power requirements of the memory system , as compared with , for example , the conventional systems described above with reference to fig1 and 2 . operation of a memory module using the load - reducing switching circuit 216 may be further understood with reference to fig5 , an illustrative timing diagram of signals of the memory module 202 . the timing diagram includes first through eighth time periods 501 - 508 . when the memory devices 204 are synchronous memories , each of the time periods 501 - 508 may correspond to one clock cycle of the memory devices 204 . the first , second , and third time periods 501 - 503 illustrate write operations with data passing from the memory controller 201 to the memory module 202 . the fourth time period 504 is a transition between the write operations and subsequent read operations . the timing diagram shows a write operation to the first group of memory devices 204 a , 204 c connected to the first terminals y 1 of the load - reducing switching circuits 216 and a write operation to the second group of memory devices 204 b , 204 d connected to the second terminals y 2 of the load - reducing switching circuits 216 . recalling the cas latency described above , each write operation extends over two time periods in a pipelined manner . the write to the first group of memory devices 204 a , 204 c appears in the first time period 501 when system address and control signals 240 pass from the memory controller 201 to the module controller 220 . the module controller 220 evaluates the address and control signals 240 to determine that data is to be written to memory devices 204 a , 204 c in the first group . during the second time period 502 , the module controller 220 supplies control signals to the control logic circuitry 302 to enable the first tristate buffer 304 and to disable the second tristate buffer 306 and the read buffer 309 . thus , during the second time period 502 , data bits pass from the data lines 218 to the first terminal y 1 and on to the memory devices 204 a , 204 c . similarly , the write to the second group of memory devices 204 a , 204 c appears in the second time period 502 when system address and control signals 240 pass from the memory controller 201 to the module controller 220 . the module controller 220 evaluates the address and control signals 240 to determine that data is to be written to memory devices 204 b , 204 d in the second group . during the third time period 503 , the module controller 220 supplies control signals to the control logic circuitry 302 to enable the second tristate buffer 306 and to disable the first tristate buffer 304 and the read buffer 309 . thus , during the third time period 503 , data bits pass from the data lines 218 to the second terminal y 2 and on to the memory devices 204 b , 204 d . the fifth , sixth , seventh , and eighth time periods 505 - 508 illustrate read operations with data passing to the memory controller 201 from the memory module 202 . the timing diagram shows a read operation from the first group of memory devices 204 a , 204 c connected to the first terminals y 1 of the load - reducing switching circuits 216 and a read operation from the second group of memory devices 204 b , 204 d connected to the second terminals y 2 of the load - reducing switching circuits 216 . recalling the cas latency described above , each read operation extends over two time periods in a pipelined manner . the read from the first group of memory devices 204 a , 204 c appears in the fifth time period 505 when system address and control signals 240 pass from the memory controller 201 to the module controller 220 . the module controller 220 evaluates the address and control signals 240 to determine that data is to be read from memory devices 204 a , 204 c in the first group . during the sixth time period 506 , the module controller 220 supplies control signals to the control logic circuitry 302 to cause the multiplexer 308 to select data from the first terminal y 1 , to enable the read buffer 309 , and to disable the first tristate buffer 304 and the second tristate buffer 306 . thus , during the sixth time period 506 , data bits pass from the memory devices 204 a , 204 c via the first terminal y 1 to data lines 218 and on to the memory controller 201 . the read from the second group of memory devices 204 b , 204 d appears in the seventh time period 507 when system address and control signals 240 pass from the memory controller 201 to the module controller 220 . the module controller 220 evaluates the address and control signals 240 to determine that data is to be read from memory devices 204 b , 204 d in the second group . during the eighth time period 508 , the module controller 220 supplies control signals to the control logic circuitry 302 to cause the multiplexer 308 to select data from the second terminal y 2 , to enable the read buffer 309 , and to disable the first tristate buffer 304 and the second tristate buffer 306 . thus , during the eighth time period 506 , data bits pass from the memory devices 204 b , 204 d via the second terminal y 2 to data lines 218 and on to the memory controller 201 . since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operating requirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in the art , the invention is not considered limited to the example chosen for purposes of disclosure . accordingly , this disclosure encompasses all changes and modifications that do not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of the subject matter of this disclosure .
| 6Physics
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the invention is described in connection with representative embodiments , with reference to the drawings . fig1 is a cross - sectional view of an embodiment of a surface - mounted , high - stability piezoelectric oscillator 100 of the temperature - controlled type ( hereinafter referred to as a “ piezoelectric oscillator ”). the piezoelectric oscillator 100 comprises a base printed circuit board 10 ( called a “ base board ”) and a sub printed circuit board 40 . the base board 10 is made of an insulating material . on the sub printed circuit board 40 are mounted a temperature - control circuit and / or electronic components 31 for an oscillation circuit . also mounted to the sub printed board 40 is a crystal - vibrating 32 affixed using conductive adhesive 21 . on the under - surface of the base board 10 , external terminals 15 are arranged in multiple ( e . g ., four or six ) places . the external terminals facilitate mounting of the piezoelectric oscillator 100 on the surface of a circuit board pb ( refer to fig3 ). to visually observe a meniscus state of soldering after surface - mounting , the external terminals 15 can be electrically connected with the electronic component 31 or the crystal - unit 32 by plated wiring or by lead wires on the surface of the base board 10 . also mounted to the base board 10 are first ends of respective metal supports 50 made of brass or the like . the first ends are inserted in recesses 11 and affixed using conductive adhesive 21 . opposing second ends of the metal support 50 are affixed to the sub printed circuit board 40 using conductive adhesive 21 . the entire assembly is covered with a metal case 48 so as to seal the two - tiered base board 10 and sub printed circuit board 40 . the piezoelectric oscillator 100 having such construction generally has a size from approximately 3 mm square to approximately 50 mm square . fig2 a - 2b depict the base board 10 and external terminal 15 . fig2 a is an enlarged view showing the metal support 50 affixed to the base board 10 , and also showing an external terminal 15 . fig2 b shows the under - surface of the base board 10 . as shown in fig2 a , the metal support 50 includes a flange 51 and a shaft 54 . the shaft 54 has a shank 52 extending from the flange 51 . the diameter of the shaft 54 is approximately 0 . 03 mm to approximately 1 mm , and the diameter of the flange 51 is approximately 0 . 04 mm to approximately 3 mm . the flange 51 may have a diameter of approximately twice the diameter of the shaft 54 . the recess 11 is formed in the base board 10 such that the shank 52 may be inserted therein . the base board 10 is made of a glass - epoxy laminate or other insulating material . the thickness of the base board 10 is approximately 0 . 6 mm to approximately 3 mm , and the depth of the recess 11 is approximately 90 % to approximately 30 % of the thickness of the base board 10 . alternatively , the base board 10 can be made of an insulating material other than glass - epoxy laminate , such as a thermoset resin for glass cloth or glass non - woven fabric base material , an epoxy - resin laminate , a composite laminate , a paper - base epoxy - resin laminate , or a paper - base phenolic resin laminate . recess or groove processing may be easily applied to these various materials by laser processing , drilling , routing , or the like . the diameter of the recess 11 desirably is smaller than the diameter of the flange 51 , and equal to or larger than the diameter of the shank 52 . the recess 11 can be formed in the base board 10 using a flat router in the edge . copper plating 12 is applied around the recess 11 . the external terminal 15 and the copper plating 12 are electrically connected to each other . the flange 51 of the metal support 50 and the copper plating 12 are affixed using the conductive adhesive 21 . the groove 13 extends at least part way around the external terminal 15 . in this regard , the groove 13 a is formed only in the under - surface of the base board 10 destined to be surface mounted on the circuit board pb ( refer to fig3 ). the groove 13 a does not extend up the side surface in this embodiment . the groove 13 is configured to facilitate visual observation of a meniscus state of solder on the external terminal 15 from the side surface of the piezoelectric oscillator 100 . the groove 13 b is formed entirely in the under - surface of the circuit board pb because processing is easily applied to such end . the depth of the grooves 13 ( 13 a and 13 b ) ranges from 0 . 1 mm to 80 % of the thickness of the base board 10 . the width of the groove 13 is 0 . 1 mm to 2 . 0 mm . with these combinations of depth and width of the groove 13 , solder overflow is suppressed in the groove 13 , especially considering the size of the surface - mount piezoelectric oscillator 100 . ( solder overflow is still dependent on the amount of solder sol applied to the circuit board pb , but this variable can be controlled .) in this embodiment , solder overflow is suppressed by flow of excess solder into the groove 13 a or into the groove 13 b , or into both grooves . fig3 a - 3b show a piezoelectric oscillator 100 being mounted on the circuit board pb . fig3 a is a side view of the piezoelectric oscillator 100 before mounting , and fig3 b is a side view of the piezoelectric oscillator 100 after mounting . in fig3 a pads 115 are formed on a circuit board pb on which an electronic device or the like is mounted . the pads 115 form respective parts of a circuit . solder sol is applied to the pads 115 by application of a solder paste followed by passage through a reflow furnace of infrared type or hot - air type ( not shown ). solder is usually applied to the pads 115 at a predetermined thickness by application of solder paste sol using a squeegee ( not shown ) that urges the paste through a perforated metal mask made from stainless steel ( not shown ). then , the piezoelectric oscillator 100 is mounted to regions in which the solder sol has been applied . the mounting of the piezoelectric oscillator 100 is usually performed by a numerically controlled ( nc ) surface - mounting machine . as shown in fig3 b , during mounting of the piezoelectric oscillator 100 , superfluous solder sol may enter the groove 13 . this flow into the groove prevents formation of solder balls or the like even if a somewhat excessive amount of the solder paste is transferred to the pads 115 . a solder resist could be formed between the external terminals 15 to avoid generating short - circuits between the external terminals . however , with the depicted embodiment , the need for solder resist is eliminated because the grooves accommodate the excess solder . the shape of the external terminal 15 can be similar to conventional shapes . the external terminals 15 on the under - surface of the base board 10 can extend up the side surfaces of the base board 10 . this configuration allows visual observations of a meniscus state of soldering . a crystal oscillator 150 is now described with reference to fig4 a - 4c . fig4 a is an overall perspective view ; fig4 b is a cross - sectional view ; and fig4 c is a top view with the metal lid 61 removed . the crystal oscillator 150 is a surface - mount type , comprising an insulating ceramic package 60 and a metal lid 61 that covers the package . the metal lid 61 desirably is made of kovar ( iron ( fe )/ nickel ( ni )/ cobalt ( co ) alloy ). the ceramic package 60 comprises a bottom ceramic layer 60 a , a wall ceramic layer 60 b , and seat ceramic layer 60 c . these layers are punched from green sheets formed from a slurry containing ceramic powder including alumina as a main material , a binder , and the like . instead of using ceramic powder containing alumina as the main ingredient to form the material of the ceramic package 60 , any of various other materials can be used such as glass ceramic , zero x - y shrinkage glass ceramic substrate , aluminum nitride , mullite , or the like . as understood from fig4 b , the package 60 constructed from the ceramic layers 60 a - 60 c forms a cavity . the electronic component ( s ) 31 and / or tuning - fork type crystal - vibrating piece 33 is mounted in the cavity . copper plating 12 , electrically connected with the electronic component ( s ) 31 , is formed in a portion of the top surface of the seat ceramic layer 60 c . at least two external terminals 15 , formed in the lower surface of the ceramic package 60 , are mounted on the surfaces of the pads 115 of the circuit board pb . the copper plating 12 connects to the external terminals 15 . a metallized layer is provided on the upper surface of the wall ceramic layer 60 b . a sealing material 39 , made from a low - temperature - brazing filler metal , is formed on the metallized layer for bonding the metal lid 61 . the wall ceramic layer 60 b and the metal lid 61 are welded together by the sealing material 39 . the tuning - fork type crystal - vibrating piece 33 has , in its proximal portion , an adhesion region intended to be electrically connected using conductive adhesive 37 . specifically , copper plating 12 , electrically connected with an external electrode , is formed on the seat ceramic layer 60 c , and the proximal end of the tuning - fork type crystal - vibrating piece 33 is bonded to the seat ceramic layer 60 c using the conductive adhesive 37 . as affixed , the crystal - vibrating piece extends parallel to the bottom ceramic layer 60 a and produces a predetermined vibration . as disclosed in fig4 a - 4c , a groove 13 is formed around the external terminals 15 of the crystal oscillator 150 . consequently , when mounting the crystal oscillator 150 on the circuit board pb , any superfluous solder sol flows into the groove 13 . hence , even if an unintended larger amount of solder paste is applied to the pads 115 ( e . g ., using a squeegee ), a solder ball or the like is not formed , and short - circuits are avoided . fig5 a - 5d show a method for manufacturing the ceramic package 60 , specifically the bottom ceramic layer 60 a . fig5 a shows a first green sheet 60 a 1 made from alumina . the lattice - shaped broken lines 69 denote expected partition lines . in this example , a portion of the first green sheet enclosed by the parting lines 69 is a rectangle of 5 mm by 7 mm . to form the groove 13 , as shown in fig5 a , rectangular through - holes 18 are formed in the first green sheet 60 a 1 along the parting lines 69 using a punching machine or the like . the thickness of the first green sheet 60 a 1 dictates the depth of the groove 13 . next , a second green sheet 60 a 2 sized identically to the first green sheet 60 a 1 is prepared . the second green sheet 60 a 2 is a flat plate lacking the through - holes . then , the first green sheet 60 a 1 and second green sheet 60 a 2 are stacked . thus , as shown in fig5 b , the through - holes 18 become blind via - holes 19 . next , when the stacked sheet is cut along the parting lines 69 to form multiple units each destined to become a bottom ceramic layer 60 a having the overall configuration as shown in fig5 c . then , when the wall ceramic layer 60 b and seat ceramic layer 60 c are stacked on and integrated with the bottom ceramic layer 60 a , a pre - calcination ceramic package 60 is formed . although the wall ceramic layer 60 b and seat ceramic layer 60 c are not shown in fig5 ( d ) , printing is performed at the blind via - holes 19 of the bottom ceramic layer 60 a during application of vacuum suction . thus , the external terminals 15 are formed by screen printing of a conductive paste including tungsten , molybdenum , or the like . the screen printing is not performed to the entire blind via - holes 19 . rather , the conductive paste is applied only in the central portions of the blind via - holes 19 to form the grooves 13 . although not specifically described , this screen - printing technique is also performed to the copper plating 12 of the wall ceramic layer 60 b and to the seat ceramic layer 60 c . the stacked structure formed as described above is calcinated for a predetermined time at approximately 1500 ° c . to form the ceramic package 60 having the grooves 13 . in the foregoing description , screen printing is performed after cutting along the parting lines 69 . however , the ceramic package 60 may be produced by a process having a different other than that described above . for example , screen printing of the conductive paste may be performed to the large green sheet 60 a before partition . then the sheet is calcinated and cut along the parting lines 69 . the foregoing description pertained to the package 60 being made of ceramic . alternatively , the package can be made of a filled resin , with the same grooves 13 being formed around the external terminals 15 . exemplary filled - resin materials are epoxy resin , bismaleimide - triazine ( bt ) resin , polyimide resin , glass epoxy resin , glass bt resin , and the like . with a resin package , the groove 13 may be formed by laser processing , drilling , routing , or the like . in the foregoing description , the first green sheet 60 a 1 and the second green sheet 60 a 2 are stacked to form the bottom ceramic layer 60 a . alternatively , a boss , die , or the like defining a shape complementary to the shape of the groove 13 may be urged against a single green sheet to form the grooves 13 . as explained above , the grooves 13 extend depthwise into the base board and can be formed by laser processing , drilling , routing , or the like to a base board made of a resin laminate . alternatively , the grooves 13 can be formed by punching or similar method before calcining a ceramic base board . fig6 a - 6d show representative sectional profiles of the grooves 13 . in fig1 to 5 described above , the sectional profile of the grooves 13 was rectangular . but , any of various other sectional profiles can alternatively be used . fig6 a depicts a triangular profile for the grooves 13 . such a profile can be formed easily by drilling or routing . however , if the width and the depth of a triangular - profiled groove 13 are the same as a corresponding rectangular groove , the volume of the triangular groove is less than of the rectangular groove . hence , the triangular groove can accept less overflowing solder sol than a rectangular groove having the same depth and width . fig6 b shows a groove 13 having a sectional profile that is semi - circular . this profile is suitable if the grooves are formed by embossing . fig6 c shows a groove 13 that provides progressively larger cross - sectional area with increased depth . although special routing or the like must be used to form such grooves , since the volume of the groove 13 increases with depth , the amount of overflowing solder sol that can be accommodated in such a groove may be larger than with other types of grooves . fig6 d shows rectangular grooves 13 formed with shoulders ( i . e ., the grooves are separated from the external terminals 15 by a distance δl ). the grooves 13 described above are formed directly at the sides of the external terminals 15 . however , the grooves need not be formed directly to the sides . the grooves 13 described above formed as a single groove around each respective external terminal 15 . alternatively , multiple grooves ( e . g ., two ) can be formed around the terminals . the foregoing description has been in the context of mounting an electronic device , such as piezoelectric oscillator 100 or crystal oscillator 150 , to a circuit board pb . this is not intended to be limiting . the principles described herein can be applied to other types of electronic devices , such as a package having chip on board ( cob ) structure , and pin grid array ( pga ) structure , or a ball grid array ( bga ) package . these various electronic devices are often manufactured using resin packages . since a resin package has rich mechanical processability , grooves may be formed economically and with high precision using mechanical techniques such as drilling or routing . the description has been in the context of crystal oscillators . alternatively , a crystal unit may be used and , in particular , a large - sized device is preferable among electronic devices . before applying the solder sol , a solder resist may be applied to the circuit board pb between places where the solder sol is to be applied .
| 8General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology
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fig1 illustrates a sectional view of a portion 1 of a semiconductor device with an arrangement of adjacent n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b positioned in a wn - well 2 , and of metal pads 4 a , 4 b , 5 a , 5 b contacting same , in accordance with prior art . the semiconductor device may , e . g . be an integrated ( analog or digital ) computing circuit , or a semiconductor memory device such as functional memory device ( pla , pal , etc . ), or a table memory device ( e . g . rom or ram ), in particular a dram , e . g . a ddr dram ( double data rate dram ). the metal pads 4 a , 5 a positioned “ at the front ” on the semiconductor device illustrated in fig1 may e . g . be connected to corresponding ( not illustrated ) output pads of the semiconductor device , and the metal pads 4 b , 5 b positioned “ at the rear ” may e . g . be connected to corresponding ( not illustrated , either ) signal driver devices . as is further illustrated in fig1 , the front metal pads 4 a , 5 a contact the respective n - diffusion resistor 3 a , 3 b — via a corresponding diffusion metal contact 6 a , 7 a — at a region positioned at the front end of the n - diffusion resistor 3 a , 3 b , and the rear metal pads 4 b , 5 b contact the respective n - diffusion resistor 3 a , 3 b — via a corresponding diffusion metal contact 6 b , 7 b — at a region positioned at the rear end of the n - diffusion resistor 3 a , 3 b . by the fact that the resistance value of the respective n - diffusion resistor 3 a , 3 b connected between the corresponding signal driver device and the corresponding output pad is chosen correspondingly high , a linearization of the driver behavior may be achieved with the semiconductor device . for generating the n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b , the corresponding region on the semiconductor device or the chip , respectively , is — relatively strongly — n - doped . the resistance value of the n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b may , for instance , be set to the respectively desired amount by selecting ( e . g . with respectively identical length l of the n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b ) their width or breadth b correspondingly — differently — large ( in the development shown in fig1 , for instance , the ( first ) n - diffusion resistor 3 a is designed with a — relatively large — breadth b ′, and the ( second ) n - diffusion resistor 3 a with a — relatively small — breadth b ″, so that a relatively low resistance value results for the first n - diffusion resistor 3 a , and a relatively high resistance value results for the second n - diffusion resistor 3 b ). for technological reasons , the — relatively strongly n - doped — diffusion regions of the n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b are embedded in a — relatively weakly n - doped — region ( namely the above - mentioned wn - well 2 ). in order to save chip space , several ( in particular all ) n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b are arranged — side by side — in one single wn - well 2 ( i . e . in addition to the first and second n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b illustrated in fig1 , several further , not illustrated n - diffusion resistors ). consequently , the n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b ( and the further , not illustrated n - diffusion resistors ) are — via the parasitic resistor formed by the wn - well 2 — connected with one another , so that adjacent n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b mutually influence each other in their respective — effectively — resulting resistance value . this influence is the higher , the greater the difference between the resistance values of respectively adjacent n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b is . for this reason — in the arrangement of the n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b according to prior art as illustrated in fig1 —, the distance a between respectively adjacent n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b must be chosen relatively large ( in particular in the case of a relatively great difference between the resistance values of the n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b ). this — relatively large — distance a between the n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b leads to a relatively large chip space needed altogether for the arrangement of the n - diffusion resistors 3 a , 3 b . fig2 shows a sectional view of a portion 11 of a semiconductor device with an arrangement of adjacent n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e positioned in a wn - well 12 , and of metal pads 14 a , 14 b , 14 c , 14 d , 14 e , 14 f , 15 a , 15 b , 15 c , 15 d contacting same , in accordance with an embodiment of the invention . the semiconductor device may e . g . be an integrated ( analog or digital ) computing circuit , or a semiconductor memory device such as functional memory device ( pla , pal , etc . ), or a table memory device ( e . g . rom or ram ), in particular a dram , e . g . a ddr dram ( double data rate dram ). as is illustrated in fig2 , the metal pads 14 a , 14 c , 14 e , 15 a , 15 c — positioned further “ at the front ” on the semiconductor device vis - à - vis the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e — contact the respective n - diffusion resistor 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e — via a corresponding diffusion metal contact 16 a , 17 a — at a region positioned at the front end of the n - diffusion resistor 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e . in analogy , the metal pads 14 b , 14 d , 14 f , 15 b , 15 d — positioned further “ at the rear ” on the semiconductor device vis - à - vis the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e — contact the respective n - diffusion resistor 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e — via a corresponding diffusion metal contact 16 b , 17 b — at a region positioned at the rear end of the n - diffusion resistor 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e . as will be explained in detail further below , the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e are — via the metal pads 14 a , 14 c , 14 e , 15 a , 15 c and the metal pads 14 b , 14 d , 14 f , 15 b , 15 d — connected between ( not illustrated ) output pads of the semiconductor device and corresponding ( not illustrated , either ) signal driver devices of the semiconductor device . for generating the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e , the corresponding region on the semiconductor device or the chip , respectively , is — in a way known as such — relatively strongly n - doped . as is further illustrated in fig2 , the — relatively strongly n - doped — diffusion regions of the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e are embedded in a — relatively weakly n - doped — region ( namely the wn - well 12 already mentioned above ). in order to save chip space , several ( e . g . more than two , three , or four , in particular all ) n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e of the semiconductor device are positioned in one single wn - well 12 ( i . e . in addition to the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e illustrated in fig2 , a plurality of further , not illustrated n - diffusion resistors ). the above - mentioned n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e positioned in one and the same wn - well 12 all have a substantially identical structure . in particular , the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e all have substantially the same length 1 , and the same width or breadth b , and the same depth t . for this reason , a — substantially — identical individual resistance value r results for all of the above - mentioned n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e . as is further shown in fig2 , the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e — being positioned side by side — are , viewed in longitudinal direction of the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e , alternately displaced “ to the front ” or “ to the rear ” ( namely such that every second n - diffusion resistor ( e . g . the first , third , and fifth n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 c , 13 e ) is displaced to the “ rear ” e . g . by a respectively identical , for instance by substantially half a resistor length ½ , and the remaining n - diffusion resistors positioned therebetween ( here e . g . the second and fourth n - diffusion resistors 13 b , 13 d ) are displaced by a corresponding length ( e . g . half a resistor length ½ ) to the “ front ”. the central axes ( in particular the central transverse axes ) of every second of the adjacent n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e ( i . e . the central axes of the first , third , and fifth n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 c , 13 e , and the central axes of the second and fourth n - diffusion resistors 13 b , 13 d ) each lie in one and the same plane ( extending transversely from the top to the bottom through the semiconductor device ). furthermore — also with every second n - diffusion resistor 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e ( i . e . with the first , third , and fifth n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 c , 13 e , and with the second and fourth n - diffusion resistors 13 b , 13 d )— the respective front ends of the corresponding n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 c , 13 e or 13 b , 13 d , respectively ( and thus the corresponding — front — diffusion metal contacts 16 a or 17 a , respectively , of the corresponding n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 c , 13 e or 13 b , 13 d , respectively ) lie in one and the same plane ( extending in parallel to the above - mentioned central planes ). an analogy — also with every second n - diffusion resistor 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e ( i . e . with the first , third , and fifth n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 c , 13 e , and with the second and fourth n - diffusion resistors 13 b , 13 d )— the respective rear ends of the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 c , 13 e or 13 b , 13 d , respectively ( and thus the corresponding — rear — diffusion metal contacts 16 b or 17 b , respectively , of the corresponding n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 c , 13 e or 13 b , 13 d , respectively ) lie in one and the same plane . as is further illustrated in fig2 , the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e are — alternately — displaced to the “ front ” or to the “ rear ”, respectively , to such an extent that the respective front ends of the first , third and fifth n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 c , 13 e displaced to the “ rear ” ( and thus their front diffusion metal contacts 16 a ) each lie substantially in the same plane as the respective rear ends of the second and fourth n - diffusion resistors 13 b , 13 d displaced to the “ front ” ( and thus their rear diffusion metal contacts 17 b ). every second of the respectively adjacent metal pads 14 a , 14 b , 14 c , 14 d , 14 e , 14 f , 15 a , 15 b , 15 c , 15 d has an identical length k ′ or k ″, respectively ( in particular has every second of the respective front metal pads 14 a , 14 c , 14 e , and every second of the respective rear metal pads 15 b , 15 d a — relatively great , first — length k ′, and the metal pads 14 b , 14 d , 14 f , 15 a , 15 c therebetween have a — relatively small , second — length k ″, so that — despite the above - mentioned displaced arrangement of the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e — the respective front ends of all respective front metal pads 14 a , 14 c , 14 e , 15 a , 15 c , and the respective rear ends of all respective rear metal pads 14 b , 14 d , 14 f , 15 b , 15 d each are substantially positioned in one and the same plane ). as already explained above , each of the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e has a — substantially — identical individual resistance value r . depending on the respectively desired resistance value r desired of an intermediate resistor — which is to be formed by the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e and is to be connected between a particular signal driver device and the pertinent output pad —, a particular number of n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e is connected in parallel and is connected with the corresponding output pad and the pertinent signal driver device ( so that — for e . g . two n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b connected in parallel — e . g . a total resistance value r total of r / 2 results for the resulting intermediate resistor , for three n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c connected in parallel , e . g . a total resistance value r total of r / 3 , etc .). for connecting the corresponding n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e in parallel between a particular output pad and a pertinent driver device , the corresponding front metal pads 14 a , 14 c , 14 e , 15 a , 15 c of the respective n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e to be connected in parallel are — jointly — connected to the corresponding output pad , and the corresponding rear metal pads 14 b , 14 d , 14 f , 15 b , 15 d of the respective n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e to be connected in parallel are — jointly — connected to the corresponding signal driver device . by the fact that the resistance value r total of the respective intermediate resistor that is connected between the corresponding signal driver device and the corresponding output pad — and that is formed by the corresponding number of n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e connected in parallel — is chosen appropriately ( in particular such that the following applies : r total ≅ r desired ), a linearization of the driver behavior may be achieved with the semiconductor device . since all n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e have the same individual resistance value r , and due to the relatively large distance c between two respectively adjacent n - diffusion resistors lying in the same plane , which results from the displaced arrangement of the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e ( e . g . the distance c between the second n - diffusion resistor 13 b and the fourth n - diffusion resistor 13 d ), the influence of the parasitic resistor — formed by the wn - well 12 and connecting the individual n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e with one another — on the effectively resulting individual resistance r ′ of the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e — taking into account the parasitic resistor —( or on the total resistance value r total ′ effectively resulting by the above - mentioned parallel connection — taking into account the parasitic resistor —) is relatively minor . for this reason , in the arrangement of the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e illustrated in fig2 , the distance a between directly succeeding n - diffusion resistors lying in displaced planes ( e . g . the distance a between the first n - diffusion resistor 13 and the second n - diffusion resistor 13 b , the distance a between the second n - diffusion resistor 13 b and the third n - diffusion resistor 13 c , etc .) may be chosen relatively small . this — relatively small — distance a between the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e leads to a relatively small chip space needed altogether for the arrangement of the n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e . since the structure of each n - diffusion resistor 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e is identical to the structure of the remaining n - diffusion resistors 13 a , 13 b , 13 c , 13 d , 13 e ( and since each n - diffusion resistor is arranged appropriately vis - à - vis the remaining ones ), a standard environment is provided which — once — modelled and verified , enables an exact predictability of the respective — effectively — resulting resistance values .
| 7Electricity
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fig1 shows an exemplary intake manifold assembly 10 for an eight - cylinder v - type engine 1001 in accordance with aspects of the present invention . however , it is understood that aspects of the invention are applicable to v - type engines having any number of cylinders . the intake manifold assembly consists of a plenum 10 , top lid 40 , individual runners 20 , and an intake tract 30 . plenum 10 is positioned centrally between the two v - type cylinder heads 1002 and runners 20 connect the plenum 10 to the cylinder heads 1002 . the intake tract 30 is bounded by the valley cover 1003 of the v - type engine 1001 , the runners 20 , and the bottom of the plenum 10 . fig2 shows an exploded view of the exemplary intake manifold assembly , including a plenum 10 , runners 20 , top lid 40 attached to the top of the plenum , and an intake tract 30 attached to the bottom of the plenum 10 . fig3 shows a representation of a side view of the intake manifold . the intake tract 30 has a throttle body mounting flange 301 , with a front - facing opening , to facilitate attachment of a front - facing throttle body . openings 204 in the cylinder head mounting flange 201 allow air to transition from the runners 20 , into the engine cylinder heads . fig4 shows a top view of the intake manifold assembly . for an eight - cylinder v - type engine , there are eight runners 20 , with one or more injector ports 202 on each runner . the injector ports 202 , facilitate the mounting of devices used to inject fuel or other liquids or gases into the individual engine cylinders . cylinder head mounting flanges 201 contain fastener locations 203 to attach the intake manifold to the engine cylinder heads . the intake tract 30 extends horizontally outward , in the forward direction , from the plenum 10 to allow mounting of the throttle body on the throttle body mounting flange 301 with front - facing opening . on the exemplary intake tract , provision has been made to accommodate an air pressure sensor 302 . fig5 shows a front view of the intake manifold assembly . the opening 303 of the intake tract 30 can be configured to face towards the front or rear of the engine , by re - configuration of the cylinder head mounting flanges 201 and fasteners 203 used to fasten the intake manifold to the engine cylinder heads . the throttle body mounting flange 301 , on the front - facing opening of the intake tract , contains mounting points 304 to facilitate fixing a throttle body to regulate airflow into the intake tract 30 . other intake manifold configurations are possible , including removal of the intake tract 30 , blocking the bottom - facing plenum opening by means of a lid , and re - configuring the lid 40 to accommodate a top - facing throttle body mounting flange . fig6 shows a top view of the intake manifold with the top lid 40 removed to expose the inner features of the plenum 10 . the top lid 40 is attached to the plenum 10 by means of fasteners located at one or more fastener locations 205 on the top of the plenum . the top - facing opening 102 facilitates attachment of a blocking lid , or other types of lids to accommodate various downward facing throttle bodies or carburetors . fig7 is a cross - sectional view of the intake manifold along line x - x represented in fig4 . after regulation of air by a throttle body attached to the throttle body mounting flange 301 , it is shown that the air can freely travel through the front - facing opening 303 in the intake tract 30 , into the plenum 10 via the bottom - facing opening 302 . plane 302 represents the bottom - facing opening to the plenum , and connection point of the intake tract 30 , to the underside of the plenum 10 . after the air has entered the plenum 10 , it is distributed to the runners 20 via plenum ports 101 , and travels down the runners 20 and into the engine cylinder heads . arrow 304 is a representation of the directional airflow passing through the intake tract 30 and into the plenum 10 . fig8 is a cross - sectional slice of the intake manifold along line y - y represented in fig4 . the cross - section shows the air volume contained within the lower intake tract 30 , the plenum 10 and the runners 20 . one or more injector ports 202 may be formed into each of the runners 20 , to facilitate passage of gasses and liquids being injected into the air path . arrow 305 shows the airflow path as it exits the intake tract 30 and flows in an upward direction into the plenum 10 , through the bottom - facing opening in the plenum . airflow is distributed from the plenum 10 into the runners 20 via the plenum ports 101 . the runners facilitate airflow to the exemplary engine cylinder heads 1002 . while specific embodiments of the present invention have been provided , it is to be understood that these embodiments are for illustration purposes and not limiting . many additional embodiments will be apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art reading this disclosure .
| 5Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting
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referring to fig1 and 2 , a portable apparatus 100 includes an electronic device 10 and a fastening device 20 detachably attached to the electronic device 10 for positioning the electronic device 10 to another object ( not shown ). the electronic device 10 may be a handheld flat screen television , a portable disc player , and so on . the electronic device 10 is substantially rectangular - shaped , and includes a front casing 11 and a rear casing 13 . the front casing 11 engages with the rear casing 13 to define a first receiving space . components of the electronic device , such as a display module ( not shown ) may be disposed in the first receiving space . the front casing 11 may have a viewing surface . the electronic device 10 further defines four locking slots 14 in an outer surface of the rear casing 13 . the four locking slots 14 are located in the vicinity of four corners of the rear casing 13 correspondingly . referring to fig2 , 3 , and 4 , the fastening device 20 includes a cover 30 , two locking mechanisms 50 are disposed in the cover 30 . the cover 30 includes a platform cover 31 , a support cover 33 engaged with the platform cover 31 , and a fixing member 35 disposed between the platform cover 31 and a support cover 33 . the platform cover 31 supports the rear casing 13 of the electronic device 10 when the fastening device 20 is attached to the electrical device 10 . the platform cover 31 includes an outer platform surface 312 and an inner platform surface 313 . the platform cover 31 defines four first through holes 311 , the four first through holes 311 communicate between the outer platform surface 312 and the inner platform surface 313 of the platform cover 31 . the openings 311 may locate at four corners of the platform cover 31 correspondingly . the four first through holes 311 correspond with the four locking slots 14 of the electrical device 10 . a plurality of fixing posts 315 protrude from the inner platform surface 313 correspondingly . the support cover 33 includes an inner support surface 332 and an outer support surface 333 on opposite sides of the support cover 33 . the inner surface 332 faces the platform cover 31 . two guiding slots 331 are defined in the support cover 33 communicating between the inner surface 332 and the outer surface 333 . the two pushing slots 331 are arc - shaped . the two pushing slots 331 are substantially located near shorter edges of the support cover 33 correspondingly . two supporting portions 335 protrude from the outer surface 333 . the two supporting portions 335 are adjacent to the two pushing slots 331 , and are used for contacting with an object which the electronic device 10 is fastened on . the fixing member 35 is substantially rectangular - shaped . the fixing member 35 may include a chassis 350 , and four dampening members 351 . the four dampening members 351 are fixed at four corners of the chassis 350 correspondingly . a fixing hole 3511 is defined in each dampening member 31 , and used for the fixing post 315 to pass through , such that the fixing member 35 can be elastically fixed on the platform cover 31 . a positioning block 355 , a stopping block 357 , a first paw 359 , a second paw 361 , and a chassis platform 363 protrude from the chassis 350 . the positioning block 355 , the stopping block 357 , and the first paw 359 are aligned along a first line aa 1 , with the stopping block 357 located between the positioning block 355 and the first paw 359 . two mounting holes 352 and a opening 353 are defined in the chassis 350 . the opening 353 is located between the two mounting holes 352 . the first line aa 1 passes through the two mounting holes 352 and the opening 353 . a positioning post 365 protrudes from the center of the chassis platform 363 . the positioning post 365 and the second paw 361 are arranged in a second line bb 1 , and the positioning post 365 is located in a rotating center o of an actuating member 55 ( fig5 ). two sliding slots 367 and two entrances 368 are defined in the chassis 350 . each of the two sliding slots 367 is substantially a quarter circle arc - shaped and arranged in a same circle , the center of which is the rotating center o of the actuating member 55 . one of the two sliding slots 367 is located between the second paw 361 and the positioning post 365 , and the second line bb 1 extends through the center of the two sliding slots 367 . the two entrances 368 communicate with the two sliding slots 367 correspondingly , and located at one end of the sliding slots 367 correspondingly . each of the locking mechanisms 50 includes a hook 51 , a locking member 53 , the actuating member 55 , a first resilient member 59 and a second resilient member 57 . the actuating member 55 , the first resilient member 59 , and the fixing member 35 constitute a rotating system 70 . the hook 51 is fixed on the chassis 350 of the fixing member 35 , and is used for latching onto the electronic device 10 . the hook 51 includes a fastening portion 511 and a hooking portion 513 disposed on the fastening portion 511 . the fastening portion 511 defines two fastening holes 5111 corresponding to the two mounting holes 352 defined in the chassis 350 . thus , the hook 51 may be fastened on the fixing member 35 via a screw , a bolt , and so on . the hooking portion 513 is capable of passing through the through hole 311 and insertable into the locking slot 14 to hook on the electronic device 10 . the actuating member 55 may be an integrated member . the actuating member 55 includes a positioning portion 552 , a driving portion 5571 , and a connecting portion 557 connecting the driving portion 5571 to one side of the positioning portion 552 . the positioning portion 552 is elongated , and includes a positioning hole 551 , two hook - shaped claws 559 , an actuating portion 555 , a post 553 , and a button 558 . the positioning hole 551 is defined in the middle of the positioning portion 552 . the positioning hole 551 is used for receiving the positioning post 365 ; therefore , the actuating member 55 is rotatably attached on the chassis platform 363 of the fixing member 35 , and pivotally rotatable around the rotating center o . the two hook - shaped claws 559 are disposed at opposite ends of the positioning portion 552 correspondingly . the claws 559 face the fixing member 35 corresponding to the sliding slots 367 . the two claws 559 are installed into the sliding slots 367 from the entrances 368 and slidably clasp the fixing member 35 , in order to prevent the actuating member 55 from disengaging with the fixing member 35 when rotated . the actuating portion 555 and the post 553 are also disposed at opposite ends of the positioning portion 552 , but face the support cover 33 , and opposite to the two claws 559 . the actuating portion 555 bends perpendicularly from one end of the positioning portion 552 . the button 558 is located on the outer surface 333 of the support cover 33 . the button 558 is fixable on the actuating portion 555 after the actuating portion 555 pass through the corresponding pushing slot 331 , in order to be conveniently pushed by a user . the connecting portion 557 is flat shaped . the connecting portion 557 extends from one side of the positioning portion 552 along an elongating direction , and parallel with the fixing member 35 . the driving portion 5571 is an arc - shaped wall vertically extending from an edge of the connecting portion 557 . the center of driving portion 5571 is the rotating center o of the actuating member 55 . a height of the driving portion 5571 gradually decreases along a clockwise rotating direction of the actuating member 55 in fig4 . the driving portion 5571 includes a driving surface 5573 which is a top surface of the driving portion 5571 . the driving surface 5573 is an inclined surface with respect to the plane of the rotating surface of actuating member 55 . the first resilient member 59 is a torsion spring , and includes a first end 591 , a second end 592 , and a winding 593 connecting the first end 591 and the second end 592 . the first end 591 is fixed on the post 553 , and the second end 592 is fixed on the second paw 361 . the winding 593 is freely disposed between the post 553 and the second paw 361 . therefore , the first resilient member 59 provides a torsional force to limit the actuating member 55 located at two ends of the sliding slots 367 . the locking member 53 is substantially elongated , and pivotally attached on the fixing member 35 . the locking member 53 includes a base 530 , a shaft 531 , a locking portion 533 , a driven portion 537 , and a post 535 . the shaft 531 and the locking portion 533 are disposed at opposite ends of the base 530 correspondingly . the shaft 531 is pivotally fixed on the positioning block 355 , in order to pivotally fix the locking member 53 on the fixing member 35 . the locking portion 533 is a protruding block and faces the fixing member 35 . the locking portion 533 is used for passing through the opening 353 and the through hole 311 , and inserting into the rest space of the corresponding locking slot 14 of the electronic device 10 , to prevent the hooking portion 513 from drawing from the locking slot 14 . the post 535 protrudes from a side surface of the locking member 53 adjacent to the shaft 531 , and faces the stopping block 357 . the driven portion 537 is contacting with the driving portion 5571 the driven portion 537 may be a protruding block opposite to the post 535 and adjacent to the locking portion 533 . the driven portion 537 is supported on the driving surface 5573 , thus , the driven portion 537 may be pushed to move toward a first direction d 1 and a second direction d 2 ( fig5 ), when the actuating member 55 is actuated . the first direction d 1 is a reverse direction of the second direction d 2 , and perpendicular to the rotating surface of the actuating member 55 . the second resilient member 57 may be a torsion spring . the second resilient member 57 is fixed on the post 535 of the locking member 53 , with one end pressing the locking member 53 and the other end resisting against the first paw 359 of the fixing member 35 , to prevent the locking portion 533 from withdrawing back from the through hole 311 . in assembly , first , the positioning posts 365 are passed through the positioning holes 551 of the corresponding positioning portion 552 rotatably connecting the actuating member 55 on the chassis platform 363 of the fixing member 35 . therefore , the contacting surface between the actuating member 55 and the fixing member 35 is reduced . then , the claws 559 are inserted into the corresponding sliding slots 367 from the corresponding entrances 368 and hook onto the fixing member 35 , thereby , preventing the actuating member 55 from disengaging with the fixing member 35 , when the actuating member 55 rotates with respect to the fixing member 35 . second , the locking member 53 is pivotally attached on the fixing member 35 , and engages with the actuating member 55 . the shaft 531 is fixed on the positioning block 355 of the fixing member 35 , and rotatable with respect to the positioning block 355 . the driven portion 537 are located on the driving surface 5573 of the driving portion 5571 , the locking portion 533 is passes through the opening 353 , and the post 535 contacts with the stopping block 357 . third , a screw or a bolt pass through the fastening hole 5111 of hook 51 and mounting hole 352 of the fixing member 35 to fix the hook 51 on the fixing member 35 , therefore , the hooking portion 513 is aligned with the locking portion 533 . after that , the first end 591 of the first resilient member 59 is fixed on the post 553 , the second end 592 is fixed on the second paw 361 , and the winding 593 is in a normal state . the second resilient member 57 is fixed on the post 535 of the locking member 53 , with one end pressing on the locking member 53 and the other end resisting against the first paw 359 of the fixing member 35 , to prevent the locking portion 533 from withdrawing back from the through hole 311 . finally , the fixing posts 315 pass through the fixing holes 3511 of the dampening members 351 to attach the fixing member 35 on the platform cover 31 , and the hooking portion 513 of the hook 51 and the locking portion 533 of the locking member 53 pass through the through hole 311 for inserting into the locking slot 14 . and the support cover 33 is engaged on the platform cover 31 with the actuating portion 555 passing through the corresponding pushing slot 331 . then the button 558 sleeves on the actuating portion 555 to be conveniently pushed , thereby actuating the locking member 53 . further referring to fig5 and 6 , the locking portion 533 is withdrawn from the locking slot 14 of the electronic device 10 and the through hole 311 of the platform cover 31 along the first direction d 1 . the driven portion 537 is supported at the highest position of the driving portion 5571 with respect to the rotating surface of the actuating member 55 . each claw 559 is located at one end of the sliding slot 367 , and the first resilient member 59 applies a first torsional force to one end of the positioning portion 552 of the actuating member 55 to limit the actuating member 55 . referring to fig7 and 8 , when the electronic device 10 needs to be assembled on the fastening device 20 , the hooking portion 51 is inserted into the corresponding locking slot 14 . then , the button 558 is pushed , overcoming the first torsional force of the first resilient member 59 , and slides into the other end of the pushing slot 331 . the actuating member 55 rotates around the positioning post 365 on the rotating surface with respect to the fixing member 35 , and the claws 559 slide to the other end of the sliding slots 367 correspondingly . the first resilient member 59 applies a second torsional force to one end of the positioning portion 552 of the actuating member 55 to limit the actuating member 55 . the driven portion 537 slides from the highest position to the lowest position of the driving portion 5571 due to a pressing force from the second resilient member 57 . the locking portion 533 passes through the opening 353 and the through hole 311 and inserts into the locking slot 14 along the second direction d 2 to prevent the hooking portion 51 from disengaging from the electronic device 10 . therefore , the electronic device 10 is assembled on the fastening device 20 . it is to be understood , however , that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present disclosure have been set forth in the foregoing description , together with details of the structure and function of the present disclosure , the present disclosure is illustrative only , and changes may be made in detail , especially in matters of shape , size , and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed .
| 1Performing Operations; Transporting
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with continued reference to the drawing , fig1 illustrates in exploded perspective view the connector shown generally at 20 comprising a first wire organizer shown generally at 22 , a second wire organizer shown generally at 24 and a contact element means shown generally at 26 . first wire organizer 22 is comprised of insulating members 28 and 30 which have been pre - applied to organize core wires such as wire 32 as will be discussed further with respect to fig3 of the drawing . each of said wire organizers has means for securing a plurality of core wires , for example , a plurality of core wire sockets such as wire socket 34 which extends generally through first wire organizer 22 from its front 36 to its back 38 . insulating members 28 and 30 are further provided with a plurality of leg openings such as leg opening 40 which extends from the top 42 to the bottom 44 of first wire organizer 22 . it is important to note that the axis of each of said leg openings is generally normal to the axis of a corresponding wire socket and communicates with a corresponding wire socket . second wire organizer 24 is preferably identical and / or complementary to first wire organizer 22 and comprises insulating members 46 and 48 . specifically , insulating member 48 may be substantially identical to insulating member 28 and insulating member 46 may be substantially identical to insulating member 30 . second wire organizer 24 is shown as being pre - applied to core wires such as wire 50 of another cable wherein core wires such as wire 50 and core wires such as wire 32 are to be connected by the connector 20 . first and second wire organizers 22 and 24 are aligned into a mating relationship by male member 52 and complementary female recess 54 . thus it can be seen that insulating member 46 may be identical to insulating member 30 when reversed top to bottom . leg openings such as leg opening 40 extend through insulating members 46 and 48 the same as they do with respect to insulating members 28 and 30 . it can be seen with respect to insulating member 46 and therefore with respect to insulating member 30 that all leg openings 40 are provided with shoulder means 56 which partially block leg openings 40 as will be discussed further with respect to fig4 . although the first and second wire organizers have been described as being preferably identical and complementary for economy and ease of use , it is understood that variations in configuration are within the scope of the invention which will provide communication between the leg openings and the wire sockets to allow insertion of a contact element means which will secure wire organizers together and will electrically interconnect core wires within the wire sockets . with continued reference to fig1 contact element means 26 is illustrated as comprising a plurality of crimpable generally c - shaped contacts such as contact 58 . contact 58 is shown in fig1 to be in an open or uncrimped condition and is shown in fig2 to be in an installed or crimped condition . uncrimped contacts such as contact 58 are held in position relative to each other by a film strip 60 of insulating material which has been coated on one side thereof with sealing material . the sealing material which holds contacts such as contact 58 in place also secures film strip 60 as shown in fig2 to provide an environmental sealing layer . contacts 58 are made from electrically conductive material such as copper . contacts 58 have first and second ends shown generally at 59 and 61 . contacts 58 are bifurcated at each end at 62 to provide means to displace wire insulation from wires 32 and 50 . bifurcations 62 at each end of contact 58 define respective pairs of staggered legs 64 , 66 , and 68 , 70 . it can be seen in fig4 that the ends of the legs , primarily legs 68 and 66 , are provided with barb - like means 72 which make gripping contact with shoulder means 56 of insulating members 30 and 46 . the pair of legs 64 and 66 of first end 59 are uneven , leg 66 being substantially longer than leg 64 . similarly , the pair of legs 68 and 70 of second end 61 are uneven , leg 68 being substantially longer than leg 70 . the pairs of legs are , therefore , staggered with respect to each other and , when contact 58 is crimped into connected position as shown in fig2 then 66 and 68 are in overlapping relationship . the overlapping relationship of the above - mentioned legs means that wire organizer 22 is secured to wire organizer 24 by a contact 58 having a leg 66 which extends completely through wire organizer 22 and is secured to wire organizer 24 . likewise leg 68 of contact 58 extends completely through the second wire organizer 24 and becomes secured to the first wire organizer 22 . more generally stated , the first and second ends 59 and 61 , respectively , provide the ability of the contacts to secure the wire organizers together and to electrically interconnect the core wires . when the contact element means are clamped around the organizers , the first end 59 of each contact extends through the first wire organizer 22 and grips the second wire organizer 24 . the second end 61 of each contact extends through the second wire organizer 24 and grips the first wire organizer 22 . this relationship of contact ends and wire organizers is hereby defined as the interlocking and overlapping relationship . it can be seen in fig3 and 4 that the leg openings such as leg opening 40 are generally normal to and communicate with the axis of the wire sockets 34 . it can likewise be seen that the crimping of contact 58 over first and second wire organizers 22 and 24 cause the pairs of legs 64 , 66 and 68 , 70 to displace the insulation on wire 32 and wire 50 . specifically , bifurcated first and second ends 59 and 61 of contact 58 displace wire insulation to make electrical contact between wire 32 and wire 50 . identical contacts will likewise interconnect respective pairs of core wires organized in first and second wire organizers 22 and 24 it is within the scope of the invention to have the ends 59 and 61 not be bifurcated and have the ends displace insulation from one side . it can be seen in fig3 that the first and second wire organizers 22 and 24 securely grip wires 32 and 50 in wire sockets 34 . this is accomplished by projections 74 on the surface of insulating members 28 , 30 , 46 and 48 . the projections 74 displace insulation on wires 32 and 50 to firmly grip the wires . insulating members 28 and 30 are secured to each other and insulating members 46 and 48 are secured to each other by an adhesive or equivalent mechanical means . it is further within the scope of the instant invention to utilize wire organizers such as 22 and 24 which are one piece in construction and which have equivalent wire socket securing means for securing a plurality of core wires . although a five wire organizer has been illustrated , in actual application the organizer accommodates 50 core wires as is the standard in the united states . live bridging is the ability to tap into a cable without loss of service . apparatus of the instant invention provides for live bridging and likewise provides for test points which may be used during construction of cable systems to verify the connectors at the time of placement and later to convert the cables to other uses . fig2 illustrates bridge means 76 which may be utilized to make conductive contact between bridge wires such as bridge wire 78 and wires 32 and 50 . bridge means 76 is provided with conductive tangs such as tang 80 which is connected to bridge wire 78 . conductive tang 80 is complementary with respect to connector 20 as can be seen from fig1 and 2 . specifically , contacts such as contact 58 have a narrowed body 82 between first and second ends 59 and 61 which is complementary to the opening in conductive tang 80 . likewise the surfaces of insulating members 30 and 46 are provided with tang recesses 84 . body 82 defines a means for live bridging of electrically interconnected core wire . tang 80 is capable of penetrating film strip 60 to make mating complementary contact with contact 58 within tang recess 84 . it should be noted in fig1 that the first and second wire organizers 22 and 24 and their respective insulating members are provided with a general contact recess 86 which is preferred in order to make a compact connector . contacts such as contact 58 are embedded within wire organizers 22 and 24 for a flush configuration . contact element means 26 and its component contacts such as contact 58 are positioned over the first and second wire organizers and crimped into contact position by use of tools ( not shown ). it is within the scope of the invention to crimp contacts such as 58 either individually or in gang . fig5 and 6 illustrate a unique device for pulling a preconnectorized cable through a small duct . fig5 illustrates pulling apparatus for cable 88 which has a plurality of wire organizers such as organizers 22 or 24 as discussed earlier , bundled together into partial banks 92 of organizers as will be discussed later . towing eyelet 89 is connected by tensioning means 95 to the outside sheath of cable 88 by expandable braid 91 . in this device a section of the cable jacket or sheath is removed exposing the core over which is located a clamp 90 which is similar to a rubber band clamping means . expandable braid 91 grips the sheath of cable 88 when said braid is tensioned , tending to force the cable sheath into further contact with clamp 90 . clamp 90 therefore transfers a portion of the pulling load on the sheath of cable 88 to the core by transferring pulling load to the clamp 90 . clamp 90 prevents extension of the cable sheath with respect to the core to equilibrate the loads on the cable sheath and core and thereby prevent extension of one with respect to the other . it can be appreciated that the above described device is useful with any cable wherein extension of the cable sheath with respect to the core is of concern . the device illustrated in fig6 comprises an expandable braid means 94 which when tensioned grips the peripheral binder groups of wires within the core of the cable in a space between the partial banks 92 of wire organizers and the end of a stripped - away cable 88 . towing eyelet 93 is connected by tensioning means 97 to the braid means 94 and outside towing plastic cap 96 which is shrunk down into secured contact with the outside surface or sheath of cable 88 . the cap 96 defines a clamping means which makes secured contact with the sheath of the cable . the combination of the internally applied expandable braiding means 94 and the cap 96 balance load to equilibrate the loads on the cable sheath and the core to prevent extension of one with respect to the other and any consequential damage to quarter banks of organizers . it can likewise be appreciated that the above described device is useful with any cable wherein extension of the cable sheath with respect to the core is of concern . the method for organizing the binder groups into partial banks and for selecting the proper number of binder groups for each partial bank is dependent upon the dimensional limits of the wire organizer , the gauge of wire used in the cable and the pair size number of the cable . in determining the dimensional limits of the wire organizer , it was necessary to make certain assumptions . as discussed above , applicants found that the number of partial - banks should be four , hereinafter , quarter - banks . next applicants assume the most difficult practical use , namely , where the user desires to send a 3600 pair cable through a four inch duct . further , applicants assume that the 3600 pair cable has an outside diameter of 3 . 55 inches ( d cable = 3 . 55 &# 34 ; and r cable 1 . 775 &# 34 ;) with the jacketing material having a thickness of 0 . 150 leaving the core a diameter of 3 . 25 &# 34 ; ( d core = 3 . 25 , r core = 1 . 625 ), as is standard in the industry . further , applicants assume no greater than 50 or 25 pair of core wires in each binder group as is standard in the united states . however , other countries such as germany have only 20 pair in each binder group which is an easier case as will be appreciated hereinafter . the form factor of the wire organizers in each case will be limited most by the size permissible in the first quarter - bank since the only space available to the wire organizer without increasing the outer diameter of the cable is the space vacated by the stripped sheath 102 as shown and indicated by numeral 100 in fig7 . additionally , the wire organizer cannot occupy the entire space , rather there must be sufficient space for the preconnectorized core wires . thus the inside of the organized cable in cross - section comprises a series of alternating wire organizers and core wires as shown in fig7 and indicated by the numerals 22 and 32 , respectively . thus , as can be seen in fig7 only wire organizers having a width of w and a thickness of t may be used in the cable without increasing the outside diameter of the cable . the relationship formed by the above is equivalent to the relationship of a chord to a circle , which may be written as : ## equ1 ## substituting into the general formula for determining the maximum dimensional size of the cable organizer yields the following : ## equ2 ## given the radius of the cable and the radius of the core , the width and thickness are then related . in the particular example where a 3600 pair cable is used , the radius of the cable will typically be 1 . 775 inches , and the radius of the core will be no more than 1 . 625 inches . thus , the width of the organizer w must be as follows : ## equ3 ## as can be seen in fig9 this relationship is represented by line 104 , which is the upper limit for the width and thickness of the wire organizer . the wire organizer is designed to physically protect the core wires inserted therein as previously discussed . also as previously discussed , the wire organizer must permit electrical contact with the core wires , grip the core wires , and insulate the core wires from each other by proper spacing . while the typical 3600 pair wire contains a 26 gauge core wire having approximately a diameter ( d ) of 0 . 02 inches , the wire organizer is designed to fit smaller pair cables such as those where the maximum conductor diameter typically expected is 22 gauge or 0 . 05 inches . hence , applicant chooses the lower limit of the width of the wire organizer as no less than 0 . 05 inches . preferably , however , the width of the wire organizer is not less than 0 . 25 inches , to accomplish the above cited objectives within a tolerable range . the minimum width of the wire organizer is represented by line 106 in fig9 . as stated previously , the maximum diameter ( d ) of a particular conductor expected for use with this type of cable end organizer is 0 . 05 . the minimum thickness of the wire organizers is represented by line 108 in fig9 . as stated previously , the maximum width of the wire organizers is limited by the length l and the number of rows n taken up by the preconnected wires , as shown in fig1 . the objective is for the connected wires to occupy the minimum space possible . in this endeavor , as shown in fig1 , the wires are placed in overlapping fashion and squeezed together . there is an optimum number of rows n which allow the minimum length l . in order to find this minimum length l and optimum number of rows n , one uses the following mathematical relationships : ## equ4 ## given that the wire organizers take up an angle θ and a width w while the preconnectorized core wires take up a circumferential length l and an angle α , the number of wire organizers with connected core wires that can fit around the core n 1 is related as follows : ## equ5 ## as is standard in the industry , a particular pair size cable includes a core wire having a particular gauge or diameter ( d ). for instance , a 3600 pair cable has a 26 gauge wire while other smaller pair cable typically have larger core wire , namely 24 and 22 gauge . by the following mathematical relationship , the optimum number of rows for 22 , 24 and 26 gauge core wire is 3 , 4 , and 5 , respectively ( assuming 50 core wires per binder group and consequently per organizer ): working out the second mathematical relationship yields a minimum possible length l for each connected core wire binder group as follows : finding the row length yields the following α &# 39 ; s for each gauge as follows : substituting for α yields the mathematical relationships for each particular core wire size as shown in fig1 . it has been found that the minimum wire organizer width w to accomplish the aforementioned objectives and purposes is approximately 0 . 25 inches . as can be seen from the graph in fig1 , the number of wire organizers in the first quarter - bank for 26 gauge wire is less than 21 , for 24 gauge wire the number of wire organizers in the first quarter - bank is less than 16 , and for 22 gauge wire , the number of wire organizers in the first quarter - bank is less than 12 . as a practical matter , the user would not want to place the maximum number of wire organizers around the core in the first quarter bank since it becomes increasingly difficult to work with such a larger number of binder groups . in the preferred embodiment , use is made of between 13 and 15 wire organizers in the first quarter bank for a 3600 pair cable . thus , while the first quarter - bank as shown in fig1 and denoted by the numeral 92 could be as many as 20 , one would practically limit the number of wire organizers to 14 because it is easier to work with a smaller number of wire organizers and , further , enough binder groups have been removed from the core that the remaining quarter banks b1 , c1 , and d1 may be connected without increasing the outside diameter of the cable . more particularly , quarter bank d1 of cable 88 may contain half the number of total binder groups less the binder groups connected in quarter - bank a1 without increasing the outside diameter of the cable as previously discussed . the next problem to be solved is how many binder groups should be connected in the second quarter bank , b1 . as will be appreciated , there is considerably more space in which to connect these binder groups because up to 20 pairs of binder groups occupying the proportional space have already been connected in first quarter - bank a1 in addition to the space vacated by the removed sheath . as a practical matter , there is no particular problem in obtaining the required number of connected binder groups in the second quarter - bank . however , because quarter bank c1 will have even more space in which to connect the binder groups because more binder groups will have been connected in b1 , one connects approximately one - third of the one - half binder groups which will be organized in total in the b1 and c1 quarter - banks . for a 3600 pair cable , for example , one connects 28 binder groups in quarter bank b1 , and 44 binder groups in quarter - bank c1 . as shown in fig1 , a second connected cable having four axially spaced apart and serially connected quarter - banks is pulled to a common location . as can be seen in fig1 and as is standard in the industry , the cables 88 and 108 are folded back and corresponding quarter - banks are matched . it will be noted that quarter banks a1 and d1 of cable 88 are matched with quarter banks c2 and b2 of cable 108 and quarter - banks b1 and c1 of cable 88 are matched with quarter - banks d2 and a2 of cable 108 forming full banks 110 and 112 as shown in fig1 . when the banks are folded back and matched with the corresponding banks of the other cable , they are connected by means of a separate external crimp contact means , described previously . while the instant invention has been described by reference to what is believed to be the most practical embodiments , it is understood that the invention may embody other specific forms not departing from the spirit of the central characteristics of the invention . it should be understood that there are other embodiments which possess the qualities and characteristics which would generally function in the same manner and should be considered within the scope of this invention . the present embodiments therefore should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive , the scope of the invention being limited solely to the appended claims rather than the foregoing description and all equivalents thereto being intended to be embraced therein .
| 7Electricity
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in fig1 the robot 1 has just fed the work station of a milling machine 2 comprising an l - shaped framework 3 . on the horizontal part 3a of framework 3 is mounted a longitudinal slide 4 , that may be drawn nearer or farther from the vertical part 3b of framework 3 . a transverse slide 5 is mounted on slide 4 and a machining head 6 is slidably mounted on part 3b of framework 3 . the machining head 6 carries a device 7 which drives a milling tool 8 in rotation . a gripping block 9 , described in detail hereinafter , is rigidly fixed to slide 5 . the robot 1 comprises a body member 10 which may pivot on a base 11 . rails 12 , integral with body member 10 , serve to guide a block 13 which thus may be vertically displaced with respect to body member 10 . the block 13 may , moreover , pivot about an arbor 14 . it carries a cylindrical arm 15 which may slide along and turn about its axis in block 13 . at its end , arm 15 is provided with a clamp 16 . during processing a series of identical workpieces , clamp 16 may permanently hold a workpiece holder 17 described in detail hereinafter and adapted to the sizes and shape of the workpieces 18 to be processed . in the embodiment represented in fig1 to 4 , the shape of workpieces 18 has been chosen as parallelepipedal so as to simplify the explanation . workpieces 18 are conducted the one after the other into the station shown at 19 by a chain 20 equipped with receptacles 21 . in the embodiment represented , station 19 is the charging station for the workpieces 18 to be processed and also the discharging station for the processed workpieces 18a . the workpiece being at the work station of milling machine 2 has been designated by the reference numeral 22 to distinguish it from the workpieces still being in receptacles 21 of chain 20 . the robot 1 has thus grasped workpiece 22 in station 19 and transferred it to the work station of the milling machine 2 . when machining workpiece 22 will be complete , robot 1 will transfer the processed workpiece back to station 19 , therefore also called discharging station . it is the assembly constituted by the gripping block 9 and the workpiece holder 17 which constitutes the novel part of the apparatus according to the invention . the various working members of this assembly are shown in fig4 . the workpiece holder 17 comprises a bed plate 23 having the general form of an elongated rectangle . in the middle of this rectangle , a bore 24 is provided in bed plate 23 . bore 24 extends through projections 25 and 26 and opens in a cylindrical recess 27 . a hollow cylindrical centering shaft 28 , provided with a collar 29 , is rigidly fixed to the bed plate 23 . one end of shaft 28 is therefore engaged in bore 24 and the collar 29 is sunk in recess 27 . the other end of shaft 28 is frusto - conical . a rod 30 passes through shaft 28 , in which it may freely slide , but without play . rod 30 lies under the action of a return spring 31 bent between a collar 32 of rod 30 and a guide ring 33 fixed to shaft 28 . two orienting pins 34 , 34 &# 39 ;, diametrally opposed and equidistant from shaft 28 are fixed to bed plate 23 near the small edge thereof . the pins 34 , 34 &# 39 ; are formed as a single piece with an abutting collar 35 . a clamp composed of the two jaws 36 and 37 is mounted on the bed plate 23 . the jaw 36 is rigidly fixed , but in detachable manner , to the bed plate 23 by screws ( not shown ), positioning studs ( now shown ) exactly center jaw 36 on bed plate 23 . jaw 37 is jointed on jaw 36 and may be actuated in the one and the other direction about a gudgeon 38 by a double - acting ( pneumatic or hydraulic ) jack 39 incorporated in jaw 36 . finally , jaw 36 is provided by two indentations 40 ( see also fig2 ). the gripping block 9 is fixed to slide 5 by two bolts 41 . it is provided with a central cylindrical bore 42 , in which a jacket 43 is fixed . a sleeve 44 is engaged without play in jacket 43 . the bore 45 of sleeve 44 is adjusted to shaft 28 . a chamfer 46 is formed at the end of bore 45 opening in the front face of the gripping block 9 . an annular groove 47 is provided in the external face of sleeve 44 so that only a thin elastic wall 48 remains of sleeve 44 . the groove 47 and the jacket 43 form a sealed chamber 49 filled with oil which may be set under pressure . eight bushes 50 , 50 &# 39 ;; 51 , 51 &# 39 ;; 52 , 52 &# 39 ;; 53 , 53 &# 39 ; ( fig2 ), force - fitted in sockets 54 provided in the front face of the gripping block 9 , are disposed at 45 ° to each other around bore 45 . the bore axis of each of these bushes is at a distance from that of bore 45 which is equal to that of the axis of each of the pins 34 , 34 &# 39 ; to that of shaft 28 . a chamfer 55 is formed at the opening of the bore of each of the bushes 50 , 50 &# 39 ;; 51 , 51 &# 39 ;; 52 , 52 &# 39 ;; 53 , 53 &# 39 ;. a jack 56 is mounted on the rear face of the gripping block 9 . one example of practising the method according to the invention will now be deducted from fig1 and 4 . with this example , processing the workpieces 18 comprises milling two crosswise slots 57 in each of the smaller faces of workpieces 18 ( fig3 ) and a larger slot 58 in one of the longer side faces thereof . moreover , clamp 16 of robot 1 grips the workpiece holder 17 during all the time a series of identical workpieces , such as workpiece 18 , is automatically processed . for this purpose , clamp 16 engages the indentations 40 of the workpiece holder 17 . at the beginning of a processing cycle , the arm 15 of robot 1 is directed toward chain 20 . jack 39 , which is controlled in a manner well known to those skilled in the art , maintains jaw 37 distant from jaw 36 . the robot 1 conducts the workpiece holder 17 toward chain 20 until the free space between jaws 36 , 37 lies over the workpiece which has been conducted by chain 20 into the charging station 19 . the robot 1 then causes the workpiece holder 17 to descend so that jaws 36 , 37 surround the workpiece being at the charging station . that descending motion of the workpiece holder under the control of robot 1 continues until jaws 36 , 37 rests on the receptacle 21 being at the charging station . in that position of the workpiece holder 17 , jack 39 causes jaw 37 to move toward jaw 36 until the workpiece 18 being in the charging station is firmly clamped between these jaws . the robot 1 can thus lift the workpiece clamped between jaws 36 , 37 out of the receptacle 21 and direct it toward the work station of the milling machine 2 . since the receptacles 21 of chain 20 are obviously identical , it will be observed that jaws 36 , 37 always clamp at the same height the workpiece of the series to be processed being at the charging station 19 . in other words , every workpiece of said series will occupy exactly the same position with respect to jaws 36 , 37 and consequently to the workpiece holder . the movement of the robot 1 , which causes the workpiece holder 17 to transfer the grasped workpiece from the charging station to the work station , may be swift . when the workpiece holder 17 arrives near to the gripping block 9 , the axes of the centering shaft 28 and the orienting pins 34 , 34 &# 39 ; will not necessarily coincide with those of the bore 45 of sleeve 44 and of the bores of bushes 50 , 50 &# 39 ; because of the imprecision of the rapid displacement of the robot 1 . the offset of shaft 28 and of pins 34 , 34 &# 39 ; with respect to the corresponding bores of the gripping block 9 is , however , rather slight so that upon thrusting the workpiece holder 17 against the gripping block 9 , the frusto - conical end of shaft 28 will enter at least the chamfer 46 . the robot 1 , of course , ensures that thrusting action by causing arm 15 to slide along its axis . in order to permit , firstly , the frusto - conical end of shaft 28 to slide along chamfer 46 until shaft 28 enters bore 45 of sleeve 44 so as to center the workpiece holder 17 on the gripping block 9 , and secondly , the conical point of pins 34 , 34 &# 39 ; to slide then along chamfers 55 of bushes 50 , 50 &# 39 ; until pins 34 , 34 &# 39 ; enter the bores of bushes 50 , 50 &# 39 ;, so as to correctly orientate the workpiece holder on the gripping block 9 , the controls of the rotary motions of body member 10 on base 11 , of block 13 around arbor 14 and of arm 15 around its axis obviously must be interrupted , thereby allowing body member 10 to freely rotate on base 11 , block 13 to do the same around arbor 14 , and also arm 15 to freely rotate around its axis . due to that control interruption of the robot 1 , clamp 16 may freely follow , firstly , the possible transverse displacement of the workpiece holder 17 until shaft 28 enters bore 45 of sleeve 44 , and secondly , the possible rotary motion of the workpiece holder until pins 34 , 34 &# 39 ; enter the bores of bushes 50 , 50 &# 39 ;. when shaft 28 and pins 34 , 34 &# 39 ; are fully engaged , in the manner of pegs , in the corresponding bores of sleeve 44 and bushes 50 , 50 &# 39 ;, respectively , the control of the sliding motion of arm 15 is also switched off . the displacement of the workpiece holder toward the gripping block 9 under the thrusting action of robot 1 is stopped by the abutment of collars 35 against bushes 50 , 50 &# 39 ;. in this position , the oil in chamber 49 is placed under pressure by means well known to those skilled in the art . that pressure tends to deform wall 48 toward the interior of bore 45 , thus very strongly squeezing shaft 28 to an extent unabling the workpiece holder 17 to escape from the gripping block 9 . all other means of removably locking the workpiece holder 17 in the axial position shown in fig1 could obviously just as well be used . once the workpiece holder 17 has been locked to the gripping block 9 , the workpiece holder 17 , and consequently the workpiece 22 being at the work station are held by the gripping block 9 only , to the exclusion of the robot 1 , of which the clamp 16 continues , however , to grip the workpiece holder 17 , but without exerting any holding action thereon . since the gripping block 9 is itself fixed to an element of the milling machine 2 , the workpiece 22 occupies the exact position desired on the milling machine 2 . the milling tool 8 thus may enter into action . if jack 39 were not powerful enough to satisfactorily hold workpiece 22 during processing , jack 56 would be activated in a manner well known to those skilled in the art to increase the gripping effort on jaw 37 by the intermediary of rod 30 . piston 59 of jack 56 is , indeed , in contact with rod 30 and thrusts the latter against jaw 37 against the action of return spring 31 . in the position shown in fig1 the milling tool 8 is going to form the two crosswise slots 57 in the upper smaller face of workpiece 22 , by appropriate displacements of slides 4 and 5 . as disclosed hereinabove , clamp 16 of robot 1 is allowed to freely follow the displacements that the workpiece holder 17 effects with slides 4 and 5 . when the first pair of slots 57 is machined , the control of robot 1 is again switched on and , simultaneously , the pressure in chamber 49 is released . the robot 1 then somewhat moves the workpiece holder 17 away from the gripping block 9 so as to disengage the orienting pins 34 , 34 &# 39 ; from the bushes 50 , 50 &# 39 ;, but not the shaft 28 from bore 45 . furthermore , robot 1 causes its arm 15 to turn through 180 ° around its axis , at least approximately , so as to set pin 34 opposite the bore , or at least opposite the chamfer 55 of bush 50 &# 39 ;, and pin 34 &# 39 ; opposite the bore , or at least the chamfer 55 of bush 50 . as previously , the robot 1 then thrusts the workpiece holder 17 against the gripping block 9 , the oil in chamber 49 is placed under pressure and the control of the robot is again switched off , so that clamp 16 may follow the new displacements of workpiece 22 during milling the two crosswise slots 57 on the other small face of this workpiece . when this second milling operation is complete , the robot 1 disengages the orienting pins 34 , 34 &# 39 ; from bushes 50 &# 39 ;, 50 , like previously from bushes 50 , 50 &# 39 ;, and causes arm 15 to turn through 90 ° about its axis so as to engage now pins 34 , 34 &# 39 ; in the bores of bushes 51 , 51 &# 39 ;. in this new position , the milling tool 8 forms slot 58 . processing workpiece 22 is thus complete . the robot 1 , after its control has been switched on again , then completely disengages the workpiece holder 17 from the gripping block 9 and returns the processed workpiece over the vacant receptacle 21 at the charging and discharging station 19 . the jack 39 then moves jaw 37 away from jaw 36 , thus permitting the processed workpiece to fall into the vacant receptacle 21 . the chain 20 then moves one step forward , so as to bring the following workpiece of the series at station 19 . a new processing cycle , identical with that disclosed in detail hereinabove , thus can immediately start . bushes 52 , 52 &# 39 ; and 53 , 53 &# 39 ;, not used in the example described , may serve to hold the workpiece holder 17 inclined at 45 ° according to machining operations which would have to be effected on another series of workpieces . the number of bushes , of course , could be increased so as to permit the insertion of the workpiece holder 17 in differently inclined positions , for example at 30 ° or at 60 °. in lieu of bore 45 and of the cylindrical shaft 28 , a prismatic shaft or one of any other non - circular section could also be used and a corresponding opening be formed in sleeve 44 . although such forms are more complicated to produce than that represented and described , such a solution would have the advantage of eliminating the orienting pins 34 , 34 &# 39 ; and the corresponding bushes of the gripping block . the orientation of the work holder 17 on the gripping block 9 would , indeed , be ensured by the form itself of shaft 28 and that of the corresponding opening of sleeve 44 . in that event the workpiece holder 17 could be inclined on the gripping block 9 at any angle , merely by adequately orienting sleeve 44 in jacket 43 . to process series of workpieces of another form than that chosen in the example described hereinabove , it suffices , in numerous cases , simply to change the jaws 36 , 37 of the workpiece holder . according to the nature of the operations to be effected on a series of workpieces , bores for the insertion of the workpiece holder could be provided in a non - horizontal direction in another gripping block . the block 9 could also be fixed to a vertical or inclined member of another work station . the member of the work station to which the gripping block is fixed need not be a movable member . it could be a portion of the framework or even of the base of the work station . finally , the work station need not form part of a machine tool ; it could form part for example of a transfer printer . a user already possessing a robot thus merely need acquire one gripping block , one corresponding bed plate of the workpiece holder and a set of jaws , like jaws 36 , 37 , to be mounted on this bed plate , to be able to feed automatically and with great precision the machines that he already possesses , conforming to the method according to the invention . the apparatus according to the invention is particularly advantageous when the work station to be fed in numerically controlled . with respect to the robot , it will preferably be of the type progammable by memorization of the movements initially accomplished by hand . the robot is not compelled to hold the workpiece holder permanently during processing a series of identical workpieces . if processing the workpieces of a series is relatively long and is effected in a single insertion position of the workpiece holder 17 in the gripping block 9 , then the robot would advantageously leave the workpiece holder 17 , and the time of processing the workpiece carried thereby be used to feed a second work station , identical with the represented one and also equipped with a gripping block , identical with the gripping block 9 , a second workpiece holder , identical with the workpiece holder 17 , and carrying a workpiece of the series , being inserted in this second gripping block . for the purpose of feeding such a second work station , the robot arm 15 , after having left the workpiece holder 17 at the first work station , would be conveyed to the second work station , where clamp 16 would grip the second workpiece holder and take it away from the second station , together with the workpiece having been processed at the second work station . the robot arm 15 would then transfer the processed workpiece to the discharging station , cause the second workpiece holder to deliver the processed workpiece at that station and , after chain 20 has advanced one step , cause the second workpiece holder to grasp a further workpiece to be processed and feed it to the second work station in the manner disclosed hereinabove in relation with the represented work station . finally , clamp 16 would leave the second workpiece holder and the robot arm 15 be conveyed back to the first work station , where clamp 16 would grip again the workpiece holder 17 and transfer it to the discharging station . that pendular processing method is only then recommended , when the processing time of a workpiece is almost equal to the time used by the robot to carry out the different operations disclosed hereinabove to feed a second work station . but then the pendular processing method obviously has the advantage to substantially increase the production . when the workpieces of a series to be processed should be subjected to several different operations , it may be advantageous to practise the method according to the invention in accordance with a further example , which can be deducted from fig5 . fig5 shows a robot 60 having four arms 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 mounted on a rotatable platform 65 , which turns through 90 ° at each step . each one of these four arms permanently holds a workpiece holder 66 differing , in principle , from the workpiece holder 17 of the first example only in the gripping jaws for the workpieces to be processed . the four workpiece holders 66 are identical . around the robot 60 are disposed : a chain 67 , which conducts the workpieces 68 to be processed to a charging station and carries away the processed workpieces 69 from a discharging station , and three different work stations 70 , 71 , 72 . the position of chain 67 and stations 70 , 71 , 72 is chosen so that one of the arms 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 of robot 60 is at least approximately opposite chain 67 and one of the stations 70 , 71 , 72 at each step of platform 65 . fig5 is supposed to show the set represented at the beginning of any cycle of processing the workpieces 68 . when platform 65 arrived in the position shown , at the end of the preceding cycle , the arm 61 conducted a processed workpiece to the discharging station , i . e . above a vacant receptacle of chain 67 . arm 61 then permitted the workpiece holder 66 that it carries to let the processed workpiece fall into said vacant receptacle , as in the first example . afterwards , chain 67 moved one step forward and the arm 61 caused its workpiece holder 66 to grasp the workpiece 68 to be processed , which has just arrived at the charging station which , in this example too , coincides with the discharging station . during the same motion of platform 65 , arm 62 of robot 60 arrived opposite the work station 70 , where it inserted the workpiece holder 66 that it carries in the gripping block 73 of this station , so as to submit the conducted workpiece to first processing operations . in the same way , arms 63 and 64 inserted their workpiece holder 66 in the gripping blocks 74 and 75 of the work stations 71 and 72 , respectively , so as to continue and to complete the processing operations of the already partially processed workpieces that they carry . platform 65 advances one step by rotating through 90 ° when that of the operations described , which is the longest , is complete . at each step of platform 65 , a completely processed workpiece is thus delivered to chain 67 . the distribution to different work stations of the processing operations to be carried out on a workpiece obviously improves the production . the work flow at each work station is similar to that described in the first example for practising the method according to the invention . workpiece holders and gripping blocks are also disposed as in this first example . the number of work stations is obviously not limited to three . the robot need only have one more arm than the number of work stations .
| 8General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology
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various embodiments of the invention are generally directed to a switch design enabling selective connection of one or more inputs from a series of available inputs . the inventive switch design has insertion loss that is not dependent on the number of available inputs , or the number of connected inputs . fig2 is a diagram conceptualizing a switch arrangement according to the invention . in the embodiment of fig2 , n inputs , i 1 - i n , are made available to be connected to the output , o , via switches s 1 - s n . in this arrangement , each switch s 1 - s n , is connected to a conductor leg l 1 - l n , which in turn is connected to the main transmission line tx . conductor legs l 1 - l n , and main transmission line tx may be made using , e . g ., conventional microstrip , stripline , or other transmission line technology . when the conductors and transmission lines described herein are made using microstrip or stripline technology , they may simply be referred to as conductive traces . each conductor leg measures λ / 2 , so that the condition of the switch is reflected at the point of connection of the leg l to the main transmission line tx . that is , the same electric field and magnetic field existing at the switch are projected onto the point of connection of the leg l to the main transmission line . thus , for example , if the switch is in the open position , then at the switch the electric field is zero , e = 0 . since the length of leg l is λ / 2 , the electric field at the point connecting the leg to the main transmission line is also zero . of course , the length of the leg l may be a multiple of length λ / 2 , i . e ., it may be n λ / 2 , where n is a whole number . similarly , the distance between any two leg connections on the transmission line is also set to λ / 2 , or more precisely , m λ / 2 , wherein m is a whole number not necessarily equal to n . as can be understood from the above explanation , in the embodiment of fig2 , one or more of inputs i 1 - i n may be connected to the output . however , regardless of how many input are made available or of how many inputs are connected at any given time , the total insertion loss always equals the insertion loss of a single switch s 1 - s n . fig3 is an example of a linear switch 300 according to an embodiment of the invention , with its top removed so that internal elements can be seen . the switch 300 has five inputs , i 1 - i 5 , and one output , o . inside the switch , a main transmission line , tx , is formed using , e . g ., microstrip or stripline technology , over an insulative substrate 320 . conductive legs l 1 - l 5 , are connected to the main transmission line tx , along points that are separated by nλ / 2 . each of the leg l 1 - l 5 , is of length mλ / 2 , wherein n and m are natural whole numbers and need not be the same . on each leg l 1 - l 5 , a switch s 1 - s 5 , such as a pin diode , is connected at the other end , opposite the end connected to the main transmission line tx . fig4 illustrates a switched antenna array 410 utilizing a switch 400 according to embodiment of the invention . the antenna array comprises of four antennas , a 1 - a 4 , each having main beam b 1 - b 4 , aimed at a particular direction in space . the switch 400 is constructed according to any of the embodiments described herein , or according to the principles of the invention as described herein . the switched may be used so that one antenna may be selected at a time , so as to transmit or receive towards one direction in space . the antennas may also be polled sequentially to cover a large swath of space . also , when using the antennas in a sequential polling mode , such as , for example , when tracking a moving object , the inventive switch may be used according to the following method . that is , rather than switching from one antenna to the next in the sequence , first the second antenna in the sequence is connected . due to the special design of the switch , wherein each leg &# 39 ; s length and separation is nλ / 2 , the resulting signal from the two antennas is the sum of their signal . then , the first antenna is disconnected , so that the resulting signal is that of the second antenna . in this manner , no “ jump ” or discontinuity results in reception or in space , rather tracking is done smoothly and continuously . that is , using the inventive switch in essence provides three positions , or three types of signals , for every two antennas . another problem that is known in the art is that conventional switches , such as pin diode switches behave somewhat as capacitors . this may present an unacceptable load at the output of the main line tx . fig5 illustrates an embodiment of a switch array according to the invention , which unloads charge from the individual switches . the switch is made of one central conductor in the form of a circular patch c 1 , made by , for example , microstrip or stripline technology . the circular conductor serves as a large capacitor , capable of unloading the charge on the individual switches s 1 - s 4 . the switches s 1 - s 4 , are connected to the central conductor c 1 by conductors l 1 - l 4 . the length of each conductor l 1 - l 4 , is nλ / 2 . in this manner , the condition of the each individual switch s 1 - s 4 , is reflected to the point of connection of each leg l 1 - l 4 , to the central conductor c 1 . lead 515 is connected to the center of conductor c 1 to form the output of the switch . notably , due to the circular geometry of the central conductor c 1 , the space separating each connection of one of legs l 1 - l 4 , to another is immaterial . as long as the length of each leg l 1 - l 4 , is kept to nλ / 2 , this switch will enable selecting any connection combination of the inputs i 1 - i 4 , to the output lead 515 . moreover , the capacitance of the individual switches s 1 - s 4 , would not load the output , as it will be absorbed by the central conductor c 1 . finally , it should be understood that processes and techniques described herein are not inherently related to any particular apparatus and may be implemented by any suitable combination of components . further , various types of general purpose devices may be used in accordance with the teachings described herein . it may also prove advantageous to construct specialized apparatus to perform the method steps described herein . the present invention has been described in relation to particular examples , which are intended in all respects to be illustrative rather than restrictive . those skilled in the art will appreciate that many different combinations of hardware , software , and firmware will be suitable for practicing the present invention . for example , the described software may be implemented in a wide variety of programming or scripting languages , such as assembler , c / c ++, perl , shell , php , java , hfss , cst , eeko , etc . the present invention has been described in relation to particular examples , which are intended in all respects to be illustrative rather than restrictive . those skilled in the art will appreciate that many different combinations of hardware , software , and firmware will be suitable for practicing the present invention . moreover , other implementations of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein . it is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only , with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims . it should also be noted that antenna radiation is a two - way process . therefore , any description herein for transmitting radiation is equally applicable to reception of radiation and vice versa . describing an embodiment with using only transmission or reception is done only for clarity , but the description is applicable to both transmission and reception .
| 7Electricity
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a thickness or size of each layer is magnified , omitted or schematically shown for the purpose of convenience and clearness of description . the size of each component does not necessarily mean its actual size . it will be understood that when an element is referred to as being ‘ on ’ or “ under ” another element , it can be directly on / under the element , and one or more intervening elements may also be present . when an element is referred to as being ‘ on ’ or ‘ under ’, ‘ under the element ’ as well as ‘ on the element ’ can be included based on the element . hereinafter , an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 shows a lighting apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig1 , the lighting apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a light source unit 100 including a first light source unit 110 , a second light source unit 130 and at least one third light source unit 150 , an rgb sensor 200 , a controller 300 and a power supplier 400 . the lighting apparatus shown in fig1 includes one third light source unit 150 as well as the first light source unit 110 and the second light source unit 130 . a lighting apparatus shown in fig5 includes a plurality of third light source units 150 a and 150 b as well as the first light source unit 110 and the second light source unit 130 . the first light source unit 110 and the second light source unit 130 emit lights having different color temperatures from each other and different color coordinates from each other . that is , the first light source unit 110 emits light having a first color temperature and a first color coordinate . the second light source unit 130 emits light having a second color temperature and a second color coordinate . since the embodiment of the present invention relates to a lighting apparatus , the first light source unit 110 and the second light source unit 130 are able to emit white light . the at least one third light source unit 150 emits light having a color temperature and a color coordinate which are different from those of the first light source unit 110 and the second light source unit 130 . the third light source unit 150 may include a light emitting diode ( led ) capable of emitting light having a color temperature and a color coordinate which are different from those of the first light source unit 110 and the second light source unit 130 . the rgb sensor 200 outputs an r component signal , a g component signal and a b component signal , each of which corresponds to light quantities of an r ( red ) component , a g ( green ) component and a b ( blue ) component , respectively , of the light output from the first light source unit 110 to the third light source unit 150 . that is , the rgb sensor 200 senses each of the light quantities of the r ( red ) component , g ( green ) component and b ( blue ) component of light mixed with lights emitted from a plurality of the light source units . the rgb sensor 200 may include an r filter , a g filter and a b filter in order to detect the r ( red ) component , g ( green ) component and b ( blue ) component of light . the r filter , g filter and b filter transmit their corresponding components . that is , the r filter transmits the r ( red ) component . the g filter transmits the g ( green ) component . the b filter transmits the b ( blue ) component . here , the rgb sensor 200 may include an analog / digital converter ( not shown ) for converting an analog signal into a digital signal . when the analog / digital converter is included , a first light signal , a second light signal and a third light signal may be digital signals . the controller 300 controls light quantities of the first light source unit 110 , the second light source unit 130 and the third light source unit 150 such that a color coordinate of the light emitted from the first light source unit 110 , a color coordinate of the light emitted from the second light source unit 130 , and a color coordinate of the light emitted from the at least one third light source unit 150 are placed within an area formed by the color coordinates of the first light source unit 110 , the second light source unit 130 and the at least one third light source unit 150 . the operation of the controller 300 will be described later in detail . the power supplier 400 supplies voltage changing the light quantities of the first light source unit 110 , the second light source unit 130 and the third light source unit 150 under the control of the controller 300 . here , the power supplier 400 is able to supply alternating current voltage having a controlled duty ratio to the first light source unit 110 to the third light source unit 150 under the control of the controller 300 . to this end , the power supplier 400 may include a pulse width modulation ( pwm ) generator . the first light source unit 110 , the second light source unit 130 and the third light source unit 150 may include leds . the light quantity of the led is changeable depending on the duty ratio of the alternating current voltage . fig2 shows a color coordinate system according to the first embodiment of the present invention . the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is able to increase an area capable of controlling a color coordinate . that is , unlike the embodiment of the present invention , when the lighting apparatus includes only the first light source unit 110 and the second light source unit 130 , the color coordinate of the light of the lighting apparatus transforms along a straight line connecting the color coordinate of the first light source unit 110 and the color coordinate of the second light source unit 130 . on the contrary , the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention includes , as shown in fig2 , the third light source unit 150 as well as the first light source unit 110 and the second light source unit 130 . the rgb sensor 200 outputs the r component signal , g component signal and b component signal of the light output from the first light source unit 110 to the third light source unit 150 . the controller 300 calculates tristimulus values of x , y and z by using the r component signal , g component signal and b component signal . the tristimulus values of x , y and z may be calculated by using a kind of light illuminated to an object , a surface defined by reflectance , and a color matching function of the r component signal , g component signal and b component signal . the controller 300 calculates a color coordinate of the light from the light source units by using the tristimulus values of x , y and z . an x component of the color coordinate is calculated by x /( x + y + z ). a y component of the color coordinate is calculated by y /( x + y + z ). a z component of the color coordinate is calculated by 1 −( x + y ). in the embodiment of the present invention , the controller 300 sequentially calculates the tristimulus values and the color coordinate . however , when the r component signal , g component signal and b component signal are input , corresponding color coordinate value thereof may be stored in advance in the controller 300 . when the calculated color coordinate is out of an area formed by the color coordinates of the first light source unit 110 , the second light source unit 130 and the third light source unit 150 , the controller 300 controls the light quantities of the first , the second and the third light source units 110 , 130 and 150 and causes the light of the lighting apparatus to be within the area . as a result , the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is able to emit light having a color coordinate located within a triangular area formed by the color coordinate of the first light source unit 110 , the color coordinate of the second light source unit 130 and the color coordinate of the third light source unit 150 . the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is able to control the light quantity in accordance with standard color coordinates located within an area formed by the color coordinate of the first light source unit 110 , the color coordinate of the second light source unit 130 and the color coordinate of the third light source unit 150 . for this purpose , the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include a memory 500 . the memory 500 stores the standard color coordinates . the standard color coordinates of the memory 500 may correspond to a color coordinate for some points on the black body locus or to a color coordinate for some points approaching the black body locus . in order to obtain the standard color coordinate by using the color coordinates of the lights emitted from the first light source unit 110 , the second light source unit 130 and the third light source unit 150 , the first light source unit 110 , the second light source unit 130 and the third light source unit 150 may be controlled during the manufacturing process of the lighting apparatus such that the light quantities of the first light source unit 110 , the second light source unit 130 and the third light source unit 150 change . that is , during the manufacturing process of the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention , light quantities of the r ( red ) component , g ( green ) component and b ( blue ) component of light emitted from the first light source unit 110 , the second light source unit 130 and the third light source unit 150 are measured by a measuring device . the tristimulus values of x , y and z are calculated by using the measured light quantities of the r ( red ) component , g ( green ) component and b ( blue ) component . through the tristimulus values of x , y and z , a corresponding color coordinate can be calculated . when the corresponding color coordinate calculated through the tristimulus values of x , y and z are on the black body locus or approach the black body locus , the calculated color coordinate may be used as a standard color coordinate . the standard color coordinate obtained by the aforementioned method is stored in the memory 500 . here , the standard color coordinate , as described above , is located within the area formed by the color coordinates of the light source units . meanwhile , the controller 300 receives an r component signal , a g component signal and a b component signal from the rgb sensor 200 and generates a comparative color coordinate . then , the controller 300 compares the comparative color coordinate with the standard color coordinate read from the memory 500 and generates a duty ratio control signal for reducing an error value between the standard color coordinate and the comparative color coordinate . here , in order to generate the comparative color coordinate , the controller 300 calculates a corresponding tristimulus values by using the r component signal , g component signal and b component signal , and calculates the comparative color coordinate by using the tristimulus values . unlike the embodiment of the present invention , when the lighting apparatus includes only the first light source unit 110 and the second light source unit 130 , it is difficult for the lighting apparatus to emit light having a color temperature approaching the black body locus . for example , when the first light source unit 110 emits light having a color temperature of 6500k and the second light source unit 130 emits light having a color temperature of 2700k , the color temperature and color coordinate of the light , as shown in fig3 a , transform along a straight line in accordance with the light quantity changes of the first light source unit 110 and the second light source unit 130 . as a result , there is a big difference between the transformation of the color temperature and color coordinate of the light and the transformation of the color temperature and color coordinate of the black body locus . meanwhile , as shown in fig3 b , when the lighting apparatus includes not only the first light source unit 110 and the second light source unit 130 but the third light source unit 150 , the lighting apparatus is able to emit light having a color temperature and a color coordinate similar to those of the black body locus . for example , when the first light source unit 110 emits light having a color temperature of 6500k , the second light source unit 130 emits light having a color temperature of 2700k and the third light source unit 150 emits greenish white light , the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is able to emit light having a color temperature and a color coordinate , each of which transforms along the black body locus in accordance with the light quantity changes of the first light source unit 110 to the third light source unit 150 . in the foregoing description , the black body locus has been used as a standard for the color temperature of the lighting apparatus . however , it is possible to set a standard color coordinate of the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention on the basis of macadam curve or ansi bin curve which are other standards for the color temperature of a lighting apparatus . the macadam curve shown in fig4 a shows a color distribution at the same color temperature . color distribution is greater at a specific color temperature toward an outer ellipse at the specific color temperature . as shown in fig4 a , unlike the embodiment of the present invention , when the lighting apparatus includes only the first light source unit 110 having a color temperature of 6500k and the second light source unit 130 having a color temperature of 2700k , the color distributions are increased at the color temperatures of 5000k , 4000k and 3500k of the light emitted from the lighting apparatus . therefore , it can be seen that the characteristic of the lighting apparatus is deteriorated . on the other hand , as described in the embodiment of the present invention , when a standard color coordinate is set such that the color distribution at each color temperature is within 3 - step macadam ellipse , the light quantity changes of the first to the third light source units 110 , 130 and 150 are controlled in accordance with the standard color coordinate , thereby improving the characteristic of the lighting apparatus . as a result , as regards each of the lights emitted from the light source units 110 , 130 and 150 of the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention , the color distribution at each color temperature may be within 3 - step macadam ellipse . as shown in fig4 b , unlike the embodiment of the present invention , when the lighting apparatus includes only the first light source unit 110 having a color temperature of 6500 k and the second light source unit 130 having a color temperature of 2700 k , the color temperature transformation of light emitted by the lighting apparatus may not be located at the center of the ansi bin curve . on the contrary , in the embodiment of the present invention , a standard color coordinate can be set such that the color temperature transformation of light emitted by the lighting apparatus is close to the center of the ansi bin curve . the light quantity changes of the first to the third light source units 110 , 130 and 150 are controlled in accordance with the standard color coordinate , thereby improving the characteristic of the lighting apparatus . the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may include four or more light source units fig5 shows a lighting apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention . while the lighting apparatus of fig5 includes four light source units , the lighting apparatus is allowed to include four or more light source units . the plurality of the third light source units 150 a and 150 b emit light having a color temperature and a color coordinate which are different from those of the first light source unit 110 and the second light source unit 130 . the plurality of the third light source units 150 a and 150 b also emit lights having color temperatures different from each other and having color coordinates different from each other . in other words , the color coordinate and the color temperature of the light emitted from a third light source unit 150 are different from those of another third light source unit 150 . therefore , as shown in fig6 , light quantities of the light source units 110 , 130 , 150 a and 150 b may be controlled such that a color coordinate of the light from the lighting apparatus is placed within an area ( a dotted - lined quadrangle ) formed by the color coordinates of the first light source unit 110 , the second light source unit 130 and the plurality of the third light source units 150 a and 150 b . the standard color coordinates are located within the area ( a dotted - lined quadrangle ) formed by the color coordinates of the first , the second and a plurality of the third light source units 110 , 130 and 150 a and 150 b . the controller 300 controls the light quantities of the first , the second and the third light source units 110 , 130 and 150 a and 150 b such that an error between the standard color coordinates and the color coordinate of light actually emitted is reduced . accordingly , as regards the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention , an area capable of controlling the color coordinate may be increased . fig7 shows a lighting apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention . fig7 shows , unlike fig1 , that optical exciters 120 , 140 and 160 having mutually different wavelengths are added to the one or more light source units 100 having the same color temperature , so that an area in which the color coordinate can be controlled . as shown in fig7 , the lighting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a light source unit 100 , a first optical exciter 120 , a second optical exciter 140 , and at least one third optical exciter 160 , an rgb sensor 200 , a controller 300 and a power supplier 400 . the lighting apparatus shown in fig7 includes one third optical exciter 160 as well as the first optical exciter 120 and the second optical exciter 140 . a lighting apparatus shown in fig1 includes a plurality of third optical exciters 160 a and 160 b as well as the first optical exciter 120 and the second optical exciter 140 . the light source unit 100 may include a plurality of light emitting diodes ( leds ). the leds of the of the light source unit 100 may emit lights having the same color temperature to each other . therefore , the structure of the light source unit 100 may become simple . the first optical exciter 120 , the second optical exciter 140 and the third optical exciter 160 receive the light emitted from the light source unit 100 and emit lights having different wavelengths from each other . to this end , the first optical exciter 120 , the second optical exciter 140 and the third optical exciter 160 may include a luminescent film respectively . the luminescent film includes a resin layer and a fluorescent substance . the fluorescent substance is located between the resin layers . the light emitted from the light source unit 100 excites the fluorescent substance of the luminescent film . the fluorescent substance emits light having a specific wavelength . here , the first optical exciter 120 and the second optical exciter 140 emit lights having different color temperatures from each other and different color coordinates from each other . that is , the first optical exciter 120 emits light having a first color temperature and a first color coordinate . the second optical exciter 140 emits light having a second color temperature and a second color coordinate . since the embodiment of the present invention relates to a lighting apparatus , the first optical exciter 120 and the second optical exciter 140 can emit white light . here the first optical exciter 120 may emit light having a color temperature of 6500 k and the second optical exciter 140 may emit light having a color temperature of 2700 k . the third optical exciter 160 emits light having a color temperature and a color coordinate which are different from those of the first optical exciter 120 and the second optical exciter 140 . the rgb sensor 200 outputs an r component signal , a g component signal and a b component signal , each of which corresponds to light quantities of an r ( red ) component , a g ( green ) component and a b ( blue ) component , respectively , of the light output from the first optical exciter 120 to the third optical exciter 160 . that is , the rgb sensor 200 senses each of the light quantities of the r ( red ) component , g ( green ) component and b ( blue ) component of light mixed with lights emitted from a plurality of the optical exciters 120 , 140 and 160 . the rgb sensor 200 may include an r filter , a g filter and a b filter in order to detect the r ( red ) component , g ( green ) component and b ( blue ) component of light . the r filter , g filter and b filter transmit their corresponding components . that is , the r filter transmits the r ( red ) component . the g filter transmits the g ( green ) component . the b filter transmits the b ( blue ) component . here , the rgb sensor 200 may include an analog / digital converter ( not shown ) for converting an analog signal into a digital signal . when the analog / digital converter is included , a first light signal , a second light signal and a third light signal may be digital signals . the controller 300 controls light quantities of the light source unit 100 such that a color coordinate of the light emitted from the first optical exciter 120 , a color coordinate of the light emitted from the second optical exciter 140 , and a color coordinate of the light emitted from the at least one third optical exciter 160 are placed within an area formed by the color coordinates of the first optical exciter 120 , the second optical exciter 140 and the at least one third optical exciter 160 . the operation of the controller 300 will be described later in detail . the power supplier 400 supplies voltage changing the light quantities of the light source unit 100 under the control of the controller 300 . here , the power supplier 400 can supply alternating current voltage having a controlled duty ratio to the light source unit 100 under the control of the controller 300 . to this end , the power supplier 400 may include a pulse width modulation ( pwm ) generator . when the light source unit 100 includes light emitting diodes , the light quantity of the light emitting diode is changeable depending on the duty ratio of the alternating current voltage . fig8 shows a color coordinate system according to the third second embodiment of the present invention . the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention can increase an area capable of controlling a color coordinate . that is , unlike the embodiment of the present invention , when the lighting apparatus includes only the first optical exciter 120 and the second optical exciter 140 , the color coordinate of the light of the lighting apparatus transforms along a straight line connecting the color coordinate of the light emitted from the first optical exciter 120 and the color coordinate of the light emitted from the second optical exciter 140 . on the contrary , the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention includes the third optical exciter 160 as well as the first optical exciter 120 and the second optical exciter 140 . the rgb sensor 200 outputs the r component signal , g component signal and b component signal of the light output from the first optical exciter 120 to the third optical exciter 160 . the controller 300 calculates tristimulus values of x , y and z by using the r component signal , g component signal and b component signal . the tristimulus values of x , y and z may be calculated by using a kind of light illuminated to an object , a surface defined by reflectance , and a color matching function of the r component signal , g component signal and b component signal . the controller 300 calculates a color coordinate of the light from the optical exciters 120 , 140 and 160 by using the tristimulus values of x , y and z . an x component of the color coordinate is calculated by x /( x + y + z ). a y component of the color coordinate is calculated by y /( x + y + z ). a z component of the color coordinate is calculated by 1 −( x + y ). in the embodiment of the present invention , the controller 300 sequentially calculates the tristimulus values and the color coordinate . however , when the r component signal , g component signal and b component signal are input , corresponding color coordinate value thereof may be stored in advance in the controller 300 . when the calculated color coordinate is out of an area formed by the color coordinates of the lights emitted from the first optical exciter 120 , the second optical exciter 140 and the at least one third optical exciter 160 , the controller 300 controls the light quantities of the light source unit 100 and causes the light of the lighting apparatus to be within the area . here , the light of the lighting apparatus is light mixed with lights emitted from a plurality of the optical exciters 120 , 140 and 160 . as a result , the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is able to emit light having a color coordinate located within a triangular area formed by the color coordinate of the light emitted from the first optical exciter 120 , the color coordinate of the light emitted from the second optical exciter 140 and the color coordinate of the light emitted from the third optical exciter 160 . the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is able to control the light quantity of the light source unit in accordance with standard color coordinates located within an area formed by the color coordinate of the light emitted the first optical exciter 120 , the color coordinate of the light emitted from the second optical exciter 140 and the color coordinate of the light emitted from the third optical exciter 160 . for this purpose , the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include a memory 500 . the memory 500 stores the standard color coordinates . in order to obtain the standard color coordinate by using the color coordinates of the lights emitted from the first optical exciter 120 , the second optical exciter 140 and the third optical exciter 160 , the light source unit 100 is controlled during the manufacturing process of the lighting apparatus such that the light quantity of the light source unit 100 changes . during the manufacturing process of the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention , light quantities of the r ( red ) component , g ( green ) component and b ( blue ) component of light , which is emitted from the first optical exciter 120 , the second optical exciter 140 and the third optical exciter 160 in accordance with the light quantity change of the light source unit 100 , are measured by a measuring device . unlike the embodiment of the present invention , when the lighting apparatus includes only the first optical exciter 120 and the second optical exciter 140 , it is difficult for the lighting apparatus to emit light having a color temperature approaching the black body locus . for example , when the first optical exciter 120 emits light having a color temperature of 6500k and the second optical exciter 140 emits light having a color temperature of 2700k , the color temperature and color coordinate of the light transform along a straight line in accordance with the light quantity changes of the lights emitted from the first optical exciter 120 and the second optical exciter 140 . as a result , there is a big difference between the transformation of the color temperature and color coordinate of the light and the transformation of the color temperature and color coordinate of the black body locus . meanwhile , when the lighting apparatus includes not only the first optical exciter 120 and the second optical exciter 140 but the third optical exciter 160 , the lighting apparatus is able to emit light having a color temperature and a color coordinate similar to those of the black body locus . for example , when the first optical exciter 120 emits light having a color temperature of 6500k , the second optical exciter 140 emits light having a color temperature of 2700k and the third optical exciter 160 emits greenish white light , the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is able to emit light having a color temperature and a color coordinate , each of which transforms along the black body locus in accordance with the light quantity changes of the first optical exciter 120 to the third optical exciter 160 . in the foregoing description , the black body locus has been used as a standard for the color temperature of the lighting apparatus . however , it is possible to set a standard color coordinate of the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention on the basis of macadam curve or ansi bin curve which are other standards for the color temperature of a lighting apparatus . the macadam curve shown in fig9 a shows a color distribution at the same color temperature . color distribution is greater at a specific color temperature toward an outer ellipse at the specific color temperature . as shown in fig9 a , unlike the embodiment of the present invention , when the lighting apparatus includes only the first optical exciter 120 having a color temperature of 6500k and the second optical exciter 140 having a color temperature of 2700k , the color distributions are increased at the color temperatures of 5000k , 4000k and 3500k of the light emitted from the lighting apparatus . therefore , it can be seen that the characteristic of the lighting apparatus is deteriorated . on the other hand , as described in the embodiment of the present invention , when a standard color coordinate is set such that the color distribution at each color temperature is within 3 - step macadam ellipse , in accordance with the standard color coordinate , the light quantity of the light source units 100 is controlled , and the light quantities of the first to the third optical exciters 120 , 140 and 160 are hereby changed , thereby improving the characteristic of the lighting apparatus . as a result , as regards each of the lights emitted from the optical exciters 120 , 140 and 160 of the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention , the color distribution at each color temperature may be within 3 - step macadam ellipse . as shown in fig9 b , unlike the embodiment of the present invention , when the lighting apparatus includes only the first optical exciter 120 having a color temperature of 6500 k and the second optical exciter 140 having a color temperature of 2700 k , the color temperature transformation of light emitted by the lighting apparatus may not be located at the center of the ansi bin curve . on the contrary , in the embodiment of the present invention , a standard color coordinate can be set such that the color temperature transformation of light emitted by the lighting apparatus is close to the center of the ansi bin curve . the light quantity of the light source unit 100 is controlled in accordance with the standard color coordinate . as a result , the light quantities of the first to the third optical exciters 120 , 140 and 160 are changed , thereby improving the characteristic of the lighting apparatus . the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may include four or more optical exciters . fig1 shows a lighting apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention . fig1 shows , unlike fig5 , that optical exciters 120 , 140 , 160 a and 160 b having mutually different wavelengths are added to the one or more light source units 100 having the same color temperature , so that an area in which the color coordinate can be controlled . while the lighting apparatus of fig1 includes four optical exciters , the lighting apparatus is allowed to include four or more optical exciters . the plurality of the third optical exciters 160 a and 160 b emit light having a color temperature and a color coordinate which are different from those of the first optical exciter 120 and the second optical exciter 140 . the plurality of the third optical exciters 160 a and 160 b also emit lights having color temperatures different from each other and having color coordinates different from each other . in other words , the color coordinate and the color temperature of the light emitted from a third optical exciter 160 a are different from those of another third optical exciter 160 b . accordingly , as shown in fig1 , the light quantity of the light source unit 100 is controlled such that a color coordinate of the light from the lighting apparatus is placed within an area ( a dotted - lined quadrangle ) formed by the color coordinates of the first optical exciter 120 , the second optical exciter 140 and the plurality of the third light source units 160 a and 160 b . the standard color coordinates are located within the area ( a dotted - lined quadrangle ) formed by the color coordinates of the first , the second and a plurality of the third optical exciters 120 , 140 and 160 a and 160 b . the controller 300 controls the light quantity of the light source unit 100 such that an error between the standard color coordinates and the color coordinate of light actually emitted is reduced . accordingly , since the light quantities of the first , the second and a plurality of the third optical exciters 120 , 140 and 160 a and 160 b are changed , as regards the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention , an area capable of controlling the color coordinate may be increased . fig1 a shows how optical exciters of the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention are arranged . as shown in the upper side of fig1 a , the second optical exciter 140 and the third optical exciter 160 are arranged adjacently to the first optical exciter 120 . here , the second optical exciter 140 and the third optical exciter 160 may be alternately arranged . the first optical exciter 120 is able to emit light having a color temperature of about 6500k . as shown in the lower side of fig1 a , the third optical exciter and the second optical exciter 140 are arranged in the order listed adjacently to the first optical exciter 120 . here , the second optical exciter 140 and the third optical exciter 160 may be alternately arranged . the first optical exciter 120 is able to emit light having a color temperature of about 6500k . the second optical exciter 140 is able to emit light having a color temperature of about 2700k . fig1 b shows that the optical exciters 120 , 140 and 160 shown in the upper side of fig1 a are viewed from an “ a ” side and a “ b ” side . the figure on the upper side of fig1 b shows that the optical exciters are viewed from a “ b ” side . the figure on the lower side of fig1 b shows that the optical exciters are viewed from an “ a ” side . as shown in fig1 b , the light source unit 100 includes a plurality of light emitting diodes ( leds ) mounted on a printed circuit board ( pcb ). a part of the leds may be located in an area of the first optical exciter 120 . the rest of the leds may be located in areas of the second and the third optical exciters 140 and 160 . the controller 300 is able to change the light quantity of each of the leds included in the light source unit 100 through a duty ratio control . as described above , the second optical exciter 140 and the third optical exciter 160 may be alternately arranged and may be arranged adjacently to the first optical exciter 120 . the areas which the second optical exciter 140 and the third optical exciter 160 occupy at the time when the second optical exciter 140 and the third optical exciter 160 are alternately arranged is as shown in fig1 c , smaller than the area which the second optical exciter 140 and the third optical exciter 160 occupy at the time when the second optical exciter 140 and the third optical exciter 160 are arranged facing each other . as a result , when the second optical exciter 140 and the third optical exciter 160 are alternately arranged , the volume of the lighting apparatus can be reduced . while the embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings , it can be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics . therefore , the foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention . the present teaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses . the description of the foregoing embodiments is intended to be illustrative , and not to limit the scope of the claims . many alternatives , modifications , and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art . in the claims , means - plus - function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents but also equivalent structures .
| 5Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting
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hereinafter , a detailed description will be given of the present invention with reference to the appended drawings . according to the present invention , a graphite electrode for a redox flow battery is manufactured by mixing micro - sized graphite , carbon black and polytetrafluoroethylene ( ptfe ) particles at a weight ratio ( wt %) of 90 : 5 : 5 . as such , carbon black functions as a conductive material for increasing electrical conductivity of the electrode and ptfe is used as a binder of the electrode , and the weight ratio may vary depending on the type of electrode material . examples of graphite of the graphite electrode may include spherical graphite particles , lamellar graphite particles , fiber - shaped graphite particles , and flaky graphite particles , each of which has electrochemical activity . furthermore , the distribution of the graphite particles may range from 100 nm to 100 μm . however , the present invention is not limited thereto , and any type of carbon - based electrode active material known to those ordinarily skilled in the art may be used . examples of the conductive material may include but are not limited to , not only carbon black , but also carbon nanotubes , graphene , ketjen black , super - p , vulcan , and artificial graphite ( ks6 , sfg6 ). the conductive material may be used in an amount of 1 ˜ 50 wt %. examples of the polymer binder may include but are not limited to , not only ptfe , but also polyvinylidene difluoride ( pvdf ), carboxyl methylcellulose ( cmc ), polyvinylalcohol ( pva ), and styrene butadiene rubber ( sbr ). any type of binder usable in typical electrode fabrication may be utilized . the binder may be used in an amount of 1 ˜ 20 wt % based on the total weight of the mixture . fig9 shows a process of manufacturing the graphite / dsa assembled electrode for a redox flow battery according to the present invention . at s 900 , the alcohol used may include ethanol , methylalcohol , isopropyl alcohol , or an organic solvent blend of the above alcohol and acetone . in the case where an organic solvent blend is used , alcohol may be mixed with another organic solvent at a volume ratio of 50 : 50 . the organic solvent blend may be used in an amount 0 . 5 ˜ 10 times the weight amount of the mixture composed of the graphite , the conductive material and the binder . in addition , the dsa electrode used in the present invention may be either a general dsa electrode or a dsa electrode manufactured using the process of fig1 . the dsa electrode may result from s 1000 to s 1030 of fig1 . specifically , a titanium ( ti ) mesh is first acid - washed with sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid , and then thermally treated at 400 ° c . for 30 hours in an air atmosphere . subsequently , the ti mesh is subjected to a procedure including dipping for 2 min in a solution of 10 wt % h 2 ircl 6 in ethanol and drying in a vacuum oven , and then a procedure including thermal treatment at 450 ° c . for 15 min in an air atmosphere and cooling , after which these procedures are repeated eight times or so , thus obtaining the dsa electrode . the ti substrate may be made of an alloy material including ti , and examples of an active material having electrochemical activity applied on the ti substrate may include noble metals , including ir , ru , ta , pt , au , pd , in and the like , and oxides thereof . the graphite / dsa assembled electrode obtained at s 930 of fig9 has a thickness of 50 ˜ 200 μm , and does not have to be a dsa current collector . in lieu of the dsa current collector , foam of cu , ti , al or ni or mesh thereof may be used , and may be manufactured by roll - pressing a current collector . the graphite / dsa assembled electrode according to the present invention may be utilized as an electrode of primary / secondary cells , metal - air fuel cells , super - capacitors , and other systems requiring electrodes having high durability and corrosion resistance . a better understanding of the present invention may be obtained via the following examples which are set forth to illustrate , but are not to be construed as limiting the present invention . 9 g of 10 μm sized artificial graphite particles ( mcmb 1028 , osaka gas ), 0 . 5 g of a conductive material denka black ( db , water content : 0 . 06 wt %, ash content : 0 . 02 wt %, apparent density 0 . 128 g / cm 3 , compression ratio : 100 %, denka corp . ), 0 . 5 g of ptfe and 10 g of ethanol were mixed , uniformly stirred at room temperature , and then kneaded while evaporating ethanol to prepare a paste , which was then made into a sheet . the electrode sheet thus obtained was rolled to a thickness of 200 μm , and then further rolled with a dsa electrode , thus manufacturing a graphite / dsa assembled electrode . the potential - current cycle properties of the electrode thus manufactured were measured depending on the scan rate in an electrolytic solution including 2 m voso 4 and 2 . 5 m h 2 so 4 and an electrolytic solution including 1 m voso 4 and 5 m h 2 so 4 . the reference electrode and the counter electrode were a saturated calomel electrode ( sce ) and a pt gauze electrode , respectively . 8 . 5 g of 10 μm sized artificial graphite particles ( mcmb 1028 , osaka gas ), 1 g of a conductive material ks6 , 0 . 5 g of ptfe and 10 g of ethanol were mixed , uniformly stirred at room temperature , and then kneaded while evaporating ethanol to prepare a paste , which was then made into a sheet . the electrode sheet thus obtained was rolled to a thickness of 200 μm , and then further rolled with a dsa electrode , thus manufacturing a graphite / dsa assembled electrode . the potential - current cycle properties of the electrode thus manufactured were measured depending on the scan rate in an electrolytic solution including 2 m voso 4 and 2 . 5 m h 2 so 4 and an electrolytic solution including 1 m voso 4 and 5 m h 2 so 4 . the reference electrode and the counter electrode were sce and a pt gauze electrode , respectively . 9 g of 18 μm sized natural graphite particles , 0 . 5 g of denka black ( db , water content : 0 . 06 wt %, ash content : 0 . 02 wt %, apparent density 0 . 128 g / cm 3 , compression ratio : 100 %, denka corp . ), 0 . 5 g of ptfe and 10 g of ethanol were mixed , uniformly stirred at room temperature , and then kneaded while evaporating ethanol to prepare a paste , which was then made into a sheet . the electrode sheet thus obtained was rolled to a thickness of 200 μm , and then further rolled with a dsa electrode , thus manufacturing a graphite / dsa assembled electrode . the potential - current cycle properties of the electrode thus manufactured were measured depending on the scan rate in an electrolytic solution including 2 m voso 4 and 2 . 5 m h 2 so 4 and an electrolytic solution including 1 m voso 4 and 5 m h 2 so 4 . the reference electrode and the counter electrode were sce and a pt gauze electrode , respectively . the potential - current cycle properties of a graphite electrode commercially available for a lithium secondary cell were measured depending on the scan rate in an electrolytic solution including 1 m voso 4 and 5 m h 2 so 4 . the reference electrode and the counter electrode were sce and a pt gauze electrode , respectively . the potential - current cycle properties of a dsa electrode were measured depending on the scan rate in an electrolytic solution including 1 m voso 4 and 5 m h 2 so 4 . the reference electrode and the counter electrode were sce and a pt gauze electrode , respectively . fig1 shows the potential - current cycle curves of a half cell , which was manufactured from the artificial graphite / dsa assembled electrode of example 1 and a pt gauze electrode , in an electrolytic solution composed of 2 m voso 4 and 2 . 5 m h 2 so 4 . as shown in fig1 , v + 4 ions are oxidized to v + 5 near 1 . 2 v vs . sce potential , and the oxidized v + 5 ions are reduced again to v + 4 near 0 . 6 v vs . sce potential . the reduced v + 4 ions are further reduced to v + 3 ions near − 0 . 3 v vs . sce , after which v + 3 is oxidized again to v + 4 ions near 0 . 6 v vs . sce . this cell exhibits a typical redox couple reaction . as the reaction rate progresses more rapidly from the second cycle , the stable redox couple reaction takes place up to the sixth cycle . thus , in the case where the artificial graphite / dsa assembled electrode manufactured according to the present invention is applied to a redox flow battery , high power density and energy efficiency may be obtained . fig2 shows the potential - current cycle curves when using the electrode of example 1 in an electrolytic solution composed of 1 m voso 4 and 5 m h 2 so 4 . as shown in fig2 , the redox couple reaction of v ions occurs near the potential similar to the results of example 1 , but the total reaction rate becomes slower compared to when in the electrolytic solution composed of 2 m voso 4 and 2 . 5 m h 2 so 4 . these results show that the energy density of the redox flow battery depends on the concentration of the electrolytic solution and that the electrode according to the present invention is able to be used at a wider range of concentrations of the electrolytic solution . fig3 shows the potential - current cycle curves of a half cell , which was manufactured as in example 1 using the artificial graphite / dsa assembled electrode of example 2 , in an electrolytic solution composed of 2 m voso 4 and 2 . 5 m h 2 so 4 . as shown in fig3 , v + 4 ions are oxidized to v + 5 near 1 . 2 v vs . sce potential , and the oxidized v + 5 ions are reduced again to v + 4 ions near 0 . 7 v vs . sce potential . although the reversibility of the reaction is better than when using the electrode of example 1 , the reaction rate is slower and increases at the second cycle . the redox couple reaction is insignificant at the first cycle . this is considered to be due to wettability of the electrode . fig4 shows the potential - current cycle curves of a half cell , which was manufactured as in example 1 using the artificial graphite / dsa assembled electrode of example 2 , in an electrolytic solution composed of 1 m voso 4 and 5 m h 2 so 4 . as shown in fig4 , v + 4 ions are oxidized to v + 5 near 1 . 05 v vs . sce potential , and the oxidized v + 5 ions are reduced again to v + 4 ions near 0 . 85 v vs . sce potential . although the total reaction reversibility is better than when using the electrode of example 1 , the redox couple reaction is insignificant at the first cycle attributed to the wettability of the electrode , and the reaction rate becomes similar to that of example 1 from the second cycle . fig5 shows the potential - current cycle curves of a half cell , which was manufactured as in example 1 using the natural graphite / dsa assembled electrode of example 3 , in an electrolytic solution composed of 2 m voso 4 and 2 . 5 m h 2 so 4 . as shown in fig5 , v + 4 ions are oxidized to v + 5 near 1 . 25 v vs . sce potential , and the oxidized v + 5 ions are reduced again to v + 4 ions near 0 . 7 v vs . sce potential , like the artificial graphite electrode . although the reaction reversibility is worse than when using the electrode of example 1 , the reaction rate is faster and gradually increases from the second cycle and thus becomes stable at the sixth cycle . the redox couple reaction is also insignificant at the first cycle . this is considered to be due to the wettability of the electrode . fig6 shows the potential - current cycle curves of a half cell , which was manufactured as in example 1 using the natural graphite / dsa assembled electrode of example 3 , in an electrolytic solution composed of 1 m voso 4 and 5 m h 2 so 4 . as shown in fig6 , the reaction reversibility is better than in the electrolytic solution composed of 2 m voso 4 and 2 . 5 m h 2 so 4 , but the reaction rate is slower , and the redox couple reaction of v + 4 and v + 3 ions occurs effectively . fig7 shows the potential - current cycle curves of a half cell , which was manufactured as in example 1 using the graphite electrode of comparative example 1 , in an electrolytic solution composed of 1 m voso 4 and 5 m h 2 so 4 . as shown in fig7 , v + 4 ions are oxidized to v + 5 near 1 . 05 v vs . sce potential , and the oxidized v + 5 ions are reduced again to v + 4 ions near 0 . 95 v vs . sce potential . although the reaction reversibility is evaluated to be the best , the reaction rate is slightly lower compared to examples 1 and 2 . as the cycle progresses , the reduction from v + 4 ions to v + 3 ions near − 0 . 15 v vs . sce potential and the oxidation from v + 3 ions to v + 4 ions near 0 . 20 v vs . sce potential take place , and thus the redox couple reaction increases because of the wettability of the electrode . fig8 shows the potential - current cycle curves when using the electrode of comparative example 2 in an electrolytic solution composed of 1 m voso 4 and 5 m h 2 so 4 . as shown in fig8 , the oxidation from v + 4 ions to v + 5 takes place near 1 . 05 v vs . sce potential , and the oxidized v + 5 ions are reduced again to v + 4 ions near 0 . 85 v vs . sce potential . the reaction reversibility is evaluated to be superior but the total reaction rate is low due to the decrease in the specific surface area of the electrode . as described hereinbefore , the present invention provides a graphite / dsa assembled electrode for a redox flow battery , a method of manufacturing the same and a redox flow battery including the same . in the case where the graphite / dsa assembled electrode for a redox flow battery according to the present invention is applied to a redox flow battery , high power density and energy efficiency can be obtained . although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes , those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications , additions and substitutions are possible , without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims .
| 7Electricity
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it is imperative to have a surgical instrument storage system which allows very easy access to as well as rapid access to surgical instruments during a case . the surgical instrument holder of this disclosure meets all of the fundamental requirements of sterile surgical technique and packing , while allowing for quicker instrument counts and easier access during the operation or procedure . this in turn , will lead to decreased surgical time , decreased blood loss , and overall improved patient outcomes . with reference to fig1 , shown is a detailed side view of a surgical instrument holder 100 according to various embodiments . the surgical instrument holder 100 comprises at least one grouping 101 of slots 103 , or grooves , adapted to receive and hold in a fixed position handles or other components of various surgical instruments , such as clamps , scalpels , scissors , and other surgical instruments . while the slots 103 are shown as parallel to the lateral axis of the surgical instrument holder 100 , this is merely one example . in another embodiment , the slots 103 may be oriented diagonally . the surgical instrument holder 100 may be formed of a material such as styrofoam or some other hard foam , plastic such as polyethylene , rubber , paper , metal , or another suitable material . in one embodiment , the surgical instrument holder 100 is formed of stainless steel and configured to be sterilized in an autoclave along with any contained surgical instruments in a sterilization tray . the surgical instrument holder 100 may be solid in some embodiments and hollow in other embodiments . if the surgical instrument holder 100 is hollow , it may be preferred to form the surgical instrument holder 100 out of a rigid material , such as plastic or another rigid material . the surgical instrument holder 100 may be distributed as a sterile and disposable unit , or may be reusable and constructed of a material capable of sterilization , e . g ., stainless steel . the surgical instrument holder 100 may also be recyclable in some embodiments . the surgical instrument holder 100 may be packaged as a separate unit or as a part of a surgical package . each grouping 101 of slots 103 may be divided by a plurality of separators 106 . the separators 106 may be formed of the same or different material than the rest of the surgical instrument holder 100 , such as foam , plastic , etc . in one embodiment , each grouping 101 of slots 103 comprises five slots 103 divided by four separators 106 . however , a grouping 101 of slots 103 may comprise some other number or numbers of slots 103 in other embodiments . in one embodiment , a slot 103 is ⅛ inch wide and a separator 106 is 1 / 16 inch wide , though the widths may vary in other embodiments in order to receive instruments of varying widths . additionally , if the surgical instrument holder 100 is constructed out of a foam or other suitable material , slots 103 may be expanded by pressure or cutting out of the material . if the surgical instrument holder 100 is hollow , the slots 103 may be openings into the interior of the hollow surgical instrument holder 100 , or the slots 103 may be bounded by material ( e . g ., of the separators 106 ) along the depth of the slots 103 . in one embodiment , a surgical instrument holder 100 may comprise ten groupings 101 of slots 103 , adapted to receive fifty surgical instruments in total , though the total number of groupings 101 of slots 103 may vary in other embodiments . in various embodiments , each grouping 101 of slots 103 may be separated by a separation distance 109 . as a non - limiting example , the separation distance may be one inch . the separation distance 109 may be selected based on preventing contamination of groups of instruments , the length of the instruments being used , and other factors . by having a grouping 101 of some number of slots 103 , users can easily count the number of instruments in one or multiple groupings 101 . additionally , the order of the instruments stored in the slots 103 of a grouping 101 may be important . moreover , certain types of instruments may be arranged in one grouping 101 versus another grouping 101 . thus , the groupings 101 of slots 103 may be used to maintain logical groupings of instruments if desired . depending on the material of the surgical instrument holder 100 , the surgical instrument holder 100 may be divided into two or more pieces for convenience and grouping ability . the surgical instrument holder 100 may have a first end surface 112 separated from a grouping 101 by an end separation distance 115 of , as a non - limiting example , ½ inch . the first end surface 112 may also be associated with a height 117 . as a non - limiting example , the height 117 may be 1 and ¼ inches . the surgical instrument holder 100 may have a base surface 120 and a top surface 123 . in various embodiments , the base surface 120 may have an adhesive backing , suction mechanism , or another securing mechanism used to secure the surgical instrument holder 100 to a table surface . a securing mechanism such as an adhesive backing may be needed , for example , if the surgical instrument holder 100 is constructed of a lightweight material . referring next to fig2 , shown is a side view of the surgical instrument holder 100 ( fig1 ) according to various embodiments . in particular , the surgical instrument holder 100 has a first end surface 112 ( fig1 ) and a second end surface 126 . as depicted in this non - limiting example , the surgical instrument holder 100 has ten groupings 101 ( fig1 ) of slots 103 ( fig1 ). the overall length of the depicted surgical instrument holder 100 may be , for example , 18 and ¾ inches or longer . fig3 depicts a top view of this example of a surgical instrument holder 100 ( fig1 ). moving now to fig4 , shown is an end view of the surgical instrument holder 100 ( fig1 ) according to various embodiments . the first end surface 112 ( fig1 ) is depicted as a semicircle . in other embodiments , the first end surface 112 may appear as an elongated semi - circle , a semi - ellipse , a polygon , or some other shape . the first end surface 112 is associated with a base width 403 . the second end surface 126 ( fig2 ) may be identical to the first end surface 112 . the first end surface 112 may be perpendicular to the base surface 120 ( fig1 ). turning now to fig5 , depicted is a perspective view of the surgical instrument holder 100 ( fig1 ) according to various embodiments . as illustrated , the surgical instrument holder 100 is adapted to receive surgical instruments in each grouping 101 ( fig1 ) of slots 103 ( fig1 ) and to maintain the surgical instruments in an organized and accessible condition . in various embodiments , the surgical instrument holder 100 may be severable . as non - limiting examples , the surgical instrument holder 100 may be distributed in an extra long form or in a roll form . the surgical instrument holder 100 may be severed by cutting it , for example , with scissors , a knife , or by some other cutting tool . in one embodiment , the surgical instrument holder 100 may be severed by breaking or snapping it . to facilitate severing , the surgical instrument holder 100 may include lines or other indications showing a user where the surgical instrument holder 100 may be cut or broken along a lateral axis into two surgical instrument holders 100 . the surgical instrument holder 100 may be manufactured , for example , with indents or partial cuts to ease breaking or fracturing . in various embodiments , the surgical instrument holder 100 may contain a magnetic strip in order to facilitate secure retention of the surgical instruments contained by the surgical instrument holder . referring next to fig6 , shown is an alternative embodiment of a surgical instrument holder 200 . in contrast to the surgical instrument holder 100 ( fig1 ), the surgical instrument holder 200 includes no slots . however , the surgical instrument holder 200 is formed of a material that is configured to deform under the weight of a surgical instrument 203 or another weight applied thereto . the deformation produces an indentation 206 so as to limit movement of the surgical instrument 203 . at least a portion of the surgical instrument holder 200 may be formed , for example , of a non - rigid foam material . in one embodiment , the material may be non - resilient , resulting in a permanent deformation of the material . in another embodiment , the material may be resilient , resulting in only a temporary deformation of the material . in one embodiment , indications such as lines may be provided on the surgical instrument holder 200 to show proper placement of a surgical instrument 203 or to define logical groupings of surgical instruments 203 . with reference to fig7 , shown is another alternative embodiment of a surgical instrument holder 300 . in contrast to the surgical instrument holder 100 ( fig1 ) and the surgical instrument holder 200 ( fig6 ), the surgical instrument holder 300 has one slot 303 running lengthwise . the slot 303 may be used to retain any number of surgical instruments in a fixed position . it should be emphasized that the above - described embodiments of the present disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure . many variations and modifications may be made to the above - described embodiment ( s ) without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure . all such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims .
| 0Human Necessities
|
one example of a voice presetting system in electronic musical instruments according to this invention is shown in fig1 which comprises a memory circuit 1 , a write and read control 2 , and a tone coloring control circuit 3 . the memory circuit 1 consists of a plurality of ( five in this case ) memory subsections and stores binary code signals 4 representing the manipulated states of tone lever switches l 1 , l 2 , l 3 and l 4 each having a binary encoder which will be described later in detail . the write and read control circuit 2 is connected to a mode setting switch set comprising an alternate switch ( reversible switch ), selection switches b 1 , b 2 , b 3 , b 4 and b 5 each comprising an individual selector switch , and a clear switch clr for producing a clearing signal 8 to switch a performance mode from a voice presetting mode to a manual mode . the switch set is adapted to produce a mode switching signal 6 for changing the control mode on the memory circuit 1 from a write mode to a read mode or vice versa , while the selection switches b 1 - b 5 are adapted to produce selection signals 7 for selecting the memory subsections in the memory circuit 1 . by receiving these signals 6 , 7 and 8 , the control circuit 2 produces control signals 5 which are employed to control the write and read operation of the memory circuit 1 . the tone coloring control circuit 3 receives binary code signals 9 read out of the memory circuit 1 , and for instance attenuates musical tone signal inputs v 1 , v 2 , v 3 and v 4 at predetermined degrees in response to the binary signals 9 thus received , thereby to produce a mixed musical tone signal vo . this signal vo thus produced is amplified by a power amplifier ( not shown ) to produce a musical tone . the musical tone signals v 1 through v 4 are , for instance , ones representing wood , string , flute and oboe voices , respectively . preferably , the switches set , b 1 through b 5 and clr are solid state switches such as pressure sensitive switches which employ a semiconductor . the system shown in fig1 is divided roughly into two sections : a voice presetting information signal forming section which is provided with a plurality of tone levers each having an encoder ( hereinafter referred to as tone lever switch assemblies when applicable ), for forming voice presetting information signals consisting of digital ( binary ) signals corresponding to the displacements of the levers ; and a voice presetting information signal processing section for processing the voice presetting information signals . fig2 a , 2b and 2c show one example of the tone lever switch assemblies for forming the voice presetting information signals . as is shown in fig2 a by schematic principle , the tone lever switch assembly is considered to be provided with a rotary switch 11 having four contacts which is operated by a tone lever having four positions , and an encoder 12 operating to convert the four switching conditions ( manipulated states ) of the rotary switch 11 into 2 - bit binary code signals . more specifically and actually , the tone lever switch assembly , as illustrated in fig2 b and 2c , comprises : a shaft 20 which is rotated by the tone lever ; a sector - shaped plate 21 to which the shaft 11 is rotatably secured ; a cover member 22 covering the plate 21 ; arc - shaped insulating members 26 and 27 which are disposed concentrically on the plate 21 , and electrically conductive layers 28a , 28b and 28c provided on the insulating members and grounded . the insulating member 26 and the conductive layers 28b and 28c form a first encoding surface , while the insulating member 27 and the conductive layer 28a form a second encoding surface . the shaft 20 has a fixed member 23 fixed thereto and a support member 24 fixed to the member 23 with bolts and nuts 25 . the support member 24 is provided with slide contacts 29 and 30 at its end portion so that the slide contacts 29 and 30 are slided along the first and the second encoding surface , respectively , as the shaft 20 is turned . to the slide contacts 29 and 30 , predetermined potentials are applied through resistors ro 1 and ro 2 from a d . c . source vcc . the contacts 29 and 30 are connected to input terminals of and gates 31a and 31b , respectively . to the input terminals of the and gates , a series circuit of a resistor r 1 and a capacitor c 1 and a series circuit of a resistor r 2 and a capacitor c 2 are connected , respectively , in order to eliminate noises which may be produced in sliding the slide contacts , that is , to prevent the occurrence of chattering . when both of the contacts 29 and 30 are in contact with the conductive layers , the first logical level ( for instance &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;) appears at both of the output terminals t 1 and t 2 of the and gates 31a and 31b . when the contacts 29 and 30 are in contact with the insulating members , the second logical level ( for instance &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;) appears at both of the output terminals t 1 and t 2 . furthermore , when one of the contacts is on the conductive layer while the other is on the insulating member , logical levels at the terminals t 1 and t 2 are different from each other . for instance , when the contact 29 is on the conductive layer while the contact 30 is on the insulating layer , the terminal t 1 is at the &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; level and the terminal t 2 is at the &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; level . in the tone lever switch assembly thus organized , the shaft 20 is turned by the tone lever causing the slide contacts 29 and 30 to slide along the first and the second surface thereby to make four angular displacements stepwise . these angular displacements are represented by 2 - bit binary signals which are obtained at the output terminals t 1 and t 2 , as was described above . the system shown in fig1 is provided with four tone lever switches l 1 through l 4 respectively for the musical tone signals v 1 through v 4 to be controlled , so that rates of controlling ( attenuating ) of the musical tone signals are set by converting the displacements of the respective tone levers into the 2 - bit binary signals . it goes without saying that the voice presetting information signal consisting of these 2 - bit binary signals can be changed by changing the switching positions of the tone lever switches . the voice presetting information signal processing section will now be described referring to fig3 in which different voice presetting information signals indicating different control rates described above are written in and read out to control the tone coloring operations . the memory circuit 1 comprises a flip - flop matrix pd1 1 - pd5 8 for storing five sets ( kinds ) of four two - bit binary signals from the tone lever switches l 1 - l 4 through signal lines td 1 - td 8 , and and gates pdg1 1 - pdg5 8 which are provided corresponding to the number of the flip - flops , for selectively reading out the contents of the flip - flops . the number of the flip - flops or the and gates is equal to the product of the number of the tone lever switches and the number of the selection switches . the write and read control circuit 2 comprises latch circuits sd 1 through sd 5 , and in response to the signals from the switches set , b 1 through b 5 and clr , controls the operation of the memory circuit 1 with the aid of control signals such as writing clock signals and reading level signals . the tone coloring control circuits 3 comprises : four control switch circuits sw 1 through sw 4 which receive four musical tone signals v 1 - v 4 , respectively , and are controlled respectively in response to the outputs of decoders dec 1 through dec 4 ; potentiometers pm 1 through pm 4 each of which has one terminal connected to an output terminal vo of the mixed musical tone signal and taps connected to switching channels ch . sub . 1 through ch . sub . 4 . the control circuit 3 thus organized , in response to the voice presetting information signal consisting of the binary signals d 1 through d 8 which are read out of the memory circuit 1 by the control circuit 2 , operates to control the musical tone signals v 1 through v 4 according to the control ( attenuation ) rate indicated by the information signal , thereby to produce a mixed output of these signals v 1 through v 4 . the control switch circuits sw 1 through sw 4 may be embodied as a well - known integrated circuit of transistors . each of the decoders dec 1 through dec 4 is to decode the 2 - bit binary signal into a signal which indicates one of the four displacements of the tone lever switch . accordingly , a 2 - 4 decoder may be employed as this decoder . the operation of the voice presetting system according to this invention will now be described referring to fig3 . first , for setting the memory circuit in a write mode , the switch set is turned on . as a result , a logical level 1 is applied to an input terminal of each of the and gates sg 1 through sg 5 , which are therefore opened for passing signals from the selection switches b 1 through b 5 , respectively . under these conditions , if one of the switches b 1 - b 5 , for instance the switch b 1 is depressed , the and gate ( set gate ) sg 1 produces a predetermined pulse whose pulse width is equal to the time during which the switch b 1 is depressed . since the output terminal of the gate sg 1 is connected to the clock input terminals of the flip - flops pd1 1 through pd1 8 , these flip - flops are rendered ready for writing the binary signals . accordingly , when a combination of displacements is obtained by operating the tone lever switches l 1 - l 4 and the switch b 1 is then depressed , the voice presetting information signal consisting of four two - bit signals which represent . the displacement combination thus obtained is written into first memory subsection constituted by the flip - flops pd1 1 - pd1 8 through the respective signal lines td 1 - td 8 . by setting the switches l 1 - l 4 so as to provide different displacement combinations and operating the selection switches b 2 - b 5 , different sets voice presetting information signals can be stored in the remaining memory subsections ( flip - flops ) in the memory circuit 1 , in accordance with the designation . it should be noted that the steps of the voice presetting operation are as follows : 2 -- then , depress one of the selection switches b 1 - b 5 . the switch set may be made to be in &# 34 ; write &# 34 ; position at any time , as long as it is before depressing the selection switch . in order to play music in the preset condition of the tone colors , first the switch set is turned off ( i . e ., made to be in &# 34 ; read &# 34 ; position ) by depressing it again . as a result , input terminals of and gates ( call gates ) cg 1 through cg 5 are at a logical level 1 , and therefore the and gates cg 1 through cg 5 are opened for passing the q outputs of the latch circuits sd 1 - sd 5 . under these conditions , if one of the selection switches , for instance the switch b 1 is depressed , a pulse having a predetermined width is applied as an input signal to the latch circuit sd 1 , and a pulse whose width is smaller than the predetermined width is applied to a control line cl which is connected the clock input terminals of the latch circuits sd 1 - sd 5 . accordingly , the q outputs of these circuits sd 1 - sd 5 are at 1 , 0 , 0 , 0 and 0 levels , respectively , while the outputs of the and gates cg 1 - cg 5 are at 1 , 0 , 0 , 0 and 0 levels . as a result , and gates ( data gates ) dg 1 through dg 8 are opened ( while and gates dg 1a - dg 8a being closed ) and and gates ( voice presetting data gates ) pdg1 1 - pdg1 8 are opened . accordingly , the voice presetting information signal stored in the flip - flops pd1 1 - pd1 8 is read out to the signal lines d 1 - d 8 which are connected to the decoders dec 1 through dec 4 respectively . the decoders dec 1 - dec 4 decode the binary signal inputs applied thereto through the signal lines d 1 - d 8 , and according to the displacement data of the tone levers , turn on one of the switching channels ch . sub . 1 - ch . sub . 4 in each of the control switch circuits sw 1 - sw 4 . as a result , the musical tone signals v 1 - v 4 are taken out through the respective potentiometers to the attenuation rates corresponding to the displacement data of the tone levers and are produced as a mixed tone signal output from the tone coloring control circuit 3 . the operation described above is also applied to the case where the switch b 2 , b 3 , b 4 or b 5 is depressed . the operations of the system described in paragraphs ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) relate to the performance in connection with the presetting faculty . however , the system according to this invention can operate in the manual mode in which the tone lever switches l 1 - l 4 operated by the performer during a performance directly control the tone colors to be produced . first , the switch clr is depressed that is , it is turned on before the switches b 1 - b 5 are depressed , to apply a predetermined pulse to the control line cl , as a result of which all of the q outputs of the latch circuits sd 1 - sd 5 are made to be at a 0 level . accordingly , the outputs 0 are produced by the and gates cg 1 - cg 5 , and the and gates dg 1 - dg 8 are closed while the and gates dg 1a - dg 8a are opened , whereby the binary signals from the tone lever switches l 1 - l 4 are applied to the signal lines d 1 - d 8 through the signal line td 1 - td 8 . thereafter , the operation of the tone coloring control circuit 3 is carried out in the same way as described in paragraph ( 2 ). thus , the performer can manually adjust the displacement data of the tone levers as desired during the performance to vary the ratios of controlling the musical tone signals . needless to say , the memory circuit can be constituted by ic memories , core memories , magnetic card reader - writers , and so forth . while the principles of this invention have been described above in connection with a specific embodiment , it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation on the scope of invention . in other words , this invention can be applied not only to the setting of the displacement data of the tone levers by operating them manually but also to the setting of displacement data of movable members such as a pedal . furthermore , the invention can be applied not only to the presetting in tone coloring control but also to the presetting in controlling musical effects such as a vibrato effect and a tremolo effect . in addition , the present invention can be applied not only to the presetting in the rates of attenuating the musical tone signals , but also to the presetting in the ratios of amplifying the musical tone signals and to all of the presetting in the rates of controlling the musical tone signals such as rates of varying the waveforms of the musical tone signals and rates of varying the frequency modulation degrees or amplitude modulation degrees of the musical tone signals . accordingly , as is apparent from the description described above , the following merits are provided by the invention . 1 . the system according to this invention , unlike the conventional system , is not limited by the number of voice presetting levers or switches , and can therefore readily preset many different voice presetting information signals by increasing the storage capacity thereof . accordingly , the system can contribute to a performance rich in variation . 2 . the system can be made smaller by the use of techniques on printed circuit boards and integration circuits . 3 . since the number of mechanical components is reduced considerably in this system , troubles are scarecely caused in the system . that is , the system is higher in reliability . 4 . the number of the movable members to be provided is equal to the number of the musical tone signals to be controlled , and these movable members can be used both for the voice presetting performance and for the manual performance , according to this invention . accordingly , the present invention can eliminate the voice presetting board used for installing the voice presetting tone levers and its related components which are necessary in the conventional system , which leads to flexibility in designing the panel of an electronic musical instrument and to rendering the performer &# 39 ; s presetting operations simpler . 5 . it is unnecessary to introduce the musical tone signals to the panel of the electronic musical instrument . therefore , clear tone colors not including induction noises can be produced .
| 6Physics
|
in one aspect , the present invention embraces an improved top - drive power cable . in this regard , fig1 depicts an exemplary top - drive power cable 10 in accordance with the present invention . the power cable 10 includes one or more high - conductivity conductors 11 . in one embodiment , the power cable 10 may include high - conductivity conductors 11 of different sizes . the larger diameter conductors 11 a may be used as power conductors and the smaller diameter conductors 11 b may be used as grounding conductors . for example , the larger diameter conductors 11 a may be about 650 kcmil in size ( i . e ., having a cross - sectional area of about 650 , 000 circular mils ), thus having a diameter of about 20 . 5 millimeters . the smaller diameters conductors 11 b may be 2 / 0 awg ( american wire gauge ) in size ( i . e ., having a cross - sectional area of 133 , 000 circular mils ), thus having a diameter of about 9 . 3 millimeters . typically , the high - conductivity conductors 11 are copper , although other high - conductivity metals ( e . g ., aluminum , silver , or gold ) or metal alloys may be employed as an alternative to copper . the foregoing notwithstanding , those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the size of the high - conductivity conductors will depend upon the desired current - carrying capacity of the power cable 10 . indeed , because the current - carrying capacity of the power cable 10 depends upon the cross - sectional area of the high - conductivity conductors , greater current - carrying capacity requirements typically require larger diameter high - conductivity conductors . each conductor 11 a and 11 b may be individually insulated . for example , each conductor may be insulated with a chemically cross - linked polyolefin ( e . g ., having a thickness of between about one millimeter and three millimeters ). alternatively , and by way of example , the conductors may be insulated with silicone , a thermoset polymer , cross - linked polyethylene , halogen - free ethylene propylene rubber , and / or a low smoke , halogen - free cross - linked polyolefin . the power cable 10 may include electromagnetic shielding . as depicted in fig1 and by way of example , a layer of metal / polymeric tape 13 ( e . g ., aluminum / polyester tape ) may surround the high - conductivity conductors 11 . typically , the metal / polymeric tape has two sublayers : ( i ) a polymeric layer ( e . g ., a polyester layer ) and ( ii ) a metallic layer ( e . g ., a layer of aluminum or other highly conductive metal ). in one embodiment , a braided shield layer 14 may be positioned between a first layer of an aluminum / polyester tape 13 and a second layer of an aluminum / polyester tape 15 , thereby forming electromagnetic shielding . typically , the metallic sublayer of each tape is positioned adjacent to , and more typically in contact with , the braided shield layer 14 . typically , the braided shield layer 14 is formed from a braid of tinned copper . alternatively , the shield layer 14 is not braided but may be formed from a serving of tinned copper ( e . g ., a plurality of tinned copper wires helically wrapped around the cable ). that said , other materials such as copper , aluminum , or bronze may be used to form the shield layer 14 . for example , in an alternative embodiment the electromagnetic shielding may include a braided copper shield layer positioned between two layers of copper / polyester tape . in a particular embodiment , the wires used to form the braided shield layer 14 may be 30 awg in size ( e . g ., having a diameter of about 0 . 26 millimeter ). that said , other sized wires are within the scope of the present invention . the braided shielding layer 14 typically provides coverage ( i . e ., the extent to which the underlying material is concealed ) of between about 60 percent and 95 percent and , in combination with the tape layers 13 and 15 , provides effective electromagnetic shielding . a layer of rubber / fabric tape 16 may surround the electromagnetic shielding ( e . g ., surrounding the second layer of aluminum / polyester tape 15 ). alternatively , an armor layer ( e . g ., formed from braided bronze ) may surround the electromagnetic shielding . the power cable 10 includes one or more polymeric sheaths enclosing the high - conductivity conductors . in one embodiment and as depicted in fig1 , the power cable 10 includes a first polymeric sheath 17 and a second polymeric sheath 19 , typically enclosing a reinforcing layer 18 . each polymeric sheath may have a thickness of between about three millimeters and four millimeters . the polymeric sheaths 17 and 19 are typically formed of material that is resistant to drilling fluids , such as the “ mud ” used in drilling operations . typically , the polymeric sheaths 17 and 19 are formed from a low - smoke , zero - halogen ( lszh ), ester - based polymeric material . by way of example , the polymeric sheaths 17 and 19 may be formed from a cross - linked polyolefin or from nitrile rubber . as noted , a reinforcing layer 18 , typically formed of braided aramid fibers , may be positioned between the first polymeric sheath 17 and the second polymeric sheath 19 . the reinforcing layer 18 supports ( e . g ., provides mechanical strength to ) the power cable 10 when it is installed ( e . g ., suspended in a drilling rig ). in this regard , the reinforcing layer 18 typically has a breaking strength of at least about 10 , 000 lbf ( pound - force ) ( e . g ., about 20 , 000 lbf or more ). the power cable may be attached to a drilling rig by applying a grip ( e . g ., a basket - weave grip ) over the second polymeric sheath 19 . typically , the braided aramid fibers provide open coverage ( e . g ., coverage of between about 25 percent and 75 percent , more typically between about 40 percent and 60 percent , such as about 50 percent ). the second polymeric sheath 19 is typically extruded over the aramid braid so that a portion of the second polymeric sheath 19 fills the gaps in the aramid braid , thereby integrating the second polymeric sheath 19 and the reinforcing layer 18 . extruding the second polymeric sheath 19 over the aramid braid so that a portion of the second polymeric sheath 19 not only fills the gaps in the aramid braid but also helps to facilitate coupling between the second polymeric sheath 19 and the first polymeric sheath 17 ( e . g ., to prevent the second polymeric sheath 19 and the first polymeric sheath 17 from sliding relative to one another ). the aramid braid typically is formed from a plurality of flat aramid strands . for example , the aramid braid may include 48 , 36 , 32 , or 24 flat aramid strands . by way of example , each flat aramid strand may have a thickness of about 0 . 04 inch ( i . e ., about one millimeter ) and a width of about 0 . 135 inch ( i . e ., about 3 . 4 millimeters ). depending upon the size of the power cable 10 and its desired strength , aramid strands of other sizes may be employed . to facilitate the formation of a flat strand , aramid fibers may be impregnated with a resin . the resin reduces the friction between the aramid strands and helps to ensure that the aramid strands are uniform in size and shape . exemplary flat aramid strands ( e . g ., p hillystran ™ 49 ) are available from phillystran , inc . ( montgomeryville , pa .). typically , the aramid braid employs a braid angle ( i . e ., the acute angle measured from the axis of the braid to a braiding strand ) of between about 15 degrees and 45 degrees . more typically , the braid angle is between about 20 degrees and 30 degrees , such as between about 24 degrees and 27 degrees . the design of the reinforcing layer 18 ensures that it provides sufficient strength to the power cable 10 and helps to prevent the rotation or twisting of the power cable 10 during use . in other words , the reinforcing layer 18 provides torque compensation to the power cable 10 . the power cable 10 may contain fire - resistant and non - hygroscopic fillers 12 . exemplary materials that can be used as fillers include glass fibers and / or polypropylene . the power cable 10 typically has a weight of about 12 . 4 lbs / ft ( pounds per foot ). moreover , in typical embodiments the power cable 10 has a voltage rating of at least about 2 , 000 volts , a minimum bending diameter of about six feet , a breaking strength of at least about 20 , 000 lbf , and a maximum working load of at least about 3 , 000 lbs . the power cable 10 is expected to comply with the ieee 1580 standard , the ul 1309 standard , and the iec 60092 - 350 standard , each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . moreover , the power cable 10 is expected to be dnv and abs type approved and etl listed as a marine shipboard cable in accordance with the foregoing standards . in another aspect , the present invention embraces a connected pair of top - drive power cables . although the ensuing description relates to a connected pair of power cables , it is within the scope of the present invention to have more than two power cables connected together ( e . g ., three or more connected power cables ). fig2 depicts a connected pair 25 of two top - drive power cables 30 and 40 . typically , the power cables 30 and 40 are substantially identical . that said , it is within the scope of the present invention for the power cables 30 and 40 to have different designs and / or sizes . the power cables 30 and 40 may be connected with a plurality of bandings 45 along the length of the power cables 30 and 40 . for example , a banding 45 may be positioned approximately every 1 . 5 meters along the length of the power cables 30 and 40 . exemplary bandings 45 may have a width of between about 10 and 15 millimeters . typically , the bandings are constructed from stainless steel , although other materials are within the scope of the present invention . the connected pair 25 may include a core cable 50 ( e . g ., an independent wire rope core ( iwrc )) running parallel to and positioned between the power cables 30 and 40 . typically , the core cable 50 is stainless steel and has a breaking strength of at least about 85 , 000 lbf . alternatively , the core cable 50 may be formed from galvanized steel , aramid fibers , nylon , rayon , polyester ( e . g ., dacron ® polyethylene terephthalate ), and / or other synthetic materials . the core cable 50 may be attached to the connected pair 25 using a plurality of saddles 46 positioned along the length of the core cable 50 . typically , each saddle 46 includes two halves 46 a and 46 b that are placed around the core cable 50 . each saddle may have a length of between about 50 millimeters and 200 millimeters . typically , adjacent saddles are separated by a space of between about one meter and three meters . in an alternative embodiment , a saddle extending along a substantial length of the core cable 50 may be employed . the saddles 46 are attached to the connected pair 25 with the bandings 45 . moreover , the core cable 50 is mechanically coupled ( e . g ., potted ) to each end of connected pair 25 . accordingly , the core cable 50 provides additional mechanical support and torque resistance to the connected pair 25 . in the specification and / or figures , typical embodiments of the invention have been disclosed . the present invention is not limited to such exemplary embodiments . the use of the term “ and / or ” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items . the figures are schematic representations and so are not necessarily drawn to scale . unless otherwise noted , specific terms have been used in a generic and descriptive sense and not for purposes of limitation .
| 7Electricity
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preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be detailed with reference to the accompanying drawings . it is intended , however , that unless particularly specified , dimensions , materials , relative positions and so forth of the constituent parts in the embodiments shall be interpreted as illustrative only not as limitative of the scope of the present invention . referring to fig1 showing a first embodiment , reference numeral 1 is a casing housing male and female rotors of a low - pressure stage compressor 2 and male and female rotors of a high - pressure stage compressor 3 . reference numeral 4 is a common rotor shaft connecting the male rotors of the lower and higher pressure compressors 2 and 3 . the rotor shaft 4 is connected to an electric motor not shown in the drawing at the suction side of the low - pressure stage compressor . reference numeral 5 is a shaft seal element ( mechanical seal ), 6 - 8 are bearings supporting the rotor shaft 4 for rotation at the suction side of the low - pressure stage compressor , at the intermediate part between the lower and higher pressure compressors , and at the suction side of the high - pressure stage compressor . a common female rotor shaft not shown in the drawing is supported by bearings in the same way . reference numeral 11 is an oil supply port for supplying lubricating oil h to the mechanical seal 5 , bearings 6 and 7 at the suction side of the low - pressure stage compressor and intermediate part respectively via an oil passage 12 . reference numeral 14 is an oil supply port for supplying lubricating oil h to the bearing 8 at the suction side of the high - pressure stage compressor via an oil passage 15 . reference numeral 13 is an oil passage for introducing lubricating oil h lubricated the mechanical seal 5 and bearing 6 to an oil supply hole 17 provided in the casing of the high - pressure stage compressor 3 to inject the oil into the compression cavities thereof . reference numeral 16 is an oil passage to introduce lubricating oil h lubricated the bearing 8 to an oil supply hole 17 . lubricating oil supplied to the bearing 7 at the intermediate section intrudes into the suction part of the casing of the high - pressure stage compressor 3 after lubrication of the bearing 7 . lubricating oil h is supplied from an oil separator not shown in the drawing located in the downstream side from the operating gas discharge port of the high pressure stage compressor 3 , and the lubricating oil h contains operating gas dissolved therein . reference numeral 18 indicates an inlet port for sucking operating gas r into the low - pressure stage compressor 2 . operating gas compressed in the low - pressure stage compressor 2 is introduced to the high - pressure stage compressor 3 via a gas passage 19 , further compressed therein , and discharged from a discharge port 20 . in the suction process of the screw compressor , meshing and rotation of the two helical rotors produces a series of volume - increasing cavities into which operating gas is drawn through the inlet port in the casing as the rotors rotate , and when the cavity volume reaches a maximum , each of the cavities is shut away from the inlet opening , then meshing and rotation of the two helical rotors produces a series of volume - reducing cavities as the rotors rotate . gas drawn in through the inlet port and captured in a cavity is compressed as the cavity reduces in volume , and then discharged through another port in the casing as the rotors further rotate . the oil supply hole 17 is located at a portion of the casing so that lubricating oil h flowing in the oil passage 13 ( 16 ) is injected into each of the compression cavities when the cavity c is reduced in volume , that is , the cavity is under compression process . it is preferable that the oil supply hole 17 is located so that lubricating oil h is injected into the cavity when pressure in the cavity is high , that is , when the internal volume ratio vi of the cavity c is large , because amounts of operating gas released from the lubricating oil injected into the cavity is reduced due to high pressure in the cavity and volumetric and compression efficiency of the high - pressure stage compressor , but if the pressure in the cavity is too high , blow back of the operating gas in the cavity toward the bearings and shaft seal element side occurs . it is necessary that pressure of lubricating oil h supplied to the bearings and shaft seal element ( bearing parts ) suffices the following formula in order to evade blow back of operating gas at the oil supply hole 17 toward the bearing parts . p max . int : maximum intermediate pressure , i . e ., maximum pressure operating gas at the suction side of the high - pressure stage compressor in assumable operation condition , vi : internal volume ratio , i . e ., maximum volume of a compression cavity in suction process as mentioned above / volume of the compression cavity when the oil supply hole 17 communicates with the compression cavity , p : pressure difference required to inject oil through the oil supply hole 17 into the compression cavity . in the above formula , volume ratio vi ≧ 1 , and k = 1 . 3 for example when operating gas is ammonia refrigerant . required pressure difference p is usually 3 - 5 kg / cm 2 . by supplying lubricating oil to the bearing parts at a pressure that suffices the above formula , lubricating oil can be supplied to the compression cavities of the high - pressure stage compressor 3 at a considerably higher pressure than that of intermediate pressure without occurrence of blow back of operating gas from the compression cavities toward the bearing parts . in fig1 , reference numeral 21 is an oil supply pipe for introducing lubricating oil to the oil supply port 11 . a throttle valve 23 and a pump 22 are provided to the oil supply pipe 21 , by which oil supply pressure to the bearing parts can be adjusted so that it suffices the above formula . according to the first embodiment , lubricating oil is supplied to the bearing parts and the oil having lubricated the bearing parts is supplied to the compression cavities of the high pressure stage compressor 3 , negative effect induced by flash - evaporated operating gas released from the mutual dissolving type lubricating oil supplied to the compression cavities is limited to the high pressure stage compressor 3 , negative effect thereof to the low - pressure stage compressor 2 can be evaded , and volumetric efficiency of the two - staged screw compressor is significantly increased and compression performance is improved as compared with conventional two - stage compressors . as pressure in the compression cavities of the high - pressure stage compressor 3 is high , amounts of operating gas released from the lubricating oil existing in the cavities compression of the high - pressure stage compressor decreases , so the negative effect is relatively small in the high pressure stage compressor 3 . further , as oil injection is done only into the compression cavities of the high pressure stage compressor 3 where pressure is high , the total amount of oil supply can be decreased , and amounts of operating gas released from the lubricating oil can be decreased totally . by determining pressure of supplying lubricating oil to the bearing parts to suffice the above mentioned formula , enough pressure can be obtained at the oil supply hole 17 for injecting the oil into the compression cavities of the high pressure stage compressor , and blow back of operating gas from the compression cavities does not occur . next , a second embodiment of the invention will be explained referring to fig2 and 3 . in the drawings , reference numeral 31 is a two - stage screw compressor . the compressor is composed the same as the screw compressor of fig1 , and constituents the same as those of the compressor of fig1 is denoted by the same reference numerals , and explanation is omitted . reference numeral 32 is an electric motor for driving the common rotor shaft 4 of the lower pressure and high - pressure stage compressor 2 and 3 . a drive shaft 32 a of the motor 32 is connected to the common rotor shaft 4 by means of a coupling 33 . reference symbol r indicates a refrigerant gas , and h indicates lubricating oil in which refrigerant gas is dissolved . the refrigerant gas r and lubricating oil h is discharged from the discharge port 20 of the high pressure stage compressor 3 together , the lubricating oil h is separated from the refrigerant gas r in an oil separator 34 . then the refrigerant gas r is condensed in a condenser 38 , expanded adiabatically through an expansion valve 39 , and evaporates in an evaporator 40 receiving heat from refrigeration loads . the evaporated refrigerant is supplied to the two - stage screw compressor 31 to be compressed again . on the other hand , lubricating oil h separated in the oil separator 34 is introduced to an oil tank 35 and from there sent by means of an oil pump 36 to an oil cooler 37 , then to the bearings 6 , 7 , 8 and shaft seal element 5 adjusted in pressure by the throttle valve 23 . with the construction of the second embodiment , by supplying lubricating oil h to the bearings 6 , 7 , 8 , and seal element 5 by adjusting supply pressure by means of the oil pump 36 and throttle valve 23 so that the supply pressure suffices the above mentioned formula , the lubricating oil can be supplied to the compression cavities c of the high pressure stage compressor without blow back of the operating gas in the cavities toward the bearing parts side . operation of refrigerating cycle in the refrigerating machine of the embodiment is performed so that evaporating temperature in the evaporator 40 is below − 35 ° c . by controlling opening of the expansion valve 39 . the lower the evaporation temperature of operating gas in the evaporator is , the smaller the specific gravity is , and heat capacity of suction gas per unit volume decreases . therefore , the suction gas is heated more easily by lubricating oil flowed out from the bearing parts and volumetric efficiency of the low - pressure stage compressor tends to reduce as evaporation temperature lowers . when oil injection to the compression cavities of the low - pressure stage compressor is done , volumetric efficiency thereof is further decreased . according to the embodiment , by returning the lubricating oil having lubricated the bearings 6 , 8 , and shaft seal element 5 to the compression cavities c of the high - pressure stage compressor 3 only , the further reduction in volumetric efficiency of the low - pressure stage compressor 2 is prevented . therefore , the lower the evaporating temperature is , the more remarkable the improvement by the invention in refrigeration efficiency is . fig3 is a graph showing a result of a test in which ammonia and polyalkylene glycol type lubricating oil ( mutual dissolving lube oil ) are used as a refrigerant and lubricating oil , and relation between evaporating temperature and cop improvement was investigated under operating condition of 3550 rpm and condensing temperature ( tc )= 35 ° c . it is recognized from the graph that when evaporation temperature is − 35 ° c . or below , cop is increased by more than 5 %. in this test , lubricating oil after lubricated the bearing parts is supplied to the compression cavities c of the high pressure stage compressor when internal volume ratio vi is in a range of 1 . 2 - 1 . 6 . from fig3 , it is recognized that the lower the evaporating temperature , the higher the improvement rate of cop . fig4 is a graph showing lubricating oil supply pressure required in the above mentioned test and that in a conventional two - stage screw compressor . in the drawing , intermediate pressure is pressure of operating gas at the suction side of the high - pressure stage compressor as mentioned before . in the conventional oil supply method , oil supply to the bearing parts is done by pressure difference between pressure in the oil separator located in the downstream side from the discharge port of the high - pressure stage compressor and that at the bearing parts , so assuming pressure loss in the oil supply path as 0 . 1 mpa . conventional oil supply pressure ≈ discharge pressure of operating gas from the high - pressure stage — 0 . 1 mpa . as can be recognized from fig4 , conventional oil supply pressure ( curve no . 2 ) falls short for supplying oil to the bearing parts when evaporation temperature is above − 35 ° c ., so blow back of operating gas from the oil supply hole 17 toward the bearing parts side will occur . according to the invention , to prevent occurrence of this blow back of operating gas , operation is controlled by adjusting opening of the expansion valve or limiting suction pressure of operating gas so that intermediate pressure does not become excessively high while monitoring the intermediate pressure , and oil supply pressure is controlled to be higher than necessary oil pressure ( curve no . 1 ) based on the formula presented before . for example , oil supply pressure is maintained at a sufficiently high pressure of 2 . 0 mpa in the case of fig4 . by controlling like this , returning pressure of lubricating oil to the compression cavities of the high - pressure stage compressor does not become excessively high while evading blow back of operating gas toward the bearing parts side . further , cop can be increased by 5 % or over as compared with the conventional two - stage screw compressor by lowering evaporating pressure to − 35 ° c . or lower . referring to fig6 , there is shown alternative embodiment of the two - stage screw compressor of fig1 . all of the elements of these two embodiments are identical with the exception that oil passage 13 shown in fig1 has been replaced with an external pipe 13 a in fig6 . it is preferred that the oil passage bringing the bearing parts in communication with the series of compression cavities is an oil pipe 13 a located outside of the two - stage compressor . with an external oil pipe 13 a , whether lubricating oil is flowing or not can be determined by surface temperature of the pipe or noise generated by the flowing oil . when oil flow in the pipe is not sufficient , surface temperature of the pipe decreases . according to the present invention , compression efficiency of two - stage screw compressor can be considerably increased as compared with conventional oil supply method only by slightly modifying lubricating oil supply method and construction . by applying a two - stage screw compressor according to the invention to a refrigerating apparatus , refrigerating capacity can be increased .
| 5Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting
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hereinafter , a polyalkylene carbonate paint composition will be described in detail . the exemplary embodiments of the present invention to be described below are provided by way of example so that the idea of the present invention can be sufficiently transferred to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains . here , technical terms and scientific terms used in the present specification have the general meaning understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains unless otherwise defined , and a description for the known function and configuration obscuring the present invention will be omitted in the following description . the present inventors studied in order to develop an eco - friendly paint composition capable of having low smoke density , preventing generation of toxic gas , implementing excellent mechanical properties , processability , durability , color implementing property , gloss property , and solvent resistance . as a result , the present inventors found that in the case of mixing a polyalkylene carbonate diol resin and a polyol compound and containing a curing agent , a curing catalyst , and a solvent while adjusting oh values and weight average molecular weights of these compounds simultaneously with a mixing ratio , adhesive force with a metal may be strengthened , and coating film hardness , impact strength , and a delamination property may be significantly improved as well as the above - mentioned effects , thereby completing the present invention . a polyalkylene carbonate paint composition according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may contain : a ) a polyalkylene carbonate diol resin having an oh value of 3 to 10 mgkoh / g and a weight average molecular weight ( mw ) of 1 , 000 to 30 , 000 g / mol ; b ) a polyol compound having an oh value of 51 to 61 mgkoh / g and a weight average molecular weight ( mw ) of 200 to 30 , 000 g / mol ; c ): a curing agent ; d ) a curing catalyst ; and e ) an organic solvent . in the present invention , the polyalkylene carbonate diol resin is used as a main resin , and the polyol compound is used as an auxiliary resin , such that compatibility may be increased , and a rapid and efficient curing reaction may be induced . particularly , the polyalkylene carbonate paint composition has an interpenetrating polymer network ( ipn ) structure due to a difference in curing reaction rate , such that cross - link density may be improved , and thus , physical properties may be improved . in the present invention , as the polyalkylene carbonate , polyalkylene carbonates filed by sk innovation co ., ( korean patent laid - open publication no . 2008 - 0015454 , no . 2009 - 0090154 , no . 2010 - 067593 , and no . 2010 - 0013255 ) may be used . the polyalkylene carbonate may be prepared by a copolymerization reaction of carbon dioxide and at least one epoxide compound selected from a group consisting of ( c2 - c20 ) alkyleneoxide substituted or unsubstituted with halogen , ( c1 - c20 ) alkyloxy , ( c6 - c20 ) aryloxy , or ( c6 - c20 ) ar ( c1 - c20 ) alkyl ( aralkyl ) oxy ; ( c4 - c20 ) cycloalkyleneoxide substituted or unsubstituted with halogen , ( c1 - c20 ) alkyloxy , ( c6 - c20 ) aryloxy , or ( c6 - c20 ) ar ( c1 - c20 ) alkyl ( aralkyl ) oxy ; and ( c8 - c20 ) styreneoxide substituted or unsubstituted with halogen , ( c1 - c20 ) alkyloxy , ( c6 - c20 ) aryloxy , ( c6 - c20 ) ar ( c1 - c20 ) alkyl ( aralkyl ) oxy , or ( c1 - c20 ) alkyl . preferably , the polyalkylene carbonate may be polypropylene carbonate . in the polypropylene carbonate , which is synthesized by a reaction of carbon dioxide and propylene oxide , carbonate from carbon dioxide and propylene oxide are cross - linked to each other , and as a result of nuclear magnetic resonance ( nmr ) analysis , an ether linkage to which propylene oxide is linked may account for 3 mole % or less . in the present invention , the polyalkylene carbonate diol resin may have a weight average molecular weight of 1 , 000 to 30 , 000 g / mol . in the case in which the weight average molecular weight of the polyalkylene carbonate diol resin is less than 1 , 000 g / mol , impact resistance , durability , and mechanical strength may be decreased , and in the case in which the weight average molecular weight thereof is more than 35 , 000 g / mol , dispersability , the gloss property , and solvent resistance may be deteriorated , and the curing reaction may not be smoothly carried out . the polyalkylene carbonate diol resin , which is the main resin of the present invention , has physical properties such as excellent mechanical strength and processability , and the like . however , since the oh value of the polyalkylene carbonate diol resin is too low to allow the ipn reaction to be sufficiently carried out to increase the cross - link density , the polyol compound is mixed as the auxiliary resin , such that the ipn reaction allowing the polyalkylene carbonate paint composition to have the ipn structure may be effectively carried out . the polyol compound may have a weight average molecular weight of , preferably 200 to 30 , 000 g / mol , more preferably 15 , 000 to 25 , 000 g / mol . as the polyol compound , any one or more selected from a group consisting of polyester polyol , polyether polyol , and polycarbonate polyol may be used . in the present invention , a preferable polyol compound may be polycarbonate diol resin . the polyol compound may have an oh value of 51 to 61 mgkoh / g , and an acid value of 0 . 5 mgkoh / g or less . in this case , a weight mixing ratio of the polyalkylene carbonate diol resin and the polyol compound may be 65 : 35 to 95 : 5 in order to improve a degree of cure , a gloss property , mechanical properties , processability , economical efficiency , and the like . the weight mixing ratio may be preferably 70 : 30 to 95 : 5 , more preferably 80 : 20 to 95 : 5 . the weight mixing ratio may be adjusted according to the selected physical properties . in the present invention , a preferable glass transition temperature of the polyalkylene carbonate may be 30 to 40 ° c . when the glass transition temperature is out of the above - mentioned range , processability or hardness of the coating film may be deteriorated . in addition , a content of the polyalkylene carbonate in the entire paint composition may be 25 to 65 weight %. in the case in which the content of the polyalkylene carbonate is less than 25 weight %, since it may be difficult to adjust a thickness of the coating film at the time of performing a painting process , the painting may be thinly performed , such that paintability of the paint may be deteriorated , and in the case in which a pigment is present , adhesive force of the pigment may be decreased . further , in the case in which the content is more than 65 weight %, it may be difficult to adjust a viscosity at the time of performing the painting process , smoothness and a defoaming property may be deteriorated , and popping , or the like , may be generated . in the present invention , the curing agent may include any one or more selected from polyamine based compounds and polyisocyanate based compounds . it is preferable that the polyamine based compound is a melamine based compound . an example of the melamine based compound may include hexa methoxy methyl melamine , hexa ethoxy methyl melamine , hexa propoxy methyl melamine , hexa butoxy methyl melamine , hexa pentyl oxy methyl melamine , hexa hexyl oxy methyl melamine , and the like , but is not necessarily limited thereto . an example of polyisocyanate based compound may include 2 , 4 - trilene diisocyanate , 2 , 6 - trilene diisocyanate , hydrogenated trilene diisocyanate , 1 , 3 - xylene diisocyanate , 1 , 4 - xylene diisocyanate , diphenyl methane - 4 , 4 - diisocyanate , 1 , 3 - bisisocyanatemethyl cyclohexane , tetra methyl xylene diisocyanate , 1 , 5 - naphthalene diisocyanate , 2 , 2 , 4 - trimethyl hexamethylene diisocyanate , 2 , 4 , 4 - trimethyl hexamethylene diisocyanate , triphenylmethanetriisocyanate , or the like , but is not necessarily limited thereto . in the present invention , the curing agent may impart mechanical properties including the coating film hardness and durability and according to the selected curing agent , a use amount of the curing agent may be adjusted . preferably , a content of the curing agent may be 0 . 1 to 30 weight % based on the entire paint composition . for example , in the case of using butylated melamine formaldehyde resin , the use amount thereof may be 2 to 20 weight %, and in the case of using a hexamethylene diisocyanate trimer , the use amount may be 0 . 5 to 5 weight %. in this case , preferably , the polyamine based compound and the polyisocyanate based compound may be simultaneously reacted in order to form the ipn structure of the resin , but may be sequentially reacted . the solvent used in the present invention may include a solvent capable of dissolving polyalkylene carbonate . the solvent is not particularly limited as long as the solvent does not dissolve a resin of ink contained in a base applied to a wet - on - wet system . for example , ketone , ether , ester , alcohol , or the like , may be used . more specifically , propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate ( pma ), methyl ethyl ketone ( mek ), or the like , may be used . in this case , a content of the solvent may be suitably adjusted , but preferably , pma and mek may be mixed at a volume ratio of 0 . 5 to 1 . 5 : 1 and used . more preferably , pma and mek may be mixed at a volume ratio of 0 . 8 to 1 . 2 : 1 and used , and the solvent may be used in a range of 0 . 5 to 70 weight % based on the entire weight of the composition . in the present invention , the curing catalyst may be contained together with the curing agent and used . for example , as the curing agent , diisocyanate and the butylated melamine formaldehyde resin may be used . in this case , any one or at least two curing catalyst selected from dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid , dibutyl tin dilaurate ( dbtdl ), p - toluene sulfonic acid , dinonyl naphthalene sulfonic acid , and dinonyl naphthalene disulfonic acid may be used . in this case , 0 . 01 to 0 . 5 weight % of the curing catalyst may be used based on the entire weight of the composition . a polypropylene carbonate paint composition according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may further contain any one or at least two additives selected from a pigment ; an inorganic filler selected from calcium carbonate , magnesium carbonate , calcium sulfate , magnesium sulfate , zinc oxide , magnesium oxide , aluminum oxide , calcium oxide , titanium oxide , calcium hydroxide , magnesium hydroxide , aluminum hydroxide , microcrystalline silica , fumed silica , natural zeolite , synthetic zeolite , bentonite , and clay ; an acrylic dispersant ; and a silicone based defoamer . as the pigment , any one selected from titanium dioxide , cyan blue , magenta , a yellow pigment , and a mixture thereof may be used . a content of the pigment may be in a range of 0 . 1 to 30 weight % based on the entire weight of the composition . according to the present invention , in order to stabilize the pigment and increase dispersability , the inorganic filler such as clay , for example , organo clay , or the like , or humed silica , or the like , may be used . a content of the inorganic filler may be 0 . 001 to 5 weight %, preferably 0 . 01 to 2 weight % based on the entire weight of the composition . in this case , the inorganic filler may impart a matte effect , or the like , while maintaining other physical properties . in addition , the composition may further contain a dispersant , a leveling agent , a coloring agent , an anti - precipitation agent , an anti - sagging agent , and the like , and contents thereof may be 0 . 01 to 5 weight %, respectively . in the present invention , in order to improve the smoothness and defoaming property , any one or more selected from acrylic compounds , vinyl based compounds , and silicon based compounds may be further contained . for example , there are 143 , 356 , 410 , 2163 , and 2105 made by byk company , and the like . particularly , in the composition according to the present invention , in the case of containing an acrylic modified polyester resin , smoothness , the defoaming property , the gloss property , and film formability may be significantly improved . further , the composition according to the present invention has excellent solvent power in order to secure smoothness and increase the gloss property of the paint . for example , a pma - mek solvent system has excellent solvent power for a polyalkylene carbonate resin , such that smoothness of the paint may be excellent , and dispersion stability of inorganic pigment particles may be increased . in this case , in order to increase stability of pigments , 0 . 001 to 5 weight % of clay or fumed silica may be used , but the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto . it is preferable that the polyalkylene carbonate paint composition is baked at 180 to 280 ° c . for 10 seconds to 1 minute . further , in the present invention , in order to selectively improving physical properties , any one or at least two additives selected from a dye , an anti - oxidant , a sunscreen agent , an anti - static agent , an anti - blocking agent , a slip agent , a mixing agent , a stabilizer , a tackifier resin , a fluorescent whitening agent , a heat stabilizer , a photo - stabilizer , an ultraviolet absorber , and a lubricant , may be further contained . in addition , the present invention may provide a shaped body containing the above - mentioned polyalkylene carbonate diol paint composition . hereinafter , the present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following examples , and the following examples are for illustrating the present invention and not for limiting the present invention . 70 parts by weight of polypropylene carbonate diol ( ppc diol ) having a weight average molecular weight of 25 , 000 g / mol , including hydroxyl groups at both ends of a molecular chain , and having a glass transition temperature of 35 ° c . and 150 parts by weight of a solvent obtained by mixing cyclo hexane and methyl ethyl ketone ( mek ) at a weight ratio of 1 : 1 were put into a metal can and stirred , thereby obtaining a mixed solution . after 100 parts by weight of titanium dioxide was slowly put into the mixed solution while stirring the mixed solution , a glass bead having a diameter of 2 to 3 mm was put thereinto and the mixture was dispersed for 1 hour using a crusher type dispersion apparatus . in this case , an average particle size was measured using a grind gage and adjusted so as to be 5 μm or less . 20 parts by weight of a polycarbonate diol ( pcdl ) resin , 20 parts by weight of melamine , and 10 parts by weight of the solvent obtained by mixing cyclo hexane and methyl ethyl ketone ( mek ) at a weight ratio of 1 : 1 were added to the dispersion and stirred . further , 0 . 1 part by weight of byk - 180 was added thereto as an additive for dispersion stability and stirred . next , 0 . 5 parts by weight of p - toluene sulfonic acid and 0 . 5 parts by weight of dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid were slowly added thereto as curing catalysts , thereby preparing a polypropylene carbonate paint composition . before painting , the paint composition was diluted with pma to the painting viscosity ( ford cup no . 4 , for 80 seconds at 25 ° c .) the diluted ppc paint composition was painted using a bar - coater as a top - coating paint so as to have a thickness of 15 μm onto a galvanized ( gi ) steel sheet ( 0 . 4 t ) on which an epoxy type under paint was painted at a dried coating thickness of 5 μm , then baked at 224 ° c . for 30 seconds , thereby manufacturing a sample for testing physical properties . results obtained by testing physical properties of the coating film were shown in the following table 1 . a paint composition was prepared by the same method as that in example 1 except for adjusting contents of the polypropylene carbonate diol resin , polycarbonate diol , and melamine to 65 parts by weight , 30 parts by weight , and 15 parts by weight , respectively . a paint composition was prepared by the same method as that in example 1 except for adjusting contents of the polypropylene carbonate diol resin , polycarbonate diol , and melamine to 75 parts by weight , 25 parts by weight , and 15 parts by weight , respectively . a paint composition was prepared by the same method as that in example 1 except for adjusting contents of the polypropylene carbonate diol resin , polycarbonate diol , and melamine to 70 parts by weight , 40 parts by weight , and 20 parts by weight , respectively . a paint composition was prepared by the same method as that in example 1 except for adjusting contents of the polypropylene carbonate diol resin , polycarbonate diol , and melamine to 98 parts by weight , 2 parts by weight , and 20 parts by weight , respectively . a paint composition was prepared by the same method as that in example 1 except for using polyester polyol instead of polycarbonate diol . a paint composition was prepared by the same method as that in example 3 except for using polyester polyol instead of polycarbonate diol . a paint composition was prepared by the same method as that in example 1 except for using polypropylene carbonate having a weight average molecular weight of 40 , 000 g / mole . a paint composition was prepared by the same method as that in example 1 except for using the same amount of methylene diphenyl isocyanate ( mdi ) instead of melamine . a paint composition was prepared by the same method as that in example 1 except for using the same amount of 2 , 4 - diamino - 6 - phenyl - s - triazine instead of melamine . as shown in table 1 , it may be appreciated that in the cases of examples according to the present invention , the gloss property and processability were excellent , and durability may be improved due to excellent hardness , and impact and delamination properties . on the contrary , it may be appreciated that in the case of comparative example 1 in which the ppc resin having a large molecular weight was applied , the reactivity was low , and thus , hardness was decreased , such that physical properties were deteriorated . therefore , it was confirmed that the polypropylene carbonate diol paint composition according to the present invention has excellent compatibility , processability , gloss property , solvent resistance , coating film hardness , impact and delamination properties , and adhesion , such that the polypropylene carbonate diol paint composition may be used in various fields for domestic uses , and the like , as well as architectural uses . the polyalkylene carbonate paint composition according to the present invention may have advantages in that the composition is an eco - friendly and has excellent compatibility , processability , and durability . in addition , the polyalkylene carbonate paint composition may have advantages in that smoke density is low , toxic gas is hardly generated , and the composition may have excellent coating - film hardness , impact strength , and delamination property by significantly increasing mechanical properties through high density cross - linking , and have excellent adhesive force with a metal . further , the polyalkylene carbonate paint composition according to the present invention may implement an excellent color and have high gloss and excellent solvent resistance , or the like , such that the polyalkylene carbonate paint composition may be variously used in a pcm paint field for domestic uses in addition to architectural uses , an exterior material for a vehicle , and the like .
| 2Chemistry; Metallurgy
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as used herein and unless otherwise indicated by context , the terms and phrases identified below have the meanings provided . further , when terms and phrases are used that refer to commercial products , the present invention is understood as applying to other products and applications with similar features . the term “ activex ” refers to software components from microsoft . they enable sound , java applets and animations to be integrated in a web page . the phrase “ application programming interface ” and the acronym “ api ” refer to a source code interface that a computer system or program library provides in order to support requests for services to be made of it by a computer program . the term “ channel ” refers to an alert module that may be part of the computer - based video editing system of the present invention . the channel may be configured to receive communications and be coupled to the edit module , such that a user may be notified of a preprogrammed event or contacted by another individual or entity during editing . thus , the channel may offer a dedicated location for content including but not limited to text , graphics , video , audio delivery from and transmission to any pre - determined location on e . g ., the internet . examples of content include but are not limited to advertisements , promotional information , requests for information and requested information . the phrase “ connection method ” refers to an interface method object that provides a way to exchange complex data between multiple interface instances . the phrase “ editable element ” refers to a media file as it is used within the application . the phrase “ editable format ” refers to a file format that provides an interface whereby the interface method or another program can modify the file . the editable format is advantageous in connection with the present invention because it enables higher quality playback of video , and better access to video and audio properties . a non - limiting example of an editable format is flv , which refers to flash video file format . the abbreviation “ edl ” refers to an edit decision list , which is a list of commands and / or properties used to display , manipulate , revise or play a movie . the phrase “ edited output file ” refers to the file produced by an application after the user has manipulated , combined , edited or otherwise changed or modified one or more videos that have been imported . the form that it may take includes , but is not limited to slideshows with or without sound , videos with or without sound , animation sequences with or without sound , and sound sequences with or without visuals , as well as combinations of these formats . the term “ file system ” refers to a method for storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to make them easy to find and to access them . file systems may use a storage device such as a hard disk or cd - rom and involve maintaining the physical location of the files , or they may be virtual and exist only as an access method for virtual data or for data over a network . the phrase “ hypertext transfer protocol ” and the acronym “ http ” refer to the set of rules for exchanging files ( text , graphic images , sound , video and other multimedia files ) on the world wide web . the phrase “ host application ” ( e . g ., real basic ) refers to the “ shell ” or “ wrapper ” application that is running on a user &# 39 ; s computer . the phrase “ input device ” refers to any device from which a user may edit the one or more media elements or any device from which the user may upload or import media elements or other images or text that may be incorporated into the media element , and may comprise a graphic user interface . examples of input devices include but are not limited to a personal computer , a digital camera , a touch activated video or television screen , a camcorder and a cellular telephone . the phrase “ import file ” refers to a series of events that enables a user to edit the chosen file through the interface method . the phrase “ input format ” refers to the format of a file before the file is brought into an application . exemplary input formats include but are not limited to text , gif , swf and avi . the phrase “ integrated application ” as used herein refers to an application that is at least in perception nested within or a child of another application . thus , it may refer to an application that launches within the current application , to possibly perform separate duties , such as sharing , emailing , etc . the phrase “ interface method ” refers to a method whereby a user of a computer can interact with visual elements on the screen . the method can provide feedback from the computer , as well as store information received from or generated by the user . the interface method also provides a platform on which to display various media types such as images , audio , graphics , and movies . the interface method is advantageous in connection with the present invention because it enables the editor module to take advantage of its ability to manipulate visual and audio files for playback . a non - limiting example of an interface method is flash , which is also referred to as adobe flash . when the interface method &# 39 ; s player executes its play command , it runs through a sequence of commands chosen by the user to make up the edited output file . through a loader , the interface method import the target files . a loader may for example , operate through a movie load method or a movie object method . the phrase “ master interface method file ” refers to a file that is hosted by the application , through e . g ., a browser or other software running on a computer . the phrase “ media conversion method ” refers to a method whereby a given file on a personal computer can be converted from one format to another , or a copy of the given file can be created in a second format . the method can be an application that can convert multimedia files from one format to another and execute basic editing commands using for example , known codecs . a non - limiting example of a media conversion method is the method employed by ffmpeg . a media conversion method takes argument that can determine how to change numerous properties of the output file ( s ). simply calling the media conversion method with the proper arguments , specifying input and output files does this . the media conversion method is advantageous for us in connection with the present invention because it transcodes audio / visual fields to a format that the interface method can manipulate . it also may enable capturing of the playback to the file system . the phrase “ media file ” refers to a video , image , audio or other file that is defined as acceptable to an application as it is used within the application . the phrase “ metadata insertion method ” refers to a method that reads a video file and puts duration information into it . it requires input and output filenames , and arguments to determine what to do with them . it may be used to inject metadata into the file , which a user can later access . the metadata insertion method may be advantageous for use in connection with the present invention because it enables access to certain audio / visual properties , thereby enabling more advanced editing . non - limiting examples of the metadata insertion method include flvtool and flvtool 2 . the phrase “ movie object ” refers to a data type of the interface method . the phrase “ multimedia file ” refers to a video , image or audio file . the phrase “ nullsoft scriptable installer ” refers to a software application that enables compression and extraction of files for installation on a computer . the term “ on2 ” refers to a commercial application that can convert multimedia files from one format to another and execute basic editing commands , as well as perform other operations . the phrase “ output format ” refers to the format of a file after it has been modified by an application . exemplary output formats include but are not limited microsoft word , acrobat / pdf , text and html . the phrase “ peer - to - peer ” ( or p2p ) as used herein and as described by wikipedia refers to a computer network that “ is a network that relies primarily on the computing power and bandwidth of the participants in the network rather than concentrating it in a relatively low number of servers . . . . a pure peer - to - peer network does not have the notion of clients or servers , but only equal peer nodes that simultaneously function as both ‘ clients ’ and ‘ servers ’ to the other nodes on the network . this model of network arrangement differs from the client - server model where communication is usually to and from a central server .” the phrase “ remote server ” refers to a computer other than the one running an application . a remote server may for example be accessible through the internet . the phrase “ runtime executable ” refers to a file whose contents are meant to be interpreted as a program by a computer . the phrase “ smil format thumbnail ” refers to an image formatted by the synchronized multimedia integration language . the term “ ssl ” refers to secure sockets layer , a protocol developed by netscape for transmitting private documents via the internet . ssl works by using a private key to encrypt data that &# 39 ; s transferred over the ssl connection . the phrase “ standardized digital editing format ” may be any format that allows for easy manipulation by a desired application . examples of types of files that may be imported and converted include but are not limited to wmv , avi , mpeg , quicktime , flv , jpeg and mp3 . the files may , for example , be converted to the editable format via the media conversion method though e . g ., on2 or other technology . these conversion applications enable a user to convert media files including but not limited to images and / or audio into a workable and editable format . the term “ timeline ” refers to a conceptual grouping of one or more multimedia files , their properties , and / or effects and / or transitions . a timeline may for example be created by : ( i ) clicking and dragging media to a “ timeline places media ” location within the timeline ; ( ii ) clicking an “ add media to timeline ” button , which also places media within the timeline ; and ( iii ) loading playback values such as begin and end and any other effect ( s ). the phrase “ video library ” refers an archive of videos that a user may access in order to create the edited video . the phrase “ media library ” refers to an archive of media elements that may or may not include videos that a user may access to in order to create the edited video . the acronym “ xml ” refers to a xml ( extensible markup language ) and is a w3c initiative that allows information and services to be encoded with meaningful structure and semantics that computers and humans can understand . the phrase “ xml file ” refers to a text file containing text formatted according to the xml specification ( http :// www . w3 . org / tr / rec - xml /). the phrase “ xml load method ” refers to an interface method object that manages the opening and parsing of xml . the phrase “ xml load object ” refers to an interface method object type that is created by the xml load method . according to a first embodiment , the present invention is directed to a computer - based video editing system that has or accesses a user interface . the user interface may be accessible from any computing device that is now known or that comes to be known and that a person of ordinary skill would appreciate as being useful with the present invention . exemplary user interfaces include but are not limited to graphic user interfaces displayed on personal computers , cellular telephones , kiosks , screen phones , television screens if appropriately configured with touch activated capabilities or other input devices such as keyboards for remote control , and portable wireless devices such as palm pilots and blackberries that have sufficient power and resolution . in various embodiments , the user interface comprises both a viewing screen and one or more input devices such as a computer keyboard , computer mouse or touch screen . the computer - based video editing system preferably comprises an import module , an edit module and a share module . these three modules are coupled to one another and are accessible through the user interface . as used herein , the phrase “ coupled to one another ” means that after accessing the video editing system , a user may access any one or more of the three modules in any sequence without opening or closing different programs . the modules may comprise one or more hardware , software , or hybrid components residing in or distributed among one or more local or remote computers . the modules may be physically separated or together and may each be a logical routine or part of a logical routine that carries out the embodiments disclosed herein . as fig1 shows , the three modules may be accessible through the same user interface , 17 . more preferably , the interface presents an icon or text representative of each of the three modules on a screen at the same time . a user may for example , access any one of the modules through the use of a computer mouse to drag an arrow or other icon displayed on a computer screen . any or all of the modules may be located on a stand - alone computer system or may be accessible through a web browser over a network such as the internet . although the editing system may be obtained from a remote server , the editing system is preferably downloaded to a local computer and run on the local computer . by downloading to a local computer , a user may use the application regardless of whether on - line . the import module , 18 , is designed for importing one or more media elements and converting said one or more media elements into a standardized digital editing format . the user may activate the import module through for example a single “ click ” and be able to initiate both the importing and converting functions . a “ media element ” is any combination or recording of video elements , e . g ., images recorded by a video camera . the images are in digital form when imported . the term imported is used interchangeably with the terms “ transcoded ” and “ converted .” if images are in analog form , a user may first convert the analog images into digital format . the import module is also capable of importing individual photos , individual graphics , animation , text files , etc . applications for importing files are well known , and include but are not limited to microsoft &# 39 ; s windows applications and applications of competitors that provide similar capabilities , including , but not limited to , divx , on2 flix ?, riva flv encoder and videozilla 2 . 5 . prior to importing , the media elements may be in any format that is capable of being converted into a standardized digital editing format . however , prior to being acted upon by the edit module , the media elements are converted into the standardized editing format . the edit module , 19 , is coupled to the import module and accessible through the user interface . the edit module may be used for editing one or more media elements . the media element that is created after editing may be referred to as an edited element such as an edited video element . preferably the edit module comprises means to combine imported media elements , to manipulate the images and to alter the images . for example , the edit module may comprise one or more , and preferably , all of the following means to edit the one or more media elements : linking two more or more videos together ( via for example a timeline ), adding an audio overlay , inserting a title sequence , cropping video segments , digitally altering the size of video segments , altering the color of video segments , inserting text , adding special effects ( such as sounds and bursts of light ) and inserting videos within videos . thus , in a simple case two media elements are uploaded and dragged to a video timeline in the order desired by a user . a title may be inserted at the start of the first media element and fade out and fade in effects may bridge the two sequences . the use of timelines in digital video editing is well known to persons of ordinary skill in the art , and includes for example , the avid / 1 media composer from avid technology , inc . of tewksbury , mass ., adobe premiere pro ., final cut pro hd , and sony vegas 5 . the share module , 20 , is also accessible through the user interface and is coupled to the edit module for exporting said edited video to a user specified destination . examples of user specified destinations include but are not limited to a hard drive , a web - site , one or more e - mail accounts and a cellular telephone . further , the system may allow for peer - to - peer sharing . the system may optionally have a default position that is supplied by the user , instituted system - wide or assumed to be the same as the source of the video editing system . thus , a user may edit the file while the file is in a format such as the editable format saving the information and associated data as for example xml data , and then export through a file format such as the editable format to the user specified destination . as noted above , the import module , the edit module and the share module are accessible from said user interface . this is beneficial because it makes it easier for the user to share edited videos quickly and without being forced to execute additional applications , or to have knowledge of those applications . the computer - based video editing system may further comprise ( or be coupled to ) an input device . a user may import and edit from the same input device . alternatively , a user may import from one device ( e . g . a digital camera connected to a usb port ) and edit through a separate device such as a computer keyboard . according to some embodiments , a user accesses the import module , the edit module and the share module over the internet . thus , the input device may be remote from the other components of the video editing systems . alternatively , the import module , the edit module and the share module could already be located on the hard drive of a personal computer or on a lan network . these modules may all be downloaded from the internet or installed off of an electronic storage device . the computer - based video editing system may also comprise ( or be coupled to ) a video library . preferably , this video library is accessible from the import module . the video library may be located on the user &# 39 ; s hard drive , a portable memory stick , a cd , a dvd , the world - wide - web or a remote server . further , the computer - based video editing system may comprise a number of video libraries that are located in the same or different locations . the edit module of the computer - based video editing system may function in an integrated development environment . integrated development environments may contain one or more of a number of components , including a source code editor , a compiler and / or interpreter , and a build - automation tool . optionally , they may also comprise a debugger . according to some embodiments , the computer - based video editing system does not comprise a toolbar . in these embodiments there are simple icons on the screen that enable a user to activate a particular module . in certain of these embodiments all of the edit features described above are also similarly accessible from the same interface as the import module and the share module . similarly , the different destinations may also be accessible from that interface . as noted above , a user may access the computer - based video editing system on an individual personal computer , through a local area network ( lan ) or remotely over , for example , the internet . similarly , the computer - based video editing system itself can be configured to access one or more remote servers . when one or more remote servers are accessed , a plurality of users can work jointly on a video , and any user may send the finished or unfinished video to any one or more recipients . similarly , the system may be configured such that only the recipients have access to the finished work , either by being sent the work via e - mail or notification of its completion via e - mail , text message or other means , and being granted rights to see only a finished product . the finished work may also be sent to television or video screens if the appropriate configurations exist . sharing may take place in a number of ways . for example , via e - mail , the application would have an interface consisting of input fields : of “ from ” address , “ to ” address ( es ), subject , body , and send button . this application may access its own mail software , accessing common ports and protocols for sending mail . by way of another example via upload to a user &# 39 ; s site , the application would have an interface consisting of input fields of : ftp address , username , and password . the application would access its own ftp software , accessing common ports and protocols for ftp . by way of a third example via upload to an existing community site or blog , the application would have an interface consisting of input fields compliant with existing community site &# 39 ; s api , such as blogger api ( www . blogger . com / developers / api / 1_docs ) typepad , and veoh etc . technologically , the video editing system could reside in whole or in part on a server . this would be advantageous when remote users wish to work on a video at the same time , and / or when a user has limited storage capabilities . however , as noted above , in certain applications , it is advantageous for the user to have the application reside locally on e . g ., her hard drive , both for privacy and for convenience of use when access to the server is not feasible . according to another embodiment , the present invention is directed to a method for editing videos . this method comprises first accessing a user interface through , for example , a computer screen or interactive television screen . the user interface provides access to an import module , an edit module and a share module . the edit module may be coupled to said import module and said share module . the coupling can be wired or wireless and the modules can be part of the same device or logic routine . after accessing the user interface , the user may import one or more media elements while in a first format and convert said one or more media elements into a standardized digital editing format , wherein said importing and converting are initiated by activating said import module . the user may also then edit the one or more media elements by using said edit module , wherein said editing occurs while said sequences are in said standardized digital editing format to form an edited video . finally , the user may share said one or more media elements by using the share module to convert the editable element into a user specified format and export the video in said user specified format . the conversion of elements into a user specified format may , unless otherwise specified be accomplished by converting the editable elements themselves directly into the user specified format , or by obtaining the constituent properties of the editable elements and converting the portions of the initial media elements from the form in which they were originally stored or imported by the user . thus , if two original elements are in jpeg and gif forms and converted to the editable form of flash to form the edited video , the properties can be read from the flash file , and those properties can be used to pull the appropriate portions of the jpeg and gif files and convert those portions of the jpeg and gif files as defined by the properties into the new uniform output file that is saved and may be shared . as with the first embodiment , the accessing may , for example , be through one or more input devices including a computer , a camera , a touch activated screen , a camcorder and a cellular telephone . also as with the embodiments described above , the user interface may comprise icons through which to access the import module , the edit module , and the export module . exemplary display screens for user interfaces are shown in fig4 a - 4 c . fig4 a shows an interface with a channel . in fig4 a , there is a dialog bog asking the user to “ please select how you would like to share your movie ,” and providing options of ( i ) save to desktop ; ( ii ) save for email ; ( iii ) save for upload ; and ( iv ) cancel . in the lower portion of the screen ( the movie workspace ) is a timeline representing the videos that have been combined and certain media elements such as fade in and cross fade . on the right hand side there is a channel through which notification of e . g ., a television show is advertised . fig4 b is similar to fig4 a , except the dialog box is no longer present , and in the upper left box of the interface one can see an index of the clips of a particular user . to the right of the index is a preview and edit area in which a user can view a particular video segment , add effects , such as shortening the video ; converting to black and white , sepia or negative ; and adjusting the volume . fig4 c depicts an interface of the present invention as it might look without a channel and before a user selects a clip to preview and to edit , and before she moves any clips to the movie workspace . the user may also import media from , for example , a video library or an input device or other device that contains the desired image ( s ). these images may be located on a device or storage medium that is proximal to the user or remote , and accessible over the internet or other network . upon importing , the system accessed by the user will convert the media from its existing format into a standardized editing format . the user may then access the edit module and use any of the editing functions described in connection with the first embodiment . alternatively , she may import and convert one or more additional media elements . upon completion of the video , the user may share the images to any one or more destinations such as her own hard drive , a portable device , an e - mail account or within a file accessible through the video editing system . the share module may also be referred to as an export module . during sharing or exporting the edited video may be converted into the user specified format , which as noted above may be the same as or different from the first format . if the system is suitably designed , the user may also notify one or more recipients of the existence or the preparation of an edited video . the notification may be sent at the time that the user logs on , prior to importing and converting ; after importing and converting but prior to editing ; during editing ; and / or after editing . the notifications may be sent via any means that are now known or that come to be known and that would appear useful in connection with the present invention , e . g ., instant messaging , text messaging or e - mail with or without the video attached . a user may initiate the notification on a case - by - case basis or the system may contain a notification default such that every time a user logs on , a class of recipients is notified . the latter options may be beneficial when , for example , it is desired to monitor children , students , or employees . according to another embodiment , the present invention is directed to a computer readable storage medium for storing instructions . when executed by a computer , the computer readable storage medium causes the computer to access a computer - based video editing system , which may be stored remotely and thus accessed over the internet or locally , for example on the hard drive . in one embodiment , the computer - based video editing system comprises : ( a ) an import module for importing one or more media elements and converting the one or more media elements into a standardized digital editing format ; ( b ) an edit module coupled to the import module for editing the one or more media elements when in the standardized digital editing format to form an edited video ; and ( c ) a share module coupled to the edit module for exporting the edited video to a user specified destination . these modules are also preferably all accessible from the same interface . additionally , the computer storage medium of this embodiment also may contain instructions that affect the options and results of the other embodiments described above . a non - limiting application of the present invention may be further appreciated by reference to fig2 . as fig2 represents , a user may launch the application 1 from , for example , a personal computer connected to a remote server . by way of example , the application may be launched using the host application . during the launch , the application will check for dependencies , read the directory , write xml and load interface file ( s ) ( graphic user interface ). the tasks for each application launch may include ( 1 ) authentication — authenticate application via internet connection or existing valid license on a personal computer against a ) valid user / password , or b ) valid computer , etc . ; and ( 2 ) personalization — load any and all relevant files from a previous sessions with application or local ( default ) directories . what constitutes a relevant file will be based on preferences changed at last user session . xml is one example of a format that the application can use to store and retrieve these preferences , their details , and their dependencies . during the launch , a program such the interface method may be loaded , which would load a file such as an xml file and display thumbnails from the system . the thumbnails would provide access to the various modules . from the user &# 39 ; s perspective , clicking on an icon on a desktop may most easily launch the application . alternatively , the user may access a website and click on the icon within that website . as noted above , the application may reside on a local computer or on a server . when it resides on a local computer , the application may be configured to operate exclusively locally or to maintain connections to the internet . the user may then make decision 2 to either import a new file 3 or directly select a file from a list of available files 4 . importation may for example be called from a program such as interface method ( e . g ., flash ) or from the host application . when the importation is through the host application , the application may , for example , launch a choose dialog function , read in the file , check for acceptability of the format , determine an output name based on a naming conversion and the use of names by existing files and call a file based on that naming conversion . another application ( e . g . the media conversion method ), may open the requested file and test its format against the list of accepted formats , and return a corresponding message to the host application , identifying the location to be saved , and how the naming conventions are determined or are defined within the host application software . the file may then set parameters , including the prescribed output format , e . g ., the editable format , the audio output , e . g ., mp3 , the resolution e . g ., 640 × 480 pixels , the frame rate , e . g . # hz , the name and the location . a thumbnail may then be created and displayed on the interface . subsequently , an application may be called , to inject meta data , e . g ., duration . an exemplary application is the metadata insertion method . the new file may for example be located on the user &# 39 ; s hard drive or a removable device such as a video camera or videophone or a remote database such as a video library . the new file may then be added to list of available files and selected . if there is a pre - existing list of files associated with a user , these files may be collected and stored in a user &# 39 ; s account , then after launching , the user may directly select the file from that list . preferably , by the time that the file is in the list of selectable files , it is already converted into a standardized digital format . the file may be selected through , for example , application such as the interface method that loads the requested file from the system into the editable element preview area . after the user selects a file , she may make another decision 6 , either to play the editable element 7 or to edit the editable element using , e . g ., in / out sliders to change the size or duration of the editable element 8 . the editable element may , for example , be played following the execution of the interface method . similarly , the in / out sliders may be used through the interface method . the editable element may then be dragged to a video timeline 9 , by for example , the use of a computer mouse through an appropriate application such as the interface method . by dragging the editable element to the video timeline it may be combined with other editable elements in whatever orders the user desires . further , when a plurality of editable elements is on the timeline , their sequence can be rearranged . when the selected media element or editable element is placed into the timeline , playback values may also be loaded into the timeline . while the editable element is in the timeline the user may decide 10 to edit / preview more editable elements 5 , and then select another file from the list of available files 4 . she may also add media effects to the timeline 11 such as voice over , titles , captions , inserting editable elements between editable elements , animation , etc . the effects may be bridges between two video clips or over part of an editable element . during all edits , playback values are loaded into the timeline . the editing may be accomplished through use of an appropriate application , e . g . the interface method . the user may choose : ( i ) to import one or more images and then add them to the timeline ; ( ii ) to zoom in or crop the image ; ( iii ) to add one or more audio files ; ( iv ) to crop the beginning and / or end of the audio file ; ( v ) to add one or more titles and / or type words into the title ; and / or ( vi ) to add the titles to the timeline and / or rearrange any of the elements and / or re - edit any of the elements of the timeline . the user may also decide to preview the editable element 13 without editing it or without editing further if editing has already taken place and then decide 14 to save the editable element 15 for editing at a later time , or go back and do more importing and / or editing 12 . during preview , the edit area may be hidden from view and the editable element may be loaded into a movie preview area . alternatively all views of the initial interface may remain visible . the editable element may be saved in the standardized digital editing format or the user specified format . the user can also export the editable output file ( not shown ) to a specified destination such as a hard drive or send the video or notification of its completion to one or more recipients . exemplary saving options also include writing of variables from ( e . g . the interface method variables ) the timeline to a file ( e . g . an xml file ). upon playback , the file would be read and the requisite files opened to simulate a single movie playback . the files may remain in the editable format without ever creating a file that combines the various segments . a second option would be for the host application to use those variables and edit the editable elements to write a new binary edited output file to the file system in a common format , e . g ., avi , mpeg , or quicktime . a third option would be to use those variables or data to stitch together multiple clips into a common format e . g ., avi , mpeg , or qt . finally , the user may quit the application 16 . a user may , for example , access the system of the present invention while using a pentium iii or higher level computer , with a windows 2000 operating systems or higher . additionally , the computer may e . g . have a capacity of 128 mb ram and 1000 megahertz processor . further , the screen resolution is preferably at least 1024 × 768 . these capabilities may exist in personal computers , handheld devices such as the palm pilot or blackberry , and cellular telephones . as described in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 124 , 366 , a typical computer system may include a processor that is connected to a memory system through an interconnection mechanism . the computer may also have a special purpose processor that may be used for performing special functions such as encoding or decoding data or complex mathematical or graphic operations . the particular language in which the software for the present invention may be programmed includes but is not limited to c , java and the host application . through this software , the computer talks to an application such as the media conversion method , directed reading and writing of files such as xml files , and reading of the hard drive or video library . an example of an embodiment of the present invention may be understood by reference to fig3 . as seen in the figure , the host application 31 may execute the interface method and the channel and be populated with xml files . when instructed , the interface method 33 activates the media conversion method 34 through a video encoding executable application . through this method , unconverted media files are accessed and retrieved 35 from e . g ., a hard drive . the video encoding executable applicable forms a converted media file 36 . to the converted media file metadata may be inserted through the metadata insertion method 37 . the metadata insertion method may act upon the converted media file multiple times and then may be called back by the interface file to for example , be saved or shared . simultaneously , the channel 32 may load xml files that are either stored within the application or downloaded from a remote server . the channel may be populated with media files that are in an editable format . after a file is converted , the host application , re - reads directory structure and writes the xml files based on the contents of the directories . it then reloads the interface method , which reflects the presence of the new media files . another exemplary embodiment of the invention is to be described in more detail below . this embodiment describes : ( i ) downloading of the host application ; ( ii ) installing the host application ; ( iii ) launching of the application ; ( iv ) importing a new media file ; ( v ) selecting media from a media list ; ( vi ) playing and pausing media ; ( vii ) adding effects to media ; ( viii ) editing the media file using begin / end slider ; ( ix ) adding a media file to the timeline ; ( x ) adding transitions to the timeline ; ( xi ) playing and pausing the edit mode ; ( xii ) saving the edited media ; and ( xiii ) sharing media and edited output files . the user downloads a host application using http or ftp from a website using a standard web browser or ftp client . installation is handled by an application such as windows os executable that is created with an installer such as the nullsoft scriptable installer . the installer puts the host application and the support files into pre - set directories on the user &# 39 ; s hard drive . the support files may include , but are not limited to : a method for encoding the multimedia files ( media conversion method ), a method for upgrading the user &# 39 ; s application to an appropriate version of the interface method graphic user interface files , and a shortcut to the application on the user &# 39 ; s desktop , etc . the host application can be launched from the installer and the host application can run on any appropriate computer , e . g ., windows personal computer including but not limited to those running windows 2000 , 2003 , me or xp , vista or apple computers running an apple operating system . when the host application is launched , it checks dependencies . for example it may : ( i ) detect whether there is an internet connection , and if present , downloads assets ; ( ii ) read a library directory in local file system — the library directory may e . g . contain media files ( video , audio and image ); ( iii ) write a library xml file to a local file system consisting of relevant file information ( e . g ., name , type , size , path ); ( iv ) check for the presence of internet connection and if available connect with remote server using http or https and request advertisements and / or other information ; ( v ) check for presence of external resources ( e . g ., media conversion method , the metadata insertion method ); and ( vi ) load a file such as a “ master ” interface method ( gui interface ) into the host application window as an activex object . the graphic use interface , e . g ., “ master ” the interface method file gui calls a function e . g . xmlloader function , which creates an xml object and loads a library file such as a xml file . the “ master ” interface method file gui displays a visual library list of available files with thumbnails . the import step allows for the conversion and import of a chosen media file into a standard format ( e . g ., flv , mp3 , jpeg , png or gif ) that can be used by the host application and the graphical user interface to preview , playback , manipulate , edit , save and share . by way of a first example , a user may choose selects file / import from the host application menu . in the host application , an function for importing files , e . g ., & lt ;& lt ; importfile & gt ;& gt ; function may be called when & lt ;& lt ; import & gt ;& gt ; is selected from application file menu and calls the & lt ;& lt ; importfile & gt ;& gt ; function . by way of another example , the user may clicks an “ import button ” present in the interface method &# 39 ; s graphic user interface . when & lt ;& lt ; import & gt ;& gt ; is selected , a function such as . fscommand may be called . the host application receives the command and directs it to the & lt ;& lt ; importfile & gt ;& gt ; function . next , the file may be processed . under a first exemplary processing case , the media file is a video and the host application launches & lt ;& lt ; choose file dialog box & gt ;& gt ; ( or other application to choose the file ), checks for acceptable format for importing ( e . g ., mov / quicktime , avi , mpeg ), determines an output file name based on pre - determined naming convention and existing files in library directory and determines the input file path . through use of , for example , the media conversion method , transcoding is accomplished . ffmpeg may be called via command line to transcode video file from an input format to output format with parameters . an application may be called via a command line to transcode the video file from an input format to output format with parameters . following transcoding , one or more , and preferably all of the following parameters may be defined : ( i ) name ; ( ii ) input file path ; ( iii ) size and aspect ratio ; ( iv ) frame rate ; ( v ) video format ; ( vi ) audio format ; ( vii ) data rate ; and ( viii ) output file path . the above parameters are then used to transcode and save a file such as the editable format file to the users library directory where it will be available to the host application and the interface method &# 39 ; s gui . a thumbnail image ( jpeg or png ) is also generated from a single frame of the imported media file . next an application such as the metadata insertion method may be called via a command line to inject meta data ( e . g ., video duration ) into newly transcoded file . under a second exemplary processing case , the media file may be audio . in this case , the host application : ( i ) launches & lt ;& lt ; choose file dialog box & gt ;& gt ;; ( ii ) checks for acceptable format for importing ( mp3 ); and ( iii ) transfers the chosen file into a library directory . under a third exemplary processing case , the media file is an image , and the host application : ( i ) launches & lt ;& lt ; choose file dialog box & gt ;& gt ;; ( ii ) checks for acceptable format for importing ( e . g ., jpeg , png or gif ); and ( iii ) transfers the chosen file into library directory . following processing , the host application may then re - write the library file , ( e . g .) xml file to reflect the new files in the library directory ; and load another hidden file such as “ load method ” file . the interface method ( or another application serving the same function ) may then call the xml load method function and send the result to the “ master ” through e . g ., the interface method connection method . in the interface method , clicking on icons or a tool bar such as a media file name or thumbnail loads the selected media file from local file system into a media preview area . one of the three exemplary cases below may be chosen based on the media type of file . under a first exemplary case for selecting media , the media type is a video file ( e . g ., the editable format ). an application such as the interface method may create a new empty file to store the editable element ( e . g ., a file denoted “ movie object ”) into which it loads the video file ( e . g ., the editable format ) by creating appropriate parameters , through e . g ., a new netconnection and netstream object and giving those objects the path to the editable format file , e . g ., flv . under a second exemplary case for selecting media the selected media type is an image file ( jpeg or gif ). in this case , the interface method may create a new empty file ( e . g ., image object ) into which it loads the image file using a function such as “ load method .” under a third exemplary case for selecting media , the selected media type is an audio file ( e . g ., mp3 ). in this case , an application such as the interface method creates a new sound object into which it loads the audio file by giving the sound object the path to the audio file . if the loaded media file is a editable element , a button or icon to play the clip , ( e . g ., “ play clip ” button ) may be present . clicking the “ play clip ” button plays the editable element in the preview area by starting the play method of the interface method . the play method is paused if the user clicks the “ play clip ” button again . in the interface method , the user can apply an effect to the currently selected media file by selecting an effect from an effects library . the effects include , but are not limited to : ( i ) change color and opacity ; ( ii ) change position , scale and orientation ; ( iii ) add text overlay ; and ( iv ) volume . the values of the effects may be saved as a property of the media file . if the loaded media file is an editable element , clicking and dragging sliders can change the duration of the element , e . g ., begin / end sliders sets can be used to begin and end ( start and stop ) property variables for the current editable element based on the sliders &# 39 ; positions relative to the editable element &# 39 ; s duration . the user can add media to the timeline to create a new composition or add to a composition on which the user is working . the user may add transitions in the timeline that create desired effects between media that appear in sequence . these transitions include , but are not limited to , fade in and fade out and overlaying / crossfade . clicking a “ play movie ” button may in certain applications , ( e . g ., the interface method ) hide the media preview area and play the contents of the timeline . the application then causes each piece of media to playback in order . playback of each media is a compilation of all effects and transitions that are in the current frame . if the media is a video , then the application seeks the correct point in the media ( e . g . netstream object ) that corresponds with the begin point and plays until the end point is reached . if the media is audio or an image , the application uses a timer to play the media for the appropriate time . the media or the timer is paused if the user clicks the play movie button again . saving an edited output file allows the user to store his or her progress on a particular project between edit sessions and to share finished edited output files with others . under a first exemplary case for saving an edited output file , the user selects an option for saving the file e . g ., & lt ;& lt ; file / save & gt ;& gt ; from the host application menu . in the host application , when save is chosen from the file menu , host application causes a function ( e . g ., . fscommand ) to be called and all edit decisions ( e . g ., the interface method &# 39 ; s timeline variables ) are sent to the host application . under a second exemplary case for saving an edited output file , the user clicks a save movie button in e . g ., the interface method gui . in the interface method , a function is called and all edit decisions ( the interface method timeline variables ) are sent to the host application . the methods that the application uses to save include but are not limited to saving to an edit decision list xml file and saving to a host application and a function such as the media conversion method or an equivalent . for example , when saving to an edit decision list xml file , the host application may write timeline variables to an xml file based on smil format . upon playback , the xml file would be read and the requisite media files opened to simulate a single movie playback . media files remain in the editable format or comparable format , and single movie is never created . by way of an alternative example , when employing a host application and a function such as the media conversion method , the host application may use the media conversion method , or equivalent to convert media files to a common format ( e . g ., mov / quicktime , avi , mpeg ). the host application or the media conversion method may then use the edit decision list to edit and stitch together media files to form a new binary video file and to write it to local file system in a common format . a user may share media and edited output file in many different ways . for example , a user may upload to a website . accordingly , the host application and graphic user interface such as the interface method make it possible to login and import the user &# 39 ; s media and edited output file to video sharing sites or the user &# 39 ; s own web site directly by utilizing video sharing sites api &# 39 ; s , ftp and / or http . video sharing sites and requisite authentication information could be added by a user or come pre - installed in the application . alternatively , the user may e - mail the edited output file . the host application and a graphic user interface such as the interface method make it possible to compose emails and attach media and edited output file . in still another alternative , sharing may be done peer - to - peer in which the host application and a graphic user interface such as the interface method make it possible to share media and edited output file through a peer to peer network established when the user is running the host application . in some embodiments , it is preferable to have a channel . as noted above , the channel in an interface comprised of elements that may be delivered from a specific internet location . the user may , through the channel , interact with that internet location , by for example , receiving notifications of up - coming events , promotion and contests , receiving coupons or receiving alerts that another user is on - line . the channel may be capable of communication and activity wholly at separate from the rest of the interface method and has the ability to download or to upload data in real - time . the programs of the present invention may be configured to display preprogrammed information in the channel at periodic or random intervals , and / or when the user is not on - line . an exemplary method for saving a movie that has been edited may be described by reference to fig5 . a user activates an interface module , which is a module within the edit module that enables a user to initiate the save protocol . the interface module gets properties from objects stored in memory that have been created by the user by using the gui , 24 . properties are saved as formatted text ( hereinafter referred to as an “ edl file ”) to memory , or to file . these properties may consist of dimensions , start times , stop times , location of original media file , etc . the properties describe the elements in the editable format that define the video , as well as media elements such as transitions , titles , etc ., and thus , the edl is a summary of the properties of the objects . the properties of the media elements are read from memory of the media elements prior to conversion to a standard editable format . thus , the edl file may be created by obtaining properties from a plurality of different file types . the edl file is passed to a conversion program (“ edl translator ”) 25 . a conversion program will convert the properties to commands readable by the executable (“ translation ”) application . the commands conform to the known api for the directshow and / or avisynth programs . a new “ commands list ” 26 is sent to the “ executable script ” 27 , which executes the api . directshow 28 and / or avisynth accesses the original media files specified in the commands list to output the edited movie file 29 based on the result of the commands in the “ commands list .” thus , a user may execute a computer program with instructions and modules that enable a user execute the following methods : ( i ) import a plurality of media elements , wherein said plurality of media elements are stored in a plurality of file types ; ( ii ) convert said plurality of elements into an editable format ; ( iii ) combine said plurality of elements to form a temporary combined media element ; ( iv ) gather properties of said temporary media element ; ( v ) create a file of said properties ; ( vi ) convert said file of said properties into a set of commands , wherein said commands are readable by an application programming interface ; ( vii ) execute said commands , wherein said executing comprises applying said commands to said plurality of media of elements to form an output media file ; and ( viii ) save said output media file , wherein said output media file comprises a uniform media type . any of the features of the various embodiments described herein can be used in conjunction with features described in connection with any other embodiments disclosed unless otherwise specified . features described in connection with the various or specific embodiments are not to be construed as not suitable in connection with other embodiments disclosed herein unless such exclusivity is explicitly stated or implicit from the context .
| 6Physics
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the embodiment of fig1 and 2 is useful where the pipe is subjected to extrusion blow molding . thermoplastic translucent synthetic resin 3 is supplied from a hopper ( not shown ) to extruder 1 and is caused to flow toward head 5 as shown by the solid line arrow in fig1 . synthetic resin 3 is forced through the gap between dies 6 and point 7 , and thereby is extruded in tubular form . the tube is cooled and solidified by cooler 9 located downstream of head 5 , and forms pipe 10 of predetermined size . on the rear of head 5 , support 11 is affixed . light source 12 , preferably generating white light , is held by support 11 at the longitudinal axis of pipe 10 and at a point downstream of cooler 9 . surrounding pipe 10 at the point at which light source 12 is placed , is ring holder 14 with its axis concentric with that of pipe 10 . a plurality ( 8 shown in fig2 ) of light receivers are supported by holder 14 , and the light from light source 12 is received through the wall of pipe 10 by each light receiver . retention of each light receiver 18 by holder 14 is shown in fig3 . a plurality of translucent radial holes 16 are circumferentially spaced apart , each being equidistant from its neighbors . at the radially inner end of each radial hole 16 , there is formed mouth 17 of enlarged diameter and light receiver element 18 is retained therein . light receivers 18 are located so that they are equidistant from the axis of pipe 10 . as can readily be understood , the amount of light transmitted through pipe 10 , and hence the amount received by light receivers 18 , will vary based on the thickness of the wall . the output of the processing circuit will correspondingly vary . therefore , the processing circuit is adjusted so that a reference light amount , corresponding to the optimum desired wall thickness , is a predetermined value of , for example , 0 . the acceptable light intensity variation is preset so that , when the wall thickness is outside the desired range , the defect will be noted and appropriate action taken . for example , the process parameters of the distance between dies 6 and point 7 can be adjusted to maintain the wall thickness within the desired range . conversely , when the output level of the processing circuit proportionate to the amount of light received by each light receiver 18 is within the allowable range , the thickness of the pipe wall is known to be within the predetermined tolerances . in another embodiment ( see fig4 and 5 ), a notch is formed on the pipe wall by cutting blade 20 after pipe 10 is formed by extrusion blow molding . pipe 10 is urged through the inside of cylindrical body 21 so that the axes of the pipe and body are concentric . cutting blade 20 is held by blade holder 22 which is fixed to cylindrical body 21 . at the upstream part of cylindrical body 21 ( opposite the direction of the arrow ), a plurality of radial translucent holes 24 , spaced apart circumferentially , is located . at the radially inner end of each translucent hole 24 , mouth 25 , having an enlarged diameter , is formed to accommodate light receiver 26 , so that it is not easily released . light receivers 26 are held by cylindrical body 21 so that the distances from the center axis of pipe 20 to the light receiver surface of each light receiver 20 are equal . blade holder 22 is formed in approximately an l shape as shown in fig5 and the lower half thereof is inserted inside pipe 10 via notch 28 of narrow width formed in the wall thereof by cutting blade 20 . at the upstream end of blade holder 22 , light source 30 is supported . light source 30 is at the longitudinal axis of pipe 10 and adjacent the light receiving faces of light receivers 26 , so that the light generated passes through the pipe wall and impinges on the light receiving faces . with this embodiment , it is , of course , possible to obtain the same result as with the first embodiment ; moreover , light source 30 can be supported by blade holder 22 , thereby obviating the need for a separate member to support the light source . this simplifies the construction and maintains light source 30 at the center of the pipe with great precision . a further embodiment is shown in fig6 . there are radial translucent holes for holding a plurality of optical fibers 32 on holder 14 as in the first embodiment . however , the end of each optical fiber 32 is inserted into the translucent hole , and light receiver 33 is disposed adjacent the other end of optical fiber 32 . in this case , the translucent hole on holder 14 can be very small and still permit optical fiber 32 to be inserted therein ; hence , it is possible to have a much larger number of optical fibers than can be accommodated by the first embodiment . this provides greater precision in determining the pipe wall thickness . moreover , as it becomes possible to arrange various light receiving elements 33 collectively in a place distant from the pipe itself , the structure of the inspection apparatus is simplified and facilitation of maintenance and repair can be obtained . in the foregoing specific descriptions , the pipe is formed by extrusion blow molding . however , as is apparent , the present invention is similarly applicable to pipes obtained by any other procedure . in so doing , a single light receiver 18 may be used to receive light from the light source through the pipe wall . in this case , receiver 18 is rotated around the pipe , so that the entire surface area is tested . conversely , light receiver 18 may be fixed and the pipe rotated . furthermore , in each of the foregoing embodiments , the pipe has been moved axially , but the present invention can be similarly practiced by moving the light receiver without moving the pipe . although only a limited number of specific embodiments of the present invention have been expressly disclosed , it is , nonetheless , to be broadly construed , and not to be limited except by the character of the claims appended hereto .
| 6Physics
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the invention is further explained in the experimental part of this description which is nonlimiting . until now , four surfactant specific proteins have been described . two hydrophilic proteins , surfactant protein a ( sp - a ) and surfactant protein d ( sp - d ), and two hydrophobic proteins , surfactant protein b ( sp - b ) and surfactant protein c ( sp - c ). the most abundant protein in surfactant is sp - a ( more than 50 %). sp - a consists of 28 to 35 kda peptides assembled into a large multimeric protein composed of 18 similar subunits . also sp - d is a large multivalent molecule comprising 12 monomers of 39 to 43 kda peptides . both proteins have a collagen - like sequence and a cooh — terminal ca 2 ˜ - dependent carbohydrate binding domain . they belong to the c - type mammalian lectins . the surfactant proteins b and c are extremely hydrophobic proteins which in general are dissolved in organic solvents . sp - b is a dimer which consists of two 8 kda peptides whereas sp - c is a monomer with a molecular weight of 8 kda , containing one ( canine ) or two ( human and pig ) palmitoyl groups . the suppression of the immune - system in the lungs and gut is mediated by ( alveolar ) macrophages . in mice after depletion of their alveolar macrophages by intratracheal instillation of clodronate containing multilamelar liposomes , followed by intratracheal instillation of antigen , a local immune response against the antigen can be detected . hence it seems feasible to develop vaccination protocols for vaccination via for example the airways comprising depletion of alveolar macrophages by clodronate containing liposomes , and intratracheal insertion of antigen . antigen , tnp - klh , was entrapped in liposomes consisting of lipids and various concentrations of surfactant proteins and intratracheally instilled in mice which were either depleted of their alveolar macrophages or in control mice . subsequently , the primary immune response against the antigen in these mice was determined after isolation of their spleen cells using an eli - spot assay . in addition , the secondary immune response was measured in mice which were i . p . injected with antigen after the instillation of antigen containing liposomes , in their sera using elisa &# 39 ; s specific for igg , igm and iga . young adult ( 8 - 12 weeks , female ) balb / c mice were obtained from harlan cpb ( the netherlands ). sp - a was isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of patients with alveolar proteinosis as described ( 1 ). sp - a was dissolved in 5 mm hepes ph 7 . 4 ( 2 . 2 mg / ml ) and stored in small aliquots at − 70 ° c . sp - b and sp - c were isolated from porcine lung lavage . porcine lungs were obtained from the slaughterhouse and lavaged 3 - 5 times with a solution of 154 mm nacl . pulmonary surfactant was prepared from the bronchoalveolar lavage by the method of hawgood et al ( 2 ). lung surfactant was extracted with 1 - butanol ( 1 ). butanol was dried by rotary evaporation , and the residue was dissolved in chloroform / methanol / 0 . 1 m hcl ). ( 1 : 1 : 0 . 05 , v / v / v ). insoluble material was removed by centrifugation . sp - b and sp - c were separated from lipids and purified to homogeneity by sephadex lh - 60 ( pharmacia , uppsala , sweden ) chromatography as described ( 3 ). the proteins were stored in a mixture of chloroform / methanol ( 1 : 1 ; v / v ) at − 20 ° c . the concentration of the proteins was determined by quantitative amino acid analysis . the lh - 60 column fractions which contained the surfactant lipids were dried by rotary evaporation . the lipids were dissolved in chloroform / methanol ( 1 : 1 ; v / v ). the phospholipid concentration was estimated by determining the phosphorus concentration as described by bartlett ( 4 ). dipalmitoylphophatidylcholine ( dppc ), phosphatidylcholine ( eggpc ), phosphatidylglycerol ( eggpg ) and cholesterol were purchased from avanti polar lipids ( alabaster , ala ., usa ). 86 mg eggpc and 8 mg cholesterol were dissolved in 10 ml chloroform . the chloroform was dried by rotary evaporation . the lipid film was suspended in either 4 ml pbs ( control liposomes ) or 10 ml dichloromethylene - diphosphonate ( dmdp ) in pbs ( 0 . 189 g / ml ). the suspension was kept for 2 hours at room temperature . subsequently , it was sonicated for 3 min in a water bath sonicator and kept at room temperature for 2 hours . the dmdp - containing liposomes were suspended in 100 ml pbs and centrifuged at 15 , 000 g to remove free dmdp . the pellet was suspended in 4 ml pbs . lipids were dissolved in the presence or absence of sp - b and / or sp - c in chloroform . the chloroform was dried by rotary evaporation . the lipid film was suspended in 0 . 8 mg trinitrophenyl - keyhole limpet hemocyanin ( tnp - klh )/ ml pbs by vortexing . subsequently , the liposomes were sonicated for 1 min on ice using an mse ultrasonic disintegrator . for the experiments with sp - a , sp - a was either added to the lipid suspension together with the antigen or after the preparation of the antigen - containing liposomes . the mice were fixed in an upright position under anesthetization with 20 μl of a 4 : 3 ( v / v ) mixture of aescoket ( aesculaap , gent , belgium ) and rompun ( bayer , leverkussen , germany ), intramuscularly injected . using a nylon tube connected to a 1 ml syringe , 100 μl liposomes were injected through the glottis into the trachea . at day 0 , mice were intratracheally instilled with 100 p . 1 of either pbs or dmdp - liposomes or pbs liposomes . at day 2 , mice were intratracheally injected with 100 p . 1 of antigen - containing liposomes . to study the primary immune response , animals were autopsied at day 9 and their spleen cells were isolated to determine the number of tnp - antibody secreting cells using a spot - elisa . animals used to study the secondary immune response were injected intratracheally with the same suspensions at the same times as the mice used for the primary response , but were injected with 100 p . 1 tnp - klh ( 0 . 8 mg / ml pbs ) intraperitonealy at day 23 . the animals were sacrificed at day 30 , and their sera were collected in order to determine the tnp - antibody titers using an elisa . this assay was based on the method described by sedgwick and holt ( 5 ). briefly , microtiter plates were coated overnight at 4 ° c . with 5 p . g per well trinitrophenylated ovalbumin ( tnp - ova ). the plates were emptied and incubated with 1 % ( w / v ) bovine serum albumin ( bsa )/ ml pbs for 1 h at room temperature . the plates were rinsed twice with pbs . a single cell suspension of spleen cells ( 10 7 / ml rpmi 1640 supplemented with 1 % hepes ( w / v ), 1 % bsa ( w / v ) and 10 % fetal calf serum ( v / v ) was added to the first well of each row ( 150 p . 1 / well ) and serial diluted 1 : 2 in the same medium . after incubation at 37 ° c ., the wells were rinsed with 0 . 1 % tween 20 ( v / v ) in pbs ( pbt ) till the cells were lysed . subsequently , goat anti mouse igm ( 1 : 500 ; in 1 % bsa - pbt ; sanbio ) conjugated with alkaline phosphatase was added to each well ( 100 μl / well ) and the plates were incubated for 2 h at 37 ° c . after rinsing the plates four times , the alkaline phosphatase substrate , 5 - bromo - 4 - chloro - 3 — indolyl - phosphate ( 1 mg / ml amp buffer ( sigma ) supplemented with 1 % low melting agarose ( w / v ) was added to the wells ( 100 μl / well ) at 37 ° c . the plates were incubated overnight at 4 ° c . and the cells secreting tnp antibodies were counted . in order to detect specific antibodies against tnp in the sera of mice , an elisa was developed based on the method described by delemarre et al ( 6 ). in short , microtiter plates were coated with tnp - ova and incubated with 1 % bsa as described above . the plates were rinsed four times with pbt . for the determination of the igm and igg in the sera , the sera were diluted with pbt supplemented with 1 % bsa ( 1 : 7 ). in order to measure iga , the sera were diluted four times with same buffer . the diluted sera were added to the first well of each row ( 200 μl / well ) and serially diluted 1 : 1 in the pbtbsa bufter . after incubation of the plates for 2h at room temperature , the plates were rinsed four times with pbt . to each well , 100 μl of either biotinylated anti igm , or anti igg or anti iga was added . the plates were incubated for 1 h at room temperature and rinsed four times with pbt . the plates were incubated for 1 h at room temperature avidin conjugated hrp ( 1 : 5000 in pbt - bsa ), washed and the bound antibodies were visualised by incubation for 1 h at room temperature with the substrate o - phenylenediaminedihydrochloride ( 2 mg / ml 0 . 1 m phosphate - citrate buffer ph 5 . 5 supplemented with 0 . 015 % h 2 o 2 100 μl / well ). the reaction was terminated by adding 50 μl of 2 . 5 m h 2 so 4 . the absorbance at 492 nm was measured and the values were expressed as compared to positive control sera for either igm , or igg or iga . the control sera were included on each plate , and were raised in mice by immunisation with tnp - ova . depletion of am by dmdp containing liposomes followed by intratracheal instillation of antigen incorporated in small unilamellar vesicles ( suv ) leads to the production and secretion of specific igm antibodies in the spleen cells of mice ( fig1 ). the mice remained healthy throughout the experiment and no inflammatory responses were observed in the lungs of the treated mice . a maximal immune response is obtained at lower phospholipid concentrations , 5 mg / ml versus 20 mg / ml , when tnp - klh is incorporated in suv &# 39 ; s which contain the surfactant lipids and also the surfactant proteins sp - b and sp - c compared to suv &# 39 ; s which consists of only the surfactant lipids . however , at high lipid concentrations , 20 mg / ml , no difference is observed between suv &# 39 ; s containing the surfactant proteins and suv &# 39 ; s devoid of the hydrophobic proteins . the half maximal immune response for the surfactant suv &# 39 ; s which contained sp - b and sp - c was observed at a phospholipid concentration of 3 mg / ml . this concentration was used in the following experiments . in order to determine which surfactant protein ( s ) entrapped in antigen surfactant liposomes can enhance the immune response , the following experiment was performed . antigen liposomes were prepared which consisted of the surfactant lipids , and the various surfactant proteins . the lipid to protein ratio was approximately the same as the physiological ratio , i . e ., for sp - a : phospholipid / sp - a ( 15 : 1 ( w / w ), for sp - b : phospholipid / sp - b ( 100 : 0 . 5 - 1 ( w / w ) and for sp - c : phospholipid / sp - b ( 100 : 0 . 5 - 1 ) ( 3 , 7 ). the antigen liposomes which contained sp - b yielded a higher immune response than the other liposomes ( fig2 ). the liposomes which contained only sp - c of sp - a gave a similar immune response as the liposomes which consisted of the surfactant lipids . in addition , incorporation of sp - c in sp - b containing antigen liposomes did not influence the sp - b mediated enhancement of the immune response . in this experiment , sp - a was encapsulated in the antigen liposomes together with the antigen , when sp - a was added to the antigen - liposomes , i . e ., was not present in the liposomes , similar results were obtained ( results not shown ). to determine the concentration dependency of the sp - b induced enhancement of the immune response , various concentrations of sp - b were incorporated in antigen containing liposomes . an optimal immune response was observed as a phospholipid to protein ratio of 200 : 1 ( 3 mg phospholipid : 15 μg sp - b ) ( fig3 ). for stimulation of the immune response by antigen sp - b liposomes , the presence of the negatively charged phospholipid , phosphatidylglycerol ( pg ), in the liposomes is required ( fig4 ). since no effect of sp - b inclusion in the antigen - liposomes on the immune response was noted when the antigen - liposomes consisted of a lipid mixture of dppc , eggpc , cholesterol ( 61 : 30 : 9 ; w / w / w ) whereas the sp - b activity was restored when a mixture of the lipids dppc , eggpc , cholesterol and pg ( 55 : 27 : 8 : 10 ; w / w / w ) was used . influence of am depletion on the sp - b mediated stimulation of the immune response in order to determine if depletion of am by intratracheal instillation of dmdp - containing liposomes is needed to elicit an immune response via the airways when antigen sp - b liposomes are used , the following experiment was performed . mice were divided in three groups , group 1 was intratracheally instilled with only the antigen containing liposomes , group 2 was intratracheally injected with pbs liposomes followed two days later by the antigen liposomes , and group 3 received the dmdp liposomes and the antigen liposomes ( fig4 ). the use of pbs - containing liposomes instead of dmdp - containing liposomes or no liposome treatment at all prior to the intratracheal instillation tnp - klh encapsulated in the sp - b - dppc / pc / cholesterol / pg liposomes , yields an immune response in the spleen cells which is approximately the same as when the am were depleted , also when surfactant lipids were used instead of the dppc / pc / cholesterol / pl lipid mixture in combination with the hydrophobic surfactant proteins for antigen liposomes , similar results were obtained ( fig5 ). influence of sp - b containing antigen liposomes on the secondary immune response in these experiments , mice were either intracheally injected with dmdp - liposomes or not on day 0 . at day 2 , mice received intratracheal antigen - liposomes of different composition . at day 23 , mice were boosted with an ip injection of antigen . at day 30 , mice were sacrificed and the sera were collected to determine the titers of specific antibodies against the antigen as well as their classes . a high igm titer was detected in the sera of mice which were not depleted of their am , intratracheally primed with sp - b containing antigen liposomes , and boosted with antigen ( fig6 a ). additional depletion of am caused only a slight enhancement of the igm titers . in contrast , only a poor igg titer is observed when the animals were not depleted of their am with marginal effects of incorporation of sp - b in the antigen liposomes ( fig6 b ). higher igg titers are observed when the mice were depleted of their am prior to the intratracheal instillation of antigen liposomes , which can be further increased by the use of sp - b containing antigen liposomes . antigen entrapped in surfactant liposomes can induce a systemic immune response in mice , as shown after intratracheal instillation . no depletion of the alveolar macrophages by an intratracheal injection of dmdp - containing liposomes is needed to observe this immune response . a preferred method for the induction of the immune response via the airways is a method whereby the antigen is entrapped in liposomes which contain at least sp - b and phosphatidylglycerol . the sp - b effect is concentration dependent reaching a maximum at the physiological phospholipid : sp - b ratio of 100 : 0 , 5 - 1 . the observed pg dependency of sp - b is not surprising , since the positive charges of sp - b were reported to be essential for its activity ( 8 ) such as the phospholipid insertion in the surface film , which covers the alveoli , via the negatively charged pg ( 9 , 10 ). in a previous study from our laboratory , thepen et al ( 11 ) demonstrated that only a local , iga , immune response can be elicited in the lung after prior depletion of the alveolar macrophages by dmdp - containing liposomes . depletion of alveolar macrophages was necessary to induce an immune response via the airways , because alveolar macrophages were shown to inhibit immune responses probably via the suppression of t - cells and dendritic cells . depletion of alveolar macrophages which leads to the destruction of cells which may compete with the type ii cells for the uptake of antigen containing liposomes as well as a reduction of the suppression of the immune response is no longer needed to induce a primary immune response when animals are intratracheally injected with sp - b - containing antigen liposomes . the advantages for the use of sp - b containing liposomes are : a . naturally occuring in the form of surfactant , b . the homology of sp - b derived from different species ( canine , human , porcine rabbit ) is high ( more than 80 %), c . sp - b ( porcine , bovine ) containing liposomes , in the form of surfactant , have already been used to treat premature children . 1 ) sp - b containing liposomes can be used , as in this study , for immunisation via the airways . a systemic immune response , igm , can be obtained . no depletion necessary . 2 ) in combination with am depleting liposomes , sf - b - antigen liposomes can be used for immunisation . 3 ) since sp - b and surfactant analogue material is present in the intestines , immunisation via the intestines using sp - b containing antigen liposomes is effective . 4 ) in the lungs or in the intestines sp - b containing liposomes can be used to transport the following substances to the alveolar type ii cells ( or similar cells in the intestines ) a ) dna , sp - b coupled to modified sp - b has been shown to enhance transfection . probably sp - b , dna containing liposomes may work to get dna in vivo into the type ii cells . b ) transport of corticosteroids to alveolartype ii cells . these substances are used for immature children in order to induce the surfactant production by type ii cells . c ) transport of antioxidants to type ii cells . has been shown for sp - a containing liposomes . 1 . haagsman h p , hawgood 5 , sargeant t , buckley d , white r t , drickamer k , benson b j . 1987 . the major lung surfactant protein , sp28 - 36 , is a calcium - dependent , carbohydrate binding protein . j . biol . chem . 262 : 13877 - 13880 . 2 . hawgood et al . 1985 . effects of a surfactant - associated protein and calcium ions on the structure and surface activity of lung surfactant lipids . biochemistry 24 : 184 - 190 . 3 . oosterlaken - dijksterhuis m a , van eijk m , van buel b l m van golde lmg , haagsman h p . 1991 . surfactant protein composition of lamellar bodies isolated from rat lung . biochem . j . 274 : 115 - 119 . 4 . bartlett , g r . 1959 . phosphorous assay in column chromatography . j . biol . chern . 234 : 466 - 468 . 5 . sedgwick j d , holt pga . 1983 . solid - phase immunoenzymatic technique for the enumberation of specific antibody - secreting cells . j immunol meth . 57 : 301 - 309 . 6 . delemarre f g a , claassen e , van rooijen n . 1989 . the primary in situ immune response in popliteal lymph nodes and spleen of mice after subcutaneous immunisation with thymusdependent or thymus - independent ( type 1 and 2 ) antigens . anat . rec . 223 : 152 - 157 . 7 . phizackerley p j r , town m h , newman g e . 1979 . hydrophobic proteins of lamellated osmiophilic bodies isolated from pig lung . biochem j 183 : 731 - 736 . 8 . cochrane c g , revak s d . 1991 . pulmonary surfactant protein ( sf - b ): structure - function relationships . science . 253 : 566 - 568 . 9 . yu s h , possmayer f . 1992 . effect of pulmonary surfactant protein b ( sp - b ) and calcium on phospholipid adsorption and squeeze - out of phosphatidylglycerol from binary phospholipid monolayers containing dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine . biochim . biophys . acta . 1126 : 26 - 34 . 10 . yu sh , fossmayer f . 1992 . studies on surfactantassociated protein b mediated adsorption of surfactant phospholipids . am . rev . respir . dis . 145 : a874 . 11 . thepen t , van rooijen n . kraal g . 1989 . alveolar macrophage elimination in vivo is associated with an increase in pulmonary immune response in mice . j . exp . med . 176 : 499 - 509 .
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the present invention provides several new commands ( or “ interfaces ”) to enable tape positioning based on file numbers , providing the capability for high - speed access to data by specifying a file number . these commands are : position relative ( posrel ) command , used to space any given positive or negative number of file marks at high speed . position absolute ( posab ) command , used to perform high - speed locate to the beginning of any specific file . position sense ( posns ) command , used to obtain the current file number position . further , in read device characteristics ( rdc ) data , new bits are provided to indicate that each of these new commands is supported . the position relative command will provide the more convenient high - speed alternative to the current use of repeated forward space file commands to access the desired file on tape . however , the other positioning commands provide alternatives that can be considered in fulfilling the requirement for high - speed access when only file number , and not block id , is available . the posab , posrel and posns commands have further utility in providing a robust architecture for navigating residual data , e . g ., for data recovery . referring to the illustrations , like numerals correspond to like parts depicted in the figures . the invention will be described as embodied in an automated data storage and retrieval subsystem for use in a data processing environment . the following description of applicant &# 39 ; s method to record information to a movable tape medium , or to a movable tape medium disposed within a portable data storage cartridge is not meant , however , to limit applicant &# 39 ; s invention to either data storage and retrieval systems , or to magnetic tape applications , as the invention herein can be applied to data storage media in general . [ 0035 ] fig3 illustrates an exemplary hardware and software system 300 in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented , including a host system 390 , a tape subsystem 320 , and a plurality of tape drives 330 , 340 . host system 390 includes applicants &# 39 ; hierarchical storage management ( hsm ) program 310 . information is transferred between the host system 390 and secondary storage devices managed by a data storage and retrieval system , such as tape subsystem 320 , via communication link 350 . communication link 350 comprises a serial interconnection , such as an rs - 232 cable or an rs - 432 cable , an ethernet interconnection , a scsi interconnection , a fibre channel interconnection , a local area network ( lan ), a private wide area network ( wan ), a public wide area network , storage area network ( san ), transmission control protocol / internet protocol ( tcp / ip ), the internet , and combinations thereof . in the embodiment shown in fig3 tape subsystem 320 includes tape drives 330 and 340 . in other embodiments of applicants &# 39 ; data storage and retrieval system , tape subsystem 320 includes a single data storage drive . in alternative embodiments , applicants &# 39 ; data storage and retrieval system 320 includes more than two data storage drives . a plurality of portable data storage media 360 are stored within applicants &# 39 ; data storage and retrieval system . in certain embodiments , a plurality of data storage media 360 are each housed in a portable data storage cartridge , such as a plurality of portable tape cartridges ( not shown in fig3 ). each of such portable data storage cartridges may be inserted in one of tape drives , and thereafter accessed by the tape subsystem 320 . in alternative embodiments , alternative storage media may be substituted for the tape cartridges . any type of non - volatile storage media could be used , including optical disks , holographic units , digital video disc ( dvd ), compact disc - read only memory ( cd - rom ), non - volatile random access memory ( ram ), etc . for ease of reference , all such data storage media are referred to herein as “ tape cartridges ” or “ data storage cartridges ”, although it should be recognized that the invention is not strictly limited to tape cartridges . the tape subsystem 320 further includes program logic to manage tape drives 330 and 340 , and plurality of data storage cartridges 360 . in alternative embodiments , tape subsystem 330 and host system 390 may be located on a single computer machine . host system 390 comprises a computer system , such as a mainframe , personal computer , workstation , etc ., including an operating system such as windows , aix , unix , mvs , etc . ( windows is a registered trademark of microsoft corporation ; aix is a registered trademark and mvs is a trademark of ibm corporation ; and unix is a registered trademark in the united states and other countries licensed exclusively through the open group .) the hsm program 310 in the host system 390 may include the functionality of hsm type programs known in the art that manage the transfer of data to a tape library , such as the ibm dfsms implemented in the ibm mvs operating system . the ibm dfsms software is described in “ dfsms / mvs v1r4 general information ,” ibm document no . gc26 - 4900 - 05 , published by ibm ( copyright 1997 , ibm ), which publication is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . in addition to including known hsm functions , such as recall and migration , the hsm program 310 would further include additional program instructions to perform the operations of the preferred embodiments of the present invention . the hsm program 310 may be implemented within the operating system of the host system 390 or as a separate , installed application program . the tape subsystem 320 comprises a computer system , and manages a plurality of tape drives and tape cartridges . the tape drives 330 and 340 may be any suitable tape drives known in the art , e . g ., the magstar 3590 tape drives . data storage cartridges 360 may be any suitable tape cartridge device known in the art , ( magstar is a registered trademark of ibm corporation ) such as eccst , magstar , ibm 3420 , 3480 , 3490e , 3590 tape cartridges , etc . the tape subsystem 320 may be a manual tape library in which the user must manually mount data storage cartridges ( in this case , tape cartridges 360 , as shown in fig2 and 3 ) into the tape drives 330 / 340 , or an automated tape library ( atl ) in which a robotic arm mounts tape cartridges 360 in the library into the tape drives 330 / 340 . for example , referring now to fig1 a , automated data storage and retrieval system 100 is shown having a first wall of storage slots 102 and a second wall of storage slots 104 . portable data storage cartridges 360 ( not shown in fig1 a ), such as tape cartridges , are individually stored in these storage slots . data storage and retrieval system 100 includes one or more accessors , such as accessors 110 and 120 . an accessor is a robotic device which accesses portable data storage media from first storage wall 102 or second storage wall 104 , delivers that accessed media to data storage devices 130 / 140 for reading and / or writing data thereon , and returns the media to the proper storage slot . referring now to fig1 b , data storage device 130 includes device controller 132 . controller 132 includes microprocessor 134 in communication with non - volatile memory 136 . in certain embodiments , microprocessor 134 communicates with non - volatile memory 136 via communication link 135 . in other embodiments , non - volatile memory 136 is integral to microprocessor 134 . device microcode 138 is stored in non - volatile memory 136 . device microcode comprises a computer program product which controls the operation of a data storage device , such as data storage device 130 ( fig1 a )/ 140 ( fig1 a )/ 230 ( fig2 ). library controller 160 communicates with host computer 390 via communication link 392 . referring now to fig1 c , library controller 160 includes microprocessor 162 , volatile memory 164 , and non - volatile memory 166 . in certain embodiments , microprocessor communicates with volatile memory 164 via communication link 163 . in other embodiments , volatile memory 164 is integral to microprocessor 162 . microprocessor 162 communicates with non - volatile memory 166 via communication link 165 . library operating system 168 is stored in non - volatile memory 166 . operating system 168 comprises a computer program product that controls the operation of data storage and retrieval systems 100 ( fig1 a )/ 200 ( fig2 ), and tape subsystem 320 ( fig3 ). referring once again to fig1 a , operator input station 150 permits a user to communicate with applicant &# 39 ; s automated data storage and retrieval system 100 . devices 180 and 190 each comprise a direct access storage device ( dasd ) cache . in certain embodiments dasd cache 180 and 190 comprise a plurality of hard disk drives , which are configured into one or more raid arrays . in certain embodiments , information transferred between host computer 390 and data storage and retrieval system 100 is buffered in dasd caches 180 and 190 . import / export station 172 includes access door 174 pivotably attached to the side of system 100 . portable data storage cartridges can be placed in the system , or in the alternative , removed from the system , via station 172 / access door 174 . [ 0046 ] fig2 shows system 200 , which comprises another embodiment of applicant &# 39 ; s data storage and retrieval system . system 200 includes first storage wall 202 and second storage wall 204 . storage walls 202 and 204 each include a plurality of storage elements in which can be stored a plurality of portable data storage cartridges 360 . system 200 includes one or more data storage devices , such as device 230 . device 230 comprises a floppy disk drive , an optical disk drive , a magnetic tape drive , and the like . system 200 further includes operator control panel 250 ( not shown in fig3 ). as shown in fig2 system 200 further includes library controller 260 . library controller 260 controls the operation of accessor 210 and data storage device 230 . as shown in fig3 system 300 further includes one or a plurality of portable data storage cartridges , such as tape cartridges 360 , each of which contains data storage media internally disposed therein . referring again to fig3 tape subsystem 320 , such as data storage and retrieval system 100 ( of fig1 a )/ 200 ( of fig2 ), receives commands from the hsm program 310 in the host system 390 and performs the operations requested by the hsm program 310 , such as migration and recall , to transfer data between the host system 390 and the components managed by the tape subsystem 320 . in preferred embodiments , the tape subsystem 320 can simultaneously process numerous input / output requests from the host system 390 and any other attached system directed toward the tape drives 330 / 340 and tape cartridges 360 managed by the tape subsystem 320 . moreover , in certain embodiments , hsm program 310 in the host system 390 is capable of multi - tasking , simultaneously executing numerous input / output operations , and simultaneously transmitting multiple i / o requests to the tape subsystem 320 to execute . in further embodiments , a plurality of host systems 390 may communicate with the tape subsystem 320 and / or a host system 390 may communicate and transfer data to a plurality of tape subsystems 320 , each subsystem providing access to a library of tape cartridges 360 . as illustrated in fig4 ( a graphical representation of the posrel command ) and 5 ( a flowchart 550 representing the steps of the posrel command ), the present invention comprises a new position relative ( posrel ) command 400 , which requests the logical medium to be adjusted to a position relative to the current logical medium position . an exemplary posrel command 400 causes 8 bytes of data to be transferred from the channel to the control unit , which may occur synchronously or asynchronously . in asynchronous operation , such data may include a bit to notify the program of completion of the positioning . order parameters may be further specified , wherein a command reject , parameter error may be returned if an undefined order code is specified . as fig4 and 5 illustrate , in one exemplary embodiment , order codes of position relative 400 may include space block ( sb ) 401 , space tape mark ( stm ) 402 , space sequential tape mark ( sstm ) 403 , and space end of data ( seod ) 404 . as shown in fig5 when a posrel command is received , at step 500 , a determination is made regarding which order code is received , at step 501 . the space block ( sb ) order 401 of the posrel command 400 causes relative positioning on a logical block basis . if , at step 501 , a determination is made that an sb order has been received , the value of the count argument ( n ) is determined , at step 502 . a positive value , n , of the count argument causes positioning in the forward logical direction to point just after ( on the end of partition ( eop ) side ) the nth block after the current position , at step 503 . a negative value of n causes positioning in the backward logical direction to point just before ( on the beginning of partition ( bop ) side ) the nth block before the current position , at step 504 . file marks are counted as logical blocks , just as data logical blocks ; however , a space block order 401 which encounters a tape mark will normally complete with a unit exception and the logical medium will remain positioned just following ( respectively prior to ) the first tape mark encountered when moving in the forward ( respectively backward ) direction . the order is subject to unit checks for bop , eop , void , or beginning of data ( bod ) encountered . the order is not subject to unit exception for logical end of partition ( leop ) encountered . the count argument specifies a twos complement value which is used to specify the number of logical blocks to skip over from the current logical medium position . a positive count indicates motion in the logical forward direction ( towards eov or eop ), at step 503 . a negative count indicates motion in the logical backwards direction ( towards beginning of volume ( bov ) or bop ), at step 504 . a count of zero results in no logical movement of the medium , at step 505 ; however , it does force a synchronization . in one embodiment , only values between − 8388608 and + 8388607 are permitted . if a count value more negative than − 8388608 or more positive than + 8388607 is specified , then the order will terminate with unit check indicating command reject , parameter error , at step 506 . this order is subject to the same unit checking rules as those for the forward space block and backward space block commands . this order may also be subject to data checks or sequence checks depending on the settings specified in device control page 3 for space block 401 commands . in addition , it may be subject to boundary exceptions for forward at eop , backward at bop , and end of data mark , as well as data check for void . synchronization of any buffered write data will be attempted when this order is accepted . in a residual data domain ( i . e ., unindexed data left in a data medium beyond an end of data ( eod ) mark , after deletion of a file or a portion of a file , that remains recoverable until sanitizing of the data medium has taken place ), all commands continue to operate as specified , however , all positioning ( locate ( loc ), forward space file ( fsf ), backward space file ( bsf ), forward space block ( fsb ), backward space block ( bsb ), posrel 400 , posab 700 ) will be performed at read speed only ( i . e ., relatively slowly ). crossing an end of data ( eod ) boundary into a residual data domain can only occur if permitted by device control page 3 ( dcp3 ). the first motion command which attempts to cross eod will be terminate with unit check status indicating boundary exception , end of data encountered . a subsequent motion command will likely terminate with unit check status indicating data check , block sequence error . a third motion command will normally succeed . if unit exception status or unit check status is returned to the posrel command 400 then the current actual position on tape may not be known since anywhere between 0 and n blocks may have been spaced over when the error occurred . therefore , before issuing the posrel command 400 , the host software should : a ) issue a read block identifier ( rbid ) command and save the returned block id as the “ starting block position ” value and b ) save the initially requested count field passed in with the posrel command 400 as the “ requested block count ” value . in addition , after the posrel command 400 has failed with either the unit exception status or the unit check status , the host software will need to issue another rbid command and save the returned block id as the “ ending block position ” value . these saved values can then be used as aids in recovery for when either the unit exception status is returned due to having encountered a tape mark or when the unit check status is returned . it is also noted that if the unit check status is due to a lost positioning type of error then the only recovery possible is either a rewind or an unload of the tape . the space tape mark ( stm ) order 402 of the position relative command 400 causes relative positioning on a tape mark basis . if , at step 501 , a determination is made that an stm order has been received , the value of the count argument ( n ) is determined , at step 507 . a positive value of the count argument , n , causes positioning in the forward logical direction to point just after ( on the eop side ) the nth tape mark after the current position , at step 508 . a negative value of n causes positioning in the backward logical direction to point just before ( on the bop side ) the nth tape mark before the current position , at step 509 . the order is subject to unit checks for bop , eop , void , or eod encountered . the space tape mark order 402 will not complete with unit exception due to a tape mark encountered . the order is not subject to unit exception for leop encountered . the count argument specifies a twos complement value which is used to specify the number of tape marks to skip over from the current logical medium position . a positive count indicates motion in the logical forward direction ( towards eov or eop ), at step 508 . a negative count indicates motion in the logical backwards direction ( towards bov or bop ), at step 509 . a count of zero performs no operation except for synchronization , at step 510 . only count values between − 8388608 and + 8388607 are permitted . if a count value more negative than − 8388608 or more positive than + 8388607 is specified , then the order will terminate with unit check indicating command reject , parameter error , at step 511 . this order is subject to the same unit checking rules as those for the forward space file and backward space file commands . this order may also be subject to data checks or sequence checks depending on the settings specified in device control page 3 for space file commands . in addition , it is subject to boundary exceptions for forward at eop , backward at bop , and end of data mark , as well as data check for void . synchronization of any buffered write data will be attempted when this order is accepted . in a residual data domain , all commands continue to operate as specified , however , all positioning ( loc , fsf , bsf , fsb , bsb , posrel 400 , posab 700 ) will be performed at read speed only . crossing an eod boundary into a residual data domain can only occur if permitted by dcp3 . the first motion command which attempts to cross eod will be terminate with unit check status indicating boundary exception , end of data encountered . a subsequent motion command will likely terminate with unit check status indicating data check , block sequence error . a third motion command will normally succeed . if unit check status is returned to the posrel command 400 then the current actual position on tape may not be known since anywhere between 0 and n tape marks may have been spaced over when the error occurred . therefore , before issuing the posrel command 400 , the host software should : a ) issue a rbid command and save the returned block id as the “ starting block position ” value and b ) issue a posns command ( described hereinbelow ) and if the file number field is indicated as valid then save the returned file number as the “ starting file position ” value and c ) save the initially requested count field passed in with the posrel command 400 as the “ requested tape mark count ” value . in addition , after the posrel command 400 has failed with the unit check status , the host software will need to : a ) issue another rbid command and save the returned block id as the “ ending block position ” value and b ) issue another posns command and if the file number field is indicated as valid then save the returned file number as the “ ending file position ”. these saved values can then be used as aids in recovery for when the unit check status is returned . note that if either of the saved file number values from the posns command are not valid then the host will have to rely solely on using the saved block ids returned by the rbid commands for the recovery process . it is also noted that if the unit check status is due to a lost positioning type of error then the only recovery possible is either a rewind or an unload of the tape . the space sequential tape mark ( sstm ) order 403 of the position relative command 400 causes relative positioning on a sequential ( multiple adjacent ) tape mark basis ( as with end of data set ( eods ) marks on a volume ). if , at step 501 , a determination is made that an sstm order has been received , the value of the count argument ( n ) is determined , at step 512 . a positive value of the count , n , causes positioning in the forward logical direction to point just after ( on the eop side ) the first set of n consecutive tape marks ( n tape marks with no interspersed data logical blocks ) following the current position , at step 513 . a negative value of n causes positioning in the backward logical direction to point just before ( on the bop side ) the first of a set of n consecutive tape marks before the current position , at step 514 . the order is subject to unit checks for bop , eop , void , or eod encountered . the space sequential tape mark order 403 will not complete with unit exception due to a tape mark encountered . the command is not subject to unit exception for leop encountered . the count argument specifies a twos complement value which is used to specify the number of consecutive sequential tape marks to search for starting from the current logical medium position . a positive count indicates motion in the logical forward direction ( towards eov or bop ), at step 513 . a negative count indicates motion in the logical backwards direction ( towards bov or bop ), at step 514 . a count of zero performs no operation except for synchronization , at step 515 . only count values between − 8388608 and + 8388607 are permitted . if a count value more negative than − 8388608 or more positive than + 8388607 is specified , then the command will terminate with unit check indicating command reject , parameter error , at step 516 . this order is subject to the same unit checking rules as those for the forward space file and backward space file commands . this order may also be subject to data checks or sequence checks depending on the settings specified in device control page 3 for space file commands . in addition , it is subject to boundary exceptions for forward at eop , and backward at bop , and end of data mark , as well as data check for void . synchronization of any buffered write data will be attempted when this order is accepted . the last data set on a volume is normally terminated with two consecutive tape marks . if a count of 2 is specified and a set of 3 consecutive tape marks are encountered while searching in the forward direction ( before any single pair of tape marks ) the command completes with good status positioned after the second of the 3 tape marks . in a residual data domain , all commands continue to operate as specified , however , all positioning ( loc , fsf , bsf , fsb , bsb , posrel 400 , posab 700 ) will be performed at read speed only . crossing an eod boundary into a residual data domain can only occur if permitted by dcp3 . the first motion command which attempts to cross eod will be terminate with unit check status indicating boundary exception , end of data encountered . a subsequent motion command will likely terminate with unit check status indicating data check , block sequence error . a third motion command will normally succeed . if unit check status is returned to the posrel command 400 then the current actual position on tape will likely not be known since a search for the first occurrence of n sequential tape marks was being made when the failure occurred . therefore it is recommended that before issuing the posrel command 400 the host software should : a ) issue a rbid command and save the returned block id as the “ starting block position ” value and b ) save the initially requested count field passed in with the posrel command 400 as the “ requested number of sequential tape marks ” value . these saved values can then be used as aids in recovery for when the unit check status is returned . it is also noted that if the unit check status is due to a lost positioning type of error then the only recovery possible is either a rewind or an unload of the tape . the space end of data ( seod ) order 404 of the position relative command 400 causes the logical medium to attempt positioning just prior to the first end of data mark encountered in the forward direction relative to the current position . seod positioning occurs , at step 517 , if , at step 501 , a determination is made that an seod order has been received . the order is subject to unit checks for void or bop encountered . the order is not subject to unit exception for leop encountered . the count field is ignored for this order . values are not checked . this order is subject to the same unit checking rules as those for the forward space file and backward space file commands . this order may also be subject to data checks or sequence checks depending on the settings specified in device control page 3 for space file commands . however , it is not subject to boundary exception , end of data , but it is subject to boundary exception , forward at eop , as well as data check for void . synchronization of any buffered write data will be attempted when this order is accepted . in a residual data domain , all commands continue to operate as specified , however , all positioning ( loc , fsf , bsf , fsb , bsb , posrel 400 , posab 700 ) will be performed at read speed only . crossing an eod boundary into a residual data domain can only occur if permitted by dcp3 . the first motion command which attempts to cross eod will be terminate with unit check status indicating boundary exception , end of data encountered . a subsequent motion command will likely terminate with unit check status indicating data check , block sequence error . a third motion command will normally succeed . if unit check status is returned to the posrel command 400 then the current actual position on tape will likely not be known . therefore , before issuing the posrel command 400 , the host software should issue a rbid command and save the returned block id as the “ starting block position ” value . this saved value can then be used as an aide in recovery for when the unit check status is returned . it is also noted that if the unit check status is due to a lost positioning type of error then the only recovery possible is either a rewind or an unload of the tape . position relative 400 may have utility during open processing for rapid positioning , especially on a file basis . proper arithmetic must be done to assure that header and trailer labels are accounted for . as illustrated in the flowchart 650 of fig6 for locating to a given file in a multivolume aggregate , the following protocol may be used : the process begins at step 600 , after which the maximal file written on the medium ( reported in new medium sense fields as well as volume log fields , which are available via the read buffered log command ) is checked , at step 601 . if the desired file exists on the current volume , which determination is made at step 602 , then the correct number of tape marks ( using the stm order 402 of position relative 400 , which is supported for all drives and media ) is spaced , at step 606 , and header and trailer labels are taken into account , after which execution is complete . if , at step 602 , it is determined that the desired file does not exist on the current volume , or if the maximal file written field is indicated as being invalid , then a spacing to end of data ( seod order 404 ) is performed , the position is backed up , and the final file on the media is checked , at step 603 . in an ibm 3590 system , model e drives and extended length media all report a valid current file number through position sense , or the application may have created meta data of its own for determining actual file number . except in the case of an invalid maximal file field and with the assumption that the tape is nearly full , the seod 404 may execute very rapidly since the logical end of tape is very close to the physical end of tape , just on a different wrap half . the volume is unloaded , at step 604 , and the next volume of the aggregate is loaded , at step 605 . the procedure of steps 601 - 6005 is repeated until the desired file is found . it is noted that the lb ( locate block ) order is functionally equivalent to the locate command . an lpri ( locate physical reference index ) order may be provided for data recovery programs . if residual data access is not prohibited in dcp3 , then lpri permits the drive to be positioned without regard to logical formatting constructs ( end of data marks , logical blocks , tape marks , etc .). those skilled in the art will recognize that this order should be used with care to avoid data loss or corruption . the seod 404 order of position relative 400 may be used for utilities that rebuild a volume &# 39 ; s device block map ( dbm ) to permit subsequent high speed positioning , that is , assuming that the tape volume is not currently write protected . if the dbm is valid , seod 404 operates at high speed ; if the dbm is not valid , seod 404 operates at read speed . on completion , a valid dbm will be rebuilt ; on unload the valid dbm will be rewritten to the volume vcr . as illustrated in fig7 ( a graphical representation of the posab command ) and 8 ( a flowchart 850 representing the steps of the posab command ), the present invention comprises a new position absolute ( posab ) command 700 , which requests the logical medium to be adjusted to the position indicated by the position pointer specified in the parameter data . the command works in conjunction with the data reported by the position sense command ( as described hereinbelow ). an exemplary posab command 700 causes 28 bytes of data to be transferred from the channel to the control unit , which may occur synchronously or asynchronously . in asynchronous operation , such data may include a bit to notify the program of completion of the positioning . order parameters may be further specified , wherein a command reject , parameter error may be returned if an undefined order code is specified . as fig7 and 8 illustrate , in one exemplary embodiment , order codes of position absolute 700 may include locate block ( lb ) 701 , locate file ( lf ) 702 , and locate physical reference index ( lpri ) 703 . as shown in fig8 when a posab command 700 is received , at step 800 , a determination is made regarding which order code is received , at step 801 . the locate block ( lb ) order 701 of the position absolute command 700 requests the logical medium to be adjusted to the logical block indicated by the logical block number and the partition number ( if valid ) position pointer specified in the parameter data . the command works in conjunction with the data reported by the position sense command . an exemplary lb order causes 28 bytes of data to be transferred from the channel to control unit . this data may include order flags ; validity flags ; identifier flags ; partition number ( pn ); file number ( fn ); logical block number ( lbn ); and physical reference index ( pri ). the order flags may include bits to indicate synchronous / asynchronous operation of the command , as well as an indicator that program notification of completion will be provided when the command is executing as asynchronously . the identifier flags may include bits representing , e . g ., logical block number type ( i . e ., 22 bit ( stripped ) logical block number or 32 bit logical block number ). the validity flags may include bits representing , e . g ., partition number ( pn ) valid , if set , and logical block number ( lbn ) valid , if set . the partition number must be 0 on a non - partitioned volume , if the pn field is indicated as valid . on a partitioned volume , the partition number field is set to the partition number to be positioned to prior to further positioning . partition numbers are assigned incrementally starting with 0 for the first partition on the volume . if the pn field is indicated as invalid , the current partition is assumed . the file number and physical reference index are ignored for this order . the logical block number ( lbn ) uniquely identifies a logical block within the specified partition and the current ( possibly residual ) data domain . the associated position indicated is immediately prior to the specified logical block . logical block numbers are assigned incrementally starting with 0 for the first logical block within the partition . as the flowchart 850 of fig8 illustrates , the ending position for lb is achieved with the following exemplary procedure : at step 802 , a determination is made whether pn ( n ) is indicated as valid . if so , then the tape is positioned to bop of the indicated partition , at step 804 , and the lbn is validated , at step 812 . if the pn cannot be found , which determination is made at step 802 , then the command is presented unit check status indicating execution exception , partition not found , at step 808 . if the pn is indicated as invalid , which determination is made at step 802 , then the tape remains at current position , at step 810 , and the lbn is checked , at step 812 . if lbn is indicated as valid , then , at step 816 , a determination is made whether lbn n − 1 is valid . if lbn n − 1 is valid , then , at step 814 , from the current position , the tape is repositioned immediately following logical block n − 1 ( assuming n was specified ). lbn n − 1 is validated at step 816 . if n = 0 , which determination is made at step 816 , the tape is positioned to bop according to device dependent mechanisms , at step 818 . if the lbn n − 1 cannot be found , as determined at step 816 , then the command is presented unit check status indicating execution exception , block not found , at step 822 . if neither pn nor lbn is valid , then the command is presented unit check status indicating command reject , parameter error , at step 820 . if the specified logical block number type does not match the block pointer format currently active for the device , then the command may be presented unit check status indicating command reject , parameter in conflict ( step not shown ). the command locate block order is subject to data checks or sequence checks depending on the settings specified in device control page 3 for position absolute commands . synchronization of any buffered write data will be attempted when this order is accepted . any motion command which attempts to cross an end of data mark as a result of specifying a logical block number not in the current domain for the current partition or in the non - residual domain if the target partition differs from the current partition , will terminate with a unit check indicating boundary exception , end of data encountered . a subsequent motion command which attempts to move beyond the end of data mark will succeed , if the dcp3 control enabling residual data access is set ( otherwise it will terminate with a unit check indicating boundary exception , end of data encountered ). in this case , the medium is now positioned in a residual data domain . the first motion command will likely fail with a unit check indicating data check , block sequence error . this command is subject to the same unit checking rules as those for the locate command except that an additional execution exception is added : partition not found , and an additional command reject is added : parameter in conflict ( to cover the case where the specified logical block number type does not match the block pointer format currently active for the device ). in a residual data domain , all commands continue to operate as specified , however , all positioning ( loc , fsf , bsf , fsb , bsb , posrel 400 , posab 700 ) will be performed at read speed only . the position pointer returned by the position sense command may be used as the final 24 bytes of the position absolute command 700 parameter data . the locate file ( lf ) order 702 of the position absolute command 700 requests the logical medium to be adjusted to the file indicated by the file number and the partition number ( if valid ) position pointer specified in the parameter data . the command works in conjunction with the data reported by the position sense command . an exemplary lf order causes 28 bytes of data to be transferred from the channel to control unit , which may include order flags ; validity flags ; identifier flags ; partition number ( pn ); and file number ( fn ). the order flags may include bits to indicate synchronous / asynchronous operation of the command , as well as an indicator that program notification of completion will be provided when the command is executing as asynchronously . the validity flags may include partition number ( pn ) valid , if set , and file number ( fn ) valid , if set . the identifier flags are ignored for this order . on a non - partitioned volume , if the pn field is indicated as valid , the partition number must be 0 . on a partitioned volume , the pn field is set to the partition number to be positioned to prior to further positioning . partition numbers are assigned incrementally starting with 0 for the first partition on the volume . if the pn field is indicated as invalid , the current partition is assumed . the file number represents a file number within the specified partition and the current ( possibly residual ) data domain , where file numbers start from 0 at bop and increment following each tape mark . absolute file numbers may be non - unique across end - of - data mark ( residual data ) domains . for a labeled tape , each header label group defines a file , the user data defines a file , and the trailer label group defines a file . as the flowchart 850 of fig8 illustrates , the ending position for lf is achieved with the following exemplary procedure : at step 832 , a determination is made whether pn ( n ) is indicated as valid . if so , then the tape is positioned to bop of the indicated partition , at step 834 , and the fn is validated , at step 842 . if the pn cannot be found , which determination is made at step 832 , then the command is presented unit check status indicating execution exception , partition not found , at step 838 . if the pn is indicated as invalid , which determination is made at step 832 , then the tape remains at current position , at step 840 , and the fn is checked , at step 842 . if fn is indicated as valid , then , at step 836 , a determination is made whether fn n − 1 is valid . if fn n − 1 is valid , then , at step 844 , from the current position , the tape is repositioned immediately following tape mark n − 1 in the current partition ( assuming n was specified ). fn n − 1 is validated at step 836 . if n = 0 , which determination is made at step 836 , the tape is positioned to bop according to device dependent mechanisms , at step 848 . if fn n − 1 cannot be found , as determined at step 836 , then the command is presented unit check status indicating execution exception , file not found , at step 852 . if neither pn nor fn is valid , then the command is presented unit check status indicating command reject , parameter error , at step 851 . the order is subject to data checks or sequence checks depending on the settings specified in device control page 3 for position absolute commands . synchronization of any buffered write data will be attempted when this order is accepted . any motion command which attempts to cross an end of data mark as a result of specifying a file number not in the current domain for the current partition or in the non - residual domain if the target partition differs from the current partition , will terminate with a unit check indicating boundary exception , end of data encountered . a subsequent motion command which attempts to move beyond the end of data mark will succeed , if the dcp3 control enabling residual data access is set ( otherwise it will terminate with a unit check indicating boundary exception , end - of - data encountered ). in this case , the medium is now positioned in a residual data domain . the first motion command will likely fail with a unit check indicating data check , block sequence error . this command is subject to the same unit checking rules as those for the locate command except that two additional execution exceptions are added : partition not found and file not found . in a residual data domain , all commands continue to operate as specified , however , all positioning ( loc , fsf , bsf , fsb , bsb , posrel 400 , posab 700 ) will be performed at read speed only . the position pointer returned by the position sense command may be used as the final 24 bytes of the position absolute command 700 parameter data . the locate physical reference index ( lpri ) order 703 of the position absolute command 700 requests the logical medium to be adjusted to the physical position indicated by the physical reference index specified in the parameter data . the command works in conjunction with the data reported by the position sense command . an exemplary lpri order causes 28 bytes of data to be transferred from the channel to control unit . such data may include order flags ; validity flags ; identifier flags ; and a physical reference index ( pri ). the order flags may include bits to indicate synchronous / asynchronous operation of the command , as well as an indicator that program notification of completion will be provided when the command is executing as asynchronously . the validity flags may include bits to indicate , e . g . physical reference index ( pri ) valid , if set . the identifier flags may include physical reference index type , tach regions ( least significant bit )+ wrap counter ( next most significant bit ), and / or segment & amp ; wrap identifier . the physical reference index ( pri ) defines a physical area on a tape volume that can be used as a starting point for subsequent searches by block or file number . as the flowchart 850 of fig8 illustrates , the ending position for lpri is achieved with the following exemplary procedure : at step 860 , a determination is made whether the pri is indicated as valid . if so , then the tape is positioned to a point nominally at the indicated pri , at step 861 . if the pri cannot be found , which determination is made at step 860 , then the command is presented unit check status indicating execution exception , physical reference index not found , at step 862 . if the pri is indicated as invalid , which determination is made at step 860 , then the command is presented unit check status indicating command reject , parameter error , at step 863 . this is never supported when device virtualization is active . the locate physical reference index order is subject to data checks or sequence checks depending on the settings specified in device control page 3 for position absolute commands . synchronization of any buffered write data will be attempted when this order is accepted . locate physical reference index will terminate with a unit check indicating protection exception , mode protect , if the dcp3 control enabling residual data access is not set — regardless of whether the pri is in the first ( or non - residual ) data domain or not . it is also subject to unit checking for execution exception , physical reference index not found . otherwise it follows the same unit checking rules as those for the locate command . in a residual data domain , all commands continue to operate as specified , however , all positioning ( loc , fsf , bsf , fsb , bsb , posrel 400 , posab 700 ) will be performed at read speed only . the position pointer returned by the position sense command may be used as the final 24 bytes of the position absolute command 700 parameter data . the present invention comprises a new position sense ( posns ) command , which retrieves the current logical medium position including partition number ( pn ), channel logical block number ( clbn ), file number ( fn ), and physical reference index ( pri ) associated with the channel logical block number on the physical medium . an exemplary posns command causes 28 bytes of data to be transferred from the control unit to the channel . such data may include a position pointer that comprises all fields that are defined and known at the time the command is issued . when the block pointer is undefined , as when there is no associated medium , the block pointers returned are consistent with the block pointers associated with beginning of volume ( bov ). the channel logical block number does not necessarily match the device logical block number . if a comparison of the scsi read position last block location does not match the current channel logical block number , then validity flag synchronization indicators of the position pointer are set to zero . if the block numbers match , then validity flag synchronization indicators are set to one . if it is necessary to have the position pointer fields synchronized between the channel and tape position , then the host may perform some form of tape position synchronization . if the device is in write mode then this could be accomplished via a sync command . if the device is in read mode then this could be accomplished via a rew command followed by a loc command back to the current channel position . it is noted that , since the control unit performs read ahead of the data from the device , issuing just a loc command from the host without issuing the rew command may result in only repositioning within the control unit and not within the drive . by also issuing the rew command the host is therefore guaranteed that the drive will actually be repositioned to the current channel position . it is further noted that , due to the drive &# 39 ; s internal implementation of data blocking within physical blocks , it may not be possible to guarantee that the locate physical reference index ( lpri ) position will be synchronized with the logical block number ( lbn ) or file number ( fn ) fields . the file number ( fn ) returned by the posns command when in either read mode or in write mode is always the file number associated with the beginning of the current file . for read mode , this is true independent of the current read direction ( either read forward or read backward / previous ). applicants &# 39 ; invention includes a data storage and retrieval system comprising a computer useable medium having computer readable program code disposed therein for implementing applicants &# 39 ; method to record information in alternative information storage architectures using a data storage device having a fixed device architecture . applicants &# 39 ; invention further includes a data storage and retrieval system comprising a computer useable medium having computer readable program code disposed therein for implementing applicants &# 39 ; method to increase the positioning speed of data storage media . the programming of the present invention may comprise a computer program product embodied as program code stored in a storage device , such as a magnetic disk drive or memory , etc ., in a computer , or may comprise an article of manufacture , such as a cd rom , magnetic tape , etc . the control logic described herein may be implemented in an hsm program maintained in a host system , which generates commands to cause the tape subsystem to perform the desired input / output operations with respect to tape cartridges ( or other data storage media ). those skilled in the art will recognize that some portions of the logic could be implemented in locations other than the host system , such as within the tape subsystem . moreover , the operations and components described herein with respect to the host system , tape subsystem , and hsm program may be implemented in a single computer machine or distributed across a plurality of computer machines . while the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in detail , it should be apparent that modifications and adaptations to those embodiments may occur to one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims .
| 8General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology
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generally , the following description includes apparatus for generating , by domain splitting , predictable and reproducible single - wall domains for conventional domain information storage system and also predictable and reproducible domains having multiple state wall topologies suitable for a greater than binary base data representation . the domains generated are for a lattice type of information store such as disclosed in u . s . patent application , ser . no . 395 , 336 , filed on sept . 7 , 1973 entitled &# 34 ; systems using lattice arrays of interactive elements &# 34 ; and assigned to the assignee of the present invention . the theory behind the instant invention is given in an article entitled &# 34 ; domain formation and associated wall states &# 34 ; by b . a . calhoun and otto voegeli , the inventor of this application , published in the ieee transaction on magnetics , vol . mag - 9 , no . 4 , december 1973 at pp . 617 - 621 . as is discussed therein , each splitting process creates a pair of bloch lines . all bloch lines produced in domain splitting have a given sense of rotation and are labelled as negative bloch lines . either one resultant domain acquires both lines or each of the two resulting domains acquires one of the lines , depending on the splitting mechanism and the topology of the walls to be split . the first process occurs when a direction of wall magnetization m in one wall segment is antiparallel to the magnetization of the other wall segment of the same domain to which it is to be recombined by the splitting process . the second process occurs when the bloch lines in the mother domain are on opposite sides of the splitting point . in the present invention , one of the two resultant domain acquires both of the bloch lines . although some theoretical aspects were discussed in the above publication , the results of domain splitting were indeterminate until the present invention . for instance on page 620 , experimental evidence , it is stated that an original or mother bubble domain having a state s = 0 can be split into two s = 0 bubble domains , or one s =- 1 and one s = 1 bubble domain . the end result before applicant &# 39 ; s invention was random . applicant &# 39 ; s invention shows how these processes can be controlled to obtain known wall states in the resultant domains after a splitting process . the process steps for generating binary state and multistate bubble domains according to the present invention is shown in fig1 a . the visualization of the ocurrence to the bubble domain in the process is illustrated in fig1 b , 2a db 2b . an apparatus for accomplishing the process is shown in fig3 . a representation of the different wall states achieved by the different bubble domains is shown in fig4 . for purposes of this description , wall state shall refer to the net rotation of wall magnetization . wall state s thus measures the integral number of times the wall magnetization m rotates about the film normal moving once counterclockwise about the domain boundary . wall topology is a more general term meaning the arrangement of wall magnetization including wall chirality as well as bloch line position . referring to fig1 and 3 , the domain d 0 is generated preferably by nucleation in a host magnetic material 10 of a rare earth orthoferrite or garnet material , for example , by applying electrical currents i 2 and i 3 to conductors 12 and 14 , respectively , in the presence of an in - plane magnetic field . the domain d 0 of diagram ( a ) of fig2 a includes two bloch lines b within its wall w . for the purposes of this disclosure , a domain having one pair of bloch lines is given a designation of a wall state s = 0 . the different states that can be acquired by a domain will be explained in more detail later in fig4 . the nucleation of a bubble domain with a pair of bloch lines can be accomplished by the activation of two transverse conductors by an electrical current as shown in fig3 with the application of an in - plane control field at the nucleation site . the resultant bubble domain will have one pair of bloch lines pointing in the direction of the unipolar in - plane control field . using the current direction i 2 and i 3 and an in - plane field pointing in the direction of the arrow 23 , a bubble domain 22a having a state s = 0 with bloch lines b will be nucleated . the domain d 0 in fig2 a and 3 is shown having a magnetization pointing out of the plane of the figure . this assumes that the convention is adapted that the host domain layer 10 is saturated magnetically in a negative or downward direction along an axis normal to the plane of the layer and that the magnetization of the single - wall domain are in a upward or positive direction along the same axis . consequently , the bias field h b for the domains is shown having a negative direction into the plane of the figure . the next step in the process is to position bloch lines , if any , prior to the splitting process . this is achieved by translating the domain to a center position 22b . the translation of the domain moves the bloch lines along the wall until they reach a steady stated position as indicated by domain 22b . the theory of such bloch line motion , resulting from gyro - magnetic spaces within a moving domain all , has been discussed by g . p . vella colerio et al . in the article &# 34 ; dynamic properties of ` hard ` magnetic bubbles &# 34 ;, published in the physical review letter , volume 29 , number 14 , oct . 2 , 1972 . once the bloch lines have reached the indicated position , their position remains unchanged by further translation as is shown by the domain in position 22c . domain translation for bloch line positioning is produced by currents i 1 and - i 2 . if current i 1 is of sufficient magnitude to lower the bias field h b below the run - out field , the domain will assume the elongated shape of the stripe domain 22c . the final domain length is determined by the current concentration produced by the constricted geometry of conductor 16 . the next step is to incline the wall magnetization in the elongated section by either applying a unipolar in - plane control field hc or a velocity component to the elongated domain . this is shown in fig1 b . the tilt or inclination direction of the wall magnetization as a result of the in - plane field or the velocity component depends upon the magnetization direction of the domain and the bloch wall magnetization direction . referring to fig1 b , the different diagrams , ( a )-( h ), show the reaction of the wall magnetization m within the bloch wall w according to the direction of an in - plane magnetic control field hc or a velocity producing means . the arrows hc and v shows the applied control field direction and the motion direction , respectively , of the diagrams on either side of the arrows . for instance , in diagrams ( a ) and ( b ), the direction of the magnetic control field produces the same downward inclination direction in the wall magnetization direction . the inclination direction of the wall magnetization as a result of the velocity direction v depends on the direction of magnetization of the bubble domain relative to the media and the direction of the wall magnetization . this is more fully described in the article &# 34 ; ferromagnetic domain theory &# 34 ;, by c . kittel and j . k . galt in &# 34 ; solid state physics 3 &# 34 ;, ( 1956 ) at p . 437 . the inclination of the wall magnetization produced in the domain d 2 of diagram ( d ) of fig2 a is shown in more detail in diagrams ( e ) and ( f ) of fig1 b , with diagram ( e ) representing the top wall of the domain in the plane of fig2 a and diagram ( f ), the bottom wall . the next step in the process of fig1 a is to split the stripe domain into two domains while the wall magnetization is inclined . this is accomplished in the diagram of fig3 when the current i 3 in conductor 14 is pulsed while the stripe domain is positioned thereunder . means for elongating and splitting bubble domains are well known as evidenced by the u . s . pat . no . 3 , 727 , 197 issued to hsu chang on apr . 10 , 1973 and entitled &# 34 ; magnetic means for collapsing and splitting of cylindrical domains &# 34 ;. the means shown in fig3 should not be taken to limit the present invention to the particular apparatus , it being evident that other apparatus could be substituted by those skilled in this art . referring to fig3 the direction of the current i 3 determines the edge of conductor 14 at which the stripe domain splits and reforms . the two walls of the stripe domain will recombine in the region of the in - plane control field hc and the domain d 0 is split into two domains d 1 and d 2 as shown in fig2 a . according to the present invention , domain d 1 will have a state s = 1 having no bloch lines . domain d 2 , however , since the recombining of the walls is under the influence of the control field h c , will have two pairs of bloch lines pointing in the direction of the applied control field h c . domain d 2 is therefore considered to have a state s =- 1 . by a similar process with the unipolar in - plane field h c pointing in an upward direction , it can be similarly shown that domain d 1 will have a pair of bloch lines pointing in an upward direction with domain d 2 keeping its one pair of bloch lines . both daughter domains will have a state s = 0 . it should be evident from diagrams ( e ) and ( f ) of fig1 b that a velocity component v applied to the elongated stripe domain in diagram ( d ) of fig2 a , in the reverse direction as the direction of the in - plane control field hc will accomplish the same wall magnetization inclination direction . therefore , the resultant bubble domains d 1 and d 2 will have the same wall states . domain d 1 will have a state d = 1 , no bloch lines , and domain d 2 will acquire all four bloch lines . the bloch lines b in diagram ( c ) are both on one side of the splitting mechanism , the wall magnetization m at the split is antiparallel and therefore one domain will get both added bloch lines . for utilization purposes , the domain having a state s = 1 can be annihilated and the state s =- 1 domain can be either used or placed through the process again to obtain a more negative state bubble domain as shown in fig4 . the several pairs of bloch lines for the more negative state bubble domain can be localized by propagation as before , elongated into a stripe domain and split in a unipolar in - plane field to add another pair of bloch lines . thus , bubble domains of many different wall topologies can be produced and stored in the utilization means for usage therein to represent numbers having a base in excess of two . several ways of accomplishing domains of wall topologies usable for storing data are shown in fig8 and 9 and will be discussed later . the bubble domain d 1 of fig2 a can be used to produce two bubble domains usable to represent binary data as shown in fig2 b . referring to fig2 b , the domain d 1 can be taken through the process steps of fig1 a to develop two daughter domains d 3 and d 4 . since a domain having a state s = 1 has no bloch lines , the step of positioning the bloch lines is not required . thus , if a bubble domain having a state s = 1 is generated according to the steps just discussed for fig2 a , this domain can be elongated , have its wall magnetization inclined , and split into two domains . the result is the steps diagrammed in fig2 b . after the step of elongating the bubble domain , the domain d , in diagram ( b ) of fig2 b has the wall magnetization structure as shown in diagram ( c ) and ( d ) of fig1 b , with diagram ( c ) representing the lower wall in the plane of fig2 b and diagram ( d ) representing the upper wall . thus , a velocity component v or a unipolar in - plane magnetic field h c in the same direction will cause a wall magnetization inclination direction in an upward direction resulting in domain d 4 getting the added pair of bloch lines . if the velocity component v or the magnetic control field h c is reversed in direction , the wall magnetization inclination direction will be as shown in diagram ( a ) and ( b ) of fig1 b . the result would be that domain d 3 would receive the pair of bloch lines and domain d 4 would have no bloch lines . the two bubble domains generated in fig2 b are usable to represent binary data information . the bubble domain having a state s = 1 can be recirculated in the process of fig2 b to continually generate bubble domains having a state s = 0 for storage by the utilization means . the process as developed in fig2 b can be the generating process step in arriving at the daughter domains shown in fig2 a . the process described in fig2 b can therefore become a recirculating device . the domain d 3 is recirculated and reused and the domain d 4 is used in a process according to fig2 a to produce two domains usable to represent binary data . fig4 shows the wall state s of various domains with an appendant wall topology . in fig4 arrows designate wall chiralities and bloch line polarities , respectively . the three domains having a wall state s equal to 1 exemplify that s is unchanged by line pairs with opposite sign ( left most domain ). such bloch lines can unwind while the magnetization remains continuous to yield either of the two other domains shown with the same state . in contrast , a transition between different states requires a discontinuity in the spin distribution and is thus opposed by an exchange energy barrier . as a result of this barrier , domains retain the state acquired during their formation over a fairly wide range of drive conditions . wall states are unlimited in integer values and therefore the number shown in fig4 should not be taken as limiting the present invention . an algebraic representation of the splitting process is shown between each state for the domains of fig2 a and 2b , and a further state s =- 2 is shown . every domain splitting process creates a new pair of bloch lines with the resulting two domains having wall states whose sum equals the state of the original domain . without chiral switching , the most positive state possible , after n number of splitting processes , is 1 . the most negative state possible is either - n or 1 - n , depending on whether the first domain was nucleated within or from an edge of the sample . if an n number of splitting processes n + 1 number of closed domains are generated from a first domain , then the sum of the n + 1 states equals the state of the first domain . in terms of bloch lines therefore , after n number of splitting processes there are 2n more lines with a state - 1 / 2 in the sample than there are lines with state + 1 / 2 . fig5 a and 5b show a visual representation of the generation of open - ended mother domains d 0 with unichiral wall magnetization . in fig5 a the domain d 0 having a clockwise chiral wall topology is generated by nucleation from an edge 30 or some magnetic discontinuity in a host domain layer 32 . a unipolar in - plane control field h c is generated across the edge 30 of the host layer 32 . to generate a domain d 0 having the clockwise chirality , the polarity of h c must be in the direction of the arrow 34 shown in fig5 a pointed in a downward direction in the plane of the figure . further as shown in fig5 b , a unichiral domain d 0 having a different wall topology but the same state s = 1 can be controllably generated by reversing the direction of the unipolar in - plane field h c . the field h c is shown pointed upward in the plane of the figure creating a domain d 0 having a counterclockwise chiral wall topology . thus , the polarity of the field h . sub . c across the nucleation area controls the wall chirality of the resultant domain . as is well known in the art , the direction of chirality of domains can be used to store binary data . further , the unichiral domains can be further split to form domains having a multiple state wall topology as shown in fig6 a and 6b . referring to fig6 a , the domain d 0 is shown generated by nucleation in diagram ( a ) from the edge 30 or some discontinuity in the host domain layer 32 . the domain d 0 has a clockwise chirality . in diagram ( b ), a unipolar in - plane field h i is generated as a wall magnetization inclining means across some section of the elongated domain segment . the two walls of the domain d 0 are then recombined by a conductor for instance , to form a unichiral segment domain d 1 attached to the edge 30 and a circular or bubble domain d 2 with a pair of bloch lines b separating the chiral wall segments of the domain d 2 . as shown in diagram ( c ) of fig6 a , the direction of chirality of the original mother domain d 0 and the direction of the in - plane field h c determined the wall state of the segment and the resultant bubble domain . in fig6 a the domain d 1 has a state s - 1 while the domain d 2 has a state s = 0 ( see fig4 ). in fig6 b , a domain d 0 having the same clockwise unichiral wall topology as shown in fig5 a is illustrated . in diagram ( b ) of fig6 b , the in - plane field h c is in the opposite or upward direction across the domain segment d 0 to that applied in fig6 a . with the opposite polarity of field h c and after the splitting process as shown in diagram ( c ), resultant segment domain d 1 has a state s = 0 with a pair of bloch lines in its wall . domain d 2 has a state s = 1 since it is a unichiral bubble domain . thus , by nucleating a bubble domain across an edge or discontinuity of the host magnetic material in a unipolar in - plane field , a controlled chirality segment domain can be created . this segment domain can be further split in a unipolar in - plane field directed across the segment to controllably generate a bubble domain having a known wall topology depending upon the chirality of the nucleated domain and the direction of the in - plane field placed across the segment . it is further obvious that the segment domain d 1 of fig6 b can be further elongated and further split as described previously to obtain multiple state wall topology segment or bubble domains . also the domain d 2 of fig6 a could be elongated as shown in the steps of fig2 b and controllably split in the presence of a directed unipolar in - plane field to creat higher state bubble domains . thus , another process for controllably generating bubble domains of a known wall topology includes the steps of applying a unipolar in - plane field across an edge or discontinuity of a bubble medium and generating an elongated segment domain from this edge of the bubble medium , as shown in fig5 a and 5b , inclining the wall magnetization in the elongated section of the segment bubble domain and splitting the segment domain into two domains . by controlling the inclination direction of the wall magnetization through the applied in - plane field or a velocity inducing means , the resultant segment bubble domain and circular bubble domain will have a known wall topology , as shown in fig6 a and 6b . fig7 shows a block diagram of an information storage system using magnetic domains having dissimilar wall topologies each with different dynamic properties . for a complete description of a magnetic domain system using different wall topology magnetic domains , reference is herein made to the aforementioned u . s . patent application , ser . no . 395 , 336 , filed on sept . 7 , 1973 , and the description is incorporated herein for the purposes of showing a system utilizing the domains produced according to the present invention . as was discussed in that application , domains having different wall states deflect at a different angle in a uniform field gradient . thus by using this different deflection characteristic an information store can , by using the present invention , store data having a base in excess of two . the information store of fig7 comprises a host magnetic layer 34 in which the domains exist . a domain wall topology control means 36 generates the domains having specific wall topologies according to the present invention and the data information to be stored in a store means 38 in the information storage device . a bias field generator 40 generates the field h z which controls the size of the domains in the host layer . a propagation means 42 controls the propagation of the domains in the host layer . there are many types of propagation means that can be used to suffice for the present invention including the well known t and i bar configuration as well as conductors and others well known in the art . the store means 38 could be any of the conventional bubble stores including a bubble shift register of common design or a lattice . to retrieve data stored in the store means 38 , the bubble domains are propagated into a domain sensing means 44 comprising for the preferred embodiment , a discriminating means 46 and sensors 48 . the discriminating means 46 capitalizes on the property of the domains having different wall states that all domains of one state will follow a certain path which path is different for other states . the domains can be selectively taken from the store means 38 and sent to the discriminating means 46 where they can be detected such as by being deflected into the different paths 52 , 54 or 56 depending upon the wall state of the particular domain . the discriminating means 46 separates domains having different properties representing different data so that each domain can be individually detected by the sensors 48 . the sensors 48 can comprise any type of magnetic domain sensing equipment such as magnetoresistive sensors . after being detected , the domains are either destroyed , sent to further circuitry , or returned to the domain wall topology control means 36 where they are selectively separated to indicate a specific data information again . a signal indicating the type of domain detected is sent to a utilization device 50 for use therein . the control of the sequences of operation for the domain wall state control means 36 , the bias field generator 40 , the propagation means 42 , the domain sensing means 44 , and the utilization device 50 is under the control of a control means 58 . the control means 58 controls the sequence of operation to form the domain according to the data required , to propagate the domain into the store means for storage , and then out of the store means for sensing when retrieval is required . the various means and circuits shown in fig9 may be any such element capable of operating in accordance with this invention . in fig8 a and 8b are illustrated in block diagram form and symbolic representation , various applications of the instant invention to a useful end . referring to fig8 a , the block diagrams illustrate that bubble domains can be nucleated or otherwise generated in a generating means 60 , can be elongated , have its wall magnetization inclined , and be split in a controlled wall state forming means 62 , which results in two bubble domains having a no . 1 state 64 and a no . 2 state 66 . the bubble domain can then be selectively used by a utilization means 68 for any binary representation . the three symbolic representations ( a ), ( b ), and ( c ) of fig8 a illustrate the potential states obtainable by changing the original bubble domain state and / or the direction of the wall magnetization inclining means such as the velocity or in - plane magnetic field direction . the wall magnetization inclining means is represented by the arrows in the three flow symbolic representations . in fig8 a ( c ), if a bubble domain starts with a state s = 1 , see fig2 b , the resulting bubble domain states are s = 1 and s = 0 . the no . 1 and no . 2 states flow paths are labled in the flow symbolic representations in the same position as in the block diagram . diagram representations ( a ) and ( b ) illustrate that reversing the wall magnetization inclination direction results in different daughter domain states . diagram ( b ) is representative of the procedure shown in fig2 a . fig8 b shows that a system can result with a binary representation by bubble domain states without requiring a decision in the utilization means . the block diagram includes a generating means 70 and a controlled wall state forming means 72 connected to an annihilating means 74 and a utilization means 76 . symbolically represented , therefore , the bubble domains developed on the right , no . 2 states , are used while the bubble domains developed on the left , no . 1 states , are annihilated . a bubble domain in nucleated or otherwise generated in the generating means 70 having a state s = 1 . the wall magnetization inclining means of the controlled wall state forming means 72 is direction activated according to the one of two bubble domain states required . if a bubble domain having a state s = 1 is required , the left or dotted path is taken . the domain having the state s = 0 is annihilated in the annihilating means 74 . if the reverse is required , the inclining means direction is reversed as represented by the arrow 78a which is pointing in the opposite direction to the arrow 78b in the dotted line path . using the solid line path with the reversed wall magnetization means direction , the utilized domain will have a state s = 0 while the annihilated bubble domain will have a state s = 1 . similar diagrams are shown in fig9 a and 9b . in fig9 a , three controlled wall state forming means are combined to provide a ternary system instead of a binary system . a generating means 80 starts by generating a bubble domain having a state s = 0 . this domain is directed to a controlled wall state forming means 82 wherein two domains both having a state s = 0 is generated . the no . 1 state bubble domain is directed to the second controlled wall state forming means 84 which operates on the bubble domain in the same fashion as the controlled wall state forming means 82 . again the resultant bubble domain with a no . 3 and no . 4 state both have a state s = 0 . the no . 3 state domain is recycled so that another bubble domain will not have to be nucleated in the generating means 80 . the no . 4 state bubble domain is directed to a utilization means 86 . the no . 2 state bubble domain is directed to the third controlled wall state forming means 88 wherein the wall magnetization inclining means is reversed relative to the controlled wall state forming means 82 and 84 . as shown in fig8 a , the resultant bubble domain no . 5 state and no . 6 state will have a wall state s =- 1 and s = 1 , respectively . these domains are also directed to the utilization means 86 . the utilization means 86 thus can select one of three domains as representing a ternary system storage . it should be evident that higher than binary and ternary states are possible using the present invention . further controlled wall state forming means can be added to accomplish a domain having a wall state s =- 2 and then a quadruplex system can be developed . other combinations of systems as shown in fig8 a and 8b can be connected to attain different binary and higher base bit storage systems . for instance , in fig9 b , a recirculating binary system is shown wherein the bubble domains utilized are further separated in wall states . a nucleating means 90 starts by generating the first bubble domain having a wall state s = 0 . this domain is directed to a controlled wall state forming means 92 wherein both resultant domains , no . 1 state and no . 2 state , have a wall state s = 0 . the no . 2 state domain is shown directed to another controlled wall state forming means 94 . the no . 1 state domain is recirculated so that no further domains need be nucleated . the controlled wall state forming means 94 uses the opposite wall magnetization direction means to generate a no . 3 and no . 4 state domains having a state s =- 1 , respectively . these domains are then directed to a utilization means 96 . the domain having a wall state s =- 1 and 1 are used because the difference between the two domains is 2 pairs of bloch lines . binary data is therefore not easily lost if , by some manner , the domain having a state s =- 1 loses one pair of bloch lines . the principles of the invention have now been made clear in an illustrative embodiment . it will be immediately obvious to those skilled in the art many modifications of structures , arrangements , proportion , the elements materials and components used in the practice of the invention . for instance , a stripe domain is shown in the preferred embodiment being created by decreasing the bias field normal to this plane . it is evident that a stripe domain can be formed by other methods such as by the use of a loop conductor which causes a bubble domain entering the loop to elongate into a stripe domain . further , other sensing means which uses other properties of the multistate domains than the deflection property can be used . for instance , the number of lines in the bloch wall of a domain can be sensed directly by magnetoresistive sensing to sense the different states of the multistate domain . the appended claims are therefore intended to cover and embrace any such modification , within the limits only of the true spirit and scope of the invention .
| 6Physics
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referring now to fig1 - 4 , and as best illustrated in fig1 , a dressing or compress 100 is illustrated having a lower shell 102 and a flexible upper backing 104 which are joined or otherwise fastened to one another to form a series of enclosures 106 there between . the enclosures are provided for the containment and relatively uniform distribution of a plurality of fill granules 108 placed therein . the enclosures may be fashioned as filled pods which are draped from the backing . the shell 102 forms the contact surface of the dressing or compress used to drape or form the bottom of the filled enclosures which are to be placed against the tissue to be treated , and to conform to the shape of the treatment area . the backing forms the smoother outer surface of the dressing or compress facing away from the treatment area . the enclosures 106 may be defined as hexagons using patterned seams 110 for local symmetry and efficient regular plane division . an illustrative hexagonal pattern 200 of enclosures 202 is illustrated in fig2 . the enclosures might also be fashioned as circles , octagons , or of any desired shape as may be appropriated for the desired treatment . the enclosures may be selectively sized as appropriate to the application . each hexagonal shaped enclosure 202 has a lengthwise dimension 204 extending from a first corner to an opposite second corner thereof . for example , and not by way of limitation , this dimension may be in the range of from approximately one inch to approximately four inches in length . large treatment areas such as the human torso or appendages may best be served with enclosures having a dimension 204 extending lengthwise for approximately 4 inches . highly contoured areas such as the face may best be served with enclosures having a dimension 204 of approximately 1 inch in length . an alternate dressing or compress 300 is illustrated in fig3 , having a plurality of hexagonal patterned enclosures 302 . each of the enclosures may also be formed as a channel - like rectangle , as illustrated in fig4 . the embodiment of the dressing or compress 400 is formed to have several channel enclosures 402 formed within a wrap compress having securing ties 404 . so constructed , the dressing or compress 400 may be provided for the treatment of soreness or strains of the human back . the size of the enclosures and overall dressing are selected to serve the desired treatment . selected single sites for treatment such as the eye may best be treated using a single enclosure dressing or compress appropriately sized and shaped to rest comfortably in the eye hollow of the human face . the dressing or compress may be shaped as a regular or irregular polygon , any smooth closed curve , or any closed combination of line segments and smooth curves . the invention is not limited to constructions conforming to or only serving the human body . the invention provides a potentially useful treatment for the ailments of mammals and any animals benefiting from the healing properties of moisture and / or heat therapy . a fluid - permeable , i . e ., a vapor - permeable and / or a liquid - permeable protective outer cover ( not illustrated ) may be provided to encompass the compress . this may be preferable to limit contamination of the dressing or compress . for the treatment of open wounds , an uncovered disposable dressing ( not illustrated ) may be preferred for optimal formable contact with , and healing of , the exposed tissues . the fill contained within the enclosure or enclosures may comprise a synthetic porous crystalline granular aluminosilicate zeolite , commonly used as a molecular sieve material , or other substances with similar properties . the fill material may further comprise other inert additives and physical matrices without affecting the antimicrobial and hydrous efficacies of the fill . silver loading of the fill may be attained by the process of ion - exchange , as known . in this process , a solution containing atomic silver or a composition of silver bathes , or is passed through , a bed of the fill granules 108 ( fig1 ). an ion - exchange column method , as known in the art , may be performed in which an aqueous solution containing atomic silver or a composition of silver may be passed through a column bed of the fill granules , and the eluted solution may again be passed through the bed or may receive additional silver and then be again passed through the bed . various ion - exchange schedules known in the art may be applied to produce retention of the silver . the final content by weight of the atomic silver or silver composition may be as high as twenty percent of the final loaded fill granules . the loaded fill granules produced by ion - exchange will exhibit high retention of the silver even under subsequent exposure to fluids and microwave irradiation . the fill granules may comprise a blend of both loaded and unloaded zeolite or a substance retaining silver . the presence of the atomic silver or silver composition will not interfere with the useful properties of the fill granules such as the moisture desorption and adsorption properties which may be desirable in the use of the dressing or compress . the inherent hydrophilic nature of the zeolite provides that a substantial water content is available therein by absorption from the atmosphere . the water so absorbed may be sufficient , or may be supplemented by manually added water , for providing the microwave responsive water content of the dressing or compress . the compositions of silver used may include but are not limited to , silver compounds , and silver salts such as silver chloride and silver nitrate . the presence of the silver within the fill granules contained in the enclosure of the invention provides anti - microbial properties to the dressing or compress . the ion - exchange loaded fill granules will retain the silver despite microwave heating as may be required in the use of the dressing or compress , which prevents the release of silver into a treated wound if the invention is used as a dressing . further , the retention of the silver within the fill granules provides assured antimicrobial performance in a reusable and potentially washable , if so desired , moist heat therapy compress . in the described embodiments of the invention , the lower shell and the upper backing are each constructed of materials known in the art . each may therefore be comprised of multilayered laminates , for example , with pore sizes selectable to meet the moisture transmission and retention properties desired for the specific treatment sought . the dressing or compress is adapted to be placed and to remain in intimate contact with the area to be treated to maintain a heated and / or moist environment thereabout . dressing or compress constructions using woven textiles of natural fibers have been found to have limited spatial conformance to the various shapes , dimples , wrinkles and joints offered by the human body , although these materials may be used if so desired . accordingly , preferred dressing or compress constructions will use formable woven and non - woven synthetic materials or combinations thereof which may include , but are not limited to , synthetic olefin , polyester , urethane , and nylon . the shell and the backing may be fastened together across the area of the dressing or compress with a fill material , the fill granules 108 , received there between . the shell and the backing may be fastened to one another by methods which may include , but are not limited to , adhesive attachment , rf welding , ultra - sonic attachment , sewing , or patterned heat application using a template or forming die to form a seal . to provide for the secure placement of the dressing or compress , peripheral or attachment fastening devices may be included which may comprise the desired number of velcro ® fasteners , adhesives , high tactility polymer materials , and / or material ties . throughout the construction of the dressing or compress , attention and care is taken in the selection of materials regarding thermal response to microwave heating . for design simplicity , all synthetic , microwave non - responsive materials may be selected to provide that the fill and / or water content of a moistened dressing or compress provide the only substantial thermal response to microwave irradiation . although several embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in the foregoing specification , it is understood by those skilled in the art that many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind to which the invention pertains , having the benefit of the teaching presented in the foregoing description and associated drawings . it is thus understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed hereinabove , and that many modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the invention . moreover , although specific terms are employed herein , they are used only in a generic and descriptive sense , and not for the purposes of limiting the described invention . the words “ a ,” “ an ,” or “ the ” can mean one or more , depending upon the context in which the words are used hereinabove .
| 0Human Necessities
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in this description , unless otherwise noted , if the same reference numeral is used in different figs . it refers to the same entity . otherwise , reference numerals of each fig . start with the same number as the number of that fig . for example , fig3 has reference numerals in the “ 300 ” category and fig4 has reference numerals in the “ 400 ” category , etc . also , when the term “ signal ” is used , it is intended to include the plural “ signals ” if there is more than one electrical conductor involved in transmitting or receiving signals . similarly when the term “ path ” is used , it is intended to include the plural “ paths ” if there is more than one signal , such as a positive polarity signal and a negative polarity signal , being transmitted and received along such path or paths . in overview , exemplary embodiments of the claimed subject matter relate to ethernet test - set cables or methods for testing ethernet cables and their connections . in a first exemplary embodiment , a method is provided for testing ethernet cables and their connections . the method comprises connecting one end of an ethernet cable to an ethernet port of a first network element which is connected to other network elements over a network and connecting two other ends of the ethernet cable to two ethernet ports , respectively , of an ethernet test - set which controls the testing . thereafter , a test signal is sent from one of the two ethernet ports over the cable to the ethernet port of the first network element ; and a return test signal is received from the ethernet port of the first network element over the cable in the other of the two ethernet ports in the ethernet test - set . in a second exemplary embodiment , the cable includes first mutually - insulated conductive paths interconnecting a first ethernet port of an ethernet test - set and a first ethernet port of a first network element . there are also second mutually - insulated conductive paths , sheathed together with the first mutually - insulated conductive paths within the cable , interconnecting the first ethernet port of the first network element to a second ethernet port of the ethernet test - set . in a further feature , the transmit pins in the second ethernet port in the ethernet test - set can be connected , within the cable , to the receive pins in the first ethernet port in the ethernet test - set to prevent the energizing of a no - signal alarm which otherwise would be triggered by the test - set . in a third exemplary embodiment , the cable also includes third mutually - insulated conductive paths interconnecting the second ethernet port of the ethernet test - set and a second ethernet port of the first network element . in addition there are also fourth mutually - insulated conductive paths interconnecting the second ethernet port of the first network element to the first ethernet port of the ethernet test - set . in addition , the first conductive paths , the second conductive paths , the third conductive paths and the fourth conductive paths are sheathed together within the protective exterior of the cable for the entire length of the cable connecting the two ports of the first network element to the two ports of the ethernet test - set , except for a branching of the cable into two cables at both ends of the cable for connecting to the two ports of the network element and the two ports of the ethernet test - set . in a fourth exemplary embodiment , the testing method includes transmitting a first test signal from a first ethernet port of an ethernet test - set to a first ethernet port of a first network element within an ethernet cable over first mutually insulated conductive paths . then , the first test signal is transmitted from the first network element to a second network element along a first test signal path , the second network element including a far - end ethernet port with jumpered transmit to receive pins , the far - end port returning the first test signal to the first network element along a second test signal path , where the first and second paths together include ethernet cables and connections . then , the method includes returning the first test signal from the first ethernet port of the first network element to a second ethernet port of the ethernet test - set over second mutually insulated conductive paths that are bundled together with the first mutually insulated conductive paths within the cable for the entire length of the cable except for an end of the cable which is unbundled into two cables at the location of the ethernet test - set . ethernet ports using rj - 45 connectors can be so - called “ straight through cable ” connectors or “ crossover ” connectors . standard straight - through cable wiring must be used between certain pairs of network entities such as , e . g ., between a personal computer ( pc ) and a network hub or switch . likewise , standard crossover cable wiring must be used between other certain pairs of network entities such as , e . g ., between a first pc and a second pc or between a first hub and a second hub or between a first switch and a second switch . fig1 a , 1 b and 1 c are schematic diagrams of a commercially - available ethernet straight through cable as it would appear disassembled and assembled with standard straight through ethernet rj - 45 connectors on each end . in fig1 a , only the straight - through cable is depicted . the solid lines 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 represent conductive paths that connect from pins in ethernet connector plug 105 at the top of the sketch to other pins in ethernet connector plug 106 at the bottom of the sketch . the dotted lines represent possible connections between other pins in both connector plugs but which are not being used , at least in this application . in fig1 b , two ethernet ports 107 and 108 are shown , each including an ethernet jack having eight mutually - insulated and conductive pins labeled a , b , c , d , e , f , g and h respectively . alternatively , they could be labeled by the numbers “ 1 ” through “ 8 ” consecutively . in port 107 at the upper area of fig1 b , the pins are labeled from left to right but in port 108 at the lower area of fig1 b they are shown as being labeled from right to left where the direction of the labeling is immaterial . in port 107 , pin “ a ” is associated with the tx + signal standing for positive polarity signal transmission ; pin “ b ” is associated with the tx − signal standing for negative polarity signal transmission ; pin “ c ” is associated with the rx + signal standing for positive polarity signal reception ; and pin “ f ” is associated with the rx − signal standing for negative polarity signal reception . but , the ethernet jack associated with ethernet port 108 has a complementary association between signals and pin labels compared with those in port 107 ; for port 108 , pin “ a ” goes with rx +, pin “ b ” goes with rx −, pin “ c ” goes with tx + and pin “ f ” goes with tx −, thereby enabling a “ straight through ” connection between like - designated pins , as explained in the next paragraph . in fig1 c , the cable from fig1 a is shown assembled with the ports from fig1 b . as can be seen in fig1 c , in one direction , conductive path 101 connects a positive polarity signal transmitted ( tx +) from pin “ a ” of port 107 to pin “ a ” of port 108 where it is received ( rx +). conductive path 102 connects a negative polarity signal transmitted ( tx −) from pin “ b ” of port 107 to pin “ b ” of port 108 where it is received ( rx −). in the reverse direction , conductive path 103 connects a positive polarity signal transmitted ( tx +) from pin “ c ” of port 108 to pin “ c ” of port 107 where it is received ( rx +). and , conductive path 104 connects a negative polarity signal transmitted ( tx −) from pin “ f ” of port 108 to pin “ f ” of port 107 where it is received ( rx −). because all of these connections are between the same pin designations in the two connectors (“ a ” to “ a ”, “ b ” to “ b ” etc .) this is known as a “ straight through ” ethernet cable and rj - 45 connector . it matters not if the wiring actually twists within the cable , as shown , or if the cable itself twists , as long as the pin connections for each of the wires within that cable are from pin “ a ” to pin “ a ” etc ., as explained herein . fig2 a , 2 b and 2 c are schematic diagrams of a commercially - available ethernet crossover cable as it would appear disassembled and assembled with standard crossover rj - 45 connectors on each end . in fig2 a , only the crossover cable is depicted . the solid lines 201 , 202 , 203 and 204 represent conductive paths that connect from pins in ethernet connector plug 205 at the top of the sketch to other pins in ethernet connector plug 206 at the bottom of the sketch . the dotted lines represent possible connections between other pins in both connector plugs but which are not being used , at least in this application . in fig2 b , two ethernet ports 207 and 208 are shown , each including an ethernet jack having eight mutually - insulated and conductive pins labeled a , b , c , d , e , f , g and h respectively . alternatively , they could be labeled by the numbers “ 1 ” through “ 8 ” consecutively . in port 207 at the upper area of fig2 b , the pins are labeled from left to right but in port 208 at the lower area of fig2 b they are shown as being labeled from right to left where the direction of the labeling is immaterial . in port 207 , pin “ a ” is associated with the rx + signal standing for positive polarity signal reception ; pin “ b ” is associated with the rx − signal standing for negative polarity signal reception ; pin “ c ” is associated with the tx + signal standing for positive polarity signal transmission ; and pin “ f ” is associated with the tx − signal standing for negative polarity signal transmission . in this crossover cable instance , the ethernet jack associated with ethernet port 208 has an association between signals and pin labels identical to that in port 207 , where its pin “ a ” also goes with rx +, pin “ b ” also goes with rx −, pin “ c ” also goes with tx + and pin “ d ” also goes with tx −. this represents a different usage of pins from that used in the straight - through thereby enabling a crossover connection between unlike - labeled pins , as explained in the next paragraph in fig2 c , the cable from fig2 a is shown assembled with the ports from fig2 b . as can be seen in fig2 c , in one direction , conductive path 201 connects a positive polarity signal transmitted ( tx +) from pin “ c ” of port 208 to pin “ a ” of port 207 where it is received ( rx +). conductive path 202 connects a negative polarity signal transmitted ( tx −) from pin “ f ” of port 208 to pin “ b ” of port 207 where it is received ( rx −). in the reverse direction , conductive path 203 connects a positive polarity signal transmitted ( tx +) from pin “ c ” of port 207 to pin “ a ” of port 208 where it is received ( rx +). and , conductive path 204 connects a negative polarity signal transmitted ( tx −) from pin “ f ” of port 207 to pin “ b ” of port 208 where it is received ( rx −). because all of these connections are between different pin designations i . e ., from “ a ” to “ c ” and from “ b ” to “ 1 ” regardless of which direction the signal is moving , this is known as a “ crossover ” ethernet cable and rj - 45 connector . it matters not if the wiring actually twists within the cable as shown , or if the cable itself twists , as long as the pin connections at the ends of the wires within that cable are pins “ a ” and “ c ” or pins “ b ” and “ f ” as explained above . fig3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary arrangement 300 of ethernet connections that are under test , those connections being to , through , and / or between network elements in a network , the arrangement . ethernet test - set 301 includes at least two ethernet ports 302 and 303 . network element 304 , which can be , e . g ., a network gateway , hub , switch or router , or can include , but not be limited to , an add / drop multiplexer ( adm ), a reconfigurable optical add / drop multiplexer ( roadm ), a multi - service provisioning platform ( mspp ), or a digital cross connect , etc . can include multiple ethernet ports , one of which is port 307 . communication path 305 represents a test signal transmission path from port 302 in test - set 301 to port 307 in network element 304 . communication path 306 represents a test signal return path from port 307 in network element 304 to port 303 in test - set 301 . these test signal transmission and return paths are part of the complete signal path including all ethernet connections that are under test , those connections being to and through network element 304 , and between network element 304 and other network elements in a network . ( the complete signal path is included , but not shown , in fig3 .) for example , first network element 304 communicates with second network element 309 by way of transport network 308 which can include , for example , a synchronous optical network ( sonet ) and / or an optical network transmission ( ont ) network or other network . it is possible for transport network to include further ethernet links , ( not shown ). network element 309 can also be , e . g ., a network gateway , hub , switch or router , or can include , but not be limited to , an add / drop multiplexer ( adm ), a reconfigurable optical add / drop multiplexer ( roadm ), a multi - service provisioning platform ( mspp ), or a digital cross connect , etc . network layer one port 312 in network element 304 and network layer one port 313 in network element 309 both interface with transport network 308 , thereby establishing a link 314 through network 308 which would be a link between both layer one ports unless the path were changed to conform with other transmission protocol within cloud 308 . link 314 is shown as a straight line solely for ease of illustration but it should be understood that this link can be connected through different networks and network connections / elements and can span many thousands of miles across the united states and beyond . network element 309 also includes multiple ethernet ports , one of which is located at the far - end of the test signal path and is shown as port 310 with loop 311 inter - connecting its positive polarity tx + and rx + pins ( not shown ) as well as its negative polarity tx − and rx − pins ( not shown ) enabling the transmitted test signal to loop - back , essentially transmitting to itself . ( the tx +, rx +, tx − and rx − pins of port 310 are arranged similarly , or identical , to those in any of the ports shown in fig4 .) fig4 is a schematic diagram of detailed wiring interconnections in a novel ethernet cable 400 of the type used in the arrangement of fig3 . this cable is a crossover cable which is required in order to connect between an ethernet test - set and a network gateway , hub , switch or router , or an add / drop multiplexer ( adm ), a reconfigurable optical add / drop multiplexer ( roadm ), a multi - service provisioning platform ( mspp ), or a digital cross connect , etc . the cable contains a first set of mutually - insulated conductive paths 401 and 402 which interconnect , respectively , tx + on pin “ c ” and tx − on pin “ f ” in first ethernet test - set port 302 with rx + on pin “ a ” and rx − on pin “ b ,” respectively , in ethernet port 307 in first network element 304 . the cable also contains a second set of mutually insulated conductive paths 403 and 404 which interconnect , respectively , tx + on pin “ c ” and tx − on pin “ f ” in ethernet port 307 with rx + on pin “ a ” and rx − on pin “ b ,” respectively , in second ethernet test - set port 303 . the first and second sets of mutually insulated conductive paths are commonly sheathed in cable 400 for the entire length 405 of the cable connecting first network element 304 to ethernet test - set 301 , but for a branching of the cable into two cables 406 at one end of the cable located at ethernet test - set 301 . in operation , referring to fig3 and 4 together , a test signal is sent from test - set 301 in communication path 305 via wires 401 and 402 . that signal is conducted through the internals of network element 304 , which may include additional ethernet connections , and by which a corresponding network level one signal , such as an optical signal , is obtained and provided to network level one port 312 . the network level one signal is then transmitted from port 312 over transport network 308 and eventually to network layer one port 313 located in second network element 309 . in second network element 309 the level one signal is converted to an ethernet signal which is routed within network element 309 to ethernet port 310 located at the far - end of the test signal path . in port 310 , the signal is looped - back because the pins of port 310 are interconnected so that its tx + pin ( not shown ) is connected to its rx + pin ( not shown ) and its tx − pin ( not shown ) connected to its rx − pin ( not shown ). this interconnection causes the ethernet signal to begin a return trip with the return signal &# 39 ; s destination being the ethernet test - set 301 . the return signal is first converted back to a network level three signal in second network element 309 for transmission from level three port 313 over transport network 308 to be received eventually in level three port 312 in first network element 304 . the second , return path through transport network 308 need not be the same as the first , forward path through the network and , indeed , can be substantially different in length and character , and , as noted , the first and second paths can even contain other ethernet links . but , solid line 314 is provided to show that first and second communication paths , wherever they go , ultimately exist between ports 312 and 313 . in first network element 304 , the return signal is again changed from a level one signal to an ethernet signal and transmitted through pins “ c ” and “ f ” in port 307 and via wires 403 and 404 , respectively , to pins “ a ” and “ b ,” respectively , in second ethernet test - set port 303 . fig5 is a schematic diagram of detailed wiring interconnections in a cable 500 as shown in fig4 but with additional inter - connections between ports of an ethernet cable tester to disengage a no - signal alarm . all connections in fig5 are identical to those in fig4 except that connections 501 and 502 of fig5 are added to those in fig4 . connection 501 conductively interconnects the tx + pin “ c ” of second ethernet port 303 in ethernet test - set 301 with the rx + pin “ a ” of first ethernet port 302 in ethernet test - set 301 . connection 502 conductively interconnects the tx − pin “ f ” of second ethernet port 303 in ethernet test - set 301 with the rx − pin “ b ” of first ethernet port 302 in ethernet test - set 301 . the purpose of making these connections with these two jumper wires is to provide a connection to the two receive pins of port 301 which would otherwise appear open to test - set 301 . these jumper connections over - ride a “ no signal received ” alarm which otherwise would be energized by test - set 301 . this avoids an annoying false alarm while conducting the test . these two jumper wires interconnect pins on both ports 302 and 303 which are otherwise not used in this test procedure and on which there is no signal being transmitted or received , but the connection itself is sufficient to quell the alarm , at least for certain kinds of testers . a tester with which this alarm disable is particularly useful is an ixia corporation model 400t or model 1600t tester . fig6 is a schematic diagram of another exemplary arrangement 600 of network elements under test in relation to an ethernet test - set and with which another exemplary embodiment . in general , in this arrangement both ethernet test - set ports 302 and 303 receive return test signals on all of their receive ( rx + and rx −) pins , so the pin - jumper feature of the embodiment of fig5 is not needed to quell the no - signal alarm . advantageously , two network elements , each at the terminus of their respective test signal paths , can be simultaneously tested with the same ethernet test - set . in particular , ethernet test - set 301 is again connected to first network element 304 which , in turn , is again connected to second network element 309 , similarly to its connection of fig3 . this portion of fig6 involves communication paths 305 and 306 , and link 314 through transport network 308 , which is identical to what is depicted in fig3 , and operates exactly as described above for operation of fig3 . simultaneously with this fig3 related operation , a “ mirror - image ” operation can take place between ethernet test - set 301 , first network element 304 and third network element 604 . third network element 604 is shown interfacing with transport network 308 which involves a separate test path from that used in fig3 . communication path 601 represents a third test signal transmission path from port 303 in test - set 301 to port 603 in first network element 304 . communication path 602 represents a fourth test signal return path from port 603 in network element 304 to port 302 in test - set 301 . these test signal transmission and return paths are part of the complete second signal path including all ethernet connections that are under test in that second signal path , those connections being to and through network element 304 , and between network element 304 and third network element 604 . ( the complete second signal path is included , but not shown , in fig6 .) first network element 304 communicates with third network element 604 by way of transport network 308 , which can be , for example , a synchronous optical network ( sonet ) and / or an optical network transmission ( ont ) network or other network . network element 604 can also be , e . g ., a network gateway , hub , switch or router , or can include , but not be limited to , an add / drop multiplexer ( adm ), a reconfigurable optical add / drop multiplexer ( roadm ), a multi - service provisioning platform ( mspp ), or a digital cross connect , etc . network layer one port 605 in network element 304 and network layer one port 609 in network element 604 both interface with transport network 308 , thereby establishing a link 608 through network 308 between both layer one ports . link 608 is shown as a straight line solely for ease of illustration but it should be understood that this link can be connected through different networks and network connections / elements and can span many thousands of miles across the united states and beyond . network element 604 also includes multiple ethernet ports , one of which is located at the far - end of the signal path and is shown as port 606 with loop 607 inter - connecting its positive polarity tx + and rx + pins ( not shown ) as well as its negative polarity tx − and rx − pins ( not shown ). ( the tx +, rx +, tx − and rx − pins of port 606 are arranged similarly , or identical , to those in any of the ports shown in fig7 .) fig7 is a schematic diagram of detailed wiring interconnections in a novel ethernet cable 700 of the type used in the arrangement of fig6 . this cable is also a crossover cable which is required in order to connect between an ethernet test - set and a network gateway , hub , switch or router , or can include , but not be limited to , an add / drop multiplexer ( adm ), a reconfigurable optical add / drop multiplexer ( roadm ), a multi - service provisioning platform ( mspp ), or a digital cross connect , etc . all of the connections in fig6 that are identical to those in fig3 were previously described in connection with fig3 and won &# 39 ; t be repeated . the new connections are as follows . the cable contains a first set of mutually - insulated conductive paths 701 and 702 which interconnect , respectively , tx + on pin “ c ” and tx − on pin “ f ” in second ethernet test - set port 303 with rx + on pin “ a ” and rx − on pin “ b ,” respectively , in ethernet port 707 in first network element 304 . the cable also contains a second set of mutually insulated conductive paths 703 and 704 which interconnect , respectively , tx + on pin “ c ” and tx − on pin “ f ” in ethernet port 707 with rx + on pin “ a ” and rx − on pin “ b ,” respectively , in first ethernet test - set port 302 . the third and fourth sets of mutually insulated conductive paths are commonly sheathed in cable 700 for the entire length 705 or 706 of the cable connecting first network element 304 to ethernet test - set 301 , but for a branching of the cable into two cables , namely cable - pair 708 located at ethernet test - set 301 and cable - pair 709 located at network element 304 . in operation , referring to fig6 and 7 together , in addition to that operation described above with respect to fig3 and 4 , a test signal is sent from test - set 301 in communication path 601 via wires 701 and 702 . that signal is conducted through the internals of network element 304 , which may include additional ethernet connections , and by which a corresponding network level one signal , such as an optical signal , is obtained and provided to network level one port 605 . the network level one signal is then transmitted from port 605 over transport network 308 to network layer one port 609 located in third network element 604 . in third network element 604 the level one signal is converted to an ethernet signal which is routed within network element 604 to ethernet port 606 located at the far - end of this test signal path which is different from the test signal path associated with network element 309 . in port 606 , the signal is looped - back because the pins of port 606 are interconnected so that its tx + pin ( not shown ) is connected to its rx + pin ( not shown ) and its tx − pin ( not shown ) is connected to its rx − pin ( not shown ). this interconnection causes the ethernet signal to begin a return trip with the return signal &# 39 ; s destination being the ethernet test - set 301 . the return signal is first converted back to a network level three signal in third network element 604 for transmission from level three port 609 over transport network 308 to be received in level three port 605 in first network element 304 . the fourth , return path through transport network 308 need not be the same as the third , forward path through the network and , indeed , can be substantially different in length and character , but solid line 608 is provided to show that first and second communication paths exist between ports 605 and 609 . in first network element 304 , the return signal is again changed from a level one signal to an ethernet signal and transmitted through pins “ c ” and “ f ” in port 603 and via wires 703 and 704 , respectively , to pins “ a ” and “ b ,” respectively , in first ethernet test - set port 302 . for ease of reference with respect to reading the claims , the following information is a summary of an association between certain terms recited in the claims and reference numbers in the figs : support for these terms is not limited to this association . ethernet test - set first port may be 302 ; second port may be 303 . first mutually insulated conductive paths may be 305 ; second mutually insulated conductive paths may be 306 ; third mutually insulated conductive paths may be 601 ; fourth mutually insulated conductive paths may be 602 . first network element may be 304 . first network element first port may be 307 , second port may be 603 . second network element may be 309 . third network element may be 604 . first and second test signal paths may include paths 314 . third and fourth test signal paths may include paths 608 . in the preceding specification , various preferred embodiments have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings . it will , however , be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto , and additional embodiments may be implemented , without departing from the broader scope of the invention as set forth in the claims that follow . accordingly , the specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense .
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the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents . it includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary . accordingly , those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure . in addition , descriptions of well - known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness . the terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings , but , are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the present disclosure . accordingly , it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the present disclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents . it is to be understood that the singular forms “ a ,” “ an ,” and “ the ” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise . thus , for example , reference to “ a component surface ” includes reference to one or more of such surfaces . by the term “ substantially ” it is meant that the recited characteristic , parameter , or value need not be achieved exactly , but that deviations or variations , including for example , tolerances , measurement error , measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art , may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide . various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a technique for identifying and setting a lighting device using a received signal strength indicator ( rssi ) in an electronic device . fig1 illustrates a communication environment of a control device and a lighting device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig1 , a user can control lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 through a control device 100 . the control device 100 is an electronic device capable of communicating with the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 . the control device 100 can include a communication unit for communicating with the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 . for example , the control device 100 can include one of a smart phone , a portable terminal , a mobile phone , a mobile pad , a media player , a tablet computer , a handheld computer , a personal digital assistant ( pda ), a wireless controller , and a wearable device , and combine functions of two or more of these devices . the control device 100 can be referred to as an electronic device . the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 are devices capable of outputting a light and communicating with the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 and the control device 100 . for example , the first lighting device 200 - 1 can communicate at least one of the second lighting device 200 - 2 , the third lighting device 200 - 3 , the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 , and the control device 100 . for example , the first lighting device 200 - 1 can transmit and receive rssi signals to and from at least one of the second lighting device 200 - 2 , the third lighting device 200 - 3 , the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 , and the control device 100 . the communication between the control device 100 and the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can be established based on at least one of bluetooth ( bt ), bt low energy ( ble ), near field communication ( nfc ), wi - fi , wireless gigabit ( wigig ), zigbee , ultra wide band ( uwb ), infrared data association ( irda ), visible light communication ( vlc ), global system for mobile communication ( gsm ), enhanced data gsm environment ( edge ), code division multiple access ( cdma ), and long term evolution ( lte ). fig2 is a signal flow diagram between a control device and a lighting device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig2 , the control device 100 enters a light setting mode in operation 201 . the light setting mode indicates an interface for the control device 100 to control at least one lighting device . for example , to enter the light setting mode , the control device 100 can execute a user interface which supports the light setting mode . in operation 203 , the control device 100 transmits a first reference signal to at least one lighting device 200 . the first reference signal indicates a signal notifying the light setting mode entry of the control device 100 . for example , the control device 100 transmits the first reference signal to the lighting device 200 . the lighting device 200 receives the first reference signal from the control device 100 . the lighting device 200 can confirm the light setting mode entry of the control device 100 based on the first reference signal . in doing so , the lighting device 200 can receive an arbitrary signal from the control device 100 at a preset cycle . the arbitrary signal indicates a signal for the lighting device 100 to measure the rssi from the control device 100 . for example , the control device 100 can transmit the arbitrary signal to the lighting device 200 at the preset cycles so that the lighting device 200 can measure the rssi from the control signal 100 . in operation 205 , the lighting device 200 measures the rssi of the arbitrary signal . the lighting device 200 automatically controls the light brightness of the lighting device 200 based on the rssi in operation 207 . the lighting device 200 can automatically control the light brightness according to the rssi and a preset rssi threshold . the rssi measured by the lighting device 200 can vary according to movement of the control device 100 . for example , the rssi measured by the lighting device 200 can vary according to a distance change between the control device 100 and the lighting device 200 . hence , the lighting device 200 can control to increase or decrease the light brightness according to a preset criterion based on the movement of the control device 100 . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the first reference signal can include a message requesting information of the lighting device 200 . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the first reference signal may not include the message requesting the information of the lighting device 200 . for example , before transmitting the first reference signal to the lighting device 200 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the information of the lighting device 200 . alternatively , after transmitting the first reference signal to the lighting device 200 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the information of the lighting device 200 . for example , the time for the control device 100 to transmit the message requesting the information of the lighting device 200 can differ . in operation 209 , the lighting device 200 transmits a second reference signal to the lighting device 100 . the second reference signal indicates a signal including the information of the lighting device 200 . for example , the second reference signal can include at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the lighting device 200 . in doing so , the control device 100 can receive an arbitrary signal from the lighting device 200 at a preset cycle . the arbitrary signal indicates a signal for the control device 100 to measure the rssi from the lighting device 200 . for example , the lighting device 200 can transmit the arbitrary signal to the control device 100 at the preset cycles so that the control device 100 can measure the rssi from the lighting device 200 . in operation 211 , the control device 100 can measure the rssi based on the arbitrary signal received from the lighting device 200 . in operation 213 , the control device 100 can display a light setting user interface ( ui ) on the screen display unit of the control device 100 based on the rssi . the light setting ui indicates a ui for controlling the lighting device 200 . for example , the light setting ui can be displayed as an icon . in operation 215 , the control device 100 can generate light setting information of the lighting device 200 according to a user &# 39 ; s input signal through the light setting ui . in operation 217 , the control device 100 transmits the light setting information to the lighting device 200 . in operation 219 , the lighting device 200 sets the lighting of the lighting device 200 based on the light setting information . fig3 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig3 , the control device 100 includes a communication unit 301 , a display / input unit 303 , a storage unit 305 , a control unit 307 , and a light management unit 309 . the communication unit 301 processes to transmit and receive radio signals of data input and output via an antenna . for example , in the transmission , the communication unit 301 channel - encodes , radio frequency ( rf )- processes , and transmits data to transmit . in the reception , the communication unit 301 converts a received rf signal to a baseband signal and restores data by channel - decoding the baseband signal . in addition to those typical functions , the communication unit 301 can transmit the message requesting to transmit at least one of the device information and the rssi information of the lighting device to the plurality of lighting devices . the communication unit 301 can receive at least one of the device information and the rssi information of the lighting device from the plurality of lighting devices . the device information can include at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the lighting device . the rssi information can include the rssi of at least one other lighting device measured by the lighting device . the communication unit 301 can transmit the message for controlling at least one of the brightness , the light output time , and the light color of the lighting device , to the plurality of lighting devices . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the communication unit 301 can include an rssi receiver ( not shown ). the rssi receiver ( not shown ) can receive the signals from the plurality of lighting devices and measure the rssi of the received signals . the display / input unit 303 can include at least one of a touch screen for providing an input / output interface between the electronic device and the user , a sound output unit for outputting a sound signal , and a printer for printing a document or an object . the display / input unit 303 can be divided into the touch screen , the sound output unit , and the printer . the display / input unit 303 can provide an interface for user touch input / output . more specifically , the display / input unit 303 can act as a medium for forwarding the user touch input to the electronic device and showing the output of the electronic device to the user . the display / input unit 303 can provide a visual output to the user . for example , the display / input unit 303 can output a device image recognized by a camera of the electronic device . the visual output can include text , graphic , video , and their combination . the display / input unit 303 can adopt various display technologies . for example , the display / input unit 303 can employ a liquid crystal display ( lcd ), a light emitting diode ( led ), a light emitting polymer display ( lpd ), an organic led ( oled ), an active matrix oled ( amoled ), or a flexible led ( fled ). the touch screen of the display / input unit 303 is not limited to a touch screen using those display technologies . the touch screen can be divided into a screen display unit and an input unit . in addition to the typical function , the display / input unit 303 can display the plurality of lighting devices according to the rssi of the signals . the display / input unit 303 can further display at least one of the ui for controlling the at least one lighting device , the result of grouping the lighting devices , the light icons , the light names , the light settings , at least one group icon , at least one group name , and at least one group setting . the display / input unit 303 can display the positions of the lighting devices on the floor plan of the area including the lighting devices . the display / input unit 303 can display the result of recognizing the lighting devices using at least one of the multiple lists , the multiple icons , the multiple items , and their combination . the display / input unit 303 can display the lighting device in order of recognizing the lighting devices . the storage unit 305 stores microcode and various reference data of a program for the processing and the controlling of the control unit 307 . according to the typical function , the storage unit 305 can store at least one of the device information including at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the lighting device , and the rssi information including the rssi of at least one other lighting device measured by the lighting device . the control unit 307 controls the operations of the control device 100 . for example , the control unit 307 processes and controls voice communication and data communication . in addition to the typical function , the control unit 307 can measure the rssi of the signals received from the lighting devices . the control unit 307 can group at least one lighting device based on at least one of the rssi of the signals received from the lighting devices , the device information , and the rssi information received from the lighting devices . the control unit 307 can generate the message for controlling the at least one lighting device . fig4 is a block diagram of a lighting device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig4 , the lighting device 200 includes a communication unit 401 , an output unit 403 , a storage unit 405 , a control unit 407 , and an rssi information generation unit 409 . the communication unit 401 processes to transmit and receive radio signals of data input and output via an antenna . for example , in the transmission , the communication unit 401 channel - encodes , rf - processes , and transmits data to transmit . in the reception , the communication unit 401 converts a received rf signal to a baseband signal and restores data by channel - decoding the baseband signal . in addition to those typical functions , the communication unit 401 can receive the message requesting to transmit at least one of the device information and the rssi information of the lighting device 200 from the control device 100 . the communication unit 401 can transmit at least one of the device information and the rssi information to the control device 100 according to the request message . the device information can include at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the lighting device 200 . the rssi information can include the rssi of at least one other lighting device measured by the lighting device 200 . the communication unit 401 can receive the control message from the control device 100 . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the communication unit 401 can include an rssi receiver ( not shown ). the rssi receiver ( not shown ) can receive the signal from at least one of at least one other electronic device and the control device 100 and thus measure the rssi of the received signal . the output unit 403 indicates a light output device . for example , the light output unit 403 indicating a light emitting device . the output unit 403 can adopt various display technologies , for example , an lcd , an led , an lpd , an oled , an amoled , or an fled . the output unit 403 can output the light according to the rssi from the control device 100 . the storage unit 405 stores microcode and various reference data of a program for the processing and the controlling of the control unit 407 . according to the typical function , the storage unit 405 can store at least one of the device information including at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the lighting device , and the rssi information including the rssi of at least one other lighting device measured by the lighting device 200 . the control unit 407 controls the operations of the lighting device 200 . for example , the control unit 407 processes and controls voice communication and data communication . in addition to the typical function , the control unit 407 can measure the rssi of the signals received from the control device 100 . the control unit 407 can control at least one of the brightness , the light output time , and the light color of the lighting device 200 according to the control message received from the control device 100 . the control unit 407 can control the light brightness according to the rssi of the signal received from the control device 100 . fig5 is a flowchart of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig5 , the control device 100 measures the rssi of signals received from a plurality of lighting devices in operation 501 . the control device 100 can transmit a message requesting to transmit at least one of the device information and the rssi information of the lighting device , to the lighting devices . the control device 100 can receive at least one of the device information and the rssi information of the lighting device , from the lighting devices . the device information can include at least one of the model name , the light output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the lighting device . the rssi information can include the rssi of at least one other lighting device measured by the lighting device . the at least one lighting device can be grouped based on at least one of the rssi of the signals received from the lighting devices , the device information , and the rssi information received from the lighting devices . the control device 100 can generate a message for controlling the at least one lighting device . the control device 100 can transmit a message for controlling at least one of the brightness , the light output time , the light color of the lighting device , to at least one lighting device . in operation 503 , the control device 100 displays the lighting devices according to the rssi of the signals . the control device 100 can further display at least one of the ui for controlling the at least one lighting device , the result of grouping the lighting devices , the light icons , the light names , the light settings , at least one group icon , at least one group name , and at least one group setting . the control device 100 can display positions of the lighting devices in a floor plan of an area including the lighting devices . the control device 100 can display the result of recognizing the lighting devices using at least one of multiple lists , multiple icons , multiple items , and their combination . the control device 100 can display the lighting device in order of recognizing the lighting devices . fig6 is a flowchart of a lighting device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig6 , the lighting device 200 measures the rssi of a signal received from the control device 100 in operation 601 . the lighting device 200 can receive from the control device 100 a message requesting to transmit at least one of the device information and the rssi information of the lighting device 200 . according to the request message , the lighting device 200 can transmit at least one of the device information and the rssi information to the control device 100 . the device information can include at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the lighting device . the rssi information can include the rssi of at least one other lighting device measured by the lighting device 200 . in operation 603 , the lighting device 200 outputs the light according to the rssi . the lighting device 200 can receive a control message from the electronic control 100 . according to the control message received from the control device 100 , the lighting device 200 can control at least one of brightness , light output time , and light color of the lighting device 200 . the lighting device 200 can control the light brightness according to the rssi of the signal received from the control device 100 . fig7 illustrates a measurement of signals received at a control device from lighting devices according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig7 , the control device 100 can receive arbitrary signals from the first lighting device 200 - 1 through the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 at preset cycles . the control device 100 can determine the rssi of the first lighting device 200 - 1 through the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 based on the arbitrary signals received from the first lighting device 200 - 1 through the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 . the unit of the rssi is (−) dbm . for example , the control device 100 can determine the rssi of the arbitrary signal received from the first lighting device 200 - 1 as − 3 dbm . the control device 100 can determine the rssi of the arbitrary signal received from the second lighting device 200 - 2 as − 7 dbm . the control device 100 can determine the rssi of the arbitrary signal received from the third lighting device 200 - 3 as − 5 dbm . the control device 100 can determine the rssi of the arbitrary signal received from the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 as − 22 dbm . fig8 a and 8b are signal flow diagrams between a control device and a lighting device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig8 a , the control device 100 enters the light setting mode in operation 801 . thereafter , the control device transmits a message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 . in operation 803 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 receives the message notifying the light setting mode entry from the control device 100 . the message notifying the light setting mode entry can include a message requesting first light information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 . for example , the first light information can include at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the first lighting device 200 - 1 . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the message notifying the light setting mode entry may not include the message requesting the first light information . for example , before transmitting the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the first light information . alternatively , after transmitting the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the first light information . for example , the time for the control device 100 to transmit the message requesting the first light information can differ . the first lighting device 200 - 1 can receive an arbitrary signal from the control device 100 at a preset cycle . the arbitrary signal indicates a signal for the first lighting device 200 - 1 to measure the rssi from the control device 100 . for example , the control device 100 can transmit the arbitrary signal to the first lighting device 200 - 1 at the preset cycles so that the first lighting device 200 - 1 can measure the rssi from the control signal 100 . in operation 805 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 measures the rssi of the arbitrary signal . the first lighting device 200 - 1 automatically controls the light brightness of the first lighting device 200 - 1 based on the rssi in operation 807 . the first lighting device 200 - 1 can automatically control the light brightness based on the rssi and the preset rssi threshold . the rssi measured by the first lighting device 200 - 1 can vary according to movement of the control device 100 . for example , the rssi measured by the first lighting device 200 - 1 can vary according to a distance change between the control device 100 and the first lighting device 200 - 1 . hence , the first lighting device 200 - 1 can control to increase or decrease the light brightness according to the preset criterion based on the movement of the control device 100 . in operation 809 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 can transmit the first light information to the control device 100 . the control device 100 can receive an arbitrary signal from the first lighting device 200 - 1 at a preset cycle . the arbitrary signal indicates a signal for the control device 100 to measure the rssi from the first lighting device 200 - 1 . for example , the first lighting device 200 - 1 can transmit the arbitrary signal to the control device 100 at the preset cycles so that the control device 100 can measure the rssi from the first lighting device 200 - 1 . in operation 811 , the control device 100 can measure the rssi based on the arbitrary signal . in operation 813 , the control device 100 displays the light based on the rssi . for example , the control device 100 can display the light setting ui on the screen display unit of the control device 100 . the light setting ui indicates a ui for controlling the first lighting device 200 - 1 . for example , the control device 100 can display an icon corresponding to the first lighting device 200 - 1 on the screen display unit of the control device 100 . in operation 815 , the control device 100 can generate first light setting information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 according to a user &# 39 ; s input signal through the light setting ui . in operation 817 , the control device 100 transmits the first light setting information to the first lighting device 200 - 1 . in operation 819 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 sets the lighting of the first lighting device 200 - 1 based on the first light setting information . referring to fig8 b , the control device 100 can control the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 . for example , the control device 100 enters the light setting mode in operation 819 . in operation 821 , the control device 100 transmits a message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 . in operation 823 , the control device 100 transmits a message notifying the light setting mode entry to the second lighting device 200 - 2 . the message notifying the light setting mode entry can include a message requesting information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 . for example , the message notifying the light setting mode entry can include a message requesting information of the second lighting device 200 - 2 . for example , the information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 can include at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the first lighting device 200 - 1 . the information of the second lighting device 200 - 2 can include at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the second lighting device 200 - 2 . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the message notifying the light setting mode entry may not include the message requesting the information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 or the second lighting device 200 - 2 . for example , before transmitting the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 . alternatively , after transmitting the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 . for example , the time for the control device 100 to transmit the message requesting the information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 can differ . similarly , the time for the control device 100 to transmit the message requesting the information of the second lighting device 200 - 2 can differ . the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 can receive an arbitrary signal from the control device 100 at a preset cycle . the arbitrary signal indicates a signal for the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 to measure the rssi from the control device 100 . for example , the control device 100 can transmit the arbitrary signal to the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 at the preset cycles so that the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 can measure the rssi from the control signal 100 . in operations 825 and 827 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 measure the rssi of the arbitrary signal . the first lighting device 200 - 1 automatically controls the light brightness of the first lighting device 200 - 1 based on the rssi in operation 829 . the second lighting device 200 - 2 automatically controls the light brightness of the second lighting device 200 - 2 based on the rssi in operation 831 . the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 can automatically control their light brightness according to the rssi and the preset rssi threshold . the rssi measured by the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 can vary according to the movement of the control device 100 . for example , the rssi measured by the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 can vary according to the distance changes between the control device 100 and the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 . hence , the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 can control to increase or decrease the light brightness according to the preset criterion based on the movement of the control device 100 . in operation 833 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 transmits first light information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 to the control device 100 . in operation 835 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 transmits second light information of the second lighting device 200 - 2 to the control device 100 . the control device 100 can receive arbitrary signals from the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 at a preset cycle . the arbitrary signal indicates a signal for the control device 100 to measure the rssi from the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 . for example , the first lighting device 200 - 1 can transmit the arbitrary signal to the control device 100 at the preset cycles so that the control device 100 can measure the rssi from the first lighting device 200 - 1 . the second lighting device 200 - 2 can transmit the arbitrary signal to the control device 100 at the preset cycles so that the control device 100 can measure the rssi from the second lighting device 200 - 2 . in operation 837 , the control device 100 can measure the rssi based on the arbitrary signal . in operation 839 , the control device 100 can display the light setting ui on the screen display unit of the control device 100 based on the rssi . the light setting ui indicates a ui for controlling the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 . in operation 841 , the control device 100 can generate first light setting information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 according to a user &# 39 ; s input signal through the light setting ui . the control device 100 can generate second light setting information of the second lighting device 200 - 2 according to a user &# 39 ; s input signal through the light setting ui . in operation 843 , the control device 100 transmits the first light setting information to the first lighting device 200 - 1 . in operation 845 , the control device 100 transmits the second light setting information to the second lighting device 200 - 2 . in operation 847 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 sets the lighting of the first lighting device 200 - 1 based on the first light setting information . in operation 849 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 sets the lighting of the second lighting device 200 - 2 based on the second light setting information . in fig8 a and 8b , the two lighting devices 200 - 1 and 200 - 2 are depicted to ease the understanding . according to various embodiments of the present disclosure , the number of the lighting devices can exceed three . fig9 is a flowchart of a control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig9 , the control device 100 enters the light setting mode in operation 901 . in operation 903 , the control device 100 transmits the message notifying the light setting mode entry to at least one lighting device . in operation 905 , the control device 100 transmits the message requesting light information to at least one lighting device . the message notifying the light setting mode entry can include the message requesting the light information . the time for the control device 100 to transmit the message requesting the light information can differ . in operation 907 , the control device 100 receives light information from the at least one lighting device . the light information can include at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the at least one lighting device transmitting the light information . in operation 909 , the control device 100 measures the rssi . the control device 100 can receive an arbitrary signal from the at least one lighting device at a preset cycle . the arbitrary signal indicates a signal for measuring the rssi from the at least one lighting device in the control device 100 . for example , the at least one lighting device can transmit the arbitrary signal to the control device 100 at the preset cycles so that the control device 100 can measure the rssi from the at least one lighting device . in operation 911 , the control device 100 can display at least one light on the screen display unit of the control device 100 based on the rssi . for example , the control device 100 can display the light setting ui on the screen display unit of the control device 100 . the light setting ui indicates a ui for controlling the at least one lighting device . in operation 913 , the control device 100 can generate light setting information of the at least one lighting device according to a user &# 39 ; s input signal through the light setting ui . in operation 915 , the control device 100 transmits the light setting information to the at least one lighting device . in operation 917 , the control device 100 determines whether the setting of the at least one lighting device is finished . the control device 100 can determine whether the setting of the at least one lighting device is finished , based on the user &# 39 ; s input signal through the light setting ui . when the setting of the at least one lighting device is finished , the control device 100 can transmit a message notifying the setting end to the at least one lighting device . when the setting of the at least one lighting device is not finished , the control device 100 returns to operation 911 . fig1 is a flowchart of a lighting device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig1 , in operation 1001 , the lighting device 200 receives information notifying the light setting mode entry . upon entering the light setting mode , the control device 100 can transmit the message to the lighting device 200 . in operation 1003 , the lighting device 200 measures the rssi from the control device 100 . the lighting device 200 can receive an arbitrary signal from the control device 100 at a preset cycle . the arbitrary signal indicates a signal for the lighting device 200 to measure the rssi from the control device 100 . for example , the control device 100 can transmit the arbitrary signal to the lighting device 200 at the preset cycles so that the lighting device 200 can measure the rssi from the control signal 100 . in operation 1005 , the lighting device 200 automatically controls the light brightness of the lighting device 200 . the lighting device 200 can automatically control the light brightness based on the rssi . for example , the lighting device 200 can automatically control the light brightness according to the rssi and a preset rssi threshold . the rssi measured by the lighting device 200 can vary according to movement of the control device 100 . for example , the rssi measured by the lighting device 200 can vary according to the distance change between the control device 100 and the lighting device 200 . hence , the lighting device 200 can control to increase or decrease the light brightness according to the preset criterion based on the movement of the control device 100 . in operation 1007 , the lighting device 200 receives the message requesting light information of the lighting device 200 . the message notifying the light setting mode entry can include the message requesting the light information . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , before receiving the message notifying the light setting mode entry , the lighting device 200 can receive the message requesting the light information . for example , the time for the lighting device 200 to receive the message requesting the light information can differ . in operation 1009 , the lighting device 200 transmits the light information to the control device 100 . the light information can include at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the lighting device 200 . in operation 1011 , the lighting device 200 determines whether the light setting information is received . the light setting information indicates the setting information of the lighting device 200 generated by the control device 100 . upon receiving the light setting information , the lighting device 200 sets the lighting based on the light setting information in operation 1013 . in operation 1015 , the lighting device 200 determines whether setting of the lighting device 200 is finished . the lighting device 200 can receive the message notifying setting end of the lighting device 200 from the control device 100 . based on the message notifying the setting end of the lighting device 200 , the lighting device 200 can determine whether setting of the lighting device 200 is finished . when the setting is not finished , the lighting device 200 goes back to operation 1011 . fig1 a and 11b illustrate rssi information received at a control device from lighting devices according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig1 a , the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can receive a defined signal . the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can measure the rssi of the defined signal . for example , the first lighting device 200 - 1 can generate rssi information by measuring the rssi of signals received from the second lighting device 200 - 2 , the third lighting device 200 - 3 , and the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 . the rssi can change according to a surrounding environment . for example , with an ambient noise , the rssi can frequently change due to the noise . thus , the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can generate the rssi information by converting the rssi of a certain range to a preset representative value . for example , a value between − 5 dbm and 0 dbm can be converted to 1 , and a value below − 10 dbm and − 5 dbm can be converted to 2 . for example , the rssi information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 is shown in table 1 . the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can generate such rssi information , receive a message requesting the rssi information from the control device 100 , and transmit the rssi information to the control device 100 . the control device 100 can receive the rssi information from the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 and generate data integrating the rssi information . for example , the integrated data is shown in table 5 . the control device 100 can control and group the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 according to the integrated rssi information . the rssi information can be generated as a table . for example , the control device 100 can group the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 , and the third lighting device 200 - 3 having the rssi information value ‘ 1 ’ among the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 , into one group according to the data integrating the rssi information received from the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the control device 100 can group the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 according to the rssi values of the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 measured by the control device 100 . for example , the control device 100 can receive preset signals from the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 at a spot of the control device 100 and thus detect rssi values of the signals received from the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 . for example , according to the detected rssi values , the control device 100 can group the lighting devices in a short range among the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 , into one group . for example , according to the detected rssi values , the control device 100 can determine that the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 , and the third lighting device 200 - 3 are close to each other and the fourth lighting device 200 - 54 is not close to the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 , and the third lighting device 200 - 3 , and thus group the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 , and the third lighting device 200 - 3 into one group . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the control device 100 can change the criterion for grouping the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 . for example , the control device 100 can receive device information including at least one of a model name , an output color , a color temperature , and watts from the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 . the control device 100 can group the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 according to the received device information . for example , the control device 100 can group lighting devices of the same model name among the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 , into one group . the control device 100 can group lighting devices having the same watts among the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 , into one group . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the control device 100 can group the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 according to at least one of the rssi values of the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 received from the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 , the rssi information generated by the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 , the data integrating the received rssi information generated by the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 , and the device information received from the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 . the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can dim the light at a short distance from the control device 100 , and light up at a long distance from the control device 100 . for example , the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can control the light brightness based on the rssi value according to a signal received from the control device 100 . for example , the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can control their light brightness based on a value representing the rssi value range value according to the signal received from the control device 100 . for example , the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can determine the representative value corresponding to the rssi value from 1 to 5 , output the darkest light when the rssi value range measured from the received signal of the control device 100 belongs to 1 , and output the brightest light for 5 . for example , the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can determine the representative value of 1 when the rssi value range is between − 5 dbm and 0 dbm , the representative value of 2 when the rssi value range is between − 10 dbm and − 5 dbm , and the representative value of 3 when the rssi value range is between − 15 dbm and − 10 dbm . it is possible to set the representative value of the rssi value measured by the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 and the light brightness corresponding to the representative value . the representative value according to the rssi value range and the light brightness corresponding to the representative value are shown in table 6 . for example , when the rssi value of the control device 100 measured by the second lighting device 200 - 2 falls below − 10 dbm and exceeds − 15 dbm , the second lighting device 200 - 2 can output the light at the brightness corresponding to the representative value ‘ 3 ’. for example , when the rssi value according to the signal received from the control device 100 measured by the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 falls below − 20 dbm and exceeds − 25 dbm , the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 can output the light at the brightness corresponding to the representative value ‘ 5 ’. the user can obtain the light brightness and determine the distance between the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 and the user . the user can match the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 listed and displayed based on the distance in the control device 100 with the light brightness of the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 , and thus intuitively recognize the lighting devices displayed in the control device 100 . the light brightness according to the rssi value of the control device measured by at least one of the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can be controlled variously . for example , when the rssi value falls below a threshold , the at least one lighting device can light up . by contrast , when the rssi value of the control device measured by the at least one lighting device exceeds the threshold , the at least one lighting device can dim the light . for example , the light close to the control device can be lighted up , and the light away from the control device can be dimmed . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the rssi value range , the representative value corresponding to the rssi value range , and the light brightness corresponding to the representative value can vary . the number of the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can vary . referring to fig1 b , the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 can be located out of a communication range of the control device 100 . the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 can transmit its rssi information to at least one other lighting device in its communication range . for example , the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 can be located in the communication range with the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 , and the third lighting device 200 - 3 . the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 can transmit its rssi information to at least one of the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 , and the third lighting device 200 - 3 . for example , the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 can transmit its rssi information to the third lighting device 200 - 3 . the third lighting device 200 - 3 can forward its rssi information and the rssi information of the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 to the control device 100 . still referring to fig1 b , the control device 100 can receive the rssi information of the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 via the third lighting device 200 - 3 . for example , the control device 100 and the first lighting device 200 - 1 through the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 can build a short range communication mesh . the short range communication mesh can be referred to as a ble mesh . the short range communication mesh indicates a communication network among a plurality of electronic devices each including a short range communication module . for example , the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 , and the third lighting device 200 - 3 can be in the communication range of the control device 100 . by contrast , the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 is in the communication range of the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 , and the third lighting device 200 - 3 but out of the communication range of the control device 100 . the control device 100 and the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 can communicate with each other using the short range communication mesh . for example , the control device 100 can transmit a message destined for the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 , to the third lighting device 200 - 3 in its communication range . the third lighting device 200 - 3 can forward the message received from the control device 100 , to the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 . similarly , the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 can transmit a response message of the message received via the third lighting device 200 - 3 , to the third lighting device 200 - 3 . the third lighting device 200 - 3 can forward the response message to the control device 100 . for example , the third lighting device 200 - 3 can forward the rssi information of the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 received from the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 , to the control device 100 . that is , the control device 100 can receive the rssi information of the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 being out of its communication range , via the third lighting device 200 - 3 . fig1 a , 12 b , and 12 c are signal flow diagrams between a control device and a lighting device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig1 a , the control device 100 enters the light setting mode in operation 1201 . thereafter , the control device 100 transmits the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 . in operation 1203 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 receives the message notifying the light setting mode entry from the control device 100 . the first lighting device 200 - 1 can receive an arbitrary signal from the control device 100 at a preset cycle . the arbitrary signal indicates the signal for the first lighting device 200 - 1 to measure the rssi from the control device 100 . for example , the control device 100 can transmit the arbitrary signal to the first lighting device 200 - 1 at the preset cycles so that the first lighting device 200 - 1 can measure the rssi from the control signal 100 . in operation 1205 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 measures the rssi of the arbitrary signal . the first lighting device 200 - 1 automatically controls the light brightness of the first lighting device 200 - 1 based on the rssi in operation 1207 . the first lighting device 200 - 1 can automatically control the light brightness according to the rssi and the preset rssi threshold . the rssi measured by the first lighting device 200 - 1 can vary according to movement of the control device 100 . for example , the rssi measured by the first lighting device 200 - 1 can vary according to the distance change between the control device 100 and the first lighting device 200 - 1 . hence , the first lighting device 200 - 1 can control to increase or decrease the light brightness according to the preset criterion based on the movement of the control device 100 . the message notifying the light setting mode entry in operation 1203 can include a message requesting first rssi information generated by the first lighting device 200 - 1 and first light information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the message notifying the light setting mode entry may not include the message requesting the first rssi information and the first light information . for example , before transmitting the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the first rssi information and the first light information . alternatively , after transmitting the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the first rssi information and the first light information . for example , the time for the control device 100 to transmit the message requesting the first rssi information and the first light information can differ . in operation 1209 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 transmits the first rssi information and the first light information to the control device 100 . in operation 1211 , the control device 100 can display the light setting ui on the screen display unit of the control device 100 based on the first rssi information . the light setting ui indicates the ui for controlling the first lighting device 200 - 1 . in operation 1213 , the control device 100 can generate first light setting information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 according to a user &# 39 ; s input signal through the light setting ui . in operation 1215 , the control device 100 transmits the first light setting information to the first lighting device 200 - 1 . in operation 1217 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 sets the lighting of the first lighting device 200 - 1 based on the first light setting information . referring to fig1 b , the control device 100 can control the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 . for example , the control device 100 enters the light setting mode in operation 1219 . in operation 1221 , the control device 100 transmits a message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 . in operation 1223 , the control device 100 transmits the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the second lighting device 200 - 2 . the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 can receive an arbitrary signal from the control device 100 at a preset cycle . the arbitrary signal indicates the signal for the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 to measure the rssi from the control device 100 . for example , the control device 100 can transmit the arbitrary signal to the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 at the preset cycles so that the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 can measure the rssi from the control signal 100 . in operations 1225 and 1227 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 measure the rssi of the arbitrary signal . the first lighting device 200 - 1 automatically controls the light brightness of the first lighting device 200 - 1 based on the rssi in operation 1229 . the second lighting device 200 - 2 automatically controls the light brightness of the second lighting device 200 - 2 based on the rssi in operation 1231 . the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 can automatically control their light brightness according to the rssi and the preset rssi threshold . the rssi measured by the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 can vary according to movement of the control device 100 . for example , the rssi measured by the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 can vary according to the distance changes between the control device 100 and the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 . hence , the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 can control to increase or decrease the light brightness according to the preset criterion based on the movement of the control device 100 . the message notifying the light setting mode entry in operation 1221 can include the message requesting first rssi information generated by the first lighting device 200 - 1 and second light information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 . the message notifying the light setting mode entry in operation 1223 can include the message requesting second rssi information generated by the second lighting device 200 - 2 and second light information of the second lighting device 200 - 2 . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the message notifying the light setting mode entry in operation 1221 may not include the message requesting the first rssi information and the first light information . the message notifying the light setting mode entry in operation 1223 may not include the message requesting the second light information . for example , before transmitting the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 in operation 1221 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the first rssi information and the first light information . before transmitting the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the second lighting device 200 - 2 in operation 1223 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the second rssi information and the second light information . alternatively , after transmitting the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 in operation 1221 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the first rssi information and the first light information . after transmitting the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the second lighting device 200 - 2 in operation 1223 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the second rssi information and the second light information . for example , the time for the control device 100 to transmit the message requesting the first rssi information and the first light information can differ . similarly , the time for the control device 100 to transmit the message requesting the second rssi information and the second light information can differ . in operation 1233 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 transmits the first rssi information and the first light information to the control device 100 . in operation 1235 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 transmits the second rssi information and the second light information to the control device 100 . for example , the information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 can include at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the first lighting device 200 - 1 . the information of the second lighting device 200 - 2 can include at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the second lighting device 200 - 2 . the control device 100 can display the light setting ui on the screen display unit of the control device 100 based on at least one of the first rssi information and the second rssi information . the light setting ui indicates the ui for controlling the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 . for example , the control device 100 can arrange and display icons corresponding to the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 1 on the screen display unit based on at least one of the first rssi information and the second rssi information in operation 1237 . for example , the control device 100 can determine the distance between the control device 100 and the first lighting device 200 - 1 based on at least one of the first rssi information and the second rssi information . in addition , the control device 100 can determine the distance between the control device 100 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 based on at least one of the first rssi information and the second rssi information . the control device 100 can arrange and display the icons corresponding to the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 1 in an ascending order of the distance from the control device 100 . in operation 1239 , the control device 100 can generate first light setting information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 according to a user &# 39 ; s input signal through the light setting ui . the control device 100 can generate second light setting information of the second lighting device 200 - 2 according to a user &# 39 ; s input signal through the light setting ui . in operation 1241 , the control device 100 transmits the first light setting information to the first lighting device 200 - 1 . in operation 1243 , the control device 100 transmits the second light setting information to the second lighting device 200 - 2 . in operation 1245 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 sets the lighting of the first lighting device 200 - 1 based on the first light setting information . in operation 1247 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 sets the lighting of the second lighting device 200 - 2 based on the second light setting information . referring to fig1 c , the control device 100 can transmit and receive signals to and from the second lighting device 200 - 2 via the first lighting device 200 - 1 . for example , the second lighting device 200 - 2 can be out of the communication range of the control device 100 . the first lighting device 200 - 1 can be in the communication range of the control device 100 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 . the control device 100 enters the light setting mode in operation 1219 . in operation 1221 , the control device 100 transmits a message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 . in operation 1223 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 forwards the message received from the control device 100 to the second lighting device 200 - 2 . the first lighting device 200 - 1 can receive an arbitrary signal from the control device 100 at a preset cycle . the arbitrary signal indicates the signal for the first lighting device 200 - 1 to measure the rssi from the control device 100 . for example , the control device 100 can transmit the arbitrary signal to the first lighting device 200 - 1 at the preset cycles so that the first lighting device 200 - 1 can measure the rssi from the control signal 100 . in operations 1225 and 1227 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 each measure the rssi of the arbitrary signal . the first lighting device 200 - 1 automatically controls its light brightness based on the rssi in operation 1229 . the first lighting device 200 - 1 can automatically control its light brightness according to the rssi and a preset rssi threshold . the rssi measured by the first lighting device 200 - 1 can vary according to movement of the control device 100 . that is , the rssi measured by the first lighting device 200 - 1 can vary according to the distance change between the control device 100 and the first lighting device 200 - 1 . hence , the first lighting device 200 - 1 can control to increase or decrease its light brightness according to a preset criterion based on the movement of the control device 100 . based on the message notifying the light setting mode entry of the control device 100 received from the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 automatically controls its light brightness based on the rssi in operation 1231 . upon receiving the message notifying the light setting mode entry from the first lighting device 200 - 1 , rather than the control device 100 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 can determine that it is out of the communication range of the control device 100 . to notify the out - of - communication range of the control device 100 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 can output no light or flicker the light . the message notifying the light setting mode entry in operation 1221 can include a message requesting first rssi information generated by the first lighting device 200 - 1 and first light information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 . the message notifying the light setting mode entry in operation 1223 can include a message requesting second rssi information generated by the second lighting device 200 - 2 and second light information of the second lighting device 200 - 2 . according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure , the message notifying the light setting mode entry in operation 1221 may not include the message requesting the first rssi information and the first light information . the message notifying the light setting mode entry in operation 1223 may not include the message requesting the second light information . for example , before transmitting the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 in operation 1221 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the first rssi information and the first light information . before transmitting the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the second lighting device 200 - 2 in operation 1223 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the second rssi information and the second light information . alternatively , after transmitting the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the first lighting device 200 - 1 in operation 1221 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the first rssi information and the first light information . after transmitting the message notifying the light setting mode entry to the second lighting device 200 - 2 in operation 1223 , the control device 100 can transmit the message requesting the second rssi information and the second light information . for example , the time for the control device 100 to transmit the message requesting the first rssi information and the first light information can vary . similarly , the time for the control device 100 to transmit the message requesting the second rssi information and the second light information can vary . in operation 1233 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 transmits the first rssi information and the first light information to the control device 100 . in operation 1235 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 transmits the second rssi information and the second light information to the first lighting device 200 - 1 . the first lighting device 200 - 1 forwards the second rssi information and the second light information to the control device 100 in operation 1237 . for example , the information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 can include at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the first lighting device 200 - 1 . the information of the second lighting device 200 - 2 can include at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the second lighting device 200 - 2 . in operation 1239 , the control device 100 can display a light setting ui on its display / input unit 303 based on at least one of the first rssi information and the second rssi information . the light setting ui indicates the ui for controlling the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 . for example , the control device 100 can arrange and display icons corresponding to the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 on the display / input unit 303 based on at least one of the first rssi information and the second rssi information . for example , the control device 100 can determine the distance between the control device 100 and the first lighting device 200 - 1 based on at least one of the first rssi information and the second rssi information . in addition , the control device 100 can determine the distance between the control device 100 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 based on at least one of the first rssi information and the second rssi information . the control device 100 can arrange and display the icons corresponding to the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 in an ascending order of the distance from the control device 100 . in operation 1241 , the control device 100 can generate first light setting information of the first lighting device 200 - 1 according to a user &# 39 ; s input signal through the light setting ui . the control device 100 can generate second light setting information of the second lighting device 200 - 2 according to a user &# 39 ; s input signal through the light setting ui . in operation 1243 , the control device 100 transmits the first light setting information and the second light setting information to the first lighting device 200 - 1 . in operation 1245 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 forwards the second light setting information to the second lighting device 200 - 2 . in operation 1247 , the first lighting device 200 - 1 sets its lighting based on the first light setting information . in operation 1249 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 sets its lighting based on the second light setting information . referring to fig1 b and 12c , the two lighting devices 200 - 1 and 200 - 2 are depicted to ease the understanding . according to various embodiments of the present disclosure , the number of the lighting devices can exceed three . the control device 100 can determine a condition for light group setting . the control device 100 can receive the light group setting condition from the user through the ui . for example , the control device 100 can display condition items of the light group setting through the ui on the display / input unit 303 . the condition items of the light group setting can include at least one of proximity , the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts . in operation 1211 , the control device 100 generates a group recommendation . the control device 100 can confirm that the user selects at least one of the light group setting condition items through the ui . for example , when the user selects the proximity item , the control device 100 can generate the group recommendation based on the proximity of the at least one lighting device . for example , the control device 100 can determine the proximity based on the rssi received from the at least one lighting device or the rssi information received from the at least one lighting device . when the user selects the model name item , the control device 100 can generate the group recommendation based on the model name of the at least one lighting device . for example , the control device 100 can group at least one lighting device of the same model name based on the model name of the at least one lighting device . for example , the control device 100 can organize groups as shown in table 7 . for example , a model name of the first lighting device 200 - 1 and a model name of the second lighting device 200 - 2 can be ‘ abc ’. a model name of the third lighting device 200 - 3 and a model name of the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 can be ‘ xyz ’. the control device 100 can divide the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 into a first group . the control device 100 can divide the third lighting device 200 - 3 and the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 into a second group . when the user selects the output light color item , the control device 100 can generate the group recommendation based on the output light color of the at least one lighting device . for example , the control device 100 can group at least one lighting device of the same color light based on the output color light of the at least one lighting device . for example , the control device 100 can organize groups as shown in table 8 . for example , an output color of the first lighting device 200 - 1 and an output color of the second lighting device 200 - 2 can be red . an output color of the third lighting device 200 - 3 and an output color of the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 can be blue . the control device 100 can divide the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 into a first group . the control device 100 can divide the third lighting device 200 - 3 and the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 into a second group . when the user selects the color temperature item , the control device 100 can generate the group recommendation based on the color temperature of the at least one lighting device . for example , the control device 100 can group at least one lighting device of the same color temperature based on the color temperature of the at least one lighting device . a unit of the color temperature can be the kelvin ( k ). the control device 100 can determine a range of the color temperature so as to classify the at least one lighting device based on the color temperature . for example , the control device 100 can classify the color temperature range based on 1000 k . for example , the control device 100 can divide the color temperature range into 0 k through 999 k , 1000 k through 1999 k , 2000 k through 2999 k , and so on . the range can be divided variously . for example , the control device 100 can organize groups as shown in table 9 . for example , a color temperature of the first lighting device 200 - 1 can be 3000 k and a color temperature of the second lighting device 200 - 2 can be 3500 k . a color temperature of the third lighting device 200 - 3 can be 7000 k and a color temperature of the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 can be 7500 k . the control device 100 can divide the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 belonging to the range from 3000 k to 3999 k , into a first group . the control device 100 can divide the third lighting device 200 - 3 and the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 belonging to the range from 7000 k to 7999 k , into a second group . when the user selects the watts item , the control device 100 can generate the group recommendation based on the watts of the at least one lighting device . for example , the control device 100 can group at least one lighting device of the same watts based on the watts of the at least one lighting device . a unit of watts can be the watt ( w ). the control device 100 can determine a range of the watts so as to classify the at least one lighting device based on the watts . for example , the control device 100 can classify the watts range based on 10 w . for example , the control device 100 can divide the watts range into 0 w through 9 w , 10 w through 19 w , 20 w through 29 w , and so on . the range can be divided variously . for example , the control device 100 can organize groups as shown in table 10 . for example , the watts of the first lighting device 200 - 1 can be 25 w and the watts of the second lighting device 200 - 2 can be 30 w . the watts of the third lighting device 200 - 3 can be 35 w and the watts of the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 can be 40 w . the control device 100 can divide the first lighting device 200 - 1 and the second lighting device 200 - 2 belonging to the range from 20 w to 29 w , into a first group . the control device 100 can divide the third lighting device 200 - 3 and the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 belonging to the range from 30 w to 39 w , into a second group . fig1 is a flowchart of a control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig1 , the control device 100 enters a light setting mode in operation 1301 . the control device 100 can transmit a message notifying the light setting mode entry to at least one lighting device . in operation 1303 , the control device 100 receives rssi information and device information of the at least one lighting device . the control device 100 can transmit to the at least one lighting device a message requesting the rssi information and the lighting device information . the lighting device information can include at least one of the model name , the light output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the lighting device . the rssi information can include the rssi of the at least one lighting device . for example , the rssi information can include rssi information received at the at least one lighting device from at least one other lighting device . the control device 100 can receive the rssi information and the lighting device information from at least one lighting device . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the control device 100 can measure the rssi of at least one lighting device . in operation 1305 , the control device 100 analyzes the rssi information received from the at least one lighting device . the control device 100 can analyze the received rssi information and obtain the distance between the at least one lighting device and the control device 100 . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the control device 100 can obtain the distance between the at least one lighting device and the control device 100 according to the rssi measurement of the at least one lighting device . in operation 1307 , the control device 100 arranges the at least one lighting device . the control device 100 can control to arrange and display the at least one lighting device based on the determined distance in the display of the control device 100 . for example , the control device 100 can arrange and display the at least one lighting device in the ascending order of the distance from the control device 100 in the ui of the display . for example , the control device 100 can control to arrange the at least one lighting device and to display a list including at least one of the icon indicating the at least one lighting device type and the at least one lighting device name in the display . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the control device 100 can control to arrange and display the at least one lighting device in the display according to at least one of the model name , the light output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the at least one lighting device . in operation 1309 , the control device 100 determines whether to generate the group recommendation for the at least one lighting device . the control device 100 can control to display the ui for determining whether to recommend the group of the at least one lighting device in the display of the control device 100 . the control device 100 can generate the group recommendation about the at least one lighting device according to the group recommendation determination through the ui . when the user inputs the group recommendation command through the ui , the control device 100 can generate the group recommendation about the at least one lighting device in operation 1311 . when the user inputs no group recommendation command through the ui , the control device 100 determines whether the individual light is selected in operation 1013 . upon receiving the group recommendation command from the user , the control device 100 generates the group recommendation in operation 1311 . the control device 100 can generate the group recommendation according to at least one of the rssi information and the device information received from the at least one lighting device . for example , when generating the group recommendation with the rssi information , the control device 100 can recommend the lighting devices at the short distance as one group according to the distance of the at least one lighting device . in operation 1313 , the control device 100 can determine whether the group or the light is selected . the control device 100 can receive a light group or individual light selection command from the user through the ui . when the user does not select the group or the light through the ui , the control device 100 receives rssi information and device information of at least one lighting device in operation 1303 . the control device 100 can receive rssi information and device information of at least one other lighting device so as to configure the at least one other lighting device . when the user selects the group or the light through the ui , the control device 100 switches to a setting screen for setting the group or the light in operation 1315 . the control device 100 can control to display a ui for setting the light group or the individual lights in the display of the control device 100 . when the setting of the at least one lighting device is finished , the control device 100 can transmit a message notifying the light setting end to the at least one lighting device . fig1 is a flowchart of a lighting device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig1 , the lighting device 200 measures the rssi in operation 1401 . the lighting device 200 can measure the rssi of at least one other lighting device . the lighting device 200 can generate rssi information including the rssi measurement information of the at least one lighting device . in operation 1403 , the lighting device 200 waits to receive data . the lighting device 200 can wait to receive data from the control device 100 . in operation 1405 , the lighting device 200 determines whether the data received from the control device 100 is a message notifying the light setting mode . when the received data is the message notifying the light setting mode , the lighting device 200 can transmit the rssi information generated in operation 1401 to the control device 100 in operation 1407 . when the received data is not the message notifying the light setting mode , the lighting device 200 waits for data in operation 1403 . in operation 1407 , the lighting device 200 transmits the rssi information to the control device 100 . the lighting device 200 can transmit the rssi information including rssi measurement information of at least one other lighting device to the control device 100 . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the lighting device 200 can receive a message requesting the device information of the lighting device 200 , from the control device 100 . the lighting device 200 can receive from the control device 100 the message requesting the device information including at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the lighting device 200 . in operation 1409 , the lighting device 200 measures the rssi of the control device 100 . the lighting device 200 can measure the rssi of the control device 100 so as to control the light brightness according to the rssi of the control device 100 . in operation 1411 , the lighting device 200 controls the light brightness . the lighting device 200 can control the light brightness of the lighting device 200 according to the rssi of the control device 100 . for example , when the rssi of the control device 100 exceeds a threshold , the lighting device 200 can control to increase or decrease the light brightness of the lighting device 200 . when the rssi of the control device 100 falls below the threshold , the lighting device 200 can control to increase or decrease the light brightness of the lighting device 200 . it is possible to preset to control to increase or decrease the light brightness of the lighting device 200 . in operation 1413 , the lighting device 200 determines whether the setting of the lighting device 200 is finished . the lighting device 200 can be controlled by a control signal of the control device 100 . for example , the lighting device 200 can control the brightness and a light output time of the lighting device 200 according to a control message of the control message 100 . upon receiving a message notifying the control end of the lighting device 200 from the control device 100 , the lighting device 200 waits for data in operation 1403 . when not receiving the message notifying the control end of the lighting device 200 from the control device 100 , the lighting device 200 measures the rssi of the control device 100 in operation 1409 . the control device 100 can control the brightness of the at least one lighting device . the control device 100 can control the brightness of the at least one lighting device according to the position of the at least one lighting device . for example , when four lighting devices are placed in a lighting device recognition range , the control device 100 can control to increase the brightness of the lighting device away from the control device 100 according to the distances between the four lighting devices and the control device 100 . for example , the control device 100 can control to decrease the brightness of the lighting device close to the control device 100 and to increase the brightness of the lighting device away from the control device 100 . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the control device 100 can control to light up the light close to the control device and to dim the light away from the control device 100 . fig1 illustrates a ui for setting a lighting device in a control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig1 , the control device 100 can provide the user with a ui for controlling and grouping at least one lighting device 200 . for example , the control device 100 can receive signals for recognizing the first lighting device 200 - 1 through the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 , from the first lighting device 200 - 1 through the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 . the control device 100 can provide the ui including the recognition result of the first lighting device 200 - 1 through the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 . for example , the ui can include icons 1501 , 1505 , 1509 , and 1513 indicating a type of the first lighting device 200 - 1 through the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 , and names 1503 , 1507 , 1511 , and 1515 of the first lighting device 200 - 1 through the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 . the names 1503 , 1507 , 1511 , and 1515 of the first lighting device 200 - 1 through the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 can be displayed as model names or ids . the control device 100 can arrange and display the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 in an ascending order of the distance from the control device 100 . the control device 100 can measure the rssi values of the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 and determine the distances between the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 and the control device 100 according to the rssi values . for example , when the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 , the third lighting device 200 - 3 , and the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 are close to the control device 100 in the named order , the control device 100 can display the first light icon 1501 and the first light name 1503 corresponding to the first lighting device 200 - 1 at the top of the display , the second light icon 1505 and the second light name 1507 corresponding to the second lighting device 200 - 2 at the second top position , the third light icon 1509 and the third light name 1511 corresponding to the third lighting device 200 - 3 at the third position , and the fourth light icon 1513 and the fourth light name 1515 corresponding to the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 at the fourth position , in the ascending order of the distance from the control device 100 . in doing so , the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can control and output their brightness so that the user of the control device 100 can intuitively recognize the approximate distances of the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 from the user . for example , the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can control and output the light brightness according to their measured rssi value of the control device 100 . for example , when the rssi value of the control device 100 measured by at least one of the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 exceeds a threshold , the at least one lighting device can dim the light of the at least one lighting device . by contrast , when the rssi value of the control device 100 measured by the at least one lighting device falls below threshold , the at least one lighting device can increase the light brightness of the at least one lighting device . for example , the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can dim the light as the distance to the control device 100 gets shorter , and light up as the distance to the control device 100 gets longer . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can light up as the distance to the control device 100 gets shorter , and dim as the distance to the control device 100 gets longer . the order of arranging the light icons and names 1501 through 215 displayed in the control device 100 can change according to the rssi values of the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 measured by the control device 100 varying based on the movement of the user carrying the control device 100 . the brightness of the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 can change according to the rssi value of the signal of the control device 100 measured by the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 varying based on the movement of the user carrying the control device 100 . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the number of the lighting devices recognized by the control device 100 can fall below or exceed four . the position , configuration , and number of the light icons 1501 , 1505 , 1509 , and 1513 and the light names 1503 , 1507 , 1511 , and 1515 of the lighting device setting ui can vary . fig1 illustrates a lighting device setting ui in a control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig3 and 16 , the control device 100 can display a result of recognizing a plurality of lighting devices using icons or items . for example , when recognizing four lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 , the control device 100 can display a result of recognizing the four lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 by taking into account distances between the lighting devices 200 - 1 through 200 - 4 and the control device 100 . for example , when the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 , the third lighting device 200 - 3 , and the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 are away from the control device 100 in the order named , the control device 100 can display a first light icon 1601 through a fourth light icon 1607 corresponding to the recognition result of the first lighting device 200 - 1 through the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 in the ascending order of the distance . the light icons 1607 through 1607 can be arranged and displayed in the ascending order of the distance from top to bottom , from left to right , or in a combination of the two manners . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the light icons 1601 through 1607 can be displayed in the order of recognizing the plurality of lighting devices in the control device . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the result of recognizing the plurality of lightings can be displayed variously . fig1 illustrates a lighting device group recommendation ui of a control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig1 , the control device 100 can generate a light group recommendation . for example , the control device 100 can group the first lighting device 200 - 1 through the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 according to rssi information and light information received from the first lighting device 200 - 1 through the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 . for example , when grouping the first lighting device 200 - 1 through the fourth lighting device 200 - 4 based on the distance of the rssi information , the control device 100 can generate a recommendation for grouping the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 , and the third lighting device 200 - 3 into one group . for example , in the ui , the control device 100 can display a first group recommendation 1701 , a first light icon 1703 , a second light icon 1707 , and a third light icon 1711 indicating the first lighting device 200 - 1 , the second lighting device 200 - 2 , and the third lighting device 200 - 3 belonging to the first group recommendation 1701 , and a first light name 1705 , a second light name 1709 , and a third light name 1713 so as to distinguish them from a fourth light icon 1715 and a fourth light name 1717 not belonging to the group . for example , the control device 100 can display the first light icon 1703 , the second light icon 1707 , the third light icon 1711 , the first light name 1705 , the second light name 1709 , and the third light name 1713 of the first group recommendation 1701 in a different color from the fourth light icon 1715 and the fourth light name 1717 . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the position , configuration , and number of the first light icon 1703 through the fourth light icon 1715 and the first light name 1705 through the fourth light name 1717 of the lighting device group recommendation ui can vary . fig1 illustrates a lighting device group setting ui of a control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig1 , when the user selects a lighting device group recommended by the control device 100 or selects and groups at least one lighting , the control device 100 can provide a lighting device group setting ui . the lighting device group setting ui can include icons 1801 indicating a type of the grouped lightings , a name 1803 of the light group , and information 1805 about the light group . for example , the light group name 1803 can be ‘ living room ’, and the group information 1805 can be ‘ a first light , a second light , and a third light at the center of the living room ’. according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the position and configuration of the light icons 1801 , the group name 1803 , and the group information 1805 of the lighting device group setting ui can vary . fig1 illustrates a lighting device setting ui of a control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig1 , the control device 100 can provide the user with a ui for setting the lights in addition to the light group setting . for example , the lighting device setting ui can include an icon 1901 indicating a type of the light , a light name 1903 , and light information 1905 . for example , the light name 1903 can include ‘ bedroom light 1 ’ and the light information 1905 can include ‘ the light on the left of the bed ’. the icon 1901 can vary according to the type of the light . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the position and configuration of the light icon 1901 , the group name 1903 , and the group information 1905 of the lighting device setting ui can vary . fig2 a and 20b illustrate a light arrangement information ui of a control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig2 a , the control device 100 can display marks 2001 through 2007 indicating positions of a first lighting device through a fourth lighting device on a floor plan . the control device 100 can display the marks 2001 through 2007 indicating the positions of the lighting devices on the floor plan so that the user can recognize the potions of the lighting devices . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , when at least one of the marks 2001 through 2007 indicating the positions of the lighting devices is selected , the control device 100 can display the lighting device setting ui for controlling the lighting device corresponding to the selected mark . referring to fig2 b , the control device 100 can display the rssi of signals received from the lighting devices on the floor plan . for example , the control device 100 can measure the rssi of the signals received from the lighting devices and display an rssi level of the lighting devices using a dotted line on the floor plan . the control device 100 can display the rssi level of the lighting devices using the dotted lines on the floor plan according to the rssi information received from the lighting devices . a smaller radius of the dotted line surrounding the lighting devices can indicate a higher rssi of the lighting devices . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the position and number of the marks 2001 through 2007 indicating the positions of the lighting devices can vary . fig2 illustrates a light arrangement information ui of a control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig2 , the control device 100 can display a floor plan marking a position of at least one lighting device recognized by the control device 100 . configuration of the floor plan can be preset by the user . for example , the user can configure the floor plan relating to a space of the user using a light arrangement information ui of the control device 100 , and store the floor plan in the control device 100 . for example , the user can organize the space of the floor plan through the light arrangement information ui of the control device 100 , and set positions of the lighting devices . the control device 100 can receive device information of the lighting devices from the lighting devices . the device information can include at least one of the model name , the output color , the color temperature , and the watts of the lighting device . for example , according to the device information received from the lighting devices , the control device 100 can display the lighting device information corresponding to the positions of the lighting devices at the positions of the lighting devices on the floor plan . for example , the position marks of the lighting devices can display the watts of the corresponding lighting devices . for example , the control device 100 can display positions of four 40 w lights in a living room 2101 , two 60 w lights in a first balcony 2103 , a 30 w light at a door 2105 , two 40 w lights and a 60 w light in a kitchen 2107 , two 20 w lights in a first bedroom 2109 , a 20 w light in a second bedroom 2111 , a 20 w light in a third bedroom 2113 , a 30 w light in a bathroom 2115 , a 30 w in a toilet 2117 , a 30 w light in a second balcony 2119 , and a 30 w light in a third balcony 2121 . the control device can create a group according to at least one of the model , the color , the color temperature , the watts , and the distance of the at least one lighting device and display the grouped light using the dotted line . for example , the control device can group the four 40 w lights of the living room 2101 into one group , the two 40 w lights of the kitchen 2107 into one group , and the two 20 w light of the first bedroom 2109 into one group , and display them using the dotted line . the control device can display information about the icons displayed in the floor plan using legends 2123 . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the marks indicating the positions of the lights can be displayed in the same color according at least one of the model , the color , the color temperature , the watts , and the grouping of the lighting devices . for example , the control device 100 can display the 20 w lights in red , the 30 w lights in yellow , the 40 w lights in green , and the 60 w lights in blue . for example , the control device 100 can display the marks indicating the positions of the lights of the same group in the same color on the floor plan . for example , the control device 100 can display the grouped four 40 w lights of the living room 2101 in orange , the grouped two 20 w lights of the first bedroom 2109 in dark blue , and the grouped two 40 w lights of the kitchen 2107 in gray . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , when at least one of the marks indicating the positions of the lighting devices and the group marks is selected , the control device 100 can display a lighting device setting ui for controlling the lighting device or the light group corresponding to the selected mark . for example , when the user touches the 30 w light icon at the door 2105 on a display of the control device 100 , the control device 100 can display a ui for setting the 30 w light of the door 2105 . for example , when the user touches the dotted line grouping the four 40 w lights of the living room 2101 on the display of the control device 100 , the control device 100 can display a ui for setting the four 40 w lights of the living room 2101 . using the ui , the user can set the lights or the light group . according to an embodiment of the present disclosure , the construction of the floor plan , the position of the lighting device , the number of the lighting devices , and the group of the lighting devices can vary . fig2 illustrates a lighting device group setting ui of a control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . referring to fig2 , the control device 100 can display a plurality of light groups . for example , the control device 100 can recognize a first lighting device through a fifth lighting device , classify them to a first group , a second group , and a third group based on a characteristic or a position of the lighting device , and then display marks 2201 through 2231 relating to the groups and the lighting devices according to the classified groups . for example , the control device 100 can display the marks 2201 through 2231 by classifying the first lighting device and the second lighting device to the first group , the third lighting device and the fourth lighting device to the second group , and the fifth lighting device to the third group . the marks 2201 through 2231 can include the first group light icon 2201 , the second group light icon 2213 , the third group light icon 2225 , the first group name 2203 , the second group name 2215 , the third group name 2227 , the first light icon 2205 through the fifth light icon 2229 , and the first light name 2207 through the fifth light name 2231 . the first group light icon 2201 , the second group light icon 2213 , and the third group light icon 2225 can indicate the number and the shape of the lights in the group . the first group name 2203 , the second group name 2215 , and the third group name 2227 can indicate a living room , a kitchen , a bedroom , a porch , an office , and a lobby according to the position of the group . the first light name 2207 through the fifth light name 2231 can be expressed as names indicative of the lighting devices , such as a name , an id , and a model name of the lighting device . while the three light groups of the five lighting devices are depicted in fig2 , the number of the lighting devices and the number of the light groups can vary . the configuration of the lighting device group setting ui can vary . certain aspects of the present disclosure can also be embodied as computer readable code on a non - transitory computer readable recording medium . a non - transitory computer readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data which can be thereafter read by a computer system . examples of the non - transitory computer readable recording medium include a read - only memory ( rom ), a random - access memory ( ram ), compact disc - roms ( cd - roms ), magnetic tapes , floppy disks , and optical data storage devices . the non - transitory computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion . in addition , functional programs , code , and code segments for accomplishing the present disclosure can be easily construed by programmers skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains . at this point it should be noted that the various embodiments of the present disclosure as described above typically involve the processing of input data and the generation of output data to some extent . this input data processing and output data generation may be implemented in hardware or software in combination with hardware . for example , specific electronic components may be employed in a mobile device or similar or related circuitry for implementing the functions associated with the various embodiments of the present disclosure as described above . alternatively , one or more processors operating in accordance with stored instructions may implement the functions associated with the various embodiments of the present disclosure as described above . if such is the case , it is within the scope of the present disclosure that such instructions may be stored on one or more non - transitory processor readable mediums . examples of the processor readable mediums include a rom , a ram , cd - roms , magnetic tapes , floppy disks , and optical data storage devices . the processor readable mediums can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the instructions are stored and executed in a distributed fashion . in addition , functional computer programs , instructions , and instruction segments for accomplishing the present disclosure can be easily construed by programmers skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains . while the present disclosure has been shown and described with reference to various embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents .
| 8General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology
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a switch resistor modulation circuit is mainly used at a power supply with a frequency conversion function according to the invention to allow a user to change a switch resistance value between a vref pin and a rt / ct pin of a pwm controller according to different demands such as increasing efficiency or reducing power consumption for the computer system to make the pwm controller generate switch frequencies with different values . then , the power outputted to the motherboard by the computer system is changed to improve the efficiency of the computer system or reduce the power consumption . fig2 is a schematic diagram showing a power supply with a frequency conversion function according to an embodiment of the invention . a power supply mainly includes an emi and bridge rectifier 21 , an active pfc circuit 23 , a dc - dc converter 25 , a pwm controller 27 , and a switch resistor modulation circuit 29 . the switch resistor modulation circuit 29 is connected between a vref pin and a rt / ct pin of the pwm controller 27 . the switch resistor modulation circuit 29 further has a first switch ( sw 1 ), a second switch ( sw 2 ), and a third switch ( sw 3 ). the motherboard 30 is connected with the dc - dc converter 25 to receive a plurality of voltages outputted by the power supply . when the user thinks that a motherboard 30 in the computer system to be used does not need large power provided by the power supply , he or she may press the first switch ( sw 1 ). since the first switch ( sw 1 ) conducts , the switch resistor modulation circuit 29 connected between the vref pin and the rt / ct pin of the pwm controller 27 generates a switch resistor having a first resistance value . consequently , the pwm controller 27 can generate a correspondingly switching frequency according to the switch resistor having the first resistance value . the switching frequency may be 100 khz , and the pwm controller 27 outputs the pwm signal to the dc - dc converter 25 via the switching frequency ( 100 khz ). afterwards , the dc - dc converter 25 generates correspondingly power such as 300 w according to the received pwm signal and outputs the correspondingly power to the motherboard 30 to make the computer system operate at a normal mode . when the user thinks that the computer system to be used may reduce the power provided to the motherboard 30 by the power supply to save power , he or she may press the second switch ( sw 2 ). since the second switch ( sw 2 ) conducts , the switch resistor modulation circuit 29 connected between the vref pin and the rt / ct pin of the pwm controller 27 generates the switch resistor having a second resistance value . the second resistance value is larger than the first resistance value . as a result , the pwm controller 27 generates the correspondingly switching frequency according to the switch resistor having the second resistance value . the correspondingly switching frequency may be 80 khz , and the pwm controller 27 outputs the pwm signal to the dc - dc converter 25 via the switching frequency ( 80 khz ). the dc - dc converter 25 generates the correspondingly power such as 250 w according to the received pwm signal and outputs the correspondingly power to the motherboard 30 to make the computer system operate at a power save mode . when the user thinks that the computer system to be used will operate at an over clocking mode , and the power supply needs to provide a higher power to the motherboard 30 , he or she may press the third switch ( sw 3 ). since the third switch ( sw 3 ) conducts , the switch resistor modulation circuit 29 connected between the vref pin and the rt / ct pin of the pwm controller 27 generates the switch resistor having a third resistance value . the third resistance value is smaller than the first resistance value . as a result , the pwm controller 27 generates the correspondingly switching frequency according to the switch resistor having the third resistance value and outputs the pwm signal to the dc - dc converter 25 . the correspondingly switching frequency may be 120 khz , and the pwm controller 27 transmits the pwm signal to the dc - dc converter 25 via the switching frequency ( 120 khz ). the dc - dc converter 25 generates the correspondingly power such as 350 w according to the received pwm signal and outputs the correspondingly power to the motherboard 30 to make the computer system operate at the oc mode . fig3 is a schematic diagram showing a switch resistor modulation circuit in the power supply according to an embodiment of the invention . the switch resistor modulation circuit 29 is connected with the vref pin and the rt / ct pin of the pwm controller 27 . additionally , the switch resistor modulation circuit 29 includes a first control circuit 35 , a second control circuit 37 , and a third control circuit 39 . only one of the first switch ( sw 1 ), the second switch ( sw 2 ), and the third switch ( sw 3 ) may be triggered at the same time according to an embodiment of the invention . when the first switch ( sw 1 ) is triggered , the first control circuit 35 only provides the first switch resistor ( rt 1 ) to be connected with the vref pin and the rt / ct pin . when the second switch ( sw 2 ) is triggered , the second control circuit 37 provides the first switch resistor ( rt 1 ) and the second switch resistor ( rt 2 ) connected in series to be connected with the vref pin and the rt / ct pin . when the third switch ( sw 3 ) is triggered , the third control circuit 39 provides the third switch resistor ( rt 3 ) and the fourth switch resistor ( rt 4 ) connected in parallel to be connected with the vref pin and the rt / ct pin . the equivalent resistance value of the third switch resistor ( rt 3 ) and the fourth switch resistor ( rt 4 ) connected in parallel is smaller than that of the first switch resistor ( rt 1 ). various switch resistor modulation circuits 29 with a same function may be designed by people skilled in the art according to the illustration of the embodiment in the invention . the circuit shown in fig3 is just taken as a workable example , but not used for limiting the invention . in the first control circuit 35 , when the first switch ( sw 1 ) is not triggered , an input voltage of a positive input of a first comparator ( c 1 ) is larger that of the negative input of the first comparator ( c 1 ) to make an output of the first comparator ( c 1 ) output a high level . as a result , a first bipolar junction transistor ( q 1 ), a first mos transistor ( m 1 ), and a first optical coupler ( p 1 ) is turned off , and thus a second bipolar junction transistor ( q 2 ) and a third bipolar junction transistor ( q 3 ) do not act . when the first switch ( sw 1 ) is triggered , the input voltage of the positive input of the first comparator ( c 1 ) is smaller than that of the negative input to make the output of the first comparator ( c 1 ) output a low level . consequently , the first bipolar junction transistor ( q 1 ), the first mos transistor ( m 1 ), and the first optical coupler ( p 1 ) is turned on to make the second bipolar junction transistor ( q 2 ) and the third bipolar junction transistor ( q 3 ) turned on . as a result , the first switch resistor ( rt 1 ) is connect with the vref pin and the rt / ct pin . in the second control circuit 37 , when the second switch ( sw 2 ) is not triggered , the input voltage of the positive input of the second comparator ( c 2 ) is smaller than that of the negative input to make the output of the second comparator ( c 2 ) output a low level . consequently , the second mos transistor ( m 2 ) and the second optical coupler ( p 2 ) do not act , and thus the fourth bipolar junction transistor ( q 4 ) does not act . when the second switch ( sw 2 ) is triggered , the input voltage of the positive input of the second comparator ( c 2 ) is larger than that of the negative input to make the output of the second comparator ( c 2 ) output the high level . consequently , the second mos transistor ( m 2 ) and the second optical coupler ( p 2 ) are turned on to make a fourth bipolar junction transistor ( q 4 ) act . as a result , the first switch resistor ( rt 1 ) and the second switch resistor ( rt 2 ) connected in series are connected with the vref pin and the rt / ct pin . in the third control circuit 39 , when the third switch ( sw 3 ) is not triggered , the input voltage of the positive input of the third comparator ( c 3 ) is smaller than that of the negative input to make the output of the third comparator ( c 3 ) output the low level . as a result , the third mos transistor ( m 3 ) and a third optical coupler ( p 3 ) do not act , and thus a fifth bipolar junction transistor ( q 5 ) do not act . when the third switch ( sw 3 ) is triggered , the input voltage of the positive input of the third comparator ( c 3 ) is larger than that of the negative input to make the output of the third comparator ( c 3 ) output the high level . consequently , the third mos transistor ( m 3 ) and the third optical coupler ( p 3 ) are turned on to make the fifth bipolar junction transistor ( q 5 ) act . as a result , the third switch resistor ( rt 3 ) and the fourth switch resistor ( rt 4 ) connected in parallel are connected with the vref pin and the rt / ct pin . as a result , with the power supply with the frequency conversion function used at the computer system according to the invention , the user can initiatively switch the first switch ( sw 1 ), the second switch ( sw 2 ), and the third switch ( sw 3 ) of the switch resistor modulation circuit according to different demands such as requiring better efficiency of the computer system or reducing the power consumption . then , the switch resistor modulation circuit can generate different resistance values to make the pwm controller connected with the switch resistor modulation circuit generate the correspondingly switching frequency , and the pwm signal is outputted to the dc - dc converter via the correspondingly switching frequency . as a result , the dc - dc converter can correspondingly output different power to the motherboard 30 according to the switch resistors with different the resistance values to make the computer system operate in the normal mode , the power save mode , or the over clocking mode . furthermore , the power supply with the frequency conversion function according to the invention is controlled to be in the normal mode , the power save mode , or the over clocking mode via three switches . people skilled in the art may use two switches to control the power supply with the frequency conversion function to operate in the normal mode and the power save mode or the normal mode and the over clocking mode . although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof , the disclosure is not for limiting the scope of the invention . persons having ordinary skill in the art may make various modifications and changes without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention . therefore , the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments described above .
| 6Physics
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referring now to the drawings , there is illustrated in fig1 a rear axle locking differential mechanism 10 , in which one or more of the side gears 12 , 14 is selectively rotationally fixed to a differential case housing 16 . the description refers to side gear 12 being secured against rotation to the left - hand case 16 , but either side gear 12 , 14 could be secured selectively to either the right - hand case 18 or the left - hand case 16 . the gear teeth of the right - hand side gear 14 are engaged with the gear teeth of one of the bevel pinions 20 . a pinion shaft 22 , which extends through the walls of case 18 , supports the bevel pinions 20 in rotation about the cylindrical surface of the pinion shaft 22 . a locking ring 24 , rotationally fixed to case 16 , can move axially within the differential case 16 . a return spring 26 , located between the locking ring 24 and a spring seat in the right - hand case 18 , provides an elastic force 29 , which keeps the locking ring 24 disengaged from the side gear 12 when an electromagnetic coil 28 , located in a coil assembly 30 , is de - energized . when coil 28 is energized , electric current flows through the coil windings producing a magnetic force , which acts on the lh differential case 16 moving the coil axially and pulling the coil towards the lh diff case 16 . three levers 32 , spaced angularly about axis 34 and located within the lh diff case 16 , are retained by a circular retainer ring 36 . the three levers 32 can each pivot about their own axis 38 , but are fixed to the lh diff case 16 in the other directions . the levers 32 contact the thrust bearing 33 at the upper cam surface 40 and the locking ring 24 at the lower cam surface 42 , the cam surfaces being formed on the levers 32 . fig3 shows the clutch actuation mechanism 44 with the coil de - energized , the air gap 45 between the coil 28 and the adjacent surface of the case 16 at a maximum , and the clutch disengaged . fig4 shows the clutch actuation mechanism 44 with the coil energized and the mechanism 44 at mid - stroke in the axial direction toward side gear 12 . fig5 shows the clutch actuation mechanism 44 with the coil energized and the mechanism 44 at the end of its engagement stroke in the fully locked state with the dog teeth 46 of locking ring 24 engaged with the dog teeth 48 of the side gear 12 . when coil 28 is energized , the coil moves toward the lh diff case 16 and its axial motion is transmitted to the locking ring 24 through the levers 32 . displacement of the locking ring 24 is a function of the coil displacement and the surface profile of the upper and lower cam surfaces 40 , 42 . displacement of the locking ring 24 is , in general , nonlinear as shown in fig7 . fig7 is a graph showing the variation of the axial force 50 generated by coil 28 as a function of coil air gap 45 , and the force 52 required by the coil to overcome the return spring force 29 . the total locking ring displacement can be significantly larger than the total coil displacement , thus a smaller initial coil air gap 45 can be used . since the initial coil air gap 45 is small , the size of the coil 28 can also be small resulting in less copper or another electric conductor . when the teeth 46 of the locking ring 24 mesh with the teeth 48 on the back face of the side gear 12 , the side gear cannot rotate with respect to the case 16 , because the locking ring is secured to the case against rotation . then the differential 10 is in a locked state . when the coil 28 is de - energized , the return spring 26 provides an axial force 29 on the locking ring 24 moving the locking ring out of meshing engagement with the side gear 12 . the return spring force 29 exerted on the coil 28 is amplified as a result of the lever multiplication obtained through the upper and lower cam surfaces 40 , 42 of the lever element . a mechanical retention feature keeps the locking ring 24 in mesh with the side gear 12 when the coil is energized . as fig8 illustrates , angled surfaces 60 , 62 are formed on each radial leg 64 of the locking ring , and angled surfaces 66 , 68 are formed on each mating recess 70 of the case 16 . the locking ring 24 is secured to case 16 against rotation by fitting each radial leg 64 in one of the recesses 70 , the differential case 16 being bolted to the vehicle structure . when torque is applied to lock ring 24 due to its engagement with the side gear 12 , contact between the inclined surfaces 60 , 62 of the locking ring 24 with inclined surfaces 66 , 68 of the case recesses 70 produces a force applied at the case and having an axial component . this axial force component keeps the lock ring teeth 46 in tight meshing engagement with the side gear teeth 48 , whenever torque is transmitted between the side gear 12 and locking ring 24 . in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes , the preferred embodiment has been described . however , it should be noted that the alternate embodiments can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described .
| 5Mechanical Engineering; Lightning; Heating; Weapons; Blasting
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the present invention is directed to a universal charge module and charging system that is capable of charging one or more batteries having different chemistries . as shown in fig1 - 3 , the basic charge module 10 of the present invention generally comprises an anton / bauer gold mount ® housing configuration . the gold mount ® housing is substantially rectangular in shape and is formed with a plurality of keyholes cut in a front surface thereof , each keyhole having an elongated ovoid or elliptical opening and a narrow depending slot . the keyholes include two upper slots 12 and a centrally located lower slot 14 disposed in a substantially triangular array for releasably attaching a battery , as described below . a positive , thumb - actuated pivoted locking mechanism 16 is also provided to selectively attach and release batteries ( not shown ) to the charge module . formed between the two upper keyholes is a connector block 18 . the connector block includes an open top recess in which two male contact terminals 20 are secured . the terminals are in the nature of banana plugs having expandable tips and a threaded shank . as best shown in fig1 , they are positioned at the bottom of the recess and connect to electrical contacts within the housing . the connector block and its operation are described in detail in u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 247 , 962 and 4 , 822 , 296 , which are hereby incorporated by reference . the banana plug terminals provide a positive (+) and negative (−) circuit connection to a source of power through the charge module 10 to recharge batteries selectively attached to the charge module 10 . in operation , a battery ( not shown ) may be selectively attached to the charge module 10 by lining up posts or protrusions on the battery with the keyholes 12 , 14 of the charge module and sliding the battery so that the posts are received and secured in the depending slots of the keyholes . such a locking mechanism prevents the battery from being jarred loose and breaking the connection , both physical and electrical , with the charge module 10 . in the preferred embodiment , the universal charge module 10 is a self - contained charging device that features an on - board , 1 - 5 amp , buck / boost , dc / dc converter with voltage and current control . the charge module 10 is configured with internal power control circuitry and software that is capable of automatically identifying the type of battery and chemistry of the battery attached to the charge module . indeed , the battery , when in releasable engagement with the charge module 10 , relays its operating parameters to the charge module through the connections therebetween . the internal software , subsequent to detecting the exact battery chemistry , type , operating load , etc ., retrieves the appropriate charge profile for a battery having those parameters . the battery is then addressed with the charge routine specifically designed for that battery to reliably and safely charge the battery and optimize battery performance and service life . in this manner , the charge module 10 is capable of automatically detecting any type of battery attached thereto and specifically selecting the appropriate charge routine for that battery and applying such charge routine to the battery . an exemplary control circuit for accomplishing these features is discussed in detail below . the charge module also features a 9 - pin module interface connector 20 on the back side thereof for interfacing with a camera , charging station as described below , or other electronic device . this allows the module to detect the presence of a camera or other electronic device and switching from ac power mode to battery backup mode for ups power . the charge module further has an interface for connecting to any standard 75 , 150 or 300 - watt , 15vdc ac operated power supply 26 from which power is drawn to charge the battery attached to the module . this interface also allows the module to be connected to any standard 12v automotive based cigarette lighter type voltage source as a dedicated dc operated charger , a solar panel for remote charging , or any other available source . in any case , the internal circuitry and software will detect the nature of the incoming electrical stream and will tailor the outgoing signal to the specific charge profile of the battery . in connection with the 9 - pin module interface connector 20 , the universal charge module 10 also features module to module communications for identifying power supply sizes as well as the number of modules attached to a charge system , as described in detail below , so that the charge current per charge station can be automatically calculated . simultaneous versus sequential charge decisions can also be transmitted from module to module . moreover , the universal charge module 10 includes an on - board 5 - pin usb programming connector 22 , which allows the software installed on the charge module to be updated remotely . as will be readily appreciated , new battery systems that utilize multiple chemistries , charge regimes and cutoff methodologies are continually upgraded and designed by various manufacturers . these new battery systems often trigger software changes to existing products . with the 5 - pin usb connector / interface 22 , end users may connect the charge module 10 to a computer and access the internet to download the latest version of software or software updates directly to the charge module 10 so that the charge module is capable of safely and reliably charging any existing or future rechargeable battery . in the preferred embodiment , the universal charge module also features an on - board led display 24 for local charge status indication . both red and green led indicators may be used to indicate charge status , such as charging , fully charged , or not charging . the charge module also includes an on - board red and green led connector for remote led circuit board interface , as described below . additionally , the charge module may include a batt - or circuit for providing power down backup of battery and charger information in certain charger configurations , as discussed below . the charge module may also feature a battery (+) output for providing a means to add a 2 amp smart discharge interface . a schematic diagram of the universal charge module 10 attached to a power supply 26 is shown in fig5 . the charge module 10 of the present invention may be physically incorporated into cameras so that the charge module is in electrical communication with the camera circuitry . to this end , the charge module also includes a standard camera communications and anton / bauer afg interface for transmitting fuel gauge information to a camera to which it is attached , as best shown in fig5 . moreover , the charge module 10 also features a camera power output for detecting the presence of a camera and switching from ac power mode to battery backup mode for ups , or uninterruptible power supply , as discussed below . in yet another embodiment , as shown in fig6 , a smart lcd board 50 may be placed in electrical communication with either a stand - alone charge module 10 or may be interfaced with a base platform as part of a multi - position , multi - battery charger , as discussed in detail below . the smart lcd 50 interfaces with one or more charge modules 10 to display charge and discharge status information , as well as remote led indications . a usb / printer port 52 may also be connected to the smart lcd board 50 for supplying detailed discharge test information , controlling charge and discharge remotely , and obtaining detailed battery data . as with the charge module , the smart lcd board 50 , through the usb interface 52 , may obtain charge / discharge control and data over any standard ip connection . preferably , the smart lcd board 50 has a 2 line , 24 character , blue background , white foreground , backlit display 54 or full color graphics display . the smart lcd board 50 may also have test and display buttons 56 , 58 for scrolling text , selecting discharge tests , and toggling between different batteries if the batteries are connected to the smart lcd 50 as part of a multi - position system . the smart lcd 50 further has an 8 - channel communications interface 60 for communicating with up to 8 charge modules , creating an up to 8 - station charger . in addition , the smart lcd board 50 may have remote leds 62 for indicating charge status in lieu of the local charge module based leds 24 described above . alternatively , or in addition to the smart lcd board based leds 62 , the smart lcd board is capable of firing the local charge module based leds 24 remotely . moreover , as with the charge module 10 itself , the smart lcd board 50 may include a mini , 5 - pin programming connector 64 for simple software updates . the smart lcd board may also include a smart discharger communications port 66 for controlling and extracting discharge information from a smart discharge module . additionally , the smart lcd board 50 may also include a batt - or input 68 for providing power down charge status information . it will be readily appreciated that features may be optionally left off of the smart lcd board 50 to accommodate many different charger configurations . for example , the remote leds 62 may be included , but the lcd , discharger , pushbuttons , power down and usb printer capability left off . in essence , the charge module 10 and smart lcd board 50 of the present invention allows an end user to basically build a custom charging system with as few or as many charging stations and peripheral lcd board features as he or she desires . as alluded to above , in another embodiment , the charge module 10 may be interfaced with a standard anton / bauer or general base platform and power supply via the 9 - pin connector 20 . importantly , numerous charge modules may be interfaced with a base platform and power supply 26 to form an up to eight - position battery charger . this modularity allows an end user to build a battery charging system to accommodate however many batteries , of the same or different chemistry , as desired . in connection with the above , fig5 and 7 - 12 show examples of various charge module and charging system configurations for single and multi - position chargers that are possible with the charge module 10 and smart lcd board 50 of the present invention . it will be readily appreciated that numerous other configurations may be possible as well . while it is preferred that a 15vdc , 75 , 150 or 300 - watt power supply 26 be used in connection with the present invention , it should be appreciated that other power supply sizes of greater than 300 - watts and less than 75 - watts can be utilized . it will also be appreciated that numerous charger / battery combinations can be designed utilizing the charge module architecture with different style battery configurations . for example , as discussed above , fig5 shows the basic single station charge module 10 of the present invention connected to a power supply 26 . fig7 shows a 2 - position charging system 90 having one of the charge modules 10 in electrical communication with a video camera 100 . in this embodiment , the charging system is capable of operating as a dc power supply once a camera 100 or other device is connected and turned on . this unique system functions by separating the gold mount ® device from the power supply , allowing a user to simultaneously charge a battery and power a camera . when a 75 watt draw is exceeded , the system automatically stops charging and performs solely as a 150 watt power supply . when the camera is turned off or the load is reduced below 75 watts , the system 90 instantly resumes normal operation , as a simultaneous charger / power supply . fig8 shows a 2 - position charging system 70 hooked up to a power supply 26 . in this embodiment , the charging system 70 is capable of charging two batteries simultaneously , even if the batteries have different chemistries , as discussed above . an additional embodiment of the present invention is shown schematically in fig9 . in this embodiment , a 4 - position charging system 120 is disclosed . the charging system 120 is connected to a single power supply and is capable of simultaneously charging four batteries having the same or different chemistries , as discussed above . the system 120 disclosed in this embodiment is advantageous in that it allows a user to continuously cycle batteries over an extended period of time , such as all day shooting . fig1 shows yet another embodiment of the present invention . as shown therein , this charging system 130 features a dual position charger and smart lcd board 50 connected to a power supply 26 . turning now to fig1 , fig1 shows a four position charging system 140 having a smart lcd board 50 and a power supply 26 , according to yet another embodiment of the present invention . similar to fig1 , fig1 shows a four position charging system 150 having a smart lcd board 50 and a power supply 26 . in addition , charging system 150 has a smart discharger 152 in communication therewith , as described above . turning now to fig1 - 17 , a number of matrices showing various off - the - shelf power supply sizes coupled with various charge module configurations and the resultant available charge current and charge times per station are shown . in addition , fig1 - 20 show an exemplary remote charger control protocol in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention , as alluded to above . fig2 - 23 illustrates one embodiment of the charge module control circuitry . in particular , fig2 - 23 illustrate exemplary charge module control circuitry for a four - position charging station , such as that shown schematically in fig9 , as discussed above . as will be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art , alterations in the configuration of the circuitry shown in fig2 - 23 are certainly possible without departing from the broader aspects of the present invention . although this invention has been shown and described with respect to the detailed embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those of skill in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention . in addition , modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof . therefore , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed in the above detailed description , but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of this disclosure .
| 7Electricity
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by way of overview and introduction , the present invention concerns a method and apparatus for engaging in a variety of strength building and cardiovascular developing exercises . the present invention is further directed at an apparatus that uses a modifiable low friction surface ( s ) to allow the user to simulate various gliding and sliding exercises . as seen in fig1 , the present invention provides for an exercise apparatus 100 that assists in the performance of low friction exercises , such as simulations of skating and gliding . the exercise apparatus 100 incorporates a base 102 . the base 102 is configured to have sufficient dimensions to accept a human user &# 39 ; s extremity , such as a hand or foot . in the depicted embodiment , the base 102 is roughly oval in form . however , the depicted embodiment in no way limits the potential dimensions of the base . in an alternative arrangement , the base device is triangular or rhomboid in dimensions with no diminishment of functionality . in an embodiment of the present invention , the base 102 is formed out of high impact , molded plastic . however , those skilled in the art will appreciate that other materials are suitable for the construction of the base 102 . for example , various metals , synthetic materials , natural materials , and composite materials are all suitable for construction of the base portion of the present invention . the base 102 possesses a top surface 106 and a bottom surface 108 ( fig2 ). in the preferred embodiment , the base 102 is placed so that the bottom surface 108 is in contact with a level ground surface 101 , such as a floor , carpet , tile , or other horizontal surface that can support the user &# 39 ; s weight . in specific alterations of the present base 102 , the base is modified to accept a prosthetic or surgically altered appendage , such as possessed by an amputee . the base 102 of the device can be altered in size and / or configuration to accept those appendages without loss of the core functionality . the base is equipped with a restraint 104 that allows for the extremity to be secured against excessive forward and backward movement . in the depicted embodiment , the restraint 104 covers approximately half of the base of the device . in this configuration forward movement of the extremity beyond the edges of the base is prevented . the restraint 104 allows a user to control the movement of the device and effectuate the desired exercises without fear of slipping off the base 102 . the top surface of the base 106 is optionally equipped with a series of ridges or arrestors ( not shown ) which aid in channeling sweat and / or fluid away from the top surface . in yet a further embodiment , the top surface is also coated with a high friction substance that prevents the movement of the user &# 39 ; s extremity independent of the base 102 . for example , the top surface is coated with an abrasive or undulating material that provides increased friction between the extremity and the top surface . the bottom surface 108 of the base 102 , as shown in fig2 , can be formed as a separate part that is attached to the base 102 or as a surface that is integral to the base . in the depicted embodiment , the bottom surface of the base 108 has a convex shape relative to the overall base 102 as shown in fig5 . for instance , the bottom surface is curved 103 such that only a portion of the bottom surface 108 is in direct contact with the floor surface 101 at any given time . as further illustrated in fig2 the bottom surface 108 , whether convex shape or otherwise , is equipped with or formed of , a low friction substance 205 . for example , the bottom surface 108 is coated with teflon ® or teflon ®- like compound that reduces friction . alternatively , those skilled in the art would appreciate that the bottom surface can be constructed from alternative substances or coated with substances that significantly decrease the friction encountered when placed in contact with another flat surface , i . e . a floor 101 . as seen in fig3 , in an alternative arrangement , the bottom surface 108 is only partially equipped with a low friction coating 205 . alternatively , when only a portion of the bottom surface 108 is equipped with a low friction substance 205 , the other portions are equipped with no coating or a high friction coating 207 . the high friction coating or surface 207 can be either an application to the surface 108 or an engineered structure on surface 108 . for example , the high friction surface can be formed of a series of ridges or nodules built into the surface that increase surface contact with a floor surface 101 . in a particular embodiment of the apparatus , when the bottom surface 108 is convex in shape ( like that in fig5 ), a user is able to selectively apply pressure to different areas of the exercise device , thereby selectively engaging either the low - friction portions 205 or the high or normal friction portions 207 , depending on the particular activity desired . as seen in fig4 , the exercise device 100 is equipped with an anchor 202 for attaching an elastic band or cable 304 . in the illustrated embodiment , the anchor 202 is configured as a loop of material that is integral to the base 102 of the exercise device . in an alternative arrangement , the anchor 202 is a separate device that is joined to the base by adhesive or fasteners . in a further arrangement , the anchor is a recessed or extruded portion of the base 102 that is configured to accept an elastic chord 304 . the elastic chord 304 is equipped to connect at least two exercise devices 100 together such that they are coupled to one another via the elastic chord 304 . by combining multiple exercise devices together via elastic chords 304 , resistive strength building exercises can be performed . in an alternative arrangement the elastic chord 304 is connected on one end to the base device 102 , and on another end to a stationary object ( not shown ), such as an item of furniture . in yet another arrangement , the elastic chord 304 is attached to an extremity that is not currently engaged with an exercise device 100 , such as an ankle or a wrist . in an alternative embodiment , several exercise devices 100 are linked to one another via multiple elastic cables 304 . additionally , multiple elastic cables are employed to increase the resistance generated by the elastic cable 304 . also seen in fig4 , are the preferred placements of the user extremities 306 . fig5 depicts another alternative embodiment of the device described wherein the base 102 is equipped with a plurality of expandable cells 502 . the cells 502 are located on the surface of the convex - shaped base 102 and are coated or formed of a material having a high coefficient of friction . the cells 502 are in communication with an expanding device ( not shown ) integral to the exercise device 100 and preferably located within the base 102 . upon activation of the expanding device , the cells inflate or otherwise expand outwards , thereby extending beyond the bottom surface 108 of the base 102 . once extended , the bladders provide a sufficient high - friction surface area so as to prevent movement of the exercise device 100 over the surface 101 . thus , selective exercises can be undertaken without the fear of slippage . in this embodiment the device is equipped with a handle 504 that incorporates a control device . the handle / control device 504 allows for securely holding the device while positioning a trigger or switch ( not shown ) that activates the expanding device . in a specific embodiment , a pump mechanism 505 is co - extensive with the handle so that the pump directs a working fluid ( air , water etc .) into the cells causing them to expand by repeatedly squeezing of the handle . in yet a further embodiment , the pump has a release valve trigger that is also co - extensive with the handle . both inflating and deflating the cells can be accomplished with the same hand that is gripping the particular device . alternative expanding devices , such as solenoids or springs are also envisioned . those skilled in the art will appreciate the various means for expanding and contracting the cells 502 so described . as shown in fig6 , the cover 104 can be formed in multiple or separate pieces . furthermore , it is possible to have the cover 104 configured to be customizable to a given orientation . for example , by way on non - limiting example , the cover or covers can be replaced by specialty covers designed for a particular exercise or purpose . similarly , the covers can be arranged in different orientations given whether the device will operate as a foot device or hand device . the present invention provides a method for employing the above described elements so as to ensure that any number of general or specific strength building , cardiovascular , or resistance training exercises can be undertaken in any location , so long as that location is equipped with a flat surface capable of supporting the weight of the user . by way of non - limiting example , the device so described is capable of assisting the user in performing the following exercises : stationary mountain climbers ; moving mountain climbers ; feet pendulums ; frog movements ; hand and / or foot circles ; sideways slides ; sideways slides with pushups ; scissors ; jack knife ; tricep slide ; tricep slide with foot extension ; chair pushup and slide ; chest fly ; standing lunges : forward , side or backward ; standing lunges with squat ; swimmer crawl ; backward mountain climbers ; elevated chair feet scissors ; elevated chair scissors with pushup ; buddy wheel barrel ; ice skater ( standing ); fly and pushup combination ; standing foot slide ; alternate swimmer ( hands then feet ); and oblique slide ( one side at a time ). the method of the present invention includes a securing step , wherein the desired amount of devices are secured to the extremities for example , a user can secure a device to one or both feet and / or a device to one or both hands . under the circumstances wherein the user has secured multiple devices , the methodology includes a step of positioning the user and devices over a clear flat surface such as a floor or platform . once the proper position has been determined , the additional steps as described below can be undertaken . in situations where there are multiple devices the positioning step is repeated for each device . in the event that the device is equipped with elastic cabling or chords , an additional attachment step if provided . if the user only employs one device then the chord is secured to a stable object or to another extremity . for example , the strap can be secured to a door handle , item of furniture or to the wrist or ankle of the extremity not engaged with a device . after the position for exercising has been determined , and the optional securing step has been completed the user is free to engage in any number of exercises designed to enhance heath and conditioning . this exercise includes the step of moving the device with little resistance over the flat surface due to the low friction properties of the device . in the event that the user is employing an alternative arrangement of the device that incorporates low and high friction sections ( as in fig3 or 5 ) there is an additional step of shifting the device so that only the high or low friction surfaces are in direct contact with the floor surface . in this way , a stationary pivot point is provided for one of the users extremities . it should be understood that various combination , alternatives and modifications of the present invention could be devised by those skilled in the art . the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives , modifications and variances that fall within the scope of the appended claims . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .
| 0Human Necessities
|
fig1 shows an example of a structure of a light recording medium according to the present invention , wherein 1 is a substrate and 2 is a recording layer . the substrate 1 is composed of a synthetic resin or glass , its thickness is e . g . 1 . 5 mm or so in the case of a disc and 20 μm or so in the case of a tape , and it supports the recording layer 2 provided on at least one surface thereof . the recording layer 2 incorporates an organic dye as a light absorber in a base material , and more particularly , it also incorporates a surface lubricating material and a deforming agent . as the base material , there may be employed , for example , nitrocellulose , nylon , abs resins etc . the organic dye as the light absorber is not a single dye but a mixture of dyes having different light absorbing wavelengths from each other . this mixed dye is not of a multi - layered structure of dyes but is a uniform mixture of a plurality of dyes . ______________________________________ wavelength ( nm ) ______________________________________semiconductor laser 830 , 780 & amp ; 750helium - neon laser 633argon laser 515 & amp ; 488helium - cadmium laser 442 & amp ; 325______________________________________ and thus can be thought to substantially be present in the range of 400 - 900 nm . and , the light absorptivity varies depending on the organic dye incorporated , and as will be demonstrated by the experimental examples hereinbelow described , when dyes having different wavelengths from each other are mixed , the absorbing characteristics of the mixed dye is the sum of those of the respective dyes . therefore , by choosing the dyes , it is now possible to provide a recording medium having uniform light absorbing characteristics having no wavelength dependency in the above - described wavelength range . dyes for constituting the above mixed dye are desirably those exemplified in tables i , ii and iii given below , and they have been experimentally confirmed by the present inventors to be effective as light absorbers . table i shows dyes having a maximum light absorbing wavelength in the light wavelength range of 400 - 590 nm , table ii shows those in 590 - 750 nm and table iii shows those in 750 - 900 nm . it should be noted that they do not mean that each dye is chosen from each table to constitute a mixed dye but mean that a plurality of dyes are freely chosen to constitute a mixed dye which satisfies the above - described wavelength range . further , in order to achieve accurate writing as a light recording medium , it is desirable for it to have a light absorptivity of 80 % or more in the above wavelength range . however , since , as a practical problem , the absorptivity can easily fluctuate by e . g . the thickness of the recording layer etc ., ± 10 % is allowed as a variation for absorptivity , that is , a variation of ± 10 % is given to this 80 % as the center . therefore , on constituting a recording layer , dyes and the number and mixing ratio of the dyes to be mixed are chosen so as to satisfy these requisites . the mixing ratio is determined by the absorptivity coefficients of the chosen dyes . table i______________________________________light wavelength of 400 - 590 nm maximum wave - lengthdye ( nm ) ______________________________________solvent yellow 114 ( colour index ) 450solvent yellow 105 ( colour index ) 450solvent orange 78 ( colour index ) 450solvent orange 68 ( colour index ) 480solvent orange 71 ( colour index ) 500solvent orange 72 ( colour index ) 440solvent red 176 ( colour index ) 500solvent red 155 ( colour index ) 5202 &# 39 ;, 7 &# 39 ;- dichlorofluorescein 512rhodamine 110 ( commercial name , produced by 510eastman kodak co .) rhodamine 116 perchlorate ( commercial name , 525produced by eastman kodak co .) rhodamine 123 ( commercial name , produced by 511eastman kodak co .) solvent violet 33 ( colour index ) 580solvent blue 90 ( colour index ) 590oleosol fast black bl ( commercial name , pro - 580duced by sumitomo chemical co .) oleosol fast red bl ( commercial name , produced 520by sumitomo chemical co .) ______________________________________ table ii______________________________________light wavelength of 590 - 750 nm maximum wavelengthdye ( nm ) ______________________________________solvent blue 83 ( colour index ) 590disperse blue 5 ( colour index ) 635disperse blue 6 ( colour index ) 634disperse blue 7 ( colour index ) 623solvent blue 36 ( colour index ) 590 & amp ; 640solvent blue 11 ( colour index ) 608 & amp ; 652solvent green 3 ( colour index ) 640solvent blue 73 ( colour index ) 620solvent blue 55 ( colour index ) 610solvent black 22 ( colour index ) 600aizen spilon blue gnh ( commercial name , pro - 664duced by hodogaya chemical co .) aizen spilon blue 2 bnh ( commercial name , 670 & amp ; 630produced by hodogaya chemical co .) solvent blue 70 ( colour index ) 675oil color black by ( commercial name , produced 590by orient chemical co .) oil color black hbb ( commercial name , pro - 600duced by orient chemical co .) oil color black # 803 ( commercial name , pro - 645 & amp ; 595duced by orient chemical co .) oil color blue 603 ( commercial name , produced 635 & amp ; 534by orient chemical co .) ______________________________________ table iii______________________________________light wavelength of 750 - 900 nm maximum wavelengthdye ( nm ) ______________________________________ir - 140 ( commercial name , produced by 823eastman kodak co .) 3 , 3 &# 39 ;- diethylthiatricarbocyanine perchlorate 7731 , 1 &# 39 ;, 3 , 3 , 3 &# 39 ;, 3 &# 39 ;- hexamethyl - 4 , 4 &# 39 ;, 5 , 5 &# 39 ;- dibenzo - 7822 , 2 &# 39 ;- indocarbocyanine perchlorateir - 125 ( commercial name , produced by 795eastman kodak co .) ndl - 114 ( commercial name , produced by 800nippon kank - o shikiso co .) nk - 125 ( commercial name , produced by 760nippon kank - o shikiso co .) pa - 1002 ( commercial name , produced by mitsui 895toatsu chemicals inc .) pa - 1003 ( commercial name , produced by mitsui 885toatsu chemicals inc .) ______________________________________ fig2 - 7 set forth the experimental examples for confirming the effectiveness of the above - described light recording medium . fig2 shows the measured values of the transmittance of oil color blue 603 ( commercial name , produced by orient chemical co .) incorporated in nitrocellulose at a ratio by weight of 1 : 10 against wavelengths . as is clear from the figure , the transmittance reaches the minimum in the vicinity of 640 nm in wavelength . fig3 shows the measured values of the transmittance of nk - 125 ( commercial name , produced by nippon kanko shikiso co .) incorporated in nitrocellulose at a ratio by weight of 1 : 10 against wavelengths . in this case , the transmittance reaches the minimum in the vicinity of 760 nm in wavelength . therefore , by mixing oil color blue 603 and nk - 125 , a mixed dye showing a transmittance having minimum values in the vicinities of 640 nm and 760 nm in wavelength may be obtained . this is shown in fig4 . fig4 shows the transmittance of that obtained by incorporating oil color blue 603 and nk - 125 into nitrocellulose at a ratio by weight of 3 : 1 : 10 . as is clear from the figure , it can be seen that by making the transmittance in the vicinity of 700 nm in wavelength smaller , a flat transmittance over 590 - 790 nm or so in wavelength will be obtained . fig5 shows the transmittance of solvent blue 70 ( oleosol fast blue el ) incorporated in nitrocellulose at a ratio by weight of 1 : 10 . since this dye has a maximum light absorbing wavelength intermediate between those of the above two dyes , the transmittance curve of fig4 is made flat by a mixed dye of these three dyes . fig6 shows the transmittance where oil color blue 603 , nk - 125 and solvent blue 70 are incorporated in nitrocellulose at a ratio of 3 : 1 : 1 : 10 . as shown in the figure , it can be seen that a light absorptivity of 80 % or more is obtained over 580 - 800 nm or so in wavelength . therefore , it is evident that it is possible to widen the wavelength range by further incorporating other dyes . fig7 shows an experimental example in which a medium was constituted so as to be applicable to the wavelengths of the above - described various laser lights and the transmittance of that obtained by incorporating oleosol fast red bl , oleosol fast blue el , oil color blue 603 , nk - 125 and pa 1003 into nitro - cellulose at a ratio by weight of 7 . 5 : 1 : 3 : 1 . 5 : 1 . 5 : 16 . 5 was measured . it can be seen that light absorbing characteristics having no wavelength dependency over 400 - 900 nm in wavelength are obtained . therefore , according to the present invention , there may be obtained an organic based light recording medium which can accurately write information and also can accommodate to the progress of the future development of semiconductor lasers . further , it is also possible to employ a dye having a high refractive index as at least one among the dyes to be mixed , and by this , the reflectance of the recording layer is controlled , thereby providing a recording medium also excellent in reading information . as have been described above , according to the present invention , a plurality of dyes having light absorbing wavelengths different from each other are used in a recording layer to give uniform absorbing characteristics over a wide wavelength range , thereby providing an organic based light recording medium which functions effectively for various lasers .
| 8General tagging of new or cross-sectional technology
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fig1 illustrates a side view of a cable drum 2 of a hoisting device . the cable drum is supported rotatable on its axis 4 . at the other end of the cable drum 2 is arranged a drum brake 6 of the present invention . the drum brake 6 is activated to stop the cable drum 2 when the speed of the cable drum and thus the speed of the load hanging on the rope of the hoisting device exceeds a predetermined speed limit . in practice the speed limit of the peripheral velocity of the cable drum is 15 - 40 m / min . fig2 illustrates a cross sectional view along lines 11 -- 11 in fig1 . the drum brake 6 consists of three ratchet wheels 8 , 9 and 10 having teeth on their outer surface . the ratchet wheels encircle the brake drum 3 , which is coaxial with the cable drum and connected to it or is a structural part of the cable drum . the ratchet wheels almost entirely surround the brake drum 3 . each ratchet wheel 8 , 9 , 10 is open and its end 12 are connected to its other end 14 with a screw 16 . between the screw 16 and the other end 14 of the ratchet wheel is installed a spring 18 to provide a suitable pressing force between the ratchet wheel 8 and the brake drum 3 . respectively the ends of the ratchet wheels 9 and 10 are connected together with screws . each ratchet wheel 8 , 9 , 10 has teeth 20 , 22 and 24 respectively on its outer cylinder surface and there are slots between the teeth in every ratchet wheel . the ratchet wheels are essentially similar and their teeth are divided in a similar way but the teeth of the ratchet wheel 8 are transferred a distance 26 from the teeth of the ratchet wheel 9 and further the teeth of the ratchet wheel 9 are transferred a distance 26 from the teeth of the ratchet wheel 10 . the inner surface 28 of the ratchet wheel is lined with a brake lining 30 . the other side of the lining 30 is against the brake drum 3 . as illustrated in fig3 which is a cross sectional view along line 111 -- 111 of the fig2 the ratchet wheels 8 , 9 and 10 and their brake linings are parallel on the brake drum 2 . for triggering of the drum brake , a trigger mechanism 32 is arranged near the teeth of the ratchet wheels 8 , 9 , 10 . the trigger mechanism 32 comprises a body part 34 , a trigger member 36 installed movably therein and a spring 38 . the trigger member 36 is kept by an electromagnet 37 in its inactivated position as shown in the fig2 . when the speed of the cable drum exceeds a predetermined speed limit which is detected e . g . by a tachometer 5 arranged on the axis 4 of the cable drum , the electromagnet 37 is released by a control unit 40 with a signal via a conductor 42 and the trigger member 36 is moved towards the ratchet wheels by the spring 38 and into the slots between teeth thus causing the stopping of the ratchet wheels . in the embodiment of fig2 the ratchet wheel 10 will be stopped first and its brake lining begins to brake with a moment defined by the spring 18 of the ratchet wheel 10 . at the triggering moment the braking moment will be a little greater because of the fact that the static moment is greater than the dynamic friction moment . after a delay the second ratchet wheel 9 will be locked and further after another delay the ratchet wheel 8 will be locked thus causing an increase of the braking moment when the braking surface increases . the delay depends on the phase difference of the ratchet wheels and the speed of the cable drum . the parts of the hoisting equipment , like the hoisting ropes , are dimensioned to bear a force which effects when a nominal load is decelerated from the said speed limit in a certain time . as this safety means is to fulfill this deceleration requirement the starting moment in the beginning of the braking will be always lower than the dimensioned moment because only a part of the braking moment is used in the beginning . however , the full moment will be reached almost immediately after triggering the brake . in a normal case the static , i . e . detaching moment is about 30 - 40 % greater than the dynamic moment which is defined by the spring 18 . the brake may be unused for a long time , even for years , and then the static moment can be much higher , even 70 - 120 % greater than the dynamic moment because of corrosion or other age depending factors . in a very advantageous embodiment of the invention , identical ratchet wheels are used forming a modular structure . the number of ratchet wheels is defined case by case according to the required braking moment . the ratchet wheels can also differ from each other in their width and braking surface . also , the springs of the ratchet wheels can be different and the phase difference between the parallel ratchet wheels may be adjustable . the number of the ratchet wheels and their structure may have several alternatives within the scope of the present invention . the triggering mechanism can be actuated electrically or mechanically or other different ways depending on the speed of the cable drum or lifting rope . the embodiments of the invention may also differ from the above in other respects and the full scope is defined by the following claims .
| 1Performing Operations; Transporting
|
referring now to fig4 a decision feedback equalizer 130 with adaptive decision correction according to the preferred embodiment of the invention includes some of the components of a prior art dfe which are indicated with reference numerals similar to those shown in fig2 and 3 but incremented by 100 . thus , the dfe 130 includes a feed - forward finite impulse response ( fir ) equalizer 132 , first and second summers 134 , 136 , a reference generator 137 and decision block 138 , and a feedback fir equalizer 140 . the feed - forward fir provides a feedforward equalized component ( rff ) to the summer 134 which is compared to the feedback equalized component ( rfb ) provided by the feedback fir 140 to provide an equalized estimated symbol ( r ). this estimated symbol ( r ) is provided to the second summer 136 which is also coupled ( via multiplier 152 ) to the output of a reference generator 137 which generates a reference ( known ) sequence ( tk ). in accord with the invention , periodic gain coefficients ( 1 + g ) are applied at multiplier 152 to the sequence ( tk ) to provide remodulated symbols ( t rm k ) which are fed as a sequence to the summer 136 . these remodulated symbols ( t rm k ) are also fed to the feedback fir 140 . the remodulated reference sequence ( t rm k ) is compared at the second summer 136 to the estimated symbol ( r ) to provide an error ( e g ) which is used as feedback in order to update the equalizer tap coefficients 131 ( cff ) and 139 ( cfb ) of the firs 132 and 140 . according to the invention , the error ( e g ) is also used as an input to the rbs estimator and decision modulator 150 ( which also receives an input ( r ) from summer 134 or an input t rm k from multiplier 152 ). once the training has been accomplished , instead of utilizing the reference generator 137 to provide the sequence tk , a decision block 138 is used to generate the sequence tk . thus , switch 161 is used to switch from the reference generator 137 to the decision block 138 . the decision block 138 utilizes the equalized estimated symbol ( r ) in making its decision as is well known in the art . in order to better understand the basic operations of the rbs estimator and decision modulator 150 , the periodic application of gain gj ( k ) to symbols tk to obtain remodulated symbols t rm k can be illustrated as a synchronously rotating commutator as shown in fig5 . the commutator diagram shown in fig5 shows three synchronously rotating switches 160 , 162 , 164 each of which has six positions j = 5 , 4 , 3 , 2 , 1 , 0 , each position referring to a time slot in the 6 * t period of an unknown rbs pattern . as illustrated in fig5 all of the switches are at the position j = 5 when the incoming stream of training symbols tk is at the start of a six symbol rbs pattern or frame . thus , the symbol sampled at switch 160 when it is in the first position j = 5 is labelled t ( 6k - 5 ). the gain coefficient applied to this symbol is selected at switch 162 which is synchronously at the same j = 5 position . the gain coefficient at this position is labelled [ 1 + g5 ( 6k - 5 )] and represents the gain coefficient which will be repeatedly applied to each t ( 6k - 5 ). switch 164 represents the remodulated symbols t rm k , each of which is calculated by multiplying the respective symbol tj ( k ) by the respective gain coefficient gj ( k ). it will therefore be understood that the rbs estimator and decision modulator 150 will generate a repeating pattern of six gain coefficients which are synchronized with the stream of training symbols in order to adjust the amplitude of the locally generated training symbols to match the rbs - altered amplitude of the symbols in the received signal stream r . when the locally generated training symbols are so remodulated , the dfe is permitted to correctly adjust the tap coefficients by comparing the estimated signal r with the remodulated reference signal t rm k which has now been adjusted to compensate for the effects of rbs on the estimated signal r . therefore , the tap coefficients for the symbols which have been affected by rbs are set differently than they would have been set were it not for the remodulation of the locally generated training symbols . the decision modulator 150 , according to the invention , operates adaptively to estimate the rbs pattern and assign the appropriate gain coefficients to each slot in the repeating rbs frame . as mentioned above , according to a presently preferred embodiment of the invention , the adaptive decision remodulator calculates gain according to where gj . sub . ( 6 ( k + 1 )- j ) is a value of the j th decimated remodulation gain predicted for the time 6 ( k + 1 )- j , gj . sub . ( 6k - j ) is the current value of the j th decimated remodulation gain for the time 6k - j , μj is an adaptation constant for the j th gain , r . sub . ( 6k - j ) is the current value of the equalized ( estimated ) symbol , and e . sub . ( 6k - j ) is the current decision error using the current t rm . sub . ( 6k - j ). the adaptation constant μj is appropriately chosen as is known in the art . these gain coefficients are applied iteratively to repeating frames of symbols tk from the reference generator in order to generate remodulated values of t rm k according to each time a symbol tk is remodulated , a new error e is generated at the second summer 136 in fig4 according to each error e is used in equation ( 1 ) above to recalculate the gain coefficients for each j th slot in the rbs frame . the interaction of the equations ( 1a ) or ( 1b ) through ( 3 ) is shown diagrammatically in fig6 a and 6b which represent the application of the equations to each j th slot in the rbs frame . turning now to fig6 a , according to a first embodiment , the gain ( g ) for the j th slot of the rbs frame is added to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; at 170a to provide a gain coefficient which is multiplied by the current training symbol ( t ) at 172a to produce a remodulated training symbol ( t rm ) which is subtracted from the equalized symbol ( r ) at 174a . the &# 34 ; summing &# 34 ; ( which takes place at the summer 136 in fig4 ) produces the decision error ( e ) which is used to calculate the predicted gain for the next iteration of the j th slot of the rbs frame . the error ( e ) is multiplied by the symbol ( r ) at 176a and this product is multiplied by the adaptation constant ( μ ) for this j th slot at 178a . the product created at 178a is then added to the present gain ( g ) at 180a to produce the gain for the next occurrence of this j th slot in the rbs frame at 182a . the accumulated set of six gains is stored at a buffer 184a ( such as a fifo ) which produces the current gain for summation at 170a and 180a based on the last predicted gain which is provided at 182a . turning to fig6 b , in an alternative preferred embodiment , the gain ( g ) for the j th slot of the rbs frame is added to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; at 170b to provide a gain coefficient which is multiplied by the current training symbol ( t ) at 172b to produce a remodulated training symbol ( t rm ) which is subtracted from the equalized symbol ( r ) at 174b . the &# 34 ; summing &# 34 ; ( which takes place at the summer 136 in fig4 ) produces the decision error ( e ) which is used to calculate the predicted gain for the next iteration of the j th slot of the rbs frame . the error ( e ) is multiplied by the remodulated symbol ( t rm 6k - j ) at 176b and this product is multiplied by the adaptation constant ( μ ) for this j th slot at 178b . the product created at 178b is then added to the present gain ( g ) at 180b to produce the gain for the next occurrence of this j th slot in the rbs frame at 182b . the accumulated set of six gains is stored at a buffer 184b ( such as a fifo ) which produces the current gain for summation at 170b and 180b based on the last predicted gain which is provided at 182b . it will be appreciated that when the decision modulator is initialized , there are no gain values available for application to the summer 170a or 170b . according to the presently preferred embodiment of the invention , the buffer 184a or 184b is initially filled with six zeros . it will also be appreciated that the operations shown in fig6 are carried out independently for each of the six slots ( j = 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 0 ) in the rbs frame . it will further be appreciated that these operations are carried out for k = n iterations of the rbs frame until the stream of symbols ( r ) has been adequately equalized . it will be understood that each slot j in the repeating frame may have a different gain coefficient . from frame to frame , however , the repeating gain coefficient applied to each particular slot j should become relatively constant . thus , after iteratively adjusting slot gains for n frames , the system should equalize with a constant repeating pattern of gain coefficients which may then be applied to the output of the decision block . it should be appreciated that the main precondition for the engagement of the adaptive decision modulator is that the equalizer has first reached a certain level of equalization prior to introducing the adaptive decision modulator into the loop ( i . e ., another switch , not shown , may be provided and used to bypass the rbs estimator and decision modulator ). for the type of impairments introduced by rbs , the steady state signal - to - noise ratio ( snr ) obtained by the dfe prior to introducing the adaptive decision modulator into the loop may be quite low ( e . g ., 21 db ). under these circumstances no further reduction in mse ( mean squared error ) is possible unless the adaptive decision modulator is introduced into the loop . however , using the adaptive decision modulator of the invention , the final equalizer coefficient solution substantially eliminates the affects of rbs . turning to fig7 the pcm modem equalizer of the invention is shown using a more generic &# 34 ; adaptive equalizer &# 34 ; 301 instead of a dfe . in fig7 components which are similar to those shown in fig4 are incremented by 100 . thus , incoming signals are received by the adaptive equalizer 201 which outputs an equalized estimated symbol ( r ). the estimated symbol r is fed to a decision block 238 , to a summer 236 , and , according to one embodiment , to the rbs estimator and decision modulator 250 . from the estimated symbol r , the decision block 238 generates a sequence of output decisions tk ( it being appreciated that during training , instead of the decision block 238 being utilized , a reference generator is utilized to provide tk ). the output decisions tk are multiplied by the output ( 1 + g ) of the rbs estimator and decision modulator 250 to provide remodulated symbols t rm k . differences between the remodulated symbols ( t rm k ) and the estimated symbols ( r ) are taken at the summation block 236 to generate error values ( e g ), and the error values are fed back to the adaptive equalizer 201 and the rbs estimator and decision modulator 250 . as can be seen from fig7 ( as well as fig4 - 6 ), the rbs estimator and decision modulator 250 utilizes the error values ( e g ) as well as either the estimated symbols ( r ) or the remodulated symbols t rm k in generating a gain ( g ). there have been described and illustrated herein a pcm modem equalizer with adaptive compensation for robbed bit signalling . while particular embodiments of the invention have been described , it is not intended that the invention be limited thereto , as it is intended that the invention be as broad in scope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise . thus , while the invention has been described as being typically implemented in a dsp of the modem , it will be appreciated that different hardware and / or software can be utilized . indeed , the invention can be implemented as part of a &# 34 ; soft - modem &# 34 ;. also , while particular block diagrams were provided , it will be appreciated that the invention can be implemented using different equivalent blocks . thus , instead of a 6 * t fifo buffer , other types of buffers could be utilized . in fact , in certain circumstances , different buffers will be required . for example , in certain circumstances , particulars of the network cause an asymmetry in the translation of positive levels and negative levels . where this asymmetry is present , separate positive and negative corrective gains must be determined for each of the six slots , thereby requiring effectively twelve gain adjustments ( g ) to be determined . thus , the buffer must be capable of storing twelve values and being accessed upon demand , depending upon whether a positive or negative gain adjustment is required for the particular incoming value . similarly , in certain networks , the value of the robbed bit in even numbered rbs frames is not equal to the value of the robbed bit in odd numbered frames . in this case , corrective gains must be assigned separately to even and odd numbered frames , thereby requiring effectively twelve gain adjustments to be determined . of course , where the network has both the asymmetry and the changing robbed bit values present , twenty - four corrective gain adjustments must be determined and stored . it will therefore be appreciated by those skilled in the art that yet other modifications could be made to the provided invention without deviating from its spirit and scope as so claimed .
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