text
stringlengths 1.55k
332k
| label
int64 0
8
|
|---|---|
the time / temperature characteristic t = f ( t ) according to fig1 occurs , for example , when a steam pressure cooking vessel contains only a small quantity of cooking materials . compared to a mean preset time / temperature characteristic with the preset mean temperature increase δtv in time interval to , temperature increase δtx is greater in the same time interval to . the temperature increase δtx remains roughly constant until just before reaching the evaporation temperature ts of water which is about 100 ° c . a trigger temperature tu is selected which is lower than evaporation temperature ts of water and may be about 85 ° c ., for example . when temperature increase δtx exceeds the preset temperature increase δtv , as soon as trigger temperature tu is reached , the heating element is deactivated for the duration of first shutdown cycle tp . after first shutdown cycle tp , the heating element is again switched to full heat output or to a defined heat output until evaporation temperature ts is reached . as soon as evaporation temperature ts is reached , the heating element is normally switched off for second preset shutdown cycle tg . after second shutdown cycle tg , an additional temperature increase δty during preset time intervals to is measured and compared with a minimum temperature increase δtm per time interval to . if the measured additional temperature increase δty is less than minimum temperature increase δtm , the heating element is switched to full heat output in the following time interval to . if the measured additional temperature increase δty exceeds minimum temperature increase δtm , the heating element is switched by the control circuit to full heat output or to a defined heat output for a heat output time period s in the following time interval to which is determined according to a preset program , taking into account measured additional temperature increase δty and temperature differential ta between selected cooking temperature tk1 and the actual measured temperature ti in the steam pressure cooking vessel . cooking temperature tk1 is suitable for rapid cooking , for example , and may be set at 117 ° c . after time t1 the heating element is deactivated for the duration of first shutdown cycle tp and after time t2 it is again deactivated for the duration of second shutdown cycle tg . with the time / temperature characteristic t = f ( t ) according to fig2 the steam pressure cooking vessel contains a large quantity of cooking material , so that the temperature increase δtx in time interval to will be less than preset temperature increase δtv in time interval to according to a mean preset time / temperature characteristic , as shown by the dashed line in fig2 . if the trigger temperature is reached after time t3 , the heating element in this case will remain activated at full heat output or at a defined heat output until evaporation temperature ts is reached at time t4 . in this case , the first shutdown phase and the first shutdown cycle tp will not occur . as soon as evaporation temperature ts is reached , the same switching process and shutdown cycle will occur as with the time / temperature characteristic t = f ( t ) according to fig1 . since cooking temperature tk2 is preset for vitamin preserving cooking to about 104 ° c . in this case , temperature differential ta will be measured with respect to this preset cooking temperature . the program memory will be controlled in the same way and operation of the heating element will again depend on the measured additional temperature increase δty in time interval to and temperature differential ta between preset cooking temperature tk2 and actual measured temperature ti in the steam pressure cooking vessel . the control circuit of heating element he may be advantageously provided with a period group control circuit , whereby the duration of the period corresponds to time interval to . shutdown cycles tp and tg may also usefully correspond to whole number multiples of time interval to to enable them to be derived from the timing means of the period group control circuit . the heating processes with time / temperature characteristics t = f ( t ) according to fig1 and 2 are described in greater detail with the aid of the block circuit diagram according to fig3 . temperature ti in and / or at the steam pressure cooking vessel is measured by temperature sensor tf . the measured temperature may be converted by a / d converter ad , for example , to a digital signal which is transmitted to receiver e over transmission link ue . temperature measurement signal ti is then monitored by first measurement circuit m1 until it reaches trigger temperature tu and by second measuremet circuit m2 until it reaches evaporation temperature ts . at the same time temperature measurement ti is transmitted to first switch circuit s1 which measures the temperature increases δtx in time intervals to and transmits these to first comparator circuit v1 . predetermined temperature increase δtv is continuously transmitted to first comparator circuit v1 . as soon as trigger temperature tu is reached , a signal is transmitted to first comparator circuit v1 by first measurement circuit m1 for purposes of comparison . if temperature increase δtx measured in time interval to exceeds predetermined temperature increase δtv for this time interval , first comparator circuit v1 will provide a signal to timing means zp which will disable control circuit hst and thus deactivate heating element he during first shutdown cycle tp . timing means zp also disables base measurement circuit mo which provides a signal to control circuit hst until evaporation temperature ts is reached , so that heating element he is switched to full heat output . after first shutdown cycle tp , base measurement circuit mo is enabled until evaporation temperature ts is reached . if the measured temperature increase δtx is less than predetermined temperature increase δtv , no signal is supplied to timing means zp by first comparator circuit v1 and base measurement circuit mo is not disabled until evaporation temperature ts is reached . as a result , heating element he remains activated at its full heat output or to a defined heat output until evaporation temperature ts is reached . as soon as evaporation temperature ts is reached , second measurement circuit m2 is actuated and provides a signal to second timing means zg . second timing means zg deactivates heating element he through control circuit hst for the duration of second shutdown cycle tg . second switch circuit s2 derives additional temperature increase δty during preset time intervals to from actual measured temperature ti and transmits it to second comparator circuit v2 which compares additional temperature increase δty with a minimum temperature increase δtm per time interval to . if the latter ( δtm ) exceeds the former ( δty ), second comparator circuit v2 operates control circuit hst throughout the following time interval to so that heating element he remains activated at its full heat output or at a defined heat output . however , if the reverse is the case and the measured additional temperature increase δty exceeds or is equal to the preset minimum temperature increase δtm , program memory psp and control circuit hst are enabled . additional temperature increase δty and temperature differential ta are transmitted to program memory psp . temperature differential ta is derived from the difference between preset cooking temperature tk1 or tk2 and the actual temperature measurement ti in the steam pressure cooking vessel by third switch circuit s3 . the table according to fig4 shows the program stored in program memory psp . the horizontal rows contain temperature differential values ta = tk1 - ti or tk2 - ti of from 0 ° to 15 ° c . the vertical columns show values of measured additional temperature increases δty from 0 ° to & gt ; 5 ° c . the tabulated values show heat output time period s as a percentage of time interval to during which heating element he remains activated . if the temperature differential were 6 ° c ., for example , and the additional temperature increase δty measured in the time interval to were 2 . 5 ° c ., this would give a value for s of 12 . 5 percent , i . e ., in the following time interval to , which might be 24 seconds , for example , heating element he would be activated for only a period of 0 . 125 × 24 seconds = 3 seconds . for each subsequent time interval to , the additional temperature increase δty is measured and temperature differential ta is calculated , whereby heating element he is activated in each subsequent time interval to either continuously or for a limited period according to the control program . | 6 |
referring to fig1 a rudderless catamaran sailboat is shown generally at 10 . sailboat 10 includes a pair of parallel floatation pontoons 12 , and a rigid inflatable mast 14 extending upwardly between the pontoons 12 . a rigid mast support 15 includes a pair of opposing rigid frame members 16 rotatably coupled to each pontoon 12 . each member 16 laterally extends from the lower portion of mast support 15 and is secured thereto such as by welding , and includes a gusset 17 providing strength . the opposing distal ends of each frame member 16 are pivotably and rotatably coupled to the upper midsection of the respective pontoon 12 . the distal ends are axially disposed through a respective curved bracket 18 secured to the upper surface of the respective pontoon 12 , as shown . the distal end of each frame member 16 is restricted from lateral shifting within the respective bracket 18 by a pair of large releasable keeper pins , one pin being disposed through the respective frame member 16 each side of bracket 18 . a front tie 19 and a rear tie 21 extend between and are secured to each pontoon 12 to provide torsional strength . mast member 14 extends between an upper end 20 and a lower end defined proximate members 16 , which lower end terminates at and is secured to a symmetrically configured keel 22 . when mast 14 is pivoted forwardly , frame members 16 each rotate within respective bracket 18 , and the mast upper end 20 and keel 22 correspondingly rotate about pivot point p ( see fig1 ). a sail 24 is secured to a vertically extending flexible mast sleeve 26 along the forward edge of sail 24 , as shown . sleeve 26 is generally tubular being sewn into and consisting of sail cloth , and is selectively disposed over mast support 15 in a friction fit . a sail boom 30 extends rearward on each side of sail 24 along the major surfaces thereof . a plurality of rigid reinforcing members 32 are provided along the rear edges of sail 24 , each extending inwardly towards mast 14 , as shown , to reinforce sail 24 and along with boom 30 , to maintain an open sail surface . referring now to fig1 in view of plan fig2 a , 2b , 2c and 2d , the operational features of this novel rudderless sailboat can be appreciated . by way of demonstration , if it is assumed the wind is blowing from port and thus impinging upon the surface of sail 24 as shown in fig2 a , 2b , 2c and 2d , one can steer sailboat 10 by motioning mast upper end 20 and sail 24 forwardly or rearwardly , along a center axis a2 between the pontoons , such that due to this pivoting motion , keel 22 correspondingly rotates in the opposite direction and about pivot point p . first , referring to fig2 a , if sail 24 and mast upper end 20 is tilted slightly forward from that shown in fig1 and keel 22 thus tilted slightly aft , the sailboat will be steered straight forward . the hydrodynamic center of force r extending from the center of lateral resistance ( c . l . r .) of keel 22 is generally shown at 40 . the aerodynamic center of force f1 is generally shown at 42 and extends from the sail center of effort ( c . e .). these forces are equal and opposite and occur in the same vertical plane so no moment of force m1 is generated , and thus , sailboat 10 steers forwardly without turning . in reference to fig1 and 2b , if sail 24 and mast upper end 20 are rotated further forwardly increasing the sail trim angle t2 from trim angle t1 in fig2 a , while keel 22 remaining as shown , the aerodynamic force f1 on the sail 24 becomes negligible and the sailboat &# 39 ; s speed drops to zero . conversely , as shown in fig1 and 2c , if sail 24 is pivoted rearwardly such that keel 22 is pivoted forwardly , the hydrodynamic center of force r is shifted forwardly along line a2 to position 48 , and the aerodynamic center of force f1 is shifted rearwardly along line a1 to 50 . these forces are equal and opposite and occur in the same vertical plane so no movement of force m1 is generated . by increasing the sails angle of attack , the wind is on the opposite side of the sail . the aerodynamic forces on the sail aback will move the sailboat in the general direction from where it came . in reference to fig1 and 2d , the sail 24 is rotated fully aback and mast upper end 20 is tilted slightly forward from that shown in fig2 c . keel 22 is also tilted slightly forward . the hydrodynamic center of force r extending from the center of lateral resistance of keel 22 is generally shown at 52 . the aerodynamic center of force f1 is generally shown at 54 and extends from the sail center of effort ( ce ). these forces are equal and opposite . the sailboat now moves on a new tack with substantially balanced hydrodynamic and aerodynamic force , and slight clockwise movement . if the wind is assumed to come from starboard rather than port and impinge upon the other side of sail 24 shown in fig1 tilting the mast 20 forward with corresponding tilt rearward of the keel 22 will cause the sailboat to steer to port and the bow of the boat will be said to fall - off - the - wind . tilting the mast 20 rearward with corresponding tilt forward of the keel 22 will cause the sailboat to steer to starboard and the bow of the boat will be said to come - up - into - the - wind . in summary , at slight tilt forward of mast 20 , an equilibrium of sail and keel forces can be found which cause straight forward steering . greater tilts forward cause the bow of the sailboat to fall - off - the - wind . greater tilts of mast 20 rearward cause the bow of the boat to come - up - into - the - wind . when the sail and keel forces are no longer in equilibrium , a moment is created causing the boat to turn clockwise or counter - clockwise . the further mast 20 is tilted forward with corresponding tilt rearward of the keel 22 , the greater the moment causing the bow of the boat to fall - off - the - wind . the further mast 20 is tilted rearward with corresponding forward tilt of the keel 22 , the greater the moment causing the bow of the boat to come - up - into - the - wind . very large and effective steering moments result from large angles of tilt , resulting in easy and precise steering . the angle of sail 24 is shown as trim angle t1 . this trim angle t1 can be adjusted by rotating sail 24 and sleeve 26 about mast 20 to cause sail 24 to achieve optimum aerodynamic angles of attack relative to the wind . the total sail area of the sail 24 in the sailboat at 10 will generally be ten square meters or less . forces generated by this size sail can generally be manually restrained by one or two crew of the sailboat . it is thus intended that tilt of the mast / keel steering system and setting of the sail trim angle can be accomplished manually by crew setting and / or standing on the structure of the sailboat . lines with block and tackle from the sail boom 30 to the stern of the boat may be employed to relieve some sail forces generated when sailing in excessively heavy winds . because of the symmetrical configuration of keel 22 and the corresponding symmetrical configuration of parallel floatation pontoons 12 -- 12 , the crew may employ either end of the floatation pontoons 12 -- 12 as the fore - and / or - aft end upon appropriate manipulation of the mast 14 and keel 22 . the crew may accomplish such reversal by removal of the keeper pins , removal of mast and keel assembly from the side brackets 18 , and rotating the assembly about the mast axis by 180 degrees . following rotation , each frame member 16 is re - positioned within brackets 18 , and the conversion operation is complete . in an alternative embodiment shown in fig3 the sailboat 110 has no keel in addition to no rudder . this sailboat has the identical features of embodiment of fig1 and 2 of a pair of parallel floatation pontoons 112 , and a rigid inflatable mast 114 extending upwardly between the pontoons 112 . in this embodiment , however , the pontoon hulls are made of a rigid material , such as aluminum , and have a v - shaped cross section as seen in fig3 . this embodiment has a rigid mast support 115 includes a pair of opposing rigid frame members 116 rotatably coupled to each pontoon 112 . each member 116 laterally extends from the lower portion of mast support 115 and is secured thereto such as by welding , and includes a gusset 117 providing strength . the opposing distal ends of each frame member 116 are pivotably and rotatably coupled to the upper midsection of the respective pontoon 112 . the distal ends are axially disposed through a respective curved bracket 118 secured to the upper surface of the respective pontoon 112 , as shown . the distal end of each frame member 16 is restricted from lateral shifting within the respective bracket 118 by a pair of large releasable keeper pins , one pin being disposed through the respective frame member 116 each side of bracket 118 . a front tie 119 and a rear tie 121 extend between and are secured to each pontoon 112 to provide torsional strength . mast member 114 extends between an upper end 120 and a lower end defined proximate members 116 , which lower end terminates at and is secured to gusset 117 . when mast 114 is pivoted forwardly , frame members 116 each rotate within respective bracket 118 , and the mast upper end 120 correspondingly rotates about pivot point p ( see fig3 ). a sail 124 is secured to a vertically extending flexible mast sleeve 126 along the forward edge of sail 124 , as shown . sleeve 126 is generally tubular being sewn into and consisting of sail cloth , and is selectively disposed over mast support 115 in a friction fit . a sail boom 130 extends rearward on each side of sail 124 along the major surfaces thereof . a plurality of rigid reinforcing members 132 are provided along the rear edges of sail 124 , each extending inwardly towards mast 114 , as shown , to reinforce sail 124 and along with boom 130 , to maintain an open sail surface . the hulls have sufficient resistance to lateral movement in the water so that no keel is necessary in this alternative embodiment . thus , only the mast and sail need be manipulated in the manner described above to maneuver the sailboat . this invention has been described herein in considerable detail in order to appropriately disclose the concept to those skilled in the art , and to provide the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use such specialized components as are required . however , it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different equipment and devices , and that various modifications , both as to the equipment details and operating procedures , can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself . for instance , it is to be recognized that a keel can be coupled to a pivoting mast through a gearing arrangement such that the keel pivots proportionally with the mast during rotation , but not necessarily at a correspondingly 1 : 1 relationship . any sailboat implementing a mast and keel which can be selectively pivoted fore or aft to create a moment of force to steer the sailboat , is contemplated by the present invention . | 1 |
in the various embodiments , components that have the same function are indicated with the same reference number . fig1 shows the various components of a mobile greenhouse . the mobile greenhouse has a cultivation area 1 for cultivation of plants , the cultivation area 1 is indicated in the diagram with an interrupted line . the cultivation area 1 is a closed space with a more or less uninterrupted air flow from outside the cultivation area 1 and preferably an overpressure in the cultivation area 1 to prevent vermin and pathogenic organisms to enter through gaps in the enclosure of the cultivation area 1 or other openings . a ventilator 6 generates the airflow into the cultivation area 1 , a filter ( not shown ) removes particles from the incoming air and a ventilation grille ( not shown ) with small openings makes outflow of the air possible and simultaneously causes the slight overpressure in the cultivation area 1 . in a further embodiment , the airflow generated by the ventilator 6 is variable in order to regulate the temperature difference between the ambient air and the cultivation area 1 . in order to monitor the temperature in the cultivation area 1 there is a temperature sensor 11 in the cultivation area 1 . the cultivation area 1 can have transparent cover ( not shown ) so that radiation from the sun may heat the cultivation area 1 . in order to prevent overheating there is a sun shield 2 to stop entrance of radiation into the cultivation area 1 . in a further embodiment , a radiation sensor 10 detects the radiation from the sun and its intensity . the sun shield 2 may leave the sides of the transparent cover open so that from the side of the cultivation area 1 the plants can be seen and their growth can be followed . for stimulating growth , the cultivation area 1 includes lamps 5 that have a radiation spectrum that is suitable for plants . for situations , that the ambient air is too cold for proper growth of the plants in the cultivation area 1 there is a heater 9 . the heater 9 can be located at the underside of the cultivation area 1 in a bottom tray 20 . other locations are possible such as in the airflow from the ventilator 6 . the bottom tray 20 forms the underside of the cultivation area 1 . the bottom tray 20 is a transportable watertight tray that a user will position at an accessible location . in this location , it must be possible that the air circulates freely around the cultivation area . a cover that can be removed by the user in an easy way so that the user can access the cultivation area 1 for taking out plant parts and he can use these when preparing food covers the bottom tray 20 . in order to improve the handling of the cover the cultivation area 1 has limited dimensions , for instance the largest length is 1 . 5 meter or less and preferably the length is 1 . 2 meter or less and the width is 0 . 8 meter or less . a cultivation area for herbs that are used in a kitchen for flavouring food can have a length of 0 . 6 meter and a width of 0 . 3 meter . the bottom tray 20 contains water with a water level 24 that is detected in a gauge glass 22 with a float 25 . lamps 21 illuminate the float 25 , level sensors 23 detect the position of the float 25 , and therewith the height of the water level 24 . a support ( not shown ) in the bottom tray 20 supports a seedbed 19 in which the plants grow . the water in the bottom tray 20 moistens the seedbed 19 and the roots of the plants , if necessary the water level 24 can be changed intermittently so that seedbed 19 and the plant roots can have changing access to water . in the cultivation area 1 are one or more spray heads 18 for spraying the plants . the seedbed 19 can be made of fibre and have a thickness of 2 - 5 centimetres . in the seedbed , 19 seeds are embedded at locations that are suitable for proper plant growth . the seedbed 19 can have the same dimensions as the bottom tray 20 ; in other embodiments , a bottom tray 20 has space for two or more seedbeds 19 . the seedbed 19 can be a piece of coconut matting ; other fibres such as glass fibre are suitable as well . prior to use the seedbed 19 with embedded seeds is dry and can be rolled to a cylindrical package so that it is easy to transport . the mobile greenhouse includes a water tank 15 for supplying water via a second valve 17 to a pump 13 . the pump 13 pumps the water via a first valve 16 to either the spray head 18 or the bottom tray 20 . the pump 13 can suck the water either from the water tank 15 or from the bottom tray 20 by switching the second valve 17 . the water tank 15 has a level sensor 14 for detecting the water level in the water tank 15 or for detecting whether the water tank 15 is empty and / or needs to be filled . if it is empty , a signal ( not shown ) will warn the user . the water tank 15 can be filled with clean water , also nutrients 12 might be added to the water . in a further embodiment , the water supply system can have a more simple design . in this embodiment ( not shown ), the water tank 15 might have a level sensor 14 in the water tank 15 in order to warn that the water tank 15 must be filled . the water tank 15 is connected directly with the bottom tray 20 via a valve with a float . if the water level in the bottom tray 20 gets too low , the valve with the float opens until the water level in the bottom tray 20 is at the desired level . the pump 13 connects on the suction side with the water tank 15 and on the pressure side with the spray heads 18 . if the blades of the plants must be wetted the pump 13 is switched on . if the water level in the bottom tray 20 must be adapted , this has to be done by hand and generally will be done only when starting with a new cultivation by placing a new seedbed 19 . a control system 7 controls the various components of the mobile greenhouse . the control system 7 includes a power supply and is provided with a power connection 8 . in domestic situations , this can be a connection to the power grid ; other power sources might be used such as solar power and wind power coupled with a power accumulator for maintaining the control system 7 functioning and other available power sources . the control system 7 is subdivided in a control section a that controls the pump 13 , the first valve 16 , the second valve 17 , the ventilator 6 , the heater 9 , and the lamps 5 . in a sensor section b the various values of the sensors are registered , if necessary in dependence of time . a power supply section c arranges the availability of power for the various parts of the mobile greenhouse and its control system 7 . a program section d monitors and controls the mobile greenhouse . in order to adapt the control system 7 to various seeds and plants that are to be cultivated in the cultivation area 1 the control system 7 has an input device , in this embodiment a card reader 3 that can read a code on a program card 4 . the code on the program card 4 is known in the program section d of the control system 7 and based on the code a growth program is determined and the components in the mobile greenhouse are controlled accordingly . the code for the growth program can be communicated to the control system 7 in other way , for instance by punching in the code number with the aid of a keyboard or by reading a bar code . in another embodiment , the program card 4 contains all settings for the growth program and so is more accurately adapted to the plants or seeds in the seedbed 19 . in this embodiment , the user of the mobile greenhouse might have various program cards 4 for various crops . in addition , the supplier of the seedbeds 19 might supply a program card 4 with the seedbed 19 with specific program instructions for the growth of the seeds in the seedbed 19 . a user of the mobile greenhouse installs the mobile greenhouse in a location with fresh air , where the progress of plant growth can be monitored , and where electric power is available . the power connection 8 is connected to a power source , the water tank 15 is filled with water , and if necessary nutrients 12 are added to the water . the seedbed 19 is positioned in the bottom tray 20 and the cultivation area 1 is closed with a cover . after these and other preliminary activities are finished the control system 7 is switched on and the program card 4 is put in the card reader 3 . after this the control system 7 will fully automatic take over all necessary tasks for obtaining the plant growth . the seedbed 19 will be wetted and the germination of the seeds embedded in the seedbed 19 can start . preferably , the seeds are coated with coats that cause different time delays in the start of germination so that plants will be ready for consumption at different moments . in dependence of the plant type the temperature in the cultivation area 1 will be raised by activating the heater 9 , the temperature sensor 11 will monitor the temperature . after germination or even from the start of the growth process the lamps 5 will illuminate the seedbed 19 eight or more hours per day . the ventilator 6 will blow air into the cultivation area 1 and when the temperature in the cultivation area 1 gets too high , the rotation speed of the ventilator 6 increases . at the increased airflow , the temperature inside the cultivation area 1 will get equal to the ambient temperature . in circumstances , the temperature might even get lower due to evaporation of water in the bottom tray 20 or on the plants . only when the spray heads 18 spray water in order to wet the leaves of the plants or to wet the seedbed 19 the ventilator 6 is switched off . the mobile greenhouse as shown in fig2 has a seedbed 19 on which various plants of the same type and different ages are growing . for clarity , the cover of the cultivation area 1 is removed so that the lamps 5 and one of the spray heads 18 are visible . as can be seen in fig3 , which shows the same embodiment as shown in fig2 but with the cover of the various equipment removed , the equipment such as the pump 13 , the ventilator 7 , the water tank 15 and the control system 7 with card reader 3 and program card 4 are located at the side of the cultivation area 1 . at the underside of the cultivation area 1 , the seedbed 19 is spread over a grid that is positioned in the bottom tray 20 . | 0 |
the method of the present invention identifies possible multipaths based upon a target location , and more specifically this method efficiently locates specular reflections within any general structure which can be represented in two horizontal x - y dimensions . further , the present invention allows for efficient ray - traces of a complex physical structure of known layout . the information determined by the method of the present invention may improve probability of detection of a target and or false alarm rate ( e . g ., up to 50 % improvement ). applications for this method include battery operated handheld devices that require efficient implementation of a real - time ray - tracing algorithm that exploits building layout data and predicts multipath returns based on hypothesized target locations . the method of the present invention assumes a monostatic configuration , i . e . that the radar transmitter and receiver ( sensor ) are collocated . the method of the present invention searches through the set of possible two - way paths that is obtained from the product set of all pairs of possible one - way paths with itself , under the assumption that the constituent one - way paths are independent of each other . each two - way multipath assumes only one reflection off the target . depending upon the non - stationary target &# 39 ; s orientation and the angles of incidence , different return paths might be favored over others , and might be predicted statistically . however , the herein model does not attempt to determine the likelihood of any given return path , only whether it is possible . a return path from the target to the sensor is considered possible if the geometrical configuration allows it . the calculated multipaths provide enough information to determine the jacobian ( i . e ., kalman filter h - matrix ) which could be used by an mht . fig1 shows example locations of a sensor and a target . the vectors { right arrow over ( t )}, { right arrow over ( s )} and { right arrow over ( v )}, respectively , represent the target location , the sensor location , and a point on the reflecting surface , conveniently taken as an endpoint . { right arrow over ( t )}′ and { right arrow over ( s )}′ respectively represent the image of the target location and the image of the sensor location . all vectors are in the two dimensions of the horizontal plane , designated by cartesian coordinates x and y . the inside normal to the reflecting surfaces is designated by { circumflex over ( n )}. the angle θ is the azimuth angle of the target image as seen from the sensor perspective . the images of the sensor ({ right arrow over ( s )}′) and of the target ({ right arrow over ( t )}′) are located by extending the incident or reflected rays by an equal length , instead of reflecting them off the wall to the target { right arrow over ( t )}. congruent segments or angles have the same number of tick marks . |( { right arrow over ( t )}−{ right arrow over ( v )} )· { circumflex over ( n )} |=|( { right arrow over ( t )}′−{ right arrow over ( v )} )· { circumflex over ( n )} | |( { right arrow over ( s )}−{ right arrow over ( v )} )· { circumflex over ( n )} |=|( { right arrow over ( s )}′−{ right arrow over ( v )} )· { circumflex over ( n )} | |( { right arrow over ( s )}−{ right arrow over ( t )} )× { circumflex over ( n )} |=|( { right arrow over ( s )}′−{ right arrow over ( t )}′ )× { circumflex over ( n )} | the path length of the multipath , designated by p , is the same regardless of whether { right arrow over ( t )}′ is viewed the perspective of { right arrow over ( s )}, or whether { right arrow over ( s )}′ is viewed from the perspective of { right arrow over ( t )}. fig1 shows both the target and sensor perspective , each of which is represented by a right triangle , with a hypotenuse being equal to the path length p . by substituting congruent segments , the legs of the triangles can be written in terms of surface endpoint location , a surface normal vector , and target and sensor locations . a resulting right triangle from a target perspective is shown in fig2 . an equivalent triangle from a sensor perspective is shown in fig3 . multiple reflections are produced by sequentially imaging the ( k − 1 ) th sensor reflection as the object of the k th reflection , which is shown in fig4 from the perspective of the target . multiple reflections produced by sequentially imaging the ( q − 1 ) th target reflection as the object of the q th reflection is shown in fig5 from the perspective of the sensor . different indices k and q are used here for the target and sensor perspectives , respectively , because the associated sequences of reflections are ordered differently depending upon whether the target or sensor perspective is used . the two sequences representing the same reflection sequence are time reversed from each other , hence the order is reversed . in an embodiment of the present invention , the physical structure is viewed as consisting of planar one - sided semi - transparent mirrors , each of which has a unique positive integer index , with the target designated by a placeholder , e . g . 0 . each multipath is uniquely defined by a sequence of counting numbers that defines the ray path . for the sake of uniqueness all surfaces can reflect only on one side . in order to allow reflection off the opposite side , a second index must be assigned , so that two - side reflecting surfaces consist of two opposing one - sided surfaces . two coplanar surfaces must be numbered separately , and coplanar surfaces with the same surface normal direction must be disjoint . fig6 shows reflected images { right arrow over ( t )}′ of a target { right arrow over ( t )} as viewed from the sensor position { right arrow over ( s )}. the surface normal vectors { circumflex over ( n )} 1 , and { circumflex over ( n )} 2 of reflecting surfaces 1 and 2 respectively , are shown as well . the target image at locations { right arrow over ( t )}′ is directly observable from the sensor perspective for a reflection of { right arrow over ( t )} off surface 2 , but only indirectly observable for a reflection of { right arrow over ( t )} off surface 1 . the sensor cannot directly see the reflection off the plane of surface 1 because { right arrow over ( s )} and { right arrow over ( t )} lie on opposite sides of the reflecting surface so there is no direct ray path between them . such paths are designated herein as unterminated because they do not terminate at the other end , which in this case is the sensor . however , a new reflection added to the sequence might make the reflection visible to the sensor as is shown in fig7 . in other words , an unterminated path can generate a terminated path . in the scenario shown in fig7 , some multiple reflections are impossible because the walls are bounded at the corners , thus restricting the field of view . at the first reflection , a ray must strike a wall within the interval between its endpoints . for a general m th side bounded by endpoints { right arrow over ( v )} n and { right arrow over ( v )} n + 1 , an incident ray must strike the wall within an interval bounded by φ n and φ n + 1 , with φ being the azimuth angle of each endpoint . the following defines the azimuth angle φ n associated with the n th endpoint from the viewpoint perspective of the sensor : in order to be visible to the sensor , the target azimuth must fall within the bounded interval ( φ l , φ r ) with the requirement φ r & gt ; φ l for a non - null interval . ( φ r ≦ φ l ( φ l , φ r )={ }.) here φ l is the left - most , i . e . counterclockwise - most angle limiting the field of view , and φ r is the right - most angle , and azimuth increases in value with a clockwise rotation . the condition φ l & lt ; θ & lt ; φ r with θ being the azimuth of the reflected image is necessary and sufficient for that image to fall within the field of view . fig7 illustrates how the endpoints of each reflecting surface serve as field stops in determining whether the image of a reflection sequence lies within the field of view . by way of example we evaluate field stops from the sensor perspective . however , an equivalent analysis can be done from the target perspective , as well . this example considers reflections off the inside surfaces of a four wall structure , with endpoints labeled { right arrow over ( v )} 1 to { right arrow over ( v )} 4 , and surfaces labeled 1 to 4 . reflected images are designated with a prime . as with fig6 , two different points are labeled by the symbol { right arrow over ( t )}′ because two different target reflection sequences are illustrated in the figure . first consider a target reflection off the plane of surface 2 , which has endpoints at { right arrow over ( v )} 2 and { right arrow over ( v )} 3 . that image is observable by the sensor because the vector from the sensor to the target reflection { right arrow over ( t )}′-{ right arrow over ( s )} falls within the angular subtense formed by the vectors { right arrow over ( v )} 2 -{ right arrow over ( s )} and { right arrow over ( v )} 3 -{ right arrow over ( s )}. the points { right arrow over ( v )} 2 and { right arrow over ( v )} 3 serve as field stops for that reflection . with each successive reflection , an interval between new endpoints must be intersected with an image of the previous intersection . as the allowed subtense gets narrower , some sequences of reflections become impossible because either the target image viewed from the sensor position has an azimuth angle that lies outside the field of view for that reflection sequence , as bounded by the field stops , or else the field of view itself becomes null . if a next reflection occurs on the n th wall bounded by the m th and ( m + 1 ) th endpoints , an incident ray must strike the wall within the bounded interval defined as the intersection : ( φ l ″, φ r ″)=( min ( φ m , φ m + 1 ), max ( φ m , φ m + 1 ))∩( min ( φ l ′, φ r ′), max ( φ l ′, φ r ′)) here min and max designate the minimal and maximal elements of the ordered pair . φ m and φ m + 1 designate the azimuth angles of the m th and ( m + 1 ) th endpoints , respectively , φ l ′ and φ r ′ represent the reflections of the field stops for the prior reflection on the n th wall . it will be shown that the order of the new left and right field stops will sometimes , but not always , be inverted between left and right upon reflection . ( refer ahead to fig9 .) this makes the max and min functions necessary for each recursive step in the above equation . the reflected image of the target from the plane of surface 1 of both fig6 and 7 poses a complication because it is it is not directly observable by the sensor since both the image of the target and the sensor lie on the same ( nonreflecting ) side of the surface so that no ray path exists that connect the target and sensor . a ray path terminating at the target and sensor is a necessary and sufficient condition for a reflection from a plane to be directly observable . furthermore , only those reflections for which the image and viewpoint lie on the same side of a reflecting plane can be directly observed . nevertheless , the image could be indirectly observed with an additional reflection off the plane of surface 3 , because the new image { right arrow over ( t )}″ of { right arrow over ( t )}′ is directly observable . a comprehensive search of all possible sequential reflections must include such images that cannot be observed directly . however , field stops can be assessed only for directly observable reflections because the position of the viewpoint is unknown for reflections that are not directly observable fig7 illustrates how the reflections of endpoints { right arrow over ( v )} 1 and { right arrow over ( v )} 2 off the plane of surface 3 , labeled as { right arrow over ( v )} 1 ′ and { right arrow over ( v )} 2 ′ respectively , serve as the field stops for this reflection sequence designated as ( 1 , 3 ). that is because the subtense defined by the azimuth angle of vertices { tilde over ( v )} 1 ′ and { right arrow over ( v )} 2 ′ limit the field of view , as expressed by the following equality : clearly the choice of field stops depends upon perspective , as fig8 shows . the sensor perspective is moved to the left , so that endpoint { right arrow over ( v )} 4 and the image { right arrow over ( v )} 2 ′ limit the field of view . for this case the following equality holds : fig9 illustrates how the order of the field stops is sometimes inverted between left and right upon reflection . here , the target at location { right arrow over ( t )} is reflected first off surface 3 with image { right arrow over ( t )}′ and field stops , in counterclockwise order of { right arrow over ( v )} 4 and { right arrow over ( v )} 3 having azimuth angles with respect to the sensor of φ 4 and φ 3 respectively . the first image is in turn reflected off surface 2 creating a new image located at { right arrow over ( t )}″ with field stops in counterclockwise order at { right arrow over ( v )} 3 ′ and { right arrow over ( v )} 4 and azimuth angles of φ 3 and φ 4 ′ respectively . note that { right arrow over ( v )} 3 and its reflection { right arrow over ( v )} 3 ′ off surface 2 are collocated . for the first reflection , { right arrow over ( v )} 3 serves as the right field stop , while for the second reflection , it serves as the left . for the first reflection , { right arrow over ( v )} 4 serves as the left field stop , while for the second reflection , { right arrow over ( v )} 4 ′ serves as the right . the doppler velocity term is most easily calculated by imaging the sensor from the perspective of the target for both the received and transmitted ray path . the two sensor images , one for each path , along with the target create an equivalent bistatic configuration . refer to fig1 for an example of the equivalent bistatic configuration for a direct path from the sensor to the target , followed by a return reflection off the plane of surface 2 . fig1 shows how a doppler term is calculated from the target velocity and unit vectors for each one - way path . the doppler term expressed in units of speed is : δ v ={ right arrow over ({ dot over ( t )}· ({ circumflex over ( n in )} +{ circumflex over ( n )} out ), where { circumflex over ( n )} in is a unit vector along the transmitted path , { circumflex over ( n )} out is a unit vector along the received path . implementing an mht requires a choice of state measurement spaces . a four - dimensional state vector for a single target is defined by t x , t y , { dot over ( t )} x , and { dot over ( t )} y . the measurement space includes range and doppler speed , but excludes azimuth . azimuth is estimated through triangulation of phase - offset returns to two physically displaced channels ( i . e . phase monopoles ) with a much higher relative margin of error than the range and doppler estimates . compounding this large error , there exists an ambiguity in azimuth due to symmetry under time - reversal . every two way path between the sensor and the target has a time - reversed conjugate that is obtained by tracing the ray backwards , and the sensor cannot distinguish a path from its conjugate . that is because the doppler shift is equal to the derivative of that path length , and the path length and time derivative thereof do not change when the rays are traced backwards . note that in some cases a path is its own time - reversed conjugate . every detected peak that exceeds a threshold is binned in measured range and doppler , and assigned to a single discrete range - doppler cell based upon those values . the measured azimuth of each cell with signal amplitude that exceeds a threshold will register as a detected peak . the measured location of that detection is expected to lie along an arc of radius r between the angles θ in and θ out from the target perspective , which when viewed from the sensor perspective produces different arc angles shown in fig1 . ( the azimuth angles from the target and sensor perspectives should not be confused ; they are related , but not identical .) the vector ( r , δv ) constitutes the measurement space , with r an apparent range , defined as a mean of the two constituent one - way paths : the constituent one - way paths are each expressed in terms of cartesian coordinates as : p in =√{ square root over (( s ′ in , x − t x ) 2 +( s ′ in , y − t y ) 2 )}{ square root over (( s ′ in , x − t x ) 2 +( s ′ in , y − t y ) 2 )} p out =√{ square root over (( s ′ out , x − t x ) 2 +( s ′ out , y − t y ) 2 )}{ square root over (( s ′ out , x − t x ) 2 +( s ′ out , y − t y ) 2 )} δ v ={ dot over ( t )} x ( cos θ in + cos θ out )+ { dot over ( t )} y ( sin θ in + sin θ out ), based upon the above equations , partial derivatives of each of the measured quantities ( r , δv ) can be calculated with respect to each element of the state vector ( t x , t y , { dot over ( t )} x , { dot over ( t )} y ). the partial derivatives of the apparent path length are : therefore , an relevant part of h matrix for a stationary sensor is : the number of possible paths reflecting off multiple surfaces grows exponentially with the number of allowed reflection , which renders a brute force test of every possible path too cumbersome for real - time calculation . here , a method of the present invention determines possible two - way multipaths , up to n reflections , quickly enough to calculate an h matrix in an mht . a one - way multipath can be represented uniquely by a walk through the complete graph of n nodes ( k n ) for n = n surfaces under consideration . fig1 shows the complete graphs for n equal to 4 and 6 . k 4 and k 6 have been selected because in the examples herein , the structures consist of 4 and 6 reflecting surfaces . each numbered node represents a reflecting surface , and each node traversed in the walk represents a reflection from the designated numbered surface . the direct path contains no nodes , while a single reflection is null , i . e . has no edges . the present method generates a set of walks from simpler walks , starting with the direct path , i . e . no nodes . the present method computes the set of observable paths much faster than a brute force combinatorial testing of all possible walks in k n . the hash tree in fig1 is useful in deriving a formula for the total number of hashes representing possible one - way reflection sequences between a target and sensor . starting with the direct path , the figure shows the number of hashes for up to two reflections . this can easily be generalized to an arbitrary number of surfaces . the initial value and recursion relationship for the total number of hashes h with up to n allowed reflections from m surfaces are : note that the direct path is included as the null hash . the summation evaluates to : let h ′ designate the total number of hashes of two - way paths , which is a subset of the product set of one - way paths . the product set has h 2 ( n ) elements , but that set includes sequences with up to 2n reflections from surfaces . ( excluding the redundancy of time - reversed conjugates , the product set has ½ h ( n )( h ( n )+ 1 ) unique elements .) however , the total number of reflections from surfaces in each two way sequence is still limited to n , as is the one - way sequence . the following equation gives h ′( n ) without removing the redundancy of time - reversed conjugates , and limiting the total number of reflections in the two - way path to n : an approximate measure of the computational load in implementing a ray trace is the number of hashes , i . e reflection sequences that must be evaluated . fig1 plots total number of possible hashes for up to four reflections . within each pair of curves , the upper dark line represents the two - way path , and the lower lighter line represents a one - way path . the large number of hashes as illustrated the figure renders a brute force test of all possibilities impractical for a real time calculation . the number of paths allowed by the geometry , based upon the reflecting normal direction and field stop position , can be several orders of magnitude less than the number of hashes . fig1 shows an example of a walk in k 6 representing a particular reflection sequence from the six surfaces of fig1 . as shown , each reflection sequence is generated from a simpler sequence . this means that the sequence ( 2 , 6 , 5 ) is generated by the sequence ( 2 , 6 ), which in turn is generated by the sequence ( 2 ). as shown , the target and sensor perspectives are each time - reversed from the other , and hence the order of reflections is reversed . the conjugate sequence from the target perspective ( 5 , 6 , 2 ) cannot be constructed from terminated sequences because the initial sequence ( 5 ) is unterminated . designate the recursively generated sets of all one - way physically possible terminated reflection sequences , with the symbol α , with the subscripts s and t denoting the sensor and target perspectives respectively , and the superscripted asterisk (*) denoting the time - reversed conjugate . the table below summarizes this notation . set perspective time order α s sensor forward α t target forward α s * sensor backward α t * target backward implicitly , recursion stops before a specified number of maximum reflections has been exceeded , but that limit is not explicitly indicated in this notation . as shown in fig1 , a direct path 106 may be determined between the target position 102 and sensor position 104 . the direct path 106 and reflecting surface locations and surface normal vectors 108 ( e . g ., parameters , such as dimensions , for each wall of the walls of the room containing the target where these parameters may function as field stops ) are utilized in the determination of a set of observable reflection sequences 110 . only terminated sequences are considered . in the method of the present invention , it is determined whether all possible sequences consisting of not more than n reflections have been tested 112 . if not , it is determined whether one or more sequences to the target from the sensor should be added to the set of observable reflection sequences 114 , and these sequences are added if they are observable based on field stops and surface normal direction 118 . further , it is determined whether one or more sequences to the sensor from the target should be added to the set of observable reflection sequences 116 , and these sequences are added if they are observable based on field stops and surface normal direction . field stops could be determined for unterminated sequences because the viewpoint is unknown . after all possible sequences consisting of not more than n reflections are tested 112 , paths that are unterminated are eliminated 122 . two - way paths are composed from the product set of one - way paths such that n 1 + n 2 ≦ n 124 , with n 1 and n 2 the number of reflections in each of the constituent one - way paths . from here , target images as seen by the sensor may be generated 126 , and sensor images as seen by the target may be generated 128 . in the example shown in fig1 , a target is inside a building with four walls . the inside wall surfaces are numbered 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 , and only inside reflections are considered . as already state , fig1 shows the complete graph k 4 associated with 4 reflecting surfaces . in this example , up to 3 reflections are allowed . here , a set of one - way paths to the target location at { right arrow over ( t )} from the viewpoint of the sensor are : and a set of one - way paths to the sensor from the viewpoint of the target is : for this example , reflections off walls 1 and 3 are not allowed because walls 1 and 3 lie outside the field of view , as defined by the finite limits of the reflecting surfaces . the time - reversed paths α t * of α t are compared to α s . the union includes the set of reflection sequences for all terminated one - way multipaths . in this example : fig1 shows another example that is similar to that shown in fig1 , but with the addition of a back wall 6 behind the sensor . fig1 shows the associated complete graph k 6 . first consider only the terminated multipaths , up to a total of three reflections in a sequence . the method of the present invention might miss some physically observable multipaths for more than three one - way reflections . for example , the physically allowed path ( 4 , 2 , 6 , 5 ) would belong to neither α s nor α t because that path cannot be generated from terminated constituent paths , even though the composite path is itself terminated . a feature of an embodiment of the present invention is that one - sided finite planar reflecting surfaces ( i . e ., the walls ) are numbered , so that each multipath defines a unique sequence of integers , and that sequence in turn uniquely defines the path . uniqueness follows from the requirement that reflecting surfaces all be one - sided and planar . these bounded planar surfaces can be coplanar , but coplanar surfaces with the same reflecting normal direction cannot overlap in order for the uniqueness property to hold . another feature of an embodiment of the present invention is that a new path is generated by adding a single allowed reflection to the end of an existing sequence . whether a reflection is allowed is determined by finding the normal direction of the reflecting surface to be added , as well as ascertaining that the new reflected image lies within the subtense formed by the field stops ( i . e ., the edges of the walls ). the field stops must be reevaluated with the addition of each new reflection to the sequence . in this recursive manner , all sequences are composed . another feature of an embodiment of the present invention is that separate reflection sequences are generated from the viewpoint of both the sensor and target . fig1 illustrates a matlab - coded implementation of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention generating animations of x - y position and range - doppler plots for consecutive dwells ( i . e . consecutive frames in the animation sequence ) in the case of a building defined by 23 reflecting surfaces with a single target , where a location plot is shown on the left and a range - doppler plot is shown on the right . for this case , the maximum number of reflections was limited to three . in the left plot , the large circle represents the target , the arrow the sensor , and the arcs represent multipaths . in the range - doppler plot on the right , the large filled circle represents the target , and the open circles represent multipaths . each dot inside the open circles represents a time - reversed conjugate , and if no dot is present , then the multipath is its own conjugate . the example shown in fig2 illustrates the efficiency of the method of the present invention . for a single target and 23 surfaces with a maximum of three reflections , there exist 1 . 2 × 10 4 possible hashes . however , the number of physically possible multipaths is three orders of magnitude smaller , as indicated by the plot of hashes versus dwell number . the light upper curve represents the number of hashes that the method calculated , while the lower dark curve represents the number of hashes required to represent possible multipaths . the upper light curve represents the sum of the cardinalities | α s |+| α t |, while the lower dark curve represents the cardinality of the union | α s ∪ α t * |. although the present invention has been described and illustrated in respect to exemplary embodiments , it is to be understood that it is not to be so limited , and changes and modifications may be made therein which are within the full intended scope of this invention as hereinafter claimed . | 6 |
a grain quality analyzer instrument in accordance with the present invention is shown in schematic form in fig1 and includes a housing 10 and associated electronic control and computing elements . the housing 10 encloses and provides support for a lamp 12 and associated lens 14 ; a filter assembly 34 , which is adapted to filter light emitted by the lamp 12 ; a movable sample drawer 16 positioned below the filter assembly 34 so as to be irradiated by filtered light ; and a pair of photosensors 44 positioned above the sample drawer 16 to receive light energy reflected from the sample . the lamp 12 is designed to emit high - intensity light energy across a wide band in the infrared spectrum . a portion of the emitted light is directed onto the lens 14 , which collimates the light and directs it downwardly along an optical path ( parallel broken lines ) toward the filter assembly 34 and the sample drawer 16 . the sample drawer 16 includes two recesses or cavities 18 and 20 and is movable betwen an outward position , as shown in fig1 in which the cavity 18 is positioned in the optical path so as to be irradiated with light emitted from the lamp 12 and an inward position in which the cavity 20 is positioned in the optical path to be similarly irradiated . the cavity 18 is intended to hold an instrument calibration standard to assist in establishing and maintaining the calibration of the analyzer , and the cavity 20 is designed to support a prepared grain sample for test in a sample holding cartridge as described in more detail in the aforementioned patents incorporated herein by reference . the filter assembly 34 functions as a variable light filter which alternately filters and interrupts the irradiating light along the optical path . the filter characteristics are chosen such that the wavelength of the light during each irradiation period varies across a selected bandwidth in the infrared spectrum with the bandwidths preferably chosen such that they occupy adjacent regions in the infrared spectrum . consequently , for each full revolution of the filter wheel , the sample drawer 16 is irradiated with light energy , the wavelength of which sweeps across a substantial portion of the infrared spectrum . the filter assembly 34 , in its preferred form , includes three plate - like filters 38 , each of which is attached along a proximal edge to a support shaft 40 . the filters 38 are located in planes which pass through the axis 36 of rotation and which are spaced 120 ° from one another . the distal edge of each filter 38 is connected to the edge of an opaque vane 42 , each of which is located in a plane which , in the preferred form , is normal to the plane of its filter 38 . the support shaft is adapted to be rotated in a clockwise direction as shown in fig1 such that the vanes 42 alternately interrupt the collimated light along the optical path . as the filter assembly 34 rotates , one of the vanes 42 will enter and interrupt the optical path to cut off or block the light incident on the sample drawer 16 . with further rotation , the vane 42 moves out of the optical path with the associated filter 38 moving into the path to begin filtering the light . when the filter initially enters the incident light beam , it is disposed at an angle with respect to the optical path . as the filter assembly 34 continues its rotation , this angle changes until the plane of the filter 38 is substantially perpendicular to the optical path . because of this change in the angular relationship between each filter 38 and the optical path , the filter , which is designed to pass light at a principal wavelength , passes light at wavelengths which continually vary as a function of the angular relationship between the filter and the optical path from a first wavelength to a second wavelength across a selected bandwidth . thus , an essentially single wavelength filter can be used , in the filter assembly 34 , to sweep light energy across a selected bandwidth in the infrared spectrum . the light energy incident on the sample drawer 16 is shown in graphical form in fig2 with the horizontal axis representing time and vertical axis representing the wavelength of the light incident on the sample drawer 16 . when a first filter 38 enters and rotates through the emitted light , the wavelength of the filtered light , represented by the solid line l1 in fig2 sweeps from point a , when the plane of the filter 38 is at an angle with respect to the optical path , to point b , when the plane of the filter 38 is substantially perpendicular to the optical path of the emitted light . the two broken lines spaced from and on either side of the line l1 represent the tolerance in the wavelength which may be passed through the filter 38 . at point b , when the filter is substantially perpendicular to the optical path , the vane 42 on the next successive filter 38 enters and interrupts the emitted light to cause , as shown in fig2 the first dark period . after the vane 42 is rotated out of the emitted light , the second filter enters the optical path and initially filters light at a wavelength corresponding to point b . as the second filter continues its rotation , the wavelength of the filtered light varies or is swept from point b to point c along line l2 at which time the second filter 38 is substantially perpendicular to the optical path . the vane 42 on the next successive filter 38 then begins entering and interrupting the emitted light to cause the second dark period . when this vane 42 rotates out of the optical path , the third filter enters the emitted light path , and , in a manner identical to that for the first and second filters , passes light beginning at point c and sweeps the wavelength of the light upward to point d along the line l3 . this sequence is continuously repeated as the filter assembly 34 is rotated . as can be seen , the filters 38 are selected such that the wavelength of the filtered light incident on the sample drawer 16 passes through three bandwidths , a - b , b - c , and c - d , which occupy adjacent portions of the infrared spectrum with a period of darkness interjacent each period of irradiation . when a grain sample , located in the cavity 20 , is irradiated with the filtered light , a fraction of the light energy incident on the sample is absorbed , another fraction , depending upon the optical characteristics of the sample and its thickness , is transmitted through the sample , and the remaining fraction is reflected . a portion of the reflected light is detected by the photosensors 44 which provide a voltage indication of the reflected light as the wavelength of the irradiating light sweeps across the infrared spectrum . the percentage determination of the concentration of moisture and protein is effected by the control and computational functional blocks shown in fig1 . details of the internal operation of these blocks may be had by reference to the aforementioned patents incorporated herein by reference . a logic unit 52 is provided to generate various control signals in response to the rotational position of the filter assembly 34 . the logic unit 52 accepts a &# 34 ; position count &# 34 ; and a &# 34 ; reset &# 34 ; pulse input from a rotation / pulse transducer 48 connected to the filter assembly shaft 40 . the transducer 48 provides a series of pulses ( e . g . 1000 / rev .) as the shaft 40 rotates and a reset pulse signal after each complete revolution . these pulses are counted and decoded in the logic unit 52 to provide appropriately sequenced &# 34 ; sample &# 34 ; signals to sample - and - hold circuits 72 , 74 ; 82a , b , and c ; and a &# 34 ; dark period &# 34 ; signal to a sensor amplifier unit 46 once each revolution of the filter assembly 34 . the output of the photosensors 44 is inputted to the sensor amplifier unit 46 which also receives the &# 34 ; dark period &# 34 ; control signal from the logic unit 52 . the sensor amplifier unit 46 amplifies the output of the photosensors 44 during both the periods of irradiation and the periods of darkness . under the control of the &# 34 ; dark period &# 34 ; signal , the sensor amplifier unit 46 compensates the photosensor 44 output during the period of irradiation with the output during the period of darkness . thus , the output of the sensor amplifier 46 takes into account the response of the photosensors 44 during the dark period , which output may change with time and changing environmental conditions , by adjusting the output during the periods of irradiation by an amount which is representative of the preceding dark period output . the output of the sensor amplifier 46 is connected to the input of a logarithmic amplifier 70 which is designed to take the common lagarithm of the sensor amplifier 46 output . the logarithmic output is then connected to the selectively operable sample and hold circuits 72 and 74 , both of which are adapted to receive their respective &# 34 ; sample &# 34 ; signals from the logic unit 52 which issues these signals as a function of the filter assembly position . the values sampled are voltages representative of the optical density of the sample at the characteristic frequencies for water and the optical density for the characteristic and neutral frequencies of protein . the respective outputs of the sample and hold circuits 72 and 74 are connected to the inputs of a differential amplifier 80 which produces an output representing the difference between the value stored in each of the sample and hold circuits 72 and 74 at any given time . this difference output is represented by the expression log ( i r ) 1 - log ( i r ) 2 which is directly proportional to the δod . the output of the differential amplifier 80 is connected to the inputs of the sample and hold circuits 82a , 82b , and 82c . while three sample and hold circuits 82a , b , and c have been shown in fig1 the number of sample and hold circuits required depends upon the total number of δod values to be stored for subsequent use in computing the percentage values of the desired constituents . in the case of the preferred embodiment , the sample and hold circuit 82a is designed to store the δod value for the characteristic wavelengths for moisture ; the sample and hold circuit 82b is designed to store the δod value for the characteristic wavelengths for protein ; and the sample and hold circuit 82c is designed to store the δod value for the neutral wavelengths for protein . as the filter assembly 34 rotates , the logic unit 52 supplies two spaced &# 34 ; sample &# 34 ; signals to the sample and hold circuits 72 and 74 causing these circuits to sample the optical density values for two spaced points in the infrared spectrum . the difference of the common logarithm of these two values is computed by the differential amplifier 80 and thereafter stored in one of the sample and hold circuits 82 as determined by an appropriately supplied control signal from the logic unit 52 . as the filter wheel 34 continues its rotation , additional optical density values , representative of the wavelengths of the remaining values , are measured and sampled , their logarithmic difference is computed , and the resultant value stored in the remaining sample and hold circuits 82 . the outputs of the sample and hold circuits 82a , b and c are connected , respectively , to calibration units 92a , 92b , and 92c with the outputs of these calibration units connected to a computing and display unit 94 . each of the calibration units , as described in the aforementioned patents incorporated herein by reference , is provided to correct for possible voltage drift and other irregularities or instabilities which can occur in analog electronic circuits by re - establishing a correlation between the output of the instrument and the various values measured with respect to the standard sample . each calibration unit introduces a correction factor &# 34 ; c &# 34 ; into the δod value stored in the associated sample and hold circuit . the output of each calibration unit , represented by c · δod , is then supplied to the computing and display unit 94 for subsequent processing . as shown in fig3 the computing and display unit 94 includes two analog computing units 114 and 116 for computing the percentage value of water and protein . each of the computer circuits contains standard pre - programmed analog - type circuitry for calculating the percentages of the corresponding constituents using the information stored in the sample and hold circuits 82a , 82b , and 82c and corrected by the corresponding calibration units 92a , 92b and 92c . an output selector 120 is mechanically connected to a rotary switch 122 to selectively connect one of the outputs of the computer circuits 114 and 116 to an analog - to - digital ( a / d ) converter 124 . the output of the converter 124 is connected to digit display drivers 126 which in turn connects to a numerical display 128 which may take the form , for example , of a nixie ( trademark ) tube digit - display or a seven - segment led display . circuitry for effecting the computation of the moisture percentages in accordance with a variation of equation 6 is shown in schematic form in fig5 and circuitry for effecting the computation of the protein percentage in accordance with the present invention is shown in fig6 . fig5 discloses a scaled - summing amplifier circuit which includes an operational amplifier a1 having a positive input connected through a resistor r1 to ground and a gain - controlling feedback resistor r2 connected between the negative input and the output of the amplifier a1 . the negative input is also connected to a scaled resistor - network which includes resistors r3 , r4 , r5 , and r6 , each of which has one end connected to the negative input of the amplifier a1 and their other ends connected , respectively , to the tap connection of variable resistors or trim pots p1 , p2 , p3 , and p4 . the end terminals of the trim pot p1 are connected across a voltage potential representing plus k 4 and minus k 4 values ; the end terminals of the trim pot p2 are connected across a voltage potential representative of the plus and minus values of c a · δod ( from the moisture characteristic wavelength ) supplied by the calibration unit 92a from the sample and hold circuit 82a ; the end terminals of the trim pot p2 are connected across the voltage potential representative of the plus and minus values of c b · δod ( from the protein characteristic wavelength ) supplied by the calibration unit 92b from the sample and hold circuit 82b ; and the end terminals of the trim pot p3 are connected across a voltage potential representative of the plus and minus values of c c · δod ( from the protein neutral wavelength ) supplied by the calibration unit 92c from the sample and hold circuit 82c . the voltage potential for the plus and minus k 4 values may be obtained , e . g ., from a plus and minus type power supply , and the plus and minus values of the various c · δod values may be obtained by connecting the output of the calibration units to two unity - gain linear amplifiers , one of which functions as a voltage follower and the other of which functions as an inverter . the end connections of the respective trim pots are then connected across the output of these amplifiers . by adjusting the position of the variable tap of each of the trim pots and selecting appropriate values for the resistors r2 , r3 , r4 , r5 , and r6 in accordance with the known operating characteristics of scaled - summing amplifier circuits , the various &# 34 ; influence factors &# 34 ; &# 34 ; k &# 34 ;, can be combined with the various c · δod values to compute the percentage moisture . the circuit of fig5 computes the percentage moisture in accordance with equation 6 , but substitutes the corrected δod at the protein neutral frequency for the δod at the oil characteristic frequency . the substitution , in practice , does not significantly diminish the accuracy of the moisture measurement . fig6 illustrates a circuit suitable for computing the percentage of the protein in accordance with equation 9 of the present invention . the circuit includes an operational amplifier a2 having its positive input connected through a resistor r7 to ground and a gain - controlling feedback resistor r8 connected between the negative input and the output of the amplifier a2 . the negative input is also connected to a scaling - resistor network which includes a resistor r9 and a resistor r10 . each of these resistors are connected to a tap terminal of , respectively , a trim pot p5 and another trim pot p6 . the trim pot p5 has its fixed ends connected across a voltage potential representative of the plus and minus values of the constant k o in a manner similar to that for the trim pot p1 of fig5 and the trim pot p6 has its end terminals connected across a voltage potential representative of plus c · δod ratio and minus c · δod ratio . the value of the δod ratio represents the quotient of c · δod p at the protein characteristic wavelengths and c · δod pn at the protein neutral wavelengths . this ratio is provided by a computing element 130 which has as its inputs the c · δod p value from the computing unit 92c and the c · δod pn value from the computing unit 92n . the computing element 130 , in the preferred form , may be of the type manufactured by the analog devices corporation and identified as model 433b . the output of the computing element is connected to one side of the trim pot p6 through an unity - gain inverting linear amplifier a3 and the other side of the trim pot p6 through a unity - gain linear amplifier a4 ( non - inverting ). by adjusting the position of the taps on the trip pots p5 and p6 and selecting appropriate values for the resistors r8 , r9 , and r10 in accordance with the known operating characteristics of scaled - summing amplifier circuits , the various &# 34 ; influence factors &# 34 ;, k , can be combined with c · δod ratio to compute the percentage protein in accordance with equation 9 of the present invention . the constant or &# 34 ; influence factors &# 34 ; in equations 5 and 9 vary depending on the type of agricultural product or commodity being tested . the appropriate values for these constants can be ascertained by obtaining δod readings for various samples of a selected type of grain or agricultural commodity and then subjecting the samples to the standard laboratory analysis to determine the percentages of moisture , oil , and protein in the test sample . the three equations used to determine the percentage content of moisture , protein , and oil are then set equal to their analytically determined values and the resulting simultaneous linear equations solved to arrive at the values of the constants which are then established in the computing circuitry by proper adjustment of the trim pots and selection of the resistance values of the associated resistors in the scaled - summing amplifier circuits . the characteristic wavelengths and the neutral wavelength at which the δod value is measured depends upon the type of product being tested . a graph of the optical density of a typical grain sample is shown in fig4 with the horizontal axis representing the wavelength in nanometers ( nm ) and the vertical axis qualitatively representing optical density . for calculating the δod value corresponding to the contribution to the reflective spectra by the water content of the grain sample , the δod at 1867 nm and 1920 nm is calculated . for protein , the δod at 2150 and 2180 nm ( the characteristic wavelength ) and 2240 and 2288 ( the protein neutral wavelengths ) are measured . the optical density values for the various characteristic and neutral wavelengths are sampled by appropriately programming the decoder in the logic unit 52 so that the &# 34 ; sample &# 34 ; control signals issued to the sample and hold circuits 72 and 74 are synchronized with the rotation of the filter assembly 34 such that the selected wavelengths are passed by one of the filters at the time the &# 34 ; sample &# 34 ; control signals are issued . the equipment described herein is not restricted nor limited to the testing of agricultural commodities nor the determination of the percentage values of moisture and protein in agricultural commodities . the apparatus may be adapted to measure any photo - optically determinable characteristic of a wide variety of materials suitable to this type of analysis and the frequency emission range of the light source and the frequencies filtered by the various filters may be changed to include , in addition to the infrared region , the visible - light spectrum and the ultra - violet light spectrum . while the computing apparatus has been described as an analog arrangement , the computing may also be effected by the digital logic elements including registers , counters , and suitably programmed arithmetic and logic units ( alu ). in the present invention , the various constants k 0 - k 11 utilize the equations are established by suitable adjustment and selection of resistance and voltage values . flexibility may be obtained by using a set of input &# 34 ; plug - in &# 34 ; printed circuit cards with each card having a different set of resistance determined voltage values . the cards may be equipped with edge connectors for ready insertion and removal from strip type connectors associated with the apparatus . the invention described above may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope thereof . the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and non - restrictive , the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims and their legal equivalent . | 1 |
what follows is a detailed description of specific embodiments of the invention in which the invention may be practiced . reference will be made to the attached drawings , and the information included in the drawings is part of this detailed description . the specific embodiments of the invention , which will be described herein , are presented for exemplification purposes , and not for limitation purposes . it should be understood that structural and / or logical modifications could be made by someone of ordinary skills in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention . therefore , the scope of the present invention is defined only by the accompanying claims and their equivalents . it is to be understood that the terms dump box , dump bucket and cup are used herein interchangeably as they mean the same thing in this context . fig1 illustrates the top view of a pilot plant for processing ores . this is a diagrammatic representation of a sample plant structure that may be used to practice the present invention . fig2 illustrates the side views of the same pilot plant for processing ores . fig3 shows a cup 306 being dumped over the side into a bin , using a dumping mechanism comprising a striking part 301 , a lever 302 and an l - shape arm 303 , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the cup 306 is mounted to the conveyor belt using one hinge on one of the edges of the cup &# 39 ; s bottom so that the cup 306 may engage in pivotal motion when its l - shape arm is struck by a lever 302 , which in turn is struck by a computer - controlled striking part 301 . while other dumping mechanisms are known in the art and may be used with the present invention , this particular approach may be preferred as it ensures a fast dumping , which is critically important here . this is because the one piece of ore in each cup is quite small ( e . g ., 1 / 16 × 1 / 16 × 1 / 16 inches ), and therefore , a fast dumping is necessary in order to achieve a practical efficiency of the ore processing system using the teachings of the present invention . one of ordinary skills in the art would recognize that other fast dumping mechanisms and / or techniques may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention . fig4 illustrates the front view of a system for filling up the cup 406 with one piece of ore 405 , the system comprising the feeder 401 , which contains the crushed ore 402 , and , the drum 403 with its holes 404 . the ore 402 is first crushed and screened to a desired size as for example 3 / 16 inches ( i . e ., 3 / 16 × 3 / 16 × 3 / 16 inches ) and then loaded into the feeder 401 . the holes 404 in the drum 403 are made of a necessary size in order to accommodate a piece of ore of the size chosen ( e . g ., 3 / 16 inches ). when turning against the ore 402 , the drum &# 39 ; s holes 404 are filled with a piece of ore . later , when the drum &# 39 ; s holes 404 are above the cups 406 the pieces of ore 405 are gravitationally transferred from the drum &# 39 ; s holes 404 to the cups 406 . the cups 406 are then transported by the conveyor belt to the processing area ( i . e ., the 3 - boxes or 5 - boxes area described below ) and ultimately to the appropriate dumping bin . fig5 illustrates the side view of the same system for filling up the cup 506 with one piece of ore 505 , the system comprising the feeder 501 , which contains the crushed ore 502 , and , the drum 503 with its holes ( not shown ). fig6 illustrates the perspective view of a three - box conveyor 609 for processing the ore ( not shown ) from cup 606 ; the cup 606 has two arms 607 a and 607 b attached to it and designed to pass through and make contact with guides 608 a and 608 b respectively , in accordance with several embodiments of the present invention . fig6 depicts a 3 - box system for practicing a preferred method ( 3 - box method ) for processing ores based on the differences in specific heat , in accordance with the teachings of the present invention . box 1 contains a digital optical thermometer that can take two thousand temperature measurements a second with an accuracy of 0 . 01 degree ( one hundredth of a degree centigrade ). such a thermometer is available commercially . box 1 also contains a means to measure temperature by contact using a digital contact thermometer . other quick and precise temperature measurement tools may be employed without departing from the scope of the present invention . the ore cup 606 is made like a hot plate . furthermore , each ore cup 606 has a unique bar code that can be read by a bar code scanner . box 2 contains a laser that can send a laser beam of power in watts to heat up the ore piece in cup 606 with exact amount of calories of heat . box 2 may also contains a direct current supply that can heat the cup with a precise amount of calories of heat . other quick and precise heating ( or cooling ) tools and / or equipment may be employed without departing from the scope of the present invention . box 1 , 2 and 3 , also contains a bar code reader . when the ore cup 606 enters box 1 , the digital optical thermometer determines the temperature of the piece of ore in the ore cup 606 . the bar code of ore cup 606 is determined by the barcode reader . the temperature of the piece of ore in the cup may be also determined by the contact thermometer . the arms 607 a and 607 b of the cup 606 make contact with the metal guides 608 a and 608 b , hence , allowing contact temperature measurement to be made . the ore cup &# 39 ; s 606 bar code , the digital optical temperature of the ore in the ore cup 606 , the contact temperature of the piece of ore in the ore cup 606 is sent to the computer . next , the ore cup 606 enters box 2 where the laser sends a laser pulse of a precise calorie of heat to heat the piece of ore in the ore cup 606 . if the laser is not used , the arms 607 a and 607 b make contact with the metal guides 608 a and 608 b and a precise amount of power is added to the piece of ore in the cup 606 by the direct current supply . the current supply sends a precise amount of power to the hot plate cup 606 to add the precise amount of calories of heat to the piece of ore . next , the ore cup 606 enters box 3 . box 3 is the same as box 1 . the digital optical thermometer determines the temperature of the piece of ore in the ore cup 606 . the contact thermometer may also determine the temperature of piece of ore in the ore cup 606 . the temperature of the piece of ore from the digital optical thermometer and / or the digital contact thermometer is sent to the computer . the bar code of the ore cup is sent to the computer . it is well known that the heat ( in calories ( cal )) gained or lost by a body in which there is no change of state equals mass ( in grams ( g )) times specific heat ( in cal / gc ) times temperature change ( in centigrade ( c )). the computer has the initial temperature of the piece of ore and the the temperature after the precise amount of heat is added . the computer subtracts the initial temperature from the second temperature ; this is the temperature change . in this ore body example ( see below ), we have nine minerals in pieces of approximately 0 . 004 cubic centimeters . each piece can vary by plus or minus ten percent in one percent increments . this results in 189 ( 21 × 9 ) different mineral piece size possibilities . the computer has the specific heat of all the nine items . the computer has already calculated the temperature change of the 189 different items . the computer has already selected the calories of heat ( e . g ., 0 . 1 - 0 . 5 cal ) to add the ore samples by considering factors such as the size of the mineral piece , the specific heat and the flash point of the respective mineral ( i . e ., coal in this example ). this is important , as , for example , too much heat may burst the mineral piece into flame . the computer has already calculated 189 possible temperature changes . a range ( e . g ., +/− 3 %) of the temperature changes may also be calculated and used by the computer considering factors such as the variation in the sizes of the ore pieces being processed . therefore , the computer has a look up table that contains all the possible temperature changes , the mass , the specific heat , the name of the mineral , the density and the calorie of heat used . hence , the computer uses the look up table to determine what the mineral is ( e . g ., coal , platinum , etc ) based on the temperature change , and / or the respective ranges , previously calculated for each mineral . if the temperature change calculated by subtracting the temperature measured in box 1 from the temperature measured in box 3 , equals or falls into the range of the expected temperature change of a certain mineral , previously calculated and tabulated by the computer , then the computer “ knows ” what the mineral is . the the bar code of the ore cups are sent to the computer . the computer activates the dump mechanism when the ore cup 606 is at the correct ore car containing the mineral in the ore cup . each ore car has bar code reader ; as the ore cups bar pass over the bar code reader , the computer knows the contents of the ore cup 606 and activates the dump mechanism when the ore cup passes over the correct ore car . an alternative way of using this processing method is to “ tell ” the computer in advance what ore is actually being processed . for example , if coal ore is being processed , the computer would be instructed that coal should be expected in the cup 606 . so , after calculating the temperature change , the computer would use the look up table only to verify that , indeed , coal is in the cup 606 and dump it in the coal car . if not coal , the piece of ore in cup 606 would be dumped in a different car ( e . g ., a waste or special car ). the only way that two different samples may have the same temperature is if the mass of one of the samples is numerically equal to the specific heat of the other sample . in this ore body example ( see above ) we have nine different elements , thus , nine different specific coefficients of heat . n things taken p at a time equals n - factorial divided by p - factorial times ( n - p ) factorial ; in this example n = 9 and p = 2 ; 9 factorial = 362880 and 7 factorial = 5040 . combinations = 362880 /( 5040 × 2 )= 36 . the computer calculates these possibilities , where two elements can have the same temperature change , in advance , and dumps those ore pieces into special bins . when determining the proper size for the ore to be crushed at , several factors may have to be considered . it is to be noted that the smaller the ore piece , the more obvious the temperature change difference , due to the presence of impurity , appears to be . this means that it may be easier for the computer to detect the ore pieces which have impurities and dump them to the appropriate bins or cars . therefore , a more precise separation of the pure ore from the impure ore may be achieved . thus , greater reliability of the processing technique and system exists . the power of the heating source available ( e . g ., laser ) may need to be considered as well . the larger the ore piece , the more powerful the heating source have to be . if the ore piece is too small for a particular power of the heating source , the ore piece could burst into flames . obviously , the greater the ore piece , the more efficient the processing system is as more ore may be processed in the same amount of time . a balancing act has to be performed here to achieve the right equilibrium between reliability and efficiency of the processing system . for example , for coal , the 1 / 16 inch size ( i . e ., 1 / 16 by 1 / 16 by 1 / 16 ) appears to be the right size of the ore piece for a laser currently available on the market . to process a large amount of ore , conveyor belts with , for example , 4 , 000 ore cups 606 and three boxes ( i . e ., box 1 plus box 2 plus box 3 ). each box of three may be able to process two thousand ore cups a second . using copper as an example , each ore cup contains 7 grams of ore ; 7 times 2 , 000 times equals 14 , 000 grams a second . this equals 30 . 83 pounds a second , 1850 . 22 pounds a minute , or 55 . 5 tons an hour . this is one dump truck an hour . so , if you have 80 dump trucks , you may need to have 80 conveyor belts . fig7 illustrates the partial perspective view of a conveyor 709 for processing the ore 710 from cup 706 ; the cup 706 has two arms 707 a and 707 b attached to it and designed to pass through and make contact with guides 708 a and 708 b respectively , in accordance with several embodiments of the present invention . fig8 illustrates the perspective view of a five - box conveyor 809 for processing the ore ( not shown ) from cup 806 ; the cup 806 has two arms 807 a and 807 b attached to it and designed to pass through and make contact with guides 808 a and 808 b respectively , in accordance with several embodiments of the present invention . fig8 depicts a 5 - box system for practicing another preferred method ( 5 - box method ) for processing ores based on the differences in specific heat , in accordance with the teachings of the present invention . the advantage of this method is that , after crushing and screening the ore body to , for example , 1 / 16 inch pieces ( i . e ., 1 / 16 inches by 1 / 16 inches by 1 / 16 inches ), variation in the size of the ore pieces does not impair the accuracy of the ore processing based on differences in minerals &# 39 ; specific heat . boxes 1 , 2 and 3 in fig8 are identical as the boxes 1 , 2 and 3 in fig6 , respectively . furthermore , box 4 is identical with box 2 and box 5 is identical with box 3 . for exemplification purposes , let &# 39 ; s assume that the ore being processed is coal . the ore body is crushed and screened to a desired size , as for example , 1 / 16 inch ( i . e ., 1 / 16 inches by 1 / 16 inches by 1 / 16 inches ). again , it is not important if the pieces of ore vary in size , as for example , with +/− 3 %. next the pieces of ore ( i . e ., coal in this example ) are loaded into the cups as described earlier ( see fig4 and 5 ). therefore , the cup 806 contains a piece of coal . in box 1 , one or both of the thermometers described above measure the temperature of the piece of ore ( i . e ., coal in this example ) in the cup 806 and the bar code reader reads the bar code of the cup 806 . the temperature of the piece coal and the bar code of the cup 806 are sent to the computer . the computer determines the exact quantity of heat to use for heating the mineral piece by considering factors such as the size of the mineral piece , the specific heat and the flash point of the respective mineral ( i . e ., coal in this example ). this is important , as , for example , too much heat may burst the mineral piece into flame . next the cup 806 enters box 2 , where a laser beam of computer - predetermined quantity of heat ( e . g ., 0 . 1 ( i . e ., 1 / 10 ) calorie ) is sent to the piece of coal in the cup . as , described earlier , a direct current of known power can also heat the piece of coal . next , in box 3 , the temperature of the piece of coal is measured again and sent to the computer . the computer determines the first temperature change by subtracting the temperature measured in box 1 from the temperature measured in box 3 . using the specific heat for coal , the density of the coal , the amount of heat used and the just - calculated first temperature change , the computer calculates the mass of the coal piece in cup 806 . the formula used by the computer is : heat added =( specific heat )( mass )( temperature change ), or , mass =( heat added )/(( specific heat )( temperature change )). since coal is used in this example , the computer uses the specific heat of coal , which is 0 . 17 . one of ordinary skills in the art would recognize that the mass of the coal piece in cup 806 may be calculated in different ways without departing from the scope of the present invention . for example , the weight of the ore cup 806 may be predetermined and subtracted by the computer from the weight of the ore cup 806 with the coal piece in it . both weights may be measured using , for example , any readily available electronic weighing machine , which may be installed on the conveyor belt . the weight measurements will be sent to the computer . the computer calculates the temperature change of this calculated mass of coal , which the computer determined earlier , using 0 . 5 calories of heat . here are the underlying equations : 0 . 5 =( mass computer calculated )( 0 . 17 × temperature change ); ( 0 . 5 )/(( mass computer calculated )( 0 . 17 ))= temperature change . now , if the temperature change that computer calculates equals five times the temperature change obtained by subtracting the temperature measured in box 3 from the temperature measured in box 5 ( i . e ., the second temperature change ), the piece of coal in cup 806 is pure coal . next , when the cup 806 is in box 4 , the piece of coal is heat ( by laser or contact ) five times as much as in box 2 ( e . g ., 0 . 5 ( i . e ., 5 / 10 ) calorie ). when the computer determines that in box 2 a certain amount of heat should be used as described earlier , the computer does so by also verifying that the five - time greater amount of heat in box 4 would not create problems such as igniting the ore piece ( i . e ., coal in this example ). in box 5 , the temperature of the piece of ore is measured again and sent to the computer . a second temperature change is calculated by the computer by subtracting the temperature measured in box 3 from the temperature measured in box 5 . if this second temperature change equals five times the first temperature change calculated previously , and / or the expected temperature change based on the mass of the coal piece previously calculated , then the piece of ore in the cup 806 is pure coal and , therefore , using the bar code , the computer will activate the dumping mechanism when the cup 806 is above the car containing coal . otherwise , the computer will ensure that the piece of ore in cup 806 is dumped in a different car ( e . g ., a special or waste car ). the computer can be “ told ” ( i . e ., preset and / or pre - programmed ) in advance what ore is being processed ( e . g ., coal ore ), and therefore , what mineral to expect in cup 806 . or , the computer can use the first temperature change value and the look up table to determine what the mineral is or is likely to be . then , if the second temperature change equals five times the first temperature change , that would be the confirmation that the mineral in cup 806 is pure . the 3 - box method and the 5 - box method may be employed independently of each other or in combination . a user may choose to use the 3 - box method or the 5 - box method . a user may also combine the two methods by , for example , using the 5 - box method as a second layer of verification to increase the overall accuracy of the ore processing system . so , for example , after the temperature is measured in box 3 , the computer calculates the first temperature change and looks in the existing tables to determine what the piece of ore consists of ( e . g ., coal ). later , after the temperature in box 5 is measured , the computer performs a second determination by calculating the second temperature change and comparing it with the first temperature change . if the second temperature change is greater than the first temperature change by the same number of times as the number of times ( e . g ., five ) the amount of heat in box 4 was increased ( when compared with the amount of heat in box 2 ), that is a confirmation that the piece of ore is pure ( e . g ., pure coal ). boxes 4 and 5 may need to be added only if the crushed ore varies significantly in size . here is the mathematical reasoning behind the method described above and used by the computer : it should be understood that similar equations apply to minerals others than coal . it should be also understood that if the coal piece in cup 806 is pure , its temperature change is different than that of a piece of coal that contains impurities such as , for example , one percent of iron sulfide ( fes ). this is because the specific heat of the impurity ( e . g ., fes ) is different than that of coal . furthermore , because of the relative small quantity of the impurity ( e . g ., 1 - 3 %), increasing the amount of heat added ( e . g ., five times ) may accentuate the temperature change differences , between a piece of pure coal and a piece of impure coal , thus , making it easier for the computer to detect the impurity . hence , the differences in temperature changes are used by the computer to determine if the piece of coal in cup 806 is pure or not , and therefore , dump it in the appropriate ore car . again , the specific heat of a substance is numerically equal to the number of calories required to raise the temperature of one gram of the material with one degree centigrade . the specific heat is measured in calories / gram . centigrade . heat ( in calories ) equals mass of material ( in grams ) times specific heat of the material ( in calories / gram . centigrade ) times the material &# 39 ; s change in temperature ( q = mcδt ). in the ore example used , the ore body contains the following elements with the following physical properties ( according to existing literature ): different sizes ( e . g ., 1 / 16 inches , ⅜ inches , etc ) of the sample ore may need to be tested for specific heat determination purposes . this is because it is important to determine at the outset whether or not the specific heat of the specific ore tested varies with the size of the ore piece to be processed . this could happen because , for example , heat may be reflected differently for ore pieces of various dimensions . as it is often the case in the industry , the tests may start by crushing the ore to samples of ⅜ inch by ⅜ inch by ⅜ inch ; ⅜ inches = 0 . 9525 centimeters . this has a volume of 0 . 864 cubic centimeters . next , you determine the specific heat , in one degree temperature increments , from , for example , minus 30 fahrenheit to plus 90 fahrenheit . the temperature range to use for testing can vary . to help in choosing the temperature range , the average temperatures in the area where the ore processing will occur may be considered . testing the ore sample for the actual specific heat values at different temperatures is important because it is known that the specific heat of a certain material do vary depending on the actual temperature of that material . therefore , it is important for the computer to have all this data when controlling the ore processing based on specific heat differences . after determining the specific heat of the minerals in the sample ore , an assay may also need to be performed for the purpose of determining what the concentration ( e . g ., 2 %) of each mineral in the ore is . this helps calculate what the expected quantities for each mineral are at the end of the processing and , by comparing the expected quantities with the actual quantities obtained , the efficiency of the processing technique may be evaluated . this information ( i . e ., the assay &# 39 ; s results ), the temperature , specific heat and the density of each mineral in the sample ore is then entered into a computer . next , the ore is crushed to 5 / 16 in by 5 / 16 in by 5 / 16 in ; 5 / 16 inch = 0 . 7937 centimeters . this has volume of 0 . 5 cubic centimeters . the specific heat is determined , in one degree temperature increments , from minus 30 to plus 90 f . after determining the coefficient of heat , an assay on the sample is done and this information is stored in a computer : temperature , coefficient of heat , density , and assay results . next , the ore is crushed to 4 / 16 in by 4 / 16 in by 4 / 16 in ; 4 / 16 inch = 0 . 635 centimeters . this has volume of 0 . 0156 cubic centimeters . the specific heat is determined , in one degree increments , from minus 30 to plus 90 f . after determining the coefficient of heat , an assay on the sample is done and this information is stored in a computer : temperature , coefficient of heat , density , and assay results . next , the ore is crushed to 3 / 16 in by 3 / 16 in by 3 / 16 in ; 3 / 16 in = 0 . 4762 centimeters . this has a volume of 0 . 0066 cubic centimeters . the specific heat is determined , in one degree increments , from minus 30 to plus 90 f . after determining the coefficient of heat , an assay on the sample is done and this information is stored in a computer : temperature , coefficient of heat , density , and assay results . next , the ore is crushed to 2 / 16 in by 2 / 16 in by 2 / 16 ; 2 / 16 inch = 0 . 3175 centimeters . this is a volume of 0 . 032 cubic centimeters . the specific heat is determined , in one degree increments , from minus 30 to plus 90 f . after determining the coefficient of heat , an assay on the sample is done and this information is stored in a computer : temperature , coefficient of heat , density , and assay results . next , the ore is crushed to 1 / 16 in by 1 / 16 in by 1 / 16 in ; 1 / 16 inch = 0 . 15875 centimeters . this has a volume of 0 . 004 cubic centimeters . the specific heat is determined , in one degree increments , from minus 30 to plus 90 f . after determining the coefficient of heat , an assay on the sample is done and this information is stored in a computer : temperature , coefficient of heat , density , and assay results . for a volume of 0 . 864 cubic centimeters of the following minerals , and by adding 50 calories of heat , the following temperature changes are obtained : an ore piece of 1 / 16 in by 1 / 16 in by 1 / 16 in ( i . e ., a volume of 0 . 004 cubic centimeters ) has the following mass : adding one tenth of a calorie of heat to the following , at a volume of 0 . 004 cubic centimeters , results in a temperature change of : adding one half of a calorie of heat to the following , at a volume of 0 . 004 cubic centimeters , results in a temperature change of : it is to be noted that , as expected , when a higher amount of heat is added , the temperature changes are greater , hence , easier for the computer to differentiate between the different minerals and / or pure / impure minerals . however , as noted earlier , when selecting the right amount of heat to be added , other factors have to be considered such as the flash point of the particular ore being processed and the size of the ore piece . after the specific heat is determined for all the different densities , the computer calculates , for a known value of calorie of heat added to the samples , the temperature change from one percent increase in volume to an increase of ten percent in volume for each unique specific heat . for example , starting with volume 0 . 004 cubic centimeters and then , 0 . 00404 , 0 . 00408 , 0 . 00412 , 0 . 00416 , 0 . 0042 , 0 . 00424 , 0 . 00428 , 0 . 00432 , 0 . 00436 , 0 . 0044 ( all in cubic centimeters ). and then , the computer calculates the temperature change for each unique specific heat for decrease in volume from one percent to ten percent in increments of one percent . for example , 0 . 004 , 00396 , 0 . 00392 , 0 . 00388 , 0 . 00384 , 0 . 0038 , 0 . 00376 , 0 . 00376 , 0 . 00372 , 0 . 00368 , 0 . 00364 ( all cubic centimeters ). this testing may be necessary as the ore pieces in the crushed ore may vary in size . it is common in the industry to have a +/− 3 % variation in ore piece size . a greater variation ( e . g ., +/− 10 %) may be chosen , just to be on the safe side . all this data comprising the various temperature changes for various ore piece sizes may need to be loaded into the computer . therefore , the computer would have a range of temperature changes associated with a particular mineral . when the computer will detect a temperature change falling within the prescribed range of temperature changes associated with a particular mineral the computer will “ know ” what the mineral is and it will dump it in the appropriate bin . if this isn &# 39 ; t accurate enough the increments become 0 . 001 increments ( tenth of a percent ). all of the above information is stored in a computer look up table . the computer has all densities of the ore crushed at various different volumes . the computer has the specific heat of all of the different components of the ore body . the computer calculates the temperature change of the various ore components at a known volume starting 0 . 004 cubic centimeters starting with 0 . 01 calories of heat for all of the different specific heat at 0 . 004 cubic centimeters . the computer , in increments of 0 . 01 calories up to one calorie , calculates the temperature change of the various different specific heats at volume 0 . 004 cubic centimeters . the computer does the same for the volume 0 . 004 cubic centimeters from one percent increase in volume : 0 . 00404 cc , 0 . 004008 cc , 0 . 004012 cc , 0 . 004016 cc , 0 . 004020 cc , 0 . 004024 , 0 . 004028 , 0 . 004032 cc , 0 . 004036 cc , 0 . 00404 cc . the computer does the same for . 004 cubic centimeters from one percent decrease in volume to a ten percent decrease in volume in one percent increments : 00396 cc , 0 . 00392 cc , 0 . 00388 cc , 0 . 00384 cc , 0 . 00380 cc , 0 . 00376 cc , 0 . 00372 cc , 0 . 00368 cc , 0 . 00364 cc , 0 . 00360 cc . for the ore body in this example the computer has a total of 2100 possible different temperatures for 0 . 004 cubic centimeters with an increase of ten percent in volume to a decrease in volume of ten percent . the computer picks the calorie of heat that you need to add to the 0 . 004 cubic centimeters to be able to tell exactly what the sample is exactly out of the one hundred eighty one ( 181 ) different possibilities various mineral volume variations at 0 . 004 cubic centimeters with a plus or minus 10 percent volume variation . whatever volume it is decided to crush the ore to , the computer determines the exact calorie of heat to use ( e . g ., 0 . 1 cal , 0 . 3 cal , 0 . 5 cal , etc ) in order to make the temperature changes the most distinguishable possible and to be able to determine exactly the ore elements to be separated . for the sample ore used here , the following data may need to be preloaded into the computer : volume ( cc ) mass ( g ) . 004 . 02292 . 00396 . 02269 . 00392 . 0224616 . 00388 . 0222324 . 00384 . 0220032 . 00380 . 021774 . 00376 . 0215448 . 00372 . 02213256 . 00368 . 0210864 . 00364 . 0208572 . 00360 . 020628 the corresponding temperature changes in centigrade ( c ), at one calorie of heat : 559 . 75 , 565 . 83 , 570 . 77 , 576 . 65 , 583 . 66 , 588 . 79 , 595 . 06 , 601 . 46 , 607 . 99 , 614 . 68 , 621 . 50 . volume ( cc ): 0 . 0044 0 . 00436 0 . 00432 0 . 00428 / 00424 0 . 00420 0 . 00416 0 . 00412 0 . 00408 0 . 00404 0 . 00400 0 . 00396 0 . 00392 0 . 00388 0 . 00384 0 . 00380 0 . 00376 0 . 00372 mass ( g ): 0 . 08448 0 . 083712 0 . 083944 0 . 082176 0 . 081408 0 . 08064 0 . 079872 0 . 079104 0 . 078336 0 . 077568 0 . 0768 0 . 076032 0 . 075264 0 . 074496 0 . 073728 0 . 07296 0 . 072192 0 . 071424 temperature change ( c ): 374 . 59 378 . 03 381 . 53 385 . 09 388 . 72 392 . 43 396 . 20 400 . 05 403 . 97 407 . 97 412 . 05 416 . 21 420 . 46 424 . 79 429 . 22 433 . 73 438 . 35 443 . 07 volume ( cc ) mass ( g ) . 0044 . 0198 . 00436 . 01962 . 00432 . 1944 . 00428 . 01926 . 00424 . 01908 . 00420 . 0189 . 00416 . 01872 . 00412 . 01854 . 00408 . 01836 . 00404 . 01818 . 00400 . 01800 . 00396 . 01782 . 00392 . 01764 . 00388 . 01746 . 00384 . 01724 . 00380 . 01710 . 00376 . 01692 . 00372 . 01674 temperature change ( c ): 1836 . 54 1853 . 40 1870 . 56 1888 . 04 1905 . 85 1924 . 00 1 ‘ 942 . 50 1961 . 36 1980 . 59 2000 . 20 2020 . 30 2046 . 40 2061 . 43 2082 . 68 2104 . 38 2126 . 52 2149 . 15 2173 . 26 volume ( cc ) mass ( g ) . 0044 . 09402 . 00436 . 0951732 . 00432 . 0923184 . 00428 . 0914636 . 00424 . 0906088 . 00420 . 089754 . 00416 . 0888992 . 00412 . 0880444 . 00408 . 0871896 . 00404 . 0863348 . 00400 . 08548 . 00396 . 0846353 . 00392 . 0837704 . 00388 . 0829156 . 00384 . 06820608 . 003800 . 081206 . 00376 . 0803512 . 00372 . 0794964 temperature change ( c ): 454 . 49 458 . 66 462 . 90 467 . 23 471 . 69 476 . 13 480 . 71 485 . 38 490 . 14 494 . 97 499 . 94 504 . 99 510 14 515 . 40 520 . 77 526 . 25 531 . 85 537 . 57 volume ( cc ) mass ( g ) . 00400 . 03604 . 00396 . 0356796 . 00392 . 0353192 . 00388 . 0349568 . 00384 . 0034598 . 00380 . 034238 . 00376 . 0338776 . 00372 . 0033156 temperature change ( c ): 426 . 87 431 . 19 435 . 59 440 . 08 444 . 66 449 . 34 454 . 12 459 . 00 using the teachings of the present invention , all of the elements that are in an ore body in elemental form may be separated . solid inorganic compounds may be separated as well . examples of such inorganic compounds are listed below : one of ordinary skills in the art would recognize that the ore piece may be cooled down instead of being heated up , and then calculate the temperature change and use the specific heat to determine what the ore is , without departing from the scope of the present invention . the only important thing here is to add or withdraw a measurable quantity of heat to or from the ore . the cooling down may be done by , for example , exposing the ore to a cool box or chamber , which may be mounted on the conveyor belt , for a controlled period of time . an alternative way of cooling the ore piece may be by dropping a known quantity of cold water , of known temperature , on the ore piece . the cooling of the ore piece may be a preferred alternative for changing the ore &# 39 ; s temperature in certain environmental conditions , as for example , when the ore to be processed is already rather warm . although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for the purpose of disclosing the preferred embodiments , someone of ordinary skills in the art will easily detect alternate embodiments and / or equivalent variations , which may be capable of achieving the same results , and which may be substituted for the specific embodiments illustrated and described herein without departing from the scope of the present invention . therefore , the scope of this application is intended to cover alternate embodiments and / or equivalent variations of the specific embodiments illustrated and / or described herein . hence , the scope of the present invention is defined only by the accompanying claims and their equivalent . | 1 |
fig1 and 2 show a type of weaving - binding machine for the production of thick armatures with superposed layers connected transversely , of known design , permitting working in an inclined working plane to improve the ergonomy and to decrease the factory surface occupied . the machine comprises a frame provided with a base 1 and vertical uprights 2 , connected at their upper ends by a horizontal crosspiece 3 , and on which can be fixed at 4 a rectangular frame . the crosspiece 3 defines a first axis x , along which can slide a carriage 5 carrying a bar 6 . this latter is perpendicular to the crosspiece 3 and inclined so as to extend parallel to the plane of the frame 4 . this bar 6 is secured at its end opposite the crosspiece 3 , to the base 1 by means of an elbowed connection bar 7 , and defines a second axis y , orthogonal to x . moreover , the bar 6 carries , in its turn , an arm 8 that can slide along the latter thanks to a carriage 9 and defining a third axis z perpendicular to the plane of the frame 4 . at its end adjacent the frame 4 , the arm 8 carries , laterally offset , a rotatable axle 10 serving as a tool carrier for a tool t ( shown schematically in mixed lines in fig2 ) which can be a weaving head or a stitching head . in this case , the tool t is a weaving head . head t is secured to the rotatable axle 10 itself driven in rotation by means of a belt symbolized at 11 and moved by a motor 12 . the frame 4 itself serves as a support for a weaving frame , generally rectangular and which can be of variable dimensions according to the type of piece of composite material incorporating the thick armature to be produced . in fig3 and 4 a , 4 b , there is shown at 13 a rectangular weaving frame according to the invention , mounted removably on the general frame 4 by means of a mounting plate 14 ( fig4 a , 4 b ). the frame 13 is formed by four disassembleable sides and is fixed by several screws 15 engaged in the rectangular plate 14 , itself fixed removably with the help of bolts 16 . laterally , on one of the surfaces of the frame 13 and adjacent the internal edge , are sunk in the frame a series of hooking pins 17 , regularly distributed about all the internal periphery of the frame . according to the invention , the pins 17 are cylindrical pins each comprising a first straight section 17 a extending from the frame and slightly inclined by several degrees in the direction outwardly of the frame , prolonged by a second straight section 17 b , also inclined outwardly but at a greater amplitude than the first section 17 a . by way of example and preferably , the inclination of the second sections 17 b is of the order of 45 ° relative to the plane of frame 13 . in fig4 a , there is shown at 18 a stack or mat of superposed layers of threads woven on the pins 17 . along the first sections 17 a , there can be caused to slide along the four slides of the frame 13 a grill 19 pierced by so - called indexing holes adapted to improve the parallelism and the strength of the pins 17 at the outset of weaving . at 21 in fig4 a is shown schematically a guide for a thread 22 to be woven . at 23 in fig4 a , 4 b is shown a rectangular flattening frame mounted freely slidably along screw - threaded guide pins 24 fixed on the plate 14 . a nut 24 ′ screwed on the pins 24 permits blocking the frame 23 in the desired position . the flattening frame 23 has one wing orthogonal to the plane of frame 13 and whose upper section 23 a is adapted , under the action of control jacks 25 , to be applied against the facing surface of the mat 18 , in line with all its periphery and at a slight distance from the pins 17 . the respective out of surface and flattening positions of the frame 23 are shown by fig4 a and 4 b . according to another characteristic of the weaving device according to the invention , the weaving head t preferably comprises several guides 21 , moved simultaneously and having each the control of a thread to be woven . by thread is meant an assembly of several millions of assembled threads , generally dry , but which can if desired be pre - impregnated with a suitable resin . the material of these threads is selected from the group of materials habitually used for the production of textile preforms , such as carbon , glass in the form of rovings , boron , kevlar , silica , silicon carbide , aramid fibers , etc . by layer is meant the assembly of threads deposited side by side according to a single layer in a same direction . generally , weaving takes place in four directions , namely a weaving at 0 ° consisting in depositing a layer of threads parallel for example to the large sides of the weaving frame , weaving at 90 ° of threads parallel to the small sides of the frame and two respective weavings at + 45 ° or − 45 °, these two weavings being orthogonal to each other . most of the time , a thick textile armature for the production of composite pieces comprises layers of threads in four directions : 0 °, 90 °, + 45 ° and − 45 °. as a modification and as needed for use , an orientation different from 45 ° relative to the layers at 0 ° and 90 ° could be used . in fig5 , there is shown the beginning of weaving of a layer at + 45 ° on a rectangular frame of the type of fig3 and in which has been simply represented by the circles 26 the positions of the pins 17 . the weaving thread is for example a carbon thread with 3 , 000 threads . in the example shown in fig5 , the weaving head t is a multiple head comprising six identical guides 27 , aligned , only these latter being shown symbolically in transverse cross - sectional view with their thread 22 to be woven at the interior . an example of embodiment of a weaving head t with six guides 27 is shown schematically in fig1 . the guides 27 are of conventional shape , which is to say tubular , hollow and of approximately lozenge cross - section whose large axis is orthogonal to the plane defined by the alignment of the six guides . the guides 27 are fixed in parallel with constant spacing between them , on a support bar 28 , itself fixed on an annular member 29 driven in rotation about its axis by a belt 30 corresponding to the belt 11 of the device of fig1 and 2 . the rotatable assembly 28 - 29 is mounted by means of a roller bearing 31 on a fixed frame 32 itself secured to the end of the arm 8 . on the upstream side a of head t , the threads 22 to be woven are supplied in parallel from bobbins disposed on a frame ( not shown ), via a device for unwinding and supply under regulated tension with picking up a length of thread , in the usual way . fig5 shows the formation of a layer at + 45 ° by back and forth passes , in the course of each of which simultaneously six threads 22 will be deposited between six pins 26 of the lower longitudinal edge of the frame and six pins 26 of the right side edge , along a path of the guides indicated by the arrows . the laying down of the threads is shown in greater detail in fig6 a to 6 d . after engaging the threads into the guides 27 , and then fixing in the beginning angle of weaving , the guides are , at the outset of the first pass , in the position indicated in fig5 , each guide being facing an interval between two pins 26 . the guides 27 are moved in the direction of the interior of the frame . once past the line of pins 26 , the guides 27 are moved in oblique translation in the direction of the small right side of the weaving frame . at the end of their path , the head t is pivoted by 90 ° so as to dispose the guides 27 facing intervals between pins 26 a to 26 f of said right side . the guides 27 pass the line of pins 26 a to 26 f on a trajectory orthogonal to their alignment as indicated by the arrow 33 . the guides 27 will then go about the pins 26 a to 26 f so as to dispose the section of the threads in the direction shown by the section 34 of fig5 . fig6 a to 6 d show turning about the pins , according to the invention , this turning about taking place such that the threads 22 ( see also fig4 a ) come into contact with the second section 17 b of the pins . fig6 a and 6 d show the movement of the guides 27 according to arrows 35 and 36 respectively of fig5 , the orientation of the support bar for the guides not being modified . in fig6 d , the guides 27 begin the laying down of the return threads , such as the thread 37 in fig5 , this laying lown taking place by movement of the weaving head facing the six starting pins , analogous to that which took place with respect to the pins 26 a to 26 f . the tension exerted on the threads 22 in the course of weaving and their laying down in contact with the inclined section 17 b of the pins , naturally results in the threads sliding to the inflection point 20 of the pins . fig5 shows a second back and forth movement of the weaving head . to this end , the guides 27 which are in the position shown in fig5 are moved in translation parallel to the lower alignment of the pins 26 , by a distance corresponding to six intervals between pins . the guides 27 are thus in the starting position for a back and forth movement analogous to the first , which has been described , and involving the pins 26 g to 26 l on the small straight side of the frame . thus , bit by bit and by a certain number of back and forth passes , all the frame will be covered and the + 45 ° layer will be completely formed . the process of forming layers + 45 °, 0 ° and 90 ° is analogous . for layers at 0 ° and 90 °, the weaving head t need not be pivoted but simply moved in translation in the two directions parallel to the sides of the frame . in this way there are laid down a suitable number and type of layers , the threads of the different layers being identical or not . thus could be superposed successively a layer at 0 °, a layer at + 45 °, a layer at − 45 ° and a layer at 90 °, this design being then repeated a certain number of times to obtain the desired thickness of the mat 18 . all the layers form at the height of the inflection points 20 of the pins 17 . each new layer pushes the preceding subjacent layer , this natural flattening taking place by the slight inclination of the first section 17 a of the pins , as shown by fig4 a and 4 b . in the course of this flattening , the indexing grill 19 slides downwardly by being pushed by the threads . once the mat 18 has been produced , a compacting of the latter , at its periphery , on the side opposite the second section 17 b of the pins , is carried out by moving , thanks to the jacks 25 , the flattening frame 23 whose upper section 23 a compresses the mat 18 as shown in fig4 b . this compacting is maintained in the course of the subsequent operation of transverse binding of the layers of the mat 18 , for example by a chain stitch as shown at 38 in fig4 b . the extreme peripheral position of the flattening frame 23 relative to the mat 18 permits free access for such connection over both opposite faces of said mat . the weaving device according to the invention thus permits a very regular and homogeneous distribution of the superposed layers and optimum compaction of the final thick woven structure . it is also to be noted that at the time of binding , all the threads of the layers are tensioned thanks to the pressing carried out by the frame 23 . fig6 a to 6 d and 5 show the production of a standard layer with two threads in each interval between two consecutive pins for all the layers 0 °, 90 ° and ± 45 °. as a modification , there can be , for all the layers , particularly at ± 45 °, deposited a single thread between two consecutive pins . fig7 a and 7 b show such a modified weaving with the help of the same weaving head with six guides 27 , according to which each thread 22 does not pass about a pin to place itself against the previously laid down thread , but is offset by six pins 17 ( fig7 b ) such that upon return of the guides 27 , each thread 22 bears against the adjacent pins . thus , there is deposited only one thread between two adjacent pins . this laid down is carried out in fig7 a , 7 b with the help of guides 27 with an interval equal to that of the pins 17 . the same laid down can be carried out in particular with a thick thread with guides at an interval double that of the guides shown by fig1 described later on . a laying down of a single thread between pins permits obtaining layers at ± 45 ° that are thinner than the layers at 0 ° and 90 °. fig8 shows the production with the same weaving head t and six guides 27 , of a layer at 90 ° with three threads between two successive pins 26 . to this end , the head t goes back and forth at 90 °, and then returns to the starting point , and is offset by one interval ( interval between two consecutive pins ) to the left . it then carries out a forward movement at 90 °, then is offset to the left by six intervals to attack upon the return six new pins referenced 39 in fig8 , and so on . this deposition is suitable for small threads . there can thus be produced a same preform with the layers at 0 ° and 90 ° with three threads between two pins ( fig8 ) and layers at ± 45 ° with two threads between two pins ( fig5 ). fig9 a , 9 b show another modified weave with a weaving head according to the invention , with six guides 27 ′ whose spacing or interval is twice that of the pins 26 . fig9 a shows the laying down of six threads in line with the first series of twenty - four pins 26 , with alternation of one thread between two pins , then two threads in the following interval , whilst fig9 b shows the following step of emplacing six threads in line with the following series of twenty - four pins . for laying down of the sections of threads such as 40 , the guides 27 ′ will be offset laterally by one interval of pin in their trajectory between pins 26 on opposite sides . fig1 shows the use of guides 27 ″ of a double interval from that of pins 26 for laying down of large threadss , for example of 12 , 000 threads , of which only one , 41 , is provided between two consecutive pins , to constitute a layer at + 45 °. the large thread of the above type can also be emplaced by guides with an interval equal to that of the pins , this latter being greater , for example twice that of the pins adapted for the deposition of small threads . there can thus be produced layers at 0 ° and 90 ° with two threads between two consecutive pins , and layers at ± 45 ° with a single thread between two consecutive pins . with these same guides and pins , there can also be produced layers at 0 ° and 90 ° with three threads between two consecutive pins ( fig8 ) and layers at + 45 ° with a single thread between two consecutive pins . moreover , it is of course possible to produce textile armatures comprising layers at 0 °, 90 ° and ± 45 °, of substantially equal thicknesses . fig1 shows in perspective a frame according to the invention of “ variable geometry ”, namely a frame 51 of which a small side 42 is slidably mounted on the two large sides , which permits changing the dimension of the mat 18 and adapting it to that of composite panels integrating these mats as armatures . fig1 shows in perspective a weaving frame 43 with multiple fixed bars 44 parallel to the outer sides of the frame . all the elements of the frame 43 are provided with pins 17 of which only several are shown in the figure . such a frame 43 permits the production of a mat 18 ′ of which a symbolic illustration is given in fig1 below the frame . the mat 18 ′ has regions a , b , c of different thicknesses delimited by the steps 45 corresponding to said bars 44 . textile preforms obtained with the weaving means according to the invention are adapted for the production of pieces of conventional composite materials whose matrix is any resin , polyester , epoxid , polyurethane for example , or of high temperature composite material whose matrix is of ceramic or carbon . once the woven textile preform is connected , whatever the manner of connection , it remains only to cut it up and place it in the mold . withdrawal of the preform from the weaving frame takes place in the usual manner by disassembling the sides of the frame 13 and extracting the assembly of the pins 17 from each side by rotation and retraction of the sides so as to free the preform . such a preform can have a thickness reduced to that of two or four superposed layers or on the contrary a greater thickness corresponding to several tens of layers , whose qualities of homogeneity and compactness are remarkable . the weaving head t with multiples guides permits production of such textile preforms must more rapidly because a plurality of threads are emplaced simultaneously and in parallel on the weaving frame . the number of guides of the head can of course vary according to applications . | 1 |
biological indicator embodiments of the invention must have spores of bacillus circulans packaged to maintain integrity of the spores until the biological indicator is used for its intended purpose . bacillus circulans cultures are available , for example , from the american type culture collection , 12301 parklawn drive , rockville , md . 20852 . for example , among the b . circulans strains available are atcc 61 , atcc 13403 , and atcc 21821 , 21822 ( subspecies n . proteophilus and n . biotinicus , respectively ). the strain used to exemplify the present invention was obtained as atcc 61 . packages of the invention have at least a portion that is gas or vapor permeable , but bacteria impermeable . this portion may constitute the entire package , but more usually the package will be constructed of the portion and one or more other materials . the other material , when present , is usually gas and bacteria impermeable . examples of impermeable materials suitable in forming part of the inventive packages include polyethylene , polypropylene , poly ( vinyl chloride ), and poly ( ethylene terephthalate ), usually in the form of film , sheet , or tube . the portion that is permeable to gas or vapor , but impermeable to bacteria will typically be microporous with the volume average diameter of pores being in the range of from about 0 . 02 to about 0 . 5 μm . the words &# 34 ; gas &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; vapor &# 34 ; are used throughout as being substantially synonymous , but where &# 34 ; gas &# 34 ; may more clearly describe the active species generated from a plasma step . suitable microporous materials include spunbonded polyethylene , spunbonded polypropylene , microporous polyethylene , and microporous polypropylene , usually in the form of film or sheet . paper can also be used as the permeable portion for inventive embodiments . the thickness of the permeable material can vary , but usually will be in the range of from about 0 . 23 to about 0 . 65 mm . the gas or vapor permeable portion is configured so as to define at least one path for providing entry of sterilizing gas or active species from a plasma from the chamber in which sterilization is performed and into contact with the bacillus circulans spores . packages of the invention can be formed with seams , joints , and seals made by conventional techniques , such as , for example , heat sealing and adhesive bonding . examples of heat sealing include sealing through use of heated rollers , sealing through use of heated bars , radio frequency sealing , and ultrasonic sealing . peelable seals based on pressure sensitive adhesives may also be used . the package provides integrity for the enclosed organism during shelf life until use . other microorganisms are prevented entry by the package as barrier , since other microorganisms could interfere with or confuse sterility determinations based on the expected number and type of organism spores . thus , the organism spores within will be preserved in a condition so that subsequent laboratory analysis is meaningful and reliable . biological indicator embodiments of the invention preferably further include a carrier that is inoculated with the spores . as will be understood , the carrier is simply a means by which organism spores in a selected number are positioned within the package , and then subsequently analyzed for viability . consequently , the carrier can vary widely in the choice of materials and shapes so long as the function as carrier is served . it has been suggested that the type of product or carrier material inoculated can significantly affect the resistance of the biological indicator . the preferred filter paper carrier material has been shown to have excellent storage stability for embodiments of the invention . preferred carriers are formed of materials such as filter paper , which can be readily macerated along with the carried spores if one wishes to perform survivor determinations . the carrier , such as a preferred filter paper carrier , can be quite simply inoculated with spores by preparing an aqueous suspension with the desired spore concentration and pipetting aliquots onto the carrier . thus , inoculation of carrier can be according to the usp xxii bacteriostasis test method . briefly , a suspension of bacillus circulans spores in water is prepared so as to yield a desired number of spores per aliquot for inoculating a carrier such as filter paper . spores , rather than the vegetative form of the organism , are used because vegetative bacteria are known to be easily killed by sterilizing processes . spores also have superior storage characteristics as they can remain in their dormant state for years . thus , when sterilization of a standardized spore strain occurs from a sterilization process , such can provide a high degree of confidence that sterilization of bacterial strains in the sterilizing chamber has occurred . the bacillus circulans spores of this invention may be placed into the package as a selected number as follows . a selected number of spores are inoculated on the carrier . before inoculating spores onto the carrier , a heat shock step is desirably performed . heat shock is a sublethal thermal treatment given to spores to prepare the enzymatic reactions for germination . thus , a preferred sequence is a heat shock step , cooling , diluting the liquid spore suspension , and then inoculating carriers . the following method can be used to prepare inoculated carriers and to perform a population count . an inoculated disk is placed in a 10 ml dilution blank . each disk is then macerated into a homogenous suspension and vortexed vigorously for a minimum of 15 seconds . appropriate dilutions are then conducted and each is plated . tsa ( tryptic soy agar ) may be used as the recovery ( growth ) medium . between about 20 and 35 ml of agar is poured into each plate after the appropriate aliquot of the sample has been transferred . the plates are allowed to completely solidify , are inverted and incubated at 32 °- 37 ° c . for 24 - 48 hours . plates that contain between about 30 and 300 colony forming units are counted and the average population per disk is calculated . biological indicators of the invention can optionally include one or more desired additional elements , such as to indicate when the biological indicator has already been used . for example , such optional means can take the form of a marker , preferably a visual marker such as dye or color changeable ink . an optional such additional element can be interior the package or carried on an exterior surface . another optional component can be where the package is flexible and includes spore growth medium in a frangible , sealed vial . this variation can be used to test for sterilization without having to remove the carrier . illustrations of several such variations are discussed by u . s . pat . no . 4 , 743 , 537 , issued may 10 , 1988 ; u . s . pat . no . 4 , 717 , 661 , issued jan . 5 , 1988 ; u . s . pat . no . 3 , 661 , 717 , issued may 9 , 1972 ; and u . s . pat . no . 3 , 440 , 144 , issued apr . 22 , 1969 , all incorporated herein by reference . thus , after sterilization the biological indicator package can be bent or squeezed in order to rupture the vial . the carrier is then exposed to the released growth medium and can be incubated without the necessity of removing the carrier from the package in order to monitor the biological indicator for growth . a visual means for indicating growth , such as ph indicator dye , can be included . the inventive biological indicators were developed for preferred use with a synergistic , two - step oxidizing gas sterilization process . however , biological indicators of the invention are broadly useful with other gaseous sterilants and other gaseous sterilizing processes . in the first step of the particular two - step process for which the invention was developed , an oxidizing gas , typically peracetic acid vapor , is introduced as a sterilant . in the second step of the process , active species made in a plasma using a mixture of argon , oxygen , and hydrogen gases are passed through a gas distribution manifold to allow ion - electron recombination and fast relaxation processes to occur , and the oxidizing gas mixture is then introduced into the sterilizing chamber . u . s . pat . no . 5 , 115 , 166 particularly describes the plasma generated gas mixture while u . s . pat . no . 5 , 084 , 239 describes a two - step process , one step of which can use peracetic acid vapor as sterilant . both patents are hereby incorporated herein by reference . biological indicator embodiments of the invention were prepared as follows . packages for the biological indicators were obtained from baxter laboratories as &# 34 ; plastipeel pouches .&# 34 ; these pouches have an upper sheet of a gas permeable fabric of bound polyethylene fibers (&# 34 ; tyvek &# 34 ;), which is already sealed on three edges and where the user seals the fourth edge , after insertion of the carrier , to a lower sheet of impermeable clear polyester film (&# 34 ; mylar &# 34 ;). filter paper disks ( 1 / 4 inch diameter schleicher & amp ; schuell 740e ) were used as the carriers . each disk was inoculated with 10 6 spores of viable organism . for comparative survivor curve experiments , each pouch contained two paper carriers , one with bacillus circulans spores and the other with the organism for comparison , such as bacillus subtilis . in comparing survivor curves and performing fraction negative analyses for spores of bacillus subtilis and others with bacillus circulans , heat seals were used to create separate compartments . exposure intervals for exposure to the sterilizing gas were chosen , and the biological indicators placed into a plazlyte sterilizer ( abtox ). such an apparatus is substantially as described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 115 , 166 and 5 , 084 , 239 . the biological indicators were exposed to only a peracetic acid cycle , only a plasma cycle , or both cycles for the selected exposure required time intervals . the amount of peracetic acid vapor for a cycle used was approximately 2 mg / l , and the vapor was obtained by evaporating a peracetic acid solution . thus , in addition to what is believed to be the primary gaseous oxidizing species of peracetic acid , the vapor also includes hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid ( and water ). the feed gas for the plasma generated gaseous mixture was argon , oxygen , and hydrogen , which was prepared with about 91 . 4 % argon , 3 . 8 % hydrogen , and 4 . 7 % oxygen and for a cycle was flowed at a volume of about 5 . 5 standard l / min . the combined treatment ( both sterilants ) used peracetic acid vapor exposure for a time interval double that ( and preceding ) treatment with the plasma generated gas mixture . for example , the three minute exposure time involved exposing the carriers to peracetic acid vapor for two minutes and then subjecting them to the plasma process for one minute . after exposing the biological indicators to the sterilizing gas treatment ( the wall temperature was maintained at about 95 ° f .) the indicators were removed and tested for sterility . each pouch was cut open and each carrier was aseptically transferred to labelled , individual grind tubes . each tube was vortexed until the carriers were macerated . each macerated carrier was serially diluted using standard plate count techniques . the number of surviving spores ( if any ) were determined under spore growth conditions . survivor curves with the number of surviving spores being determined as a function of exposing step time were generated . d - values for the separate components were calculated using linear regression analysis . d - values ( decimal reduction ) are the time required at a given set of exposure conditions to reduce a specific population by 90 %, and are the negative reciprocal of the slope of the line fitted to the graph of the logarithm of the number of survivors versus time . following the experimental methodology just described , data for biological indicator embodiments of the invention and comparative data were determined , as described below . using peracetic acid vapor as the sole sterilant , survivor curves and fraction negative analyses were generated for spores of bacillus subtilis and bacillus circulans . exposure times for enumeration were 3 , 6 , 9 , 12 , 15 , and 18 minutes ( and for fraction negative testing , exposure times were 9 , 12 , 15 , 18 , 21 , and 24 minutes . after exposure , each biological indicator was tested for population or sterility and an additional three unexposed carriers from each microorganism were enumerated as positive controls . table 1 sets out the average data from triplicate such experiments . table 1______________________________________inventive embodiment comparative ( bacillus circulans ) ( bacillus subtilis ) ______________________________________0 6 . 21 6 . 043 6 . 12 5 . 386 6 . 00 3 . 789 5 . 19 1 . 3412 2 . 82 1 . 0315 1 . 34 0 . 0318 1 . 10 - 0 . 32______________________________________ d - values with peracetic acid vapor phase only were 3 . 0 minutes for b . circulans ( and 2 . 2 minutes for peracetic acid vapor phase with b . subtilis ). the data of table 1 is plotted in fig2 . these data show that bacillus circulans is as resistant to peracetic acid vapor as b . subtilis , but with a major difference being the lag factor exhibited for bacillus circulans at the shorter process exposures . another experiment similar to that described for example 1 was performed ( in triplicate ), but where the inventive biological indicator embodiments and the comparative indicators were exposed to the plasma phase cycle only . the data from this experiment are set out in table 2 . table 2______________________________________inventive embodiment comparative ( bacillus circulans ) ( bacillus subtilis ) ______________________________________0 6 . 00 6 . 123 5 . 96 5 . 866 4 . 82 4 . 649 3 . 93 3 . 8812 2 . 41 2 . 0615 1 . 44 0 . 7918 1 . 18 0 . 70______________________________________ these data are plotted by fig3 and demonstrate that bacillus circulans is as resistant to the plasma processing cycle as bacillus subtilis . another experiment was performed ( in triplicate ) in a similar manner to examples 1 and 2 but where a peracetic acid vapor cycle was conducted followed by the plasma generated , oxidizing gas mixture cycle . in addition , comparison was made with two more organisms . table 3 sets out these data while fig1 graphically illustrates the typical survivor curve analysis of an inventive embodiment when compared to three other organisms . table 3______________________________________inventiveembodiment comparative b . stearo - b . circulans b . subtilis thermophilus b . pumilus______________________________________0 6 . 54 6 . 05 6 . 16 5 . 793 6 . 27 3 . 87 4 . 19 3 . 776 5 . 49 2 . 85 2 . 92 19 4 . 22 2 . 2412 2 . 91 1 . 5615 1 . 16 0 . 58______________________________________ d - values for b . circulans in the combined process ( peracetic acid vapor cycle followed by plasma phase cycle ) were in the range of 1 . 7 to 2 . 4 minutes . the population and resistance stability of biological indicator embodiments of the invention were investigated , since a known , predictable , stable level of resistance is important to be maintained over an adequate shelf life . table 4 sets out the data taken from the biological indicator stability evaluations over an eight month storage time ( ambient conditions ). table 4______________________________________lot number storage time ( month ) spore count * × 10 . sup . 6______________________________________1 0 2 2 . 0 5 1 . 9 6 2 . 2 8 2 . 02 0 2 2 . 1 5 1 . 8 6 2 . 6 8 2 . 33 0 2 2 . 0 5 1 . 6 6 2 . 1 8 1 . 6______________________________________ * reported population represents the averaged counts derived from a minimu quantity of six ( 6 ) individual bi &# 39 ; s , each plated in triplicate . this data indicates the ambient temperature storage stability of the b . circulans spores dried on paper carriers demonstrates storage stability for an eight month or longer product expiration date . biological indicator embodiments of the invention are contemplated to be an integral part of oxidizing gas sterilization cycle validation and routine monitoring programs and can be used quantitatively to demonstrate that sterilization has been achieved . the known population and resistance levels of inventive embodiments can be used to give sterilization assurances to any predetermined probability , and provide a known , predictable , stable level of resistance over a reasonable ambient temperature shelf life . it is to be understood that while the invention has been described above in conjunction with preferred specific embodiments , the description and examples are intended to illustrate and not limit the scope of the invention , which is defined by the scope of the appended claims . | 6 |
by way of introduction , it is noted that conventional received signal equalizers typically operate with baseband complex signals . an aspect of this invention is a method that performs both equalization and interference suppression directly on the real and imaginary parts of a received signal real constellation . by doing so , the equalizer causes a reduced amount of noise enhancement or lower mean square error between the desired sequence and the filtered sequence , and provides improved interference suppression , as compared to other techniques known to the inventors . the invention is directed in general to a saic receiver that employs minimum mean - square error ( mmse ) optimization for realizing joint inter - symbol interference ( isi ) and interference suppression on real and imaginary signal streams . the invention employs novel i - q mmse and i - q mmse - dfe ( decision feedback equalizer ) design criterion . the use of this invention provides a set of i - q mmse vector weights that perform isi suppression and co - channel interference ( cci ) suppression in one step . the signal and interference correlation matrices are utilized when calculating i - q mmse coefficients . the weights may be synthesized using fir or frequency domain ( such as fft ) calculations . after multiplying the i - q mmse vector with the received vector the receiver can make bit soft decisions on the desired signal , such as by using a reduced state sequence estimator that makes soft bit decisions on the i - q filtered output . the use of this invention also provides an i - q pre - whitener or whitened matched filter ( wmf ) matrix that is synthesized based on the i - q interference correlation matrix . the i - q pre - whitener / wmf matrix coefficients are preferably computed in the fir or frequency domain using fft techniques . the i - q pre - whitened / wmf signal streams are preferably further processed by a sequence estimator operating with combined i - q branches within the branch metric , using either euclidian or ungerboeck metrics . in a first embodiment , an i - q mmse embodiment , both the desired and co - channel users are assumed to be restricted to using a real modulation alphabet ( i . e . one dimensional modulation alphabet ), in order to allow convenient i - q processing . the signal model accommodates : ( a ) over - sampling by a factor of l ( multiple receive antennas can be treated as additional over - samples ), ( b ) an arbitrary number of co - channel or adjacent channel interferers ( m − 1 ), and ( c ) additional thermal noise . further , the description that follows assumes a single antenna receiver , this being an especially advantageous application of the invention ; however the invention can easily be extended to accommodate more than one receiver antenna , and the samples received from a plurality of antennas can be treated equivalently as fractional samples . further still , although the invention is described in respect to binary pam ( pulse amplitude modulation ), so that the symbols x are restricted to the interval (− 1 , 1 ), the invention is not limited to binary pam as the invention has potential application in systems in which any kind of binary modulation or multi level pam is employed , including e . g . bpsk ( binary phase shift keying ), and msk ( minimum shift keying ). the invention is also applicable for offset - qam modulations such as binary offset qam and quaternary - offset qam as they can be viewed as binary or quaternary pam signals by applying a proper rotation every symbol . in particular , the invention is suitable for gmsk ( gaussian minimum shift keying ) modulation utilized , e . g . in gsm and bluetooth , as it is known in the art that gmsk can be closely approximated by binary modulation . in fig1 , the rf front end 12 represents many different functionalities that are necessary for receiver operation , including functionalities separable from those provided for by the invention , such as e . g . means for channel estimation , means for frequency offset estimation , means for dc offset compensation , means for signal de - rotation ( signal de - rotation by a factor i − k , where i ={ square root }{ square root over (− 1 )} is applied in case of gmsk modulation ). basically , as indicated in fig1 , the rf front end 12 gives as output baseband samples y ( k ) of the received signal represented as , y k , q = ∑ p = 0 v x k - p ( 1 ) h p , q ( 1 ) + ∑ j = 2 m ∑ p = 0 v x k - p ( j ) h l , q ( j ) + n k , q , q = 1 , 2 … l in this embodiment it is preferred to first stack the real and imaginary parts of the time domain received signal in a column vector , then the received signal in the frequency - domain can be represented as y ( f ) = h 1 ( f ) x 1 ( f ) + ∑ j = 2 m h j ( f ) x j ( f ) + n ( f ) , h j ( f ) = [ g i , 1 ( j ) ( f ) … g i , q ( j ) ( f ) … g i , l ( j ) ( f ) g q , 1 ( j ) ( f ) … g q , q ( j ) ( f ) … g q , l ( j ) ( f ) ] t . the notation t denotes the matrix transpose operation and g is defined as the discrete fourier transform ( dft ) of the real and imaginary parts of the channel impulse response as follows g i , q ( j ) ( f ) = ∑ p re { h p , q ( j ) } ⅇ j 2 π pft g q , q ( j ) ( f ) = ∑ p i m { h p , q ( j ) } ⅇ j 2 π pft and h p , q ( j ) is the impulse response of the pth channel tap of jth user , and p runs from 0 to v with 0 ≦ p ≦ v and v equal to one less than the channel impulse response length . y ( f ) = [ y i , 1 ( f ) … y i , q ( f ) … y i , l ( f ) y q , l ( f ) … y q , q ( f ) … y q , l ( f ) ] t , y i , q ( f ) = ∑ k re { y k , q } ⅇ j 2 π kft y q , q ( f ) = ∑ k im { y k , q } ⅇ j 2 π kft . the dft of the real desired symbol sequence is defined as x j ( f ) = ∑ k x k ( j ) ⅇ j 2 π k ft n ( f ) = [ n i , 1 ( f ) … n i , q ( f ) … n i , i ( f ) n q , 1 ( f ) … n q , q ( f ) … n q . l ( f ) ] t , n i , q ( f ) = ∑ k re { n k , q } ⅇ j 2 π kft n q , q ( f ) = ∑ k im { n k , q } ⅇ j 2 π kft one then finds an mmse filter w ( f ) that minimizes the mean square error term defined as mse = o ∫ e └∥ w ( f ) y ( f )− x 1 ( f )∥ 2 ┘ df following , for example , sirikiat lek ariyavisitakul , j . h . winters , “ optimum space - time processors with dispersive interference : unified analysis and required filter span ”, ieee trans on comm , july 1999 , and j . cioffi “ class notes ee 379a stanford university ” http :// www . stanford . edu / class / ee379a /, the mmse weights in direct form are given by : w ( f ) = h 1 * ( f ) ︸ i - qmf [ r ss ( f ) + r ii ( f ) ] - 1 ︸ i - q mmse for colored noise where r ss ( f )= h 1 ( f ) h 1 *( f ) is the desired auto - correlation for the desired signal and r ii ( f )= e [ i ( f ) i *( f )] is the interference plus noise auto - correlation . the notation * indicates a conjugate transpose operation . note that i ( f ) = ∑ j = 2 m h j ( f ) x j ( f ) + n ( f ) and r ii ( f ) = ∑ j = 2 m h j ( f ) h j * ( f ) + n 0 2 i referring again to fig1 , the mmse receiver 10 includes an rf front - end 12 connected to an antenna 12 a , an i - q multi - channel matched filter 14 that is matched to the desired signal , and a i - q equalizer 16 that takes into account interference plus noise statistics across both the i - q and temporal dimensions . based on the foregoing , it is shown that an efficient gsm receiver can be designed in accordance with a number of different design alternatives . for example , the gsm receiver can be designed as an inexpensive iq - mmse linear equalizer receiver 16 . in this embodiment the channel output is applied to a channel estimation block , which outputs i and q samples to the iq - mmse linear equalizer 16 that in turn outputs soft bit estimates . the frequency domain formulation allows one to derive an algorithm convenient for practical implementation . first , it is preferred to constrain the equalizer weight vector w ( f ) to be of finite length , and to then make use of a computationally efficient fast fourier transform ( fft ) algorithm to calculate the equalizer settings . by the nature of fft , the equalizer settings are constrained to be finite both in time and frequency . the fft length is a design parameter , which can be selected as a compromise between performance and complexity . the fft solution approaches the exact mmse solution in the limiting case when the fft length approaches infinity . the preferred fft algorithm may be outlined as follows : ( a ) take a n f point fft to construct h 1 ( f n ) of size 2l × 1 ; where the discrete frequency variable f n assumes the n f values − 1 / 2 + 1 /( n f * t ) . . . , − 2 /( n f * t ), − 1 /( n f * t ), 0 , 1 /( n f * t ), 2 /( n f * t ) . . . , 1 / 2 − 1 ( n f * t ); ( b ) construct r ii ( f n ) by taking the fft of each time domain interference autocorrelation stream ; ( c ) invert [ h 1 ( f n ) h 1 *( f n )+ r ii ( f n )] of size 2l × 2l for each frequency bin ; and ( d ) calculate w ( f n ) of size 1 × 2l , and take the ifft of each column to obtain the time domain equalizer settings . it can be recalled that the mmse in direct form is given by , w ( f ) = h 1 * ( f ) ︸ i - qmf [ h 1 ( f ) h 1 * ( f ) + r ii ( f ) ] - 1 ︸ i - q mmse for colored noise ( a + bcd ) − 1 = a − 1 − a − 1 b ( da − 1 b + c − 1 ) da − 1 , it is possible to represent the mmse receiver 10 in alternative form as , w ( f ) = 1 [ 1 + h 1 * ( f ) r ii - 1 ( f ) h 1 ( f ) ] scalar i - q mmse equalizer for white noise h i * ( f ) r ii - 1 ( f ) ︸ i - q whitenedmf referring to fig2 a , the immediately preceding expression can be interpreted as an i - q whitened matched filter h 1 *( f ) r ii − 1 ( f ), referred to in fig2 a as the i - q wmf 20 , followed by a scalar i - q mmse equalizer 22 designed for white noise . the scalar i - q mmse equalizer 22 is attractive for practical implementation , as in the case of white noise case it does not involve the use of matrix inversions . following the i - q wmf 20 , fig2 b , an optional ungerboeck map sequence estimator 24 can be used instead of the scalar mmse filter 22 as an optimum receiver for suppressing isi ( see ., for example , w . koch and a . bair , “ optimum and sub - optimum detection of coded data disturbed by time - varying intersymbol interference ,” in proc . globcom &# 39 ; 90 , pp . 1679 - 1684 , december 1990 ). the channel impulse response at the output of the i - q wmf 20 is given by h iqwmf ( f ) = h 1 * ( f ) r ii - 1 ( f ) h 1 ( f ) ( a ) take a n f point fft of each row channel impulse response to construct h 1 ( f n ) of size 2l × 1 ; ( b ) construct r ii ( f n ) by taking fft of each time domain interference autocorrelation stream ; ( c ) construct a 1 × 2l whitened mf row vector h 1 * ( f n ) r ii - 1 ( f n ) ︸ i – q whitenedmf , and take the ifft on each column to obtain the time domain i - q wmf settings ; and ( d ) obtain the time domain i - q wmf impulse response by taking the ifft of h iqwmf ( f n )= h 1 *( f n ) r ii − 1 ( f n ) h 1 ( f n ). it should be noted that the wmf and mmse can be implemented jointly by scaling the i - q wmf response with 1 [ 1 + h iqwmf ( f n ) ] one may first define the following matrix square root factorization on r ii ( f ): w ( f ) = h ~ 1 * ( f ) ︸ i – q mf [ 1 + h ~ 1 * ( f ) h ~ 1 ( f ) ] ︸ scalar i – q mmse equalizer for white noise l ii - 1 ( f ) ︸ i – q pre – whitener , h ~ 1 ( f ) = l ii - 1 ( f ) h 1 ( f ) based on the foregoing , and referring to fig3 a , one may then interpret the mmse receiver 10 as including an i - q pre - whitener l ii − 1 ( f ), i - q pw 30 , that whitens the co - interference across i - q time dimensions , followed by an i - q mmse equalizer 32 optimized for white noise . as was mentioned above with respect to fig2 b , as an alternative to the mmse equalizer 32 , fig3 b , the map sequence estimator 24 ( based on euclidian branch metrics ) can be used as an optimum equalizer for isi suppression . a fft based pre - whitener can be implemented by the following algorithm : ( a ) take the n f point fft of each row channel impulse response to construct h 1 ( f n ) of size 2 1 × 1 ; ( b ) construct r ii ( f n ) by taking the fft of each time domain interference autocorrelation stream ; ( c ) compute l ii - 1 ( f n ) ︸ iq pre – whitener as the choleski factor of a 2l × 2l matrix r ii ( f n ) for each frequency bin ; l ii - 1 ( f n ) ︸ iq pre – whitener ( e ) obtain the time domain i - q pre - whitened impulse response by taking the ifft of l ii − 1 ( f n ) h 1 ( f n ) the wmf and mmse can be implemented jointly by scaling the pre - whitener 30 with h ~ 1 * ( f n ) [ 1 + h ~ 1 * ( f n ) h ~ 1 ( f n ) ] fig2 c is a simplified block diagram of a further embodiment of a i - q mmse receiver 10 that includes the i - q whitened matched filter 20 and an anticusal filter 26 that produces a minimum phase channel . the anticusal filter 26 may be used with a map sequence estimator with a euclidean filter metric ( forney )/ reduced state sequence estimator ( rsse ) 28 , or with a decision feedback estimator ( dfe ). extending the results of sirikiat lek ariyavisitakul , j . h . winters , “ optimum space - time processors with dispersive interference : unified analysis and required filter span ”, ieee trans on comm , july 1999 ; j . cioffi et al , “ mmse decision feedback equalizers and coding part - i ”, ieee trans on comm ., october 1995 ; and j . cioffi , “ class notes ee 379a stanford university ”, the frequency domain form of the i - q mmse - dfe maybe represented as : w ( f ) = [ 1 + b ( f ) ] h 1 * ( f ) r ii - 1 ( f ) [ 1 + h 1 * ( f ) r ii - 1 ( f ) h 1 ( f ) ] , where [ 1 + b ( f )] is the feedback filter . w ( f ) can be represented in an alternative form as w ( f ) = [ 1 + b ( f ) ] h ~ 1 * ( f ) l ii - 1 ( f ) [ 1 + h ~ 1 * ( f ) h ~ 1 ( f ) ] , where r ii ( f ) = l ii ( f ) l ii * ( f ) and h ~ 1 ( f ) = l ii - 1 ( f ) h 1 ( f ) . the above form suggests that the i - q mmse - dfe , with colored noise , can be represented in three stages , first as an i - q pre - whitener , second as a mmse equalizer , and third as a prediction error filter [ 1 + b ( f )]. note that the b ( f )= 0 condition corresponds to the i - q mmse receiver shown in fig3 a and 3b . the feedback filter [ 1 + b ( f )] is chosen as a canonical factor of [ 1 + h 1 *( f ) r ii − 1 ( f ) h 1 ( f )], i . e ., [ 1 + h 1 * ( f ) r ii − 1 ( f ) h 1 ( f )]= s 0 g ( f ) g *( f ), mse min = 1 s 0 = ⅇ - ∮ ln { 1 + h 1 ( f ) * r ii - 1 ( f ) h 1 ( f ) } ⅆ f . the feedback filter settings may be obtained through cepstrum - based methods ( see , for example , oppenheim , schafer , “ digital signal processing ”, prentice - hall ). in the publication by inkyu lee and j . cioffi , “ a fast computation algorithm for decision feedback equalizer ”, ieee trans on comm , november 1995 , a fir approximation to mmse - dfe settings was obtained by using ffts . in severe isi channels , the dfe is preferably replaced with a rsse , ( reduced state sequence estimator ). for example , reference can be made to m . eyuboglu and s . quereshi , “ reduced state sequence estimation with set partitioning and decision feedback ”, ieee trans . comm , vol . 36 , pp . 12 - 20 , january 1988 . in the white noise case , the i - q mmse - dfe pre - filter does not offer any additional benefit if a full trellis detector is used after the pre - filtering operation . this follows as a consequence of the fact that a conventional mmse - dfe feed - forward filter is itself a canonical structure for further map sequence estimation ( see , for example , j . cioffi et al , “ mmse decision feedback equalizers and coding part - i ”, ieee trans on comm ., october 1995 ). on the other hand , the i - q mmse - dfe feed - forward filter may offer some gain , if an rsse structure is used after i - q pre - filter . the gain depends on the severity of the isi channel . in the case of cci , the i - q mmse - dfe pre - filter functions as an i - q whitened matched filter that suppresses the cci , irrespective of the number of states used in a subsequent sequence estimation step . the frequency domain formulation assumes infinite length filters . however , for dsp and asic applications , the mmse design is typically carried out in the time domain using fir filters , mainly due to numerical considerations . the fir optimization , despite its exactness , requires computationally intensive matrix operations , for example , those required for inverting the block toeplitz correlation matrix through levinson recursion . what is described now is a technique to formulate the fir solution in the exact form . one first stacks up n f samples in a column vector as : [ y k y k - 1 ⋮ y k - n f + 1 ] = ∑ j = 1 m [ h 0 ( j ) h 1 ( j ) … h v ( j ) 0 … 0 0 h 0 ( j ) h 1 ( j ) … h v ( j ) 0 … ⋮ ⋮ 0 … 0 h 0 ( j ) h 1 ( j ) … h v ( j ) ] [ x k ( j ) x k - 1 ( j ) ⋮ x k - n f - v + 1 ( j ) ] + [ n k n k - ⋮ n k - n f - v + 1 ] . then the real and imaginary parts of the samples are stacked up as , y k = [ re { y ( kt , 1 ) } im { y ( kt , 1 ) } ⋮ re { y ( kt , l ) } im { y ( kt , l ) } ] h n ( j ) = [ re { h ( j ) ( kt , 1 ) } im { h ( j ) ( kt , 1 ) } ⋮ re { h ( j ) ( kt , l ) } im { h ( j ) ( kt , l ) } ] y k = [ re { n ( kt , 1 ) } im { n ( kt , 1 ) } ⋮ re { n ( kt , l ) } im { n ( kt , l ) } ] . i k = ∑ j = 2 m h j x k ( j ) + n k is the total interference plus noise term , h j is a block toeplitz channel matrix of size 2ln f × 2l ( n f + v )), and x k ( j ) and n k are data and noise vectors . then define a 1 × 2ln f row vector w that minimizes the mean square error between z k = wy k and x k − δ as : w = 1 δ * h 1 *└ h 1 h 1 *+ r ii − 1 ┘, where 1 δ is a ( n f + v ) vector of 0 &# 39 ; s with a 1 in the δ + 1 st position , and where δ is an appropriately chosen equalizer delay , which may be chosen as for feed - forward filters of sufficient length n f . the equalizer delay can also be variable . the interference plus noise auto correlation function is defined as r ii = e [ i k i k *]. the feed - forward filter can also be represented in an alternative form by using the matrix inversion formula as : w = 1 δ * h 1 *[ h 1 * r ii − 1 h 1 + i ] − 1 h 1 * r ii − 1 . the connection between the fir and frequency domain structures can be made if one approximates the block toeplitz matrices as circulate matrices , and then diagonalizes the circulant matrices using dft matrices . reference in this regard can be made to inkyu lee and j . cioffi , “ a fast computation algorithm for decision feedback equalizer ”, ieee trans on comm , november 1995 . in a burst mode transmission , such s a gsm transmission , both the channel response and the interference correlation matrix are estimated directly from the training portion of the burst . typically , a least squares method is used for channel estimation . in this case , the correlation matrix estimation is estimated as : i ^ k = y k - h ^ 1 x k ( 1 ) ︷ over training portion r ii = e [ i ^ k i ^ k * ] ︷ over training portion the expectation operation can be carried out as a time average over the training span . in general , the correlation matrix estimate is quite noisy due to the short training span ( e . g ., 26 - symbols long ), resulting in poor ber performance . however , by pre - multiplying with an empirical window function , the correlation matrix estimate can be improved , as windowing reduces the variance of the auto - correlation estimate . for example we can choose to apply one of the following windowing ( e . g ., see oppenheim , schafer , “ digital signal processing ”, prentice - hall ) functions . some example window functions are given by : s ( n ) = { 0 . 42 - 0 . 5 cos ( 2 π ( n ) n - 1 ) + 0 . 08 cos ( 4 π ( n ) n - 1 ) blackman 0 . 5 - 0 . 5 cos ( 2 π ( n ) n - 1 ) hanning 0 . 54 - 0 . 46 cos ( 2 π ( n ) n - 1 ) hamming as an alternative , one can compute the interference correlation matrix based on a longer data observation window as , { circumflex over ( r )} ii ={ circumflex over ( r )} yy − ĥ 1 ĥ 1 * since { circumflex over ( r )} yy can be calculated over a long observation window ( whole burst of data can be used ), we can expect an improved correlation matrix estimate . following the notation in j . cioffi “ class notes ee 379a stanford university ”, the mmse - dfe feed - forward and feedback filters in fir form are given by : w = 1 δ * h 1 *[ h 1 h 1 *− h 1 j δ j δ * h 1 *+ r ii ] − 1 b = 1 δ * h 1 *[ h 1 h 1 *− h 1 j δ j δ * h 1 *+ r ii ] − 1 h 1 j δ it is noted that the mmse - dfe solution has other forms and fast algorithms associated with these solutions . for example , the methods described in the following publications can be employed when the mmse - dfe optimization is performed on real and imaginary streams : al - dhahir , “ a computationally efficient fir mmse - dfe for cci impaired dispersive channels ”, ieee trans on signal processing , january 1997 ; n . al - dhahir and j . cioffi , “ mmse decision - feedback equalizers : finite length results ”, ieee trans on information theory , july 1995 ; and inkyu lee and j . cioffi , “ a fast computation algorithm for decision feedback equalizer ”, ieee trans on comm , november 1995 . a further gsm rf receiver embodiment is shown in fig4 as a receiver 40 that includes a channel estimation block 42 that outputs a channel estimate , followed by a full whitening i - q mmse - dfe pre - filter 44 , followed in turn by a rsse 46 . this receiver embodiment is particularly useful for colored noise , and does not require a full trellis equalizer . the full whitening i - q mmse - dfe pre - filter 44 may be based on fir or on frequency domain techniques . the i - q mmse - dfe pre - filter 44 not only whitens interference across i - q - time space , but also provides a minimum phase channel output suitable for the further reduced state sequence estimation performed by rsse 46 . state reduction to as little as 1 - state ( i . e ., a dfe ) is achievable without significant loss of performance . a system designer may select a particular i - q mmse whitening embodiment from those given above based on the computational and performance requirements of a given application . the foregoing description has provided by way of exemplary and non - limiting examples a full and informative description of the best method and apparatus presently contemplated by the inventors for carrying out the invention . however , various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description , when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims . as but a few examples , the use of this invention is not restricted to burst - type systems , such as gsm or gsm / edge systems , but can be applied as well in code division , multiple access ( cdma ) systems , including wide bandwidth cdma ( wcdma ) systems . the teachings of this invention are also not restricted for use only in saic receivers , as other types of receiver systems may also benefit from the use of this invention . in addition , it should be realized that the invention can be practiced substantially only in hardware , such as by designing an asic to perform the functions described above , or substantially only in software , such as with a suitably - programmed dsp , or with a combination of hardware and software . however , all such and similar modifications of the teachings of this invention will still fall within the scope of this invention . further , while the method and apparatus described herein are provided with a certain degree of specificity , the present invention could be implemented with either greater or lesser specificity , depending on the needs of the user . further , some of the features of the present invention could be used to advantage without the corresponding use of other features . as such , the foregoing description should be considered as merely illustrative of the principles of the present invention , and not in limitation thereof , as this invention is defined by the claims which follow . | 7 |
a preferred embodiment of a liquid extraction cleaning device in accordance with the invention is shown in fig1 - 4 . the extraction cleaner 10 comprises a main unit 12 , a cleaning solution tank assembly 14 , a recovery tank assembly 16 , a handle 18 , and accessories 20 . the main unit 12 comprises a vacuum pump 22 , a liquid pump 24 , an agitator assembly 26 , a primary spray nozzle 28 , and preferably a secondary spray nozzle 30 , an accessory tool liquid port 32 , a spray selection switch 34 , and a vacuum inlet port 36 , and a lifting handle 37 . the vacuum pump 22 is operatively connected to the recovery tank assembly 16 in a manner such that the vacuum pump can draw air from the recovery tank . the recovery tank assembly 16 is operatively connected to the vacuum inlet port 36 in a manner such that the vacuum inlet port draws in air and / or liquid when air is drawn from the recovery tank assembly by the vacuum pump 22 . the liquid pump 24 is operatively connected to the solution tank assembly 14 for drawing liquid therefrom , and is operatively connected to the primary spray nozzle 28 , the secondary spray nozzle 30 , and the accessory tool liquid port 32 to supply pressurized liquid thereto . the spray selection switch 34 is operatively connected to the liquid pump 24 and preferably is a hand operated mechanical fluid valve that has three settings for channeling the liquid from the liquid pump . in one setting , the spray selection switch 34 allows liquid to travel from the liquid pump 24 to the primary spray nozzle 28 , while preventing liquid from traveling from the liquid pump to the secondary spray nozzle 30 and / or accessory tool liquid port 32 . in another setting , the spray selection switch 34 allows liquid to travel from the liquid pump 24 to the primary spray nozzle 28 and the secondary spray nozzle 30 , while preventing liquid from traveling from the liquid pump to the accessory tool liquid port 32 . in the third setting , the spray selection switch 34 allows liquid to travel from the liquid pump 24 to the accessory tool liquid port 32 , while preventing liquid from traveling from the liquid pump to the primary spray nozzle 28 and / or the secondary spray nozzle 30 . it should be appreciated however that this functionality could alternatively be carried out via electrical valves or a combination of electrical and mechanical valves . the agitator assembly 26 of the main unit 12 comprises a housing 38 , a rotational agitator 40 , a reciprocating agitator 42 , an electric motor 44 , and a pair of fixed side brushes 46 . the rotational agitator 40 comprises a plurality of bristles 48 ( some of which are omitted in the drawing figures ) that extend from bristle holes 50 formed in a roller 52 . the reciprocating agitator 42 is preferably configured to pivotally reciprocate and comprises brush bar 54 ( also comprising bristles 48 ) that pivotally reciprocates about an axis that is parallel to the rotational axis of the rotational agitator 40 . the axis about which the reciprocating agitator 42 pivots is preferably fixed relative to the housing 38 . in contrast , the axis about which the rotational agitator 40 revolves preferably is able to pivot up or down ( parallel to the ground ) about an axis defined by the motor housing 56 that surrounds the electric motor 44 . as shown most clearly in fig8 and 9 , the motor housing 56 comprises an axle portion 58 that is free to pivot within a channel formed partially by the housing 38 and partially by the adjacent portion of the bottom of the main unit 12 of the liquid extraction cleaning device 10 . rigid arms 60 fixed to the motor housing 56 extend from the motor housing and connect to the opposite ends of the rotational agitator 40 . thus , motor housing 56 and the rotational agitator 40 pivot together about the axis of the axle portion 58 of the motor housing relative to the housing 38 of the agitator assembly 26 . as such , only the force of gravity acting on the motor housing 56 and the rotational agitator 40 forces the rotational agitator downward against a floor ( the weight of the electric motor 44 does not influence that force since the center of mass of the motor is aligned with the axle portion 58 of the motor housing ). the electric motor 44 preferably drives the rotation of the rotational agitator 40 via a drive belt ( not shown ) located in one of the arms 60 . a linking member 62 preferably connects an off - axis portion 64 adjacent to an end of the rotational agitator 40 to a pivot arm 66 of the reciprocating agitator 42 . the linking member 62 thereby transforms rotational movement of the rotational agitator 40 into pivotal reciprocation of the reciprocating agitator 42 . the fixed side brushes 46 of the agitator assembly 26 are mounted to the bottom of the housing 38 on opposite sides of the rotational agitator 40 . thus , the fixed side brushes 46 move only with the main unit 12 of the liquid extractor 10 . the front of the housing 38 of the agitator assembly 26 also forms a part of the vacuum inlet port 36 , with the other portion being formed by a piece of translucent material 68 in a manner such that liquid drawn into the vacuum inlet port can easily be observed . the housing 38 also supports the primary spray nozzle 28 . as shown below in fig3 , the vacuum inlet port 36 is preferably located adjacent the front on the bottom of the main unit 12 and the rotational agitator 40 lies behind the vacuum inlet port 36 and between the vacuum inlet port and the reciprocating agitator 42 . the primary spray nozzle 28 is preferably located immediately aft of the reciprocating agitator 42 and is configured to spray liquid downward in a fan - like pattern . in contrast , the secondary spray nozzle 30 is positioned on the rear of the liquid extraction cleaning device 10 and is preferably at least three times as far behind the vacuum inlet port as compared to the primary spray nozzle 28 . it should be appreciate that , in operation , liquid extraction cleaning device 10 is preferably pulled rather than pushed . thus , carpet is first wetted by the primary spray nozzle 28 or by the primary and secondary spray nozzles 28 , 30 prior to being agitated , and liquid extraction via the vacuum inlet port 36 occurs after agitation . by positioning the secondary spray nozzle 30 much further behind the vacuum inlet 36 port as compared to the primary spray nozzle 28 , the liquid sprayed from the secondary spray nozzle has a much longer dwell time on / in the carpet than does the liquid sprayed from the primary spray nozzle . thus , operation of the secondary spray nozzle 30 not only increases the amount of liquid per area sprayed during a given pass of the liquid extraction cleaning device 10 , but also increases the penetration time in which the liquid can penetrate the carpet . it should therefore be appreciated that the secondary spray nozzle 30 is typically only used during an initial cleaning pass or when deep liquid penetration is desired . the lifting handle 37 is preferably positioned above the center of gravity of the liquid extraction cleaning device 10 and is configured to support the weight of the entire liquid extraction cleaning device . a pair of wheels 70 are preferably attached to the main unit 12 on opposite sides thereof and adjacent the rear of the liquid extraction cleaning device 10 . the wheels 70 not only make it easier to pull the liquid extraction cleaning device 10 over carpet during operation , but also allow users to tilt the main unit 12 about the wheels and thereby push the liquid extraction cleaning device . the handle 18 of the liquid extraction cleaning device 10 is preferably pivotally connected to the upper rear edge of the main unit 12 . the handle preferably comprises a locking mechanism 72 , an electrical input port 74 , a main power switch 76 , a liquid pump switch 78 , and power cord wrap posts 80 . as shown in fig1 , the locking mechanism preferably comprises an internal linking member 82 connecting an external release member 84 to internal locking pins 86 . the locking pins 86 cooperate with notched members 88 that are fixed relative to the main unit 12 of the liquid extraction cleaning device 10 in a manner such that the locking mechanism 72 can fix the pivotal orientation of the handle 18 relative to the main unit in any of a plurality of angles . the linking member 82 is preferably biased toward the notched members 88 via a spring 90 such that the locking mechanism 72 only allows the handle 18 to pivot relative to the main unit 12 when the release member 84 is pulled away from the base of the handle . preferably , the handle 18 can be pivoted forward relative to the main unit 12 to such a degree that the handle is horizontal or even tilts downward a bit . as shown in fig4 , with the handle 18 tilted forward , the entire liquid extraction cleaning device 10 can be tilted on its back such that minimal floor space is required to stow the liquid extraction cleaning device . the electrical input port 74 on the handle 18 merely is a port for receiving the power supply cord ( not shown ) of the liquid extraction cleaning device 10 and the power cord wrap posts 80 are merely conventional posts for wrapping and storing the power cord when the extraction cleaning device is not in use . the main power switch 76 of the handle 18 is preferably an electrical three - way toggle switch that is capable of shutting off all power to the liquid extraction cleaning device 10 . alternatively , the main power switch 76 can be toggled to activate the vacuum pump 22 or the vacuum pump and , simultaneously , the electric motor 44 of agitator assembly 26 . in either of such later alternatives , the liquid pump 24 can also be activated by depressing the liquid pump switch 78 of the handle 18 . the cleaning solution tank assembly 14 comprises a tank portion 92 , a fill cap 94 , and a handle 96 . like with typical liquid extraction cleaning devices , the tank portion 92 is operatively connected to the liquid pump 24 when the tank portion is in position on the main unit 12 . to refill the cleaning solution tank assembly 14 with cleaning solution ( which should be understood to include water by itself too ), a person can lift up on the handle 96 . the handle 96 is preferably pivotally connected to the tank portion 92 such that the handle pivots upward when relative to the tank portion when lifted . this makes it easier to hold and lift the entire cleaning solution tank assembly 14 from the main unit 12 . the fill cap 94 is preferably threadably attached to the tank portion 92 and is threadably removed to refill the tank . the fill cap 94 also preferably serves as a measuring cup for diluting concentrated cleaning solution . the recovery tank assembly 16 comprises a tank portion 98 , a drain cap 100 , a handle 102 , and an intake duct 104 . like typical recovery tanks , the tank portion 98 is configured to collect liquid extracted through the vacuum inlet port 36 of the main unit 12 as air is drawn out of the tank portion 98 via the vacuum pump 22 . the front wall of the tank portion 98 comprises the opening 106 through which an air and liquid mixture enters the tank . the drain cap 100 is preferably threadably attached to a drain port of the tank portion 98 and can be threadably removed therefrom to drain the tank . the intake duct 104 surrounds an intake passageway . the intake duct 104 comprises a lower catch 108 and an upper discharge tube 110 . the discharge tube 110 surrounds a portion of the intake passageway and comprises a releasable locking tab 112 that cooperates with the lower catch 108 to releasably attach the intake duct 104 to the tank portion 98 of the recovery tank assembly 16 . more specifically , the intake duct 104 is attached to the tank portion 98 by first hooking the lower catch 108 over a lip at the bottom of the front wall of the tank portion 98 , and thereafter pivoting the intake duct upward about the lower catch such that the discharge tube 110 extends through the opening 106 of the tank portion 98 and the locking tab 112 clicks . once the locking tab 112 clicks , the locking tab prevents the intake duct 104 from separating from the tank portion 98 unless the locking tab is manually deflected by reaching into the tank from the drain port of the tank portion 98 . the front wall of the intake duct 104 preferably comprises an accessory tool vacuum inlet port 114 that is selectively covered by a pliable flap 116 . when the flap 116 is bent down , the accessory tool vacuum inlet port 114 is configured to receive the downstream end of an accessory tool hose as described below . when the flap 116 is up and is covering the accessory tool vacuum inlet port 114 , the intake duct 104 operatively connects the vacuum inlet port 36 to the interior of the tank portion 98 of the recovery tank assembly 16 . like with the cleaning solution tank assembly 14 , the handle 102 of the recovery tank assembly 16 is pivotally connected to the tank portion 98 of the recovery tank assembly to make it easier to hold and lift the entire recovery tank assembly 16 off of the main unit 12 . as shown in fig1 and 14 , one of the accessories 20 is a hand tool 118 that is attached to a flexible hose 120 . the hand tool 118 comprises a vacuum inlet port 122 , an agitator 124 , and spray nozzle 126 , and a grip portion 128 . the vacuum inlet port 122 and the grip portion 128 are configured such that air and liquid can be drawn in through the inlet port , pass through the grip portion , and then into the hose 120 . the agitator 124 is preferably a brush bar comprising bristles and is adjacent to the vacuum inlet port 122 and is preferably fixed relative to the grip portion . the spray nozzle 126 is adjacent to the agitator 124 opposite the vacuum inlet port 122 and is operatively connectable to the 24 liquid pump of the main unit 12 via flexible liquid tube 130 . the grip portion 128 preferably comprises a spray trigger 132 the operates a liquid valve ( not shown ) in a manner such that the liquid pump 24 can only force liquid out of the spray nozzle 126 when the spray trigger is depressed . the downstream end of the hose 120 comprises a fitting 134 . the liquid tube 130 passes through the fitting wall upstream of the fitting outlet 136 . the outlet 136 of the fitting 134 preferably comprises a bayonet style connector 138 and is configured to be inserted through the accessory tool vacuum inlet port 114 of the intake duct 104 of the recovery tank assembly 16 . when inserted , the connector 138 of the fitting 134 can be releasably attached to the discharge tube 110 of the intake duct 104 in a manner such that the hose 120 is operatively connected to the vacuum pump 22 of the main unit 12 and such that air cannot be drawn in from the remainder of the intake duct 104 from the vacuum inlet port 36 of the main unit 12 into the tank portion 98 of the recovery tank assembly 16 . the end of the liquid tube 130 comprises a fitting 139 that is connectable to the accessory tool liquid port 32 of the main unit 12 for operatively connecting the spray nozzle 126 of the hand tool 118 to the liquid pump 24 of the main unit . as shown in fig1 and 3 , another one of the accessories 20 of the liquid extraction cleaning device is a tool caddy 140 that is removably connectable to the rear side of the handle 18 . the tool caddy is configured to releasably hold the hand tool 118 and the hose 120 when the hand tool 118 is not in use . in view of the foregoing , it should be appreciated that the invention has several advantages over the prior art . as various modifications could be made in the constructions and methods herein described and illustrated without departing from the scope of the invention , it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting . thus , 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 appended hereto and their equivalents . it should also be understood that when introducing elements of the present invention in the claims or in the above description of exemplary embodiments of the invention , the terms “ comprising ,” “ including ,” and “ having ” are intended to be open - ended and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements . additionally , the term “ portion ” should be construed as meaning some or all of the item or element that it qualifies . moreover , use of identifiers such as first , second , and third should not be construed in a manner imposing any relative position or time sequence between limitations . still further , the order in which the steps of any method claim that follows are presented should not be construed in a manner limiting the order in which such steps must be performed , unless such an order is inherent . | 0 |
the invention is directed to a method for operating an internal combustion engine . in a highly schematic manner , fig1 shows an internal combustion engine 10 comprising a motor 11 with a plurality of cylinders 12 and an exhaust gas aftertreatment system 13 with at least one exhaust gas aftertreatment component 14 . exhaust gas formed during the combustion of fuel in the cylinders 12 of the motor 11 of the internal combustion engine 10 can be guided via the exhaust gas aftertreatment system 13 to clean the exhaust gas in the exhaust gas aftertreatment system 13 . positioned downstream of the exhaust gas aftertreatment system 13 according to fig1 there is a sensor 15 , which can be a nox sensor in order to measure nox emissions in the exhaust gas downstream of the exhaust gas aftertreatment system 13 . the exhaust gas aftertreatment component 14 of the exhaust gas aftertreatment system 13 can be a scr catalytic converter , a particle filter or a nox storage catalytic converter . for operating an internal combustion engine 10 of this type , an exhaust gas actual value is determined within the meaning of the invention , which exhaust gas actual value depends on the actual value of a nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas upstream of the exhaust gas aftertreatment component 14 of the exhaust gas aftertreatment system 13 . depending on this exhaust gas actual value , at least one operating parameter for the motor 11 is changed such that the actual value of the nitrogen dioxide fraction is brought closer to a corresponding reference value for the nitrogen dioxide fraction so that the respective exhaust gas aftertreatment component 14 of the exhaust gas aftertreatment system 13 can be operated in an optimized manner . accordingly , it lies within the scope of the present invention to selectively influence the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas by changing at least one operating parameter of the motor 11 so that an exhaust gas aftertreatment component 14 of an exhaust gas aftertreatment system 13 located downstream of the motor 11 can be optimally operated . the invention is used particularly in internal combustion engines 10 whose motor 11 is constructed as an otto gas motor in which gaseous fuel is burned . natural gas , which contains methane as constituent , is typically burned as gaseous fuel in otto gas motors of this type . the reference value for the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas is selected depending on the load point . accordingly , it is possible to determine the reference value for the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas as a function of at least one operating parameter of the motor 11 and / or as a function of at least one operating parameter of the exhaust gas aftertreatment system 13 . thus it is possible to determine the reference value for the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas depending on one or more exhaust gas temperatures and depending on the efficiency of the exhaust gas aftertreatment system 13 and depending on the efficiency of the motor 11 . preferably , a lambda value and / or an ignition time and / or valve control times and / or a motor compression and / or an exhaust gas proportion in the motor combustion chamber are / is changed in this way as operating parameter ( s ) for the motor . when the lambda value is reduced , the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas tends to increase . further , by shifting the ignition time in direction of earlier ignition times and / or by increasing the proportion of exhaust gas in the motor combustion chamber , the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas tends to increase . further , it is possible to increase the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas by delayed opening of inlet valves of the cylinders 12 and by delayed closing of outlet valves of the cylinders 12 . by increasing the motor compression , the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas tends to decrease . the relationships mentioned above for influencing the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas are described by way of example for some operating parameters referring to fig2 . in fig2 , the percentage of nitrogen dioxide no 2 in the nitrogen oxides nox of the exhaust gas is plotted over the lambda value for a gas otto motor , namely , depending on the load point of the motor 11 and depending on ignition times of the motor 11 . characteristic lines 16 and 17 relate to characteristic lines for full load operation of the motor 11 . in characteristic line 16 , ignition times are late - shifted , and in characteristic line 17 ignition times are early - shifted . characteristic lines 18 and 19 relate to characteristic lines for partial load operation of the motor 11 . in characteristic line 18 , ignition times are late - shifted , and in characteristic line 19 ignition times are early - shifted . in a particularly preferred variant of the invention , an nox actual value is measured as an exhaust gas actual value by the nox sensor 15 shown in fig1 downstream of the exhaust gas aftertreatment component 14 of the exhaust gas aftertreatment system 13 that is to be operated in an optimized manner . depending on this exhaust gas actual value , the actual value of the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas upstream of the exhaust gas aftertreatment component 14 is determined . this actual value of the nitrogen dioxide fraction is compared with a reference value for the nitrogen dioxide fraction . depending on this comparison , at least one operating parameter for the motor 11 is changed such that the actual value of the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas upstream of the exhaust gas aftertreatment component 14 is brought closer to the reference value of the nitrogen dioxide fraction . as stated earlier , the exhaust gas aftertreatment component 14 that is to be operated in an optimized manner through influencing the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas according to the invention can be a scr catalytic converter . alternatively , this exhaust gas aftertreatment component 14 can also be a particle filter or a nox storage catalytic converter . as stated earlier , the reference value for the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas is selected depending on the operating point . if the exhaust gas aftertreatment component 14 of the exhaust gas aftertreatment system 13 that is to be operated in an optimized manner as a result of the adjustment of the actual value of the nitrogen dioxide fraction is a scr catalytic converter , then 50 % is preferably selected as the reference value for the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas . however , it is also possible to select a reference value for the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas of less than 50 %, particularly at high exhaust gas temperatures . in particular , the reference value for the nitrogen dioxide fraction in the exhaust gas is selected such that the raw nox emissions of the motor 11 are not reduced by more than 15 % due to the operating parameter for the motor 11 that has been changed depending on this reference value . in this way , increased consumption can be prevented in the motor 11 . thus , while there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment thereof , it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices illustrated , and in their operation , may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention . for example , it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and / or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention . moreover , it should be recognized that structures and / or elements and / or method steps shown and / or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice . it is the intention , therefore , to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto . | 5 |
possible embodiments for transmission of user data objects from a data supply component to a telecommunication device , particularly a mobile telephone of the user ( simply referred to as a terminal below ) will now be explained . for the explanation of the preferred embodiments of the invention the starting point is a corresponding configuration of the telecommunication arrangement as has already been discussed with reference to fig1 . a telecommunication arrangement of this type again includes a data supply component or a data server d to supply user data objects ( be they encrypted or unencrypted , packed into a container file or not , etc . ), a connection component g for forwarding the data or user data objects and finally a telecommunication device or terminal t of a user . again , the starting point is that the terminal t is located in a first telecommunication network embodied as a mobile radio network , in which the data in general and particularly user data objects are transmitted via a protocol specified by the wap forum ( wap : wireless application protocol ). it is further assumed that the data supply component of a data or content provider is located in a second telecommunication network which is embodied as a network based on an internet protocol ( such as http ). as a connection device to establish a data connection between the first telecommunication network and the second telecommunication network the communication component which serves in the configuration described as what is referred to as a wap gateway is provided . for notifying the characteristics , especially relating to processing of specific user data objects to the data supply component d , in accordance with the method shown in fig1 , the characteristics are represented in characteristic profiles or “ ua profiles ” ( ua : user agent profile ) which are advantageously based on the metalanguage xml ( xml — extensible markup language ). xml - based formats are particularly suitable for platform and software independent exchange of structured data between programs and computers or software and hardware components of different manufacturers and systems . a profile can describe a number of components ( e . g ., for software , hardware , wap push , etc . ), where each component can contain a number of attributes and the associated values ( in the hardware components , for example , possible attributes are screen size , color display capabilities , etc .). a basic structure of a profile is shown below , as has been defined by the wap forum for ua - prof : this type of sub - division has a number of advantages . all components and attributes can be used flexibly , the structure can be expanded as required and allows easy - to - understand presentation options . a method in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention now makes it possible on the server side , that is on the part of the data supply component , for a distinction to be made between the characteristics of the wap - capable terminal here and the additional characteristics of the combination of the wap - capable terminal and further components present in the data transmission network such as the connection component ( simply referred to below as wap gateways ). using the method shown in fig1 as a starting point , the individual profiles or ua profiles ( basic profile and a difference profile ) are identified as to their origin , which allows an evaluation on the server side as to which conversion functionality of the wap gateway or of a possible additional conversion server , present , for example in the second telecommunication network , can be used in the transmission or assignment of content ( as regards user data objects ) in a specific format and which cannot . there are different options for identifying the reference of a profile of a ua - prof : a ) in one of the simplest variants the identifier only distinguishes between “ terminal ” and “ intermediate entity ” ( such as wap gateways ). to this end , the profile can be provided with simple markings , with the marking of the profile type also being sufficient ; e . g ., the marking of the profile of intermediate entities ( wap gateways , conversion servers , etc .). an advantage of this variant is that changes are not absolutely required on the terminal side nor at the air interface . b ) in a somewhat more complex variant each terminal or each component in the transmission path provides a separate profile with an individual , previously - agreed code ( textual or binary ). for example binary code “ 2 ” refers to ” this profile originates from a wap gateway .” a greater certainty compared to variant a ) as to the source from which a profile originates is advantageous since each profile is to be identified here . in addition , further differentiation can be obtained if , instead of a simple marking ( boolean expression ), a larger set of values is used , enabling the categories “ wap - capable terminal ,” “ wap gateway ,” “ wap proxy ” ( as a further component in the transmission path ) and further components to be distinguished . c ) this variant builds on variant b ) but also contains the information about whether further ( difference ) profiles may be transmitted by subsequent units or components in the transmission path . for specific applications it thus becomes possible to suppress the signaling of conversion options by the wap gateway and other subsequent conversion units . the application of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention , for example on loading drm ( drm : digital rights management ) protected objects and also for mms ( mms : multi media messaging service ) has an advantage that the data supply component or the data supply server can look at the characteristics of the wap - capable terminal alone and only send the objects or user data objects suitable for it . unsuitable objects are recognized directly by the data supply component and not transmitted , so the user is not sent unusable objects by mistake . if the data supply component is able to supply user data objects with the same content but different data types , an identification of characteristics in ua profiles , that is an assignment of characteristics to a specific component in the transmission path , has the effect that the data supply component always selects for transmission with higher priority a user data object which can be used on the terminal side without conversion by an intermediate component in the transmission path such as the wap gateway . unnecessary data format conversions are thus avoided . to reiterate , in accordance with the embodiment presented , profiles and ( after merging of profiles ) profile components are identified in accordance with their origin and the server side distinction which this makes possible between characteristics of the wap - capable terminal and additional characteristics of the overall system consisting of wap - capable terminal , wap gateway and possibly further components on the transmission path which can change the content to be transmitted . with the identification of the individual profiles or ua - profs , the following questions can be resolved on a server side concerning the transmission unit ( wap - capable terminal , wap gateway , intermediate conversion unit , etc .) from which the corresponding profile originates . the server at the end of the transmission chain is intended to take this additional information into account in selecting between different available file types and formats . in addition , a unit has the opportunity of suppressing further appending of difference profiles if necessary . at this point it should be pointed out once again that the method described herein is not restricted to the embodiments given as examples here , but can also be applied to other wap - based applications . the advantages of the principles depicted above with regard to a method for transmission of user data objects using profiles or ua - profs , especially in connection with the delivery of protected objects , the delivery of multimedia messages in the multimedia messaging service and for browsing on the basis of the protocols specified in the wap forum now will be presented in detail . in accordance with the following example , it is assumed that a wap - capable terminal which cannot display still images is , however , expanded by a plug - in hardware module to provide this function so that it can also display still images in the “ jpeg ” format . as already explained above , the terminal is connected to the internet via a wap gateway which is further able to convert still images from the “ gif ” format into the “ jpeg ” format . the difference between the method described here and the method described at the beginning with reference to fig1 now lies in the fact that the profiles can be identified as regards their origin . as such , in addition to the capabilities of the corresponding terminals or transmission units , the information about the terminal or the transmission unit such as the wap gateway from which the relevant difference profile originates is included . these expanded profiles are indicated below by an asterisk . otherwise , the transmission and processing of the relevant profiles proceeds as already described with reference to fig1 which is why , for the explanation of the individual steps regarding the profiles expanded by an asterisk in the following text , reference is made to the explanation of the profile without the asterisk . referring to fig1 , the wap - capable terminal t , as well as its basic profile bp *, also transmits the difference profile dp 3 * ( cf ., step 5 ), which describes the additional capabilities provided by the a hardware module plugged in at the wap gateway g . as well as the two profiles of the wap - capable terminal ( basic profile bp * and difference profile dp 3 *), this also sends its own difference profile dp 2 * to the data supply component d ( like the scenario depicted in fig1 ). as such , the last element in the transmission chain or the transmission path ( here , the data supply component d ) has knowledge when determining the resulting profile rp * ( corresponding to the overall profile ) about which capabilities the wap - capable terminal ( expanded with the module ) possesses ( namely , the display of still images in the “ jpeg ” data format ), and which capabilities are to be assigned to an intermediate transmission unit ( namely , the conversion of still images in the “ gif ” data format into the “ jpeg ” data format by the wap gateway ). the semantics of the identification will be examined below . of the variants described above for identifying the profiles , variant c ) will be used below , in which , on the one hand , the function of the unit described in the profile ( wap - capable terminal , wap gateway , etc .) will be identified and , on the other hand , there will be an indication of whether further profiles of subsequent units of the transmission chain may be added . fig2 shows a table in accordance with an advantageous embodiment of a binary encoding for identification of profiles . in accordance with this table , a wap - capable terminal can send its basic profile either with the binary identifier “− 1 ” or “ 0 ” and thereby allow or prevent the other transmission units in the transmission chain from transmitting their difference profiles . the next element in the transmission chain ( wap - capable terminal with add - on module , wap gateway , possibly wap proxy or conversion server , etc ) which would like to a supplement a difference profile , first evaluates the basic profile of the wap - capable terminal . if supplementing of difference profiles is allowed , it can now transfer its own difference profile with a corresponding identification in accordance with the table shown in fig2 . in this way it would be possible for the last element in the transmission chain ( i . e ., the server ) to distinguish between the various ( difference ) profiles . independently of this , each terminal or each transmission unit additionally may sequentially number its profile . in this case , the data supply component d would even receive information about the sequence of the network elements involved in the transmission of the data . the syntax of the identification will be examined below . different options for identifying a profile will be examined quite generally . the examination will no longer differentiate between basic profile and difference profile ( s ). in the identification the semantics described above in accordance with the table shown in fig2 preferably should be used , but any other previously agreed semantics are also usably . possible alternative embodiment options for identifying a profile are as follows : 1 . the transmission profile is prefixed by a new header field in the corresponding session layer ( http or wsp ). the two session layer protocols used here , http and wsp ( wsp : wireless session protocol ), allow in accordance with [ 8 ] and [ 9 ] the definition of new header fields and use the textual formats described in [ 10 ] when doing so , in accordance with which a header field consists of a field name ( mandatory ) and a field value ( optional ). so that not too much data has to be transmitted over the air interface wsp , [ 9 ] recommends binary encoding for frequently used (“ well - known ”) header fields . thus , for example , from a field / attribute “ x - mms - transmitter - visibility : show ” ( 29 bytes ) the short form “ 93 11 ” in hexadecimal encoding ( two bytes ) is produced . in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention , the introduction of new header fields is proposed for identification of profiles which also should be based on the format described in [ 10 ]. the field name of the new header field for the two profiles described here http and wsp could be called “ x - wap - profile - source ,” for example . the presentation below shows the textually encoded header field “ x - wap - profile - source ” on the left with a textually encoded field value on the right with a binary - encoded ( decimal ) field value : 2 . the tagging is undertaken directly in the http or wsp by an additional parameter . as such , in principle , the same information encoding as in the approach described under 1is possible . to this end , for example , the definition of the header field “ x - wap - profile ” is expanded by a parameter or allows the server - side assignment to a unit in the system . 3the profile is expanded by a new xml attribute . as already explained above , all profiles are advantageously described for a wap ua - prof . based on xml . self - contained information blocks or individual information is delimited within a profile by what are known as tags . most of these tags occur in pairs in xml applications as start and end commands and specify the meaning of the text enclosed within them . this text can , in its turn , be subdivided by further tags , for example , to allow lists of parameters for an attribute . the parameters of the individual tags are called attributes . they are always enclosed within quotation marks (“& lt ;” and “& gt ;”). fig3 shows the use of the newly defined xml attributes “ source ” ( highlighted in bold ; entire new element enclosed by double arrows ) which allow a profile ( or an individual profile component ) to be identified by a terminal or by a transmission unit . when a new xml attribute is used , the associated new xml “ name space ” must be referenced in the corresponding profile , identified in this example by “ prf2 ” the value of this source attribute is encoded textually in fig3 ( wap gw or wap gateway ). also possible is a binary encoding of the attribute value in accordance with the table in fig2 ( e . g ., “ wap gateway ”=“ 2 ”). if one also wishes to implement a consecutive numbering of profiles ( as described above ) with the aid of xml attributes , the following two options are available for this purpose : the attribute value of the attribute “ source ” is defined in such a way that it consists of a list of parameters with different meanings . fig4 shows an example of this in which the attribute value of “ source ” consists of a list of two parameters , with the bracketing mechanism of attribute values described in the introduction being implemented . within the attribute “ source ,” “ bag ” signals that a number of attribute values follow ( in accordance with the present invention and new components are again enclosed within two brackets ). the expansion “ seq ” in the brackets refers to the sequence of the parameters in the list being of significance . by definition , parameter 1 for example could stand for consecutive numbering and parameter 2 for the identification of the profile by a terminal or a further component in the transmission path ( e . g ., a network unit ), preferably by the code defined in the table in fig2 . in addition to the textual encoding of ua - profs or ua profiles shown here , [ 7 ] also allows a binary method of representation in which all textual attributes are assigned what are known as binary tokens . naturally , the principles described above also could be expressed in a binary encoded ua - prof . a method described above for the transmission of user data objects using attribute profiles or ua - profs also may be applied for the transmission of drm - protected objects . if , in this case , in the embodiment of the telecommunication arrangement described above or the profile transmission and processing of the relevant components of a telecommunication arrangement of the wap - capable terminal ( t ; cf ., fig1 ) drm - protected data is requested , the information flow is as illustrated below : 1 . the wap - capable terminal ( t ) sends a data request initially to the wap gateway ( g ). this contains a basic profile bp * ( let reference again be made to fig1 for the following explanations ) and the difference profile dp 3 * for description of the add - on module . both profiles are identified by the new information described above to indicate that they can be assigned to the wap - capable terminal ( t ). 2 . the wap gateway ( g ) receives the data request and forwards it to the data supply component ( d ). in doing so , it supplements the data request by the difference profile dp 2 * which according to the new identification can be assigned to the wap gateway . 3 . the data supply component ( d ) receives the data request , evaluates the profile information and detects that the requested image can be used by the terminal ( t ) itself in the “ jpeg ” format and that the wap gateway ( g ) can convert images from “ gif ” format into a format suitable for the terminal ( this only refers to “ jpeg ” here ). if the object or the user data object ( the image ) is now to be transmitted in drm - protected form , it initially must be packed or encrypted into another data format ( e . g ., “ application / vnd . wap . drm . message or application / vnd . wap . drm . content ”) which would make it inaccessible for the wap gateway ( g ). the data supply component ( d ) thus decides to pack the object in the “ jpeg ” format into the drm format so that processing of the object by the wap gateway is not necessary . the data supply component ( d ) sends the object or user data object to the wap gateway in the format described . 4 . the wap gateway receives the object , detects that no processing of the object or an action by the wap gateway ( g ) is necessary and transmits it to the terminal ( t ). 5 . the terminal receives the object , unpacks it and can use it . without the procedure described above in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the same process would appear as follows : 1 . the wap - capable terminal ( t ) sends a data request initially to the wap gateway ( g ). this contains the basic profile bp and the difference profile dp 3 for description of the supplementary module ( again , cf ., fig1 ). 2 . the wap gateway ( g ) receives the data request and forwards it , supplemented by the difference profile dp 2 , to the data supply component ( d ). 3 . the data supply component ( d ) receives the data request , evaluates the profile information and recognizes that the requested data or the requested image can be used by the combination of terminal ( t ) and wap gateway ( g ) in “ jpeg format ” and in “ gif format .” the object is to be transmitted in drm - protected form and to this end must first be packed into another data format ( application / vnd . wap . drm . message or application / vnd . wap . drm . content ) which makes it inaccessible to the wap gateway . the data supply component of ( d ) may possibly decide to pack the object in the “ gif ” format into the drm format , and send the object to the wap gateway ( g ) in the format described . 4 . the wap gateway ( g ) receives the object , recognizes that it cannot process the object since it does not recognize the data format enclosing it or cannot process this format , does not change the object and transmits it to the terminal . 5 . the terminal ( t ) receives the object , unpacks it from the enclosing data format and , however , cannot use it . although the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments , those of skill in the art will recognize that changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the hereafter appended claims . background information about the protocols discussed in the application may be found in the following reference sources : 3gpp ts 23 . 040 version 5 . 2 . 0 , release 5 ; third generation partnership project ; technical specification group terminals ; technical realization of the short message service ( sms ). 3gpp ts 22 . 140 version 4 . 1 . 0 , release 4 ; third generation partnership project ; technical specification group services and system aspects ; service aspects ; stage 1 ; multimedia messaging service ( mms ). 3gpp ts 23 . 140 version 5 . 1 . 0 , release 5 ; third generation partnership project ; technical specification group terminals ; multimedia messaging service ( mms ); functional description ; stage 2 . wap - 274 - mms architecture overview ; wap multimedia messaging service ( mms ) specification suite 2 . 0 . rfc 822 “ standard for the format of arpa internet text messages ”; david h . crocker ; aug . 13 , 1982 . | 7 |
fig1 shows a container 20 comprising the assembly of a bottle body 22 , a spout fitment 24 , and a cap 26 ( which may serve as a measuring / dispensing cup ). the body and cap may be made as a unitary plastic molding . as is discussed further below , the exemplary spout fitment comprises two molded pieces : a spout base fitment 28 and a spout 29 . exemplary bottle body material is high density polyethylene ( hdpe ). exemplary spout fitment and cap material is polypropylene . the body 22 comprises a unitary combination of a base 30 , a sidewall 32 extending upward from the base , a shoulder 34 at an upper end of the sidewall , and a neck 36 extending upward from the shoulder . the neck 36 extends to a rim 38 ( fig7 and 8 ) and defines an opening 40 having a central longitudinal axis 500 . the bottle body has an interior surface 42 and an exterior surface 44 . a handle 46 ( fig1 ) may extend from the sidewall and the body interior may extend through the handle . the neck 36 ( fig7 and 8 ) has an outwardly - projecting annular flange 48 at the rim 38 . the flange 48 has an underside 49 . a narrow region 50 extends downward below the flange 48 to a shoulder junction 51 with a wider region 52 . a lug 53 extends upward from the junction 51 partially along the region 50 and has first and second circumferential ends / faces / surfaces 54 and 55 . as is discussed below , the flange 48 helps retain the spout base fitment to the neck while the lug 53 helps angularly orient the spout base fitment about the axis 500 . the spout base fitment 28 ( fig4 , 5 , 9 , and 10 ) includes an inner wall 60 and an inner sidewall 62 joined by a lower wall 64 so as to define a trough 66 . one or more drain - back apertures 68 ( fig9 ) along the trough base and / or vents 70 thereabove are open to the trough ( e . g ., through the wall 64 and sidewall 62 , respectively ). the inner wall 60 has an upper end 72 defining an opening 74 . an internal thread 76 is formed on the inner surface of the inner wall 60 . inboard and outboard annular v - land seal teeth 78 and 79 depend from the lower wall 64 . the exemplary teeth 78 and 79 are full annuli , positioned respectively inboard and outboard of the apertures 68 . fig1 shows the spout base fitment sidewall 62 having an upper end 80 . a flange 82 extends outward from the upper end 80 . the flange 82 has an upper surface 84 . an outer sidewall 90 depends from an upper edge at an outboard periphery of the flange 82 to a lower end / rim 92 . the outer sidewall 90 has an inboard surface and an outboard surface . a recess 94 extends upward from the rim 92 and has first and second sides . as is discussed further below , the recess 94 captures the neck lug 53 so that adjacent surfaces of the recess and neck lug angularly retain the spout base fitment relative to the neck . the inboard surface of the outer sidewall 90 bears an annular projection 100 . as is discussed below , whereas the recess 94 functions to orient the spout base fitment on the body , the projection 100 cooperates with the projection 48 to provide a snap fit engagement retaining the spout base fitment to the body . the outboard surface of the outer sidewall 90 bears an external thread 102 . as is discussed further below , the external thread helps engage the cap to the spout base fitment . the cap 26 ( fig4 ) includes a sidewall 120 , a transverse web 122 at the upper end of the sidewall , and an outwardly / downwardly projecting bell flange 124 spaced above a lower end 126 of the sidewall . a lower portion 130 of the bell flange 124 bears an internal thread 132 positioned for engaging the external thread 102 . the bell flange 124 has a depending v - bead land seal 136 between the sidewall 120 and lower portion 130 . the seal 136 is positioned so that its rim contacts and seals with the flange upper surface 84 of the spout base fitment when the cap is screwed on to the spout base fitment . along an upper portion of the sidewall 120 , a pair of splines 150 extend inward . as is discussed below , the splines 150 engage splines 160 of the spout 29 . fig1 shows the splines 160 along an upper portion of a wall 162 of the spout 29 . below the splines , the wall bears an external thread 164 . as is shown in fig5 , the thread 164 engages the spout base fitment internal threads 76 . a flange 170 extends outward from a lower end of the wall 62 and has an upper surface 172 . fig5 shows a retracted spout condition wherein the upper surface 172 is spaced below the rims of the v - bead land seals 78 and 79 . in this condition , the drainback apertures are open permitting the trough to drain . due to the engagement of the threads 76 and 164 , a relative rotation of the spout and spout base fitment will cause a relative translation along the axis 500 . for example , relative rotation in one direction can raise the spout so that the flange upper surface 172 comes into sealing engagement with the v - bead land seals 78 and 79 , thereby blocking the drainback apertures . such a condition may be useful for pouring . the blocking of the drainback apertures during pouring is advantageous to avoid leakage . if the bottle is tilted too much during pouring , the liquid ( e . g ., detergent ) may otherwise flow through the drainback apertures , into the trough , and ultimately , potentially , down the side of the bottle , creating a mess . blocking of the drainback apertures during pouring avoids this . in the exemplary bottle , the screwing and unscrewing rotation of the cap is used to retract and extend the spout . the spout may initially be envisioned in an extended condition with the cap removed from the spout base fitment . the cap may be installed to the spout and spout base fitment . in an initial insertion installation , the cap and spout splines engage . then , the cap and spout base fitment threads contact each other stopping further pure translation . at this point , the cap may be rotated to screw the cap onto the spout base fitment . during this rotation , the cooperation of the cap and spout splines causes the spout to rotate with the cap . rotation of the spout causes a screwing of the thread 164 further down into the thread 76 , disengaging the upper surface 172 of the flange 170 from the v - bead land seals 78 and 79 . eventually , the cap will bottom with the v - bead land seal 136 contacting the spout base fitment flange upper surface 84 to seal the bottle . cap removal and spout extension is by a reverse of this process . in an exemplary method of assembly , the cap is initially fully or partially screwed onto the spout base fitment . the cap and spout fitment subassembly may be installed to the body neck by a linear insertion . during the insertion , the lug 53 is aligned with the recess 94 . an initial stage of the insertion may produce a camming action between the projections 48 and 100 . further insertion causes the recess to receive the lug and the projection 100 to snap over the projection 48 and at least partially relax . advantageously , the relaxation is only partial , sufficient to provide a mechanical backlocking to resist spout fitment extraction yet leaving stress / strain sufficient to maintain a sealing engagement between the spout fitment and neck . advantageously , this sealing engagement remains when the cap is unscrewed . thus , the dimensions of the spout fitment and neck are advantageously such that , in the absence of the cap , their interference contact is sufficient to provide sealing under normal loads associated with pouring , transport , and handling . other spout fitment - to - neck engagements and other cap - to - spout fitment engagements are disclosed in the above - identified provisional application . these or other yet - developed or prior art engagements may be used with the inventive telescoping spout . various implementations may have one or more of other various advantages . one group of advantages relate to elimination of welding or adhering of the spout fitment to the bottle body . in addition to the economy of a saved step , this may facilitate delivery of the liquid before attaching the spout fitment to the bottle body which may allow more efficient processing ( e . g ., including higher flow delivery or less precisely aimed delivery through an opening in the bottle body larger than the spout opening ). the spout fitments and caps may be delivered to the bottler as units and installed in units , thereby easing installation . other potential advantages include weight reduction and reduced intrusion of the spout fitment into the bottle body ( thereby permitting higher fill levels ). other potential advantages include improved sealing . finally , there may be greater flexibility in aesthetics by permitting relatively easy use of differently - styled spout fitments with a given bottle body or differently styled bottle bodies with a given spout fitment . one or more embodiments of the present invention have been described . nevertheless , it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , when implemented in the reengineering of an existing container configuration , details of the existing configuration may influence or dictate details of any particular implementation . accordingly , other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims . | 1 |
turning to fig1 , a diagram of an ungated or open parking lot 1 can be seen . the lot may have one or more entrances / exits that are unguarded . a passing motorist can generally see how full the lot is before entering . the lot 1 may have an office or elevator 2 , or it may simply be an open space . vehicles 7 are shown parked in various spaces . an ordinary ( non - premium ) space 3 is shown along with a premium space 4 . the premium spaces contain well - marked labels 6 that show their attribute . in addition , signage is posted on all premium spaces to explain the cost and any other restrictions to the premium space . pay stations 8 can be conveniently located on the lot . a typical embodiment of the present invention at an ungated lot is to have the motorist choose a parking place according to signage ( ordinary or premium ), walk to the pay station 8 and either enter the number of the space or simply indicate what type of space was chosen . one option can be to indicate that the motorist has parked in a premium lot with the “ last space ” attribute . payment is generally made at that time , the price being determined by what type of space was chosen . in the case of numbered spaces for the “ pay by space ” method , the pay station will know , based on the space number , what attributes , if any , that specific space has . the transaction is completed , and the motorist can walk off the lot , knowing that he / she has paid the proper amount for parking and will not be cited for a parking infraction . if spaces are not numbered , then the pay station will be using the “ pay and display ” method . in this case , the pay station 8 can print a ticket with an indicator , such as a symbol or letter or code that shows the type of space on it . the ticket is then displayed in the vehicle before the motorist departs the lot . the latter method depends on the motorist knowing that there will be lot enforcement during the stay , and that a vehicle displaying an expired ticket , or the wrong ticket for the attributes of the parking space they are occupying , ( or no ticket at all ) will be cited . fig2 shows an embodiment of the present invention with a gated lot . in this case , there is an entrance 11 , with a gate 9 , an exit 12 with another gate 15 , and a restricted area or premium area 13 with still another gate 16 . each of the gates can also have a kiosk 10 , 14 and 17 . the premium area 13 has signage at the gate 18 and perhaps additional signs on each space ( easily visible ) that clearly explains that a premium price will be charged for parking in that area . when a motorist enters the lot 1 , he or she is free to drive around and look for an ordinary space 3 , and to park if one is found . the entry kiosk 10 issues a ticket , and the entry gate 9 opens . depending on the lot owner &# 39 ; s policy , when the ticket is presented to exit kiosk 14 , the motorist may be given a grace period of 0 - 20 minutes to exit the lot through the exit gate 15 with no payment at all . if the motorist cannot find an ordinary space , signage can clearly indicate that entry can be made into the premium area 13 by simply inserting the same ticket into the premium entry kiosk 17 . the premium entry kiosk 17 can modify the ticket to show that parking occurred in the premium area , or alternatively the kiosk 17 can simply modify a database that tracks the status of active tickets . again , the motorist will be informed , either by signage or by the kiosk , that higher prices will be charged . exit from the premium area can be made simply by opening the gate 16 with a sensor whenever a vehicle wishes to exit , or through a one - way exit ( not shown ). again , if upon presenting the ticket to kiosk 14 , the policy may be that if the motorist is within the grace period , no charge is made at the exit 12 . if , on the other hand , the grace period has been exceeded , the exit kiosk 14 will charge the premium price before opening the exit gate 15 . to handle the case where the motorist enters the premium area and then changes his or her mind and decides to park in an ordinary space instead ( for example one opens up after the driver is in the premium area ), an optional second kiosk can be used to downgrade the ticket back to a regular state as the premium area 13 is exited . in an alternative embodiment , the premium parking can be near the street entrance , and a secondary gate leads to cheaper parking perhaps on higher or lower levels . in this case , the motorist can pay a premium price to be at street level or near a convenient entrance or exit . fig3 shows an ungated type lot with a pay station 8 that prints tickets 20 that are placed inside driver &# 39 ; s side window or windshield of vehicles . the vehicles in l type premium spaces can have a ticket 20 that displays a large l for example . vehicles 23 parked in ordinary spaces 19 can have tickets with some other symbol like o , or no special symbol at all . fig3 also shows a vehicle 25 entering the lot and choosing a “ safe ” spot 24 . after parking , the driver can walk to the pay station 8 , indicate the choice of a premium space , pay for it , and then receive a ticket 26 that displays an s for example . the driver then must place that ticket in the vehicles windshield or on the dashboard . fig4 a - 4c show different types of tickets that could be printed . fig4 a shows a standard , or ordinary , ticket 28 that may or may not contain a symbol . alternatively , this ticket , or any of the tickets , can contain a clock symbol 30 and indication of the ending time if there is one . the ticket 28 can have an entry time 29 , date 27 and any other necessary information . fig4 b shows a ticket for a space with an l attribute 31 , while fig4 c shows a ticket with an s attribute 32 . these also have optional ending times 30 . it should be understood that many different attributes can be associated with a parking space and many types of letter or symbols can be printed on the ticket . fig5 shows a block diagram of a kiosk or pay station that could be used in any type of lot . a controller 33 or processor is coupled to storage 38 and a communication channel 39 that can be wired or wireless . wireless links can be wifi , cellular or any other type of wireless link . communications can be by private network or via the internet . the station optionally has a keypad 35 and a display 34 that can be used to select options or present information concerning ordinary and premium parking spaces . the station may have a credit card reader 36 if it is an exit or pay station . the station can also have a printer 37 for printing tickets and / or receipts . fig6 shows a parking lot system on an associated bus 45 . this bus 45 may span multiple stations and may be partially remote from the parking lot . the bus 45 may have access to one or more databases 44 containing pricing rules , statistical information , and user information for periodic users or regular customers who are billed monthly . the bus may be driven by one or more servers 43 that may be located completely remotely and may manage several lots . fig6 shows a single ticket dispenser 40 , display 34 , keypad 35 and credit card reader 36 . however , it is to be understood that these can represent multiple units physically located on different lots or separated in the same lot . the bus can accept automated payment 42 from regular users and can perform credit card resolution 41 by communicating 39 with remote services . fig7 shows the bus of fig6 with additional services such as automated entrance kiosks 47 , preferred area kiosks , 48 and automated exit kiosks 46 that can be used in gated lots . it should be noted that a single bus system 45 can manage a combination of both gated and ungated lots . fig8 shows a table of possible attributes or kinds of parking spaces such as o , l , nl and s as well as a possible set of rules for pricing and timing use of parking spaces with these attributes . any number or type of attributes , and any number and types of rules associated with the attributes , is within the scope of the present invention . fig9 is an exemplary flowchart showing a method 900 for calculating a parking lot parking fee , in accordance with various embodiments . in step 910 of method 900 , at least one time associated with a parking spot is received and a parking duration is determined from the at least one time . in step 920 , an attribute associated with the parking spot is received that is selected from two or more attributes . in step 930 , a parking fee for the parking spot is calculated based on the parking duration and the attribute . in various embodiments , the attribute can include , but is not limited to , an ordinary space attribute , a one of last available spaces attribute , a last available space attribute , or a safe space attribute . in various embodiments , the steps of method 900 are performed by a pay station . the at least one time received by the pay station is the parking duration , for example . the pay station receives the parking duration from a user through a keypad , for example . the determination of the parking duration is then equating the parking duration to the received parking duration . in various embodiments , the pay station can determine the current time , receive a projected exit time , and determine the parking duration from the current time and the projected exit time . the pay station receives the projected exit time from a user through a keypad , for example . the pay station receives the attribute , and calculates the parking fee from the attribute and the parking duration . in various embodiments , the pay station receives the attribute through a parking space number . the pay station receives the parking lot space number for the parking space , searches a database , and retrieves an attribute stored in the database for the parking space number using the pay station . the database can include hardware and software . the database can be , but is not limited to , a magnetic or electronic storage medium . in various embodiments , the pay station receives the attribute through input provided by a user . the pay station receives a parking space type selection for the parking space , searches a database , and retrieves an attribute stored in the database for the parking space type using the pay station . in various embodiments , the pay station can be part of a pay and display parking system . the pay station further prints on a parking ticket a symbol that indicates the parking space type selection . in various embodiments , the steps of method 900 are performed by an exit kiosk . the at least one time that is received is an entry time , for example . the exit kiosk receives the entry time , determines an exit time , and determines the parking duration from the entry time and the exit time . the exit kiosk receives the attribute , and calculates the parking fee for the parking spot from the attribute and the parking duration . in various embodiments , exit kiosk receives the attribute from a parking ticket . the exit kiosk receives a parking ticket modified by a premium area kiosk to include the attribute . the exit kiosk reads the attribute from the parking ticket . the premium area kiosk can be a premium area entry kiosk or a premium area exit kiosk . in various embodiments , the exit kiosk determines the attribute from a parking ticket identifier . the exit kiosk receives the parking ticket . the exit kiosk reads a parking ticket identifier from the parking ticket , searches a database , and retrieves from the database the attribute stored with the ticket identifier by a premium area kiosk . the premium area kiosk can be a premium area entry kiosk or a premium area exit kiosk . in various embodiments , an attribute can identify a location of the parking spot in the parking lot . the attribute can identify proximity to an entrance or a level of the parking lot , for example . in various embodiments , calculating a parking fee based on the parking duration and the attribute can include retrieving a rule associating a price with parking duration and the attribute , and calculating the parking fee based on the rule . fig1 is a schematic diagram showing a system 1000 for calculating a parking lot parking fee , in accordance with various embodiments . system 1000 includes input device 1010 and controller 1020 . if system 1000 is part of a pay station of an ungated lot , input device 1010 is an input device for a user , such as a keypad , and controller 1020 is a controller of the pay station , for example . if system 1000 is part of an exit kiosk of an gated lot , input device 1010 is an input device , such as a parking ticket reader , and controller 1020 is a controller of the exit kiosk , for example . input device 1010 receives at least one time associated with a parking spot and determines a parking duration from the at least one time . input device 1010 receives an attribute associated with the parking spot that is selected from two or more attributes . controller 1020 calculates a parking fee for the parking spot based on the parking duration and the attribute . in various embodiments , a computer program product includes a non - transitory and tangible computer - readable storage medium whose contents include a program with instructions being executed on a controller so as to perform a method for calculating a parking lot parking fee . this method is performed by a system that includes one or more distinct software modules . a controller can include , but is not limited to a computer , a microprocessor , a microcontroller , an application specific integrated circuit , a field programmable gate array , or any device capable of executing instructions and / or sending and receiving control signals . fig1 is a schematic diagram of a system 1100 that includes one or more distinct software modules that performs a method for calculating a parking lot parking fee , in accordance with various embodiments . system 1100 includes read module 1110 and a calculation module 1120 . read module 1110 receives at least one time associated with a parking spot and determining a parking duration from the at least one time . read module 1110 receives an attribute associated with the parking spot that is selected from two or more attributes . calculation module 1120 calculates a parking fee for the parking spot based on the parking duration and the attribute . several descriptions and illustrations have been presented that aid in understanding the features of the present invention . one skilled in the art will realize that numerous changes and variations are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention . each of these changes and variations is within the scope of the present invention . various additional modifications of the described embodiments of the invention specifically illustrated and described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art , particularly in light of the teachings of this invention . it is intended that the invention cover all modifications and embodiments , which fall within the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , while many of the foregoing embodiments used a relational database paradigm because of its efficient and clear illustrative qualities , those skilled in the art will recognize that other data organizations and other software techniques can be used to achieve the results of the present invention . thus , while preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed , it will be appreciated that it is not limited thereto but may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims . further , in describing various embodiments , the specification may have presented a method and / or process as a particular sequence of steps . however , to the extent that the method or process does not rely on the particular order of steps set forth herein , the method or process should not be limited to the particular sequence of steps described . as one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate , other sequences of steps may be possible . therefore , the particular order of the steps set forth in the specification should not be construed as limitations on the claims . in addition , the claims directed to the method and / or process should not be limited to the performance of their steps in the order written , and one skilled in the art can readily appreciate that the sequences may be varied and still remain within the spirit and scope of the various embodiments . | 6 |
referring now to fig1 there is shown a schematic cross - sectional diagram of a direct injection internal combustion engine 10 comprising a minimum of one combustion chamber 12 whose volume is varied incident to a reciprocating action of a piston 11 that defines a floor of the combustion chamber 12 . as is also illustrated within the schematic cross - sectional diagram of fig1 there is introduced into the combustion chamber 12 air through an air intake conduit 14 ( typically and preferably part of an intake manifold ) that terminates in and defines an air intake port that is formed within the combustion chamber 12 . as is understood by a person skilled in the art , and as is also illustrated within the schematic cross - sectional diagram of fig1 air is introduced into the combustion chamber 12 by action of an intake valve 16 , which periodically seals and opens the air intake port . there is also shown within the schematic cross - sectional diagram of fig1 an exhaust conduit 18 ( typically and preferably part of an exhaust manifold ) that terminates in and defines an exhaust port that is formed within the combustion chamber 12 . analogously with the air intake port , the exhaust port is periodically sealed and opened by an exhaust valve 20 . in addition , there is also shown within the schematic cross - sectional diagram of fig1 a fuel injector 22 that directly injects fuel into the combustion chamber 12 ( typically at least in part when air is being introduced into the combustion chamber through the air intake port ). the fuel injector 22 in turn defines a fuel injector port which is also formed within the combustion chamber 12 . as is understood by a person skilled in the art , although the preferred embodiment of the present invention discloses the present invention within the context of air as being introduced into the combustion chamber , within the context of the present invention as disclosed and claimed , “ air ” is intended in general to include any oxidant which provides for combustion of fuel injected into the combustion chamber 12 . thus “ air ” may include , but is not limited to : ( 1 ) ambient air ; ( 2 ) turbocharged or supercharged compressed air ; and ( 3 ) oxidant enriched air ( such as but not limited to oxygen oxidant enriched air and nitrous oxide oxidant enriched air ). as is understood by a person skilled in the art , there is omitted from the direct injection internal combustion engine whose schematic cross - sectional diagram is illustrated in fig1 an ignition source , such as but not limited to a spark plug or a glow plug , for purposes of clarity . referring now to fig2 - 4 , there is shown a series of schematic plan - view diagrams of example embodiments in accord with the present invention . for purposes of clarity , within schematic plan - view diagram of fig2 - 4 , there are illustrated only intake valves ( which define and cover air intake ports ), fuel injectors ( which define fuel injector ports ) and intake air deflectors ( which are illustrated as baffles ). thus , there is omitted from the schematic plan - view diagrams of fig2 - 4 various conventional exhaust valves and ignition sources . as is illustrated within the schematic plan - view diagram of fig2 there is shown in this example a fuel injector 22 a approximately centered within a ceiling of a combustion chamber provided by the cylinder head , with a pair of intake valves 16 a and 16 b disposed radially outward asymmetrically therefrom and wherein , in accord with the present invention , an intake air deflector 24 a separates the fuel injector 22 a from both of the intake valves 16 a and 16 b . as is illustrated within the schematic plan - view diagram of fig3 there is shown in another example a fuel injector 22 b positioned at a periphery of a ceiling of a combustion chamber provided by the cylinder head and separated from a single intake valve 16 c also positioned at a separate periphery of the top of the combustion chamber by an intake air deflector 24 b . finally , as is illustrated within the schematic plan - view diagram of fig4 there is shown in still another embodiment a fuel injector 22 c also positioned at a periphery of a ceiling of a combustion chamber , but in comparison with the schematic plan - view diagram of fig3 separated from a pair of intake valves 16 d and 16 e by an intake air deflector 24 c of curvature analogous to the curvature of the deflector 24 a as illustrated within the schematic plan - view diagram of fig2 . the dispositions of the intake valves , the fuel injectors and the intake air deflectors as illustrated within the schematic plan - view diagrams of fig2 - 4 are intended as illustrative of the present invention rather than limiting of the present invention . additional geometric configurations of the foregoing components are also possible within a combustion chamber within a direct injection internal combustion engine in accord with the present invention . referring now to fig5 there is shown a schematic perspective - view diagram of a combustion chamber that may be employed within a direct injection internal combustion engine in accord with an example of the present invention . as is illustrated within the schematic perspective - view diagram of fig5 the combustion chamber ceiling has a pair of exhaust valves 20 a and 20 b which periodically seal a pair of exhaust ports , along with a pair of intake valves 16 f and 16 g which periodically seal a pair of intake ports , further wherein the pair of intake ports which are periodically sealed by the pair of intake valves 16 f and 16 g is separated from a fuel injector 22 d which defines a fuel injector port by an intake air deflector 24 d ( illustrated as a stepped baffle ) having a bi - cusped shape which generally conforms with the pair of air intake ports . within the combustion chamber ceiling , whose schematic perspective - view diagram is illustrated in fig5 each of the pair of intake ports typically has a diameter of about 30 millimeters , and the intake air deflector 24 d has a step height of about 6 millimeters which protrudes into a combustion chamber in a fashion which provides a plateau of the pair of intake ports and the pair of exhaust ports above the fuel injector port . in order to demonstrate the value of the present invention in providing enhanced mixing of an air / fuel mixture within a combustion chamber within a direct injection internal combustion engine , and thus an enhanced performance and enhanced economy of the direct injection internal combustion engine , there was undertaken a computer simulation of mixing of an air / fuel mixture within a combustion chamber within a direct injection internal combustion engine while employing the combustion chamber ceiling configuration as illustrated within the schematic perspective - view diagram of fig5 in comparison with an otherwise equivalent combustion chamber ceiling configuration , but absent the deflector 24 d , and where the pair of exhaust ports , the pair of intake ports and the fuel injector port were thus all positioned on a contiguous surface absent a deflector , such as the intake air deflector 24 d , interposed therebetween . the computer simulation employed software developed by ford motor company . the in - house developed software is to simulate the in - cylinder dynamics including , but not limited to , a number of complex , closely coupled physical and chemical processes of internal combustion engines , with example of direct injection internal combustion engines . these processes include the transient three - dimensional dynamics of evaporating fuel spray interacting with flowing multi - component gases undergoing mixing , ignition , chemical reactions , and heat transfer . the software has the ability to calculate such flows in engine cylinders with arbitrarily shaped piston geometries , including the effects of turbulence and wall heat transfer . in order to simulate the engine working process , a 3 - d mesh needs to be generated before the computation starts . the software also has the capability to restructure the mesh as the piston and valve move . shown in fig6 is a plot of relative volume versus equivalence ratio for an air - fuel mixture for the pair of combustion chambers as noted above when employed within a direct injection internal combustion engine having a cylinder bore of 89 millimeters and a piston stroke of 76 millimeters operated at 6000 revolutions per minute at wide open throttle without variable valve timing . the fuel is injected through the fuel port during the intake stroke . the relative volume distributions as illustrated in fig6 are determined for an air - fuel mixture ratio of 12 . 6 at a crank angle of 20 degrees before top dead center ( tdc ) within the direct injection internal combustion engine . as is illustrated within the plot of fig6 the curve corresponding with reference numeral 30 corresponds with air - fuel mixing within the combustion chamber having the combustion chamber ceiling as illustrated within the schematic perspective - view diagram of fig5 but absent the deflector 24 d . similarly , the curve corresponding with reference numeral 32 corresponds with air - fuel mixing within the combustion chamber having formed therein the combustion cylinder top as illustrated within the schematic perspective - view diagram of fig5 . for comparison purposes , in the event of perfect mixing within a combustion chamber there would be observed , in accord with the phantom line which corresponds with reference numeral 34 , a single peak at equivalence ratio of 1 . 16 . insofar as within the plot of fig6 the curve corresponding with reference numeral 32 more closely approximates the ideal mixing condition of the phantom line which corresponds with reference numeral 34 in comparison with the curve corresponding with reference numeral 30 , there is provided within the context of the example of the present invention an enhanced mixing within a direct injection internal combustion engine and thus an enhanced performance and an enhanced economy of the direct injection internal combustion engine incident to implementation of the present invention . thus , it is shown that enhanced air - fuel mixing and thus improved engine performance can be achieved with the present invention . as is understood by a person skilled in the art , the preferred embodiments and example of the present invention are illustrative of the present invention rather than limiting of the present invention . within the present invention and the preferred embodiments of the present invention the intake air deflector may be selected from the group including but not limited to baffles and shields ( which may separate air intake ports and fuel injector ports otherwise on a single surface ), as well as steps ( which separate air intake ports and fuel injector ports on separate surfaces ). within the present invention and the preferred embodiment of the present invention , the intake air deflector protrudes into the combustion chamber ( typically by a distance of from about 1 to about 25 millimeters , and the deflector is otherwise sized and positioned within the combustion chamber 12 such as to optimize during operation of the direct injection internal combustion engine mixing of air introduced into the combustion chamber through the air intake port and fuel directly injected into the combustion chamber through the fuel injector port . revisions and modifications may be made to methods , materials , structures and dimensions through which is provided a direct injection internal combustion engine in accord with the preferred embodiments and examples of the present invention while still providing additional embodiments and examples the present invention , further in accord with the accompanying claims . | 5 |
referring now to the drawings , wherein like reference numerals refer to like items throughout the several views , there is shown generally in fig1 a block diagram of the tri - color flasher device 10 . a block diagram of the modules is used to explain the principle of the operation that produces the various waveforms so that the led &# 39 ; s emit the different colors . switch 1 is the power on / off switch . it also bypasses the flasher into the off position so the lights will light continuously without flashing . switch 2 selects whether or not there will be an off or dark period between flashes . block 12 is a dc regulated power supply which converts the 120 vac input voltage to a lower dc regulated output voltage of perhaps 12 - 14 vdc which then supplies the operating power to the flasher device &# 39 ; s electronic circuitry . block 14 is a variable duty - cycle clock which incorporates two user accessible potentiometers where one controls the on time and the other controls the off time of the clock &# 39 ; s square wave output . block 16 is a modulo 3 binary counter which output is either 00 , 01 , or 10 , thus changing in unison with the clock &# 39 ; s square wave . block 18 is a binary - to - decimal decoder where a 00 input causes an output at d0 ; an input of 01 causes an output at d1 ; and an input of 10 causes an output at d2 . block 20 is a dual xnor ( exclusive nor ) gate where either d0 or d2 causes an output to opto - coupler oc 2 and either d1 or d2 causes an output to opto - coupler oc 1 . blocks oc 1 and oc 2 are optocouplers having silicon controlled rectifier ( scr ) controlled by an led optocoupler oc 1 wired in parallel with optocoupler oc 2 with opposing polarities , that is the scr sections of the optocouplers are connected cathode to anode and anode to cathode . the input led sections of these optocouplers are connected so that one xnor output causes scr of oc 1 to turn on and another xnor output causes scr oc 2 to turn on . in the following example , assume that a string of dual polarity red / yellow leds are connected at terminals term . when scr of oc 1 is turned on , the 120 vac input current is half - wave rectified causing a pulsating direct - current ( pdc ) to be applied to the dual polarity led decorative lights causing them to illuminate red . when scr of oc 2 is turned on the 120 vac input current is also half - wave rectified , but in the opposite polarity causing a pdc to be applied to the decorative leds , this time causing them to illuminate yellow . when both oc 1 and oc 2 are both turned on at the same time , an altermating current ( a . c .) is applied to the decorative leds causing both the red and the yellow elements to illuminate thus appearing orange . referring now to fig2 there is shown a schematic diagram of the preferred embodiment of this invention . a regulated power supply 12 and its associated circuitry comprise a step - down transformer t1 with a center - tapped secondary which steps down 120 vac to 12 . 6 vac . diodes d1 and d2 are connected for full - wave rectification converting the alternating current to pulsating direct current . a filter capacitor c1 removes the ac ripple to produce a smooth direct current output . a current limiting resistor , r1 connects the direct current output to z1 , a 5 volt zener diode , which regulates the power supply &# 39 ; s output to a constant 5 volts . c2 is a bypass capacitor which stabilizes the regulator circuit and prevents any self oscillation that may occur . the clock 14 and its associated circuitry are also shown in fig2 comprising an integrated circuit timer 1c1 , the output of which is a square wave controlled by capacitor c3 which is the clock timing capacitor . diode d3 in series with potentiometer r3 to control the charge time of c3 when the clock output is high , which combination also controls the length of the time that the clock output remains high . referring again to fig1 and 2 , the operation of the clock is as follows . potentiometer r3 and sw1 are ganged together so that rotating r3 fully ccw turns off the entire flasher . diode d4 causes potentiometer r4a and fixed resistor r4b to control the discharge time of c3 while the clock output is low , which c3 in turn controls the length of time that the clock output remains low . potentiometer r4a and sw2 are ganged together so that when r4a is fully ccw , the off ( or dark ) time of the decorative leds is eliminated . a fixed timing resistor r2 sets the low range of pot r3 while fixed resistor r4b sets low range of pot r4a the variable timing resistor . a bypass capacitor c4 connected to the ic timer merely bypasses spikes to ground . also shown in fig2 is a binary counter module 16 and its associated circuitry . the counter comprises integrated circuits ic2a and ic2b which are dual jk flip flops connected as a sequential counter . integrated circuit ic 3d is a nand gate and detects the counters inherent &# 34 ; 4th sequence &# 34 ;, causing a reset , so the counter only counts to three . the binary to decimal decoder 18 and its associated circuitry are shown in detail in fig2 as follows : the decoder comprises ic3 which is a quad nand gate integrated circuit having gates a , b , c and d . gate a detects counter output 00 which causes gate a output to go low . gate b detects 01 from the counter causing gate b output to go low . gate c detects 10 from the counter causing gate c output to go low . gate d detects 11 from the counter immediately causing a counter reset to 00 thus the counter counts to only three as discussed above . the dual xnor ( exclusive nor ) section 20 and its associated circuitry are shown in fig2 as follows . the xnor function is performed by diodes d5 , d6 , d7 and d8 , the outputs of which are fed to a dual optocoupler section with the following effect : a low output from 1c gate 3a forward biases d5 which turns on the led of optocoupler oc1 . likewise , a low output from 1c gate 3b forward biases d6 which turns on the led of optocoupler oc2 . further a low output from 1c gate 3c forward biases d7 and d8 which then turns on both leds of optocouplers oc1 and oc2 . the dual optocouplers and the associated circuitry is shown in fig2 as follows : the optocouplers oc1 and oc2 are silicon controlled rectifiers ( scrs ) triggered by light emitting diodes . resistors r5 and r6 limit the current to the input of leds of the ocs . diodes d9 and d10 further limit this current when s2 is activated to eliminate the decorative leds dark time . the appropriate voltage is fed to the scr sections of the optocouplers to control the decorative lights . referring now to fig3 of the drawings there is shown a table depicting the operating scenario of the electronic flasher to produce the tri - color effect of a string of decorative leds . for example , when the clock 14 is performing cycle 1 , the binary counter 16 outputs code &# 34 ; 00 &# 34 ; causing the dual - color ( red / yellow ) leds to emit the color red . the binary counter 16 outputs are processed by the intervening binary - to - decimal decoder 18 and the dual xnor 20 . as will be understood by those skilled in the art , the clock cycles from cycle 1 to cycle 6 to emit the various wave - form outputs to cause the string of decorative leds to emit the various colors as shown in the scenerio table . obviously many modifications and variations of the instant invention are possible in light of the above teachings . for example , the user accessible controls may vary the rate of flash and off - time of the flashes . it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described . | 7 |
fig1 shows a package plant , indicated generally at 10 according to the present invention . the package plant includes a water inlet 12 , a disinfection section 14 , an upflow roughing filter 16 and a slow sand filter 18 leading to an outflow 20 . each of these elements is described in more detail below . the water inlet 12 can be connected to any raw water source , such as surface water from a stream , lake or other surface water source or from a ground water supply that requires filtration . raw water sources can vary widely in the degree of treatment required to yield potable water . qualities such as turbidity , discolouration , and the specific type and degree of contamination can vary widely . the present invention is directed to the overall structure and maintenance techniques for a package water plant . the particular process conditions however , will have to be tailored for each particular water source , and may even need to be varied to accommodate seasonal changes in raw water quality . it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention comprehends a range of process conditions which may be used to purify a range of raw water quality . typically such process conditions will be established by due examination and testing of the raw water qualities . the raw water is pumped in and then passes through a venturi 22 . as the water speeds through the venturi 22 a low pressure is created , drawing in ozone from an ozonator 24 . to improve disinfection , the ozone is permitted to diffuse and mix with the raw water in a vertical contact column 26 . from there the water is fed into a splitter box 28 . a pump , not shown , is provided to power the raw water past the venturi 22 and up the contact column 26 . although reference has been made to a venturi injector 22 , an ozone generator 24 , and an ozone contact column 26 , it will be understood that the present invention comprehends all forms of pre - ozonation which can be used to treat raw water . a venturi based system is preferred due to its simplicity of operation however a compressor and oxygen feed type system might also be used . the venturi 22 has the beneficial effect of automatically regulating the amount of ozone used . the faster the flow of raw water , the greater the low pressure and the more ozone will be drawn in . conversely for slower flows , less ozone is needed and also less is drawn in through the venturi 22 . the contact column 26 is a known device which may be purchased from a third party supplier such as fabricated plastics . the purpose of the contact column is to permit the ozone to be fully mixed with the flow of water to promote good disinfection results . the contact column 26 may include baffles ( not shown ) and the like to promote turbulent flow and good mixing of the ozone with the water . typically provision will be made in the contact column 26 to vent excess ozone before the water is released from the contact column . a vent 27 is shown in fig1 . the ozone removed can be safely vented , or re - converted to oxygen . once the free ozone has been removed the next step is to allow the water to flow into a splitter box 28 . the purpose of the splitter box 28 is simply to let the water be divided into two or more streams through parallel sets of package plants . thus , the ozonator 24 is set to provide enough disinfection having regard to the raw water quality and the flow rate of the raw water . to a certain extent , the venturi 22 design can accommodate a variable flow rate automatically , as noted above . it can now be understood that the balance of the package plant will be sized to accommodate certain predetermined flow rates ( to achieve desired residence times ) to operate efficiently . in the event that the demand for potable water exceeds the plant capacity , then plant capacity may be simply increased by adding extra parallel treatment modules and splitting the flow through the splitter box 28 , through two or more parallel treatment facilities . in this way the through put volume can be increased without changing treatment quality . thus , it can now be appreciated that the present invention comprehends a scalable package plant which can have its through put capacity increased simply by adding parallel treatment modules . the next step is to pass the raw but ozonated water through an up flow roughing filter 16 . good results have been achieved with an up flow filter having three layers , namely , a first layer 30 which is comprised of larger granular material , a second layer 32 having slightly smaller granular material and a third layer 34 having the finest granular material . it will be noted that the roughing filter 16 and the slow sand filter 18 are both contained within a common tank 36 , as will be explained in more detail below . the common tank may for example extend 70 cm above the top of the roughing filter 16 . reasonable results have been achieved with the thickness of the lower layer being 15 cm , and the middle layer also being 15 cm . a space above the outlet 29 can also be provided , which is preferably about 30 cm in height . the upper layer of the roughing filter can be about 40 cm thick . the roughing filter removes particulates from the water without coagulant chemicals . it is preferred to use a course granular material of 8 to 12 mm size in the bottom stage , to separate the granular material from the under drains , followed by a middle layer of between 2 . 5 and 3 . 5 mm sized granules , followed by a third or upper layer with even finer granules of about 0 . 8 to 1 . 2 mms . the bottom and middle layers of the roughing filter are for the physical separation and trapping of water born particulates . thus , the bottom and middle layers can be made from any suitable material , such as aggregate , providing the pore spaces are of an adequate size . further , while the present invention is shown having two layers of aggregate , more layers could be used if desired . in such a case the gradation of the pore sizes between the layers would permit a removal of even finer particulates prior to the raw water reaching the upper layer . the upper layer is most preferably formed from an activated carbon layer . activated carbon is desirable for several reasons . firstly , it will remove suspended solids through physical straining , it will fluidize more readily during washing due to its lower specific gravity , it will support biological growth due to its porous structure , and thereby contribute to the removal of byproducts of ozonation , and it will chemically react with ozone or chlorine residuals removing them so that the downstream biological processes are not impaired . as can now be understood , the activated carbon filter layer is positioned upstream of the slow sand filter . the slow sand filter is effective in large measure due to the growth of a biomass on the filter grains . disinfection components can damage or even destroy such a biomass , leading to a loss of purification function . the present invention therefore provides in a single package plant both a disinfection step and a biomass purification step in which the biomass is protected from the upstream disinfection effects . as can be seen the roughing filter is contained in a inner vessel 40 contained within the common tank 36 . adjacent to the top of the inner vessel 40 is a wash trough 42 , surmounted by a baffle plate 44 . a filter weir is formed at 43 . at the opposite side of the common tank 36 is provided a second wash trough 50 . the wash troughs 42 , 50 are used in the simplified maintenance procedures of the present invention which are explained in more detail below . after passing through the activated carbon filter layer the water enters common tank 36 . the common tank may provide for a top liquid level of up to 60 cm above the level of the roughing filter . once in the common tank 36 the speed of the water is slowed considerably , due to the increase in the cross sectional area of flow from the up flow roughing filter as compared to the down flow sand filter . this permits the water to interact with the biomass of the slow sand filter in a known manner to permit the purification of the water . drains 60 are provided below the slow sand filter where the treated potable water is removed . good results have been obtained through using a four media slow sand filter . media 1 is preferably 0 . 25 to 0 . 5 mm and extends down about 60 cm . media 2 and 3 may be made from 0 . 8 to 1 . 2 and 2 . 5 to 3 . 5 mm respectively sized gravel and may together extend for 10 cm each for a total of about 20 cm . lastly , media 4 may be made from 8 . 0 to 12 mm gravel and extend 20 cm . the drain 60 may be for example in the form of a perforated under drain . although four types of media are shown and provide good results , more or fewer could also be used . also , while particular sizes of media are taught herein , these too can be varied , without departing from the scope of this invention . the slow sand filter works through a combination of physical straining and biological treatment to remove turbidity , bacteria , viruses , giardia cysts , and cryptosporidium oocysts . it will be noted that from the top of the ozone contact column to the potable water output is a gravity feed flow path . thus , the present invention is fairly efficient in terms of its energy demands . having described the position and function of the elements , the improved maintenance procedures of the present invention can now be comprehended . as shown in the fig1 , the inner vessel 40 includes an upwardly extending lip at 41 to form weir 43 . the lip extends a distance d above the level of the activated carbon layer . d is a predetermined distance as explained below . good results have been obtained where d is 30 cm . after a certain operation time , the plant of the present invention will need to be taken off line , for maintenance . the exact amount of time permitted between maintenance events will vary , depending upon the properties of the raw water being treated and process conditions . however , over time the pore spaces in the roughing filter will become clogged up and the activated carbon filter may become fouled and lose its effectiveness . also the slow sand filter biomass may become too overgrown and need to be reduced . this will be indicated by an increase in the head of water in the common tank above the slow sand filter . the present invention thus comprehends periodic maintenance of the plant performed by simply washing the components of the package plant . during such periodic plant maintenance , the following procedure is followed . firstly , the water being pumped into the plant is stopped , so that the flow through the plant stops . then the water in the common tank needs to be drained . in a first drainage step , the water is drained down through the roughing filter . it is preferred to do this rapidly , over a 5 to 10 minute period , to facilitate flushing the roughing filter . as will now be understood this drainage step will cause the flow through the filter to be in a reverse direction to its normal flow direction . this will have the effect of removing most of the particles which may be stuck in the pore spaces of the lower and middle filter layers and held in place by the flow of water . what has been discovered is that such a reverse flush is not sufficient to clean the activated carbon layer . this is due to two factors . firstly the flow volume is not enough to dislodge the particles from the smaller pore spaces and secondly , there are likely various forms of growth occurring in the filter which are securely attached to the filter particles . thus , a different technique is required . the present invention provides for pumps to be connected to the lower drain of the roughing filter . thus , a strong flow of water with a velocity of approximately 35 m / hr can be forced upwardly through the roughing filter for a period of 5 to 10 minutes . one of the advantages of activated carbon is that it has a low specific gravity in the range of 1 . 2 to 1 . 6 ( saturated ). this facilitates agitative washing during the strong washing flow . thus , the present invention comprehends making the height of d equal to the height the activated carbon layer will reach during the agitative washing step . in this way the individual grains are tumbled and the trapped particles are released . as well , such aggressive washing has been found useful to dislodge growths from the filter grains . during the washing step the washed out detritus or other material will tend to be pushed to the top of the inner vessel . then , it is expelled over the weir 43 into the washing trough 42 . thus , it can now be appreciated that the baffle 44 prevents such unwanted material from falling into the common tank 36 onto the slow sand filter 18 and instead directs it into the wash trough 42 . the wash trough 42 in turn is drained outside of the plant where the removed material can be safely disposed of . as a result of the agitative washing step the activated carbon filter is cleaned , and no worker or operator was required to enter the tank to remove or replace the same . if some filter material is lost , it may be necessary to top up the same , but if the weir 43 is appropriately positioned this is not too likely to be necessary . the next step is simply to wash down the slow sand filter . once the water head in the common tank is drained to the level of the roughing filter , the top level or surface of the slow sand filter can be washed . thus , it is preferred to position the wash trough weir at about the same level as the top of the slow sand filter . it has been found that adequate results have been obtained by using a hose to spray the upper surface of the sand , which causes the biomass over growth to separate from and be washed along the surface towards the other wash trough 50 . in this manner the sand filter can also be refreshed to permit higher flow rates to be achieved . if desired , manual scrapers can be used to facilitate the process . fig2 shows the same elements as fig1 , from a top perspective . thus , in fig2 the raw water inlet 12 , the ozonator 24 and the contact column 26 are shown . the splitter box 28 is shown , with a weir 80 , and a baffle 82 . as can now be appreciated , simply by placing one or more baffles 82 at appropriate positions , the flow of water can be diverted into two or more parallel paths . thus , the splitter box is only required where multiple parallel paths are used . following the splitter box , the water is directed up through the roughing filter 16 and down through the slow sand filter 18 . wash water waste discharges 84 and 86 are also shown . it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while reference has been made to a preferred embodiment of the present invention above , various modifications and alterations can be made without departing from the broad spirit of the appended claims . for example , the specific media sizes and depths can be varied somewhat , without altering performance too much , and will be described in some cases depending upon the nature of the raw water source . as well , various disinfection methods could be used , provided that the slow sand biomass is protected from disinfection residuals chemically active media . | 2 |
the dispenser 1 comprises two units 2 , 3 . they are moved axially relative to each other for discharge actuation and for effecting the discharging pressure of the medium . thereby a third unit 4 is moved transverse to units 2 , 3 along a circular arc . unit 2 comprises a sleeve - shaped base body 5 . the base body of unit 3 is an actuator formed by an actuating shaft or ram 6 . a reservoir or flask 7 and the housing of a discharge unit , such as a pump 8 or a thrust piston pump is included in unit 2 which is dimensionally rigid . an exit head 9 located at the downstream base end of body 5 facing away from flask 7 is included in unit 3 . when made as a single - use pump without return stroke the reservoir may be formed by the pump or unit casing and totally emptied by a stroke oriented in but a sole direction . all parts of units 2 , 3 are located in a common central axis 10 , relative to which unit 4 is arranged partly eccentric . the medium flows through the dispenser 1 substantially parallel to axis 10 in downstream direction 12 to the free end of head 9 or downstream . head 9 is retracted in the opposite or stroke direction 13 when actuated relative to unit 2 and body 5 . unit 4 forms a handle 15 shown in the rest position in fig1 and 2 . for actuation , the handle 15 is pivoted about a pivot axis 11 and caused to approach body 5 at an acute angle to the rear in actuating direction 14 . axis 11 is located within body 5 at right angles transverse to axis 10 on the side thereof which faces away from handle 15 . unit 4 comprises a driver 16 freely protruding from the inside of dish - shaped handle 15 , inserted radially in body 5 and made in one part with unit 4 and handle 15 . a counter cam or member 17 for driver 16 is provided on ram 6 . thus the pivot motion of driver 16 results in motion of unit 3 in direction 13 . one - part body 5 comprises a wall or jacket 18 . within jacket 18 body 5 includes an end wall 19 which is spaced from and located between the base ends of jacket 18 , namely between the upstream and downstream base ends . wall 19 is located nearer to the downstream base end 111 than to the upstream base end 112 of body 5 and cross - sectionally projects toward axis 10 . thus body 5 forms a cap in which a part of flask 7 , pump 8 and members 16 , 17 are located . driver 16 is located directly adjacent to the inner side of wall 19 . the linear member 17 connects upstream to driver 16 . pump 8 and flask 7 connect downstream to member 16 , 17 . pump 8 extends by its major casing length into flask 7 defining a central reservoir axis which is parallel to respective coaxial with axis 10 . the free end face of the downstream head 101 end of head 9 is traversed by a medium exit 20 , namely a nozzle orifice having a diameter of less than half a millimeter about a nozzle axis . exit 20 is formed by the outer end of a straight nozzle duct 201 which is widened as a funnel in direction 13 . this duct 201 traverses end wall 22 which connects to a shell wall 21 in one part and only in direction 13 . walls 21 , 22 commonly provide a head casing . the medium leaves exit 20 as an atomized conical jet 300 . head 9 is tapered in direction 12 . head 9 is suitable for being introduced into a body opening like a humans nostril . then the slimmer end section which has a diameter of less than 7 mm , protrudes into the nostril and the connecting wider section closes off the nostril . during actuation exit 20 is retracted in the nostril and relative to unit 2 . thus the nostril closure by the wider section of shell 21 is opened and the medium distributed over a major length of the nasal duct . pump 8 comprises a two - part unit casing 23 . a duct or riser tube 24 extends from the upstream end of casing 23 to the bottom of flask 7 . an inlet or ball valve 25 connects downstream to riser tube 24 . valve 25 closes and opens tube 24 with respect to a pressure space or chamber 26 pressure - dependently . opposite to valve 25 the chamber 26 is bounded by a piston unit 27 or the plunger respective piston 28 thereof . piston 28 includes a piston sleeve . unit 27 or ram 6 comprises in addition to the sleeve - shaped piston 28 a shaft part or piston core 29 which entirely traverses piston 28 . casing 23 includes upstream and downstream casing sections to thus consist of a longer casing jacket or shell 30 and a shorter cap - shaped closure or cover 31 which includes an internal jacket and is fixedly connected to the downstream casing section or end of shell 30 by a snap connector . piston 28 slides on the inner circumferential face of shell 30 . on this circumference the movable valve element of valve 25 comes into contact . at its downstream end piston 28 comprises an elastically compressible piston neck 121 with an inner circumferential face . piston 28 and core 29 commonly provide a self - closing outlet valve 32 . valve 32 opens at a predetermined pressure in chamber 26 or by piston 28 abutting on an inner shoulder of shell 30 at the end of the actuating stroke . an internal jacket of cover 31 , which protrudes into shell 30 in direction 13 , forms with piston 28 , a valve 33 for venting flask 7 . the inner circumferential face of piston 28 forms the movable closing face of valve 32 . the outer circumferential face of piston 28 forms the movable closing face of valve 33 . in its initial or rest position valve 33 is sealingly closed while opening with the start of the piston stroke . shell 30 is traversed by three apertures or venting ports 34 which are equally distributed about the circumference and connect to cover 31 . chamber 26 is permanently sealed off relative to ports 34 . ports 34 are located in the same axial section as valves 32 , 33 . ram 6 traverses cover 31 so that air is able to flow along its outer circumference from outside of the dispenser 1 up to valve 33 . with valve 33 opened air then flows through ports 34 as well as along the outside of shell 30 into flask 7 . when an overpressure exists in flask 7 this air is also able to flow out in the counter direction . on the one - part cover 31 casing 23 comprises an outwardly protruding annular flange 35 at a casing transition between the upstream and downstream casing sections . pump 8 is supported and tensioned against an end face of a neck 37 of flask 7 with an interposed ring or member 36 . neck 37 adjoins the flask belly 38 via an annular flask shoulder against which the upstream base end of jacket 18 may be tensioned . at this end , body 5 comprises a flask connector including a female thread which mates with the male thread of neck 37 and tensions pump 8 . annular member 36 comprises , between flange 35 and neck 37 , an annular flange and a shell which protrudes exclusively in direction 13 from this annular flange . the shell radially spacedly surrounds ports 34 or shell 30 . for centering shell 30 , the member 36 comprises ribs which protrude beyond its inner circumference and directly connect to both the upstream casing section and the ring . on its inner circumferential face 62 of the jacket 18 includes at least six , eight or ten axial longitudinal ribs 39 providing a rib structure . ribs 39 are circumferentially uniformly distributed . ribs 39 correspondingly center cover 31 downstream of flange 35 . the upstream ends of ribs 39 are axially tensioned against flange 35 . end wall 19 projects radially inwardly over ribs 39 . over its full length the outer diameter of belly 38 is the same as the outer diameter of jacket 18 . belly 38 may consist of a transparent material or comprise a window to permanently enable visual control of the medium level from outside . as evident from fig2 the largest width of unit 4 and of handle 15 is maximally as large as the diameter of jacket 18 . the widest portion of handle 15 extends over an angle of more than 100 ° and less than 180 ° about axis 10 , particularly an angle of 125 °. flask 7 may be removed without destruction from body 5 and replenished with medium . ram 6 is assembled of a plurality of five shaft parts 29 , 40 to 43 which chain longitudinally and are interconnected by axial plug connections . these shaft parts or shaft sections may also be commonly made in one part . for example , shaft parts 41 to 43 plus a shaft section 44 and / or shaft parts 40 , 42 , 43 are in one part . shaft part or piston core 29 forms the upstream shaft end of ram 6 . to the stem of core 29 , which protrudes downstream over piston 28 , a shaft part 41 connects , which has the same length as core 29 and in the interior of which the core shaft is plugged in . the reduced downstream stem section of part 41 is plugged into the interior of longer shaft part 40 . the downstream end of part 40 overlaps the outside of the shortest shaft part 42 . part 42 engages the interior of the next , longest shaft part 43 . thus the mutually facing ends of both shaft part 40 , 43 are directly juxtaposed . when in one part the outer width of ram 6 is continuously reduced in direction 12 and not increased . fig4 shows an enlarged view of a particular portion ( i . e ., portion a as labeled in fig1 ) of the exit head 9 . the downstream end 203 of part 43 forms section 44 which is a core body or nozzle core for a nozzle cap including walls 21 , 22 . the end or core face of section 44 contacts a shoulder 204 provided by the inside of end wall 22 , possibly axially tensioned . this shoulder envelopes the upstream end 205 of the nozzle duct 201 , which is end covered by section 44 . part 43 with section 44 forms the downstream shaft end . the length of section 44 is at the most as large as its diameter which may conically taper by a few degrees in direction 12 or 13 . in direction 13 the section 44 connects to a widened shaft section 45 . in direction 13 a further widened section 46 connects to section 45 . an again widened socket ( not shown in fig3 ) connects to section 46 and receives part 42 . the transition between sections 44 , 45 is formed by an end face or flat annular core shoulder 47 to which section 45 connects via a section or cone 48 constricted at an acute angle in direction 12 . shoulder 47 projects radially outwardly at the outer circumference of section 44 . all cited part sections of part 43 are commonly in one part . part 43 is traversed by a core or outlet duct 49 which in fig3 is rectangular and flat . the narrow sides of duct 49 are concavely curved about axis 10 . the cross - sectional length of duct 49 is at least twice as large as its cross - sectional width or half thereof . furthermore , the cross - sectional length is at least as large as the outer diameter of section 44 . thus duct 49 emerges at the shoulder 47 only in the vicinity of its narrow sides . in shoulder 47 the duct 49 forms graduated annular ports 50 . ports 50 are curved about axis 10 and oppose each other on both sides of axis 10 . duct 49 also emerges over the same or smaller width at the outer circumference of section 44 with ports 51 which face away from each other . thus in each case two ports 50 , 51 are interconnected at an angle . duct 49 and ports 51 extend up to an inside of an end wall 52 of section 44 . this inside is remote from shoulder 47 . the thickness of wall 52 is smaller than the outer diameter of section 44 or half thereof . the outer diameter of section 44 is smaller than 4 mm or 3 mm . as viewed in fig1 the port 51 may be constricted in width at an acute angle in direction 13 . if in production of part 43 the duct 49 is injection molded with a mold core or mandrel the shape of port 51 is achieved alone from the conicity of section 44 . the mold core simultaneously forms ports 50 , 51 and the inside of wall 52 . wall 52 is connected to section 45 , 48 only via two mutually opposing legs separated by ports 51 . these legs bulge radially outwards when axially tensioned and can thereby be sealingly pressed against the inner circumference of wall 21 . each of section 45 , cone 48 , and a section transition 56 is circumferentially and over its entire length in sealing and full contact with the inner circumference of wall 21 . section 46 is at least twice as long as each of section 45 , cone 48 and section 56 . section 46 is entirely without contact inside of wall 21 . core 29 and parts 41 , 40 , 42 , 43 are connected to each other resistant to tensile stress , for example , by bonding , welding or snap connectors . except for core 29 all of these shaft parts are internally traversed by continuations of duct 49 or by central longitudinal bores . to the downstream end of port 51 and to the outer circumference of section 44 a shallow depression or longitudinal respective axial groove 53 of same width connects . groove 53 in the outer circumference of section 44 is sealingly covered at its open side by the inner circumference of wall 21 . thus groove 53 and part 40 commonly form a shallow subduct having the same cross - sections as port 50 . this shallow duct is traversed by port 51 at its associated flat side and at its upstream end 202 . port 51 extends up to wall 52 . the named flat side is traversed by a transverse duct or port 54 downstream of port 51 . port 54 is formed by a groove in the outside of wall 52 which subdivides two grooves 53 providing subducts . the open groove side of this groove is sealingly covered by the inside of wall 22 . port 54 has significantly smaller flow cross - sections than ports 50 , 51 and groove 53 . port 54 issues into a widened chamber 55 towards axis 10 . chamber 55 is formed by a circular depression in the outside of wall 52 . chamber 55 has the same diameter as the inner end of the nozzle duct 201 . this end is widened and directly connects to chamber 55 which is coaxial with the nozzle duct 201 . ports 54 issue tangentially into chamber 55 in opposing directions and laterally offset from each other . thus medium flow is caused to swirl and to rotatingly pass the nozzle duct 201 . at an upstream head end , the wall 21 and the head 9 comprise one or more cams 57 or annular beads which protrude beyond its outer circumference . cam 57 centers and sealingly guides head 9 at an inner circumference of unit 2 . body 5 comprises two intermeshed or nested jackets respective shell walls 58 , 59 at its downstream end . walls 58 , 59 are mutually radially spaced and protrude from wall 19 in direction 12 . inner wall 58 protrudes further than outer wall 59 . the outer circumference of wall 59 forms a smooth continuation of the constant outer circumference of wall 18 . a sleeve - shaped member 60 is inserted in wall 18 . a sleeve - shaped member 60 is inserted in wall 58 and includes the downstream base end . member 60 may also be in one part with body 5 . member 60 axially abuts on wall 58 in direction 13 . member 60 protrudes beyond wall 58 in direction 12 by a sleeve section which is open around axis 10 . cam 57 sealingly slides on the inner circumference of this sleeve section . thus member 60 telescopically displaceably engages cam 57 . the shaft parts 40 , 43 may be supported against radial motions within wall 58 or on the inner circumference of member 60 . member 60 is secured to wall 58 by a press fit . wall 21 is permanently spaced from unit 4 or handle 15 in direction 12 . axis 11 is defined by a location or bearing 61 or a knife - edge suspension . the knife edge is formed by an acutely angled corner zone of driver 16 . the rectangularly flanked bearing reception or cup is formed by the inside of wall 19 and the length edge of a rib connecting to wall 19 . the spacing between axes 10 , 11 is slightly less than the radius of the curved inner circumferential face 62 of shell 18 from which ribs 39 emanate . the rib height of the bearing cup is smaller than the height of ribs 39 . the ribs of the cup are significantly shorter than ribs 39 and directly connect to both sides of one of ribs 39 . ribs 39 permanently engage inside a guide groove 65 of driver 16 . for this purpose driver 16 comprises a projection 64 at its end which is remote from handle 15 . the width of projection 64 is reduced relative to driver 16 ( fig2 ). projection 64 includes groove 65 . the widened section of driver 16 comprises a passage for ram 6 or part 40 . this passage is located between projection 64 and handle 15 . ram 6 and part 40 are inserted into body 5 and unit 4 in direction 12 , like units 7 , 8 are . sleeve - shaped or first shaft part 40 is in one part with counter members 17 . members 17 protrude beyond the outer circumference of part 40 at two remote sides and form a crossbeam . in view of fig1 members 17 do not protrude beyond the outer circumference of part 40 . members 17 are located nearer to the upstream end than to the downstream end of part 40 . at its ends the crossbeam comprises shaft members or slide cams 66 which protrude in direction 12 and which are narrower than the crossbeam . each cam 66 and thus ram 6 is guided and prevented from rotation by being displaceably received in a slide groove located between two juxtaposed ribs 39 . each cam 66 of ram 6 externally spacedly and laterally overlaps driver 16 . slide cams 66 and the slide groove provide slide members separate from the second shaft part 41 to 44 . member 17 forms a straight edge or slide face between cam 66 and the opposite outer circumference of part 40 . the web - shaped driver face or drive cam 74 of driver 16 permanently supports against this edge with pressure and between axis 10 and handle 15 within jacket 18 . motion of handle 15 in direction 14 thus results immediately in motion of unit 3 in direction 13 . ram 6 , head 9 and unit 27 are included in unit 3 . unit 4 is in one part . in the rest position part 40 extends from cover 31 through driver 16 up into wall 58 . thus part 40 protrudes beyond unit 4 in direction 12 . counter faces of members 17 are formed by two edges of the crossbeam . these edges are rounded and mutually aligned . the counter faces of members 17 are located radially within cam 66 and on both sides of part 40 . within driver 16 the ram 6 defines inner and outer circumferential sections remote from pivot axis 11 . drive cam 74 is located radially outside these sections . handle 15 is curved about axis 10 to form a tray . the width of handle 15 increases in direction 13 over its major length and then decreases again . thus side wings or tray legs are formed between the handles ends . the wings are less thick than 1 mm . while laying the wings against the outer circumference 63 of jacket 18 these wings are resiliently spread . thus the width of handle 15 increases . the wing thickness increases towards the middle of the width of handle 15 . thus the handle 15 is dimensionally stiff in its median zone including the driver 16 emanating therefrom . this median zone includes a reinforcement or wall thickening 67 which provides a counter face , adjoins the driver 16 upstream and reinforces both handle 15 and driver 16 . also a projection or jut 68 of unit 4 may be tray - shaped and resiliently widenable . jut 68 protrudes beyond driver 16 in direction 12 . jut 68 permanently tightly envelopes the outer circumference 63 over an arc angle which is smaller than that of the wings or maximally 100 °. jut 68 includes on its inside and downstream end a protruding cam 69 . cam 69 is in contact with the end face of wall 59 in the initial position . wall 59 and cam 69 have the same radial spacing from wall 58 . in this zone a cutout or depression 75 is provided in the end face of wall 59 ( fig2 ). the inclined end section of jut 68 including cam 69 engages inside depression 75 . in the initial position unit 4 is positionally locked by cam 69 providing a snap connector . this non - positive or frictional locking can only be overcome with a snap effect or audible click by applying a corresponding high actuating force . jacket 18 is traversed by an aperture or a rectangular window 70 providing a port and extending only up to the inside of wall 19 . driver 16 is inserted into window 70 radially and transverse to axis 10 . from the upstream transverse bound of window 70 and at the outer circumference 63 extends a surface 71 which is planar and inclined away from axis 10 in direction 13 . the complementary inclined surface of thickening 67 may be brought fully into contact with surface 71 when handle 15 is in the actuated end position . handle 15 covers window 70 permanently completely . for this window 70 and driver 16 have the same width but are significantly narrower than handle 15 . window 70 extends about axis 10 over an arc angle of less than 90 °. circumference 63 is provided with an actuating counter face , depression or scallop 72 on its side facing away from handle 15 . scallop 72 extends over an arc angle of more than 1000 and less than 120 °. the scallop depth increases more inclined at the depressions downstream end than at the upstream end . the users thumb or index finger finds support in this scallop when handle 15 is actuated , according as whether handle 15 is actuated by the thumb or index finger . the inner circumference 62 is also constant in width in the vicinity of scallop 72 . thus in this zone jacket 18 is significantly less thick than 1 mm . scallop 72 bilaterally circumferentially directly connects to circumferential sections of circumference 63 of body 5 . as seen in fig1 and 2 the driver 16 has the shape of a flat plate . in fig1 this plates thickness increases only between axis 10 and handle 15 . ram 6 and part 40 form an actuator which traverses a transition port of passage 73 of driver 16 . passage 73 is an oblong hole which is circumferentially entirely bounded by a transition bound including bound zones . because of being oblong this transition bound is circumferentially varingly spaced from pump 8 . the minor width of passage 73 is located in the cross - sectional plane of fig2 . this width is closely adapted to the corresponding diameter of part 40 with clearance near to zero . the cross - sectional length of passage 73 is located in the cross - sectional plane of fig1 oriented perpendicular to the plane of fig2 . in the rest position the hole end or bound zone remote from handle 15 respective most far away from pivot axis 11 is parallel to axis 10 and the end or bound zone near handle 15 is acutely inclined away from axis 10 in direction 13 . in the vicinity of this latter end the inclined cams 74 located on both sides of passage 73 slide on members 17 with pressing points 401 ( as shown in fig5 which illustrates an enlarged detailed view of the coupling between the driver 16 and the shaft 6 as illustrated in area b of fig1 ). jut 68 forms a tray which is curved about axis 10 and includes an end face 76 . face 76 is inclined to be conically flared in direction 13 . face 76 is located on the radial outside of cam 69 . when cam 69 engages depression 75 then face 76 forms a smooth continuation of the analogous end or inclined surface of wall 59 . a counter member 77 may be axially tensioned in direction 13 against face 76 . member 77 thereby radially resiliently yields slightly . member 77 is annularly continuous about axis 10 and therefore tensioned against the end face of wall 59 in the same way . thus member 77 sealingly closes this end of jacket 18 and unit 4 . a sleeve - shaped member 78 protrudes beyond the tensioning end face of member 77 and into the interior of wall 59 in direction 13 . member 78 has a twin - pitch male thread for mating with the female thread 79 of wall 59 . a rotation of maximum 180 ° or 90 ° is sufficient for screwing member 78 on or off . the inner circumference of member 78 may sealingly contact the outer circumference of wall 58 and member 60 . members 77 , 78 may be in one part with a cover 80 or cover cap fully receiving head 9 , wall 58 and member 60 while sealingly directly closing exit 20 . cover 80 locks unit 4 against actuation without motion play and tensions unit 4 radially toward axis 10 . following removal of cover 80 the handle 15 is actuated by finger pressure in direction 14 , the cam 69 thereby unsnapping . thus ram 6 instantly moves in direction 13 , piston 28 pressurizes the medium which fills chamber 26 entirely . thereby valve 25 is tensioned in its closed position . after an axial stroke of between 2 mm and 3 mm valve 32 opens . then the medium flows between piston 28 and core 29 in direction 12 into the shaft sections . the medium emerges axially as well as radially from ram 6 not before reaching ports 50 , 51 . then the medium is caused to rotate in chamber 55 whereafter it is atomized at the bound edge of exit 20 . in addition to the force of a return spring 81 an increase of the actuating force is effected over the last stroke section , since the wings of handle 15 must be spread on circumference 63 . spring 81 is located within chamber 26 and is permanently supported with axial pretension on core 29 . valve 32 recloses automatically at the stroke end . following its release handle 15 and cams 74 are first lifted off from member 17 by the resilient return action of its wings . simultaneously spring 81 returns unit 3 and also unit 4 to their initial position which is stop limited . thereby valve 25 opens due to evacuation of chamber 26 . thus while valve 32 is closed medium is sucked from flask 7 into chamber 26 via tube 24 . for assembly pump 8 including member 36 may be inserted in direction 12 into body 5 up to abutment . thereby the entire ram 6 can be inserted in the same direction through the passages provided in driver 16 , wall 19 , member 60 and head 9 . the dimensions or the dimensional relationship shown are particularly favorable for use of the dispenser 1 . all components may consist of plastic material or produced as injection molded items . all properties and effects may be provided precisely as described , or merely roughly so or substantially so , but may also deviate therefrom even more so for corresponding applications . except for the wings of handle 15 , piston 28 and spring 81 each of the components or sections thereof as cited is dimensionally rigid in operation . | 1 |
fig1 shows an arrangement in which supporting rods 1 with root end sections 3 are aligned in a circular shape . for this purpose , the root end sections 3 are inserted into a root flange 5 of a circular shape . with reference to fig2 and 3 it can be observed , that the root flange 5 comprises holes 11 into which the root end sections 3 can be introduced to the point of an inner flange 13 inside the holes 11 . this allows the supporting rods 1 to be temporarily held in place during a moulding process . the root flange 5 is part of a supporting tool 9 which comprises a beam structure 7 . this beam structures 7 comprises two vertical beams 7 a which are interconnected by three horizontal beams 7 e , 7 f , 7 g from which there project on the bottom side two support beams 7 b and further upwards a first holding beam 7 c and again further upwards to the upper end of the root flange 5 two more holding beams 7 d . the beam structure 7 therefore provides for a stable construction to which the root flange 5 is attached via the first holding beam 7 c and the second holding beams 7 d . in between the support beams 7 b and the lowest of the supporting rods 1 , there is a gap into which a first moulding tool may be introduced . fig4 shows a root end section 3 of a supporting rod 1 . at a first longitudinal end e 1 the root end section 3 comprises an interface 17 to a hub of a wind turbine , here realized as a bushing the outside surface of which is smooth and non - curved . at its other longitudinal end the root end section 3 comprises a transition area 15 to a main section of the supporting rod 1 ( not shown ). the same can be seen in the section view in fig5 . the root end section 3 comprises several inner parts : firstly a distal root end section 25 is prepared for receiving blade bolts which fasten the rotor blade to for example a pitch bearing member of the hub . this distal root end section 25 has a larger diameter than the blade bolts themselves , i . e . no connection can be made between this section and the bolts . adjacent to the distal root and section 25 there is a threaded intermediate section 27 which is prepared for receiving the blade bolts and , adjacent to that threaded intermediate section 27 there is arranged an inclined section 23 which faces out towards the end of the root end section 3 and which has the function of ensuring that no abrupt transitions are made in this area so that it acts as a kind of stiffness transition or stiffness adaption . on the outside these mentioned elements 23 , 25 , 27 of the root section 3 are wrapped with fibres 21 . these give the root section 3 a curved surface which can easily connect or bond to an injection material of the rotor blade . the curved surface ensures that a secure connection to the cast composite plastic material is obtained an that the root end section 3 and the plastic material cannot slip and slide apart from each other in a longitudinal direction of the supporting rod 1 . as can be seen , the transition area 15 partially covers the fibres 21 and projects further from the root end section 3 into a region of a main section 19 of the supporting rod 1 so that there is a smooth non - interrupted interface . the main section 19 of the supporting rod 1 is thus inserted into the transition area 15 which transition area 15 is simply realized as a hollow metal shaft 15 which may be filled , e . g . with pu foam . whereas the before mentioned inner parts 23 , 25 , 27 , of the root end section 3 are made of steel , which makes them particularly stiff and stable , the main section 19 of the supporting rod 1 is made of aluminium which makes it more lightweight . other possible materials for the main section 19 of the supporting rods include iron , stainless steel , or pvc . fig6 shows in a perspective view a main section 19 of a supporting rod 1 with a second longitudinal end e 2 , i . e . that longitudinal end which is opposite of the first longitudinal end e 1 shown in fig4 and 5 . the main section 19 is made of an aluminium tube which is open towards the second longitudinal end e 2 and the shape of which resembles that of a knife blade . fig7 shows supporting rods 1 and an arrangement as shown in fig1 with some additional details : firstly , the supporting rods 1 are now wrapped by a plastic tube 29 in order to provide for a better connectability to the injection material which will later be injected around the supporting rods 1 , and secondly gaps 33 between the supporting rods 1 can be seen . in one of these gaps fibres 31 have been inserted . these fibres 31 have been supplied in the form of fibre rovings 31 wrapped with a fibre packaging material . the fibre rovings 31 are orientated longitudinally in a first principle main direction d 1 which is parallel to a second main direction d 2 , i . e . a longitudinal axis of a supporting rod 1 ( whereby it is noted that also the supporting rods 1 are all aligned in a parallel way ). these fibre rovings 31 are later to be connected with an injection material such as a resin and then to form a composite which constitutes the main body of the rotor blade or a root section thereof . the arrangement of fig1 with the fibres 31 inserted now constitute a supporting rod holding arrangement 39 according to a first embodiment . in fig8 the supporting rod holding arrangement 39 of fig7 can be seen as it is placed inside the shape of a first moulding tool 35 . in most of the gaps 33 there are now inserted the directed fibre rovings 31 ; before starting the moulding process the rest of the gaps 33 will also be filled with directed fibre rovings 31 . if one now places a second moulding tool into the inside of the supporting rod holding arrangement 39 , for instance a plastic bag which expands to the inner surface of the circular shape of the supporting rods 1 , an injection material can be injected or otherwise be activated in between the two moulding tools . for that purpose , in this case a third moulding tool of the shape of the first moulding tool 35 has to be put above the first moulding tool 35 in the opposite orientation . fig9 shows a second embodiment of a supporting rod holding arrangement 39 with the difference to the one shown in fig8 that it only has a semicircular shape . in addition , in this figure it can also be seen , that a second fibre 37 has been placed onto the inner surface of the supporting rod holding arrangement 39 in the region of the supporting rods 1 so that fibres cover the supporting rods on the inside which is visible here . this provides for an increased strength of the root end to be produced . the same can be done on the other side , i . e . the side of the supporting rods 1 facing towards the first moulding tool 35 . fig1 depicts a rotor blade 41 of a wind turbine according to an embodiment . for the sake of clarity , the expression “ root end ” of the rotor blade 41 is applied here for the complete rotor blade 41 , as the rotor blade 41 is produced in one piece here . the rotor blade 41 comprises a main body 43 made of composite material comprising fibres as well as an injection material which is firmly connected , i . e . bonded , to the fibres . on the left - hand side end of the rotor blade 41 there can be seen two supporting rods 1 which have been moulded into the main body 43 and which are firmly bonded to the main body 43 . only the root end sections 3 project out from the main body 43 so that they can be connected to a wind turbine hub . fig1 shows in a block diagram the principal steps of an embodiment of the method : in a first step a several supporting rods 1 of the kind as shown in fig4 to 6 are assembled along an essentially circular shape such that there are gaps 33 between the supporting rods 1 . then , in a second step b , fibres 31 are introduced into the gaps . these fibres 31 are compatible physically and / or chemically with an injection material , for instance a resin , so that they bond together firmly . in a third step c a first moulding tool 35 is placed along an outer surface of the circular shape and a second moulding tool along an inner surface of the circular shape . in a fourth step d such injection material is treated so that it bonds firmly with the fibres 31 . such treatment can comprise heating , in particular melting and / or injecting the injection material and / or sucking the injection material into the gap between the two moulding tools . although the present invention has been disclosed in the form of preferred embodiments and variations thereon , it will be understood that numerous additional modifications and variations could be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention . as mentioned above , the root end can be produced in one part or in several parts , and the embodiment of the supporting rod is one advantageous example which can however be altered in many ways . for the sake of clarity , it is to be understood that the use of “ a ” or “ an ” throughout this application does not exclude a plurality , and “ comprising ” does not exclude other steps or elements . | 1 |
the invention will next be illustrated with reference to the figures wherein the same numbers indicate similar elements in all figures . such figures are intended to be illustrative rather than limiting and are included herewith to facilitate the explanation of the apparatus of the present invention . for the purposes of this disclosure , like reference numerals in the figures shall refer to like features unless otherwise indicated . depicted in the figures are various aspects of the invention . elements depicted in one figure may be combined with , or substituted for , elements depicted in another figure as desired . referring now to fig1 , there is shown a prior art apparatus ( 101 ) in the introductory configuration ( the unexpanded state ) which is used for the deployment of medical devices ( 104 ) including stents , sheaths , grafts , stent - grafts , vena cava filters , expandable prosthesis and the like , and any combination thereof . the apparatus ( 101 ) comprises a catheter ( 141 ) and an inflation balloon ( 106 ). the balloon ( 106 ) is wrapped around the catheter ( 141 ) in an even manner along its longitudinal axis ( 116 ). fig2 a shows an embodiment of the invention in which an apparatus in the unexpanded state has a deflated balloon ( 6 ) which is wrapped around the catheter ( 41 ). the balloon ( 6 ) has a length along which a longitudinal axis ( 16 ) spans . at least some of the balloon ( 6 ) in its unexpanded state is in the form of one or more wings ( 7 ) having a wingspan , a wrapped state and an unwrapped state . fig5 illustrates a cross - sectional view of the unwrapped state . fig2 a shows that in the wrapped state one or more wings ( 7 ) is folded over a collapsed portion of the balloon ( 6 ). fig2 b and 2c illustrate that the wingspan ( 34 ) is the length of balloon material extending between the wing base ( 31 ) where the wing abuts the collapsed portion ( 8 ) and the edge ( 86 ) of the wing . the wingspan is measured along the wing in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the balloon . the wingspan may be a constant length everywhere along the wing or it may be of a variable length , depending on the shape of the wing . in fig2 a , the balloon has two wings which wrap about the collapsed portion of the balloon and the catheter to differing extents along the length of the wing . as shown in fig2 a - 2c , the portion of the wing at the proximal end ( 2 ) of the balloon wraps about the collapsed portion of the balloon and catheter to a greater extent than the portion of the wing at the distal end ( 29 ) of the balloon . thus , the wrapped portion of the wing subtends arcs of different degree depending upon where the arc is measured along the length of the wing . the proximal end of the wing subtends a greater arc than does the distal end of the wing . the arc is measured based on an angle defined by a first line extending radially outward from the longitudinal axis of the balloon and through the wing base and a second line extending radially outward from the longitudinal axis of the balloon and through the wing tip . for the purposes of this application , an arc can subtend 360 degrees or more if the wing extend one or more revolutions about the collapsed portion of the balloon . fig2 b and 2c illustrate cross sections of fig2 a where the wings subtend different arcs . fig2 b is a more proximal portion of the balloon and fig2 c is a more distal portion of the balloon . in at least one embodiment , wing ( 7 ) provides a surface of the balloon ( 6 ) which extends further outward in a radial direction from the catheter shaft ( 41 ) at the distal end of the balloon than at the proximal end of the balloon , as shown in fig2 a . in at least one embodiment , the wing ( 7 ) bulges radially outward from the catheter shaft at the distal end of the balloon ( 6 ) as compared to the proximal end of the balloon ( 6 ). in fig2 c the more loosely wrapped distal portion of the balloon subtends a lesser arc as compared with the arc of fig2 b . wing ( 7 ) of fig2 c does not extend as much around the collapsed portion ( 8 ) and instead has a longer diameter ( 39 ). in contrast fig2 b shows that the more tightly wrapped wing ( 7 ) of the more proximal section of the balloon subtends a greater angle and does not extend as far in a radially outward direction , as the wing in a distal section of the balloon . in both fig2 b and 2c , the distance between the wing base ( 31 ) and the edge ( 86 ) are equal . the different folding arrangement allows for the formation of a bulge in balloon material which can shield the distal edge of the device from impacting or snagging the body vessels it is tracked through . in at least one embodiment , the angles subtended by the arcs ( 33 ) progressively increase according to a particular pattern between the longer distal diameter ( 39 ) and the shorter proximal diameter ( 38 ). in at least one embodiment , the differences in arcs ( 33 ) are a result of different amounts of torque applied to different portions of the balloon when it is wrapped around the catheter ( 41 ). the most distal end ( 29 ) of the balloon wing ( 7 ) is wrapped with a considerably less amount of torque than the proximal end ( 2 ). fig2 c also illustrates an embodiment in which the distal end of at least one wing ( 7 ) is wrapped such that it spirals along a clockwise path relative to a distal perspective of the catheter shaft ( 41 ). in at least one embodiment illustrated in fig6 and 7 , the distal end of at least one wing ( 7 ) spirals along a counterclockwise path relative to a distal perspective of the catheter shaft ( 41 ). fig3 illustrates a balloon ( 6 ) with a wing ( 7 ) having a proximal end ( 30 ) characterized by an arc which subtends a greater angle than that of the distal end ( 29 ) of the wing with a device ( 4 ) crimped about the balloon ( 6 ). the portion of the balloon ( 6 ) between the proximal and distal ends is the working portion ( 72 ). in at least one embodiment , a medical device ( 4 ) is crimped about at least a portion of the working portion ( 72 ). the crimped device ( 4 ) remains in place while the apparatus ( 1 ) is in its introductory configuration ( unexpanded state ). once the apparatus ( 1 ) positions the device ( 4 ) at the deployment site , the balloon ( 6 ) is filled with fluid and inflates to assume its deployment configuration ( expanded state ) thereby expanding and deploying the device ( 4 ). in at least one embodiment , the apparatus ( 1 ) has a shielding bulge ( 24 ) to protect the distal end ( 11 ) of the device ( 4 ). the shielding bulge ( 24 ) is useful to protect the distal edge ( 11 ) of the device from protuberances projecting from the body vessels the apparatus ( 1 ) travels through . if left unshielded the protruding edge ( 11 ) of the device ( 4 ) can possibly become entangled or ensnarled with such body vessels that it encounters . in addition , because the path the device ( 4 ) travels through the body vessels is not linear , the device ( 4 ) may flex and bend as it travels along a curved path and such bending and flexing may result in the device &# 39 ; s distal end ( 11 ) flaring radially away from the balloon ( 6 ) surface further increasing the likelihood of entanglement or becoming ensnarled . in at least one embodiment , the differential in wrapping the wing ( s ) ( 7 ) enhances the shielding bulge ( 24 ). at the distal end ( 3 ) of the balloon , the wing ( 7 ) is less tightly wrapped ( subtends a lesser arc ) and billows out from under the device ( 4 ) to form a shielding bulge ( 24 ). the more tightly wrapped proximal end ( 2 ) ( where the wing subtends a greater angle ) in contrast is more streamlined . the different wrappings cause the balloon material to compress in a distal direction by the crimped device ( 11 ). this in turn causes the balloon material at the shielding bulge ( 24 ) to curve up from under the device more steeply and extend more radially than would occur in the absence of the differential . as a result , the differential causes a greater bulge ( 24 ) to form from a wing ( 7 ) of uniform wingspan along its length than would otherwise occur in a wing ( 7 ) having no difference in wrapping . this allows for better coverage of the distal end ( 11 ) of the device ( 4 ) with less balloon material . as the apparatus ( 1 ) tracks distally through body vessels , potential impacts between the distal end ( 11 ) of the device ( 4 ) and a body vessel wall are blocked by this shielding bulge ( 24 ), preventing deformation of the device ( 4 ). in at least one embodiment , the most distal portion ( 11 ) of the medical device ( 4 ) is formed out of a column or annular element shaped in an undulating pattern with alternating peaks and troughs . an example of such a medical device is a stent such as that shown in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 348 , 065 . the shielding bulge ( 24 ) prevents the peaks and troughs from becoming hooked or snagged on any protrusions extending from body vessels the apparatus traverses . in at least one embodiment as shown in fig3 , the device ( 4 ) retains a generally cylindrical shape of generally uniform diameter when crimped on the balloon ( 6 ). as shown in fig2 d , in at least one embodiment the device ( 4 ) is tapered when crimped on the balloon . the crimping of the device on the balloon may increase or decrease the tapered shape of the balloon ( 6 ). referring now to fig8 and 9 there is shown an apparatus for folding the balloon to form a shielding bulge . in at least one embodiment , the apparatus described in us published application 2003 / 01633157 a1 ( the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference ) is used to fold the balloon wings to form a shielding bulge . in at least one embodiment as shown in fig8 , the apparatus utilizes an adapted impinging member ( 114 ) having a line or blade ( 210 ) extending between blade holders ( 212 a , 212 b ) of different lengths ( 211 a , 211 b ). the length difference between the longer blade holder ( 211 a ) and the shorter blade holder ( 211 b ) causes the blade ( 210 ) to extend along an axis ( 213 ) which is at a non - zero angle ( 215 ) relative to the axis ( 214 ) of the impinging member ( 114 ) as a whole . when the blade ( 210 ) presses the balloon material , the angled blade causes balloon material nearer to the longer blade holder ( 212 a ) to be displaced more , and causes balloon material closer to the shorter blade holder ( 212 b ) to be displaced less . during at least some operations of the folding process , the wing portions which are subject to greater displacement wind further and more tightly about the balloon more tightly than those portions of the wing which are subject to lesser displacements . the angle of the blade may be selected so that the blade applies a gradually increasing degree of displacement from the proximal end to the distal end of a wing , proportional to the difference in fold tightness desired in the folded balloon . fig9 shows a number of such adapted impinging members ( 114 ) positioned together in the configuration they would assume when cooperatively folding a balloon . referring now to fig4 - 7 there are shown steps in a method of constructing the apparatus ( 1 ). in a first step , as shown in fig4 , a balloon ( 6 ) is sealingly engaged to catheter ( 41 ) and is inflated to an expanded state by the introduction of fluid . fig5 and 6 show the deflated balloon ( 6 ) with wings ( 7 ) which extend from a wing base ( 31 ) adjacent to the collapsed portion ( 8 ) to the wingtip ( 32 ). the wings ( 7 ) each have two sides ( 5 a , 5 b ) which when deflated abut each other . the collapsed portion ( 8 ) is that portion of the balloon ( 6 ) which upon deflation surrounds the catheter ( 41 ) and may be positioned in direct contact with the catheter . fig6 and 7 shows the wings ( 7 ) of the deflated balloon ( 6 ) wrapped around the collapsed portion ( 8 ) to form a folded configuration . in the pleated configuration , the balloon wings ( 7 ) are positioned against the collapsed portions ( 8 ). other devices such as those utilizing pleating elements as described in published us application 2002 / 0163104a1 and u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 053 , 007 , 5 , 147 , 302 , and 5 , 342 , 307 all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety can also be used as according to the following modifications to fold the inventive balloon configuration . a pleating device comprising one or more serially positioned pleating elements is positioned along the balloon &# 39 ; s length . each pleating element is positioned adjacent to and grasps a particular region of the wing along the length of the wing and folds that region about the collapsed portion . the proximal most pleating element wraps the proximal most region of the wing to form the tightest arc about the collapsed portion of the balloon by applying more pleating torque to the proximal most region of the wing than any other element applies to any other region . the distal most pleating element wraps the distal most region of the wing to form the loosest arc about the collapsed portion by applying less pleating torque to the distal most region of the wing than to any other region . contemplated embodiments include balloons in which the region having the loosest arc is not the most distal region of the wing and in which the region having the tightest arc is not the most proximal region of the wing . in at least one embodiment , the pleating device utilizes one pleating element on more than one of the regions of a wing ( 7 ). in this embodiment , the pleating element first grasps a portion of the wing and pleats it with a given amount of pleating torque , and then increases or decreases the amount of pleating torque as it moves along the wing in a distal or proximal direction . in at least one embodiment , the torque of the pleating force causes the wings to form arcs of decreasing angular extent from the distal ( 3 ) to the proximal ( 2 ) ends according to a linearly proportional amount resulting in a more loosely wrapped distal end ( 3 ) than proximal end ( 2 ). in at least one embodiment , the balloon is wrapped so as to have a generally linear taper in the extent to which the balloon bulges radially outward . in at least one embodiment , the torque of the pleating force holding the regions in their particular arcs decreases exponentially from the distal ( 3 ) to the proximal ( 2 ) ends resulting in a much more loosely wrapped distal end ( 3 ) than proximal end ( 2 ) and a generally arced taper extending along the wrapped balloon ( 6 ). a tapered unexpanded device can be crimped over this tapering balloon ( 6 ). in at least one embodiment , the pleating force applied to one or more regions of the wing will include a longitudinal component . typically , a tighter arc will be achieved where less longitudinal force is applied and a wider arc will be achieved where more longitudinal force is applied . fig2 d illustrates at least one embodiment of a catheter ( 41 ) having an uneven folded wing configuration further comprising one or more ports ( 70 a , 70 b ). the catheter ( 41 ) has an outer tubular member ( 42 ) through which a portion of an inner tubular member ( 14 ) extends . the inflation balloon ( 6 ) is sealingly engaged at its distal end ( 29 ) to a portion of the catheter ( 41 ) and at its proximal end ( 2 ) to the outer tubular member ( 42 ). in at least one embodiment the distal end ( 29 ) of the balloon ( 6 ) is engaged to the inner tubular member ( 14 ). the space between the inner tubular member ( 14 ) and the outer tubular member ( 42 ) is the inflation lumen which is in fluid communication with the balloon ( 6 ). in at least one embodiment , fluid is introduced to the inflation lumen of the balloon ( 6 ) through the one or more ports ( 70 a , 70 b ) in the inner tubular member ( 14 ). other methods of introducing fluid into the balloon are also known in the art . in some embodiments , the catheter is constructed and arranged to apply a greater amount of inflating force at the distal end ( 3 ) than at the proximal end ( 2 ). this inflation characteristic , in combination with the more loosely wrapped folds at the distal end ( 3 ), results in an apparatus ( 1 ) which provides significantly more expansion force to the device at the distal end ( 3 ) than at the proximal end ( 2 ). such a design is useful when the protocol calls for a device which may be more rigid at its distal end than at its proximal end . in at least one embodiment , the only port from which fluid flows into the balloon ( 6 ) is located at or near the distal end of the balloon . in at least one embodiment , there are at least two ports ( 70 a , 70 b ), having independent sources of fluid , the proximal port ( 70 b ) having a greater amount of fluidic flux when inflating the balloon ( 6 ). in at least one embodiment , there are at least two ports ( 70 a , 70 b ) which are fed fluid from a common source , the more distal port ( 70 a ) has a larger sized aperture ( 71 a ) than the aperture ( 71 b ) of the more proximal port ( 70 b ) and provides a greater amount of fluidic flux when inflating the balloon . in at least one embodiment , when the balloon is inflated , a greater amount of inflating force is applied at or near the proximal end ( 2 ) than at the distal end ( 3 ) of the balloon . this at least partially compensates for the greater amount of force needed to unfold the tightly wound proximal end ( 2 ) relative to the loosely wound distal end ( 3 ) and facilitates a more even inflation of the balloon ( 6 ) and a more consistent expansion of the device . in at least one embodiment , the only port from which fluid flows into the balloon ( 6 ) is located at or near the proximal end ( 2 ) of the balloon . in at least one embodiment , there are at least two ports , having independent sources of fluid , the distal port having a greater amount of fluidic flux when inflating the balloon . in at least one embodiment , there are at least two ports which are fed fluid from a common source , the more distal port has a larger sized aperture than the more proximal port and provides a greater amount of fluidic flux when inflating the balloon . at least one embodiment of the invention is directed to a balloon catheter comprising a catheter shaft and an expandable balloon . the expandable balloon has an expanded state and an unexpanded state , a proximal end and a distal end . the expandable balloon is positioned around a distal region of the catheter shaft . the expandable balloon has a length , the length being defined by a proximal end , a distal end , and a working portion extending therebetween . in the unexpanded state : the expandable balloon comprises a collapsed portion disposed about the catheter shaft , at least one wing extending from the collapsed portion , and the wing is non - uniformly wrapped about the catheter shaft and / or about the collapsed portion . at least one embodiment of the invention is directed to a balloon catheter comprising a catheter shaft and an expandable balloon . the expandable balloon has an expanded state and an unexpanded state , a proximal end and a distal end . the expandable balloon is positioned around a distal region of the catheter shaft . the expandable balloon has a length , the length being defined by a proximal end , a distal end , and a working portion extending therebetween . in the unexpanded state : the expandable balloon comprises a collapsed portion disposed about the catheter shaft , at least one wing extending from the collapsed portion , and the wing is wrapped more tightly at the proximal end of the balloon than at the distal end of the balloon . at least one embodiment of the invention is directed to a balloon catheter comprising a catheter shaft and an expandable balloon . the expandable balloon has an expanded state and an unexpanded state , a proximal end and a distal end . the expandable balloon is positioned around a distal region of the catheter shaft . the expandable balloon has a length , the length being defined by a proximal end , a distal end , and a working portion extending therebetween . in the unexpanded state : the expandable balloon comprises a collapsed portion disposed about the catheter shaft and at least one wing . the balloon catheter further comprises a stent disposed about the balloon . the distal end of the balloon bulges radially outward from the catheter shaft to form a protective layer for a distal - most edge of the stent . in some embodiments , the device , its delivery apparatus , or other portion of an assembly may include one or more areas , bands , coatings , members , etc . that is ( are ) detectable by imaging modalities such as x - ray , mri , ultrasound , etc . in some embodiments , at least a portion of the device and / or adjacent apparatus is at least partially radiopaque . in some embodiments at least a portion of the device is configured to include one or more mechanisms for the delivery of a therapeutic agent . often the agent will be in the form of a coating or other layer ( or layers ) of material placed on a surface region of the device , which is adapted to be released at the site of the device &# 39 ; s implantation or areas adjacent thereto . the therapeutic agent can be at least one or various types of therapeutic agents including but not limited to : at least one restenosis inhibiting agent that comprises drug , polymer and bio - engineered materials or any combination thereof . in addition , the coating can be a therapeutic agent such as at least one drug , or at least one other pharmaceutical product such as non - genetic agents , genetic agents , cellular material , etc . some examples of suitable non - genetic therapeutic agents include but are not limited to : at least one anti - thrombogenic agents such as heparin , heparin derivatives , vascular cell growth promoters , growth factor inhibitors , paclitaxel , etc . where an agent includes a genetic therapeutic agent , such a genetic agent may include but is not limited to : dna , rna and their respective derivatives and / or components ; hedgehog proteins , etc . where a therapeutic agent includes cellular material , the cellular material may include but is not limited to : cells of human origin and / or non - human origin as well as their respective components and / or derivatives thereof . where the therapeutic agent includes a polymer agent , the polymer agent may be a polystyrene - polyisobutylene - polystyrene triblock copolymer ( sibs ) polyethylene oxide , silicone rubber and / or any other suitable substrate . it will be appreciated that other types of coating substances , well known to those skilled in the art , can be applied to the stent ( 4 ) as well . this completes the description of the preferred and alternate embodiments of the invention . the above disclosure is intended to be illustrative and not exhaustive . this description will suggest many variations and alternatives to one of ordinary skill in this art . the various elements shown in the individual figures and described above may be combined , substituted , or modified for combination as desired . all these alternatives and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the claims where the term “ comprising ” means “ including , but not limited to ”. further , the particular features presented in the dependent claims can be combined with each other in other manners within the scope of the invention such that the invention should be recognized as also specifically directed to other embodiments having any other possible combination of the features of the dependent claims . for instance , for purposes of claim publication , any dependent claim which follows should be taken as alternatively written in a multiple dependent form from all prior claims which possess all antecedents referenced in such dependent claim if such multiple dependent format is an accepted format within the jurisdiction ( e . g . each claim depending directly from claim 1 should be alternatively taken as depending from all previous claims ). in jurisdictions where multiple dependent claim formats are restricted , the following dependent claims should each be also taken as alternatively written in each singly dependent claim format which creates a dependency from a prior antecedent - possessing claim other than the specific claim listed in such dependent claims below . | 0 |
the present invention provides for process for the conversion of gabapentin hydrochloride to gabapentin polymorphic form ii , which comprises ( i ) dissolving gaseous alkylamine or a solution of the alkylamine in methanol in which free gabapentin is also soluble ; ( ii ) passing gaseous alkylamine or a solution of the alkylamine in methanol to the resulting solution of step ( i ), till the ph is neutral at ambient temperature ; and ( iii ) removing the solvent employing low pressure and washing the residue with a solvent in which the alkylamine hydrochloride formed during the reaction is soluble and isolating the free gabapentin of desired polymorphic form . gabapentin hydrochloride can be prepared by one of the methods described in the literature , for example , u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 024 , 175 or 4 , 152 , 326 , incorporated by reference herein . it is dissolved in methanol in which free gabapentin is also soluble . the selection of the solvent is important , because if the free gabapentin is not soluble , the polymorphic form obtained will be different from that of the commercially marketed form and an additional step will be required to convert the product into a commercially marketable form . the second step of the present invention comprises passing an alkylamine , which is in the gaseous form at ambient temperature to the solution of gabapentin hydrochloride . alkylamines , which are gaseous at ambient temperature , are for example , methylamine , dimethylamine and trimethylamine and other alkylamines . preferred alkylamines are dimethylamine and trimethylamine because their hydrochloride salts are soluble in a number of organic solvents such as methanol , isopropanol , isoamyl alcohol , chloroform , etc . the alkylamine may also be added as a solution in methanol . these alkylamines being highly reactive , convert gabapentin hydrochloride to gabapentin rapidly . when the ph reaches 7 . 0 to 7 . 5 , from the initial ph of about 1 . 5 , addition of the amine is discontinued . at this stage the solution remains clear . the solvent is removed at a reduced pressure . excess alkylamine , if any , will also be eliminated at this stage . the residue obtained is again dissolved in methanol and concentrated to small volume to precipitate gabapentin . it is cooled and filtered . the precipitate is washed repeatedly with small quantities of solvent in which the amine hydrochloride is soluble . the solvents preferred are isopropanol or chloroform . methanol can also be used in small quantities and at cold temperatures , keeping in mind that gabapentin is soluble in methanol . methanol removes amine hydrochlorides efficiently . washing is repeated till the filtrate is negative to chloride as indicated by silver nitrate test . at this stage the residue is also negative to silver nitrate test . the residue is dried under vacuum . it exhibits the peaks in the x - ray diffraction diagram with 2 - theta values at 6 . 0 , 7 . 8 , 14 . 9 , 16 . 8 , 20 . 2 , 23 . 5 , 26 . 7 , 28 . 1 degrees which are characteristic of the form ii . interestingly , when isoamyl alcohol is used as a solvent to remove dimethylamine hydrochloride , the material obtained is found to be of different polymorph , named as form ell . the x - ray diffraction pattern and infra - red spectra of this polymorph are same as that of the novel form disclosed in wo 98 / 28255 . 2 ). the process does not use ion exchange resins and tedious column chromatography . 4 ). the process can yield either commercially marketed form ii or the form iii by a simple change of solvent . the embodiments of the present invention are further described in the following examples , which are not intended in any way to limit the scope of the present invention . 10 . 0 g of gabapentin hydrochloride were dissolved in 100 mls dry methanol . dimethylamine gas was bubbled into the solution till the ph was 7 to 7 . 5 . after stirring for 30 minutes , most of the solvent was removed under reduced pressure , the thick slurry was filtered to obtain 11 . 5 gms precipitate . the precipitate was suspended in 15 mls dry methanol , stirred for 10 minutes and filtered . the process was repeated until the filtrate was negative to chloride as shown by agno 3 test . the residue was dried under vacuum to obtain 3 . 6 g of gabapentin . from the pooled filtrate a second crop of 0 . 9 g pure material can be obtained . total yield : 4 . 5 g ( 54 . 6 %), m . p : 160 - 161 ° c ., purity by hplc : 99 . 1 %. it displayed a characteristic x - ray diffraction pattern with 2 - theta values at 6 . 0 , 7 . 8 , 14 . 9 , 16 . 8 , 20 . 2 , 23 . 5 , 26 . 7 , and 28 . 1 degrees and characteristic infra - red absorption peaks at 708 . 6 , 749 . 0 , 890 . 6 , 927 . 9 , 976 . 1 , 1165 . 1 , 1300 . 1 , 1420 . 2 , 1474 . 9 , 1543 . 4 , and 1614 . 9 cm − 1 . these x - ray diffraction patterns and infra - red peaks are characteristics of form ii . 10 . 0 g of gabapentin hydrochloride were dissolved in 100 mls dry methanol . dimethylamine gas was bubbled into the solution till ph was 7 to 7 . 5 . after stirring for 30 minutes , most of the solvent was removed under reduced pressure , the thick slurry was filtered to obtain 11 . 5 gms precipitate . the precipitate was suspended in 15 mls dry isopropanol , stirred for 10 minutes and filtered . the process was repeated till the filtrate was negative to chloride as shown by agno 3 test . the residue was dried under vacuum to obtain 4 . 2 gms of gabapentin . from the pooled filtrate , a second crop of 0 . 8 gms pure material can be obtained . total yield : 5 . 0 gms ( 60 . 6 %), melting point : 160 - 162 ° c ., purity by hplc : 99 . 3 %. it displayed characteristic x - ray diffraction pattern and infra - red peaks as given in the example 1 . 10 . 0 g of gabapentin hydrochloride were dissolved in 100 mls dry methanol . dimethylamine gas was bubbled into the solution till ph was 7 to97 . 5 . after stirring for 30 minutes , most of the solvent was removed under reduced pressure , the thick slurry was filtered to obtain 11 . 5 grams precipitate . the precipitate was suspended in 15 mls dry isoamyl alcohol , stirred for 10 minutes and filtered . the process was repeated till the filtrate was negative to agno 3 test . the residue was dried under vacuum to obtain 4 . 0 gms ( 48 . 5 %) of gabapentin . melting point : 156 - 158 ° c ., purity by hplc : 99 . 2 %. it displayed a characteristic x - ray diffraction pattern with 2 - theta values at 6 . 02 , 12 . 07 , 24 . 35 , 5 . 60 , 16 . 84 , 11 . 84 , 17 . 99 , and 20 . 64 degrees ( decreasing order of the peak size with the peak at 6 . 02 degree = 100 %) and characteristic infra - red absorption peaks at 708 . 6 , 749 . 0 , 890 . 6 , 927 . 9 , 976 . 1 , 1165 . 1 , 1300 . 1 , 1420 . 2 , 1474 . 9 , 1543 . 4 , and 1614 . 9 cm − 1 . these x - ray diffraction patterns and infra - red peaks are characteristics of form iii ( the novel polymorph as described in wo 98 / 28255 ). 10 . 0 g of gabapentin hydrochloride were dissolved in 100 mls dry methanol . dimethylamine gas was bubbled into the solution till ph was 7 to 7 . 5 . after stirring for 30 minutes , most of the solvent was removed under reduced pressure , the thick slurry was filtered to obtain 11 . 5 gms precipitate . the precipitate was suspended in 15 mls dry chloroform , stirred for 10 minutes and filtered . the process was repeated six times to make the final filtrate negative to agno 3 test . the residue was dried under vacuum to obtain 6 . 0 grams ( 72 . 8 %) of gabapentin form ii melting point : 160 - 162 ° c . purity by hplc : 98 . 9 %. it displayed a characteristic x - ray diffraction pattern and infra - red peaks as given in example 1 . 10 . 0 g of gabapentin hydrochloride were dissolved in 100 mls dry methanol . trimethylamine gas was bubbled into the solution till ph was 7 to 7 . 5 . after stirring for 30 minutes , most of the solvent was removed under reduced pressure , the thick slurry was filtered to obtain 11 . 9 grams precipitate . the precipitate was suspended in 15 mls dry isopropanol , stirred for 10 minutes and filtered . the process was repeated until the filtrate was negative to agno 3 test . the residue was dried under vacuum to obtain 2 . 9 grams of gabapentin . from the pooled methanolic filtrate a second crop of 0 . 8 g pure gabapentin form ii is obtained . total yield : 3 . 7 g ( 45 . 0 %), melting point : 160 - 162 ° c . purity by hplc : 99 . 1 %. it displayed a characteristic x - ray diffraction pattern and infra - red peaks as in the example 1 . | 2 |
fig1 shows a testing apparatus 10 for testing integrated circuits 12 with a gripping device 14 , delivery transporter 16 , a first removal transporter 18 for integrated circuits that satisfy predefined requirements , a second removal transporter 20 for integrated circuits that do not satisfy the predefined requirements , a carrying device 22 , an input signal generator 32 , an output signal detection and evaluation unit 34 , a control unit 36 , and a control connection 38 . integrated circuits 12 that are to be tested are delivered by the delivery transporter 16 , for example , a conveyer belt , and are gripped by the gripping device 14 , which can be movable in multiple directions , such as an x and y direction , and transported to the support plate 22 . the support plate 22 has input signal contacts 24 , 26 and output signal contacts 28 , 30 . the input signal contacts 24 , 26 are connected to the input signal generator 32 and the output signal contacts 28 , 30 are connected to the output signal detection and evaluation unit 34 . the input signal generator 32 stimulates the integrated circuit 12 , which is placed on the contacts 24 , 26 , 28 , 30 and responds thereto with a change in its output signal . the output signal change is detected and evaluated by the output signal detection and evaluation unit 34 . depending on whether the tested integrated circuit 12 satisfies or does not satisfy predetermined requirements , it is transported by the gripping device 14 to the first removal transporter 18 or the second removal transporter 20 . the gripping device 14 , the delivery transporter 16 , and the first and second removal transporerst 18 and 20 can be controlled by a control 36 , which communicates via a control connection 38 , for example , a bus system , with the input signal generator 32 and / or the output signal detection and evaluation unit 34 . the testing apparatus 10 according to fig1 is distinguished by the fact that it derives the predetermined condition , at the occurrence of which a measured value of the output signal of the integrated circuit is detected to evaluate the function of the integrated circuit 12 , from a time response of the output signal . the process sequences according to the example embodiments are explained in the following with reference to fig2 to 5 . fig2 a shows a time form of a stimulating input signal . in fig2 b , there is shown individual and different responses of different integrated circuits 12 of a production series over time t . in fig2 c , there is shown individual test times for the integrated circuits 12 , which produce output signals according to fig2 b . the test begins with a change in the input signal 40 that is supplied by the input signal generator 32 at time t_ 0 . after a minimum waiting time has passed , at time t_ 1 the active test , i . e ., a continuous monitoring of the output signal of the integrated circuit 12 that is to be tested and thereby the time response of the output signal , is started . the continuous monitoring can be performed , for example , by periodic sampling or continuous evaluation . the time t_ 1 is shown in fig2 by the falling level of the signal 42 in fig2 c , which marks the beginning of the active test time . fig2 b shows starting signal forms 44 , 46 , and 48 of three different integrated circuits 12 , which differ in their response rate . of the three examined output signal forms 44 , 46 , and 48 , the output signal form 48 responds most rapidly to a change of the input signal at time t_ 0 , and at time t_ 1 _ 48 enters a predetermined value range i_ 1 . in an example embodiment of the invention , the entry into the value range i_ 1 can already be evaluated as satisfying the predetermined condition . within the scope of this embodiment , the test for these special ic can therefor end at this time . within the scope of further example embodiment , the process waits for a certain time until time t_ 2 _ 48 , and the then present value of the output signal 48 is used as the measured value for evaluating the integrated circuit 12 . within the scope of this embodiment , the predetermined condition is regarded as having been satisfied when the time t_ 2 _ 48 = t_ 1 _ 48 + δ_t is reached . in this case , the test measurement is ended , which is represented in fig2 c by a rising edge 50 . alternatively , the time t_ 2 _ 48 can also be determined by evaluating the slope of the output signal 48 . the initially steep slope declines after time t_ 1 _ 48 as it approaches time t_ 2 _ 48 , so that falling below a suitable threshold can define the time t_ 2 _ 48 . the output signal forms 46 and 44 , which are obtained by measuring other integrated circuits 12 , can be evaluated very analogously to these considerations on the output signal form 48 . the output signal 46 represented by output signal form 46 at time t_ 1 _ 46 enters the value range i_ 1 and is detected , for example , at time t_ 2 _ 46 for evaluating the functionality of the integrated circuit 12 . accordingly , the test measurement for this integrated circuit 12 can be terminated at time t_ 2 _ 46 , as represented in fig2 c by a rising edge 52 . accordingly , an end of the test , which is represented in fig2 c by a rising edge 54 , results from the times t_ 1 _ 44 , at which the output signal 44 enters the range value i_ 1 , and the associated time t_ 2 _ 44 , at which a measured value is received . the rising edge 56 in fig2 represents an inevitable termination of the test at a time t_max . if the predetermined condition for detecting an output signal 44 , 46 , 48 of a special integrated circuit 12 is not yet satisfied at this time t_max , then , for example , the current value of the output signal 44 , 46 48 can be used as the measured value for evaluating the functionality , and compared with predefined thresholds . the provision of the maximum test time t_max prevents a potentially nonfunctional ic from blocking the testing apparatus 10 for an unallowably long time . the time t_max defines simultaneously an example of the time when the measured values for each individual ic 12 are received in the aforementioned prior - art method . the entire measuring time for many integrated circuits 12 according to the prior - art method therefore has a bottom limit determined by multiple time intervals between times t_ 1 and t_max . in contrast , a comparable ( theoretical ) bottom limit arises for a testing method according to the invention as the sum of the distances from each of the edges 50 , 52 , and 54 at time t_ 1 , which , as is evident , results in a smaller sum and thereby overall a shortening of the test time for a multitude of integrated circuits 12 . as an alternative to the already described embodiments , an integrated circuit 12 can also be evaluated in that after the output signal 44 , 46 , 48 enters the predetermined value range i_ 1 , a percent change in the output signal 44 , 46 , 48 can be determined and compared with a predetermined threshold . the percent change can be standardized , for example , to the value of the output signal 44 , 46 , 48 at the time of entry into the predetermined value range i_ 1 . fig3 b shows signal forms 58 , 60 , 62 of individual integrated circuits 12 , which right at the beginning of the test lie within the permitted , predetermined value range i_ 1 . in this case , a reliable evaluation can be achieved in that the output signal forms 58 , 60 , 62 after time t_ 1 , are detected continuously and monitored for the occurrence of a percent change that exceeds a predetermined threshold . the percentage change is advantageously related to the initial level of the output signal forms 58 , 60 , 62 . as soon as the change in the output signal 58 , 60 , 62 exceeds a percent threshold , which is the case in fig3 b at times t_ 1 _ 58 , t_ 1 _ 60 , and t_ 1 _ 62 , the circuit 12 in question can be evaluated as functional . alternatively , at these times , each of the values of the output signal 58 , 60 , 62 of the integrated circuit 12 that is being tested can be detected and compared with predefined thresholds , which may be identical or different from the limits of the predetermined value range i_ 1 . within the scope of another embodiment , which is explained below with reference to the output signal 58 , the process waits until time t_ 2 _ 58 . the then available value for the output signal 58 is used as the measured value for evaluating the integrated circuit 12 . within the scope of this embodiment , the condition is therefore regarded as satisfied when the time t_ 2 _ 58 = t_ 1 _ 58 + δ_t is reached . in this case , the test measurement is ended , which is represented in fig3 c by a rising edge 64 . alternatively , time t_ 2 _ 58 can also be determined by evaluating the slope of signal 58 . the steep slope after time t_ 1 _ 58 declines as the time t_ 2 _ 58 is approached , so that falling below a corresponding threshold can define the time t_ 2 _ 58 . the output forms 60 and 62 can also be evaluated analogously to these considerations on the output signal form 58 . accordingly , the testing of an integrated circuit 12 according to example embodiment shown in fig3 ends in each case at the rising edges 64 , 66 , and 68 , all of which occur prior to the rising edge 56 , which represents an inevitable termination of the test at time t_max . fig4 is a flow chart in which the signal forms , shown in fig2 and 3 , can be achieved and evaluated . the method is carried out in , for example , the testing apparatus 10 according to fig1 by the connection from the control 36 with the input signal generator 32 and the output signal detection and evaluation unit 34 . to that end , in step 70 , a test is first started when the gripping device 14 has placed ic 12 on the carrier plate 22 . after the placement of an ic 12 onto the contacts 24 , 26 , 28 , 30 , an input signal change is triggered and in step 72 , the time response zv of the resulting output signal as ; 44 , 46 , 48 ; 58 , 60 , 62 is evaluated . next , in step 74 , a predetermined condition vb is set as a function of the time response zv . while the output signal as ; 44 , 46 , 48 ; 58 , 60 , 62 , is continuously detected further , it is checked in step 76 whether the predetermined condition is satisfied . as long as this is not the case , branching occurs in step 78 , in which it is checked whether the maximum test time t_max has been exceeded . if the answer to this query in step 78 is no , the loop of 76 and 78 is run until either the predetermined condition is satisfied in step 76 or the maximum test time in step 78 is exceeded . in both cases , a branching follows to step 80 , in which a measured value m of the output signal as ; 44 , 46 , 48 ; 58 , 60 , 62 of the integrated circuit 12 is received . the received measured value m is checked in step 82 to see whether it is an element of a permitted value range i_ 2 . it is understood that i_ 2 can be identical to or different from the value range i_ 1 , which is described in regards to fig2 and 3 . if the measured value m is within interval i_ 2 , the tested ic 12 is regarded as functional and branching to step 84 occurs , which triggers the removal of the sufficiently functional integrated circuit 12 via the first removal transporter 18 . otherwise , if the measured value m is not within the interval i_ 2 , branching to step 86 occurs , in which , for example , the tested ic 12 is removed by the second removal transporter 20 . according to this description of a very general method , a detailed embodiment of a method is described below with reference to fig5 , with which the signal form according to fig2 , as well as the signal form according to fig3 , can be achieved and evaluated . after the start of the program in step 70 , a counter variable n is first set to the value 1 . this is followed by step 72 of the evaluation of the time response zv of the output signal as ; 44 , 46 , 48 ; 58 , 60 , 62 of an integrated circuit 12 . the evaluation of the time response zv is shown in more detail in fig5 and begins with substep 90 of step 72 , in which it is checked whether the minimum waiting time , explained in association with fig2 and 3 , until time t_ 1 has passed . only when this is the case , branching to substep 92 occurs , in which an output signal as ; 44 , 46 , 48 ; 58 , 60 , 62 of the integrated circuit 12 is received . this is followed by substep 94 , in which the output signal as ; 44 , 46 , 48 ; 58 , 60 , 62 is checked to determine whether it is within the predetermined value range i_ 1 . if this is not the case , which corresponds to the output signal response shown in fig2 , step 96 follows , in which one of the predetermined conditions vb , explained in association with fig2 , is set . in addition , in step 96 the value of the counter variable n is increased by 1 . it is then checked in step 98 whether the maximum test time t_max has passed . as long as this is not the case , branching back to substep 92 occurs , in which a new output signal as ; 44 , 46 , 48 is received . this is again followed by step 94 , which means a determination whether the value as is within the interval i_ 1 . as long as this is not the case and the maximum test time t_max is not exceeded , the loop runs through steps 92 , 94 , 96 , and 98 , whereby the value of the counter variable n is increased each time and thereby is always different from n = 1 . the loop is left only if it is determined in step 94 that the output signal as ; 44 , 46 , 48 enters the permitted value range i_ 1 ; because the counter variable n in this case is greater than 1 , with a no answer to the corresponding query in step 102 , step 104 is reached in which it is checked whether the predetermined condition vb is satisfied . as long as this is not the case , branching from step 104 to step 106 occurs , in which it is checked whether the maximum test time t_max has been reached . branching to step 80 occurs only when the predetermined condition in step 104 is recognized as having been satisfied or if the predetermined maximum test time t_max in step 106 is recognized as having been exceeded ; this has already been explained in regard to fig4 and relates to the receiving of the measured value and further branching in steps 82 , 84 , 86 of fig4 . step 80 is also reached when the loop , including steps 92 , 94 , 96 , and 98 , is left from step 98 due to exceeding the maximum test time t_max . if the output signal at time t_ 1 is within the permitted range i_ 1 , as corresponds to the situation in fig3 , the form of the process is slightly different . in this case , the query in substep 94 of step 72 is answered with yes during the first pass and step 102 is reached , in which it is checked whether the counter variable n has the value 1 . because this is the case with only a single pass through the preceding step 94 , the query 102 in this case is answered with yes and step 108 follows , in which one of the predetermined conditions vb , explained in relation to fig3 , is set . next , in step 110 an output signal as ; 58 , 60 , 62 is received and evaluated in step 112 as to whether the set predetermined condition vb is satisfied . as soon as the predetermined condition vb has been satisfied , also in this embodiment of the method , branching in step 80 to receive a measured value for the output signal as ; 58 , 60 , 62 follows as a basis for evaluating the functionality of the integrated circuit 12 . as long as the predetermined condition has not been satisfied and the maximum time t_max , checked in step 114 , has not yet been reached , the sequence includes steps 110 , 112 , and 114 is repeatedly run through . as in the previous described embodiment , this loop is also left either because the predetermined condition in step 112 is recognized as having been satisfied or because the maximum test time t_max in step 114 has been detected as having been exceeded . the invention being thus described , it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention , and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims . | 6 |
the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described and illustrated below to encompass guides for cutting saws and methods of guiding a user of a cutting saw to ensure the cutting saw is properly configured . of course , it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments discussed below are exemplary in nature and may be reconfigured without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure . however , for clarity and precision , the exemplary embodiments as discussed below may include optional steps , methods , and features that one of ordinary skill should recognize as not being a requisite to fall within the scope of the present disclosure . referencing fig1 and 2 , an exemplary circular saw 8 is illustrated and generally shows a cutting guide 10 and a bevel guide 12 . both guides 10 , 12 are implemented in exemplary form with a circular saw 8 having a motor housing 14 , a handle 16 , an auxiliary handle 18 , a foot 20 , as well as a blade housing 22 in which a saw blade is located . the saw 8 may be adjusted to ensure the saw is properly configured to completely cut through one of a plurality of different substrates . as used herein , substrate refers to any physical medium that may be severed by a saw . by way of example , and not limitation , a piece of wood having dimensions of 1 . 5 inches by 3 . 5 inches by some length dimension ( commonly known as a 2 × 4 ) would be substrate , while another piece of wood having dimensions of 1 . 5 inches by 5 . 5 inches by some length dimension ( commonly known as a 2 × 6 ) would be different substrate even though both substrates are fabricated from the same material . likewise , different substrates may have the same dimensions but be fabricated from different materials ( e . g ., wood vs . wood & amp ; glue or wood vs . stone ). in order to properly configure the saw , a user may utilize the cutting guide 10 . this cutting guide 10 allows the saw blade ( not shown ), the saw blade housing 22 , and the motor housing 14 to pivot around an axis defined by a bolt 24 . a lock 26 is coupled to the handle 16 and rides within an arcuate slot 28 provided in a generally arcuate bracket 30 that is mounted to the motor housing 14 by bolts , screws , or other structure known to those of ordinary skill in the art . similarly , the angle of the saw blade can be adjusted by using bevel guide 12 . the bevel guide 12 includes a bevel bracket 32 that may be integrally formed with the foot structure 20 . the saw blade housing 22 , which is mounted to the motor housing 14 , is operative to change its orientation with respect to the foot structure 20 by way of pivoting around an axis defined by a bolt 34 . an arcuate slot 36 within the bevel bracket 32 is configured to have a constant radius of curvature with respect to the bolt 34 and a locking lever 38 enables the bevel angle to be locked in place after a user has set the proper bevel angle . turning now to fig1 - 3 , concerning the cutting guide 10 , the bracket 30 includes a number of arcuate markings 40 along the longitudinal length of the bracket . these longitudinal markings correspond to the position of the saw blade operative to completely cut through different substrates . for instance , in exemplary form , the arcuate markings 40 are provided in a set of four paired markings . the first paired markings 40 a denote the position of the blade operative to cut completely through two inch lumber . in exemplary form , this first paired markings 40 a include a numerical identifier “ 2x ”, indicating that blade is set to cut two inch lumber . the second paired markings 40 b denote the position of the blade operative to cut completely through three - quarter inch plywood or one inch lumber . in exemplary form , this second paired markings 40 b include two numerical identifiers “ ¾ ” and “ 1x ”, indicating that blade is set to cut three quarter inch plywood or one inch lumber . the third paired markings 40 c denote the position of the blade operative to cut completely through one - half inch plywood . in exemplary form , this third paired markings 40 c include a numerical identifier “ ½ ”, indicating that blade is set to cut one - half inch plywood . the fourth paired markings 40 d denote the position of the blade operative to cut completely through one - quarter inch plywood . in exemplary form , this fourth paired markings 40 d include a numerical identifier “ ¼ ”, indicating that blade is set to cut one - quarter inch plywood . it should be noted that the markings to not numerically represent an actual depth of the blade , such as in prior art guides , but rather provide markings that confirm the blade is positioned to cut completely through the material with a predetermined undercut . in other words , the guide represents a numerical figure comprises of the depth of the material to be cut in addition to a predetermined undercut value ( a depth of the blade that goes beyond ( underneath ) the substrate to be cut ). and it should also be noted that any form of indicia may be used to indicate the position of the guide that is operative to cut through a particular substrate . referring back to fig1 and 2 , the locking lever 26 includes a lever handle 42 and a bolt 44 ( i . e ., threaded stud , carriage bolt or the like ) that extends through the lever handle and into a threaded cavity of the motor housing 14 . in this manner , the lever handle 42 is pivotable around the bolt 44 , which extends through the arcuate bracket 30 and into engagement with the motor housing 14 . referencing fig1 - 3 , each set of markings 40 includes the same arc as the circumferential arc 46 of the lever handle 42 . as a result , when the lever handle 42 is positioned so that a pair of arcuate markings 40 are just outside of the portion of the lever handle with the circumferential arc 46 , the user of the saw knows that the position of the saw blade is configured to cut through the particular material denoted on the marking . but the lock 26 must be secured to maintain the position of the saw blade with respect to the foot 20 . rotation of the lever handle 42 in the clockwise direction effects rotation of the bolt 44 in the same direction , thereby forming a wedge operative to clamp the bracket 30 between the lever handle and the motor housing to the blade housing 22 . this wedge is operative to fix the relative positions of the motor housing 14 and the blade housing 22 with respect to the foot 20 . conversely , when the lever handle 42 is moved in a counterclockwise direction , the bolt 44 also turns in a counterclockwise direction , thereby discontinuing the clamp . once the clamp is discontinued and a sufficient gap exists , the motor housing 14 and the blade housing 22 may be repositioned with respect to the foot 20 to change the position of the blade . thus , in summary , the arcuate bracket 30 is mounted to the foot 20 and is configured so that the locking lever mechanism 26 may engage and reciprocate within the slot 28 disposed within the bracket . in exemplary form , the arcuate bracket 30 includes an elongated through hole that receives the bolt 44 . the arcuate profile of this through hole provides a constant radius of curvature to match the pivoting action of the foot 20 with respect to the motor housing 14 . in this exemplary embodiment , the arcuate bracket 30 is vertically and horizontally repositionable with respect to the bolt 44 as a result of the pivoting action of the foot 20 with respect to the motor housing 14 . because the bolt 44 is rotationally repositionable , but not vertically or horizontally repositionable , one can consider the bolt to have a fixed position relative to the motor housing 14 , while the arcuate guide has a variable position with respect to the motor housing . in contrast to the foregoing explanation and depiction shown in fig1 and 2 , it is also within the scope of the invention to switch the bolt 44 and arcuate bracket 30 so that the arcuate bracket is fixed in position , while the bolt has a variable position . in exemplary form , the arcuate bracket 30 is mounted to the motor housing 14 , while the bolt 44 is mounted to the foot 20 . in this manner , the bolt 44 is vertically and horizontally repositionable to ride within the through opening . turning now to the bevel guide 12 , the bevel bracket 32 has the slot 36 as previously described through which a threaded fastener 50 ( i . e ., a carriage bolt , stud or the like ) extends . the threaded fastener 50 also extends through an opening in a repositionable bevel handle 52 on one side of the bevel bracket 32 , while at the same time the threaded fastener extends into a cavity of a mounting bracket 54 coupled to the saw blade housing 22 . in this manner , the bevel handle 52 is pivotable around the threaded fastener 50 . and rotation of the bevel handle 52 in the clockwise direction as illustrated in fig1 effects rotation of the foot 20 and bevel bracket 32 with respect to the motor housing 14 , the blade housing 22 , and the mounting bracket 54 , thereby clamping the bracket 32 between the bevel handle and the bevel bracket . this clamping is operative to fix the relative positions of the foot 20 and bevel bracket 32 with respect to the motor housing 14 , the blade housing 22 , and the mounting bracket 54 . conversely , when the bevel handle 52 is moved in a counterclockwise direction with reference to fig1 , the threaded fastener 50 also turns in a counterclockwise direction , thereby discontinuing the clamp . once the clamp is discontinued and a sufficient gap exists , the foot 20 and bevel bracket 32 may be repositioned with respect to the motor housing 14 , the blade housing 22 , and the mounting bracket 54 to vary the bevel angle of cut of the blade . thus , in summary , the bevel bracket 32 is mounted to the foot 20 and is configured so that the threaded fastener 50 may engage and reciprocate within the slot 36 disposed within the bracket . the bevel bracket 32 includes a number of markings 60 along the longitudinal length of the bracket . these longitudinal markings correspond to the angle of the saw blade with respect to the foot 20 . for instance , in exemplary form , the markings 60 are provided in nineteen paired markings . each paired marking 60 denotes the angular position of the blade with respect to the foot 20 using five degree increments . for example , the first paired marking 60 denotes a zero degree beveled angle between the saw blade and the foot 20 , while the nineteenth paired marking denotes a ninety degree beveled angle between the saw blade and the foot . as a result , when the bevel handle 52 is positioned so that a pair of markings 60 are aligned with pointer 56 of the mounting bracket 54 , the user it provided with a guide indicating the angle at which the blade is oriented with respect to the foot 20 , which also corresponds to the angle at which the blade is oriented with respect to a planar substrate ( adjacent and flat against the foot 20 ) to be cut . following from the above description and invention summaries , it should be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that , while the methods and apparatuses herein described constitute exemplary embodiments of the present invention , the invention is not limited to the foregoing and changes may be made to such embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the claims . additionally , it is to be understood that the invention is defined by the claims and it is not intended that any limitations or elements describing the exemplary embodiments set forth herein are to be incorporated into the interpretation of any claim element unless such limitation or element is explicitly stated . likewise , it is to be understood that it is not necessary to meet any or all of the identified advantages or objects of the invention disclosed herein in order to fall within the scope of any claims , since the invention is defined by the claims and since inherent and / or unforeseen advantages of the present invention may exist even though they may not have been explicitly discussed herein . | 1 |
fig1 and 2 are schematic representations of the thrust nozzle 1 of a rocket engine . the nozzle 1 comprises and is defined by a generally cone - shaped engine wall structure 2 . the engine wall structure 2 is provided with an inner wall 3 , preferably with a thickness of 0 , 15 - 2 mm , and an outer wall 4 , interconnected by a plurality of webs 5 , as shown in fig3 . in the space between the inner wall 3 and the outer wall 4 there are ducts 6 that are used for cooling purposes . during operation of the engine a cooling medium , preferably the fuel or part of the fuel of the engine , is permitted to flow through the ducts 6 for the purpose of cooling the engine wall structure 2 . this technique applies to satellite launchers and space planes , and also in satellite thrusters , nuclear reactors and high efficiency boilers , and it can also be applied to heat shields or to the nose cones of vehicles travelling at very high speed . the webs 5 are elongated , extend mainly in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 1 , and act as intermediate walls between adjacent ducts 6 . preferably , the thickness of the webs 5 is constant along their longitudinal direction . accordingly , since the nozzle 1 is cone - shaped , the width of the ducts 6 increases in the longitudinal direction , i . e . in the flame propagation direction of the engine to which the nozzle is associated . according to the invention , the engine wall structure 2 is produced from one single work piece of solid material , out of which the ducts 6 are cut by means of a wire - edm process . preferably , the work piece out of which the ducts are cut comprises a solid sheet formed into or nearly into the final cone - shape of the nozzle 1 ( normally , the final shape is somewhat bell - shaped and , accordingly , not exactly cone - shaped ). in other words , the wire edm process is performed on the cone - shaped piece , which is subsequently given a bell shape by means of an expansion of the cone shaped piece . a plurality of cone - shaped pieces could be interconnected in order to achieve the final bell - shaped nozzle . in fig4 there is shown a schematic representation of a tool 7 that may be used for the purpose of carrying out said wire - edm process . the tool 7 comprises a wire 8 , a first guide member 9 and a second guide member 10 . the guide members are individually movable , in order to permit the generation of a duct 6 that has a varying cross - section area , as is preferred in the case of production of an engine wall structure 2 for cone shaped or nearly cone shaped nozzles . the individual mobility of the guide elements 9 , 10 is represented by means of the arrows in fig4 . fig5 gives a first example of how to carry out the method according to the invention . fig5 shows a cross section of the engine wall structure 2 of the nozzle 1 . the wire 8 of a wire - edm tool is guided into the work piece 11 from an outer surface thereof , i . e . the outer surface of an outer wall 4 of the engine wall structure 2 . a duct 6 , in this case of rectangular shape , is cut out by means of the wire 8 in the interior of the work piece 11 . the arrows in fig5 show how the wire is guided along a closed loop in the work piece 11 in order to delimit said duct 6 . after having cut out of the duct 6 , the wire 8 is guided out of the work piece 11 through the same slit 12 as it generated while being introduced into the work piece 11 . the piece of material remaining inside the closed loop defined by the wire 8 is pushed or pulled out of the work 11 piece from one of the ends of the cone - shaped engine wall structure 2 , a longitudinal duct 6 extending along the whole length of the cone - wall thereby being defined . the method steps presented above are repeated for the generation of a plurality of ducts , as indicated in fig5 . fig5 also shows the remaining ducts 6 and slits 12 after carrying out the wire - edm process , as well as the inner wall 3 , the outer wall 4 and the webs 5 . the slits 12 need to be sealed in order to prevent any leakage of cooling medium through any such slit 12 during operation of the engine in question . preferably , the slits 12 are sealed by means of a metal fusion process such as soldering or welding . in this context it should be mentioned that the work piece or sheet 11 is made of metal , preferably copper , a copper alloy , steel or any nickel - based alloy such as inconel . a sealing weld 13 extending to a predetermined depth of a slit 11 is also shown in fig6 . fig6 shows an alternative way of carrying out the method according to the invention , in which the wire 8 is introduced into the work piece 11 in a region between two adjacent ducts 6 to be generated . from a certain intersection site or , in other words , along a certain intersection line or diverging junction 14 extending in the longitudinal direction of the wire 8 and the work piece 11 , the wire 8 is guided to the region of a first duct 6 to be cut out and subsequently guided along a closed loop in order to cut out said duct 6 . then , preferably , the wire 8 is guided back to the diverging junction 14 through the same slit as it generated while being guided from the junction 14 to the region of the duct 6 to be generated . from the junction 14 the wire is the guided to the region of an adjacent duct 6 to be generated , guided along a closed loop in order to cut out that duct 6 , then guided back to the junction 14 through the same slit as it generated when being guided from the junction 14 to the region of said adjacent duct to be generated , and , finally the wire 8 is guided out of the work piece 11 via the same slit 12 as it generated when being introduced into the work piece 11 . the remaining ducts 6 and the slit 12 is shown in fig8 . subsequently , the slit 12 is sealed by means of metal fusion process . the part of slit 12 generated between the adjacent ducts 6 should also be sealed in order to prevent communication between adjacent ducts 6 . this can be achieved by letting the weld or soldering metal reach all the way down to the junction 14 or the region thereof . if , however , the thickness of the outer wall 4 is large , it might be difficult to reach down with a weld all the way to a junction located at the interface region between the webs 5 and the outer wall 4 , as is the case in the embodiment shown in fig6 . fig7 shows an alternative solution , by which the diverging junction 14 is located in the outer wall 4 in a region between the web 5 and the outer surface of the outer wall 4 , preferably at a depth that permits a weld or a soldering joint to reach the junction 14 easily from the surface of the outer wall 4 . fig8 shows a further embodiment of the method according to the present invention , by which the wire 8 is introduced into the work piece 11 along a first path 15 and guided out of the work piece 11 along a second path 16 , said first and second paths 15 , 16 ending in the duct 6 to be created , thereby leaving a body 17 between the first and second paths 15 , 16 that tapers in a direction towards the duct 6 and that will form a part of the delimiting wall of said duct 6 . preferably , the body 17 has a wedge - shaped cross section . however , it could have other geometries , such as a u - shaped or circular cross section . then , the body 17 is displaced in a direction towards the duct 6 in order to fit in as a sealing means for sealing the slits 11 generated in the solid sheet along the first and second paths 15 , 16 , and finally connected to the wall in which it is fitted , i . e . the generated outer wall 4 . preferably , a weld string or a solder string is applied along the borderlines between the body 17 and the surrounding wall 4 in the lengthwise direction of the latter , in order to seal and in order to connect the body 17 to the surrounding wall material . it should be realised that the above description of the invention only has been made by way of example and that , of course , a person skilled in the art will recognise a plurality of alternative embodiments , all however within the scope of the invention as defined in the annexed patent claims , supported by the description and the drawings . | 8 |
the solution illustrated in fig1 represents the aforesaid prior - art elevator system for tall buildings . let us consider e . g . a 45 - floor building with fifteen floors in each zone . the number of floors in each zone is determined by the number of elevators and the car size and speed of the elevators . the system comprises three different height zones , so it requires three different banks of elevator shafts 1 , 2 and 3 , of which bank 1 forms the lowest zone , which comprises e . g . a group of eight elevators serving all fifteen lowest floors from the ground floor 9 to the highest floor 10 of the zone . fig1 only shows the elevator doors of four elevators on the ground floor 9 and the highest floor 10 of the zone . within this zone , the elevators can stop at any floor . the second zone in the prior - art elevator system is a so - called mid - zone , which may also comprise a group of eight elevators in a separate bank of elevator shafts 2 , which now serves only the ground floor 9 , the first transfer level 8 , which in the solution illustrated by the example is the fifteenth floor , and all floors above it up to the second transfer level 8 a , which in the solution illustrated by the example is the thirtieth floor of the building . the elevators in bank 2 never stop within the zone 5 of the lowest fifteen floors except at the ground floor . if these elevators in bank 2 do not have a so - called express function , then they will not take in any passengers from the ground floor 9 at all , but they only operate within zone 4 of bank 2 . in this case , no doors are provided on the ground floor 9 for the elevators in bank 2 . thus , a person who wants to reach one of the floors in zone 4 , e . g . floor 20 , first has to take an elevator in bank 1 and have a ride on it to transfer floor 10 , then move on via a transfer area 8 to the elevator lobby lob for zone 4 and ride further on an elevator in zone 4 to floor 20 . the high - rise zone of the prior - art elevator system is served by an elevator group in bank 3 . the elevators in this group do not stop at the floors 7 in the low - rise and mid - rise zones at all . instead , they either operate exclusively between the floors of the high - rise zone 6 , e . g . floors 31 - 45 , or , if they are provided with an express function , they also travel from the ground floor 9 directly to the second transfer level 8 a , which is the lowest floor 11 b of the high - rise zone . if no express function is implemented , then a passenger going to a floor in the upper zone 6 has to travel by the route : bank 1 , first transfer level 8 , zone 4 of bank 2 , zone 6 of bank 3 . for each zone , fig1 only shows the lowest floors 9 , 10 b and 11 b and highest floors 10 , 11 and 12 . the disadvantages of this system are as stated above . fig2 - 6 present a system according to the invention . in this system , the separate elevator bank 1 for the lowest zone presented in fig1 as well as all the elevator lobbies on these floors have been left out . the system only comprises two banks of elevator shafts . in this example , the first bank 13 comprises eight elevator shafts , each shaft accommodating an elevator provided with a double - decker elevator car 21 and at least as fast as or faster than the elevators operating in bank 14 . the ground floor 9 is provided with an escalator arrangement 20 that passengers can use to ascend to and descend from the second ground floor level 9 a . in the lower part 15 of bank 13 , the elevator cars can only be entered from the ground floors 9 and 9 a and from the elevator lobbies 10 and 10 a on the first transfer level 8 . likewise , in the upper part 16 of bank 13 , there is no entry into the elevator cars except from the elevator lobbies 10 and 10 a at the first transfer level and from the elevator lobbies 11 and 11 a at the second transfer level 8 a . in the case of the present example , the first elevator bank 13 extends from the ground floor to a height corresponding to about ⅔ of the entire height of the building , i . e . in a 45 - floor building the second transfer level 8 a at the top of the first bank comprises floors 30 and 31 of the building and similarly the first transfer level located midway up the first bank comprises floors 15 and 16 of the building . the second elevator bank 14 extends substantially continuously from the ground floor 9 of the building through the entire height of the building , i . e . to the topmost floor 45 , which is represented by elevator lobby 12 . the second elevator bank 14 consists of three zones substantially similar to each other and situated one above the other . the shafts in these zones are hereinafter called local shafts 17 , 18 , 19 . all local shafts are substantially identical in cross - section and each local shaft accommodates one elevator car 22 operating in it , serving all floors within the local shaft . thus , in the system of the example , each elevator shaft in bank 14 contains three elevators one above the other , each one in its own local shaft . in the present context , ‘ elevator ’ is to be understood as comprising at least an elevator car 22 , a drive machine 23 and hoisting ropes 24 . the elevators in the local shafts are slower than or at most as fast as the so - called shuttle elevators in bank 13 . the first and the second elevator banks are interconnected via a two - floor transfer level . the first transfer level 8 is at a height of about one third of the total height of the building , so in the example it comprises floors fifteen and sixteen , provided with elevator lobbies 10 and 10 a . similarly , the second transfer level 8 a is at a height of about two thirds of the total height of the building , comprising in the example floors thirty and thirty - one with elevator lobbies 11 and 11 a . each transfer level is provided with an escalator arrangement 20 for transporting passengers from the lower floor of the transfer level to the higher floor or vice versa . as stated above , the first transfer level 8 and the second transfer level 8 a each comprise a lower and an upper transfer floor so that each lower transfer floor , which also have elevator lobbies 10 and 11 , is the highest floor for the elevator car 22 operating in the local shaft 17 and 18 , which comes to that floor from below and leaves it in the downward direction . similarly , each upper transfer floor , which also have elevator lobbies 10 a and 11 a , is the lowest floor for the elevator car 22 operating in the local shaft 18 and 19 , which comes to that floor from above and leaves it in the upward direction . although the number of parallel shafts chosen for the example is eight , the structure of only one of the shafts in the second bank 14 will now be described . the other shafts are identical to the one described . in its basic structure , each shaft is continuous , extending at least from the ground floor 9 to the top floor of the building if necessary , which has an elevator lobby 12 . each shaft comprises more than one local shaft 17 , 18 , 19 one above the other , and each local shaft accommodates one elevator with a car 22 serving all floors of the local shaft . the system described in the example thus comprises three local shafts 17 , 18 and 19 one above the other , each of which contains one elevator car . all the elevator cars in the same shaft are substantially identical and installed in substantially the same vertical plane one above the other . fig5 presents a more detailed illustration showing how the elevator cars 22 are housed independently of each other one above the other in the same shaft . here , the elevator car 22 of the middle local shaft 18 is in its lowest position at the upper floor of transfer level 8 , at elevator lobby 10 a . below the elevator car , the local shaft 18 is provided with a number of supporting beams 25 forming a shaft bottom , which is additionally provided with a strong steel grid to stop any falling objects at this part of the shaft . the vertical direction from the supporting beams to the lowest position of the elevator car 22 has been fitted to be such that a free space of dimensions according to regulations is provided below the car . the local shaft is further provided with fixed buffers mounted on the supporting beams 25 or on a shaft wall in the lower part of the local shaft for stopping the elevator car 22 on buffer . the buffers are not shown in the figures . correspondingly , the lower local shaft 17 is provided with an elevator machine 23 for moving the lower elevator car , the machine being mounted below the supporting beams 25 at the upper end of the local shaft , the hoisting ropes 24 being passed around the traction sheave of the machine and fixed in a suitable manner to the elevator car 22 . in the figure , the lower elevator car 22 is shown in its highest position in local shaft 17 at transfer level 8 , standing at the lower floor of the transfer level , at elevator lobby 10 . the elevator machines 23 of all the elevators in the same shaft are mounted in a corresponding manner in the upper part of each local shaft 17 situated one above the other . in the solution illustrated by the example , each shaft also contains three elevator machines 23 , and no machine rooms are needed for the elevators in the local shafts 17 . each local shaft is additionally provided with a counterweight 28 , which is partially shown in shaft 17 . when the elevator car 22 is in the upper part of the shaft , the counterweight is in its lower part and vice versa . the elevator machine 23 is of gearless type and substantially flat , so it can be mounted e . g . on an elevator guide rail or on a shaft wall in the space between the wall of the elevator car 22 and the shaft wall . thus , the elevator cars 22 can be easily implemented as units independent of each other because the hoisting ropes of different elevators are not interlapped in the vertical direction in any part of the shaft . fig6 presents a likewise simplified view of a double - decker elevator car 21 operating in the elevator shafts of the first bank 13 . in this case , an elevator machine is provided at the upper end of each shaft , with an elevator car 12 suspended on its ropes . the upper and lower cars of the elevator car are connected to each other via fixing elements 26 so that , when the upper car is at the upper floor of the first transfer level 8 , the lower car is at the lower floor of the same transfer level . the same also applies when the car is at the second transfer level 8 a or at the ground floor 9 . the ground floor and transfer level lobbies are provided with clear guide signs to inform passengers as to the level from which each floor can be reached . now , supposing a passenger wants to go to floor twenty , he will see at the ground floor a guide sign indicating that the floor in question can be reached by taking any elevator starting from the ground floor 9 . the passenger then boards the lower car of a double - decker elevator car 21 in bank 13 from the ground floor 9 and ascends to the second transfer level 8 a , where he exits from the elevator at lobby 11 and walks along the transfer floor to an elevator car 22 in bank 14 , which takes him downward from floor thirty to floor twenty . if the passenger is going to floor fifty , he will first go by escalator to the upper level 9 a and then board the upper car of a double - decker elevator car 21 to reach transfer level 8 a , where he goes further via elevator lobby 11 a to an up - going elevator in bank 14 , which takes him to the desired floor . it is obvious to the skilled person that the invention is not limited to the example presented above , but that it may be varied within the scope of the claims presented below . thus , for example , the elevator machines may be only partially located in the elevator shafts , e . g . so that substantially only the traction sheave is in the elevator shaft while the rest of the elevator machine is in a suitable recess or equivalent set back from the shaft . an essential point is that each elevator car in the shaft has its own machine near the upper or lower end of the shaft section in which the car travels . further , the number of vertical zones is not necessarily three but may vary according to building height , required transport capacity and selected elevator properties . these properties include e . g . the speed and size of the elevator car . the heights of the shafts needed are preferably so chosen that a double - decker elevator car 21 arriving at the highest transfer level can disembark passengers for both upward and downward transfer traffic . thus , the relation of the number of transfer levels and local shafts may vary in buildings of different heights . in addition , buildings of a height greater than in the example described above may have more transfer levels than two as in the example . likewise , the height of the shafts may vary according to the shape of and space available in the building . the invention being thus described , it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention , and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims . | 1 |
fig2 illustrates an exemplary detent positioning system 200 for a medical x - ray imaging system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the detent positioning system 200 includes an x - ray tube 210 , a x - ray assembly 205 , a pair of vertical rails 230 , a pair of horizontal rails 240 , and a sensor unit 275 . the x - ray tube 210 and collimator 220 are collectively known as an x - ray assembly 205 . both the horizontal rails 240 and the vertical rails 230 include a number of detents 250 . in operation , the x - ray assembly 205 is moved in two dimensions along the vertical rails 230 and horizontal rails 240 , first by sliding the x - ray assembly 205 and vertical rails 230 within the horizontal rails 240 to a detent 250 position on the horizontal rails 240 . then the x - ray assembly 205 is slid within the vertical rails 230 to a detent 250 position on the vertical rails 230 . preferably , at each detent 250 , electromagnetic locks are employed to lock the collimator in the desired detent position . the sensor unit 275 will be discussed below in detail . fig3 illustrates a locking system 300 of the medical x - ray imaging system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the locking system 300 includes electromagnetic locks 310 , a bridge rail 320 , and a power supply 330 . in operation , the locking system 300 is mounted inside the vertical rails 230 and horizontal rails 240 of the detent positioning system 200 of fig2 . once a given detent 250 position is reached , the electromagnetic locks 310 are activated and the position is locked in place . the electromagnetic locks 310 are activated by a voltage supplied by the power supply 330 . fig4 illustrates a top view 400 of the electromagnetic locks of fig3 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the view 400 includes electromagnetic lock coils 410 , a lock strip 420 , and bearings 430 . in operation , as discussed above , the electromagnetic lock coils 410 may be slid inside a rail until they are activated by an externally supplied voltage . the externally supplied voltage generates a magnetic force between the electromagnetic lock coils 410 and the lock strip 420 sufficient to maintain and secure the collimator in a fixed position . in operation , an electromagnetic lock requires a certain , finite time to develop sufficient magnetic force to begin decelerating the collimator 120 . in addition , some time is required before the electromagnetic lock develops sufficient force to hold the collimator 120 in place . referring to fig2 because the x - ray assembly 205 ( and their support / positioning apparatus ) have significant mass , and consequently significant momentum while being positioned by a clinical operator , the magnetic force generated by the electromagnetic locks may not be sufficient to overcome the momentum of the x - ray assembly 205 within a desired time and , consequently , the x - ray assembly 205 may not be stopped precisely at the desired detent . thus , the activation and stopping time of the electromagnetic locks may introduce a positioning error in the positioning of the collimator . as mentioned above , this positioning error may adversely affect the quality and repeatability of the x - ray images . to put it another way , the speed at which the x - ray assembly 205 is being positioned by an operator along with the electromagnetic lag or time delay of the electromagnetic lock may contribute to a final positioning error if the initial speed of the x - ray assembly 205 is below a critical value ( v c ). this positioning error is approximately proportional to the approach speed of the x - ray assembly 205 to the detent position . however , if the speed of the x - ray assembly 205 is sufficiently high , the electromagnetic lock may not react completely to engage and hold the device . if the electromagnetic lock does not engage completely , the x - ray assembly 205 may simply pass through the intended detent location . because the lock may not fully engage and hold the collimator at higher speeds , the operators must begin to slow down as they approach the detent position so that the x - ray assembly 205 may be positioned and locked at the preset , pre - configured detent position . additionally , unless the incoming speed is quite slow , the final offset positioning error may be significant , that is , from five to ten millimeters . consequently , because the x - ray assembly 205 must be moved slowly , additional time may be required . when additional time is required , customer productivity may be adversely affected because of the additional time per image . in order to counter these effects , the preferred embodiment of the present invention calibrates a positional control system by measuring the detent positional overshoot at various approach speeds . the positional overshoot may be determined by using electronic feedback as further described below . next , a transfer function between speed and overshoot is developed in order to determine the overshoot correction . finally , the overshoot correction is applied to the collimator positioning during clinical use . detent positional overshoot is preferably measured by using a microprocessor - based positioner control wherein both position and velocity feedback is available as described below with reference to fig8 - 10 . fig8 illustrates a sensor unit 800 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the sensor unit 800 includes an encoder sprocket 810 , a potentiometer sprocket 820 having an alignment mark 830 , a position sensor belt 840 , a belt tensioner screw 850 , a drive belt assembly 860 , and a belt displacement sprocket 870 . the position sensor belt 840 passes over the encoder sprocket 810 and the potentiometer sprocket 820 . the tension on the position sensor belt 840 may be adjusted to a desired tension by use of the belt tensioner screw 850 . the x - ray assembly , and thus the attached sensor unit 800 is typically manually positioned . preferably , however , the sensor unit 800 is motor driven and positioned . for example , the sensor unit may be motor driven with a closed loop servo motor using the drive belt assembly 860 . positioning the sensor unit 800 using a motor , instead of manually , may help ensure consistent placement of the x - ray assembly at the detent positions . fig9 illustrates a top view 900 of the sensor unit 800 of fig8 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the encoder sprocket 810 , potentiometer sprocket 820 and belt displacement sprocket 870 are shown . the sensor unit 800 also includes a drive belt assembly 910 , a microprocessor interface 920 , and securing points 930 . the sensor unit 800 is preferably mounted on the x - ray assembly as shown in fig2 through the use of securing points 930 . in operation , the sensor unit 800 is associated with motion of the x - ray assembly 205 along each of the rails . that is , one sensor unit 800 provides data concerning motion of the x - ray assembly 205 along the pair of vertical rails 230 and one sensor unit provides data concerning motion along the pair of horizontal rails 240 . a notched drive belt ( not shown ) is preferably mounted inside at least one of the pair of vertical rails 230 and in at least one of the pair of horizontal rails 240 of fig2 . the drive belt is preferably secured at each end of the rail and passes through the drive belt assembly 910 of the sensor unit 800 of fig9 . as the x - ray assembly 205 is displaced , the fixed drive belt passing through the drive belt assembly 910 induces motion of the position sensor belt 840 . the motion of the position sensor belt 840 induces revolution of the encoder sprocket 810 and the potentiometer sprocket 820 . the potentiometer sprocket 820 preferably includes an analog potentiometer . preferably , a voltage is induced across the potentiometer so that the voltage changes with the rotation of the potentiometer sprocket 820 , and thus with the position of the x - ray assembly 205 . the encoder sprocket 810 preferably includes a digital encoder . preferably , the digital encoder provides data regarding the position and velocity of rotation of the encoder sprocket 810 , and thus the position and velocity of the collimator . preferably , the potentiometer sprocket 820 is used to establish an initial position for the x - ray assembly 205 when the collimator is initially powered - up . the encoder sprocket 810 may be unable to provide this initial information because of data loss at the previous system shut - down . however , the initial position for the x - ray assembly 205 is recoverable from the potentiometer sprocket 820 because the rotation of the potentiometer sprocket 820 alters its included potentiometer mechanically and thus avoids loss - of - power difficulties . once the initial position of the x - ray assembly 205 has been established by the potentiometer sprocket 820 , the encoder sprocket 810 may be employed to provide highly accurate position and velocity information . the digital encoder of the encoder sprocket 810 preferably provides a clean , digital signal indicating the position of the x - ray assembly 205 which may be easily analyzed to determine velocity information . the potentiometer sprocket 820 may be utilized to provide positional information regarding the x - ray assembly 205 throughout operation , but the digitally encoded signals from the encoder sprocket 810 may be easier and simpler to use . the initial positional information determined by the potentiometer sprocket 820 and the positional and velocity information determined by the encoder sprocket 810 are passed to an external microprocessor ( not shown ) by means of the microprocessor interface 920 . as further described below , the microprocessor may analyze the positional and velocity information of the x - ray assembly 205 to control the activation of the electromagnetic locking system 300 of fig3 above . the microprocessor is typically housed within an external system cabinet . before use , the sensor unit 800 is calibrated to the specific rail for which it is to provide positional and velocity information . the potentiometer insider the potentiometer sprocket 820 is preferably a multiple - turn potentiometer ( most preferably a 10 - turn potentiometer ) with hard stops at each end of its travel to calibrate the system , the potentiometer may be first rotated to a hard stop and then rotated to the middle of the potentiometer &# 39 ; s range ( in the case of a 10 - turn potentiometer , 5 turns ). the sensor unit 800 including the potentiometer may then be positioned at the center of its path of movement along the rail and the drive belt assembly 910 and position sensor belt 840 engaged . additionally , the sensor unit 800 may be calibrated by adjusting the tension of the position sensor belt 840 using the belt tensioner screw 850 . fig7 illustrates a sensor unit with a self - tensioning belt assembly 700 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the self - tensioning belt assembly 700 includes an encoder sprocket 710 , a potentiometer sprocket 720 , an alignment mark 730 , a position sensor belt 740 , and a drive belt assembly 760 , similar to the sensor unit 800 of fig8 . the self - tensioning sensor unit 700 also includes a tensioner arm 750 , instead of the belt tensioner screw 850 of the sensor unit 800 of fig8 , which automatically applies a desired tension to the position sensor belt 740 . either the sensor unit 800 of fig8 or the self - tensioning sensor unit 700 of fig7 may be employed in the preferred embodiment of the present invention . once sensor unit has been selected and installed , the potentiometer sprocket of the sensor unit is calibrated and position sensor belts are engaged as described above . then the assembly positioning system is calibrated . in order to calibrate the assembly positioning system , the collimator assembly is set into motion and information concerning the position and velocity of the collimator are sent to the microprocessor . a detent latch is then simulated . that is , power is applied to an electromagnetic lock on the x - ray assembly and the assembly is brought to a halt . the position at which the assembly comes to rest may be different from the desired , predetermined , pre - configured , detent position . the difference in position between the detent position and the actual position of the assembly is then analyzed and an overshoot correction is determined . fig5 illustrates a calibration sequence 500 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention . first , at location 510 , the x - ray tube assembly is in motion at some initial velocity , v o , which is greater than zero and is located at an initial position , x o , also greater then zero . then , the electromagnetic lock is engaged . the electromagnetic lock applies a braking force in the opposite direction of the motion of the assembly . the tube assembly then comes to rest at location 520 , that is , the final velocity v f is equal to zero and at the assembly is located at a final position x f . then the overshoot , δx , the change in position between the initial position x o where the electromagnetic lock was activated and the final position x f where the assembly came to rest is determined at 530 . once the initial and final velocities and positions have been determined , the braking force may be determined at 540 . the mass of the assembly is known and does not change during the calibration process . the calibration sequence is then repeated at several different initial velocities and an empirical relationship between the initial speed v o and the overshoot δx is determined to determine an overshoot correction . the overshoot correction may , for example , be expressed as a linear relationship based on a least - squares regression fit of several speed - overshoot calibration tests . this linear relationship may be expressed as alternatively , the overshoot correction may , for example , be expressed as a more genera non - linear polynomial form such as : δ x = a 0 + a 1 v 0 + a 2 v 0 2 + a 3 v 0 3 + a 4 v 4 4 + . . . where the order of the polynomial depends upon the number of discrete speeds incorporated in the calibration process . once the overshoot correction has been determined , the overshoot correction is used to determine the position at which the electromagnetic brake should be enabled by the system so that the assembly comes to rest at the desired detent position . that is , the calibration sequence determines the position at which the brake should be enabled by the system controller in order to minimize the position overshoot with respect to the detent position target , as a function of the initial velocity of the tube assembly . a second embodiment of the present invention includes providing continuous positional error monitoring . that is , instead of only using the velocity and position references from an initial calibration process , continuous positional sensing is provided . if the detent positional error exceeds a certain maximum , the operator may be notified , the electromagnetic lock may disengage , and the operator may re - position the assembly . a third embodiment of the present invention includes adaptively calibrating the offshoot correction by continuously updating the offshoot correction after each positioning of the tube assembly . that is , each time the assembly is positioned at a detent , the initial velocity and positional error are measured . the velocity and positional error measurements may then be used to generate a corrected offshoot correction for the assembly . this embodiment also allows the positioning system to compensate for system degradations that occur with use . for example , sustained use of the assembly may result in increased friction in the rails , which may cause the assembly to stop more quickly . by adaptively calibrating the offshoot correction , the effect of increased friction may be minimized and the assembly continuously positioned with minimal positional error . by employing any of the embodiments of the present invention to generate an overshoot correction , the alignment between the x - ray tube and detector assembly is made more accurate and repeatable than with existing implementations that employ only detents and that do not incorporate the velocity feedback and predictive algorithms of the preferred embodiments of the present invention . the improvements in accuracy and repeatability of positioning provided by the present invention may also minimize radiographic re - takes associated with a variety of factors such as patient anatomical cutoff . patient anatomical cutoff occurs when an x - ray image does not contain the desired anatomical information and must be re - taken . because one of the significant causes of patient anatomical cutoff is positioning error of the assembly , by minimizing positioning error of the assembly , patient anatomical cutoff may also be reduced . additionally , the present invention may also improve customer productivity in a number of ways . for example , the operator may position the x - ray assembly rapidly without fear of positional error . thus , the speed of positioning the assembly is increased and the additional time associated with radiographic re - takes is minimized . fig6 illustrates a flowchart 600 of the calibration system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention . first , at step 610 , the x - ray tube assembly is in motion . at step 620 , the electromagnetic lock is activated and the initial velocity v o and position x o are determined . next , at step 630 , the x - ray tube assembly comes to a halt and the final velocity v f and position x f are determined . then , at step 640 , the initial x o and final positions x f are used to determine the overshoot δx . then , at step 650 , steps 610 to 640 are repeated a predetermined number of times at differing initial velocities to generate an empirical relationship between the initial speed v o and the offset , δx . next , at step 660 , the results of the repeated measurements at different initial velocities are used to determine an overshoot correction . finally , at step 670 , the overshoot correction is applied to the motion of the x - ray tube assembly during clinical use . as mentioned above , to implement the third embodiment of the present invention , steps 610 to 640 may be repeated for each clinical positioning of the assembly . while the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the invention . in addition , many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from its scope . therefore , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed , but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims . | 0 |
the preferred embodiment of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings , wherein like reference numerals represent like parts and assemblies throughout the several views . reference to the preferred embodiment does not limit the scope of the invention , which is limited only by the scope of the claims attached hereto . referring to fig1 - 3 , a portable food container in accordance with this invention is illustrated generally at 10 , where it is shown in the upright position which means that liquid and dry foods stored therein will remain separate and will not flow therefrom due to gravitational forces . in fig2 the portable food container 10 is shown in the dispensing position which means that dry food will flow therefrom under gravity , and liquid food will flow therefrom upon application of pressure along the direction of the arrow . generally , the liquid and dry food flow into a person &# 39 ; s mouth for consumption . liquid and dry food flowing from the portable food container 10 can initially gradually mix with each other and become completely mixed upon consumption . advantageously , the portable food container 10 can be operated , as shown , using a single hand by application of pressure along the direction indicated by the arrow . portable food container 10 is shaped much like a large drinking glass . the divided compartment cup 12 is constructed and arranged for holding and keeping dry food separate from liquid food . the container lid 14 screws securely onto the divided compartment cup and provides a seal against leakage to the outside of the portable food container . the compression seal 15 is provided so that when the container lid 14 is screwed onto the divided compartment cup 12 , leakage between compartments is prevented . conveniently , the portable food container 10 is constructed and arranged so that it can fit into a regular cup holder such as those found in automobiles . the shape is desirably much like a bicycle water bottle . the hand motions used in operating the portable food container 10 can be somewhat similar to the motion used to operate a bicycle water bottle , or to drink milk from a glass . namely , in a sequential motion , the user can rotate or invert the portable food container 10 from the upright position shown in fig1 to the dispensing position shown in fig2 thereby allowing the dry food , such as cereal , to flow directly into a persons &# 39 ; s mouth . pressure can then be applied along the direction shown by the arrow in fig2 to squirt a desired amount of liquid in the person &# 39 ; s mouth . the amount of pressure needed to squirt the liquid out of the flexible compartment would depend on the amount of liquid desired at a given time . for example , a gentle squeeze would cause a light stream of liquid to be squirted . a more vigorous squeeze would cause a larger volume of liquid to be squirted per unit time . protruding lid opening 13 is constructed and arranged to fit within a person &# 39 ; s mouth when dispensing . accordingly , it is designed to extend from the surface of the container lid 14 a distance sufficient to allow a person &# 39 ; s mouth to provide a seal therearound . thus , using this device , one can easily consume a meal of cereal and milk while driving a car or performing another activity which requires the use of one hand without causing a mess . in addition , since the use of the portable food container 10 requires only one hand during operation , it is safer to use while operating dangerous equipment compared with other prior art containers which require the use of two hands . as shown in fig3 divided compartment cup 12 contains dry food compartment 16 for storing dry food and liquid food compartment 18 for storing liquid food . divider wall 17 is provided for separating the dry food compartment 16 from the liquid food compartment 18 . dry food compartment 16 is surrounded by rigid wall 20 which protects dry food in the dry food compartment 16 from being crushed by outside forces such as that encountered when the divided compartment cup 12 is squeezed by a human hand . liquid food compartment 18 is surrounded by flexible wall 22 which is easily deformed upon application of hand pressure thereon . container lid 14 is intended to cover dry food compartment 16 and liquid food compartment 18 of divided compartment cup 12 . container lid 14 has threads 23 which engage threads 24 on divided compartment cup 12 to provide a seal around walls 20 and 22 to prevent leakage of dry and / or liquid food therefrom . the bottom surface 26 of the container lid 14 engages the compression seal 15 on the upper surface of the divider wall 17 to prevent leakage between compartments . thus , it is important to sufficiently tighten the container lid 14 onto the divided compartment cup 12 so that the above seals are sufficiently tight . the container lid 14 is provided with a dry food opening 27 through which dry food flows , and a liquid food opening 28 through which liquid food flows . the dry food opening 27 is sufficiently large to allow dry food to flow therethrough via gravity . the liquid food opening 28 is preferably sufficiently small to prevent liquid food from flowing therethrough via gravity . rather , it is intended that the vast majority of the liquid will only flow therethrough upon application of pressure to flexible wall 22 . snap cap 30 is provided for covering the openings in container lid 14 to provide a seal against leakage . plastic strap 32 keeps snap cap 30 attached to container lid 14 . snap cap 30 is intended to provide a sufficient seal to keep the cereal dry and fresh during storage . as shown in fig1 the portable food container 10 is in the open position which means that the dry food compartment 16 and the liquid food compartment 18 are exposed to the atmosphere . dry food and liquid food contained therein can then be dispensed . when the snap cap 30 is snapped over the dry food opening 27 and the liquid food opening 28 , the portable food container 10 is referred to as being in the closed position . divided compartment cup 12 can be formed by extrusion . the rigid wall 20 and the flexible wall 22 can both be made of any suitable engineering plastic , such as polyethylene . the difference in rigidity between the rigid wall 20 and the flexible wall 22 can be the result of co - extrusion of different polymer materials , or a difference in thickness of the respective walls . furthermore , the interior of the flexible wall 22 and / or the liquid food compartment side of the divider wall 26 can include additional insulating material , such as foam or gel , which provides desired insulation . as would be apparent to one skilled in the art , the divided compartment cup 12 can be made of any material capable of providing a divided cup having the desired degree of softness , flexibility , and rigidity . if desired , the divided compartment cup can be made by forming the individual cups , then combining the cups to form a divided compartment cup as shown in fig4 . in this embodiment , the liquid food container 50 can be kept separate from the dry food container 52 . separate covers can be provided for each container for storage to keep the food therein fresh and / or to prevent food contamination . for example , it is possible to store milk or water in the liquid food container 50 in a refrigerator , and store cereal in the dry food container 52 in a pantry or on a shelf . select containers can then be combined , and a lid placed thereover which keeps the containers together and allows dry and liquid food to be dispensed therefrom . although not shown in fig4 threads can be provided to a container lid to fit securely thereon . now referring to fig5 an alternative embodiment of the present invention is provided where portable food container 60 is provided with a divided compartment cup 61 and a snap - on container lid 62 . the container lid 62 has flanges 63 which fit over rim 65 of the compartment divider 66 and over the rim 67 of the cup wall 68 . the rims include a bulging section 70 which helps provide a seal and which helps keep the snap - on container lid 62 attached to the divided compartment cup 61 . now referring to fig6 an alternative embodiment of the present invention is provided where portable food container 80 includes divided compartment cup 82 and container lid 84 . the divided compartment cup 82 has dry food compartment 88 and liquid food compartment 86 . as shown in fig6 the wall 90 of the liquid food compartment has increased thickness to provide desired insulation . the cup 82 is provided with a ridge 92 over which container lid 84 snaps to provide a seal . compartment divider 94 is provided and contains a ridge 95 over which the container lid 84 snaps to provide a seal to prevent the components of the two compartments from mixing . container lid 84 includes a drip free spout 96 which can be operated by pulling out to open , and pushing in to close similar to that used on conventional bicycle water bottles . thus , liquid food in the liquid food compartment 86 can be squeezed therefrom through drip free spout 96 . a cap can be provided for sealing the dry food opening 98 from the environment . as described above , the preferred divided compartment cup has two enclosed and separate compartments . basically , these compartments can be partial halves or semi - circle cylinders that run from the bottom to the top of the base unit . one compartment is intended to store dry food , preferably cereal , and the other compartment is intended to store liquid food , preferably milk . of course , the shape of each compartment can vary according to the teaching of the invention to accommodate the desired configuration for purposes of providing insulation , relative compartment proportions , etc . the user can hold the portable food container by grasping with one hand , similar to holding a glass of milk . if desired , the surface of the container can be ribbed or indented to form - fit a person &# 39 ; s hand to provide better control . the portable food container can be designed right - handed , left - handed , or compatible for both for convenient operation by the desired hand of the user . it is generally desirable , however , for the gripping hand to be capable of squeezing the liquid containing compartment to force liquid therefrom . as discussed above , the milk and cereal compartments may be constructed as individual pieces . these pieces would be designed to be interlocking which slide together and &# 34 ; snap &# 34 ; in place ; the top lid and snap cap would then be attached before use . the liquid compartment could be filled , i . e . with milk , and stored in the refrigerator overnight with the cereal compartment stored in the cupboard . for convenience , multiple containers can be used . for example , a standard workweek supply of five could be filled over the weekend . the milk compartments can be stored in the refrigerator , and the cereal compartments can be stored in the cupboard . on a weekday morning , the milk and cereal compartments can be matched as desired , snapped together , and the container lid added thereto . in another embodiment , the milk compartment may include a drop - in detachable bladder . preferably , however , the container is dishwasher safe . the container lid can attach to the divided compartment cup by any desired attachment mechanism . screw on and snap on are preferred . the entire container lid is preferably removable to allow access to both compartments for easy filling and cleaning . when the container lid is attached to the divided compartment cup and is in the &# 34 ; locked &# 34 ; position , the dry food opening will preferably be directly above the dry food compartment , and the liquid food spout will be directly above the liquid food compartment . the dry food opening and the liquid food spout are preferably located off - center of the top lid and next to the near rim of the top lid to allow complete dispensing of contents when inverting the portable food container . if desired , the top surface of the container lid can be sloped . preferably , the dry food opening will be large enough to allow a desired cereal product to flow therethrough , and may be an oval approximately 1 . 5 inches wide . the liquid food spout is preferably a drip - free spout like that found on a plastic syrup bottle , common water bottle , etc . the spout can be pulled out to allow flow and pushed in to seal and stop the flow . the flow of liquid can be initiated and regulated by squeezing the container . the portable food container can accommodate several sizes and several different configurations which are within the scope of the present invention . for example , the size of the portable food container can be altered to be suitable for different food or meal requirements , or to accommodate adult size and child size portions . the configuration of the cup can be altered by compartment arrangement so as to provide different size and shape compartments . the shape of each compartment can be altered to provide increased insulation and / or to provide a surface which is easier to clean . this may accommodate different portion amounts and provide maximum ease of use with different hand sizes . an adult size can have a volume capacity of about 1 . 5 cups of dry food and about 1 . 5 cups of liquid milk . a child size can have a volume capacity of about 1 . 0 cups of dry cereal and about 1 . 0 cups of milk . the amount of liquid consumed will usually be greater than normally consumed when the foods are mixed in a bowl due to the mixing in a person &# 39 ; s mouth . since the primary mixing of the cereal and milk is intended to take place in the user &# 39 ; s mouth , more milk may be consumed per cereal serving than in a similar sized serving being mixed in a bowl . the dimensions of an adult size portable food container can be approximately about 6 . 0 inches tall with a diameter of approximately about 3 . 0 inches . a child size can be proportionately smaller in relation to the volume requirements as stated above . the top rim of the portable food container can be slightly larger tapering down to a smaller base . the circumference of the base preferably accommodates existing cup holders found in console designs in automobiles and portable cup holders designed to hang from car doors . in addition to cereal and milk , the portable food container of this invention can be used for providing any combination of solid and liquid food such as cookies and milk , crackers and soup , and snacks such as popcorn , potato chips , pretzels , crackers , nuts , trail mix , etc ., and soda , fruit drink , beer , fruit juice , etc . in addition , water and water - based fluids are considered liquid food for purposes of this invention . while the invention has been described in conjunction with a specific embodiment thereof , it is evident that different alternatives , modifications , variations , and uses will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description . accordingly , the invention is not limited to these embodiments or the use of elements having specific configurations or shapes as presented herein . | 0 |
in fig1 designates a six - cylinder engine with a coolant inlet conduit 2 from an oil cooler 3 and an outlet conduit 4 to a thermostat 5 , which distributes the coolant from the engine 1 between a conduit 6 to a radiator 7 and a by - pass 8 which , as does a conduit 9 from the radiator 7 , communicates with a suction conduit 10 to a coolant pump 11 , the pressure conduit 12 of which opens into the oil cooler 3 . together with a coolant circuit 13 , 14 via an expansion tank 15 , the coolant system shown and described above is a conventional system . from the coolant inlet conduit 2 of the engine , there branches off a coolant inlet conduit 20 to a cooling element 21 , through which exhaust , recirculated to the engine intake side , passes for exhaust cooling with the engine coolant . the design , function and connection to the exhaust conduit of the cooling element are known and do not need to be shown and described in more detail here . from the conduit 13 to the expansion tank 15 , a conduit 22 branches off to a heater element 23 , which is placed in a known manner in or near the vehicle cab . an outlet conduit 24 is connected to the suction conduit 10 of the pump 11 via conduit 14 from the expansion tank 15 . in the conduit 22 to the heater element 23 there is coupled in a known manner a control valve 25 , by means of which the output of the heater element can be regulated by controlling the coolant flow to the heater element . the valve 25 can be a pwm - valve , known in this context . instead of connecting in a known manner the cooling element 21 outlet directly via the engine coolant outlet to the suction side of the coolant pump 11 , in accordance with the invention an outlet conduit 26 is connected directly to the inlet conduit 22 of the heater element 23 , so that coolant , heated by the recirculated exhaust , is circulated through the heater element 23 . the hot exhaust heats the coolant in the cooling element much more rapidly than the engine can heat the coolant in the engine coolant channels , and thus the heater element is supplied with hot coolant in a fraction of the time it takes to reach the same temperature via the engine . fig1 shows a preferred embodiment of an installation according to the invention , which is particularly , but not exclusively , intended for heavy diesel vehicles , which have , in their existing heater units , a pwm - control valve in the coolant supply conduit 22 to the heater element 23 . here , a thermostatic valve 27 is arranged in the outlet conduit 26 from the cooling element 21 . the thermostatic valve 27 regulates the temperature of the coolant flowing out from the cooling element 21 , and is suitably set so that the temperature is somewhat higher than the coolant temperature in the engine . a suitable temperature can be about 95 ° c . from cold start and until the engine has reached working temperature , the valve 25 regulates the flow through it in relation to the thermostatic valve 27 , so that the flow through the valves 25 , 27 is approximately the same , which means that practically all of the outflow from the cooling element 21 will go to the heater element 23 and that there will be no or practically no added flow from the engine outlet side via the conduit 22 . fig2 shows an embodiment of an installation according to the invention which differs from that described above in that it lacks , firstly , a valve corresponding to the pwm - valve 25 and , secondly , a thermostatic valve corresponding to the thermostatic valve 27 . instead , a valve 30 is arranged in the engine coolant outlet to the thermostatic valve 5 . the installation in fig2 is primarily , but not exclusively , intended for passenger cars , in which the air temperature in the passenger compartment is controlled by mixing cold air and heated air , in contrast to the preceding example , where the air temperature was controlled by the coolant temperature . in passenger car heaters , there is in general a valve ( not shown ), which closes off the coolant flow entirely when no heating is desired . when cold - starting , the valve 30 is kept closed or essentially closed . the valve 30 can be controlled by the coolant temperature of the engine and , in this case , a minimal flow is required for the control function , but the valve 30 can also be controlled by other control parameters , and it can be , in this case , kept completely closed during a short period after engine start . with the valve 30 completely or practically completely closed at cold - starting , only a small amount of the total coolant in the system will circulate through the cooling element 21 and the heating element 23 . in an engine installation with a total coolant amount of about 5 liters , we are dealing here with about 1 liter . in addition to a very rapid heating of the heating element 23 , there is also achieved a more rapid heating of the walls of the combustion chamber , since no coolant is circulating through the engine when the valve 30 is closed . the pump only needs to circulate a fraction of the total amount of coolant , in the example shown only a fifth of the total amount of coolant . the pump power is reduced , which saves fuel . in a passenger car installation , the time from cold start to a noticeable warming of the air was reduced from about three minutes to less than 30 seconds . in a passenger car it is not always necessary to have an oil - cooler 3 , but if it is required , it can be placed as shown in fig2 . in order to prevent coolant circulation through the engine at cold - start , as an alternative to the valve 30 , a valve 31 can be arranged as shown in fig3 in the coolant inlet to the engine . | 5 |
the following description refers to numerous specific details which are set forth by way of examples to provide a thorough understanding of the relevant teachings . it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present teachings may be practiced without such details . in other instances , well known methods , procedures , and components have been described at a relatively high - level , without detail , in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present teachings . while the description refers by way of example to synthetic turf , is should be understood that the method ( s ) and system ( s ) described herein may be used for any similar type of surface coverings , and for application in any location having any size and shape . fig1 is perspective view illustrating a single modular turf section . the modular turf section comprises a base structure of a predetermined size and shape , and a corresponding turf section having the same or substantially similar size and shape as the base structure . the turf section is secured to the base section in any suitable manner , such as by hog rings or plastic zip ties , as described in more detail below . fig2 is a perspective view illustrating the base structure of the modular turf section of fig1 . the base structure can take any desired size and shape . the base structure can also be made from any suitable material , preferably from a rigid or semi - rigid plastic material . other suitable material such as a metal or treated wood or composite laminate is contemplated . further , the base structure can be a single , continuous piece , or it can be assembled from a plurality of interlocking tiles . for example , the base structure can be made from commercially available versacourt ™ tiles from versacourt international , inc . of lamar , mo . fig3 is a perspective view illustrating a plurality of modular turf sections having been installed in a defined area , for example an indoor dog care facility . the modular turf sections are laid side by side , adjacent to and abutting each other . as such , the turf appears carpet - like , as if it where one continuous , uniform piece of turf . fig4 is a perspective view illustrating the installed modular turf sections of fig3 , with one of the modular turf sections having been removed or displaced . as can be seen , the turf sections can simply be lifted out of place individually , and can simply be put back in place or replaced with a new modular turf section of the same size and shape . this allows any or all of the modular turf sections to be cleaned under . this also allows any or all of the modular turf sections to be selectively replaced individually if worn or damaged . this can result in significant cost savings , as well as time and labor . as can be seen in fig4 , the modular turf section located above the displaced section has been cut on a diagonal , thereby allowing the modular turf system to conform to the shape of the perimeter of the area being covered by the turf . it should thus be understood that the modular turf sections can be cut to any desired size or shape , using a circular saw , a jig saw or any other suitable cutting tool . circular , semi - circular , slotted or other shaped cutouts can also be made so that the modular turf sections can be installed around existing obstacles on or in the surface being covered with turf , such as for example a flap pole . fig5 illustrates a schematic cross - section view of a modular turf section placed on a surface . as can be seen , the modular turf section comprises a modular base structure 10 , to which a corresponding sized and shaped section of synthetic turf 20 is secured along the edges thereof via suitable fasteners 30 . as illustrated , the fasteners are outdoor rated zip ties . however , it should be understood that any suitable fasteners may be used , for example , staples , clips , clamps , wires or the like . in a preferred embodiment , metal hog rings are formed around the edges of the turf and the base structure using a commercially available hog ring tool . preferably , the fasteners are located approximately every six to eight inches around the perimeter of the modular turf section , however , this distance can vary depending on preference and the amount and nature of use or traffic on the turf . fig6 illustrates an enlarged bottom perspective view of a corner of a modular turf section . in this figure , the modular turf section is shown upside down , revealing the bottom of the base structure , and the bottom of the synthetic turf attached thereto via the hog rings ( two shown ). as can be seen , the edges of the base structure are smooth , allowing adjacent base structures to lie flat up against the edges without any gap being formed . the base structure is formed with a plurality of openings thereby allowing liquids and small particles to pass through to the surface below . the backing of the synthetic turf also has a plurality of opening or small holes for allowing liquid and small particles to pass through to the base structure and then continuing to the surface below . this combination allows for excellent drainage and an aeration layer allowing the turf and the floor surface to dry . alternatively , the turf can have a permeable or flow - through backing without holes , allowing liquid to pass through unobstructed . in one embodiment , such as use in an indoor dog care facility , the synthetic turf preferably comprises commercially available petgrass ™ synthetic turf from perfect turf llc of schaumburg , ill . this turf comprises antimicrobial agents built into the yarn and backing of the turf to help eliminate odors and keep it sanitary . accordingly , the modular turf sections can be easily rinsed or scrubbed , and then allowed to dry , and can be lifted individually to scrub or clean the surface below the modular turf sections . other types of synthetic turf can be used in other applications such as outdoor turf for covering old or damaged surfaces such as patios or decks . fig7 a - 7i illustrate the method of making a modular turf section . the modular turf sections can be made in any size . for example , a standard size modular turf section could measure forty inches by fifty inches . the base structure for such a standard sized modular turf section could be one single , continuous piece . alternatively , the modular base structure can be constructed from a plurality of smaller snap - together tiles , such as square tiles measuring ten inches by ten inches . in this manner , the modular turf sections can be customized to any size . for example , a forty inch by sixty inch modular turf section could be made from twenty - four such square tiles arranged in a four tile by six tile rectangle . accordingly , to make a custom sized modular turf section , the desired number of tiles are arranged in the desired shape and snapped together by their complementary connectors formed along the edge thereof , as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b . if necessary , the assembled base structure is then cut to a desired size using a power saw as illustrated in fig7 c . any suitable angles , slots or holes may also be cut at this time . also , any connectors extending from the outer edge of an assembled base structure would be cut off as well . once the base structure is formed to the desired size , the corresponding turf section is then cut , if necessary , to the same size as the base structure . this can be done by laying the upside down base structure on top of the upside down turf section , and then running a cutting tool along the edges of the base structure , as illustrated in fig7 d and 7e . thereafter , if existing holes in the backing of the turf are not aligned closely with the edges of the base structure , new holes can be created for receiving plastic zip ties fastened manually . as shown in fig7 f , new holes can be formed in the turf using any suitable tool such as a soldering iron , drill , dremel tool , awl , nail , or any hole forming implement . however , it is not necessary to form new holes when a pneumatic hog ring tool is used to fasten hogs rings thereto . to fasten the turf section to the base structure , the turf section and base structure are preferably positioned upright , and the edges lifted by hand or otherwise exposed to allow the fasteners to be inserted there around . if zip ties are used , it is preferred to insert the zip tie from the bottom , as illustrated in fig7 g and 7h . once the fasteners are in place , any turf fibers trapped under the fasteners can be pulled out from under the fasteners such that the fasteners will be below the level of the turf fibers and buried within the turf so as not to be noticeable in the finished modular turf section , as illustrated in fig7 i . the finished modular turf sections can then be installed side by side to cover the desired surface area ( as illustrated in fig3 and 4 ). the walls or other structure defining the perimeter of the area of installation serve to prevent the modular turf sections from sliding or from otherwise undesired movement relative to each other . nonetheless , if the modular turf sections will be used in an unbounded area and will receive excessive forces which could cause movement thereof , the edges of adjacent modular turf sections can be fastened together by any suitable clamps , clips , ties , tapes or other suitable fasteners . alternatively , the modular turf sections can be installed upon a non - slip surface such as a carpet - like rubber mat , or a non - slip coating or pad can be applied to or affixed to the bottom feet of the base structure . further , suitable step rails , brackets or tapered edging can be attached to or located against the free edges of the modular turf sections and secured to the floor when necessary to provide a smooth transition from the ground surface to the top of the modular turf sections and to prevent movement thereof . such step rails , brackets or tapered edging could also form a boundary for the modular turf system . the modular turf sections can easily be installed relatively quickly by non - professionals or do - it - yourselfers , resulting in substantial time and cost savings . further , the modular turf sections are portable , allowing them to be moved from and to any installation site desired , thereby allowing for a temporary installation if desired . the modular turf sections also result in an easier and more convenient shipping method , as they can simply be stacked upon pallets for storage and / or shipping , as illustrated in fig8 . while the foregoing discussion presents the teachings in an exemplary fashion with respect to the disclosed method and system for a modular turf system and method of turf installation , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the teachings may apply to any type of modular or portable turf system , customizable to any size and shape area . further , while the foregoing has described what are considered to be the best mode and / or other examples , it is understood that various modifications may be made therein and that the subject matter disclosed herein may be implemented in various forms and examples , and that the teachings may be applied in numerous applications , only some of which have been described herein . | 4 |
a portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection . the copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure , as it appears in the patent and trademark office patent files or records , but otherwise reserves all copyrights whatsoever . for a general understanding of the present invention , reference is made to the drawings . in the drawings , like reference numerals have been used throughout to designate identical elements . fig1 is a diagram 100 depicting a prior art approach to course content development . a basic understanding of a common prior art approach to course content development will aid in understanding the present invention and its various embodiments thereof . referring to fig1 , static material such as a textbook , as well as ancillaries , course packs , and other material , as shown in block 101 , is often times used by an instructor , professor , faculty member , teacher , or other individual , to prepare course content for an upcoming course , seminar , class , session , lecture , or the like . the use of a textbook as the basis for course content has , in years past , been the de facto standard for course content development . the addition of instructor added materials 105 provides up - to - date , timely , and custom course content to the static textbook baseline . this need to supplement static materials continues to grow . as information exchange has become faster and more streamlined through progress in the communications arts ( computers , television , video and audio sources , and the like ), the textbook by itself for many disciplines has become mostly insufficient for course content development . publishers of textbooks and others reacted by offering ancillary materials to supplement textbooks , course packs , and other material . this was all offered up to the individual preparing the course content 103 . the disadvantage to such an approach is that this supplemental material is still primarily static in nature , and still does not represent timely , current real - world information . in addition , keeping these ancillary materials up to date is itself a chore . the instructor , professor , faculty member , teacher , or other individual preparing the course content was driven to seek out supplemental , timely real - world materials . these miscellaneous instructor - added materials 105 were added to the course content 103 in an attempt to keep course content fresh , current , and interesting , there were also those instructors who would abandon the static textbook model altogether , and instead prepare course content strictly from materials located , gathered , and prepared by the instructor . of course , the prior art processes described by way of fig1 were , and still are , inefficient , time consuming , and in need of a better system for course content development . turning now to fig2 , a top level block diagram 200 of course content development using the system of the present invention is depicted . static material 201 such as a textbook , ancillaries , course packs and other material is mapped to a computer program 207 . the mapping uses the data relationships contained in the static material , such as title , chapter , author , publisher , isbn number , year of publication , key terms , and the like . current content 205 , such as business news , web sources , podcasts , blogs , and user generated content , is also received by the computer program 207 . the current content 205 is used , in some embodiments of the present invention , to generate media products ( not shown in fig2 ). the current content 205 is dynamic , and is updated on a regular basis either through the computer program 207 , manually , or through an external mechanism . the mapping , of static material 201 with dynamic current content 205 by way of the computer program 207 produces the useful and tangible output of course content 203 . the course content 203 produced by way of the present invention is enriched over course content developed by prior art approaches such as those described in fig1 . the present ; invention further contains functional elements that are described by way of fig3 . in fig3 , a functional block diagram 300 depicting the various logical components of the present invention is illustrated . the various logical components described are contained either in , or operatively coupled with , the application software 301 . a database or other data schema containing textbook structure 303 is used to map or otherwise correlate key terms , course concepts and information contained in a static textbook or textbooks with media products and current content . this mapping or correlation facilitates ease of course content development and maintains the existing textbook - based foundation of many courses . the textbook structure 303 contains information such as , for example , title , chapter , author , publisher , isbn number , year of publication , and other identifiers . operatively coupled to the application software 301 is , in some embodiments of the present invention , a database or other data schema containing key terms 323 . key terms are words , phrases , course concepts , and other elements that , may be used in conjunction with a search to aid a user in locating relevant and timely information that is suitable for their purposes . also operatively coupled to the application software 301 is , in some embodiments of the present invention , current content 319 such as business news , web sources , podcasts , blogs , and user generated content . the current content 319 may be resident within the system of the present invention , or , in some embodiments , may be located on a separate system or systems and connected by way of networking techniques that are known to those skilled in the art . in addition to current content 319 , in some embodiments of the present invention videos 321 may be operatively coupled to the application software 301 . the videos 321 may be resident within the system of the present invention , or , in some embodiments , may be located on a separate system or systems and connected by way of networking techniques that are known to those skilled in the art . a database or other data schema containing slides 305 and the structure of the slides is also operatively coupled to the application software 301 . the slides may be , for example , microsoft powerpoint ™ formatted slides , apple keynote ™ slides , and the like . the structure of the slides may include , for example , slide title , article title , publication source , date of publication , notes , publication author , digital image , and other identifiers . the slides 305 are compiled based on current content , and may include , for example , summaries of current content articles and news stories . the slides 305 are updated regularly , and are accessible through the application software 301 . the slides 305 are used to supplement static content in the preparation of course content , and are searchable by way of the slide , structure elements , key terms , relationship to textbook structure , and the like . a search utility 307 is also coupled to the application software 301 , and provides a user with a multitude of search options designed to efficiently locate and download relevant and timely dynamic course content . such utility is of paramount importance in the preparation of course content where relevant and timely information adds value and interest to a class , course , seminar , and the like . searches using the search utility 307 may look for key terms , textbook structure , key elements in the slides , current content , videos , and other media products . in addition , full text searching may be performed where all media is searched for a selected term or phrase . as part of the search utility 307 , users will be able to filter their search results in a number of ways , for example , by date , media type , major subject , and the like . a user may , in certain situations , desire to run or otherwise display the media through live classroom use 306 . this allows the user to directly use the media in a classroom setting without the need to download the media . an appropriate software player may be used depending on the nature of the media ( video , audio , presentation slides , text , and the like ). the application software 301 also , in some embodiments of the present invention , has network connectivity 313 by way of a network 315 and user access 317 . such network connectivity may include , for example , the internet , a local area network , a private network , a virtual private network , an optical network , a radio communications network , and the like . the system of the present invention also has a user interface 311 to allow a user to interact with the various functions of the application software such as search , download , browse , and the like . fig6 , 7 , and 8 depict an example of several screens of the user interface of the present invention . also coupled to the application software 301 is a download utility 309 that allows a user to transfer media products such as slides , video , audio and the like . download of media and other data is optional , and often at the discretion of the user . the user , in some embodiments of the present invention , may preview and then select desired media products , place them in a temporary storage location such as a virtual shopping cart , and then check out with the selected items using the download utility 309 . payment processing may include credit card , fixed monthly , quarterly or periodic fees , and the like . if the user does not wish to download media or information , but wishes to flag the media for future reference , a save / mark media function 310 can be used . the save / mark media function 310 allows a user to mark media using a checkbox , highlighting , or the like . in addition , in some embodiments of the present invention , the media can be saved in a temporary location such as a folder , an album , or the like . the user can also use the saved or marked media without downloading by running the media by way of a network connection . continuing to refer to fig3 , the mysyllabi function 312 is a customization feature that allows users to map the textbook and chapters to specific weeks ( e . g ., week 1 , week 2 . . . week 8 ). this allows the system to then “ suggest ” media for review or playback in specific weeks of the course . the syllabus is the organizing focus of all courses . as part of the syllabus , instructors include a weekly schedule of readings and assignments . so , for example , students might need to read chapters 1 and 2 in week 1 , chapter 3 in week 2 and so on . this provides a great opportunity to suggest media to instructors based on their syllabus textbook reading assignments . mysyllabi is a customization option that allows instructors to map a textbook and specific chapters to weeks in the semester or quarter . from that , the system presearches new slides and video and suggests them to the instructor . course instructors will need to create a mapped textbook syllabus in new syllabus setup and perform the following : assign specific slides / videos / media from suggested media to specific weeks ( optional ). this should include drag and drop capabilities . a flowchart depicting the interaction of a user with the mysyllabi functionality can be referred to in fig9 , a description of which is provided later in this specification . by way of example , and not limitation , use cases for the application software ( inclassmedia ) 301 are as follows : this is the page users come to once they &# 39 ; ve signed in . left click on the slide to see full slide or to launch a users will be given storage space on server to save selected they will access this from tab on top of page or link on page . views . over time users can save many slides , videos , and other these are presented to users as thumbnail views in lifo order the syllabus is the organizing focus of all courses . as part of chapters 1 and 2 in week 1 , chapter 3 in week 2 and so on . this map a textbook and specific chapters to weeks in the semester add media . need to upload media to server and define it for the system . media will have a number of fields that define it : in the system need to be associated with one or more illustrates . a field in the notes section of slides or added link to full text article . this is what the library calls a for example , when adding key terms to a particular slide , it is easier to select key terms from a shorter more relevant list include a list of 30 key terms ), rather than from the entire list of when media get added to the database , they are assigned key this is a key concept in the icm value proposition and allows the easiest way to add new key terms is to have the system recognize them when a slide is uploaded to the database . if the key term already exists ( i . e ., it was added during textbook setup or manually earlier ), fine ; if not , the system flags this as a new each slide is derived so to speak from an article in the business when slide is created , admin needs to associate it with a source users have the option to search for media by selecting a admin will need to add users or deny access , or review and turning now to fig4 , a top level data access diagram 400 of the present invention is shown . the application software 301 delivers various media products 305 such as slides , videos , audio , and the like by mapping static textbook structures to current dynamic content . current content used to create the media products includes , for example , business news 401 ( with sources such as cnn , business week , the economist , the wall street journal , and the like ), blogs 403 , web sources 405 , podcasts 407 , other categories 409 , and user generated content 411 . the application software 301 may also provide , in some embodiments of the present invention , access to current content directly or through an intermediary provider , system or network . the media products 305 are often based on current content , and may be created by individuals and placed on or within the application software 301 , or may be created by users themselves , or may further be created by way of software of a combination of software and individual or group efforts . the media products 305 may also , in some embodiments of the present invention , be procured from third parties or content providers . the application software is searchable using search 307 and network access 315 techniques . the search may look for key terms , textbook structure , key elements in the slides , current content , videos , and other media products . in addition , full text searching may be performed where all media is searched for a selected term . as part of the search utility 307 , users will be able to filter their search results in a number of ways , for example , by date , media type , major subject , and the like . network access 315 may include , for example , the internet , a local area network , a private network , a virtual private network , an optical network , a radio communications network , and the like . turning now to fig5 , a flowchart 500 can be seen that depicts a typical user session of the present invention . at the start of the session 501 , a user is prompted to search by textbook data in decision 503 . if the user does not desire to search by textbook data , they may in step 511 perform a full text search , search by keyword , browse most recent media , or select other search criteria . once their search is completed in step 511 , they will receive a listing of relevant media in step 509 , have the ability to optionally sort the media by date range , media type , major subject , key term , etc . in step 513 . in step 515 , they will view the desired media in the application , and in step 517 , the user will save or mark the desired media , or optionally download the media in step 518 . if no media is saved , marked or downloaded in steps 517 or 518 , the user can run another search in step 521 . similarly , once the desired media is saved , marked or downloaded in steps 517 or 518 , the user can also run another search in step 521 . if , in decision 503 , the user desires to search by textbook data , they may select the textbook title in step 505 , select the textbook chapter in step 507 , and receive a listing of relevant media in step 509 . the user also has the ability to optionally sort the media by date range , key term , etc . in step 513 . in step 515 , they will view the desired media in the application , and in steps 517 or 518 , the user will save , mark or download the desired media . if no media is saved , marked or downloaded in steps 517 or 518 , the user can run another search in decision step 521 . similarly , once the desired media is saved , marked or downloaded in steps 517 or 518 , the user can also run another search in step 521 . to terminate the process , if another search is , not elected in decision step 521 , the session is ended in step 523 . the steps described by way of fig5 are by example , and not limitation . other similar and additional steps may be known to those skilled in the art , and are not intended to be a departure from the fundamental attributes of the present invention as defined herein . turning now to fig6 , 7 , and 8 , several screen shots of one embodiment of the present invention are depicted . fig6 shows a media search session by textbook structure . as can be seen , a textbook title is selected from a drop down list , and the chapters of the selected textbook also appear in a drop down list . the user may search for media products such as slides that are mapped to the selected title and chapter of the textbook selected . a preview of each of the media products is then displayed , as can be seen in fig6 , and the user can select the desired media products for retention and subsequent download . as seen in fig6 , a search may also include date range and or key terms . fig7 further depicts a media search session with a drop down list of key terms displayed . fig8 depicts a media view following a media search session . a close up of the selected media , in this example slides , is shown along with a notes field at the bottom of the slide . referring now to fig9 , a flowchart depicting the syllabus creation routine of the present invention is shown . as previously described by way of fig3 , the mysyllabi functionality allows users to map their selected textbook and chapters to specific weeks of the course , with the application then returning suggested media for review or playback in specific weeks of the course . when a user selects the mysyllabi functionality , they can either view syllabi that currently exists in step 903 , view suggested media in step 905 that is provided by the application , or elect to create a dynamic syllabus in step 907 . if they elect to create a syllabus in step 907 , the user can optionally assign syllabus name ( s ) 909 . the application then collects course information in step 911 such as the course number , course name , and start date . the user then selects the textbook they plan to use in step 913 , and then the user maps textbook chapters to specific weeks in step 915 , and saves the syllabus they have created in step 917 . in step 919 , media relevant to the course are returned to the user , and the user previews the media in step 921 and creates associations between the media and the syllabus , as well as other variables such as week , event , presentation , and the like . in step 923 , if the user elects to create another syllabus , they are returned to step 907 . should they not elect to create another syllabus , the routine is ended and they may return home in step 925 . lastly , to provide a complete understanding of the present invention and the various embodiments described herein , fig1 - 17 are various exemplary screenshots of the present invention . these , exemplary screenshots are not intended to be limiting in any way , but rather , are intended to provide examples of one embodiment of the present invention that , when taken with this specification and the remaining drawings , will provide one skilled in the art with an adequate understanding of the present invention such the present invention and its various embodiments can be made and used . it is , therefore , apparent that there has been provided , in accordance with the various objects of the present invention , a computer based system and method for the creation and access of dynamic course content and associated media products . while the various objects of this invention have been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments thereof , it is evident that many alternatives , modifications , and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art . accordingly , it is intended to embrace all such alternatives , modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of this specification , claims , and the attached drawings . | 6 |
fig1 depicts hand - held hydrodynamic tools for use in removing debris from submerged surfaces using cavitating streams of pressurized fluid in accordance with the prior art . there is depicted a fluid discharge apparatus , generally referenced as 10 , suitable for use in pressure cleaning . fluid discharge apparatus 10 is adapted to commingle two fluids , preferably a pressurized liquid and a pressurized gas , and to discharge the commingle fluids in a high - pressure stream wherein the gas is disposed in the center of a stream of swirling liquid . as discussed more fully below , the pressurized stream is particularly useful in removing deposits from surfaces , and particularly useful in removing marine deposits from submerged surfaces . as best depicted in fig1 - 7 , fluid discharge apparatus 10 includes a pistol grip shaped housing 12 having a handle adapted with internally threaded ports , referenced as 14 and 16 , for receiving first and second pressurized fluids via inlet hoses 18 and 20 . in a preferred embodiment , the first and second pressurized fluids comprise water and air respectively . pressurized water flows through water inlet hose 18 into a water inlet channel 22 defined in the handle portion of housing 12 , and pressurized air flows through air inlet hose 20 into an air inlet channel 24 defined in the handle portion of housing 12 . water inlet channel 22 terminates in communication with an adjustable water flow regulator assembly 30 . in a preferred embodiment , water flow regulator assembly 30 includes a generally hollow cylindrical member 32 having a wall defining a circumferential slotted opening 34 through which water may flow . slotted opening 34 defines an opening area that originates at a first circumferential point and expands toward termination at a second circumferentially spaced point . cylindrical member 32 is adjustable by rotation thereof , and includes a rotatable knob 36 disposed external to housing 12 for enabling user adjustment of the water flow rate . rotation of knob 36 positions cylindrical member 32 , and particularly slotted opening 34 , relative to water inlet channel 22 such that the flow rate of water is regulated based on the size slotted opening disposed in aligned communication with water inlet channel 22 . flow regulator assembly 30 further includes a plurality of circumferentially disposed apertures , referenced as 38 , aligned with air inlet channel 24 so as to allow for the commingling of pressurized air and water . the flow regulator assembly has an outlet in communication with a rotational flow - inducing barrel 40 . barrel 40 is a generally tubular member that functions as a conduit for the commingled fluid . barrel 40 has an inner wall defining radially inwardly projecting spiral baffles , referenced as 42 . a significant aspect of the present invention relates to the use of the spiral baffle structure to induce rotational flow in the fluids ( e . g . liquid and gas ) flowing therethrough . more particularly , spiral baffles 42 function to cause commingled liquid and gas ( e . g . water and air ) to flow in a spiral path while traveling through barrel 40 . by causing the fluids to flow in a spiral path an axial region of low pressure is formed which draws gas bubbles into the axial region . in addition , causing the flow to swirl maximizes commingling of the fluids such that the liquid becomes saturated with gas . consequently , a composite stream is formed with water ( saturated with air ) existing at the periphery of the stream and air bubbles existing in the center region of the stream . the spiral flow thereby creates an axial region of low pressure which draws the gas radially inward resulting in a composite stream including a rotating stream of liquid surrounding a concentrically disposed stream of gas . the composite stream is discharged from the apparatus through a nozzle 50 . a trigger , referenced as 52 , functions to vary the flow rate of the discharge stream . in a preferred embodiment , trigger 52 has a connection point that is pivotally connected to housing 12 , and an end 54 that is connected to barrel 40 . barrel 40 includes a spring 56 that biases the barrel into sealing engagement with the flow regulator assembly 30 in a configuration wherein flow is shut off . user actuation of trigger 52 moves barrel 40 away from regulator assembly 30 thereby allowing the pressurized liquid and gas to enter barrel 40 whereafter the commingled fluid stream is discharged from nozzle 50 . as best depicted in fig8 - 11 , the present invention is particularly useful in removing marine debris from submerged surfaces . in a preferred embodiment , pressurized water and air are supplied to the fluid discharge apparatus by hoses connected to a suitable pressure source , such as a pump and / or compressor . when used in a submerged environment , fluid discharge apparatus 10 may be operated underwater by a diver . it has been found that the commingled stream of fluids produced by the apparatus is particularly effective in removing debris on submerged surfaces as the gas component of the discharged stream literally explodes upon contacting the surface thereby removing surrounding debris . with reference now fig2 there is depicted a hand - held apparatus , referenced as 100 , for cleaning debris from submerged surfaces by discharging a cavitating fluid stream according to the prior art . this apparatus is disclosed in russian patent publication no . 29 , 026 , and includes a handle 102 , an pressurized fluid inlet 104 connected to the handle , a manually actuated valve 106 , and a barrel 108 connected downstream of valve 106 . valve 106 functions to regulate flow through the device and is manually actuated by a projecting lever 106 a . barrel 108 includes a forward discharge end 110 and a rearward discharge end 112 . forward discharge end 110 is adapted with a cavitation generating internal chamber section 114 , that functions to generate cavitation in pressurized fluid flowing therethrough such that gas bubbles are formed prior to discharge from discharge end 110 . rearward discharge end 112 allows a portion of the pressurized fluid flowing through barrel 108 to be discharged reawardly to produce reverse thrust that assists the underwater operator in maintaining hand - held apparatus 100 in a the desired position and orientation by counteracting thrust produced by the cavitating fluid stream discharged from the forward discharge end 110 when in use . prior art hand - held apparatus 100 , however , is burdened by a number of significant disadvantages that inhibit easy and effective use of the device by a diver while underwater . more particularly , manual actuation of flow regulating valve 106 by manipulation of lever 106 a , requires the use of two hands and thus has proven awkward and difficult for the user . the difficulties are compounded because the user is often wearing a bulky diving suit and gear , and is operating the device in a harsh submerged environment . accordingly , the prior art device fails to provide effective fluid control . a further limitation of the prior art apparatus 100 relates to the single barrel limitation . more particulary , the prior art device is limited to discharging but a single fluid , typically a cavitating stream of water . there often exists a need , however , to supplement the cavitating fluid stream by discharging either a second fluid stream or an abrasive . with reference now to fig2 there is depicted an improved double barrel hand - held apparatus , referenced as 150 , for cleaning debris from submerged surfaces by selectively discharging a first and second fluid streams , or a first fluid stream and an abrasive , such as granular material or sand . apparatus 150 includes a handle 152 , first and second pressurized fluid inlets , referenced as 154 and 156 respectively , connected to handle 152 . apparatus 150 further includes first and second trigger actuated valves 160 and 162 for controlling flow through dual barrels 164 and 166 connected downstream of valves 160 and 162 . as should be apparent , valves 160 and 162 function to selectively regulate flow through the respective barrels 164 and 166 . each valve 160 and 162 includes a trigger - type manual actuator , referenced as 160 a and 162 a respectively . the provision of trigger actuated flow control valves allows the user to regulate flow using one hand and thus greatly improves ease of use . barrel 164 is fluidly connected to valve 160 and inlet 154 , and includes a forward discharge end 170 and a rearward discharge end 172 . forward discharge end 170 is adapted with a cavitation generating internal chamber section 174 , that functions to generate cavitation in pressurized fluid flowing therethrough such that gas bubbles are formed prior to discharge from discharge end 170 . rearward discharge end 172 allows a portion of the pressurized fluid flowing through barrel 164 to be discharged reawardly to produce reverse thrust that assists the underwater operator in maintaining hand - held apparatus 150 in a the desired position and orientation by counteracting thrust produced by the cavitating fluid stream discharged from the forward discharge end 170 when in use . barrel 166 is fluidly connected to valve 162 and inlet 154 , and includes a forward discharge end 180 , and may include a rearward discharge end 182 . in a first embodiment , forward discharge end 180 may be adapted with a cavitation generating internal chamber section 184 , that functions to generate cavitation in pressurized fluid flowing therethrough such that gas bubbles are formed prior to discharge from discharge end 180 . in an alternate embodiment , barrel 166 merely serves as a conduit for discharging a secondary substance , such as a granular material . rearward discharge end 182 may further be adapted with a rear discharge such that a portion of the pressurized fluid flowing through barrel 166 may be discharged reawardly to produce reverse thrust that assists the underwater operator in maintaining hand - held apparatus 150 in a the desired position and orientation by counteracting thrust produced by the cavitating fluid stream discharged from the forward discharge end 180 when in use . however , in an embodiment wherein a granular material is discharged from end 180 , it is contemplated that rear discharge outlet 182 may be eliminated . discharge end 180 may be oriented toward discharge end 170 of barrel 164 so as to inject an abrasive substance , such as sand , into the cavitating stream discharged from barrel 164 so as to enhance cleaning effectiveness . fig2 depicts a side sectional view of the wheeled embodiment apparatus 200 disclosed in the prior art . wheeled apparatus 200 include a main body 202 including an upper deck 203 and depending skirt 204 defining a plurality of apertures 206 therein . upper deck 203 includes a plurality of openable and closeable vent apertures 205 . the opening of vent apertures 205 provides an inlet for surrounding water thereby reducing the suction effect generated during operation , while the closing of vent apertures 205 increases the suction effect for maintaining apparatus 200 in contact with the submerged surface . a significant disadvantage with the apparatus , however , relates the difficulty experience by the diver in opening and closing the vent apertures . body 202 further includes wheels 208 and 209 adapted for rotating engagement on a submerged surface when in use . projecting upwardly from body 202 are concentrically disposed inner and outer annular members , referenced as 210 and 212 , which provide grasping structures for the diver / user to facilitate manipulating the device . the fluid handling component structure of the prior art device includes an inlet 220 adapted for connection to a hose that functions as a conduit for a pressurized fluid . inlet 220 is in fluid communication with a manually actuated valve 222 having a lever - type valve handle 222 a . valve 222 is in fluid communication with a vertically disposed , axial fluid conduit 224 attached to body 202 . axial fluid conduit 224 includes first and second outlets , referenced as 230 and 240 respectively . outlet 230 is disposed on the upper surface of body 202 and includes a conduit 232 connected to axial fluid conduit 224 , a manually actuated valve 234 , and a conduit 236 terminating in an outlet connected to valve 234 . outlet 230 functions to discharge a portion of the fluid flowing through axial fluid conduit 224 in a direction substantially parallel to the submerged surface upon which apparatus is in rolling engagement with . the fluid discharged from outlet 230 produces thrust that propels apparatus 200 along the submerged surface to be cleaned . the operator controls the thrust level , from minimum to maximum , using lever 234 a on valve 234 . a significant disadvantage present with apparatus 200 relates to the awkward positioning of lever 234 a , which requires the diver to remove one hand from the apparatus simply to manipulate the lever and resulting thrust . outlet 240 is fluidly connected to axial fluid conduit 224 within the area bounded by body 202 , and particularly below upper deck 203 . outlet 240 includes a rotating conduit 242 terminating in oppositely oriented outlets 244 and cavitation generating chamber sections 246 . cavitation generating chamber sections 246 function to produce a cavitating fluid flow prior to discharge via outlets 244 by provision of a rapidly expanding internal volume . as should be apparent , fluid flow is controlled by the diver using handle 222 a on valve 222 . with reference to fig2 - 27 there is depicted an improved wheeled cavitation cleaning apparatus , generally referenced as 300 , according to the present invention . wheeled apparatus 300 includes a main body 302 including an upper deck 303 and depending skirt 304 defining a plurality of peripheral apertures 306 therein . body 302 further includes wheels 308 and 309 adapted for rotating engagement on a submerged surface when in use . upper deck 303 includes a plurality of openable and closeable vent apertures 305 . the opening of vent apertures 305 provides an inlet for surrounding water thereby reducing the suction effect generated during operation , while the closing of vent apertures 305 increases the suction effect for maintaining apparatus 300 in contact with the submerged surface . a significant improvement in the apparatus of the present invention over the prior art apparatus relates to the provision of a control handle , referenced as 310 , having a mechanical linkage to the closure structure for vent apertures 305 . more particularly , the present invention includes providing a combination handle 310 including a lever actuator 312 that is mechanically connected to the closure structure for vent apertures for selectively opening and closing the vent apertures thereby decreasing and increasing the suction effect respectively . lever actuator 312 is preferably biased to away from handle 310 in a position corresponding to an closed configuration for vent apertures 305 . in an alternate embodiment , control may be accomplished by rotation of handle 310 in lieu of the lever actuation . accordingly , the diver may adjust the suction pressure , without releasing his grip , by simply pulling in on the lever ( or alternately by rotation of the handle ) to selectively reduce or increase the suction effect . the fluid handling component structure of the cavitation cleaning apparatus of the present invention includes first and second inlets 320 and 330 . each inlet is adapted for connection to a hose ( not shown ) that functions as a conduit for a pressurized fluid or other substance . in a preferred embodiment , inlet 320 is connected to a hose containing pressurized fluid , such as water , and inlet 330 is connected to a hose containing a pressurized abrasive substance , such as sand or any other suitable substance . inlet 320 includes a manually actuated valve 322 actuated by a lever - type valve handle 323 . valve 322 is in fluid communication with a fluid conduit 324 attached to body 302 and routed axially through body 302 as best depicted in fig2 . similarly , inlet 330 includes a manually actuated valve 332 actuated by a lever - type valve handle 333 , or alternatively by rotation of the handle . valve 332 is in fluid communication with a fluid conduit 334 attached to body 302 and routed axially through body 302 . fluid conduit 324 is connected to an outlet conduit 340 , and fluid conduit 334 is connected to an outlet conduit 350 . outlet conduit 340 includes dual opposing outlets 344 and corresponding dual cavitation generating chambers 342 for producing a cavitating flow that is discharged from discharge outlets 344 . in addition , fluid conduit 334 is in communication with outlet conduit 350 and dual discharge outlets 352 . accordingly , the present invention provides outlets for discharging two different media , such as a cavitating stream of pressurize fluid from outlets 344 , and a secondary substance , such as sand or the like , from outlets 352 . the dual outlets and combined substances provide enhanced cleaning effectiveness . in addition , the present invention contemplates a third handle and valve assembly for controlling thrust . more particularly , apparatus 300 and particularly handle 310 may be further adapted to control thrust . in one embodiment , handle 300 may include a secondary control such as a rotatable grip , similar to that found on a motorcycle , that controls thrust via discharge outlet 360 . thus , rotation of handle 310 actuates a flow control 311 valve having an inlet in communication with pressurized fluid , such as conduit 324 . fig2 depicts a detailed view of a cavitation generating chamber 114 known for use with the prior art . as seen in fig2 , pressurized fluid enters chamber 114 through an inlet 114 a wherein converging walls 114 b increase the flow rate until the fluid encounters an intermediate section 114 c having a uniform diameter , and then a section having diverging walls 114 d , whereby the fluid transitions to a cavitating flow state . with reference now to fig3 there is depicted a hand - held apparatus according to the prior art , referenced as 100 , for cleaning debris from submerged surfaces by discharging a cavitating fluid stream according to the prior art . this apparatus is disclosed in russian patent publication no . 29 , 026 , and includes a handle 102 , an pressurized fluid inlet 104 connected to the handle , a manually actuated valve 106 , and a barrel 108 connected downstream of valve 106 . valve 106 functions to regulate flow through the device and is manually actuated by a projecting lever 106 a . barrel 108 includes a forward discharge end 110 and a rearward discharge end 112 . forward discharge end 110 is adapted with a cavitation generating internal chamber section 114 as shown in fig2 , that functions to generate cavitation in pressurized fluid flowing therethrough such that gas bubbles are formed prior to discharge from discharge end 110 . rearward discharge end 112 allows a portion of the pressurized fluid flowing through barrel 108 to be discharged reawardly to produce reverse thrust that assists the underwater operator in maintaining hand - held apparatus 100 in a the desired position and orientation by counteracting thrust produced by the cavitating fluid stream discharged from the forward discharge end 110 when in use . turning now to fig2 , there is depicted an improved cavitation generating chamber according to the present invention , referenced as 400 . cavitation chamber 400 may be defined within a body fabricated from metal , such as bronze , ceramic , or any other suitable material . cavitation generating chamber 400 includes an inlet 400 a wherein converging walls 400 b increase the flow rate until the fluid encounters an intermediate section 400 c having a uniform diameter , and then a section having diverging walls 400 d , whereby the fluid transitions to a cavitating flow state . a significant aspect of the present invention , however , relates to the addition of first and second auxiliary input channels , referenced as 402 and 404 respectively . more particularly , the present invention includes a first auxiliary input channel 402 formed as a through bore having an inlet 402 a defined by the chamber outer wall and an outlet 402 b in communication with the chamber interior , more particularly the converging wall section 400 b . in a preferred embodiment , the first auxiliary input channel 402 may be in communication with a source of compressed gas , or alternatively with any other suitable substance , such as fire supressing foam . the substance introduced through channel 402 is introduced into a fluid stream prior to transition into a cavitating state . the present invention further includes a second auxiliary input channel 404 formed as a through bore having an inlet 404 a defined by the chamber outer wall and an outlet 404 b in communication with the chamber interior , more particularly the diverging wall section 400 d . in a preferred embodiment , the second auxiliary input channel 404 may be in communication with a source of abrasive material or any other suitable substance . the substance introduced through channel 404 is introduced into a fluid stream after transition to a cavitating state . turning now to fig3 , there is depicted a hand - held cleaning apparatus adapted with an improved cavitation generating chamber with first and second auxiliary input ports , referenced as 500 , for cleaning debris from submerged surfaces by discharging a cavitating fluid stream with the option of one or more fluids or substances introduced through the auxiliary input ports to enhance cleaning effectiveness . accordingly , the improved hand - held apparatus includes a handle 502 , an pressurized fluid inlet 504 connected to the handle , a manually actuated valve 506 , and a barrel 508 connected downstream of valve 506 . valve 506 functions to regulate flow of the primary working fluid through the device and is manually actuated by a projecting lever 506 a . barrel 508 includes a forward discharge end 510 and a rearward discharge end 512 . forward discharge end 510 is adapted with a cavitation generating internal chamber section 400 as shown in fig2 , that functions to generate cavitation in pressurized fluid flowing therethrough such that gas bubbles are formed prior to discharge from discharge end 510 . first auxiliary input port 402 is preferably in fluid communication with a source of compressed gas or other suitable substance , such as fire foam , by a tubular conduit 410 . similarly auxiliary input port 404 is preferably in fluid communication with a source of abrasive material by a tubular conduit 412 . rearward discharge end 512 allows a portion of the pressurized fluid flowing through barrel 508 to be discharged reawardly to produce reverse thrust that assists the underwater operator in maintaining hand - held apparatus 500 in a the desired position and orientation by counteracting thrust produced by the cavitating fluid stream discharged from the forward discharge end 110 when in use . as should be apparent , improved cavitation generating chamber 400 is eaqually adaptable for use with a wheeled cleaning apparatus , such as the apparatus shown in fig2 - 27 . the present invention provides improvements in the art of cleaning debris from submerged surfaces , and particularly improves upon the control of such devices with controls that allow the diver / operator to adjust flow rates and thrust without releasing his grasp , while improving cleaning effectiveness by providing controllable dual flow outlets and the use of abrasive substances . fig3 depicts an alternate embodiment coaxial exhaust diffuser , generally referenced as 610 . the water flowing channel is developed with the coaxial exhaust diffuser , and the cone - cylindrical portion is made with the coaxial cylindrical expanded cavity , in which case the center body forms the uniform cross - section annual gap with the cone - cylindrical portion walls , and the center body &# 39 ; s flat butt end is located at the diffuser inlet . the modulator - amplifier allows to increase the blasting efficiency when removing surface deposits from submerged surfaces and improve the efficiency of cavitations generating chamber operation . the set task fulfilled by the following : the water flowing channel is made with the coaxial exhaust diffuser , the cone - cylindrical portion — with the coaxial cylindrical expanded cavity , in which case the center body forms the uniform cross - section annual gap with the cone - cylindrical portion walls , and the center body &# 39 ; s flat butt end is located at the diffuser inlet . the drawing ( fig3 ) schematically illustrates the cavitations generating chamber with the feed part ( longitudinal section ). housing 611 of the cavitations generating chamber spray head has feed part 612 , confuser 613 located in housing 611 is coaxially connected with flowing channel 614 , at the outlet of which is issued expanded cavity 615 , outlet 616 , which outlet is larger than the diameter of channel 614 and developed in the form of exhaust diffuser 617 . center body 618 is situated in line with housing 611 and has the uniform cross - section gap with channels 614 and 616 and flat butt end 619 located at the inlet of diffuser 617 . the abrasive material that transferred through pipeline to the field 620 would be delivered to the cleaning surface separately from the area where bulbs not formed . the cavitations destroying energy would not be wasted to interfere with the abrasive blasting material . the modulator - amplifier is operated as follows . the water under pressure is going into housing 611 through feed part 612 to confuser 613 , in which an increase in transverse pulsations of fluid flow velocities takes place . after passing portion 614 , the fluid flow is accelerated and enters sharply expanded cavity 615 . the gas bubbles formed at the exit section 614 loose their stability and in cavity 615 gain the capability of unlimited growth . after entering the zone of increased pressure of diffuser 617 , the growth of cavitations bubbles diameter stops . the bubbles containing a sufficient amount of gas after reaching the minimum radius again restore and perform several cycles of decaying oscillations . most bubbles are transferred by the outward flow from diffuser 617 and form the zone of collection in the form of prolonged belt from the diffuser edge to the surface to be cleaned . the modulator - amplifier has produced the cavitations bubbles are formed only in a thin layer of the flow at its periphery are absent in the center part of the flow , which decreases the cleaning efficiency and increases power consumption . the development of body 618 with flat butt end 619 at the outlet of diffuser 617 allowed , due rarefaction behind flat butt end 619 to focus and uniformly distribute the stream of cavitations bubbles throughout the cross - section without leaving diffuser 617 . the modulator - amplifier &# 39 ; s design allows to obtain the detachable cavitations zone of collection of the gas bubbles that at a certain distance from the outlet of diffuser 617 determined by the pressure at the modulator nozzle edge , the nozzle diameter and the ambient static pressure collapse causing erosion destruction of depositions on the surface to be cleaned . in addition , the cavitations destroying energy would not be wasted to interfere with the abrasive blasting material , because the above material is delivering directly to the zone 620 and not interfere with the cavitations bulbs . the instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment . it is recognized , however , that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious structural and / or functional modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art . | 1 |
the exemplary embodiments described herein detail for illustrative purposes are subject to many variations in structure and design . it should be emphasized , however , that the present invention is not limited to a particular pedal scooter , as shown and described . it is understood that various omissions , substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient , but is intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims of the present invention . the terms “ a ” and “ an ” herein do not denote a limitation of quantity , but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item and the terms “ first ,” “ second ,” and the like , herein do not denote any order , quantity , or importance , but rather are used to distinguish one element from another . the present invention provides a pedal scooter , for kids , adults and physically challenged ( people with paralyzed limbs ) for easy transportation and additionally , riding scooter for fun and exercise . the pedal scooter is designed in a simple way enabling riding the same standing as well as while seating in a comfortable manner . additionally , the pedal scooter of the present invention allows two people , most likely children , to ride at a same time , making the ride easy and enjoyable . the pedal scooter of the present invention is lightweight , convenient for riding , safe , easy to use , durable , and at the same time inexpensive . referring to figs . 1 - 7 , a pedal scooter 1000 is shown . in an embodiment , the pedal scooter 1000 comprises a platform 100 , a wheel arrangement , a seating arrangement , a steering arrangement , a braking arrangement and a drive mechanism . the platform 100 is an elongated structure comprising a front portion 110 , a back portion 120 , a top surface 130 and a bottom surface 140 . on the top surface 130 of the platform 100 and towards the front portion 110 , the steering arrangement is configured . the seating arrangement is configured on the top surface 130 of the platform 100 , towards the back portion 120 . the wheel arrangement is configured on the bottom surface 140 of the platform 100 and the drive mechanism protrudes from the front surface 130 towards the bottom surface 140 . in one embodiment , the platform 100 is 4 feet long and 1 foot wide , providing enough space to accommodate two persons ( most likely children ) at a time in a utilized state ( see fig2 ). the material used in manufacturing the platform 100 may include durable plastic , and the like . as illustrated in fig3 , the platform 100 is mounted on the wheel arrangement . the wheel arrangement includes a plurality of wheels ( front wheels 200 and rear wheels 210 ), a front axle 220 , a rear axle 230 , connectors 240 and roller bearings ( not shown ). in one embodiment , the pedal scooter 1000 may have two front wheels 200 and two rear wheels 210 . however , the wheel arrangement of the pedal scooter 1000 may have the front wheels 200 and the rear wheels 210 arranged in different combinations . the front wheels 200 are connected to each other by means of the front axle 220 at the bottom surface 140 of the front portion 110 . the rear wheels 210 are connected to each other by means of the rear axle 230 at the bottom surface 140 of the back portion 120 of the platform 100 . connectors 240 are attached to the bottom surface 140 of the platform 100 and consist of roller bearings . the wheels 200 , 210 may be made of durable material including hard plastic , rubber or the like materials providing long life to the wheels 200 , 210 . the seating arrangement is mounted on the top surface 130 of the platform 100 . in one embodiment , the seating arrangement may be disposed at approximately the half way point on the top surface 130 of the platform 100 . seating arrangement includes a seat 300 , a seat support 310 , a seat support enclosure 320 , a base plate 330 and base plate bars 340 . the seat 300 is permanently fixed to the seat support 310 . the seat 300 may be produced from materials such as , lightweight plastic , and the like . the seat support 310 and the seat support enclosure 320 are coupled to each other in a manner , such that , the seat support 310 and the seat support enclosure 320 are arranged telescopically , allowing the seat support 310 to slidably move within the seat support enclosure 320 . the seat support 310 and the seat support enclosure 320 are coupled together using fasteners 350 such as , screws , bolts , nuts , and the like . the height of the seat 300 may be adjusted at different levels by adjusting the position of the seat support 310 within the seat support enclosure 320 using the fasteners 350 . the seat support enclosure 320 is coupled to the base plate 330 . the base plate 330 is movably secured along a plurality of slots within the base plate bars 340 , such that , the position of the seat 300 may be moved forward or backward along the base plate bars 340 by changing the position of the base plate 330 at different slots 360 of the base plate bars 340 and fastening the same . the steering arrangement is mounted on the front portion 110 of the platform 100 . the steering arrangement comprises a vertical pole 400 , a handlebar 410 , a hinge 420 and a hinge support 430 . the vertical pole 400 comprising a steer bar . 440 , and a steer bar enclosure 450 , is configured to provide an adjustable height varying feature . the steer bar 440 and the steer bar enclosure 450 are coupled to each other in a manner , such that , the steer bar 440 and the steer bar enclosure 450 are arranged telescopically , enabling the steer bar 440 to slidably move within the steer bar enclosure 450 , thereby providing adjustable height varying feature to the vertical pole 400 . the steer bar 440 and the steer bar enclosure 450 are coupled using fasteners 460 , such as , screws , bolts , nuts , and the like . the adjustable height varying feature of the vertical pole 400 enables riders of different height groups to drive the pedal scooter 1000 in a comfortable manner . the steer bar enclosure 450 is connected to hinge 420 mounted on the front portion 110 of the top surface 130 of the platform 100 through a hinge support 430 . the hinge support 430 enables the vertical pole 400 to move forward and backward at different positions along a length of the platform and perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the hinge support 430 , thereby allowing the rider to pull back the handle bar 410 while seated on the seat 300 and steer the pedal scooter 1000 . the forward and backward positions of the vertical pole 400 is controlled using a locking mechanism ( not shown ) enabling the vertical pole 400 to have different fixed positions with respect to the platform 100 . additionally , the handle bar 410 is equipped with hand grips 470 at two ends of the handle bar 410 . hand grips 470 provides proper grip to the rider while holding the handle bar 410 , such that , the steering of the pedal scooter 1000 may be achieved by guiding the handle bar 410 in a desired direction of traveling . in one embodiment , the braking arrangement includes hand brake 500 , a brake cable 510 and braking calipers 520 ( see fig1 and 3 ). the hand brake 500 is coupled to the handle bar 410 . at one end , the brake cable 510 connects the hand brake 500 and travels along the vertical pole 400 and over the bottom surface 140 of the platform 100 , such that , the brake cable 510 is secured along the vertical pole 400 and the bottom surface 140 of the platform 100 using suitable securing means such as clips , clamps , and the like . at the other end , the brake cable 510 connects the braking calipers 520 . when the rider applies the brake by pulling the hand brake 500 , the brake cable 510 attached to the hand brake 500 gets stretched , such that , the braking calipers 520 engages with at least one of the wheels thereby causing the pedal scooter 1000 to decelerate . in an embodiment , the braking calipers 520 engage with one of the rear wheels 210 . as shown in fig4 , 5 a through to 5 c , illustrated is the drive mechanism . the drive mechanism comprises a pedal 600 , a front sprocket 610 , a rear sprocket 620 , a transmission member 630 , a link 640 , a compressible member 650 , and an opening 660 . the front sprocket 610 and the rear sprocket 620 are coupled with the transmission member 630 , such as , chain , and the like . the front sprocket 610 is connected to the bottom surface 140 of the platform 100 by means of a sprocket connector 670 . the sprocket connector 670 has a small cylindrical projected portion ( not shown ) wherein roller bearings 680 of the front sprocket 610 are fixed , thereby allowing the front sprocket 610 to rotate about the axis of the roller bearing 680 . the rear sprocket 620 is coupled with the rear axle 230 , and further connected with the bottom surface 140 of the platform 100 by means of sprocket connector 670 . additionally , the link 640 is coupled at a first end to a side surface of the front sprocket 610 and at a second end to a bottom surface 602 of the pedal 600 , such that , an application of pressure on the pedal 600 , causes the link 640 to move downwards and the front sprocket 610 to rotate in a counter clockwise direction . the link 640 is positioned at an angle inclined towards the seating arrangement of the pedal scooter 1000 and additionally , the pedal 600 is inclined towards the seating arrangement of the pedal scooter 1000 . the opening 660 disposed on the platform 100 enables the link 640 to slide along the opening 660 and along the length of the platform 100 . in one embodiment , the compressible member 650 includes spring , disposed on a top surface 130 of the platform 100 , such that , the link 640 runs through a length of the compressible member 650 and the compressible member 650 is disposed between the bottom surface 602 of the pedal 600 and the top surface 130 of the platform 100 . additionally , the diameter of the compressible member 650 is greater than a width of the opening 660 . now referring to fig5 a - 5c , different positions of the drive mechanism during riding the pedal scooter 1000 is illustrated . initially , when the pedal scooter 1000 is not in use ( not driven ), the compressible member 650 , is in an uncompressed state ‘ a ’ ( see fig5 a ). now , when the rider applies pressure on a top surface 604 of the inclined pedal 600 , the link 640 moves pivotally downward causing the compressible member 650 to be compressed to state ‘ b ’ ( see fig5 b ). as the first end of the link 640 is connected to the side surface of the front sprocket 610 , the downward movement of the link 640 causes the front sprocket 610 to rotate a first 180 degree in the counter clockwise direction . as the transmission member 630 couples the front sprocket 610 to the . rear sprocket 620 , the 180 degree counter clockwise rotation of the front sprocket 610 causes the rear sprocket 620 to also rotate a first 180 degree in the counter clockwise direction , thereby allowing about half a rotation of the wheels in the counter clockwise direction causing the pedal scooter 1000 to move a certain distance forward . the compressible member 650 is now in a compressed state ‘ b ’. at this point , when the rider releases the pressure from the top surface 604 of the pedal 600 , the compressible member 650 gradually releases tension by pushing back the pedal 600 to its original position i . e . the uncompressed state ‘ a ’ of the compressible member 650 . this gradual movement of the compressible member 650 , lifts the pedal 600 pivotally upwards , causing the front sprocket 610 to rotate a second 180 degree in anticlockwise direction , resulting in one complete rotation of front sprocket 610 ( see fig5 c ). this movement of the front sprocket 610 causes the rear sprocket 620 to rotate in a second 180 degree in anticlockwise direction , resulting in one complete rotation of rear wheels 210 , thereby allowing the pedal scooter 1000 to move further in the forward direction . accordingly , by constantly applying and releasing the pressure on the top surface 604 of the pedal 600 , the pedal scooter 1000 may be moved in a forward direction over a desired distance . as shown in fig6 a and 6b , a lever mechanism is configured by detachably engaging an elongated lever 700 to the link 640 through a lever receiving arrangement 710 on the pedal 600 . the lever 700 may be secured within the lever receiving arrangement 710 using securing means such as screws , nut - bolts , threads , and the like . this lever mechanism enables riders to use their hands to drive the pedal scooter 1000 ( see fig7 ). the platform 100 , the seating arrangement , the steering arrangement , the braking arrangement , the wheel arrangement and the drive mechanism of the pedal scooter 1000 may be dismantled and packaged using a corrugated cardboard box and additionally , the packaging may include a pamphlet detailing instructions for assembling the pedal scooter . further , cardboard inserts may be inserted into the package for protecting the dismantled pedal scooter . additionally , the pedal scooter of the present invention may come in designs featuring different patters and colors that may appeal to all sections of the society . the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description . they are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed , and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching . the 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 and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . it is understood that various omissions , substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstance may suggest or render expedient , but is intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims of the present invention . | 1 |
a connector 10 according to the invention will be explained with reference to the drawings . fig1 a is a perspective view of the connector according to the invention viewed from the side of its fitting opening , and fig1 b is a perspective view of the connector with contacts arranged in staggered or zigzag fashion , viewed from the fitting opening . fig2 a to 2 d are explanatory views for mounting contacts in its housing . fig3 a is a partly sectional perspective view of the connector before a flexible printed circuit board is inserted therein and fig3 b is a partly sectional perspective view of the connector after the flexible printed circuit board has been inserted and a slider has been pivotally moved . the connector 10 according to the invention mainly comprises the housing 12 , the slider 16 and the contacts 14 . the components of the connector 10 according to the invention will be explained by referring to the drawings . first , the contacts 14 forming one important aspect of the invention will be explained . the contacts 14 are formed by the known press - working from a metal . preferred metals from which to form the contacts 14 include brass , beryllium copper , phosphor bronze and the like to fulfil the requirements imposed thereon such as springiness , conductivity and the like . as shown in fig3 a , the contact 14 is substantially “ h - shaped ” and mainly composed of an upper contact portion 22 adapted to contact the flexible printed circuit board 40 or a flexible flat cable , a connection portion 24 adapted to be connected to a board or substrate , a fixed portion to be fixed to the housing 12 , an elastic portion 34 and a fulcrum portion 32 provided between the contact portion 22 and the connection portion 24 , a pressure receiving portion 20 positioned opposite to the connection portion 24 and extending from the elastic portion 34 , and a further or lower contact portion 22 extending from the fulcrum portion 32 and adapted to contact the flexible printed circuit board 40 or the flexible flat cable . the upper contact portion 22 ( positioned on the upper side viewed in fig3 a ), the elastic portion 34 , the fulcrum portion 32 and the connection portion 24 are arranged substantially in the form of a crank . the contact portions 22 are each formed with a protrusion at a free end to facilitate contacting with the flexible circuit board 40 or flat cable . although the connection portions 24 are shown as a surface mounting type ( smt ) in the embodiment shown in fig1 , it will be apparent that they may be of a dip type . in the illustrated embodiment , there are provided the two contact portions 22 to embrace therebetween a flexible printed circuit board 40 or a flexible flat cable . in more detail , by providing the two contact portions 22 on each contact on both the sides of the insertion direction of the flexible printed circuit board or flexible flat cable to embrace the board or cable therebetween , thereby achieving a reliable connection therebetween . the contacts 14 are each formed in its connection portion with an oblique recess 42 adapted to engage an anchoring portion 44 ( later described ) formed on the housing 12 . the oblique recess 42 serves as a guide when the contact 14 is mounted in the housing 12 . the shape and size of the recess 42 may be suitably designed so that it operates in a manner described below . in the illustrated embodiment , the recess is an oblique notch and 0 . 08 mm in size . the contacts 14 are mounted in the housing 12 in the following manner which will be explained by referring to fig2 a to 2 d . the contact 14 is inserted into the housing 12 in the direction shown by an arrow b from the opposite side of the fitting opening 18 as shown in fig2 a . at the commencement of the engagement of the anchoring portion 44 of the housing 12 with the oblique recess 42 of the contact 14 , the contact portions 22 of the contact 14 is substantially in parallel with an inserting hole 38 of the housing 12 as shown in fig2 b . when the contact 14 is further inserted into the housing 12 , the contact will be tilted by clearances between the contact 14 and the inserting hole 38 of the housing 12 so that the upper contact portion 22 of the contact 14 comes into contact with the upper wall of the inserting hole 38 as shown in fig2 c . when the insertion of the contact has been completed , the upper contact portion 22 of the contact has returned into parallel with the inserting hole 38 because the contact 14 has been guided by its oblique recess 42 as shown in fig2 d . the fulcrum portion 32 , the elastic portion 34 and the pressure receiving portion 20 will achieve the following functions when a flexible printed circuit board 40 or flexible flat cable is inserted into the connector . after the flexible printed circuit board 40 or flexible flat cable has been inserted into the fitting opening 18 of the housing 12 , urging portions 36 of a slider 16 are pivotally moved between the connection portions 24 and the pressure receiving portions 20 of the contacts 14 to raise the pressure receiving portions 20 by the urging portions 36 so that the elastic portions 34 of the contacts 14 are tilted toward the contact portions 22 about the fulcrum portions 32 , thereby pressing the contact portions 22 against the flexible printed circuit board 40 or flexible flat cable ( the slider 16 having the urging portions 36 being explained in detail later ). the sizes and shapes of the fulcrum portion 32 , the elastic portion 34 and the pressure receiving portion 20 are suitably designed to perform their functions described above . it is preferable to provide a projection 26 shown in fig2 a at the free end of the pressure receiving portion 20 of the contact 14 to prevent the slider 16 from being deformed at its center in the direction shown by an arrow a in fig1 a due to strong reaction against the pivotal movement of the slider 16 when causing its urging portions 36 to pivotally move between the connection portions 24 and the pressure receiving portions 20 of the contacts 14 . the projection 26 may be formed in any size so long as its can perform its function and may be so designed that the urging portion 36 of the slider 16 securely engages the projection 26 . a contact ( not shown ) different from the contact 14 described above will be explained . the contact is substantially “ h - shaped ” which does not have the lower contact portion 22 of the contact 14 . the housing 12 will then be explained . the housing 12 is injection - molded from an electrically insulating plastic material in the conventional manner . preferred materials from which to form the housing 12 include polybutylene terephthalate ( pbt ), polyamide ( 66 pa or 46 pa ), liquid crystal polymer ( lcp ), polycarbonate ( pc ) and the like and combination thereof in view of the requirements imposed on the housing 12 with respect to dimensional stability , workability , manufacturing cost and the like . the housing 12 is formed with inserting holes 38 in which a required number of contacts 14 are inserted , respectively , and fixed thereat , by press - fitting , hooking ( lancing ), welding or the like . the housing 12 is formed with the anchoring portions 44 at locations corresponding to the connection portions 24 of the contacts 14 . the anchoring portions 44 serve as guides when the contacts are inserted into the inserting holes 38 of the housing 12 for mounting the contacts therein as described above . the size of the anchoring portions 44 may be suitably designed so as to achieve their function and is of the order of 0 . 1 mm in the embodiment . the housing 12 is further provided in the proximity of the longitudinal ends with holes or bearings for rotatably supporting axles 28 of the slider 16 . the holes or bearing of the housing 12 may be in any shape and size so long as the slider 16 can be rotated and may be suitably designed in consideration of their functions and the strength and size of the housing 12 . the housing 12 is further provided at the longitudinal ends with anchoring portions at locations corresponding to locking portions ( later described ) of the slider 16 . finally , the slider 16 will be explained hereafter . the slider 16 is injection - molded from an electrically insulating plastic material in the conventional manner . preferred materials from which to form the slider 16 include polybutylene terephthalate ( pbt ), polyamide ( 66 pa or 46 pa ), liquid crystal polymer ( lcp ), polycarbonate ( pc ) and the like and combination thereof in view of the requirements imposed on the slider 16 with respect to dimensional stability , workability , manufacturing cost and the like . the slider 16 mainly comprises axles 28 adapted to be rotatably fitted in the housing 12 , the urging portions 36 for urging the pressure receiving portions 20 of the contacts 14 , and anchoring grooves 30 adapted to be engaged with the projections 26 of the contacts 14 . the axles 28 are fulcrums for the pivotal movement of the slider 16 and fitted in the holes or bearings in the housing 12 at the location in the proximity of its longitudinal ends . the slider 16 is further provided at the longitudinal ends with locking portions adapted to engage the housing 12 for preventing the slider 16 from being lifted ( in the upward direction in the drawing ) when the pressure receiving portions 20 of the contacts 14 are urged by the urging portions 36 of the slider 16 . the locking portions may be in any size and shape so long as they can engage the housing 12 and may be suitably designed in consideration of their function and the size and strength of the connector 10 . the urging portions 36 serve to push the pressure receiving portions 20 of the contacts 14 and are preferably of an elongated shape , elliptical in the illustrated embodiment . with such an elliptical shape , when the slider is pivotally moved in the direction shown by an arrow c in fig3 a so as to rotate its urging portion in the space between the pressure receiving portions 20 and the connection portions 24 of the contacts 14 , the pressure receiving portions 20 of the contacts 14 are moved upward with variation in contacting height owing to the elliptical shape of the urging portions 36 , resulting in the reliable clamping of the flexible printed circuit board 40 or flat cable by the contact portions 24 of the contacts 14 . the urging portions 36 may be formed in any shape insofar as they can rotate between the pressure receiving portions 20 and the connection portions 24 of the contacts 14 , and the pressure receiving portions 20 of the contacts 14 can be raised with the aid of the variation in contacting height owing to , for example , difference in major and minor axes of an ellipse . the slider 16 is further provided with the anchoring grooves 30 independently from each other , which are adapted to engage the projections 26 of the contacts 14 for the purpose of preventing the slider 16 from being deformed at the middle in the direction shown by the arrow a in fig1 a due to the reaction against the pivotal movement of the slider 16 when being pivotally moved . the independently provided anchoring grooves 30 serve to increase the strength of the slider 16 and to prevent its deformation when being pivotally moved . another embodiment of the invention will be explained with reference to fig1 b . the connector 101 of this embodiment mainly comprises a housing 121 , contacts 14 and 141 and a slider 161 as is also the case in the connector 10 described above . the subject matter of the connector 101 of this embodiment lies in the fact that the two kinds of the contacts 14 and 141 are arranged to be alternately staggered by inserting the contacts into the housing in opposite directions alternately , thereby achieving narrower pitches of the contacts and lower geometry or minimization of height of the connector . the housing 121 , the slider 161 and the contacts 14 will not be described in further detail since these members are substantially similar to the corresponding members of the connector 10 described above . the other contacts 141 are also formed by press - working from the metal similar to that of the contacts 14 . likewise , the contacts 141 have two types , “ h - shaped ” and “ h - shaped ”. the “ h - shaped ” contact 141 mainly composed of a contact portion 22 adapted to contact the flexible printed circuit board 40 or flexible flat cable , a connection portion 24 adapted to be connected to a board or substrate , a fixed portion to be fixed to the housing , an elastic portion 34 and a fulcrum portion 32 provided between the contact portion and the connection portion 24 , and a pressure receiving portion 20 extending from the elastic portion 34 . the contact portion 22 , the elastic portion 34 , the fulcrum portion 32 and the connection portion 24 are arranged in u - shape . in addition to the respective portions provided in the “ h - shaped ” contact , the “ h - shaped ” contact is provided with an extension portion extending from the fulcrum portion 32 in an opposite direction to the connection portion 24 . the contact portions 22 are each formed with a protrusion at a free end to facilitate contacting with the flexible printed circuit board 40 or flexible flat cable . although the connection portions 24 are of a surface mounting type ( smt ) in the embodiment as shown in fig1 b , they may be of a dip type . with the contacts 141 similarly to the contacts 14 , after the flexible printed circuit board 40 or flexible flat cable has been inserted into fitting opening of the housing , the urging portions 36 of a slider 161 are pivotally moved between the pressure receiving portions 20 of the contacts 141 and the housing 121 or between the pressure receiving portions 20 and the extension portions to raise the pressure receiving portions 20 by the urging portions 36 so that the elastic portions 34 of the contacts 141 are tilted toward the contact portions 22 about the fulcrum portions 32 , thereby pressing the contact portions 22 against the flexible printed circuit board 40 or flexible flat cable . the sizes and shapes of the fulcrum portion 32 , the elastic portion 34 and the pressure receiving portion 20 may be suitably designed to perform their functions described above . moreover , it is preferable to provide a projection 26 at the free end of the pressure receiving portion 20 of the contact 141 to prevent the slider 161 from being deform at its center in the connection direction ( mounting direction of the slider ) due to strong reaction against the pivotal movement of the slider 161 when causing its urging portion to pivotally move . however , it may be sufficient to provide the projections 26 only on one kind of the contacts 14 among the two kinds of contacts 14 and 141 because of the strength of the slider 161 improved by narrower pitches of the contacts . the projection 26 may be formed in any size so long as it can perform its function and may be so designed that the urging portion 36 of the slider 161 securely engages the projection 26 . the present invention is preferably applicable to connectors for use in mobile phones or cellular phones , notebook personal computers , digital cameras and the like and having a mechanism for pressing contacts 14 and 141 against a flexible printed circuit board 40 or flexible flat cable . particularly , the connector according to the invention is capable of inserting the contacts into a housing to be parallel to insertion grooves without obliquely positioning . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and details can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . | 7 |
while the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions , certain illustrated embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail . it should be understood , however , that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed , but , on the contrary , the invention is to cover all modifications , alternative constructions , and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims . in the following description and in the figures , like elements are identified with like reference numerals . the use of “ or ” indicates a non - exclusive alternative without limitation unless otherwise noted . the use of “ including ” means “ including , but not limited to ,” unless otherwise noted . fig1 - 7 show one or more preferred embodiments of the present invention . fig1 shows a version of the harvesting machine 10 of the invention . this embodiment includes a number of jointed arms 12 with each jointed arm 12 comprised of a number of rigid arm tubes 14 . shown is a unit with four arms , but units with more or fewer arms are also within the scope of the invention . the rigid arm tubes 14 are joined to each other at a joint 16 at which point is located a tube rotation assembly 18 . the embodiment shown in fig1 includes a computational assembly 28 which is attached to a harvester base unit 26 . the propulsion assembly 24 is shown , which in this case is a tracked assembly . each of the arms 12 are attached to the harvester base unit 26 with an arm base 30 , which like the tube rotation assemblies 18 , have the capability of causing rotation of the rigid arm tube attached to the arm base 30 . this configuration of the device is built around a fruit bin 32 which would be filled with fruit being harvested , then would be replaced with an empty bin for further filling . other configurations would include a towed bin , or a conveyor belt to a nearby bin or truck . an optional configuration of the harvester includes a system by which the fruit transport heads move over trays to set an apple in a chosen position on the tray , including the capability to sort the fruit by size and color and grade . is this type of device , the bin would not be present , or the bin would be the outer container for trays in layers . fig2 shows a top view of the same embodiment of the device , with the same components as are shown in fig1 . this configuration of the device is particularly well suited to be placed in a row between four fruit trees so that each of the arms 12 would have access to approximately one fourth of an adjacent fruit tree . once each of those sectors had been harvested , the device would move to a position between four other fruit trees and continue harvesting . also shown in fig1 and 2 are sensors 36 , which in this case are located in a sensor head 38 . the sensors are a part of the system for locating fruit and directing the harvesting of the fruit . the information from the sensors is analyzed in software in the computational assembly 28 . the information derived from the sensors is analyzed and subjected to pattern recognition so that the xyz location of fruit is determined . with the information about the accessible fruit being recorded , the computational assembly then optimizes the picking of the fruit , and optimizes the recovery sequence of the arms . fig3 shows the fruit transport head 22 of the invention . this view includes a fruit 20 around which the fruit transport head 22 has been positioned for transport inside the rigid arm tubes 14 of a jointed arm 12 . the fruit transport head 22 includes a cuff 40 , which preferably is inflatable . a fruit sensor 42 within the fruit transport head 22 senses the presence of the fruit 20 by contact . when the fruit 20 contacts the fruit sensor 22 , the cuff 40 inflates to grip the fruit 20 and secure it within the fruit transport head 22 . once secured , a fruit stem separator 44 is activated which cuts off the stem 46 of the fruit without damaging the fruit spur 48 . the fruit stem separator 44 shown in fig3 is a mechanical device comprised of blades which close in an iris fashion to cut the stem 46 . other fruit stem separators can also include mechanical knife , a laser located in the fruit transport head , or device which uses a high pressure water jet to cut the stem 46 . fig4 is a perspective view of a jointed arm 12 of the invention . the arm includes several rigid tubes 14 which are joined together at two rotation assemblies 18 . the two rotation assemblies 18 are under the control of computational assembly 28 , which cause rotation of each of the rigid arm tubes 14 so that the distal end 50 of the jointed arm 12 is positioned adjacent to a fruit 20 to be harvested by the harvest machine 10 . the tube rotator assembly 18 can take a number of forms , with one preferred form being use of stepper motors 66 , as shown in fig4 , with a gear on one tube , and a chain going around the gear and tube . the tubes are joined by freely turning roller or other bearings . fig5 shows a jointed arm 12 of the invention , with rigid arm tubes 14 and two rotation assemblies 18 . this jointed arm 12 is attached to an arm base 30 , which is attached to the harvester base unit 26 . shown in this view is a fruit transport head 22 shown in transit inside the jointed arm 12 . fig6 shows the fruit transport head 22 positioned at the distal end 50 of the jointed arm 12 , in position to attach to a fruit and transport it the harvesting machine 10 . fig7 is a “ y ” valve , which is a design that provides the ability of utilizing more then one fruit transport head 22 with each jointed arm 12 the “ y ” valve 52 includes an attachment collar 54 , which attaches to the jointed arm 12 . the attachment collar 54 is attached at one end a sliding plate 56 , with the sliding plate 56 being enclosed by a pair of rails 58 . when a fruit transport head 22 is delivered to the harvester base unit 26 , it may pass through the attachment collar 54 and the fruit is released through a drop tube 60 . in another configuration , the fruit transport heads can be placed in a carousel , which rotates to expose the fruit to a vacuum fruit lifter , which would extract the fruit and move it to a bin or tray based on size , color , and grade . once the fruit transport head is in the carousel 68 , the sliding plate 56 moves to the feed tube 62 , and another fruit transport head 22 is directed to the distal end 50 of the arm to harvest another fruit . while there is shown and described the present preferred embodiment of the invention , it is to be distinctly understood that this invention is not limited thereto , but may be variously embodied to practice within the scope of the following claims . from the foregoing description , it will be apparent that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims . | 0 |
in fig1 a , b , the light from one or more laser light sources 11 is brightness - modulated by a modulator 12 which is driven by driving electronics 13 which drive the modulator 12 and scanning unit 15 in accordance with the video signal 14 ( e . g ., rgb / rgy ) present at their input . the brightness - modulated laser light reaches a two - dimensional scanning unit 15 either via a light - conducting fiber 16 according to fig1 a or directly as is shown in fig1 b . by means of two - dimensional deflection , the scanning unit 15 generates a video picture which is projected onto the retina , according to fig1 a , via variable optics 17 either via a reflector in accordance with fig2 a and 2 b or by the optical system of the human eye 18 ( cornea and lens ) by means of direct projection which is not shown but is known per se from cited references . a signal train from the driver to the scanner ensures the required one - to - one geometrical correspondence of the image points of the video picture to the generated brightness steps of the modulator . in fig1 b , the image generated by the scanning unit is advantageously fed into an image - carrying fiber bundle 19 via variable optics . the image formed at the output location of the image - carrying fiber bundle 19 is projected onto the retina via the eye lens . the sequence of scanning unit 15 and variable optics 17 in the beam path of the optical imaging can also be switched or exchanged . fig2 a and 2 b show laser light source 21 , light guide 22 , spectacle frame 23 and scanner 24 which is fastened to the spectacle frame 23 , as well as a variable optical system 25 , wherein the sequence of scanner 24 and optical system 25 can also be switched . the spectacle glasses 26 are advantageously semitransparent , i . e ., the light distribution coming from the scanner 24 attached to the spectacle frame 23 is reflected by the spectacle glasses 26 but the surroundings can still be perceived . the reflective coating can also be wavelength - selective under certain circumstances . in a particularly advantageous manner according to the invention , the spectacle glasses 26 are divided into at least a first , preferably flat , zone z 1 for far vision testing and at least a second zone z 2 for near vision testing which is preferably constructed as a concave mirror . the two zones z 1 , z 2 can be constructed to be semitransparent . the first zone z 1 projects the light distribution of the scanner 24 in the direction of the eye 27 without influencing it , while the second zone for the eye 27 effects a projection of the scanner image from a defined , non - infinite distance , e . g ., from a distance of 40 cm . in this way , near vision testing can be performed according to the invention , wherein a viewing direction of the eye which is adapted to the natural near vision process is achieved by forming the second zone . in order to change from the far vision area to the near vision area , the generated scan image is displaced downward by an angle α from the first zone to the second zone . this is effected either in that the scanning unit 24 is constructed such that it may be operated manually or by motor so as to be tiltable by the above angle or by means of a purposely controlled deflection of the scanner 24 within the projection area by darkening parts of the image or altered deflection of the vertical scanning element . fig2 a contains a two - fold arrangement of light sources 21 , light guides 22 , scanners 24 and optics 25 in order to present images to both eyes 27 of the test subject simultaneously or alternately . particularly advantageous possibilities for determining subjective refraction are discussed hereinafter . by means of the system 25 constructed as variable optics , it is possible to purposely generate a convergence or divergence of the light projected onto the eye in an advantageous manner so that the far vision deficiency of the eye is compensated for based on information given by the patient in a reproducible and measurable manner , so that the test subject sees the image sharply . as was already mentioned , both zones z 1 , z 2 can be coated so as to be semitransparent so that a natural spatial impression and a relaxed viewing direction are made possible for the test subject . however , zones z 1 and z 2 can also be formed as a fully reflecting mirror . further examination methods for deficient vision are explained hereinafter with reference to the schematic drawings shown in fig3 a and 3 b in that variable optical elements are arranged in front of the eye . in this case , light sources 31 , light guides 32 , a scanning unit 34 fastened to the spectacle frame 33 , and exchangeable or variable elements 35 such as spherical lenses , cylindrical lenses , stokes lenses , prismatic lenses , and prism compensators are arranged between zones z 1 , z 2 of the spectacles and the eye 27 of the test subject . in fig3 a , for example , an optical element 35 of defined spherical and cylindrical effect is used in conjunction with zone z 1 and is supplemented in fig3 b by an add - on , not shown , with a positive action for near - vision testing in conjunction with zone z 2 . fig4 a and 4 b show the connection of the arrangement according to the invention in a schematic view with light source 41 ( with scanner and optics ), light guides 42 , spectacle glass with reflector 46 with known refraction spectacles 44 on a common frame 43 , wherein the refractive spectacles have holders for the use and exchange of test glasses 45 . instead of the test spectacles 44 , the invention can also work with the swivelable test glasses of a known phoropter arranged in front of the eye . in view of the fact that in such test spectacles or phoropters , the advantageous viewing direction of the test subject passes through the center of the test glasses , the spectacle glass 46 , when divided into zones z 1 , z 2 as in fig4 b , is advantageously put into different vertical positions as is shown schematically by the arrow in order to maintain this viewing direction for the different zones in far vision testing and near vision testing . when using a spectacle glass 46 which is not divided into zones in arrangements according to fig2 to 5 , a plane reflector can be used as spectacle glass and , as was mentioned above , an adjustment of the far vision area and near vision area can be effected by means of the variable optics arranged before or after the scanner . fig5 a and 5 b show the arrangement of the scanner 54 not on the spectacle frame 53 , but rather following the light source 51 and prior to a flexible light guide 52 , e . g ., an image - carrying fiber bundle , leading to the spectacle frame 53 , which arrangement is advantageous because it is lighter for the patient . the image generated by the scanner 54 is coupled into this flexible light guide 52 , preferably in a known manner by means of optics , not shown , wherein projection is effected on the retina via alternating optical components 55 , zones z 1 , z 2 , and the optical system of the eye 56 via the light guide end 521 fastened to the spectacle frame , optionally with variable optics following the latter . in a manner analogous to that described above , vision deficiency and other visual functions can also be determined with this system . further , the technical effect of the variable optics according to fig2 a , 2 b can also be transmitted into the area in front of the light guide input by arranging a variable optical system there . fig6 a shows a binocular test such as that which can be realized with an arrangement according to the invention in that the partial images are displaced relative to one another in a defined manner corresponding to the information given by the test subject by suitably controlling the modulator or the horizontal and / or vertical scanning elements . fig6 b shows a stereoscopic vision test , wherein the stereoscopic impression is altered by displaceable partial images . the different advantageous possibilities for determining vision functions were explained in the preceding with particular reference to an optical electronic system for direct projection on the retina . however , the described vision function tests can also be advantageously carried out by means of the spectacle type or helmet type frames mentioned in the beginning for monocular or binocular imaging of test images generated by screens via semitransparent or preferably relatively small full mirrors . in so doing , refraction can also be determined based on the information of the patent by means of intermediate optics which can be adjusted in a defined manner or exchanged . fig7 a and 7 b show a display 7 . 2 attached to the head of the observer , e . g ., by means of a strap 7 . 1 , wherein the image of two screens 7 . 3 is seen by the observer via suitable semitransparent or fully reflective deflecting elements 7 . 4 . while the foregoing description and drawings represent the present invention , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made therein without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention . | 0 |
illustrative embodiments and exemplary applications will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings to disclose the advantageous teachings of the present invention . 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 . u . s . patent application ser . no . 11 / 805 , 320 , filed may 16 , 2007 by r . c . hon et al . and entitled stirling cycle cryogenic cooler with dual coil single magnetic circuit motor , the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference , discloses and claims a novel and advantageous dual - coil , single magnetic circuit stirling cryocooler design that is a departure from convention in that a single motor is used to drive two independently - moving assemblies . this invention provides a system and method for splitting two independent flexure systems , such as could be used to mechanically support the compressor and stirling displacer moving elements as described in the above - referenced patent application , across a single motor , specifically addressing the complications that arise from routing two connection shafts through the central axis bore of a single magnetic circuit . at the most basic level the design consists of two hollow support tubes arranged one concentric inside of the other . novel flexure attachment features are required to connect the inner tube ( and to a lesser degree the outer tube ) to its particular flexure stacks . as mentioned above , traditionally , the compressor suspension arrangement would be placed completely on one side of the magnetic circuit of the cryocooler , with displacer suspension being located completely on the opposite side . this typical method is to suspend each moving assembly from two sets of flexures (“ flexure stacks ”) with some amount of spacing between them . this is illustrated in fig1 for a single compressor piston . fig1 is a sectional side view of a cryocooler compressor piston with a suspension system with two flexure stacks in accordance with conventional teachings . in this system 10 ′, the individual flexure stacks 14 ′ and 16 ′ in each suspension subassembly must be spaced apart in order to provide sufficient radial stiffness such that the cantilevered masses , such as the piston 12 ′, do not deflect , deform or sag as side - load forces are applied . the minimal amount of distance between the flexure stacks is determined by the radial stiffness of the individual flexure stacks , the actual amount of cantilevered mass , and the allowable radial deflection within the relevant clearance seal and under relevant amounts of side - loading . in effect , the moving assembly 12 ′ acts as a lever arm , with the flexure stack 14 ′ closest to the cantilevered mass acting as a fulcrum . the radial stiffness of the flexure stack 16 ′, most distant from the cantilevered mass 12 ′, is effectively increased through the mechanical advantage provided by the lever arm and fulcrum . hence , the greater the distance between flexure stacks , the greater the resistance to sag of the unsupported end of cantilevered mass 12 ′. those skilled in the art will appreciate that while increased distance between flexure stacks is advantageous from - the perspective of sag resistance , it is a distinct disadvantage from the standpoint of packaging because the distance between flexures manifests as added length to the overall package . while it is fairly straightforward to place the magnetic circuit between the flexures of a single moving element , it is considerably less obvious how to accomplish this when two moving elements ( and hence two separate flexure suspension systems ) are present . the present teachings provide a method to mitigate this additional required length by placing the drive motor magnetics inside of the volume between flexure stacks . this is illustrated in fig2 . fig2 is a simplified sectional side view of a suspension system in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present teachings . as shown in fig2 , the cryocooler 10 includes two flexure systems 12 / 14 and 16 / 18 , each split across of motor 20 . the motor 20 includes a magnetic circuit 22 , a compressor coil and bobbin assembly 24 and a displacer coil and bobbin assembly 26 of design and construction as described in the above - reference patent application . those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present teachings are not limited to the arrangement shown or to the use of compressor and / or displacer coils . the present teachings are applicable in any system in which there is a need to stabilize multiple elements adapted to move along a first axis against motion around or along other axes . in fig2 , first and second conventional flexure stacks 12 and 14 are disposed on opposite sides of the motor and connected with a first shaft tube 28 that is routed through a hole in the central ( longitudinal ) axis of the motor 20 . the first shaft tube 28 is connected to the second stack 14 via a connecting element 30 . a second shaft tube 32 couples the third flexure stack 18 on one side of the motor to the fourth flexure stack 16 on the opposite side of the motor . the second and fourth flexure stacks 14 and 18 are ‘ forward ’ flexure stacks and the first and third flexure stacks 12 and 16 are ‘ aft ’ flexure stacks . these designations serve to distinguish the two sides of the magnetic circuit . the forward flexure stacks lie between the magnetic assembly and the thermodynamic section of the cryocooler 10 . the fourth flexure stack 18 ′ connects to the outer support tube 32 ( a stirling displacer in the illustrative embodiment ) with a standard bolted interface . the second - flexure stack 14 connects to the inner support tube 28 ( a stirling compressor in the illustrative embodiment ) through use of a series of stackable flexure clamps or connecting elements 30 . as discussed more fully below , these elements pass through the outer stirling displacer support tube 32 via access slots 40 that are cut into the outer tube . the connecting elements attach to the inner support tube 28 by way of a single socket head cap screw 33 that is installed through the open rear of the support tubes . in one mode , this screw 33 is injectable so that the entire stackable clamp / screw / support tube assembly can be epoxy set and stabilized . other options exist for fastening the connecting elements . the magnetic assembly ( motor ) 20 contains a bore on its central ( longitudinal ) axis to accommodate both support tubes . the aft compressor flexure stack 12 ′ occupies the space directly behind the magnetic assembly and connects to the inner support tube 28 by a hub that presents radial spokes that mate to the inner bolt circle of the compressor flexure stack . this radially spoked feature can be implemented in at least two ways . the first option integrates the spoked feature with the compressor support tube and the two are machined as a single piece . this design is only applicable if the magnetic circuit center bore is large enough so that the spoked features can pass through it as the magnetic assembly is slid over the support tubes . an alternate design makes the spoked feature a separate entity that is mounted to the compressor support tube after the magnetic assembly is installed over the two support tubes . this would be useful if the magnetic design requires a smaller bore to achieve sufficient magnetic performance . in this case , a threaded retainer ring can be used to firmly clamp the spoked part to the compressor support tube . in either case , the spoked features are used to secure the support tube to the inner bolt circle of the aft compressor flexure assembly . as disclosed more fully below , the outer expander support tube 32 is slotted to accommodate - passage of the spoked features as the inner compressor support tube 28 is inserted inside of the expander tube . the remaining aft flexure stack 16 attaches to the rear of the outer expander support tube via an intermediary part 41 as show in fig3 that is installed onto the tube after all of the other flexure stacks are assembled . this part presents features that engage and fill the aforementioned slots in the expander support tube . once the part is mounted , it provides a bolt circle to secure the inner hole pattern of the aft flexure stack to the expander support tube . the inner flexure bolt circle can then be attached to the expander support tube . a more detailed assembly and alignment procedure is attached below . the components of the cryocooler 10 , with the exception of the connecting elements 30 , are largely annular in shape . the flexure stacks are of conventional design and construction . in the illustrative embodiment , the first and second shafts or tubes are concentric and constructed with titanium or other suitable material . fig3 is a sectional perspective view of the motor and suspension system of fig2 in more detail . as illustrated in fig3 , the magnetic circuit 22 of the motor 20 includes first and second permanent magnets 23 and 25 , separated by a center pole 27 disposed within a backiron 29 . fig4 a is a partial elevated perspective side view of the shaft tubes , motor coil and flexures of the suspension system of the illustrative embodiment . note the provision of slots 34 , 36 , 38 and 40 in the outer shaft tube 32 . the upper slots 34 , 36 and 38 allow for the spokes 29 of the inner shaft tube 28 to connect with the first flexure stack 12 while the lower slots of which only one 40 is shown , allow for the connecting elements 30 to couple motion from the inner shaft tube 28 to the second flexure stack 14 . in addition , the elongate slots 34 , 36 , 38 and 40 along the longitudinal axis of the shaft tube 32 allow for relative rotation of the inner and outer shaft tubes about the longitudinal axis as may be required by flexure mechanics . also shown in fig4 a is a bobbin and coil assembly 25 for the stirling displacer motor coil . the bobbin has three standoffs of which two 31 and 33 are shown . fig4 b is a partial elevated perspective side view partially in section of the shaft tubes , motor coil and flexures of the suspension system of the illustrative embodiment . the second flexure stack 14 connects to the inner shaft tube 28 ( not shown ) in this view . the fourth flexure stack 18 connects to the outer shaft tube 32 . fig4 c is a partial elevated sectional side view of the shaft tubes , motor coil and flexures of the suspension system of the illustrative embodiment . fig4 c shows the connecting element 30 used to couple the inner shaft tube 28 to the second flexure stack 14 . note that fig4 a , b , and c do not include any aft suspension components for clarity . fig5 is a partial perspective end view of the shaft and flexures of the suspension system with the housing , aft flexure stacks , motor cage and compressor motor coils removed for clarity . fig5 shows how the connecting elements 30 extend through the lower slots ( e . g . 40 ) in the outer shaft tube 32 to connect the inner shaft tube 28 to the second flexure stack 14 . fig6 is a sectional side view of a complete cooling system in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present teachings . as shown in fig6 , the system 10 includes a housing 50 within which the motor 20 is disposed . within the motor 20 is a magnetic circuit 22 with which the compressor and expander motor coils 24 and 26 interact via the magnetic flux thereof . as discussed above , the compressor coil 24 connects to the first flexure stack 12 while the expander coil 26 connects to the fourth flexure stack 18 . the first flexure stack 12 is connected to the second flexure stack 14 for stability via the inner tube 28 . the fourth flexure stack 18 is connected to the third flexure stack 16 for stability by the outer shaft tube 32 . a cold head 60 is provided at the end of the housing 50 . in summary , the present invention provides a system and method for splitting two independently moving flexure suspension systems across a single magnetic circuit . the mechanical design for connecting the appropriate flexure stacks to each other across the magnetic circuit allows for a substantial reduction in overall package size when implemented in accordance with the present teachings . 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 . | 5 |
blade drilling bit , shown in fig1 , has a body ( 1 ) with a coupling thread ( 2 ) connected to the drill string ( not shown at the picture ), which has central channel ( 3 ) with outlets ( 4 ) for supplying flushing liquid . on the blades ( 6 ) of the bit , polycrystalline diamond cutters ( pdc ) ( 5 ) are formed . in fig2 , a rotation torque / axial stress diagram is shown : straight line 2 a is a conventional pdc - bit ; curve 2 b is the prototype bit ; curve 2 c is the bit according to the present invention ; straight line 2 d is the roller cone bit . conventional cutting bits pdc ( fig2 , straight line 2 a ) have a steep “ rotation torque — axial stress ” characteristic , as cutters easily penetrate the formation when the axial stress is increased , and footage per rotation increases several times in comparison with footage per rotation of roller cone bit with the same axial stress change . this leads to a considerable change in rotation torque applied to the bit . in general case , the required axial stress applied to the cutting bit is 2 . . . 3 times less than the value used for the roller cone bit . a bit with cutting depth stoppers in the prototype ( fig2 , curve 2 b ) has comparatively small rotation torque / axial stress ratio , but the presence of two curve segments is a considerable disadvantage when drilling slant and horizontal wells under conditions of alternating formation hardness . the rotation torque / axial stress diagram in the present bit ( fig2 , curve 2 c ) is more flat in comparison to the prototype and conventional bits , and has no abrupt turning points , thus approaching the characteristics of a roller cone bit ( fig2 , straight line 2 d ), which is optimal when drilling slant and horizontal wells . in fig3 , the operation scheme of polycrystalline diamond cutter ( 5 ) is shown , said cutter fixed in the body of blade ( 6 ), with composite plating applied to the blade ( 7 ) relative to formation ( 8 ). composite plating is applied according to effective thickness h ( 0 . 5 . . . 7 mm ), so that the predetermined protrusion h 1 ( 0 . 1 . . . 5 mm ) of cutters over the plating on the female cone of the bit is achieved . in fig4 , top view of the bit that worked for an initial time is shown . as a result of friction between composite plating ( 7 ) and the formation ( 8 ) and the further partial wear thereof , stabilization channels ( 9 ) with depth h 2 were formed . in order to provide required drilling rate of cutters ( 5 ), it &# 39 ; s necessary to achieve penetration depth h 3 . value h 3 is equal to the sum of values h 1 + h 2 and is optimal for required rop . h 1 is the distance between the surface of composite plating and the cutting point ( 5 ). during initial drilling , the cutter penetration into the formation is restricted by the composite plating , preventing the cutter penetration into the formation for a value higher than h 1 . when drilling starts , the upper layer of the composite plating having low abrasion resistance in comparison to the deeper sublayers , interacts with the formation and begins to wear off , creating additional stabilization channels ( 9 ) with depth h 2 . the formation of said cannels allows the cutters to cut at the depth h =( h 1 + h 2 ) and provides an optimum rop . at the same time , the formation of said cannels improves the steerability and the vibration resistance of the bit . time of wear of composition plating to the value h 2 depends on drilling modes and geological factors and lasts 1 to 8 hours . as a result , the bit adjusts to drilling conditions , providing optimal rop , creating additional stabilization channels ( 9 ) that interact with concentric channels in formation at the hole bottom ( 8 ), and thus increasing vibration resistance and optimizing rotation torque / axial stress ratio . when configuring the type of composition plating , thickness and distribution of superhard phase over the thickness of coating layer , geological factors are taken into account , as well as technical and technological conditions . in general view value h and h 1 is calculated according to the analysis of function depending on a variety of parameters , such as bit type , bit size , cutter size , formation properties , projected drilling modes ( bit pressure , rotation rate ), and also projected rop . h i = f ( σ , α , f ax , n , v mech , . . . ), six - bladed drill bit bit 220 . 7 bt 613 ( type iadc s333 ) for drilling soft sandstones and clays was used in the tests . these formations typically have strength varying from 4 to 6 kg / mm 2 in the upper interval of the formation and 15 - 20 kg / mm 2 in the lower interval of the drilled formation . the friction angle of these formations usually varies from 44 to 42 in the upper interval and 34 to 36 in the lower interval of the drilled section respectively . the drill bit 220 . 7 bt 613 is normally used at an average drilling rate from 50 to 70 m / h . the equivalent thrust load required to obtain the said drilling rate at a rotational speed of 280 to 300 rpm , was usually from 5 to 8 t . the drilling bit blades were coated by a composite coating of hard alloy according to the invention to obtain the final thickness of about h = 3 mm . hard alloy coating was applied by means of lamination layer by layer by gas - flame spraying of a composite powder material produced by , for example , technicord , woka . any other similar powder materials can be used with different concentrations of tungsten carbide ( w / c ), such as from 5 to 90 %. the first layer of hard alloy coating was applied using technicord material t - thermo 655 with wc / matrix ratio of 60 %/ 40 % and thickness of 0 . 75 mm . the second layer of hard alloy coating was applied using technicord material t - thermo 640 with wc / matrix ratio of 50 %/ 50 % and thickness of 0 . 75 mm . the third layer of hard alloy coating was applied using technicord material t - thermo 630 with wc / matrix ratio of 40 %/ 60 % and thickness of 0 . 75 mm . the fourth layer of hard alloy coating was applied using technicord material t - thermo 620 with wc / matrix ratio of 30 %/ 70 % and thickness of 0 . 75 mm . the overall thickness of the coating was 3 mm . a view of the worn bit is shown in fig5 . when drilling using the coated drilling bit of example 1 , the drilling conditions were used as obtained based on the drill bit calculations as described above . as a result , the following mechanical speeds of drilling were achieved : 120 m / h in the intervals ( 1500 m . . . 2500 m ) and 50 m / h in the interval ( 2500 m . . . 3000 m ). accordingly , the average drilling rate was 65 m / h . after drilling , characteristic stabilization surfaces were formed on the conical part of bit blades , between the pdc cutters , with the grooves having depth h 2 = 1 . 5 mm . reduced vibration and good steerability during drilling were observed . thus , the technical effect was beneficial since the total drilling process and reduced wear of the drilling bit were achieved . other drilling conditions can be selected by a specialist in the art using the general knowledge . according to example 2 , a four - bladed matrix - type drill bit 220 . 7 bt 416 m ( type iadc m333 ) for drilling soft sandstone and clay was used . the drilling bit was used to drill a formation having strength varying from 3 to 5 kg / mm 2 in the upper interval and from 12 to 18 kg / mm 2 in the lower interval of the drilled section . the friction angle of the formation was from 46 - 45 in the upper interval and 32 - 34 in the lower interval of the drilled section respectively . the drill bit of this type is typically designed to achieve average drilling rate from 50 to 70 m / h . the equivalent thrust load to support predetermined drilling rate , at a rotational speed of 180 . . . 220 rpm , was 6 . . . 10 t . the drilling bit was coated to obtain the thickness 4 mm of hard alloy coating on the bit blades . the drilling bit was prepared in accordance with the technology for producing matrix bits , in particular , using powder metallurgy . in the course of the process , a layer of the hard alloy coating was formed using a method , wherein a powdered alloy material suitable for preparing each layer is poured on top of the preceding layer , starting from bit blades and finishing with tail part of the bit . the powder materials used herein are produced by woka , kennametal and others . in the present bit , granulated wc woka wn - 3 with thickness of 2 mm was used for the first , less hard layer . granulated wc woka w - 3 with thickness of 2 mm was used for the second , harder layer . the overall layer thickness was 4 mm . a view of the worn bit is shown in fig6 . the drilling conditions were selected based on the drill bit calculations performed as described above in the description of the present invention . as a result , the following mechanical speeds of drilling were achieved : 140 m / h in the intervals ( 1500 m . . . 2500 m ) and 60 m / h in the interval ( 2500 m . . . 3000 m ). accordingly , the average drilling rate was 72 m / h . after drilling , characteristic stabilization surfaces were formed on the conical part and the forward end of bit blades , between the pdc cutters , with grooves having depth h 2 = 3 mm . reduced vibration and good steerability during drilling were observed . thus , the technical effect was advantageous . the use of the disclosed invention provides the increase of the drilling rate , consistency of bit operation , thus increasing pdc bit life and reducing the time of well construction not only due to increasing rop , but also due to less frequent round - trip operations for changing a worn bit . economic effect is achieved by means of reducing drilling time and reducing drilling tool expenses . | 4 |
hereinafter , the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings . in the accompanying drawings , the same components will be assigned with the same reference numerals . in a description of the embodiment , if the function or the structure related to the disclosure and generally known to those skilled in the art make the subject matter of the disclosure unclear , the details of the function or the structure will be omitted . in the description of the embodiments , it will be understood that , when each element is referred to as being “ on ” or “ under ” another element , it can be “ directly ” or “ indirectly ” on or under another element or the other constituent elements may also be present . such a position of the elements has been described with reference to the drawings . fig1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a lighting apparatus according to the embodiment , fig2 is a perspective view illustrating a coupling structure of the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment , fig3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a communication module shown in fig1 , and fig4 is a sectional view taken along line a - a ′ of fig1 . referring to fig1 to 4 , the lighting apparatus 100 according to the embodiment includes a light source 110 , a light source coupling part 120 , a light distribution cover 130 , a control module 140 , a housing 150 , a shield cover 160 , a feeding cover 170 , a heat sink 180 , and a communication module 190 . the light source 110 generates light . in this case , the light source 110 may include an led . the light source 110 includes a feeding device 111 , a plurality of feeding wires 113 , a plurality of base substrates 115 , and a plurality of leds 117 . the feeding device 111 supplies power to the light source 110 . the feeding device 111 may include a printed circuit board ( pcb ). the feeding wires 113 connect the feeding device 111 to the base substrates 115 . in this case , the feeding wires 113 may directly connect the feeding device 111 to the base substrates 115 , respectively . the feeding wires 113 may connect the feeding device 111 to some of the base substrates 115 , and may connect the base substrates 115 to each other . further , the feeding wires 113 transfer the power from the feeding device 111 to the base substrates 115 . the base substrates 115 control driving of the light source 110 . in this case , the base substrates 115 apply the power from the feeding device 111 to the leds . the base substrates 115 may include a pcb . the leds 117 are mounted on the base substrates 115 . in this case , the leds 117 may be mounted on each of the base substrates 115 . further , the leds 117 emit the light according to the power from the base substrates 115 . that is , the leds 117 output the light . the light source coupling unit 120 is coupled with the light source 110 to fix the light source 110 . in this case , at least one first coupling hole 121 and at least one second coupling hole 123 are formed in the light source coupling unit 120 . the first coupling holes 121 receive the base substrates 115 , respectively . the light source coupling part 120 fixes the base substrates 115 and the leds 117 at positions of the first coupling holes 121 , respectively . further , the light coupling part 120 exposes the leds 117 through the first coupling holes 121 , respectively . in addition , the second coupling hole 123 receives the feeding device 111 and the communication module 190 . moreover , the light source coupling part 120 exposes the feeding device 111 and the communication module 190 through the second coupling hole 123 . the communication module 190 extends through the second coupling hole 123 . that is , the communication module 190 protrudes in both directions about the light source coupling part 120 through the second coupling hole 123 . the light source coupling part 120 may include an insulator . the light distribution cover 130 surrounds the light source 110 from the top of the light source coupling part 120 . the light distribution cover 130 may have an open bulb shape . further , the light distribution cover 130 protects the light source 110 , and discharges the light emitted from the light source 110 . in this case , the light distribution cover 130 distributes the light to a front surface or a rear surface of the lighting apparatus . the light distribution cover 130 may include at least one of glass , plastic , polypropylene ( pp ), and polyethylene ( pe ). the light distribution cover 130 may include polycarbonate ( pc ) having good lightfast , heat resistant and impact characteristics . the light distribution cover 130 may include an inner surface on which pigment is coated facing the light source 110 . the pigment may include a diffusing agent to diffuse the light . the control module 140 controls an overall operation of the lighting apparatus 100 . in this case , although not shown , the control module 140 may include a main substrate and a plurality of components . the main substrate may include a pcb . the components are mounted on the main substrate and are electrically connected to the main substrate . the components include a converter and a driver . the converter is connected to an external power source through the main substrate . further , the converter converts ac power of the external power source into dc power . the driver controls driving of the light source 110 . in addition , the control module 140 supplies power to the light source 110 . the control module may include a power supply unit ( psu ). in this case , the control module 140 may control the light source 110 according to a received wireless control signal . the control module 140 includes a feeding terminal 141 and a coupling terminal 143 . the feeding terminal 141 is connected to the light source 110 . the feeding terminal 141 makes contact with the feeding device 111 of the light source 110 . in this case , the feeding terminal 141 protrudes from the control module 140 . the feeding terminal 141 is coupled with the main substrate , and protrudes from the main substrate . further , the feeding terminal 141 faces the feeding device 111 . in addition , the feeding terminal 141 supplies power to the light source 110 . that is , the control module 140 supplies the power to the light source 110 through the feeding device 111 . further , the feeding terminal 141 transmits a light source control signal for controlling the light source 110 to the light source 110 . that is , the control module 140 transfers the light source control signal to the light source 110 through the feeding device 111 . the coupling terminal 143 is connected to the communication module 190 . the coupling terminal 143 is coupled with the communication module 190 . in this case , the coupling terminal 143 may protrude from the control module 140 . the coupling terminal 143 is coupled with the main substrate and protrudes from the main substrate . further , the coupling terminal 143 may receive the communication module 190 . a coupling groove 145 may be formed in the coupling terminal 143 . the coupling groove 145 may face the communication module 190 . moreover , the coupling groove 145 may receive the communication module 190 . in addition , the coupling terminal 143 supplies the power to the communication module 190 . that is , the control module 140 supplies the power to the communication module 190 through the coupling terminal 143 . further , the coupling terminal 143 receives a wireless control signal for controlling the control module 140 from the communication module 190 . that is , the control module 140 receives the wireless control signal from the communication module 190 through the coupling terminal 143 . the housing 150 receives the control module 140 . a receiving hole 151 is formed in the housing 150 . that is , the housing 150 receives the control module 140 through the receiving hole 151 . in this case , the housing 150 may have a cylindrical shape . further , the housing 150 may prevent an electrical short between the control module 140 and the heat sink 180 . the housing 150 may include a material having superior insulation and durability . further , the housing 150 may include a resin material . in addition , the housing 150 includes a connection terminal 153 . in this case , the housing 150 is locked with the external power source through the connection terminal 153 . the connection terminal 153 may be locked with the external power source through a socket scheme . further , the connection terminal 153 may be connected to the external power source . that is , the connection terminal 153 may be electrically connected to the external power source . further , the connection terminal 153 may electrically connect the control module 140 to the external power source . the connection terminal 153 may include a conductive material . the shield cover 160 seals the housing 150 . the shield cover 160 covers the receiving hole 151 of the housing 150 from the top of the housing 150 . in this case , the shield cover 160 may prevent an electrical short between the control module 140 and the heat sink 180 . the shield cover 160 may include a material having superior insulation and durability . further , the shield cover 160 may include a resin material . at least one through hole 161 is formed in the shield cover 160 . the through hole 161 is aligned on the same axis with the second coupling hole 123 . further , the through hole 161 receives the feeding terminal 141 and the communication module 190 . in this case , the feeding terminal 141 and the communication module 190 extend through the through hole 161 . the shield cover 160 exposes the feeding terminal 141 and the coupling terminal 143 through the through hole 161 . that is , the through hole 161 protrudes the feeding terminal 141 toward the feeding device 111 . further , the through hole 161 protrudes the communication module 190 toward the coupling terminal 143 . the feeding cover 170 seals the housing 150 . the feeding cover 170 covers a receiving hole of the housing 150 from the bottom of the housing 150 . further , the feeding cover 170 makes contact with the external power source . in this case , the feeding cover 170 electrically connects the control module 140 to the external power source . the feeding cover 170 may include a conductive material . the heat sink 180 receives the control module 140 , the housing 150 , and the shield cover 160 . a receiving groove ( not shown ) is formed in the heat sink 180 . that is , the heat sink 180 receives the control module 140 , the housing 150 , and the shield cover 160 through the receiving groove . further , the light source 110 is mounted on the heat sink 180 . in addition , the heat sink 180 releases heat generated from the light source 110 , and protects the control module 140 from the heat generated from the light source 110 . in this case , the heat sink 180 includes a first heat sink 181 and a second heat sink 185 . the first heat sink 181 is disposed above the shield cover 160 . the first heat sink 181 is coupled with the light distribution cover 130 . in this case , an outer peripheral portion of the first heat sink 181 is coupled with the light distribution cover 130 . further , the light source 110 and the light source coupling part 120 are mounted above the first heat sink 181 . the first heat sink 181 makes contact with the light source 110 . in this case , the first heat sink 181 moves the heat generated from the light source 110 to the second heat sink 185 . the first heat sink 181 may have a circular shape or a plane shape . at least one insertion hole 183 is formed in the first heat sink 181 . the insertion hole 183 is aligned on the same axis with the second coupling hole 123 and the through hole 161 . further , the insertion hole 183 receives the feeding terminal 141 and the communication module 190 . in this case , the feeding terminal 141 and the communication module 190 extend through the insertion hole 183 . the first heat sink 181 exposes the feeding terminal 141 and the coupling terminal 143 through the insertion hole 183 . that is , the insertion hole 183 protrudes the feeding terminal 141 toward the feeding device 111 . further , the insertion hole 183 protrudes the communication module 190 toward the coupling terminal 143 . the second heat sink 185 surrounds the housing 150 . in this case , the second heat sink 185 exposes the connection terminal 153 . that is , the second heat sink 185 surrounds the housing 150 except for a region of the connection terminal 153 . the second heat sink 185 may have a cylindrical shape . the second heat sink 185 extends downward from the first heat sink 181 . in this case , the second heat sink 185 releases the heat generated from the light source 110 . a diameter of the second heat sink 185 may be gradually reduced downward along a central axis of the first heat sink 181 . further , the second heat sink 185 includes a plurality of heat sink fins . in this case , the second heat sink 185 includes the heat sink fins 186 so that a surface area is increased . the heat sink fins 187 extend downward from the first heat sink 181 . in this case , the heat sink fins 187 may be radially aligned about the central axis of the first heat sink 181 . the heat sink fins 187 may protrude perpendicular to the central axis of the first heat sink 181 . the communication module 190 receives a wireless control signal for controlling the lighting apparatus 100 . in this case , the communication module 190 is connected to the control module 140 . the communication module 190 is spaced apart from the light source 110 across the light source coupling part 120 , the heat sink 180 , and the shield cover 160 . in addition , the communication module 190 is coupled with the control module 140 . the communication module 190 includes a substrate 210 , a connection terminal 220 , a ground part 230 , an antenna device 240 , and a protective cover 250 . the substrate 210 is provided in the communication module 190 for the purpose of support . in this case , the substrate 210 has a flat plate structure . the substrate 210 may include a pcb . further , the substrate 210 may include a dielectric substance . the substrate 210 includes a connection region 211 , a driving region 213 , and an antenna region 215 . the connection region 211 is placed at one end of the substrate 210 . the connection region 211 is opposed to the control module 140 . in this case , the connection region 211 is opposed to the coupling terminal 143 . the connection region 211 may be opposed to the coupling groove 145 . in addition , the connection region 211 is inserted into the heat sink 180 . in this case , the connection region is received in a receiving groove of the heat sink 180 . further , the connection region 211 is coupled with the control module 140 . in this case , the connection region 211 is locked with the coupling terminal 143 . the connection region 211 may be inserted into the coupling groove 145 . the driving region 213 extends from the connection region 211 . in this case , the driving region 213 is placed at a center of the substrate 210 . the driving region 213 extends across the light source coupling part 120 , the heat sink 180 , and the shield cover 160 . the driving region 213 is inserted into the heat sink 180 . in this case , the driving region 213 is received in the second coupling hole 123 , the insertion hole 183 , the through hole 161 , and a receiving groove of the heat sink 180 which are aligned on the same axis . further , the driving region 213 includes a driving device ( not shown ). in this case , the driving device is embedded in the substrate 210 , and is disposed in the driving region 213 . the driving device extends from the driving region 213 . in addition , one end of the driving device extends to the connection region 211 , and another end of the driving device extends to the antenna region 215 . the antenna region 215 is placed at the other end of the substrate 210 . the antenna region 215 is placed in opposition to the connection region 211 about the driving region 213 . further , the antenna region 215 is connected to the connection region 211 through the driving region 213 . the antenna region 215 protrudes from the heat sink 180 . the antenna region 215 is exposed from the heat sink 180 . in this case , the antenna region 215 is placed above the light coupling part 120 . the antenna region 215 may be spaced apart from the light source 110 . the connection terminal 220 serves as an interface for the control module 140 in the communication module 190 . the connection terminal 200 is disposed at the connection region 211 of the substrate 210 . in this case , the connection terminal 220 is connected to one end of the driving device . further , the connection terminal 220 is connected to the control module 140 . in this case , the connection terminal 220 is coupled with the coupling terminal 143 together with the connection region 211 and is connected to the coupling terminal 143 . the connection terminal 220 may be inserted into a coupling groove 145 . power is supplied to the communication module 190 through the connection terminal 220 . that is , the power is supplied from the coupling terminal 143 to the connection terminal 220 . the ground part 230 is provided in the communication module 190 for the purpose of grounding . the ground part 230 is disposed at the connection region 211 of the substrate 210 . in this case , the ground part 230 may be spaced apart from the connection terminal 220 . that is , the ground part 230 may not make contact with the connection terminal 220 . moreover , the ground part 230 may be connected to one end of the driving device . the antenna device 240 of the communication module 190 performs a wireless communication function . in this case , the antenna device 240 resonates at a preset frequency band to transmit / receive an electromagnetic wave . the antenna device 240 resonates at preset impedance . in this case , the antenna device 240 is disposed at the antenna region 215 of the substrate 210 . in this case , the antenna device 240 is connected to another end of the driving device . that is , the antenna device 240 is connected to the connection terminal 220 through the driving device . the antenna device 240 may be connected to the ground part 230 through the driving device . one end of the antenna device 240 is connected to the driving device and another end of the antenna device 240 is open . in addition , the antenna device 240 protrudes from the heat sink 180 . the antenna device 240 is disposed outside the heat sink 180 . that is , the antenna device 240 is exposed from the heat sink 180 together with the antenna region 215 . further , the antenna device 240 is spaced apart from the heat sink 180 . a spacing distance d between the antenna device 240 and the heat sink 180 may be approximately 1 mm or more . in this case , the antenna device 240 is placed above the light source coupling part 120 . the antenna device 240 may be spaced apart from the tight source 110 . further , the antenna device 240 is driven using power supplied from the connection terminal 220 . in this case , the antenna device 240 receives a wireless control signal for controlling the control module 140 . in addition , the antenna device 240 transmits the wireless control signal to the control module 140 . in this case , the antenna device 240 transmits the wireless control signal to the control module 140 through the connection terminal 220 . in this case , an antenna device 240 may be formed in a patch type and then be attached to the antenna region 215 . the antenna device 240 may be drawn with a conductive ink so as to be disposed at the antenna region 215 . the antenna device 240 may be patterned at the antenna region 215 . the antenna device 240 may include at least one of a bar type antenna element , a meander type antenna element , a spiral type antenna element , a step type antenna element , and a loop type antenna element . in this case , the antenna device 240 may include a conductive material . the antenna device 240 may include at least one of silver ( ag ), palladium ( pd ), platinum ( pt ), copper ( cu ), gold ( au ), and nickel ( ni ). the protective cover 250 receives the substrate 210 . in this case , the protective cover 250 covers the substrate 210 . the protective cover 250 covers the driving region 213 and the antenna region 215 , and exposes the connection region 211 . the protective cover 250 receives the antenna device 240 , and exposes the connection terminal 220 . that is , the connection terminal 220 protrudes from the protective cover 250 . the protective cover 250 may include at least one of plastic , polypropylene ( pp ), polyethylene ( pe ), and polycarbonate ( pc ). the protective cover 250 includes a first protective cover 251 and a second protective cover 253 . the first protective cover 251 surrounds the driving region 213 . the first protective cover 251 , together with the driving region 213 , extends across the light source coupling part 120 , the heat sink 180 , and the shield cover 160 . the protective cover 251 is inserted into the heat sink 180 . in this case , the first protective cover 251 is received in the second coupling hole 123 , the insertion hole 183 , the through hole 161 , and a receiving groove of the heat sink 180 which are aligned on the same axis . the second protective cover 253 receives the antenna region 215 . further , the second protective cover 253 receives the antenna device 240 . the second protective cover 253 extends from the first protective cover 251 . in this case , an insertion groove is formed in the second . protective cover 253 . that is , the second protective cover 253 receives the antenna device 240 together with the antenna region 215 through the insertion groove . in addition , the second protective cover 253 protrudes from the heat sink 180 . the second protective cover 253 is exposed from the heat sink 180 . in this case , the antenna device 240 is spaced apart from the heat sink 180 by the second protective cover 253 . the second protective cover 253 is placed above the light source coupling part 120 . in addition , the second protective cover 253 is locked with the heat sink 180 . in this case , the second protective cover 253 has a size larger than a size of the insertion hole 183 so that the second protective cover 153 is not inserted into the heat sink 180 . according to the embodiment . the lighting apparatus 100 has a wireless communication function . in this case , the lighting apparatus 100 may receive a wireless control signal through the communication module 190 . further , the lighting apparatus 100 may control the light source 110 according to the wireless control signal . accordingly , the lighting apparatus 100 can be controlled in a wireless scheme . that is , a user of the lighting apparatus 100 may easily control the lighting apparatus 100 . accordingly , the convenience for a user of the lighting apparatus 100 can be improved . while the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred 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 invention as defined by the appended claims . | 5 |
fig3 shows a block diagram of the p / q encoder / decoder 2 of the present invention , including a data buffer 26 for storing read / write data , a controller 28 for arbitrating access to the data buffer 26 , a primary ecc / syndrome generator 29 and error corrector 30 ( e . g ., multiple burst reed - solomon ), and a secondary ecc generator and correction validator 32 ( e . g ., crc ). during a write operation , the following steps are executed asynchronously : ( 1 ) user data from a host is stored in the data buffer 26 ; ( 2 ) the ecc generator 29 reads the user data from the buffer 26 and generates the p ecc and q ecc for the interleaved p / q product codes of fig2 c ; and ( 3 ) the crc generator 32 generates the crc symbols 20 for the interleaved p / q product codes of fig2 c as the data is read from the buffer 26 and transferred to the c2 encoder 6 . during a read operation , the following steps are executed concurrently and asynchronously : ( 1 ) data from the c2 decoder is stored in the data buffer 26 ; ( 2 ) if a code word is flagged for processing , then the syndrome generator 29 reads data from the data buffer 26 and generates error syndromes ; ( 3 ) if the syndromes are non - zero , the ecc error corrector 30 uses the syndromes and the c2 erasure pointers 34 to correct the data wherein the correction values are applied to the crc correction validator 32 for adjusting the crc syndrome s crc accordingly ; and ( 4 ) when no uncorrectable errors are encountered during a p or q pass , the crc syndrome s crc is used to check whether the corrections are valid and complete . the technique of the present invention for expediting the p / q decoder 2 by skipping code words based on the erasure pointers and corrections to the code words , as well as the technique for concurrently generating the crc syndrome s crc , are described in the following sections with reference to the flow diagrams of fig4 a - 4k . each p and q code word in the product codes shown in fig2 c has an associated array of erasure pointers ( or pointers ) which indicate potential symbols in error , and a read flag which indicates whether the code word is error - free ( i . e ., can be skipped ). as described above , the code word pointers may be initialized by the c2 decoder 6 of fig1 and they assist the p / q decoder 2 in correcting errors in the product code . during processing of the product code , the p / q decoder 2 may set or clear the pointers based on the expediting algorithm of the present invention , the flow diagrams for which are set forth in fig4 a - 4k . once a complete product code has been transferred from the c2 decoder 6 into the data buffer 26 of fig3 then starting with fig4 a , an initialization step 36 clears the read flags read -- p ! and read -- q !, clears a unc flag which indicates whether an uncorrectable error has been encountered , clears an ecc -- busy flag which indicates whether the error corrector 30 is busy correcting a code word , sets a pass count variable pass -- cnt to zero , and sets a first pass flag which signifies the first pass through the p and q code words . during the first pass , all of the p and q code words are read and processed regardless as to the state of the read flags . after executing the initialization step 36 , a col variable , which keeps track of the current column p code word being processed , is set to zero at step 38 ( i . e ., set to the first p code word ). and at step 40 , a row variable , which keeps track of the current row symbol of the current p code word , is set to zero ( i . e ., set to the first symbol in the current p code word ). next , if at step 42 the read flag for the current p code word read -- p col ! is set , or if it is the first p pass , then a loop is executed to read the current p code word and generate the error syndromes . the current symbol from the current even and odd p code word of fig2 c ( designated h , l ) are read from the data buffer 26 of fig3 at step 44 and input into the syndrome generator 29 at step 46 . if this is the first pass over the p code words ( i . e ., first pass is true at step 48 ), then the symbols read at step 44 are also used to update the data crc syndrome at step 50 by executing the flow diagram of fig4 h , which is described in greater detail below . at the end of the loop , if row is not at the last symbol of the current p code word at step 52 ( i . e ., not 25 ), then row is incremented and the loop is re - executed to read the next symbol for use in calculating the error syndromes and updating the data crc syndrome . once all of the symbols have been read for the current p code word ( i . e ., row is 25 at step 52 ), the syndrome generator 29 of fig3 will have generated the ecc syndromes for the code word . the read flag read -- p col ! is cleared at step 53 so that the current p code word is skipped during the next p pass ( unless its read flag is set again as described below ). if the syndromes are zero at step 54 , indicating that the code word is error - free , and it is not the first pass ( i . e ., first pass is false at step 56 ), then the current p code word pointers are read at step 58 . at step 60 , the read flags read -- q pointers ! are set for the q code words that intersect the current p code word at the pointer locations , and the pointers for the current p code word are then cleared . during the first pass ( i . e ., when first pass is true at step 56 ), the erasure pointers are not changed and the latency in accessing the buffer at step 58 to read the pointers is avoided . in either case , the error crc syndrome is updated at step 61 to position it over the next p code word by executing the flow diagram of fig4 i described below . if the syndromes are not zero at step 54 , indicating that the p code word contains errors , then the pointers for the current p code word are read at step 62 . next the system checks the ecc -- busy flag at step 64 . if set -- indicating that the error corrector 30 is busy correcting a previous code word -- then the system waits until the ecc -- busy flag is cleared . once cleared , the ecc -- busy flag is set at step 66 to start the error correction procedure for the current p code word . the error correction procedure is set forth in the flow diagram of fig4 c , and it is executed concurrent with generating the syndromes for the next p code word . in other words , after setting the ecc -- busy flag at step 66 , the syndrome generation procedure of fig4 a immediately begins processing the next p code word while the previous p code word is corrected by the error corrector 30 . if at step 42 the read flag read -- p col ! is not set and it is not the first pass , then the current p code word is skipped and the latency associated with reading the code word from the buffer and generating error syndromes is avoided . however , the error crc syndrome is still updated at step 61 in order to position it over the next p code word . skipping code words flagged as error - free significantly increases the throughput of the p / q decoder 2 which is an important aspect of the present invention . once the last p code word has been processed ( i . e ., col equals 42 at step 68 ), then the flow diagram of fig4 k is executed to determine whether the corrections to the product code are valid and complete . if not completely corrected , then the flow diagram of fig4 b is executed to process the q code words . the flow diagram of fig4 b for processing the q code words is essentially the same as the flow diagram of fig4 a for processing the p code words . first , a row -- init variable is initialized to the first q code word ( i . e . set to zero at step 70 ), and thereafter it keeps track of the current q code word during the q pass . at step 72 , a row variable is set to the current q code word ( i . e ., to row -- init ) and col is set to 0 ( i . e ., to the first symbol in the current q code word ). if at step 74 the read flag read -- q row -- init ! for the current q code word is set , or if it is the first pass , then a loop is executed to generate the error syndromes for the current q code word . the current symbol from the current even and odd q code word of fig2 c ( designated h , l ) are read from the data buffer 26 of fig3 at step 76 and input into the syndrome generator 29 at step 78 . if row does not equal 25 at step 80 then row is incremented , else row is re - initialized to zero ( the top row ) at step 82 , in order to process the next symbol in the current q code word ( see fig5 ). at the end of the loop , if col is not at the last symbol of the current q code word at step 84 ( i . e ., not 42 ), then col is incremented and the loop is re - executed to read the next symbol for use in calculating the error syndromes . once all of the symbols have been read for the current q code word ( i . e ., col is 42 at step 84 ), the syndrome generator 29 of fig3 will have generated the ecc syndromes for the code word . the read flag read -- q rowinit ! is cleared at step 85 so that the current q code word is skipped during the next q pass ( unless its read flag is set again as described below ). if the syndromes are zero at step 86 , indicating that the code word is error - free , and it is not the first pass ( i . e ., first pass is false at step 88 ), then the current q code word pointers are read at step 90 . at step 92 , the read flags read -- q pointers ! are set for the p code words that intersect the current q code word at the pointer locations , and the pointers for the current q code word are then cleared . during the first pass ( i . e ., when first pass is true at step 88 ), the erasure pointers are not changed and the latency in accessing the buffer at step 90 to read the pointers is avoided . in either case , the error crc syndrome is updated at step 94 to position it over the next q code word by executing the flow diagram of fig4 j described below . if the syndromes are not zero at step 86 , indicating that the q code word contains errors , then the pointers for the current q code word are read at step 96 . next the system checks the ecc -- busy flag at step 98 . if set -- indicating that the error corrector 30 is busy correcting a previous code word -- then the system waits until the ecc -- busy flag is cleared . once cleared , the ecc -- busy flag is set at step 100 to start the error correction procedure for the current q code word . the error correction procedure is set forth in the flow diagram of fig4 c , and it is executed concurrent with generating the syndromes for the next q code word . in other words , after setting the ecc -- busy flag at step 98 , the syndrome generation procedure of fig4 a immediately begins processing the next q code word while the previous q code word is corrected by the error corrector 30 . if at step 74 the read flag read -- p col ! is not set and it is not the first pass , then the current q code word is skipped and the latency associated with reading the code word from the buffer and generating error syndromes is avoided . however , the error crc syndrome is still updated at step 94 in order to position it over the next q code word . once the last q code word has been processed ( i . e ., row -- init equals 25 at step 102 ), then the flow diagram of fig4 k is executed to determine whether the corrections to the product code are valid and complete . if not completely corrected , then the first pass flag is cleared at step 103 and another pass over the p code words is performed by re - executing the flow diagram of fig4 a . continuing now with fig4 c , this flow diagram is executed when a p or q code word contains errors ( i . e ., the syndromes are non - zero ). the flow diagram of fig4 c executes concurrently with the flow diagrams of fig4 a and fig4 b for generating the error syndromes . in other words , if the syndromes generated for a current code word ( p or q ) are non - zero , the flow diagram of fig4 c is executed to correct the code word while the syndromes are being generated for the next code word . the error correction procedure waits at step 104 until the ecc -- busy flag is set at step 66 of fig4 a or at step 100 of fig4 b ( i . e ., until a p or q code word needs correcting ). to correct a code word , control branches at step 106 depending on the number of pointers set for the code word . after the code word is corrected , the error crc syndrome is adjusted using the correction values at step 108 by executing the flow diagram of fig4 i described in greater detail below . thereafter the ecc -- busy flag is cleared at step 110 and control returns to the top of the loop where the system waits for the next code word to correct . referring again to the branch at step 106 of fig4 c , when no pointers are available , the flow diagram of fig4 d is executed . assuming that a p code word needs correction during a p pass , then if the error syndromes for the p code word are consistent with a single error at step 112 , at step 114 the error corrector 30 corrects the error . if c2 pointers are available at step 116 ( but cleared ), then the read flag read -- x correction ! ( where x is q for a p pass ) is set at step 118 for the q code word that intersects the p code word at the corrected symbol . if the error syndromes are not consistent with a single error at step 112 , then the unc flag is set at step 120 indicating that the code word is uncorrectable . if the code word is uncorrectable , or if there are no c2 pointers available at step 116 , then all of the pointers for the current p code word are set at step 122 , and the read flag read -- x ! is set for all of the intersecting q code words at step 124 . referring again to the branch at step 106 of fig4 c , if there is one erasure pointer then the flow diagram of fig4 e is executed . assuming that a p code word needs correction during a p pass , then if the error syndromes are consistent with a single error at step 126 and the error location matches the pointer at step 128 , the error corrector 30 corrects the error at step 130 in the current p code word . the pointer is then cleared at step 132 and the read flag read -- x correction ! is set at step 134 for the q code word that intersects the current p code word at the corrected symbol . if the error syndromes are not consistent with a single error at step 126 or if the error location does not match the pointer at step 128 , then the unc flag is set at step 136 , all of the pointers for the current p code word are set at step 138 , and the read flag read -- x ! is set for all of the intersecting q code words at step 140 . referring again to the branch at step 106 of fig4 c , if there are two erasure pointers then the flow diagram of fig4 f is executed . assuming that a p code word needs correction during a p pass , then the symbols of the p code word at the pointer locations are corrected at step 142 and the read flags read -- x corrections ! are set for the q code words that intersect the current p code word at the corrected symbols at step 144 . if c2 pointers are available at step 146 , then the pointers for the current p code word are cleared at step 148 , else the read flag read -- x current ! for the current p code word is set at step 150 . the reason the read flag for the current p code word is set is because if c2 pointers are not available there is a greater chance that there are errors without pointers and a miss - correction occurs . thus , the pointers are not cleared which allows the next q pass to correct a possible miss - correction . during the next p pass , the current p code word will be read again , and if the syndromes are zero , the pointers will be cleared . referring again to the branch at step 106 of fig4 c , if there are three or more erasure pointers then the flow diagram of fig4 g is executed . assuming that a p code word needs correction during a p pass , then the read flags read -- x pointers ! are set for the q code words that intersect the current p code word at the pointers at step 152 . this iterative procedure over the p and q code words continues until enough pointers are cleared to correct all of the code words ( or the number of iterations exceeds the maximum ). again , the entire correction procedure is expedited because only those code words flagged for processing are read from the data buffer . this aspect of the present invention , together with the method for concurrently generating the crc syndrome s crc described in the following section , provide a significant performance gain over conventional p / q decoders . the crc generator 32 of fig3 generates the crc syndrome s crc concurrent with the syndrome generator 29 generating syndromes during the first p pass , and concurrent with the error corrector 30 correcting errors in the p and q code words during every p and q pass . in this manner , the crc syndrome s crc is immediately available after each of the p and q passes for use in checking whether the corrections are valid and complete . consequently , the additional pass over the product code required by the prior art to determine whether the corrections are complete is avoided , and the additional overhead to generate the crc syndrome s crc after correcting the product code is avoided . the process for generating the crc syndrome s crc in real time is understood with reference to fig5 . during a read operation , the p / q decoder 2 of fig1 begins processing a product code stored in the data buffer 26 of fig3 by processing all of the p ( or column ) code words starting with column 0 154 without regard to the read flags ( i . e ., no code words are skipped during the first p pass ). then all of the q ( or row ) code words are processed starting with row 0 156 , where the q code word comprise symbols across the diagonal of the product code as shown . during subsequent p and q passes , the p / q decoder 2 may skip a code word if the read flag for the code word is not set ( indicating that processing the code word would be futile ). the crc syndrome s crc can be completely generated during the first p pass since all of the symbols of the product code are read . thereafter , the crc syndrome s crc is simply updated to reflect any corrections made to the product code during subsequent p or q passes . however , since the ecc decoder 2 may skip a code word during a p or q pass , the position of the crc syndrome s crc must be adjusted to account for the skipped code word . because the syndrome generation process of fig4 a and fig4 b runs concurrently and asynchronously with the error correction process of fig4 c , the present invention employs two crc syndrome generating circuits : one for computing a &# 34 ; data &# 34 ; crc syndrome during the first pass of the p code words at step 50 of fig4 a , and another for generating an &# 34 ; error &# 34 ; crc syndrome computed using the correction values generated by the error correction circuit 30 of fig3 during both p and q passes at step 108 of fig4 c . also , when a code word is skipped , only the error crc syndrome is adjusted at step 61 of fig4 a and at step 94 of fig4 b . at the end of the p and q passes , the data and error crc syndromes are combined to generate the final crc syndrome s crc for use in checking whether the corrections are valid and complete . the data crc syndrome is generated completely during the first pass over the p code words in fig4 a . at step 50 , the data crc syndrome is adjusted using the current code word symbol by executing the flow diagram shown in fig4 h , which is understood with reference to fig5 . at the beginning of the first p pass , the data crc register is positioned to location 154 of fig5 that is , one symbol above the first symbol 156 in the first p code word . at step 44 of fig4 a , the first symbol 156 is read from the data buffer 26 and input into the syndrome generator at step 46 . at the same time , the first symbol 156 is used to update the data crc syndrome at step 50 by executing the flow diagram of fig4 h . at step 158 of fig4 h , row is less than 24 , so the symbol is added into the data crc register after adjusting its location from 154 in fig5 to the first symbol 156 of the first p code word . the operation at step 160 adjusts the data crc syndrome down one row of symbols to account for the symbols skipped in the data buffer , before adding the p code word symbol data ( h , l ) into the data crc syndrome . multiplying the contents of the data crc register by x down . sbsp .-- 1 mod g ( x ) at step 160 to adjust the data crc syndrome down one row is described in greater detail below . adjusting the data crc register down one row is necessary because the crc redundancy is generated during a write operation by processing the header 16 and user data 18 of fig2 a as a single code word or polynomial comprising a linear sequence of bits or coefficients . consequently , during a read operation the crc syndrome s crc is generated by treating the data in the product code as a linear code word or polynomial , and dividing it by the crc generator polynomial g ( x ). since the symbols of a p code word reside in the columns of the product code ( e . g ., in fig2 c column 0 or bytes 0000 , 0043 , 0086 , 0129 . . . stores the first p code word ), the crc registers for generating the syndrome must be adjusted to account for the skipped symbols in the buffer . thus , before adding the next symbol in a p code word to the data crc syndrome , the data crc register is adjusted down -- 1 row of symbols at step 160 . the p ecc redundancy symbols 162a and 162b of a p code word shown in fig5 are not added into the crc syndrome during a write operation -- they are , therefore , skipped during a read operation . when row equals 24 at step 158 of fig4 h , step 160 is skipped so that the p ecc redundancy 162a and 162b are not added into the data crc syndrome . when row equals the last symbol in the current p code word ( i . e ., row equals 25 at step 164 ), then at step 166 the data crc register is multiplied by to adjust the data crc register from location 168 of fig5 to location 170 , that is , to one symbol above the first symbol 172 in the next p code word . the up -- 24 offset moves the data crc syndrome up 24 rows , and the right -- 2 offset moves the data crc syndrome over one column ( the offset is right -- 2 rather than right -- 1 because the data are interleaved to create an even and odd product code as described above with reference to fig2 c ). while processing the p code words , the error syndromes at step 54 of fig4 a may be non - zero indicating that the code word contains errors . therefore , the error correction procedure is started by setting the ecc -- busy flag at step 66 , and the error corrector 30 of fig3 corrects the current p code word asynchronously and concurrently with the syndrome generation for the next p code word . as the p code word is corrected , the correction values are used to update the error crc syndrome at step 108 of fig4 c by executing the flow diagram of fig4 i . in fig4 i , at step 174 a branch is taken depending on whether the system is correcting a p or q code word . since this is the first pass over the p code words , the flow diagram of fig4 i is executed to update the error crc syndrome accordingly . at step 176 , a variable c -- col is set to the current col ( i . e ., the p code word being corrected ), and a variable c -- row is set to the first symbol of that code word ( i . e ., set to zero ). then at step 178 if the unc flag is set , indicating that the code word was uncorrectable , or if the syndromes are zero , indicating the code word did not contain errors , then the error crc syndrome is simply adjusted to the next p code word at step 180 by multiplying the error crc register by however , if the code word being corrected at step 178 is the first p code word , it is always processed in order to position the error crc syndrome over the last symbol ( i . e ., symbol 162b of fig5 )-- this reduces the number of tables required to implement the multiply operation x k mod g ( x ) described below . at the beginning of each pass over the p code words , the error crc syndrome is positioned to the first symbol in the first p code word ( i . e ., positioned to symbol 156 of fig5 ). thereafter , the error crc syndrome is positioned to one above the first symbol in the remaining p code words ( e . g ., the error crc syndrome is positioned to location 170 before processing the second p code word ). therefore , when processing all but the first p code word , the error crc syndrome is first adjusted down one row at step 182 before adding the correction value for the first symbol to the error crc syndrome at step 184 . in other words , the branch at step 186 to skip step 182 is taken only for the first symbol in the first p code word ( i . e ., when c -- col and c -- row are zero ). thereafter , the error crc syndrome is always adjusted down one row at step 182 before adding the correction value for the next symbol . the correction value , designated as err ( h , l ) in step 184 , is for the current symbol in the p code word for both the even and odd product codes . the correction value may be zero ( i . e ., no correction ) or non - zero ( i . e ., correction made ) for either of the symbols of the even and odd product codes . a correction value is generated for each symbol in the p code words because the error crc syndrome is &# 34 ; stepped &# 34 ; through each symbol ; however , the correction value is zero when processing the p ecc symbols since they are not included in the crc redundancy during a write operation . after processing all the symbols in the current p code word ( i . e ., c -- row equals 25 at step 188 ), then the error crc syndrome is adjusted up 26 rows ( up -- 26 ) and over one column ( right -- 2 ) at step 190 in order to position the error crc syndrome to one above the first symbol in the next p code word ( e . g ., from symbol 162b to location 170 of fig5 after processing the first p code word ). the flow diagram of fig4 i is then executed again to process or skip the next p code word . the flow diagram of fig4 a is re - iterated until all of the p code words have been processed ( i . e ., until col equals 42 at step 68 ). after the first pass over the p code words , generation of the data crc syndrome is complete . thus , only the error crc syndrome is adjusted using the correction values during subsequent p and q passes . also after the first p pass , control branches to fig4 k to check if the corrections to the product code are valid and complete using the crc syndrome s crc ( after combining the error and data crc syndromes ). if the corrections are not complete , control branches to fig4 b to process the q code words . before starting a q pass , the error crc syndrome is adjusted to the first symbol 156 of the first q code word of fig5 . if during the preceding p pass the syndromes for the last p code word are zero ( i . e ., the read flag for the last p code word is not set and it is not the first p pass at step 42 and the error syndromes are set to zero at step 43 of fig4 a ) or if the syndromes at step 54 are zero , then the error crc syndrome is updated at step 61 of fig4 a by executing the flow diagram of fig4 i . in fig4 i , since the syndromes are zero at step 178 , then the error crc syndrome is adjusted to skip the current p code word at step 180 by multiplying the contents of the error crc register by this operation positions the error crc syndrome from location 192 to location 156 of fig5 ( i . e ., to the first symbol in the first q code word ). if the syndromes generated for the last p code word at step 54 of fig4 a are non - zero , then the error crc syndrome is updated at step 108 of fig4 c . the error crc register is multiplied by at step 190 of fig4 i to position the error crc syndrome from location 194 to location 156 of fig5 . during a pass over the q code words , the error crc syndrome may be updated at step 94 of fig4 b if the current q code word is skipped at step 74 , or if the syndromes are zero at step 86 . the error crc syndrome is also updated at step 108 of fig4 c if the syndromes are non - zero at step 86 of fig4 b . the flow diagram for updating the error crc syndrome during a q pass is shown in fig4 j . at step 196 a c -- row variable is set to the current q code word ( i . e ., to row -- init ) and a c -- col variable is set to 0 ( i . e ., to the first symbol in the current q code word ). at step 198 , if the unc flag is set indicating that the current q code word is uncorrectable or if the syndromes for the code word are zero and the code word is not the last q code word ( i . e ., c -- row & lt ; 25 ), then the current q code word is skipped at step 200 by multiplying the error crc register by for instance , if the first q code word is skipped , then the multiply at step 200 positions the error crc syndrome from location 156 to location 202 of fig5 ( i . e ., to the first symbol in the next q code word ). the error crc syndrome is always stepped through the last q code word ( row -- init = 25 ) in order to reduce the number of tables needed to implement the x k mod g ( x ) multiplications described below . if at step 198 the unc flag is not set and the syndromes for the current q code word are not zero , or if it is the last q code word , then the error crc syndrome is stepped through the q code word and updated with the correction values similar to the p pass described above with reference to fig4 i . in contrast to the p pass , the error crc syndrome is always positioned over the first symbol of each q code word . thus , if at step 204 c -- col is zero , the error crc syndrome is not adjusted and the correction value is simply added into the error crc register at step 206 . if c -- col is not zero at step 204 ( i . e ., not at the first symbol ), then the error crc syndrome is adjusted depending on its current location . if c -- row is not 25 at step 208 , then the error crc syndrome is adjusted to the next symbol of the q code word at step 210 by multiplying the contents of the error crc register by for example , if the error crc syndrome is positioned over the first symbol 156 of the first q code word of fig5 then the above multiplication positions the error crc syndrome to the next symbol 212 of the first q code word . if c -- row is 25 at step 208 , then error crc syndrome is adjusted to the next symbol of the q code word at step 214 by multiplying the contents of the error crc register by for example , when c -- row equals 25 when processing the first q code word of fig5 the error crc syndrome is adjusted from location 216 to location 218 . again , at step 206 the correction value may be zero or non - zero for either or both of the even and odd q code words , and the correction values are always zero when processing the p ecc and q ecc symbols since they are not included in the crc redundancy . at step 220 c -- row and c -- col are incremented and c -- row is reset to zero at step 222 if c -- row is 26 at step 224 . this process is repeated until the last symbol for the current q code word has been processed ( i . e ., c -- col equals 43 at step 226 ). at this point , the error crc syndrome is repositioned over the first symbol of the next q code word . the adjustment to the error crc register depends on the current q code word . for q codewords 0 through 9 of fig5 the last symbol locations are at 228 through 194 , respectively . therefore , if at step 230 row -- init is less than 10 , the adjustment to the error crc register is right -- 2 -- up -- 16 . for example , the right -- 2 offset will position the error crc syndrome from location 228 to location 232 of fig5 and the up -- 16 offset will position the error crc syndrome from location 232 to location 202 ( i . e ., to the first symbol in the next q code word ). in order to reduce the number of tables required to implement the x k mod g ( x ) multiplication , the right -- 2 -- up -- 16 adjustment is carried out in two steps by first multiplying the error crc register at step 234 by and then multiplying the error crc register at step 236 by if the current q code word ( row -- init ) is 10 to 24 at step 230 , then the last symbol in the current q code word is at locations 242 to 244 of fig5 respectively . in this case , the adjustment to the error crc syndrome to position it over the first symbol of the next q code word is right -- 2 -- down -- 10 . for example , if the current q code word is 10 , then the first symbol is at 246 and the last symbol is at 242 of fig5 . the right -- 2 offset positions the error crc syndrome from location 242 to location 202 , and the down -- 10 offset positions the error crc syndrome from location 202 to location 248 ( i . e ., to the first symbol in the next q code word ). again , to reduce the size of the tables required to implement the x k mod g ( x ) multiplication , the right -- 2 -- down -- 10 adjustment is carried out in two steps by first multiplying the error crc register at step 250 by and then multiplying the error crc register at step 236 by the right -- 2 -- up -- 16 offset described above is the same adjustment made to the error crc syndrome at the end of the last q code word before starting another p pass . that is , the right -- 2 offset positions the error crc syndrome from location 238 to location 240 , and the up -- 16 offset positions the error crc syndrome from location 240 to location 156 of fig5 ( i . e ., to the first symbol in the first p code word ). thus , when row -- init equals 25 at step 230 , the multiplications at step 234 and 236 perform the right -- 2 -- up -- 16 adjustment to the error crc syndrome to position it over the first symbol of the first p code word . at the end of each pass over the p and q code words , the flow diagram of fig4 k is executed to determine whether the product code has been completely corrected or if it is uncorrectable . at step 252 , the system waits for the ecc -- busy flag to clear before performing the crc check . if the uncorrectable error flag unc is not set at step 254 , indicating that an uncorrectable error was not encountered during the previous p or q pass , then the crc syndrome s crc will indicate whether the corrections made to the product code are valid and complete . because the crc syndrome s crc is generated concurrent with the processing of the p and q code words , at the end of the p and q passes the crc syndrome s crc is immediately available for use in verifying the corrections made by the p / q decoder 2 . if the crc syndrome s crc is correct at step 256 , then the correction procedure exits successfully at step 258 without making any additional passes as is required by the prior art . if the unc flag is set at step 254 , then the pass count variable pass -- cnt is incremented at step 256 , and if pass -- cnt exceeds a predetermined maximum , the product code is uncorrectable and the correction procedure exits unsuccessfully at step 258 . if the pass -- cnt is less than the maximum at step 256 , then if no changes were made at step 260 ( no corrections and no pointers changed ) during the p and q pass , the correction procedure again exits unsuccessfully at step 258 since additional passes will be to no avail . otherwise , the unc flag is cleared at step 262 and the correction procedure continues at step 264 by executing another p or q pass . because the crc syndrome s crc is computed concurrent with correcting the p and q code words , the correction procedure may terminate successfully at the end of either a p or q pass . consequently , the present invention avoids the additional pass required by the prior art to determine whether the correction is complete . furthermore , the present invention avoids the additional pass required by the prior art to generate the crc syndrome s crc at the end of the correction process . thus , the present invention provides a significant improvement over the prior art by significantly increasing the throughput of the edac system for optical storage devices . the crc generator 32 of fig3 generates the crc redundancy 20 for the sector shown in fig2 a during a write operation , and it generates the crc syndrome s crc during a read operation for use in validating the corrections made by the error corrector 30 as described above with reference to fig6 a - 6e . fig6 shows a conventional linear feedback shift register ( lsfr ) for generating the crc redundancy 20 during a write operation . operation of the lfsr shown in fig6 is well known - it divides an input polynomial d ( x ) by a generator polynomial g ( x ): the coefficients of the input polynomial d ( x ) are shifted serially through the lfsr , where the number of shifts equals the degree of the input polynomial plus one . the remainder , or crc redundancy , is the final state of the shift register . to generate the crc redundancy 20 for the sector shown in fig2 a , the k bits of the header 16 and user data 18 are represented as the coefficients of a polynomial p ( x ). the crc redundancy is then computed as : where n - k is the number of crc redundancy symbols and g ( x ) is the generator polynomial . the contents of the register after the final shift is the crc redundancy 20 , which is then appended to the user data as shown in fig2 a before the resulting code word is written to the disk . during a read operation , the data read from the disk are processed to generate a crc syndrome s crc according to : where c ( x ) is the data polynomial or code word ( including the crc redundancy ) read from the disk . in the prior art , the code word of fig2 a is read from the data buffer 26 of fig3 in a serial manner after the error corrector 30 finishes making corrections . therefore , the same lfsr circuit of fig6 is used to generate the crc syndrome s crc according to the above equation . in the present invention , the crc syndrome s crc is generated concurrent with correcting the code word as described above with reference to fig4 a - 4k . therefore , the lfsr circuit of fig6 cannot be used to generate the crc syndrome s crc because the code word is not processed as a series of consecutive bits . an overview of the crc syndrome generator of the present invention is provided before describing how it generates the crc syndrome s crc . fig7 shows a block diagram of the crc syndrome generator 32 of fig3 which is comprised of a data crc circuit 300 and an error crc circuit 302 . as described above with reference to fig4 a , the data crc is generated at step 50 during the first p pass over the product code of fig2 c using the uncorrected data read from the data buffer 26 of fig3 . the error crc is generated using the correction values generated by the error corrector 30 during the iterative processing of the p and q code words . at the end of the p and q passes , the data crc and the error crc are combined by combine circuit 304 to generate a final crc syndrome s crc 306 which is compared to a predetermined correct value at step 256 of fig4 k to determine whether the corrections to the p and q code words are valid and complete . the mathematical function performed by the combine circuit 304 is a simple exclusive - or of the data crc and error crc . a more detailed depiction of the data crc 300 and the error crc 302 circuits of fig7 is shown in fig8 . in the preferred embodiment , the crc syndrome generator polynomial g ( x ) is of degree 32 , but it is factored into two polynomials g 0 ( x ) and g 1 ( x ) each of degree 16 in order to simplify the implementation . the data crc 300 and the error crc 302 circuits of fig7 generate the crc syndrome s crc by representing the code word polynomial c ( x ) of fig2 a as the linear combination of a plurality of subset polynomials : where each subset polynomial c k ( x ) comprises a predetermined number of bits from the code word polynomial c ( x ). in the embodiment disclosed herein , each subset polynomial comprises 16 bits of the code word polynomial c ( x ), such that in hexadecimal representation : ## equ1 ## in this manner , the crc syndrome s crc can be generated conceptually as the linear combination of the crc syndrome for each subset polynomial : crc syndrome s . sub . crc = c . sub . 0 ( x )· x . sup . 16 · 0 mod g ( x )+ c . sub . 1 ( x )· x . sup . 16 · 1 mod g ( x )+ . . . + c . sub . j ( x )· x . sup . 16 · j mod g ( x ). where c k ( x ) are the 16 bit polynomials out of the code word c ( x ) ( i . e ., c k ( x )= c k ( x )· x - 16k ). another mathematical relationship exploited by the present invention is : referring again to fig5 using the above equations the crc syndrome can be computed for the first byte 156 of the even and odd product codes of fig2 c during the first pass over the p code words . the byte 156 from the even and odd product codes comprise the most significant coefficients of the above code word c ( x ) as well as the non - zero coefficients of the above subset polynomial c j ( x ). referring again to fig8 the first byte 256 from the even and odd code words of fig2 c are loaded into the 16 bit registers 308a and 308b ( after adding zero at adders 310a and 310b ). then when the next byte 202 of the even and odd p code word is read , the content of the registers 308a and 308b are multiplied by x k mod g ( x ) at multipliers 312a and 312b , where k equals one row of bits ( down -- 1 ). the result of the multiplication is then reloaded into the registers 308a and 308b ( after adding the next byte 202 of the even and odd p code word at adders 310a and 310b which starts the crc syndrome computation for that particular subset polynomial ). this computation is performed for the remaining bytes until the last byte 168 of the first p code word has been read . the crc syndrome is then adjusted to location 170 of fig5 by multiplying the content of registers 308a and 308b by x k mod g ( x ), where k equals up 24 rows and right 1 column ( i . e ., k = up -- 24 -- right -- 2 at step 166 in fig4 h described above ). the controller 28 of fig3 selects the appropriate value for the offset value k via a sel control line for the multipliers 312a and 312b . this process continues until the last symbol of the last p code word of fig5 has been read , wherein the registers 308a and 308b will contain the crc syndrome for the first two bytes of the entire code word c ( x ) ( i . e ., for the subset polynomial c j ( x )), added to the crc syndromes computed for the other bytes ( i . e ., the other subset polynomials ), thereby generating the data crc syndrome for the entire code word c ( x ). the error crc circuit 302 of fig7 for generating the error crc also comprises the circuitry of fig8 . when a correction value is generated by the error corrector 30 of fig3 the correction value is added into the registers 308a and 308b at adders 310a and 310b . the multipliers 312a and 312b continue to multiply the content of the registers 308a and 308b by the appropriate k offset as each symbol in a p or q code word is processed , regardless as to whether a correction value is generated , or if the p or q code word is skipped as described above . at the end of the p and q passes , the data crc and the error crc are combined to generate the final crc syndrome s crc for use in determining whether the corrections are valid and complete at step 256 of fig4 k . the preferred embodiment for implementing the x k mod g ( x ) multipliers 312a and 312b of fig8 is understood with reference to fig9 . fig9 represents a table of remainders generated by the computation : where i equals { 0 . 15 }. the table of fig9 is generated for each of the k offset value used during the computation of the crc syndrome . the multiply operation is then carried out by multiplying the content of registers 308a and 308b of fig8 by the appropriate table ( i . e ., by multiplying a 16 - bit vector by a 16 × 16 matrix ). the actual tables for implementing the x k mod g ( x ) multiply for the two factored 16 - bit crc generators g 0 ( x ) and g 1 ( x ) are shown in the vhdl source code of appendix 1 . the first set of tables implement the x k mod g ( x ) multiplies during the first pass of the p code words . the table labeled row1 -- tbl , for example , implements the down -- 1 offset for the first crc generator g 0 ( x ), and the table row2 -- table implements the down -- 1 offset for the second crc generator g 1 ( x ). similarly , the tables col1 -- tbl and col2 -- tbl implement the up -- 24 -- right -- 2 offset for the first and second crc generators , respectively . the second set of tables in the vhdl code implement the x k mod g ( x ) multiplies during subsequent passes over the p and q code words ( i . e ., when only the error crc syndrome is updated ). the labels for these tables are self explanatory . for example , the tables labeled r2 -- 1 -- tbl and r2 -- 2 -- tbl implement the right -- 2 offset for the first and second crc generators , respectively . the remainder of the vhdl source code in appendix 1 carries out the actual multiply operation by multiplying the content of registers 308a and 308b of fig8 by the appropriate table ( i . e ., by multiplying a 16 - bit vector by a 16 × 16 matrix ). the product of the input register or vector and the matrix is an output vector , where each element in the output vector is generated by summing the products of the n elements of the ith row of the table ( or matrix ) with the corresponding components of the register ( or column input vector ). this sum can be written as : ## equ2 ## where y i is the output vector of the multipliers 312a and 312b , a ik are the 16 bits of the ith row of the table of fig9 and x k are the 16 bits stored in the register 308a and 308b . the output vector y i from the multipliers 312a and 312b are added to the input bits at adders 310a and 310b , and the result is restored to the registers 308a and 308b . the objects of the invention have been fully realized through the embodiments disclosed herein . those skilled in the art will appreciate that the aspects of the invention can be achieved through various other embodiments without departing from the essential function . the particular embodiments disclosed are illustrative and not meant to limit the scope of the invention as appropriately construed by the following claims . appendix 1__________________________________________________________________________vhdl model created from sge symbol edc . sub .-- dat . sym -- sep 12 11 : 29 : 441996library ieee ; use ieee . std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- 1164 . all ; use ieee . std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- arith . all ; first passentity edc . sub .-- dat isport ( clk : in std . sub .-- logic ; di : in std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 7 downto 0 ); low : in std . sub .-- logic ; rst : in std . sub .-- logic ; sel : in std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 1 downto 0 ); do : out std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 31 downto 0 ) ); end edc . sub .-- dat ; architecture behavioral of edc . sub .-- dat istype array . sub .-- 16 × 16 is array ( 0 to 15 ) of std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); constant row1 . sub .-- tbl : array . sub .-- 16 × 16 := ( 15 out 0 &# 34 ; 0111010101010011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1110101010100110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101010101001001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010101010010010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1101010100100001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0010101001000111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101010010001110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010100100011100 &# 34 ;, in &# 34 ; 1101001000111101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0010010001111111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0100100011111110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1001000111111100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010001111111101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1100011111111111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000111111111011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0001111111110110 &# 34 ;); 15constant col1 . sub .-- tbl : array . sub .-- 16 × 16 := (&# 34 ; 1110110101101110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101101011011001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1011010110110010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1110101101100001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101011011000111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010110110001110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1101101100011001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0011011000110111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0110110001101110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1101100011011100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0011000110111101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0110001101111010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1100011011110100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000110111101101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0001101111011010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0011011110110100 &# 34 ;); constant row2 . sub .-- tbl : array . sub .-- 16 × 16 := (&# 34 ; 1011100010000011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0111000100000001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1110001000000010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1100010000000011 &# 34 ;, if ( r1 ( i )=` 1 `) then sumr := sumr xor row1 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); sumc := sumc xor col1 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); end if ; end loop ; row1 & lt ;= sumr ; col1 & lt ;= sumc ; end process ; process ( r2 ) variable sumr : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); variable sumc : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); beginsumr := &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; sumc := &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; for i in 0 to 15 loopif ( r2 ( i )=` 1 `) then sumr := sumr xor row2 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); sumc := sumc xor col2 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); end if ; end loop ; row2 & lt ;= sumr ; col2 & lt ;= sumc ; end process ; di . sub .-- mux & lt ;= di ( 0 ) & amp ; di ( 1 ) & amp ; di ( 2 ) & amp ; di ( 3 ) & amp ; di ( 4 ) & amp ; di ( 5 ) & amp ; di ( 6 ) & amp ; di ( 7 ) & amp ;&# 34 ; 00000000 &# 34 ; when low =` 0 ` else &# 34 ; 00000000 &# 34 ; & amp ; di ( 0 ) & amp ; di ( 1 ) & amp ; di ( 2 ) & amp ; di ( 3 ) & amp ; di ( 4 ) & amp ; di ( 5 ) & amp ; di ( 6 ) & amp ; di ( 7 ); r1in & lt ;= r1 when sel =&# 34 ; 00 &# 34 ; else row1 when sel =&# 34 ; 01 &# 34 ; elsecol1 when sel =&# 34 ; 10 &# 34 ; else r1 xor di . sub .-- mux ; r2in & lt ;= when sel =&# 34 ; 00 &# 34 ; else row2 when sel =&# 34 ; 01 &# 34 ; elsecol2 when sel =&# 34 ; 10 &# 34 ; else r2 xor di . sub .-- mux ; processbeginwait until ( clk &# 39 ; event ) and ( clk =` 1 `); if ( rst =` 1 `) thenr1 & lt ;= &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; r2 & lt ;= &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; elser1 & lt ;= r1in ; r2 & lt ;= r2in ; end if ; end process ; do & lt ;= r2 & amp ; r1 ; end behavioral ; vhdl model created from sge symbol edc . sub .-- err . sym -- sep 26 17 : 10 : 541996library ieee ; use ieee . std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- 1164 . all ; use ieee . std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- arith . all ; subsequent p and q passesentity edc . sub .-- err isport ( clk : in std . sub .-- logic ; di0 : in std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 7 downto 0 ); di1 : in std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 7 downto 0 ); rst : in std . sub .-- logic ; sel : in std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 2 downto 0 ); do : out std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 31 downto 0 ) ); end edc . sub .-- err ; architecture behavioral of edc . sub .-- err istype array . sub .-- 16 × 16 is array ( 0 to 15 ) of std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); constant r2 . sub .-- 1 . sub .-- tbl : array . sub .-- 16 × 16 := (&# 34 ; 1000000000000101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000000000001111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000000000011011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000000000110011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000000001100011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000000011000011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000000110000011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000001100000011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000011000000011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000110000000011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1001100000000011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1011000000000011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1110000000000011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0100000000000011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000000000000110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000000000001001 &# 34 ;); constant d1 . sub .-- 1 . sub .-- tbl : array . sub .-- 16 × 16 := (&# 34 ; 0111010101010011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1110101010100110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101010101001001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010101010010010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1101010100100001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0010101001000111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101010010001110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010100100011100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1101001000111101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0010010001111111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0100100011111110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1001000111111100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010001111111101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1100011111111111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000111111111011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0001111111110110 &# 34 ;); constant d1r2 . sub .-- 1 . sub .-- tbl : array 16 × 16 := (&# 34 ; 0011111111101100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0111111111011000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1111111110110000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0111111101100101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1111111011001010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0111110110010001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1111101100100010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0111011001000001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1110110010000010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101100100000001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1011001000000010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1110010000000001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0100100000000111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1001000000001110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010000000011001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1100000000110111 &# 34 ;); constant d9 . sub .-- 1 . sub .-- tbl : array . sub .-- 16 × 16 := ( h poly - out 1 &# 34 ; 0000001001010011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000010010100110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000100101001100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0001001010011000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0010010100110000 &# 34 ;, poly - in &# 34 ; 0100101001100000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1001010011000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010100110000101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1101001100001111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0010011000011011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0100110000110110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1001100001101100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1011000011011101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1110000110111111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0100001101111011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000011011110110 &# 34 ;); hconstant u25r2 . sub .-- 1 . sub .-- tbl : array 16 × 16 := (&# 34 ; 1010000000001011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1100000000010011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000000000100011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000000001000110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000000010001100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000000100011000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000001000110000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000010001100000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000100011000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0001000110000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0010001100000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0100011000000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000110000000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1001100000000101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1011000000001111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1110000000011011 &# 34 ;); constant u26r2 . sub .-- 1 . sub .-- tbl : array 16 × 16 := (&# 34 ; 0010100010100001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101000101000010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010001010000100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1100010100001101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000101000011111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0001010000111110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0010100001111100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101000011111000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010000111110000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1100001111100101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000011111001111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000111110011110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0001111100111100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0011111001111000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0111110011110000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1111100111100000 &# 34 ;); constant r2 . sub .-- 2 . sub .-- tbl : array . sub .-- 16 × 16 := (&# 34 ; 0000000000000111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000000000001110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000000000011100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000000000111000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000000001110000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000000011100000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000000111000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000001110000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000011100000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000111000000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0001110000000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0011100000000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0111000000000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1110000000000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1100000000000111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000000000001001 &# 34 ;); constant d1 . sub .-- 2 . sub .-- tbl : array . sub .-- 16 × 16 := (&# 34 ; 1011100010000011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0111000100000001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1110001000000010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1100010000000011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000100000000001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0001000000000101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0010000000001010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0100000000010100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000000000101000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000000001010111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000000010101110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000000101011100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000001010111000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000010101110000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000101011100000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0001010111000000 &# 34 ;); constant d1r2 . sub .-- 2 . sub .-- tbl : array . sub .-- 16 × 16 := (&# 34 ; 0010101110000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101011100000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010111000000000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101110000000111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1011100000001110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0111000000011011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1110000000110110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1100000001101011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000000011010001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000000110100101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000001101001010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000011010010100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000110100101000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0001101001010000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0011010010100000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0110100101000000 &# 34 ;); constant d9 . sub .-- 2 . sub .-- tbl : array . sub .-- 16 × 16 := ( h poly - out 1 &# 34 ; 1101100010000101 &# 34 ;, 1 &# 34 ; 1011000100001101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0110001000011101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1100010000111010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000100001110011 &# 34 ;, poly - in &# 34 ; 0001000011100001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0010000111000010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0100001110000100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000011100001000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0000111000010111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0001110000101110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0011100001011100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0111000010111000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1110000101110000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1100001011100111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000010111001001 &# 34 ;); hconstant u25r2 . sub .-- 2 . sub .-- tbl : array . sub .-- 16 × 16 := (&# 34 ; 0011110101000100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0111101010001000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1111010100010000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1110101000100111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1101010001001001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010100010010101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101000100101101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010001001011010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0100010010110011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1000100101100110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0001001011001011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0010010110010110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0100101100101100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1001011001011000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0010110010110111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101100101101110 &# 34 ;); constant u26r2 . sub .-- 2 . sub .-- tbl : array . sub .-- 16 × 16 := (&# 34 ; 0001100101001101 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0011001010011010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0110010100110100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1100101001101000 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1001010011010111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0010100110101001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101001101010010 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010011010100100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0100110101001111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1001101010011110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0011010100111011 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0110101001110110 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1101010011101100 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010100111011111 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 0101001110111001 &# 34 ;,&# 34 ; 1010011101110010 &# 34 ;); signal r1 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); signal r2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); signal r2 . sub .-- 1 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); signal d1 . sub .-- 1 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); signal dlr2 . sub .-- 1 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); signal d9 . sub .-- 1 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); signal u25r2 . sub .-- 1 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); signal u26r2 . sub .-- 1 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); signal r2 . sub .-- 2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); signal d1 . sub .-- 2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); signal d1r2 . sub .-- 2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); signal d9 . sub .-- 2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); signal u25r2 . sub .-- 2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); signal u26r2 . sub .-- 2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); beginbit 0 of error is high bitcd crc1 poly : x 16 + x 15 + x 2 + 1cd crc2 poly : x 16 + x 2 + x + 1err : di + rp : step : d1 ( down 1 row ) nxt cw : u26r2 (@ - 1 , x ) ( up 26 rows , right 2 cols ) nxt pass : u26r2 (@ 0 , 0 ) if bypassing col , nxt cw : r2 , nxt pass : r2q : step dn : d1r2step up : u25r2nxt cw : r & lt ; 430 : u25r2 , d9 (@ x , 0 ) ( right . sub .-- 2 . sub .-- up . sub .-- 16 ) r & gt ;= 430 : d1r2 , d9 (@ x , 0 ) ( right . sub .-- 2 . sub .-- down . sub .-- 10 ) nxt pass : u25r2 , d9 (@ 0 , 0 ) if bypassing diag , nxt cw : d1r2 : alpha ( 2 * 8 = 16 ) d1 : alpha ( 43 * 2 * 8 = 688 ) d1r2 : alpha ( 43 * 2 * 8 + 2 * 8 = 704 ) d9 : alpha ( 43 * 2 * 8 * 9 = 6192 ) u25r2 : alpha ( 2 15 - 1 - 43 * 2 * 8 * 25 + 2 * 8 = 15583 ) u26r2 : alpha ( 2 15 - 1 - 43 * 2 * 8 * 26 + 2 * 8 = 14895 ) sel : 0 - nop , 1 - r2 , 2 - d1 , 3 - d1r2 , 4 - u25r2 , 5 - u26r2 , 6 - d9 , 7 - errprocess ( r1 ) variable sumr2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); variable sumd1 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); variable sumd1r2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); variable sumd9 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); variable sumu25r2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); variable sumu26r2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); beginsumr2 := &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; sumd1 := &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; sumd1r2 := &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; sumd9 := &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; sumu25r2 := &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; sumu26r2 := &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; for i in 0 to 15 loopif ( r1 ( i )=` 1 `) thensumr2 := sumr2 xor r2 . sub .-- 1 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); sumd1 := sumd1 xor d1 . sub .-- 1 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); sumd1r2 := sumd1r2 xor d1r2 . sub .-- 1 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); sumd9 := sumd9 xor d9 . sub .-- 1 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); sumu25r2 := sumu25r2 xor u25r2 . sub .-- 1 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); sumu26r2 := sumu26r2 xor u26r2 . sub .-- 1 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); end if ; end loop ; r2 . sub .-- 1 & lt ;= sumr2 ; d1 . sub .-- 1 & lt ;= sumd1 ; d1r2 . sub .-- 1 & lt ;= sumd1r2 ; d9 . sub .-- 1 & lt ;= sumd9 ; u25r2 . sub .-- 1 & lt ;= sumu25r2 ; u26r2 . sub .-- 1 & lt ;= sumu26r2 ; end process ; process ( r2 ) variable sumr2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); variable sumd1 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); variable sumd1r2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); variable sumd9 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); variable sumu25r2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); variable sumu26r2 : std . sub .-- logic . sub .-- vector ( 15 downto 0 ); beginsumr2 := &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; sumd1 := &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; sumd1r2 := &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; sumd9 := &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; sumu25r2 := &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; sumu26r2 := &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; for i in 0 to 15 loopif ( r2 ( i )=` 1 `) thensumr2 := sumr2 xor r2 . sub .-- 2 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); sumd1 := sumd1 xor d1 . sub .-- 2 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); sumd1r2 := sumd1r2 xor d1r2 . sub .-- 2 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); sumd9 := sumd9 xor d9 . sub .-- 2 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); sumu25r2 := sumu25r2 xor u25r2 . sub .-- 2 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); sumu26r2 := sumu26r2 xor u26r2 . sub .-- 2 . sub .-- tbl ( i ); end if ; end loop ; r2 . sub .-- 2 & lt ;= sumr2 ; d1 . sub .-- 2 & lt ;= sumd1 ; d1r2 . sub .-- 2 & lt ;= sumd1r2 ; d9 . sub .-- 2 & lt ;= sumd9 ; u25r2 . sub .-- 2 & lt ;= sumu25r2 ; u26r2 . sub .-- 2 & lt ;= sumu26r2 ; end process ; processbeginwait until ( clk &# 39 ; event ) and ( clk =` 1 `); if ( rst =` 1 `) thenr1 & lt ;= &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; r2 & lt ;= &# 34 ; 0000000000000000 &# 34 ;; elsif ( sel =&# 34 ; 001 &# 34 ;) then r1 & lt ;= r2 . sub .-- 1 ; r2 & lt ;= r2 . sub .-- 2 ; elsif ( sel =&# 34 ; 010 &# 34 ;) then r1 & lt ;= d1 . sub .-- 1 ; r2 & lt ;= d1 . sub .-- 2 ; elsif ( sel =&# 34 ; 011 &# 34 ;) then r1 & lt ;= d1r2 . sub .-- 1 ; r2 & lt ;= d1r2 . sub .-- 2 ; elsif ( sel =&# 34 ; 100 &# 34 ;) then r1 & lt ;= u25r2 . sub .-- 1 ; r2 & lt ;= u25r2 . sub .-- 2 ; elsif ( sel =&# 34 ; 101 &# 34 ;) then r1 & lt ;= u26r2 . sub .-- 1 ; r2 & lt ;= u26r2 . sub .-- 2 ; elsif ( sel =&# 34 ; 110 &# 34 ;) then r1 & lt ;= d9 . sub .-- 1 ; r2 & lt ;= d9 . sub .-- 2 ; elsif ( sel =&# 34 ; 111 &# 34 ;) then r 1 & lt ;= r1 xor di0 ( 0 ) & amp ; di0 ( 1 ) & amp ; di0 ( 2 ) & amp ; di0 ( 3 ) & amp ; di0 ( 4 ) & amp ; di0 ( 5 ) & amp ; di0 ( 6 ) & amp ; di0 ( 7 ) & amp ; di1 ( 0 ) & amp ; di1 ( 1 ) & amp ; di1 ( 2 ) & amp ; di1 ( 3 ) & amp ; di1 ( 4 ) & amp ; di1 ( 5 ) & amp ; di1 ( 6 ) & amp ; di1 ( 7 ); r2 & lt ;= r2 xor di0 ( 0 ) & amp ; di0 ( 1 ) & amp ; di0 ( 2 ) & amp ; di0 ( 3 ) & amp ; di0 ( 4 ) & amp ; di0 ( 5 ) & amp ; di0 ( 6 ) & amp ; di0 ( 7 ) & amp ; di1 ( 0 ) & amp ; di1 ( 1 ) & amp ; di1 ( 2 ) & amp ; di1 ( 3 ) & amp ; di1 ( 4 ) & amp ; di1 ( 5 ) & amp ; di1 ( 6 ) & amp ; di1 ( 7 ); end if ; end process ; do & lt ;= r2 & amp ; r1 ; end behavioral ; __________________________________________________________________________ | 7 |
fig1 shows a schematic cross - sectional view in the longitudinal direction through a motor vehicle 1 , which is provided with a device 2 for activating and deactivating a valet parking function . device 2 has a control unit 3 , which controls the execution of the activation and deactivation of the valet parking function . for this purpose , control unit 3 is coupled to one or more deactivation elements 4 . for example , a deactivation element 4 can be disposed on a trunk lid 5 of motor vehicle 1 to block or release the opening of trunk lid 5 by the actuation device provided there , e . g ., a handle , depending on an activation by control unit 3 . in contrast to a locking device , which can also be provided on trunk lid 5 , deactivation element 4 can be designed to block the function of the latch closure to keep trunk lid 5 closed , when trunk lid 5 is closed . of course , deactivation element 4 can also be coupled to a locking device , such as , e . g ., a locking cylinder , on the trunk in order to block trunk lid 5 from opening . if a control element 7 disposed within the vehicle interior is provided by whose actuation trunk lid 5 can be opened , in the case of an activated valet parking function deactivation element 4 is to block the function of control element 7 as well . overall , deactivation element 4 can be designed so that in the case of an activated valet parking function it blocks any opening of trunk lid 5 independently or in conjunction with the structural parts provided for closing trunk lid 5 . control unit 3 is designed to control deactivation element 4 so that it prevents opening of trunk lock 8 by control element 7 or other control devices . device 2 comprises further an input / output device 9 , which is operated by control unit 3 . in other words , the control unit can detect inputs via input / output device 9 and output information via input / output device 9 . control unit 3 carries out a method for activating and deactivating a valet parking function with the help of input / output device 9 . the method is illustrated with the flowchart of fig2 . according to step s 1 , input / output device 9 inquires whether an input for activating the valet parking function has occurred . the input can occur , for example , by actuating a control element 7 of device 2 . the control step for the input , which is requested in step s 1 , can correspond to actuating a button provided for this , e . g ., on the side next to a display unit of input / output device 9 , or in the case of a touch - sensitive display unit , by touching a display unit area provided for this . overall , operating element 7 is to be designed , so that it can be operated in a simple and rapid manner without the help of other aids in order to activate the valet parking function . if an input is made in step s 1 ( alternative : yes ), then in step s 2 deactivation element 4 is controlled so that the opening of trunk lid 5 is blocked , whereas other covers and / or compartments and / or vehicle doors , which are necessary for the brief use of the vehicle , e . g ., for parking , can continue to be opened . the blocking of the opening of trunk lid 5 can occur in various possible ways , a few of which are outlined above . if the valet parking function is activated , the access to the trunk of the vehicle is thus prevented in a suitable way ; i . e ., for example , locking mechanism 8 of trunk lid 5 can be unlocked by none of the actuation elements provided for this , in order to open the trunk . in particular , the opening of trunk lid 5 with the help of the vehicle key , which the user gives to a person responsible for parking the vehicle in the case of valet parking , is also prevented . after the valet parking function has been activated , in step s 3 a query is started which waits for an input to input / output device 9 , with which the owner of the vehicle or the user indicates that he would like to be authorized to deactivate the valet parking function . if input / output device 9 is actuated in a suitable manner ( alternative : yes ), in step s 4 the user is requested by an appropriate display on input / output device 9 to input information suitable for his authorization . for this purpose , control unit 3 is coupled to input / output device 9 , so that an input request is shown . otherwise ( alternative : no ), the query of step s 3 is repeated . the user can now deactivate the valet parking function by inputting a pin code or another input authorizing the user of the vehicle ( step s 5 ). for example , input / output device 9 can show a screen mask , which according to step s 4 can be called up via a menu or by actuating a control element of input / output device 9 . the screen mask can give the driver an instruction that the valet parking function can now be deactivated with the authorization step of step s 5 . to deactivate the valet parking function , now device 2 can be designed so that the input of a code is requested . by inputting a code , for example , a numeric or alphanumeric pin code , or in another suitable way , the user can now perform the deactivation of the valet parking function by authorizing himself . the authorization can also occur by detection of biometric features , such as , e . g ., via a fingerprint recognition with the help of a suitable input device . if it is determined in a step s 6 that the authorization was successful , e . g ., by determining that a correct code was entered ( alternative : yes ), the valet parking function is deactivated ( step s 7 ) immediately after the entering of the pin code and thereby access to the trunk by release of trunk lid 5 is again granted . by entering the code , the user authorizes himself , and it is indicated that the vehicle is again operated by the authorized user and not by the person responsible only for parking the vehicle . in addition to the locking device 8 for trunk lid 5 , other functions of the motor vehicle can also be blocked or deactivated during the activation of the valet parking function . thus , for example , access to an infotainment system 10 can be limited or totally prevented , so that unauthorized persons , e . g ., persons who are to park the vehicle , are not granted access to personal data in the infotainment system . for example , telephone book entries , short messages , or the like in the infotainment system 10 can be protected from being accessed by unauthorized persons . for this purpose , it can be provided that device 2 communicates in a suitable manner with infotainment system 10 , so that access restriction can be realized . of course , device 2 in the case of an activated valet parking function can completely prevent the use of infotainment system 10 . input / output device 9 can be provided separately for the realization of the above method . alternatively , input / output devices of present systems , such as , e . g ., the input / output devices of a navigation system , a radio receiver , a hands - free device , another communication unit for vehicle communication ( head unit ), and the like can also be used for communication with the user with regard to the valet parking function , in that it is coupled to the control unit in a suitable manner . it can be provided , further , that another storage compartment , such as , for example , the glove compartment , in the motor vehicle is blocked , in that the device addresses deactivation elements 4 at the locking devices of the other storage compartment to prevent access in the case of an activated valet parking function . also , in the case of the activation of the valet parking function , active locking devices are addressed as well that are capable of blocking trunk lid 5 or other storage compartments . in the case of the activation of the valet parking function , a restriction of vehicle functions can moreover be provided , such as , e . g ., a limitation of the function of the drive unit , so that the drive unit can be operated only with a specific power or the vehicle can be driven only at a specific speed . it can be provided , further , that the vehicle can be moved only for a specific distance , which is sufficient to move the vehicle to the next parking area and back , but prevents stealing of the motor vehicle . another option is the integration of device 2 for activating and deactivating the valet parking function in an infotainment system 10 . this offers a compact possibility of using the data processing device and input and output device 9 provided there to carry out the above method for activating and deactivating the valet parking function . the activation and deactivation of the valet parking function can then occur menu - driven in the manner described above via the console of infotainment system 10 . the invention being thus described , it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention , and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims . | 1 |
in the following description , the invention is set forth in the context of various separation system embodiments adapted for selectively separating a space vehicle ( i . e . spacecraft ) from a space launch vehicle . it will be appreciated , however , that the invention is applicable in a variety of contexts where it is desired to maintain a deployable unit in an non - deployed state until a desired time and then allow for separation of the deployable unit from a support structure . accordingly , it will be understood that the following embodiments are provided for purposes of illustration and the invention is not limited to any such specific embodiments . referring to fig1 a - 1b , two views of a universal spacecraft separation node ( ussn ) assembly 100 in accordance with the present invention are shown . the ussn 100 includes a separation nut assembly 102 , a separation spring assembly 104 , a launch vehicle node fitting 106 , and a spacecraft node fitting 108 . as will be described below , the ussn 100 is used to hold a spacecraft on a space launch vehicle support structure until separation is desired , e . g ., to insert the spacecraft into a desired orbit . multiple ussns 100 may be used to secure and release a spacecraft and multiple spacecraft may be carried by a single launch vehicle . it will thus be appreciated that numerous ussns 100 may be used in connection with a single launch vehicle in multiple cooperating groups . it will be appreciated that the ussn may be used in a variety of configurations . in the illustrated embodiment , the node fittings are generally cylindrical , defining an internal passageway for accommodating the separation nut assembly 102 . the separation nut assembly 102 is operative for holding the lv node fitting 106 and the sc node fitting 108 together until release of the spacecraft is desired , and then to allow the fittings 106 and 108 to separate relative to the axis 110 of the assembly 102 . the lv node fitting 106 is connected to the launch vehicle structure via aerospace quality fasteners extending through bolt holes 112 in the mounting flange 114 . the sc node fitting 108 is connected to the spacecraft via similar fasteners extending through the bolt holes 116 in the mounting flange 118 into the spacecraft structure . note that the mounting flanges 114 and 118 can be modified to accommodate a variety of mounting configurations without impacting the functionality of the ussn assembly 100 . accordingly , operation of the separation nut assembly 102 to allow separation of the fittings 106 and 108 is effective to permit release of the spacecraft from the launch vehicle . the separation spring assembly 104 provides the force for initial separation of the spacecraft from the launch vehicle once the separation nut 102 has released . this force can be applied directly to a feature on the spacecraft or , more preferably , it can be integrated into the ussn 100 . by integrating the spring interface features into the ussn 100 , integration efforts between the spacecraft and launch vehicle are reduced . in addition , structural enhancements to the spacecraft to accommodate the spring are eliminated . the ussn assembly 100 mounts the spring assembly 104 to the lv node fitting 106 to minimize separated spacecraft weight . however , if required , the spring could be mounted to the sv node fitting 108 . the spring assembly 104 includes a piston 120 contained within a cylindrical housing 122 . the housing 122 is mated to a mounting feature 124 which is an integral feature of the lv node fitting 106 . the piston rod 120 extends through the end of the housing 122 and abuts against a feature 128 on the sv node fitting 108 . a spring 130 provides the force to push the piston rod 120 . the characteristics ( e . g . the spring constant ) of the spring 130 can be selected in relation to the spacecraft mass and the total number of ussns 100 acting on the spacecraft to impart the desired separation force . this force can be varied to obtain a desired separation velocity of the spacecraft . fig2 a and 2b show details of the ussn assembly 100 and the interface features between the lv node fitting 106 and sv node fitting 108 . as mentioned , the ussn 100 is capable of accommodating different separation nut assemblies 102 . the illustrated embodiments show the baseline configuration of the ussn 100 which incorporates a fast acting shockless separation nut ( fassn ) marketed by starsys research corporation of boulder , colo . ( see www . starsys . com ). the fassn is described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 603 , 595 entitled “ flywheel nut separable connector and method ”. the illustrated separation nut assembly 102 , which includes the lv mounted actuator 200 and sv mounted bolt extractor 202 , are interconnected prior to release via a threaded rod 204 . the actuator 200 mounts to an internal web feature 212 , which is integral to the lv node fitting 106 , using common aerospace quality fasteners . fastener holes 222 can vary dependent on what separation nut assembly 102 is used . the bolt extractor 202 mounts to an internal web feature 218 , which is integral to the sv node fitting 108 , using common aerospace quality fasteners . fastener holes 222 can vary dependent on what separation nut assembly 102 is used . the actuator 200 and the bolt extractor 202 remain attached to the node fittings 106 and 108 at disengagement of the node fittings 106 and 108 at the separation plane 211 . the separation plane 211 , i . e . the plane where the launch vehicle 210 ( including the node fitting 106 ) and the spacecraft 216 ( including the node fitting 108 ) are in contact until separation , can be positioned at various locations depending on requirements or constraints relative to a specific spacecraft . in fig2 a , the dimension p can be increased to effectively enclose either the actuator 200 of the separation nut assembly 102 , the bolt extractor 202 , or both such that they are internal to the ussn assembly 100 . this configuration could be used if the lv structure 210 or sv structure 216 is not tolerant of intrusions . the reconfiguring of the ussn 100 as stated above does not affect the functionality of the assembly . because the ussn 100 defines the structural interface between the launch vehicle 210 and spacecraft 216 , it incorporates features for bearing loads between the two . these loads include lateral loads , i . e . loads having a component in the separation plane 211 , as well as longitudinal loads , i . e . loads normal to the separation plane 211 along the axis 110 . compressive longitudinal loads are reacted by the interfacing features of the node fittings 106 and 108 at the separation plane 211 . tensile longitudinal loads are reacted by the separation nut assembly 102 . the lateral , or shear , loads are reacted by an circular tongue and groove feature as illustrated in fig2 b . the baseline ussn 100 configuration incorporates the tongue feature 224 into the sv node fitting 108 and the groove feature 226 into the lv node fitting 106 . however , these could be reversed without affecting the functionality of the ussn assembly 100 . the side walls 228 of the tongue and groove are where the node fittings 106 and 108 bear against each other to resist the shear loading . the side walls 228 are angled relative to the separation plane 211 . the angle is critical to allow proper separation while preventing the shear loads from being converted into longitudinal loads which could cause gapping of the interface . in other words , the angle is steep enough such that the lateral loads are not translated into separation loads ( ideal angle for load reaction is 90 degrees from the separation plane , i . e . a square tongue and groove ). however , as the angle approaches 90 degrees , friction between the surfaces will affect separation between the spacecraft and launch vehicle . a side wall angle of 60 degrees from the separation plane was chosen . fig3 a - 4d illustrate the ussn launch vehicle and space vehicle node fittings . these fittings are preferably made from common aluminum alloy material . for convenient cross - reference , certain reference numerals from fig1 a - 1b are shown . fig5 a and 5b illustrate a multiple spacecraft support structure ( dispenser ) 300 . in this configuration , four ussn assemblies 100 are used to mount a spacecraft to the support structure . this support structure is designed to accommodate four spacecraft . thus , a total of 16 ussn assemblies 100 are used . fig6 a and 6b illustrate a second multiple spacecraft support structure ( dispenser ) 400 . in this configuration , four ussn assemblies 100 ( fig6 b ) are used to mount the spacecraft . there are seven spacecraft for a total of 28 ussn assemblies . the present invention integrates the structural interface and separation system into one or more standardized nodes thereby mitigating risks associated with launch vehicle support structure and spacecraft development , streamlining spacecraft integration efforts , and providing a unique capability with widespread application . the two support structures illustrated in fig5 and 6 are examples of many applications investigated for use of the ussn 100 . these examples set forth above demonstrate the flexibility of the ussn to be used in a variety of configurations . to support the design and analysis efforts of the present invention , a prototype test program was performed . both separation and structural tests were performed to demonstrate functionality and load carrying capabilities . fig7 is a photograph of the separation test hardware . twenty one separation tests were performed . these tests were performed with a wide range of separation nut assembly 102 ( fig1 ) pre - loads . some of the tests induced a tip - off rate to demonstrate that the ussn 100 would still separate under worst case conditions . thirteen load cases were performed in the structural tests . gapping and fatigue testing were included . the objectives of the structural testing were to characterize the ussn 100 structural responses with applied loads and to produce a test - correlated finite element model of the ussn 100 ( reference fig8 a - 8 b : the ussn finite element model , where the reference numerals correspond to fig1 a - 1 b ). the results of the testing indicated that the ussn reacted loads more efficiently than other separation nut interface designs . one very important characteristic of any ‘ hard - point ’ or ‘ node ’ separation interface is how the separation nut assembly 102 bolt 204 loads are affected by externally applied tension ( or combined tension and moment ) loads on the node . pre - loads are set as required for the node to react all predicted load environments . in fig9 the structural response , of the ussn , to applied tension loads is compared to other node interface designs designated plf sep fitting , plf modified fitting , lma s / c and ielv . as can be seen in the figure , as tension loads are applied to other designs , bolt 204 loads generally increase prior to the applied tension load being equal to the initial pre - load . ideally , when the applied tension load is equal to the initial pre - load , there will be no increase in the separation nut assembly bolt 204 load . the figure illustrates that the ussn provides such a response . while various embodiments and implementations of the present invention have been described in detail , it is apparent that further modifications and adaptations of the invention can occur . however , it is to be expressly understood that such modifications and adaptations are within the spirit and scope of the present invention . | 1 |
the sino - atrial ( s - a ) node comprises a small collection of cells disposed within the upper wall of the right atrium . these cells have a property which distinguishes them from other cardiac cell tissue in that they permit a constant , slow leakage of sodium ions through the cell membrane . with other types of cells , however , the cell membrane ordinarily excludes sodium . referring to figure 1 , the waveform of the membrane potential is illustrated for s - a node cells . it will be observed that when the cells have depolarized , the membrane potential falls to approximately - 90 mv and that as positive sodium ions slowly invade the cell , the membrane potential slowly rises until a threshold level is reached ( numeral 10 ) at which time the cell depolarizes and rises rapidly to a positive potential of approximately 20 mv ( numeral 12 ). at this time , the s - a node cells begin to pump out the sodium , thereby repolarizing over the interval spanned by the descending segment 14 to the &# 34 ; resting potential &# 34 ; 16 where the cycle begins anew . since the cells will be clustered , the resulting signal to be sensed by the pulse generator will be a summation of the individual depolarization . the s - a node cells are highly sensitive to changes in oxygen concentration in the blood , to circulating hormones , to certain drugs as well as to impulses coming from the nervous system . the rate at which the node cells fire ( depolarize ) depends upon the above factors , increasing when the body needs more oxygen or is under stress , and decreasing when at rest . in a healthy heart , the depolarization of the s - a node travels as a wave across the muscle tissue comprising the atrium . upon reaching another specialized collection of cells , namely the a - v node , it is made to fire and sends a delayed response through the bundle of his and through the right and left bundle branches and through all purkinge fibers to cause a coordinated contraction of the ventricular myocardium . where because of disease or other reasons , a block exists in the conduction path of the heart or in the case of rhythm disturbances resulting from congenital disorders or otherwise , the conduction paths of the heart are blocked , the patient would be a good candidate for an implantable pacemaker of the type described herein and which is illustrated generally in fig2 of the drawings . the pacing system is indicated generally by numeral 18 and includes an implantable pacemaker 20 contained within a body - compatible , hermetically sealed container 22 . the electrical circuitry housed within the container 22 has input and output connections contained within a header block 24 into which is fitted the terminal connector ( not shown ) of a pacing lead 26 . the pacemaker can 22 may be implanted at any one of a number of locations within the body in accordance with known techniques and the lead 26 is routed through the vascular system and into the heart . referring next to fig3 there is shown an enlarged view of the distal end portion of the lead assembly 26 which , in fig2 is shown as being enclosed within the circle 28 . the lead 26 is seen to comprise an elongated tubular sheath 30 which is preferably fabricated from a suitable , body - compatible , flexible plastic , such as silastic , polyurethane or any of the other plastic materials commonly used in the fabrication of conventional pacing leads . the tubular sheath 30 is seen to surround first and second conductors 32 and 34 which join to the proximal connector of the lead ( not shown ). the conductor 32 also connects internally to a distal tip electrode 36 which functions as the stimulating electrode . conductor 34 connects internally to a surface ring electrode 38 which functions as a sensing electrode . inserted in the lead body between the tip electrode 36 and the sensing electrode 38 is a porous substrate 40 used for in - vitro culture of mammalian anchorage - dependent cells . in one arrangement , the substrate may comprise mitogenic calcium compounds which are non - toxic to cells . the porous calcium substrate is preferably ring - shaped and will have an irregular or textured surface to increase the surface area available for cell growth . a particular solid substrate suitable for use in the present invention comprises porous hydroxyapatite or tricalcium phosphate forms of calcium phosphate made by compacting granules of such compounds , and non - porous granules or solid bodies of calcium carbonate . such substrates have been found to support cell growth in layers many cells thick rather than the monolayer cell growth exhibited by in - vitro cell culture using different substrates . moreover , it has been found that cells grown in the calcium substrate using an appropriate nutrient growth solution maintain their phenotype , meaning that the cultured cells exhibit the same types of characteristics as the natural cells . the substrate 40 , being porous , becomes ingrown with the sinus node cells as indicated by the enlargement of one small area of the substrate 40 and identified by numeral 42 . referring next to fig4 there is shown by means of a block diagram the circuitry comprising the pacing electronics contained within the housing 22 . it is preferably a microprocessor controlled device including a microprocessor controller 44 having associated therewith a memory 46 for storing various programmable parameters , such as stimulating pulse width , escape interval , sensitivity , etc . when operating in a demand mode , the microprocessor controller 44 is configured to receive input signals on line 48 from a r - wave detector circuit 50 . the input to the r - wave detector circuit comes from the sense electrode 38 , via conductor 34 , in the lead 26 . in the event that the escape interval elapses before a natural r - wave signal is detected , the microprocessor controller 44 triggers the stimulation pulse generator 52 to issue a stimulating pulse . this pulse is delivered through the lead 26 on conductor 32 to the tip electrode 36 which , typically , will be positioned at the apex of the right ventricle . the sinus node cell tissue on the substrate 40 is immersed in the bloodstream and , as such , responds to changes in blood oxygen concentration , catecholamines and other hormones to effectively shift the threshold voltage 10 at which cell depolarization takes place . the lead - mounted cell depolarization signal is picked up by the sensing electrode 38 and fed back over lead 34 to the lsn detector circuit 54 which amplifies and shapes the pulse applied to the microprocessor controller 44 . the microprocessor controller is programmed to compute the time interval between successive lsn depolarization signals to , in turn , adjust the escape interval of the demand pacing circuitry . this , in turn , adjusts the rate at which stimulation pulse generator 52 provides ventricular stimulating pulses to the tip electrode 36 when natural r - wave activity is lacking . persons skilled in the field of biochemistry can readily formulate a culture media for maintaining and growing s - a node cells or their equivalent and to devise additives which will reduce adverse immune reactions to the cell structures on the tip of lead 26 . similarly , the cells will reside in a mechanical structure or capsule that will allow the cells to remain viable and protected from mechanical stresses . this invention has been described herein in considerable detail in order to comply with the patent statutes and to provide those skilled in the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use such specialized components as are required . however , it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different equipment and devices , and that various modifications , both as to the equipment details and operating procedures , can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself . | 0 |
with reference to the drawings and initially to fig1 there is shown a cushion producing machine 10 which includes a frame 12 with a housing 14 arranged thereon which comprises a number of processing assemblies discussed more fully below for converting sheet - like stock material into a cushioning product . it is noted that the illustrated embodiment of the frame 12 and the housing 14 is exemplary and that the frame and housing as well as other components of the machine 10 can be adapted to the particular place in which the machine will operate . in the illustrated embodiment the frame 12 is constructed from a number of profiles for support of the several components of the machine 10 including a rod 16 which supports a roll r of sheet - like stock material , such as kraft paper . the paper 18 is unwound from the roll r and carried via reversing rollers 20 to the open underside of housing 14 . the strip of paper 18 undergoes a conversion operation in the housing 14 and is discharged through the exit opening 22 in the top of housing . fig2 shows the different assemblies which cooperate to produce the cushioning product . in this figure the housing 14 of fig1 is omitted to reveal the assemblies within the housing . as can be seen the machine 10 further includes a conversion assembly 24 for converting the strip of paper 18 received from the roll r into a continuous strip of cushioning product and a cutting assembly 26 which cuts the continuous strip of cushioning product into cut pads of a desired length . the conversion assembly 24 includes a forming assembly 28 comprised of chute 30 with a forming frame 32 partially disposed therewithin , and a gear assembly 34 which coacts with the forming assembly to convert the sheet - like material into a continuous strip of cushioning product . during the conversion process , the strip of paper 18 is fed through the forming assembly 28 wherein the lateral edges of the paper are caused to roll inwardly , such as in a spiralling fashion , to form a continuous strip 36 having lateral pillow - like portions and a thin central band . through the forming process the thickness of the strip of paper is tripled . when triple - ply paper is used as the stock material , nine layers then lie on one another . the gear assembly 34 includes a pair of enmeshed , toothed gears 38 forming a nip through which the strip of cushioning material 36 is fed and which coins the material as a result of the deformation by the teeth of the gears . it is also possible to use these toothed gears 38 to pull the strip of material upward in the direction of arrow p1 . the gear assembly 34 is driven by the gear motor 40 . the cutting assembly 26 arranged above or downstream of the gear assembly 34 preferably includes a fixed blade 42 and a movable blade 43 which is driven by a cut motor 44 . finally , an access assembly 46 in the form of two flaps , door or valves 48 is arranged above or downstream of cutting assembly 26 , with the valves proximate the exit opening 22 of housing 14 . the valves 48 serve to permit or to substantially close off access to the cutting zone of the cutting assembly 26 through the opening 22 depending upon whether the valves are in a relative open or closed position . the valves 48 have a trailing position relative to the transporting direction p1 and leave a determined opening between the distal edges thereof when in a closed condition such that the formed paper strip 36 can be pulled out therebetween after being cut into a pad of a desired length by the cutting assembly 26 . the position of the valves 48 is determined by a valve motor or similar motive means 50 and sensed by a sensor 52 which transmits a signal indicating the position of the valves to a control circuit , which is shown schematically by block 54 in fig2 . the control circuit 54 also serves to control the gear motor 40 , the cut motor 44 and the valve motor 50 . as shown in fig3 the access assembly 46 includes a front plate 56 and a parallel rear plate ( not shown ) which are mutually connected by spacer elements 58 . the valves 48 swivel in the exit opening 22 on swivel shafts 60 , 62 which have a parallel orientation . the swivel shafts 60 , 62 are rotatably mounted in the plates with the end of the swivel shafts mounted in the front plate 56 protruding through the front plate in order to enable connection in each case to arms 64 , 66 , respectively . the other ends of the arms 64 , 66 are mutually connected by an intermediate arm 68 . arranged on front plate 56 is the valve motor 50 which is connected pivotally to the arm 66 via a crank 70 and a crank arm 72 . the valve motor 50 is energized and rotates in one direction so that the crank 70 turns , for instance , in the direction of arrow p3 . this provides a reciprocating movement of crank arm 72 in the direction of arrow p4 . the respective arms 64 , 66 are thus caused to rotate about the axes of the swivel shafts 60 , 62 , respectively , thereby rotating the swivel shafts and causing the valves 48 mounted to the swivel shafts to be moved apart to a greater or lesser degree such that they are moved from a closed position , wherein the distal edges 74 of the valves lie substantially adjacent each other , to an open position , wherein the valves lie practically parallel to each other with their distal edges substantially separated . fig4 shows an alternate embodiment of the drive mechanism for the access assembly 46 . arranged on front plate 56 is a solenoid 76 which serves as motive means for driving the arms 78 , 80 connected to the swivel shafts 60 , 62 . the arms 78 , 80 are embodied here as gear segments , the toothing of which is in engagement with a gear rack 82 which is joined to the solenoid pin 84 . it will be apparent from fig4 that by energizing the solenoid 76 the pin 84 is pulled inwardly , carrying with it the gear rack 82 , which rotates the two gear segments 78 and 80 and therewith the valves 48 of the access assembly 46 . in this embodiment the sensor 52 is embodied as microswitch , the arm 86 of which senses the position of the gear segment 78 via a roller 88 and thereby determines whether the valves 48 are in an open or closed condition . the sensor 52 generates a signal which is transmitted to the control circuit 54 in fig2 which , when the access assembly s assembly 46 is in its open position , renders inoperative the energizing of cut motor 44 of cutting assembly 26 . the gear motor 40 powering the gear assembly 34 for through - feed of the strip of paper 36 can however be energized so that a determined strip can be discharged through the opening . once the desired length of paper has been fed through the machine 10 , the control circuit 54 commands the gear motor to stop and energizes the valve motor 50 or solenoid 76 to close the valves 48 of the access assembly 46 . once the sensor 52 has sensed that the valves 48 are in a closed condition and this information has been relayed to the control circuit 54 , the control circuit energizes the cut motor 44 to cause the blades 42 , 43 of the cutting assembly 26 to cut the strip of paper 36 to result in the appropriately sized length of cushioning product . thereafter the user can pull the cut pad outward between the valves 48 to remove it from the machine for packaging a given item . after the cutting operation is complete , e . g ., the control circuit 54 has caused the blades 42 , 43 to retract , the valve motor 50 can be energized to open the access assembly and the feed motor 40 can be started for renewed feed of the strip of paper 36 through the machine 10 . it is noted that when closing of the valves 48 of the access assembly is prevented , for instance because of the presence of a foreign object between them , the control circuit 54 will not energize the cut motor 44 despite the possibility that the valve motor 50 for the access assembly has energized to close the valves . the interaction of the access assembly and the cutting assembly and gear assembly as controlled by the control circuit may be based on sensing of the states of the assemblies or based on a time dependant operation wherein the control circuit commands the respective assemblies to perform their operations based on a time sequence , or a combination of these control methods . the invention is not limited to the above described embodiments . many modifications of the invention given the preceding description will become apparent , all such modifications being within the scope of the invention . as an example , the sensor 52 may embodied as a different sensor or as multiple sensors , such as separate sensors to determine if the access assembly is in an open position or a closed position . moreover , opening or closing of the valves may be actuated by a variety of different actuation means . for example , the crank and linkage mechanism of fig3 could be combined with a pair of enmeshed partial gears such as illustrated in fig4 but without the intermediate gear rack , to effectuate control of the valves . | 8 |
with reference to fig1 the data communication preprocessor , hereinafter called the dcpp 11 , of the present invention provides the data communications interface between the central processing unit cpu 13 and multiple data communications lines 15 . the data communications interface is with either standard data sets 17 or direct connect lines , and include full duplex , half duplex , synchronous , and asynchronous applications . each data communication line 15 serviced requires an individual line adapter 19 . each line adaptor 19 contains the transmit and receive logic necessary for transferring data to and from the data communication line 15 , and the logic required to control the communication interface , both for normal operating control and status interrogation . the dcpp 11 incorporates its own microprocessing unit , hereinafter called the mpu 21 , which permits the dcpp 11 to operate in a semi - autonomous mode relative to the cpu 13 . the mpy performs many of the functions normally required of a control processor , thus relieving the cpu 13 of much of the burden associated with detailed control of the dcpp 11 . the mpu 21 is loadable with commands from the cpu 13 via a dcpp 11 microprogram memory , hereinafter called the mpm 23 . the mpu 21 utilizes these commands to generate the internal firmware set used for dcpp 11 function control . thus , the functional characteristics of the dcpp 11 are determined by the program loaded from the cpu 13 . a direct access channel 25 provides for information transfer directly between the direct memory access logic , hereinafter called the dma 26 , in the dcpp 11 , and the main memory 28 of the cpu 13 . this direct transfer further reduces the need for the cpu 13 intervention . the dcpp 11 interface 27 with the cpu 13 is via a port select unit , hereinafter referred to as the psu 29 , contained within the cpu 13 . the psu 29 controls and synchronizes the interface 27 between the cpu 13 and dcpp 11 . the dcpp 11 acts upon control words from the cpu 13 , performs the specified operation , and upon completion of the operation , generates and returns a status word containing operation status and / or error status information . the primary features of the dcpp 11 are itemized as follows : 1 . multiple data communication lines are serviced concurrently requiring central processor unit cpu 13 attention only a per message basis . 2 . line procedures are handled without cpu 13 intervention . line procedures are defined by the dcpp 11 microprogram thereby providing application flexibility . 3 . direct memory access enables the dcpp 11 to handle message transfers without intervening the cpu 13 attention ; the cpu 13 is notified upon message transfer completion . buffer area is assigned in the main memory 28 for each line . buffer size and location is specified by the cpu 13 . 4 . upon exceeding a specified number of retries for a message , or upon line failure , the dcpp 11 status word is up - dated accordingly and the cpu 13 is interrupted . failure on one line will not effect transactions on another line . 5 . the data communications line adaptor 19 is designed to interface with the standard data sets 17 or direct connect line including full or hald duplex , synchronous or asynchronous applications . standard baud rates from 75 to 19 . 2k baud are programmably selectable . the data communication line adaptor 19 can be preset for most line requirements by programmatic control . fig2 is a functional diagram of the dcpp 11 . the diagram shows the following functional blocks : the cpu 13 interface logic 31 , the loader 33 , the mpm 23 , the mpu 21 , the function control logic 35 , the microprocessor support logic 37 , the direct memory access logic 26 , and the universal line adaptor 19 . each of these functions is briefly described below . the cpu interface logic 31 allows the cpu 13 to load or modify the contents of the memory mpm 23 . this provides the cpu 13 with complete control over the program contents of the mpm 23 memory . the cpu interface logic 31 permits the cpu 13 to direct dcpp 11 operations such as transmit data , receive message , disconnect line , etc . the cpu interface logic 31 also allows the dcpp 11 via status interrupt to report status to the cpu 13 . the loader logic 33 is used only when the cpu 13 loads or modifies the dcpp 11 microprogram memory mpm 23 . the cpu 13 selects load mode via a control word register . in load mode , random or sequential loading of the microprogram memory mpm 23 is possible . the mpm 23 stores program information for the microprocessor mpu 21 . the storage capacity is expandable in the preferred embodiment from 2k to 6k words , in 2k word increments . each word consists of 13 bits ( 12 data bits plus one parity bit ). the microprocessor mpu 21 controls the operations of the dcpp 11 . it initiates and executes line message transactions and special functions as directed by the cpu 13 . when a plurality of lines are active , the microprocessor mpu 21 will sequentially interrogate each line adaptor 19 and provide service on an as - requested basis . in the preferred embodiment the microprocessor mpu 21 contains an eight bit wide arithmetic unit and performs instructions at a one megahertz rate . the function control logic 35 allows the microprocessor mpu 21 to address and transfer information to and from other functional units including up to four line adaptors 19 . in the microprocessor support logic 37 , a scratch pad memory 39 provides temporary data storage for the microprocessor mpu 21 . the scratch pad memory 39 is used to store information for each data communication line 15 such as buffer location in current address , line procedure details , job description , current status , etc . thus , the scratch pad memory 39 is used by the microprocessor mpu 21 to keep track of what the dcpp 11 is doing . in the preferred embodiment the scratch pad memory 39 is expandable as the number of data communication lines 15 is increased . a storage capacity of up to 128 bytes per data communication line 15 is provided . the microprocessor support logic 37 also includes the automatic operation logic 43 . the direct memory access ( dma ) logic 26 provides the dcpp 11 with a direct access path to the main memory 28 . the main memory 28 is used for message input and output buffering for each data communication line 15 . in addition , the main memory 28 is used to store control and data descriptors for each data communication line 15 . the main memory 28 which is accessed both by the cpu 13 and the dcpp 11 is used as the transfer medium for the exchange of data and control of result descriptors . the data communication line adaptors 19 provides the interface between the dcpp 11 and the data sets 17 or direct connect lines . an individual line adaptor 19 is required for each data communication line . it contains transmit and receive logic 45 capable of operating at selectable baud rates , synchronous or asynchronous and full or half duplex . the microprocessor mpu 21 controls the functional operation of the data set 17 and line adaptor 19 by means of control descriptors . the microprocessor 21 interrogates the line adaptor 19 status and the data set 17 status by reading the respective status register in the included data set control and status logic 47 and the adaptor control line status logic 49 . the dcpp 11 with its own microprocessing unit 21 is a programmable multiline control device dependent port ( ddp ). in combination with a cpu 13 an overall data communications system consists of two processors , each able to operate independently by containing an interpreter and program within its own memory . the first processor , the cpu 13 , has control of the usual peripherals whereas the second processor , the dcpp 11 , controls up to four data communication lines 15 . since the processor dcpp 11 is microprogrammable a program language , ndl ( network definition language ) is provided in the preferred embodiment to handle the data communication aspects . in order that data received by the dcpp 11 can be , for example , printed , there has to be a means of communications between the dcpp 11 and the cpu 13 . when a message is received by the dcpp 11 the ndl program will cause it to be stored in an area of the dcpp 11 to which the cpu 13 has access . this may be termed a receive buffer . likewise , the cpu 13 may desire to read a keyboard message and sent it to a terminal . therefore , as well as the receive buffer there must also be a transmit buffer . in order that data programs being run may be related in some way , one processor or the other must have ultimate control . the cpu 13 is given this ultimate control . the program it is running is the main program which will , for example , contain data it wishes to send to a data communication line 15 from some peripheral and decide which terminal to send it to . thus the source language has instructions such as &# 34 ; transmit message to . &# 34 ; these instructions are decoded by the data communications controller portion of the source language and formatted to suit ndl . this is stored in an area of memory considered the operation buffer . now it can be clearly seen that the ndl program and the dcpp 11 can investigate an instruction in the operation buffer . dependent on this instruction it will branch through a specific routine . the ndl instructions within the subroutine will be broken down into microstrings by the ndl interpreter and performed by the hardware . the ndl program is specific to a given network of terminals . it will provide all the necessary controls for that network , determining such things as : is the requested terminal valid , is it already busy , how often should it be serviced , what is its line frequency , what line is it on , etc . thus the main source language program needs only to say &# 34 ; send this message to terminal &# 34 ; and ndl along with dcpp 11 does the rest . as part of the pairing - up procedure a warm start is performed wherein the ndl is read from a disc and stored into the dcpp 11 memory . this is done by the usual peripheral control method of control words and data words . once loaded the dcpp 11 is inhibited from operation until suh time as a program is initiated which requires data communication . when a data communication program is called from disc into the main memory 28 , the first part of the load operation loads any soft controllers , followed by a special instruction set of source level data communication instructions . in the preferred embodiment , a set of ndl tables are produced containing information about software to be used ( size - location number of entries - size of transmission , etc . ), the lines in use ( speed - number of stations - delays , etc . ), the stations in use ( description of terminal - type of parity - frequency - buffer size , etc . ), and many other parameters used for operation . each table also references the location of the next in chain , but this reference is calculated at the ndl program load time . once loaded , the ndl program will start automatically . it releases the dcpp 11 for operation and selects from the ndl tables the various words frequently used and stores information relating thereto in the internal scratch pad memory 39 for fast access . the information stored contains the reference addresses to the ndl tables , the start address of a microstring to be returned to , the address of the cpu 13 memory of the next ndl instruction , etc . once the initial process is completed the ndl program goes into idle where it waits for further instructions from the main program . a very important feature of the dcpp 11 is the scratch pad memory 39 . with reference to fig3 the scratch pad memory 39 contains in the preferred embodiment 512 one - byte word locations . since there can be up to four data communication lines 15 , and since the memory is divided into four blocks of 128 bytes with one block allocated per line , part of the scratch pad memory 39 addressing is devoted to selecting the direct block of 128 bytes . each block of 128 bytes is subdivided by page addressing logic 50 into four pages of 32 bytes each . within a selected page , byte addressing logic 52 selects a specific byte . as will be detailed hereinafter , bits of four bytes in each page may be isolated and selected by further address logic 54 . in the preferred embodiment , two pages of scratch pad memory 39 ( 64 characters or bytes ) are required to handle a half duplex communications line and four pages to handle a full duplex communications line . in operation , the dcpp 11 fetches an ndl instruction from the main memory 28 and decodes it into op code . performance of the op code may require data to be transferred to or from main memory 28 . this is done by stealing . a status word is used to indicate to the cpu 13 a microprogram memory 23 or a scratch pad memory 39 error in the dcpp 11 . if this condition occurs a status interrupt is sent to the cpu 13 and the mpu 21 is inhibited from running . in the initiation of information transfer between the cpu 13 and the dcpp 11 , the port select unit 29 decodes the three bit groups from the cpu 13 to completely define the operation that is to take place . the command field ( nanobits 51 through 54 ) establishes whether the operation is to be a device read or a device write . the four least significant bits contain the specific device write , and the most significnt bits in conjunction with the command type distinguishes between control , data , and status words . the interface between a microprogrammable processor and a microprogrammable microprocessor is not characterized by a complex array of hardwired logic interconnections but rather by the control , data , and status words that the two processors use to communicate with and to control each other . four basic word formats are used to tranfer control , data and status information between the main processor cpu 13 and the preprocessor dcpp 11 . each word format comprises 16 bits with the first bit designated as the most significant bit ( msb ) and the sixteenth bit as the least significant bit ( lsb ). the four basic word formats are a control word ( dw · inst ), a write data word ( dw · inst ), a read data word ( dr · inst /), and a status word ( dr · inst ). the significant bits of the four basic word formats are detailed below . bit 1 : enter or exit load mode . load mode enables the cpu ( via dw · inst /) to load or verify the contents of the mpm 23 or to have the mpu 21 operate using the mir bus 51 as an instruction source . bit 2 : clear mpu 21 mpcr . used only in conjunction with enter or exit load mode . clear mpu 21 mpcr provides the capability to start loading or execution at either mpm 23 location zero or the current address . bit 3 : clear dcpp 11 . sets or resets the clear dcpp 11 flip - flop . the clear dcpp 11 if set will hold the dcpp 11 in a cleared state . once set it will remain set until a command is received to reset it . bit 4 : mtr override . when set , inhibits spm 39 or mpu 21 parity errors from shutting off run . bit 15 : execute mode . used by mtr to disable writing into mar 53 and mdr 55 from the mir but 51 with a data write ( dw · inst /). also , disables mtr request to steal . a dr · bex · inst / will transfer the contents ( 16 bits ) of the mdr 55 into the b - register of the cpu 13 . a dw · inst / will transfer 16 bits of mir data into mar 53 and mdr 55 . if in load mode , the following functions are also enabled : 1 . if mir01 and 02 are both zero than mir06 - 16 ( 12 bits will be loaded into the mpm 23 at the address defined by the mpu 21 mpcr and then the mpu 21 mpcr will be incremented . 2 . if mir01 ( execute inst ) is set then mpu 21 will execute the instruction ( 12 bits ) contained in mir05 - 16 , thus the cpu 13 can single - step instructions to mpu 21 and / or dcpp 11 . 3 . if mir01 / and mir02 ( mpu 21 to mdr 55 ) is set then a copy of the instruction in mpm 23 location per mpu 21 mpcr is transferred into the mdr 55 and mpu 21 mpcr is subsequently incremented . this feature is provided to allow the cpu 13 to read and check the contents of the mpm 23 after loading . 4 . if mir03 / ( mtr steal ) is set , the cpu 13 will execute an mrt request to steal . this allows cpu 13 to execute a cycle steal independent of mpu 21 . the mtr data word ( dw · inst /) is defined as follows : __________________________________________________________________________mtr exec loadmode mode mode dw inst miro1 miro2 miro3__________________________________________________________________________1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1__________________________________________________________________________ this mode enables the cpu 13 to generate a steal cycle from a data write . the address is determined by the previous data loaded into mar 53 . 5 . the mtr parity bit is used by the mir to bring the parity bit to the mdr 55 and mar 53 registers for testing . the following listing describes functions of various combinations of control and data words . __________________________________________________________________________data words ( dw · inst / or dr · bex · inst /) load dr · mode dw bex inst miro1 miro2 miro3 function description__________________________________________________________________________0 1 0 1 1 0 1 / 0 enter load mode and ( note reset mpcr 59 , thus 1 ) loading will start at address zero . if miro3 = 1 , set dcpp 11 clear flip - flop . 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 / 0 enter load mode , do ( note not reset mpcr 57 . 1 ) loading will start at current address . 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 load data in miro5 - 16 ( complement ) into mpm 23 and then increment mpcr 57 . 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 mpu 21 will execute instruction contained in miro5 - 16 ( true ). mpm 23 is not loaded . 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 transfer a copy of instruction from mpm 23 into mdr 55 and mar 53 and increment mpu 21 mpcr . note : miro5 - 16 must be all zeroes . x 0 1 0 x x x transfer contents of mdr 55 into the cpu 13 b - register via ext bus 59 . 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 / 0 exit &# 34 ; load mode &# 34 ; and ( note clear mpcr 57 , thus 1 ) mpu 21 program execution will start at location zero . 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 / 0 exit &# 34 ; load mode &# 34 ; and ( note do not clear mpcr 57 , 1 ) thus mpu 21 program at current address . 0 1 0 0 x x x load contents of mir ( 16 bits ) into mar 53 and mdr 55 . x 0 1 1 x x x read status word to cpu 13 b - register and reset stint . 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 set dcpp 11 dw1 flip - flop in dcpp 11 ( normal interrupt to dcpp 11 from mpu 21 ). ( note 2 ) __________________________________________________________________________ notes : ( 1 ) if miro3 = 1 , then set dcpp 11 clear flip - flop , otherwise reset it . ( 2 ) dwi flip - flop will be set as a result of any dw · inst unless dcpp 11 clear flip - flop is set . once dwi is set , it will remain set until tested by mpu 21 , or until dcpp 11 clear flip - flop is set . in addition to device address , the status word contains 4 bits placed on the external bus 57 ( ext1 -- 16 ): ext01 : execption bit : this bit is set if either ext02 or ext03 is set . this bit is reset when a status read dr · inst ) is executed . it is not reset with an enable status ( enst /). ext02 : mpm23 parity error : this bit is set by a mpu 21 parity error and is reset by a status read or clear dcpp 11 . when mpm 23 parity error is set , mpu 21 clock will be stopped . ext03 : spm 39 parity error is set by an spm 39 parity error and is reset by a clear dcpp 11 . when spm 39 parity is set , the mpu 21 clock will be stopped . ext04 : run indicate status of dcpp 11 . if set , indicates that dcpp 11 is executing instructions . if reset , indicates that dcpp 11 is stopped . this bit is used by mir only . status interrupt : this level is set by an mpm 23 or spm 39 parity error or by firmware control of mpu 21 . it is reset upon a status read or clear dcpp 11 . if status interrupt is set and the exception bit is not set a &# 34 ; soft interrupt &# 34 ; is indicated ( normal completion of most operations ). a . function control register ( fcr ) 35 -- controls data path and functional operations within the dcpp 11 . b . adapter i / o register 61 -- used for exchange of data between mpu 21 and the data comm line adapters 19 . c . memory address register ( mar ) 53 -- used to address memory for direct memory access ( dma ) operations . d . memory data register ( mdr ) 55 -- used for data storage for dma read or write operations . e . bit isolation unit ( biu ) 63 -- used to select a particular bit of status or spm information to be applied to the external interrupt input of mpu 21 . f . scratch pad memory ( spm ) 39 -- used by mpu 21 for the storage of control information . g . automatic operation logic -- used for the automatic transfer of 16 bits of information between spm 39 and working registers . in some cases an index value may be added during the transfer . h . adapter 19 -- multiple data comm line adapters may be contained in a single dcpp 11 . the adapter 19 contains registers and logic as required to interface with data sets 17 . this register is loaded by an mpu 21 devo instruction . it controls the data path and logic functions of the dcpp 11 as shown in fig5 and fig6 . a very important feature of the present invention is the capability to automatically transfer two bytes of spm data not using mpu 21 . the starting byte address of the spm 39 data is defined by a preceding mpu 21 devi instruction and must be an even - numbered address . the automatic transfer may include the addition of an index to the spm 39 data . the index of one byte is contained in the adapter i / o register 61 and is added if the &# 34 ; index &# 34 ; bit is set . the results of the automatic function will be transferred to the register specified by the &# 34 ; destination &# 34 ; bits ; also , if the &# 34 ; spm updata &# 34 ; bit is set , the results will be stored into spm 39 in place of the original data . when mar 53 is the selected destination , a dma operation to main memory 28 is initiated by requesting &# 34 ; steal &# 34 ; upon completion of the automatic transfer . whether the memory operation is a read or a write is defined by the &# 34 ; dma write &# 34 ; bit . the clock to mpu 21 will be stopped for the duration of the automatic operation and if a &# 34 ; dma read &# 34 ; is initiated , the mpu 21 clock will not be restarted until the completion of the memory read operation . it is possible for an automatic operation to result in an overflow . in this case the &# 34 ; auto overflow &# 34 ; flip - flop is set for subsequent testing by mpu 21 . the &# 34 ; overflow &# 34 ; flip - flop will not reset until the next &# 34 ; auto op &# 34 ; is initiated . the function code calling forth an automatic operation is 100 in bits md5 - md8 of a devo instruction . functional descriptions of the automatic operation codes are given below . ______________________________________automatic operation ( function code 100 )( msb ) up - index data dest . date ( 3 ) write select spm destination______________________________________1 1 0 0 0 add index contained in adapter i / o register 61 to 2 bytes of spm 39 data . load result into mar 53 and initiate a dma write operation . ( note 1 ) 1 0 0 0 0 same as above except initiate a dma read operation . ( note 2 ) 1 1 0 0 1 add index in adapter i / o register 61 to 2 bytes of spm 39 data . store result into spm 39 in place of original data and also into mar 53 and initiate a dma write operation . 1 0 0 0 1 same as above except initiate a dma read operation . ( notes 2 and 4 ) 0 1 0 0 0 transfer 2 bytes of spm data into mar and initiate a dma write operation . 0 0 0 0 0 transfer 2 bytes of spm data into mar 53 and initiate a dma read operation . ( notes 2 and 4 ) 1 0 0 1 0 add index in adapter i / o register 61 to 2 bytes of spm data ; store result into mdr 55 . 1 0 1 0 0 add index in adapter i / o register to 2 bytes of spm data ; store result into crc register 41 . 1 0 0 1 1 add index in adapter i / o register 61 to 2 bytes of spm data ; store result into mdr register 55 and also into spm 39 in place of original data . 1 0 1 0 1 same as above except crc register 41 is destination instead of mdr 55 . 1 0 1 1 1 add index in adapter i / o register 61 to 2 bytes of spm data . store result into spm 39 in place of original data . 0 0 0 1 0 transfer two bytes of spm data into mdr 55 . 0 0 1 0 0 transfer 2 bytes of spm data into crc register 41 . 1 0 1 1 0 test for aov . ______________________________________ notes : ( 1 ) codes not shown are not applicable . ( 2 ) automatic operations require approximately 3 . 5 microseconds . ( 3 ) index = add contents of adapter i / o register 61 to least significant 8 bits of auto op ; and all zeros to most significant 8 bits of auto op . carries are propagated from ls through ms byte . ( 4 ) data read from main memory 28 will be loaded into both mar 53 and mdr 55 . ______________________________________mar 53 and mdr 55 select ( function code 111 ) a . mar 53 selectmd1 md2 md5msb wt md3 - 4 im - mem or dest = med - inh dr / mar iate description______________________________________0 1 0 0 0 mar 53 is enabled for data exchange with mpu 21 via out2 or bex2 . a dma ( main memory 28 write ) will follow second out2 and mpu 21 will be stopped until the read is complete ( note 3 ) 0 0 0 0 0 same as above except a dma ( main memory 28 read ) will follow second out2 and mpu 21 will be stopped until read is completed . data will be loaded into both mar 53 and mdr 55 . 0 1 0 0 1 a dma main memory 28 write will commence immediately . memory address is as per existing contents of mar 53 . 0 0 0 0 1 same as above except memory operation will be a read and mpu 21 will be stopped until read is completed . data will be loaded into both mar 53 and mdr 55 . 1 0 0 0 0 mar 53 is enabled for data exchange with mpu 21 via out2 or bex2 . dma operation is disabled , thus mar 53 can be used as a scratch pad data register . ______________________________________ notes : ( 1 ) combinations not shown above are not applicable . ( 2 ) dma operations use mar for memory address and mdr 55 for memory data , i . e ., if memory operation is a read , mar 53 and mdr 55 will be loaded wit data read from main memory 28 . in the case of a memory write operation , mdr 55 is previously loaded by mpu 21 with data to be written into main memory 28 . ( 3 ) mar 53 is a 16 - bit register . this requires two bex2 or out2 instructions by mpu 21 for complete data transfer . ______________________________________b . mdr 55 selectmd1 ( msb ) auto md3 - 4spm reg . load md2 select md5 description______________________________________0 x 0 1 x mdr 55 is enabled for data exchange with mpu 21 via out2 or bex2 instruction . 1 0 0 1 0 contents of mdr 55 will be stored into two consecutive bytes of spm 39 . start address of spm 39 is specified by a previous dev1 instruction . ( note 4 ) 1 0 1 0 0 same as above except crc 41 register instead of mdr 55 . ______________________________________ notes : ( 1 ) mdr 55 and crc 41 are 16 - bit registers and thus require two bex2 or out2 instructions to complete a data transfer . ( 2 ) mdr 55 is primarily intended for use as a data exchange register with main memory 28 . however , it can also be used by mpu 21 as a scratch pad register . ( 3 ) crc 41 is primarily intended for crc computation but it can be used as a scratch pad register by mpu 21 . ( 4 ) contents of the adapter i / o register 61 will be shifted into the least significant byte of mdr 55 . the adapter i / o register 61 and the most significant byte of mdr 55 will contain zeros . this feature provides a path for mtr testing of the adapter i / o register 61 . the following controls are used for adapter 19 receive and transmit data exchange and sync detection , break , and second stop bit control . ______________________________________ rts delaymd1 md2 md3 md4 md5 description______________________________________0 0 0 0 0 enable contents of adapter 19 receiver to adapter i / o register 61 . adapter i / o will be loaded on a subsequent bex0 . 0 1 0 1 0 same as above except overrun status output of selected adapter 19 will be stored in the biu 63 . ( note 1 ) 0 0 0 0 1 same as above but adapter 19 receiver logic will commence sync detection . 1 0 0 0 0 transfer contents of adapter i / o register 61 ( previously loaded by an out0 or dev3 ) into the transmit logic of adapter 19 . 1 1 0 1 0 same as above except underflow status output of selected adapter 19 will be stored in the biu 63 ( note 1 ). 1 1 0 1 1 enable the adapter 19 flip to receive mode . 1 0 1 0 0 transmit logic is directed to transmit break character ( all spaces ). ______________________________________ note : ( 1 ) the stored data ( overrun or underflow ) should be tested on the next instruction . another important feature of the present invention is the rts dealy bit , which when sent , allows the transmitter logic to send one more character . this character is inhibited from being transmitted but is used as a delay for turning off the request to send ( rts ) line . in the asynchronous mode , the rts delay time is one bit time plus the number of first &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; in the rts delay character that was loaded into the transmitter logic ; for example : ______________________________________ex rts delay character : 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 ( 8 - bit character ) delay time for turning off rts is : 1 bit + number of &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. 1 bit + 5 &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; = 6 bit time delay to turn off bits . ______________________________________ in the synchronous mode , it is just the number of &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. using the above example , the rts delay would be 5 bit times . ( 1 ) at the same time that the rts delay ends , and in a half duplex mode , the data to the receiver logic is enabled . this allows the adapter 19 to flip from the xmit mode to the rcv mode when the rts delay time expires . ( 2 ) a jumper is available on each adapter 19 for direct connect modes of operation . this allows the adapter 19 to flip to the rcv mode without waiting for the rts delay time to expire . ______________________________________spm 39 page select or set cpu 13 status inter . ( function code 010 ) md1 md2 md3 md4 md5______________________________________0 0 spm 39 0 preset page select page register ( to 0 , 1 , 2 , select or 3 ) as specified by ( note 1 ) spm page select bits . 1 0 0 0 0 set status interrupt flip - flop . once set , this ff will remain set until a cpu 13 status read . ( note 2 ) ______________________________________ notes : ( 1 ) spm 39 organization provides up to 4 pages ( 32 bytes each ) for each line 15 , selectable by these two bits . ( 2 ) status interrupt to cpu 13 may also be set by parity error from either spm 39 or mpu 21 . the following word formats are used for testing adapter 19 receive ( rcv ) status , testing adapter transmit ( xmit ) status , loading the adapter control descriptor , or selecting line frequency , in the respective order . ______________________________________md1 md2 - 4 md5______________________________________0 rcv status 0 select receive status ; do bit select not enable other functions . ( note 1 ) 0 xmit status 1 select transmit status ; do bit select not enable other functions . ( note 1 ) 1 n · a · 0 load contents of adapter i / o register 61 into adapter 19 adapter descriptor register . 1 n · a · 1 load most significant digit of adapter i / o register 61 into adapter 19 frequency select register . ______________________________________ notes : ( 1 ) these 3 bits will select which status bit ( 0 through 7 ) will be applie to the mpu 21 ext interrupt input . ( 2 ) refer to fig5 for word format of transmit status , receive status , line frequency select , and adapter descriptor control words . ______________________________________line select , data set descr & amp ; mgr status ( function code 110 ) msbmd1 md2 - 4 md5______________________________________0 s s s 1 load contents of adapter i / o ( note 1 ) register into line select register . 1 s s s 0 load contents of adapter i / o ( note 1 ) register into adapter data set descriptor register . 0 s s s 0 test selected bit of mgr ( note 1 ) status without enabling above functions . ______________________________________ note : ( 1 ) sss = manager status bit select . mgr status testing is enabled at all times . these 3 bits will select which status bit ( 0 thru 7 ) will be applied to the mpu 21 external interrupt input ( ext ). this register , see fig4 is used to exchange data between mpu 21 and the selected data comm line adapter 19 . it is loaded by mpu 21 by an outo or dev3 instruction , see fig5 . once loaded , the contents of the adapter i / o register 61 can be transferred to any one of eight destinations by loading the appropriate command into the fcr ( function control register ) 35 by an mpu 21 devo instruction . receive data is read from the adapter 19 as follows : the fcr 35 is loaded ( via a devo mpu 21 instruction ) to select rcv data , then a one - instruction delay is required to allow access time . an mpu 21 bexo instruction will now transfer the contents of the rcv logic data buffer to the mpu 21 b - register via the adapter i / o register 61 . formats of the various data and control words handled by the adapter i / o register 61 are described in detail below with reference to fig7 . ______________________________________data set 17 descriptor ( see fig7 ) bit function______________________________________request to if set , notifies the data nodem to go into send ( rts ) a transmit mode . originate if set , notifies the data modem to enter ( orig ) the auto dial mode . data if set , notifies the data modem that the terminal business machine is ready . also used in ready ( dtr ) auto dial mode . data mode if set , notifies the data modem that the ( dmode ) auto dial cycle has been completed . new if set , notifies the data modem that it synchronous is at the hub station in multi - station ( new sync ) arrangements such as polling , to assure rapid synchronization between messages . rate if set , notifies certain data modems to select a back - up rate ( see standby rate ). standby rate if set , notifies certain data modems to select a back - up rate , as follows : standby rate rate 2400 baud 0 0 1200 baud 1 1 600 baud 1 02nd stop bit used in asynchronous mode ; if set , causes character transmitted to have two stop bits . enable xmit these bits are used to enable theand transmitter and receive portions of theenable rcv adapter 19 . they are also used in half duples mode to disable the xmit or rcv portion that is not being used , as follows : enable enable xmit rcv full duplex 1 1 half duplex ( transmitting ) 1 0 half duplex ( receiving ) 0 1 no operation 0 0 if enable xmit is reset , the transmitter logic and line break function are held cleared . the data from the transmitter logic will be in a mark state if enable rcv is reset , the receiver logic and sync detection logic is held in a cleared state . transmit if set , notifies the transmitter logic parity to replace the trailing bit of character with a parity bit . if reset , no parity is transmitted and the last bit is treated as a data bit . character notifies the dcpp 11 to transmit and / or size receive 5 , 6 , 7 or 8 bits , including parity and exclusing start and stop bits . char size y x 5 1 1 6 1 0 7 0 1 8 0 0asynchronous if set , notifies the adapter 19 to operate in an asynchronous mode . if reset , the adapter 19 will operate in a synchronous mode . even if set , notifies the adapter 19 to transmit or receive even parity . if reset , notifies the adapter 19 to transmit or receive odd parity . rcv parity if set , notifies the adapter 19 that parity error will be enabled . if reset , notifies the adapter 19 that parity error will be disabled . also , if set and in synchronous mode , sync detection will be ascii ; if reset and in synchronous mode , sync detection will be ebcdic . ______________________________________ used to select baud rate for each line in asynchronous operations . during synchronous operations the respective line should be set to off . a separate frequency select register is provided for each line . the following listing defines the register content required for each frequency selection . ______________________________________bit pattern2 ** 3 2 ** 2 2 ** 1 2 ** 0 meaning______________________________________0 0 0 0 = off0 0 0 1 = 75 bits / sec0 0 1 0 = 100 bits / sec0 0 1 1 = 110 bits / sec0 1 0 0 = 150 bits / sec0 1 0 1 = 200 bits / sec0 1 1 0 = 300 bits / sec0 1 1 1 = 600 bits / sec1 0 0 0 = 1200 bits / sec1 0 0 1 = 1800 bits / sec1 0 1 0 = 2400 bits / sec1 0 1 1 = 4800 bits / sec1 1 0 0 = 9600 bits / sec1 1 0 1 = 19 . 2k bits / sec1 1 1 0 = n / a1 1 1 1 = spare______________________________________ the biu 63 , see fig4 provides the capability to select one of up to eight bits in a status word and apply it to the ext input of the mpu 21 . status word selection and bit selection is accomplished by an mpu 21 devo instruction loading the appropriate command into the function control register 35 . if spm bit selection is desired , this is accomplished by an mpu 21 dev1 instruction loading the appropriate command into the spm address and control register 56 . in this case the mpu 21 condition test operation ( ext test ) must immediately follow the dev1 instruction . the selected spm bit will be applied to the mpu 21 ext input for only one instruction period after execution of the dev1 because ext will revert back to the previously selected status bit . __________________________________________________________________________mgr status ( see fig8 ) bit function ( 3 ) reset dwi indicates a dwi has been received from ( device the cpu 13 . this usually indicates write that the cpu 13 wants to establish instruction ) communications with mpu 21 . the dwi bit is reset upon selection by an fcr command jand its previous state is transferred to the ext interrupt flip - flop for subsequent testing by mpu 21 . ( 2 ) auto op adv indicates that the last automatic operation resulted in an adder overflow due to an index add function . this flip - flop , once set , will remain set until the next auto op ( either index add or spm load ) is initiated . it is always unconditionally reset at this time . ( 1 ) ti ( timer this flag is set when the &# 34 ; strobe interrupt ) timer &# 34 ; instruction is executed and the one - millisecond timer had expired . it is used by the mpu 21 program to determine whether or not to increment various timing delay counters associated with each adapter 19 . ( 0 ) dwi ( device indicates a dwi has been received from write the cpu 13 . this bit is not reset instruction ) when tested and remains set until a reset dwi or a system clear is performed . xmit status ( see fig8 )( 7 ) xmit this flag is set if one or more of exception the following conditions take place : 1 . clear to send is false . 2 . data set ready is false . 3 . break condition is true . ( 6 ) cts ( clear this flag is set if clear to send is to send ) true . this flag is reset if clear to send is false . ( 5 ) ( not used . )( 4 ) dsr / ) data this flag is set if data set ready set ready ) is false . this flag is reset of data set ready is true . ( 3 ) break this flag , if set , indicates the receiver logic has detected a start bit and the absence of a stop bit . used in asynchronous full - duplex mode as a potential break indication . ( 2 ) line / this flag is set if the receive data line is in a space condition . this flag is reset if the receive data line is in a mark condition ( see note ). ( 1 ) line this flag indicates that a line change change has occurred since the last time this bit was tested . this flag is reset when tested . it is set if a mark to space or space to mark change has occurred since it was tested ( see note ). ( 0 ) bmt this flag is set if the transmitter ( buffer logic can accept a new character . it empty ) is reset when a transmit strobe has been done to the selected adapter 19 . __________________________________________________________________________ note : the line / and line change bits are used to accomplish monitor dial response and break detection . ______________________________________rcv status ( see fig8 ) bit function______________________________________ ( 7 ) rcv this flag is set if one or more of exception the following conditions take place : 1 . parity error is true . 2 . data set ready is false . 3 . break condition is true . 4 . carrier lost is true . ( 6 ) parity this flag is set if the character in error the receiver logic output buffer register has bad parity . the bit will be reset when the character is transferred to the adapter i / o register 61 . ( 5 ) carrier / this flag is set if the data carrier detect line is false . it is reset if the data carrier detect line is true . ( 4 ) dsr / ( data this flag is set if data set ready is set ready ) false . it is reset if data set ready is true . ( 3 ) break this flag , if set , indicates the receiver logic has detected a start bit without an appropriate stop bit . it is used in asynchronous mode and is reset after testing . ( 2 ) ring this flag is set if the ring indicator line is true . it is reset if the ring indicator line is false . ( 1 ) carrier this flag is set if the data carrier lost detect line goes true and then goes false . it is reset when tested . ( 0 ) bful this flag is set if the receiver ( buffer logic has a full buffer . it is full ) reset when the character is unloaded by the dcpp 11 controller . ______________________________________ the scratch pad memory 39 is designed in the preferred embodiment to be expandable in blocks of 512 × 9 . the spm 39 may be accessed in a character or bit mode operation . bit mode can access one of 32 bits per page . character mode can access all of the 32 bytes in a page including the 4 bytes used by bit mode . spm 39 organization provides for a maximum of four lines with up to four pages per line . page addressing is accomplished by the fcr 35 via &# 34 ; line select &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; page select &# 34 ; commands . line select will define a group of four pages and page select will define one of those four pages . the spm address and control register is loaded via a dev1 instruction ( see fig6 and fig9 ) from mpu 21 . char or bit /: determines whether access will be character or bit mode . 1 . read the specified location into the spm 39 i / o register which then may be read into mpu 21 via a bex1 instruction . 2 . write the contents of the spm i / o register into the specified location in the spm 39 . the spm i / o register is previously loaded from mpu 21 may an out1 or out3 instruction . 3 . if update is set , the specified address of smp 39 is in the upper page . if update is reset , the specified address of spm is defined by spm page select . 1 . read the specified location into the spm i / o register and apply the selected bit 0 thru 7 to the ext input of mpu 21 . 2 . set or reset the specified bit location in spm 39 . 1 . to access rcv data , wait one instruction , after the devo command before doing a bexo to allow access time on the receive logic . 2 . spm bit access ( biu ) correlates to character mode locations 28 , 29 , 30 and 31 . 3 . an spm bit read must be tested on the following instruction by mpu 21 . 4 . mpm 23 parity or spm 39 parity stop dcpp 11 can be reset with a clear only . 5 . after a dma operation , mdr 55 must be selected before addressing information . the data communications line adapter 19 , see fig4 includes the necessary logic to interface the dcpp 11 to a data communications network either by a data set 17 or by direct connect means . thus the line adapter 19 provides the output interface of the dcpp 11 . one line adapter 19 is required for each output line . in the preferred embodiment , the output line adaptor 19 is programmable to adapt to a variety of data set 17 requirements . in alternate embodiments , it is realized of course , that the line adapter 19 could be hardwired to provide the necessary interface between a specific set of data set 17 requirements and the dcpp 11 . 1 . the adapter descriptor register 69 which serves to define the functional operation of the line adapter 19 . the adapter descriptor register 69 is loaded from the adapter i / o register 61 and includes the following information bits ( see fig1 ) receiver parity bit 75 , even bit 77 , asynchronous bit 79 , character ( y ) bit 81 , size ( x ) bit 83 , transmitter parity bit 85 , enable transmitter logic bit 87 , and enable receiver logic bit 89 . 2 . data set descriptor register 91 which defines the functional operation of the specific data set 17 associated with a specific line adapter 19 . the data set descriptor register 91 includes the following information bits ( see fig1 ): second stop bit 93 , standby rate bit 95 , rate bit 97 , new synchronization bit 99 , d mode bit 101 , dtr bit 103 , orig bit 105 and request - to - send bit 107 . the data set descriptor register 91 is loaded from the adapter i / o register 61 . 3 . the transmitter logic 109 which is a synchronous / asynchronous data communications adapter that accepts parallel binary data in the form of characters and serially transmits the data to a modem . internally generated parity bit and appended control bits for asynchronous mode are transmitted at the same time if applicable . 4 . the receiver logic 111 which is a synchronous / asynchronous data communications adapter for receiving serial digital data from a modem or other source . the receiver logic 111 organizes the received data into fixed word lengths corresponding to characters , and transmits these characters to a buffer register from which the character may be accessed in parallel format . 1 . the receiver status logic 113 which provides the capability to select status information relative to receive mode and apply it to the bit isolation unit 63 for interrogation by the mpu 21 . 2 . the transmitter status logic 115 which provides the capability to select status information relative to the transmit mode and apply it to the bit isolation unit 63 for interrogation by the mpu 21 . 3 . the manager status logic 117 which provides data to the bit isolation unit 63 for interrogation by the mpu 21 . specifically , three bits of information are provided . the dwi bit 119 which indicates that a device write instruction has been received from the cpu 13 which wants to communicate with the mpu 21 . the dwi bit 119 is reset by a reset dwi command 121 generated from the function control register 35 . an aov bit 123 indicates that an adder overflow occurred during the last automatic operation . the aov bit 123 remains set until a subsequent automatic operation is initiated . a ti bit 125 is set when a strobe timer instruction is executed and a one millisecond time has expired . all bits from the manager status logic 117 are presented to the bit isolation unit 63 for interrogation by the mpu 21 . thus , the function of the line adapter 19 is to interface between the data sets 17 and the dcpp 11 . in the preferred embodiment , as above described , the line adapter 19 is , in essence , microprogrammable and therefore universally applicable to a wide variety of output interface requirements . although an operative data communications preprocessor has been described it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications and additional features may be added without departing from the scope of the invention . as an example , provisions may be added for automatic dialing ( autocal ) and for cyclical redundancy checking ( crc ). furthermore , while the data communication preprocessing 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 . | 6 |
fig1 a and 1b illustrate the psd limitations of the hdsl2 system as specified in the hdsl2 standard . the present invention can also be used with other dsl specifications or with non - dsl communications specifications . fig1 a is a table illustrating the upstream and downstream maximal power spectral density . fig1 b is a graph illustrates both the upstream and downstream maximal psds . note that the upstream psd has a peak power at around 230 khz and the downstream psd has a peak power at around 350 khz . the peaks of the upstream and downstream psds correspond to corresponding dips in the downstream and upstream psds , respectively , to avoid interference between the upstream and downstream signals . fig2 is a diagram of relevant elements of a dsl transmitter in one embodiment of the present invention . up - sampler 22 up - samples the input signal by a factor of 2 using zero filling . the transmit filter 24 filters the signal such that the ultimate output is within the power spectral density of the specification . an up - sampler 26 then up - samples the system by a factor of 2 again , using zero filling . the digital low - pass filter 28 or interpolation filter ( if ) then filters the output of the up - sampler 26 . sample - and - hold unit 30 is placed after the digital interpolation filter ( if ) and models the effects of the digital - to - analog converter ( dac ). finally , the analog low - pass filter ( af ) 32 filters the output of the sample - and - hold ( sh ) to produce the output of the hdsl2 unit . the effects of all filters except the transmit filter can be modeled as a fixed frequency weighting function , w ( f ). fig3 is a simplified diagram with fixed elements 34 before the transmit filter and fixed elements 36 after the transmit filter . as will be described below , the system will meet the psd requirements as long as | w ( f ) h ( f )| 2 ≲ s max ( f ), where s max ( f ) is the maximum allowable power . fig4 is a flow chart that illustrates the system of the present invention . in step 40 , a communication system specification is obtained . this communication system specification will have a power output limitations for different frequencies . in step 41 , the transmit path is partitioned into the transmit filter and the other elements . in step 42 , in a convex optimization procedure described below , the autocorrelation coefficients of the transit filter are optimized . in step 44 , the filter coefficients are determined from the autocorrelation coefficients . a spectral factorization is preferably used to obtain the filter coefficients from the autocorrelation coefficients . note that this for the hdsl2 systems the procedures can be done both for the upstream and downstream filters . the convex optimization procedure is described as follows : let s max ( f ) denote the specified maximum allowable power in watts / hz . then | w ( f ) h ( f )| 2 ≲ s max ( f ), for all frequencies . w ( f ) can be thought of - as a frequency domain weighting function for the contributions of the other elements in the transmit path besides the transmit filter . for the example described below s x 7 ( f ) = 2 r l f s | h a ( f ) h s h ( f ) h 1 ( f ) h ( f ) | 2 | x 1 ( f ) | 2 ≤ s max ( f ) , for all frequencies . and w ( f ) = δ 2 r l f s h a ( f ) h s h ( f ) h 1 ( f ) x 1 ( f ) , is the combined scaled frequency response of the transit path except the transmit filter . as will be described below , fig9 shows the magnitude response of w ( f ) where we have assumed that | x ( f )| 2 = 1 ; i . e ., x 1 ( f ) is white which is true at the output of a precoder . let , r ( nt 2 ) be the autocorrelation coefficients associated with the filter impulse response h ( nt 2 ), i . e ., r ( n t 2 ) = ∑ m = - n tap + 1 n tap - 1 h ( m t 2 ) h ( ( m + n ) t 2 ) , for n =− n tap + 1 , − n tap + 2 , . . . , n tap − 1 . let r = δ [ r ( 0 ) r ( t 2 ) … r ( ( n tap - 1 ) t 2 ) ] t , be the autocorrelation vector . then , we can write | h ( f ) | 2 = r ( 0 ) + ∑ n = 1 n 2 r ( n ) cos ( 2 π f n t 2 ) , where r ( n ) is the nth component of the vector r . note that r ( 0 ) is the total power under the magnitude response | h ( f )| 2 . thus , the filter design problem can be recast as the following optimization problem max r r ( 0 ), such that | w ( f )| 2 | h ( f )| 2 ≲ s max ( f ). the optimization problem can be written as finite dimensional linear programming ( lp ) if we use a discrete approximation of the upper bound constraint . we choose a set of n uniformly sampled frequencies f k = k f s 2 n , k = 0 , 1 , … , n - 1 , and replace the upper bound constraint for all frequency by n inequality conditions as | w ( f k )| 2 | h ( f k )| 2 ≲ s max ( f k ), k = 0 , 1 , . . . , n − 1 for sufficiently large n this discretization yields a good approximation to the original upper bound condition . using this discretization we rewrite the optimization problem as such that | w ( f k )| 2 | h ( f k )| 2 ≲ s max ( f k ), k = 0 , 1 , . . . , n − 1 . to write the above problem as an lp , we define an n × n θ & lt ; matrix f , a size n diagonal matrix w and two vectors s ( n × 1 ) shown in the matrices of fig5 . using these matrices , we write the optimization problem as an lp where a = δ [ w f - w f ] , b = δ [ s 0 ] , and 0 is a zero vector of compatible dimension ( n × 1 ). note that we added a nonnegativity condition in the optimization problem . this is done so that the vector r have a spectral factor , i . e ., r ( 0 ) + ∑ n = 1 n tap - 1 2 r ( n ) cos ( 2 π f n t 2 ) ≥ 0 , for all frequencies . however , due to discretization this is not guaranteed . we solve the lp to obtain the optimal auto - correlation vector r . once such a vector is obtained , the filter coefficients are then computed using spectral factorization . for problems with small nap tap , spectral factors can be obtained via root - finding methods . for example , see x . chen and t . parks , “ design of optimal minimum phase fir filters by direct factorization ,” signal processing , 10 : 369 - 383 , 1986 . the transmit path for the hdsl2 system with all the relevant components is shown in fig2 . the output of the precoder ( not shown ) x 1 ( nt 1 ) is input to the up - sampler 22 . the sample rate of the input signal r = 517 ⅓ ksamples / sec ( t 1 = 1 / r sec ). let x 1 ( f ) = δ ∑ n = - ∞ ∞ x 1 ( n t 1 ) exp ( - j2 π f n t 1 ) , be the frequency response of the input signal x 1 ( nt 1 ). this input signal if then up - sampled by a factor of 2 using zero - filling . thus , the output of the up - sampler is given by x 2 ( n t 2 ) = δ { x 1 ( m t 1 ) if n = 2 m , 0 otherwise , where t 2 = t 1 / 2 . in the frequency domain we have x 2 ( f ) = δ ∑ n = - ∞ ∞ x 2 ( n t 2 ) exp ( - j2 π f n t 2 ) , = ∑ n = - ∞ ∞ x 2 ( n t 1 / 2 ) exp ( - j2 π f t 1 / 2 ) , = x 1 ( f ) . the output of the up - sampler is then filtered by the transmit filter txfil . let the frequency response of the transmit filter be h ( f ) = δ ∑ n = 0 n tap - 1 h ( n t 2 ) exp ( - j2 π f n t 2 ) , where h ( nt 2 ), n = 0 , 1 , . . . , n tap − 1 , are the filter coefficients and n tap is the maximum allowable number of taps . we need to design these coefficients such that the psd of the output x 7 ( t ) satisfies the power requirements . using the filter response h ( f ), we write the output of the transmit filter in the frequency domain as x 3 ( f ) = δ ∑ n = - ∞ ∞ x 3 ( n t 2 ) exp ( - j2 π f n t 2 ) , = h ( f ) x 2 ( f ) , = h ( f ) x 1 ( f ) , the output is then up - sampled again by a factor of 2 using zero - filling and the output of the second up - sampler is given by x 4 ( n t 3 ) = δ { x 2 ( m t 2 ) if n = 2 m , 0 o t h e r w i s e , where t 3 = t 2 / 2 = t ,/ 4 , and in the frequency domain we have x 4 ( f ) = δ ∑ n = - ∞ ∞ x 4 ( n t 3 ) exp ( - j2 π f n t 3 ) , = ∑ n = - ∞ ∞ x 3 ( n t 2 / 2 ) exp ( - j2 π f n t 2 / 2 ) , = h ( f ) x 1 ( f ) , = x 3 ( f ) the output of the second up - sampler x 4 ( nt 3 ) is filtered through an interpolating ( low pass ) filter h 1 ( f ) ( which sits inside the fpga ). for the up - stream we have chosen an 8 th order interpolating filter with the following coefficients and for the down - stream we have chosen a 5 th order interpolating filter with the following coefficients the frequency response of these two filters are shown in fig6 . the output of the interpolating filter in the frequency domain is given by x 5 ( f ) = δ ∑ n = - ∞ ∞ x 5 ( n t 3 ) exp ( - j2 π f n t 3 ) , = h 1 ( f ) x 4 ( f ) , = h 1 ( f ) h ( f ) x 1 ( f ) , the output of the interpolating filter is then passed through a sample and hold ( s / h ) circuit followed by an analog filter h a ( f ). the output of the s / h is given by x 6 ( t ) = δ x 5 ( nt 3 ) , nt 3 ≤ t & lt ; ( n + 1 ) t 3 . thus , x 6 ( f ) = δ ∫ - ∞ ∞ x 6 ( t ) exp ( - j2 π f t ) t , = ∑ n = - ∞ ∞ ∫ n t 3 ( n + 1 ) t 3 x 6 ( t ) exp ( - j2 π f t ) t , = ∑ n = - ∞ ∞ ∫ n t 3 ( n + 1 ) t 3 x 5 ( n t 3 ) exp ( - j2 π f t ) t , where we have defined h s h = δ t 3 exp ( - j π f t 3 ) sin ( π f t 3 ) π f t 3 = t 3 exp ( - j π f t 3 ) sin c ( f t 3 ) , the magnitude plot the function h sh is shown in fig7 . now , we write x 6 ( f )= h sh h 1 ( f ) h ( f ) x 1 ( f ). for the analog filter h a ( f ). we have chosen a 4 th order butterworth filter with cut - off frequency f c = 300 khz for the up - stream and an 8 th order butterworth filter with cut - off frequency f c = 440 khz khz for the down - stream . the squared magnitude response of an nth order butterworth filter with cut - off frequency f c is given by | h a ( f ) | 2 = 1 1 + ( f / f c ) 2 n . the magnitude response of the up - stream and down - stream analog filters are shown in fig8 . finally , the frequency response of x 7 ( t ), the output of the analog filter h a ( f ) is given by x 7 ( f ) = δ ∫ - ∞ ∞ x 7 ( t ) exp ( - j2 π f t ) t , = h a ( f ) x 6 ( f ) , = h a ( f ) h s h ( f ) h 1 ( f ) h ( f ) x 1 ( f ) , the hdsl2 standard specifies the psd of x 7 ( t ) in terms of dbm / hz and the power is measured with a load impedance of r l = 135ω . now the one - sided psd s x 7 ( f ) and the magnitude response x 7 ( f ) are related as follows s x 7 ( f ) = 2 r l f s x 7 ( f ) 2 , where f s is the sampling frequency in hz . thus , s x 7 ( f ) = 2 r l f s h a ( f ) h sh ( f ) h 1 ( f ) h ( f ) 2 x 1 ( f ) 2 . using the techniques described above , a thirty - two coefficient digital transmit filter for the upstream and downstream directions are shown in the table of fig1 . fig1 illustrates the overall downstream design psd and specification psd , assuming | x ( f ) 2 = 1 . fig1 illustrates both the designed and specified overall upstream power spectral densities . note that the transmit filter coefficients depend upon the other elements in the transmit path since the other elements affect the w ( f ) frequency domain weighting function . thus , for example , if a different interpolating filter were used , the coefficients of the transmit filter would have to be modified . it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or character thereof . the presently disclosed embodiments are therefore considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive . the scope of the invention is illustrated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description , and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalents thereof are intended to be embraced herein . | 7 |
[ 0011 ] fig1 illustrates the operation of a processing system for providing a portable production media in accordance with an embodiment of the invention . musical content is generally received from various sources and in various formats . for example , content is received from audio tapes 10 , cds 12 , and floppy discs 16 . content may also be received over a communication link such as the internet 14 . the system initially converts all content to a uniform format which is most convenient for manipulation by the processing system ( step 18 ). in one embodiment , this uniform format is an omfi format , which is employed by avid audio processing platforms and software . as may be appreciated , in other embodiments , the content format may be a non - omfi format as may be applicable to the processing platform employed to process the received content . upon receiving the content , an agent associated with a system of the invention employs the system to ensure that each track is associated with standard information tags such as length , name , artist , etc . ( step 20 ). in another embodiment , the agent listens to each received track to determine whether the track is of minimum fidelity quality . in this embodiment , if a track is not of at least the minimum fidelity quality , the track is removed from the system and placed in a queue of tracks , which require further processing . the system preferably automatically assigns a unique identifier to each track so as to globally identify the track as between all tracks in the system . this identifier allows for the search engine to store search information for the track in a database table 24 . the system proceeds to associate search information with each track ( step 22 ). the search information is selected by the agent from a lexicon of terms identifying musical traits that are informative to producers . the lexicon is preferably constructed with input and effective terms , which are received from producers or other potential recipients of the musical content . example lexicon term categories include genre , mood , and tempo , featured instrument , vocal type , lyrical content . select tracks are then stored on a portable storage media 30 , along with the corresponding basic track data and search information ( step 26 ). in one embodiment , the portable storage 30 is a hard - disk drive that complies with either the firewire , usb or scsi standard , depending on the production facility &# 39 ; s requirements . as is illustrated by fig1 the system references production platform information 28 associated with the production facility for which the content is prepared . in one embodiment , the production platform information includes platform identifier , file formats , preferred tag information , media interface , and bit rate . accordingly , the production - ready content stored on the portable storage media 30 is stored such that it is in the most efficient and convenient form for retrieve and use by the particular production facility . [ 0015 ] fig2 illustrates some of the components associated with a production facility employing the portable storage media provided in accordance with the invention . the facility includes a production board 40 . the production board 40 preferably includes components for editing audio and video to provide a produced look and feel . the production board is associated with video storage 36 . the video storage is used to store video content , prior to , and after , processing by the production facility . data storage 38 is also associated with the production board to store application programs , which are used in the video or audio editing process . in one embodiment , the production board includes a processor adapted to execute program code . input devices 32 are associated with the production board . examples of input devices 32 include cd - rom , floppy drives , video camera , hard drives for video data storage , tape machines . the production board also includes output devices such as speakers and a video screen . a control panel 34 , such as a keyboard , is preferably associated with the production board 40 . the music content is provided on the portable media 30 with corresponding search information and in an appropriate format for the production facility , as discussed with reference to fig1 . accordingly , the content is formatted for immediate use by the production board 40 without the required conversion of prior systems . the production board 40 executes a search - engine and browsing front - end program , associated with the provided media 30 , to search and retrieve desired content by reference to search information associated the content . for example , a producer can employ the search engine to request a fast , dramatic track , containing string instruments . in one embodiment , producers can initiate a search based on any combination of genre , mood , tempo , and featured instrument . [ 0017 ] fig3 illustrates logical components and data associated with the portable storage media 30 of fig2 . each unit of musical content 46 , or track , is associated with two groups of data . first , standard track data 48 is associated with the track such as length , title , and media identification number . second , detailed content identifiers from the identification lexicon 50 are associated with the track for searching . a search engine program 42 is executed for searching and retrieving content . the search engine serves as an interface for the production platform 40 to employ the content in the production process . in one embodiment , the search engine 42 is included on the portable storage media . in another embodiment , the search engine 42 is part of the production platform . in one embodiment , specifically employed when the portable media is used by the avid software , when the user initiates the search engine interface 42 , the screen presents several bins , each including tracks associated with a particular music type , or genre . the bins are preferably folders within the avid project window on the user &# 39 ; s screen , with each track stored according to a corresponding genre . the streamlined presentation allows a producer to instantly preview and select audio tracks , without wasting time changing physical cds and importing tracks into the production platform . information regarding song title , mood , tempo , and speed as well as the relevant cue sheet information for each track including names of writers , publishers and performing rights affiliations is preferably included with each track . this cue sheet information can be easily exported to or integrated with tracking applications and databases for identifying songs used in the produced material . as is known , cue sheet information is necessary for the ultimate broadcaster or performer to comply with the requirements of the performing rights societies ( e . g ., ascap , bmi ). from the perspective of the producer , the entire process is self contained and instantly accessible . furthermore , new tracks can be added to those contained in a particular portable media with ease . the portable media can be easily unplugged , tucked in an attaché case , and taken to another production platform . with respect to audio production , the portable media 30 can store tracks in either wave or aiff format for use with a proprietary video / audio platform , such as fairlight or avid . the portable media 30 is also adapted to be easily used in connection with protools , the prevalent audio editing system in the music recording industry . once a track is identified in responses to the search , the client can preview the selection by replaying the track directly from the portable media 30 . with one click , the producer can copy the track to a local drive . the producer can also add the track to a “ favorites list ” so as to have the track available for future use . in this manner , tracks may be collected in a single folder for use at a later date . when the time comes to begin work on a future production , the producer exports the entire contents of any folder to a desired destination on a local network to allow for use at the applicable production platform . in this manner , a music supervisor or producer can search and mark tracks for multiple productions and later retrieve the tracks when needed . the producer is able to easily forward the tracks to destination production platforms on the network in accordance with the previous selection operation . although the present invention was discussed in terms of certain preferred embodiments , the invention is not limited to such embodiments . a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that numerous variations and combinations of the features set forth above can be utilized without departing from the present invention as set forth in the claims . thus , the scope of the invention should not be limited by the preceding description but should be ascertained by reference to claims that follow . | 6 |
hereinafter , a safe coffer which can effectively avoid being violently and illegally opened from above mentioned “ weak regions ” according to the present application will be described in detail in conjunction with the figures . referring to fig1 and 2 , fig1 is a using state view of a coffer door safety device according to the present application . the safe coffer 1 includes a coffer body 10 provided at a side thereof with a door 11 . the door 11 is pivotally connected at an edge thereof to an edge of the coffer body , and is provided with a door locking system 12 . the door locking system 12 includes a movable bolt 121 which can keep the door 11 and the coffer body 10 in a locking state . the door locking system 12 further includes a tempered glass plate 122 which is fixedly provided on an inner side of the door 11 . the tempered glass plate 122 controls a safety pin 123 which can keep the bolt 121 in a locking state if the tempered glass plate 122 is broken . the tempered glass plate 122 provided according to the present embodiment may also employ other available materials which have a certain rigidity and is easily to be broken when suffering from violent attack , for example , ceramic and other brittle materials . the movable bolt 121 is mounted on the inner side of the door 11 and can protrude in a direction away from a pivot of the door . the coffer body 10 is provided at a position of an inner wall thereof corresponding to the movable bolt 121 with a position - limiting bar 101 . when the coffer 1 is locked , the coffer body 10 is engaged with the door 11 , and the movable bolt 121 can be inserted inside the position - limiting bar 101 . at this time , the door 11 cannot be opened because of a limitation action of the position - limiting bar 101 . in particular , referring to fig2 , fig2 further illustrates the safety pin component in the door locking system 12 . the safety pin 123 includes : a fixing bracket 1231 which is a hollow element and is fixedly mounted on the inner side of the door 11 , and a pin member 1232 which is mounted in a cavity of the fixing bracket . a telescopic spring 1233 is provided in a compressed state between the pin member 1232 and an inner wall of the cavity of the fixing bracket 1231 . an end of the pin member 1232 adjacent to a bottom portion of the cavity is pulled by and connected to the tempered glass plate 122 via a wire rope 1234 . the pin member 1232 can compress the spring 1233 and retract into the cavity of the fixing bracket 1231 under a traction force of the wire rope 1234 . referring to fig3 , if the tempered glass plate 122 is broken , no traction force is applied to the wire rope 1234 , and thus the wire rope 1234 cannot apply any traction force to the pin member 1232 . in this case , the pin member 1232 can protrude out of the cavity of the fixing bracket 1231 under a restoring force of the spring 1233 . since the protruded pin member 1232 is located in the opening path of the movable bolt 121 , the protruded pin member 1232 can effectively keep the movable bolt 121 in the locking state . it is to be noted that , in order that the coffer is more safe and reliable , the door locking system 12 may be provided with a plurality of groups of safety pins 123 . as shown in fig2 , the door locking system 12 may be provided at an upper portion and at a lower portion thereof respectively with one safety pin , such that the movable bolt 121 can be blocked uniformly . referring to fig1 and 4 , fig4 shows a safe coffer according to another embodiment of the present application . in the safe coffer , the door locking system 12 includes a movable bolt 121 which can keep the door 11 and the coffer body 10 in a locking state . the movable bolt 121 is connected with a slidable plate 1211 . the slidable plate 1211 can be controlled to slide leftwards or rightwards through a small bolt 13 operated by an operation component ( not shown in the figure ) provided outside the coffer . the leftward or rightward sliding of the slidable plate 1211 may bring the movable bolt 121 to lock or unlock the door 11 and the coffer body 10 . the slidable plate 1211 is provided at a side thereof with a groove 12111 which corresponds to the position of a safety pin 124 when the movable bolt 121 is in a locking state . the door locking system 12 further includes a tempered glass plate 122 fixedly provided on the inner side of the door 11 . the tempered glass plate 122 can control two safety pins 123 and 124 . if the tempered glass plate 122 is broken , safety pins 123 and 124 can keep the movable bolt 121 in the locking state . the tempered glass plate 122 provided according to the present embodiment may also employ other available materials which have a certain rigidity and is easily to be broken when suffering from violent attack , for example , ceramic and other brittle materials . in order to facilitate mounting of the slidable plate 1211 and other components that need to be fixed with respect to the door 11 , the tempered glass plate 122 is additionally provided at a side thereof away from the door 11 with a mounting plate 14 . the slidable plate 1211 is movably connected with the mounting plate 14 , and the safety pin 124 is fixedly mounted on the mounting plate 14 . the movable bolt 121 is mounted on the inner side of the door 11 and can be brought by the slidable plate 1211 to protrude in a direction away from the pivot of the door . the coffer body 10 is provided at a position of the inner wall thereof corresponding to the movable bolt 121 with a position - limiting bar 101 . when the coffer 1 is locked , the coffer body 10 is engaged with the door 11 , and the movable bolt 121 can be inserted inside the position - limiting bar 101 . in this case , the door 11 cannot be opened because of a limitation action of the position - limiting bar 101 . in particular , reference may be made to fig2 . the safety pin 123 of the door locking system 12 includes : a fixing bracket 1231 which is a hollow element and is fixedly mounted on the inner side of the door 11 , and a pin member 1232 which is mounted in a cavity of the fixing bracket 1231 . a telescopic spring 1233 is provided in a compressed state between the pin member 1232 and an inner wall of the cavity of the fixing bracket 1231 . an end of the pin member 1232 adjacent to a bottom portion of the cavity is pulled by and connected to the tempered glass plate 122 via a wire rope 1234 . the pin member 1232 can compress the spring 1233 and retract into the cavity of the fixing bracket 1231 under a traction force of the wire rope 1234 . if the tempered glass plate 122 is broken , no traction force is applied to the wire rope 1234 , and thus the wire rope 1234 cannot apply any traction force to the pin member 1232 . in this case , the pin member 1232 can protrude out of the cavity of the fixing bracket 1231 under a restoring force of the spring 1233 . since the protruded pin member 1232 is located in the opening path of the movable bolt 121 , the protruded pin member 1232 can effectively keep the movable bolt 121 in the locking state . referring to fig5 , the safety pin 124 of the door locking system 12 includes a self - locking pin 1241 and a pin bracket 1242 which can fix the self - locking pin 1241 on an inner side of the mounting plate 14 . a spring 1243 is provided in a compressed state between the self - locking pin 1241 and the pin bracket 1242 , and the self - locking pin 1241 is provided thereon with a position - limiting pole 1244 for stopping the spring 1243 . an end of the self - locking pin 1241 away from the position - limiting pole 1244 is hung on the tempered glass plate 122 via a retaining bracket 1245 . if the tempered glass plate 122 is broken , the tempered glass plate 122 cannot support the retaining bracket 1245 anymore , and thus the retaining bracket 1245 cannot apply any traction force to the self - locking pin 1241 . in this case , the self - locking pin 1241 can protrude out of the pin bracket under a restoring force of the spring 1243 . the protruded self - locking pin 1241 can enter corresponding groove 12111 in the slidable plate 1211 and thus can effectively keep the movable bolt 121 in the locking state . referring to fig6 and 8 , fig6 and 8 are inner structure schematic views of a door of a safe coffer according to a third embodiment of the present application . in the coffer , the door locking system 12 includes a movable bolt 121 which can keep the door 11 and the coffer body 10 in a locking state . the movable bolt 121 is connected with a slidable plate 1211 . the slidable plate 1211 can be controlled to slide leftwards or rightwards through a small bolt 13 operated by an operation component ( not shown in the figure ) provided outside the coffer . the leftward or rightward sliding of the slidable plate 1211 may bring the movable bolt 121 to lock or unlock the door 11 and the coffer body 10 . the slidable plate 1211 is provided at a side thereof with grooves 12111 and 12112 in which the safety pins 123 and 124 to are disposed when the movable bolt 121 is in a locking state . the door locking system 12 further includes a tempered glass plate 122 fixedly provided on the inner side of the door 11 . the tempered glass plate 122 can control two safety pins 123 and 124 . when the tempered glass plate 122 is broken , the safety pins 123 and 124 can keep the movable bolt 121 in the locking state . the tempered glass plate 122 provided according to the present embodiment may also employ other available materials which have a certain rigidity and is easily to be broken when suffering from violent attack , for example , ceramic and other brittle materials . in order to facilitate mounting of the slidable plate 1211 and other components that need to be fixed with respect to the door 11 , the tempered glass plate 122 is additionally provided at a side thereof away from the door 11 with a mounting plate 14 . the slidable plate 1211 is movably connected with the mounting plate 14 , and the safety pin 124 is fixedly mounted on the mounting plate 14 . the movable bolt 121 is mounted on the inner side of the door 11 and can be brought by the slidable plate 1211 to protrude in a direction away from the pivot of the door . the coffer body 10 is provided at a position of the inner wall thereof corresponding to the movable bolt 121 with a position - limiting bar 101 . when the coffer 1 is locked , the coffer body 10 is engaged with the door 11 , and the movable bolt 121 can be inserted inside the position - limiting bar 101 . in this case , the door 11 cannot be opened because of a limitation action of the position - limiting bar 101 . in particular , reference may be made to fig2 . the safety pin 123 of the door locking system 12 includes : a fixing bracket 1231 which is a hollow element and is fixedly mounted on the inner side of the door 11 , and a pin member 1232 which is mounted in a cavity of the fixing bracket 1231 . a telescopic spring 1233 is provided in a compressed state between the pin member 1232 and an inner wall of the cavity of the fixing bracket 1231 . an end of the pin member 1232 adjacent to a bottom portion of the cavity is pulled by and connected to the tempered glass plate 122 via a wire rope 1234 . the pin member 1232 can compress the spring 1233 and retract into the cavity of the fixing bracket 1231 under a traction force of the wire rope 1234 . if the tempered glass plate 122 is broken , no traction force is applied to the wire rope 1234 , and thus the wire rope 1234 cannot apply any traction force to to the pin member 1232 . in this case , the pin member 1232 can protrude out of the cavity of the fixing bracket 1231 under a restoring force of the spring 1233 . since the protruded pin member 1232 is located in the opening path of the movable bolt 121 , the protruded pin member 1232 can effectively keep the movable bolt 121 in the locking state . in particular , referring to fig5 and 8 , the safety pin 124 of the door locking system 12 includes a self - locking pin 1241 and a pin bracket 1242 which can fix the self - locking pin 1241 on an inner side of the mounting plate 14 . a spring 1243 is provided in a compressed state between the self - locking pin 1241 and the pin bracket 1242 , and the self - locking pin 1241 is provided thereon with a position - limiting pole 1244 for stopping the spring 1243 . an end of the self - locking pin 1241 away from the position - limiting pole 1244 is hung on the tempered glass plate 122 via a retaining bracket 1245 . if the tempered glass plate 122 is broken , the tempered glass plate 122 cannot support the retaining bracket 1245 anymore , and thus the retaining bracket 1245 cannot apply any traction force to the self - locking pin 1241 . in this case , the self - locking pin 1241 can protrude out of the pin bracket under a restoring force of the spring 1243 . the protruded self - locking pin 1241 can enter corresponding groove 12111 in the slidable plate 1211 and thus can effectively keep the movable bolt 121 in the locking state . referring to fig7 and 8 , the safety pin 125 includes a self - locking pin 1251 and a pin bracket 1242 which can fix the self - locking pin 1251 on an inner side of the door 12 . a spring 1253 is provided in a compressed state between the self - locking pin 1251 and the pin bracket 1242 , and the self - locking pin 1251 is provided thereon with a position - limiting pole 1254 for stopping the spring 1253 . the position - limiting pole 1254 is limited by a self - locking pin fixing plate 1255 fixedly provided at a back portion of a combination lock 126 . the self - locking pin fixing plate 1255 is provided therein with a position - limiting pole hole 12551 corresponding to the self - locking pin . when the self - locking pin fixing plate 1255 moves towards the inner side of the coffer , the position - limiting pole 1254 can move out of the position - limiting pole hole 12551 in the self - locking pin fixing plate 1255 , at this time , the self - locking pin 1251 can protrude out of the pin bracket 1242 under a restoring force of the spring 1253 and enter corresponding groove 12112 in the slidable plate 1211 to effectively to prevent the slidable plate 1211 from sliding . further , in order to further ensure the safety of the coffer , an edge of the self - locking pin fixing plate 1255 is formed into a bend edge 12552 which hooks on an edge of the tempered glass plate 122 , such that the tempered glass plate may be broken when the self - locking pin fixing plate 1255 is moved illegally inwardly . therefore , the safety pins 123 , 124 and 125 can simultaneously play their roles . it is to be noted that , only three preferable embodiments according to the present application are described above . other equivalent variations and modifications without departing from the spirit of the present application should be deemed to fall into the protection scope of the present application . | 4 |
in order to make the disclosure more comprehensible for a person having ordinary skill in the art , several preferred embodiments of the present invention are provided hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings so as to illustrate the present invention in more detail . fig1 is a block diagram of a boot and update system comprising a uefi bios according to the present invention . in fig1 , a platform system 10 ( e . g . a computer , a tablet or a smart phone ) comprises a uefi bios 12 , a memory 14 and a cpu 16 . the uefi bios 12 is divided into a plurality of partitions for storing an initial boot program code , a factory setting boot program code , a customized boot program code pafw , a customized boot program code pbfw and boot information respectively , wherein an example of the storage partitions is an embedded multi media card ( emmc ) device or an spi device . one or more of the initial boot program code , the factory setting boot program code , the customized boot program code pafw , the customized boot program code pbfw and the boot information can be loaded into the memory 14 . the cpu 16 executes the program code stored in the memory 14 to boot the platform system 10 . in the uefi bios 12 , the addresses and sizes of the partitions for storing the customized boot program code pafw and the customized boot program code pbfw are variable . fig2 is a flowchart of a boot method for a platform system comprising a uefi bios according to the present invention . the flow steps in fig2 is explained with reference to the components shown in fig1 . in fig2 , the initial boot program code is loaded into the memory 14 from the partition storing the initial boot program code of the uefi bios 12 in the platform system 10 , and the cpu 16 executes the initial boot program code in the memory 14 to perform a first phase of boot ( step s 202 ). in one embodiment of the present invention , the initial boot program code may comprise a security ( sec ) phase program code and a pre - extensible firmware interface initialization ( pre - efi initialization ; pei ) phase program code , and thus the cpu 16 executes the sec phase program code and the pei phase program code in the memory 12 to perform the first phase of boot . after executing the sec phase program code and the pei phase program code , the cpu 16 reads a flag pa and a flag pb in boot information , which corresponding respectively to the customized boot program code pafw and the customized boot program code pbfw , to determine which of the factory setting boot program code , the customized boot program code pafw and the customized boot program code pbfw is to be executed . firstly , the cpu 16 checks the flag pa corresponding to the customized boot program code pafw to determine whether the customized boot program code pafw is to be executed to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 204 ). if the flag pa is set to bootable , the customized boot program code pafw is loaded into the memory 14 from the partition storing the customized boot program code pafw of the uefi bios 12 in the platform system 10 , and the cpu 16 executes the customized boot program code pafw in the memory 14 to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 206 ). in one embodiment of the present invention , the first customized boot program code pafw may comprise a driver execution environment ( dxe ) phase program code and a boot device selection ( bds ) phase program code , and be designed and updated based on a user &# 39 ; s requirements . accordingly , the cpu 16 executes the dxe phase program code and the bds phase program code in the memory 14 to perform the second phase of boot . if the flag pa is set to unbootable , the cpu 16 checks the flag pb corresponding to the customized boot program code pbfw to determine whether the customized boot program code pbfw is to be executed to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 208 ). if the flag pb is set to bootable , the customized boot program code pbfw is loaded into the memory 14 from the partition storing the customized boot program code pbfw of the uefi bios 12 in the platform system 10 , and the cpu 16 executes the customized boot program code pbfw in the memory 14 to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 210 ). in one embodiment of the present invention , the customized boot program code pbfw may comprise a dxe phase program code and a bds phase program code , which could be designed and updated based on a user &# 39 ; s requirements , and the cpu 16 executes the dxe phase program code and the bds phase program code in the memory 14 to perform the second phase of boot . if the flag pb is set to unbootable , the factory setting boot program code is loaded into the memory 14 from the partition storing the factory setting boot program code of the uefi bios 12 in the platform system 10 , and the cpu 16 executes the factory setting boot program code in the memory 14 to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 212 ). in one embodiment of the present invention , the factory setting boot program code may comprise a dxe phase program code and a bds phase program code , and be configured in the manufacture of the platform system 10 . accordingly , the cpu 16 executes the dxe phase program code and the bds phase program code in the memory 14 to perform the second phase of boot . fig3 is a flowchart of a boot and update method for a platform system comprising a uefi bios according to the present invention . the flow steps in fig3 is explained with reference to the components shown in fig1 . in fig3 , a platform system 10 performs a boot procedure composed of flow steps shown in fig2 ( step s 302 ). after the boot procedure is completed , a program code of system firmware file is loaded from a recording medium or an external network into the memory 14 in the platform 10 so as to update one of the customized boot program codes pafw and pbfw which needs to be updated . the cpu 16 reads flags pa and pb corresponding respectively to the customized boot program codes pafw and pbfw from the boot information stored in one of the partitions of the uefi bios 12 , and accordingly update the partition of the customized boot program code pafw or the partition of the customized boot program code pbfw ( step s 304 ). if the flag pb is set to bootable , the partition storing the customized boot program code pafw will be updated with the program code of system firmware file stored in the memory 14 of the platform system 10 ( step s 306 ). then , it is determined whether the program code of system firmware file is identical to the updated customized boot program code pafw in the updated partition ( step s 308 ). in case the program code of system firmware file is identical to the updated customized boot program code pafw , the flag pb corresponding to the customized boot program code pbfw will be set to unbootable and the flag pa corresponding to the customized boot program code pafw will be set to bootable in the boot information stored in one of the partitions of the uefi bios 12 in the platform system 10 ( step s 310 ). then , the platform system 10 restarts and performs a boot procedure composed of aforementioned flow steps s 202 , s 204 and s 206 of fig2 ( step s 312 ). in case the program code of system firmware file is different from the updated customized boot program code pafw , the platform system 10 will restart and perform a boot procedure composed of aforementioned flow steps s 202 , s 204 , s 208 and s 210 of fig2 ( step s 314 ). if the flag pa is set to bootable , the partition storing the customized boot program code pbfw will be updated with the program code of system firmware file stored in the memory 14 of the platform system 10 ( step s 316 ). then , it is determined whether the program code of system firmware file is identical to the updated customized boot program code pbfw in the updated partition ( step s 318 ). in case the program code of system firmware file is identical to the updated customized boot program code pbfw , the flag pa corresponding to the customized boot program code pafw will be set to unbootable and the flag pb corresponding to the customized boot program code pbfw will be set to bootable in the boot information stored in one of the partitions of the uefi bios 12 in the platform system 10 ( step s 320 ). then , the platform system 10 restarts and performs a boot procedure composed of the aforementioned flow steps s 202 , s 204 , s 208 and s 210 of fig2 ( step s 322 ). in case the program code of system firmware file is different from the updated customized boot program code pbfw , the platform system 10 will restart and perform a boot procedure composed of the aforementioned flow steps s 202 , s 204 and s 206 of fig2 ( step s 324 ). fig4 is a block diagram of a boot and update system comprising a uefi bios 42 according to the present invention . in contrast with the boot and update system 10 shown in fig1 , an initial boot program code comprised in the uefi bios 42 is capable of enabling a network connection , and capable of enabling a network connection can be implement on security ( sec ) phase program code , pre - extensible firmware interface initialization ( pre - efi initialization ; pei ) phase program code or early stage of driver execution environment ( dxe ) phase . therefore , a platform system having the uefi bios 42 is allowed to access boot information and download a customized boot program code pcfw or pdfw stored in a remote server 48 via the network connection , and to execute the customized boot program code pcfw or pdfw to carry out a boot procedure . fig5 is a flowchart of a boot method for a platform system comprising the uefi bios 42 described above , and the flow steps in fig5 are explained with reference to the components shown in fig4 . in fig5 , the initial boot program code is loaded into a memory 44 from the uefi bios 42 , and a cpu 46 executes the initial boot program code in the memory 44 to proceed a first phase of boot ( step s 502 ). since the initial boot program code is configured to enable a network connection , the platform system having the uefi bios 42 will be able to connect a network after the first phase of boot is performed . then , the cpu 46 accesses flags pa and pb in boot information stored in the uefi bios to determine which of the customized boot program codes pafw ( in correspondence with the flag pa ) and pbfw ( in correspondence with the flag pb ) is to be executed . firstly , the cpu 46 checks the flag pa corresponding to the customized boot program code pafw to determine whether the customized boot program code pafw is to be executed to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 504 ). if the flag pa is set to bootable , the customized boot program code pafw will be loaded into the memory 44 and be executed to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 506 ). if the flag pa is set to unbootable , the cpu 46 checks the flag pb corresponding to the customized boot program code pbfw to determine whether the customized boot program code pbfw is to be executed to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 508 ). if the flag pb is set to bootable , the customized boot program code pbfw will be loaded into the memory 44 and executed to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 510 ). in case the flags pa and pb are both set to unbootable , the status of the network connection will be checked ( step s 512 ). if the network connection is unavailable , a factory setting boot program code will be loaded into the memory 44 and executed to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 514 ). if the network connection is available , however , the cpu 46 reads flags pc and pd in boot information stored in the remote server 48 to determine which of the customized boot program code pcfw ( corresponding to the flag pc ) and the customized boot program code pdfw ( corresponding to the flag pd ) stored in the remote server 48 is to be executed . similarly , the cpu 46 checks the flag pc corresponding to the customized boot program code pcfw to determine whether the customized boot program code pcfw is to be executed to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 514 ). if the flag pc is set to bootable , the customized boot program code pcfw will be downloaded from the remote server 48 into the memory 44 , and be executed to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 516 ). if the flag pc is set to unbootable , the cpu 46 checks the flag pd corresponding to the customized boot program code pdfw to determine whether the customized boot program code pdfw is to be executed to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 518 ). if the flag pd is set to bootable , the customized boot program code pdfw will be downloaded from the remote server 48 into the memory 44 , and be executed to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 520 ). however , if the flags pc and pd are both set to unbootable , a factory setting boot program code is loaded into the memory 44 and executed to perform a second phase of boot ( step s 522 ). furthermore , fig6 shows a flowchart of a boot and update method according to the present invention for a local host connecting with a remote server , and the flow steps therein are explained with reference to the components shown in fig4 . in the beginning step s 602 of fig6 , a platform system performs a boot procedure comprising flow steps s 502 , s 504 , s 508 and s 512 as shown in fig5 ; since there is no customized boot program code allowed to be executed in the local host and the network is available , the boot procedure continues from step s 516 to step s 518 , s 522 or s 524 . after the boot procedure is completed , a program code of system firmware file is loaded from a recording medium or an external network into a memory of the remote server 48 so as to update one of the customized boot program codes pcfw and pdfw which needs to be updated . however , the boot procedure involving the steps of accessing the remote server 48 implies that the customized boot program codes pafw and pbfw are unbootable according to the flags pa and pb set in the local host . therefore , the customized boot program codes pafw and pbfw in the local host have to be updated as well as the customized boot program codes in the remote server , and the flags pa and / or pb will be correspondingly set to bootable thereafter . in this embodiment , the cpu 46 reads flags pc and pd corresponding to the customized boot program codes pcfw and pdfw respectively from the boot information stored in the remote server 48 , and updates the partition of the customized boot program code pcfw or pdfw accordingly ( step s 604 ). if the flag pd is set to bootable , the partition storing the customized boot program code pcfw will be updated with the program code of system firmware file stored in the remote server 48 and the partition storing the customized boot program code pafw will be updated with the program code of system firmware file stored in the memory of the platform system ( step s 606 ). then , it is determined whether the program code of system firmware file is identical to the updated customized boot program code pcfw stored in the updated partition ( step s 608 ). if the program code of system firmware file is identical to the updated customized boot program code pcfw , it is then determined whether the updated customized boot program code pcfw is identical to the updated customized boot program code pafw stored in the updated partition ( step s 610 ); if the program code of system firmware file is different from the updated customized boot program code pcfw , the platform system of the local host restarts and performs a boot procedure composed of aforementioned flow steps s 502 , s 504 , s 508 , s 512 , s 516 , s 520 and s 522 in which the customized boot program code pdfw is loaded and executed ( step s 612 ). in case the program code of system firmware file is identical to the updated customized boot program code pcfw and the updated program codes of the customized boot program codes pcfw and pafw are identical , the flag pd in the boot information stored in the remote server 48 and corresponding to the customized boot program code pdfw will be set to unbootable , and both the flags pc and pa corresponding respectively to the customized boot program codes pcfw ( stored in the remote server 48 ) and pafw ( stored in the local host ) will be set to bootable ( step s 614 ). then , the platform system of the local host restarts and performs a boot procedure composed of aforementioned flow steps s 502 , s 504 and s 506 in which the customized boot program code pafw is loaded and executed ( step s 616 ). in case the program code of system firmware file is identical to the updated customized boot program code pcfw and the updated program codes of the customized boot program codes pcfw and pafw are not identical , the flag pd in the boot information stored in the remote server 48 and corresponding to the customized boot program code pdfw will be set to unbootable , and the flag pc corresponding to the customized boot program code pcfw stored in the remote server 48 will be set to bootable ( step s 618 ). then , the platform system of the local host restarts and performs a boot procedure composed of aforementioned flow steps s 502 , s 504 , s 508 , s 512 , s 516 and s 518 in which the customized boot program code pcfw is loaded and executed ( step s 620 ). referring back to step s 604 , if the flag pc is set to bootable , the partition storing the customized boot program code pdfw will be updated with the program code of system firmware file stored in the remote server 48 , and the partition storing the customized boot program code pbfw will be updated with the program code of system firmware file stored in the local host ( step s 622 ). then , it is determined whether the program code of system firmware file is identical to the updated customized boot program code pdfw in the updated partition ( step s 624 ). if the program code of system firmware file is identical to the updated customized boot program code pdfw , it is then determined whether the updated customized boot program code pdfw in the updated partition is identical to the updated customized boot program code pbfw in the local host ( step s 626 ); if the program code of system firmware file is different from the updated customized boot program code pdfw , the platform system of the local host restarts and performs a boot procedure composed of aforementioned flow steps s 502 , s 504 , s 508 , s 512 , s 516 and s 518 in which the customized boot program code pcfw is loaded and executed ( step s 628 ). in case the program code of system firmware file is identical to the updated customized boot program code pdfw and the updated program codes of the customized boot program codes pdfw and pbfw are identical , the flag pc in the boot information stored in the remote server 48 and corresponding to the customized boot program code pcfw will be set to unbootable , and both the flags pd and pb corresponding respectively to the customized boot program codes pdfw ( stored in the remote server 48 ) and pbfw ( stored in the local host ) will be set to bootable ( step s 630 ). then , the platform system of the local host restarts and performs a boot procedure composed of aforementioned flow steps s 502 , s 504 , s 508 and s 510 in which the customized boot program code pbfw is loaded and executed ( step s 632 ). in case the program code of system firmware file is identical to the updated customized boot program code pdfw and the updated program codes of the customized boot program codes pdfw and pbfw are not identical , the flag pc in the boot information stored in the remote server 48 and corresponding to the customized boot program code pcfw will be set to unbootable , and the flag pd corresponding to the customized boot program code pdfw stored in the remote server 48 will be set to bootable ( step s 634 ). then , the platform system of the local host restarts and performs a boot procedure composed of aforementioned flow steps s 502 , s 504 , s 508 , s 512 , s 516 , s 520 and s 522 in which the customized boot program code pdfw is loaded and executed ( step s 636 ). the boot and update method for a platform system comprising a uefi bios according to the present invention described above is implemented in the form of a program which can be stored in a recording medium . when said program is loaded from the internet or a recording medium and executed by , for example , a computer , the boot and update method illustrated in the foregoing description and drawings can thus be implemented . the present invention provides a boot system comprising a uefi bios , a boot method for a platform system comprising a uefi bios , and a boot and update method for a platform system comprising a uefi bios . an advantage of the present invention is resulted from the use of a single hardware having multiple partitions in which boot program codes for boot and update are stored respectively , and the boot program codes respectively stored in the partitions is updated , whereby the mechanism of multiple bios can be achieved without increasing the hardware cost of the platform system . although the present invention has been explained above in relation to its preferred embodiment and exemplary drawings , it shall not be considered limited thereby . it is to be understood that many possible modifications , omissions and variations can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as hereinafter claimed . | 6 |
fig1 shows the absorbance of the inventive indicators at 500 and 600 nm . fig2 demonstrates the kinetics of an indicator reaction at different temperatures in the absence of light . the definition of a complete color change to a dark green , opaque indicator is marked in the figure . fig3 shows the influence of illumination on the color change of an indicator according to the present invention . the estimation color of the indicator at certain absorbances is marked . fig4 demonstrates the influence of light on the color change of an indicator according to the present invention . the definition of a complete color change to a dark green , opaque indicator is marked in the figure . fig5 is a top view showing the indicator sachet within a container . fig6 is a cross - section view of an indicator sachet within a container . a suitable color composition to be comprised in an oxygen indicator contains : iron ( ii ) sulphate heptahydrate can be substituted with iron ( ii ) sulphate . citric acid - 1 - hydrate can be substituted by citric acid . the amounts can be varied dependent on the desired magnitude and rate in the color change and the starch shall be regarded as an optional component . iron ( ii ) sulphate heptahydrate was from kebo ( article no . 1 . 3965 , merck no . 1 . 03965 ). the tannin ( puriss ) and the citric acid 1 - hydrate ( puriss ph eur .) were from kebo ( article no . 15599 , bdh no . 30337 and article no . 1 . 5584 , merck no . 1 . 00242 , respectively ). a color composition according to above is prepared in a controlled atmosphere of nitrogen gas with less than 0 . 5 % oxygen . the composition is filled in bags made of excel ® having a dimension of 2 × 2 cm . its original color is pale yellow . the bags are placed in environmental air in darkness , in order to study the change in color . after 3 to 4 hours , a distinct pale green color is apparent and after about 4 days , the color composition has turned into an almost black color . indicators made according to example 1 are positioned in an outer airtight envelope , made of the material disclosed in the swedish patent application 9601348 - 7 , together with a water - filled inner container together with an oxygen absorber in a controlled atmosphere . this system is assembled to resemble a container aimed to stored parenteral nutrients and it is autoclaved at 121 ° c . for 19 minutes . the color composition is visually unaffected by the autoclavation and the rate in color change is unaffected in comparison with example 1 . indicators prepared according to example 1 were subjected to autoclavation and thereafter exposed for environmental air for about 20 hours , whereupon a change in color from yellow to green was observed . the indicators exposed to air were subsequently stored in an oxygen - free environment . after 5 to 10 days storage under normal light conditions at about 100 to 500 lux , the indicators had regained their original pale yellow color . indicators prepared in accordance with example 1 were subjected to a controlled atmosphere of oxygen and nitrogen containing 0 . 2 % oxygen . after 24 hours , a change in color to pale green was observed . containers containing oxygen indicators were manufactured and autoclaved according to example 1 . these containers were placed in controlled environments at 25 ° c . and 40 ° c ., respectively and was inspected after 1 , 3 , 6 and 12 months . the initial color of the indicator and the time interval to a change in color is observed . after twelve months storage , no visible changes in color was detected . as a reference , indicators not subjected to autoclavation has been stored under the same circumstances in an oxygen - free environment for twelve months without any detectable changes in color . experiments were performed in order to determine the change in color of the inventive oxygen indicators dependence on the amount of feso4 , tannin and citric acid . these components were mixed in a controlled atmosphere with 14 g propylene oxide ether of starch in 200 g water . the mixtures were enclosed in small bags made of excel ® and stored in environmental atmosphere . the darkness ( d ) of the indicators was measured visually after 2 , 24 , 90 and 114 hours according to scale from 1 - 5 , where 1 was graded as fair and 5 as very dark as demonstrated in table 1 below . from table 1 , it is obvious that if the concentration of citric acid is increased in the composition , a slower color change is observed . it is also obvious that an increase in the tannin leads to a more rapid color change of the indicator composition . a preparation of an indicator composition for the determination of the rate in color change and further tests was prepared with the following composition : water for injection ( wfi ) of 85 ° c . was filled in a 15 liter vessel . the water was stirred and nitrogen bubbled through a lance during approximately 2 hours . the citric acid - 1 - hydrate was weighed and added to the water . stirring and nitrogen bubbling continued during 10 minutes . the tannic acid and the iron ( ii ) sulphate - 7 - hydrate was then added in the same way . the indicator solution was filled , through a 0 , 22 μm millipore filter , on glass flasks of 5 l . filling of the indicator solution is performed in sachets made of excel ® film ( 38 mm ). the film was converted from reels of 300 - 450 widths to a width of 38 mm . the reel of excel film was placed on the carrier of an inpac filling equipment . the excel film was printed using a white hot - stamp foil . the film was double - folded and welded along the side and transversally . the glass flask with indicator solution was placed in a nitrogen - protected vessel above the filling station . the nitrogen overpressure was controlled during the filling process . indicator solution flowed through a tube into the welded film and the transversal welding station welded a strip of indicators separated by welds of 6 mm . the volume of one indicator is approximately 1 ml . strips of 50 indicators were packaged in airtight overwrap bags of the material disclosed in the swedish patent application 9601348 - 7 together with z - 100 oxygen absorbers . oxygen indicators prepared in sachets according to example 7 were taken out of the overwraps and placed in air . the time to the first obvious change in color , the time to an intense green color and the time to an almost black color were measured . reference samples were kept inside overwraps to retain original colors for comparison . the indicator color transition was also studied by measuring the absorbance of the indicator solution in absence of oxygen and as a function of time in air . the sachets were kept in the airtight overwrap bags with oxygen absorbers in daylight until the green color totally disappeared and the indicator was pale yellow . indicator samples were taken out of the overwrap bags and filled in a spectrophotometer cell after 1 , 3 , 5 , 24 and 48 hours of oxygen exposure . the absorbance was measured between 400 and 750 nm on a shimadzu uv - 265 spectrophotometer apparatus . a peak in the spectra at approximately 635 nm was used to describe the color change of the indicator solution . the color of the indicator solution is transparently pale yellow in absence of oxygen . when exposed to air for 5 hours , using the standard composition described in example 7 , a change to green is obvious . this is followed by a continuous transition to darker green . after another 5 days in air the color of the indicator is almost totally black . in order to describe the color change of the indicator solution uv / visual spectroscopy was used . the results are presented in fig1 . measurements at 500 nm and 600 nm give similar absorbance curves . a peak at 635 nm have been used to further describe the transition of the indicators in fig2 and 4 . study of indicator color change at different temperatures and light intensities the color transition of indicators of example 2 , from pale yellow to green as a function of temperature was studied . the oxygen indicators were kept at 5 , 25 , 40 and 50 ° c . in dark . a shimadzu uv - 240 spectrophotometer was used to measure the absorbances ( 635 nm ) after 0 , 1 , 3 , 5 , 24 and 48 hrs in air . the reverse color change of the indicators from green to pale yellow was studied at different intensities of light . the change in absorbance at 635 nm was measured after exposure to 0 , 1800 , 3900 and 8500 lux during 0 hrs , 1 hr , 3 hrs , 5 hrs , 24 hrs , 48 hrs , 7 days , 14 days and 21 days in air at 25 ° c . a philips tld / 95 fluorescent tube was utilized as source of light . the light intensities in the study were measured with a hioki 3423 luxmeter calibrated at 10 , 100 and 1000 lux . the influence of temperature on the kinetics of the color transition is shown in fig2 . the absorbance of the indicator solution at 635 nm have been used to describe the color change at 5 , 25 , 40 and 50 ° c . when exposed to air under dark conditions . the oxygen - driven reaction strongly depends on temperature according to fig2 . if a complete color change is defined by the absorbance value at 635 nm that corresponds to an indicator visually estimated as opaquely dark green ( absorbance of approx . 2 , 5 ), the time to a color change at 5 ° c . is approximately 8 days , extrapolating the curve in fig2 . the complete change at 25 ° c . is obtained after 2 - 3 days . the color transition of the indicator is controlled by two different mechanisms . an oxygen - driven reaction turns the indicator from pale yellow to green to black when exposed to oxygen and a reaction driven by light turns the indicator from green to pale yellow . when the inventive oxygen indicators are exposed to light the kinetics of the color transition decreases as a function of the intensity of the light according to fig3 . when the intensity is high enough the reverse transition occurs and the indicator turns from green to pale yellow . black indicators have not , however , been able to transform to the yellow state irrespective of the light intensity . when exposed to air , the intensity of light must be substantial in order to prevent the color change from yellow to green ( fig3 ). when the indicator is placed in dark ( 0 lux ) exposed to air , the color change described by the absorbance is more or less linear during the first 50 hours of exposure . when indicators are exposed to light the absorbance increases until it reaches a constant value that is dependent on the intensity of light . the color of the indicator at certain absorbances is marked in fig3 . the equilibrium lasts for approximately 3 - 4 days . the kinetics of the color change then increases again and the indicator is totally black after another 10 to 20 days depending on the light intensity ( fig4 ). normal room illumination at a distance of 1 - 2 meters from a fluorescent tube corresponds to approximately 500 lux . at a distance of 10 centimeters from a tube the light intensity is approx . 10000 lux and in direct sunshine values of 80000 to 90000 lux have been observed . in order to study the migration of components in indicators prepared according to example 7 to the infusion products , non - specific migration analysis according to the eur . ph . and specific migration analysis of tannic acid and possible degradation products from tannic acid were performed . analysis of non - specific migration from the indicators is performed according to the eur . ph ., vi 2 . 2 . 3 ; “ plastic containers for aqueous solutions for intravenous infusion ”, performing acidity or alkalinity , absorbance and oxidizable substances only . the oxygen indicators were placed in three different positions within the package . the normal position was close to the port . the “ increased case ” corresponded to three indicators placed in direct contact with the primary bag , jammed between the overwrap and the primary bag . a worst case study was performed by placing two indicators in the milliq - water inside the 100 ml excel ® primary bag . steam sterilization of the worst case sample was performed during 60 minutes . normal sterilization time is 19 minutes . two reference samples were made without any indicators present . the specific migration analysis of tannic acid and degradation products from tannic acid was performed with samples placed according to the unspecified migration analysis . the sachet samples were prepared by dissolving tannic acid and citric acid in milliq - water to a concentration of 1 , 2 % ( w / w ) and 3 , 0 % ( w / w ), respectively . the solution was filled in 1 ml sachets made of excel ® material . the 1 ml samples were placed together with milliq - water filled 100 ml excel ® bags in overwrap bags according to the swedish patent application 9601348 - 7 . the samples with the sachet placed in a normal position ( close to the port ) were steam sterilized for 19 minutes ( normal cycle ) and 60 minutes . the increased and worst case samples were sterilized for 60 minutes . a reference sample with no 1 ml sachet was sterilized for 60 minutes . the milliq - water was analyzed by hplc in order to investigate if migration of tannic acid had occurred to the water . gallic acid was used as a marker of degraded tannin . the oxygen indicator has been analyzed regarding migration , both specific migration of tannic acid and unspecified migration according to eur . ph . vi 2 . 2 . 3 ; “ plastic containers for aqueous solutions for intravenous infusion ”, performing tests of “ acidity or alkalinity ”, “ absorbance ” and “ oxidizable substances ”. the unspecified migration analysis was performed with indicators in three positions within overwrap bags according to table 2 , below . the normal position is strictly according to the eur . ph . with the indicator close to the ports for additions and emptying . the increased position is defined as being between the inner excel ® bag and the outer bag . the worst case position means two indicators placed inside the primary bag and a sterilization time of 1 hour . normal , increased and reference samples were sterilized for 19 minutes . the results in table 2 are within the limits stated in the eur . ph . the uv - absorbance limit is 0 , 20 and the maximum allowed deviation from a blank sample regarding oxidizable substances is 1 , 5 ml ( volume of titration ). no indications of migration of components in the oxygen indicator occur according to these analyses . calculations of the solubility parameters for pyrogallol and gallic acid were performed in order to predict the migration ability of these compounds through the excel film . for gallic acid and pyrogallol the parameters are 30 and 35 j 1 / 2 cm − 3 / 2 respectively . the solubility parameter for the excel material is approximated to 16 j 1 / 2 cm − 3 / 2 [ 6 ]. the big difference in parameter values indicates that the migration risk is negligible . in order to verify the theoretical calculations above a migration study was performed . gallic acid , a potential degradation product of tannic acid , was used as a marker of tannic acid . a worst case study was performed with an oxalert placed inside the milliq - water inside the excel primary bag and autoclavation occurred for 60 minutes . the normal autoclavation time is 19 minutes . the milliq - water samples were analyzed by hplc . no gallic acid could be detected in any of the samples . the limit of the quantification was set to 1 μg / ml . a suitable color composition serving as a ground formula for surface treatment applications : | 8 |
during the investigation of the invention , applicants employed an operating video card removed from a personal computer . the exposed surfaces of pb - free sn termination finish and solder connections on the card were then coated with a ni cap in an electroless bath . they then reinserted the card in the personal computer and verified that , as expected , it functioned as before . many other assemblies have also been treated and tested similarly , with none failing . a previously unused pc video card was inserted into an operating personal computer , found to function properly , and removed . the gold - plated board edge connectors and sockets of the vga video connector were masked with plater &# 39 ; s tape , and the sides and back of the video connector were then masked with liquid solder mask . to ensure that the coating to be applied would adhere properly to the sn surfaces , any foreign and loosely adhering materials on the card were removed by mildly agitating successively in basic and acidic solutions for ten to thirty seconds . in this case the basic solution was a commercially available solution of cleaner , bix tsp concentrate purchased from w . m . bar & amp ; company inc . of memphis , tenn ., diluted per the manufacturer &# 39 ; s instructions , one part bix to six parts water . upon removal , the card was rinsed in running tap water , immersed in a ten percent solution of sulfuric acid , and again rinsed in running tap water . after cleaning , the entire card was fully immersed in a commercially available “ mid - phosphorus ” electroless ni bath purchased from heatbath corporation of orchard , mass . as nitec ® 9500 . a bath was mixed employing 6 % by volume of nitec 9500a , 15 % volume of nitec 9500b and 79 % distilled water . this bath was operated as recommended by the manufacturer at 190 ± 2 ° f . for the duration of the immersion . during deposition , innumerable tiny hydrogen bubbles could be seen rising from the metal surfaces . this is a well - known and useful indicator of electroless metal deposition . after the card was in the bath for one hour it was removed and rinsed in running tap water , blown dry with air , and the masking necessary to make connections was removed . thereafter the card was re - inserted into the slot connector in the computer motherboard , and a video monitor was re - attached . the electrical function of the video card was found to be unaltered after the process described . according to the manufactures product literature for the subject bath , under the deposition conditions of one hour , a ni cap of a thickness of 0 . 001 inch ( 25 μm or 25 , 000 nm ) can be expected to be deposited . for testing purposes , the card was removed periodically during the one - hour dwell time in the bath . upon each removal it was rinsed , air - dried , inspected , reinserted into the computer , and tested for functionality . after each re - insertion no loss of function was found . the rinsing , which lasted on a few tens of seconds , used ordinary tap water followed by de - ionized water ( both unheated ). after each subsequent removal the video card was re masked as necessary and reinserted into the bath to complete the one - hour hour dwell time . inspection of the card indicated the presence of a ni coating on exposed metal surfaces , later confirmed by x - ray fluorescence . alternative cleaners such as solutions of trisodium phosphate can be used in place of bix to remove adventitious organic contamination . the sulfuric acid cleaning step is intended to neutralize the basic solution and remove any sno 2 on sn surfaces , allowing the ni deposit to proceed . ( removing sno 2 may be an important step where the sn surface is old .) electroless processes rely on the presence in the bath of a reducing agent , for example sodium hypophosphite ( napo 2 h 2 ), well known to photographers as “ hypo .” it reacts with the metal ions to deposit metal . “[ where hypophosphite is the reducing agent ] . . . alloys with different percentage of phosphorus , ranging from 2 - 5 ( low phosphorus ) to up to 11 - 14 ( high phosphorus ) are possible .” ( wikipedia ) in this example , an electroless bath of medium phosphorous content was used . the percentage of phosphorus in the deposit affects the metallurgical properties . among the benefits of high - phosphorus electroless ni is superior corrosion protection . high - phosphorus ni is also not ferromagnetic ; this may be of benefit for an assembly operating at gigahertz frequencies or with very high switching speeds . a number of military and industrial standards exist for electroless ni plating . deposits are often given a post - treatment of trisodium phosphate or chromate to lessen the effects of corrosion and to ensure that the coating is robust enough for industrial use . such treatments may also reduce the growth of sn whiskers through defects , if any , in the ni cap taught by this disclosure . should corrosion of ni be a special concern , it can be co - deposited with , or given a cap of , palladium or other highly corrosion - resistant noble metal . depending on the particular electroless ni bath employed and bath conditions , deposits can vary in such attributes as ductility and porosity ; dwell times from less than a minute to an hour may be useful for depositing a whisker - impenetrable cap . although some of the whisker - impenetrable cap metals that can be electrolessly deposited are quite solderable ( au , pd ), not all are . in particular , ni is unsolderable . however , solderability is not a requirement of the electrolessly deposited cap . the metals applied over all exposed sn of soldered connections and component terminations on electronic assemblies are chosen for their whisker impenetrability after soldering , when sn is no longer needed to preserve solderability . the cap does not interfere with rework ( melting a solder connection ). once the underlying solder has melted , the connection &# 39 ; s cap is far too thin to impede breaking it . the cap simply and quickly dissolves into the solder . while in example 1 the total immersion time of the card in the bath was one hour , much shorter dwell times in the bath give a cap thick enough to prevent whisker penetration , by a large safety margin . according to a paper by suganuma et al ., (“ prevention of sn whisker formation by surface treatment of sn plating ”, 136 th tms annual meeting & amp ; exhibition , orlando , fla ., 25 feb .- 1 mar . 2007 ), a continuous electrodeposited cap of ni only 200 nm thick prevented any sn whisker penetration for not less than three years . 50 - nm thick coatings of au and pd had not been penetrated after two years . ( a 50 - nm thick ni deposit was found to be discontinuous , so its impenetrability could not be determined . prof . kim ., second author of the above - cited paper , emailed applicants in 2010 stating that still no whisker had penetrated ( making the duration of prevention for ni not less than six years ). more recently , a ( sputter - deposited ) 35 - nm ni cap ( comprised of only about 100 layers of atoms ) allowed just one whisker ; length 1 . 81 μm (& gt ; 0 . 007 inches , or roughly a half - million atoms ! ), to penetrate in over three months ( thicker caps showed no penetration ). the whiskers on the specimen &# 39 ; s control side ( uncapped sn ) were much shorter , and far more numerous , mean length was 5 . 4 ± 4 . 4 μm : the density exceeded 10 4 per square centimeter . ( erika crandall and prof . mike bozack , auburn university , private communication , 2011 ). presumably , that one whisker was able to grow so much longer than those on uncapped sn because there were no nearby whiskers to compete for sn atoms in the plating . it is reasonable to conclude from the sole whisker &# 39 ; s long length ( and , enormous ratio to the mean length on the uncapped side ) that shortly after deposition , it penetrated at a vulnerable site . this establishes that 35 nm is the minimum thickness of ni needed to prevent whisker penetration . ( that is , ni &# 39 ; s penetrability value is 3 . 5 nm .) a much thicker ( 600 nm sputter - deposited ) cu ledge over sn was penetrated by a whisker in just three days . ( l . reinhold et . al ., j . mater . res ., vol . 24 , no . 12 , december 2009 ). whiskers invariably penetrate a 1 - μm ( electrodeposited ) pb cap on sn in days . ( ed li , aem , inc ., private communication , ( 2006 ). the cap resulting from the one - hour ni deposition was three orders of magnitude thicker than the ni penetrability found by crandall and bozack . stated alternatively , applicants believe that a well time of less than one minute in an electroless ni bath will produce , with an immense safety margin , a cap that will permanently prevent even one sn whisker from penetrating . while admittedly unconventional , and despite one &# 39 ; s possible initial misgivings , upon reflection it should be unsurprising that immersion of soldered assembly in an electroless ni bath is not risky . to remove flux residues , electronics manufacturers routinely , and without concern for reliability impairment , expose just - soldered assemblies to hot aqueous solutions and then water - rinse them . any assembly that can withstand such cleaning can without risk survive the electroless process . as presented in example 1 of the preferred embodiment , applicants have demonstrated that a functioning electronic assembly can be immersed for a time far longer than necessary to produce an impenetrable coating without impairing the assembly &# 39 ; s electrical function . as expected , even with the prolonged plating time , there were no short circuits . this demonstrated total absence of metal deposition onto insulating surfaces . other assemblies , when tested for residual contamination , showed adequate rinsing to be easily accomplished . ( that is , measured levels of ionic contamination were acceptably low ). such results are only to be expected from a commercial product intended for wide use in electronics manufacturing ( i . e ., board fabrication ). this process has been applied , without a failure , to many dozens of assemblies . in sum , the safety of subjecting an electronic assembly to the metal cap process is demonstrated by the low residual contamination , and the unbroken success record of assemblies functioning following immersion and ordinary rinsing . it is not possible to accelerate whisker growth . hence , scientific analysis must substitute for direct proof ( i . e ., waiting ) supporting the claim that a coating by the disclosed process remains impenetrable for , say , thirty years . unlike polymers , the metals ( including ni ) being discussed here as suitable for whisker prevention do not deteriorate with age , temperature , or humidity . at most , they need only be protected from corrosion in the field environment . apart from fe , and to a lesser extent ag , neither of which has a known penetrability value , corrosion resistance is an attribute of electrolessly depositable metals , as are hardness and shear modulus values . the special case of au , which is resists corrosion but is soft and has a low shear modulus , is discussed below . ni and the other metals in the table remain shiny because they form a thin protective oxide layer . au remains shiny because it doesn &# 39 ; t react at all with any of the constituents of air . au does , however , react ( by rapid solid - state diffusion ) with solid sn to form an imc . ni reacts with sn much more slowly than au to form its imc . the rate of thickness increase of any imc drops as it gets thicker — a diffusing metal atom of both species must diffuse farther to encounter an atom of the other species . intermetallic compounds in general are stiff , not ductile . suganuma et . al . found that the ultra - thin 50 - nm au cap converted entirely to the au — sn imc in one day . thus , this metal &# 39 ; s penetrability value ( i . e ., 50 nm ) actually applies to its imc . at any rates a coating with an initial ni thickness of 1 μm can be projected to retain a substantial thickness of unreacted metal after many decades . 2 . what would happen if all the ni did get used up in forming imc ? even in the unlikely event that imc growth ( which consumes sn as well as ni ) were accelerated by prolonged exposure to very high temperatures , for a ni cap comparable to the typical 1 μm sn termination finish thickness , disappearance of the would be accompanied by that of the sn , and with that , any whisker risk . again , after soldering , tin &# 39 ; s role of preserving the solderability of the termination &# 39 ; s basis metal is no longer needed . hence , its total consumption in the field by imc growth would be of no concern . if this ( unusually hot ) assembly included pb free solder , the solder would of course remain after total loss of metallic ni . but 1 . whiskers do not grow above about 75 ° c . 2 . pb - free solder &# 39 ; s whisker growth risk is far lower than that of sn termination finish . 3 . it would still be capped — by a stiff , non - ductile , imc layer . taken together , the data presented above provide compelling evidence that a metal &# 39 ; s ( or ceramic &# 39 ; s , for that matter ) whisker penetrability ( i . e ., the thinnest cap that remains unpenetrated ), is unlike that of ordinary polymer conformal coatings , which are penetrated in no more than a few years . a metal &# 39 ; s penetrability is a not matter of kinetics but a material attribute . were the effect of the ultra - thin 35 - nm ni cap simply to retard whisker penetration , one would expect to observe first no whiskers , and then many short ones , penetrating it . intuition suggests that , whether practical for preventing penetration or not ( and ignoring metals that themselves grow whiskers ), each metal must have some minimum thickness needed to prevent , permanently , whisker penetration from underlying sn . that is , no whisker could ever exert a strong enough force to displace the atoms of a thick - enough metal coating above it . or , the whisker reacts instead to form an imc . but the difference is immense between the penetrability of cu and pb on the one hand , and ni , pd , and ausn 2 on the other . for ni , pd , and au , this minimum whisker - preventing thickness appears to be substantially thinner than 50 nm ( just hundreds of atoms thick ). there are no measurements , but for cu and pb it must be substantially greater than 1000 nm . in just three days , a whisker penetrated a 600 - nm cu ledge . the cu was more than 17 times thicker than a ni ledge that for over three months resisted penetration by all but one whisker . this difference supports the notion that some metal caps prevent , and not just retard , whisker penetration . clearly , the differences are huge . they show that among various metals , this attribute , like other physical attributes ( e . g ., hardness , ductility , shear modulus ), differs immensely . a ni cap has been found to be virtually pore - free when its thickness is not less than 1 . 24 μm ( see “ sn whisker qualification testing , bath e ,” by robert f . hilty of tyco engineering , of harrisburg , pa .). since the characteristic diameter of a pore in plating is far smaller than the diameter of a characteristic whisker , it is not known what effect , if any porosity in a ni plating cap has in preventing whisker penetration . the 200 - nm ni cap electrodeposited by suganuma et al . was far thinner than the above - reported thickness , while the 50 - nm cap was discontinuous . hence it is reasonable to assume that the thicker cap was porous , yet it resisted whisker penetration . the natural appearance of a ni cap sn and pb - free sn is bright and shiny . on eutectic sn — pb solder , it is rather dull . this is not technically significant — the pb in the solder itself inhibits the whisker risk . a shiny final appearance of the solder connections , if desired , may be achieved by first depositing from an electroless sn bath containing grain refiners a thin shiny cap onto the assembly &# 39 ; s metal surfaces ( including the solder — no more than 1 μm needed ), before depositing the impenetrable cap . | 8 |
in the drawings , which are not necessarily to scale , like or corresponding elements of the disclosed systems and methods are denoted by the same reference numerals . there are times when an accessory attached to a dut cannot be easily removed in order to calibrate or compensate the accessory . for example , the accessory could be permanently installed in a test fixture , soldered to a dut , installed at a hard - to - access or remote location , in an environmental chamber , or in a hazardous location , such as a location with high voltage . accordingly , in situations such as these , it is important to be able to calibrate or compensate the accessory without removing the accessory from the dut . some embodiments of the disclosed technology enable the use of an optical voltage sensor , as discussed in more detail below , to measure an electrical signal from direct current ( dc ) to gigahertz ( ghz ) by dynamically compensating for the dc / lf ( low frequency ) instabilities of the optical sensor over time as it is making a measurement . the output of the optical sensor is susceptible to changes in the environment and the signal and bias applied to the sensor . adding correction circuitry , as discussed in more detail below , enables the development of a completely electrically isolated , dc coupled , high bandwidth , high sensitivity differential accessory head with high common mode rejection and voltage range . embodiments of the disclosed technology includes a test and measurement system that includes a host 100 , such as a test and measurement instrument , a controller 102 , an accessory head 104 , and a dut 106 . one example of such a system is shown in fig1 . the accessory head 104 includes a compensation unit 108 , which is described in more detail below . during a measurement operation , a signal from the dut 106 is received at inputs 114 and 116 of the accessory head 104 . the measured signal is then sent through an amplifier 118 and to the host 100 through the main signal path 120 and path 124 . the compensation unit 108 also sends back the monitored portion of the measurement signal that will be used for compensation of the system . the compensation is done continuously . since the compensation signal from the compensation unit 108 is known , the compensation signal from the compensation unit 108 can be applied at the host 100 or controller 102 to the output signal . to determine the amount of compensation in the test and measurement system shown in fig1 and 2 , the input signal from the dut 106 is sent not only to amplifier 118 , but also to the compensation unit 108 . compensation unit 108 then forwards the input signal from the dut 106 to the controller 102 for analysis . the output signal from the amplifier 118 is also sent to the controller 102 for analysis . although not shown , the output signal and input signal may also be analyzed internally in the accessory head 104 . the controller 102 compares the input signal and the output signal and determines the dc / lf offset error from the comparison of these signals . a resulting compensation value is determined based on the dc / lf offset error to minimize the dc / lf offset error when supplied by the compensation unit . the compensation value is then sent from the controller 102 to the compensation unit 108 in the accessory head 104 . this cycle is preferably continually repeated to maintain a minimum offset drift error in the measurement of the signals from dut 106 . fig1 shows a differential accessory head to receive two inputs from the dut 106 . however , the compensation unit 108 may also be used in an accessory head 104 with a single - ended input , as shown in fig2 . the system of fig2 would work identically to that shown in fig1 except only a single input is received . as shown in fig3 , the accessory head 104 may include an optical sensor if the accessory head 104 is an optical accessory head . if such is the case , the measurement system shown in fig3 would still include a host 100 , a controller 102 , a compensation unit 108 and a dut 106 , as discussed above with respect to fig1 and 2 . rather than using an amplifier 118 , the measurement system of fig3 includes an optical sensor 400 . the optical sensor 400 may be , for example , a mach - zehnder optical sensor . however , other optical sensors may be used as well inputs 114 and 116 of the accessory head 104 are connected to signal input electrodes 402 and 404 . the output from the signal input electrodes 402 and 404 are sent from the optical sensor 400 to the controller 102 through the main signal path 120 . compensation unit 108 , on the other hand , is connected to the control electrodes 406 and 408 of the optical sensor 400 which are separated and electrically isolated from the signal input electrodes 402 and 404 . when an optical sensor 400 is used , the controller 102 includes a laser controller 410 , a laser 412 , an optical transceiver 414 , an optical - to - electrical converter 416 , an analog - to - digital converter 418 and a microcontroller 420 . the amount of compensation to be applied to the control electrodes 406 and 408 is determined similar to that discussed above with respect to fig1 and 2 . the input signals 114 and 116 from the dut 106 are sent not only to the input signal path electrodes 402 and 404 , but also sent to the compensation unit 108 . the input signals are then sent to the optical transmitter 414 and finally microprocessor 420 for analysis . although not shown , the input signals are converted to digital signals via an analog - to - digital converter connected to the compensation unit 108 . the output from the optical sensor 400 after reading the signal from the dut 106 is sent to the optical - to - electrical converter 416 in the controller 102 and then further processed through an analog - to - digital converter 418 . the output from the analog - to - digital converter 418 could be sent to both the host 100 for display on a display of the host or storage in a memory ( not shown ) and the microcontroller 420 in the controller 102 for analysis . similar to that discussed above , the microcontroller 420 compares the input signal and the output signal to determine a dc / lf offset error . then , a compensation value can be determined based on the comparison that will minimize the dc / lf offset error when applied to the control electrodes 406 and 408 in the optical sensor 400 . the compensation value determined by the microcontroller 420 is sent back to the compensation unit 108 thru optical transceiver 414 . the compensation unit 108 then applies the compensation value to the control electrodes 406 and 408 . the input signals and output signals are constantly monitored and sent to the microcontroller 420 in the controller 102 . this allows for a compensation value to be continually determined to maintain a minimum offset drift error . a correction circuit may also be used rather than a microcontroller 420 . the disclosed technology is capable of not only calibrating , for example , direct current voltage , but can also be used to compensate the gain or frequency of an alternating current voltage . the disclosed technology is also not limited to use on a voltage probe . the accessory device may be any type of transducer device or general accessory device requiring voltage , current , power , etc ., for operation , such as a measurement probe , measurement probe adapter , active filter devices , probe calibration fixture , probe isolation accessory , or the like . the host 100 may be a test and measurement instrument , such as an oscilloscope , logic analyzer , spectrum analyzer or similar such devices having an accessory device interface for accepting an accessory device . the connection to the controller 102 of the accessory head 104 may be a wired , optical fiber or a wireless connection as known to one of ordinary skill in the art . if the dut 106 and accessory head 104 are located at a remote location , it may be necessary to have a wireless connection . any of the signal paths 120 , 122 and 124 may be a wired or wireless connection as known to one of ordinary skill in the art . in some embodiments ( not shown ) a controller is not required . rather , all of the components of the controller 102 shows with respect to fig1 - 4 are located with the host 100 . the term “ controller ” and “ processor ” as used herein is intended to include microprocessors , microcomputers , asics , and dedicated hardware controllers and associated memories . one or more aspects of the invention may be embodied in computer - usable data and computer - executable instructions , such as in one or more program modules , executed by one or more computers ( including monitoring modules ), or other devices . generally , program modules include routines , programs , objects , components , data structures , etc . that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types when executed by a processor in a computer or other device . the computer executable instructions may be stored on a non - transitory computer readable medium such as a hard disk , optical disk , removable storage media , solid state memory , ram , etc . as will be appreciated by one of skill in the art , the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments . in addition , the functionality may be embodied in whole or in part in firmware or hardware equivalents such as integrated circuits , field programmable gate arrays ( fpga ), and the like . particular data structures may be used to more effectively implement one or more aspects of the invention , and such data structures are contemplated within the scope of computer executable instructions and computer - usable data described herein . having described and illustrated the principles of the disclosed technology in a preferred embodiment thereof , it should be apparent that the disclosed technology can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles . we claim all modifications and variations coming within the spirit and scope of the following claims . | 6 |
the invention is susceptible of various embodiments , all within the scope of the description , figures and claims that follow . for example , fig3 is a cross - sectional schematic of a preferred embodiment of an athermal piezocomposite array 11 using an interposed substrate 40 , with a cte ( coefficient of thermal expansion ) that matches the cte of the integrated circuit 32 to support the plurality of individual array elements 10 . substrate 40 may , for example , be aluminum nitride , a ceramic with a cte that closely matches silicon . within each individual array element 10 , epoxy is used in spaces 28 to hold the individual piezoceramic vertical members or pillars 18 together , as previously depicted in fig2 . spaces 24 between elements 10 are left air - filled ; air being highly elastic and sufficiently sound attenuating . other gases , fluids or materials such as aerogels with similar properties , that are otherwise benign with respect to the other materials of the array , may be used . in other embodiments , spaces 24 may be filled with a material that possesses the correct acoustical and elastic properties and a cte preferably less than that of silicon . thermal expansion greater than that of substrate 40 still occurs within an individual array element 10 , due mainly to the much greater cte of the epoxy in spaces 28 , however the expansion is no longer cumulative across the array because it is offset by less expansion of the material within the inter - element spaces 24 . thus , the mechanical stability and the reliability of the structure , in particular the bump bonded solder joints between the array 11 and the integrated circuit 32 , are improved by this technique . metallization top and bottom pads 52 and 54 are produced by photolithography , laser scribing or an equivalent method at the spacing of the array elements . vias 56 are made by mechanical or laser drilling , wet - process , reactive - ion etching , or other well - known hole fabrication techniques . electrical connections between pads 52 and 54 through vias 56 are established by conductive plating , conductive epoxy or inserting fine wires . other established semiconductor fabrication methods including growing an electrically conductive polysilicon layer may also be used , so as to complete the network of electrical paths or vias from top to bottom through interposed substrate 40 . substrate 40 is mechanically attached to each array element 10 at respective pads 52 and electrodes 22 with a layer 21 of material which in one preferred embodiment is a conductive silver epoxy . alternatively , layer 21 may be a very thin layer of electrically non - conductive epoxy , which forms with metallic pads 52 and 22 a parallel plate capacitor . the electrical impedance of this interface at the array frequency is by design small enough that an acceptable rf electrical connection between bottom electrode 22 of array elements 10 , and conductive pads 52 is created , with a minimal acoustical reflection at the center frequency of the array . referring now to fig4 in a preferred embodiment , an electrically conductive layer 66 of prescribed thickness forms part of common electrode 30 of array 11 . attached to layer 66 is a second layer 68 , also of prescribed thickness , and which may be conductive or non - conductive . the thickness and acoustical properties of these two layers are chosen to form acoustical matching layers as is well known in the art . these layers may be bonded with very thin layers of epoxy or other suitable bonding material to form common electrode 30 having enhanced acoustical properties . this thin , common electrode may be somewhat flexible so as not to contribute significant shear force at the element connections to the integrated circuit . in an alternate embodiment of the invention , layer 68 with integral conducting surface layer 66 forms common electrode 30 and is mechanically bonded to the front surface of array elements 10 . the bonding material of layer 66 in this embodiment may be a thin layer of conductive epoxy providing the integral electrically conducting surface function of the common electrode . layer 68 in this embodiment may be a plastic such as polyimide , polyethylene , or polycarbonate film with a deposited conducting layer 66 such as copper . these two layers preferably then serve as an acoustical matching layer between the piezocomposite and the acoustical medium as previously described , as well as a common electrode . referring again to fig4 delineation of bottom electrodes 22 , bonding layer 21 and metallization pads 52 may also be accomplished during the dicing of the original piezocomposite into array pillars 18 . spaces 24 also serve to reduce element - to - element crosstalk and inter - element signal interference . this is particularly effective when the space is air - filled , due to the large acoustical impedance mismatch between the piezocomposite array elements 10 and air . crosstalk is also determined by the choice of material and dimensions of interposed substrate 40 . materials such as aluminum nitride have a high velocity of sound , typically on the order of 10 , 000 meters per second . a substrate thickness less than a wavelength of sound at the center frequency of the array inhibits a sound wave from propagating from one element into substrate 40 and then into the adjacent element . for example , the wavelength in aluminum nitride at 5 mhz is 2 mm . a substrate 40 thickness of less than 2 mm , and preferably 1 mm or less , effectively isolates adjacent elements 10 of the array . this embodiment of the array has been constructed by the applicant and tested over several temperature cycles of 29 ° c . ( 52 ° f .) without degradation . referring to fig5 a further aspect of the invention is a construction method using a thinned integrated circuit 32 in an integrated array 13 , attached to array 13 at pads 52 and 36 by solder bumps 34 . solder bumps 34 have a diameter of less than one wavelength , in this embodiment about one tenth wavelength , of the center frequency of the array , so as to enhance vertical acoustical isolation of the respective element . integrated circuit 32 conforms to the description of interposed substrate 40 of fig6 with regard to thickness and acoustical properties by thinning the substrate to less than a wavelength , and preferably less than half of the wavelength of the center frequency , and thus becomes essentially acoustically transparent , providing lateral acoustical isolation between elements in tandem with the vertical isolation provided by the solder bumps 34 . this technique of using a thinned ic minimizes crosstalk between elements 10 and enables wide bandwidth transducers . as described above , acoustical transparency requires the thickness of integrated circuit 32 to be selected to produce a minimum reflection at the center frequency of the transducer array , less than one wavelength and preferably less than about one half wavelength of the center frequency of the array . a thinned ic also facilitates the use of conventional ultrasound transducer designs including an acoustically attenuating backing structure 23 , which are well known in the ultrasonic transducer art . referring to fig8 the thinned ic technique with its acoustical benefits is equally applicable to the multi - layered ic components of transducer arrays described at length in parent applications and again herein . fig6 is a graph of the calculated sound transmission through a silicon layer of a transducer array and ic assembly , as a function of thickness , at 5 mhz . the silicon layer is sandwiched between a piezocomposite transducer of acoustical impedance = 31 . 6 mrayls and a backside layer of a mixture of tungsten and epoxy , a commonly used formulation for an attenuating backing structure . this example uses a mixture of echogel 1265 and fine tungsten powder , with acoustical impedance of 12 . 2 mrayls . the piezocomposite transducer is bonded to the silicon layer with a very thin layer of epoxy resin , such as dow chemical der 332 , which may be wicked into the airspace of a bump bonded joint after assembly as is known in the art . the thickness of this bonding layer was about the same as the dimensions of micro solder balls , 0 . 01 mm . this extremely thin layer is also acoustically transparent and could be neglected in the calculations for fig8 . it will be seen that the reflection coefficient goes to zero at about 420 microns thickness . fig7 shows the same calculation of reflection coefficient vs . frequency for 420 μm ( 0 . 0165 in .) thick silicon . at higher frequencies , the silicon must be thinned inversely proportional to the frequency to accomplish the same goal . thus at 10 mhz , the optimum thickness of the silicon layer would be 210 μm . this range of thickness is well within the state of the art in silicon thinning . for example , there is available equipment that plasma polishes silicon down to 50 μm ( 0 . 002 ) inches thickness . fig8 is a diagrammatic cross - section view of an athermal piezocomposite acoustical transducer array and multi - layered integrated circuit assembly embodiment of the invention . array 30 is constructed in accordance with the invention to minimize acoustical crosstalk and interference between elements 10 , as described above . there are four thinned integrated circuit layers or substrates 400 , 402 , 404 and 406 , respectively , electrically connected to each other and to array 30 in accordance with the invention and the techniques described in the parent applications , using electrically conductive micro - bumps 34 , electrically conducting vias 408 connecting substrates 400 - 406 at interconnect pads 410 on the top and / or bottom sides of substrates 400 - 406 . the functionality of the ic is divided among substrates 400 , 402 , 404 , and 406 as described in the parent applications . the performance of the device with respect to acoustical crosstalk and interference benefits from the several techniques of the instant invention . the invention is susceptible of many other embodiments , all within the scope of the claims that follow . for example , there is an athermal piezocomposite acoustical transducer array and integrated circuit assembly consisting of a multiplicity of piezocomposite transducer elements of uniform element height arranged in an array pattern of uniform element width and uniform element length . the elements have a base end and a distal end and are separated from each other by spaces thorough the dicing process . there is a supporting substrate to which the base ends of the elements are attached , and a common electrode layer to which the distal end of the elements are attached . there is a semiconductor integrated circuit attached to the supporting substrate by solder bumps , and electrically connected to the elements by conducting vias through the supporting substrate . the supporting substrate has a coefficient of thermal expansion approximating that of the integrated circuit . it has a thickness of less than one wavelength and preferably less than one half wavelength of the midrange frequency of the array . the solder bumps have a diameter of less than one wavelength , preferably less than about one half wavelength and most preferably less than about one tenth wavelength of the midrange or center frequency of the array . the spaces between the elements are filled with a non - conductive , acoustically attenuating material of lower elastic modulus than the transducer elements , so as to allow the elements to expand with temperature , yet not stress the solder bumps . the acoustically attenuating material may be air . the supporting substrate may be aluminum nitride ceramic . the supporting substrate may have metallic top and bottom pads and interconnecting conductive vias . the base ends of the elements are attached to the supporting substrate with silver epoxy in some cases , but are attached in other embodiments with non - conductive epoxy so as to form parallel plate capacitors tuned for passing the center or midrange frequency of the array . the common electrode layer of the array consists of a first electrically conductive layer of prescribed thickness and a second layer of prescribed thickness , where the first and second layer in combination are selected as an acoustical matching layer between the elements and the acoustical medium to which the transducer array is being applied . the second layer may be a plastic film , and the first layer may be a metallic coating layer deposited on the plastic film . the plastic film may be polyimide , polyethylene or polycarbonate , or another suitable plastic . the semiconductor integrated circuit may have been thinned according to the theory of the invention , to a thickness of less than a wave length , or preferably less than one half wavelength of the center or midrange frequency of the array , in order to attenuate lateral transfer of acoustical signals from element circuit to element circuit that may have penetrated vertically from an element through the bond between the array and the ic , into the ic . there may be a thinned first layer of integrated circuitry for operating the array where the first layer has a first side with electrical contacts for contacting the supporting substrate and a second side with second side electrical circuit contacts , and there may be a final layer of additional integrated circuitry for operating the array , where the final layer has at least a first side with matching electrical contacts , the layers are configured as successive layers from the first to the final layer , and the second side electrical contacts are electrically bonded to respective matching electrical contacts on the adjacent layer . there may be at least one intermediate layer with further associated integrated circuitry for operating the array , where the intermediate layer has a first side with matching electrical contacts and a second side with second side electrical contacts , and the intermediate layer is disposed between the first layer and the final layer . as another example within the scope of the invention , there may be an athermal piezocomposite acoustical transducer array and integrated circuit assembly with a multiplicity of vertical piezoelectric members grouped into a spaced array of piezocomposite transducer elements of uniform element height arranged in a pattern of uniform element width and uniform element length . the elements have a base end and a distal end and are separated from each other by spaces . the base end of each element has a first conductive metallic pad contacting all the members of the element , and a second conductive metallic pad separated from the first pad by a non - conductive bonding layer where the pads and the bonding layer are configured together as a parallel plate capacitor for a minimum reflection at or near the center or midrange frequency of the array . there is a common electrode layer to which the distal end of the elements are attached , and a thinned semiconductor integrated circuit for supporting the array , where the integrated circuit has a top side pattern of element contacts and is attached there at by solder bumps to the second metallic pads of the elements . the spaces between the elements are filled with a non - conductive acoustically attenuating material of lower elastic modulus than the transducer elements such that the coefficient of thermal expansion of the array is less than that of an element . the integrated circuit has a coefficient of thermal expansion approximating that of the array as a whole , and a thickness of less than one wavelength and preferably less than one half wavelength of the midrange frequency of the array . the solder bumps bonding the integrated circuit to the array have a diameter of less than one wavelength , preferably less than about one half wavelength , and most preferably less than about one tenth wavelength of the midrange frequency . the thinned semiconductor integrated circuit may have a backside layer of acoustically attenuating material . other and various equivalent embodiments within the scope of the claims that follow will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art , from the specification , abstract and figures included . | 7 |
the screw vacuum pump 1 depicted in fig1 comprises pump chamber casing 2 with the rotors 3 and 4 . inlet 5 and outlet 6 of the pump 1 are schematically marked by arrows . the rotors 3 and 4 are affixed on to the shafts 7 and 8 respectively , said shafts being each supported by a cantilevered manner by two bearings 11 , 12 and 13 , 14 respectively . one bearing pair 11 , 13 is located in a bearing plate 15 which separates the pump chamber being free of lubricant from a gear chamber 16 . located in casing 17 of the gear chamber 16 are the synchronising toothed wheels 18 , 19 affixed to the shafts 7 and 8 , as well as a pair of toothed wheels 21 , 22 serving the purpose of driving the pump 1 , where one toothed wheel is coupled to the shaft of the drive motor 23 arranged vertically besides the pump 1 . moreover , the gear chamber has the function of an oil sump 20 . the second pair of bearings 12 , 14 , of the shafts 7 , 8 is located in bores 24 , 25 said bores penetrating the bottom of the gear chamber housing 17 . the shafts 7 , 8 in turn penetrate through bores 24 , 25 and end in an oil containing chamber 26 being formed by casing 17 and a thereto affixed trough 27 . from fig1 it is apparent that the rotors 3 and 4 each have a hollow chamber 31 in which the shaft 8 extends and in which the cooling slot 32 is located . since only rotor 4 is depicted by way of a partial section , the present embodiment is explained only with reference to this rotor 4 . in the embodiment according to fig1 the annular slot section 32 is located directly between shaft 8 ( resp . 7 ) and rotor 4 ( resp . 3 ). to this end the cylindrical inner wall of the rotor containing the hollow chamber 31 is equipped in its middle area with a section 33 turned off on a lathe , the depth of which corresponds to the thickness of the cooling slot 32 . on the suction side and the delivery side , the shaft 8 rests flush against the inner wall of the hollow chamber 31 . in addition , the shaft 8 is equipped in these areas with grooves 35 and 36 for sealing rings 37 and 38 which ensure a leak tight separation of the cooling slot 31 from the pump chamber . the cooling slot 32 is supplied with the coolant through the shaft 8 . it is equipped with a first bore 41 extending from the bottom end of the shaft 8 to the end of the cooling slot 32 on the delivery side . via a cross bore 42 the bore 41 is linked to the cooling slot 32 . the coolant is supplied to the cooling slot 32 through bores 41 and 42 . the coolant flows through the cooling slot 32 from the delivery side to the suction side of the rotor 4 . since most of the heat which needs to be dissipated is generated on the delivery side of the rotor 4 , the rotor 4 is cooled in a counterflow . the coolant is evacuated through the second bore 43 in the shaft 8 . said bore extends from the suction side of the cooling slot 32 up to the level of the gear chamber 16 . the cross bores 41 , 45 provide in each instance the link between bore 43 with the cooling slot 32 respectively the gear chamber 16 . reliable cooling of the rotors 3 , 4 is attained when the coolant is capable of flowing through the relatively narrow cooling slots 32 relatively quickly and undisturbed ( free of cavitation and contamination ). for this reason it is expedient to ensure , besides cooling and filtering of the coolant , a sufficient pumping force . in the design example in accordance with fig1 therefore , the gear chamber 16 , resp . the oil sump 20 is linked to the chamber 26 through a line 51 in which there is located besides a cooler 52 and a filter 53 , an oil pump 54 which may be designed by way of a gear pump , for example . the oil pump 54 ensures that the coolant enters at the necessary pressure and free of cavitation from chamber 26 into the bore 41 . moreover , there exists the possibility of arranging oil pumps ( centrifugal pumps , gear pumps ) in the area of the bottom ends of the shafts 7 , 8 . however , these need to be so designed that they are capable of meeting the requirements as to the desired pumping properties . depicted in fig2 is an embodiment in which the shafts 7 , 8 of the rotors 3 , 4 , are supported by bearings on both sides , specifically at bearing plate 15 ( bearing 11 , 13 ) and in the pump chamber housing 2 ( bearing 12 , 14 ). the lower ends of the shafts 7 , 8 end in gear chamber 16 . owing to the fact that the shafts 7 , 8 are supported by bearings at both sides , there exists the possibility of supplying the coolant on the suction side in a simple manner . to this end the shafts are equipped on the suction side with a preferably cylindrical pocket hole 55 which extends up to the end of the cooling slot 32 at the suction side . via a cross bore 56 the bore 55 is linked to the cooling slot 32 . on the delivery side the shafts 7 , 8 are equipped with a pocket hole 57 which extends up to the end of the slot 32 on the delivery side and which is linked to said slot via the cross bore 58 . for the purpose of supplying the coolant to the pocket holes 55 , these are linked via line 51 , said line being connected to oil sump 20 whereby the line incorporates oil pump 54 , filter 53 and cooler 52 . in the instance detailed , the coolant flows through the cooling slot 32 from the suction side towards the delivery side . in the design example according to fig3 in which only the rotor 4 and the shaft 8 are depicted , further means of supplying to , respectively evacuating the coolant from the cooling slot are detailed . the shaft 8 is equipped with a central pocket hole being open on the delivery side and extending over the end of the cooling slot 32 at the suction side . said pocket hole forms a hollow chamber 61 in which a guide component 62 for the coolant is located . the guide component 62 extends from the bottom end of the shaft 8 up to and past the end of the cooling slot 32 on the delivery side . the coolant is supplied via the longitudinal bore 63 in the guide component 62 , said bore being linked via truly aligned cross bores 64 through the component 62 and the shaft 8 to the end of the cooling slot 32 on the delivery side . at the level of the cooling slot 32 on the suction side , the shaft 8 is equipped with one or several cross bores 66 which open out into the chamber formed by the pocket hole 61 and the face side of the guide component 62 . said chamber is linked via the longitudinal bore 68 and the truly aligned cross bores 69 ( in the guide component 62 and in the shaft 8 ) to the gear chamber 16 ( not depicted in fig3 ). depicted in fig4 is an embodiment in which the guide component 62 comprises three sections 71 , 72 , 73 which divide the hollow chamber 61 in the shaft 8 in to three partial chambers 74 , 75 , 76 which are each located at the level of the cross bores 69 , 64 and 66 respectively . through suitable bores in the sections 71 to 73 as well as line sections 77 and 78 linking said bores , separate supply and evacuation of the coolant may be implemented . the guide component may be fitted easily , since bores which need to be truly aligned are not present . cooling in a counterflow can be implemented in a simple manner . in the embodiment in accordance with fig5 the coolant is supplied in contrast to the embodiments in accordance with fig3 and 4 , through a central bore 81 in the guide component 62 . the coolant passes into the hollow chamber 61 formed by the pocket hole as well as the guide component 62 and through the cross bore 66 into the cooling slot 32 . the evacuation bores 64 are linked to lateral longitudinal grooves or an annular chamber 82 turned off on a lathe said annular chamber being located in the guide component 62 . the longitudinal grooves or the annular chamber 82 extend up to the level of the gear chamber 16 where they are linked to the cross bores 69 . the embodiment in accordance with fig6 differs from the embodiments detailed above in that a bore is provided fully penetrating the shaft 8 and the rotor 4 . for the formation of the hollow chamber 31 , a cover 85 is provided on the suction side , this cover being linked via a bolt 86 with the guide component 62 . the guide component 62 is firmly inserted from the suction side . together with bolt 86 and the cover 85 it serves the purposes of axially affixing the rotor 4 . the shaft 8 is equipped with an outer sleeve 87 which together with the rotor 4 forms the cooling slot 32 . this slot extends substantially only at the level of the delivery side of the rotor 4 . radially displacing the cooling slot 32 towards the outside improves the cooling effect . the coolant is only supplied through a relatively short section 88 turned off on a lathe said section being located in guide component 62 . before it enters into the section 88 turned off on a lathe , it flows through bores 89 , 90 in the bearing plate 15 as well as the chamber 92 on the bearing side of an axial face seal 93 where it ensures the formation of the necessary barrier pressure . the coolant is returned through the central bore 81 in the guide component 62 , resp . in the shaft 8 . in the embodiment of fig7 a and 7 b , the shaft 8 does not extend into the rotor &# 39 ; s hollow chamber 31 . said shaft is linked to the rotor 4 at the level of the delivery side . the guide component 62 in the rotor &# 39 ; s hollow chamber 31 has a section 94 with an increased diameter which together with the inner wall of the rotor 4 forms the cooling slot 32 . a second section 95 having , compared to the section 94 a smaller diameter , penetrates the bore 61 in the shaft 8 . for thermal reasons of permitting on the one hand the supply of the coolant from the open side of the bore 61 through a central bore 81 in the guide component 62 and on the other hand to permit cooling of the rotor 4 in a counterflow , it is required that the guide component 62 provides a crossing for the coolant flows . this is implemented through cross bores and outer groove sections in the guide component 62 which are designed as detailed in the following ( see fig7 a , 7 b and 8 ): coolant supplied centrally through the pocket hole 81 enters through a cross bore 98 into two groove sections 99 facing each other and then the coolant enters into the hollow chamber 31 ( delivery side ). thereafter the coolant flows through the cooling slot 32 and enters through cross bores 66 into a line section 101 located centrally in the guide component . said line section extends to a second cross bore 102 placed on the suction side with respect to the first cross bore 98 . the two cross bores 98 and 102 are arranged approximately perpendicular to each other . the cross bore 102 opens out into groove sections 103 facing each other , which are offset by about 90 degrees with respect to groove sections 99 . thus it is possible to guide the returning coolant through these groove sections 103 to the cross bores 69 in the area of the gear chamber 16 . in the design example in accordance with fig9 the rotor 4 comprises two sections 4 ′ and 4 ″ having differently designed threads as well as each with a hollow chamber 31 ′ and 31 ″ respectively . the shaft 8 extends into the hollow chamber 31 ″ of the rotor section on the delivery side 4 ″ and thus forms the cooling slot 32 ″. the guide component 62 is similarly designed as in the embodiment in accordance with fig7 . it has a section 94 with an increased diamter which is located in hollow chamber 31 ′ of the rotor section 4 ′ and which forms together with the inside wall of this rotor section 4 ′ the cooling slot 32 ′. a further section 95 of the guide component 62 having a smaller diameter penetrates the central bore 61 in shaft 8 . the guide component 62 is equipped with a central bore 81 extending to the suction side of the rotor 4 . for simplicity and better overview , an embodiment is presented in which the coolant is supplied through the central bore 81 and where the coolant flows through lateral bores 64 ′ in section 94 on the suction side into the cooling slot 32 ′. through a section 66 ′, 105 turned off on a lathe ( or also through longitudinal grooves ) as well as cross bores 64 ′ the end of the cooling slot 32 ′ on the delivery side is linked to the end of the cooling slot 32 ″ on the suction side so that the coolant passes sequentially through the two cooling slots 32 ′, 32 ″. through a further section 106 turned off on a lathe , the evacuation opening 66 ″ on the delivery side of the cooling slot 32 ″ is linked to the evacuation opening 69 at the level fo the gear chamber 16 . also in the instance of this solution there exists the possibility of also employing the guide component 62 as a tie rod , specifically for affixing the rotor section 4 ′. of course there also exists the possibility in the instance of the embodiment in accordance with fig9 of designing the supply and evacuation lines for the coolant in such a manner that the cooling slots 32 ′, 32 ″ are supplied separately and / or in a counterflow . the embodiments of fig7 to 9 are of particular advantage when the rotors 3 , 4 are cantilevered , since then there exists the possibility of manufacturing the guide component 62 of light materials like plastic , for example . thus the mass of the rotors far from the bearing can be kept small . the usage of plastic or similar materials also offers the general advantage that there are located between the in flowing and the outflowing coolant materials and do not conduct heat very well . the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment . obviously , modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description . it is intended that the invention be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof . | 5 |
the following detailed description of the present invention describes the invention with reference to railcar indexing system employing a pair of spaced pusher dogs that operate in unison against opposite sides of a bogey frame . the carriages then retract and the dogs drop or are pushed down until the followers find the next wheel truck bogey frame and the process is the repeated . the system may be stopped anywhere the operator desires so that loading or unloading operations may be performed . it will be appreciated that the system described is intended to be an example of the inventive concept and is not to be considered as a limitation on the scope of the invention . fig1 a and 1 b are fragmentary plan and side views that depict a high dog railcar indexer , generally at 10 , including a railcar wheel truck assembly 11 situated on a railroad track having rails 12 and 14 , the truck assembly having spaced bogey frame side members 16 and 18 , respectively , which extend beyond the spaced rails . the truck carriage further includes four wheels as at 20 . a pair of spaced trackside guideways are shown at 22 and 24 situated just outside and extending along parallel to the track rails 12 and 14 , together with a pair of dog carriages 26 and 28 , respectively , carrying high pusher dogs 30 and 32 , best seen in fig2 , which are shown in the raised position addressing the spaced bogey frame sides 16 and 18 , respectively , contacting them above the level of an axle 34 . a bogey frame sensing system in accordance with the invention is shown generally 36 in fig2 and 3 and the system at 36 being used to control dog 32 . the dog carriages 26 and 28 are operated by reciprocating , serially connected or tandem hydraulic cylinder devices , generally , 37 and 38 ( fig1 ), which may consist of four cylinders , and operate in series to move the carriages along the corresponding guideways . the bogey frame detecting and dog - operating system of the invention is shown in greater detail in fig3 - 7 . fig3 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary side view of a portion of the railway indexing system of fig2 showing bogey frame side member 18 having an underside 40 with which the bogey frame detecting system of the invention interacts . although only a single bogey frame detecting system will be described , it will be noted , as seen in fig1 , that identical opposed systems are employed in left and right indexers adjacent the spaced rails of the track . the details of bogey frame detecting and dog operating system 36 will next be described in greater detail . an important aspect of the system is a system designed to mechanically detect the presence and passage of the underside of a railcar wheel truck bogey frame side member rather than detecting the passage of a wheel or other portion of the car . the system is also one used to control raising and lowering of a corresponding dog based on the operation of the bogey frame detection system of the invention . the detection system utilizes a spring - biased lever - operated concept to flex a resilient member which , in turn , depresses a valve opening pushbutton during the interval that a follower is held down under the underside of a bogey frame side member , thereby opening a normally closed hydraulic valve which , in turn , causes a hydraulic cylinder to raise a corresponding dog . as seen in the fig3 - 7 , the bogey frame detection and dog - operating system of the invention includes a follower wheel 50 attached to a shaft 52 which , in turn , is mounted in a lever or crank arm 54 , which is fixed to rotate an operating rod or shaft 56 . a spacer sleeve member is provided at 58 . the shaft 56 is , in turn , supported and mounted to rotate in sleeve 60 and openings in spaced parallel support gusset members 62 and 64 , which are mounted on a carriage platform member 66 ( fig4 ). a combination spring - mounting rod 68 and pusher device 70 with extension 72 is provided , and is attached via an operating arm 74 fixed using a clevis - type mount to rotate with operating shaft 56 . the rod 68 is adapted to carry a pair of compression springs 76 and 78 , which are carried and maintained on either side of a deflection plate 80 having an opening 82 through which a free end of rod 68 is mounted . a washer 84 is fixed to the free end of rod 68 to retain the spring 76 . a normally closed , spring - biased valve device 86 ( see fig7 ) is mounted in fixed relation to the carriage frame and is equipped with a resilient depressible operating pushbutton as at 88 which operates against an internal spring 89 ( fig7 ). deflection plate 76 is fixed to a resilient flexing member 90 , the underside of which is utilized to operate the pushbutton 88 of valve 86 . a hold - down plate or “ flag ” lever 92 is also fixed to operating rod 56 and a return or release spring 94 for flag lever 92 is provided mounted in a hollow cylinder 96 fixed to the member 90 . a further counter - balance spring for counter - balancing the member 90 is shown at 98 and is mounted between an end of member 90 and a flange member 100 fixed to gusset 64 to counter - balance the major portion of the member 90 and associated parts , which are offset with respect to shaft 56 . the dog 32 is operated to be raised and lowered by a cylinder 102 having a rod 104 mounted between a clevis 96 attached to the dog 32 as by rod eye 108 and a heavy retaining gusset member 110 fixed to the carriage frame member 111 . a stop 112 is provided to address and receive the pusher face 114 of the dog 32 when it is in the down or dropped position as shown in fig4 . the fully rearward or return position of an indexer of the invention is shown best in the fragmentary perspective view of fig4 in which dogs and followers both are in a hold - down mode . as seen in the fig1 , the guideway is further provided with a fixed heavy vertical gusset member 120 on which is mounted a hold - down roller 122 which is designed to rotate flag member 92 and hold it down at the end of a return stroke of the indexer . a further fixed heavy gusset member 124 is provided spaced from member 120 and carries a knock - down plate 126 fixed thereto . the knock - down plate further carries a proximity sensor 126 which senses the proximity of a fixed member 128 when the indexer is fully retracted . detection of the member 128 by the proximity switch disables raising of the dog 32 . in this position , as shown in fig4 , by operation of flag member 92 , follower roller 50 is held in a down position in the opposite direction of that which occurs upon encountering a bogey frame side member when the indexer is advanced . thus , valve 86 remains closed . fig6 depicts the parts of the exploded view of fig5 in an assembled condition with the dog in the raised position and the follower wheel 50 and arm 54 also in the fully upright position . this configuration would occur as the carriage begins its retraction part of the cycle and the follower 50 comes out from under a bogey frame , but the dog 32 has not yet dropped or been pushed down . fig7 depicts a fragmentary schematic view of a portion of a hydraulic system utilized to operate an indexer in accordance with the present invention . the view includes a pair of hydraulic lines 140 and 142 connected to a carriage - moving cylinder 144 through respective solenoid valves 146 and 148 . a second , serially connected carriage - moving cylinder is shown at 150 and additional serially connected cylinders for moving the carriage back and forth are not illustrated . a typical system will have four serially connected cylinders which add up to a total stroke for the left or right indexer of about 65 feet . this is sufficient distance to accommodate any normal inter - bogey frame interval . a by - pass hydraulic line is shown at 152 which is connected by a hydraulic valve 86 to operate dog cylinder 102 . an additional solenoid valve is shown at 154 and check valves are depicted at 156 and 158 . a simplified sectional view of a typical indexer cylinder as at 150 is shown in fig8 and includes a rod 160 having hydraulic connections at 162 and 164 and cylinder connections at 166 and 168 . an internal by - pass line shown at 170 , which provides fluid to extend the next cylinder , as shown in fig7 , and also fluid to retract the dog cylinder 102 and thereby raise the dog 32 . adequate under and over pressure protection is provided in the hydraulic system in a well known manner and the operational description assumes pressures and volumes within operating limits . in operation , the left and right indexer systems coordinate the operation of the carriages 26 and 28 and the respective dogs 30 and 32 to operate in unison against a bogey frame . thus , the operation of the system starts with indexers fully retracted with the dogs down and the sensing follower wheels in a locked down position as shown in the fragmentary view of fig4 . owing to the amount of fluid which must be pumped to operate the system in the hunting mode , i . e ., looking for a bogey frame to push , although both left and right indexers are activated , normally one will lead moving its carriage forward . using the illustrated indexer example of the detailed embodiment will proceed until the follower 50 encounters the underside of a bogey frame side member and crank arm member 54 is pivoted to the left , as shown in fig2 and 3 . rotation of the follower crank arm as at 54 rotates the operating rod 56 in a counterclockwise direction based on fig2 and 6 , which pivots arm 74 and causes the pusher 70 and rod 68 to be displaced to the left thereby compressing spring 78 and releasing the compression on spring 76 . spring 78 thus pushes against plate 80 which , in turn , causes a downward flexure of member 90 depressing pushbutton valve operator 88 eventually with sufficient force to overcome the biasing of spring 89 and open the valve 86 as shown best in the fragmentary hydraulic schematic of fig7 . the depression of pushbutton 88 is resisted by and must overcome the resistance of spring 89 and , nominally , about 100 pounds force is necessary to open valve 86 and maintain it in the open position . the opening of valve 86 allows hydraulic fluid to flow to and retract cylinder 102 which , in turn , causes the connected dog 32 to be raised into pushing position . after the first raised dog is in position against the corresponding bogey frame side member , the other indexer of the pair will perform the same sequence until both indexer dogs are in pushing position against the corresponding bogey frame side members . further extension of the serially - connected carriage - moving cylinders will propel the bogey frame and connected car or cars along the tracks as desired . by using the balanced force of both right and left indexers against a bogey frame , a total force of 40 tons or more is available to advance the cars . at the end of the total stroke or when it is desired to reverse the system , the serially - connected carriage - moving cylinders are caused to retract which , in turn , causes the follower wheel as at 50 to move out from under the bogey frame member 16 and thereby resume its upright position releasing the deflection on member 90 as aided by counter - balance spring 98 , thereby releasing pushbutton 88 and closing valve 86 . this enables the corresponding cylinder 102 to extend and allows the dogs as at 32 to drop . when the system is fully retracted , it resumes the initial position as previously described . the system can then be re - extended to encounter the next desired bogey frame . of course , the system may be stopped at any time when a car of interest is properly positioned for loading or unloading . while the above - described detailed embodiment describes a railcar indexer system which operates to move the cars in a single direction , it will be appreciated that each carriage could also carry a pair of oppositely disposed dogs in a well known manner to achieve a reversing system using the wheel truck bogey frame side member detecting system of the present invention . a system could also be built to be operated in the manner of a progressor , also in a well known manner , which would be familiar to those skilled in the art . this invention has been described herein in considerable detail in order to comply with the patent statutes and to provide those skilled in the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use embodiments of the example as required . however , it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different devices and that various modifications can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself . | 1 |
the following paragraphs will describe various embodiments of the present invention . for exemplary purposes only , most of the embodiments are outlined in relation to a umts communication system and the terminology used in the subsequent sections mainly relates to the umts terminology . however , the used terminology and the description of the embodiments with respect to an umts architecture is not intended to limit the principles and ideas of the present inventions to such systems . generally , the principles of the present invention may be applicable to any kind of mobile communication systems , for example to communication systems based on the imt - 2000 framework . as will become apparent one of the various aspects of the present invention relates to controlling the amount of information in retransmissions to a minimum level such that — e . g . after soft combining an initial transmission with at least one retransmission — decoding of the transmitted data becomes possible . as will be explained in greater detail below , controlling the amount of information in retransmissions may decrease the required transmission power for the retransmissions which may lead to a significant decrease of the interference on the air interface caused by retransmissions . within this document the term “ information ” may for example refer to systematic bits and parity bits of an error - correcting code ( fec ) when using a harq protocol employing chase combining . if for example an incremental redundancy scheme is employed , the information may comprise parity bits only . it is noted that generally and depending on the employed retransmission protocol the data transmitted in the retransmissions may comprise redundancy only , systematic bits only or a combination thereof . in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention it may be assumed that the initial transmission of a data packet is transmitted with a higher priority in terms of power than retransmissions . in case that initial transmissions do not meet the typical block error rates ( bler ) and are transmitted with very little power only , then the retransmission transmit power may be higher than the transmit power of the initial transmissions . however , uplink transmissions may be subject to fast power control , for example when considering the case of e - dch . due to the fast power control , the received snr ( signal to noise ratio ) of a failed transmission may be only slightly smaller than the target sir , which is required for a successful decoding . therefore if a retransmission for a data packet is transmitted with the same transmission power as the initial transmission of the data packet associated thereto — e . g . in the case of chase combining — the combined snr after soft combining may exceed the required snr significantly . so the transmit power for retransmissions may be reduced without reducing the probability of a successful decoding . according to an embodiment of the present invention , a limitation of the uplink interference may be achieved for example by reducing the number of bits transmitted in the retransmission data packet . the information transmitted in the retransmission packet may comprise systematic as well as parity bits . in case a smaller amount of information than in the initial transmission is transmitted in the retransmissions , less power may be required to send the retransmissions . consequently , less uplink interference may be caused . however , when the number of bits ( information ), sent in the retransmission , is not sufficient for a successful decoding further retransmissions may be required , which may increase delay . considering the example of a umts communication system , one method to control the amount of information transmitted in the retransmissions may be controlling the transport format combination set ( tfcs ), from which ue can select a transport format combination ( tfc ) for the retransmission . a node b may restrict the transport formats ( tfs ) of the transport channel , the retransmissions are transmitted on , such that less information than in the initial transmission may be transmitted in the retransmission . this method may provide node b with some control on the amount of information and , as a result , provides control on the uplink interference caused by the retransmissions . however , the decrease in the uplink interference may imply additional control signaling . furthermore ue may monitor a scheduling related downlink control channel in order to receive the control message restricting the amount of information for the retransmissions . the ue may either constantly monitor the scheduling related downlink control channel or alternatively , a negative feedback message may indicate to the ue that a control message should be received a predetermined time span after receiving the negative feedback message . the later option may enable the ue to save power in case there is no need to constantly monitor the scheduling related downlink control channel . in fig1 shows a harq protocol with synchronous retransmissions and tfcs restriction by node b for the retransmissions according to one embodiment of the present invention . it should be noted that propagation delays of the different messages are not shown in the figure . first the ue being the transmitting entity transmits a data packet to the receiving entity , for example a node b . the data packet may be an initial transmission of data or a retransmission . if the decoding of a received data packet has failed , node b may transmit a nack to the corresponding ue . the decoding attempt of the data packet is illustrated by the processing time t nodebprocess . a tfc control message may be transmitted on a control channel . as outlined above the transmission of the tfc control message may either be simultaneously to the nack or may be delayed . this tfc control message may restrict the tfcs at the ue from which the ue may choose one transport format combination for the retransmission . the tfcs may for example be reduced by one step , e . g . using a rate down command , or by several steps , e . g . tfcs indicator . for example upon elapse of a predetermined time period upon having received the nack t sync the ue may retransmit a data packet , i . e . send a retransmission data packet to the node b . according to another embodiment of the present invention , node b may also set the tfcs to zero in an extreme case . when using a synchronous retransmission mode , this may indicate to the ue not to transmit the retransmission at the synchronous timing . another embodiment of the present invention provides a variation of the previously described embodiments . according to this embodiment , node b may set the tfcs according to the reception quality of the received data packets . for example , when using a harq protocol with incremental redundancy ( ir ), node b may control the amount of redundancy in the retransmissions by tfcs restriction control . if only little additional redundancy is required for a successful decoding after soft combining of the retransmission and previously stored transmissions , then node b may restrict the tfcs of the ue . node b may estimate the required additional redundancy for a successful decoding based on the reception quality of the already received transmissions of a data packet , i . e . the initial transmission and retransmissions that have been already transmitted for the data packet . the already received transmissions of a data packet may for example be soft combined , and the necessary redundancy may be determined based on the combined data . the reception quality may be for example measured based on the soft decisions output ( log likelihood ratios ) of the decoder . the log likelihood ratio ( llr ) of a bit is generally defined as the logarithm of the ratio of probabilities . therefore it carries some information about the reliability of the bit decision . the sign of the llr represents the bit decision ( for example ‘−’ equals 1 and ‘+’ equals 0 ). the absolute value of a llr may represent the reliability of the bit decision . if the bit decision for example is not very confident , the absolute value of the llr is very small . furthermore the reception quality may for example also be measured using a received signal strength value , a signal to interference ratio ( sir ) or a combination of possible measurement parameters . so far the embodiments outlined above discussed the ease that node b or the receiving harq protocol entity restricts the maximum amount of information ( bits ) provided in the retransmission . in case the additional information transmitted in the retransmission is not sufficient for a successful decoding , further retransmissions may be required which may hence lead to an increased delay . therefore , according to another embodiment of the present invention , it may be useful if the receiving entity also signals to the transmitting entity the minimum amount of information , which may be transmitted in the retransmission . hence , the transmitting entity may decide for example depending on the current transmission buffer status and the available transmit power , whether to transmit more than the indicated minimum amount of information or not . depending on the accuracy of the estimation for the additional information required for a successful decoding , the harq protocol operation may be further optimized if the receiving entity ( for example node b ) sets an upper as well as lower limit of the amount of information for the retransmissions . a further approach for reducing the uplink interference may be to use a longer transmission time interval ( tti ) length for the retransmissions . initial transmissions may be for example sent in a 2 ms tti and the retransmissions in a 10 ms tti . considering again for exemplary purposes only a umts communication system , one e - dch may be configured with a 2 ms tti length and may be used for the initial transmissions and another e - dch with 10 ms tti length may be used for the transmission of the retransmission data packets . this may reduce interference caused by retransmissions , since the spreading factor may be increased if retransmissions are transmitted with a longer tti . hence less transmit power may be required due to a higher processing gain and thus interference may be controlled . furthermore a longer tti may provides more time diversity which may also allow for a further decrease of the transmit power of retransmission data packets . if the transmission power for retransmissions may be reduced , the saved power may be allocated to other ues ( initial transmissions ), which may increase the cell throughput in consequence . fig1 shows a flow chart of the interference control method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . according to this exemplary example , in a first step 1201 , a transmitting entity , for example a ue , transmits a data packet or ( retransmission data packet ) to the receiving entity , for example a node b . upon receiving the data packet in step 1202 , the receiving entity may determine whether the data packet has been successfully decoded or not in step 1203 . if the data packet has been successfully decoded , a positive feedback message , such as an ack may be sent to the transmitting entity in step 1204 . otherwise , a negative feedback , such as a nack , may be transmitted to the transmitting entity in step 1205 . essentially in parallel to the negative feedback or delayed thereto a further control message which may restrict the amount of information in a retransmission for the unsuccessfully received data packet may be provided to the transmitting entity in step 1206 . when considering for exemplary purposes only a umts system , a tfc control message may be used to restrict the tfcs of a ue such that the retransmission will comprise a reduced amount of information . in step 1208 , the transmitting entity may receive the feedback from the receiving entity , and may next determine which type of feedback has been received for the data packet transmitted in step 1201 . if a positive feedback has been received , the transmitting entity may proceed and send the next data packet waiting in the queue ( see step 1209 ). in case a negative feedback has been received in step 1207 , the transmitting entity may receive the control message transmitted from the receiving entity in step 1210 . in an alternative variation of this embodiment , this message may be received via a scheduling related control channel , while the feedback may have been received via an acknowledgement channel . further , it should be noted that though fig1 indicates a specific sequence of steps 1207 , 1208 and 1210 the reception of the control message in step 1210 may also be performed in parallel to step 1207 , i . e . before judging the type of feedback in step 1208 . in the latter exemplary case , the scheduling related control channel via which the control message is transmitted may be constantly monitored . this may be for example because other control information may need to be obtained from this channel for data transmission and reception purposes , such as scheduling , rate control , etc . alternatively , as indicated in fig1 the control message may also be transmitted delayed to the feedback message , to allow the transmitting entity to receive the feedback , to determine its type and to start monitoring the control channel for the control message transmitted from the receiving entity . as outlined above , the information in the control message received in step 1210 may be used in step 1211 to form a retransmission data packet , comprising an amount of information as indicated in the control message . upon forming the retransmission data packet same may be transmitted to the receiving entity in step 1212 . further , feedback for the retransmitted data packet is provided in a similar manner as described above with reference to blocks 1202 to 1207 . in step 1203 , the initially transmitted data packet may be soft combined with the retransmissions prior to decoding . the embodiments of the present invention described with reference to fig1 may be understood as a new improved 1 - channel . saw harq protocol . the skilled person will recognize that it may also be possible to use the method shown in fig1 in a n - channel harq protocol , wherein n processes as shown in fig1 are performed in parallel . moreover , another embodiment of the present invention relates to the implementation of the above described various embodiments using hardware and software . it is recognized that the various above mentioned methods as well as the various logical blocks , modules , circuits described above may be implemented or performed using computing devices , as for example general purpose processors , digital signal processors ( dsp ), application specific integrated circuits ( asic ), field programmable gate arrays ( fpga ) or other programmable logic devices , etc . the various embodiments of the present invention may also be performed or embodied by a combination of these devices . further , the various embodiments of the present invention may also be implemented by means of software modules which are executed by a processor or directly in hardware . also a combination of software modules and a hardware implementation may be possible . the software modules may be stored on any kind of computer readable storage media , for example ram , eprom , eeprom , flash memory , registers , hard disks , cd - rom , dvd , etc . it would be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that numerous variations and / or modifications may be made to the present invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described . the present embodiments are , therefore , to be considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive . | 7 |
referring now to the drawings , there is illustrated in fig1 an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of a vehicle wheel , indicated generally at 10 , including a vehicle wheel cover retention system in accordance with the present invention . the vehicle wheel 10 shown in this embodiment is a full face type of wheel , defines a vehicle wheel axis a , and includes a wheel rim 12 , a full face wheel disc 14 , a wheel cover 16 , and a cap 18 . although this invention is discussed in conjunction with the particular vehicle wheel disclosed herein , it will be appreciated that the invention may be used in conjunction with other types of vehicle wheel constructions . for example , the vehicle wheel can be a “ bead seat attached ” wheel ( such as shown in fig4 of u . s . pat . no . 5 , 188 , 429 to heck et al . ), a “ well attached ” vehicle wheel ( such as shown in fig3 of heck et al . ), a “ bimetal ” vehicle wheel construction including an aluminum wheel disc and a steel wheel rim ( such as shown in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 421 , 642 to wei et al . ), or a “ modular ” vehicle wheel construction including a “ partial ” wheel rim and a “ full face ” wheel disc ( such as shown in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 360 , 261 to archibald et al . ), all the disclosures of these patents incorporated herein by reference . the wheel rim 12 is a fabricated rim constructed of steel , aluminum , or other suitable alloy materials . the wheel rim 12 includes an inboard tire bead seat retaining flange 20 , an inboard tire bead seat 22 , a generally axially extending well 24 , and an outboard tire bead seat 26 . the wheel rim 12 further includes an opening ( not shown ) formed therein to accommodate a valve stem ( not shown ). the wheel disc 14 is forged , cast , fabricated , or otherwise formed , and is constructed of steel , aluminum , or other suitable alloy materials . the wheel disc 14 includes a generally centrally located wheel mounting surface 30 , and an outer annular portion 32 . the wheel mounting surface 30 is provided with a centrally located pilot aperture 30 a , and a plurality of lug bolt receiving holes 30 b ( five of such lug bolt receiving holes 30 b being illustrated in this embodiment ). the lug bolt receiving holes 30 b are adapted to receive lug bolts ( not shown ) for securing the vehicle wheel 10 on a vehicle axle ( not shown ). the outer annular portion 32 of the wheel disc 14 defines an outboard tire bead seat retaining flange 34 of the vehicle wheel 10 , and includes an outer surface 32 a and an inner surface 32 b , as shown in fig2 . to assemble the vehicle wheel 10 , an outboard end 26 a of the outboard tire bead seat 26 of the wheel rim 12 is positioned against the inner surface 32 b of the outer annular portion 32 of the wheel disc 14 and a weld 40 is provided to join the wheel disc 14 and the wheel rim 12 together as shown in fig2 . the wheel disc 14 further included a plurality of decorative windows 42 ( four of such windows 42 being illustrated in fig1 ). as shown in this embodiment , one of the windows 42 includes a cut - out portion 42 a ( shown in fig1 ), to accommodate the valve stem . the wheel cover 16 shown in this embodiment is preferably formed from stainless steel having a thickness of approximately 0 . 020 inch , and is painted , chrome - plated , polished , or otherwise finished . the wheel cover 16 is prefabricated to generally match the particular configuration of the outboard facing surface of the wheel disc 14 . in particular , the wheel cover 16 includes a plurality of decorative openings 44 formed therein which correspond to the windows 42 formed in the wheel disc 14 , and an enlarged central opening 46 . one of the openings 44 includes a cut - out portion 44 a which generally corresponds to the cut - out 42 a provided in the one window 42 to accommodate the valve stem . alternatively , the wheel cover can be formed from other materials if desired . the openings 44 in the wheel cover 16 are preferably formed by a stamping operation . also , as best shown in fig2 edges 50 of the wheel cover openings 44 preferably extend slightly past edges 52 of the windows 42 to effectively overlap the edges 52 of the windows 42 . as a result of this , when as wheel cover 16 which has been chrome - plated is joined to the wheel disc 14 , the completely assembled vehicle wheel 10 of the present invention has the appearance of a “ chrome - plated ” wheel . as shown in this embodiment , the cap 18 is secured to the wheel disc 14 by a plurality of fasteners 54 ( only one of such fasteners 54 being illustrated in fig1 ). the fasteners 54 extend through openings 56 formed in the cap 18 , and are received in threaded inserts 58 which are secured in openings provided in the wheel mounting surface 30 of the wheel disc 14 . an inner edge 16 a of the wheel cover 16 can either be located outside an outer peripheral edge 18 a of the cap 18 ( indicated generally at 60 in fig2 ), or , alternatively , the inner edge 16 a of the wheel cover 16 can extend radially inwardly and under outer peripheral edge 18 a of the cap 18 ( not shown ). as shown in fig3 the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange 34 of the wheel disc 14 includes a generally smooth , rounded outer peripheral end 62 , and a circumferential , radially outwardly facing groove or recess 64 . preferably , the peripheral end 62 and the groove 64 are formed by a machining operation to predetermined specifications . however , the peripheral end 62 and / or the groove 64 can be formed by other methods . for example , the peripheral end 62 and / or the groove 64 can be formed by a stamping operation or a spinning operation . the groove 64 is formed in the inner surface 32 b of the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange 34 of the wheel disc 14 , and is defined by a first surface 66 which extends in a generally axial direction , and a second surface 68 which extends in a generally radial direction a predetermined distance x . in particular , the surfaces 66 and 68 are oriented at predetermined angles b and c , respectively , relative to a reference line y which is defined by the inner surface 32 b of the wheel disc 14 and is generally perpendicular to the wheel axis a . the angle b is in the range of 60 ° to 80 °, and the angle c is in the range of 60 ° to 120 °. preferably , as illustrated in this embodiment , the angle b is approximately 70 °, and the angle c is approximately 90 °. as will be discussed below , the distance x is selected to that an outer end , indicated generally at 70 , of the wheel cover 16 is preferably completely recessed within the groove 64 . also , as will be discussed , a mechanical lock is formed when the outer end 70 of the wheel cover 16 is disposed in the groove 64 so as to function as the primary retention means of the wheel cover 16 to the wheel disc 14 of the associated vehicle wheel . the outer end 70 of the wheel cover 16 defines an outer surface 72 , an inner surface 74 , and an outer annular lip 76 . the outer annular lip 76 defines an outer peripheral edge 78 . as shown in this embodiment , the inner surface 74 of the wheel cover 16 contacts the adjacent first surface 66 of the groove 64 , and the outer peripheral edge 78 of the wheel cover 16 is spaced slightly from the adjacent second surface 68 of the groove 64 ; however , in some instances , depending upon the uniformity of the outer peripheral edge 78 dimension of the wheel cover 16 , there may be some contact ( not shown ) between the outer peripheral edge 78 and the second surface 68 to accommodate small dimensional changes in the outer peripheral edge 78 of the wheel cover 16 . the outer peripheral edge 78 of the wheel cover 16 defines an outer circle 80 . in order to assist in securing the wheel cover 16 to the wheel disc 14 , a sealant / adhesive 82 , such as a silicone or two - part epoxy , is utilized . a suitable two - part epoxy is fusor 380 / 383 or fusor 320 / 322 , both manufactured by lord corporation . the sealant / adhesive 82 is preferably selectively applied on the outboard face of the wheel disc 14 in a predetermined pattern so that when the wheel cover 16 is installed on the wheel disc 14 , a smearing of the sealant / adhesive 82 over substantially the entire outboard face of the wheel disc 14 occurs . the predetermined pattern can be similar to that disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 435 , 631 to maloney et al ., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . the predetermined pattern of the sealant / adhesive 82 preferably creates voids or gaps 82 a ( shown in fig3 ) in the sealant / adhesive coverage where sealing may not be required . the sealant / adhesive 82 functions to assist in securing the wheel cover 16 to the wheel disc 14 . in particular , as will be discussed , the adhesive / sealant functions to retain the wheel cover 16 on lo the wheel disc 14 until the outer end 70 of the wheel cover 16 is deformed and disposed in the groove 64 in a “ mechanical lock ” therewith . also , the pattern of the adhesive 82 is effective to provide a seal and prevent water , mud , salt and other debris from entering between the wheel cover 16 and the outboard facing surface of the wheel disc 14 . alternatively , the application of the sealant / adhesive 82 can be other than illustrated if desired . for example , the sealant / adhesive 82 can be selectively applied to an inner surface 16 c of the wheel cover 16 in a predetermined pattern , or can be selectively applied to both the outboard face of the wheel disc 14 and the inner surface of the wheel cover 16 in a predetermined pattern . the distance x of the second surface 76 of the groove 64 is at least equal to a thickness t of the wheel cover 16 so that the outer circle 80 of the wheel cover 16 is recessed relative to the inner surface 32 b of the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange 34 of the associated wheel disc 14 . this effectively hides the outer peripheral edge 78 of the wheel cover 16 . preferably , the distance x is greater than the thickness t of the wheel cover 16 to accommodate the natural spring back of the outer end 70 of the wheel cover 16 . for example , if the wheel cover 16 has a thickness of approximately 0 . 020 inch , the distance x is approximately 0 . 030 inch . also , the outer end 70 of the wheel cover 16 is preferably sized to ensure that an end of a wheel balance weight ( not shown ) is frictionally retained on the outer surface 72 of the wheel cover 16 and not on the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange 34 of the vehicle wheel 10 . referring now to fig4 through 9 , there is illustrated a first sequence of operations for producing the vehicle wheel 10 in accordance with this invention . initially , as shown in fig4 the wheel cover 16 is positioned adjacent an outer surface 14 a of the wheel disc 14 with a tool 100 positioned adjacent a portion of an outer surface 16 a of the wheel cover 16 . the tool 100 is mounted on a support member ( not shown ) which allows the tool 100 to travel in an generally axial direction toward the wheel disc 14 . in this embodiment , the sealant / adhesive 82 is preferably applied to the outer surface 32 a of the wheel disc 14 . alternatively , the sealant / adhesive 82 can be applied to the inner surface 16 b of the wheel cover 16 , or to both the outer surface 32 a of the wheel disc 14 and the inner surface 16 b of the wheel cover 16 . as shown in fig4 the wheel cover 16 is prefabricated in such a manner so as to generally correspond to the profile of the outer surface 32 a of the wheel disc 14 except near the outer peripheral end 62 thereof wherein an outer end 16 c of the wheel cover 16 extends in a generally radially outwardly extending direction . alternatively , as shown in phantom in fig4 an outer end 16 c ′ of the wheel cover 16 can have a generally u - shaped configuration which generally corresponds to the configuration of the outer peripheral end 62 of the wheel disc 14 . as shown in fig5 the tool 100 is moved in a generally axial direction toward the wheel disc 14 and presses the wheel cover 16 against the wheel disc 14 in a predetermined position . in particular , the tool 100 is effective to space the inner surface 16 b of the wheel cover 16 a predetermined distance d ( shown in fig3 ) from the outer surface 32 a of the wheel disc 14 such that there is a sufficient thickness of the sealant / adhesive 82 at the interface between the wheel disc 14 and the wheel cover 16 . the distance d is generally equal to the sum of the thickness of the wheel cover 16 and a desired adhesive / sealant 82 thickness : following this , as shown in fig6 - 8 , the outer end 16 c of the wheel cover 16 is engaged by a tool 102 which is operative to form or reshape the outer end 16 c over the outer peripheral end 62 of the wheel disc 14 so as to mechanically lock the wheel cover 16 to the wheel disc 14 and form the finished wheel 10 . in the illustrated embodiment , the tool 102 is in the shape of a generally round wheel and is mounted on a support member ( not shown ) which allows the tool 102 to be moved in a generally circular path relative to the outer peripheral end 62 of the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange 34 of the wheel disc 14 . in the illustrated embodiment , the tool 100 and the tool 102 are separate components . alternatively , the tool 100 and the tool 102 can be other than illustrated if desired . for example , the tool 100 and the tool 102 can be formed as part of a unitary tool component . as best shown in fig9 in this embodiment the tool 102 has a leading or front end 102 a and a trailing or rear end 102 b . the leading end 102 a of the tool 102 defines a first tool diameter f 1 , and the trailing end 102 b of the tool 102 defines a second tool diameter f 2 which is less than the first tool diameter f 1 . as will be discussed , the leading end 102 a of the tool 102 is operative to initially engage the outer end 16 c of the wheel cover 16 , and the tool 102 is selectively moved relative to the vehicle wheel 10 and the wheel cover 16 so that the trailing end 102 b of the tool 102 is operative to final form the outer end 16 c of the wheel cover 16 into the groove 64 . as shown in fig6 and 7 of this embodiment , the tool 102 is advanced in a generally axial direction as shown by arrow r in fig6 causing the leading tool end 102 a to initially engage and deform the outer end 16 c of the wheel cover 16 . as the vehicle wheel 10 is rotated , the tool 102 is also progressively rotated at a desired rate relative thereto so that the tool 102 is operative to deform the outer end 16 c of the wheel cover 16 into the groove 64 so as to mechanically lock the wheel cover 16 to the wheel disc 14 and produce the finished vehicle wheel 10 having a finished outer end 16 d , shown in fig8 which is seated in the groove 64 in accordance with the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , since the wheel cover 16 is formed from a relatively strong material , this movement does not cause a thinning of the thickness of the wheel cover 16 but only is effective to deform the outer end 16 c of the wheel cover 16 and cause the finish formed outer end 16 d to seat into the groove 64 . in this embodiment , the vehicle wheel 10 rotates and the tool 102 rotates relative thereto . alternatively , depending upon the particular construction of the tool 102 ( and the tool 100 ), the movement of one or more of the vehicle wheel 10 , the tool 100 , and the tool 102 can be other than illustrated if desired . turning now to fig1 through 13 , and using like reference numbers to for corresponding parts , there is illustrated a second embodiment of a vehicle wheel 10 ′ including a “ full ” wheel rim 12 ′, a wheel disc 14 ′, and a wheel cover 16 ′, and a second sequence of operations for installing the wheel cover 16 ′ in a groove 64 ′ of the associated vehicle wheel 10 ′. as shown in this embodiment , the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange 34 ′ of the wheel rim 12 ′ of the vehicle wheel 10 ′ includes a generally smooth , rounded outer peripheral end 62 ′, a circumferential , radially outwardly facing first groove 64 ′, and a circumferential , radially outwardly facing second groove 164 . preferably , the peripheral end 62 ′, the first groove 64 ′, and the second groove 164 are formed by a machining operation to predetermined specifications . however , one or more of the peripheral end 62 ′, the first groove 64 ′, and the second groove 164 can be formed by other methods . for example , the peripheral end 62 ′ and / or the grooves 64 ′ and 164 can be formed by a stamping operation or a spinning operation . the first groove 64 ′ is formed in an inner surface 32 b ′ of the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange 34 ′ of the vehicle wheel 10 , and is defined by a first surface 66 ′ which extends in a generally axial direction , and a second surface 68 ′ which extends in a generally radial direction a predetermined distance x ′. in particular , the surfaces 66 ′ and 68 ′ are oriented at predetermined angles b ′ and c ′, respectively , relative to a reference line y ′ which is parallel to an inner surface 14 a ′( shown in fig1 ) of the vehicle wheel 10 ′ and which is generally perpendicular to the wheel axis a ′. the angle b ′ is in the range of 60 ° to 120 °, and the angle c ′ is in the range of 55 ° to 95 °. preferably , as illustrated in this embodiment , the angle b ′ is approximately 90 °, and the angle c ′ is approximately 75 °. as will be discussed below , the distance x ′ is selected so that an outer end , indicated generally at 70 ′, of the wheel cover 16 ′ is preferably completely recessed within the groove 64 ′. also , as will be discussed , a mechanical lock is formed when the outer end 70 ′ of the wheel cover 16 ′ is disposed in the groove 66 ′( and also the groove 164 ) so as to function as the primary retention means of the wheel cover 16 ′ to the wheel disc 14 ′ of the associated vehicle wheel . the second groove 164 is formed in an outer surface 32 a ′ of the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange 34 ′ of the vehicle wheel 10 ′ and is defined by a first surface 166 ′ which extends in a generally axial direction , and a second surface 168 ′ which extends in a generally radial direction . in particular , the surfaces 166 ′ and 168 ′ are oriented at predetermined angles b 1 ′ and c 1 ′, respectively , relative to the reference line y . the angle b 1 ′ is in the range of 70 ° to 130 °, and the angle c 1 ′ is in the range of 55 ° to 95 °. preferably , as illustrated in this embodiment , the angle b 1 ′ is approximately 100 °, and the angle c 1 ′ is approximately 75 °. as shown in fig1 , in the fully assembled vehicle wheel 10 ′, an inner surface 74 ′ of the wheel cover 16 ′ is slightly spaced from contact with the adjacent first surface 166 ′ of the first groove 64 ′ and the adjacent second surface 168 ′ of the second groove 164 ′; however , in some instances , depending upon the uniformity of the wheel cover 16 ′, there may be some contact ( not shown ) between the inner surface 74 ′ and one or both of the first surface 166 ′ and the second surface 168 ′ to accommodate small dimensional changes in the wheel cover 16 ′. in order to assist in securing the wheel cover 16 ′ to the vehicle wheel 10 ′, a sealant / adhesive 82 ′, such as a silicone or two - part epoxy , is utilized . the sealant / adhesive 82 ′ is preferably selectively applied on the outboard face of the vehicle wheel 10 ′ in a predetermined pattern so that when the wheel cover 16 ′ is installed thereon , a smearing of the sealant / adhesive 82 ′ over substantially the entire outboard face of the vehicle wheel disc 10 ′ occurs . the predetermined pattern of the sealant / adhesive 82 ′ creates voids or gaps 82 a ′ in the sealant / adhesive coverage where sealing may not be required . the sealant / adhesive 82 ′ assists in securing the wheel cover 16 ′ to the vehicle wheel 10 ′. in particular , as will be discussed , the adhesive / sealant functions to retain the wheel cover 16 ′ on the wheel disc 14 until the outer end 70 ′ of the wheel cover 16 ′ is deformed and disposed in the groove 64 ′ in a “ mechanical lock ” therewith . also , the pattern of the adhesive 82 is effective to provide a seal and prevent water , mud , salt and other debris from entering between the wheel cover 16 and the outboard facing surface of the vehicle wheel 10 ′. alternatively , the sealant / adhesive 82 ′ can be selectively applied to an inner surface 16 b ′ of the wheel cover 16 ′ in a predetermined pattern , or can be selectively applied to both the outboard face of the vehicle wheel disc 10 ′ and the inner surface 16 b ′ of the wheel cover 16 ′ in a predetermined pattern . the distance x ′ of the second surface 68 ′ of the groove 64 ′ is at least equal to a thickness of the wheel cover 16 ′ so that an outer circle 80 ′ of the wheel cover 16 ′ is recessed relative to an inner surface 32 b ′ of the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange 34 ′ of the associated wheel disc 14 ′. this effectively hides an outer peripheral edge 78 ′ of the wheel cover 16 ′. preferably , the distance x ′ is greater than the thickness of the wheel cover 16 ′ to accommodate the natural spring back of the outer end 70 ′ of the wheel cover 16 ′. for example , if the wheel cover 16 ′ has a thickness of approximately 0 . 020 inch , the distance x ′ is approximately 0 . 030inch . also , the outer end 70 ′ of the wheel cover 16 ′ is preferably sized to ensure that an end of a wheel balance weight ( not shown ) is frictionally retained on an outer surface 72 ′ thereof and not on the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange 34 ′ of the associated vehicle wheel 10 ′. as shown in fig1 , to fully install the wheel cover 16 ′ on the vehicle wheel 10 , a forming roller 102 ′ supported by a support member 108 is actuated to engage and deform an outer end 16 c ′ of the wheel cover 16 ′ and cause the finish formed outer end 70 ′ to seat into the groove 64 ′ so as to mechanically lock the wheel cover 16 ′ to the wheel disc 14 ′ and produce the finished vehicle wheel 10 ′. in accordance with the provisions of the patents statues , the principle and mode of operation of this invention have been described and illustrated in its preferred embodiments . however , it must be understood that the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically explained and illustrated without departing from the scope or spirit of the attached claims . | 1 |
the present invention may be further understood with reference to the following description and the appended drawings , wherein like elements are provided with the same reference numerals . the present invention relates to a universal physical interface that allows for the quick and simple permanent or non - permanent attachment of multiple external accessories to a single mct . the electrical contacts of the mct &# 39 ; s expansion interface are extended through each successive accessory so that the combined accessories may operate concurrently , eliminating the need to remove any previous attachments . fig1 shows an exemplary embodiment of an mct 100 according to the present invention . no external accessories are attached , exposing the universal physical interface components . the mct 100 may be any type of computer or processor based mobile device ( e . g ., a bar code reader , a pda , a two - way pager , a mobile phone , a mobile optical reader , a digital camera , a music player , etc .). the mct 100 may be portable and sufficiently small to be easily carried . the mct 100 may be designed for a plurality of different uses / functionalities ( e . g ., reading bar codes , capturing images , playing music , etc .) and may have a plurality of integrated software and / or hardware components . various additional uses / functionalities may be added to the mct 100 through separate software and / or hardware modules . the mct 100 may take on one or more additional functionalities through at least one expansion interface . in one embodiment , the mct 100 is based on a personal digital assistant (“ pda ”) such as those running the microsoft pocket pc 2003 operating system , or similar . in the exemplary embodiment of fig1 , the mct 100 includes a display 102 , hard keys 104 , an expansion interface 150 , and recess slots 110 , 120 , 130 , and 140 . the display 102 may be any screen that provides visual output to the user . manual input by the user may be accomplished through the hard keys 104 , or if the display 102 is touch sensitive , through soft keys appearing on the display 102 , or a combination thereof . the expansion interface 150 may be an interface capable of connecting an external accessory 200 to at least a portion of an electrical architecture of the mct 100 ( e . g ., a usb interface , a firewire interface , a parallel interface , a serial interface , etc .). the recess slots 110 - 140 facilitate the attachment of the external accessory 200 to the mct 100 according to the present invention . each of the recess slots 110 - 140 is a “ female ” receiving component that accepts a “ male ” counterpart of the external accessory 200 . in particular , the recess slots 110 - 140 form cavities on side surfaces of the mct 100 that may be coupled with corresponding protrusions molded onto surfaces of the external accessory 200 . in order to avoid obstructing the display 102 , the hard keys 104 , or any other functional element on the mct 100 surface , the expansion interface 150 and the recess slots 110 - 140 may be located together near either the top or bottom of the mct 100 . thus , with the external accessory 120 attached , only the areas immediately housing those components are blocked and unavailable to the user . running up from both side surfaces of the mct 100 are a first pair of identical recess slots 110 . within the recess slots 110 are a second pair of smaller recess slots 120 that retreat deeper into the mct 100 body , which allow the external accessory 200 with complementary tabs or wings to snap rigidly onto the mct 100 . for a more permanent attachment , each of the recess slots 120 may house a brass insert recess slot 130 lined with spiral threads that may accept the treaded rod of a screw . furthermore , to prevent the attached external accessory 200 from rotating around the mct 100 , a third pair of recess slots 140 may be added to a plane on the bottom surface of the mct 100 . the foregoing embodiment of the mct 100 should not be construed so as to limit the present invention in any way . as will be apparent to those skilled in the art , different types of mcts may be used so long the recess slots 110 - 140 of the present invention are included and the mcts may be expanded with additional accessories . the mcts may be of any portable size and shape , and may also include additional functional components not present in this exemplary embodiment ( e . g ., speakers , microphones , wireless network antennas , toggle buttons , removable memory devices , etc .). fig2 a shows an exemplary embodiment according to the present invention of the external accessory 200 attachable to the mct 100 . the main body of the accessory 200 houses components that provide one or more additional functionalities to the mct 100 . for example , the accessory 200 may be a wireless adapter that connects the mct 100 to a wireless local area network (“ wlan ”), a cablecup for recharging and / or wired data transfer , a magnetic stripe reader , a bar code scanner , a keyboard , a digital camera , a set of speakers , a memory device , a cradle for recharging a battery of the mct 100 , etc . those of skill in the art will understand that the exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be used with any external accessory and that the accessory 200 is only exemplary . extending from the body of the accessory 200 are a pair of wings 202 from which the “ male ” counterparts 210 , 220 and 240 to the “ female ” recess slots 110 , 120 , and 140 protrude . in particular , the protrusions 210 , 220 , and 240 complement the recess slots 110 , 120 , and 140 , respectively . in this exemplary embodiment of the present invention , attachment of the accessory 200 to the mct 100 only requires that the wings 202 be slid over the sides of the mct 100 so that the recess slots 110 , 120 , and 140 are engaged by their counterparts of the accessory 200 . once snapped into an attached position , the accessory 200 is rigidly secured and ready for operation with the mct 100 , provided that any necessary software modules are loaded . removal of the attached accessory 200 from the mct 100 may be accomplished by a pair of buttons 204 located on the outside of the wings 202 . the buttons 204 are connected to the protrusions 210 and 220 such that , when depressed , the buttons 204 trigger a mechanism that lifts the protrusions 210 and 220 away from the recess slots 110 and 120 , respectively . this may be accomplished , for example , if the bases of the wings 202 were hinged to the accessory 200 body , enabling the wings 202 to pivot away from the mct 100 sides when both the buttons 204 are depressed . with the protrusions 210 and 220 disengaged from the recess slots 110 and 120 , respectively , the accessory 200 and the mct 100 may be separated simply by being pulled apart into a disattached position . for a more permanent attachment , the accessory 200 may be screwed into the mct 100 through apertures 230 , which traverses the width of the wing 202 and through the protrusions 210 and 220 . like the brass insert recess slots 130 , the apertures 230 are lined with spiral threats only large enough to allow the threaded rod , but not the head , of a screw to pass . when the accessory 200 is attached to the mct 100 ( i . e ., in the attached position ), the apertures 230 are aligned with the brass insert recess slots 130 . as indicated above , in addition to providing a quick and simple way to attach the external accessory 200 to the mct 100 , the present invention also enables the concurrent operation of multiple external accessories 200 . an attached conventional external accessory may prevent further external accessories from operating with a mobile device . consequently , only one accessory may be attached at a time . by extending the expansion interface and incorporating a set of recess slots into the accessory &# 39 ; s body , however , the present invention allows an attachment of a potentially unlimited number of the accessories 200 to a single mct 100 . referring back to the exemplary embodiment of the accessory 200 , for example , the recess slots 310 - 340 of the accessory 200 body are substantially identical to the recess slots 110 - 140 , respectively , and thus , capable of engaging the physical interface components of another accessory . moreover , the expansion interface 150 of the mct 100 is duplicated by the expansion interface 350 of the accessory 200 . fig2 b shows a rear perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the accessory 200 . if the accessory 200 were the first accessory attached to the mct 100 , electrical contacts 355 may connect to at least a portion of the electrical architecture of the mct 100 through the expansion interface 150 . if instead the accessory 200 is to be attached to a further accessory ( not shown ) according to the present invention , the electrical contacts 355 may connect to at least a portion of an electrical architecture of that the further accessory through that other accessory &# 39 ; s expansion interface . therefore , the mct 100 may be indirectly connected to and function with the further accessory which is not immediately attached to it . if the additional accessories lacked their own power source , power may also be provided by the mct 100 via the inter - connected expansion interfaces . fig3 shows an exemplary embodiment of an mct 100 with the external accessory 200 is the attached position . the screws 125 may be used to permanently attached the accessory 200 to the mct 100 . as an example of an additional accessory that may be attached to the attached accessory 200 , fig4 a shows an exemplary embodiment of a charging cradle 400 . in this exemplary embodiment , the charging cradle 400 includes an electrical plug 402 that may be plugged into an electrical outlet and at least one of the following physical interfaces : ( 1 ) a protrusion 410 and ( 2 ) a pair of guiderails 420 , 440 . at least one of the protrusions 410 and the guiderails 420 , 440 may engage either the recess slots 110 - 140 , 310 - 340 of the mct 100 or the accessory 200 . in a preferred embodiment , the guiderails 420 , 440 are substantially aligned to slots 110 of the mct 100 or slots 310 of the accessory 200 . the preferred embodiment prevents the misalignment of the “ female ” recessed slots 110 - 140 , 310 - 340 and their “ male ” counterparts and ensures that the connectors are joined properly , while not limiting or constraining the removal or placement of the mct 100 into the cradle 400 . fig4 b shows an exemplary embodiment of the mct 100 attached to the charging cradle 400 . fig4 c shows an exemplary embodiment of the mct 100 , the accessory 200 and the charging cradle 400 attached in succession . thus , the mct 100 may be charged without the need to remove the previously attached accessory 200 . the present invention has been described with the reference to the above exemplary embodiments . one skilled in the art would understand that the present invention may also be successfully implemented if modified . accordingly , various modifications and changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the broadest spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims that follow . the specification and drawings , accordingly , should be regarded in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense . | 7 |
referring to fig1 - 2 , a pump down tool 10 may comprise , as major components , a body 12 having a passage 13 therethrough , one or more sets of slips 14 , 16 , one or more conical or wedge - shaped sections 18 , 20 , a malleable , rubber , packing element or seal 22 and an anti - rotation device or mule shoe 24 . the body 12 may include an upper section 26 and a lower section 28 connected together in a suitable manner , such as by threads 30 . the tool 10 is illustrated as of a type that can be converted between a bridge plug , a flow back plug , a check valve plug or otherwise by installing or removing a component in an insert 32 . the component may be a plug , a valve ball , a soluble ball or the like as shown in u . s . patent application ser . no . 12 / 317 , 497 , filed dec . 23 , 2008 , the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . the insert 32 may be attached to the upper body 26 by suitable threads 34 and may include internal threads 36 for connection to a conventional setting tool ( not shown ) connected to a wire line or other work string extending to the surface . the setting tool ( not shown ) may act in a conventional manner by pushing down on the top of a collar 38 and pulling up on the threads 36 . this shears a pin ( not shown ) and allows the collar 38 to move downward relative to the slips 14 , 16 thereby expanding the slips 14 , 16 into gripping engagement with the casing 40 . the slips 14 , 16 , the wedges 18 , 20 and the packing element 22 may be of a conventional type as shown in u . s . patent application ser . no . 12 / 317 , 497 , filed dec . 23 , 2008 so the tool is set in a conventional manner . during setting of the tool 10 , the slips 14 , 16 ride along the wedges 18 , 20 to expand the slips 14 , and fracture them into a number of segments in gripping engagement with the interior of a casing string 40 which may be cemented in a well bore ( not shown ). at the end of the setting of the tool 10 , the insert 32 fails or breaks at a neck 42 thereby detaching the threads 36 and the setting tool ( not shown ) so the setting tool and wire line may be removed from the well . the anti - rotation device 24 acts to minimize or prevent rotation of the tool when it is being drilled up by interacting with a subjacent tool . this may be accomplished in a number of ways , one of which is to provide angled faces 42 , 44 on the bottom of a body 46 of the anti - rotation device 24 . there comes a time when it may be necessary or desirable to drill up the tool 10 . thus , many of the components of the tool 10 may be easily drillable such as composite materials , aluminum , brass and the like although slips 14 , 16 are often cast iron . the slips 14 , 16 normally fracture into small pieces which are more easily removable and don &# 39 ; t necessary have to be drilled up . those skilled in the art will recognize the tool 10 as heretofore described as being more - or - less conventional . a resilient cup 48 may be part of the tool 10 adjacent a lower end thereof and may be captivated between the body 12 and the anti - rotation device 24 . a preferred embodiment of the cup 48 may be a commercially available swab cup of a diameter matched with the i . d . or o . d . of the casing string 40 . in other words , for use in 4½ ″ casing , a swab cup of that size may preferably be used on the tool 10 . it may be preferred to captivate the cup 48 between the anti - rotation device 24 and the body 12 . to this end , the lower body section 28 may include a stub 50 of reduced size providing threads 52 which terminate well short of a flared end 54 of the lower body section 28 . the anti - rotation device 24 may include threads 56 received on the threads 52 and stopping at a distance from the flared end 54 greater than the thickness of the cup 48 . in this manner , the cup 48 may be free to move slightly along the stub 50 so there is no requirement for an exact dimensional tolerance between the anti - rotation device 24 , the lower body section 28 and the cup 48 . a set screw 58 may be used to prevent the anti - rotation device 24 from unthreading from the stub 50 . in the alternative , the anti - rotation device 24 may slip over the stub 50 and be pinned in place to captivate the cup 48 . similarly , the cup 48 may be attached to the stub 50 , or to the anti - rotation device 24 , in any suitable manner , as by extending a fastener ( not shown ) through a passage 60 in the cup 48 . the resilient cup 48 may typically be made of rubber or similar elastomeric material and is sufficiently flexible so a lip 62 stays more - or - less in contact with the interior of the casing string 40 when the tool 10 is horizontal and the lip 60 is distorted by the weight of the tool 10 resting on its side . it will be seen that the lip 62 is formed from converging sides 64 , 66 so that pressure from above spreads the lip 62 into a more secure engagement with the interior of the casing string 40 . many conventional swab cups include a metal reinforcing rim 68 and such features do not detract from operation of the cup 48 for present purposes . the cup 48 may be concave toward the upper end of the tool 10 so that pressure applied from above may spread or enlarge the diameter of the cup 48 from a size approximating the diameter of the tool 10 in its running in configuration to a size larger than the set diameter of the slips 14 , 16 . there is an advantage of the cup 48 being on or near the bottom of the tool 10 rather than on the top . if the cup 48 were above the slips 14 , 16 and the tool 10 were to strike an obstruction while moving through the casing 40 , there is a risk that the shear pin ( not shown ) will shear off and the tool 10 will set prematurely at a location where it is not wanted . when going into the vertical leg of a well , where the tool may be falling by gravity , the resilient cup 48 may abut the inside of the casing 40 but the flexibility and orientation of the resilient lip 62 allows liquid to bypass the resilient cup 48 on its exterior . in other words , the lip 62 may not substantially impede falling of the tool 10 in the vertical leg of a well . in this manner , the tool 10 may fall into the well in much the same manner that a swab falls into a vertical well . one of the problems with the prior art devices is that when the tool is horizontal , it is eccentric to the casing , meaning that the gap between the tool and the casing becomes very large on the non - weight bearing side of the tool . this reduces the efficiency of the tool , meaning that a higher pump rate is required to produce the necessary dynamic pressure differential to pump the tool through the horizontal leg of a well . thus , it is not unusual to require pumping at a rate of 15 - 20 barrels / minute to propel a tool at a recommended rate of 150 - 250 ′/ minute . at 200 ′/ minute it takes fifty minutes to pump a tool through a 10 , 000 ′ horizontal leg . at a pump rate of 20 bpm , this is 1000 barrels . when the tool 10 reaches the horizontal leg of a horizontal well , the weight of the tool 10 tends to compress the cup 48 on the weight bearing side of the tool 10 and move away from the casing interior on the non - weight bearing side . three factors tend to mitigate the cup 48 from unsealing relative to the casing 40 . first , the cup 48 may have considerable flexibility thereby allowing it to remain more - or - less engaged with the non - weight bearing side of the tool 10 . second , pressure from above , represented by the arrow 74 , stiffens the cup 48 and pushes the lip 62 on the weight bearing side of the tool 10 toward the casing interior and thereby acts as a centralizer to center the tool 10 in the casing 40 . pressure from above also biases the non - weight bearing side of the lip 62 toward the casing interior keeping it in more - or - less sealing engagement ith the casing interior . it will be seen that the resilient cup 48 prevents most of the liquid pumped into the casing 40 from passing around the tool 10 in an uncontrolled manner . this means that the tool can be pumped to its desired location in the well by pumping into the well a liquid volume substantially equal to the volume of the pipe string from the heel of the horizontal leg to its desired location . this volume is much smaller than is conventionally required . for example , consider a situation of a horizontal well having a 10 , 000 ′ long lateral cased with 4½ ″ o . d ., n - 80 , 11 . 6 #/ ft pipe having a nominal i . d . of 4 . 000 inches subject to normal manufacturing variations or tolerances . casing of this size has a volume of 67 linear feet per barrel , so it would take a minimum of 10 , 000 / 67 or about 150 barrels of liquid to pump the tool 10 from the heel to the end of the horizontal lateral . this is much smaller than the volume of liquid needed to create a dynamic pressure drop across the tool and propel it 10 , 000 ′. to achieve a nominal 150 - 250 ′/ minute rate of movement of the tool 10 inside the pipe string above , with perfect sealing of the resilient cup 48 , it will be seen that a pump rate of 2 . 2 - 3 . 7 bpm is required — much less than the 15 - 20 bpm of the prior art . in fact , it may be desirable to provide one or more small bypasses 70 may be provided around the resilient cup 48 . many of the tools 10 are used in conjunction with the fracing of hydrocarbon wells so it is not uncommon to find proppant , such as sand , accumulated in the horizontal leg of such a well . providing one or more small bypasses around the resilient cup 48 allows a small stream of liquid to disperse any proppant accumulated in front of the tool 10 as it is propelled along the horizontal leg of the well . the bypasses 70 work by diverting part of the pumped liquid in a controlled manner through the lower end of the passage 13 and through a passage 72 in the anti - rotation device 24 as suggested by the arrow 76 . this bypass liquid is sufficient to stir up and disperse any proppant in front of the tool 10 as it is being pumped along the horizontal leg of the well so the tool 10 doesn &# 39 ; t have to plow its way through the accumulated proppant . consequently , a pump rate of 6 - 9 bpm may be more typical of pump rates with the tool 10 . thus , to pump the tool 10 through a 10 , 000 ′ horizontal leg may require 10 - 15 bpm less than with a prior art device . manifestly , the smaller the bypass 70 , the smaller the pumped volume but with less proppant dispersion — both of which are of importance . an optimum size for the bypass 70 is sufficient to barely disperse proppant collecting in the casing 40 , the amount and concentration of which are unknown . thus , the optimum size of the bypass 70 is normally unknowable and some compromise is in order . another advantage of the bypass 70 is that it allows the tool to be pulled from the well without swabbing the casing 40 . occasionally , something occurs which makes it desirable to remove the tool 10 from the well without setting it . the bypasses 70 allow the tool 10 to be pulled toward the surface and allow liquid in the casing 40 to pass from above the cup 48 , through the bypass 70 and out the passage 72 without delivering liquid at the surface . although the size and number of the bypasses 70 will differ depending on the size of the casing 40 , the desired rate of pulling the tool 10 from the well and other factors , two passages of ⅜ ″ diameter have been found to be sufficient with normal production sized casing , i . e . 4½ ″ and 5½ ″ o . d . referring to fig3 , another embodiment of this invention includes a tool 100 including an anti - rotation device 102 on the end of a body section 104 . a resilient cup 106 of somewhat different configuration is captivated between the device 102 and the body section 104 . one or more bypass channels 108 may be provided , either alone or in conjunction with a passage comparable to the passage 70 . the channels 108 pass through threads 110 securing the anti - rotation device 102 to the lower body section 104 . thus , the threads 110 are interrupted threads but are still of sufficient capacity to secure the anti - rotation device 102 to the lower body section 104 . it will be seen that the bypass channels 108 have the same function as the bypass 70 so a bypass stream flows through the channels 108 , through a slot 112 in the anti - rotation device 102 and out of the bottom of the tool 100 through a passage 114 in the anti - rotation device 102 as suggested by the arrow 116 . a set screw 118 may be provided in the anti - rotation device 102 to prevent it from unthreading from the body section 104 . the cup 106 may be concave toward the upper end of its tool so that pressure applied from above may spread or enlarge the diameter of the cup 106 from a size approximating the diameter of its tool in its running in configuration to a size larger than the set diameter of the slips carried by the tool . although this invention has been described in its preferred forms with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred forms is only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of operation and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed . | 4 |
preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in a more detailed manner with reference to the drawings . fig2 is a sectional view of a light emitting display according to the first embodiment of the present invention , and fig3 is a exploded view of part “ b ” in fig2 . referring to fig2 , a light emitting display 200 according to the first embodiment of the present invention comprises a first electrode 220 formed on a substrate 210 . the first electrode is patterned and insulated by an insulating layer 222 . an organic light emitting part 230 is formed on the first electrode 220 , and a second electrode 240 is formed on the light emitting part 230 , whereby a pixel circuit part ( p ) is formed . a getter 250 is adhered to the substrate 210 , and a shield cap 260 is adhered to the substrate 210 and sealed with a sealant 270 to protect the pixel circuit part ( p ) from oxygen and moisture that permeates from the outside of the shield cap 260 . a spacer 224 is formed between the substrate 210 and the second electrode 240 to protrude higher than the light emitting part 230 . accordingly , a second electrode 240 can be classified into one 240 a formed over the spacer 224 and one 240 b formed on the light emitting part 230 . as a result , the second electrode 240 a formed on the spacer 224 is in contact with the inner surface of the shield cap 260 . thus , it can easily discharge heat generated by the light emitting part 230 in the pixel circuit part ( p ). the spacer 224 can be formed on the insulating layer 222 . the area in which the insulating layer 222 is formed is classified as nonemissive area , while the area in which the light emitting part 230 is formed to emit light toward outside is classified as emissive area . referring to fig3 which is a exploded view of part “ b ” in fig2 , a spacer 224 formed on an insulating layer 222 is pillar - shaped such that a second electrode 240 a can be in contact with the inner surface of a shield cap 260 , whereby the heat generated in the pixel circuit part ( p ) can be easily be discharged . further , since the spacer 224 is structured to support the shield cap 260 , the display 200 is protected from external force . in addition , if the spacer 224 is made of a metal having a high thermal conductivity ( e . g ., aluminum ( al ), copper ( cu ), argentum ( ag ), etc . ), the heat generated internally can be transferred to the shield cap 260 through the pillar - shaped spacer 224 . furthermore , the space formed between the shield cap 260 and substrate 210 by the spacer 224 can enhance circulation and discharge of heat generated internally . although the light emitting display 200 as shown in fig2 and 3 is the passive matrix type , the present invention is not limited thereto , but rather , is applicable to both the passive and the active matrix types . a more detailed description thereon is given below . the spacer 224 can be formed either at areas where an insulating layer , or a barrier rib of the nonemissive area is formed , or at both , when the light emitting display 200 is the passive matrix type . the spacer 224 can be formed either at areas where a thin film transistor , or a storage capacitor is positioned , or at both , when the light emitting display is the active matrix type . however , positions of the spacers 224 are not limited thereto , but rather , the spacers 224 can be formed anywhere other than light emitting areas when they can effectively discharge the heat although not shown in the drawings , the spacer 224 can also be formed such that upper part thereof is in contact with the inner surface of the shield cap 260 without forming a second electrode 240 a at upper part thereof . fig4 is a sectional view of a light emitting display according to the second embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig4 , a light emitting display 400 according to the second embodiment of the present invention comprises a first electrode 420 formed on a substrate 410 . the first electrode 420 is patterned and insulated by an insulating layer 422 . an organic light emitting part 430 is formed on the first electrode 420 , and a second electrode 440 is formed over the light emitting part 430 , whereby a pixel circuit part ( p ) is formed . a getter unit 450 is adhered to the second electrode 440 , and a shield cap 460 is adhered to the substrate 410 and sealed with a sealant 470 protect the pixel circuit part ( p ) from oxygen and moisture that permeates from the outside of the shield cap 260 . a spacer 424 is formed between the substrate 410 and the second electrode 440 to protrude higher than the light emitting part 430 . accordingly , a second electrode 440 is can be classified into one part 440 a formed over the spacer 424 and the other part 440 b formed on the light emitting part 430 . here , the getter unit 450 is adhered to the second electrode 440 b formed on the light emitting part 430 , and a metal layer 490 is formed on the second electrode 440 a formed on the spacer 424 . accordingly , the heat generated from the light emitting part 430 in the pixel circuit part ( p ) can easily be discharged by the second electrode 440 a formed on the spacer 424 , through the metal layer 490 and the shield cap 460 , the inner surface of the shield cap 460 being in contact with the metal layer 490 . the spacer 424 can be formed on the insulating layer 422 , and the area in which the insulating layer 422 is formed is classified as nonemissive area , while the area in which the light emitting part ( p ) is formed to emit light toward outside is classified as emissive area . in detail , the spacer 424 formed on the insulating layer 422 is pillar - shaped such that the metal layer 490 formed on the second electrode 440 a can be in contact with the shield cap 460 , thereby easily discharging heat generated within the pixel circuit part ( p ). further , the spacer 424 can be structured to support the shield cap 460 , and protect the device from external force . in addition , if the spacer 424 is made of a metal having a high thermal conductivity ( e . g ., aluminum ( al ), copper ( cu ), argentum ( ag ), etc . ), the heat generated internally can be transferred to the shield cap 460 through the pillar - shaped spacer 424 . furthermore , the space formed between the shield cap 460 and substrate 410 can enhance circulation and discharge of the generated heat although the light emitting display 400 as shown in fig4 of the passive matrix type , the present invention is not limited thereto , but rather , is applicable to both the passive and the active matrix types . a more detailed description thereon is given below . the spacer 424 can be formed either at areas where an insulating layer , or barrier rib is formed , or at both , when the light emitting display 400 is the active matrix type . the spacer 424 can be formed either at areas where a thin film transistor , or a storage capacitor is positioned , when the light emitting display 400 is of passive matrix type . however , position of the spacer 424 is not limited thereto , but rather , it can be formed anywhere other than light emitting areas when they can effectively discharge the heat . and the metal layer 490 is not limited to a specific material . fig5 is a sectional view of a light emitting display according to the third embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig5 , a light emitting display 500 according to the third embodiment of the present invention comprises a first electrode 520 is formed on a substrate 510 . the first electrode 520 is patterned and insulated by an insulating layer 522 . an organic light emitting part 530 is formed on the first electrode 520 , and a second electrode 540 is formed over the light emitting part 530 , whereby a pixel circuit part ( p ) is formed a getter unit 550 is adhered to the second electrode 540 , and a shield cap 560 is adhered to the substrate 510 and sealed with a sealant 570 to protect the pixel circuit part ( p ). a spacer 524 is formed between the substrate 510 and the second electrode 540 to protrude higher than the light emitting part 530 . accordingly , a second electrode 540 can be classified into one part 540 a formed on the spacer 524 and the other part 540 b formed on the light emitting part 530 . here , the getter unit 550 is formed either on the second electrode 540 b , or up to the upper part of the spacer 524 , and a metal layer 590 is formed on upper part of the second electrode 540 a . accordingly , the heat generated by the light emitting part 530 in the pixel circuit part ( p ) can easily be discharged by the second electrode 540 a formed on the spacer 524 , through the metal film 590 and the shield cap 560 , the inner surface of the shield cap 560 being in contact with the metal layer 590 . furthermore , the thin film type getter 550 formed on the second electrode 540 b can serve as a protective film for directly cutting off an heating by which a device in the pixel circuit part ( p ) is degraded by moisture or oxygen the spacer 524 can be formed on the insulating layer 522 , and the area in which the insulating layer 522 is formed is classified as nonemissive area , while the area in which the light emitting part is formed and light is emitted is classified as emissive area . in detail , the spacer 524 formed on the insulating layer 522 is pillar - shaped such that the metal layer 590 formed on the second electrode 540 a can be in contact with the shield cap 560 , thereby easily discharging heat generated within the pixel circuit part ( p ). further , the spacer 524 can be structured to support the shield cap 560 , and protect the device from external pressure . in addition , if the spacer 524 is made of a metal having a high thermal conductivity ( e . g ., aluminum ( al ), copper ( cu ), argentum ( ag ), etc . ), the heat generated internally can be transferred to the shield cap 560 through the pillar - shaped spacer 524 . furthermore , the space between the shied cap 560 and the substrate 510 by the spacer 524 can enhance circulation and discharge of heat generated internally . although the light emitting display as shown in fig5 is the passive matrix type , the present invention is not limited thereto , but rather , is applicable to both the passive and the active matrix types . a more detailed description thereon is given below . the spacer 524 can be formed either at areas where an insulating layer , or barrier rib is formed , or at both , when the light emitting display is of active matrix type . the spacer 524 can be formed either at areas where a thin film transistor , or a storage capacitor is positioned , when the light emitting display is the passive matrix type . however , position of the spacer 524 is not limited thereto , but rather , it can be formed anywhere other than light emitting areas when they can effectively discharge the heat . and the metal layer 590 is not limited to a specific material . fig6 is a sectional view of a light emitting display according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig6 , a light emitting display 600 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention comprised a first electrode 620 formed on a substrate 610 . the first electrode 620 is patterned and insulated by an insulating layer 422 . an organic light emitting part 630 is formed on the first electrode 620 , and a second electrode 640 is formed over the light emitting part 630 , whereby a pixel circuit part ( p ) is formed a getter unit 650 is adhered to the second electrode 640 , and a shield cap 660 is adhered to the substrate 610 and sealed with a sealant 670 . a spacer 624 is formed between the substrate 610 and the second electrode 640 to protrude higher than the light emitting part 630 . accordingly , a second electrode 640 can be classified into one part 640 a formed over the spacer 624 and the other part 640 b formed on the light emitting part 630 . here , the getter 650 can be formed at one side of the substrate 610 , or , although not shown in the drawing , at one side of the shield cap 660 . on the other hand , one or more of a heat sink or a cooling fan can be adhered to an outer side of the shield cap 660 , using an adhesive 685 , etc . with excellent thermal conductivity . accordingly , the heat generated by the light emitting part 630 in the pixel circuit part ( p ) can easily be discharged by the second electrode 640 a formed to contact the shield cap 660 over the spacer 624 , through the shield cap 660 , the shield cap 660 being in surface contact with the second electrode 640 a . also , the heat sink or cooling fan 680 formed at outer side of the shield cap 660 can contribute to quickly reduce the heat generated in the pixel circuit portion ( p ). the spacer 624 can be formed on the insulating layer 622 , and the area in which the insulating layer 622 is formed is classified as nonemissive area , while the area in which the light emitting part is formed to emit light is classified as emissive area . in detail , the spacer 624 formed on the insulating layer 622 is pillar - shaped such that the metal layer 690 formed on the second electrode 640 a can be in contact with the shield cap 660 , whereby easily discharging the heat generated in the pixel circuit part ( p ). further , the spacer 624 can be structured to support the shield cap 660 , and protect the device from external force . the heat sink or cooling fan 680 can reduce the generated heat more quickly . in addition , if the spacer 624 , or the heat sink , or the cooling fan 680 is made of a metal having a high thermal conductivity ( e . g ., aluminum ( al ), copper ( cu ), argentum ( ag ), etc . ), the heat generated internally can be discharged through the spacer 624 as well as the heat sink or the cooling fan 680 . furthermore , the space between the shield cap 660 and the substrate 610 by the spacer 624 can enhance circulation and discharge of the generated heat . although the light emitting display as shown in fig6 is the passive matrix type , the present invention is not limited thereto , but rather , is applicable to both the passive and the active matrix types . a more detailed description thereon is given below . the spacer 624 can be formed either at areas where an insulating layer , or barrier rib is formed , or at both , when the light emitting display is of active matrix type . the spacer 624 can be formed either at areas where a thin film transistor , or a storage capacitor is positioned , when the light emitting display is of passive matrix type . however , position of the spacer 624 is not limited thereto , but rather , it can be formed anywhere other than light emitting areas , when they can effectively discharge the heat . and the heat sink or cooling fan 680 is not limited to a specific material . fig7 to 8 h show areas where the spacer is positioned in different embodiments of the present invention . fig7 illustrates a panel showing examples of spacer positions in different embodiments of the present invention , and fig8 a to 8 h illustrate examples of the spacer in fig7 . as shown in fig7 , the panel is sectioned in a plurality of areas , and the spacers are differently formed depending on the amount of heat generated from the respective area . as to the temperature distribution on the panel , the central part of the panel has a higher temperature than the outer part due to the more heat generated there , and the temperature becomes lower toward the outer part . accordingly , the spacers can be formed variously in a manner that a spacer with a larger diameter is formed at the center part , and one with a smaller diameter is formed at the outer part . as shown in fig8 a , a spacer with the largest diameter 824 a is formed at the center of the panel 7 where the highest temperature is generated . fig8 b shows spacers with relatively small diameter 824 b formed at the peripheries 4 , 5 , 9 , and 10 of the central part . fig8 c shows spacers with diameters of a third dimension 824 c formed at side central parts 2 , 6 , 8 , and 12 of the panel . fig8 d shows spacers with the smallest diameter 824 d formed at outermost pparts 1 , 3 , 11 , and 13 . referring to fig8 e to 8 h , which show examples in other embodiment examples of the present invention , four spacers 824 e are formed at the central part 7 of fig8 a where spacer with the largest diameter 824 a is formed , and three spacers 824 f are formed at the peripheries 4 , 5 , 9 , or 10 of the center of fig8 b . two spacers 824 g are formed at the side central parts 2 , 6 , 8 , and 12 of fig8 c , and one spacer 824 h is formed at outermost parts 1 , 3 , 11 , and 13 of fig8 d . in the aforementioned panel temperature distribution , if analysis and measurements are made using simulations , and the spacer is formed in different sizes , positions , shapes , and numbers , the generated heat can be more effectively discharged . in addition , it is more effective , if the number of spacer is gradually reduced for areas having a lower temperature , or the spacer are disposed to maintain up / down and / or left / right balance so that the amounts of generated heat and discharged heat are in balance . as described above , the present invention allows the light emitting devices positioned at the central part and the peripheral part of a panel to uniformly and quickly discharge the generated heat so that deteriorations by heat such as color changes or luminance reduction can be prevented , whereby providing a light emitting display with excellent reliability . the invention being thus described it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention , and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims . | 7 |
while this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms , there is shown in the drawings specific embodiments which are to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated . improved sterilizable peelable package 30 , shown in fig1 comprises envelope means 31 which is constructed of sterilizable plastic material or sterilizable paper . a peeling film 32 is inserted in and extends from one end 33 of envelope means 31 . peeling film 32 is constructed of a material having a higher density than that of envelope means 31 which improves the peelability of the package . closure system 34 hermetically seals envelope means 31 proximate to the top 35 and bottom 36 of package 30 and also seals peeling film 32 to envelope 31 . peeling film 32 is sealed by closure means 34 across portions 37 and 38 of sides 39 and 40 of package 30 . due to peeling film 32 , closure means 34 may be peeled open and sterile product 41 removed without contamination . in a preferred embodiment envelope means 31 is constructed from a tube of sterilizable film . in a preferred embodiment the peeling film 32 is constructed of a plastic , such as high density polyethylene which may be peeled from envelope means 31 without depositing particles or residue from either film on sterile product 41 . in addition , feeling film 32 , when peeled , does not leave a feathered edge ( shreds of film ) on either the peeling film 32 or envelope means 31 . peeling film 32 has a cut - out portion 42 at first end 43 of peeling film 32 which circumscribes portion 44 of sterile product 41 . cut - out 42 positions sterile product 41 away from sides 39 and 40 , and away from closure means 34 when package 30 is opened , thereby preventing contamination , since portions of sides 39 and 40 as well as the exterior portion of closure means 34 are not within package 30 and are therefore recontaminated by the atmosphere after sterilization . the invention further comprises slits 45 and 46 along portions of sides 39 and 40 of envelope means 31 which allow front portion 47 of envelope 31 to be peeled from rear portion 48 . slits 45 and 46 are positioned away from cut - out portion 42 of peeling film 32 so that peeling film 32 is interposed between the sterile product 41 and slits 45 and 46 thereby preventing contamination when the package is opened . side positioning seals 49 and 50 limit the amount that package 30 can be opened to the area proximate first end 43 of peeling film 32 . this prevents sterile product 41 from contacting a contaminated portion of the package . closure means 34 comprise a linear grid of fused heat seals proximate the top 35 and bottom 36 of package 30 , which prevent contamination of sterile product 42 within the package . top seal 51 which is a portion of closure means 34 is curved in order to enhance the peelability of closure means 34 . curving of the top seal provides a minimum area of seal to rupture initially . once the seal begins to peel , resistance to further peeling is reduced . as further shown in fig1 of the drawings , the invention includes a hermetically sealed inner pouch 52 enclosed about sterile product 41 within peelable package 30 which is sized to precisely fit between side positioning seals 49 and 50 , so that pouch 52 can later be removed from package 30 without touching closure means 34 or slits 45 and 46 . in addition , pouch 52 provides a secondary sterile barrier in the event that the primary package 30 is compromised , i . e . that the seals fail or the package is punctured . the invention further includes a tack seal 53 proximate to first end 33 of envelope means 31 for attaching peeling film 32 to a rear portion 48 of envelope means 31 . thus , peeling film 32 and rear portion 48 of envelope means 31 remain together when front portion 47 of envelope means 31 is peeled from package 30 . the combined stiffness of the two films makes peeling front portion 47 easier . fig2 of the drawings shows peeling film 32 of package 30 being held in one hand and front portion 47 of envelope means 31 being peeled open . top seal 51 of closure means 34 has already been peeled open . the result is that sterile product 41 is exposed for removal from package 30 without contacting a contaminated surface . in an alternative embodiment of the invention , improved sterilized package 60 , shown in fig3 envelope means 31 comprises a top film member 61 and a bottom film member 62 . peeling film 63 is interposed between top film member 61 and bottom film member 62 . closure means 64 hermetically seals the top portion 65 , bottom portion 66 and sides 67 and 68 of sterile package 60 . as in the previous embodiment , peeling film 63 may be peeled from top film member 61 or bottom film member 62 without depositing particles or residue on sterile product 69 . in addition , peeling of peeling film 63 does not leave a feathered edge either on peeling film 63 or on top film member 61 or bottom film member 62 . peeling film 63 has a cut - out portion 70 at first end 71 of peeling film 63 which circumscribes portion 72 of sterile product 69 . cut - out 70 acts as a shield to prevent sterile product 69 from contacting closure 64 . contamination of sterile product 69 is thereby prevented when product 69 is removed from package 60 . additionally , side positioning seals 73 and 74 limit the amount the package can be opened to the area proximate cut - out 70 , further insuring that sterile product 69 will not contact a contaminated surface . side positioning seals 73 and 74 also restrain sterile product 69 within package 60 . as further shown in fig3 closure system 64 comprises a linear grid of heat seals which fuse top film member 61 and bottom film 62 to each other and to peeling film 63 . closure system 64 hermetically seals package 60 against contamination . additionally , top seal 75 of closure system 64 is curved . this curvature reduces the area of the seal being stressed and results in a shearing of the seal rather than one of the film members . package 60 also includes a hermetically sealed inner pouch 76 enclosed about sterile product 69 which is held between side positioning seals 73 and 74 in order to further secure product 69 . pouch 76 also provides a secondary sterile barrier in the event that primary package 60 is compromised . additionally shown in fig3 of the drawings is a tack seal 77 near the top 65 of package 60 for attaching the peeling film 63 to the bottom film 62 so that peeling film 63 remains attached to bottom film 62 when top film 61 is peeled . this double layer of film increases the stiffness of the surface from which top film 61 is peeled , thereby making it easier to peel . the foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate the invention and modifications and variations may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention . | 1 |
in contrast to the very time - consuming and ergonomically unsatisfactory installation of a complete hatrack module with a subsequently - to - be - installed service channel ( or with a complete , pre - configured , hatrack module ) in the present case the installation sequence is divided into two logical process steps according to the specific requirements of hatrack installation in a confined aircraft fuselage and the necessary individual equipment level of the service channel . as a result of improved access , these process steps are considerably sped up , and can be carried out in a position that facilitates this work . for example , maintenance work on the psus merely requires deinstallation of the hatrack , a task that can be accomplished by one person in a matter of seconds . fig1 shows an isometric disaggregated component drawing of a hatrack module according to the invention . the hatrack module shown has an integral service channel and comprises a fixed ( rigid ) hatrack module housing 100 , designed as a drawer housing ( sandwich ) or carrier housing ( metal or cfrp ) for accommodating the guide rails 130 for the hatrack , and for accommodating the passenger service channel ( psc ) rails 140 for the passenger service units 310 , 320 , 330 ( psus ). generous reach - through openings 150 for reaching the fastening elements for installation to the aircraft structure are to considerably facilitate installation and alignment of the housing 100 . generous reach - through access openings 150 in the housing towards the service channel are designed to make it possible to simply and ergonomically connect the psus to the electrical connections , oxygen connections and individual air connections at eye height . the hatrack 200 itself , in particular with its wall 210 , represents the visible part towards the cabin ; in its installed state said hatrack 200 covers up all the cables and hoses of the psus and their rear as well as the kinematics ( guide rails and rollers ) by a corresponding geometric design . the hatrack comprises a drawer housing ( sandwich ) with a total of four rollers 231 , 233 to be held in the guide rails 130 of the housing . the psus functionally correspond to the commonly used components in the cabin , except they provide an advantage in that neither hinges for folding nor excess cable lengths or hose lengths with corresponding abrasion protection sleeves and their separate mounts for fastening are required in their application . the described hatrack combines implementation of a complex movement path on a closed rail ( one rail each side ) in each case with two bearing points ( ball - bearing mounted polyamide rollers ). although this is a complex movement of the hatrack , maximum reduction in the number of individual components is achieved by the integration of all the desired functions in the design shape of a single component ( guide rail ). this guide rail itself is present twice for each hatrack module , namely offset in longitudinal direction of the aircraft , in each case as a fixed bearing and as a floating bearing , an arrangement which also makes it possible to provide hatracks over several aircraft frame elements . since these guide rails lead from the edge surface at the housing sides , simple one - person installation of the roller - guided hatracks by way of self - positioning ( insertion inclines ) on the rails is possible . as shown in the isometric view in fig2 , the rails 130 are closed off in each case by means of a locking - and end - stop - plug 120 , in each case held by locating screws , as soon as the guide rollers 230 of a hatrack 200 have been inserted into the guide rails 130 . for additional damping and to provide an end stop , the end - stop plugs can comprise an elastic buffer . since the housing can be installed on the aircraft structure separately of the hatrack , fastening of the housing is significantly facilitated , for example through installation openings on the rear wall . after installation of the hatrack , these installation openings and the entire inner workings of the hatrack module , which also acts as a visible part , are hidden from view . in terms of its end position , the guide rail 130 is designed in such a manner that the closed end position is a position as close as possible to the fuselage ( compare fig3 ), while the open position is a position where loading is made as easy as possible ( compare fig4 ). the design is thus suitable to optimize the pivoting movement , and to minimize dead space ( pivoting regions ), as well as to provide as generous as possible a cabin in an aircraft . however , in the hatrack module with slide - in guide rails described in this document , particular attention has been paid to the defined curve design ( compare fig5 ). the movement path during opening ( compare phase p 1 in fig6 ) has been selected in such a manner that at first the pivot point is away from the center of gravity towards the structural side in order to ensure guaranteed and quick automatic opening of the hatrack , wherein said pivot point moves continuously towards the center of gravity . the further movement path during opening has been selected so that the pivot point continuously approaches the center of gravity in order to prevent further gravity - induced acceleration . the further movement path during opening ( phase p 2 in fig6 ) results in a change in the pivot point beyond the center of gravity in the direction towards the passenger . during this process the speed of the hatrack is reduced in order to deplete the kinetic energy prior to reaching the end position . the further movement path during opening ( phase p 3 in fig6 ) is then selected in such a manner that the pivot point moves back over the center of gravity of the structural side in order to ensure a safe and secure bearing arrangement of the hatrack in its fully - open end position . during closing , this very change in the pivot point must be perceptively overcome again as feedback or resistance . the movement path during closing is selected in such a manner that after this resistance has been overcome the pivot point moves away from the center of gravity towards the structural side ; in other words the weight of the hatrack supports passengers in their attempt to overcome gravity . the further movement path to the final closed position is , furthermore , selected in such a manner that after certain kinetic energy has been attained in the previous acceleration phase , final closing can be effected with little manual force . by utilizing the kinetic energy , the required manual forces thus remain within comfortable limits the physical effect that is harnessed in this arrangement is essentially explained by defined interaction between potential and kinetic energy ( compare fig6 ). the above - described aspects of movement of the hatrack are shown in another manner in fig7 to 9 . fig7 , 8 and 9 in each case show part of the structure 400 to which the housing 100 of the hatrack module is fastened . the diagram also shows a guide rail 130 that comprises the following segments : a first guide segment 131 which can be engaged by a first roller 231 of a hatrack 200 ; a connection segment 132 through which the first roller 231 runs when the hatrack 200 is mounted or installed ; a second guide segment 133 through which the first roller 231 runs during installation , which second guide segment 133 can be engaged by a second roller 233 of the hatrack 200 ; and finally an installation segment 134 that is designed so as to be open towards the front so that the first and subsequently the second roller can be inserted into the guide rail 130 during installation . fig7 shows the hatrack in its closed position . fig8 shows the hatrack in a partially open position . fig9 shows the hatrack in its completely open position . furthermore , the figures show the curve of instantaneous center of rotation mk and the instantaneous center of rotation m of the respective position . this demonstrates that the actual pivot point of a particular position of the hatrack in the course of the movement of the hatrack moves , along the curve of instantaneous center of rotation , between the closed position and the open position . the shape of the curve of instantaneous center of rotation mk illustrates that during movement of the hatrack a changed tilting movement is implemented . as a result of this changed tilting movement , the force to be exerted , in other words the manual force , varies depending on the position of the hatrack . fig1 shows an exemplary curve shape of the force f projected over the opening angle α . in the example shown , the force necessary to operate the hatrack even becomes negative in one section . thus , in this section the hatrack moves independently without the need for a force to be applied from the outside . depending on the actual geometric shape of the hatrack , and in particular depending on the load or the items contained in the hatrack , the curve will change or shift . however , qualitatively , the force becomes less in any case , and consequently operation of the hatrack , i . e . opening or closing the hatrack , is facilitated . fig1 shows a flow chart in which the steps of a method for installing a hatrack according to the invention are diagrammatically shown . it should be noted that the steps of the method are merely main steps , wherein these main steps can be differentiated or divided into sub - steps . furthermore , it is also possible to undertake sub - steps between the main steps . a sub - step is mentioned as such only if this step is important to gain an understanding of the principles of the method according to the invention . in step s 1 the housing of the hatrack is slid into the housing on the structure of an aircraft . in step s 2 the first rollers , which are arranged on each side of the hatrack , are placed or inserted into the installation segments of the guide rails . in step s 3 the hatrack is slid into the housing of the hatrack module in such a manner that the first rollers run along the installation segment , along the second guide segment and into the connection segment . in step s 4 the second rollers are then inserted into the installation segments . finally , the hatrack is further slid into the housing , wherein the first rollers finally engage the first guide segments , and the second rollers engage the second guide segments . as an additional , possible step s 6 , the open ends of the installation segments can be closed by means of locking plugs . in summary , although this is a complex movement of the hatrack , maximum reduction in the number of components and savings in weight are achieved while at the same time integrating essential desired effects . in this manner the use of two rails and four bearing rollers makes it possible to achieve optimal ergonomics , to limit the required space , to achieve simple installation , dynamic damping during opening , and dynamic support of manual force during closing . as far as installation is concerned , the design of the hatrack module makes it possible to divide the module into two components , namely the housing and the hatrack , which components can be divided in an optimized manner for installation . installation problems and maintenance problems which occur in the conventional design are eliminated in this manner . installation of the housing is greatly simplified as a result of the ability to access the fastening elements and adjustment elements from the front . there is no need to design the psus so that they are foldable , and they are mounted so as to be fixed in place before they are connected to the supply lines in the aircraft structure . moreover , the variability and flexibility of the service channel is maintained ; test routines of the service channel are maintained ; tolerance problems of the service channel in the direction of the aircraft ( structure - related tolerances ) can be solved with the use of tolerance panels ; closed contours of the side lining , the psc , the hatrack housing and the hatrack , to the ceiling lining , become possible ; and , lastly , a design without handles is possible because of gravity - induced self - opening of the hatrack ( push - to - open unlocking ). while the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and in the above description , it is intended for such illustrations and descriptions to be merely illustrative or exemplary rather than being restrictive , so that the invention is not limited by the embodiments disclosed . other variations of the disclosed embodiment can be understood and caused by the average person skilled in the art , when implementing the claimed invention , from studying the drawings , the disclosure and the dependent claims . in the claims the term “ comprising ” does not exclude other elements or steps , and the indefinite article “ a ” or “ an ” does not exclude a plurality . the mere fact that particular features have been mentioned in different dependent claims does not limit the subject of the invention . furthermore , any combinations of these features can be used to advantage . | 8 |
the case 1 shown in full in fig4 has a back 2 , two side walls 3 , 4 , a bottom wall 5 and a top wall 6 . the illustrated case is for an iphone 6s , but the principles apply to cases for all smart phone and tablet devices as well as e - readers and the like . the back 2 is optional as the principles described here apply equally to a backless band which surrounds the edges of the device . the three layer structure forming the majority of the side wall structure is shown in fig1 and 5 . this comprises an outer layer 10 of flexible polymer , an intermediate layer 11 of dissipation material and an inner layer 12 of damping material . the outer layer 10 of flexible polymer may be tpu , tpe or silicone . if the back 2 is present , this material will form the majority of the back , although other materials may extend to a small extent across the back . the dissipation layer 11 may be pc , abs , pc / abs blends , hard tpu grades , glass and fibre - filled rigid thermoplastics , nylon , glass and fibre - filled nylons and similar materials . as shown in fig5 , the intermediate layer is provided with a plurality of outwardly extending ribs 13 which are embedded within the outer layer 10 with no air gaps . these ribs increase the rigidity and strength of the intermediate layer and form an effective increase in the thickness of the hard layer without unduly increasing the weight . the intermediate layer 11 also has a number of inwardly projecting ribs 14 . there are fewer of these than a number of outwardly projecting ribs 13 and these are provided in order to provide an improved bond with the inner layer 12 . the inner layer 12 may be a soft elastomer , soft tpu , tpe , silicone , foam or the like . the inner layer 12 has a number of inwardly projecting ribs 15 which are configured to contact the device d such that there is generally no contact between the device and the case in the regions where the damping material is present other than through the ribs . the overall thickness of the band is intended to be compatible with our existing cases as described in wo 2015 / 101771 . thus , each layer should be between 0 . 5 mm and 0 . 85 mm and is preferably no thicker than 2 mm . these thicknesses apply to the general thickness of the band away from any ribs or other features . as will be apparent from fig1 , the intermediate layer 11 is fully surrounded by the outer layer 10 and inner layer 12 such that the material is protected from scratching and cracking . the outer layer 10 extends to a lip 15 which surrounds the edge of the device d . in the lip region 15 , the intermediate 11 and inner 12 layers are absent . this preserves a clean appearance to the case as only one material is visible in this region . any impact i on the band is initially dampened and partially absorbed by the outer layer 10 . because the outer layer 10 is not particularly hard , it is not vulnerable to cracking . the energy not absorbed in the outer layer 10 is then dissipated over a wide area by the intermediate layer 11 which spreads the impact such that the requirements of the absorbing material in the inner layer 12 are reduced . the damping material 12 absorbs much of the remaining energy . in doing so , it is assisted by the presence of the ribs 15 . the above described structure describes the band for the majority of the circumference of the case . this structure is preferred where there are no features on the case to be accommodated . in particular , this structure should be present in the four corners of the device as these are most vulnerable to impact . however , in the vicinity of any switches and ports as designated by reference numeral 20 in fig3 and fig4 the cross - sectional structure of the case is different in that the inner layer 12 of damping material is absent . in this region , the intermediate layer forms the innermost layer such that there is a relatively hard material in contact with these parts of the device . this helps to maintain the stability of the case in these regions to allow more reliable manipulation of the underlying buttons . also , in the case of the iphone as in many other smart phones , the lower side 5 is required to have three large ports to accommodate the speaker , lightning connector and headphone jack socket . in this region , only the outer layer of flexible polymer is present . however , the three layer structure is preserved in the corners . there are a number of ways in which the case can be manufactured . this is a manual loading process . the intermediate layer 11 can first be injection moulded as shown in fig2 . this component is then attached to a mould core part and inserted into a second injection mould where the outer layer 10 is over - moulded to form the sub - assembly shown in fig3 . this can either be done using a mechanical collapsible core , or the sub - assembly can be used demoulded by hand . this sub - assembly is then put into another core and inserted into a mould to over - mould the inner layer 12 . alternatively , the intermediate layer 11 is not removed from the first stage core . once the intermediate layer 11 is moulded , without being removed from its core , it is inserted into the second mould to over - mould the outer layer 10 . this method is a semi - automated method with the intermediate layer 11 and outer layer 10 moulded in a two - shot injection moulding process with the intermediate layer 11 being the first shot and the outer layer 10 being the second . a mechanical collapsible core can be used where the sub - assembly can be removed by hand . a sub - assembly will then be put into another core and inserted into a mould to over - mould the inner layer 12 . firstly , the intermediate layer 11 and outer layer 10 are moulded in a three - shot injection moulded process with the intermediate layer 11 being the first shot and the outer layer 10 being the second . a mechanical collapsible core retracts and a robotic / computer controlled arm picks up the sub - assembly and transfers the moulded component to a second injection moulding machine where the sub - assembly is inserted into another collapsible core to over - mould the inner layer 12 . this method is fully automated but requires a more complex machine to injection mould material in a three stage process . | 0 |
certain embodiments as disclosed herein provide for systems and methods for attribute routing in a wireless or wired network . for example , one method as disclosed herein allows for an enhanced mac layer on a network device to store additional information about a network in an enhanced routing table . the additional information can be dynamically defined and propagated around the network to each network device having the enhanced mac layer . furthermore , the enhanced mac layer provides for multi - hop routing , thus allowing propagation of the enhanced information about the network throughout multiple segments of a local area network (“ lan ”), wireless local area network (“ wlan ”), or wide area network (“ wan ”). after reading this description it will become apparent to one skilled in the art how to implement the invention in various alternative embodiments and alternative applications . however , although various embodiments of the present invention will be described herein , it is understood that these embodiments are presented by way of example only , and not limitation . as such , this detailed description of various alternative embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope or breadth of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims . [ 0047 ] fig1 is a high level network diagram of an example wired , wireless , or hybrid network topology according to an embodiment of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , the system 10 comprises a network 20 that communicatively couples a plurality of routing devices 30 , 40 , and 50 . the network 20 can be a wired network , a wireless network , or a combination of homogeneous or heterogeneous networks including both wired and wireless . network 20 can be a local area network (“ lan ”), a wide area network (“ wan ”), or a distributed combination of networks collectively comprising a global communications network such as the internet . network 20 can be an ad hoc network or a persistent network and can be fixed in location , mobile , or network 20 may comprise a combination of fixed and mobile components . additionally , network 20 may carry communications corresponding to a single network protocol or to multiple network protocols . for example , network 20 may carry 802 . 3 ethernet traffic and 802 . 11 wireless traffic . a routing device is preferably a device that is capable of communication over a communication network such as network 20 . for example , routing device 30 can be a personal computer (“ pc ”), laptop computer , printer , tablet pc , or a wireless communication device such as a personal digital assistant (“ pda ”), cell phone , pager , or other device with the ability to communicate data over a wireless network . preferably , a variety of different routing devices such as routing device 30 , 40 , and 50 are communicatively coupled via the network 20 . in this detailed description , a routing device such as routing device 30 may be referred to as a network device , network node , routing node , wireless communication device , wireless routing device , and wireless node . although various names may be used herein , a routing device may comprise all or a minimal subset of the components and functional capabilities described with respect to fig1 - 3 , 12 and 13 . in one embodiment , routing device 40 can be a sensor device with the ability to send and receive communications over a wired or wireless communication network . for example , routing device 40 may be a smoke sensor that is connected to an in - home wired or wireless communication network . in the event the smoke sensor in routing device 40 detects a fire , it can send a communication over the in - home communication network that would reach the fire department through a connected wide area network . similarly , the routing device 40 can notify other routing devices connected to the in - home communication network so that each device may sound an alarm , for example . [ 0052 ] fig2 a is a block diagram illustrating an example routing device 40 according to an embodiment of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , the routing device 40 comprises a forwarding system 60 , an attribute management system 70 , a network interface 80 , and a data storage area 90 . as previously described , the routing device 40 can be any device with the ability to communicate over a wired or wireless network . the forwarding system 60 is preferably a hardware or software module integrated with the mac layer of the communication protocol on the routing device 40 . alternatively , the forwarding system 60 may be integrated with the internet layer of the communication protocol . the forwarding system 60 preferably examines communication packets received from the network and processes those packets or retransmits those packets ( or both ) as necessary . for example , the forwarding system 60 may receive a communication packet from the network and determine that the packet is destined for another network device . accordingly , the forwarding system 60 may retransmit the communication packet or discard the packet , depending upon the final destination of the packet . in one embodiment , the forwarding system 60 provides the communication packet to the attribute management system 70 for further processing . in such an embodiment , for example , the attribute management system 70 may parse the communication packet to obtain information relevant to the routing system . such information is preferably stored in the data storage area 90 by the attribute management system 70 . furthermore , the attribute management system 70 generally parses a message frame and examines the message header and the data payload contained therein to extract attributes that provide information about routing devices connected to the network , information about the network itself such as link status , and other information related to routing devices , the network itself , and the interaction between the routing devices and the network . this information is preferably stored in data storage area 90 as a plurality of attributes . the attribute management routing 70 additionally may perform the function of propagating attributes to other routing devices on the network . for example , the attribute management system 70 may periodically retrieve attributes from the data storage area 90 and encapsulate those attributes in a communication packet and broadcast the communication packet on the network for receipt by other routing devices . the attribute management system 70 may also allow for the creation of new attributes that can be stored in the data storage area 90 and also propagated around the network as previously described . for example , a new attribute related to routing device 40 may be created the attribute management system 70 and stored in the data storage area 90 . the attribute can , for example , provide information about the geographic location of the routing device 40 . additionally , the attribute can advantageously provide information about is own update or refresh period . such information allows the particular attribute to have an optimized update period while other attributes have their own optimized update periods . this customizable update period on an attribute by attribute basis advantageously reduces overall network traffic by increasing the efficiency of propagating the various attributes to the other routing devices in the network . correspondingly , the attribute management system 70 may also refresh and manage the attributes stored in the data storage area 90 . in one embodiment , this attribute management may include updating attributes with newly received information and data and it may also include deleting certain attributes , for example an attribute that has expired or otherwise been identified as obsolete . the data storage area 90 preferably is adaptable to store the attribute routing table for the routing device 40 . the attribute routing table may include records comprising a plurality of attributes . in one embodiment , the attribute routing table is a relational database providing a plurality of links between the various records in the attribute routing database . advantageously , these plurality of records and the relational links can be the subject of queries that provide information about single entries in the attribute routing database as well as information about the relational links and the aggregate entries in the attribute routing database . the data storage area 90 may be implemented using persistent or volatile memory , for example , a data cache , a flash memory , or a hard drive , just to name a few options . [ 0060 ] fig2 b is a block diagram illustrating an example routing device 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , routing device 30 comprises a central processing unit 202 , a read - only memory or flash memory 204 , and a random access memory 206 . in some implementations the rom 204 and ram 206 may be incorporated into the cpu 202 . in addition , the cpu 202 contains a jtag i / o interface 208 , serial i / o pins 210 , and an spi - bus interface 212 allowing other computer systems to interact with and control the routing device 30 . in the illustrated embodiment , the cpu 202 communicates with a baseband processor 214 that produces radio mac transactions that are modulated by an rf processor 216 connected to an antenna 218 , thereby producing radio waves . in an alternative embodiment , the cpu 202 may communicate with an ethernet , token - ring , or token bus network interface card (“ nic ”) ( not shown ) rather than the radio baseband processor 214 . in another embodiment the cpu 202 may communicate with many network interfaces ( e . g ., two radios and three wired networks ) at the same time . [ 0062 ] fig3 is a block diagram illustrating an example protocol stack 314 according to an embodiment of the present invention . the protocol stack is preferably employed by the various routing devices that participate in autonomic networking and attribute routing . in the illustrated embodiment , the protocol stack has a physical layer 302 , a mac layer 304 , an attribute internet protocol (“ aip ”) layer 306 , an internet protocol (“ ip ”) layer 308 , a transport control protocol (“ tcp ”) layer 310 , and an application layer 312 . these layers generally correspond to the tcp / ip layering model and comprise a full protocol stack 314 , as will be understood by those having skill in the art . the physical layer 302 can be any of a variety of physical media . for example , physical layer 302 can be a copper wire or optical cable that transports 802 . 3 compliant frames . alternatively , the physical layer 302 can be a wireless link that transports 802 . 11 compliant frames . in one embodiment , the physical interface for physical layer 304 can be a wireless transceiver that is compliant with 802 . 11 or 802 . 15 . 4 . additionally , narrowband , ultra - wide band (“ uwb ”), bluetooth , and other wired and wireless physical networks may also be employed . generally , any type of physical layer can be used with the protocol stack . the physical layer allows peer - peer communications 322 to occur with the physical layer on another routing device . the virtual mac layer 316 comprises a single hop routing and communication module 304 , a multiple hop routing and communication module 306 , an attribute - internet control message protocol (“ aicmp ”) module 318 , and an attribute routing adaptation protocol (“ arap ”) module 320 . in one embodiment , the mac 304 , aip 306 , aicmp 318 , and the arap 320 modules can be implemented as a single module . alternatively , these modules may be discrete modules or selectively combined to optimize processor use , memory , or other device or network resources . within the virtual mac layer 316 , the mac sub - layer 304 allows peer - to - peer communications 324 to occur with the mac sub - layer on another routing device . similarly , the aip sub - layer 306 allows peer - to - peer communications 326 to occur with the aip sub - layer on another routing device . the virtual mac layer 316 interfaces with the ip layer and is preferably configured to emulate the various different mac transactions that are typically associated with a particular physical layer 302 . thus , although the actual physical layer 302 may be a wireless 802 . 11 network , the virtual mac layer 316 can emulate a wired 802 . 3 network so that the ip layer seamlessly operates as if it was deployed on a network device connected to an 802 . 3 ethernet , for example . in one embodiment , the virtual mac layer 316 is configured to carry other routing protocols such as rip or isis . similarly , a router may be connected to the virtual mac layer 316 and translate packets between the rip and isis protocols . advantageously , the ability to carry other ip routing protocols significantly increases the portability and usefulness of the network device when connected to other systems , for example when deployed on a network segment using a different routing protocol . furthermore , the virtual mac layer 316 can also be configured separately or in combination to carry other non - ip based protocols such as lonworks , bacnet , and fieldbus , just to name a few . the ability to carry other protocols advantageously increases the portability and usefulness of the network device when connected to other systems . the aicmp module 318 preferably provides error reporting to the virtual mac layer 316 . for example , the aicmp module 318 may initiate communication packets to be sent over the physical network when a routing loop is detected in the virtual mac layer 316 , causing a route to be deleted or corrected in the routing tables of a remote node . the arap module 320 preferably maintains and updates an attribute routing table . the attribute routing table preferably contains information related to the local network segment as well as the wider area network and the various network devices connected those networks . the arap module 320 is preferably configured to create new attributes that can be included in the attribute routing table . additionally , the arap module 320 is preferably configured to update attributes when remote changes are made , and delete attributes from the attribute routing table when a timeout occurs . the arap module 320 can maintain the attribute routing table by parsing communication packets received from the network to obtain attributes that are included in the message frame header or data payload . these attributes can then be added to the attribute routing table if they are new or the existing data for the attribute can be updated with the data from the recently received communication packet . additionally , the arap module 320 can query the attribute routing table in a local data storage area and propagate the various attributes from its attribute routing table to other network devices in the local network segment or wider area network or networks . advantageously , the attribute propagation and attribute update module 320 can query its attribute routing table using multiple indices or keys . in one embodiment , a record in the attribute routing table can be uniquely identified by more than one key . for example , a record in the attribute routing table can be uniquely identified by the ip address of a network device or by the geographic location ( e . g ., gps location ) of a network device . advantageously , the ip address and the geographic location are attributes in the attribute routing table . other attributes may include the maximum transmission unit (“ mtu ”), time of day , signal strength , antenna sector , fault tolerance indication ( high frequency attribute propagation (“ hfap ”)), default route , default name service , node altitude , time zone , time slot , system identification , sensor type , virus pattern , dns or netbios name , or any other standard or customizable data point for a network device or network . [ 0072 ] fig4 is a block diagram illustrating an example encapsulated communication packet according to an embodiment of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , the set of hierarchical communication packets includes a mac layer message frame 400 , an attribute routing system message frame 410 , an ip layer message frame 420 , and a tcp layer message frame 430 . the mac layer message frame 400 comprises a mac header 402 , mac data payload 404 , and a checksum 406 . the mac header 402 preferably contains information related to the physical network medium in addition to other information . as will be understood by those having skill in the art , the attribute routing message frame 410 is encapsulated in the mac data payload 404 . the mac data payload 404 may contain other data in addition to the attribute routing message frame 410 . the mac checksum 406 preferably allows for the message frame to be validated and verified as delivered intact , as is well understood in the art . the attribute routing system message frame 410 similarly comprises an aip header 412 , an aip data payload 414 , and a checksum 416 . advantageously , the aip header 412 may contain information related to error messages and other status of a node or network segment . the aip header 412 may also contain certain attribute information . also , the aip data payload 414 preferably contains attribute objects and other attribute information . additionally , the aip data payload 214 comprises the ip message frame 420 . the aip checksum 416 preferably allows for the message frame to be validated and verified as delivered intact . the ip message frame 420 comprises an ip header 422 , an ip data payload 424 , and an ip checksum 426 . the ip data payload 424 comprises the tcp message frame 430 and other data . the ip checksum 426 preferably allows for the message frame to be validated and verified as delivered intact . the tcp message frame 430 comprises a tcp header 432 , a tcp data payload 434 , and a tcp checksum 436 . the tcp data payload 434 typically comprises data for applications that run on the network device and the tcp checksum 436 allows for the message frame to be validated and verified as delivered intact . [ 0076 ] fig5 is a block diagram illustrating an example protocol packet for transferring attribute information between routing devices according to an embodiment of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , the basic structure of an autonomic / adaptation routing packet is shown comprising three sets of fields , the command set 532 , attribute description set 534 , and attribute content set 536 . advantageously , this illustrated protocol packet is able to route attributes that allow many classes of data to be sent through the system . for example , the packet can emulate a rip - 1 type of mac - layer protocol or a rip - 2 type of mac - layer protocol . the command set 532 is commonly found in most protocols including rip and ip . the version field 502 uses one byte of storage . the content of the field can be the number one ( 1 ), although other versions and perhaps future versions may use the number two ( 2 ), the number three ( 3 ), and so on . the command field 504 can represent a request protocol packet or a response protocol packet . in one embodiment , a request packet can be indicated with the number one ( 1 ) while a response packet can be indicated with the number two ( 2 ). this field uses one byte of storage . the attribute router in theory can define up to 65536 different types of attributes . thus , the attribute type field 506 uses two bytes of storage . advantageously , attributes can be identified by the content of the attribute type field 506 . there is one special attribute type . the attribute type zero ( 0 ) may be used in a request packet to request a replay of all attributes of all types in the database . in some cases , the size of each attribute &# 39 ; s index keys may vary depending upon the attribute type . for example , ip keys might require 4 bytes , and 802 mac address keys might require 6 bytes . in this case , the highest bits of the attribute type may be used to indicate the index key size ( e . g . 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 , 8 bytes , etc .) in what follows we assume a 6 - byte key , but do not preclude other key sizes in our system . in one embodiment , each attribute transfer message comprises a series of variable or fixed sized records and the size of each record is stored in the attribute size field 508 . for example , an attribute size of zero may indicate that records are null - terminated , allowing variable - length strings to be stored as attributes . this is particularly important for distributing virus scan patterns or variable - length name records . in a request or response message , more than one attribute can be requested or returned , and so the attribute count field 510 indicates the number of attributes to be transferred . if there are too many attributes to fit into a single packet , additional packets can be sent with the same command set 532 and attribute description 534 but with an updated attribute count field 510 to reflect the number of remaining attributes . additionally , each type of attribute has a customizable update period ( in seconds or some multiple of seconds ) that is defined by the period field 512 . the update period , denoted by the symbol π , indicates the number of seconds before all attributes of that type are retransmitted to neighboring router nodes . related to the update period field 512 is the timeout period field 514 , denoted by the symbol τ . the content of the timeout field 514 is typically an integer that is later multiplied by the content of the update period field 514 to arrive at the actual timeout value . for example , to implement a rip - like protocol the period field 512 might be 30 and the timeout field 514 might be 6 . thus , attributes time out and disappear from the system if they are not refreshed within 180 seconds ( i . e ., 6 * 30 seconds .). the final field in the attribute description set 534 is the arq decay field 516 , denoted by the symbol α . if the value of the arq decay field 516 is one or zero , then all attributes of the given type are transmitted in every period as in the rip or ospf protocols . if the value is greater than one ( 1 ), then the forwarding and timeout processes in the attribute router support the transport of large , slowly changing databases , such as a name server database or a virus scan pattern database . this field also provides the routing system with the ability to perform an exponential backoff when a network media is overloaded , beneficially enhancing transport reliability . in an exemplary embodiment , each attribute in the database has an associated age value , denoted by the symbol χ , indicating the elapsed time since the attribute last changed its value at a node . if α & gt ; 1 then the retransmit probability of an object of age π ( α ι − 1 )& lt ; χ ≦ π ( α ι ) is ( 1 / α ) ι . for example , if α = 2 , then objects with age 0 & lt ; χ ≦ π have a retransmit probability 100 %. objects whose age is between π and 2π have a retransmit probability 50 %. objects whose age is between 2π and 4π have a retransmit probability 25 %. objects whose age is between 4π and 8π have a retransmit probability 12 . 5 %, and so forth . this will produce infinitely many retransmissions but the offered load on the network per object will decay exponentially as objects age without changing values . in a similar fashion , if α & gt ; 1 then the chance of object timeout will be τ ( 1 / α ) ι for objects of age π ( α ι − 1 )& lt ; χ ≦ π ( α ι ). this ensures that objects experiencing retransmission decay do not experience an increased chance of timeout . after the fields of the attribute description set 534 , a protocol packet next includes multiple attribute content fields 536 . in one embodiment , the set of attribute content fields 536 is restricted to the subset 518 . in such an embodiment , the protocol packet advantageously emulates the rip - 1 routing algorithm with ieee 802 mac - layer addressing . this record includes a six - byte index key field 520 , a packet identifier (“ pid ”) 522 , and a distance metric field 524 . the packet identifier is used to identify and remove stale attribute records . every new generation of routing object increments this field by the item timeout value ( e . g . 180 seconds for rip ), rounded up to the next power of two ( e . g . 256 ), plus the timeout . every time a message is forwarded , or every second that a message lives within a router , the field is decremented by one . when the generation underflows ( e . g . for rip , when the lower 8 bits change from 0x00 to 0xff ) the object is expired and kept in the routing database as a “ dead object ” for the timeout period . this attribute allows the system to implement a routing algorithm very similar to the rip - 1 routing algorithm . for improved performance a route tag field 528 and a next hop field 530 may be included ( collectively shown as subset 526 , producing a routing algorithm very similar to the rip2 routing algorithm . advantageously , in a mac - layer routing system there is no need for a network mask in the routing records since route summaries are generally not possible . a request message follows the same format as a response message with one exception . if a request message is generated with an attribute count of zero , then the entire collection of attributes of the given type is returned . additionally , if the request message is generated with an attribute count of zero , and an attribute value of zero , then the entire collection of all attributes of all types is returned . otherwise , each index key field 520 in each routing record is populated and used to generate the response . this has the beneficial effect that the same packet buffer received in a request packet can be used for the response packet , avoiding the need to recover from packet allocation errors on small processors . advantageously , no form of mtu discovery or negotiation is needed because each router node knows the mtu for each physical interface that it supports . preferably , each router node on a given network will support the same mtu . [ 0088 ] fig6 a is a block diagram illustrating an example packet identifier 600 in an attribute routing system according to an embodiment of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , the pid 600 is logically divided into two parts . a variable number of lower bits comprise an age field 602 . the upper bits comprise a generation identifier (“ gid ”) 604 . the number of bits is calculated by rounding up the attribute timeout to the next power of two ( e . g . 180 seconds for rip rounds up to 256 , or 8 bits for age .) an attribute is considered dead if the age field 602 is all 1 &# 39 ; s in binary notation . [ 0089 ] fig6 b is a flow diagram illustrating an example reboot process in an attribute routing system according to an embodiment of the present invention . initially , at system reboot time 610 , a request is broadcast to get all attribute records from the neighboring routers 612 . this is accomplished by asking for all records of attribute zero , as previously described with respect to fig5 . if there is no response within a few seconds the request is rebroadcast 614 . when the response is received it is processed using the input processing 616 algorithm that will be described in fig6 e . [ 0090 ] fig6 c is a flow diagram illustrating an example origination process in an attribute routing system according to an embodiment of the present invention . to originate an attribute 620 a client creates an attribute class 622 , and then instantiates the attribute record 624 . this causes a new generation id to be allocated 626 and the attribute is handled by the input processing algorithm 628 to be described in fig6 e . at that point the attribute exists in the system until either the attribute period expires 630 , whereupon the system allocates a new generation id 626 and the system re - inputs the attribute 628 , which will trigger the forwarding machinery . if an attribute originator modifies an attribute , the attribute manager increments the generation id 626 and re - inputs the attribute , causing an immediate flood 628 . [ 0091 ] fig6 d is a flow diagram illustrating an example flooding process in an attribute routing system according to an embodiment of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , the flood process 640 initially waits for the inter - flood period 642 , which can be specified in seconds by the protocol , and then checks all attributes 644 to see if there are any marked for flooding . if there are no attributes marked for flooding , the process goes back to sleep 642 . otherwise , the flood process transmits all such attributes 646 and clears the marks 648 . if the all the changed attributes do not fit into a single packet , then additional packets are sent using duplicate attribute type descriptors . these two operations 646 and 648 can be handled as a single atomic transaction . each router has a means , dependent on the attribute type , to identify attributes that it has originated in the past . for example the originating router address could be stored within each attribute . for each of these attributes the router learns the most recent packet id that was in use before its last restart and updates its tables appropriately . if possible , the router stores the packet id number in flash and may use this packet id in preference to learning the id from a remote router . preferably , this packet id learning algorithm is always active in every router . [ 0093 ] fig6 e is a flow diagram illustrating an example attribute update process in an attribute routing system according to an embodiment of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , when an attribute is received from the network 650 , it is looked - up in the database 652 . if it does not exist 654 , a new database entry is created 656 . if it exists and the one in the database has a lesser packet id 658 , the new attribute replaces the existing database entry 660 . if the existing attribute is a dead object 659 , meaning that the age field is all 1 &# 39 ; s (=˜ 0 ), then the new attribute replaces the existing database entry 660 . if none of the three conditions are true , then the old duplicate attribute is discarded 662 . next , the new attribute generation id is compared to the replaced generation id 663 , and if they are equal ( meaning the new object is a younger version of the same object ), the process completes . otherwise , for a new attribute object / version , the death timer is initialized 664 based on its status as dead or alive , and the attribute is queued for flooding 666 . then the age is tested 668 to see if death is imminent . if it will die then the death timer is started 670 . then , if the attribute is still alive 672 the age is decreased by one 674 . in one embodiment , when the age underflows , the attribute is considered dead . once the age of an attribute is decreased , the input process is complete 676 . the seconds ticking process 680 performs aging on attributes that are not being forwarded . first the death timer is examined to see if it has expired 682 . if it is expired , then the item is removed from the database 684 . otherwise , the age is increased 682 , as previously described with respect to the input processing algorithm in fig6 b . in one embodiment , when the generation id increases to the maximum value then all attributes are purged from the system and the system is reinitialized with new attributes with a low - numbered packet id . the origin router performs this by avoiding the use of the highest few packet ids . when the packet id approaches these high - numbered packet ids , a dead packet id is sent with a deleted age to erase all the existing attributes from the system . when this has been done it is now possible to reset the generation id to zero and begin anew . [ 0097 ] fig7 a is a block diagram illustrating an example virus scan pattern 702 according to an embodiment of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , the structure of the virus scan pattern 702 comprises a regular expression 704 , a scan action 706 , and an action parameter 708 . the virus scan pattern 702 is digitally signed and therefore has an md5 checksum 710 . the entire virus scan pattern 702 is also encrypted , for example by using a private key to cryptographically authenticate the sender . thus , the scan pattern 702 is encapsulated in an encryption layer 712 . in one embodiment , the scan action 706 may include actions such as delete , substitute , and quarantine . [ 0098 ] fig7 b is a block diagram illustrating an example distribution system for transporting virus scan patterns from an application service provider (“ asp ”) 714 to an attribute routing system 718 for distribution throughout a network according to an embodiment of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , the asp 714 emits one or more scan patterns ( such as those previously described with respect to fig7 a ) to a rap proxy portal 717 . for example , the scan patterns may be distributed through a secure channel such as secure tunnel 716 . the rap proxy 717 subsequently emits the scan pattern attributes , preferably with a short update period . for example , the update period may be set at one minute . additionally , the scan pattern attributes emitted by rap proxy 717 preferably have a long timeout period , for example one hour . finally , the arq decay is preferably set to two ( 2 ). the scan pattern emitted by rap proxy 717 is distributed by the autonomic routing system 718 throughout the network . advantageously , the inherent reliability of the autonomic routing system 718 ensures that the scan pattern is reliably distributed to even the most remote nodes in the network , such as node 720 . once the scan pattern has been distributed throughout the system , then the message update traffic decays towards zero . to delete an object the asp injects a null pattern into the system . this null pattern is not refreshed by the asp , and eventually every object either times out , or is overwritten by the null pattern , which later times out of the attribute routing system 718 . [ 0100 ] fig8 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process for application of virus scan patterns according to an embodiment of the present invention . the illustrated process may take place within a routing device , a general - purpose computer , a wireless communication device , or some other computing device capable of receiving virus scan patterns . for example , the device may receive the virus scan patterns by a wired or wireless network connection or by some physical media such as a compact disc , or a portable universal serial bus (“ usb ”) drive . accordingly , within the device implementing the illustrated process , the normal operating system state is up . in arriving at the normal up state , the device initially must boot , as illustrated in step 800 . the device may boot based on a power up , a power cycle , or a reboot in response to a direct command or a fatal system crash . in all cases , when the device is booting up , all of the virus scan patterns stored in persistent memory are advantageously executed , as shown in step 802 . the exact timing of the execution of the virus scans may vary depending on the device . for example , the virus scan patterns may be executed after the bios boot and early boot but before the operating system boot , as will be understood by those having skill in the art . preferably , the scan step 802 scans all of the files on the device . after the device boots up , it remains in the up state 804 until a trigger event is detected , as shown in step 806 . if no trigger event is detected , the device remains in the up state 804 . a trigger event as detected in step 806 may be any of a variety of events . for example , a trigger event may advantageously occur when the device receives a new scan pattern , receives an updated scan pattern , or receives a new file . additionally , the detection of an unauthorized disk transaction may be identified as a trigger event . in one embodiment , a list of trigger events may be maintained by the device . once a trigger event has been detected , in step 808 the device applies one or more of its scan patterns to one or more of the files on the device . for example , if a new scan pattern is received , the device can advantageously apply the new scan pattern to all of its files . alternatively , if an updated scan pattern is received , the device may apply the updated scan pattern to all files with a timestamp later than the most recent execution of the previous version of the scan pattern . when the execution of the one or more scan patterns is complete , in step 810 the device determines if any infected files were detected . if infected files were found , the device takes the appropriate action , as illustrated in step 812 . preferably , the action to be taken is defined by the scan pattern , for example the infected file may be deleted , substituted , or quarantined . in an alternative embodiment , the action taken may be interleaved with the execution of the scan pattern so that infected files are processed during the scanning process rather than in a serial fashion . if no infected files are found , the device preferably returns to the up state 804 . also , if infected files were found , after the appropriate action has been taken , the device preferably returns to the up state 804 . if additional scan patterns are to be executed , the process may loop back to step 808 ( loop not shown ) one ore more times until all of the necessary scan patterns have been executed . [ 0106 ] fig9 is a high level network diagram illustrating an example transparent distributed bridge according to an embodiment of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , a wired configuration 920 and a wireless configuration 921 are shown . in the wired configuration 920 , four device controller stations 902 , 904 , 906 , and 908 are connected with a central server 910 via a traditional multi - drop wired network 912 . in the wireless configuration 921 , four device controller stations 903 , 905 , 907 , and 909 are connected with a central server 911 and a network management station 915 via a wireless radio network 913 . preferably , each device controller station 903 , 905 , 907 , and 909 , the central server 911 , and the network management station 915 all contain an attribute routing adaptation protocol system allowing them to associate together in a wireless mesh network that replaces the multi - drop wired network 912 . in one embodiment , the central server 911 and each device controller 903 , 905 , 907 , and 909 provides both power and a network wire to its corresponding radio module , which in turn preferably emulates the behavior of a wired network . the network management station 915 preferably is configured to participate in the wired mesh network 913 to monitor the health of the system . for example , the health of the wireless network 913 may be monitored by the network management station 915 participating as a router node in the wireless network 913 . in such a role , the network management station 915 can analyze the various attributes propagated around the network by the attribute routing adaptation protocol . such an embodiment may be referred to as a distributed bridge system . a difficult problem in a distributed bridge system is the attendant packet encapsulation and translation that must occur for a communication packet to be forwarded within the distributed bridge . advantageously , nearly all network communication protocols designed for multi - hop networking provide an ieee 802 encapsulation ( e . g ., ethernet encapsulation ) for forwarding or tunneling communication packets through an ethernet . an attribute routing system that routes at the mac layer , in particular the ieee 802 mac layer , can advantageously emulate an ethernet and thereby use the ethernet encapsulation mechanism for packet encapsulation in a distributed bridge system . another difficult problem in a distributed bridge system is name translation and / or the implementation of special features associated with a particular protocol such as ethernet , bacnet , lonworks , map , and top , just to name a few . advantageously , the attribute routing adaptation system can use the attribute transport mechanism to replicate data at each network node , including the mac id of the protocol being bridged ( a first attribute ), and a virtual network number associated with every station ( a second attribute ). in doing so , name translation and the various protocol specific features can easily be provided in a distributed bridge system . [ 0110 ] fig1 is a high level network diagram illustrating an example wireless mesh network 14 according to an embodiment of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , the wireless mesh network comprises a plurality of wireless communication devices 1010 , 1020 , 1030 , 1040 , and 1050 . additional wireless communication devices may also be included in the network 14 and some wireless communication devices may be out of communication for one reason or another , for example device 1010 may be powered down . preferably , the wireless communication devices are configured with a radio transceiver or other means of communicating with other wireless devices and over a wireless network . in the illustrated embodiment , wireless communication device 1020 , and 1050 each have a corresponding omni directional transmission range 1021 and 1051 , respectively . the other wireless communication devices in the network 14 preferably also have an omni directional transmission range , although these are not shown in order to simplify the diagram . as shown , device 1050 is not in range for communication with the network access device 1000 , which provides external network access to network 1060 , which can be a local area network , a wide area network , or for example , the internet . advantageously , the wireless communication devices in the mesh network 14 are equipped with an enhanced mac layer that provides the ability for a wireless communication device to perform multiple hop routing of communication packets over a wireless network . for example , device 1050 broadcasts a communication packet a destined for a location that is somewhere within network 1060 . the communication packet cannot reach network access point 1000 , but it does reach wireless communication device 1020 . the mac layer on device 1020 recognizes the external destination of the communication packet and sends the packet through network access point 1000 for ultimate delivery at its destination within network 1060 . similarly , when a response communication packet b is sent by network access point 1000 , wireless communication device 1020 receives packet b and broadcasts the packet so that it may also be received by wireless communication device 1050 . thus , communication packets can be routed across a plurality of wireless communication devices capable of multiple hop routing at the mac layer so that network communications from a mesh network are possible with external networks and the corresponding network devices on those external networks . [ 0114 ] fig1 is a high level network diagram illustrating an example brouter 28 connecting two heterogeneous network segments 22 and 24 according to an embodiment of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , network segment 22 is a wireless network , for example an 802 . 11 network . additionally , network segment 24 is a wired network , for example an 802 . 3 network . the two network segments are coupled by a brouter 28 that has an associated data storage area 82 . the complete network 12 comprises both network segments 22 and 24 and is logically a single network such that each network device , whether connected to the wireless network segment 22 or the wired network segment 24 , has the same network portion for its ip address . physically , however , the network 12 comprises a wireless network segment 22 and a wired network segment 24 connected by a brouter 28 as illustrated . the network segment 22 comprises network device 32 , network device 42 , and brouter 28 . each network device 32 and 42 is configured to communicate over the wireless network segment 22 , for example , with a radio transceiver ( not shown ). similarly , the brouter 28 is also configured to communicate over the wireless network segment 22 , as illustrated by its integral antenna . in one embodiment , the network devices 32 and 42 and the brouter 28 communicate routing information to each other over the wireless network segment 22 using isis . the network segment 24 comprises network devices 52 , 54 , 56 , and 58 along with the brouter 28 . each network device 52 , 54 , 56 , and 58 is configured to communicate over the wired network segment 24 , for example with a network interface card (“ nic ”) ( not shown ). similarly , the brouter 28 is also configured to communicate over the network segment 24 , for example through an integral nic ( not shown ).. in one embodiment , the network devices 52 , 54 , 56 , and 58 and the brouter 28 communicate routing information to each other over the network segment 24 using rip . the brouter 28 uses the data storage area 82 to store an attribute routing database . the attribute routing database preferably contains conventional routing information in addition to enhanced information about the various network devices across the two network segments 22 and 24 . to establish the attribute routing database , the brouter 28 may send a broadcast message on each network segment that requests each network device to provide information in response . as the response messages are received by the brouter 28 , records in the attribute routing database may be created and populated . advantageously , the records in the attribute routing database may be linked together according to their related attributes . thus , the set of network devices connected to the wireless network segment 22 can be uniquely identified in the attribute routing database , for example , by querying the database for those records with isis as the routing protocol . similarly , the set of network devices connected to the network segment 24 can be uniquely identified in the attribute routing database by querying the database for those records with rip as the routing protocol . additional attributes for network devices and network segments may also be defined and stored in the attribute routing database and various relationships identified based upon the aggregate attributes in the database . advantageously , new attributes may be defined and stored in an attribute routing database during operation of the network . a significant advantage of this is that each attribute may carry its own unique update period so that the attribute information is propagated around the network at the optimal frequency to maintain accurate information while minimizing network traffic . this optimization can be extremely beneficial to a wireless network such as wireless network segment 22 . once the brouter 28 has created the attribute routing table and stored the table in data storage area 82 , communication packets from a network device on network segment 22 that are destined for a network device on network segment 24 can be transparently passed between the network segments by brouter 28 . for example , brouter 28 can receive a communication packet from network device 32 , extract the mac message frame from the 802 . 11 communication and then encapsulate the mac message frame in an 802 . 3 communication packet for delivery to the destination network device , for example , network device 52 . alternatively , the brouter 28 may extract the ip message frame from the communication packet and encapsulate the ip message frame in a mac message frame oriented for delivery over an 802 . 3 network such as network segment 24 . advantageously , the mac layer on network device 52 may provide an ip message frame to the ip layer on network device 52 such that the ip layer on network device 52 is unaware that the originating network device 32 is connected to wireless network segment 22 . [ 0122 ] fig1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary wireless communication device 780 that may be used in connection with the various embodiments described herein . for example , the wireless communication device 780 may be used in conjunction with a handset or pda network device or as a part of a sensor node in a wireless mesh network . however , other wireless communication devices and / or architectures may also be used , as will be clear to those skilled in the art . in the illustrated embodiment , wireless communication device 780 comprises an antenna 782 , a duplexor 784 , a low noise amplifier (“ lna ”) 786 , a power amplifier (“ pa ”) 788 , a modulation circuit 790 , a baseband processor 792 , a speaker 794 , a microphone 796 , a central processing unit (“ cpu ”) 798 , and a data storage area 799 . in the wireless communication device 780 , radio frequency (“ rf ”) signals are transmitted and received by antenna 782 . duplexor 784 acts as a switch , coupling antenna 782 between the transmit and receive signal paths . in the receive path , received rf signals are coupled from a duplexor 784 to lna 786 . lna 786 amplifies the received rf signal and couples the amplified signal to a demodulation portion of the modulation circuit 790 . typically modulation circuit 790 will combine a demodulator and modulator in one integrated circuit (“ ic ”). the demodulator and modulator can also be separate components . the demodulator strips away the rf carrier signal leaving a base - band receive audio signal , which is sent from the demodulator output to the base - band processor 792 . if the base - band receive audio signal contains audio information , then base - band processor 792 decodes the signal and converts it to an analog signal . then the signal is amplified and sent to the speaker 794 . the base - band processor 792 also receives analog audio signals from the microphone 796 . these analog audio signals are converted to digital signals and encoded by the base - band processor 792 . the base - band processor 792 also codes the digital signals for transmission and generates a base - band transmit audio signal that is routed to the modulator portion of modulation circuit 790 . the modulator mixes the base - band transmit audio signal with an rf carrier signal generating an rf transmit signal that is routed to the power amplifier 788 . the power amplifier 788 amplifies the rf transmit signal and routes it to the duplexor 784 where the signal is switched to the antenna port for transmission by antenna 782 . the baseband processor 792 is also communicatively coupled with the central processing unit 798 . the central processing unit 798 has access to a data storage area 799 . the central processing unit 798 is preferably configured to execute instructions ( i . e ., computer programs or software ) that can be stored in the data storage area 799 . computer programs can also be received from the baseband processor 792 and stored in the data storage area 799 or executed upon receipt . such computer programs , when executed , enable the wireless communication device 780 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described . in this description , the term “ computer readable medium ” is used to refer to any media used to provide executable instructions ( e . g ., software and computer programs ) to the wireless communication device 780 for execution by the central processing unit 798 . examples of these media include the data storage area 799 , microphone 796 ( via the baseband processor 792 ), and antenna 782 ( also via the baseband processor 792 ). these computer readable mediums are means for providing executable code , programming instructions , and software to the wireless communication device 780 . the executable code , programming instructions , and software , when executed by the central processing unit 798 , preferably cause the central processing unit 798 to perform the inventive features and functions previously described herein . [ 0128 ] fig1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system 750 that may be used in connection with the various embodiments described herein . for example , the computer system 750 may be used in conjunction with a network device , a network access point , a router , a bridge , or other network infrastructure component . however , other computer systems and / or architectures may also be used , as will be clear to those having skill in the art . the computer system 750 preferably includes one or more processors , such as processor 752 . additional processors may be provided , such as an auxiliary processor to manage input / output , an auxiliary processor to perform floating point mathematical operations , a special - purpose microprocessor having an architecture suitable for fast execution of signal processing algorithms ( e . g ., digital signal processor ), a slave processor subordinate to the main processing system ( e . g ., back - end processor ), an additional microprocessor or controller for dual or multiple processor systems , or a coprocessor . such auxiliary processors may be discrete processors or may be integrated with the processor 752 . the processor 752 is preferably connected to a communication bus 754 . the communication bus 754 may include a data channel for facilitating information transfer between storage and other peripheral components of the computer system 750 . the communication bus 754 further may provide a set of signals used for communication with the processor 752 , including a data bus , address bus , and control bus ( not shown ). the communication bus 754 may comprise any standard or non - standard bus architecture such as , for example , bus architectures compliant with industry standard architecture (“ isa ”), extended industry standard architecture (“ eisa ”), micro channel architecture (“ mca ”), peripheral component interconnect (“ pci ”) local bus , or standards promulgated by the institute of electrical and electronics engineers (“ ieee ”) including ieee 488 general - purpose interface bus (“ gpib ”), ieee 696 / s - 100 , and the like . computer system 750 preferably includes a main memory 756 and may also include a secondary memory 758 . the main memory 756 provides storage of instructions and data for programs executing on the processor 752 . the main memory 756 is typically semiconductor - based memory such as dynamic random access memory (“ dram ”) and / or static random access memory (“ sram ”). other semiconductor - based memory types include , for example , synchronous dynamic random access memory (“ sdram ”), rambus dynamic random access memory (“ rdram ”), ferroelectric random access memory (“ fram ”), and the like , including read only memory (“ rom ”). the secondary memory 758 may optionally include a hard disk drive 760 and / or a removable storage drive 762 , for example a floppy disk drive , a magnetic tape drive , a compact disc (“ cd ”) drive , a digital versatile disc (“ dvd ”) drive , etc . the removable storage drive 762 reads from and / or writes to a removable storage medium 764 in a well - known manner . removable storage medium 764 may be , for example , a floppy disk , magnetic tape , cd , dvd , etc . the removable storage medium 764 is preferably a computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code ( i . e ., software ) and / or data . the computer software or data stored on the removable storage medium 764 is read into the computer system 750 as electrical communication signals 778 . in alternative embodiments , secondary memory 758 may include other similar means for allowing computer programs or other data or instructions to be loaded into the computer system 750 . such means may include , for example , an external storage medium 772 and an interface 770 . examples of external storage medium 772 may include an external hard disk drive or an external optical drive , or and external magneto - optical drive . other examples of secondary memory 758 may include semiconductor - based memory such as programmable read - only memory (“ prom ”), erasable programmable read - only memory (“ eprom ”), electrically erasable read - only memory (“ eeprom ”), or flash memory ( block oriented memory similar to eeprom ). also included are any other removable storage units 772 and interfaces 770 , which allow software and data to be transferred from the removable storage unit 772 to the computer system 750 . computer system 750 may also include a communication interface 774 . the communication interface 774 allows software and data to be transferred between computer system 750 and external devices ( e . g . printers ), networks , or information sources . for example , computer software or executable code may be transferred to computer system 750 from a network server via communication interface 774 . examples of communication interface 774 include a modem , a network interface card (“ nic ”), a communications port , a pcmcia slot and card , an infrared interface , and an ieee 1394 fire - wire , just to name a few . communication interface 774 preferably implements industry promulgated protocol standards , such as ethernet ieee 802 standards , fiber channel , digital subscriber line (“ dsl ”), asynchronous digital subscriber line (“ adsl ”), frame relay , asynchronous transfer mode (“ atm ”), integrated digital services network (“ isdn ”), personal communications services (“ pcs ”), transmission control protocol / internet protocol (“ tcp / ip ”), serial line internet protocol / point to point protocol (“ slip / ppp ”), and so on , but may also implement customized or non - standard interface protocols as well . software and data transferred via communication interface 774 are generally in the form of electrical communication signals 778 . these signals 778 are preferably provided to communication interface 774 via a communication channel 776 . communication channel 776 carries signals 778 and can be implemented using a variety of communication means including wire or cable , fiber optics , conventional phone line , cellular phone link , radio frequency ( rf ) link , or infrared link , just to name a few . computer executable code ( i . e ., computer programs or software ) is stored in the main memory 756 and / or the secondary memory 758 . computer programs can also be received via communication interface 774 and stored in the main memory 756 and / or the secondary memory 758 . such computer programs , when executed , enable the computer system 750 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described . in this description , the term “ computer readable medium ” is used to refer to any media used to provide computer executable code ( e . g ., software and computer programs ) to the computer system 750 . examples of these media include main memory 756 , secondary memory 758 ( including hard disk drive 760 , removable storage medium 764 , and external storage medium 772 ), and any peripheral device communicatively coupled with communication interface 774 ( including a network information server or other network device ). these computer readable mediums are means for providing executable code , programming instructions , and software to the computer system 750 . in an embodiment that is implemented using software , the software may be stored on a computer readable medium and loaded into computer system 750 by way of removable storage drive 762 , interface 770 , or communication interface 774 . in such an embodiment , the software is loaded into the computer system 750 in the form of electrical communication signals 778 . the software , when executed by the processor 752 , preferably causes the processor 752 to perform the inventive features and functions previously described herein . various embodiments may also be implemented primarily in hardware using , for example , components such as application specific integrated circuits (“ asics ”), or field programmable gate arrays (“ fpgas ”). implementation of a hardware state machine capable of performing the functions described herein will also be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art . various embodiments may also be implemented using a combination of both hardware and software . while the particular systems and methods herein shown and described in detail are fully capable of attaining the above described objects of this invention , it is to be understood that the description and drawings presented herein represent a presently preferred embodiment of the invention and are therefore representative of the subject matter which is broadly contemplated by the present invention . it is further understood that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments that may become obvious to those skilled in the art and that the scope of the present invention is accordingly limited by nothing other than the appended claims . | 8 |
a typical mower has a framework or chassis with ground - engaging wheels , carrying a cutter unit and a collecting box . the mower may be self - supporting and self - propelled or may , for example , be adapted to be towed ( and possibly wholly or partly supported by ) a tractor . fig2 shows schematically a self - propelled mower 100 having a chassis 102 bearing front and rear sets of ground - engaging wheels 104 , 105 . front and rear grass cutting units 106 , 107 are mounted to the chassis in front of respective sets of wheels 104 , 105 . each cutting unit has an associated grass collecting box 108 , 110 ( to be described later ). the collecting boxes 108 , 110 shown in fig2 are of a type requiring power and this is supplied by means of respective power take - offs 112 , 114 coupled to the cutting units . several examples of collecting boxes suitable for use in the present invention will now be described . fig1 shows a collecting box 1 having an inlet opening 10 for receiving grass cuttings from the cutter unit , in a generally conventional way . in a lower region it has an exit slot 12 with means for controlling the passage of material . in the embodiment of fig1 the slot 12 is defined between a horizontal bottom wall and a side wall 16 which stops short of the bottom wall . fig2 shows a variant in which the bottom part of the container is formed as a hopper , with a pair of base walls 18 sloping down to a spaced pair of flanges 20 defining the exit slot 22 . in both fig1 and 2 there is a cylindrical brush 2 mounted in the exit slot so that , when stationary , it prevents the passage of the contents of the container whereas , when rotated , it feeds the contents out in a controlled fashion . fig3 and 4 show collecting boxes which are generally similar to those of fig1 and 2 respectively , but use oscillating hinged flaps 3 instead of cylindrical brushes 2 . fig7 shows a box similar to those of fig1 and 3 but with a flap 5 which is reciprocated like a piston between a position at which it closes the outlet slot and a position at which it is spaced from the outlet slot . fig5 and 6 show boxes with fans 4 located in the outlet slots . fig9 and 10 show analogous boxes using rotatable fanned discs 7 . fig1 shows a box like that of fig1 but with the outlet slot controlled by a rotating rake 8 . this is similar to the brush used in fig1 and 2 but with tines 8a instead of bristles . fig1 shows a box having two portions 30 , 32 connected via an upper hinge 9 so that their lower edges 34 , 36 can be together as shown , or progressively spaced apart to provide a suitable exit slot . in some embodiments the exit opening may not be a wide slot . for example , fans and piston - type flaps as in fig5 and 7 may be used to expel material through one or more relatively small outlet openings . as shown in fig8 the material may thus be fed to one or more spouts 6 , which may be swivelled automatically to distribute the material . within a box , the feeding of material to the exit outlet ( s ) may depend on gravity and / or be mechanically assisted . fig1 shows a box generally as in fig1 with a horizontally extending conveyor 10 . fig1 shows a walking floor 11 . as shown in fig1 , this may be made up of a number of flat panels 28 along the base of the container which move in a reciprocating motion provided by a powered cam shaft . the walking motion may be generated by each panel being delayed by 180 degrees on the cam set up from the panels on either side . arrow a of fig1 indicates the direction of material movement . fig1 shows a container with a shuffle floor 12 . as shown in fig2 this may be made up of one or a number of panels 28 along the base of the container which move in a linear fashion back and forth allowing the material to move to the exit point . when a number of panels are used the direction of motion of one panel to the next may be opposite . fig1 shows a box with an internal fan 13 on the opposite side of the box from the exit opening , for blowing material towards and through the opening . most of the boxes described include one or more mechanisms that require to be driven . they will generally be powered by their own source ( motor , internal or external to the catcher unit ) via connections to a supporting structure 14 on the grass mowing machine for the catcher box 1 ( see fig1 ). for an electric motor , a low voltage electrical supply may be provided to metal location supporting structure struts 14 on the grass mowing machine permanently . the catcher box locates on the struts 14 and connection points 15 located in the catcher box location channels pull power from the struts 14 and route it to the motors . for other types of motor the power ( air or other fluid ) may be routed to the supporting structure struts 14 on the grass mowing machine and the connection may be made with the use of quick release unions 15 on the catcher box so that when the box 1 is placed on the machine , power may be automatically provided . alternatively the power for the mechanisms may be provided via a take off 17 from the cutting unit 16 of the grass mowing machine ( see fig1 ) or from the vehicle &# 39 ; s / cutting unit &# 39 ; s wheels or via a roller on the container . components may be powered by a belt driven from a spinning cutting reel or rollers on the cutting unit ( s ). there may be a driven roller on the container , whence a belt takes power to a component . whereas the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments , it will be appreciated by the person skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . it is intended to cover all such changes and modifications by the appended claims . | 0 |
the block diagram of the present invention is illustrated in fig1 . as shown , a subject for investigation referred to here as patient 1 is placed in supine position . color flow imaging 2 with a 7 . 5 mhz transducer by way of example , of a device such as color flow mapping , biosound esaote , indianapolis , ind ., is used to scan the carotid arteries . the percent stenosis of the right (% rica ) and left (% lica ) internal carotid arteries is determined based on b - mode and doppler parameters , respectively . thereafter , the transcranial doppler ultrasound sonography 3 such as 2 mhz probe of a multi - dop t , manufactured by dwl , singen germany , could be used to determine the mfv in all major intracranial vessels including rica , lica , raca , laca , rmca , lmca , rpca , lpca and ba , respectively . the acquired data could be documented in hardcopy or stored in a microcomputer 4 for further analysis , and could be interfaced with a program for simulation of cerebral blood flow hemodynamics . as shown in fig2 , at the start 6 of the flow chart , for the procedure in men , the patient is positioned supine on an appropriate examination table 7 . the extracranial carotid arteries are examined 8 , and the percent stenosis 9 of the internal carotid artery noted , using color flow doppler velocity criteria and b - mode imaging parameters . thereafter , the patient is placed in supine position for transcranial doppler sonography 10 . all major cerebral arteries of the circle of willis are insonated 11 , and all values for % rica , % lica , mfv in rica , mfv in lica , mfv in rmca , mfv in lmca , mfv in rpca , mfv in lpca , and mfv in ba , are entered in the computer 12 . when all values have been computed 13 , then the procedure is continued , but if not 13 , the preceding steps 9 - 12 are repeated . all values are then stored and compared with the normal limits set by the investigator 14 . select the value for % rica that is higher than normal limit 15 . when the value is higher than normal limits , compare % rica and % lica , if % rica is greater than % lica 16 , proceed to the next step that implicates extracranial rica stenosis with hypoperfusion and lack of significant plaque in the lica with hyperperfusion 17 . if not 16 , then jump step 17 , to select values of raca , that are lower than normal limits 18 . when mfv in the laca is greater than in the raca 19 , this would implicate raca hypoperfusion and relative laca hyperperfusion 20 . then proceed to examine the posterior circulation , by selecting values for rpca and lpca at step 21 . if the mfv in the rpca is greater than mfv in the lpca 22 , then a rightward posterior - to - anterior shunting may be present 23 . however , if not 22 , proceed to use clinical criteria from dsm - iv score to base diagnosis 24 . if the dsm - iv score is greater than or equal to five 25 , then the determined model of cerebral hemodynamics could be associated with depression in men 26 , and should be plotted or simulated with a computer 27 before the program is brought to an end 28 . if dsm - iv is lower than five 25 , then the patient is not depressed and the program could be brought to an abrupt end 28 . as shown in fig3 , at the start 29 of the flow chart , for the procedure in women , the patient is positioned supine on an appropriate examination table 30 . the extracranial carotid arteries are examined similar to procedure in men 31 , and the percent stenosis 32 of the internal carotid artery noted using color flow doppler velocity criteria and b - mode imaging . thereafter , the patient is placed in position for transcranial doppler sonography 33 similar to the procedure in men . all major cerebral arteries of the circle of willis are insonated 34 , and all values for % rica , % lica , mfv in rica , mfv in lica , mfv in rmca , mfv in lmca , mfv in rpca , mfv in lpca , and mfv in ba , are entered in the computer 35 . when all values have been computed 36 , then the procedure is continued , but if not 36 , the preceding steps 32 - 35 are repeated . all values are then stored and compared with the normal limits set by the investigator 37 . select the value for % lica 38 and compare to % rica 39 . if % lica is greater than % rica 39 , proceed to the next step that implicates extracranial lica stenosis with hypoperfusion and lack of significant plaque in the rica with hyperperfusion 40 . if not 39 , then jump to step 41 , to select values of laca , that are lower than normal limits 41 . when mfv in the raca is greater than in the laca 42 , this would implicate raca hyperperfusion and laca hypoperfusion 43 . then proceed to examine the posterior circulation , by selecting values for rpca and lpca at step 44 . if the mfv in the lpca is greater than mfv in the rpca 45 , then a leftward posterior to anterior shunting may be present 46 . however , if not 45 , proceed to use clinical criteria from dsm - iv score to base diagnosis 47 . if the dsm - iv score is greater than or equal to five 48 , then the determined model of cerebral hemodynamics could be associated with depression in women 49 , and should be plotted or computer simulated 50 before the program is brought to an end 51 . if dsm - iv is lower than five 48 , then the patient is not depressed and the program could be brought to an abrupt end 51 . fig4 shows the schematic diagram of the circle of willis , and representations with directional arrows , of proposed changes in mfv , associated with the cerebral hemodynamic model for men , established with the present invention . the plaques 52 in the rica caused a stenotic flow reduction in the post - stenotic segment of the internal carotid artery . the effect on volume flow could be simulated using hagen - poiseuille &# 39 ; s law . the hagen - poiseuille law is the physical law concerning the voluminal laminar stationary flow φ of incompressible uniform viscous liquid ( so called newtonian fluid ) through a cylindrical tube with constant circular cross - section , experimentally derived by jean louis marie poiseuille ( 1797 - 1869 ), and defined by : φ = ⅆ v ⅆ t = v π r 2 = π r 4 8 η ( - δ p δ x ) = π r 4 8 η δ p l where v is a volume of the liquid , poured in the time unit t , v the median fluid velocity along the length of the tube , x the direction of flow , r the internal radius of the tube , p the pressure difference between the two ends , η the dynamic fluid viscosity , and l the total length of the tube in the x direction . the rica 52 branches into the rmca 53 and raca 54 , its segment could be subdivided into four parts : the c1 or cervical portion ; the c2 or petrous portion ; the c3 or cavernous portion ; and the c4 or supraclinoid portion . the link between extracranial carotid artery disease and depression could be related to diminution of blood supply from the carotid system , to the structures of the mesiobasal limbic system that , comprise the vital neural substrates for affective information processing . the structures of mesiobasal limbic system include : the uncus , amygdaloid body , hippocampus , dendate gyrus , subiculum , fasciolar gyrus and the parahippocampal gyrus . with carotid stenosis present in the c1 region , perfusion pressure would drop progressively , and expected to be minimal at the c4 portion . the c4 portion could be subdivided into three segments based on the origin of its major branches : the ophthalmic segment extends from the origin of the ophthalmic artery to the origin of the pcoa 55 ; the communicating segment extends from the origin of the pcoa 55 to the origin of the anterior choroidal artery ( acha ); and the choroidal segment extends from the origin of the acha to the bifurcation of the carotid artery . in the presence of carotid stenosis , the perfusion pressure within the choroidal segment would drop to minimal levels ; such that , the perfusion pressure in the perforating branches from the ipsilateral choroidal segment , that pass upward and enter the brain through the anterior perforated substance , would expectedly be very low . blood flow from the ipsilateral posteromedial and posterolateral choroidal arteries , which are branches of the posterior cerebral artery that forms anastomosis with the terminal end of the acha , shunts into the acha . furthermore , the progressive fall in perfusion pressure creates a flow gradient from the c2 , c3 segments to the c4 portion of the ipsilateral carotid artery . this would reduce flow to the rmca 53 and raca 54 . furthermore , shunting of blood flow from the ipsilateral rpcoa 55 , through the rpca 56 into the c4 portion , diminishes blood flow in the ba 57 and lpca 58 . the metabolic demand in the rmca territory that , supplies blood to over 80 % of the brain , would require most of the shunted blood flow from the posterior - to - anterior circulation , leaving a diminishing blood supply to the raca 54 , and to the rostral third of the temperomedial region within the acha territory . conversely , on the left side segment of the lica 59 there is no significant stenosis , and blood to the lmca 60 and laca 61 may be at normal levels . given this asymmetry in raca 54 and laca 61 blood flow velocities , a functional acoa 62 , would have blood flow across from the laca 61 to equilibrate with that in the raca 54 . however , as would be seen in the experiment cited below this is not the case , rather there was a significant asymmetry with mfv in the laca 61 greater than mfv in the raca 54 . the latter may suggest that there was a non - functional shunting through the acoa . fig5 shows the schematic diagram of the circle of willis , and representations with directional arrows , of proposed changes in mfv , associated with the cerebral hemodynamic model for women , established with the present invention . conversely , in women the threshold for stenosis is lower than in men . there was a tendency for greater stenosis on the left side , creating a hemodynamic condition on the left side as was seen on the right side in men . the lica stenosis 64 reduces perfusion pressure in the lmca 65 and laca 66 , creating a condition for posterior - to - anterior shunting through the lpcoa 67 , drawing blood flow from the rpca 68 , through the ba 69 and lpca 70 into the lmca 65 . on the right side , the rica 71 is free of significant plaque , and normal blood flow goes to the rmca 72 and raca 73 . the greater perfusion pressure in the raca 73 may send crossover blood supply 74 , through the distal portion to the contralateral laca region , given that , as in men , shunting through the acoa 75 may be non - functional . it is known that the distal aca of one hemisphere sends branches to the contralateral hemisphere in 64 % of brains . the crossover blood flow enhances interhemispheric functional connectivity in the depressed patients compared to controls . in long - term depression a ‘ malfunctional neuroplasticity ’ may develop and may result in ipsilateral responses for both left and right stimulations . blood flow in the rpcoa 76 may not reverse direction to prevent rpca 68 hypoperfusion . the inventor undertook an experiment in patients with major depression and control subjects without depression to illustrate the use of the present invention for diagnosis of depression . the details of this clinical experiment are described in detail below , by way of example . a total of 100 patients with history of two major cerebrovascular risk factors , including hypertension and carotid artery disease were studied . the group parameters are summarized in table 1 . the study group comprised 60 consecutive patients ( 36 men and 24 women ), who in addition to cerebrovascular risks had clinical depression . the control group included 40 patients who had cerebrovascular risk factors without clinical depression . there was no difference in age between the groups ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ). all subjects were right handed , with the preferred hand determined using a standardized questionnaire . clinical history and standard clinical examination included measurement of systolic ( sbp ) and diastolic ( dbp ) blood pressures and pulse . all subjects underwent a full neurological examination , including the national institutes of health neurologic stroke scale ( nihss ). stroke was defined according to the who criteria . brain scans were obtained as indicated . no subject had a history of psychiatric disorders other than depression , and none used recreational drugs . all subjects were screened for depression with the phq - 9 , a 9 item scale that assesses the 9 symptoms according to the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders ( dsm - iv ) criteria , for frequency of occurrence during the preceding 2 weeks . the first two items of the dsm - iv criteria : depressed mood and anhedonia had to be present along with other items so that , a score of 5 to 9 out of 9 symptoms , have been present at least more than half the days of the past 2 weeks , for the subject to be considered depressed . all items were translated into local languages , if subject could not comprehend english language meaning of the questions . only baseline scores based on the dsm - iv 9 - point scale ( presence or absence of each item ) were used for further analyses , rather than the frequency scores on phq - 9 . blood samples were collected for hematological and biochemical analysis . lipid profile ( lipids ) including : total cholesterol ( tchol ), low density lipoproteins ( ldl ), high density lipoproteins ( hdl ), triglycerides ( tgl ) and very low density lipoproteins ( vldl ), were determined using the enzymatic technique . anthropometric variables were used to calculate the body mass index ( bmi ), as weight divided by height squared ( kg / m2 ); waist - to - hip ratio ( whr ) was calculated as waist ( cm ) divided by hip ( cm ). subjects were non - smokers . no subject used caffeine within 24 hours preceding the study . drugs , other than those required for blood pressure control , that could alter cerebrovascular reactivity , were all suspended , for at least five half - lives of the drug before the study . no subject was prior to evaluation , on antidepressants or other psychoactive drugs . the transcranial doppler ( tcd ) ultrasonography was performed using a 2 mhz pulsed doppler transducer of a multi - dop t ( dwl singen germany ), to measure mfv in all major cerebral arteries ( rmca , lmca , rica , lica , raca , laca , rpca , lpca and ba ) of the circle of willis . the sonic windows on the temporal bones on both sides of the head were used . color - flow doppler and b - mode ultrasound ( color flow mapping system , biosound , esaote , indianapolis ind .) of the right and left carotid arteries , were used to determine % rica and % lica , according to the european carotid surgery trial ( ecst ) measurement protocol . all subjects gave informed consent according to guidelines of the institutional review board and the declaration of helsinki . all data were stored in a microcomputer and were later analyzed using a statistical software package ( statistica , statsoft , oh ). basic descriptive statistics and analysis of variance ( anova ) were performed to examine group differences . a multiple regression model was used to analyze mfv values to determine the beta , partial and semi - partial correlation coefficients . the level of significance was set at p & lt ; 0 . 05 . to examine the effects of the different risk factors ( bmi , whr , sbp , dbp , lipids , % rica , % lica , nihss ) on depression , an anova was performed with a 2 × 2 design : two levels of gender ( men and women ), two levels of depression status ( depression and control groups ). each risk factor was analyzed as the dependent variable , respectively . except for % rica , % lica and nihss , other factors had no main effect on depression , p = ns . for % rica , there was no main effect of gender , p = ns . there was a main effect of depression , f ( 1 , 96 )= 17 . 2 , mse = 5161 . 1 , p & lt ; 0 . 0001 . depression was associated with greater % rica ( 70 . 1 %) than in controls ( 55 . 3 %), schaeffe post hoc , p & lt ; 0 . 0001 . there was a gender × depression interaction , f ( 1 , 96 )= 4 . 59 , mse = 1376 . 5 , p & lt ; 0 . 05 . the observed association of depression with % rica was in men , with % rica in the depression group ( 74 . 2 %) greater than in the control group ( 51 . 8 %), schaeffe post hoc , p & lt ; 0 . 001 ; however , in women , the % rica in the depression group ( 66 %), showed only a tendency to be greater than that in the control group ( 59 %), p = ns . for % lica , there was no main effect of gender , p = ns . there was a main effect of depression , f ( 1 , 96 )= 14 . 8 , mse = 4554 . 5 , p & lt ; 0 . 001 . depression was associated with greater % lica ( 68 . 3 %) than in the control group ( 54 . 5 %), schaeffe post hoc , p & lt ; 0 . 001 . there was a gender × depression interaction , f ( 1 , 96 )= 4 . 6 , mse = 1411 . 3 , p & lt ; 0 . 05 . similarly , the observed association of depression with % lica was in men , with % lica in the depression group ( 69 %) greater than in the control group ( 47 . 4 %), schaeffe post hoc , p & lt ; 0 . 001 ; but in women , the % lica in the depression group ( 67 . 7 %) showed only a tendency to be greater than in the control group ( 61 . 6 %), schaeffe post hoc , p = ns . in other words , for both % rica and % lica , women had a lower threshold of percent stenosis for depression than men . for nihss score , there was no main effect of gender , p = ns . there was a main effect of depression , f ( 1 , 96 )= 30 . 3 , mse = 953 . 1 , p & lt ; 0 . 0001 . the mean nihss score was 6 . 4 in the depression group and zero ( 0 ) in the control group . the severity of depression did not differ between the 29 / 60 ( or 48 . 3 %) patients who had stroke ( mean dsm - iv score = 7 . 5 ± 1 ), and the 31 / 60 ( or 51 . 7 %) patients who had no stroke ( mean dsm - iv score = 7 . 6 ± 1 ). to examine the effect of brain regional blood flow supply , as indexed by mfv measurements in the major cerebral arteries ( rmca , lmca , rica , lica , raca , laca , rpca , lpca , and ba , respectively ) on depression , an anova was performed with a 2 × 2 design : two levels of gender ( men and women ), and two levels of depression ( depression and control groups ). the mfv in each artery was analyzed as the dependent variable , respectively . for rmca , lmca , rica , lica , lpca and ba , respectively , there was no main effect of depression , p = ns , and there were no interactions , p = ns . however , for the raca , there was no main effect of gender , p = ns . there was a main effect of depression f ( 1 , 96 )= 5 , mse = 872 , p & lt ; 0 . 05 . the patients in the depression group had lower levels of mfv in the raca ( 42 . 3 cm / s ) compared to those of the control group ( 48 . 4 cm / s ), schaeffe post hoc , p & lt ; 0 . 05 . in the laca , there was no main effect of gender , p = ns . there was no main effect of depression , p = ns . there was a tendency for a gender × depression interaction , f ( 1 , 96 )= 3 . 4 , mse = 487 . 5 , p = 0 . 06 . for laca , women of the depression group ( 38 ± 12 cm / s ), had lower mfv than those of the control group ( 47 ± 14 cm / s ), f ( 1 , 42 )= 4 . 97 ; mse = 838 . 4 , p & lt ; 0 . 05 . however , in the laca , men of depression group ( 44 ± 11 cm / s ) had the same mfv as those of the control group ( 44 ± 10 cm / s ). for rpca , there was no main effect of gender , p = ns . there was a main effect of depression , f ( 1 , 96 )= 4 . 3 , mse = 302 , p & lt ; 0 . 05 . there was a gender × depression interaction , f ( 1 , 96 )= 6 . 1 , mse = 433 , p & lt ; 0 . 05 . women in the depression group had lower rpca mfv ( 29 cm / s ) than women of control group ( 37 cm / s ), schaeffe post hoc , p & lt ; 0 . 05 . to determine the relative contribution of percent stenosis , on each side of the extracranial carotid system to dsm - iv severity score , a multiple regression analysis was performed with dsm - iv score as the dependent variable , and the % rica and % lica as independent variables . in men of depression group , dsm - iv score correlated negatively with % lica ( beta =− 0 . 353 , partial =− 0 . 354 and semi partial =− 0 . 346 , p & lt ; 0 . 05 ); but not with % rica , p = ns . on the other hand , in women of depression group , dsm - iv score correlated negatively with % rica ( beta =− 0 . 464 , partial =− 0 . 425 and semi - partial =− 0 . 418 , p & lt ; 0 . 05 ); but not with % lica , p = ns . in other words , there was a gender related inverse correlation of dsm - iv severity score with contralateral carotid intima media thickness . to determine the relative contribution of mfv in each major intracranial artery to dsm - iv severity score , a multiple regression analysis was performed with dsm - iv score as the dependent variable and the mfv in the arteries ( rmca , lmca , rica , lica , raca , laca , rpca , lpca and ba ) as the independent variables . in men of depression group , the dsm - iv score correlated positively with mfv in the rmca ( beta = 0 . 596 , partial = 0 . 41 and semi - partial = 0 . 3 , p & lt ; 0 . 05 ); and positively with mfv in the lica ( beta = 0 . 73 , partial = 0 . 5 and semi - partial = 0 . 4 , p & lt ; 0 . 01 ); but negatively with mfv in the raca ( beta =− 0 . 45 , partial =− 0 . 38 and semi partial =− 0 . 27 , p & lt ; 0 . 05 ); negatively with mfv in the ba ( beta =− 0 . 357 , partial =− 0 . 377 and semi - partial =− 0 . 274 , p & lt ; 0 . 05 ); and a tendency toward negative correlation with mfv in the lpca ( beta =− 0 . 357 , partial =− 0 . 356 and semi - partial =− 0 . 257 , p = 0 . 06 ). in women of depression group , dsm - iv score showed only a tendency towards positive correlation with mfv in the raca ( beta = 0 . 87 , partial = 0 . 46 and semi - partial = 0 . 44 , p = 0 . 06 ). we examined whether the level of ipsilateral hypoperfusion in the aca region , was related to the level of contralateral hyperperfusion , that is , if there was interhemispheric connectivity of blood flow supply to the contralateral distal aca territories that contributed to severity of depression . the relationship between mfv in the raca , mfv in the laca and dsm - iv score was examined using correlation / regression analysis with linear smoothing . the equation dsm - iv score z = 6 . 58 + 0 . 002 * x ( raca mfv )+ 0 . 019 * y ( laca mfv ), described the relationship between dsm - iv score and mfv in the raca and laca . the slope of relative increase in mfv in the laca ( y = 0 . 019 ) was ten - fold the slope of the raca ( slope x = 0 . 002 ), suggesting that hypoperfusion in the raca was independent in its effect on depression severity , from the effect of the tendency toward hyperperfusion in the laca . in women of depression group , the equation dsm - iv score z = 7 . 3 + 0 . 037 * x ( raca mfv )+− 0 . 034 * y ( laca mfv ) described the relationship between dsm - iv score and mfv in the raca and laca . note that , the raca positively correlated with dsm - iv score , slope x = 0 . 037 , to the same measure as the laca negatively correlated with dsm - iv score , slope y =− 0 . 034 , which may suggest that both processes of raca hyperperfusion and laca hypoperfusion could be inter - dependent in their contribution to severity of depression in women . in other words , in women , but not men , it could be presumed that there is interhemispheric connectivity of blood flow supply in both distal aca territories , such that the loss of ipsilateral perfusion in the left hemisphere was countered by a similar level of contralateral hyperperfusion in the right through crossover collaterals , that contributed to depression severity . the intercept values of 6 . 58 ( for men of depression group ) and 7 . 32 ( for women of depression group ) may suggest that , at least mild to moderate depression was accounted for , by extracranial circulatory changes . in summary , the proposed model for men suggests that , in the absence of significant lica stenosis , an increased mfv in the ipsilateral lica maintains normal levels of mfv in the laca and lmca . the stenotic plaque in the rica reduces mfv in the raca . conversely , the mfv in the rmca would show a compensatory tendency to increase , due to shunting of blood supply from the posterior circulation ( ba and lpca ) through the ipsilateral anastomosis , and right posterior communicating artery ( rpcoa ) from the rpca , ba and lpca . the result is that , both ba and lpca develop hypoperfusion . the latter , shunting to the right carotid system in men , could be described as a right - ward model . in women , the proposed model of cerebral hemodynamics in depression suggests that , in the absence of significant stenotic plaque in the rica , a normal mfv in the rica would maintain normal levels of mfv in the rmca . however , mfv in the raca was raised , causing raca hyperperfusion . conversely , even moderate levels of stenotic plaque in the lica , causes a laca hypoperfusion . the mfv in the lmca would show a compensatory increase , due to posterior - to - anterior shunting of blood supply through the left posterior communicating artery ( lpcoa ), from the lpca and rpca , and also from the ipsilateral anastomosis . the result is that , the rpca territory is hypoperfused . the latter shunting system in women was described as a left - ward model . these models account for changes within the major arteries of the circle of willis in depression . even though a preferred embodiment of the present invention is described above , it is contemplated that the numerous modifications may be made thereto for particular applications without departing from the essence and scope of the present invention . the embodiment described could be considered only as illustrative of the present invention and that the scope thereof should not be limited thereto but be determined by reference to the claims hereinafter provided . | 0 |
turning first to fig1 there is shown a perspective view of the flexible parts feeder 10 of the present invention . the flexible parts feeder 10 includes a storage bin 12 which serves to hold the reservoir of parts . parts are removed from storage bin 12 with a reciprocating plate parts elevator section 14 which will be described more fully hereinafter . the reciprocating plate parts elevator section 14 delivers parts to chute 16 . chute 16 is mounted to vibratory conveyor 18 and is inclined such that parts delivered thereto slide down chute 16 and onto vibratory conveyor 18 . parts conveyed along the length of vibratory conveyor 18 are delivered to belt conveyor 20 which is a typical endless loop belt conveyor system . as will be discussed in more detail hereinafter , a portion of belt conveyor 20 is in the field of view of an image capturing means ( not shown ) which may be used for inspection and / or identification of parts . also not shown is a robot which &# 34 ; picks &# 34 ; the desired parts from belt conveyor 20 . parts not picked from belt conveyor 20 fall therefrom into trough 22 . such parts slide down trough 22 into storage bin 12 . in such manner , parts not picked by the robot are recirculated through apparatus 10 such that they will once again pass through the camera &# 39 ; s field of view on belt conveyor 20 . looking next at fig2 there is schematically depicted a cross - sectional view of the storage bin 12 and reciprocating plate parts elevator section 14 . as can be seen , a plurality of randomly oriented parts 24 reside in storage bin 12 which are introduced thereto through the open top of storage bin 12 . the randomly oriented parts 24 may all be identical parts , or may be two or more different types of parts . the bottom wall 26 of storage bin 12 is inclined toward elevator section 14 . the sidewalls 28 of storage bin 12 may also be inclined toward the base 30 of bottom wall 26 . in such manner , the parts 24 are funneled toward the base 30 to press against the front face 32 of bulk elevator 34 . bulk elevator 34 is preferably supported by linear bearings 36 and is preferably actuated by a reversing lead screw 38 , a belt 40 and a motor 42 . bulk elevator 34 is driven in a reciprocating motion by motor 42 such that on downward movement , a plurality of parts 24 fall by gravity onto the top surface 44 of bulk elevator 34 . on its upward stroke , bulk elevator 34 rises to a level such that the top surface 44 is substantially even with the top surface 46 of stationary platform 48 . thus , when bulk elevator 34 reaches the peak of its upward stroke , the parts 24 supported thereon fall by gravity onto the top surface 46 of staging platform 48 . residing adjacent to staging platform 48 is a reciprocating plate conveyor 50 . reciprocating plate conveyor 50 is preferably that conveying apparatus taught in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 385 , 227 . such conveying apparatus is manufactured by omnifeed systems , inc ., of emmanaus , pa . reciprocating plate conveyor 50 includes a series of opposingly reciprocated plates 52 which are actuated in a synchronized way ( by means not shown ) such that parts 24 are taken from top surface 46 of staging platform 48 and raised and transferred to each successive reciprocating plate 52 to ultimately deliver parts 24 into chute 16 . the rate at which bulk elevator 34 reciprocates should be adjusted so that there is always some minimum quantity of parts 24 residing on top surface 46 . it should , of course , reciprocate at a rate which is substantially less than the rate at which reciprocating plates 52 reciprocate . a portion of those parts 24 residing on top surface 46 then slide onto the lowest reciprocating plate 52 when that lowest reciprocating plate 52 reaches the bottom of its downstroke during reciprocation . through a series of transfers between subsequent reciprocating plates 52 , parts 24 are elevated to the discharge area to fall into chute 16 . the quantity of parts which can be held on top surface 46 of staging platform 48 should be greater than the quantity of parts 24 which can be held on top of any of reciprocating plates 52 . it is believed that the ratio of the surface area of top surface 46 to the surface area of the top of a reciprocating plate 52 should be in the range of from about 2 : 1 to about 3 : 1 . the use of bulk elevator 34 in combination with staging platform 48 aid in ensuring that a small and consistent quantity of parts 24 is fed through elevator section 14 to chute 16 . further , the use of bulk elevator 34 results in a decrease in the churning of parts in the lower portion of storage bin 12 when storage bin 12 is relatively full . merely extending reciprocating plate conveyor 50 down into the full depth of storage bin 12 would have the disadvantage of having one or more reciprocating plates 52 which at the top of their respective strokes would still be below the level of parts 24 in storage bin 12 . the resulting churning of parts 24 can potentially damage some parts 24 . it should be understood that the series of transfers from storage bin 12 to bulk elevator 34 to staging platform 48 and to each successive reciprocating plate 52 tends to detangle the randomly oriented parts 24 from one another in a very gentle way . the rate at which reciprocating plates 52 reciprocate should be adjusted so that some average desired part feed rate is obtained . other elevating - type conveyors may be substituted for reciprocating plate conveyor 50 and / or bulk elevator 34 . one example of such an elevating - type conveyor which could be used to acquire parts 24 from storage bin 12 and deliver such parts 24 to chute 16 is a cleted conveyor belt . turning next to fig3 there is shown the side elevational schematic of the vibratory conveyor section 18 of the present invention . vibratory conveyor section 18 includes a support member or upper frame 54 with a generally planar top surface . the term &# 34 ; generally planar &# 34 ; top surface as used herein is intended to mean a surface comprised of a single surface or multiple surfaces , all of which reside in one plane . in other words , the top surface of support member 54 may be either continuous or discontinuous . an example of a support member 54 with a discontinuous top surface would be an extruded aluminum structural member with a series of spaced apart , parallel t - shaped sections forming the top surface . a second example of a support member 54 with a discontinuous top surface would be a support member 54 comprised of a plurality of spaced apart , parallel i - bars with the top surfaces of the individual i - bars residing in the same plane . the top surface of support member 54 is covered or partially covered with a vibratory surface material which is preferably a pile material 55 which includes a base 56 with fibers 57 projecting therefrom ( see fig4 ). bordering each side of support member 54 is a side wall 58 which serves to contain parts 24 therebetween . pile material 55 is preferably brushlon ® as manufactured by 3m company of st . paul , minn . brushlon ® has fibers which are oriented about 15 ° to 20 ° from vertical . the individual fibers 57 of pile material 55 are reoriented to an angle a in the range of from about 50 ° to about 80 ° from vertical by compressing the material while heating . as a result , parts 24 are supported on the sides of the individual fibers or bristles 57 and not on the ends of the bristles 57 as is typical of vibratory conveyors of the prior art . the individual fibers or bristles 57 are all inclined toward the downstream direction and the continuous belt conveyor 20 as indicated by arrow 59 . the pile material 55 preferably includes a backer member 60 made of a ferromagnetic sheet metal which is adhered to the underside of pile material 55 . there is a magnetic vinyl sheet 61 which is affixed to support member 54 . in such manner , the pile material 55 through backer member 60 can be magnetically coupled to support member 54 . this method of coupling the pile material 55 to support member 54 provides an easy means to remove and / or replace pile material 55 . further , the magnetic coupling allows for more intimate planar contact between the two members as opposed to the velcro ®- type arrangement typically used to fasten pile material to the surfaces of a vibratory conveyor . it should be understood that the positions of backer member 60 and magnetic vinyl sheet 61 can be reversed . in other words , a backer member 60 made of a ferromagnetic sheet metal can be adhered to the support member 54 and the magnetic vinyl sheet 61 can be affixed to the underside of pile material 55 . further , a second magnetic vinyl sheet could be substituted for backer member 60 . the magnetic coupling arrangement of the present invention results in a more efficient transfer of energy during vibration over velcro ®- type interfaces which generally act to dampen vibration . further , the magnetic coupling arrangement of the present invention allows for much easier positioning of pile material 55 than is afforded by velcro ®- type interfaces . those skilled in the art of vibratory conveyors will recognize that a smooth surfaced material such as steel , plastic or rubber may be substituted for pile material 55 . using a smooth surfaced material will likely require an adjustment of vibration amplitude / depending on the specific parts 24 being conveyed . projecting upward from support member 54 is at least one rib 62 and preferably , a series of ribs 62 . each rib 62 preferably traverses the width of pile material 55 and is preferably generally perpendicular to each of sidewalls 58 . however , it should be understood that each rib 62 could be formed in two or more sections with a gap between adjacent sections and between the end sections and sidewalls 58 . thus , a single rib 62 may be formed , for example , by an array of closely spaced , projecting nubs arranged in one or more lines across the width of pile material 55 wherein the nubs in adjacent lines may be staggered from one another . any gaps left in ribs 62 should preferably be small enough such that individual parts 24 could not pass directly therethrough without having to pass over at least a portion of rib 62 . each of ribs 62 may project to the same height above pile material 55 . however , it is preferred that ribs 62 are arranged in a such way that the height of each successive rib 62 moving toward the downstream is slightly less than the height of the preceding rib 62 . with the ribs 62 decreasing in height , less effort is required to get individual parts over each successive rib 62 . each rib 62 aids in spreading the individual parts across the width pile material 55 . thus , each rib 62 aids in obtaining a more optimum distribution density of parts for picking by a robot while being less of an obstacle to the forward movement of parts on vibratory conveyor section 18 . the term &# 34 ; generally perpendicular &# 34 ; as used herein with reference to ribs 62 is intended to include ribs 62 which are perpendicular to each of sidewalls 58 and ribs 62 which are within about 5 ° of being perpendicular to each of sidewalls 58 , as well as ribs 62 formed by arrays of nubs wherein the array of nubs is perpendicular to each of sidewalls 58 , or the array of nubs is within about 5 ° of being perpendicular to each of sidewalls 58 . one possible design for ribs 62 is depicted in fig4 and 5 . in such exemplary design , rib 62 is constructed from a formed sheet metal strip 64 to create a base portion 63 and an inverted v - shaped portion 65 . rib 62 is retained in place by trapping base portion 63 between backer member 60 and magnetic vinyl sheet 61 . thus , if sheet metal strip 64 is made from a ferromagnetic material , then rib 62 is both mechanically and magnetically coupled between backer member 60 and magnetic vinyl sheet 61 . the front face 67 of rib 62 may be vertical but preferably resides at an angle of from about 10 ° to about 30 ° from vertical toward the direction of flow of parts 24 . depending on the shape and size of parts 24 being conveyed , a vertical front face 67 may result in trapping some parts 24 . the actual height of ribs 62 should be determined empirically for the specific parts 24 being conveyed . returning to fig3 support member 54 is connected to lower frame 70 by means of flexures 74 . extending from support member 54 is bracket 76 . electromagnetic actuator 72 is connected to bracket 76 via flexures 78 and is thus suspended from support member 54 . flexures 74 and flexures 78 are preferably oriented such that they reside at an angle in the range of from about 10 ° to about 30 ° from the horizontal . this results in an angle of vibration θ of support member 54 in the range of from about 10 ° to about 30 ° from vertical . flexures 74 and flexures 78 which are generally equivalent to leaf springs are preferably made from scotchply ® ( which is a non - woven , fiberglass reinforced , epoxy resin material ) as manufactured by 3m of st . paul , minn . other materials such as steel may be used . through electromagnetic actuator 72 , support member 54 and pile material 55 affixed thereon is vibrated in a more vertical direction than typical vibratory conveyors of the prior art . one suitable electromagnetic actuator 72 for use with the present invention is the f - t01a electromagnetic actuator as manufactured by the fmc material handling equipment division , homer city , pa . it is available as a unit complete with flexures 78 . those skilled in the art will recognize that electromagnetic actuator 72 will include means for adjusting the amplitude of vibration imparted to vibratory conveyor 18 . through the proper adjustment of vibration amplitude most unstable part orientations can be eliminated . in operation , a quantity of parts 24 slides down inclined chute 16 through both gravity and the vibrations imparted thereto by electromagnetic actuator 72 . the vibrations transmitted through pile material 55 cause parts 24 received via chute 16 to begin to spread out on pile material 55 and move toward the first rib 62 . the more vertical direction of the vibration tends to spread out the parts 24 more effectively without increasing the speed of the parts 24 as they are conveyed over the pile material 55 . further , it should be appreciated that the relatively flat angle at which the individual fibers are oriented on pile material 56 substantially eliminates the risk of parts becoming stuck or lodged in the pile material 56 as can sometimes occur when conveying parts 24 possessing sharp features over a pile material with fibers which are more vertically oriented . each rib 62 creates a partial flow obstruction of parts 24 moving along pile material 55 toward belt conveyor 20 . this flow obstruction results in an accumulation of parts 24 just upstream of each rib 62 which causes parts 24 to further spread widthwise across pile material 55 . it should also be noted that the flow obstructions created by rib 62 provide a means to control the flow of parts 24 through vibratory conveyor 18 regardless of part size . preferably , the height of each rib 62 and the vibration amplitude imparted to planar member 54 are chosen in a way that will cause the greatest flow obstruction at the first rib 62 , a lesser flow obstruction at the second rib 62 , and so on such that , with each successive rib , the flow obstruction lessens . thus , if the vibration amplitude is consistent across planar member 54 , the height of the first rib 62 would be the greatest with each subsequent rib 62 decreasing in height . it should be understood that the more vertically oriented vibration direction maximizes the effectiveness of ribs 62 . the spacing between adjacent ribs 62 should be chosen based on the expected average accumulation of parts 24 at each rib 62 . this can , of course , be determined empirically . the parts 24 will separate from one another thereby minimizing the amount of parts 24 overlapping one another . overlapping parts 24 are not &# 34 ; pickable &# 34 ; and will therefore be recirculated . by helping to spread out parts 24 across the width of vibratory conveyor 18 , ribs 62 create a more uniform distribution of separated parts 24 . this results in an increase in the rate of flow of &# 34 ; pickable &# 34 ; parts 24 . this is illustrated in fig6 which is a top plan view schematic showing part distribution density through the conveyance loop of apparatus 10 . note that there is shown parts 24 gathering at each successive rib 62 . this gathering is what causes spreading of parts 24 across the width of vibratory conveyor 18 . with each successive rib 62 getting shorter , the &# 34 ; gathering &# 34 ; of parts 24 decreases ultimately leading to the desired more uniform density of parts 24 on the last section of vibratory conveyor 18 just before transfer to the belt conveyor 20 . it will be appreciated that for a given series of ribs 62 , the vibration amplitude of the planar member 54 may be adjusted to better achieve the desired average accumulation of parts 24 at each rib 62 . a larger vibration amplitude results in a overall decrease in average accumulation of parts at each rib 62 and a smaller vibration amplitude results in an overall increase in average accumulation of parts in at each rib 62 . at the exit of the vibratory conveyor 18 , parts 24 are moved across a transition plate 80 and onto belt conveyor 20 due to the vibrations caused by electromagnetic actuator 72 . transition plate 80 preferably has a minimal elevation change such that its length in the direction of flow is as short as possible and its angle of incline from transition plate 80 down to belt conveyor 20 is not more than about 5 °. the short length and minimal elevation change of transition plate 80 allows parts 24 to be transferred without significantly affecting individual part orientation and separation . the velocity of belt conveyor 20 should be greater than or equal to the average speed of parts 24 traveling on vibratory conveyor 18 . belt conveyor 20 is preferably traveling at a relatively slow velocity such as about one inch per second ( 1 &# 34 ;/ sec ) for the purpose of inspection and picking . the speed of belt conveyor 20 may , of course be increased to thereby further increase flow rate of parts 24 . however , operating belt conveyor 24 at higher speeds will likely require a more expensive strobe lighting system for viewing parts 24 with the image capture means ( not shown ). preferably , conveyor belt 20 is driven at a constant speed by a motor ( not shown ) and not in an indexing motion . if any starting and stopping of conveyor belt 20 is required , it should be done in such a manner that does not create any undesirable instability of parts 24 resting on belt conveyor 20 . those skilled in the art will recognize that belt conveyor 20 will also have associated therewith an encoder ( not shown ) which allows monitoring of incremental belt movement . looking next at fig7 there is shown a top plan view of the belt conveyor section 20 . dotted line 82 represents the inspection field of view of the camera or other image capture means ( not shown ). dotted line 84 represents the pick area from which the robot ( not shown ) picks parts 24 traveling on conveyor 20 . the inspection camera ( not shown ) is preferably directed perpendicular to the belt conveyor 20 . examples of lighting and image capture systems which are particularly useful in combination with the present invention are disclosed in u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 991 , 491 , now u . s . pat . no . 5 , 955 , 740 , entitled , &# 34 ; inspection method and apparatus for determining the side - up orientation of an object resting on a flat surface &# 34 ; and u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 991 , 728 , now u . s . pat . no . 6 , 046 , 462 , entitled , &# 34 ; mehtod and apparatus for determining orientation of parts resting on a flat surface &# 34 ; both filed on dec . 16 , 1997 , which are hereby incoroporated herein by reference . the combination of vibratory conveyor 18 , transition plate 80 and belt conveyor 20 provide an advantage in delivering separated parts 24 to an inspection field of view 82 in stable orientations . this advantage is significantly enhanced with the incorporation of ribs 62 into the vibratory conveyor 18 . parts 24 pass into the field of view 82 for inspection . location information of all parts determined to be &# 34 ; pickable &# 34 ; is sent to the robot controller . the encoder allows for monitoring of all belt and part movement between the time of inspection and the time of grasping or picking . parts 24 then pass into the pick area 84 where the robot grasps at least a portion of the parts 24 that have been inspected and determined to be &# 34 ; pickable &# 34 ;. any parts 24 which are not picked by the robot continue to move along belt conveyor 20 to fall into trough 22 and , as such , are returned to storage bin 12 . using the vibratory conveyor 18 of the present invention in combination with belt conveyor 20 enables separated parts 24 to be delivered to the field of view 82 far in excess of the conveyors of the prior art . separated parts 24 can be delivered to the field of view 82 at rates ranging up to 60 to 100 parts per minute , or even higher . the automated process ( whether it be inspection , robotic assembly , and / or part classification , etc .) in which the conveying system is being used is no longer limited by the rate at which usable parts are presented . rather , the overall process becomes limited by the speed of the downstream activities . thus , for example , if the separated parts 24 are being acquired from the pick area 84 for assembly , the speed of the assembly process will be limited by the speed of the robot and not by the rate at which separated parts 24 pass into the pick area 84 . due to the conveyance nature of the vibratory conveyor 18 and transition plate 80 , the majority of parts 24 passing into the inspection area or field of view 82 possess orientations which are relatively stable thereby minimizing the number of likely orientations for each individual part 24 . minimizing the number of likely orientations increases the speed at which at which parts 24 can be inspected and / or identified for picking . if a less stable part orientation is desired for inspection and grasping by a robot , a change in elevation between transition plate 80 and belt conveyor 20 may be incorporated to intentionally and gently &# 34 ; tumble &# 34 ; parts 24 during transfer to belt conveyor 20 . those skilled in the art will recognize that overall part separations on belt conveyor 20 may , to some extent , be further increased without adversely affecting the uniformity of part distribution by two means . first , although not preferred , electromagnetic actuator 72 may be quickly cycled on and off to thereby operate vibratory conveyor 18 intermittently . by controlling electromagnetic actuator 72 in such a manner , a reduction in the overall rate at which parts 24 are transferred to belt conveyor 20 is achieved , thus , further increasing overall part separation on belt conveyor 20 . alternatively , belt conveyor 20 can be driven at a higher constant speed . the higher speed of belt conveyor 20 will result in a greater separation of parts supported thereon as they are transferred from transition plate 80 . as stated above , those skilled in the art will appreciate that increasing the speed of conveyor belt 20 may require strobe lighting to obtain the sharp image of parts 24 necessary for inspection and / or picking . from the foregoing , it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth together with other advantages which are apparent and which are inherent to the invention . it will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed with reference to other features and subcombinations . this is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims . as many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof , it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth and shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense . | 1 |
three dimensional seismic data is collected typically through the use of vibrators for land data collection and air guns for sea data collection . in either event , the data is collected , processed , and presented as a three - dimensional volume formed of digitized traces . the traces are represented as a series of points , each point being described digitally . by examining the series of points for significant seismic events and by interrelating significant events between traces , three dimensional horizons may be developed . the processed three - dimensional seismic data sections traditionally have been interpreted by human experts . a tedious and time - consuming task that the interpreter must perform is to pick seismic events through the volume and to map the time and amplitude structure of the events . this invention addresses the problems of automatically picking and mapping three - dimensional seismic event horizons . fig1 a illustrates a typical processed three - dimensional seismic data volume 40 . the gradations in shade are generally proportional to changes in amplitude of the seismic signal returned as a result of a seismic source such as a vibrator or air gun having been activated . fig1 b indicates typical three - dimensional horizons 50a - 50e that lie within three - dimensional seismic volume 40 where time is the vertical dimension . these horizons are the end result of this invention and may be displayed as shown on paper , or may be displayed in the face of a cathode ray tube , or any other display apparatus . the horizons may be viewed from any direction , of course , and other information about the horizon , such as the seismic amplitudes on the surface , may also be displayed . horizon , in the strict geophysical sense , means &# 34 ; geological interface &# 34 ;. as used in this invention , horizon means &# 34 ; interpreter &# 39 ; s sketch of a surface through seismic data .&# 34 ; the wavelengths of the source typically imparted into the earth in seismic exploration are of such a magnitude as to preclude the detection of all &# 34 ; geological interfaces &# 34 ;. therefore , the horizons that are referred to in this specification are surfaces in the three - dimensional seismic volume 40 that are estimated to be everywhere locally parallel to the &# 34 ; geologic interfaces &# 34 ;. the automatic production of the horizons 50a - 50e is accomplished in four steps : step 1 : determine and describe significant points of change along each seismic trace . step 2 : determine pairs of turnings such that the turnings within pairs lie on the same three - dimensional seismic event . step 4 : produce physical maps of the seismic event surfaces ( horizons ). fig2 illustrates the lisp machine of this invention , a lambda machine made by lisp machines , inc . the lambda system and the use of the lisp programs in the appendix , are set out in detail in the following manuals of lisp machine , inc . : in block form , a lisp processor 11 is connected via bus 17 ( a texas instruments nubus ™ type bus ) to a motorola 68000 processor 12 , main memory 13 , display controller 14 and system diagnostic unit 15 . display controller 14 controls video display 20 which is connected to rs232 interface 18 . the video display 20 may be used for displaying the representation of the three - dimensional section 40 and for the display of the horizons 50a - 50e . keyboard 22 and mouse 21 are connected to video display 20 for interaction therewith . smd disk controller 23 controls disk drive 25 which is used for storage as is main memory 13 . printer 30 is connected to rs232 port 29 which in turn is connected through the system diagnostic unit 15 to lisp processor 11 , main memory 13 and smd disk controller 23 . the printer 30 is therefore accessible to a storage unit for receiving a representation of the horizons 50a - 50d for printing hard copies of the desired images . turning now to fig3 step 1 as carried out by system 10 will be described . for the purpose of description , each significant point of change along a seismic trace is a turning . the description of a turning includes its position in the volume , the amplitude of the seismic trace at that position , and its sign ( negative or positive ). trace 51 is represented in an analog manner . points 52 - 58 represent turning points in the case where turnings are defined by zero - crossings in the first derivative . in fact , trace 51 is represented by a series of digital numbers . each number signifies an amplitude . turning points 52 , 54 , 57 and 58 have positive amplitudes and points 53 , 55 , 56 have negative amplitudes . however , the signs of the turning are determined by the ( n + 1 ) th derivative of the trace and therefore the sign of turnings 54 , 55 and 56 are positive while the sign of turning points 52 , 53 , 57 and 58 are negative . the turning points are determined using zero - crossings in the nth derivative . the turnings have the advantage of distinctly marking significant changes such as local extrema , saddle points , inflections and other high - order changes . this is in contrast to prior art methods of looking at the zero crossings of the original trace as significant . exactly which changes are marked can be controlled by varying the value of n , a parameter of step 1 . the derivative at each sample point , t0 , is approximated as follows : 1 . let t -, t0 , and t + be the times of three consecutive sample points . 2 . let a ( t ) be the amplitude of the trace at time t . 3 . then the derivative , d , of the trace at t0 is computed by : this approximation for computing the derivative is derived from the parabola p , passing through ( t -, a ( t -)), ( t0 , a ( t0 )), and ( t +, a ( t +)). d ( t0 ) is the slope of p at t0 . the solution is simple because the sample points are regularly spaced at unit intervals , allowing the following property of parabolas to be exploited : theorem : let p ( x )= ax 2 + bx + c . then the derivative of p at a value half way between two values , v and w , is the slope of the line through ( v , p ( v )) and ( w , p ( w )). that is : higher order - derivatives are computed by iterative applications of the scheme for calculating the derivative as shown above . in principle , the first derivative defines turnings at local extrema and saddles of the seismic trace . the first derivative therefore captures attributes of an important turning point quite well . the second derivative defines turnings at inflections and straight segments of the trace . in that case , the term &# 34 ; turning &# 34 ; is somewhat of a misnomer , but the inflections may serve just as well or better than the local extrema and saddles for a given trace . as n becomes larger , smoother and more complete three - dimensional horizons are produced . in practice , n = 7 has the advantage of marking changes or mapping that are ordinarily not noticed by human inspection . this may be seen by an inspection of fig6 a - 6h where fig6 a illustrates traces with n = 0 . fig6 b illustrates n = 1 , fig6 c illustrates n = 2 , and so on with fig6 h illustrating n = 7 . the implementation of this step 1 may be seen in the appendix beginning on page 2 thereof under the title &# 34 ; step 1 : determine turning points &# 34 ;. by specifying only those points that are turning points in the nth derivative , data compaction is accomplished . of course , a variety of other techniques , including frequency domain filters , may be employed to approximate the derivatives . fig4 illustrates traces 60 and 61 having the mutual nearest neighbor criterion applied . the mutual nearest neighbor criterion was originally devised and used for solving problems in computer vision as set out in the ph . d dissertation &# 34 ; a computational theory of spatio - temporal aggregation for visual analysis of objects in dynamic environments &# 34 ; by bruce e . flinchbaugh , the ohio state university , june 1980 . this mutual nearest neighbor criterion has been applied in the past to seismic interpretation relating to two dimensional seismic sections . this prior art technique involved the two - dimensional lineation of wavelets . wavelets are defined as that portion of a wiggle trace between amplitude zero - crossings when n = 0 . a lineation refers to a two - dimensional horizon in a 2 - d seismic section . however , a technique is applied herein for the first time to a three - dimensional volume 40 . that is , the mutual nearest neighbor criterion is applied in the x direction and in the y direction to each and every turning using nth derivative of every trace making up the three - dimensional volume 40 . in fig4 turning point a is shown connecting to turning point b . that is , the nearest neighbor to point a of trace 60 in trace 61 is point b . likewise , the nearest neighbor to point d of trace 60 is point e of trace 61 . the nearest neighbor to point f of trace 60 is point g of trace 61 . in a similar manner , the nearest neighbor to point b of trace 61 is point a of trace 60 . the nearest neighbor of point e of trace 61 is point d of trace 60 . the nearest neighbor to point g of trace 61 is point f of trace 60 . the nearest neighbor of point c of trace 60 is point b of trace 61 , but because point b &# 39 ; s nearest neighbor is not point c , point c does not have a mutual nearest neighbor , thus point c is not paired with any turning . it should be noted that while these traces are shown in a 2 - d analog representation , the mutual nearest neighbor is based only on the time dimension which is the vertical dimension as shown in fig4 . turning point d has been paired with turning point e . turning point e has a radically different character from turning point d because its ( n + 1 ) th derivative is positive while turning point d &# 39 ; s is negative . likewise , turning point g &# 39 ; s ( n + 1 ) th derivative is negative while turning point f &# 39 ; s is positive . fig5 illustrates that turning points d and e may not be linked nor may turning points f and g . this prohibition against such links is made based on the assumption that the character of a three - dimensional seismic horizon , as represented by the sign of the turning cannot change radically between adjacent traces . therefore , the criterion is that the signs must be homogeneous . the implementation of the mutual nearest neighbor and homogeneous signs criteria may be seen in the appendix on page 3 under the heading &# 34 ; step 2 : determine pairs of turnings on the same horizon &# 34 ;, extending to page 6 to the heading &# 34 ; apply - low - curvature - criterion &# 34 ;. each turning point , through this implementation , has now been identified as being paired with up to four other turnings , one in each of the four directions from the turning ( the positive and negative x and y directions ). as a part of step 2 , the curvature of the path formed by the paired turnings in successive digital traces is assessed in both the x and y directions . in fig7 line segments are drawn between paired turnings to represent path 70 through turnings a , j , k , l , and m . the curvature of the path at k is assessed by considering the slope , m1 , of the segment between j and k , and the slope , m2 , of the segment between k and l . if m1 and m2 differ by more than a predetermined value , the path 70 is &# 34 ; cut &# 34 ; at k by eliminating the pairs ( j , k ) and ( k , l ). the predetermined value is a parameter of the method . in other words , a pair can only occur when the curvature of the path through the turnings of the pair , together with the turnings of an incident pair in the same direction , is less than a maximum curvature . restricting pairs of turnings in this manner helps to rule out implausible three - dimensional seismic horizons . the implementation of the low curvature criterion may be studied in the appendix beginning at page 6 under the heading &# 34 ; apply - low - curvature - criterion &# 34 ;. step 2 also includes a requirement of three - dimensional continuity . this criterion requires that a pair can only occur wherever the pair is a link in a closed loop of turnings . restricting pairs of turnings in this manner helps to assure that pairs are on seismic events that have three - dimensional extent as a horizon . this criterion is based on the assumption that if two turnings lie on a three - dimensional seismic event , then other turnings lying on the same event surface are nearby . specifically , this criterion is described as follows : let t1 and t2 be sets of turnings such that t1 contains the turnings from one seismic trace and t2 contains the turnings from an adjacent trace in any direction within the seismic data section . let a closed loop of turnings be an ordered list of at least three turnings , ( t0 , t1 , t2 , . . . tn ), such that the ti are distinct and the following pairs exist : (( t0 , t1 ), ( t1 , t2 ) . . . ( tn - 1 , tn ), tn , t0 )). then t1 in t1 and t2 in t2 may only form a pair when a closed loop of turnings exists that include t1 and t2 . closed loops spanning just a few ( e . g , four ) traces in closely spaced three - dimensional seismic data can be assumed to bound a region of a surface that intersects those traces . reference to fig8 a and 8b should now be made where , in fig8 a , four traces ta , tb , tc and td are shown . turning point pairs ( a , b ) ( b , c ) ( c , d ) and ( d , a ) are shown forming a closed loop . the four turning points , a - d , form four pairs of turnings as indicated and also form a closed loop . on the other hand , pairs of turnings ( g , e ) and ( e , f ) do not form a closed loop and therefore do not define any surface . a top view of a closed loop concept is shown in fig8 b . it can be seen that areas connected together are areas of four turnings forming four pairs of turnings in a closed loop configuration . however , the pairs of turnings ( n , q ) ( m , n ) ( p , q ) and ( m , p ) do not form a closed loop . that is , there is no pairing between turning points m and p . therefore , the pairing ( n , q ) is removed and only distinct horizons 73 and 74 are determined . as may be seen in the appendix beginning on page 7 under &# 34 ; apply - 3 - d - continuity - criterion &# 34 ;. in that implementation , four turnings forming four pairs of turnings provide three - dimensional continuity . a pair that does not satisfy the criterion is &# 34 ; isolated &# 34 ; and rejected . after steps 1 and 2 are completed , the horizons have been determined within the three - dimensional volume 40 . to fully identify the horizon , however , entry is made at one of the turning points defining that horizon and then all of the remaining turning points that are directly or indirectly connected to the entry turning point are collected . reference should be made to fig1 to illustrate the criterion as a part of step 3 . turning point d2 is paired with turning point a2 which in turn is paired with turning point b2 which in turn is paired with turning point c2 . therefore , turning points c2 and d2 are in the same horizon . the horizon occurs therefore wherever turnings in a collection are related ( directly or indirectly ) by pairs . this criterion allows explicit determination of the informational content and three - dimensional extent of horizons . this criterion is described as follows : let the relation ( pair ) ( ti , tj ), indicate that ti and tj are turnings of the same horizon . this relation is transitive . t1 and t3 belong to the same horizon when pair ( t1 , t2 ) and pair ( t2 , t3 ) belong to the horizon , because pair ( t1 , t3 ) is implied . the transitive property is used to complete the pair relation . the specific implementation may be studied in the appendix beginning on page 7 under &# 34 ; step 3 : extract horizons &# 34 ;. this reformatting results in an array format . the array format is appropriate for use in the printer 30 and video display 20 of fig2 for displaying the recommended horizons . also , it may be that one horizon is connected to another horizon . step 3 eliminates connections between horizons . a horizon can contain only turnings such that no turnings are positioned with one directly above the other . this criterion prevents spiraling horizons and assists in determining separate horizons as follows : let the horizontal position of a turning , ti , be ( xi , yi ). then turnings t1 and t2 can only be part of the same horizon if ( x1 , y1 ) is not ( x2 , y2 ), i . e ., if at most one turning of the horizon lies in any given trace in the volume 40 . thus , each turning of a horizon is guaranteed to be &# 34 ; vertically unique &# 34 ;. implementation of vertical uniqueness is shown in the appendix , on page 8 under &# 34 ; add - turning - to - horizon &# 34 ;. fig9 illustrates the application of this criterion . that is , a complete loop is not achieved because points a1 and e1 appear on the same trace ta . a collection of turnings of a horizon may include a1 and d1 , but turning e1 may not be included in a horizon that includes turning points a1 , b1 , c1 and d1 . the apparatus for both printing and crt display are well known , as are the manner in which that apparatus operates . for a specific implementation , please refer to the appendix beginning at page 8 under &# 34 ; step 4 ; display horizons &# 34 ;. while this invention has been described in specific steps and in specific hardware , it is contemplated that those skilled in the art may readily substitute hardware and method steps without departing from the scope of this invention which is limited only by the appended claims . ## spc1 ## | 6 |
detailed embodiments of the claimed structures and methods are disclosed herein ; however , it is understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely illustrative of the claimed structures and methods that may be embodied in various forms . this disclosure may , however , be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiment set forth herein . rather , these exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of this disclosure to those skilled in the art . in the description , details of well - known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments . referring to fig1 a - 1d , multiple steps of a method of forming an interconnect structure are shown . now referring to fig1 a , a cross - sectional view of an interconnect structure 100 having an opening 106 in a nonmetallic material 102 and a conductive pad 104 positioned at a bottom 108 of the opening 106 is shown . the interconnect structure 100 may include lines , wires , vias or through - substrate vias ( tsvs ). in one embodiment , the nonmetallic material 102 may be made from any of several known semiconductor materials such as , for example , silicon ( e . g . a bulk silicon substrate ), germanium , silicon - germanium alloy , silicon carbide , silicon - germanium carbide alloy , and compound ( e . g . iii - v and ii - vi ) semiconductor materials . in one embodiment , the nonmetallic material 102 may be made from any dielectric material know to a person having ordinary skill in the art . the conductive pad 104 itself may include a line , a wire or a via . alternatively , the interconnect structure 100 may include a trench formed in the nonmetallic material 102 without the conductive pad 104 , as described below ( see fig7 a - 7e , 8 - 12 ). an optional electrically insulating liner 110 ( not shown ) may be deposited along a sidewall 109 of the opening 106 and on top of the nonmetallic material 102 . now referring to fig1 b , a diffusion barrier 112 may be deposited along the sidewall 109 of the opening 106 and on top of the nonmetallic material 102 . the diffusion barrier 112 may be deposited only on the nonmetallic material 102 and not on the conductive pad 104 . the diffusion barrier 112 may include any material that which prohibits contamination of a copper material by the nonmetallic material 102 . in one embodiment , the diffusion barrier 112 may be made from a material including tantalum nitride deposited by physical vapor deposition ( pvd ). in one embodiment , the diffusion barrier 112 may be deposited by an alternative deposition technique , for example chemical vapor deposition ( cvd ) or atomic layer deposition ( ald ). now referring to fig1 c , an alloying material 114 may be deposited on top of the diffusion barrier 112 . in one embodiment , the alloying material 114 may be deposited only on the diffusion barrier 112 and not on the conductive pad 104 . in one embodiment , the alloying material 114 may be made from a material including chromium deposited in a vacuum using a sputter deposition technique . in one embodiment , the alloying material 114 may be made from a material including chromium , copper , nickel , tin , magnesium , cobalt , aluminum , manganese , titanium , zirconium , indium , palladium , gold , or some combination thereof . the alloying material 114 may not have the correct crystalline structure to serve as a seed for copper plating . in other words , the crystal face orientation of the alloying material 114 may not mimic the crystal face orientation of copper ; such that the surface of the alloying material 114 will not allow copper to grow from the its face . for example , cr has a bcc ( body centered cubic ) lattice whereas cu has an fcc ( face centered cubic ) lattice . these two lattice structures are inherently incompatible , i . e . cr cannot act as a seed for cu plating . in one embodiment , an optional adhesive liner such as gold ( not shown ) may be used prior to depositing the alloying material 114 . the alloying material 114 may have a thickness ranging from about 50 angstroms to about 300 angstroms . in one embodiment , the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 may be deposited on the sidewall 109 and the bottom 108 of the opening 106 . in such embodiments , the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 may be subsequently removed from the bottom 108 of the opening 106 . for example , an anisotropic etch may be used to remove the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 from the bottom 108 to expose the conductive pad 104 without removing the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 from the sidewall 109 of the opening 106 . this anisotropic etch may be performed after all layers are deposited or immediately following the deposition of each layer . now referring to fig1 d , a copper material 116 may be deposited on the conductive pad 104 within the opening 106 ( shown in fig1 c ) using an electroplating technique . the conductive pad 104 may serve as a cathode to which an electrical potential is applied during the electroplating technique . specifically , a negative voltage may be applied to the conductive pad 104 . the conductive pad 104 may also serve as a copper seed . because the specific alloying material 114 chosen may not have the correct crystalline structure to serve as a seed for copper plating , a bottom - up plating technique , free of voiding or pinch - off , may therefore be achieved . the bottom - up plating technique results in filling the opening 106 ( shown in fig1 c ) with the copper material 116 . after the electroplating technique a chemical mechanical polishing ( cmp ) technique may be used to remove excess copper from the surface of the substrate . the cmp technique can remove the diffusion barrier 112 , the alloying material 114 , and excess copper material 116 selective to the top surface of the nonmetallic material 102 . the alloying material 114 may be used to form a mechanical bond between the copper material 116 and the sidewall 109 of the opening 106 . the mechanical bond can be created either by forming an intermetallic compound or by creating a high friction interface caused by an extremely close contact between layers . extremely close contact may be defined as maximizing interfacial surface contact while minimizing foreign contaminants between two layers . the mechanical bond may be created at an intersection 124 or an intersection 126 . lack of a mechanical bond between the copper material 116 and the sidewall 109 of the opening 106 may result in a pistoning effect where the copper material 116 moves vertically within the opening 106 during thermal cycling due to copper &# 39 ; s relatively high coefficient of thermal expansion in comparison to surrounding semiconductor materials ( e . g . silicon , silicon oxides , and silicon nitrides ). thermal expansion and contraction is inevitable when building or operating integrated circuits . pistoning of the copper material 116 may impose stress and strain on corresponding components that may be connected to the copper material 116 and over time will cause a failure in these connections . referring to fig2 - 6 , multiple different embodiments of the interconnect structure 100 are shown . now referring to fig2 , one embodiment of the interconnect structure 100 is shown . a first interaction may occur between the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) and the copper material 116 at the intersection 124 ( shown in fig1 d ). the first interaction may produce a first intermetallic compound 118 formed from the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) and the copper material 116 at the intersection 124 ( shown in fig1 d ). the first intermetallic compound 118 may include the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) and the copper material 116 . the first intermetallic compound 118 can form a mechanical bond between the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) and the copper material 116 . the first intermetallic compound 118 may be formed either simultaneously while plating the copper material 116 or any time thereafter , for example during a subsequent annealing process . formation of the intermetallic compound 118 between the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) and the copper material 116 may occur when favorable thermodynamic and kinetic conditions exist for the compounds to form as a precipitate within a solid solution of the two materials , in this case the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) and the copper material 116 . intermetallic compounds may be stoichiometric or non - stoichiometric . for example , ag 3 sn is an intermetallic compound that may form when ag and sn are in a solid solution . a second interaction may occur between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) at the intersection 126 ( shown in fig1 d ). the second interaction may involve extremely close contact between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) at the intersection 126 ( shown in fig1 d ). extremely close contact may create an area of high friction which may result in a mechanical bond between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ). in one embodiment , extremely close contact may be achieved by depositing one material on top of another material in a vacuum using a sputter deposition technique . if one material is deposited on another material with either vacuum interruption or via an aqueous system , the possibility for extremely close contact is significantly diminished by native oxides or third body interference films , e . g . water may be present between the interfaces . the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) may be deposited on top of the diffusion barrier 112 in a vacuum using the sputter deposition technique , and resulting in extremely close contact . with continued reference to fig2 , the diffusion barrier 112 may be deposited with uniform , or near uniform , thickness . the first intermetallic compound 118 may have a non - uniform thickness and can mechanically join the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) with the copper material 116 . formation of the first intermetallic compound 118 may consume all or some of the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ). in one embodiment , the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) is entirely consumed by the formation of the first intermetallic compound 118 , as shown in fig2 . the mechanical bond created by the first intermetallic compound 118 and extremely close contact between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) can minimize the pistoning effect described above . the integrity of chip interconnects can be greatly improved by minimizing the pistoning effect because of the reduced risk of interconnect failure due to thermal expansion and contraction . now referring to fig3 , one embodiment of the interconnect structure 100 is shown . a first interaction may occur between the alloying material 114 and the copper material 116 at the intersection 124 ( shown in fig1 d ). the first interaction may produce the first intermetallic compound 118 formed from the alloying material 114 and the copper material 116 at the intersection 124 ( shown in fig1 d ). the first intermetallic compound 118 may include the alloying material 114 and the copper material 116 . the first intermetallic compound 118 can form a mechanical bond between the alloying material 114 and the copper material 116 . the first intermetallic compound 118 may be formed either simultaneously while plating the copper material 116 or any time thereafter , for example during a subsequent annealing process . a second interaction may occur between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 at the intersection 126 . the second interaction may involve extremely close contact between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 at the intersection 126 . extremely close contact may create an area of high friction which may result in a mechanical bond between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 . with continued reference to fig3 , the diffusion barrier 112 may be deposited with uniform , or near uniform , thickness . the first intermetallic compound 118 may have a non - uniform thickness and can mechanically join the alloying material 114 with the copper material 116 . formation of the first intermetallic compound 118 may consume all or some of the alloying material 114 . in one embodiment , the alloying material 114 is not entirely consumed by the formation of the first intermetallic compound 118 such that some of the alloying material 114 remains between the first intermetallic compound 118 and the diffusion barrier 112 , as shown in fig3 . the mechanical bond created by the first intermetallic compound 118 and extremely close contact between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 can minimize the pistoning effect described above . the integrity of chip interconnects can be greatly improved by minimizing the pistoning effect because of the reduced risk of interconnect failure due to thermal expansion and contraction . now referring to fig4 , one embodiment of the interconnect structure 100 is shown . a first interaction may occur between the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) and the copper material 116 at the intersection 124 ( shown in fig1 d ). the first interaction may produce the first intermetallic compound 118 formed from the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) and the copper material 116 at the intersection 124 ( shown in fig1 d ). the first intermetallic compound 118 may include the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) and the copper material 116 . the first intermetallic compound 118 can form a mechanical bond between the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) and the copper material 116 . the first intermetallic compound 118 may be formed either simultaneously while plating the copper material 116 or any time thereafter , for example during a subsequent annealing process . a second interaction may occur between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) at the intersection 126 ( shown in fig1 d ). the second interaction may produce a second intermetallic compound 120 formed from the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) at the intersection 126 ( shown in fig1 d ). the second intermetallic compound 120 may include the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ). the second intermetallic compound 120 can form a mechanical bond between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ). the second intermetallic compound 120 may be formed either simultaneously while depositing the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) or any time thereafter , for example during a subsequent annealing process . with continued reference to fig4 , the diffusion barrier 112 may be deposited with uniform , or near uniform , thickness . the first intermetallic compound 118 may have a non - uniform thickness and can mechanically join the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) with the copper material 116 . the second intermetallic compound 120 may have a non - uniform thickness and can mechanically join the diffusion barrier 112 with the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ). formation of the intermetallic compounds 118 , 120 may consume all or some of the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ). in one embodiment , the alloying material 114 ( shown in fig1 d ) is entirely consumed by the formation of the intermetallic compounds 118 , 120 , as shown in fig4 . the mechanical bond created by the intermetallic compounds 118 , 120 can minimize the pistoning effect described above . the integrity of chip interconnects can be greatly improved by minimizing the pistoning effect because of the reduced risk of interconnect failure due to thermal expansion and contraction . now referring to fig5 , one embodiment of the interconnect structure 100 is shown . a first interaction may occur between the alloying material 114 and the copper material 116 at the intersection 124 ( shown in fig1 d ). the first interaction may produce the first intermetallic compound 118 formed from the alloying material 114 and the copper material 116 at the intersection 124 ( shown in fig1 d ). the first intermetallic compound 118 may include the alloying material 114 and the copper material 116 . the first intermetallic compound 118 can form a mechanical bond between the alloying material 114 and the copper material 116 . the first intermetallic compound 118 may be formed either simultaneously while plating the copper material 116 or any time thereafter , for example during a subsequent annealing process . a second interaction may occur between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 at the intersection 126 ( shown in fig1 d ). the second interaction may produce the second intermetallic compound 120 formed from the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 at the intersection 126 ( shown in fig1 d ). the second intermetallic compound 120 may include the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 . the second intermetallic compound 120 can form a mechanical bond between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 . the second intermetallic compound 120 may be formed either simultaneously while depositing the alloying material 114 or any time thereafter , for example during a subsequent annealing process . with continued reference to fig5 , the diffusion barrier 112 may be deposited with uniform , or near uniform , thickness . the first intermetallic compound 118 may have a non - uniform thickness and can mechanically join the alloying material 114 with the copper material 116 . the second intermetallic compound 120 may have a non - uniform thickness and can mechanically join the diffusion barrier 112 with the alloying material 114 . formation of the intermetallic compounds 118 , 120 may consume all or some of the alloying material 114 . in one embodiment , the alloying material 114 is not entirely consumed by the formation of the intermetallic compounds 118 , 120 such that some of the alloying material 114 remains between the first intermetallic compound 118 and the second intermetallic compound 120 , as shown in fig5 . the mechanical bond created by the intermetallic compounds 118 , 120 can minimize the pistoning effect described above . the integrity of chip interconnects can be greatly improved by minimizing the pistoning effect because of the reduced risk of interconnect failure due to thermal expansion and contraction . now referring to fig6 , one embodiment of the interconnect structure 100 is shown . a first interaction may occur between the alloying material 114 and the copper material 116 at the intersection 124 ( shown in fig1 d ). the first interaction may produce the first intermetallic compound 118 formed from the alloying material 114 and the copper material 116 at the intersection 124 ( shown in fig1 d ). the first intermetallic compound 118 may include the alloying material 114 and the copper material 116 . the first intermetallic compound 118 can form a mechanical bond between the alloying material 114 and the copper material 116 . the first intermetallic compound 118 may be formed either simultaneously while plating the copper material 116 or any time thereafter , for example during a subsequent annealing process . a second interaction may occur between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 at the intersection 126 . the second interaction may involve extremely close contact between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 at the intersection 126 . extremely close contact may create an area of high friction which may result in a mechanical bond between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 . the optional electrically insulating liner 110 may be deposited on top of the nonmetallic material 102 and not on the conductive pad 104 prior to depositing the diffusion barrier 112 . in one embodiment , the electrically insulating liner 110 may be deposited on the sidewall 109 and the bottom 108 of the opening 106 . in such embodiments the electrically insulating liner 110 , along with the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 , may be subsequently removed from the bottom 108 of the opening 106 . for example , an anisotropic etch may be used to remove the electrically insulating liner 110 , the diffusion barrier 112 , and the alloying material 114 from the bottom 108 to expose the conductive pad 104 without removing material from the sidewall of the opening 106 . alternatively , the anisotropic etch may be performed to remove each of the deposited layers from the bottom 108 of the opening 106 immediately following their deposition . the electrically insulating liner 110 may include any material that which prohibits the conduction of electricity between a copper material and a semi - conductive nonmetallic material . therefore , if the nonmetallic material 102 is itself electrically insulating , the electrically insulating liner 110 may not be used . the electrically insulating liner 110 may be made from an oxide , nitride , or insulating polymer . deposition techniques such as , for example , chemical vapor deposition ( cvd ), physical vapor deposition ( pvd ), or atomic layer deposition ( ald ), may be used to deposit the electrically insulating liner 110 . with continued reference to fig6 , the diffusion barrier 112 may be deposited on top of the electrically insulating liner 110 with uniform , or near uniform , thickness . the first intermetallic compound 118 may have a non - uniform thickness and can mechanically join the alloying material 114 with the copper material 116 . formation of the first intermetallic compound 118 may consume all or some of the alloying material 114 . in one embodiment , the alloying material 114 is not entirely consumed by the formation of the first intermetallic compound 118 such that some of the alloying material 114 remains between the first intermetallic compound 118 and the diffusion barrier 112 , as shown in fig6 . the mechanical bond created by the first intermetallic compound 118 and extremely close contact between the diffusion barrier 112 and the alloying material 114 can minimize the pistoning effect described above . the integrity of chip interconnects can be greatly improved by minimizing the pistoning effect because of the reduced risk of interconnect failure due to thermal expansion and contraction . referring to fig7 a - 7e , multiple steps of a method of forming a copper interconnect structure are shown . now referring to fig7 a , a cross - sectional view of an interconnect structure 200 having an opening 206 in a nonmetallic material 202 . the interconnect structure 200 may include lines or wires . in one embodiment , the nonmetallic material 202 may be made from any of several known semiconductor materials such as , for example , a bulk silicon substrate . non - limiting examples include silicon , germanium , silicon - germanium alloy , silicon carbide , silicon - germanium carbide alloy , and compound ( e . g . iii - v and ii - vi ) semiconductor materials . in one embodiment , the nonmetallic material 202 may be made from a dielectric material know to a person having ordinary skill in the art . an optional electrically insulating liner ( not shown ) may be deposited along a sidewall 209 and on top of the nonmetallic material 202 within the opening 206 . now referring to fig7 b , a diffusion barrier 212 may be deposited along the sidewall 209 and on top of the nonmetallic material 202 . the diffusion barrier 212 may be deposited along the sidewall 209 and a bottom 208 of the opening 206 . the diffusion barrier 212 may include any material that which prohibits contamination of a copper material by the nonmetallic material 202 . in one embodiment , the diffusion barrier 212 may be made from a material including tantalum nitride deposited by physical vapor deposition ( pvd ). in one embodiment , the diffusion barrier 212 may be deposited by an alternative deposition technique , for example chemical vapor deposition ( cvd ) or atomic layer deposition ( ald ). now referring to fig7 c , a seed layer 222 may be deposited on top of the diffusion barrier 212 and along the sidewall 209 and the bottom 208 of the opening 206 . in one embodiment , the seed layer 222 may be made form a material including copper or any other element capable of seeding copper , i . e . having the correct crystalline structure to seed copper . in other words , the crystal face orientation of the seed layer 222 will mimic the crystal face orientation of copper ; such that the surface of the seed layer 222 will allow copper to grow from the its face . in one embodiment , the seed layer 222 may be made from a material including copper and deposited by pvd . in one embodiment , the seed layer 222 may be deposited by cvd or ald . now referring to fig7 d , an alloying material 214 may be deposited on top of the seed layer 222 , but only along the sidewall 209 of the opening 206 . in one embodiment , the alloying material 214 may be deposited along the sidewall 209 and the bottom 208 of the opening 206 . in such embodiments the alloying material 214 may be subsequently removed from the bottom 208 only by using an anisotropic etch technique selective to the seed layer 222 . in one embodiment , the alloying material 214 may be made from a material including chromium deposited in a vacuum using a sputter deposition technique . in one embodiment , the alloying material 214 may be made from a material including chromium , copper , nickel , tin , magnesium , cobalt , aluminum , manganese , titanium , zirconium , indium , palladium , gold or some combination thereof . the alloying material 214 may not have the correct crystalline structure to serve as a seed for copper plating . in one embodiment , an optional adhesive liner such as gold ( not shown ) may be used prior to depositing the alloying material 214 . the thickness of the alloying material 214 may be between 50 to about 300 angstroms . now referring to fig7 e , a copper material 216 may be deposited on the seed layer 222 and within the opening 206 ( shown in fig7 d ) using an electroplating technique . the seed layer 222 may serve as a cathode to which an electrical potential is applied during an electroplating technique . specifically , a negative voltage is applied to the seed layer 222 . because the specific alloying material 214 chosen may not have the correct crystalline structure to serve as a seed for copper plating , a bottom - up plating technique , free of voiding or pinch - off , may therefore be achieved . the bottom - up plating technique results in filling the opening 206 ( shown in fig7 d ) with the copper material 216 . after the electroplating technique a chemical mechanical polishing ( cmp ) technique may be used to remove excess copper from the surface of the substrate . the cmp technique can remove the diffusion barrier 212 , the seed layer 222 , the alloying material 214 , and excess copper material 216 selective to the top surface of the nonmetallic material 202 . the alloying material 214 may be used to form a mechanical bond between the copper material 216 and the sidewall 209 of the opening 206 . the mechanical bond can be created either by forming an intermetallic compound or by creating a high friction interface caused by extremely close contact between layers . extremely close contact may be defined as maximizing interfacial surface contact while minimizing foreign contaminants between two layers . the mechanical bond may be created at an intersection 224 and an intersection 226 . lack of a mechanical bond between the copper material 216 and the sidewall 209 of the opening 206 may result in a pistoning effect where the copper material 216 moves vertically within the opening 206 during thermal cycling due to copper &# 39 ; s relatively high coefficient of thermal expansion in comparison to surrounding semiconductor materials ( e . g . silicon , silicon oxides , and silicon nitrides ). thermal expansion and contraction is inevitable when building or operating integrated circuits . pistoning of the copper material 216 may impose stress and strain on corresponding components that may be connected to the copper material 216 and over time will cause a failure in these connections . referring to fig8 - 12 , multiple different embodiments of the interconnect structure 200 are shown . now referring to fig8 , one embodiment of the interconnect structure 200 is shown . a first interaction may occur between the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) and the copper material 216 at the intersection 224 ( shown in fig7 e ). the first interaction may produce a first intermetallic compound 218 formed from the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) and the copper material 216 at the intersection 224 ( shown in fig7 e ). the first intermetallic compound 218 may include the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) and the copper material 216 . the first intermetallic compound 218 can form a mechanical bond between the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) and the copper material 216 . the first intermetallic compound 218 may be formed either simultaneously while plating the copper material 216 or any time thereafter , for example during a subsequent annealing process . formation of the intermetallic compound 218 between the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) and the copper material 216 may occur when favorable thermodynamic and kinetic conditions exist for the compounds to form as a precipitate within a solid solution of the two materials , in this case the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) and the copper material 216 . intermetallic compounds may be stoichiometric or non - stoichiometric . for example , ag 3 sn is an intermetallic compound that may form when ag and sn are in a solid solution . a second interaction may occur between the diffusion barrier 212 and the seed layer 222 at the intersection 226 . the second interaction may involve extremely close contact between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) at the intersection 226 ( shown in fig7 e ). extremely close contact may create an area of high friction which may result in a mechanical bond between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ). extremely close contact may be achieved by depositing one material on top of another material in a vacuum using a sputter deposition technique . if one material is deposited on another material with either vacuum interruption or via an aqueous system , the possibility for extremely close contact is significantly diminished by native oxides or third body interference films , e . g . water may be present between the interfaces . the seed layer 222 may be deposited on top of the diffusion barrier 112 in a vacuum using the sputter deposition technique , and resulting in an extremely close physical interface . with continued reference to fig8 , the diffusion barrier 212 may be deposited with uniform , or near uniform , thickness . the seed layer 222 may be deposited with uniform , or near uniform , thickness . the first intermetallic compound 218 may have a non - uniform thickness and can mechanically join the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) with the copper material 216 . formation of the first intermetallic compound 218 may consume all or some of the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ). in one embodiment , the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) is entirely consumed by the formation of the first intermetallic compound 218 , as shown in fig8 . the mechanical bond created by the first intermetallic compound 218 and extremely close contact between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) can minimize the pistoning effect described above . the integrity of chip interconnects can be greatly improved by minimizing the pistoning effect because of the reduced risk of interconnect failure due to thermal expansion and contraction . now referring to fig9 , one embodiment of the interconnect structure 200 is shown . a first interaction may occur between the alloying material 214 and the copper material 216 at the intersection 224 ( shown in fig7 e ). the first interaction may produce a first intermetallic compound 218 formed from the alloying material 214 and the copper material 216 at the intersection 224 ( shown in fig7 e ). the first intermetallic compound 218 may include the alloying material 214 and the copper material 216 . the first intermetallic compound 218 can form a mechanical bond between the alloying material 214 and the copper material 216 . the first intermetallic compound 218 may be formed either simultaneously while plating the copper material 216 or any time thereafter , for example during a subsequent annealing process . a second interaction may occur between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 at the intersection 226 . the second interaction may involve extremely close contact between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 at the intersection 226 . extremely close contact may create an area of high friction which may result in a mechanical bond between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 . with continued reference to fig9 , the diffusion barrier 212 may be deposited with uniform , or near uniform , thickness . the seed layer 222 may be deposited with uniform , or near uniform , thickness . the first intermetallic compound 218 may have a non - uniform thickness and can mechanically join the alloying material 214 with the copper material 216 . formation of the first intermetallic compound 218 may consume all or some of the alloying material 214 . in one embodiment , the alloying material 214 is not entirely consumed by the formation of the first intermetallic compound 218 such that some of the alloying material 214 remains between the first intermetallic compound 218 and the seed layer 222 , as shown in fig9 . the mechanical bond created by the first intermetallic compound 218 and extremely close contact between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 can minimize the pistoning effect described above . the integrity of chip interconnects can be greatly improved by minimizing the pistoning effect because of the reduced risk of interconnect failure due to thermal expansion and contraction . now referring to fig1 , one embodiment of the interconnect structure 200 is shown . a first interaction may occur between the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) and the copper material 216 at the intersection 224 ( shown in fig7 e ). the first interaction may produce a first intermetallic compound 218 formed from the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) and the copper material 216 at the intersection 224 ( shown in fig7 e ). the first intermetallic compound 218 may include the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) and the copper material 216 . the first intermetallic compound 218 can form a mechanical bond between the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) and the copper material 216 . the first intermetallic compound 218 may be formed either simultaneously while plating the copper material 216 or any time thereafter , for example during a subsequent annealing process . a second interaction may occur between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) at the intersection 226 ( shown in fig7 e ). the second interaction may produce a second intermetallic compound 220 formed from the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) at the intersection 226 ( shown in fig7 e ). the second intermetallic compound 220 may include the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ). the second intermetallic compound 220 can form a mechanical bond between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ). the second intermetallic compound 220 may be formed either simultaneously while depositing the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) or any time thereafter , for example during a subsequent annealing process . with continued reference to fig1 the diffusion barrier 212 may be deposited with uniform , or near uniform , thickness . the seed layer 222 may be deposited with uniform , or near uniform , thickness . the first intermetallic compound 218 may have a non - uniform thickness and can mechanically join the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) with the copper material 216 . the second intermetallic compound 220 may have a non - uniform thickness and can mechanically join the seed layer 222 with the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ). formation of the intermetallic compounds 218 , 220 may consume all or some of the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ). in one embodiment , the alloying material 214 ( shown in fig7 e ) is entirely consumed by the formation of the intermetallic compounds 218 , 220 , as shown in fig1 . the mechanical bond created by the intermetallic compounds 218 , 220 can minimize the pistoning effect described above . the integrity of chip interconnects can be greatly improved by minimizing the pistoning effect because of the reduced risk of interconnect failure due to thermal expansion and contraction . now referring to fig1 , one embodiment of the interconnect structure 200 is shown . a first interaction may occur between the alloying material 214 and the copper material 216 at the intersection 224 ( shown in fig7 e ). the first interaction may produce a first intermetallic compound 218 formed from the alloying material 214 and the copper material 216 at the intersection 224 ( shown in fig7 e ). the first intermetallic compound 218 may include the alloying material 214 and the copper material 216 . the first intermetallic compound 218 can form a mechanical bond between the alloying material 214 and the copper material 216 . the first intermetallic compound 218 may be formed either simultaneously while plating the copper material 216 or any time thereafter , for example during a subsequent annealing process . a second interaction may occur between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 at the intersection 226 ( shown in fig7 e ). the second interaction may produce the second intermetallic compound 220 formed from the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 at the intersection 226 ( shown in fig7 e ). the second intermetallic compound 220 may include the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 . the second intermetallic compound 220 can form a mechanical bond between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 . the second intermetallic compound 220 may be formed either simultaneously while depositing the alloying material 114 or any time thereafter , for example during a subsequent annealing process . with continued reference to fig1 , the diffusion barrier 212 may be deposited with uniform , or near uniform , thickness . the seed layer 222 may be deposited with uniform , or near uniform , thickness . the first intermetallic compound 218 may have a non - uniform thickness and can mechanically join the alloying material 214 with the copper material 216 . the second intermetallic compound 220 may have a non - uniform thickness and can mechanically join the seed layer 222 with the alloying material 214 . formation of the intermetallic compounds 218 , 220 may consume all or some of the alloying material 214 . in one embodiment , the alloying material 214 is not entirely consumed by the formation of the intermetallic compounds 218 , 220 such that some of the alloying material 214 remains between the first intermetallic compound 218 and the second intermetallic compound 220 as shown in fig1 . the mechanical bond created by the intermetallic compounds 218 , 220 can minimize the pistoning effect described above . the integrity of chip interconnects can be greatly improved by minimizing the pistoning effect because of the reduced risk of interconnect failure due to thermal expansion and contraction . now referring to fig1 , one embodiment of the interconnect structure 200 is shown . a first interaction may occur between the alloying material 214 and the copper material 216 at the intersection 224 ( shown in fig7 e ). the first interaction may produce a first intermetallic compound 218 formed from the alloying material 214 and the copper material 216 at the intersection 224 ( shown in fig7 e ). the first intermetallic compound 218 may include the alloying material 214 and the copper material 216 . the first intermetallic compound 218 can form a mechanical bond between the alloying material 214 and the copper material 116 . the first intermetallic compound 218 may be formed either simultaneously while plating the copper material 216 or any time thereafter , for example during a subsequent annealing process . a second interaction may occur between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 at the intersection 226 . the second interaction may involve extremely close contact between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 at the intersection 226 . extremely close contact may create an area of high friction which may result in a mechanical bond between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 . the optional electrically insulating liner 210 may be deposited on top of the nonmetallic material 202 prior to depositing the diffusion barrier 212 . the electrically insulating liner 210 may include any material that which prohibits the conduction of electricity between a copper material and a semi - conductive nonmetallic material . therefore , if the nonmetallic material 202 is itself electrically insulating , the electrically insulating liner 210 may not be used . the electrically insulating liner 210 may be made from an oxide , nitride , or insulating polymer . deposition techniques such as , for example , chemical vapor deposition ( cvd ), physical vapor deposition ( pvd ), or atomic layer deposition ( ald ), may be used to deposit the electrically insulating liner 210 . with continued reference to fig1 , the diffusion barrier 212 may be deposited on top of the electrically insulating liner 210 with uniform , or near uniform , thickness . the first intermetallic compound 218 may have a non - uniform thickness and can mechanically join the alloying material 214 with the copper material 216 . formation of the first intermetallic compound 218 may consume all or some of the alloying material 214 . in one embodiment , the alloying material 214 is not entirely consumed by the formation of the first intermetallic compound 218 such that some alloying material 214 remains between the first intermetallic compound 218 and the seed layer 222 , as shown in fig1 . the mechanical bond created by the first intermetallic compound 218 and extremely close contact between the seed layer 222 and the alloying material 214 can minimize the pistoning effect described above . the integrity of chip interconnects can be greatly improved by minimizing the pistoning effect because of the reduced risk of interconnect failure due to thermal expansion and contraction . the descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration , but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed . many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments . the terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiment , the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace , or to enable other of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein . | 8 |
for the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention , reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same . it will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended . any alterations and further modifications of the inventive feature illustrated herein , and any additional applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated herein , which would normally occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure , are to be considered within the scope of the invention claimed . the embodiments of the present invention are directed to a system and method for protecting children and infants , along with the disabled , infirm and elderly , left in a vehicle inadvertently . the components , unless otherwise noted , may be fabricated of any number of suitable materials including , but not limited to , plastics , metals , alloys , polymers and / or composites and may be fabricated using any number of suitable techniques including , but not limited to , molding , machining , casting and rapid prototyping . fig1 shows a portable bracket 100 forming part of a seat belt alarm system 300 according to the embodiments of the present invention . the portable bracket 100 comprises a first arm 105 positioned to traverse a face 111 of a female receptacle 110 of a seat belt system and a second arm 115 positioned to traverse a locking slot face 112 of said female receptacle 110 . in one embodiment , the second arm 115 is substantially orthogonal to said first arm 105 . the first arm 105 may define a space 106 allowing user access to a seat belt system release button 113 . the second arm 115 defines a space 116 for passage , and insertion into a locking slot 117 of said female receptacle 110 , of a male buckle 114 associated with the seat belt system . the space 116 also allows user access to a seat belt system release button 119 . opposite edges of the first arm 105 support hook and loop straps 120 - 1 and 120 - 2 dimensioned to wrap around the female receptacle 110 and connect to one another thereby removably attaching the portable bracket to the female receptacle 110 . while hook and loop straps 120 - 1 and 120 - 2 are referenced herein , other suitable straps may include connection means in the form of snaps , buttons , ties , magnets and the like . an indicator light 125 on a face of the first arm 105 is configured to signify that a signal transmitter 310 integrated in the bracket 100 is active and transmitting a signal . the indicator light 125 may involve a light emitting diode ( led ) or other illumination device . in one embodiment , the indicator light 125 is green to signify the signal transmitter 310 is active and transmitting a signal . those skilled in the art will recognize that other colors may serve the same purpose . a tension button 130 positioned on said second arm 115 is positioned such that , when said male buckle 114 is inserted into the locking slot 117 of said female receptacle 110 , the tension button 130 is depressed by the male buckle 114 causing a switch 330 to close thereby activating the signal transmitter 310 . in one embodiment , the tension button 130 is spring - biased such that the tension button 130 is urged outward from a front surface of said second arm 115 and the switch 330 is open until the male buckle 114 is inserted in the locking slot 117 causing the tension button 130 to be forced inward closing the switch 330 . other means may be used to maintain the tension button 130 in an outward position when the male buckle 114 is not inserted in the locking slot 117 and to allow inward movement of the tension button 130 when the male buckle 114 is inserted into the locking slot 117 . now referring to fig2 , in one embodiment , an underside of the first arm 105 includes a battery compartment 135 . as shown , three circular batteries 136 drive the indicator light 125 and signal transmitter 310 contained within the bracket 100 . power is provided to both the indicator light 125 and signal transmitter 310 responsive to the switch 330 being closed . the battery compartment 135 may be integrated in any suitable location within the bracket 100 without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . fig3 a - 3 c show a keychain fob 150 with an integrated signal receiver 340 for receiving a signal transmitted by signal transmitter 310 . while a keychain fob 150 is referenced herein , a key - chain , key ring or other key holding device may incorporate the signal receiver and other components detailed herein . the keychain fob 150 includes a red indicator light 155 and green indicator light 160 . when illuminated , the green indicator light 160 indicates that the signal is being received by the signal receiver 340 from the signal transmitter 310 . in other words , the seat belt alarm system 300 is active and the keychain fob 150 is in range of the signal transmitter 330 . when illuminated , the red indicator light 155 indicates that the key fob 150 is out of range of the signal transmitter 310 and the seat belt alarm system 300 remains active such that a person remains belted in the vehicle . the red indicator light 155 may act as a strobe light or flash to make it more noticeable . an integrated audible alarm 350 also activates responsive to the keychain fob 150 moving out of range of the signal transmitter 310 while the seat belt alarm system 300 remains active . a battery compartment 165 drives the keychain fob 150 . fig4 a and 4 b illustrate top and side perspective views of the bracket 100 attached to the female receptacle 110 of a seat belt system with a side - positioned release button 119 according to the embodiments of the present invention . the straps of hook and loop fasteners 120 - 1 and 120 - 2 secure the bracket 100 to the female receptacle 110 . once the bracket 100 is in position , the tension button 130 is positioned for depression by the male buckle 114 to activate the seat belt alarm system 300 . fig5 illustrates a top perspective view of the bracket 100 attached to the female receptacle 110 of a seat belt system with a top - positioned release button 113 according to the embodiments of the present invention . fig6 illustrates a front perspective view of the bracket 100 attached to the female receptacle 110 of a seat belt system of a booster seat 175 according to the embodiments of the present invention . fig7 illustrates a front perspective view of the bracket 100 attached to the female receptacle 110 of a seat belt system of an infant seat 180 according to the embodiments of the present invention . fig8 illustrates a block diagram of a seat belt alarm system 300 according to the embodiments of the present invention . the seat belt alarm system 300 comprises a bracket 305 , signal transmitter 310 integrated in said bracket 305 , battery compartment 315 integrated into said bracket 305 , indicator light 320 integrated in said bracket 305 , switch 325 , tension button 330 , keychain fob 335 , signal receiver 340 integrated in said keychain fob 335 , green indicator light 345 integrated in said keychain fob 335 , red indicator light 350 integrated in said keychain fob 335 and audible alarm 355 integrated in said keychain fob 335 . when the switch 325 is closed by depression of the tension button 330 , the signal transmitter 310 transmits a signal 311 received by said signal receiver 340 . fig9 shows a flow chart 400 detailing one methodology of how the seat belt alarm system 300 works . at 405 , the bracket 100 is attached to the female receptacle 110 of a seat belt system . at 410 , the male bracket 114 is inserted into the locking slot 117 of the female receptacle 110 . at 415 , the tension button 130 is depressed by the male bracket 114 during insertion into the locking slot 117 and the switch 330 is closed by the tension button 130 being depressed thereby connecting power to the signal transmitter 310 and indicator light 320 . at 420 , the signal transmitter 310 begins transmitting its signal and indicator light 125 illuminates responsive to the switch 330 closing . at 425 , the signal receiver in the keychain fob 150 begins receiving the transmitted signal 311 . at 430 , responsive to the signal being received , the green indicator light 345 illuminates . at 435 , it is determined if the key fob 150 is in range . if so , at 440 , it is determined if the seat belt alarm system is active . if not , at 445 , the system is deemed inactive ( i . e ., seat belt unbuckled ) caused by the male buckle 114 being disengaged from the female receptacle 110 while the keychain fob 150 was in range of the transmitted signal . if the seat belt alarm system 330 is found active at 440 , the flow chart 400 loops back to 435 . if , at 435 , it is determined that the key fob 150 is out of range while the system is active ( i . e ., seat belt buckled ), the red indicator light 350 illuminates , the green indicator light 345 turns off and the alarm 355 sounds . that is , a person remains restrained in the vehicle . in another embodiment , an optional vibrator 375 may be incorporated into the keychain fob 150 to further place the user on alert when required . in another embodiment , the bracket 100 and the keychain fob 150 may include means for alerting the user that the batteries are low . for example , the indicator light 125 integrated in the bracket 100 may flash responsive to a low power reading from the batteries or the passage of a predetermined time period commensurate with the performance specification of the batteries . regarding the keychain fob 150 , the red indicator light 155 and / or green indicator light 160 may flash and / or the audible alarm 355 may chirp and / or the vibrator 375 may intermittingly activate responsive to a low power reading from the batteries or the passage of a predetermined time period commensurate with the performance specification of the batteries . other alerting means are suitable as well . although the invention has been described in detail with reference to several embodiments , additional variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of the invention as described and defined in the following claims . | 6 |
fig1 schematically shows a chart of multiplexing divided into a vc - layer 10 in the left portion of the drawing and a vp - layer 20 in the right portion of the drawing . the multiplexing is performed , for example , by a dslam ( digital subscriber line access multiplexer ). at the vc - layer , three virtual vc connections vcc 1 , vcc 2 , vcc 3 are shown ; in this example , each of the vc connections is a succession of atm cells forming aal5 packets of various lengths . differently shaded cells schematically show different aal5 packets transmitted via the vc connections vcc 1 , vcc 2 , and vcc 3 . the last cell in each packet is always marked ; in the drawing , last cells in the vc connections are indicated with asterisks . in certain scenarios , such as upon multiplexing a number of vc - connections ( vccs ) with the same service or when plurality of vccs travel to / from the same atm entity , the dslam may be configured to bundle a plurality of vccs in a form of a virtual path connection ( vpc ) to uniformly handle all atm cells in the vpc . the dslam further may handle a plurality of virtual path connections ( vpc 1 , vpc 2 and vpck are shown ), and this layer is called the vp - layer . each vpc comprises interleaved cells of the vc - connections , so that vpcs transmit atm packets in the form of ordered atm cells , while atm packets are intermixed . at the physical level of the atm interface , the virtual path connections ( vpc 1 , vpc . . . . vpck ) are further multiplexed , and dslam actually handles the resulting stream 30 of incoming / outgoing cells through one atm interface , where cells from different virtual channels and virtual paths are totally mixed , while the order of cells in each individual vpc and vcc is preserved . though , each of the atm cells carries indications of their vc and vp indexes ( vci and vpi ). e . g ., there is a plurality of cells in the resulting stream , one cell of which is marked as 40 ( belongs to vpc 1 , vcc 2 ). the last cells of packets still carry indications of the end ( asterisks ). the present figure shows streams formed at one atm interface , but other atm interfaces may exist at the node . the present invention is based on continuous monitoring the incoming cells entering a network node via one or more atm interfaces , and on determining their belonging to a particular vcc ( virtual channel connection ) and vpc ( virtual path connection ), which is defined by a combination of the vci , vpi and ifindex characterizing each incoming cell . also , status of the cells in the packet is to be monitored . fig2 illustrates an exemplary structure of the statistic database 50 according to the invention , for a specific atm interface . note that in this example all considered atm cells relate to the same atm interface , have the same ifindex value , and thus the ifindex value is not recorded in the database . the database constitutes a table that comprises n lines ( 52 ) each assigned to a particular vcc entry , and a number of columns ( 54 ) each assigned to a specific parameter of the vcc . any incoming atm cell , if it is of the aal5 type or the like , is characterized by specific vcc and vpc to which it belongs and carries vc - index vci and vp - index vpi . any incoming atm cell is mapped to a particular vcc entry n ( where n is a natural number 1 ≦ n ≦ n ) according to a pre - selected function f ( vci , vpi ). the table is built so that the number of entries is less than the number of possible combinations between the vci and vpi values , so cells of more than one vcc may be mapped to one and the same entry . this is reached by selecting the function f so that it produces the same number “ n ” for different combinations of vci , vpi . at the beginning of building the database , entries are randomly registered to vccs first occurring in the incoming cells stream , and boxes of vpi and vci in the lines are filled with the specific vpi and vci values of those firstly registered vccs . to obtain a statistic indication of frequency of different vccs in the incoming cells stream , columns 56 and 58 are provided for two counters . the “ own cells counter ” 56 and “ other cells counter ” 58 are intended for differentiating between different vccs which are mapped by the function “ f ” to the same entry “ n ”. the counter 56 is incremented by one if a new cell belongs to the same vcc which “ caught ” the entry , i . e . its vpi and vci values are equal to those registered in the table . the counter 58 is incremented by one , if the new cell belongs to another vcc which is just mapped to the same entry by the function f . when , in a particular entry “ n ” the counter &# 39 ; s 58 reading significantly prevails the counter &# 39 ; s 56 reading , the entry “ n ” can be re - assigned to another vcc . owing to that , the database 50 dynamically updates itself so that , upon some time , most frequent vccs are registered in all the n entries with quite a high probability . the column 60 is a column of vcc status . the box 60 for a particular entry can be indicated in one of the four ways : two basic statuses “ begin packet ” when the marked last cell of a packet has just passed , “ in packet ” in the opposite case , and two optional statuses : “ pd ” if the partial packet discard is being performed on the vcc assigned to the entry , and “ fd ” is the full packet discard is being performed to that vcc . the use and updating of the status column 60 will be described with reference to the exemplary flow charts which follow . it should be noted that , if the database serves a number of atm interfaces , the table will preferably comprise a column / field for indicating ifindex value of the vcc data stream registered in a specific entry of the table ( the optional column is shown in dotted lines ). fig3 schematically shows one possible mechanism 60 for managing the statistic database , which is in the core of this invention . the specific process described by the figure starts upon arrival of an atm cell ( block 62 ), on a specific atm interface . the network node is expected to determine the vp index ( vpi ) and vc index ( vci ) of that atm cell , as well as detecting the special mark within the atm cell header for an aal5 packet &# 39 ; s last cell ( block 64 ). would a common database be assigned for multiple atm interfaces , it would have been necessary to determine also the atm interface index ( ifindex ) associated with each atm incoming cell . it is possible that the received atm cell belongs to a vpc that is not subject to the proposed mechanism ( e . g ., if the vpc carries aal2 traffic ), in such a case the process terminates , but if the cell suits the condition ( block 66 ), then the network node calculates the entry ( line ) number ( block 68 ) within the statistic database that is potentially where the statistics for the respective vcc are to be located . the calculation of such an entry number can be performed using any preferred formula ; one examples is given in the it is possible that the obtained entry “ n ” in the statistic database was never used for collecting statistic information ( entry is “ empty ”, block 70 ). in such a case the vpi and vci values of the received atm cell ( and optionally the ifindex of the related atm interface ) will be recorded into the respective entry ( block 72 ) and all other fields / columns will be cleared ( block 74 ). it is further possible that , due to previous atm cells received by the network node , the entry “ n ” in the statistic database is already assigned for collecting statistic information regarding to the same vcc as the one to which the “ new ” atm cell belongs ( block 76 ). in such a case only the own cells counter that counts such events is to be incremented ( 78 ). it is further possible that , an atm cell from any vcc will be mapped by the said calculation to the entry “ n ” in the statistic database that is already assigned for collecting statistic information regarding to another vcc . in such a case only the other cells counter that counts such events is to be incremented ( block 80 ). however , if the network node experiences , for any specific entry in the statistic database , that too many events ( i . e ., the exact criteria is not part of the invention ) of incrementing the othercells counter ( compared to the number of times the network node incremented the owncells counter , block 82 ) it may decide to replace the database entry assignment by assigning this entry to the vcc represented by the currently handled atm cell . in such a case the vpi and vci values of the received atm cell ( and optionally the ifindex of the related atm interface ) will be recorded into the respective entry and all other fields / columns will be cleared ( back to blocks 72 , 74 ). if a received atm cell belongs to a vcc that is currently assigned to an entry in the statistic database , the drawing also shows that the process may further refer to the special mark within the atm cell header for an aal5 packet &# 39 ; s last cell ( block 84 ). this information is required for the discard method according to the invention , when applied . in case the atm cell has the “ last cell ” mark or flag , the process may perform some specific operations symbolically indicated as a sub - routine 86 and illustrated by fig4 b ). in case the atm cell does not have the said “ last cell ” mark , the process performs some other specific operations of a sub - routine 88 and illustrated by fig4 c . fig4 a schematically shows a possible mechanism for responding to actual congestion events if such occur in the network for a specific atm interface , and illustrates the method of packet discard according to this invention . the specific process described by the figure starts upon detecting a congestion event ( for example , event indicated in box 100 ) while handling any incoming atm cell which is related to the specific atm interface . the network node is expected ( as part of managing the statistics database , see fig3 ) to determine the vpi and vci values of the atm cell , as well as detecting whether or not it is an aal5 packet &# 39 ; s last cell ( block 64 ). it is possible that the received atm cell belongs to a vpc that is not subject to the proposed mechanism ( e . g ., if the vpc carries aal2 traffic ; block 66 ), in such a case the process terminates ( block 102 ). if the cell is suitable , the network node calculates the entry ( line ) number “ n ” within the statistic database that is related to the vcc to which this atm cell belongs ( block 68 ). it is possible that the related entry in the statistic database is already assigned for collecting statistic information regarding to another vcc ( i . e ., multiple vccs may be mapped to the same entry ; block 76 ). in such a case the process terminates . if the entry “ n ” in the statistic database is assigned for collecting statistic information regarding to the same vcc to which the atm cell belongs , the process analyzes the status field of the entry . in case the atm cell is part of an aal5 packet that is executing a full discard process ( state field has the fulldiscard value ) or a partial discard process ( state field has the partialdiscard value ) ( blocks 104 , 106 ), the atm cell is supposed to be already under discard ( block 108 ) per the sub routines described by fig4 b and 4 c . in case the atm cell is the beginning of a new aal5 packet ( state field has the beginofpacket value , block 110 ) the cell is discarded and the state field is changed to have the fulldiscard value ( blocks 112 , 118 ). in case the atm cell is part of an aal5 packet that its prefix ( i . e ., all preceding atm cells ) already successfully forwarded ( state field has the inpacket value ) then only in case the said atm cell is not the aal5 packet &# 39 ; s last cell ( block 114 ), it is discarded and the state field is changed to have the partialdiscard value ( block 116 , 118 ). fig4 b schematically describes a possible mechanism 86 executed in case the atm cell handled by the statistic database management process ( fig3 ) is marked as the “ last cell ” of an aal5 packet . in case the atm cells discard aspect of this invention is for any reason unused there is no special action to be performed . this is indicated by the dotted link between the “ start ” of sub - routine 86 , via block 119 , and “ mark beginpacket ” operation ( block 120 ). when there is any sort of atm cells discard mechanism being used , according to a preferred version of this invention , the figure describes that the “ last cell ” of an aal5 packet will be discarded ( block 128 ) only in case all previous atm cells of the same packet were discarded too ( blocks 122 , 124 , 126 ). before terminating this sub process it is required to update the status field of at the respective entry in the statistic database to tell that the next atm cell received for the same vcc is expected to be the first atm cell of a new aal5 packet ( block 120 ). fig4 c schematically describes a possible mechanism executed in case the atm cell handled by the statistic database management process ( fig3 ) is not marked as the “ last cell ” of an aal5 packet ( sub - routine 88 ). when the atm cell is the first cell of an aal5 packet ( status of the related entry in the statistic database has the beginofpacket value , block 130 ) the figure indicates a possible interpretation of a full discard ( fd ) mechanism . in case fd is supported by the system ( block 133 , “ yes ”) and it is expected that the network node will successfully forward the whole aal5 packet ( block 134 of congestion forecast , “ no ”), the status of the related entry in the statistic database is changed to the inpacket value ( block 132 ). in case fd is supported and it is expected that the aal5 packet cannot be fully forwarded by the network node ( block 134 , “ yes ”), the status of the related entry in the statistic database is changed to the fulldiscard value ( block 136 ) and the said first atm cell of the aal5 packet is discarded ( block 138 ). in case the fd aspect of this invention is not supported or not being used for any reason , there is no action to be performed for the said first atm cell of the aal5 packet as long as there is no actual congestion ( per fig4 a ). when the status of the related entry in the statistic database has a value other than beginofpacket ( block 130 , 140 ), it should be verified that it is not due to a decision to discard cells from said aal5 packet ( per fig4 a or 4 b ). the status of the related entry in the statistic database has the inpacket value in case there was no actual congestion so far during forwarding previous atm cells from the said aal5 packet . the status of the related entry in the statistic database has a value other than inpacket value ( i . e ., while the said atm cell is not the first atm cell of an aal5 packet ) only if the respective aal5 packet is at least partially being discarded . the said atm cell will be discarded too ( block 142 ). while the invention has been described with reference to the attached drawings , it should be appreciated that other versions and modifications of the method , software product and network node could be proposed and is should be considered part of the invention which is defined by the claims which follow . | 7 |
in fig1 a two - modulus prescaler or counter 11 selects two frequency - division factors p and p + 1 in response to the high and low levels , respectively , of a control signal applied over conductor 4 . responsive thereto , circuit 11 frequency divides a signal supplied to a terminal 1 , by the selected factor . the output of the prescaler 11 appears on conductor 2 from which the signal is frequency divided by the factor n , in a programmable counter 12 . during the counting of n pulses in the counter 12 , a swallow counter or programmable counter 13 counts the output of the prescaler 11 , to a value a . then , the swallow or programmable counter 13 generates the control signal on conductor 4 for selectively switching the frequency - division factors of the prescaler 11 . the operation of the divider of fig1 will be described below by supposing that the number n is larger than the number a , with the description starting from a state where the frequency - division factor of the prescaler 11 is p + 1 . the prescaler 11 frequency divides the signal supplied to the input terminal 1 by p + 1 , and the resulting output is entered into the programmable counters 12 and 13 . since n is greater than a , the counter 13 completes its counting earlier than the counter 12 completes its counting . at this time , the counter 13 raises the voltage level of the switching control signal on conductor 4 from a low to a high level , and switches the frequency - division factor of the prescaler 11 from p + 1 to p . after switching the prescaler to p , the counter 13 stops , and the counter 12 counts the remaining number ( n - a ) of pulses , the counter 12 output pulses then being supplied to an output terminal 3 . this output 3 sets the counters 12 and 13 to their predetermined frequency - division factors , and makes them ready to start the next counting cycle . at the same time , the output of the counter 13 ( i . e . the switching control signal on conductor 4 ) is reduced from a high to a low level . the frequency - division factor of the counter 11 returns to p + 1 , to enable the same operation to be repeated . the overall frequency - division factor n t of such a frequency divider is given by the following equation : the condition of equation ( 2 ) is obvious from the operating principle of this frequency dividing system . when a and n are varied by signals 5 and 6 , the overall frequency - division factor n t is set to be given by any consecutive integers : ## equ1 ## where a is part of the output count of prescaller 11 , as counted by programmable counter 13 ; and p is remaining part of the output count of prescaller 11 , after the programmed count of counter 13 is reached . in this case , the minimum overall frequency - division factor n ti means a min = 0 , n min = p - 1 in equation ( 3 ). this division factor is given as follows : thus , it is known that the frequency - division ratio n t can be any of the consecutive integers which are not smaller than p ( p - 1 ). however , the foregoing description does not take into account any elementary delay in the individual frequency divider means . in order for this digital frequency divider to operate normally in an actual high - frequency process , the control signal on conductor 4 of the prescaler 11 must be fed back within a transmission delay time which is equal to one cycle of the output pulse of the prescaler 11 . that is , in the circuit illustrated in fig1 assume that the set - up time of the prescaler 11 ( when it switches the frequency - division factor in accordance with the control signal on conductor 4 ) is represented by t ps ; that the transmission delay time of the programmable counter 13 , is t a ; and that the cycle of the output of the prescaler 11 is t c . the following relation must be satisfied : in this case , the permissible loop delay time t c can be extended by enlarging the factor p of the prescaler 11 . this can be one solution , but it involves a disadvantage since the n ti given by equation ( 4 ) rises with p ( p - 1 ), and causes a narrowing of the applicable range of the frequency divider . moreover , this solution does not give any clue for reducing the propagation time of the feedback loop . therefore , the present invention is intended to provide a higher - speed , digital frequency divider of the pulse swallow type of system . it has a simpler circuitry and is capable of reducing the transmission delay time of its feedback loop . the invention essentially avails itself of the basic principle of the pulse swallow frequency divider . to reduce the transmission of delay time t ps + t a of the feedback loop , equation ( 1 ) can hold true irrespective of the output timing of the control signal on conductor 4 , as long as the programmable counter 12 is counting n . fig2 illustrates one embodiment of a pulse swallow type digital frequency divider , according to the invention . a switching control circuit 20 generates a control signal on conductor 8 , which signal is supplied to the digital frequency divider of fig1 . the switching control circuit 20 is a common d - type flipflop having a data terminal d , a clock terminal cp , and an output terminal q . data fed to the data terminal d is read into the flipflop at the leading edge of the input pulse to the clock terminal cp and is output at the output terminal q . the output on conductor 7 of the counter 13 , is supplied to the data terminal d of this flipflop 20 . the output on conductor 2 of the counter or prescaler 11 is supplied to the clock terminal cp of flipflop 20 . accordingly , the output signal on conductor 7 of the counter 13 is read into the flipflop 20 at the leading edge of the output pulse of the counter 11 , and output at the output terminal q to serve as the control signal on conductor 8 for the prescaler 11 . fig3 is a time chart illustrating the operation of the frequency divider shown in fig2 where n = 5 and a = 2 . the output at terminal 3 of the counter 12 falls from a high to a low level at the leading edge of the n - th output pulse of the prescaler 11 . because of this low level , the programmable counters 12 and 13 are preset at the leading edge of the ( n + 1 )- th output pulse of the prescaler 11 . the conductor 7 output of the counter 13 falls to a low level later than the ( n + 1 )- th leading edge , the delay being caused by the transmission delay time t a of the counter 13 . the low level of the output on conductor 7 , from the counter 13 , is read into the flipflop 20 at the leading edge of the ( n + 1 )- th prescaler 11 output pulse on conductor 2 . the output on conductor 8 , of the flipflop 20 , falls later than the leading edge of the output on conductor 2 , the delay being caused by the transmission delay time t p of the flipflop 20 . for simplicity of description , it is assumed that the transmission delay times at the leading and trailing edges are equal to each other . when the counter 13 counts ( by 2 ) the output pulses , as they appear on conductor 2 , of the counter 11 , the output on conductor 7 of the counter 13 rises to a high level with a delay time t a . the output on conductor 8 of the flipflop 20 also rises to a high level with a delay time t d lagging behind the leading edge of the ( n + 1 )- th output pulse on conductor 2 of the prescaler 11 . according to the time chart of fig3 the following conditions are required in order for the frequency divider illustrated in fig2 to operate normally : to compare these conditions with those of a conventional frequency divider , given by equation ( 5 ), there is an improvement of the time t a by the time t ps , according to equation ( 6 ). also , the transmission delay time of the feedback loop is reduced by ( t a - t d ), where t a & gt ; t d , according to equation ( 7 ). to discuss the practicability of t a & gt ; t d in this case , it is easy to make the delay time t d of the flipflop 20 smaller than the delay time t a of the counter 13 , which is generally composed of a plurality of counter units . next will be explained the minimum frequency - division factor n ti in the frequency divider according to the present invention . as can be readily understood from fig3 the flipflop 20 output on conductor 8 , on the whole , lags behind the counter 13 output on conductor 7 , by a factor of one clock pulse in the output of the prescaler 11 . thus , it is shifted by one clock pulse toward the right in fig3 . therefore , the condition corresponding to equation ( 2 ) is : and the conditions corresponding to equation ( 3 ) are given by the following : ## equ2 ## accordingly , the minimum overall frequency - division factor n ti is given by the following equations since a min = 0 and n min = p . therefore , according to the present invention , the n ti in the frequency divider is greater by p , as compared with the n ti of a conventional frequency divider . in most instances , this much increase causes no practical problems . although the fig2 shows only one stage of a d - type flipflop , used as the switching control circuit 20 in the frequency divider , the delay time can be obviously reduced , not only by using other elements with a corresponding function , but also by connecting n stages of such elements in cascade . in this case , general equations corresponding to equations ( 8 ), ( 9 ) and ( 10 ) are given by the following equations : ## equ3 ## fig4 is a block diagram illustrating the application of the digital frequency shown in fig2 to a frequency synthesizer . in fig4 reference numeral 30 identifies the digital frequency divider of fig2 with the reference numerals 1 and 2 identifying the input and output connections . a reference oscillator 31 generates a reference frequency f r . a phase detector 32 detects the phase difference between the output of the digital frequency divider 30 and the reference oscillator 31 . a low - pass filter 33 filters the output of the phase detector 32 . a voltage - controlled oscillator ( vco ) 34 gives the output frequency f o = n t · f r , in response to the output signal of the low - pass filter 33 . any output frequency f o can be obtained at an output terminal 9 , by varying the overall frequency - division factor n t of the digital frequency divider 30 ( i . e . by varying the frequency - division factors a and n of the counters 12 and 13 , respectively , in fig2 responsive to signals applied to conductors 5 and 6 ). as described above , according to the present invention , a higher - speed digital frequency divider is provided by the use of the pulse swallow system , which has a simple circuitry and which reduces the transmission delay time of the feedback loop . those who are skilled in the art will readily perceive how to modify the system . therefore , the appended claims are to be construed to cover all equivalent structures which fall within the true scope and spirit of the invention . | 7 |
referring to fig1 and fig2 the illustrated sequence of chain stitches may be formed on a knitting machine of the type well known in the art . see , e . g ., &# 34 ; an introduction the stitch formations in warp knitting &# 34 ; § 1 . 3 , pp . 27 - 42 ( employees assoc . karl mayer e . v ., west germany 1966 ) ( hereinafter &# 34 ; stitch formations &# 34 ; ) the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference . a significant advantage of the present invention is that a knitting machine containing only one dedicated guide bar may be employed to fabricate the desired pattern of stitches of nonconductive fiber interlaced with conductive fiber 1 . as illustrated in fig2 the dissipation of electrical charge along both the course and wale directions is ensured by the novel technique of forming underlaps and / or overlaps with the conductive fiber 1 within a nonconductive knit fabric along both the course and wale directions . this connection of conductive fiber 1 with adjacent nonconductive fibers results in a combined stitch construction , e . g ., a modified &# 34 ; queen &# 39 ; s cord &# 34 ; construction , that is electrically conductive along both the course and wale directions , and , when a two layered knit is fabricated , on both the technical face and back of the fabric . this modified queen &# 39 ; s cord construction differs from known knit constructions in that the conductive fibers extend either along the course of the fabric or wale of the fabric , unlike the aforementioned argyle pattern in which the conductive fiber extends in a diagonal along the course or wale . &# 34 ; stitch formations &# 34 ;, at p . 104 , fig1 , depicts a &# 34 ; queen &# 39 ; s cord &# 34 ; construction which is to be contrasted with the preferred embodiment of the present invention . it is an important feature of the present invention that the conductive fibers 1 form under and / or overlaps within the nonconductive fabric along the course and wale directions to such an extent that a conductive matrix is formed in which charge can be dissipated along any number of pathways in the course or wale direction of the technical face and back of the fabric . in an alternative embodiment useful , e . g ., as an antistatic wall covering , a knitted fabric can be constructed in accordance with the methods of the present invention wherein the conductive fiber is trapped between the overlaps and underlaps of the nonconductive knitted fabric as seen from the technical back . the conductive fiber 1 can be selected from any of the number of types of conductive fibers commercially available , some of which have been considered in the preceding discussion of the prior art . these conductive fibers can consist either of singular yarns or be plied with other yarns where extra fabric strength or workability is desired . an example of the electrically conductive knitted fabric of the present invention was constructed as follows . the bottom bar of an 84 inch mayer model kc3 , 3 bar , 20 gauge warp knit tricot knitting machine was threaded full with 150 denier textured polyester and stitched 45 - 10 . ( idler links for the 3 link per course set - up were omitted in this example .) the middle bar of the machine was threaded 6 ends out and one end in with 70 denier textured polyester plied with 2 ends per thread of basf conductive nylon and stitched in the following sequence : an intermediate let off was set up for the middle bar on a ratio of 1 . 21 with a chain sequence as follows : the top bar was threaded 6 ends in and 1 end out with 150 denier textured polyester and stitched 10 - 01 . the knitted fabric so constructed was jet dyed and framed 72 inches wide and slit into 4 separate 18 inch strips . the runner lengths for this fabric were : the fabric quality pull was 17 inches per rack . the total inches for an 84 inch panel by bar were as follows : the electrical charge dissipation characteristic of a fabric constructed in accordance with the present invention were tested and are set forth in example 2 . a sample of antistatic fabric fabricated in accordance with the example 1 was tested for effective surface resistivity and charge to decay time in accordance with the methods recommended in nfpa 99 . the tests were conducted at a temperature of 70 ° f . and a relative humidity of 50 %. the fabric measured approximately 6 × 10 5 ohms / cm . in the machine direction and 2 × 10 6 ohms / cm . in the crossmachine direction . decay times in both directions were much less than 0 . 01 seconds . the material , therefore , easily met the resistance and decay specifications of nfpa 99 . it should be understood that this invention is not limited to the illustrations described and shown herein , which are deemed to be merely illustrative of the best modes of carrying out the invention . the invention also encompasses all such modifications which are within the scope of the following claims . | 7 |
the invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . however , the following examples are merely provided to aid in the understanding of the present invention , and variations may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . developing roll ( 1 ) has a magnetic brush on its surface and carries developer in the direction shown with the arrow ( a ). with the roll rotating in this direction , developer is scraped by the doctor blade to a uniform thickness of deposit on the roll . the doctor blade regulates the amount and thickness of developer applied at the moment of the thickness regulation . when material clogs the clearance between the doctor blade and developing roll ( during regulation of the thickness of the developer layer ), developer can not be dispensed at the clogged portion of the clearance . thus poor coverage of the magnetic brush occurs , resulting in a misprint . to prevent the aforementioned difficulties , a plate member ( 6 ) is employed to rectify the poor coverage and is arranged to contact magnetic brush ( 2 ) on the developing roll ( 1 ). a holder member ( 7 ) is applied to position plate member ( 6 ) to evenly spread the developer and uniformly cover the developing roll ( 1 ). as shown in fig1 the aforesaid plate member ( 6 ) and the aforesaid developing roll converge with close clearance at point ( 9 ) to intercept the developer on the developing roll ( 1 ). the plate member ( 6 ) comprises an elastic material . thus the plate member would elastically touch the developing roll ( 1 ) if there was no developer between the plate member and roll ( 1 ). a predetermined amount of developer is spread by the plate member ( 6 ) to cover the roll ( 1 ) at a predetermined thickness . the elastic pressure of the plate member ( 6 ) may be adjusted to increase or decrease the amount of the toner which is spread by the plate member ( 6 ). unused , developer trapped behind plate member ( 6 ) ( see ( 11 ) in fig3 ) is carried away . hereinafter , the operating process employing plate member ( 6 ) will be explained with regard to fig2 . the developer is supplied to cover the surface area of the roller where there is little developer due to clogging between the doctor blade ( 3 ) and roll ( 1 ) ( this is area ( 10 ). developer accumulated behind plate member ( 6 ) along the sides of area ( 10 ), shown by arrow marks ( a ) and ( b ) is spread by plate member ( 6 ) to cover area ( 10 ). a misprint will accordingly not occur . a foreign substance of a size which is small enough to not clog the clearance of the doctor blade , can pass under the plate member ( 6 ) to cover the roll as would developer . such small foreign substances will not cause a misprint . | 6 |
referring to fig1 and 2 , a granulator according to the invention is shown generally at 12 . a fixed frame comprises front and back uprights 14 and 16 ( fig1 ) and fixed end uprights 18 and 20 ( fig2 ). the front and back uprights may be fabricated of several parts integrally assembled in the manner shown , or in any other preferred manner providing an equivalent mounting for the bed knives . in the form shown the upright 14 comprises a bed knife seat component 22 having a straight , sloping surface on which a bed knife 24 is received . a tapered holddown plate 26 is received over the bed knife and the knife is clamped between the members 22 and 26 by a plurality of spaced bolts 28 . the holes through the bed knife have clearances with the bolts 28 , permitting the bed knife to be moved laterally on the surfaces of the members 22 and 26 , that is , in the direction from left to right as viewed in fig1 . such movement is accomplished by rotating screws 27 threaded on parts of the frame . on the uprights 18 and 20 a pair of bed knife stops 30 and 32 ( fig2 to 4 ) are installed . as these stops are of similar construction , only the stop 32 is further described . as shown in fig2 the upright 20 has a circular thru hole 34 . the stop 32 comprises a plate 36 with an integral rod shaped extension 38 extending through the hole . an end portion of this extension is ground to provide a flat surface 40 in position to abut the ground surface 42 of the bed knife 24 . the plate 36 is initially loosely fastened to the upright 20 by a pair of mounting screws 44 passing with clearance through holes 45 in the plate . after positioning at initial assembly , a pair of metal dowels 46 are driven through holes 47 . the procedure for mounting the bed knife stops by these screws and dowels is hereinafter described in relation to the rotating structures of the granulator . on the back upright 16 there is provided a structure for mounting a second bed knife 48 , provided with adjusting screws 49 corresponding to the screws 27 , between a frame member 50 having a sloping surface and corresponding to the member 22 , and a tapered holddown plate 52 corresponding to the plate 26 , the parts being secured together by spaced bolts 54 corresponding to the bolts 28 . bed knife stops ( not shown ) are secured to the end uprights 18 and 20 in the same manner as the stops 30 and 32 , and abut a ground surface 55 corresponding to the surface 42 . the end uprights 18 and 20 are provided with bearings ( not shown ) defining a fixed axis 56 ( fig1 ). an elongate rotor 58 formed with a number of longitudinal recesses 60 supports elongate rotating knives 62 , each secured by a number of axially spaced bolts 64 . each of the recesses 60 is accurately machined to form a pair of intersecting surfaces 66 and 68 , which are orthogonal in the illustrated , preferred embodiment . each of the rotating knives is also accurately machined with a pair of intersecting surfaces 70 and 72 , formed to be precisely congruent with the surfaces 66 and 68 , respectively . the two pairs of surfaces are firmly mated when the knife 62 is seated . with the bolts 64 then tightened , a third , accurately machined cylindrical surface 74 on the knife is precisely coincident with the cutting cylinder 76 which it generates about the axis 56 . an edge 78 of the surface 74 is the cutting edge of the knife as the rotor rotates in the direction of the arrow f , the edge 78 being parallel to the axis 56 and defined on one side by the cylindrical surface 74 and on the other side by a surface 80 of the knife . preferably , the surface 80 forms an acute angle with the radius of the rotor passing through the cutting edge 78 , to facilitate removal of the particles as they are severed by the knives . each of the knives 62 is formed and mounted in the identical manner described above . it will be observed by reference to fig5 that grinding of the surface 80 of each knife for sharpening the cutting edge 78 thereby removing an amount of metal as indicated by broken line 81 , results in a new cutting edge which , by reason of the above - described structure , is also precisely on the cutting cylinder 76 . thus the rotating knives retain the same radius when sharpened . a screen 82 having a cylindrical portion 84 is secured to the frame members 22 and 50 by bolts 86 . the portion 84 of the screen has its axis coincident with the axis 56 , whereby the screen has a predetermined , fixed and uniform clearance 88 from the cutting cylinder 76 . therefore , the cylinder 76 defining the locus of the cutting edges 78 of the knives remains spaced by the constant clearance distance 88 from the screen , regardless of the number of times the knives 62 have been ground or the amount of material removed from the knives by such grinding . this results in uniformity of throughput of material at an optimal rate . the clearance distance between the rotating and bed knives is accurately set , preferably at the factory , and is not required to be reset under field conditions . to set this clearance at initial assembly , the rotating knives 62 are first installed on their seats , each being tapped back against the surfaces 66 and 68 on the rotor with a soft hammer , and then held in position by tightening the bolts 64 to a specified torque value . this accurately locates the cylindrical surfaces 74 of the knives on the fixed cutting cylinder 76 . the holddown bolts 28 and 54 passing through the bed knives 24 and 48 are loosened , and the adjusting screws 27 are turned while feeler gauges are held between the cutting edges of the bed and rotating knives . the screws 27 are turned to push the bed knives forward until the specified knife gap is obtained , after which the holddown bolts 28 and 54 are tightened to a specified torque value . while the bed knives are being adjusted as described above , the bed knife stops 30 and 32 are loosely held in position on the frame uprights 18 and 20 by the screws 44 without the dowels 46 being in place . clearance spaces between the shanks of the screws 44 and the holes 45 in the plates 36 permit movement of the stops toward or away from the rotor . when the clearance gaps between the rotating and bed knives has been set as described above , the surfaces 40 of the bed knife stops are pushed up against the ground faces 42 of the bed knives , and the screws 44 are tightened . preferably , the gaps between the rotating and bed knives are then rechecked . if the gaps remain correct after the positioning of the bed knife stops , the holes 47 are drilled through the plates 36 and the frame uprights 18 and 20 , and the dowels 46 are driven into the holes , thus permanently installing the bed knife stops on the machine uprights . with this method of construction , the surfaces 40 on the stops define a fixed knife gap for the machine . once the machine is in service , conditions of use determine the frequency with which it is necessary to grind the cutting edges of the knives . each time the bed knives 24 and 48 are removed , they are resharpened by grinding the surfaces 42 and 55 , and when reassembled on the machine they are pushed by the screws 27 into firm contact with the surfaces 40 on the bed knife stops . each time the rotating knives 62 are removed for sharpening , they are ground only on the surfaces 80 , and when returned to the rotor 58 they are each firmly tapped into place and seated on the surfaces 66 and 68 as previously described . in the preferred embodiment described , the bed knives 24 and 48 are skewed relative to the axis 56 to provide a shearing action with the rotating knives , thus causing progressive cutting and fragmentation of the materials . however , if desired the bed knives may not be skewed , in which case their cutting edges are parallel to the axis 56 . the number of knives on the rotor and stator is a matter of choice . also , the invention contemplates the provision of multiple rotors 58 in tandem on a common axis 56 , the knives on adjacent rotors being angularly displaced . for example , with two rotors of three knives each coacting with two bed knives , the frequency of cutting impacts per revolution of the rotor is 12 , rather than 6 , with a consequent reduction in vibration . | 1 |
a simplified diagram of the type of system to which the invention relates is shown in fig1 . the system uses the principle of electromagnetic communication in which an interrogator 1 containing a transmitter 2 generates an electromagnetic signal which is transmitted via a transmitter antenna 3 to an electronic label 4 containing a label receiving antenna 5 . the label receiving antenna 5 may receive a proportion of the transmitted signal and through a rectifier may generate a dc power supply which may be used for operation of a reply generation circuit connected to either the label receiving antenna or to a separate label reply antenna , with the result that an information bearing electromagnetic reply signal is transmitted from the label 4 back to a receiver antenna 6 and then to a receiver 7 in the interrogator 1 . within the interrogator 1 is a controller and decoder 8 which further processes signals from the receiver 7 and produces a data output signal which is useful in automated handling of the articles to which the labels are attached . the interrogator may communicate signals to the label 4 as well as extract signals from the label 4 , and can use any of the principles outlined in pct / au / 90 / 00043 , pct / au92 / 00143 and pct / au92 / 00477 the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by cross reference . quite often a single antenna in the interrogator provides the functions of both the transmitter antenna 3 and receiver antenna 6 . similarly a single antenna within the label can perform the functions of a label receiving antenna 5 and a label reply antenna . in the usual design of such systems , the label receiving antenna 5 and interrogator antenna 9 are placed in reasonable proximity , as shown in fig2 , with no intervening objects , particularly metallic ones . in such systems , as shown in fig2 , an interrogator antenna 9 which may be in the form of a solenoid 10 with a ferromagnetic rod 11 creates a magnetic field 11 a and associated magnetic flux , a portion of which links a label antenna coil 12 to create communication with and possibly excitation of label receiving antenna 5 . very often however circumstances influence the placement of the label receiving antenna 5 to be on one side of a metallic object 13 while the interrogator antenna 9 is on the other . a good example of this situation is provided by the requirement for labelling and airline shipping pallet 14 shown in fig3 . as shown in fig3 , such a pallet 14 has a flat underside in the form of a metallic plate 13 . in handling in a warehouse the pallet 14 is moved on a set of rollers 15 , and in an aircraft hold it is bolted to the floor . no apparatus , particularly an electronic label 4 , may be placed either below or within that metallic plate 13 . on the other hand , for reasons of protection , the interrogator antenna 9 is constrained to lie between the rollers 15 of the conveyor mechanism . the result is that in this application the interrogator antenna 9 and the label receiving antenna 5 are separated by a metallic plate 13 of substantial extent . it is an object of this invention to design an electronic labelling system which can perform satisfactorily subject to this constraint . as illustrated in fig3 , there are circumstances when placement of the label receiving antenna 5 and placement of the interrogator antenna 9 are such that there is substantial screening of the label 4 by surfaces of metallic plate 13 from the interrogator antenna 9 and from the field created by the interrogator antenna 9 . the present invention may create an interrogation field for a label by creating current flowing on the metallic surface 13 of the object to be labelled . the metal surfaces in which current flow which produces the magnetic field and which excites the label , may be on the opposite surface to the one adjacent to the interrogator antenna . so that the principles of the invention may be better appreciated , it is appropriate to review here some of the fundamental of laws of electrodynamic theory . in this exposition , and in the argument to be provided in this disclosure , the terminology and units used will be as defined in the international standard iso 1000 ( 1992 ) “ si units and recommendations for the use of their multiples and of certain other units ”. a good starting point for such an exposition is to mention the conservation law of electric charge which states that a net inflow of current into a region produces a corresponding rate of change with respect to time of the total electric charge within that region . this law is consistent with and indeed is required by the four basic laws of electrodynamics which are stated below . in the usual notation , the vector e represents the electric field intensity measured in v / m and the vector h represents the magnetic field intensity measured in a / m . two additional vectors p representing the polarisation of a dielectric medium and m representing the magnetisation of a magnetic medium allow the definition of an electric flux density vector d = e o e + p measured in c / m 2 , and a magnetic flux density vector b = m o ( h + m ) measured in wb / m 2 . in the below statements , the term circulation refers to the integral with respect to distance around a stated closed path of the scalar product between a named field vector and a vector element of distance around that path , while the term flux refers to the integral with respect to area over a stated area of the scalar product between a named field vector and a vector element of that area . in terms of that terminology and the four vectors e , h , d and b the four fundamental laws are : ( 1 ) faraday &# 39 ; s law : the circulation of the electric field vector e around a closed contour is equal to minus the time rate of change of magnetic flux through a surface bounded by that contour , the positive direction of the surface being related to the positive direction of the contour by the right hand rule . ( 2 ) ampere &# 39 ; s law as modified by maxwell : the circulation of the magnetic field vector h around a closed contour is equal to the sum of the conduction current and the displacement current passing through a surface bounded by that contour , with again the right hand rule relating the senses of the contour and the surface . ( 3 ) gauss &# 39 ; law for electric flux : the total electric flux ( defined in terms of the d vector ) emerging from a closed surface is equal to the total conduction charge contained within the volume bounded by that surface . ( 4 ) gauss &# 39 ; law for magnetic flux : the total magnetic flux ( defined in terms of the b vector ) emerging from any closed surface is zero . another important principle , in fact derivable from the fundamental principles above and which underlies the material to follow , is that when electromagnetic fields are oscillating and at a sufficiently high frequency they do not penetrate to any significant distance into the interior of a sufficiently good conductor , as for example a metallic conductor . a further principle , again derivable from the fundamentals , is that the tangential component of the electric field intensity e at an metallic conductor is zero . yet another principle , again derivable from the fundamentals , is that the tangential component of the magnetic field vector h at a metal surface can be non - zero , but if so it is accompanied by a surface current density j equal in magnitude to the tangential component of h but orthogonal to it in direction . the interplay of these principles is illustrated in fig4 which shows an interrogator antenna 9 generating an interrogator magnetic field , represented by dashed lines , beneath a metallic plate 13 , on the underside of which is flowing a surface current density directed into the plane of the diagram and represented by circles containing crosses . in the light of the principles listed above it may be seen that the role of the surface current is to extinguish the magnetic field h inside the metallic plate 13 from the value that would be present at that location if the metallic plate 13 had been absent . it is notable in the diagram of fig4 that the interrogator antenna 9 produces a magnetic field which is tangential to the lower side of the metallic plate 13 , and surface currents flow on the metallic plate 13 in the direction into the page . the circulation of the magnetic field around the contour 13 a shown as the dashed line clearly has a non - zero value because of the discontinuity between the tangential components of magnetic field inside and outside of the magnetic plate 13 . in view of the principle that the tangential component of electric field and hence electric flux density will be zero at the metallic plate surface , the surface conduction current density is required to satisfy the principle which was labelled above as ampere &# 39 ; s law as modified by maxwell . the extinguishment of the magnetic field within and in the region above the metallic plate 13 will ensure that a label receiving antenna coil 12 placed above the metallic plate 13 receives no excitation . in fig5 , the diagram of fig4 has been modified to introduce a surface current density 13 b on the upper surface of the metallic plate 13 , directed out of the plane of the diagram and represented by circles containing dots , and also by moving the contour 13 a shown in fig4 upwards so that it now encloses those surface currents , which have by means to be discussed below been created on the top side of the metallic plate 13 . if the principle labelled above as ampere &# 39 ; s law is again applied as modified by maxwell , it may be seen that the role of the surface currents on the top side of the metallic plate 13 is to establish a magnetic field 13 c in a horizontal direction just above that surface , and in a position to excite the electronic label coil 12 positioned in that region and with the orientation shown . thus the role of that upper surface current may be seen as that of establishing that magnetic field . for convenience in the later discussion , the term magnetic flux which excites a coil will be used to denote , in the case of a coil with a non - magnetic core , the amount of magnetic flux , other than flux which is created by any current in the coil itself , linking that coil , and in the case of a coil with a magnetic core , the amount of magnetic flux , other than flux which is created by any current in the coil itself , which would link that coil in the absence of that magnetic core . with this terminology , it is clear that substantially none of the flux which excites the label coil 12 in fig5 also links the coil in the interrogator antenna 9 in that figure . the present invention may establish a surface current on the upper side of the metallic plate , on the lower side of which a surface current has been induced as a result of the creation in its vicinity of a magnetic field by an interrogator antenna . one method by which this may be done is shown in fig6 a . in this figure an aperture which may preferably be in the form of a slot 16 which can be short in the horizontal direction but long in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing has been provided in the metallic plate 13 . those currents on the under side of the metallic plate 13 which encounter the slot 16 flow through it and then along its upper surface . in fig6 b an alternative method of creation of upper surface currents is shown . if the underside surface currents are created within a region sufficiently close to the end of the metallic plate 13 they will in encountering that end flow around it and will then flow in the opposite direction on the upper surface . a further development of this principle is shown in fig6 c wherein the currents on the underside of the surface of the metallic plate 13 are shown as rounding the end and then following the contour of a thickened metallic section 18 and channel 19 within which the ferromagnetic rod 17 of a label receiving antenna 5 may be placed . the surface currents on the three sides of the channel 19 adjacent to the ferromagnetic rod 17 of the label receiving antenna 5 , in view of the principle labelled as ampere &# 39 ; s law as modified by maxwell , can be said to cause a magnetic field along the axis of the ferromagnetic rod 17 , ie . directly into the page , and so provide excitation for the label 4 . in this implementation the length of the channel 19 in the direction perpendicular to the page should be significantly greater than the length of the ferromagnetic rod 17 used in the label receiving antenna 5 in that direction so that the flux emerging from the ends of the ferromagnetic rod 17 is not inhibited in completing its necessarily closed path through encountering too soon a metallic conductor whose face is perpendicular to the desired flux path . according to another aspect of the invention the label receiving antenna 5 takes the form of a coil 12 on a ferromagnetic rod 17 placed in the channel 19 whose axis is orthogonal to the direction of currents induced on the top side of the metallic plate 13 which has an interrogator antenna 9 below the metallic plate 13 , the extent of the channel 19 in the axial direction being significantly greater than the length of the ferromagnetic rod 17 of the label receiving antenna 5 . in another aspect of the present invention , shown in fig6 d it is made clear that the direction of the currents on the upper surface of the metallic object need not be the same as or opposite to the direction of the currents on the lower surface . in fig6 d is shown a metal plate 13 , in which the top section is the folding back of the bottom section , and in which the top section has been furnished with a number of right angled shaped slits 20 to redirect the currents which were initially leftward into an orthogonal direction . the associated magnetic field induced by these currents will be everywhere orthogonal to them , and will in consequence change direction with the results that there is a region , wherein if an electronic label 4 is to be placed for maximum coupling , that label 4 should be rotated from the direction it should have if the slits 20 were not present . as outlined in the disclosures referred to almost all electronic labelling systems employ a resonant circuit within the label 4 to enhance electromagnetic coupling . it is important that electronic labels designed for operation in close proximity to metallic conductors should have their resonant frequencies adjusted for their intended environment and not for the case when the labels are in a free air environment . in the standard design of airline pallet 14 , the edges of the metallic plate 13 are made in the form of an extruded section 18 , the cross section of which is shown in fig7 a , into the upper surface of which is machined the series of round holes 21 shown in fig7 b . a simple installation of the label 4 as well as automatic locking in position of and protection against damage to the label 4 may be achieved by shaping the label 4 as shown in that figure . a feature of the label 4 shown here is that it contains a long thin ferromagnetic rod 17 which couples well to magnetic fields in the horizontal direction . another feature is that the label 4 contains round locating lugs 22 which anchor it well within the machined slot 23 shown in plan view in fig7 b and in cross section view in fig7 a with which airline pallet edges are furnished for the purpose of facilitating locking down of the pallet 14 in flight . yet another feature is the installation at appropriate points on the electronic label 4 of plastic barbs 24 which allow the label 4 , in a simple installation operation , to be pressed in to the slot 23 until the barbs 24 expand into the channel 25 below the upper surface of the metal , and lock the label 4 into place . this design represents a further illustration of the mechanism for transferring current from the bottom side of the metallic plate 13 to its top side , such current being induced on the bottom side by the magnetic field of an interrogator antenna 9 in a direction towards an edge , so that the current on encountering that edge travels up it and back along the top side of the metallic plate 13 . the current having reached the top side of the metallic plate 13 can if required take a further change in direction shown in fig8 a . here the label 4 is placed not on the top side of the metallic plate 13 but on the vertical section of the metallic structure 26 which is constructed above the top side of the metallic plate 13 . the currents once reaching the top side of the metallic plate 13 can travel vertically upwards on the metallic structure 26 which acts as a conductor and induce magnetic fields which interact with the label 4 . in the system illustrated in fig8 a the rollers 15 on which the pallet 14 travels can be made with non - conducting surfaces so that current on the underside of the metallic plate 13 is not interrupted and so that there is thus an expanded range of pallet positions in relation to the rollers 15 at which label reading occurs . it may be noted that although in lumped circuit theory conduction current flows in closed paths , it is not necessary to provide a return path for the conduction current which creates the magnetic field which excites the label 4 . to explain this , fig8 b has been constructed to show as well as those things present in fig8 a the directions of the associated magnetic field lines associated with the surface currents on the object being identified . it can be seen from this figure that the time varying magnetic flux associated with those magnetic field lines , shown adjacent to and orthogonal to the surface currents in the region of the label 4 , will as a consequence of the fundamental principle named above as faraday &# 39 ; s law induce a net potential around the dotted contour shown . as there can be no electric field within the horizontal metal base or the vertical metal body of the pallet 14 , there will be an electric field roughly along the portions of that contour which are in air , and that electric field will terminate on oscillating surface electric charges shown in the figure as + and − signs on the metal . the oscillating surface change density will be supplied by the oscillating surface current , and will be responsible for a diminution in the amplitude of the oscillating surface current with distance from its source of excitation . the displacement current density associated with the above mentioned electric field provides a return path for the surface conduction current . it can be said that in the case of very long objects these surface charges play a part in establishing the coupling from the interrogator antenna 9 to the label receiving antenna 5 . it should be made clear that in this invention only a negligible proportion , if indeed there are any at all , of the flux lines which link the label antenna coil 12 are the same flux lines which link the interrogator antenna coil 27 , which may be in the form of a solenoid 10 . this fact that can be appreciated by studying fig5 in relation to fig2 . in fig2 we show flux lines which can link an interrogator antenna 9 and a label antenna coil 12 when the object being labelled is not present . these may be contrasted with the magnetic field , and hence , in air , the magnetic flux lines in the presence of the metallic plate 13 separating the interrogator antenna 9 and label antenna coil 12 shown in fig5 . another situation where electronic labels must be operated in proximity with metal is illustrated in fig9 a to 9d . here a label 4 is intended to identify an element of a drilling string 27 in use in the oil industry and for that purpose the solid metal coupling 28 of the drill string 27 shown in fig9 a has as shown in fig9 b and 9c had a round hole of diameter d and depth d bored into its surface , and at the bottom of that hole an electronic label 4 excited by a label receiving antenna 5 in the form of a coil 12 wound on a ferromagnetic core 29 has been placed . both for mechanical protection of the label 4 and because the metal coupling 28 of the drill string 27 into which the hole has been bored shows considerable wear in service , the depth of the hole is considerable , perhaps 25 mm . in this kind of application , because of the presence of water and mud on the outer surface of the coupling 28 between different sections of the drill string 27 , microwave frequencies which might propagate down the hole just described cannot be used without excessive attenuation of the electromagnetic fields being caused by the named fluids , and frequencies in the lf to vhf region are more likely to be used . although the magnetic field of such frequencies will create surface currents which will to an extent flow down the hole and support magnetic fields within the hole , it may be seen from regarding the hole as a circular and / or rectangular waveguide operating far below its cut off frequency , that such currents and fields will receive substantial attenuation at depth within the hole . the field and current lines shown in fig9 c are intended to echo this fact . according to an aspect of the present invention a solution to this problem is shown in fig9 d and 9e . while the electronic label 4 and its ferromagnetic core 29 remain at the bottom of the hole , magnetic flux is encouraged to enter the hole by the installation of ferromagnetic legs 30 shown in fig9 d which extend from the ferromagnetic core 29 of the label antenna coil 12 upwards to meet the surface of the coupling 28 . although only a small magnetic field h is made to enter the hole , the corresponding magnetic flux density in the ferromagnetic section will be considerably greater than the value it would have if the ferromagnetic legs 30 were not present . the result is an enhancement of both the magnetic field h and magnetic flux density b in the horizontal section of the label receiving antenna 5 , with a corresponding enhancement in the wall currents at the bottom of the hole which accompany the enhanced tangential value of the magnetic field . as has been mentioned before , coupling to the label 4 is enhanced through the use of a resonant circuit within the label 4 and involving the label receiving antenna 5 . in this case the resonant frequency is naturally dependent upon the inductance of the label receiving antenna 5 which in turn depends upon the length of the ferromagnetic legs 30 extending upwards to the surface of the coupling . because of the previously mentioned in - service wear of the coupling 28 the length of those legs 30 , which are subject to wear at the same time as the surface of the coupling 28 itself is subject to wear , diminishes in service . in consequence it is appropriate to position the resonant frequency , before wear takes place , of the label receiving antenna 5 to be somewhat below the frequency of the interrogation signal so that as the wear takes place and the legs are shortened and the resonant frequency of the label receiving antenna 5 rises , the coupling 28 will be first enhanced as the resonant frequency moves towards synchronism with the interrogation frequency and then will diminish again as further wear brings the resonant frequency of the label receiving antenna 5 to the high side of the interrogation frequency . in this way an optimum variation of strength of coupling 28 with respect to in - service wear may be achieved , and the sensitivity of the label 4 optimised over its service life . in another aspect of the invention steps may be taken to preserve as far as possible the continued passage of magnetic field and wall current down the hole without that current suffering diminution through the need to provide a surface charge density on the walls to support an electric flux density which will flow from one wall to another in the space between the ferromagnetic legs as a consequence of faraday &# 39 ; s law and the existence of a changing magnetic flux within those legs . to minimise the electric flux passing between the walls while still providing protection for the tag circuit , the space within the hole not occupied by the tag circuit or ferromagnetic legs may be filled with a strong dielectric material of low dielectric constant , perhaps of a honeycomb structure . yet another embodiment of the present invention , suitable for use when the interrogation frequencies are much higher than those which are appropriate for use with the structures discussed up to the present point , is shown in fig1 a and 10b . this embodiment is also suitable for use with metallic airline pallet plate 13 and can make use of some aspects of the slotted extrusion 18 , already shown in fig7 a used in the construction of the edges of such pallets 14 . in this embodiment the label 4 is shaped externally roughly as shown in fig1 a and is fitted within the airline pallet 14 in a way illustrated in fig1 b . in this embodiment the label circuit 31 is in the upper section of the structure shown in fig1 a . that section is given protection by installing it within the slotted section 23 of the edge of the pallet 14 , the form of which has been shown in fig7 a and 7b . the label circuit 31 communicates with electromagnetic fields below the pallet 14 and surface currents on the under side of the pallet 14 via a hollow rectangular metal tube 32 which as shown in fig1 b passes through a rectangular slot 33 machined into the edge extrusion 18 of the pallet 14 . the rectangular metal tube 32 may connect with the machined slot 33 in the pallet 14 or may be separated therefrom by a thin dielectric layer 34 . the rectangular metal tube 32 may be open at the top and may have the electronic label circuit 31 connected between two opposite faces of the rectangular tube 32 or may be closed at the top with the label connected between opposite faces 35 at a point some distance from the closed end . the diagram shows the distribution of current in the base of the pallet 14 as a result of its illumination by an electromagnetic field . that current may directly enter the inside of the rectangular metallic tube 32 if a connection is made at is lower end , or may reach the outer surface of the rectangular metallic tube 32 via the capacitance across the thin dielectric layer 34 , or may reach the outside of the rectangular metallic tube 32 as a displacement current distributed over its length , so as to create on the outside of the rectangular metallic tube 32 a downward surface conduction current which eventually enters the interior of the rectangular metallic tube 32 . the rectangular metallic tube 32 may be filled with dielectric material 36 both for the protection of the label circuit 31 and for enhancement of electromagnetic propagation . the rectangular metallic tube 32 may act at the frequency of interrogation as a waveguide either above or below its cut off frequency . provided the distance between the aperture at the bottom of the rectangular metallic tube 32 and the location of the label circuit 31 is sufficiently short , the rectangular metallic tube 32 can act as an impedance transformer whether or not the electromagnetic field modes within it are evanescent or propagating , and can transform the impedance of the electronic label circuit 31 , either in the situation when the rectangular magnetic tube 32 outer wall contacts the rectangular slot 33 in the underside of the pallet 14 or in the situation when it does not , to accomplish a conjugate impedance match between the label impedance and the radiation impedance of the aperture as seen from the connection point to the label circuit 31 . as frictional contacts at microwave frequencies can be unreliable , the absence of contact between the rectangular metallic tube and the slot in the underside of the pallet 14 is the preferred mode of operation . of course the use of a rectangular tube is a matter of convenience in description , and other shapes permitting electromagnetic fields in their interiors may be employed . it will be appreciated that various alterations , modifications and / or additions may be introduced into the constructions and arrangements of parts previously described without departing from the spirit or ambit of the present invention . | 6 |
fig1 is a diagrammatic representation of a present invention drive train having a twin - clutch transmission 100 . in fig1 , drive train 100 is in a great range of known structures of a twin - clutch transmission . of course the starting control according to the theory of the invention is applicable for all twin - clutch transmissions having two gear sets on each transmission input shaft and therefore this exemplary embodiment must not in any way be considered as limiting the invention . via a driving engine , a shaft 101 is driven that is connected to housing 111 of a clutch assembly 110 designed as a twin clutch . clutch housing 111 may be connected to a first clutch plate 112 and / or a second clutch plate 113 . both clutch plates 112 , 113 may contain devices for vibration damping 114 , 115 . the two friction clutches are advantageously independent of each other via the actuator system 150 , which may be configured electrically with an electric motor that acts on the disengagement mechanics directly or via a transmission , a piezoelectric element or the like , electrohydraulically via a master / slave cylinder system having an electric motor that acts on the master cylinder , or pneumatically . the actuator system 150 is controlled as a function of the operating situation of the motor vehicle by the controller 160 , in which the corresponding characteristics and information about the operation of the friction clutches are stored and / or which has communication links to other controllers in order to query the corresponding information and to evaluate it for the control process . in particular , the data for the starting out operation of the motor vehicle are processed in controller 160 . with first clutch plate 112 , a first transmission input shaft 102 is drivable that drives a first countershaft 104 via gear pair 120 that is formed of gear wheels 120 a and 120 b . first countershaft 104 carries idler gears 121 a , 122 a and 123 a of the gear pairs 121 , 122 and 123 , which form gears 1 , 3 and 5 ( not shown ). gear 1 in this context is understood to be a starting gear having the corresponding starting gear ratio . the idler gear 121 a , 122 a and 123 a may be rotationally fixedly connected via manual clutches 143 and 144 to the countershaft 104 . a second transmission input shaft 103 may be driven via the second clutch plate 113 and drives a second countershaft 105 via gear pair 130 , which is formed by gear wheels 130 a and 130 b . second countershaft 105 carries gear wheels 131 a and 132 a and idler gear 133 a of gear pairs 131 , 132 and 133 , which form gears 2 , 4 and 6 ( not shown ). in this context , gear 2 , having a greater ratio than gear 1 , must be considered the starting gear of transmission input shaft 103 . gear wheels 131 a and 132 a are rotationally fixedly connectable to countershaft 105 ; idler gear 133 a is connectable to it via a shift clutch 142 . idler gears 131 b and 132 b of gears 2 and 4 and gear wheels 121 b , 122 b , 123 b and 133 b of gears 1 , 3 , 5 and 6 are disposed on output shaft 106 , gear wheels 121 b , 122 b , 123 b and 133 b being rotationally fixedly connected to output shaft 106 , and idler gears 131 b and 132 b being rotationally fixedly connectable to it via a shift clutch 141 . moreover , a shift clutch 140 is present for connection of second input shaft 103 to first countershaft 104 or , respectively , first input shaft 102 to second countershaft 105 . shift clutches 141 , 142 , 143 and 144 each connect idler gears 121 a , 131 b , 122 a , 132 b , 123 a and 133 a to shafts 104 , 105 or 106 via a sliding sleeve and a coupling part that is rotationally fixedly connected to the shaft . shift clutch 140 connects gear wheel 120 a to idler gear 131 b via a sliding sleeve . shift clutches 140 , 141 , 142 , 143 and 144 may contain elements for the speed synchronization . shift clutches 140 , 141 , 142 , 143 and 144 are automatically actuated via transmission actuators 170 , which , as shown in the example of shift clutch 140 , electrically , hydraulically or pneumatically displace the sliding sleeves of the shift clutches . fig2 illustrates a flow chart for using the invention in the transmission represented in fig1 . the following should be viewed in light of fig1 and 2 . according to the invention , starting out is preferably accomplished in such a manner that gear 1 is engaged by connecting idler gear 121 a via shift clutch 143 to countershaft 104 and gear 2 by connecting the idler gear 131 b via the shift clutch 141 to output shaft 106 , and , by slipping operation of the two clutch plates 112 , 113 , torque is transmitted by crankshaft 101 via transmission input shafts 102 , 103 , countershafts 104 , 105 and engaged gears 1 and 2 to the transmission output shaft and from there to the driving wheels . according to the flow chart of fig2 , a decision is made about how the starting out operation proceeds . alternatively , when the starting out situation in a predefined gear is clear , if the incline conditions of the road and the load conditions are clear or if so desired by the driver , it is possible to start out as follows : to start out in first gear , idler gear 121 is rotationally fixedly connected via shift clutch 143 to countershaft 104 , shift clutch 144 being disengaged and drive shaft 101 being connected to first input shaft 102 via first clutch plate 112 of clutch assembly 110 . for an upshift into 2 nd gear , idler gear 131 b is rotationally fixedly connected via shift clutch 141 to output shaft 106 , shift clutch 142 being disengaged , drive shaft 101 being separated from first input shaft 102 by release of first clutch plate 112 from clutch housing 111 and drive shaft 101 being connected to second input shaft 103 via second clutch 113 . also , in all other upshifts and downshifts , the procedure is such that the flow of torque is diverted from one countershaft to the other , the corresponding shift clutches being engaged or disengaged . fig2 shows a flow chart having a starting routine 200 of a first phase of a starting out operation that is run repeatedly until decision signal e , which in starting block 201 is set to false , contains the value true . in block 201 a check is made of whether acceleration { dot over ( ω )}( ge 1 ), that is , the speed change over time , of a transmission shaft — in this case transmission shaft ge 1 having the lower starting gear ratio — is greater than acceleration { dot over ( ω )}( m ) of the engine or the crankshaft and acceleration { dot over ( ω )}( f ) of the vehicle is greater than zero , it being possible to determine the acceleration of the vehicle via speed gradients of one or more wheel speed sensors in order to do without an acceleration sensor . in this context , a check is made of whether the vehicle has begun operation , according to which both starting gears have been engaged and clutches k 1 and k 2 in slipping operation begin to engage . if one of the two conditions is not satisfied , starting routine 200 will run again . if both conditions and one of the following conditions is also satisfied , starting routine 200 is continued in block 203 , which means that a decision is posed : starting out time t 1 is greater than a prescribed maximum starting out time kt 1 , it being possible for kt 1 to be an empirical value formed from the vehicle empty weight , the position of the load demand device when applicable and other parameters and whereupon the cases of a decision at too early a time are prevented , or t 2 ( k 1 )=( n ( m )− n ( ge 1 ))/{ dot over ( ω )}( ge 1 ) until reaching a prescribed , low , preferably negligible speed difference between a reference engine speed n ( m ) and speed n ( ge 1 ) of transmission input shaft ge 1 is smaller than a prescribed time threshold kt 2 ( e . g . 100 - 500 ms , preferably approx . 250 ms ), which is a function of the position of the load demand device , it being possible to determine the speed of the transmission input speed and its derivation after time { dot over ( ω )}( ge 1 ) from the information of one or more wheel speed sensors in conjunction with the gear ratio engaged in the transmission and a decision being initiated before a synchronization speed between the crankshaft and transmission input shaft ge 1 has occurred , or an energy value e ( k 1 , k 2 ) input in clutches k 1 , k 2 is greater than a prescribed energy value ke , which may be set constant or be set as a function of the position of the load demand device , or a clutch temperature value temp ( k 1 , k 2 ) determined via a temperature sensor or a model calculation and affecting one or both clutches k 1 , k 2 is greater than a prescribed clutch temperature value ktemp . or acceleration { dot over ( ω )}( f ) of the vehicle is greater than a prescribed limit acceleration k { dot over ( ω )}( f ), which may correspond , for example , to the acceleration of the vehicle with partial or full load and / or may correspond to the driving resistance at a prescribed inclination . in block 203 , a decision is made that , at an energy input e ( k 1 ) in clutch k 1 greater than a prescribed threshold value ke ( k 1 ) or at a clutch temperature temp ( k 1 ) of clutch k 1 above a prescribed temperature threshold value ktemp ( k 1 ), decision signal e is set to true , and the decision is made to start off with the greater gear ratio of transmission input shaft ge 2 , which is signaled by setting the gear signal g 1 = false in block 204 , and clutch k 1 separates transmission input shaft ge 1 having the lower starting gear ratio from the motor . if neither energy input e ( k 1 ) on clutch k 1 is greater than threshold value ke ( k 1 ) nor clutch temperature temp ( k 1 ) of clutch k 1 greater than threshold value ktemp ( k 1 ), the characteristics of clutch k 2 are checked in block 205 . if in clutch k 2 an energy input e ( k 2 ) greater than a prescribed threshold value ke ( k 2 ) is entered or if clutch temperature ktemp ( k 2 ) is greater than prescribed threshold value ktemp , in block 206 the shift signal g 1 and the decision signal are each set to true , which means that operation of the vehicle is continued after the decision phase in the lower gear , which means with the lower starting gear ratio , and clutch k 2 is disengaged . if energy input e ( k 2 ) and clutch temperature temp ( k 2 ) are less than the corresponding threshold values ke ( k 2 ), ktemp ( k 2 ), the decision is made regarding the appropriate starting gear ratio in block 207 . if time t 1 , which was previously explained in greater detail , is less than the defined threshold value kt 1 and one of the following conditions is satisfied , for a greater time , none of the conditions apply , the vehicle starts out at a lower starting gear ratio , decision signal e and gear signal g 1 being set accordingly in blocks 204 , 206 : time t 3 ( k 2 ) as per the equation t 3 ( k 2 )=( n ( m )− n ( ge ))/{ dot over ( ω )}( ge 2 ), at which for a prescribed acceleration of the transmission input shaft 6 ) ( ge 2 ), which , like the acceleration of transmission input shaft ge 1 , may be determined from information of the wheel speeds , speed equivalency is practically achieved between the engine reference speed n ( m ) and the speed of the transmission input shaft ge 2 having the greater starting gear ratio is less than a threshold value kt 3 or the acceleration { dot over ( ω )}( f ) of the vehicle is greater than a prescribed limit acceleration k { dot over ( ω )}( f ), which may correspond , for example , to the acceleration of the vehicle having a partial or full load and / or may correspond to the driving resistance at a prescribed inclination . as soon as the decision is made by setting the decision signal e , the first phase is terminated and corresponding to the set gear signal one of clutches k 1 , k 2 is disengaged and the starting out operation is continued in the second phase with the other clutch . fig3 shows a diagram having torque characteristics m and associated speeds n in time sequence t of a starting out operation . in this context curve 301 shows the maximum computer - calculated torque m ( t ) transmissible via clutch k 1 that is assigned to the transmission input shaft gs 1 having the lower starting gear ratio and is at least a function of the slipping speed between crankshaft and transmission input shaft ge 1 , the actuator speed with which clutch k 1 may be actuated , the position of the load demand device and an acceleration determined in real time of transmission input shaft ge 1 . in this way it is possible using torque m ( t ) to provide a dimension for this , which clutch torque may be transmitted via a clutch actuation system having an adjustment speed adapted for the system when there is a progression of the coupling operation of clutch k 1 in phase 1 in which there is a starting out operation with both clutches k 1 , k 2 in order to start out with clutch k 2 when there is a decision and in the process still be able to disengage clutch k 1 without clutch k 1 already being located in the gripping phase ( negligible slip between crankshaft and transmission input shaft ge 1 ) within the time of the decision phase that still remains ( phase 1 ). total clutch torque m ( g ) in curve 302 is essentially composed of the two clutch torque values m ( k 1 ), m ( k 2 ) of clutch k 1 ( curve 303 ) and clutch k 2 ( curve 304 ) added together and is advantageously controlled in such a manner that after the vibration it corresponds to the engine torque m ( m ) ( curve 305 ). at the beginning of the starting out operation at t = 0 , by operating the load demand device , which may be an accelerator pedal , gas pedal or the like , the speed n ( m ) of the engine ( curve 306 ) increases and as a result of the immediate start of the clutch engagement operation of clutches k 1 , k 2 , speeds n ( ge 1 ), n ( ge 2 ) of transmission input shaft ge 1 having the lower starting gear ratio ( curve 307 ) and transmission input shaft ge 2 ( curve 308 ) are also increased . the different speeds n ( ge 1 ), n ( ge 2 ) result from the different gear ratios of the engaged gear steps and are compensated by different slip speeds of clutches k 1 , k 2 . during phase 1 , a decision at instant t ( e ) is made to start out in the lower starting gear ratio of transmission input shaft ge 1 . clutch k 2 is disengaged and torque m ( k 2 ) is reduced while the torque m ( k 1 ) is increased . at least one of the criteria described under fig2 is considered as a decision criterion , it being possible to select constant kt 2 in such a manner that a decision falls within the time range in which the two torques m ( t ), m ( k 1 ) are essentially equal . time t between the beginning of the starting operation t = 0 and decision t ( e ) is a function of vehicle , load and incline , values between 0 . 5 and 10 seconds having shown themselves to be approximate guideline values . fig4 shows a diagram corresponding to fig3 in which a decision in favor of starting out in the greater starting gear ratio is made . the corresponding curve designations were increased by 10 compared to fig3 and in all other respects correspond to them . due to the low load and / or driving under road inclination conditions that are reduced in terms of the load resistance ( slight incline , level , downgrades ), the vehicle accelerates very rapidly , so that the corresponding parameters described under fig2 ( short acceleration times of the vehicle , low energy inputs in the clutch , low heating of the clutches ) very quickly leads to a decision in favor of the higher starting gear ratio so that phase 1 ends up being correspondingly short and phase 2 until speed equivalency of transmission input shaft ge 2 and the crankshaft ends up being longer . | 1 |
example embodiments of the present disclosure will be explained in detail based on the provided drawings . however , it should be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein are exemplary , and that nothing should preclude additional embodiments from being considered within the scope of the attached claims . fig1 to 3 are cross - sectional views schematically showing a structure of an axial gap - type electrical motor in accordance with a first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure . a stator 1 of an axial gap - type electrical motor 11 comprises a stator core 2 , a stator iron core 5 and an armature winding 7 . the stator core 2 formed of electromagnetic materials has a circular ring shape and an outer periphery of the stator core 2 is supported by and fixed to a motor case 8 . further , a center hole 3 is formed in a center portion of the stator core 2 to receive an output shaft 4 . the output shaft 4 is rotatably supported at a bearing installed in the center hole 3 . the stator core 2 , includes several stator iron cores 5 which are disposed at an equal distance from each other and arranged to correspond to the circumference of the stator core 2 . each stator iron core 5 may be formed by stacking steel plates , and protrudes from the stator core 2 in the axial direction substantially parallel to an axis 0 of the output shaft 4 . each stator iron core may also include a leading end 5 s facing the rotor 6 , and armature windings 7 may be wound around each stator iron core 5 between the stator core 2 and the leading end 5 s . as shown , leading end 5 s has a height larger than that of the stator core 2 so that the armature windings may be retained between the leading end 5 s and the stator core 2 . the rotor 6 may have a disk shape and may include several permanent magnets 10 on the surface of the rotor 6 facing stator core 2 . each of the permanent magnets may be disposed at an equal circumferential distance from each other in locations corresponding to each of the stator iron cores 5 and are may further be arranged to correspond to the circumference of the rotor 6 . the rotor 6 and the leading end 5 s of the stator iron winding are shown spaced apart via an air gap 9 . a back yoke 12 is shown embedded at an inner portion of the rotor 6 and coupled to the permanent magnet 10 . the permanent magnet 10 may be magnetized along the direction of the axis 0 and the back yoke 12 may form a magnetic circuit along which a magnetic field may flow . an alternating current may flow through the armature winding 7 which generates an electromagnetic force between the stator 1 and the rotor 6 , causing the permanent magnet 10 to rotate the rotor 6 so that the axial gap - type motor 11 functions as a synchronous motor . the output shaft 4 passes through a center of the rotor 6 and may engage the rotor 6 through a spline engagement so that the output shaft 4 and rotor 6 rotate about axis 0 together . at a position along the output shaft 4 corresponding generally to the stator iron cores 5 , a ring - shaped radial protrusion 4 d may extend from an outer peripheral surface of the output shaft 4 . the radial protrusion 4 d may have an end surface 4 t substantially perpendicular to the axis 0 facing the rotor 6 . as shown , the end surface 4 t includes a recess 4 r such that a ring - shaped stopper 13 may be installed there within . as shown in fig1 , the stopper 13 includes a contact surface where the front surface of the rotor 6 contacts the stopper 13 . the contact surface includes a straight surface 17 a extending substantially perpendicular to the axis 0 and a linear tapered surface 17 b protruding from the end surface 4 t downward toward the output shaft 4 until it meets the straight surface 17 a , and outward in the direction of the axis 0 toward the rotor 6 . while contact surface ( 17 a and 17 b ) is shown as a combination of straight surface 17 a and tapered surface 17 b , the relative proportions of straight surface 17 a and tapered surface 17 b may be varied . additionally , contact surfaces entirely straight ( e . g ., 17 a ) or entirely tapered ( e . g ., 17 b ) should be considered within the scope of the present disclosure and attached claims . in selected embodiments , stopper 13 may be formed of light metal characterized by a low young &# 39 ; s modulus ( for a metal ) or a hard rubber or resin characterized by a high young &# 39 ; s modulus ( for rubbers and resins ), the stopper 13 may be configured to slightly deform if rotor 6 is thrust thereupon along axis 0 . such thrusting ( and deformation of stopper 13 ) may change the surface area of the contact surface ( 17 a and 17 b ) contacting the rotor 6 . around the output shaft on the side of the rotor 6 opposite the stopper 13 , a ring - shaped collar 14 , a crown washer 15 and a lock nut 16 may be threaded upon output shaft 4 so as not to be loosened along the direction of the axis 0 . the collar 14 may prevent the rotor 6 from being removed from the output shaft 4 in a direction away from the radial protrusion 4 d . thus , output shaft 4 , stopper 13 , rotor 6 , stator 1 , collar 14 , washer 15 and lock nut 16 interactively operate to constitute a mechanism for changing the contact area ( i . e ., contact surfaces 17 a and 17 b ) between rotor and protrusion 4 d of output shaft 4 . next , a function of the axial gap - type electrical motor 11 will be explained . while the electromagnetic force is generated between the stator 1 and the rotor 6 by the magnetic circuit causing the rotor to rotate , an attraction force is generated between the stator 1 and the rotor 6 . because the stator 1 and the radial protrusion 4 d face the same surface of the rotor 6 , the attraction force , which becomes a magnitude of the electromagnetic force in the direction of the axis 0 , may exert a thrust on the stopper 13 between the radial protrusion 4 d and the rotor 6 . when the attraction force is low and , and thereby the thrust of the direction of the axis 0 upon the stopper 13 is low , because the stopper 13 is hardly deformed , a radius of the contact surface of the stopper 13 and the rotor 6 may be r 1 , as shown in fig1 . however , when the attraction force is greater than the value shown in fig1 , the component of the electromagnetic force indicated by a thin arrow f 2 in fig2 may pull the rotor 6 closer to protrusion 4 d than in fig1 . by doing so , because the stopper 13 may be deformed by the thrust , the length of the linear taper is decreased and the radius of the contact area of the contact surface of the stopper 13 may also be increased . the radius of the contact area at this time becomes r 2 , as shown in fig2 , where r 1 & lt ; r 2 . when the attraction force is greater than the value shown in fig2 , the component of the electromagnetic force indicated by a thick arrow f 3 in fig3 pulls the rotor 6 closer to protrusion 4 d than in fig2 . by doing so , because the stopper 13 is further deformed by the thrust , the linear taper disappears and the radius of the contact surface of the stopper 13 and the rotor 5 becomes r 3 , as shown in fig3 , where r 1 & lt ; r 2 & lt ; r 3 . in such a case , the end surface 4 t of the radial protrusion 4 d contacts the rotor 6 , thereby continuing the contact surface of stopper 13 . because the end surface 4 t and the rotor 6 are made of steels having the young &# 39 ; s modulus higher than the stopper 13 , the rigidity of the support of the rotor 6 provided by the radial protrusion 4 d is maximized . the radius of the contact surface of the output shaft 4 and the rotor 6 may continuously change from r 1 to r 2 to r 3 by the magnitude of the electromagnetic force in the direction of the axis 0 . this changes the characteristic frequency wherein the rotor 6 is resonated by the surface vibration . if the attraction force is decreased from the state shown in fig3 , then the radius of the contact surface is decreased from r 3 and may be returned to r 1 or r 2 as shown in fig1 and 2 . fig4 ( a ) is a graph showing a relationship between amplitude of the surface vibration of the rotor 6 and a rotational speed of the output shaft 4 in accordance with the rotor 6 . when the radius of the contact surface is r 1 , the characteristic frequency wherein the amplitude of the surface vibration is maximized ( i . e ., the “ resonant ” frequency of rotor 6 and output shaft 4 ) may be fr 1 . that is , when the rotational speed of the rotor 6 is at fr 1 , the rotor 6 may be at the point of maximum natural vibration . because the characteristic frequency and the rotational speed of the rotor 6 are movements in a unit time , both are indicated in a horizontal axis of fig4 ( a ). however , when the radius of the contact surface is r 3 , which is greater than r 1 , the characteristic resonant frequency of the rotor 6 wherein the amplitude of the surface vibration of the rotor 6 is maximized becomes fr 3 , which is also greater than fr 1 . as the radius of the contact surface is increased , the contact area may be increased as well . accordingly , because the rigidity of the support of the rotor 6 provided by the radial protrusion 4 d is increased , the characteristic frequency may be similarly increased . because the radius of the contact surface is changed between r 1 and r 3 as indicated by the arrow in fig4 ( a ) corresponding to the magnitude of the attraction force , the characteristic frequency and the surface vibration of the rotor 6 may also be changed , thereby deviating from the rotational speed of the rotor 6 . for example , when the rotational speed of the rotor 6 is fr 1 , the attraction force may be small ( e . g ., as indicated by the small arrow in fig2 ) , causing the radius of the contact surface to be r 1 , thereby deviating the characteristic frequency of the rotor 6 from fr 3 . further , when the rotational speed of the rotor 6 is fr 3 , the attraction force may be large ( e . g ., as indicated by the small arrow in fig3 ), causing the radius of the contact surface to be r 3 , thereby deviating the characteristic frequency of the rotor from fr 1 . as a result , the resonant frequency ( e . g ., fr 1 , fr 3 ) may vary such that it is never the same as the present rotational frequency of rotor 6 . therefore it may be possible to construct an axial gap - type motor having no “ achievable ” surface vibration resonant frequency . the characteristic frequency of the rotor 6 shown in fig4 ( a ) may further be illustrated in the map provided in fig4 ( b ). a horizontal axis of fig4 ( b ) represents a diameter of an engagement portion wherein the radius of the contacting portion is doubled . further , a longitudinal axis is a resonance rotational speed of the rotor 6 , which is resonated by the surface vibration and equals to the characteristic frequency shown in fig4 ( a ). as shown in fig4 ( b ), when the diameter of the engagement portion is increased , the resonance rotational speed is increased . in the first exemplary embodiment , the resonance rotational speed of the rotor 6 is deviated from an actual rotational speed by changing the effective diameter of the engagement portion . by doing so , it may be possible to prevent the resonance of the surface vibration of the rotor 6 so that quiet operation is possible . fig5 to 7 are cross - sectional section views schematically showing a structure of an axial gap - type electrical motor 21 in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure . fig5 shows a state when the radius of the contact surface is small ( r 1 ). fig6 shows a state when the radius of the contact surface is greater than that shown in fig5 ( r 2 ). fig7 shows a state when the radius of the contact surface is greater than that shown in fig6 ( r 4 ). because the basic constitution of the second exemplary embodiment is similar to that of the first exemplary embodiment , similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals and explanations thereof are omitted herein . an axial gap - type electrical motor 21 in accordance with the second exemplary embodiment has a ring - shaped stopper 23 through which the output shaft 4 passes . although a material of the stopper 23 may be the same as the stopper 13 of the first exemplary embodiment , the contact surface of the stopper 23 may be constructed with a non - linear taper and may instead be formed as a convex arcuate taper . as such the convex arcuate taper of the stopper 23 may protrude toward the rotor 6 as an arcuate surface ( e . g ., a spherical or hyperbolic surface ) protruding from the end surface 4 t downward toward the output shaft 4 until it meets the outer peripheral surface of the output shaft 4 and outward toward the rotor 6 . thus , the stopper 23 may contact the front surface of the rotor 6 at the point the stopper 23 meets the output shaft 4 . as such , the movement of the rotor 6 along the direction of the axis 0 may be changed without rattling . moreover , the outer peripheral portion of the stopper 23 proximate to the wall 4 k of the recess of the radial protrusion 4 d may be located inward of the end surface 4 t with respect to the rotor 6 , as shown in fig5 . when the attraction force along the direction of the axis 0 to attract the stopper 23 towards the stator iron core 5 is small , a radius of a contact surface of the stopper 23 and the rotor 6 may be r 1 , as shown in fig5 from negligible deformation of the stopper 23 . when the attraction force ( i . e ., the electromagnetic force ) is greater than the value shown in fig5 , a magnitude of the electromagnetic force in the direction of the axis 0 indicated by a thin arrow in fig6 pulls the rotor 6 more closely to protrusion 4 d . by doing so , because the stopper 23 may be deformed by the thrust and the arcuate surface may therefore be reduced as well , the radius of the contact surface of the stopper 23 and the rotor 6 may be increased . thus , the radius may become r 2 , as shown in fig6 , wherein r 1 & lt ; r 2 . when the attraction force ( i . e ., the electromagnetic force ) is even greater than the value shown in fig6 , the magnitude of the electromagnetic force in the direction of the axis 0 indicated by a thick arrow in fig7 may pull the rotor 6 closer to protrusion 4 d than in fig6 . by doing so , because the stopper 23 may be further deformed by the thrust and the arcuate surface may therefore nearly disappear , the radius of the contact surface of the stopper 23 and the rotor 6 may be increased . thus , the radius may approach r 4 ( minus a small portion of the arcuate surface near the wall 4 k of the recess ) as shown in fig7 , where r 1 & lt ; r 2 & lt ; r 4 . in such a case , the end surface 4 t of the radial protrusion 4 d at the outer peripheral side compared to the stopper 23 contacts the rotor 6 . because the end surface 4 t and the rotor 6 have a higher young &# 39 ; s modulus and a higher rigidity than the stopper 23 , the rigidity of the support of the rotor may be maximized . fig8 is a graph showing a relationship between amplitude of the surface vibration of the rotor 6 and a rotational speed of the rotor 6 in accordance with the second exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure . when the radius of the contact surface is r 1 , the characteristic resonant frequency where the amplitude of the surface vibration of the rotor 6 is maximized may be described as fr 1 . that is , when the rotational speed is r 1 and the contact surface of the rotor is r 1 , the surface vibration of the rotor 6 will be maximized . when the radius of the contact surface is r 4 , which is greater than r 1 , the characteristic resonant frequency where the amplitude of the surface vibration of the rotor 6 becomes maximized changes to fr 4 , a speed greater than fr 1 . thus , as the diameter of the contact surface is increased , the rigidity of the support of the rotor 6 may also increase . thus , the characteristic frequency may also be increased . because the radius of the contact surface changes between r 1 and r 4 as indicated by the arrow in fig8 , the characteristic frequency caused by the surface vibration of the rotor 6 may change , thereby deviating from the rotational speed of the rotor 6 . for example , when the rotational speed of the rotor approaches fr 4 , the radius of the contact surface may be r 1 to thereby deviate the characteristic frequency of the rotor from fr 4 . further , when the rotational speed of the rotor approaches fr 1 , the radius of the contact surface may be r 4 to thereby deviate the characteristic frequency of the rotor from fr 1 . by doing so , it may be possible to prevent the resonance of the surface vibration of the rotor 6 and quiet operation of the axial gap - type motor 21 may be possible . in particular , the contact surface of the rotor 6 and the output shaft 4 may be a combination of the stopper 23 , which may be the arcuate surface protruded toward the direction of the axis 0 , and the front surface of the rotor 6 for supporting such an arcuate surface in the second exemplary embodiment . as such , the change in the characteristic frequency of the rotor 6 with regard to the attraction force may differ from the stopper 13 , which is the linear taper and straight surface , in the first exemplary embodiment . further , because the small portion of the arcuate surface near the wall 4 k of the recess is provided which does not contact the rotor 6 even when the radius is r 4 , the characteristic frequency of the rotor may be discontinuously changed . fig9 and 10 are cross - sectional section views schematically illustrating a structure of an axial gap - type electrical motor 31 in accordance with a third exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure . fig9 shows a state when the radius of the contact surface is relatively small ( r 1 ). fig1 shows a state when the radius of the contact surface is relatively large ( i . e ., greater than fig9 ) ( r 3 ). because the basic constitution of the second exemplary embodiment is similar to that of the first exemplary embodiment , similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals and explanations thereof are omitted herein . an axial gap - type electrical motor 31 in accordance with the third exemplary embodiment comprises a stopper 33 through which the output shaft 4 is passes . although a material of the stopper 33 may be the same as stopper 13 of the first exemplary embodiment , stopper 33 is shown such that its contact surface is neither a linear taper or an arcuate taper . rather , stopper 33 includes a planar surface substantially perpendicular to the axis 0 and contacting the front surface of the rotor 6 . as such , rotor 6 may be constructed such that its movement along the direction of the axis 0 may occur without rattling . when an attraction force ( i . e ., an electromagnetic force ) between the stator 1 and the rotor 6 is low and a magnitude of the electromagnetic force in the direction of the axis 0 is low , a radius of the contact surface of the stopper 33 and the rotor 6 may be r 1 . as such , stopper 33 ( as shown in fig9 ) is hardly deformed . when the attraction force ( i . e ., the electromagnetic force ) is greater than the value shown in fig9 , the magnitude of the electromagnetic force in the direction of the axis 0 may be large ( as indicated by a thick arrow in fig1 ). such larger attraction force may pull the rotor 6 closely against protrusion 4 d such that the contact surface of the rotor 6 may be r 3 . in such a case , the end surface 4 t of the radial protrusion 4 d additionally contacts the rotor 6 . because the end surface 4 t and the rotor 6 have a higher young &# 39 ; s radius and a higher rigidity than the stopper 33 , the rigidity of the support of the rotor 6 is maximized . because the radius of the contact surface changes between r 1 and r 3 , the characteristic resonant frequency caused by the surface vibration of the rotor 6 may also change , thereby deviating from the rotational speed of the rotor 6 . for example , when the rotational speed of the rotor 6 approaches fr 3 , the radius of the contact surface may be r 1 to deviate the characteristic frequency of the rotor 6 away from fr 3 . further , when the rotational speed of the rotor 6 approaches fr 1 , the radius of the contact surface may be r 3 to thereby deviate the characteristic frequency of the rotor 6 away from fr 1 . by doing so , it may be possible to prevent the axial gap - type motor 31 from achieving a speed associated with the characteristic resonance frequency of the rotor 6 . in particular , because the contact surface of the rotor 6 and the output shaft 4 may be a combination of the stopper 33 , which is a planar surface perpendicular toward the direction of the axis 0 , and the front surface of the rotor 6 for supporting such a planar surface , the change in the characteristic frequency of the rotor 6 with regard to the attraction force may differ from the stopper 13 ( i . e ., a linear taper ) in the first exemplary embodiment and the stopper 23 ( i . e ., a arcuate taper ) in the second exemplary embodiment . fig1 is a cross - sectional view schematically showing a structure of an axial gap - type electrical motor 41 in accordance with a fourth exemplary embodiment . fig1 shows a state when the radius of the contact surface is small ( r 1 ). because the basic constitution of the fourth exemplary embodiment is similar to that of the first exemplary embodiment , similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals and explanations thereof are omitted herein . in an axial gap - type electrical motor 41 in accordance with the fourth exemplary embodiment , the end surface 4 t perpendicular to the axis 0 of the output shaft radial protrusion 4 d may directly contact the front surface of the rotor 6 . as such , the rotor 6 may be configured such that its position along the direction of the axis 0 may be changed without rattling . as such , the front surface of the rotor 6 may form a taper extending inward toward the radial protrusion 4 d and downward toward the output shaft 4 , as shown in fig1 . as such , front tapered surface of rotor 6 may be deformable in a manner similar to stoppers 13 , 23 , and 23 of the first , second , and third exemplary embodiments . when an attraction force ( i . e ., an electromagnetic force ) is greater than the value shown in fig1 , a magnitude of the electromagnetic force in the direction of the axis 0 may pull the rotor 6 toward protrusion 4 d . in such a case , because the front surface of the rotor 6 may be deformed by the thrust , the taper may be decreased . further , the radius of the contact area between radial protrusion 4 d and the rotor 6 may also be increased . as such , the radius of the contact surface of the output shaft 4 and the rotor 6 may be changed by the magnitude of the electromagnetic force in the direction of the axis 0 . the characteristic resonant frequency where the rotor 6 is resonated by the surface vibration may be changed . as such , because it may be possible to prevent the resonance of the surface vibration of the rotor 6 , quiet operation of the axial gap - type motor 41 becomes possible . in the axial gap - type electrical motors 11 , 21 , 31 and 41 of the first to fourth exemplary embodiments as described above , the radius of the contact surface of the output shaft 4 and the rotor 6 may be changed by the magnitude of the electromagnetic ( attraction ) force in the direction of the axis 0 . the electromagnetic force may be controlled based on a relationship between the alternating current and the attraction force shown in fig1 . in fig1 , the horizontal axis is an effective value ( or maximum value ) of a phase current flowing through the armature winding , and the longitudinal axis is the attraction force , which becomes the magnitude of the electromagnetic force in the direction of the axis 0 generated between the stator 1 and the rotor 6 . further , in fig1 , a dash line indicates when a current phase angle β becomes − 90 degrees ( i . e ., a strong field system ). also , a solid line indicates when the current phase angle β is 0 ( zero ) degrees and a chain line indicates when the current phase angle β is + 90 degree ( i . e ., a weak field system ). generally , the axial gap - type electrical motors 11 , 21 , 31 and 41 may be driven with the phase current equal to or less than ia . further , a weak field system control is performed wherein a polarity of the current phase angle β is on the positive side . as such , the attraction force is decreased . thus , as shown in fig1 , an area used at the time of driving in the general operation may be indicated by being surrounded by a line when β is 0 ( zero ) degree , a line when the current phase angle β is + 90 degree and a line when the phase current is ia . as for the area used at the time of driving in the general operation , when the characteristic frequency of the rotor 6 is changed as shown in fig4 and 8 to be deviated from the rotational speed of the rotor 6 , the axial gap - type electrical motors 11 , 21 , 31 and 41 may be driven with the phase current equal to or more than ia . further , a strong field system control is performed wherein a polarity of the current phase angle β is on the negative side . as such , the attraction force is increased . as indicated by a solid line ellipse , fig1 shows a characteristic value variable control area in the operation of spacing the characteristic frequency from the rotational speed . the weak field system control and the strong field system control will be explained herein while referring to fig1 . fig1 is a schematic view showing a relative position relationship in a circumferential direction of the stator iron core 5 and the magnet 10 , illustrating when the current phase angle β is 0 ( zero ) degree . in fig1 , when a polarity of the current phase angle β is on the negative side , because a permanent magnet 10 b having a south pole front surface becomes closer to the stator iron core 5 having the north pole leading end 5 s , it can be understood that the attraction force is increased . fig1 and 15 are cross - sectional views schematically showing a structure of an axial gap - type electrical motor 51 in accordance with a fifth exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure . fig1 shows a state when the radius of the contact surface is large ( r 3 ). fig1 shows a state when the radius of the contact surface is smaller than the value shown in fig1 ( r 1 ). because the basic constitution of the fifth exemplary embodiment is similar to that of the first exemplary embodiment , similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals and explanations thereof are omitted herein . an axial gap - type electrical motor 51 in accordance with the fifth exemplary embodiment may comprise an actuator to change a contact area of the rotor 6 and the output shaft 4 . such an actuator may be a piston mechanism for displacing the rotor 6 in the direction of axis 0 . a ring - shaped disc spring 52 through which the output shaft 4 passes may be arranged adjacent to the rear surface of the rotor 6 . a collar 14 may prevents the disc spring 52 from moving away from the rotor 6 in the direction of the axis 0 . as shown , the disc spring 52 presses the rotor 6 toward the stator 2 in the direction of the axis 0 and pushes the rotor 6 into contact with the radial protrusion 4 d of the output shaft 4 d as shown in fig1 . as shown , the radial protrusion 4 d may contain a piston 53 which is configured to be slidably moveable along the direction of the axis 0 and a cylinder 54 for housing the piston 53 . the cylinder 54 may be in communication with hydraulic lines 55 installed in an inner portion of the output shaft 4 . while the rotor 6 is in contact with the radial protrusion 4 d and the contact area has a large radius ( r 3 ), the piston 53 is completely housed within the cylinder 54 , as shown in fig1 . if a hydraulic pressure is supplied from the through hydraulic line 55 to the cylinder 54 , piston 53 may be forced to protrude from the end surface 4 t of the radial protrusion 4 d and may displace the rotor 6 towards the disc spring 52 . as such , the radius of the contact surface between the rotor 6 and the output shaft radial protrusion 4 d may be reduced to r 1 as shown in fig1 . further , if the hydraulic pressure of the cylinder 54 is reduced , then the piston 53 may retract into end surface 4 t by a biasing force of the disc spring 52 pushing the rotor 6 in a direction toward the radial protrusion 4 d . as such , the radius of the contact surface may be optionally changed to either r 1 or r 3 by activating or deactivating piston 53 in cylinder 54 by changing the pressure within hydraulic line 55 . in the fifth exemplary embodiment , the output shaft 4 , the collar 14 , a washer 15 , the disc spring 52 , a lock nut 16 , and the piston 53 may be interactively operated to constitute a device for changing the contact area between rotor 6 and protrusion 4 d . as mentioned above , when the radius of the contact surface is r 3 , the characteristic frequency resonated by the surface vibration ( rotational speed ) is fr 3 , as shown in fig1 . when the radius of the contact surface is r 1 , the characteristic frequency resonated by the surface vibration ( rotational speed ) is fr 1 . if the contact surface of the rotor 6 and the output shaft 4 has a large radius ( r 3 ), because the rigidity of the support of the rotor 6 is high , the characteristic frequency fr 3 becomes greater than the characteristic frequency fr 1 , as shown in fig1 . to make the characteristic frequency small as indicated by the arrow in fig1 , the radius of the contact surface may be decreased from r 3 to r 1 by supplying the hydraulic pressure to the cylinder 54 . further , because the rotor 6 may be displaced along the direction of the axis 0 by using the piston mechanism in the axial gap - type electrical motor 51 in accordance with the fifth exemplary embodiment , an amount of displacement of the rotor 6 along the direction of the axis 0 may be increased more than would be possible using the axial gap - type electrical motors 11 , 21 , 31 , and 41 in accordance with the first to fourth exemplary embodiments . as a result , air gap 9 may be increased . thus , when the rotational speed of the rotor exceeds a predetermined value , an induced voltage disadvantageous for a high speed rotation as a motor may be reduced by increasing the air gap 9 . as described above , the axial gap - type electrical motors 11 , 21 , 31 , 41 and 51 in accordance with the first to fifth exemplary embodiments are depicted having only one rotor . however , it should be understood that with axial gap - type electrical motors having two ( or more ) rotors 6 and one ( or more ) stator 2 explained below in reference to fig1 and 18 , it may still be possible to modify the characteristic resonant frequency of the motor by changing the contact area between rotors 6 and the output shafts 4 . fig1 is a cross - sectional view schematically showing a structure of an axial gap - type electrical motor 61 in accordance with a sixth exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure , showing when the radius of the contact surface is small ( r 1 ). the basic constitution of the sixth exemplary embodiment is substantially similar to that of the first exemplary embodiment with the exception that two rotors 6 are symmetrically arranged about a single stator 1 . fig1 is a cross - sectional view schematically showing a structure of an axial gap - type electrical motor 71 in accordance with a seventh exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure , showing when the radius of the contact surface is large ( r 3 ). the basic constitution of the seventh exemplary embodiment is substantially similar to that of the fifth exemplary embodiment of fig1 with the exception that two rotors 6 are symmetrically arranged about a single stator 1 . advantageously , the present disclosure provides a technique for effectively preventing the resonance of the rotor without installing a separate reinforcing member in the rotor . in order to achieve such an advantage , an axial gap - type electrical motor of the present disclosure may comprise a disk - shaped rotor arranged opposite a stator , wherein the rotor and the stator are spaced apart axially along an output shaft which engages to the rotor , and a device for changing a contacting area between the rotor and the output shaft depending on a rotational speed of the rotor . as such , it may be possible to deviate a characteristic resonant frequency at a particular rotational speed by modifying the joining state between the rotor and the output shaft engaged to the rotor . as such , it may be possible to conduct a quiet operation by preventing the resonance of the rotor itself during an operation of the electrical motor . while the disclosure has been presented with respect to a limited number of embodiments , those skilled in the art , having benefit of this disclosure , will appreciate that other embodiments may be devised which do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure . accordingly , the scope of the disclosure should be limited only by the attached claims . | 7 |
the present invention is an alternative to the bucherer reaction and provides a process of effecting an alkylation , smiles rearrangement and subsequent hydrolysis of a hydroxy heteroaromatic compound to an arylamine , without purifying intermediates . optionally , a salt of the hydroxy heteroaromatic is formed in the presence of an alkylating solvent system , to which an alkylating agent is added . a smiles solvent system is added to the reaction mixture containing the 2 - aryloxyacetamide intermediate and the reaction mixture is heated to effect the smiles rearrangement and form the acylated arylamine intermediate . finally , the acylated arylamine intermediate hydrolyzes to the corresponding heterocyclic aromatic amine . suitable hydroxy heteroaromatic compounds for the present reaction are well - known to those skilled in the art . preferred hydroxy heteroaromatic compounds include nitrogen - containing aromatic rings , such as n - substituted pyrroles , pyridines , n - substituted indoles , quinolines , isoquinolines , carbazoles , and acridines optionally substituted with one or more substituents . partially and fully aromatic hydroxy heteroaromatic compounds may be used herein . however , when a partially unsaturated hydroxy heteroaromatic compound is used , the hydroxy group must be on an aromatic ring . the hydroxy heteroaromatic compound may be optionally substituted with either one or more electron - donating or one or more electron - withdrawing groups . however , the nitrogen - containing aromatic ring is preferably unsubstituted or substituted with electron - withdrawing groups . preferred hydroxy heteroaromatic compounds are substituted at the meta and para positions . when electron - donating groups are substituted on the hydroxy heteroaromaticsystem , it is preferred that they are distal from the hydroxy substituent and not on the ring bearing the hydroxy group in a polycyclic compound . preferred electron - withdrawing groups include nr 1 r 2 r 3 + ( quaternary ammonium salts ) where r 1 , r 2 and r 3 are independently h , c 1 - 6 alkyl , -- no 2 , -- cn , -- so 3 h , -- cooh , cho , cor 4 , where r 4 is c 1 - 6 alkyl or c 1 - 6 alkoxy , and x , where x is a halogen selected from cl , br , i , f . preferred electron - donating groups include -- nh 2 , -- oh , -- och 3 , -- nhcoch 3 , c 6 h 5 , -- c 1 - 6 alkyl and -- c 1 - 6 alkoxy . as used herein , the term &# 34 ; alkyl &# 34 ; means a carbon chain of one to six carbons , which may contain one or more double or triple bonds and are straight or branched , and optionally substituted with one or more halogen . included within the term alkyl are methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , butyl , isobutyl , tert - butyl , cis - 2 - butene , trans - 2 - butene , hexyl , heptyl , and the like . as used herein , the term &# 34 ; alkyloxy &# 34 ; means a carbon chain of one to six carbons containing an oxygen , which may contain one or more double or triple bonds , are straight or branched , and are optionally substituted with one or more halogen . included within the term alkyloxy are methoxy , ethoxy , propoxy , isopropoxy , butoxy , isobutoxy , hexyloxy , heptoxy , and the like . as used herein , the term &# 34 ; halogen &# 34 ; includes cl , br , i , f . preferred hydroxy aromatics are compounds of the formula indicated in figures 1 through 4 : ## str1 ## where r optionally represents from one to eight substituents independently selected from electron - withdrawing and electron - donating groups . hydroxy aromatics may be simple hydroxy aromatics having a single aromatic ring , such as hydroxypyridines and substituted hydroxypyridines . complex hydroxy aromatics may also be used in the present invention , where r groups may be combined to form multiple carbon fused ring structures of varying degrees of saturation , or where ring structures are attached as substituents . suitable complex ring structures include fully aromatic complex ring structures such as pyridines , isoquinolines , quinolines , acridines , and the like , as well as their partially and fully saturated counterparts , such as tetrahydroisoquinolines , tetrahydroquinolines , tetrahydroacridines , and the like . in complex ring structures , the carbon atoms in the rings other than those in the ring bearing the hydroxy group are optionally substituted with a wide variety of substituents known to those in the art , including nh 2 , no 2 , sh , so 3 h , co 2 h , cn , halogens , thioethers , alkyl , alkoxy groups and other functional groups such as carbamates , ethers , amides , and esters . additional preferred hydroxy aromatic compounds which may be utilized as starting materials according to the present method include nicotine derivatives of the following general formula , figure 5 : ## str2 ## where the heteroaromatic ring contains at least one hydroxy group , and is additionally substituted with one to three independently selected r groups , as defined above . additional modifications may be made to the heteropentane ring , whereby the ring is additionally substituted with one to four independently selected r groups , as defined above . the salt of the hydroxy heteroaromatic compound may be formed according to methods well - known in the art . preferably , the salt of the hydroxy heteroaromatic compound is formed in the presence of an alkylating solvent system , to which an alkylating agent is added . the alkylating agent serves as a donor of a substituent capable of undergoing intramolecular nucleophilic substitution , or the smiles rearrangement . alkylating agents useful in the present invention are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art . generally , suitable alkylating agents are comprised of an amide and halogen functional group separated by one carbon atom of the following general formula : wherein x is a leaving group . suitable leaving groups include halogens and or , where r is p - toluenesulfonyl or methylsulfonyl . a preferred leaving group is selected from bromine , chlorine and iodine . an especially preferred leaving group is bromine . r &# 39 ; and r &# 34 ; of the alkylating agent are independently h or c 1 - 6 alkyl , straight or branched chain . it is preferred that when one of r &# 39 ; or r &# 34 ; is hydrogen , the other is a larger alkyl such as isopropyl , sec - butyl or tert - butyl or equivalent pentyl or hexyl groups . it is especially preferred that when one of r &# 39 ; or r &# 34 ; is hydrogen , the other is tert - butyl . c 1 - 6 alkyl is a straight and branched one to six carbon group including methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , sec - butyl , tert - butyl , pentyl and hexyl . a preferred alkylating agent is where x is a halogen and r &# 39 ; and r &# 34 ; is c 1 - 4 alkyl . an especially preferred alkylating agent is where x is bromine and at least one of r &# 39 ; and r &# 34 ; is methyl or ethyl . preferred alkylating agents are secondary haloalkylamides and , most preferred are tertiary haloalkylamides , with 2 - bromo - 2 - methylpropanamide and 2 - bromo - 2 - ethylbutanamide being especially preferred . the alkylating solvent system generally comprises a strong base , an ethereal solvent and a large alkaline metal cation . a strong base is capable of extracting the alcoholic proton of the hydroxy aromatic . a single strong base may be used , or a combination of two or more strong bases may be used . suitable strong bases include sodium hydride , potassium hydride , lithium hydride , lithium bis - trimethylsilyl amide , sodium bis - trimethylsilyl amide , potassium bis - trimethylsilyl amide , n - butyllithium , sec - butyllithium , iso - butyllithium , tert - butyllithium , and mixtures thereof . the hydride bases are preferred , such as sodium hydride , lithium hydride , potassium hydride and mixtures thereof . sodium hydride is especially preferred . an ethereal solvent is used to solvate the reaction components , including the alkylating agent and large alkaline metal cation . the ethereal solvent should be polar and non - nucleophilic . suitable ethereal solvents include 1 , 4 - dioxane , 1 , 3 - dioxane , tetrahydrofuran ( thf ), dimethoxyethane ( dme ), 2 - methoxyethyl ether , propyl ether , isopropyl ether , n - butyl ether , sec - butyl ether , tert - butyl ether , n - butylmethyl ether , tert - butylmethyl ether , n - butylethyl ether , sec - butylethyl ether , tert - butylethyl ether , n - butylpropyl ether , sec - butylpropyl ether , tert - butylpropyl ether and mixtures thereof . preferred ethereal solvents have relatively low boiling points . 1 , 4 - dioxane and 1 , 3 - dioxane are preferred . 1 , 4 - dioxane is especially preferred . a large alkaline metal cation is believed to function as an electron transfer facilitator . more specifically , the large metal cation is thought to promote radical alkylation reactions . inorganic cesium compounds are preferred . suitable examples of large alkaline metal cations include cesium carbonate ( cs 2 co 3 ), cesium acetate ( csco 2 ch 3 ), cesium bicarbonate ( cshco 3 ), cesium bromide ( csbr ), cesium chloride ( cscl ), cesium fluoride ( csf ), cesium iodide ( csi ). cesium carbonate is preferred . a smiles solvent system is added to the reaction mixture to promote the smiles rearrangement . the smiles solvent system is designed to solvate the reagents , act as an anion - coordinating agent by promoting and / or stabilizing the anionic form of the 2 - aryloxyacetamide intermediate and to coordinate or make the 2 - aryloxyacetamide intermediate a stronger nucleophile , through conversion into an anion , and thus facilitating a smiles rearrangement . a smiles solvent system is a combination of amide solvent , an anion - coordinating agent and a strong base . preferably , there are at least molar equivalents of the anion - coordinating agent to alkaline metal cation . the smiles solvent system may be premixed or each component added sequentially to the reaction mixture in any order . a strong base is capable of extracting the amide proton of the 2 - aryloxyacetamide intermediate . a single strong base or a combination of two or more strong bases may be used in the present invention . suitable strong bases include sodium hydride , potassium hydride , lithium hydride , lithium bis - trimethylsilyl amide , sodium bis - trimethylsilyl amide , potassium bis - trimethylsilyl amide , n - butyllithium , sec - butyllithium , iso - butyllithium , tert - butyllithium or mixtures thereof . the hydride bases are preferred , such as sodium hydride , lithium hydride and potassium hydride . sodium hydride is especially preferred . the strong base may be the same strong base used as the strong base for alkylation . the amide solvent is preferably 1 - methyl - 2 - pyrrolidinone ( nmp ), dimethylformamide ( dmf ), dimethylacetamide ( dma ) or mixtures thereof . nmp is the preferred amide solvent . the anion - coordinating agent may be n , n &# 39 ;- dimethyl - n , n &# 39 ;- propyleneurea ; also known as 1 , 3 - dimethyltetrahydropyrimidin - 2 ( 1h )- one ( dmpu ) or hexamethylphosphoric triamide ( hmpa ) or a combination thereof . dmpu is the preferred anion - coordinating agent . the volume ratio of amide solvent to anion - coordinating agent is optionally from about 1 : 1 to about 40 : 1 . preferably , the ratio of amide solvent to anion - coordinating agent is from about 5 : 1 to about 15 : 1 . the ratio of amide solvent to anion - coordinating agent is especially preferred to be between about 7 : 1 to about 12 : 1 . the most preferred ratio of amide solvent to anion - coordinating agent is about 10 : 1 . the salt of the hydroxy aromatic is formed by reacting a hydroxy aromatic in the presence of an alkylating solvent system . the reaction mixture is optionally stirred for a period sufficient to form a salt of the hydroxy aromatic . preferably , when sodium hydride is used in the alkylating solvent system , evolution of hydrogen gas continues until the formation of the hydroxy aromatic salt is substantially complete . preferably , the reaction mixture is heated during the formation of the salt . higher temperatures generally require shorter reaction time for the formation of the salt and lower temperatures generally require longer reaction time . an alkylating agent is added to the reaction mixture after formation of the hydroxy aromatic salt . preferably , the reaction mixture is stirred at reflux until the alkylation is substantially complete . reaction progress of the alkylation may be monitored by known techniques , including thin - layer chromatography ( tlc ), gas chromatography ( gc ) or high performance liquid chromatography ( hplc ). tlc is preferred . after alkylation , a smiles solvent system , preferably a combination of amide solvent , anion - coordinating agent and strong base , is added to the reaction mixture . the temperature of the reaction mixture is raised to a temperature sufficient to effect the smiles rearrangement . faster reaction time is expected with higher temperatures and longer reaction time is expected with lower temperatures . preferred reaction temperature is between about 65 ° c . to about 250 ° c ., preferably between about 125 ° c . to 200 ° c . a more preferred reaction temperature is between about 125 ° c . to about 175 ° c . the most preferred reaction temperature is about 150 ° c . the reaction mixture is optionally stirred during the smiles rearrangement . reaction progress of the smiles rearrangement is optionally monitored by any known technique , for example , thin - layer chromatography ( tlc ), gas chromatography ( gc ), high performance liquid chromatography ( hplc ). tlc is preferred . upon completion of the smiles rearrangement , the heterocyclic arylamine product is purified by known methods . compounds which may be synthesized by the present process include the following examples , which are not intended to be limiting but intended to illustrate the utility of the process herein . to a solution of 8 - hydroxyquinoline ( 537 mg , 3 . 70 mmol ) in dioxane ( 20 ml ) was added nah ( aldrich , dry , 300 mg , 12 . 2 mmol ) and cs 2 co 3 ( 4 . 00 g , 12 . 2 mmol ). the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for about 30 minutes , then 2 - bromo - 2 - methyl - propanamide ( 2 . 03 g , 12 . 2 mmol ) was added and the resulting mixture was stirred at reflux for 16 h . after the reflux period , nmp ( 20 ml ), dmpu ( 2 ml ), and nah ( aldrich , dry , 100 mg , 4 . 07 mmol ) were added . the resulting mixture was stirred at 150 ° c . for 72 h . the reaction was cooled to room temp ., and partitioned between water ( 50 ml ) and etoac ( 100 ml ). the aqueous layer was extracted with etoac ( 100 ml ) and the combined organics washed with water ( 2 × 50 ml ), dried ( na 2 so 4 ), and concentrated to about 3 g of material . the brown oil was chromatographed on silica ( 200 ml , 4 cm diam . column ), eluting with 30 : 70 : 1 etoac / hexane / net 3 to obtain 8 - aminoquinoline as an off - white solid ( 220 mg , 1 . 53 mmol , 41 . 3 % yield ). : mp 65 - 67 ° c . ( lit . 62 . 5 - 64 ° c ., dewar , m . j . s . et . al ., journal of the chemical society , 1956 , 2556 and 62 . 5 - 64 ° c ., richardson , a . et . al ., journal of organic chemistry , 1960 , 25 , 1138 ); 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ8 . 76 ( dd , 1 h , j = 4 . 23 , 1 . 75 hz ), 8 . 06 ( dd , 1 h , j = 8 . 20 , 1 . 96 ), 7 . 37 - 7 . 30 ( om &# 39 ; s , 2 h ), 7 . 15 ( dd , 1 h , j = 8 . 01 , 1 . 30 ), 6 . 92 ( dd , 1 h , j = 7 . 51 , 1 . 42 ), 4 . 98 ( br s , 2 h , n -- h 2 ); ms ( ei ) 144 ; analysis : calculated c 74 . 98 , h 5 . 59 , n 19 . 43 ; found c 74 . 88 , h 5 . 67 , n 19 . 26 . to a solution of 4 - hydroxyacridine ( 722 mg , 3 . 70 mmol ) in dioxane ( 20 ml ) was added nah ( aldrich , dry , 300 mg , 12 . 2 mmol ) and cs 2 co 3 ( 4 . 00 g , 12 . 2 mmol ). the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for about 30 minutes , then 2 - bromo - 2 - methyl - propanamide ( 2 . 03 g , 12 . 2 mmol ) was added and the resulting mixture was stirred at reflux for 16 h . after the reflux period , nmp ( 20 ml ), dmpu ( 2 ml ), and nah ( aldrich , dry , 100 mg , 4 . 07 mmol ) were added . the resulting mixture was stirred at 150 ° c . for 72 h . the reaction was cooled to room temp ., and partitioned between water ( 50 ml ) and etoac ( 100 ml ). the aqueous layer was extracted with etoac ( 100 ml ) and the combined organics washed with water ( 2 × 50 ml ), dried ( na 2 so 4 ), and concentrated to about 3 g of material . the brown oil was chromatographed on silica ( 200 ml , 4 cm diam . column ), eluting with 1 : 9 then 3 : 7 etoac / hexane to obtain 4 - aminoacridine as a brown solid ( 130 mg , 0 . 67 mmol , 18 . 1 % yield ). : mp 98 - 100 ° c . ( lit 105 - 106 ° c ., albert , a . et . al ., chemistry and industry ( london ), 1941 , 60 , 122t ); 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ8 . 66 ( s , 1 h ), 8 . 23 - 8 . 19 ( m , 1 h ), 7 . 98 - 7 . 95 ( m , 1 h ), 7 . 74 - 7 . 69 ( m , 1 h ), 7 . 53 - 7 . 48 ( m , 1 h ), 7 . 34 ( d , 1 h , j = 1 . 72 hz ), 6 . 94 ( dd , 1 h , j = 3 . 32 hz ), 5 . 23 ( br s , 2 h , n -- h 2 ); ms ( ci / nh 3 ) 195 ; ir 3377 ( nh ). another fraction ( 90 mg of material ) contained the rearrangement product by nmr , but the ms showed only m / z 113 . the starting 4 - hydroxyacridine was also recovered ( 90 mg , 12 . 4 %). to a solution of 8 - hydroxyquinaldine ( 722 mg , 3 . 70 mmol ) in dioxane ( 20 ml ) was added nah ( aldrich , dry , 300 mg , 12 . 2 mmol ) and cs 2 co 3 ( 4 . 00 g , 12 . 2 mmol ). the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for about 30 minutes , then 2 - bromo - 2 - methyl - propanamide ( 2 . 03 g , 12 . 2 mmol ) was added and the resulting mixture was stirred at reflux for 16 h . after the reflux period , nmp ( 20 ml ), dmpu ( 2 ml ), and nah ( aldrich , dry , 100 mg , 4 . 07 mmol ) were added . the resulting mixture was stirred at 150 ° c . for 72 h . the reaction was cooled to room temp ., and partitioned between water ( 50 ml ) and etoac ( 100 ml ). the aqueous layer was extracted with etoac ( 100 ml ) and the combined organics washed with water ( 50 ml ), dried ( na 2 so 4 ), and concentrated to about 3 g of material . the brown oil , the rearrangement product , was chromatographed on silica ( 200 ml , 4 cm diam . column ), eluting with 3 : 7 etoac / hexane to obtain the product as an off - white solid ( 610 mg , 2 . 50 mmol , 67 . 6 % yield ). : mp 143 - 144 ° c . : 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ10 . 99 ( br s , 1 h , n -- h ), 8 . 76 - 8 . 73 ( m , 1 h ), 8 . 03 ( d , 1 h , j = 8 . 26 ), 7 . 48 - 7 . 45 ( om &# 39 ; s , 2 h ), 7 . 32 ( d , 1 h , j = 9 . 21 ), 2 . 80 ( br s , 1 h , o -- h ), 2 . 75 ( s , 3 h , ar -- ch 3 ), 1 . 62 ( s , 6 h , c ( ch 3 ) 2 ); 13 c nmr ( 75 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ174 . 9 , 157 . 4 , 138 . 2 , 136 . 3 , 133 . 5 , 126 . 2 , 126 . 1 , 122 . 4 , 121 . 6 , 116 . 3 , 74 . 2 , 28 . 1 , 25 . 4 ; ms ( ci / nh 3 ) 245 ; analysis : calculated c 68 . 83 , h 6 . 60 , n 11 . 47 ; found c 68 . 78 , h 6 . 56 , n 11 . 37 . to a solution of 5 - hydroxyquinoline ( 537 mg , 3 . 70 mmol ) in dioxane ( 20 ml ) was added nah ( aldrich , dry , 300 mg , 12 . 2 mmol ) and cs 2 co 3 ( 4 . 00 g , 12 . 2 mmol ). the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for about 30 minutes , then 2 - bromo - 2 - methyl - propanamide ( 2 . 03 g , 12 . 2 mmol ) was added and the resulting mixture was stirred at reflux for 16 h . after the reflux period , nmp ( 20 ml ), dmpu ( 2 ml ), and nah ( aldrich , dry , 100 mg , 4 . 07 mmol ) were added . the resulting mixture was stirred at 150 ° c . for 72 h . the reaction was cooled to room temp ., and partitioned between water ( 50 ml ) and etoac ( 100 ml ). the aqueous layer was extracted with etoac ( 100 ml ) and the combined organics washed with water ( 2 × 50 ml ), dried ( na 2 so 4 ), and concentrated to about 3 g of material . the brown oil was chromatographed on silica ( 200 ml , 4 cm diam . column ), eluting with 7 : 3 etoac / hexane to obtain 5 - aminoquinoline as a brown solid ( 90 mg , 0 . 62 mmol , 16 . 8 % yield ). : mp 98 - 100 ° c . ( lit . 108 - 109 ° c ., akita , y ., et . al ., synthesis , 1977 , 792 ); 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ8 . 89 ( dd , 1 h , j = 4 . 13 , 2 . 06 hz ), 8 . 18 ( dd , 1 h , j = 8 . 49 , 0 . 93 ), 7 . 60 - 7 . 48 ( om &# 39 ; s , 2 h ), 7 . 35 ( dd , 1 h , j = 8 . 56 , 4 . 26 ), 6 . 83 ( dd , 1 h , j = 7 . 13 , 1 . 31 ), 4 . 21 ( br s , 2 h , n -- h 2 ); 13 c nmr ( 75 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ150 . 2 , 149 . 1 , 142 . 2 , 130 . 0 , 129 . 5 , 120 . 1 , 119 . 6 , 118 . 7 , 110 . 0 ; ms ( ci / ch 4 ) 145 . the rearrangement product was also isolated from the column as a brown solid ( 480 mg , 2 . 08 mmol , 56 . 2 % yield ): mp 177 - 179 ° c . ; 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ9 . 37 ( br s , 1h , n -- h ), 8 . 90 ( dd , 1 h , j = 4 . 26 , 1 . 58 hz ), 8 . 21 ( d , 1 h , j = 8 . 22 ), 8 . 09 ( d , 1 h , j = 7 . 80 hz ), 7 . 96 ( d , 1 h , j = 8 . 66 hz ) 7 . 70 ( apparent t , 1 h , j = 8 . 06 ), 4 . 01 ( br s , o -- h ), 1 . 63 ( s , 6 h , c ( ch 3 ) 2 ) 13 c nmr ( 75 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ175 . 3 , 150 . 1 , 148 . 4 , 132 . 3 , 129 . 55 , 129 . 46 , 122 . 1 , 120 . 9 , 120 . 0 , 47 . 8 , 27 . 9 ; ms ( ci / ch 4 ) 231 : ir ( kbr pellet ) 1649 ( co ), 3371 ( oh ). to a solution of 6 - hydroxyquinoline ( 537 mg , 3 . 70 mmol ) in dioxane ( 20 ml ) was added nah ( aldrich , dry , 300 mg , 12 . 2 mmol ) and cs 2 co 3 ( 4 . 00 g , 12 . 2 mmol ). the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for about 30 minutes , then 2 - bromo - 2 - methyl - propanamide ( 2 . 03 g , 12 . 2 mmol ) was added and the resulting mixture was stirred at reflux for 16 h . after the reflux period , nmp ( 20 ml ), dmpu ( 2 ml ), and nah ( aldrich , dry , 100 mg , 4 . 07 mmol ) were added . the resulting mixture was stirred at 150 ° c . for 72 h . the reaction was cooled to room temp ., and partitioned between water ( 50 ml ) and etoac ( 100 ml ). the aqueous layer was extracted with etoac ( 100 ml ) and the combined organics washed with water ( 2 × 50 ml ), dried ( na 2 so 4 ), and concentrated to about 3 g of material . the brown oil was distilled by kugelrohr to remove residual nmp and dmpu , then chromatographed on silica ( 200 ml , 4 cm diam . column ), eluting with 70 : 30 : 1 etoac / hexane / net 3 to obtain 6 - aminoquinoline as a brown solid ( 210 mg , 1 . 45 mmol , 39 . 2 % yield ). : mp 111 - 113 ° c . ( lit . 116 ° c ., sykes , w . o ., journal of the chemical society , 1956 , 3087 ); 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ8 . 66 ( dd , 1 h , j = 4 . 27 , 1 . 63 hz ), 7 . 93 - 7 . 87 ( m , 2 h ), 7 . 26 ( dd , 1 h , j = 8 . 24 , 4 . 23 hz ), 7 . 16 ( dd , 1 h , j = 9 . 05 , 2 . 69 ), 6 . 90 ( d , 1 h , j = 2 . 74 ), 3 . 97 ( br s , 2 h , nh 2 ); 13 c nmr ( 75 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ146 . 8 , 144 . 5 , 143 . 5 , 133 . 7 , 130 . 6 , 129 . 7 , 121 . 5 , 121 . 4 , 107 . 4 ; ms ( ci / nh 3 ) 145 . the rearrangement product was also isolated from the column as a brown solid ( 250 , 1 . 21 mmol , 32 . 7 % yield ): mp 162 - 165 ° c . ; 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ9 . 02 ( br s , 1 h , n -- h ), 8 . 82 ( dd , 1 h , j = 4 . 35 , 1 . 66 hz ), 8 . 46 ( d , 1 h , j = 2 . 51 ), 8 . 14 - 8 . 10 ( m , 1 h ), 8 . 06 ( d , 1 h , j = 9 . 12 hz ) 7 . 60 ( dd , 1 h , j = 9 . 0 , 2 . 49 ), 7 . 38 ( dd , 1 h , j = 8 . 35 , 4 . 33 ), 3 . 20 ( br s , 1 h , oh ), 1 . 62 ( s , 6 h , c ( ch 3 ) 2 ) 13 c nmr ( 75 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ174 . 7 , 149 . 2 , 145 . 4 , 136 . 0 , 135 . 5 , 130 . 0 , 128 . 8 , 123 . 2 , 121 . 6 , 115 . 7 , 74 . 3 , 28 . 0 ; ms ( ci / nh 3 ) 231 ; ir ( kbr pellet ) 1674 ( co ), 3308 ( oh ). to a solution of 4 - hydroxyquinoline ( 537 mg , 3 . 70 mmol ) in dioxane ( 20 ml ) was added nah ( aldrich , dry , 300 mg , 12 . 2 mmol ) and cs 2 co 3 ( 4 . 00 g , 12 . 2 mmol ). the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for about 30 minutes , then 2 - bromo - 2 - methyl - propanamide ( 2 . 03 g , 12 . 2 mmol ) was added and the resulting mixture was stirred at reflux for 16 h . after the reflux period , nmp ( 20 ml ), dmpu ( 2 ml ), and nah ( aldrich , dry , 100 mg , 4 . 07 mmol ) were added . the resulting mixture was stirred at 150 ° c . for 72 h . the reaction was cooled to room temp ., and partitioned between water ( 50 ml ) and etoac ( 100 ml ). the aqueous layer was extracted with etoac ( 100 ml ) and the combined organics washed with water ( 2 × 50 ml ), dried ( na 2 so 4 ), and concentrated to about 3 g of material . the brown oil was distilled by kugelrohr to remove residual nmp and dmpu , then chromatographed on silica ( 200 ml , 4 cm diam . column ), eluting with 9 : 1 chcl 3 / meoh then 7 : 3 chcl 3 / meoh to obtain 4 - aminoquinoline as an off - white solid ( 140 mg , 0 . 97 mmol , 26 . 2 % yield ). : mp 146 - 148 ° c . ( lit . 154 - 155 ° c ., suzuki , y ., j . pharm . soc . jpn ., 1961 , 81 , 1146 ); 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ8 . 30 ( d , 1 h , j = 6 . 20 hz ), 8 . 22 ( d , 1 h , j = 8 . 39 hz ), 7 . 78 ( d , 1 h , j = 8 . 89 hz ), 7 . 68 - 7 . 62 ( m , 1 h ), 7 . 49 - 7 . 38 ( m , 3 h ), 6 . 59 ( d , 1 h , j = 5 . 99 hz ); ms ( ei ) 144 . to a solution of 4 - hydroxypyridine ( 352 mg , 3 . 70 mmol ) in dioxane ( 20 ml ) was added nah ( aldrich , dry , 300 mg , 12 . 2 mmol ) and cs 2 co 3 ( 4 . 00 g , 12 . 2 mmol ). the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for about 30 minutes , then 2 - bromo - 2 - methyl - propanamide ( 2 . 03 g , 12 . 2 mmol ) was added and the resulting mixture was stirred at reflux for 16 h . after the reflux period , nmp ( 20 ml ), dmpu ( 2 ml ), and nah ( aldrich , dry , 100 mg , 4 . 07 mmol ) were added . the resulting mixture was stirred at 150 ° c . for 72 h . the reaction was cooled to room temp ., and partitioned between water ( 50 ml ) and etoac ( 100 ml ). the aqueous layer was extracted with etoac ( 100 ml ) and the combined organics washed with water ( 2 × 50 ml ), dried ( na 2 so 4 ), and concentrated to about 3 g of material . the brown oil was distilled by kugelrohr to remove most of the residual nmp and dmpu . at this point there was evidence of 4 - aminopyridine in the crude nmr : 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ8 . 2 ( d , 2 h ), 6 . 6 ( d , 2 h ) as well as peaks characteristic of nmp and dmpu . | 2 |
some forms of the present invention relate to materials formed by curing an aromatic dicyanate in admixture with a thermoplastic in the manner of u . s . pat . no . 4 , 157 , 360 or the aromatic dicyanate coated on a thermoplastic or the mixture coated on the same or a different thermoplastic . other forms of the invention relate to the material formed by curing the aromatic dicyanate alone . the following discussion centers upon the mixture alone or on a thermplastic , but would apply similarly to the product of curing the pure dicyanate , except that permissable times for further curing are generally shorter for the pure dicyanate . monomeric dicyanates useful in the present invention include those of the formula nco - r - ocn as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 157 , 360 in columns 3 - 5 . preferred dicyanates are those wherein r is one of the following : ( d ) diphenolestercarbonate moiety , formed from aromatic dicarboxylic acid , diphenol and carbonate precursor ; or mixtures thereof . most preferred are those wherein r is ## str1 ## it is preferred in these formulas that ph be 1 , 4 - phenylene and r &# 39 ; be 2 , 2 - propylidine ; although ph may also be 1 , 3 phenylene and r &# 39 ; may also be 4 , 4 - phthalein . the dicyanate monomer used in the present invention should be purified before curing or mixing with thermoplastic . a preferred method of purification is recrystallization with a ketone having melting point below - 25 ° c ., such as acetone or methyl ethyl ketone . the recrystallization should be done without warming to temperatures where any substantial trimerization occurs , e . g . without exceeding 35 ° c . other purifications , such as by recrystallizing in a hydrocarbon , may be employed with similar results , except that greater care must be exercised to avoid temperatures warm enough for the impurities to catalyze polymerization and color formation . unlike the processes of parent application ser . no . 213 , 530 , the present processes do not employ zinc salts as catalysts . thus various other salts have been found which give low color products so long as the temperature - time regime of the present process is observed and pure dicyanate materials are used . suitable salts include manganese ( ii ) chloride , silver nitrate , iron ( iii ) chloride bismuth ( iii ) chloride , indium ( iii ) chloride and hafnium ( iv ) chloride , and a variety of corresponding salts which are stable and dissolvable in polymer solutions or melts and are generally lewis acids . the amount of any catalyst depends on the rate of polymerization desired , but generally levels of 0 . 001 % to 0 . 1 % metal by weight of dicyanate are effective . if a thermoplastic is used , it can be any thermoplastic , but preferably is one that does not react with the dicyanate , and also preferably contains at least some aromatic moieties . if the dicyanate is to be combined with a thermoplastic before curing , then in some methods they are mixed as dry solids with the catalyst . in this case the weight ratio of mixed dicyanate to mixed thermoplastic is preferably about 1 : 9 to about 9 : 1 . the mixture may be applied to the same or different thermoplastic before curing and then cured as described below . alternatively the mixture of purified aromatic dicyanate , catalyst and thermoplastic polymer may be coprecipitated from a solution thereof in a solvent for all three such as tetrachloroethane . the solvent may be removed before curing by evaporating at a temperature below either cure temperature or during the cure by heating to the first cure temperature ( e . g . 175 ° c .) and evaporating the solvent . in the latter case , the cure time ( generally 0 . 1 - 2 h ) should be considered to start after the solvent has essentially all evaporated . where coprecipitation is employed , the weight ratio of coprecipitated dicyanate to coprecipitated thermoplastic is preferably between about 1 : 9 and about 9 : 1 . in some forms the coprecipitated dicyanate , catalyst and thermoplastic polymer ( or dicyanate and catalyst without the thermoplastic polymer ) are applied to a thermoplastic substrate before curing , but they may also be applied to other substrates or coprecipitated without a substrate . if applied or coprecipitated on a substrate , the cure generally follows the coprecipitation or application . the purified aromatic dicyanate and thermoplastic polymer may also be melt blended before curing , generally with the catalyst added with one of the two melts . to avoid curing of the dicyanate before melt blending is completed , it is preferred that the powdered thermoplastic polymer be mixed with a major proportion ( e . g . 90 %) of the total purified aromatic dicyanate used and then heated to elevated temperatures ( e . g . 200 ° to 230 ° c .) with mixing . when the mixture becomes homogeneous , the catalyst is then added with the remaining aromatic dicyanate ( e . g . 10 %) with mixing at a desired cure temperature ( e . g . 200 ° c .). it is preferred to employ the melt blending technique with a catalyst level at the low end of the overall range indicated above to minimize premature cure . the weight ratio of melt blended dicyanate to melt blended thermoplastic is preferably between about 1 : 9 and about 9 : 1 . once melt blended , the material may be applied to a thermoplastic substrate , or other substrate such as a wire , before curing . in all forms of the invention in which a mixture of aromatic dicyanate , thermoplastic polymer and catalyst are applied to a thermoplastic substrate , many preferred forms are those in which the thermoplastic polymer and thermoplastic substrate are formed from the same monomers . this similarity can improve compatability and adhesion . the monomers may be present in the same or similar proportion , but this is not required . the polymer and substrate may be of similar molecular weights , monomer distributions or degrees or branching , but this is not required . preferred thermoplastics used either for admixture with the purified aromatic dicyanate , for use as the thermoplastic substrate or for both are aromatic polyesters , aromatic polycarbonates , aromatic poly ( ester - carbonates ) and aromatic polysulfones . more preferred are the aromatic polycarbonates and poly ( ester - carbonates ) ( also called polyester - carbonates ). preferred poly ( ester - carbonates ) include those formed from phosgene , bisphenol a and a monomer selected from the group consisting of terephthalic acid , terephthaloyl chloride , isophthalic acid , isophthaloyl chloride and mixture thereof . the monomer is preferably terephthaloyl chloride . preferred poly ( ester - carbonates ) also include those formed from phosgene , bisphenol a , phenolphthalein , and terephthalic acid or terephthaloyl chloride . with poly ( ester - carbonates ) including the preferred ones , the most preferred aromatic dicyanate is 2 , 2 - bis ( 4 - cyanatophenyl ) propane (&# 34 ; bcp &# 34 ;). in general it is preferred that the weight ratio of combined aromatic dicyanate to thermoplastic polymer be between about 9 : 1 and about 1 : 9 , with between about 2 : 1 and about 1 : 2 being more preferred . in addition to being applied as a coating to a thermoplastic , the compositions of the present invention may be used as coatings for wires , structural parts and other materials requiring a tough coating which is not highly yellowed . for these applications , any of the above coating methods , i . e ., dry blending , salt blending or precipitation , may be employed . such coatings may take the form of dicyanate , thermoplastic and catalyst , or may take the form of dicyanate and catalyst . the curing process used in the present invention , whether or not a thermoplastic polymer or substrate is present , should include cure at at least one temperature at least about 150 ° c . and below about 200 ° c ., which may be quite short ( e . g . 5 - 10 minutes ) or quite long ( e . g . several hours ), but is preferably in the range of 30 minutes to 2 hours . it is contemplated to apply additional material and repeat the low temperature cure . following the low temperature cure , the article should be cured at at least one temperature between about 200 ° c . and 300 ° c . the times for this second cure depend upon the system being cured , the temperature chosen , the color level desired and the desired degree of curing to achieve a particular hardness , abrasion resistance , mar resistance or other physical property . generally less than 3 h and more than 1 min total cure time above 200 ° c . is employed , and times under about 30 minutes are most preferred when no thermoplastic is present . as shown by examples 1 and 2 , performing a high temperature cure without first performing a low temperature cure increases the discoloration of the thermoplastic . while this example is based on zinc catalysts , similar results are obtained with the present catalysts . material which has undergone both cures is also more cured , and thus has better physical properties , than material that has undergone only the same high temperature cure . as indicated by several of the examples , and especially examples 24 and 25 , the longer the further curing above about 200 ° c ., the more yellow the cured composition becomes . since , however , curing occurs faster at these temperatures than color formation ( provided than the other steps are followed such as aromatic dicyanate purification and initial cure below about 200 ° c . ), a limited time is available to obtain desirable physical properties without excessive color formation . in many cases these physical properties are equal to the physical properties of highly colored materials which have cured for significantly longer times . the improved optical properties of materials prepared in accordance with the present invention can be observed by determining a yellowness index in accordance with astm d1925 - 70 . the physical properties can be measured by a variety of techniques , but for the coatings are generally determined by the mar resistance of plastics or falling grit test of astm d673 . other properties such as solvent resistance should also improve as the degree of cure increases . for any system trade - offs between better physical properties and inceased yellowness are encountered . in general , however , either improved physical properties with equivalent optical properties or improved optical properties with equivalent physical properties are achieved with the recrystallization and two - stage cure steps ( including limited time above about 200 ° c .) of the present invention , compared to methods in which one or more of these are not employed . samples of 2 , 2 - bis ( 4 - cyanatophenyl ) propane ( bcp ) were placed in an aluminum dish to a level of about 1 / 16 inch ( 1 . 6 mm ). the bcp used was purified by dissolving in acetone at room temperature , then filtering the solution and cooling it in dry ice , filtering the crystals at - 60 ° c . and washing with - 60 ° c . acetone . this process was usually repeated several ( 3 - 5 ) times . bcp used in later examples was similarly purified . zinc octoate was added to a level of 0 . 008 % zn . one dish was then heated in an oven at 200 ° c . for 30 minutes . the other dish was heated at 150 ° c . for 30 minutes and then 200 ° c . for thirty minutes . yellowness indices ( yi1 ) were then measured by astm d1925 - 70 . the plaque from the first dish had a yellowness index of 88 . 4 . the plaque from the second dish showed a yellowness index of 10 . 1 . thus discoloration at 200 ° c . occurs far less if the initial cure is below 200 ° c . four plaques were prepared of purified bcp and 0 . 01 % zinc as zinc chloride ( zncl ) or zinc octoate ( znoc ). the first two were subjected to cure at 150 ° c . for 60 minutes , then 200 ° c . for 30 minutes ( then yi - 1 measured ), then 200 ° c . for 120 minutes ( then yi - 2 measured ), and then 250 ° c . for 120 minutes ( and then yi - 3 measured ). the results were : ______________________________________example catalyst yi - 1 yi - 2 yi - 3______________________________________3 0 . 01 % zncl 2 . 8 21 . 4 53 . 44 0 . 01 % znoc 9 . 5 27 . 0 64 . 1______________________________________ the other two were cured at 140 ° c . for 120 minutes , then 170 ° c . for 120 minutes and then 250 ° c . for 120 minutes . the results were : seven plaques of purified bcp with 0 . 01 % zinc as zinc chloride were cured at 150 ° c . for 60 minutes , then 200 ° c . for 30 minutes . the first three plaques were then cured for varying times at 250 ° c . the last three plaques were then cured for 5 minutes at varying temperatures . the results are shown in table 1 . table 1______________________________________example cure after 200 ° c . yi______________________________________7 250 ° c . for 5 min . 14 . 68 250 ° c . for 10 min . 21 . 49 250 ° c . for 15 min . 29 . 610 none 7 . 711 250 ° c . for 5 min . 10 . 512 275 ° c . for 5 min . 28 . 413 300 ° c . for 5 min . 45 . 5______________________________________ these results indicate a rapid increase in color at 250 ° c . and a more rapid increase at higher temperatures . nevertheless , if a high degree of cure is required , these short high temperature cures may be desired after precuring at lower temperatures . based upon zinc chloride catalyzed mixtures of thermoplastics and dicyanates , it has been shown in parent application ser . no . 213 , 530 that yellowness indices rise with cure times above 200 ° c . in a manner similar to the above , except that periods are extended ( e . g ., a yellowness index may be reached at 250 ° c . in 30 - 50 minutes instead of in 15 minutes ). it is believed that similar correspondence will occur using the non - zinc catalysts described below . to test the ability of metal salts to give low color cured dicyanates when used in this process , three 5 g samples of bcp in aluminum dishes ( diameter about 5 cm ) were prepared for each salt and 2 , 4 and 8 drops ( respectively ) of a 0 . 5 % solution of the metal salts in dmf was added . the dishes were put in a 150 ° c . oven and mixed when the bcp had melted . the samples were checked periodically and usually they were removed when the dcb had gotten hard enough that it was no longer tacky , or seven hours had elapsed . they were then put in a 200 ° c . oven for approximately 1 / 4 of the time they were in the 150 ° c . oven . the samples that had a yi of less than 30 are listed below . the samples were about 2 mm thick . ______________________________________ time in time in 150 ° c . 200 ° c . drops of oven ovenex catalyst cat . sol . ( min ) ( min ) yi______________________________________14 mncl . sub . 2 2 - 8 120 60 12 - 1515 co ( no . sub . 3 ) 2 - 8 240 60 9 - 16 * 16 agno . sub . 3 2 , 4 120 30 19 - 2317 ni ( oocch . sub . 3 ). sub . 2 4 , 8 420 100 19 - 24 * 18 fecl . sub . 3 2 140 30 24 * ______________________________________ * these samples had a color other than yellow so the yi understates their color . some metal salts that gave high color under these conditions are fecl 2 , sncl 2 , sncl 4 and cr ( no 3 ) 3 . some metal salts which were not active enough to be considered useful are hgcl 2 , mgcl 2 , alcl 3 and pbcl 2 . also not active enough was ethanol . to test the ability of metal salts other than zn to give low color cured dicyanates when used in this process , three 10 g samples of bcp in aluminum dishes ( diameter 5 cm ) were prepared for each salt and 1 , 2 and 4 drops ( respectively ) of a 2 % solution of the metal salt in dmf was added . the dishes were put in a 150 ° c . oven and each was mixed when the bcp had melted . the samples were checked periodically and were removed when the bcp had gotton hard , or 12 hours had elapsed . they were then put in a 200 ° c . oven for about 1 / 4 the time they were in the 150 ° c . oven . the samples were about 4 mm thick . samples whose yi , adjusted to a 2 mm thickness , was less than 30 are listed below . ______________________________________ time in time in yi 150 ° c . 200 ° c . yi adjustedex . and drops of oven oven meas - to 2 mmcatalyst cat . sol ( min ) ( min ) ured thickness______________________________________19 bicl . sub . 3 1 - 4 420 to 720 30 - 95 11 - 20 5 - 1120 incl . sub . 3 1 - 4 240 to 420 30 - 65 17 - 37 9 - 2121 hfcl . sub . 4 4 560 90 29 16______________________________________ ## str2 ##- thus yi ( 5 g )=[ 1 -( 1 - 0 . 01 yi ( 10 g )). sup . 1 / 2 ] 100 an example of metal a salt that gave high color under these conditions was mocl . sub . 5 . examples of metal salts that were not active enough to be tested for low color are ticl . sub . 4 , tecl . sub . 4 , oscl . sub . 3 and rhcl . sub . 3 . based upon mechanical testing , it was determined that dicyanates cured only at 200 ° c . or only at 150 ° c . and 200 ° c . were not as fully cured as materials cured at 250 ° c . or at 200 ° c . and at 250 ° c . ( for zinc catalyzed systems as well as for some of these other systems ). accordingly , the four catalysts giving the lowest color and heat cure at 200 ° c . were tested further : mncl 2 , co ( no 3 ), fecl 3 and ag ( no 3 ). while nickel acetate produced products with low yellowness indices , these materials were too blue for use in applications where low color was required . purified dicyanate bisphenol a ( 5 g ) was melt blended with 2 , 4 or 8 drops of freshly prepared silver nitrate in dimethyl formamide ( one weight %) and placed in 5 . 5 cm diameter aluminum weighing dish and then cured for 4 hours at 150 ° c ., then a variable period at 200 ° c . and finally for 5 minutes at 250 ° c . the yellowness index was then measured and a sample analyzed by ir as a kbr pellet ( comparing absorbance at 2270 against 2220 cm - 1 ) to determine the percent unreacted cyanate . the results were as follows : ______________________________________ drops of time at % unreactedrun agno . sub . 3 200 ° c . * yi cyanate______________________________________22 a 2 30 min . 21 . 3 18 . 222 b 4 10 min . 22 . 7 12 . 922 c 4 20 min . 27 . 0 15 . 422 d 4 30 min . 28 . 9 nm22 e 8 10 min . 25 . 8 10 . 722 f 8 20 min . 25 . 8 12 . 322 g 8 30 min . 30 . 8 nm______________________________________ * after 4 h at 150 ° c . and before 5 min . at 250 ° c . nm = not measured example 22 was repeated using 1 % fecl 3 in dimethyl formamide ( 1 , 2 or 4 drops ) and various times at 150 ° c ., 200 ° c . and 250 ° c . the results were as follows : ______________________________________ minutes at % run drops 150 ° c . 200 ° c . 250 ° c . yi unreacted______________________________________23 a 1 5 . 5 22 5 . 5 25 . 1 13 . 723 b 1 5 . 5 40 5 . 5 28 . 6 12 . 723 c 1 5 . 5 22 10 34 . 5 11 . 123 d 2 4 22 5 . 5 28 , 34 . 7 * nm23 e 2 4 40 5 . 5 33 . 9 nm23 f 2 4 40 10 36 . 8 nm23 g 4 4 22 10 55 . 5 , 49 . 6 * nm23 h 4 4 40 5 . 5 34 . 0 nm23 i 4 4 40 10 49 . 6 nm______________________________________ * duplicate readings it appears that 5 minutes at 250 ° c . is near the maximum that can be used with this fecl 3 catalyst without exceeding a 30 yellowness index . when example 22 was repeated with 8 drops of mncl 2 ( 1 % dimethyl formamide ) and the plaques were cured for 4 hours at 150 ° c ., 10 - 30 minutes at 200 ° c . and 0 , 5 , 7 . 5 or 10 minutes at 250 ° c ., yi values below 30 were uniformly obtained . infrared showed 15 % or more of the cyanate to be unreacted , however . selected runs are summarized below : ______________________________________time atrun 150 ° c . 200 ° c . 250 ° c . yi % unreacted______________________________________24 a 4 h 10 5 15 . 7 18 . 724 b 4 h 20 7 . 5 20 . 1 15 . 324 c 4 h 20 10 25 . 2 13 . 124 d 4 h 30 5 20 . 7 17 . 324 e 4 h 30 7 . 5 19 . 8 15 . 724 f 4 h 30 10 23 . 1 12 . 7______________________________________ to improve total cure , the catalyst was increased to 10 drops , the time at 150 ° c . was then extended to 6 hours and the time at 200 ° c . was also extended . the results were then : ______________________________________time atrun 150 ° c . 200 ° c . 250 ° c . yi % unreacted______________________________________24 g 6 h 20 0 11 . 0 -- 24 h 6 h 63 0 15 . 9 -- 24 i 6 h 20 5 18 . 3 -- 24 j 6 h 20 7 . 5 23 . 4 -- 24 k 6 h 63 7 . 5 23 . 6 14 . 524 l 6 h 20 10 25 . 2 11 . 124 m 6 h 63 10 26 . 0 13 . 724 n 6 h 63 12 . 5 26 . 3 13 . 624 o 6 h 63 15 31 . 8 -- 24 p 6 h 63 17 . 5 37 . 7 -- 24 q 6 h 63 20 36 . 0 -- ______________________________________ it is apparent that after 6 hours at 150 ° c . and 63 minutes at 200 ° c ., the time permitted at 250 ° c . is between 12 . 5 and 15 minutes for this mncl 2 catalyst . other runs with 20 hours at 150 ° c ., 16 , 36 or 46 hours at 210 ° c . and 2 . 5 , 5 . 5 , 7 . 5 or 10 . 0 hours at 270 ° c . produced yellowness indices from 17 . 6 to 49 . when the procedures of example 22 were repeated with cobalt ( i ) nitrate , a strong color appeared after the 200 ° c . cure , such that further curing was not performed . | 2 |
according to the present invention , a construction support device is provided which conveniently provides anchoring of a building element to a building site . as illustrated herein , the invention may be practiced in accordance with a first embodiment of fig1 wherein the construction support device is securely attached to a concrete base or pier . the device of fig1 can be inexpensively molded from plastic or stamped from metal and is simplified in its use and constructions . alternatively , the invention may be practiced in accordance with other embodiments , such as shown in fig1 and 17 . there , the device is inexpensively poured from concrete together with a pier block to form a single cast , one - piece body . in either type of embodiment , the invention provides a new and advantageous support for securely seating construction members in either a horizontal or vertical orientation . with reference first to fig5 through 8 , the numeral 10 represents a base or pier block of conventional structure which is commonly used to support decks , carports , etc . this block is generally constructed of concrete and assumes different shapes . in most cases , the block is tapered to a lesser dimension toward the top . the top and bottom surfaces 12 and 13 , respectively , are flat . fig1 - 8 illustrate a construction support device 14 in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention . construction support device 14 which may be molded , stamped , or otherwise formed from a tough plastic or metal . the body member of the device 14 includes a flat bottom wall 16 and four identically shaped or symmetrical upright quarter sections 18 . each of the sections 18 comprises four zig zag panels 18a joined integrally at right angles . these symmetrical quarter sections are shaped to form a recess or opening 20 on each side , with oppositely located recesses being laterally aligned . also , with this quarter section construction , a square central socket 22 is formed . laterally aligned recesses 20 provide a pair of full width slots open at the sides . each of the panel sections 18a has one or more apertures 24 therein provided to receive fasteners , to be seen hereinafter , for securement of building elements to the device 14 . as seen in fig2 cutouts 26 are provided in the bottom wall 16 for reducing the weight of the member as well as for conserving material . also , apertures 28 are provided in the wall 16 for secured attachment of the member 14 to a base , such as to a block 10 , a concrete slab , or other support means . fig5 , 7 and 8 show various applications of the construction device 14 with building elements such as support members and pillars . fig5 for example shows a horizontal decking surface support member 30 seated edgewise on the bottom wall 16 and extending fully through the device and out both side recesses 20 . fig6 shows a support member 30 similarly supported as in fig5 but also showing a right angle support member 32 extending through a 90 degree side recess 20 and abutted against the support member 30 . fig7 shows a vertical pillar 34 supported on the device 14 and fitted in the central socket 22 . fig8 shows a pillar 34 similarly fitted in the socket 22 as in fig7 but also showing side beams 32 extending in from all four of the side recesses . these members may simply be fitted in the respective recesses 20 or socket 22 . preferably , however , secured attachment to the member 14 is accomplished by fasteners 36 extending through the apertures 24 . also , device 14 can first be secured to the base member 10 by fasteners extending through the apertures 28 . fig3 is a bottom perspective view of a construction device 14 &# 39 ; having a bottom wall 16 and side walls 18 in an arrangement similar to that shown in fig1 and 2 . this structure , however , is formed ( such as by integral molding ) with a plurality of depending foot members 38 . four of such foot members are shown , as well as a central foot member , but any number of such foot members may be provided . in the fig3 embodiment , the foot members 38 are hollow whereby long fasteners can be inserted down from the top through the wall 16 and into a base for secured attachment of the construction device 14 &# 39 ; to the base . fig4 shows a structure similar to fig3 except that the outer foot members 38 &# 39 ; are solid and not hollow . this embodiment may be employed in circumstances where it is not necessary to use vertical fasteners around an outer portion of the member . fig9 - 12 illustrate an embodiment of the invention employing means for anchoring the body member against lateral shifting . in this embodiment , the body member 14 &# 34 ; is the same as that shown in fig1 with respect to quarter panel sections 18a and their formation of aligned recesses 20 and central socket 22 . to accomplish the lateral anchoring feature , the outermost panel section 18a of each quarter section has a depending projection or lip 40 defined by a bottom wall portion 42 integral with side extensions 44 and a rear wall portion 46 . rear wall portion 46 preferably angles outwardly toward the bottom to coincide with the angle of the side surfaces of pier block 10 . reel wall portion 46 can extend at a desired angle , so as to have flush engagement with pier block sides of varying shape . fig1 and 12 show application of the device 14 &# 34 ; of fig9 to a pier block . in such arrangement , the device 14 &# 34 ; and the building elements therein are anchored or locked against lateral shifting . fasteners extending through the bottom wall of the device are not necessary , although such fasteners can be used if desired . the cross dimension of the device between rear wall portions 46 can be preselected according to the size of the pier block so that a snug or frictional fit is provided . referring to fig1 - 21 , it will be seen that the device 14 may be made of concrete and integrally molded into the upper surface 12 &# 39 ; of a pier block such as pier block 50 . as shown in fig1 - 16 , the four upright quarter sections 18 &# 39 ; include zig - zag walls 18a &# 39 ; which project from flat bottom wall 16 &# 39 ;. recesses 20 &# 39 ; define two perpendicular slot portions extending across the full width of upper surface 12 &# 39 ;. zig - zag walls 18a &# 39 ; also define the four corners of a square central socket 22 &# 39 ;. with reference to fig1 - 21 , the concept of the invention can also utilize a pier block 50 &# 39 ; having a central socket portion 22 &# 39 ; and only two equal narrower recesses 20 &# 39 ; which extend inward from outer edges of two opposite sides of the top surface of the block 50 &# 39 ; and lead into the central socket portion , as best shown in fig1 . the two narrower recesses 20 &# 39 ; form but a single slot for receiving a horizontal decking surface support member 30 which also passes through the central socket portion 22 &# 39 ;, as shown in fig2 . the central socket portion 22 &# 39 ; is for receiving vertical pillar supports 34 , independent of the two equal narrower recesses 20 &# 39 ;, as shown by fig2 . the horizontal decking surface support members 30 and vertical pillar support members 34 being mutually exclusive to each other in the recess of block 50 &# 39 ; and also mutually interchangeable with each other in the same recess of the same block 50 &# 39 ;. the combination of slots and sockets allows a support in accordance with the invention to accommodate both vertical and horizontal beams , and is particularly well - suited for constructing decks on unprepared and unleveled building sites , two examples of those being shown in fig2 and 23 . such decks , by using the present block , are extremely simplified in their construction and can be supplied in pre - planned , pre - cut units . other advantages also exist in the structure , as will be apparent hereinafter . the deck shown in fig2 , designated by the numeral 52 , comprises the pier blocks 50 &# 39 ; as the base or ground support for the deck and can have such lumber as two - inch thick ( 11 / 2 inch thick nominal ) horizontal decking surface support member 30 received by the two equal narrower portions 20 &# 39 ;, also passing through the central socket portion 22 &# 39 ; when the vertical pillar support 34 is not in the block 50 &# 39 ;, those members 30 then supporting the deck surface structure 54 which is nailed in place and those blocks 50 &# 39 ; directly receiving member 30 being on localized high or level ground within an unprepared and unleveled building site . the deck shown in fig2 , designated by the numeral 56 , similarly uses some pier blocks 50 &# 39 ; as described above and also illustrates the use of some blocks 50 &# 39 ; as the base or ground support for vertical pillar supports 34 set in the central socket 22 &# 39 ; when the member 30 is not in block 50 , member 34 then providing support to member 30 when member 30 is not directly received by block 50 due to localized variations of the ground within an unprepared and unleveled building site . a deck support member 30 can also be fastened to a building 60 , as shown in fig2 . the particular structure of the manufactured pier blocks 50 and 50 &# 39 ; makes it possible to construct an extremely simplified deck and one which can be pre - planned and pre - cut if desired . that is , such lumber as 2 - inch thick deck support members 30 and vertical wood pillars 34 which can be used therewith comprise conventional existing material , namely , the two - inch thick deck support members 30 can comprise 2 × 6 &# 39 ; s or 2 × 4 &# 39 ; s and pillars 34 can comprise 4 × 4 &# 39 ; s . the two equal narrower recesses 20 &# 39 ; can be 2 inches deep and have a width of 13 / 4 inches . this latter dimension would receive conventional finished 2 × 6 &# 39 ; s ( 11 / 2 inches thick ) and 2 × 4 &# 39 ; s ( also 11 / 2 inches thick ). 2 × 6 &# 39 ; s and 2 × 4 &# 39 ; s have finished height dimensions of 51 / 2 and 31 / 2 inches , respectively , whereby the deck support members , whether 2 × 6 &# 39 ; s or 2 × 4 &# 39 ; s , project to a minimum necessary height above the top surface of the blocks 50 when seated in the recess for supporting the decking thereon . the central socket portion 22 &# 39 ; can be 2 inches deep , similar to the recess portion 20 &# 39 ;. such socket is square , and can have dimensions of 33 / 4 inches for receiving a conventional finished 4 × 4 ( 31 / 2 inches square ) lumber support pillar . the vertical pillar becomes sufficiently fixed in socket portion 22 &# 39 ; in the block for deck construction purposes , as does the deck horizontal support member in the two narrower portions 20 &# 39 ;, also being within the central socket portion 22 &# 39 ; when the member 34 is not in the block 50 , for lateral stability . pier blocks 50 and 50 &# 39 ; are designed to provide support to a deck on unleveled or unprepared building sites with no additional components required . for this purpose , the blocks 50 and 50 &# 39 ; are tapered to a larger dimension toward the bottom . the top and bottom surfaces are flat and square . the enlarged bottom surface allows the block to serve as its own footing . when two of such recesses 20 &# 39 ; are provided , they are standardly aligned across the block . furthermore , the width of these recesses is less than one - third the width of the block at the top , thus maintaining lateral integral strength of the block . this arrangement maintains a strong concrete block without the necessity of re - bar reinforcement and thus contributes to manufacture of a pier block and deck structure in a pre - planned and pre - cut unit which is also sufficiently simplified in its use , standardized in its manufacture , and sufficiently inexpensive for deck construction by the average do - it - yourself homeowner . since the recess can be two inches deep , the recesses of the pier blocks 50 and 50 &# 39 ; of fig1 and 17 automatically and non - mechanically center the horizontal decking surface support member 30 and vertical pillars 34 in the pier block ( fig2 and 21 ) and automates connection and securement of these support members to the pier block for deck constructions 52 and 54 shown in fig2 and 23 . mounted engagement of the horizontal surface support members and vertical pillars with the block is accomplished without metal - brackets or embedded connectors thus allowing individual blocks of a deck construction on unleveled and unprepared building sites to be adjusted without the need of any disassembly of the deck ( i . e . removing bolts , nails or screws ). also , the recess of the pier blocks 50 and 50 &# 39 ; maintains horizontal and vertical members in parallel which is critical in construction of the deck . it is to be understood that the forms of our invention herein shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same and that other changes in the shape , size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of our invention or the scope of the following claims . | 4 |
fig1 shows a central control station 20 according to a first embodiment of the invention ; fig2 shows a paging unit 22 suitable for use with central control station 20 . as shown in fig1 , central control station 20 includes central computer 30 ; transmitter 32 ; receiver 34 ; and computerized telephone answering system 36 . transmitter 32 transmits , via transmitting antenna 42 , two local frequencies , namely frequency f 1 , and frequency f 2 . receiver 34 is connected to receiver antenna 44 for reception of two local frequencies , namely frequency f 3 and frequency f 4 . computerized telephone answering system 36 is connected to a bank of telephones 48 . central computer 30 of central control station 20 comprises a conventional computer equipped with typical components including a cpu 50 ; i / o interface 52 ; and memory 54 . although shown only generally in fig1 , it should be understood that memory 54 includes a number of unillustrated memory devices , including ( for example ) a hard disk drive , ram , and rom . fig1 shows that memory 54 has stored therein ( among other things ) a pager registration file 55 and a pager directory file 56 . pager files 55 and 56 are typically stored on a hard disk drive of central computer 30 , and upon start - up are loadable into a ram portion of memory 54 . central computer 30 of central control station 20 further includes a decoder 57 ( connected between receiver 34 and i / o interface 52 for decoding in - coming communications information from one or more pager units 22 ), as well as encoder 58 ( connected between i / o interface 52 and transmitter 32 for encoding out - going communications information ). central control station 20 also includes a clock unit 59 which generates a local clock signal f 1 clk ( which , in turn , is used to modulate frequency f 1 ). as illustrated further herein , cpu 50 of central control station 20 prepares communications packets for transmission on frequency f 2 . as generally illustrated in fig1 , the communications packets are of a predetermined format , having fields for identification of the central control station , for identification of the addressed pager unit ( s ) 22 , for an operation code , for ( optionally ) alphanumeric information , and for other conventional packet - type information such as checksum , error correction , and postamble . the preamble and postamble are specially chosen patterns which can be recognized and distinguished from data for the purpose of determining the beginning and ending of a packet . the alphanumeric information can be in a customary binary 8 - bit format . the format of fig1 is illustrative only , as such information as the order of the fields can be varied in other embodiments . central control station 20 communicates with a plurality of pager units 22 1 , 22 2 , . . . 22 n . only one such pager unit , generically referenced as pager unit 22 , is specifically illustrated and described herein , it being understood that the construction and operation of other pager units may be similar to the one illustration . as shown in fig2 , pager unit 22 includes a pager receiver antenna 60 which is connected to pager receiver 62 . pager receiver 62 is , in turn , connected through s / d converter 64 within pager computer 70 . receiver 62 receives the two local frequencies f 1 , and f 2 , which frequencies have been modulated to carry in - coming communications information ( described in more detail below ) to pager computer 70 . on a communications output side , pager computer 70 outputs out - going communications information to pager transmitter 72 via d / s converter 74 . transmitter 72 broadcasts , on pager antenna 76 , the out - going communications information on the two local frequencies f 3 and f 4 . as also shown in fig2 , pager computer 70 includes pager microprocessor 80 which is connected to each of an arithmetic processor ; a memory system 84 ( including both rom and ram ); and i / o interface 86 . i / o interface 86 is connected to a clock unit 87 . i / o interface 86 is also connected to receive in - coming decoded communications information from an 8 - bit decoder 88 and to output out - going uncoded communications information to an 8 - bit encoder 90 . decoder 88 is connected to receive in - coming coded communications information from s / d converter 64 ; encoder 90 is connected to output out - going coded communications information to d / s converter 74 . clock unit 87 is settable by suitable inputs thereto so that clock unit 87 generates a local clock signal f 1 clk having a frequency corresponding to its input . it should be understood that , in other embodiments , the function of clock unit 87 can be performed at least partially by microprocessor 80 using programmed execution . i / o interface 86 is also connected to supply an on / off signal on line 92 to pager transmitter 72 , as well as to facilitate input and output with numerous input / output devices . the input / output devices connected to i / o interface 86 include keyboard 93 ; beeper 94 ; vibrator 95 ; and lcd ( alphanumeric ) display 96 . upon manufacture , pager unit 22 is preprogrammed with an identification serial number ( e . g ., a 7 - digit alphanumeric pre - assigned id number ) which is stored in memory 84 ( rom ). pager unit 22 is activated ( e . g ., at the time of purchase ) by inserting a time slot assignment ( explained below ) both into a predetermined address in memory 84 of pager unit 22 and into pager directory file 56 ( stored in memory 54 of central control station 20 ). communication between central control station 20 and pager unit 22 occurs on the four local frequencies , in particular the frequencies f 1 , f 2 , f 3 , and f 4 mentioned above . the first frequency ( f 1 ) carries the local clock - aligning signal from central control station 20 to paging unit 22 . the second frequency ( f 2 ) carries a pager command and alphanumeric data from central control station 20 to paging unit 22 . the third frequency ( f 3 ) carries pager status data and alphanumeric data from . paging unit 22 to central control station 20 . the fourth frequency ( f 4 ) carries a pager request signal from paging unit 22 to central control station 20 . in the illustrated embodiment , the frequencies f 1 - f 4 are preferably chosen so that f 1 ≠ f 2 ≠ f 3 ≠ f 4 . as explained in more detail below and illustrated in fig1 , in normal non - cell - switching operation , the pager request signal on frequency f 4 is transmitted in a predetermined time slot assigned to paging unit 22 . the predetermined time slot on frequency f 4 is related to the clock - aligning signal ( carried by frequency f 1 ) and assigned whereby the fourth frequency is utilizable by a plurality of other paging units . for example , as shown in fig1 , a first time slot on frequency f 4 is assigned to a pager p 1 ; a second time slot is assigned to page p 2 , and so on up to time slot n assigned to pager pn . in the illustrated embodiment , the number of time slots ( and accordingly the number of pagers ) may be as many as ten thousand or more . fig3 shows steps executed by cpu 50 of central control station 20 in processing communications to and from one or more paging units . the steps depicted in fig3 are indicative of instructions stored in a rom portion of memory 54 of central control station 20 . when central control station 20 is started up ( step 100 ), an initialization process ( step 102 ) is conducted . included in the initialization process is activation of transmitter 32 ( so that transmitter 32 can transmit at the two frequencies f 1 and f 2 ) and activation of receiver 34 ( so that receiver 34 can receive the two frequencies f 3 and f 4 ). moreover , frequency f 1 is modulated to carry the local clock - aligning signal generated by local clock 59 . then , at step 104 , the pager registration file 55 and the pager directory file 56 are loaded from hard disk into a ram section of memory 54 ( step 104 ). after initialization and loading of the files 55 and 56 , cpu 50 repetitively executes an instruction loop 106 . loop 106 involves checking to determine ( at step 108 ) whether a telephone message is being received ( via answering system 36 from one of the telephones in bank 48 ) and checking to determine ( at step 110 ) whether a pager message is being received ( via transmitter 32 from one of the pager units 22 ). as used herein , a message , whether originated from a telephone or from a pager , may require a plurality of packets for transmission from a central station 20 to a pager 22 or vise versa . in the ensuing discussion , transmission and reception of messages subsumes transmission and reception one or more packets . in general , the packetization of messages will be invisible to the user , meaning that a user enters a message without regard to the number of packets which might be required to transmit the message . the message typically ends with a user - entered message termination character or message delimiter character . the transmitting device ( either central station 20 or pager 22 ), allocates the message to one or more packets having a format similar to that of fig1 , with the last packet in the message bearing the message termination character . alternatively , the packets may be formatted in a manner to indicate the number of consecutively related packets emanating from a transmitter ( e . g ., there may be a separate packet field indicating the continuation number of related packets ). central computer 30 can distinguish between receipt of a telephone message ( at step 108 ) and a pager message ( at step 110 ) by virtue of the fact that i / o interface 52 generates different type of interrupts to cpu 50 depending on the type of message received . if it is determined at step 108 that a telephone message is being received , steps 112 , 114 , and 116 of fig3 are executed . in processing a received telephone message , at step 112 central computer 30 extracts out - going communications information from the predeterminately sequenced telephone - entered data . the telephone - entered data , entered via a touchpad of a calling one of the telephones in bank 48 , includes by convention an identification ( e . g ., telephone number ) of the calling telephone ; an identification of the called pager unit ( e . g ., the 7 - digit alphanumeric pre - assigned id number ); and any character data for transmission followed by a termination character . this out - going communications information is received at central computer 30 in standard dtmf format . at step 114 , using the id number of the called pager ( obtained at step 112 ) central computer 30 checks the pager registration file 55 and directory file 56 to determine whether the called pager unit is registered with central control station 20 . assuming that the called pager is so registered , at step 114 the central computer 30 also obtains from pager directory file 56 the slot assignment for the called pager unit . at step 116 , central control station 30 transmits communications information to the called pager unit . in this regard , central control station 20 prepares and transmits ( on frequency f 2 ) a communications message which includes , among other things , the id of the called pager unit and the character data received from the telephone for transmission of the pager unit 22 . after step 116 is executed , processing returns to loop 106 . if it is determined at step 110 that a pager message is being received , even numbered steps 132 - 140 of fig3 are executed ( prior to returning to loop 106 ). as will be seen hereinafter with respect to fig4 , a sending pager unit 22 transmits , in its assigned time slot , a request signal on frequency f 4 when the sending pager unit 22 desires to send a message . as central control station 20 is always monitoring frequency f 4 , a request signal carried by frequency f 4 from any pager unit 22 is noted . with reference to the local clock 59 , at step 132 cpu 50 determines in what time slot on frequency f 4 the request signal is detected . upon detection of the time slot at step 132 , at step 134 cpu 50 consults the pager directory file 56 to determine the identification number of the particular pager unit 22 which originated the request signal . with the identity of the requesting pager unit 22 now known , at step 136 central control station 20 authorizes the requesting pager unit 22 to transmit its message . in particular , cpu 50 directs preparation of a communications message for transmission on frequency f 2 . the particular communications packet prepared at step 136 includes an identification of the requesting pager unit ( the addressee of the packet ), as well as an operation code (“ op ” code ) which commands / authorizes the requesting pager unit 22 to send its message . at step 138 , central control station 20 receives a communications message on frequency f 3 sent from the sending ( e . g ., requesting ) pager unit 22 . the communications message prepared and sent by the sending pager unit 22 includes packets of similar format to that shown in fig1 , and includes an identification of a pager to which the message is ultimately addressed as well as its own identification . at step 138 , cpu 50 checks to ensure that the ultimate addressee pager unit is registered in pager files 55 and 56 . at step 140 , cpu 50 makes any necessary reformatting and / or information substitution in the message , and causes the message to be transmitted on frequency f 2 . the transmission on frequency f 2 required by step 140 includes the identification of the ultimate addressee ( e . g ., a pager unit 22 ) as well as an operation code indicating that the transmission includes a relayed message from another pager unit . steps executed by a pager unit 22 in connection with its transmission mode are depicted in fig4 . steps executed by a pager unit 22 in connection with its receive mode are depicted in fig5 . the term “ mode ” as used herein does not connote exclusivity at any particular moment , for it should be remembered that at all times pager unit 22 is receiving transmissions on frequencies f 1 and f 2 . in its transmission mode ( see fig4 ), after start - up ( step 200 ) microprocessor 80 of the transmitting pager unit 22 executes a loop 202 wherein user alphanumeric characters ( entered via keyboard 93 ) are repetitively fetched ( at step 204 ) until an end of message delimiter is detected ( at step 206 ). as entered , the characters fetched at step 204 are displayed on lcd display 96 . entry of the delimiter character at step 206 causes microprocessor 80 to exit loop 202 . by convention , the message must include an addressee id , which addressee id is likely the id of another one of the pager units to which the message entered in step 204 is directed . after entry of the message awaits entry from keyboard 93 of a transmit command at step 212 . assuming that the transmit command is entered at step 212 , microprocessor 80 prepares and sends a request signal on frequency f 4 . as indicated before , the request signal is transmitted on frequency f 4 in a time slot assigned to the requesting pager unit 22 . it should be kept in mind that pager unit 22 is all the while receiving the local clock - aligning signal on frequency f 1 , which enables microprocessor 80 to cause transmission of the request signal on frequency f 4 at a time corresponding to the specific time slot allotted to the particular sending pager unit 22 . in the above regard , in accordance with time division techniques , each pager unit 22 1 - 22 n ( e . g ., pagers p 1 - p n in fig1 ) is assigned a selected one of n number of time slots on frequency f 4 . after transmission of the request signal at step 214 , pager unit 22 awaits receipt of a transmit command from central control station 20 . preparation and transmission of the transmit command / authorization from central control station 20 is described with reference to fig3 . upon receipt of the transmit command / authorization from central control station 20 ( step 216 ), microprocessor 80 prepares ( at step 218 ) a communications message with one or more packets having a format much like that of fig1 . the addressee id and alphanumeric field of packets of the communications message is filled with the message entered in loop 202 . at step 220 , the sending pager unit 22 broadcasts the communications packet on frequency f 3 . if a transmit command is not entered at step 212 , or after transmission of the message at step 220 , microprocessor 80 awaits entry of at least one of several possible special function keys at step 222 . for example , the user may press a function key which requires storage of the message ( whether yet transmitted or not ) [ see step 228 ]. alternatively , the user may press function keys which facilitate editing or erasure of the message ( see steps 224 and 226 , respectively ). to complete the message and begin work on another message , a special function key for an exit operation ( step 230 ) must be pressed . fig5 depicts steps executed by microprocessor 80 of pager unit 22 when in a receive mode . after start - up ( step 302 ), and as indicated by step 304 , pager unit 22 receives transmissions from central control station 20 on frequency f 2 . once a complete packet is received ( determined at step 306 ), a check is made ( at step 308 ) whether the addressee id in the communications packet ( see packet format of fig1 ) is the id of the receiving pager unit 22 . if the determinations of either step 306 or 308 are negative , pager unit 22 awaits either completion of the communications packet ( in the case of step 306 ) or receipt of another communications packet ( in the case of step 308 ) by looping back to step 304 . assuming that the received communications packet is designated for this particular receiving pager unit 22 , at step 310 microprocessor 80 consults the operation code field of the communications packet ( see fig1 ) to determine if the operation code indicates that the message includes a command . if the operation code indicates a command , a command processing routine ( framed by broken lines 312 in fig5 ) is executed . assuming for the moment that the operation code does not indicate a command , at step 314 microprocessor 80 of pager unit 22 stores the alphanumeric field portion of the communications packet ( which at least partially forms the message ) in a ram portion of memory 84 . since a message communicated from central processing station 20 may require several communications packets for completion of the message ( with subsequent communication packets providing continuations of the message content ), microprocessor 80 checks at step 316 to ensure that the entire message has been received . if not , processing continues back at step 304 for reception of a further communications packet . upon reception of an entire communications message , at step 318 microprocessor 80 determines whether pager unit 22 is in a beep mode or a vibrate mode . in this regard , there are numerous ways of setting paging unit 22 to the desired mode , either by a specially dedicated switch on paging unit 22 or by data entry using keyboard 93 . if pager unit 22 is in a beep mode , microprocessor 80 outputs a signal which causes i / o interface 86 to issue a further signal to activate beeper 94 ( step 320 ). alternatively , if pager unit 22 is in a vibrate mode , microprocessor 80 outputs a signal which causes i / o interface 86 to issue a further signal to activate vibrator 95 ( step 322 ). at step 324 , microprocessor 80 directs i / o interface 86 to send the alphanumeric message data to lcd display 96 , so that the received message can be viewed by the user . after notification to the user ( either via beeper 94 and / or vibrator 95 ), and display ( on lcd 96 ) of the received alphanumeric data , microprocessor 80 returns to step 304 to check whether further communications packets are being received . the command processing routine ( framed by broken lines 312 in fig5 ) first determines ( step 330 ) which particular operation is being commanded . this determination is based on the content of the operation code , which is different for different command types . if the operation code indicates an error shut - down , execution jumps to an error shut - down sub - routine which begins at step 340 . if the operation code indicates a time slot change , execution jumps to a change time slot sub - routine which begins at step 350 . if the operation code requires transmitter shut - down , execution jumps to a transmitter shut - down sub - routine which begins at step 360 . if the operation code requires transmitter re - enablement , execution jumps to a transmitter reenable sub - routine which begins at step 370 . if the operation code requires clock re - set , execution jumps to a clock re - set sub routine which begins at step 380 . in connection with the error shut down sub - routine , at step 342 microprocessor 80 obtains an indication of error type from the communications packet . the error type is stored in memory 84 ( step 344 ) and then displayed on lcd display 96 ( step 346 ). then microprocessor 80 issues a command ( at step 348 ) to shut down pager unit 22 , which shut - down occurs at step 349 . in connection with the time slot changing sub - routine , at step 352 microprocessor 80 extracts , from the received communications packet , information indicative of the new time slot assigned to the receiving pager unit 22 . the new time slot is entered ( at step 354 ) into memory 84 and thereafter utilized ( until further change ) in connection with transmission of request signals on frequency f 4 ( see , for example , step 214 of fig4 ). the time slot changing sub - routine may also include other operations , if desired , including ( for example ) eliminating unused time slots ( thereby increasing scanning rate ); diagnosing and trouble shooting ; and avoiding interruption of service from malfunctioning or ill - functioning equipment . in connection with the transmitter shut down sub - routine , at step 362 microprocessor 80 directs i / o interface 86 to issue an off command to transmitter 72 . in connection with the transmitter re - enable sub - routine , at step 372 microprocessor 80 directs i / o interface 86 to issue an on command to transmitter 72 . in connection with the clock re - set sub - routine , at step 382 microprocessor 80 directs that clock 59 of pager unit 22 be set . after execution of steps 354 , 362 , 372 , or 382 , execution continues back to step 304 for processing of potential further communications packets . thus , unless an error shut - down is noted , each entry of the command processing routine ( framed by broken lines 312 in fig5 ) is followed by a loop back to step 304 . fig6 is a timing diagram showing the frequencies f 1 - f 4 and integration of the steps depicted in fig3 - 5 , particularly in the context of a request by a sending pager unit p 1 for sending a message to a sendee pager unit p 2 . as employed in fig6 , “ computer ” refers to central control station 20 . it should be understood that the sending pager unit p 1 and the sendee pager unit p 2 operate in both the transmission mode as depicted in fig4 and in the receiver mode as depicted in fig5 . in general , fig6 shows transmission of a message from pager unit p 1 ( via central control station 20 ) to pager unit p 2 ; transmission of a confirmation message from pager unit p 2 ( via central control station 20 ) to pager unit p 1 ; and transmission of a message from pager unit p 1 to central control station 20 indicating that pager unit p 1 received the confirmation message from pager unit p 2 . fig7 shows a central control station 420 according to a second embodiment of the invention ; fig8 shows a paging unit 422 suitable for use with central control station 420 . fig9 shows a wide area paging system including a plurality of central control stations s 1 - s 8 ( each identical to central control station 420 ), each preferably geographically centered within a respective cell . each central control station s 1 - s 8 broadcasts its own local frequencies , as well as a set of common or switching frequencies c 1 - c 4 . the common frequencies c 1 - c 4 are broadcast at a lower power , so that reception thereof occurs only in a relatively small neighborhood or common frequency reception region ( cfrr ) [ also referred to as a “ switching region ”] about the central control station . the local frequencies are broadcast at a significantly greater power for reception substantially throughout the cell . for example , in fig9 , central control station s 1 broadcasts its lower power common frequencies c 1 - c 4 to cfrr 1 and its higher power local frequencies f 1 - f 4 to cell ; central control station s 2 broadcasts its lower power common frequencies c 1 - c 4 to cfrr 2 and its higher power local frequencies f 5 - f 8 to cell 2 . as also shown in fig9 , cell 1 and cell 2 overlap in an overlap region shown in fig9 . station s 1 utilizes a set of local frequencies f 1 - f 4 ; station s 2 utilizes a different set of local frequencies f 5 - f 8 . both stations s 1 and s 2 utilize the same set of common or switching frequencies c 1 - c 4 . thus , each central control station utilizes two sets of frequencies , there being four frequencies in each set , resulting in a total of eight frequencies handled per station . thus , the second embodiment of the invention is suitable for a system having a plurality of central control stations 420 x where x = 1 , 2 , . . . m . each central control station 420 x transmits and receives a set of local frequencies f l1 , f l2 , f l3 , f l4 in an associated geographical area or cell , as well as the set of common or switch frequencies c 1 , c 2 , c 3 , c 4 . while the values of the local frequencies f l1 , f l2 , f l3 , f l4 , vary from cell to cell ( e . g ., differ for differing central control stations 420 x ), the values of the common or switch frequencies c 1 , c 2 , c 3 , c 4 are uniform through the system ( e . g ., for all central control stations 420 x ). although not shown in fig9 , it should be understood that the pattern of central control stations repeats in like manner in all compass directions in accordance with the prescribed geographical boundaries of the paging system . moreover , although not specifically illustrated in fig9 , it should also be understood that each central control station 420 has an associated cfrr . the common or switching frequencies c 1 - c 4 have an analogous function to the corresponding local frequencies f 1 - f 4 , respectively . in this regard , frequency c 1 carries a clock frequency transmitted by central control station ( s ), although the clock rate on common frequency c 1 preferably varies among central control stations . frequency c 2 is used to transmit information from central control station ( s ) to pager unit ( s ); frequency c 3 is used to transmit information from a pager unit to a central control station ; frequency c 4 is used by pager units to issue a request signal . frequency c 2 carries packets having a format similar to that of fig1 . in analogous manner to frequency f 2 , the packets carried by frequency c 2 may have command codes . among the c 2 command codes are a system command code ; a local frequency download command code ; a slot recognition command code ; and a slot assignment command code . as shown in fig7 , central control station 420 resembles central control station 20 of the embodiment of fig1 ( similar components being assigned the same reference numerals for simplicity ). however , central control station 420 is augmented by inclusion of a further transmitter , known as common frequency transmitter 432 , together with its common frequency transmission antenna 442 , for transmitting the common frequencies c 1 and c 2 . in contrast to the high power transmitter 32 , transmitter 432 is a low power transmitter . further , central control station 420 is augmented by inclusion of a further receiver , known as the common frequency receiver 434 , together with its common frequency receiver antenna 444 , for reception of the common frequencies c 3 and c 4 . central control station 420 of fig7 includes a clock unit 59 ′ which generates two clocking signals — a first or local clocking signal f l clk and a second or common clocking signal c 1 clk . the local clocking signal f l clk is used to modulate frequency f 1 ); the common clocking signal is used to modulate the common frequency c 1 . the central computers 30 of the central control stations 420 x are serially connected to one another by an output line 486 a and an input line 486 b . in particular , although not expressly shown as such in fig7 , computer 30 of fig7 ( like that of fig1 ) includes an i / o interface to which the serial lines 486 a and 486 b are connected . serial lines 486 a and 486 b are used , for example , to update contents of the pager registration file 55 and the pager directory file 56 . as shown in fig8 , pager unit 422 resembles pager unit 22 of the embodiment of fig2 ( similar components again being assigned the same reference numerals for simplicity ). however , pager unit 422 ( in like manner as central control station 420 ) is augmented by inclusion of a further transmitter , known as common frequency transmitter 572 , together with its common frequency transmission antenna 576 , for transmitting the common frequencies c 3 and c 4 . further , central control station 420 is augmented by inclusion of a further receiver , known as the common frequency receiver 434 , together with its common frequency receiver antenna 444 , for reception of the common frequencies c 1 and c 2 . the operational frequencies of transmitter 72 and receiver 62 are changeable in accordance with values transmitted on “ frequency control ” lines from computer 70 . in particular , the frequency control lines are connected to i / o interface 86 in computer 70 . as described in more detail below , when a pager unit 422 migrates into a new cfrr , signals are applied on the frequency control lines in order to switch pager unit 422 from the local frequencies of an old cell to the local frequencies of a new cell associated with the new cfrr into which pager unit 422 migrates . pager 422 includes a clock unit 83 ′ which is capable of separately generating local clocking signals f l clk and the common clocking signals f c1 clk for use by microprocessor 80 . these clocking signals are initiated and their frequencies set by appropriate respective inputs to clock unit 83 ′. fig8 also shows that pager unit 422 has data i / o unit 596 which includes both an alphanumeric graphic display and a pressure sensitive writing pad . the alphanumeric graphic display is a dot matrix device which can display characters and graphics . the writing pad has a 16 × 48 dot area . as shown in fig9 , a pager unit p 1 is assumed to have been operating in cell 1 and to have previously received the common frequencies c 1 - c 4 and local frequencies f 1 - f 2 from station s 1 . now pager unit p 1 travels on a route indicated by broken arrow - headed line route . in traveling along the route , pager unit p 1 continues to operate on local frequencies f 1 - f 2 , even as it travels through the cellular overlap region . however , when page unit p 1 enters a new common frequency reception region ( i . e ., cfrr 2 ), a switching or hand - off operation occurs . in the switching operation , as explained in more detail below , pager unit p 1 obtains common frequencies c 1 - c 4 from central control station s 2 and , as a result , can switch from the local frequencies f 1 - f 4 of cell 1 to the local frequencies f 5 - f 8 of cell 2 . in order to effect the switching or hand - off operation , pager unit p 1 executes a channel switching routine ; the central control station s 2 executes a switching enabling routine . in connection with the channel switching routine and the switching enabling routine , when pager unit p 1 moves into cfrr 2 , pager unit p 1 will receive the clocking signal on frequency c 1 from station s 2 . at such point , pager unit p 1 will automatically align its clock unit with the clocking signal from station s 2 . referring now to the channel switching routine executed by pager p 1 subsequent to start - up ( step 500 ), at step 506 pager unit p 1 obtains information characterizing the system centered about station s 2 . such characterizing information is referred to as system identification or system id information . at step 508 , microprocessor 80 of pager unit p 1 checks to determine if there is any new system id information acquired on frequency c 2 . that is , microprocessor 80 checks to determine if system id information is received on frequency c 2 ( which can occur only in a cfrr ) and , if so , compares the system id information to the immediately previously - stored system id information . if the previous and most recently - acquired system ids are the same , pager unit p 1 realizes that it is still in the jurisdiction of the same station ( e . g ., station s 1 ). if not , pager unit p 1 realizes that it has now wandered into a cfrr of a new station ( e . g ., station s 2 ) and , at step 510 , initiates a request on frequency c 4 for communication with the central control station ( e . g ., station s 2 ) for cell 2 . in the above regard , since pager unit p 1 has not yet been assigned a time slot for cell 2 , the request on frequency c 4 is randomly made . however , pager unit p 1 keeps track of the time slot in which it makes its request to the new central control station ( e . g ., station s 2 ). thereafter , pager unit p 1 continues to monitor ( step 512 ) communications packets from station s 2 on frequency c 2 , waiting for station s 2 to issue a message which references the time slot at which pager unit p 1 made its request of step 510 . in particular , page unit p 1 awaits a message from station s 2 on frequency c 2 that includes both a slot recognition command code and information stored in the same time slot which pager unit p 1 randomly generated . since the message including the slot recognition command code includes station s 2 as the sender and mirrors the slot randomly generated by pager unit p 1 , pager unit p 1 recognizes the message as being addressed to pager unit p 1 and considers issuance of such a message by station s 2 ( see step 612 of fig1 ) to constitute authority for pager unit p 1 to communicate further with station s 2 . in this regard , at step 514 microprocessor 80 of pager unit p 1 determines if there is a match between the time slot of a received message and the time slot at which the random request was made at step 510 . assuming a match is eventually found at step 514 , at step 516 pager unit p 1 sends a communications packet on frequency c 3 to station s 2 , with the communications packet including the identification or id of pager unit p 1 . using pager registration file 55 , station s 2 verifies that the id of pager unit p 1 is a valid id , and thereafter sends ( on frequency c 2 ) to pager unit p 1 a message with the command code local frequency download , which message informs pager unit p 1 of the values of the local frequencies handled by station s 2 ( e . g ., frequencies f 5 - f 8 ). thereafter , as also reflected by step 518 , station s 2 sends ( on frequency c 2 ) to pager unit p 1 a message with the command code slot assignment command code , which message informs pager unit p 1 of its slot assignment on frequency f 8 . microprocessor 80 then changes its slot allocation by steps which are similar to those discussed with the afore - mentioned change time slot routine ( see steps 350 , 352 , and 354 of fig5 ). step 518 of fig1 reflects reception of the local frequency values and reception of the slot assignment . after acquisition of all local frequencies and the slot assignment is completed ( step 520 ), microprocessor 80 implements ( at step 522 ) a switch to the new local frequencies ( e . g ., frequencies f 5 - f 8 ). in this regard , microprocessor 80 instructs i / o interface 86 to change transmitter 72 from frequencies f 3 , f 4 to frequencies f 7 , f 8 ; and to change receiver 62 from frequencies f 1 , f 2 to frequencies f 5 , f 6 . i / o interface 86 accomplishes the frequency changes by applying appropriate values on the frequency control lines connecting the i / o interface to transmitter 72 and receiver 62 , respectively . after the switch to new local frequencies at step 522 , microprocessor 80 loops back to step 506 , ultimately to determine when any further switching may be required . steps involved in the switching enabling routine executed by a central control station ( e . g ., station s 2 ) are depicted in fig1 . after start - up ( step 600 ), cpu 50 determines executes a loop 602 which enables cpu 50 to clean up its pager directory file 56 and to check if any new pager units have wandered into the cell which it administers . in particular , at step 604 cpu determines whether its central control station ( e . g ., s 2 ) has been advised by any other central control station ( e . g ., s 3 ) that a pager unit , formerly under the control of its central control station ( e . g ., s 2 ), has come under the control of the other central control station ( e . g , s 3 ). such advisement occurs on the serial links connecting the central control stations 420 x , and particularly input serial link 486 b . if such advisement occurs , the id for the wandered - away pager is deleted from the pager directory file 56 for station s 2 ( as reflected by steps 606 and 608 ). at step 610 , cpu 50 causes messages with a system command code to be transmitted on frequency c 2 . as indicated before , messages transmitted on frequency c 2 include a packet ( s ) having a format such as that shown in fig1 . the message with the system command code particularly includes the central station id number in its alphanumeric data field . at step 612 , central control station 420 checks to determine if a request signal has been transmitted by any pager unit 422 on frequency c 4 ( as occurred , for example , in context of the discussion of fig1 , particularly step 510 ). such a request signal would likely be issued from a pager unit 422 which has just wandered into the cfrr controlled by the central control station ( e . g ., into cfrr 2 controlled by station s 2 ). if no such request signal is detected , loop 602 is again repeated . in the event that a request signal is detected at step 612 , central control station 420 notes specifically the time slot on frequency c 4 at which the request occurred ( step 614 ). at this point , such time slot is the only way central control station 420 can identify the in - wandering pager unit 422 . central control station 420 desires for the in - wandering pager unit 422 to transmit its identification ( id ), but cannot specifically address the in - wandering pager other than with reference to the detected time slot . accordingly , at step 616 , central control station 420 prepares and transmits a message on frequency c 2 which has a slot recognition command code . the message including the slot recognition command code includes station s 2 as the sender and mirrors the slot randomly generated by pager unit p 1 ( e . g , the time slot at which the in - wandering pager unit 422 issued its request ). this transmission on frequency c 2 constitutes authority for pager unit p 1 to transmit its identification . step 618 denotes acquisition by central control station 420 of the identification ( id ) of the in - wandering pager unit 422 . at step 620 , central control station 420 checks its pager registration file 55 to determine if the pager id is a valid id . if not , an error message is generated and transmitted ( at step 622 ), followed by a command for pager unit p 1 to shut down ( see step 624 ). assuming that the identification of pager unit 422 was validated at step 620 , cpu 50 checks ( at step 630 ) its pager directory file 56 to locate an available time slot for the in wandering pager unit 422 , and then associates the available time slot with the id of the in - wandering pager unit 422 . then , at step 632 , using a message on frequency c 2 with a local frequency download command code , central control station 420 sends the values of its local frequencies ( e . g ., f 5 , f 6 , f 7 , f 8 ) to the in - wandering pager unit 422 . the central control station then ( at step 634 ) assigns to the in - wandering pager unit 422 a new time slot on its local frequencies using a message on frequency c 2 with a slot assignment command code . processing of the change time slot command by the in - wandering pager unit 422 is understood with analogous reference to fig5 , particularly steps 350 , 352 , and 354 . upon completion of step 634 , the in - wandering pager unit 422 is fully initiated into its new cell ( e . g ., cell 2 ), and has left the jurisdiction of its former control station ( e . g , cell 1 and station s 1 ). accordingly , at step 636 , cpu 50 requests its i / o interface to issue a command on serial line 486 a which advises ( using pager id ) that the in - wandering pager 422 is now under its jurisdiction , so that former jurisdictions ( e . g ., s 1 ) can delete this pager unit from their pager directory files 56 . such deletion is understood with reference to steps 604 - 608 as above - described . in addition to illustrating geographical location of pager p 1 , stations s 1 and s 2 , and cells cell 1 and cell 2 , fig9 shows the relative timing of communications occurring on common frequencies c 1 - c 4 . fig9 specifically relates the timing of communications transmissions to specific ones of the aforedescribed steps executed by central control station 420 ( the switching enabling routine of fig1 ) and by pager unit 422 ( the channel switching routine of fig1 ). although the central control stations 420 x use the same common frequencies c 1 - c 4 , there is no interference or confusion of these signals transmitted from the control stations 420 x . the common frequencies c 1 - c 4 are broadcast at a relatively lower power than the local frequencies f 1 - f 4 so that reception of the common frequencies c 1 - c 4 occurs only in a limited neighborhood ( cfrr ) about the central control station 420 x . accordingly , pager units 422 traveling through the system receive common frequencies c 1 - c 4 only in the limited and non - overlapping cfrrs . system operational characteristics , such as cell diameter , cfrr diameter , power level of the local frequencies ( e . g ., f 1 - f 4 ), and power level of the common frequencies ( c 1 - c 4 ) can be field adjusted to suit numerous factors , including particularly the terrain and topography of the geographical region covered by the system . by way of non - limiting example , in one embodiment , the radius of each cell is on the order of about 20 miles ; while the radius of each cfrr is on the order of about 10 miles or less . in the same example , the power for transmission of the local frequencies can be in a range of from about 3 watts to 1000 watts ; while the power for transmission of the common frequencies c 1 - c 4 is preferably less than 2 watts . thus , the invention provides a two - way paging system which operates independently from a telephone system for wireless data communication between users . the invention minimizes use of available frequencies allowed by the federal communications commission ( fcc ), using only four local frequencies f 1 - f 4 for any given cell and ( for expanded , multi - cellular coverage ) only four common or switching frequencies c 1 - c 4 . in order to minimize the number of frequencies ( e . g , channels ) utilized , techniques of time division sharing and synchronization are employed . a transmission power differential between the local frequencies and the common frequencies is also employed . these techniques allow data transmission to be kept separate from different pagers and thus eliminates merging of data . the switching technique of the present invention provides extended geographical coverage and minimizes paging time by increasing the number of frequencies utilized in a cell from four ( e . g , the four local frequencies ) to eight ( the four local frequencies plus the four common frequencies ). in connection with verification of pager id , it should be understood that a single pager registration file might be stored in a memory file only one of a plurality of central control stations , and that in such case verification would constitute issuing a search command ( on the serial links 486 ) to locate a pager id in the one ( remote ) memory file , with the results of the search being reported back to the inquiring central control station . the keyboards illustrated herein can , in some embodiments , be multi - language keyboards or writing pads which permit typing of english , chinese , or japanese languages , for example . the writing pad is especially useful in countries such as japan , thailand , the middle east or china where english - like alphabets are not used . the writing pad could also be used to sketch and transmit graphics . moreover , data compression / de - compression techniques can be utilized in connection with data transfer . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various alterations in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , it should be understood that repeaters may be employed within cells to facilitate transmission when a pager unit ventures far from a central control station . | 7 |
the following description of the preferred embodiment is provided to understand the features and the structures of the present invention . please refer to fig1 , which is a view showing a flowchart of the solid - state reaction for obtaining the phosphor according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention . as shown in the figure , the present invention is a red phosphor for white light emitting diodes , where the phosphor is excited by a led to emit a red light having a main wavelength of 612 nanometers ( nm ); the phosphor has a chemical formula of a 1 - x - y - z bi x b y c z moo 4 ; the a for a 1 - x - y - z is ca , sr or ba ; the b for by is li , n a or k ; the c for c z is eu , sm , ce , mn , ti , mg , zn or tb ; the a 1 - x - y - z moo 4 part in the chemical formula is acted as a host lattice ; the c z part is acted as an activator ; the bi z part is acted as a sensitizer ; x is greater than 0 and not greater than 0 . 2 ; y is greater than 0 and not greater than 0 . 4 ; and z is greater than 0 and not greater than 0 . 4 . the phosphor of the present invention uses the sensitizer so that the phosphor can be excited by a light source having a wavelength of 290 ˜ 400 nm . the phosphor of the present invention is obtained through a solid - state reaction or a chemical synthesis ; and the chemical synthesis is a precipitation method or a citric gel method . the phosphor of the preferred embodiment here is obtained through the solid - state reaction which comprises the following steps : ( a ) obtain materials to be mixed uniformly 11 : materials of eu 2 o 3 , moo 3 , caco 3 , li 2 co 3 and bi 2 o 3 are weighed out and are ground to obtain an uniform mixture conforming to a stoichiometric ratio . ( b ) calcine the materials 12 : the mixture is put into a crucible to be calcined at a temperature raising ratio of 5 celsius degrees per minute (° c ./ min ) until arriving at 500 celsius degrees (° c .) to obtain a first sinter . ( c ) cool down to a room temperature to be ground 13 : after four hours , the first sinter is then cooled down at a temperature lowering ratio of 5 ° c ./ min until arriving at a room temperature ; then the first sinter is ground . ( d ) calcine again 14 : the ground sinter is calcined again at a temperature raising ratio of 5 ° c ./ m in until arriving at 880 ° c . to obtain a second sinter . ( e ) cool down to room temperature again to be ground 15 ; after four hours , the second sinter is cooled down at a temperature lowering ratio of 5 . degree .° c ./ min until arriving at a room temperature to be ground for obtaining the phosphor which has a chemical formula of ca 0 . 45 bi 0 . 05 li 0 . 25 eu 0 . 25 moo 4 . thus , through the above steps , a novel red phosphor for white light emitting diodes is obtained . please refer to fig2 , which is a view showing the exciting spectrum of the phosphor of the preferred embodiment . as shown in the figure , the phosphor is excited by a light and an exciting spectrum 2 is obtained by using an optical emission spectrometer , where a strong absorption appears for a wavelength between 290 nm and 400 nm . hence , the present invention is fit for excitation by a broadband of wavelength . please refer to fig3 , which is a view showing the emitting spectrums of the phosphor of the preferred embodiment and the phosphor of y2o2s : eu . as shown in the figure , a wavelength of 400 nm is used for excitation to obtain emitting spectrums of wavelength between 550 nm and 750 nm , where the phosphor of the preferred embodiment and a phosphor of a prior art of y 2 o 2 s : eu are excited to obtain a first emitting spectrum 31 for the preferred embodiment and a second emitting spectrum 32 for the prior art . in the first emitting spectrum 31 , the strongest light is appeared at 612 nm , which is six times to the strongest light appeared in the second emitting spectrum 32 . thus , it shows that the present invention has an excellent luminance . please refer to fig4 , which is a view showing the x - ray diffraction of the phosphor of the preferred embodiment . as shown in the figure , the present invention is processed with an x - ray diffraction . from the diagram 4 obtained after the x - ray diffraction , it shows that the phosphor of the present invention has a pure - phase structure . please refer to fig5 , which is a view showing the chromaticity coordinates of the phosphor of the preferred embodiment translated from fig3 . as shown in the figure , a chromaticity coordinates 5 of the phosphor of the preferred embodiment , which is ( 0 . 5947 , 0 . 3250 ), is shown by translating the emitting spectrum of the preferred embodiment shown in fig3 . consequently , it shows that the present invention is a red phosphor for emitting a red light . to sum up , the present invention is a red phosphor for white light emitting diodes , where the phosphor is fit for an excitation by a broadband of wavelength and has an excellent luminance . the preferred embodiment herein disclosed is not intended to unnecessarily limit the scope of the invention . therefore , simple modifications or variations belonging to the equivalent of the scope of the claims and the instructions disclosed herein for a patent are all within the scope of the present invention . | 8 |
highly pure protein c was recovered from a crude protein c fraction obtained from commercially available prothrombin complex concentrate . purification was effected by affinity chromatography by means of monoclonal antibodies . monoclonal anti - protein c antibodies were produced as follows : balb / c mice were immunized with 100 μg human protein c by intraperitoneal injection at two - week intervals . after six weeks , another 50 μg of human protein c was injected and fusion was carried out three days later . the myeloma cell line ( p3 - x - 63 - ag8 - 653 , 1 . 5 × 10 7 cells ) was mixed with 1 . 7 × 10 8 mouse spleen cells and fused according to the modified method of kohler & amp ; milstein by using peg 1500 ( kohler g ., milstein c ., nature 256 ( 1975 ), 495 - 497 ). positive clones , assayed by means of elisa , were subcloned twice . ascites production was effected by injection of 5 × 10 6 hybridoma cells per balb / c mouse two weeks after pristan treatment . the immunoglobulin was purified from ascites by means of ammonium sulfate precipitation and subsequent chromatography on qae - sephadex and , further , by chromatography on sephadex g200 . to reduce the risk of transmission of murine viruses , the antibody was subjected to a further virus inactivation step prior to immobilization . the monoclonal protein c antibodies thus obtained were coupled to cnbr - activated sepharose 4b ( pharmacia ). the following buffers were used for the purification of protein c by means of affinity chromatography : adsorption buffer : 20 mm tris , 2 mm edta , 0 . 25m nacl and 5 mm benzamidine ; washing buffer : 20 mm tris , 1m nacl , 2 mm benzamidine , 2 mm edta , ph 7 . 4 ; elution buffer : 3m nascn , 20 mm tris , 1m nacl , 0 . 5 mm benzamidine , 2 mm edta . in detail : the prothrombin complex concentrate was dissolved in the adsorption buffer , with approximately 10 g of the prothrombin complex concentrate being employed for a 20 ml monoclonal antibody column . subsequently , the dissolved prothrombin complex concentrate was filtered , centrifuged at 20 , 000 r . p . m . for 15 min and sterilely filtered through a 0 . 8 μm filter . the sterilely filtered and dissolved prothrombin complex concentrate was applied to the column at a flow rate of 10 ml / h . subsequently , the column was washed free of protein with the washing buffer , and finally the bound protein c was eluted by means of the elution buffer at a flow rate of 5 ml / h and the fractions were collected . the eluted protein c was dialyzed against a buffer ( 0 . 2 mol / l tris , 0 . 15m glycine and 1 mm edta , ph 8 . 3 ). protein c antigen concentration was determined using the method described by c . b . laurell , scand . j . clin . lab . invest . 29 , suppl . 124 : 21 - 37 ( 1972 ), and protein c activity was determined using protac activation . the protein c eluate obtained was finished to a pharmaceutically applicable preparation in the following manner : the eluate was first subjected to ultrafiltration and diafiltration steps . diafiltration was carried out with a buffer containing 150 mmol nacl and 15 mmol trisodium citrate . 2h 2 o per liter , at a ph of 7 . 4 . the obtained filtrate was freeze - dried and virus inactivated by a one - hour vapor treatment at 80 ° c .± 5 ° c . and at 1375 ± 35 mbar . the lyophilized , virus inactivated material was then dissolved in a sterile isotonic nacl solution and potentially present antibodies or serum amyloid p were eliminated by means of ion exchange chromatography on q - sepharose . the purified solution was concentrated by means of an additional ultrafiltration and diafiltration step . after this step , 10 g albumin , 150 mmol nacl and 15 mmol trisodium citrate per liter were added to the solution obtained . the ph of the solution was 7 . 5 . neither murine immunoglobulin nor factors ii , vii , ix and x could be detected . subsequently , the solution was sterilely filtered , filled in containers and lyophilized . the specific activity was 14 units protein c per mg of protein . one unit of protein c activity is defined as the protein c activity in 1 ml normal plasma and is calibrated against the first international standard of protein c . an amidolytic assay was used as the activity test , wherein protein c was activated by means of protac ( pentapharm ), a common protein c activator produced from a snake venom preparation . protein c was treated with plasmin and the degradation was observed by means of immunoblotting . to this end , 270 μl of a protein c - containing solution ( 8 μg / ml ) were incubated with 270 μl plasmin ( 1 cu / ml ) at 37 ° c . accordingly , the substrate / enzyme ratio was 8 : 1 ( μg / cu ). after only 60 minutes , no protein c could be amidolytically detected any longer . in order to investigate the dose - dependent degradation of plasmatic protein c , 50 μl plasmin were each added to 50 μl human citrated plasma at concentrations of 10 , 5 , 3 , 1 . 5 and 0 . 5 cu / ml , respectively . after a reaction time of 10 minutes , 50 μl antithrombin iii - heparin complex ( 10 u atiii , 50 u heparin per ml ) were each added . by this addition , the reaction is stopped . protein c was amidolytically determined with the specific chromogenic substrate s 2366 ( kabi ) upon activation with &# 34 ; protac &# 34 ; ( pentapharm ). for comparison , plasmatic protein c without plasmin addition was treated in parallel . the results are apparent from the figure ( abscissa : cu plasmin ; ordinate : % protein c activity ). the figure illustrates that protein c is completely degraded after only 10 minutes if a solution containing 10 cu / ml plasmin has been added . | 8 |
in many applications , ultrashort optical pulses , e . g ., pulses on the order of 100 fs , crossed at nonzero angle overlap only over a small region in space . this limitation can be overcome by using diffraction orders of a grating . we consider the arrangement in which , upon diffraction of a femtosecond pulse by a grating , two beams corresponding to the first - order diffraction maxima are recombined at the image plane by a system of two confocal lenses . in this arrangement , the beams overlap over the their full aperture with the short duration of the pulses being preserved . various ultrafast optical techniques involve crossing of two or more femtosecond pulses in a medium . referring to fig1 a , beams 200 and 202 including pulses 204 and 206 , respectively , can be crossed with one another using beamsplitters and mirrors . however , the shorter the pulses , the smaller the area 210 over which the pulses overlap . for two beams crossed at the angle θ , the size of the overlap area is given by cπ / sin ( θ / 2 ), where c is the speed of light in the medium , and π is the pulse duration . for example , for a 30 fs pulse duration and a moderate angle such as 5 ° the beams overlap only within a strip approximately 200 microns wide . the number of interference fringes produced by two beams is independent of the angle and , for transform - limited pulses , is roughly 2cπ / λ , where λ is the optical wavelength . with 30 fs pulses at λ = 800 nm , only about 20 interference fringes can be produced . these limitations can be overcome if we cross diffraction orders of a grating using system 250 shown in fig1 b . pulses corresponding to different diffraction orders propagate at different angles and have parallel pulse fronts . in system 250 , a beam 260 containing femtosecond pulse 262 is transmitted through a diffraction grating 264 to form at least two sub - beams 290 and 292 , corresponding to the first diffraction orders . the sub - beams are imaged by two confocal lenses l 1 and l 2 or other suitable optics , e . g ., reflective optics , with grating 264 being placed in the front focal plane of the first lens . the lenses have focal lengths f 1 and f 2 , respectively , and are denoted by reference numerals 266 and 268 , respectively . a spatial filter 270 transmits the two sub - beams and blocks other sub - beams corresponding to different orders of diffraction . the sub - beams are then recombined at image plane i ( denoted by reference numeral 272 ). system 250 not only provides pulse overlap in the image plane i , but also preserves short pulse duration . let us assume that the incident pulse in fig1 b is transform - limited with a gaussian temporal profile , and that the polarization is perpendicular to the plane of the drawing . the electric field of the incident beam is given by : where ω 0 is the central frequency of light , τ 0 is related to the fwhm pulse duration τ by τ 0 = τ ( 2 * ln2 ) ½ and the distance z is measured from the front focal plane of the lens l 1 . consider one of the plane waves , comprising the integral in eq . ( 1 ), in which the electric field is given by exp [ iω ( t − z / c )]. upon diffraction of this plane wave by the grating , a wave diffracted into the nth order is given by e n ( ω )= a n exp [ iωt − i ( ω 2 / c 2 − q n 2 ) ½ z − iq n x ], ( 2 ) where x is the vertical coordinate measured , e . g ., from the optical axis , q n is the diffraction wave vector expressed through the grating period λ by q n = 2πn / λ , and a n is the complex amplitude which depends on whether the grating is a phase or amplitude one and on the grating profile ( we assume a symmetric grating so that a n = a − n ). for a phase grating , a n is ω - dependent , but for a small frequency spread , e . g ., δω / ω 0 & lt ;& lt ; 1 , this dependence is weak and can be ignored . for embodiments in which this condition is not met , amplitude gratings may be preferable . disregarding diffraction by the lens system , the plane wave in eq . ( 2 ) will be transformed by the imaging system into a plane wave e n ( ω )= a n exp [ iωτ − i ( ω 2 / c 2 − q n 2 ) ½ z ′+ i ( q n / m ) x − ilω / c ], ( 3 ) where the distance z ′ is measured now from the image plane , m = f 2 / f 1 is the magnification factor of the imaging system , and an additional phase term lω / c is due to the optical path l from the point ( x = 0 , z = 0 ) to its image at ( x = 0 , z ′= 0 ). the electric field yielded by the nth - order diffraction at the output of the imaging system is given by the superposition of plane waves , e n =( e 0 τ 0 / 2π ½ ) a n exp ( iq n x / m ) ƒdωexp [−( ω − ω 0 ) 2 τ 0 2 / 4 )]× exp [ iωt ′− i ( ω 2 / c 2 − q n 2 / m 2 ) ½ z ′] ( 4 ) the integral in eq . ( 4 ) is independent of x . therefore , the planes of equal amplitude in a pulse are parallel to the plane z ′= 0 . assuming a small frequency spread , δω / ω 0 & lt ;& lt ; 1 , and small angles , q n / m & lt ;& lt ; ω 2 / c 2 , one gets the following result for the duration of the pulse : τ = ( τ o 2 + z ′ 2 4 c 2 q n 4 m 4 ω o 6 τ 0 2 ) 1 / 2 , ( 5 ) i . e ., the pulses are compressed to the original duration τ 0 as they approach the image plane . exactly in the image plane z ′= 0 , the electric field given by the two beams corresponding to ± 1 orders of diffraction is given by e = 2a 1 e 0 cos ( q 1 x / m ) exp (− t ′ 2 / τ 0 2 ) exp ( iω 0 t ′). ( 6 ) the interference pattern with the period mλ / 2 extends over the entire image plane . thus we have two pulses overlapping in the image plane over the area limited only by the aperture of the optical system . in terms of the space - time picture , the full overlap 280 results from the tilted pulse fronts as shown in fig1 b . in terms of spectral components , a diffracted beam consists of components with different wave vector directions . however , the x - component of the wave vector is the same for all the spectral components . therefore , when the two beams are crossed , the difference in the x - component of the wavevector δk x = 2q 1 / m is well defined , resulting in a well - defined periodic interference pattern . in an experiment , we used 30 fs pulses of an amplified ti : sapphire system at λ = 800 nm and compared the beams crossing with a beamsplitter and mirrors as in fig1 a , and that of fig1 b . in the latter case , we used a phase grating with the period λ = 10 microns , and two spherical lenses with focal lengths 15 cm . fig1 c shows the interference pattern produced by crossing the beams as in fig1 a , which contains , as expected , only about 20 high - contrast interference fringes . in contrast , the grating set - up of fig1 b resulted in a fringe pattern spreading all over the laser spot . a portion of this pattern is shown in fig1 d . the arrangement shown in fig1 b makes it possible for the femtosecond pulses to overlap in time and space over the full aperture of the beams . although in the arrangement considered here , the two beams were obtained from a single one , a similar arrangement can be used to optimize the overlap of two beams of different wavelength or polarizations . the techniques has many advantages . one obvious advantage is that the signal in wave mixing measurements can be collected from a larger area , which should be helpful if the signal is weak and the excitation intensity is limited by the damage threshold of the medium . a more fundamental issue is accurate definition of δk x for propagating material excitations . to be specific , let us consider impulsive stimulated raman scattering on phonon - polaritons , where two crossed beams are used to excite phonon polariton modes at the wavevectors equal to +/− δk x , and the resulting standing wave is detected via diffraction of a probe pulse . by crossing pulses as in fig1 a , one can only produce a limited number of polariton periods , equal to the number of the interference fringes . consequently , the signal due to the standing wave dies out as the counter - propagating waves leave the excitation region , making it difficult to accurately measure the polariton frequency , attenuation , and nonlinear effects . using the grating arrangement of fig1 b to produce an unlimited number of interference fringes would be advantageous for this and other experimental techniques using ultrashort pulses to excite propagating material excitations . the system can also be easily adapted to correlate the two sub - beams with one another by introducing a variable delay between the two sub - beams . for example , substantially transparent optical material positioned between lenses 266 and 268 along the path of one of the sub - beams would introducing extra optical path length to one of the sub - beams . the techniques described above can be used in an optical autocorrelator for characterizing ultrashort optical waveforms , e . g ., measuring the pulse duration of ultrashort optical pulse . fig3 illustrates a schematic for such an autocorrelator 100 . an ultrashort optical beam 12 containing optical waveform 10 is incident on a diffractive optic 15 that diffracts beam 12 into at least two orders , e . g ., diffracted order + 1 and − 1 , to form diffracted beams 14 and 16 . diffractive optic 15 can be a mask or grating that imparts amplitude modulation , phase modulation , or both , and which may be reflective or transmissive . suitable diffractive optics are described , e . g ., in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 734 , 470 , the contents of which is incorporated by reference . a pair of lenses 18 and 20 image the profile of diffracted beams 14 and 16 immediately after diffractive optic 15 onto a non - linear optical crystal 22 , e . g ., a crystal of litao 3 , linbo 3 , ktp , or kdp . thus , as described above , the diffracted beams 14 and 16 spatially overlap completely in the plane of non - linear optical crystal 22 , i . e ., the image plane defined by lenses 18 and 20 , without any loss of temporal resolution . thus , the autocorrelator is substantially alignment - free . the non - linear optical crystal generates the second harmonic of diffracted beams 14 and 16 , which exit the crystal as beams 24 and 26 , respectively . in addition , the non - linear crystal generates a second harmonic signal beam 28 having an intensity proportional to the temporal and spatial overlap of beams 14 and 16 in crystal 22 . an analyzer 30 , e . g ., a photodiode , measures the intensity of signal beam 28 . a spatial filter 32 and a spectral filter 34 prevent beams 24 and 26 and scattered fundamental light , respectively , from reaching analyzer 30 . in other embodiments , non - linear mechanisms different from second harmonic generation can be used . for example , non - linear optical crystal 22 may generate a signal beam for spatially and temporally overlapping beams 14 and 16 based on , e . g ., self - diffraction , polarization rotation , or difference - frequency mixing . as described above , use of diffractive element 15 increases the overlap of beams 14 and 16 relative to conventional beam crossing , so the signal beam 28 is stronger , thereby increasing the sensitivity of the autocorrelator . identical glass slides 36 and 38 are positioned between lenses 18 and 20 to receive and transmit diffracted beams 14 and 16 , respectively . slide 36 is fixed normal to beam 14 and slide 38 is mounted on a motorized rotation stage 40 , which allows beam 16 to intersect slide 38 over a range of incident angles θ . when beam 16 is normal to slide 38 , i . e ., θ = 90 °, beams 14 and 16 temporally overlap completely and maximize the intensity of signal beam 28 generated by crystal 22 . as the angle θ differs from θ = 90 °, beam 16 travels through a path length in slide 38 that is larger than that of beam 14 in slide 36 . thus , beam 16 is delayed relative to beam 14 and their temporal overlap in crystal 22 decreases , thereby reducing the intensity of signal beam 28 . for example , for glass slide 38 having a thickness of about 150 microns and being oriented at angle θ of about 27 °, the delay is about 20 fs . larger delays can be achieved by increase the difference angle θ from 90 ° or using thicker slides . the precise delay between the two beams can be determined from their difference in optical path length . furthermore , since glass slide 38 has substantially parallel faces , the direction of beam 16 is unaffected by slide 38 . thus , beams 14 and 16 spatially overlap completely in the plane of crystal 22 over the range of angles for θ . to scan through a range of delays , a controller 44 rotates rotation stage 40 using a drive signal 45 . at the same time , controller 44 receives a signal 46 from analyzer 30 indicative of the intensity of signal beam 28 . controller 44 records an autocorrelation of input beam 12 by monitoring signal 46 as a function of the drive signal 45 , which can be converted to a delay time between beams 14 and 16 . for example , assuming waveform 10 has an intensity profile i ( t ) then the correlation signal s ( τ ) is proportional to the integral of i ( t ) i ( t + τ ), where τ is the delay time between the two beams and the integral is taken over all times t . fig4 illustrates an autocorrelation of a 30 fs , 800 nm pulse from a ti : sapphire laser system recorded using the autocorrelator described herein , except that glass slide 38 , which was 150 microns thick , was rotated manually . referring again to fig3 autocorrelator 100 can also include a mask 70 positioned before lens 18 for transmitting sub - beams corresponding to selected orders of diffraction , e . g ., − 1 and + 1 , and blocking other orders of diffraction . in addition , where optical waveform 10 includes multiple , well - separated frequencies , e . g ., ω 1 , and ω 2 , mask 70 can be used to select among the different wavelengths of the sub - beams . for example , mask 70 could select the + 1 order for ω 1 and the − 1 order for ω 2 . in this case , the correlation signal s ( τ ) would no longer be an autocorrelation of i ( t ), but a correlation between the ω 1 component of i ( t ) and the ω 2 component of i ( t ). mask 70 can also be positioned between lenses 18 and 20 , or between lens 20 and non - linear crystal 22 . as shown in fig5 analyzer 30 can include a grating 90 that diffracts signal beam 28 into its spectral components 94 and directs them to a multielement detector 92 , which records the intensities of the spectral components 94 . if necessary , imaging optics can be positioned between grating 90 and multielement detector 92 . measuring a correlation signal beam as a function of both delay and spectral frequency can provide additional information about waveform 10 , see , e . g ., r . trebino and d . j . kane in j . opt . soc . am ., a10 : 1101 ( 1993 ). alternatively , analyzer 30 can be a single - element detector , which measures the intensity of all spectral components of the signal beam . also , in other embodiments , slide 36 , like slide 38 , can be supported by a motorized rotation stage and oriented under the control of controller 44 so that both positive and negative delays can be introduced between beams 14 and 16 . alternatively , slide 36 can retain a fixed orientation at a non - normal offset angle or can be thicker than slide 38 so that beam 16 precedes beam 14 for θ = 90θ and follows beam 14 for other angles , e . g ., angles less than 60 °. furthermore , in other embodiments , other means for introducing a delay between beams 14 and 16 can be used . for example , one or both of the glass slides may be replaced with a series of reflective optics or an etalon , which may be under the control of a motorized translation or rotation stage . furthermore , in other embodiments , optics different from lenses 18 and 20 may be used to image diffracted beams 14 and 16 onto non - linear optical crystal 22 . for example , curved reflective optics can be used , which may be advantageous for cases in which the glasses in lenses 18 and 20 introduce significant dispersion into beams 14 and 16 , thereby stretching their pulse durations . in addition , reflective optics can be used to form a more compact , folded geometry . also , in other embodiments , one or more lenses or reflective optics can be used to image the diffracted beams onto the crystal . other aspects , advantages , and modifications are within the scope of the following claims . | 6 |
it has now been found surprisingly that the use of butylene oxide adducts of fatty alcohol oxyethylates , having the general formula as a preparation or a component of a preparation for the production of synthetic filaments offers particular advantages . products wherein the length of the chain of the fatty alcohol oxyethylate is r = c 8 - c 26 and which may be based on synthetic or natural alcohols and wherein the degree n of ethoxylation of the fatty alcohol is between 1 and 20 and the degree m of butoxylation is between 1 and 5 , are particularly suitable for use according to the invention . the butylene oxide adducts of fatty alcohol ethylates claimed are suitable for use according to the invention alone or in a mixture , wherein a combination with fatty alcohol oxyethylates , fatty acid oxyethylates and poly -( ethylene )- propylene oxide mixed alkoxylates may be effected . while ethoxylated fatty alcohols or fatty acids , poly -( ethylene )- propylene oxide mixed alkoxylates or alkyl - terminated oxyethylates are described in the literature as preparation agents or components thereof , no indication of the butylene oxide adducts of fatty alcohol oxyethylates are found . compared with the industrially expensive production of , for example , alkyl - terminated fatty alcohol oxyethylates in several stages , the easy and economical accessability of the presently claimed compounds by means of the addition of butylene oxide to fatty alcohol oxyethylates should be emphasized . the butylene oxide adducts of fatty alcohol oxyethylates claimed are characterized by excellent wetting and spreading properties and good fiber adhesion properties . during heat treatment , the compounds exhibit a very good resistance to heat ; they depolymerize without residues and thus cause minimum or no deposits on the processing machinery . in contrast to the above - mentioned compounds used heretofore as preparation agents or components thereof , the butylene oxide adducts of fatty alcohol oxyethylates claimed make it possible to produce yarns of improved quality , with minimal contamination of the processing machinery , thus providing substantially longer running times . due to the excellent wetting ability of the compounds claimed , highly uniform films of the preparation are obtained on the surface of synthetic fibers and filaments , and therefore friction coefficients are constant . this guaranties constant friction properties of the filament guiding elements on stretching frames , the surface of contact heaters or on the twisters of stretch - twisters , twisting and texturing machines , etc . which results in very good and uniform yarn qualities . even during extended storage periods of , for example , poy ( preoriented yarn ) spinning reels or stretching cops , the friction coefficients and thus the frictional behavior remain constant . this signifies that the preparation remains unchanged on the surface of the fibers and filaments and does not cause changes in the friction coefficients by means of aging or migration effects , thus leaving the processing properties unaltered . this is in contrast to the behavior of numerous spinning preparations . in mixtures with different heat resistant emulsifiers and anti - static agents , selected products may be prepared with friction coefficients which are independent or dependent within certain limits on the layer of the preparation applied . both of these have certain advantages . when friction coefficients are dependent on the application , it is possible to adapt frictional conditions to the requirements of the operation . this is of particular advantage when different titers with different matting degrees are to be produced . it is known that this requires preparations differing in their frictional behavior . the independence of the friction coefficient from the deposit on the fiber is always of advantage when such deposits fluctuate strongly for any reason whatsoever . normally , this affects the frictional properties and thus the tension of the filament , and this may cause problems in further processing . in the case of constant frictional conditions , in spite of variations in the deposits of the preparation , processing conditions remain constant thus guaranteeing constant yarn qualities . the preparations may be applied either as pure oils or from aqueous solutions or emulsions . organic solvents may also be considered . the mode of application depends on operational conditions . applications are possible by means of rotating disks , immersion or spraying , or by the use of metering pumps by way of injector filament guides . with identical amounts of the preparation applied , its properties are not affected by the mode of application . the contamination behavior was tested under the following conditions : the products to be tested were applied to freshly spun polyester filaments by means of preparation metering pumps through injector filament guides , from aqueous liquors , with a drawing velocity of 3 , 500 m / min . the spinning titer was about 265 / 34 dtex . this type of preparation application provides , in the case of identical liquor concentrations , an approximately uniform deposit of the preparation . the polyester yarns produced in this manner were stretch - extruded on a heberlein type fz 25 texturing machine with a velocity of 100 m / min , with magnetic spindles and a stretching ratio of 1 : 1 . 59 . the texturing period was 48 hours . in order to determine the amount of residues deposited , the metal tubes of the texturing heater were replaced by glass tubes ; these were accurately weighed prior to the test . additionally , special glass vessels were installed underneath the individual filament outlet orifices of the texturing heater , in order to collect and quantitatively determine any components of the preparation possibly dripping out of the heating tubes . by weighing the glass tubes and the receiver cuplets , the amounts collected may be determined quantitatively and qualitatively . the optical evaluation of the glass tube provides further information concerning the distribution of residue in the heater . the frictional properties of the products to be examined may be determined with the aid of commercially available measuring instruments at different measuring velocities on the running filament . polyester yarns preoriented on sennel spinners ( 3 , 500 m / min ) were used as the carrier material ( spin titer 255 / 34 dtex ); they were coated with the products to be examined by the abovementioned method . the f - meter of the rothschild co . was used as the measuring instrument . to determine the friction between the filament and the friction body , a dull polished chromium roll with a diameter of 20 mm was used . the angle of contact was 180 °. to determine the friction between filaments , a piece of the yarn to be examined was stressed over a length of 60 mm with an exactly defined prestress . the filament to be moved was wound four times around this filament , producing an angle of contact of 3 × 360 °+ 1 × 180 °= 1260 °. the measurements were performed and evaluated according to the method of dr . lange of hoechst aktiengesellschaft . the friction coefficient is usually given in μ - values and is calculated by the eytelwein equation for rope friction : this experiment illustrates by way of example of three different preparation mixtures that deposits may be strongly reduced by the use of the butylene oxide adducts of fatty alcohol ethoxylates of the invention . the following mixtures of products were applied by the above - mentioned method during the rapid spinning process to the polyester yarn , which was then stretch - extruded on a texturing machine fz 25 of the heberlein co . for 43 hours with magnetic spindles . 40 parts of a mixture of fatty acid ethoxylate , fatty alcohol ethoxylate and nonylphenolethoxylate ii : 65 parts c 10 - c 14 fatty alcohol oxyethylate with 6 - 7 mole ethylene oxide iii : 65 parts butylene oxide adduct ( 1 - 2 moles ) on c 10 - c 14 fatty alcohol oxyethylate with 6 - 7 moles ethylene oxide table 1______________________________________ mixture i ii iii______________________________________running time hours 48 48 48preparation deposit priorto texturing (%) 0 . 42 0 . 45 0 . 40preparation deposit aftertexturing (%) 0 . 20 0 . 37 0 . 30deposits in glass tubes ( g ) 4 . 165 1 . 816 0 . 086deposits in receivingcuplets ( g ) 2 . 731 0 . 568 0 . 028______________________________________ table 1 shows that the loss of preparation occurring during texturing is the highest with the use of preparations based on mineral oil and ester oil ( i ) as expected , and substantially less and approximately comparable with the structurally similar preparations ii and iii . the improvement obtainable with the use of the butylene oxide adducts of fatty alcohol oxyethylates according to the invention is clearly visible by the comparative residue of preparations tested under identical conditions . while preparation i based on mineral and ester oil exhibits the usual strong deposits , the preparation according to the invention ( iii ) shows a particularly favorable thermal behavior , because in spite of the approximately equal losses of preparation in the case of ii and iii , the preparation of the invention shows only about 5 % of the contamination caused by ii in the glass tube and receiver cuplets ( contamination by ii was set to equal 100 %). the mineral - ester oil preparation shows in this treatment unacceptably high values , as seen in table 1 . under the effect of a heat treatment , for example , in the heaters of texturing machines and of the high yarn rotation values , the friction coefficient may increase strongly as a result of loss of preparation . this leads to an increase in the stress in the yarn , in turn resulting in increased capillary and yarn breakage numbers , and thus in loss of quality . the use of the butylene oxide adducts of the invention strongly reduces this increase . in order to test the effect of a heat treatment on frictional behavior , the rapidly spun polyester yarns -- coated as described hereinabove -- were hot stretched on the heberlein fz 25 and reeled without texturing , i . e ., without passing over spindles . frictional properties were determined by the measuring method of dr . lange of hoeschst aktiengesellschaft , using the f meter of the rothschild co . ; the deposits of the preparations were determined before and after the heat treatment . measurements of friction values to determine the friction of filament to filament , were effected at a filament velocity of 20 m / min and at 150 m / min for filament / metal frictions . the products i , ii and iii specified in example 1 were used . table 2______________________________________ values prior to values after heat treatment heat treatmentproduct fa f / m f / f fa f / m f / f______________________________________i 0 . 42 0 . 28 0 . 25 0 . 24 0 . 42 0 . 19ii 0 . 45 0 . 38 0 . 32 0 . 39 0 . 43 0 . 29iii 0 . 40 0 . 36 0 . 29 0 . 31 0 . 37 0 . 26______________________________________ fa = deposit on filament in % f / m = filament / metal friction ( in μ ) f / f = filament / filament friction ( in μ ) as seen in table 2 , in the case of product i a strong increase in the filament / metal friction and a decrease in the filament / filament friction is found , because of the high losses of preparation . the same trend may be observed with product ii . product iii also shows a reduction in the filament / filament friction , but the filament / metal friction remains approximately constant , i . e ., the stress in the yarn is substantially lower with the use of the preparation according to the invention , as indicated by the reduced number of capillary and filament breakages and the substantially improved yarn quality . | 3 |
the preferred embodiment of the mixer control is described herein in conjunction with a fluidizing mixer for mixing pvc material . one suitable mixer is known as the henschel mixer and is conventional in the art . such a mixer is illustrated in fig1 and will be described herein to the extent necessary to facilitate an understanding of the present invention . referring now to fig1 of the drawings , there is schematically illustrated , in simplified fashion , a henschel fluidizing mixer 10 which comprises a mixing chamber 12 defined by a housing 14 having an upper door 16 suitably hinged to the walls of the housing and a lower door 18 . door 16 may be pivoted to an open position for purposes of supplying pvc resin , plasticizers and mixing aids into the work chamber 12 . a pair of shear blades 20 are located within the work chamber and are mounted to a shaft 22 driven by a motor 24 . the shear blades 20 are driven at a relatively high speed by the motor and serve to provide high shear mixing to ensure that every resin particle is representative of the whole formation . its relatively rapid frictional heating provides fast cycles and uniform plasticizer absorption to eliminate fish eyes and gel particles . when a working cycle is completed , as will be described in greater detail hereinafter , door 18 is opened to permit exit of the mixed batch from the work chamber 12 . for purposes of simplification , door 18 is shown as being a solenoid operated door in that a solenoid coil 30 , when energized , drives a solenoid operatively connected to the door to a door open position . a spring 34 serves to hold the door in a closed position when the solenoid is not energized . electrical power is supplied to the motor 24 from a suitable source of three phase alternating electrical energy through power supply lines l 1 , l 2 , l 3 upon actuation of a suitable switch 36 . in accordance with the present invention , the electrical power expended during each work cycle to work the material in chamber 12 is monitored to determine the correct point in the operating cycle for actuating solenoid 30 to thereby terminate a cycle of operation by dumping the contents from work chamber 12 . as will be described in greater detail with reference to fig2 a watts transducer 40 is actively connected to the motor supply leads to derive a signal representative of the power consumed by motor 24 . this signal is supplied to a control circuit 42 which at the proper time , as will be described hereinafter , operates the solenoid by energizing a relay coil 44 . this causes relay contacts 46 to close , thereby actuating solenoid 30 to open door 18 . the watts transucer 40 may be of conventional type , as for example that sold under the trade name halltipler by easterline scientific columbus a division of the easterline corporation of columbus , oh u . s . a . transducer 40 is connected to the motor leads through voltage transformers 50 and 52 and by current transformers 54 and 56 in a known manner . the transducer provides an output signal to the control circuit 42 with the output signal having a value in accordance with the power consumed by motor 24 . typically , the output signal from transducer 40 will be at a maximum of 100 milivolts and which may be representative of 100 kws of energy consumed by the motor so that each milivolt output of the transducer becomes equivalent to one kw of energy consumed by the motor . reference is now made to fig2 which illustrates the control circuit 42 in detail . the output signal from the watts transducer 40 is proportional to true power being consumed in kilowatts by the motor 24 . the output of the transducer 40 is applied to a signal conditioning circuit 60 which serves to provide high frequency filtering , signal amplification , and to remove the signal component representative of a no - load condition when the motor drives blades 20 with the chamber being empty . fig3 is a graphical illustration showing the kilowatts ( kws ) consumed by motor 24 during a typical operating cycle of approximately four minutes . this curve shows two portions , a and b . portion b represents the power consumed to run the motor 24 when empty and portion a represents the additional power being consumed to mix a batch of material . fig4 is a graphical illustration showing only portion a of fig3 but with the amplitude being exploded for clarity . the signal output from the signal conditioner 60 is representative only of portion a . the signal conditioning circuit 60 includes an operational amplifier 62 having its non - inverting input connected to ground and a parallel rc circuit 64 connected between the inverting input and the output of the amplifier . in order to remove the no - load portion from the total signal obtained from transducer 40 an offset signal is supplied to the inverting input of amplifier 62 . this is obtained from the wiper arm of a potentiometer 66 having its resistance portion connected between ground and a suitable b + voltage supply source . in calibrating the control circuit , the mixer is run empty while adjusting the wiper arm of potentiometer 66 until the output voltage from amplifier 62 is at essentially zero volts . this may be achieved by connecting a suitable voltmeter 68 between ground and the output of amplifier 62 . amplifier 62 provides a voltage gain of 10 , permitting use of a control function 10 percent of the full scale of the input . during a mixing cycle , the power consumed by motor 24 will vary as indicated by the graphical illustrations in fis . 3 and 4 . in the example illustrated , the power required to run the mixer empty is approximately 10 kws and this is subtracted by the signal conditioning circuit 60 to provide a work signal representative of the waveform shown in fig4 . the pvc resin is added at time t o and the power increases by approximately 0 . 35 kw . the plasticizer and other ingredients are added at approximately time t 1 and the power required to drive blades 20 through this mixture will increase by 1 . 6 kw . thereafter the power decreases slightly to approximately 1 . 5 kw after the elapsed time equals approximately 1 . 5 minutes . the power being consumed then gradually increases . the mix cycle should be terminated and the batch should be dumped when the power being consumed decreases again at approximately time t 2 indicative that the mix is drying . in this embodiment of the invention , it is contemplated that when the power decreases by approximately 0 . 1 kw at time t 3 the batch is dumped by energizing solenoid 30 . the control circuit 42 times some predetermined period of time such as two minutes from time t o before permitting operation of solenoid 30 to dump the contents of work chamber 12 . after that point in time , the control circuit operates to determine whether the power being consumed drops by a given amount i . e . by 0 . 1 kw . this level is adjustable at the operator &# 39 ; s selection by means of a suitable thumb wheel binary switch 70 which provides a four bit bcd coded signal to a comparator circuit 72 . this signal is representative of a threshold , such as 0 . 1 kw , which if exceeded in terms of decreasing power will result in operation of solenoid 30 to dump the contents of chamber 12 . before circuit 42 is operative to sense a decrease in power corresponding to the threshold set by switch 70 , a determination is made as to whether the magnitude of the signal provided by amplifier 62 has attained a level of 10 percent of full scale . if so , an adjustable time duration , in this case 2 minutes , is timed out . this is achieved by applying the output signal from amplifier 62 to the inverting input of a comparator amplifier 74 . the non - inverting input for this amplifier is set at a threshold representative of 10 percent of full scale by an adjustable wiper arm of a potentiometer 76 having its resistance portion connected between ground and a b + voltage supply source . once the output signal of amplifier 62 attains a level greater than this threshold level , the comparator amplifier 74 operates to provide a trigger signal to an adjustable one shot circuit 78 . this circuit times an adjustable time period , in this case two minutes , and applies an enabling signal to one input of an and gate 80 . whenever the output voltage of amplifier 62 falls below the threshold level , as set by potentiometer 76 , the output of the comparator amplifier 74 will change state and this is inverted by an inverter 82 to activate a one shot circuit 84 which applies a reset signal to the adjustable one shot circuit 78 , thereby removing the enabling signal applied to and gate 80 . in addition this one shot circuit will apply a reset signal to a flip flop 90 to prevent energization of relay 44 , as will be described in greater detail hereinafter . once an enabling signal has been applied by one shot circuit 78 to the and gate 80 , the control circuit is operative to determine the point in time that the power decreases by a threshold level , as set by the thumb wheel switch 70 . the analog output signal obtained from amplifier 62 is applied to an analog to digital converter 92 operated by a clock source 94 . this converter is conventional in the art and , for example , may take the form of a model adc - 89 analog to digital converter provided by datel systems incorporated . such a converter is operated by a clock source and serves to convert an analog input signal into an 8 bit ( bits b 1 through b 8 ) binary signal at the rate of 10 conversions per second . the 8 bit binary output signal represents 256 discrete levels of the analog input signal . in the example being given , the scaling represents approximately 10 watts per level . the 8 binary signal obtained from converter 92 is applied to the input side of an 8 bit register 95 as well as to one input side of a register serving as a full adder or subtractor 96 . the interval between two successive clock pulses represents one conversion interval in the example being given herein . each clock pulse provides a load signal at the output of and gate 80 and this is applied to the load input of register 95 . in response to each clock pulse , the last previous binary word obtained from converter 92 is loaded into register 95 . this binary word will then be present at the output of register 95 and will be applied to one side of subtractor 96 . the clock pulse also causes a new conversion cycle and the second binary word is applied to the other side of subtractor 96 . for purposes of definition the first binary word is referred to as a and the second binary word is a 1 . subtractor 96 operates to determine whether the new word is representative of a decrease in power and , hence , subtracts the second word a 1 from the previous word a . when this occurs the subtractor 96 provides an output signal which is inverted by inverter 98 and disables and gate 80 to prevent further load pulses from being applied to register 94 . consequently then , register 94 continues to store binary word a . this should be indicative of essentially the peak power reading at approximately time t 2 in fig4 . as clock pulses are still applied to converter 92 , its output will incrementally provide new binary words a 2 , a 3 . . . a n . the subtractor 96 will incrementally provide a subtraction of a - a 2 , a - a 3 . . . a - a n and incrementally provides a 4 bit binary word y representative of the difference value to the comparator circuit 72 . when the 4 bit difference word y is equal to a 4 bit threshold word x , as set by thumb wheel switch 70 , comparator 72 will provide a trigger pulse which is applied to the clock input c of flip flop 90 . this causes the output of flip flop 90 to change state and energize a relay driver 100 and which , in turn , energizes relay 44 . once relay 44 is energized its contacts 46 close to in turn energize solenoid 30 , causing door 18 to open , thereby dumping the contents of work chamber 12 . when the batch is dumped from the chamber 12 , the power required to drive blades 20 will decrease and the output voltage from amplifier 62 will decrease below the threshold level set by potentiometer 76 . this causes the comparator amplifier 74 to change state whereupon one shot circuit 74 resets the one shot circuit 78 and also resets flip flop 90 . when this occurs the output of flip flop 90 changes state tending to deenergize relay 44 . however , this relay is a time delayed relay and remains latched for approximately 30 seconds after the flip flop 90 has been reset . this maintains solenoid 30 energized for 30 seconds to assure that all of the contents are dumped from the work chamber 12 . thereafter , spring 34 operates to close door 18 so that a new cycle may commence . from the foregoing it is seen that the control circuitry 42 serves to provide automatic batch dumping operation , eliminating manual operator dependent control or the use of recording charts and the like . during each cycle a determination is made as to whether the power being consumed to operate motor 24 increases beyond some level , such as 10 percent of full scale , and then an adjustable time period , such as two minutes , is allocated before the circuitry operates to determine whether the power being consumed starts to decrease indicative that the mixture is drying . once a decreasing power consumption is determined by subtractor 96 in the present embodiment , the decreasing difference is effectively counted and when the difference obtains a threshold level , as set by switch 70 , a decision is made to terminate the work cycle by automatically energizing solenoid 30 to open door 18 . although the invention has been disclosed in conjunction with a preferred embodiment , it is apparent that various modifications and arrangements of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the present invention as defined by the dependent claims . | 1 |
an improved rolling pin is disclosed . fig1 is a side elevational view of a rolling pin 10 in the preferred embodiment of the present invention . the rolling pin includes a cylindrically - shaped main body 12 with opposing ends 14 and 16 . upon each end is a ball - shaped handle 18 . between each handle and the main body is a tapered portion 20 . the entire rolling pin 10 is constructed of a metallic substance . in the preferred embodiment , the material is aluminum . however , the rolling pin may be constructed of any rigid material , such as stainless steel or a composite material . preferably , the rolling pin is solid , thereby providing a heavier rolling pin than conventional rolling pins . fig2 is a side end view of the rolling pin 10 of fig1 . the handles are sized to comfortably fit within the palms of the user . the handles include a ball 30 having a diameter of approximately one inch . the main body has a slightly larger diameter of approximately 1 and 1 / 4 inches . in addition , the length of the entire rolling pin is approximately 18 inches . the total weight of the rolling pin is between 2 and 3 pounds . it should be understood that the dimensions and weight of the rolling pin may be different than the preferred embodiment , while still remaining in the scope of the present invention . in the preferred embodiment , the rolling pin is of a unitary constructed and is manufactured from a single shaft of aluminum or other metallic substance . the shaft is then lathed to the shape of the improved rolling pin 10 . fig3 is a front perspective view of the rolling pin 10 being rolled by the hands 42 of a user in the preferred embodiment of the present invention . the user preferably places the palms of his hands 42 on top of the ball - shaped handles 18 . the handles are rolled upon the palms , thereby moving the rolling pin . it should be noted , that unlike existing rolling pins , the handles are fixed to the main body , thus providing a unitary structure . the rolling of the rolling pin is accomplished by rolling the handles upon the palms of hands of the user . in addition , the ball - shaped handles prevent the hands of the user from falling off the rolling pin handles . fig4 is a side elevational view of a rolling pin 50 in a first alternate embodiment of the present invention . the rolling pin 50 may include a main body 52 with ends 54 and 56 , without the addition of any handles . fig5 is a side elevational view of a rolling pin 60 in a second alternate embodiment of the present invention . the rolling pin 60 may include a main body 62 and ends 64 and 66 . the ends may include capped handles 68 . the capped handles are similar to ends found on the end of a baseball bat . both the rolling pins 50 and 60 are made of a solid metallic substance . as discussed above , the rolling pin is preferably constructed of an aluminum material . the main body is preferably a solid material without any hollow portions , thus adding weight to the rolling pin . since the rolling pin is constructed of a metallic substance , a powder coating may be applied to the rolling pin . preferably , the powder coating process is a federal drug administration ( fda ) approved process . thus the powder coating is acceptable for application to a food article . in addition , the powder coating allows the application of distinct metallic and non - metallic colors which enhances the aesthetics of the rolling pin . in an alternate embodiment , the material coating the rolling pin may be subjected to a coloring process , such as an anodizing process . with reference to fig1 - 3 , the operation of the rolling pin 10 will now be discussed . the rolling pin , as desired by the user , may be stored in a refrigerated area , such as a refrigerator . cooling of the surface of the rolling pin provides a cooled surface area which may be helpful in the rolling process upon the food article . for example , there are many pastry does which must be rolled while the dough is still cold . once the dough is removed from a refrigerated area , application of a conventional rolling pin caused the dough to warm . once the dough is warmed up , the dough is difficult to roll without chilling the dough again . however , by utilizing a chilled rolling pin , the dough remains cool for a longer period of time . when desired , a food article is laid on a flat surface . the rolling pin is positioned above the food article . the rolling pin is grasped by positioning the user &# 39 ; s hands upon the ends 14 and 16 . the palms of the user &# 39 ; s hands are preferably positioned upon the ball portion of the handles . the remaining portion of each hand rests over the ends of rolling pin and the taped portions 20 of the rolling pin . the rolling pin is then rolled by rolling the balls upon the hands of the user . the present invention provides many advantages over existing rolling pins . the rolling pin 10 enables the application of color to the surface of the rolling pin , which was not feasible with rolling pins constructed of wood . the powder coating provides a very distinctive and unusual appearance to the rolling pin 10 . in addition , the rolling pin 10 is constructed of a metallic substance suitable for retaining a cool temperature . by cooling the surface of the rolling pin 10 , the food article is easier , in many cases ( e . g ., butter - based dough ), to roll . additionally , the rolling pin 10 is sized , contoured and weighed for optimal handling of the rolling pin and use in rolling a food article . it is thus believed that the operation and construction of the present invention will be apparent from the foregoing description . while the apparatus shown and described has been characterized as being preferred , it will be readily apparent that various changes and modifications could be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims . | 0 |
the invention provides molecular lithographic resists having as main component a molecule combining two characteristics : 1 ) the presence of at least two polycarbocyclic moieties per molecule , where at least one of them is an anthracene derivative and 2 ) the presence of at least one acid sensitive group per molecule . the general formulae of these polycarbocycle containing molecules is the following : a represents an anthracene or adamantane or steroid moiety of the following structures : x 1 to x 3 may be as or different from one another and each thereof represents a hydrogen atom , or an alkyl group or a linker from the group of alkyl , or alkoxy - moieties or — coch 2 ch 2 —, — coch ═ ch — connected directly to an acid sensitive carboxylic acid ester , such as tert - butyl , tetrahydropyranyl , trialkyl - silyl , adamantyl etc . x 1 to x 3 may also stand for an alkyl carboxylic acid ester with an additional moiety of the type a and they are not connected to each other by any chain . x represents a linker from the group of — ch 2 —, — o —, — coo —, — coch 2 —, — cooch 2 — or — ch 2 ch 2 coo — ch 2 — or — ch ═ ch — cooch 2 — or — ococh 2 ch 2 — cooch 2 or — oco — ch ═ ch — cooch 2 — or — ococh 2 ch 2 — or — ococh ═ ch — or oxygenated aliphatic chain or carbocyclic aliphatic chain or carbocyclic polysubstituted aliphatic chain . s represents a central aliphatic or cycloaliphatic or aromatic polyfunctionalized core of the following structures : b may stand for a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group or an alkoxy group or an acid sensitive alkyl carboxylic acid ester , such as tert - butyl , tetrahydropyranyl , trialkyl - silyl , adamantyl etc . or an additional moiety of the type a represented above . if a is not an anthracene derivative in the formulae i , ii , b is obligatory to be a moiety of the type a represented above containing at least one anthracene . r 1 , r 2 may be different from one another and they may stand for a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group or a linker of the type x connected to a moiety of the type b represented above . in all the above descriptions , the alkyl group comprises for example methyl -, ethyl -, n - propyl -, isopropyl -, n - butyl -, isobutyl -, sec - butyl -, t - butyl -, n - pentyl -, n - hexyl -, n - octyl -, n - dodecyl - groups and the like . an alkoxy group comprises for example methoxy -, ethoxy -, propoxy -, butoxy -, methoxymethylenoxy -, methoxyethylenoxy - group and the like . it should be noticed that none of the linkers represents any kind of polymeric chain . the invention provides novel resists containing at least two components , where the main component is a polycarbocycle - based properly functionalised organic molecule as described above and the second component is a photoacid generator . these resists have components of well - defined molecular structure and molecular weight . the functional groups attached to the polycarbocycle component comprise at least one t - butyl ester group or other acid sensitive group . additional functional groups attached to the polycarbocycle component could be hydrophilic moieties for adhesion purposes , increase of intermolecular forces and possibly solubility improvement . fig1 : estimation of m5 molecule ceiling temperature using absorption spectra , taken after various baking temperatures . the ceiling temperature according to the data shown is lower than 50 ° c . fig2 : estimation of m18 molecule ceiling temperature , using absorption spectra taken after baking at different temperatures and thermogravimetric analysis ( inside picture ). the ceiling temperature appears higher than 200 ° c . fig3 : sem images of positive - tone line / space patterns for m17 resist loaded with 20 % pag under exposure to 50 kev electron - beam . process conditions : pab 100 ° c ./ 2 min , peb 70 ° c ./ 2 min , development in tmah 0 . 26n for 20 s . fig4 : sem images of positive - tone line / space patterns for m18 resist loaded with 20 % pag under exposure to 50 kev electron - beam . process conditions : pab 100 ° c ./ 2 min , peb 100 ° c ./ 2 min , development in tmah 0 . 26n for 20 s . fig5 : shows the molecular formulae of representative polycarbocycle molecules according to the invention . a . detailed description of the synthetic strategies followed for the preparation of the newly synthesized molecular photoresists all the novel anthryl derivatives were prepared starting from commercially or synthetically available mono - or di - substituted anthracenes . consequently , several reported synthetic methods had to be modified or totally bypassed with new ones , in order to achieve efficient synthetic routes for the target molecules . in the illustrative examples depicted in the following schemes , the synthetic strategy includes the connection of a properly functionalized polycarbocycle a ( see summary of invention ) to a central polyfunctionalized aromatic or aliphatic core . connection of the different units was succeeded either via an esterification method , or an epoxide opening reaction , while for the functionalization of polycarbocyles , such as anthracene or steroid moieties various methods were used , such as esterification in alkaline or acidic conditions and metal catalyzed c — c bond formation methods , such as heck reaction . in the same manner , introduction of an acid sensitive group , such as a tert - butyl ester , coupling of a carboxylic acid with isobutylene or tert - butanol was exploited . for the synthesis of compounds of the formula i , a and b units were directly connected to a central core . an illustrative example is depicted in scheme 1 . the method includes coupling of carboxylic acids of the type 1 with other polycabocyclic moieties , such as steroids , anthracenes or adamantanes to form mixed derivatives , or alkyl groups , such as tert - butyl or tetrahydropyranyl to form acid sensitive di - anthryl esters of the type 2 . coupling may be succeeded via typical esterification methods with alcohols under alkaline or acidic conditions or coupling with alkenes under acidic conditions . for the synthesis of photoresists of the formula ii a central core connected to a , b units via a linker . as cores , commercially available aromatic or aliphatic polyfunctionalized compounds were used , with or without further modification . some representative examples for the preparation of photoresists of the formula ii , include : a ) the use of a central aromatic core , such as 3 , 5 - dihydroxy - benzoic acid which after conversion to chloride 5 was coupled with polycarbocycles , such as anthracene , steroid , or adamantyl moieties to afford compounds of the type 8 , 9 and 10 . further esterification of 8 with acids r 2 cooh may take place in one or more steps to afford derivatives of the type 9 and 10 containing the same or different r 2 — substituents . synthetic routes followed for the preparation of some representative carboxylic acids from the group of 11 - 14 are depicted in the following schemes : b ) the use of a trifunctionalized aliphatic core , such as glycerol 24 to which polycarbocycles , such as anthracene , steroid , or adamantyl moieties are connected via esterification for the formation of compounds of the type 25 . a representative synthetic route is depicted in the following scheme . esterification of glycerol with acids 12 , may take place in one or more steps to afford esters having the same or different anthryl moieties , respectively . c ) the use of a polyfunctionalized aliphatic core , such as pentaerythritol 26 to which polycarbocycles , such as anthracene , steroid , or adamantyl moieties are connected via esterification for the formation of compounds of the type 27 , 30 , 31 and 32 . representative synthetic routes are depicted in the following schemes . an illustrative example for the synthesis of anthryl derivatives of the formula i , is : preparation of succinic acid 2 - anthracen - 9 - yl - 1 - anthracen - 9 - ylmethyl - ethyl ester tert - butyl ester m4 [ 2 , x 1 = h , r 1 =— c ( ch 3 ) 3 ]: dry ether ( 5 ml ) was taken in an autoclave tube provided with an atmosphere of argon . the mixture was cooled to − 40 ° c ., and then isobutene was purged , followed by addition of acid 1 ( 3 . 0 gm , 5 . 85 mmol ), prepared according to powell ( m . f . powell , j . org . chem . 1987 , 52 , 56 - 61 ). the mixture was stirred and catalytic amount of conc . h 2 so 4 in dry ether was added to the mixture . the tube was properly closed and vigorously stirred at room temperature for 3 days . after completion of the reaction the mixture was cooled to − 40 ° c ., opened safely , and warmed slowly to room temperature , allowing evaporation of excess isobutylene . the mixture was treated with aqueous solution of sodium bicarbonate and extracted with ethyl acetate . the organic layer was washed with water and then with brine , dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate . the solvent was evaporated under vacuo and the residue was separated by flash column chromatography on silica gel / hexane - ch 2 cl 2 ( 4 : 6 ) affording the product 2 ( m4 ) ( 2 . 6 gm ). crystallization of the product with ethyl acetate - hexane gave analytical pure sample as a yellowish needless crystals ( 2 . 236 gm , 67 %). an illustrative example for the synthesis of anthryl derivatives of the formula ii possessing an aromatic central core , is : preparation of m17 [ 7 , r 2 cooh = 13 ( x =— ch 2 , x 1 = h , r 1 =— c ( ch 3 ) 3 ]: to a solution of a well - dried mixture of dihydroxy derivative 7 ( 3 . 404 g , 5 . 66 mmol ) and acid 13 ( 7 . 20 g , 13 . 03 mmol ) in dry thf ( 16 ml ) were added dic ( 2 . 7 ml , 16 . 99 mmol ) and 4 - dmap ( 173 mg , 1 . 42 mmol ) in an ice - cold bath under an argon atmosphere . the mixture was stirred at this temperature for 20 min and then it was stirred further at ambient temperature for 1 . 5 h ( monitored by tlc ). the mixture was quenched with aqueous saturated solution of ammonium chloride and then diluted with ethyl acetate . the organic layer was extracted and washed with brine , dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate . the solvent was removed on a rotary evaporator and the residue was separated by flash column chromatography on silica gel / hexane - ethyl acetate ( 7 : 3 ) to give m17 ( 10 . 00 g , 93 %) as oil , which was slowly crystallized as a colorless crystalline solid . 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 , 250 mhz ) δ h : 8 . 52 ( s , 2h ), 8 . 15 - 7 . 95 ( m , 8h ), 7 . 61 ( d , 2h , j = 1 hz ), 7 . 57 - 7 . 44 ( m , 9h ), 5 . 45 - 5 . 55 ( m , 2h ), 4 . 93 ( dd , 1h , j = 12 , 5 hz ), 4 . 78 ( brs , 1h ), 4 . 69 ( dd , 1h , j = 12 , 5 hz ), 4 . 47 ( dd , 1h , j = 12 , 5 hz ), 4 . 31 ( dd , 1h , j = 12 , 5 hz ), 3 . 96 ( brs , 1h ), 3 . 82 ( br s , 1h ), 2 . 93 - 2 . 73 ( m , 8h ), 2 . 62 - 2 . 47 ( m , 8h ), 1 . 43 ( s , 9h ), 1 . 42 ( s , 18h ) ppm . an illustrative example for the synthesis of anthryl derivatives of the formula ii , containing as a central aliphatic core glycerol 24 , is : preparation of m19 [ 25 , x =— ch 2 ch 2 —, x 1 =— cooc ( ch 3 ) 3 ]: to an ice - cold solution of a well - dried mixture of glycerol 24 ( 36 mg , 0 . 39 mmol ) and acid 12 ( 547 mg , 1 . 56 mmol ) in dry thf ( 1 . 2 ml ) dic ( 0 . 367 ml , 2 . 34 mmol ) and 4 - dmap ( 23 mg , 0 . 188 mmol ) were added in an ice - cold bath under an argon atmosphere . the mixture was stirred at this temperature for 20 min and then stirred further at ambient temperature for 2 h ( monitored by tlc ). the mixture was quenched with aqueous saturated solution of ammonium chloride and then diluted with ethyl acetate . the organic layer was extracted and washed with brine , dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate . the solvent was removed on a rotary evaporator and the residue was separated by flash column chromatography on silica gel / hexane - ethyl acetate ( 8 : 2 ) to give m17 ( 387 mg , 91 %), as a yellow crystalline solid . 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 , 250 mhz ) δ h , 8 . 25 ( dd , 6h , j = 8 , 2 hz ), 8 . 02 ( dd , 6h , j = 7 , 1 hz ), 7 . 57 - 7 . 37 ( m , 12h ), 5 . 47 - 5 . 47 ( m , 1h ), 4 . 46 ( dd , 2h , j = 12 , 5 hz ), 4 . 24 ( dd , 2h , j = 12 , 5 hz ), 3 . 98 ( t , 6h , j = 8 hz ), 2 . 81 ( t , 6h , j = 8 hz ), 1 . 77 ( s , 27h ) ppm . an illustrative example for the synthesis of anthryl derivatives of the formula ii , containing as a central aliphatic core pentaerythritol 26 , is : preparation of m21 [ 27 , x =— ch ═ ch —, x 1 =— cooc ( ch 3 ) 3 ]: to an ice - cold solution of a well - dried mixture of pentaerythritol 26 ( 468 mg , 3 . 44 mmol ) and acid 12 ( 6 . 0 gm , 17 . 222 mmol ) in dry thf ( 45 ml ), dic ( 3 . 8 ml , 24 . 26 mmol ) and 4 - dmap ( 420 mg , 3 . 43 mmol ) were added , under an argon atmosphere . the mixture was stirred at this temperature for 20 min and then stirred further at ambient temperature overnight . the mixture was quenched with aqueous saturated solution of ammonium chloride and then diluted with ethyl acetate . the organic layer was extracted and washed with brine , dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate . the solvent was removed on a rotary evaporator and the residue was separated by flash column chromatography on silica gel / hexane - ethyl acetate ( 8 : 2 ) to give m21 ( 3 . 8 gm , 75 %), as a yellow crystalline solid . 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 , 250 mhz ) δ h , 8 . 70 ( d , 4h , j = 16 hz ), 8 . 19 ( dd , 8h , j = 8 , 2 hz ), 8 . 01 ( dd , 8h , j = 8 , 2 hz ), 7 . 54 - 7 . 33 ( m , 16h ), 6 . 49 ( d , 4h , j = 16 hz ), 4 . 72 ( s , 8h ), 1 . 79 ( s , 36h ) ppm . c . relation of the functional groups incorporation to the physicochemical and lithographic properties the new molecules synthesized possess an etch - resistant anthracene core and the remaining functional groups or polycarbocycles are anchored to this core . capability for uniform film formation by spin - coating and stability during processing are achieved by suitably functionalizing the molecular structure . mono - or poly - anthracene based polycarbocycles combining hydrophilic groups such as ether groups , hydroxyl groups and / or cholic acid derivatives with free oh groups , show good solubility in organic solvents and good film forming properties . the films are easily obtained by spin coating . molecular interactions render the molecule more stable under thermal processing treatment . in addition , suitable combinations of the previous mentioned groups are enhancing the interaction between the molecule and the substrate improving the adhesion to it and allowing straightforward processing . thermal stability is also affected by glass transition temperature . thus , molecular materials are functionalized in order to have desired glass transition temperature values . the glass transition temperature depends upon the molecular size and weight and on the introduction of suitable substituents , i . e . on the incorporation of structurally rigid moieties which decrease the flexibility . the glass transition temperature is also critical for the choice of the best processing conditions , i . e . post apply bake and post exposure bake . the latter is important for the chemical amplification reaction accomplishment . thus , the difference between post exposure temperature and material &# 39 ; s glass transition temperature has an effect to sensitivity . in addition , correlation between the number of the different groups present , e . g . the cholic acids , the anthracene groups , the t - butyl ester groups , as well as the ratio of the molecular weight per the number of the different groups present in the molecule , and the lithographic behavior is observed . the mw / number of t - butyl ester groups and the mw / number of anthracenes , are for example related to the sensitivity and etching rate respectively . d . detailed description of the physicochemical characterization and of the evaluation of synthesized molecules as resist components a 4 % w / w solution of one of the synthesized polycarbocycle molecules in methyl isobutyl ketone ( mibk ) was prepared . the solution was stirred at room temperature for a few hours and the polycarbocycle molecule was dissolved . a small amount of the solution was used to spin coat a film on quartz substrate at 2000 rpm for 30 sec and the absorption spectrum of the film was taken . then , the film was heated on a hotplate at 50 , 70 , 90 , 100 , 110 , 130 , 150 , 160 , 190 , 200 , 250 ° c . for 2 min each time . the absorption spectra taken after each heating step were compared and the polycarbocycle &# 39 ; s ceiling temperature ( temperature up to which no significant decomposition , or sublimation takes place ) was estimated . the above experiment , at comparable baking cycles , was performed for all the materials synthesized . representative results are shown in table 1 and in fig1 and 2 . materials containing free — oh or o groups seem to be stable even at elevated temperatures . a small amount of the synthesized polycarbocycle molecules was used in mdsc experiments to determine their glass transition temperature . the glass transition temperature provides a first guide for the selection of baking limits in such a way so that the lithographic patterns do not collapse due to material melting . representative results are shown in table 2 . from this table is evident that molecules containing a higher number of flexible , easily rotating groups have a lower glass transition temperature value and vice versa , i . e . the more rigid the molecule the higher the glass transition temperature value is . a polycarbocycle molecule solution was used to form a film by spin coating on a 3 ″ silicon wafer as described in example 1 and it was post - apply baked on a hotplate at 100 ° c . for 2 min . on another substrate a phs film was spin coated and post - apply baked on a hotplate at 150 ° c . for 2 min . the films were placed in the chamber of a reactive ion etcher and thickness was measured in situ with an ellipsometer . then the films were etched in o 2 plasma with source power of 600 w . the etching conditions were the following : o 2 flow 100 sccm , bias voltage − 100v , electrode temperature 15 ° c ., reactor pressure 1 . 33 pa . several etching experiments performed to evaluate the behavior in o 2 plasma of all the molecules synthesized . representative results are shown in table 3 indicating a decrease in etch rate in cases of molecules with high carbon atom content or with lower numbers of o atoms . a solution of m17 4 % w / w in methyl isobutyl ketone ( mibk ) was first prepared and various quantities ( in % w / w with respect to the polycarbocycle mass ) of triphenyl sulfonium antimonate , used as photoacid generator , were added in the solution . the new solution was stirred at room temperature for a few hours until the components were dissolved and then this new solution was used as resist . a thin film from the m17 - based resist solution was spin coated at 2000 rpm for 30 sec on a 3 ″ silicon wafer , already coated with a hard baked organic material ( az5214 purchased by clariant ), and post - applied baked on a hotplate at 100 ° c . for 2 min . the m17 resist film thickness measured with a profilometer was ˜ 100 nm . then , films were broadband exposed using a 500 w hg — xe exposure tool through a lithographic mask for various doses ( time of exposure ). different post - exposure bake temperatures were also applied . the films were developed in tmah 0 . 26n ( az 726 mif purchased by clariant ) for 25 sec , rinsed with h 2 o and dried in a n 2 flow . the exposed areas were dissolved indicating positive lithographic behavior . then , films of m17 resist were broadband exposed using a 500 w hg — xe exposure tool , through a lithographic mask with features of the order of 1 μm in contact with the resist film , for various doses . different post - exposure bake temperatures were also applied . a series of m17 resist formulations , with various loadings of photoacid generator , were studied for their lithographical behavior . the ratio of 20 % w / w of photoacid generator per polycarbocycle molecule mass was chosen for the following imaging experiments . the films were developed as above . the exposed areas were dissolved indicating high resolution lithographic capability . a 2 min post - exposure bake step at 70 ° c . was chosen as giving best results under the conditions examined . in a subsequent experiment films of m17 resist were exposed with an electron beam exposure tool and lines of 1000 , 500 , 250 , 100 nm were scanned for various doses . post - exposure bake at 70 ° c . for 2 min was applied . the films were developed as above . the exposed areas were dissolved and lines down to 100 nm were obtained , showing high - resolution lithographic capability . the same steps as previous were followed for m18 - based resist formulations loaded with 20 % w / w of photoacid generator . this study showed first positive lithographic behavior , and second , high resolution lithographic capability at higher doses than that required for m17 resist . the post - exposure bake step in this case was performed at 100 ° c . for 2 min . in a subsequent experiment films of a m18 - based resist formulation were exposed with electron beam exposure tool as above described for the m17 - based resist formulation . post - exposure bake at 100 ° c . for 2 min was applied . the films were developed as above . the exposed areas were dissolved and 100 nm lines were obtained showing high resolution lithographic capability . in this case higher doses than the ones used for the m17 - based resist were used , despite the fact that the post - exposure bake temperature was higher ( 100 ° c . for 2 min instant of 70 ° c .). solutions of m16 - 0 and m16 - a molecules , 4 % w / w in methyl isobutyl ketone ( mibk ) were used to prepare resist formulations using triphenyl sulfonium antimonate as photoacid generator at loadings of 20 % w / w per polycarbocycle mass . then , 100 nm thick films of m16 - 0 and m16 - a resist formulations were coated and post - applied bake as in example 4 . films of m16 - 0 and m16 - a resists were broadband exposed using a 500 w hg — xe exposure tool through a lithographic mask for various doses . post - exposure bake steps at 100 ° c . for 2 min were applied for both resists in order to compare their sensitivities since the two the polycabocycle molecules ( m16 - 0 and m16 - a ) have similar chemical structures differing mainly in the number of imaging groups per molecule . the development procedure applied was as in example 4 . in the case of m16 - a higher doses than in the case of m16 - 0 were required . it should be noticed that m16 - a has 2 imaging groups per molecule and a t g of 52 ° c . whereas the m16 - 0 has 3 imaging groups per molecule and a t g of 34 ° c . the features disclosed in the present description , or the following claims , or the accompanying drawings , expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function , or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result , as appropriate , may , separately , or in any combination of such features , be utilized for realizing the invention in diverse forms thereof . when used in this specification and claims , the terms “ comprises ” and “ comprising ” and variations thereof mean that the specified features , steps or integers are included . the terms are not to be interpreted to exclude the presence of other features , steps or components . 1 . t . hirayama , d . shiono , h . hada , j . onoda , m . ueda , j . photopol . sci . technol ., 17 , 435 - 440 ( 2004 ). 2 . m . yoshiiwa , h . kageyama , y . shirota , f . wakaya , k . gamo , and m . takai , appl . phys . lett ., 69 , 2605 ( 1996 ). 3 . t . kadota , m . yoshiiwa , h . kageyama , f . wakaya , k . gamo , y . shirota , proc . spie , vol . 4345 , 891 , 2001 4 . t . kadota et al ., mat . sci . eng . c , 16 , 91 - 94 , ( 2001 ). 5 . j - b . kim , h - j yun , y - g kwon , chem . let ., 10 , 1064 - 1065 ( 2002 ). 6 . t . kadota et al ., chem . let ., 33 ( 6 ) 706 , ( 2004 ). 7 . e . gogolides , p . argitis , e . a . couladouros , v . p . vidali , et al , j . vac . sci . technol . b 2003 , 21 ( 1 ), 141 8 . e . gogolides , p . argitis , e . a . couladouros , v . p . vidali , m . vasilopoulou , g . cordoyiannis , wo 03 / 038523 a3 . | 6 |
the present invention will now be fully explained in connection with the accompanying drawings . fig1 shows a schematic construction of a substrate processing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention . fig2 shows a schematic construction of a stepper 20 constituting a part of the substrate processing system and for transferring a pattern pa on a reticle r onto a wafer . the system includes a first conveying path mt1 for conveying the wafer from a loader cassette 1 ( wafer position wa ) to the stepper 20 and a second conveying path mt2 for conveying the wafer from the stepper 20 to an unloader 14 ( wafer position wk ), which first and second paths constitutes a main conveying path referred to as a main conveying means mt hereinafter . however , it should be noted that the first conveying path mt1 and the second conveying path mt2 hold a conveying path portion mta extending between a position we and the stepper 20 in common . the main conveying means mt and a coater - developer cd are already known in the art , and thus , the explanation regarding these elements is omitted . however , the main conveying means mt according to the first embodiment of the present invention utilizes both of a belt conveying device and an air conveying device . the main conveying means mt conveys or feeds the wafer from the loader cassette 1 ( position wa ) to the unloader cassette 14 ( position wk ) only in one direction sequentially . however , in this main conveying means mt , the above - mentioned conveying path portion mta extending between the position we and the stepper 20 , and a conveying path portion mtb extending between the position we and a position wg are so constructed that the wafer can be fed in both directions in these conveying path portions . further , the coater - developer cd comprises a coater portion c including mainly a coater 4 , and a developer portion d including mainly a developer 11 . in addition , since respective wafer processing apparatuses including the coater - developer cd are constructed as modules , these apparatuses can be freely combined in a certain extent according to the treatment processes for the wafer . now , an example thereof will be explained . in fig1 the coater - developer cd includes the coater portion c for performing a process before the resist is applied and a resist applying process , the developer portion d for performing a developing process , the loader cassette 1 , the unloader cassette 14 , and buffer cassettes 7 , 8 . further , the coater - developer cd is constituted by a plurality of moduled wafer processing apparatuses ( referred to as &# 34 ; wafer processing unit &# 34 ; hereinafter ). the process before the resist is applied ( preprocess ) includes a hexamethyldisilazane ( referred to as &# 34 ; hmds &# 34 ; hereinafter ) processing apparatus 2 and a cold plate 3 . in this process , foreign matters adhered on the wafer are removed to facilitate the adhesion of the resist onto the wafer . next , the resist applying process includes the coater 4 , a hot plate 5 and a cold plate 6 . in this process , positive type resist is applied onto the wafer , and treatment for stabilizing the sensitivity of the positive type resist is effected . the developing process includes the developer 11 , hot plates 19 , 20 , and cold plates 10 , 13 . in this process , a circuit pattern of the reticle , i . e ., a resist pattern rp is imprinted on the wafer . the buffer cassettes 7 and 8 are provided for temporarily receiving the wafer when the cycle time of the substrate processing system is adjusted in consideration of different processing times of the respective wafer processing units . the stepper 20 acts to transfer the circuit pattern provided on the back surface of the reticle to the wafer . since the concrete construction of the stepper as shown in fig2 is already known , for example , as disclosed in the u . s . pat . no . 4 , 677 , 301 , the stepper will be briefly explained here . the reticle r on which a predetermined circuit pattern ( including marks used for an alignment operation ) is formed is precisely positioned with respect to an optical axis ax of a projection lens 21 . a projected image of the circuit pattern from the reticle is transferred onto the wafer w positioned on a stage 22 which can be shifted two - dimensionally in x and y directions . in fig1 indicates main light beams passing through a peripheral edge of the pattern area pa . the projection lens 21 used in this embodiment is an optical system which is non - telecentric in the reticle side and is telecentric in the wafer side . the wafer stage 22 is driven by a motor 23 , and the two - dimensional position ( coordinates ) of the stage is measured or checked by a laser interferometer 24 . further , in order to detect alignment marks ( particularly , diffraction grating marks ) previously formed on the wafer , a laser beam source 25 , a half mirror 26 and mirrors 27 , 28 are provided for illuminating laser light ( comprising , for example , he - ne light beams , which does almost not sensitize the resist ) onto the wafer . in this case , the laser light from the laser source 25 is focused as a spot light ( seat beam ) sp on the wafer through the projection lens 21 . the spot light sp is positioned at a predetermined distance from the optical axis ax outside of the projected image of the pattern area pa on the wafer . when the spot light sp illuminates on the mark , diffracted light , scattered light and specular reflected light are generated . these light beams pass through the projection lens 21 and is sent to an space filter 29 through the mirror 28 , 29 and the half mirror 26 . the space filter 29 is arranged in conjugation with an incident pupil of the projection lens 21 so that the specular reflected light ( zero - dimensional light ) is shut out and the diffracted light ( or scattered light is directed to a photoelectric detector 30 to produce a photoelectric signal which is inputted to a control circuit 31 . on the other hand , the laser interferometer 24 detects a value of the coordinates of the position of the shifted wafer stage 22 . the detected coordinate value from the interferometer 24 is also inputted to the control circuit 31 . thus , since the spot light sp is stationary in the projection field of the projection lens 21 , the position of the mark formed on the wafer can be determined by the control circuit 31 on the basis of the inputted coordinate value and photoelectric signal . the control circuit 31 controls the operation of the motor 23 , and also performs a step - and - repeat exposure operation by an enhancement global alignment system ( e . g . a . ), for example , as described in the u . s . ser . no . 915 , 027 filed on oct . 3 , 1986 ( same assignee as the present application ). hereinafter , the alignment system comprising the laser source 25 , half mirror 26 , mirrors 27 , 28 , space filter 29 and photoelectric detector 30 will be called or referred to as &# 34 ; laser step alignment system &# 34 ; ( lsa system ), and the control circuit 31 will be called or referred to as &# 34 ; laser step alignment system processing circuit 31 &# 34 ; ( lsac ). the center of detection of the lsa system coincides with the center of the spot light . further , the lsa system shown in fig2 is provided for detecting the position of the wafer w , for example , only in the y direction . it should be noted that , in practice , the similar lsa system for detecting the position of the wafer in the x direction is also provided . in this connection , in fig2 a first mirror 28 &# 39 ; of the x direction detecting lsa system corresponding to the first mirror 28 of the y direction detecting lsa system is shown alone . now , an auxiliary conveying means st shown in fig1 comprises a pick - up arm 100 and a linear motor guide 200 . the pick - up arm 100 can be shifted along the linear motor guide 200 so that the pick - up arm can pick up the wafer by a vacuum force at any desired position in the substrate processing system and can convey said wafer up to a further any desired position in the substrate processing system . fig3 and 4 show a schematic construction of the pick - up arm 100 . the pick - up arm 100 includes an arm 101 which can be rocked within 90 degrees by means of a motor 106 through an arm rotating shaft 103 , a worm wheel 104 and a worm 105 . the arm 101 is provided at its free end with a vacuum sucking face 102 which can suck , by the vacuum force , a back surface of the wafer being processed and pick up the same and can convey said wafer to any desired position in the substrate processing system . the arm 101 , arm rotating shaft 103 , worm wheel 104 , worm 105 and motor 106 are supported on a support 107 . in connection with the fact that the pick - up arm 100 is constituted to suck or pick up the back surface of the wafer by the vacuum force . the wafer can be picked up at least at positions wb , wc , wf and wj . further , the support 107 and accordingly the arm 101 can be rotated by 360 degrees around a worm wheel shaft 110 by means of a motor 111 through a worm wheel 109 , the worm wheel shaft 110 and a worm 112 all of which are provided on a supporting base 108 . further , the pick - up arm 100 is shifted along the linear motor guide 200 by means of a linear motor unit 113 arranged on the bottom of the supporting base 108 . the pick - up arm 100 can be shifted along the linear motor guide 200 between a position 100a and a position 100d shown in fig1 . a main controller 50 shown in fig1 includes a processor such as a microcomputer or minicomputer , and an interface circuit and the like , and can determine a forming condition ( i . e ., calculates an optimum forming condition ) of the resist pattern in the coater - developer cd and in the stepper 20 and further wholly controls the whole substrate processing system including the above - mentioned lsa system . next , the operation of the substrate processing system according to the first embodiment will be explained with reference to the related drawings . in this case , it is assumed that the pick - up arm 100 is firstly positioned in the position 100d on the linear motor guide 200 and the arm 101 is positioned in a plane parallel to a conveying plane of the main conveying means mt . now , the wafer started from the loader cassette 1 is conveyed by the main conveying means mt through the pre - process before coating , the resist coating process , the exposing process and the developing process in order , so that the wafer is subjected to the respective treatments . that is to say , the wafer is shifted through the positions wa - we , the stepper 20 , the positions we - wg - wj in order . when the wafer reaches the position wj , the resist pattern of the reticle has been formed on the processed wafer . in this case , as the reticle , a test reticle ( i . e ., not a reticle for semi - conductor device ), for example a reticle on which a plurality of parallel straight patterns are formed is used . further , in this case , in order to enhance the accuracy of the measurement , the straight pattern wider than a minimum line width of the circuit pattern of the semi - conductor device is formed on this test reticle . for example , although a line width of the circuit pattern formed on the wafer is in the order of sub - microns , the line width of the straight pattern formed on the test reticle will be about 10 μm . further , the treatments performed on the wafer is controlled by the main controller 50 in such a manner that the wafer is treated or processed by the stepper 20 and the respective processing units constituting the coater - developer cd on the basis of a previously inputted predetermined forming condition regarding the resist pattern . next , the main controller 50 checks the forming condition of the resist pattern formed on the wafer by utilizing the lsa system provided in the stepper 20 . to this end , at first , the main controller 50 moves the pick - up arm 100 along the linear motor guide 200 from the position 100d to a position 100b before the wafer to be checked has reached the position wj . in this case , the arm 101 has been lifted by a certain angle from the conveying plane or has been shifted vertically by means of the motor 106 through the arm rocking elements 103 - 105 . next , the arm 101 being maintained in the above condition is turned or rocked by 90 degrees by means of the motor 111 through the arm rocking elements 109 - 111 in the position 100b on the linear motor guide 200 . then the arm 101 is lowered to be parallel to the conveying plane again by means of the motor 106 to prepare a condition that the pick - up arm 100 can pick up , by the vacuum force , the wafer conveyed to the position wj by the main controller 50 . next , the pick - up arm 100 picks up the wafer reached the position wj by sucking , by the vacuum force , the back surface of the wafer by means of the vacuum sucking face 102 arranged on the free end of the arm 101 . then , the arm 101 carrying the wafer thereon is lifted vertically or by a certain angle from the conveying plane by means of the motor 106 . in this condition , the pick - up arm 100 is shifted along the linear motor guide 200 from the position 100b to the position 100d . then the arm 101 is turned by 90 degrees by the motor 111 , and thereafter is lowered by the motor 106 to be parallel to the conveying plane ( i . e ., the wafer is also parallel to the conveying plane ). in this case , the arm 101 is lowered so that the wafer contacts with the conveyor belt of the main conveying means mt . next , the wafer is released from the vacuum sucking face 102 to bring it on the position wf in the conveying path . then , the wafer positioned in the position wf is shifted to the position we by the conveying path portion wtb which constitutes a part of the main conveying means mt and can move in both directions . the wafer reached the position we is then sent to the stepper 20 by means of the conveying path portion mta having the same construction as that of the conveying path portion mtb . next , in the stepper 20 , the wafer is positioned on the wafer stage 22 , and the line width of the resist pattern rp formed on the wafer is measured by the lsac 31 by using the spot light sp from the lsa system . further , the explanation will be continued with reference to fig5 a and 5b . fig5 a shows a condition that the resist pattern rp is scanned by the spot light sp , and fig5 b shows a section of the resist pattern rp in the scanning direction and wave forms of the photoelectric signals . it should be noted that , since the resist pattern rp is so provided that the line width thereof is measured by the lsa system for detecting the position of the resist pattern in the y direction , the spot light sp and the resist pattern rp both extend in the x direction . in this connection , the lsac 31 shifts the wafer stage 22 in such a manner that the resist pattern rp is relatively scanned in the y direction by the spot light sp . in this case , if a center of a bundle lb of the laser beams coincides with a stepped edge e1 in a position y1 , scattering light dl1 is generated in a space adjacent to the stepped edge e1 , and the photoelectric signal from the photoelectric detector 30 will have a peak value as shown by a wave form s1 . as the resist pattern rp is further scanned by the spot light sp , if the canter of the bundle lb of the laser beam coincides with the other stepped edge e2 in a position y2 , scattered light dl2 is generated in a space adjacent to the stepped edge e2 , and the photoelectric signal from the photoelectric detector 30 will have a peak value as shown by a wave form s2 . the lsac 31 detects y - coordinate values y1 and y2 of the positions y1 and y2 where the wave forms s1 and s2 of the photoelectric signal are the peak values , respectively , from the laser interferometer 24 . the line width ly of the resist pattern rp is calculated on the basis of these coordinate values y1 and y2 , and the calculated value ly is stored . after the measurement of the line width of the resist pattern formed on the wafer is completed , the wafer is discharged from the stepper 20 in the reverse manner as the wafer is introduced into the stepper 20 . that is to say , the wafer is conveyed up to the position we by the conveying path portion mta and then is conveyed from the position we to the position wf . then , the wafer is picked up by the pick - up arm 100 and conveyed to the position wj along the linear motor guide 200 . thereafter , the wafer is conveyed from the position wj to the unloader cassette 14 ( position wk ) by the conveying path mt2 and received in the unloader cassette 14 . next , the main controller 50 determines the optimum forming condition of the resist pattern such as developing conditions in the respective wafer processing units , a thickness condition of the resist film and the like , and the optimum forming condition of the resist pattern such as a focusing position , exposure value in the stepper 20 and the like , on the basis of the measured value ( i . e ., measured line width ly ) obtained from the lsac 31 and the previously stored or inputted design line width . further , the main controller 50 also properly feedback controls the coater - developer cd and the stepper 20 in accordance with the determined values so that the wafer is processed at the optimum resist pattern forming condition by means of the coater - developer cd and the stepper 20 . in this way , the preparation regarding the wafer processing operation such as the setting of the forming condition of the substrate processing system and the like is completed . then the main controller 50 starts the wafer processing sequence , where the wafer accommodated in the loader cassette 1 is conveyed through the various processes sequentially and thus is processed to form a first layer of the circuit pattern of the reticle on the wafer . the wafer having the first layer formed thereon is subjected to an etching treatment and then is transferred to a further ( second ) substrate processing system having the same construction as the afore - mentioned substrate processing system and including a reticle having a second layer of the circuit pattern , where the wafer is similarly processed to superimpose or overlap the second layer of the circuit pattern on the first layer . in this way , by repeating the similar processes as to the same wafer , ten or more reticle circuit patterns are superimposed on the wafer . the semiconductor element is obtained by exposing the wafer so processed . with the arrangement mentioned above , since the wafer is conveyed to the stepper 20 by the auxiliary conveying means st provided separately from the main conveying means mt , and the forming condition of the resist pattern rp is detected by the lsa system provided in the stepper 20 , and further the main controller 50 feedbacks the optimum forming condition to the coater - developer cd and the stepper 20 , the occurrence of the defect of the circuit pattern due to adhesion of foreign matters , and the reduction of the through put can be effectively prevented , thereby forming the high accurate semi - conductor element on the wafer . by using the substrate processing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention , for example , it is possible that , before the photoresist applied to the wafer is exposed , the wafer is once introduced into the stepper by means of the auxiliary conveying means , where the thickness of the photoresist is measured , and the exposure value in the stepper is controlled on the basis of the optimum forming condition derived from the measured value . in the afore - mentioned first embodiment , the conveying path portion mta for shifting the wafer is provided as an interface between the coater - developer cd and the stepper 20 , and the conveying path portion mta is constructed to convey the wafer in opposite directions , and the wafer is introduced into and discharged from the stepper 20 by means of this conveying path portion mta . however , as shown in fig6 it may be constructed that the wafer is introduced into the stepper by the conveying path portion mta moving only in one direction and is discharged from the stepper 20 by a conveying path portion mtc moving only in one direction . more particularly , in this embodiment , the pick - up arm 100 of the auxiliary conveying means st picks up the wafer to be measured and moves along the linear motor guide 200 from the position 100b to the position 100c in the same manner as that described regarding the first embodiment , thereby conveying the wafer from the position wj to the position wc . then , the wafer is introduced from the position wc into the stepper 20 by the main conveying means mt through the conveying path portion mta . in the stepper , the line width of the resist pattern formed on the wafer is measured in the same manner as that mentioned above . then , the wafer is conveyed from the stepper 20 to the position wi by the main conveying means mt through the conveying path portion mtc . further , the auxiliary conveying means st conveys the wafer from the position wi to the position wj . in this way , in this second embodiment , the same effect can be achieved as that in the afore - mentioned first embodiment . further , as shown in fig6 an inspection device 40 such as a wafer prober may be provided . in this case , the wafer having the developed resist pattern formed thereon is conveyed from the position wj to the inspection device 40 ( position w1 ) by the auxiliary conveying means st . in the inspection device , for example , the defect of the wafer may be checked . with this arrangements and / or inspections ( for example , measurement in the stepper and inspection in the inspection device ), thus further shortening the set up time in the initiation of the substrate processing system , thereby achieving high through put . in addition , since the coater - developer associated with the auxiliary conveying means st is used , when the abnormity occurs in the wafer processing operations in the wafer processing units , for example , when it is impossible to perform the sufficient treatments of the wafer due to the presence of the insufficient or wrong wafer which is caused , for example , by insufficient application of the resist onto the wafer if the resist in the coater 4 is used up , the auxiliary conveying means st can move the wrong wafer from the abnormality occurring position ( in this case , the coater 4 ) to the position wj , and then the wrong wafer is received in the unloader cassette 14 through the main conveying means mt . thus , it is apparent that the reduction of the processing rate in the coater - developer cd can be effectively prevented . | 6 |
in the following , preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in further details with reference to the drawing in which fig1 shows a telescopic catheter , with a distal 1 and a proximal section 2 . the distal section 1 has a transition end 3 and a proximal guiding end 4 . the proximal section 2 has a transition end 5 and a distal insertion end 6 . the angle between the longitudinal direction of the catheter and the conical erection on the distal section is marked 7 . the angle between the longitudinal direction of the catheter and the conical erection on the proximal section is marked 8 . the transition end of the proximal section has an outer diameter which is higher than the remainder of the proximal section ( the difference a ). the transition end of the distal section has on outer diameter which is smaller than the remainder of the proximal section ( the difference b ). fig3 shows the principle of another embodiment of a catheter 30 according to the invention . the distal section 1 ( the outer section ) displays a decreased outer circumference 31 in the transition , whereas the proximal section 2 ( the inner section ) displays an increased outer circumference 32 in the transition . the proximal end of the distal section 33 is here cut to allow for a smooth transition point . by adding cylindrical parts such as the decreased outer circumference 31 and the increased outer circumference 32 the surface of the transition sections is increased , thereby creating a larger area wherein the distal section and proximal section can couple together . fig4 shows another embodiment 40 of the catheter , which discloses one way to obtain decreased elasticity in the transition end ( the distal end ) of the proximal section . the embodiment of fig4 is identically to the embodiment of fig3 , however , the thickness of the wall has been doubled by insertion of an additional tube 41 , which stabilizes the transition and provides decreased elasticity . fig5 shows another embodiment 50 of the catheter , which discloses one way to obtain decreased elasticity in the transition end ( the distal end ) of the proximal section . here , the thickness of the end wall of the distal section 1 has been increased by molding the tube with a thicker wall 52 . fig6 shows another embodiment 60 of the catheter , which discloses one way to obtain decreased elasticity in the transition end ( the proximal end ) of the distal section . here , the thickness of the end wall of the distal section 1 has been increased by molding the tube with a thicker wall 61 on that part . fig7 shows another embodiment 70 of the catheter , which discloses a combination of fig4 shows another embodiment 40 of the catheter , which discloses one way to obtain decreased elasticity in the transition end ( the distal end ) of the proximal section . the embodiment of fig4 is identically to the embodiment of fig3 , however , the thickness of the wall has been doubled by insertion of an additional tube 41 , which stabilizes the transition and provides decreased elasticity . and fig5 shows another embodiment 50 of the catheter , which discloses one way to obtain decreased elasticity in the transition end ( the distal end ) of the proximal section . here , the thickness of the end wall of the distal section 1 has been increased by molding the tube with a thicker wall 52 . : an increased wall - thickness in the transition end of both the distal section and the proximal section . fig8 shows another embodiment 80 of the catheter , which discloses transition with a third element . that is , the thick black line is the distal section 81 . the outer circumference of the distal section decreases ( going from left to right ), is followed by a flat segment , and is thereafter pointed to provide for a smooth transition point . the proximal section 82 is the hatched line . the outer circumference of this proximal section increases ( going from right to left ). the two sections can be pulled together . however , a third element 83 is positioned between the decrease in outer circumference of the distal section and the increase in outer diameter of the proximal section . fig9 illustrates another embodiment 90 of the catheter and the transition between the distal section 1 ( left ) and the proximal section 2 ( right ). the distal section is cut to be pointed towards the end ( the proximal end ) and fits towards the regular tubular part of the proximal section . fig1 illustrates another embodiment 100 of the catheter , which discloses the transition between the distal section 101 ( left ) and the proximal section 102 ( right ). the distal section is cut to be pointed towards the end ( the proximal end ) and fits towards the part of the proximal section undergoing an increase in outer circumference . the inner circumference of the tip in the transition end of the distal part is bigger than the outer circumference of the proximal section so that a coating on the proximal section is not damaged when the tip passes this section during expansion of the catheter . fig1 illustrates another embodiment 110 of the catheter , which discloses a bulb 111 on the proximal tube , just proximally to the transition part . fig1 illustrates another embodiment 140 of the catheter according to the invention . here a third element 141 is placed on the outside of the transition part of the distal section . the third element is formed as a ring having an outer circumference of the same size as the outer circumference of the distal section . the third element has a proximal face which tapers with the same angle as the proximal end of the distal section . fig1 illustrates the forces between the distal section 1 and the proximal section as described earlier when the catheter is in its expanded configuration . the sections are only shown schematically and solid lines indicate their walls . the area between the tapering part of the two sections defines the conical contact zone 150 . although dry catheters are easier to engage in a frictional lock with each other , a hydrophilic catheter may also engage into a frictional lock when first and second conical faces 151 , 152 of the two sections are pulled against each other in the contact zone 150 . high friction may thus be provided when a first angle α 1 of the first conical face 151 ( relative to the axis of the distal section ) and a second angle α 2 of the second conical face 152 ( relative to the axis of the proximal section ) are less than 40 °. low friction is created when the first angle α 1 and the second angle α 2 are between 90 ° and 110 °. fig1 - 21 shows one embodiment of an expandable catheter 151 . fig1 shows an enlarged view of section xviii in fig1 and fig2 and 21 shows enlarged views of sections xx and xxi , respectively , in fig1 . fig1 a and 19 b shows respectively a distal section and a proximal section of fig1 . the sections illustrated in fig1 a and 19 b are shown in an exploded view along axis a - a . the catheter 151 is operable between a collapsed configuration , shown in fig1 , for storage and transportation and an expanded configuration , shown in fig1 , for draining fluid from a body via a conduit 153 which extends axially in a longitudinal direction , indicated by arrow 179 , from a proximal end 165 to an opposite distal end 171 . the catheter comprises a proximal section 2 , adapted to be fully inserted into a urinary channel of the body ( not shown ) and forming a proximal part of the conduit which part extends axially between the proximal end 165 and a first transition end 164 of the proximal section 2 . the catheter further comprises a distal section 1 , adapted to be at least partially inserted into the urinary channel ( not shown ) and forming a distal part of the conduit which part extends axially between a second transition end 170 of the distal section 1 and the distal end 171 . the first transition end 164 is dimensioned to enable its positioning inside a receiving portion of the distal part of the conduit 153 to enable axial movement of the sections relative to each other to operate the catheter 151 between the collapsed configuration and the expanded configuration of the catheter , wherein the sections comprise cooperating coupling structures to support the catheter in the expanded configuration . beside the proximal section 2 and the distal section 1 , the catheter 151 is also provided with a connector 152 . together the two sections and the connector forms the conduit 153 extending axially along the axis a - a . the proximal section is formed of a proximal catheter tube 154 , defining a first duct 155 , and a first sleeve 156 having a base 157 , a shaft 158 , a head 159 and a second duct 160 extending there through . the first transition end 164 and the proximal end 165 define the axial extent of the proximal section . the head and the shaft of the first sleeve are inserted into the first duct of the proximal catheter tube and thereby form the proximal section . in this configuration the first duct and the second duct together defines a proximal part of the conduit . to avoid separation the proximal catheter tube and the first sleeve are welded together . other means for joining exists , such as gluing . additionally or alternatively the outer circumference of the shaft and the head of the first sleeve may be larger than the inner circumference of the proximal catheter tube whereby the tube will grip tightly around the first sleeve . as can be seen the first proximal section have an outer surface with a first surface portion 181 with a first circumference , which when seen in the longitudinal direction is followed by a second surface 182 having a second circumference which is larger than the first circumference . a third surface portion 183 follows the second surface portion . the third circumference of the third surface portion is smaller than the second surface portion . by providing smooth transitions between the first , second and third surface portion a bulb 161 is provided on the outer surface of the proximal catheter tube . in practice the bulb 161 is provided by the head 159 , which is formed with an enlarged surface portion , which has a larger circumference than the shaft 158 . the head will thereby radially expand the proximal catheter tube and create the bulb 161 . by forming a fourth surface portion 184 on the base 157 with a circumference which is larger than the circumference of the third surface portion , a first rim 162 is provided when the proximal catheter tube and the first sleeve are joined to form the proximal section . a slot 163 is thereby formed between the second surface portion , i . e . the bulb 161 , and the fourth surface portion , i . e . the first rim 162 . the distal section 1 is formed of a distal catheter tube 180 , defining a third duct 165 and a second sleeve 166 having an outer tapering surface 167 , an incision 168 and a fourth duct 169 . a second transition end 170 and a distal end 171 define the axial extent of the proximal section . the circumference of the fourth duct of the second sleeve is smaller than the circumference of the third duct of the distal catheter tube . when they are joined this relation provides a second rim 172 . a key 173 , provided by a fifth surface portion 185 , is thus defined between the second rim and the second transition end 170 . in order to provide as smooth transition to from the proximal section to the distal section when the catheter is in its expanded configuration the outer surface of the second sleeve has an eighth surface portion shown as the outer tapering surface 167 , which decreases towards the second transition end . the distal catheter tube 180 and the second sleeve 166 are joined together by inserting the incision into the third duct . the area of the distal catheter tube contacting a ninth surface portion 187 of the incision thereto is then welded together to fix the distal catheter tube and the second sleeve to each other . in this configuration the third duct and fourth duct together forms the distal part of the conduit . when the catheter is moved from its collapsed configuration , as shown in fig1 , to its expanded configuration , as shown in fig1 , the key 173 engages with the slot 163 and thereby couples the proximal section and the distal together in the expanded configuration . the illustrated catheter assembly is especially advantageous for use with expandable catheters having a hydrophilic coating ( not shown ). as can especially be seen in fig2 and 21 a gap 175 is provided between the surface of the key and the surface of the slot . a gap of approximately the same size is furthermore provided when the key is displaced along the first surface portion 181 of the proximal section on the other side of the bulb 161 from the slot . the gap provides radial clearance between the key and the first surface portion which avoids that the hydrophilic coating is scraped off the proximal section when the sections are axially displaced . furthermore , the hydrophilic coating will fill out the gap and the surface tension of the hydrophilic coating will advantageously center the key evenly around the first surface portion . as can be seen the axial extent of the key is slightly longer than the extent of the slot . this will jam the key between the first rim and the sloping surface 174 of the bulb 161 . advantageously this will seal off the gap whereby the mucosa of the urethra , which is very flexible , i . e . the mucosa follows the curvature of the urinary catheter , may be prevented to enter the gap wherein the mucosa otherwise could get caught between the key and slot and consequently get squeezed causing pain and maybe even tear the mucosa . as the circumference of the key 173 limits the outer circumference of the proximal catheter tube the key typically only extends a few millimeters . thus , to provide secure engagement of the proximal and distal section and to avoid that they unintentionally are pulled apart it is desirable that the first rim 162 and the second rim 172 contacts each other in a large surface area . furthermore it is desirable that the edges of the first and second rim and are well defined , and preferably has a small rounding in order to prevent that the rounding surface may act as guides which may push the rims key over the fourth surface portion 184 . in order to properly seal the gap the second transition end 170 , which abuts against the bulb 161 is exerting an axially directed force f 1 onto the distal sloping surface 174 of the bulb . for secure seal the sloping surface will react with an equally opposite axially directed force f 2 . however should the size of the force f 1 become too large the bulb will collapse , which will result in that the distal and proximal section will be uncoupled and the catheter will move from its expandable configuration to its collapsed configuration . in order to prevent this the distance between the radial extending distance from the surface 177 of the slot to the maximal radial extending distance of the bulb , a , should be at least two times the length than the radial extending distance from the surface of the slot to the surface of the key , b , i . e . a ≧ 2 * b . the distance b corresponds to the size of the gap 175 seen transverse to the longitudinal direction . it should however be understood that this relation may vary depending on the material of respectively the key and the bulb and the type of coating used to coat the catheter . furthermore , the angular slope of the distal sloping surface 174 to the axis a - a will affect the required size of f 1 in order for the sections to uncouple and the chance that the mucosa may get squeezed between the second transition end and the sloping surface . furthermore such relations will also depend on the types of materials used . one type of materials used to produce the catheter may be rigid polyurethane , such as estane ete x1014 for the distal section 1 and the first sleeve 156 . the proximal catheter tube 154 may for example be formed of soft polyurethane , such as estane 58212 . when used the expandable catheter is moved from its collapsed configuration into its expanded configuration . the proximal end 165 is inserted into the urethra followed by the proximal section 2 and the distal section 3 until urine start flowing through the conduit . the catheter is usually inserted by into the urethra by gripping the connector part 152 between two or more fingers of one hand and guiding the proximal end into the urethra with the other hand . the urine will flow through the through a hole 178 formed in the proximal section 2 close to the proximal end , into the conduit and then through the conduit in mainly a longitudinal direction parallel to the longitudinal extent , shown as axis a - a in fig1 - 19 b , of the conduit , as indicated by the arrow 179 in fig1 and 16 , and out through the connector 152 . although the embodiment illustrated in fig1 a - 18 is especially suited for hydrophilic - coated catheters it may be used for other types of coated catheters known to the skilled person , for example gel coated catheters . fig2 illustrates another embodiment of the coupling structures of a catheter 200 according to invention . the figure shows seen in longitudinal section the area of the catheter in where the proximal section 2 and the distal section 1 couples together in the catheters expanded configuration . the proximal section is formed of a proximal catheter tube 201 wherein the neck 202 of a sleeve 203 is inserted . in order to fix the two parts together a weld has been provided between the neck and the inner surface of the proximal catheter tube . a first transition end 204 is defined at the distal end of the sleeve 203 the distal section is formed of a one - piece molded catheter tube 205 . the distal section have a first outer surface portion 206 having an increasing circumference seen from a second transition end in the longitudinal direction towards a distal end ( not shown ). the inner surface of the distal section is , seen in order from the second transition end , provided with a first 208 , second 209 , third 210 and fourth 211 surface portions . the first and third surface portions have a smaller circumference than the second and fourth surface portion . as can be seen in fig2 the second surface portion thus forms a slot 216 defined by the first and third surface portion . corresponding to the inner surface portions of the distal section there is provided a fifth 212 , sixth 213 , seventh 214 and eighth 215 surface portions on the outer surface of the proximal part . the fifth surface portion has a circumference , which is smaller than the circumference of the first surface portion , and the seventh surface portion has a circumference , which is smaller than the circumference of the third surface portion . the sixth surface portion has a circumference , which is smaller than the second surface portion but larger than the circumference of the fifth and seventh surface portion . the eighth surface portion has a circumference which is smaller than the circumference of the fourth surface portion but larger than the circumference of the third surface portion . the sixth surface portion is advantageously provided as an annular flange being flexible transverse to the axis of the catheter . this allows for the flange to function as a key 217 , which engages with the slot when the catheter is in its expanded configuration . by being flexible the key will easily move past the third surface portion . furthermore , as the eighth surface portion has a circumference which is larger than the circumference of the third surface portion a stop is provided as a protruding rim 218 , which prevents the distal section and the proximal section from being pulled apart . the test is performed as a tensile test in a standard test machine as a lloyd lr 5k . the desired konical connection is placed in the tensile test machine and the force is measured when the parts are pulled apart . the maximum load is registered . materials in the test is estane ete x1014 for the outer tube and estane 58212 for the inner tube ( see table 1 ). the default configuration takes about 12 n to pull apart ( fig2 , i ). however , when the thickness of the distal section is doubled ( for example to 0 , 7 mm ) it takes about 20n to pull the two sections apart ( fig2 , ii . fig5 shows another embodiment 50 of the catheter , which discloses one way to obtain decreased elasticity in the transition end ( the distal end ) of the proximal section . here , the thickness of the end wall of the distal section 1 has been increased by molding the tube with a thicker wall 52 . if the thickness of the wall of the proximal section is increased to 1 . 6 mm , the force required to pull the two sections apart goes from 12 n to about 30 n ( fig2 , iii . fig3 shows the principle of another embodiment of a catheter 30 according to the invention . the distal section 1 ( the outer section ) displays a decreased outer circumference 31 in the transition , whereas the proximal section 2 ( the inner section ) displays an increased outer circumference 32 in the transition . the proximal end of the distal section 33 is here cut to allow for a smooth transition point . by adding cylindrical parts such as the decreased outer circumference 31 and the increased outer circumference 32 the surface of the transition sections is increased , thereby creating a larger area wherein the distal section and proximal section can couple together .) a synergistic effect was observed when the thickness of both the proximal and the distal transition was increased ( doubled as described above ). then , a force of about 60 n was required to pull the sections apart ( fig2 , iv , fig6 shows another embodiment 60 of the catheter , which discloses one way to obtain decreased elasticity in the transition end ( the proximal end ) of the distal section . here , the thickness of the end wall of the distal section 1 has been increased by molding the tube with a thicker wall 61 on that part ). in this example , sufficient endurance of the transition between the proximal section and the distal section in an expanded catheter is obtained by increasing the wall thickness . as clearly shown in fig3 shows the principle of another embodiment of a catheter 30 according to the invention . the distal section 1 ( the outer section ) displays a decreased outer circumference 31 in the transition , whereas the proximal section 2 ( the inner section ) displays an increased outer circumference 32 in the transition . the proximal end of the distal section 33 is here cut to allow for a smooth transition point . by adding cylindrical parts such as the decreased outer circumference 31 and the increased outer circumference 32 the surface of the transition sections is increased , thereby creating a larger area wherein the distal section and proximal section can couple together . a doubling of the wall thickness is obtained by inserting an additional tube inside the proximal tube ( in the distal end , the transition end ). however , during molding of the catheter tube , the inner - wall can be reinforced by increasing the wall - thickness — such increased wall - thickness is clearly illustrated in fig4 shows another embodiment 40 of the catheter , which discloses one way to obtain decreased elasticity in the transition end ( the distal end ) of the proximal section . the embodiment of fig4 is identically to the embodiment of fig3 , however , the thickness of the wall has been doubled by insertion of an additional tube 41 , which stabilizes the transition and provides decreased elasticity . the same principle as described for the inner - wall , can be applied to the outer - wall ( the distal section ). as shown in fig5 shows another embodiment 50 of the catheter , which discloses one way to obtain decreased elasticity in the transition end ( the distal end ) of the proximal section . here , the thickness of the end wall of the distal section 1 has been increased by molding the tube with a thicker wall 52 . the thickness of the wall of the distal section is increased while the inner circumference of the tube is decreased . from the outside it appears as a straight line , giving a smooth feeling to this reinforcement . when the outer circumference of the proximal section has reached its minimum ( that is , the circumference the rest of the tube has ) the decrease in outer circumference of the distal section starts , ending in a smooth transition . however , to obtain the highest pull - force , as disclosed in the example above , a combination of decreased elasticity of both the inner - and outer tubes is provided in the transition , only . such combination is illustrated in fig6 shows another embodiment 60 of the catheter , which discloses one way to obtain decreased elasticity in the transition end ( the proximal end ) of the distal section . here , the thickness of the end wall of the distal section 1 has been increased by molding the tube with a thicker wall 61 on that part . in one embodiment , the wall thickness of the distal section increases while the inner circumference of the tube decreases . the decrease in inner circumference of this distal section is matched with an increase in outer circumference of the proximal section . however , during this increase in outer circumference of the proximal section the inner circumference is kept constant . hereby , both of the sections comprise reinforced transition parts . as illustrated in fig7 shows another embodiment 70 of the catheter , which discloses a combination of fig4 shows another embodiment 40 of the catheter , which discloses one way to obtain decreased elasticity in the transition end ( the distal end ) of the proximal section . the embodiment of fig4 is identically to the embodiment of fig3 , however , the thickness of the wall has been doubled by insertion of an additional tube 41 , which stabilizes the transition and provides decreased elasticity . fig5 shows another embodiment 50 of the catheter , which discloses one way to obtain decreased elasticity in the transition end ( the distal end ) of the proximal section . here , the thickness of the end wall of the distal section 1 has been increased by molding the tube with a thicker wall 52 . fig5 shows an increased wall - thickness in the transition end of both the distal section and the proximal section . the decreased elasticity in the transition can effectively be provided to both sections through a third element . this element will become trapped between the two sections , and provide the endurance needed . an example is a third element made of estane x4995thermoplastic elastomer . in this case , both sections shall endure full expansion / compression in order to separate . here , the material is placed between the two sections ( fig8 ). however , as illustrated in fig1 , this third material can be placed on the outside of the tubes as well . it is important to provide a smooth transition point . especially , the actual point of transition , that is where mucosal exposure to the proximal section stops and mucosal exposure to the section begins . as illustrated in fig8 shows another embodiment 80 of the catheter , which discloses transition with a third element . that is , the thick black line is the distal section 81 . the outer circumference of the distal section decreases ( going from left to right ), is followed by a flat segment , and is thereafter pointed to provide for a smooth transition point . the proximal section 82 is the hatched line . the outer circumference of this proximal section increases ( going from right to left ). the two sections can be pulled together . however , a third element 83 is positioned between the decrease in outer circumference of the distal section and the increase in outer diameter of the proximal section . one such transition can be obtained by cutting the proximal end of the distal section in a pointed angle . however , as illustrated in fig9 , this pointed angle can fit closely to the segment of the proximal section where the outer diameter is increasing . obtained hereby is that the outer diameter of the regular tubular segment of the proximal section is smaller than the inner diameter of the proximal end of the distal section . the coating of the catheter is not damaged during pulling the two sections together during expansion of the catheter . an alternative is illustrated in fig1 illustrates another embodiment 100 of the catheter , which discloses the transition between the distal section 101 ( left ) and the proximal section 102 ( right ). the distal section is cut to be pointed towards the end ( the proximal end ) and fits towards the part of the proximal section undergoing an increase in outer circumference . the inner circumference of the tip in the transition end of the distal part is bigger than the outer circumference of the proximal section so that a coating on the proximal section is not damaged when the tip passes this section during expansion of the catheter . fig1 illustrates another embodiment 110 of the catheter , which discloses a bulb 111 on the proximal tube , just proximally to the transition part . . here , a bulb , or a circular protrusion is provided on the proximal section . this bulb will ‘ lift ’ the mucosa to avoid contact with the point of transition . furthermore , such bulb will act as a mechanical lock between the distal and the proximal section of the catheter allowing passage in one direction but not in the other . the rigidity of a tube is a function of the design ( form and circumference ) and material properties such as e - modulus or for very soft materials the hardness . for a male person it is important that the proximal part of the catheter — the part that when inserted protrudes from the bladder to the pelvic floor — is soft and flexible in order to fit the curvature of the urethra . the rigidity must be low . at the same time the proximal part must have good kinkability . in the contrary hereto , the distal part should be more rigid to enable easy insertion by avoiding that the catheter bends before the opening of the urethra ( meatus ). the kinkability of the distal part is typically not critical as it can be controlled and monitored by the user . estane ete x1014 is the preferred material for the distal part and estane 58212 is the preferred material for the proximal part . ete 60dt3 is an example of material for the distal part with the lowest acceptable e - modulus — see table 1 for data for different materials are mentioned . a length of 11 cm is cut from the middle of the catheter . the catheter is placed in water at a temperature of 23 ° c . for 30 sec . the catheter is then placed in an adapter situated on the tensile test machine . the tensile machine is started and the force to compress the catheter is logged . fig1 shows the force applied to a typical distal catheter section . the abscissa indicates the compression of the section in millimeters ( extension , mm ) and the ordinate indicates the load force applied in n . as illustrated in fig1 , compression of this typical distal section with a high e - modulus results in a linear compression with the force applied . however , at a certain point ( 15 n ), the section kinks , and the force needed for further bending is low . fig1 shows the force applied to a typical proximal catheter section as described . this elastic section will bend almost proportionally with the force applied . the abscissa indicates the compression of the section millimeters ( extension , mm ) and the ordinate indicates the load force applied in n . as illustrated in fig1 , compression of this typical proximal section with a low e - modulus results in a constant bending of the section with a constant force . the curve in fig1 rises steeply from 0 to 2 n during the first four millimeters of compression of the proximal catheter section . after the first four millimeters the curve flattens , indicating that the proximal section has bent as it still exerts a load of approximately 2 n . thus , to provide a distal section and a proximal section so that the first longitudinal directed force required for moving the catheter from an expanded position to a collapsed position is larger than the second longitudinal directed force required for at least one of the proximal section and the distal section to bend , the first longitudinal directed force is chosen to be above 2 n , which is the second longitudinal directed force . i . e . the coupling structures provided when the catheter is in its expanded configuration needs to be rigid enough to resist a load of at least 2 n . preferably the coupling configuration is dimensioned so that it may resist even higher loads , such as 3 - 10 n . alternatively , keeping in mind that the push - in force required to insert the catheter into the urethra is approximately 1 n , the proximal and distal sections can be provided so that the first longitudinal directed force required for moving the catheter from an expanded position to a collapsed position is smaller than the second longitudinal directed force required for at least one of the proximal section and the distal section to bend , wherein the coupling structures are dimensioned so that the first longitudinal force required is between 1 and 2 n , especially between 1 , 5 n and 2 n and particularly around 1 , 7 n . | 0 |
the method of the invention will be described in conjunction with the drawings . fig1 is a block diagram of a control circuit for practicing the method of the invention , and fig2 is a circuit diagram of a power amplifier section shown in fig1 . before describing the control circuit of fig1 let us refer to fig3 through 7 to describe the technique on which the present invention is premised . fig3 is an equivalent circuit of one phase of a three - phase induction motor , fig4 is a vector diagram , and fig5 and 7 are graphs for explaining characteristics . vector control of a three - phase induction motor is performed as follows : ( 3 ) a torque command t c is obtained by performing a subtraction between ω c and ω m . ( 4 ) an estimated value ω &# 39 ; s of slip is obtained as follows : ( 5 ) an estimated value ω &# 39 ; 0 of excitation frequency is obtained as follows : ( 6 ) a flux φ corresponding to the excitation frequency ω &# 39 ; 0 is obtained from the characteristic diagram of fig5 . ( 7 ) a winding resistance measurement , a no - load test and a lock test are carried out , and values of primary induction voltage e 1 and core loss current i 0i of the excitation current i 0 are found from the equivalent circuit of fig3 and values of magnetization current i 0m , excitation resistance r 0 and excitation reactance l 0 are found from the vector diagram of fig4 . ( 8 ) a revolving coordinate system is transformed into a fixed coordinate system , with the flux φ of the revolving field serving as a reference phase . this is done as follows : ○ 1 excitation current i 0 is obtained as follows by taking the vector sum between a component i 0m along the φ axis and a component i 0i along the e 1 axis : ○ 2 similarly , secondary current i 2 is obtained as follows by taking the vector sum between a component i 2m along the φ axis and a component i 2 ω along the e 1 axis : ( 9 ) the e 1 - axis component i 2w of secondary current i 2 is obtained from ( 10 ) the slip frequency ω s is determined from the characteristic diagram of fig7 . ( 11 ) the φ - axis component i 2m of the secondary current i 2 is obtained from ( 12 ) the component of primary current i 1 in the φ direction is obtained from ( 13 ) the component of primary current i 1 in the e 1 direction is obtained from the primary current so obtained is a current command for a case where all constants of the induction motor are taken into consideration , and is for the purpose of obtaining a linear output torque with respect to a torque command . let us return to the block diagram of fig1 to describe the same . as shown in fig2 a power amplifier a , which comprises a converter b and an inverter c respectively provided on ac input and dc output sides , is connected to an ac power supply . the converter b is constituted by a full - wave rectifier bridge composed of diodes , each of which is connected in parallel with a transistor inverter . a dc voltage is obtained by the converter b of the power amplifier a and is applied to the inverter c . the output voltage of the inverter c is pulse - width controlled by a pwm / current control circuit m before being impressed upon a three - phase induction motor d . the velocity command ω c and the motor velocity ω m , which is obtained , via a f / v converter o , from a voltage signal detected by a tachogenerator e , are inputted to a comparator p to obtain the torque command t c as a difference signal voltage . the torque command t c is corrected via a pi and a clamping circuit g to form an actual torque command t m . thereafter , the primary current i 1 and excitation frequency ω 0 are obtained as described above in ( 4 )-( 14 ). these are applied to a 2 - to - 3 phase converter circuit l . the 2 - to - 3 phase converter circuit l converts orthogonal two - phase currents into three - phase currents to form current commands iu , iv , iw in the respective three phases , these commands being applied to the pwm / current control circuit m . the input currents to the motor are fed back to the circuit m by ct1 , ct2 to be compared with the output currents of the 2 - to - 3 phase converter circuit , whereby the circuit delivers a commanded current i in each phase to the inverter c . the operation of the invention will now be described in terms of detecting voltage vdc on the dc side of the power amplifier and correcting the flux φ and induced voltage v . if a triangular wave is formed within the pwm circuit , then the output voltage will differ depending upon the degree to which the triangular wave is utilized , considering the relationship between a voltage command amplitude and the actual terminal voltage of the motor . let b represent the amplitude of the triangular wave , and let a represent the amplitude of the pwm signal , as shown in fig8 ( a ). if the amplitude ratio a / b is less than 1 , then the output voltage v u from a point u in fig9 is as follows : where t represents the period . the line voltage across u - v applied to the motor is ## equ1 ## where next , let us consider control by a base signal of the transistor constituting the inverter for a case where the amplitude ratio a / b is greater than 1 . though a method exists in which the base signal of tr in the inverter is turned off whenever the amplitude ratio ( a / b ) exceeds 1 , as shown in fig8 ( b ), this method involves certain problems , namely the fact that the output voltage will not rise , switching loss is great , etc . fig1 illustrates the manner in which the line voltage v u - v varies with respect to the amplitude ratio a / b . in the present invention , all of the transistors tr turn on , as shown in fig8 ( c ), ( d ), in a range where the amplitude a of the pwm signal exceeds the amplitude b of the triangular wave . in other words , when the dc voltage is low , the flux command φ above a base velocity is increased , the amplitude of the pwm circuit with respect to the triangular wave is raised , and the terminal voltage of the motor is raised to obtain a constant output . when the dc current is high , the flux command is decreased from a region below the base velocity , the amplitude of the pwm command signal with respect to the triangular wave is reduced , and the terminal voltage of the motor is lowered to obtain a constant output . as shown in the block diagram of fig1 such control is performed by inputting the dc voltage v dc sensed by the inverter to a data map i indicating the relationship between excitation frequency and flux , and correcting the flux φ in dependence upon the dc voltage v dc . it should be noted that an induced voltage compensating circuit n corrects the value of induced voltage with respect to the motor velocity signal ω m and applies the corrected value to the pwm / current control circuit m . the regenerative control operation of the present invention will now be described with reference to fig2 . a regenerative control circuit p is provided with a voltage control circuit r and a power - factor adjusting circuit q . when regenerative control is performed , voltage on the dc side of the power amplifier a and the dc voltage command value are compared . when the voltage of the dc side is larger , an offset signal is inputted to the power - factor adjusting circuit q through the voltage control circuit r . the input voltage on the ac side of the power amplifier a is applied to the power - factor adjusting circuit via the pt , and the regenerative current command signal is outputted to the current control circuit in such a manner that the currents on the ac input side of the power amplifier sensed by ct3 , ct4 take on the same phase as the voltage on the ac side , i . e . in such a manner that the power - factor becomes 1 . the pwm circuit controls the transistor inverter on the basis of this commanded value . thus , in motor drive control and regenerative control based on the vector control method using a power amplifier comprising a converter and an inverter , the three - phase induction motor control method of the present invention enables a linear output torque to be obtained with respect to a torque command without using a flux sensor , and enables the output of the three - phase induction motor to be held constant even when there are fluctuations in power supply voltage . | 8 |
deficiencies of the prior art have lead to a need to provide balun transformers that are more efficient in their design , particularly in the number of metallization layers used for their implementation without significantly adversely affecting the balun transformer performance . the solution of the present invention accomplishes this target by having the windings of the primary inductor in one metal layer and the windings of the secondary inductors in another metal layer not only vertically separated from , but also horizontally displaced from the first metal layer . the displacement reduces the capacitive coupling between the primary and secondary coils . furthermore , the implementations shown enable the use of only three or four layers of metal for a balun transformer . it should be noted that the displacement should be such that a substantial magnetic coupling between the primary and secondary inductors of the balun is still achieved to ensure the proper performance of the balun . reference is now made to fig2 through 4 where each of the three metal layers comprising a balun transformer 500 , shown in fig1 , are implemented in accordance with the disclosed invention are shown . the implementation makes use of three metal layers , metal layer 100 , metal layer 200 , and metal layer 300 . a person skilled - in - the - art will realize that it is not required that the metal layers used are consecutive metal layers , and specific choices may be made for the desired characteristics of the balun transformer , such as balun transformer 10 , including , but not limited to , the grounding of both one of the nodes , for example node 14 , of the primary inductor and the center node 24 of the secondary inductor . in fig2 , a primary coil is composed of a continuous winding 210 and ends 12 and 14 , implemented on a metal layer 100 , and designed to be pseudo - symmetrical , i . e ., essentially symmetrical , with a slight asymmetry when curving to implement an internal winding . in fig3 a secondary coil , implemented in metal layer 300 , is composed of winding segment 310 having ends 312 and 26 , winding segment 320 having ends 22 and 322 , and winding segment 330 having ends 332 and 334 . the complete coil of the secondary coil is achieved by the use of shunt 410 , connecting ends 322 and 334 of winding segments 320 and 330 respectively , and shunt 420 , connecting ends 312 and 332 of winding segments 310 and 330 respectively . the shunts are shown in fig4 . winding segments 310 , 320 and 330 of the secondary coil of fig3 have a displacement with respect to winding 110 of the primary coil of fig2 , as explained in more detail below . the displacement reduces the horizontal overlap between the primary and secondary coils and hence reduces the capacitive coupling between them . preferably the displacement is such that there is less than fifty percent overlap in the conductive paths between the windings of the secondary and the primary windings , excluding the shunts . a non - overlapping implementation is also possible as long as there is sufficient magnetic coupling between the primary and secondary inductors of the balun . in some embodiments of the disclosed invention , the input nodes of the primary inductor are physically one - hundred and eighty degrees from the outputs of the secondary inductor , further achieving symmetry . fig5 shows such an embodiment , with the center tap 24 of the secondary being connected to node 14 , typically both being grounded or coupled to a circuit common by a single connection thereto . referring now specifically to fig5 , a top view of the three metal layers comprising balun transformer 10 are shown . in one preferred embodiment , metal layer 100 is the bottom layer , metal layer 200 is the middle layer and metal layer 300 is the upper layer . in particular , the primary coil metal layer 100 would be deposited over an insulator such as silicon dioxide ( sio 2 ), for example on a substrate , typically a silicon substrate , and then patterned using conventional photolithography techniques . notably , metal layer 100 may be any one of the metal layers available for use in the device . then another sio 2 layer is deposited , followed by the depositing and patterned of another metal layer 200 to form the shunts . a further sio 2 is deposited and windows opened ( etched ) therein to expose the ends of the shunts for vias , and in the embodiment being described , an opening through the last two sio 2 layers to expose node 14 of the primary inductor . then a final metal layer is deposited and patterned , making electrical contact with the shunts the form the complete secondary winding , and providing a common connection to one primary node ( 14 ) and the center node 24 of the secondary winding . it should be further noted that it is not required that the metal layers , used in the baluns of the present invention , be consecutive metal layers . hence if a semiconductor device has available a total of seven metal layers , then if three metal layers are used for the balun , any three of the seven metal layers may be of use . by using this arrangement , the vertical distance between the primary coil and the secondary coil is further increased and therefore contributes to a reduction in the capacitive coupling between the coils . the primary coil is accessed at nodes 12 and 14 in metal layer 100 . since node 14 is connected to the center node 24 of the secondary inductor , it is further possible to access node 14 in metal layer 200 . the secondary coil ends 22 and 26 are accessed in metal layer 300 , while center node 24 of the secondary coil is accessed at end 24 in metal layer 300 , as well as through node 14 in metal layer 100 as explained above . in one alternate embodiment , the order of the layers may be reversed , namely layer 300 , then layer 200 and finally layer 199 . in another embodiment of the disclosed invention , metal layer 300 follows metal layer 100 in the vertical stack , with the last metal layer being metal layer 200 . connection between layers is achieved by the use of vias or stacked via holes which are well - known in the art . the inventors have noted that this implementation provides for minimal losses and has a narrowband balancing . typical external diameter for a balun transformer in accordance with the disclosed invention is between 200 and 800 micron . spacing between turns in the primary coil is typically 5 to 10 microns , and between turns of the secondary coil is typically 5 microns . a conduction path width of the primary inductor is typically between 10 and 20 microns and the secondary inductor path width is typically 5 microns . therefore , in a preferred embodiment of the invention , with a fifty percent overlap of the secondary with respect to the primary , only 2 . 5 micron of width , or less , of the secondary inductor will be in overlap with the windings of the primary inductor . the typical numbers provided herein are of course exemplary only , and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosed invention . reference is now made to fig6 through 9 where each of the four metal layers comprising a balun transformer 1000 , shown in fig1 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention are shown . this embodiment is designed to provide broadband balancing . the implementation makes use of four metal layers , metal layer 100 , metal layer 200 , metal layer 300 , and metal layer 400 . these layers are shown in fig6 through 9 . a person skilled - in - the - art will realize that it is not required that the metal layers used be consecutive metal layers , and specific choices may be made to accommodate the specific characteristics of balun transformer 1000 . the schematic of balun transformer 1000 is identical to the schematic shown for balun transformer 10 in fig1 b , and therefore node designation shall again remain the same . in fig6 , a primary coil is composed of a winding segment 610 having ends 12 and 612 , and a winding segment 620 having ends 622 and 14 . winding segments 610 and 620 are implemented in a patterned metal layer 100 . in fig8 , there is shown a shunt 810 implemented in patterned metal layer 200 . shunt 810 connects ends 612 and 622 of windings 610 and 620 respectively . by connecting winding segments 610 and 620 , shunt 810 completes an implementation of a primary coil of balun transformer 1000 , creating a pseudo - differential inductor , having only two spirals . in fig7 a secondary coil is composed of winding segment 710 having ends 22 and 712 , winding segment 720 having ends 26 and 722 , and winding segment 730 having ends 732 and 734 . segments 710 , 720 and 730 of the secondary coil of balun transformer 1000 are implemented in patterned metal layer 400 . in fig9 there are shown shunts 910 and 920 implemented in patterned metal layer 300 . shunt 910 connects ends 722 and 734 of windings 720 and 730 , and shunt 920 connects ends 712 and 732 of windings 710 and 730 . by connecting winding segments 710 , 720 and 730 , shunts 910 and 920 complete an implantation of a differential secondary coil of balun transformer 1000 , where typically center node 24 is grounded , and connected to one of the nodes of the primary coil , for example node 14 . winding segments 710 , 720 and 730 have a displacement with respect to winding segments 610 and 620 of the primary coil , as explained in more detail below . the displacement reduces the overlap between the primary and secondary coils and hence the capacitive coupling between them . preferably the displacement is such that there is less than fifty percent overlap in conductive path width between the windings of the secondary and the primary windings , excluding the shunts . a non - overlapping implementation is also possible as long as there is sufficient magnetic coupling between the primary and secondary inductors of the balun . in one embodiment of the disclosed invention , the output nodes of the primary inductor are physically one - hundred and eighty degrees from the outputs of the secondary inductor , further allowing for achieving symmetry . referring now to fig1 , the four metal layers comprising balun transformer 1000 are shown . in one preferred embodiment , metal layer 100 is the bottom layer , metal layer 200 is a first middle layer followed by metal layer 300 , and metal layer 400 is the upper layer . however , a person skilled - in - the - art would easily note that a reverse order could be used , or in fact , any order that would not cause a restriction on the connection between the different metal layers . the primary coil is accessed at ends 12 and 14 in metal layer 100 . end 14 may be further accessed via node 24 of the secondary coil , connected through shunt 24 shown in fig8 . the secondary coil ends 22 and 26 are accessed in metal layer 400 . center node 24 of the secondary coil is accessed via metal layer 200 which is also connected , for example by use of a via to node 14 in metal layer 100 . connection between layers is achieved by the use of via or stacked via holes which are well - known in the art . the fabrication process in general may be similar to that previously described . in the baluns of the present invention , each layer is separated from adjacent layers by an electrically insulative ( dielectric ) layer , preferably sio 2 , though other substrates and other electrically insulative layers could be used if desired . in that regard , silicon and sio 2 are preferred as being most compatible with integrated circuit fabrication processes . the metal layers may be of various metals , though high electrical conductivity metals are preferred , such as aluminum , gold or silver . it should be further noted that it is not required that the metal layers , used in the baluns of the present invention , be consecutive metal layers . hence if a semiconductor device has available a total of seven metal layers , then if three metal layers are used for the balun , any three of the seven metal layers may be of use . the inventors have noted that the foregoing implementation provides for minimal losses and has a broadband balancing . typical external diameter for a balun transformer in accordance with the disclosed invention is between 200 and 800 micron . spacing between winds in the primary coil are typically 5 to 10 microns , and between windings of the secondary coil are typically 5 microns . a path width of the primary inductor is typically between 10 and 20 microns and the secondary inductor is typically 5 microns . therefore , in a preferred embodiment of the invention , with a fifty percent overlap , only 2 . 5 micron of width , or less , of the secondary inductor conductive path will be in overlap with the windings of the primary inductor . again , the typical numbers provided herein are exemplary purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosed invention . reference is now made to fig1 where a diagram of a first portion 1110 of a primary coil metal layer and a second portion 1120 - a and a third portion 1120 - b of a secondary coil metal layer are shown . the layout of the second portion and third portion is in displacement with respect to the first portion . by avoiding full coverage between the primary and secondary coils , the parasitic coupling capacity is reduced and overall performance of the balun transformer improved . this separation further allows the use of a wider first portion and therefore reduces the resistance of the primary inductor . reference is now made to fig1 where an exemplary flowchart 1200 of the process of manufacture of the balun transformers disclosed herein is shown . in one embodiment of the manufacturing process , in step s 1210 a there is created in a first metal layer an essentially pseudo - symmetrical winding . alternatively , step s 1210 b is used where there is created a first winding that is symmetrical , as explained above with respect to fig6 . in step s 1220 there is deposited a layer of non - conducting material that is an insulator between one layer of metal and another layer of metal , and has further known dielectric characteristics . therefore , when depositing another metal plate on top of the dielectric , there will be formed a parasitic capacitor , known also as a coupling capacitance , between the two layers of metal , reducing the performance of the balun . in accordance with the disclosed invention , in step s 1230 there is created a symmetrical second winding , as may be seen with respect to fig3 and 7 , the second winding being concentric with , but horizontally displaced from the turns of the first winding . in one embodiment , the overlap between the second winding and the first winding is no more than fifty percent of the conductive path width of the second winding , excluding shunts . a non - overlapping implementation is also possible as long as there is sufficient magnetic coupling between the primary and secondary inductors of the balun . in some embodiments of the disclosed invention , the output nodes of the primary inductor are physically one - hundred and eighty degrees from the outputs of the secondary inductor , further providing symmetry . in step s 1240 , shunts are created to ensure continuous conducting paths through each of the first winding and the second winding . a person skilled in the art would readily recognize that the shunts may be created at multiple metal layers and hence the specific order shown herein should not be viewed as a limitation of the invention . furthermore , it should be noted that the preferred manufacturing processes in general are well - known in the art , and are not provided herein in great detail in order to maintain clarity of the disclosed invention . also while certain preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed and described herein for purposes of illustration and not for purposes of limitation , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . as an example , while in embodiments shown herein with respect of fig6 , 7 and 8 , where the primary inductor has two turns and the secondary inductor has three turns , other configurations may be used . for example , and without limitation to the disclosed invention , embodiments of a balun having three turns in the primary inductor and five turns in the secondary inductor , or , four turns in the primary inductor and seven turns in the secondary inductor , are also possible . the principles discussed hereinabove may be also used to design large l inductors . this way , the overlap capacitance between the different metal layers is reduced and the self - resonance frequency is not affected significantly . reference is now made to fig1 a through 13c that show a large l inductor designed in accordance with the principles of the disclosed invention . fig1 a shows a schematic drawing of the overall “ 3 - d ” inductor 1300 structure . the inductor 1300 is comprised of a top inductor 1310 , shown in fig1 b , and a bottom inductor 1320 , shown in fig1 c . the top inductor 1310 generally corresponds to the upper portion discussed above with respect of the balun . the bottom inductor 1310 generally corresponds to the lower portion discussed above with respect of the balun . in accordance with the principles of the disclosed invention the winding of the top inductor is displaced with respect to the bottom inductor , thereby reducing the overlap between the metals comprising the top inductor and the bottom inductor . the reduced overlap further accounts for the reduction in the parasitic capacitance between the windings and thereby contributing to the overall superior design over prior art solutions . the construction of a large l inductor in accordance with the principles of the disclosed invention is as follows : first the top inductor 1310 is followed from the outer winding to the inner winding . once the inner winding is reached , a pair of metal bridge segments ( not shown ) transfer the spiral windings to the bottom inductor 1320 which is now deployed from the inner winding to the outer winding , each winding being in displacement to windings of the top inductor 1310 . the bridges connect the edges 1312 and 1314 of the top inductor 1310 to the edges 1322 and 1324 of the bottom inductor 1320 respectively . the center tap is placed at the outer spiral of bottom part . the current flow is always in the same winding sense so the mutual inductance developed is in favor of the overall spiral inductance . the ports of the inductor are ports 1316 and 1318 . the center tap 1326 in the bottom inductor is in fact the center of the large l inductor . in one embodiment of the disclosed invention the overlap between the conductive paths of the top inductor and the bottom inductor does not exceed fifty percent of the width of at least one of the conductive paths . reference is now made to fig1 where a cross section 1400 , corresponding to cross section a - a from fig1 a , is shown . in the enlarged cross section it can be seen , that in accordance with the principles of the disclosed inventions , the windings of the top inductor 1310 are placed in a displacement to the windings of the bottom inductor 1320 . in one embodiment of the disclosed invention an inductor may be created using a sandwich of two metal layers , the effective thickness of the spiral is increased and , therefore , the quality factor of the device is kept as high as possible . surface 1410 is the face of the portion of the integrated circuit while surface 1420 is the back side and the substrate of the integrated circuit . while a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed and described herein for purposes of illustration and not for purposes of limitation , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . | 7 |
fig1 is a block diagram showing an example system 100 for adding functionality to a web page . the system 100 is an example of a system in which the systems , components and techniques described below can be implemented . although several components are illustrated , there may be fewer or more components in the system 100 . the system 100 includes a local computer 102 , which can communicate with a remote server 104 over a network 106 . the local computer 102 can be , for example , a desktop computer or a mobile device , such as a laptop computer , pda ( personal digital assistant ), cellular telephone , gaming device , media player , portable email device , or combinations of these . the network 106 can be a wired or wireless network , such as the internet , a lan ( local area network ) or wan ( wide area network ). the local computer 102 includes hardware components 108 and software components 110 . the hardware components 108 include i / o ( input / output ) devices 112 , a processor 114 and computer readable medium 116 ( e . g ., hard disk , volatile or non - volatile memory , etc .) for storing local data and software . the software components 110 include an operating system ( os ) 118 , a cross - os runtime component 120 , and a desktop application 122 . in some implementations , the cross - os runtime component 120 includes a web rendering engine 124 . in other implementations , the web rendering engine 124 is not included in the cross - os runtime component 120 , but is included in the software components 110 as a separate component . the web rendering engine 124 includes an html ( hypertext markup language ) engine 126 and a script engine 128 . the operating system 118 manages the resources of the local computer 102 , such as the hardware components 108 . the i / o devices 112 accept input from and provide output to users of the local computer 102 . the i / o devices 112 can include a keyboard , mouse , terminal display , and printer , to name a few examples . the processor 114 executes programming instructions , such as instructions associated with the desktop application 122 . in some implementations , the processor 114 is a single - threaded processor . in other implementations , the processor 114 is a multi - threaded processor . the processor 114 can include multiple processing cores . local data in medium 116 can include , for example , local files , such as multi - media files , locally - stored personal contact information , locally - stored transaction information , locally - stored rss ( really simple syndication ) information , internet bookmarks , and personal task lists . the html engine 126 parses and renders html . for example , the html engine 126 can parse and render html included in web pages received from the remote server 104 . the script engine 128 decodes and interprets a script as a series of instructions that are carried out when the script is run . a script can be used to programmatically control an application . the script engine can be associated with a particular scripting language , such as the javascript scripting language . the cross - os runtime 120 enables applications ( such as the desktop application 122 ) to run on multiple operating systems . the cross - os runtime 120 can enable the desktop application 102 to run on microsoft ® windows ® ( available from microsoft ® corporation of redmond , wash .) and also mac os ® ( available from apple ®, inc . of cupertino , calif .). for example , the cross - os runtime 120 can be the adobe ® integrated runtime ( air ™) environment provided by adobe systems incorporated of san jose , calif . the remote server 104 can be one or more server computers in one or more locations . the remote server 104 includes a server program 132 . the server program 132 can accept requests for web pages , for example from the local computer 102 . the server program 132 can send web pages ( e . g ., static pages , dynamically - created pages ) to requesting devices across the network 106 . the desktop application 122 can request one or more web pages from the remote server 104 . the desktop application 122 can present a user interface 134 . the user interface 134 can include functionality 136 offered by the remote server 104 ( e . g ., content provided by the remote server 104 can be displayed in an area of the user interface 134 ). for example , the desktop application 122 can use the web rendering engine 124 to load and present web pages , or portions of web pages , received from the remote server 104 , in the user interface 134 . in some implementations , the user interface 134 can display web pages but not allow a user to navigate off of the displayed page ( i . e ., the user interface 134 , unlike a traditional web browser , may not allow the user to directly enter a web address ). the remote website functionality 136 can be confined to a sandboxed environment . that is , remote website functionality 136 , such as downloaded scripts , can be prevented from accessing the medium 116 ( e . g ., hard drives , memory ), network resources , or the i / o devices 112 in an unauthorized fashion , as with a traditional web browser . the desktop application 122 can add functionality not offered by the remote server 104 . for example , the desktop application 122 can access information from local data in the medium 116 , translate the retrieved information from a format employed by the local computer to a format employed by the remote server 104 , and send the translated data to the web rendering engine 124 . in response to receiving the translated data , the web rendering engine 124 can request one or more web pages from the remote server 104 . in some implementations , some of the local data in medium 116 is in a format employed by a software application installed on the local computer 102 ( i . e ., an application other than the desktop application 122 ). for example , the desktop application 122 can retrieve personal contact information stored in a vcard file format used by an email application . in some implementations , the user interface 134 can present added functionality 138 ( e . g ., in an area separate from that used for the website functionality 136 ) identifiers for data retrieved from local data in medium 116 . for example , the user interface 134 can present selectable images representing personal contacts associated with retrieved vcard information . the desktop application can associate respective local data in medium 116 with each identifier ( e . g ., name and address information can be associated with each selectable personal contact image ). the user can provide a user input to select an identifier ( e . g ., by selecting a respective image ), and in response to the user input the desktop application can translate the associated local data to a server - supported format . for example , the user can select an image representing a personal contact ( e . g ., in an area set aside for added functionality 138 ), drag and drop the contact onto a different area of the user interface ( e . g ., an area set aside for website functionality 136 ) and in response the desktop application 122 can translate the address information associated with the image into a url ( uniform resource locator ) which includes embedded address information . the desktop application 122 can send the url to the remote server 104 , and in response the remote server 104 can send a web page to the local computer 102 . the web rendering engine 124 can then be used to load and present the received web page in the user interface 134 . fig2 shows an example process 200 of loading and presenting a web page . the process 200 can be performed , for example , by the local computer 102 . input can be received 202 from the user . for example , a user can select a user interface item representing a personal contact . local data can be retrieved 204 . for example , address information associated with the selected personal contact can be retrieved from a local file containing vcard information . the local data can be translated 206 to a remote server format . for example , the retrieved address information can be encoded into a url format recognizable by the remote server 104 . as another example , the retrieved address information can be embedded into scripting statements ( e . g ., javascript function calls ) recognizable by the remote server 104 . data formatted for the remote server can be sent 208 to the web rendering engine . for example , the formatted data can be sent to the web rendering engine 124 . the web rendering engine 124 can send a request to the remote server 104 , where the request includes data formatted for the remote server ( e . g ., a url ). the remote server , in response to the request , can send one or more web pages to the local computer 102 . a web page can be loaded and presented 210 . for example , the web rendering engine 124 can parse and render ( e . g ., using the html engine 126 and the script engine 128 ) the received web page ( s ). the web pages can be displayed , for example , in the user interface 134 . fig3 shows an example user interface 300 for mapping addresses associated with locally - stored personal contacts . the interface 300 can be displayed , for example , by the desktop application 122 . the interface 300 includes an area 302 for displaying a map . the user can enter an address into a text field 304 and a map of the entered address can be displayed in the area 302 in response to the selection of a search button 306 . map information can be requested of and received from a remote server ( e . g ., 104 ) configured to offer mapping services . the remote server 104 can send a web page including html formatted to display a map including the requested address . the web rendering engine 124 can parse the received html and render it in the area 302 . the interface 300 includes an area 308 for displaying personal contact information . the area 308 includes contact indicators 310 , such as indicators 310 a - b . upon startup , the desktop application 122 can read local vcard information ( e . g ., from a file containing vcard information stored in local data in medium 116 ) and present a contact indicator 310 in the area 308 for each retrieved contact . respective contact information ( e . g ., name , home address , work address ) can be associated with each contact indicator . the contact indicators 310 can be expanded , as illustrated by the expanded contact indicator 310 b . address indicators 312 a - b are displayed beneath the expanded contact indicator 310 b , indicating addresses associated with the respective contact ( e . g ., contact information retrieved from locally - stored vcard information can include associated work and home addresses ). the user can drag an address indicator 312 and drop it onto the area 302 . here , a dashed line 314 illustrates the dragging and dropping of the address indicator 312 a . in response to the dropping of an address indicator 312 on the area 302 , the application can translate the address information associated with the address indicator 312 into a format recognizable by the remote server 104 . for example , address information associated with the address indicator 312 a can be embedded into a url in a format recognizable by the remote server 104 . as another example , address information can be embedded into scripting statements ( e . g ., javascript function calls ) recognizable by the remote server 104 . the server - recognizable address data can be sent to the remote server 104 , and the remote server 104 can send an updated web page ( or portion of a web page ) which includes html formatted to display a map including the address associated with the selected address indicator . the web rendering engine 124 can parse and render the received html , resulting in the display of an updated map in the area 302 . fig4 shows an example user interface 400 for saving server - produced maps offline . the interface 400 can be displayed , for example , by the desktop application 122 . the interface 400 includes an area 402 for displaying a map . the user can enter an address into a text field 404 and a map of the entered address can be displayed in the area 402 in response to the selection of a map button 406 . the user can pan and zoom the displayed map using control buttons 408 a - b . the user can save an image of the displayed map to a file stored in local data in medium 116 by selecting a save button 410 . the user can select a copy button 412 to send a copy of an image of the displayed map to a clipboard associated with the local computer 102 , enabling the user to paste the copied image into another application running on the local computer 102 . embodiments of the subject matter and the functional operations described in this specification can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry , or in computer software , firmware , or hardware , including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents , or in combinations of one or more of them . embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as one or more computer program products , i . e ., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a computer - readable medium for execution by , or to control the operation of , data processing apparatus . the computer - readable medium can be a machine - readable storage device , a machine - readable storage substrate , a memory device , or a combination of one or more of them . the term “ data processing apparatus ” encompasses all apparatus , devices , and machines for processing data , including by way of example a programmable processor , a computer , or multiple processors or computers . the apparatus can include , in addition to hardware , code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question , e . g ., code that constitutes processor firmware , a protocol stack , a database management system , an operating system , or a combination of one or more of them . a computer program ( also known as a program , software , software application , script , or code ) can be written in any form of programming language , including compiled or interpreted languages , and it can be deployed in any form , including as a stand - alone program or as a module , component , subroutine , or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment . a computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system . a program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data ( e . g ., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document ), in a single file dedicated to the program in question , or in multiple coordinated files ( e . g ., files that store one or more modules , sub - programs , or portions of code ). a computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network . the processes and logic flows described in this specification can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output . the processes and logic flows can also be performed by , and apparatus can also be implemented as , special purpose logic circuitry , e . g ., an fpga ( field programmable gate array ) or an asic ( application - specific integrated circuit ). processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include , by way of example , both general and special purpose microprocessors , and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer . generally , a processor will receive instructions and data from a read - only memory or a random access memory or both . the essential elements of a computer are a processor for performing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data . generally , a computer will also include , or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to , or both , one or more mass storage devices for storing data , e . g ., magnetic , magneto - optical disks , or optical disks . however , a computer need not have such devices . moreover , a computer can be embedded in another device , e . g ., a mobile telephone , a personal digital assistant ( pda ), a mobile audio player , a global positioning system ( gps ) receiver , to name just a few . computer - readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non - volatile memory , media and memory devices , including by way of example semiconductor memory devices , e . g ., eprom , eeprom , and flash memory devices ; magnetic disks , e . g ., internal hard disks or removable disks ; magneto - optical disks ; and cd - rom and dvd - rom disks . the processor and the memory can be supplemented by , or incorporated in , special purpose logic circuitry . to provide for interaction with a user , embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented on a computer having a display device , e . g ., a crt ( cathode ray tube ) or lcd ( liquid crystal display ) monitor , for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device , e . g ., a mouse or a trackball , by which the user can provide input to the computer . other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well ; for example , feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback , e . g ., visual feedback , auditory feedback , or tactile feedback ; and input from the user can be received in any form , including acoustic , speech , or tactile input . embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back - end component , e . g ., as a data server , or that includes a middleware component , e . g ., an application server , or that includes a front - end component , e . g ., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described is this specification , or any combination of one or more such back - end , middleware , or front - end components . the components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication , e . g ., a communication network . examples of communication networks include a local area network (“ lan ”) and a wide area network (“ wan ”), e . g ., the internet . the computing system can include clients and servers . a client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network . the relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client - server relationship to each other . while this specification contains many specifics , these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention or of what may be claimed , but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular embodiments of the invention . certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment . conversely , various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination . moreover , although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such , one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination , and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination . similarly , while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order , this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order , or that all illustrated operations be performed , to achieve desirable results . in certain circumstances , multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous . moreover , the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments , and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products . thus , particular embodiments of the invention have been described . other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims . for example , the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results . moreover , although the two specific application examples are both mapping programs , it will be appreciated that the present systems and techniques can be used to create many different types of applications integrated with websites . | 6 |
fig1 - 3 illustrate a dental implant 10 particularly suited for receiving a snap - in healing cap having certain features and advantages according to one embodiment of the present invention . the implant 10 has an outer surface that is preferably divided into three regions : a body portion 12 , a neck region 14 , and a top portion 16 . the body portion 12 preferably includes threads , and represents the portion of the implant 10 that is placed in either the mandible or the maxilla . as shown , the body portion 12 of the implant is substantially cylindrical ; however , the body portion 12 could also assume a tapered or other known implant shapes , as desired . the threads of the body portion 12 preferably match preformed threads formed along the inner surface of an osteotomy formed in the patient &# 39 ; s jawbone . however , the implant 10 could also be designed to be self - tapping . preferably , the top portion 16 of the implant is substantially cylindrical and has a top surface 18 that is substantially flat . as best seen in fig2 and 3 , the implant 10 includes an inner cavity 20 . the inner cavity 20 preferably includes a screw chamber 22 , a snapping chamber 24 , and an indexing chamber 26 . preferably , the diameter of the screw chamber 22 is smaller than the diameter of the snapping chamber 24 . the snapping chamber 24 preferably includes a recess 25 that has an inner diameter d 1 that is slightly larger than the diameter d 2 of at least the adjacent portion of the indexing chamber 26 . the screw chamber 22 is preferably sized and configured so as to receive a bolt ( not shown ). the bolt can be used to temporarily or permanently attach a dental component , such as , for example , a temporary healing abutment or a final restoration to the implant 10 . as will be described later , the snapping chamber 24 and the recess 25 are sized and configured to engage a corresponding snapping structure in a healing cap . the indexing chamber 26 is best seen in fig2 and 3 . in the illustrated arrangement , the indexing chamber 26 is substantially cylindrical with three lobes 28 that extend from the top surface 18 to the bottom of the indexing portion 26 . the three lobes 28 are preferably substantially half circular in shape and are symmetrically situated around the perimeter of the indexing portion 26 . preferably , the center of each lobe 28 is about 120 ° apart from each other relative to a center axis 30 of the implant 10 . it should be appreciated that the indexing chamber 26 can be formed into a wide variety of other suitable shapes that may be used with efficacy , giving due consideration to the goals of providing anti - rotation of mating components . for example , the anti - rotation chamber 26 could comprise one or more radially inwardly or outwardly extending splines or recesses , flats , polygonal configurations and other anti - rotation complementary surface structures . in addition , an anti - rotational structure such as a hexagonal recess or protrusion may be situated on the top surface 18 of the implant 10 . nevertheless , the illustrated arrangement appears to provide clinical efficacy , ease of use and also minimizes stress concentrations within the anti - rotation chamber 26 . fig4 - 7 illustrate one embodiment of a healing cap 32 having features and advantages in accordance with the present invention . the healing cap 32 is made of any of a variety of bio - compatible materials , such as , for example , an injection molded dental grade plastic , titanium , stainless steel , ceramics , and any combination thereof . preferably , the healing cap 32 is made of an inexpensive injection molded dental grade plastic because such a material is generally less expensive than metal and ceramic materials . as best shown in fig5 and 7 , the healing cap 32 has two main parts : a cover portion 34 and a snapping portion 50 . the cover portion 34 has a substantially flat lower surface 36 or a non - planar surface with is complementary to the top surface 18 of the implant 10 . the diameter of the lower surface 36 is approximately the same as the top surface 18 of the implant 10 . the cover portion 34 also includes a top surface 38 that is substantially smooth and in the illustrated arrangement has a diameter slightly larger than the lower surface 36 . in the illustrated arrangement , a side wall 40 connects the top surface 38 to the lower surface 36 . preferably , the cover portion 34 also includes at least one indentation 42 which is desirably located near or at the center of the top surface 38 . the indentation 42 includes a neck 44 , which has a diameter that is smaller than a diameter of a lower portion 46 of the indentation 42 . the function of the indentation 42 will be described in detail below . the illustrated snapping portion 50 consists of a plurality of lever arms , prongs or tangs 52 . each lever arm 52 preferably includes a protrusion 54 . the protrusions 54 are preferably sized and configured to snap into and resiliently engage the snapping chamber 24 of the implant 10 . accordingly , the protrusions 54 have an outer diameter d 3 that is preferably slightly larger than the inner diameter d 2 of the indexing chamber 26 ( see fig2 ). although in the illustrated arrangement the protrusions 54 are beveled ( i . e ., comprising two slanted sides and one flat side ), it should be appreciated that the protrusions can also be fully or partially rounded as desired . although two lever arms 50 with protrusions 54 thereon are illustrated , this number may be varied to produce the desired retention force and simplify manufacturing . for example , as few as one protrusions may be sufficient , particularly in an interference fit construction such as that achieved with the structure shown in fig2 where the protrusion 54 snap fits into a radially outwardly extending recess within the implant 10 . six or more may alternatively be used . referring to fig8 a - c , to attach the healing cap 32 to the implant 10 during stage i , the surgeon simply places healing cap 32 over the implant 10 and pushes the snapping portion 50 of the healing cap 32 into the implant 10 , as will be described in more detail below . as mentioned above , the protrusions 54 of the healing cap 32 preferably have at least a slightly larger diameter d 3 than the inner diameter d 2 of the indexing chamber 26 . accordingly , the snapping portion 50 of the healing cap 32 is compressed as it passes through the indexing chamber 26 ( see fig8 a and b ). once the prongs 52 reach the snapping chamber 24 , they partially expand forming a snap fit between the healing cap 32 and the implant 10 ( see fig8 c ). additionally and advantageously , as the healing cap 32 is mated against the top surface 18 of the implant 10 , the prongs 52 preferably resiliently engage a slanted inner surface 62 of the snapping chamber 22 ( see fig9 a ). thus , the pressure exerted against the partially compressed prongs 52 by the slanted inner surface 62 of the snapping chamber 22 creates a responsive downward pulling force . this downward pulling force on the cap 32 causes the lower surface 36 of the healing cap 32 and the top surface 18 of the implant 10 to form a seal ( see fig8 c ). advantageously , this prevents and / or minimizes leakage of saliva and bacterial contaminants into the implant 10 and thus reduces the risk of infection between stage 1 surgery and stage ii surgery . clinically and advantageously , the dentist can be assured of the proper placement or seating of the healing cap 32 because as the healing cap 32 is pulled or urged down into the implant 10 the dentist can “ feel ” the snap fit and hear the audible “ click ” as the prongs 52 snap into the snapping chamber 24 of the implant 10 . additionally , the dentist may visually confirm that the healing cap 32 is properly placed or seated by viewing the lower surface 36 of the healing cap 32 and the top surface 18 of the implant 10 using a dental mirror . if desired , the proper placement or engagement of the healing cap 32 may be confirmed by attempting to remove the healing cap 32 . a properly seated coping will have perceivable resistance to removal forces as the prongs 52 become compressed as they are pulled back into the indexing chamber 26 ( see fig8 b ). to remove the healing cap 32 during stage two , the surgeon may use a removal tool 100 , which is depicted in fig1 and 11 . the tool 100 preferably includes a proximal stem 102 and a distal snapping portion 104 . the distal snapping portion 104 is similar in shape and function as the snapping portion 50 of the healing cap 32 . the main difference is that the snapping portion 104 of the removal tool 100 is configured to engage the indentation 42 on top of the healing cap 32 ( fig7 ) in a snap fit . accordingly , the snapping portion 104 includes a plurality of prongs , tangs or lever arms 106 . each lever arm 106 preferably includes a protrusion 108 that can be beveled ( as illustrated ) or rounded . as mentioned above , the protrusions 108 are preferably sized and configured to snap into and resiliently engage the indentation 42 of the healing cap 10 ( see fig7 ). accordingly , the protrusions have an outer diameter d 4 that is slightly larger than the diameter of the neck 44 of the indentation 42 . although two lever arms 106 with protrusions 108 thereon are illustrated , this number may be varied to produce the desired retention force and simplify manufacturing . for example , as few as one protrusions may be sufficient or six or more may alternatively be used . referring to fig1 a - b , to remove the healing cap 32 from the implant 10 during stage ii , the dentist simply places the snapping portion 104 of the removal tool 100 over the indentation 42 and pushes the snapping portion 104 into the indentation 42 . as mentioned above , the protrusions 108 of the handle 100 preferably have at least a slightly larger diameter d 4 than the neck 44 of the indentation 42 . accordingly , the snapping portion 104 of the handle 100 is compressed as it passes through the neck 44 ( see fig1 b ). once the protrusions 108 reach the lower portion 46 of the indentation 42 , the prongs 106 partially expand forming a snap fit between the handle 100 and the healing cap 32 . the handle 100 and healing cap 32 are preferably configured so that a force required to remove the healing cap 32 from the implant 10 is less than the force required to remove the handle 100 from the healing cap 32 . therefore , when the dentist lifts the removal tool 100 away from the implant 10 , the healing cap 32 remains attached to the handle 100 but detaches from the implant 10 . the snapping forces between the healing cap 32 , and the implant 10 are determined primarily by the outer diameter of the protrusions 54 , the inner diameter of the recess 25 , the inner diameter of the indexing chamber 26 , and relationships , such as , the friction or interference fit between contacting mated surfaces . similarly , the snapping forces between the handle 100 and the healing cap 32 are determined primarily by the outer diameter d 4 of the protrusions 108 , the inner diameter of the lower portion 46 , the inner diameter of the neck 44 , the friction or interference fit between contacting mating surfaces . to decrease the snapping force , the inner diameter of the protrusions 54 , 108 can also be decreased while maintaining the inner diameters of the recess 25 and the indexing chamber 26 and the inner diameters of the lower portion 46 and neck 44 . the snapping force may also be decreased or controlled by increasing the diameter of the indexing chamber 26 ( or the neck 44 ) while maintaining the size of the protrusions 43 ( or 108 ) and the recess 25 ( or lower portion 46 ). in addition , the length and cross - section of the lever arms 106 as well as construction material may be varied to vary the retention force . as mentioned above , the healing cap can be made from any of a variety of bio - compatible materials , such as , for example , dental grade plastic , titanium , stainless steel , ceramic , or any combination thereof . the healing cap 32 is preferably made of an injection molded dental grade plastic , which is particularly useful for forming the snapping portion 52 because of its resilient properties . accordingly , in one arrangement of the present invention , the cover 34 of the healing cap 32 is made of a metal or ceramic material while the snapping portion 50 is made a plastic material . if the healing cap 32 and / or the handle 100 and / or parts thereof are made of metal , such as , for example , titanium or stainless steel , the surface of the protrusions 54 , 108 may preferably be coated or otherwise treated with teflon , diamond - like carbon coating ( e . g . amorphous diamond ), or titanium anodic coating , or any other lubricious coating capable of making the surfaces slide easier . see , for example , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 833 , 463 incorporated herein by reference . [ 0057 ] fig1 and 14 illustrate a modified arrangement of a removal tool 200 . as with the previous arrangement , the removal tool 200 includes a proximal handle 202 and a distal snapping portion 204 . the snapping portion 204 includes a prong 206 and a protrusion 208 , which has a diameter d 4 greater than the diameter of the neck 44 of the healing cap 32 . the main difference in this arrangement is that the snapping portion 204 is not resilient . thus , to remove the healing cap 32 during stage ii , the dentist places the snapping portion 204 of the removal tool 200 over the indentation 42 and pushes the snapping portion 204 into the indentation 42 . as mentioned above , the protrusions 208 of the handle 200 preferably , have at least a slightly larger diameter d 4 than the neck 44 of the indentation 42 . accordingly , the neck 44 is configured to deflect as the protrusion 208 passes through the neck 44 . once the protrusion 208 reach the lower portion 46 of the indentation 42 , the neck 44 return to its original position thereby forming a snap fit between the handle 200 and the healing cap 32 . in such an arrangement , the healing cap 32 is preferably made of plastic so that the neck is resilient . it should also be noted that although in the illustrated embodiments the healing cap 32 is removed from the implant 10 by engaging a removal tool with the healing cap 32 , the healing cap 32 can also be separated from the implant 10 by using a dental pick ( not shown ) or other conventional dental implement . specifically , the dentist can use the dental pick or other implement to pry the healing cap 32 away from the implant 10 . in such an arrangement , the healing cap 32 does not necessarily include the indentation 42 . [ 0059 ] fig1 illustrates a modified dental implant 300 , which can also be used with the snap - in healing cap 32 described above . like numbers are used to refer to parts similar to those of fig1 - 3 . in this embodiment , the inner cavity 20 of the dental implant 300 does not include a snapping chamber . as such , the indexing chamber 26 extends to the screw chamber 22 . in the illustrated embodiment , when the healing cap 32 is engaged with the dental implant 300 , the prongs 52 and the protrusions 54 of the healing cap 32 are configured contact the walls 302 of the indexing chamber 26 and exert a positive force outwardly in a radial direction . accordingly , the protrusions 54 ( see fig5 ) have an outer diameter d 3 that is preferably slightly larger than the inner diameter d 2 of a portion of the indexing chamber 26 . as such , the healing cap 32 is secured to the top surface 18 of the dental implant 10 by the friction or interference fit between the protrusions 54 and the walls 302 of the implant 300 . [ 0061 ] fig1 illustrates a modified embodiment of a healing cap 310 , which can be used with the dental implants of fig1 - 3 and fig1 . like numbers are used to refer to parts similar to those of fig4 - 7 . in this embodiment , the indentation 312 comprises a neck 314 and a cylindrical portion 316 , which lies beneath the neck 314 . the neck 314 , at its smallest point , has a diameter d 5 , which is smaller than the smallest diameter d 6 of the cylindrical portion 316 . in one embodiment , the neck has a diameter d 5 of approximately 0 . 065 inches while the cylindrical portion has a diameter of approximately 0 . 080 inches . [ 0062 ] fig1 illustrates an insertion tool 340 , which has certain features and advantages according to the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , the tool 340 comprises a first section 344 and a second section 346 that are preferably connected by a common handle 342 . in a modified embodiment , the first and second sections 344 and 346 can be connected to separate handles . the first section 344 includes an insertion snapping portion 348 while the second section 346 includes a removal snapping portion 350 . in the illustrated embodiment , the insertion and removal and snapping portions 348 , 350 extend in opposite directions with respect to a longitudinal axis 352 of the handle . however , in modified embodiments , the insertion and removal snapping portions 348 , 350 can extend in the same direction or be rotated less than 180 degrees from each other . in the illustrated embodiment , the handle 342 comprises a substantially cylindrical section 354 having a first diameter which tapers down to a smaller second diameter at the first and second sections 344 , 346 . the substantially cylindrical section 354 has preferably has a diameter of at least approximately 0 . 5 inches , such that the handle 354 can be easily grasped by the dental practitioner . the substantially cylindrical section preferably includes a pair of flattened portions 356 near the first and second ends 344 , 346 . the flattened portions 356 preferably define a plane , which lies generally traverse and more preferably perpendicular to an axis 358 extending through the nearest snapping portion 348 , 350 . as such , the flattened portions 356 provide an ergonomic surface to which a force f can be applied to insert and remove the snapping portions 348 , 350 as will be explained in more detail below . the removal snapping portion 350 is similar in shape and function as the snapping portion 104 of the removal tool 100 described above . that is , the removal snapping portion 350 is configured to engage the indentation 42 on top of the healing cap 32 ( fig7 ) in a snap fit . accordingly , the snapping portion includes one or more lever arms , prongs or tangs 370 ( see fig1 a ). each lever arm 370 preferably includes a protrusion 372 that can be beveled or rounded ( as illustrated ). as mentioned above , the protrusions 372 are preferably sized and configured to snap into and resiliently engage the indentation 42 of the healing cap 10 . accordingly , the protrusions have an outer diameter d 4 that is slightly larger than the diameter of the neck 44 of the corresponding indentation 42 . although two lever arms 370 with protrusions 372 thereon are illustrated , this number may be varied to produce the desired retention force and simplify manufacturing . for example , as few as one protrusions may be sufficient or six or more may alternatively be used . the removal snapping portion 350 and healing cap 32 are preferably configured so that a force required to remove the healing cap 32 from the implant 10 is less than the force required to remove the snapping portion from the healing cap 32 . therefore , when the dentist lifts the insertion tool 340 away from the implant 10 , the healing cap 32 remains attached to the tool 340 but detaches from the implant 10 . in contrast , the insertion snapping portion 348 is configured so that the force required to remove the healing cap 32 from the implant 10 is greater than the force required to remove the insertion snapping portion 348 from the healing cap 32 . as with the removal portion 350 , the insertion portion 348 is configured engage the indentation 42 on top of the healing cap 32 ( fig7 ) in a snap fit . the insertion portion 348 includes one or more lever arms , prongs or tangs 380 . each lever arm 380 preferably includes a protrusion 382 that can be beveled or rounded . although two lever arms 380 with protrusions 382 thereon are illustrated , this number may be varied to produce the desired retention force and simplify manufacturing . for example , as few as one protrusions may be sufficient or six or more may alternatively be used . the protrusions 382 are preferably sized and configured to snap into and resiliently engage the indentation 42 of the healing cap 10 . accordingly , the protrusions have an outer diameter d 7 that is slightly larger than the diameter of the neck 44 of the indentation 42 . however , to reduce the force required to remove the insertion snapping portion 348 from the healing cap 32 , the outer diameter d 7 of the insertion snapping portion is preferably smaller than the outer diameter d 4 diameter of the removal snapping portion 350 . in addition , or instead of , the insertion snapping portion 348 can be made of a less resilient material as compared to the removal snapping portion 350 and / or the lever arms 380 can be thinner and / or for flexible than the lever arms 370 of the removal snapping portion 350 . preferably , the insertion tool 340 includes indicia 390 a , 390 b to distinguish the insertion snapping portion 348 from the removal snapping portion 350 . in the illustrated embodiment , the indicia 390 a , 390 b comprises a single groove on the handle 354 near the insertion snapping portion 348 and two grooves near the removal snapping portion 350 . of course , the indicia may be formed in a variety of other ways . for example , the letter “ r ” can be used to indicate the removal snapping prong 350 and / or the letter “ i ” can be used to indicated the insertion snapping prong 348 . in other embodiments , the snapping portions 348 , 350 can have different colors . in other embodiments , only one of the two snapping portions 348 , 350 may include indicia . in use , the insertion tool 340 can be used to insert the healing cap 32 into the dental implant 10 and to remove the healing cap 32 from the dental implant 10 . to attach the healing cap 32 to the implant 10 during stage i , the surgeon first inserts the insertion snapping portion 348 into the indentation 42 of the healing cap 32 . as such , the healing cap 32 is secured to the tool 340 and the dental practitioner can use the tool 340 to move the healing cap 32 into the patient &# 39 ; s and to position the healing cap 32 over the dental implant 10 . once in position , the dental practitioner uses the tool 340 to push the snapping portion 50 of the healing cap 32 into the implant 10 . as mentioned above , the insertion snapping portion 348 is configured so that the force required to remove the healing cap 32 from the implant 10 is greater than the force required to remove the insertion snapping portion 348 from the indentation 42 . thus , when the dentist lifts the insertion tool 340 away from the implant 10 , the tool 340 detaches from the healing cap 32 and the healing cap 32 remains attached to the implant 10 . to remove the healing cap , the dental practitioner inserts the removal snapping portion 350 into the indentation 42 of the healing cap 32 . as mentioned above , the handle removal snapping portion 350 and healing cap 32 are preferably configured so that the force required to remove the healing cap 32 from the implant 10 is less than the force required to remove removal snapping portion 350 from the healing cap 32 . therefore , when the dental practitioner lifts the tool 340 away from the implant 10 , the healing cap 32 remains attached to the tool 340 and detaches from the implant 10 . although this invention has been disclosed in the context of certain preferred embodiments and examples , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention extends beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments to other alternative embodiments and / or uses of the invention and obvious modifications , combinations and subcombinations and equivalents thereof . thus , it is intended that the scope of the present invention herein disclosed should not be limited by the particular disclosed embodiments described above , but should be determined only by a fair reading of the claims that follow . | 0 |
table 1 shows the chemical components of 11 developed steels a to k and two comparative steels ( sncm 815 and sncm 420 under jis ) tested in relation to the present invention . the developed steels were mainly prepared by varying the contents of ni and c in the chemical components of the two comparative steels while compensating for reduction of hardenability resulting from reduction of the ni contents by increasing the c contents . reduction of core toughness resulting from increase of the c contents was compensated mainly by small amount regulation of impurity elements . while table 1 shows critical quench diameters di estimated from the chemical components , it is understood that the developed steels are equivalent or superior to sncm 815 in hardenability and can be regarded as materials close to sncm 815 in view of internal characteristics ( structure and hardness ). the developed and comparative steels shown in table 1 were subjected to evaluation of carburizing rate and tests related to rolling contact fatigue life and fracture strength . the carburizing rate was evaluated on rolling element test pieces of 25 mm in diameter with various carburizing times . the rolling contact fatigue life was evaluated on φ60 × l90 large cylindrical test pieces postulating large bearings and standard φ12 cylindrical test pieces under standard life test conditions ( tables 2 and 3 ). fracture strength was evaluated on rings of 60 mm in outer diameter , 45 mm in inner diameter and 15 mm in width . [ 0041 ] table 3 test conditions for φ12 test piece tester point contact life tester test shape φ12 × l22 cylinder counterpart steel ball φ19 . 05 ( 3 / 4 ″) contact stress 5 . 88 ( gpa ) loading speed 46240 ( cpm ) lubrication turbine 68 splash lubrication the test pieces were prepared by carburizing the steels shown in table 1 at 960 ° c . under various holding times and performing secondary quenching from 770 to 820 ° c . for controlling surface hardness and core hardness to prescribed values . carbon potentials in carburizing / diffusion were set to 1 . 5 to 1 . 2 . while surface hardness and case depth up to hrc 58 ( hv 650 ) generally influence the rolling contact fatigue life of a bearing such that the bearing has a longer life as the surface hardness and the case depth are increased , it has been proved that all developed steels have higher surface hardness ( carburized parts ) than sncm 815 and larger depths up to hrc 58 ( hv 650 ) than comparative steels , as shown in fig1 and 2 . it has also been proved that the developed steels are equivalent to or slightly higher than sncm 815 in core strength and higher than sncm 420 in hardness . while the developed steels have larger case depths than sncm 815 and sncm 420 through the same carburizing times , it has been proved that nine developed steels c , d , e , f , g , h , i , j and k are particularly excellent in rapid carburizability among the developed steels a to k , as shown in fig3 and 4 . while table 4 shows the ratios of case depths with reference to sncm 815 , the case depths of these nine developed steels c , d , e , f , g , h , i , j and k are 1 . 3 to 1 . 9 times that of sncm 815 . it follows that the same case depth can be attained in a time of about 60 to 30 % in terms of the carburizing time . from the above results , it is understood that each developed steel can attain hardness distribution equivalent to that of each comparative steel in a shorter carburizing time and the case depth of the developed steel can be increased through the same carburizing time as the comparative steel . table 5 shows rolling contact fatigue lives of the test pieces of the respective steels , and table 6 shows fracture ( fatigue and static ) strength . the carburizing time was so varied that the test pieces attained substantially identical hardness distribution on surface layers . the ratios of high case depths exceeding hv 650 to thicknesses were set to 0 . 1 to 0 . 15 in the respective test pieces , and the core hardness was set to hv 460 to hv 540 . it has been proved from table 5 that particularly the steels c to k are equivalent or superior to the comparative steels in life and exhibited stable rolling contact fatigue lives . these steels c to k have core hardness of at least hv 490 , and such a tendency has been proved that the rolling contact fatigue life and the fracture strength are improved as the core hardness is improved . each developed steel has higher carburizing rate than each comparative steel . when the developed and comparative steels are carburized to have the same surface hardness distribution , the developed steel attains higher core hardness than the comparative steel and is thereby improved in life . table 5 also shows data obtained by carbonitriding the test pieces of the respective steels . while the life is further improved by carbonitriding , it has been proved that the developed steels exhibiting larger fatigue life improvement than the comparative steels are suitable also to carbonitriding . it has also been proved that the steels c to k have high ring rotation fracture fatigue strength as shown in table 6 . as to ring static fracture strength , substantially no difference was observed between the developed steels and sncm 815 . [ 0051 ] table 6 results of fracture strength test ( carburizing and carbonitriding ) rotation fracture fatigue strength of ring static fracture strength of ring average fracture strength object steel type n life ( h ) life ratio n strength ( kn ) ratio developed steel a 2 each 35 1 . 1 2 each 48 . 5 1 . 1 steel steel b 39 1 . 2 48 . 8 1 . 1 ( carburized ) steel c 45 1 . 4 51 . 0 1 . 2 steel d 53 1 . 6 50 . 8 1 . 2 steel e 52 1 . 6 52 . 3 1 . 2 steel f 62 1 . 9 53 . 6 1 . 2 steel g 44 1 . 3 50 . 2 1 . 2 steel h 45 1 . 4 50 . 5 1 . 2 steel i 42 1 . 3 49 . 9 1 . 2 steel j 45 1 . 4 50 . 5 1 . 2 steel k 48 1 . 5 50 . 9 1 . 2 comparative sncm815 2 33 1 . 0 2 43 . 1 1 . 0 steel developed steel a 2 each 68 1 . 4 ( 1 . 9 ) 2 each 46 . 5 1 . 1 steel steel b 75 1 . 5 ( 1 . 9 ) 46 . 2 1 . 1 ( carbonitrided ) steel c 87 1 . 7 ( 1 . 9 ) 47 . 5 1 . 2 steel d 89 1 . 8 ( 1 . 7 ) 48 . 5 1 . 2 steel e 95 1 . 9 ( 1 . 8 ) 49 . 5 1 . 2 steel f 98 2 . 0 ( 1 . 6 ) 49 . 8 1 . 2 steel g 82 1 . 6 ( 1 . 9 ) 47 . 6 1 . 2 steel h 83 1 . 7 ( 1 . 8 ) 47 . 7 1 . 2 steel i 80 1 . 6 ( 1 . 9 ) 47 . 3 1 . 1 steel j 83 1 . 7 ( 1 . 8 ) 47 . 7 1 . 2 steel k 85 1 . 7 ( 1 . 8 ) 48 . 0 1 . 2 comparative sncm815 2 50 1 . 0 ( 1 . 5 ) 2 41 . 3 1 . 0 steel table 7 shows core toughness values after carburizing ( at 960 ° c . for 34 hours ). it is understood that particularly the steels g to k prepared by regulating specific impurity elements to small amount have toughness values equivalent or superior to those of the comparative steels . as clearly understood from the above description , the inventive rolling bearing can reduce the material cost by reducing the ni content and increasing the c content while ensuring surface hardness and increasing the fatigue life or reducing the carburizing time by ensuring surface hardness and optimizing the case depth . further , productivity can be improved by reducing the carburizing time , the fatigue life can be increased by stabilizing surface hardness and improving the hardness , crack strength can be improved by optimizing the core hardness , and the fatigue life as well as the strength can be improved by combination with carbonitriding . although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail , it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation , the spirit and scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims . | 2 |
turning to fig1 , a collapsible pet carrier assembly 10 is depicted , configured for attaching to a vehicle seat back 12 . broadly , the pet carrier assembly 10 includes collapsible front and rear walls 14 , 14 ′ and collapsible side walls 16 , 16 ′. front and rear ( not visible in this view ) guide rails 18 , 18 ′ slidingly hold at least the front and rear walls 14 , 14 ′ and secure the pet carrier assembly 10 to the vehicle seat back 12 . in one embodiment , at least one edge of front and rear walls 14 , 14 ′ is pivotally attached to a corresponding end of guide rails 18 , 18 ′ ( see arrow ). a tray 20 is provided which serves as a floor for the pet carrier 10 , optionally including a separate or integral perforated mat 22 . as will be appreciated , the mat 22 provides a surface for a pet ( not shown ) having greater grip , and further allows drainage of liquid onto tray 20 in the event the pet relieves itself . conveniently , tray 20 and mat 22 are removable for ease of cleaning and replacement at need . molded studs or other fasteners ( not visible in this view ) prevent inadvertent dislodgment of the tray 20 / mat 22 when the pet carrier assembly 10 is held in a stored configuration as discussed below . in an embodiment ( see fig2 ), the front and rear walls 14 , 14 ′ are defined by a plurality of intersecting rails 24 , pivotally interconnected one to another to define a collapsible grid structure . a plurality of first rods 26 pivotally connect the edges of front wall 14 to the corresponding edges of rear wall 14 ′, similar in design to a collapsible laundry rack as is known in the art . intersecting rails 24 may be pivotally interconnected by any suitable structure , such as by pins 28 as shown . in turn , for each of front and rear walls 14 , 14 ′, a lowermost end an intersecting rail 24 is pivotally connected to a corresponding end of front and rear guide rails 18 , 18 ′, such as by a pin 29 or in an alternative embodiment ( not shown ) by passing an end of a bottom - most first rod 26 through an aperture in an end of each of front and rear guide rails 18 , 18 ′. as will be appreciated , this feature of a plurality of intersecting rails 24 pivotally interconnected one to another to define collapsible front and rear walls 14 , 14 ′ allows altering a width dimension of front and rear walls 14 , 14 ′ during deployment and collapsing of the pet carrier assembly 10 as will be discussed . an embodiment of side walls 16 , 16 ′ is shown in fig3 . as shown therein , each of side walls 16 , 16 ′ is defined by a plurality of interconnected panels 30 . each panel 30 is configured to pivotally accept a first rod 26 through a first edge thereof . in turn , each panel 30 is likewise configured to pivotally accept a second rod 32 through a second , opposed edge thereof , thus interconnecting the plurality of panels 30 to define a collapsible panel side wall that is substantially solid when the pet carrier 10 is in the deployed configuration . in the depicted embodiment , hinge structures 34 are defined in the first and second edges of the panels 30 to allow interconnection thereof as described . as will be appreciated , this feature of interconnected panels 30 to define collapsible side walls 16 , 16 ′ preserves a width dimension of side walls 16 , 16 ′ during deployment and collapsing of the pet carrier assembly 10 as will be discussed . with reference to fig4 a and 4b , the pet carrier assembly 10 further includes an actuator 36 for retaining the carrier in either the collapsed or the deployed configuration . in one embodiment , the actuator 36 is simply a pushbutton release 38 , including a spring 40 for biasing pushbutton 38 outwardly through a first bore 42 defined in front rail 18 . in this configuration , the pet carrier 10 is in the collapsed configuration shown in fig4 a . to deploy the carrier , a user need only urge the pushbutton 38 rearwardly against spring 40 ( see arrow a ) to clear bore 42 , and may then raise front / rear walls 14 , 14 ′ and side walls 16 , 16 ′ upwardly to a deployed configuration . as the carrier is deployed , the “ footprint ” defined by front / rear walls 14 , 14 ′ and side walls 16 , 16 ′ decreases slightly , and pushbutton 38 translates laterally ( see arrow b ). as the carrier reaches the fully deployed configuration ( see fig7 ), pushbutton 38 reaches and engages a second bore 44 , thus maintaining deployed configuration until a user wishes to collapse the structure . of course , the process of collapsing the carrier is simply the inverse of the process of deploying as described above . turning now to fig5 - 7 , conveniently the pet carrier assembly 10 is secured in the collapsed configuration to an upright vehicle v seatback 12 by guide rails 18 , 18 ′ ( see fig5 ). as shown , front wall 14 is disposed above rear wall 14 ′. in this configuration , actuator 36 is conveniently accessible to a user by way of passenger door d ( not shown in this view , but see fig6 ) when seatback 12 is folded forward . however , although the inverse relationship is also contemplated ( rear wall 14 ′ disposed above front wall 14 ). thus , the pet carrier assembly 10 is conveniently available for use at a moment &# 39 ; s notice , but does not occupy a significant portion of the available storage space of , for example , the vehicle cargo area c . to use the pet carrier assembly 10 , at least the portion of vehicle seat back 12 to which the carrier is secured is folded forward ( see fig6 ). next , the pet carrier is deployed as described above , by operation of actuator 36 , and the carrier is translated to the deployed configuration ( fig7 ). during this translation , as the front / rear walls 14 , 14 ′ and side walls 16 , 16 ′ are raised , the carrier footprint decreases slightly as described above , i . e . front / rear walls 14 , 14 ′ lessen in width and side wall 16 ′ translates towards side wall 16 without altering a width dimension thereof ( note the greater portion of guide rails 18 , 18 ′ visible in the deployed configuration compared to the collapsed configuration of fig6 ). then , actuator 36 engages second bore 44 ( not visible in this view ) to retain the carrier in the deployed configuration . typically , a pet is placed on tray 20 / mat 22 before deploying the pet carrier assembly 10 as described above . this is because after deployment the vehicle roof / headliner is typically sufficiently near a top edge of front / rear walls 14 , 14 ′ and side walls 16 , 16 ′ that the vehicle roof / headliner serves as a de facto lid or top for the pet carrier assembly 10 . however , it will be appreciated that alternative configurations are possible , for example providing a separate lid or top ( not shown ) for a pet carrier assembly 10 having shorter walls or when using the pet carrier assembly in a vehicle having a higher roof / headliner to prevent the pet from inadvertently exiting the carrier . thus , it will be appreciated that a simple , effective vehicle - mounted pet carrier is provided , which is stored in a vehicle without significant negative impact on available storage space in the vehicle . the carrier is easily deployed for use as needed , and equally easily collapsed for storage when not needed . obvious modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings . all such modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly , legally and equitably entitled . | 0 |
the principles of the present invention are particularly useful in a component generally indicated at 100 in fig1 . the component 100 is illustrated as being used with a laser module generally indicated at 200 . the module 200 is composed of a housing 1 for a laser diode 2 having a light exit surface 21 . the housing 1 has a plug socket 4 . a coupling lens 3 in the form of a spherical lens is arranged in the plug socket 4 . the spherical lens can be a rod lens . what is meant by a rod lens is a rod of transparent material which comprises a radial refractive index profile in the form of a gradient profile so that it acts as an optical lens , such rod lenses are conventional and known . the coupling lens 3 is dimensioned and arranged at a distance from the light exit surface 21 of the laser diode 2 which is secured in the housing so that parallel beams 31 having a wavelength λ1 , which are emitted by the laser diode will emerge from this lens 3 and thus , from the plug socket 4 . in terms of significant parts , the component 100 itself is composed of a rod lens 5 , an interference filter 6 applied planarly to a front end surface 51 for the separation of two operating wavelengths λ1 and λ2 . in addition , the component includes a transparent plug member 10 , which is dimensioned with a diameter so that it can be plugged into the plug socket 4 . the plug member 10 enables a low - loss coupling into the component and also protects the filter 6 . the two optical fibers 7 and 8 are coupled to a back end surface 52 of the rod lens 5 . the optical fiber 7 is a monomode fiber which forms a pig - tail to a line fiber and is aligned to be on an optical axis a of the rod lens 5 which in the plug - in condition of the module 200 and the component 100 coincides with the optical axis a of the lens 3 . the fiber 8 , which is a multimode fiber , serves as an outcoupling fiber and proceeds parallel to the axis a , and it terminates in the end 82 which leads to a photodiode 131 of a receiver module 130 which can be arranged within the component as needed . the employment of a thick core fiber , for example , a stepped profile fiber , which has a 50 um core diameter , is expedient for employment as the fiber 8 . on the other hand , the diameter should be selected as large as possible in order to simplify coupling to the lens 5 . however , it is limited to about 50 μm due to the reception area of the photodiode 131 and also because of the required polarization - independent filter effect . it also cannot be selected any larger because of the minimum spacing between the fiber axes which is to be correspondingly required . on the axis a , the rod lens 5 has a 1 / 4 pitch length so that the light of the wavelength λ1 incident parallel to the axis proceeds from the front surface and is focussed on the back end surface 52 on the axis a . it is noted , that the filter 6 is transmissive to light of the one wavelength λ1 and reflectors for light of the second wavelength λ2 . the lens 5 is obliquely ground on a front surface so that its front end face or surface 51 describes a small angle α with a plane extending perpendicular to the axis a and as a result thereof , the lens comprises an overall length respectively under length outside of the axis a . the interference filter 6 is a wavelength - selective filter and is applied surface wide to the oblique , front end surface 51 . this filter , for example as mentioned above , is potentially an interference filter . for bi - directional transmission mode , two components which differ in terms of the filter are to be provided . the different filters must be complementary to one another so that one filter is precisely transmissive for the wavelength for which the other filter is opaque or vice versa . complementary filters can be manufactured in the form of interference filters . for a polarization - independent filter effect , the angle α should be selected as small as possible . the lower limits are defined by the lateral spacing of the two waveguides 7 and 8 . when , for example , the waveguides 7 and 8 are fibers which are fixed in guide channels of a carrier member 9 , the minimum angle α is defined from the minimum web width between the guide channels in the carrier member 9 and is defined by the outside diameter of the fibers . the component is advantageously insensitive to rotation of the two lenses relative to one another around their common axis a . this occurs because the light waveguide 7 , which leads to a line fiber , lies on the axis a and only light waveguide 8 serving for outcoupling describes a circle around this axis together with the photodetector 131 , which are rigidly connected to the lens distal end 82 of the multimode fiber 8 . when the plug is turned , thus , the transmitter diode 2 and the monomode light waveguide 7 remain adjusted relative to one another . at its front surface , the plug member 10 must enable the unimpeded light passage from the laser module 200 to the lens 5 . given the embodiment of fig1 the plug member 10 is composed of a plastic material transparent for the one wavelength λ1 , for example , an epoxy resin which surrounds the filter 6 , the lens 5 and the carrier member 9 for the light waveguides 7 and 8 as a cast part . its outside diameter can be brought to the desired dimension by being turned in a centering or turning device . it is preferably secured in a spigut nut 11 which is thrust over the plug socket 4 when plugging the member 10 into the socket 14 . the component 100 of fig1 is shown again in terms of its essential parts in a larger view in fig2 with a back part 101 of the plug member 10 , which has an expanded diameter , not being shown . the beam path in the lens 5 of the light of the other wavelength λ2 which is reflected by a filter 6 and emerges from the lens - proximate end 71 of the monomode fiber 7 is shown in fig2 . this light emerges from the end 71 as a divergent beam 70 and is gradually focussed to form a parallel beam on its path through the lens 5 . this parallel beam is reflected at the filter 6 , which is arranged at a slant relative to the axis a , and upon return through the lens , the light is focussed in a point f close the back end surface 52 . as a consequence of the oblique positioning of the filter 6 , this point lies at a lateral distance x 0 from the axis a of the lens and from the waveguide 7 . the multimode fiber 8 extends parallel to the axis a and is arranged at this distance x 0 from the axis a so that its lens - proximate end 81 lies close and opposite the point f . what is thereby achieved is that the light having the wavelength λ2 which is concentrated at this point f is coupled to the multimode fiber 8 . an embodiment of the component is generally indicated at 100 &# 39 ; in fig3 . the embodiment 100 &# 39 ; is similar to the embodiment 100 . the difference is that the plug member 10 of the embodiment 100 is not composed of a single piece but is formed by a tubular metal member 13 in which the lens 5 with the filter 6 and the two fibers 7 and 8 together with the mount or carrier 9 are accepted . the tube 13 has its front end closed by a transparent member 12 that extends to a front surface of the filter 6 . for example , the member 12 can be composed of a transparent plastic material which is polished flat together with the end of the metal tube 13 to provide a front end face 14 . the member 12 can also be composed of a wedge - shaped glass lamina which is glued to the filter 6 which is attached to the lens 5 before the introduction of the filter and lens into the metal tube 13 . when the receiver module 130 with the photodiode 131 is to be directly accommodated on the component , then it is expedient to modify the carrier member 9 in comparison to the embodiment shown in the figs . for example , the carrier member 9 now only contains a single axial guide channel for the monomode fiber 7 which leads to the line fiber . the guide channel with the multimode fiber is replaced by a waveguide integrated into the carrier member 9 . for example , if the carrier member 9 is a glass member , a suitable waveguide is generated by an ion exchange which directs the light modulated with the received signal into the directly coupled receiver diode 131 . the integrated waveguide can be curved to deflect the light of wavelength λ2 perpendicular to the axial direction of the fiber 7 . although various minor modifications may be suggested by those versed in the art , it should be understood that i wish to embody with the scope of the patent granted hereon , all such modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art . | 6 |
by physiological levels or patterns is meant melatonin concentrations in the blood that mimic or are similar to normal concentrations in terms of timing , amplitude and duration . by melatonin amplitude is meant a specific concentration of melatonin in the blood . by melatonin duration is meant the length of time that a specific concentration of melatonin is present in the blood . by onset time is meant the time clock time or circadian time ( defined below )! that a specific concentration of melatonin is reached in the blood . by circadian time is meant the time some internal pysiological event that occurs at some predictable time relative to the endogenous circadian pacemaker . for example , the onset of melatonin production occurs at circadian time ( 14 in most individuals ). by offset time is meant the time ( clock time or circadian time ) that a specific concentration of melatonin is no longer present in the blood . by normal melatonin levels is meant ranges of melatonin such as those taught by van coevorden et al ., and strassman et al . by a deficiency of melatonin is meant a melatonin concentration below the average normal concentration present in an individual at the time sleep is desired . such melatonin deficiencies may be present when the individual is unable to produce a normal nighttime melatonin concentration . low melatonin concentrations are common in the elderly and frequently have a low quality of sleep usually in combination with a decreased duration of sleep . in addition , a deficiency of melatonin at &# 34 ; bed time &# 34 ; typically exists in an individual suffering from jet lag . when such low nighttime or bedtime concentrations of melatonin are present , the individual &# 39 ; s melatonin or circadian rhythm is dispersed or shifted out of phase . both of these circadian rhythm problems are addressable using the method of the present invention . thus , the present invention encompasses the administration at the time sleep is desired of a sustained release melatonin composition that yields improved amounts of bioavailable melatonin and unexpectedly provides adequate melatonin levels in individuals suffering from a deficiency of melatonin . administration of sustained release melatonin or immediate release melatonin formulations corrects melatonin or circadian rhythms that are dispersed or shifted out of phase . when an individual is unable to produce a normal nighttime melatonin concentration , the administration of a sustained release formulation sets the individual &# 39 ; s phase , i . e ., the formulation provides a phase shift . similarly , when a human is experiencing jet lag , administration of either sustained or immediate release melatonin at a specific , critical time effects a phase shift . the amount of immediate release melatonin administered to the human patient should be sufficient to achieve the desired circadian phase - shifting effect . in a preferred embodiment of this invention , a dosage of about 0 . 25 mg to about 75 mg , preferably about 0 . 75 mg , and most preferably about 0 . 50 mg , of exogenous immediate release melatonin is used to effect the desired change in phase of the circadian rhythm of endogenous melatonin production . in a preferred embodiment , the total dose of immediate release melatonin is given in two or more smaller portions to the human patient over an interval of about two hours if the person is awake . one dose time is preferred if the person is asleep . pharmaceutical quality melatonin is commercially available . the dosage of melatonin may be administered orally , by injection , via a transdermal patch or by implantation of a reservoir designed to release a steady dosage of melatonin over time . in a preferred embodiment of this invention , melatonin is administered orally . in a preferred embodiment of this invention , a phase advance in the circadian rhythm of endogenous melatonin production is effected by the administration of an amount of exogenous melatonin sufficient to achieve the phase advance from more than 6 hours to about 10 hours , preferably from about 7 to about 10 hours , most preferably about 8 hours , before the human &# 39 ; s normal sleep phase should begin . this is typically from about 4 hours to about 8 hours , most preferably about 6 hours , before the patient &# 39 ; s endogenous melatonin onset . a phase delay in the circadian rhythm of endogenous melatonin production is effected by the administration of an amount of exogenous melatonin sufficient to achieve the phase delay from about 11 to about 19 hours , most preferably from about 12 to about 16 hours , prior to when the human &# 39 ; s normal sleep phase should begin . this is typically from about 9 hours to about 17 hours , most preferably from about 10 to about 14 hours , before the patient &# 39 ; s endogenous melatonin onset . the amount of melatonin administered in the sustained release formulation to the human patient suffering from a melatonin deficiency should be sufficient to produce a normal nighttime melatonin amplitude , i . e ., a plasma concentration approximating those in normal individuals at night . in a preferred embodiment of this invention , a dosage of about 0 . 025 mg to about 1 mg , more preferably from about 0 . 05 to 0 . 75 mg , and most preferably about 0 . 1 mg to about 0 . 4 mg , of sustained release melatonin is used to treat the patient and , thus , to mimic a normal melatonin pattern in the human during the time sleep is needed . sustained release formulations containing higher amounts of melatonin will provide longer durations of release and , in addition , higher melatonin amplitudes in the patient . it has unexpectedly been discovered that an oral sustained release melatonin formulation provides a sustained plasma concentration of melatonin over a period of at least three hours , and the dose required to achieve this concentration is substantially less than 1 mg . the sustained release melatonin formulation of the invention comprises ( a ) a core comprising 0 . 05 to 2 % by weight of melatonin ; and ( b ) about 5 to 25 % by weight of ethylcellulose coating comprising ethylcellulose and a plasticizer . this formulation releases melatonin over time such that a normal nighttime amplitude of melatonin in the body is mimicked . the sustained release melantonin composition surprisingly provides at least about 5 % bioavailable melatonin . in more preferred embodiments , the composition provides at least about 50 % bioavailable melatonin , and more preferably at least about 10 % bioavailable melatonin . in preferred embodiments , the plasticizer is an alkyl sebacate or a trialkyl citrate , where each alkyl is the same or different and represents straight or branched chain alkyl groups having 1 - 6 carbon atoms . a particularly preferred plasticizer is a mixture of dibutyl sebacate and triethyl citrate at a ratio of about 1 : 1 by weight . those skilled in the art will recognize a variety of dosage forms that may be prepared to obtain a desired release pattern . compositions containing the sustained release melatonin formulation may also contain one or more agents selected from the group consisting of sweetening agents , flavoring agents , coloring agents and preserving agents in order to provide pharmaceutically elegant and palatable preparations . tablets may be prepared to contain the active ingredient in admixture with non - toxic pharmaceutically acceptable excipients which are suitable for the manufacture of tablets . these excipients may be for example , inert diluents , such as calcium carbonate , sodium carbonate , lactose , calcium phosphate or sodium phosphate ; granulating and disintegrating agents , for example , corn starch , or alginic acid ; binding agents , for example starch , gelatin or acacia , and lubricating agents , for example magnesium stearate , stearic acid or talc . the tablets may be uncoated or they may be coated by known techniques to delay disintegration and absorption in the gastrointestinal tract and thereby modify the sustained release of melatonin . for example , a time delay material such as glyceryl monosterate or glyceryl distearate may be employed . gelatin capsules may be prepared wherein the melatonin formulation is mixed with an inert solid diluent , for example , calcium carbonate , calcium phosphate or kaolin , or as soft gelatin capsules wherein the active ingredient is mixed with water or an oil medium , for example peanut oil , liquid paraffin or olive oil . in a preferred aspect of the invention , particulate beads of the sustained release formulation were loaded into a gelatin capsule . administration of the sustained release formulation of the invention produces a melatonin amplitude that closely mimics the average nighttime pattern in terms of amplitude . this formulation produces less than a five - fold variation in the peak concentrations generated relative to normal ; sustained patterns are over a period of about 3 to 10 hours where the average melatonin concentrations vary by less than five - fold . preferred formulations according to the invention produce bioavailability of at least about 5 %. mimicked ( exogenously produced ) normal melatonin patterns are defined as melatonin patterns in which the average melatonin concentration is between about one - fifth and five times normal and a sustained average concentration over a period of at least three hours where the plasma concentration does not fluctuate more than about five - fold . in preferred embodiments , the oral compositions produce a minimum concentration of at least one - third normal and no more than three times normal for a peak , with a sustained concentration over at least three hours where the concentrations fluctuate no more than three fold . preferred oral doses of sustained release melatonin produce initial melatonin concentrations of from about 25 to 300 pg / ml , average melatonin concentrations of about 70 to 80 pg / ml over a three - hour period , and no more than three - fold variation in average concentrations over the three hours . such products may be capsules or tablets or liquids so long as they provide a relatively sustained release over a time period of about 3 to 12 hours and usefully supplement or replace normal melatonin patterns . a useful dosage form can be produced using only controlled release melatonin without immediate release hormone . oral sustained release melatonin is useful to replace or supplement melatonin hormone in a truly physiologic pattern . this formulation can aid alzheimer &# 39 ; s patients and other elderly individuals . the present invention may be used in , but is not limited to , the following situations to achieve chronobiologic effects , alleviate circadian rhythm disorders , and / or achieve normal concentrations of melatonin when initiation of sleep is desired via mimicking of normal melatonin patterns : astronauts in orbit around the earth , on missions in space to the earth &# 39 ; s moon or to the planets or out of the known solar system , or in training for such missions ; submariners , or persons confined for research , exploration or industrial purposes below the seas ; miners , explorers , spelunkers , researchers or those confined below the earth ; psychiatric patients ; insomniacs ; the comatose , or those who need to be maintained in a state of unconsciousness for medical , psychiatric or other reasons ; medical residents , nurses , firemen , policemen or all those whose duties require alertness and wakefulness at evening or nighttime hours , or those deprived of sleep for various periods because of their duties or responsibilities ; the infantry , or other members of the armed forces whose duties require extreme levels of alertness and wakefulness , and who may be sleep deprived in the performance of duties ; the blind or sight - impaired , or all those whose ability to distinguish differences in light and dark may be permanently or temporarily impaired ; residents of the far north or antarctica , or all those who live in a climate or climates that possess abnormal amounts of light or darkness ; the aged , alzheimer &# 39 ; s patients , the sick , or all those who require dosages of medication at appropriate times in the circadian cycle ; animal breeders , for use in controlling circadian time ; schizophrenia , sudden infant death or crib death syndrome , reproduction , thyroid function , migraine headache , sleep , seasonal affective disorder , shift worker syndrome , melatonin deficiency syndrome , pre - menstrual syndrome , appetite affects , contraception , mammalian breast and other carcinomas , immunostimulant and immunomodulatory effects , wool or hair production in animals , breeding affects , aging effects , depression , as well as jet lag . one skilled in the art will recognize that modifications may be made in the present invention without deviating from the spirit or scope of the invention . the invention is illustrated further by the following examples which are not to be construed as limiting the invention or scope of the specific procedures described herein . 1 . preparation of sustained release melatonin using 8 - 10 mesh sugar seeds and 20 % ethylcellulose coating melatonin was spray layered on 8 - 10 mesh non - peril sugar seeds to a concentration of 3 . 0 mg melatonin per gram of beads using polyvinylpyrrolidone ( 0 . 2 %) and hydroxypropylcellulose ( 0 . 1 %) with melatonin ( 0 . 6 %) in 95 % alcohol , in a spray coater . after drying , this product was then spray coated with ethylcellulose ( aquacoat ®, fmc corp .) containing 15 % of solids weight of dibutyl sebacate and 15 % of solids weight of triethyl citrate to a total calculated solids coating on the melatonin and sugar seeds of 20 % by weight . although some coating is lost during the spraying process , the final coat is at least about 10 % by weight of the melatonin sustained release formulation and generally greater than 15 % by weight , but less than 20 %. these beads demonstrate sustained release of melatonin in a controlled manner over about 8 hours in a united states pharmacopia dissolution apparatus ( basket method ) with a time to 50 % release of about 4 hours , stirring speed 50 rpm , in enzyme - free gastric fluid for the first 2 hours and then in enzyme - free intestinal fluid . 2 . preparation of sustained release melatonin using 18 - 20 mesh sugar seeds and 20 % ethylcellulose coating sustained release melatonin beads were prepared essentially as described in part 1 of this example except that 18 - 20 mesh non - peril sugar seeds were used . these beads demonstrate sustained release of melatonin in a controlled manner in a united states pharmacopia dissolution apparatus ( basket method ) with a time to 50 % release of about 1 hour . 3 . preparation of sustained release melatonin using 8 - 10 mesh sugar seeds and 5 % ethylcellulose coating sustained release melatonin beads were prepared essentially as described in part 1 of this example except that the ethylcellulose coating was applied at about 5 % by weight of the formulation . these beads demonstrate sustained release of melatonin in a controlled manner in a united states pharmacopia dissolution apparatus ( basket method ) with a time to 50 % release of about 1 hour . 4 . preparation of sustained release melatonin using 8 - 10 mesh sugar seeds and 10 % ethylcellulose coating sustained release melatonin beads were prepared essentially as described in part 1 of this example except that the ethylcellulose coating was applied at about 10 % by weight of the formulation . these beads demonstrate sustained release of melatonin in a controlled manner in a united states pharmacopia dissolution apparatus ( basket method ) with a time to 50 % release of about 2 hours . melatonin was spray layered on 8 - 10 mesh non - peril sugar seeds to a concentration of 3 . 0 mg melatonin per gram of beads using polyvinylpyrrolidone ( 0 . 2 %) and hydroxypropylcellulose ( 0 . 1 %) with melatonin ( 0 . 6 %) in 95 % alcohol , in a spray coater . after drying , 0 . 04 mg or 0 . 02 mg of these immediate release melatonin beads were loaded into gelatin capsules with 0 . 36 mg or 0 . 18 mg of the sustained release melatonin beads prepared in part 1 of this example to result in a formulation containing 0 . 40 mg or 0 . 20 mg total melatonin . a 0 . 80 mg melatonin formulation was prepared in a similar manner to contain 0 . 08 mg immediate release melatonin and 0 . 72 mg of sustained release melatonin . capsules were loaded to contain either 0 . 80 mg , 0 . 40 mg or 0 . 20 mg of the sustained release melatonin beads prepared in part 1 of this example were loaded into a gelatin capsule to result in formulations containing 0 . 80 mg , 0 . 40 mg or 0 . 20 mg total melatonin respectively . prior to collection of human blood , subjects are kept in dim light for about 5 hours ( usually between 6 pm and 11 pm ) except for the daytime studies . an intravenous line or heparin lock is inserted in a forearm vein and 5 ml of blood drawn at specified time periods such as every 30 minutes between 7 pm and 11 pm . the blood samples are centrifuged for 5 minutes at 1000 g and 4 degrees c ., and the plasma aspirated into silanized glass or plastic tubes . samples are assayed immediately or frozen for later analysis . to a 1 ml aliquot of such plasma was added 15 - 40 picograms of n - acetyl - 5 - methoxy ( α , α , β , β - d - 4 ) tryptamine as a chromatographic control . an equal volume of normal saline is added and the mixture gently shaken with 10 volumes of petroleum ether . the organic phase is removed , and melatonin and the chromatographic control extracted from the aqueous phase with 10 volumes of chloroform . the aqueous phase is then discarded , and the chloroform evaporated to dryness . the dried extract containing melatonin and the added chromatographic control is dissolved in 0 . 4 ml of anhydrous acetonitrile . the melatonin and the chromatographic control are then derivatized by the addition of 25 mcl of pentafluropropionic acid anhydride and 0 . 5 ml of a solution of 5 % trimethylamine in anhydrous benzene and reacted at 100 degrees c . for 10 minutes . the reaction products are washed sequentially with 1 ml water and 1 ml 5 % ammonium hydroxide . the mixture is centrifuged briefly at 13 , 000 g and the organic phase withdrawn and evaporated to dryness under nitrogen . the dried extract is partitioned between 0 . 5 ml acetonitrile and 1 ml hexane by vigorous mixing followed by centrifugation . the hexane layer is removed and the acetonitrile evaporated to dryness under nitrogen . this partitioning step is performed two times for each sample . the dried extract is re - partitioned for storage . the derivatives are stable and can be stored at - 20 degrees c . for several weeks . the amount of melatonin present in each sample is determined by analysis using a gas chromatograph - mass spectrometer ( gc - ms ). before injection onto the gc column , the dried derivatives are dissolved in 15 mcl of ethyl acetate . approximately half this volume was applied to a 30 × 25 micron fused silica capillary column 0 . 15 micron film thickness with a 1 m retention gap ( db - 225 , j & amp ; w scientific , folsom , calif .)!. the oven is programmed from 60 degrees c . to 240 degrees c . ( at 25 . 5 degrees c ./ min ) with helium as carrier gas ( 10 psi head pressure ) and methane used as make - up gas ( ionizer , 0 . 6 torr ). derivatized melatonin and chromatographic standard control are found to elute from the column after 10 - 14 minutes . mass spectrographic analysis of the column eluate is then performed . mass spectra are recorded using a finnigan 4000 - gc - ci analyzer and incos data system . a finnigan ppimci electron multiplier with 3 kv conversion was used , signal referenced to ground . the relative signals of melatonin and the added chromatographic control are detected as m / e ( mass / charge ) ratios of 320 and 323 , respectively . the amount of melatonin present in any unknown sample can be determined by comparisons of the ratio of the intensities of these signals to a standard curve , prepared as described using known amounts of melatonin and the chromatographic control . without light perception , blind people often have circadian rhythms that free run with a period greater than 24 hours . we have been successful in phase shifting a free - running circadian rhythm in at least one blind subject by administering capsules of 0 . 5 mg immediate release doses of melatonin orally . a blind subject whose circadian rhythms were free - running was placed on a three - week regimen to phase shift his circadian rhythms using administration of exogenous melatonin . the subject was given 0 . 25 mg of melatonin orally at 1900 and 2100 hours ( clock time ) every day for three weeks . the effect of exogenous immediate release melatonin administration on the time of endogenous melatonin onset is shown in fig1 . the cumulative phase advance seen in this subject is equivalent to the phase advance obtained when a much higher dose ( 5 mg ) was used . these results confirm that exogenous melatonin administration can effect a phase advance in a human . 2 . phase advance in blind subject using immediate and sustained release melatonin administration of 0 . 4 mg melatonin ( 0 . 04 mg immediate release and 0 . 36 mg sustained release ) in a composition prepared as described above in part 5 of example 1 to a blind patient who was also taking atenolol ( 100 mg ) at 5 am resulted in a circadian rhythm phase shift . the results shown in fig8 demonstrate that a low dose of melatonin formulated to be partially immediate release and partially sustained release composition effects a phase advance in a human . melatonin formulations as prepared in part 5 of example 1 were administered during the daytime so the resulting melatonin patterns would not be confounded by normal ( endogenous ) melatonin production , since melatonin is only produced at night and daytime concentrations are always less than about 10 pg / ml . these capsules were administered at 9 am either to six young ( age 22 to 37 ) or six elderly ( age 75 to 96 ) healthy fasting subjects , periodic blood samples were collected , and the samples were assayed using a specific binding radioimmunoassay ( ria ) for melatonin as taught by zimmerman et al ., fertil . steril . 54 : 612 - 618 ( 1990 ). average melatonin concentrations and standard deviations were determined ; the results from 0 . 8 mg , 0 . 4 mg and 0 . 2 mg melatonin formulations are shown in fig2 . the results demonstrate that administration of an oral sustained release melatonin composition to human subjects mimics normal melatonin patterns . circadian - phase shifting of endogenous melatonin can then occur during or following the periods when the melatonin levels are substantially equal to physiological patterns of melatonin . the example further shows that an oral controlled release composition with a low physiological dose can be administered orally to humans to replace or supplement therapy of this hormone . fig2 indicate that a 0 . 8 mg dose of melatonin combining 0 . 08 mg immediate release and 0 . 72 mg sustained release melatonin produced plasma concentrations above about 100 mg / ml for at leaset 12 hours in both elderly and young individuals . fig2 shows that a 0 . 4 mg dose of melatonin formulated as only 0 . 04 mg immediate release and 0 . 36 mg sustained release produced plasma melatonin concentrations above 100 pg / ml for about 6 hours in the young subjects and for about 7 hours in the elderly subjects . significantly , the average peak concentrations relative to the average minimum concentrations during the sustained concentration time interval are only about 2 : 1 for the young and & lt ; 3 : 1 for the elderly . these profiles and plasma concentrations are quite useful and unexpected for this dose in terms of amplitude and duration . the amplitude and duration are particularly surprising since these results are at least 10 times what were expected from 1 % bioavailability . fig2 shows that 0 . 2 mg of melatonin with 20 μg of immediate release melatonin produces truly physiological plasma concentrations of melatonin , especially in the elderly . because some elderly patients naturally produce some melatonin at night about one - third the melatonin of young subjects , the dose can be even further reduced in that segment of the population to about 0 . 15 mg or even 0 . 1 mg or less total melatonin , if desired to supplement normal production , in a manner that will allow plasma melatonin concentrations to mimic normal in terms of amplitude and duration . these data show at least 5 % bioavailability with a very low dose ( less than 1 mg ) from an oral sustained release melatonin composition with relatively non - variable results and sustained plasma melatonin concentrations that mimic a normal pattern . this type of product is useful to phase - shift circadian patterns or as a melatonin replacement or supplement in a patient who does not have a normal melatonin pattern . administration may be at or near the patients normal sleep time , i . e ., when the endogenous melatonin onset should begin ; or administration may be several hours ( 4 or more ) in advance of these times in order to mimic the normal melatonin pattern during the period of interest . such administration will normally be of a very low melatonin dose yielding bioavailability of at least 10 %. this level of bioavailability is adequate to produce a physiological profile of melatonin . the effect of exogenous melatonin administration on circadian rhythm of sighted people was tested . eight normal subjects were treated in a two - week protocol , similar to the one used in example 4 . during the first week , the subjects were given a placebo at 1700 and 1900 hours and the time , extent and amount of dim light melatonin onset ( dlmo ) was measured as described in example 2 . during the second week , subjects were given placebo at 1700 and 1900 hours for two days , and then immediate release melatonin was administered orally in two doses of 0 . 25 mg at 1700 and 1900 hours for 4 days and the subject &# 39 ; s dlmo determined . seventeen trials were conducted on the eight subjects . the results of this study are shown in fig3 . the figure shows the relationship between the degree of phase shift obtained and the interval between the time of administration of exogenous melatonin and the endogenous dlmo . this interval is also known as the phase angle difference or phase angle . the earlier the exogenous melatonin is administered the greater is the magnitude of the phase advance ; that is , there is a positive correlation between the extent of phase advance achieved by exogenous melatonin administration and the time interval between the time of exogenous melatonin administration and the time of endogenous melatonin onset . these results confirm that exogenous melatonin administration can effect a phase advance in humans , and that the timing of exogenous melatonin administration relative to the onset of endogenous melatonin is critically important for phase shifting the onset of the circadian rhythms . four sighted subjects , two female and two males , all ages 47 - 50 , traveled from the west coast of the united states to paris , france by jet leaving the original u . s . port of departure at about 7 am ( u . s . pacific time ) and arriving in france at about 9 am ( france time ) the next day . each subject was orally administered a melatonin capsule containing 0 . 27 mg of sustained release melatonin prepared essentially as described in part 1 of example 1 at 1 pm ( pacific time ) on the departure day on the plane . the subjects rested and dozed during the flight . the subjects were administered a second dose of the same composition at about 10 pm to midnight bedtime in france ( corresponding to about 1 to 3 pm pacific time ) on the arrival night and a third dose on the second night following the arrival at about 10 pm or midnight each night depending on the subject , that was about 1 pm or 3 pm pacific time . this was predicted to be about 6 hours before the normal dlmo . all subjects had previously experienced jet lag when traveling over several time zones . it is known that their melatonin patterns would be out of phase with the local time and the dlmo phase delayed in france since the subjects were going to bed at times that were equal to the middle of the day at their departure city , and their melatonin production would be delayed and very low during the first hours in bed . further , at 3 am in france , it would be only 6 pm pacific time and it is common for travelers to awaken and have difficulty returning to sleep for several hours . all subjects experienced a tiredness and readily fell asleep following the low dose oral controlled release composition of melatonin and either slept through the night or , if they awakened , readily returned to sleep . such low doses of melatonin with their very low input rates are not known to be soporific . without wishing to be bound to any particular hypothesis , it is presently believed that the physiologic outcome for the subjects who traveled to and from france and took the oral sustained release melatonin is a result of circadian phase shiftings as well as mimicking a normal melatonin pattern , and that the same outcome could not be achieved without mimicking the normal pattern . on the return to the u . s ., the subjects took the same composition of oral controlled release melatonin for the first two nights following the return . in this case , the travelers left france at about 11 am ( france time ) and arrived on the west coast of the u . s . at about 9 pm pacific time the same day . each subject &# 39 ; s circadian time was still on france time , however , as 9 pm pacific time corresponded to 6 am . thus , a normal melatonin night pattern was not produced by the pineal gland . in this case , the melatonin was administered at about 11 pm pacific time , which is about 15 hours before the normal bedtime in france or about 13 hours before dlmo . such schedules are known to disrupt sleep patterns and the effects are commonly referred to as &# 34 ; jet lag &# 34 ;. however , the study subjects reported excellent sleep patterns following the melatonin administration and a substantial reduction in the symptoms associated with jet lag . the effect of exogenous melatonin treatment administered at earlier times relative to the endogenous melatonin pattern was tested in sighted people . twenty - four trials were conducted in the eight normal subjects who were treated in a two - week protocol similar to the one used in example 5 . during the first week , placebo was administered and the time of dim light melatonin onset ( dlmo ) was determined . subsequently in the second week , melatonin was administered at various times prior to the time of endogenous melatonin onset , and the subject &# 39 ; s endogenous melatonin onset was determined . the results of this study are shown in fig4 and 5 . fig4 expresses the results in terms of circadian time assuming the dlmo occurs at circadian time ( ct ) 14 !, and fig5 expresses the same results in terms of military time assuming that dlmo is at 2000 hours ( 8 pm )!. these results show that the maximum degree of phase advance in the onset of endogenous melatonin occurred after administration of exogenous melatonin at circadian time ( ct ) 8 , or 6 hours prior to the normal time of melatonin onset in the subjects ( ct 14 ). this corresponds to a time of about 8 - 10 hours before normal bedtime in these subjects . the observed phase advance declines rapidly when exogenous melatonin is administered prior to ct 8 . between ct 8 and ct 14 , the decline in the degree of advance is linear and proportional to the phase angle between time of administration and time of endogenous onset . minimal effect , if any , on the circadian rhythm of endogenous melatonin onset is seen when the time of administration of exogenous melatonin coincides with the normal time of onset of endogenous melatonin ( ct 14 ). experiments were conducted to investigate the use of exogenous melatonin to effect a phase delay . these experiments used essentially the same procedure as described above in part 1 of this example except that the time of melatonin administration was altered . a total of 30 trials using 9 subjects were performed in which exogenous melatonin was administered about 11 - 19 hours before normal bedtime . administration of exogenous melatonin from about 9 - 17 hours before the endogenous melatonin onset resulted in the greatest degree of phase delay in the onset of endogenous melatonin production . the results of these experiments are displayed as phase response curves ( prcs ) and are shown in fig6 and 7 . the results of this example demonstrate that exogenous melatonin can be administered at a specific time relative to an individual &# 39 ; s normal sleep phase or endogenous melatonin onset to achieve phase advance or a phase delay . the effect of physiologic melatonin administration on sleep in the elderly an 89 - year - old woman in good health and taking no medications was determined to have low endogenous melatonin production as established by her overnight production of urinary 6 - hydroxy melatonin , the major metabolite of melatonin . her average overnight ( 1800 to 0900 ) production of 6 - hydroxy melatonin was 967 ± 248 ( sd ) ng . the average overnight production for females age 80 and above is 6000 ± s . d . 3 , 700 ngm , respectively , sack et al ., j . pineal res . 3 : 379 - 388 ( 1986 ). sleep studies were carried out by a trained sleep technologist . an initial &# 34 ; diagnostic &# 34 ; psg was performed on the first two nights to rule out significant primary sleep pathology . for the sleep study , a standard 16 channel montage was used : four eeg ( c 3 a 2 , o 1 a 2 , c 4 a 1 , o 2 a 1 ), four emg ( two for chin , one each for right and left lower extremity ), one nasal air flow , two ocular movements , two for respiratory muscle movement , one for oximetry , one for body position and one for ekg . subsequent recordings omitted the airflow and leg emg channels . sleep recordings were done in the subjects &# 39 ; own homes using portable telediagnostics ® polysomnograph , in order to minimize effects from the unfamiliar sleep laboratory environment . sleep records were hand - scored using conventional criteria , as described by rechtschaffen and kales , manual of standardized terminology : techniques and scoring system for sleep stages in human subjects , los angeles ; ucla brain information service / brain research institute , 1968 . technicians scoring sleep were blind to the treatment condition . two nights of in - home polysomnography were done at baseline and on the first two nights and last two nights of each treatment condition . two treatment sequences were possible : ______________________________________ ( 1 ) baseline → melatonin ldsr . sup . 1 → placebo 2 weeks 2 weeks ( 2 ) baseline → placebo → melatonin ldsr 2 weeks 2 weeks______________________________________ . sup . 1 low dose sustained release the subject was assigned by chance to treatment sequence no . 2 . placebo was administered each night at bedtime for two weeks , followed by a two - week wash - out period , followed by two weeks of 0 . 2 mg slow - release melatonin capsules ( prepared according to part 6 of example 1 ) administered each night at bedtime . ten psg studies were done ; two at baseline and two at both the start and end of each treatment sequence . the diagnostic ( baseline ) sleep studied demonstrated a lack of sleep pathology . the data from the four nights of placebo treatment were averaged and compared to the average of the four nights of the active treatment . the results are shown in the following table . in summary , the average total recorded sleep period time ( lights out to lights on ) was about the same between the two conditions ( difference = 2 . 1 minutes ), but total sleep time with melatonin treatment was increased 37 . 7 minutes . also the wake after sleep onset was decreased by 35 . 7 minutes . melatonin increased the time spent in stage 2 , 3 and 4 sleep , considered the deeper stages of sleep , and decreased the time spent in stage 1 sleep , considered light sleep . total non - rem and total slow wave sleep were increased . there was no apparent change in total rem sleep . there was no apparent change in sleep latency nor in rem latency . both the number of movement arousals and transient arousals from sleep were decreased with melatonin treatment . thus , melatonin treatment improved the quality of sleep . table 1__________________________________________________________________________sleep study statistice ( subject ka ) all data are averages for four nights . sup . 2 sleep period ( sd ) total sleep ( sd ) wake after sleep onset__________________________________________________________________________ ( sd ) melatonin 477 . 3 ± 20 . 7 376 . 0 ± 12 . 4 101 . 4 ± 19 . 2placebo 475 . 1 ± 7 . 9 338 . 3 ± 12 . 8 137 . 0 ± 12 . 0difference ( melatonin - placebo ) 2 . 1 37 . 7 - 36 . 7__________________________________________________________________________ total total total total total total non - total slow - stage 1 stage 2 stage 3 stage 4 rem rem wave__________________________________________________________________________melatonin 39 . 5 ± 20 . 1 243 . 6 ± 12 . 5 25 . 2 ± 5 . 1 5 . 8 ± 0 . 0 314 . 1 ± 15 . 2 62 . 0 ± 17 . 1 31 . 0 ± 5 . 1placebo 59 . 0 ± 16 . 2 206 . 6 ± 9 . 0 6 . 1 ± 1 . 8 0 . 0 ± 0 . 0 271 . 7 ± 12 . 4 66 . 6 ± 5 . 1 6 . 1 ± 1 . 8difference ( melatonin - - 19 . 5 37 . 0 19 . 1 5 . 8 42 . 4 - 4 . 7 24 . 8placebo ) __________________________________________________________________________ movement transient arousal arousal during lights out to s1 lights out to s2 lights out to rem during nrem nrem__________________________________________________________________________melatonin 17 . 8 23 . 8 67 . 7 21 . 4 58 . 2 19 . 8 19 . 3 50 . 8 28 . 7 85 . 0placebo 16 . 4 21 . 6 94 . 9 47 . 0 118 . 0 6 . 6 10 . 9 37 . 2 30 . 4 102 . 5difference ( melatonin - 1 . 4 21 . - 7 . 2 - 25 . 6 - 59 . 8placebo ) __________________________________________________________________________ . sup . 2 units are in minutes . input absorption rates and cumulative amounts of melatonin absorbed ( bioavailability ) were estimated using an interactive computer deconvolution program and pharmacokinetic parameters similar to those reported by iguchi et al . in this case the program was pcdcon , version 1 . 0 , created at the college of pharmacy , university of texas . exact bioavailability was not determined in this study since an intravenous dose was not administered as a reference standard . this method estimates the bioavailability to be at least 5 % from 0 . 2 mg , 0 . 4 mg and 0 . 8 mg formulations of the invention . from the foregoing it will be appreciated that , although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration , various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention . | 0 |
the embodiments described below provide mechanical and non - electrical fluid shut - off devices and methods , and specifically fluid shut - off devices and methods using a mechanical action of a float to activate a spring loaded shut - off valve ( such as a spring loaded quarter - turn ball valve ). in some cases the embodiments can be actuated upon a failure of a fluid reservoir . while the present embodiments are described for a catch basin disposed under a water heater , it is noted that other configurations can be considered within the scope of the presented embodiments . such configurations could also include any applications involving water supplies and other fluids and gases supplied under pressure , and appliances such as ice - maker water supplies , dishwashers , clothes washers , gas lines , irrigation systems , and the like . an advantage of the present embodiments is to provide a solely mechanical actuatable shut off valve upon detection of an irregular flow of the fluid or gas . in one instance an event such as raising a rod attached to a float urging an end of a spring loaded paw / latch arm past its retention point to force rotation of a ball valve to shut off the fluid supply . such a device is not dependant on electrical power supply for actuation . in one embodiment , the device can shut off the flow of liquid from a float disposed in a catch basin . in use , as unanticipated fluid accumulates in the catch basin , the float rises with the accumulated liquid . as the float rises it can lift a pivoting lever arm acting as a fulcrum . a rod connected at some point along the lever arm lifts with the float and lever arm to apply a force against a latch arm end attached to a handle of a spring loaded valve . as the end of the latch arm rises with the rod , it reaches a release point , allowing a torsion spring to force a valve handle to a closed valve position , thus stopping the flow of any liquid or gas from the supply . accordingly , for illustrative purposes only , described herein is one embodiment of the present device configured for use as a shut - off valve for the water supply to a water heater . turning now to the figures , there is shown an automatic fluid shut - off device generally indicated at 20 ( fig1 ). as shown , a fluid 28 is fed to a fluid reservoir , such as a water heater 22 , by a fluid / water supply 26 . surrounding the bottom of water heater 22 a catch basin 24 can be provided to receive fluid , such as upon failure of the fluid reservoir 22 . in one embodiment , such as shown in fig7 , catch basin 24 can have a depth in the range of up to the height of the reservoir , but preferably about 2 . 5 ( about 64 mms ) to 3 . 5 inches ( about 89 mms ), though many variations are possible within the scope of the present embodiments . catch basin 24 can have a variety of shapes and sizes and made from a variety of materials such as plastics , ceramics , glass , masonry , and the like . in some embodiments catch basin 24 can even be a perimeter damn formed around the fluid reservoir . the size of the catch basin should be limited to allow for a minimal ‘ footprint ’ on the floor where water heater 22 is located . for example , in one embodiment , catch basin 24 can have an interior diameter about 4 inches ( about 100 mms ) greater than the outer diameter of the water heater . in this example , catch basin 24 would have a clearance of a minimum of two inches ( about 50 mms ) outside of the perimeter of water heater 22 . as shown in fig1 and 7 , a fulcrum arm 32 is pivotally hinged to a base 34 at pivot 37 . for illustrative purposes only , in one embodiment base 34 can stand at about 4 . 4 ( about 112 mms ) inches in height . base 34 can be formed from a variety of rigid materials to provide stability to the lever action of the float and can be fixed to the floor or within the catch basin ( fig1 ), attached to the wall of the catch basin ( not shown ), or outside of the catch basin ( fig7 . again , for illustrative purposes , the length of fulcrum arm 32 can be about 5 . 5 ( about 140 mms ) inches . in this embodiment , at about ¾ ″ ( about 19 mms ) from the axis point 37 of fulcrum arm 32 to base 34 , a pivot point 35 , such as a hinged clevis , is attached . at the distal end of the fulcrum a float 30 is attached . float 30 can be formed from a variety of materials configured to be buoyant relative to the fluid 28 . for example , where fluid 28 is water , the float can be made from cork , wood , closed cell foams ( such as a closed cell extruded polystyrene foam sold under the trade name styrofoam ), and the like . in embodiments using a closed cell styrofoam , float 30 can have a volume of about 16 . 5 square inches ( 420 sq mms ) and / or measure about 1 . 5 ″ ( 38 mms ) wide , about 5 . 5 ″ ( 140 mms ) long , and about 2 ″ ( 51 mms ) high . in any event , the float should be able to generate approximately at least about one ( 1 ) pound ( about 450 gms ) of lift force ( buoyancy ) when submerged in the fluid / water . as the more lift is applied to float 30 at the end of fulcrum arm 32 , pivot point on fulcrum arm to rod 36 can be configured to be at a point where the transferred force provides about six pounds ( about 2700 gms ) of lift . accordingly , at point 35 , a rod 36 is disposed along the length of the fulcrum arm 32 so that 6 pounds ( about 2700 gms ) of lift can thus be applied to rod 36 . in other words , rod 36 is positioned at a point of the fulcrum arm such that 6 times the buoyant force of the float is applied . in another example , rod 36 can be positioned on fulcrum arm such that the force ultimately applied to a latch arm ( see below ) can be , for example , up to about 1 . 5 pounds ( about 680 gms ). ultimately , the force applied would be sufficient to release the latch arm . this desired force would need to consider several factors such as the friction of all the components , the weight of the components ( e . g ., the weight of rod 36 ), the potentially predicted buildup of dust / debris that may occur among the components over time , and the like . attached to the clevis is a rod 36 . rod 36 can be any rigid rod that can transfer the buoyant force of the float to the shut - off assembly as described below . rod diameter , length , weight , density , desired rigidity and cost can be configured for specific applications . for example , rods can be formed from stainless steel , carbon fiber , wood , plastics , other types of steel ( such as a typical number 8 threaded metal rod ) can be used . rod 36 extends from the clevis 35 toward a shut off valve assemble 38 . positioning , securing and protecting rod 36 can be achieved by sleeves and guides along its length ( not shown ). shut - off valve assembly 50 can include a shut off valve such as a handle activated ¾ ″ ( about 19 mms ), four bolt , quarter - turn ball valve . while the shut - off valve is described for a quarter - turn ball valve , it is noted that other types of shut - off valves could also be within the scope of the present embodiments . exemplary shut - off valves could also include : butterfly valves , gate valves , piston valves , and the like . the actuation assembly 38 components , as shown , can be bolted onto valve 50 . assembly 38 can provide a valve assembly shut - off base 40 that has a guide ( as shown a valve assembly rod guide with a rod arm bore 44 ) for rod 36 to travel freely through and to guide rod 36 to a latch arm 42 . an area of base 40 can have a notch cutout 45 at the guide hole . base 40 and latch arm 42 can be formed of a variety of materials including metals and plastics . for example , plastic embodiments can include acetal polymer materials , such as one sold under the trade name delrin . as shown , base 40 is ‘ upstream ’ in the fluid supply of shut off valve 50 . it is noted though that the present embodiments can be practiced so the base 40 can be on either side of shut off valve 50 . as shown in fig3 , as rod 36 rises , such as in response to a rising float in a catch basin , rod 36 end applies the rising force against an end of latch arm 42 . as latch arm 42 is displaced upward , it rotates about a latch arm axis point 48 that is connected to the end of a handle 66 , which as shown is rotatable against an axis perpendicular to the pivot of latch arm 42 . handle 66 turning about its axis cause valve 50 to rotate to an open or closed position . when latch arm 42 is held in place by shut - off base notch 45 , valve 50 is maintained in an open position to allow flow of fluid through the water supply 26 . as latch arm is displaced and extends beyond shut - off base notch 45 , handle 66 is under a rotational force to close by a torsion spring 56 mounted , in this illustration above valve 50 . it is noted though that some embodiments can be configured to employ a coil spring , though a torsion spring is preferred as it allows for a more efficient , cost effective and compact design . the ends 58 and 60 of torsion spring 56 are preferably in a generally parallel orientation held in place by raised stops 64 and 62 respectively on handle 66 and a rod anchored by the base 40 . the torsion spring 56 can be formed from a variety of materials such as music wire with a diameter of 0 . 105 inches , and free position of ends turning radius of 360 degrees . torsion spring 56 can be wound about a spool , for example , a 1 and ⅜ ″ spool ( i . e ., about 35 mms ). in any event , torsion spring must be able to provide enough force to rotate valve 50 in the presence of the fluid under pressure . for most embodiments , torsion spring 56 should be able to generate at least 18 pounds ( about 8164 gms ) of force . in one embodiment , torsion spring 56 can generate about 21 lbs ( about 9500 gms ) of force . returning to the latch arm , as described above , disposed at the end of handle 66 a pivotable ( at 48 ) latch arm 42 . latch arm 42 , as shown , is “ l ” shaped and rests in cutout notch 45 in base 40 as shown in fig6 . again , cutout notch 45 and the ‘ l ’ shaped latch arm 42 are made from a material that is strong enough to hold the full force of the spring tension and have a low coefficient of friction to allow latch arm to be displaced upward under the rising force of rod 36 . latch arm 42 and notch 45 are also configured by their angular orientation to retain the latch arm 42 at the bottom of notch 42 . as shown most clearly in fig6 , latch arm 42 can be held in place under the force of the torsion spring in the direction shown at 68 . latch arm 42 can optionally have an angle 54 ( such as a 5 . 5 degree angle ). an angle 52 ( such as about a 3 . 5 degree angle ) can also be optionally formed on side wall 70 contact surface of cutout notch 45 on base 40 to drive the latch arm apex point 46 in and down along the side wall 70 until it reaches a point where it can be positioned approximately adjacent to the end of rod 36 to allow engagement as rod 36 raises . with the force at these contact surfaces , the angles provide a desired downward pull configuration on the latch arm to prevent its inadvertent release . given the pre - configured angles and coefficient of friction , the force needed to move the latch arm 42 above side wall 70 can be calculated with predictability . further angle 54 can be configured to provide clearance as it traverses upward along side wall 70 . an alternate latch arm retention configuration is illustrated in fig8 . as shown , latch arm 42 i edge 76 is held against base 40 i on its side wall 74 . edge 76 and sidewall 74 are generally parallel and at right angles to latch arm lower edge 80 and base top 78 respectively . the right angles allow ease of manufacturing , such as for injected molded plastic components . it is noted that the end portion of the “ l ” of latch arm 42 i is configured to be a length 72 to allow a preconfigured force ( such as at least 1 . 5 pounds of force ) to overcome the friction between surfaces 74 and 76 and allow the latch arm to swing upward from the force generated by the raising of rod 36 . accordingly , in use , as fluid reservoir 24 fills with fluid 28 , float 30 is lifted . float 30 raises the end of lever arm 32 acting as a fulcrum lifting rod 36 . as rod 36 raises , it applies force to end of latch arm 42 to overcome the down and inward force of the torsion spring 56 provided by angles 54 and 52 . upon the latch arm end reaching the top edge of side wall 70 , the full force of torsion spring 56 is released to rotate valve handle 66 from an open position to the closed position . a clear advantage of the current device is that it is totally mechanical . the device can also be custom fitted to any size water heater without major re - routing of plumbing . it can be configured to trigger with a water lever of about 0 . 5 - 2 inches ( about 12 to 50 mms ) within the catch basin . optimally the device is made from materials that resist corrosion and wear such as material sold under the trade name of delrin . while the products and methods have been described in conjunction with specific embodiments , it is evident that many alternatives , modifications , and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description . | 5 |
before the present compositions , articles , devices , and / or methods are disclosed and described , it is to be understood that they are not limited to specific methods unless otherwise specified , or to particular reagents unless otherwise specified , and as such may vary . it is also to be understood that the terminology as used herein is used only for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and is not intended to be limiting . this application references various publications . the disclosures of these publications , in their entireties , are hereby incorporated by reference into this application to describe more fully the state of the art to which this application pertains . the references disclosed are also individually and specifically incorporated herein by reference for material contained within them that is discussed in the sentence in which the reference is relied on . in this specification , and in the claims that follow , reference is made to a number of terms that shall be defined to have the following meanings : as used herein , the singular forms “ a ,” “ an ,” and “ the ” include plural referents unless the context clearly indicates otherwise . thus , for example , reference to “ a pharmaceutical carrier ” includes mixtures of two or more such carriers , and the like . as used herein , ranges can be expressed as from “ about ” one particular value , and / or to “ about ” another particular value . when such a range is expressed , an embodiment includes from the one particular value and / or to the other particular value . similarly , when values are expressed as approximations , by the use of “ about ,” it will be understood that the particular value forms another embodiment . it will be understood that the endpoints of each of the ranges are significant both in relation to the other endpoint and independently of the other endpoint . it will also be also understood that there are a number of values disclosed herein , and that each value is also disclosed herein as “ about ” that particular value in addition to the value itself . for example , if the value “ 50 ” is disclosed , then “ about 50 ” is also disclosed . it is also understood that when a value is disclosed that “ less than or equal to ” a value , that values “ greater than or equal to the value ” and possible ranges between values are also disclosed , as understood by one skilled in the art . for example , if the value “ 50 ” is disclosed , then “ less than or equal to 50 ” and “ greater than or equal to 50 ” are also disclosed . it is also understood that the throughout the application , data are provided in different formats , and it is understood that these data represent endpoints and starting points as well as ranges for any combination of the data points . for example , if a particular data point “ 50 ” and a particular data point “ 100 ” are disclosed , it is understood that greater than , greater than or equal to , less than , less than or equal to , and equal to 50 and 100 are considered disclosed as well as between 50 and 100 . as used herein , the terms “ optional ” or “ optionally ” mean that the subsequently described event or circumstance may or may not occur , and that the description includes instances where said event or circumstance occurs and instances where it does not occur . as used herein , the phrase “ essentially oxygen - free environment ” refers to an environment in which the free oxygen content is less than that of normal air , for example in an within articular cartilage . the term “ free oxygen ” refers to oxygen that is not combined with one or more other elements . similarly , the phrase “ essentially free of chondrocytes ” refers to a composition which does not natively contain chondrocytes , and to which no extraneous chondrocytes have been added . for example , a placental membrane sheet that is essentially free of chondrocytes is a placental membrane sheet in which chondrocytes are not seeded onto the membrane . as used herein , the phrase “ essentially all chondrocytes ” refers to a majority of the chondrocytes . preferably , this refers to the maximum percentage of chondrocytes that can be reasonably attained by one of skill in the art . for example , where essentially all of the chondrocytes are derived from a particular source , other sources of chondrocytes may be excluded , inhibited , or reduced . as used herein , the phrase “ substantially all ” refers to the maximum amount reasonably attainable by one skilled in the art . for example , removing diseased cartilage from a knee joint that leaves “ sustainably all healthy portions of the cartilage body ” indicates the removal of diseased cartilage that removes as little healthy cartilage as reasonably possible by one skilled in the art , such as a surgeon . as used herein , the phrase “ diseased cartilage ” refers to cartilage that is damaged , degenerating , inflamed , necrotic , or otherwise showing symptoms thereof , such as pain , swelling , stiffness , and restraint of movement . diseased cartilage may be diagnosed in several ways including , but not limited to , x - ray analysis , mri analysis , or arthroscopy . as used herein , the phrase “ calcified cartilage ” refers to the zone of cartilage that connects articular cartilage to the underlying subchondral bone . as used herein , the phrase “ bone wax ” refers to a hemostatic material used to control bleeding from the surface of bone . for example , bone wax may be comprised of beeswax . in another example , bone wax comprises beeswax and one or more softening agents , such as paraffin . in another example , bone wax may comprise other inert hemostatic compounds , such as alkylene oxide copolymers . as used herein , the phrases “ placental membrane sheet ” or “ placental membrane ” refer to one or more layers of the placental membrane . for example , placental membrane sheet may refer to a placental membrane comprising both the amniotic and chorionic layers . in another example , placental membrane sheet may refer to a placental membrane in which the chorion has been removed . in another example , placental membrane sheet may refer to a placental membrane in which the epithelial layer has been removed . as used herein , the phrase “ implantable unit ” or “ implant ” refers to a mechanical configuration of a composition , comprising a placental membrane sheet , such that the composition is capable of insertion into or covering a surgical site . for example , an implantable unit may be a composition , comprising a placental membrane sheet , such that the composition is folded to permit insertion of the composition into a skeletal joint , such as the knee or shoulder , during surgery . in another example , an implantable unit may be a composition , comprising a placental membrane sheet , such that the composition is folded to permit covering a portion or an entirety of a skeletal joint during surgery . as used herein , the term “ patch ” refers to a biocompatible composition . for example , a patch may comprise a placental membrane sheet . in another example , a patch comprises a portion of amnion . as used herein , the phrase “ subchondral bone ” refers to bone underlying cartilage . subchondral bone may or may not be attached to the cartilage . as used herein , the phrase “ skeletal joint bone ” refers to a bone in contact , or associated , with a skeletal joint . for example , a skeletal joint bone associated with the knee joint may include the femur . as used herein , the phrase “ demineralized bone powder ” or “ dbp ” refers to a demineralized bone composition comprised of bone particles . dbp compositions may comprise fine powders , coarse grains , or even chips and are well known to those skilled in the art [ zhou s , et al . cell tissue bank 6 , 33 - 44 ( 2005 )]. as used herein , the phrase “ chondrogenic differentiation ” refers to the differentiation of one cell type into a chondrocyte or chondrocyte - like cell . for example , mesenchymal stem cells may undergo chondrogenic differentiation such that they differentiate into chondrocytes . as used herein , the phrase “ reconstituted dbp ” refers to dbp to which a compatible solvent has been added . as used herein , the terms “ treatment ” or “ treating ” include any desirable effect on the symptoms or pathology of a disease or condition , and may include even minimal reductions in one or more measurable markers of the disease or condition being treated . “ treatment ” does not necessarily indicate complete eradication or cure of the disease or condition , or associated symptoms thereof . the subject receiving this treatment is any animal in need , including primates , in particular humans , and other mammals including , but not limited to , equines , cattle , swine , and sheep ; and poultry and pets in general . fig1 depicts a general shape of placental membrane sheet 100 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . placental membrane sheet 100 is of the type of membrane that is commonly used by clinicians in wound healing , cell regeneration , and tissue grafting applications . fig2 depicts an intact placental membrane sheet 200 including an amount of dbp 12 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . intact placental membrane 200 includes an amnion 202 and a chorion 204 . amnion 202 includes an epithelium 206 composed of a monolayer of epithelial cells 208 , a basement membrane 210 , a compact stromal layer 212 , fibroblast layer 214 containing mesenchymal cells and a spongy layer 216 . chorion 204 includes a trophoblast layer 218 , a basement membrane 220 , a reticular layer 222 and a cellular layer 224 . as illustrated , dbp 12 is applied to trophoblast layer 218 . fig3 depicts a placental membrane sheet 300 including an amount of dbp 12 in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention . placental membrane 300 includes an amnion with the chorion removed , an amnion side 313 and a chorion side 315 . amnion includes an epithelium 306 composed of a monolayer of epithelial cells 308 , a basement membrane 310 , a compact stromal layer 312 , and a fibroblast layer 314 containing mesenchymal cells . as illustrated , dbp 12 is applied to fibroblast layer 314 . however , it is anticipated that removal of the chorion from placental membrane 300 will expose stromal layer 312 so that dbp 12 may be applied directly to stromal layer 312 . 1 . initial treatment and removal of particular layers of the placental membrane placental membrane sheets 100 , 200 and 300 , depicted in fig1 - 3 , and similar placental membrane materials may be produced from placentas collected from consenting donors in accordance with the current good tissue practice guidelines promulgated by the u . s . food and drug administration . in particular , soon after the birth of a human infant via a cesarean section delivery , the intact placenta is retrieved , and the placental membrane is dissected from the placenta . afterwards , the placental membrane is cleaned of residual blood , placed in a bath of sterile solution , stored on ice and shipped for processing . once received by the processor , the placental membrane is rinsed to remove any remaining blood clots , and if desired , rinsed further in an antibiotic rinse [ diaz - prado s m , et al . cell tissue bank 11 , 183 - 195 ( 2010 )]. the antibiotic rinse may include , but is not limited to , the antibiotics : amikacin , aminoglycosides , amoxicillin , ampicillin , ansamycins , arsphenamine , azithromycin , azlocillin , aztreonam , bacitracin , capreomycin , carbacephem , carbapenems , carbenicillin , cefaclor , cefadroxil , cefalexin , cefalotin , cefamandole , cefazolin , cefdinir , cefditoren , cefepime , cefixime , cefoperazone , cefotaxime , cefoxitin , cefpodoxime , cefprozil , ceftaroline fosamil , ceftazidime , ceftibuten , ceftizoxime , ceftobiprole , ceftriaxone , cefuroxime , chloramphenicol , ciprofloxacin , clarithromycin , clindamycin , clofazimine , cloxacillin , colistin , cycloserine , dapsone , daptomycin , demeclocycline , dicloxacillin , dirithromycin , doripenem , doxycycline , enoxacin , ertapenem , erythromycin , ethambutol , ethionamide , flucloxacillin , fosfomycin , furazolidone , fusidic acid , gatifloxacin , geldanamycin , gentamicin , glycopeptides , grepafloxacin , herbimycin , imipenem or cilastatin , isoniazid , kanamycin , levofloxacin , lincomycin , lincosamides , linezolid , lipopeptide , lomefloxacin , loracarbef , macrolides , mafenide , meropenem , methicillin , metronidazole , mezlocillin , minocycline , monobactams , moxifloxacin , mupirocin , nafcillin , nalidixic acid , neomycin , netilmicin , nitrofurans , nitrofurantoin , norfloxacin , ofloxacin , oxacillin , oxytetracycline , paromomycin , penicillin g , penicillin v , piperacillin , platensimycin , polymyxin b , pyrazinamide , quinolones , quinupristin / dalfopristin , rifabutin , rifampicin or rifampin , rifapentine , rifaximin , roxithromycin , silver sulfadiazine , sparfloxacin , spectinomycin , spiramycin , streptomycin , sulfacetamide , sulfadiazine , sulfamethizole , sulfamethoxazole , sulfanilamide , sulfasalazine , sulfisoxazole , sulfonamidochrysoidine , teicoplanin , telavancin , telithromycin , temafloxacin , temocillin , tetracycline , thiamphenicol , ticarcillin , tigecycline , tinidazole , tobramycin , trimethoprim , trimethoprim - sulfamethoxazole ( co - trimoxazole ) ( tmp - smx ), troleandomycin , trovafloxacin , or vancomycin . the antibiotic rinse may also include , but is not limited to , the antimycotics : abafungin , albaconazole , amorolfin , amphotericin b , anidulafungin , bifonazole , butenafine , butoconazole , caspofungin , clotrimazole , econazole , fenticonazole , fluconazole , isavuconazole , isoconazole , itraconazole , ketoconazole , micafungin , miconazole , naftifine , nystatin , omoconazole , oxiconazole , posaconazole , ravuconazole , sertaconazole , sulconazole , terbinafine , terconazole , tioconazole , voriconazole , or other agents or compounds with one or more anti - fungal characteristics . the placental membrane may be processed to remove one or more particular layers of the membrane . the chorion may be removed from the placental membrane by mechanical means well - known to those skilled in the art . the chorion may be removed , for example , by carefully peeling the chorion from the remainder of the placental membrane using blunt dissection [ jin c z , et al . tiss eng 13 , 693 - 702 ( 2007 )]. removal of the epithelial layer from the placental membrane may be achieved using several methods well - known to those skilled in the art . the epithelial layer may be removed by , for example , using trypsin to induce necrosis in the epithelial cells [ diaz - prado s m , et al . cell tissue bank 11 , 183 - 195 ( 2010 )]. removal of the epithelial layer may comprise , for example , treatment with 0 . 1 % trypsin - ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid ( edta ) solution at 37c for 15 minutes followed by physical removal using a cell scraper [ jin c z , et al . tiss eng 13 , 693 - 702 ( 2007 )]. the placental membrane may then be stored in packs containing a sterile solution , air dried , or freeze dried . both air drying and freeze drying are well known to those skilled in the art [ boo l , et al . malay orthop j 3 , 16 - 23 ( 2009 )]. the placental membrane may be air dried , for example , by spreading the membrane under a laminar flow or bio - safety hood , or like environment wherein the possibility of contamination is reduced , until dry . typically , the placental membrane may be air dried overnight , typically for approximately 6 hours or more or preferably for 12 hours or more . the placental membrane may be freeze dried , for example , by placing the stretched placental membrane into a plastic bag in a freeze drier until dry . the placental membrane may be frozen prior to transfer to a freeze drier . typically , the placental membrane may be freeze dried for approximately 6 hours or more or preferably for 12 hours or more . if the placental membrane is stored in a sterile solution , it may be stored at room temperature , cold stored at refrigerator temperatures , or cryopreserved at a temperature bellowing the freezing temperature of the solution . the placental membrane preparation may be sterilized , typically using irradiation , as is well - known to those skilled in the art . approximately 25 kgy gamma irradiation , for example , may be used for sterilization of the placental membrane preparation [ krishnamurithy g , et al . j . biomed mater res part a 99a , 500 - 506 ( 2011 )]. the placental membrane may be rehydrated using , for example , a sterile buffered saline solution [ u . s . patent application publication no . 2003 - 0187515 ]. referring to fig4 and 5 , placental membrane sheets 200 and 300 may be folded to form implantable units 201 and 301 , respectively . one or more folds may be created in the placental membrane sheet to permit the placental membrane preparation to fit or be in the proper orientation at the target site in vivo . the placental membrane sheet may be folded , for example , in a manner that exposes an epithelial layer that may then be inserted such that the epithelial layer is in direct contact with cartilage . in addition , the folds may be created to expose a particular percentage of the placental membrane sheet &# 39 ; s surface area as part of the implantable unit . folds may also be created in the placental membrane sheet to expose a particular side or layer , such as amniotic or epithelial , of the placental membrane preparation . the placental membrane sheet may be combined with a collagen matrix . a collagen matrix is a three - dimensional scaffold comprising one or more forms of collagen including , but not limited to , for example , type i collagen , type ii collagen , and type iv collagen . in addition , the collagen matrix may include one or more growth factors including , but not limited to , for example , tgf - β . a collagen matrix may be prepared using a variety of methodologies well - known to those skilled in the art . for example , a porous collagen matrix may be created by using pepsin - digested bovine collagen that is neutralized with 1 m hepes at ph 7 . 4 , 1 m nah — co 3 , poured into a mold , frozen , lyophilized , and then irradiated [ zhou s , et al . cell tissue bank 6 , 33 - 44 ( 2005 )]. in vitro laboratory studies have indicated that chondrogenic differentiation may be induced in multiple cell types by the application of dbp under the appropriate culture conditions . chondrogenesis may be induced in , for example , human dermal fibroblasts or human marrow stromal cells ( hmscs ) using dbp and chondrogenic medium in combination with a collagen sponge system [ zhou s , et al . cell tissue bank 6 , 33 - 44 ( 2005 )]. however , in this system under other culture conditions differentiation into osteoblasts may also result from the application of dbp . in fact , demineralized bone products are currently in surgical use primarily for the stimulation of bone growth . in the context of a diseased joint , the growth of bone spurs or other ectopic bone growth is not desirable and would likely cause a worsening of the condition of the joint the differentiation of multiple cells types , such as mesenchymal stem cells , into chondrocytes may also be significantly affected by the presence or absence of growth factors . in the formation of cartilage , for example , tgf - β has been shown to have a substantial role [ hildner f , et al . j tissue eng regen med 5 , e36 - e51 ( 2011 )]. in the placental membrane , the epithelial layer is a source of several growth factors including , but not limited to , egf , kgf , hgf , and bfgf [ niknejad h , et al . eur cell mater 15 , 88 - 99 ( 2008 )]. the epithelial layer also includes cytokines , such as activin , ngf , noggin , and tnf - α , that may play a role in cell differentiation . if the epithelial layer is removed from the placental membrane , as described herein , it is possible to seed the resulting membrane with epithelial or mesenchymal stem cells from the particular patient to avoid inducing or mitigating an immune response that may otherwise occur with allogeneic cells . alternatively , exogenous growth factors may be introduced to induce the differentiation of placental membrane cells or of cells seeded thereon . for the placental membrane preparation , chondrocytes may be derived from particular cell types . chondrocytes may be derived from particular cell types by , for example , isolating that cell type , culturing , and differentiating either in vitro or in vivo . particular cell types may be isolated using a variety of techniques well - known to those skilled in the art including , but not limited to , adherence to tissue culture plates or separation via cell sorting devices ( e . g . automacs ® pro separator , miltenyi biotec ). the purity of a particular cell type within the pool of isolated cells may be tested using , for example , flow cytometry by which a distinctive set of surface or intracellular markers may be analyzed to ensure purity . the purity of a particular cell type within the pool of isolated cells may be tested using , for example , morphological analysis via microscopy . both flow cytometry and morphological analysis via microscopy are well - known to those skilled in the art . cell viability may be assessed using a variety of techniques well - known to those skilled in the art including , but not limited to , flow cytometry or morphological analysis via microscopy . flow cytometry using , for example , antibodies specific for annexin - v and propidium iodide will indicate cells that are apoptotic or necrotic , respectively . the placental membrane sheet may be seeded using a variety of cell types . isolated autologous or allograft chondrocytes , for example , may be seeded onto the placental membrane sheet in vitro . similarly , other cell types , such as mesenchymal stem cells , may be seeded and subsequently differentiated into chondrocytes , either in vitro or in vivo , as described herein . in addition , placental membrane cells may be differentiated into chondrocytes . unexpectedly , the in vitro application of placental membrane and dbm under the conditions described herein results in the growth and differentiation of chondrocyte - like cells , without differentiation of cells into osteoblasts resulting in ectopic bone growth . the embodiments of the placental membrane preparation , described herein , may be used to regenerate damaged or defective tissue . preferably , the embodiments of the placental membrane preparation , described herein , may be used to regenerate hyaline articular cartilage in vivo , with essentially no fibrocartilage generation and without the growth of bone spurs or other ectopic bone growth . the compositions and methods pertaining to the placental membrane preparation may be used in a number of clinical conditions including , but not limited to , chondral defects , osteoarthritis , traumatic injury , such as rotational or compaction injuries , osteochondritis dessicans , pathological injury , age - related degeneration , and other defects affecting skeletal joints , in particular cartilage . referring to fig6 and 7 , a placental membrane preparation such as implantable unit 301 may be implanted into a particular site in vivo , such as a skeletal joint , using surgical techniques well - known to those skilled in the art . the placental membrane preparation may be implanted , for example , into a void 14 in the articular cartilage 16 in a skeletal joint for the purpose of regenerating hyaline articular cartilage within void 14 . void 14 includes a sidewall 20 of cartilage , an upper opening and a bottom 24 . preferably , bottom 24 is composed of cartilage since it is desired to minimize bleeding and leave subchondral bone 22 undisturbed . preferably , the placental membrane preparation substantially fills void 14 . as an alternative to folded , implantable units 201 and 301 , it is anticipated that the placental membrane preparations may be implanted into a skeletal joint in various unfolded orientations . for example , as depicted in fig8 , a placental membrane preparation may be presented as an implantable unit 401 having the amnion or epithelial side of unit 401 facing bottom 24 and the chorion side , impregnated with dbp , facing the upper opening . in this embodiment , implantable unit 401 is provided as a single , unfolded placental membrane layer covering bottom 24 of void 14 , and optionally a portion of sidewall 20 . additionally , as depicted in fig9 , the placental membrane preparation may be presented as an implantable unit 501 composed of multiple , unfolded placental membrane layers stacked on top of one another . in this embodiment , the bottommost layer is preferably oriented with the amnion or epithelial side facing and covering bottom 24 with the topmost placental membrane layer oriented with its amnion or epithelial side facing the upper opening . the intermediate placental membrane layers can be oriented in whatever manner is deemed most advantageous . in this embodiment , dbp is applied to the chorion side of one or more of the placental membrane layers . preferably , placental membrane layers of unit 501 are stacked within void 14 so that the upper surface of implantable unit 501 lies immediately below a plane formed by the upper opening . prior to implantation of the placental membrane preparation , the subchondral bone may inadvertently be perforated or abrasions formed . perforations or abrasions in the subchondral bone or the calcified cartilage may induce bleeding and the formation of a fibrous clot in the defect , as well as the subsequent invasion of mesenchymal progenitor cells from the bone marrow to the site of the damaged cartilage . for this reason cartilage repair procedures currently in use such as microfracture intentionally perforate the subchondral bone in order to induce clotting and initiate repair . however , introduction of blood and / or mesenchymal progenitor cells from the bone marrow into the void may induce the formation of fibrocartilage in place of the desired hyaline cartilage . accordingly , in the claimed technique the leakage of blood should be minimzed , and any blood clots that may form as a result of the blood leakage should be removed . techniques for the removal of blood and blood clots are well - known to those skilled in the art . such techniques may include , but are not limited to , for example , aspiration . hemostatic agents including , but not limited to , bone wax may also be applied to the site of blood leakage , typically exposed subchondral bone . bone marrow may also be released from the subchondral bone , during or proximal to the implantation of the placental membrane preparation . the bone marrow may be removed using techniques well - known to those skilled in the art . techniques include , but are not limited to , aspiration . to further prevent formation of fibrocartilage cells from cells derived from the placental membrane sheets , the sheets are folded and arranged within the joint so that the largely impermeable , epithelial cell monolayer of the amnion forms the exterior of the implantable unit . in this way , blood that may collect within a void formed in a joint is separated or shielded from the interior of the implantable unit where chondrogenic growth and differentiation occurs in contact with cartilage on the lateral sides of the graft . by preventing the leakage of blood into the implantable unit , it is believed the mechanisms which cause fibrocartilage and osteoblast formation are substantially reduced or terminated . the following example is presented to provide those of ordinary skill in the art with a complete disclosure and a description of how the compounds , compositions , and methods described and claimed herein are made and evaluated . the following examples are intended to be purely exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of what the inventors regard as their invention . there are numerous variations and combinations of conditions , e . g ., component concentrations , desired solvents , solvent mixtures , temperatures , pressures and other reaction ranges and conditions that can be used to optimize the product from the described process . only reasonable and routine experimentation will be required to optimize such process conditions . as will be understood by those familiar with the art , the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof . a study was performed for evaluating the use of human amniotic membrane mixed with demineralized bone to fill cartilage defects in a sheep model . it was hypothesized that this membrane would be able to fill these defects with chondrocyte - like cells and that the defects would be filled with hyaline cartilage . method : six adult sheep ( less than three years old ) where chosen for the study . each sheep was anesthetized by a licensed veterinarian and one hind - quarter knee of each was sterilized and surgically exposed . as depicted in fig1 , two cartilage defects were created using curettes , one on the weight - bearing surface of the femoral condyle and one in the trochlear grove . the defects did not violate the subchondral bone . three test sheep were used as control sheep and the cartilage defects were left unfilled . three test sheep were chosen to receive human amniotic membrane implants . the amniotic membrane sheet was procured from a placenta and cut to fit the cartilage defect . as depicted in fig1 and 12 , the membrane was folded into an implantable unit and arranged so that the cellular or epithelial layer faced the cartilage defect and the joint . between the layers of the amnion membrane sheet , a small amount of demineralized bone was placed on a chorion side of the sheet . as depicted in fig1 , the amnion membrane implants were fixed to the cartilage defects on the femoral chondyles using micro bone anchors and fibrin glue . the amnion membrane implants were fixed to the trochlear defects using fibrin glue alone . the wounds were closed and the sheep were allowed to weight bear as tolerated . at six - months the sheep were sacrificed and the knees were harvested . histological evaluation was made of the defects . results : samples of the cartilage defects were examined histologically based on a simple , validated scoring system . the tests samples ( depicted in fig1 - 21 ) were compared to the control samples ( depicted in fig1 and 15 ) and the normal samples ( depicted in fig1 and 17 ) taken from the sheep . referring to the control sheep samples depicted in fig1 and 15 , none of the cartilage defects in the control sheep filled in with hyaline cartilage or fibrocartilage . this is evident from the complete lack of tissue present in the voids created above the subchondral bone by the formation of the cartilage defects . the voids are represented in fig1 and 15 by the empty depressions defined by opposing vertically extending sidewalls which terminate at the upper ends thereof at the upper surface of the cartilage . in the test sheep in which the amnion membrane implants were placed , 50 % of the defects appeared to retain the amnion membrane , which is consistent with other similar animal models . referring to the test sheep samples depicted in fig1 - 21 , the cartilage defects of the test sheep that retained their membranes had evidence of diffuse chondrocyte - like cell proliferation and showed a stromal matrix similar to hyaline cartilage . the graft samples of the test sheep defects showed 90 % normal appearing cartilage compared with 40 % normal in the control sheep . the grafts from the test sheep all scored a 3 on a 0 - 3 cartilage appearance scale compared with a 1 . 3 for the controls . 1 . boo l , et al . a preliminary study of human amniotic membrane as a potential chondrocyte carrier , malay orthop j 3 , 16 - 23 ( 2009 ). 2 . davis , j s , skin transplantation with a review of 550 cases at the johns hopkins hospital , john hopkins med j 15 , 307 ( 1910 ). 3 . diaz - prado s m , et al . cell therapy and tissular engineering to regenerate articular cartilage , in b iomedical e ngineering , t rends , r esearch and t echnologies ( komorowska m a & amp ; olsztynska - janus s , eds . ), pp . 193 - 216 ( 2011 ). 4 . diaz - prado s m , et al . potential use of the human amniotic membrane as a scaffold in human articular cartilage repair , cell tissue bank 11 , 183 - 195 ( 2010 ). 5 . hildner f , et al . state of the art and future perspectives of articular cartilage regeneration : a focus on adipose - derived stem cells and platelet - derived products , j tissue eng regen med 5 , e36 - e51 ( 2011 ). 6 . jin c z , et al . human amniotic membrane as a delivery matrix for articular cartilage repair , tiss eng 13 , 693 - 702 ( 2007 ). 7 . kanthan s r , et al . the different preparations of human amniotic membrane ( ham ) as a potential cell carrier for chondrocytes , eur cell mater 20 , 1 page ( 2010 ). 8 . krishnamurithy g , et al . human amniotic membrane as a chondrocyte carrier vehicle / substrate : in vitro study , j biomed mater res part a 99a , 500 - 506 ( 2011 ). 9 . lindenmair a , et al . osteogenic differentiation of intact human amniotic membrane , biomaterials 31 , 8659 - 8665 ( 2010 ). 10 . mermet i , et al . use of amniotic membrane transplantation in the treatment of venous leg ulcers , wound repair and regeneration 15 , 459 ( 2007 ). 11 . moriya t , et al . evaluation of reparative cartilage after autologous chondrocyte implantation for osteochondritis dissecans : histology , biochemistry , and mr imaging , j orthop sci 12 , 265 - 273 ( 2007 ). 12 . niknejad h , et al . properties of the amniotic membrane for potential use in tissue engineering , eur cell mater 15 , 88 - 99 ( 2008 ). 13 . wilshaw s p , et al . production of an acellular amniotic membrane matrix for use in tissue engineering , tiss eng 12 , 2117 - 2129 ( 2006 ). 14 . zhou s , et al . demineralized bone promotes chondrocyte or osteoblast differentiation of human bone marrow stromal cells cultured in collagen sponges , cell tissue bank 6 , 33 - 44 ( 2005 ). | 0 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.