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referring now to fig2 - 4 a preferred embodiment of the control system 10 of the present invention is shown mounted upon the underside of gun 11 and comprised of an emd 12 , electronic circuitry denoted schematically by box 13 , a battery 14 , and electrical switch trigger 15 . the illustrated gun is comprised of a forestock 22 which supports barrel 16 , receiver portion 17 located at the rear extremity of said barrel , magazine 18 , conventional trigger 19 with associated pistol grip 20 , and shoulder stock 21 which contains a compressed propellant gas . the emd is intended to produce reciprocating linear movement of a push rod 23 . the emd may be a solenoid , either of an in - line type or clapper or rotary type . alternatively , the emd may be a servo type device using an arm , lever or gear system to activate rod 23 . all such devices are characterized in that a pulse of electrical energy produces a controlled mechanical force , and the discontinuation of said pulse either produces a reverse force or permits interaction of a reverse force such as may be produced by a spring - biased conventional trigger . the emd may be secured to forestock 22 by brackets or removable fastening means . a push rod 23 , extending from said emd is slideably positioned by guide 25 mounted by bracket 35 beneath receiver portion 17 . in those embodiments wherein the emd is a solenoid , guide 25 may not be required . the length of rod 23 and its positioning by guide 25 is such as to cause the distal extremity 26 of rod 23 to contact trigger 19 . said distal extremity may be equipped with coupling means such as harness 27 which facilitates the rearward pushing and possible forward pulling of trigger 19 . in other embodiments , said coupling means may facilitate only a rearward pushing effect . electronic circuitry 13 , generally housed within a protective enclosure , may be mounted on the gun or within the forestock , pistol grip or shoulder stock , but can be remotely associated with the gun . said circuitry is comprised of commonplace components , arranged for example in the manner disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 413 , 083 ; 5 , 727 , 538 ; and 4 , 770 , 153 . one of the primary functions of said electronic circuitry is to convert a dc current of 1 . 5 to 18 volts into a regulated pulse current , said pulses serving as activation signals which energize said emd . in one embodiment of the present invention , said electronic circuitry contains an adjustable timer , and produces a timed sequence of said energizing pulses . for example , the timer may be adjusted so that the energizing pulses may be of 0 . 05 to 1 . 0 second duration , and may be spaced apart , namely the &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; cycle , between 0 . 05 and 1 . 0 second . in this embodiment , the gun can be caused to fire at the fastest rate imposed by mechanical factors . said electronic circuitry is preferably provided with a logic chip / circuit that provides an adjustable counter . adjusting means , represented by knob 29 is interactive with said circuitry so that the number of energizing pulses in a single depression of trigger 19 , or &# 34 ; firing &# 34 ; can be incrementally selected up to about 10 . this means that each time trigger 19 is moved by rod 23 a selected number of paint balls will be fired . electrical switch trigger 15 is positioned preferably on pistol grip 20 adjacent trigger 19 . in the operation of the control system of this invention , the shooter depresses electrical switch trigger 15 in order to activate the control system and initiate firing . said electrical switch trigger 15 is essentially an on / off electrical switch , and is connected by suitable conductor wires to the other components of the system . if for some reason the control system of this invention fails , the shooter can still use the gun by resorting to manual depression of trigger 19 . battery 14 is connected by suitable wiring to the other components of the system , and may be remote from the gun , as in the shooter &# 39 ; s pocket . said wires , or equivalent conductor means may be exterior of the gun or may be concealed within the forestock and pistol grip portions of the gun . in another embodiment of the control system of the present invention , a sensor 30 is incorporated into the electronic circuitry to ascertain when a paint ball is properly seated within the firing chamber . it then tells the logic circuit that firing is permissible , namely it permits delivery of the energizing pulse to the emd . said sensor may be of commonplace design , and may involve infrared , photoelectric , proximity , density , capacitance or beta ray principles of operation . when electrical switch trigger 15 is pressed it activates the sensor . if there is a paint ball in the chamber the sensing beam is &# 34 ; broken &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; on &# 34 ;, and the gun fires . at the end of the cycle , for a fraction of a second that it takes for the next successive paint ball 33 to fall into the chamber , the beam is unbroken , and the gun will not fire . as soon as the next pain ball &# 34 ; breaks &# 34 ; the beam by virtue of being properly seated within the chamber , the logic circuit is activated , sending an energizing pulse to the emd , and the gun will fire in the selected mode . such manner of operation also reduces the incidence of chopped paint balls that would otherwise occur when a paint ball is not properly seated within the chamber , and the bolt 34 severs it . a fire mode selector 31 is interactive with the electronic circuitry to select firing modes wherein the gun will fire a single shot , a burst of predetermined number of shots , or full automatic with just a single pressing and holding of electrical trigger switch 15 . in the fully automatic firing mode , most guns will be able to shoot between about 5 to 15 paint balls per second . for example , if a particular gun is capable of loading into the chamber 10 paint balls per second , if the fire mode selector is set to 8 cycles per second , then when switch trigger 15 is pressed and held , the gun will shoot in full automatic mode at a rate of 8 shots per second with minimization of chopping of paint balls . the firing is controlled in the aforesaid manner either by the timing of paint balls entering the chamber , or the detection of a properly seated ball in the chamber . in the first embodiment of the firing control system of the present invention shown in fig1 the emd is located closely adjacent trigger 19 . in the third embodiment shown in fig5 and 6 , the emd 12 is mounted upon the side of forestock 22 instead of below it . accordingly , push rod 23 will have an angled configuration in order to properly engage trigger 19 . while particular examples of the present invention have been shown and described , it is apparent that changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention in its broadest aspects . the aim of the appended claims , therefore is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention .	5
the invention can be implemented in numerous ways , including as a process , an apparatus , a system , a composition of matter , a computer readable medium such as a computer readable storage medium or a computer network wherein program instructions are sent over optical or electronic communication links . in this specification , these implementations , or any other form that the invention may take , may be referred to as techniques . in general , the order of the steps of disclosed processes may be altered within the scope of the invention . a detailed description of one or more embodiments of the invention is provided below along with accompanying figures that illustrate the principles of the invention . the invention is described in connection with such embodiments , but the invention is not limited to any embodiment . the scope of the invention is limited only by the claims and the invention encompasses numerous alternatives , modifications and equivalents . numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention . these details are provided for the purpose of example and invention may be practiced according to the claims without some or all of these specific details . for the purpose of clarity , technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the invention has not been described in detail so that the invention is not unnecessarily obscured . fig1 is a block diagram illustrating a self - powered vehicle speed sensor system . in one embodiment , speed sensor 100 sends its signal to front end 102 . front end 102 includes a preamp and filter 104 , which amplifies and filters the data signal from the sensor , and an analog - to - digital ( a / d ) converter 106 , which digitizes the data signal from the sensor . digital signal processor ( dsp ) 108 then processes the digitized data signal . the processed information is then sent using wireless data modem 110 to a centralized server . dsp 108 also controls the battery manager 1 18 , which is part of the overall battery management system 112 . the battery management system 112 controls a ) charging of battery 114 from solar panel 116 and also b ) providing power from either battery 114 or solar panel 116 to the rest of the speed sensor system . power manager 120 intelligently turns on and off subsystems to efficiently use the power provided by the battery management system 112 . the battery management system 112 and the power manager 120 allow the speed sensor system to be self - powered from the solar panel . it is not necessary to attach the speed sensor system to an electric power supply wire . this also makes the speed sensor system easy to install because no wires need to be connected to the speed sensor system . in addition , because of the power management system , the battery can be small and this reduces the weight of the speed sensor system . in some embodiments , speed sensor 100 is a doppler speed sensor , which has a microwave source and receiver that is designed to measure the speed of objects using the doppler shift in the back - reflected microwaves . the power manager 120 intelligently controls the frequency and duration of the speed measurements . if the traffic is moving at a normal speed , the measurements , or samples , are less frequent than if the traffic is very slow . in addition , the power manager 120 would also lower the frequency of samples when the battery power is low to preserve power until the next charging time . fig2 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of operation of the self - powered vehicle speed sensor system . in step 200 , the speed sensor system prepares to take a measurement . because the power manager turns off power hungry circuitry except when necessary , the system needs to turn on and stabilize the measurement electronics . in step 202 , the speed data sample is acquired . in step 204 , the speed data sample is processed . in step 206 , the speed information is transmitted to a centralized server . fig3 is a flow chart illustrating the steps for preparing the speed sensor system . in step 300 , the microwave source of the speed sensor and the preamplifiers are turned on . in step 302 , the system waits in order to stabilize the electronics after the microwave source is turned on . in step 306 , the in - line capacitor is pre - charged . in step 308 , the charge saver switch is closed . the speed sensor has a calibration system that can be used at power up to check the speed sensor . using a known oscillating target in front of the speed sensor a speed measurement can be made and compared against the known speed achieved for that target . fig4 is a circuit diagram illustrating a preamplifier in the speed sensor system . preamplifier 406 is designed to take the speed sensor signal input 408 and produce an amplified output 410 . when switch 400 is closed the capacitor 404 is rapidly charged . when switch 402 is closed the charge saver function is off for capacitor 404 . this method is used to rapidly stabilize the preamplifier signal path to prepare it for the data signal . fig5 is a flow chart illustrating the steps for acquiring speed sensor data . in step 500 , the acquisition system electronics is allowed to stabilize . in step 502 , the analog - to - digital ( a / d ) converter is turned on . in step 504 , the data samples required to measure speed and direction are taken . for direction , the sine and cosine components of the back - reflected microwave signal are sampled . in step 506 , the microwave source , preamplifiers , and a / d converter are turned off again to preserve power , and the charge saver switch is opened to preserve the capacitor charge until the next measurement . fig6 is a flow chart illustrating the steps for processing the speed sensor data . in step 600 , the digital signal processor ( dsp ) is placed in high - power mode . in step 602 , the dsp calculates speed information in both directions by performing fft analysis on the sine and cosine components of the speed sensor data . the dsp processes the return signal by separating it into its component frequencies , and splitting the frequencies into cohorts that correspond to 0 . 1 mph increments . the average speed is calculated by averaging the speed of all of the cohorts which were found to have a positive return from the doppler radar signal . in step 604 , the dsp is returned to low - power mode . in step 606 , the average speeds for both directions of the traffic are calculated . in some embodiments , several traffic lanes are measured simultaneously . in addition in step 606 , the high occupancy vehicle traffic speed can be separately calculated from the non - high occupancy vehicle traffic speed . in step 608 , the speed information is averaged over a number of samples ( e . g . four samples where a sample is taken every 250 milliseconds ). in step 610 , the average speed information is corrected for the angle that the speed sensor is placed at with respect to the road . in some embodiments , the angle correction is performed after the information is sent to the server . in step 612 , the calculated speed information is placed into a psuedo - rs232 packet to be transmitted over the wireless data modem to a server . although the foregoing embodiments have been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding , the invention is not limited to the details provided . there are many alternative ways of implementing the invention . the disclosed embodiments are illustrative and not restrictive .	6
the present specification describes , among other things , a current mode analog - to - digital converter ( adc ). the current mode adc operates , for example , by comparing an input current to one or more reference currents to create a digital representation of the incoming signal . the adc described herein may be used for a variety of applications including but not limited to , battery level measurement ( metering ), communications , imaging , measurement , control systems , sensors , etc . as described above , traditional adc circuit design is done in terms of voltage . however , in some embodiments , adcs may be designed in terms of currents rather than voltages . current and voltage are related by ohm &# 39 ; s law . circuits are designed in terms of voltage merely for the convenience for the typical designer . however , there are several advantages to designing in terms of current . in the field of analog - to - digital conversion , voltage mode adc &# 39 ; s compare an input voltage to reference voltages to determine which reference voltage is closest to the value of the input . a digital representation of the input signal is then created based on a series of such comparisons . as described herein , the same principles can be applied to currents . an input current can be compared to a set of current references to determine which reference current is closest to the input current . one of the many values of this approach is that , since current sources are used rather than voltage references , operational voltage becomes far less important . by allowing lower operating voltages to be used , the adc can take better advantage of the increases in modem integrated circuit density . also , since the voltages at nodes in a current mode circuit change very little , circuit and parasitic capacitances have much less effect on the speed of the circuit . as described herein , a current based adc design uses a comparator that is configured to compare two currents and output a digital value dependent on which current is larger . the sense amp , which has been used in random access memory ( ram ) technology , can provide such a comparator . sense amps are traditionally used to differentially compare true and complement outputs of a ram bit to determine its value on read . since the sense amp compares current values differentially , it avoids problems with parasitic capacitances on the bit lines . current differences can be detected accurately at very high speeds without the need to wait for the voltages to slew to final values , the timing of which is very sensitive to parasitic capacitance . another current comparator that can be used in a current mode adc is the current comparator often used in read only memory ( rom ) technology . in a specific example described herein , a current mode , flash adc is composed of 2 ^ n sense amp comparators and current references , where n is the number of bits output for each comparison . this flash adc can also be used as a building block in other types of adcs such as a sub - ranging adc , pipelined adc , sigma - delta modulator , successive approximation adc and others . the exemplary current mode flash adc may be embodied as a 4 bit adc with the ability for conversion of analog - to - digital signals at a rate of 1 giga - sample per second ( gsps ). this adc is composed of 16 differential current comparators . the reference inputs are composed of 16 current sources generated by mirroring current from a single current source . since it is a flash adc , the value of the input does not have to be stored , therefore there are no capacitors required by the design . the current comparators and current mirrors can be easily scaled according to process geometries . since the adc is based on current , it has little dependence on the value of the power supply voltage . fig1 shows a simplified schematic of what is commonly called a sense amp comparator . the comparator is able to detect very small voltage changes on inp and inn nodes . typically in a ram application , the inp and inn nodes are charged to the supply voltage while the clk node is held low . when clk goes high , inp or inn starts to change voltage as the ram cell discharges the capacitance of the inp or inn signal . at the same time the nmos transistor ( 140 ) turns on and causes a current to start flowing in transistors ( 130 ) and ( 135 ). this current is proportional to the voltage at the gates of transistors ( 130 ) and ( 135 ). nmos transistor ( 120 ) and nmos transistors ( 110 ) together form an inverter with the output labeled outn and the input as outp . nmos transistor ( 125 ) and nmos transistor ( 115 ) form an inverter with the output labeled outp and input as outn . these transistors provide positive feedback that gives the circuit much higher gain than just the gain of the differential pair formed by transistors ( 130 ) and ( 135 ). fig2 shows a modification of the sense amp of fig1 which gives a simple current mirror input to the sense amp comparator . nmos transistors ( 150 ) and ( 160 ) have been added to the configuration shown previously fig1 to form a current mirror configuration . when clk is high , the current in transistor ( 130 ) will be the same as transistor ( 150 ) due to both transistors having the same gate voltage and nearly the same drain voltage as the drain voltage of transistor ( 130 ) is pulled nearly to ground by nmos transistor ( 135 ). by the same token , the current in transistor ( 135 ) will be the same as transistor ( 160 ). hence , the configuration shown in fig2 may be used directly as a current comparator . as explained above , the comparator of fig2 can be used to give a digital output of “ 1 ” or “ high ” if the current into the inp input is greater than the current into the inn input . as will be described below , this current comparator can be used in a current - based adc . fig3 shows the comparator of fig2 as a block ( 310 ). current sources ( 320 ) and ( 330 ) add current to the currents in the inp and inn inputs . these additional currents can be set to provide thresholds for the comparator so that the current into inp must be two or more times greater than the current coming in from inn for the comparator to be high . this principle can be used to create an adc that uses currents for references . fig4 shows an n bit , current - based adc . current comparators ( 410 ), ( 411 ), ( 412 ) and ( 413 ) are connected to a digital decoder ( 460 ). the comparator of fig2 may be used as the comparators ( 410 – 413 ). the comparators ( 410 – 413 ) take current inputs and convert them to a digital output as described above . elements ( 430 ), ( 431 ), ( 432 ), and ( 433 ) are current sources that add a dc bias to the input signal . elements ( 420 ), ( 421 ), ( 422 ), and ( 423 ) are current sources with output currents scaled from i to n * i , where n is equal to 2 ^ n . because the inputs to the comparators ( 430 – 433 ) are currents , current replicators ( 450 – 453 ) and ( 440 – 443 ) may be provided to allow for combining the currents into the comparators . the digital decoder ( 460 ) shown in fig4 is a digital , thermometer code to binary converter which takes the data from the n comparators and converts the data into an n bit binary signal . the digital decoder ( 460 ) may also contain error detection or correction circuitry . fig5 – 40 are circuit schematics showing various additional embodiments of the novel current - based analog - to - digital converters and conversion techniques described herein . the preceding description has been presented only to illustrate and describe examples of the invention . it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to any precise form disclosed . it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims .	7
fig1 shows an adjusting device which , like the adjusting devices of german patent document de 197 29 024 c1 , can be introduced into a surrounding hollow rotary spindle , relative to which it can be displaced axially but cannot be rotated . the adjusting device has a central spindle 1 which serves as an axle and extends over the entire length of the adjusting device . said spindle 1 ends , in its region which protrudes outward out of the rotary spindle and the brake caliper , in a drive journal 2 having a profiling 3 , which drive journal 2 allows the spindle 1 to be rotated back during a lining change , in order to reset the rotary spindle for a lining change by the amount of wear of the brake linings . a star - shaped driver 4 is arranged at the opposite end of the spindle 1 , which star - shaped driver 4 is designed for engaging into an axially extending internal profiling ( at least one groove ) of the surrounding rotary spindle ( not shown here ), with the result that , during revolutions of the spindle 1 and the star - shaped driver 4 which is fastened to the latter , the surrounding internally hollow rotary spindle which is screwed into a further element such as a bridge is also rotated , with the result that it moves axially parallel to the brake disk axis and advances a brake lining axially in the direction of the brake disk for adjusting brake lining wear . the drive journal 2 is adjoined by a collar 27 of the spindle , on which a bearing bush 5 is supported which is shaped concavely on its side which faces away from the collar 27 and carries a cardanic bearing plate 7 . the bearing plate serves as one bearing bush of a first roller bearing arrangement 22 , of a roller bearing , in particular a ball bearing , having bearing elements , in particular balls 6 , the opposing bearing bush of which is configured as a spacer sleeve 8 having a collar 21 and a cylindrical projection 17 with a relatively smaller diameter with respect to the collar 21 . by way of its projection 17 , the spacer sleeve 8 reaches through a further roller bearing arrangement , a combined freewheel and overload coupling device 9 which has two coupling bushes 10 , 11 which serve as coupling bushes of a ball ramp coupling having bearing elements , in particular having balls 12 , a torsion spring 13 being seated here between the two coupling bushes 10 , 11 and connecting the latter , concentrically on the inside with respect to the ball ramp coupling and the balls and concentrically on the outside with respect to a cylindrical projection 17 of the spacer sleeve 8 . the drive - side coupling bush 10 carries a drive projection 20 , for example in the manner of a switching fork , in which , for example , a projection of the rotary lever of the disk brake acts , in order to realize a drive of the adjusting device during brake operations . in contrast , the output - side coupling bush 11 is supported via an internal conical seat 23 on an external cone 24 of a spring sleeve 14 which accommodates a prestressing spring 15 which is supported with one end on the star - shaped driver 4 and with its other end in an axial end region 16 of the spring sleeve 14 . the freewheel function and the overload coupling are thus combined in a manner which is optimized in terms of installation space , the complete function of the freewheel and the overload coupling being preserved satisfactorily , however . in its region which faces the star - shaped driver , the spring sleeve 14 has an external profiling 18 which is shaped like the external profiling 19 of the star - shaped driver 4 and likewise engages in the inner grooves of the surrounding rotary spindle . in the following text , the function of this adjusting device will be described in greater detail . the prestressed pre - stressing spring 15 presses the spring sleeve 14 with its end side against the spacer sleeve 8 . the length of the spacer sleeve 8 is defined in such a way that the balls 6 and the coupling bushes 10 , 11 are not loaded by the spring force in the rest state of the adjusting device . the play in the coupling is compensated for by the torsion spring 13 which rotates the two coupling halves or coupling bushes 10 , 11 in the locking direction . this achieves a situation where manufacturing tolerances have no influence on the response behavior of the overload coupling and an exact , delay - free response of the adjusting device is ensured . in the rest state , the force of the prestressing spring 15 is guided by the spring sleeve 14 on the end side into the spacer sleeve 8 and from the latter via the first roller bearing 22 , preferably an axial ball bearing , into the cardanically shaped bearing plate 7 . the force flow is finally guided via the convexly shaped bearing bush 5 into the adjusting device axle and is closed via the star - shaped driver 4 at the other end of the axle or spindle 1 . after the above - described idle travel has been overcome , the rotary movement of the lever of the disk brake at the drive element 20 ( for example , a switching fork which is driven by a journal of the rotary lever ) is introduced into the adjusting device . the movement is transmitted by the drive element 20 to the drive - side coupling bush 10 which is integrally formed in one piece here . the latter transmits the movement to the balls 12 which are mounted in each case on the drive side and output side in ramp - shaped raceways 25 , 26 . as the two coupling halves 10 , 11 are pre - stressed with respect to one another via the torsion spring 13 , they are pressed axially apart from one another . here , the output - side coupling bush 11 is pressed with the integrally formed internal conical seat 23 against the external cone 24 of the spring sleeve 14 , and the drive - side coupling bush 10 is pressed with the end side against the collar 21 of the spacer sleeve 8 . the frictional moment of this conical coupling is adapted in such a way that there is a self - locking action in interaction with the ball ramp geometry of the two coupling bushes . this ensures that the rotary movement is introduced by the drive element via the two coupling bushes 10 , 11 , the conical seat ( elements 23 , 24 ) and the spring sleeve 14 into the threaded tube or the surrounding threaded spindles , and an adjusting operation is carried out . furthermore , it is ensured that , during locking of the threaded tube when the linings come into contact with the brake disk , the two coupling bushes 10 , 11 can be pressed apart from one another counter to the force of the prestressing spring 15 and the overload protective function or overload coupling function is ensured . the response moment of the overload function can be set in an accurate and simple manner via the magnitude of the prestressing spring force and the pitch angle of the ball ramp raceways 25 , 26 . it is necessary for correct functioning that the response moment of the overload function has a defined magnitude . in order to protect the drive elements , it is favorable if the further rolling moment decreases after the response of the overload function . this can be implemented very simply and clearly by different pitch angles of the ball ramp raceways 24 , 25 . the freewheel function which is necessary in order to compensate for the lining wear is ensured by the fact that , during reversing , the balls are moved on the ramp contour of the raceways 24 , 25 so as to run down the latter and no locking of the coupling bushes 10 , 11 in conjunction with the conical seat is possible . as a result of the prestressing with the torsion spring 13 , the two coupling halves 10 , 11 are opened only until the force flow in the conical seat is smaller than the force of the torsion spring 13 which counteracts it . this achieves a situation where the freewheel function is practically without play , and therefore a very direct and exact response is achieved . a further requirement of the adjusting device is the possibility of reversing counter to the locking action of the freewheel during the lining change . this function is brought about in the following manner : during reversing , the coupling halves 10 , 11 are pressed apart until the balls 12 reach the end of the ball ramp raceway . here , the pitch angle of the ball ramp raceways 25 , 26 changes in such a way and to such an extent that there is no self - locking action of the ball ramp coupling in conjunction with the conical seat in this case . as a result , the spring sleeve 14 rotates when the frictional moment in the conical seat is overcome , and the threaded tube therefore rotates counter to the locking direction of the freewheel . in comparison with the prior art , this arrangement leads to some noticeable advantages . first of all , a very small number of individual parts are required , which leads to low costs and relatively simple assembly . in addition , the individual parts which are used are configured in such a way that they can be manufactured inexpensively , substantially by shaping without cutting . in addition , they are of entirely robust configuration and are therefore particularly functionally reliable . as the balls 12 move on defined ball raceways 24 , 25 , clear functional behavior is ensured . in addition , the adjusting device ensures a low hysteresis in the functional behavior , as all the moving parts are mounted on ball bearings . in addition , on account of the great rolling angle of the balls 12 , uncontrolled over rolling of the balls cannot occur in the overload coupling . the constant functional behavior which can be achieved during the entire service life is also advantageous , as possible wear has scarcely no effect on the force conditions . finally , the great adaptability as a result of many individual parameter setting possibilities is also to be mentioned as advantageous . the foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting . since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art , the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof .	5
please refer to fig1 through 5b , the present invention provides a baby carriage that includes a frame 1 and a seat 2 . the frame 1 includes a support rack 3 and a pair of handle sets 4 . the support rack 3 includes at least one holding member 31 with a front tube 32 fastened to a lower side and a rear tube 33 hinged on the lower side . the front tube 32 has an extension hole 321 near the middle portion and a retraction hole 322 close to a lower end which is coupled with a front wheel set 34 . the rear tube 33 has a lower end coupled with a rear wheel set 35 . the front wheel set 34 has a lateral wheel 341 at a front end axially perpendicular thereto . also referring to fig6 through 9b , each handle set 4 is fastened to the holding member 31 of the support rack 3 , and includes a handgrip 5 , an elevation set 6 , a folding set 7 , a flexible member 8 and an outer sleeve 9 . the handgrip 5 has a coupling portion 51 with a coupling hole 511 and a first elongate slot 512 formed thereon . the coupling portion 51 is coupled with a driving member 52 on an outer side . the driving member 52 has a driving portion 521 protruded from one end thereof and pulled by a user , and a first through hole 522 on a lateral side corresponding to the first elongate slot 512 . the elevation set 6 includes a driven member 61 , an adjustment member 62 , a driven bar 63 and a coupling member 64 . the driven member 61 has an upper latch slot 611 and a second through hole 612 . the adjustment member 62 has an insertion portion 621 at one end . the insertion portion 621 has a passage 622 run through by the driven member 61 and a second elongate slot 623 on a lateral side corresponding to the first elongate slot 512 . the insertion portion 621 is inserted into the coupling hole 511 of the coupling portion 51 and fastened to the first through hole 522 of the driving member 52 and the second through hole 612 of the driven member 61 via a fastening element ( not shown in the drawings ) such as a screw . thereby when the driving portion 521 is pulled by a user , the driving member 52 and driven member 61 are moved within the first elongate slot 512 . the adjustment member 62 has an insertion hole 624 at a lower end inserted by the coupling member 64 and an adjustment knob 65 at one side . the adjustment knob 65 has a pressing portion 651 protruded outwards and pressed by the user , a longitudinal hole 652 , and an inclined surface 653 directing inwards at the upper end . the driven bar 63 has a transverse hole 631 and an inner inclined slot 632 at an upper end . the transverse hole 631 corresponds to the longitudinal hole 652 of the adjustment knob 65 . the inner inclined slot 632 is butted by the inclined surface 653 of the adjustment knob 65 . the driven bar 63 has a chamber 633 near the lower end and a diagonal slot 634 at the lower end . the chamber 633 holds an elastic element 635 such as a spring . the upper end of the coupling member 64 is inserted into the insertion hole 624 at the lower end of the adjustment member 62 . the coupling member 64 has a hollow tube 641 run through by the driven bar 63 . the hollow tube 641 has a latch hole 642 on one side corresponding to the chamber 633 and inserted by a latch member 643 which passes through the chamber 633 to retain the elastic element 635 . the coupling member 64 further has a fastening hole 644 at the lower end corresponding to the diagonal slot 634 to hold a positioning plate 66 which has a lug 661 and an aperture 662 . through a retaining element ( not shown in the drawings ) running through the fastening hole 644 , the diagonal slot 634 and the aperture 662 , the positioning plate 66 can be slid and confined between the diagonal slot 634 and the fastening hole 644 . the coupling member 64 further has a winding portion 645 at a distal end . the folding set 7 includes a lower driving member 71 , an upper driving member 72 , an elastic pin 73 and an elastic member 74 . the lower driving member 71 and the upper driving member 72 have respectively a first pin hole 711 and a second pin hole 721 that are corresponding to each other and inserted by the elastic pin 73 . the first pin hole 711 is located within a notch 712 with a slanted surface . the lower driving member 71 has a lower latch slot 713 at the upper end . the elastic pin 73 is inserted into the first pin hole 711 , and has a resilient element 731 such as a spring on the upper end , a pin 732 at the lower end , and a washer 733 near the middle portion of the pin 732 formed at a diameter greater than that of the pin 732 . the upper driving member 72 and lower driving member 71 can slide against each other . the elastic member 74 is a spring interposed between the lower and upper driving members 71 and 72 to force the lower and upper driving members 71 and 72 to return to their corresponding positions . the flexible member 8 is a rope set with one end fastened to the upper latch slot 611 of the driven member 61 and wound on the winding portion 645 of the coupling member 64 for one coil and another end fastened to the lower latch slot 713 of the lower driving member 71 . the outer sleeve 9 is coupled on the outer sides of the elevation set 6 and folding set 7 and coupled with a retaining bushing 91 at the upper end to butt against a lower edge of the adjustment member 62 . the outer sleeve 9 has a lower retaining element 92 ( referring to fig5 b ) at the lower end to cover the lower end of the upper driving member 72 to keep a selected distance between the elevation set 6 and the folding set 7 so that elements thereof can be protected to increase their lifespan . the outer sleeve 9 further has a plurality of adjustment holes 93 on the lower wall ( referring to fig8 b ) latched by the lug 661 of the positioning plate 66 . please refer to fig8 a through 9b . when adjusting the height of the handle is desired , the user presses the pressing portion 651 of the adjustment knob 65 to move inwards , and then the inclined surface 653 is butted against the inner inclined slot 632 of the driven bar 63 so that the driven bar 63 is moved along the inclined direction towards the handgrip 5 . consequently , the positioning plate 66 originally retained at the diagonal slot 634 and the fastening hole 644 is moved inwards through the fastening hole 644 to release the latched condition of the lug 661 in the adjustment hole 93 . then the pressing portion 651 is continuously pressed and the handgrip 5 is also pulled to adjust the position of the coupling member 64 and latch the lug 661 in a selected adjustment hole 93 to adjust the elevation as desired . when moving the coupling member 64 is desired , the diameter of the coil of the flexible member 8 wound on the winding portion 645 can be enlarged or shrunk due to different positions of the coupling member 64 . however , since the upper and lower ends of the inner rope of the flexible member 8 have respectively fastened to the driven member 61 and lower driving member 71 , folding movements of the invention are not affected . please refer to fig3 a , 5 b , 10 a and 10 b . when the baby carriage of the invention is in an unfolding condition , the elastic pin 73 is inserted into the extension hole 321 of the front tube 32 . when folding the baby carriage is desired , the user pulls the driving portion 521 to drive the inner rope of the flexible member 8 , so that the lower driving member 71 fastened to the lower end of the flexible member 8 is drawn and moved upwards . then the slanted surface of the notch 712 presses the pin 732 to retract inwards to release the latched condition with the support rack 3 so that the handle set 4 can slide downwards along the front tube 32 . when the pin 732 is latched in the retraction hole 322 of the front tube 32 , the two sides of the support rack 3 can be moved towards the middle through the lateral wheel 341 at the front end of the front wheel set 34 to shrink the baby carriage into a smaller size . referring to fig1 and 12 , the handgrip 5 can also include a turning control knob 53 at one side with a latch member 531 and a plurality of turning holes 54 formed inside latched by the latch member 531 to form positioning . the user can press the turning control knob 53 to release the latched condition between the latch member 531 and the turning hole 54 , and then turn the handgrip 5 to mate another selected turning hole 54 and release the turning control knob 53 to return the handgrip 5 to the desired position for anchoring .	1
referring now to fig1 , an arrow 10 for use with the present invention may provide for a carbon fiber or fiberglass arrow shaft 12 having a cylindrical cross - section , for example , 5 / 16 inch in diameter and approximately thirty - two inches long . a rear end of the arrow shaft 12 provides an arrow nock ( not shown ). a front end of the arrow shaft 12 may attach to an adapter 14 by being received within a blind bore socket 16 of equal diameter in the adapter 14 . the arrow shaft 12 may be held , within the socket 16 with epoxy 18 or the like . the adapter 14 may provide a generally cylindrical metal body supporting the bore socket 16 at a rear end and extending along an axis 20 common to the arrow shaft 12 to terminate at a threaded boss 22 at a front end . an arrow tip 24 also extending generally along axis 20 and having a rearwardly - threaded bore 26 ( also shown in fig2 b ) may receive the threaded boss 22 to attach the arrow tip 24 to the adapter 14 . pivoting barbs 28 may be attached to the adapter 14 to extend outwardly from the adapter 14 and back toward the arrow shaft 12 . these barbs 28 help retain a fish on the arrow 10 after the arrow tip 24 and the adapter 14 and barbs 28 have passed through a fish . in order to remove the fish from the barbs 28 , the barbs 28 may fold flat against the adapter 14 ( when the arrow tip 24 has been loosened or removed from the threaded boss 22 ). when the arrow tip 24 is attached to the threaded boss 22 , the barbs 28 may rest against the adapter 14 or may extend such that they are perpendicular to the adapter 14 . however , the barbs 28 are prevented from extending further than perpendicular to the adapter 14 as long as the arrow tip 24 is attached to the threaded boss 22 . an arrow and barb system suitable for the present invention is described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 14 / 457 , 677 hereby incorporated by reference . one or both of the threaded boss 22 and threaded bore 26 may be coated with a locking polymer 31 ( or may incorporate a polymer insert ) serving to lock , the threads together by deformation of the polymer 31 coupled with engaging of the threads of the threaded boss 22 and threaded bore 26 together . the locking polymer 31 allows the arrow tip 24 to better resist vibration induced when the arrow is shot , preventing unthreading from the threaded boss 22 . referring now to fig1 and 2 a , the arrow tip 24 provides for a cylindrical body 30 holding the threaded bore 26 and substantially equal in diameter to the adapter 14 as it attaches to the adapter 14 . the cylindrical body 30 extends along the axis 20 to a forward tip 33 of the arrow tip 24 , the latter of which is sharpened to a point 32 . in particular , forward tip 33 is formed by a set of converging flat or hollow ground spiral faces 34 converging at the point 32 . the spiral faces 34 abut along spiral edges 36 . the spiral faces 34 and spiral edges 36 define a helical path running clockwise to the axis 20 from threaded bore 26 to point 32 . in one embodiment five spiral faces 34 are provided ( as depicted ); however , the invention contemplates that between three and six spiral faces 34 and preferably at least five spiral faces 34 will normally be employed . in one embodiment , the spiral faces 34 and spiral edges 36 curve in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from the point 32 . in this case the thread of the threaded boss 22 may be a standard right - hand thread allowing the arrow tip 24 to tighten on the boss 22 with clockwise rotation of the arrow tip 24 as viewed from the point 32 . it will be appreciated that as the arrow 10 flies , impacts with a stationary surface or passage through a medium such as water will cause the spiral faces 34 or spiral edges 36 to impart a clockwise torsion on the arrow tip 24 tending to tighten the arrow tip 24 onto the adapter 14 . referring now to fig3 , the arrow tip 24 may be fabricated from a stainless , titanium , or hardened steel cylinder 38 providing the cylindrical body 30 of the arrow tip 24 . the cylinder may have a diameter of ¼ ″ to ⅝ ″, a cutter 40 is rotated about an axis 42 parallel to an axis 20 ( along which the cylindrical body 30 extends ) to cut the faces 34 . the cutter 40 may be a carbide tool or the like , as shown , or the surface of a grinding wheel or other similar cutting mechanism . the radius of rotation of the cutter 40 in an arc about axis 42 defines a hollow cut of the faces 34 . this hollow face sharpens the edges 36 beyond that which could be obtained by a simple faceting and provides edges that better resist dulling in the manner of a hollow ground knife - edge . a pyramidal tapering of the faces 34 to the point 32 may be provided by an angled translation of the center of rotation of the cutter 40 along a taper path 46 following an angle of a taper of the arrow tip 24 while preserving a parallel alignment between the axis 42 and axis 20 . a spiraling of the faces 34 is provided by slight rotation 48 of the cylindrical body 30 about axis 20 as the arc of the cutter 40 is translated along path 46 . the amount of rotation 48 during the full translation along path 46 is preferably between two and 30 degrees . in order to provide the desired spiraling described above , the rotation 48 may be counterclockwise as the cutter 40 moves upward along path 46 as depicted in fig3 . it will be appreciated that the spiral faces 34 are at all times circumscribed by the cylinder defined by the cylindrical body 30 and that the arrow tip 24 may be of unitary construction machined from a single cylinder of metal . certain terminology is used herein for purposes of reference only , and thus is not intended to be limiting . for example , terms such as “ upper ”, “ lower ”, “ above ”, and “ below ” refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made . terms such as “ front ”, “ back ”, “ rear ”, “ bottom ” and “ side ”, describe the orientation of portions of the component within a consistent but arbitrary frame of reference which is made clear by reference to the text and the associated drawings describing the component under discussion . such terminology may include the words specifically mentioned above , derivatives thereof , and words of similar import . similarly , the terms “ first ”, “ second ” and other such numerical terms referring to structures do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context . when introducing elements or features of the present disclosure and the exemplary embodiments , the articles “ a ”, “ an ”. “ the ” and “ said ” are intended to mean that there are one or more of such elements or features . the terms “ comprising ”, “ including ” and “ having ” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements or features other than those specifically noted . it is further to be understood that the method steps , processes , and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated , unless specifically identified as an order of performance . it is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed . it is specifically intended that the present invention not be limited to the embodiments and illustrations contained herein and the claims should be understood to include modified forms of those embodiments including portions of the embodiments and combinations of elements of different embodiments as come within the scope of the following claims . all of the publications described herein , including patents and non - patent publications are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties .	8
the present invention is described with reference to the attached figures . the figures are not drawn to scale and they are provided merely to illustrate the instant invention . several aspects of the invention are described below with reference to example applications for illustration . it should be understood that numerous specific details , relationships , and methods are set forth to provide a full understanding of the invention . one having ordinary skill in the relevant art , however , will readily recognize that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details or with other methods . in other instances , well - known structures or operation are not shown in detail to avoid obscuring the invention . the present invention is not limited by the illustrated ordering of acts or events , as some acts may occur in different orders and / or concurrently with other acts or events . furthermore , not all illustrated acts or events are required to implement a methodology in accordance with the present invention . the word “ exemplary ” is used herein to mean serving as an example , instance , or illustration . any aspect or design described herein as “ exemplary ” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs . rather , use of the word exemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion . as used in this application , the term “ or ” is intended to mean an inclusive “ or ” rather than an exclusive “ or ”. that is , unless specified otherwise , or clear from context , “ x employs a or b ” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations . that is if , x employs a ; x employs b ; or x employs both a and b , then “ x employs a or b ” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances . the present invention concerns implementing systems and methods for automatically enabling and disabling “ scroll - on output ” operations or a “ scroll - on output ” mode of a computing device . notably , the present invention overcomes various drawbacks of conventional computing systems . for example , the present invention provides a gui widget means within an application window for enabling and disabling automatic “ scroll - on output ” mode on / off switching operations . as such , users of the present invention are not required to navigate to menus or configuration windows to change the scrolling behaviors of computing systems . also , the automatic “ scroll - on output ” mode on / off switching operations ensure that a current manually scrolled back screen position is not lost when new data is received at or by a computing system . the automatic “ scroll - on output ” mode on / off switching operations generally include : automatically disabling the “ scroll - on output ” operations or the “ scroll - on output ” mode when scrolling is used by a user to view a previously displayed output ; and automatically enabling the “ scroll - on output ” operations or the “ scroll - on output ” mode when scrolling is used by the user to view a most recently displayed output . the present invention can be used in a variety of applications . such applications include , but are not limited to , computer applications , test equipment applications , phone applications , instrument applications , electronic graphing applications , electronic charting application , calculator applications , media player applications , web - based applications , stock market applications and any other application in which an improved method is needed for changing a scroll - lock mode . the computers can include , but are not limited to , notebooks , desktop computers , laptop computers , personal digital assistants , tablet personal computers (“ pcs ”), and ipads . the test equipment can include , but is not limited to , oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers . exemplary implementing system embodiments of the present invention will be described below in relation to fig1 . exemplary method embodiments of the present invention will be described below in relation to fig2 a - 11 . referring now to fig1 , there is provided a block diagram of an exemplary computing device (“ cd ”) 100 that is useful for understanding the present invention . the cd 100 can include , but is not limited to , a notebook , a desktop computer , a laptop computer , a personal digital assistant , a tablet pc , an ipad , an oscilloscope , a spectrum analyzer and / or a graphing calculator . the cd 100 is generally configured to allow the scrolling of documents ( e . g ., data files , word processing documents , e - mail documents , images , and internet web pages ), video clips , messaging conversations and graphs . the scrolling involves the sliding of text , images or video across a monitor or display in the horizontal direction , the vertical direction , the diagonal direction , a multidimensional direction and / or a combination of said directions . notably , the scrolling does not change the layout of the text , images , video or graphs , but incrementally moves the user &# 39 ; s view across a larger document , list , image , video clip or graph that is not wholly seen in a computer display , window or viewport . manual scrolling is achieved using a scrollbar of a gui , a scroll wheel of a computer mouse , a scroll ball of a computer mouse , arrow keys of a keyboard , a pointing device ( e . g ., a mouse pointer ), a touch within a display area , gestures ( e . g ., body movements ), and / or voice commands . manual scrolling can be enabled and disabled by a user of cd 100 via a scroll lock key and / or a gui element of a window . for example , a user enables or disables a “ scroll - on keystroke ” function of the cd 100 by depressing a scroll lock key of a keyboard , clicking on a symbol or text presented by a menu bar of an application window , and / or clicking on a checkbox associated with a caption ( e . g ., “ scroll - on keystroke ”) presented by a configuration window . embodiments of the present invention are not limited in this regard . automatic scrolling is achieved by enabling a “ scroll - on output ” mode of the cd 100 . the “ scroll - on output ” mode can be manually enabled / disabled via a scroll lock key of a keyboard , a command presented within a menu of an application window , and / or the selection of a button ( e . g ., a checkbox ) presented in a configuration window . the application window includes a menu bar . in contrast , the configuration window does not include a menu bar , but instead comprises a window with non - graphical menu based gui elements for enabling / disabling one or more functions of the cd 100 and defining parameters of said functions . the configuration window can include , but is not limited to , a dialog box , an inspector window , and / or a palette window . the gui elements include , but are not limited to , check boxes , combo boxes , scroll down lists , list boxes , scroll bars , text boxes , sliders , and / or spinners . the configuration window can also include one or more tabs . for example , a single tab can be provided for each of a plurality of different features of a display ( e . g ., colors , background and scrolling ). in some embodiments of the present invention , the configurations widow is accessible via the menu bar of the application window or via a taskbar of a gui desktop . the “ scroll - on output ” mode is automatically enabled / disabled using a novel technique of the present invention . the novel technique will be described in detail below in relation to fig2 a - 11 . still , it should be understood that the novel technique generally involves : automatically switching “ off ” the “ scroll - on output ” mode when scrolling is used by a user to view a previous displayed output of the cd 100 ; and automatically switching “ on ” the “ scroll - on output ” mode when scrolling is used by the user to view the most recent displayed output of the cd 100 . referring again to fig1 , the cd 100 comprises a system interface 122 , a user interface 102 , a central processing unit ( cpu ) 106 , a system bus 110 , a memory 112 connected to and accessible by other portions of cd 100 through system bus 110 , and hardware entities 114 connected to system bus 110 . at least some of the hardware entities 114 perform actions involving access to and use of memory 112 , which can be a random access memory ( ram ), a disk driver and / or a compact disc read only memory ( cd - rom ). some or all listed components 102 - 122 can be implements as hardware , software and / or a combination of hardware and software . the hardware includes , but is not limited to , an electronic circuit . the cd 100 may include more , less or different components than those illustrated in fig1 . however , the components shown are sufficient to disclose an illustrative embodiment implementing the present invention . the hardware architecture of fig1 represents one embodiment of a representative computing device configured to facilitate the provision of an automatic scroll - on output on / off switching (“ asoos ”) function to a user thereof . as such , cd 100 implements a method for automatically switching “ on ” and “ off ” the “ scroll - on output ” mode in accordance with embodiments of the present invention . hardware entities 114 can include microprocessors , application specific integrated circuits ( asics ) and other hardware . hardware entities 114 can include a microprocessor programmed for facilitating the provision of the asoos function to a user of the cd 100 . in this regard , it should be understood that the microprocessor can access and run scrolling applications ( not shown in fig1 ) and other types of applications installed on the cd 100 ( e . g ., instant messaging applications , graphing applications , charting applications , e - book applications , e - mail applications , document applications , media applications , touch screen applications , voice command application and / or gesture command applications ). the scrolling applications ( not shown in fig1 ) are operative to facilitate the provision of scrolling operations to a user of the cd 100 . the scrolling operations include , but are not limited to , “ scroll - on keystroke ” operations , “ mouse pointer scrolling ” operations , “ mouse wheel scrolling ” operations , “ mouse ball scrolling ” operations , “ scroll - on touch ” operations , “ scroll - on gesture ” operations , “ scroll - on voice command ” operations , “ scroll - on output ” operations , and “ asoos ” operations . the “ scroll - on keystroke ” operations involve scrolling the content of a computer display , window or viewport in response to the depression of a key ( e . g ., an arrow key ) of a keyboard ( not shown in fig1 ). for example , the depression of the “ up ” or “ left ” arrow key of a keyboard causes the content of the computer display , window or viewport to be scrolled such that old data or previously displayed data is seen by a user of the cd 100 . in contrast , the depression of the “ down ” or “ right ” arrow key of the keyboard causes the content of the computer display , window or viewport to be scrolled such that new data or recently displayed data is seen by the user of the cd 100 . embodiments of the present invention are not limited in this regard . in a waterfall display scenario , the depression of the “ up ” arrow key causes the content of the computer display , widow or viewport to be scrolled forwards , while the depression of the “ down ” arrow key causes the content to be scrolled backwards . the “ mouse pointer scrolling ” operations involve scrolling the content of a computer display , window or viewport in response to the placement of a mouse pointer on a bar of a scrollbar and the movement of a mouse ( not shown in fig1 ) for dragging the bar from a first position within a trough of the scrollbar to a second position within the trough of the scrollbar . the “ mouse pointer scrolling ” operations also involve scrolling the content of a computer display , window or viewport in response to the placement of the mouse pointer on an arrow button of the scrollbar and clicking the arrow button . the “ mouse wheel scrolling ” operations and “ mouse ball scrolling ” operations involve scrolling the content of a computer display , window or viewport in response to the placement of a mouse pointer on a bar of a scrollbar and the movement of a mouse wheel or mouse ball for dragging the bar from a first position within a trough of the scrollbar to a second position within the trough of the scrollbar . the “ scroll - on touch ” operations involve scrolling the content of a computer display , window or viewport in response to the touching of an icon , an image or a gui widget ( e . g ., an arrow button ) which is displayed on a display screen ( not shown in fig1 ). the “ scroll - on gesture ” operations involve scrolling the content of a computer display , window or viewport in response to a detection of a particular body movement . the body movement can be detected using a camera ( not shown in fig1 ) and body movement control software ( not shown in fig1 ) installed on the cd 100 . the body movement can include , but is not limited to , a facial movement , an arm movement , a hand movement , a finger movement and a head movement . the “ scroll - on voice command ” operations involve scrolling the content of a computer display , window or viewport in response to a detection of a voice command . the voice command can be detected using a microphone ( not shown in fig1 ) and voice command software ( not shown in fig1 ) installed on the cd 100 . the “ scroll - on output ” operations involve automatically scrolling the content of a computer display , window or viewport in response to the reception of new data to be displayed within the computer display , window or viewport . the “ asoos ” operations involve : automatically disabling the “ scroll - on output ” operations or switching “ off ” a “ scroll - on output ” mode when scrolling is used by a user to view a previously displayed output ; and automatically enabling the “ scroll - on output ” operations or switching “ on ” the “ scroll - on output ” mode when scrolling is used by the user to view a most recently displayed output . the scrolling can be achieved in accordance with the previously described “ scroll - on keystroke ” operations , “ mouse pointer scrolling ” operations , “ mouse wheel scrolling ” operations , “ mouse ball scrolling ” operations , “ scroll - on touch ” operations , “ scroll - on gesture ” operations , and / or “ scroll - on voice command ” operations . the particularities of the “ asoos ” operations will become more apparent as the discussion progresses . notably , the enabling and disabling of software operations and / or functions are generally implemented using existing functions made available through an operating system or application . as such , the enabling and disabling of the “ asoos ” operations and “ scroll - on output ” operations can be implemented in accordance with any conventional method as would be known by persons skilled in the art . for example , the inventive arrangements could be implemented at the operating system level in which case operating system events would be performed in conjunction with operations performed by the software application facilitating the display of scrollable content . alternatively , the inventive arrangements can be implemented at the application level in which case functions of one or more applications would be performed . as shown in fig1 , the hardware entities 114 can include a disk drive unit 116 comprising a computer - readable storage medium 118 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions 120 ( e . g ., software code or code sections ) configured to implement one or more of the methodologies , procedures , or functions described herein . the instructions 120 can also reside , completely or at least partially , within the memory 112 and / or within the cpu 106 during execution thereof by the cd 100 . the memory 112 and the cpu 106 also can constitute machine - readable media . the term “ machine - readable media ”, as used here , refers to a single medium or multiple media ( e . g ., a centralized or distributed database , and / or associated caches and servers ) that store the one or more sets of instructions 120 . the term “ machine - readable media ”, as used here , also refers to any medium that is capable of storing , encoding or carrying a set of instructions 120 for execution by the cd 100 and that cause the cd 100 to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present disclosure . the user interface 102 includes , but is not limited to , a keyboard ( not shown in fig1 ), a mouse ( not shown in fig1 ), a display screen ( not shown in fig1 ), a microphone ( not shown in fig1 ), speakers ( not shown in fig1 ) and a camera ( not shown in fig1 ). the display screen can be designed to accept touch screen inputs . for example , a user can enable or disable the “ asoos ” operations by touching an icon , an image or a gui widget ( e . g ., a button ) which is displayed on the display screen . embodiments of the present invention are not limited in this regard . system interface 122 allows the cd 100 to communicate directly or indirectly with external communication devices ( e . g ., a server ). if the cd 100 is communicating indirectly with the external communication device , then the cd 100 is sending and receiving communications through a common network ( e . g ., the internet , the world wide web , or a local area network ). as noted above , the cd 100 implements methods for automatically switching “ on ” and “ off ” a “ scroll - on output ” mode . such methods will be described below in relation to fig2 a - 11 . referring now to fig2 a - 2c , there is provided a flow diagram of an exemplary method 200 for automatically switching “ on ” and “ off ” a “ scroll - on output ” mode or enabling and disabling “ scroll - on output ” operations . the method 200 will be described in an instant messaging context . the present invention is not limited in this regard . the method 200 is useful in other applications , such as graphing applications , charting applications , web page applications , e - book applications , document applications , video applications and any other application where content of a computer display , window or viewport can be scrolled . as shown in fig2 a , the method 200 begins with step 202 and continues with step 204 . in step 204 , a window is displayed on a display screen of a computing device ( e . g ., cd 100 of fig1 ). a schematic illustration of an exemplary window 304 displayed on a display screen 302 is shown in fig3 . the window 304 includes an instant messaging window (“ imw ”). imws are well known in the art , and therefore will not be described herein . embodiments of the present invention are not limited in this regard . the window 304 can include any type of window in accordance with a particular application . for example , the window 304 can alternatively include , but is not limited to , a graphing application window , an e - book application window or a media application window . after completing step 204 , the method 200 continues with an optional step 206 . optional step 206 involves receiving a first user input for enabling the asoos function of the computing device . in some embodiments of the present invention , the asoos function can be enabled via a gui widget of an application window , a menu of the application window and / or a gui widget of a configuration window . a schematic illustration of an exemplary gui widget 402 of an application window 304 is shown in fig4 . the gui widget 402 can include , but is not limited to , a button . the provision of such a gui widget 402 has certain advantages . for example , a user of the computing device does not need to navigate to a menu or configuration window to change the scrolling behaviors of the computing device . a schematic illustration of an exemplary menu 506 which facilitates the enablement / disablement of the asoos function is provided in fig5 . as shown in fig5 , a user of the computing device can enable / disable the asoos function by clicking on the caption “ auto scroll ” 504 in the list of commands of the menu 506 . a schematic illustration of an exemplary configuration window 602 which facilitates the enablement / disablement of the asoos function is provided in fig6 . as shown in fig6 , the configuration window 602 includes a plurality of tabs . one of the tabs is a “ scrolling ” tab having gui widgets for defining parameters for scrolling operations of the computing device ( e . g ., scrollbar location and number of scrollback lines ), enabling / disabling “ scroll - on output ” operations , enabling / disabling “ scroll - on keystroke ” operations , and enabling / disabling “ asoos ” operations . referring again to fig2 a , the method 200 continues with step 208 where first data is received at the computing device . the first data defines first content to be displayed in the window ( e . g ., imw 304 of fig3 ). in a next step 210 , the first content is displayed in the window ( e . g ., imw 304 of fig3 ). a schematic illustration of exemplary first content 706 displayed in the window 304 of fig3 is provided in fig7 . the first content 706 includes all of the statements made by two people participating in an instant messaging conversation up until the current period of time . upon completing step 210 , step 212 is performed where second data is received . the second data defines second content to be displayed in the window ( e . g ., imw of fig3 ) which is different than the first content . in response to the reception of the second data , the second content is automatically added to the window content , as shown by step 214 . also , the entire content of the window ( e . g ., imw 304 of fig3 ) is automatically scrolled such that the second content is seen by a user of the computing device , as also shown by step 214 . a schematic illustration of exemplary second content 802 added to the window 304 of fig3 is provided in fig8 . as shown in fig8 , the entire content of the window 304 has been scrolled such that the second content 802 is seen by a user of the computing device . the second content 802 includes the most recent instant messaging output of the computing device . for example , the second content 802 includes the last statement made by one of the people participating in the instant messaging conversation . as also shown in fig8 , a bar 810 of a scrollbar 804 is located near an end of a trough 808 thereof . the importance of the bar &# 39 ; s 810 position within the trough 808 will become more evident as the discussion progresses . referring again to fig2 a , the method 200 continues with step 216 where a user input for scrolling the content of the window is received . in some embodiments of the present invention , the user input is an input for moving a bar from a first position within a trough of a scrollbar to a second position within the trough of the scrollbar . the user input can include , but is not limited to , the dragging of the bar within the trough , the clicking on an arrow button of the scrollbar , the touching of the arrow button of the scrollbar , a depression of a key on a keyboard , a voice command or a gesture command . in response to the reception of the user input , steps 218 and 220 are performed . notably , step 218 is an optional step . if the method 200 includes optional step 218 , then steps 218 and 220 can be performed simultaneously , concurrently or sequentially ( as shown in fig2 a ). optional step 218 involves moving a bar of a scrollbar from a first position to a second position with a trough of the scrollbar . the second position is located a first distance from an end of the scrollbar or end of a trough of the scrollbar . a schematic illustration of a bar 810 in a first position is shown in fig8 . the first position is near or adjacent to an end 812 of the trough 808 of the scrollbar 804 . a schematic illustration of the bar 810 in a second position is shown in fig9 . the bar 810 has been moved from its first position to its second position by a user software interaction involving clicking on arrow button 806 of the scrollbar 804 or by dragging the bar 810 within the trough 808 of the scrollbar 804 . the second position is located a distance 906 away from the end 812 of the trough 808 . referring again to fig2 , step 220 involves automatically scrolling the content of the window such that third content is seen by a user of the computing device . the third content is defined by third data which was received prior to the first data and / or second data . a schematic illustration of exemplary third content 904 is provided in fig9 . as shown in fig9 , the third content 904 includes previous statements made by the people participating in the instant messaging conversation during a period of time which is earlier than the current period of time . next , a decision step 222 is performed to determine if the first distance ( e . g ., distance 906 of fig9 ) is equal to or less than a threshold value . if the first distance is equal to or less than the threshold value [ 222 : yes ], then step 224 is performed where the method 200 goes to step 244 of fig2 b . step 244 of fig2 b will be described below . if the first distance is not equal to or less than the threshold value [ 222 : no ], then the method 200 continues with a decision step 226 of fig2 b . decision step 226 of fig2 b is performed to determine if “ scroll - on output ” operations are enabled . if the “ scroll - on output ” operations are not enabled [ 226 : no ], then step 228 is performed where the method 200 ends of other processing is performed . if the “ scroll - on output ” operations are enabled [ 226 : yes ], then step 230 is performed . step 230 involves automatically disabling the “ scroll - on output ” operations . by disabling the “ scroll - on output ” operations , the second position of the bar and the content of the window will not be automatically changed when new data is received by the computing device . the new data defines new content to be displayed in the window . upon completing step 230 , step 232 is performed where a user input for scrolling content of the window is received at the computing device . in some embodiments of the present invention , the user input comprises moving the bar from the second position to a third position within the trough of the scrollbar . the user input can include , but is not limited to , the dragging of the bar within the trough , the clicking on an arrow button of the scrollbar , the touching of the arrow button of the scrollbar , a depression of a key on a keyboard , a voice command or a gesture command . in response to the user input , steps 234 and 238 are performed . notably , step 234 is an optional step . if the method 200 includes optional step 234 , then steps 234 and 238 can be performed simultaneously , concurrently or sequentially ( as shown in fig2 b ). in optional step 234 , the bar is moved from the second position to the third position . the third position is located a second distance from the end of the trough of the scrollbar . a schematic illustration of the bar 810 in an exemplary third position is provided in fig1 . as shown in fig1 , the bar 810 is located a distance 1004 from the end 812 of the trough 808 of the scrollbar 804 . the distance 1004 is less than the distance 906 . referring again to fig2 b , step 238 involves automatically scrolling the content of the window such the desired content is seen by the user . a schematic illustration of exemplary desired content 1002 is provided in fig1 . as shown in fig1 , the desired content 1002 includes the latest statements made by the people participating in the instant messaging conversation up until the current period of time . upon completing step 238 , a decision step 240 is performed to determine if the second distance is equal to or less than a threshold value . the threshold value can be the same as or different than the threshold value used in previous step 222 of fig2 a . if the second distance is not equal to or less than the threshold value [ 240 : no ], then step 242 is performed where the method 200 ends or other processing is performed . if the second distance is equal to or less than the threshold value [ 240 : yes ], then a decision step 244 is performed . in decision step 244 , a decision is made as to whether or not the “ scroll - on output ” operations are enabled . if the “ scroll - on output ” operations are enabled [ 244 : yes ], then step 242 is performed . if the “ scroll - on output ” operations are not enabled [ 244 : no ], then step 246 of fig2 c is performed where the “ scroll - on output ” operations are automatically enabled . by enabling the “ scroll - on output ” operations , the content of the window will be automatically scrolled in response to the reception of new data which defines new content to be displayed in the window . in a next step 248 , the new data is received at or by the computing device . in response to the reception of the new data , step 250 is performed where the new content is automatically added to the window . also in step 250 , the entire content of the window is automatically scrolled such that the new content is seen by the user . a schematic illustration of exemplary new content 1102 being displayed in the window 304 of fig3 is provided in fig1 . as shown in fig1 , the new content 1102 includes the most recent statements made by a person participating in the instant messaging conversation . subsequent to the completion of step 250 , step 252 is performed where the method 200 ends or other processing is performed . all of the apparatus , methods and algorithms disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure . while the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments , it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the apparatus , methods and sequence of steps of the method without departing from the concept , spirit and scope of the invention . more specifically , it will be apparent that certain components may be added to , combined with , or substituted for the components described herein while the same or similar results would be achieved . all such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit , scope and concept of the invention as defined .	6
the reference numeral 1 designates generally a movement control apparatus operable to provide for free passage to people in one direction and restricted passage in the opposite direction at a point of entry or exit to a building , or the like . the apparatus 1 is provided with an override device designated generally 2 that will allow reverse movement of people and / or items through the apparatus in a selective and controlled manner . the apparatus 1 includes a pair of spaced apart barriers 3 defining a pathway 4 therebetween . the apparatus 1 includes a normal pathway entrance 5 and a normal pathway exit 6 . the apparatus 1 is positioned adjacent a doorway 7 that may be provided with a door 8 with the pathway 4 being in - line with the doorway 7 . the relative position of the barriers 3 to the doorway 7 is such as to not allow use of the doorway without traversing the pathway 4 . the apparatus 1 is provided with at least one gate arm 10 that is pivotal between a closed position and an open position . a sensor 12 is operably connected to a motion limiting system 14 to selectively prevent opening movement of an arm 10 upon detection of and distinguishing motion of a person toward the apparatus 1 . the barriers 3 may be any suitable barriers including walls of a building or the like in which the apparatus 1 is contained . as shown , the barriers 3 each include a pair of uprights 16 with the plurality of generally horizontal and vertical spaced rails 17 secured to the upright 16 and extending therebetween . the spaces between the rails 17 and between the bottom rail 17 and the floor 18 is small enough to prevent people from entering the pathway 4 through a barrier 3 . the barriers 3 may be suitable secured to the floor 18 as for example with fasteners extending through flange mounts 20 . preferably , the rails 17 and uprights 16 are made of a tarnish resistant metal material for example , stainless steel or aluminum . a suitable total height of a barrier 3 is on the order of approximately 3 feet ( 1 meter ). the width of the pathway 4 is preferably on the order of 3 to 4 feet ( 1 - 1 . 2 meters ) and the length can be on the order of 6 to 8 feet ( 2 - 2 . 5 meters ). the apparatus 1 includes at least one arm 10 extending into the pathway 4 a substantial distance . preferably , an arm 10 extends entirely across the pathway 4 . while an arm 10 is shown extending the entire width of the pathway 4 , it is to be understood that an arm 10 may be pivotally mounted on each of the barriers 3 and have their distal ends 22 positioned adjacent one another within the pathway 4 . an arm 10 can be of a tubular metal construction and is also preferably made of a tarnish resistant metal in a preferred embodiment . in the illustrated structure , a pair of arms 10 are mounted to a barrier 3 with one being adjacent the entrance 5 and one being adjacent the exit 6 to enhance security . the arms 10 are pivotally mounted for movement in a forward direction , i . e ., in a direction from the entrance 5 toward the exit 6 , i . e ., the direction of normal travel through the pathway 4 . it is to be understood that the apparatus 1 may be used adjacent an exit door as well as an entrance door as described herein . the apparatus 1 controls movement of people so that they are compelled to move in only one direction through the pathway 4 during normal use of the pathway 4 . the apparatus 1 may be configured to preclude exit through the entry door or entry through the exit door . an arm 10 is preferably a tubular metal member pivotally mounted on a respective barrier 3 . as shown , the arms 10 are mounted on one barrier 3 on a top rail 17 thereof . in a preferred embodiment , as best seen in fig1 , 4 , 6 , an arm 10 has a proximal end 29 mounted to a respective motion limiting device designated generally 30 which has a portion thereof shielded in a housing 31 . the arm 10 is mounted on an underside of a portion of the device 30 as on a pivot shaft 33 ( fig6 ). an arm return device 34 as best seen in fig2 , 6 , is provided . the return device 34 can be a torsion spring which can both resist opening movement and induce closing movement of an arm 10 . as shown , the return device 34 is mounted on a hydraulic actuator 37 portion of the motion limiting system 30 . the actuator 37 has shafts 33 , 39 on opposite ends thereof with the arm 10 being mounted on the shaft 33 and the return device 34 being mounted on the shaft 39 . preferably , the actuator 37 is a vane type hydraulic actuator that will pump fluid in either direction of rotation , i . e ., for forward movement of the arm 10 or reverse movement of the arm 10 . the motion limiting system 14 also includes a valve arrangement 40 that is in flow communication with the actuator 37 and is operable to allow free flow of fluid during normal operation of the arm 10 in the forward direction , i . e ., from the arm closed position to the arm open position . once the arm 10 is moved to an open position a user may release the arm and the return device 34 will urge the arm 10 to move in a reverse direction toward its closed position . the speed of the closing movement of an arm 10 can be controlled by the valve 42 during normal operation . preferably , the valve 42 can be selectively closed , as hereinafter described . preferably , the valve 42 is a solenoid operated check valve wherein the solenoid 43 is operable to move the valve element ( not shown ) to a completely closed condition preventing movement of the actuator 37 and its respective arm 10 upon receipt by the solenoid 43 of a control signal . the motion limiting system 14 can also include a stop device ( not shown ) to physically limit the amount of closing and opening movement of an arm 10 . for example , the upright 16 may be used to limit movement of an arm 10 in the forward direction . preferably , a stop is provided to prevent movement of an arm 10 rearward of the closed position . a motion sensor designated generally 12 is provided and is operable to sense both the presence of a person and the direction of movement of the person . if the motion of a person is other than away from the arm 10 , this is sensed by the sensor 12 which is operable to provide a signal from a programmed control device to the motion limiting system 14 to selectively prevent the arm 10 from being moved in a forward position . the sensor 12 , with its associated software , is operable to allow a person to move normally through the pathway 4 in the forward direction . suitable sensors 12 are available from massa . upon detecting movement of a person toward an arm 10 , the sensor 12 sends a signal to the solenoid 43 to move the valve 42 to a closed position . when the valve 42 is closed , the actuator 37 is locked against forward rotation , preventing the arm 10 from moving to an open or more open position , thus preventing a person from approaching the exit of the apparatus 1 and moving through in an unauthorized direction without permission . the arm 10 can be moved to a more closed position , but not a more open position . the sensor 12 is also operable to actuate an alert system in a preferred embodiment . the alert system , designated generally 60 , is operably connected to the sensor 12 which sends a signal to the alert system 60 to actuate the same in the event unauthorized movement is detected adjacent an arm 10 . a sensor 12 is preferably associated with each arm 10 so that both arms can lock if there is unauthorized motion . the alert system 60 can include a speaker operably connected to a message playback device 61 such that activation of the playback device 61 will effect playback of a message through the speaker 62 contained in a housing 63 . the playback message may inform a person that they have moved too close to an arm 10 in an unauthorized direction , that the arm 10 is now locked and will prevent movement through the pathway 4 and that the person is to move to another location . the sensor 12 may also be operable to detect movement away from the arm and automatically reset the motion limiting system allowing people to once again enter through the pathway 4 . the apparatus 1 may be configured to also require an authorized person to reset the apparatus 1 . in addition to the audio alert , a visual alert device designated generally 70 , in the form of a light or flashing light may also be provided to alert an authorized person or other personnel that an unauthorized exit attempt has been made . warning signs ( not shown ) may also be provided on the apparatus 1 to alert people to the security system to act as a further deterrent . fig8 illustrates a schematic of the fluid flow and actuator 37 control system . the actuator 37 has a pair of ports 80 , 81 . the port 80 is operable for outflow when the arm 10 is moving to a closed position as described above . the port 81 is operable to permit outflow of fluid when the arm 10 is moving to an open position as described above . during normal opening movement of the arm 10 , the fluid flow goes through the conduit 82 and is substantially unimpeded through a check valve 83 to and through conduit 84 to a solenoid actuated valve 85 . the valve 85 can be in the form of a double check valve . the fluid then returns to the actuator 37 through the conduit 87 back to port 80 and the actuator 37 for loop flow . thus , the opening movement of the arm 10 is substantially unimpeded during normal approved or authorized use of apparatus 1 . during normal closing movement of an arm 10 , the flow of fluid is out port 80 through the conduit 87 back to the actuator through the conduit 82 and a flow control valve 89 . the flow control valve 89 is preferably a variable flow control valve which can adjustably control the closing speed of the arm 10 under the influence of the arm return device 34 . during arm return movement , the fluid from actuator 37 can flow through the valves 42 and / or 85 depending upon their operating configuration . should a signal be received from the sensor 12 and the alert system 60 controller , the valves 42 and 85 move to a closed configuration to prevent flow from the conduit 87 to either the conduit 84 or conduit 82 by actuation of the respective solenoids 43 , 90 . a pressure relief valve 93 may be provided to allow for selective flow communication from the conduit 87 to the conduit 82 in the event an overload condition is applied to an arm 10 . when a predetermined pressure in the system is applied to the relief valve 93 , due to excessive force applied to an arm 10 , the valve 93 will move to an open position , which may be variable , to allow flow from port 80 to port 81 through conduits 82 , 87 , 94 . preferably , a large force would be required to open valve 93 to permit movement of the arm 10 to a closed position when valves 85 , 42 are closed to flow from conduit 87 to conduit 82 . the relief valve 93 prevents overloading its arm 10 and damage thereto . the components may be housed in a housing 95 shown schematically in fig8 . the apparatus 1 described above was generally described in a single arm configuration . as seen in fig1 , a multiple arm 10 configuration is provided . both arms 10 , the entry end arm 10 a and the exit arm 10 b may have similar motion limiting systems 14 and motion sensors 12 , both utilizing the alarms 60 , 70 as described above . the use of multiple arms 10 adds an extra level of security should someone bypass the first arm 10 in an attempt to leave the facility in an unauthorized direction . in a preferred embodiment of a multiple arm apparatus , the arms operate mechanically independent of one another . an override system may be provided to allow authorized personnel to move through the apparatus 1 in the unauthorized direction . this may be desirable , for example , when moving items out of the facility , for example , shopping carts . one form of override 2 , can be in the form of a key switch which will deactivate the sensor 12 from being able to send a signal to the solenoid 43 allowing the valve 42 to work normally and allow a person who is authorized to move the arm or arms 10 to an open position . the override 2 may be simply a switch installed in the circuit powering the sensor 12 or prevent a signal from being sent to the solenoid 43 allowing the valve 42 to move to a normally open position or remain in a normally open position . fig9 - 13 illustrate an alternate embodiment of the present invention . it is similar to and operates substantially the same as the embodiment disclosed above and shown in fig1 - 8 . the main difference is in the type of actuator used to control movement of the arms 10 of the embodiment shown in fig1 - 8 . the reference number 101 designates generally a modified form of movement control apparatus similar to the apparatus 1 . the apparatus 101 is also provided with an override device designated generally 2 that will allow reverse movement of people and / or items through the apparatus in a selective and controlled manner . the apparatus 101 includes a pair of spaced apart barriers 3 defining a pathway 4 therebetween . the apparatus 1 includes a normal pathway entrance 5 and a normal pathway exit 6 . the apparatus 101 is positioned adjacent a doorway 7 ( shown in fig1 ) that may be provided with a door 8 ( fig1 ) with the pathway 4 being in line with the doorway 7 . the relative position of the barriers 3 to the doorway 7 is such as to not allow use of the doorway without traversing the pathway 4 . the apparatus 101 is provided with at least one gate arm 10 that is pivotal between a closed position and an open position . a pair of arms 10 is preferred . a sensor 12 is operably connected to a motion limiting system 114 to selectively prevent opening movement of an arm 10 upon detection of and distinguishing motion of a person toward the apparatus 101 in an unauthorized direction . in a preferred embodiment , as best seen in fig9 , 10 and 11 , an arm 10 has a proximal end 29 mounted to a respective motion limiting device designated generally 130 which has a portion thereof shielded in a housing 131 . the arm 10 is mounted on an underside of a portion of the device 130 as on a pivot shaft 133 . an arm return device 134 as best seen in fig1 is provided . the return device 134 can be a compression or a tension spring which can both resist opening movement and induce closing movement of a respective arm 10 . as shown , the return device 134 is mounted on a hydraulic actuator 137 portion of the motion limiting system 130 . as described above , the actuator 37 was preferably a vane type hydraulic actuator whereas the actuator 137 of this embodiment is a piston cylinder or other form of linear actuator that preferably uses a fluid such as hydraulic oil for operation . as shown , the return device 134 is mounted on a rod portion 135 of a hydraulic cylinder of the double rod piston type in a preferred embodiment and is preferably enclosed in a housing 136 . the actuator 137 is preferably operable to pump fluid in either direction of reciprocation , i . e ., for forward movement of the arm 10 or reverse movement of the arm 10 from the open position to a closed position . the motion limiting system 114 also includes a valve arrangement 140 that is in flow communication with the actuator 137 and is operable to allow free flow of fluid during normal operation of the arm in the forward direction , i . e ., from the arm closed position to the arm open position . as seen in fig9 , the arms 10 are in the arm closed positions extending across the pathway 4 . once an arm 10 is moved to an open position , a user may release the arm and the return device 134 will urge the arm 10 to move in a reverse direction toward its closed position . the valve arrangement 140 may also include a flow control valve 143 to regulate flow out of the actuator 137 during opening movement which is shown to movement from the right to the left in fig1 as more fully described below . the speed of the closing movement of an arm can be controlled by a flow control valve 143 which is part of the valve arrangement 140 during normal operation . the valve 142 is preferably an adjustable valve which allows flow in two directions with the fluid flow rate being determined by the force applied by a spring in the valve 143 . the valve 142 , preferably a pressure operated check value is provided to force flow through valve 143 during normal opening and closing movement of an arm 10 . the force applied by the valve spring 142 s may be adjustable . a motion sensor designated generally 12 is described above and is provided and operable to sense both the presence of a person ( or object ) and the direction of movement of the person ( or object ) as described above . the sensor 12 is operably connected to the valve arrangement 140 and specifically to the valve 145 . preferably , the valve 145 is a solenoid activated spring return valve having a plurality of selectable port connections and preferably three different port connections as shown in fig1 . the valve 145 as shown has a pair of solenoids 146 that are operably connected to the sensor 12 . the valve 145 is operable to make various port connections for operation of the actuator 137 as more fully described below . valve 145 is operable such that the arm 10 can be moved to a more closed position but not a more open position when an unauthorized direction of movement toward the apparatus 101 is sensed . fig1 schematically illustrates the fluid flow option and one actuator 137 control system . the valve 145 is preferably a spool valve and is preferably constructed to provide a plurality of and as shown , three separate flow paths through the valve 145 . the valve 145 is shown is its normal operating configuration for normal opening and closing movement of an arm 10 . each arm 10 , in the illustrated structure is provided with a respective actuator 137 and a respective valve . in a preferred embodiment , the actuator 137 is a double rod piston cylinder system 140 such that during movement in either direction a given amount , it will displace an amount of fluid that has been made room for on the other side of the piston and avoids a self - locking piston arrangement because of a difference in volume change due to movement . the arrangement is also preferred , because the actuator can function as its own tank and pump providing a closed system . one side 137 a of the actuator 137 is connected via a conduit 151 to the valve 145 and the other side 137 b of the cylinder actuator is connected via a conduit 152 to a branch conduit having portions 153 , 154 connected in flow communication between the conduit 152 and the valve 145 . the conduit 153 is connected to a port 156 and the conduct 151 is connected to a port 157 . the conduit 154 is connected to a port 158 . the port 159 is provided but is normally closed . preferably , the conduit 154 is connected first to the check valve 142 which in turn is connected to the port 158 to provide flow communication between the conduit 154 and the port 158 . the conduit 153 can be provided with the flow control valve 143 connecting the conduit 153 to the port 156 . the flow control valve 143 may be adjustable if desired . in operation , during normal operation , i . e ., use of the apparatus 1 in a normal direction , a user would encounter and engage first one of the arms , 10 and pivot it around its pivotally mounted end and then the second arm 10 . the pivoting movement then will extend the cylinder 137 , which as seen in fig1 a movement to the left through its attachment to its arm 10 through a crank arm 160 mounted on a respective shaft 133 . the arm 160 may be connected to a respective rod 135 via a clevis connector 161 . during opening movement , a user moves the arm against the spring 134 . when the arm 10 is released by the user , the spring 134 will move the cylinder 137 and arm 10 back to the arm closed position . the cylinder 137 is constructed to provide equal changes in volumes in the cylinder portions 137 a , 137 b during movement of the cylinder . this allows for the hydraulic system of the present invention to be utilized without a separate tank because the cylinder itself functions as both a tank and a cylinder . the above - described normal opening and closing is accomplished with the valve being shown in its central position 145 b as illustrated in fig1 . during closing movement , flow of fluid can be controlled by the flow regulator 143 . there are two other modes of operation of the cylinder 137 that are controlled by moving the valve 145 to one of its other two positions 145 a , 145 b as seen in fig1 . when the sensor 12 senses movement in an unauthorized direction , for example , an unauthorized exit through the apparatus 101 , it will send a signal to the valve 145 and configure the valve for operation with the porting configuration shown as 145 a . in this configuration , an arm or both arms 10 in the apparatus 101 are locked against opening movement but can , with a predetermined amount of force , can be moved to closed or more closed position by forcing fluid to flow through the check valve 142 . that is , the cylinder 137 can be moved to a more closed position but cannot be moved to an open position or to the left as seen in fig1 . the sensor 12 , may also send a signal depending upon its programming , to the valve 145 to move it to the porting configuration shown in 145 c . in this valve configuration , the cylinder 137 is locked against movement in both directions . this mode can be used to prevent both unauthorized entry and exit . as described above , an override system 2 may be provided which will allow store personnel or the like to activate this mode which will even though movement in an unauthorized direction is present , to allow the cylinder 137 to move in both opening and closing directions if it is desired , for example , to have an authorized person move in an unauthorized direction through the apparatus 101 . thus , there has been shown and described several embodiments of a novel invention . as is evident from the foregoing description , certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein , and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications , or equivalents thereof , will occur to those skilled in the art . the terms “ having ” and “ including ” and similar terms as used in the foregoing specification are used in the sense of “ optional ” or “ may include ” and not as “ required ”. many changes , modifications , variations and other uses and applications of the present invention will , however , become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings . all such changes , modifications , variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow .	4
the following description is of the best - contemplated mode of carrying out the invention . this description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention and should not be taken in a limiting sense . the scope of the invention is best determined by reference to the appended claims . fig4 shows an embodiment of a system for coexistence between a wlan module and a bluetooth module sharing a single antenna . the system 400 comprises an antenna 402 , switching devices 404 and 406 , a connection device 408 , a wlan module 410 , a bluetooth module 412 and a controller 414 . the controller 414 may operate as a packet traffic arbitrator ( pta ) controller to receive bluetooth traffic requests ( labeled as bt_req ) and wlan traffic requests ( labeled as wlan_req ) and determine whether a bluetooth traffic request bt_req has collided with a wlan traffic request wlan_req within a time period . if a collision occurs , the pta controller 414 may grant both of the requests or may grant only one of the requests while rejecting the other , depending on frequency bands , priorities , operation types ( e . g . tx / rx operation ), power levels or others . the pta controller 414 then accordingly controls the switching device 404 and 406 by control signals ( labeled as first_ctrl and second_ctrl ) to enable one or both of the wlan module 410 and bluetooth module 412 to transmit or receive data via the shared antenna 402 . the controller 414 may alternatively act as a traffic scheduler to collect bluetooth schedules ( labeled as bt_sched ) specifying bluetooth tx / rx operations and wlan schedules ( labeled as wlan_sched ) specifying wlan tx / rx operations in a forthcoming time period , discover all fractional time periods having both bluetooth and wlan operations ( also called collided time periods ) and may cancel one of the bluetooth and wlan operations in the discovered time periods according to priorities , operation types , power levels or others . the traffic scheduler 414 then accordingly controls the switching device 404 and 406 by control signals ( labeled as first_ctrl and second_ctrl ) to enable one or both of the wlan module 410 and bluetooth module 412 to transmit or receive data via the shared antenna 402 . collision between upcoming bluetooth and wlan operations means that the operations are fully or partially overlapped with each other in a future time period . it is to be understood that the controller 414 may be integrated into the module 412 or the wlan module 410 to reduce hardware cost . the switching device 404 , which consists of at least three terminals 50 , 52 and 54 as shown in fig5 a or 5 b , is configured to connect the terminal 50 to the terminal 52 or 54 , as controlled by the controller 414 . the switching device 406 , which consists of four terminals 60 , 62 , 64 and 66 as shown in fig6 , is configured to connect the terminal 64 to the terminal 60 or 62 , or connect the terminal 66 to the terminal 60 and 62 , as controlled by the controller 414 . the connection device 408 , which consists of three terminals 70 , 72 and 74 as shown in fig7 a , is configured to connect the terminals 70 and 72 to form a transceiving path ( through path ), and connect the terminals 70 and 74 to form another transceiving path ( coupled path ), wherein the terminal 72 is isolated from the terminal 74 by substantially 20 db , in which electrical signals passing through the path between terminals 70 and 72 are substantially attenuated by 6 or 10 db . the switching devices 404 and 406 , connection device 408 , wlan module 410 , bluetooth module 412 and controller 414 may be disposed on a printed circuit board ( pcb ). as shown in fig5 a , the switching device 404 may be implemented by a single - pole double - thrown ( spdt ). referring to fig5 b , the switching device 404 may be alternatively implemented by a double - pole double - thrown ( dpdt ) switch with a terminal 56 coupled to or connected to an external node for impedance matching . the external node may be another antenna or a resistor ( for example , a 50ω resistor ). in addition , the switching device 406 may be implemented by a dpdt switch as shown in fig6 . referring to fig7 a again , the connection device 408 may contain an attenuator attenuating electrical signals passing through the terminals 70 and 74 by 20 db . referring to fig7 b , the connection device 408 may alternatively contain a directional coupler , in which the terminals 70 and 72 are connected as a through path , terminal 74 and an external node 76 are connected as a through path , terminals 70 and 74 are coupled as a coupled path and terminals 72 and 74 are isolated , with an isolation loss of around 20 - 40 db , wherein the through path is a direct or indirect through path and the external node may be connected to a resistor ( for example , a 50ω resistor ). note that the through path between terminals 70 and 72 may have a path loss between 0 . 6 db and 0 . 8 db substantially , whereas the coupled path between terminals 70 and 74 may have a path loss between 9 . 5 db and 10 . 5 db substantially . or , the through path between terminals 70 and 72 may have a path loss between 1 . 1 db and 1 . 4 db substantially , whereas the coupled path between terminals 70 and 74 may have a path loss between 5 . 7 db and 6 . 3 db substantially . referring to fig8 a , by using two transmission lines set sufficiently close together such that electrical signals ( or energy ) directed from the terminal 70 ( connected to a port called an input port ) to the terminal 72 ( connected to a port called a transmitted port ) is coupled to the terminal 74 ( connected to a port called a coupled port ). referring to fig8 b , similarly , electrical signals ( or energy ) directed from the terminals 74 ( connected to a port called an input port ) to a transmitted port ( such as port 76 in fig7 b ) is coupled to the terminal 70 ( connected to a port called a coupled port ) and isolated from the terminal 72 ( connected to a port called an isolated port ), such that the coupled signals can be added to the electrical signals passing through the terminals 72 to 70 . as stated above , the connection device 408 may contain an attenuator ( fig7 a ) or a directional coupler ( fig7 b ). alternatively , the connection device 408 may contain a power divider , as shown in fig7 c . in fig7 c , the terminals 72 and 74 are isolated and both ideally have a loss of 3 db ( 3 . 5 db in practice ). alternatively , the connection device 408 may contain a power splitter . the structure of the power splitter is similar to the power divider , but with different losses occurring between the output ports . for a power splitter , referring to fig7 c , the losses of terminals 72 and 74 are different . for example , the terminal 72 may have a loss of 10 db , whereas the terminal 74 may have a loss of 0 . 5 db , or the terminal 72 may have a loss of 6 db , whereas the terminal 74 may have a loss of 1 db . alternatively , the connection device 408 may be implemented by a pcb pad with an input port and two output ports , in which one of the output ports has a loss of ndb and another output port has a loss of 1 db or smaller , as designed based on requirement . note the power splitter may be implemented using a directional coupler , such as the one of fig7 b , with the terminal 76 connected to a resistor for impedance matching and terminals 72 and 74 being isolated . with the power splitter implemented using a directional coupler as shown in fig7 b , the terminal 72 may have a loss of 10 db , whereas the terminal 74 may have a loss of 0 . 5 db , or the terminal 72 may have a loss of 6 db , whereas the terminal 74 may have a loss of 1 db . table 1 shows a combination of potential operations performed by the wlan module 410 and the bluetooth module 412 , according to the system 400 of fig4 : in table 1 above , “ 1 ” means true , representing the existence of a corresponding operation , whereas “ 0 ” means false , representing the absence of a corresponding operation . the situation for case 1 will not be discussed , as no operation exists . the cases 7 and 8 , where the wlan module 410 performs tx and rx operations simultaneously , is not permitted and therefore not discussed . the above cases will be discussed with references made to the flowchart as shown in fig9 . fig9 a and 9b show a flowchart for handling coexistence between wlan and bluetooth modules performed by the controller , according to an embodiment of the invention . the procedure begins at obtaining information regarding potential operation ( s ) that is / are going to be performed by the wlan module 410 and bluetooth module 412 in a forthcoming time period , which has / have been granted or scheduled by the controller 414 . subsequently , a series of inspections with respect to the obtained information are accordingly performed to determine whether only one or both of the wlan module 410 and bluetooth module 412 occupy the time period , and determine whether the time period is occupied for a tx and / or an rx operation . specifically , the information regarding potential operation ( s ) that is / are going to be performed by the wlan module 410 and bluetooth module 412 in a forthcoming time period is obtained ( step s 900 ). next , it is determined whether only the bluetooth module 412 occupies the time period for an operation ( tx / rx operation ) ( step s 902 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the first switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 54 for the time period as shown in fig1 a ( case 2 ) ( step s 904 ), thereby enabling the bluetooth rx signals to be received by the bluetooth module 412 from the single antenna 402 through terminals 50 , 54 , 70 and 72 in sequence , or enabling the bluetooth tx signals to be transmitted from the bluetooth module 412 through terminals 72 , 70 , 54 and 50 in sequence to the single antenna 402 . subsequent to step s 902 , if not , it is determined whether only the wlan module 410 occupies the time period for a tx operation ( step s 906 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the first switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 52 and directs the second switching device 406 to connect the terminals 60 and 64 for the time period as shown in fig1 b ( case 5 ) ( step s 908 ), thereby enabling the wlan tx signals to be transmitted from the wlan module 410 through terminals 64 , 60 , 52 and 50 in sequence to the single antenna 402 . subsequent to step s 906 , if not , it is determined whether only the wlan module 410 occupies the time period for an rx operation ( step s 910 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the first switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 52 and directs the second switching device 406 to connect the terminals 60 and 66 for the time period as shown in fig1 c ( case 3 ) ( step s 912 ), thereby enabling the wlan rx signals to be received by the wlan module 410 from the single antenna 402 through terminals 50 , 52 , 60 and 66 in sequence . subsequent to step s 910 , if not , it is determined whether the wlan module 410 occupies the time period for a tx operation ( step s 914 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the first switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 54 and directs the second switching device 406 to connect the terminals 62 and 64 for the time period when the time period is occupied by the wlan module 410 and bluetooth module 412 for a bluetooth rx or tx operation as well as a wlan tx operation as shown in fig1 d ( case 6 ) ( step s 916 ), thereby enabling the wlan tx signals to be transmitted with a certain level of signal strength attenuation through terminals 64 , 62 , 74 , 70 , 54 and 50 in sequence from the wlan module 410 to the antenna 402 , and enabling the bluetooth rx signals to be received by the bluetooth module 412 from the antenna 402 through terminals 50 , 54 , 70 and 72 in sequence , or the bluetooth tx signals to be transmitted from the bluetooth module 412 through terminals 72 , 70 , 54 and 50 in sequence to the antenna 402 . subsequent to step s 914 , if not , it is determined whether the wlan module 410 occupies the time period for an rx operation ( step s 918 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the first switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 54 and directs the second switching device 406 to connect the terminals 62 and 66 for the time period when the time period is occupied by both the wlan module 410 and bluetooth module 412 for a bluetooth rx or tx operation as well as a wlan rx operation as shown in fig1 e ( case 4 ) ( step s 920 ), thereby enabling the wlan rx signals to be received by the wlan module 410 with a certain level of signal strength attenuation through terminals 50 , 54 , 70 , 74 , 62 and 66 in sequence from the antenna 402 , and enabling the bluetooth rx signals to be received by the bluetooth module 412 from the antenna 402 through terminals 50 , 54 , 70 and 72 in sequence , or the bluetooth tx signals to be transmitted from the bluetooth module 412 through terminals 72 , 70 , 54 and 50 in sequence to the antenna 402 . with the system 400 of fig4 , those skilled in the art may readily modify the hardware architecture thereof by separating the integrated port ( labeled as bt_trx of fig4 ) into two ports ( labeled as bt_tx and bt_rx ) and disposing a switching device 416 between the connection device 408 and the bluetooth module 412 for connecting a terminal 110 to a terminal 112 or 114 depending on the bluetooth operation type ( e . g . a bluetooth tx or rx operation ), as the system 1100 shown in fig1 . the switching device 416 may be implemented by an spdt switch . the controller 414 then controls three switching devices 404 , 406 and 416 by control signals ( labeled as first_ctrl , second_ctrl and third_ctrl ) to enable the wlan module 410 and bluetooth module 412 to transmit or receive data via the shared antenna 402 . table 2 shows a combination of potential operations performed by the wlan module 410 and the bluetooth module 412 , according to the system 1100 of fig1 : in table 2 above , case 1 is not discussed as no operation exists . the cases 13 to 16 , where the wlan module 410 performs tx and rx operations simultaneously , is not permitted in the system 1100 and therefore not discussed . based on the same reason , the cases 4 , 8 and 12 , where the bluetooth module 412 performs tx and rx operations simultaneously , are also not discussed . the other cases will be discussed with references made to the flowchart in fig1 . according to the modified architecture shown in fig1 , those skilled in the art may readily modify the control flow of fig9 a and 9b to that of fig1 a to 12c by incorporating more inspections and controls with respect to the newly added switching device 416 . in fig1 , the procedure begins at obtaining information regarding potential operation ( s ) that is / are going to be performed by the wlan module 410 and bluetooth module 412 in a forthcoming time period , which has / have been granted or scheduled by the controller 414 ( step s 1200 ). next , it is determined whether only the bluetooth module 412 occupies the time period for a tx operation ( step s 1202 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 54 and directs the third switching device 416 to connect the terminals 110 and 112 for the time period when the time period is occupied by only the bluetooth module 412 for a tx operation ( case 3 ) ( step s 1204 ), thereby enabling the tx signals to be transmitted from the bluetooth module 412 through terminals 112 , 110 , 72 , 70 , 54 and 50 in sequence to the shared antenna 402 . subsequent to step 1202 , if not , it is determined whether only the bluetooth module 412 occupies the time period for an rx operation ( step s 1206 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 54 and directs the switching device 416 to connect terminals 110 and 114 for the time period when the time period is occupied by only the bluetooth module 412 for an rx operation ( case 2 ) ( step s 1208 ), thereby enabling the bluetooth rx signals to be received by the bluetooth module 412 from the shared antenna 402 through terminals 50 , 54 , 70 , 72 , 110 and 114 in sequence . subsequent to step 1206 , if not , it is determined whether only wlan module 410 occupies the time period for a tx operation ( step s 1210 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 52 and directs the switching device 406 to connect the terminals 60 and 64 for the time period when the time period is occupied by only wlan module 410 for a tx operation ( case 9 ) ( step s 1212 ), thereby enabling the wlan tx signals to be transmitted from the wlan module 410 through terminals 64 , 60 , 52 and 50 in sequence to the shared antenna 402 . — subsequent to step 1210 , if not , it is determined whether only wlan module 410 occupies the time period for an rx operation ( step s 1214 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 52 and directs the switching device 406 to connect the terminals 60 and 66 for the time period when the time period is occupied by only wlan module 410 for an rx operation ( case 5 ) ( step s 1216 ), thereby enabling the wlan rx signals to be received by the wlan module 410 from the shared antenna 402 through terminals 50 , 52 , 60 and 66 in sequence . subsequent to step 1214 , if not , it is determined whether both the wlan module 410 and the bluetooth module 412 occupy the time period for the tx operations ( step s 1218 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 54 , directs the switching device 406 to connect the terminals 62 and 64 , and directs the switching device 416 to connect the terminals 110 and 112 for the time period when the time period is occupied by the bluetooth module 412 for a bluetooth tx operation and the wlan modules 410 for a wlan tx operation ( case 11 ) ( step s 1220 ), thereby enabling the wlan tx signals to be transmitted with a certain level of signal strength attenuation through terminals 64 , 62 , 74 , 70 , 54 and 50 in sequence from the wlan module 410 to the shard antenna 402 , and enabling the bluetooth tx signals to be transmitted from the bluetooth module 412 through terminals 112 , 110 , 72 , 70 , 54 and 50 in sequence to the antenna 402 . subsequent to step 1218 , if not , it is determined whether the wlan module 410 and the bluetooth module 412 occupy the time period for the tx and rx operations , respectively ( step s 1222 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 54 , directs the switching device 406 to connect the terminals 62 and 64 , and directs the switching device 416 to connect the terminals 110 and 114 for the time period when the time period is occupied by the wlan module 410 for a wlan tx operation and the bluetooth module 412 for a bluetooth rx operation ( case 10 ) ( step s 1224 ), thereby enabling the wlan tx signals to be transmitted with a certain level of signal strength attenuation through terminals 64 , 62 , 74 , 70 , 54 and 50 in sequence from the wlan module 410 to the shared antenna 402 , and enabling the bluetooth rx signals to be received by the bluetooth module 412 from the shared antenna 402 through terminals 50 , 54 , 70 , 72 , 110 and 114 in sequence . subsequent to step 1222 , if not , it is determined whether both the wlan module 410 and the bluetooth module 412 occupy the time period for rx operations ( step s 1226 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 54 , directs the second switching device 406 to connect the terminals 62 and 66 , and directs the third switching device 416 to connect the terminals 110 and 114 for the time period when the time period is occupied by the wlan module 410 for a wlan rx operation and the bluetooth module 412 for a bluetooth rx operation ( case 6 ) ( step s 1228 ), thereby enabling the wlan rx signals to be received by the wlan module 410 with a certain level of signal strength attenuation through terminals 50 , 54 , 70 , 74 , 62 and 66 in sequence from the shared antenna 402 , and enabling the bluetooth rx signals to be received by the bluetooth module 412 from the shared antenna 402 through terminals 50 , 54 , 70 , 72 , 110 and 114 in sequence from the shared antenna 402 . subsequent to step 1226 , if not , it is determined whether the wlan module 410 and the bluetooth module 412 occupy the time period for rx and tx operations , respectively ( step s 1230 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 54 , directs the switching device 406 to connect the terminals 62 and 66 , and directs the switching device 416 to connect the terminals 110 and 112 for the time period when the time period is occupied by the wlan module 410 for a wlan rx operation and the bluetooth module 412 for a bluetooth tx operation ( case 7 ) ( step s 1232 ), thereby enabling the wlan rx signals to be received by the wlan module 410 with a certain level of signal strength attenuation through terminals 50 , 54 , 70 , 74 , 62 and 66 in sequence from the shared antenna 402 , and enabling the bluetooth tx signals to be transmitted from the bluetooth module 412 through terminals 112 , 110 , 72 , 70 , 54 and 50 in sequence to the shared antenna 402 . fig1 shows another embodiment of a system for coexistence between a wlan module and a bluetooth module sharing a single antenna . similar to the system 400 of fig4 , the system 1300 herein comprises an antenna 402 , a switching device 404 , a wlan module 410 , a bluetooth module 412 and a controller 414 . the same numerals in fig1 represent similar elements of fig4 without departing from the spirit of the invention , references of the wlan module 410 , bluetooth module 412 , switching device 404 and controller 414 may be made to the descriptions of fig4 for brevity . a switching device 418 is configured to connect a terminal 130 to a terminal 132 or 134 as controlled by the controller 414 , and may be implemented by an spdt switch . the directional coupler 420 consists of four ports 136 , 138 , 140 and 142 which are connected to terminals 52 , bt_trx , 130 and 54 respectively , thereby enabling the terminals 54 and bt_trx to be connected via a first through path , terminals 52 and 130 to be connected via a second through path , bt_trx and 130 to be isolated ( with substantially 20 db of isolation or more ), terminal 54 and 52 to be isolated ( with substantially 20 db of isolation or more ), terminals bt_trx and 52 to be coupled as a first coupled path and terminals 130 and 54 to be coupled as a second coupled path , wherein the first and second through paths are direct or indirect through paths . the switching devices 404 and 418 , directional coupler 420 , wlan module 410 , bluetooth module 412 and controller 414 may be disposed on a pcb . note the first and second through paths may have a loss of 0 . 5 db substantially , whereas the first and second coupled paths may have a loss of 10 db substantially , or the first and second through paths may have a loss of 1 db substantially , whereas the first and second coupled paths may have a loss of 6 db substantially . referring to fig1 a , by using two transmission lines set sufficiently close together , electrical signals ( or energy ) directed from the terminal bt_trx ( connected to the port 138 called an input port ) to terminal 54 ( connected to the port 142 called a transmitted port ) is coupled to the terminal 52 ( connected to the port 136 called a coupled port ) and is isolated from the terminal 130 ( connected to the port 140 called an isolated port ), such that the coupled signals can be added to electrical signals passing through the terminals 130 to 52 . referring to fig1 b , by using two transmission lines set sufficiently close together , electrical signals directed from the terminals 54 ( connected to the port 142 called an input port ) to terminal bt_trx ( connected to the port 138 called a transmitted port ) is coupled to the terminal 130 ( connected to the port 140 called a coupled port ) and isolated from the terminal 52 ( connected to the port 136 called an isolated port ), such that the coupled signals can be added to electrical signals passing through the terminals 52 to 130 . referring to fig1 c , similarly , electrical signals directed from terminals 130 to 52 is coupled to the terminal 54 and can be added to electrical signals passing through the terminals bt_trx to 54 . referring to fig1 d , similarly , electrical signals passing through the terminals 52 to 130 is coupled the terminal bt_trx and can be added to electrical signals passing through the terminals 54 to bt_trx . table 3 shows a combination of potential operations performed by the wlan module 410 and the bluetooth module 412 , according to the system 1300 in fig1 : in table 3 above , the case 1 is not discussed as no operation exists . the cases 7 and 8 , where the wlan module 410 performs tx and rx operations simultaneously , is not permitted in the system 1300 and therefore not discussed . the other cases will be discussed with references made to the flowchart in fig1 . according to the hardware architecture shown in fig1 , those skilled in the art may readily modify the control flow of fig9 to that of fig1 by incorporating similar but different inspections and controlling methods with respect to the switching devices 404 and 418 . in fig1 , the procedure begins at obtaining information regarding all potential operation ( s ) that is / are going to be performed by the wlan module 410 and bluetooth module 412 in a forthcoming time period , which has / have been granted or scheduled by the controller 414 ( step s 1500 ). next it is determined whether only the bluetooth module 412 occupies the time period for a tx or rx operation ( step s 1502 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect terminals 50 and 54 for the time period as shown in fig1 a ( case 2 ) ( step s 1504 ), thereby enabling the bluetooth rx signals to be received by the bluetooth module 412 from the shared antenna 402 through terminals 50 and 54 , and ports 142 and 138 in sequence , or enabling the bluetooth tx signals to be transmitted from the bluetooth module 412 through ports 138 and 142 , and terminals 54 and 50 in sequence to the shared antenna 402 . subsequent to step s 1502 , if not , it is determined whether only the wlan module 410 occupies the time period for a tx operation ( step s 1506 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect terminals 50 and 52 and directs the switching device 418 to connect terminals 130 and 132 for the time period as shown in fig1 b ( case 5 ) ( step s 1508 ), thereby enabling the wlan tx signals to be transmitted from the wlan module 410 through terminals 132 and 130 , ports 140 and 136 , and terminals 52 and 50 in sequence to the shared antenna 402 . subsequent to step s 1506 , if not , it is determined whether only the wlan module 410 occupies the time period for an rx operation ( step s 1510 ). if so , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect terminals 50 and 52 and directs the switching device 418 to connect terminals 130 and 134 for the time period as shown in fig1 c ( case 3 ) ( step s 1512 ), thereby enabling the wlan rx signals to be received by the wlan module 410 from the shared antenna 402 through terminals 50 and 52 , ports 136 and 140 , and terminals 130 and 134 in sequence . subsequent to step s 1510 , if not , it is determined whether signal strength from / to the wlan module 410 exceeds that from / to bluetooth module 412 by a predetermined threshold ( step s 1514 ). if the signal strength of the wlan module 410 exceeds the signal strength of the bluetooth module 412 by the predetermined threshold , it is determined whether the wlan module 410 occupies the time period for a tx or rx operation ( step s 1516 ). if a wlan tx operation is performed , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect terminals 50 and 54 and directs the switching device 418 to connect terminals 130 and 132 for the time period when the time period is occupied by the bluetooth module 412 for an rx or tx operation as well as by the wlan module 410 for a tx operation as shown in fig1 d ( case 6a ) ( step s 1518 ), thereby enabling the wlan tx signals to be transmitted with a certain level of signal strength attenuation through terminals 132 and 130 , ports 140 and 142 , and terminals 54 and 50 in sequence from the wlan module 410 to the shared antenna 402 , and enabling the bluetooth tx signals to be transmitted from the bluetooth module 412 through ports 138 and 142 , and terminals 54 and 50 in sequence to the shared antenna 402 , or enabling the bluetooth rx signals to be received by the bluetooth module 412 from the shared antenna 402 through terminals 50 and 54 , and ports 142 and 138 in sequence . subsequent to step s 1516 , if a wlan rx operation is performed , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect terminals 50 and 54 and directs the switching device 418 to connect terminals 130 and 134 for the time period when the time period is occupied by the bluetooth module 412 for an rx or tx operation as well as by the wlan module 410 for an rx operation as shown in fig1 e ( case 4a ) ( step s 1520 ), thereby enabling the wlan rx signals to be received by the wlan module 410 with a certain level of signal strength attenuation through from the shared antenna 402 terminals 50 and 54 , ports 142 and 140 , and terminals 130 and 134 in sequence , and enabling the bluetooth tx signals to be transmitted from the bluetooth module 412 through ports 138 and 142 , and terminals 54 and 50 in sequence to the shared antenna 402 , or enabling the bluetooth rx signals to be received by the bluetooth module 412 from the shared antenna 402 through the terminals 50 and 54 , and ports 142 and 138 in sequence . subsequent to step s 1514 , if signal strength from / to the wlan module 410 does not exceed signal strength from / to the bluetooth module 412 by the predetermined threshold , it is determined whether the wlan module 410 occupies the time period for a tx or rx operation ( step s 1522 ). if a wlan tx operation is performed , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect terminals 50 and 52 and directs the switching device 418 to connect terminals 130 and 132 for the time period when the time period is occupied by the bluetooth module 412 for an rx or tx operation as well as by the wlan module 410 for a tx operation as shown in fig1 d ( case 6b ) ( step s 1524 ), thereby enabling the wlan tx signals to be transmitted from the wlan module 410 through terminals 132 and 130 , ports 140 and 136 , and terminals 52 and 50 in sequence to the shard antenna 402 , and enabling the bluetooth tx signals to be transmitted with a certain level of signal strength attenuation through ports 138 , and 136 , and terminals 52 and 50 in sequence from the bluetooth module 412 to the shared antenna 402 , or enabling the bluetooth rx signals to be received by the bluetooth module 412 with a certain level of signal strength attenuation through terminals 50 and 52 , and ports 136 and 138 in sequence from the shared antenna 402 . subsequent to step s 1522 , if a wlan rx operation is performed , the controller 414 directs the switching device 404 to connect terminals 50 and 52 and directs the switching device 418 to connect terminals 130 and 134 for the time period when the time period is occupied by the bluetooth module 412 for an rx or tx operation as well as by the wlan module 410 for an rx operation as shown in fig1 e ( case 4b ) ( step s 1526 ), thereby enabling the wlan rx signals to be received by the wlan module 410 from the shared antenna 402 through terminals 50 and 52 , ports 136 and 140 , and terminals 130 and 134 in sequence , and enabling the bluetooth tx signals to be transmitted with a certain level of signal strength attenuation through ports 138 and 136 , and terminals 52 and 50 in sequence from the bluetooth module 412 to the shared antenna 402 , or enabling the bluetooth rx signals to be received with a certain level of signal strength attenuation through terminals 50 and 52 , and ports 136 and 138 in sequence from the shared antenna 402 to the bluetooth module 412 . note that in the embodiment of fig1 , when the operation type of the wlan module 410 is an rx operation and the operation type of the bluetooth module 412 is a tx operation and the tx power level of the bluetooth module 412 is higher than the rx power level of the wlan module 410 by a certain level , the controller 414 may control the switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 52 such that the wlan rx signal is received via the through path between ports 136 and 140 , and the bluetooth tx signal is transmitted via the coupled path between ports 136 and 138 with greater loss . this is to prevent the bluetooth tx operation from interfering with the wlan rx operation . similarly , when the operation type of the wlan module 410 is a tx operation and the operation type of the bluetooth module 412 is an rx operation and the tx power level of the wlan module 410 is higher than the rx power level of the bluetooth module 412 by a certain level , the controller 414 may control the switching device 404 to connect the terminals 50 and 54 such that the wlan tx signal is transmitted via the coupled path between ports 140 and 142 with greater loss , and the bluetooth rx signal is received via the through path between ports 138 and 142 . with the system 1300 of fig1 , those skilled in the art may readily modify the hardware architecture of fig1 to that of fig1 by separating the integrated port ( labeled as bt_trx of fig1 ) into two ports ( labeled as bt_tx and bt_rx of fig1 ) and disposing a switching device 422 between the directional coupler 420 and the bluetooth module 412 for connecting a terminal 160 to a terminal 162 or 164 depending on the bluetooth operation type ( e . g . a bluetooth tx or rx operation ). the switching device 422 may be implemented by an spdt switch . the controller 414 then controls three switching devices 404 , 418 and 422 by control signals ( labeled as first_ctrl , fourth_ctrl and fifth_ctrl ) to enable the wlan module 410 and bluetooth module 412 to transmit or receive data via the shared antenna 402 . table 4 shows a combination of potential operations performed by the wlan module 410 and the bluetooth module 412 , according to the system 1600 shown of fig1 : in table 4 above , the case 1 is not discussed , as no operation exists . the cases 13 to 16 , where the wlan module 410 performs tx and rx operations simultaneously , is not permitted in the system 1600 and therefore not discussed . based on the same reason , the cases 4 , 8 and 12 , where the bluetooth module 412 performs tx and rx operations simultaneously , are also not discussed . the other cases will be discussed with references made to the flowchart in fig1 . according to the hardware architecture shown in fig1 , those skilled in the art may readily modify the control flow of fig1 to that of fig1 by incorporating similar but different inspections and controls with respect to the switching devices 404 , 418 and 422 . details of the control flow in fig1 can be obtained with references made to the descriptions with respect to fig1 and 13 , and are therefore not described hereinafter for brevity . the descriptions so far have been made for systems for the coexistence between wlan and bluetooth wireless communication services according to several embodiments of the invention . the conception of coexistence between wireless communication systems , however , may also apply to worldwide interoperability for microwave access ( wimax ) wireless communication service . ieee 802 . 16 ( wimax ) represents a standard for wireless broadband access , and is designed for outdoor , long - range and carrier - class applications with high throughput . referring to fig1 , a cellular phone may associate a wlan via a wlan module and further camp on a wimax base station through a wimax module , where a wlan access point is deployed inside an 802 . 16 cell . the 802 . 16 standard supports both licensed and license - exempt spectrums , where an 802 . 16a specifies an operation in the 2 - 10 ghz band , supporting raw bit rates of up to 75 mb / s with variable channel bandwidths of 1 . 5 mhz to 20 mhz . the wimax module may use orthogonal frequency - division multiplexing ( ofdm ) mechanism with 20 mhz - wide bandwidth . new interference challenges as the new protocol operates is faced over several frequency bands ( defined by ‘ profiles ” in wimax terminology ), with the most common being 2 . 2 - 2 . 4 ghz and 2 . 5 - 2 . 7 ghz . the frequency separation , although greater than that between bluetooth and wifi , is still not enough to prevent coexistence problems . typically , the interference can be solved by separating wimax and wlan transceiving operations into different time slots . that is , the single antenna can be occupied by only one of the wimax and wlan modules within a time period for a transmission or a receiving operation ( tx or rx ). by using the time division mechanism , however , maintaining high quality speech or data transmission for a wimax wireless communication service would result in limited data throughput for a wlan wireless communication service , and vice versa . fig1 shows a system for coexistence between a wlan module and a wimax module sharing a single antenna according to an embodiment of the invention , which is modified according to the architecture of fig1 . the controller 414 may operate as a pta controller or a traffic scheduler as mentioned above , and control the switching devices 404 , 406 and 416 by control signals ( labeled as first_ctrl , second_ctrl and third_ctrl ) to enable the wlan module 410 and wimax module 424 to transmit or receive data via the shared antenna 402 based on the pta or scheduled results . in addition , a filter 426 is coupled between terminals 74 and 62 , and filters out unwanted frequencies , allowing only the wlan frequency range ( band of frequencies ) to reach the output side . in general , the wlan frequency band is 2 . 4 to 2 . 5 ghz . the filter 426 may be a bandpass filter . a filter 428 is coupled between terminals 72 and 110 , allowing all frequency bands other than the wlan frequency band to reach the output side . the filter 428 may be a notch filter . without departing from the spirit of the invention , an embodiment of a method for handling coexistence between a wlan module 410 and a wimax module 424 performed by the controller 414 can be devised with relevant modifications according to the architecture of fig1 and the flowchart of fig1 . in addition , fig2 shows another embodiment of a system for coexistence between a wlan module 410 and a wimax module sharing a single antenna , which is modified according to the architecture of fig1 . the controller 414 may operate as a pta controller or a traffic scheduler as mentioned above , and control the switching devices 404 , 418 and 422 by control signals ( labeled as first_ctrl , fourth_ctrl and fifth_ctrl ) to enable the bluetooth module 412 and wimax module 424 to transmit or receive data via the shared antenna 402 based on the pta or scheduled results . in addition , the filter 426 is coupled between the port 140 of the directional coupler 420 and the terminal 130 , and the filter 428 is coupled between the port 138 of the directional coupler 420 and the terminal 160 . without departing from the spirit of the invention , an embodiment of a method for handling coexistence between a wlan module and a wimax module performed by the controller can be devised with relevant modifications according to the architecture of fig2 and the control flow of fig1 . similarly , when a wimax transmission occurs on a frequency that falls within the frequency space occupied by an ongoing bluetooth transmission , a certain level of interference may occur , depending on the signal strength thereof . because both the bluetooth module 412 and wimax module 424 share the same spectrum and share a single antenna , avoiding interference therebetween is required . typically , the interference can be solved by separating wimax and bluetooth transceiving operations into different time slots . that is , the single antenna can be occupied by only one of the wimax and bluetooth modules within a time period for a transmission or a receiving operation . by using the time division mechanism , however , maintaining high quality speech or data transmission for a pan would result in limited data throughput for a wimax wireless communication service , and vice versa . fig2 shows another embodiment of a system for coexistence between a bluetooth module and a wimax module sharing a single antenna , which is modified according to the architecture of fig1 . the controller 414 may operate as a pta controller or a traffic scheduler as mentioned above , and control the switching devices 404 , 406 and 422 by control signals ( labeled as first_ctrl , second_ctrl and third_ctrl ) to enable the bluetooth module 412 and wimax module 424 to transmit or receive data via the shared antenna 402 based on the pta or scheduled results . in addition , a filter 430 is coupled between terminals 72 and 160 , and filters out unwanted frequencies , allowing only the bluetooth frequency range ( band of frequencies ) to reach the output side . similar to the waln frequency band , the bluetooth frequency band is 2 . 4 to 2 . 5 ghz . the filter 430 may be a bandpass filter . a filter 432 is coupled between terminals 74 and 62 , allowing all frequency bands other than the bluetooth frequency band to reach the output side . the filter 432 may be a notch filter . without departing from the spirit of the invention , an embodiment of a method for handling coexistence between bluetooth module 412 and wimax module 424 performed by the controller 414 can be devised with relevant modifications according to the architecture of fig2 and the control flow of fig1 . fig2 shows another embodiment of a system for coexistence between a bluetooth module and a wimax module sharing a single antenna , which is modified according to the architecture of fig1 . the controller 414 may operate as a pta controller or a traffic scheduler as mentioned above , and control the switching devices 404 , 416 and 422 by control signals ( labeled as first_ctrl , fourth_ctrl and fifth_ctrl ) to enable the bluetooth module 412 and wimax module 424 to transmit or receive data via the shared antenna 402 based on the pta or scheduled results . in addition , the filter 432 is coupled between the port 140 of the directional coupler 420 and the terminal 130 , and the filter 430 is coupled between the port 138 of the directional coupler 420 and the terminal 160 . without departing from the spirit of the invention , an embodiment of a method for handling coexistence between bluetooth module 412 and wimax module 424 performed by the controller can be devised with relevant modifications according to the architecture of fig2 and the control flow of fig1 . fig2 shows another embodiment of a system for coexistence between a global positioning system ( gps ) and a subsystem sharing a single antenna , with the subsystem being any one of the systems 400 , 1100 , 1300 , 1600 , 1900 , 2000 , 2100 and 2200 excluding the antenna 402 . the system 2300 comprises an antenna 402 , a diplexer 434 , a gps module and a subsystem 438 . the diplexer 434 is configured to connect a terminal 230 to both terminals 232 and 234 such that the gps signals ( tx or rx signal ) are transmitted to / received from the shared antenna 402 via the diplexer 434 , and the wireless signals of the subsystem 438 ( tx or rx signal ) are simultaneously transmitted to / received from the shared antenna 402 via the diplexer 434 . while the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments . to the contrary , it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements ( as would be apparent to those skilled in the art ). therefore , the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements .	7
while the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms , exemplary embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein . however , it should be understood that there is no intent to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed . rather , the intention is to cover all modifications , equivalents , and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . referring now to fig1 - 3 , an exemplary directional boring attachment 20 is illustrated that incorporates various features of the present invention therein . those of ordinary skill in the art should appreciate that the directional boring attachment 20 is merely exemplary and that the present invention may be advantageously implemented in a wide variety of manners that result in directional boring attachments having components and configurations that differ from those depicted in fig1 - 3 . for example , the directional boring attachment 20 may be implemented to utilize features of existing directional boring tools such as those described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 944 , 121 to bischel et al ., u . s . pat . no . 5 , 941 , 320 to austin et al ., u . s . pat . no . 5 , 803 , 189 to geldner , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 778 , 991 to runquist et al ., and u . s . pat . no . 4 , 953 , 638 to dunn , the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference . as depicted in fig1 - 3 , the directional boring attachment 20 generally includes a directional boring tool 21 and an attachment frame 22 for holding the various components ( discussed below ) of the directional boring tool . the attachment frame 22 includes a supporting frame 19 for supporting the attachment frame 22 . the supporting frame 19 is generally used to attach the directional boring tool 21 to various carrier bodies such as hydraulic excavators , track - type tractors / dozers , standard wheel loaders , articulating wheel loaders , skid loaders , backhoe loaders , agricultural type tractors , powered industrial trucks , forklifts , trenching machines , trucks , road graders , and roller compactors . the attachment frame 22 in an exemplary embodiment comprises a partially open - sided box - like structure comprised of steel tubes that generally define the elongated cuboidal - rectangular shape and structure of the attachment frame 22 . the attachment frame 22 may be further defined or alternatively defined by steel channels , steel beams , and / or equivalent strength materials sized to accommodate the various components of the directional boring tool 21 , attachment yoke 30 , and attachment mechanisms used to attach the directional boring attachment 20 to a particular carrier body . the attachment frame 22 of the embodiment of fig1 includes both longitudinally extending frame members , ( e . g . 23 ), vertically extending frame members ( e . g . 25 ) and laterally extending frame members ( e . g . 35 ). when fully assembled , the longitudinally extending 23 , vertically extending 25 and laterally extending 35 frame members create an elongated , rectangular cuboidal box - like attachment frame 22 having a hollow interior for holding a plurality of generally cylindrical drill stems 38 , along with many other of the boring tools 21 components . the attachment frame 22 is pivotably coupled at pivot member 17 to a generally horizontally disposed supporting frame 19 , that can also be constructed by a rectangular box array of square or rectangular cross - sectioned tubes . the supporting frame 19 is designed to be strong enough to support the weight of the attachment frame 22 when the support frame is serving as a “ trailer ” for the attachment frame 22 and associated boring / drill equipment tools 21 , thereon , and also strong enough to withstand the longitudinal and lateral forces exerted on attachment frame 22 when the boring attachment 20 is performing its horizontal drilling . the attachment frame 22 generally includes an attachment yoke 30 that includes a pair of upwardly extending reinforced plate members 39 that are attached to the frame members 23 , 25 , 35 of the attachment frame 22 . the plate members 39 each include a large aperture 46 which is aligned with the corresponding aperture of the other plate member 39 . the attachment yolk 30 provides a vehicle through which the device 20 can be moved , such as being lifted . in one embodiment , a large pivot pin member ( not shown ) can be inserted through the aligned apertures 46 , and also through an aperture ( not shown ) of a carrier body to pivotably connect the attachment yoke 30 ( and hence the device 20 ) to the carrier . alternately , the pin that extends through the aperture can be engaged to a chain whose other end is attached to a movable carrier member ( such as the boom of a power shovel ) to permit the boom of the carrier to lift the device 20 , otherwise move its geographic position . as another alternative , a chain attached to the carrier body ( e . g . power shovel ) can be coupled to each of the aligned apertures 46 , to permit the boom of the carrier to lift the device 20 , or otherwise move its geographic position . in addition to the large pin ( not shown ) described above , the attachment yoke 30 can include various other attachment mechanisms 30 such as pins , couplings , hitches , and pivot points that enable the attachment frame 22 and the directional boring attachment device 20 to be attached to the main undercarriage , framework , or other physical attributes of a carrier body . as depicted , the attachment frame 22 includes an extendable / retractable coupler 33 that is attached to the supporting frame 19 . the coupler 33 may be designed to be telescoping , as a tube within a tube ; or alternately as an angle on an angle . further , extendable / retractable coupler 33 can be implemented in a rectangular configuration for directly attaching to the undercarriage of a carrier body , or in a triangular configuration when used as a trailer hitch attachment . preferably the coupler 33 includes an attachment member , such as a female receiver member of a ball hitch , at its distal end 55 for permitting the coupler 33 to be coupled and de - coupled easily to and from an existing trailer mounting member of the carrier . an example of such a trailer mounting member is a common male hitch ball of the type found on many trucks , suvs , and other vehicles , or a three point hitch member found on agricultural tractors . the directional boring tool 21 is carried by the attachment frame 22 which is pivotally coupled to the supporting frame at pivot member 17 . the location of the pivot member 17 ( and hence the pivot point and pivot axis ) depends upon the size of the attachment frame 22 and directional boring tool 21 and whether an existing hydraulic cylinder ( see , e . g . cylinder 70 on fig7 ) of a carrier body is to be mounted toward the front or the rear of the supporting frame 19 . as will be illustrated , for example , in fig7 an existing cylinder 70 of a carrier body 60 is generally mounted to the attachment frame 22 in order to provide a mechanism for adjusting the angle of attack of the directional boring tool 21 . as best shown in fig3 the directional boring tool 21 includes a displacement pump 28 and a hydraulic cylinder or hydraulic motor 29 . the displacement pump 28 generally drives the hydraulic cylinder 29 which applies an axially directed force to a drill head 36 in a forward and reverse axial direction , which in turn provides an axially directed force to a drill stem 38 coupled thereto . the displacement pump 28 provides varying levels of controlled force when thrusting the drill stem 38 into the ground to create a bore and when retractively extracting the drill stem 38 from the bore during a back reaming operation . the directional boring tool 21 also includes a rotation pump 30 and a rotation motor 31 . the rotation pump 37 generally drives the rotation motor 31 which provides va g levels of controlled rotation to the drill stem 38 and the drill bit 40 as the drill stem 38 and drill bit 40 are thrust axially forwardly into a bore when operating the directional boring tool 21 in a drilling mode of operation , and for rotating the drill stem 38 and the drill bit 40 when extracting the drill stem 38 and drill bit 40 axially backwardly through the bore when operating the directional boring tool 21 in a back reaming mode . the directional boring tool 21 also includes a coupling drive 41 for advancing and threading individual drill stems 38 together . the directional boring tool 21 further includes a control panel or control interface , such as a control panel 32 , that includes a number of manually actuatable switches e . g . 42 , knobs , and levers , e . g . 44 , for manually controlling the displacement pump 28 , rotation motor 31 , motors , and other components that are incorporated as part of the directional boring attachment 20 . the control panel 32 also includes a display including display elements such as gauges 34 , led &# 39 ; s , lcd screens , etc . on which various configuration and operating parameters are displayable to an operator of the directional boring apparatus 20 . a wheel assembly 24 can also mounted to the attachment fame 22 , and in particular the supporting frame 19 in order to provide a mechanism for facilitating the transport of the directional boring attachment 20 . in an exemplary embodiment , the wheel assembly 24 is pivotly mounted to the supporting frame 19 in order to allow the wheel assembly 24 to be retracted upwardly and extended downwardly , in a direction indicated generally by arrow a , as needed by a hydraulic cylinder retraction mechanism ( not shown ). for example , in cases where the weight carrying capacity of a carrier body is limited , the wheel assembly 24 may be extended downward and locked into its ground - engaging position to bear a significant percentage of the device &# 39 ; s 20 weight , thereby relieving the carrier body of total vertical support and weight and force bearing responsibilities . in an exemplary embodiment , the wheel assembly 24 is placed just forwardly of the center of gravity toward the front 27 of the directional boring tool 20 to support the directional boring attachment 20 relatively nearer to the front 27 of the supporting frame 19 . however , the physical parameters and location of wheel assembly 24 are dependent upon the size , weight , length , and supported angles of attack of the directional boring device 20 as best shown in fig2 the wheel assembly 24 ( fig1 ) can be designed to be removable . as will be shown in reference to other figures below , certain circumstances exist when the attachment of the wheel assembly 24 to the supporting frame 19 is valuable , but others exist ( such as when the device 20 is used in connection with a bobcat ® brand skid loader - type carrier shown in fig1 b and 18 c ) where the device performs better if placed directly on the ground , with the wheel assembly 24 removed , or fully retracted to a position where the bottom surface of the tires is above the lower , ground - engaging surface of the supporting frame 19 . a first stabilizer assembly 26 ( fig1 ) is mounted toward the rear of the attachment frame 22 . the illustrated first stabilizer assembly 26 includes a pair of spaced , adjustable support legs that are locked into a ground - engaging vertical position after positioning the directional boring attachment 20 at a desired drilling site . the first stabilizer assembly 26 helps to stabilize the directional boring attachment 20 during a drilling and reaming operation . a second stabilizer assembly 27 ( fig1 and 3 ) in an exemplary embodiment is mounted toward the front of the rear ( distal ) end 55 of the supporting frame 19 . the second stabilizer assembly 27 in the exemplary embodiment includes a ground engaging , horizontally disposed plate 43 to which a vertically extending guide pole 45 is attached . the guide pole 45 is generally cylindrical for receiving a vertically extending aperture of a collar 47 which is vertically movable along the guide pole . a rotationally driveable stake driver 49 , is configured for rotatably driving an auger - type stake 51 into and out of engagement with the ground the engagement of the stake 51 with the ground helps to fixedly position the device 20 , to keep it from moving backwardly or forewardly in response to the axial faces exerted by the drill stem 38 and drill bit 40 as they move , respectively , axially forwardly to drill a bore , and axially backwardly during the reaming of the bore hole . referring now to fig4 - 11 , several examples of coupling mechanisms are illustrated for coupling the direction boring attachment 20 to an excavator 60 . it is important to note that the directional boring attachment embodiment 54 employs an attachment frame wherein the ground engaging supporting frame , ( e . g . 19 ) is replaced with a carrier mountable supporting frame 56 , which is best shown in fig5 . in general , the directional boring attachment 20 in fig4 - 11 is powered , operated and moved by the excavator 60 . in an exemplary embodiment , the directional boring attachment 54 is powered by the hydraulic system of the excavator 60 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 54 and the capacity of the hydraulic system of the excavator 60 , the hydraulic system may need to be upgraded with larger hydraulic pumps , additional hydraulic pumps , and / or regulated to operate the existing equipment of the excavator 60 and the attached directional boring attachment 54 . as is typical of most excavators , the hydraulic lines of the excavator 60 include installed tees , valves , quick couplers , and additional lengths of hydraulic lines that facilitate coupling the hydraulic system of the excavator 60 to the hydraulically driven pumps , motors , and / or cylinders of the directional boring attachment 54 . besides being powered by the hydraulic system of the excavator 60 , the directional boring attachment 54 may alternately be powered by either a power take - off ( p . t . o .) of the excavator 60 or be engine shaft driven and located underneath , behind , or in front of the excavator 60 . the directional boring attachment 54 may also be powered by batteries , generators , and / or alternators of the existing electrical system of the excavator 60 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 54 and the capacity of the existing electrical system , one may need to upgrade the electrical system of the excavator 60 with larger batteries , additional batteries , additional alternators , larger alternators , and / or regulated to operate existing equipment of the excavator 60 and the directional boring attachment 54 . in an exemplary embodiment , the directional boring tool 21 and the other controllable features of the directional boring attachment 54 are operated by the control panel similar to control panel 32 that can be mounted inside the existing cab of the excavator 60 and operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 54 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . alternatively , the control panel 32 may be mounted upon the directional boring attachment 54 or incorporated into a portable remote unit that is operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 54 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . examples of a directional boring attachment 20 attached to an excavator 60 are shown in fig4 a and 5 . in these embodiments , the entire boom assembly 62 of the excavator 60 is unpinned and removed prior to installation of the boring attachment 54 . the attachment frame 56 of the directional boring attachment 54 is then installed and pivotably coupled into place at a pivot point 61 , so that the boring attachment is placed in the same place where the boom assembly was removed from the excavator &# 39 ; s 60 main body frame . as best shown in fig5 a , pivot point 51 comprises a laterally extending aperture 61 formed to extend through a vertically disposed main mast mounting bracket 59 that is formed as a part of , and extends downwardly from , the attachment frame 56 . as excavators generally do not have standardized parts , the attachment frame 56 of the directional boring attachment 54 will likely need to be custom fitted to each type of excavator that the directional boring attachment is to be coupled to in this manner . more specifically , the dimensional parameters of the attachment frame 56 such as pin placement and pin size depend upon ( 1 ) the excavator &# 39 ; s dimensions , ( 2 ) the size , dimensions , and weight of the directional boring attachment 54 , ( 3 ) clearance requirements of the excavator 60 and the directional boring tool 21 , and ( 4 ) the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 21 . instead of being pivotably coupled to the pivot point 61 of the excavator 60 , the attachment frame 56 may be bolted and / or welded to the carrier frame of the excavator 60 . in an exemplary embodiment , the boom engaging hydraulic cylinders 64 are pivotably pinned to one of the series of apertures 57 of a vertically disposed mounting bracket 58 that is formed as a part of the attachment frame 56 in order to provide a mechanism for controlling the angle of attack for the directional boring tool 21 . it should also be noted that the excavator 60 shown in fig5 uses an auger - type 51 ground engaging system , similar to the device 20 shown in fig1 . however , the excavation 60 shown in fig4 a and 4 b employs a ground engaging weighed foot 63 for engaging the front end 43 of the directional boring attachment device 54 to the ground . additional examples of attaching the directional boring attachment 20 to an excavator 60 are illustrated in fig6 - 7 . in fig6 and 7 , a ground rest - able directional boring attachment 20 , that is generally similar to the attachment 20 shown in fig1 - 3 , is mounted to the distal end 62 of the boom 66 of the excavator 60 . in the device of fig6 - 7 , the bucket ( not shown ) that is normally attached to the distal end 62 of the boom 66 of the excavator 60 is unpinned ( de - coupled ) and removed . a vertically extending , aperture containing mounting bracket 65 is formed as a part of the attachment frame . the mounting bracket 65 of the attachment frame 22 of the directional boring attachment 20 is then installed and pivotably pinned into place at a pivot point 68 where the bucket ( not shown ) was removed . as stated above , excavators generally do not have standardized parts . accordingly , the attachment frame 22 of the directional boring attachment 20 likely needs to be custom fitted and / or fabricated to each type of excavator that the directional boring attachment 20 is to be coupled to in this manner . again , instead of being pinned to the pivot point 68 of the excavator 60 , the frame 22 may be bolted and / or welded to the pivot point 68 . in an exemplary embodiment , the hydraulic cylinders 70 of the boom 66 are pivotably pinned to either the rear mounting bracket 65 ( fig6 ) or the attachment yoke bracket 30 ( fig7 ) of the attachment frame 22 in order to provide a mechanism by which to control the angle of attack for the directional boring tool 21 . the specific size of mounting brackets , sleeves , and locations will vary according to the size of the excavator , the size of the direction boring attachment , and the angle of attack required for the direction boring attachment 20 . furthermore , the first stabilizer assembly 26 is locked into its ground engaging position to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation . a further example of attaching the direction boring attachment to the excavator 60 is illustrated in fig8 . as illustrated , the directional boring attachment 20 is attached to the excavator &# 39 ; s undercarriage framework by the extendable / retractable coupler 33 which may include pins , couplings , and other attachment mechanisms . the bucket ( not shown ) of the jointed boom assembly 66 is removed from the distal arm 67 , the boom 66 thus creating a pivot point 76 to which the attachment yoke 30 of the direction boring attachment 20 may be pivotably attached . in an exemplary embodiment , the distal hydraulic cylinders 70 of distal arm 67 is pivotably coupled to the attachment frame 22 in order to provide a mechanism for controlling the angle of attack of the directional boring tool 21 . again , the specific size of attachment plates , sleeves , and locations will vary according to the size of the excavator 60 , the size of the direction boring attachment , and the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 21 . further , as depicted in fig8 the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into its ground engaging position to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation . fig1 and 11 illustrate yet further examples of attaching the directional boring attachment 20 to an excavator 60 . as depicted in fig1 and 11 , the rear end 55 of the supporting frame 19 of the attachment frame 22 is attached to the excavator &# 39 ; s main undercarriage by the extendable / retractable coupler 33 . the bucket 74 that is pivotably coupled to the distal end of the distal arm 67 is left in place on the boom 66 and used to lift the directional boring attachment 20 via a chain - type sling 69 coupled between a hook ( or eye ) 71 on the back ( non - working ) surface of the bucket 74 and an aperture 46 of the attachment yoke 30 of the attachment frame 22 . further , the bucket 74 may be positioned such that the bucket 74 rests on the attachment yoke 30 of attachment frame 22 for additional weight and stability during the operation of the directional boring tool 21 . in an exemplary embodiment , one or more existing hydraulic cylinders ( not shown ) that are disposed under the excavator 60 are pivotably coupled to the attachment fame 22 in order to provide a mechanism for controlling the angle of attack of the directional boring tool 21 . again , the specific size of attachment plates , sleeves , and locations will vary according to the size of the excavator 60 , the size of the direction boring attachment , and the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 21 . furthermore , as depicted in fig1 , the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into place and the wheel assembly 24 lowered to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation . note also that fig1 illustrates a two chain 69 , 73 sling arrangement , rather than the single chain 69 arrangement shown in fig1 . referring now to fig1 and 11 , it should be noted that fig1 depicts the auger in its raised , or ground - disengaged portion , whereas fig1 depicts the auger 51 in its lowered , ground - engaging and penetrating position . fig9 and 12 - 14 illustrate several examples of coupling the exemplary ground rest - able direction boring attachment 20 to a track type tractor / dozer carrier body 100 . in general , the directional boring attachment 20 in fig9 and 12 - 14 is powered , operated and moved by the tractor / dozer 100 . in an exemplary embodiment , the directional boring attachment 20 is powered by the hydraulic system of the tractor / dozer 100 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 20 and the capacity of the hydraulic system of the tractor / dozer 100 , the hydraulic system may need to be upgraded with larger hydraulic pumps , additional hydraulic pumps , and / or regulated to operate the existing equipment of the tractor / dozer 100 and the attached directional boring attachment 20 . as is typical of most tractor / dozers , the hydraulic lines of the tractor / dozer 100 , power ( hydraulic ) fluid coupling devices , fluid lines and fluid control devices such as installed tees , valves , quick couplers , and additional lengths of hydraulic lines 57 that facilitate coupling the hydraulic system of the tractor / dozer 100 to the hydraulically driven pumps , motors , and / or cylinders ( e . g . the displacement pump 28 ) of the direction boring attachment 20 . besides being powered by the hydraulic system of the tractor / dozer 100 , the directional boring attachment 20 may alternatively be powered by a power take - off ( p . t . o .) of the tractor / dozer 100 and / or engine shaft located underneath , behind , or in front of the tractor / dozer 100 . the directional boring attachment 20 may also be powered by batteries , generators , and / or alternators of the existing electrical system of the tractor / dozer 100 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 20 and the capacity of the existing electrical system of the tractor / dozer 100 the electrical system may need to be upgraded with larger batteries , additional batteries , additional alternators , larger alternators , and / or regulated to operate existing equipment of the tractor / dozer 100 and directional boring attachment 20 . in an exemplary embodiment , the directional boring tool 21 and the other controllable components of the directional boring attachment 20 are operated by the control panel ( see control panel 32 of fig1 ) that can be mounted in the existing cab 99 ( such as on the dashboard ) of the tractor / dozer 100 and operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 20 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . alternately , the control panel 32 may be mounted upon the directional boring attachment 20 ( such as shown in fig1 ) or incorporated into a portable remote unit that is operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 20 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . in the embodiment shown in fig1 and 13 , the tractor loader bucket or the dozer blade ( see 102 at fig1 ) of the tracker / dozer 100 is unpinned and removed at a pivot point 104 . the directional boring attachment 20 is pivotably attached , by a pivot pin at pivot point 104 to the extendable / retractable coupler 33 which may include pins , couplings , ball - hitches and other attachment mechanisms . as tracker / dozers generally do not have standardized parts , the attachment frame 22 of the directional boring attachment 20 may need custom fabrication or fitting for different types of tracker / dozer that the directional boring attachment 20 is to be coupled to in this manner . more specifically , the dimensional parameters of the attachment frame 22 , such as pin placement and pin size , depend upon : ( 1 ) the tracker / dozer &# 39 ; s dimensions ; ( 2 ) the size , dimensions ; and weight of the directional boring tool 21 ; ( 3 ) clearance requirements of the tracker / dozer 100 and the directional boring tool 21 ; and ( 4 ) the angles of attach supported by the directional boring tool 21 . instead of being pivotably coupled by a pivot pin arrangement to the tracker / dozer 100 , the attachment frame 22 may be bolted and / or welded to the pivot point 104 . in the exemplary embodiment shown in fig9 and 13 , the hydraulic cylinders 106 that are normally used for moving the bucket / or blade 102 are pivotably coupled to the attachment frame 22 in order to provide a mechanism by which to control the angle of attack for the directional boring tool 21 . furthermore , as depicted in fig1 , the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into its ground - engaging position and the wheel assembly 24 extended downward to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation , thus relieving the tracker / dozer 100 of supporting the entire weight and lateral stresses of the device 20 . fig1 illustrates another example of attaching the directional boring attachment 20 to a track - type tractor / dozer 100 . as illustrated , the back end - placed coupler 33 of the attachment frame 22 is attached to the rear end of the dozer 100 by attachment to the main undercarriage of the tractor / dozer 100 . in an exemplary embodiment , existing hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders ( not shown ) under the tractor / dozer 100 are pivotably coupled to the attachment frame 22 in order to provide a mechanism by which to control the angle of attack of the directional boring tool 21 , by permitting the attachment frame 22 to pivot relative to the supporting frame 19 about the pivot axis formed by pivot 17 . again , the specific size of attachment plates , sleeves , and locations will vary according to the size and design of the tractor / dozer 100 , the size of the direction boring attachment , and the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 21 . furthermore , as depicted in fig1 , the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into its ground - engaging position , and the wheel assembly 24 lowered to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation . fig1 a , 15 b and 16 illustrate embodiments wherein the direction boring attachment 20 is coupled to a standard or articulating wheel loader 150 . in general , the directional boring attachment 20 in fig1 a , 15 b and 16 is powered , operated and moved by the wheel loader 150 . in an exemplary embodiment , the directional boring attachment 20 is powered by the hydraulic system of the wheel loader 150 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 20 and the capacity of the hydraulic system of the wheel loader 150 of the wheel loader 150 , the hydraulic system may need to be upgraded with larger hydraulic pumps , additional hydraulic pumps , and / or regulated to operate the existing equipment of the wheel loader 150 and the attached directional boring attachment 20 . as is typical , the hydraulic lines of the wheel loader 150 include hydraulic system components for conveying power ( hydraulic ) fluid , for controlling the flow of fluid , and for connecting various components together , such as installed tees , valves , quick couplers , and additional lengths of hydraulic lines that facilitate coupling the hydraulic system of the wheel loader 150 to the hydraulic system of the directional boring attachment 20 . besides being powered by the hydraulic system of the wheel loader 150 , the directional boring attachment 20 may alternatively be powered by a power take - off ( p . t . o .) of the wheel loader 150 and / or engine shaft located underneath , behind , or in front of the wheel loader 150 . the directional boring attachment 20 may also be powered by batteries , generators , and / or alternators of the existing electrical system of the wheel loader 150 and regulated as needed . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 20 and the capacity of the existing electrical system of the wheel loader 150 , the electrical system may need to be upgraded with larger batteries , additional batteries , additional alternators , larger alternators , and / or regulated to operate existing equipment of the wheel loader 150 and directional boring attachment 20 . in an exemplary embodiment , the directional boring tool 21 and the other controllable components of the directional boring attachment 20 are operated by a control panel , such as control panel 32 ( fig1 ) that is mounted within the existing cab 152 of the wheel loader 150 and operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 20 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . alternatively , the control panel 32 may be mounted upon the directional boring attachment 20 in a manner similar to that shown in fig1 or incorporated into a portable remote unit , any of which are operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 20 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . as illustrated by the example of fig1 b , the bucket or blade 152 ( fig1 a ) of the wheel loader 150 is de - coupled by unpinning , and removed at a pivot point 154 prior to the attachment of the directional boring device 20 . the directional boring attachment 20 is attached to the pivot point 154 by the extendable / retractable coupler 33 . as wheel loaders generally do not have standardized parts , the attachment frame 22 of the directional boring attachment 20 may need custom fitting or fabrication for each type of wheel loader that the directional boring attachment 20 is to be coupled to in this manner . more specifically , the dimensional parameters of the attachment frame 22 such as pin placement and pin size depend upon : ( 1 ) the dimensions of the wheel loader 150 ; ( 2 ) the size , dimensions , and weight of the directional boring tool 21 ; ( 3 ) clearance requirements of the wheel loader 150 and the directional boring tool 21 ; and ( 4 ) the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 21 . fig1 a illustrates a somewhat modified coupling scheme wherein the front end bucket 152 is allowed to remain attached to the loader . the coupler 33 is then coupled to a coupling member , such as a yoke , eye , ball hitch , etc . that is placed on or in the interior of the bucket 152 by the existing bucket 152 mount system of the loader 150 can effect appropriate movement of the boring device 20 . such movement can either be geographic , to move it along the ground into its desired geographic position , or pivotal movement of the device to establish or change the angle of attachment of the drill tool 21 . returning back to fig1 b , it will be noted that a linkage mechanism is pivotably coupled to extend between a rear mounted mounting bracket 155 that is fixedly coupled to the attachment frame 22 of the boring device 20 , and a hydraulic cylinder attachment point 153 of the loader 150 . the hydraulic cylinders 156 of the bucket / or blade 152 of the dozer are operatively coupled to the attachment frame 22 in order to provide a mechanism for permitting the hydraulic cylinders 156 of the loader 150 to control the angle of attack for the directional boring tool 21 . furthermore , as depicted in fig1 , the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into its ground engaging position and the wheel assembly 24 extended downward and locked into its ground - engaging position to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation , thus relieving the wheel loader 150 of total weight and stress support responsibilities . fig1 illustrates another example of attaching the directional boring attachment 20 to a wheel loader 150 . as illustrated , the back end of the supporting arm 19 is attached to a hitch member 157 of the main undercarriage of the wheel loader 150 by the extendable / retractable coupler 33 , in much the same way that a boat trailer is attached to a pick - up truck in an exemplary embodiment , existing hydraulic cylinders ( not shown ) under the wheel loader 150 are pivotably coupled to the attachment frame 22 , such as via a connection to a rear - mounted mounting bracket ( not shown ) in order to provide a mechanism for controlling the angle of attack of the directional boring tool 21 . again , the specific size of attachment plates , sleeves , and locations will vary according to the size and configuration of the wheel loader 150 , the size of the direction boring attachment , and the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 21 . furthermore , as depicted in fig1 , the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into its ground - engaging position and the wheel assembly 24 lowered to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation . fig1 - 18 c illustrate examples of coupling the exemplary direction boring attachment 20 to a skid loader 200 . the directional boring attachments 20 , 220 in fig1 - 18 c are primarily powered , operated and moved by the skid loader 200 . in the exemplary embodiments , the directional boring attachments 20 , 220 are powered by the hydraulic system of the skid loader 200 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachments 20 , 220 and the capacity of the hydraulic system of the skid loader 200 , the hydraulic system may need to be upgraded with larger hydraulic pumps , additional hydraulic pumps , and / or regulated to operate the existing equipment of the skid loader 200 and the attached directional boring attachments 20 ( fig1 and 18 ), 220 ( fig1 a - 18 c ). as is typical of most skid loaders , the hydraulic lines of the skid loader 200 , include installed tees , valves , quick couplers , and additional lengths of hydraulic lines that facilitate coupling the hydraulic system of the skid loader 200 to the directional boring attachments 20 , 220 . besides being powered by the hydraulic system of the skid loader 200 , the directional boring attachments 20 , 220 may alternatively be powered by a power take - off ( p . t . o .) of the skid loader 200 and / or engine shaft located underneath , behind , or in front of the skid loader 200 . the directional boring attachments 20 , 220 may also be powered by batteries , generators , and / or alternators of the existing electrical system of the skid loader 200 and regulated as needed . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachments 20 , 220 and the capacity of the existing electrical system of the skid loader 200 , the electrical system may need to be upgraded with larger batteries , additional batteries , additional alternators , larger alternators , and / or regulated to operate existing equipment of the skid loader 200 and directional boring attachments 20 , 220 . in an exemplary embodiment , the skid loader includes a partially enclosed cab 205 and a lift arm assembly 206 for lifting and controlling the operation of an attachment such as a bucket 202 ( fig1 ) for excavating and lifting dirt . the lift arm assembly 206 includes a lift arm 207 , a link arm 211 pivotably coupled to each of the lift arm 207 and the skid loader housing 213 , and / or the skid loader &# 39 ; s internal components and / or frame ( not shown ); and also a hydraulically or pneumatically activated cylinder 209 that is pivotably coupled to each of the lift arm 207 and housing 211 , and is provided for moving the lift arm 207 and otherwise controlling its operation . in an exemplary embodiment , the directional boring tool 21 and the other controllable components of the directional boring attachments 20 , 220 are operated by a control panel ( similar to control panel 32 in fig1 ) that is mounted at the existing cab of the skid loader 200 and operatively coupled to the directional boring attachments 20 , 220 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . alternatively , as shown in fig1 a , control panel 232 may be mounted upon the directional boring attachment 220 or incorporated into a portable remote unit that are operatively coupled to the directional boring attachments 20 , 220 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . as illustrated by the example of fig1 , the bucket or blade 202 of the skid loader 200 is unpinned and removed at a pivot point 204 . the directional boring attachment 20 ( which is generally similar to the boring attachment 20 of fig1 ) is pivotably attached to the pivot point 204 by the extendable / retractable coupler 33 . as all skid loaders generally do not have the same standardized parts , the attachment frame 22 of the directional boring attachment 20 may need custom fitting and / or fabrication for each type of skid loader that the directional boring attachment 20 is to be coupled to in this manner . more specifically , the dimensional and design parameters of the attachment frame 22 such as pin placement and pin size depend upon : ( 1 ) the dimensions of the skid loader 200 ; ( 2 ) the size , dimensions , and weight of the directional boring tool 21 ; ( 3 ) clearance requirements of the skid loader 200 and the directional boring tool 21 ; and ( 4 ) the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 21 . instead of being pivotably coupled by a pivot pin to the pivot point 204 of the skid loader 200 , the attachment frame 22 and / or supporting frame 19 may be bolted and / or welded to the pivot point 204 . in the embodiment of fig1 , the hydraulic cylinders ( not shown ) for the bucket / or blade 202 move the attachment frame 22 by virtue of the connection of lift arm 207 to supporting frame 19 in order to provide a mechanism by which to control the angle of attack for the directional boring tool 21 . in the embodiment of fig1 and 18 , the supporting frame 19 and attachment frame 22 can be fixedly coupled together to move together , as opposed to being movable with respect to each other to change the drill tool attack angle , as in the description of fig1 . alternately , a separate moving member , such as a separately operable hydraulic cylinder ( not shown ) can be coupled between the skid loader 200 and a mounting bracket , such as attachment yoke 30 , for making the attachment frame 22 movable with respect to the supporting frame 19 about pivot member ( and pivot axis ) 17 . furthermore , the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into place , such as is shown in fig1 and the wheel assembly 24 extended downward ( also shown in fig1 ) to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation , thus relieving the skid loader 200 of total support and stress responsibilities for the device . fig1 illustrates another example of attaching the directional boring attachment 20 to a skid loader 200 . as illustrated , the back end of the attachment frame 22 is attached to the main undercarriage of the skid loader 200 by the extendable / retractable coupler 33 at the rear of the skid loader . in an exemplary embodiment , existing hydraulic cylinders ( not shown ) under the skid loader 200 are pivotably coupled to the attachment frame 22 in order to provide a mechanism by which to control and change the angle of attack of the directional boring tool 21 . again , the specific size of attachment plates , sleeves , and locations will vary according to the size of the skid loader 200 , the size of the direction boring attachment , and the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 21 . furthermore , as depicted , the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into its ground - engaging and the wheel assembly 24 lowered to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation . turning now to fig1 a , 18 b and 18 c , another embodiment 220 of the directional boring attachment is shown . directional boring attachment 220 is , in most respects , similar to boring attachment 20 , shown in fig1 . however , the primary difference between the two different embodiments is that the directional boring attachment 220 of fig1 a , 18 b and 18 c does not include a separate supporting frame ( e . g . 19 ) that is pivotably attachable to the primary support attachment frame ( e . g . 22 ). additionally , the directional boring attachment 20 of fig1 a - 18 c contains a different support mechanism . from an operational and functional standpoint , the directional boring attachment 20 includes generally fewer parts , and is lighter than the directional boring attachment 20 shown in fig1 . this lightness can be especially valuable when the directional boring attachment 220 is used with a skid loader , such as skid loader 200 , as the largest number of skid loaders 200 that are manufactured today are relatively small , compact devices that are significantly smaller than traditional power shovel excavators ( fig1 ), bull dozers 100 , power shovels 150 , and other heavy duty earth - working equipment . as these bobcat ® type skid loaders are smaller , they generally have a smaller load capacity than the larger pieces of equipment , thus making the relatively lighter weight directional boring attachment 220 shown in fig1 a - 18 c especially while suited to these smaller skid loaders . turning now to fig1 a - 18 c , three different mounting arrangements are shown for mounting the directional boring attachment 220 to the skid loader 200 . it will be appreciated that the skid loader 220 is generally similar to its fellow embodiments , as it is powered , operated and moved by a totally separate , and separable carrier , here , skid loader 200 . the skid loader 220 is preferably powered by the hydraulic system of the separate carrier , such as skid loader 200 , and moved by the hydraulic cylinders and transmission systems of the skid loader 200 . depending on the requirements of the directional boring attachment 220 and the capacity of the hydraulic system of the skid loader 200 , the hydraulic system of the skid loader ( or electrical system if electrically powered ) may need to be upgraded with larger hydraulic pumps , additional hydraulic pumps , additional regulating equipment , additional batteries , electrical generating equipment ( if electrically powered ), and additional electrical or hydraulic motive parts , such as electric motors , gear reduction motors ( for an electrically operated boring attachments ), or hydraulic cylinders ( for hydraulically operated directional boring equipment ). as is typical of most skid loaders 200 , the hydraulic components of the skid loader 200 include installed tees , valves , quick couplers and additional links of hydraulic lines that facilitate coupling the hydraulic system of the skid loader 200 to the directional boring equipment 220 . further , the transmission components include an engine , clutch , transmission , drive axles and wheels or tracks . in addition to being powered by the hydraulic system of the skid loader 200 , the directional boring attachment 220 may alternatively be powered by a power take off unit of the skid loader , or engine shaft of the skid loader 200 , if such is provided as part of the skid loader 200 . the directional boring attachment 220 shown in fig1 a - 18 c includes a directional boring attachment frame 222 , that includes an integral , and fixedly attached supporting frame 219 for its bottom . the supporting frame portion 219 of the attachment frame 222 is the primary weight - supporting unit , for supporting the weight of the drill tools 221 , including the drill stems 38 . other members of the boring attachment frame 222 , such as vertically extending members 223 , and laterally extending members 224 provide additional rigidity and strength to the boring attachment frame 222 , and help to position the drill stems 236 on the attachment frame 222 . the boring attachment frame 222 also includes a control panel 232 disposed near the forward end of the device . as shown in fig1 a , the control panel 232 includes a plurality of levers 228 for operating the device . additionally , a plurality of gauges ( not shown ) or other instrument read - outs ( not shown ) can be provided . as best shown in fig1 a , the supporting structure for supporting the support frame 219 and attachment frame 222 at a proper angle relative to the ground comprises a pair of relatively rearwardly disposed telescoping support legs 226 that are pivotably mounted to the supporting frame 219 at pivot point 230 . similar to leg 226 of the embodiment shown in fig1 the support leg 230 is movable between a ground - engaging position , as shown in fig1 , and a storage position wherein the leg 226 is positioned generally parallel to supporting frame 219 . it will be noted that support leg 226 is a two - piece leg having a lower portion that is sized and configured to be received interiorly , and moved telescopically within the upper portion of the leg 226 . a plurality of apertures , e . g . 234 , are formed in the lower leg portion , that are alignable with an aperture 235 of the upper leg portion , and through which a pin or detent means can be inserted to lockingly engage the relative axial positions of the bottom and top portion of the leg 226 . through this mechanism , the length of leg 226 can be adjusted , so that the attack angle of the boring attachment 220 can be adjusted properly by the user . a generally triangular ( in cross - section ) frontal support frame 227 is disposed under the relatively forward portion of the supporting frame 219 , for supporting the front portion of the attachment frame 222 in a desired spatial and angular relationship to the ground . the triangular support frame 227 includes a ground - engaging leg 231 that is designed to rest on the ground or other surface , an upstanding , vertically disposed leg 229 , and a hypotenuse leg 233 , that extends generally under , and parallel to the supporting frame 219 . if desired , vertical leg 229 can have an adjustable length , to enable the attack angle of the boring attachment 220 to be varied by the user . additionally , one of the structural members of the attachment frame 222 can be fixedly or pivotably coupled to the link arm 211 of the skid loader 200 . this attachment between the link arm 211 and the boring attachment frame 222 will permit the user to adjust the angle of the attack of the drill tool 221 , to a desired attack angle . additionally , by raising the link arm 211 , the attachment between the link arm 211 and the attachment frame 222 would enable the user to lift the boring tool attachment 220 out upwardly , and out of engagement with the ground to better facilitate the movement of the boring attachment 220 from one location to another . turning now to fig1 b , it will be noted that the boring attachment 222 is shown being coupled to a skid loader 200 , in an arrangement wherein the boring tool attachment 220 is generally disposed in front of , and transversely to the skid loader 200 . in this arrangement , the attachment frame 222 can be fixedly or pivotably coupled to one or both of the lift arms 207 to be permit the user to move the boring attachment 220 upwardly , and out of engagement with the ground , and downwardly , to engage the ground , thereby facilitating movement of the device . fig1 c represents a side view of the embodiment shown in fig1 b . it should be noted that the auger assembly 51 for securing the boring attachment 220 to the ground comprises a pair of spaced augers 51 . due to the view from which the other drawings are taken , the existence of these two augers may not be clearly represented in the other drawings , and their description . however , the dual auger arrangement shown in fig1 c is a preferred arrangement for all of the auger containing boring attachments of the present invention . as also illustrated in fig1 c , a side mounted mounting bracket 237 is provided for attaching the attachment frame 222 to the lift arm 207 of the skid loader 200 , for facilitating the lifting and movement of the boring attachment 220 by the skid loader 200 . fig1 - 20 illustrate examples of coupling the exemplary ground rest - able directional boring attachment 20 to a backhoe loader 250 . the directional boring attachment 20 in fig1 - 20 is identical generally to the one shown in fig1 and is primarily powered , operated and moved by the backhoe loader 250 , and is preferably powered by the hydraulic system of the backhoe loader 250 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 20 and the capacity of the hydraulic system of the backhoe loader 250 , the hydraulic system may need to be upgraded with larger hydraulic pumps , additional hydraulic pumps , and / or regulated to operate the existing equipment of the backhoe loader 250 and the attached directional boring attachment 20 . as is typical of most backhoe loaders , the hydraulic lines of the backhoe loader 250 include installed tees , valves , quick couplers , and additional lengths of hydraulic lines that facilitate coupling the hydraulic system of the backhoe loader 250 to the directional boring attachment 20 . besides being powered by the hydraulic system of the backhoe loader 250 , the directional boring attachment 20 may alternatively be powered by a power take - off ( p . t . o .) of the backhoe loader 250 and / or engine shaft located underneath , behind , or in front of the backhoe loader 250 . the directional boring attachment 20 may also be powered by batteries , generators , and / or alternators of the existing electrical system of the backhoe loader 250 and regulated as needed . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 20 and the capacity of the existing electrical system of the backhoe loader 250 , the electrical system may need to be upgraded with larger batteries , additional batteries , additional alternators , larger alternators , and / or regulated to operate existing equipment of the backhoe loader 250 and directional boring attachment 20 . in an exemplary embodiment , the directional boring tool 21 and the other controllable components of the directional boring attachment 20 are operated by a control panel 32 ( similar to fig1 or fig1 a ) mounted in the existing cab 260 of the backhoe loader 250 and operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 20 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . alternatively , the control panel 32 may be mounted on the directional boring attachment 20 similarly to that shown in fig1 and 18 a , or incorporated into a portable remote unit that is operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 20 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . in the embodiment shown in fig1 , the bucket or blade 252 of the backhoe loader 250 is unpinned and removed at a pivot point 254 . the directional boring attachment 20 is pivotably attached by a pivot pin to the pivot point 254 by the extendable / retractable coupler 33 , that includes a pivot bracket 255 attached thereto . as backhoe loaders generally do not have standardized parts , the attachment frame 22 and for supporting frame 19 of the directional boring attachment 20 may need custom fitting and / or fabrication for each type of backhoe loader that the directional boring attachment 20 is to be coupled to in this manner . more specifically , the dimensional parameters of the attachment frame 22 such as pin placement and pin size depend upon : ( 1 ) the dimensions of the backhoe loader 250 ; ( 2 ) the size , dimensions , and weight of the directional boring tool 21 ; ( 3 ) clearance requirements of the backhoe loader 250 and the directional boring tool 21 ; and ( 4 ) the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 21 . instead of being pivotably coupled by a pivot pin to the pivot point 254 of the backhoe loader 250 , the attachment frame 22 may be bolted and / or welded to the pivot point 254 . in an exemplary embodiment , the hydraulic cylinders 256 for the bucket / or blade 252 are pivotably coupled to a mounting bracket 257 of the attachment frame 22 in order to provide a mechanism by which to control the angle of attack for the directional boring tool 21 . furthermore , as depicted in fig2 , the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into its ground engaging position and the wheel assembly 24 extended downward to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation , thus relieving the backhoe loader 250 of total support responsibilities . fig2 illustrates another mechanism for attaching the directional boring attachment 20 to a backhoe loader 250 . as illustrated , the extendable / retractable coupler 33 at the back end of the attachment frame 22 is attached to a hitch member 259 , that is coupled to the main undercarriage of the backhoe loader 250 . in an exemplary embodiment , existing hydraulic cylinders ( not shown ) under the backhoe loader 250 are pivotably coupled to the attachment frame 22 in order to provide a mechanism for controlling the angle of attack of the directional boring tool 21 . again , the specific size of attachment plates , sleeves , and locations will vary according to the size of the backhoe loader 250 , the size and configuration of the direction boring attachment , and the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 21 . furthermore , as depicted , the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into its ground - engaging position and the wheel assembly 24 lowered to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation . fig2 illustrates an example of coupling the exemplary direction boring attachment 20 to an agricultural tractor 300 . the directional boring attachment 20 in fig3 is generally similar to the boring attachment 20 of fig1 and is primarly powered , operated and moved by the agricultural tractor 300 , and , in particular , by the hydraulic system of the agricultural tractor 300 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 20 and the capacity of the hydraulic system of the agricultural tractor 300 , the hydraulic system may need to be upgraded with larger hydraulic pumps , additional hydraulic pumps , and / or regulated to operate the existing equipment of the agricultural tractor 300 and the attached directional boring attachment 20 . the hydraulic lines of the agricultural tractor 300 ( as is typical of most agricultural tractors ) include installed tees , valves , quick couplers , and additional lengths of hydraulic lines that facilitate coupling the hydraulic system of the agricultural tractor 300 to the directional boring attachment 20 . besides being powered by the hydraulic system of the agricultural tractor 300 , the directional boring attachment 20 may alternatively be powered by a power take - off ( p . t . o .) of the agricultural tractor 300 and / or engine shaft located underneath , behind , or in front of the agricultural tractor 300 . the directional boring attachment 20 may also be powered by batteries , generators , and / or alternators of the existing electrical system of the agricultural tractor 300 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 20 and the capacity of the existing electrical system of the agricultural tractor 300 , the electrical system may need to be upgraded with additional batteries , larger batteries , additional alternators , larger alternators , and / or regulated to operate existing equipment of the agricultural tractor 300 and the directional boring attachment 20 . in an exemplary embodiment , the directional boring tool 21 and the other controllable components of the directional boring attachment 20 are operated by a control panel ( not shown ) which may be similar to control panel 32 of fig1 or control panel 232 of fig1 a , and that can be mounted to the existing cab of the agricultural tractor 300 and operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 20 via a wired and / or wireless communications link alternatively , the control panel 32 may be mounted upon the directional boring attachment 20 or incorporated into a portable remote unit that are operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 20 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . in fig2 , the back end of the attachment frame 22 is attached to the main undercarriage of the agricultural tractor 300 by a hitch member 307 that is disposed at the end of the extendable / retractable coupler 33 ; and existing hydraulic cylinders ( not shown ) under the agricultural tractor 300 are pivotably coupled to the attachment frame 22 in order to provide a mechanism by which to control the angle of attack of the directional boring tool 21 . again , the specific size of attachment plates , sleeves , and locations will vary according to the size of the agricultural tractor 300 , the size of the direction boring attachment , and the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 21 . furthermore , as depicted , the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into its ground engaging position , and the wheel assembly 24 lowered to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation . fig2 illustrates an embodiment wherein the exemplary direction boring attachment 20 is coupled to a powered industrial truck / forklift 350 . in general , the directional boring attachment 20 in fig2 is powered , operated and moved by the power industrial truck / forklift 350 , and in particular , by the hydraulic and / or pneumatic system of the power industrial truck / forklift 350 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 20 and the capacity of the hydraulic system of the power industrial truck / forklift 350 , the hydraulic system may need to be upgraded with larger hydraulic pumps , additional hydraulic pumps , and / or regulated to operate the existing equipment of the power industrial truck / forklift 350 and the attached directional boring attachment 20 . as is typical of most power industrial truck / forklifts , the hydraulic lines of the power industrial truck / forklift 350 , include installed tees , valves , quick couplers , and additional lengths of hydraulic lines that facilitate coupling the hydraulic system of the power industrial truck / forklift 350 to the directional boring attachment 20 . besides being powered by the hydraulic system of the power industrial truck / forklift 350 , the directional boring attachment 20 may alternatively be powered by a power take - off ( p . t . o .) of the power industrial truck / forklift 350 and / or engine shaft located underneath , behind , or in front of the power industrial truck / forklift 350 . the directional boring attachment 20 may also be powered by the batteries , generators , and / or alternators of the existing electrical system of the power industrial truck / forklift 350 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 20 and the capacity of the existing electrical system of the power industrial truck / forklift 350 , the electrical system may need to be upgraded with additional batteries , larger batteries , additional alternators , larger alternators , and / or regulated to operate existing equipment of the power industrial truck / forklift 350 and the directional boring attachment 20 . in an exemplary embodiment , the directional boring tool 21 and the other controllable components of the directional boring attachment 20 are operated by the control panel 332 , similar to control panels 232 or 32 , that is mounted in the existing cab of the power industrial truck / forklift 350 and operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 20 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . alternatively , the control panel 32 may be mounted upon the directional boring attachment 20 or incorporated into a portable remote unit that are operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 20 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . as illustrated in fig2 , the attachment frame 22 includes insertion slots 355 that slidably receive and engage the forks 352 of the powered industrial truck / forklift 350 , to thereby couple the fork lift 350 to the attachment frame 22 . by engaging the supporting frame 19 of the attachment frame 22 with the forks 352 , the powered industrial truck / forklift 350 is operable to pick up and lift the entire directional boring attachment 20 in the same way that it normally lifts a pallet . in an exemplary embodiment , the supporting frame is pinned through the forks 352 , and the attachment frame 22 may be chained to the body of the powered industrial truck / forklift 350 . alternately , the fork 352 of the forklift can be chained to a rearwardly mounted mounting bracket ( not shown ). again , the specific size of attachment plates , sleeves , and locations will vary according to the size of the powered industrial truck / forklift 350 , the size of the directional boring attachment 20 , and the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 21 . furthermore , as depicted , the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into its ground - engaging position and the wheel assembly 24 lowered to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation . fig2 illustrates the direction boring attachment 20 being coupled to , and primarily powered by a trencher 400 . in an exemplary embodiment , the directional boring attachment 20 is powered by the hydraulic system of the trencher 400 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 20 and the capacity of the hydraulic system of the trencher 400 , the hydraulic system may need to be upgraded with larger hydraulic pumps , additional hydraulic pumps , and / or regulated to operate the existing equipment of the trencher 400 and the attached directional boring attachment 20 . as is typical of most trenchers , the hydraulic lines of the trencher 400 , include installed tees , valves , quick couplers , and additional lengths of hydraulic lines that facilitate coupling the hydraulic system of the trencher 400 to the directional boring attachment 20 . besides being powered by the hydraulic system of the trencher 400 , the directional boring attachment 20 may alternatively be powered by a power take - off ( p . t . o .) of the trencher 400 and / or engine shaft located underneath , behind , or in front of the trencher 400 . the directional boring attachment 20 may also be powered by batteries , generators , and / or alternators of the existing electrical system of the trencher 400 and regulated as needed . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 20 and the capacity of the existing electrical system of the trencher 400 , the electrical system may need to be upgraded with larger batteries , additional batteries , additional alternators , larger alternators , and / or regulated to operate existing equipment of the trencher 400 and directional boring attachment 20 . in the embodiment shown , directional boring tool 21 and the other controllable components of the directional boring attachment 20 are operated by the control panel ( not shown ) that can be mounted in the existing cab of the trencher 400 and operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 20 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . alternatively , the control panel may be mounted upon the directional boring attachment 20 or incorporated into a portable remote unit that are operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 20 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . in one embodiment , the trenching tool 402 or backfill blade ( not shown ) that is attached to powered arm 404 of the trencher 400 is unpinned from coupling point 405 and removed . the directional boring attachment 20 is then pivotably coupled via the extendable / retractable coupler 33 to the undercarriage of the trencher 400 or to the point at which either the trenching tool 402 or backfill blade 404 is removed . as trenchers generally do not have standardized parts , the attachment frame 22 of the directional boring attachment 20 may need custom fitting and / or fabrication for each type of trencher that the directional boring attachment 20 is to be coupled to in this manner . more specifically , the dimensional parameters of the attachment frame 22 such as pin placement and pin size depend upon : ( 1 ) the dimensions of the trencher 400 ; ( 2 ) the size , dimensions , and weight of the directional boring tool 21 ; ( 3 ) clearance requirements of the trencher 400 and the directional boring tool 21 ; and ( 4 ) the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 21 . instead of being pivotably coupled to the trencher 400 , the attachment frame 22 may be bolted and / or welded to the trencher 400 . in one embodiment , the hydraulic cylinders ( not shown ) for the trenching tool 402 or the backfill blade 404 are pivotably coupled to the attachment frame 22 in order to provide a mechanism by which to control the angle of attack for the directional boring tool 21 . furthermore , as depicted in fig2 , the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into its ground - engaging position and the wheel assembly 24 extended downward to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation , thus relieving the trencher 400 of total support responsibilities . fig2 a and 24 b illustrate the direction boring attachment 420 being coupled to a vehicle such as a truck 450 . the directional boring attachment in fig2 a and 24 b is generally similar to directional boring attachment 20 , except that the supporting frame 419 is either fixedly coupled to the truck bed and / or bed frame ; or else the supporting frame 419 is a part of the truckbed and / or frame . the boring attachment 420 is powered , operated and moved by the power system of the truck 450 , and in particular , is powered by the hydraulic and / or pneumatic system of the truck 450 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 420 and the capacity of the hydraulic system of the truck 450 , the hydraulic system may need to be upgraded with larger hydraulic pumps , additional hydraulic pumps , and / or regulated to operate the existing equipment of the truck 450 and the attached directional boring attachment 420 . as is typical of most trucks , the hydraulic lines of the truck 450 include various hydraulic components such as installed tees , valves , quick couplers , and additional lengths of hydraulic lines that facilitate coupling the hydraulic system of the truck 450 to the directional boring attachment 420 . in lieu of being powered by the hydraulic system of the vehicle / truck 450 , the directional boring attachment 420 may be powered by a power take - off ( p . t . o .) of the truck 450 and / or the vehicle &# 39 ; s engine shaft . the directional boring attachment 420 may also be powered by batteries , alternators , and / or generators of the existing electrical system of the truck 450 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 420 and the capacity of the existing electrical system of the truck 450 , the electrical system may need to be upgraded with additional batteries , larger batteries , additional alternators , larger alternators , and / or regulated to operate the existing equipment of the vehicle / truck 450 and the directional boring attachment 420 . in an exemplary embodiment , the directional boring tool 421 and the other controllable components of the directional boring attachment 420 are operated by a control panel ( not shown ) mounted in the existing cab of the truck 450 and operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 420 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . alternatively , the control panel ( not shown ) may be mounted upon the attachment frame 422 of the directional boring attachment 420 or incorporated into a portable remote unit that is operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 420 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . one way in which the directional boring attachment 420 may be attached to the truck 450 is to fixedly couple the attachment frame 422 to the main frame of the truck 450 via the extendable / retractable coupler 33 , and other points of the supporting frame 419 . the attachment frame 422 of the directional boring attachment 420 may need custom fitting for each type of truck 450 that the directional boring attachment 420 is to be coupled to in this manner . more specifically , the dimensional parameters of the attachment frame 422 such as pin placement and pin size depend upon : ( 1 ) the dimensions of the truck 450 ; ( 2 ) the size , dimensions , and weight of the directional boring tool 421 ; ( 3 ) clearance requirements of the truck 450 and the directional boring tool 421 ; and ( 4 ) the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 421 . additionally , the rear portion of a lower longitudinal member should be pivotably coupled to the supporting frame 419 to enable the device to pivotably tilt , in a manner similar to a dump type bed . in an exemplary embodiment , the hydraulic lift cylinders 452 of the vehicle / truck 450 are pivotably coupled to the attachment frame 422 in order to provide a mechanism for controlling the angle of attack for the directional boring tool 421 . furthermore , the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into its ground - engaging position , and the wheel assembly 24 extended downward to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 420 during operation , thus relieving the backhoe loader 250 of total support responsibilities . a second way for attaching the directional boring attachment to the truck 450 is to pin the attachment frame 22 to the tilt bed of the truck 450 . instead of being pinned to the tilt bed of 10 the truck 450 , the attachment frame 422 may be bolted and / or welded to the tilt bed of the truck 450 . the tilt bed provides a mechanism for controlling the angle of attack for the directional boring tool 21 . a third means for attaching the directional boring attachment to the truck 450 is to fixedly couple the attachment frame 422 to an isolated center section ( not shown ) of a flat bed that tilts . again , instead of pinning the attachment frame 422 to the center section of the flat bed , the attachment flame 422 may be bolted and / or welded to the center section of the flat bed in an exemplary embodiment , the surrounding section of flat bed remains immovable as the center section tilts to afford some angle of attack for the directional boring tool 421 , thus providing a flat working surface for the operator of the directional boring tool 421 . the center section may further include guardrails ( not shown ) around the direction boring tool 421 and the perimeter of the flat bed to protect the operator of the directional boring tool 421 from injury . the specific size of attachment plates , sleeves , and locations will vary according to the size of the truck 450 , the size of the directional boring tool 421 , and the supported angles of attack . a hydraulic cylinder under the directional boring tool 421 would generally be attached to the secondary attachment frame to perform angle of attack adjustments , in some cases , additional screw type jack supports may be added between the truck &# 39 ; s main frame and the frame of the tilt bed to maintain stability and rigidity . fig2 illustrates an example of the directional boring attachment 20 ( similar or identical to the boring attachment 20 of fig1 ) being coupled to a road grader 500 . the directional boring attachment 20 in fig2 is powered , operated and moved primarily by the road grader 500 , and in particular by the hydraulic and / or pneumatic system of the road grader 500 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 20 and the capacity of the hydraulic system of the road grader 500 , the hydraulic system may need to be upgraded with larger hydraulic pumps , additional hydraulic pumps , and / or regulated to operate the existing equipment of the road grader 500 and the attached directional boring attachment 20 . the hydraulic lines of the road grader 500 include installed hydraulic fluid carriers and fluid flow controllers such as tees , valves , quick couplers , and additional lengths of hydraulic lines that facilitate coupling the hydraulic system of the road grader 500 to the directional boring attachment 20 . besides being powered by the hydraulic system of the road grader 500 , the directional boring attachment 20 may alternatively be powered by a power take - off ( p . t . o .) of the road grader 500 and / or engine shaft . the directional boring attachment 20 may also be powered by batteries , alternators , and / or generators of the existing or supplemental electrical system of the road grader 500 . in an exemplary embodiment , the directional boring tool 21 and the controllable components of the directional boring attachment 20 are operated by a control panel mounted either in the existing cab of the road grader 500 or upon the directional boring attachment 20 , or incorporated into a portable remote unit that is operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 20 via a wired and / or wireless communications link as illustrated in fig2 , the road grader &# 39 ; s 500 front blade is unpinned and removed from blade connection member 507 . the attachment frame 22 is then pivotably coupled to connection member 507 . as road graders generally do not have standardized parts , the attachment frame 22 may need to be custom fitted and / or fabricated for each type of road grader that the directional boring attachment 20 is to be coupled to in this manner . more specifically , the dimensional parameters of the attachment frame 22 such as pin placement and pin size depend upon : ( 1 ) the dimensions of the road grader 500 ; ( 2 ) the size , dimensions , and weight of the directional boring tool 21 ; ( 3 ) clearance requirements of the road grader 500 and the directional boring tool 21 ; and ( 4 ) the angles of attack supported by the directional boring tool 21 . instead of being pivotably coupled to the road grader 500 , the attachment frame 22 may be bolted and / or welded to the road grader 500 . in an exemplary embodiment , the hydraulic cylinders ( not shown ) for the front blade are pinned to the attachment frame 22 in order to provide a mechanism by which the angle of attack may be adjusted . furthermore , the first stabilizer assembly 26 may be locked into its ground - engaging position and the wheel assembly 24 extended downward to provide further support for the directional boring attachment 20 during operation , thus relieving the road grader 500 of total support and stress absorbing responsibilities . fig2 illustrates the exemplary direction boring attachment 20 being coupled to a roller compactor 550 . the directional boring attachment 20 in fig2 is primarily powered , operated and moved by the roller compactor 550 , and specifically by the hydraulic system of the roller compactor 550 . depending upon the requirements of the directional boring attachment 20 and the capacity of the hydraulic system of the roller compactor 550 , the hydraulic system may a need to be upgraded with larger hydraulic pumps , additional hydraulic pumps , and / or regulated to operate the existing equipment of the roller compactor 550 and the attached directional boring attachment 20 . the hydraulic lines of the roller compactor 550 include installed hydraulic system fluid carriers , connectors and fluid flow controllers , such as tees , valves , quick couplers , and additional lengths of hydraulic lines that facilitate coupling the hydraulic system of the roller compactor 550 to the directional boring attachment 20 . besides being powered by the hydraulic system of the roller compactor 550 , the directional boring attachment 20 may alternatively be powered by a power take - off ( p . t . o .) of the roller compactor 550 and / or engine shaft located underneath , behind , or in front of the roller compactor 550 . the directional boring attachment 20 may also be powered by batteries , alternators , and / or generators of the existing or supplemental electrical system of the roller compactor 550 . in an exemplary embodiment , the directional boring tool 21 and the other controllable components of the directional boring attachment 20 are operated by a control panel ( not shown ) that is either mounted at the existing cab of the roller compactor 550 ; mounted upon the directional boring attachment 20 ; or else is incorporated into a portable remote unit that is operatively coupled to the directional boring attachment 20 via a wired and / or wireless communications link . to attach the directional boring attachment 20 to the roller compactor 550 , the front dozer blade 552 of the roller compactor 550 is first unpinned and removed from attachment point 557 . the attachment frame 22 is then pivotably coupled to attachment point 557 , where the dozer blade was removed . as roller compactors generally do not have standardized parts , the attachment frame 22 may need to be custom fitted and / or fabricated for each type of road grader that the directional boring attachment 20 is to be coupled to in this manner . instead of being pivotably coupled to the roller compactor 550 , the attachment frame 22 may be bolted and / or welded to the roller compactor 550 . in an exemplary embodiment , the hydraulic cylinders ( not shown ) for the front blade 552 are pivotably coupled to the attachment frame 22 such as at attachment yoke 30 or else to a rear - positioned mounting bracket ( not shown ) in order to provide a mechanism by which the angle of attack may be adjusted . while the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description , such illustration and description is to be considered as exemplary and not restrictive in character , it being understood that only exemplary embodiments have been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected .	4
referring to the drawings , in fig1 is shown a block diagram of an apparatus for measuring the accuracy of a timepiece in accordance with the teachings of the present invention . the testing apparatus in fig1 includes a timepiece 1 to be tested , a television camera 2 focused on the time display of the timepiece . a one bit analog to digital ( a - d ) converter 3 is coupled to the output of television camera 2 and the output of a - d converter 3 is coupled to the input of signal processing means 4 . control means 5 is coupled to television camera 2 , a - d converter 3 and processing means 4 and supplies timing signals for same . in operation , the information corresponding to the time displayed on timepiece 1 is converted by television camera 2 into a video signal , as shown in fig3 ( a ) and 3 ( b ). in fig3 ( a ) and 3 ( b ), when the television camera scans across scan line 10 , the video signal takes the form of that shown in fig3 ( b ). the video signal from television camera 2 is then converted by a - d converter 3 into a one bit digital signal as shown in fig3 ( a ) and 3 ( c ). the digital signal from a - d converter 3 is then fed into processing circuit 4 . also , the position of the scan line of the television camera 2 is identified by the timing signals coming from control circuit 5 and the timing signals coming from control circuit 5 are also supplied to processing means 4 for processing together with the digital signal from a - d converter 3 . in the processing means 4 , from the timing signals and the digitized video signal representing the state of the display for each scan line , the time displayed on the timepiece is determined . the time displayed on the timepiece is then compared with a time standard and the difference is calculated and stored in a memory means provided in the processing means 4 . at some point in time following the first determination of the difference between the time displayed and the standard time , the same timepiece 1 is brought back to the test apparatus and the difference from the standard time is again determined . this second difference is then compared in the processing means with the previously stored difference and the amount of delay or advance or the timepiece is calculated from the differences from the two tests . the result of the test is utilized as a basis for making various evaluations of the tested timepiece and if an abnormality is detected , an indication is given . in practice , the testing apparatus of the present invention is capable of being used with either liquid crystal type displays , light emitting diode type displays and analog type displays having hands ; but for the purpose of this description , a liquid crystal type display is assumed . furthermore , the television camera 2 can be any industrial type having a conventional scanning system . in addition processing means 4 may be a digital computer properly programmed or a hard wire special purpose computer . also , it is within the scope of the present invention that the processing means 4 may comprise a time standard generator , a digital arithmetic means and a storage means properly interconnected . furthermore , any software or hardware programming of the digital computer is obvious to one skilled in the art and is not a point of novelty of the present invention . referring to fig2 shown therein is a block diagram of a control means 5 for the embodiment of fig2 . the control means 5 of fig2 includes a quartz crystal oscillator 6 which supplies a sinusoidal signal to signal generator 7 . the outputs of signal generator 7 are connected to the reset inputs r and clock inputs φ of counters 8 and 9 . the outputs of counter 7 are also applied to the television camera as horizontal synchronization signal s h and vertical synchronization signal s v . in operation , quartz crystal oscillator 6 generates a sinusoidal signal ( 14 . 31818 mh z for industrial television camera ) which is applied to the input of signal generator 7 . signal generator 7 digitizes the sinusoidal signal from crystal oscillator 6 and divides the digitized signal in frequency to generate a clock signal φ o ( which is 3 . 58 mh z in this embodiment ), a horizontal synchronization signal s h ( 15 . 734 kh z ) and a vertical synchronization signal s v ( 30 kh z ). the clock signal φ o is feed into the counter input φ of counter 9 . the horizontal synchronization signal s h is applied to the television camera and to the reset input of counter 9 and is applied to the counter input φ of counter 8 . the vertical synchronization signal s v is applied to the television camera as well as to the reset terminal of counter 8 . in operation , counter 8 counts the number of horizontal lines to produce output information on the vertical position . counter 9 counts the number of timing signals and generates information as to horizontal position . the outputs of counters 8 and 9 , as information on vertical and horizontal positions , are respectively feed into processing means 4 together with the digitized video information . furthermore , the counter 8 is reset to zero by the vertical synchronization signal s v at the beginning of each field and counter 9 is reset to zero by the horizontal synchronization signal s h at the start of each scanning line . in practice it is possible to change the sharpness of the picture image by changing the number of scanning lines by setting an arbitrary number for the clock signal φ o . referring to fig3 and 5 , in conjunction therewith , a suitable a - d converter is illustrated . fig3 ( a ) shows a display of a digital type timepiece and fig3 ( b ) of said figure is the wave form of the video signal of the television camera 2 that corresponds to the scanning line 10 in fig3 ( a ). fig3 ( c ) shows a digital signal that is obtained from a one bit a - d conversion of the video signal 3 ( b ). normally in a one bit a - d conversion , it is common practice to set a threshold level 22 as shown by the broken line of fig3 ( b ) and to define a logical zero or one below it . however , due to the characteristics of the picture tube , the amplifier circuit and other effects of the television camera , the video signal produced by the television camera 2 may look like that shown in fig5 ( b ) for an image shown in fig5 ( a ). consequently , it is not possible to clearly convert the black on white image markings into a one bit code by using the preceeding method . therefore , in this embodiment , the video signal is digitized by first differentiating it in a differentiator , then feeding the differentiated signal into a comparator that has hystersis or into two comparators with different threshold levels . the differentiated signal corresponding to fig5 ( b ) and its digitized signal are shown in fig5 ( c ) and 5 ( d ) respectively . examples of the derivative circuit and digitization circuit are shown in fig6 but other types of differentiators or comparators could be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . as discussed in the foregoing description , the test apparatus of fig1 eliminates the necessity of special operation of the timepiece before a test and also eliminates the necessity for visual readings and human judgment , thus making automatic tests possible and contributing significantly to savings and labor . since the a - d converter 3 of the embodiment of fig1 has a resolution capability of four to eight bits and the results of the test are achieved by a processing means 4 that sequentially processes the continuous data from the a - d converters 3 , the quantity of data or bits to be processed by the embodiment of fig1 is enormous . since there is such an enormous amount of information to be processed , a very high speed processing means and a large memory capability are required in the processing means 4 , thereby resulting in a very expensive test apparatus . in order to reduce the cost , the amount of data to be processed by the processing means 4 must be reduced . accordingly , the embodiment of fig4 has been developed . referring to fig4 shown therein is a second embodiment of a test apparatus in accordance with the teachings of the present invention . the test apparatus of fig4 is substantially the same as that shown in fig1 except that a masking means 12 has been provided and coupled to the processing means 4 . in fig4 like reference numerals denote like elements to that of fig1 . furthermore , a control means 5 ( not shown ) is part of the embodiment of fig4 . in a similar manner to that of the embodiment of fig1 the television camera 2 is focused on the test timepiece 1 and the image is converted into a video signal . the video signal from camera 2 is converted into a digital signal by a - d converter 3 . a - d converter 3 is a one bit a - d converter . as previously stated in the description of the embodiment of fig1 in addition to the digitized video signal information , information regarding the position in the picture plane are required for processing by the processing means 4 . in the embodiment of fig1 this information was supplied by control means 5 . in the present embodiment , the positional information is obtained from a control means 5 modified to include the masking function . such a control means is shown in fig7 . in fig7 the control means is substantially the same as that shown in fig3 except that the output of counter 9 is connected to the input of a comparator 11 . furthermore , the control circuit is provided with a read only memory ( rom ) or random access memory ( ram ) 10 which is connected to an input of the comparator 11 . in operation , the quartz crystal oscillator 6 generates a sinusoidal output signal which is supplied to signal generator 7 . signal generator 7 digitizes the sinusoidal signal from quartz crystal oscillator 6 and divides the signal to generate a clock signal φ o , a horizontal synchronization signal s h and a vertical synchronization signal s v . the clock signal φ o is feed into counter 9 via its input and the horizontal synchronization signal s h is feed into the television camera as well as into the reset terminal of counter 9 and into the input terminal of counter 8 . vertical synchronization signal s v is feed into the vertical synchronization input of the television camera 2 and to the reset terminal of counter 8 . in operation , counter 9 is reset to zero by the horizontal synchronization signal s h at the beginning of each sweep and counts the clock signals φ o to determine the horizontal position of the sweep line at its output . counter 8 is reset to zero by the vertical synchronization signal s v at the beginning of each field and produces information on the vertical position in the image plane as its output . by referring to fig8 the operation of the masking means which comprises comparator 11 and rom or ram 10 will be explained . as can be seen in fig8 a sufficient amount of information as to the light or dark quality of segment a is given by point 1 ( a ). likewise , information at points 1 ( b ) and 1 ( c ) represent the light or dark quality of the segments b and c respectively . therefore , it should be apparent that only single points in each of the segments are required to determine what the time is . for example , the minimum number of data points required by the procesing means 4 to determine the value of a single digit of a seven segment display is seven data points . in order to supply the required seven data points , in the ram or rom 10 is stored the horizontal positions . the input terminal for addressing the horizontal positions stored in the rom 10 is connected to the output terminal of counter 8 . the output of rom 10 is supplied to comparator 11 wherein it is compared with the output of counter 9 which is supplying horizontal position information . in this way only the data at such points where the output from counter 8 agrees with the output from rom 10 is processed by the processing means . in other words , only significant digital signals are processed by processing means 4 . in this way the amount of data handled by the processing means 4 is drastically reduced . it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that the processing means 4 in the embodiment of fig7 is substantially the same as the processing means of fig1 except that it is substantially simpler . furthermore , it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that if one desires to select more than a single data point from each scanning line , a parallel arrangement of two or more rom &# 39 ; s could be implemented . as disclosed hereinabove , the invention permits a great simplification of the processing means 4 and accordingly drastically reduces the costs of the testing apparatus thereby reducing the cost of testing . in all cases it is understood that the above described embodiments are merely illustrative of but a few of the many possible specific embodiments which represent the applications or the principals of the present invention . furthermore , numerous and varied other arrangements can be readily devised in accordance with the principles of the present invention by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	6
a cell array 10 , including a plurality of rows 12 of trenched dmos transistors , is shown in fig1 . cell array 10 has an open cell configuration , i . e ., trenches 14 run in only one direction , rather than forming a grid . individual cells are formed by alternating n + source contacts 16 and p + contacts 18 in rows 20 that run parallel to and between trenches 14 . the configuration of the regions of each row that have an n + source contact are shown in cross - section in fig1 a , while the regions that have a p + contact are shown in fig1 b . as shown in fig1 a and 1b , each trenched dmos transistor includes a doped n + substrate ( drain ) layer 22 , a more lightly doped n - epitaxial layer 24 , and a gate electrode 28 . gate electrode 28 comprises a conductive polysilicon that fills a trench 14 . a gate oxide 26 coats the walls of the trench and underlies the polysilicon . the top surface of the polysilicon is recessed from the surface 30 of the semiconductor substrate by a distance r ( typically from about 0 to 0 . 4 μm ). n + doped source regions 32 a , 32 b are positioned one on each side of the trench 14 . a dielectric layer 35 covers the trench opening and the two source regions 32 a , 32 b . extending between the source regions of adjacent cells is a p + heavy body region 34 and , beneath it , a flat - bottomed p - well 36 . in the areas of the cell array which have a n + contact 16 , a shallow n + doped contact region extends between the n + source regions . a source metal layer 38 covers the surface of the cell array . the transistor shown in fig1 a and 1b includes several features that enhance the ruggedness of the transistor and its resistance to avalanche breakdown degradation . first , the depth of the p + heavy body region 34 relative to the depths of the trench 14 and the flat bottom of the p - well is selected so that the peak electric field when voltage is applied to the transistor will be approximately halfway between adjacent trenches . the preferred relative depths of the p + heavy body , the p - well and the trench are different for different device layouts . however , preferred relative depths can be readily determined empirically ( by observing the location of peak electric field ) or by finite element analysis . second , the bottom corners of the trench 14 are rounded ( preferably , the top corners are also rounded ; this feature is not shown ). corner rounding can be achieved using the process described in u . s . application ser . no . 08 / 959 , 197 , filed on oct . 28 , 1997 , now u . s . pat . no . 6 , 103 , 635 . the rounded corners of the trench also tend to cause the peak electric field to be moved away from the trench corners and towards a central location between adjacent trenches . third , an abrupt junction at the interface between the p + heavy body and the p - well causes the peak electric field to occur in that area of the interface . avalanche multiplication initiates at the location of the peak electric field , thus steering hot carriers away from the sensitive gate oxide and channel regions . as a result , this structure improves reliability and avalanche ruggedness without sacrificing cell density as much as a deeper heavy body junction . this abrupt junction can be achieved by the double doping process that will be described below , or by other processes for forming abrupt junctions , many of which are known in the semiconductor field . lastly , referring to fig2 a , the cell array is surrounded by a field termination junction 40 which increases the breakdown voltage of the device and thaws avalanche current away from the cell array to the periphery of the die . field termination junction 40 is a deep p + well , preferably from about 1 to 3 m deep at its deepest point , that is deeper than the p + heavy body regions 34 in order to reduce the electric field caused by the junction curvature . a preferred process for making the above - described transistors is shown as a flow diagram in fig3 , and the individual steps are shown schematically in fig4 - 4k . it is noted that some steps that are conventional or do not require illustration are described below but not shown in fig4 - 4k . as indicated by the arrows in fig3 , and as will be discussed below , the order of the steps shown in fig4 - 4k can be varied . moreover , some of the steps shown in fig4 - 4k are optional , as will be discussed . a semiconductor substrate is initially provided . preferably , the substrate is a n ++ si substrate , having a standard thickness , e . g ., 500 μm , and a very low resistivity , e . g ., 0 . 001 to 0 . 005 ohm - cm . an epitaxial layer is deposited onto this substrate , as is well known , preferably to a thickness of from about 4 to 10 μm . preferably the resistivity of the epitaxial layer is from about 0 . 1 to 3 . 0 ohm - cm . next , the field termination junction 40 is formed by the steps shown in fig4 - 4c . in fig4 , an oxide layer is formed on the surface of the epitaxial layer . preferably , the thickness of the oxide is from about 5 to 10 kå . next , as shown in fig4 a , the oxide layer is patterned and etched to define a mask , and the p + dopant is introduced to form the deep p + well field termination . a suitable dopant is boron , implanted at an energy of from about 40 to 100 kev and a dose of 1e14 ( 1 × 10 14 ) to 1e16 cm − 2 . as shown in fig4 b , the p + dopant is then driven further into the substrate , e . g ., by diffusion , and a field oxide layer is formed over the p + junction . preferably the oxide thickness is from about 4 to 10 kå . finally , the oxide ( fig4 ) over the active area of the substrate ( the area where the cell array will be formed ) is patterned and removed by any suitable etching process , leaving only the field oxide in suitable areas . this leaves the substrate ready for the following steps that will form the cell array . it is noted that , as an alternative to steps 4 - 4 c , a suitable field termination structure can be formed using a ring - shaped trench which surrounds the periphery of the cell array and acts to lessen the electric field and increase the resistance to avalanche breakdown degradation . this trench field termination does not require a field oxide or deep p + body junction to be effective . consequently , it can be used to reduce the number of process steps . using a trench ring ( or multiple concentric trench rings ) to form a field termination is described in , e . g ., u . s . patent no . 5 , 430 , 324 , the full disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference . preferably , the trench would have substantially the same depth as the trenches in the cell array . an exemplary embodiment for a trench termination structure is shown in fig2 b . termination trenches 40 t form concentric rings around the edge of the device . termination trenches 40 t can be filled with either floating conductive material such as polysilicon or floating dielectric material such as silicon dioxide . also , the p - type well regions on either sides of termination trenches 40 t can be made either shallower than the trenches or deeper than the trenches . the cell array is formed by the steps shown in fig4 d - 4k . first , a plurality of trenches are patterned and etched into the epitaxial layer of the substrate ( fig4 d ). preferably , as noted above , the trenches are formed using the process u . s . application ser . no . 08 / 959 , 197 , filed on oct . 28 , 1997 , now u . s . pat . no . 6 , 103 , 635 , so that the upper and lower corners of each trench will be smoothly rounded . as shown in fig1 and described above , the trenches are patterned to run in only one direction , defined as an open cell structure . after trench formation , a gate oxide layer is formed on the trench walls , as is well known in the semiconductor field . preferably the gate oxide has a thickness of from about 100 to 800 å . next , as shown in fig4 e , polysilicon is deposited to fill the trench and cover the surface of the substrate , generally to a thickness of from about 1 to 2 μm depending on the trench width ( shown by the dotted lines in fig4 e ). this layer is then planarized by the nature of its thickness relative to the trench width , typically from about 2 to 5 k å ( indicated by solid lines in fig4 e ). the polysilicon is then doped to n - type , e . g ., by conventional pocl 3 doping or by phosphorus implant . the backside of the wafer need not be stripped ( as is conventionally done prior to doping the polysilicon to enhance defect gettering ) because any further doping of the highly doped substrate would be unlikely to result in any enhancement in defect gettering . the polysilicon is then patterned with a photoresist mask and etched to remove it from the trench areas , as shown in fig4 f . a small recess between the top of the polysilicon in the trench and the substrate surface inherently results when the polysilicon is etched completely to remove all of the polysilicon from the substrate surface . the depth of this recess must be controlled so that it does not exceed the depth of the n + source junction that will be formed in a later step . to reduce the need to carefully control this aspect of the process , a relatively deep n + source junction is formed , as will be discussed below . then , as shown in fig4 g , the p - well is formed by implanting the dopant , e . g ., a boron implant at an energy of 30 to 100 kev and a dosage of 1e13 to 1e15 , and driving it in to a depth of from about 1 to 3 μm using conventional drive in techniques . the next two steps ( p + heavy body formation ) can be performed either before formation of the n + source junction , or afterwards , as indicated by the arrows in fig3 . p + heavy body formation and n + source junction formation can be performed in either order because they are both resist - masked steps and because there is no diffusion step in between . this advantageously allows significant process flexibility . the p + heavy body formation steps will be described below as being performed prior to source formation ; it will be understood that n + source formation could be performed first simply by changing the order of the steps discussed below . first , a mask is formed over the areas that will not be doped to p +, as shown in fig4 h . ( it is noted that this masking step is not required if the p + heavy body is formed later , after the dielectric layer has been applied and patterned for contact holes , see fig4 k , below , so that the dielectric itself provides a mask .) as discussed above , it is preferred that the junction at the interface between the p - well and the p + heavy body be abrupt . to accomplish this , a double implant of dopant ( e . g ., boron ) is performed . for example , a preferred double implant is a first boron implant at an energy of 150 to 200 kev and a dose of 1e15 to 5e15 cm − 2 , and a second boron implant at an energy of 20 to 40 kev and a dose of 1e14 to 1e15 cm − 2 . the high energy first implant brings the p + heavy body as deep as possible into the substrate , so that it will not compensate the n + source junction to be introduced later . the second , lower energy / lower dose implant extends the p + heavy body from the deep region formed during the first implant up to the substrate surface to provide the p + contact 18 . the resulting p + heavy body junction is preferably about 0 . 4 to 1 m deep at this stage of the process ( final junction depth after drive - in is preferably about 0 . 5 to 1 . 5 m deep ), and includes a region of high dopant concentration near the interface with the p - well , and a region of relatively low dopant concentration at the contact surface of the p + heavy body . a preferred concentration distribution is shown in fig5 . it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the abrupt junction can be formed in many other ways , e . g ., by diffused dopants , by using a continuous dopant source at the surface or by using atoms that diffuse slowly . after the formation of the p + heavy body , a conventional resist strip process is performed to remove the mask , and a new mask is patterned to prepare the substrate for the formation of the n + source junction . this mask is a n + blocking mask and is patterned to cover the areas of the substrate surface which are to provide p + contacts 18 ( fig1 and 1b ), as shown in fig4 . this results in the formation of alternating p + and n + contacts after n - type doping ( see lines a - a and b - b and cross - sectional views a - a and b - b in fig4 i , which correspond to fig1 a and 1b ). the n + source regions and n + contact are then formed using a double implant . for example , a preferred double implant process is a first implant of arsenic at an energy of 80 to 120 kev and a dose of 5e15 to 1e16 cm − 2 followed by a second implant of phosphorus at an energy of 40 to 70 kev and a dose of 1e15 to 5e15 cm − 2 . the phosphorus implant forms a relatively deep n + source junction , which allows more process flexibility in the depth of the polysilicon recess , as discussed above . phosphorus ions will penetrate deeper into the substrate during implant and also during later diffusion steps . advantageously , the n + source regions will have a depth of about 0 . 4 to 0 . 8 m after diffusion . the arsenic implant extends the n + source to the substrate surface , and also forms the n + contacts 16 ( see fig1 and 1a ) by compensating ( converting ) the p - type surface of the p + heavy body to n - type in the desired contact area . the preferred sheet resistance profiles for the n + source along the edge of the trench , and the n + contact are shown in fig5 a and 5b , respectively . thus , the alternating p + and n + contacts 18 , 16 , shown in fig1 are formed by patterning the substrate with appropriate masks and doping with the first p + implant and the second n + implant , respectively , as described above . this manner of forming the alternating contacts advantageously allows an open cell array having a smaller cell pitch than is typical for such arrays and thus a higher cell density and lower rds on . next , a conventional n + drive is performed to activate the dopants . a short cycle is used , preferably 10 min at 900 ° c ., so that activation occurs without excessive diffusion . a dielectric material , e . g ., borophosphate silicate glass ( bpsg ), is then deposited over the entire substrate surface and flowed in a conventional manner ( fig4 j ), after which the dielectric is patterned and etched ( fig4 k ) to define electrical contact openings over the n + and p + contacts 16 , 18 . as noted above , the p + heavy body implant steps can be performed at this point , if desired ( rather than prior to n + source formation ), eliminating the need for a mask and thus reducing cost and process time . next , the dielectric is reflowed in an inert gas , e . g ., a nitrogen purge . if the p + body has been implanted immediately prior , this step is required to activate the p + dopant . if the p + body was implanted earlier , prior to the n + drive , this step can be omitted if the dielectric surface is sufficiently smooth - edged around the contact openings . the cell array is then completed by conventional metalization , passivation deposition and alloy steps , as is well known in the semiconductor field . other embodiments are within the claims . for example , while the description above is of an n - channel transistor , the processes of the invention could also be used to form a p - channel transistor . to accomplish this , “ p ” and “ n ” would simply be reversed in the above description , i . e ., where “ p ” doping is specified above the region would be “ if ” doped instead , and vice versa .	7
while this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms , there is shown in the drawings , and will be described herein in detail , specific embodiments thereof with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated . referring to fig1 - 13 there is shown a spill - proof pour spout 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig1 the spill - proof pour spout 10 includes a base 20 having an inner sleeve 30 extending outwardly therefrom . a conduit member 40 is located in the inner sleeve 30 and includes a fluid tube 50 , a first and a second air tube 60 , 61 ( see fig9 ) and an end cap 70 . an outer sleeve 80 engages the inner sleeve 30 and is held in a normally closed position by a biasing member 90 , such as a spring or elastomeric member . in the normally closed position , the outer sleeve 80 is biased against the end cap 70 by the biasing member 90 , thereby preventing flow through the fluid tube 50 . the outer sleeve 80 is rotatably and slidably moveable with respect to the inner sleeve 30 to facilitate multiple positions of the pour spout 10 . in a preferred embodiment , the pour spout 10 is positionable in three indexed positions , a locked position as shown in fig2 a , a low flow position as shown in fig2 b , and a high flow position as shown in fig2 c . it is to be understood , however , that the pour spout 10 can be provided with numerous other positions , including additional positions for additional flow rates . when describing the functionality of the spill - proof pour spout 10 of the present invention , it will be presumed that the pour spout 10 is attached to a fluid - filled container , such as , for example , a gasoline container , and a user of the pour spout is attempting to transfer fluid from the container to a receiving vessel having a receptacle into which the spout can be inserted . as shown in fig2 a - 2 c , the outer sleeve 80 also includes a first slot 110 , a second slot 120 and a third slot 130 . the base 20 includes a protrusion 140 that cooperates with the slots 110 , 120 , 130 in the outer sleeve 80 to facilitate indexable positioning of the pour spout 10 . the outer sleeve 80 is rotatable with respect to the inner sleeve 30 so that the protrusion 140 can be aligned with one of the slots 110 , 120 , 130 . the first slot 110 facilitates a locked position . the outer sleeve 80 includes a detent 141 that maintains the protrusion 140 within the slot 110 in a locked position . the pour spout 10 can be unlocked when a sufficient force is applied to the outer sleeve 80 with respect to the inner sleeve 30 to allow the protrusion 140 to slide past the detent 141 . once unlocked , the outer sleeve 80 can be rotated with respect to the inner sleeve 30 to allow alignment of the protrusion 140 with one of the slots 120 , 130 , which , in turn , allows the inner sleeve to be slid into an open position . as shown in fig3 a and 3b , the outer sleeve 80 of the pour spout 10 includes a shoulder 100 having a lip 101 . the shoulder 100 of the outer sleeve 80 coacts with the receptacle of the receiving vessel to permit the outer sleeve 80 to slide relative to the inner sleeve 30 into an open position when pressure is applied to the spout 10 by the user . as shown in fig2 b and 3a , a low flow open position is achieved when the outer sleeve 80 is slid such that the protrusion 140 is held against an end surface 142 of the slot 120 . in similar fashion , as shown in fig2 c and 3b , a high flow position is achieved when the outer sleeve 80 is slid such that the protrusion 140 is held against an end surface 143 of the slot 130 . it should be noted that in the locked position , the outer sleeve 80 is maintained in the normally biased closed position against the end cap 70 . in order to allow the protrusion 140 to rotate past the detent 141 , a plastic material may be utilized that allows some flexion of the detent and / or protrusion . additionally , an elastomeric compression - type seal may be utilized below the end cap 70 that will allow the outer sleeve 80 to be slidably pushed against the end cap just enough to further compress the seal and allow the protrusion to rotate past the detent 141 . referring now to fig4 and 5 , in the preferred embodiment illustrated , the base 20 has a larger diameter than the inner sleeve 30 which extends outwardly from one end of the base 20 . this creates a step 150 that extends radially around one end of the base 20 . as shown in fig1 the biasing member 90 in the preferred embodiment is a spring that is disposed around the inner sleeve 30 , with one end of the spring 90 resting on the step 150 . referring once again to fig5 at the end of the inner sleeve 30 opposite the base 20 , there is a notched portion 160 which receives the conduit member 40 as will be explained further below . the other end of the base 20 has a connector flange 25 that cooperates with a threaded collar of a container ( not shown ) to facilitate connection of the pour spout 10 to the container . as shown in fig6 the outer sleeve 80 is comprised of a first hollow tube portion 83 and a second hollow tube portion 84 . the first hollow tube portion 83 has a larger diameter than the second hollow tube portion 84 , thereby creating an inner annular step 85 around the outer sleeve 80 . the shoulder 100 extends from one end of the first hollow tube portion 83 of the outer sleeve 80 . the opposite end of the first hollow tube portion 83 of the outer sleeve 80 includes the slots 110 , 120 , 130 . as shown in fig1 when the outer sleeve 80 is placed over the inner sleeve 30 and biasing member 90 , the biasing member 90 is confined between , and bears against , the step 150 in the base 20 and the inner annular step 85 of the outer sleeve 80 . as mentioned above , the biasing member 90 keeps the pour spout 10 in a normally closed position with the second hollow tube portion 84 of the outer sleeve 80 forming a seal with the end cap 70 of the conduit member 40 . a top plan view of the outer sleeve 80 is shown in fig7 . in the preferred embodiment shown in fig8 and 9 , the conduit member 40 includes the first and the second air tubes 60 , 61 , the fluid tube 50 and the end cap 70 . in this particular embodiment , the air tubes 60 , 61 form discrete channels that are separate from the fluid tube 50 . alternatively , a single air tube can be utilized . a tip portion 41 of the conduit member 40 is exposed when the outer sleeve 80 is slid to either the first ( see fig2 b ) or the second ( see fig2 c ) open position . referring to fig1 in the tip portion 41 of the conduit member 40 , the fluid tube 50 diffuses to form a fluid discharge opening 51 adjacent the end cap 70 . as shown in fig8 and 9 , a first air vent aperture 170 is in the tip portion 41 of the conduit member 40 and communicates with the first air tube 60 . the first air vent aperture 170 is transverse to the first air tube 60 and has the same diameter as the first air tube 60 . a second air vent aperture 180 is also located in the tip portion 41 of the conduit member 40 and communicates with the second air tube 61 . the second air vent aperture 180 is transverse to the second air tube 61 and has the same diameter as the second air tube 61 . when the outer sleeve 80 is slid to the first open position ( see fig2 b and 3a ), the end cap 70 and the second hollow tube portion 84 of the outer sleeve 80 no longer form a seal preventing fluid from flowing through the pour spout 10 . instead , the second air vent aperture 180 and the fluid discharge opening 51 of the conduit member 40 are exposed to the ambient atmosphere ( i . e ., within the vessel ). air flows from the air vent aperture 180 through the second air tube 61 allowing fluid to flow from the container through the fluid tube 50 and out the fluid discharge opening 51 as a result of a pressure differential between the atmosphere and the pressure developed in the container . this venting means also allows for an even air to fluid volume displacement resulting in an even rate of fluid flow . when the outer sleeve 80 is slid to the second open position ( see fig2 c and 3b ), the first and second air vent apertures 170 , 180 and the fluid discharge opening 51 are exposed to the ambient atmosphere . air flows from air vent apertures 170 , 180 through air tubes 60 , 61 allowing fluid to flow from the container through the fluid tube 50 and out the fluid discharge opening 51 . because the pressure differential is greater when both air vent apertures are exposed , the fluid flow rate in the second open position of the pour spout 10 is greater than the fluid flow rate in the first open position of the pour spout 10 . in a preferred embodiment illustrated in fig1 - 13 , the conduit member 40 is constructed of two separate pieces for ease of manufacture : a fluid and air tube back channel 190 and an air tube cover 200 . back channel 190 includes the fluid tube 50 , fluid discharge opening 51 , end cap 70 . a divider wall 191 runs from the end cap 70 to the opposite end of the back channel 190 . the divider wall 191 separates the fluid tube 50 from the air tubes 60 , 61 . however , in the preferred embodiment , a portion of the diameter of air tubes 60 , 61 are formed in the divider wall 191 . the portions of the air tubes 60 , 61 formed in the divider wall 191 are designated 60 ′, 61 ′ in fig1 - 11 . in addition , the back channel 191 has a plurality of slots 193 and recessed grooves 194 for receiving tabs 201 and catches 202 from the air tube cover 200 . the remaining portions of the air tubes 60 , 61 are formed in the air tube cover 200 and are designated 60 ″, 61 ″ in fig1 . the air tube cover 200 includes the air vent apertures 170 , 180 . the air vent apertures 170 , 180 are transverse to and intersect the semi - formed air tubes 60 ″, 61 ″. when assembled , the tabs 201 and catches 201 are inserted in the slots and snap fitted into the recessed grooves 194 . fig9 illustrates the assembled two - piece conduit member 40 . another embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig1 - 16 . in this embodiment , there is only a single air tube 60 in the conduit member 40 . as a result there is also only a single air vent aperture 170 . the diameter of the air vent aperture 170 is the same as the air tube 60 . with reference specifically to fig1 , when the outer sleeve 80 is slid into the first open position , a first portion of the air vent aperture 170 is exposed . as shown in fig1 , the entire air vent aperture 170 is exposed in the second open position . alternatively , a greater portion of the air vent aperture 170 may be exposed in the second position compared to that of the first position . in all other respects , the embodiment illustrated in fig1 - 16 is the same as the embodiment illustrated in fig1 - 13 and discussed above . in yet another embodiment illustrated in fig1 , there is a single air tube 60 in the conduit member 40 . however , rather than having a single air vent aperture 170 , there are first and second air vent apertures 170 , 180 which communicate with the single air tube 60 . the first and second air vent apertures 170 , 180 are transverse to , and have the same diameter as , the air tube 60 . in the first open position , only the first air vent aperture 170 is exposed . in the second open position , the first and second air vent apertures 170 , 180 are exposed . alternatively , in each of the positions , only a portion of the air vent apertures 170 , 180 are exposed . in all other respects , the embodiment illustrated in fig1 - 16 is the same as the embodiment illustrated in fig1 - 13 and discussed above . it should be noted that for all of the embodiments described , when an air vent aperture is exposed in a particular indexed position of the outer sleeve 80 , it may be partially covered by the outer sleeve 80 . the resulting partial exposure of an air vent aperture regulates the intake of air through the associated air tube ( s ), thereby governing the flow rate . by changing the amount in which the air vent aperture is exposed , pour spout designs having various multiple flow rate positions can be achieved . thus , for certain flow rates , a given air vent aperture may not be fully exposed to the ambient atmosphere . it should also be noted that the indexed positioning of the outer sleeve can be achieved through means other than a slot and protrusion combination . for example , a series of detents can be provided on either the outer surface of the inner sleeve or the inner surface of the outer sleeve that coact with a corresponding protrusion on an opposing surface . such an arrangement would be within the skill of one of ordinary skill in the mechanical arts . referring to fig1 - 21 , an adapter 300 for the pour spout 10 is provided . the adapter 300 comprises a cylindrically - shaped shroud portion 302 having a distal end 304 and defining an interior space 306 . the shroud portion 302 is adapted to removably attach to the outer sleeve 80 of the pour spout 10 such that the outer sleeve 80 is disposed within the interior space 306 of the shroud portion 302 and the adapter 300 is moveable therewith . the adapter 300 includes a pocket 307 that removably engages the shoulder 100 of the outer sleeve 80 . a tip portion 308 is disposed at the distal end 304 of the shroud portion 302 . the tip portion 308 includes a shoulder surface 310 and a fluid opening 312 . the tip portion 308 has a tip diameter dimension less than a diameter dimension defined by the cylindrically - shaped shroud portion 302 . the tip portion 308 is adapted to be insertable into a vessel receptacle ( not shown ) such that when the shoulder surface 310 is urged against a surface of the vessel , the outer sleeve 80 moves to the flow position to allow fluid to flow through the fluid opening 312 of the tip portion 308 of the adapter 300 and into the vessel . the adapter 300 allows the pour spout 10 to cooperate with different vessels having various sizes and shapes of openings without requiring an additional pour spout . merely by way of example , the state of california air resources board requires a pour spout diameter of 1 inch . a standard fuel tank receptacle of an automobile , however , has an opening diameter of ¾ inch . the adapter 300 would allow the pour spout 10 to be utilized in connection with a fuel tank receptacle of an automobile . it is contemplated that several adapters can also be provided , each having a corresponding flow rate defined by the tip portion 308 and fluid opening 312 , which would allow for changing the pour spout flow rate by changing the adapter affixed thereto . this is accomplished by varying the dimensions between the pour spout 10 and the adapter 300 , such as varying the clearance between the tip 70 and the tip portion 308 , the shoulder surface 310 , and / or fluid opening 312 . from the foregoing , it will be observed that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . it is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific apparatus illustrated herein is intended or should be inferred . it is , of course , intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims .	1
referring to fig1 , a high gain steerable phased array antenna in accordance with a preferred embodiments includes a conducting sheet 102 . the conducting sheet 102 is preferably an area of sheet metal such as copper , and may be composed of one or more of various metals or other conductors . four slots 104 are cut into the conducting sheet 102 . more or fewer 104 of arbitrary number may be used , although preferably the slots 104 are arranged in such a manner that they complement each other in a phased array pattern . each time the number of slots are doubled , the gain in increased by 3 dbi . the slots 104 are preferably oblong and more preferably rectangular . however , the slots 104 may be square or circular or of an arbitrary shape . the preferred dimension of the sheet is 5⅞ ″ wide by 5⅛ ″ tall . the preferred dimensions of the rectangular slots is ⅝ ″× 2⅛ ″. the dimensions of the slots 104 are generally preferably a half wave ( λ / 2 ) wide and a quarter wave ( λ / 4 ) wave high . the drive impedances of the slots 104 is preferably ( 60 ) sq / 73 = 494 ohms . an advantageous gain characteristic is achieved due to the lack of losses in the transition to free space of 377 . 564 ohms . a coaxial cable 105 is connected to the sheet 102 preferably by soldering . although fig2 will the show the electrical arrangement of the antenna in more detail , fig1 shows for soldered connections 106 at the middles of long edges of the rectangular slots 104 . a signal cable 108 is also shown fig1 , along with a few other solder connections 110 to the sheet 102 from the back side . fig2 illustrates a back side view of a high gain steerable phased array antenna in accordance with a preferred embodiment . this side of the antenna includes a circuit board with various electrical connections . the slots 104 that are cut into the conduction sheet at the front side are shown in dotted lines are fig2 for perspective as to their relative location to the electrical components on the back side . the micro strip feed line connections 206 correspond to the solder connections 106 to the conducting sheet 102 on the front side . these connections 206 are preferably at the centers of the long edges of the oblong and preferably rectangular slots 104 . the connections 206 may be alternatively located at the centers of the short edges or again slots 104 may be square or circles or arbitrary shapes . the slots 104 are resonant by means of a coupling mechanism . the coupling mechanism connects to the resonant slots 104 using feed lines 212 . the microstrip feed lines are constructed on a separate plane of the antenna . the resonant slots 104 are fed in parallel , preferably with 100 ohm microstrip feed lines 212 . the microstrip feed lines 212 are shown crossing the short dimensions of the rectangular slots 104 at their centers . the microstrip feed lines 212 are each connected to a series of electronic circuitry components 214 . in fig2 , each microstrip feed line 212 is has a four of these components 214 illustrated as squares . these components 214 include electronic delays that permit the antenna to be directionally steerable . preferably the components 214 include pin diodes and inductors . the diodes may be of type diode pin 60v 100 ma s mini - 2p by panasonic ssg ( mfg p / n ma2jp0200l ; digikey ma2jp0200ltr - nd ). the inductors may be of type 1 . 0 μh +/− 5 % 1210 by panasonic ( mfg p / n elj - fa1r0jf2 ; digikey pcd1825tr - nd ). the antenna is electronically steered by adding the delay circuitry 214 to the microstrip feed line 212 . the delay changes the phase of the signal on the microstrip feed lines . the delay circuitry includes the pin diodes and a pad cut into the copper plane of the circuit board . when the pin diode is turned on , delay is added to the circuit . this means that it can be used to follow the source of the signal . the signal can originate from a wireless access point , a portable computer , or another device . the microstrip feed lines 212 each connect to a main feed line 216 . the two microstrip feed lines 212 in the upper half of the antenna of fig2 are connected to the upper half of the main feed line 216 , and the two microstrip feed lines 212 in the lower half of the antenna of fig2 are connected to the lower half main feed line 216 . the main feed line is connected at its center to a coax connection segment 218 that is connected to the coaxial cable 105 . various traces 220 are shown connection the delay pads 214 to the signal cable 108 . the signal cable 108 in turn connects to computer operated control equipment . the antenna of fig1 - 2 has four resonant slots 104 . the top and bottom halves of the antenna are mirror images of one another . two 100 ohm feed lines feed the two resonant slots 104 in the upper half of the antenna show at fig1 . the 100 ohm feed lines are in parallel . the resulting resistance is 50 ohm circuits in parallel . the input impedance of the antenna is selected to be 216 . when the lower half of the antenna is taken into account , the center of the antenna is selected to be ohms , i . e ., two 50 ohm circuits in parallel . the input impedance of the antenna is selected to be 50 ohms according to the preferred embodiment . an impedance matching pad of 35 . 35 ohms achieves this . referring now to fig3 , micro feed line coupling points 306 are illustrated . these coupling points 306 are at the centers of long edges of the resonant slots 104 . the microstrip feed lines 212 cross the short dimensions of the slots 104 . as fig3 is only for illustration , only the slots 104 , microstrip feed lines 212 and connections points 306 are shown . the connections 306 of the two slots 104 in the lower half of the antenna of fig3 are at the lower long edges of the slots 104 . in fig2 , they were shown connected to the upper long edges of the slots 104 . the microstrip feed line connections to the two slots in the upper half of the antenna could also be the lower edges of the slots 104 . moreover , the slots 104 and microstrip feed lines 212 could be rotated ninety degrees , or another arbitrary number of degrees , or only the slots may be rotated , or only the microstrip feed lines 212 may be rotated . fig4 schematically illustrates the delay electronics 214 coupled with the microstrip feed lines 212 for steering the phased array antenna in accordance with a preferred embodiment . each of the microstrip feed lines 212 is shown in fig4 coupled with three groups of electronics including a pin diode pad 424 and an inductor 426 . the delay pads 424 are enabled and disabled by a voltage of + 5 volts and − 5 volts respectively on select lines . fig5 a - 5d show exemplary signal distribution plots in various directions based on selections of different lobes in accordance with a preferred embodiment . the pads illustrated in fig4 are labeled one through six , or pads # 1 , # 2 , # 3 , # 4 , # 5 and # 6 . the signal distribution plots were generated based on selectively turning on certain of pads # 1 -# 6 . fig5 a illustrates a signal distribution of the antenna when only pad # 1 is selected . fig5 b illustrates a signal distribution of the antenna when pads # 1 , # 2 and # 3 are each selected . fig5 c illustrates a signal distribution of the antenna when only pad # 4 is selected . fig5 d illustrates a signal distribution of the antenna when pads # 4 , # 5 and # 6 are each selected . fig6 schematically illustrates an electronic component representations of elements of a phased array antenna in accordance with a preferred embodiment . the slots 104 , microstrip feed lines 212 , main feed line 216 , coax attachment point 218 and microstrip feed line attachments points 306 are each shown and are preferably as described above . the microstrip feed line attachment points 306 are preferably grounded as illustrated in fig6 . the pin diode pads 424 and inductors 426 are illustrated with their common electrical representations . fig7 - 8 are a flow diagram of operations performed for selecting signal distribution lobes based on monitoring the throughput of lobes of a phased array antenna in accordance with a preferred embodiment . although two lobes or more than three lobes may be available , the example process of fig7 assumes three lobes for illustration . at 702 , the ip address of a connected wireless device is obtained . the lobe data is scanned and logged for this connection to the antenna . of the lobes that may be selected , the lobe with the highest throughput is selected . throughput is the speed at which a wireless network processes data end to end per unit time . typically measured in mega bits per second ( mbps ). in this example , it will be assumed the middle of three lobes is selected . this lobe is maintained as the selected lobe as long as the throughput remains above a threshold level . the threshold level may be a predetermined throughput level , or a predetermined throughput or percentage of throughput below a maximum , average or pre - set throughput level , or may be based on a comparison with other throughputs . at fig8 , which will be described in detail further below , if a signal strength falls to a noise level or within a certain amount of percentage of a noise level , then this fallen signal strength is used to determine when to select another lobe . the throughput is monitored according to the process of fig7 continuously or periodically at 708 . the process remains at 708 performing this monitoring unless it is determined that the throughput has dropped below the threshold level . then at 710 another is lobe is selected such as the next closest lobe to the right . it is determined at 712 whether the throughput with this lobe is above or below the threshold . if the throughput with this new lobe is above the threshold , then the process moves to 714 . at 714 , the lobe number and signal strength of the new lobe and / or other data are saved . now , the monitoring at 716 will go on with the new lobe as it did at 708 with the initial lobe . that is , the process will periodically or continuously monitor the throughput of the connection with the new lobe . the process moves to 718 only when the throughput with the new lobe is determined at 716 to be below the threshold level . referring back to 712 , if the throughput with the new lobe is determined there to be below the threshold , then the process moves directly to 718 . at 718 , yet another lobe , a third lobe , is selected such as the closest lobe to the left of the initial lobe . it is determined at 720 whether the throughput is above or below the threshold . if it is above the threshold , then this lobe will remain the selected lobe unless and until the throughput falls below the threshold . if the throughput does drop below the threshold , then at 724 lobe data is scanned and logged , and the process returns to 706 to select the highest throughput lobe again . the process at fig8 illustrates monitoring of the signal strengths and other data of all of the lobes according to a further embodiment , e . g ., to select the strongest lobe . referring now to fig8 , lobe # 1 , e . g ., is selected at 802 . the signal strength of the connection of a wireless device is read at 804 . if the signal strength is determined to be above a noise level , or alternatively if the signal strength is above some predetermined amount or percentage above the noise level , then the throughput is calculated at 808 . the lobe number , signal strength and throughput are logged at 810 and the process moves to 812 . if at 806 , the signal strength is determined to be at a noise level or at or below a predetermined amount or percentage above the noise level , then the lobe number , signal strength and throughput ( equal to 0 ) are logged at 814 and the process moves to 814 . at 812 , it is determined whether the data regarding the last lobe has been processed . if it has not , then the process returns to 804 to perform the monitoring for the next lobe . if the lobe data for all of the lobes has been monitored and determined , then the process returns to caller at 818 . the present invention has been described above with reference to a preferred embodiment . however , those skilled in the art having read this disclosure will recognize that changes and modifications may be made to the preferred embodiment without departing from the scope of the present invention . these and other changes or modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention , as expressed in the following claims . in addition , in methods that may be performed according to preferred embodiments and that may have been described above , and / or as recited in the claims below , the operations have been described above and / or recited below in selected typographical sequences . however , the sequences have been selected and so ordered for typographical convenience and are not intended to imply any particular order for performing the operations .	7
in the description which follows , like elements are marked through the specification and drawings with the same reference numerals , respectively . the drawings may not necessarily be to scale and certain features may be shown in generalized or schematic form in the interest of clarity and conciseness . referring to fig1 and 2 , an improved fluid mass flow controller in accordance with the invention is illustrated and generally designated by the numeral 20 . the mass flow controller 20 includes a two - part modular body 22 comprising generally rectangular block shaped body parts 24 and 26 which may be suitably joined to each other by conventional mechanical fasteners 28 at cooperating planar faces 24 a and 26 a , respectively . the body parts 24 and 26 are provided with suitable fluid conductor connector portions 25 and 27 to provide for connecting the fluid mass flow controller to conduits for a system for supplying , in particular , toxic or reactive fluids in gaseous form for use in semiconductor fabrication , for example . by way of example , as shown in fig2 the mass flow controller 20 may be interposed in a fabrication system including a source pressure vessel 28 for pressure fluid such as tungsten hexafluoride , chlorine , or sulfur hexafluoride , for example . source pressure vessel 28 is connected to the flow controller 20 via a suitable conduit 30 and a purge conduit 32 is also connected to conduit 30 and to a source of purge gas , not shown , for purging the flow controller to a suitable receiver or scrubber 34 , when needed . during operation of the flow controller 20 , however , a precise flow of fluid is controlled for entry into a semiconductor fabrication chamber or vessel 36 via conduit 33 . chamber 36 is typically maintained at a substantially reduced pressure by way of one or more vacuum pumps 37 , for example . the system in which the flow controller 20 is interposed , as shown in fig2 is shown by way of example in simplified form to illustrate one preferred application of the flow controller . referring primarily to fig2 the body part 24 supports an electrically controlled flow control valve 40 which is removably mounted on a face 24 b of body part 24 by conventional mechanical fasteners , not shown . valve 40 includes an electrically actuated closure member 41 operable to throttle flow of fluid from an internal passage 42 of body part 24 to a second internal passage 44 of body part 24 . valve 40 also includes an actuator 43 for the closure member 41 . actuator 43 is preferably of a type using a solenoid or piezoelectric material for rapid response and fineness of control of closure member 41 . a first pressure transducer 46 is also removably mounted on body part 24 and is in communication with a passage 47 in body part 24 which is in communication with passage 44 . a second pressure transducer 48 is removably mounted on body part 26 and is in communication with a passage 49 which opens into a longitudinal passage 50 in body part 26 , which passage is also connected to conduit 33 leading to the fabrication chamber 36 . pressure transducers 46 and 48 may be of a type commercially available from honeywell data instruments division , for example . control valve 40 and pressure transducers 46 and 48 may be disposed within a removable cover 51 , fig1 for the flow controller 20 . referring also to fig3 the body part 24 includes a cylindrical counterbore 54 formed therein and concentric with the passage 44 for receiving a flow restrictor 56 . flow restrictor 56 is supported in a tubular sleeve 58 which may be mounted in a suitable tubular adapter 60 supported in the counterbore 54 between seal rings 62 . accordingly , the flow restrictor 56 may be easily removed from the body 22 by separating the body parts 24 and 26 , removing the flow restrictor together with its support sleeve 58 and replacing the flow restrictor with a suitable replacement restrictor of the same flow characteristics or a selected other flow characteristic . the flow restrictor 56 preferably comprises a sintered metal cylindrical plug shaped member having a predetermined porosity for allowing fluid to flow therethrough by providing restriction to flow sufficient to create a differential pressure thereacross which may be sensed by the pressure transducers 46 and 48 . flow restrictor 56 may , for example , be fabricated of stainless steel or nickel particles suitably compressed and sintered to provide the desired porosity and flow restriction characteristic . flow restrictor 56 is advantageously disposed in flow controller 20 downstream of control valve 40 . referring again to fig1 the flow controller 20 is adapted to be operated by a control circuit or system including a microcontroller characterized as a digital signal processor 70 which is operably connected to a non - volatile memory , such as an eeprom 72 , a power supply 74 and a suitable valve driver circuit 76 . the microcontroller 70 is operably connected to the valve 40 for effecting movement of the closure member 41 by way of the driver 76 . the microcontroller 70 is also operably connected to the pressure transducers 46 and 48 and to a temperature sensor 78 which may be located to sense the temperature of fluid flowing through the controller 20 at a predetermined location . the microcontroller 70 is also operably connected to a suitable interface 80 for receiving command signals , data sets and programming changes from various sources . the microcontroller 70 is preferably a tms320 lf2407 fixed point microcontroller available from texas instruments incorporated . the pressure sensors 46 and 48 operate in a plus / minus 0 . 5 volt range with fourteen to sixteen bit resolution as analog inputs to the microcontroller 70 which carries its own a / d and d / a converters . other analog inputs will be for the temperature sensor 78 and a zero to five volt set point command signal input with twelve bit resolution . the microcontroller 70 also provides analog output signals for controlling operation of the valve 40 via the driver 76 . communication with the microcontroller 70 may be via an rs485 4 - wire communication link and / or a can ( controller area network ). the microcontroller 70 is also capable of supporting a jtag interface for emulation and debug and a powerup bootloader function for programming . the memory 72 is preferably a serial eeprom of at least four thousand bytes . the microcontroller 70 requires a closed loop control function to be executed at a rate of about one hundred times per second between the inputs for the pressure sensors 46 and 48 and the output signal for controlling the valve 40 . communication through interface 80 is carried out while the control loop is functioning although new data transfer or transfer to the memory 72 may be supplied when control loop updates are not being maintained . an important aspect of the present invention resides in the discovery that , in a normal operating range of the mass flow controller 20 , the fluid flow rate is a function not only of the differential pressure across the flow restrictor 56 but also the absolute downstream pressure corresponding substantially to the pressure in the fabrication chamber 36 . fig4 for example , shows a typical characteristic of flow in standard cubic centimeters per minute ( sccm ) as a function of the differential pressure ( torr ) across the flow restrictor 56 and also as a function of the downstream pressure ( torr ) in the passage 50 , conduit 33 and fabrication chamber 36 . the diagram of fig4 indicates that the flow characteristics of a fluid flowing across a restrictor , in the pressure ranges indicated in the diagram , may be in accordance with a three - dimensional surface indicated by numeral 90 . the flow characteristic or surface 90 is for a particular temperature . in the diagram of fig4 the mass flow characteristic 90 for the fluid tested was conducted at 25 ° c . as indicated in fig4 measurements taken at lower temperatures would provide flow characteristics indicated by the surfaces 92 and 94 , for example . the flow characteristic indicated by surface 92 is for a temperature lower than the temperature for the flow characteristic indicated by surface 90 and the flow characteristic which is determined by the surface 94 is at a temperature lower than the measurements taken for developing the flow characteristic surface 92 . it will also be noted from viewing fig4 that a mass flow rate across a flow restrictor , particularly for the pressure ranges indicated in the diagram , varies with the downstream pressure . for example , if the downstream pressure is approximately 0 . 0 torr and the pressure differential across the flow restrictor is approximately 1575 . 0 torr , the flow rate for the particular restrictor tested is about 280 sccm . however , if the downstream pressure is 760 . 0 torr ( standard atmospheric pressure ), the flow rate for the same pressure differential across the flow restrictor is approximately 500 sccm . accordingly , the behavior of fluids flowing across a flow restrictor , particularly in gaseous form , is dependent not only on temperature and differential pressure but also the pressure downstream of the flow restrictor . the flow characteristics indicated in fig4 at various temperatures , differential pressures across the flow restrictor and downstream pressures are for a sintered metal type flow restrictor , such as the flow restrictor 56 . alternatively , viewing fig6 a similar flow characteristic is indicated for a sharp edged circular orifice at 25 ° c . and is indicated by numeral 95 . the specific flow characteristics shown in fig4 and 6 are for nitrogen gas although other gases are indicated to behave in accordance with the general flow characteristics shown in fig4 and 6 for the types of flow restrictors described herein . accordingly , a flow characteristic in accordance with the diagrams of fig4 and 6 may be developed for particular types of flow restrictors used in connection with a mass flow controller , such as the controller 20 , and for various fluids in liquid and gaseous form , including the process gases or vapors used in semiconductor fabrication . data points representing the three - dimensional flow characteristics , such as the surfaces 90 , 92 and 94 in fig4 may be developed in various ways and entered into the memory 72 of the flow controller 20 . the flow controller microcontroller 70 , when operated in a set point mode can be programmed to command operation of the valve 40 to adjust the flow through the flow controller 20 to approach the setpoint by sensing the pressure differential across the flow restrictor by the pressure transducers 46 and 48 to determine the actual flow rate , repeatedly , until the flow rate is essentially that programmed into the microcontroller 70 as the setpoint or pursuant to instructions input to the microcontroller . the data points representing the surfaces 90 , 92 94 for a particular gas may be obtained using conventional flow measuring equipment . a rate of change mass flow measuring apparatus may also be used to obtain the data points . moreover , such a flow measuring apparatus may be used to verify the operation of a flow controller , such as the flow controller 20 within its design specification , and such apparatus may also be used to verify whether or not a particular flow restrictor is within its design specification . once a design specification has been established for a flow restrictor and a flow controller of the types described herein , the performance of each may be verified by a rate of change mass flow measuring apparatus or other mass flow measuring apparatus or devices and use of an inert gas so that toxic and highly reactive gases are not required to be used during verification tests on the complete flow controller or on a flow restrictor , respectively . for example , a selected number of data points may be verified at flow rates of 50 , 100 , 500 and 3 , 000 sccm at 30 psig inlet pressure , with exhaust pressure being atmospheric , for a flow controller , such as the controller 20 , or for a flow restrictor , such as flow restrictor 56 . data points representing the design specification of the flow controller 20 may also be entered into the memory 72 to verify the operability of the flow controller when tested with the aforementioned rate of change flow measuring apparatus . a suitable rate of change or so - called rate of rise mass flow measuring apparatus is commercially available . moreover , the fluid mass flow controller 20 may also be connected via its interface 80 with a network adapted to be connected to a source of data for any fluid which has been tested in conjunction with a controller of the same type as the flow controller 20 . in this way , any gas to be controlled by the flow controller 20 may have its flow characteristics entered into the memory 72 by merely querying a database stored in a suitable processor . for example , a vendor of the flow controller 20 may have selected data sets stored on a suitable processor and memory associated therewith for a wide variety of gases , each data set corresponding substantially to the type of data sets that would provide the flow characteristics shown in fig4 and 6 for any one type of flow restrictor , respectively . an authorized customer using a flow controller , such as the flow controller 20 , and desiring to begin using the controller with a particular gas would merely make an inquiry to the vendor source and download the needed data set directly to the microcontroller 70 and its memory 72 via a network such as the internet , for example . operation of the microcontroller 70 is generally in accordance with the flow diagrams of fig7 a and 7b and will now be described in further detail . the microcontroller or processor 70 is operable to execute closed loop control and communication functions . closed loop control is preferably executed at a rate of 100 times per second and requires execution of lookup tables or polynomial calculations . all code may be written in “ c ”. the functions of the microcontroller or processor 70 are summarized in the flow diagram of fig7 a . step 100 in fig7 a indicates a 10 millisecond interrupt to drive the key functions of the processor 70 . in step 102 , the processor obtains 64 samples of downstream pressure xd 1 and averages the samples . in step 104 , the processor 70 obtains 64 samples of the upstream pressure xd 2 and averages the samples . step 106 is an averaging of 32 samples of an analog output signal for control of the valve 40 identified by the software tag cv 1 sn . step 108 indicates operation of the processor 70 in the signal mode to obtain 32 samples of a zero to five volt setpoint command signal input in step 110 , and a 32 sample zero to five volt analog output signal in step 112 . step 114 indicates when analog inputs are shorted to ground . step 116 indicates the processor obtaining 32 samples of the signal from temperature sensor 78 , indicated as te 1 , and averaging such samples . step 118 provides for converting the signal inputs to english units of pressure , flow and temperature . step 120 in fig7 a is the execution of a calculation of flow routine using , for example , the surfaces 90 , 92 and 94 of fig4 . new processor proceeds to the control mode at step 122 . fig7 b illustrates how the calculation of flow routine is carried out using sets of so - called three dimensional maps , such as the surfaces 90 , 92 and 94 , for example , for respective operating temperatures and whereby the flow is calculated as a function of the variables of differential pressure across the flow restrictor 56 , the downstream pressure in the flow passage 50 and the temperature sensed by the sensor 78 . a set of flow runs over a range of downstream pressures and flow rates is obtained for the flow restrictor 56 . this data set is fitted to an array of three dimensional curves . the so - called map can be thought of as flow on the z axis mapped to differential pressure , xd 2 − xd 1 , on the x axis and discharge or downstream pressure , xd 1 on the y axis . the best - fit process generates curves at various values of y . typically curves of x versus z might be generated for xd 1 being equal to 1 , 50 , 100 , 300 , 500 and 700 torr , for example . then the process is repeated at another operating temperature . the calibration data is then mapped from floating point numbers to the fixed point quantities that are used in the processor . these tables are download to the processor and are called during the flow calculations . the get calibration data of step 124 , fig7 b , is carried out by obtaining the calibration maps or surfaces at the nearest temperature above and below the temperature sensed by sensor 78 . at steps 126 and 128 , flow is calculated by interpolating the differential pressure xd 2 − xd 1 for two curves in the calibration data ( cal data ). flow at the current calibration temperature is calculated by interpolating between calibration flow data points . at steps 130 and 132 flow at the current cal data temperature is calculated by interpolating between flow ( 0 ) and flow ( i ) by the value of xd 1 and the y axis values for flow ( 0 ) and flow ( 1 ). flow is calculated by interpolating between the flow @ temp ( 0 ) and flow @ temp ( 1 ) by the value of te 1 and the temperatures for the two cal data sets selected . referring briefly to fig5 as previously mentioned the flow restrictor 56 may be adapted for operation in conjunction with other flow controllers and related devices . the flow restrictor 56 may , for example , be removably mounted in a conventional fitting , such as a face seal union fitting 110 . the fitting 110 includes a longitudinal through passage 112 which is counterbored at one end to provide a bore 114 for receiving the cylindrical plug flow restrictor 56 and its tubular support sleeve 58 . the sleeve 58 may be a light press fit in the bore 114 . by way of example , a flow restrictor for use in conjunction with the flow controller 20 may be characterized as a cylindrical plug having a diameter of approximately 0 . 18 inches and a length of approximately 0 . 18 inches and may be formed of porous sintered stainless steel , nickel or hastelloy c - 22 . the solid steel sleeve 58 may be formed of 316l stainless steel . it is contemplated that the manufacturing tolerances of the flow restrictor 56 may be such as to require only verification of the performance characteristics of the restrictor by verifying the mass flow rates of , for example , 50 , 100 , 500 and 3 , 000 sccm at a pressure upstream of the restrictor of 30 psig with exhaust to atmosphere . accordingly , no calibration or calibration conversion factors are necessary for the flow restrictor 56 or the flow controller 20 . when once placed in use , the flow controller 20 and / or the flow restrictor 56 may be verified as to its operability by flowing predetermined quantities of an inert gas through these devices using the aforementioned rate of change flow measuring apparatus or a similar apparatus to verify performance . the flow restrictor and / or the flow controller may then be placed in or returned to service with assurance that the respective devices will perform in accordance with a flow characteristic , such as that indicated in fig4 for example . the construction and operation of the mass flow controller 20 and the flow restrictor 56 , as well as the method of operation of the flow controller as set forth hereinabove , is believed to be readily understandable to those of ordinary skill in the art . moreover , the flow controller 20 functions as a flowmeter and may be used as a flowmeter as well as for controlling fluid flow rate to a setpoint condition . although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein , those skilled in the art will recognize that various substitutions and modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims .	8
in fig1 , either on - demand or on a scheduled basis , any of a user &# 39 ; s personally controlled computing devices 100 can remotely aggregate and redact the user &# 39 ; s personal accounts 101 when connected to a common network 105 . when the aggregation process completes , the raw output of the aggregation will be normalized & amp ; linked to other related entities using augmentation services 102 . the resultant normalized records will then be returned to user &# 39 ; s computing device 100 where it will be integrated with the user &# 39 ; s other existing records . once integrated , the user &# 39 ; s device will encrypt the user &# 39 ; s encrypted profile 104 with the user &# 39 ; s encryption master key 131 . the result will be stored on a generally accessible cloud storage platform 103 to ensure availability across devices or other users whom also possess decryption credentials . the user - controlled computing device ( uccd ) for a given user is defined to be one or more general - purpose computing systems that is directly owned by or where the user exercises trust and full authority over its operation , such as with a leased or virtual computer . this contrasts with a centralized server device or system used by existing methods for aggregation wherein the user has limited trust and ability to influence its operation . as shown in fig2 , when starting the aggregation process 110 , the uccd 100 system will begin accessing accounts 111 to review and access account information 133 retrieved from the user &# 39 ; s protected storage 132 . if there are unprocessed accounts still available 112 , the system will proceed to login 113 to the external account 101 by using appropriate account credentials 114 and source extraction logic 138 . the login response 115 is examined for success / failure 116 as indicated in the user &# 39 ; s encrypted profile 104 . if the login fails , the account is skipped and process will begin checking for other available accounts 112 . if , instead , a login is successful , the access script will then interrogate and extract user data 117 from the external account provider 101 using extraction logic 138 script . the uccd system uses extraction logic , example illustrated in fig . as extraction logic 138 a , to interrogate the external account provider to generate and return raw data 119 in native form , normally highly unstructured and / or stylized for human consumption . various embodiments of the extraction logic 138 exist , including static / compiled code embedded within the software and / or software library ( e . g . c or java ) or dynamically downloadable runtime - interpreted instructions ( e . g . javascript or groovy ) depending on specific needs . this extraction script 138 provides both the logic for navigating and extracting the raw data 119 from the specific external account provider 101 system as well as identifiers for extractable sets . the raw data 119 is optionally searched for relevant new identifiers , links , or other deviations from the previous aggregation that may be indicative of new information being available . if new data is detected 120 or if the raw data is too unstable to depend upon the presence of consistent identifiers , the entire account record is extracted 121 which may require additional requests back to the external account provider 101 . if the uccd system determines the account content has not changed , however , the system will finish processing that account prematurely and begin processing another account . once the information has been fully collected with no more available accounts 112 , additional general - purpose redaction filter scripts 122 with specific knowledge of the user &# 39 ; s sensitive identifiers may be applied to further reduce the possibility of unintended sensitive personal data from being included in the extracted data set 123 . in the illustrated embodiment the name , ssn , date of birth , and other highly sensitive personal identifiers kept in the user &# 39 ; s protected storage 132 are redacted by the regular expressions and string pattern matching , though other embodiments may also include omitting any data deemed to be sensitive or unnecessary for subsequent processing . the extracted data 123 is transmitted to the augmentation system 102 which may be co - located on the device for additional security , speed & amp ; efficiency . other embodiments may have a centralized instance of the augmentation system due to the significant space and maintenance requirements of the entity databases . once each entity ( e . g . an individual prescription ) has been extracted and normalized 124 by the augmentation system , the returned data are processed to ensure validity and completeness of the process results 125 . the key of each entity is compared to the current set stored as part of the user &# 39 ; s current personal current profile 104 a . if any of the entities are new or have been updated , the system may automatically integrate entities 126 representing the new data into the appropriate location within the user &# 39 ; s current profile 104 a or optionally prompt the user for input . the patient &# 39 ; s device ( uccd ) then uses industry - standard techniques ( e . g . aes ) to encrypt the updated encrypted profile 104 b using a user - provided secret cryptographic master key 131 to generate an encrypt record 127 , potentially generated from a “ master password ” via industry standard key - derivation techniques ( e . g . pbkdf2 ). this ensures that the patient &# 39 ; s information and all external references to the anonymized remote entities remain secret . this strategy verifiably protects the privacy and security of the user while not inhibiting further enrichment or secondary use of the anonymized data by the augmentation system owner . before the encrypted user record 104 b is synced 128 , it is stored locally and optionally sent to the cloud service 103 to be available to other devices . alternate encryption schemes may also be used to enable access to the record for other trusted parties . using asymmetric key encryption , for example , a user may also encrypt portions of their record with a plurality of public keys belonging to trusted 3 rd parties including family members , assistants , healthcare providers , or financial advisors . other embodiments may employ a shared symmetric key scheme whereby a common key is shared by a plurality of trusted parties through standard key distribution techniques . such schemes may also include the ability for the user to assign various delegated authorities to view or manipulate the record based using standard authorization control techniques . the user may be notified 129 of relevant changes before the aggregation ends 130 and updates the appropriate event logs . as shown in fig3 , the external account provider 101 may be any web - based source of personal data . various examples of these services may be healthcare related patient portals or apps , financial dashboards , or any service operating as an external gateway to an individual &# 39 ; s personal data . such services typically offer many endpoints for accessing personal information though are normally controlled by a central login service 140 . the provided credentials are verified with the stored user credentials 142 to determine validity . once successfully authenticated , the service will normally provide a token of some sort ( often uuid / cookie or digital signature ) that enables access 141 to the user &# 39 ; s personal account details 143 . as shown in fig4 , the augmentation service 102 entities are normalized and linked from a user &# 39 ; s raw extracted data 123 starting with the transformation process 160 . the augmentation service will use site - specific logic 137 , illustrated in fig6 as extraction logic 137 a that creates extracted entities 153 from unstructured html 151 , to extract the relevant elements from the extracted data , further redact the data if sensitive information remains , and transform the unstructured data into a normalized form . as part of this normalization , a unique id 161 is derived for each extracted entity using a plurality of data elements contained within the entity to avoid invalid collisions with other unique entities found in the entity databases 168 but still generate a common value when linked external entities 162 are merged 163 , returned 164 and collected on subsequent aggregation or from an alternate source . extractable information may be identified in several ways , including but not limited to x - path expressions , css selectors , or even regular expressions depending on the circumstance . each extraction script is custom tailored for a specific external account provider . each must extract only relevant personal details ( identifiers , metrics , values ) without including sensitive pii data or information not belonging to the user ( e . g . copyrighted information belonging to the external account provider ). this is achieved through judicious use of highly - specific extraction ids and post processing to minimize any incidental data . to further illustrate , while information about a given prescription may be available to an individual user through both an insurance and pharmacy account , it should never appear as two separate prescriptions . to avoid this problem it may seem sensible to simply use the pharmacy - assigned rx number as the prescription id . unfortunately , that approach would cause a collision with any other prescriptions issued by a different pharmacy but using the same rx number . additional entropy is added by also including the id of the pharmacy itself . this may still prove insufficient since some pharmacies will eventually recycle rx numbers over a period of several years , so we again add the original dispense date . since we are reasonably certain that any single rx number assigned by a specific pharmacy on a given date refers to one ( and only one ) prescription , we can use that to generate a deterministic unique id : while this embodiment uses sha256 for generating the unique prescription id , other embodiments may use alternate deterministic methods of generating a unique prescription id including other hash functions . fig7 illustrates an example id generation and linking process from fig4 . this embodiment generates identifiers ( id ) 131 from user metadata 154 and prescription information 155 through associated link entities 132 . the process uses a minimal set of required elements from the normalized input to generate a specific identifier . additional user metadata 154 , however , is also considered in order to improve the accuracy of matching to external link entities 132 . in the illustrated example , the user &# 39 ; s metadata 154 , gender , age , and regional - level location are considered along with the medication &# 39 ; s prescription information 155 , ndc , drug , and dispensing pharmacy when trying to determine the specific identity of the prescribing doctor ( national provider identifier or npi ) since the name of the doctor alone is normally insufficient for unique identification . in the illustrated example , the system may consider the user &# 39 ; s metadata 154 to filter possible doctor matches based on the doctor &# 39 ; s location & amp ; specialization . the system may also consider user metadata 154 to resolve a fuzzy identifier , such as a drug name , without a clear deterministic match to a known entity - narrowing possible matches based on the user &# 39 ; s identified conditions , weight , or gender until a single match remains . continuing in fig4 , the augmentation service 102 may then link external entities 152 from other entity databases 158 using the newly transformed entity information . for example , a healthcare - specific embodiment may use the ndc of the prescription to link to the fda drug information database . other financially focused embodiments may use a provided routing number to identify and link appropriate banking information . while there has been shown and described what are at present considered the preferred embodiments of the invention , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope .	7
in the following , embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig4 is a schematic diagram showing a network configuration for describing a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention . in fig4 , a router 51 of a lan of a main office is connected to a server 50 and a wan 60 . the wan 60 is also connected to a router 52 of the osaka branch , a router 53 of the sapporo branch , and a router 54 of the fukuoka branch . for example , the lan of the osaka branch is configured having the router 52 connected to switching hubs 55 , 56 , and 57 . each switching hub 55 - 57 has a cascade port connected to plural terminals . the lans of the main office and other branches are also configured in the same manner . in each branch , plural terminals connected to each switching hub ( e . g ., switching hubs 55 - 57 of osaka branch ) form a group ( terminal group ). the order ( rank order ) in which a terminal receives image data / audio data ( real - time data ) is determined beforehand for every terminal in each terminal group . each terminal has a terminal group address table ( see , for example , fig5 ) indicating the predetermined order ( rank order ), the mac addresses , and the ip addresses of the terminals belonging to its corresponding terminal group . for example , fig5 shows a terminal group address table of the terminals 61 - 63 , . . . connected to a switching hub 55 of the osaka branch . in the row corresponding to order - rank 1 , a mac address ( bbbb ) and an ip address ( bbbb ) corresponding to the terminal 62 are registered . in the row corresponding to order - rank 2 , a mac address ( aaaa ) and an ip address ( aaaa ) corresponding to the terminal 61 are registered . each terminal requests another terminal having a predetermined rank to transfer real - time data at predetermined periods ( cycles ) based on the terminal group address table . in this example , a terminal makes the transfer request to another terminal that is one rank higher than itself . as for the method of generating ( setting ) the terminal group address tables for each of the terminals , it may be conducted by allowing a system administrator to generate ( set ) terminal group address tables terminal - by - terminal . another method is registering ( storing ) terminal group address tables corresponding to switching hubs of each branch in a database of an existing server connected to a lan or a wan beforehand ( pre - registration ) and setting a corresponding registered group address table upon request from a terminal . another method is registering ( storing ) a terminal group address table for each switching hub and generating ( setting ) a corresponding registered group address table upon request from a terminal . another method is allowing each terminal to generate ( set ) a corresponding group address table by using a rank defining process ( described below ). fig6 is an exemplary operation sequence diagram of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention . in this example , data are transmitted in a terminal group comprising terminals 61 - 64 each connected to a cascade port of the switching hub 55 of the osaka branch . in this example , each terminal 61 - 64 has a data transfer system which is activated for requesting another terminal that is one rank higher than itself to transfer image data / audio data ( real - time data ) at a predetermined cycle based on the terminal group address table . although four terminals are used to describe this operation sequence for the sake of convenience , the number of the terminals may be greater than or less than four . in fig6 , real - time data transmitted from the server 50 of the main office are transmitted to the routers 52 - 54 of the branches via the wan 60 . the routers 52 - 54 of the branches transmit the real - time data to a predetermined terminal in a terminal group of the switching hubs ( switching hubs 55 - 57 in osaka branch ) connected to the routers 52 - 54 . more specifically , the real - time data are transmitted to a predetermined terminal having the highest rank among the terminals of a terminal group which predetermined terminal has activated its data transfer system and requested transfer of the real - time data to the server 50 . in one example , first , a terminal 62 having the highest rank among the terminals of a terminal group receives the real - time data from the server 50 via the switching hub 55 . the terminal 62 buffers the received real - time data and reproduces the received real - time data with upper level software . subsequently , when the terminal 62 receives a data transfer request from a terminal 61 one rank lower than itself ( terminal 62 ), the terminal 62 transfers the buffered real - time data to the terminal 61 that has requested data transfer in the terminal group . then , the terminal 61 buffers the received real - time data and reproduces the received real - time data with upper level software . subsequently , when the terminal 61 receives a data transfer request from a terminal 63 one rank lower than itself ( terminal 61 ), the terminal 61 transfers the buffered real - time data to the terminal 63 that has requested data transfer in the terminal group . likewise , the terminal 63 buffers the received real - time data and reproduces the received real - time data . subsequently , when the terminal 63 receives a data transfer request from a terminal 64 one rank lower than itself ( terminal 63 ), the terminal 63 transfers the buffered real - time data to the terminal 64 that has requested data transfer in the terminal group . then , the terminal 64 buffers the received real - time data and reproduces the received real - time data . accordingly , real - time data can be transmitted without having all the terminals in a terminal group accessing the server 50 and without causing data traffic concentrating at shared parts of the network . even in a case where a switching hub conducts the above - described transfer operation , this transfer operation does not affect communications with other switching hubs connected to the switching hub or communications of non - transfer ports of the switching hub . this is due to the fact that traffic in one port of the switching hub is physically independent from traffic in the other ports . here , “ non - transfer port ” refers to an unused port or a port connected to a terminal not using a data transfer system . since packets of real - time data are transferred by relaying the packets from one terminal to another , a delay is caused each time the packets are transferred to another terminal . accordingly , the delay time increases in proportion with the number of times the packets are transferred to another terminal . nevertheless , since the number of ports of a typical switching hub is 20 at most , the delay time created for the packets to reach the last terminal has little effect in transmitting real - time data . with the data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention , each terminal belonging to a terminal group connected to a switching hub reproduces real - time data for itself while at the same time sequentially transfers the real - time data to other terminals within the terminal group . thereby , large size data such as image data and audio data can be provided to all the terminals which desire the data without increasing the data traffic burden . hence , large size data requested by plural terminals can be reproduced without increasing traffic by effectively using existing resources such as routers and switching hubs that are not compatible with multicast . thereby , the network can be used efficiently . fig7 is a schematic diagram for describing the functions of a terminal 700 to which a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied . the terminal 700 shown in fig7 includes a terminal group address table 70 to which an order - rank and an address of each terminal belonging to a terminal group of the same switching hub are registered . a reception part 71 is for receiving real - time data transmitted from a server via a corresponding switching hub or a terminal having a rank higher than itself ( terminal 700 ) and writing the real - time data to a buffer part 77 . a transfer part 72 is for transferring real - time data read out from the buffer part 77 to a terminal one rank lower than itself ( terminal 700 ) according to the terminal group address table 70 . a search part 73 is for transmitting search data ( search packets ) to other terminals connected to the same switching hub as itself ( terminal 700 ) upon activation . in a case where there is no reply from the other terminals in response to the transmitted search data , a table registration part 74 registers itself as the highest rank ( rank # 1 ) in the terminal group table 70 together with its own address ( address of terminal 700 ). in a case where there is a reply from the other terminals in response to the transmitted search data , the table registration part 74 , based on table data included in the reply from the other terminals , registers itself one rank lower than the lowest ranked terminal in the terminal group table 70 together with its own address . a reply & amp ; registration part ( also referred to as “ reply / registration part ”) 75 generates a reply including table data indicating the content of the terminal group address table 70 when receiving search data from another terminal , transmits the reply to the origin ( original terminal ) that transmitted the search data , and registers the original terminal as one rank lower than the lowest ranked terminal in the terminal group address table 70 together with the address of the original terminal . a reproduction part 76 is for reproducing real - time data received in the reception part 71 . fig8 is a flowchart showing a rank defining process conducted by a terminal ( e . g ., terminal 700 ) upon activation of its data transfer system according to an embodiment of the present invention . in fig8 , when a data transfer system of terminal 700 is activated , the terminal 700 transmits a search packet ( search data ) including a mac address and an ip address of itself to a switching hub connected to the terminal 700 ( step s 10 ). then , by using a broadcast transmission method , the switching hub transmits the received search packet to all terminals connected to its cascade port except for the port receiving the search packet . then , the terminal 700 determines whether there is a reply from other terminals within a predetermined period in response to the transmitted search packet ( step s 11 ). the predetermined period is a time sufficient for the terminal 700 to receive replies from other terminals belonging to the same terminal group as the terminal 700 . therefore , even in a case where the search packet is transmitted to terminals belonging to a terminal group different from the terminal group of the terminal 700 via a common part of a switching hub and a router ( s ), no reply will be received from the terminals of the different terminal group during the predetermined period . therefore , a terminal belonging to the different terminal group will not be mistaken as a terminal belonging to the same terminal group as the terminal 700 . in a case where there is no reply from the other terminals and no other terminal having an activated data transfer system , the terminal 700 defines its rank as number one ( step s 12 ) and registers its rank (# 1 ) and its mac address and ip address in its terminal group address table 70 ( step s 13 ). it is to be noted that the group address table 70 in the terminal 700 is cleared upon activation of its data transfer system . meanwhile , in a case where there is a reply from the other terminals , the terminal 700 identifies the lowest rank from group address table data included in the reply and defines its rank as being one rank lower than the identified lowest rank ( step s 14 ). then , the terminal 700 registers the group address table data included in the reply , its rank , mac address , and ip address in its terminal group address table 70 ( step s 15 ). it is to be noted that the content of the terminal group address data included in each reply is the same even in a case where the terminal 700 receives plural replies from the other terminals . therefore , the terminal 700 defines its rank based on the first received reply and registers the rank in its terminal group address table 70 . fig9 is a flowchart showing a rank defining process conducted by a terminal ( e . g ., terminal 700 ) upon responding to search data according to an embodiment of the present invention . in fig9 , when the terminal 700 receives a search packet transmitted from another terminal ( original terminal ), the terminal 700 generates a reply including terminal group address table data containing a duplicate ( copy ) of the content of the terminal group address table 70 of the terminal 700 and transmits the generated reply to the original terminal ( step s 20 ). the mac address and the ip address of the terminal 700 are also included in the reply . then , the terminal 700 identifies the lowest rank from its terminal group address table 70 and defines the rank of the original terminal as being one rank lower than the identified lowest rank ( step s 21 ). then , the terminal 700 registers the defined rank , the mac address , and the ip address of the original terminal in the terminal group address table 70 ( step s 22 ). fig1 is a sequence diagram showing an exemplary operation of defining a rank in a terminal group according to an embodiment of the present invention . this operation is described by using an example of defining the ranks of a terminal group comprising terminals 61 - 64 connected to respective ports ( cascade port ) of a switching hub 55 of the osaka branch . although four terminals are used to describe this operation for the sake of convenience , the number of the terminals may be greater than or less than four . furthermore , software of a data transfer system configured to execute the processes shown in fig8 and 9 is already installed in the terminals 61 - 64 beforehand . among the plural terminals 61 - 64 having the data transfer system built therein , the terminal 62 having the earliest activated data transfer system transmits a search packet for determining whether there is a terminal already having an activated ( active ) data transfer system among the terminals connected to the switching hub 55 ( search for other nodes ). then , in a case where there is no reply from the data transfer systems of the other terminals of the terminal group connected to the switching hub 55 in response to the search packet transmitted from the terminal 62 , that is , in a case where there is no other terminal having an activated data transfer system , the terminal 62 defines its rank as having the highest rank ( number one ) among the data transfer systems along with generating a terminal group address table and registering its rank , the mac address , and the ip address in the terminal group address table . then , a terminal 61 , having its data transfer system activated , begins to search ( transmission of search packet ) for other nodes . then , the terminal 62 transmits a reply to the terminal 61 in response to the search data . the terminal 61 receiving the reply from the terminal 62 defines its own rank as number two and registers the rank of terminal 62 and its rank ( rank of terminal 61 ), mac address , and ip address in its terminal group address table . further , the terminal 62 receiving the search packet from the terminal 61 updates its terminal group address table by adding the rank ( number two ), the mac address , and the ip address of the terminal 61 to its terminal group address table . then , a terminal 63 , having its data transfer system activated , begins to search ( transmission of search packet ) for other nodes . then , the terminals 61 , 62 transmit a reply to the terminal 63 in response to the search packet . the terminal 63 receiving the reply from the terminals 61 , 62 defines its rank as number three and registers the ranks of terminals 61 , 62 and its rank ( rank of terminal 63 ), mac address , and ip address in its terminal group address table . further , the terminals 61 , 62 receiving the search packet from the terminal 63 update their terminal group address table by adding the rank ( number three ), the mac address , and the ip address of the terminal 63 to their terminal group address tables . then , a terminal 64 , having its data transfer system activated , begins to search ( transmission of search packet ) for other nodes . after finding other nodes , the terminal 64 registers the ranks , the mac addresses , and the ip addresses of itself and the other nodes . further , the terminals 61 - 63 receiving the search packet from the terminal 64 update their terminal group address tables by adding the rank ( number four ), the mac address , and the ip address of the terminal 64 to their terminal group address tables . in the above - described data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention , although real - time data received from the server are reproduced by all of the terminals , the real - time data may also be reproduced by a single terminal having a rank lower than a rank of a predetermined terminal having an activated data transfer system , so that the predetermined terminal serves as a packet relay terminal for simply relaying packets received from the server . furthermore , after the ranks ( status ) of the data transfer systems of the terminals have been defined , a process of confirming ( monitoring ) an operating ( activation ) status of each other &# 39 ; s data transfer systems may be conducted at predetermined intervals . thereby , in a case where a terminal having an inoperable ( inactive ) data transfer system is found , the data of the terminal can be deleted from the terminal group address table of each terminal . by periodically conducting such maintenance of data of the original terminal and the destination terminal , reliability of this data transmission method can be enhanced . with the above - described data transmission method and terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention , relatively large size data requested by a large number of terminals can be received and reproduced in real time by effectively using existing resources without increasing data traffic , to thereby increase the efficiency of the network . further , the present invention is not limited to these embodiments , but variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention .	7
a usual method for in - flight refueling operations is illustrated in fig1 and is based on the use of a hose and drogue device 15 . this refueling method employs a flexible hose 19 that trails from a refueling unit 17 ( pod or fru ) located in the tanker aircraft 13 with a drogue 21 ( a fitting resembling a windsock or shuttlecock ) attached at its narrow end . the receiver 11 has a probe 25 , which is a rigid arm placed on the aircraft &# 39 ; s nose or fuselage with a valve that is closed until it mates with the end of the hose after which it opens and allows fuel to pass from the tanker aircraft 13 to the receiver aircraft 11 . fig2 shows the reception coupling unit 31 at the end of the hose 19 with an external surface 33 and an internal passage 37 for receiving the probe 25 . the reception coupling unit 31 and the probe 25 shall have cooperating latching means for assuring that the probe 25 is properly connected to the hose 19 to proceed with the refueling operation . according to this invention , the reception coupling unit 31 is also provided with detection and indication means of the latching state of said cooperating latching means so that the pilot of the receiver aircraft 11 and / or the crew of the tanker aircraft 13 can receive indications concerning said latching state . some embodiments of the invention will now be described . they may refer to a known latching system which is based on at least one roller 39 located in the internal passage 37 of the reception coupling unit 31 , that is pressed by the probe 25 by a spring - plunger assembly 41 ( see fig2 ), as the cooperating means in the reception coupling unit 31 , and on a circumferential groove 29 as the cooperating means in the probe 25 ( see fig3 a , 3 b , 3 c ). in fig3 a , the roller 39 is at a fully extended position because it has not yet entered into contact with the probe 25 . arrow f indicates the direction of the displacement of the incoming probe 25 with respect to the reception coupling unit 31 . in fig3 b , the roller 39 is not at a fully extended position because it is pressed by the probe 25 . in fig3 c , the roller 39 is at a fully extended position because it is inserted into the circumferential groove 29 of the probe 25 . when the roller 39 is at the fully extended position , two possible latching states can take place : the probe 25 may be fully disconnected ( fig3 a ), i . e . a non - latching state , or it may be properly connected ( fig3 c ), i . e . a latching state . when the roller 39 is pressed by the probe 25 ( fig3 b ), an intermediate latching state takes place which means that the latching system is not locked . in one embodiment of the invention , illustrated in fig3 a , 3 b , 3 c , the reception coupling unit 31 is provided with detection and indication means of the intermediate latching state of said cooperating latching means so that the pilot of the receiver aircraft 11 can receive indications concerning said latching state . the reception coupling unit 31 comprises position detectors 51 , as detection means of the latching state of the roller 39 , coupled to a switch 61 of an electric circuit 53 . the electric circuit 53 ( see fig4 ) comprises an air - driven electric generator 63 and a backup battery ( not shown ) as electrical energy sources , a flasher component 67 and a source of light 55 placed in the external surface 33 of the reception coupling unit 31 as a first indication means of the intermediate latching state for the pilot of the receiver aircraft 11 . when the roller 39 is pressed by the probe 25 ( fig3 b ), the position detector 51 closes the electric circuit 53 and the source of light 55 emits a flashing light advising the pilot of the receptor aircraft 11 of this circumstance so that he can take the required corrective actions that can lead to a proper connection . when the roller 39 is at the fully extended position ( fig3 a and 3 c ) the electric circuit 53 remains open so that the source of light 55 is turned off . if the latching system has three rollers 39 spaced around the internal passage 37 of the reception coupling unit 21 , which may occur in the above - mentioned latching systems , this embodiment may comprise individual detection and indication means for each roller 39 and therefore the reception coupling unit 31 will be provided with three sources of light 55 as indication means for the pilot of the receptor aircraft 11 which will be spaced around the external surface 33 of the reception coupling unit 31 facilitating therefore that the pilot of the receptor aircraft 11 can be informed that the probe 25 is in an intermediate latching state in any position of the reception coupling unit 31 . preferably the source of light 55 is a light emitting diode ( led ) device . in another embodiment of the invention , illustrated in fig5 and 6 , the reception coupling unit 31 is provided with detection and indication means of the intermediate latching state of said cooperating latching means so that the crew of the tanker aircraft 13 can receive indications concerning said intermediate latching state . the reception coupling unit 31 comprises a position detector 51 , as detection means of the latching state of the roller 39 , coupled to a switch 61 of an electric circuit 53 . the electric circuit 53 ( see fig6 ) comprises an air - driven electric generator 63 and a backup battery ( not shown ) as electrical energy sources , and a signal emitter 65 as a second indication means of the intermediate latching state for the crew of the tanker aircraft 13 . when the roller 39 is pressed by the probe 25 ( see fig5 ), the position detector 51 closes the electric circuit 53 and the signal emitter 65 emits signals advising the crew of the tanker aircraft 13 of this circumstance so that they can take the required corrective actions that can lead to a proper connection . the tanker aircraft 13 is provided with a suitable receptor device 69 of said signals . preferably the signal emitter 65 is a radio emitter , particularly a micro - wave radio emitter . if the latching system has three rollers 39 spaced around the internal passage 37 of the reception coupling unit 21 , which may occur in the above - mentioned latching systems , this embodiment can comprise individual detection and indication means for each roller 39 and therefore the reception coupling unit 31 will be provided with three radio emitters as indication means for the crew of the tanker aircraft 13 , or individual detection means for each roller 39 associated to a single indication means for the three rollers 39 . in another embodiment , the reception coupling unit 31 is provided with detection and indication means of the intermediate latching state of said cooperating latching means so that the pilot of the receiver aircraft 11 and the crew of the tanker aircraft 13 can receive indications concerning said latching state . as in the above - mentioned embodiments , the reception coupling unit 31 comprises a position detector 51 , as detection means of the latching state of the roller 39 , coupled to a switch 61 of an electric circuit 53 . the electric circuit 53 ( see fig7 ) comprises an air - driven electric generator 63 and a backup battery as electrical energy sources , a flasher component 67 , a source of light 55 placed in the external surface 33 of the reception coupling unit 31 as a first indication means of the intermediate latching state for the pilot of the receiver aircraft 11 and a signal emitter 65 as a second indication means of the intermediate latching state for the crew of the tanker aircraft . when the position detector 51 closes the electric circuit 53 , the source of light 55 emits flashing lights and the signal emitter 65 emits signals advising , respectively , the pilot of the receptor aircraft 11 and the crew of the tanker aircraft 13 that the latching system is in an intermediate latching state so that they can take the required corrective actions that can lead to a proper connection . in another embodiment of the invention illustrated in fig8 a , 8 b , 8 c , the detector 71 of the latching state of the roller 39 is an assembly of a cam 72 and a lever 73 . the lever 73 is arranged to move a pin 75 , which is the first indication means for the pilot of the receiver aircraft 11 , between a recessed and a protruding position with respect to the external surface 33 of the reception coupling unit 31 . when the roller 39 is pressed by the probe 25 ( fig8 b ), the assembly of the cam 71 and the lever 73 moves the pin 75 to a protruding position making it therefore visible for the pilot of the receptor aircraft 11 so that he can take the required corrective actions that can lead to a proper connection . when the roller 39 is at the fully extended position ( fig8 a and 8 c ) the pin 75 remains in a recessed position . the pin 75 may be understood as a body suitable to be seen by the pilot of the receiver aircraft 11 on the external surface 33 of the reception coupling unit 31 in a refueling operation . this embodiment is advisable for coupling units 31 already provided with illumination means so that they can be fully operative at night or during poor weather conditions .	1
a tape substrate 10 that incorporates teachings of the present invention is shown in fig2 and 3 . tape substrate 10 includes a flexible dielectric film 20 , conductive traces 34 that are carried by a surface 22 of the flexible dielectric film 20 , and a mold gate 40 . mold gate 40 includes an aperture 42 formed in the flexible dielectric film 20 and a support element 44 , which is substantially coplanar with , but electrically isolated from , conductive traces 34 . as shown , flexible dielectric film 20 is a substantially planar member which includes oppositely facing first and second surfaces 22 and 24 , respectively . flexible dielectric film 20 may be formed from any material which is suitable for use in so - called “ carrier substrates ,” which are configured to carry conductive traces and other conductive structures , as well as electronic components , such as semiconductor devices , that include input / output elements that communicate with the conductive structures . by way of example only , flexible dielectric film 20 may be formed from polyimide ( e . g ., 50 μm thick polyimide ), which has gained wide acceptance in the semiconductor device industry for use as a carrier substrate material . conductive traces 34 may be secured to surface 22 nonadhesively ( e . g ., by lamination of the material thereof to surface 22 ), as in an adhesiveless flex substrate , or with a layer of adhesive material between conductive traces 34 and surface 22 , as in an adhesive flex substrate . aperture 42 of mold gate 40 is located adjacent to the location of an outer boundary 12 ( e . g ., at or outside of outer boundary 12 ) ( fig2 ) of tape substrate 10 . in addition , aperture 42 opens to both surface 22 and surface 24 of flexible dielectric film 20 . support element 44 of mold gate 40 partially overlies and is secured to surface 22 , which is the same surface by which conductive traces 34 are carried . support element 44 is positioned so as to cover at least a portion of aperture 42 and forms a base of mold gate 40 . the end of aperture 42 that opens to surface 24 remains uncovered so as to facilitate the introduction of liquid packaging material into aperture 42 and , thus , onto surface 24 of flexible dielectric film 20 . fig4 – 7 depict exemplary configurations of mold gates according to the present invention . mold gate 40 ′ of fig4 has a rectangular configuration . mold gate 40 ″, shown in fig5 , includes an enlarged opening 45 ″ and a smaller interior 46 ″, both of which are rectangular in shape . as shown , interior 46 ″ may have a smaller width or a smaller height than opening 45 ″. fig6 illustrates a mold gate 40 ′″ with a y shape , the opening 45 ′″ thereof comprising a single channel , while the interior 46 ′″ thereof , which is connected to opening 45 ′″ at a junction 47 ′″, includes two channels 46 a ′″ and 46 b ′″, between which a diversion dam 48 ′″, or tap , which prevents packaging material from flowing onto bond wires or other intermediate conductive elements , is located . mold gate 40 ′″ of fig7 includes an opening 45 ′″ which is rectangular in shape and which is narrower than the interior 46 ′″ thereof . the width of interior 46 ′″ tapers outwardly from its junction 47 ′″ with opening 45 ′″, imparting interior 46 ′″ with a somewhat triangular shape . of course , other gate configurations are also within the scope of the present invention . turning now to fig8 – 14 , an exemplary process for forming tape substrate 10 is depicted . the process , which is shown in fig8 – 14 , may be used to form tape substrate 10 from either a two - layer ( adhesiveless flex ) tape or a three - layer ( adhesive flex ) tape . in fig8 , a flexible dielectric film 20 is provided with a conductive film 30 ( e . g ., an 18 μm thick copper film ) laminated to a surface 22 thereof . flexible dielectric film 20 may have dimensions that facilitate the fabrication of a plurality of strips 100 of multiple tape substrates 10 thereon ( fig1 ). as shown in fig9 , masks 120 , 130 , such as photomasks , may be formed on one or both of surface 24 of flexible dielectric film 20 and an exposed surface 32 of conductive film 30 , respectively . mask 120 may include apertures 122 which are located and configured so as to expose regions of flexible dielectric film 20 within which apertures 42 of mold gate 40 ( fig2 and 3 ) are to be formed . mask 130 may likewise include apertures 132 which are located and configured to expose regions of conductive film 30 that are to be removed , such as those areas located between conductive traces 34 ( fig2 and 3 ), as well as areas that are located laterally adjacent to the position where support element 44 of mold gate 40 is to be formed . fig1 depicts patterning of flexible dielectric film 20 through mask 120 . in particular , an etchant or other chemical or mixture of chemicals ( e . g ., in a liquid or plasma state ) that will remove the material of flexible dielectric film 20 at a faster rate than it will remove the material of conductive film 30 is permitted to contact regions of flexible dielectric film 20 that are exposed through apertures 122 of mask 120 . the results are an aperture 42 of a mold gate 40 ( fig2 and 3 ), as well as other features , such as vias , slots , or other apertures . fig1 illustrates patterning of conductive film 30 through mask 130 to form conductive traces 34 and support element 44 of mold gate 40 ( fig2 and 3 ). for example , an etchant or mixture of etchants ( e . g ., wet or dry , isotropic or anisotropic ) suitable for removing the material of conductive film 30 at a faster rate than it removes the material of flexible dielectric film 20 may be permitted to contact regions of conductive film 30 that are exposed through apertures 132 of mask 130 . following patterning of flexible dielectric film 20 and conductive film 30 , masks 120 and 130 may be removed , or “ stripped ,” as known in the art . thereafter , additional conductive features ( not shown ), may be formed by known processes . for example , the surfaces or sidewalls 43 of aperture 42 may be coated with a thin layer 49 of material ( e . g ., gold , platinum , palladium , nickel , silver , etc .) that will reduce or prevent adhesion of a packaging , or encapsulant , material to the material of flexible dielectric film 20 . as desired , some or all of the conductive structures that are carried by flexible dielectric film 20 may also be plated with desired materials ( e . g ., a barrier layer , such as nickel , or a noble layer , such as gold ), as known in the art ( e . g ., by use of electrolytic , electroless , or immersion plating processes ), as shown in fig1 . a solder mask 140 may then be applied or formed , as shown in fig1 , over one or both of surfaces 24 and 22 to facilitate the subsequent formation of solder balls or other conductive structures at desired locations of each tape substrate 10 , i . e ., those locations of tape substrate 10 that are exposed through apertures 142 of solder mask 140 . solder mask 140 ( e . g ., an aus5 solder mask having a thickness of about 15 μm to about 35 μm ) may be applied to or formed on surface 24 , 22 by known processes . if it is desired that a diversion dam ( e . g ., diversion dam 48 ′″ of fig6 ) be included in a mold gate 40 , but the diversion dam was not formed while aperture 42 of mold gate 40 was being formed , diversion dam 48 ′″ may be formed during the application or formation of solder mask 140 . diversion dam 48 ′″ may be formed or applied over the same surface 22 , 24 of flexible dielectric film 20 as that over which solder mask 140 is formed or applied , or over the opposite surface 24 , 22 of flexible dielectric film 20 . finally , as shown in fig1 , flexible dielectric film 20 may be singulated into a plurality of strips 100 of tape substrates 10 , as known in the art . by way of example , known die cutting , or “ mechanical punching ,” techniques may be used to form strips 100 from flexible dielectric film 20 . additionally , various features of strips 100 , including , without limitation , transport apertures , or sprocket holes 102 , thereof , may be formed either concurrently with or separately in time from the singulation of strips 100 from flexible dielectric film 20 . an exemplary mold gate 40 that may be formed by the process depicted in fig8 – 13 is shown in fig1 . as shown , aperture 42 of mold gate 40 includes sidewalls 43 which are tapered . such tapering may be obtained by use of isotropic etch processes to form aperture 42 in flexible dielectric film 20 . of course , if anisotropic etch processes are employed , sidewalls 43 ′ which are oriented substantially perpendicular to a plane of flexible dielectric film 20 , such as those depicted in fig2 , may be formed . with reference to fig1 – 19 , as well as with returned reference to fig1 – 14 , another exemplary embodiment of a process for fabricating a mold gate 40 , as well as a tape substrate 10 which includes mold gate 40 , is illustrated . the process shown in fig1 – 19 may be used to form tape substrates 10 from three - layer ( adhesive flex ) tapes , as conductive film 30 may be secured to flexible dielectric film 20 following the formation of an aperture 42 of mold gate 40 ( fig2 and 3 ) therethrough . fig1 depicts a flexible dielectric film 20 with both oppositely facing surfaces 22 and 24 thereof being exposed . as shown in fig1 , flexible dielectric film 20 may be patterned , such as by known die cutting , or “ mechanical punching ,” techniques , to form vias , slots , other apertures , an aperture 42 of a mold gate 40 ( fig2 and 3 ), or other features therein . in the depicted example , each of these features , including aperture 42 , extends substantially through the thickness of flexible dielectric film 20 . next , as shown in fig1 , a conductive film 30 , such as a foil that comprises any conductive material that is suitable for use as the conductive traces of a carrier substrate ( e . g ., copper , aluminum , etc . ), is laminated to surface 22 of flexible dielectric film 20 . for example , conductive film 30 may be secured to surface 22 with a quantity of adhesive material 29 , which may be applied to either surface 22 or to a surface 31 of conductive film 30 by known processes ( e . g ., by spraying , use of a roller , etc .). once conductive film 30 has been secured to flexible dielectric film 20 , a mask 130 , such as a photomask , may be applied to or formed over the exposed surface 32 of conductive film 30 , as shown in fig1 . regions of conductive film 30 that are to be removed during patterning thereof are exposed through apertures 132 of mask 130 . process then continues as shown in and described with reference to fig1 – 14 , wherein conductive film 30 is patterned ( e . g ., by etching ) through mask 130 ( fig1 ), conductive features , such as conductive traces 34 and support element 44 ( see fig2 and 3 ) are plated ( fig1 ), solder masks 140 are formed over surface 24 or surface 22 ( fig1 ), and strips 100 including multiple tape substrates 10 and their corresponding mold gates 40 are singulated from flexible dielectric film 20 ( fig1 ). the result of such processes is the mold gate 40 shown in fig2 , which includes an aperture 42 with sidewalls 43 ′ that are oriented substantially perpendicular to a plane of flexible dielectric film 20 . as the inventive processes described herein require that only one surface of a flexible dielectric film 20 have a conductive film 30 ( fig8 and 18 ) laminated thereto , and since the die cutting processes that are typically employed by tab substrate manufacturers may be used to form aperture 42 of mold gate 40 , manufacturers of conventional tab substrates are equipped to fabricate tape substrates 10 that incorporate teachings of the present invention . once strips 100 of tape substrates 10 according to the present invention have been formed , semiconductor dice 15 may be secured and electrically connected thereto , as known in the art and shown in fig2 and 22 , to form semiconductor device assemblies 18 . in addition , conductive structures 16 ( fig2 ), such as balls , bumps , pillars , or columns of conductive material ( e . g ., solder , another metal or metal alloy , conductive or conductor - filled elastomer , a dielectric film with anisotropically , or “ z - axis ,” conductive elements therein , etc .) may be secured to contact pads 11 ( fig2 ) of tape substrates 10 . such processes may be effected as tape substrates 10 remain a part of a strip 100 . thereafter , as illustrated in fig2 and 22a , molded package structures 62 may be formed around semiconductor device assemblies 18 that have been formed on each strip 100 . in forming molded package structures 62 , each semiconductor device assembly 18 may be disposed within a cavity of a mold ( not shown ), with mold gate 40 of each assembly in alignment with a corresponding mold runner , which is a channel that extends between and communicates with a source of mold material , or “ pot ,” and the mold cavity within which the assembly is located . of course , in order to effect such alignment , the mold may have to be specifically configured for use with strips 100 that bear tape substrates 10 according to the invention . a liquid packaging , or encapsulant , material is then introduced through each mold runner , into its corresponding mold cavity , through mold gate 40 , and over the surfaces of tape substrate 10 and the semiconductor device that has been assembled therewith . fig2 and 24 depict an exemplary process that may be used to remove a sprue 64 ( see also fig2 a ), which is the resin from the mold runner that remains within a mold gate 40 , as well as the support element 44 of mold gate 40 , once the material of sprue 64 has sufficiently cured and prior to trimming portions of flexible dielectric film 20 that remain outside of a package structure 62 that has been molded over a tape substrate 10 ( fig2 and 3 ) and a semiconductor die ( not shown ) secured and electrically connected thereto to form a packaged semiconductor device 60 . in fig2 , a strip 100 bearing a plurality of packaged semiconductor devices 60 ( only one shown for clarity ) is positioned within a degator 110 . more specifically , strip 100 is positioned beneath an upper degator 112 , or the upper degator 112 is positioned over strip 100 , with sprues 64 being received within corresponding slots 114 of upper degator 112 . strip 100 is also positioned beneath a lower degator 115 , or lower degator 115 is positioned beneath strip 100 , such that an extendable punch 116 is located beneath each mold gate 40 and sprue 64 . as shown in fig2 , once strip 100 has been positioned within degator 110 , each punch is extended toward and biased against support element 44 of its corresponding gate . as pressure is applied to support element 44 , support element 44 and the sprue 64 resting thereon are forced through aperture 42 of mold gate 40 and into slot 114 of upper degator 112 . additionally , sprue 64 is broken free from the remainder of package structure 62 . of course , surfaces 43 of aperture 42 may be lined with a layer 49 ( fig1 ) of adhesion - reducing material , which effectively reduces the amount of force that need be applied to support element 44 to remove sprue 64 from aperture 42 . once a first packaged semiconductor device 60 of strip 100 has been degated in this fashion , strip 100 may be moved ( e . g ., by indexing the same ) to position another packaged semiconductor device 60 at the appropriate location between upper degator 112 and lower degator 115 . when all of the packaged semiconductor devices 60 on strip 100 have been degated , the semiconductor device packages 60 may then be separated from one another , as known in the art . although the foregoing description contains many specifics , these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention , but merely as providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments . similarly , other embodiments of the invention may be devised which do not depart from the spirit or scope of the present invention . moreover , features from different embodiments of the invention may be employed in combination . the scope of the invention is , therefore , indicated and limited only by the appended claims and their legal equivalents , rather than by the foregoing description . all additions , deletions , and modifications to the invention , as disclosed herein , which fall within the meaning and scope of the claims are to be embraced thereby .	7
a semiconductor substrate of the present invention will be described hereinafter in relation to a manufacturing method thereof an aluminum - silicon carbide ( al — sic ) composite material which is a material of the substrate of the present invention is manufactured according to the infiltration method , the sintering method , the casting method , the dissolution method , or a combination of these methods , as mentioned above . the infiltration method is a method for infiltrating the melted al into the hole of a porous body made of sic powder in a non - oxidizing atmosphere . since there is a need to maintain the shape of the sic porous body , the amount of sic in the composite material obtained by this method is controlled to be within the range up to 60 % by weight , in which the lower limit is 40 % by weight . the sintering method is a method for mixing al powder and sic powder together at a desired composition ratio , and sintering a resulting molded piece at a temperature above the melting point of al in a non - oxidizing atmosphere . the sintering process includes pressure means , such as forging , hot pressing , hot isostatic pressing ( hip ), and hot extrusion . the amount of sic in the composite material obtained by this method is controlled within the range of 5 to 60 % by weight . the casting method is a method for casting molten al and sic powder into a mold , thereafter mixing them , and solidifying them . the dissolution method is a method for dispersing sic particles into molten al , thereafter sequentially and continuously cooling the dispersed ones , and compounding them . the amount of sic in the composite material obtained by the casting method or the dissolution method is controlled within the range of 5 to 60 % by weight . the reason why the lower limit of sic is fixed at 5 % by weight excluding the infiltration method is that there is almost no difference between the thermal expansion coefficient or the thermal conductivity of sic and that of al if the lower limit thereof is less than that value , and therefore the advantage of including sic will be eliminated . on the other hand , the reason why the upper limit of sic is fixed at 60 % by weight in all of the above - mentioned methods is that the removal of the remaining sic in corrosion treatment becomes difficult if the limit exceeds that value . in a material that includes sic below 40 % by weight , the powder obtained after the mixture can be shaped like a sheet by thinly and directly applying plastic processing thereonto by means of a hot roll or the like according to the sintering method , for example . alternatively , a plate material contemporarily compounded by the sintering method , by the casting method , or by the dissolution method can be again heated and can undergo plastic processing . if a large processing degree in thickness and in width is given by the plastic processing when the material is shaped like , for example , a sheet , it will be also possible to add slight heat treatment and remove residual stress after the plastic processing is completed . the thus prepared al — sic composite material has its parts removed by a corrosive and takes on a form . this procedure will be hereinafter described with reference to an example of a flat plate made of the composite material . as typically shown in fig3 let us assume that a center part ( i . e ., part enclosed by the dotted line of the figure ) of a square main surface of a flat plate is excavated by a predetermined depth and is removed . it is preferable to use a corrosive that reacts to al relatively slowly or that dissolves al . a substance that is a metal salt solution and exhibits acescence or a substance in which oxygen ions are free is usually used as a suitable substance for such a corrosive . for example , a weak solution of sulfate of copper more precious than al , a weak solution of inorganic salt such as chloride , or a weak solution of organic salt such as copper acetate is used as that of a preferable metal salt . preferably , the concentration of these materials in the solution is normally prepared to be 3 to 50 % by weight . if it is less than the lower limit , too much time will be consumed for corrosion treatment . on the other hand , if it exceeds the upper limit , concavities / convexities will easily appear in a corroded removal part . a substance that exhibits alkalescence in water , such as sodium carbonate ( na 2 co 3 ), may be mixed in as needed to finely adjust the ph of the corrosive and control the corrosion speed . corrosion - resistant treatment that forms a coating layer of a desired pattern that can resist the corrosive prior to corrosion treatment is carried out to leave the part that has not been removed as it is . a material that is not eroded with the corrosive and is capable of easily adhering to a raw material is used as a material of the coating layer . for example , resin or rubber is usually used . if rubber is used , a thin sheet of rubber is prepared , and is bonded to a part provided with a desired pattern with an adhesive that can resist the corrosive . alternatively , an organic solvent that has dissolved rubber is applied to the surface of the raw material and is dried . thereafter , the corrosive is sprayed onto the coating surface , or the raw material is soaked in the corrosive so as to bring them into contact with each other , and the necessary parts are gradually removed . the temperature of the corrosive can be higher than room temperature , but room temperature is sufficient to maintain the corrosive . in the case in which an extremely shallow concave part is formed by corrosion , only its surface can be removed by electrolytic polishing in which , for example , a raw material that has undergone corrosion - resistant treatment serves as an anode . if a material that has minute sic particles is prepared beforehand in this case , a removal surface with extremely fine surface roughness can be obtained . for example , a surface whose surface roughness ra of jis is below 2 μm or even below 1 μm easily can be obtained . therefore , after the usual corrosion and removal is carried out , the process can be carried out to perform smooth finishing or to carve an extremely shallow concavo - convex part less than 5 μm . after the corrosion treatment is completed , the raw material is washed in water immediately , and residue is removed . if the raw material that has undergone the corrosion treatment in this way has remaining sic particles or reactants , the residue is removed therefrom . if slight surface finishing , which is usually employed , is needed , any removal method , such as barrel polishing or blast grinding , can be carried out . a predetermined main surface of penetration part can be formed in the raw material . accordingly , when a small component having a predetermined shape is cut and separated from , for example , a plate material , this method can be used . in this case , grooves or concavities used for separation can be formed beforehand in the raw material . when a plurality of concave parts with various depths and convex parts with various heights are formed , they can be formed continuously or intermittently while being divided several times . according to the conventional method , machining is very difficult , and tools completely wear out . in contrast , according to the method of the present invention , it is relatively easy to carry out shape processing as described above , and , processing costs can advantageously be greatly lowered . the aluminum - silicon carbide ( al — sic ) semiconductor substrate of the present invention obtained by the above method leaves neither stress nor distortion because neither mechanical stress nor heat is given when level differences or concavities / convexities are provided although such mechanical stress or heat is given in the conventional grinding . therefore , a warp in the direction of the main surface resulting after finish treatment is much smaller , i . e ., below 3 μm / mm than conventional examples . further , the substrate of the present invention can seldom cause a new warp or deformation resulting from residual stress because there is minimal residue after treatment even if mechanical stress or thermal stress is applied from the outside when it is contained in a package . therefore , the substrate of the present invention has high - strength against damage caused by fatigue in thermo - cycles during operation after the substrate is built in a semiconductor device . according to the method of the present invention , it is therefore , possible to provide a substrate that has a shape integrated into a complex form as mentioned above and that has a small warp or deformation after it is mounted or when actually operated . for example , during machine treatment , if concavities / convexities are partially formed in the substrate or if its outer periphery is complicated on the condition that its thickness is below 2 mm , the treatment will become extremely difficult , and the occurrence of a large warp or deformation cannot be avoided . for example , an external dimension thereof exceeding 30 mm will cause a warp or deformation that exceeds 10 μm / mm . however , according to the method of the present invention , a substrate having almost no warp or deformation can be obtained even if concavities / convexities are formed in its main surface that are wide and thin . further , it is possible to manufacture a multi - piece substrate shaped like a tape in which perforations are formed in a sheet - shaped substrate by corrosion treatment . in the semiconductor substrate of the present invention , if the area of a part to be corroded and removed is below 50 % of the entire main surface , such a warp level as mentioned above can be obtained even if it is substantially thin . for example , even if the ratio ( t / a ) of its thickness t to the area a of the main surface is below 0 . 008 in a unit of [ mm / mm 2 ], a substrate having the above - mentioned warp level can be obtained . if the area of a part to be corroded and removed is below 30 % of the entire main surface , such a warp level as mentioned above can be obtained even if the ratio is below 0 . 0008 . the thickness t of the substrate of the present invention is defined not as the thickness of a part that has undergone corrosion treatment but as the thickness of a part that has not undergone treatment , and the area a of the main surface is defined not as the area of a part that has undergone the corrosion treatment but as the area of the entire main surface . further , the surface roughness of a to - be - removed part of the main surface of the present invention can be set at less than 5 μm in ra by changing the ph of a corrosive liquid and controlling the corrosion speed as mentioned above . the present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to examples . it should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the scope of the examples . the preparation was made of silicon carbide powder consisting of crystal grains of 10 m in average grain size , of above 99 . 9 % in purity ( mass base ), and of the 6 h type , pure aluminum powder that has been subjected to rapid solidification by melt atomization of 50 μm in average grain size and of above 99 % in purity ( mass base ), and aluminum alloy powder that contains si of 5 % by weight that has been subjected to rapid solidification in the same way ( in the following examples , this aluminum alloy is referred to simply as aluminum alloy ). the amount of cation impurities , such as fe , in the silicon carbide powder was below 100 ppm ( mass base ). these powders were scaled at the composition ratio of each sample of the mass base shown in table i , thereafter a 3 % paraffin binder in the mass ratio to 100 of powder was added , and they were mixed by an ethanol wet type ball mill for three hours . samples 1 through 8 and 12 are each a sample that uses pure aluminum as a first component , and samples 9 through 11 are each a sample that uses aluminum alloy powder that contains si of 5 % by weight as a first component . mixed slurry was subjected to spray drying and was granulated . this granular powder was molded into the shape of a plate of 50 mm in length and width and of 5 mm in thickness by means of dry powdery pressing . thereafter , this molded piece was placed in a furnace under the high frequency induction heating method , and it was first gradually heated to 400 ° c . in low - pressure nitrogen , and the binder was removed therefrom . thereafter , the temperature was raised up to 665 ° c . in ten minutes in a nitrogen gas stream of 1 atmospheric pressure , and the molded piece was kept at this temperature for three minutes , and it was preliminarily heated . each sample that was subjected to the preliminary heating was moved to a preheated forging die of 300 ° c ., and was subjected to hot forging . the dimensions of each composite material sample that has been forged were about 48 mm in length and width and about 4 . 8 mm in thickness . therefore , the ratio t / a of the thickness to the area of the main surface is 0 . 002 [ mm / mm 2 ]. the relative density ( i . e ., the ratio of a measured density confirmed by the underwater method to a theoretical density ) of each sample was 100 %. the thermal conductivity and the thermal expansion coefficient were confirmed . the results are shown in table i . the thermal conductivity was confirmed by the use of a disk - like test piece according to the laser flash method , and the thermal expansion coefficient was confirmed by the use of a pillar - like test piece according to the operating transformation method . separately , a plate material of an aluminum alloy that contains pure aluminum and si , which is the same in components as the raw material was used , in order to confirm each thermal conductivity in the same way . as a result , the former was 240 w / m · k , and the latter was 200 w / m · k . table i raw material compounding formed body composition composite material amount of warp (% by weight ) thermal thermal ( μ m / mm ) first second conducti - expansion surface backside compo - compo - vity coefficient roughness removal main no . nent nent ( w / m · k ) ( x 10 − 6 /° c .) ra ( μ m ) surface surface 1 95 5 243 22 . 0 4 . 2 2 . 9 2 . 8 2 90 10 246 20 . 0 4 . 0 2 . 6 2 . 6 3 80 20 253 17 . 5 3 . 7 2 . 6 2 . 5 4 70 30 260 14 . 5 3 . 5 2 . 5 2 . 5 5 60 40 267 12 . 6 3 . 4 2 . 4 2 . 4 6 50 50 275 11 . 1 3 . 3 2 . 4 2 . 4 7 40 60 284 9 . 7 3 . 2 2 . 4 2 . 4 sic particles remain in * 8 38 62 287 9 . 3 corroded parts ; concavity / convexity size is large 9 60 40 223 11 . 0 3 . 4 2 . 4 2 . 4 10 50 50 230 10 . 2 3 . 3 2 . 4 2 . 4 11 40 60 239 9 . 0 3 . 3 2 . 5 2 . 4 * 12 60 40 267 12 . 6 3 . 4 5 . 9 6 . 3 thereafter , as shown by the dotted line of fig3 a concave part of 30 mm in length and width and 2 mm in depth was formed at the center of the main surface of each sample by corrosion treatment . ( the area ratio of the concave part to the main surface was 39 %.) natural rubber was first dissolved in toluene , and was formed into a paste . this was applied to a part that does not undergo corrosion treatment to a thickness of 0 . 5 mm and was dried , and , as a result , a corrosion - resistant film was formed . each sample was soaked into a copper sulfate solution of 8 % by weight in concentration until the depth of the concave part became 2 mm at room temperature . after the soak , toluene was again sprayed onto the layer of the covering rubber so as to peel it off , and thereafter the removed part was subjected to blast finishing by means of an alumina bead of about 0 . 5 mm in diameter . as a result , the edge of the end of the removed part was removed . on the other hand , sample 12 of a comparative example where the composite material of sample 5 is ground into the same shape with a diamond tool was also produced . the depth of the removed surface of a formed body that was obtained was within 2 mm ± 0 . 05 mm in each sample . the surface roughness of the removed surface is shown in table i by the value of ra provided by jis . the surface that was removed was confirmed by x - ray diffraction . as a result , sic and al were found . thereafter , a load of 1000 cycles , in each of which the plate of each sample is maintained for 30 minutes at − 60 ° c . for cooling and is kept for 30 minutes at 150 ° c . for heating , was given . thereafter , the removed part of the surface and the warp of the smooth backside main surface were confirmed . table i shows the results . the warp was confirmed according to a method in which , as typically shown in fig4 sample 13 is placed on a surface plate 14 with one square main surface directed upward , a laser beam 16 from a light source 15 is then scanned in the directions of two diagonals of the square main surface of the sample , and the distance from the surface of the sample is measured . in the figure , l ( μm ) is the minimum distance in the direction of the diagonal , l 0 ( μm ) is the maximum distance in the direction of the diagonal , and d ( mm ) is the scanning distance in the direction of the diagonal . under this condition , ( l 0 − l )/ d ( μm / mm ) was calculated , and a larger value in the two directions was fixed as a warp . the warp of each sample prior to the cooling / heating cycle was less than 3 μm / mm . in the samples of the present invention , the level of the warp changed minimally , before and after the cooling / heating cycle was carried out . the warp rose up to the level indicated in table i after the cooling / heating cycle in only the sample finished by grinding . the following are understood from the aforementioned results . ( 1 ) in the sample within the range of the amount of sic according to the present invention , finishing treatment can be carried out without allowing the sic particles to remain on the treated surface after the corrosion treatment is completed . ( 2 ) in the sample finished by grinding treatment , the warp in the direction of the main surface of the substrate increased by the cooling / heating cycle , however , in the sample that has undergone finishing treatment according to the present invention , a negligible increase in the warp was found before and after the cooling / heating cycle . silicon carbide powder , pure aluminum powder , and aluminum alloy powder , each of which is the same as that in example 1 , were prepared . on the other hand , a binder in which various amounts of cellulose are dissolved in hot water was prepared , and this was kneaded together with silicon carbide powder by means of a kneader . the amount of cellulose was adjusted so that the porosity of a molded piece , as described later , excluded the amount of cellulose . thereafter , the kneaded mixture was cast into a vacuum extruder , and was molded into a sheet of 60 mm in width and 6 mm in thickness , and was excavated to be a square of 52 mm in width and length . thereafter , these test pieces were heated to 400 ° c . in a nitrogen decompression atmosphere so as to remove the binder , and were kept at 1000 ° c . in a nitrogen gas stream for one hour , and various molded pieces with porosities shown in table ii were obtained . on the other hand , the pure aluminum powder and the aluminum alloy powder were scaled by the amount corresponding to a pore volume of each molded piece , and were molded to have almost the same size in width and in length as the silicon carbide molded piece , and were used as an infiltrant of each molded piece sample . each molded piece formed a thin layer of carbon ( c ) serving as an elution - resistant agent on all surfaces except one main surface that was brought into contact with the infiltrant when infiltrated . the molded piece was disposed on the corresponding infiltrant , and was kept in a nitrogen gas stream for one hour at 665 ° c ., and each infiltrant was infiltrated in the pore of the molded piece . in the shape after the infiltration , the width and length were 50 mm , and the thickness was 5 mm . in samples 13 through 17 and 21 , the pure aluminum was infiltrated , and , in samples 18 through 20 , the aluminum alloy was infiltrated . in the infiltrated body , blast finishing by the alumina bead was applied onto the surface where the infiltrant remained , and eluted - residues were removed . the relative density of the obtained infiltrated body was 100 %. those thermal conductivities and thermal expansion coefficients were confirmed as in example 1 . the results are shown in table ii . thereafter , as shown in fig5 an upper row surface of 40 mm both in length and in width was left at the center , and a collar part of 3 mm in the entire thickness was formed by corrosion treatment outside it . ( the area ratio of the collar part to the main surface was 36 %). first , a corrosion - resistant film of 0 . 5 mm in thickness with the same rubber as that of example 1 was bonded with an adhesive onto the upper row surface of the front main surface that is not subjected to corrosion treatment , onto the lower part of 2 mm of all side surfaces , and onto the entire backside of the main surface . as a result , a corrosion - resistant film was formed . these samples were first soaked in a copper sulfate solution of 10 % by weight in concentration at room temperature . after the soak , the adhesive layer of the rubber layer was peeled off , as in example 1 . the removed part was subjected to blast finishing by an alumina bead of about 0 . 5 mm in diameter . as a result , the edge of the end of the removed part was removed . on the other hand , sample 21 of a comparative example where the composite material of sample 14 is ground into the same collar shape with a diamond tool in the same way as the above was also produced . the thickness of the collar part of a formed body that had been obtained was within 3 ± 0 . 05 mm in each sample . the surface roughness of the removal surface is shown in table i by the value of ra provided by jis . the surface that was removed was confirmed by x - ray diffraction . as a result , sic and al were found . table ii composite material formed body composition amount of warp molded (% by weight ) thermal thermal surface ( μ m / mm ) piece first second conducti - expansion rough - backside porosity compo - compo - vity coefficient ness removal main no . (%) nent nent ( w / m · k ) ( x 10 − 6 /° c .) ra ( μ m ) surface surface * 13 66 62 38 impossible to produce it because the shape of the molded piece was deformed 14 64 60 40 275 11 . 8 3 . 3 2 . 6 2 . 6 15 54 50 50 282 10 . 8 3 . 2 2 . 5 2 . 6 16 44 40 60 290 8 . 9 3 . 2 2 . 5 2 . 6 sic particles remain in * 17 53 37 63 293 8 . 7 corroded parts ; concavity / convexity size is large . 18 63 60 40 230 11 . 0 3 . 3 2 . 4 2 . 5 19 53 50 50 290 9 . 9 3 . 2 2 . 5 2 . 6 20 45 40 60 240 8 . 9 3 . 2 2 . 5 2 . 6 * 21 64 60 40 230 11 . 8 3 . 3 6 . 1 6 . 4 thereafter , a load of 1000 cycles , in each of which the plate of each sample is maintained for 30 minutes at − 60 ° c . for cooling and is kept for 30 minutes at 150 ° c . for heating , was given to the plate of each sample . thereafter , th removed part of the surface and the warp of the smooth backside main surface were confirmed . table ii shows the results . the warp of each sample prior to the cooling / heating cycle was less than 3 μm / mm . in the samples of the present invention , the level of the warp changed minimally before and after the cooling / heating cycle was carried out . the warp rose up to the level shown in table ii after the cooling / heating cycle in only the sample finished by grinding . the following are understood from the aforementioned results . ( 1 ) in the sample within the range of the amount of sic according to the present invention , finishing treatment can be carried out without allowing the sic particles to remain on the treated surface after the corrosion treatment is completed . ( 2 ) in the sample finished by grinding treatment , the warp in the direction of the main surface of the substrate increased by the cooling / heating cycle , but , in the sample that has undergone finishing treatment according to the present invention , a minimal increase in the warp was found before and after the cooling / heating cycle . silicon carbide powder , pure aluminum powder , and aluminum alloy powder , each of which is the same as that in example 1 , were prepared . the pure aluminum powder and the aluminum alloy powder were cast into a prepared graphite die cavity of 50 mm both in width and in length and 5 mm in depth , and were heated and melted in nitrogen at 700 ° c . thereafter , the silicon carbide powder was cast into the molten metal , and was stirred for 30 minutes , and the silicon carbide powder particles were dispersed into the hot metal almost uniformly . thereafter , they were cooled to room temperature . the molten metal of each composition ratio shown in table iii was solidified according to this method , and composite materials were produced . the solidified body removed the melted residue of the first component at the outer periphery by carrying out blast finishing with an alumina bead . the dimension of the composite material was 50 mm in length and in width and 5 mm in thickness , and the relative densities were completely 100 %. those thermal conductivities and thermal expansion coefficients were confirmed in the same way as in example 1 . table iii shows the results . in samples 22 through 29 and 33 in the table , the first component indicates the pure aluminum , and , in samples 30 through 32 , the first component indicates the aluminum alloy . thereafter , a formed body with the same inside - excavation shape of 30 mm both in length and in width was produced in the same way as in example 1 . ( the area ratio of the concave part to the main surface was 36 %.) sample 33 was formed into the inside - excavation shape by applying grinding - treatment onto the composite material of sample 26 in the same way as sample 12 of example 1 . the depth of the removal surface of the formed body that has been obtained was within 2 mm ± 0 . 05 mm in each sample . the surface roughness of the removed surface is shown in table i by the value of ra provided by jis . the surface that was removed was confirmed by x - ray diffraction . as a result , sic and al were found . thereafter , a load of 1000 cycles , in each of which the plate of each sample is maintained for 30 minutes at − 60 ° c . for cooling and is kept for 30 minutes at 150 ° c . for heating , was given to the plate of each sample . thereafter , the removed part of the surface and the warp of the smooth backside main surface were confirmed . table iii shows the results . the warp of each sample prior to the cooling / heating cycle was less than 3 μm / mm . in the samples of the present invention , the level of the warp changed minimnally before and after the cooling / heating cycle was carried out . the warp rose to the level shown in table iii in only the sample finished by grinding after the cooling / heating cycle . table iii composite material formed body composition amount of warp (% by weight ) thermal surface ( μ m / mm ) first second thermal expansion rough - backside compo - compo - conductivity coefficient ness removal main no . nent nent ( w / m · k ) ( x 10 − 6 /° c .) ra ( μ m ) surface surface 22 95 5 231 22 . 3 4 . 7 2 . 9 2 . 7 23 90 10 235 20 . 2 4 . 1 2 . 8 2 . 7 24 80 20 241 17 . 8 3 . 8 2 . 7 2 . 6 25 70 30 252 14 . 9 3 . 7 2 . 6 2 . 6 26 60 40 259 12 . 9 3 . 7 2 . 6 2 . 6 27 50 50 265 11 . 4 3 . 6 2 . 5 2 . 6 28 40 60 277 9 . 3 3 . 4 2 . 5 2 . 5 sic particles remain in corroded * 29 38 62 280 9 . 0 parts ; concavity / convexity size is large 30 60 40 217 11 . 4 3 . 5 2 . 5 2 . 5 31 50 50 224 10 . 7 3 . 5 2 . 5 2 . 5 32 40 60 230 9 . 0 3 . 4 2 . 5 2 . 5 * 33 60 40 259 12 . 9 3 . 7 5 . 6 5 . 8 the following are understood from the aforementioned results . ( 1 ) in the sample within the range of the amount of sic according to the present invention , finishing treatment can be carried out without allowing the sic particles to remain on the treated surface after the corrosion treatment is completed . ( 2 ) in the sample finished by grinding treatment , the warp in the direction of the main surface of the substrate increased by the cooling / heating cycle but , in the present invention , a change in the warp was hardly found before and after the cooling / heating cycle . two kinds of packages different in structure were manufactured . the two kinds of packages are made of the same materials as those of samples 5 , 9 , 14 , and 26 among the samples of the above - mentioned examples and which employ the composite material of the present invention shown in fig6 . ( 1 ) of fig6 shows a package of a first structure . reference numeral 1 designates a simple planar heat - dissipating substrate that is made of the same material as that of each sample and that is 40 mm in length and width and 3 mm in thickness . reference numeral 10 designates a stiffener that is 40 mm in outer length and outer width and 3 mm in thickness and that is made of electrolytic copper subjected to frame - like plastic processing ( thermal expansion coefficient : 16 . 3 × 10 − 6 /° c .). reference numeral 9 designates a plastic substrate that is 40 mm both in outer length and in outer width ( thermal expansion coefficient : 12 . 6 × 10 − 6 /° c .). as shown in the figure , a si semiconductor element 3 was joined to the heat - dissipating substrate by die bonding , and was mounted onto the plastic substrate according to a method using a flip chip 11 . the stiffener 10 and the upper and lower substrates were joined together with an adhesive 8 , and , likewise , the plastic substrate 9 and a ball grid 5 made of solder were joined together with the adhesive 8 . ( 2 ) of fig6 is a package of a second structure . the external dimensions thereof are the same as those of the fist - structure package , and the stiffener part is integrated by a composition corresponding to the above - mentioned sample of the present invention . the difference is that the lid - shaped substrate 1 in which a cavity part has been excavated by the corrosion treatment of the present invention is used . the packaging of the si semiconductor element is carried out in the same way as that of the first structure . the joining between the plastic substrate 9 and the frame of the heat - dissipating substrate 1 and between the ball grid 5 and the plastic substrate was carried out with the same adhesive as mentioned above . further , a package was manufactured that has the second structure and in which a cavity part has been excavated by grinding treatment of the composition / dimension corresponding to each sample mentioned above . for each sample mentioned above , 100 package samples were manufactured . each sample package includes each sample mentioned above . each of the package samples was heated for 20 minutes at 230 ° c ., and was mounted on a plastic motherboard 17 ( thermal expansion coefficient : 13 . 0 × 10 − 6 /° c .) by the solder ball grid 5 , as shown on the right of fig6 . this assembly was manufactured by the number ( i . e ., 100 pieces ) of respective packages , and the state of deformation of the assembly caused when packaged was confirmed . as a result , in the case of the first structure , since the heat - dissipating substrate in which the al — sic composite material and the stiffener of electrolytic copper are combined together in the conventional way was used , the entire substrate was deformed when packaged because of a difference in the thermal expansion coefficient therebetween , and damage occurred in the adhesive interface on the side of the composite material . further , a warp resulting from the deformation also occurred in the plastic substrate , and there occurred a disadvantage in that the substrate and the motherboard could not be satisfactorily joined together by the ball grid . when any one of the many kinds of composite materials was used , defects appeared in the ratio of 40 ˜ 50 pieces to 100 pieces . in the case of the second structure , lid made of the al — sic composite material of the present invention which has undergone the inside - excavation by corrosion treatment , whose thermal expansion coefficient is very close to that of the plastic substrate , and which has small residual distortion resulting from a small difference in the thermal expansion coefficient therebetween after the inside - excavation is carried out , was used . therefore , damage at the interface between the lid and plastic substrate and defects resulting from the deformation of the two substrates were hardly observed when any kind of composite material was used . however , in the second structure , use was also made of the lid made of the al — sic composite material of the comparative example which is the same in material and which has undergone the inside - excavation by grinding treatment despite its thermal expansion coefficient being very close to that of the plastic substrate . as a result , damage at the interface between this and the plastic substrate and defects resulting from the deformation of the lid / substrate were caused . in this case , this kind of defect appeared in the ratio of 20 ˜ 30 pieces to 100 pieces when any kind of composite material was used . the load of 1000 cycles , in each of which the plate of each sample is maintained for 30 minutes at − 60 ° c . for cooling and is kept for 30 minutes at 150 ° c . for heating , was given to a group of 20 pieces to ones in which no defect was observed when packaged among the above - mentioned assemblies . as a result , in the assemblies , which used the substrate of the comparative example excavated by grinding treatment , among the assemblies of the first structure and the assemblies of the second structure , peeling - off was caused especially at the connection part between the plastic substrate and the stiffener and at the connection part between the motherboard and the ball grid after the cooling / beating cycle . on the other hand , in the assemblies of the second structure where the substrate manufactured according to the method of the present invention was mounted , no defect was observed . a group of 10 assemblies of assemblies that were mounted with the above - mentioned structure and in which no defect was observed among the above - mentioned assemblies were attached to a semiconductor device , and they were continuously operated by the working output of 50 w for 1000 hours . as a result , in the device to which the second - structure package that used the composite material of the present invention was attached , a decrease in output was minimally observed . in contrast , in the device to which the first - structure package and the second - structure package that used the composite material of the comparative example were attached , some of them demonstrated lowered output or some stopped working after a lapse of 300 to 500 hours . if a heat - dissipating substrate within the range of the composition of the present invention other than the above - mentioned samples is used , it will be understood that the heat - dissipating substrate can be combined with packaging members that are within a wide range corresponding to the substrate because the range of its thermal expansion coefficient is wide . for example , it is understood that the substrate can be satisfactorily used in combination with metal such as aluminum or copper when the materials of samples 1 through 3 of table i are used , and the substrate can be satisfactorily used in combination with ceramics , or the like , whose thermal expansion coefficient is relatively high when the materials such as sample 11 of table i are used . as detailedly described above , the substrate made of an al — sic composite material of the present invention to which finishing treatment , such as joggling or inside - excavation , has been applied not by machining but by corrosion treatment is cheaper in processing than machining . since distortion or residual stress caused by processing when treated is minimal , defects do not appear , such as a warp , deformation , and damage , and are caused especially when it is mounted to a semiconductor package which includes a plastic substrate or that are caused by a cooling / heating load when it is actually working after it is mounted on a motherboard and is built in a semiconductor device . therefore , it is possible to provide a semiconductor substrate that is light in weight , that is low cost compared to any conventional substrate , and that is high in reliability , to provide a semiconductor package that uses the substrate , and to provide a semiconductor device that uses the substrate .	7
aspects and embodiments of the present disclosure provide luminaires and lighting structures . luminaires according to the present disclosure can be used for new installations or to retro - fit existing lighting assemblies and applications , such as those that utilize fluorescent lighting . use of such lighting techniques can afford reduced energy and maintenance as well as reduced installation time and costs when compared to existing techniques . in exemplary embodiments , alternative light sources to fluorescent lights may be utilized . while the preferred embodiment employs leds as light sources , other light sources may also be employed or alternatively used within the scope of the present disclosure . by way of example only , other light sources such as plasma light sources may be used . further , the term “ leds ” is intended to refer to all types of light emitting diodes including organic light emitting diodes or “ oleds ”. while the luminaire depicted in the figures is generally applicable to any application that would benefit from strip lighting , it is well - suited , in one example , for application to display cases where the luminaire can be mounted to various of the elongated structural elements of the display case to be hidden from the view of customers viewing items in the display case . one exemplary application is refrigerated food cases such as those commonly found in supermarkets and convenience stores . the depicted luminaire lends itself to application in food cases because its elongated structure facilitates mounting to mullions between doors permitting access to the food case . such refrigerated cases , can include cases for chilled foods and / or drinks , as well as those used to display frozen foods . other embodiments may be particularly well - suited for use in display cases for displaying non - food items , e . g ., those used to display merchandise goods such as jewelry , watches , and the like . use in such non - food display cases is advantageous because of the luminaires ability to be mounted to various of the elongated structural components of the display case to illuminate the display case while remaining at least mostly hidden from view of those persons viewing items in the display case . as will be discussed below , the reflector of the present disclosure , while elongated , is applicable to other luminaires such as by using multiple of these reflectors to guide the light from various matrices of light sources . fig1 depicts a perspective view of a portion of an example of a luminaire 100 , in accordance with the present disclosure . luminaire 100 may include a reflective element ( or reflector ) 104 ( e . g ., a v - shaped element as shown ), which has one or more apertures 105 defined at its vertex . the one or more apertures 105 are configured to pass some of the light emitted from one or more light sources 108 ( e . g ., leds ) associated therewith . one or more reflector mounting structures 106 ( e . g ., spring clips ) may hold the reflective element 104 relative to the light sources 108 depicted as leds mounted or formed on a printed circuit board (“ pcb ”) 112 supported on a frame 114 . the frame 114 may have any suitable size , shape and cross - sectional configuration . any suitable materials may be used for the described components . luminaire 100 may , optionally , be used with or include a lens or refractive element such as that described and / or shown in the figures herein . in operation while the one or more light sources 108 of the luminaire 100 depicted in fig1 are producing light , a first portion of light from each individual light source 108 passes through an associated aperture 105 and a second portion of light is directed laterally relative to the luminaire 100 ; some of which passes directly as emitted from the light source 108 and some of which is reflected by the reflective element 104 after being emitted from the light source 108 , e . g ., as shown and described for fig2 . fig2 depicts a cross section of another exemplary luminaire in accordance with the present disclosure . luminaire 200 may include a reflector or reflective element 202 and one or more suitable light sources ( e . g ., leds ) 204 . a lens or refractive element 206 may also be included . the reflective element 202 defines one or more apertures 208 that are configured to permit passage of a portion of light from the one or more light sources 204 . one or more reflector mounting structures ( e . g ., spring clips ) 210 hold the reflective element 202 relative to the associated light source 204 mounted on or part of a pcb 212 and the pcb 212 is situated on a frame 214 . fig2 depicts an arbitrary structure 1 to which the luminaire 200 is mounted . light emanating from the one or more light sources travels though the refractive element in accordance with snell &# 39 ; s law . for ease of comprehension , light ray traces in the area indicated at reference numeral 3 indicates light passing through the depicted aperture 208 then the lens 206 . light ray traces in the two areas indicated at reference numeral 2 , indicates light emanating from the one or more light sources 204 and passing laterally through the lens either directly from the light source 204 or after reflecting from the reflective element 202 . the lens or refractive element 206 may include a portion 206 a that is configured to receive a portion of light from the one or more light sources 204 passing through the one or more apertures 208 . the reflector mounting structure 210 , comprises the same configuration as the reflector mounting structure 106 shown in fig1 . in the embodiment of the reflector mounting structure 106 , 210 depicted in fig1 and 2 is comprised of first and second receiving legs 106 a joined at one end to form an inverted v . each receiving leg 106 a comprises receiving slots 106 b on opposing sides to receive the reflector 104 , 202 as shown . a mounting leg 106 c extends from each of the receiving legs 106 a for standing on the pcb 112 , 212 and allowing the receiving slots 106 b to hold the reflector 104 , 202 apart from the pcb 112 , 212 . springs clips formed by spring legs 106 d and 106 e extend from each mounting leg 106 c as shown . frame 214 may have any desired shape . for example , frame 214 preferably includes one or more arms forming channels ( 214 a , 214 b ) having a partially circular cross - section configured to receive fasteners such as screws , dowels , pins , or the like to assist with assembly or mounting of the luminaire 200 . frame 214 also preferably includes one or more arms ( 214 c - 214 e ), that are configured to receive and / or contact one or more respective portions of the luminaire 200 . for example , in the embodiment depicted in fig2 , horizontal arm 214 e extends outward from the remaining portions of the frame 214 . arm 214 c extends upward from arm 214 e and bends inward to define a mounting structure channel 214 f . each mounting structure channel 214 f receives the spring legs 106 d and 106 e of the reflector mounting structure 106 , 210 to secure the reflector mounting structure 210 to the frame 214 . in one embodiment , the spring legs 106 d and 106 e are flexed to fit the spring clip they form into the mounting structure channel 214 f . once the spring clip formed by spring legs 106 d and 106 e on each side of the mounting structure 106 , 210 are secured in their respective mounting structure channels 214 f , the mounting structure 106 , 210 is secured in place to the frame 114 , 214 . furthermore , arm 214 d extends downward from arm 214 e to define a lens mounting channel 214 g to receive a portion of the lens 206 to facilitate securement of the lens 206 to the frame 214 , described in more detail below . in one embodiment , frame 214 is constructed by extrusion to provide the frame 214 with all required rigidity . the frame 214 may be constructed from any suitable material . examples include , but are not limited to , anodized aluminum , chromed steel , plastic , and the like . fig3 a depicts a cross sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of a luminaire 300 a , in accordance with the present disclosure . luminaire 300 a may include a refractor , or refractive element , 302 . refractor 302 may have a central lens portions 303 comprising variable thickness that is configured to distribute or refract light . the central lens portion 303 has a thickness profile and inner surface 303 a to distribute light from a light source ( e . g . led ) 308 in a desired distribution pattern . refractor 302 may also be referred to as a means for refracting or a refractive means . luminaire 300 a may also include a reflective element or reflector 304 . the refractive element 302 and the reflective element 304 may together or individually be referred to as light distribution means . continuing with the description of fig3 a , a mounting structure 306 may hold the reflector 304 relative to a frame 314 and the light source 308 mounted thereon . frame 314 may be any suitable shape and may be made of any suitable material . for exemplary embodiments , frame 314 may be adapted to fit within the footprint of a pre - existing fluorescent light fixture and , optionally , use the same mounting holes or equipment as the pre - existing fluorescent light fixture to facilitate simple replacement of the pre - existing fluorescent light fixture with the light fixture of the present disclosure . one or more light elements or light sources 308 may be present ( one is shown in fig3 a ). the one or more light sources 308 may be positioned adjacent or on a supporting member , e . g ., a pcb 312 . for some applications , the one or more light sources may be enclosed in or disposed on a protective die or a mounting element . if one or more of the light sources are enclosed in a die , then the die may have appropriate sections that are transparent or translucent to allow light from the lights source ( s ) to pass through . with further reference to fig3 a , the reflector 304 can have one or more apertures 305 for passing light from a light source 308 to refractor 302 . in the embodiment depicted in fig1 , 2 , 3 a , 4 - 5 and 7 , the reflector 104 ( in fig1 ) is configured with a v - shape having first and second arms 304 a spread at a desired included angle α . in exemplary embodiments the included angle , α , may be 100 degrees ; of course other included angles may be used as suitable . in the depicted embodiment , the first and second arms are straight , but could be replaced with curved , stepped or other known reflector configurations to facilitate a desired light distribution , various surface treatments are also contemplated to provide desired reflectance . each aperture 305 may be configured ( e . g ., sized and / or shaped ) as desired . for example , a single aperture 305 may be sized to have a length ( measured along the vertex of the reflector 304 ) that is or is substantially the length of pcb 312 so as to provide an opening at the vertex of the reflector 304 at each light source along the length of the pcb 312 . in other embodiments , multiple apertures ( a plurality of ) 305 may be disposed in a desired configuration , e . g ., linearly with a constant or varying linear density ( e . g ., one every foot , one every light source , one every two light sources , etc .). each individual aperture 305 may have a shape ( e . g ., of its perimeter ) that is selected as desired . for example , an aperture may be elliptical in shape with any degree of eccentricity , circular , rectangular , irregular ( any shape ) square , triangular , etc . in exemplary embodiments , the central lens portion 303 of refractor 302 may be positioned to receive light from a light source 308 by way of aperture 305 . the luminaire 300 a may be configured such that all light passing through the aperture 305 passes through the central lens portion 303 . alternatively , luminaire 300 a may be configured such that only a portion of the light passing through the aperture 305 passes through the central lens portion 303 . in yet a further alternative embodiment , the luminaire may comprise a refractor 302 with no central lens portion 303 , in which case the refractor 302 is of the substantially the same thickness in all portions through which light from the light source 308 travels . refractor 302 may have one or more lateral faces 307 , as shown , which may have varying thicknesses to direct the light passing therethrough , or be of constant thickness to serve primarily as protection for the elements of the luminaire 300 a . refractor 302 may optionally have inwardly directed members 318 , as shown . in one embodiment not depicted , optional inwardly directed member 318 may be configured so as to clamp the pcb 312 to the frame 314 when the refractor 302 is connected to the frame 314 as depicted in fig3 a . in order to facilitate clamping of the pcb 312 in this manner , the configuration of the optional inwardly directed member 318 must take into consideration no only the configuration of the frame 314 , but also the configuration of the pcb 312 . in yet another alternative embodiment , not depicted , the optional inwardly directed member 318 may be configured so as to clamp down on top of the mounting structure 306 , providing additional stability to the mounting structure 306 and the reflector 304 held by the mounting structure 306 . refractor 302 may include a central face 315 in which the central lens portion 303 resided , if a central lens portion 303 is present . central face 315 may be relatively or substantially flat in some embodiments , though it may comprise one or more curvatures or other shapes . the central face 315 may have a desired width , shown by “ a ,” and may be of any length suitable for the luminaire 300 a and its application . for example , the length of face 315 may be 3 ft ., 6 ft ., 9 ft ., etc . in some embodiments , central face 315 may have a diffusive surface 316 on the interior or exterior thereof , which may facilitate uniformity of light intensity and distribution . the diffusive surface 316 can span the entirety of central face 315 or portions of central face 315 as needed , e . g ., as indicated by width “ b ” in the fig3 a . in exemplary embodiments , diffusive surface 316 can be or include a diffusive acrylic layer approximately 8 mils thick ( 0 . 008 in .) covering a desired width of the central face 315 , e . g ., 0 . 7 inch . in one embodiment , the diffusive surface 316 can be provided by co - extruding refractor 302 to comprise a layer of diffusive material ( not depicted ) at the diffusive surface 316 . in one example , the diffusive layer is 8 mils thick and comprised of an acrylic sold under the trade name acrylite ® 8ndf23 at the outermost surface of the refractor 302 at the central face 315 . in an alternative embodiment , the diffusive surface 316 can be provided by applying a film of diffusive material to the outside of central face 315 . for example , a length of scotch tape or other tape may be applied to the outer surface of the central face 315 . in exemplary embodiments , luminaire 300 a may be symmetric with respective to a plane intersecting midline z , as shown . in operation , light source 308 can produce light , which may emanate from the light source 308 in a three - dimensional distribution pattern , e . g ., a hemisphere of 271 steradians of solid angle , or a cone of other given included solid angle , etc . of the light constituting this distribution , some may travel directly out of the refracting element 302 , for example , through lateral face 307 , as shown by representative rav trace r 1 . some of the light from the light source 308 may be reflected by reflective element 304 and then pass through refractive element 302 as shown by representative ray trace r 2 . still , another portion of the light from light source 308 may pass through aperture 305 and then through refractive element 302 , e . g ., through contoured portion 303 , as shown by representative ray trace r 3 . ray traces r 1 - r 3 are merely representative , and other optical paths may occur , e . g ., ones including total internal reflection in accordance with snell &# 39 ; s law . refractor 302 may be made from any suitable transparent , substantially transparent , and / or translucent material , e . g ., glass , lexan , or acrylic such as sold under the trade name optix ® ca - 1000e , or suitable functional equivalent . the material used for the refractor 302 may have any suitable clarity . in exemplary embodiments , the material may be about 85 % transmissive , though higher values , e . g ., 90 % or higher , may be preferred . the diffusive surface 316 or the central face 315 and exemplary materials therefore are discussed above . any suitable reflective material may be used for reflector 304 . examples include , but are not limited to , specular aluminum , chromed steel , aluminized or aluminum - coated plastic , painted plastic , and the like . in exemplary embodiments , a specular aluminum sheet is used that is about 95 % reflective ; of course , other values of reflectivity ( e . g ., 70 %, 85 %, 90 % or thereabouts ) may be used or implemented for a reflective element . alanod miro — 4400 gp is considered suitable . if the reflector 304 is comprises of a metal , the reflector can be constructed by one or more stamping operations to form the apertures 305 and one or more bending operations to form the desired v - shape . it is further noted that the reflector 304 shape need not be an absolute v . rather various variations and deviations from the absolute v , such as curved legs extending from the vertex , are contemplated . in an exemplary embodiment , light source ( s ) 308 may include one or more leds suitable for the light distribution and intensity necessary for the application . the light sources 308 could be leds made commercially available by osram opto semiconductor , model oslon luw cp7p - lxly - 7p7e . other suitable lights sources 308 may include , but are not limited to , cree xpewht - 01 - 0000 - 00ec , philips lumileds rebel lxml - pwn1 - 0100 , or suitable equivalent . the length ( e . g ., into or out of the plane of fig3 a ) of an aperture may be about 0 . 5 inches in exemplary embodiments . the approximate range of angular rays emanating from the apertures 305 may be 45 degrees , plus or minus five degrees , for exemplary embodiments . in exemplary embodiments , luminaire 300 a may have a rectangular shape in plan view and may be configured for retrofitting into a lighting application that previously included fluorescent lighting . of course , luminaire 300 a may have other shapes in plan view , e . g ., circular , oval , square , etc . for use in illuminating a desired area , the luminaires of the present disclosure may be mounted to a structure or surface by any suitable mounting devices , structures , fasteners , or the like . fig3 b depicts a perspective view of a portion of a luminaire 300 b , similar to luminaire 300 a of fig3 a , with a mounting bracket 301 for mounting the luminaire to a structure , e . g ., an underlying mullion , support structure , or the like . the mounting bracket 301 may be formed from any suitable material , e . g ., sheet metal , plastic , or the like . the end cap 301 may include one or more holes or apertures . for example , apertures 330 and 332 may be present for accommodating a power chord . for further example , one or more apertures may be formed in the end cap for use with fasteners , e . g ., screws , as shown by 334 and 336 . an end cap 303 may be present to cover the mounting bracket 301 . for operation , in some applications , a power cable / chord from the luminaire 300 b may be run through a hole ( e . g ., 332 ) in the mounting bracket 301 out the back and through a hole formed into an underlying structures such as a cooler mullion to which the luminaire 300 b is to be mounted . the other end ( not shown ) of the luminaire 300 b may optionally include a hole , e . g ., a breather hole for venting the interior of the fixture . the cooler mullion can act as a passageway for the power cable and possible mounting location of a related power supply . the luminaire 300 b may be attached ( e . g ., screwed ) into place , e . g ., on the cooler mullion , top and bottom . the end cap ( e . g ., a molded plastic cap ) 303 may be snapped over this mounting bracket 301 to hide the screws , cables , etc . the back of the luminaire 300 b and the cap 303 may rest flush against an underlying structure , e . g ., cooler mullion . in this way , all potential crevices may be hidden or minimized , e . g ., for nsf compliance . fig4 depicts a cross section view of a further example of a luminaire 400 , showing variable design parameters that may be selected or specified as desired , e . g ., for a particular installation or application . as shown , luminaire 400 may include a refractor 402 with a central lens portion 403 having a curved surface 403 a . luminaire 400 can also include a reflector 404 . reflector 404 may have one or more lateral reflective faces 404 a . reflector 404 may have one or more apertures 405 that are configured to allow light to pass through the reflective element 404 . apertures 405 may be holes , e . g ., as drilled or stamped through reflective element 404 , or may be portions of reflective element that are transparent or translucent instead of reflective , for example , portions that are not painted with reflective paint . reflector 404 may be held by a support member ( not depicted in fig4 ). one or more light sources 408 may be present and configured adjacent to aperture 405 , e . g ., disposed on support surface or pcb 412 , as shown . the refractor 402 may also have one or more lateral faces 407 , as shown . for some applications , lateral face ( s ) 407 may have a desired radius of curvature “ r .” for example , lateral faces 407 may have a radius of curvature relative to the optical center of one or more light sources 408 . r may have any suitable value ( e . g ., 0 . 5 in ., 0 . 590 in ., 1 . 0 in ., etc ). for luminaire 400 , a number of design parameters ( c - j ) are shown , which may be selected as desired for various applications . the design parameters shown include the following : ( c )— the distance or height between the top of the refractive element 402 at the central face 415 and the optical center 408 ; ( d )— the distance or height between the lowest portion of the curved surface 403 a of the central lens portion 403 ; ( e )— the distance or height between the optical center of the light source 408 and the proximal portion of the apex of the reflector 404 at the aperture 405 ; ( f )— the thickness of the central face 415 ; ( g )— angle between the faces 404 a of the reflector 404 and the horizontal reference plane ; ( h )— the distance or height between the optical center of the light source 408 and the distal or top portion of the optical source housing , e . g ., led package ; ( i )— angular range of rays emanating from aperture ( either solid angle or 2d angle ); ( j )— distance or diameter across trench or circle formed by the curved surface 403 a of the central lens portion 403 ; and ( k )— distance or length of lateral reflective surface ( s ) 404 a . fig5 is a cutout view of detail a of fig4 , while fig6 is a cutout view of detail b of fig4 . fig5 shows the following design parameters : ( l )— height between optical center of light source 408 and the aperture 405 , on the distal side , away from light source 408 ; ( m )— width of aperture 405 , on the distal side , away from light source 408 ; ( n )— half - distance or radius of aperture 405 , on distal side , away from light source 408 ; ( o )— radius of curvature of fillet between lateral reflective faces 404 a ; and ( p )— thickness of lateral reflective faces 404 a . fig6 shows the central lens portion 403 with a curved surface 403 a that is symmetrical about a center line . curved surface 403 a may subtend any suitable angle , “ q ” for various applications . in exemplary embodiments , the profile of curved surface 403 a may be an elliptical profile , e . g ., approximated by the curve y = 0 . 706x 0 . 664 ; other curves and and / or profiles may of course be used . for the profile of curved surface 403 a , two flats may be angled toward a vertex , e . g ., vertex 601 in fig6 finished by a smooth curve or fillet . of course , any other desired profile may be used for curved surface 403 a , e . g ., saw - tooth pattern , sinusoidal , etc . in an exemplary embodiment , luminaire 400 as shown in fig4 - 6 may have the following values for design parameters ( c - p ): fig7 depicts a cross sectional view of a further embodiment of a luminaire 700 , in accordance with the present disclosure . fig8 is a cutout view of detail a of fig7 , while fig9 is a cutout view of detail b of fig7 . in operation , luminaire 700 can distribute light similarly to luminaire 400 of fig4 . as shown , luminaire 700 may include a refractor 702 and a reflector 704 . refractor 702 may include a central lens portion 703 that has a profiled surface 703 a . reflector 704 may include one or more lateral reflective faces 704 a . the included angle between the lateral reflective faces 704 a may be selected as desired for the sought light distribution . for example , the angle may be about 100 degrees , about 90 degrees , about 95 degrees , about 110 degrees , 80 degrees , about 105 degrees , etc . luminaire 700 may also include a frame element 706 with one or more secondary reflective surfaces 706 a , as indicated . frame element 706 may also have a base 706 b , as shown . reflective element 704 may include one or more apertures 707 . aperture ( s ) 707 may be configured adjacent to , and pass or receive light from , one or more light sources 708 . light source ( s ) 708 may be positioned on a support surface 712 , e . g ., a pcb . with continued reference to fig7 , refractor 702 may include a central lens portion 703 having a profiled surface 703 a . the profiled surface 703 a may have any desired surface profile . in exemplary embodiments , the contour or shape of profiled surface 703 a may facilitate even or roughly even light intensity distribution of light outside of the luminaire 700 in a desired area or region . examples include but are not limited to concentric circles or ovals or ellipses , with a saw tooth or curved profile in cross - section . refractive element 702 may also include a shaped portion 705 that has a varying thickness in cross section . as shown in fig7 , the shaped portion may 705 facilitate reception of the reflective element 704 by the refractive element 702 . as further shown in fig7 , refractor 702 may be shaped to provide a viewing angle “ r ” of desired size or range of sizes . for example , in exemplary embodiments , refractor 702 may have a bend at or near shaped portion 705 such that the viewing angle , r , is 5 ° or approximately 5 °; which may facilitate hiding , or preventing direct viewing of , light source 708 by people in an area or region outside of the luminaire 700 . in exemplary embodiments , luminaire 700 has a rectangular shape in plan view and may be configured for retrofitting into a lighting application that previously included fluorescent lighting . of course , luminaire 700 may have other shapes in plan view , e . g ., circular , oval , square , etc . in an exemplary embodiment , the lateral faces 104 a are 0 . 517 inches long , the viewing angle is 7 degrees , base 706 b is 1 . 136 inches wide , the secondary reflective surfaces 706 a have a radius of curvature of 1 . 250 inches , and overall frame width is 2 . 821 inches , with a height to the top of the frame of 0 . 490 inches , while the overall height of the luminaire is 0 . 635 inches . in another exemplary embodiment , luminaire 700 as shown in fig7 - 9 may have the following values for design parameters ( r - bb ): the leds of this exemplary embodiment can be of any kind , color ( e . g ., emitting any color or white light or mixture of colors and white light as the intended lighting arrangement requires ) and luminance capacity or intensity , preferably in the visible spectrum . color selection can be made as the intended lighting arrangement requires . in accordance with the present disclosure , leds can comprise any semiconductor configuration and material or combination ( alloy ) that produce the intended array of color or colors . the leds can have a refractive optic built - in with the led or placed over the led , or no refractive optic ; and can alternatively , or also , have a surrounding reflector , e . g ., that re - directs low - angle and mid - angle led light outwardly . in one suitable embodiment , the leds are white leds each comprising a gallium nitride ( gan )- based light emitting semiconductor device coupled to a coating containing one or more phosphors . the gan - based semiconductor device can emit light in the blue and / or ultraviolet range , and excites the phosphor coating to produce longer wavelength light . the combined light output can approximate a white light output . for example , a gan - based semiconductor device generating blue light can be combined with a yellow phosphor to produce white light . alternatively , a gan - based semiconductor device generating ultraviolet light can be combined with red , green , and blue phosphors in a ratio and arrangement that produces white light ( or another desired color ). in yet another suitable embodiment , colored leds are used , such are phosphide - based semiconductor devices emitting red or green light , in which case the led assembly produces light of the corresponding color . in still yet another suitable embodiment , the led light board may include red , green , and blue leds distributed on the printed circuit board in a selected pattern to produce light of a selected color using a red - green - blue ( rgb ) color composition arrangement . in this latter exemplary embodiment , the led light board can be configured to emit a selectable color by selective operation of the red , green , and blue leds at selected optical intensities . clusters of different kinds and colors of led is also contemplated to obtain the benefits of blending their output . each pcb , e . g ., 212 of fig2 , can include an onboard driver to run the light sources , e . g ., leds , with a desired current . for example , a current suitable for an led may be used . for example , a representative current range could include , but is not limited to about 250 ma to about 800 ma ; one exemplary current is about 350 ma and another is 600 ma . a circuit board can have a bus , e . g ., a 24v dc bus , going from one end to the other . other voltages may of course be used for a bus . any suitable number of suitable leds can be disposed on a light strip board . in one illustrative example , two ( 2 ) rebel leds ( luxeon ® rebel leds as made commercially available by the philips lumileds lighting company )— per foot , operational at 80 lumens minimum may be employed with the luminaire of the present disclosure . other suitable leds or alternative light sources and output values may be used within the scope of the present disclosure . in exemplary embodiments , a lens or refractive element may be made of an extrusion of polycarbonate or acrylic . such polycarbonate or other plastic may be selected as desired and may possess a desired degree of transparency ( and , therefore , opaqueness ) and may have a desired color . in further embodiments , the formation of at least one support member can include forming a circuit board supporting face in the support member that is configured and arranged to support the circuit board ( and attached light sources ) in a desired orientation , e . g ., as when the related assembly is placed in a retrofit application . a visual cutoff shield may also be mounted to a support member for some applications . accordingly , lighting assemblies and luminaires according to the present disclosure can distribute light from one or more light sources in desired ways . exemplary embodiments of lighting techniques according to the present disclosure can be used to retro - fit existing lighting assemblies and applications that were initially constructed to utilize fluorescent lighting . such lighting according to the present disclosure can afford reduced energy , maintenance , and installation costs , as well as reduced installation time when compared to existing techniques . as described previously , exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may utilize leds as light sources . while certain embodiments have been described herein , it will be understood by one skilled in the art that the methods , systems , and apparatus of the present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit thereof . for example , while aspects and embodiments herein have been described in the context of retrofit applications for refrigerated display cases , the present disclosure is not limited to such ; for example , embodiments of the present disclosure may be utilized generally for any light distribution applications . accordingly , the embodiments described herein , and as claimed in the attached claims , are to be considered in all respects as illustrative of the present disclosure and not restrictive .	5
turning now to fig1 a , there is shown a system for providing a focused beam ( fb ) of electromagnetic radiation onto a location on a sample ( sam ), and in particular the present invention is a reflective optics system ( rfo ) sequentially comprising first ( m 1 ), second ( m 2 ), third ( m 3 ) and fourth ( m 4 ) mirrors . each of said four mirrors ( m 1 ) ( m 2 ) ( m 3 ( m 4 ) provides reflective surfaces , with said third ( m 3 ) and fourth ( m 4 ) mirrors providing convex and concave reflective surfaces , respectively . shown is an input beam ( ib ) of electromagnetic radiation , ( having a specific polarization state ), which is directed toward said first ( m 1 ) mirror and reflects from said reflective surface thereof , such that a first plane of incidence ( p 1 ) is formed between said incident beam ( ib ) and said beam which is reflected from said reflective surface of said first ( m 1 ) mirror . the beam reflected from the reflective surface of said first ( m 1 ) mirror is directed toward said second mirror ( m 2 ) and reflects from said reflective surface thereof toward said convex third ( m 3 ) mirror , from which it reflects at an off - center location thereon toward said concave fourth ( m 4 ) mirror , wherefrom it is reflected by the reflective surface thereof toward said sample ( sam ) as a focused ( fb ) outgoing beam ( ob ). said beam reflected from the reflective surface of said convex third ( m 3 ) mirror and that reflected from said reflective surface of said concave fourth ( m 4 ) mirror forming a second plane of incidence ( p 2 ), said first ( p 1 ) and second ( p 2 ) planes of incidence being orthogonal to one another . it is noted that in use each of said mirrors ( m 1 ), ( m 2 ), ( m 3 ) and ( m 4 ) receives a beam approaching it at an angle of incidence to a surface thereof , and in conjunction with a perpendicular to each said mirror at the point where the beam impinges thereupon , a plane of incidence is defined . in a preferred embodiment it happens that the same planes are defined by paired mirrors ( m 1 ) and ( m 2 ), ( ie . plane ( p 1 )), and by paired mirrors ( m 3 ) and ( m 4 ), ( ie . plane ( p 2 )). the effect of said four reflections from said reflective surfaces of said four ( m 1 ) ( m 2 ) ( m 3 ) ( m 4 ) mirrors is to substantially minimize the effects of all said reflections on the specific polarization state of said input beam , and to direct said output beam ( ob ) and provide it as a focused beam ( fb ) onto said sample ( sam ) at the point it impinges thereupon . said system can involve the first ( m 1 ) and ( m 2 ) mirrors both having flat reflecting surfaces , or at least one of the first ( m 1 ) and second ( m 2 ) mirrors has a non - flat reflecting surface , or both the first ( m 1 ) and second ( m 2 ) mirrors having non - flat reflecting surfaces . fig1 b shows a system ( rfo ′) for receiving a reflected beam ( fb ) of electromagnetic radiation a sample ( sam ) and directing it toward a polarization state detector ( psd ) as a collimated beam . note that fig1 b is mirror - image of fig1 a as viewed along a vertical line above the location on said sample ( sam ) whereat the outgoing beam ( ob ) impinges thereupon . also note that identifiers in fig1 b are much the same as in fig1 a , with primes “′” added . that is , for instance , mirrors ( m 1 ), ( m 2 ), ( m 3 ) and ( m 4 ) in fig1 a correspond to mirrors ( m 1 ′), ( m 2 ′), ( m 3 ′) and ( m 4 ′) in fig1 b . also identified in fig1 b is a reflected beam ( rb ), which is output beam ( ob ) after it reflects from the sample ( sam ). note that fig1 b planes ( p 1 ′) and ( p 2 ′) are orthogonal , as are planes ( p 1 ) and ( p 2 ) in fig1 a . fig2 a shows that the off - center reflection from the third convex mirror ( m 3 ) provides a “ spread - out ” beam incident onto the concave fourth ( m 4 ) mirror , which fourth ( m 4 ) concave mirror serves to focus the spread - out beam onto a sample ( sam ) as focused beam ( fb ). fig2 b shows an arrangement for use on the detector ( det ) side of the sample which compliments that fig2 a arrangement on the source ( s ) side . the presence of mirrors ( m 3 ′) and ( m 4 ′) direct the beam reflecting from the sample ( sam ) into a detector ( det ) in a manner which compliments that used on the source ( s ) side via mirrors ( m 3 ) and ( m 4 ). ( note that fig2 a and 2 b show very small angles of incidence and reflection and are demonstrative of the present invention system geometry , rather than representative of actual angles of incidence and reflection that might be realized in use . also , fig2 b shows a collimated beam exiting mirror ( m 3 ′), however this is not limiting and a converging or diverging beam can also be present . it is to be understood that fig2 b , like fig2 a is only partial and shown to identify how a beam reflecting from the sample ( sam ) is reflected and sent to the detector ( det ). in use there will be additional mirrors , (( m 1 ′) ( m 2 ′)) present that are like mirrors ( m 1 ) and ( m 2 ) in fig1 , and there will be planes ( p 1 ′) and ( p 2 ′) formed similar to planes ( p 1 ) and ( p 2 ) between beam reflections from the various mirrors similar to those in fig1 a as shown in fig2 a - 2 h , the present invention can comprise a system as in fig1 a and 1 b wherein there are , in addition to two planar mirrors , ( eg . ( m 1 ) ( m 1 ′) and ( m 2 ) ( m 2 ′) in fig1 a and 1 b ), there are one convex ( m 3 ) and one concave mirror ( m 4 ) present , ( as per the preferred embodiment ), or there are two concave mirrors (( m 4 ) ( m 4 ′) and ( m 3 ) and ( m 3 ′)) present or wherein there are three planar mirrors ( m 1 ) ( m 1 ′) ( m 2 ) ( m 2 ′) ( m 3 ) ( m 3 ′) present and one concave mirror ( m 4 ) ( m 4 ′), or three planar mirrors ( m 1 ) ( m 1 ′) ( m 2 ) ( m 2 ′) ( m 4 ) ( m 4 ′) present and one concave mirror ( m 3 ) ( m 3 ′). in particular , fig2 c and 2 d show variations on fig2 a and 2 b , but where the convex mirrors ( m 3 ) ( m 3 ′) are replaced with a concave mirrors . fig2 e and 2 f show variations on fig2 a and 2 b , but where the convex mirrors ( m 3 ) ( m 3 ′) are replaced with planar mirrors . fig2 g and 2 h show variations on fig2 a and 2 b , but where the convex mirrors ( m 3 ) ( m 3 ′) are replaced with concave mirrors , and concave mirrors ( m 4 ) ( m 4 ′) are replaced with planar mirrors . note that said system can provide that the reflective properties of each of the mirrors ( m 1 ), ( m 2 ), ( m 3 ) and ( m 4 ) are substantially the same , and / or that there are reflective coatings on each of the mirrors ( m 1 ), ( m 2 ), ( m 3 ) and ( m 4 ) which are substantially the same based on coating material involved and thickness thereof . while not preferred , these variations are within the scope of the present invention . fig3 a shows , in a more straight forward manner , an ellipsometer system of the present invention which includes the present invention reflective focusing optics ( rfo ) and ( rfo ′), described above , in conjunction with polarization state generator ( psg ) and polarization state detector ( psd ) elements . note that fig3 b demonstrates the a polarization state generator ( psg ) typically comprises a polarizer ( p ) and can include a compensator ( c ). and , fig3 c demonstrates that the ( psd ) is to be understood to include a detector ( det ) per se . for use in generating sample ( sam ) describing data from an electromagnetic beam entered thereinto from ( rfo ′). the ( psd ) typically comprises an analyzer ( a ), and can include an optional compensator ( c ). in general a polarization state generator ( psg ) comprises a source ( s ) of an input beam ( ib ) of electromagnetic radiation and a polarizer , and a polarization state detector comprises an analyzer ( a ) and multi - element detector ( det ). having hereby disclosed the subject matter of the present invention , it should be obvious that many modifications , substitutions , and variations of the present invention are possible in view of the teachings . it is therefore to be understood that the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described , and should be limited in its breadth and scope only by the claims .	6
the active compounds disclosed herein can , as noted above , can be prepared in the form of their pharmaceutically acceptable salts . pharmaceutically acceptable salts are salts that retain the desired biological activity of the parent compound and do not impart undesired toxicological effects . examples of pharmaceutically acceptable salts are discussed in berge et al ., 1977 , “ pharmaceutically acceptable salts ,” j . pharm . scl , vol . 66 , pp . 1 - 19 . the active compounds disclosed may also be prepared in the form of their solvates . the term “ solvate ” is used herein in the conventional sense to refer to a complex of solute ( e . g ., active compound , salt of active compound ) and solvent . if the solvent is water , the solvate may be conveniently referred to as a hydrate , for example , a hemihydrate , monohydrate , dihydrate , trihydrate , tetrahydrate , and the like . the invention further extends to prodrugs of the compounds of the present invention . a prodrug of any of the compounds can be made using well known pharmacological techniques . the present invention is further intended to encompass , in addition to the use of the above listed compounds , the use of homologues , derivatives and analogues of such compounds . in this context , homologues are molecules having substantial structural similarities to the above - described compounds and analogues are molecules having substantial biological similarities regardless of structural similarities . the invention further provides kits for carrying out the therapeutic regimens of the invention . such kits may comprise , in one or more containers , therapeutically or prophylactically effective amounts of the compositions of the invention in a pharmaceutically acceptable form . such kits may further include instructions for the use of the compositions of the invention , or for the performance of the methods of the invention , or may provide further information to provide a physician with information appropriate to treating blood cell depletion or conditions resulting therefrom . the present invention will now be described with reference to the following examples which are provided for the purpose of illustration and are not intended to be construed as being limiting on the present invention . the present invention will make reference to the following figures , wherein : fig1 shows a graph illustrating b lymphocyte function following administration of ipa , and fig2 shows a graph illustrating t lymphocyte function following administration of ipa . riboflavin , nitroblue tetrazolium ( nbt ), reduced glutathione ( gsh ), s - s ′ dithiobis ( 2 - nitrobenzoic acid ) ( dtnb ), and 1 - chloro - 2 , 4 - dinitrobenzene ( cdnb ) were obtained from sisco research laboratories pvt . ltd , mumbai , india . thiobarbituric acid was purchased from hi - media laboratories , mumbai , india , 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethoxy propane was supplied from sigma - aldrich usa . all other chemicals and reagents used in this study were of analytical grade . oltipraz was supplied by the contractor canopus corp . inbred 4 - 6 weeks old female swiss albino mice ( 20 - 30 g ) were obtained from small animal breeding station , kerala agricultural university , mannuthy , thrissur . animals were kept in well - ventilated cages under standard conditions of temperature , pressure and humidity . the animals were provided with normal mouse chow and water ad libitum . all animal experiments conducted during the present study got prior permission and followed the guidelines of institutional animal ethics committee ( iaec ). animals were treated with a single dose of radiation of 700 rads ( 7gy ). the source of radiation was a 6 ° co theratron - phoenix teletherapy unit ( atomic energy ltd , canada ). animals were restrained in specially designed , well - ventilated cages without anesthesia and exposed to whole body radiation at a rate of 1 . 33 gy / min in a field size of 25 × 25 cm 2 and at a distance of 80 cm from the source . twenty - four mice were randomly divided into three groups of 8 animals each . group i was treated as irradiated control served with vehicle . group ii was treated with oltipraz ( 50 mgs / kg b wt ) ten days prior to irradiation . group iii was administered oltipraz ( 50 mgs / kg b . wt ) ten days prior to irradiation and continued for another fifteen days after irradiation . all the three groups were irradiated with a single dose of 750 rads . body weights of all the animals were determined one day prior to irradiation and every third day thereafter . blood was collected from tail vein into heparinized tubes and the following parameters were analyzed one day before radiation and every third day thereafter . the parameters analyzed were total wbc count ( haemocytometer method ), differential count ( leishman &# 39 ; s staining method ) and haemoglobin by drabkin &# 39 ; s method ). determination of effect of oltipraz on bone marrow viability and antioxidant parameters of irradiated animals . thirty six animals were divided into four groups of nine animals each . for group 1 to 4 treatment protocol were similar as described above . group 4 was treated as normal animals without any treatment . on days 5 , 10 and 15 after irradiation ( 750 ) rads three animals from each group was sacrificed . blood was collected to heparinized tubes , and plasma was removed and following parameters were assayed in the blood . activity of the enzyme sod was measured by nbt reduction method of mccord and fridovich . cat activity was estimated by the method of aebi by measuring the rate of decomposition of hydrogen peroxide at 240 nm . level of gsh was assayed by the method of moron et al based on the reaction with dtbn . assay of gpx followed the method of hafeman based on the degradation of h 2 o 2 in the presence of gsh . the method of habig was followed to assay the activity of gst based on the rate of increase in the conjugate formation between gsh and cdnb . the femurs of three above animals were dissected out and bone marrow cells were flushed into phosphate buffered saline ( ph 7 . 4 ) containing 2 % foetal calf serum . the cells were washed and bone marrow viability was determined by the method of sredni . the results were expressed as number of live bone marrow cells × 10 ( 6 )/ femur . the liver of the sacrificed animals were excised quickly washed in ice - cold saline and kept at − 70 ° c . till the day of analysis . on the day of analysis 25 % homogenate was pre - pared in tris - hcl buffer ( 0 . 1 m , ph 7 . 4 ). the homogenate was centrifuged at 12000 rpm for 30 minutes and supernatant was used to determine the tissue lipid peroxide levels ( lpo ) using the tba method of okhawa et al . data was expressed as mean i standard deviation ( sd ). significance levels for comparison of differences were deter - mined using student &# 39 ; s t test . the mean of oltipraz treated group was compared with that of radiation alone treated group . the radiation alone treated group was then further compared with untreated group . the differences between means were considered to be statistically significant if p & lt ;− 0 . 001 . radiation treatment at the dose level used here did not produce a statistically significant reduction in the body - weight of the exposed animals . initial body weight of animals were 26 . 27 ± 3 . 76 , 23 . 92 ± 4 . 61 and 24 . 98 ± 3 . 76 respectively for group i , ii and iii . on day 6 body weight was reduced to 21 . 82 ± 3 . 34 , 21 . 02 ± 4 . 14 and 21 . 10 ± 2 . 51 respectively ( p & gt ; 0 . 05 ). radiation significantly lowered the total leukocyte count in irradiated animals . administration of oltipraz was found to increase the count . in the initial days after irradiation both group ii ( oltipraz pre treated group ) and group iii ( oltipraz continuously administered group ) showed almost similar number of wbc . but at later days after irradiation , group iii showed a significantly elevated wbc as compared with group i ( radiation alone treated group ) and group ii . this indicated that continuous oltipraz administration stimulated the haematopoietic system in a concentration dependent manner . this observation is further supported by the increased bone marrow viability found in - group iii . bone marrow viability in normal animals was ( group iv ) was 16 . 21 ± 0 . 45 × 10 6 cells / femur . bone marrow viability was significantly decreased after irradiation . after the 15th day of post - irradiation group ii possessed a value of 6 . 1 × 10 6 cells / femur where as group ii and iii showed 5 . 82 × 106 and 14 . 32 × 10 6 cells / femur respectively . the haemoglobin levels were significantly reduced after irradiation . on day 6 radiation alone treated group had a hemoglobin level of 10 . 37 ± 3 . 19 where as oltipraz continuously administered group had a value of 12 . 42 ± 2 . 76 . the differential count did not show any significant variation . the activity of both sod and cat , two of the major enzymes involved in the antioxidant defence mechanism were found to be decreased after irradiation the continuous administration of oltipraz enhanced sod activity , which showed the maximum value on the 15th day after irradiation and cat on tenth day after irradiation . activity of gpx was also found to be decreased after whole body irradiation . continuous administration of oltipraz elevated the activity of gpx . on the 15th day after irradiation group i had an activity of 1254 . 00 ± 116 . 23 u / l of haemolysate whereas group iii showed an activity of 1927 . 87 ± 136 . 06 demonstrating that oltipraz administration stimulated gpx activity ( p & lt ;− 0 . 001 ). the levels of the major cellular antioxidant gsh increased after oltipraz administration . the levels of gsh were brought down after irradiation . on the 15th day the levels of gsh increased almost three times in oltipraz . continuously administered group as compared wit radiation alone treated group indicating that oltipraz administration elevated the gsh levels ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ), it could be presumed that an increased level of anti - oxidant enzymes and gsh is a direct consequence of oltipraz administration and could be seen in un - irradiated animals as well . oltipraz administration also elevated the activity of gst , an enzyme involved in the glutathione mediated detoxification system . on the 15th day group iii showed an activity of 2 . 38 ± 0 . 25 ( nano - moles of cdnb - gsh conjugate formed ) ( p & lt ;− 0 . 01 ) where as group i had an activity of 1 . 51 ± 0 . 37 only . radiation increased the levels of lipid peroxidation in all the radiation treated animals . on day 15 , it was 3 . 47 ± 0 . 31 ( nano - moles of mda formed / mg of protein for group i , whereas in - group iii it was significantly reduced to a level of 2 . 12 ± 0 . 21 ( p & lt ;− 0 . 001 ). the patient was treated with a formula 2 compound and blood cell parameters were monitored . the sample size for this experiment was 1 , consisting of subject 1 . subject 1 is an immune comprised patient with multiple recurrent infectious bouts requiring hospitalization while in a nearly moribund condition began treatment with the experimental drug isopentyl adenosine ( ipa ). the subject had been hospitalized with avert life - threatening infections . the subject &# 39 ; s total white blood cell counts were in the range of 2200 - 4900 for the three month period preceding hospitalization . a t4 / t8 cell ratio of 50 / 270 ( 0 . 22 ) was observed two months earlier . the patient was hospitalized from depression , exhaustion , bronchial infection , severe diarrhoea , severe weight loss and complete loss of appetite and spiked fever . the patient &# 39 ; s weight was 98 pounds . the patient , although initially was very co - operative relative to receiving experimental ipa therapy , for no rational reasons at various times stopped ipa . the subject initially received ipa ( see fig1 and 2 ). t and b lymphocyte competence as measured by the ability of these cells to proliferate in response to specific stimulating mitogens ( pha for t cells and pwm for b cells ) which was monitored on a weekly basis until death . as shown in fig1 and 2 respectively the subject &# 39 ; s t and b lymphocyte competence on was well below normal . indeed , the competence of both these immune cell populations was less than the 1st percentile of normal donors ; that is , greater than 99 % of all normal donors historically tested (& gt ; 1460 normal donors in our laboratory ) had responses greater than the patient demonstrated . a major rapid recovery of both t and b lymphocyte competence was experienced within less than 7 days after initiation of ipa therapy . the levels of competence within 7 days of drug therapy initiation were above the lower limits - of the normal donor &# 39 ; s reactivity . this represented a remarkable recovery since patients receiving . most immune stimulating agents ( e . g ., bcg , levamisole ) exhibit a slower and less dramatic immune recovery capacity . the subject conscientiously continued to take constant oral doses of ipa . the subject felt cured and abruptly stopped taking the drug . no one except the subject and his friend were aware of this unilateral decision until several weeks later . fever and diarrhoea in the subject had completely subsided and the patient exhibited a 15 pound weight gain during this time . as shown in fig1 and 2 , at the time that the patient proclaimed self - cure and thus stopped all ipa medication , his t and b lymphocyte competence again dropped to less than 1 % or normal donors &# 39 ; competence . this was most dramatically observed with t lymphocyte function but was also observed in somewhat lagged fashion with b lymphocyte function . total wbc counts were in the range of 1650 to 2550 during the period . his peripheral blood showed 50 t4 cells and 220 t8 cells ( 0 . 23 ratio ). the patient stopped formula 2 ipa therapy for a few days . during this time both t and b lymphocyte competence rapidly bottomed out , the patient was hospitalized in for a 7 to 10 day period for severe bronchial infections and fever , diarrhoea , anxiety and weight loss . the subject resumed formula 2 ipa therapy at recommended dose levels . minor t lymphocyte competence returned during the following week ; b lymphocyte competence continued to decrease . within two weeks , t lymphocyte competence was again nearly within the normal range . although b lymphocyte competence was still somewhat depressed , this cell &# 39 ; s competence was also improving . within a month t lymphocyte competence had risen to well within the range of normal donor reactivity , while b lymphocyte competence was somewhat below lower normal limits . the subject &# 39 ; s personal status demonstrated a dramatic improvement ; he was periodically dining out with a large appetite , diarrhoea had lessened , fever had subsided , he was riding his bicycle daily and partaking in physical activities . the subject again stopped taking medication for a week without the physician &# 39 ; s knowledge . t lymphocyte competence again demonstrated a major sudden decrease to less than 1 % of normal donors &# 39 ; activity . the patient again exhibited spiked fever , acute diarrhoea and exhaustion . the subject again resumed formula 2 ipa therapy the following week , for one week , with one - half the recommended dosage taken . the subject &# 39 ; s t lymphocyte competence spiked dramatically to above the lower limit of the normal range . b lymphocyte actively demonstrated a slight rise . during the next week the dosage of ipa was greatly (& gt ; 3 ×) increased . t lymphocyte competence demonstrated depression suggesting immunotoxicity by ipa ; since a 33 % decreased dosage the following week resulted in t lymphocyte competence increasing once again . the patient stopped therapy during the next month , both t and b lymphocyte function fell to nil , as a direct consequence . the patient died approximately two weeks later suffering from acute bronchial infection accompanied with high fever , diarrhoea , exhaustion and weight loss . in conclusion , direct correlations were observed during the period of administration of formula 2 ipa with quality of life and depressed or elevated t and b lymphocyte function . enhanced t and b lymphocyte competence correlated well with continued formula 2 ipa medication ; optimum levels of competence appeared to be experienced at optimum ipa dose levels administered . since competent t and b lymphocyte function is required for combating microbial infections by the host , major infectious bouts correlated with times when competence was most severely compromised . the patient experienced 5 months of life with periods of excellent quality after initiation of formula 2 ipa therapy at a time when he was terminally moribund . it would appear that the patient would have enjoyed appreciable therapeutic benefits from formula 2 ipa , if he had conscientiously and continuously received ipa medication . if optimum dose levels had been more clearly established this would have presumably optimized quality and extension of life to a greater extend than was actually observed in this patient . all documents referred to in this specification are herein incorporated by reference . various modifications and variations to the described embodiments of the inventions will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention . although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments , it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments . indeed , various modifications of the described modes of carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be covered by the present invention . reference to any prior art in this specification is not , and should not be taken as , an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in any country .	0
fig1 a , 1 b , and 1 c illustrate a flowchart depicting a non - limiting example of the manufacturing process for a high strength concrete beam or girder , which synergistically allows for the use of high strength concrete combined with a rapid and economical cycling of the manufacturing bed , while providing a beam or girder strength that takes full advantage of the high strength concrete . the example process of fig1 begins in a step or operation 100 , as shown in fig1 a , and continues in an operation 102 in which the manufacturing bed is prepared for use . then , in an operation 104 , reinforcement and pre - tensioning strands , for example , cables or rods , are installed in place on the bed , along with post - tensioning ducts , and anchorages . next , in an operation 106 , tensile force is applied to the pre - tensioning strands that were deployed in operation 104 . in an operation 108 , the elongation of the pre - tensioning strands is measured and recorded . an operation 110 is then performed which assembles the forms in place on the bed to provide a structure that determines the beam or girder shape . in an operation 112 , the high strength concrete is mixed . in certain example embodiments , a high cementitious content is used , along with water - reducing and plasticizing admixtures . the cementitious material in certain example embodiments comprises , for example , portland cement . in certain example embodiments a portion of the cementitious material comprises an alkalinity reducing material such as , for example , fly ash or slag to prevent the alkalinity of the mixture from being too high . otherwise , alkalinity can cause a very serious reaction with silica in the aggregate , resulting in severe cracking of the concrete . while the introduction of the alkalinity reducing material does not materially affect the ultimate strength of the resultant concrete , the strength of the concrete is reduced in the short term , and other measures described herein are preferably taken to compensate for the short term lack of strength and its impact on the manufacturing process . the result is a synergistic combination that provides a beam or girder that takes full advantage of the strength of the highly cementitious mixture , avoids a silica reaction , and yet allows a rapid cycling of the manufacturing bed . in an operation 114 the concrete mixture is poured into the form . a portion of the mixture is also poured into a number of cylindrical or cubical forms which allow the strength of the concrete to be sampled at various times . the curing apparatus is put in place in an operation 116 . then , in an operation 118 the concrete is cured . as shown in fig1 b , the strength of the concrete is measured in an operation 120 , typically using one or more of the concrete cylinders or blocks mentioned in the description of operation 114 . a decision operation 122 determines whether the concrete has achieved a strength that is at least adequate to endure pre - tensioning ( the “ release strength ”), removal from the bed , and storage . if it is determined that the strength of the concrete is not adequate , then a wait operation 124 is performed to allow the concrete to gain more strength , and the process returns to operation 120 . if it is determined in operation 122 that the strength of the concrete has achieved a strength that is at least adequate to endure pre - tensioning , removal from the bed , and storage , then the process continues with operation 126 which releases the pre - tensioning strands from their abutment anchorages , thus placing the beam or girder under compression . next , in an operation 128 , the curing apparatus is removed to allow access to the beam or girder . thereafter , in an operation 130 the forms are removed and cleaned for reuse . then , in an operation 132 , the beam or girder is moved to storage . in certain example embodiments , the beam or girder is placed on supports proximate to the beam &# 39 ; s or girder &# 39 ; s respective ends , which allows the beam or girder to avoid camber growth , since the force applied in operation 106 is of less than full magnitude . the beam or girder , having gained sufficient strength to support its own weight and avoid deflection can be stored indefinitely . this removal of the beam or girder from the bed permits the bed to be re - used , and allows the beam or girder to gain strength over a period of time in storage . the timing of the removal from the bed is earlier than would otherwise be possible , and this early removal allows the bed to be used again for making another beam or girder . the removal of the beam or girder from the bed can be performed when the high strength concrete is relatively weak , because the pre - tensioning strands that were released in operation 126 have imparted only a portion of the total eventual prestressing force , yet a sufficient force for removing the beam or girder from the bed . the pre - tensioning in operation 126 , which imparts only a portion of the full prestressing force , thus synergistically allows high strength materials to be used even though those materials are relatively weak on the day after casting . as described above , in the operation 132 the beam or girder is moved to storage and placed , for example , on supports proximate to the ends of the beam or girder in order to limit camber growth . an operation 134 shown in fig1 c is performed wherein the beam or girder is kept in storage while it gains strength sufficient for the full prestressing force . the amount of storage time can vary dependent on the formulation of the materials of the concrete , and also can vary with strength requirements for the beam or girder . the beam or girder can be allowed to gain strength over any desired amount of time in order to take advantage of the strength potential of the materials used , or meet time constraints that call for beams or girders of lesser strength in a relatively short amount of time . next , in an operation 136 a post - tensioning force is applied . then , in an operation 138 cement grout is injected into the tendon ducts employed in post - tensioning . next , in an operation 140 the grout is allowed to cure over a period of time . finally , the process is concluded in an operation 142 . one example embodiment of the beam or girder that is the product of the process described in conjunction with fig1 is shown in fig2 . as shown in fig2 a , a beam or girder 200 comprises prestressed high strength concrete . the beam or girder is cast on a manufacturing bed ( not shown ) using a set of forms which determine the shape of the beam or girder . the example beam or girder shown in fig2 a has a resulting shape generally referred to as an “ i - beam .” as shown in fig2 a , the beam or girder 200 is prestressed during initial manufacture of the beam or girder on the bed using pre - tensioning strands 202 described earlier in conjunction with operations 104 and 106 illustrated in fig1 a . the strands 202 are preferably installed on the manufacturing bed prior to the erection of the forms used to contain the high strength concrete . semi - flexible post - tensioning ducts 204 are also installed as described earlier in conjunction with operation 104 illustrated in fig1 a . the post - tensioning ducts 204 terminate at post - tensioning anchorages that may be installed employing reusable blockout forms 206 , as shown in fig2 b . as shown in fig2 b , there may be one or more post - tensioning ducts 204 which are placed into an approximate parabolic curve . tensile force is then applied to post - tensioning strands inserted through the post - tensioning ducts 204 in operation 136 described earlier to provide the remainder of the required prestressing force for the beam or girder 200 . in accordance with another aspect of the present invention , a beam or girder having sufficient area at the beam or girder ends for accommodating post - tensioning tendons that pass through more than one beam or girder is provided to connect with another beam or girder which is aligned with the first and is located in an adjacent span to form a continuous structural frame . a continuous frame , in which two or more spans are connected , reduces structure cost and makes longer spans possible . precast beams and girders that are connected by post - tensioning tendons at support points such as piers or columns to make a continuous frame require an area at the beams &# 39 ; or girders &# 39 ; ends to permit “ through ” tendons to connect adjacent spans . if the area at beam or girder ends is not available due to the presence of post - tensioning anchorages previously placed at the ends of girders in “ end blocks ”, as is the present practice , there is insufficient room for the through tendons to pass through to make the connection . the described beam or girder shape permits locating previously placed tendon anchorages at a distance away from beam or girder ends , thus creating room for tendons to pass through to make a continuous frame . in accordance with another aspect of the present invention , a plurality of beams or girders 200 can be deployed to construct a cast - in - place concrete deck 300 , as shown in fig3 . the deck 300 comprises at least two beams or girders 200 . the spacing between adjacent beams or girders 200 varies according to loading and length of a span to a maximum spacing , for example , 15 feet . additionally , the deck 300 comprises one or more deck panels 302 . for example , each deck panel 302 may be a four - inch thick prestressed concrete slab . also , each deck panel 302 may further comprise a continuous neoprene strip 304 at each end of the deck panel in contact with the beams or girders 200 that support the deck panel . additionally , the outside beam or girder 200 at each edge of the deck 300 is provided with a flange 210 that is preferably precast with the beam or girder . the flange 210 completes the concrete form for the deck 300 and thus retains concrete poured to construct the deck 300 , as well as supports a finishing machine ( not shown ) employed to smooth the surface of concrete poured to complete the deck . as shown in fig3 , the flange 210 may also be subsequently employed to support an attached barrier rail or curb 306 of the deck 300 installed at the edge ( s ) of the deck . the modular elements shown in fig3 enable a bridge superstructure to be built quickly with high quality at low cost . by fabricating beams or girders 200 of higher concrete strength than in the past and using a commensurately higher prestressing force to produce greater structural capacities , significant economy is achieved by requiring fewer beams or girders for a given span and by the elimination of overhang forms and most on - site superstructure formwork by employing the modular elements shown in fig3 . while the foregoing description has been with reference to particular embodiments and contemplated alternative embodiments of the present invention , it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes in these embodiments may be made without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention .	4
referring first to fig1 , a hybrid composite structure 20 includes a composite resin portion 22 joined to a metal portion 24 by a transition section 25 that includes a composite - to - metal joint 26 . in the illustrated example , the composite structure 20 is a substantially flat composite sheet , however depending upon the application , the structure 20 may have one or more curves , contours or other geometric features . for example , composite structure 20 may comprise an inner and / or outer contoured skin of an aircraft ( not shown ) which is secured to a frame 28 portion of the aircraft by means of a lap joint 30 and fasteners 32 which pass through the skin 20 into the frame 28 . the frame 28 may comprise a composite , a metal or other rigid material , and the metal portion 24 of the structure 20 may serve as a rigid metal fitting 24 that is suited to transfer a range of loads and types of loadings between the frame 28 and the composite portion 20 . as will be discussed below in more detail , the metal portion 24 may comprise any of various metals such as , without limitation , titanium that is substantially non - reactive to and compatible with the composite portion 20 and the structure 28 . in one practical embodiment for example , and without limitation , the composite resin portion 22 may comprise a carbon fiber reinforced epoxy , the metal portion 24 may comprise a titanium alloy , and the frame 28 may comprise an aluminum alloy or a composite . the transition section 25 and the joint 26 are strong enough to carry the typical range and types of loads between the composite resin portion 22 and the metal portion 24 , including but not limited to tension , bending , torsion and shear loads . although the illustrated transition section 25 and joint 26 are formed between an all composite resin portion 22 and the all metal portion 24 , it may be possible to employ them to join two differing composite structures ( not shown ) or two differing metal structures ( not shown ). referring to fig1 - 4 , a layup of composite material plies 35 is terminated at a interface location 39 referred to later herein as a transition point 39 , where a metal sheet or ply 37 of the substantially the same thickness as the composite material plies 35 continues to the metal edge 24 a of the metal portion 24 , and the layup is repeated with a composite - to - metal interface 39 that is staggered toward the metal edge 24 a from the prior interface location 39 and includes a ply of structural metal adhesive 45 ( see fig5 and 6 ) between the metal plies 37 , with the next metal - to - composite interface 39 staggered away from the part edge 24 a to produce a nested splice 27 . this staggered interface stacking , which produces nested tabs 29 ( see fig3 ), is continued to the full thickness of the hybrid composite structure 20 with none of the composite plies 35 extending fully to the metal edge 24 a of the all metal portion 24 referring now also to fig2 - 4 , the composite portion 22 of the structure 20 comprises a laminated stack of fiber reinforced resin plies 35 , and the metal portion 24 of the structure 20 comprises a stack 36 of metal sheets or plies 37 that are bonded together to form a substantially unitized metal structure . as shown in fig5 and 6 , the composite plies 35 and the metal sheets 37 are arranged in layers 38 . each of the layers 38 comprises one or more of the composite plies 35 in substantially edge - to - edge abutment with one of the metal sheets 37 . thus , each of the layers 38 transitions at a point 39 from a composite i . e . composite resin plies 35 , to a metal , i . e . metal sheet 37 . the transition points 39 are staggered relative to each other according to a predetermined lay - up schedule such that the plies 35 and the metal sheets 37 overlap each other in the transition section 25 ( fig1 ). staggering of the transition points 39 creates multiple bond lines that may reduce the occurrence and / or propagation of cracks or disbonds in the joint 26 . the staggering of the transition points 39 also results in a form of interleaving of the composite plies 35 and the metal sheets 37 within the joint 26 which forms a nested splice 27 between the all composite portion 22 and the all metal portion 24 . this nested splice 27 may also be referred to as a finger bond 26 , a finger joint 26 or a multiple step lap joint 26 . the adjacent ones of the transition points 39 are spaced from each other in the in - plane direction of the structure 20 so as to achieve a bonded joint 26 that exhibits optimum performance characteristics , including strength and resistance to disbonds and propagation of inconsistencies such as cracks . in the illustrated example , the nested splice 27 forming the joint 26 is a form of a double finger joint 26 in which the transition points 39 are staggered in opposite directions from a generally central point 55 of maximum overlap . however , other joint configurations are possible including but not limited to a single finger joint in which the multiple transition points 39 are staggered in a single direction . the composite plies 35 may comprise a fiber reinforced resin , such as without limitation , carbon fiber epoxy , which may be in the form of unidirectional prepreg tape or fabric . other fiber reinforcements are possible , including glass fibers , and the use of non - prepreg materials may be possible . the composite plies 35 may have predetermined fiber orientations and are laid up according to a predefined ply schedule to meet desired performance specifications . as previously mentioned , the bonded sheets 37 may comprise a metal such as titanium that is suitable for the intended application . in the illustrated example , the stack 36 of metal sheets 37 has a total thickness t 1 which is generally substantially equal to the thickness t 2 of the laminated stack 34 of plies 35 . in the illustrated example however , t 2 is slightly greater than t 1 by a factor of the thickness of several overwrap plies 43 on opposite sides of the stack 37 . fig5 and 6 illustrate details of two adjoining layers 38 of the joint 26 shown in fig2 - 4 . in this example , each layer 38 comprises four plies 35 having a collective total thickness t 1 . the individual metal sheets 37 of the adjacent layers 38 are bonded together by means of a layer of structural adhesive 45 , which may comprise a commercial film adhesive or other forms of a suitable adhesive that is placed between the metal sheets 36 during the lay - up process . the combined thickness of each metal sheet 37 and one layer of adhesive 45 represented as t 2 in fig5 is substantially equal to the thickness t 1 of the composite plies 35 in the layer 38 . although not shown in the figures , a thin film of adhesive may be placed between the plies 35 to increase the interlaminar bond strength . in one practical embodiment , titanium alloy metal sheets 37 may be used which each have a thickness of approximately 0 . 0025 inches , the film adhesive 45 may be approximately 0 . 005 inches thick , and four composite carbon fiber epoxy plies 35 may be used in each layer 38 having a collective total thickness of about 0 . 30 inches . depending on the application , the use of metals other than titanium may be possible . the distance between adjacent transition points 39 , and thus the length of the overlap between the layers 38 , as well as the thickness and number of composite plies 35 and the thickness of the metal sheets 37 will depend on the requirements of the particular application , including the type and magnitude of the loads that are to be transmitted through the joint 26 , and possibly other performance specifications . the differing layers 38 of the joint 26 between the two differing materials of the composite and metal portions 22 , 24 respectively ( fig1 ), render the structure 20 well suited to nondestructive evaluations of bond quality using embedded or mounted sensors ( not shown ). ultrasonic structural waves ( not shown ) may be introduced into the structure 20 at the edge of the metal portion 24 , at the composite portion 22 or in the transition section 25 . these ultrasonic waves travel through what amounts to a waveguide formed by the metal 37 sheets and the interfaces ( not shown ) between the composite plies 35 and the metal sheets 37 . mems - based ( microelectromechanical ) sensors , thin piezo - electric sensors ( not shown ) or other transducers placed in the structure 20 may be used to receive the ultrasonic structural waves for purposes on analyzing the condition of the bondlines in the joint 26 . referring now to fig7 , one method of making the composite structure 20 comprises forming a multi - layer composite lay - up as shown at 65 . forming the lay - up includes laying up a composite resin portion 22 at step 67 , and laying up a metal portion 24 at 69 . the step 65 of forming the layup further includes forming a composite - to - metal joint between the composite resin portion and the metal portion of the lay - up , shown at 71 . fig8 illustrates additional details of the method shown in fig7 . beginning at step 40 , individual metal sheets 37 are trimmed to a desired size and / or shape . next at 42 , the surfaces of the metal sheets 37 are prepared by suitable processes that may include cleaning the sheets 37 with a solvent , drying them , etc . then at 44 , the lay - up is assembled by laying up the metal sheets 36 and the composite plies 35 in a sequence that is determined by a predefined ply schedule ( not shown ) which includes a predetermined staggering of the transition points 39 between the plies 35 and the metal sheet 36 in each layer 38 . during the lay - up process , the metal sheets 37 are sequenced like plies into the lay - up , much like composite plies are sequenced into a lay - up in a conventional lay - up process . as shown at step 46 , adhesive may be introduced between the metal sheets 37 in order to bond them together into a unitized metal structure . similarly , although not shown in fig8 , a bonding adhesive may be introduced between the individual composite plies 35 in order to increase the bond strength between these plies 35 . next , at 48 , the lay - up may be compacted using any of several known compaction techniques , such as vacuum bagging following which the lay - up is cured at step 50 using autoclave or out - of - autoclave curing processes . at step 52 , the cured composite structure 20 may be trimmed and / or inspected , as necessary . fig9 illustrates still another embodiment of a method of making a hybrid composite part 20 . the method begins at step 73 with laying at least one composite ply 35 that is terminated at an interface location 39 on a suitable layup tool ( not shown ). at 75 , an adjacent metal ply 37 is laid up which is substantially the same thickness as the adjacent composite material play 35 . as shown at 77 , the layup process is repeated with a composite - to - metal interface 39 that is staggered toward the metal edge 24 a of the part 20 from the prior interface location 39 . a 79 , a ply 45 of structural adhesive is laid between the metal plies 37 . steps 73 - 79 are repeated successively to produce a nested splice 27 and a staggered interface stacking forming nested tabs 29 to the full thickness of the hybrid part 20 , with none composite plies 35 extending fully to the metal edge 24 a of the part 20 . although not shown in fig9 , the completed layup is vacuum bagged processed to remove voids , and is subsequently cured using any suitable curing method . embodiments of the disclosure may find use in a variety of potential applications , particularly in the transportation industry , including for example , aerospace , marine and automotive applications . thus , referring now to fig1 and 11 , embodiments of the disclosure may be used in the context of an aircraft manufacturing and service method 60 as shown in fig1 and an aircraft 62 as shown in fig1 . aircraft applications of the disclosed embodiments may include , for example , a wide variety of structural composite parts and components , especially those requiring the use of fasteners during the assembly process . during pre - production , exemplary method 60 may include specification and design 64 of the aircraft 62 and material procurement 66 . during production , component and subassembly manufacturing 68 and system integration 70 of the aircraft 62 takes place . thereafter , the aircraft 62 may go through certification and delivery 72 in order to be placed in service 74 . while in service by a customer , the aircraft 62 is scheduled for routine maintenance and service 76 ( which may also include modification , reconfiguration , refurbishment , and so on ). each of the processes of method 60 may be performed or carried out by a system integrator , a third party , and / or an operator ( e . g ., a customer ). for the purposes of this description , a system integrator may include without limitation any number of aircraft manufacturers and major - system subcontractors ; a third party may include without limitation any number of vendors , subcontractors , and suppliers ; and an operator may be an airline , leasing company , military entity , service organization , and so on . as shown in fig1 , the aircraft 62 produced by exemplary method 60 may include an airframe 78 with a plurality of systems 80 and an interior 82 . examples of high - level systems 82 include one or more of a propulsion system 84 , an electrical system 86 , a hydraulic system 88 , and an environmental system 90 . any number of other systems may be included . the disclosed method may be employed to fabricate parts , structures and components used in the airframe 78 or in the interior 82 . although an aerospace example is shown , the principles of the disclosure may be applied to other industries , such as the marine and automotive industries . systems and methods embodied herein may be employed during any one or more of the stages of the production and service method 60 . for example , parts , structures and components corresponding to production process 68 may be fabricated or manufactured in a manner similar to parts , structures and components produced while the aircraft 62 is in service . also , one or more apparatus embodiments , method embodiments , or a combination thereof may be utilized during the production stages 68 and 70 , for example , by substantially expediting assembly of or reducing the cost of an aircraft 62 . similarly , one or more of apparatus embodiments , method embodiments , or a combination thereof may be utilized while the aircraft 62 is in service , for example and without limitation , to maintenance and service 76 . although the embodiments of this disclosure have been described with respect to certain exemplary embodiments , it is to be understood that the specific embodiments are for purposes of illustration and not limitation , as other variations will occur to those of skill in the art .	1
in recent years ionic liquids , ils , with organic cations have been suggested for electrolyte applications . unlike conventional liquid solvents , ils have negligible vapor pressures . the absence of volatiles greatly improves the safety characteristics of a battery . some ils have conductivities of 10 − 2 s cm − 1 or higher at 25 ° c . a lithium battery , however , requires li + cations to be transported between the anode and cathode . the ils ( q + y − ) must therefore incorporate a suitable lix salt to be a useful li . battery electrolyte . it is preferred to have a spe material . the ils may then be incorporated into a flexible , thin membrane to form a battery electrolyte . the il used , in one aspect , is n - methyl - n - propylpyrrolidinium bis ( trifluoromethanesulfonyl ) imide ( pyr 1 , 3 tfsi ). the tfsi anion has extensive charge delocalization across the so 2 — n — so 2 segment and two low energy conformations indicating that the anion is highly flexible . electrolytes were prepared consisting of p ( eo ) 20 litfsi + x wt % pyr 1 , 3 tfsi ( x = 0 , 30 , 50 , 100 and 150 ): the wt % il is relative to the amount of peo with 30 and 150 wt % corresponding to a pyr 1 , 3 + / li + mole ratio of approximately 0 . 66 and 3 . 24 , respectively . large amounts of il may thus be used to prepare free - standing solid polymer electrolyte membranes . it has been found that the addition of up to about 30 wt % il results in an increase of an order of magnitude or more of ionic conductivity for the p ( eo ) 20 litfsi system at lower temperatures reaching 10 − 4 s cm − 1 at 30 ° c . the conductivity rises further with increasing amounts of il approaching 10 − 3 s cm − 1 at 30 ° c . with 150 wt % il . note that this value is close to that for the pure il . typically , the addition of polymers to liquid electrolytes to form ‘ gels ’ results in a significant drop in the ionic conductivity . this is also true of rubbery polymer - in - salt materials . it has been found that it is not the overall ionic conductivity of the electrolyte which is critical , but rather the conductivity of the reactive species ( e . g ., li + cations ). the discharge of li - metal batteries occurs by liberating electrons at the anode and forming li + cations . the electrons travel through the current collectors to the cathode creating an electric current from which useful work may be done . the li + cations travel through the electrolyte to the cathode where they react with the active material : n li + + v 2 o 5 + ne − → li n v 2 o 5 recharging of secondary batteries occurs by reversing the process . the reaction thus requires li + cations to move between the active materials at the electrodes . the other ions in the electrolyte ( i . e ., pyr 1 , 3 + and tfsi − ), however , are also mobile , but do not participate in the reaction . these ions may thus polarize a cell when current is passed . ideally , all of the charge would be carried by li + cations giving a li transference number of unity , t li = 1 , where t li is the fraction of the current carried by li . the li + cation conductivity is obtained from : in practice , most cations have much lower values than unity due to mobile counter anions . the peo — lix - il electrolytes also contain additional cations and anions . for the p ( eo ) 20 litfsi electrolyte ( 0 wt % il ), a t li = 0 . 31 value indicates that a large fraction of the current is actually from tfsi − anionic transport despite the significant difference in ion sizes . this is due to the strong solvation of the li + cations by multiple polymer eos . t li values similar to this or lower for peo — litfsi electrolytes have been previously reported from diffusion measurements . one might expect that the addition of an il to the electrolytes would significantly decrease the t li values even further . surprisingly this does not seem to be the case . instead , the t li values decrease somewhat with increasing wt % il , but a sharp decline is not observed . in fact , the fraction of current carried by li + cations becomes larger than the calculated equal contribution values . this is surprising and suggests that a new li + cation transport mechanism becomes operative relative to an electrolyte not containing an il of the present invention . the li + cations in an amorphous phase may become partially or fully coordinated by the tfsi − anions freeing them from the traps created by strong polymer eo coordination . the addition of large quantities of il to create peo — lix — il solid polymer electrolytes , therefore , does not significantly increase the electrolyte polarization . differential scanning calorimetry ( dsc ) heating traces of samples equilibrated for several weeks at 0 ° c . indicate that the p ( eo ) 20 litfsi electrolyte contains both crystalline peo and a peo — litfsi eutectic composition ( with a p ( eo ) 6 : litfsi crystalline phase ). the weak t g near − 30 ° c . suggests that some amorphous phase is also present . addition of il results in the disappearance of the peak from the eutectic composition as well as a decrease in both the amount and t m of the crystalline peo . note that with increasing wt % il , there is a decreased fraction of peo in each electrolyte . a strong t g for an amorphous phase also becomes evident which moves to lower temperatures with increasing wt % il . the pure il ( pyr 1 , 3 tfsi ) has a t m of 12 ° c . after slowing cooling and heating the samples , an exothermic crystallization peak is found between − 20 and 0 ° c . followed by an endothermic peak near 10 ° c . for the electrolytes with 100 and 150 wt % pyr 1 , 3 tfsi . thus , it appears that some of the pyr 1 , 3 tfsi is able to crystallize after cooling the samples with the highest fraction of il . this ‘ excess ’ il has only a weak interaction with the remaining peo , li + cations and tfsi − anions . the pyr 1 , 3 + / li + mole ratio for the 100 wt % il electrolyte is 2 . 15 . the ‘ excess ’ il may therefore by anything over a pyr 1 , 3 + / li + mole ration of 2 . despite this , homogeneous , free - standing solid electrolytes may be prepared with large amounts of il . it is important to verify the electrochemical stability of the electrolytes . many ils , such as those with 1 , 3 - dialkylimidazolium cations , have acidic protons and thus may be too reactive to plate / strip li metal reversibly during the charge / discharge of a battery . it has previously been shown that pyr xy tfsi salts have a wide electrochemical stability window in excess of 5 . 5 v . highly reversible li plating / stripping is observed in a cell with the 100 wt % il electrolyte . ultimately , the goal is to obtain lmp batteries which are capable of operating at ambient and even subambient temperatures . the practical operating temperatures of lmp batteries must thus be lowered . the lmp battery discharge capacity at 20 ° c . and 60 ° c . using p ( eo ) 20 litfsi + x wt % pyr 1 , 3 tfsi ( x = 0 and 100 ) electrolytes for a c / 20 discharge rate has been determined . at 60 ° c ., the cell with the electrolyte containing 100 wt % il shows a significantly improved performance over the one without il ( 0 wt %) in spite of a lower t li value . this may be directly attributed to the higher conductivity of the former electrolyte . in fact , the discharge capacity at 60 ° c . is comparable to peo — libeti ( 0 wt % il ) lmp batteries at 90 ° c . at 20 ° c ., the cell with the electrolyte containing 0 wt % il ( q + y − in fig9 ) has a much lower capacity than at 60 ° c . this electrolyte , p ( eo ) 20 litfsi , has an ionic conductivity at 20 ° c . which is amongst the highest known for solvent - free polymer electrolytes . the cells with electrolytes containing the il also have lower capacities , but the capacity is 3 - 4 times greater than without the il . once again , this is attributed to the improved conductivity upon addition of il . note that the il itself does not directly participate in the electrochemical reaction . the il must therefore promote li + cation conductivity . spes of the present invention thus enable lmp batteries to operate at much lower temperatures and perhaps higher discharge rates . despite extensive research devoted to the development of new polymers and salts for solid polymer electrolyte applications , an upper limit to the total ionic conductivity of ˜ 10 − 4 s cm − 1 may have been reached at ambient temperature ( with the li + cation conductivity only a fraction of this ). this perceived limit may preclude the use of prior art electrolytes in batteries for portable electronic devices . however , the use of highly conductive , nonvolatile solid polymer electrolyte , e . g . as shown in fig9 , may overcome this perceived limit . the p ( eo ) 20 litfsi + 100 wt % pyr 1 , 3 tfsi electrolyte has a li + conductivity ˜ 10 − 4 s cm − 1 at 20 ° c ., whereas that of the il free p ( eo ) 20 litfsi electrolyte is only 2 × 10 − 6 s cm − 1 . this is far superior to the performance of existing lithium polymer electrolytes and is in the neighborhood of a value necessary for room temperature battery operation . thus , even with the pyr 1 , 3 tfsi il , which has a relatively low ionic conductivity relative to other ils , the li + cation conductivity approaches that necessary target value . the electrolytes presented here thus have demonstrated a clear strategy for improving polymer electrolyte conductivity and thus dramatically lowering the device operating temperatures . these new polymer electrolytes comprise high molecular weight peo and two salts — one with li + cations and the other organic cations . the polymer , lix salt and il may all be varied . increasing the lix salt concentration may also increase the t li values thereby reducing the electrolyte concentration polarization . the presence of an il evidently changes the li + cation transport mechanism within the membranes . this is a key point as the conductivity may therefore readily exceed the previous limits found for other ( i . e ., volatile solvent - free ) ‘ dry ’ polymer electrolytes . spe of this invention thus offer exciting possibilities for the long sought after low temperature use of solid polymer electrolytes in high energy lmp batteries . peo , avg . m v ca . 4 × 10 6 ( union carbide ), litfsi ( 3 m ), v 2 o 5 ( pechiney ) and kjb carbon ( ketjen black , akzo nobel ) were dried under vacuum for 48 h at 50 ° c . for the peo and 150 ° c . for the others . pyr 1 , 3 i , was prepared by the reaction of 1 - methylpyrrolidine with 1 - iodopropane ( aldrich ) in acetone / ethyl acetate . the pyr 1 , 3 i salt was recrystallized several times in acetone / ethyl acetate . combining litfsi and pyr 1 , 3 i ( 1 : 1 mole ratio ) in di h 2 o gave pyr 1 , 3 tfsi . this was washed several times with hot di h 2 o and dried under vacuum at 80 ° c . for 24 h and then 100 ° c . for 24 h . the pyr 1 , 3 tfsi salt is a clear liquid at room temperature . the materials were stored and handled in a dry room (& lt ; 1 % relative humidity , 20 ° c .). polymer electrolytes and composite cathodes were prepared by mixing the desired amounts of peo , litfsi and pyr 1 , 3 tfsi and v 2 o 5 , 7 % kjb , 17 . 7 % peo , 5 . 75 % litfsi and 26 . 5 % il by weight ). the mixtures were vacuum sealed in coffee bags and annealed at 90 ° c . for 24 h . thin polymer electrolyte films were prepared by hot - pressing the mixtures . composite cathode films were made by calendaring the mixture at room temperature . no solvent was used in the preparations . conductivity , t li , and galvanostatic measurements were performed on cells with cu , li and li electrodes ( 4 cm 2 , 1 cm 2 , and 1 cm 2 ), respectively , vacuum sealed in coffee bag envelopes and then laminated by hot - rolling at 100 ° c . all electrochemical and impedance measurements were performed using a solarton electrochemical interface ( eci 1287 ), a solartron frequency response analyzer ( fra 1260 ) and a maccor battery cycler ( series 4000 ). all cells were thermally equilibrated for at least 1 h at the selected temperature prior to measurements . dsc measurements were performed on a ta model 2910 differential scanning calorimeter . samples were hermetically sealed in a1 pans . the pans were cooled to − 140 ° c . at 10 ° c . min − 1 , equilibrated and then heated to 200 ° c . at 10 ° c . min − 1 . in accordance with the teaching of the present invention , an electrochemical cell of the following composition was assembled and discharged . compositions of polymer electrolyte and lifepo 4 composite cathode . electrolyte cathode component composition ( wt %) composition ( wt . %) lifepo 4 43 . 0 carbon ( kjb ) 7 . 0 peo 47 . 0 17 . 5 litfsi 15 . 3 5 . 0 pyr 1 , 3 tfsi 37 . 7 27 . 5 fig5 , 7 and 8 shown the performance of that electrochemical system . it goes without saying that the present invention should not be limited by the above - described examples . the present invention is useable with essentially any electrochemical device . electrochemically powered medical devices , especially medical devices run at about body temperature , 37 ° c . are an especially preferred class . implantable pacemarkers , defibrillators , drug pumps , tissue stimulators and neurological devices readily come to mind . other applications include rechargeable lithium - ion batteries , rechargeable lithium metal batteries , primary batteries , lithium - based electrochemical devices which run at high temperature , e . g ., 150 ° c ., temperatures above body temperature ( 37 ° c .) and higher , and medical device batteries . all such devices are contemplated by this invention . applications also may include but are not limited to primary and secondary batteries , energy storage devices generally , and supercapacitors . many other such devices will readily come to mind of one skilled in this art in view of this disclosure .	7
the terms “ comprises ,” “ comprising ,” or any other variation thereof , are intended to cover a non - exclusive inclusion , such that a process , method , article , or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process , method , article , or apparatus . an element proceeded by “ comprises . . . a ” does not , without more constraints , preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process , method , article , or apparatus that comprises the element . as used herein , the term “ adhesive ” refers to a viscoelastic material which adheres instantaneously to most substrates with the application of slight pressure and remains permanently tacky . an adhesive within the meaning of the term as used herein if it has the properties of a pressure - sensitive adhesive per se or functions as a pressure - sensitive adhesive by admixture with tackifiers , plasticizers or other additives . for more information concerning pressure sensitive adhesives , in general , see for example , pressure sensitive adhesives and applications , 2 nd ed ., by istván benedek ( marcel dekker 2005 ) and handbook of adhesive technology , 2 nd ed ., edited by a . pizzi and k . l . mittal ( marcel dekker 2003 ). a “ copolymer ” as used herein , refers to polymers formed by the polymerization of reaction of at least two different monomers . for example , the term “ copolymer ” includes the co - polymerization reaction product of ethylene and an α - olefin , such as 1 - hexene . the term “ copolymer ” is also inclusive of , for example , the co - polymerization of a mixture of ethylene , propylene , 1 - propene , 1 - butene , 1 - hexene , and 1 - octene . as used herein , a copolymer identified in terms of a plurality of monomers , e . g ., “ propylene ethylene copolymer ”, refers to a copolymer in which either monomer may copolymerize in a higher weight or molar percent than the other monomer or monomers . however , the first listed monomer preferably polymerizes in a higher weight percent than the second listed monomer . a wide variety of crosslinkable acrylate copolymers can be used and are known in the polymer and adhesive arts , as are methods of preparing the monomers and polymers . generally , acrylic copolymers are capable of undergoing a crosslinking polymerization reaction with itself or other polymerizable compounds to form a three - dimensional structure and may be further defined as either solvent - borne or solvent - free acrylic copolymers . in preferred embodiments of the invention , the crosslinkable acrylic copolymer is a solvent - borne acrylic copolymer . in other preferred embodiments , the crosslinkable acrylic copolymer is a solvent - free acrylic copolymer . solvent - borne acrylic copolymers are adhesives in which volatile organic compounds are the major solvent or dispersant . in contrast , solvent - free acrylic copolymers have an absence of any organic solvent in adhesive . in some embodiments of the present invention , acrylate copolymers may include a comonomer selected from the group consisting of acrylamide , acrylonitrile , acrylic acid , alpha - methyl styrene , butyl acrylate , ethyl acrylate , n - butyl acrylate , 2 - ethylhexyl acrylate , glycidylmethacrylate , 2 - hydroxyethylmethacrylate , hexyl acrylate , hydroxyethyl acrylate , isobornyl acrylate , isobutyl acrylate , isooctyl acrylate , isodecyl acrylate , isononyl acrylate , methacrylic acid , methyl acrylate , methacrylonitrile , n - vinyl caprolactam , nonyl acrylate , caprolactam , propyl acrylate , tert - butyl acrylate , vinyl acetate , vinyl pyrrlidone , styrene , and combinations thereof . examples of useful monomers for the acrylate copolymers include , but not exclusively , the following groups : group a — acrylic acid esters of an alkyl alcohol ( preferably a non - tertiary alcohol ), the alcohol containing from 1 to 14 ( preferably from 4 to 14 ) carbon atoms and include , for example , methyl acrylate , ethyl acrylate , n - butyl acrylate , t - butyl acrylate , hexyl acrylate , isooctyl acrylate , 2 - ethylhexyl acrylate , isononyl acrylate , isobornyl acrylate , phenoxyethyl acrylate , decyl acrylate , and dodecyl acrylate ; group b — methacrylic acid esters of an alkyl alcohol ( preferably a non - tertiary alcohol ), the alcohol containing from 1 to 14 ( preferably from 4 to 14 ) carbon atoms and include , for example , methyl methacrylate , ethyl methacrylate , n - propyl methacrylate , n - butyl methacrylate , isobutyl methacrylate and t - butyl methacrylate ; group c —( meth ) acrylic acid monoesters of polyhydroxy alkyl alcohols such as 1 , 2 - ethanediol , 1 , 2 - propanediol , 1 , 3 - propane diol , the various butyl diols , the various hexanediols , glycerol , such that the resulting esters are referred to as hydroxyalkyl ( meth ) acrylates ; group d — multifunctional ( meth ) acrylate esters such as 1 , 4 - butanediol diacrylate , 1 , 6 - hexanediol diacrylate , glycerol diacrylate , glycerol triacrylate , and neopentyl glycol diacrylate although these monomers are generally not preferred for reactive extrusion or melt blending ; group e — macromeric ( meth ) acrylates such as ( meth ) acrylate - terminated styrene oligomers and ( meth ) acrylate - terminated polyethers , such as are described in pct patent application wo 84 / 03837 and european patent application ep 140941 ; and group f —( meth ) acrylic acids and their salts with alkali metals , including , for example , lithium , sodium , and potassium , and their salts with alkaline earth metals , including , for example , magnesium , calcium , strontium , and barium . in preferred embodiments of the present invention , the crosslinkable acrylate copolymer includes a comonomer comprising ethyl acrylate , 2 - ethylhexyl acrylate , methyl acrylate , vinyl acetate and combinations thereof . in other preferred embodiments , the crosslinkable acrylate copolymer is a solvent - borne crosslinkable acrylate copolymer comprising a comonomer which includes 2 - ethylhexyl acrylate , methyl acrylate , vinyl acetate and combinations thereof . an example of a commercially available solvent - borne acrylate copolymer suitable for use in the present invention includes cytec gms 2480 from cytec industries , inc ., west paterson , n . j ., u . s . a . cytec gms 2480 acrylic copolymer is also an example of a thermally and chemically - curable solvent - borne adhesive which includes a crosslinking agent comprising aluminum ( iii ) acetylacetonate ( alacac ). in still other preferred embodiments , the crosslinkable acrylate copolymer includes a benzophenone - functionalized acrylic copolymer , preferably a benzophenone - functionalized solvent - free acrylic copolymer comprising 2 - ethylhexyl acrylate or butyl acrylate comonomer . in still yet other preferred embodiments , the crosslinkable acrylate copolymer is a solvent - free crosslinkable benzophenone - functionalized acrylate copolymer which includes a copolymer comprising 2 - ethylhexyl acrylate or butyl acrylate comonomer . examples of such acrylate copolymers are commercially available solvent - free acrylate copolymers sold under the trademark acresin ®, particularly , acresin ® a260 uv from basf corporation , charlotte , n . c ., u . s . a . the acresin ® a260 uv acrylic copolymer is also an example of a uv radiation - curable solvent - free adhesive having a chemically built - in photoreactive chemical moiety . a multi - functionalized crosslinkable oligomer referred to herein is an oligomer having two or more chemically functional moieties capable of undergoing a crosslinking polymerization reaction with itself or other polymerizable compounds to form a three - dimensional structure . the “ oligomer ” portion of multi - functionalized oligomers refers to a polymer - like compound consisting of a finite number of monomer units , in contrast to a polymer which , at least in principle , consists of an unlimited number of monomers . the upper limit of monomer units is typically less than 50 , preferably less than 25 and most preferably , less than 10 . the term “ telomere ” is sometimes used synonymously with oligomer . the oligomer may comprise a single molecular structure as the monomer unit or different molecular structures as comonomer units . examples of typical oligomeric monomer and comonomer units suitable for use in the present invention include , but are not limited to , acrylate , acrylic , epoxy , polyether , polyol , polyester , saturated and unsaturated rubber , polyurethane and combinations thereof . in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , the oligomeric monomer or comonomer unit is polyurethane . the functional moieties of multi - functionalized oligomers may include , for example , di - functional moieties with terminally positioned moieties , one at each end of the oligomer , or tri - functional moieties , typically comprising one grafted moiety within the oligomer chain and two terminally positioned moieties . multi - functionalized oligomers useful in the adhesive composition may include , but are not limited to , the represented by structures ( i ), ( ii ) and ( iii ) shown below : where r 1 , r 2 and r 3 represent functional moieties and may be the same or different functional moiety . in the exemplary structures above , terminal functionalized oligomers are shown in structures ( i ) and ( iii ), while a terminal and grafted functionalized oligomer is shown in structure ( ii ). examples of suitable functional moieties include , but not limited to , an acrylate moiety , epoxy moiety , hydroxy moiety and combinations thereof . in one preferred embodiment of the invention , the functional moiety is an acrylate moiety . in another preferred embodiment of the invention , the functional moiety is epoxy or epoxy and hydroxy . as described above , the monomer unit may include one or two or more chemically different repeating units . examples of commercially available multi - functionalized crosslinkable oligomers include , not are not limited to , urethane multi - acrylate functionalized oligomer , such as , for example , cn 962 , cn 964 , cn 965 , cn 934 and cn 972 from sartomer company , inc , exton , pa ., u . s . a . ; and actilane 130 , 170 , 270 , and 290 supplied by akzo nobel resins , baxley , ga ., u . s . a . ; genomer 4269 from rahn u . s . a . corporation , aurora , ill ., u . s . a ; and ebecryl 230 , 270 , 8803 , 4827 , and 6700 from ucb chemicals , smyrna , ga ., u . s . a . a photoinitiator refers to any compound that , by exposure to electromagnetic radiation , undergoes a photoreaction , producing one or more reactive species . these reactive species are capable of initiating the polymerization of reaction of other polymerizable compounds within the composition , and may include , for example , free - radical species and cationic species . in general , most free - radical photoinitiators are reactive to uv radiation having a wavelength between 200 to 400 nm , but some free - radical species have been developed to react to radiation in the ir range . cationic photoinitiators produce brönsted or lewis acid and can be activated by exposure to uv or electron beam radiation . in preferred embodiment of the present invention , a photoinitiator polymerizes the multi - functionalized oligomer . exemplary photoinitiators useful for polymerizing the functionalized oligomers include acetophenones , aryl phosphineoxides , aryl sulfonium and aryl iodonium salts of hexafluorophosphate , benzyl / benzoins , benzopheneones , thioxanthones , onium salts , and combination thereof . suitable free radical photoinitiators can include benzoins ethers , such as benzoin methyl ether or benzoin isopropyl ether , substituted benzoin ethers , such as anisoin methyl ether , substituted acetophenones , such as 2 , 2 - diethoxyacetophenone and 2 , 2 - dimethoxy - 2 - phenylacetophenone , substituted alpha - ketols , such as 2 - methyl - 2 - hydroxypropiophenone , aromatic sulfonyl chlorides , such as 2 - naphthalene - sulfonyl chloride , and photoactive oximes , such as 1 - phenyl - 1 , 2 - propanedione - 2 ( o - ethoxycarbonyl ) oxime . free radical photoinitiators for use in the compositions of the invention include , but are not limited to , commercially available compounds such as irgacure 651 and 819 from ciba specialty chemicals corp . ; tarrytown , n . j ., u . s . a . an exemplary cationic photoinitiator which is commercially available includes [ 4 -[( 2 - hydroxytetradecyl ) oxy ] phenyl ] phenyliodium hexafluoroantimoate from aldrich chemical company , milwaukee , wis ., u . s . a . a crosslinking agent referred to herein is any substance that promotes or regulates intermolecular covalent bonding between acrylic copolymer chains , linking them together to create a more rigid structure . exemplary crosslinking agents useful for polymerizing acrylic copolymers , particularly , solvent - borne acrylic copolymers include amino resins , aziridines , melamines , isocyanates , metal acid esters , metal chelates , multifunctional propylene imines , and polycarbodiimides . in preferred embodiments of the present invention , the crosslinking agent include metal acid esters comprising aluminum ( iii ) acetylacetonate ( alacac ), chromium ( iii ) acetylacetonate ( cracac ), iron ( iii ) acetylacetonate ( feacac ), cobalt ( ii ) acetylacetonate ( coacac ), nickel ( ii ) acetylacetonate ( niacac ), manganese ( iii ) acetylacetonate ( mnacac ), titanium ( iv ) acetylacetonate ( tiacac ), zinc ( ii ) acetylacetonate ( znacac ), zirconium ( iv ) acetylacetonate ( zracac ), and combinations thereof . in a more preferred embodiment , the crosslinking agent is aluminum ( iii ) acetylacetonate ( alacac ). the crosslinking agent may be added as a separate component during fabrication of the adhesive compositions or may have been previously incorporated into the solvent - borne acrylic copolymer by a supplier of the same . the term “ curing ” is typically used as a synonym for crosslinking but can also refer to a combination of additional polymerization reaction plus crosslinking . curing of crosslinkable adhesive compositions , particularly , acrylic based adhesives may be accomplished generally by thermal , chemical and / or radiation crosslinking techniques . in general , thermal crosslinking includes evaporation or drying of a solvent or dispersant from the adhesive composition . thermal crosslinking may further include a chemical crosslinking reaction involving the use of one or more crosslinking agents which are activated by the evaporation of solvent from the adhesive composition . for those preferred embodiments employing solvent - borne crosslinkable acrylic copolymers , the acrylic copolymer undergoes thermal and chemical induced crosslinking reactions during a first curing stage by evaporation of a solvent of the adhesive composition . radiation crosslinking techniques include exposure to electromagnetic radiation of any frequency and preferably include infrared ( ir ) radiation , visible light , ultraviolet ( uv ) radiation , x - rays and gamma rays . radiation crosslinking also includes electron beam radiation methods and exposure to sunlight . for those preferred embodiment employing crosslinkable benzophenone - functionalized acrylic copolymers , particularly , crosslinkable solvent - free benzophenone - functionalized acrylic copolymers , the acrylic copolymer undergoes radiation induced crosslinking reaction during the first curing stage by exposure to uv or electron beam radiation , preferably uv radiation and more preferably uv radiation having a wavelength of less than 300 nm . in all embodiments of the present invention , the crosslinkable multi - functionalized oligomer or oligomers undergo a radiation induced crosslinking reaction during a second curing stage by exposure to uv radiation from a uv bulb or sunlight , preferably , uv radiation having a wavelength of least 200 nm , more preferably by uv radiation having a wavelength of between 300 to 500 nm , and most preferably , by uv radiation having a wavelength of between 320 to 380 nm . although specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings , it should be understood that such embodiments are by way of example only and merely illustrative of but a small number of the many possible specific embodiments which can represent applications of the principles of the present invention . examples 1 - 11 are illustrative of adhesive solutions comprising a solvent - borne crosslinkable acrylic copolymer and multi - functionalized crosslinkable oligomer according to the present invention . in a brown reaction vessel was placed an acrylic copolymer in the amounts shown in table 1 and solvent to provide a mixture having a 43 % total solids content . representative solvents can be organic , and include , for example , acetone , cyclopentanone , 1 , 2 - dimethoxyethane ( glyme ), ethyl acetate , heptane , hexane , isopropyl alcohol , methylene chloride , methyl - ethyl - ketone , methyl formate , nitromethane , pentanedione , toluene and the like . the multi - functionalized oligomer was then added neat to the acrylic copolymer / solvent mixture in the amounts shown in table 1 and stirred . once the oligomer was thoroughly mixed , the photoinitiator was added in the amounts shown in table 1 along with a sufficient amount of solvent to adjust the mixture to one having a total solids content of 43 %. comparative examples 1 - 4 are illustrative of adhesive solutions comprising a solvent - borne acrylic copolymer and a combination of mono - functionalized and multi - functionalized oligomers . in a brown reaction vessel were placed the components shown in table 2 in the same manner as described above for examples 1 - 11 , except that a combination of a mono - functionalized oligomer and multi - functionalized oligomer was used . the adhesive solutions described above were coated onto a 90 lb polycoated natural kraft release liner at a 12 mil wet thickness to yield a 3 . 5 gram / 100 in 2 dry coating weight . the samples were dried at 23 ° c . for 10 minutes . the above prepared coated samples of examples 1 - 11 and comparative examples 1 - 4 were dried at 90 ° c . in a forced air oven for an additional 10 minutes . the samples were removed from the oven and allowed to cool for 5 minutes . a 2 . 0 mil clear mylar film is laminated to the adhesive surface to form a test specimen for peel , tack and shear testing under conditions a through d ( described below ). a silicone coated mylar film is laminated to the adhesive surface to form a free test specimen for rheology testing under conditions e and f ( described below ). each specimen was subjected to uv radiation using a fusion uv d bulb at 15 feet / minute , 300 watts / inch . the fusion uv d bulb has a range of spectral output between 340 to 440 nm . the release liner was removed from the test specimen prior to testing . test specimens were subjected to the following conditions described below in table 3 prior to testing . 180 ° peel force measurements were determined as follows : a strip of tape is applied to a standard test panel ( stainless steel ) with controlled pressure . the tape is peeled from the panel at 180 ° angle at a rate of 12 inch / minute , during which time the force required to effect peel is measured . the peel force was determined using an instron tensile tester in accordance with pressure sensitive tape council ( pstc )- 16 procedure a test method . the results are shown in table 4 . loop tack measurements were determined as follows : a mylar test specimen described above was then cut into strips 1 inch wide by 7 inches long . the specimen was brought into contact with a 24 mm × 24 mm ( one square inch ) surface of stainless steel test panel , with the only force applied being the weight of the pressure sensitive article itself . the specimen was then removed from the panel , with the force to remove the adhesive from the adherent measured by a recording instrument . the loop tack was determined using an instron tensile tester in accordance with pressure sensitive tape council ( pstc )- 16 procedure a test method . the results are shown in table 5 . shear adhesion failure temperatures were determined as follows : a mylar test specimen described above was then cut into strips 1 inch wide by 7 inches long . one end of the specimen was mounted onto stainless steel test panel with a total contact area of one square inch . a 1 kilogram weight attached to the opposite end of the specimen . the specimen was heated to a temperature of 100 ° f . ( 38 ° c .) and allowed to equilibrate for 20 minutes at this temperature . the temperature of the specimen was increased at a rate of 0 . 5 °/ min to a maximum temperature of 425 ° f . ( 218 ° c .). the temperature at which the specimen becomes detached from the test panel was recorded . the shear adhesion failure temperature was determined in accordance with pressure sensitive tape council ( pstc )- 101 test method . the results are shown in table 6 . heated shear was determined identically as described above for shear adhesion failure temperature , except that the specimen was heated to a temperature of 320 ° f . ( 160 ° c .) and the amount of time to failure , i . e ., where specimen becomes detached from the test panel , was recorded . if no failure was observed , testing was stopped after 10 , 000 minutes . heated shear was determined in accordance with pressure sensitive tape council ( pstc )- 107 procedure g test method . the results are shown in table 7 . room temperature shear was determined identically as described above for shear adhesion failure temperature , except that a 2 . 3 kilogram weight was attached to the un - mounted end of the specimen and the specimen was heated to a temperature of 72 ° f . ( 22 ° c .). the amount of time to failure , i . e ., where specimen becomes detached from the test panel , was recorded . if no failure was observed , testing was stopped after 500 hours . room temperature shear was determined in accordance with pressure sensitive tape council ( pstc )- 107 procedure g test method . room temperature shear was determined in accordance with pressure sensitive tape council ( pstc )- 107 procedure a test method . the results are shown in table 8 . rheology measurements were determined as follows : the specimen is secured to a dynamic mechanical analyzer , model rda iii supplied by ta instruments , new castle , del ., u . s . a . specifically , the specimen is placed on the bottom plate parallel plate rheometer having a thickness of 1 . 5 mm and 8 mm diameter and equilibrated at 20 ° c . the top plate is pressed onto the specimen forming about a 1 mm gap . the specimen is heated to a maximum temperature of 70 ° c . and at a rate of 3 °/ min . various measurements such as the storage modulus ( or elastic modulus ), g ′; the loss modulus , g ″; the complex modulus , g *, [ the square root of the sum of ( g ′). sup . 2 +( g ″). sup . 2 ]; and the δ ( tan delta ), ( ratio of the loss modulus divided by the storage modulus ), and complex viscosity were recorded or calculated as function of time as the material sets . a temperature sweep at 10 radians / seconds and a strain of 0 . 1 % were employed for the purpose of measuring the flow properties of the material in its molten state . the results are shown in tables 9 - 11 . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and additions can be made to the various embodiments described above , without departing from the true scope and spirit of the present invention . it should be understood that this invention is not intended to be unduly limited by the illustrative embodiments set forth herein and that such embodiments are presented by way of example only with the scope of the invention intended to be limited only by the claims set forth herein as follows .	2
the detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of the presently preferred embodiments of the deadblow hammer in accordance with the present invention and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present invention may be constructed or utilized . the description sets forth the features and the steps for constructing and using the deadblow hammer of the present invention in connection with the illustrated embodiments . it is to be understood , however , that the same or equivalent functions and structures may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention . also , as denoted elsewhere herein , like element numbers are intended to indicate like or similar elements or features . referring now to fig1 , there is shown a deadblow hammer (“ hammer ”) provided in accordance with practice of the present invention , which is generally designated 10 . the hammer 10 comprises a hammerhead 12 , which includes a body 14 , an impact section 16 , an impact plate 17 having an impact surface 18 and a claw 20 . the hammer 10 further comprises a handle 22 , which includes an attachment portion 24 for attaching to the open socket 26 of the hammerhead 12 and a handle portion 28 for facilitating gripping of the hammer 10 . the handle 22 is shown with an optional handle grip 30 , which may be made from a rubber material and slidably inserted over the handle portion 28 of the handle 22 . the hammerhead 10 is preferably cast from a steel material but alternatively may be forged from a steel block . the handle 22 may be any number of conventional handles , including handles made from wood , plastic , and fiberglass . referring now to fig2 , there is shown a semi - schematic cross - sectional view of the hammer 10 of fig1 . as shown , the hammerhead 12 comprises a hollow chamber 32 , which is also referred to herein as an anti - recoil chamber . the hollow chamber 32 comprises an enlarged chamber section 34 , a relatively smaller tail chamber section 36 , and a tapered transitional section 38 . the tapered transitional section 38 may include a straight taper , as shown , or a curved taper . the hollow chamber 32 further includes a first opening 40 that is just proximal of the tail chamber section 36 . the first opening 40 opens into the open socket 26 and is in communication with the open socket . however , once the handle 22 is inserted into the open socket 26 , the communication is severed and the attachment portion 24 of the handle occupies the open socket ( fig2 ). although the open socket 26 is shown with a straight wall , it is understood that a tapered wall may be incorporated without deviating from the scope of the present invention . a separate impact plate 17 is shown attached to the body 14 of the hammerhead 12 and covers the hollow chamber &# 39 ; s second opening 42 . the second opening 42 is shown larger than the first opening 40 . however , the arrangement is merely a designer &# 39 ; s choice as the relative dimensions between the first opening 40 and the second opening 42 may be reversed . the impact plate 17 may be attached to the body 14 by conventional welding methods , by threads , or by inertia welding . in inertia welding , the body 14 is held in a lath and spins at relatively high speed . the lath used for inertia welding can be a vertical standing lath or a horizontal lath . the impact plate 17 , which is not spinning , is then pushed against the spinning end surface 44 of the second opening 42 . the friction generated by the contact causes the impact plate 17 and the end surface 44 to partially melt , which results in their fusion . as a by - product of their impact , a protruding section 46 is formed on the impact plate 17 , which protrudes into the hollow chamber 32 . alternatively , the impact plate 17 can be rotated in the lath and the body 14 held stationary . a plurality of insert elements 48 are shown placed in the hollow chamber 32 . the insert elements 48 can be any number of weighted materials such as spherical pellets , small metal scraps , lead shots , or their equivalence . in one embodiment , steel pellets 50 are used for the insert elements 48 . the quantity of steel pellets 50 used is approximately equal to 25 % to 70 % of the weight of the hammerhead 12 with 30 % to 60 % being more preferred . in another embodiment , tungsten shots are used for their relatively heavier density than steel . consequently , less space or volume is required for the same weight percentage when tungsten shots are used . the insert elements 48 are added to the hollow chamber 32 by individually depositing the steel pellets 50 in through the first opening 40 , before attaching the handle 22 into the open socket 26 and after attaching the impact plate 17 to the end surface 44 . alternatively , the steel pellets 50 may be added to the hollow chamber by first magnetizing the pellets or gluing the pellets so that they form a single large mass . the single large mass can then be added to the hollow chamber via the second opening 42 , before attaching the impact plate 17 to the end surface 44 . subsequently , the impact plate 17 may be attached to the end surface 44 by inertia welding , using a vertical standing lath , or by conventional welding . due to the size of the single large mass , it will not fall out of or fall through the first opening 40 when the welding is taking place . it is understood that if conventional welding is utilized to attach the impact plate 17 to the end surface 44 , the surfaces to be welded should be chamfered to provide a v - groove 35 for welding , see , e . g ., fig2 a . turning now to fig3 , there is shown an alternative hammerhead 12 a provided in accordance with practice of the present invention . the hammerhead includes a single large opening 42 leading into the hollow chamber 32 . the smaller opening has been eliminated from the hammerhead 12 shown in fig2 , but the tail chamber section 36 and the tapered transitional section 38 still incorporated . the hammerhead 12 a may be made by casting or forging the body 14 a separately from the impact plate 17 . the insert elements 48 may be added to the hollow chamber 32 and the impact plate 17 welded to the end surface 44 of the body 14 a in the same fashion as discussed above with reference to fig2 . turning now to fig4 , there is shown another alternative hammerhead 12 b provided in accordance with practice of the present invention . the hammerhead 12 b includes a single large opening 42 leading into the hollow chamber 32 . the hollow chamber 32 is preferably cylindrical but may take on other or additional contours , such as a slight taper from the large opening 42 towards the back wall 52 of the hollow chamber . the hammerhead 12 b may be made by casting or forging the body 14 b separately from the impact plate 17 . the insert elements 48 may be added to the hollow chamber 32 and the impact plate 17 welded to the end surface 44 of the body 14 b in the same fashion as discussed above with reference to fig2 . turning now to fig5 , there is shown yet another alternative hammerhead 12 c provided in accordance with practice of the present invention . the hammerhead 12 c includes a single small opening 40 that leads into the hollow chamber 32 , as shown in fig2 . however , the impact plate 17 is now integrally formed with the body 14 c . the hammerhead 14 c is therefore made from casting only , as further discussed below . the insert elements 48 may be added to the hollow chamber 32 by adding the individual pellets in through the small opening 40 before inserting the handle 22 into the open socket 26 , as discussed above with reference to fig2 . fig5 a shows still yet another alternative hammerhead 12 d provided in accordance with practice of the present invention . similar to the other embodiments ( i . e ., fig1 - 5 ), the present embodiment preferably includes two openings 33 , one on each of the left and right side surface of the hammerhead body 14 d and each being in communication with the hollow chamber 32 . the impact surface 18 is integrally cast with the body 14 d and the open socket 26 extends through the body without an opening , like the embodiment of fig5 . thus , the insert elements 48 are added to the hollow chamber 32 via the side openings 33 and then subsequently sealed by plugs or caps . alternatively , the openings 33 may be located along the upper and lower side surfaces of the hammerhead body 14 d , and may take on 1 or more than 2 openings . the present embodiment , as well as other embodiments disclosed elsewhere herein , allows a conventional handle with a split attachment portion 24 to be used as it permits a wedge or several wedges to be inserted into the split attachment portion from the top of the open socket to wedge - in or lock - in the handle . fig6 is a top view of the hammerhead 12 of fig1 - 5 . although shown with the particular impact plate 17 , impact section 16 , open socket , and claw 20 , it is understood that the hammerhead 12 may vary in any of these features , and in addition , in length , width , tapered neck section 54 , stepped collar section 56 ( located in between the impact section 16 and the tapered neck section ), etc . without deviating from the scope the present invention . for example , the present invention may be practiced by varying the metallurgy , the overall hammerhead weight , and replacing the claw 20 with another impact section , as further discussed below . fig7 is an end view of the hammerhead 12 of fig2 taken at line a - a . as shown , the large opening 42 opens into the hollow chamber 32 , which has a circular chamber surface 58 . the circular chamber surface 58 intersects the transitional section 38 , which connects to the tail chamber section 36 , which terminates into the small opening 40 . fig8 is an end view of the impact plate 17 provided in accordance with practice of the present invention . the impact plate 17 includes an impact surface 18 having an array of bumps or serrations 60 , which may be formed from casting , forging , or machining from bar stocks . however , a smooth surface or a dispersed array of bumps may be used instead of the serrated impact surface 18 . fig9 is a semi - schematic cross - sectional view of the impact plate 17 of fig8 taken at line b - b . as evident by fig9 , a neck or stepped surface on the rear surface 62 of the impact plate 17 is not necessary as a protruding section 46 will form as a by - product of the inertia welding ( see , e . g ., fig2 ). fig1 shows an alternative hammerhead provided in accordance with practice of the present invention , which is generally designated 64 . the hammerhead 64 is commonly found in a sledge hammer . in particular , the hammerhead 64 comprises a body 66 , a central open socket 68 ( which is shown with a tapered surface but may include a straight surface ), and two impact sections 70 with integrally molded impact surfaces 72 . the hammerhead 64 further includes two hollow chambers 74 , one in each of the impact section 70 . each hollow chamber 74 includes a tapered transition section 76 that leads to a tail chamber section 78 and that leads to an opening 80 . as previously discussed with reference to , for example , fig1 , and 5 , the insert elements 48 may be added to each of the hollow chamber 74 by way of the small opening 80 , and preferably in equal amount . as before , the total insert elements should range from about 25 % to 70 % of the weight of the hammerhead 64 , with about 30 % to 60 % of the total weight being more preferred . [ 00471 although the hammerhead 64 is shown with integrally formed impact surfaces 72 , separate impact plates may be used and thereafter welded to the body 66 , as previously discussed with reference to fig2 - 4 . if separate impact plates are used , the small openings 80 may be eliminated from the hammerhead 64 , such as that shown in fig3 and 4 . fig1 is a block flow diagram 82 of an exemplary manufacturing method provided in accordance with practice of the present invention . as shown , the method includes creating a metal die for the hammerhead 84 . the metal die for the hammerhead can take on any number of configurations , including a hammerhead with a single opening , an integral impact surface , a sledge hammerhead , a finishing hammerhead , or a framing hammerhead , just to name a few . next , melted wax is pour into the die to create a wax replica of the hammerhead 86 . the wax is then dipped into a slurry bath comprising silica flour and a chemical binder to form an “ investment ” 88 . after the investment hardens , the wax is removed from the investment by heating the investment and the wax in an oven or a steam chamber 90 to melt the wax . once the wax is removed , the investment is baked or fired in a heater 92 to cure . molten metal is then poured into the cured investment 94 to form the cast hammerhead . once the cast hammerhead sufficiently cools , the investment is removed 96 by impacting the hammerhead to break up the investment . the hammerhead is now ready to receive the insert elements 98 . as discussed above with reference to fig2 - 5 , if the impact plate is separately produced , the impact plate is then attached to the hammerhead via welding . a handle is then attached to the hammerhead 100 to complete the deadblow hammer . fig1 depicts a metal golf club 102 that incorporates a hollow chamber 104 for receiving insert elements 48 . the golf club head 106 is preferably cast so that the hollow chamber 104 may be formed into the sole 105 of the club head during fabrication . the hosel 107 shown can be any prior art hosel , including an offset hosel or a more conventional hosel for attaching to a shaft . the hollow chamber 104 preferably runs the width of the club face 108 ( the direction that is perpendicular to the viewing plane ) and is sealed by a cap ( not shown ). the cap can be attached to the club head 106 by welding . in an exemplary embodiment , steel pellets making up about 10 % to 50 % of the club head 10 is used to dampen the vibration and the recoil effects of the club head 106 as the club face 108 miss hits and strikes the ground . exemplary metal golf clubs are disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 344 , 000 , which is incorporated herein by reference . fig1 depicts a metal wood golf head 110 that incorporates a hollow chamber 112 for receiving insert elements 48 . the hollow chamber is formed by attaching retaining clips 114 to the club face 116 and to the shell 118 and connecting a hollow tube 120 thereinbetween . although a hosel is not shown , it is understood that any prior art hosel may be incorporated into the golf club head 1 10 for attaching to a shaft . similar to the golf club head of fig1 , the insert elements 48 preferably make up about 10 % to about 50 % of the weight of the metal wood 1 10 . exemplary metal wood golf clubs are disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 873 , 791 , which is incorporated herein by reference . although the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described with some specificity , the description and drawings set forth herein are not intended to be delimiting , and persons of ordinary skill in the art will understand that various modifications may be made to the embodiments discussed herein without departing from the scope of the invention , and all such changes and modifications are intended to be encompassed within the appended claims . various changes to the hammerhead and golf club head may be made including changing the contour , the weight , the hollow chamber configuration , and the overall dimensions , etc . accordingly , many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinary skill in the art without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention .	0
for the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention , reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawing and specific language will be used to describe the same . it will be understood that no rights have been waived and no limitations have been placed on the scope of the invention . future modifications of the geometric design , and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates . to promote and to ease the understanding of the following text the word &# 34 ; rings &# 34 ; has been substituted for the word &# 34 ; bulls - eyes &# 34 ;. referring to fig1 there is illustrated a one piece three dimensional archery target made of high impact plastic . the target consists of three rows of rings with each row having a different size of equally spaced rings . the first row of rings 1 . and 1a . is the top of the target and the largest row of rings . the inside diameter of 1 . and 1a . is three inches . the outside diameter of 1 . and 1a . is three and five eights inches . the width of 1 . and 1a . is one half of an inch . a spacer 5 . measuring five sixteenth by one half by one and one half inches equally separates the top four rings 1 . and 1a . the second row consists of six equally spaced rings 2 . 2a . 2b . measuring one and one eighth inches for the inside diameter . the outside diameter of 2 . 2a . 2b . is one and three fourth of an inch . the width of 2 . 2a . 2b . is one half of an inch . rings 2 . 2a . 2b . are equally separated by a spacer 6 . measuring five sixteenth by one half by two inches . the third row of rings 3 . 3a . 3b . is the bottom of the target and have an inside diameter of two inches . the outside diameter of 3 . 3a . 3b . is two and five eights inches . the width of rings 3 . 3a . 3b . is one half of an inch . rings 3 . 3a . 3b . are equally spaced and separated by 7 . a spacer measuring five sixteenth by one half by one and one half inches . the outside corner rings 1 . and 3 . have a bracket 4 . located on the top of ring 1 . and the bottom of ring 3 . perspectively . bracket 4 . has a prepunched five sixteenth inch hole centered three fourth of an inch from the top . bracket 4 . measures one half by five eights by three inches . bracket 4 . is used to secure the target via anchor pins to a proper back stop . rings 1 . 2 . 3 . are connected by a spacer 8 . measuring five sixteenth by one half by two and five eights inches . rings 1a . and 2a . are connected by 9 . a spacer measuring five sixteenth by one half by two and five eights inches . rings 2a . and 3b . are connected by 10 . a spacer measuring five sixteenth by one half by two and five eights inches . each row of rings , 1 . 1a ., 2 . 2a . 2b ., 3 . 3a . 3b ., have a vertical separation of two and one half inches . the top row of combined rings 1 . 1a . and spacers 5 . are nineteen inches long . the center row of combined rings 2 . 2a . 2b . and spacers 6 . are twenty and one half inches long . the bottom row of combined rings 3 . 3a . 3b . and spacers 7 . are nineteen and one eighth inches long . the height of the target from the top to the bottom of bracket 4 . perspectively is nineteen inches . each row of rings 1 . 1a . 2 . 2a . 2b . 3 . 3a . 3b . will be color coded to our discretion .	5
suitable base fabrics , for use in the invention , may be of conventional mesh type . they may be non - woven , as obtained by laying filaments from two directions , e . g . having a stabilon or chavanoz - type construction . preferred mesh fabrics are woven or , most preferably , knitted . they may also be produced with a biased warp and weft , by spirally slitting a tubular fabric woven on a circular loom , or woven double on a flat loom . examples of suitable materials are aramids , cotton , rayon , polyester , polyamide , pva , pvdf and any other known filamentary system . the mesh fabric is one which has a degree of stretchability in one or both dimensions . in one embodiment of the invention , the base fabric is stabilised by the insertion , into the fabric construction , of a longitudinal carrier thread . the carrier thread may be a low strength filamentary material of sufficient strength to carry the fabric through slitting and the production of , say , a green hose , without distortion . when the stabilised fabric is incorporated into a composite product that requires shaping , e . g . a radiator coolant hose , the carrier thread is capable of breaking or passing its yield point , if appropriate on heating , thus enabling the shaping action to take place . the carrier thread may consist of a thermoplastic material having an initial high modulus and high extension beyond its yield point . this material may or may not melt during subsequent processing , e . g . rubber cure . thermoplasticity of the material can be utilised , in producing the stabilising fabric , to fix the mesh angle of the fabric at a desired value . a suitable thermoplastic material melts at at least 125 ° c ., at least 150 ° c . or at least 165 ° c . polypropylene , polyethylene or low - melting nylon is preferred . the carrier thread may be bonded to the mesh fabric in any desired manner , e . g . adhesively and / or by stitching . stitching may be particularly appropriate for an inlay mesh fabric . in another embodiment of the invention , the base fabric has applied thereto a system that &# 34 ; locks &# 34 ; the fabric . again , this may serve to provide a desired mesh angle . examples of application methods are dot - coating , powder - coating and other applications of a binding composition . such a composition is , for example , a latex , a resorcinol formaldehyde / latex composition , a pvc plastisol or any other adhesive system . the binding is adapted to be releasable under given conditions . binding or any other stabilising means may be released at a given temperature or under other conditions . for example , release may be chemically - activated , e . g . by including a material which gives an agent affecting the stabilising means under certain conditions . such a material may be included in the fabric or in the matrix reinforced by the fabric . a product of the invention may be made by generally known techniques , e . g . the separate extrusion of two layers of extrudable matrix material and the insertion therebetween of the reinforcing fabric . the product is preferably in the form of a tube or hose , but it will be apparent that the invention is equally applicable to the production of other products , such as cables , upholstery , boots or other footwear , roofing or tent reinforcement , and bicycle tires . in general , the invention is appropriate for use in cases where the product has to be bent through an arc or otherwise deformed into a desired shape . shaping may be sufficient to provide a stable product : if necessary , curing or vulcanisation may follow . by way of example , a hose of the invention may be produced by extruding material from first and second coaxial extrusion heads , and continuously supplying a strip of stabilised reinforcing fabric between the heads . the strip is applied so that its longitudinal edges are contiguous or overlapping , the strip being applied onto the inner layer of extruded material . the reinforcing fabric should preferably have a sufficiently open structure that the material or materials extruded through the coaxial heads can flow together through the fabric . the stabilised reinforcing fabric has a modulus of elasticity which is relatively high , and thus a low degree of stretch , e . g . under tension up to a certain value . when the tension exceeds this value , the stabilising means may break or deconstruct , or the modulus of elasticity may be relatively low , and the fabric can therefore be relatively easily stretched . initially , the fabric will maintain its shape when a force is applied in the longitudinal direction of the hose . when the hose is bent , the fabric is under strain at the outside of the bend , such that the stabilising means will be destroyed or deconstructed , or become yielding , so that the fabric can be stretched together with the material of the hose . neither the base fabric nor the wall of the hose tears . the cross - section and stability of the hose are maintained . the low elasticity exists for the fabric per se , and is retained over a range of conditions including slitting and bonding to a curable rubber or plastics matrix . this effect is reduced or removed under different conditions , e . g . under tension , but without affecting the integrity of the mesh . therefore , after application of these different conditions , the fabric essentially comprises only , or substantially only , the mesh . if the stabilising means is broken or otherwise deconstructed , or yields , under tension , the relative melting points of the mesh fabric and stabilising means are not critical . however , if the stabilising means is not breakable or yielding , the melting point of the stabilising means should be lower than that of the mesh fabric . in particular , the reinforcing fabric can be in the shape of a knitted or woven fabric with an open structure and with meshes in the shape of a rhombus , parallelogram or other rectangle ; opposing corner points of succeeding meshes lie on a line which , when the fabric is laid in the hose material , extends substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the hose , and are connected by longitudinal threads . these threads effect their connecting function as long as this is necessary , especially during slitting the fabric and a green hose production process . the reinforcing fabric may comprise a woven fabric whose warp and weft threads are at a given distance from each other and are connected to each other at opposing corner points by means of connecting threads that extend at an oblique angle over the woven fabric . the connection itself can be achieved by , for example , welding or adhesively - binding the warp and weft threads and the connecting threads to each other . welding is particularly suitable if the threads are of thermoplastic material . in this case , the warp threads will not coincide with the longitudinal direction of the hose to which the fabric is applied . this is less preferred , owing to the subsequent loss of material . however , this disadvantage can be overcome by employing a woven fabric in which those threads running in the direction in which the fabric must be stretched , are formed by elastic threads and also a non - elastic thread for a given number of elastic threads ; the non - elastic thread is adapted to lose its non - elasticity , or to break , when a given strain is exceeded . a further alternative is that the reinforcing fabric is formed by a knitted fabric , in particular a knitted fabric produced by means of a raschel machine . the meshes may thus be defined by double threads . in this case , the corner points of the meshes can simply be connected to stabilising threads , without welding or glueing . different fabric materials are of course suited to different types of construction . an aramid material is less suitable to be looped , and a base fabric of such a material may comprise a bonded mesh of linear filaments . if desired , stabilising carrier threads may be stitched in . in general , it is preferred that the meshes are defined by sides making an angle of 40 ° to 80 °, e . g . 40 ° to 70 °, preferably 45 ° to 65 °, e . g . about 54 °, with the longitudinal direction of the fabric and of a hose or other product including the fabric . fig1 of the accompanying drawings shows an extrusion device 1 comprising coaxial extrusion heads 2 and 3 with respective connections 4 and 5 for the supply of material to be extruded . the extrusion heads 2 and 3 respectively provide an inner hose portion 6 and an outer hose portion 7 . a reinforcing fabric 8 is supplied onto the hose portion 6 via a slit positioned between the extrusion heads 2 , 3 . in the interest of clarity , the hose portions 6 and 7 and the reinforcing fabric 8 are shown at some distance from each other . it will be readily appreciated that the hose portions 6 and 7 are in fact closely attached to each other , to form a hose 9 . fig2 shows one example of a reinforcing fabric , e . g . the fabric 8 , comprising threads 10 and 11 defining rhomboid meshes 12 . the threads 10 , 11 each define an angle α with respect to both the longitudinal direction l of the reinforcing fabric and also the longitudinal direction of the hose 9 . the angle α is , for example , 54 °. longitudinally - opposing crossing - points 13 of the meshes 12 are connected by means of connecting threads 14 . the threads 14 are of limited tensile strength , but can withstand the force which is exerted on the fabric 8 in the direction l during extrusion of the hose portions 6 and 7 , during which the fabric is stretched only to a limited extent . on bending the uncured hose 9 , the stretch to which the threads 14 is subjected , in particular in the outer portion of the bend , is sufficient to exceed the yielding or breaking point of the threads 14 . fig3 and 4 use , for the purposes of analogy only , the same reference numerals as in fig2 . they illustrate a reinforcing fabric of the invention , e . g . the reinforcing fabric 8 , obtained by means of a raschel machine . in this case , the threads 10 , 11 comprise knitted stitches and are double - threaded . the connecting threads 14 may also be double - threaded , and may be knitted with the threads 10 , 11 at the points 13 , to provide the reinforcing fabric with good dimensional stability . alternatively , the connecting threads 14 may be welded or glued to the other threads at the points 13 . fig5 shows a woven fabric , e . g . the fabric 8 , comprising elastic warp threads 15 and also warp threads 16 having a substantially higher stiffness . the threads 16 break or yield when a given force is exerted in the direction of the arrow k . fig6 shows the elasticity of a reinforcing fabric , with respect to an increasing applied force k . at a given force k b and a degree of stretch r b , stabilising threads ( 14 or 16 ) yield or break . thereafter , only a small force k 1 has to be exerted on the fabric to maintain the stretch r b , and the stretch can increase considerably as k is increased only to a small extent . under these conditions , the modulus of elasticity of the fabric is small , so that the fabric can be stretched easily and brought into the desired shape , without losing the fabric &# 39 ; s ability to reinforce the product . fig7 corresponds in part to fig6 . under the applied force k b and at the stretch r b , stabilising threads ( 14 or 16 ) yield , and the stretchability of the reinforcing fabric increases considerably , for only a small increase in applied force . a dimensionally - unstable ( in the sense that it can be stretched in the warp and weft directions ) fabric , of the type having a diamond knit construction , and commonly used as a reinforcement for automotive coolant hose , is based on b 420 dtex aramid ( twaron ) and an atlas stitch of 3 . 35 whales / cm and 9 . 9 columns / cm . the total greige weight is about 80 g / m 2 . this fabric is stabilised by the introduction of a 78 dtex polypropylene yarn as carrier thread , to give a fabric as illustrated in fig3 and 4 . after knitting , this fabric is passed through a dipping unit where an adhesive coating of an rfl is applied and dried at a temperature just under the melting point , so that the carrier yarn shrinks to form a high modulus carrier . it is also possible to heat - set the fabric , without applying any coating . the stabilised fabric is used for the reinforcement of a coolant hose by means of apparatus as illustrated in fig1 . the carrier thread ensures that the diamond pattern of the reinforcement is not distorted during slitting and extrusion . during the shaping of the coolant hose , the carrier thread extends beyond its yield or break . if the temperature during shaping is above 165 ° c ., the polypropylene carrier thread will meld . a dimensionally - unstable fabric of the same type of construction and also commonly used as a reinforcement for automotive coolant hose is based on 1220 dtex rayon and has an atlas stitch of 4 . 72 whales / cm and 5 . 51 columns / cm . the total greige weight is about 163 g / m 2 . the mesh fabric is stabilised by the introduction of a 78 dtex polypropylene yarn . after knitting , this fabric is taken through a stenter . rfl adhesive treatment of the fabric at this stage is optional . by the influence of the heat , the carrier yarn is shrunk to form a high modulus carrier yarn . at the same time the fabric is brought under the desired reinforcement angle ( 40 ° to 70 °) according to the application needs . the carrier yarn ensures that the fabric does not lose its shape during the following processes , e . g . slitting and extrusion . during shaping , a higher load will be applied which will extend the carrier yarn or break it .	1
in a two - switch buck - converter circuit 100 shown in fig1 a switching regulator 102 is coupled to a dc input voltage source 104 , such as a battery , by an input terminal 106 . the switching regulator 102 is also coupled to a load 108 , such as an integrated circuit , by an output terminal 110 . the switching regulator 102 serves as a dc - to - dc converter between the input terminal 106 and the output terminal 110 . the switching regulator 102 includes a power switch 112 and a rectifier switch 116 . the power switch 112 is a n - segment p - channel power mosfet . (“ pmos power transistor ”) which alternately couples and decouples the input terminal 106 to an intermediate node 114 ; the rectifier switch 116 is a n - segment n - channel power mosfet (“ nmos power transistor ”) which alternately couples and decouples the intermediate node 114 to ground 118 . the value of n — i . e ., the number of segments — can be selected by a circuit designer to achieve a desired measurement accuracy ( described below ). a filter is configured to convert the rectangular waveform of the intermediate voltage v x at the intermediate terminal 114 into a substantially dc output voltage v out at the load 108 . in one implementation , the filter includes an inductor 120 and an output capacitor 122 . an implementation of the rectifier switch 116 and its associated driver circuitry is shown in fig2 . each segment 200 of the rectifier switch 116 includes an nmos transistor 204 . although each segment sn ( i ) is represented in fig2 by a single nmos transistor 204 , where i = 1 . . . n , integer , it should be noted that each segment sn ( i ) can be implemented by multiple single nmos transistors connected in parallel . the segments sn ( i ) are coupled such that : ( a ) all of the segment drains are connected to the intermediate node 114 ; ( b ) all of the segment sources are connected to ground 118 ; and ( c ) each of the segment gates are isolated and driven by a separate inverter driver 206 . the input of each inverter driver 206 is coupled to an nand gate 208 . the power switch 112 can be similarly implemented . the switching regulator 102 includes a controller 124 for controlling the operation of the power switch 112 and the rectifier switch 116 . the controller 124 can be implemented using circuitry , software , or a combination of both . one input of each nand gate 208 is connected by a common control line 126 to the controller , whereas the other input of each nand gate 208 is connected to the controller by an individual control line 128 . each segment sn ( i ) of the rectifier switch 116 is coupled to the first control line 126 by a sub - control line 202 . the controller 124 controls the switching of each segment sn ( i ) in the rectifier switch 116 by applying a common control signal ctrl ( nmos_switch ) to the first control line 126 and an individual control signal ctrln ( i ) to each second control line 128 . thus , a transistor 204 in a specific segment turns on only when both the common control signal ctrl ( nmos_switch ) and the associated individual control ctrln ( i ) are high . the switching of each segment sp ( i ) in the power switch 112 can be similarly controlled by the controller 124 by applying a common control signal ctrl ( pmos switch ) and an individual control signal ctrlp ( i ). in a normal mode of operation , the controller 124 alternately opens and closes all of the segments in the power switch 112 and the rectifier switch 116 , such that an intermediate voltage v x having a rectangular waveform is generated at the intermediate terminal 114 . for example , the controller 124 sets ctrln ( 1 , . . . , n )= 1 and then alternately switches between ctrl ( nmos_switch )= 1 and ctrl ( nmos_switch )= 0 to alternately turn on all of the segments sn ( i ) in the rectifier switch 116 simultaneously and then turn off all of the segments sn ( i ) in the rectifier switch 116 simultaneously . again , the power transistor 112 can be controlled similarly . the switching regulator 102 can be fabricated such that the power switch 112 , rectifier switch 116 , and load 108 are located on - chip ( i . e ., on a single chip ), and the controller 124 , inductor 120 and output capacitor 122 are discrete components located off - chip . such an implementation is shown in fig3 where the chip 130 includes only the power switch 112 rectifier switch 116 and load 108 . the performance of the switching regulator 102 is affected in part by the characteristics of the power switch 112 and the rectifier switch 116 . for example , to achieve high power conversion efficiency in the switching regulator 102 , the on - resistance rdson total of each switch should be low to minimize resistive conduction losses . the switching regulator can be operated in a segmentation measurement test mode so that the on - resistance rdson total [ measured ] of each switch can be measured . for example , assume the rectifier switch 16 ( having a transistor width w ntotal ) is partitioned into n segments , each having an equivalent segment width w ni . the ideal on - resistance rdson ni [ ideal ] of each segment sn ( i ) is defined by : in the segmentation measurement test mode , the following steps are performed to measure the on - resistance rdson ni [ measured ] of each segment sn ( i ) of the rectifier switch 116 : 1 . close a segment . sn ( i ) ( e . g ., to close segment sn ( 2 ) exclusively , the controller 124 sets ctrl ( nmos_switch )= 1 , ctrln ( 2 )= 1 , and ctrln ( 1 , 3 , 4 . . . , n )= 0 ). 2 . apply a current i ntest to the closed segment sn ( i ). 3 . measure a voltage drop v ni [ measured ] across the closed segment sn ( i ). 4 . calculate the on - resistance rdson ni [ measured ] of the closed segment sn ( i ): where v ni [ measured ] is the measured voltage drop across the closed segment sn ( i ) and i ntest is the amount of dc current applied to the closed segment sn ( i ). in practice , when making a measurement rdson s [ measured ] of the resistance of the switch with the test equipment , where rdson s [ actual ] is the on - resistance of the switch ( with all segments closed ), and rdson [ parasitic ] is the unwanted resistance due to wafer probe contact and automatic test equipment ( ate ) contact resistance . however , when making a measurement rdson ni [ measured ] of the resistance of a single segment in the switch with the test equipment , it is also generally the case that where rdson ni [ actual ] is the on - resistance of the segment based on the segment dimensions , and r [ parasitic ] is the unwanted resistance due to wafer probe contact and automatic test equipment ( ate ) contact resistance . once the on - resistance rdson ni [ measured ] of all of the segments sn ( i ) of the rectifier switch 116 have been obtained , the average on - resistance rdson ni [ measured ]{ avg } of the rectifier switch 116 can be calculated : rdson ni [ measured ]{ avg }=( rdson nn [ measured ]+. . . + rdson nl [ measured ])/ n rdson ni [ ideal ]{ avg }=( rdson nn [ ideal ]+. . . + rdson nl [ ideal ])/ n the on - resistance rdson s [ calculated ] of the rectifier switch 116 can be calculated from the following : rdson ni [ measured ]{ avg }/ n =[ rdson ni [ ideal ]{ avg }+ r ni [ parasitic ]{ avg }]/ n = rdson s [ ideal ]+[ r ni [ parasitic ]/ n ] the value of n can be selected to achieve a desired measurement accuracy of the voltage drops v ni [ measured ] across the respective closed segments sn ( i ). once the value of the low on - resistance rdson ntotal [ measured ] of the rectifier switch 116 is obtained , a comparison of the measured on - resistance rdson ntotal [ measured ] and the ideal on - resistance rdson ntotal [ ideal ] can be made . if , rdson ntotal [ measured ]& gt ;& gt ; rdson ntotal [ ideal ], then a failure analysis of the rectifier switch 116 can be performed by analyzing each segment &# 39 ; s on - resistance rdson ni [ measured ]. in this manner , segments that failed — i . e ., segments sn ( i ) having rdson ni [ measured ]& gt ;& gt ; rdson ni [ ideal ]— can be easily identified . the on - resistance rdson ptotal [ measured ] of the power switch 112 can be similarly calculated . in high output current applications , the performance of the switching regulator 102 can be evaluated using a closed - loop verification technique . in order to avoid the practical problems introduced by ate contact inductances ( e . g ., large transient noise across the switching regulator 102 ), the switching regulator 102 can be placed in a low output current test mode of operation . the closed - loop characteristics of the switching regulator 102 can be easily verified as long as the loop gain and opened - loop pole locations are kept the same . in one implementation , a switching regulator 102 in the low output current test mode is configured as follows : 1 . partition each switch into n segments having equivalent segment widths w i . 3 . increase the value of the output filter inductor 120 by n times ( i . e ., replace the discrete inductor component 120 having an inductance of l with a discrete inductor component 120 ′ having an inductance of n * l ). this will also serve to reduce ac ripple current passing through the regulator by the factor n . 4 . reduce the value of the output filter capacitor 122 by n times ( i . e ., replace the discrete capacitor component 122 having a capacitance of c with a discrete capacitance component 122 ′ having a capacitance of c / n ). 5 . reduce the tested load current range from 0 - imax to 0 - imax / n ( imax is the maximum load current for the switching regulator when using an application board ). specifically , a chip with the switching regulator 102 can be tested by installing the chip with the power switches 112 and 116 on a test board that is identical to the application board , except for having a discrete inductor component 120 ′ with an inductance of n * l ( where l is the inductance of the discrete inductor component 120 on the application board ) and a discrete capacitor component 122 ′ with an inductance of c / n ( where c is the capacitance of the discrete capacitor component 122 on the application board ) and a maximum load current of imax / n ( where imax is the maximum load current on the application board ). the switching regulator 102 is then run using just one ( or less than all ) of the n segments . for example , in power switch 112 , just one of the individual control signals ctrlp ( i ) is set high , the remainder of the individual control signals ctrlp ( i ) are set low , and the active segment is controlled by the common control signal ctrl ( pmos switch ). the rectifier switch 116 can be controlled similarly . while the switching regulator is running , the automatic testing equipment can be used to test the voltage at various points on the circuit and perform a failure analysis . assuming that the test is successful , the chip with the power switches 112 and 116 is then installed on an application board with the discrete inductor component 120 and discrete capacitor component 122 . as part of the testing , the closed - loop performance characteristic of the switching regulator can be measured . two exemplary performance characteristics are the line regulation and the load regulator . to measure the line regulation , two measurements of the output voltage are performed . the first measurement is performed with the minimum input voltage , and the second measurement is performed with the maximum input voltage . the deviation between the two measurements provides an estimate of the line regulation when the chip is installed on the application board . to measure the load regulation , another two measurements of the output voltage are performed . the first measurement is performed with the minimum load current , e . g ., zero , and the second measurement is performed with the maximum load current , e . g ., imax / n . the deviation between the two measurements provides an estimate of the load regulation when the chip is installed on the application board . in this manner , the combination of ( 3 ) and ( 5 ) reduces the maximum current passed through the regulator by n times , the combination of ( 1 ), ( 3 ), and ( 5 ) reduces the voltage overstress by approximately n times , and the combination of ( 1 ), ( 3 ) and ( 4 ) keeps the loop gain and opened - loop dominant pole locations nearly similar to those in the application circuit . by using a fraction of each switch and adjusting the values of the external discrete output filter inductor and capacitor components , the closed - loop characteristics of the switching regulator 102 can be verified . in addition , the general functionality of the various circuit blocks within the feedback control loop can be verified without having to measure each of the individual on - chip circuit blocks separately . this results in production test - time reduction and ultimately lower manufacturing costs . the invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments . other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims . for example , the steps of the invention can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results .	6
as shown in fig1 and fig1 a , a disclosed finger actuated pump dispenser pd is attached to the top of a sectional container 10 by attachment to the upwardly extending neck 12 of the upper portion container 10 . the said pump dispenser pd may be of any commercially available type such as finger - operated pumps used for dispensing healthcare lotions , creams , and soaps . the lower portion container ( base ) 18 , in its assembled position is locked into the bottom edge of said upper portion 10 by means of the tamper evident tear band 60 . attached underneath the said base 18 and locked into its assembled position by means of a tamper evident tear band 116 , is the lid cover 20 for said base 18 . considering the said container 10 in its assembled position ; located and adhered to the front and rear surface of container 10 are two adhesive product information labels 14 and 16 . the term container used herein is deemed to include a bottle . referring to fig1 a , fig2 , fig3 , fig4 , and fig5 the assembly of the upper section 10 and the lower section ( base ) 18 is performed by means of a downward movement of upper section 10 from the position of fig2 to the seated position of fig1 . the lower skirt of the tamper evident tear band 60 stretches to permit the slanted neck surfaces of the said base 18 to slide over the ridged surfaces of said tear band 60 . the continued downward compression of said upper portion 10 , until the neck 74 of said base 18 snaps into its position against the bottom surface of angled wall 24 . in this position , which locks the two sections together , provides for a tightly sealed container . as shown in fig3 and fig4 the lower base 18 , which has molded onto the bottom periphery , are ridges that allow the lid cover assembly 20 to attach . said lid cover 20 has molded into its uppermost edge a tamper evident closure 116 that stretches upon alignment and compression to permit the slanted interior surfaces to slide over the said ridges of base 18 periphery . as can be seen in fig5 ; a front adhesive label 14 and a rear adhesive label 16 , which are positioned and placed in their desired locations . said labels 14 , 16 are manufactured to contain perforated lines that are aligned with the tear lines of the frangible band of said closure outer skirt 36 . in the assembled position , said labels 14 , 16 also provide additional closure and seal protection for container contents . considering the separation of the container , as can be seen in fig2 , fig3 , and fig4 the sectional container is divided into its individual components by tearing and lifting off frangible tear bands 60 and 116 . said upper section 10 can then been snapped - off the lower section 18 and the said lid cover 20 can be snapped - off the underside of said base 18 . fig6 shows an exploded view of the container , the upper section of container 10 comprises along the bottom edge an angular internal wall 24 having a planar under surface 26 . as is best shown in fig6 ; an exploded sectional view 6 - 6 , suspended from the underside of said wall 24 is an interior skirt 28 which is relatively short and has an outwardly - downwardly slanted inner sealing surface 32 , a substantially vertical outer wall 30 and an inwardly downwardly tapered edge 34 which merges with the lower edge of inner sealing surface 32 . outwardly spaced from the interior skirt 28 is the closure assembly outer skirt 36 which has a substantially vertical outer wall . considering the inner wall of the closure assembly outer skirt 36 , extending down from internal wall 26 is a substantially vertical top wall 38 of the length about equal to that of interior skirt 28 , which terminates in an internal first bead 40 . the outwardly slanted surface 42 of said bead 40 terminates at the horizontal tear groove 54 . horizontal tear line 54 merges with the slanted top surface 46 which intersects with the inclined lower surface 48 to form internal lower bead 44 . as is best shown in fig8 , said beads 40 and 44 are not continuous ( not circumferential ) but are interrupted with short upper gap 50 and lower gap 52 , respectively . hence , the wall thickness of the outer skirt 36 at the said gaps 50 and 52 is considerably thinner than at the said beads 40 and lower bead 44 . this permits stretching of the outer skirt 36 during assembly . the upper beads 40 between upper gaps 50 are considerably longer than upper gaps 50 , quantity and size may vary . the lower bead sections 44 are considerably longer than sections 52 . the long beads 40 prevent upper container section 10 from being removed when the outer skirt 36 is intact . spaced immediately above the top surface of lower bead 44 is a horizontal teat line 54 formed on the interior of outer skirt 36 to permit tearing . as shown in fig8 , extending upwardly in a slightly spiral configuration is spiral groove 56 which extends from the bottom skirt edge 58 of said outer skirt 36 to merge with the horizontal tear line 54 . a frangible tear band 60 which may be easily gripped with the fingers extends from the bottom skirt edge 58 immediately to one side of spiral groove 56 . to facilitate gripping frangible tear band 60 , raised traverse ridges 62 may be formed thereon . it will be noted that the slanted top surface 46 of internal lower bead 44 are spaced downwardly within the horizontal groove 54 . fig3 , fig6 and fig7 show an exploded sectional of the container base , the vertical neck 74 of lower section ( base ) 18 at the top ; and best shown in fig7 , there is a horizontal inwardly turned top flange 64 having substantially flat horizontal sealing surface 66 dimensioned to fit against the underside of the interior angled wall 24 between the interior skirt 28 and outer skirt 36 . describing , first , the interior surface of upper neck 74 , proceeding downwardly from horizontal sealing surface 66 at a substantially right angle is a short first vertical sealing surface 68 . said surface 68 seats against interior skirt 28 causing it to bend slightly outward , forming a liquid tight seal . the vertical sealing surface 68 is extremely smooth and continuous ; and extends to the bottom interior surface of the lower section ( base ) 18 . the exterior of upper neck 74 ; shown in fig7 , extending vertically downward from surface 66 is an external neck bead 80 which terminates at a sharp angle with horizontal shoulder 82 . the length of neck bead 80 is such that the first bead 40 of the outer skirt 36 in assembled condition seats immediately under horizontal shoulder 82 and holds the upper container section 10 in position , even when the horizontal tear line 54 has been torn . below the horizontal shoulder 82 is a second vertical exterior surface 84 which is substantially lesser diameter than neck bead 80 . said surface 84 terminates in external neck bead 86 . said bead 86 has an outwardly - downwardly upper slant surface 88 which is rounded and merges with lower horizontal surface 90 . below said bead 86 there is a third lower vertical surface 92 which then merges with the external surface of the thicken base wall 78 , formed by the intersection of angled exterior surface 76 and vertical neck 74 . fig2 , fig3 , fig7 and fig8 show that the assembly of the upper container section 10 and lower section ( base ) 18 , a downward movement of upper section 10 from the position of fig2 to the seated position of fig1 . the outer skirt 36 stretches to permit the inclined lower surface 48 of lower bead 44 to slide over the first corner where the horizontal surface 66 and neck bead 80 intersect and then slide over neck bead 86 . similarly , the rounded first bead 40 slides over said shoulder 82 and neck bead 80 . in the seated position of fig1 , the first bead 40 is seated under the shoulder 82 and the lower bead 44 is seated under the horizontal surface 90 . there is a tight liquid seal between the vertical outer wall 30 of the interior skirt 28 and the vertical seal surface 68 , which has been stated to be extremely smooth . horizontal surface 66 seats against the underside of angled wall 24 and neck bead 80 and vertical top wall 38 accurately seat together . hence , an extremely tight seal is made possible . to separate the container of fig1 , said consumer should first grip the frangible tear band 60 and pull upwardly and to the left , causing the outer skirt 36 to tear along the horizontal tear line 54 . said consumer then pulls the frangible tear band 60 outwardly away from the said neck 74 causing the outer skirt 36 to tear along the horizontal tear line 54 so that the entire tear strip below the said tear line 54 is removed . to remove the upper section , said consumer then applies an upward prying force against said upper section 10 thus breaking the seal at first bead 40 and horizontal shoulder 82 . fig4 , fig6 and fig9 : show another alternate embodiment of the container ; directing attention to the lid as illustrated in fig4 and shown best in detailed in fig6 , the lower portion of the sectional view of fig6 . the lid comprises a bottom disc 94 having a planer under surface similar in design of said upper container section 10 tamper evident outer skirt 36 assembly . it is noted that said lid cover 20 does not include within its design the internal sealing skirt 28 as detailed in the upper section 10 . extending from the top of said disc 94 is a substantially vertical outer skirt 96 . considering the inner surface of vertical outer skirt 96 , extending up from said disc 94 is a short vertical wall 98 that terminates in an internal lower bead 100 . above internal lower bead 100 is an outwardly slanted surface 102 which terminates at the lower horizontal tear line 110 . above said tear line 110 , is an internal upper bead 104 which merges with a substantially upwardly - outwardly inclined upper surface 108 . directing attention to the angled external surface 120 of said base 18 , said angled external surface 120 slants inwardly and down to terminate at intersecting vertical wall 134 . horizontal shoulder 132 intersects with said wall 134 which extends to form a second external upper bead 130 . below said upper bead 130 ; extending down and inwardly , an outwardly slanted surface 128 intersects with a lower periphery vertical wall 126 . said lower wall 126 ends at the outwardly horizontal shoulder 124 which connects with the first vertical surface 122 ; creating lower first external bead 123 . vertical surface 122 extends to bottom disk 94 . said bottom disk 94 has a relative flat interior surface with no interior sealing walls . as is best shown in fig6 and fig9 , beads 100 and upper bead 104 are not continuous ( not circumferential ) but are interrupted with short gaps 105 and upper short gaps 106 , respectively . hence , the wall thickness of the vertical outer skirt 96 at the said gaps 105 and said gaps 106 is considerably thinner than at the lower bead 100 and upper bead 104 . this permits stretching of the vertical outer skirt 96 during assembly . the upper bead sections 104 between said gaps 106 are considerably longer than gaps 106 and allow for stretching during assembly . the lower beads 100 are considerably longer than gaps 105 which allow for stretching during assembly . said long beads 100 prevent lid cover 20 from being removed when the vertical outer skirt 96 is intact . spaced immediately above the top surface of bead 100 is a horizontal tear line 110 formed on the interior of vertical outer skirt 96 to permit tearing . extending upwardly in a slightly spiral configuration is spiral tear groove 112 which extends from the top skirt edge 114 of vertical outer skirt 96 to merge with the horizontal tear line 110 . a frangible tear band 116 which may be easily gripped with a finger ; depends from the lower edge of top skirt 114 immediately to one side of spiral tear groove 112 . to facilitate gripping frangible tear band 116 , raised traverse ridges 118 may be formed thereon . it will be noted that the upper short gap 106 of upper bead 104 are spaced downwardly from the horizontal tear line 110 . fig4 and fig9 show that when the consumer wishes to separate the lid cover from the container &# 39 ; s bottom , he should first grip the frangible tear band 116 and pull upwardly and to the left , causing the vertical outer skirt 96 to tear along the spiral tear groove 112 . the consumer then pulls the said tear band 116 outwardly , along horizontal tear line 110 so that entire tear strip is removed . to remove the lid cover 20 , the consumer then applies a downward prying force against the top disk 94 thus breaking the seal at the internal lower bead 100 . fig1 , fig1 as shown in fig1 , the alternate lower base 158 has molded at its bottom edge and detailed in fig6 an external bead 123 along the periphery of said base 158 . said external bead 123 connects with horizontal shoulder 124 which connects with vertical surface wall 126 . said wall 126 extends upwards to intersect with angled external surface 120 . it should be noted that only one external bead is mold incorporated in this embodiment . as shown in fig1 , and detailed in fig6 , an alternate lid cover which comprises a bottom disc 94 and having a planar under surface similar in design to said lid cover 20 without the frangible tear band 116 attached . considering the inner surface of vertical outer skirt 96 extending up from said disc 94 is the short vertical wall 98 that terminates at the internal lower bead 100 . above internal lower bead 100 is an external vertical wall 126 that ends to the top edge of said lid cover 160 . referring to fig1 , two disclosed finger operated pump dispensers pd 136 and pd 156 are attached to the top of the sectional dual dispensing container 135 by attaching to the upwardly extending necks 138 and 139 of the dual dispensing container 135 . the said pump dispensers pd 136 and pd 156 may be of any commercially available type such as finger - operated pumps used for dispensing healthcare lotions , creams , and soaps . the lower portion container ( base ) 142 , in its assembled position is locked into the bottom edge of dual dispensing upper container 140 by means of the upper tamper evident closure 150 . attached underneath the said base 142 and locked into its assembled position by means of a tamper evident closure 152 , is the lid cover 144 for said base 142 . considering the said container 135 in its assembled position ; located and adhered to the front and rear surface of container 135 are two adhesive product information labels 146 and 148 . the present invention ; used in this alternate embodiment makes possible dual dispensing of two different liquids used in combination by consumers ( hair conditioners & amp ; shampoo , facial scrubs & amp ; cream , or foaming cleansers & amp ; lotions , etc .). the said upper section 140 of present container design is molded to an increased width to accommodate an additional finger actuated pump assembly ; there is a widening of the lower section ( base ) 142 which provides for additional liquid storage . a preferred placement of containers liquids would have the lower section ( base ) 142 contain the heavier bodied lotions while the upper section 140 would have the more fluid liquids ( facial cleansers , sanitizing soaps , etc .). referring to fig1 , fig1 , fig1 , fig1 , fig1 the assembly of the upper section 140 and lower section ( base ) 142 is performed by means of a downward movement of upper section 140 to the seated position of fig1 . the lower skirt of the tamper evident closure 150 stretches to permit the slanted neck surfaces of the said base 142 to slide over the beaded surfaces of said closure 150 . simple downward compression of said upper portion 140 into the closure 152 of said base 142 snaps into its position against the bottom surface of upper section 140 . in this position , which locks the two sections together , provides for a tightly sealed container 135 . as shown fig1 , front label 146 and rear label 148 are installed after assembly of said container . referring to fig1 , fig1 , and fig1 the upper section 140 comprises along the bottom edge an external neck 72 . directing attention to fig1 and fig1 ; an angled exterior surface 76 of said upper section 140 slants inwardly to terminate at vertical surface 92 . horizontal shoulder 90 intersects with slanted surface 88 to form the upper exterior bead 86 . below said upper bead 86 and extending vertically is surface 84 which intersects with the horizontal shoulder 82 . said shoulder 82 extends to form the second external neck bead 08 . directly beneath the said bead 80 is the horizontal sealing surface 66 which rests on the smooth planar surface 26 when assembled . as shown in fig1 , the tamper evident outer skirt 36 has been mold incorporated into the top edge of lower section ( base ) 142 having identical internal and external bead designs . directing attention to fig1 and fig1 ; the bottom edge of said base 142 shows the horizontal surface 164 which intersects with the circumferential vertical bottom wall 166 . said bottom wall 166 intersects with the horizontal bottom lip 168 which extends downwardly to form the vertical external bead 170 , which is mold to create the base bottom surface 172 . as shown in fig1 , lid cover 144 comprises a horizontal top surface 180 that intersects with the vertical short wall 174 an extends down to connect with the horizontal short lip 176 . a vertical catch wall 178 is formed with the intersecting of top surface 184 . the exterior surface of the said lid cover 144 contains a vertical outside wall 182 that extends and intersects with slant surface 88 , and intersects with vertical exterior surface 84 . the said vertical surface 84 intersects with horizontal shoulder 82 . the external neck bead 80 is formed just below horizontal shoulder 82 and above the horizontal sealing surface 66 . the sealing surface 66 intersects with the vertical sealing surface 68 then intersects to form the bottom of lid cover 144 . referring to fig2 , fig2 , fig2 as shown in a sectional view in fig2 , the assembled components of the dual dispensing upper section 140 contains two finger actuated pump assemblies 136 and 156 . also shown in assembly is the screw - in channel tube 162 that attaches to the downward extending neck 186 . in fig2 and fig2 , said screw - in channel tube 162 extends up and through the interior of upward extending neck 190 . in fig2 , the screw - in channel tube 162 is detailed to show the mold incorporated screw threads at is edge . the said channel tube 162 is injection molded to various lengths to accommodate various container sizes .	1
embodiments in which the capacity of a storage is accommodated among users will be described using a system that stores a file in a storage via a computer ( a gateway ) with the file made redundant so as to protect the file for an example below . for an outline of the accommodation , ( 1 ) unused capacity of capacity allocated to a user can be lent to another user who has the relation of accommodation . ( 2 ) to enable recovery even if the lent capacity is utilized by another user , the data redundancy of the borrowing user is reduced and recovered capacity can be secured . ( 3 ) the redundancy of the whole data is made minimum so that the whole data is stored in the capacity allocated to the user himself / herself so as to enable the securement of recovered capacity without deleting own data . in a first embodiment , a system that stores a file in three physical volumes in a storage device in a state where the file is made redundant will be described using an example . the example that unused capacity is automatically distributed in a group in the relation of accommodation in a state where files having the same contents are stored by a redundant number will be described below . in a second embodiment , an example that unused capacity is lent and recovered to / from an individual user in place of the distribution in the group in the first embodiment will be described . in a third embodiment , a system that stores a file in three cloud storages will be described using an example . in the first embodiment , the redundant number of the file is used for an index , while in the third embodiment , availability information provided by service level agreement ( hereinafter called sla ) as redundancy shall be used for an index . referring to fig1 to 10 , the first embodiment will be described below . in the first embodiment , operation in a case where a file is stored in excess of capacity allocated to a user ( hereinafter called logical allocation capacity ) when a manager allocates the capacity of a storage device to each user will be described . an actual storage area ( a physical allocation area ) allocated to each user is secured by times of a redundant number of a logical allocation area for redundant storage . this embodiment also includes ( 1 ) processing for storing a file by reducing redundancy as a group and securing an unused physical allocation area in the case of the excess of an initial logical allocation area and ( 2 ) processing for complementing redundancy by borrowing an unused physical allocation area from another user when the redundancy is reduced . fig1 a and 1b show the reduction of redundancy in a use in excess of capacity allocated to a user and operation for borrowing capacity from another user and complementing redundancy . this system guarantees that storage is capable within the capacity of initial physical volumes ( equivalent to nine blocks in the drawings ) allocated to each user though redundancy is reduced . nos . 1 to 8 will be described in order . in no . 1 , a manager provides each logical volume for three blocks to users a and b . since one block of the logical volume is triplicated in initial setting , it grows into three blocks of the physical volume . each user changes redundancy in the physical volumes for total nine blocks , provides an unused area and recovers the area . in no . 2 , a case where data is stored in capacity allocated to each user is shown . in no . 3 , a case where the user a borrows capacity from the user b in excess of an area initially allocated and stores there is shown . a user a borrows capacity for 1 . 5 blocks from the user b to store data for 4 . 5 blocks of the physical volume and uses it as own block . in no . 4 , a case where the user b stores data for two blocks of the physical volume is shown . the user b has only 4 . 5 blocks of the physical volumes because the user b lends the user a 4 . 5 blocks , and therefore the user b recovers 1 . 5 blocks of the physical volumes from the user a . at this time , since the user a returns 1 . 5 blocks of the physical volumes , duplication is applied to a part of the blocks in place of triplication . in no . 5 , the user b similarly recovers 3 blocks from the user a to store data for three blocks of physical volumes . since the user b stores data in capacity initially allocated , the data is all triplicated . in the meantime , as the user a stores in excess of capacity initially allocated and has no area to borrow , the data is stored with it duplicated . as described above , in this embodiment , a function for lending and recovering capacity between users is provided . fig2 shows an example of the configuration of a file storage system that stores a file in a volume of a storage device with the file redundant . a gateway 100 is a computer that provides file storage service to a client 300 . therefore , the gateway 100 transfers a file between the client 300 and the storage device 400 . a cpu 110 executes a processor ( a program ) stored in a memory 140 . the memory 140 stores processors ( programs ) and tables for the file storage service . in the memory 140 , a data manager 141 , a redundant number calculator 142 and a capacity recoverer 145 are stored . in the memory , a user management table 500 and a file management table 600 are also stored . further , the memory 140 has an area such as a work area required for executing each processor . a volume 120 stores a stub file 121 . the stub file 121 holds a file id for every user . an interface ( i / f ) 130 transmits / receives a file to / from the client 300 and the storage device 400 . besides , the interface transmits / receives management information to / from a management terminal 200 and the client 300 . however , each processor may not be a program executed in the cpu 110 but may be independent hardware that performs the same operation as operation when the cpu 110 executes a program . the management terminal 200 can acquire management information in the gateway 100 and the storage device 400 if necessary , is a terminal for managing the gateway 100 , and is a computer provided with an interface ( i / f ) 230 for connecting to a network and an operational screen , a memory 240 and an internal communication line for connecting them . the memory 240 stores a processor ( a program ) and data . the processor is a gateway manager 241 for example . the operational screen 250 inputs and outputs the management information of the gateway 100 via the management terminal 200 . the client 300 is a computer used by a user who utilizes file storage service provided by the gateway 100 and is provided with an interface ( i / f ) 330 for connecting the network and the operational screen , a memory 340 and an internal communication line for connecting them . a operational screen 350 inputs and outputs the management information of the gateway 100 via the client 300 . the storage device 400 provides file storage service ( writing , reading , updating , deletion and the like ) corresponding to an instruction from the gateway 100 . therefore , the storage device 400 has single / plural volumes 401 for storing a file . besides , a file id for identifying a file is used for writing / reading the file . the gateway 100 allocates a proper file id to each file . a case where a file is written from the client 300 will be described below . the client 300 transmits a file to the gateway 100 . the gateway 100 allocates a proper file id to the received file and transmits it to the storage device 400 . the gateway 100 holds the correlation of the file id and path information showing a location in which the file is stored every user as stub information . when the client 300 reads the file , the client 300 has only to refer to the stub information by storing the file in the storage device as described above . fig3 shows an example of the user management table 500 . the user management table 500 is a table for managing allocation information , the priority information of a file the redundancy of which is reduced and accommodation information . a user id 501 is an identifier for managing files stored in the storage device 400 every user id . logical allocation capacity 502 shows logical capacity allocated by the manager . physical allocation capacity 503 is capacity acquired by multiplying an initial redundant number supposed by the manager and logical allocation capacity . physical used capacity 504 shows capacity utilized by a user in physical allocation capacity . accommodable ( unused ) capacity 505 shows capacity acquired by subtracting physical used capacity from physical allocation capacity and when a user belongs to an accommodation group , the accommodable capacity is equivalent to maximum capacity which can be provided to another user . total file size 506 shows the total of files except redundant files . physical used capacity in upper limit redundancy 507 shows used quantity of capacity when all files that a user possesses reach a set upper limit redundant number . when this capacity exceeds physical allocation capacity , capacity is accommodated from another user or the redundant number of some files is required to be reduced so as to keep in physical allocation capacity . a lower limit redundant number physical used capacity 508 shows used quantity of capacity when all files that a user possesses reach a set lower limit redundant number . these values function as a limit value for limiting physical used capacity of a user because all files that a user possesses are required to be held in physical allocation capacity when no capacity can be borrowed from another user . an initial upper limit redundant number 509 and an initial lower limit redundant number 510 show an initial upper limit redundant number and an initial lower limit redundant number respectively set to an added file . whether a file is initially compressed or not 511 shows whether a file is automatically compressed or not when the file is written . redundant number reduction priority 512 shows priority information for determining the order of sorting when a redundant number is reduced . for example , as for the user a , the weight of sorting is determined in the order of priority information , size , an access date and a creation date . size [ large ] shows that a redundant number is precedently reduced from larger size . an accommodation group 513 shows that accommodable ( unused ) capacity that a user possesses can be provided to a user who belongs to the same group . total accommodated capacity in a belonging group 514 shows a value acquired by totaling accommodable ( unused ) capacity of all users who belong to the same group . used accommodated capacity 515 in the belonging group 515 shows capacity which a user utilizing in excess of physical allocation capacity borrows from unused capacity of a user who belongs to the same group . unused accommodated capacity 516 in the belonging group 516 shows capacity which is not used by another user in the total accommodated capacity in the belonging group 514 . lent / borrowed capacity 517 will be described later because it is described in a second embodiment and is not described in the first embodiment . fig4 shows an example of the file management table 600 . a user id 601 is an identifier for managing files stored in the storage device 400 every user id . a file id 602 is a file identifier for uniquely identifying files stored in the storage device 400 . a file size 603 shows the size of a file itself in which no redundancy is considered . an access date 604 shows a date of last access . a creation date 605 shows a date of creation . a current redundant number 606 shows how the corresponding file is made redundant . a total file size 607 shows used quantity of physical capacity to which redundancy is added . priority 608 is utilized as a first index when a redundant number is changed . in this case , for example , setting that a redundant number is reduced precedently from low at three levels of low , middle and high is shown . an upper limit redundant number 609 shows a maximum redundant number in which a file can be made redundant . a lower limit redundant number 610 shows a redundant number to be maintained at the minimum when a redundant number is reduced . whether file is compressible or not 611 shows whether a file is compressible or not . a compressed state 612 shows whether a file is in a compressed state or in an uncompressed state . file location information 613 shows a location written to the storage device 400 . fig5 is an example of a flowchart showing a file writing process by the data manager 141 of the gateway 100 . in this example , a case where setting for the accommodation of unused capacity among users is made and a group for the accommodation is created is shown . in the group , accommodated capacity is automatically distributed to each user who cannot store at an upper limit redundant number based upon a rate of excess quantity when the group has accommodable capacity . first , the data manager 141 ( the execution of a program called the data manager 141 by the cpu 110 ) acquires a request for writing a file from the client 300 and the information of the file . in this case , the user id shall be the user a and a file shall be an additional file ( s 10 ). the data manager 141 verifies whether the user a can store the additional file or not . when it is supposed that the existing file and the additional file are set to the lower limit redundant number , the data manager judges whether the current used capacity exceeds a value of the physical allocation capacity 503 of the user a . when the current used capacity does not exceed the value , processing proceeds to a step s 12 and when the current used capacity exceeds the value , the processing proceeds to a step s 17 ( s 11 ). judgment of whether the current used capacity exceeds the value or not also includes judgment of whether the existing file and the additional file can be stored in terms of capacity including an error and the like in numeric representation in a computer in addition to judgment by mathematically strict comparison . judgment in the following description is also similar . the data manager 141 initializes a file referring to the user management table 500 ( s 12 ). next , the data manager 141 sets a file redundant number of the user a and a user who belongs to the same group using the redundant number calculator 142 ( s 13 ). the data manager writes the file in the storage device based upon a changed redundant number of the file ( s 14 ) and updates the file management table and the user management table ( s 15 ). when the redundant number of the file is changed , the user is notified of it ( s 16 ). when the current used capacity exceeds the value of the physical allocation capacity 503 even if the existing file and the additional file are set to the lower limit redundant number , the capacity is short and writing fails ( s 17 ). fig6 is an example of a flowchart showing a process by the redundant number calculator 142 of the gateway 100 and shows the details of the redundant number determining step ( s 12 ) shown in fig5 . the capacity of the additional file supposed to be set to the upper limit redundant number and the capacity of the unused accommodated capacity in the belonging group ( hereinafter called the unused accommodated capacity ) 516 in the user management table 500 are compared . when the additional file is smaller than the capacity of the unused accommodated capacity 516 , processing proceeds to a step s 21 . when the additional file is larger , the processing proceeds to a step s 22 ( s 20 ). since the additional file can be stored at the upper limit redundant number in capacity acquired by adding the value of the physical allocation capacity 503 that the user a has and a value of the unused accommodated capacity 516 , the additional file is stored with the additional file set to the upper limit redundant number ( s 21 ). in s 21 , all files already stored may also be changed to the maximum redundant number and may also be unchanged . when the additional file cannot be stored at a value of the upper limit redundant number , states are compared to recover capacity or to distribute accommodated capacity . in the case of recovering capacity , the processing proceeds to a step s 23 and when accommodated capacity is distributed , the processing proceeds to a step s 27 ( s 22 ). when it is determined that the processing proceeds to s 23 , a value of the physical used capacity in upper limit redundancy 507 and the value of the physical allocation capacity 503 are compared as to each user in the group and a user who exceeds the value of the physical allocation capacity 503 is acquired ( s 23 ). capacity acquired by subtracting the capacity of the additional file set to upper limit redundancy from the total accommodated capacity is capacity before distribution ( s 24 ). distributed capacity is determined based upon excess quantity of each user in excess of capacity and the capacity before distribution ( s 25 ). capacity in which the file can be stored ( target capacity ) is specified for each user in excess of capacity and a redundant number adjustment process is executed . at this time , as the user a is not included in the redundant number adjustment process , the processing proceeds to s 21 ( s 26 ). when it is determined that the processing proceeds to s 27 in s 22 , the similar processing to the processing in s 23 is executed ( s 27 ) and total accommodated capacity is made the capacity before distribution ( s 28 ). distributed capacity is determined based upon excess quantity of each user in excess of capacity and the capacity before distribution ( s 29 ). capacity in which the file can be stored ( target capacity ) is specified for each user in excess of capacity and the redundant number adjustment process is executed . at this time , the user a is also included in the redundant number adjustment process ( s 30 ). fig7 is an example of a flowchart showing a process by the capacity recoverer 146 of the gateway 100 . a redundant number is adjusted so that the capacity of an object user is in a range of target capacity and fig7 shows the details of s 26 and s 30 in fig6 . the process is a process in which a redundant number of a file is reduced from the maximum redundant number in the order of higher priority in the list is repeatedly reduced until recovered quantity is secured . as for a user to whom the adjustment of a redundant number is applied , a value of the redundant number reduction priority 512 in the user management table 500 is acquired , all files that the user possesses are sorted , and a list is created ( s 40 ). it is judged whether the current redundant number of a file with the highest priority is a lower limit redundant number ( s 41 ). when the current redundant number is not the lower limit redundant number , the redundant number is reduced by one ( s 42 ). when the current redundant number is the lower limit redundant number , the processing proceeds to a step s 43 without changing the redundant number . the file with the highest priority is shifted to an end of the list ( the highest priority is turned the lowest priority ) ( s 43 ). it is judged whether an area for a target area ( recovered capacity ) can be secured by reducing the redundant number ( s 44 ). when the area can be secured , the process is finished . when the area cannot be secured , the redundant number is reduced and the processing is returned to s 41 to secure the area . fig8 is an example of a flowchart showing a file deletion process by the data manager 141 of the gateway 100 . for example , the additional file described referring to fig5 to 7 can be deleted . as accommodated capacity may increase when a file is deleted , newly increased accommodated capacity is distributed . the description of the similar processing to that shown in fig5 is omitted . in the case of the file writing process , it is judged whether the additional file can be written ( s 11 ). however , in the case of deletion , the judgment is not required . the information of a file to be deleted , the user management table and the file management table information are acquired ( s 50 ). as accommodated unused capacity is caused because of the deletion of the file , it is judged whether all files of a user in the group are stored at the upper limit redundant number . when all the files of all the users in the group are stored at the upper limit redundant number , processing proceeds to a step s 52 . if not , the processing proceeds to a step s 53 ( s 51 ). as the redundant number of the file is not required to be changed when all the files of all the users in the group are stored at a value of the upper limit redundant number , file deletion setting is made and the process is finished ( s 52 , s 57 , s 15 , s 16 ). when all the files of all the users in the group are not stored at the value of the upper limit redundant number , an accommodated unused area newly caused is redistributed ( s 53 to s 56 ). as processing in the steps s 53 , s 55 and s 56 is similar to the processing in s 27 , s 29 , s 30 in fig6 , the description is omitted . total accommodated capacity and the physical used capacity of the deleted file are added and a result is set to capacity before distribution ( s 54 ). the processing proceeds to steps s 56 , s 57 , s 15 and s 16 , the file is deleted , and its redundant number is adjusted . fig9 shows an example of a redundant number reduction priority setting screen 700 of the management terminal 200 or the client 300 . the redundant number reduction priority setting screen 700 enables setting order in which a redundant number of a file is reduced . priority information 701 , a file size 702 , an updating date 703 and a creation date 704 are displayed , as to the file size 702 , the updating date 703 and the creation date 704 , criteria of “ large ” or “ small ” and “ new ” or “ old ” are selected , and a change of the priority of respective displayed items can be input . further , the redundant number reduction priority setting screen is provided with a setting button 705 for setting the update of priority in the file management table 600 . fig1 shows an example of a screen for setting accommodation among users 800 of the management terminal 200 or the client 300 . the screen for setting accommodation among users 800 displays a group name 801 showing a range of accommodation and group members 802 and a change can be set on the screen . further , the screen is provided with a user addition button 803 for adding a user to the corresponding group , a user deletion button 804 for deleting a user from the corresponding group and a setting button 805 for setting in the user management table 500 . as described above , the redundancy of a file can be enhanced by accommodating unused capacity of each user in the belonging group and a user who uses excess capacity by borrowing can recover the capacity by reducing the redundancy of a file . referring to fig3 , 11 and 12 , a second embodiment will be described below . in the second embodiment , accommodable ( unused ) capacity is accommodated not in units of group but every user . operation when a user who lends another user own capacity writes a file will be described using not the items 513 to 516 related to the group but the lent / borrowed capacity 517 in the user management table 500 shown in fig3 below . in a field of the lent / borrowed capacity 517 , the total on a vertical line ( in columns of the table ) is capacity ( total borrowed capacity ) acquired by totaling borrowed capacity and the own values which the users themselves can utilize in the physical allocation capacity 503 and the total on a horizontal line ( a row of the table ) is accommodated capacity . in fig3 , a situation in which the user c lends the user a the capacity of 15 gbytes is shown . fig1 is an example of a flowchart showing a process in file writing by the data manager 141 of the gateway 100 . the description of the similar steps to those in s 14 to s 16 in fig5 and fig7 is omitted . additional file information , the user management table and file management table information are acquired ( s 60 ). it is judged using the user management table 500 whether capacity acquired by totaling the capacity in lower limit redundancy of an additional file and a value of physical used capacity in lower limit redundancy 508 exceeds a value of own physical allocation capacity 503 . if the capacity exceeds the value of the physical allocation capacity 503 , processing proceeds to a step s 62 and if the capacity does not exceed the value , the processing proceeds to a step s 63 ( s 61 ). since files that a user possesses cannot be maintained by only capacity allocated to the user when the capacity exceeds the value of the physical allocation capacity 503 , the additional file cannot be written because of the shortage of capacity ( s 62 ). when the abovementioned total capacity does not exceed the value of the physical allocation capacity 503 , it is judged whether the capacity acquired by totaling the capacity in lower limit redundancy of the additional file and the value of the physical used capacity in lower limit redundancy 508 exceeds capacity acquired by subtracting capacity lent to another user from the value of the own physical allocation capacity 503 or the total ( capacity after accommodation ) of the value of the own physical allocation capacity 503 and capacity borrowed from another user . when the total capacity exceeds the capacity after accommodation , the processing proceeds to a step s 64 and when the total capacity does not exceed the capacity after accommodation , the processing proceeds to a step s 67 ( s 63 ). when the total value of the capacity in lower limit redundancy of the additional file and the value of the physical used capacity in lower limit redundancy 508 does not exceed the value of the physical allocation capacity 503 and exceeds the capacity after accommodation , storage capacity is short because the user lends another user capacity . therefore , to recover the capacity , recovered capacity is set for a lent user ( a user at a destination of recovery ). at this time , the recovered capacity is required to be set to be the total capacity of the capacity in lower limit redundancy of the additional file and the value of the physical used capacity in lower limit redundancy 503 or more ( s 64 ). processing for recovering the set capacity from the user at the destination of recovery is executed . since a redundant number adjustment process is described in relation to fig7 , the description is omitted ( s 65 ). after the recovery of the capacity , the redundant number adjustment process for the user requesting writing is executed ( s 66 ). a case where the total capacity of the capacity in lower limit redundancy of the additional file and the value of the physical used capacity in lower limit redundancy 503 does not exceed the value of the physical allocation capacity 503 and does not also exceed the capacity after accommodation will be described below . it is judged whether total capacity of capacity in upper limit redundancy of the additional file and a value of physical used capacity in upper limit redundancy 507 exceeds the capacity after accommodation . when the total capacity exceeds the capacity after accommodation , the processing proceeds to a step s 68 and when the total capacity does not exceed the capacity after accommodation , the processing proceeds to a step s 69 ( s 67 ). in the case of procession to s 68 , recovered capacity can be freely set , unlike s 64 . it is determined depending upon difference in the size of recovered capacity whether a file redundant number of the user requesting wiring is all maximum ( s 68 ). in the case of procession to s 69 , since writable capacity exists even if a redundant number of the additional file is maximum , the redundant number of the additional file is set to a maximum redundant number ( s 69 ). in s 69 , the already existing all files may or may not be set to a maximum redundant number . fig1 shows an example of a lent / borrowed capacity table setting screen 1800 operated by the management terminal 200 or the client 300 . on the lent / borrowed capacity table setting screen 1800 , a user name 1801 , accommodated capacity 1802 and a lending list 1803 are displayed and information in the lent / borrowed capacity 517 of the user management table 500 is updated by an updating button 1805 . the user name 1801 is an item for selecting a user name to be updated . the accommodated capacity 1802 includes the current accommodated capacity and accommodable capacity and the current accommodated capacity does not exceed the accommodable capacity . the lending list 1803 is a list showing capacity and user names which a user having the user name 1801 is currently lending . as described above , when capacity is short in writing the additional file , a user can write the additional file not by reducing a redundant number of each user in a belonging group and recovering capacity but by reducing a redundant number of a specific user at the destination of recovery and recovering capacity . therefore , a range where recovery has an effect is small and recovery may be able to be processed at high speed . referring to fig1 to 16 , a third embodiment will be described below . in the third embodiment , operation in a case where a file is stored over an area allocated to a user ( hereinafter called a logical allocation area ) when a manager allocates capacity of a cloud storage to each user will be described . the file is protected by sla , and ( 1 ) processing for storing the file by reducing a redundant number and securing an unused physical allocation area when the capacity of the file exceeds an initial logical allocation area and ( 2 ) processing for complementing a redundant number by borrowing an unused physical allocation area from another user when the redundant number is reduced are executed . fig1 shows an example of the configuration of a system using a cloud storage . in place of connecting the storage device 400 shown in fig2 , a cloud storage 900 is connected to a gateway 100 via wan 1000 . besides , in a memory 140 , a cloud information table 143 described referring fig1 a and a store combination table 144 described referring to fig1 b are stored . the cloud storage 900 possesses a data store 901 , stores and manages files . fig1 a shows an example of the cloud information table 143 . the cloud information table 143 holds a cloud id 1431 for identifying the cloud storage and a value of sla 1432 of each cloud . fig1 b shows an example of the store combination table 144 . a state of a store 1441 shows whether a file is stored in each cloud storage 900 or not . a stored number 1442 shows the number of cloud storages 900 in which a file is stored . synthetic sla 1443 shows a value when slas of the cloud storages 900 in which the file is stored are synthesized . fig1 shows an example of a user management table 1500 corresponding to a cloud . only items different from the items in the user management table 500 shown in fig3 and modified for the cloud will be described below and the description of the similar part to the part shown in fig3 is omitted . physical used capacity in upper limit sla 1507 shows total capacity of physical used capacity when all files that the corresponding user possesses are at a level of upper limit sla 1609 ( see fig1 ) set for each file . physical used capacity in lower limit sla 1508 shows total capacity of physical used capacity when all files that the corresponding user possesses are at a level of lower limit sla 1610 ( see fig1 ) set for each file . initial upper limit sla 1509 shows initial upper limit sla set for an added file . initial lower limit sla 1510 shows initial lower limit sla set for the added file . sla reduction priority 1512 is priority information for determining order in which sla is reduced . fig1 shows an example of a file management table 1600 corresponding to the cloud . only items different from the items in the file management table 600 shown in fig4 and modified for the cloud will be described below and the description of the similar part to the part shown in fig4 is omitted . current sla 1606 shows a current sla value of each file . upper limit sla 1609 shows a value of maximum sla which each file can set . lower limit sla 1610 shows a value of the lowest sla which each file can set . in a process using the user management table 1500 and the file management table 1600 , the processing of the items in the process described in the first embodiment has only to be changed to the corresponding items for the cloud . availability information of sla may also be defined by calculating ( mtbf /( mtbf + mttr ))* 100 and others . in this case , mtbf means mean time between failure and mttr means mean time to repair . as described above , in the cloud system , unused capacity of each user in a belonging group is accommodated and the availability of a file can also be enhanced , a user who uses excess capacity by borrowing lowers the availability of the file , and the user can make the capacity recovered . the usage efficiency of storage resources that store big data of the cloud system is enhanced and the reliability can be secured . 100 : gateway , 141 : data manager , 142 : redundant number calculator , 143 : cloud information table , 144 : store combination table , 145 : capacity recoverer , 200 : management terminal , 300 : client , 400 : storage device , 500 : user management table , 600 : file management table , 900 : cloud storage	6
referring now to the drawings , an electric arc furnace 10 has a charge opening 12 in its sidewall 14 . the sidewall opening 12 holds a flange 20 , which lines the entire opening 12 and may extend from the sidewall 14 as shown . the flange 20 is preferably water - cooled . a feed chute 22 extends into the furnace from the flange 20 . the connecting charge car apparatus 24 includes a support frame 26 mounted on a carriage 27 having wheels 28 engageable with rails 30 , an upstanding housing 34 mounted on the support frame 26 , and a pivotally mounted material - receiving pan 36 mounted on a vibrating or driving unit and within the housing , which carries an integral discharge chute 38 on one side . the discharge chute is adapted to extend into the charging opening 12 in the furnace sidewall . the housing 34 , which is of two pieces , upper housing 34a and lower housing 34b , has an opening 40 for chute 38 , and a second opening 42 in its sidewall for receiving a material conveying chute or conveyor 44 . beneath and connected to the material - receiving pan 36 is a vibrating mechanism 54 for vibrating both the pan 36 . and the inclined discharge chute 38 . a circular track 56 is fixed to the carriage 27 , and is engaged by wheels 58 mounted on frame 26 . oscillating drive means , shown in fig4 as a reciprocal drive cylinder 59 attached to the housing 34 and carriage 27 , moves the pan 36 and chute in arcuate motion through an arc of from 5 to 20 degrees . a mating flange 60 , curved to match the radius of housing 34 , and having a charging opening 62 therethrough , is fixed to the housing 34 , and carries a flat flange 64 for mating with flange 20 of the furnace . as shown in fig4 and 5 , the invented charging car has an entry chute 70 positioned about 90 ° to the delivery chute 38 of the vibrating pan 36 . the carriage 27 is oriented for movement normal to the furnace flange 20 . carriage drive means , such as retractable piston 72 , is attached to the carriage 27 and to a fixed point 73 . the piston can be operated hydraulically , or by any other desired means . a retractable transition element 76 carries a flange 78 for mating with housing 34 to effect a gas - tight seal . the end of transition element 76 opposite the flange 78 extends into and is movable in telescoping relation to charge preheating chamber 80 . pneumatic cylinders , or other motive means , may be attached to flange 78 assure proper alignment and movement of the retractable element 76 . alternatively , flange 78 is attached to or carried by a frame member of car 24 . in disengaging the charging car from the operative position , the housing 34 pushes the telescoping element 76 into the housing of charge preheater 80 . as shown in fig4 and 5 , an alternative embodiment of the invented charging car has an entry chute 70 positioned at about a right angle to the delivery chute 38 of the vibrating pan 36 . this necessitates only minor modifications in the connecting car apparatus 34 . the carriage is oriented for movement parallel to the furnace flange 20 in this embodiment . the carriage drive means , retractable piston 72 , is attached to the carriage 27 and to a fixed point , not shown . alternatively , the entry chute 44 or 70 and its associated sidewall opening 42 can be oriented at any angle to the delivery chute 38 from about 90 ° to 180 °. the orientation of the tracks 30 and wheels 28 are such that they are substantially aligned with the entry chute 44 or 70 . when engaging the charging car of the embodiment of fig4 and 5 , the vibrating pan 36 and discharge chute 38 must be rotated to a position wherein the chute 38 will not impact the flange 20 of the furnace sidewall opening while positioning the charging car 24 . the chute is then rotated into the opening as soon as the nearer edge of the chute has reached the opening . disengaging the car requires an opposite action , commencing rotation of the pan , then initiating movement of the car . at any alternative angle of entry chute from 90 ° to about 150 °, such rotation of the pan may be required during positioning and removal of the car . a wear plate 84 ( see fig3 ) can be provided on the working surface of either the inclined chute 38 or the pan 36 , or both , if desired . in operation of the embodiment of fig2 and 3 , the connecting car or charging apparatus 24 is positioned adjacent the sidewall opening 12 of furnace 10 , with flange 20 and flange 64 abutting to form a seal . the charging car 24 is positioned with wheels 28 against a pre - positioned stop , and a removable stop is then placed against its rear wheels . the charging conveyor 44 is activated , charge materials enter the housing 34 through opening 42 , drop onto the vibrating pan 36 , are moved by vibrating motion and gravity through chute 38 onto chute 22 , then into the furnace , whereby the furnace is continuously charged . the furnace wall opening 12 is sufficiently large , as shown in fig1 and 7 , so that up to about a 15 ° tilt in either direction will not necessitate removal of the inclined charging chute 38 . the furnace tilts 5 degrees back to draw off the slag , and 10 degrees forward to tap the molten metal , so the charging apparatus need not be removed or repositioned for either the slagging or tapping procedure . a slight gap is left between the flange 64 of the charge apparatus and the flange 20 of the furnace to reduce wear . during charging , the pan and charging chute are oscillated slowly through an arc of from 5 to 20 degrees , but generally about 12 °, to drop the materials being charged into a wider area onto chute 22 and promote better melting , as the materials will be better spread across the chute 22 upon entry into the furnace . the angle and length of the chute 22 controls the speed and impact of all materials to the bath , so that they will enter the bath at approximately the same speed , regardless of whether materials of high mass such as large scrap , or materials of light mass such as small pellets are being charged , which can occur at the same time . the angle of chute 22 is about 20 ° to 40 ° from the horizontal , but is preferably 35 °. an electric furnace is normally pivotal about a horizontal axis . many electric furnaces are pivotal about an off - center tilting axis . the present invention is particularly useful with the latter type of tilting furnace . the chamber formed by housing 34 acts as a combustion chamber for the off gases from the furnace 10 . the upper housing 34a is refractory lined , and has a water - cooled portion , which can also be refractory lined . one or more burners 82 ( as shown in fig3 ) may be provided in the housing wall or any opening in the housing to control combustion within the combustion chamber defined by the housing 34 to fully or partially burn the off gases as desired . as shown in fig7 electric arc steelmaking furnace 10 is fed by covered conveyor 44 within chamber 80 , through charging car 24 . for tapping purposes , a steel ladle 86 is provided on a transfer car 88 movable along track 89 for moving ladle 86 into and out of tapping , ladle metallurgy , and pouring positions . the ladle can be teemed directly into a continuous caster , not shown , if desired . gas can be removed from the charging car chamber through gas pipe 90 to a gas cleaner , or to a location where its heat or its fuel value can be utilized , as in a preheater . as shown in fig8 a tilting electric arc furnace 110 , having a charging opening 112 in its sidewall , is mounted on roller assemblies 114 for rotation about the furnace axis 116 , in order to pour refined steel from the furnace pouring spout 118 . the roller assemblies , including rollers 120 , are mounted on a support frame 122 . the tilting furnace 110 is mounted on a support frame assembly 124 , which is itself mounted on rollers 120 , and which has stops 126 thereon to limit the angle of tilt to any desired angle , preferably to about 25 degrees forward or into the pouring position , and to about 10 degrees rearward , which can be the slagging or slag - off position . the charge opening is advantageously provided with a flange 130 ( best seen in fig1 and 11 ) which is preferably water - cooled , and acts in the same manner as flange 20 of fig1 . as shown in fig1 and 11 , a connecting unit 140 between charge preheating unit 142 and the tilting furnace 110 carries a vibrating pan 144 having an inclined discharge ramp 146 at its exit end . the vibrating pan is mounted on a vibrating unit 148 on the support frame structure of a track mounted tram car 150 , which is situated o track 152 . two or more fluid - operated cylinders 156 or other motive means are attached to the tram to provide movement of the connecting unit to the operating position with the vibrating pan extending through the sidewall into the furnace and to the standby position remote from the furnace sidewall , indicated by reference numeral 153 , with the retracted vibrating pa discharge ramp in the position indicated as 146a . alternatively , movement of the connecting unit may be provided by an engine or other source of power . the track 152 may have a stop , not shown , to prevent the vibrating pan from extending too far into the furnace 110 . the vibrating pan 144 is movable beneath charging conveyor 160 extending from preheating chamber 142 , during the periods of activation of motive means 156 . an independently supported cover 162 , which is preferably refractory lined , is arranged above the vibrating pan 144 , and may be removed if necessary for access to the vibrating pan . because vibrating pan 144 may extend into furnace 110 further than the discharge chute 38 , feed chute 22 in the furnace opening is optional in this embodiment . in operation of the embodiment of fig1 , the connecting unit 140 is propelled against a stop , not shown , and a removeable stop may be placed against its rear wheels . generally , the force of the hydraulic cylinders is sufficient to hold the unit 140 in the operating position . the vibrating pan is activated and the furnace is charged . because the tilting axis of the furnace is within the charging opening in the sidewall , and generally aligned with the longitudinal centerline of the vibrating pan , a 25 degree tilt in either direction will not necessitate removal of the vibrating pan from the furnace opening . when necessary to remove the vibrating pan for maintenance of either the connecting unit or the furnace , the removable wheel stop , if any , is removed , and the connecting unit 140 is propelled away from the furnace by retraction of the hydraulic cylinders 156 , the upper flanges of the vibrating pan passing beneath downwardly - extending sides of the cove 162 . a longitudinal seal , such as a water seal , not shown , prevents escape of hot gases from the chamber defined by the cover 162 and the vibrating pan 144 . the cover 162 and the flange 130 act together with the vibrating pan 144 to provide a tunnel - like pre - heater for passage of the hot furnace off - gases , which will impart heat to the charge materials in the vibrating pan . close spacing of all components in faying relation provide gas sealing of the system , which is kept under a slightly negative pressure to prevent escape of hot gases . although it is preferable to utilize a charging car or connecting unit when feeding a furnace from a charge preheater , it is possible in some applications to omit the car from the apparatus and feed charge materials directly from the water - cooled end of the charge preheater conveyor 160 into the furnace . it is readily seen from the foregoing that i have invented a new and useful connecting car charging apparatus which is particularly well suited for the continuous charging of an electric arc steel making furnace , which can be moved from the operating position when required , which includes a gas - tight enclosure , and which is capable of acting as a preheater . i have also provided a method of continuously feeding an electric arc furnace which will feed materials of different mass at approximately the same speed to the furnace bath , and wherein the feed chute spreads the charge materials over a predetermined area within the furnace . an alternative embodiment provides straight charging to a tilting electric arc furnace with substantially the same advantages as set forth above .	5
fig1 is a schematic illustration of a preferred form of embodiment of the ultrasonic flowmeter 1 of the invention . the flowmeter 1 in the illustrated case is a clamp - on flowmeter . the flowmeter 1 determines volume flow rate of the medium 9 in the pipe 7 basically according to the known travel - time - difference method . significant components of the clamp - on ultrasonic flowmeter 1 are the two ultrasonic transducers 2 , 3 and the control / evaluation unit 6 . the two ultrasonic transducers 2 , 3 are attached to the pipe 7 by means of a mounting apparatus ( not illustrated separately in fig1 ). appropriate mounting apparatuses are sufficiently known from the state of the art , and are also available from the assignee . the medium 9 flows through the pipe 7 of internal diameter di in the stream direction s . an ultrasonic transducer 2 , 3 has , as significant components , at least one piezoelectric element 4 , 5 , which produces and / or receives the ultrasonic measuring signals , and a coupling wedge . via the coupling wedge , the ultrasonic measuring signals are coupled into , and out of , the pipe 7 through which the medium 9 is flowing . the two ultrasonic transducers 2 , 3 are formed such that they emit and receive ultrasonic measuring signals , or sonic fields , with a large opening angle γ , i . e . with a large beam spread . the separation l of the two ultrasonic transducers 2 , 3 is thus dependent only on the , in principle , arbitrarily configurable opening angle γ of the ultrasonic measuring signals , or sonic fields . for this reason , the separation l of the two ultrasonic transducers 2 , 3 can , if necessary , already be fixed at the time of fabrication , since it is independent of other system - or process parameters . these system - and process parameters are , for example , the inner diameter di of the pipe 7 , the wall thickness w of the pipe 7 , the velocity of sound cr in the material out of which the pipe 7 is fabricated , or the velocity of sound c in the medium 9 . through this , the installation costs are greatly reduced ; later readjustments as a result of process - or system changes are unnecessary . in accordance with the invention , the minimum separation lmin of the two ultrasonic transducers 2 , 3 can be dimensioned such that the ultrasonic measuring signals , which , according to the travel time difference method are alternately emitted from and received by the two ultrasonic transducers 2 , 3 , propagate along only one sonic path sp 1 , sp 2 in the containment 7 through which the medium 9 is flowing . fig1 shows the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the invention in which the minimum separation lmin of the two ultrasonic transducers 2 , 3 , and the opening angle γ of the ultrasonic measuring signals , or sonic fields , are dimensioned such that the ultrasonic measuring signals propagate along at least two sonic paths sp 1 , sp 2 , with the two sonic paths differing in their number of traverses . the term “ traverse ” refers to the section of a sonic path sp 1 , sp 2 , along which an ultrasonic measuring signal crosses once through the containment 7 . in the graph illustrated in fig2 , amplitude of the ultrasonic measuring signals , which propagate along the two sonic paths sp 1 , sp 2 of fig1 , is plotted against travel time . on the basis of the travel time difference of the two ultrasonic measuring signals , the control / evaluation unit 6 calculates , on the one hand , the sought volume flow rate of the medium 9 through the pipe 7 ; on the other hand , it can also determine additional application parameters on the basis of the calculated values . the application parameters here are especially those which are normally determined by referring back to estimated values , since their exact determination would be connected with unreasonable effort . in the case of the arrangement of the ultrasonic transducers 2 , 3 of the invention , it is possible to calculate system - and process parameters with a desired high accuracy on the basis of the travel time of measuring signals propagating along two different sonic paths sp 1 , sp 2 . on the basis a mathematical model , an opportunity will now be illustrated in which unknown application parameters can be calculated on the basis of ultrasonic measuring signals which propagate in the medium 9 along two different sonic paths sp 1 , sp 2 , differing in the number of traverses n ( see fig1 ). let the measured travel time of a sonic path sp 1 , sp 2 having n traverses be t ( n ). application parameters are the pipe wall thickness w , the velocity of sound cr in the pipe , the internal diameter di of the pipe 7 , and the velocity of sound c in the medium 9 . the distance ds of a piezoelectric element 2 , 3 to the pipe wall , the separation l , and the velocity of sound cs in the lead - in member 2 ; 3 are known parameters . let the initially unknown angles of a sonic path sp 1 , sp 2 in the medium 9 , in the pipe 7 , and in the ultrasonic transducers 2 , 3 be α ( n ), αr ( n ) and αs ( n ). for this situation , snell &# 39 ; s law applies . to simplify matters , the index n has been left out of the equations . thus the equations are : tr ⁡ ( n ) = 2 ⁢ w cr ⁢ ⁢ cos ⁡ ( α ⁢ ⁢ r ) ts ⁡ ( n ) = 2 ⁢ ds cs * cos ⁡ ( α ⁢ ⁢ s ) tm ⁡ ( n ) = n * di c ⁢ ⁢ cos ⁡ ( α ) with the distances being ls ( n )= 2ds tan ( αs ) in the ultrasonic transducer 2 , 3 , lr ( n )= 2w tan ( αr ) in the pipe 7 , and lm ( n )= n * di tan ( α ) in the medium 9 along the pipe axis 10 . thus , for each sonic path sp 1 , sp 2 , four equations ( 1 )-( 4 ) result for three unknown angles . for each measured travel time , the equation system can thus be solved ( numerically , if necessary ) for one additional application parameter — for example , in the case of one sound ray , for c , if all other application parameters are known . if , as illustrated in fig1 and fig2 , t ( 2 ) and t ( 4 ) are measured , then the equations can be solved for c and di in the case of known values w and cr . the model can be simplified in that , in equations ( 3 ) and ( 4 ), one can approximate the travel times as well as the travel distances in the ultrasonic transducer 2 , 3 and in the pipe 7 . then e . g . the following relationships are true : as an approximation , the two equations ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) can remain unconsidered , with this approximation being justified for large inner diameters di of the pipe 7 . on the basis of the measurements , the travel times in the medium tm ( n ) are known from the equation ( 3 ), and the following holds : for travel time measurements with two traverses and four traverses , the velocity of sound c in the medium 9 , and the inner diameter di of the pipe 7 , respectively , can be calculated with the following two equations :	6
the invention will now be explained in greater detail through examples and comparative examples ; however , the scope of the invention will not be construed as being limited only to these examples . unless otherwise specified , the “ parts ” and “%” values are based on mass . the amorphous silica used in the examples and comparative examples was produced by a wet process involving neutralization reaction of sodium silicate and sulfuric acid ( described in japanese patent no . 1781081 , japanese patent no . 1409252 , japanese patent no . 2667071 and japanese patent no . 3719687 , for example ) the obtained amorphous silica particles were subjected to hydrophobizing surface chemical treatment with trimethylchlorsilane , and the degree of hydrophobization was adjusted to within a range of 50 - 90 % to obtain amorphous silica particles with different dielectric constants . one dispersion was prepared for each of the amorphous silica particles used in the examples and comparative examples , to prepare samples for measurement of the dielectric constant . the dielectric constant was measured using a model 1260 impedance analyzer ( 2 - terminal method ) by solartron , ltd ., with a frequency range of 1 khz - 100 khz and a measuring temperature of 25 ° c . instead of measurement in a dispersed state as described above , the dielectric constant may also be measured by coating and curing the composition into an optical laminate and then cutting out only the silica - containing layer section of the cured film by shaving or the like . in this case , a method may be carried out in which gold is sputtered onto both sides of the cut out film , silver paste is suitably adhered around the film and a current is passed through it , after which it is dried under reduced pressure while heating at 80 ° c . to prepare a sample for measurement of the dielectric constant . when a cured film is formed and different types of amorphous silica particles are present , their average value is used . the materials listed above were thoroughly mixed to prepare a composition . the composition was filtered with a polypropylene filter having a pore size of 30 μm , to prepare antiglare layer forming resin composition 1 with a solid content of 35 %. the materials listed above were thoroughly mixed to prepare a composition . the composition was filtered with a polypropylene filter having a pore size of 30 μm , to prepare antiglare layer - forming resin composition 2 with a solid content of 38 . 5 %. the materials listed above were thoroughly mixed to prepare a composition with a solid content of 40 . 5 %. the composition was filtered with a polypropylene filter having a pore size of 30 μm , to prepare antiglare layer forming resin composition 3 . antiglare layer forming resin composition 4 was prepared in exactly the same manner with the same blending ratio , except that the amorphous silica particles ( dielectric constant : 2 . 5 ) of antiglare layer resin composition 1 were replaced with different amorphous silica particles ( dielectric constant : 4 . 0 ). antiglare layer forming resin composition 5 was prepared in exactly the same manner with the same blending ratio , except that the amorphous silica particles ( mean particle size : 1 . 5 μm , dielectric constant : 2 . 5 ) of antiglare layer forming resin composition 2 were replaced with a material of different amorphous silica particles ( mean particle size : 1 . 5 μm , dielectric constant : 4 . 0 ). antiglare layer forming resin composition 6 was prepared in exactly the same manner with the same blending ratio , except that the amorphous silica ink ( mean particle size : 1 . 5 μm , solid content : 60 %, dielectric constant : 2 . 5 ) of antiglare layer forming resin composition 3 was replaced with a different amorphous silica ink material ( mean particle size : 1 . 5 μm , solid content : 60 %, dielectric constant : 4 . 0 ). antiglare layer forming resin composition 7 was prepared in exactly the same manner with the same blending ratio , except that the amorphous silica ink ( mean particle size : 1 . 5 μm , solid content : 60 %, dielectric constant : 2 . 5 ) of antiglare layer forming resin composition 3 was replaced with a different amorphous silica ink material ( mean particle size : 1 . 5 μm , solid content : 50 %, dielectric constant : 1 . 0 ). antiglare layer forming resin composition 8 was prepared in exactly the same manner with the same blending ratio , except that the amorphous silica ink ( mean particle size : 1 . 5 μm , solid content : 60 %, dielectric constant : 2 . 5 ) of antiglare layer forming resin composition 3 was replaced with a different amorphous silica ink material ( mean particle size : 1 . 5 μm , solid content : 50 %, dielectric constant : 1 . 5 ). antiglare layer forming resin composition 9 was prepared in exactly the same manner with the same blending ratio , except that the amorphous silica ink material ( mean particle size : 1 . 5 μm , solid content : 60 %, dielectric constant : 2 . 5 ) of antiglare layer forming resin composition 3 was replaced with a different amorphous silica ink material ( mean particle size : 1 . 5 μm , solid content : 50 %, dielectric constant : 2 . 0 ). antiglare layer forming resin composition 10 was prepared in exactly the same manner with the same blending ratio , except that the amorphous silica ink material ( mean particle size : 1 . 5 μm , solid content : 60 %, dielectric constant : 2 . 5 ) of antiglare layer forming resin composition 3 was replaced with a different amorphous silica ink material ( mean particle size : 1 . 5 μm , solid content : 50 %, dielectric constant : 3 . 0 ). antiglare layer forming resin composition 11 was prepared in exactly the same manner with the same blending ratio , except that the amorphous silica ink material ( mean particle size : 1 . 5 μm , solid content : 60 %, dielectric constant : 2 . 5 ) of antiglare layer forming resin composition 3 was replaced with a different amorphous silica ink material ( mean particle size : 1 . 5 μm , solid content : 50 %, dielectric constant : 3 . 3 ). after thoroughly mixing the above components , they were filtered with a polypropylene filter having a pore size of 10 μm , to prepare a low refractive index layer - forming composition with a solid content of 4 %. the composition had a refractive index of 1 . 40 . using a triacetylcellulose film ( td80u , product of fuji film corp . ; thickness : 80 μm ) as the transparent base material , the film was coated with antiglare layer forming resin composition 8 using a winding rod ( meyer bar ) # 6 for coating and then heated and dried for one minute in an oven at 70 ° c . to evaporate off the solvent component , after which it was irradiated with ultraviolet rays at an exposure dose of 100 mj in a nitrogen atmosphere ( oxygen concentration : ≦ 200 ppm ) to cure the coated film and form an antiglare layer . the antiglare layer was coated with the low refractive index layer forming composition prepared in preparation example 12 using a winding rod ( meyer bar ) # 2 for coating , and then heated and dried for one minute in an oven at 70 ° c . to evaporate off the solvent component , after which it was irradiated with ultraviolet rays at an exposure dose of 100 mj in a nitrogen atmosphere ( oxygen concentration : ≦ 200 ppm ) to cure the coated film for lamination of a low refractive index layer , thus obtaining optical laminate 1 . optical laminate 2 was obtained in the same manner as example 1 , except that antiglare layer forming resin composition 8 was replaced with antiglare layer forming resin composition 9 . optical laminate 3 was obtained in the same manner as example 1 , except that antiglare layer forming resin composition 8 was replaced with antiglare layer forming resin composition 1 . optical laminate 4 was obtained in the same manner as example 1 , except that antiglare layer forming resin composition 8 was replaced with antiglare layer forming resin composition 2 using the same triacetatecellulose film of example 1 ( td80u , product of fuji film corp . ; thickness : 80 μm ) as the transparent base material , the film was coated with antiglare layer forming resin composition 3 using a winding rod ( meyer bar ) # 14 for coating and then heated and dried for 1 minute in an oven at 70 ° c . to evaporate off the solvent component , after which it was irradiated with ultraviolet rays at an exposure dose of 30 mj to cure the coated film and form an antiglare layer . the antiglare layer was coated with the low refractive index layer forming composition prepared in preparation example 12 using a winding rod ( meyer bar ) # 2 for coating , and then heated and dried for one minute in an oven at 70 ° c . to evaporate off the solvent component , after which it was irradiated with ultraviolet rays at an exposure dose of 100 mj in a nitrogen atmosphere ( oxygen concentration : ≦ 200 ppm ) to cure the coated film for lamination of a low refractive index layer , thus obtaining optical laminate 5 . optical laminate 6 was obtained in the same manner as example 1 , except that antiglare layer forming resin composition 8 was replaced with antiglare layer forming resin composition 10 . optical laminate 7 was obtained in the same manner as example 1 , except that antiglare layer forming resin composition 8 was replaced with antiglare layer forming resin composition 11 . optical laminate 8 was obtained in the same manner as example 1 , except that antiglare layer forming resin composition 8 was replaced with antiglare layer forming resin composition 4 . optical laminate 9 was obtained in the same manner as example 1 , except that antiglare layer forming resin composition 8 was replaced with antiglare layer forming resin composition 5 . optical laminate 10 was obtained in the same manner as example 5 , except that antiglare layer forming resin composition 3 was replaced with antiglare layer forming resin composition 6 . the following evaluations were conducted , giving the results shown in table 1 . the optical laminates of the examples and comparative examples were used for measurement of the total haze of the optical laminate ha , the interior haze of the optical laminate hi , the hi / ha value and the reflection y value ( 5 degree reflection ), according to the definitions in the present specification . the reflectance was measured using a spectrometer ( uv - 3100pc , product of shimadzu corp .) equipped with a 5 ° c . specular reflection measuring apparatus . the reflectance was recorded as the minimum value ( minimum reflectance ) near a wavelength of 550 nm . after attaching a cross nicol polarizing plate onto the film side and the opposite side of each of the optical laminates of the examples and comparative examples , evaluation ( by visual observation from an angle of about 45 °, 50 cm above the sample surface ) was made under 30 w three band fluorescence ( irradiated from a direction 45 ° with respect to the antiglare layer ), and the black reproducibility ( whether black appeared black ) was evaluated in detail based on the following scale . a cross nicol polarizing plate was used as a black reference sample for comparison of the black color . ◯: almost total black reproduction . ( slight opalescence , but an acceptable level ) the back sides of each of the optical laminates obtained in the examples and comparative examples were subjected to adhesive treatment and attached to black acryl boards for use as evaluation samples . a black / white striped board with a 20 mm width was prepared , and the stripes were transferred onto each of the aforementioned samples ( with the sample surface inclined about 30 degrees upward ), at an angle of 20 degrees from the normal to the sample surface . the illuminance on the sample surface was 250 lx , and the ( white ) luminance of the stripes was 65 cd / m 2 . the distance between the striped board and the sample was 1 . 5 m , and the distance between the sample and an observer was 1 m . evaluation was made as follows , based on the appearance of the stripes when viewed by the observer . an optical laminate according to the invention can be suitably applied in a cathode ray tube ( crt ) display , liquid crystal display ( lcd ), plasma display ( pdp ), electroluminescence display ( eld ) or the like .	6
the following description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention and should not be taken in a limiting sense . the scope of the invention is best determined by reference to the appended claims . referring to fig1 , fig1 is a lens layout and optical path diagram of a lens assembly in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention . the lens assembly 1 includes a first lens l 11 , a second lens l 12 , a stop st 1 , a third lens l 13 , a fourth lens l 14 , a fifth lens l 15 and an optical filter of 1 , all of which are arranged in sequence from an object side to an image side along an optical axis oa 1 . in operation , an image of light rays from the object side is formed at an image plane 1 . the first lens l 11 is with positive refractive power and made of plastic material , wherein the object side surface s 11 is a convex surface , the image side surface s 12 is a convex surface and both of the object side surface s 11 and image side surface 512 are aspheric surfaces . the second lens l 12 is with negative refractive power and made of plastic material , wherein the object side surface s 13 is a convex surface , the image side surface s 14 is a concave surface and both of the object side surface s 13 and image side surface s 14 are aspheric surfaces . the third lens l 13 is with negative refractive power and made of plastic material , wherein the object side surface s 16 is a convex surface , the image side surface s 17 is a concave surface and both of the object side surface s 16 and image side surface s 17 are aspheric surfaces . the fourth lens l 14 is with positive refractive power and made of glass material , wherein the object side surface s 18 is a concave surface , the image side surface s 19 is a convex surface and both of the object side surface s 18 and image side surface s 19 are aspheric surfaces . the fifth lens l 15 is with negative refractive power and made of plastic material , wherein the object side surface s 110 is a concave surface , the image side surface s 111 is a concave surface and both of the object side surface s 110 and image side surface s 111 are aspheric surfaces . both of the object side surface s 112 and image side surface s 113 of the optical filter of 1 are plane surfaces . in the first embodiment , abbe number of the first lens l 11 , the fourth lens l 14 and the fifth lens l 15 are greater than abbe number of the second lens l 12 and the third lens l 13 . in order to maintain excellent optical performance of the lens assembly in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention , the lens assembly 1 must satisfy the following eleven conditions : − 1 . 3 & lt ; f 1 / f 1 3 + f 1 / f 1 4 − f 1 / f 1 1 & lt ;− 0 . 1 ( 8 ) wherein d 1 l11 is an effective diameter of the first lens l 11 , d 1 l12 is an effective diameter of the second lens l 12 , d 1 st1 is an effective diameter of the stop st 1 . a straight length of the effective diameter d 1 l11 of the first lens l 11 means from an edge of the first lens l 11 through a center point of the first lens l 11 to the other edge . a straight length of the effective diameter d 1 l12 of the second lens l 12 means from an edge of the second lens l 12 through a center point of the second lens l 12 to the other edge . the effective diameter d 1 st1 of the stop st 1 means a diameter of optical opening of the stop st 1 . vd 1 1 is an abbe number of first lens l 11 , vd 1 2 is an abbe number of second lens l 12 , vd 1 3 is an abbe number of third lens l 13 , vd 1 4 is an abbe number of fourth lens l 14 , vd 1 5 is an abbe number of fifth lens l 15 , f 1 is an effective focal length of the lens assembly 1 , f 1 1 is an effective focal length of the first lens l 11 , f 1 3 is an effective focal length of the third lens l 13 , f 1 4 is an effective focal length of the fourth lens l 14 , sl 1 is an interval from the stop st 1 to the image plane ima 1 along the optical axis oa 1 , ttl 1 is an interval from an object side surface s 11 of the first lens to the image plane ima 1 along the optical axis oa 1 . by the above design of the lenses and stop st 1 , the lens assembly 1 is provided with a shortened total lens length , an effective corrected aberration and an increased resolution . in order to achieve the above purposes and effectively enhance the optical performance , the lens assembly 1 in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention is provided with the optical specifications shown in table 1 , which include the effective focal length , f - number , total lens length , radius of curvature of each lens surface in mm , thickness between adjacent surface in mm , refractive index of each lens and abbe number of each lens . table 1 shows that the effective focal length is equal to 4 . 914 mm , f - number is equal to 1 . 6 , total lens length is equal to 5 . 515 mm , field of view is equal to 120 °, effective diameter of the first lens l 11 is equal to 2 . 68 mm , effective diameter of the second lens l 12 is equal to 2 . 030 mm and effective diameter of the stop st 1 is equal to 1 . 998 mm for the lens assembly 1 of the first embodiment of the invention . where c is curvature , h is the vertical distance from the lens surface to the optical axis , k is conic constant and a , b , c , d , e , f and g are aspheric coefficients . in the first embodiment , the conic constant k and the aspheric coefficients a , b , c , d , e , f , g of each surface are shown in table 2 . for the lens assembly 1 of the first embodiment , the effective diameter d 1 l11 of the first lens l 11 is equal to 2 . 68 mm , the effective diameter d 1 l12 of the second lens l 12 is equal to 2 . 030 mm , the effective diameter of the stop st 1 is equal to 1 . 998 mm , the abbe number vd 1 1 of the first lens l 11 is equal to 56 . 1 , the abbe number vd 1 2 of the second lens l 12 is equal to 21 . 5 , the abbe number vd 1 3 of the third lens l 13 is equal to 21 . 5 , the abbe number vd 1 4 of the fourth lens l 14 is equal to 40 . 3 , the abbe number vd 1 5 of the fifth lens l 15 is equal to 56 . 1 , the effective focal length f 1 of the lens assembly 1 is equal to 4 . 914 mm , the effective focal length f 1 1 of the first lens l 11 is equal to 3 . 0183 mm , the effective focal length f 1 3 of the third lens l 13 is equal to − 13 . 9211 , the effective focal length f 1 4 of the fourth lens l 14 is equal to 3 . 9326 mm , the interval sl 1 from the stop st 1 to image plane ima 1 along the optical axis oa 1 is equal to 3 . 778 mm , the interval ttl 1 from the object side surface s 11 of the first lens l 11 to the image plane ima 1 along the optical axis oa 1 is equal to 5 . 515 mm . according to the above data , the following values can be obtained : by the above arrangements of the lenses and stop st 1 , the lens assembly 1 of the first embodiment can meet the requirements of optical performance as seen in fig2 a - 2c , wherein fig2 a shows a field curvature diagram of the lens assembly 1 in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention , fig2 b shows a distortion diagram of the lens assembly 1 in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention , fig2 c shows a modulation transfer function diagram of the lens assembly 1 in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention . it can be seen from fig2 a that the field curvature of tangential direction and sagittal direction in the lens assembly 1 of the first embodiment ranges from − 0 . 16 mm to 0 . 06 mm for the wavelength of 0 . 435 μm , 0 . 555 μm and 0 . 650 μm . it can be seen from fig2 b that the distortion in the lens assembly 1 of the first embodiment ranges from 0 . 0 % to 1 . 4 % for the wavelength of 0 . 435 μm , 0 . 555 μm , and 0 . 650 μm . it can be seen from fig2 c that the modulation transfer function of tangential direction and sagittal direction in the lens assembly 1 of the first embodiment ranges from 0 . 0 to 1 . 0 when the wavelength ranges from 0 . 435 μm to 0 . 650 μm , the fields respectively are 0 . 0000 mm , 0 . 6864 mm , 1 . 3728 mm , 2 . 4024 mm and 3 . 4320 mm , and the spatial frequency ranges from 0 lp / mm to 446 lp / mm . it is obvious that the field curvature and the distortion of the lens assembly 1 of the first embodiment can be corrected effectively , and the resolution of the lens assembly 1 of the first embodiment can meet the requirement . therefore , the lens assembly 1 of the first embodiment is capable of good optical performance . in the above embodiment , when the effective diameter of the stop st 1 can be respectively adjusted to 2 . 348 mm , 1 . 458 mm , 0 . 954 mm and 0 . 246 mm , f - number of the lens assembly 1 can be respectively changed to 1 . 4 , 2 . 4 , 3 . 4 and 13 , the maximum value of d 1 l11 / d 1 st1 is equal to 10 . 894 ( 2 . 68 / 0 . 246 ) and the minimum value of d 1 l11 / d 1 st1 is equal to 1 . 141 ( 2 . 68 / 2 . 348 ), which satisfy the above condition ( 1 ). by changing the effective diameter of the stop st 1 , which can control the amount of the incident light of the lens assembly 1 and change illuminance of image plane ima 1 . on the other hand , changing the effective diameter of the stop st 1 can control depth of field , when the greater effective diameter of the stop st 1 , the shorter depth of field . when the smaller effective diameter of the stop st 1 , the longer depth of field . referring to fig3 , fig3 is a lens layout and optical path diagram of a lens assembly in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention . the lens assembly 2 includes a first lens l 21 , a second lens l 22 , a stop st 2 , a third lens l 23 , a fourth lens l 24 , a fifth lens l 25 and an optical filter of 2 , all of which are arranged in sequence from an object side to an image side along an optical axis oa 2 . in operation , an image of light rays from the object side is formed at an image plane ima 2 . the first lens l 21 is with positive refractive power and made of plastic material , wherein the object side surface s 21 is a convex surface , the image side surface s 22 is a convex surface and both of the object side surface s 21 and image side surface s 22 are aspheric surfaces . the second lens l 22 is with negative refractive power and made of plastic material , wherein the object side surface s 23 is a convex surface , the image side surface s 24 is a concave surface and both of the object side surface s 23 and image side surface s 24 are aspheric surfaces . the third lens l 23 is with negative refractive power and made of plastic material , wherein the object side surface s 26 is a convex surface , the image side surface s 27 is a concave surface and both of the object side surface s 26 and image side surface s 27 are aspheric surfaces . the fourth lens l 24 is with positive refractive power and made of glass material , wherein the object side surface s 28 is a concave surface , the image side surface s 29 is a convex surface and both of the object side surface s 28 and image side surface s 29 are aspheric surfaces . the fifth lens l 25 is with negative refractive power and made of plastic material , wherein the object side surface s 210 is a concave surface , the image side surface s 211 is a concave surface and both of the object side surface s 210 and image side surface s 211 are aspheric surfaces . both of the object side surface s 212 and image side surface s 213 of the optical filter of 2 are plane surfaces . in the second embodiment , abbe number of the first lens l 21 , the fourth lens l 24 and the fifth lens l 25 are greater than abbe number of the second lens l 22 and the third lens l 23 . in order to maintain excellent optical performance of the lens assembly in accordance with the second embodiment of the invention , the lens assembly 2 must satisfy the following eleven conditions : − 1 . 3 & lt ; f 2 / f 2 3 + f 2 / f 2 4 − f 2 / f 2 1 & lt ;− 0 . 1 ( 19 ) wherein d 2 l21 is an effective diameter of the first lens l 21 , d 2 l22 is an effective diameter of the second lens l 22 , d 2 st2 is an effective diameter of the stop st 2 . a straight length of the effective diameter d 2 l21 of the first lens l 21 means from an edge of the first lens l 21 through a center point of the first lens l 21 to the other edge . a straight length of the effective diameter d 2 l22 of the second lens l 22 means from an edge of the second lens l 22 through a center point of the second lens l 22 to the other edge . the effective diameter d 2 st2 of the stop st 2 means a diameter of optical opening of the stop st 2 . vd 2 1 is an abbe number of first lens l 21 , vd 2 2 is an abbe number of second lens l 22 , vd 2 3 is an abbe number of third lens l 23 , vd 2 4 is an abbe number of fourth lens l 24 , vd 2 5 is an abbe number of fifth lens l 25 , f 2 is an effective focal length of the lens assembly 2 , f 2 1 is an effective focal length of the first lens l 21 , f 2 3 is an effective focal length of the third lens l 23 , f 2 4 is an effective focal length of the fourth lens l 24 , sl 2 is an interval from the stop st 2 to the image plane ima 2 along the optical axis oa 2 , ttl 2 is an interval from an object side surface s 21 of the first lens to the image plane ima 2 along the optical axis oa 2 . by the above design of the lenses and stop st 2 , the lens assembly 2 is provided with a shortened total lens length , an effective corrected aberration and an increased resolution . in order to achieve the above purposes and effectively enhance the optical performance , the lens assembly 2 in accordance with the second embodiment of the invention is provided with the optical specifications shown in table 3 , which include the effective focal length , f - number , total lens length , radius of curvature of each lens surface in mm , thickness between adjacent surface in mm , refractive index of each lens and abbe number of each lens . table 3 shows that the effective focal length is equal to 4 . 837 mm , f - number is equal to 1 . 6 , total lens length is equal to 5 . 493 mm , field of view is equal to 120 °, effective diameter of the first lens l 21 is equal to 2 . 74 mm , effective diameter of the second lens l 22 is equal to 2 . 314 mm and effective diameter of the stop st 2 is equal to 2 . 052 mm for the lens assembly 2 of the second embodiment of the invention . where c is curvature , h is the vertical distance from the lens surface to the optical axis , k is conic constant and a , b , c , d , e , f and g are aspheric coefficients . in the second embodiment , the conic constant k and the aspheric coefficients a , b , c , d , e , f , g of each surface are shown in table 4 . for the lens assembly 2 of the second embodiment , the effective diameter d 2 l21 of the first lens l 21 is equal to 2 . 74 mm , the effective diameter d 2 l22 of the second lens l 22 is equal to 2 . 314 mm , the effective diameter of the stop st 2 is equal to 2 . 052 mm , the abbe number vd 2 1 of the first lens l 21 is equal to 56 . 1 , the abbe number vd 2 2 of the second lens l 22 is equal to 21 . 5 , the abbe number vd 2 3 of the third lens l 23 is equal to 35 , the abbe number vd 2 4 of the fourth lens l 24 is equal to 50 , the abbe number vd 2 5 the fifth lens l 25 is equal to 56 . 1 , the effective focal length f 2 of the lens assembly 2 is equal to 4 . 837 mm , the effective focal length f 2 1 of the first lens l 21 is equal to 3 . 0152 mm , the effective focal length f 2 3 of the third lens l 23 is equal to − 14 . 3156 , the effective focal length f 2 4 of the fourth lens l 24 is equal to 3 . 9271 mm , the interval sl 2 from the stop st 2 to image plane ima 2 along the optical axis oa 2 is equal to 3 . 897 mm , the interval ttl 2 from the object side surface s 21 of the first lens l 21 to the image plane ima 2 along the optical axis oa 2 is equal to 5 . 493 mm . according to the above data , the following values can be obtained : f 2 / f 2 3 + f 2 / f 2 4 − f 2 / f 2 1 =− 0 . 71 , by the above arrangements of the lenses and stop st 2 , the lens assembly 2 of the second embodiment can meet the requirements of optical performance as seen in fig4 a - 4c , wherein fig4 a shows a field curvature diagram of the lens assembly 2 in accordance with the second embodiment of the invention , fig4 b shows a distortion diagram of the lens assembly 2 in accordance with the second embodiment of the invention , fig4 c shows a modulation transfer function diagram of the lens assembly 2 in accordance with the second embodiment of the invention . it can be seen from fig4 a that the field curvature of tangential direction and sagittal direction in the lens assembly 2 of the second embodiment ranges from − 0 . 020 mm to 0 . 035 mm for the wavelength of 0 . 470 μm , 0 . 555 μm and 0 . 650 μm . it can be seen from fig4 b that the distortion in the lens assembly 2 of the second embodiment ranges from 0 . 0 % to 0 . 6 % for the wavelength of 0 . 470 μm , 0 . 555 μm , and 0 . 650 μm . it can be seen from fig4 c that the modulation transfer function of tangential direction and sagittal direction in the lens assembly 2 of the second embodiment ranges from 0 . 0 to 1 . 0 when the wavelength ranges from 0 . 470 μm to 0 . 650 μm , the fields respectively are 0 . 0000 mm , 0 . 6864 mm , 1 . 3728 mm , 2 . 4024 mm and 3 . 4320 mm , and the spatial frequency ranges from 0 lp / mm to 446 lp / mm . it is obvious that the field curvature and the distortion of the lens assembly 2 of the second embodiment can be corrected effectively , and the resolution of the lens assembly 2 of the second embodiment can meet the requirement . therefore , the lens assembly 2 of the second embodiment is capable of good optical performance . in another embodiment described above , when the effective diameter of the stop st 2 can be respectively adjusted to 2 . 222 mm , 1 . 41 mm , 0 . 98 mm and 0 . 252 mm , f - number of the lens assembly 2 can be respectively changed to 1 . 4 , 2 . 4 , 3 . 4 and 13 , the maximum value of d 2 l21 / d 2 st2 is equal to 10 . 873 ( 2 . 74 / 0 . 252 ) and the minimum value of d 2 l21 / d 2 st2 is equal to 1 . 233 ( 2 . 74 / 2 . 222 ), which satisfy the above condition ( 12 ). by changing the effective diameter of the stop st 2 , which can control the amount of the incident light of the lens assembly 2 and change illuminance of image plane ima 2 . on the other hand , changing the effective diameter of the stop st 2 can control depth of field , when the greater effective diameter of the stop st 2 , the shorter depth of field . when the smaller effective diameter of the stop st 2 , the longer depth of field . referring to fig5 , fig5 is a lens layout and optical path diagram of a lens assembly in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention . the lens assembly 3 includes a first lens l 31 , a second lens l 32 , a stop st 3 , a third lens l 33 , a fourth lens l 34 , a fifth lens l 35 and an optical filter of 3 , all of which are arranged in sequence from an object side to an image side along an optical axis oa 3 . in operation , an image of light rays from the object side is formed at an image plane ima 3 . the first lens l 31 is with positive refractive power and made of plastic material , wherein the object side surface s 31 is a convex surface , the image side surface s 32 is a convex surface and both of the object side surface s 31 and image side surface s 32 are aspheric surfaces . the second lens l 32 is with negative refractive power and made of plastic material , wherein the object side surface s 33 is a convex surface , the image side surface s 34 is a concave surface and both of the object side surface s 33 and image side surface s 34 are aspheric surfaces . the third lens l 33 is with negative refractive power and made of plastic material , wherein the object side surface s 36 is a convex surface , the image side surface s 37 is a concave surface and both of the object side surface s 36 and image side surface s 37 are aspheric surfaces . the fourth lens l 34 is with positive refractive power and made of glass material , wherein the object side surface s 38 is a concave surface , the image side surface s 39 is a convex surface and both of the object side surface s 38 and image side surface s 39 are aspheric surfaces . the fifth lens l 35 is with negative refractive power and made of plastic material , wherein the object side surface s 310 is a concave surface , the image side surface s 311 is a concave surface and both of the object side surface s 310 and image side surface s 311 are aspheric surfaces . both of the object side surface s 312 and image side surface s 313 of the optical filter of 3 are plane surfaces . in the third embodiment , abbe number of the first lens l 31 , the fourth lens l 34 and the fifth lens l 35 are greater than abbe number of the second lens l 32 and the third lens l 33 . in order to maintain excellent optical performance of the lens assembly in accordance with the third embodiment of the invention , the lens assembly 3 must satisfy the following eleven conditions : − 1 . 3 & lt ; f 3 / f 3 3 + f 3 / f 3 4 − f 3 / f 3 1 & lt ;− 0 . 1 ( 30 ) wherein d 3 l31 is an effective diameter of the first lens l 31 , d 3 l32 is an effective diameter of the second lens l 32 , d 3 st3 is an effective diameter of the stop st 3 . a straight length of the effective diameter d 3 l31 of the first lens l 31 means from an edge of the first lens l 31 through a center point of the first lens l 31 to the other edge . a straight length of the effective diameter d 3 l32 of the second lens l 32 means from an edge of the second lens l 32 through a center point of the second lens l 32 to the other edge . the effective diameter d 2 st3 of the stop st 3 means a diameter of optical opening of the stop st 3 . vd 3 1 is an abbe number of first lens l 31 , vd 3 2 is an abbe number of second lens l 32 , vd 3 3 is an abbe number of third lens l 33 , vd 3 4 is an abbe number of fourth lens l 34 , vd 3 5 is an abbe number of fifth lens l 35 , f 3 is an effective focal length of the lens assembly 3 , f 3 1 an effective focal length of the first lens l 31 , f 3 3 is an effective focal length of the third lens l 33 , f 3 4 is an effective focal length of the fourth lens l 34 , sl 3 is an interval from the stop st 3 to the image plane ima 3 along the optical axis oa 3 , ttl 3 is an interval from an object side surface s 31 of the first lens to the image plane ima 3 along the optical axis oa 3 . by the above design of the lenses and stop st 3 , the lens assembly 3 is provided with a shortened total lens length , an effective corrected aberration and an increased resolution . in order to achieve the above purposes and effectively enhance the optical performance , the lens assembly 3 in accordance with the third embodiment of the invention is provided with the optical specifications shown in table 5 , which include the effective focal length , f - number , total lens length , radius of curvature of each lens surface in mm , thickness between adjacent surface in mm , refractive index of each lens and abbe number of each lens . table 5 shows that the effective focal length is equal to 4 . 885 mm , f - number is equal to 1 . 6 , total lens length is equal to 5 . 494 mm , field of view is equal to 120 °, effective diameter of the first lens l 31 is equal to 2 . 59 mm , effective diameter of the second lens l 32 is equal to 2 . 268 mm and effective diameter of the stop st 3 is equal to 2 . 084 mm for the lens assembly 3 of the third embodiment of the invention . where c is curvature , h is the vertical distance from the lens surface to the optical axis , k is conic constant and a , b , c , d , e , f and g are aspheric coefficients . in the third embodiment , the conic constant k and the aspheric coefficients a , b , c , d , e , f , g of each surface are shown in table 6 . for the lens assembly 3 of the third embodiment , the effective diameter d 3 l31 of the first lens l 31 is equal to 2 . 59 mm , the effective diameter d 3 l32 of the second lens l 32 is equal to 2 . 268 mm , the effective diameter of the stop st 3 is equal to 2 . 084 mm , the abbe number vd 3 1 of the first lens l 31 is equal to 56 . 1 , the abbe number vd 3 2 of the second lens l 32 is equal to 21 . 5 , the abbe number vd 3 3 of the third lens l 33 is equal to 21 . 5 , the abbe number vd 3 4 of the fourth lens l 34 is equal to 60 , the abbe number vd 3 5 of the fifth lens l 35 is equal to 56 . 1 , the effective focal length f 3 of the lens assembly 3 is equal to 4 . 885 mm , the effective focal length f 3 1 of the first lens l 31 is equal to 3 . 017 mm , the effective focal length f 3 3 of the third lens l 33 is equal to − 14 . 362 , the effective focal length f 3 4 of the fourth lens l 34 is equal to 3 . 913 mm , the interval sl 3 from the stop st 3 to image plane ima 3 along the optical axis oa 3 is equal to 3 . 911 mm , the interval ttl 3 from the object side surface s 31 of the first lens l 31 to the image plane ima 3 along the optical axis oa 3 is equal to 5 . 494 mm . according to the above data , the following values can be obtained : by the above arrangements of the lenses and stop st 3 , the lens assembly 3 of the third embodiment can meet the requirements of optical performance as seen in fig6 a - 6c , wherein fig6 a shows a field curvature diagram of the lens assembly 3 in accordance with the third embodiment of the invention , fig6 b shows a distortion diagram of the lens assembly 3 in accordance with the third embodiment of the invention , fig6 c shows a modulation transfer function diagram of the lens assembly 3 in accordance with the third embodiment of the invention . it can be seen from fig6 a that the field curvature of tangential direction and sagittal direction in the lens assembly 3 of the third embodiment ranges from − 0 . 04 mm to 0 . 06 mm for the wavelength of 0 . 470 μm , 0 . 555 μm and 0 . 650 μm . it can be seen from fig6 b that the distortion in the lens assembly 3 of the third embodiment ranges from − 0 . 2 % to 0 . 4 % for the wavelength of 0 . 470 μm , 0 . 555 μm , and 0 . 650 μm . it can be seen from fig6 c that the modulation transfer function of tangential direction and sagittal direction in the lens assembly 3 of the third embodiment ranges from 0 . 0 to 1 . 0 when the wavelength ranges from 0 . 470 μm to 0 . 650 μm , the fields respectively are 0 . 0000 mm , 0 . 6864 mm , 1 . 3728 mm , 2 . 4024 mm and 3 . 4320 mm , and the spatial frequency ranges from 0 lp / mm to 446 lp / mm . it is obvious that the field curvature and the distortion of the lens assembly 3 of the third embodiment can be corrected effectively , and the resolution of the lens assembly 3 of the third embodiment can meet the requirement . therefore , the lens assembly 3 of the third embodiment is capable of good optical performance . in another embodiment described above , when the effective diameter of the stop st 3 can be respectively adjusted to 2 . 258 mm , 1 . 434 mm , 0 . 996 mm and 0 . 256 mm , f - number of the lens assembly 3 can be respectively changed to 1 . 4 , 2 . 4 , 3 . 4 and 13 , the maximum value of d 3 l31 / d 3 st3 is equal to 10 . 117 ( 2 . 59 / 0 . 256 ) and the minimum value of d 3 l31 / d 3 st3 is equal to 1 . 147 ( 2 . 59 / 2 . 258 ), which satisfy the above condition ( 23 ). by changing the effective diameter of the stop st 3 , which can control the amount of the incident light of the lens assembly 3 and change illuminance of image plane ima 3 . on the other hand , changing the effective diameter of the stop st 3 can control depth of field , when the greater effective diameter of the stop st 3 , the shorter depth of field . when the smaller effective diameter of the stop st 3 , the longer depth of field .	6
new filter bank based translating or folding techniques will now be described . the signal under consideration is decomposed into a series of subband signals by the analysis part of the filterbank . the subband signals are then repatched , through reconnection of analysis - and synthesis subband channels , to achieve spectral translation or folding or a combination thereof . fig2 shows the basic structure of a maximally decimated filterbank analysis / synthesis system . the analysis filter bank 201 splits the input signal into several subband signals . the synthesis filter bank 202 combines the subband samples in order to recreate the original signal . implementations using maximally decimated filter banks will drastically reduce computational costs . it should be appreciated , that the invention can be implemented using several types of filter banks or transforms , including cosine or complex exponential modulated filter banks , filter bank interpretations of the wavelet transform , other non - equal bandwidth filter banks or transforms and multi - dimensional filter banks or transforms . in the illustrative , but not limiting , descriptions below it is assumed that an l - channel filter bank splits the input signal x ( n ) into l subband signals . the input signal , with sampling frequency f s , is bandlimited to frequency f c . the analysis filters of a maximally decimated filter bank ( fig2 ) are denoted h k ( z ) 203 , where k = 0 , 1 , . . . , l - 1 . the subband signals v k ( n ) are maximally decimated , each of sampling frequency f s / l , after passing the decimators 204 . the synthesis section , with the synthesis filters denoted f k ( z ), reassembles the subband signals after interpolation 205 and filtering 206 to produce { circumflex over ( x )}( n ). in addition , the present invention performs a spectral reconstruction on { circumflex over ( x )}( n ), giving an enhanced signal y ( n ). the number of source area channels is denoted s ( 1 ≦ s ≦ m ). performing spectral reconstruction through translation on { circumflex over ( x )}( n ) according to the present invention , in combination with envelope adjustment , is accomplished by repatching the subband signals as where k ε [ 0 , s − 1 ], (− 1 ) s + p = 1 , i . e . s + p is an even number , p is an integer offset ( 0 ≦ p ≦ m − s ) and e m + k ( n ) is the envelope correction . performing spectral reconstruction through folding on { circumflex over ( x )}( n ) according to the present invention , is further accomplished by repatching the subband signals as where k ε [ 0 , s − 1 ], (− 1 ) s + p =− 1 , i . e . s + p is an odd integer number , p is an integer offset ( 1 − s ≦ p ≦ m − 2s + 1 ) and e m + k ( n ) is the envelope correction . the operator [*] denotes complex conjugation . usually , the repatching process is repeated until the intended amount of high frequency bandwidth is attained . it should be noted that , through the use of the subband domain based translation and folding , improved crossover accuracy between the lowband and instances of translated or folded bands is achieved , since all the signals are filtered through filterbank channels that have matched frequency responses . if the frequency f c of x ( n ) is too high , or equivalently f s is too low , to allow an effective spectral reconstruction , i . e . m + s & gt ; l , the number of subband channels may be increased after the analysis filtering . filtering the subband signals with a ql - channel synthesis filter bank , where only the l lowband channels are used and the upsampling factor q is chosen so that ql is an integer value , will result in an output signal with sampling frequency qf s . hence , the extended filter bank will act as if it is an l - channel filter bank followed by an upsampler . since , in this case , the l ( q − 1 ) highband filters are unused ( fed with zeros ), the audio bandwidth will not change — the filter bank will merely reconstruct an upsampled version of { circumflex over ( x )}( n ). if , however , the l subband signals are repatched to the highband channels , according to eq . ( 3 ) or ( 4 ), the bandwidth of { circumflex over ( x )}( n ) will be increased . using this scheme , the upsampling process is integrated in the synthesis filtering . it should be noted that any size of the synthesis filter bank may be used , resulting in different sampling rates of the output signal . referring to fig3 , consider the subband channels from a 16 - channel analysis filterbank . the input signal x ( n ) has frequency contents up to the nyqvist frequency ( f c = f s / 2 ). in the first iteration , the 16 subbands are extended to 23 subbands , and frequency translation according to eq . ( 3 ) is used with the following parameters : m = 16 , s = 7 and p = 1 . this operation is illustrated by the repatching of subbands from point a to b in the figure . in the next iteration , the 23 subbands are extended to 28 subbands , and eq . ( 3 ) is used with the new parameters : m = 23 , s = 5 and p = 3 . this operation is illustrated by the repatching of subbands from point b to c . the so - produced subbands may then be synthesized using a 28 - channel filterbank . this would produce a critically sampled output signal with sampling frequency 28 / 16 f s = 1 . 75 f s . the subband signals could also be synthesized using a 32 - channel filterbank , where the four uppermost channels are fed with zeros , illustrated by the dashed lines in the figure , producing an output signal with sampling frequency 2f s . using the same analysis filterbank and an input signal with the same frequency contents , fig4 illustrates the repatching using frequency folding according to eq . ( 4 ) in two iterations . in the first iteration m = 16 , s = 8 and p =− 7 , and the 16 subbands are extended to 24 . in the second iteration m = 24 , s = 8 and p =− 7 , and the number of subbands are extended from 24 to 32 . the subbands are synthesized with a 32 - channel filterbank . in the output signal , sampled at frequency 2f s , this repatching results in two reconstructed frequency bands — one band emerging from the repatching of subband signals to channels 16 to 23 , which is a folded version of the bandpass signal extracted by channels 8 to 15 , and one band emerging from the repatching to channels 24 to 31 , which is a translated version of the same bandpass signal . sensory dissonance may develop in the translation or folding process due to adjacent band interference , i . e . interference between partials in the vicinity of the crossover region between instances of translated bands and the lowband . this type of dissonance is more common in harmonic rich , multiple pitched programme material . in order to reduce dissonance , guard - bands are inserted and may preferably consist of small frequency bands with zero energy , i . e . the crossover region between the lowband signal and the replicated spectral band is filtered using a bandstop or notch filter . less perceptual degradation will be perceived if dissonance reduction using guard - bands is performed . the bandwidth of the guard - bands should preferably be around 0 . 5 bark . if less , dissonance may result and if wider , comb - filter - like sound characteristics may result . in filterbank based translation or folding , guard - bands could be inserted and may preferably consist of one or several subband channels set to zero . the use of guardbands changes eq . ( 3 ) to d is a small integer and represents the number of filterbank channels used as guardband . now p + s + d should be an even integer in eq . ( 5 ) and an odd integer in eq . ( 6 ). p takes the same values as before . fig5 shows the repatching of a 32 - channel filterbank using eq . ( 5 ). the input signal has frequency contents up to f c = 5 / 16 f s , making m = 20 in the first iteration . the number of source channels is chosen as s = 4 and p = 2 . further , d should preferably be chosen as to make the bandwidth of the guardbands 0 . 5 bark . here , d equals 2 , making the guardbands f s / 32 hz wide . in the second iteration , the parameters are chosen as m = 26 , s = 4 , d = 2 and p = 0 . in the figure , the guardbands are illustrated by the subbands with the dashed line - connections . in order to make the spectral envelope continuous , the dissonance guard - bands may be partially reconstructed using a random white noise signal , i . e . the subbands are fed with white noise instead of being zero . the preferred method uses adaptive noise - floor addition ( ana ) as described in the pct patent application [ se00 / 00159 ]. this method estimates the noise - floor of the highband of the original signal and adds synthetic noise in a well - defined way to the recreated highband in the decoder . the present invention may be implemented in various kinds of systems for storage or transmission of audio signals using arbitrary codecs . fig1 shows the decoder of an audio coding system . the demultiplexer 101 separates the envelope data and other hfr related control signals from the bitstream and feeds the relevant part to the arbitrary lowband decoder 102 . the lowband decoder produces a digital signal which is fed to the analysis filterbank 104 . the envelope data is decoded in the envelope decoder 103 , and the resulting spectral envelope information is fed together with the subband samples from the analysis filterbank to the integrated translation or folding and envelope adjusting filterbank unit 105 . this unit translates or folds the lowband signal , according to the present invention , to form a wideband signal and applies the transmitted spectral envelope . the processed subband samples are then fed to the synthesis filterbank 106 , which might be of a different size than the analysis filterbank . the digital wideband output signal is finally converted 107 to an analogue output signal . the above - described embodiments are merely illustrative for the principles of the present invention for improvement of high frequency reconstruction ( hfr ) techniques using filterbank - based frequency translation or folding . it is understood that modifications and variations of the arrangements and the details described herein will be apparent to others skilled in the art . it is the intent , therefore , to be limited only by the scope of the impending patent claims and not by the specific details presented by way of description and explanation of the embodiments herein .	6
study hoe901 - 1021 was conducted to test the safety , efficacy , and tolerability of lantus ® lantus ( also known as hoe901 and insulin glargine ) in treating individuals with igt , ifg , and mild diabetes . as stated earlier , this patient population is at high risk for cv disease . study hoe901 / 1021 was a randomized , single - blind ( pharmacist - unblinded ), inpatient , dose - titration study designed to examine the safety and efficacy of hoe901 given once a day subcutaneously at bedtime in a novel population : people with impaired glucose tolerance ( igt ) or impaired fasting glucose ( ifg ). it was conceived as a pilot study for a large international trial of hoe901 in a dysglycemic population of igt , ifg , and early type 2 diabetes in order to investigate dosing in the prediabetic ( ifg / igt ) population for the first time . of special interest was the incidence of hypoglycemia during the study . the study was conducted at three centers in the us . after screening tests , including fasting plasma glucose ( fpg ) and post prandial plasma glucose ( ppg ; two hours following a 75 g oral glucose load ) for classification as igt , ifg , diabetic , or normal glucose tolerance ( ngt ), and after satisfying other inclusion criteria including the ability to perform moderate exercise on a stationary bicycle , subjects were admitted to an inpatient study center . they were confined there for the next 15 days , during which time they were randomly assigned to receive either hoe901 once per day subcutaneously in the evening , or matching placebo ( saline ) injections in a 3 : 1 randomization ( hoe901 : placebo ). baseline assessments included a 5 - point ( before each meal , bedtime , and 3 am ) and 8 - point ( 5 - point plus readings 2 hours after each meal ) blood glucose profile on separate days , and 15 minutes of exercise on a stationary bicycle at a level of exertion of “ somewhat hard ” on the borg scale with blood glucose values monitored during and for 3 hours following the exercise . each subject received a 25 kcal / kg diet while confined in the study center . capillary whole blood glucose values were recorded on hemocue devices . episodes of hypoglycemia ( blood glucose ≦ 50 mg / dl [ 2 . 8 mm ] or symptoms with blood glucose ≦ 65 mg / dl [ 3 . 6 mm ]) were recorded . once randomized , subjects &# 39 ; bedtime doses of study drug were titrated to achieve a fasting blood glucose ( fbg ) of 80 - 95 mg / dl [ 4 . 4 mm - 5 . 3 mm ]. dose increases were based on fbg values and were performed every 2 days . subjects remained at the site until the end of the confinement period , regardless of when target fbg levels were achieved . five - point blood glucose profiles were performed every other day , with 8 - point blood glucose profiles performed on alternate days . at endpoint all baseline procedures , including an 8 - point blood glucose profile , and an exercise assessment , were repeated . subjects were treated from 18 feb . 2002 to 17 apr . 2002 . data from the study are still being analyzed , but principal results of the study are summarized below . twenty - one subjects were enrolled into the study . two discontinued before completion : 1 hoe901 subject due to hypoglycemia , who however , never received study drug , and 1 subject withdrew prior to randomization . nineteen subjects completed the study , 15 in the hoe901 group and 4 in the placebo group . the table below summarizes the demographic and baseline characteristics of these subjects . although it was intended to enroll only igt / ifg subjects , difficulties in locating enough of these subjects in the timeframe allotted for enrollment necessitated the inclusion of subjects who were found to be diabetic at screening ( none were known to be diabetic prior to the study ). two subjects were enrolled with ngt ( fpg and ppg of 100 and 133 , and 95 and 135 mg / dl , respectively ). the starting dose following randomization for all subjects was initially set at 6 iu . because of the occurrence of hypoglycemia in 2 subjects at this dose , the starting dose was reduced to 4 iu . the mean dose at endpoint ( day 12 ) was 8 . 4 iu for hoe901 ( 0 . 096 iu / kg ), and 17 . 0 iu ( 0 . 195 iu / kg ) for placebo . all but 2 subjects in the hoe901 group had reached an fpg of 100 mg / dl by day 12 , and all but 4 had reached the fbg target of 95 mg / dl or less . fig . i displays the mean blood glucose values on the 8 - point profiles at day − 1 ( baseline ) and on day 12 ( endpoint ). as seen , there were small reductions from baseline to endpoint in mean blood glucose concentrations in the hoe901 group , ranging from 2 . 0 to 13 . 3 mg / dl at different timepoints . mean fbg was reduced from 98 . 1 to 85 . 6 mg / dl , and mean daylong blood glucose was reduced by 8 . 8 mg / dl , in the hoe901 group . in the hoe901 group the lowering of blood glucose from day − 1 to day 12 was not confined to the fasting timepoint , but occurred daylong , at each timepoint . in contrast , in the placebo group mean blood glucose values increased at most timepoints , with a mean fpg increase from 103 . 8 to 111 . 3 mg / dl and a mean daylong blood glucose increase of 8 . 2 mg / dl . the placebo group mean response was heavily influenced by 1 of the 4 subjects who had large increases in 8 - point blood glucose over the course of the study , for unclear reasons . it is clear from these data and the mean screening values in the table above that there was a drop in mean fasting glucose in the hoe901 group between screening and day − 1 ( baseline ). differences in blood glucose measurements ( plasma at screening , whole blood at day − 1 ) contributed to the observed drop in blood glucose between - these two timepoints , however , the likely reason for most of this difference was the institution of a diet policy in both groups ( in this study a diet similar to what would be prescribed in these subjects in practice ( 25 kcal / kg ) was used ). diet compliance in subjects with dysglycemia is classically poor , but because the subjects were confined in this study , they were perforce adherent to the diet regimen , and it was effective in lowering their blood glucose levels . no such decrease in mean fbg occurred between screening and day − 1 in the 5 subjects taking placebo . mean body weight was reduced in both the placebo group and hoe 901 over the course of the study , by 0 . 25 and 0 . 44 kg respectively . fig . ii illustrates mean blood glucose responses before (− 0 . 25 hr ) and for 3 hours following the 15 - minute stationary bicycle exercise period . as can be seen , mean blood glucose was similar before and after treatment with hoe901 , and did not approach the hypoglycemic range . in the placebo group mean blood glucose showed a notable increase from day − 1 to day 12 , due to 2 of the 4 subjects in that group who demonstrated large increases over baseline by day 12 , for reasons which are unclear but are possibly related to relative physical inactivity over the 2 weeks of confinement , with resultant decreased insulin sensitivity at the time of the assessment on day 12 . it is noteworthy that no hypoglycemic events were reported during exercise for any subject . treatment - emergent adverse events ( teaes ) occurred in 10 subjects in the hoe901 group ( 16 events ) vs . 2 in the placebo group ( 5 events ). each event occurred in only 1 individual except for headache , which occurred in 3 hoe901 subjects . only 2 hoe901 subjects and 1 placebo subject had events that were considered by investigators as possibly related to study drug . the hoe901 events were 2 episodes of headache , and one of hypoglycemia . the two headaches occurred in subjects who had hypoglycemic events on the same days and at approximately the same time as the headaches . there were no serious adverse events during the study . subject 3011 ( who reported dizziness as an adverse event during screening ) was removed from the study by the sponsor prior to receiving any study drug dose because of hypoglycemia that occurred during screening . hoe901 treatment plus modest calorie restriction was effective in lowering blood glucose values in these dysglycemic individuals to target fbg levels . daylong ( 8 - point ) blood glucose profiles were lowered in parallel to fpg in the hoe901 group . a relatively low dose of hoe901 ( mean of only 8 . 4 iu ) was required to achieve the glucose goals under these test conditions . blood glucose profiles in response to exercise fell only modestly over the course of the study in the hoe901 group . blood glucose responses in the placebo group increased over the course of the study in both 8 - point and exercise assessments , but the small size of this group and the atypical responses of 1 or 2 subjects makes drawing conclusions from the placebo responses difficult . only mild hypoglycemia occurred in 4 out of 16 subjects treated with hoe901 in this study . these hypoglycemic events generally occurred before lunch or supper , and resolved promptly with oral caloric intake . no episodes of hypoglycemia occurred in relation to exercise . although the calorie - restricted diet subjects consumed during this study doubtless played a role in the occurrence of these events , the diet was typical in size for what is recommended to these frequently overweight individuals . based on this study in individuals with igt , ifg , or mild untreated type 2 diabetes , the adminstration of hoe 901 seems safe and well tolerated . hypoglycemia can occur , but is manageable not related to exercise , and detectable with the aid of home glucose monitoring . thus in this study it was possible to use lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ) to treat the mildly hyperglycemic subjects to normoglycemic levels without hypoglycemia in relation to exercise . these data have prompted the undertaking of a large intervention trial , the origin study , wherein it is expected that lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ) will be shown to be efficacious in reducing cv disease , with low risk for producing hypoglycemic side effects in relation to the exercise which forms a cornerstone of the glucose management of these individuals . the origin study will randomly allocate approximately 10 , 000 subjects with igt , ifg , or early type 2 diabetes at risk for cardiovascular morbidity ( because of a history of previous serious cardiovascular events , or because of significant cardiovascular risk factors ) either to treatment with a single injection of lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ) per day , titrated to produce a fpg of 95 mg / dl or less without hypoglycemia , or to standard treatment of each condition . examples of serious cardiovascular events include , but are not limited to , previous myocardial infarction , stroke , angina with documented ischemic changes , previous coronary , carotid or peripheral arterial revascularization , or left ventricular hypertrophy by electrocardiogram or echocardiogram . examples of significant cardiovascular risk factors include , but are not limited to , previous myocardial infarction , stroke , angina with documented ischemic changes , previous coronary , carotid or peripheral arterial revascularization , or left ventricular hypertrophy by electrocardiogram or echocardiogram . this standard treatment plan includes a stepped - care algorithm for the institution of therapy in subjects who are either diabetic at baseline , or who become so during the trial . monitoring of , and treatment intervention in , these control subjects will occur in a manner that is at least as aggressive as that recommended by currently - accepted standards of care ( e . g . ada guidelines ). the morbidity / mortality study will be multicenter , international , randomized , and open - label , with a mean treatment duration of 5 years . the primary outcome variable is a composite cardiovascular endpoint of cardiovascular deaths , nonfatal mi and stroke , revascularization , hospitalization for heart failure chf , and unstable angina . secondary variables include all - cause mortality and rates of development or progression of microvascular disease . a separate investigation will examine the progression to type 2 diabetes in the igt and ifg subjects treated with lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ) versus usual care . despite the novelty of the treatment paradigm proposed for the origin study , it is believed that hypoglycemia will be minimal based on several factors : 1 . the 24 - hour plasma insulin profile without a definite peak resulting from lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ) administration , decreasing the vulnerability of patients to excessive insulin concentrations which have historically occurred at unpredictable times during the day , and to unpredictable degrees , with other insulin preparations . 2 . the gradual dose titration scheme proposed for the study . lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ) doses will start low , from 2 - 6 iu per day and the insulin administered will be distributed over a 24 - hour period . dose increases will be small , and made only after fpg levels from previous doses have reached steady - state . 3 . the goal of lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ) titration is a target fpg of 95 mg / dl . this is at the upper end of the normal range for subjects without diabetes . many igt subjects in this trial will have an fpg in the target range from the start of the study , and if assigned to receive lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ) will consequently receive the starting dose only . in any case , the risk of nocturnal hypoglycemia resulting from lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ) administration which has reduced fpg to the vicinity of 95 mg / dl should be minimal , especially since most of these subjects will exhibit a degree of decreased insulin sensitivity . 4 . subjects will be asked to monitor their blood glucose at home especially during titration , to detect any tendency to hypoglycemia in that setting ( pen - exercise , after missed meals , overnight ). the results of the 1021 study which confirmed the safety and tolerability of lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ) in drug - naïve type 2 diabetes patients as well as in prediabetic individuals , also support lantus &# 39 ; lantus &# 39 ; ( insulin glargine ) special usefulness in patients with moderate to severe ddl . insulin has features that make it especially useful in the patient with pronounced diabetic dyslipidemia , as compared to the oral antidiabetic agents usually used as initial pharmacotherapy . the “ treat - to - target ” study ( hoe901 / 4002 ) of lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ) in a type 2 diabetic population inadequately treated with oral drugs was notable in demonstrating the success of lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ) and its comparator , nph insulin , in reducing blood glucose levels to target levels in the majority of randomized patients . nph insulin despite having a prolonged duration of action , has a pronounced peak effect from 3 - 6 hours after injection , rendering it less suitable in the management of the patient with milder diabetes due to the risk for hypoglycemia . indeed even in this more severely diabetic population lantus lantus ( insulin glargine ) demonstrated significant advantages over nph in hypoglycemia , especially nocturnal hypoglycemia . as a consequence of the excellent glycemic control attained , which set the standard for glycemic control in future trials , the 4002 study results are especially useful as an assessment of lantus &# 39 ; s lantus &# 39 ; ( insulin glargine ) effects on lipids . the effects of lantus lantus ( insulin glargine ) in the population of the “ treat - to - target ” 4002 study on fasting tg levels increased with the magnitude of baseline tg elevations : reductions of 24 %, 34 %, and 38 % were seen in fasting tg levels with , respectively , all patients ; those with fasting tg in the 300 - 499 mg / dl range ( 13 % of the 4002 population ); and those with elevations of 500 mg / dl or more ( another 8 % of the 4002 population ). it is also notable that highly statistically significant reductions in non - hdl - cholesterol ( see below ) were seen in the two pooled treatments in the 4002 study , greater in magnitude the higher the baseline level of tg . there is evidence from the literature that use of sulfonylurea ( su ) as initial drug treatment of the type 2 patient with ddl exerts a weaker effect on reduction of hypertriglyceridemia , or on increasing hdl - c , than is seen with insulin , and / or that the effects are less durable . in order to compare the effects of lantus lantus ( insulin glargine ) on fasting tg and non - hdl - c levels with oral agents from the sulfonylurea class , the glimepiride ( amaryl ® amaryl ) database at aventis was examined . both multicenter placebo - controlled studies in the amaryl ® amaryl ( glimepiride ) registration database demonstrated a more modest effect of amaryl ® amaryl ( glimepiride ) on both tg and non - hdl - c concentrations than lantus lantus ( insulin glargine ) demonstrated in the 4002 study , despite a prominent effect of amaryl ® amaryl ( glimepiride ) to lower blood glucose . these results are shown in table 1 below for patients with various levels of fasting hypertriglyceridemia . the lipid - lowering effects of metformin are variable depending on the study and clinical setting , but while the tg - lowering and hdl - increasing effects of metformin are generally superior to su , they do not exceed the effects of insulin quoted above . thiazolidinediones ( tzds ) differ in their effects — pioglitazone is associated with notable beneficial effects on the abnormalities of ddl , whereas rosiglitazone seems to have almost no effect on these parameters ( confirmed significantly inferior to lantus lantus ( insulin glargine ) in study 4014 , which compared lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ) and rosiglitazone in type 2 diabetic patients already treated with other oral antidiabetic drugs — see table 2 below ). the special advantages of insulin in the treatment of diabetic dyslipidemia , which along with insulin &# 39 ; s established effectiveness in blood glucose control , suggest that it is a preferred treatment compared to available oral antidiabetic drugs . until recently , the drug treatment of blood glucose elevations in drug - naïve diabetic patients has consisted of oral antidiabetic agents because of a fear of hypoglycemia from the use of insulin in this population . the novel development is the availability of lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ), the first truly basal insulin , which by virtue of its flat pharmacokinetic profile and 24 - hour duration of action , can supply a steady insulin effect with low risk for hypoglycemia due to the lack of a pronounced peak effect . because of this , insulin treatment of the diabetic patient previously treated with lifestyle measures only , is possible , and thus insulin treatment of patients in this category with pronounced diabetic dyslipidemia is possible , to reduce their elevated blood lipid values as well as their elevated blood glucose values . in view of the data described above , treatment with long acting insulin , particularly insulin glargine , is expected to safely and effectively retard atherosclerosis progression in patients with igf , ifg or type 2 diabetes , particularly early type 2 diabetes by improving glycemic control and by additional mechanisms including decreased free fatty acid production , improved control of dyslipidemia , decreased oxidative stress and increased endothelial nitric oxide availability . treatment with long acting insulin , particularly insulin glargine , is also expected to safely and effectively improve vascular function in patients with igt , ifg or type 2 diabetes , particularly early type 2 diabetes . long acting insulin , particularly insulin glargine , is expected to improve endothelial function based on its effects on smooth muscle cells , endothelial cells , suppression of cytokines , coagulants and increased endothelial nitric oxide synthase . coronary endothelial dysfunction is defined as an impaired vasodilatory response to intracoronary infusion of acetylcholine ( ach ) and is predictive of vascular events . acute studies have shown that a physiological increase in the circulating insulin concentration potentiates ach - induced vasodilation . 43 in another study , after two months of insulin therapy , patients with type 2 diabetes saw an increase in the blood flow response to ach and restored the ability of insulin to acutely potentiate ach - induced vasodilation . 44 finally , patients with diabetes have been shown to have increased left ventricular mass and abnormalities in left ventricular ( lv ) diastolic and systolic function , often referred to as diabetic cardiomyopathy . these abnormalities may extend also to patients with “ mild ” prediabetic hyperglycemic disorders . treatment with long acting insulin , particularly insulin glargine , is expected to prevent an increase in lv mass and improve or prevent an increase in both lv diastolic and systolic function in patients with igt , ifg or type 2 diabetes , particularly early type 2 diabetes . treatment with long acting insulin , particularly glargine , is expected to prevent an increase in carotid intimal thickness of the extracranial carotid artery . measurement of carotid intimal thickness is a highly reproducible technique , which correlates with risk factors for atheosclerosis progression in coronary disease and stroke ( n engl j . med . 1999 ; 340 : 14 - 22 ). angiotensin - converting enzme inhibitors and the insulin sensitizing thiazolidinediones are all agents which have been shown to reduce carotid intimal thickness in placebo controlled trials ( circulation . 2001 ; 103 : 919 - 925 ; j clin endocrinol metab 1998 ; 83 : 1818 - 1820 ; j clin endocrinol metab 2001 ; 86 : 34552 - 3456 ). the amount of long acting insulin necessary to achieve the desired biological effect depends on a number of factors , for example the specific long acting insulin chosen , the intended use , the mode of administration and the clinical condition of the patient . the daily dose of insulin glargine is generally in the range from 2 to about 150 iu per day . more preferred is a daily dose in range in the range of 2 to about 80 iu per day . even more preferred is a daily dose in the range of about 2 to about 40 iu per day . as used herein , the term “ patient ” means a warm blooded animal , such as for example rat , mice , dogs , cats , guinea pigs , and primates such as humans . as used herein , the term “ treat ” or “ treating ” means to alleviate symptoms , eliminate the causation of the symptoms either on a temporary or permanent basis , or to prevent or slow the appearance of symptoms of the named disorder or condition . as used herein , the term “ effective dosage ” means a quantity of the compound which is effective in treating the named disorder or condition . as used herein , the term “ long acting insulin ” is an insulin analog that is a long acting ( up to 24 - hour duration of action ) blood glucose lowering agent . such long acting insulins include , but are not limited to , lantus ®, nph , lente ®, ultralente ®, and semilente ®. as used herein , the term “ long acting insulin ” is an insulin analog that is a long acting ( up to 24 - hour duration of action ) blood glucose lowering agent . such long acting insulins include , but are not limited to , lantus ® lantus ( insulin glargine ), nph , lente ® lente human insulin zinc suspension [ rdna origin ], ultralente ® ultralente human insulin extended zinc suspension [ rdna origin ], and semilente ® semilente ( prompt insulin zinc suspension ). the citation of any reference herein should not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as “ prior art ” to the instant application . various publications are cited herein , the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties . fig . i depicts mean blood glucose values on the 8 - point profiles at day 1 ( baseline ) and day 12 ( endpoint ). fig . ii illustrates mean blood glucose responses before ( 0 . 25 hr ) and for 3 hours following the 15 minute stationary bicycle exercise period . 1 . stamler j , vaccaro o , norton j d , wentworth d . diabetes , other risk factors , and 12 - yr cardiovascular mortality for men screened in the multiple risk factor intervention trial . diabetes care 1993 ; 16 : 434 - 44 . 2 . stratton i m , adler a i , nell a w , matthews d r , manley s e , cull c a , et al . association of glycaemia with macrovascular and microvascular complications of type 2 diabetes ( ukpds 35 ): prospective observational study . bmj 2000 ; 321 : 405 - 412 . 3 . coutinho m , wang y , gerstein h c , yusuf s . the relationship between glucose and incident cardiovascular events . diabetes care 1999 ; 22 ( 2 ): 233 - 240 . 4 . khaw k - t , wareham n , luben r , bingham s , oakes s , welch a , et al . glycated haemoglobin , diabetes , and mortality in men in the norfolk cohort of european prospective investigation of cancer and nutrition ( epic - norfolk ). bmj 2001 ; 322 : 15 - 18 . 5 . gerstein h c , yusuf s . dysglycaemia and risk of cardiovascular disease . lancet 1996 ; 347 : 949 - 50 . 6 . expert committee on the diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus . report of the expert committee on the diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus . diabetes care 1997 ; 20 ( 7 ): 1183 - 97 . 7 . the diabetes control and complications trial research group : the effect of intensive treatment of diabetes on the development and progression of long - term complications in insulin - dependent diabetes mellitus . n engl j med 1993 ; 329 : 977 - 86 . 8 . shichiri m , kishikawa h , ohkubo y , wake n . long - term results of the kumamoto study on optimal diabetes control in type 2 diabetic patients . diabetes care 2000 april ; 23 ( supp2 ): b21 - 9 . 9 . reichard p , nilsson b - y , rosenqvist u . the effect of long - term intensified insulin treatment on the development of microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus . n engl j med 1993 ; 329 : 304 - 9 . 10 . laakso m . glycemic control and the risk for coronary heart disease in patients with non - insulin - dependent diabetes mellitus . annals int med 1996 ; 124 ( 1 pt 2 ): 127 - 130 . 11 . moss s e , klein r , klein b e k , meuer s m . the association of glycemia and cause - specific mortality in a diabetic population . arch int med 1994 ; 154 : 2473 - 9 . 12 . jackson c a , yudkin j s , forrest r d . a comparison of the relationships of the glucose tolerance test and the glycated haemoglobin assay with diabetic vascular disease in the commlmity . the islington diabetes survey . diabetes res clin pract 1992 ; 17 : 111 - 123 . 13 . wei m , gaskill s p , haffner s m , stem m p . effects of diabetes and level of glycemia on all - cause and cardiovascular mortality . the san antonio heart study . diabetes care 1998 ; 21 ( 7 ): 1167 - 72 . 14 . ukpds group . intensive blood - glucose control with sulphonylureas or insulin compared with conventional treatment and risk of complications in patients with type 2 diabetes ( ukpds 33 ). lancet 1998 ; 352 : 837 - 53 . 15 . devegt f , dekker j m , ruhe h g , stehouwer c d a , nijpels g , bouter l m , et al . hyperglycaemia is associated with all - cause and cardiovascular mortality in the hoorn population : the hoorn study . diabetologia 1999 ; 42 : 926 - 931 . 16 . simmons l a , mccallurn j , friedlander y , simmons j . fasting plasma glucose in non - diabetic elderly women predicts increased all - cause mortality and coronary heart disease risk . aust n z med 2000 ; 30 : 41 - 7 . 17 . bjomholt j v , nitter - hauge s , erikssen g , jervell j , aasere , erikssen j , et al . fasting blood glucose : an underestimated risk factor for cardiovascular death . diabetes care 1999 ; 22 : 45 - 9 . 18 . balkau b , shipley m , jarret r j , pyorala k , pyorala m , forhan a . et al . high blood glucose concentration is a risk factor for mortality in middle - aged nondiabetic men . 20 - year follow - up in the whitehall study , the paris prospective study , and the helsinki policemen study . diabetes care 1998 ; 21 : 360 - 367 . 19 . balkau b , bertrais s , dugimetiere p , eschwege e . is there a glycemic threshold for mortality risk ? diabetes care 1999 ; 22 ( 5 ): 696 - 9 . 20 . barzilay j i , spiekennan c f , wahl p w , kuller l h , cushrnan m , furberg c d , et al . cardiovascular disease in older adults with glucose disorders : comparison of american diabetes association criteria for diabetes mellitus with who criteria . lancet 1999 ; 354 : 622 - 5 . 21 . diabetes prevention research group : reduction in the evidence of type 2 diabetes with life - style intervention or metformin . n engl j med 346 : 393 - 403 , 2002 . 22 . passikivi j , walberg f . preventive tolbutamide treatment and arterial disease in mild hyperglycaemia . diabetologia 1971 ; 7 : 323 - 27 . 23 . sartor g , schersten b , carlstrorn s , melander a , norden a , persson g . ten - year follow - up of subjects with impaired glucose tolerance . prevention of diabetes by tolbutamide and diet regulation . diabetes 1980 ; 29 : 41 - 49 . 24 . malmberg k , ryden l , hamsten a , herlitz i , waldenstrom a , wedel h . mortality prediction in diabetic patients with myocardial infarction : experiences from the digami study . cardiovascular research 1997 ; 34 : 248 - 253 . 25 . van den berghe g , wouters p , weekers f , verwaest c , bruyninckx f , schetz m et al . intensive insulin therapy in critically ill patients . n engl j med 2001 ; 345 : 1359 - 67 . 26 . baron ad . vascular reactivity . am j cardiol 1999 ; 84 ( 1a ): 25j - 27j . 27 . aljada a , dandona p . effect of insulin on human aortic endothelial nitric oxide synthase . metabolism 2000 ; 49 : 147 - 50 . 28 . taylor p d , oon b b , thomas c r , poston t , poston l . prevention by insulin treatment of endothelial dysfunction but not enhanced noradrenaline - induced contractility in mesenteric resistance arteries from streptozotocin - induced diabetic rats . br j pharmacol 1994 ; 111 ( 1 ): 35 - 41 . 29 . dandona p , aljada a , mohanty p , ghanim h , hamouda w , assian e , ahmad s . insulin inhibits intranuclear nuclear factor kb and stimulates ikb in mononuclear cells in obese subjects : evidence for an anti - inflammatory effect ? j clin endocrin ; july 2001 ; 3257 - 3265 . 30 . american diabetes association : clinical practice recommendations . position statement , diabetes mellitus and exercise . diabetes care 2001 24 ( suppl 1 ): 551 - 5 31 . diabetes prevention research group : reduction in the evidence of type 2 diabetes with life - style intervention or metformin . n engl j med 346 : 393 - 403 , 2002 . 32 . diabetes prevention research group : reduction in the evidence of type 2 diabetes with life - style intervention or metformin . n engl j med 346 : 393 - 403 , 2002 . 33 . tuomilehto j , lindstrom j , eriksson j g , valle t t , hamalainen h , ilanne - parikka p , keinanen - kiukaanniemi s , laakso m , louheranta a , rastas m , salminen v , uusitupa m ; finnish diabetes prevention study group . ( department of epidemiology and health promotion , national public health institute , helsinki , finland . jaakko . tuomilehto @ ktl ) prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus by changes in lifestyle among subjects with impaired glucose tolerance . n engl j . med . 2001 may 3 ; 344 ( 18 ): 1343 - 50 . 34 . murray f t , zinman b , mclean p a , denoga a , albisser a m , leibel b s , et . al . the metabolic response to moderate exercise in diabetic man receiving intravenous and subcutaneous insulin . journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism 1977 4 : 708 - 720 35 . herz m , profozic v , arora v , smircik - duvnjac l , kovacevic i , boras j et al . effects of a fixed mixture of 25 % insulin lispro and 75 % npl on plasma glucose during and after moderate physical exercise in patients with type 2 diabetes . current medical research and opinions 2002 18 : 188 - 93 36 . rabasa - lhoret r , bourque j , ducros f , chiasson , j - l . guidelines for premeal insulin dose reduction for postprandial exercise of different intensities and durations in type 1 diabetic subjects treated intensively with a basal - bolus insulin regimen ( ultralente - lispro ). diabetes care 2001 24 : 625 - 30 37 . hernandez j m , moccia t , fluckey j d , ulbrecht j s , farrell p a . fluid snacks to help persons with type 1 diabetes avoid late postexercise hypoglycemia . medicine and science in sports and exercise 2000 32 : 904 - 10 . 38 . riddle m , rosenstock j , gerich j . the treat - to - target trial . diabetes care 2003 26 : 39 . lepore m , pampanelli s , fanelli c , porcellati f , bartocci l , divincenzo a et al . pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of subcutaneous injection of long - acting human insulin analog glargine , nph insulin , and human ultralente insulin , and continouous subcutaneous infusion of insulin lispro . diabetes 2000 49 : 2142 - 8 . 40 . chiasson j - l , josse r g , gomis r , hanefeld m , karasik a , laakso m . acarbose treatment and the risk of cardiovascular disease and hypertension in patients with impaired glucose tolerance . jama 2003 290 : 486 - 94 41 . cryer p , davis s , shamoon h . hypoglycemia in diabetes . diabetes care 2003 26 : 1902 - 12 42 . the ukpds research group . a 6 - year , m randomized , controlled trial comparing sulfonylurea , insulin , and metformin therapy in patients with newly - diagnosed type 2 diabetes that could not be controlled with diet therapy . ann int med 1998 128 : 165 - 75 43 . taddei s , virdis a , mattei p , natali a , ferrannini e , salvetti a . effect of insulin on acetylcholine - induced vasodilation in normotensive subjects and patients with essential hypertension . circulation 1995 ; 92 : 2911 - 2918 . 44 . rask - madsen c , ihlemann n , krarup t , christiansen e , kober l , nervil k c , torp - pedersen c . insulin therapy improves insulin - stimulated endothelial function in patients with type ii diabetes and ischemic heart disease . diabetes . 2001 ; 50 : 2611 - 2618 . 45 . azen s p , peters r k , berkowitz k , kjos s , xiang a , buchanan t a . ( department of medicine , university of southern california ( usc ) school of medicine 90033 , usa .) tripod ( troglitazone in the prevention of diabetes ): a randomized , placebo - controlled trial of troglitazone in women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus ; control clin trials . 1998 april ; 19 ( 2 ): 217 - 31 .	0
the present invention will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying non - limiting examples . it should be understood that the following description is illustrative only , and should not be taken in any way as a restriction on the generality of the invention . production of bmf - 1 suitable for the cosmetic and therapeutic treatment of skin damage and the aged appearance of skin bmf - 1 was prepared as in australian patent number 645589 . the process involves the microfiltration of pasteurised whey to remove solids , adsorption of growth - promoting material to a column of s - sepharose fast flow s ™ cation exchange resin ( pharmacia ) that had been equilibrated with 50 mm sodium citrate buffer to remove unadsorbed material , elution of bmf - 1 with 0 . 4m nacl added to 10 mm sodium citrate ph 6 . 5 , diafiltration against water and concentration . the composition can be left in liquid form or freeze dried for further formulation . production of bmf - 2 suitable for the cosmetic and therapeutic treatment of skin damage and the aged appearance of skin bmf - 2 was prepared as in australian patent number 702002 . a 10 g sample of bmf - 1 prepared as in example 1 was dissolved in 150 mm pbs and added to 250 mls of 10 mm hcl containing 0 . 2m nacl , and the ph adjusted to 2 . 5 with naoh . a 2 liter cellufine gl 1000 ™ ( amicon ) column was equilibrated with a 10 mm solution of hcl containing 0 . 2m nacl adjusted to ph 2 . 5 with naoh and 125 ml of the dissolved bmf - 1 was applied to the column and eluted at 6 . 8 ml / min with the same solution . 675 ml was collected from when the absorbance profile at 280 nm fell below 0 . 4 a . this pool was diafiltered against 0 . 1m ammonium bicarbonate . the composition can be left in liquid form or freeze dried for further formulation . all units for ingredients of the compositions are measured in “ parts ”. basic milk factors quantity specified hereby referred to as “ qs ”. cetomacrogol emulsifying wax was melted with paraffin at about 70 ° c . chlorocresol and propylene glycol were dissolved in about 50 parts of the distilled water warmed to about the same temperature . after mixing , the composition was adjusted to weight and stirred until cool . basic milk factors are then added to an appropriate concentration , and mixed thoroughly . the emulsifying ointment was melted at about 70 ° c . the phenoxyethanol was dissolved in the distilled water , warmed to about the same temperature . the composition was mixed , adjusted to weight and stirred until cool . the basic milk factors are then added while stirring thoroughly . emulsifying ointment was melted with the aid of gentle heat , followed by addition of sodium phosphate , citric acid and chlorocresol , previously dissolved in the distilled water at the same temperature . the composition was stirred gently until cold . the basic milk factors are then added and mixed thoroughly . the waxes and paraffins were melted together and stirred until cool . basic milk factors are then added to an appropriate concentration in a portion of the base , gradually incorporating the remainder , followed by thorough mixing . white soft paraffin was melted , and the liquid paraffin incorporated . the mixture was stirred until cold . the basic milk factors are titrated with a portion of the base and gradually incorporated into the remainder of the base . the tragacanth was mixed with glycerol and most of the distilled water . after bringing to the boil , the mixture was cooled , and the basic milk factors are added . the composition was adjusted to weight and mixed well . the finished product was protected from light . cetomacrogol emulsifying wax was melted with the liquid paraffin at about 60 ° c . to this mixture , the chlorhexidine solution previously diluted to 50 parts was added , with rapid stirring , with distilled water at the same temperature . after mixing , the composition was adjusted to volume and stirred until cold . balb c3t3 mouse fibroblasts were plated into 24 - place multiwells 24 hours before treatment to give a monolayer close to confluence . performed in triplicate , cells were incubated at least overnight in complete growth medium , rinsed with serum - free media then exposed to concentrations of bmf - 1 product ( 1 . 0 mg / ml ) in basal medium ( dmem containing 0 . 1 % fbs ) for between 48 and 72 hours . cell monolayers were treated with trypsin / edta ( 0 . 125 %/ 0 . 5 mm ) to disperse individual cells . cells were pelleted , washed in hanks balanced salt solution ( hbss ) and to assess cell number , cells were suspended in 450 μl of hbss and 50 μl trypan blue and counted manually using a haemocytometer . to assess viability , cells were treated with both annexin v / fitc ( 1 μg / ml ) and propidium iodide ( pi , 5 μg / ml ) in a total volume of 500 μl at 4 ° c . for 15 minutes ( method modified from van engeland et al , 1996 ). flow cytometry was then used to analyse cell viability . table 1 shows the viability of cultured fibroblasts treated with bmf - 1 or basal medium treated with annexin / pi were segregated into the following categories ; viable cells ( negative annexin v staining and negative pi staining ), apoptotic cells ( positive annexin staining but negative pi staining ) and necrotic cells ( positive annexin v staining and positive pi staining ). table 1 demonstrates that compared to basal dmem media , bmf - 1 ( 1 mg / ml ) stimulated the growth of cultured fibroblasts by approximately 3 . 0 fold . the percentage of viable cells was increased by 26 % in cultures treated with bmf - 1 compared with basal medium . bmf - 1 also reduced the number of apoptotic and necrotic cells by 73 % and 21 % respectively compared to basal medium . thus bmf - 1 stimulates the growth and survival of fibroblast cells in culture . to assess the effect of bmf - 1 and bmf - 2 on the growth of human keratinocyte cells ( hacat ), cells were plated into 96 - well plates to give a monolayer close to confluence . performed in triplicate , the cells were incubated at least overnight in complete growth medium , starved for at least two hours and then exposed to concentrations of bmf - 1 or bmf - 2 ( 0 - 1 . 0 mg / ml ) dissolved in dmem for up to 4 days . replicate wells were exposed to concentrations of 10 % fbs to serve as a positive control . plates were rinsed and methanol fixed for 30 minutes , then methylene blue stained for 30 minutes ( oliver et al , 1989 ). excess stain was washed off with borate buffer and the remaining stain solubilised with acidified ethanol ( 100 μl / well ). the optical density of the wells was read at 630 nm and the results presented in fig1 with the growth response obtained with 10 % fbs shown by the dashed line to assess the effect of bmf - 1 on cell viability , human keratinocyte cells ( hacat ) were plated into 24 - place multiwells to give a monolayer close to confluence and incubated for up to 3 days in complete growth medium . performed in triplicate , cells were then starved for up to 48 hours and then exposed to concentrations bf bmf - 1 ( 1 . 0 mg / ml ) dissolved in basal medium for between 48 and 72 hours . cell monolayers were treated with 4 mm edta for 10 minutes and then with trypsin / edta ( 0 . 125 %/ 0 . 5 mm ) to disperse individual cells . cells were pelleted , washed in hbss and to assess cell number , cells were suspended in 450 μl of hbss and 50 μl trypan blue and counted manually using a haemocytometer . to assess viability , cells were treated with both annexin v / fitc ( 1 μg / ml ) and propidium iodide ( pi , 5 μg / ml ) in a total volume of 500 μl at 4 ° c . for 15 minutes ( method modified from van engeland et al ). flow cytometry was then used to analyse cells ( see table 2 ). cells incubated with annexin / pi were segregated into the following categories ; viable cells ( negative annexin v staining and negative pi staining ), apoptotic cells ( positive annexin staining but negative pi staining ) and necrotic cells ( positive annexin v staining and positive pi staining ). both bmf - 1 and bmf - 2 stimulated the growth of hacat cells as shown in fig1 . the maximum responses obtained with bmf - 1 and bmf - 2 were at least comparable to the growth response observed in cells treated with 10 % fbs in the same assay ( dashed line , fig1 ). as shown in table 2 , a greater percentage of cells treated with bmf - 1 ( 1 mg / ml ) were found to be viable ( approximately 12 % increase compared to basal medium ) and less identified as apoptotic ( approximately 43 % decrease compared to basal medium ). thus , bmf - 1 product stimulates the growth and promotes the survival of cultured human keratinocytes . human skin fibroblasts were plated into 6 - well plates at a density of about 1 × 10 5 cells / well and grown until almost confluent before being starved overnight in basal medium ( dmem and 0 . 1 % fbs ). cells were then exposed to concentrations of bmf - 1 ( 0 - 2 . 0 mg / ml ) in basal medium for 48 hours . cell pellets were harvested for hydroxyproline determination as a measurement of collagen content ( fig2 ). bmf - 1 stimulated collagen production by human skin fibroblasts in a dose dependent manner ( fig2 ). the amount of collagen deposited by the cells as extra - cellular matrix was measured in the cell pellets and was found to have increased by up to 3 fold when cells were incubated with bmf - 1 compared to basal medium ( fig2 ). thus bmf - 1 stimulates both collagen secretion by human fibroblast cells and deposition of this collagen into the extra - cellular matrix . bmf - 1 was formulated into four representative topical emulsions on a weight for weight basis with incorporation of up to approximately 20 mg bmf - 1 protein per gram of emulsion . both control emulsion and topically formulated bmf - 1 was applied to prepared porcine skin ( washed and shaved ) at an application rate of approximately 0 . 05 g / cm 2 . material was applied by measured syringe ( 250 μl / 5 . 0 cm 2 marked area ) and rubbed into the skin with a cotton bud until minimal residue was evident on the surface of the skin . after 30 or 90 minutes full thickness 6 mm punch biopsies were harvested from both control and treated areas and snap frozen in tissue - tek oct ( optical cutting temperature ) compound . tissue samples collected in oct were cut at between 5 and 7 μm using a cryostat and sections fixed in acetone for 20 minutes before being assessed for growth factor staining by immunohistochemistry . two sections were cut from each section at least 10 μm apart and were rehydrated with phosphate buffered saline ( pbs ), blocked with 10 % skimmed milk powder for 30 minutes at room temperature and washed 2 - 3 times with pbs . one hundred microliters of the diluted primary antibodies ( rabbit anti - tgfβ2 polyclonal antibody 1 : 200 , rabbit anti - igf - 1 polyclonal antibody 1 : 200 ) was added to each porcine skin section and left for 1 hour at room temperature before being washed 2 - 3 times with pbs . one hundred microliters of the diluted secondary antibody ( biotinylated anti - rabbit igg ) 1 : 500 was added to each section and left for a further 1 hour at room temperature before being washed off with 2 - 3 times pbs and streptavidin - cy3 ( 1 : 300 ) was added to the sections for 40 minutes at room temperature . finally the sections were washed with pbs and mounted in immu - mount and examined using a fluorescent microscope . quantitation was performed by capturing 3 complete fields of view of the skin from each of the two sections from each sample . using sigmascan software ( jandel scientific software ), the average intensity of the fluorescence in the epidermis and dermis in each field was determined together with the average background intensity . the final intensity measurement ( represented as integrated optical density , iod ) reflects the average intensity in the measured area ( epidermis or dermis ) minus the background for each field , with up to 6 fields combined to provide the iod for each sample . igf - i and tgfβ2 are components of bmf - 1 and can be detected in skin using immunohistochemical detection ( fig3 a ). after 30 minutes , the immunohistochemical detection of both igf - i and tgfβ2 was increased in skin treated with topically formulated bmf - 1 preparations ( fig3 a panels b and d respectively ) compared to control skin treated with emulsion only ( fig3 a panels a and c ). fig3 b shows the results of the quantitation of the igf - i and tgfβ2 immunofluorescence observed in the epidermis and dermis of skin treated with two emulsions ( a and b ) containing 20 mg / g bmf - 1 ( closed bars ) compared to emulsion alone ( open bars ). quantitation of igf - i immunofluorescence was performed on samples taken 30 minutes after the skin was treated with topically formulated bmf - 1 whereas quantitation of tgfβ2 immunofluorescence was performed on samples taken 90 minutes after treatment . fig3 b confirms the observations shown in fig3 a ( panels a and b ) and demonstrates that igf - i immunofluorescence was increased in both the epidermis and dermis 30 minutes after the skin was treated with topically formulated bmf - 1 preparations . although tgfβ2 immunofluorescence was found to increase 30 minutes after the skin was treated with topically formulated bmf - 1 ( fig3 a , panels c and d ), maximal changes were found to have occurred after 90 minutes . fig3 b demonstrates that tgfβ2 immunofluorescence was increased in both the epidermis and dermis after the skin was treated with topically formulated bmf - 1 . these results indicate that both igf - i and tgfβ2 have penetrated the skin from the formulation . these studies demonstrate that growth factors contained within the bmf - 1 preparations translocate into the skin and are detected in both the epidermal and dermal layers thus confirming the cutaneous availability of formulated bmf - 1 . bmf - 1 was formulated into 5 base topical emulsions on a weight for weight basis with incorporation of approximately 2 mg and 20 mg bmf - 1 per gram of emulsion . both control emulsion and topically formulated bmf - 1 ( 2 and 20 mg / g ) was applied to prepared porcine skin ( washed and shaved ) at an application rate of approximately 0 . 05 g / cm 2 . material was applied by measured syringe ( 250 μl / 5 . 0 cm 2 marked area ) and rubbed into the skin with a cotton bud until minimal residue was evident on the surface of the skin . repeated applications were performed at 3 or 4 day intervals for four weeks . four weeks after the first application , and three days after the last application of topically formulated material , full thickness 6 mm punch biopsies were harvested from both control and treated areas , fixed in 10 % formalin and processed for histology . wax embedded sections from each biopsy were stained with haematoxylin and eosin and assessed in a blinded fashion by scoring the relative degree of dermal cellularity . following repeated application over four weeks , skin treated with topically formulated bmf - 1 ( 20 mg / g ) was observed to have increased dermal cellularity scores compared to controls ( fig4 ), reflecting an increase in the number of fibroblasts in treated skin . as loose connective tissue is more cellular and contains more reticular collagen ( type iii ) than dense connective tissue , an increase in the cellularity score and a increase in type iii collagen ( example 9 ) demonstrates an increase in the deposition of new loose connective tissue in the dermis . bmf - 1 was formulated into sorbolene cream on a weight for weight basis with incorporation of approximately 2 and 20 mg bmf - 1 per gram of emulsion . both control cream and topically formulated bmf - 1 ( 2 and 20 mg / g ) was applied to prepared porcine skin ( washed and shaved ) at an application rate of approximately 0 . 05 g / cm 2 . material was applied by measured syringe ( 250 μl / 5 . 0 cm 2 marked area ) and rubbed into the skin of 2 pigs with a cotton bud until minimal residue was evident on the surface of the skin . repeated applications were performed at 3 or 4 day intervals for two weeks . two weeks after the first application , and three days after the last application of topically formulated material , full thickness 6 mm punch biopsies were harvested from both control and treated areas and snap frozen in tissue - tek oct compound . two 10 μm sections from each tissue sample collected in oct were cut using a cryostat and sections were fixed in acetone for 25 minutes before being assessed for collagen type iii staining by immunohistochemistry . the sections were rehydrated with phosphate buffered saline ( pbs ), blocked with 10 % skimmed milk powder for 40 minutes at room temperature and washed 2 - 3 times with pbs . one hundred microliters of the diluted primary antibodies ( rabbit anti - collagen iii polyclonal antibody 1 : 200 ) was added to each porcine skin section and left for 1 hour at room temperature before being washed 2 - 3 times with pbs . one hundred microliters of the diluted secondary antibody ( biotinylated anti - rabbit igg 1 : 200 ) was added to each section and left for a further 1 hour at room temperature before being washed off with 2 - 3 times pbs . streptavidin - cy3 ( 1 : 200 ) was added to the sections for 40 minutes at room temperature . finally the sections were washed with pbs and mounted in immu - mount and examined using a fluorescent microscope . two sections from each tissue sample were analysed using an olympus - vanox photomicroscope and image analysis software . the fluorescence intensity ( integrated optical density ) was measured in the dermis of each section and normalised using the fluorescence value from a negative control ( fig5 ). four fields of view were captured from each of the papillary and reticular areas of the dermis . the average intensity values per sample were then combined to provide comparative results . following repeated application over two weeks , topically formulated bmf - 1 increased the dermal content of collagen type iii as shown in fig5 . compared to skin treated with sorbolene cream only , twice weekly exposure to topically formulated bmf ( 2 and 20 mg / g ) increased dermal collagen iii immunofluorescence ( fig5 ). these results demonstrate that topically formulated bmf - 1 stimulates new collagen deposition ( type iii collagen ) by dermal fibroblasts in skin . bmf - 1 product stimulates collagen mrna synthesis and inhibits matrix - metalloproteinase 1 ( mmp - 1 ) mrna synthesis by human skin fibroblast cells human skin fibroblasts were seeded into t75 tissue culture bottles ( cellstar , greiner gmbh , frickenhausen ) and grown until confluent before being starved overnight in complete growth medium containing 0 . 1 % fbs ( basal medium ). cells were then exposed to concentrations of bmf - 1 ( 0 - 2 . 0 mg / ml ) in basal medium for 48 hours . cell pellets were harvested for total rna extraction using a quickprep rna extraction kit according to the manufacturers instructions ( amersham pharmacia biotech , piscataway n . j .). the rna extracted from each bottle was used as a single replicate and gene expression analysed by standard northern blot procedures of 4 replicate experiments . briefly , rna was quantitated spectrophotometrically and 10 micrograms from each sample was size fractionated by electrophoresis on a 1 % agarose - formaldehyde gel , then transferred to a hybond - n nylon membrane ( amersham , buckinghamshire , england ) and fixed by uv cross - linking ( uv stratalinker 1800 , stratagene , la jolla , usa ). membranes were probed with antisense riboprobes to human pro - collagen iii , pro - collagen i , matrix - metalloproteinase 1 ( mmp - 1 ) and gapdh ( a constitutively expressed control gene ). for the mmp - 1 and gapdh hybridisations , pre - hybridisation was carried out at 65 ° c . for 4 hours in 50 % formamide , 5 × sspe , 5 × denhardts , 0 . 1 % sds and 100 μg / ml sheared salmon sperm dna . for the collagen hybridisations , ultrahyb ( ambion , austin , tex .) was used as the hybridisation solution . riboprobes were generated using either a t7 or sp6 transcription kit ( promega , madison , usa ) and [ α - 32p ] utp ( geneworks , thebarton , australia ), and were used at a final concentration of 10 6 incorporated counts / ml hybridisation solution . hybridisation was performed for 16 hours using the conditions described for the prehybridisation . membranes were washed under high stringency conditions ; three times with 3 × ssc - 0 . 1 % sds at room temperature , three times with 2 × ssc - 0 . 1 % sds at 68 ° c ., followed by two washes with 0 . 5 × ssc - 0 . 1 % sds and 0 . 1 × ssc - 0 . 1 % sds at 68 ° c . the membranes were exposed to film ( hyperfilm , amersham , buckinghamshire , england ) at − 80 ° c . for up to 24 hours . for quantitation , membranes were exposed to phosphorimage plates which were scanned by a phosphorimage reader ( fuji bas , japan ) with the integrated optical density ( iod ) of bands measured using imagemaster vds software ( pharmacia biotech , castle hill , australia ). to control for the amount of rna loaded and to ensure changes in mrna expression reflected specific regulation of the probed gene , the pro - collagen iii , i and mmp - 1 signal was normalised using the gapdh - iod from the same sample . representative autoradiograms of collagen i , iii and mmp - 1 probed rna are shown in fig6 a together with the respective gapdh autoradiogram for each sample . fig6 b shows the graphical representation of the combined results of 4 replicates for each treatment which are represented as the fold change from the respective rna expression in cells treated under basal conditions . treating cells with 0 . 2 mg / ml bmf - 1 induced collagen i and iii mrna expression by at least 2 - fold compared to basal conditions . cells treated with 2 . 0 mg / ml bmf - 1 also showed increased collagen mrna expression . the effects of bmf - 1 is considered to be a direct effect on gene induction and does not just reflect an increase in cell number . in contrast , bmf - 1 had a dose dependent inhibitory effect on the expression of mmp - 1 mrna ( fig6 a and 6b ). as mmp - 1 is an important enzyme in the degradation of the collagen molecule , this result implies that not only does bmf - 1 stimulate collagen synthesis , it also inhibits its degradation . as collagen turnover is a dynamic process occurring in skin , the relative effect on synthesis and degradation is an important consideration . the ability of bmf - 1 to both stimulate synthesis and inhibit degradation ensures treatment of skin by bmf - 1 will ultimately result in an overall net increase in collagen deposition . this is confirmed by the results shown in fig2 and 5 where the amount of collagen measured was similar in cells ( fig2 ) or skin ( fig5 ) treated with low or high levels of bmf - 1 . although the results shown in fig6 b indicate that higher doses of bmf - 1 do not stimulate as much rna synthesis as lower doses , the finding that bmf - 1 also markedly inhibits the synthesis of the degradative enzyme mmp - 1 in a dose dependant manner demonstrates the degradation of collagen by mmp - 1 is reduced as the dose of bmf - 1 is increased . moreover , this would result in a similar net balance of collagen deposition by skin fibroblasts at each bmf - 1 dose as shown in fig2 and 5 . thus bmf - 1 directly stimulates collagen synthesis by upregulating both collagen i and iii gene expression and inhibits its degradation by down - regulating the expression of mmp - 1 . bmf - 1 and bmf - 2 product stimulate collagen mrna synthesis by human skin fibroblast cells human skin fibroblasts were seeded into t75 tissue culture bottles ( cellstar , greiner gmbh , frickenhausen ) and grown until confluent before being starved overnight in complete growth medium containing 0 . 1 % fbs ( basal medium ). cells were then exposed to 0 . 1 mg / ml of bmf - 1 or bmf - 2 in basal medium for 48 hours . cell pellets were harvested for total rna extraction using a quickprep rna extraction kit according to the manufacturers instructions ( amersham pharmacia biotech , piscataway n . j .). the rna extracted from each bottle was used as a single replicate and gene expression analysed by standard northern blot procedures . assessment of collagen i and iii expression was performed as described in example 10 . representative autoradiograms of collagen i and iii probed rna are shown in fig7 a together with the respective gapdh autoradiogram for each sample . fig7 b shows the combined results of replicates for each treatment which are represented as the fold change from the respective rna expression in cells treated under basal conditions . treating cells with both bmf - 1 and bmf - 2 induced collagen i and iii mrna expression by up to 2 - fold compared to basal conditions . although there was a tendency for bmf - 2 to have a greater effect on collagen expression ( fig7 a ), the overall results were comparable ( fig7 b ). as mentioned in example 10 the stimulation of collagen rna by bmf - 1 and bmf - 2 is considered to be the result of a direct effect on gene induction and not just reflect an increase in cell number . thus bmf - 1 and bmf - 2 can directly stimulate collagen synthesis by upregulating both collagen i and iii gene expression . methodologies used to study the effectiveness of basic milk factors as a therapeutic and preventive treatment for skin damage the invention may be used to treat skin damage caused by uv radiation as a result of sun exposure . the person skilled in the art will readily be able to investigate the claimed invention to treat skin damage caused by sun exposure . for example , hairless mice exposed daily to a measured minimal erythematous dose ( med ) of solar simulated uv irradiation have been widely used as an animal model of accelerated skin damage or photoageing ( maloney et al 1992 ). this suitable model would be used to induce skin damage followed with the application of formulated bmf - 1 or bmf - 2 ( collectively referred to as “ bmf ”) either alone or in combination with supplementary active ingredients to the damaged skin . the ability of the treatment to repair or renew the skin to a more normal structural and functional state as well as prevent further deterioration of the skin would be determined . for example , to test the ability of the invention to repair photo - damaged skin , after a period of acclimatisation ( approximately one week ) skh - 1 hairless mice will be exposed to a minimal erythematous dose ( med ) to their whole body of mixed uva and uvb radiation five times a week . this is the approximate minimum dose which causes the mouse skin to turn pink 24 hours after irradiation . after a period of continued irradiation up to and including 20 weeks , when signs of skin damage are generally detectable , irradiation will be discontinued and the mice will receive a daily topical application of formulated bmf product on the dorsum at a dose rate within the range of 0 . 001 - 200 mg / cm 2 . preferably , at specified times after the commencement of treatment , animals will be euthanased by the administration of a lethal dose of sodium pentobarbitone . various methods are known in the art for assessment and characterisation of the effectiveness of the repair of skin damage . for example , the skin is collected for analysis using histological , immunohistochemical and biochemical methods ( including hydroxyproline , mrna and metalloproteinase assays ) to determine the ability of bmf containing formulations to repair the uv - damaged skin . on the basis of the results shown in examples 2 to 11 , the inventors expect that the invention used in this particular model would increase collagen synthesis and deposition and decrease matrix degradation by matrix - metalloproteinases resulting in improved dermal structure and function compared to the skin from matched control treated animals . the inventors also expect that the invention would enhance skin keratinocyte and fibroblast cell proliferation and viability . the inventors also expect that the invention would conceivably reduce wrinkling , skin sagging and other photoageing related changes that occur in the dermis of the skin . moreover , the inventors expect the invention would improve epidermal structure and viability and thus restore the skin to a normal healthy and youthful appearance . further , suitable methods are known in the art to investigate the ability of the invention to prevent skin damage . for example , mice would receive a daily topical application of formulated bmf product on the dorsum at a dose rate within the range 0 . 001 - 200 mg / cm 2 immediately after being exposed to uv - irradiation ( med ). this treatment would be continued for up to 20 weeks and at various times animals would be anaesthetised and then euthanased . various methods are known in the art for assessment and characterisation of the effectiveness of the prevention of skin damage . preferably , the skin of bmf treated mice is compared to the skin of control treated mice using standard histological , immunohistochemical and biochemical analysis . on the basis of the results shown in examples 2 to 11 , the inventors expect that the invention used in this particular model would reduce the signs of skin damage . methodologies used to study the effectiveness of basic milk factors as a cosmetic to enhance the appearance of skin the invention may be used as a cosmetic to enhance the appearance and vitality of human skin . the person skilled in the art will readily be able to investigate the claimed invention to improve the cosmetic appearance of human skin . for example , a number of clinical indices can be used to determine the ability of topically applied cosmetics to enhance skin cosmesis . these include subjective measurements of skin wrinkling , skin appearance and vitality , skin dryness and scaliness , skin sensitivity , skin thickness and skin fragility . more objective measurements can also be taken such as measuring skin thickness by callipers or ultra - sound and measuring skin moisture kinetics by determining epidermal hydration using a corneometer and transepidermal water loss ( tewl , a measurement of transcutaneous water loss ) using a tewameter . similarly skin surface roughness can be measured by taking a natural negative impression of the skin surface using dental impression material and analysing the impressions with a profilometer . also , the elastic properties of the skin can be assessed using an uniaxial extensometer . for example , to test the ability of the invention to produce desirable cosmetic effects on human skin , topical application of formulated basic milk factors to the skin , at any site requiring cosmetic improvement , would be performed at a dose rate within the range of 0 . 001 - 200 mg / cm 2 and at specified application frequencies ranging from daily to weekly to monthly . preferably , before the commencement of treatment and at specified times after the commencement of treatment , various methods are known in the art for assessment and characterisation of the effectiveness of cosmetics to improve the appearance and vitality of human skin would be applied . for example , measurements of skin wrinkling , skin appearance and vitality , skin dryness and scaliness , skin sensitivity , skin thickness , skin fragility , skin water kinetics and skin elasticity would be used to determine the ability of basic milk factor containing formulations to improve skin cosmesis . on the basis of the results shown in examples 2 to 11 , the inventors expect that the invention would improve the appearance and vitality of skin , thus restoring skin with an aged appearance to a more normal healthy and youthful appearance . methodologies used to study the effectiveness of basic milk factors as a treatment of skin damage caused by cutaneous resurfacing the invention may be used as a treatment of skin damage caused by cutaneous resurfacing . the person skilled in the art will readily be able to investigate the claimed invention to improve the outcome of skin regeneration following cosmetic procedures using high - energy pulsed laser systems and electrosurgical coablation . for example , cutaneous resurfacing is the cosmetic procedure of choice for the correction of photodamaged skin , photo - induced rhytides , dyschromias , the amelioration of scars and for skin recontouring . cutaneous resurfacing employs high - energy pulsed lasers of the carbon dioxide ( co 2 ), erbium : yttrium - aluminum - garnet ( er : yag ) or neodymium : yttrium - aluminum - garnet ( nd : yag ) variety or electrosurgical systems for coablation techniques . despite their effectiveness and utility , cutaneous resurfacing techniques are also associated with some unwanted side effects that occur as a result of the repair processes stimulated by the procedures in damaged skin . for example , to test the ability of the invention to improve the outcome of human skin regeneration following cosmetic procedures using high - energy pulsed laser systems and electrosurgical coablation topical application of formulated basic milk factors to the skin , at the site of the procedure , would be performed at a dose rate within the range of 0 . 001 - 200 mg / cm 2 and at specified application frequencies ranging from daily to weekly . preferably , before the commencement of treatment and at specified times after the commencement of treatment , various methods are known in the art for assessment and characterisation of the effectiveness of treatments to improve the appearance of resurfaced human skin would be applied . for example , measurements of skin wrinkling , skin appearance , skin thickness , skin fragility and skin elasticity would be used together with more specific determinations of erythema , edema , hyperpigmentation , delayed hypopigmentation and hypotrophic scar formation to determine the ability of bmf containing formulations to improve the rejuvenation of skin by cutaneous resurfacing procedures . on the basis of the results shown in examples 2 to 12 , the inventors expect that the invention would improve the cosmetic outcome of skin resurfacing procedures , thus restoring skin more quickly to a more normal healthy and youthful appearance . it will be apparent to the persons skilled in the art that while the invention has been described in some detail for the purposes of clarity and understanding , various modifications and alterations to the embodiments and methods described herein may be made without departing from the scope of the inventive concept disclosed in this specification . references cited herein are listed on the following pages , and are incorporated herein by this reference . bergfeld w f . cosmetic use of alpha - hydroxy acids . cleveland clinic j . med . 1997 64 : 327 - 329 . clark r a f . 1995 . wound repair : overview and general considerations . the molecular and cellular biology of wound repair , 2 nd edition , r . a . f . clarke , editor . plenum press , new york , pp 3 . gilchrest b a , a review of skin ageing and its medical therapy . br . j . dermatol . 1996 135 : 867 - 875 . maloney s j , et al . the hairless mouse model of photoaging : evaluation of the relationship between dermal elastin , collagen , skin thickness and wrinkles . 1992 photochem . and photobiol . 56 ( 4 ): 505 - 511 . mast b a . 1992 . the skin . in wound healing : biochemical and clinical aspects . cohen i k , diegelmann r f , and linblad w j , editors . saunders w b , philadelphia , 346 - 349 . oliver m h , harrison n k , bishop j e , cole p j , laurent g j . a rapid and convenient assay for counting cells cultured in microwell plates : application for assessment of growth factors . j . cell . sci . 1989 92 : 513 - 518 . orentreich n , and orentreich d . s . dermabrasion . clinics in plastic surgery . 2001 28 : 215 - 230 . van engeland m , ramaekers f . c . s , schutte b , and reutelingsperger c . p . m . a novel assay to measure loss of plasma membrane asymmetry during apoptosis of adherent cells in culture . cytometry 1996 24 : 131 - 139 .	0
in fig1 and 14 , there is shown a multi - use tool of the present invention comprising a rotary ground tiller 1 . a demountable connector 3 at the lower end of an s - shaped drive tube 2 carries a flexible drive shaft 5 , or optionally , directly to the s - shaped tube as best seen in fig1 - 16 . the drive shaft extension 4 is connected to the lower s - shaped tube 2 with a connecting clamp 8 , or other suitable connection . the tiller 1 includes a series of spaced tiller blades 9 welded to the tiller shaft 7 and formed with radially outer tilling teeth 10 . the tiller blades 9 also include openings 11 in the titter body 12 to facilitate the movement of soil or other material being tilled . the tiller blades or other rotary tools ( to be described below ) may be partially covered by a demountable sheet metal shroud that will be described in detail with request to the preferred embodiment . the shroud helps prevent any undesirable throwing of tilled material . in this embodiment , the shroud may be attached to the drive tube with a clamp arrangement making it easy to attach and remove . fig1 shows the s - shaped drive tube 2 connection to the drive shaft extension 4 using an over center shaft connection 16 or other connector . if the drive shaft extension 4 is not used , the s - shaped drive tube 2 receives its driving power directly from the drill head . if the extension shaft connection 16 is used , the drive shaft extension 4 comprises stationary tube 2 which connects at its lower end to the upper end of the flexible shaft 5 that extends through the outer s - shaped tube 19 . in fig1 and 16 , there is shown a rotary foam buffing or cleaning pad 20 . the buffing pad is attached to the end of the s - shaped drive tube 2 using the same type of connector 3 used to attach the tiller . similarly , a stiff bristled rotary brush 21 can be substitute and may include a shroud 14 as previously shown with respect to the tiller 1 . fig1 shows an auger 22 attached with a connecting clamp 8 to an auger shaft 23 . in this arrangement , the s - shaped tube and flexible drive shaft 2 are not used . an operator &# 39 ; s handle 24 is attached to the drive shaft extension 4 . this will be described in greater detail below . in fig6 and 14 , the connection of the handle 24 to the s - shaped drive tube 2 or to the drive shaft extension 4 as shown . if the drive shaft extension 4 is not used , the upper driven end 25 of the drive tube 2 and drive shaft extension 5 are connected directly to the power driver . if the shaft extension 4 is used , the upper driven end 25 of the s - shaped drive tube 2 is connected to the lower driven end 26 of the extension shaft 4 . the handle 24 may be similar to a handle used with a yard grass trimmer or similar tool . depending on whether the drive shaft extension 4 is used or not , the upper end of the s - shaped drive tube 2 may be provided with a key that is received in a keyway in a bore through the handle 24 through which the s - tube 2 or the drive shaft extension 4 extends . other rotary tools of many different kinds may be adapted for use with this driving system . in general , one group of rotary tools is connected to the drive tube to selectively carry a rotary tool on a coaxial mount with respect to the drive tube or a generally perpendicular mount with respect to the drive tube . the latter is shown in fig1 and 14 where the s - shaped drive tube ends in the indicated perpendicular mount . however , embodiments shown in fig1 - 12 are presently preferred . drawing fig1 - 12 show another and presently preferred embodiment of the invention that is particularly adapted to use as a garden tiller 30 . the tiller receives driving power from a drill head 31 that is of conventional construction . the drill head includes a body housing an electric motor to which are attached a battery pack and a chucked connector 34 , all of a conventional construction . preferably , the chucked connector 34 is reversible , the motor provides variable speed and includes a clutch providing an adjustable output torque . a drive shaft 35 is housed in a drive tube 36 and has one end of the shaft rotatably attached to the chucked connector 34 . the opposite end of the drive shaft 35 carries a bearing 37 to rotatably support the drive shaft 35 in the end of the drive tube 36 . a bevel drive gear 38 is attached to the lower end of the drive shaft 35 and is supported in a t - shaped gear case 39 which carries a bevel driven gear 40 mounted on a cross shaft 41 . the cross shaft 41 carries two identical tiller blade assemblies 42 each mounted on an end of the tiller cross shaft 41 . each end of the tiller shaft carries two or three tiller blade assemblies 42 and are held on the cross shaft 41 with cotter pins 51 or similar demountable connectors . the gears 38 and 40 provide a ratio suitable for the tilling task , but a large range of gear ratios may be acceptable . a first gear 38 to second gear 40 providing a 12 : 1 ratio may be acceptable . the tiller 30 of this embodiment has a shortened drive shaft / drive tube 35 / 36 , as shown in fig1 and 11 , but may include a drive shaft extension 44 similar to the extension 4 used in the initially described embodiment . an adjustably positioned handle 45 , the same as or similar to the handle 24 previously described , is adjustable both rotationally and axially . referring also to fig6 , the tool may be shortened to facilitate use by a gardener kneeling on the ground . shortening is accomplished by removing the drive shaft extension 44 , including the interior rotary drive shaft . the shroud 14 may include indicia showing the user where to set the shroud position with the words stand or kneel as shown . of course , this shortened version can also be modified by removing a number of tiller blades 9 . a significant feature of the present invention is the protective shroud 14 that partially surrounds the slitter blades 9 and , as indicated previously , the blade comprises two blade assemblies 42 that mount three blades on each end of the tiller cross shaft 41 . referring briefly to fig1 - 12 , and in particular . fig1 , the assembly of the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the exploded view . the tiller blade assemblies 42 are carried on cross shaft 41 and also carries the driven gear 40 , all enclosed in the t - shaped gear case 39 , as described in greater detail above . the tiller blade assembly 42 as best shown in fig1 and 11 is the same as the blade assembly utilized in the embodiment of fig1 . the major differences are the elimination of the s - shaped drive tube 2 and the addition of the adjustable shroud 14 best shown in fig2 - 5 and 11 . a generalized view of the tiller 1 in operation is shown in fig1 . here , the tiller blade assemblies 42 are providing a tilling function under the control of an operator holding the drill head 31 in one hand to which is chucked the upper end of the drive shaft extension 44 that is housed in the drive tube extension 48 . fig1 also shows a unique feature of the tiller 30 which incorporates an adjustable and demountable shroud as discussed previously with respect to the shroud 14 . in fig1 , the operator can guide the tiller between rows of garden plants using the shroud 14 to push aside the plants so they are not chopped or otherwise damaged by rotating tiller blades 9 . because each of the tiller blades 9 is demountable from the cross shaft 41 , the tiller may be set to operate with any desirable arrangement of blades , including only the blades on one end of the cross shaft 41 to navigate through narrower plant rows or by utilizing any of the blade assemblies . as indicated above , important features of the invention , in addition to those already identified , include the use of plastic in the manufacture of the shroud 14 . indeed , a plastic shroud is presently more desirable than one made of aluminum or another metal . utilizing a power driver , whether with a rechargeable battery or a power cord , provides very quiet operation at any selected speed . the control speed , low torque , and reversibility of the tool of the present invention , particularly utilization as a soil tiller , provides the user with the ability to make use of certain unique features not found in any hand operated garden tiller . for example , in tilling into the soil , there is always the concern with potential damage to underground wires . this can be at least partially ameliorated by operating the tiller at low speed and low torque to minimize damage . the tiller may also be reversed , in the event of engagement of underground wires or the like , to assist in untangling the wires . other features , such as protection of garden plants and the like have already been discussed above . to facilitate operation of the tiller of the preferred embodiment when operating fully extended , as shown in fig1 , the shroud 14 can be adjusted to suit the user &# 39 ; s height . furthermore , if the user prefers to do tilling on one &# 39 ; s knees , only the shorter drive tube 36 and corresponding drive shaft 35 are used , as shown in fig6 . in fig1 , as the operator &# 39 ; s position is adjusted downwardly corresponding to the height of a shorter user , the shroud may be repositioned as desired . thus , the shroud may be positioned at an optimum operating position regardless of the user &# 39 ; s height or hand positions with respect to the surface being worked . the shroud 14 is supported on the t - shaped gear case 34 to partially overlie the cross shaft 41 and the tiller blade assemblies 42 . the shroud is made of a rigid , semi - cylindrical sheet that is formed to provide a concave sleeve covering an upper portion of the blade assemblies . a raised upper gear case surface 52 includes a curved upper surface 53 having a curvature that matches that of the underside of the shroud and supports the same for movement . a supporting track 55 permits movement generally on the axis of the semi - cylindrical sheet forming the shroud such that the position of the shroud with respect to the blades can be adjusted . the track 55 includes a semi - circumferential slot 54 , the edges of the slot dividing the track into parallel track runs 56 , each run carrying a strip of a solid hearing material 57 that is positioned to engage and to be supported by the upper gear case surface . threaded stud 58 extends upwardly from the upper gear case surface 60 where it is received in the slot 54 and fastened in place with an upper fastener 61 . movement of the shroud with respect to the stud 58 permits the shroud 14 to be adjustably positioned on the semi - cylindrical path , permitting either adjustment of the shroud to accommodate the physical characteristics of the user or to provide the previously described function of clearing plants from the path of tiller blades 9 . these features are shown in fig1 and 6 , as well as fig4 and 9 . the ends of the track 55 are provided with guide stops 62 that ride in the slot 54 to limit movement of the shroud and guide the shroud as it tracks in either direction .	0
a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinunder with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 is a diagram of an extruder 10 having a screw for extruders according to an embodiment of the present invention . reference numeral 11 denotes a cylinder as a container , 12 a screw which is rotatably fitted in the cylinder 11 , 13 a hopper for injecting a rubber material heated with an unshown warming mill into the cylinder 11 , 14 a head mounted to the end of the above cylinder 11 , and 15 a nozzle attached to the end of the head 14 and having an opening 15 a for molding the material into a predetermined required sectional form and detachable from the head 14 so that it can be exchanged according the type of an extruded product . in this embodiment , a screw having a double - thread structure as a whole and a single - thread structure only on the hopper port 13 s side near the inlet of the cylinder 11 , in which a peripheral portion of a flight portion 12 z is smoothly cut away at an angle θ so that the height “ h ” of the screw flight portion 12 z crossing the hopper port 13 s , that is , located below the hopper port 13 s becomes smaller by a predetermined distance “ d ” than the diameter d of the screw 12 as shown in fig2 ( a ) and 2 ( b ) is used as the screw 12 . more specifically , the above “ d ” is set to around 4 % of the diameter d of the screw 12 . the above θ is set to around 90 ° at maximum . the height of the flight portion 12 a on a downstream side is the same as the diameter d of the screw 12 . since the return of the material occurs in the vicinity of the hopper port 13 s thereby , all the rubber material injected from the hopper port 13 s is not forced into the cylinder 11 . therefore , a change in pressure applied to the above flight portion 12 z in the vicinity of the hopper port 13 s is reduced and the extrusion pressure is made uniform . accordingly , the delivery rate of the extruded product extruded from the opening 15 a of the nozzle 15 is made uniform , thereby making it possible to reduce the gauge fluctuation of the extruded product . when a tread was actually extruded and molded by using an extruder equipped with the above screw 12 , the delivery rate was the same as the delivery rate of a screw 62 for high - delivery type extruders shown in fig4 and ( about 20 %) higher than that of the prior art and still the gauge fluctuation of the tread was half ( 0 . 15 mm ) of the gauge fluctuation ( 0 . 3 mm ) when the above screw 62 was used . in this embodiment , since the height of the flight portion 12 z located below the hopper port 13 s of the above screw 12 for extruders which carries a rubber material supplied from the hopper port 13 s at the rear of the cylinder 11 of the extruder 10 is made lower than the height of the flight portion on a downstream side , the pulsation of the extruded product can be reduced while a high delivery rate is maintained . when a tire rubber member is manufactured by using the above screw 12 , it is possible to manufacture a high - precision tire rubber member having a gauge fluctuation of 0 . 15 mm or less . in the above embodiment , the gauge fluctuation of the extruded product is reduced while the delivery rate is maintained by improving a high - delivery type screw 62 of the prior art . the present invention is directed not only to the above screw 62 but also to a screw having another structure such as a single - thread structure as a whole . in the above embodiment , the screw 12 having a double - thread structure as a whole and a single - thread structure only on the hopper port 13 s side is used . the thread structure of the screw is not limited to this . when a screw having a smaller number of threads on an upstream side than the number of threads on a downstream side , for example , two threads on an upstream side and three threads on a downstream side is used , the delivery rate of the extruded product is made uniform and the gauge fluctuation of the extruded product can be reduced . since the delivery rate of the extruded product can be made further uniform by making the interval of threads on an upstream side of the screw wider than the interval of threads on a downstream side or by making the diameters of the threads on an upstream side of the screw wider than the diameters of the threads on a downstream side , it is possible to further reduce the gauge fluctuation of the extruded product . in the above embodiment , the peripheral portion of the flight portion 12 z located below the hopper port 13 s of the screw 12 for existing extruders is cut away . when a screw for extruders is to be newly manufactured , the height of a flight portion located below the hopper port 13 s of the screw is made smaller by around 4 % than the diameter of the screw 12 . the height of the flight portion 12 z located below the hoper port 13 s may be made 2 to 6 % smaller than the diameter of the screw . when the above value “ d ” is smaller than 2 %, the material rarely returns and the pulsation of the extruded product cannot be reduced fully . when the value is larger than 6 %, the rubber material cannot be forced into the cylinder 11 smoothly , the delivery rate cannot be made uniform . as described above , according to the present invention , since the height of the flight located below the hopper port of the screw for extruders is made lower than the height of the flight on a downstream side , the extrusion pressure and delivery pressure of the screw can be made uniform and the gauge fluctuation of the extruded product can be reduced while a high delivery rate is maintained . when a tire rubber member is manufactured by using the above screw , a tire rubber member having an extremely small gauge fluctuation can be obtained .	8
the compositions of the present invention are composed of three ( 3 ) essential components . the first component , identified as component ( a ), is an ungelled modified cross - linking agent comprising an aminoplast cross - linking agent that has been modified by reaction with a non - resinous hydroxyl - group containing carboxylic acid . the aminoplast cross - linking agents in their unmodified form have been utilized as cross - linking agents in the electrodeposition of aqueous coatings in which anionic water - dispersible non - gelled polymeric materials have been used . these aminoplast cross - linking agents can be prepared by reacting a urea with an aldehyde such as formaldehyde and then alkylating said urea - formaldehyde reaction product with a lower alkanol containing from one to four carbon atom such as methanol , ethanol , propanol or butanol . in addition to urea per se , one could make use of ethyleneurea , thiourea and the like . additionally , one can make use of the amino - triazine aldehyde reaction products that have also been alkylated with comparable alkanols . in this connection , attention is directed to the u . s . pat . no . 2 , 197 , 357 which shows a substantial plurality of amino - triazines reacted with aldehydes that are then alkylated by reaction with a substantial plurality of compounds containing an alcoholic hydroxy group . the said patent discloses a plurality of guanamines such as formoguanamine and acetoguanamine which can be used to form compatible alkylated aminoplast cross - linking agents . these cross - linking agents can be , and preferably are monomeric . illustrative of such a monomeric aminoplast cross - linking agent is the hexakis ( methoxymethyl ) melamine . this monomeric compound can be prepared by a plurality of different processes such as those shown in the u . s . pat . nos . 2 , 918 , 452 ; 2 , 998 , 410 and 2 , 998 , 411 . unmixed ethers of the polymethylol triazines can be used well as mixed ethers such as the tetrakis ( alkoxymethyl ) benzoguanamines may be used which are disclosed in the u . s . pat . no . 3 , 091 , 612 . mixed ethers of other triazines are disclosed in the u . s . pat . no . 2 , 454 , 495 . a lengthy dissertation on fully mixed ethers of hexamethylol melamine is set forth in the u . s . pat . no . 3 , 471 , 388 . the unalkylated melamine resins are shown in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 260 , 239 . all of the above - mentioned u . s . patents are incorporated herein by reference to avoid unnecessary redundancy . in addition to using these cross - linking agents in the monomeric state , one may use low polymers of these reaction products such as dimers , trimers , tetramers and the like . it is generally preferred to utilize a cross - linking agent that has an average molecular weight not greater than about 1 , 000 . the modifier for these aminoplast cross - linking agent is a non - resinous hydroxyl - group containing carboxylic acid . these hydroxy group containing carboxylic acids may be any carboxylic acid which contains one or more alcoholic or phenolic hydroxyl groups wherein the -- oh group which is part of the carboxyl group is by definition not considered a hydroxy group of either the alcoholic hydroxyl group or the phenolic hydroxyl group category . various hydroxy acids can be employed , including such compounds as salicylic acid , glycolic acid , α - hydroxy butyric acid , dimethylol propionic acid , mandelic acid , 2 - hydroxy - 3 - methylbenzoic acid , lactic acid , gallic acid , 2 , 4 - dihydroxybenzoic acid , 1 - hydroxy - 2 - naphthoic acid , 2 - hydroxy - 1 - naphthoic acid , and other aliphatic and aromatic hydroxyl - containing carboxylic acids . especially desirable for certain applications are carboxylic containing phenolic hydroxy groups . these have been found to impart a relatively high degree of alkali resistance and other desirable properties to the coatings . the preferred hydroxy group containing acid is salicylic acid . these modified cross - linking agents must have a pka value of 3 . 6 or lower . the modified cross - linking agents , used in the composition of the present invention , exhibit good migration characteristics with a wide variety of cationic polymeric materials . the second essential component used in the composition of the present invention is identified as component ( b ), is water - dispersible non - gelled polymeric material carrying a cationic charge , and having a pkb value above 5 . 5 which polymeric material contains at least one class of reactive groups selected from the groups consisting of carboxyl groups , hydroxy groups and amide groups and said polymeric material also contains amino groups wherein the total amount of said groups is present in an amount of at least about 0 . 5 %, by weight , and not more than about 15 %, by weight , based on the total weight of the polymeric material . the presence of amino groups is essential to impart cationic character to the polymer and to obtain stable dispersion in water in the presence of an acid solubilizer but the amino groups are not heat reactive with component ( a ) which is the modified cross - linking agent . these stated reactive groups are heat reactive with the component ( a ) which is the modified cross - linking agent . the cationic water - dispersible non - gelled polymeric materials used in the composition of the present invention may be any one of a plurality of polymeric materials which have reactive sites that are heat reactive with the modified cross - linking agents used in the compositions of the present invention . these reactive sites may be either carboxyl groups and / or alcoholic hydroxyl groups and / or amide groups which polymeric materials may be the result of vinyl polymerization . the polymeric material in addition to the reactive groups must contain amino groups . therefore , all of the polymerizable monomers in each of these four principal classes may be used to prepare the cationic polymeric materials used in the present invention . the water - dispersible non - gelled polymeric material containing carboxyl groups may be prepared by polymerizing , with an amino group containing monomer , an α - β - ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid such as acrylic acid , methacrylic acid , crotonic acid , cinnamic acid , β - benzoyl acrylic acid , and polycarboxylic acids of the α , β - ethylenically unsaturated class such as maleic , fumaric , itaconic , mesaconic , aconitic and the halogenated acids such as halogenated maleic or , more specifically , chloromaleic acid , and the like with other polymerizable monomers . these carboxyl group containing vinyl monomers may be co - polymerized with one another or co - polymerized with other monomers which contain no carboxyl groups such as methyl acrylate , ethyl acrylate , propyl acrylate , butyl acrylate , octyl acrylate , decyl acrylate , lauryl acrylate , methyl methacrylate , ethyl methacrylate , butyl methacrylate , heptyl methacrylate , decyl methacrylate , propyl crotonate , butyl crotonate , nonyl crotonate , and the like . still further , one could use such polymerizable compounds as styrene , ortho -, meta - or or para - alkyl styrenes such as the o -, m - or p - methyl , ethyl , propyl and butyl styrenes , 2 , 4 - dimethyl styrene , 2 , 3 - dimethyl styrene , vinyl naphthalene , acrylonitrile , methacrylonitrile , halo ring or side chain styrenes such as α - chloro styrene , ortho -, meta - or para - chloro - styrenes , 2 , 4 - dichloro - styrene , 2 , 3 - dichlorostyrene , 2 , 5 - dichlorostyrene or the alkyl side chain styrenes such as α - methyl styrene , α - ethyl styrene , and the like . the polymeric materials containing alcoholic hydroxyl groups may be prepared by using a polymerizable vinyl monomer which contains an alcoholic hydroxyl group , with an amino group - containing monomer , and is to be found in such compounds as the hydroxy alkyl esters of α , β , ethylenically unsaturated monocarboxylic acid such as the hydroxy alkyl ester of acrylic acid , methacrylic , ethacrylic and chloro as well as the other halo substituted acrylic acids . these esters may either have a primary or a secondary hydroxyl group . illustrative of the types of alcoholic - hydroxy group - containing compounds that may be used to make these polymeric materials are 2 - hydroxyethyl acrylate , 3 - hydroxypropyl acrylate , 2 - hydroxbutyl acrylate , 3 - hydroxybutyl acrylate , 4 - hydroxybutyl acrylate , 8 - hydroxyoctyl acrylate , 2 - hydroxyethyl methacrylate , 5 - hydroxyhexylmethacrylate , 6 - hydroxyoctylmethacrylate , 8 - hydroxy - octylmethacrylate , 10 - hydroxydecylmethacrylate , 3 - hydroxypropyl crotonate , 4 - hydroxyamyl crotonate , 5 - hydroxyamyl crotonate , 6 - hydroxyhexyl crotonate , 7 - hydroxyheptyl crotonate , 10 - hydroxydecyl crotonate , and the like . these hydroxy esters may be used either singly or in combination with one another or with other polymerizable vinyl monomers devoid of any alcoholic hydroxyl group including those set forth hereinabove in the discussion of the carboxyl group - containing monomers . among the amide group - containing monomers which may be used in the preparation of the water dispersible polymeric materials used in the present invention are acrylamide , methacrylamide , ethacrylamide , n - tertiarybutyl acrylamide , and the like . these polymerizable acrylamides may be used alone with an amino group - containing monomer to prepare polymeric materials used in the present inventions or with any of the carboxyl group - containing monomers or the hydroxyl group - containing monomers or with any of the other polymerizable monomers set forth hereinabove . these cationic polymeric materials can be broadly described as being selected from any one of the following classes : acrylic polymers , of which a substantial variety are vinyl and acrylic monomers such as all of those set forth hereinabove and must be copolymerized with amino group - containing monomers such as aminoacrylates and aminomethacrylates such as dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate , diethylaminoethyl acrylate , dimethylaminopropylacrylate and t - butylaminoethylmethacrylate , and the like . these polymers can be dissolved or dispersed in water with the addition of a water dispersible acid such as hydrochloric acid , acetic acid , and the like . it must be kept in mind that these polymers must also contain some -- oh and / or -- cooh and / or ## str1 ## groups and must also contain the amino group , -- nr 1 r 2 where r 1 = h , alkyl , r 2 = alkyl which can be obtained by copolymerizing vinyl monomers with comparatively small amounts of such polymerizable monomers as hydroxyethyl methacrylate and / or acrylic acid or acrylamide . in this same broad classification , the aminomethacrylates may be replaced by methylvinyl pyridine , and the like . the resulting polymer must also have pkb value higher than 5 . 5 . polymers containing this type of amino monomer can also be water dispersed by the addition of such water dispersible acids such as hydrochloric and acetic acid . the formation of the amine salt results in water solubility or water dispersibility . in the water dispersible , non - gelled , polymeric material carrying a cationic charge , the amount of carboxyl groups and / or alcoholic hydroxyl groups and / or amide groups together with the amino groups should be at least about 0 . 5 %, by weight , based on the total weight of the polymeric material and not greater than about 15 %, by weight , based on the total weight of the polymeric material . preferably , one would use between about 1 % to about 10 %, by weight , based on the total weight of the polymeric material of the carboxyl group - containing monomer and / or the alcoholic hydroxyl group - containing monomer and / or the amide group - containing monomer together with the amino - containing monomer . there percentages , by weight , prevail whether the individual monomer - containing carboxyl groups , alcoholic hydroxyl groups or amide groups are the sole reactive groups present with the amino group monomers or whether they are present in any of the above total combinations . the amount of amino groups in the cationic polymer should be at least about 0 . 25 %, by weight , based on the total weight of the polymeric material and not greater than about 5 %, by weight , based on the polymeric material . it is preferred to use between about 0 . 5 % to about 3 . 0 %, by weight , based on the total weight of the polymer . when carboxyl groups are present , the polymer acquires an amphoteric character . however , its aqueous dispersion prepared by the use of an acid solubilizer will cause it to migrate to the cathode under electric potential . the amount of the carboxyl groups and / or alcoholic hydroxy groups and / or the amide groups should be between 0 . 25 % and 12 % same basis , and preferably 1 % to 10 %. the third essential component used in the composition of the present invention is an acid solubilizer and is identified as component ( c ). these acid solubilizers may be organic or inorganic acids which are at least water dispersible and which can convert a water - insoluble non - gelled polymeric cationic material to a water - dispersible non - gelled polymeric material carrying a cationic charge . among the inorganic acids which may be used as an acid solubilizer are hydrochloric acid and other hydrohalic acids , nitric acid , sulfuric acid , phosphoric acid and the like . among the organic acids which may be used as the acid solubilizer are formic acid , acetic acid , propionic acid , butyric acid , pentanoic acid , or the polycarboxylic acids such as adipic , oxalic , malonic , succinic , or the α - β - ethylenically unsaturated dicarboxylic acid such as maleic , fumaric and the like . the acid solubilizer combines with the basic nitrogen atoms of the polymer to form charged polarized groups which on solvation in water results in water dispersibility of the cationic polymer . in the absence of an acid solubilizer , the polymer is insoluble and is also indispersible in water . also , the acid solubilizer has to be a water soluble material so that the counterion formed when the acid is added to the cationic polymer , facilitates the water dispersion or solubilization of the cationic polymer . the amount of the first component in the compositions of the present invention , namely component ( a ), the modified cross - linking agent may be varied between 4 % and about 50 %, by weight , whereas the amount of component ( b ), the cationic polymeric material may be varied between 40 % and about 90 %, by weight , while the amount of the third component ( c ) may be varied between 1 % to about 10 %, by weight , totaling 100 %, and based on the total solids weight of ( a ), ( b ) and ( c ). the cationic polymeric material ( b ) must have a pkb value greater than 5 . 5 whereas the modified cross - linking agent ( a ) must have a pka value below 3 . 6 . in order to prepare the modified cross - linking agents used in the compositions of the present invention , one would utilize from about 0 . 1 to about 1 . 0 mols of an organic acid containing a hydroxy group , whether alcoholic hydroxy group or phenolic hydroxy group , such as salicylic acid and it is condensed with 1 mol of a selected aminoplast cross - linking agent , such as hexakismethoxymethyl melamine or the di - ethoxy , dimethoxymethyl benzoguanamine . the reaction is stopped when almost all of the free acid has been consumed . this reaction is in the nature of a transetherification reaction in which some of the original alcohol which had been utilized to alkylate the triazine derivative is replaced by the salicylic acid . in the subsequent reaction , if desired , the hydrophobicity of the modified cross - linking agent can be increased by transetherification of the methoxy or ethoxy groups by higher alcohols such as butanol , isobutanol and the like . the following examples , in which all parts are parts by weight , are illustrative of the processes for making the modified cross - linking agentsused in the compositions of the present inventions . into a suitable reaction vessel equipped with a stirrer , nitrogen inlet tube , thermometer and condenser , there is introduced 2400 parts of hexamethoxymethylmelamine and 180 parts of salicylic acid . the reaction mixture is heated under a blanket of nitrogen with constant stirring to 118 °- 119 ° c . and the methanol formed during the reaction is distilled off . after collecting 120 parts of the distillate , the product is cooled to 100 ° c . and 280 parts of isobutanol is charged into it . the temperature is maintained at 102 °- 105 ° c . until an additional 85 parts of methanol are distilled over . the product is cooled to room temperature after the addition of an additional 200 parts of isobutanol and is then filtered . the final product has a gardner - holdt viscosity of z 3 when measured on a 90 % solids solution in isobutanol at 25 ° c . the product and a pka value of 2 . 8 and an acid number of 26 . into a suitable reaction vessel equipped as in the preceding example , thereis introduced 2400 parts of hexamethoxymethylmelamine and 180 parts of salicylic acid . using substantially the same reaction conditions as in thepreceding example , 120 parts of methanol are collected followed by the addition of 1330 parts of isobutanol . at 102 °- 103 ° c ., 755 parts of distillate are collected . the resulting reaction product is then cooled followed by the addition of 350 parts of isobutanol . the final product is then filtered . the resinous product had a viscosity of w - x on the gardner - holdt scale at 25 ° c . measured on a 85 % solids solutionin isobutanol . the product has a pka value of 2 . 7 and an acid number of 23 . into a suitable reaction vessel such as used in the modified cross - linking agent a there is introduced 2400 parts of di ( ethoxymethyl ) di ( methoxymethyl ) benzoguanamine and 280 parts of salicylic acid . the reaction mixture is heated with constant stirring under a blanket of nitrogen at 120 ° c . after collecting 160 parts of methanol , the product is diluted with 440 parts of n - butyl cellosolve and is then cooled . the final product was a 85 % solids solution , had a pka value of 2 . 8 and had an acid number of 28 . into a suitable reaction vessel equipped as in modified cross - linking agenta , there is introduced 600 parts of hexakismethoxymethylmelamine and 45 parts of hydroxy acetic acid . the reaction mixture is heated under a blanket of nitrogen gas with constant stirring to 110 ° c . and the methanol formed during the reaction is distilled off . after collecting 17 parts of the distillate , the product is cooled to 25 ° c . and the highly viscous product of 100 % solids had a pka value of 3 . 5 and had an acid number of 38 . into a suitable reaction vessel equipped with a stirrer , reflux condenser , thermometer , and nitrogen inlet and outlet tubes , there is introduced 105 parts of dioxane , which is then heated to about 90 ° c . whereupon a blend of 165 parts of n - butyl acrylate , 75 parts of methyl methacrylate , 30 parts of t - butylaminoethyl methacrylate , 30 parts of 2 - hydroxyethyl acrylate , 8 parts of n - dodecylmercaptan and 6 parts of azobisisobutyronitrile is added incrementally . the total feed time was approximately 21 / 2 hours . after the addition of the blend is completed , the reaction mixture is held at about 95 ° c . for about 2 hours and is later cooled to room temperature . the final resin solids was 70 . 5 %. theresin had a hydroxyl number of 48 , an amine number of 30 , and a pkb value of 6 . 06 . into a suitable reaction vessel equipped with a stirrer , reflux condenser , thermometer and nitrogen gas inlet tube , there is introduced 100 parts dioxane which is then heated to about 90 ° c ., whereupon a blend of 330 parts of n - butyl acrylate , 150 parts of methyl methacrylate , 80 parts of t - butyl amino ethyl methacrylate , 120 parts of 2 - hydroxyethyl acrylate , 12 parts of n - dodecyl mercaptan and 12 parts of azobisisobutyronitrile is added incrementally . the total feed time was approximately 21 / 2 hours . after the addition of the blend is completed , the reaction mixture is heldat about 95 ° c . for about 2 hours followed by the addition of 190 additional parts of dioxane . the final resin solids were 70 %. the resin had a hydroxyl number of 85 , an amine number of 35 , and its pkb value was similar to that of the polymeric material a . cationic polymeric material b is repeated in all essential details except that an equivalent amount of styrene was utilized in the place of methyl methacrylate . the pkb value was similar to the pkb value of polymeric material a . a cationic polymeric material similar to the polymeric material b is prepared except that in the place of the t - butyl amino ethyl methacrylate there was substituted an equivalent amount of dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate . the resultant resin had a hydroxy number of 85 , an amine number of 35 and pkb value of 6 . 79 . into a suitable reaction vessel equipped with a stirrer , reflux condenser , thermometer and nitrogen gas inlet tube , there is introduced 150 parts of dioxane . the dioxane is heated to about 90 ° c . whereupon there was added to the heated dioxane a blend of 330 parts of n - butyl acrylate , 180 parts of styrene , 90 parts of n , n - dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate , 120 parts of 2 - hydroxyethyl acrylate , 15 parts of the reaction product of acrylic acid with a methoxypolyethyleneglycol having a molecular weight of550 , 12 parts of n - dodecyl mercaptan and 12 parts of azobisisobutyronitrilein increments . the total feed time was approximately 21 / 2 hours . after thecomplete addition of the blend has been accomplished , the reactants are held at about 95 ° c . for two hours followed by the addition of 132 parts of dioxane . the final polymeric material solids were 70 %. the polymeric material had a hydroxy number of 90 , amine number of 44 , and pkbwas 6 . 8 . into a suitable reaction vessel equipped with a stirrer , a reflux condenser , thermometer , and nitrogen gas inlet tube , there is introduced amixture of 400 parts of toluene , 400 parts of a commercially available epoxy resin identified as der661 ( believed to have an epoxide equivalent weight of 475 - 575 ), and 61 parts of 1 , 3 - diaminopropane . the mixture was refluxed for one hour . the resulting amber colored clear solution was distilled , first at atmospheric pressure and later under reduced pressure to remove the toluene and the unreacted 1 , 3 - diaminopropane . the resulting viscous product was diluted with cellosolve to 52 . 5 % solids solution . the product had an amine number of 71 - 72 , and a pkb 1 value of 4 . 35 and a pkb 2 value of 6 . 50 . the two pkb values reflect the presence of two types of nitrogen atoms with different basicities and the lower type prevails because it is a stronger base . in order that the concept of the present invention may be more fully understood , the following examples are set forth in which all parts are parts by weight unless otherwise indicated . these examples are set forth primarily for the purpose of illustration and any specific enumeration of detail contained therein should not be interpreted as a limitation on the case except as is indicated in the appended claims . into a suitable mixing vessel equipped with a high speed , stirrer there is introduced 83 parts of the cationic material b , 21 parts of the modified cross - linking agent a , 1 . 5 parts of acetic acid and 23 parts of titanium dioxide pigment . these ingredients are ground in the mixing vessel with the high speed stirrer , after which 850 parts of deionized water is added slowly with continuous stirring . the final aqueous paint contains 10 % solids and has a ph of 4 . 4 . after aging the paint overnight , cold rolled steel panels were electrocoated at 150 volts for 60 seconds . the electrocoated panels were then rinsed with deionized water and cured by baking at 175 ° c .- 200 ° c . for about 20 minutes . the cured films had very good solvent resistance and good mechanical properties . the mixing procedure of example 1 is repeated in all essential details except that there is used 107 parts of the cationic polymeric material b , 28 parts of the modified cross - linking agent b , 0 . 5 part of acetic acid and 1 part of a predispersed carbon black pigment to produce a black paint . the bath ph was 4 . 5 . after the films had been electrocoated on the cold rolled steel panel cathode , the films are rinsed and then cured as inexample 1 . the cured films had a very good solvent resistance and excellentmechanical properties . furthermore , the paint bath was stable at 25 ° c . for more than one month . into a suitable mixing vessel equipped with a high speed stirrer as in example 1 , there is introduced 83 parts of the cationic polymeric materiale and 21 parts of the modified cross - linking agent a together with 0 . 5 partof acetic acid . the procedure of example 1 was followed in all essential details and the final aqueous paint had a solids content of 10 % and a ph of 5 . after aging the paint overnight , cold rolled steel panels were electrocoated at 150 volts for 30 seconds . thereupon , the coated panels were rinsed with deionized water and were then cured at 175 ° c .- 200 ° c . for 20 minutes . the cured films had a very good solvent resistance and good mechanical properties . into a suitable mixing vessel equipped with a high speed stirrer there was introduced 82 parts of cationic polymeric material b , 18 parts of the modified cross - linking agent d , 1 part of acetic acid and 23 parts of titanium dioxide pigment . the ingredients were ground in the mixer and after sufficient grinding , 850 parts of deionized water were added slowly with continuous stirring . the final paint solids was 10 %. the paint had a ph of 5 . 0 . after aging the paint overnight , cold rolled steel panels were electrocoated at 100 volts for 60 seconds . after rinsing the panels with deionized water , they are cured at about 200 ° c . for 20 minutes . the cured film had good solvent resistance and good mechanical properties . example 1 is repeated in all essential details except that in the place of the modified cross - linking agent a there was substituted an equivalent amount of hexakis ( methoxymethyl ) melamine ( hmmm ) as the cross - linking agent . the bath was unstable and showed poor desposition characteristics . furthermore , the electrocoated films , even when baked at 220 ° c . for 20 minutes did not cross - link . hmmm has a pka value of about 7 . 0 . into a suitable mixing vessel there is introduced 36 parts of the cationic polymeric material f and 7 parts of the modified cross - linking agent a , and , after thorough blending , a film of 1 mil thickness was cast on an iron substrate from the mixture and baked at 175 ° c . for twenty minutes . the baked film was not cross - linked . it showed poor solvent resistance . the poor cross - linking is rationalized on the basis that the cationic polymeric material f has a pkb value of 4 . 35 and therefore too basic to cross - link with the modified cross - linking agent a . example 1 was repeated in all essential details except that in the place ofthe cationic polymeric material b there was substituted an equivalent amount of the cationic material a . comparable results were achieved . the bath instability in the comparative example 5 is due to the fact that such cross - linking agents , in an unmodified form , based on melamine or benzoguanamine hydrolyze rapidly in the presence of water under acidic conditions . additionally , these cross - linking agents do not react with -- oh , -- conh 2 or cooh groups in the presence of basic groups . the modified cross - linking agents used in the compositions of the present invention , cross - link quite effectively with -- oh , -- conh 2 or cooh groups in the presence of basic groups provided that the cross - linking agent has a pka value lower than about 3 . 6 and the cationic polymeric material with basic groups has a pkb value higher than 5 . 5 . in the u . s . pat . no . 3 , 502 , 557 there is used a modified cross - linking agentof the same class that is used in the composition of the present invention except that the electrocoating composition is used for anodic deposition . the deposited film consisting of an anionic polymeric material plus the modified cross - linking agent is acidic . the cross - linking agent based on amelamine derivative would be expected to cross - link under acidic conditionsbut would not be expected to cross - link under basic conditions . in the present invention , the electrodeposition takes place on the cathode . the deposited film is comprised of a blend of a cationic polymeric material and a modified amino cross - linking agent . the film is in a basic ph environment . under basic ph conditions , the cross - linking of the film was unexpected , based on the prior knowledge in the literature , that unmodified melamine based cross - linking agents do not react with the -- oh groups or the -- conh 2 groups under basic conditions . when we first discovered this unexpected result , we investigated the ph requirements of the cationic polymeric material and the modified cross - linking agent in order to determine why they could be cross - linked efficiently in a cathodic electrodeposited film . these ph requirements are also well defined and therefore the aqueous coatings of the present invention shouldhave a ph between 3 and 7 . we also observed that the bath stability under acidic ph was also unexpected as it was known that ordinarily amino cross - linking agents hydrolyze in an aqueous medium under acidic conditions . in preparing the modified cross - linking agents used in the present invention , one may react the aminoplast cross - linking agent with the non - resinous hydroxyl group containing carboxylic acid in a mol ratio varying between 1 : 0 . 1 to 1 . 0 , agent to acid respectively and preferably 1 : 0 . 2 to 0 . 5 respectively . in the coating composition of the present invention , one may use the cationic polymeric material in weight proportions varying between 40 % and 90 % and the modified cross - linking agent may be used in amount , by weight , varying between 4 % and 50 %. the acid solubilizer may be used in amounts , varying between 1 % and 10 %. the total weight of these three components will be 100 %. the coating compositions of the present invention may be used without benefit of any pigment material in which event the deposited film will be clear . however , most coatings are preferably colored and pigments amounting to up to 50 %, by weight , based on the total solids weight of ( a ), ( b ) and ( c ) may be used . the cationic polymeric material of the present invention is a low molecularweight polymer having basic nitrogen groups along with the hydroxyl groups and / or amide groups and / or carboxyl groups . this polymeric material may bethe acrylic type , polyester type , maleinized oil type or similar type of resins . the basic nitrogen groups in the cationic resinous polymeric material should be present in an amount varying between 0 . 3 mol to 2 . 0 mols per 1000 grams of resin and preferably between 0 . 4 mol and 0 . 8 mol per 1000 grams of resin . in carrying out an electrodeposition operation , the bath solids can be varied between 1 % and 20 % and preferably between 5 % and 15 %. for shipping purposes the paint solids in water base paints can bebetween 25 % and 70 % and preferably between 35 % and 60 %. it is also within the scope of the present invention to incorporate variousadditives into our novel compositions . for example , various dyes or pigments , e . g ., tio 2 ; fe 2 o 3 , etc ., can be added so that the coating which results from the electrodeposition process will be colored , e . g ., white , red , etc .	2
fig5 depicts a suitable system embodiment in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . system 500 may include line card 510 , line card 520 , switch fabric 530 , and backplane interface 540 . line card 510 may be implemented as a sonet / sdh add - drop multiplexer , a fibre channel compatible line input , an ethernet line input or a sonet / sdh line input . line card 520 may be implemented as a transceiver capable of transmitting and receiving frames to and from a network that is compatible with sonet / sdh . for example , the network may be any network such as the internet , an intranet , a local area network ( lan ), storage area network ( san ), a wide area network ( wan ). one implementation of line card 520 may include physical layer processor 522 , mapper 524 , and network processor 526 . physical layer processor 522 may receive optical or electrical signals from the network and prepare the signals for processing by downstream elements such as mapper 524 . for example , physical layer processor 522 may convert optical signals to electrical format and / or remove jitter from signals from the network . for frames to be transmitted to the network , physical layer processor 522 may remove jitter from signals provided by upstream devices such as mapper 524 and prepare signals for transmission to the network , which may be optical or electrical format . to prepare frames for transmission to a network , mapper 524 may construct hdlc frames at least from ip packets and / or ethernet frames . mapper 524 may utilize embodiments of the present invention to build hdlc frames . further , mapper 524 may construct sonet / sdh frames from hdlc frames and overhead . for sonet / sdh packets received from a network , mapper 524 may decode hdlc frames to extract ip packets and ethernet frames ( as well as other user data and other information ). to decode hdlc frames , mapper 524 may use embodiments of the present invention . mapper 524 may transfer ip packets and ethernet frames ( as well as other user data ) to a higher layer level processor such as a network processor 526 . for example , mapper 524 and network processor 526 may intercommunicate using an interface compatible for example with spi - 4 . network processor 526 may perform layer 2 or layer 3 ( as well as other higher layer level ) processing on ip packets and ethernet frames ( as well as other user data and other information ) provided by and to mapper 524 in conformance with applicable link , network , transport and application protocols . network processor 526 also may perform traffic management at the ip layer . in one implementation , components of line card 520 may be implemented among the same integrated circuit . in another implementation , components of line card 520 may be implemented among several integrated circuits that intercommunicate using , for example , a bus or conductive leads of a printed circuit board . backplane interface 540 may be implemented as a single or multi - pin interface and may be used by line cards to interface with switch fabric 530 . switch fabric 530 may transfer ip packets or ethernet packets ( as well as other information ) between line cards based on relevant address and header information . fig6 a depicts a flow diagram of one possible manner in which line card 520 processes packets and frames ( as well as other user data and other information ) for transmission as sonet / sdh frames . action 610 of fig6 a may include performing layer 2 and layer 3 processing on ip packets and ethernet frames in conformance with layer 2 and layer 3 protocols . action 620 may include performing hdlc encoding and framing of ip packets and ethernet frames ( or other types of user data and information ) in conformance with hdlc standards . action 620 may utilize embodiments of the present invention . action 630 may include performing sonet / sdh frame encapsulation of hdlc frames in preparation to transmit such sonet / sdh frames . action 640 may include performing physical layer processing on the sonet / sdh frames . action 645 may include transmitting sonet / sdh frames to a network medium such as a fiber optic cable or other medium . fig6 b depicts one possible manner in which line card 520 may process sonet / sdh frames received from a network . action 650 of fig6 b may include receiving a sonet / sdh frame from a network medium and performing physical layer processing on the received sonet / sdh frame . action 660 may include extracting hdlc frames from the sonet / sdh frame . action 670 may include hdlc decoding and extracting ip packets and ethernet frames ( as well as other types of user data and information ) from hdlc frames . action 670 may utilize embodiments of the present invention . action 680 may include performing higher layer processing ( e . g ., layer 2 and layer 3 ) on ip packets and ethernet frames ( as well as other types of user data and information ) in conformance with layer 2 and layer 3 protocols . action 680 may further include traffic management of received ip packets and ethernet frames ( and other types of user data ). fig7 depicts an hdlc encoder 700 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention , although other implementations may be used . one implementation of hdlc encoder 700 may include field calculator 710 , scrambler 715 , field inserter 720 , byte stuffer 730 , and flag inserter 740 . hdlc encoder 700 may receive ip packets and ethernet frames ( as well as other information such as ppp , fibre channel or resilient packet ring packets ) from a user data source such as , but not limited to , a system interface that intercommunicates with an upper - layer processing device such as a network processor . hdlc encoder 700 may build hdlc frames using ip packets and ethernet frames ( as well as other information such as ppp , fibre channel or resilient packet ring packets ). hdlc frames may be used to build sonet / sdh frames . in one implementation , ip packets may be encapsulated into ppp frames first and then encapsulated into hdlc frames . field calculator 710 may calculate fields based on the received ip packets and ethernet frames ( as well as other information such as ppp , fibre channel or resilient packet ring packets ). for example , field calculator 710 may determine the fcs field as well as an hdlc frame header in conformance with hdlc standards . under pos , the fcs field may be 16 or 32 bits , however other number of bits may be used . field calculator 710 may use a linear feedback shift register ( lfsr ) or a look - up - table to determine the fcs value based on intended contents of an hdlc frame . scrambler 715 may scramble the ip packets and ethernet frames as well as other user data contents of an hdlc frame except for any fcs field or other specified field ( s ). scrambler 715 may perform scrambling in conformance with itu - t laps x . 85 ( packet - over - sonet ) and relevant ietf rfcs . fig8 depicts one possible implementation of a scrambler although other implementations may be used . the scrambler may include a shift register and an xor logical device . each bit of a scrambled signal provided by the scrambler may be a result of an xor operation between a bit from the shift register and a bit from the unscrambled input . for example , the shift register may be implemented a 43 bit serial shift register , although other numbers of bits may be used . for the first packet , the shift register may be initialized to all zeros . the contents of the shift register at the beginning of the scrambling operation for the second packet is the contents of the scrambler after scrambling the first packet . one advantage , although not a necessary feature or aspect , of one embodiment of the present invention , is that providing scrambling before byte stuffing may reduce the likelihood of byte stuffing in byte stuffer 730 and thereby may reduce the likely size of a stuffed hdlc frame . one advantage , although not a necessary feature or aspect , of one embodiment of the present invention is that the number of bytes stuffed for each hdlc frame may be predicted after scrambler 715 scrambles user data . for example , scrambler 715 may provide each user data byte to a byte - stuffing predictor 717 that counts 7 d and 7 e characters ( or other characters that are to be replaced with stuff characters ) and can thereby predict the number of bytes that will be added by byte stuffer 730 . in one implementation , the number of bytes that will be stuffed can be predicted before fcs field calculation , although other implementations may differ . the byte - stuffing predictor 717 can signal back to a source of traffic to hdlc encoder 700 to slow down or speed up user data traffic . accordingly , one advantage , but not a necessary feature , of an embodiment of the present invention is a likelihood of overflow ( i . e ., more bytes generated during the data path of hdlc encoder 700 than the data path can handle ) may be reduced . one advantage , but not a necessary feature , of an embodiment of the present invention is that to the extent memory / overflow devices ( not depicted ) are provided between stages of hdlc encoder 700 to accommodate overflow , less memory storage capability may be used . field inserter 720 may add the unscrambled field ( s ) determined by field calculator 710 to the scrambled user data portion from scrambler 715 . for example , one possible location to add an unscrambled header is at the beginning of an hdlc frame . for example , one possible location to add an unscrambled fcs field is to the end of an hdlc frame . byte stuffer 730 may perform byte stuffing in conformance with hdlc standards . for example , byte stuffer 730 may replace control characters ( such as 7 d and 7 e ) with two - byte sequences ( such as 7 d - 7 e and 7 d - 5 d , respectively ). other control characters may be modified or replaced with other characters . flag inserter 740 may insert one of more control characters ( e . g ., 0 × 7 e ) to delineate each hdlc frame in conformance with hdlc standards ( in particular , byte - oriented hdlc ). thereafter , a mapper may map hdlc frames into payload of a sonet / sdh frame ( s ). fig9 depicts an example flow diagram of a process to encode hdlc frames in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . action 905 may include receiving an ip packet or ethernet frame ( as well as other information such as ppp , fibre channel or resilient packet ring packets ). action 910 may include calculating one or more fields based on the packet or frame received in action 905 . for example , one field may be an fcs field . another field may be an hdlc frame header . action 915 may include scrambling the packet ( s ), frame ( s ), and other information received in action 905 in conformance with itu - t laps x . 85 ( packet - over - sonet ) and relevant ietf rfcs . action 920 may include predicting byte stuffing for the current hdlc frame . action 925 may include combining the unscrambled fields determined in action 910 with the scrambled packet ( s ), frame ( s ), and other information from action 915 . action 930 may include performing byte stuffing in each hdlc frame in conformance with the hdlc standards . for example , byte stuffing may replace control characters ( such 7 d and 7 e ) with other sequences ( such as 7 d - 7 e and 7 d - 5 d , respectively ). action 935 may include inserting control characters to separate hdlc frames in conformance with hdlc . fig1 depicts an hdlc decoder 1000 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention , although other implementations may be used . hdlc decoder 1000 may be used to extract user data ( such as ip packets and ethernet frames as well as other information such as ppp , fibre channel or resilient packet ring packets ) from hdlc frames . for example , hdlc frames may be transmitted in a sonet / sdh frame and provided by a mapper to the hdlc decoder 1000 . one implementation of hdlc decoder 1000 may include frame delineator 1010 , byte de - stuffer 1015 , field extractor 1020 , de - scrambler 1025 , and field checker 1030 . frame delineator 1010 may remove control characters ( e . g ., 0 × 7 e ) that separate hdlc frames from one another and provide each hdlc frame for further processing . byte de - stuffer 1015 may transform replacement sequences , such as 7 d - 7 e and 7 d - 5 d , into control characters , such 7 d and 7 e . field extractor 1020 may remove unscrambled fields ( such as the fcs field and other fields such as an hdlc frame header ) from the hdlc frame . de - scrambler 1025 may apply de - scrambling to the scrambled hdlc frame in conformance with itu - t laps x . 85 ( packet - over - sonet ) and relevant ietf rfcs except for the fcs field ( and other fields ) extracted by the field extractor 1020 . fig1 depicts one possible implementation of a descrambler although other implementations may be used . the descrambler may include a shift register and an xor logical device . each bit of a descrambled signal provided by the descrambler may be a result of an xor operation between a bit from the shift register and a bit from the scrambled input . for example , the shift register may be implemented as a 43 bit serial shift register , although other numbers of bits may be used . for the first packet , the shift register may be initialized to all zeros . the contents of the shift register at the beginning of the descrambling operation for the second packet is the contents of the descrambler after descrambling the first packet . field checker 1030 may check whether the unscrambled field ( e . g ., fcs and / or hdlc frame header ) is correct in conformance with hdlc standards . for example , field checker 1030 may determine an fcs value based on the descrambled hdlc frame and compare the fcs value against the extracted unscrambled fcs field . a transmission error propagated by the descrambler 1025 from one packet to a sequential packet may be avoided because of detection in the fcs check . fig1 depicts an example flow diagram of a process to decode hdlc frames in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the process of fig1 may receive hdlc frames provided from the payload of a sonet / sdh frame . action 1205 may include removing hdlc frame delineation characters from hdlc frames . for example , hdlc frame delineation characters ( e . g ., 0 × 7 e ) may define the boundaries of an hdlc frame . action 1210 may include transforming stuffed sequences , such as 7 d - 7 e and 7 d - 5 d , into control characters , such as 7 d and 7 e . action 1215 may include removing unscrambled fields ( such as the fcs field and other fields such as an hdlc frame header ) from the hdlc frame . action 1220 may include apply de - scrambling to the scrambled hdlc frame in conformance with itu - t laps x . 85 ( packet - over - sonet ) and relevant ietf rfcs except for the fcs field ( and other fields ) extracted in action 1215 . action 1225 may include determining whether the unscrambled fcs field is correct in conformance with ietf and itu - t standards . for example , action 1225 may determine an fcs value based on the descrambled hdlc frame and compare the determined fcs value against the extracted unscrambled fcs field . the integrity of the hdlc frame can be determined based on whether the determined fcs value matches the extracted unscrambled fcs field . the drawings and the forgoing description gave examples of the present invention . while a demarcation between operations of elements in examples herein is provided , operations of one element may be performed by one or more other elements . the scope of the present invention , however , is by no means limited by these specific examples . numerous variations , whether explicitly given in the specification or not , such as differences in structure , dimension , and use of material , are possible . the scope of the invention is at least as broad as given by the following claims .	7
n , n - bis ( hydroxyethyl )- n - stearylamine or its industrial equivalent , n , n - bis ( hydroxyethyl )- n -( hydrogenated tallow ) amine to make up to 100 %. different variations of the formulations are also part of the invention : those which result from the partial or complete replacement of calcium stearate by zinc stearate or magnesium stearate ; those which result from the replacement of the mgo or hydrotalcite up to 50 % by another mineral filler , for example , alumina , preferably calcined and ground , or by titanium dioxide ( tio 2 ), which brings the pigment function to the formulation , or by barium sulfate ( baso 4 ), to increase the density . in the additive formulations for polymers , currently ethylene bis - stearamide ( ebs ) is used ; although this is an organic constituent , since its melting point is very high ( m . p .≈ 140 ° c . ), this component can be integrated in the basic formula replacing up to 50 % of the magnesium oxide or hydrotalcite . the following examples will illustrate the invention . as the n , n - bis ( hydroxyethyl )- n -( hydrogenated tallow ) amine , noramox ® sh2 of ceca s . a . is used , abbreviated below as noxsh2 . calcium stearate is abbreviated as cast . the compositions are given in weight percent . a base formula according to the invention containing the n , n - bis ( hydroxyethyl )- n -( hydrogenated tallow ) amine , calcium stearate and hydrotalcite ( f1 ) or magnesia mgo ( f2 ) with variations by partial replacement of the hydrotalcite by titanium dioxide or ethylene bis - stearamide ( f3 , f4 ) and the corresponding comparison formulas in which the calcium stearate is absent , were compared . these compositions are given in the table below . ______________________________________composition f1 f2 f3 f4 f &# 39 ; 1 f &# 39 ; 2 f &# 39 ; 3 f &# 39 ; 4______________________________________noxsh2 65 65 65 65 87 87 87 87 cast 22 22 22 22 htal 13 7 7 13 7 7 mgo 13 13 tio . sub . 2 6 6 ebs 6 6______________________________________ the compositions f1 , f2 , f3 , f4 are brittle , without fines , they are not sticky and melt around 45 ° c . ( although the melting is difficult to read in the maquenne block , because , in the absence of any mechanical perturbation , the molten product retains its initial flaky form ). formulations f &# 39 ; 1 , f &# 39 ; 2 , f &# 39 ; 3 , f &# 39 ; 4 are flakes , which also melt around 45 ° c ., but have a heterogeneous appearance , are ductile or even have a rubbery appearance and stick together . thus , the necessary presence of the stabilizing stearate is well evidenced . ______________________________________formulations made heavy with barium sulfate composition f5 f &# 39 ; 5 f &# 34 ; 5______________________________________noxsh2 65 87 60 cast 22 20 htal 7 7 10 baso . sub . 4 6 6 10______________________________________ composition f5 according to the invention is in the form of brittle flakes without fines . the composition f5 , which does not contain stearate , is impossible to keep homogeneous in the molten phase in the trough of the flaking equipment . the barium sulfate separates and the resulting flakes are heterogeneous , sticky and form lumps . the formula f &# 34 ; 5 , which is too rich in mineral filler , is impossible to flake . although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments , it is evident that many alternatives and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description . accordingly , the invention is intended to embrace all of the alternatives and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims . the above references are hereby incorporated by reference .	2
embodiments of the present disclosure provide scope - limited action - specific authorization tokens . the described authorization token allows a user to initiate system actions that are normally not available to the user due to the user having insufficient authorization . the system actions the user can initiate are limited . for example , the allowed actions may include only one or more predetermined commands . as another example , certain actions may be explicitly prohibited . the scope for initiating the actions is also limited . for example , the scope of the actions may be limited to a particular computer , a particular date , and the like . the token may be encoded or encrypted so as to be unintelligible to a user . fig1 shows elements of a scope - limited action - specific authorization token system 100 according to one embodiment . although in the described embodiments the elements of system 100 are presented in one arrangement , other embodiments may feature other arrangements . for example , elements of system 100 can be implemented in hardware , software , or combinations thereof . fig1 depicts two users who are remote from each other . for example , the users can be located on different continents . one user is a system administrator 102 a for a switch 104 that includes a computer 106 ( also referred to herein as the “ target computer ” 106 ) for controlling the switch 104 , configuring the switch 104 , and the like . in this example , the switch 104 has malfunctioned , and has stored a confidential error code 110 in a register 108 of the computer 106 . in order to diagnose the malfunction , it is necessary to view the confidential error code 110 . however , the local system administrator 102 a does not have the authorization necessary to view the confidential error code 110 . the other user is a technician 102 b . the technician 102 b has the proper authorization to view the confidential error code 110 , and could do so by entering his technician password on a local user interface 112 of the computer 106 , but is geographically remote from the switch 104 . furthermore , the switch 104 does not allow remote access . one possible solution is for the technician 102 b to travel to the switch 104 to enter his technician password on a local user interface 112 of the computer 106 , and so view the confidential error code 110 . however , this solution is not only costly , but also time - consuming . the switch 104 must remain idle until the technician 102 b arrives . another possible solution is to provide the technician password to the local system administrator 102 a . however , this approach poses significant security risks . the technician password will allow the local system administrator 102 a to access not only the register 108 storing the confidential error code 110 , but also to access the entire switch . furthermore , the local system administrator 102 a may provide the password to other system administrators of similar switches 104 , to competitors of the manufacturer of the switch 104 , and the like . fig2 shows a process 200 for the system 100 of fig1 according to one embodiment . although in the described embodiments the elements of process 200 are presented in one arrangement , other embodiments may feature other arrangements . for example , in various embodiments , some or all of the elements of process 200 can be executed in a different order , concurrently , and the like . also some elements of process 200 may not be performed , and may not be executed immediately after each other . in addition , some or all of the elements of process 200 can be performed automatically , that is , without human intervention . referring to fig2 , at 202 , the technician 102 b uses his computer 114 to generate a authorization token 116 . fig3 shows a process 300 for generating the authorization token 116 of fig1 according to one embodiment . although in the described embodiments the elements of process 300 are presented in one arrangement , other embodiments may feature other arrangements . for example , in various embodiments , some or all of the elements of process 300 can be executed in a different order , concurrently , and the like . also some elements of process 300 may not be performed , and may not be executed immediately after each other . in addition , some or all of the elements of process 300 can be performed automatically , that is , without human intervention . referring to fig3 , at 302 , based on input from the technician 102 b , the technician &# 39 ; s computer 114 determines the one or more actions the switch computer 106 must execute responsive to receiving the authorization token 116 . in the example of fig1 , the action is reading the register 108 to output the confidential error code 110 . at 304 , based on input from the technician 102 b , the technician &# 39 ; s computer 114 determines one or more preconditions that must be true for the switch computer 106 to execute the one or more actions . in the example of fig1 , the preconditions can specify the name of the switch computer 106 , the date on which the authorization token 116 must be used , the number of times the authorization token 116 can be used , and the like . at 306 , the technician 102 b uses his computer 114 to generate the authorization token 116 . in some embodiments , at 308 , the technician 102 b uses his computer 114 to render the authorization token 116 opaque to people . for example , the technician 102 b uses his computer 114 to encode and / or encrypt the authorization token 116 . the authorization token 116 may be strongly or weakly encoded / encrypted , depending on the desired level of secrecy . simple encoding or hashing ( for example using the md5 message - digest algorithm or the like ) may be used to prevent reading of the contents of the authorization token 116 by a casual reader . strong encryption based on public / private keys , shared - secret keys , or the like may be used to guarantee that only the target computer 106 can decode the authorization token 116 . in some embodiments , the technician 102 b may be required to supply a first authorization token 116 in order to generate or modify a second authorization token 116 . fig4 shows an example authorization token 116 for the example of fig1 and 3 . referring to fig4 , the authorization token 116 includes an actions field 402 , an authorization field 404 , a preconditions field 406 , and an error - detecting code field 408 . the actions field 402 lists one or more actions that computer 106 must execute responsive to receiving the authorization token 116 . the authorization field 404 provides the authorization required by the computer 106 to execute the one or more actions in the actions field 402 . in the example of fig1 , the authorization is the technician password belonging to the technician 102 b . the preconditions field 406 lists one or more preconditions that must be true for the computer 106 to execute the one or more actions listed in the actions field 402 . in the example of fig1 , the preconditions can specify the name of the switch computer 106 , the date on which the authorization token 116 must be used , the number of times the authorization token 116 can be used , and the like . the error - detecting code field 408 can include an error - detecting code for the authorization token such as a cyclic redundancy check ( crc ) code or the like . referring again to fig2 , at 204 , the technician 102 b transfers the authorization token 116 to the system administrator 102 a . the authorization token 116 can be transferred by any means . for example , the authorization token 116 can be sent over a network as a digital message , emailed as a string , read aloud over a telephone connection as a string , and the like . at 206 , the system administrator 102 a provides the authorization token 116 to the switch computer 106 . for example , the system administrator 102 a can enter the authorization token 116 as a string using the local user interface 112 of the computer 106 , provide the authorization token on a memory device such as a universal serial bus ( usb ) memory stick , and the like . at 208 , the switch computer 106 processes the authorization token 116 . fig5 shows a process 500 for the switch computer 106 of fig1 to process the authorization token 116 of fig1 and 4 according to one embodiment . although in the described embodiments the elements of process 500 are presented in one arrangement , other embodiments may feature other arrangements . for example , in various embodiments , some or all of the elements of process 500 can be executed in a different order , concurrently , and the like . also some elements of process 500 may not be performed , and may not be executed immediately after each other . in addition , some or all of the elements of process 500 can be performed automatically , that is , without human intervention . referring to fig5 , at 502 , the switch computer 106 receives the authorization token 116 . at 504 , in some embodiments , the switch computer 106 decodes and / or decrypts the authorization token 116 . at 506 , the switch computer 106 determines , based on the authorization token 116 , an authorization for the authorization token . in the example of fig4 , the authorization can be determined based on the authorization field 404 of the authorization token 116 . at 508 , the switch computer 106 determines , based on the authorization token 116 , the one or more actions the switch computer 106 must execute responsive to receiving the authorization token 116 . in the example of fig4 , the actions can be determined based on the actions field 402 of the authorization token 116 . at 510 , the switch computer 106 determines , based on the authorization token 116 , the one or more preconditions that must be true for the switch computer 106 to execute the one or more actions . in the example of fig4 , the preconditions can be determined based on the preconditions field 406 of the authorization token 116 . at 512 , the switch computer 106 determines whether the preconditions are true . at 514 , if the preconditions are true , then at 516 , the switch computer 106 executes the one or more actions . returning to fig2 , at 210 , the computer 106 reads the register 108 and outputs the confidential error code 110 for the system administrator 102 b . at 212 , the system administrator 102 a transfers the confidential error code 110 to the technician 102 b . this transfer can be accomplished by any means . at 214 , the technician 102 b diagnoses the malfunction of the switch 104 based on the confidential error code 110 . the actions represented by the authorization token 116 are not limited by the examples given above or elsewhere herein . example actions include executing a command , executing a computer program , providing data , altering a state of the computer , for example by rebooting the computer , and the like . in some embodiments , each of the preconditions is implemented as an attribute - value pair . fig6 depicts an attribute - value table 602 a ( labeled “ token ”) for the authorization token 116 of fig1 and an attribute - current - value table 602 b ( labeled “ target ”) for the target computer 106 of fig1 according to one embodiment . token table 602 a has one or more rows , each corresponding to one of the preconditions of the authorization token 116 . token table 602 a includes a column 604 a for the attributes and a column 606 a for the values . in some embodiments , token table 602 also includes a column 608 a for modifiers such as wildcards and the like . target table 602 b has one or more rows , each corresponding to a possible precondition of the authorization token 116 . target table 602 b includes a column 604 b for the attributes and a column 606 b for the current values . in some embodiments , target table 602 b also includes a column 608 b for modifiers such as wildcards and the like . in order to determine whether a precondition is true , the target computer 106 compares the value ( at 606 a ) of the respective attribute ( at 604 a ) in the authorization token 116 to the current value ( at 606 b ) kept by the target computer 106 for that attribute ( at 604 b ), subject to any wildcards ( at 608 a , b ) in the tables 602 a , b . the attributes represented by the authorization token 116 are not limited by the examples given above or elsewhere herein . example attributes include passwords , the name of the target computer 106 , the type of the target computer 106 , the mac address of the target computer 106 , the current state of the target computer 106 , and the like . other example attributes include temporal and geographic limitations . for example , use of the authorization token 116 can be limited to a specified date range , to business hours , to a particular city or building , and the like . the limitations can be conditional . for example , the authorization token 116 can only be used after the target computer has been down for two days . other example attributes include the identity of the person providing the authorization token 116 to the target computer 106 , the authorization level of the person providing the authorization token 116 to the target computer 106 ; the identity of the computer 114 that generated the authorization token 116 ; the identity of the person that caused the computer 114 to generate the authorization token 116 ; the authorization level of the person that caused the computer 114 to generate the authorization token 116 , and the like . in some embodiments , two or more authorization tokens 116 are required . in such embodiments , the attributes include the presence or absence of the other required authorization tokens 116 . while in the disclosed embodiments the target computer 106 is described as a switch computer 106 for a switch 104 , other embodiments can apply to any sort of target computer 106 . for example , the target computer 106 can be the computer 106 in a vehicle . one example application would be to use a authorization token 116 as a car key that would allow the user to drive the car only during daylight hours , only within a certain neighborhood , only in an emergency , and the like . in the embodiments described above , the authorization token 116 includes prescribed actions , that is , actions that the target computer 106 must take responsive to receiving the authorization token 116 . in other embodiments , the authorization token 116 includes proscribed actions , that is , actions that the target computer 106 must not take responsive to receiving the authorization token 116 . the scope for the proscribed actions may also be limited . for example , the scope of the proscribed actions may be limited to a particular computer , a particular date , and the like , for example as described above for prescribed actions . various embodiments provide one or more of the advantages listed below . in embodiments where the token is encoded and / or encrypted , the token is unintelligible to a user . therefore a user with low - level authorization for a system can act as a courier to deliver the disclosed authorization tokens to the system , thereby initiating actions requiring high - level authorization . the scope limits for the authorization tokens protect the target computer against man - in - the - middle attacks , replay - attacks , and token - replication , and the like . while various embodiments are described in the context of access to computer systems , other embodiments have broader applicability . for example , other embodiments apply to access rights to a physical location , to granting temporary rights to a remote individual to approve or order an action at a remote location , and the like . for example , a suitable coupon can authorize the bearer to get a special discount price from a check - out person who is not authorized to give the special discount price . as another example , a cfo could allow someone to sign off on expenses on a scale that usually requires the signature of the cfo , without also letting that person have other access only the cfo should have . other examples are listed below . a token could allow a remote person to disburse money that he can &# 39 ; t usually disburse — but only for specific reasons , or types of payments , or time - limited , or to a specific recipient only , or that relate to a specific project only . a token could allow a remote person to operate some machine in a limited fashion . as an example , a token could allow a pilot to taxi ( or even fly , once ) an airplane that is blocking some runway even though that pilot is not yet fully licensed on that aircraft type . in a military context , a token could allow an nco to handle tasks that usually require an officer &# 39 ; s authority . a token could allow someone remote access to a secure , locked area he would normally be kept out of . a token could allow someone to temporarily be exempt from some rules / laws regulations . a token could allow appointment of a deputy sheriff for the duration of a posse , and only to chase bank robbers . a token could allow a person to see classified material about only one project even though his clearance level would normally not be enough , without elevating his clearance level in general . for example , in a public corporation , a token could allow a non - insider product manager to see sales projections , cost breakdowns , and other financially material information — but only for one specific product or project , only for a pre - defined period of time , and only for information relating to one specific geographical area . a token could be a parking card that would allow parking only for a certain duration , only park in a specific location , or a specific car , in a normally - closed area , and the like . various embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry , or in computer hardware , firmware , software , or in combinations thereof . embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in a computer program product tangibly embodied in a computer - readable storage device for execution by a programmable processor . the described processes can be performed by a programmable processor executing a program of instructions to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output . embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in one or more computer programs that are executable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor coupled to receive data and instructions from , and to transmit data and instructions to , a data storage system , at least one input device , and at least one output device . each computer program can be implemented in a high - level procedural or object - oriented programming language , or in assembly or machine language if desired ; and in any case , the language can be a compiled or interpreted language . suitable processors include , by way of example , both general and special purpose microprocessors . generally , processors receive instructions and data from a read - only memory and / or a random access memory . generally , a computer includes one or more mass storage devices for storing data files . such devices include magnetic disks , such as internal hard disks and removable disks , magneto - optical disks ; optical disks , and solid - state disks . storage devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non - volatile memory , including by way of example semiconductor memory devices , such as eprom , eeprom , and flash memory devices ; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks ; magneto - optical disks ; and cd - rom disks . any of the foregoing can be supplemented by , or incorporated in , asics ( application - specific integrated circuits ). a number of implementations have been described . nevertheless , various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure . accordingly , other implementations are within the scope of the following claims .	6
in a first broad aspect the invention is directed to a trailer having therein living accommodation , having a fixed central portion and slideout lateral room portions slidably mounted within the central portion and movable between a first retracted position and a second expanded position . these slideout room portions being substantially identical in size and opposed to each other . a room in the fixed central portion extends longitudinally along the fixed central portion , it has two side walls , and at least one crosswall . at least one side wall has therein a side door permitting access to one said slideout room , preferably both side walls have opposed side doors permitting access to the slideout rooms . the crosswall is typically about the middle of the fixed central portion . the slideout rooms when in first retracted position are telescopically nested within the central portion having their inner edge adjacent the room in the fixed central portion and their outer edges adjacent the outer edges of the fixed central portion . the slideout rooms in second expanded position have their inner edges adjacent the outer edges of the fixed central portion . the side walls may extend from one end of the trailer toward the other end of the trailer . more preferably a door and a partition extend between the outer edge of at least one slideout room and the sidewall of the longitudinal room . these provide a compartment adjacent the longitudinal room and having access thereto through the side door . this partition may be a stubwall , fixed in the slideout room , and the door may be a pocket door slidably mounted in the stubwall . the partition may also be a slidable panel mounted between supports fixed in the slideout room and the door is hingeably mounted on the sidewall . preferably there is a door and a partition , which extend between the outer edge of each slideout room and the side walls of the longitudinal room providing compartments adjacent the longitudinal room and having access thereto through the side doors . again both partitions may be stubwalls , fixed in each slideout room , and each door is a pocket door slidably mounted in each stubwall . both partitions may be slidable panels mounted between supports fixed in each slideout room and the doors are hingeably mounted on the sidewalls . a second crosswall in combination with the first crosswall and access doors in the longitudinal walls may provide a central closet . the vehicle may be a towed or fifth wheel trailer . in a further broad aspect the invention is directed to a trailer having therein living accommodation , having a fixed central portion and slideout lateral room portions slidably mounted within the central portion and movable between a first retracted position and a second expanded position . these slideout room portions being substantially identical in size and opposed to each other . a bathroom in the fixed central portion extends longitudinally along the fixed central portion , it has at least two side walls , at least one side wall having therein a side door permitting access to one said slideout room , more preferably opposed side doors permitting access to both slideout rooms , and at least one crosswall . the crosswall is typically about the middle of the fixed central portion . a second crosswall in combination with access doors in the longitudinal walls and the first crosswall may provide a central closet . the slideout rooms when in first retracted position are telescopically nested within the central portion having their inner edge adjacent the bathroom and their outer edges adjacent the outer edges of the fixed central portion . the slideout rooms in second expanded position have their inner edges adjacent the outer edges of the fixed central portion . preferably the side walls extend from one end of the trailer toward the other end of the trailer . more preferably wherein a door and a partition extend between the outer edge of at least one slideout room and the sidewall of the longitudinal bathroom . these provide a compartment adjacent the longitudinal bathroom and having access thereto through the side door . this partition may be a stubwall , fixed in the slideout room , and the door may be a pocket door slidably mounted in the stubwall . the partition may also be a slidable panel mounted between supports fixed in the slideout room and the door is hingeably mounted on the sidewall . preferably there is a door and a partition , which extend between the outer edge of each slideout room and the side walls sidewall of the longitudinal bathroom providing compartments adjacent the longitudinal bathroom and having access thereto through the side doors . again both partitions may be stubwalls , fixed in each slideout room , and each door is a pocket door slidably mounted in each stubwall . both partitions may be slidable panels mounted between supports fixed in each slideout room and the doors are hingeably mounted on the sidewalls . preferably the compartment in second expanded position provides sleeping accommodation . this accommodation typically includes a sofa / pullout bed or bunks , together with overhead cabinets in the slideout room . nearly always the bathroom comprises shower , toilet and vanity . typically the access doors enter into the shower area between vanity and toilet . the trailer may be towed or fifth wheel . the invention in another broad aspect is directed to a trailer having therein living accommodation , having a fixed central portion and slideout lateral room portions slidably mounted within the central portion and movable between a first retracted position and a second expanded position . these slideout room portions being substantially identical in size and opposed to each other . a bathroom in the fixed central portion extends longitudinally along the fixed central portion , it has at least two side walls having therein at least one side door permitting access to a slideout room , preferably opposed side doors permitting access to the slideout rooms through them and at least one crosswall . the crosswall is typically about the middle of the fixed central portion . a second crosswall in combination with access doors in the longitudinal walls and the first crosswall may provide a central closet . the slideout rooms when in first retracted position are telescopically nested within the central portion having their inner edge adjacent the bathroom and their outer edges adjacent the outer edges of the fixed central portion . the slideout rooms in second expanded position have their inner edges adjacent the outer edges of the fixed central portion . the side walls extend from one end of the trailer toward the other end of the trailer . a door and a partition extend between the outer edge of each one slideout room and each sidewall of the longitudinal bathroom . these provide a compartments adjacent the longitudinal bathroom and having access thereto through the side doors . these compartments in second expanded position provide sleeping accommodation . this accommodation typically includes a sofa / pullout bed or bunks , together with overhead cabinets in the slideout room . preferably the trailer portion apart from the bathroom and the compartments , has a refrigerator in an alcove abutting the crosswall on its side opposite the bathroom . there is a kitchen in the fixed central portion abutting the end of the trailer away from the bathroom . a dining area is mounted in the roadside slideout room outside the compartment , typically fixed table and chairs , also there is an external door in the curbside slideout room outside the compartment . the trailer may be towed or fifth wheel . fig1 shows a plan view of a trailer of the invention in retracted mode . fig2 shows a plan view of the trailer of fig1 in expanded mode . fig3 shows a plan view of another trailer of the invention in contracted mode . fig4 shows a plan view of the trailer of fig3 in expanded mode . fig5 shows a plan view of a third trailer of the invention in contracted mode . fig6 shows a plan view of the trailer of fig5 in expanded mode . fig7 shows an exterior curbside view of a trailer of the invention in expanded mode . fig8 shows an exterior roadside view of a trailer of the invention in expanded mode . fig9 shows an exterior curbside view of a trailer of the fig5 and 6 in contracted mode . fig1 shows an exterior curbside view of a trailer of the fig5 and 6 in expanded mode . fig1 shows a plan view of a fourth trailer of the invention . the invention is now illustrated by reference to the preferred embodiments thereof . numeral 10 indicates the trailer of the invention with generally rectangular body 12 , wheels 14 and tow hitch 16 or fifth wheel hitch 216 . body 12 has fixed portion 22 , comprising externally visible front wall 18 , rear wall 20 , and roof 24 . it has two slideout rooms 26 and 28 retracted in fig9 and expanded in fig7 and 10 . in fig1 both 26 and 28 are retracted . curbside slideout room 26 has exterior vertical wall 30 , rear lateral wall 32 and front lateral wall 34 , it has a roof or top wall 36 . similarly roadside slideout room 28 has exterior vertical wall 38 , front lateral wall 40 , rear lateral wall 42 , and top wall or roof 44 . both slideout rooms have floor 46 ( of slideout 26 ) and 48 ( of slideout 28 ), which may be flush with floor 50 of fixed portion 22 , or may be stepped from fixed floor 50 . attached to exterior wall 30 and floor 46 of slideout room 26 are closets or cupboards 52 and 54 . overhead cabinet 56 is mounted on wall 30 , while extendible sofa - bed 58 is similarly attached to wall 30 . alternatively as well known to those skilled in the art bunks may replace sofa - bed 58 . similarly exterior wall 38 of slideout room 28 has overhead cabinet 60 attached , seats 62 attached to floor 48 , table 64 is attached to floor 48 and wall 38 . closet or cupboard 66 is attached to floor 48 and wall 38 . overhead cabinet 68 is attached to wall 38 as is sofa - bed 70 , which again as those skilled in the art know could also be replaced by bunks . projecting from wall 38 adjacent closet 66 is wall 72 , between wall 72 and closet 66 is sliding panel 74 , a similar panel 75 slides between closets 52 and 54 . central and mounted on floor 50 of fixed portion 22 is bathroom 76 , refrigerator 78 and kitchen counter 80 with associated stove 82 and sinks 84 and overhead cabinet 85 . bathroom 76 as shown has toilet 86 , shower 88 and vanity 90 , and parallel walls 92 and 94 , and crosswall 96 . walls 92 and 94 have recesses 98 and 100 to accommodate the interior ends of walls 34 and 40 respectively in retracted position as shown in fig1 . walls 92 and 94 also have access doors 102 and 104 . refrigerator 78 sits in an alcove formed by wall 96 and walls 106 and 108 . pivotally mounted on alcove walls 106 and 108 are bedroom doors 110 and 112 . alternatively pocket wall bedroom doors may replace panels 74 and 75 and doors 110 and 112 . optionally a tv cabinet or other entertainment center 114 can be mounted on wall 94 . outer door 116 with door window 117 allows access through wall 30 , windows 118 , 120 , 122 and 124 allow light to enter through wall 30 . similar windows 126 , 128 , 130 and 132 allow light to enter through wall 38 . additionally there are windows 134 and 136 in wall 20 of fixed portion 22 . in fig2 the trailer 10 is shown in expanded mode , as can be seen bedrooms 138 and 140 , kitchen 142 and dining room 144 are now usable . pushup counter extensions 182 and 184 and table extension 164 are in up position . door 112 is in closed position meeting slideout panel 74 , to provide bedroom privacy . similarly door 110 can be closed to meet slideout panel 75 . in fig3 slightly larger trailer 150 is shown in contracted 10 mode , and in fig4 in expanded mode . the structure is nearly identical to that of fig1 and 2 . the changes are that closet 52 has been replaced by a larger two doored closet 152 , while stubwall 72 is part of new closet 154 , and kitchen counter 80 has extension 87 beyond sink . in fig5 larger trailer 160 is shown in contracted mode , and in fig6 in expanded mode . the internal structure is very similar to that of fig3 and 4 . overhead cabinet 60 is omitted , while central closet 146 with forward crosswall 148 , and access doors 210 and 212 in walls 92 and 94 , is added , while closet 254 is modified . bedrooms 138 and 140 , kitchen 142 and dining room 144 are more spacious . in the larger trailers of fig3 to 6 pocket wall bedroom doors may replace panels 74 and 75 and doors 110 and 112 . trailer 310 of fig1 , while generally the same has a number of differences . refrigerator 178 is located at the end of counter 80 , while counter extension 284 is located by the side of stove 82 . bedroom 244 is adjacent kitchen 142 with overhead cabinet 168 and bed 170 . bedroom 244 has closet 254 hingeably mounting bedroom door 212 . as shown bedroom 138 has bunks 172 and internal closet 66 , with stubwall 72 , between closets 66 and 254 , bedroom door 112 is hingeably mounted on wall 96 fitting into wall recess 108 . shelves 174 separate bedroom 138 from living area 240 which extends along the curbside trailer to kitchen 142 , and contains overhead cabinet 56 , sofa bed 58 , table 264 and seats 262 . additional window 123 is provided for table 264 . bathroom 176 has toilet 86 , shower 88 and vanity 90 , and parallel walls 92 and 94 , and crosswall 96 , the difference is that walls 92 and 94 curve to form crosswall 93 while there is only one access door 102 . the trailer of fig1 and 2 is about 15½ feet ( 4¾ meters ) long the trailer of fig3 and 4 is about 18 feet ( 5½ meters ) long , the trailer of fig5 and 6 is about 22 feet ( 6¾ meters ) long as is the trailer of fig1 , excluding fifth wheel housing . all the trailers are about 8 feet ( 2½ meters ) wide in contracted mode and about 14 feet ( 4¼ meters ) wide in expanded mode , the slideouts each projecting about 3 feet ( 1 meter ). as those skilled in the art would realize these preferred described details and materials and components can be subjected to substantial variation , modification , change , alteration , and substitution without affecting or modifying the function of the described embodiments . although embodiments of the invention have been described above , it is not limited thereto , and it will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that numerous modifications and variations form part of the present invention insofar as they do not depart from the spirit , nature and scope of the claimed and described invention .	1
the work function φ of a surface is composed of two components : ( a ) the position of the conduction - band edge e c with respect to the fermi level and ( b ) the electron affinity χ . the position of the conduction - band edge e c is governed by such band structure properties of the solid as the donor position , donor density , and ionization probability , while the electron affinity is strongly dependent on characteristics such as surface stoichiometry , surface dipole layers , and schottky barriers . fig1 is an experimentally obtained energy - level diagram showing the variation in work function φ , conduction - band edge e c , an electron affinity χ for a thin film ( 50a to 200a ) of barium oxide ( bao ) during exposure to oxygen ( o 2 ). in the fig1 the change in work function with o 2 exposure is plotted with the bottom of the conduction - band set at zero . the result is visualized as an energy - level diagram in which the fermi level and vacuum level vary as a function of oxygen dosage . the most revealing fact is that as the o 2 exposure increases , the corresponding work functions also increase ( the bao is poisoned by the o 2 ). the electron affinity ( χ = φ - e c ), on the other hand , remains fairly constant at the initial stages of o 2 exposure ( through about 50 monolayers of o 2 exposure in this experiment ), and does not change appreciably until the fermi level approaches the asymptotic value . in the region where the electron affinity remains fairly constant , it is apparent that the changes in the work function φ are mainly due to changes in the position of the conduction - band edge e c . this indicates that for small exposures to oxygen , the oxygen atoms go inside the bulk to neutralize oxygen vacancy donors . only at higher exposures ( as all the oxygen vacancies start to become filled ), do the oxygen atoms start to accumulate on the surface , forming dipoles which change the electron affinity by changing the surface ba / o stoichiometry . the present invention is based on the foregoing characteristics of bao . since ( 1 ) the conductivity of the bao is also determined by the position of the conduction - band edge with respect to the fermi level and ( 2 ) bao is the alkaline - earth - oxide semiconductor compound most widely used to provide low - work - function surfaces for electron emitters , the conductivity of bao films would be an ideal indicator of the gases which fill donor sites in electron emitters . changes in electron - emission capabilities of an emitter can therefore be predicted from changes in the conductivity of an auxiliary bao sensor . an estimate of the sensitivity to gas poisoning of bao as represented by the conductivity of thin films may be made by considering again the experimentally obtained curves of fig1 . referring specifically to the region where the electron affinity remains fairly constant although the work function changes as a function of o 2 exposure , the position of the conduction - band edge with respect to the fermi level changes , with exposure to one monolayer of oxygen , from e c . spsb . 1 for the activated surface to e c . spsb . 2 . it can be shown that the conductivities of the two surfaces are related according to where σ 1 and σ 2 are the conductivities of the activated surface and the poisoned surface , respectively , k is the boltzmann constant , and t is the temperature . if the change ( δe c = e c . spsb . 2 - e c . spsb . 1 ) in the position of the conduction - band edge is approximately 0 . 5ev ( estimated from fig1 ), the ratio σ 2 / σ 1 is 10 - 5 at a temperature of 500 ° k . therefore , the addition of one monolayer of oxygen over the surface of these particular bao films will cause the conductivity to change by five orders of magnitude . fig2 is a plot of σ 2 / σ 1 versus o 2 exposure in monolayers obtained by extrapolating this relationship to lower levels of o 2 exposure ( assuming a linear relationship ). it can be seen , for example , that for even 0 . 01 monolayer of contamination a three - order - of - magnitude increase in the conductivity is expected . the electro - chemical sensor should be designed for a specific application in which it is to be used . for example , if the sensor is to be used to monitor tube - gas build - up during shelf storage , the sensitivity may be chosen to detect the contaminants in quantities that will cause actual tube failure . on the other hand , an extremely sensitive sensor may be used to monitor the vacuum quality of a tube over a short time and the results extrapolated to provide an accelerated - life - type indication of tube acceptability . fig3 is an embodiment which may be used to illustrate factors to be considered in the design of an electro - chemical sensor according to the present invention . a barium oxide crystalline body 10 is formed on a chemically and electrically non - interacting substrate 12 . a pair of electrical contacts 14 and 16 , spaced apart a distance l and having opposing faces 18 and 20 , respectively , are embedded in the body 10 . although the electrodes 14 and 16 are shown as separated from the bao - substrate interface 22 in fig3 this is not required and the electrodes may be adjacent to the interface 22 . the volume of the body 10 between the faces 18 and 20 is defined herein as the inter - electrode volume and , in this example , is equal to the area of the opposing faces times the spacing of x · y · l , x and y being the dimensions of the rectangular faces . in general the following factors should be considered in the design of the electro - chemical sensor . for a given inter - electrode volume , making the bao surface larger will increase the sensitivity but will also increase the unwanted surface conductivity ( at the free surface 24 or the interfacial surface 22 ). alternatively , decreasing the interelectrode separation l for a given bao surface area decreases the sensitivity but also reduces the unwanted surface conductivity . increasing the temperature of the sensor by means of a heater can reduce the unwanted effects of surface conductivity but it can also reduce the sensitivity by reducing the gas sticking coefficient . however , gas mobility increases . on the other hand , unwanted internal pore conductivity will become important at the higher temperatures . fig4 illustrates the operation of the present invention . the electro - chemical sensor , shown as a component in a vacuum tube 26 , includes a bao crystalline body 28 in which at least two electrical contacts 30 and 32 are embedded . a heater means , indicated generally by heater supply 34 and coil 36 , is used to control the operating temperature of the sensor . the terminals of a source of variable potential 38 are coupled to the electrical contacts 30 and 32 . a voltage meter 40 and a current meter 42 are connected in parallel and in series with the sensors , respectively , so that the conductivity may be measured . ( auxiliary voltage measuring electrodes , e . g ., four - point probe type , may also be used .) the conductivity of the sensor is obtained by comparing the current passing through the interelectrode volume ( i . e ., the volume of the bao between the electrical contacts 30 and 32 ) to the potential applied between the electrical contacts as the potential is varied . the conductivity σ of the sensor ( in the measuring volume if crystal conductivity predominates ) is then related to the slope m of the current versus applied potential curve by σ = m l / a where l and a are the length and cross - sectional area of the interelectrode volume , respectively . the ratio of the measured conductivity after poisoning to the original conductivity , is then a measure of the contaminating gases in the tube and also the change in work function of the emitter due to the contamination . the manner ( reversibility and variation with temperature ) in which the conductivity changes is different for different gases . therefore , these characteristics can be used to identify specific gas contaminants . such variations have , for example , been observed for oxygen , carbon dioxide and sulfur . fig5 , and 7 each show an exemplary embodiment of an electro - chemical sensor according to the present invention . in the embodiment of fig5 a pair of probe wires 44 and 46 are helically wrapped around a cylindrical non - interacting substrate 48 . a film 50 of bao is formed over the circumference of the cylinder such that the probe wires 44 and 46 are embedded in the film 50 . a heating wire 52 is disposed through the non - interacting substrate 48 to permit the control of the temperature of the bao film . in the embodiment of fig6 a non - interacting substrate 54 supports a bao film 56 which has metallic interdigital probes 58 and 60 embedded in it . it is noted that the metallic probes may or may not contact the substrate ( as is also the case of the probe wires in fig5 ). a heating wire 62 is disposed in the insulating substrate 54 to permit the control of the temperature of the bao film . referring to fig7 a layer 64 of bao is sandwiched between probe plates 66 and 68 . the probe plates 66 and 68 have mesh openings 70 ( not visible on the bottom plate 68 in the fig7 ) which allow the gas to contact the bao surface . electrical contacts 72 and 74 are coupled to the probe plates 66 and 68 for measuring the conductivity of the layer 64 between the probe plates . the sensor also typically includes a means such as a heated wire ( not shown ) for controlling the temperature of the bao film 64 . obviously , many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as described .	6
the present invention and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non - limiting embodiments described in detail in the following description . referring now to the drawings , and initially to fig1 - 3 , a container for holding and storing biological liquids such as semen comprises semen tube 10 having a hollow body 13 defining a cavity and having a first end 12 adapted for receiving semen and other biological liquids to be stored in the cavity . after the semen is introduced into the tube 10 , first end 12 is sealed to prevent the spilling or loss of semen therefrom . heat sealing , or a similar such process , is preferably used to form a seal 14 at the first end 12 of the tube 10 . in addition , a cut may be provided in the tube 10 along the seal 14 to facilitate the opening of the seal 14 during the ai procedure to create a vacuum inside the tube 10 to facilitate the delivery of the semen to the animal . the walls of the tube 10 are preferably relatively flexible and adapted for receiving and retaining semen within the tube 10 . as such , the tube 10 is preferably constructed from a plastic material such as , for example , polypropylene , polyvinyl chloride , or a similar such material . the tube 10 is preferably constructed from a material that will not harm or otherwise damage the contents stored within the tube 10 and which will serve to properly preserve the liquids stored therein . more preferably , the tube 10 of the present invention may be constructed of a biodegradable plastic material such that tube tips accidentally disposed of in , for example , manure pits , are safely and easily decomposed over time thereby preventing clogging or other such damage when the manure pits are pumped out . opposite the first end 12 , a second end 16 includes a nozzle 18 attached thereto and terminating in a removable tip 20 . the nozzle 18 is preferably integrally molded to the body 13 by blow molding or similar such process as is generally known in the art . the second end 16 of the tube 10 is preferably substantially more rigid than the first end 12 to facilitate delivery of the stored semen during the ai procedure . during an ai procedure , the nozzle 18 is inserted into a horizontal insemination catheter that has been inserted into the animal &# 39 ; s body . insertion of the nozzle 18 into the catheter is accomplished with the semen tube 10 in a substantially horizontal position and the nozzle 18 longitudinally aligned with the tube 10 . the tube 10 may be rotated vertically for dispensing the stored semen . accordingly , the nozzle 18 may additionally include a substantially bendable portion 19 . the bendable portion 19 enables the tube 10 to be rotated vertically without kinking or otherwise damaging the nozzle 18 or the body 13 of the semen tube 10 . bendable portion 19 preferably includes a pair of bumps molded into the nozzle 18 to allow for bending of the nozzle 18 . in addition , the nozzle 18 is preferably adapted to fit existing semen fill cup manufacturing assemblies . the nozzle 18 is generally adapted for delivering the stored semen to the animal during the ai procedure . for example , the tip 20 of the nozzle 18 preferably includes means for easy removal therefrom . preferably , the tip 20 is removable from the nozzle 18 without the use of tools . for example , the tip 20 and nozzle 18 may include a relatively weak portion disposed between the tip 20 and the nozzle 18 that may be easily broken such that the tip 20 may be easily removed . alternatively , the tip 20 may include a flange 24 or similar such projection extending therefrom that may facilitate gripping by the user such that the tip 20 may be twisted or otherwise removed from the nozzle 18 under a user applied force . in one embodiment , the nozzle 18 includes a score line 22 configured to separate the tip 20 from the nozzle 18 . score line 22 is preferably provided to provide a relatively weakened line between the nozzle 18 and the tip 20 such that bending across the score line 22 allows for easy removal of the tip 20 . in another embodiment , the tip 20 of the nozzle 18 is adapted to be removed by cutting with a scissors , knife , or similar such tool . tip 20 preferably includes a flange 24 extending outwardly therefrom . flange 24 provides an attachment surface for a tab 26 . tab 26 is a relatively flexible member provided in parallel with the nozzle 18 of the present invention . tab 26 preferably has a first end 28 integrally molded or otherwise affixed to the body 13 of the tube 10 and a second end 30 molded or affixed to the flange 24 of the tip 20 . the tab 26 is preferably attached to the body 13 at or near the point where the nozzle 18 extends from the body 13 . in this embodiment , the tab 26 is substantially parallel to the nozzle 18 . alternatively , the tab 26 may be attached to the nozzle 18 of the body 13 as shown in fig4 . thus , the tip 20 may be removed from the nozzle 18 as described above , but remain attached to a portion of the body 13 of the tube 10 by way of the tab 26 . accordingly , during an ai procedure , the tip 20 may be removed for dispensing the semen stored therein , and after completion of the procedure , the tube 10 and tip 20 may simultaneously be disposed of . as such , the amount of small plastic debris to be disposed of is greatly reduced or eliminated . accordingly , farming equipment may safely be used to clean a barn and dispense barn waste . referring now to fig5 , an alternative embodiment of the present invention comprising a semen bag assembly 110 includes a plurality of individual bags 111 attached to one another . each bag 111 includes a rectangular - shaped body 113 that is relatively flat before the introduction of semen to the bag 111 and a first end 112 adapted to receive semen . the bag 111 includes an internal pouch 115 defining a cavity configured to receive the semen and secured between a joining portion 117 on each side . joining portion 117 includes a seal 121 disposed between each joining portion 117 and a joining portion 117 of an adjacent bag 111 . after the bag 111 is filled , a seal 114 may be provided at the first end 112 to securely retain the semen therein for transport or storage . the bags 111 may be sealed using heat sealing or similar such methods known in the art . in addition , each bag 111 may further include a cut or similar perforation for removing each bag 111 from the bag assembly 110 . each bag 111 preferably includes two pairs of holes 123 disposed near the first end 112 and adapted to receive hooks of a semen bag filling assembly of the kind generally known in the art . bags 111 are preferably constructed of a plastic material , and more preferably , bags 111 are constructed of a biodegradable plastic such that the tips 120 might naturally decompose over time . opposite the first end 112 , a second end 116 includes a nozzle 118 with a removable tip 120 . the nozzle 118 is preferably heat sealed in place at the second end 116 of the bag 111 and in communication with the internal pouch 115 of the bag 111 . the nozzle 118 is adapted for use with standard filling equipment known in the art . the nozzle 118 is generally adapted for dispensing stored semen in the bag 111 to an animal during an ai procedure . during use , the nozzle 118 is typically interconnected with a catheter inserted into the animal for insemination . the semen is then dispensed via the nozzle 118 under pressure applied to the bag 111 to the catheter for delivery to the animal . nozzle 118 preferably includes a substantially bendable portion 119 similar to that of the previous embodiment . the tip 120 is preferably removable from nozzle 118 without the use of tools . accordingly , a score line 122 may be included to demark and separate the nozzle 118 from the tip 120 . as such , the tip 120 may be easily removed by applying torque or other such force thereto . alternatively , the tip 120 may be removed by cutting with a knife or scissors . as in the previous embodiment , the tip 120 includes a flange 124 molded thereto . a tab 126 is interconnected between each bag 111 and the flange 124 of the tip 120 . as such , when the tip 120 is removed from the nozzle 118 , the tip 120 remains affixed to the bag 111 by way of the tab 126 . accordingly , the tip 120 may be disposed of along with the bag 111 after completion of the ai procedure . in an alternative embodiment , the tab 126 may comprise a thread embedded within the body 113 of bag 111 or otherwise fixed thereto . the thread of the alternative embodiment preferably comprises a relatively strong material such that the tab 126 is able to retain the tip 120 in contact with the body 113 of the bag 111 as discussed previously . turning now to fig6 and 7 , an alternative embodiment of the semen container 210 of the present invention includes a hollow body 213 with a nozzle 218 terminating in a removable tip 220 at one end thereof . in this embodiment , the tip 220 is retained in contact with the body 213 or nozzle 218 by way of a thread 232 embedded within the body 213 or nozzle 218 . accordingly , after the tip 220 is removed from the nozzle 218 as described in the prior embodiments of the present invention , the thread 232 ensures that the tip 220 is retained in contact with one of the body 213 and the nozzle 218 . the thread 232 of this embodiment preferably comprises a relatively strong material such that the thread 232 is able to retain the tip 220 in contact with the body 213 of the container 210 . accordingly , the thread 232 may be constructed from any such suitable material including , but not limited to , a relatively flexible plastic or similarly suitable material . although the best mode contemplated by the inventors of carrying out the present invention is disclosed above , practice of the present invention is not limited thereto . it will be manifest that various additions , modifications and rearrangements of the features of the present invention may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept . moreover , the individual components need not be formed in the disclosed shapes , or assembled in the disclosed configuration , but could be provided in virtually any shape , and assembled in virtually any configuration . furthermore , all the disclosed features of each disclosed embodiment can be combined with , or substituted for , the disclosed features of every other disclosed embodiment except where such features are mutually exclusive . it is intended that the appended claims cover all such additions , modifications and rearrangements . expedient embodiments of the present invention are differentiated by the appended claims .	8
referring now more particularly to the drawings and to the characters of reference marked thereon , the present invention is embodied in a drum and head seaming machine which includes a longitudinal , floor - supported bed 1 having a pair of hollow columns , indicated at 2 and 3 , respectively , slidably mounted on , and upstanding from , the bed 1 in spaced relation . the columns 2 and 3 are simultaneously advanced toward , or retracted from , each other -- through a limited range of movement -- by double - acting power cylinders , indicated at 4 and 5 , respectively , connected between tailstocks 6 and 7 fixed on the bed 1 adjacent its ends . a main drive shaft 8 is journaled in and extends in the bed 1 below the columns 2 and 3 ; such drive shaft 8 being driven by an endless belt and pulley unit 9 which spans between one end of such shaft and an electric motor 10 mounted above the tailstock 6 . the columns 2 and 3 and the parts associated therewith are substantially identical except that they face in opposition ( i . e ., toward each other ), and hence a description of one such column and associated parts will suffice for both . a column ( 2 -- 3 ) is of heavy - duty , hollow construction and at the lower end includes a slide 11 mounted on the bed 1 ; there being a longitudinal countershaft 12 journaled in the column and projecting from the face thereof , and the projecting end being fitted with a circular , radial , mandrel - forming chuck 13 . an endless drive 14 spans between the driven main shaft 8 and the countershaft 12 ; such drive 14 having suitable relatively slidable connection with shaft 8 to permit of limited sliding of the column on the bed . an arcuate stripper 15 surrounds the lower portion of the chuck 13 , and such stripper is carried on the adjacent ends of stripper rods 16 which pass through the column and thence extend to connection with the related tailstock ( 6 - 7 ) by means of a releasable clamping unit 17 which includes a release lever 18 . the particular structural combination of the stripper 15 , stripper rods 16 ( as associated with the column ), and the clamping unit 17 is detailed in co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 26 , 363 , filed apr . 2 , 1979 . a drum seaming mechanism , indicated generally at 19 and which embodies the present invention , is mounted on the face of the column in substantially radial alinement with , and above , the chuck 13 ; such seaming mechanism -- hereinafter described in detail -- including a rotary cam 20 carried on the projecting end of a longitudinal shaft 21 driven at the back of the column by an endless driving and timing chain unit 22 actuated from another longitudinal shaft 23 in the column , and which other shaft 23 is driven from the counter - shaft 12 by an endless drive 24 . the above - described power train -- wherein the shafts are all parallel -- produces rotation of the chuck 13 and simultaneous timed rotation of the rotary cam 20 . in use of the above - described machine , a drum 25 ( with a head 25a in each end but un - seamed ) is elevated by a roller - type cradle unit 26 -- actuated by a power cylinder 27 -- to a position in axial alinement with , but clear of , the chucks 13 . thereafter , with slight approaching movement of the columns 2 and 3 and as caused by the power cylinders 4 and 5 , the chucks correspondingly move and each matchingly engages in the concavity of the related drum head -- the chucks then supporting the drum preparatory to the simultaneous seaming operations , by the seaming mechanisms 19 , as hereinafter described . after the seaming operations , the columns 2 and 3 -- together with the chucks -- retract , and the stationary strippers free the drum and seamed - in head from the chucks and for removal from the machine . each drum seaming mechanism , as indicated generally at 19 , is constructed , and functions in response to timed rotation of the included cam 20 , as follows : on the face of the column ( 2 - 3 ), and below the cam 20 , there is disposed a pair of adjacent but transversely spaced , l - shaped arms 28 which are in opposed facing relation ; such arms being hereinafter identified as the &# 34 ; primary arms &# 34 ;. such primary arms 28 are pivotally mounted intermediate their ends on pintles 29 which parallel the axis of the cam . as so mounted , each primary arm 28 is fitted at its lower and inner end with a seaming roll 30 journaled so that the bottom peripheral portion of the roll is disposed below the arm ; the two rolls 30 -- which are substantially conventional -- being in alinement , radially , with each other and the chuck 13 , and occupy positions closely adjacent each other above the chuck . as shown , the primary arms 28 are of double - sided construction , with the seaming rolls 30 disposed in journaled relation between the sides of such arms ; the journal pins being indicated at 31 . follower arms 32 , likewise of double - sided construction , are journaled on the pintles 29 between the sides of the primary arms 28 ; such follower arms 32 , which are of generally dog - leg form as shown , upstand above the pintles 29 and include upwardly and inwardly inclined arm portions 33 which intersect , above the rolls 30 , in relatively movable relation -- one such arm portion 33 passing through the other between the sides thereof . at their upper or free ends , the portions 33 of follower arms 32 are each fitted with a roller 34 which rides , at all times , the periphery of the rotary cam 20 . each primary arm 28 and the corresponding follower arm 32 are adjustably connected together -- as an adjustable articulated arm assembly -- as follows : in spaced relation above the related pintle 29 , the follower arm 32 is formed on each side with an elongated slot 35 which extends generally concentric to such pintle , and the upper end of the primary arm 28 carries -- between the sides thereof -- a cylindrical roller 36 which extends into the slots 35 ; said roller 36 having end trunnions 37 journaled in the sides of said upper end of the primary arm 28 . while essentially serving to support the cylindrical roller 36 , the trunnions also serve as shear pins . an adjustment screw 38 ( adapted for crank rotation ) is threaded through a member 39 fixed in the follower arm 32 immediately beyond the outer end of the slots 35 , and the inner end of such adjustment screw 38 bears radially and directly on the cylindrical roller 36 ; the adjustment screw 38 normally being held against rotation by a hand - manipulated , releasable set screw 40 . with the above arrangement , the roller and screw assembly maintain the primary arm and follower arm in rigid array in the direction of the working or cam load as will be understood . the cylindrical roller 36 and the adjustment screw -- of each arm assembly -- are maintained in constant engagement in the following manner : to the rear of the corresponding seaming roll 14 , the face of the column is formed with a vertically elongated slot 41 , and the related seaming roll journal pin 31 includes an integral , rearwardly projecting boss 42 which extends through the slot 41 . within the column , and inwardly of the face thereof , an elongated compression spring unit 43 is connected , under load , between the boss 42 and the bottom of the column . each such compression spring unit 43 -- being under load and acting through the associated parts -- yieldably urges the related seaming roll 30 upwardly , maintains the corresponding cylindrical roller 36 in engagement with the adjustment screw 38 , and maintains constant riding contact of the corresponding roller 34 on the rotary cam 20 . by the simple expedient of rotary adjustment of screw 38 , as by a crank ( not shown ) applied to the free end of such screw , the related primary arm can be adjusted in a direction to raise or lower ( within fine limits ) the seaming roll and as working conditions may require . the cam edge of the rotary cam 20 is generated so that prior to the initiation of each seaming operation , the follower rollers 34 stand ( see fig2 ) in a recessed or relieved portion of the cam edge , and at which time -- under the influence of compression spring units 43 -- the seaming rolls 30 are in a raised , non - working position . when the machine is in use , a drum 25 is elevated -- by cradle unit 26 -- to a position in axial alinement between the chucks 13 ; the columns ( 2 - 3 ) and said chucks then being in a retracted or starting mode . thereafter , the power cylinders ( 4 - 5 ) advance the columns ( 2 - 3 ) toward each other and until the chucks engage in the heads 25a pre - positioned in the drum 25 . nextly , through the medium of the described power train and under suitable control , the chucks are simultaneously rotated 360 °, and the rotary cams 20 are likewise simultaneously rotated to the same extent . upon such rotation of the rotary cam 20 of each drum seaming mechanism 19 , firstly the left - hand or lead seaming roll 30 is forcefully lowered -- by the cam 20 acting through the corresponding arm unit -- from raised starting position ( fig2 ) to lowered working position ( fig6 ) in which said left - hand seaming roll imparts the initial seaming deformation to the adjacent and lapping peripheral portions of the drum 25 and drum head 25a . this is followed by the right - hand or trailing seaming roll 30 being forcefully lowered -- by the cam 20 acting through the corresponding arm unit -- from raised starting position ( fig2 ) to lowered working position ( fig7 ) in which said right - hand seaming roll imparts the final seaming deformation to such adjacent and lapping peripheral portions of the drum and drum head . the seam 44 , as formed , is conventional , and which seals each drum head 25a to the corresponding end of the drum . upon completion of each seaming operation or cycle , the seaming mechanisms each rest in position for starting the next cycle , and the columns ( 2 - 3 ) are then retracted ( see fig5 ) which pulls the chucks 13 away from the drum heads 25a ; the strippers 15 , which remain stationary , assuring that the chucks pull free of said drum heads 25a and so that the drum 25 can be withdrawn , without obstruction , from the machine . it will be recognized that , in the described drum seaming mechanism , the intersection of the portions 33 of follower arms 32 of each arm assembly permits not only of a compact structure , but also the effective actuation of the lead seaming roll 30 in advance of the trailing seaming roll . adjustment of the seaming rolls 30 -- up or down -- for drum size , or to compensate for variance in thickness of the metal being seamed , is readily accomplished through the medium of the adjustment screws and which alter the working angle between the primary arms 28 and the follower arms 32 . from the foregoing description , it will be readily seen that there has been produced such a seaming mechanism as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein . while this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the seaming mechanism , still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims .	1
the present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings , in which some , but not all embodiments of the invention are shown . indeed , this invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein ; rather , these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements . like numbers refer to like elements throughout . fig1 shows a golf ball retrieval and positioning system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . the depicted golf ball retrieval and positioning system 100 comprises a retrieval and teeing device 102 and a positioning device 104 . as will be described in more detail below , the depicted golf ball retrieval and positioning system 100 may be simply used by a golfer , without significantly bending over at the waist , to tee - up a golf ball prior to driving , manipulate a golf ball , golf marker , or other object on or proximate to the ground ( e . g ., golf green , tee box , fairway , etc . ), fix or repair a divot or ball mark ( i . e ., indentation made by the ball upon landing on the green or fairway ) and retrieve a golf ball from a cup upon completion of a golf hole . finally , the depicted golf ball retrieval and positioning system 100 allows a golfer to accurately , and cheaply mark a putting reference line to a golf ball as will be discussed in greater detail below . various components of the depicted golf ball retrieval and positioning system 100 are structured to removably attach to a conventional golf club grip thereby allowing a golfer to use the length of the golf club to pick - up or otherwise manipulate golf balls and other objects on the ground without substantially bending over . multiple additional golf - related uses for various embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the disclosure provided below . fig2 depicts a positioning device 104 structured in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . the depicted positioning device 104 comprises an interface portion 106 , a transition portion 105 , a cradle portion 108 and a hook portion 110 as shown . the interface portion 106 is disposed at a first end 107 of the positioning device 104 and is adapted for attachment to a conventional golf grip as described in reference to fig3 below . the transition portion 105 provides a structural transition between the interface portion 106 and the cradle portion 108 and defines the position of the cradle portion 108 relative to the golf club as will be described in greater detail below . the cradle portion 108 is structured to receive and manipulate a golf ball . in the depicted embodiment , the cradle portion 108 defines a curved member that extends from the transition portion 105 to the hook portion 110 . in one embodiment , the cradle portion 108 defines a radius r that is sized to partially enclose a golf ball below its widest part . in various embodiments the cradle portion radius r is preferably less than 0 . 84 inches , more preferably between 0 . 82 and 0 . 55 inches , and still more preferably between 0 . 78 and 0 . 60 inches . in another embodiment , the cradle portion 108 partially encloses a golf ball by encircling less than 90 percent of its circumference , more preferably between 55 and 90 percent of its circumference , and still more preferably between 60 and 75 percent of the golf ball &# 39 ; s circumference . the cradle portion 108 terminates at the hook portion 110 that is structured proximate a second end 109 of the positioning device 104 as shown . the hook portion 110 is a curved member extending outwardly from the cradle portion 108 in a direction opposite to that of the cradle portion curve as shown . the hook portion 110 is structured to pick up and otherwise manipulate a variety of objects including but not limited to the retrieval and teeing device 103 ( as shown in fig1 ) and a washer - shaped golf ball marker ( depicted as item 195 of fig1 ). in one embodiment , the hook portion 110 defines a hook radius hr that is sized to at least partially enclose a golf tee head below its widest part . in various embodiments the hook radius hr is preferably less than 0 . 2188 inches , more preferably between 0 . 0938 and 0 . 2188 inches , and still more preferably between 0 . 15 and 0 . 2188 inches . in another embodiment , the hook portion 110 defines a gap g that is sized to laterally receive a golf tee or other object . in various embodiments , the gap g is greater than 0 . 1875 inches , more preferably between 0 . 19 and 0 . 30 inches , and still more preferably between 0 . 20 and 0 . 25 inches . positioning devices 104 according to various embodiments of the present invention may be comprised of a variety of materials including metals , polymers , rubbers , composite materials , natural materials such as wood , or any other material that is capable of being formed or molded into a desired shape and that is capable of holding its shape under the weight of a golf ball or other positionable object . the depicted positioning device 104 is comprised of a formed metal wire . positioning devices 104 according to various embodiments may be produced from a single material as shown or alternatively , from multiple materials . for example , in one embodiment , the interface portion 106 may be formed from a first material , the transition portion 105 may be formed from a second material , and the cradle portion 108 and hook portion 110 may be formed from a third material . fig3 depicts a positioning device 104 attached to a golf club 112 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . more particularly , the interface portion 106 of the depicted positioning device 104 has been inserted into an air relief hole 114 ( also referred to herein as a golf grip hole ) of a conventional golf club grip 113 . as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art , air relief holes 114 are commonly defined in conventional golf grips to assist grip installation by allowing trapped air to escape from the grip 113 as it is pushed onto a golf club shaft ( not shown ). various embodiments of the present invention take advantage of this standard golf grip feature by providing a positioning device 104 having an interface portion 106 that is structured to be removably received by the grip hole 114 . when inserted into the golf grip hole 114 , the positioning device 104 is sufficiently supported such that it may used to carry or manipulate a golf ball 111 or other objects . in the depicted embodiment , the interface portion 106 is sized such that it produces an interference fit within the grip hole 114 . for example , in one embodiment , at least part of the interface portion may define a diameter between 0 . 09 and 0 . 1875 inches , preferably approximately 0 . 125 inches . in another embodiment , the interface portion 106 may be tapered ( not shown ) to ensure an adequate interference fit . in yet another embodiment , the interface portion 106 may define one or more ribs ( not shown ) that may be pressed through the resilient golf grip hole 114 to maintain the interface member 106 within the golf grip hole 114 until removed by a user . in still other embodiments , the interface portion 106 may be removably received by the grip hole 114 in various additional ways , for example , the interface portion 106 may define one or more screw type threads ( not shown ) such that the positioning device 104 may be removably screwed into the grip hole 114 . the positioning device 104 depicted in fig3 a defines a first transitional angle θ between the interface portion 106 and the transition portion 105 . a second transition angle α is defined between the transition portion 105 and the cradle portion 108 as shown . an address angle β is defined between the longitudinal axis 112 ′ of the golf club 112 and a vertical plane vp that is illustrated in fig3 to generally represent the plane of a user &# 39 ; s stance . in one embodiment , the address angle β , the first - transition angle θ , and the second transition angle α may be added to define a pick angle pa between 70 and 120 degrees , preferably between 80 and 110 degrees , and more preferably between 85 and 105 degrees . in other embodiments , the transition portion 105 of the positioning member 104 may be omitted such that the interface member 106 extends directly into the cradle portion 108 ( not shown ) thereby defining a single transition angle ( not shown ). in such embodiments , the address angle β and the single transition angle ( not shown ) may be added to define a pick angle pa between 70 and 120 degrees , preferably between 80 and 110 degrees , and more preferably between 85 and 105 degrees . in still other embodiments , hinges , flexible wires , or other bendable materials may be used for one or more parts of the positioning device 106 such that at least one of the address angle β , the first transition angle θ , the second transition angle α , and the pick angle pa may be adjusted to hold a desired angle that is selected from among a range of angles to meet a specific application . fig4 depicts a positioning device 104 supporting a golf ball 111 cradled atop its cradle portion 108 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art , a golf ball defines a maximum width or diameter generally adjacent to its equator . in the depicted embodiment , the cradle portion 108 of the positioning device is sized to partially enclose the golf ball 111 immediately below its equator as shown . in this regard , positioning devices 104 structured in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention may be used in combination with a standard golf club to pick up and manipulate or position a golf ball or other object without bending over . it should be noted that in various embodiments , the term “ positioning ” refers to picking up a golf ball or other object from the ground , moving a golf ball or other object from one location to another , placing a golf ball or other object in a desired location ( e . g ., on a tee or teeing support ), removing a golf ball or other object from a desired location ( e . g ., from a golf cup ), and various other movements . fig5 depicts a retrieval and teeing device 102 structured in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . the depicted retrieval and teeing device 102 is structured to have a dual use as a golf ball retrieving aid and a golf ball teeing aid . said differently , retrieval and teeing devices structured in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention may be used in a retrieval mode and / or a teeing mode . the retrieval and teeing device 102 includes a retrieval portion 116 , an interface portion 120 , and a teeing portion 118 as shown . in various embodiments , the teeing portion 118 is removably secured to the interface portion 120 and is structured to support a golf ball in a teed position . in this regard , the teeing portion 118 defines a cavity 121 at a first end for receiving the interface portion 120 and a concave teeing surface 119 proximate a second end that is similar to a teeing surface commonly associated with a conventional golf tee . it should be noted , however , that in various other embodiments , the teeing surface 119 may have any configuration that is sufficient to support a golf ball 111 in a teed position , including , but not limited to , a vertically extending cylinder or ring , multiple vertically extending fingers or brushes , or other similar tee configurations that may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art . in the depicted embodiment , the retrieval portion 116 of the retrieval and teeing device 102 is structured generally as an inverted cup or shell for removably receiving at least a portion of a golf ball . in this regard , the depicted retrieval portion 116 defines a diameter d that is sized to partially enclose a golf ball above its widest part . in various embodiments the retrieval portion diameter d is preferably less than 1 . 680 inches , more preferably between 1 . 64 and 1 . 10 inches , and still more preferably between 1 . 56 and 1 . 20 inches . the depicted retrieval portion 116 is comprised of a polymer shell that is structured to fit snugly over at least a portion of a golf ball . the shell defines an outer surface 123 , an inner surface 125 , a cavity 124 , and a peripheral edge 127 . in various embodiments , the inner surface 125 and / or peripheral edge 127 of the retrieval portion 116 form an interference fit around the perimeter of a golf ball when the ball is pressed snugly into the cavity 124 as discussed in greater detail below . as shown in fig6 , the retrieval and teeing device 102 may be used as a golf ball teeing aid . during use , the depicted retrieval portion 116 is placed on the ground 128 such that its peripheral edge 127 rests proximate the ground surface 129 as shown . as noted above , the teeing portion 118 is structured to receive the interface portion 120 , which extends from the outer surface 123 of the retrieval portion 116 . the interface portion 120 is sized to produce a sliding interference fit within the cavity ( item 121 of fig5 ) defined proximate the first end of the teeing portion 118 . in this regard , the teeing portion 118 is removably secured to the retrieval portion 116 . when so configured , the retrieval and teeing device 102 may be used by a golfer to support a golf ball 111 in a teed position as shown . in the depicted embodiment , the teeing portion 118 , the interface portion 120 , and the retrieval portion 116 of the retrieval and teeing device 102 are constructed of a molded polymer such as polypropylene ; however , in various embodiments of the present invention the teeing portion 118 , the interface portion 120 , and the retrieval portion 116 may be constructed of any durable material having the flexibility , strength and rigidity to support a golf ball such as plastic materials , rubber materials , composites , and combinations thereof . as noted above and illustrated in fig7 , the retrieval and teeing device 102 may also be used as a golf ball retrieving aid simply by removing the teeing portion ( not shown ). in the depicted embodiment , the interface portion 120 of the retrieval and teeing device 102 is structured to be received by an air relief hole 114 similar to that described with regard to fig3 - 4 above . when inserted into the golf grip hole 114 , the retrieval portion 116 is sufficiently supported such that it may used to carry or manipulate a golf ball 111 or other objects . in the depicted embodiment , the interface portion 120 is sized such that it produces an interference fit within the air relief hole 114 . in another embodiment , the interface portion 120 may be tapered ( not shown ) to ensure an adequate interference fit . in yet another embodiment , the interface portion 120 may define one or more ribs ( not shown ) that may be pressed through the resilient golf grip hole 114 to maintain the interface member 120 within the golf grip hole 114 until removed by a user . in such embodiments , corresponding ribs or holes may be defined in a possibly resilient teeing portion ( item 118 of fig6 ) for securely receiving the ribs of the interface member 120 as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of this disclosure . in still other embodiments , the interface portion 120 may be removably received by the air relief hole 114 in various additional ways , for example , the interface portion may define one or more screw type threads ( not shown ) such that the retrieval portion 102 may be removably screwed into the grip hole 114 . in addition to simply picking up and otherwise manipulating a golf ball or other object , the retrieval and teeing device 102 of various embodiments of the present invention is also structured as a guide for users who wish to place a putting reference mark proximate the equator of the golf ball . for example , in one embodiment , the retrieval portion 116 of the retrieval and teeing device 102 may be pressed onto a golf ball 111 such that the peripheral edge 127 of the retrieval portion 116 is positioned generally proximate the equator of the golf ball 111 . at least a portion of the peripheral edge 127 of the retrieval portion 116 is structured to define a continuous straight - edge such that a user may run a felt - tip marker or other appropriate marking device along the continuous strait - edge and thereby create a putting reference mark ( not shown ) proximate the equator of the golf ball 111 . although previous embodiments of the present invention depict a retrieval and teeing device that is coupled to a golf club grip by the male / female interference fit between an elongate interference portion and a golf grip hole , retrieval and teeing devices structured in accordance with other embodiments may be coupled to a golf club grip in a variety of additional ways . for example , fig8 illustrates a retrieval and teeing device 202 embodiment wherein an alternate golf grip coupling structure is used . the depicted retrieval and teeing device 202 includes a retrieval portion 216 that is structured similarly to the retrieval portion 116 described with respect to fig5 - 7 ; however , in the depicted embodiment , the interface portion / grip hole interface has been replaced with a durable , weather - resistant , hook - and - loop fabric fastener as is commonly known in the art . for example , one might use a hook - and - loop fabric fastener of the type produced under the brand name velcro ® by velcro industries b . v . the depicted hook - and - loop fabric fastener includes a first portion 243 comprised of a hook material and a second portion 245 comprised of a loop material . in the depicted embodiment , the first portion is attached to the retrieval portion 216 of the retrieval and teeing device 202 and the second portion is attached to the end 117 of a golf grip 113 as shown . in alternate embodiments , however , the relative attachment positions of the first and second portions 243 , 245 of the hook - and - loop fastener may be reversed as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art . in the depicted embodiment , the first and second portions 243 , 245 of the hook - and - loop fastener are attached to their respective attachment surfaces by a pressure sensitive or contact adhesive . however , it should be noted that in other embodiments these components may be adhered in other ways such as by heat activated adhesives , staples , screws , nails , pop - rivets , or other fasteners . fig9 illustrates the teeing functionality of the retrieval and teeing device 202 shown in fig8 . in the depicted embodiment , the retrieval and teeing device 202 defines a hole 235 located generally adjacent the apex or top of the retrieval portion 216 as shown . in various embodiments , the hole 235 defines a diameter d that is approximately 0 . 1875 inches , more preferably between 0 . 125 and 0 . 25 inches , and still more preferably between 0 . 175 and 0 . 195 inches . in this regard , the hole 235 is structured to removably receive a shaft 230 of a conventional golf tee 232 as shown . in one embodiment , the hole 235 defined in the retrieval portion 216 is sized to produce a sliding interference fit with the shaft 230 of the golf tee 232 . in this regard , the tee 232 may be held securely within the retrieval portion 216 for supporting a golf ball in a teed position ( not shown ). in various embodiments , the perimeter of the hole 235 may define one or more resilient slits , detents , or other features ( not shown ) for encouraging hole - size flexibility and thereby accommodating a secure interference fit at varying tee heights for tees having tapered shafts . in other embodiments , specialty tees ( not shown ) may be used having one or more ribs or other locating features defined on or about the tee shaft for securing the tee at a selected tee height within the hole 235 . fig1 , 11 , and 12 depict usage of a golf ball retrieval and positioning system 100 structured in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention . for example , fig1 depicts a positioning device 104 being used to position a golf ball 111 onto a retrieval and teeing device 102 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . the depicted positioning device 104 and retrieval and teeing device 102 are structured to be compact and therefore fit efficiently in a golfer &# 39 ; s pocket or golf bag . upon reaching a tee box , a golfer simply drops the retrieval and teeing device 102 proximate a desired teeing location and inserts the interface portion 106 of the positioning device 104 into the grip hole 114 of the golfer &# 39 ; s driver . if the retrieval and teeing device 102 does not land on the ground in a tee - up position , with its retrieval portion 116 positioned squarely on the ground surface 129 and the teeing portion 118 in an upright position , the hook portion 110 of the positioning device 104 may be conveniently used to manipulate the teeing portion 118 of the retrieval and teeing device 104 into a tee - up position . as noted above , a golfer manipulates golf balls and other objects adjacent the ground without substantially bending over by grasping the head of the golf club and pointing the golf club grip and , thus , the positioning device 104 , toward the object to that is to be manipulated . in the depicted embodiment , a golfer places a golf ball 111 into the cradle portion 108 of the positioning device 104 , grasps the head of the golfer &# 39 ; s driver , and lowers the positioning device 104 and golf ball 111 toward the teeing surface 119 of the retrieval and teeing device 102 generally along arrow a as shown . in this regard , the golf ball 111 is positioned onto the teeing portion 118 of the retrieval and teeing device 102 and made ready for driving as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art . once a golfer has teed off , the golfer may pick up the retrieval and teeing device 102 using the hook portion 110 of the positioning device 104 as shown in fig1 . in particular , as noted above , the hook portion 110 of the positioning device 104 is sized to receive head of the teeing portion 118 of the retrieval and teeing device 102 thereby allowing a golfer to pluck the retrieval and teeing device 102 from the ground as shown . retrieval and teeing devices 202 structured in accordance with the embodiment depicted in fig8 and 9 may be used in a similar fashion to the retrieval and teeing device 102 depicted in fig1 . however , in such embodiments , a standard or specialty golf tee 232 is seated into the hole 235 defined in the retrieval portion 216 before the retrieval and teeing device 202 is dropped proximate a desired teeing location . the retrieval and teeing device 202 may then be manipulated into an upright position and a golf ball placed upon the golf tee 232 using the positioning device 104 as generally described above . fig1 depicts a positioning device 104 being used to mark the position of a golf ball 111 using a washer - shaped ball marker 195 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . upon reaching a golf green , a golfer simply drops the washer - shaped ball marker 195 proximate the ball location and inserts the interface portion 106 of the positioning device 104 into the grip hole 114 of the golfer &# 39 ; s club ( e . g ., wedge , putter , etc .). the golfer then grasps the head of the golf club and pushes the golf ball marker 195 into place behind the golf ball 111 using the hook portion 110 or outer edge of the cradle portion 108 of the positioning device 104 . when it is time for the golfer to putt , the golfer may retrieve the golf ball marker 195 by inserting the hook portion 110 of the positioning device 104 into an aperture 196 defined in the golf ball marker 195 and withdrawing the marker 195 upwardly along arrow b as shown . in another embodiment of the present invention a portion ( e . g ., the hook portion ) of the positioning device 108 may be magnetized for use with a metallic golf ball marker 195 . in such embodiments , the ball marker 195 could be manipulated into place on the ground using a non - magnetized portion ( e . g ., the cradle portion ) of the positioning device 108 and retrieved using the magnetized portion of the positioning device 108 . fig1 and 14 depict a ball mark repair device 350 structured in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention . the depicted ball mark repair device 350 may be alternatively referred to as a turf repair tool . for purposes of the present invention and appending claims the term “ ball mark ” refers to a divot , indentation , or other turf imperfection that occurs during golf as a result of impacts with the ground . although most effective for repairing ball marks it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that ball mark repair devices structured in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention may also be used to repair divots created when a golfer swings a golf club or other turf imperfections . the depicted ball mark repair device 350 includes a lever portion 352 , a base portion 354 , and a finger portion 358 . the finger portion 358 includes at least one finger 357 that is adapted to be inserted into a putting green or any other surface having a ball mark 360 that a golfer wishes to repair . the depicted embodiment includes three fingers 357 . the base portion 354 includes an interface portion 356 that is configured to be received by the air relief hole 114 of a conventional golf club grip 113 , as similarly described above with respect to other embodiments of the present invention . in the depicted embodiment , the interface portion / air relief hole interface also includes a durable , weather - resistant , hook - and - loop fabric fastener as generally described above . the depicted hook - and - loop fabric fastener includes a first portion 345 comprised of a hook material and a second portion 355 comprised of a loop material . in the depicted embodiment , the first portion 345 is attached to the base portion 354 of the ball mark repair device , and the second portion 355 is attached to the end 117 of a golf grip 113 as shown in fig1 and as similarly described with respect to the embodiment depicted in fig8 . fig1 shows usage of the ball mark repair device 350 in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention . upon reaching a putting green ( or any other turf surface ) having a ball mark 360 that a golfer desires to repair , the golfer simply inserts the interface portion 356 of the ball mark repair device 350 into the air relief hole 114 of the golfer &# 39 ; s putter ( or other golf club ). upon insertion of the interface portion 356 into the air relief hole 114 , the first portion 345 of the hook and loop material engages the second portion 355 of the hook and loop portion material in order to secure the ball mark repair device 350 to the end 117 of the grip 113 , and to keep the ball mark repair device 350 from rotating about the interface portion 356 . also , in this position , the lever portion 352 rests against a portion of the grip 113 adjacent the end 117 of the club as shown . the lever portion 352 is intended to provide leverage during usage of the ball mark repair device 350 . thus , in various embodiments , the lever portion 352 may take a variety of differing structures including structures that enhance the leverage provided by the lever portion 352 . for example , in one embodiment the lever portion may define a curved region adapted to complement the curvature of the grip 113 . in another embodiment , the lever portion may define a rib or other similar feature located at the top of the lever for creating an upwardly located contact point and thereby enhancing the leverage available when using the ball mark repair device . a golfer manipulates the ball mark repair device 350 by grasping the head of a golf club and pointing the golf club grip 113 and , thus , the ball mark repair device 350 , toward a ball mark 360 that is to be repaired . the golfer then inserts the fingers 357 of the ball mark repair device 350 into the ground 128 near the ball mark 360 . the golf club is then moved against the lever portion along the direction generally defined by arrow c . when the golf club is moved in the direction of arrow c , the lever portion 354 of the ball mark repair device 350 provides leverage against the grip 113 such that the fingers 357 of the ball mark repair device 350 move in the direction generally defined by arrow d . this process may be repeated around the perimeter of the ball mark 360 as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art . in this regard , the ball mark repair device 350 may be used by a golfer to repair a ball mark 360 without bending over . in other embodiments , the ball mark repair device may be structured as set forth above ; however , the interface portion 356 may be omitted . in such embodiments , the first portion of the hook and loop material would continue to engage the second portion of the hook and loop material thereby securing the ball mark repair device to the end of the golf club grip . the lever portion would therefor rest against a portion of the grip adjacent the end of the club as described above . in this regard , the lever portion would provide leverage for manipulating the tool during usage of the ball mark repair device . should additional stability be required a more robust hook and loop material may be used . alternatively , in other embodiments , a first end of a double - sided hook and loop strap may be affixed to the back surface of the lever portion ( i . e ., the surface opposite that which contacts the golf club grip ). a second end of the double - sided hook and loop strap could then be wrapped around the golf club grip such that the double - sided hook and loop strap overlaps and thereby adheres to itself . in still other embodiments , the lever portion of the ball mark repair device may be formed to define a ring or partial ring that is structured to slideably receive the golf club grip as it is positioned to seat against the hook and loop surface of the first portion of the ball mark repair device . many modifications and other embodiments of the invention set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings . therefore , it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims . although specific terms are employed herein , they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation .	0
preferred embodiments of the invention will be set forth in detail with reference to the drawings , in which like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout . the containment unit of the first preferred embodiment is used by having a remotely operated vehicle ( rov ) deploy a compressed containment unit to the ocean floor over a broken riser . a first flotation unit is released , and subsequent flotation units are then sequentially released at about 1 , 000 foot increments until the ocean surface is reached . each flotation unit is anchored to the ocean floor ( preferably up to 3 , 000 feet from the ocean floor ) or to tug boats / barges ( preferably over 3 , 000 feet from the ocean floor ) as necessary to stabilize each flotation unit before releasing a subsequent flotation unit . the result is an erected containment unit comprising multiple flotation units ( depending on the depth needed ) with kevlar or rubber walls reinforced with cables , rubber coated cables or solid pvc piping , which keeps the spilled oil in one specific location and does not allow the oil to spread and contaminate the environment . the containment unit of the present invention also allows ships or tankers to draw the oil from the top of the unit . the process will now be described in greater detail . the specifics of the process are illustrative rather than limiting and can vary as determined by specific needs or conditions . as shown in fig1 , a compressed containment unit 102 containing multiple flotation units , preferably five flotation units ( depending on the depth of the water , i . e ., 5 , 000 feet ), is placed around a broken or damaged riser 104 on the floor 106 of an ocean , gulf , or other body of salt water 108 having a surface 110 . as shown in fig2 , the first flotation unit 202 is released . as shown , the base unit 204 is formed from concrete 206 with the coated foam flotation units 202 on top . the first flotation unit 202 has barrier walls 210 of kevlar or rubber , reinforced by cables 212 connected by connectors 214 . the flotation unit 202 is made of coated foam braced with metal crossbars , in a manner to be explained below . second through fourth flotation units 202 are compressed on top of the first flotation unit 202 . the flotation unit 202 is 1 , 000 feet high and has an inner diameter sufficient to accommodate the riser . fig3 shows the second flotation unit 202 released . fig4 shows the third flotation unit 202 released . fig5 shows the fourth flotation unit 202 released . a fifth flotation unit ( not shown ) is then deployed to reach 5 , 000 feet . fig6 shows the erected containment unit 102 . each flotation unit 202 is anchored by cables 602 to anchors 604 as necessary before the next flotation unit 202 is released . flotation units up to 3 , 000 feet from the ocean floor 106 can be anchored to the ocean floor 106 . flotation units above 3 , 000 feet from the ocean floor 106 can be anchored to tugboats or barges . a barrier 606 such as an oil boom is placed around the top of the containment unit 102 on the ocean &# 39 ; s surface 110 . fig7 a - 7d are top , perspective , first side , and second side views of a flotation or base unit . the two end pieces 702 , which are formed of concrete for the base unit and of coated foam for the flotation units , are connected by metal braces 704 . preferably , the metal is aluminum . alternatively , the brace is pvc filled with concrete . the coated foam is preferably about 8 feet thick and styrofoam coated with plastic or rubber . fig8 a and 8b are two side views of a fully extended containment unit 102 , showing the flotation units 202 , the base unit 204 , the reinforcing cables 602 , and the concrete anchors 604 anchored to the ocean floor 106 . the base unit 204 provides an opening 802 to allow sea water to enter the containment unit 102 to prevent freezing of the oil . the containment unit is preferably made of barrier walls comprising a synthetic fiber , preferably an aramid fiber material such as kevlar or twaron , reinforced with cable , with flotation units at about 1 , 000 foot increments to form a stack or tower . both the dimensions and the material are illustrative rather than limiting and can be determined by circumstances . alternatively , the walls may be made of rubber . the flotation units are preferably braced with metal bars . the unit is preferably large enough to allow equipment to be deployed from the surface of the unit . more preferably , it can be used as a drafting tank , while protecting the environment . the containment unit of the first embodiment is preferably made up of 4 flotation units and 1 anchor unit . each flotation unit preferably has an inside diameter of 30 × 30 feet to accommodate a broken / damaged riser and kevlar walls reinforced with rubber coated iron cables for frame support . the base unit is 2 to 4 tons and 20 feet high depending on the water depth . the containment unit may also be square , rectangle , oval or round . the walls are preferably made of a layer of kevlar with a rubber coated cable frame and then another coat of kevlar for added strength . when attached to the flotation units that will become the containment unit , the cables comprise 20 , 000 feet of kevlar and cable frame . each flotation unit will rise 1 , 000 feet . while kevlar is given as an illustrative example , any other suitable material can be used , as long as it is impermeable to oil , flexible , and not broken down by oil or salt water . kevlar is considered a good choice because it can withstand salt water for long - term deployments . the base unit serves as a platform and housing for the flotation units . all flotation units are stacked on top of the base unit and lowered to the ocean floor . packing straps are released from the base unit to the top flotation unit , one at a time . each section must be stabilized before moving to the next section at 1 , 000 foot increments . preferably , all units are not released at once to avoid ripping of material and loss of control of the stacking process . the containment unit should be raised as straight as possible , but the pliable materials ( kevlar / cables ) allow it to shift and sway with the movement of the ocean . alternatively , the base unit could be made of clump weights and preinstalled . an rov is utilized to release each flotation unit starting from base unit . drop anchor blocks with attached cables at strategic points are used for structural support . as the first flotation unit is released , it will rise up 1 , 000 feet from the base , with or without the additional use of lift bags or air bags . the first flotation unit may or may not need anchor lines for support . if so , anchors are attached before the second flotation unit is released . then the second unit is released and the containment unit is raised another 1 , 000 feet , i . e ., 2 , 000 feet total , and anchor blocks are attached with cables to the flotation unit . rovs are used to anchor all 4 sides every 1 , 000 feet . then the rov releases the third flotation unit and anchors it at 3 , 000 feet on 4 sides . this method is used up to 3 , 000 feet . barges or tug boats are used once the containment unit is 4 , 000 to 5 , 000 feet high . at approximately 4 , 000 feet , anchor lines may be attached to barges or tug boats for additional support and stabilization of the units . at the surface of ocean , additional flotation units can be added to increase the height of the containment unit . an additional perimeter barrier such as an oil boom can be used around the surface containment section to capture any oil that may escape from the containment unit . as the riser loses pressure and oil flows to the surface , ships can draw oil from the surface inside the containment area . the completed structure is high enough to contain the oil while necessary repairs are done without allowing oil to reach the shoreline . on that note , the unit is a “ containment ” unit and not a “ tank ”; i . e ., sea water will flow into the unit through an opening in the concrete base , and the oil , via pressure , will push upwards to the surface for capture by barges / ships on the surface . sea water is necessary in order to avoid freezing of the oil at such depths . preferably , the containment unit of the present invention is compressed for storage , such as by means of straps , preferably rubber or nylon straps . the packaging for deployment can include pulleys and other devices to prevent tangling of the cables . the cables themselves can be made out of metal , nylon , or any other material capable of withstanding the environment . the second preferred embodiment is constructed and used like the first preferred embodiment , with the flotation unit lowered in the closed position over the riser or other equipment and the anchor unit , and opened up from the bottom to the top . the second preferred embodiment uses a storm cap and buoy to contain oil ( or gas , etc .) in a kevlar ( or other suitable material ) column to direct flow to a production vessel / tanker . more specifically , as shown in fig9 , in the containment unit 900 , the base 902 is attached with rigging or attachment cables 904 to a column 906 topped by a flotation unit 908 . oil reaching the top of the column 906 enters an oil collection unit or storm cap 910 and is taken via a hose 912 , preferably a large diameter hose , to a capture / containment vessel or transfer ship 914 on the surface 916 of the body of water 918 . the second preferred embodiment provides a safer environment for capture vessels to operate at a safer distance from possible gas collection above the well . the hose 912 provides the link between the containment unit 900 and the capture / containment vessels 914 . additional options include the ability to inject hydrate inhibitors or dispersants to ensure flow . the storm cap 910 is a transfer tank that retains oil while allowing gas to escape . the containment unit 900 can be topped initially with a metal plate , which is then replaced with the storm cap 910 as necessary . one advantage of the present invention over conventional techniques is that only three ships are required : a transfer ship 914 , which separates oil from water ; a tanker 920 , which carries the oil to shore , and a deployment ship 922 , which deploys the unit 900 . the containment unit 900 can be conveyed in a closed position by the deployment ship 920 and then opened and installed from bottom to top . another is that the storm cap 910 can be used at various locations depending on local conditions , including storms . for example , the storm cap 910 can be located at the least pressure point . the gap between the storm cap 910 and the water &# 39 ; s surface 916 , in combination with the use of the hose 912 , will protect ships from explosions . the second preferred embodiment provides for the containment and control of an oil spill caused by a damaged or faulty piece of subsea equipment in deepwater situations . the containment unit of the present invention is a cost effective way to contain oil spills to a specific location and also allows the oil to be harvested as it flows to the top at the water surface , minimizing impact on the environment . the unit 900 itself is comprised of two major components . the first is a weighted base 902 measuring approximately 30 feet in diameter , preferably circular . the unit can also have different shapes to best suit the need of a specific situation . the base is made of concrete and embedded structural beams . its purpose is to provide an anchor for the rest of the components to function properly . the unit 900 is deployed over a leaking structure 1002 , such as a blowout preventer ( bop ), on or near the seabed 1004 as shown in fig1 a . the second piece of the unit is a section of barrier composed of a flotation unit 908 at the top of an encompassing perimeter 906 made of kevlar or other such material which extends down from the flotation unit 1 , 000 feet . the sections are connected topside before deployment . the number of sections needed depends on the water depth on location , one section per 1 , 000 feet water depth . there are numerous ways to install and customize the above components to facilitate installation in adverse conditions such as high currents and well pressure . a guide by wire system may be used to attach barrier components to the concrete base . provisions can also be made to supply enough mooring points to the overall unit to withstand currents and vibrations . this can be done with clump weights , a partial ring or other available methods to obtain stability . the kevlar or other material provides an insulating column that acts as a barrier to keep the environment safe . the material is preferably light - weight to maintain stability during deployment and recovery . as seen in fig1 a , wire rope runners 1006 , used as reinforcements , are attached from the top of the unit to the base concrete ring or a series of clump weights . the concrete ring or series of clump weights provides the needed weight to keep the containment unit in place , withstanding ocean currents and other forces . adjustable , heavy - duty rigging 904 anchors the column 906 to the base 902 . the rigging is adjustable , allowing greater flexibility in terms of rov access to the bop and maximizing containment . fig1 b shows a smaller diameter structure 900 ′ used for a leaking riser ( small diameter leak ) with clump weights or a partial ring 1008 . fig1 c shows a containment column 906 being lowered onto a bop . fig1 shows the containment unit 900 in position . a sturdy concrete base that can be preinstalled before disaster strikes ; a quick response deep sea containment structure ; a safe solution to containment and control of an oil spill caused by a damaged or faulty piece of subsea equipment in deepwater situations ; a cost effective method to contain oil spills to a specific location ; and the ability to harvest the oil as it flows to the top at the water surface , minimizing impact on the environment . in either of the preferred embodiments , or in any other embodiment , variations on the flotation device are possible . for example , lift bags can be used for quick erection , and the flotation units are then used to keep the containment unit upright and erected . although foam is preferred for the flotation units because of its stability for long - term deployment in various environments , other suitable materials as would be known to one of skill in the art may also be used . preferably , the foam should be able to provide sufficient lift , e . g ., 1 , 000 lbs , to keep the containment unit upright . in addition to the flotation units that are permanently mounted to the inside of the barrier at 1 , 000 foot increments , additional flotation units may be added to the exterior of the barrier , i . e ., flotation donuts . these flotation donuts may be fixed to the outside of the barrier or may be movable , i . e ., they can be fixed to the exterior of the barrier during manufacture or during deployment . also , the spacing can be varied ; for example , the external ( donut ) flotation units can be placed every 500 or 800 feet as the conditions warrant . in addition , the weighted base can be replaced by , or supplemented with , an anchoring scheme in which pins are shot into the mud at the sea floor . having now described a few embodiments of the invention , it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing is merely illustrative and not limiting , having been presented by way of example only . numerous modifications and other embodiments are within the scope of the invention and any equivalent thereto . it can be appreciated that variations to the present invention would be readily apparent to those skilled in the art , and the present invention is intended to include those alternatives . further , since numerous modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art , it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described , and accordingly , all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to as falling within the scope of the invention . for example , numerical limitations are illustrative rather than limiting , as are recitations of particular materials . also , the invention can be used to contain any leak of a material into an ambient fluid , in which the ambient fluid can be water , air for land - based uses , or the like . therefore , the present invention should be construed as limited only by the appended claims .	4
fig1 is a function diagram illustrating a psram memory device 100 according to the present invention . the psram memory device 100 includes a memory control circuit 10 , a write recovery protection circuit 20 , a word line control circuit 30 , and a psram 40 . the memory control circuit 10 is configured to generate control signals for operating the psram 40 according to an external command s ext . the control signals may includes a chip enable signal ce , a write enable signal we , and a bit select signal bs . as well known to those skilled in the art , the chip enable signal ce is used to block or allow input signals to the psram memory device 100 , the write enable signal we is used to choose between a read and a write operation , and the bit select signal bs is used to select a bit of the psram 40 . the write recovery protection circuit 20 is configured to provide a protection signal s p according to the chip enable signal ce , the write enable signal we , and the bit select signal bs . the protection signal s p includes information of two protection schemes . the first protection scheme is associated with the start of a bit selecting operation , such as when the bit select signal bs goes high . the second protection scheme is associated with the end of a write operation , such as when the chip enable signal ce or the write enable signal we goes high . the word line control circuit 30 is configured to turn on or off a specific word line of the psram 40 according to the protection signal s p . fig2 is a signal diagram illustrating the operation of the psram memory device 100 according to the present invention . in fig2 , wl represents the level of a specific word line , and bl / bl represent the level of a specific bit line pair . when the chip enable signal ce is high , input signals applied to the psram memory device 100 are ignored ; when the chip enable signal ce is low , input signals may be applied to the psram memory device 100 . when the write enable signal we is high , the psram 40 is configured to perform a read operation ; when the write enable signal we is low , the psram 40 is configured to perform a write operation . t whp is the high pulse width of the write enable signal we after the chip enable signal ce goes low . t ard is the period when the psram 40 operates in asynchronous read mode . t awt is the period when the psram 40 operates in asynchronous write mode . t wr1 represents the duration of the first protection scheme . t wr2 represents the duration of the second protection scheme . after the specific word line is turned on , the psram 40 enters asynchronous read mode before the write enable signal we goes low . bit selection starts after the bit select signal bs goes high , which is the start of the first protection scheme t wr1 . for exiting asynchronous write mode , the write enable signal we goes high , which is the start of the second protection scheme t wr2 . in other words , the present invention keeps the specific word line on for a predetermined duration so as to guarantee a sufficient write recovery time . in the embodiment illustrated in fig2 , the psram 40 switches to asynchronous write mode before completing a dummy read operation in asynchronous read mode . under such circumstance , both the first protection scheme t wr1 and the second protection scheme t wr2 are activated . in another embodiment when t whp is very short , the psram 40 may enter asynchronous write mode without entering asynchronous read mode . under such circumstance , only the first protection scheme t wr1 is activated . in yet another embodiment when t whp is very long , the psram 40 may complete a dummy read operation in asynchronous read mode before entering asynchronous write mode . under such circumstance , only the first protection scheme t wr1 is activated . the present invention provides a psram device with an improved write recovery protection . the two protection schemes may guarantee a sufficient write recovery time when switching between read / write operations . those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention . accordingly , the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims .	6
the preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings . in the descriptions herein , the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals , and the components with the same reference numeral have the same name and function . therefore , the description thereof will not be repeated . fig1 shows a powertrain of a vehicle to which a vehicle control apparatus ( hereinafter simply referred to as a “ control apparatus ” where appropriate ) according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied . as shown in fig1 , the vehicle includes an engine 100 , an automatic transmission 200 , and an electronic control unit ( ecu ) 1000 . the automatic transmission 200 includes a torque converter 210 and a transmission mechanism 220 . the ecu 1000 controls operations of the engine 100 and the automatic transmission 200 . the driving source in the invention is not limited to the engine 100 and may be a motor , such as a motor generator . an accelerator pedal sensor outputs a signal indicative of an operation amount of an accelerator pedal to the ecu 1000 . the ecu 1000 also receives a signal from a brake switch , which detects that the driver depresses the foot brake , and also receives a signal indicative of steering operation . further , current position of the running vehicle is input to the ecu 1000 from a navigation device 1200 . the automatic transmission 200 includes a fluid coupling such as the torque converter 210 , and a transmission mechanism such as a gearshift mechanism , a belt continuously variable transmission ( cvt ), and a traction cvt . the transmission mechanism 220 in this embodiment employs the gearshift transmission . the torque converter 210 serving as the fluid coupling includes a pump 212 ( e . g . pump impeller ) that is attached in the engine 100 side and a turbine 214 ( e . g . turbine runner ) that is attached in the transmission mechanism 220 side . since the torque converter 210 has the conventional construction , the detailed description thereof will be omitted . when the vehicle is passing the lead vehicle while traveling on an expressway , the ecu 1000 changes a throttle opening to control a torque output from the engine 100 . the ecu 1000 also controls the automatic transmission 200 by outputting a signal to solenoid valves to produce the desired speed by engaging or releasing friction engagement elements of the transmission mechanism 220 according to the shift map . fig2 is a block diagram showing the ecu 1000 shown in fig1 in detail . fig2 shows only the components and operations related to the control to avoid gear hunting occurring when the vehicle is accelerated to pass the lead vehicle while traveling on the expressway . as shown in fig2 , the ecu 1000 includes an engine control unit ( engine ecu ) 1400 and an electronically controlled automatic transmission control unit ( ect_ecu ) 1500 . the engine ecu 1400 controls the engine 100 , and the ect_ecu 1500 controls the automatic transmission 200 . the engine ecu 1400 outputs a signal indicative of a required throttle opening to the engine 100 so as to control output from the engine 100 . the ect_ecu 1500 outputs a solenoid signal ( control signal ) to the automatic transmission 200 to control gear shifting operations of the automatic transmission 200 . the operation amount of the accelerator pedal is input to a target acceleration calculator 1100 , and the target acceleration calculator 1100 calculates the target acceleration . the calculated target acceleration is input to a powertrain control unit 1300 . the powertrain control unit 1300 receives information regarding the vehicle position from the navigation device 1200 to determine whether the vehicle is traveling on the expressway , and if so , determines whether the vehicle is traveling in the passing lane or the driving lane . the powertrain control unit 1300 performs the control to avoid gear hunting when the vehicle is accelerated to pass the lead vehicle on the expressway . in the control , the powertrain control unit 1300 outputs a signal indicative of a target torque to the engine ecu 1400 and also outputs a signal indicative of a target gear ratio to the ect_ecu 1500 . referring to the flowcharts shown in fig3 a and 3b , the control process to avoid gear bunting when the vehicle is accelerated to pass the lead vehicle on the expressway will be described . the control process to avoid gear hunting is repeatedly performed by the powertrain control unit 1300 at a predetermined interval . in step ( hereinafter abbreviated as “ s ”) 100 , the powertrain control unit 1300 detects the current position of the vehicle , steering operation amount , and accelerator pedal operation amount . the powertrain control unit 1300 also calculates a value of t ( pass ) indicating the proportion of time during which the vehicle is continuously traveling in the passing lane (“ passing lane traveling time ”) to time during which the vehicle travels in the driving lane (“ driving lane traveling time ”) by dividing the passing lane traveling time by the driving lane traveling time ( the passing lane traveling time / driving lane traveling time ). in s 200 , the powertrain control unit 1300 determines whether the vehicle is traveling on the expressway . the determination in s 200 is made based on the information input from the navigation device 1200 . the information may include the current position of the vehicle and map information , or expressway traveling information . if it is determined that the vehicle is traveling on the expressway , that is , the determination is yes in s 200 , the process proceeds to s 300 . if not , that is , the determination is no in s 200 , the process ends . during this time , if a powertrain integration control , which will be described later in the specification , is being performed , the powertrain integration control is terminated , and the normal driving control is resumed . in s 300 , the powertrain control unit 1300 determines whether the vehicle is traveling in the driving lane . the determination in s 300 is made based on the information input from the navigation device 1200 . the information may include the current position of the vehicle and map information , or driving lane traveling information . if it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in the driving lane , that is , the determination is yes in s 300 , the process proceeds to s 400 . if not , that is , the determination is no is s 300 , the process proceeds to s 500 . in s 400 , the powertrain control unit 1300 determines whether the vehicle is currently traveling in the driving lane after the vehicle , which has been traveling in the passing lane , returns from the passing lane to the driving lane . the determination in s 400 is also made based on the information input from the navigation device 1200 . if it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in the driving lane after returning from the passing lane to the driving lane , that is , the determination is yes in s 400 , the process ends . in other words , if the powertrain integration control is being performed , the powertrain integration control is terminated , and the normal driving control is resumed . if not , that is , the determination is no in s 400 , the process proceeds to s 700 . in s 500 , the powertrain control unit 1300 determines whether the vehicle is continuously traveling in the passing lane . the determination in s 500 may be made by determining whether the value of t ( pass ) is larger than a predetermined threshold . if t ( pass ) is larger than the predetermined value , this indicates that the vehicle is continuously traveling in the passing lane . if it is determined that the vehicle is continuously traveling in the passing lane , that is , the determination is yes in s 500 , the process ends . in other words , at this time , if the powertrain integration control is being performed , the powertrain integration control is terminated , and the normal driving control is resumed . if not , that is , the determination is no in s 500 , the process proceeds to s 600 . in s 600 , the powertrain control unit 1300 determines whether the driver requests for rapid acceleration . the determination in s 600 may be made by determining whether the amount of change in the accelerator pedal operation or the time derivative of the amount of change in the accelerator pedal operation is larger than a predetermined threshold . if it is determined that the driver requests for rapid acceleration , that is , the determination is yes in s 600 , the process ends . in other words , since the driver requests for rapid acceleration , the powertrain integration control is prohibited giving the priority to achievement of the requested acceleration over avoidance of gear hunting . if not , that is , the determination is no in s 600 , the process proceeds to s 900 . in s 700 , the powertrain control unit 1300 determines whether the driver intends to pass the lead vehicle . the determination in s 700 is made based on the vehicle condition and the operation amount by the driver . if it is determined that the driver intends to pass the lead vehicle , that is , the determination is yes in s 700 , the process proceeds to s 800 . if not , that is , the determination is no in s 700 , the process ends . in other words , at this time , if the powertrain integration control is being performed , the powertrain integration control is terminated , and the normal driving control is resumed . in s 800 , the powertrain control unit 1300 determines whether the driver requests for rapid acceleration . the determination in s 800 may be made by determining whether the amount of change in the accelerator pedal operation and the time derivative of the amount of change in the accelerator pedal operation are larger than predetermined thresholds , as in s 600 . it should be noted that the predetermined threshold used in s 800 differs from the predetermined threshold used in s 600 . if it is determined that the driver requests for rapid acceleration , that is , the determination is yes in s 800 , the process ends . in other words , since the driver requests for rapid acceleration , the powertrain integration control is not performed giving the priority to achievement of the requested acceleration over avoidance of gear hunting . if not , that is , the determination is no in s 800 , the process proceeds to s 900 . in s 900 , the powertrain control unit 1300 performs the powertrain integration control , which is the control to limit a change in the gear ratio . the power train integration control may be regarded as an example of a speed ratio change limit control . in the powertrain integration control , downshifting is not performed ( prohibited ), and instead of downshifting , the vehicle is accelerated by increasing the output from the engine 100 to avoid gear hunting occurring when the vehicle is accelerated for passing . for example , as shown in fig4 , the increased throttle opening is set to be larger than the basic throttle opening corresponding to the accelerator pedal operation amount for normal driving . the increased throttle opening is the throttle opening to achieve the acceleration of the vehicle by increasing the output of the engine without downshifting . in fig4 , the increased throttle opening is shown by a solid line , and the basic throttle opening is shown by a dashed line . the engine ecu 1400 outputs the increased throttle opening to the engine 100 as the required throttle opening . in this way , the engine 100 produces larger output than the normal output , which is produced according to the depression amount of the accelerator pedal by the driver . the throttle opening in the control ( shown by the solid line ) is set so that the output from the engine 100 is large enough to accelerate the vehicle to pass the lead vehicle without downshifting . further , as shown in fig5 , the downshift line indicating downshifting from the nth gear to the ( n − 1 ) th gear , which is shown by a dashed line , may be moved upward ( in the direction increasing the throttle opening ) in the drawing as shown by a solid line . in this way , if the required throttle opening is increased from the value shown by a circle toward the value shown by a filled circle based on the accelerator pedal operation by the driver , the increase in the required throttle opening does not cross the moved downshift line . this means that downshifting is not performed even if the required throttle opening is increased . note that , for this purpose , the required throttle opening for changing speed may be corrected so as to be smaller than the basic throttle opening , instead of moving the downshift line upward as shown in fig5 . for example , the required throttle opening for changing speed may be calculated by deducting a predetermined correction value from the basic throttle opening . the operations of the vehicle , which is controlled by the ecu 1000 serving as the vehicle control apparatus according to the embodiment of the invention , will be described . these operations are performed based on the aforementioned construction and the aforementioned flowchart . note that , the operations will be described separately for each of the following cases : ( 1 ) the vehicle traveling in the passing lane is passing the lead vehicle ; ( 2 ) the vehicle traveling in the driving vehicle is passing the lead vehicle ; ( 3 ) the vehicle has returned from the passing lane to the driving lane ; ( 4 ) the vehicle is continuously traveling in the passing lane ; and ( 5 ) the vehicle is required for rapid acceleration regardless of traveling in the driving lane or traveling in the passing lane . the case ( 1 ): the vehicle traveling in the passing lane is passing the lead vehicle if the vehicle is traveling on the expressway ( yes in s 200 ), and is not traveling in the driving lane ( no in s 300 ), it is determined in s 500 whether the vehicle is continuously traveling in the passing lane . if the vehicle is not continuously traveling in the passing lane ( no in s 500 ), that is , a predetermined time has not elapsed since the lane change from the driving lane to the passing lane ( the value t ( pass ) is equal to or smaller than a threshold ), it is determined in s 600 whether rapid acceleration is requested . in case of gradual acceleration ( no in s 600 ), the powertrain integration control is performed in s 900 , and the throttle opening is set to be larger than the basic throttle opening shown in fig4 , and / or the downshift line is changed upward as shown in fig5 , that is , the downshift line is changed so that downshifting is avoided . in this case , the vehicle travels in the manner as shown in fig6 . in this way , the vehicle can be accelerated by the increased output from the engine 100 without downshifting of the automatic transmission 200 , and therefore the upshifting of the automatic transmission 200 does not occur after downshifting . as a result , gear hunting can be avoided . the case ( 2 ): the vehicle traveling in the driving vehicle is passing the lead vehicle if the vehicle is traveling on the expressway ( yes in s 200 ), and the vehicle is traveling in the driving lane ( yes in s 300 ), it is determined in s 400 whether the vehicle is currently traveling in the driving lane after the vehicle , which has been traveling in the passing lane , returns from the passing lane to the driving lane . if is continuously traveling in the driving lane without having traveled in the passing lane ( no in s 400 ), it is determined in s 700 whether the driver intends to pass the lead vehicle . for example , since the vehicle is traveling in the driving lane ( yes in s 300 ), if the vehicle changes the lane from the driving lane to the passing lane , it is determined that the driver intends to pass the lead vehicle ( yes in s 700 ). then it is determined in s 800 whether rapid acceleration is requested . in case of gradual acceleration ( no in s 800 ), the powertrain integration control is performed in s 900 , and the throttle opening is set larger than the basic throttle opening as shown in fig4 , and / or the downshift line is moved upward as shown in fig5 , that is , the downshift line is changed so that downshifting is avoided . in this case , the vehicle travels in the manner as shown in fig7 . in this way , the vehicle can be accelerated by the increased output from the engine 100 without downshifting of the automatic transmission 200 , and therefore the upshifting of the automatic transmission 200 does not occur after downshifting . as a result , gear hunting can be avoided . the case ( 3 ): the vehicle has returned from the passing lane to the driving lane if the vehicle returns from the passing lane to the driving lane after moving from the driving lane to the passing lane and then passing the lead vehicle as described in the case ( 2 ) ( yes in s 300 ), it is determined in s 400 whether the vehicle is traveling in the driving lane after returning from the passing lane . since it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in the driving lane after returning from the passing lane ( yes in s 400 ), the control to avoid gear hunting is terminated . the case ( 4 ): the vehicle is continuously traveling in the passing lane if the vehicle is not traveling in the driving lane , that is , the vehicle is traveling in the passing lane ( no in s 300 ), it is determined in s 500 whether the vehicle is continuously traveling in the passing lane . since it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in the passing lane ( yes in s 500 ), that is , the predetermined time has elapsed since the lane change from the driving lane to the passing lane ( the value t ( pass ) is larger than a threshold ), the control to avoid gear hunting is terminated . the case ( 5 ): the vehicle is required for rapid acceleration regardless of traveling in the driving lane or traveling in the passing lane if rapid acceleration is requested ( yes in s 800 ) while the vehicle is traveling in the driving lane ( yes in s 300 ), or if rapid acceleration is requested ( yes in s 600 ) while the vehicle is traveling in the passing lane ( no in s 300 ), the control to avoid gear hunting is terminated so that the powertrain integration control is prohibited . in this case , since rapid acceleration is requested , the powertrain integration control is not performed giving priority to achievement of the requested acceleration over avoidance of gear hunting . as described above , in the case where the vehicle passes the lead vehicle by gradual acceleration after changing the lane from the driving lane to the passing lane , or in the case where the vehicle is gradually accelerated in the passing lane to pass the lead vehicle in the driving lane , the engine output is increased and / or the downshift line in the shift diagram is changed so that downshifting is avoided . in summary , the control is performed giving the priority to avoidance of gear hunting over pursuit of the acceleration performance . as a result , drivability can be improved . while some embodiments of the invention have been illustrated above , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to details of the illustrated embodiments , but may be embodied with various changes , modifications or improvements , which may occur to those skilled in the art , without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	1
embodiments of the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . note that the invention is not limited thereto . fig1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an fbc memory device according to a first embodiment of the present invention . a memory cell array mca is configured to include a plurality of memory cells mcs arranged two - dimensionally in a matrix . a gate of each memory cell mc arranged in a row direction is connected to one word line wl . a drain or a source of each memory cell mc arranged in a column direction is connected to one bit line bl . each of row decoders rds decodes a row address so as to select one specific word line wl from among a plurality of word lines wls . a column decoder cd decodes a column address so as to select one specific column from among a plurality of columns . a row address buffer rab receives a row address from an outside of the fbc memory device , temporarily stores therein the received row address , and outputs the row address to the row decoders rds via a row address switch rasw . a column address buffer cab receives a column address from the outside of the fbc memory device , temporarily stores therein the received column address , and outputs the column address to the column decoder cd . a dq buffer dqb temporarily stores therein data read from sense amplifiers s / as so as to output the read data to the outside as input / output data i / o , or temporarily stores therein data written from the outside so as to transmit the write data to the sense amplifiers s / as . a refresh address counter rac is configured to select word lines in order during a refresh operation . a row address switch rasw transmits the row address from the row address buffer rab to the row decoders rds if a refresh signal refresh is inactive , and transmits the addresses from the refresh address counter rac to the row decoders rds if the refresh signal refresh is active . namely , the row address switch rasw acts as a switch changing over the row address buffer rab and the refresh address counter rac according to the refresh signal refresh . in this case , “ active ( or activation )” means turning on or driving an element or a circuit , and “ inactive or deactivation ” means turning off or stopping an element or a circuit . it should be noted , therefore , that a high ( high potential level ) signal is an activation signal on one occasion and a low ( low potential level ) signal is an activation signal on another occasion . for example , an nmos transistor is activated by making a potential level of a gate of the nmos transistor high . meanwhile , a pmos transistor is activated by making a potential level of a gate of the pmos transistor low . the refresh operation means an operation for reading data from one memory cell mc once , latching the data to one of the sense amplifiers s / as , and writing back data identical in logic to the same memory cell mc . more specifically , the refresh operation is an operation for selecting all the word lines in the memory cell array mca in order , and refreshing all the memory cells connected to each of the selected word lines , thereby refreshing all the memory cells in the memory cell array mca . the refresh operation does not include per se an operation for reading data to the outside of the fbc memory device or writing data from the outside thereof . namely , the refresh operation is an operation performed in the fbc memory device . a rint generator rg is a delay circuit raising a level of a signal rint with a delay of a predetermined time only if a signal rext indicating a read or write operation or the refresh signal refresh is activated to logically high level . if the signal rext or the refresh signal refresh is deactivated to logically low level , the rint generator rg promptly lowers the level of the signal rint without delay . for example , if an interrupt of the read or write operation is issued during one refresh operation , the signal rext rises and the refresh signal refresh falls almost simultaneously with the rising of the signal rext . although the rint generator rg lowers the level of the signal rint right after the refresh signal refresh rises , the rint generator rg raises the signal rint after delay time since the signal rext rises . the reason for setting the certain delay time since deactivation of the signal rint to activation thereof is as follows . if an interrupt of the read or write operation is issued during the refresh operation , the refresh operation is interrupted once and the read or write operation starts . at this time , the row decoders rds need to raise the level of word line wl selected in a read or write operation after correctly lowering those of the word lines selected in the refresh operation to logically low . it takes certain degree of time for the word lines wls to sufficiently fall . accordingly , the certain delay time is set since deactivation of the signal rint until activation thereof so as to prevent malfunction . even if the refresh operation restarts after the end of the read or write operation that has interrupt the refresh operation , the rint generator rg sets the certain delay time since deactivation of the signal rint until activation thereof . a first refresh interval timer tmr 1 is a timer setting an interval between refresh operations in a data read or write mode . the refresh operation is executed regularly in a predetermined cycle . the interval between the refresh operations ( hereinafter , “ refresh interval ”) is an interval since start of one refresh operation until start of a next refresh operation . the first refresh interval timer tmr 1 receives an inverted signal with respect to a mode signal from a trpc timer tmr 3 , and outputs a signal refreq_read / write to a refresh controller refc based on the inverted signal . the refresh interval in the read or write mode is set to a first interval . a second refresh interval timer tmr 2 is a timer setting a refresh interval in a data retention mode . the second refresh interval timer tmr 2 receives the mode signal from the trpc timer tmr 3 , and outputs a signal refreq_retention to the refresh controller refc based on the mode signal . the refresh interval in the data retention mode is set to a second interval . note that the read or write mode is a mode in which the mode signal is logically low ( inactive ), which mode corresponds to a state in which the fbc memory device is frequently accessed for reading operations of data stored in the memory cells mcs to the outside of the fbc memory device or for writing operations of data to the memory cells mcs from the outside . the read or write mode includes a state in which the read or write operation is actually executed and a precharge state . the refresh operation during the read or write mode is performed in a period of this precharge state . note that the memory cells mcs connected to the selected word line wl during execution of the read or write operation are refreshed ( or subjected to data update ). however , the refresh operation described herein does not mean an irregular refresh operation during execution of the read or write operation but a regular refresh operation . the data retention mode is a mode in which the mode signal is logically high ( active ), which mode corresponds to a state in which the read or write operation does not access the fbc memory device for a long time . the trpc timer tmr 3 is an operation detection timer outputting the mode signal to the first refresh interval timer tmr 1 and the second refresh interval timer tmr 2 . the trpc timer tmr 3 detects whether the fbc memory device is in the read or write mode or the data retention mode based on the signal rext ( bras ) and changes the mode signal . for example , if the signal rext is logically high ( bras is active ), the trpc timer tmr 3 changes the mode signal to be logically low so as to indicate that the fbc memory device is in the read or write mode . if the mode signal is logically low , then the second refresh interval timer tmr 2 deactivates the signal refreq_retention , and the first refresh interval timer tmr 1 activates the signal refreq_read / write . as a result , the refresh interval is set to the first interval . if the signal rext is logically low for a longer period than a certain period trpc ( if bras is inactive during the period trpc or longer ), the trpc timer tmr 3 changes the mode signal to be logically high so as to indicate that the fbc memory device is in the mode retention mode . if the mode signal is logically high , then the first refresh interval timer tmr 1 deactivates the signal refreq_read / write , and the second refresh interval timer tmr 2 activates the signal refreq_retention . as a result , the refresh interval is set to the second interval . however , as described later , if the bras is inactive for a shorter period than the period trpc , the trpc timer tmr 3 does not determine that the fbc memory device is in the data retention mode and keeps the mode signal to be logically low . namely , if the bras is active , the trpc timer tmr 3 promptly determines that the fbc memory device is in the read or write mode . on the contrary , if the bras is inactive , the trpc timer tmr 3 does not promptly determine that the fbc memory device is in the data retention mode but determines that the fbc memory device is in the data retention mode as long as the bras is kept inactive for a longer period than the certain period trpc . the refresh controller refc receives the mode signal , the signal refreq_read / write , and the signal refreq_retention , and outputs the refresh signal refresh based on these signals . by activation of the refresh signal refresh , the refresh operation is executed . a refresh tras timer tmr 4 receives the signal refresh , and outputs a signal reftras that is the delayed signal refresh to the refresh controller refc . the refresh tras timer tmr 4 thereby decides the refresh operation time . fig2 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the memory cell array mca . the memory cell array mca is configured to include the memory cells mcs arranged two - dimensionally in a matrix . each of the word lines wls extends in the row direction and is connected to the gate of each memory cell mc . 256 word lines ( wll 0 to wll 255 or wlr 0 to wlr 255 ) are provided on the left or right of the sense amplifiers s / as . each of the bit lines bls extends in the column direction and is connected to the source or the drain of each memory cell mc . 1024 bit lines ( bll 0 to bll 1023 or blr 0 to blr 1023 ) are provided on the left or right of the sense amplifiers . the word lines wls are orthogonal to the bit lines bls . the memory cells mcs are provided at crosspoints between the word lines wls and the bit lines bls , respectively . these memory cells mcs are referred to as “ crosspoint cells ”. appellations of the row direction and the column direction are expediency , and they can be replaced with each other . before a data read or write operation , data “ 0 ” and data “ 1 ” having reversed polarities with respect to each other are stored in dummy cells dc 0 and dummy cells dc 1 , respectively . the polarity indicates a logic value “ 0 ” or “ 1 ” of data . the dummy cells dc 0 and dc 1 are used to generate a reference current iref for detecting data stored in the memory cells mcs . the reference current iref is almost intermediate between a current carried across the “ 0 ” cells and the “ 1 ” cells . a current mirror circuit ( see fig4 ) included in each sense amplifier s / a applies a current to the memory cells mcs via one bit line bl . a current according to the data stored in the memory cells mcs is carried across sense nodes in the sense amplifier s / a . the sense amplifier s / a identifies whether the logic value of data is “ 1 ” or “ 0 ” according to whether the current carried across is higher or lower than the reference current iref . the dummy cells dc 0 and dc 1 are arranged alternately in the direction ( row direction ) in which the word lines wls extend . the dummy cells dc 0 as many as the dummy cells dc 1 are provided so as to generate the reference current iref . dummy word lines dwls extend in the row direction and are connected to gates of the dummy cells dc 0 and dc 1 . one dummy word line dwl is provided at each of the left and right of the sense amplifiers s / as . equalizing lines eqls are connected to gates of equalizing transistors teqs . each of the equalizing transistors teqs is connected between one bit line bl and a ground ( vsl ). in equalizing operation , the equalizing transistors teqs connect the bit lines bl to the ground , thereby equalizing potentials of the respective bit lines to a ground potential . source lines sls , dummy source lines dsls , and equalizing source lines sleqs are connected to a source potential ( ground ) vsl . a wl driver wld applies a voltage to a selected word line wl , thereby activating the selected word line wl . a csl driver csld applies a potential of a column selection line csl on a selected column , thereby reading data from the sense amplifier s / a on the selected column via a dq buffer . fig3 is a cross - sectional view showing a structure of each memory cell mc . note that each dummy cell dc is similar in structure to the memory cell mc . the memory cell mc is provided on an soi substrate that includes a supporting substrate 10 , a box layer 20 , and an soi layer 30 . a source 60 and a drain 40 are provided in the soi layer 30 . a floating body 50 is formed between the source 60 and the drain 40 in the soi layer 30 . the body 50 is a semiconductor opposite in conduction type to the source 60 and the drain 40 . in the first embodiment , the memory cells mcs are nfets . the body 50 is surrounded by the source 60 , the drain 40 , the box layer 20 , a gate dielectric film 70 , and sti ( shallow trench isolation ) ( not shown ), thereby being in an electrically floating state . the fbc memory device can store logic data ( binary data ) in each memory cell mc according to the number of majority carriers accumulated in the body 50 of the memory cell mc . one of methods of writing data to one memory cell mc will be described . to write data “ 1 ” to one memory cell mc , the memory cell mc is caused to operate in a saturation state . for example , a potential of the word line wl connected to the memory cell mc is biased to 1 . 5 v and that of the word line bl connected thereto is biased to 1 . 5 v . a potential of the source 60 of the memory cell mc is set to a ground gnd ( 0 v ). by so setting , impact ionization occurs near the drain 40 and many pairs of electrons and holes are generated . the electrons generated by the impact ionization flow into the drain 40 whereas the holes generated by the impact ionization are accumulated in the body 50 having low potential . a voltage of the body 50 (“ body potential ”) turns into an equilibrium state when a balance is held between a current carried when the holes are generated by the impact ionization and a forward current at a pn junction between the body 50 and the source 60 . this body potential is about 0 . 7 v . to write data “ 0 ” to the memory cell mc , the potential of the bit line bl is reduced to negative voltage . for example , the potential of the bit line bl is reduced to − 1 . 5 v . by reducing the potential of the bit line bl , a pn junction between the body 50 and the drain 40 is biased largely toward forward direction . the holes accumulated in the body 50 are emitted to the drain 40 , and the data “ 0 ” is stored in the memory cell mc . one of methods of reading data from one memory cell mc will be described . in the data read operation , the word line wl connected to the memory cell mc is activated similarly to the data write operation . however , the potential of the bit line bl connected to the memory cell mc is set lower than that during the data write operation . for example , the potential of the bit line bl is set to 1 . 5 v and that of the bit line bl is set to 0 . 2 v . the memory cell mc is caused to operate in a linear region . a memory cell mc storing therein data “ 0 ” (“ 0 ” cell ) differ in threshold voltage from a memory cell mc storing therein data “ 1 ” (“ 1 ” cell ) due to the difference in the number of holes accumulated in the body 50 . by detecting the threshold voltage difference , it is identified whether data is “ 1 ” or “ 0 ”. the reason for setting the potential of the bit line bl to low voltage during the data read operation is as follows . if the voltage of the bit line bl is set high and the memory cell mc is biased into a saturation state , data “ 0 ” to be read is possibly changed to data “ 0 ” by the impact ionization . fig4 is a circuit diagram showing an example of configurations of the sense amplifiers s / a . in fig4 , two sense amplifiers s / as are shown . since the both sense amplifiers s / as are identical in configuration , only the configuration of one of the sense amplifiers s / as will be described herein . each sense amplifier s / a is connected to one bit line blli and one bit line blri provided on the left and right of the sense amplifier s / a , respectively , and provided to correspond to a pair of bit lines (“ paired bit lines ”) blli ( hereinafter , also “ bll ”) and blri ( hereinafter , also “ blr ”). as can be seen , the fbc memory device according to the first embodiment adopts an open bit - line architecture . due to this , during the data read operation , one of the paired bit lines bll and blr transmits data and the other transmits reference data . the sense amplifier s / a includes a pair of sense nodes snli ( hereinafter , also “ snl ”) and snri ( hereinafter , also “ snr ”). the sense node snl is connected to the bit line bll via a transfer gate tgl 1 and to the bit line blr via a transfer gate tgr 2 . the sense node snr is connected to the bit line bll via a transfer gate tgl 2 and to the bit line blr via a transfer gate tgr 1 . the transfer gates tgl 1 and tgr 1 are controlled to be turned on or off by signals φtl and φtr , respectively . the transfer gate tgl 2 is controlled to be turned on or off by signals fbl and bfbl . the transfer gate tgr 2 is controlled to be turned on or off by signals fbr and bfbr . note that signal b means an inverted signal with respect to a signal . for example , in the data read operation , the sense amplifier s / a reads data from each memory cell mc , outputs the data to an outside of the sense amplifier s / a via a dq buffer dqb , and writes back the data to the memory cell mc . if the sense amplifier s / a reads data from a “ 1 ” cell connected to the bit line bll corresponding to the sense amplifier s / a , then the transfer gates tgl 1 and tgr 1 are turned on , and the transfer gates tgl 2 and tgr 2 are turned off . since the threshold voltage of the “ 1 ” cell is relatively low , a current carried from the sense node snl to the “ 1 ” cell is higher than the reference current iref . since a current carried from the sense node snr to the bit line blr is equal to the reference current iref , a potential of the sense node snl is lower than that of the sense node snr . the sense amplifier s / a amplifies a potential difference between the sense nodes snl and snr , and latches the amplified potential difference . on the other hand , to writes back the data “ 1 ” to the memory cell mc , it is necessary to apply a high potential to the bit line bll . therefore , the transfer gate tgl 1 is turned off and the transfer gate tgl 2 is turned on , thereby connecting the high potential sense node snr to the bit line bll . the sense amplifier s / a includes cross - coupled dynamic latch circuits ( hereinafter , “ latch circuits ”) lc 1 and lc 2 . the latch circuit lc 1 is configured to include two p - type transistors tp 1 and tp 2 connected in series between the sense nodes snl and snr . a gate of the transistor tp 1 is connected to the sense node snr , and a gate of the transistor tp 2 is connected to the sense node snl . namely , the gates of the transistors tp 1 and tp 2 are cross - coupled to the sense nodes snl and snr . the latch circuit lc 2 is configured to include two n - type transistors tn 1 and tn 2 connected in series between the sense nodes snl and snr . a gate of the transistor tn 1 is connected to the sense node snr , and a gate of the transistor tn 2 is connected to the sense node snl . namely , the gates of the transistors tn 1 and tn 2 are cross - coupled to the sense nodes snl and snr . the latch circuits lc 1 and lc 2 are driven by activating signals sap and bsan , respectively . the sense amplifier s / a also includes a current mirror - type current load circuit ( hereinafter , “ mirror circuit ”) cmc configured to include p - type transistors tp 3 to tp 8 . the mirror circuit cmc is configured to apply an equal current to the sense nodes snl and snr . the transistors tp 3 and tp 4 are controlled by a load signal bloadon and function as switching element switching over between a power supply vblh and the mirror circuit cmc . the power supply vblh indicates a high potential applied to one bit line bl when data “ 1 ” is written to a memory cell mc . the transistors tp 7 and tp 8 are controlled by signals cm and bcm , respectively , and connect gates of the transistors tp 5 and tp 6 to the sense nodes snl and snr , respectively . if the sense amplifier s / a is to detect data stored in the memory cells mc connected to the bit line bll , one dummy cell dc is connected to the bit line blr . at this time , a potential of the signal bcm is set to a low level potential and that of the signal cm is set to a high level potential . by setting so , a common gate to the transistors tp 5 and tp 6 is connected to the sense node snr across which the reference current iref is carried , so that it is possible to accurately detect the data stored in the memory cells mcs using the reference current iref . needless to say , if the sense amplifier s / a is to detect data stored in the memory cells mcs connected to the bit line blr , then the potential of the signal bcm is set to a high level potential , and that of the signal cm is set to a low level potential . an n - type transistor tn 4 is connected between the dq line and the sense node snl , and an n - type transistor tn 5 is connected between a bdq line and the sense node snr . gates of the transistors tn 4 and tn 5 are connected to a column selection line csli ( hereinafter , also “ csl ”). the dq line and the bdq line are connected to the dq buffer . the dq buffer is connected to an i / o circuit . during the data read operation , the dq buffer temporarily stores therein data from the memory cells mcs so as to output the data to the outside . during the data write operation , the dq buffer temporarily stores therein data from the outside so as to transmit the data to the sense amplifier s / a . the column selection line csl is , therefore , activated when data is read to the outside or written from the outside , and enables the sense nodes snl and snr to be connected to the dq buffer . during the refresh operation , the column selection line csl is kept inactive . an n - type transistor tn 6 is connected between the bit line blli and a low potential vbll . a gate of the transistor tn 6 is connected to a signal line dcwll . an n - type transistor tn 7 is connected between the bit line blri and the low potential vbll . a gate of the transistor tn 7 is connected to a signal line dcwlr . the low potential vbll indicates a low potential applied to a bit line bl when data “ 0 ” is written to a memory cell mc connected to the bit line bl . for example , the low potential vbll is − 1 . 5 v . each of the signal lines dcwll and dcwlr is activated when data “ 0 ” is written to one dummy cell dc 0 . namely , data “ 0 ” is written to the dummy cell dc 0 connected to the bit line blli or blri . meanwhile , p - type transistor tp 9 is connected between a bit line blli + 1 and the high potential vblh . a gate of the transistor tp 9 is connected to a signal line bdcwhl . a p - type transistor tp 10 is connected between a bit line blri + 1 and the high potential vblh . a gate of the transistor tp 10 is connected to a signal line bdcwhr . each of the signal lines bdcwhl and bdcwhr is activated when data “ 1 ” is written to one dummy cell dc 1 . namely , the data “ 1 ” is written to the dummy cell dc 1 connected to the bit line blli + 1 or blri + 1 . averaging lines avl and avr are connected to gates of each averaging transistor tavl and each averaging transistor tavr ( hereinafter , also “ tavs ”), respectively . each of the averaging transistors tavs is connected between two adjacent bit lines bls , and the averaging transistors tavs are connected in series . the averaging transistor tav shorts the dummy cells dc 0 and shorts the dummy cells dc 1 as many as the dummy cells dc 0 during the data read operation , thereby averaging currents carried across the dummy cells dc 0 and dc 1 and generating the reference current iref . the configurations of the memory cell array mca and the sense amplifiers s / as shown in fig2 and 4 , respectively are typical specific examples . these configurations can be changed to various other configurations . for example , each sense amplifier s / a can have a twin cell architecture ( 2 cell / bit system ). in this system , data opposite in logic is stored in a pair of two memory cells mcs , respectively , thereby storing one - bit data . fig5 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a configuration of the trpc timer tmr 3 . the trpc timer tmr 3 includes nor gates g 10 to g 12 , capacitors c 10 to c 12 , and a nand gate g 15 . fig6 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a configuration of each of the nor gates g 10 to g 12 . each of the nor gates g 10 to g 12 includes two inputs a and b and one output c . each of the nor gates g 10 to g 12 is configured so that a resistor r 10 is provided between a power supply and the output c on an ordinary nor gate . more specifically , the resistor r 10 is connected between transistors tp 20 , tn 20 gates of which receive the input a and transistors tp 21 , tn 21 gates of which receive the input b . as shown in fig5 , the nand gate g 10 and the capacitor c 10 constitute one rc delay circuit d 10 . likewise , the nand gate g 11 and the capacitor c 11 constitute one rc delay circuit d 11 , and the nand gate g 12 and the capacitor c 12 constitute one rc delay circuit d 12 . the nand gate g 15 receives an inverted signal with respect to the signal rext and an output signal from the delay circuit d 12 , and outputs the mode signal . if the signal rext is logically high ( i . e ., in the read or write mode ), the trpc timer tmr 3 sets the mode signal logically low . in this case , the gate g 15 makes the output signal from the delay circuit d 12 invalid and outputs the logically low signal as the mode signal . on the other hand , when delay time t 10 caused by the delay circuits d 10 to d 12 passes since the signal rext becomes logically low , the output signal from the delay circuit becomes logically high . at this time , since the gate g 15 makes the output signal from the delay circuit d 12 valid , the trpc timer tmr 3 outputs the output signal from the delay circuit d 12 as the mode signal . namely , the trpc timer tmr 3 determines that the fbc memory device is in the data retention mode not right after the signal rext becomes logically low but when the delay time trpc passes since the signal rext becomes logically low . by doing so , the trpc timer tmr 3 can set the refresh interval to the second interval only if it is ensured that no data read or write operation accesses the fbc memory device . note that “ to make a signal valid ” means that an element such as a gate circuit causes an input signal to pass therethrough . “ to make a signal invalid ” means that an element such as a gate circuit shuts off an input signal . the delay time trpc should be longer than a minimum value trpmin of a ras precharge period decided by specifications of the fbc memory device . if the delay time trpc is excessively long , the trpc timer tmr 3 determines endlessly that the fbc memory device is in the data read or write mode and keeps setting the refresh interval to the first interval . since the first interval is shorter than the second interval , the refresh operation is executed more frequently . this is against the object of the first embodiment to suppress power consumption . accordingly , it is unpreferable that the delay time trpc is too long . depending on a purpose of the fbc memory device , the delay time trpc is preferably several μs to several ms . although it is necessary to set the number of rc delay circuits to be connected to one another to an odd number , the number is not limited to a specific one . accordingly , the number of connected rc delay circuits can be one or five or more . fig7 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a configuration of the first refresh interval timer tmr 1 . the first refresh interval timer tmr 1 includes a bias circuit 51 , a ring oscillator 52 , and an output circuit 53 . the bias circuit 51 includes a current - mirror - connection pmos transistor 54 in which a gate and a drain are shorted to each other , a current - mirror - connection nmos transistor 55 in which a gate and a drain are shorted to each other similarly to the pmos transistor 54 , and a resistor rr / w connected between the drain of the pmos transistor 54 and that of the nmos transistor 55 . the ring oscillator 52 includes five stages of logic inverting circuits 57 a to 57 e connected in series , and an output from the logic inverting circuit 57 e at the last stage is fed back to an input of the logic inverting circuit 57 a at the first stage . each of the logic inverting circuits 57 a to 57 e includes pmos transistors 58 and 59 and nmos transistors 60 and 61 connected in series between a power supply voltage and a ground voltage . the inverted signal with respect to the mode signal is input to the ring oscillator 52 , and the ring oscillator 52 outputs a signal osc to the output circuit 53 according to the input inverted signal . the transistor 54 in the bias circuit 51 and the transistors 58 in the ring oscillator 52 constitute a current mirror circuit . the transistor 55 in the bias circuit 51 and the transistors 61 in the ring oscillator 52 constitute a current mirror circuit . therefore , a current equal in amount to a current carried across the bias circuit 51 is carried across the transistors 58 and 61 in the ring oscillator 52 . the output circuit 53 includes a nor circuit g 20 that receives an inverted signal with respect to the output signal osc from the ring oscillator 52 and a signal that is the delayed output signal osc from the ring oscillator 52 , and that performs a nor between the received signals . the output circuit 53 sets the signal refreq_read / write logically high for a predetermined time when a state of the output signal osc changes from logically low to logically high . namely , the output circuit 53 decides a pulse length ( time for which a pulse rises ) of the signal refreq_read / write . when the state of the output signal osc changes from logically high to logically low , the output circuit 53 keeps the signal refreq_read / write to be logically low . the first refresh interval timer tmr 1 applies the current equal in amount to that carried across the bias circuit 51 to each of the logically inverting circuits 57 a to 57 e . accordingly , if a resistance of the resistor rr / w is high , an amount of the current carried across the transistor 54 or 55 is small . in this case , an amount of a current carried from a power supply ( or ground ) to an output node or that of a current carried from the output node to the ground in each of the logically inverting circuits 57 a to 57 e is small . therefore , it takes a long time for each of the logically inverting circuits 57 a to 57 e to invert a signal . namely , if the resistance of the resistor rr / w is set high , delay time of the logically inverting circuits 57 a to 57 e is long . further , the output of the logically inverting circuit 57 e is fed back to the input of the logically inverting circuit 57 a and the number of stages of the logically inverting circuits 57 a to 57 e is odd ( five in the first embodiment ). due to this , the ring oscillator 52 regularly outputs pulses . to increase the delay time of the logically inverting circuits 57 a to 57 e means to increase the interval ( refresh interval ) from rising of a certain pulse to rising of a next pulse . accordingly , the first refresh interval timer tmr 1 can decide the first interval based on the resistance of the resistor rr / w . fig8 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a configuration of the second refresh interval timer tmr 2 . a resistance of a resistor rre in a bias circuit 51 of the second refresh interval timer tmr 2 differs from the resistance of the resistor rr / w of the bias circuit 51 of the first refresh interval timer tmr 1 . further , a ring oscillator 52 of the second refresh interval timer tmr 2 receives the mode signal . the other configurations of the second refresh interval timer tmr 2 are similar to those of the first refresh interval timer tmr 1 . the resistance of the resistor rre is set higher than that of the resistor rr / w . therefore , the refresh interval of the second refresh interval timer tmr 2 is longer than that of the first refresh interval timer tmr 1 . accordingly , the second refresh interval timer tmr 2 activates the signal refreq_retention at the second interval longer than the first interval . fig9 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a configuration of the refresh controller refc . the refresh controller refc includes flip - flops ff 10 and ff 20 , nand gates g 31 and g 32 , a nor gate g 33 , and and gates g 34 and g 35 . the refresh controller refc outputs the refresh signal refresh and instructs a refresh operation . the gate g 34 receives the signal refreq_retention and the mode signal , and outputs a result of an and between these signals . the gate g 35 receives the signal refreq_read / write and the inverted signal with respect to the mode signal , and outputs a result of an and between these signals . the gate g 33 receives outputs from the gates g 34 and g 35 , and outputs a result of a nor between these signals . in the read or write mode , the mode signal is logically low , so that the gate g 34 makes the signal refreq_retention invalid and the gate g 35 makes the signal refreq_read / write valid . at this time , the gate g 33 outputs an inverted pulse with respect to a pulse of the signal refreq_read / write . the refresh interval is thereby set to the first interval . note that the regular refresh interval described above is performed not during execution of the read or write operation but during the interval ( precharge interval ) after end of a certain read or write operation until start of a next read or write operation . if the precharge period is shorter than the period trpc , the refresh interval is set to the first interval . if the precharge period is equal to or longer than the period trpc , the trpc timer tmr 3 determines that the fbc memory device is in the data retention state and the refresh interval is , therefore , set to the second interval . in the data retention mode , the mode signal is logically high . therefore , the gate g 35 makes the signal refreq_read / write invalid and the gate g 34 makes the signal rfreq_retention valid . at this time , the gate g 33 outputs an inverted pulse with respect to a pulse of the signal refreq_retention . the refresh interval is thereby set to the second interval . the flip - flop ff 10 latches falling of the output pulse from the gate g 33 until an output of the gate g 32 is inverted . the falling of the output pulse from the gate g 33 corresponds to falling of the pulse of the signal refreq_read / write or refreq_retention and decides when to start a refresh operation . the gate g 32 receives the inverted signal with respect to the signal rext and the delay signal reftras that is the delayed signal refresh , and outputs a result of a nand between these signals . the output signal from the gate g 32 is used to decide the end of a pulse output from each of the flip - flops ff 10 and ff 20 ( the end of the refresh operation ). for example , if the signal rext is logically high ( in the data retention mode or the precharge period of the read or write mode ), the gate g 31 shown in fig9 inverts the output from the flip - flop ff 10 and transmits the inverted output to the flip - flop ff 20 . in this state , if the signal refreq_retention or refresq_read / write ( hereinafter , also simply “ refreq ”) is activated to be logically high , the output from the gate g 31 falls to be logically low . the refresh signal refresh is thereby activated to be logically high and a refresh operation starts . after activation of the refresh signal refresh , the refresh timer tras timer tmr 4 shown in fig1 sets the delayed signal reftras to be logically high . the output from the gate g 32 shown in fig9 is thereby made logically low , so that the flip - flops ff 10 and ff 20 are reset . namely , the outputs from the flip - flops ff 10 and ff 20 fall to be logically low . the refresh operation thereby ends . it is assumed that the refresh interval from the start to the end of the refresh operation is τ . the refresh interval τ is defined by the refresh tras timer tmr 4 shown in fig1 . since the refresh tras timer tmr 4 can be constituted by an ordinary delay circuit , it is not shown . fig1 is a timing chart showing the refresh operation in the read or write mode . at time t 1 , if the mode signal is logically low ( indicates the read or write operation ) and the signal bras is logically high ( indicates the precharge period of the read or write operation ), then the signal refreq_read / write is activated to be logically high and the refresh signal refresh is activated , accordingly . a refresh operation is thereby executed . before the end of the refresh operation , at time t 2 , the signal bras is activated to be logically low and the fbc memory device enters the data read or write operation . in this case , the signal rext shown in fig9 is activated to be logically high , so that the signal refresh is deactivated to be logically low before rising of the signal reftras deciding the end of the refresh operation . at this time , the flip - flop ff 20 shown in fig9 is reset but the flip - flop ff 10 is not reset . accordingly , counter signals ctr and bctr are kept and the refresh address counter rac shown in fig1 keeps holding the address of the word line wl selected by the time t 2 . at time t 4 , when the read or write operation ends ( when the signal bras is deactivated to be logically high ), the refresh signal refresh is activated to restart the refresh operation . at this time , the flip - flop ff 10 shown in fig9 is active without being reset ( the output of the flip - flop ff 10 is logically high ). accordingly , the signal rext is deactivated , the gate g 31 passes the output from the flip - flop ff 10 through the flip - flop ff 20 , and the flip - flop ff 20 turns active ( the output of the flip - flop ff 20 becomes logically high ). as a result , the signal refresh is activated to be logically high . furthermore , the refresh address counter rac holds the address of the selected word line wl at the interrupt time t 2 . therefore , the refresh operation can restart at the word line wl selected at the interrupt time t 2 . at time t 5 passing from the time t 4 by the refresh period τ , the signal reftras is activated . the refresh operation thereby ends . if the read or write operation does not interrupt the refresh operation , the refresh operation ends at the time t 3 passing from the time t 1 by the refresh period τ . however , in the example of fig1 , since the interrupt of the read or write operation is issued during the refresh operation , the signal reftras does not rise at the time t 3 . the refresh operation restarts after the end of the read or write operation and then the refresh operation is completed . by stopping the refresh operation once and executing the read or write operation preferentially over the refresh operation , a user can use the fbc memory device without being conscious of the refresh operation . during a period ta from t 6 to t 9 , the signal bras is deactivated to be logically high . however , since the period ta is shorter than the period trpc , the trpc timer shown in fig5 does not raise the mode signal to be logically high . that is , in the period ta from t 6 to t 9 , the fbc memory device is kept in the read or write mode . from t 7 to t 8 in the period ta , a refresh operation is executed . this refresh operation is completed without an interrupt of the read or write operation . at time t 9 , when the signal bras is active to be logically low ( indicates the read or write operation ), the signal refreq_read / write is activated . in this case , the flip - flop ff 10 shown in fig9 is set active but the flip - flop ff 20 is kept reset . this means that information that the signal refreq_read / write is activated and that a refresh request is issued is stored in the flip - flop ff 10 . since the flip - flop ff 20 is kept reset , no refresh operation starts yet . at time t 10 , when the signal bras is deactivated to be logically high , the signal rext shown in fig9 is deactivated to be logically low . accordingly , the gate g 31 passes the output from the flip - flop ff 10 through the flip - flop ff 20 to turn the flip - flop ff 20 active . the signal refresh is thereby activated to be logically high . thereafter , at time t 11 , the signal reftrs rises and the refresh operation ends . in this case , the refresh interval is a period tref_read / write between the time t 1 at which the signal refreq_read / write rises and the time t 7 at which the signal refreq_read / write rises next time . this period tref_read / write corresponds to the first interval , which is defined by the first refresh interval timer tmr 1 shown in fig7 . fig1 is a timing chart showing the refresh operation in the data retention mode . the operation from time t 1 to time t 5 shown in fig1 is similar to that from time t 1 to time t 5 shown in fig1 . before time t 20 , the read or write operation is performed . when the period trpc passes from the time t 4 at which the signal bras is deactivated to be logically high , the tprc timer tmr 3 shown in fig4 raises the mode signal to be logically high . the fbc memory device thereby enters the data retention mode . from time t 21 to time t 22 and from time t 23 to time t 24 , a refresh operation is executed . since the refresh operation is similar to that described with reference to fig1 , it will not be described herein . in this case , the refresh interval is a period tref_retention between the time t 21 at which the signal refreq_retention rises and the time t 23 at which the signal refreq_retention rises next time . this period tref_retention corresponds to the second interval , which is defined by the second refresh interval timer tmr 2 shown in fig8 . the second interval tref_retention is longer than the first interval tref_read / write . therefore , in the first embodiment , it is possible to save current consumption of the refresh operation in the data retention mode . at time t 25 , the signal bras is activated to be logically low . at this time , the trpc timer tmr 3 promptly reduces the level of the mode signal . the fbc memory device can immediately move the mode from the data retention mode to the read / write mode . the user can use the fbc memory device without being conscious of the data retention mode . in the data retention state , the memory cells mcs are disturbed in the regular refresh operation by as much as the number of word lines wls . however , this disturbance is restricted and predictable . that is , because of lack of unpredictable access , the second interval can be set longer than the first interval during the read or write operation . fig1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an fbc memory device according to a second embodiment of the present invention . the fbc memory device according to the second embodiment does not include the trpc timer tmr 3 but includes a mode input pin to which the mode signal is input from the outside . other configurations of the second embodiment can be similar to those of the first embodiment . for example , if the fbc memory device receives a logically low signal as the mode signal from the outside , then it is determined that the fbc memory device is in the read or write mode , and the refresh interval is set to the first interval . if the fbc memory device receives a logically high signal as the mode signal from the outside , then it is determined that the fbc memory device is in the data retention mode , and the refresh interval is set to the second interval . the other operations in the second embodiment are similar to those in the first embodiment . even if the fbc memory device is configured to input the mode signal for identifying whether the mode is the read or write mode or the data retention mode from the outside as described in the second embodiment , the fbc memory device can attain the advantages of the present invention . fig1 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a refresh interval timer of an fbc memory device according to a third embodiment of the present invention . the refresh interval timer according to the third embodiment includes a ring oscillator 52 , an output circuit , and transistors 54 and 55 , and acts as both the first refresh interval timer tmr 1 and the second refresh interval timer tmr 2 according to the first embodiment . the refresh interval timer individually includes resistors rr / w and rret . the resistors rr / w and rret commonly share the same ring oscillator 52 , the same output circuit , and the same transistors 54 and 55 . accordingly , a p - type transistor tp 100 is provided between the transistor 54 and the resistor rr / w , and a p - type transistor tp 101 is provided between the transistor 54 and the resistor rret . the transistor tp 100 receives the mode signal at its gate . the transistor tp 101 receives the inverted signal with respect to the mode signal at its gate . therefore , if the mode signal is logically low ( indicates the read or write mode ), the resistor rr / w is connected between the transistors 54 and 55 . as a result , the output circuit 53 outputs the signal refreq_read / write . on the other hand , if the mode signal is logically high ( indicates the data retention mode ), the resistor rret is connected between the transistors 54 and 55 . as a result , the output circuit 53 outputs the signal refreq_retention . other configurations of the third embodiment can be similar to those of the first and second embodiments . according to the third embodiment , there is no need to provide the ring oscillator 52 , the output circuit 53 , and the transistors 54 and 55 to correspond to each of the resistors rr / w and rret . therefore , it is possible to accurately set the first interval and the second interval based on the resistances of the resistors rr / w and rret , respectively , without irregularities generated by the ring oscillator 52 , the output circuit 53 , and the transistors 54 and 55 . since the circuit configuration of the refresh interval timer can be simplified , the fbc memory device can be downsized . further , the third embodiment can achieve effects of the first and second embodiments . according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention , a refresh operation is performed only on “ 0 ” cells without refreshing “ 1 ” cells . this is because data deterioration of the fbc memory device in the data retention mode normally occurs only to the “ 0 ” cells . the bit line “ 0 ” disturbance occurs when a weak forward bias is applied between the body and the drain of a “ 1 ” cell . if the potential of the word line wl connected to the “ 1 ” cell is set sufficiently low , it is possible to make the forward bias between the body and the drain quite low and lessen the influence of the bit line “ 0 ” disturbance . fig1 is a graph showing the relationship between a voltage vwll of one word line wl in the data retention mode and a voltage vbl of the bit line bl in the data write operation . lines l 1 and l 2 represent voltages for writing data “ 0 ” and lines l 3 and l 4 represent voltages for writing data “ 1 ”. further , the lines l 1 and l 4 represent characteristics when the potential vbll or vblh is applied to one bit line bl for a period of 100 μs , and the lines l 2 and l 3 represent characteristics when the potential vbll or vblh is applied to one bit line bl for a period of 1 ms . note that the vbll is the bit line voltage applied when data “ 0 ” is written to a memory cell mc connected to the bit line bl and that the vblh is the bit line voltage applied when data “ 1 ” is written to the memory cell mc . a region on the left of the lines l 1 and l 2 is a region in which the memory cell mc is judged as a failure due to the influence of the bit line “ 0 ” disturbance . a region on the right of the lines l 3 and l 4 is a region in which the memory cell mc is judged as a failure due to the influence of the bit line “ 1 ” disturbance . a region between the lines l 1 and l 4 and that between the lines l 2 and l 3 are regions in which the memory cell mc passes ( is judged as a good product ). as can be seen from the graph of fig1 , if the voltage vwll of the word line wl in the data retention mode is lower , the failure region caused by the bit line “ 0 ” disturbance is smaller . for example , if the voltage vwll is − 2 v , the memory cell mc judged as a failure due to the bit line “ 0 ” disturbance is judged as a good product by reducing the voltage vwll to − 2 . 4 v . on the other hand , if the voltage vwll is lower , the failure region caused by the bit line “ 1 ” disturbance is wider . accordingly , if the voltage vwll of the word line wl in the data retention mode is set sufficiently low , it is possible to sufficiently suppress the bit line “ 0 ” disturbance and avoid the bit line “ 1 ” disturbance by performing a refresh operation according to the fourth embodiment . since the bit line “ 1 ” disturbance cannot occur in the data retention mode , no problem occurs even by sufficiently reducing the word line potential in the data retention mode . fig1 is a timing chart showing a refresh operation for refreshing only “ 0 ” cells . at time t 31 , the refresh operation starts . from t 31 to t 32 , an initial sense operation is performed . when the signal difference between the sense nodes snl and snr sufficiently increases , the latch circuits lc 1 and lc 2 shown in fig4 latch the signal difference . note that a voltage of the signal sap is set to vblhref lower than the high potential vblh after time t 32 . the signal sap is used to write data “ 1 ” to each memory cell mc . by setting the voltage of the signal sap to vblhref , the voltage of the bit line bl connected to the “ 1 ” cell is set to vblhref lower than the voltage vblh for writing the data “ 1 ”. by so setting , the refresh operation is performed not on “ 1 ” cells but only on “ 0 ” cells . furthermore , since the potential of the bit line bl connected to the “ 1 ” cell is low , the bit line “ 1 ” disturbance is suppressed and current consumption can be reduced . the voltage vblhref can be set equal to a precharge potential of each of the bit lines blls and blrs or each of the sense nodes snls and snr , that is , to the source potential vsl of each memory cell mc . in a refresh operation during the read or write operation , the voltage of the signal sap is set to vblh so as to write data “ 1 ” to each memory cell mc . in the fourth embodiment , the refresh operation is performed only on the “ 0 ” cells , so that the power consumption of the refresh operation can be further saved . the configuration of the fourth embodiment can be worked by adopting any one of the configurations of the fbc memory devices according to the first to third embodiments . therefore , the fourth embodiment can be combined with any one of the first to third embodiments .	6
the present invention as shown in fig1 a - 1c is a delivery catheter ( 10 ) for delivering a stent device ( 20 ) percutaneously to a vessel lumen . the use of this invention can be for delivering a stent device ( 20 ) following angioplasty or during the angioplasty procedure . the stent device ( 20 ) can be a drug eluting stent such as a balloon expandable stent or a self - expanding stent or it can be a stent graft or covered stent . one of the more advantageous applications for the delivery catheter ( 10 ) of the present invention is for the closure of a large arteriotomy site such as one made in the femoral artery for delivery of a large catheter such as a tavi device or an aaa device . since the standard introducer sheath used in these procedures are approximately the same size as the vessel diameter , i . e ., 16 - 21 french , the normal vascular closure devices and methods do not work well . the present delivery catheter ( 10 ) is intended to gain access in the same femoral artery or other artery that is typically entered for the tavi procedure only at a new access site that is just a small distance distal to the tavi access site . since the present invention has a very small profile , providing this new second access site does not create a significant drawback and provides a definite device and method for sealing the large tavi access opening easily , quickly , and consistently which currently is a source of vascular complications using existing sealing devices and methods . an embodiment of the delivery catheter ( 10 ) is shown in fig1 a - 2b . a balloon tube or shaft ( 30 ) with a balloon inflation lumen ( 40 ) extends from the balloon manifold ( 50 ) through the delivery catheter ( 10 ) to the balloon ( 60 ). the distal end of the balloon ( 60 ) is closed by thermal methods , adhesive , solvent , bonding a plastic filler or other method . the balloon ( 60 ) can be formed from polyethylene terephthalate , polyethylene , or any material commonly used for making an angioplasty balloon . it is anticipated but not required that the same tubing that is use to form the balloon ( 60 ) can be used for the balloon tube or shaft ( 30 ). on the outside of the balloon ( 60 ) is mounted a stent device ( 20 ); the stent device ( 20 ) can be a stent ( 80 ) or a covered stent ( 90 ). in the preferred embodiment for providing a vascular closure device the stent device ( 20 ) can be a self - expanding stent that has a covering ( 100 ); alternately the stent ( 80 ) can be either balloon expandable or self - expanding and it does not require a covering ( 100 ). the distal end of the balloon ( 60 ) is bonded to a conical dilator or cone ( 110 ) that is formed from a hard plastic , or metal , or other nondeformable material that is generally lubricious and can serve as a dilator . materials for the cone ( 110 ) include polyethylene , delrin , fluorinated polymers , and other plastics , composites , or metals . at the distal end of the cone ( 110 ) is an attachment feature or attachment element ( 120 ). the attachment element ( 120 ) can be a stud that has a locking feature , a plastic or metal stud that has a lock snap that springs shut on a receiving element ( 130 ), a threaded stud ( 140 ) ( as shown in fig1 a ) that can be used to form a threaded joint ( 150 ) as shown in fig1 b , a metal stud that can receive a mating cylinder that can be swaged upon to form a swage joint ( 160 ) as shown in fig1 c , or an indented receptacle that has a non - slip material on its surface , a threaded receptacle ( 180 ), or other locking receptacle . another element of the invention is a guidewire ( 170 ) having a receiving element ( 130 ) that is able to be attached to the attachment element ( 120 ) at the distal end of the cone ( 110 ). the receiving element ( 130 ) of the guidewire ( 170 ) can be a stud , a threaded joint ( 150 ), a threaded receptacle ( 180 ) as shown in fig1 a and 1b and can be used to form a threaded joint ( 150 ) as shown in fig1 b , a snapping feature that mates with the attachment element ( 120 ) of the cone ( 110 ) or other mating member that allows the guidewire ( 170 ) to be readily but securely joined to the cone ( 110 ) of the delivery catheter ( 10 ). providing the guidewire ( 170 ) as a separate but connectable element allows the guidewire ( 170 ) to be advanced into the vessel through an initial needle puncture and allows removal of the needle ; this obviates the need for a separate dilator and introducer sheath . the guidewire ( 170 ) can range in diameter from 0 . 014 - 0 . 038 inch diameter and can have a length ranging from 3 cm to 40 cm . once the guidewire ( 170 ) is attached to the cone ( 110 ), the delivery catheter ( 10 ), which includes the guidewire ( 170 ), can then be advanced together to the site of interest in the vessel . the delivery catheter ( 10 ) of the invention has a movable external sheath or case ( 190 ) that extends over the stent device ( 20 ) and holds the stent device ( 20 ) down onto the balloon ( 60 ). the case ( 190 ) comes into contact with the cone ( 110 ) to form a smooth surface such that the combination of the cone ( 110 ) and the case ( 190 ) act in a manner similar to a standard dilator and introducer sheath . thus with the guidewire ( 170 ) attached to the cone ( 110 ), the delivery catheter ( 10 ) can be advanced through an arteriotomy site by holding onto the case ( 190 ) and advancing the delivery catheter ( 10 ) distally . when the case ( 190 ) is retracted in a proximal direction toward the balloon manifold ( 50 ) as shown in fig1 b , the stent device ( 20 ) is exposed to the vessel wall . in the case of a self - expanding stent device ( 20 ), the stent device ( 20 ) can be deployed immediately upon retraction of the case ( 190 ). the stent device ( 20 ) can then be post dilated by inflating the balloon ( 60 ) as shown in fig1 c to ensure definite contact of the stent device ( 20 ) and the vessel wall . the present invention provides that a self - expanding stent device ( 20 ) can remain attached to the balloon ( 60 ) even after retraction of the case ( 190 ) as shown in fig1 b ; this feature will be described further in fig2 a - 2d . in the femoral artery and many regions of the leg and the carotid arteries of the neck , a self - expanding stent device ( 20 ) is preferred to reduce the chances for crush deformation of the stent device ( 20 ) due to external forces applied to the stent device ( 20 ) through the skin or from muscle groups . for the case where external crush is not a significant detriment , such as for coronary stenting , a balloon expandable stent device ( 20 ) can be used ; the balloon expandable stent device ( 20 ) is mounted onto the balloon ( 60 ) and is deployed upon inflation of the balloon ( 60 ). the case ( 190 ) can be used for the balloon expandable stent ( 80 ) or stent device ( 20 ) but is not required if a standard introduce sheath is used to provide entry for the stent device ( 20 ) mounted on a standard balloon dilation catheter such as used in the medical device industry . the stent device ( 20 ) of the present invention can include any stent ( 80 ) or covered stent ( 90 ) that is currently found in the industry . the stent ( 80 ), for example , can be formed of zigzag rings or a zigzag spiral , or it can be formed from any open or close cell patterns used in stent design , some of which are shown in fig2 a - 2d . the stent struts ( 200 ) can have overlapped struts ( 210 ) to help gain a lower profile as shown in fig2 c . the connectors ( 220 ) or links of various patterns can connect individual ringlets ( 225 ) to provide a stent device ( 20 ) with multiple connected ringlets . ringlets ( 225 ) can overlap neighboring ringlets ( 225 ) as described in the cross - referenced patent application . the self - expanding stent ( 80 ) can be formed from nitinol , elgiloy , or other elastic metals , composites , biodegradable materials , or elastomeric plastics . the balloon expandable stent ( 80 ) can be formed from stainless steel , cobalt - chrome , or other materials commonly used for stents including biodegradable materials . biodegradable polymeric materials or biodegradable metals can be used for the stent ( 80 ) or stent device ( 20 ) construction ; such materials include polyglycolic acid , polylactic acid , polyethylene glycol , tissue or collagen materials , magnesium , or other biodegradable materials used in the medical device industry . the stent device ( 20 ) can have a thin covering ( 100 ) placed on the inside surface ( 230 ), outside surface ( 240 ) or both . one embodiment as shown in fig2 b has an eptfe cover with a thickness of approximately 0 . 0005 inches placed on both the outside and inside surface ( 230 ) s of the stent struts ( 200 ) and bonded together around the stent struts ( 200 ) to hold it in place . the eptfe covering ( 100 ) or other fibrous covering ( 100 ) such as polypropylene , polyurethane , or other fibrous or porous polymeric structure is porous to allow cellular penetration to enhance tissue healing but not allow significant bleeding to occur through the cover . alternately , a tissue covering ( 100 ) such as a porcine pericardium or other biodegradable material can be used , including collagen , fibrin , or other tissue materials . the pore size for a polymeric covering should range between 2 - 30 microns , but this pore size is dependent upon the wall thickness . the coverering ( 100 ) can extend along the entire surface of the stent ( 80 ) or it can cover only a portion of the stent ( 80 ) leaving the strut end ( 250 ) uncovered by the eptfe or other cover material . allowing the strut end ( 250 ) to remain uncovered allows the stent device ( 20 ) to be attached to the balloon ( 60 ) as shown in fig3 a - 3d . the stent ringlets ( 225 ) can be located , for example , at each end of the covering ( 100 ) leaving the central portion of the covering ( 100 ) without support from a stent ( 80 ), thereby having the flexibility that is desired and having the ability to be punctured again at a later time for vascular access . the balloon ( 60 ) of the present invention is shown in a nondeployed configuration in fig3 a and 3b . the balloon ( 60 ) can be wrapped around a portion of the stent strut ( 200 ) such as a strut end ( 250 ) to form a wrap attachment ( 260 ) as shown in fig3 a - 3d . this wrapping feature is not required by the present invention but provides a potential benefit for holding the self - expanding stent device ( 20 ) in position with respect to the balloon ( 60 ) such that the stent device ( 20 ) cannot embolize or become displaced in the vessel . in fig3 a a portion of the balloon ( 60 ) is wrapped around a stent strut . as the balloon ( 60 ) wraps around the strut , it can form a balloon bond ( 270 ) to another portion of the balloon ( 60 ) and form a wrap attachment ( 260 ). when the balloon ( 60 ) becomes partially inflated as shown in fig3 c and 3d , the stent device ( 20 ) is still attached to the balloon ( 60 ). further inflation of the balloon ( 60 ) as shown in fig3 e and 3f causes the stent device ( 20 ) to become released from the balloon ( 60 ) as the balloon wrap attachments ( 260 ) are forced to let go of the strut ends ( 250 ). for the case where the stent device ( 20 ) is a covered stent ( 90 ), the strut ends ( 250 ) are held by the wrap attachments ( 260 ) and are released as shown in fig3 f . a small amount of thrombin , blood coagulant , or clotting agent ( 280 ) can be placed on the outside of the covering ( 100 ) or between the layers of the cover as shown in fig3 f if desired to assist in forming a clot when the stent device ( 20 ) is a covered stent ( 90 ) use to provide vascular closure . the method of use of the delivery catheter ( 10 ) for vascular closure is shown in fig4 a - 4f . the method for delivery of a stent ( 80 ) or covered stent ( 90 ) to the vasculature for a different purpose is identical to this except that the site of delivery for the stent device ( 20 ) may not be for the closure of a large diameter arteriotomy site from a large catheter . access is made with a needle to the femoral artery at a site approximately 1 - 10 cm ( preferably 1 - 3 cm ) distal to a large introducer sheath , is , being used for passage of a large diameter interventional catheter such as a tavi or aaa catheter . the small diameter access site , sas , for the delivery catheter ( 10 ) of the present invention could be greater than 3 cm from the large introducer for the large interventional catheter without deviating from the present invention . a guidewire ( 170 ) of the present invention having a receiving element ( 130 ) at its proximal end is advanced through the needle and past the site of the large diameter introducer sheath , is , as shown in fig4 a . the needle is removed and the receiving element ( 130 ) of the guidewire ( 170 ) is firmly attached to the attachment element ( 120 ) at the distal end of the cone ( 110 ) of the delivery catheter ( 10 ). this attachment can be via screwing , swaging , via a snap fit , a one - way joint , or other joint . the cone ( 110 ) acts as a dilator to enter the arteriotomy and the case ( 190 ) acts as an introducer to hold the arteriotomy site outwards . the delivery catheter ( 10 ) is advanced along with the guidewire ( 170 ) into the vessel until the cone ( 110 ) comes into contact with the large diameter introducer . the large diameter introducer sheath , is , can then be removed and the delivery catheter ( 10 ) is advanced a small prescribed distance if necessary to place the stent device ( 20 ) adjacent to the arteriotomy site as shown in fig4 c . the case ( 190 ) is then retracted in a proximal direction as shown in fig4 d thereby exposing the stent device ( 20 ) to the vessel , v , and the balloon ( 60 ) is inflated to press the self - expanding stent device ( 20 ) up against the vessel wall thereby covering the arteriotomy site as shown in fig4 e . the covering ( 100 ) on the stent device ( 20 ) covers the opening causing the blood leakage out of the arteriotomy site to cease . a small amount of thrombin or other clotting agent placed on the surface of the covering ( 100 ) or between layers of the eptfe covering ( 100 ) can help to ensure that the blood clots quickly and leakage is maintained at a minimum . the balloon ( 60 ) is deflated and the delivery catheter ( 10 ) is then removed as shown in fig4 f . in an alternate embodiment , a guidewire tube ( 290 ) with a separate guidewire lumen ( 300 ) can be placed through the balloon tube ( 30 ), the balloon ( 60 ), and through the cone ( 110 ) as shown in fig5 a . this device allows a standard guidewire ( 310 ) to be placed into the vessel , v , using a standard seldinger approach . a guidewire ( 170 ) could range from 0 . 010 to − 0 . 038 inches but it would be preferred to use the smaller diameter guidewire ( 170 ) to minimize the profile of the delivery catheter ( 10 ). after the standard guidewire ( 310 ) is in place across the arteriotomy site , as , the delivery catheter ( 10 ) can be advanced over the standard guidewire ( 310 ) with cone ( 110 ) dilating the small diameter arteriotomy site , sas , and the case ( 190 ) holding the small arteriotomy site , sas , outwards . the delivery catheter ( 10 ) is advanced until the cone ( 110 ) comes into contact with the large diameter introducer sheath that is being used for passage of a large therapeutic device such as the tavi or aaa catheters as shown in fig5 b . the large diameter introducer is removed and the delivery catheter ( 10 ) is positioned adjacent to the large diameter arteriotomy site , as , and the stent device ( 20 ) is delivered in a manner that is similar to that described for the previous embodiment . the present invention does not require that a balloon ( 60 ) ( as shown in fig1 a ) be used to deliver a self - expanding stent device ( 20 ). as seen in fig6 a self - expanding stent device ( 20 ) can be positioned toward the distal end of a catheter shaft ( 320 ) having a cone ( 110 ) positioned at its distal end . the stent device ( 20 ) is contained by an external sheath or case ( 190 ) that can be withdrawn to release the stent device ( 20 ). a pusher tube ( 330 ) located on the catheter shaft ( 320 ) can be used to hold the stent device ( 20 ) in place along the catheter shaft ( 320 ) while the case ( 190 ) is being withdrawn . a control fiber ( 340 ) can form a loop ( 350 ) around one of the struts ( 200 ) of the stent ( 80 ) of the stent device ( 20 ) to hold the stent device ( 20 ) from embolizing or moving out of position within the blood vessel after it has been released . a secondary step could be implemented after the stent device ( 20 ) has been released and the catheter shaft ( 320 ) has been removed from the vessel . a standard balloon dilatation catheter can be introduced into the external sheath or case ( 190 ) to provide a post dilatation to the self - expanding stent device ( 20 ) to ensure that it is in full apposition with the vessel wall . in another embodiment a stent ( 80 ) or stent device ( 20 ) can have a stent structure with a hinge ( 360 ) and strut ( 200 ) geometry as described in the cross referenced us patents and us patent application indicated earlier in this application . a balloon expandable hinge ( 360 ) and strut ( 200 ) structure is shown in fig7 a and 7b . the hinge ( 360 ) is the portion of the stent ( 80 ) that undergoes deformation as the stent ( 80 ) is expanded from nondeployed state to a deployed expanded diameter state . the hinge ( 360 ) has a short hinge length ( 380 ) that undergoes all of the deformation as the hinge ( 360 ) is bent along the hinge length ( 380 ) during expansion deformation . the hinge length ( 380 ) for the balloon expandable stent is very short ranging from 1 - 3 times a hinge width . the hinge length ( 380 ) should be shorter than the hinge width to provide the maximum focus for hinge ( 360 ) deformation during the expansion deformation . the hinge length ( 380 ) is also smaller than the hinge radial dimension ( 400 ). the hinge radial dimension ( 400 ) extends in the radial direction of the stent ( 80 ) and is larger than the strut radial dimension ( 410 ) such that the hinge ( 360 ) will not bend if the stent ( 80 ) of the stent device ( 20 ) is placed into an oval cross section or crush deformation due to exposure to an external force or due to exposure imposed by neighboring muscle groups of the body . the strut radial dimension ( 410 ) is smaller than the hinge radial dimension ( 400 ) such that the strut ( 200 ) will flex easily to allow the stent ( 80 ) to form an oval shape during a crush deformation and will return elastically to its normal shape to provide the stent ( 80 ) with a round shape when the crush deformation force has been removed . the strut width ( 420 ) is larger than the hinge width such that during the expansion deformation , the strut ( 200 ) does not bend and instead forces all of the expansion deformation to occur at the hinges ( 360 ). in fig7 a the hinge ( 360 ) is connected to two struts ( 200 ) via two transition regions ( 430 ). the transition regions ( 430 ) do not flex in either the expansion deformation or a crush deformation . the transition region radial dimension for this embodiment tapers from the strut radial dimension ( 410 ) to the hinge radial dimension ( 400 ). the cross sectional area ( defined by the radial direction and width direction ) of the transition region ( 430 ) is larger than that of the strut ( 200 ) or the hinge ( 360 ). the embodiment of fig7 b has two hinges ( 360 ) each of which connect to a strut ( 200 ) via a transition region ( 430 ). each hinge ( 360 ) of this embodiment connect to the other hinge ( 360 ) via a node ( 440 ) that does not bend during the expansion deformation and does not bend in the radial direction during a crush deformation . the other reference numerals used in fig7 b represent similar components as found in fig7 a . the use of a balloon expandable stent device ( 20 ) of the present embodiment either with or without a covering ( 100 ) allows the stent device ( 20 ) to be crimped onto the balloon ( 60 ) of the present invention as described in fig1 a - 1c . upon removal of the external sheath or case ( 190 ), the stent ( 80 ) will remain in position adjacent to the arteriotomy site and held onto the balloon via a crimping mechanism . expansion of the balloon ( 60 ) will place the stent device ( 20 ) into direct apposition with the vessel wall such that the stent ( 80 ) or stent device ( 20 ) will generate hemostasis . if the femoral artery is exposed to external forces , the stent ( 80 ) will bend elastically along the struts ( 200 ) to an oval shape and will return to a round shape . the wall structure for the stent ( 80 ) of the stent device ( 20 ) of this embodiment can be an open structure , closed structure , a zigzag structure ; it can have individual zigzag ringlets ( 225 ), or connectors ( 220 ) that join individual stent ringlets ( 225 ), or a spiral shaped zigzag structure ; the stent ( 80 ) can be formed from a single ringlet ( 225 ) located and attached to each end of the covering ( 100 ), or it can extend throughout most or all of the covered stent device ( 20 ). a self - expanding stent device ( 20 ) of still another embodiment provides a stent ( 80 ) that has a self - expanding hinge structure as shown in fig8 . the difference in this embodiment from that described in fig7 a and 7b is that the hinge length ( 380 ) is longer . the expansion deformation of this embodiment is not focused as it was in the balloon expandable hinge geometry shown in fig7 a and 7b . instead the expansion deformation is spread along a hinge length ( 380 ) that extends from the junction of the hinge ( 360 ) from one transition region ( 430 ) to another transition region ( 430 ) as shown in fig8 . the hinge length ( 380 ) for the self - expanding stent device ( 20 ) is larger than 3 times the hinge width ( 390 ). the hinge length ( 380 ) for materials such as stainless steel or other generally plastically deformable metals is greater than twice the strut width ( 420 ). the long hinge length ( 380 ) allows the hinge ( 360 ) to undergo a deformation during compression for delivery within the external sheath in a smaller diameter state and undergo expansion deformation elastically to an enlarged expanded diameter upon release into the blood vessel . thus the long hinge length ( 380 ) provides the stent device ( 20 ) with its self - expanding character . other reference numerals describe similar components described in fig7 a and 7b . the self - expanding hinge stent ( 80 ) of fig8 can be used in the stent device ( 20 ) of the present invention to provide a stent ( 80 ) that has very soft flex in a crush deformation by forming a strut ( 200 ) with a strut radial dimension ( 410 ) that is relatively small ( i . e ., 0 . 002 - 0 . 003 inches ) in comparison to existing femoral stents , ( i . e ., 0 . 004 - 0 . 005 inches ). the hinge radial dimension ( 400 ) can be relatively larger ( i . e ., 0 . 006 inches ) than existing femoral stent ( 0 . 004 - 0 . 005 inches ) to provide a stronger stent that resists reduction in diameter . the balloon expandable hinge stent ( 80 ) of fig7 a and 7b can be combined with any self - expanding stent including the self - expanding hinge stent ( 80 ) of fig8 to form a stent having both a self - expanding portion ( 450 ) and a balloon expandable portion ( 460 ) as shown in fig9 a and 9b . balloon expandable ringlets ( 225 ) can be placed at each end of the stent device ( 20 ) such that the stent device ( 20 ) is firmly attached to the balloon ( 60 ) as shown in fig9 b ; the central stent portion of the stent device ( 20 ) can be formed from self - expanding ringlets ( 225 ). the ringlets ( 225 ) can be attached directly to the covering ( 100 ) or can be attached to each other via connectors ( 220 ) or via one or more biodegradable fibers ( 480 ). alternately , one or more balloon expandable ringlets ( 225 ) can be place in the central portion of the stent device ( 20 ) and one or more self - expanding ringlets ( 225 ) can be placed at the end portions of the stent device ( 20 ) as shown in fig9 a . the self - expanding ringlets ( 225 ) provide a soft and flexible deformation that is desirable in the femoral artery near the arteriotomy site . in a further embodiment a locator balloon ( 490 ) is placed into the large introducer sheath , is , prior to introduction of the delivery catheter ( 10 ) of the present invention to help position the delivery catheter ( 10 ) as shown in fig1 a - 10d . the locator balloon ( 490 ) is placed into the blood vessel , v , and inflated via a locator balloon inflation port ( 495 ) with an inflation medium that can include saline , air , co2 , contrast medium , or a cross - linkable polymer . the locator balloon ( 490 ) is pulled back to the arteriotomy site , as , along with the large introducer sheath , is . the locator balloon ( 490 ) provides hemostasis to the arteriotomy site and also can be used to occlude or partially occlude the vessel lumen , vl , as shown in fig1 b . as the delivery catheter ( 10 ) is introduced into the vessel lumen , vl , as shown in fig4 a - 4d , the delivery catheter ( 10 ) impinges upon the locator balloon ( 490 ), thereby stopping the delivery catheter ( 10 ) from further advancement past the locator balloon ( 490 ). a tether fiber ( 500 ) of one embodiment is attached to the distal end ( 510 ) of the locator balloon ( 490 ). applying tenstion to the tether fiber ( 500 ) via a tensioning spool ( 515 ) will cause the locator balloon ( 490 ) to form inward folds ( 520 ) and advance inside of the locator balloon shaft ( 525 ) thereby providing a passage for the delivery catheter ( 10 ) at a location adjacent to the arteriotomy site , as , as shown in fig1 c . the locator balloon ( 490 ) still provides hemostasis of blood at the arteriotomy site . the stent device ( 20 ) of the delivery catheter ( 10 ) is then released adjacent to the arteriotomy site , as , and into contact with the locator balloon ( 490 ). the locator balloon ( 490 ) can fully withdrawn into the locator balloon ( 490 ) shaft and out of the arteriotomy site , as , as the balloon ( 60 ) from the delivery catheter ( 10 ) is delivered into apposition with the vessel wall at the arteriotomy site as shown in fig1 d . the locator balloon ( 490 ) can be formed with more than one tether or with a shape that enhances its ability to provide positioning for the delivery catheter ( 10 ) and also to provide hemostasis for the arteriotomy site . the locator balloon ( 490 ) can alternately be partially implanted and serve as a plug for the arteriotomy site as shown in fig1 a and 11b . in fig1 a the locator balloon ( 490 ) has been filled with a cross - linking polymer such as polyurethane , silicone , or a biodegradable material such as polyethylene glycol , or other biodegradable gel or fluid including saline . a balloon valve ( 530 ) is located near the junction of the locator balloon ( 490 ) with the locator balloon ( 490 ) distal shaft such that the inflation fluid can enter but cannot leak out of the locator balloon ( 490 ) and through the locator balloon shaft ( 525 ). a temporary passage ( not shown ) can be provided to allow inflation fluid to leak out of the locator balloon ( 490 ) and through a temporarily placed passage tube that extends through the balloon valve ( 530 ), for example . as the stent device ( 20 ) is dilated via the delivery catheter ( 10 ) to provide apposition of the stent device ( 20 ) with the vessel wall , the inflation fluid within the locator balloon ( 490 ) is forced to push the locator balloon ( 490 ) into forming a seal with the arteriotomy site . the locator balloon proximal shaft ( 550 ) is separated from the locator balloon distal shaft ( 540 ) via a threaded uncoupling or any other uncoupling mechanism that can be used to uncouple two tubings with a common lumen . the balloon valve ( 530 ) remains implanted in the arteriotomy site along with the locator balloon ( 490 ). the stent device ( 20 ) in this embodiment could include the stent ( 80 ) either with or alone without a covering ( 100 ) and depend upon the locator balloon ( 490 ) to provide the seal for the arteriotomy site . the material of construction for the locator balloon ( 490 ) include nylon , pebax , polyethylene terephthalate ( pet ), polyurethane , silicone , or other compliant , semicompliant , or noncompliant materials used for balloon , stent ( 80 ), or implanted medical device manufacture in the medical device industry . the locator balloon ( 490 ) can also be formed from thin - walled eptfe , a thin tissue material , or a flexible biodegradable tissue or film . the tether fiber ( 500 ) can be formed from a thin metal or polymeric fiber and can also be formed from a biodegradable material . the locator balloon distal shaft ( 540 ) can be formed from a polymeric material including a biodegradable materials indicated for the locator balloon ( 490 ). the tether valve can be a standard duck - billed valve formed from a thin polymeric leaflets or tissue leaflets ; the tether valve can also be formed from biodegradable materials indicated for the locator balloon ( 490 ). the dimensions for the locator balloon ( 490 ) as it is being used is further described during the following method steps . the locator balloon ( 490 ) is folded during entry into the large introducer sheath , is , and into the vessel lumen , vl , of the blood vessel , v . the locator balloon ( 490 ) is then inflated via the locator balloon inflation port ( 495 ) with inflation medium to a volume or pressure that causes it to expand to a diameter that is 10 - 50 % larger than the arteriotomy site , as , and the inside diameter of the is ; this diameter can range from 4 - 11 mm ; the locator balloon inflated diameter is approximately 6 - 9 mm for a tavi procedure access site arteriotomy . the locator balloon shaft ( 525 ) is withdrawn proximally until the locator balloon ( 490 ) is in full contact with the arteriotomy site and the is has its distal end adjacent the locator balloon ( 490 ). the locator balloon ( 490 ) is then inflated to a diameter that fills the lumen of the femoral artery , approximately 7 - 10 mm to provide an inflated locator balloon ( 490 ) into which the delivery catheter ( 10 ) will contact when it is inserted . the locator balloon ( 490 ) can have traction applied to the tether fiber ( 500 ) to cause the distal end of the locator balloon ( 490 ) to inwardly fold into the locator balloon shaft ( 525 ) and provide a space in the lumen of the blood vessel , v , for passage of the delivery catheter ( 10 ). the embodiments of the present invention include both self - expanding and balloon expandable stents and covered stents ( 90 ) that form the stent device ( 20 ). the stents ( 80 ) can be formed from single ringlets ( 225 ) located at the end of the covering ( 100 ) or can extend throughout the stent device ( 20 ). the delivery catheter ( 10 ) and stent device ( 20 ) can be used with a balloon dilatation catheter or without , and can be used with or without the locator balloon ( 490 ). each of the embodiments can be interchanged with other aspect of other embodiments and still are included in the present invention .	0
according to the present invention , the gas - liquid contact and solid precipitation functions are united in a single vessel , the vessel having three sections which include the upper splash separating section , intermediate solid - gas - liquid contact section providing a layer of a mixture of solid , gas and liquid , and lower solid precipitating section forming a solid - liquid suspension layer , whereby both gas - liquid contact and solid precipitation can be achieved simultaneously . the vessel is therefore necessarily constructed to have a sufficient height to allow the three sections to be contained therein . the lower open end of the gas introduction pipe reaches under the solid - gas - liquid contact layer whose formation should be desired on the basis of performance requirement ( conversion ), and has a gas disperser having a side wall extending downwardly . a flow of gas delivered under pressure from the gas introducing pipe is prevented by the side wall from being dissipated in horizontal directions , and is therefore jetted out at very high velocity through the gas bubbling means into the solid - gas - liquid contact layer , producing finely divided gas bubbles which form a uniform liquid - continuous gas bubble layer ( froth ), or a solid - gas - liquid contact section over the gas disperser . one feature of the invention is that the mass transfer and chemical reaction take place by collision of a high rate current of gas with a current of liquid in the solid - gas - liquid contact section and by the gas - liquid contact which produces turbulence while the gas is being divided into fine gas bubbles as well as by the contact which occurs in the froth layer . the section defined by the gas bubble layer is herein referred to as the solid - gas - liquid contact section , and the gas which leaves the gas bubble layer unabsorbed in the layer is accompanied with a splash of liquid therefrom as the bubbles burst . it is therefore necessary to separate that portion of gas containing fine liquid droplets from the burst bubbles from the liquid droplets and thus , a sufficient space area above the gas bubble section is provided to avoid deposition of solids possibly present in the splash to the inner wall of the vessel ; the space area being herein referred to as splash separating section . the region defined by the gas disperser and its side wall is filled with a gas under pressure from the gas introducing pipe , thus pressing the liquid surface level down . this eliminates the possibility of clogging notches or orifices of the gas disperser with solids , and thus permits both gas - liquid contact reaction and solid precipitation in a single vessel . in order to permit the desired mass transfer and reaction to be effected simultaneously in the solid - gas - liquid contact section defined in the upper portion of the vessel , it is necessary that those portions of solid and liquid whose mass transfer and reaction have been completed are removed from the solid - gas - liquid contact section while new portions of solid and liquid which possess capabilities of promoting the mass transfer and reaction are instead introduced to the above section . this can be achieved by a natural circulation of the solid - liquid mixture caused by a difference in specific gravity between the two mixtures in the upper and lower portions of the vessel , and by a forced circulation caused by mechanical and / or air stirring means . in other words , the solid suspension produced in the solid precipitating section is made to pass outside the side wall of the gas disperser and rise past it without clogging the gas disperser , traveling up toward the solid - gas - liquid contact section where it has a sufficient contact with a gas , and then passing through for example a downtake down to the solid precipitating section below . the downtake has the function of further promoting the circulation of the solid suspension . the liquid layer portion below the gas bubble layer ( the portion below the level of the gas disperser ) is herein referred to as solid precipitating section . in the solid precipitating section , a liquid delivery pipe which supplies a liquid , or eventually a slurry , is provided which is used for fixing an absorbed gas and a reaction product obtained by chemical reaction thereof and which contains a dissolved compound for precipitating the gas to solids . as readily understood from the foregoing description , in accordance with the invention , the suspension can be circulated between the solid - gas - liquid contact section and solid precipitating section without the use of a pumping system , and by making an effective use of the stirrer for producing a mixture of a solid and a liquid , promoting their reaction and suspending solids , which are also required in the conventional precipitating apparatus , in cooperation with the natural circulation caused by a difference in specific gravity through the downtake between the two mixtures in the upper and lower portions of the vessel . the feature of the invention is therefore in that both the gas - liquid contact and solid precipitation can be permitted simultaneously in a single vessel without any clogging problem . the apparatus according to the invention further permits an increased interface area in the solid - gas - liquid contact section and thus improved absorption and reaction efficiencies . it is well known that in the reaction between the three different phases of solid , gas and liquid , the mass transfer and overall reaction rate depend on the interface area , and therefore the gas disperser according to the invention usually comprises a perforated plate , but the plate may be provided with one or more nets , grids , screens , and the like thereon for producing more finely divided gas bubbles therethrough , so that the mass transfer and reaction can take place more effectively . in accordance with the conventional gas - liquid contact reaction apparatus , if nets , grids , screens or the like are provided so that the mass transfer and reaction can take place between the solid suspended liquid and the gas in contact , the produced solids disadvantageously become readily deposited on or in those nets , etc . which thereby become clogged with solids . according to the invention , such deposition and clogging problem can be eliminated by turbulently bringing the flow of the solid and liquid into contact with one another . the stirrer and / or air introduction pipe in the solid precipitating section has one or more cylindrical baffles concentrically surrounding it so that the gas - liquid mixture and its circulation can take place more effectively . an additional feature of the invention is in eliminating all problems or troubles that may arise from deposition of solids . in the prior art cited earlier , in the region where a gas and a liquid come in contact with each other for the first time , the energy of the flowing gas is not strong enough to detach solids away from the spots to which they are deposited , and solids tend to grow to a thickness with time until finally the passages of the gas become clogged with solids , thus rendering the apparatus practically inoperative . according to the apparatus of the invention , solids which may be produced by contact of a gas with a liquid can descend without adhering to the gas passages by the provision of covering the walls of the gas passages with a film of liquid in the vessel or from the outside so that there can take place a turbulent solid - gas - liquid contact in the gas dispersing region . as means to prevent deposition of solids , there are , in addition to the earlier mentioned method of forming a wet film on the wall , a mechanical scraping method , a method of adding seed crystals , and use of deposition resistant materials . the most effective and secure method is the mechanical scraping , but this method is practically difficult to use if there are numerous gas introduction pipes installed . the wet film forming means according to the invention proves to be practically effective and useful , and is advantageous when there are numerous gas introduction pipes . now , the invention will further illustrated by reference to the accompanying drawings , in which fig1 is a vertical cross - section view of an example of the apparatus embodying the invention illustrating the apparatus in operation and showing flows of gas and liquid by solid - line arrows . in fig1 the reference numeral 1 designates a reaction vessel ; 2 , a gas introduction pipe ; 3 , a gas disperser ; 4 , a side wall extending downwardly from the gas disperser ; 5 , stirrer ; 6 , a baffle ; 7 , a downtake ; 8 , a liquid supply line for forming a wet film over the inner wall of the pipe 2 ; 9 , a gas outlet ; 10 , 11 , suspension outlets ; 12 , air introduction pipe ; and 13 , reactant supply pipe . two gas introduction pipes are shown in fig1 but either one or more than two pipes may be provided . the gas disperser 3 shown in fig1 has a horizontal plate 15 extending outwardly from the lower open end of the pipe 2 . the plate 15 has a plurality of holes thereon from which a further vertical side wall extends downwardly . however , the disperser 3 may have a varied form as shown in fig2 which is a vertical cross - sectional view of another preferred embodiment and in which the gas disperser 3 has an inclined perforated plate 15 &# 39 ; and a gently inclined side wall 4 . as a substitute for the perforated plates in fig1 and 2 , a net , grid , screen or the like , or a combination of any ones thereof , may be used . a flow of gas which is introduced under pressure into the vessel 1 through gas introduction pipe 2 , fills the space surrounded by the gas disperser 3 and its vertical side wall 4 , bringing the liquid surface to a lower level under the pressure of the gas while bubbling out through the gas disperser 3 at a velocity of 6 to 80 m / sec . this forms a layer of gas bubbles ( solid - gas - liquid mixture contact section ), designated by 1 &# 34 ;, by disturbing a solid - liquid suspension with turbulence through contact therewith . the gas is then absorbed by the gas bubble layer 1 &# 34 ; while the unabsorbed portion of the gas flows through splash separating reation 1 &# 39 ; and through gas outlet 9 to the outside . the gas rises through the gas bubble layer or solid - gas - liquid contact region or section 1 &# 34 ; at a velocity of 0 . 5 to 4 m / sec ., preferably 0 . 5 to 2 m / sec . above the gas introduction pipe 2 is provided a liquid supply line 8 which supplies a flow of liquid forming a wet film on the internal wall of the pipe 2 which prevents the pipe 2 from being clogged with deposited solids , thus eliminating the use of mechanical scraping means while permitting a continuous operation of the apparatus . it should be noted that the wet film forming is more effective particularly if a number of small pipes are installed . other various methods of forming a wet film than typically shown in fig1 are possible . in a section 1 &# 39 ;&# 34 ; where solids are formed by precipitation , a reactant through its supply pipe 13 is fed into a rising flow of air from stirrer 5 and / or air introduction pipe 12 , and reacts with the absorbed portion of the gas by which reaction solids are formed by precipitation . the presence of the side wall 4 of the gas disperser 3 causes a flow of suspension rising inside the baffe 6 to travel outside the side wall 4 into the solid - gas - liquid contact section 1 &# 34 ; where the suspension has a sufficient contact with the gas while its mass transfer and reaction take place , after which it goes to the downtake 7 and descends therethrough . the suspension circulates through the aforementioned path as long as there is a difference in specific gravity between a suspension outside the stirrer 5 and downtake 7 containing air bubbles and a suspension inside the downtake 7 containing no air bubbles . the downtake 7 shown in fig1 is located centrally of the vessel 1 or apparatus while it may be provided along the outer circumference of the vessel 1 as shown in fig2 . as shown in fig3 illustrating a vertical cross - section of a further varied embodiment , a plurality of regularly spaced downtakes 7 shown in cross section may be provided . the apparatus has at the lower portion thereof a suspension produced with the accompanying reaction and with a constant solid concentration as required . liquid and / or solid in the suspension may also be oxidized whereever the case so requires . the suspension excluded from the vessel 1 through outlet 11 at bottom flows further to a centrifugal separator ( not shown ) which separates the suspension into liquid and solid . for ease of understanding of the accompanying effects of the apparatus according to the invention , the results obtained from experiments on the apparatus are given as non - limitative examples , as follows : the apparatus was constructed such that it comprises a 800 mm diameter vessel of a circular cross - section containing a liquid of 1800 mm depth , two gas introduction pipes 2 each of 3 inch diameter immersed 400 mm deep and each having semi - circular horizontal perforated plates 3 extending outwardly from the lower open end of the pipe on opposite sides thereof , said plates 3 each having a vertical flanged side wall 4 extending downwardly therefrom , a stirrer 5 , a 500 mm diameter cylindrical baffle 6 , and apertured pipe sparger ( which corresponds to air introduction pipe 12 shown ), and a delivery pipe 13 from which a solution of na 2 co 3 was supplied . then , 1000 nm 3 / hr of a gas containing 1000 ppm of h 2 s was delivered under pressure into the vessel 1 , and was made to form a 500 to 900 mm high gas bubble layer over the plates 3 . in the meantime , a solution of na 2 no 3 containing disulphonic acid soda of the quinone group such as anthraquinone disulphonic acid soda , naphtoquinone disulphonic acid soda , was supplied from the pipe 13 while 15 nm 3 / hr of air was supplied from the pipe sparger . a discharge of gas from the gas outlet 9 contained less than 100 ppm of h 2 s and a suspension from the outlet 11 was delivered directly to a filter press which separates the solid sulphurs . the apparatus of example 1 was used . 1000 nm 3 / hr of a gas containing 1000 ppm of so 2 was delivered under pressure while an aqueous solution containing chlorine of the organic acids such as citric acid , malic acid , was supplied from the pipe 13 . 100 nm 3 / hr of air containing hydrogen sulfide gas was also supplied from the pipe 12 . the result showed over 75 % of desulfurization obtained . a suspension containing precipitated solid sulphurs was removed through pipe 11 and was then separated by filter press to sulphur solids . the apparatus of example 1 was used . 1200 nm 3 / hr of a gas containing 1000 ppm of so 2 was delivered under pressure while a slurry of caco 2 was supplied . 15 nm 3 / hr of air was also supplied from pipe 12 . the result obtained showed 95 % of desulfurization . a suspension containing caso 4 2h 2 o was withdrawn through pipe 11 to centrifugal separator for separation . during the operation , no problem of clogging the plates 3 which might otherwise occur due to deposited solids was observed . as clearly seen from the above results , the apparatus constructed according to the invention advantageously permits both gas - liquid contact reaction and solid precipitation in a single vessel and has a very wide operating range .	1
hereinafter , a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . for the purposes of clarity and simplicity , a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted as it may make the subject matter of the present invention unclear . the wideband optical fiber amplifier according to the present invention includes circulators ( cirs ) and wavelength selective couplers ( wscs ), each comprising a plurality of ports . supposing that a circulator or a wavelength selective coupler is provided with a particular drawing reference numeral “###”, the n th port of the circulator or the wavelength selective coupler will be provided and depicted with drawing reference numeral “### n ”. [ 0019 ] fig2 shows the configuration of the wideband optical fiber amplifier according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention . the amplifier 200 includes first and second circulators 221 and 222 , first and second amplifying sections 270 and 290 , an optical attenuator ( att ) 280 and first and second wavelength selective couplers 241 and 242 . first circulator 221 has first to third ports 2211 to 2213 . an optical signal inputted to an upper port is outputted to an adjacent lower port . first port 2211 of first circulator 221 is connected to an external optical fiber 210 . second port 2212 is connected to the first amplifying section 270 , while third port 2213 is connected to optical attenuator 280 . first circulator 221 outputs optical signal having at least two wavelength band optical signals , such as c - band optical signals having a 1550 nm wavelength and l - band optical signals having a 1590 nm wavelength , which have been inputted to first port 2211 , to second port 2212 . also , first circulator 221 outputs an amplified spontaneous emission inputted to second port 2212 to third port 2213 . first amplifying section 270 connected to second port 2212 of the first circulator 221 includes a first pump light source 231 , a third wavelength selective coupler 243 , a first amplifying optical fiber 251 and a first optical isolator 260 . first pump light source 231 outputs a first pump light of 980 nm . laser diodes can be used for the first pump light source and second and third pump light sources . third wavelength selective coupler 243 has first to third ports 2431 to 2433 . first port 2431 is connected to the second port 2212 of the first circulator 221 . second port 2432 is connected to the first amplifying optical fiber 251 . third port 2433 is connected to the first pump light source 231 . third wavelength selective coupler 243 couples the inputted c - band and l - band optical signals to the first pump light and outputs the coupled signals to first amplifying optical fiber 251 . first amplifying optical fiber 251 is pumped in the forward direction by the first pump light . also , first amplifying optical fiber 251 outputs an amplified spontaneous emission going in the opposite direction to the optical signals . the amplified spontaneous emission is inputted to second port 2212 of first circulator 221 . first circulator 221 outputs the inputted spontaneous emission to third port 2213 . first amplifying optical fiber 251 can be an erbium - doped optical fiber . first optical isolator 260 is disposed between the first amplifying optical fiber 251 and first wavelength selective coupler 243 . first optical isolator 260 passes the inputted c - band and l - band optical signals , while blocking a light traveling in the backward direction . first wavelength selective coupler 241 has first to third ports 2411 to 2413 . first port 2411 is connected to first optical isolator 260 . second port 2412 is connected to second wavelength selective coupler 242 . third port 2413 is connected to second amplifying section 290 . first wavelength selective coupler 241 outputs the c - band optical signals , among the inputted c - band and l - band optical signals , to second port 2412 , and the l - band optical signals to third port 2413 . optical attenuator 280 is disposed between third port 2213 of first circulator 21 and first port 2221 of a second circulator 222 . since the transmissivity varies depending on the applied current , optical attenuator 280 transmits the inputted spontaneous emission according to a preset transmissivity . second circulator 222 has first to third ports 2221 to 2223 . first port 2221 is connected to optical attenuator 280 . second port 2222 is connected to second amplifying section 290 . third port 2223 is connected to first port 2421 of second wavelength selective coupler 242 . second circulator 222 outputs the attenuated spontaneous emission , which has been inputted to first port 2221 , to second port 2222 . also , second circulator 222 outputs the secondarily - amplified l - band optical signals , which have been inputted to second port 2222 , to third port 2223 . second amplifying section 290 is disposed between third port 2413 of first wavelength selective coupler 241 and second port 2222 of second circulator 222 . second amplifying section 290 includes second and third pump light sources 232 and 233 , fourth and fifth wavelength selective couplers 244 and 245 , and a second amplifying optical fiber 252 . second pump light source 232 outputs a second pump light of 980 nm . fourth wavelength selective coupler 244 has first to third ports 2441 to 2443 . first port 2441 is connected to second port 2222 of second circulator 222 . second port 2442 is connected to second amplifying optical fiber 252 . third port 2443 is connected to second pump light source 232 . fourth wavelength selective coupler 244 couples the attenuated spontaneous emission to the second pump light and outputs the coupled light to second amplifying optical fiber 252 . also , fourth wavelength selective coupler 244 outputs the secondarily - amplified l - band optical signals , which have been inputted to second port 2442 , to first port 2441 . third pump light source 233 outputs a third pump light of 1480 nm . fifth wavelength selective coupler 245 has first to third ports 2451 to 2453 . first port 2451 is connected to second amplifying optical fiber 252 . second port 2452 is connected to third port 2413 of first wavelength selective coupler 241 . third port 2453 is connected to third pump light source 233 . fifth wavelength selective coupler 245 couples the amplified l - band optical signals to the third pump light and outputs the coupled signals to second amplifying optical fiber 252 . second amplifying optical fiber 252 is pumped in the backward direction by the attenuated spontaneous emission and the second pump light , while being pumped in the forward direction by the third pump light . accordingly , second amplifying optical fiber 252 secondarily amplifies and outputs the amplified l - band optical signals . in other words , the l - band optical signals are amplified twice once by each of the first and second amplifying sections 270 and 290 . second amplifying optical fiber 252 can be an erbium - doped optical fiber . second wavelength selective coupler 242 has first to third ports 2421 to 2423 . first port 2421 is connected to third port 2223 of second circulator 222 . second port 2422 is connected to second port 2412 of first wavelength selective coupler 241 . third port 2423 is connected to external optical fiber 210 . second wavelength selective coupler 242 couples the secondarily - amplified l - band optical signals , which have been inputted to first port 2421 , to the c - band optical signals , which have been inputted to second port 2422 , and outputs the coupled signals to third port 2423 . it is possible to control the gain of first amplifying section 270 by controlling the power of the first pump power supplied to first amplifying optical fiber 251 . the power of an amplified spontaneous emission outputted from the first amplifying optical fiber 251 is changed with the power variation of the first pump light . if the amplified spontaneous emission is supplied to second amplifying section 290 without any change , the gain of the second amplifying section 290 will be influenced by a change in gain of the first amplifying section 270 . therefore , the optical attenuator 280 eliminates such an influence . this is the first function of the optical attenuator 280 . while the gain of first amplifying section 270 can be controlled by the control of the power of the first pump light , the gain of second amplifying section 290 can be controlled by the control of transmissivity of optical attenuator 280 . therefore , it is not necessary to control the second and third pump power sources included in second amplifying section 290 by a complicated process of providing an additional control circuit , setting a new algorithm , or the like . it is possible to easily control the gain of second amplifying section 290 by controlling optical attenuator 280 only . this is the second function of optical attenuator 280 . wideband optical fiber amplifier 200 pumps second amplifying optical fiber 252 which amplifies l - band optical signals with an amplified spontaneous emission in the c - band , thereby having a higher amplification efficiency . in addition , wideband optical fiber amplifier 200 can greatly reduce the noise factor in the l - band , as compared to conventional optical fiber amplifiers , because it amplifies c - band optical signals and l - band optical signals together through first amplifying optical fiber 251 . as described above , the gain - controllable wideband optical fiber amplifier of the present invention can obtain a higher amplification efficiency by pumping an amplifying optical fiber for amplifying only l - band optical signals with an amplified spontaneous emission in the c - band . at the same time , the wideband optical fiber amplifier of the present invention can reduce the noise factor in the l - band by amplifying c - band and l - band optical signals together through an amplifying optical fiber for pre - amplification . in addition , the gain - controllable wideband optical fiber amplifier according to the present invention can easily control the gain of l - band optical signals by controlling the power of the spontaneous emission inputted to an amplifying optical fiber , which amplifies only l - band optical signals , using an optical attenuator . while the invention has been shown and described with reference to a certain preferred embodiment thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .	7
further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter . however , it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples , while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention , are given by way of illustration only , since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description . fig1 shows a winding device according to the prior art . in this case , the web - like material 2 , which is supplied to the winding device in the run direction a , is guided via the contact roller 3 . the contact roller 3 is positioned on the roll 4 , which is wound on a roll core 5 , so that the web - like material guided by the contact roller 3 is laid on the roll . a pressing roller is positioned on the roll 4 in the transport direction of the material behind the contact roller , which presses the uppermost layer of the web - like material 2 with pressure against the roll 4 , in order to prevent air inclusions . the so - called roll hardness may be established by the strength of the pressing . the roll core 5 is mounted so it is rotatable on both ends in discs , of which only the rear disc 7 is shown . the discs are in turn mounted so they are rotatable in the machine framework ( not shown ). the contact roller 3 is also mounted on the machine framework via elements which allow a movement of the contact roller 3 in relation to the roll core 5 . the pressing roller 6 is mounted via displacement carriages ( not shown ) in guides 8 , the guides being fastened on the rails . the pressing roller 6 may be displaced in relation to the guides and thus in relation to the roll core 5 with the aid of piston - cylinder units or other suitable drives . a second roll core 9 and further guides 10 are also mounted and / or fastened in the cited discs . the guides 10 also support a second pressing roller 11 , which is assigned to the roll core 9 , via these displaceable carriages . by rotating the discs 7 , the roll core 9 may be pivoted in the direction toward the contact roller , so that this roll core 9 comes into contact with the web - like material . the roll 4 is pivoted away from the contact roller 3 by the rotation of the discs . the web - like material may now be cut through by a cutting device ( not shown ), so that a new web beginning results , which may be fixed on the roll core 9 by suitable means . the old roll 4 may now be removed from the winding device and replaced by an empty roll core . in this way , a new roll results without the winding device having to be stopped for the purpose of changing the roll core . fig2 shows a winding device 1 according to the invention during the winding operation . the identical elements to the winding device shown in fig1 are provided with the same reference numerals in fig2 . in contrast to the winding device according to the prior art , in the device according to the invention , the pressing roller 6 is mounted in a lever arm pair , of which only the rear lever arm 12 is shown . both lever arms of the lever arm pair are connected to one another via suitable coupling elements , such as connecting rods , so that the rotational axis of the pressing roller always runs parallel to the rotational axis of the roll core . in an advantageous embodiment , a gear ring or gear ring segment is fastened for this purpose on each disc 7 , on which gear wheels fastened to a coupling shaft roll . further gear wheels may be provided between gear ring or gear ring segment and gear wheels of the coupling shaft . the coupling shaft may be guided through an axial hole of the pressing roller 6 , 11 . if a torque is applied to one of the two lever arms , the coupling shaft rotates and transmits a torque to the particular other lever arm , the end of the coupling shaft which is mounted so it is rotatable in the other lever arm also rolling on a gear ring or gear ring segment . in this way , an exactly equal angle of the lever arms is ensured . this state of affairs is explained hereafter on the basis of fig9 . the lever arm 12 is mounted via a bearing 13 in the disc 7 . the rotational axis of the pressing roller 6 is parallel to the rotational axis of the bearing 13 . however , both axes are not aligned . this is also true for all other lever arms which are shown in these and the following figures , but also for the lever arms which are not shown . the pivoting of the lever arm is performed , for example , by a drive motor onto whose rotor axis a pinion is plugged and fastened . this pinion engages with a gear wheel or gear wheel segment , which is fastened on a lever arm and whose rotational axis is aligned with the rotational axis of the bearing 13 . an air motor , which is very compact and light , is preferred as the drive motor . this is discussed in still greater detail hereafter in the context of the description of fig9 . the pressing roller 11 , which is mounted and driven in the lever arm 14 similarly to the pressing roller 6 mounted in the lever arm 12 , is shown in a position pivoted away from the roll core 9 in the operating situation shown in fig2 . fig3 shows the winding device 1 according to the invention already shown in fig2 , after the discs have been rotated far enough that the roll core 9 assumes the original position of the roll core 5 . the web - like material 2 is first wound further onto the roll in the situation shown , the web - like material 2 also running over the pressing roller 11 . after the operating situation shown has been achieved , the web - like material is cut through by a cutting device ( not shown ). the web end thus resulting is wound further onto the roll 4 . the web beginning resulting due to the cutting of the web - like material is fixed on the roll core 9 by a suitable measure , such as fixing by an adhesive . the web - like material 2 is now wound onto the roll core 9 . in the meantime , the resulting web end has reached the old roll 4 , so that the pressing roller 11 is no longer in contact with the web - like material 2 . as soon as the new web beginning has been fixed on the roll core , the lever arm 14 is pivoted in the direction toward this roll core and the pressing roller 11 is thus positioned on the roll core . after the replacement of the roll 4 by a new roll core , the changing procedure is completed and the operating situation shown in fig2 is reproduced . it is to be emphasized that the winding device shown in fig2 and 3 is used in particular with slowly running web - like material . the reason for this may be seen in that the pressing roller 11 , which is at rest or even rotates opposite to the web direction from the prior winding on the roll core 9 in the position shown in fig2 , must be set into rotation and / or into opposing rotation by the web - like material as soon as they come into contact . a high transport velocity of the material 2 would also make a high acceleration of the pressing roller necessary , however , and would thus require a large force . the forces acting in this case may result in damage of the web - like material , however . the limit at which the described device may still be used without damaging the web - like material is a transport velocity of 150 - 200 m / minute , this limit also being able to be a function of the material properties . a winding device which is also suitable for winding up rapidly running material is shown in fig4 through 8 . fig4 schematically shows a further embodiment of the winding device 1 according to the invention . this winding device essentially corresponds to the winding device shown in fig2 , but the device shown in fig4 additionally comprises deflection pulleys 15 and 16 . these deflection pulleys 15 and 16 are mounted so they are rotatable in holders which are fastened on the discs . the number of the deflection pulleys is not restricted to two , multiple deflection pulleys may be provided . only the holders 17 fastened on the rear disc are shown in fig4 . the function of the deflection pulleys 15 , 16 will become clear on the basis of the following description of fig5 through 8 , in which the roll core changing procedure is illustrated . fig5 shows the winding device 1 , in which the lever arm 14 has been pivoted in the direction toward the roll core 9 , so that the pressing roller 11 is frictionally engaged with the roll core 9 . the roll core 9 is set into rotation by a drive , by which the pressing roller 11 is also set into rotation . the rotational velocity is selected so that the peripheral velocity of the pressing roller 11 essentially corresponds to the transport velocity of the web - like material . in fig6 , in comparison to fig5 , the contact roller 3 is first displaced in relation to the disc 7 so that it is no longer in contact with the roll 4 . the discs are subsequently rotated by an angle of approximately 90 °. at this rotational angle , the deflection pulley 15 nearly comes into contact with the web - like material 2 . the deflection pulley 15 may have an external pre - accelerator as a function of the material . however , it may also be set into rotation by the web - like material . the deflection pulley has a small diameter and is manufactured from a light material , so that only a small torque must be applied for its acceleration in comparison to the acceleration of a pressing roller . the deflection pulleys may therefore be used in spite of high transport velocities of the web - like material . during the further rotation of the discs , the lever arm 14 is pivoted until it runs approximately parallel to the holder 17 . the pivoting is performed chronologically so that the pressing roller 11 does not touch the web - like material 2 as much as possible . the rotary impulse of the non - driven pressing roller 11 is maintained or decreases only slightly . the rotation of the disc occurs further until the new roll core 9 has come into contact with the web - like material 2 . this situation is shown in fig7 . fig8 shows the operating situation , according to which the web - like material 2 has been cut through using a cutting device . the resulting web end has been wound onto the roll 4 . the newly resulting web beginning has again been fixed on the new roll core 9 , so that a new roll arises at this point . the lever arm 14 has been pivoted in the direction toward the roll core 9 and in this way the pressing roller has been pressed against the roll core 9 and / or the new roll . fig9 shows section ix - ix indicated in fig3 . both discs 7 may be seen in this view , in which both lever arms 14 are rotatable around the rotational axis 20 , symbolized as a dot - dash line . a gear ring or a gear ring segment 21 is fastened on each disc 7 . one gear wheel 22 engages with each of these gear rings or gear ring segments 21 , both gear wheels being connected rotationally fixed to a coupling shaft 23 . the coupling shaft 23 is mounted so it is rotatable in the lever arms 14 via suitable bearings 24 , such as ball bearings . if the lever arms 14 are pivoted in relation to the discs 7 , because of the described construction , both lever arms always assume the same pivot angle . the pressing roller 11 is itself mounted so it is rotatable on the coupling shaft 23 using swivel bearings 25 . as already described , the pressing roller is not driven . it is thus mounted so it is freely rotatable . to be able to move the lever arms 14 in relation to the discs 7 , gear wheels or gear wheel segments 26 are attached to the lever arms 14 . pinions 27 , which are attached rotationally fixed to the drive shafts 29 of drive motors 28 , engage with these gear wheels or gear wheel segments 26 . these drive motors , which are advantageously implemented as air motors , are fastened to the discs 7 . the invention being thus described , it will be apparent that the same may be varied in many ways . such variation are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention , and all such modifications as would be recognized by one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims .	1
as used herein , any usage of terms that suggest an absolute orientation ( e . g . “ top ”, “ bottom ”, “ front ”, “ back ”, etc .) are for illustrative convenience and refer to the orientation shown in a particular figure . however , such terms are not to be construed in a limiting sense as it is contemplated that various components will , in practice , be utilized in orientations that are the same as , or different than those described or shown . referring to fig1 , a schematic representation of a traffic management system is generally shown at 50 . it is to be understood that the system 50 is purely exemplary and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art with the benefit of the description provided herein that variations are contemplated . the system 50 includes a portable traffic control system 55 , a base station 80 and a wireless control device 75 . the traffic control system 55 is generally configured to provide signals to drivers to control the flow of traffic . the signals provided to the drives are not particularly limited . for example , the signals to drivers can include visible and / or audible signals . visible signals can include the use of screens , lights , or physical indicators , such as mechanically moveable barriers or signs . audible signals can include the use of various sounds such as sirens , chirps , and / or low frequency sound wave that can provide a vibrational indication to the drivers in vehicles . in the present embodiment , the traffic control system 55 generally includes a traffic control signal 57 for providing the visible and / or audible signals to traffic , a wireless interface 60 for receiving signals from the base station 80 , a mast 65 , and a support base 70 . the support base 70 is generally configured to support the mast on a surface , such as a road surface , when the traffic control system 55 is deployed . accordingly , the support base 70 generally includes a substantial mass such that the mast 65 would be held rigidly in place . for example , the support base 70 can include dense materials such as cement and heavy metals . in some embodiments , the support base 70 can include anchors ( not shown ) for securing the support base 70 to the surface with a fastener . in the present embodiment , the wireless control device 75 is generally configured to receive input for controlling the traffic control signal 57 of the portable traffic control system 55 . the wireless control device 75 is a portable electronic device and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art with the benefit of this description that a wide variety of portable electronic devices are contemplated . for example , the wireless control device 75 can include , without limitation , a cellular telephone , a portable email paging device , a personal digital assistant , a tablet computer , a netbook computer , a laptop computer , or an on - board computer in a vehicle . other contemplated variations include devices which are not necessarily portable , such as desktop computers . in the present embodiment , the wireless control device 75 includes a display screen 76 , which can also serve as a touchscreen input device for receiving user input . in other embodiments , the wireless control device 75 can further include various lights , such as various warning lights . the manner by which the wireless control device 75 receives input is not particularly limited . in the present embodiment , the wireless control device 75 includes a screen 76 where an operator can use to enter input via the use of various virtual keys . in other embodiments , the input can be received via a plurality of keys , such as through a conventional keyboard . further types of input devices are also contemplated . for example , a joystick , trackball , track - wheel , or optical camera or microphone can be use in addition to or in lieu of the touch screen . the base station 80 is generally configured to receive the data from the wireless control device 75 , and to generate control signals for operating the traffic control signal 57 . the base station 80 is further configured to transmit the control signals to the traffic control system 55 via the wireless interface 60 . it is to be appreciate by a person of skill in the art with the benefit of this description that the manner by which the base station 80 generates and transmits control signals based on data from the wireless control device 75 is not particularly limited and variations are discussed in greater detail below . in the present embodiment , the base station 80 receives data from the wireless control device 75 and transmits control signals to the traffic control system 55 using wireless technology . in particular , the base station 80 can serve as a wireless hub and the traffic control system 55 and the wireless control device 75 can be devices connected to the hotspot . however , it is to be appreciated that the communications between the base station 80 , the wireless control device 75 , and the traffic control system 55 is not particularly limited and that other standards such as bluetooth , mobile network standards , such as fourth generation ( 4g ), third generation ( 3g ), code division multiple access ( cdma ), groupe spécial mobile ( gsm ) or long term evolution ( lte ) standards , or non - standard radio frequency ( rf ) signals can be used . other manners of wireless data transmission can also be used such as transmission signals outside the rf spectrum , for example infrared , or audio signal transmission techniques , such as sonar . in the present embodiment , the base station 80 is supported by base station legs 85 to elevate the base station 80 to improve reception . it is to be appreciated that in other embodiments , the base station 80 can be mounted to an elevated location or vehicle such that the legs 85 can be omitted . in general terms , the system 50 is generally configured to manage traffic at a worksite based on input from a wireless control device 75 for controlling the traffic control system 55 via a base station 80 . it is to be re - emphasized that the structure shown in fig1 is a non - limiting representation only . notwithstanding the specific example , it is to be understood that other equivalent systems managing traffic can be devised to perform the same function as the system 50 . for example , systems can include multiple traffic control systems 55 , base stations 80 or even wireless control devices 75 which may be different types of devices . referring to fig2 , an embodiment of the traffic control system 55 is shown in greater detail . it is to be understood that the traffic control system 55 is purely exemplary and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of traffic control systems are contemplated including additional embodiments described in greater detail below . in the present embodiment , the traffic control system 55 includes a wireless interface 60 , the mast 65 , traffic lights 100 - 1 and 100 - 2 , a support beam 105 , a storage box 110 , and a battery compartment 115 . in operation , the wireless interface 60 is generally configured to receive control signals from the base station 80 . the wireless interface 60 is also in communication with the traffic control signal 57 and uses the control signals from the base station 80 to control the traffic control signal 57 . the base station 80 receives data from the wireless control device 75 to generate and transmit control signals to the traffic control system 55 using wireless technology . however , it is to be appreciated that the communications between the base station 80 , the wireless control device 75 , and the traffic control system 55 is not particularly limited and that other standards such as bluetooth , mobile network standards , such as fourth generation ( 4g ), third generation ( 3g ), code division multiple access ( cdma ), groupe spécial mobile ( gsm ) or long term evolution ( lte ) standards , or non - standard radio frequency ( rf ) signals can be used . the manner by which the traffic control signal 57 is controlled is not particularly limited . for example , the traffic control system 55 can include a local processing unit ( not shown ) for managing the operation of the traffic control signal 57 . for example , the local processing unit can include a timer that toggles the state of the traffic control signal 57 and the control signals received at the wireless interface 60 can then be used to adjust parameters , such as timing and sequence . alternatively , the wireless interface 60 can directly control the traffic control signal 57 with the control signals which can be used to directly operate the hardware of the traffic control signal 57 , such as turning on a specific light or engaging a motor to move a sign or barrier in some embodiments . the mast 65 is connected to the support base and generally configured to support the traffic control signal 57 at a suitable height during operation such that the traffic control signal 57 is visible to drivers . in terms of providing physical support , the mast 65 is mechanically structured to support the weight of the traffic control signal 57 and withstand some typical forces that may be caused by weather or passing vehicles . the mast 65 is typically constructed from materials with suitable mechanical properties . some examples of suitable materials include stainless steel , titanium , plastics , composites , and other materials with similar structural stability characteristics . in the present embodiment , the mast 65 is optionally engineered break away from the support base 70 during a collision , such as if a vehicle crashes into the traffic control system 55 . it is to be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that manner by which the mast 65 breaks away is such that the mast and / or other components of the traffic control system 55 would not enter the passenger compartment of a vehicle . for example , the connection point of the mast 65 and the support base 70 can be pivotally connected such that a collision would simply rotate the mast 65 about the pivot point to remain under the vehicle which collided into the traffic control system 55 . in the present embodiment , the traffic control signal 57 includes traffic lights 100 - 1 and 100 - 2 ( collectively , traffic lights 100 , and generically , traffic light 100 — this nomenclature is used elsewhere herein ) supported by the beam 105 . the traffic lights 100 - 1 and 100 - 2 are not particularly limited and generally include a red light at the top , a yellow light in the middle and a green light at the bottom . the light source of the traffic lights 100 - 1 and 100 - 2 can include any manner that produces a sufficient brightness of light for the application . for example , each of the light sources can include an incandescent light bulb , or a light emitting diode ( led ). although the present embodiments illustrate a pair traffic lights 100 with three colored lights , it is to be appreciated that variations are contemplated . for example , instead of a pair of traffic lights , a single traffic light can be substituted . the orientation of the traffic lights 100 is also not particularly limited and the traffic lights 100 can be horizontally oriented . as another example of a variation , the traffic lights 100 can include more or fewer lights , such as omitting the yellow light or adding in directional control lights . in the present embodiment , the support base 70 includes an optional storage box 110 for storing the traffic control system 55 during transport or storage . the manner by which the traffic control system 55 is stored is not particularly limited . for example , the storage box 110 can be dimensioned to fit the wireless interface 60 , the mast 65 , the beam 105 , and the traffic lights 100 . in some embodiments , the mast 65 can be collapsible ( e . g . telescopically ) or foldable to more readily fit within the storage box 110 . it is to be appreciated by a person of skill in the art with the benefit of this description that when the traffic control system 55 is deployed , the storage box 110 can also be filled with another material , such as sand or water , to provide greater stability by adding mass to the support base 70 . it is to be appreciated that in some embodiments , the storage box can be omitted and the support based 70 can simply include a weight such as a cement block . furthermore , the support base 70 also includes an optional battery compartment 115 in the present embodiment . the battery compartment 115 is generally used to store a battery such as rechargeable battery for embodiments where the traffic control system 55 is powered with a battery . they type and size of the battery is not particularly limited and can be varied depending on the specific application . for example , for applications where the traffic control system 55 is intended to be operated for periods typically not exceeding 8 hours such as to clear an accident scene , the battery compartment 115 can be used to store a lithium ion battery , lead acid battery , or any other suitable energy storage device capable of providing at least 8 hours of operation . for applications requiring additional battery life , such as 24 hours , a larger batter pack can be place in the battery compartment 115 to provide a longer period of operation between charging . it is to be appreciated that in some embodiments not powered by battery that the battery compartment 115 can be omitted . referring to fig3 , a schematic block diagram illustration of components of the base station 80 is provided . it is to be understood that the base station 80 is purely exemplary and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of base station devices are contemplated . in the present embodiment , the base station 80 includes a processor 200 , a network interface 205 , a memory storage unit 210 , and a control module 215 . the network interface 205 , the memory storage unit 210 , and the control module 215 are each in electrical communication with the processor 200 . the network interface 205 is not particularly limited and can include various wireless network interface devices such as a wireless network interface controller ( nic ). in particular , the network interface 205 is generally configured to the wireless interface 60 and the wireless control device 75 . for example , the network interface 205 can connect to the wireless interface 60 and the wireless control device 75 using wifi , bluetooth , and / or via another rf signal . in particular , the network interface 205 is configured to receive input from the wireless control device 75 and pass the input to the processor 200 for further processing as described further below . the network interface 205 can also provide connectivity to an external network such as a mobile network via known standards such as fourth generation ( 4g ), third generation ( 3g ), code division multiple access ( cdma ), groupe spécial mobile ( gsm ) or long term evolution ( lte ). it is to be appreciated that by providing access to an external network , the based station 80 can be connected to a remote traffic control center external of the worksite , where additional processing capacity may be available to analyze and optimize the operation of the system 50 based on traffic conditions . the remote traffic control center can be a physical location , such as a company headquarters , or it can be a cloud server . in the present embodiment , a server collects the traffic data for the purpose of creating a reviewable log for subsequent or real time monitoring at a remote location . in other embodiments , the server can be used to perform complex traffic optimization on the traffic data that can be used to better control the traffic control systems around the worksite . it is to be appreciated with the benefit of this description that the base station 80 can use more than one method of communication with either the wireless control device 75 or the traffic control system 55 , where the multiple methods function as redundant backup systems . accordingly , the network interface cab be configured to communicate using multiple standards . alternatively , a separate network interface can be used within the base station 80 for each communication standard . in particular , since failure of the system 50 can result in the direction of traffic into dangerous situations , several failsafe procedures are generally built into the system . for example , redundant communications provide a backup when a frequency or mode of communication is disrupted , such as due to interference . in other embodiments , a failsafe can involve using the traffic control system 55 to stop all cars until the problem is resolved . the manner by which a failure is detected is not particularly limited . for example , the base station 80 can periodically ping the traffic control system 55 and the wireless control device 75 and listen for a response . accordingly , if no response is received within an acceptable time , the system 50 can enter a failure mode as one of the components is no longer responding . the causes of failure are not particularly important and can include a battery failure or a destructive event such as an accident involving the traffic control system 55 . the memory storage unit 210 can be of any type such as non - volatile memory ( e . g . electrically erasable programmable read only memory ( eeprom ), flash memory , hard disk , floppy disk , optical disk , solid state drive , or tape drive ) or volatile memory ( e . g . random access memory ( ram )). although the memory storage unit 210 is generally a type of non - volatile memory because of the robust nature of non - volatile memory , some embodiments can use volatile memory in situations where high access speed is desired . in the present embodiment , the memory storage unit 210 is a non - volatile memory unit instructions 250 for directing the processor 200 to carry out various functions . in addition , the memory storage unit can be used to store and record logs and traffic data as described further below . the processor 200 is generally configured to execute programming instructions 250 to generate control signals and to send and receive data via the network interface 205 . in the present embodiment , the programming instructions 250 configure the processor 200 to receive input data from a wireless control device 75 . the processor 200 subsequently determines what functionality the input data is requesting and generates a control signal to be sent to the wireless interface 60 of the traffic control system 55 . the manner by which the control signals are generated are not particularly limited and can include variations . for example , the control signals can be generated automatically in a “ automatic mode ” based on a predetermined sequence of control signals stored managed by the control module 215 . in this example , the memory storage unit 210 can store a series of control signals wo be used by the control module 215 . the series of control signals can each be a command to turn on or off a light in the traffic lights 100 , such as cycling between the green , yellow , and red lights based on fixed time periods , such as displaying each of the lights for one minute , 5 second , and another minute , respectively . to begin this predetermined sequence , the input received from the wireless control device 75 be a command to begin operating in an “ automatic mode ” although the present embodiment show the control module as a separate component in the base station 80 , it is to be appreciated that the control module 215 can be a set of instructions carried out by the processor 200 . the input from the wireless control device 75 can be a command to toggle between the “ automatic mode ” and a “ manual mode ”. in the “ manual mode ”, the control signals can be generated manually based on the input received from the wireless control device 75 . for example , input from the wireless control device 75 can represent a command to turn on a red light on the traffic light 100 . the command is processed by the processor 200 which sends the control signal to the traffic control system 55 to turn on the red light . in fig4 , another embodiment of a traffic management system 50 a is shown . like components of the system 50 bear like reference to their counterparts in the system 50 , except followed by the suffix “ a ”. the traffic management system 50 a includes a first portable traffic control system 55 a - 1 , a second portable traffic control system 55 a - 2 ( collectively , traffic control systems 55 a , and generically , traffic control system 55 a ), a base station 80 a and a wireless control device 75 a . in the present embodiment , the system 50 a includes two traffic control systems 55 a for managing traffic at a worksite , in this case a car accident scene . each of the traffic control systems 55 a are in communication with the base station 80 a , and includes a traffic control signal for managing traffic from two separate locations . in the present embodiment , the worksite is located at a bend in a road blocking one lane of the two - lane road . accordingly , opposing traffic would need to share the single available lane to pass through the worksite . the traffic control systems 55 a are deployed at each end of the bend and are used to allow traffic through in one direction at a time . it is to be appreciated that in order to have the traffic control systems 55 a operate to allow traffic to pass through the worksite , the operation of the traffic control systems 55 a are coordinated . for example , the base station 80 a prevents both traffic control systems 55 a from displaying a “ green ” light , which can cause an additional accident as opposing traffic would be driving around the corner in a single lane . therefore , the control module of the base station 80 a would need to ensure that both traffic control systems 55 a are not simultaneous “ green ”. the manner by which the control module avoids this is not particularly limited . in the present embodiment , the traffic control systems 55 a can be synchronized by the base station 80 a such that the traffic control system 55 a - 1 is designated a master and the traffic control system 55 a - 2 is designated a slave . accordingly , the traffic control signal of the traffic control system 55 a - 2 is a slave to the traffic control signal of the traffic control system 55 a - 1 and necessary put in the opposite state . therefore , the entire system 50 a can be controlled by adjusting only the operation of the traffic control system 55 a - 1 . referring to fig5 a , another embodiment of a traffic control system 55 b is shown . like components of the traffic control system 55 b bear like reference to their counterparts in the traffic control system 55 , except followed by the suffix “ b ”. the traffic control system 55 b includes a sensor 56 b mounted on the mast 65 b . the sensor 56 b is generally configured to collect traffic data and is positioned near the traffic control signal . in the present embodiment , the sensor 56 b is in communication with the wireless interface 60 b and configured to transmit the traffic data to the base station 80 . it is to be appreciated that the traffic data collected is not particularly limited and can be any data that can provide an indication of the traffic conditions . in the present embodiment , the sensor 56 b is a camera collecting images . the images are transmitted to the base station 80 , where the processor 200 can process the images to determine the traffic conditions using various image recognition methods to determine the number of cars as well as their speeds and direction of travel . accordingly , if the images indicate a large number of vehicles lined up in front of the traffic control system 55 b , the processor 200 forward the information to the control module 215 automatically , where the control module 215 generate a control signal for transmission back to the traffic control system 55 b to allow vehicles to pass to alleviate the traffic congestion . in other embodiment , the images can be analyzed at the traffic control system 55 b and the traffic data can be a number , such as a number representing the number of cars or the time delay . in other embodiments , instead of using the control module 215 , the base station 80 can transmit the images to a remote traffic center for analysis to optimize the operation of the traffic control system 55 b . alternatively , the images can be relayed by the base station 80 to a wireless control device 75 for displaying on a display screen 76 . accordingly , an operate can then easily view the traffic conditions and manually control the traffic control system 55 b using the wireless control device 75 . in other embodiments , the sensor 56 b can be a ranging sensor such as a microwave , radar , lidar , and photovoltaic sensor . referring to fig5 b , another embodiment of a traffic control system 55 c is shown . like components of the traffic control system 55 c bear like reference to their counterparts in the traffic control system 55 , except followed by the suffix “ c ”. the traffic control system 55 c includes a moveable gate arm 58 c connected to the mast 65 c . in the present embodiment , the gate arm 58 c is pivotally connected to the mast 65 c and configured to move between a raised position to allow traffic to flow past and a lowered position to act as a barrier to prevent traffic from flowing through . in other embodiments , the arm can telescope between a contracted position and an extended position . although the present embodiment of the traffic control system 55 c includes a traffic lights 100 c , it is to be appreciated by a person of skill in the art with the benefit of this description that the traffic lights 100 c can be omitted and the gate arm 58 c can be used along to control traffic flow alone . referring to fig5 c , another embodiment of a traffic control system 55 d is shown . like components of the traffic control system 55 d bear like reference to their counterparts in the traffic control system 55 , except followed by the suffix “ d ”. the traffic control system 55 d includes a solar panel 59 d for charging a battery in the batter compartment 115 d . it is to be appreciated that the solar panel 59 d can also be used to power the traffic control system 55 d without a battery ; however , this would limit the use of the traffic control system 55 d to ideal weather conditions . by adding the solar panel 59 d , the traffic control system 55 d can be installed at a worksite for longer periods of time without the need to remove the traffic control system 55 d for charging or to bring a charging station to the worksite . referring to fig5 d , another embodiment of a traffic control system 55 e is shown . like components of the traffic control system 55 d bear like reference to their counterparts in the traffic control system 55 , except followed by the suffix “ e ”. the traffic control system 55 e includes a display 300 e . the display 300 e is not particularly limited and can include any display capable of presenting a message to traffic . for example , the display 300 e can include one or more light emitters such as an array of light emitting diodes ( led ), liquid crystals , plasma cells , or organic light emitting diodes ( oled ). referring to fig6 a and 6 b , screen shots of the display screen 76 of the wireless control device 75 are shown . referring specifically to fig6 a , a home screen with four video feeds 500 - 1 , 500 - 2 , 500 - 3 , and 500 - 4 ( collectively , feeds 500 , and generically , feed 500 ). in the present embodiment , each feed 500 is an image from a camera mounted on a traffic control system . accordingly , the screen shown in fig6 a is connected to a system with at least four traffic control systems . in addition , a menu 510 with various options for controlling the traffic control systems is shown as well as a map 520 of the area where the system is deployed . using the display shown in fig6 a , an operator can monitor the entire worksite from the safety of a location far away from the flow of traffic , such as in the cab of a truck . using the menu 515 , the operator can manually adjust the various traffic control signals . the feeds 500 allow the operator to observe the traffic and make adjustments accordingly . it is to be appreciated by a person of skill in the art with the benefit of this description that the screen shots shown in fig6 a and 6 b are not particularly limited and that numerous layouts can be used . in some embodiments , the wireless control device 75 can present options to customize the views . for example , although fig6 a and 6 b show four feeds , it is to be understood that more or less feeds 500 can be shown simultaneous . in some embodiments , the feeds 500 can be omitted when the system is operating in “ automatic mode ” referring specifically to fig6 b , another screen with the four video feeds 500 - 1 , 500 - 2 , 500 - 3 , and 500 - 4 . in the present embodiment , the menu is configured to allow an operator to flip a light from one state to another , such as from green to red . various advantages will now be apparent . of note is the ability to deploy a lightweight traffic management system at a worksite connected by a base station . the traffic management system provides traffic management without having a need for a flagman and thus reducing the probability accidents causing personal injury at worksites . as described above , the traffic management system is not particularly limited and can include additional components when needed . for example , additional base stations can be added to extend the range of the traffic management system for large sites and addition traffic control systems can be added if there are more than one or two flows of traffic that need to be controlled . in addition , the system allows for data to be sent to a remote cloud server from where the system can be controlled such that it would not be necessary to staff a person at the worksite . sending data to the cloud also allows for traffic analysis to be carried out by dedicated traffic servers that can perform more complex traffic optimization analysis . while specific embodiments have been described and illustrated , such embodiments should be considered illustrative only and should not serve to limit the accompanying claims .	7
in general formula i the substituent group as represented by r 3 in addition to being hydrogen , a cation or a lower alkyl group may also be alkanoyloxymethyl as represented by the structure : ## str3 ## wherein r 5 is selected from a straight or branched lower alkyl group of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms ; alkanoylaminomethyl or alkoxycarbonylaminomethyl as represented by the structure : ## str4 ## wherein r 6 represents a straight or branched lower alkyl group of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms or a straight or branched alkoxy group of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms , and r 7 is selected from hydrogen and a lower alkyl group of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms ; p -( alkanoyloxy ) benzyl as represented by the structure : ## str5 ## wherein r 8 is a straight or branched lower alkyl of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms ; and aminoalkanoyloxymethyl as represented by the group : ## str6 ## wherein m is 0 to 5 , each of r 9 and r 10 is selected from hydrogen or lower alkyl of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms , and each of r 11 and r 12 is selected from hydrogen or a straight or branched lower alkyl group of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms . illustrative examples of straight or branched lower alkyl groups of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms which y , r 5 , r 6 , r 8 , r 11 and r 12 may represent are methyl , ethyl , n - propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl and tert - butyl . examples of lower alkyl groups of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms which r 7 , r 9 and r 10 may represent are methyl , ethyl , n - propyl and n - butyl . examples of lower alkoxy groups which y may represent are methoxy , ethoxy , n - propoxy and n - butoxy . in the compounds of general formula i the substituent group r 2 represents , in addition to hydrogen and acetoxy heterocyclicthio groups selected from 1 , 3 , 4 - thiadiazol - 2 - ylthio , 5 - methyl - 1 , 3 , 4 - thiadiazol - 2 - ylthio , tetrazol - 5 - ylthio , 1 - methyltetrazol - 5 - ylthio , 1 , 3 , 4 - oxadiazol - 2 - ylthio , 5 - methyl - 1 , 3 , 4 - oxadiazol - 2 - ylthio , 1 , 3 , 4 - triazol - 2 - ylthio , 5 - methyl - 1 , 3 , 4 - triazol - 2 - ylthio and 1 , 2 , 3 - triazol - 5 - ylthio as represented by the following respective structures : ## str7 ## preferred compounds of this invention are compounds of formula i wherein w is hydrogen , amino , hydroxy , -- cooh or -- so 3 h . more preferred compounds of this invention are compounds of formula i wherein w is hydrogen or amino . even more preferred compounds are those of formula i wherein z is a bond and y is hydrogen . compounds wherein r is 4 - pyridinyl or 2 - pyridinyl are also preferred . the compounds of formula i are prepared by treatment of a derivative of formula ii with a derivative of formula iii ## str8 ## wherein y , z , w , r 1 , r 2 and r 3 have the same meaning as described in formula i and x is a halogen atom such as chlorine , bromine or iodine . the reaction between a compound of formula ii and a compound of formula iii to give a compound of formula i takes place when equimolar amounts of the reagents are combined in a suitable solvent . suitable solvents include dimethyl formamide , acetone , ethyl acetate , acetonitrile , methanol , ethanol . the temperature of the reaction may vary from 0 ° to 100 ° c . and the reaction time may vary from about 0 . 5 hour to 10 hours . the product of the reaction of formula i may be obtained upon removal of the solvent or by precipitation upon combination of the reaction solution with a solvent in which the product is insoluble . the compounds of formula ii may be used in situ without the need of prior isolation when prepared by the treatment of a compound of formula iii with the product obtained upon coupling a compound of formula iv with an acid of formula v or a functional equivalent thereof ## str9 ## wherein r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , x , y , z and w are as described above . compounds of formulas ii and v have been described in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 919 , 206 ; 3 , 948 , 904 ; 4 , 026 , 887 . compounds of formula iii are commercially available or may be readily prepared by known procedures . the compounds of general formula iv , that is , 7 - aminocephalosporanic acid and 7 - aminodesacetoxycephalosporanic acid and derivatives thereof are commercially available or may be obtained from penicillin g , cephalosporin c or cephamycin c by processes known in the art . for example , compounds of formula iv wherein r 7 is methoxy may be prepared as described by m . sletzinger et al ., j . am . chem . soc ., 94 , 1408 ( 1972 ). compounds of formula iv may also be prepared as described in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 948 , 904 and 4 , 026 , 887 . when the subtituent group w in the above formula v represents an amino group suitable blocking groups , for example , tert - butoxycarbonyl , or carbobenzyloxy are employed to protect the amino function . such blocking groups are removed after the coupling reaction by methods generally known in the art , for example , as described by lemieux et al ., in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 657 , 232 . the preparation of a compound of formula v wherein w is -- cooindanyl may be carried out by reacting the corresponding compound of formula v wherein w is -- cooh with one mole of 5 - indanol in an inert solvent such as chloroform , dichloromethane , dimethylformamide , in the presence of n , n &# 39 ;- dicyclohexylcarbodiimide at a ph of about 2 . 5 and a temperature of from 20 ° to 30 ° c . the product is isolated upon filtration of the n , n &# 39 ;- dicyclohexyl urea formed and subsequent removal of the solvent . functional equivalents of the acids as represented by formula v include the acid halides , for example , the acid chloride , acid anhydrides , including mixed anhydrides with , for example , alkylphosphoric acids , lower aliphatic monoesters of carbonic acid , or alkyl or aryl sulfonic acids . additionally , the acid azide or an active ester of thioester , for example , with p - nitrophenol , 2 , 4 - dinitrophenol , or thioacetic acid , may be used , or the free acid as represented by formula v may be coupled with the 7 - aminocephalosporanic acid derivative as represented by formula iv after first reacting the acid with n , n &# 39 ;- dimethylchloroforminium chloride or by use of a carbodiimide reagent , for example , n , n &# 39 ;- diisopropylcarbodiimide , n , n &# 39 ;- dicyclohexylcarbodiimide , or n - cyclohexyl - n &# 39 ;-( 2 - morpholinoethyl ) carbodiimide . the coupling reaction between compounds of formula iv and formula v is generally carried out in the presence of a solvent , such as , ethyl acetate , acetone , dioxane , acetonitrile , chloroform , ethylene chloride , tetrahydrofuran and dimethylformamide and optionally in the presence of a base such as sodium bicarbonate , triethylamine n , n - dimethylaniline . the temperature of the reaction may vary from - 10 ° to 100 ° c ., and the reaction time may vary from about 1 / 2 hour to 10 hours . the cephalosporin products are isolated by conventional methods . the salt forms of formula i wherein r 3 is a pharmaceutically acceptable cation are prepared in the manner recognized in the art and may be formed in situ or by reacting the corresponding acid with base , for example , sodium bicarbonate or triethylamine . the compounds of formula i wherein r 2 is selected from a heteroarylthiol residue may also be prepared by the reaction of a compound of formula i wherein r 2 is acetoxy namely formula vi with an appropriate heteroarylthiol of formula vii as schematically described below ## str10 ## wherein y , w , z , r , r 1 and r 3 are described above and r 13 - s - is a heteroarylthio residue selected from 1 , 3 , 4 - thiadiazol - 2 - ylthio ; 5 - methyl - 1 , 3 , 4 - thiadiazol - 2 - ylthio ; tetrazol - 5 - ylthio ; 1 - methyltetrazol - 5 - ylthio ; 1 , 3 , 4 - oxadiazol - 2 - ylthio ; 5 - methyl - 1 , 3 , 4 - oxadiazol - 2 - ylthio ; 1 , 3 , 4 - triazol - 2 - ylthio ; 5 - methyl - 1 , 3 , 4 - triazol - 2 - ylthio ; and 1 , 2 , 3 - triazol - 5 - ylthio . the reaction is generally carried out in the presence of a solvent . suitable solvents include water , methanol , ethanol , dimethylformamide , and dimethylsulfoxide . the reaction is carried out by mixing in the hereinabove mentioned solvent a compound of formula vi with a compound of formula vii , in such a way that the compound of formula vii may be present in a non - stoichiometric excess relative to the compound of formula vi . the reaction temperature may vary from about 25 ° c . to 100 ° c . and the reaction time may vary from about 1 / 2 hour to 10 hours . the reaction may be carried out in the presence of a base such as sodium carbonate , sodium bicarbonate , or triethylamine . the product of the reaction is isolated by conventional methods known in the art . the individual optical isomers of the compounds of general formula i wherein w represents methyl , nh 2 , oh , cooh or so 3 h are also included within the scope of this invention . the novel compounds of this invention are useful as antibiotic agents as demonstrated by their activity against gram positive and gram negative bacteria in vitro and in vivo and fungi . the compounds of this invention are particularly useful in that they possess a longer duration of activity than many of the well known cephalosporin compounds . illustrative examples of bacteria against which the compounds of this invention are active are staphylococcus aureus , salmonella schottmulleri , klebsiella pneumoniae , diplococcus pneumonia , and streptococcus pyogenes . the compounds of this invention may be administered alone or in the form of pharmaceutical preparations either orally , parenterally or topically . they may be administered to warm blooded animals , that is , birds and mammals , for example , felines , canines , bovines , equines , and humans . for oral administration the compounds may be administered in the form of tablets , capsules or pills or in the form of elixirs or suspensions . for parenteral administration they are best used in the form of a sterile aqueous solution which may contain other solutes , for example , enough saline or glucose to make the solution isotonic . for topical administration the compounds may be incorporated into creams or ointments . to a solution of a compound of formula ii in 5 - 10 ml of dimethylformamide an equimolar amount of a compound of formula iii is added . the solution is stirred at about 25 ° c . for 30 minutes and at 55 ° c . for three hours , and is then added to 200 ml of dichloromethane . the mixture is stirred for 30 minutes . the precipitated solid is filtered , washed with dichloromethane , and dried to give the product isolated as the hydrohalide salt . to a cold solution of sodium bicarbonate ( 2 equivalents ) and a compound of formula iv ( 1 equivalent ) in a mixture of three parts of water to two parts of acetone , is added a compound of formula v in one part of acetone . the solution is stirred for 30 minutes at about 25 ° c . and is then flash concentrated until all the acetone has been removed . to the obtained solution a compound of formula iii ( 1 equivalent ) is added . the solution is stirred at room temperature for two hours . during this time a solid precipitate is formed which is filtered , washed with water and dried to give the desired compound of formula i . the title compound is obtained in 47 . 5 % yield when prepared according to procedure i when the reagents used are 3 -[( acetyloxy ) methyl ]- 7 -[[ 2 -[ 4 -( chloromethyl ) phenyl ] acetyl ] amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - azabicyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - carboxylic acid ( a compound of formula ii ) and 4 - mercaptopyridine ( a compound of formula iii ). nmr ( dmso - d 6 + d 2 o ) ppm [ δ ) 2 . 10 ( s , 3 ), 3 . 6 ( broad s , 2 ), 4 . 6 ( s , 2 ), 4 . 88 ( q , 2 ), 5 . 13 ( d , 1 ), 5 . 75 ( d , 1 ), 7 . 1 - 8 . 8 ( m , 8 ). when in the procedure of example 1 an appropriate amount of a chloromethyl substituted cephalosporin derivative of formula ii listed in the following table i is substituted for 3 -[( acetyloxy ) methyl ]- 7 -[[ 2 -[ 4 -( chloromethyl ) phenyl ] acetyl ] amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - azabicyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - carboxylic acid the respective [( pyridinylthio ) methyl ] phenyl ] acetyl ]- substituted cephalosporin product listed in table i is obtained . table 1__________________________________________________________________________chloromethyl substituted pyridylthio substitutedcephalosporin derivative mercapto pyridine cephalosporin product__________________________________________________________________________3 -[( 1 - methyltetrazol - 5 - ylthio )- 4 - mercaptopyridine 3 -[[( 1 - methyl - 1h - tetrazol - 5 - yl ) thio ]- 3methyl ]- 7 -[[ 2 -[ 4 -( chloromethyl )- methyl ]- 8 - oxo - 7 -[[[ 4 -[( 4 - pyridinyl - phenyl ] acetyl ] amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thio ) methyl ] phenyl ] acetyl ] amino ]- 5 - thia - 1 - azabicyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - thia - 1 - azabicyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - 4ene - 2 - carboxylic acid carboxylic acid3 -[( acetyloxy ) methyl ]- 7 -[[ 2 - 4 - mercaptopyridine 3 -[( acetyloxy ) methyl ]- 7 -[( hydroxy [ 4 - . [ 4 -( chloromethyl ) phenyl ]- 2 - [( 4 - pyridinylthio ) methyl ] phenyl ]- hydroxyacetyl ] amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - acetyl ] amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - azabi - thia - 1 - azabicyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - cyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - carboxylicene - 2 - carboxylic acid acid3 -[( acetyl ) methyl ]- 7 -[[ 2 -[ 4 - 3 - mercaptopyridine 3 -[( acetyloxy ) methyl ]- 7 -[[ carboxy -( chloromethyl ) phenyl ]- 2 - carboxy - ( 3 -[( 4 - pyridinylthio ) methyl ] phenyl ]- acetyl ] amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - acetyl ] amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - aza - azabicyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - bicyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - carboxyliccarboxylic acid acid3 -[( acetyloxy ) methyl ]- 7 -[[ 2 -[ 4 - 3 - mercaptopyridine 3 -[( acetyloxy ) methyl ]- 8 - oxo - 7 -[[( 4 -( chloromethyl ) phenyl ]- 2 - sulfo - [( 3 - pyridinylthio ) methyl ] phenyl ]- acetyl ] amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - sulfoacetyl ] amino ]- 5 - thia - 1 - azabi - azabicyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - cyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - carboxyliccarboxylic acid acid3 -[( 2 - methyl - 1 , 3 , 4 - thiadiazol - 2 - mercaptopyridine 7 -[[ amino [ 4 -[( 2 - pyridinylthio ) methyl ] - 5 - ylthio ) methyl ]- 7 -[[ 2 -[ 4 - phenyl ] acetyl ] amino ]- 3 -[[( 5 - methyl -( chloromethyl ) phenyl ]- 2 - amino - 1 , 3 , 4 - thiadiazol - 2 - yl ) thio ] methyl ]- acetyl ] amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - azabicyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ]- azabicyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - oct - 2 - ene - 2 - carboxylic acidcarboxylic acid3 -[( acetyloxy ) methyl ]- 7 -[[ 2 -[ 4 - 2 - mercaptopyridine 3 -[( acetyloxy ) methyl ]- 7 -[[ amino -( chloromethyl ) phenyl ]- 2 - amino - [ 4 -[( 2 - pyridinylthio ) methyl ] phenyl ]- acetyl ] amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - acetyl ] amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - azabi - azabicyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - cyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - carboxyliccarboxylic acid 2 , 2 - dimethyl - 1 - acidoxopropoxymethyl ester3 -[( acetyloxy ) methyl ]- 7 -[[ 2 -[ 2 - 4 - mercaptopyridine 3 -[( acetoxy ) methyl ]- 7 -[[[ 2 - chloro -( chloro )- 4 -( chloromethyl ) phenyl ]- 4 -[( 4 - pyridinylthio )] methyl ] phenyl ]- acetyl ] amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - acetyl ] amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - azabi - azabicyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - cyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - carboxyliccarboxylic acid acid3 -[( acetyloxy ) methyl ]- 7 -[[ 2 -[ 4 - 3 - mercaptopyridine 3 -[( acetyloxy ) methyl ]- 8 - oxo - 7 -[[[ 4 -( chloromethyl ) phenoxy ] acetyl ]- ( 3 - pyridinylthio ) phenoxy ] acetyl ]- amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - azabi - amino ]- 5 - thia - 1 - azabicyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ]- cyclo [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - carbox - oct - 2 - ene - 2 - carboxylic acidylic acid3 -[( 2 - methyl - 1 , 3 , 4 - thiadiazol - 5 - 2 - mercaptopyridine 7 -[[ hydroxy [ 2 -[( 4 - pyridinylthio )- ylthio ) methyl ]- 7 -[[ 2 -[ 4 -( chloro - methyl ] phenyl ] acetyl ] amino ]- 3 -[[( 5 - methyl ) phenyl ]- 2 - hydroxyacetyl ]- methyl - 1 , 3 , 4 - thiadiazol - 2 - yl ) thio ]- amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - azabicyclo - methyl ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - azabicyclo -[ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - carboxylic acid [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - carboxylic acid3 -[( acetyloxy ) methyl ]- 7 -[[ 2 -[ 4 - 2 - mercaptopyridine 3 -[( acetyloxy ) methyl ]- 8 - oxo - 7 -[[[ 4 -( chloromethyl ) phenyl ] thio ] acetyl ]- [( 2 - pyridinylthio ) methyl ] phenyl ]- amino ]- 8 - oxo - 5 - thia - 1 - azabicyclo - acetyl ] amino ]- 5 - thia - 1 - azabicyclo -[ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - carboxylic acid [ 4 . 2 . 0 ] oct - 2 - ene - 2 - carboxylic__________________________________________________________________________ acid the title compound is prepared in 69 % yield by the same procedure as that described in example 1 , when 2 - mercaptopyridine is used instead of 4 - mercaptopyridine . nmr ( dmso - d 6 + d 2 o ) ppm ( δ ) 2 . 10 ( s , 3 ), 3 . 6 ( broad s , 2 ), 4 . 58 ( s , 2 ), 4 . 91 ( q , 2 ), 5 . 13 ( d , 1 ), 5 . 77 ( d , 1 ), 7 . 1 - 8 . 9 ( m , 8 ).	2
viable lactic acid bacteria and yeasts used in probiotics for pets , such as dogs and cats , are encapsulated and protected by the microbial biopolymers xanthan gum and chitosan . xanthan gum is a polysaccharide gum which dissolves readily in water with stirring to give highly viscous solutions at low concentrations . it forms strong films on evaporation of aqueous solutions and is resistant to heat degradation . chitin is a polysaccharide consisting predominately of unbranched chains of n - acetyl - glucosamine residues . chitosan is deacylated chitin , a polymer often used in water treatment , photographic emulsion , in improving the dyeability of synthetic fibers and fabrics and in wound - healing preparations . probiotics are the beneficial living bacteria that naturally exist in the gastrointestinal ( gi ) tracts of humans and animals . probiotics are well accepted as the food supplements for human consumption . when patients have discomforts of digestive systems because of treatment with antibiotics or suffering form travel , doctors often recommend the patient to take probiotics to restore the microflora in patient digestive systems . recently , the medical community increasingly recognizes probiotics as the agents that are able to enhance human immune responses for improving the efficacy of vaccine and for disease prevention . probiotics are quickly regarded as one of the primary categories by the functional food industry . in farm animals such as pigs , cattle , dairy cows and poultry , probiotics are widely used as the substitutes for antibiotics as the growth promoters . producers have recognized the beneficial effects of probiotics that not only improve the animal growth but also reduce the infection of enteric pathogens significantly . the beneficial effects of probiotics on pets ( dogs , cats , and other small animals like guinea pigs ) have attracted many researchers to investigate the mechanisms , and the research results were published in many journals . today , pet food manufactures include probiotics as one of the important ingredients in many premium pet foods . probiotics in capsules or chewable tablets for pet application are also commercially available . however , pet owners either are not familiar with probiotics or have experiences with the variable probiotics effects on pets , and have doubts about the real functions of probiotics . although the trends for human and farm animals have accepted probiotics as the nutrient supplements or as powerful neutraceutical products , pet owners are not fully aware that probiotics can contribute significant effects on pets in good health to expand their life span . how do probiotics function as the beneficial effects on pets ? probiotics have to be able to travel along pet &# 39 ; s gi tracts . when they have the opportunity to attach to gi tract surfaces , probiotic microorganisms can start to replicate . when probiotic microorganisms replicate and grow , they will decompose the food token by pets to produce acid compounds , which will create unfavorable acidic environments for most of gi tract pathogens to survive . some of the probiotics also secrete the toxic compounds that are harmful to the pathogens . moreover , as the probiotics attached to pet &# 39 ; s gi tracts , they become generic immunogens , raise the antibody production and enhance the pet immune response for pathogen infections . as probiotic microorganisms multiply , they occupy the surfaces of gi tracts and prevent the possibility for the pathogens to attach to pet &# 39 ; s gi tracts for infection . during the process of multiplications , probiotics degrade the complex food compounds into the simple nutrition for pets to absorb and to utilize . this will not only help the pets to strengthen their bodies but also reduce the bad odors typically generated by pets caused either by the incomplete food digestions or by excess gas production through different digestion pathways . therefore , in order to have the effects of probiotics on pets , the pet owners have to make sure to deliver the live probiotics into pet &# 39 ; s gi tracts for microorganisms to multiply and to grow . it is critical to have the sources of viable probiotics for pet to uptake and to ensure the live probiotics that will be able to reach pet &# 39 ; s gi tracts in order to make sure that the pet will have the beneficial effects of probiotics . let us take a close look of these two critical issues when we apply probiotics to the pets . by understanding these critical issues , we can easily find out why the pet owners experienced the variable effects of probiotics . if we go to a pet store , we may easily find many pet foods do include the probiotics , especially , probiotic fermentation cultures . interestingly , canadian scientists used to perform the extensive research survey for 19 commercially available pet foods , which claim to contain probiotics . they reported that no products contained all the listed probiotics , and average bacterial growth only ranged from 0 to 1 . 8 × 10 5 cfu / g ( colony forming unit over weight , gm . this is the typical measurable unit for microbiologists to present the amounts of living bacteria in defined weights ). the publication is available in can . vet . j ., 2003 , 44 : 212 - 215 . furthermore , once pets eat the pet foods , pets secreted many different enzymes to help to digest the foods , which are able to destroy the probiotics viability too . as the foods move down to pet &# 39 ; s gi tracts , probiotics have to go through very acidic and high salts environments , especially , in pet &# 39 ; s stomach that can be as low as ph 1 . 0 . most of probiotics will not be able to survive through these harsh environments . in fact the survival percentages of live probiotics is so low that one has to do high numbers of live probiotics for daily oral administration to guarantee the beneficial effects . it is well recognized that the daily oral administration of live probiotics has to be greater than 1 × 10 10 in human or 1 × 10 9 cfu in animals to found the beneficial effects of probiotics . if we convert this amount of probiotics in the best available pet foods described by canadian scientists , the pets at least have to take more than 10 kg of pet food per day to be able to see the probiotics beneficial effects . combination of far less numbers of probiotics to feed the pets with the pet natural defense systems in gi tracts , we can easily recognize why the variable effects of probiotics are observed by pet owners . once pet owners realize to feed the pet with right numbers of live probiotics to the pet , the health benefits of probiotics on the pet will be recognized without doubts . however , since probiotics are biological entities , delivery of sufficient doses is constantly challenged by inherent factors that might limit their biological activity , including the conditions of growth , processing , preservation , and storage . specifically , loss of probiotic viability occurs at many distinct stages , including freeze - drying of cells during initial manufacturing , fee preparation ( high temperature and high pressure ), transportation and storage ( temperature fluctuations ), and after consumption or in gastrointestinal ( gi ) track ( low ph and bile salts ). one of the determined factors for probiotics to have beneficial effects if to maintain the high concentration of viable cells for animals and humans to uptake . although many commercial probiotic products are available as the additive of animal feed and / or as human functional foods , most of them loss the viability during the manufacturing process , transport , storage and animal feed process ( cinto - cruce and gould , 2001 ). recently , microencapsulation of probiotics using lipids as the carriers has demonstrated the success for improving the probiotics viability ( pacifico et al ., 2001 ). however , there is relatively little information and progress on microencapsulation of probiotics , especially using biopolymers as the microcarriers . microencapsulation , extensively used by pharmaceutical , chemical , and food industries to protect precious and / or active ingredients and ensure proper delivery , is limited to the techniques used ( emulsion and extrusion ) and the composition of microcarriers , including na - alginate ( also in combination with starch , pectin or whey proteins ), gum arabic ( also known as gum acacia ), and k - carrageenan ( also in combination with locust bean gum ). not only each of the systems has its own limitations , these common systems usually suffer from low mechanical stability . for instance , although alginate is the most commonly used polymer due to its simplicity , low cost , and excellent biocompatibility , the low mechanical strength of the gel makes it highly susceptible to decalcifying and acidification . the microencapsulation using biopolymers greatly enhance the benefit of probiotics as healthful ingredients by retaining sufficient viability and bioactivity under harsh processing conditions during animal feed and pet food production . in addition to improving the shelf life stability , the transportation costs of these microorganisms will also be reduced if the resulting microcapsules could be stored under room temperature . microbial exopolysaccharides are classified as biopolymers and are widely used in foods , medicines , and industrial products ( marin , 1998 ). microbial biopolymers , unlike other carriers , are capable of forming a three - dimensional structure that is stabilized by cross - links connecting junction zones between individual molecules ( lo et al ., 2003 ). in nature , for example , xanthomonas campestris , a plant pathogen of cabbage , produces xanthan gum as an extracellular slimy material to help the cells attach to their host and to endure environmental stresses . therefore , application of microencapsulation to bacteria using microbial biopolymers provides a new approach to improve the bacterial viability under harsh environmental conditions . studies of gi tract infections have shown that probiotics can modulate the immune response to antigens expressed by gi pathogens ( isolauri 2003 ). when mice were fed l . acidophilus and / or l . casei prior to oral challenge with salmonella typhimurium , researchers documented that ˜ 100 % of the probiotic - treated group mice survived s . typhimurium challenge compared to & lt ; 29 % survival in control animals . anti - salmonella antibody titers were higher in both the serum and gi tract mucosa of the mice fed l . acidophilus / l . casei ( perdigon et al ., 1990 ). similarly , oral administration of bifidobacterium breve stimulated an improved iga response to cholera toxin in mice ( yasui et al ., 1992 ), and l . rhamnosus gg was shown to increase iga rotavirus - specific antibody secreting cells in children with acute rotavirus diarrhea ( kaila et al ., 1992 ). both cellular and humoral immune responses were demonstrated when rotavirus - infected piglets were fed b . lactis hn019 ( shu et al ., 2001 ) enhanced antibody responses to ovalbumin were demonstrated in gnotobitic mice fed b . bifidum ( moreaue et al ., 1990 ). this indicates that probiotics could be used to stimulate an antigen - specific mucosal immune response , and to provide increased protection to non - mucosal sites . significant increases in igg anti - influenza antibodies were observed when b . breve was fed to mice prior to an oral challenge with influenza vaccine ( yasui et al , 1999 ). increased serum iga titers to pseudomonas aeruginosa were detected in mice fed with l . casei ( alvaez et al ., 2001 ). iga , igg and igm antibodies against e . coli and rotavirus were found in the feces of piglets fed bifidobacterium lactis hn019 ( shu et al ., 2001 ). recently , local cell - mediated immunity by lactobacillus - feed , e . acervulina infected broiler chickens was demonstrated based on the higher il - 2 secretion and lower e . acervulina oocyst production ( dalloul et al ., 2003 ). however , few or no reports related to immune responses were described for lactic acid bacteria other than lactobacillus or biofidobacterium . strains of lactic acid bacteria differentially stimulate the host immune system . the colonization of the gi tract with probiotic microorganism represents the first step towards establishing a beneficial effect using the introduced bacteria . in order for bacteria to colonize effectively the host , p . acidilactici , it must grow in low ph and bile that represent in the gi tract . the strain selection will be emphasized on the isolation of survival strains from feces collected from p . acidilactici - feed chickens without inoculation of eimeria . at days 7 , 11 , 14 , 18 , and 21 , the droppings from p . acidilactici - feed chickens will be collected from three individual chickens . following the similar procedures performed on the droppings from oocysts production , the droppings will be resuspended and soaked in pbs buffer instead of water . the conventional , microbiological culture for determination of the quantitative numbers of colony formation unites ( cfu ) will be used to isolate the single isolated bacterial colonies and to correlate with the colonization of p . acidilactici in chickens . for colonization evaluation , a series of dilutions of homogenized droppings will be plate onto different selective media ( such as : mrs media for p . acidilactici , rogosa media for lactobacillus spp , rca medium for clostridium spp . lb media for e . coli ) and incubated in different growth conditions . after completing the collection of cfu , hundreds of single colonies isolated from mrs media will be transferred onto fresh mrs media containing 0 . 9 % bile at ph 2 . 0 , which is regarded as the standard gi tract in humans and animals , for further selection of p . acidilactici . the transfers will be repeated for two more times onto fresh mrs media containing 0 . 9 % bile at ph 2 . 0 , and the survivals of single colony will be further evaluated by pulse - field gel electrophoresis and api biochemical assays for bacterial strains confirmation before bacteria will be made as the glycerol stock and stored at 70 ° c . adhesion of bacteria to the human cell lines caco - 2 and ht29 has been shown to correlate with lactic acid bacterial colonization in animals ( brassart et al ., 1998 ; tuomola and salminen 1998 ). further selection of strains that are able to grow at 0 . 9 % bile at ph 2 . 0 will be selected by the co - cultivation of bacteria with the caco - 2 and ht29 cell lines . determination for bacterial adhesion to caco - 2 and ht29 cell lines will be confirmed by microscopic examination and will be repeated two more times . bacteria that can grow at 0 . 9 % bile at ph 2 . 0 and show the adhesion to caco - 2 and ht29 cell lines will be prepared as highly concentrated probiotics at 10 billion / g for chicken feeding in order to do further screening for bacteria with enhanced immune response in chickens . strains selection through oral administration of bacteria to e . maxima vaccinated chickens . to select p . acidilactici strains capable of enhancing the immune response of the colonized host , bacteria that adhere effectively to the cell lines will be re - selected in bacteria - feed and e . maxima vaccinated chickens . these in vitro and in vivo selection methods would yield p . acidilactici strains with enhanced colonization and immune promoting properties in animals . the chickens will be fed with the selected p . acidilactici strain , vaccinated with e . maxima live oocysts , and infected with high amounts of e . maxima sporulated oocysts . the sample collections and the assays for determination of immune responses and disease infection will be the same . the selection cycle will be repeated one more time to confirm the selected strains that have the enhanced immune response properties . an eight year old black labrador hybrid with beagle and dalmatian , was fed and observed in table 1 . symptoms : throws out or daily vomiting , bad body odors , constantly producing and releasing gas with bad odors or flatulence . feeding procedure : daily fed a piece of cheese wrapped with a capsule of mitomax ™, which contains 4 billions cfu of pediococcus acidilactici and saccharomyces boulardii , starting from jun . 21 to jul . 4 , 2004 . mitomax ™ is a trademark of imagilin technology , llc , potomac , md . for gelatin encapsulated probiotics . body odors were determined by the average of three people who objectively smelled the dog twice a day . +++++: very strong odors ; ++++: strong odors ; +++: somewhat strong odors ; ++: less strong odors ; + some odors . * gas released from dogs were observed and the odors were the average of three people ; +++++: very strong odors ; ++++: strong odors ; +++: some what strong odors ++; less strong odors ; + some odors eight chesapeake bay retriever dogs aged from 1 to 13 years with different chronic digestive disorders were treated daily by mixing one mitomax ™ capsule with the morning feeding for 28 days . table 2 shows the results . in table 2 the age of the dogs is in years , the weight is in pounds . table 2 shows that daily feeding dogs of both sexes and a variety of ages with a capsule of probiotics resulted in improvement in digestion , in particular in improvement in appetite , reduction of diarrhea and the improvement in firmness of stools , reduction of swallowing difficulty , and reduction of vomiting . probiotic microbes were encapsulated with an aqueous solution containing 0 . 5 to 2 . 5 percent ( weight by volume ) xanthan gum and 0 . 2 to 0 . 8 percent ( weight by volume ) chitosan . the ph of the solution was from 2 . 0 to 7 . 0 . a preferred solution contained 1 . 25 percent ( weight by volume ) xanthan and 0 . 4 percent ( weight by volume ) chitosan at a ph of 4 . 15 . viable microbial cells are encapsulated at up to 10 10 colony forming units ( cfu ) per ml . encapsulation of viable probiotic microbes in the mixture of xanthan gum and chitosan has the advantage of protecting the viability of the microbes , of delivering the proper dosage of viable probiotic microbes to the pet or dog which is being fed , and of facilitating the feeding of the probiotic microbes . dogs and cats do not reject the probiotic microbes when they are encapsulated in a mixture of xanthan gum and chitosan . without wishing to be held to this explanation , the inventors suggest the observed efficacy of the chitosan and xanthan gum solution in encapsulation of probiotic microbes is due to the formation of a xanthan - chitosan complex . the mixture of two oppositely charged polyelectrolytes in aqueous solution results in formation of a polyelectrolyte complex due to the electrostatic attraction of oppositely charged polymers . it is postulated that at moderate ph values the xanthan gum is predominately associated with a large number of net negative charges , while chitosan is associated with a large number of net positive charges . the two polymers with opposite net charges therefore bind together forming a stable complex and a strong gel . relatively high ph values deionize the amino groups on the chitosan with resulting less stable binding between the two polymers and less strong capsule . fig1 is a graph showing the capsule hardness at ph values from 2 to 8 . capsules were formed as in the preferred process above . capsule hardness or mechanical strength was measured at a variety of ph values using ta . xt2i , using a 5 kg load cell and a distance of 1 mm . fig1 showed that the hardness of the capsules peaks in the ph range of 3 to 4 , and was relatively low at ph 6 to 8 . the data of fig1 are consistent with the above theoretical discussion of the formation of a chitosan - xanthan gum complex . fig2 shows the effect of low temperature on the viability of encapsulated and unencapsulated microbes . encapsulated and unencapsulated microbes were held for one hour at 0 ° c . the number of unencapsulated viable microbes declined from about 10 9 . 3 cfu / ml to about 10 8 . 3 cfu / ml . the number of encapsulated viable microbes declined from about 10 9 . 3 cfu / ml to about 10 9 cfu / ml . fig2 shows the protective effect of encapsulation against low temperature . fig3 shows the effect of high temperature on the viability of encapsulated and unencapsulated microbes . encapsulated and unencapsulated microbes were held for 150 seconds at 60 ° c . the number of unencapsulated viable microbes declined from about 10 9 cfu / ml to about 10 7 cfu / ml . the number of encapsulated viable microbes declined from about 10 9 cfu / ml to about 10 8 . 9 cfu / ml . fig3 shows the protective effect of encapsulation against high temperature . fig4 shows the effect of low ph on the viability of encapsulated and unencapsulated microbes . encapsulated and unencapsulated microbes were held from 0 to 60 minutes at ph 2 . the number of unencapsulated viable microbes declined from about 10 9 cfu / ml to about 10 5 . 7 cfu / ml after 30 minutes and to about 10 5 . 5 cfu / ml after 60 minutes . the number of encapsulated viable microbes declined from about 10 9 cfu / ml to about 10 7 . 8 cfu / ml at both 30 and 60 minutes . fig4 shows the protective effect of encapsulation against low ph . probiotics as alternative medicines against infectious parasitic diseases of broiler chickens avian coccidiosis is the major parasitic disease of poultry causing mortality , malabsorption , inefficient feed utilization , impaired growth rate in broilers and reduced egg production in layers ( lillehoj et al ., 2004 ). the most prominent symptom of avian coccidiosis is growth retardation characterized by reduced weight gains or even weight loss in severe cases , causing a major economic impact to the poultry industry ( dalloul and lillehoj , 2006 ). drugs and live vaccines are the two main control measures of disease ; however , due to increasing concerns with prophylactic drug use and high cost of vaccines , alternative control methods are needed . for eimeria - infected - broiler chickens , although the stimulation of antibody production was observed , the increase of cellular immune responses is the key to control the diseases ( dalloul and lillehoj , 2004 ). recent progress in probiotics research demonstrates that live bacteria can influence host humoral immunity against enteric diseases like rotavirus , e . coli , and salmonella ( isolauri , e . 2003 ; majamaa , et al 1995 ; perdigon , et al 2001 ). in order to apply probiotics as an effective alternative medicine against eimeria - infected broiler chickens one has to show the good effects of both humoral and cellular immunity in probiotics - fed , eimeria - infected broiler chickens . examination of potential toxic effects of probiotics on eimeria - infected broiler chickens day - old broiler chicks were housed in brooders at 15 - 20 birds per group and fed either control , only commercial feed , or pediococcus acidilactici containing commercial feed from day one . five diets were formulated based on pediococcus acidilactici levels as percentage of basal feed : 0 %, 0 . 01 %, 0 . 05 %, 0 . 1 %, and 0 . 4 %. at day ten , all birds except for the control ( no pediococcus acidilactici , no infection ) were orally infected with either 5 , 000 sporulated oocysts of eimeria acervulina . bird body weights were taken at 0 , 6 , & amp ; 9 days post infection ( dpi ) and weight gains were calculated . fecal materials were collected for 4 days , from 6 to 9 days post infection , in small buckets for oocyst counting . differences between experimental treatments were tested by variance analysis ( anova ) using the statistical program graphpad instat , a trademark for statistical software owned by graphpad software , inc ., san diego , calif . differences were considered significant at a probability p & lt ; 0 . 05 . mean values were then compared by the dunnett comparison test . table 3a . effects of pediococcus acidilactici on growth and on oocysts in the feces from broilers infected with eimeria acervulina . before one can apply any reagents as the potential medicines , elimination of toxic side effects is the crucial before one would apply the reagents for efficacy study . p . acidilactici is a natural microorganisms in gi tracts of animals and humans , and has not been described in literature to have significantly toxic effects . to investigate any potential toxic effects of p . acidilactici on broiler chickens , we fed broiler chickens or e . acervulina - infected chickens 0 . 01 % to 0 . 4 % of p . acidilactici . as shown in table 3a , no weight loss or bird death was observed from the broiler chickens fed only with p . acidilactici or those infected with e . acervulina and fed with p . acidilactici . furthermore , the eimeria - infected broiler chickens fed with mixtures of probiotics - p . acidilactici and saccharomyces boulardii in the 0 . 01 % and 1 . 0 % groups , and eimeria acervulina infected groups showed higher body weight gains during the infection period ( table 3a ). for the whole process of experiments , we did not see differences in the major organs ( livers , hearts , kidneys , spleens ) after feeding the chickens with probiotics . these and similar results demonstrated that eimeria infected broiler chickens showed no detectable morphological differences either fed with p . acidilactici up to 40 folds ( ranged from 0 . 01 % to 0 . 4 %) or with mixtures of p . acidilactici and s . boulardii ranging from 0 . 01 % to 1 . 0 %. to demonstrate that p . acidilactici can be used against eimeria infected broiler chickens , we fed chickens with / without p . acidilactici and then orally infected them with sporulated oocysts of eimeria tellena ( e . tellena ). interestingly , e . tellena infected chickens fed with p . acidilactici showed a reduction of oocysts in a range of 20 % to 40 % from control broiler chickens ( fig7 ). similarly , we observed the oocysts reduction either in a range of 30 % to 50 % from broiler chickens infected with e . acervulina infected and fed with mixtures of p . acidilactici and s . boulardii or in a range of 10 % to 20 % from broiler chickens infected with e . tellena and fed with mixtures of p . acidilactici and s . boulardii ( fig8 )). these results showed probiotics have the effects on reduction of pathogens or parasites in animals stimulation of humoral immune responses on eimeria - infected , probiotics - fed broiler chickens . fig5 shows anti - etmic2 antibody response of broilers fed non - probiotic ( nor ), 0 . 1 % or 0 . 2 % mixtures of p . acidilactici and s . boulardii supplemented diets for 21 days ( mg0 . 1 and mg0 . 2 respectively ). birds were either uninfected or infected with 5 , 000 e . tennella oocysts at day 12 post - hatch and sera sampled 10 days post infection . each bar represents the mean ± s . d . ( n = 3 ). means lacking common superscripts differ in uninfected or infected chickens ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ). to assess antibody responses to eimeria antigen , etmic2 , one of eimeria microneme protein genes that have been cloned and characterized at the molecular level ( dalloul et al , 2006 ) was used in this study . elisas were used to determine the antibody production from serum collected from chickens . induction of antibody response upon et infection was evident in all infected groups . moreover , in p . acidilactici - fed birds , significantly ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) higher serum eimeria - specific ab levels were detected in infected birds when compared to those of birds without probiotics ( fig5 ). these results clearly demonstrate that p . acidilactici is able to stimulate humoral immune responses against specific infectious parasites in broiler chickens . fig6 shows concanavalin a ( cona ) induced proliferation of splenocytes from chickens following treatment with regular , 0 . 01 %, 0 . 1 % or 1 . 0 % m : mixtures of p . acidilactici and s . boulardii and infection with eimeria . birds were infected with 5 , 000 e . acervulina ( ea ) or e . tennella ( et ) oocysts at day 14 post - hatch . splenocytes were collected and cultured in the presence of con a for 24 h . cell proliferation was measured by [ 3 h ]- thymidine assay . each bar represents the mean ± s . d . ( n = 3 ). means lacking common superscripts differ in ea - or et - infected chickens ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ). the proliferation responses in splenocytes stimulated with cona in the birds fed regular or probiotic diets were used to determine systems cellular immune responses against eimeria in p . acidilactici - fed broiler chickens . in ea - infected birds , splenocytes of the 0 . 1 % group exhibited significant ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) proliferation rates compared to all other groups including those on the regular and probiotic diets . in the et - infected groups , 0 . 01 % and 0 . 1 % birds showed significantly ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) higher splenocyte proliferative responses to stimulation with con a , with higher ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) proliferation rates in 0 . 1 % than 0 . 01 % birds ( fig6 ). fig7 shows fecal oocysts shed by birds infected with e . acervulina ( ea ). oocysts were counted in fecal material collected 6 - 9 dpi with 5 , 000 e . tennella broiler chickens fed regular ( reg ), 0 . 1 % ( mg0 . 1 ) or 0 . 2 % ( mg0 . 2 ) mg : p . acidilactici - supplemented diets . each bar represents the mean ± s . d . ( n = 5 cages ). fig8 shows fecal oocysts counted in fecal material collected 6 - 10 days past infection with 5 , 000 oocysts e . acervulina ( ea ) or e . tennella ( et ) broiler chickens were fed regular ( reg ), 0 . 01 % ( m0 . 01 ), 0 . 1 % ( m0 . 1 ) or 1 . 0 % ( m1 . 0 ) at day 12 post - hatch . m indicates mixtures of p . acidilactici and s . boulardii . each bar represents the mean ± s . d . ( n = 5 cages ). probiotics as alternative medicines for dogs with digestive disorders or dogs infected by infectious virus the success of probiotics , mitomax ™- mixtures of p . acidilactici and s . boulardii , in eimeria infected broiler chickens led us to perform a field evaluation of canines with digestive disorders . mitomax ™ is a trademark for probiotics owned by imagilin technology , llc , potomac , md . for mixtures of pediococcus acidilactici and saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii ( s . boulardii ) encapsulated in gelatin capsules . the collaborative field evaluations were performed by four veterinarians in three different animal hospitals located in sao paulo , brazil ( table 4 ). the dogs &# 39 ; body weight ranged from 2 kg to 26 kg , and age ranged from 1 year old to 15 years old . the dogs suffered from different degrees of digestive disorders and were administered either one or two capsules of probiotics , depending on the dog &# 39 ; s body weight . within 14 days of treatment with probiotics , the dogs recovered from the digestive disorders and showed significant improvement . these results clearly show that probiotics have good effects on canines with digestive disorders . ** probiotics treatment means oral administrated a capsule of mitomax ™- mixtures of p . acidilactici and s . boulardii per day for dog &# 39 ; s body weight less than 20 kg , and two capsules of mitomax ™ per day for dog &# 39 ; s body weight over 20 kg . probiotics as alternative medicine to stop bloody diarrhea of parvovirus - infected dogs . parvovirus - infected canines develop severe gastrointestinal distress such as vomiting and bloody diarrhea . without proper treatment , parvovirus - infected dogs can die within a few days . no antibiotics can be applied to cure parvovirus - infected dogs since it is a viral infection . the recovery depends on the canines &# 39 ; ability to develop their own immune systems to fight against virus . this problem is a good candidate for us to apply probiotics to parvovirus - infected dogs . four dogs diagnosed with parvovirus infection were shown to have bloody diarrhea even after treated with normosol r , reglan , cefazolin , metronidazole or ampicillin , +/− famotidine . orally administered probiotics included mixtures of p . acidilactici and s . boulardii , and were given to the four dogs for two to three days . not only did the bloody diarrhea stop , but also all four dogs had solid stool . no recurrence of bloody diarrhea was reported even after being released from hospital for two weeks as they continued the probiotics treatment ( table 3 ) the effects of probiotics on animals and humans are dependent on the viability of probiotics . similar numbers of viable probiotics were detected from the encapsulated probiotics , p . acidilactici , stored for two years either at room temperature of at 4 ° c . no significant differences of morphology and body weight were observed by feeding eimeria - infected broiler chickens with p . acidilactici , varying from 0 . 01 % to 0 . 4 %. similar results were obtained when broiler chickens infected with e . acervulina or e . tellena were fed with mixtures of p . acidilactici and s . boulardii varying from 0 . 1 % to 1 %. effects of probiotics , either p . acidilactici or mixtures of p . acidilactici and s . boulardii , on eimeria - infected broiler chickens were determined by 1 ) the reduction of oocysts isolated from the fecal samples , 2 ) stimulation of antibody production and 3 ) stimulation of proliferation of splenocytes . the clinic evaluation of probiotics clearly demonstrated that orally administrated mixtures of p . acidilactici and s . boulardii has improved the health condition of canines with digestive disorders such as diarrhea , vomiting , appetite loss , and body odor . more importantly , canines suffering from bloody diarrhea caused by parvovirus infection showed recovery after treatment of orally administered mixtures of p . acidilactici and s . boulardii for two to three days . these results demonstrated that probiotics could be used as alternative medicines against infectious diseases . suitable probiotic microbes are yeast and lactic acid bacteria . suitable probiotic bacteria are pediococcus , lactobacillus , bifidobacterium , streptococcus , and enterococcus . suitable yeast is saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii . the encapsulated probiotics are effective against gastrointestinal diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria , viruses , fungi , parasites and single - celled organisms . the encapsulated probiotics are effective against hookworms , roundworms , whipworms and tapeworms . the encapsulated probiotics are effective against coccidians , such as giardia . encapsulated probiotics are effective against infectious gastrointestinal diseases in humans when humans with infectious gastrointestinal diseases ingest suitable dosages of encapsulated probiotics . encapsulated probiotics are effective against infectious gastrointestinal diseases in fish when fish with infectious gastrointestinal diseases ingest suitable dosages of encapsulated probiotics . probiotics in the form of dry powder are also effective with properties similar to those of encapsulated probiotics .	0
preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings . each of the embodiments described below will employ a digital camera as an example of an electronic apparatus . however , in place of the digital camera , an image capture apparatus such as a digital video camera or a portable telephone equipped with a camera can be employed . fig1 shows an example of a schematic configuration of a digital camera . a bus architecture of the embodiment is a split bus transaction system . according to this split bus transaction system , access to a bus slave is separated into an address phase and a data phase . a plurality of bus masters are provided as dmacs . the plurality of bus masters reserve use of addresses for the bus slave based on a result of arbitration . in data phase , data access is asynchronously carried out to the addresses reserved in the address phase according to a reservation order among the plurality of bus masters . in fig1 , reference numerals 60 and 61 denote data buses . reference numeral 60 denotes a read - only bus of data from an sdram 90 . reference numeral 61 denotes a write - only bus of data in the sdram 90 . as in the case of the embodiment , the different data buses may be provided as read - only and write - only buses , or the same data bus may be used to serve both purposes . according to the embodiment of the invention , each of the data buses 60 and 61 serves both as a system bus of a cpu system and an image data dedicated bus . however , the two different data buses may be used as the system bus of the cpu system and the image data dedicated bus , respectively . even when such the data buses are separated into two or more , a control system of the embodiment described below will not be changed at all . reference numeral 10 denotes an image capture device ( charge coupled device ( ccd ), a cmos image sensor , or the like ) for converting an optical image of an object into an electric signal . reference numeral 11 denotes an image capture signal generated by the image capture device 10 . reference numeral 12 denotes a cds / agc / ad circuit equipped with a correlated double sampling circuit ( cds ) for removing noise from the image capture signal 11 , an auto - gain control circuit ( agc ) for amplifying the image capture signal 11 output from the cds to a proper level , and an ad converter circuit ( ad ) for converting the image capture signal 11 output from the agc into digital image capture data . reference numeral 13 denotes a data line for transmitting the image capture data output from the cds / agc / ad circuit 12 . reference numeral 15 denotes an image capture processing circuit for executing proper dark correction or shading correction for the image capture data . for example , the dark correction refers to correction of deterioration in image quality caused by dark current noise generated in the image capture device 11 or noise based on a pixel drop - out due to a very small defect unique to the image capture device 11 , attained by correcting noise of a two - dimensional fixed pattern in image capture data obtained from real image capturing in an exposed state of the image capture device 11 , by using image capture data obtained from image capturing in an unexposed state of the image capture device 11 . reference numeral 16 denotes a transmission line for transmitting the image capture data corrected by the image capture processing circuit 15 . reference numeral 17 denotes a transmission line for transmitting dark data and executing dark correction processing at the image capture processing circuit 15 . for example , this dark data is stored in the sdram 90 . reference numeral 27 denotes a data line for transmitting the image capture data held in the sdram 90 after the dark correction or the like executed at the image capture processing circuit 15 . reference numeral 25 denotes a development processing circuit for executing development processing for the image capture data transmitted through the transmission line 27 . proper signal processing is executed at the development processing circuit 25 . for example , the development processing circuit 25 executes compression processing or the like on the image capture data according to an image format of jpeg or the like to thereby generate development data . reference numeral 26 denotes a data line for transmitting the development data generated by the development processing circuit 25 . reference numeral 36 denotes a data line for transmitting the image capture data read from the sdram 90 to display an image on a display apparatus 32 . reference numeral 35 denotes a reproduction processing circuit for executing processing to display an image based on the image capture data transmitted through the data line 36 . for example , the reproduction processing circuit 35 converts the image capture data into an image format of a video signal to generate proper image data . reference numeral 33 denotes a data line for transmitting the image data generated by the reproduction processing circuit 35 . reference numeral 32 denotes the display apparatus for displaying an image based on the image data transmitted through the data line 33 . reference numeral 42 denotes storage media such as a compact flash ( registered trademark ) card ( cf card ) or an sd card . reference numeral 45 denotes a storage device controller for interfacing with the storage media 42 . reference numeral 43 denotes a data line for transmitting data read from the storage media 42 . reference numeral 44 denotes a data line for transmitting data to be written in the storage media 42 . reference numeral 46 denotes a data line for transmitting the data read from the storage media 42 by the storage device controller 45 to a dma control circuit 50 . reference numeral 47 denotes a data line for transmitting the data to be written in the storage media 42 , from the dma control circuit 50 to the storage device controller 45 . reference numeral 50 denotes the dma control circuit for controlling direct memory access ( dma ) to the image capture processing circuit 15 , the development processing circuit 25 , the reproduction processing circuit 35 , the storage device controller 45 , and the data buses 60 and 61 . reference numeral 51 denotes a data line for transmitting an address request signal sent from the dma control circuit 50 to a memory controller 80 , which is a bus slave , in address phase . this address request signal is a signal based on which the dma control circuit 50 requests address use of the sdram 90 to the memory controller 80 . reference numeral 52 denotes a data line for transmitting an acknowledge signal which is returned from the memory controller 80 as the bus slave to the dma control circuit 50 with respect to the address request signal . reference numerals 53 and 54 denote data lines for transmitting data in data phase . for example , the data line 53 transmits read data for reading the data stored in the sdram 90 , and the data line 54 transmits write data for writing data in the sdram 90 . reference numeral 70 denotes a cpu which exercises overall control of the digital camera of the embodiment . reference numeral 71 denotes a data line for transmitting the address request signal transmitted from the cpu 70 to the memory controller 80 as the bus slave . reference numeral 72 denotes a data line for transmitting the acknowledge signal which is returned from the memory controller 80 as the bus slave to the cpu 70 with respect to the address request signal . reference numerals 73 and 74 denote data lines for transmitting data in data phase . for example , the data line 73 transmits read data for reading the data stored in the sdram 90 , and the data line 74 transmits write data for writing data in the sdram 90 . reference numeral 80 denotes the memory controller , which is a bus slave , for controlling the sdram 90 . reference numerals 81 and 82 denote data lines for transmitting data in data phase . for example , the data line 82 transmits read data for reading the data stored in the sdram 90 , and the data line 81 transmits write data for writing data in the sdram 90 . reference numeral 83 denotes a data line for transmitting an address signal , data , and a control signal , between the sdram 90 and the memory controller 80 . an sdram of a ddr type or a sdr type can be employed to the sdram 90 . fig2 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of the image capture processing circuit 15 and the dma control circuit 50 shown in fig1 . in the image capture processing circuit 15 of fig2 , reference numeral 100 denotes a subtractor for subtracting the dark data input from the sdram 90 through the data line 17 from the image capture data input from the cds / agc / ad circuit 12 through the data line 13 . accordingly , the image capture data is subjected to dark correction . in the dma control circuit 50 , reference numeral 200 denotes a first first - in first - out ( fifo ) unit for holding the image capture data input through the data line 16 after the execution of dark correction or the like at the image processing circuit 15 . the first fifo unit 200 has a capacity to store image capture data transferred to the sdram 90 by several times . reference numeral 201 denotes a data line for transmitting the image capture data read from the first fifo unit 200 . reference numeral 202 denotes a data line for transmitting a counter value stk 1 of a counter which counts the stored amount of image capture data held in the first fifo unit 200 . reference numeral 203 denotes a first dmac which functions as a bus master to transfer the image capture data to the memory controller 80 . the first dmac 203 generates an address request signal req 1 upon determination that the amount of transferable data has been stored in the first fifo unit 200 . reference numeral 204 denotes a data line for transmitting the address request signal req 1 generated by the first dmac 203 . as a reply to the address request signal req 1 generated by the first dmac 203 which is a bus master , an acknowledge signal ack 1 is transmitted from the memory controller 80 as the bus slave to the first dmac 203 through an address phase control circuit 220 . reference numeral 205 denotes a data line for transmitting the acknowledge signal ack 1 . after the first dmac 203 has input the acknowledge signal ack 1 , data is transmitted from the first dmac 203 as the bus master to the memory controller 80 as the bus slave . reference numeral 206 denotes a data line for transmitting data sent from the first dmac 203 . reference numeral 216 denotes a data line for transmitting the dark data input from the sdram 90 to a data phase control circuit 230 through the memory controller 80 , the data line 82 , the data bus 61 , and the data line 53 to a second dmac 213 . reference numeral 211 denotes a data line for transmitting the dark data input to the second dmac 213 to a second fifo unit 210 . reference numeral 210 denotes the second fifo unit for storing the dark data input from the sdram 90 through the memory controller 80 , the data line 82 , the data bus 61 , the data line 53 , the data phase control circuit 230 , and the second dmac 213 . reference numeral 212 denotes a data line for transmitting a counter value stk 2 of a counter which counts the amount of address reservations ( referred to as address reservation amount , hereinafter ) of the sdram 90 made by the second dmac 210 to the address phase control circuit 220 . reference numeral 213 denotes the second dmac which is a bus master for transferring the dark data input from the sdram 90 through the memory controller 80 , the data line 82 , the data bus 61 , the data line 53 , and the data phase control circuit 230 to the image capture processing circuit 15 . the second dmac 213 generates an address request signal req 2 upon determination that the second fifo unit 210 has a space to receive a data amount based on the counter value stk 2 . reference numeral 214 denotes a data line for transmitting the address request signal req 2 generated by the second dmac 213 . as a reply to the address request signal req 2 generated by the second dmac 213 as the bus master , an acknowledge signal ack 2 is transmitted from the memory controller 80 as the bus slave to the second dmac 213 through the address phase control circuit 220 . reference numeral 215 denotes a data line for transmitting the acknowledge signal ack 2 . needless to say , in the dma control circuit 50 , in addition to those shown in fig2 , many bus masters are present to be used for image capture development processing , and the like . therefore , the dma control circuit 50 not only has the bus masters for the image capture processing circuit 15 but also has bus masters for each one of the development processing circuit 25 , the reproduction processing circuit 35 and the storage device controller 45 . the dmacs including the same functions as the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 are employed to the bus masters for each one of the development processing circuit 25 , the reproduction processing circuit 35 and the storage device controller 45 . reference numeral 220 denotes the address phase control circuit for arbitrating the address request signals req 1 and req 2 generated by the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 which are bus masters in the dma control circuit 50 . reference numeral 230 denotes a data phase control circuit for communicating with one of the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 as the bus masters based on a data phase asynchronously accessed from the memory controller 80 as the bus slave according to an address order received by the address phase control circuit 220 . fig3 shows an example of a configuration of the address phase control circuit 220 . the address request signal req 2 generated by the second dmac 213 as the bus master is masked by a mask signal mask . masking - on / off of the mask signal mask is controlled by a mask control circuit 300 . reference numeral 301 denotes a first comparator for turning on masking . reference numeral 302 denotes a second comparator for turning off the masking . the masking - on / off is controlled based on an address reservation amount counted by the second fifo unit 210 . there is a threshold level for turning on / off masking . reference numeral 303 denotes a threshold level stk_thr for turning on the masking . reference numeral 304 denotes a threshold level stk_thrn for turning off the masking . when the counter value stk 2 of the counter which counts the address reservation amount in the second dmac 210 exceeds the threshold level stk_thr , a set signal set becomes active . then , the mask control circuit 300 makes the mask signal mask active . accordingly , the address request signal req 2 is masked . this mask state is held even when the counter value stk 2 falls below a value of the threshold level stk_thr . to release the mask state , a value of the threshold level stk_thrn must be set equal to or less than the counter value stk 2 . reference numeral 305 denotes a gate circuit for masking the address request signal req 2 by the mask signal mask . reference numeral 306 denotes a data line for transmitting a request signal from another bus master ( dmac ) other than the address request signals req 1 and req 2 . therefore , request signals from the bus masters for each one of the development processing circuit 25 , the reproduction processing circuit 35 and the storage device controller 45 are transmitted through the data line 306 . reference numeral 307 denotes an arbitration circuit for deciding a priority of requests from all the bus masters ( dmac ). a result of deciding a request priority is output as a request signal req_x , which is to be transmitted through the data line 51 , to the memory controller 80 as the bus slave . the priority can be set in advance . for example , when a higher priority is provided to the address request signal req 2 than that to the address request signal req 1 , if the address request signals req 1 and req 2 are simultaneously generated , a request based on the address request signal req 2 is selected . the selected request is output as a request signal req_x . a request based on the address request signal req 1 is executed when the request based on the address request signal req 2 is negated . an example of control when dark correction processing is executed will be described below in detail . according to the embodiment of the invention , data ( dark data ) captured in an unexposed state is prestored in the sdram 90 with proper timing before real exposure image capturing . the dma control circuit 50 reads in advance the dark data stored in the sdram 90 therefrom before a shutter is opened to execute real exposure . then , by using the read dark data , the image capture processing circuit 15 executes dark correction on data ( real exposed data ) captured in real exposure ( subtraction is generally executed as described above ). the image capture data on which the dark correction is executed is recorded in the same area where the dark data is stored in the sdram 90 in advance . accordingly , a memory area can be saved by writing ( overwriting ) the data on which the dark correction is executed in the area of the dark data . details of dark correction are described in japanese patent application laid - open no . 2004 - 260596 . according to the embodiment of the invention , writing data into the sdram 90 during real exposure and reading of the dark data from the sdram 90 need to be carried out for a fixed period , preferably simultaneously , which requires to increase a bus band . as the image capture data subjected to the dark correction is written in the same area of the dark data , similar bank access is highly likely to occur . when such the similar bank access occurs , bank conflict is induced to reduce performance of the sdram 90 . thus , according to the embodiment of the invention , by reducing the occurrence of bank conflict as much as possible and causing access for data reading / writing in the sdram 90 to be continued to a certain extent , the performance of the sdram 90 is improved more than ever before . an example of a control method to improve the performance of the sdram 90 as described above will be described in detail below . during the real exposure , the image capture device 10 transmits a received image capture signal 11 to the cds / agc / ad circuit 12 , and outputs ad - converted image capture data to the image capture processing circuit 15 . the following setting is carried out in advance . the cpu 70 sets proper settings for an image capture mode in the image capture processing circuit 15 . next , the cpu makes the settings for the dma control circuit 50 . for arbitration setting , a highest priority is set for the second dmac 213 which is a bus master and reads dark data . a priority of the first dmac 203 is set lower than that of the second dmac 213 for dark data reading . in the case of using another dmac , a priority lower than those of the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 is set therefor . a capacity of the first fifo unit 200 with respect to the first dmac 203 and a capacity of the second fifo unit 210 with respect to the second dmac 213 are each set to 128 bytes . a data width of the sdram 90 and bus widths of the data buses 60 and 61 each are set to 32 bits . presuming that a capacity of the first fifo unit 200 and a capacity of the second fifo unit 210 with respect to the second dmac 213 each are 128 bytes , and a transfer amount of one access to the sdram 90 is always 8 - burst transfer , a transfer amount of 4 times (= 128 [ byte ]÷( 4 [ byte ]× 8 [ beat ])) can be stored in the first fifo unit 200 and the second fifo unit 210 . next , for example , 96 is set to a threshold value stk_thr to be compared with the address reservation amount stk 2 of the dmac 2 , and 32 is set in stk_thrn . then , settings are carried out to execute dma of the dmac 1 and the dmac 1 . for example , a start address for accessing the sdram 90 , a total transfer amount of dma , or the like is set . after such the settings are made , the dmac 1 and the dmac 2 are simultaneously started . fig4 is a conceptual diagram showing timing with which the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 issue address request signals in the address phase . when the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 are simultaneously started , the second dmac generates an address request signal req 2 since no dark data is stored in the second fifo unit 210 . at this time , a counter value stk 2 indicating an address reservation amount of the second dmac 213 is 0 . also , an address request signal req 1 is highly likely to have been generated from the first dmac 203 . however , the second dmac 213 has the higher priority than the first dmac 203 according to the arbitration set as described above . accordingly , the address request signal req 2 from the second dmac 213 is preferentially selected . hence , the address phase control circuit 220 transmits a request based on the address request signal req 2 as a request signal req_x to the memory controller 80 . in fig4 , when the counter value stk 2 of the counter which counts an address reservation amount of the second dmac 210 is 96 , the counter value stk 2 is counted up to 128 upon reception of the address request signal req 2 . presuming that a threshold level stk_thr for turning on the masking of the address request signal req 2 is 96 , the counter value stk 2 exceeds the threshold level stk_thr . thus , a mask signal mask becomes valid , and the request based on the address request signal req 2 is set in an issuance prohibited state . in the prohibited state of the second dmac 213 , data are sequentially processed in the data phase of the second dmac 213 to consume address reservation amount in the data phase ( not shown ). when all the address reservation amount of the second dmac 213 is used up in this manner , the counter value stk 2 of the counter that counts the address reservation amount becomes 0 . presuming that a threshold level stk_thrn for turning off the masking of the address request signal req 2 is 32 , the counter value stk 2 falls below the threshold level stk_thrn . then , the mask signal mask is released to set the request based on the address request signal req 2 of the second dmac 213 , into an issuance permitted state . in the prohibited state of the request made from the second dmac 213 , the first dmac 203 can issue an address reservation . in the example of fig4 , address reservations are successively made four times from the second dmac 213 , and in the prohibited state of the request made from the second dmac 213 , address reservations are successively made four times from the first dmac 203 . each of fig5 a to 5c is a conceptual diagram showing a change in the number of cycles necessary for accessing the sdram 90 , which change is caused by a read access order from the second dmac 213 and write access from the first dmac 203 . it is presumed that read access from the second dmac 213 and write access from the first dmac 203 occur four times each . it is also presumed that no bank conflict occurs , column address strobe latency ( cas latency ) is 2 ( cl = 2 ), and a burst length is 8 ( bl = 8 ). it can be understood from fig5 a to 5c that 33 cycles are necessary for accessing the sdram 90 when write access continues four times following read access that continues four times , and 45 cycles are necessary for the sdram 90 when read access and write access are carried out always alternately . it can therefore be easily understood that performance of the sdram 90 is higher when the write access continues four times following the read access that continues four times . the data of the sdram 90 accessed by the bus masters ( first dmac 203 and second dmac 213 ) are distributed to continuous addresses because those data are mostly image data . in other words , as long as a specific dmac ( e . g ., first dmac 203 or second dmac 213 ) accesses the sdram 90 , bank conflicts occur with extremely low frequency . thus , according to the embodiment of the invention , since a specific dmac ( e . g ., first or second dmac 203 or 213 ) successively accesses the sdram 90 , bank conflicts can be reduced . for example , as in the case of the embodiment , when read access ( reading ) and write access ( writing ) are carried out always alternately in the case of processing where image capture data subjected to dark correction is written in the storage area of the dark data ( overwriting ), and access always occurs in the same bank , the same row address of the same bank is highly likely to be accessed . hence , precharge and active ( act ) commands are needed in many cases , which causes many timing gaps , leading to a reduction in performance of the sdram 90 . according to the embodiment of the invention , such the situation can be prevented . the first and second fifo units 200 and 210 in the dma control circuit 50 are resources necessary for reserving addresses in advance in split bus transaction . according to the embodiment of the invention , by controlling requests from the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 and priorities for the requests from the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 using the address reservation amounts of the first and second fifo units 200 and 210 and a plurality of threshold levels stk_thr and stk_thrn optionally set for the address reservation amounts , access of the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 , which are bus masters , to the memory controller 80 , which is the bus slave , can be carried out continuously to a certain extent . thus , access of the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 to the sdram 90 can be optimized ( first dmca 203 and second dmac 213 can easily and efficiently access the sdram 90 ), and performance of image processing of the digital camera can be improved . especially , it is possible to improve performance for dark correction processing on image capture data and to guarantee real timeness . next , a second embodiment of the present invention will be described . according to the first embodiment , the issuance of the address request signal req 2 from the second dmac 213 for reading the dark data from the sdram 90 and the address request signal req 1 from the first dmac 203 for writing the image capture data subjected to the dark correction using the dark data into the sdram 90 is controlled by using the hardware . according to the second embodiment , however , issuance of address request signals req 1 and req 2 is controlled by using software . thus , this embodiment is different from the first embodiment only in the issuance control of the address request signals req 1 and req 2 , and portions similar to those of the first embodiment will be denoted by reference numerals similar to those shown in fig1 to 5c , and details description thereof will be omitted . referring to a flowchart of fig6 , description will be made of an example of a software processing operation of a digital camera of the embodiment when issuance of the address request signals req 1 and req 2 is controlled . processing below can be realized by executing a control program stored in an rom ( not shown ) by the cpu 70 shown in fig1 . first , in step s 1 , initial setting is made for an image capture processing circuit 15 . then , in step s 2 , priorities are set to requests which are based on the address request signals req 1 and req 2 , so that the arbitration circuit 307 shown in fig3 can decide priorities for the requests . in this case , it is presumed that the dmacs operating as bus masters are the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 . a priority of the second dmac 213 for reading dark data from an sdram 90 is set higher than that of the first dmac 203 for writing image capture data subjected to the dark correction into the sdram 90 ( shown as the second dmac & gt ; the first dmac in fig6 ). next , in step s 3 , proper initial setting is made for the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 . for example , a start address , a transfer size , or the like for execution of execute dma is set . next , in step s 4 , the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 are started . then , in step s 5 , determination is made as to whether processing is ended in both of the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 . if it is judged as a result of the determination that the processing has been completed in both of the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 , all the processing operations are terminated . on the other hand , if the processing has not been completed in at least either one of the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 , the process proceeds to step s 6 to wait until a counter value stk 2 of a counter which counts an address reservation amount of the second dmac 213 exceeds a threshold level thr_level . then , after the counter value stk 2 has exceeded the threshold level thr_level , the process proceeds to step s 7 to reverse current priority setting . in the example of fig6 , a priority of the first dmac 203 is set higher than that of the second dmac 213 ( shown as the first dmac & gt ; the second dmac in fig6 ). next , in step s 8 , the process waits until the counter value stk 2 of the counter which counts the address reservation amount of the second dmac 213 falls blow a threshold level thr_leveln . after the counter value stk 2 has fallen below the threshold level thr_leveln , the process proceeds to step s 9 to reverse current priority setting . in the example of fig6 , a priority of the second dmac 213 is set higher than that of the first dmac 203 ( shown as the second dmac & gt ; the first dmac in fig6 ). then , returning to the step s 5 , the steps s 5 to s 9 are repeated until the processing is completed in both of the first dmac 203 and the second dmac 213 . in other words , permission and prohibition conditions of the address request signal req 2 from the second dmac 213 are always monitored by the cpu 70 using the counter value stk 2 of the address reservation amount of the second dmac 213 . in the case of the prohibition condition of the counter value stk 2 , a priority of a request made from the first dmac 203 is set higher than that of the second dmac 213 . in the case of the permission condition of the counter value stk 2 , a priority of the request made from the first dmac 203 is set lower than that of the second dmac 213 . thus , it is possible to control the issuance of the address request signals req 1 and req 2 by software processing . to operate various devices in order to realize the functions of the foregoing embodiments , a computer program for realizing the functions of the embodiments is supplied to a computer of an apparatus or in a system connected to various devices , and these devices are operated according to the program stored in the computer ( cpu or mpu ) of the system or the apparatus . this embodiment is also within the scope of the present invention . in this case , the computer program itself realizes the functions of the embodiments , and the computer program itself and means for supplying the computer program to the computer , e . g ., a recording medium for storing the computer program , constitute the present invention . for the recording medium to store the computer program , for example , a flexible disk , a hard disk , an optical disk , a magneto - optical disk , a cd - rom , a magnetic tape , a nonvolatile memory card , an rom , or the like can be used . the functions of the embodiments are realized not only by executing the computer program supplied to the computer but also by cooperation of the computer program with an operating system ( os ) or another application software operating on the computer . needless to say , such a computer program is also within the embodiment of the present invention . furthermore , the supplied computer program is stored in a memory disposed in a function expansion board of the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer , and then a cpu or the like of the function expansion board or unit executes a part or all processing based on an instruction of the computer program , thereby realizing the functions of the embodiments . needless to say , this case is also within the present invention . the above - described embodiments are merely exemplary of the present invention , and are not be construed to limit the scope of the present invention . the scope of the present invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims , and is not limited to only the specific descriptions in this specification . furthermore , all modifications and changes belonging to equivalents of the claims are considered to fall within the scope of the present invention . this application claims priority from japanese patent application no . 2005 - 070024 filed mar . 11 , 2005 , which is hereby incorporated by reference herein .	6
for readiest understanding of the invention , it is helpful to describe a prior art feeding bottle in some detail . thus , in fig1 a to 1 d , the components of a typical prior art bottle assembly 60 are shown , comprising a bottle 10 , a nipple 20 , and a collar 30 ( fig1 a ). bottle 10 ( fig1 b ) is formed of plastic or glass . bottle 10 is of hollow construction , with outer wall 11 closed off at closed end 12 , and with an opening 14 at open end 13 . open end 13 has exterior threads 15 . nipple 20 ( fig1 c ), formed of silicone or latex , has an outward flange 21 . nipple 20 has a neck 22 formed by flange 21 and a retaining rib 23 . nipple 20 has a closed end 24 with a plurality of perforations 28 . nipple 20 is of hollow construction , forming a cavity 27 . flange 21 has an opening 26 that allows a liquid ( not shown ) to be drawn into cavity 27 and out through perforations 28 . collar 30 ( fig1 d ), which is formed of plastic , has a side 31 with interior threads 34 . collar 30 has an inward flange 35 with an opening 36 . collar 30 has an end 32 , with opening 33 . flange 35 has an outward facing retaining rib 37 . fig1 e shows a section of a nipple 20 mated with a collar 30 , forming a nipple - collar assembly 50 . closed end 24 is drawn through opening 33 and opening 36 , such that neck 22 is nested in opening 36 and nipple 20 is retained in this position by flange 21 and retaining rib 23 . fig1 f shows a section of a prior art one - piece nipple 51 , which is formed of rubber and plastic in a permanent bond . one - piece nipple 51 may be used in place of a two - piece nipple - collar assembly ( not shown ). fig1 g shows a bottle 10 mated to a nipple - collar assembly 50 , forming a bottle assembly 60 . open end 13 is inserted into opening 33 , and threads 15 are engaged with threads 34 . open end 13 and flange 21 , held together with pressure from flange 35 , form a liquid - proof seal . fig1 h shows a section of an optional prior art cover 52 , which is formed of plastic . cover 52 has an open end 53 with opening 54 . cover 52 has a closed end 55 , with a centrally located recess 56 on the interior side . cover 52 has a side 57 with an inward retaining rib 58 . fig1 i shows a section of a cover 52 mated to a bottle assembly 60 ( see fig1 j ). recess 56 conforms to and covers closed end 24 . fig1 j shows the details of retaining a cover 52 on a collar 30 . an inward retaining rib 58 on cover 52 is engaged with an outward retaining rib 37 on collar 30 , forming a snap closure . a one - piece example of the invention is shown in fig2 a to 2 d . a container insert 100 ( fig2 a ) of hollow construction , cylindrical in shape , formed of plastic , preferably transparent , with a plurality of graduations 70 on the outside . container insert 100 has an outer wall 101 ( fig2 b ), closed off at closed end 102 , with an opening 105 at open end 104 . outer wall 101 is curved slightly inward at open end 104 ( fig2 b and 2c ). outer wall 101 has a plurality of slight castellations 72 with rounded corners 73 along the edge of opening 105 ( fig2 c ). container insert 100 can be filled with a material 62 through opening 105 ( fig2 d ). fig2 e to 2 g show a one - piece container insert 100 in use . container insert 100 , filled with a material 62 , is mated with a nipple - collar assembly 50 by inserting open end 104 into opening 26 ( fig2 e ). a liquid - proof seal is created by open end 104 and neck 22 , protecting material 62 . nipple - collar assembly 50 , with container insert 100 and material 62 , is mated to a bottle 10 , which also contains a liquid 61 ( fig2 f ). this is the storage position for container insert 100 . liquid 61 and material 62 cannot communicate and may be stored separately in this configuration , ready for mixing , for as long as the sterility of the environment in which it was prepared allows . when mixing is desired , nipple 20 is depressed with enough force to dislodge container insert 100 from nipple 20 ( fig2 g ). open end 104 is unsealed , allowing material 62 and liquid 61 to mix through opening 105 . after agitating bottle assembly 60 the mixture can be administered . a two - piece example of the invention is shown in fig3 a to 3 e . a container insert assembly 250 ( fig3 a ), comprising an insert body 200 of hollow construction , cylindrical in shape , formed of plastic , preferably transparent , with a plurality of graduations 70 on the outside , and a sealing member 210 shaped like a cap . insert body 200 has an outer wall 201 ( fig3 b ), with an opening 203 at open end 202 and an opening 205 at open end 204 . outer wall 201 is curved slightly inward at open end 204 ( fig3 b and 3c ). outer wall 201 has a plurality of slight castellations 72 with rounded corners 73 along the edge of opening 205 ( fig3 c ). sealing member 210 is attached to insert body 200 at open end 202 ( fig3 d ). sealing member 210 has a side 211 ( fig3 e ) with an inward rib 212 , which engages with an outward rib 208 on outer wall 201 at open end 202 , forming a removable liquid proof snap closure . fig3 f to 3 j show a two - piece container insert assembly 250 in use . an insert body 200 is mated with a nipple - collar assembly 50 by inserting open end 204 into opening 26 ( fig3 f ), forming a liquid - proof seal between open end 204 and neck 22 . insert body 200 and nipple - collar assembly 50 are inverted , and a material 62 is added through opening 203 ( fig3 g ). a sealing member 210 is attached to insert body 200 at open end 202 , forming a container insert assembly 250 ( fig3 h ), and with nipple - collar assembly 50 material 62 is sealed . nipple - collar assembly 50 , with container insert assembly 250 and material 62 , is mated to a bottle 10 , which also contains a liquid 61 ( fig3 i ). this is the storage position for container insert assembly 250 . liquid 61 and material 62 cannot communicate and may be stored separately in this configuration , ready for mixing , for as long as the sterility of the environment in which it was prepared allows . when mixing is desired , nipple 20 is depressed with enough force to dislodge container insert assembly 250 from nipple 20 ( fig3 j ). open end 204 is unsealed , allowing material 62 and liquid 61 to mix through opening 205 . after agitating bottle assembly 60 the mixture can be administered . the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in fig4 a to 4 e . a container insert assembly 350 ( fig4 a ), comprising an insert body 300 of hollow construction , cylindrical in shape , formed of plastic , preferably transparent , with a plurality of graduations 70 on the outside , and a sealing member 310 shaped like a cap with a pushrod 315 in the inside center . insert body 300 has an outer wall 301 ( fig4 b ), with an opening 303 at open end 302 and an opening 305 at open end 304 . outer wall 301 is curved slightly inward at open end 304 ( fig4 b and 4c ). outer wall 301 has a plurality of slight castellations 72 with rounded corners 73 along the edge of opening 305 ( fig4 c ). sealing member 310 is attached to insert body 300 at open end 302 ( fig4 d ). pushrod 315 , with a bulb 316 on its end , is long enough to protrude from opening 305 . outer wall 301 has a flange 308 at open end 302 ( fig4 e ), which seats in a groove 314 on sealing member 310 , formed by a side 312 and a flange 313 , providing a liquid - proof seal . fig4 f to 4 l show a container insert assembly 350 in use . an insert body 300 is mated with a nipple - collar assembly 50 by inserting open end 304 into opening 26 ( fig4 f ), forming a liquid - proof seal between by open end 304 and neck 22 . insert body 300 and nipple - collar assembly 50 are inverted , and a material 62 is added through opening 303 ( fig4 g ). a sealing member 310 is attached to insert body 300 at open end 302 , pushing pushrod 315 through material 62 , forming a container insert assembly 350 ( fig4 h ), and with nipple - collar assembly 50 , material 62 is sealed . when an optional cover 52 is attached to nipple - collar assembly 50 with container insert assembly 350 ( fig4 ), closed end 24 , when slightly compressed by recess 56 , should not come in contact with pushrod 315 . nipple - collar assembly 50 , with container insert assembly 350 and material 62 , is mated to a bottle 10 , which also contains a liquid 61 ( fig4 ). this is the storage position for container insert assembly 350 . liquid 61 and material 62 cannot communicate and may be stored separately in this configuration , ready for mixing , for as long as the sterility of the environment in which it was prepared allows . when mixing is desired , closed end 24 of nipple 20 is depressed ( fig4 k ), exerting enough force on pushrod 315 to dislodge sealing member 310 from insert body 300 . open end 302 is unsealed , and material 62 and liquid 61 can mix through opening 303 . nipple 20 is depressed further to dislodge insert body 300 from nipple 20 ( fig4 l ). open end 304 is also unsealed , allowing material 62 and liquid 61 to mix through both opening 305 and opening 303 , facilitating a thorough mixing . after agitating bottle assembly 60 the mixture can be administered . a three - piece example of the invention is shown in fig5 a to 5 f . a container insert assembly 450 ( fig5 a ), comprising an insert body 400 of hollow construction , cylindrical in shape , formed of plastic , preferably transparent , with a plurality of graduations 70 on the outside , and two sealing members 410 shaped like caps . insert body 400 has an outer wall 401 ( fig5 b ) with an opening 403 at each end . outer wall 401 has a plurality of slight castellations 406 along the edge of each opening 403 ( fig5 c ). each sealing member 410 has a side 412 with a plurality of slight castellations 416 ( fig5 d ). sealing members 410 are attached to insert body 400 at each end ( fig5 e ). outer wall 401 has a flange 408 at both ends , each which seats in a groove 414 on a sealing member 410 ( fig5 f ), formed by side 412 and a flange 413 , providing a liquid - proof seal . each sealing member 410 has a fin 415 on the outside . fig5 g to 5 j show the three - piece container insert assembly 450 in use . an insert body 400 is mated with a sealing member 410 at one end , and filled with a material 62 through the other ( fig5 g ). a second sealing member 410 is mated to the open end of insert body 400 , forming a container insert assembly 450 ( fig5 h ) and sealing material 62 . container insert assembly 450 , with material 62 , is placed inside a bottle assembly 60 , which also contains a liquid 61 ( fig5 i ). this is the storage position for container insert assembly 450 . liquid 61 and material 62 cannot communicate and may be stored separately in this configuration , ready for mixing , for as long as the sterility of the environment in which it was prepared allows . when mixing is desired , bottle assembly 60 is shaken with enough force to dislodge each sealing member 410 from insert body 400 ( fig5 j ). the ends of insert body 400 are unsealed , allowing material 62 and liquid 61 to mix through both openings 403 . after agitating bottle assembly 60 mixture can be administered . the container inserts can also be prepackaged for immediate use . fig6 a shows a container insert 100 , filled with a material 62 , with open end 104 sealed using a sealing member 74 , and enclosed in a packaging 71 . sealing member 74 can be a cellophane diaphragm held in place using a non - permanent adhesive or heat bond such that sealing member 74 can be easily removed using a pull tab 75 . packaging 71 can be a foil wrapper . fig6 b shows a container insert assembly 350 , filled with a material 62 , with open end 304 sealed using a sealing member 309 , and enclosed in a packaging 71 . sealing member 309 , made of a suitable rigid plastic , is held in place by friction against outer wall 301 , prevents an accidental force on pushrod 315 that might dislodge sealing member 310 , and can easily be removed . fig6 c shows a container insert assembly 450 , filled with a material 62 , and enclosed in a packaging 71 . accordingly , the reader will see that the container insert of this invention can be used to store a material separately inside a bottle , and release the material into the bottle when desired . furthermore , the container insert has the additional advantages in that : it permits the caregiver to prepare the bottle in a controlled environment , facilitating cleanliness and accurate measurements ; it permits the caregiver to mix the contents when desired without reopening the bottle , eliminating a significant chance of contamination ; it permits the caregiver to mix the contents quickly and with minimal attention , even one handed with tactile senses only ; its simple design allows ease of cleaning ; it works with bottles the caregiver already possesses . although the description above contains many specificities , these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention . for example , the container insert body can be made of a bag to work with prior art bag - style bottles ; the container insert can be used in bottles other than for feeding infants , including geriatric , invalid , and livestock care ; the insert container can be shaped differently to accommodate different bottles . thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents , rather than by the examples given .	0
this description of preferred embodiments is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings , which are to be considered part of the entire written description . the drawing figures are not necessarily to scale and certain features of the invention may be shown exaggerated in scale or in somewhat schematic form in the interest of clarity and conciseness . in the description , relative terms such as “ horizontal ,” “ vertical ,” “ up ,” “ down ,” “ top ,” and “ bottom ” as well as derivatives thereof ( e . g ., “ horizontally ,” “ downwardly ,” “ upwardly ,” etc .) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawing figure under discussion . these relative terms are for convenience of description and normally are not intended to require a particular orientation . terms including “ inwardly ” versus “ outwardly ,” “ longitudinal ” versus “ lateral ,” and the like are to be interpreted relative to one another or relative to an axis of elongation , or an axis or center of rotation , as appropriate . terms concerning attachments , coupling , and the like , such as “ connected ” and “ interconnected ,” refer to a relationship wherein structures are secured or attached to one another either directly or indirectly through intervening structures , as well as both movable or rigid attachments or relationships , unless expressly described otherwise . the term “ operatively connected ” is such an attachment , coupling or connection that allows the pertinent structures to operate as intended by virtue of that relationship . fig1 illustrates one example of an implant 100 for treating hammer toe . as shown in fig1 , implant 100 includes a threaded portion 102 and a blade portion 104 , which are connected together at an engagement portion 106 . implant 100 may have a substantially linear geometry having an overall length of approximately 19 mm ( approximately 0 . 75 inches ). in some embodiments , such as the one illustrated in fig5 and 6 , blade portion 104 may be disposed at angle with respect to a longitudinal axis defined by the threaded portion 102 . the angle may be between zero and 45 degrees , and more particularly between approximately five and fifteen degrees , although one skilled in the art will understand that implant 100 may have other dimensions and be provided in different sizes . for example , implant 100 may be provided in lengths of 16 mm and 22 mm , to name a few potential lengths . threaded portion 102 may include a plurality of threads 108 disposed along its entire length , which may be approximately 13 mm ( approximately 0 . 5 inches ). the tip 110 of threaded portion 102 may be pointed to facilitate the advancement of threads 108 into bone . threads 108 may have a maximum outer diameter of approximately 2 mm ( approximately 0 . 08 inches ), although one skilled in the art will understand that thread portion 102 may have other dimensions and be configured to be received within a phalanx bone of a person . for example , threads may have an outer diameter of approximately 2 . 4 mm and 1 . 6 mm , to name a few potential possibilities . as best seen in fig3 , blade portion 104 includes a plurality of serrated edges 112 on its top and bottom sides 114 , 116 . blade portion 104 may have a width that is greater than its thickness as best seen in fig2 and 4 . for example , blade portion 104 may have a width of approximately 0 . 4 centimeters ( approximately 0 . 16 inches ) and a thickness of approximately 0 . 1 centimeters ( approximately 0 . 04 inches ) each of which taper to point 118 . blade portion 104 may have a substantially rectangular cross - sectional area as illustrated in fig4 , although one skilled in the art will understand that blade portion 104 may have other cross - sectional geometries . engagement portion 106 may include a pair of protrusions 120 extending from opposite sides of implant 100 and having rounded outer edges 122 . the sides 124 of protrusions 120 may be substantially parallel with each other as shown in fig4 . referring to fig3 a - 3f , one embodiment of the invention provides an implant 125 that includes an alternative blade portion 130 that includes a plurality of serrations 132 formed along edges 134 , 136 , a top surface 138 , and a bottom surface 140 . blade portion 130 often has a width that is greater than its thickness . a cantilever 142 is formed in blade portion 130 between edges 134 , 136 . cantilever 142 includes a free end and a clamped end 145 that is located in spaced relation to the free end . the free end of cantilever 142 is often formed so as to have a chamfer 147 ( fig3 f ) along a top edge . in some embodiments , clamped end 145 is located within blade portion 130 adjacent to engagement portion 106 ( fig3 a - 3b ). in these embodiments , the free end of cantilever 142 is located in spaced relation to engagement portion 106 . in other embodiments , clamped end 145 is located within blade portion 130 in spaced relation to engagement portion 106 , but with free end 147 being located adjacent to engagement portion 106 ( fig3 d - 3f ). in most embodiments , cantilever 142 will be pre - loaded such that chamfered free end 147 will stand proud of either top surface 138 or bottom surface 140 often by a distance approximating the thickness of blade portion 130 . in this arrangement , cantilever 142 is inclined at about a 2 ° angle relative to top surface 138 or bottom surface 140 . often , chamfered free end 147 of cantilever 142 will rise above top surface 138 so that cantilever 142 will form an angle of approximately 2 °- 4 ° with respect to top surface 138 . for example , blade portion 130 may have a width of approximately 0 . 4 centimeters ( approximately 0 . 16 inches ) and a thickness of approximately 0 . 1 centimeters ( approximately 0 . 04 inches ) each of which taper to point 150 . blade portion 130 may have a substantially rectangular cross - sectional area , although one skilled in the art will understand that blade portion 130 may have other cross - sectional geometries . for example , in some embodiments , blade portion 130 may taper along its width and thickness to point 150 . implants 100 and 125 are both configured to be installed using a driving adapter 200 such as the one illustrated in fig7 - 10 . the driving adapter 200 has an elongate body 202 having a proximal end 204 and a distal end 206 . body 202 of driving adapter 200 may have a circular cross - sectional geometry , although one skilled in the art will understand that body 202 may have other cross - sectional geometries including , but not limited to , triangular , rectangular , pentagonal , and hexagonal to name a few . proximal end 204 may be substantially solid and have a rounded tip 208 . distal end 206 may define a slot 210 sized and configured to receive blade portion 104 , 130 of implants 100 , 125 , respectively . slot 210 may have a rectangular cross - sectional geometry and have a depth that is sufficient to receive the entire blade portion 104 of implant 100 such that distal edges 212 of slot 210 contact protrusions 120 of engagement portion 106 . however , one skilled in the art will understand that slot 210 may have other cross - sectional geometries and dimensions . slot 210 may extend through side walls 214 of body 202 as shown in fig7 and 8 , or side walls 214 may completely enclose slot 210 as shown in fig9 and 10 . if the driving adapter 200 is to be used with an implant 100 having a substantially linear lengthwise geometry such as the implants 100 , 125 illustrated in fig1 - 5 , then slot 210 may extend in a direction that is substantially parallel to an axis defined by body 202 of driving adapter 200 . if driving adapter 200 is to be used with an implant 100 having a blade portion 104 that extends at an angle with respect to an axis defined by elongate threaded portion 102 such as the implant illustrated in fig5 and 6 , then slot 210 may extend from distal edges 212 at an angle with respect to an axis defined by the length of body 202 such that elongate threaded portion 102 of implant 100 is linearly aligned with body 202 of driving adapter 200 as shown in fig1 . for example , if blade portion 104 of implant 100 extends at a ten degree angle with respect to an axis defined by elongate threaded portion 102 , then slot 210 of driving adapter 200 may extend at a ten degree angle with respect to a longitudinal axis defined by body 202 such that threaded portion 102 of implant 100 and body 202 of driving adapter 200 are substantially linearly aligned . a method for installing implants 100 , 125 in the proximal interphelangeal joint ( pip ) 300 is described with reference to fig1 a - 16 . however , one skilled in the art will understand that the technique for installing implants 100 , 125 may be applied to other joints such as , for example , the distal interphelangeal ( dip ) joint between middle phalanx 304 and distal phalanx 306 . as shown in fig1 a and 12b , an incision is made to open the pip joint 300 and a cutting tool 400 having a blade 402 may be used to resect adjacent faces of proximal phalanx 302 and middle phalanx 304 . the resected surfaces of proximal phalanx 302 and middle phalanx 304 may be debrided as understood by one skilled in the art . blade portions 104 , 130 of implants 100 , 125 may be disposed within slot 210 of driving adapter 200 as shown in fig1 , and the body 202 of driving adapter 200 may be secured in a chuck 412 of a drill 410 or other driving instrument as shown in fig1 . drill 410 or other driving instrument is used to drive the threaded portion 102 of implants 100 , 125 into the resected surface of proximal phalanx 302 . with the threaded portion 104 , 130 of implants 100 , 125 disposed within proximal phalanx 302 , driving adapter 200 may be disengaged from blade portion 104 , 130 of implants 100 , 125 . middle phalanx 304 may be predrilled or broached using drill 410 to create a hole 308 as shown in fig1 and 15 . the predrilled or broached middle phalanx 304 is then repositioned such that the predrilled hole or broach 308 aligns with the blade portion 104 of implant 100 . the middle phalanx 304 is then pressed into engagement with the blade portion 104 as shown in fig1 . serrated edges 112 of blade portion 104 help to maintain the engagement between middle phalanx 304 and blade portion 104 of implant 100 . a further method for installing implant 125 in the proximal interphelangeal joint ( pip ) 300 is substantially similar to the method used in connection with implant 100 and illustrated in fig1 a - 16 and 28 a - 33 , utilizing tooling as shown in fig1 - 27 . more particularly , an incision is made to open the pip joint 300 with a cutting tool 400 having a blade 402 used to resect adjacent faces of proximal phalanx 302 and middle phalanx 304 . blade portion 130 of implant 125 may also be disposed within slot 210 of driving adapter 200 , and the body 202 of driving adapter 200 may be secured in a chuck 412 of a drill 410 or other driving instrument . drill 410 or other driving instrument is used to drive the threaded portion 102 of implant 125 into the resected surface of proximal phalanx 302 . with the threaded portion 102 of implant 125 disposed within proximal phalanx 302 , driving adapter 200 may be disengaged from blade portions 104 , 130 of implants 100 , 125 . middle phalanx 304 may be predrilled or broached using drill 410 to create a hole 308 . the predrilled or broached middle phalanx 304 is then repositioned such that the predrilled hole or broach 308 aligns with the blade portions 104 , 130 of implants 100 , 125 . the middle phalanx 304 is then pressed into engagement with the blade portion 130 . serrated edges 112 of blade portion 130 help to maintain the engagement between middle phalanx 304 and blade portion 130 of implant 125 . advantageously , as blade portion 130 enters predrilled hole or broach 308 of middle phalanx 304 cantilever 142 is biased toward blade portion 130 by the edge of middle phalanx 304 that defines predrilled hole 308 . in one embodiment , the chamfered free end 147 of cantilever 142 engages the edge of middle phalanx 304 so as to cam cantilever 142 into biased relation with the bone , but without over stressing and damaging middle phalanx 304 . once fully inserted into middle phalanx 304 , cantilever 142 provides additional resistance to removal of implant 125 from hole 308 . fig1 - 27 illustrate another embodiment of a driver assembly 500 for installing an implant into bone . as shown in fig1 and 18 , driver assembly 500 includes an adapter 502 coupled to a driving rod 516 onto which a handle 534 is over - molded or otherwise coupled . adapter 502 includes a body 504 with a substantially rectangular side profile comprising side walls 506 - 1 , 506 - 2 , 506 - 3 , and 506 - 4 ( collectively referred to as “ side walls 506 ”) and a pair of end walls 508 - 1 , 508 - 2 ( collectively referred to as “ end walls 508 ”) having a substantially square geometry as best seen in fig1 - 22 . body 504 defines a recess 510 along the length of side walls 506 . recess 510 is dimensioned such that an o - ring 544 ( fig1 and 18 ) may be received therein . additionally , recess 510 is located along side walls 506 at a distance from end walls 508 such that recess 510 is aligned with a valley 126 of serrated edges 112 along the top and bottom sides 114 , 116 of blade portion 104 . end wall 508 - 1 defines an aperture 512 having a geometry that complements the cross - sectional geometry of blade portion 104 of implant 100 . for example , if implant 100 has a straight blade portion 104 as illustrated in fig2 , then aperture 512 may extend approximately parallel to the lengthwise direction of side walls 506 . if the blade portion 104 of implant 100 is angled as illustrated in fig6 , then aperture 512 may extend from wall 508 - 1 at an angle relative to the plane defined by side wall 506 - 2 or 506 - 4 as will be understood by one skilled in the art . in some embodiments , aperture 512 has a depth that is greater than or equal to a length of blade portion 104 such that blade portion 104 may be received within body 504 and engagement portion 106 abuts end wall 508 - 1 . similarly , end wall 508 - 2 defines an aperture 514 that is sized and configured to receive an end of elongate driving rod 516 therein . as best seen in fig2 - 25 , driving rod 516 includes a fin 518 disposed at a first end 520 . fin 518 disposed at end 20 of driving rod 516 has a rectangular shape and is sized and configured to be received within aperture 512 of adapter 502 . fin 518 defines a slot 522 , which is sized and configured to receive a pin ( not shown ) for cross - pinning driving rod 516 to adapter 502 . in some embodiments , end 520 may have other cross - sectional geometries including , but not limited to , triangular , square , and pentagonal , to name a few possibilities , that are configured to be received within aperture 512 . adapter 502 may be over - molded onto the end of driving rod 516 . however , one skilled in the art will understand that adapter 502 may be cross - pinned or otherwise coupled to driving rod 516 . the opposite end 524 of driving rod 516 defines a pair of flats 526 , 528 , which are disposed on opposite sides of driving rod 516 . as best seen in fig2 , flat 526 extends from tip 530 and is linearly spaced from flat 528 , which is disposed at a greater distance from tip 530 than flat 526 . however , one skilled in the art will understand that flats 526 , 528 may be disposed at other positions along driving rod 516 . flats 526 , 528 are configured to provide a contact surface for coupling to handle 532 , which may be over - molded onto driving rod 516 , such that rotation of handle 532 is translated to driving rod 516 . turning now to fig2 and 27 , handle 532 has an elongate body 534 that includes a plurality of ribs 536 that extend in a longitudinal direction along body 534 to provide a gripping surface for a user . as best seen in fig1 and 22 , a smooth surface 538 interrupts circumferential ridges 540 , which are disposed adjacent to proximal end 542 also for providing a gripping surface for a user . driver assembly 500 may be provided in a kit with a first adapter 502 for use with a straight implant 100 and a second adapter for use with an angled implant 100 . a plurality of implants 100 of different sizes may also be provided in the kit . the kit may be used in an operation similar to the operation described above with respect to fig1 a - 16 . for example and referring to fig2 a - 33 , an incision is made to open the pip joint 300 and a cutting tool 400 having a blade 402 may be used to resect adjacent faces of proximal phalanx 302 and middle phalanx 304 as illustrated in fig2 a and 28b . the resected surfaces of proximal phalanx 302 and middle phalanx 304 may be debrided as understood by one skilled in the art . blade portion 104 of implant 100 is disposed within aperture 512 of adapter 502 as shown in fig2 a and 29b . with blade portion 104 disposed within aperture 512 , an o - ring 544 ( fig1 and 18 ) is placed in recess 510 defined by adapter 502 and within a valley 126 of serrated edges 112 along the top and bottom sides 114 , 116 of blade portion 104 . o - ring 544 secures implant 100 to adapter 502 such that implant does not move axially out of aperture 512 . once implant 100 is secured to adapter 502 , the surgeon uses handle 534 to manually drive threaded portion 102 of implant 100 into the resected surface of proximal phalanx 302 as illustrated in fig3 . implant 100 is driven into proximal phalanx 302 until engagement portion 106 abuts proximal phalanx 302 . implant 100 is decoupled from adapter 502 by axially pulling handle 534 away from implant 100 with sufficient force to flex o - ring 544 and separate adapter 502 from implant 100 . middle phalanx 304 may be predrilled or broached using drill 410 to create a hole 308 as shown in fig3 and 32 . the predrilled or broached middle phalanx 304 is then repositioned such that the predrilled hole or broach 308 aligns with the blade portion 104 of implant 100 . the middle phalanx 304 is then pressed into engagement with the blade portion 104 as shown in fig3 . serrated edges 112 of blade portion 104 help to maintain the engagement between middle phalanx 304 and blade portion 104 of implant 100 . the implant described above may advantageously be installed through a small incision as described above . additionally , the improved implant is completely disposed within a toe of a patient , which prevents the implant from being caught on bed sheets or other objects like the conventional pins . although the invention has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments , it is not limited thereto . rather , the appended claims should be construed broadly , to include other variants and embodiments of the invention , which may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and range of equivalents of the invention .	0
fig1 , 2 a , 2 b and 3 illustrate the preferred embodiment of the fixed tilt configuration of the wheelchair according to the invention , which in this disclosure will be referred to as the “ tf ” configuration . in tf configuration , the wheelchair is set at one of several possible angles of tilt about a pivot axis 10 near the knees of the occupant . fig2 a and 2 b illustrate two alternative fixed tilt angles for the tf configuration . fig4 , 5 a and 5 b illustrate the preferred embodiment of the dynamic tilt - in - space configuration of the wheelchair , in which the axis of rotation 12 is provided near the front of the seat frame assembly 14 . the preferred embodiment of this configuration is designed to ensure that the front of the occupant &# 39 ; s knees move upward only a very small amount as the chair undergoes a full range of tilt of up to 20 degrees . in this disclosure , this configuration will be referred to as the “ t20 ” configuration . fig5 a and 5 b illustrate two different degrees of tilt for the t20 configuration . fig6 , 7 a and 7 b illustrate the preferred embodiment of the dynamic tilt - in - space configuration of the wheelchair , in which the axis of rotation 16 is provided near the center of gravity of the occupant . the preferred embodiment of this configuration is designed for tilt angles of up to 50 degrees . in this disclosure , that configuration will be referred to as the “ t50 ” configuration . fig7 a and 7 b illustrate two different degrees of tilt for the t50 configuration each of the tf , t20 and t50 configurations is built around a set of sub - assemblies that is common to each of the configurations , and that are adapted to receive interchangeable components to modify the wheelchair to the desired configuration . the principal sub - assemblies that are modified to effect a change in the configuration of the wheelchair are the support assemblies for providing load - bearing support between the base frame assembly and the seat frame assembly ( or to lock the seat frame against pivoting ), and the pivot assemblies that provide a pivot connection between the base frame assembly to the seat frame assembly . fig8 , 9 and 10 illustrate the base frame and seat frame assemblies for the tf , t20 and t50 configurations respectively , including their associated support and pivot assemblies . referring to fig8 , a seat frame consists of an assembly 18 comprising a left and right seat rails 20 , 22 joined by front and rear seat crossbar assemblies 24 , 26 . a base frame consists of an assembly 28 comprising left and right base rails 30 , 32 joined by front and rear base crossbar assemblies 34 , 36 . in the tf configuration , seat frame assembly 18 is set in pivoted relation to the base frame assembly 28 about opposed pivot points ( only pivot point 38 is visible in fig8 ) located near the front of the left and right seat rails 20 , 22 . the pivot points are located between 1⅝ and 6⅝ inches from the forward edge of a seat pan that is secured , as intended , to the seat crossbar assemblies 24 , 26 . to the pivot assembly in the tf configuration generally comprises two pivot elements that cooperate to define pivot point 38 between them : pivot supports 40 and pivot hanger brackets 42 . the support assembly 44 for the tf configuration is attached between the front and rear seat crossbar assemblies 24 , 26 and the rear base crossbar assembly 36 . support assembly 44 comprises brace bracket 46 and an interface mount element 48 . different degrees of relative tilt between the seat frame and base frame are achieved by connecting the lower end of brace bracket 46 to one of several attachment points 50 on interface mount 48 that is in turn removably attached to the inner tube 52 of the rear base crossbar assembly 36 . the attachment points comprise apertures 50 arrayed at different angular positions along an arc of constant radius in relation to the pivot points 38 . inner tube 52 of the rear base crossbar assembly 36 includes a centrally located aperture 54 to receive a removable fastener 56 for attachment of the interface mount 48 thereto . a better view of the interface mount 48 is provided in fig8 a . referring to the pivot assembly , the pivot support 40 is illustrated in detail in fig1 and 12 . pivot support 40 consists of a seating block one surface 58 of which is shaped to conform to the inside of a seat rail , and further including a downwardly extending tab 60 having an pivot pin hole 62 therethrough to receive a pivot pin . seating block 40 includes two spaced apertures 64 , 66 for receiving fasteners 68 , 70 that are used to secure the front seat crossbar assembly 24 to the rail as will be discussed in more detail below . the pivot hanger bracket 42 ( shown in detail in fig2 ) similarly includes a pivot pin hole to receive a pivot pin at pivot point 38 . pivot hanger bracket 42 also has a base 72 through which extend two apertures for receiving fasteners 74 , 76 used to attach the lower end of the bracket to the front base crossbar assembly 26 . the pivot hanger bracket 42 is preferably provided with an oblong aperture 78 in the body thereof so as to be used as a transit tie - down bracket for optional use in securing the wheelchair to tie - down stations in vehicles . the pivot hanger bracket 42 has a portion thereof that is shaped to mate with a seat provided in a partial sleeve 80 that is welded to the front portion of each rail . fig9 illustrates the base frame , seat frame , support and pivot assemblies for the t20 configuration . as in the case of the tf configuration , the seat frame assembly 82 and the base frame assembly 84 are connected at pivot points 86 by means of pivot supports 88 mounted to the left and right seat rails 94 , 96 and pivot hanger brackets 98 , 100 mounted to the left and right base rails 102 , 104 . the pivot supports and pivot hanger brackets of the tf and t20 configurations are identical . the t20 configuration uses a different support assembly than does the tf configuration . the t20 support assembly 106 comprises a bracket 108 ( slightly different from the tf bracket 46 ) attached to the front and rear seat crossbar assemblies and to the rear base crossbar assembly by means of a bell crank 110 pivotally mounted to the inner tube 112 of the rear base crossbar assembly . the bell crank serves to modulate the degree of resistance provided at different tilt angles and to accommodate the change in spatial relationship between the bracket and the base frame as the seat frame is tilted . referring to fig9 , 9 a and 13 , bracket 108 has spaced shoulders 114 , 116 . the front 118 of the bracket includes a bridge 120 extending between the shoulders 114 , 116 . bridge 118 has a fastener aperture for attachment of one end of a gas strut . a gas strut 120 is mounted between the shoulders of the bracket . one end of gas strut 120 is secured to bridge 118 by means of a shoulder bolt while the other end is attached to another shoulder bolt 122 extending through the medial portion of the bell crank 110 . a trigger 124 is provided to control the gas strut . because the gas strut is connected to the center of the bell crank , a pivoting of the base frame 84 in relation to the seat frame 82 will also cause a translation of the lower end of the bell crank in relation to the vertical plane . such translation is accommodated by connecting the lower end of the bell crank to a slide 126 mounted on a guide tang 128 that is attached to the inner tube 112 of the rear base crossbar assembly by means of a fastener threaded through a suitable aperture in the inner tube 112 . fig1 illustrates the base frame , seat frame , support ( lock ) and pivot assemblies for the t50 configuration . in the t50 configuration , the forward pivot point that was a feature of the tf and t20 configurations is not present and the pivot hanger brackets are not used in the t50 configuration . the pivot supports on the seat rails may be replaced by transit tie - down brackets 132 ( see fig1 ) according to whether the wheelchair is intended to be attachable to tie - downs on public and private transit vehicles . the transit tie - down brackets also double as crossbar mounting elements . the pivot hanger brackets that would normally be seated in partial sleeve 80 on the base rails are replaced by filler blocks 134 . the pivot assembly for the t50 configuration comprises a pivot arm 136 extending up from each of left and right base rails 138 , 140 to a height 142 above the seat pan . in the preferred embodiment , apart from being secured to the rails , each pivot arm is also braced by attachment to the rear base crossbar assembly 144 . the seat frame assembly is supported about pivot pins 146 at the upper end of the pivot arms by means of opposed pivot hanger plates 148 that are attached to the left and right seat rails 150 , 152 and that are pivotally suspended from the pivot pins 146 . the pivot arm 148 comprises a base 154 having a surface conforming to the rear of the base rail ( see fig1 ). apertures 156 are provided in the base 154 to enable the base to be secured by fasteners to selected apertures 158 in a longitudinal recess 160 formed in the rear portion of the base rails . vertically spaced apertures 162 are adapted to secure the pivot arm 136 to the rear base crossbar assembly 144 . in the preferred embodiment , the pivot arm 148 extends generally upward to a forwardly extending elbow 164 to avoid interfering with the hardware used to secure the seat frame , then upwards to the pivot point 142 . pivot pin 146 extends through the pivot arm 136 and through the pivot aperture of the pivot hanger plate 148 . the height of the pivot point 142 is selected by reference to the expected center of gravity of the occupant , as calculated using publicly available anatomical data . in the preferred embodiment , the height of this point is about 6 . 75 inches ( 171 . 4 mm ) above the seat pan . such height has been selected by accounting for a typical seat cushion of about 2 ″ in thickness and an anatomically typical occupant . the precise location in the horizontal plane of the center of gravity of a occupant tends to vary more than does its location in the vertical plane . the invention accommodates such variation by providing means to adjust the horizontal position of the back rest and of the seat pan in the fore and aft directions . this allows the occupant or installer to optimize the coincidence of the pivot point 142 at the top of the pivot arm with the center of gravity of the occupant . a matrix of apertures 166 ( see fig6 ) is provided along the edge of the seat pan 168 allowing the seat pan to be located at different fore and aft positions in relation to the seat frame assembly . the pivot arm 136 is also adapted to be set at various horizontal positions on the base rails , for example to change the wheel base load distribution and to clear interference of the front rigging and front casters . referring to fig1 , the pivot hanger plate 148 has a broad base 170 that tapers to a pivot aperture 172 in the top of the plate forming a generally triangular shape that can also serve as a guard to prevent the occupant &# 39 ; s clothing from coming into contact with the rear wheel . the base 170 of the pivot hanger plate includes a bottom portion 174 that conform to the top surface of the rail 176 , and a downwardly extending flange 178 shaped to abut the outside of the rail . the flange 178 includes a plurality of apertures 180 the rearmost five of which are used to receive fasteners for releasably securing the back cane mounting to the pivot hanger plate 148 and the rail 178 . two of the apertures are to receive fasteners extending through the hanger plate 148 , the rail 176 , the transit tie - down bracket 184 ( for tansit - ready chairs only ) and a threaded insert 186 ( see fig1 ) extending laterally through the sleeve tube 188 of the rear crossbar assembly . a tab 190 extends downward from the center of the flange and is securable to the transit tie - down bracket by means of a fastener . a plurality of cane mounting apertures are provided at the rear of the pivot hanger plate including three sets of apertures 192 arranged in diverging arcs . the apertures are used to mount a back cane at various angles and positions in relation to both the rail 176 and the pivot hanger plate 148 . referring again to fig1 , the preferred embodiment , the support assembly for the t50 configuration comprises the same bracket as in the t20 configuration , as well as an extendible lock rod 193 attached between the rear ends 194 of the shoulders of the bracket . the rear end of the lock rod is pivotally attached to a rod mount 196 attached to the inner tube 198 of the base crossbar assembly . a trigger 200 is provided to selectively lock the rod against retraction or extension to prevent rocking of the seat frame about the pivot points . in order to provide adjustability in the width of the wheelchair , each of the seat and base crossbar assemblies are telescope assemblies in which an inner tube 202 is received within opposed sleeve tubes 188 as may appreciated by reference to fig1 and 17 . the inner and sleeve tubes have generally corresponding cross - sectional shapes and dimensions to facilitate the telescoping function . inner tube 202 is hollow save for a series of ribs 189 extending along the central longitudinal axis of the tube . a series of apertures 204 adapted to receive fasteners 206 are located between the ribs . the ribs provide rigidity against deformation when the inner and sleeve tubes are brought into engagement with one another by means of head screws 206 extending through selected ones of the apertures 208 and corresponding apertures in the sleeve tube . a feature of the invention is the means by which the crossbar assemblies may be secured in a given telescoped position with a high degree of rigidity . rather than the head of a fastener bearing on one side of the sleeve tube and a nut bearing on its opposite side , the invention provides apertures 208 in the top wall 210 of the sleeve tube 188 that are larger than the aligned apertures in the bottom wall ( not visible ) of the sleeve tube and that are sufficiently large that the head of the fastener bears directly on the top wall 212 of the inner tube 202 . this allows the inner tube 202 to bear against the inner bottom surface 214 of the sleeve tube thereby providing a great deal of friction against relative displacement . in addition , the inner tube shape and dimensions are selected to accommodate a small degree of elastic deformation of the inner tube to further lock the inner tube against the sleeve tube when the positioning fasteners are tightened . in the preferred embodiment , this is accomplished by providing non - flat mating bottom walls 216 , 218 of the inner and sleeve tubes respectively such that any deformation of the inner tube will result in several points and angles of contact between them . in the preferred embodiment such non - flat portions comprises opposed , spaced protuberances 220 , 222 . in order to accommodate the elastic deformation of the inner tube , a small dimensional gap 224 or tolerance is provided between the inner and sleeve tube contact surfaces . it will be appreciated that the extent of the gap is selected according to the elastic range of the inner tube but it should not be so large as to allow plastic deformation to occur . the telescoping joint mechanism ensures that the joint stays tight even with continuous variations in loading ( fatigue ). plastic deformation of the inner tube would compromise the joint integrity and allow the joint to become loose over time . referring to fig1 , each seat crossbar assembly is secured to each rail by a mounting element 130 that interfaces between the rail 226 and the sleeve tube 188 of the crossbar assembly and by fasteners 228 that extend through the rail and the mounting element 130 to engage an insert 186 seated laterally through the sleeve tube . the front seat crossbar mounting elements for all configurations are the pivot supports 40 . one side of each mounting element conforms to the inside of a rail 226 , and the opposite side is shaped to engage the outer end of the sleeve tube 188 . two apertures 230 are provided in the mounting element and are spaced to correspond to the spacing of two mounting holes 232 in the rail so that fasteners 228 may be received through the rail and through the mounting element . the fasteners engage insert 186 that extends laterally through the hollow inside of the sleeve tube . the mounting elements for the rear seat crossbar assemblies for all configurations consist of either a simple mounting element 130 as in fig1 or a transit tie - down bracket 132 , best illustrated in fig1 and 20 that conform on one side to the inside of the rail and are configured on the other side to engage the end of the crossbar assembly . in the case of the base crossbar assemblies , securement to the rails is by means of components that conform to a part of the rail and that include a seat to receive and secure the end of the crossbar assembly by means of fasteners . in the case of the tf and t20 configurations , the front base crossbar assembly is seated in and against partial sleeve 80 and the rear base crossbar assembly is seated in and against rear crossbar mount 81 . rear crossbar mount 81 is shaped to conform to the outside and top of the rear portion of the rail , including recess 160 . rear crossbar mount 81 also has a flat surface 83 for receiving and securing the end of the crossbar o assembly , as seen in fig2 . the rear base crossbar assembly is oriented such that its transverse breadth lies in the vertical plane . this allows attachment of the interface mount 48 , the slider assembly 126 , 128 or the mechlok rod mount 196 ( as the case may be ) to be attached to the inner tube by a fastener through an aperture traversing the width of the inner tube . in the case of the t50 configuration , the front base crossbar assembly is seated against a seat in a forward crossbar mount 80 that conforms to part of the front of the base rail and that has a seat adapted to receive and secure the end of the crossbar assembly . the rear base crossbar assembly of the t50 configuration is seated in a seat provided on the inside of the base of the pivot arm 136 and is secured by two screws 162 . the invention provides adjustability of the wheel base as well as the location of the pivot point in the horizontal plane for the t50 configuration by a longitudinal recess 160 journaled in the rear portion of each base rail 233 . referring to fig2 , a plurality of aligned apertures 234 along the interior of the recess receive fasteners 236 that are used to secure the rear ( drive ) wheel axle mounting plate 238 , crossbar mounts or the base of the pivot arms as the case may be . the relative front to back position of those components can be adjusted by selecting the appropriate apertures . the edges of the channel include grooves 240 adapted to receive clip - on masking caps 242 ( see for example fig5 a ) to provide an aesthetic cover for those portions of the channel that are not otherwise covered by one of the foregoing components . a mounting assembly is provided for securing the fasteners within the hollow interior of the rail . an elongated rod 244 is adapted to be longitudinally inserted and retained in the hollow rail 233 . a plurality of nuts 246 are retained in several spaced seats 248 provided along the length of the rod such that when it is inserted and retained in the rail with the nuts aligned to the fastener apertures 234 , fasteners 236 inserted into the apertures will engage the nuts and be retained without the need to traverse the opposing wall of the rail . this arrangement also avoids potential problems that might arise from securing the fasteners directly to the rail itself . as the rail and the fasteners may be of different materials , the potential for reaction between them is reduced by the invention . the forward ends of the rails terminate in a caster clamp for retaining a standard caster assembly . the forward ends of the seat rails terminate in a front rigging hanger with an insertion tube adapted to telescope a selected depth into the front end of the rail and a vertically oriented sleeve adapted to receive a standard footrest assembly . the rear ( drive ) wheel assembly is illustrated in fig2 , 24 and 25 . the wheel assembly includes an axle mounting plate 250 secured to the base rail 252 and means to mount each of the wheel , the wheel lock assembly and the anti - tip assembly directly onto the axle mount . this allows the position of the wheel on the frame to be adjusted by changing the location of the axle mounting plate , rather than needing to separately adjust an anti - tip assembly 254 , an axle mounting plate and a wheel lock assembly 256 . the axle mounting plate 250 has a base 258 with an inner dimension corresponding to the outer shape of the rail including the recess , and an extension 260 having a plurality of aligned vertical positioning apertures 262 for receiving a rear wheel axle receiver 264 in any one of several vertical positions : the axle mounting plate 250 is secured to the rail 252 by fasteners 266 extending through apertures in the base of the axle mounting plate and through apertures provided in the recess 160 . the axle receiver 264 is inserted through a selected one of the vertically aligned apertures 262 according to the preferred ground clearance for the base frame of the wheelchair . a wheel lock tube 268 is secured between the rear wheel 270 and the axle mounting plate 250 by means of a mounting piece 272 that is adapted to provide a secure mating seat 274 for the side of the axle mount . a clearance aperture 276 through the mounting piece 272 provides a passageway for the axle receiver . the end of the axle receiver is threaded so as to receive a nut 278 used to tighten the wheel lock tube ( through the mounting piece ) to the axle mount . the axle 280 is inserted through the nut and the mounting piece 272 and into the hollow interior of axle receiver 264 . the end of axle 280 includes retainers 282 that project out of the end of axle receiver to hold the axle therein . retainers 282 are biased and may be manually depressed to allow the axle to be disengaged from the axle receiver . upon doing so , removal of the nut is all that is required in order to remove the axle receiver 264 and mounting piece 272 so as to be able to reposition the axle receiver into a different vertical positioning aperture 262 . the invention provides a simple means of repositioning the height of the rear wheel 270 in relation to the base frame with a minimum of tools and effort . in addition , since the anti - tip assembly 254 and the wheel lock assembly 256 are both mounted on the wheel lock tube 268 which in turn is mounted to the axle mounting plate , it is possible to adjust the horizontal position of the rear wheel on the base rail by repositioning the axle mount without the need to separately readjust the anti - tip assembly or the wheel lock assembly . a back cane assembly illustrated in fig2 . the assembly 284 is adapted to be mounted in various angular and fore and aft positions by providing a back plate 286 having plurality of suitable apertures to accommodate different orientations and positions of the cane 290 . back plate 286 is secured to the inside of the seat rail 294 by means of two fasteners 296 on the inside of the back cane . a number of fore and aft positions can be selected using a plurality of apertures 298 provided on the rail . the cane is then secured to the back plate by a pivot fastener 300 and by a second fastener 302 inserted through one of several apertures 288 provided in an arc about the pivot fastener 300 , thereby enabling the cane to be mounted at different angles in relation to the rail . in the tf and t20 configurations , a second back plate 302 is provided on the outside of the rail and all fasteners extend through both the inside and outside back plates . in the case of the t50 configuration , the outside back plate 302 is omitted but the pivot hanger plate 148 is provided with corresponding apertures and fulfills the same function as the outside back plate does in the tf and t20 configurations . reconfiguring a wheelchair from the tf fixed tilt configuration to a dynamically tiltable configuration ( i . e . to either the t20 or the t50 ) is generally accomplished as follows . the tf configuration comprises a support assembly ( brace bracket 46 and interface mount element 48 ) connected between the seat frame assembly 18 and the base frame assembly 28 . the interface mount element 48 is configurable by the selection of different attachment points 50 to define any one of a plurality of predetermined relative pivot angles between the seat frame and the base frame . the interface mount element 48 is first removed by removing fasteners 56 and 57 . a bias mechanism is then installed to provide a mechanical advantage in tilting the seat frame in relation to the base frame , thereby providing a dynamically tiltable wheelchair . in the case of the t20 , the bias mechanism is the assembly consisting of gas strut 120 , bell crank 110 and slide 126 . one end of gas strut 120 is secured to bell crank 110 . the other end of the gas strut is secured to the seat frame , or more particularly to a bracket 108 that is associated with the seat frame . bell crank 110 is secured ( through slide 126 and guide tang 128 ) to the same attachment point that received fastener 56 in the tf configuration . in the case of the t50m the bias mechanism is a mech lok . the conversion to the t20 to the t50 configuration involves both a change of the pivot assembly and of the support assembly . in the t20 , the pivot assembly consists of cooperating pivot elements , namely pivot supports 88 and pivot hanger brackets 98 , 100 , each of which is removably attached to the chair by fasteners 68 , 70 or fasteners 74 , 76 . the pivot assembly of the t20 is removed by disengaging fasteners 68 , 70 , 74 and 76 . a new centre of gravity pivot assembly is installed by mounting pivot arms 136 on the base rails and mounting pivot hanger plates 148 to the seat rails , and pivotally connecting the pivot arms to the hanger plates by pivot pins 146 . the pivot arm is secured to the base rails by inserting fasteners in to apertures that extend to the pivot arm and in to the base rails . the hanger plates are mounted by securing fasteners to the plate and into apertures in the seat rails . if desired , a transit tie down bracket can be installed where the pivot hanger brackets would normally be attached in the t20 configuration . the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in some detail . however , those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications to the constructional details of the embodiment may be practiced without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention , which scope is properly defined by the claims that follow . the following claims are nonetheless to be considered part of the disclosure herein .	0
a known arrangement will first be described . fig1 shows a known arrangement wherein a maldi sample is illuminated by a laser beam 101 . the angle of incidence of the beam determines the dominant direction of emission of the resulting plume of material 102 . a multipole ion guide 103 is located adjacent the target substrate and has an on guiding region . the plume 102 and the analyte ions formed subsequent to irradiation by the laser 101 tend to expand in a direction towards the incident laser beam 101 . this is due to the inhomogeneous surface topography of the maldi sample and crystalline matrix . reference is made to p . aksouh et al . rapid commun . mass spectrometry , 9 ( 1995 ) 515 . the ions formed in the maldi plume must be transferred into the analyser requiring electrodes to be located in close proximity to the sample target . in high vacuum maldi instruments , the requirement for electrostatic lenses to be also arranged along the ion optic axis to enable ion acceleration orthogonal to the sample plate 104 generally precludes the ability to locate laser optics along the same path . consequently , commercial maldi mass spectrometers are designed with the laser incident at a small but non - zero angle of incidence . with intermediate pressure maldi , wherein a hexapole rf guide 103 is used to transfer ions , the rf devices prevent the possibility of locating laser optics designed specifically to provide orthogonal illumination . furthermore , the rf lenses limit the possibility of providing a final focus lens close to the maldi sample plate . similar constraints also apply to atmospheric pressure maldi instrumentation . fig2 illustrates the configuration of a three stage ion guide , showing the target plate 201 , an initial large aperture ring stack 202 , a large aperture ring stack 203 conjoined with a small aperture ring stack 204 and a small aperture ion guide 205 . it also shows the applied rf and dc voltages on the conjoined elements and indicates the direction of drift of the ion cloud within the conjoined elements from the large aperture to the small aperture . fig3 shows a preferred embodiment by which the laser pulse 302 is directed through a lens 308 and onto the target sample plate 305 using a dichroic mirror 303 to produce an ion beam 309 which is subsequently directed away from the laser optic axis . the sample plate 305 is viewed by a camera 307 through the laser mirror . in the preferred embodiment , the laser may be provided on or along a first path and the ion confinement device surrounds at least a part of that first path . in the most preferred embodiment of the current invention a mass spectrometer is provided for use in maldi ms , using a combination of mirrors 303 to direct the laser pulse 302 from the laser head ( not shown ) to the sample target plate 305 ; an optical lens 308 to focus the laser radiation onto the laser target plate 305 ; an rf guide 310 is arranged to collect and guide the ions generated in the maldi plume , configured in such a way as to direct the ions along a path 301 away from the optic axis of the incident laser pulse 302 . the laser is directed orthogonal to the surface of the target sample plate 305 . the rf guide preferably comprises three separate regions : a first 311 large aperture stack of ring electrodes arranged such that the rf applied each sequential ring is in anti - phase with its immediate neighbours ; a second region 304 comprising of a large and small aperture conjoined rf guides both guides arranged such that the rf applied each sequential ring is in anti - phase with its immediate neighbours and a dc potential applied between the two guides so as to drive ions across the radial pseudo - potential barrier which separates the two ion guiding regions ; and a third region 312 constructed using a small aperture rf guide arranged such that the rf applied each sequential ring is in anti - phase with its immediate neighbours . a dc offset between the two conjoined ion guides provides a method of directing the ion beam away from the optic axis of the incident laser beam . in one embodiment of the invention a dc potential difference , or a dc pulsed square wave applied sequentially along the length of the ion guide , provides a mechanism to propagate ions along the ion guide . in this embodiment of the invention the pulsed dc square wave may be arranged to collect and confine ions created from one or more pulses of the laser on an individual co - ordinate and transfer them into the mass spectrometer in one single packet , and keeping them segregated from the next packet . the dc square wave may be arranged to push sets of ions from the selected one or more pulses of the laser through the device and into the mass analysis section of the instrument . in the preferred embodiment , this results in ions from each packet within the mass spectrometer to be identified as being from one individual spot upon the target plate . in one preferred embodiment , two packets of ions may be produced from the same spot , each packet may contain the ions produced from one or more pulses on the same co - ordinate upon the target . the two packets may both be transferred through the ion confinement means , and the first set of ions passed straight through a collision cell following the ion confinement device . the ions may be propelled through the collision cell with sufficiently low energy that there will be few , or no fragmentation of the ions within the packet . the second set of ions may also be passed through the ion confinement device and into the collision cell . however , in this instance , the ions may be passed through the collision cell with higher energy such that all , most , or a substantial number of the ions will be fragmented giving daughter ions . both these packets of ions may then pass through to the analyser for analysis to produce a mass spectrum . this may allow the parent and daughter ion mass spectra to be performed on ions from the same co - ordinate on the sample plate . once the two packets have been created in the ion confinement device , the sample plate may be moved on to the next co - ordinate where the laser may again be pulsed to create a set of ions from the next co - ordinate . these ions may be similarly separated from the previous sets of ions , and similarly , two packets may be formed in the same way as for the previous co - ordinate . in the preferred embodiment the ion confinement device comprises an rf ion confinement device . in the preferred embodiment the ions created from the first co - ordinate and the ions created from the second co - ordinate are segregated by transient dc voltages in a less preferred embodiment the ions created from the first co - ordinate and the ions created from the second co - ordinate are segregated by one or more permanent dc voltages in a less preferred embodiment the ions created from the first co - ordinate and the ions created from the second co - ordinate are segregated by one or more intermittent dc voltages . in a less preferred embodiment the ions may be created by a pulsed laser . in one embodiment of the invention , is two or more pulses of a laser on the first co - ordinate are segregated within one packet in another embodiment of the invention , the ions produced from each pulse of a laser on the first co - ordinate are segregated from each other the laser may be from the group comprising :— insert laser types including uv and ir the laser may have a pulse frequency selected from the following ranges 1 - 10 hz , 10 - 100 hz , 100 - 1000 hz , 1000 - 10000 hz , 10000 - 100000 hz . in less preferred embodiments a the energy may be provided by one or more of firing a laser at the back of the sample plate ( as in laser spray ), firing a ball bearing at the sample plate , heating a specific spot on the sample plate , a piezoelectric excitement of a spot on the sample plate . preferably , the surface may also comprise a matrix to assist desorption and ionisation of the sample . the matrix may be from the group comprising : 2 , 5 - dihydroxy benzoic acid , 3 , 5 - dimethoxy - 4 - hydroxycinnamic acid , 4 - hydroxy - 3 - methoxycinnamic acid , α - cyano - 4 - hydroxycinnamic acid , picolinic acid , 3 - hydroxy picolinic acid . in one embodiment of the invention the ion confinement device may contain a collision gas , the collision gas may be used to cool the ions produced by the laser pulse , to enable the ions to be more easily handled throughout the mass spectrometer . in a less preferred embodiment any fragmentation may be performed within the ion confinement device . in one embodiment the packets of ions segregated in the ion confinement device may be exposed to a source of heat , in order to assist the desolvation of the ions . in the preferred embodiment the source of heat may be a heated collision gas within the ion confinement device . in less preferred embodiments , the source of heat comprises a radiant heat source . in a further embodiment of the invention , a laser may be provided to assist desolvation of ions within the ion confinement device . the preferred embodiment of the invention include the collection of ions in packets from particular spots upon the surface of the sample plate . it would be apparent to the skilled person that this it may be possible to practice the current invention without collecting packets of ions from particular spots . it may be possible to do imaging experiments where using the invention without requiring the segregation of different ions . methods of acquiring ions in conventional instruments may be utilised with the current invention . the benefits of the segregation would be apparent to a person skilled in the art because this enables greater certainty of the position from which ions that are generated in the source originated from upon the surface . in one embodiment , a faims separation device may be provided downstream of the ion confinement device . in one embodiment , a ims separation device may be provided downstream of the ion confinement device . in one embodiment a mass filter may be provided downstream of the ion confinement device . in one preferred embodiment , this may be a quadrupole in a preferred embodiment , the fragmentation of ions may be performed in a collision cell downstream of the ion confinement device . in the preferred embodiment , once ions have been collected from one co - ordinate , the surface may be moved relative to the energy source to enable the provision of energy to different co - ordinates . preferably , the spectra produced from packets of ions from each co - ordinate may be correlated with the co - ordinates upon the sample surface from which the ions are produced . fig4 illustrates a second embodiment of the invention . in this embodiment , the inclusion of an aperture 401 between the sample plate and the rf ion guide allowing differential pumping to create two different pressure regions . fig5 is a schematic showing an alternative arrangement where rf rod sets 401 , 402 are used to generate the pseudo - potential well required to guide ions around the laser optic axis . the applied rf and dc voltages rf and dc voltages on the conjoined ion guide rod sets is also indicated . fig6 shows two rod set configurations . the first rod set 601 uses continuous rods to create the conjoined ion guides , whilst the second rod set 602 shows the rod sets segmented into smaller units so that dc voltages or a travelling pulse can be applied to each stage . fig7 illustrates a configuration using a hexapole rf guide 701 mounted at an angle to draw ions away from the laser optic axis . fig8 shows an arrangement using hexapole ion guides in three parts . the initial rod set 801 is orthogonal to the sample target plate and co - axial with the incident laser path , whilst the main length of the hexapole 802 is mounted at an angle . a third section 803 is parallel to the first ion guide . fig9 is a diagram showing an example of how the main segment of the hexapole may be segmented 901 into smaller units so that dc voltages or a travelling pulse can be applied to each stage . fig1 shows a cross section of a sheared rf ion funnel 1001 with a central bore to enable the laser light to be directed orthogonally onto the sample target surface , whilst the ion current is drawn away from the optic axis . fig1 shows the plan view of the electrodes in the sheared ion funnel in fig1 at different cross sections ( marked a to h ) using circular geometry apertures 1101 or slotted geometry apertures 1102 . fig1 shows a cross section of a sheared rf ion funnel constructed in stepped diameters 1201 with a central bore to enable the laser light to be directed orthogonally onto the sample target surface , whilst the ion current is drawn away from the optic axis . fig1 shows a cross section of a symmetrical rf ion funnel 1301 with an off - axis bore to enable the laser light to be directed orthogonally onto the sample target surface , whilst the ion current is drawn away from the optic axis . fig1 illustrates a stacked plate geometry running parallel with the sample target plate . rf of opposite polarity is applied to sequential plates 1401 with dc or travelling dc pulses superimposed upon the rf . dc voltage is applied to the confining plates 1402 and 1403 . fig1 shows a hexapole ion guide 1501 running parallel with the sample target plate . a section in the lower two rods allows an extraction electrode 1502 with a dc voltage to draw ions from the sample and into the rf confinement . fig1 shows a hexapole ion guide running parallel with the sample target plate . a section in the lower two rods guide allows four rods to be lowered towards the target sample surface producing four l - shaped rods 1601 and two extensions from the centre rods to descend between the l - shaped rods to form t - shaped rods 1602 . a preferred embodiment of the current invention comprises : a mass spectrometer for use in maldi ms , using mirrors to transfer the laser pulse from the output of the laser head to the imaging optics focusing the laser pulse onto the laser target ( see 201 in fig2 ); and an ion guiding device comprising of three distinct sections : a first ion guide section consisting of a stack of large aperture conducting rings 202 with a confining rf voltage with opposing phase on each subsequent ring ; a second region consisting of an ion guide 203 which is conjoined with a second ion guide 204 ; and a third region consisting of a stack of smaller aperture conducting rings 205 . ions are urged across a radial pseudo - potential barrier which separates the two ion guiding regions by a dc potential gradient . ions may be radially transferred from an ion guide which has a relatively large cross - sectional profile to an ion guide which has a relatively small cross - sectional profile in order to improve the subsequent ion confinement of the ions and transfer the ions to a secondary ion optic axis parallel 301 to the incident laser 302 optic axis . a dichroic mirror ( see 303 in fig3 ) located behind the larger aperture conjoined electrode stack 304 directs the laser pulse along the axis of the electrodes onto the sample target plate 305 by reflection whilst allowing visible light to be transmitted from the sample plate through to a silvered mirror 306 , which , in turn , directs the light to a camera 307 . the laser light is focused through a lens 308 . the plume of material ablated by the laser consists of both ions and neutral species . the ions are confined within the pseudo - potential formed by the rf guide and may be drawn along the ion guide by use of a pulsed dc voltage superimposed upon the rf and travelling along sequential pairs of electrodes along the length of the guide ( travelling wave ). alternatively , the ions formed in the plume may be directed along the axis of the rf guide by means of dc axial fields . the benefit of such an arrangement , using a travelling pulse or dc axial fields , would be the ability to maintain the integrity of the ion packets , keeping them spatially and temporally distinct from one laser pulse to the next , and would prevent them from coalescing to form a continuous or pseudo continuous ion beam . other configurations may include the implementation of a trapping region in the rf guide for accumulation and pulsed transmission of the generated ions . the region may also consist of an ion mobility separation cell ( ims ) or a field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometer region ( faims ). the presence of an inert gas within the ion guide volume acts to reduce the radial kinetic energy of ions confined within the guide , and reduces the internal energy of the ions by collisional cooling effects . the direction of flow on the gas may be opposing the ion drift trajectory to assist in screening the laser optics from the neutral species generated , or along the ion drift trajectory to assist the transit of ions along the guide . the inclusion of an aperture 401 between the sample plate and the ion guide also allows for the option of differential pumping , such that the pressure at the sample plate may be several orders of magnitude higher than the pressures in the ion guide volume . this would allow for atmospheric pressure and intermediate pressure maldi to be performed . other embodiments may use alternative ionization techniques such as sims or laser diode thermal desorption . the maldi process is affected by numerous factors , several of which are mutually dependent . many of these parameters have been investigated since the maldi process was first published . despite this , the mechanisms involved in the generation of analyte ions from the maldi source are still not fully understood , and are still the subject of intense research . the matrices used are typically highly absorbing in the uv wavelength range ( typically 300 to 360 nm ) and commercial mass spectrometers predominantly use ultraviolet lasers , e . g . nitrogen lasers ( λ = 337 nm ) or harmonics of nd : yag lasers ( λ = 355 nm , or λ = 266 nm ). nitrogen lasers use nitrogen gas as a lasing medium , whereas nd : yag use a yag ( yttrium aluminium garnet : y3al5o12 ) crystal doped with neodymium ions . the nd : yag laser produces a light in the near infra - red ( λ = 1064 nm ) which is subsequently frequency tripled or quadrupled using non - linear optical crystals . the energy may be provided by a laser , for example from the group comprising : nitrogen , nd : yag , co 2 , er : yag , uv and ir . the laser pulse durations typically used for maldi range from 1 to 20 ns , although shorter pulses ( in the range of picoseconds ) have also been used . the laser may comprise a pulse frequency , for example selected from the following ranges : 1 - 10 hz , 10 - 100 hz , 100 - 1000 hz , 1000 - 10000 hz , 10000 - 100000 hz . lasers emitting in the infra - red region of the electromagnetic spectrum have also been used . the uv maldi method delivers energy to the matrix molecules via the excitation of the electron energy states , whereas ir maldi excites the vibration modes of the matrix molecules . many different types of matrix can be used , these include : 2 , 5 - dihydroxy benzoic acid , 3 , 5 - dimethoxy - 4 - hydroxycinnamic acid , 4 - hydroxy - 3 - methoxycinnamic acid , α - cyano - 4 - hydroxycinnamic acid , picolinic acid , 3 - hydroxy picolinic acid . the laser light delivery system for maldi usually includes a laser and associated optical components ( e . g . mirrors , electro - optics and lenses ) to transfer the laser pulse from the laser head to the analyte sample location on the maldi sample . the beam optics are designed to shape and deliver a suitable laser beam spatial intensity profile to the sample . laser systems typically used for maldi vary , not only in their wavelength , but also in their spatial intensity profile . for solid state lasers such as nd : yag , the lasing medium is a crystal doped with ions enclosed within a laser resonator and optically excited using flash lamps or laser diodes . they have a relatively low amplification , meaning that suitable gain in the laser intensity is achieved by a multiple of passes of the laser radiation within the laser resonator . the resulting output laser beam has a spatial intensity profile that consists predominantly of one fundamental transverse mode . the radial intensity of the fundamental transverse mode corresponds to a rotationally symmetric gaussian function orthogonal to the axis of propagation . such a beam profile can be focused to a minimum diameter , or beam waist , which is diffraction limited . the position of the final focusing lens and its focal length are determining factors for the minimum spot diameter and it is preferable to be as close to the maldi sample as possible . conversely , the nitrogen laser , which has been traditionally used for maldi applications , uses nitrogen gas excited by an electrical discharge between electrodes as its lasing medium . nitrogen exhibits a high laser gain on the most intense laser line meaning that the energy population inversion can be quenched and the laser pulse can achieve a high intensity even without the presence of a resonator . consequently , even with the use of a laser resonator , the spatial intensity profile of the emitted laser pulse consists of many transverse modes superimposed . as a result , the subsequent beam cannot be focused to the same degree . furthermore , because of many factors : the fluid nature of the gas ; inhomogeneities in the electrical discharge within the gas ; and thermal variations introduced by the electrical discharge from each emission , the amplification profile is not homogeneous . these factors , combined with the short period over which lasing occurs result in a spatial intensity distribution that is neither uniform nor reproducible from one shot to the next . when this laser profile is focused onto the maldi target the resulting intensity profile is highly modulated . however , because of the temporally varying emission from the laser , over a multiple of laser shots , the cumulative intensity distribution is averaged into a more homogenous profile . a preferred embodiment of the current invention comprises : a mass spectrometer for use in maldi ms , using a combination of mirrors to direct the laser pulse from the laser head to the sample target plate ; an optical lens to focus the laser radiation onto the laser target plate ; an rf guide to collect and guide the ions generated in the maldi plume , configured in such a way as to direct the ions along a path away from the optic axis of the incident laser pulse . the laser is directed orthogonal to the surface of the target sample plate . the rf guide would preferably be constructed with three separate regions : a first , large aperture stack of ring electrodes arranged such that the rf applied each sequential ring is in anti - phase with its immediate neighbours ; a second region comprising of a large and small aperture conjoined rf guides both guides arranged such that the rf applied each sequential ring is in anti - phase with its immediate neighbours and a dc potential applied between the two guides so as to drive ions across the radial pseudo - potential barrier which separates the two ion guiding regions ; third , a region constructed using a small aperture rf guide arranged such that the rf applied each sequential ring is in anti - phase with its immediate neighbours . a dc potential difference , or , preferably , a dc pulsed square wave applied sequentially along the length of the ion guide , provides a mechanism to propagate ions along the ion guide . a dc offset between the two conjoined ion guides provides a method of directing the ion beam away from the optic axis of the incident laser beam . the laser source preferentially is a solid state nd : yag producing pulsed laser radiation with a duration of between 500 ps and 10 ns at a wavelength of 355 nm . alternative solid state laser sources such as nd : ylf , or nd : yvo4 or gas lasers such as nitrogen , may also be used to produce uv wavelength in the range 266 to 360 nm or ir wavelength in the range 1 to 4 μm . the laser pulse itself may be transmitted by reflection off a number of beam steering mirrors before the final focusing element or by coupling to on optical fibre with a core diameter between 50 to 300 μm , preferably with a core diameter of 150 μm . beam transformation optical elements ( diffractive or refractive optics , and / or micro - mechanical adjustable optics ) may be included within the beam path to transform the spatial intensity profile of the propagating laser beam . an inert gas within the volume of the confining rf acts to reduce the radial kinetic energy of ions confined within the guide , and reduces the internal energy of the ions by collisional cooling effects . the direction of flow on the gas may be opposing the ion drift trajectory to assist in screening the laser optics from the neutral species generated , or along the ion drift trajectory to assist the transit of ions along the guide . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the particular embodiment discussed above without departing from the scope of the invention . the deflection of the ion beam away from the laser optical axis may be precipitated by many variations in the geometries of the rf confining ion guides . in the preferred embodiment , the presence of a dc voltage superimposed upon the rf voltage along all three sections of the conjoined ion guide , or more preferably , a travelling wave pulse propagating along the guide , may be used to assist the transfer of ions along the ion guide . in another preferred embodiment , the conjoined ring stack may be substituted for a set of rf guide rods ( fig5 ). these , in turn may be constructed from segments ( fig6 ) electrically isolated to enable a dc voltage , or a travelling wave pulse propagating along the guide to be superimposed upon the rf voltage . in a further embodiment , the rf guide may be sheared at an angle to confine the ion beam in a direction deviating from the axis orthogonal to the target sample plate ( fig7 ). this may be included between two sections that are mounted parallel to the incident laser beam ( fig8 ) and may be orientated at an acute angle to the incident laser beam or at right - angles to the laser beam . the angled ion guide may be constructed in segments ( fig9 ) electrically isolated to enable a dc voltage , or a travelling wave pulse propagating along the guide to be superimposed upon the rf voltage . another embodiment would be the employment of a sheared conical ion funnel with a central bore suitable for the transmission of the incident laser pulse onto the sample target plate in an orthogonal manner ( fig1 ). a dc voltage , or a travelling wave pulse propagating along the guide transmits the ions from the sample target plate to the exit of the ion guide . the ion guide may be fabricated using circular geometries , slots or other suitable shapes ( fig1 ). the sheared conical funnel may be constructed also in steps of grouped electrodes ( fig1 ). a cylindrically symmetric conical ion funnel including a bore located away from the central axis ( fig1 ) may be included to allow the laser pulse to be incident upon the sample target plate in an orthogonal manner , to produce a plume of ions away from the central axis . the pseudo - potential well generated by the rf draws ions away from their initial point of formation towards the central axis of the ion funnel . a further embodiment would be the employment of pairs of plate electrodes stacked in a line parallel with the sample target plate , and sandwiched between two parallel plates ( fig1 ). a confining rf potential is applied with inverted phase between each sequential pair of plates within the stack , producing a confining field in one axis , whilst a dc potential applied to the two plates sandwiching the stack confines the ions orthogonally to the rf confinement . an aperture within the sandwiching plates allows the laser to be delivered orthogonal to the sample target plate . generated ions are drawn into the guide and propagated along the axis of the ion guide . in a similar manner , an rf confining rod geometry such as a hexapole positioned parallel to the sample target plate may include break in the lower electrodes to accommodate an electrode with an aperture ( fig1 ), to which a dc potential may be applied to draw ions generated from the orthogonally incident laser pulse into the confining volume of the rf ion guide . again , the ion guide may be constructed in segments electrically isolated to enable a dc voltage , or a travelling wave pulse propagating along the guide to be superimposed upon the rf voltage to drive ions along the ion guide . in a variation to this , extension rods can be included at the ends of the broken rods , orthogonal to the rf guide axis , descending towards the target sample plate ( fig1 ), to form an l - shaped rod . rods , connected to the rods forming the ion guide further from the sample target plate , form t - shaped rods . in this configuration , the confining rf is extended towards the sample target plate , and guides ions into the primary axis of the ion guide . the ion separation system may be followed by a mass analyser . in the preferred embodiment this may be a time of flight analyser . further embodiments may include the analyser being a quadrupole mass analyser ; a 2d or linear quadrupole mass analyser ; a paul or 3d quadrupole mass analyser ; a penning trap mass analyser ; an ion trap mass analyser a magnetic sector mass analyser ; ion cyclotron resonance (“ icr ”) mass analyser ; a fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (“ fticr ”) mass analyser , an electrostatic mass analyser ; fourier transform electrostatic mass analyser or a fourier transform mass analyser . fig1 a illustrates an advantageous aspect of the present invention . the preferred embodiment enables the laser beam incident upon the target substrate to be incident at a normal or near normal angle of incidence . this is advantageous compared with conventional arrangements wherein the laser beam is incident at an angle . fig1 a shows that when a laser beam is incident at an angle there can be a degree of shadowing of the radiation due to inhomogeneity of the matrix crystals . as a result , ions emit predominantly from the areas of the crystal surface which are normal to the incident laser beam . another problem with conventional arrangements is illustrated in fig1 b . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art and as shown in fig1 b the closer the laser beam is to normal incidence the more circular the intensity distribution is and the higher the peak intensity is . consequently , it is desirable to have a more circular spot which also requires less power for equivalent peak fluences . it will be appreciated , therefore , that the preferred embodiment is particularly advantageous . although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the accompanying claims .	7
an embodiment of the present invention provides an improved method for configuring and indicating prach parameters in a tdd system , in which prach configuration parameters can be indicated to a terminal with less air interface resources . since the prach configuration parameters in the tdd mode comprise density , prach format ( preamble format ), and version number , and the lte system indicates the above prach configuration parameters using 6 bits , the prach configuration set may comprise at most 64 kinds of configuration . in order to use these indication bits effectively , in the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention , different configuration parameters can be combined into one configuration set , and different configuration indexes are set for different configuration parameters , and the configuration set is pre - stored in a base station and in a terminal , and when broadcasting the prach configuration parameters to the terminal , the base station only needs to inform the terminal of the configuration index , and the terminal inquires the configuration set to obtain the prach configuration parameters , i . e ., obtaining the prach format , the density , and the version number . for the version number , one of the configuration parameters , besides being informed to the terminal by its presence in the configuration set , it can also be computed by the terminal according to system parameters . if no conflict is involved , the embodiments and the features of the embodiments of the present invention can be combined with one another . in addition , it needs to be explained that the steps shown in the flow chart of the drawings can be executed for example in a computer system via a set of computer executable instructions . moreover , although a logical order is shown in the flow chart , the shown or described steps can be executed in an order different from the above order in some cases . fig2 shows a process for indicating prach configuration parameters in the tdd mode of the lte system according to an embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig2 , the following processing is included : step 210 , a base station inquires a configuration set and sends configuration information ( e . g . configuration index ) to a terminal ; step 220 , the terminal inquires a prach configuration set according to the configuration information to obtain configuration parameters , and / or the terminal computes to obtain the configuration parameters according to system parameters . in other embodiments , other configuration parameters can also be added in the configuration set , and any one or several configuration parameters can be used as the configuration information and set for the terminal as long as other corresponding parameters of the configuration set can be determined solely from the configuration information . currently , according to the load analysis of the system , there are in total six types of the densities available for the respective formats in the lte system , i . e ., 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 10 prach / 10 ms , wherein 0 . 5 prach / 10 ms represents that there is 1 prach per 20 ms . in addition , when 1 radio frame contains 2 switching points , two densities of 2 and 4 prach / 10 ms are also added in order to ensure the equal numbers of the prachs of 2 half - frames . a method for generating a prach configuration set in the tdd mode mainly includes the following processing ( step 1 to step 3 ): step 1 , selects , from six types of available densities , a density set supported by a preamble format for respective preamble formats . selection principle : 1 . considering the requirements of different system loads ; 2 . making the total number of the configuration sets not exceed a maximum configuration number limited by the system ( for example , 16 , 32 or 64 ). ( 1 ) the density set supported by preamble format 0 may be any one of the following solutions : ( 2 ) the density set supported by preamble format 1 or 2 may be any one of the following solutions : ( 3 ) the density or density set supported by preamble format 3 may be any one of the following solutions : ( 4 ) the density set supported by preamble format 4 may be any one of the following solutions : step 2 , computes the number of versions r needed for each kind of preamble format and its supported density to enable the prachs of all the cells managed by the same base station to be distributed uniformly in time ; the computing methods can be selected from one of the following six methods : ( 1 ) method a1 , when the density range is 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , and 10 prach / 10 ms , determining the maximum value of the smallest number of versions needed for enabling the prachs of all the cells managed by the same base station to be distributed uniformly in time for the configuration of each prach format , the density supported by each prach format , and different downlink uplink subframe ratios . specifically , the minimum value for each prach format and density for each downlink uplink ratio is computed . based on the above results , the maximum value of the minimum values corresponding to all the downlink uplink ratios is taken as the number of versions needed . therefore , the number of versions needed is : the number of versions corresponding to each prach format and density is the maximum value of the smallest number of versions needed for respective downlink uplink ratios . for the radio frame structure as shown in fig1 , there are multiple options for the downlink uplink subframe ratios : 3 : 1 , 2 : 2 , 1 : 3 , 5 : 3 , 1 : 8 , 2 : 7 , and 3 : 6 . for an example : when the base station manages three cells , for preamble format 1 , in a case that the density d = 2 prach / 10 ms , and the ratio of downlink subframe to uplink subframe = 1 : 3 , the greatest number of versions is needed . therefore , it is only needed to determine the smallest number of versions needed in this case . herein , r = 1 or 2 or 3 , and thus the effects of scattering in the time domain are the same . as shown in fig3 , cell 0 , cell 1 , and cell 2 are three cells managed by the same base station . it can be seen that , no matter r = 1 or r = 2 or r = 3 , the base station needs to process three prachs at the same time . therefore , the smallest number of versions r is equal to 1 at this time . thus , it can be determined that , for preamble format 1 , in a case that the density d = 2 prach / 10 ms , in order to enable the prachs of the three cells managed by the same base station to be distributed uniformly in time , the number of versions needed is determined as r = 1 . according to method a1 , in the lte system , when each base station manages three cells , the number of versions r needed for each preamble format and the density supported by each preamble format is determined as follows : for preamble format 1 or 2 , r = 3 if the density d is 0 . 5 prach / 10 ms ; r = 2 if d is 1 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; and r = 1 if the density d is 2 prach / 10 ms ; for preamble format 3 , r = 3 if d = 0 . 5 prach / 10 ms ; r = 2 if d = 1 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; r = 1 if the density d is 2 prach / 10 ms ; and for preamble format 4 , r = 3 if d = 0 . 5 prach / 10 ms ; r = 2 if d = 1 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; and r = 1 if the density d is 2 prach / 10 ms . according to method a1 , in the lte system , when each base station manages four cells , the number of versions r needed for each preamble format and the density supported by each preamble format is determined as follows : for preamble format 0 , r = 4 if d = 0 . 5 and r = 3 for other densities ; for preamble format 1 or 2 , r = 4 if the density d = 0 . 5 prach / 10 ms ; r = 2 if d = 1 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; and r = 1 if the density d = 2 prach / 10 ms ; for preamble format 3 , r = 4 if d = 0 . 5 prach / 10 ms ; r = 2 if d = 1 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms , and r = 1 if the density d = 2 prach / 10 ms ; and for preamble format 4 , r = 4 if d = 0 . 5 prach / 10 ms ; r = 2 if d = 1 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; and r = 1 if the density d = 2 , 10 prach / 10 ms . ( 2 ) method a2 , in order to enable the prachs of all the cells managed by the same base station to be distributed uniformly in time , the number of versions r can be determined according to the following formula , the result of which is applicable to all the densities : wherein n ra bw denotes the number of the prachs supported by the system in the frequency domain , n sp denotes the number of switching points within 10 ms , and d denotes the density of the prachs ; for example , if n ra bw = 6 , n sp = 2 , and d = 1 , then in this method , r varies with the variety of the system configuration , for example , r varies with n ra bw and n sp . the benefits for setting in this way lie in that : the more the number of the prachs supported by the system in the frequency domain is , the more the number of versions provided is , the less the opportunities for transmitting the prachs of different cells in the same time frequency are . therefore , the interference can be reduced . when this method is used to determine the number of versions , a large number of the number of versions may be obtained . if they can not be all placed into a configuration set , it is needed that the base station and the terminal compute the number of versions by themselves . ( 3 ) method a3 , when the base station manages n cells , the number of versions r = n ( 1 ≦ n ≦ 4 ). the number of versions determined using this method is also to enable the prachs of all the cells managed by the same base station to be distributed uniformly in time , the result of which is applicable to all the densities . for example , if the base station manages three cells , the number of versions r is 3 for a certain combination of the preamble format and the density . r = min ( ⌊ n ra bw · n sp d ⌋ , 3 ) , ( 5 ) method a5 , when the density range is 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , and 10 prach / 10 ms , the maximum value of the smallest number of versions needed for enabling the prachs of all the cells managed by the same base station to be distributed uniformly in time is determined according to respective prach formats , the densities supported by the respective prach formats , and the uplink downlink subframe ratios . case ( 1 ) that the numbers of the prachs contained by two half - frames in the time domain are not equal shall be considered separately from case ( 2 ) the numbers of the prachs contained by two half - frames in the time domain are equal . d = 3 , 5 is used for case ( 1 ), and d = 4 , 6 is used for case ( 2 ), and other densities are used for the above two cases . for preamble format 0 , r = 2 if d = 6 and r = 3 for other densities ; for preamble format 1 or 2 , r = 3 if the density d = 0 . 5 prach / 10 ms ; r = 2 if the density d = 1 prach / 10 ms ; and r = 1 if d = 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 prach / 10 ms ; for preamble format 3 , r = 3 if d = 0 . 5 prach / 10 ms ; r = 2 if d = 1 prach / 10 ms ; and r = 1 if the density d = 2 , 3 , 4 prach / 10 ms ; and for preamble format 4 , r = 3 if d = 0 . 5 prach / 10 ms ; r = 2 if d = 1 prach / 10 ms ; and r = 1 if the density d = 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; ( 6 ) method a6 , when the density range is 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 , and 10 prach / 10 ms , the maximum value of the smallest number of versions needed for enabling the prachs of all the cells managed by the same base station to be distributed uniformly in time is determined according to respective prach formats and the densities supported by the respective prach formats and the uplink downlink subframe ratios . as for preamble format 1 , 2 , 3 or 4 , r = 3 if the density d = 0 . 5 prach / 10 ms ; r = 2 if the density d = 1 prach / 10 ms ; and r = 1 if the density d = 2 , 4 , 6 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; step 3 , stores respective prach formats and the version number information and / or the densities supported by the respective prach formats in the prach configuration set . the prach format is combined with its supported densities and then stored in the prach configuration set . a corresponding number of version numbers are allocated selectively for the prach format and its supported density according to the number of versions ; for the prach format and the density allocated with a version number , a corresponding relationship between the prach format and a combination of the density and the version number is recorded in the prach configuration set . ( 1 ) method b1 , a corresponding number of version numbers r are allocated according to the number of versions and recorded correspondingly in the prach set , for example : r may be 0 , 1 , . . . , r − 1 . if the number of versions r for a certain combination of the preamble format and the density is obtained by method a1 or a3 or a5 or a6 or a7 in step 220 , method b1 is preferably used to obtain the version number . by means of marking the version number , high flexibility is granted when the base station configures a channel version and / or density for the terminal , and the configuration is more convenient and rapid . ( 2 ) method b2 , the version number is not specified from the prach configuration set but computed by the terminal when it is configured , for example , the following formula is used to compute : wherein n id cell denotes the id value of the cell , and the base station informs the terminal of n id cell through signaling . when there are a large number of the numbers of versions , this method is preferably used to obtain the version number . for example , if the number of versions r for a certain combination of the preamble format and the density is obtained by the method a2 or a4 in the previous step , since the number of versions is relatively large , this method may be used . the terminal computes to obtain the number of versions r by the obtained system parameters and above formula ( 1 ) and then obtains the version number according to formula ( 2 ). if the version numbers of all the prach formats are computed by the terminal , only respective prach formats and the densities supported by the respective prach formats are stored in a prach table . the following embodiments are taken as examples for explaining the configuration sets that are possibly generated for respective prach formats in a case that different densities and the version numbers are given . the finally generated configuration sets may be combinations in the following respective cases . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 1 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 2 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 3 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 4 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 5 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 6 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 7 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 8 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 9 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 10 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 11 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 12 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 13 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 14 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 15 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 16 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 17 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a5 ; and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 18 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a5 ; and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 19 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a6 ; and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 20 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 21 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 22 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 23 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 24 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 25 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 26 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 27 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 28 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 29 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 30 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 31 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 32 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 33 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 34 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 35 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 36 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 37 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 38 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 39 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 40 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 41 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 42 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 43 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 44 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 45 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a5 ; and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 46 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a6 ; and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 47 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 48 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 49 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 50 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 51 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 52 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 53 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 54 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 55 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 56 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 57 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 58 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 59 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 60 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 61 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 62 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 63 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 64 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 65 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 66 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 67 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 68 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 69 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 70 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 71 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 72 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a5 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 73 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a6 ; and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 74 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 75 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 76 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 77 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 78 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 79 . the supported densities are : 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 80 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 81 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 82 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 83 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 84 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 85 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 86 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 87 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 88 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 89 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 90 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 91 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 92 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 93 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 94 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 95 . the supported densities are : 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 96 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 97 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 98 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 99 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 100 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 101 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 102 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 103 . the supported density is : 0 . 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 104 . the supported density is : 1 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a3 , r = 3 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 105 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a5 ; and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 106 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 4 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a6 ; and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 107 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 108 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 109 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 110 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 111 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 112 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 113 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages three cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 114 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 115 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 116 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a1 ( the base station manages four cells ); and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 117 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a2 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 118 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a2 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 119 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a2 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 120 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a2 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 121 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a2 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 122 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a2 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 123 . the supported densities are : 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a2 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 124 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a4 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 125 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a4 ; and the version number is allocated using method b2 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 126 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a6 ; and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 127 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a4 ; and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 128 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a5 ; and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 129 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a5 ; and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 130 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 10 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a7 ; and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 131 . the supported densities are : 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 prach / 10 ms ; the number of versions is determined using method a7 ; and the version number is allocated using method b1 ; and the configuration result is as shown in the following table 132 . for the lte tdd system , five types of preamble formats all need to be supported . the above configuration sets of preamble formats 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 are combined together to form final configuration sets , and to ensure that the total number of the configuration sets does not exceed n , n being the maximum configuration number limited by the system ( n = 16 , 32 , or 64 ). based on the above descriptions , examples for specific applications according to the present invention will be further described as follows . application example 1 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 1 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 1 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 1 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 2 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 11 is selected for preamble 4 , then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 133 . application example 2 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 2 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 19 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 2 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 3 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 12 is selected for preamble 4 , then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 134 . application example 3 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 2 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 2 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 1 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 9 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 12 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 135 . application example 4 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 2 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 12 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 12 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 16 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 11 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 136 . application example 5 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 2 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 2 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 1 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 2 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 12 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 137 . application example 6 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 2 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 13 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 12 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 16 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 12 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 138 . application example 7 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 8 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 8 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 8 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 11 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 11 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 139 . application example 8 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 18 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 32 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 18 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 140 . application example 9 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 19 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 32 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 19 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 141 . application example 10 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 20 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 27 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 27 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 33 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 20 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 142 . application example 11 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 20 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 27 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 27 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 33 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 21 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 143 . application example 12 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 18 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 32 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 19 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 144 . application example 13 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 18 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 32 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 24 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 145 . application example 14 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 18 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 32 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 22 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 146 . application example 15 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 19 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 32 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 25 is selected as for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 147 . application example 16 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 19 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 32 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 23 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 148 . application example 17 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 18 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 32 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 25 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 149 . application example 18 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 18 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 32 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 23 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 150 . application example 19 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 19 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 32 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 24 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 151 . application example 20 , assume that n = 64 , if the configuration set of embodiment 19 is selected for preamble 0 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 1 ; the configuration set of embodiment 26 is selected for preamble 2 ; the configuration set of embodiment 32 is selected for preamble 3 ; and the configuration set of embodiment 22 is selected for preamble 4 ; then the prach configuration set is as shown in the following table 152 . one good configuration set can provide enough density types for various prach formats in order to meet the requirements of different system loads , and meanwhile can provide enough version types for each combination of format and density to decrease the processing load of the base station and reduce the inter - cell interference . the descriptions above are only embodiments of the present invention , which are not used to restrict the present invention . for those skilled in the art , the present invention may have various changes and variations . any amendments , equivalent substitutions , improvements etc . within the spirit and principle of the present invention are all concluded in the scope of the claims of the present invention .	7
fig1 to fig3 show an indoor and outdoor water filtering apparatus of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention , including a housing 10 , a frame 20 , on which a filtering device 30 , a pump 40 , a rechargeable battery 50 , a power device 60 , a switch , a timer , a first pressure sensor , a second pressure sensor , and a displace circuit 80 are provided . in the first embodiment , the switch is a band switch 70 , the timer is a time switch 72 , the first pressure sensor is a high - pressure sensing switch 74 , and the second pressure sensor is a low - pressure sensing switch 76 . the housing 10 receives the frame 20 and the elements on the frame 20 therein , and is connected to the frame 20 at a bottom thereof . the housing 20 is provided with a grip 22 on a top thereof for user to carry the water filtering apparatus . the frame 20 is provided with a waste water outlet 20 a , a filtered water outlet 20 b , a drinking water outlet 20 c , and a raw water inlet 20 d , all of which are adjacent to a bottom of the frame 20 , and connected to the filtering device 30 respectively . the frame 20 further is provided with a power connector 20 e , which is electrically connected to the power device 60 . as shown in fig4 , to get a good filtering performance , the filtering device 30 is provided with a first front filter 31 , a second front filter 32 , a water switch 33 , a ro ( reverse osmosis ) filter 34 , and an activated carbon filter 35 . the first front filter 31 has a water inlet 31 a , which is connected to the raw water inlet 20 d to let raw water flow into the first front filter 31 . in the present embodiment , the water comes from a water source , such as a faucet of tap water or a river . the pump 40 pumps the raw water of the water source to the first front filter 31 through the raw water inlet 20 d . after the first front filter 31 , the water keeps flowing to the second front filter 32 , the pump 40 , the water switch 33 , and the ro filter 34 in sequence . the ro filter 34 has a first outlet 34 a and a second outlet 34 b , wherein the first outlet 34 a is connected to the waste water outlet 20 a to drain the waste water out , and the second outlet 34 b is connected to the filtered water outlet 20 b through the water switch 33 to output filtered water . a container ( not shown ) is connected to the filtered water outlet 20 b to store the filtered water . the second outlet 34 b is connected to the drinking water outlet 20 c through the water switch 33 and the activated carbon filter 35 . a valve 92 , such as faucet , is connected to the drinking water outlet 20 c for user to drink the water coming from the faucet directly . the low - pressure sensing switch 76 is provide on a pipe between the first front filter 31 and the raw water inlet 20 d to sense a pressure of the raw water entering the first front filter 31 . the high - pressure sensing switch 74 is provided on a pipe after the water switch 33 to sense a pressure of the filtered water coming out of the filtered water outlet 20 b and the drinking water outlet 20 c . as shown in fig5 , the power device 60 includes a first power input port 62 , a second power input port 64 , and a power output port 66 . the first power input port 62 is connected to the rechargeable battery 50 , the second power input port 64 is connected to a connector 20 e , which is able to connect to an external power source ( not shown ), and the power output port 66 is electrically connected to the pump 40 . the power device 60 receives electric power via the first power input port 62 and / or the second power input port 64 to supply the pump 40 with electric power . when the connector 20 e is disconnected to the external power source , the rechargeable battery 50 takes place to provide electric power to the power device 60 via the first power input port 62 , which means that the pump 40 is powered by the rechargeable battery 50 . when the connector 20 e is connected to the external power source , the power device 60 establishes a connection between the second power input port 64 and the power output port 66 to power the pump 40 by the external power source . the power device 60 establishes a connection between the second power input port 64 and the first power input port 62 to charge the rechargeable battery 50 at the same time . in conclusion , the pump 40 is powered by the rechargeable battery 50 when the connector 20 e is not connected to the external power source , and the pump 40 is powered by the external power source , and the rechargeable battery 50 is charged when the connector 20 e is connected to the external power source . if the external power source supplies insufficient electric power , both the rechargeable battery 50 and the external power source together supply the sufficient electric power to the pump 40 . the band switch 70 has several operating modes for user to select , including a first mode , a second mode , and a third mode . the band switch 70 further includes a first switch member 701 and a second switch member 702 , which work at the seam time . the first switch member 701 is on a line between the power output port 66 and the pump 40 , and the second switch member 702 is on a line between the connector 20 e and the second power input port 64 . each operating mode decides specific statuses of the first switch member 701 and the second switch member 702 . when the first mode is selected , the first switch member 701 is switched to have a connection between a common terminal 70 a , which is connected to the power output port 66 of the power device 60 , and a first terminal 70 b , which is connected to the timer 72 . the timer 72 is electrically connected to the power output port 66 through the high - pressure sensing switch 74 and the pump 40 in sequence to form a loop . the timer 72 is settable to turn the pump 40 on in a specific period when the electric power is supplied to the timer 72 , and cut off the electric power for the pump 40 when time is up . the high - pressure sensing switch 74 is turned off to stop the pump 40 while the pressure of the water coming out of the second outlet 34 b of the ro filter 34 is higher than an upper - limited pressure . at the same time , the second switch member 702 is switched to have a connection between a common terminal 70 e , which is connected to the connector 20 e , and a first terminal 70 f , which is connected to the second power input port 64 of the power device 60 . in the second mode , the first switch member 701 of the band switch 70 is switched to have a connection between the common terminal 70 a and a second terminal 70 c , which is not connected to any element , to turn the first switch member 701 off , so that the pump 60 is stopped . at the same time , the second switch member 702 of the band switch 70 is switched to have a connection between the common terminal 70 a and a second terminal 70 c , which is not connected to any element , to turn the external power off . in the third mode , the first switch member 701 is switched to have a connection between the common terminal 70 a and a third terminal 70 d , which is connected to the low - pressure sensing switch 76 . when the third mode is selected , the electric power is transmitted to the low - pressure sensing switch 76 instead of the timer 72 , and then transmitted to the high - pressure sensing switch 74 , the pump 40 , and the power output port 66 of the power device 60 in sequence . the low - pressure sensing switch 76 is turned off when a pressure of the raw water entering the water inlet 31 a of the first front filter 31 is lower than a lower - limited pressure , so that the pump 40 is stopped . at the same time , the second switch member 702 is switched to have a connection between the common terminal 70 e and a third terminal 70 h , which is connected to the second power input port 64 of the power device 60 , to supply the power device 60 with the electric power of the external power source . the displace circuit 80 is electrically connected to the power device 60 , and has a power light 80 a , a battery light 80 b , and a charging light 80 c to indicate a power status of the power device 60 . when the power light 80 a lights , it means that the power device 60 is working . the system is turned on . when the battery light 80 b lights , it means that the rechargeable battery 50 supplies electric power to the pump 40 . the system is powered by the rechargeable battery 50 . when the charging light 80 c lights , it means that the rechargeable battery 50 is being charged . as shown in fig6 , when the water filtering apparatus of the present invention is disconnected to the tap water , and connected to an outdoor water source 90 , such as a river , through the raw water inlet 20 d , a plug 92 is inserted into the filtered water outlet 20 b to seal it , and the band switch 70 is switched to the first mode . at this time , the pump 40 is running under a control of the time switch 72 to filter the river water in a predetermined period , and the drinking water could come out from the drinking water outlet 20 c by opening the valve 92 . the pump 40 would be stopped when the high - pressure sensing switch 74 senses a water pressure higher than the upper - limited pressure . as shown in fig7 , when the raw water inlet 20 d is connected to a tap water 93 , the filtered water outlet 20 b is connected to a container 94 , the waste water outlet 20 a is connected to a waste water pipe 95 , the drinking water outlet 20 c is connected to a faucet 96 , and the band switch 70 is switched to the third mode , the pump 40 is running under a control of both the high - pressure sensing switch 74 and the low - pressure sensing switch 76 . when the tap water 93 does not supply enough water , the low - pressure sensing switch 76 will sense a water pressure lower than the lower - limited pressure , and the pump 40 will be stopped to protect the pump 40 . when the container 94 is full , the high - pressure sensing switch 74 senses a water pressure higher than the upper - limited pressure , and the pump 40 will be stopped to stop filtering water . the water filtering apparatus of the present invention would be turned off when the band switch 70 is switched to the second mode no matter the apparatus is used at indoors or at outdoors . in conclusion , when the user is taking an outdoor activity , the water filtering apparatus of the present invention could filter water from any water source he / she could find , such as river or pond . therefore , people didn &# 39 ; t have to carry any water bottle . when the water filtering apparatus is installed at home , it could filter water from the tap water . if there is a power blackout or shortage , the water filtering apparatus of the present invention would keep working with the electric power of the rechargeable battery 50 . it could connect to a battery of a vehicle or a solar battery to supply power as well for the backup power . fig8 shows a water filtering apparatus of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention , which is the same as the first embodiment , including a housing 10 , a frame , on which a filtering device , a pump , a rechargeable battery , a power device , a switch , a timer , a high - pressure sensing switch , a low - pressure sensing switch , and a displace circuit . the different part of the water filtering apparatus of the second preferred embodiment is that the filtering device 230 includes a first front filter 231 , a second front 232 , a water switch 233 , a hollow fiber membrane filter 234 , and an activated carbon filter 235 . the same as above , the pump 240 pumps raw water through the raw water inlet 220 d to be filtered by the first and the second front filters 231 , 232 , and then water is sent to the hollow fiber membrane filter 234 through the water switch 233 and the pump 240 in sequence to be filtered . the hollow fiber membrane filter 234 has a water outlet 234 a to output filtered water , and then the filtered water is sent to activated carbon filter 235 through the water switch 233 . at last , the filtered water comes out through the drinking water outlet 220 c . the low - pressure sensing switch 276 is provided on a pipe between the first front filter 231 and the raw water inlet 220 d to sense a pressure of the water entering the first front filter 231 . the high - pressure sensing switch 274 is provided on a pipe between the hollow fiber membrane filter 234 and the drinking water outlet 220 c to sense a pressure of the filtered water coming out of the hollow fiber membrane filter 234 . the function and operation of the second preferred embodiment is the same as the first preferred embodiment . the use of hollow fiber membrane filter 234 instead of the ro filter makes the filtering faster and need no waste water outlet and the container . the filter device of the present invention could be provided with only one filter , or three , four , five , or more filters of various types based on the requirements , such as size , weight , and so on . it must be pointed out that the embodiments described above are only some preferred embodiments of the present invention . all equivalent structures which employ the concepts disclosed in this specification and the appended claims should fall within the scope of the present invention .	8
the object of the invention is to provide an activated metal oxide catalyst composition or system that may be used in a wide range of organic compound conversion reactions requiring an acid catalyst . organic conversion reactions may include , but are not limited to , friedel - crafts alkylation , phenolic alkylation , olefin dimerization and oligomerization , olefin polymerization , propylene oligomerization and polymerization , butylenes and isobutylene dimerization and oligomerization , butylenes and isobutylene polymerization , isoparaffin alkylation and the like . a preferred embodiment of this invention is to provide a heterogeneous catalyst composition or system for the dimerization and oligomerization of higher alpha - olefins in the range of c 5 - c 12 . such products may be useful as synthetic lubricant intermediates , particularly for the manufacture of polyalphaolefins ( pao ) based on dimerization and oligomerization of c 10 - c 12 alpha - olefins . a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention is to provide an efficient , heterogeneous catalyst system for the polymerization of isobutylene to produce highly reactive polyisobutylene . activated metal oxide catalysts of the invention of the present application are prepared by reacting normally liquid bf 3 / alcohol complexes with anhydrous crystalline aluminum oxide ( alumina ). gamma and theta alumina are the preferred crystalline structures . bf 3 - alumina compositions of the prior art either are not catalytic for some organic conversion reactions , as reported in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 710 , 140 . moreover , in some cases at bf 3 levels that might be catalytic , the bf 3 leaches off and requires additional bf 3 to be added along with the reactant feed . this , of course , defeats the purpose of a solid heterogeneous catalyst since post treatment of the reactor effluent is required to remove the bf 3 residues . in accordance with the invention of the present application , it has been unexpectedly found that if normally liquid bf 3 / alcohol complexes are used instead of bf 3 gas , the resulting reaction products with crystalline alumina are highly catalytic , are stable , have a long life , are not deactivated or consumed during the catalytic process . moreover , high loadings of bf 3 may be achieved without the problem of bf 3 leaching into the reaction mixture . suitable crystalline alumina types include theta alumina and gamma alumina . the more preferred crystal structure is gamma alumina because it has a higher capacity for bf 3 / alcohol catalyst complexes than does theta alumina . alpha alumina is least preferred . the alumina must be essentially dry before reaction with the bf 3 / alcohol complex . this may be accomplished by heating the same at 200 ° c . for 10 - 20 hours . the bf 3 / alcohol complex may be formed by passing bf 3 gas through a solution of pure anhydrous alcohol at a rate that allows the bf 3 to be efficiently absorbed . the ratio of alcohol to bf 3 may generally range from about 0 . 5 moles of alcohol per mole of bf 3 to about 2 moles of alcohol per mole of bf 3 . a more preferred range is from about 1 mole of alcohol per mole of bf 3 to about 2 moles of alcohol per mole of bf 3 . the most preferred range is from about 1 mole of alcohol per mole of bf 3 to about 1 . 3 moles of alcohol per mole of bf 3 . alcohols in the range of c 1 - c 10 , with no alpha hydrogens , are suitable for complexing with bf 3 . alcohols that have alpha hydrogens are easily dehydrated by bf 3 to form olefins . even if bf 3 / alcohol complexes may be formed at low temperatures , for example , the resulting complexes are not stable at reaction temperatures . the more preferred alcohols are methanol and neo - alcohols , such as neopentyl alcohol . the most preferred alcohol is methanol . glycols and polyhydric alcohols with no alpha hydrogens may also be used ; for example ethylene glycol . the reaction of the bf 3 / alcohol complex with alumina is highly exothermic and must be controlled to avoid loss of bf 3 . the bf 3 / alcohol complex may be added by any mechanical means that allows good mixing of the complex with the alumina and that also allows for adequate temperature control . a preferred method is to add the alumina to a rotating double cone mixer and meter in the bf 3 / alcohol complex such that the temperature is controlled within the desired range . the temperature during the mixing should not exceed 50 - 60 ° c . the concentration of bf 3 / alcohol complex on the alumina may range from about 10 to about 30 % by weight . a preferred range is from about 20 to about 30 % by weight . the most preferred range is from about 25 to 30 % by weight . the actual concentration of f or b in the bf 3 / alcohol complex - alumina system depends on the alcohol used . the final catalyst composition ( system ), which is a bf 3 / alcohol - alumina reaction product , may be used to catalyze organic compound conversion reactions . the catalyst composition may be contacted with the reactants in a batch or a continuous processes . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the reactor may be a shell in tube heat exchanger in which the catalyst composition is packed in the tubes . such an arrangement may be referred to as a fixed bed reactor . this is especially suitable for highly exothermic reactions such as olefin polymerization , particularly isobutylene polymerization . the exchanger may be situated vertically . the heat exchange media may be circulated through the shell side of the exchanger . the exchanger may be either a single or multiple pass type . a two pass exchanger is particularly desirable . the exchanger may be fitted with a recirculation loop to accommodate a volumetric recirculation flow . the olefin - containing feed stock may enter the reactor via a recirculation pump at a location downstream from the pump . the recirculation pump pushes the olefin stream through the reactor tubes and returns the stream to the suction side of the pump . in the case of the two - pass heat exchanger , the recirculation flow may enter through the bottom of the reactor , then pass through the tubes , exit the reactor from the bottom and return to the pump . this flow scheme constitutes what is generally considered a loop reactor . the pump speed , or an internal recirculation loop on the pump itself , is used to control the flow rate . the flow rate preferably may be sufficient to generate a velocity that causes turbulent , or at least non - laminar flow of the olefin feed stream over the fixed bed catalyst composition packed in the tubes . a volumetric feedstock flow may enter the recirculation loop via a feed pump at a location between the outlet of the recirculation pump and the bottom of the reactor at the beginning of the first pass . at equilibrium , the concentrations of the olefin monomer and the polymer products is constant throughout the reactor so the point at which the reaction effluent leaves the reactor is a matter of choice . however , it may be convenient for the effluent line to be located at the top of the reactor after the first pass . the effluent flow rate is necessarily equal to the volumetric feedstock flow rate . the volumetric feedstock flow rate is independent of the volumetric recirculation flow rate and desirably may be adjusted so as to achieve a desired residence time and conversion . the reactor may be fitted with appropriate temperature , pressure and flow indicators and controllers necessary to operate under controlled conditions . the size of the heat exchanger reactor is arbitrary and is based on the desired volume of product . a convenient size is 10 - 15 feet in length and 4 - 6 feet in diameter . the number of tubes in the reactor and the diameter of the tubes depend on the catalyst type , size and shape and on the desired output . a convenient number of tubes , for the above reactor size , is 150 - 200 tubes per pass , with an internal diameter of ½ to 1 inch . in a two pass exchanger , the tubes extend the full length of the reactor vertically and are connected by end caps at the top and bottom of the reactor . the olefin reaction mixture is directed into one side of the bottom end cap and is returned through the other side of the bottom end cap . the interior of the top end cap is open with a outlet for the reaction effluent . in a preferred embodiment , the reactor pressure may preferably be at least 150 psig or least at a sufficient level to ensure that a liquid phase is maintained in the reactor . the pressure may be controlled by means of a back pressure regulator on the reactor effluent line . the reactor may desirably be operated at temperatures and conditions to produce polymer products in the molecular weight range , in the case of polyisobutylene , of about 300 to about 5 , 000 daltons other temperatures and conditions may be used as required for specific organic conversion reactions . the volumetric recirculation flow rate may be adjusted to provide a heat transfer coefficient of about 40 - 60 btu / min - ft 2 -° f . the volumetric feedstock flow rate may be maintained at rate to give a liquid hour space velocity ( lhsv ) of 1 - 30 kg isobutylene / kg catalyst . more preferably , the lhsv may be controlled at from about 3 - 10 kg isobutylene / kg catalyst . a preferred olefin feedstock is c 4 raffinate , also known as raffinate - 1 or raff - 1 . the actual composition of such a stream is variable depending on the source , but a typical raff - 1 stream might contain about 0 . 5 wt % c 3 , about 4 . 5 wt % isobutane , about 16 . 5 wt % n - butane , about 38 . 5 wt % 1 - butene , about 28 . 3 wt % isobutylene , about 10 . 2 wt % cis - and trans - 2 - butene and less than 0 . 5 wt % butadiene and less than 1 . 0 wt % oxygenates . the presence of oxygenates may or may not affect the catalytic reaction . the c 3 s and the n - butane are inert and pass through the reactor unchanged and are removed from the reaction mixture in the downstream stripping steps . the isobutylene reacts to a high degree depending on the reaction conditions and the desired final product . the 1 - and 2 - butenes may react to varying degrees depending on the catalyst type and reactor conditions . the unreacted olefins are also removed from the polymer product in the downstream stripping steps . raff - 1 feed stocks are particularly preferred for production of polymers in which high reactivity is not important . these products are referred to as conventional pib or pb . another preferred olefin feedstock is the effluent from the dehydrogenation of isobutane to isobutylene , referred to simply as dehydro effluent , or dhe . dhe typically contains about 42 - 45 wt % isobutene , and about 50 - 52 wt % isobutane with the balance being small amounts of c 3 , normal butanes and butylenes , and butadiene . this feedstock is particularly suitable for production of polyisobutylene in locations in which the inert isobutane may be utilized , for example in cooperation with an isobutane dehydrogenation unit . another preferred olefin feedstock is dhe in which most of the inert isobutane has already been removed . this stream is known as isobutylene concentrate and typically contains about 88 - 90 wt % isobutene , and about 5 - 10 wt % isobutane , with the balance being minor amounts of c 3 , normal butanes and butylenes , and butadiene . this feedstock is also suitable for production of highly reactive polyisobutylene . yet another preferred olefin feedstock is high purity isobutylene which contains greater than 99 wt % isobutylene . this feedstock is highly suitable for the production of highly reactive polyisobutylene . unreacted olefin may be easily recycled . after leaving the reactor , the reaction effluent may be purified simply by atmospheric and / or vacuum stripping to remove light byproducts and inerts . the unreacted monomers maybe be recycled , but provisions must be made to separate or purge the inerts depending on the olefin feed type . because the reaction scheme discussed above allows for a very efficient removal of the heat of reaction such that isothermal and cstr ( continuous stirred tank reactor ) conditions may be maintained , the volumetric efficiency is very high . that is , a large volume of product may be produced for a given reactor volume . therefore the capital cost per volume of product is very low . the fact that downstream catalyst removal and / or catalyst regeneration equipment is not required further impacts the total capital cost in a positive manner . table i below shows a comparison between prior and current commercial processes for making polyisobutylene and the process of the invention of the present application employing the novel bf 3 / alcohol - metal oxide catalyst system of the invention . in the table 1 , the column labeled “ soltex ” refers to the invention of the present application . in addition , the term ib refers to isobutylene . the above description of an isobutylene polymerization process has been used to illustrate the utility of the activated metal oxide catalyst system of the invention of the present application . such description of a preferred embodiment was not meant to limit the scope of the invention . the bf 3 / alcohol - metal oxide reaction product of the invention may be used as a catalyst in connection with any organic product reaction that requires an acid catalyst . these reactions include , but are not limited to , friedel - crafts alkylation , phenolic alkylation , isoparaffin alkylation , olefin dimerization and polymerization in general , higher alpha olefin dimerization and isobutylene dimerization among others . the foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof . various changes in the details of the described method may be made without departing from the true spirit of the invention .	2
throughout the following detailed description , the same reference numerals refer to the same elements in all figures . the microendoscopy apparatus 10 shown in fig1 is used for diagnosis and as a delivery conduit of the shock wave pulses generated by a laser or an electrohydraulic device to fracture salivary stones . these concrements or stones 12 can be in the submaxillary gland , seen in fig5 or the stones 14 can be in the parotid gland , shown in fig6 . the microendoscopy apparatus 10 used in this method employs a light source 16 which is linked to a 45 - 50 light guide fiber array 18 , as shown in fig4 . the fibers are encased in an extruded polytetrafluoroethylene or polyurethane jacket 20 . the jacket 20 is prevented from moving by an epoxy encasement 22 . the epoxy 22 spaces apart the various channels or bundles of fibers contained within the microendoscope 23 . the microendoscope 23 also has a polytetrafluoroethylene or polyurethane jacket 25 . a stainless steel tube 27 of 3 mm length at the distal end is designed to encase channels for video capacity . a magnification eyepiece 24 is connected to an image guide bundle 26 containing 4000 - 5000 pixels and the image guide grin lens 28 with a 70 ° degree angle of view shown in fig4 . a focus adjustment 60 is located on eyepiece 24 . an articulation wire 30 attached to a handle 32 is also mounted within the apparatus 10 . lastly , a flush channel 35 is encircled within the epoxy 22 and also acts as the working channel conduit 35 for the working apparatus . a polytetrafluoroethylene covering 34 encloses channel 35 . a branch coupler 38 unites the individual channels for the imagee bundle 26 and light bundle 18 . working channel 35 starts at opening 39 and articulation wire 30 is controlled in the body of the microendoscope 23 by handle 32 . optionally , as seen in fig2 the apparatus 10a includes a television monitor 40 attached to the eyepiece . this monitor 40 connected to a multi - system video recorder 42 and a video printer 44 as separate modules . still further , as seen in fig3 the apparatus 10b includes charge coupled device ( ccd ) 46 attached to the eyepiece 24 and this ccd can be directly connected to a television monitor 48 for viewing the movement of the working channel 35 , within the body of the patient . this whole system with components 48 , 46 and 16 can be enclosed in a housing 47 . the method is carried out by first introducing a dilation probe ( not shown ) into the salivary duct 50 . the papilla is dilated by dilators of increasing size . thereafter , the flexible microendoscope 23 having a diameter of about 1 . 4 - 1 . 6 mm is introduced into the duct 50 and advanced to the concrement 12 under visual guidance through image bundle 26 . the area is illuminated by the light source 16 through the fiber optic 18 light guides . a laser photo conductor of size 0 . 2 mm - 0 . 3 mm is then positioned on the stone 12 via the working channel 35 . the working channel 35 has an outer diameter of 0 . 5 mm . the concrement is fractured by a laser induced shock wave under continuous rinsing and flushing through the surrounding 0 . 3 - 0 . 77 mm area around the photoconductor . stone fragmented particles are either rinsed or drained off or leave the salivary duct by the re - channeled salivary flow . three short - pulse systems can be used . these are the excimer having a wave length of 308 nm and pulse length fwhm 60 ns ; a dye laser having a wave length of 504 nm and pulse length of fwhm 1200 ns ; and an alexandrite laser having a wave length of 755 nm and a pulse length fwhm of 300 to 500 ns . carrying out the method of this invention , the sialolithiasis is performed on out - patient basis while the patient is lying prone . the patient is unsedated . the head is slightly hyper extended to give the examiner a direct view of the oral cavity and the ostia of the salivary duct . after infiltration anaesthesia and administration of a local surface anaesthetic , the probe is introduced into the salivary duct . 1 to 2 ml of an anaesthetic is additionally instilled in the salivary duct via a sialography catheter to block sensory afferences of the area . during the advancement of the flexible microendoscope 23 , isotonic saline solution is flushed in continuously through the working channel 35 . use of the isotonic solution prevents soiling of the lens 28 attached to the silica image bundle at the distal end of the microendoscopic channel 26 in the stainless steel tip 27 . also , a better view of the lumen is gained by distension of the salivary duct . mucous , thickened or purulent secretion is drained via the working channel . secretion plugs can be immobilized , dissolved and drained by controlled forced rinsing . during introduction of the microendoscope 23 into the salivary duct 50 , the articulation wire 30 is controlled by handle 32 so that the tip 27 at the end of the microendoscope 23 can be deflected as necessary by the operating physician up to 90 degrees to position the microendoscope 23 adjacent the stones 12 to be fractured . the same procedure is followed , as shown in fig6 to penetrate the parotid gland duct 56 and fracture stone 14 . a point marker 54 is located at the distal end in tip 27 to provide an orientation marker for the operating physician .	0
this invention is described below in the context of multiple representative embodiments . however , it will be understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments . also , although these embodiments are described in the context of electron - beam systems , it will be understood that the general principles disclosed herein can be applied readily to charged - particle - beam ( cpb ) systems in general . fig1 schematically depicts this embodiment of a secondary - electron mapping - projection apparatus . the components shown include an irradiation source 1 , a specimen surface 2 , a cathode lens 3 , an aperture 4 , a projection - optical system 5 , and an imaging surface 6 ( e . g ., surface of a detector ). an intermediate imaging plane is denoted by “ m ”, and the axis of the projection - optical system 5 is denoted by “ ax .” the irradiation source 1 comprises an electron gun 1 a and an electrostatic illumination - lens system 1 b as its main elements . the irradiation source 1 irradiates the specimen surface 2 with an electron beam having a predetermined energy and beam current . secondary electrons emitted from the specimen surface 2 are accelerated by an electric field formed between the specimen surface 2 and the cathode lens 3 . an image of the specimen surface 2 , as carried by the secondary electrons , is enlarged several - fold by the cathode lens 3 and formed at the intermediate imaging plane m inside the projection - optical system 5 . the aperture 4 serves to minimize aberrations at the intermediate imaging plane m . the image of the specimen surface 2 formed at the intermediate imaging plane m is further enlarged by the projection - optical system 5 , and a final image is formed on the imaging surface 6 . the principal ray is denoted by the solid line . further details of the projection - optical system 5 according to this embodiment are shown in fig2 ( a )- 2 ( c ). fig2 ( a ) depicts the disposition of electrodes along the axis ax ; fig2 ( b ) and 2 ( c ) show equivalent lens systems to certain respective electrodes . the system shown in fig2 ( a ) includes a first front electrode 11 , a second front electrode 12 , a middle electrode 13 , a first rear electrode 14 , and a second rear electrode 15 . in this embodiment , the first front electrode 11 , the middle electrode , and the second rear electrode 15 are electrically grounded . in the fig2 ( a ) configuration , the middle electrode 13 is maintained at a constant position along the axis ax . control of overall lens power is divided between a “ front ” power fp and a “ rear ” power rp . the front power fp is controlled by the voltage impressed on the second front electrode 12 , while the rear power rp is controlled by the voltage impressed on the first rear electrode 14 . the front power rp causes the principal ray to intersect the axis ax near the center of the rear power ( fig2 ( b )); hence , the rear power is used to form the final image of the specimen surface 2 on the imaging surface 6 . in addition , the cathode lens 3 is adjustable ( with respect to power ) so that the intermediate imaging plane m can be positioned at the center of the second front electrode 12 , i . e ., in the center of the front power . fig2 ( b ) shows exemplary ray traces when a front power is not used , wherein the principal ray is denoted by the solid line . the rays shown in the figure converge and form an image at the intermediate imaging plane m . however , at that location , the principal ray ( from the specimen surface 2 ) is incident with a slight divergence . by employing a lens corresponding to the first rear electrode 14 , the principal ray intersects the axis to the rear of the center ( principal point or nodal point ) of that lens ( fig2 ( b )). consequently , pincushion distortion is produced as when a conventional einzel lens alone is used . fig2 ( c ) shows exemplary ray traces when a controlled voltage also is applied to the second front electrode 12 so that the principal ray intersects the optical axis ax at the center of the lens corresponding to the first rear electrode 14 . in this case , since the principal ray passes through at nearly the center of the rear power ( i . e ., paraxially ), the onaxis field of the rear power is used mainly . hence , distortion is nearly entirely corrected , and coma and transverse chromatic aberration also are reduced . this embodiment of the projection - optical system 5 is shown in fig3 ( a )- 3 ( b ). in this embodiment , a third front electrode 12 ′ is added ( fig3 ( a )), or a second rear electrode 14 ′ is added ( fig3 ( b )). other components of this embodiment are similar to the corresponding components in the fig2 ( a ) embodiment and have the same respective reference numerals . referring to fig3 ( a ), the respective voltages applied to the second front electrode 12 and the third front electrode 12 ′ desirably are controlled independently . by doing so , the magnitude of the front power fp and the position of the center of the front power fp can be controlled independently . the axial position of the intermediate imaging plane m can be varied by controlling the cathode lens 3 in fig1 to vary the magnification . the principal ray can be made to intersect the optical axis essentially at the center of the rear power rp by aligning the position of the center of the front power fp with the position of the intermediate imaging plane m , and then adjusting the front power fp in the same way as described above in connection with fig2 ( a )- 2 ( c ) while maintaining this relationship . hence , it is possible with this configuration to execute a zooming action that varies the magnification of the image in a continuous manner while minimizing aberrations . in the configuration shown in fig3 ( b ), by independently controlling the voltages impressed on the first rear electrode 14 and the second rear electrode 14 ′, the magnitude of the rear power rp and the position of the center of the rear power rp can be controlled independently . hence , it is possible with this configuration to execute a zooming action that varies the magnification of the image in a continuous manner while keeping the position of the intermediate imaging plane m constant . in this case , the front power fp also is changed as the center of the rear power rp is shifted so that the principal ray intersects the axis at essentially the center of the rear power . thus , zooming action can be realized while keeping aberrations low . a projection - optical system according to this embodiment is shown in fig4 ( a )- 4 ( b ), wherein fig4 ( a ) depicts the respective dispositions of the constituent electrodes , and fig4 ( b ) depicts the equivalent lens system . components shown in fig4 ( a ) that are the same as respective components in representative embodiment 1 have the same respective reference numerals and are not described further . the fig4 ( a ) configuration includes a quadrupole electrode 16 ( instead of a second front electrode 12 ) situated between the first front electrode 11 and the middle electrode 13 . between the irradiation source 1 ( not shown in fig4 ( a ) but see fig1 ) and the specimen surface 2 is a beam separator ( e . g ., an exb , not shown ) serving as a “ down - lighting ” irradiation system for irradiating a specimen 2 with an electron beam . the angle of the principal ray at the intermediate image plane m differs in orthogonal directions of the transverse section of the light flux ( termed astigmatism in the pupil space ). in other words , in an x - y - z rectangular coordinate system where the optical axis is the z - axis ax , the intermediate imaging plane m is an x - y plane , and the magnetic field of the beam separator is oriented in the direction of the x - axis . aberration is corrected in the intermediate imaging plane m . as shown in fig4 ( b ), the angle of principal rays ( solid lines ) is different in the x - direction compared to the y - direction . to cause the principal rays to intersect the optical axis at the center of the rear power rp , the principal rays are deflected by the angle θ 1 in the x - direction and by the angle θ 2 ( θ 1 & gt ; θ 2 ) in the y - direction . in order to accomplish this , respective voltages are impressed on the poles of the quadrupole electrode 16 to create a lens power that is stronger in the x - direction than in the y - direction . a typical voltage - impression scheme for the poles is depicted in fig5 . the main voltage v 1 and the astigmatism - adjustment voltage v 2 ( v 1 & gt ; v 2 & gt ; 0 ) that comprise the overall power are overlapped so that the impressed voltage is greater in the x - direction . as a result , principal rays of different angles collectively can form an image at the center of the rear power with correction of the various aberrations . a secondary - electron mapping - projection apparatus according to this embodiment is depicted in fig6 and comprises an irradiation column 21 , a beam separator ( e . g ., an exb ) 22 , a first front lens 23 , a second front lens 24 , an aperture 26 , a projection lens 27 , a detector surface ( imaging surface ) 28 , and an intermediate imaging plane m 1 . an electron irradiation beam having a predetermined transverse area and profile is irradiated by the irradiation column 21 at an angle to the optical axis ax . the irradiation beam is directed to the optical center of the beam separator 22 and is deflected by the beam separator 22 so as to propagate along the optical axis ax from the beam separator 22 to a specimen surface 25 . the irradiation beam passes through the first front lens 23 , the aperture 26 , and the second front lens 24 to the specimen surface 25 at which the irradiation beam is perpendicularly incident . secondary electrons emitted from the specimen surface 25 are formed by the front lenses 23 , 24 into an image at the intermediate imaging plane m 1 ( situated at the optical center of the beam separator 22 ). the aperture 26 serves to reduce aberrations in the intermediate image . unlike the conventional system shown in fig9 the fig6 embodiment has a front lens system , located between the beam separator 22 and the specimen surface 25 , that includes a two - stage lens system ( first and second front lenses 23 , 24 , respectively ) configured as a bi - directionally telecentric system . in other words , the specimen surface 25 is situated at the forward focal position of the second front lens 24 ( note convergence of dotted lines ), and the aperture 26 is positioned at the rearward focal position of the second front lens 24 and at the forward focal position of the first front lens 23 . the intermediate imaging plane m 1 is formed at the rearward focal position of the first front lens 23 . between the first front lens 23 and the projection lens 27 , the principal ray ( solid line ) is parallel to the optical axis ax and thus does not diverge . as a result , the ray is incident to the projection lens 27 more paraxially ( at a point closer to the optical axis ax ) than in conventional systems ( compare the height of the principal ray passing through the lens 47 ( fig9 ) with the height of the principal ray passing through the lens 27 ( fig6 )). consequently , pincushion distortions are suppressed . also , because the rays that are used for forming an image at the detector surface 28 are closer to being paraxial rays , other aberrations are suppressed as well , even during wide - field , low - magnification imaging . the image formed at the intermediate imaging plane ml is enlarged and re - formed on the detector surface 28 by the projection lens 27 . the magnification of the image formed on the detector surface 28 is changed by changing the axial position of the projection lens 27 . a wide - field , low - magnification image is obtained by reducing the power of the projection lens 27 . typically , the projection lens 27 actually comprises multiple lenses to facilitate making changes in image magnification . this embodiment is shown in fig7 in which components that are similar to corresponding components shown in fig6 have the same respective reference numerals . ( it is noted that , in this embodiment , item 27 is termed a “ first rear lens ” whereas item 27 is termed simply a “ projection lens ” in fig6 .) the fig7 embodiment further comprises a second rear lens 29 and a third rear lens 30 . “ m 2 ” denotes a second intermediate imaging plane , and “ m 1 ” is a first intermediate imaging plane . the respective structures and positions of the irradiation column 21 , beam separator 22 , aperture 26 , and irradiation column 21 are similar to respective structures and positions of corresponding components of the system shown in fig9 . the second front lens 24 forms an image , of secondary electrons emitted from the specimen surface 25 , at the first intermediate imaging plane m 1 located at the optical center of the beam separator 22 . the first rear lens 27 and second rear lens 29 collectively form a relay optical system . the relay optical system forms an image , of the image at the first intermediate imaging plane m 1 , at the second intermediate imaging plane m 2 . the image at the second intermediate imaging plane m 2 is reformed by the third rear lens 30 on the detector surface 28 . the lenses 27 , 29 , and 30 collectively comprise a projection - optical system . the relay optical system suppresses divergence of the principal ray ( solid line ) and thus corrects distortion aberrations . namely , the principal ray incident to the third rear lens 30 is essentially parallel with the optical axis ax and passes through the third rear lens paraxially ( near the optical axis ax ). the magnification of the image created by the projection - optical system can be varied in a continuous manner by changing the power balance in the relay optical system . ( when the first and second intermediate image planes are fixed , the “ power balance ” is the respective focal lengths of the lenses 27 , 29 , relative to each other .) changing the power balance changes the axial position of the second intermediate imaging plane m 2 . image magnification also can be varied by changing the power balance between the relay optical system and the third rear lens 30 , or by changing the power of the second rear lens 30 . this makes it possible to obtain images at magnifications ranging from wide - field at low magnification to narrow - field at high magnification . the relay optical system desirably is configured to be bi - directionally telecentric whenever the magnification of the image is small and the optical field is large in the relay optical system ( i . e ., at the wide - angle end of the zoom range ). in such a configuration , the focal point of the first rear lens 27 is set at the position of the first intermediate imaging plane m 1 , and the focal point of the second rear lens 29 is set at the position of the second intermediate imaging plane m 2 . with such a configuration , the principal ray is made incident to the third rear lens 30 nearly parallel with the optical axis ax under conditions that otherwise would be susceptible to the generation of excessive distortion aberrations . thus , this configuration suppresses such distortion aberrations . this embodiment is depicted in fig8 in which components that are similar to corresponding components in the fig7 embodiment have the same respective reference numerals . in the fig8 embodiment , the optical system (“ front optical system ”) between the beam separator 22 and the specimen surface 25 is similar to the corresponding optical system shown in fig6 and the optical system (“ rear optical system ” or “ projection - optical system ”) between the beam separator 22 and the detector surface 28 is similar to the corresponding optical system shown in fig7 . hence , the fig8 embodiment has the advantages of both the fig6 embodiment and the fig7 embodiment . namely , the front optical system in this embodiment is configured to be bi - directionally telecentric . a principal ray ( solid line ) passing through the first intermediate imaging plane m 1 is parallel to the optical axis ax . the principal ray enters the rear optical system non - divergently and not excessively off - axis . as a result , conditions that otherwise would produce distortion aberrations are not present . in addition , the axial position of the second intermediate imaging plane m 2 can be changed by the relay optical system in a continuous manner without causing any divergence of the principal ray . as a result , essentially no distortion aberrations are generated in the rear optical system . if a higher magnification in a narrow field is required than can be achieved by the rear optical system , then the bi - directional telecentricity of the front optical system can be exploited . whereas the invention has been described in connection with multiple representative embodiments , it will be apparent that the invention is not limited to those embodiments . on the contrary , the invention is intended to encompass all modifications , alternatives , and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention , as defined by the appended claims .	7
development - accompanying tests on battery systems for generating ac voltage such as , for example , lithium - ion batteries having an inverter with power switches arranged in series on parallel current branches revealed that in battery systems which initially caused no problems after mechanical tests despite severe mechanical force actions on the batteries during the test , cases repeatedly occurred in which the initially inconspicuous battery systems caught fire weeks after the mechanical tests . the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure as described in greater detail below allow battery cells to be transferred to a safe state by controlled discharge after an accident or in the event of serious technical problems , such as , for example , imminent overcharging of the battery cells by a charger not functioning properly . even in the case of the battery remaining in this safe state for a relatively long time , this cannot lead to a fire . the battery cells are discharged here to an extent such that , for example , internal short circuits can no longer lead to the cells catching fire . one exemplary embodiment of the method 1 according to the disclosure provides for carrying out , immediately after identifying an accident or a serious technical problem , by means of a battery management system , firstly at least one - pole or better two - pole disconnection 2 of the battery 220 by means of the opening of the disconnecting switches . in the exemplary embodiment with two - pole disconnection , after the two - pole disconnection the battery management system firstly carries out an insulation resistance check 3 by measuring an insulation resistance value and comparing it with a limit value with disconnecting switches 120 , 130 and 110 open . this involves checking whether the high - voltage circuit of the battery 220 still has a sufficient electrical insulation resistance relative to ground . if the insulation resistance does not fall below a defined limit value , an insulation resistance check 4 is carried out in a corresponding manner at the inverter . the insulation resistance check 4 at the inverter 210 can be effected for example by an inverter electronic unit which the inverter 210 comprises in the exemplary embodiment . in this case , the inverter electronic unit can communicate with the battery management system , that is to say receive control commands and send status reports , via a bidirectional communication interface realized as a can bus . in the case of one - pole disconnection , an insulation resistance check can be carried out at the battery system . however , the presence of sufficient insulation relative to ground may also already have been ascertained by the battery management system for other reasons and in some other way . the definite presence of sufficient insulation is sufficient for the disclosure . if it is definitely the case that battery 220 and inverter 210 are insulated from the vehicle ground to an extent such that the battery 220 is safely transferable to a discharged state , the transmission 5 of a command by the battery management system via the communication interface of the inverter electronic unit for power switches 230 electrically connected in series in at least one parallel current branch in the inverter 210 should be controlled such that all the power switches 230 electrically connected in series in at least one of the parallel current branches are switched on . in one development of the exemplary embodiment , a command is transmitted for switching on all power switches 230 electrically connected in series in each case in all parallel current branches . after all the power switches 230 that are to be turned on in accordance with the command have been switched on , the inverter 210 communicates this state to the battery management system via the bidirectional communication interface . if the battery system comprises a second disconnecting device 170 , closing 6 of the disconnecting switches 150 of said disconnecting device 170 is effected first of all . afterward , closing 7 of the electric circuit is effected by the charging current source 110 of the charging and disconnecting device 130 of the battery system being turned on . this leads to discharging 8 of the battery via the charging current source 130 . since all power switches in a current branch of the inverter 210 are closed , no power is made available at the output of the inverter . in an electric or hybrid motor 200 of a motor vehicle that is connected to such a battery system , no torque is then generated during the discharging . the charging current source 110 has to be designed for the current intensities that occur during the discharging . alternatively , the battery management system can carry out a check 10 during the discharging at the charging current source 110 to determine whether there is an imminent overloading of the current source 110 . if the answer is yes , the charging current source 110 is switched off 11 . in this case , an overloading can be identified by the battery management system for example in a model - based manner in the . after a check 12 has revealed that the charging current source 110 has recovered from the overloading on account of the switch - off and is again ready to discharge the battery cells 140 , it is switched on again 7 by the battery management system and a discharging 8 of the battery 220 is continued . whether continuously or with interruptions , the cells 140 of the battery system are in this way discharged to an extent such that an uncontrolled internal or external short circuit occurring later can no longer lead to a hazard . after ascertaining 9 that the battery 220 is sufficiently discharged , the battery 220 can again be disconnected from the inverter 210 in a two - pole manner by the opening 11 of the disconnecting switches 120 and 150 and the simultaneous disconnection 2 of the charging current source 110 . in principle , it is expedient to transfer the battery cells 140 to a discharged state in the event of technical problems . as an example , mention shall be made of a charging process for a battery 220 in an electric vehicle in which the charger , on account of a fault , does not reduce the charging current even though the battery 220 is fully charged . in this case , the battery 220 would be discharged in the manner described after the charger has been switched off by means of an electromechanical switch . upon activation of said charging current source 110 by switch - on , the intermediate circuit capacitor — illustrated by way of example in fig2 — of a dc voltage intermediate circuit via which the traction battery 220 is connected to the dc voltage side of the inverter 210 can be charged to an extent such that compensation currents in the event of the closing of the disconnection switch 150 of the charging and disconnecting device 170 are limited to permissible values . in a charging current source 110 , the charging process for the intermediate circuit capacitor experiences a constant charging current . the rise in the capacitor voltage per unit time is thus linear and thus leads to complete charging more rapidly than asymptotically .	1
the term “ same biological activity ” means the biological , physiological or therapeutic activity or functionality compared with the relevant properties of said peptides and polypeptides , preferably vip or pacap . the term “ derivative or analogue ” means a peptide compound which is derived more or less directly from the corresponding peptide , such as vip or pacap as such , and is altered by some additions , deletions , mutations or modifications without altering the biological properties of the parent peptide . suitable vip derivatives are , for example , disclosed in wo 8905857 , wo 9106565 , ep 0663406 and wo 9729126 ( fmoc protected vip ). the term includes also conjugates of peptides and polypeptides according to the invention that consist of the parent peptide or polypeptide coupled to lipophilic entities , such as liposomes . vip — liposome products are , for example , disclosed in wo 9527496 or wo 9735561 , and have improved properties with respect to bioavailability and proteolytic degradation . furthermore , the term includes also fragments , slightly modified fragments including truncated forms . the term “ stabilized form ” means a derivative or analogue of the peptides according to the invention , wherein the parent peptide was altered in order get more stability and increased half - life in blood and serum . such stabilized forms are preferred if the polypeptide is fragmented by enzyme activity . possible stabilized forms are cyclic peptides , fusion proteins , preferably fc - fusion proteins or pegylated peptides , for example pegylated vip or pegylated peptides according to the invention . the addition of polyethylene glycol increases stability of the peptides and polypeptides of this invention at physiological ph as compared to non - pegylated compounds . the pegylated polypeptide / protein is also stabilized with regard to salts . the term “ fusion protein ” means a compound , especially a stabilized form , consisting of a peptide according to the invention , which is fused to another peptide polypeptide or protein . such a protein is preferably an immunoglobulin molecule , more preferably a fragment thereof , most preferably a fc portion of an igg molecule , preferably an igg1 . a fc - vip fusion protein is described in wo 200024278 and shows an improved half - life in serum and blood . fc fusions according to invention are fc - peptide seq id no . 2 and fc - peptide seq id . no 3 , and fc - peptide seq id no . 4 , wherein preferably the peptide is fused to the c - terminal of the fc portion of the immunoglobulin . the term “ individual or patient ” preferably refers to mammals , especially is humans . the compound is used in a pharmaceutical composition and formulations , comprising , as a rule , a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier , excipient or diluents . techniques for the formulation and administration of the compounds of the present invention may be found in “ remington &# 39 ; s pharmaceutical sciences ” mack publishing co ., easton pa . the term “ synthetic peptide ” comprises according to the understanding of the invention peptides , which consist of natural amino acids and partially of chemically modified natural amino acid residues , and have been produced either completely by chemical synthesis , or by recombinant methods in combination with chemical modification of single amino acid residues . in case of the novel peptides according to the invention , which consist of 28 amino acid residues , a standard peptide synthesis is preferred . as used herein , the term “ pharmaceutically acceptable carrier ” means an inert , non toxic solid or liquid filler , diluent or encapsulating material , not reacting adversely with the active compound or with the patient , or any other formulation such as tablets , pills , dragees , capsules , gels , syrups , slurries , suspensions and the like . suitable , preferably liquid carriers are well known in the art such as sterile water , saline , aqueous dextrose , sugar solutions , ethanol , glycols and oils , including those of petroleum , animal , vegetable , or synthetic origin , for example , peanut oil , soybean oil and mineral oil . the formulations according to the invention may be administered as unit doses containing conventional non - toxic pharmaceutically acceptable carriers , diluents , adjuvants and vehicles that are typical for parenteral administration . unit doses according to the invention may contain daily required amounts of the compound according to the invention , or sub - multiples thereof to make up the desired dose . the optimum therapeutically acceptable dosage and dose rate for a given patient ( mammals , including humans ) depends on a variety of factors , such as the activity of the specific active material employed , the age , body weight , general health , sex , diet , time and route of administration , rate of clearance , enzyme activity , the object of the treatment , i . e ., therapy or prophylaxis and the nature of the disease to be treated . therefore , in compositions and combinations in a treated patient ( in vivo ) a pharmaceutical effective daily dose of the peptide of this invention is between about 5 ng and 200 μg / kg body weight , preferably between 20 ng and 20 μg / kg body weight . the preferred administration of the peptides according to this invention is the inhalation of aqueous solutions containing a peptide of the invention . the aqueous solution is preferably an isotonic saline solution ( nacl ) which can contain additional drugs or other suitable ingredients . preferably , the peptide compounds are used in said solutions in a stabilized form as specified above . especially preferred solutions are isotonic nacl solutions containing the peptide in a pegylated form . the concentration of the peptide used in therapy in said solutions vary according to the invention between 10 mg and 300 mg / l solution , preferably between 30 mg and 100 mg / l . if stabilized forms , such as pegylated forms of the peptides of the invention as specified above , are used the concentration as well as the over - all dosage of the selected peptide of the invention can decreased , as a rule . the inhalation of the peptides according to the invention can be carried out , as a rule , 1 - 4 times a day for 5 - 45 minutes , preferably 10 - 20 minutes , according to the severity of the disease and the efficacy of the compounds used for the treatment . for inhalations the compound according to the invention is preferably brought in an aerosol form . aerosols and techniques to make them are well known in the art . aerosols applicable by inhalers containing a peptide of the invention are preferred especially in the case of copd . administration by nasal spray techniques are also suitable . administration of the synthetic peptides according to the invention , includes also nanoparticles or nanobeads to which the peptides according to the invention are linked or coupled chemically or by van - der waals forces , or in which said peptides are encapsulated . nanoparticles or - beads are naturally derived or synthetic mostly spherical particles with a diameter of & lt ; 1000 nm , preferably & lt ; 500 nm , more preferably & lt ; 200 nm . the peptide delivery to the target cells can be improved by release out of inhaled nanobeads comprising a peptide according to the invention : the peptide is less likely to become degraded after a bolus delivery while all cell receptors are fully loaded , and the peptide can be protected by nano - beads , produced out of other enzyme substrates which , as mentioned above , competitively inhibits the enzymatic degradation of the therapeutic peptide . according to the invention nanobeads as carrier to deliver peptides deep into the lung by inhalation by , for example , ultrasonic nebulising , which produce a drop size of about 1 - 5 , preferably 3 μm . hence , each microdroplet carries many nanobeads loaded with the therapeutic novel peptide according to the invention . suitable nanobeads are well known in the art , such as lipo - particles ( liposomes ), protamin ( already known from insulin depot therapy ), poly ( d , l - lactic - co - glycolic ) acid ( plga ), thiolate or other polymeric carrier substrates . a comprehensive overview presenting nanoparticles suitable for drug delivery systems , which can be applied to the current invention , can be taken , for example , from j pharm pharmaceut sci , 2000 , 3 ( 2 ), 234 - 258 . therapeutically effective doses of the peptides according to the invention or their pharmaceutical compositions may be administered alone or as adjunctive therapy in combination with other pharmaceutically effective compounds , such as compounds with other drugs , e . g . fast - acting beta2 - agonists ( such as albuterol ), anticholinergic bronchodilators ( such as ipratropium bromide ), long - acting bronchodilators , inhaled or oral corticosteroids , antibiotics , or antiproliferative compounds , e . g . d - 24851 , imatinib mesylate , or guanylhydrazone cni - 1493 . chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( copd ) is characterised by progressive airflow limitation associated with chronic inflammation . vasoactive intestinal peptide ( vip ) is a potent bronchodilator , vasodilator and anti - inflammatory agent . the efficacy and safety of vip in patients was assessed with moderate to severe copd . the present double - blind , randomized , placebo - controlled study was undertaken in an outpatient setting . copd patients ( n = 34 ) were randomly assigned vip 50 μg ( n = 17 ), or placebo ( n = 17 ), given per inhalation , 4 times daily for 12 weeks . vip serum concentration was measured in all patients . primary outcomes were health - related quality of life and exercise capacity . secondary outcomes included the lung function parameters and copd exacerbations . in copd , vip serum concentrations were lower compared to controls ( fig1 ). thirty ( 88 %) patients completed the study ( table 1 ). post - bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second ( fev1 ) significantly improved with vip by 0 . 107 l and vital capacity ( ivc ) by 0 . 160 l compared with placebo ( p & lt ; 0 . 01 ) ( fig2 ). according to the short 36 - item questionnaire ( sf - 36 ) developed for medical outcomes studies , the improvement in quality of life was greater with vip ( 4 . 08 ) than with placebo ( 0 . 20 ) ( table 2 ). similarly , borg dyspnea scale result was greater with vip (− 0 . 20 units at rest and − 1 . 07 after exercise ) than with placebo ( 0 . 21 units at rest and 0 . 43 units after exercise ) ( fig3 ); exercise capacity increased by 32 . 7 m ( p & lt ; 0 . 01 ) in the vip group as compared to placebo group (− 8 . 6 m ) using the six minutes walking test ( fig4 ). ten exacerbations with placebo and only 8 with vip were observed ( table 3 ). vip is a safe and effective drug for treatment of copd , it reduces exacerbations , improves lung function , and health - related quality of life . long - term studies are needed , however , to fully assess its efficacy in copd . the airway inflammatory response in cf is persistently neutrophilic , marked by upregulation of neutrophil chemotactic mediators such as interleukin 8 ( il - 8 ) and leukotriene b4 ( ltb4 ); florid accumulation of neutrophils in the airways ; and neutrophil activation , with release of toxic products such as neutrophil elastase . the initial inflammatory response to most bacterial stimuli , in the lung and elsewhere , is “ acute ”, that is , neutrophil dominant such as the inflammation by copd . two cf patients were treated with 200 μg vip daily , per inhalation and measured their lung function for and after 3 months treatment by vip . post - bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second ( fev1 ) and vital capacity ( vc ) significantly improved with vip treatment after 3 months ( table 4 ). the combination of low serum vip levels in copd patients , the vip receptor up - regulation in chronic bronchitis patients , the pleiotrope anti - inflammatory effects of vip , the possibility for local administration and the lack of local and systemic side effects in our trial , makes vip a promising candidate for treatment of copd and cf . furthermore the inventors synthesized the synthetic peptides according to the invention , preferably peptide seq id no . : 2 ( a - 15 ), seq id no . : 3 ( a - 18 ) and seq id no . : 4 ( a - 20 ) with new structure and compared their anti - inflammatory and vasodilatory properties with vip in vitro by the methods described in the following examples . the synthesis of the peptides according to the invention was carried out by known standard methods . peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from whole venous blood from 12 stable copd patients and 12 healthy probands by ficoll density gradient centrifugation . monocytes were differentiated in rpmi - 1640 medium supplemented with 5 % fcs , antibiotics and 10 − 8 m 1 , 25 - dihydroxycholecalciferol ( sigma ) in a humidified atmosphere with 5 % co2 at 37 ° c . for infection simulation , macrophage stimulation and experimental in vivo treatment the differentiated cells were incubated either with lps , with lps and seq id no . : 1 ( vip ) or seq id no . : 2 ( a - 15 ) or seq id no . : 3 ( a - 18 ), or with medium alone for control . to test the hypothesis whether or not the macrophages utilize the vip - signaling pathway to modulate and limit the immune response , the inflammation reaction in vitro was stimulated and no ( produced by inos ) production by the cells was measured under inflammation and under in vitro therapy with vip and the peptides according to the invention ( seq id nos 2 and 3 ). nos increased dramatically by lps after 24 hours . simultaneous incubation of lps with vip and the peptides according to the invention revealed a marked anti - inflammatory response found after 24 hours ( table 5 ). this anti - inflammatory response was better by both vip - analogues according to seq id nos . 2 and 3 . effects of vip and the peptides according to the invention are mediated by specific g - protein coupled receptors . three distinct receptor subtypes , with differing affinity for the peptides , have been cloned and characterized as receptors 1 and 2 ( vpac1 and vpac2 ) and pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide receptor ( pac1 ). the secondary messenger is cyclic adenosine mono phosphate ( camp ). the capacity of vip and the peptides according to the invention ( seq id no 2 and 3 ) on camp regulation were compared by following methods : cells derived from pulmonary artery ( pasmc ) were seeded in 24 well plates and cultured in dmem containing 10 % fetal calf serum ( gibco lifesciences , karlsruhe ), penicillin ( gibco lifesciences , karlsruhe , 100 u / ml ) streptomycin ( gibco lifesciences , karlsruhe , 100 u / ml ) to confluency . after serum starvation for 3 hours cells were incubated with vip or the peptides according to the invention with or without 3 - isobutyl 1 - methyl xanthine for 20 min which has been shown to be the optimal incubation time for analysis of cyclic amp production . the incubation is stopped by rinsing cells with pbs and immediate lysis of cells with hcl ( 0 . 1n ) containing 3 - isobutyl 1 - methyl xanthine ( 500 μm ) to block further hydrolysis of camp . lysed cells were centrifuged and the supernatants assayed for camp using an commercially available cyclic amp elisa ( assay designs , inc ., michigan , distribution by bio trend , köln ). vip increases the cyclic amp content of pasmc . higher increase were observed after stimulation with the novel peptides according to the invention ( seq id no . 2 and 3 ) ( table 6a , 6b and 6c ). elisa assays and il - 4 , il - 6 , il - 8 , il - 10 , il1 - b und tnf - a measurement in fibroblasts and bronchial smooth muscle cells after fcs stimulation in vitro elisa assays for il - 4 , il - 6 , il - 8 , il - 10 , il1 - b und tnf - a were performed according to the manufactures instructions ( bd - pharmingen ). the cytokine secretion under fcs stimulation in each experiment was set to 100 % for each cell donor and experiment . all other results were expressed relative to 100 %. for statistical analysis we used paired student &# 39 ; s t - test , or the wilcoxon signed rank test .	0
referring to fig1 there is illustrated the microstrip hybrid ring coupler 10 of the present invention . the hybrid ring 10 is mounted in a metallic housing 12 which supports the dielectric board 14 which may , for example , be a laminate or teflon impregnated fiberboard . coaxial connectors 16 may be press fit into the housing 12 and function as input - output terminals for connecting the device 10 to coaxial cables ( not shown ). the dielectric board 14 is metal clad on both faces preferably with copper . the copper cladding on the bottom face forms the ground plane 18 for the microstrip circuit . the upper face of the dielectric 14 has a microstrip ring circuit 20 formed thereon by suitable techniques such as photoetching as is well known . the microstrip circuit includes four arms or connector tabs 22 , 24 , 26 and 28 . these tabs are connected to the coaxial connector 16 inner conductor by suitable means such as soldering . the outer conductor of the coaxial connector 16 is soldered to the ground plane 18 ( not shown ). the remainder of the microstrip circuit is comprised of a ring section 30 and a 180 ° phase shift section 32 . referring now to fig2 the details of the microstrip circuit 20 will be described . the strip conductor ring 30 has three contiguous strip conductor sections 34 , 36 and 38 between the tab connectors 22 , 28 , 26 and 24 , respectively . the strip conductor sections 34 , 36 and 38 each have an electrical length of nλ / 4 where λ is the wavelength corresponding to the midband operating frequency of the coupler and n is an odd integer . the fourth strip conductor section of the ring 30 extends between the tab connectors 22 and 24 and is comprised of ring conductor sections 40 and 42 which are separated by a small gap 44 . disregarding temporarily the gap 44 , the electrical distance between the tabs 22 and 24 along the strip conductor sections 40 and 42 is nλ / 4 . in the illustrated embodiment , the sections 40 and 42 are equal electrical length sections of approximately nλ / 8 , although it is to be understood that , notwithstanding the illustrated embodiment , sections 40 and 42 may be of unequal electrical length , the important consideration being that their total combined length is nλ / 4 . the strip conductor section 32 is a tightly coupled parallel section and is comprised of a first conductor 46 electrically contiguous with the strip section 40 and a second strip section 48 electrically contiguous with the strip section 42 . in accordance with the meaning of &# 34 ; tightly coupled section &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; parallel - coupled section &# 34 ; within the microwave electronics art and as used herein , the terms &# 34 ; tightly coupled section &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; parallel - coupled section &# 34 ; are limited to those microwave structures in which one portion of such section is electromagnetically coupled to another portion of such section . the parallel tightly coupled conductors 46 and 48 are connected by a strip conductor section 50 which is preferably made as narrow as possible . strip conductors 46 and 48 are separated by a narrow gap 52 which extends into and merges with gap 44 . the length of each of the strip conductors 46 and 48 is λ / 4 measured as illustrated in fig2 . in the illustrated embodiment the impedances of the strip conductor sections 34 , 36 , 38 , 40 and 42 as well as strip conductor sections 46 and 48 is z o √ 2 where z o is the impedance of each of the tab connectors 22 , 24 , 26 and 28 . an exemplary value for the width of the gaps 44 and 52 is 0 . 001 inch for operation of the device at x - band . the strip conductor section 32 is a phase shifter for introducing a 180 ° phase shift into signals propagating between the ring conductor sections 40 and 42 . this 180 ° phase shift is believed to occur by reason of the fact that the signals propagating in the section 32 travel along the two quarter - wavelength strip sections 46 and 48 , thus traveling a total distance of λ / 2 . it is further believed that the tight coupling between the strip conductors 46 and 48 across the narrow gap 52 and 44 enhances the operation of the device 10 by extending the bandwidth beyond that which would be achievable with uncoupled sections . the device 10 thus far described is thus seen to be comprised of two pairs of diametrically oriented input - output tabs or arms with adjacent tabs being separated by a microstrip ring section of length nλ / 4 . one of the ring sections has interposed therein a means 32 for introducing a 180 ° phase shift . the operation of the device should , at this point , be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and is , briefly , as follows . considering , for example , a microwave signal input at tab 26 , the signal divides equally between sections 36 and 38 and appears as outputs at tabs 28 and 24 . the tab 22 is completely isolated from the tab 26 due to the fact that any signal arriving at tab 22 via ring section 40 , 42 is 180 ° out of phase of any signal arriving at tab 22 via ring section 34 , the 180 ° phase shift having been introduced by the microstrip section 32 . in short then , a signal inserted in any one arm of the coupler 10 will divide approximately equally between the two adjacent arms and will be isolated from its opposite arm . the hybrid ring coupler of the present invention has the advantage of greater operational bandwidth than the conventional rat - race as well as the very important advantage of manufacturing simplicity due to the completely planar structure . the illustrated embodiment could be modified such that the phase shift section 32 extends outside the ring rather than inwards as where it may be more spatially beneficial to incorporate other microstrip circuit elements within the ring 20 . the strip conductor impedances and gap spacings could also be modified in accordance with the desired operating characteristics such as frequency , bandwidth and degree of coupling . obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described .	7
fig1 shows a logic chip 10 including a bridge 16 for transferring data packets between a set of input / output processors 13 and 14 to a cache 35 where the bridge and the cache are in different clock domains . the bridge 16 is part of an integrated logic chip 10 and includes an input data register 11 for receiving data packets from input / output processors 13 and 14 ( i / ops ). although only two input / output processors are shown , multiple input / output processors could be connected to bus 15 for transmitting data packets to cache 35 . in the embodiment shown , bridge 16 is for use in transferring data packets of up to 10 words in length between input / output processors 13 and 14 and cache 35 without the use of a buffer and minimizing data backup even though the data transfer rates into and out of the bridge are different because the clock domain in the bridge and the clock domain in the cache are different . a bus 15 connects to input / output processors 13 and 14 for sending data packets of up to 10 words in length to a two word wide input data register 11 in logic chip 10 . located in the logic chip 10 is a two - word wide first staging register 22 for receiving a first two - word data packet from input data register 11 , a two - word wide second staging register 23 for receiving a second two - word data packet from input data register 11 , and a third two - word wide staging register for receiving a third two - word data packet from input data register 1 . located within chip 10 is a first control logic 30 and multiplexers 20 and 21 that direct the word packets from the input data register 11 to each of the various staging registers which are also two words wide . for example , if a six - word data packet is transferred to the input data register 11 from input / output processor 13 , two of the first six words of the data packet are sent to staging register 22 where they are sent to interface register 25 to be held while waiting to be transferred to cache 35 . the control logic 30 and multiplexers 20 and 21 direct the next two words of the six - word packet into staging register 23 where they are sent to interface register 26 to be held for transferring to cache 35 . the control logic 30 and multiplexers 20 and 21 direct the remaining two words to staging register 24 where they are sent to interface register 27 , and held for transferring to cache 35 . once the data packets in the staging registers are transferred to the interface registers , the three staging registers are able to receive additional data packets from the input data register 11 and the three interface registers remain in a ready condition to transfer the data packets to the cache 35 in response a request from control logic 30 to initiate a cache transfer cycle . the interface register 25 , 26 and 27 continue to hold the two - word data packets from staging register 22 , 23 and 24 in a condition ready to be transferred until such time as control logic 30 enables cache 35 to receive the data packets from the three interface registers . that is , the cache 35 becomes responsive to receive each of the word packets in interface registers 25 , 26 and 27 during a cache transfer cycle . consequently , while data can be transferred into the interface register in the bridge at one rate , the use of three interface registers allows the transfer of multiple data packets from the bridge at substantially the same rate thus maintaining the uniform flow of data across the two clock domains . fig2 shows the system of fig1 with chip 10 including a second control logic 12 that enables one to prioritize the transfer of data packets from the input / output processors 13 and 14 to cache 35 . each of the input / output processors 13 and 14 have a low priority request line and a high priority request line , which are indicated by l and h . in operation of the system , control logic 12 enables requests for transfer of data packets from input / output processors 13 and 14 to input data register 11 in bridge 16 . in the present invention , control logic 12 enables requests on the high priority lines to be given priority over requests on the low priority lines . the requests for data transfer on the low priority lines are prioritized and transferred according to length of the data packets with the longer data packets being transferred first . the bridge 16 has control logic 12 to detect low priority requests , and as soon as a low priority request is detected , the bridge 16 takes a &# 34 ; snapshot &# 34 ; of all current low priority requests . after the &# 34 ; snapshot &# 34 ; is taken , the bridge 16 continues to detect new requests while continuing to transfer any requests in the current &# 34 ; snapshot &# 34 ; to cache 35 . thus , the bridge 16 guarantees equal access to the i / ops by handling all requests in the first &# 34 ; snapshot &# 34 ; before taking a new &# 34 ; snapshot &# 34 ;. as an i / op can have only one outstanding request , the bridge 16 doesn &# 39 ; t have to handle multiple request from the same i / op . once a request to an i / op is granted , the i / op transfers a data packet to the input data register 11 . the data packets can be from two to ten words long . as the asynchronous interface between the bridge 16 and the cache 35 is only six words long , to maximize rate of transfer of data packets from the bridge 16 to the cache 35 , the bridge 16 grants priority based on the length of the data packets . in operation of the system of fig2 the data packets from i / ops 13 and 14 are transferred to input data register two words at a time . control logic 12 takes a snapshot of the data packets in i / ops 13 and 14 , which are to be transferred to the input data register 11 . in order to illustrate how multiple data packets of different length are transferred , fig3 has been prepared assuming that there are six i / ops transferring data to bridge 16 . fig3 illustrates a snapshot of data packets taken by control logic 12 at three different times t 1 , t 2 , and t 3 . for purposes of showing how multiple data packets 50 , 51 , 52 , 52 and 54 of various lengths are transferred to cache 35 , reference should be made to fig3 block 40 , which illustrates the six different data packets from six input / output processors : i / op 1 , i / op 2 , i / op 3 , i / op 4 , i / op 5 and i / op 6 . fig3 shows that at time t 1 the length of each of the data packets from the 6i / ops . table 1 shows the word length of the data packets from six input / output processors at a time t 1 . table 1______________________________________data packets within a blockof data packets at time t . sub . 1processor length of data packet______________________________________i / op . sub . 1 two wordsi / op . sub . 2 four wordsi / op . sub . 3 two wordsi / op . sub . 4 six wordsi / op . sub . 5 emptyi / op . sub . 6 eight words______________________________________ the bridge 16 continues to detect new requests while the data packets within snapshot 40 are transferred to cache 35 . while each of the 6 data packets from the i / ops are transferred to bridge 16 at a maximum rate of two words per unit of time , the use of multiple interface registers in the present invention enables the data transfer from bridge 16 to cache 35 at a rate of up to six words per unit time thus enabling the transfer of the data to and from the bridge to remain in relative balance . to complete the transfer of the 6 data packets in block 40 ( snapshot at time t 1 ) from the bridge 16 to cache 35 takes five cache transfer cycles . that is , two transfer cycles to transfer the eight word data packet from i / op 6 to cache 35 . as i / op 5 contains no data packets , no transfer cycle is required to transfer the information in i / op 5 . next , the interface registers transfer the six - word packet in i / op 4 with one transfer cycle by transferring two words of the six - word packet with each interface register 25 , 26 and 27 . after transferring the six - word packet in i / op 4 , the interface registers transfer the four - word data packet in i / op 2 through interface registers 25 and 26 , while interface register 27 remains open . to minimized the permutations and complexities of the system , the data packets of four or more words are not permitted to be transferred between the bridge 16 and the cache 35 during the same transfer cycle ; however , the two - word packets from the input / output processors ( i / op 1 and i / op 3 ) are permitted to be transferred to cache 35 in a single cache transfer cycle thus shortening the length of the transfer cycle at time t 1 . that is , cache 35 needs to make itself available for only one transfer cycle to receive information from i / op 1 and i / op 3 thus shorting the number of data transfer cycles to cache 35 . to illustrate how word packets of longer length are transferred to and from bridge 16 reference should be made to fig3 block 41 , ( snapshot at time t 2 ). reference numeral 41 identifies a second block of data packets from the i / op 1 , i / op 2 , i / op 3 , i / op 4 , i / op 5 and i / op 6 which was taken at time t 2 . each of the data packets in block 41 is eight words long . consequently , it takes 12 cache transfer cycles to transfer the data in block 41 to cache 35 . table 2 shows the word length of the data packets from six input / output processors during a time t 2 . table 2______________________________________data packets within a blockof data packets at time t . sub . 2processor length of data packet______________________________________i / op . sub . 1 eight wordsi / op . sub . 2 eight wordsi / op . sub . 3 eight wordsi / op . sub . 4 eight wordsi / op . sub . 5 eight wordsi / op . sub . 6 eight words______________________________________ because the interface registers 25 , 26 and 27 can only handle word packets of up to six words in length at a time , it takes two transfers to transfer each of the eight - word packets to cache 35 for a total of 12 data transfers cycles to transfer all the data in block 42 from bridge 16 to cache 35 . in this mode , the number of transfer cycles is not reduced as it takes 12 transfers to complete the transfer of the data from block 41 to cache 35 . it is with the shorter data packets that economies in transfer time between the bridge and the cache can be achieved as multiple two - word data packets can be transferred at one time . to illustrate the time efficiency in transfer of multiple two - word packets , reference should be made to a third block 42 , ( snapshot at time t 3 ) from the i / op 1 , i / op 2 , i / op 3 , i / op 4 , i / op 5 and i / op 6 which shows each of the data packets in block 42 as two words long . table 3 shows in table form the word length of the data packets from six input / output processors at a time t 3 . table 3______________________________________data packets within a blockof data packets at time t . sub . 3processor length of data packet______________________________________i / op . sub . 1 two wordsi / op . sub . 2 two wordsi / op . sub . 3 two wordsi / op . sub . 4 two wordsi / op . sub . 5 two wordsi / op . sub . 6 two words______________________________________ as the interface register 25 , 25 and 27 can transfer three two - word packets from three different i / ops during each transfer cycle , it take only 2 transfers to complete the transfer of the data packets at time t 3 to cache 35 whereas it would require 6 transfer cycles if the data packets from multiple i / ops could not be sent at the same time . for example , following the procedure used with data packets of four words , each of the data packets from i / op 1 , i / op 2 , i / op 3 , i / op 4 , i / op 5 and i / op 6 would be transferred two words at a time to cache 35 which would require six transfer cycles between the bridge and the cache ; however , the use of the three interface registers that permit transferring data packets from up to three different input / output processors at the same time allows up to six different data packets to be transferred in only two transfer cycles as each transfer cycle from the interface register transfers three two - word data packets . with the system of the present invention , the bridge can handle the transfer of the six - word data packet from the bridge at substantially the same rate the data packets are transferred to the bridge . when the four - word packets are transferred , one of the interface registers is inactive and not transmitting data packets . in this condition , the bridge is transferring data out of the bridge at a slower rate than data is being transferred into the bridge . when this occurs , the bridge throttles back the transfer of data packets to avoid a data overrun condition . after handling the four - word data packets , up to three two - word data packets are sent across the asynchronous interface at the same time allowing the bridge to again maintain a transfer rate across the asynchrounus interface equal to that of the transfer rate into the bridge .	7
fig1 illustrates the final structure of a partially insulated conductor fabricated according to one embodiment of the present invention . according to such a technique , the insulating side of the integrated circuit is nearest the silicon device layer and the conductive side of the circuit is nearest the supporting substrate . preferred process steps for forming multilevels of porous silicon for fabrication of such a buried insulated conductor under single crystal silicon are shown schematically in fig2 ( a )- 2 ( e ). the starting silicon wafer preferably has a dopant profile as shown in fig2 ( a ). this profile may be accomplished by epitaxial deposition of variously - doped layers , by combined conventional dopant implantation and epitaxial deposition , by conventional gaseous dopant infusion or by a combination of these techniques . for clarity , the numbered layers , after processing , will serve the following purposes : layer 1 : si device island , layer 2 : oxide , layer 3 : anodization barrier , layer 4 : conducting layer such as tungsten metallized porous silicon , and layer 5 : silicon substrate . formation of porous silicon layers as prerequisites to insulating and conducting layers is preferably accomplished by an anodization technique . anodization in an electrochemical apparatus is one method of forming such porous silicon . preferably , a hydrofluoric acid solution is used in a concentration of about 20 weight percent . most preferably , a low applied current density ( about 10 ma for a 100 mm diameter wafer ) is used to selectively anodize various favorably doped layers and prevent anodization in lower layers . once porous si has been formed , the porous silicon layer ( psl ) must be oxidized without generating defects in the island . thermal oxidation is the preferred method of forming the oxidized porous silicon ( ops ) layer . the oxidation treatments are optimized to yield oxidized porous silicon with electrical and physical properties similar to those of thermal oxides . the use of high - pressure oxidation has been reported to eliminate formation of defects and reduce wafer warpage . no oxidation - induced defects were found and wafer warpage was only approximately 2 um in 100 mm diameter wafers ( clamped ) oxidized at 10 atm . the use of an initial low temperature (& lt ; 450 ° c .) treatment to stabilize the pores and thus avoid sintering has been reported to help fully oxidize the psl . two - step treatments , with both steps employing high temperatures at atmospheric pressures , have also been found to reduce warpage and defects in the si overlayer . since the thickness of the si walls between pores is thin , about 10nm , actual oxidation of the psl is accomplished in short times . however , oxidized porous si has a very high etch rate in hydrofluoric acid , by as much as an order of magnitude higher than that of thermal oxide . thus , unless trenches are refilled with a slow - etching material such as polysilicon or densified glass , undensified ops can pose problems in device processing where hf etches are used routinely . densification can be accomplished by annealing in steam ambients at sufficiently high temperatures to cause flow of the ops . because of the finer pores in p - psl , densification is accomplished in a few minutes with p - psl , in contrast to the several hours required for p +- psl at 1000 ° c . densification of the ops can also be accomplished in nitrogen ambients . nitrogen ambient densification is preferred for applications where extensive oxidation of the substrate and the si device layer must be avoided , as for high - speed thin - film soi applications . a drawback to nitrogen densification is that it requires longer densification times and higher temperatures than steam densification . formation of a buried conductive layer according to the techniques of the present invention involves first forming a buried porous silicon layer . this layer may be formed by the same anodization technique used to form the porous silicon of the insulating layer . the conformal deposition of a masking layer over exposed silicon is necessary , however , to protect the insulating oxide layer from further dissolution . trenches are etched through the anodization barrier ( layer 3 ) down to layer 4 . see fig2 ( d ) and 2 ( e ). layer 4 is then anodized to form porous silicon and subsequently metallized . tungsten metallization of buried porous silicon layers , which can be used to form the conductive layer 4 above , has been demonstrated . in particular , the reduction of wf 6 by si ( 2wf 6 + 3si → 2w + 3sif 4 ), one of several chemical reactions typically used in lpcvd tungsten technology is used . the metallization is achieved by infusing a gaseous form of tungsten metal into the pores of layer 4 . when the tungsten hexafluoride gas comes in contact with the silicon of the pore walls , a self - limiting reaction occurs between the wf 6 and the si , leaving a tungsten metal layer coating on the pore walls . this reaction is an attractive first step in porous silicon metallization . first , it is chemically selective with respect to silicon so that tungsten is deposited only on or in silicon layers and not on oxide layers . second , since the ratio between the volume of silicon consumed to that of tungsten deposited is roughly 2 : i , there should be no blockage of pores due to the tungsten deposit . in fact , this reaction should enlarge the pores and enhance penetration of the source gas ( wf 6 ) far into the pores . third , if the distance between pores is short enough , it should be possible to consume all of the silicon between adjacent pores and thus form pure , albeit porous , tungsten . once the pores are coated with tungsten , additional tungsten can be deposited on the pore surfaces in a second step , using hydrogen reduction of wf 6 , to increase the tungsten layer thickness ( and thus the mechanical integrity ) and to reduce electrical resistance . as shown in fig5 tungsten penetration into the psl , that is , the amount of the tungsten - porous si ( wps ) formed , increases with increasing exposure times to wf 6 with a square - root dependence on deposition time . the penetration depths were greater in the specimens with higher porosity and larger diameter pores . from cross - section transmission electron microscopy ( xtem ) and rutherford backscattering spectroscopy ( rbs ) measurements of the wps layers formed on surfaces of si substrates , there is a uniform concentration of tungsten throughout the reacted layer , terminating in a sharply delineated rear interface between the reacted and unreacted ps . the t 1 / 2 dependence , the pore size dependence , and the sharpness of the wps / ps interface , all strongly suggest a process that is rate - limited by gas phase diffusion through the ps layer itself . the growing thickness of the wps layer , 1 wps , is given by : where d eff , the effective diffusivity of the process , is given by : here d p is the gas diffusivity in the psl , n 20 is the reactant gas concentration just above the wafer geometric surface , and n wps is the number density of w atoms in the reacted wps layer . the diffusivity in the psl , in turn , is given by the knudsen diffusivity where a p is an effective pore radius , r is the gas constant , t is the absolute temperature , and m is the molecular mass of the transported species ( wf 6 ). at a typical deposition temperature of 240 ° c ., the effective diffusivity has the magnitude : where p . sub .° is the partial pressure of the wf 6 and f ps is the density of the psl relative to that of fully dense silicon . since the pores in p + psl tend to be vertically oriented tubes , a p is expected to be nearly equal to the geometric radius of the pores . fig5 shows a plot of the square of the tungsten penetration depths as a function of wf 6 exposure time for two specimens of different porosities . the fit of equation ( 1 ) to the data , with the effective pore radius , a p , as a fit parameter , is also shown in fig5 as the solid lines . the value of a p obtained agreed well with the average pore radius of the unreacted psl determined by xtem . only about a 25 % pore enlargement is expected due to the si consumption in the reacted layer through which the wf 6 diffuses . moreover , the dependence on pore size is correctly predicted ; the larger the pores observed in xtem the higher the value a p obtained from the fit . the model prediction that fastest penetration of tungsten into psl will occur at the highest wf 6 partial pressures has also been verified by recent experiments . studies have been made on the electrical properties of metallized psl . for as - prepared wps layers , resistivities were 2 - 23 mω - cm , 2 - 3 orders of magnitude higher than the resistivity of fully dense lpcvd tungsten . however , because thick wps layers ( few microns typically ) can be formed , sheet resistances obtained are in the range of a few to a few tens ω /°. from x - ray diffraction studies , it was found that tungsten in as - prepared wps was in the beta phase . the resistivity of wps decreased to 0 . 4 - 4 mω - cm upon annealing at 750 ° c . under flowing nitrogen - hydrogen gas , which caused transformation of the beta - tungsten to alpha tungsten . the combination of soi and soc techniques using porous si is the preferred method of fabricating silicon - on - insulated conductor structures according to the present invention . a possible fabrication sequence for such a structure is shown schematically in fig6 ( a ) and 6 ( c ). first , a shallow layer of porous si is formed , fig6 ( a ). this layer is then oxidized to form the upper insulating layer . trenches are then etched deeper , and a second , deeper psl is created , fig6 ( b ). the upper ops layer can be protected during the second anodization run by appropriate masking procedures which include silicon nitride layering . using a technique such as cvd of tungsten , a metallized porous si ( mps ) layer is then formed from the second psl . finally , a third psl is etched and subsequently oxidized to form the bottom insulating layer , fig6 ( c ). the above multilevel porous si fabrication sequence may be accomplished by using an n / p + / n / p + / n / p + / p - - doped wafer structure . a preferred fabrication process illustrated in fig2 ( a )- 2 ( e ) will now be discussed in detail . first , trenches are etched through layers 1 to 3 but not through 3 , i . e ., trenches go through the si device layer down to the anodization barrier the process for formation of which was discussed above , as shown in fig2 ( b ). the figure also shows a masking layer of silicon nitride which was used to define the etched pattern . the p + or n + layer of layer 2 can then be anodized in an electrochemical apparatus , and subsequently thermally oxidized , to yield the structure shown in fig2 ( c ). a conformal layer of silicon nitride is then deposited on all the exposed silicon surfaces . the conformal deposition is important in order to protect the oxide layer during the anodization of layer 4 . trenches are then etched through the anodization barrier ( layer 3 ) down to the second p + or n + layer ( layer 4 ), as shown in fig2 ( d ). layer 4 is then anodized in an electrochemical apparatus , and subsequently metallized . it is important to note that the sequence of porous silicon formation is very important . one must first anodize and react ( e . g . oxidize or metallize ) the shallowest layer . otherwise , if the deeper ops layer is formed first , for example , this insulating layer will prevent electrical contact to the back of the wafer and the anodization process cannot proceed . a problem with anodization of a multiply - doped silicon wafer using p + anodization layers as shown in fig2 ( a ) is hole injection from the deeper p + layer ( layer 4 ) into the anodization barrier layer 3 . when this happens , anodization is no longer selective to layer 2 . an embodiment of this invention is a means by which this problem has been avoided through appropriate control of and use of sufficiently low current density ( about 10 ma for 100 mm diameter wafer ) in the anodization of layer 2 . wafers were doped as shown in the spreading resistance profile in fig3 . trenches were etched to a depth of 3 . 4 m , into layer 3 . wafers were then anodized in 20 % hydrofluoric acid for 20 minutes . when the applied current was 10 ma , anodization was confined to layer 2 , as shown in the photograph in fig4 ( a ) when the applied current was 100 ma , anodization selectivity broke down and layer 4 was also anodized as shown in the photograph in fig4 ( b ). a variety of techniques exist for silicon - on - insulator fabrication using porous si . the merits and drawbacks of each technique have been discussed . the selective anodization techniques result in silicon overlayers of superior quality than the epitaxial deposition techniques can afford . buried n + layer anodization results in more uniform device islands and buried oxides than buried p + layer anodization . porous silicon metallization by nickel electrodeposition and tungsten deposition have been explored . the latter has been shown to be free from pore blockage due to the metal deposit , although the extent of metallization is controlled by the pore diffusion of wf 6 . furthermore , tungsten metallization as far as 30 microns into the porous silicon layer , sufficient distance for many circuit applications , has been demonstrated . finally , fabrication of a silicon - on - insulated conductor has been considered as an extension of the soi and soc techniques . the present invention has been described in detail , including alternative embodiment thereof . it will be appreciated , however , that those skilled in the art , upon consideration of the present disclosure , may make modifications and improvements on this invention and still be within the scope and spirit of this invention as set forth in the following claims .	8
fig1 shows a gas turbine engine 20 which is utilized in ground - based application . as known , air is compressed in compressor sections 22 . this air is delivered downstream into a combustion section 26 where it is mixed with fuel and combusted . the products of combustion pass downstream over rotors 29 in turbine section 28 , which are driven to rotate and power a shaft 30 . as shown schematically , this shaft 30 drives compressor sections 22 . as also shown , either the shaft 30 or a separate shaft driven by another turbine section drives a generator 41 for creating electricity for various uses 40 . while one type ground - based electricity generation system is shown schematically , this application would extend to any type of generator for generating electricity utilizing a gas turbine engine . while a ground - based gas turbine engine for generating electricity is discussed , the invention can extend to other gas turbine engine applications . as mentioned above , the turbine sections 28 are subject to high temperature from the products of combustion . thus , it is typical to circulate a cooling fluid through the turbine section 28 . a cooling fluid includes a portion of the air compressed by the compressor section 22 , and may be delivered into a path 70 leading downstream toward the turbine section 28 . while the cooling air in section 70 is cooler than the products of combustion , it is also heated relative to the ambient environment due to its compression in the compressor section 22 . the present invention taps a portion of the cooling air from a discharge chamber 24 downstream of the compressor section 22 through a tap line or flow path 32 leading to a boost pump 34 . this air is then delivered into a heat exchanger 36 , where it is cooled by a vapor cycle driven generator 38 . the cooling of the air creates electricity in the vapor cycle driven generator 38 , and this electricity is delivered downstream to a use 140 . the use 140 may be the same as the downstream use 40 of the generator 41 , or may be some other auxiliary use . in one embodiment , less than 20 %, and more narrowly 4 - 10 % of the total cooling air is circulated through the heat exchanger , while the remainder is delivered directly into the combustion section . downstream of the heat exchanger 36 , the air passes back through lines 42 and 44 to perform its cooling functions . fig2 shows one example vapor cycle driven generator 38 . the vapor cycle driven generator 38 includes the heat exchanger 36 and the cooling air passing from the gas turbine engine 20 through the heat exchanger 36 . a second fluid circulates through the heat exchanger 36 , to cool the cooling air . this fluid passes into a line 52 . the fluid in line 52 may be a refrigerant , or any other appropriate fluid that has good heat transfer characteristics . the fluid in line 52 has been elevated in pressure and heat by cooling the cooling air in the heat exchanger 36 . this fluid now passes into a turbine section 54 that generates additional electricity in the generator 56 . the fluid downstream of the turbine 54 passes through another heat exchanger 58 , then to a pump 50 , and back to the heat exchanger 36 . essentially , heat exchanger 36 functions as an evaporator and heat exchanger 58 functions as a condenser . a cooling tower 60 may circulated another fluid , such as cold water , through the heat exchanger 58 to cool the refrigerant prior to its being directed back to the heat exchanger 36 . the system as shown in fig2 is generally known in the prior art as the pure cycle ® system , and is available from utc - power of south windsor , conn . however , this system has never been utilized in combination with a gas turbine engine to cool cooling air , and extract additional electricity from that cooling air . although an embodiment of this invention has been disclosed , a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention . for that reason , the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention .	5
referring to fig1 and 7 , a wireless intercommunicating system in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention is generally comprised of a base unit 10 , and a user unit 30 . the base unit 10 can be connected to a telephone 80 by a telephone line system 50 . the user unit 30 intercommunicates with the base unit 10 for transmitting message and signal to each other by radio signal . referring to fig3 and fig1 again , the user unit 30 comprises a receiver 31 , an antenna 32 , a speaker 33 , control buttons 34 , a control unit 35 , an encoder 36 , a transmitter 37 , and a microphone 38 . the receiver 31 receives a radio signal from the base unit 10 or other radio broadcast station through the receiving antenna 32 , and converts the received radio signal into a a . f . signal for output through the speaker 33 . the control buttons 34 are provided for operation by hand to produce different control signals to the control unit 35 . the control unit 35 is comprised of a microprocessor . the control buttons 34 include a listen / stop button 341 , a radio control button 342 , an auto - dialing control button 343 , an auto - answer control button 344 , a set of frequency control buttons 345 and a selection control button 346 , which are controlled to provide listening , radio , auto - dialing , auto - answer and frequency - adjustment control signals respectively . the selection control button 346 can be set by the user to provide a particularly assigned control signal . for example , when the wireless intercommunicating is connected to a computer 80 through a computer connector 70 , the selection control button 346 can be set to control the computer 71 . the operation flow of the selection control button 346 is same as the auto - dialing control button 343 ( or the auto - answer control button 344 ). the control unit 35 controls the internal operation of the user unit 30 , and receives control signals from the control buttons 34 . when the radio control button 342 is pressed on , the user unit 30 is operated as a radio , and the frequency control buttons 345 are operated to select the desired radio broadcast station . when a listening , auto - dialing or auto - answer control signal is received , the control signal is sent to the encoder 36 , and then sent by the transmitter 37 to the base unit 10 by radio signal . when the microphone 38 is turned on for communication , the a . f . signal from the user is sent by the antenna 32 to the base unit 10 . referring to fig2 and fig4 again , the base unit 10 comprises a power management circuit 11 , a speech network circuit 12 , a transmitter 13 , an antenna 14 , a receiver 15 , a decoder 16 , a control unit 17 , an output port 18 , and a telephone connector set 22 . the power management circuit 11 manages power supply of the base unit 10 . the power management circuit 11 comprises a power indicator 20 which indicates the power supply condition of the base unit 10 . the speech network circuit 12 is obtained for example from tea1062 chip , and connected to line in 51 and line out 52 of a telephone line system 50 through input terminal 221 and output terminal 222 of the telephone connector set 22 . for voice input and output . when an incoming a . f . signal comes from line in 51 of the telephone line system 50 , it is transmitted by the speech network circuit 12 to the transmitter 13 through the input terminal 221 of the telephone connector set 22 , or an outgoing a . f . signal comes from the receiver 15 , it is sent by the speech network circuit 12 to line in 51 of the telephone line system 50 through the input terminal 221 . the transmitter 13 can receive a a . f . signal from the speech network circuit 12 , enabling the received a . f . signal to be sent through the antenna 14 to the user unit 30 by radio signal . the receiver 15 can receive a radio signal from the user unit 30 . if the received radio signal is a a . f . signal , it is directly sent to the speech network circuit 12 , and then outputted from the speech network circuit 12 to line in 51 of the telephone line system 50 . if the received radio signal is a listening , auto - dialing or auto - answer control signal , the control signal is decoded by the decoder 16 , and then sent to the base unit 10 for recognition by the control unit 17 of the base unit 10 . when recognized , the control unit 17 of the base unit 10 controls the transmitter 13 and the receiver 15 to transmit or receive signal , or outputs an auto dialing control signal ( or auto - answer control signal ) to the output port 18 subject to the nature of the control signal received . the output port 18 outputs the control signal of the control unit 17 of the base unit 10 to external peripheral apparatus . according to the first embodiment of the present invention , an auto - dialer 19 and , an auto - answer machine 60 are respectively connected to the output port 18 . the auto - dialer 19 and the auto - answer machine 60 are connected in series to line out 52 of the telephone line system 50 . fig5 and 6 show a wireless intercommunicating according to a second embodiment of the present invention . this alternate form is similar to the first embodiment of the present invention with the exception of added means . according to this alternate form , the base unit 10 comprises an encoder 21 , the user unit 30 comprises a second receiver 39 , and a decoder 40 . when an incoming a . f . signal is received , the base unit 10 provides a control signal , enabling the control signal to be encoded by the encoder 21 and then sent to the user unit 30 . the control signal from the base unit 10 is received by the second receiver 39 of the user unit 30 , then decoded by the decoder 40 of the user unit 30 for recognition , so as to inform the user of the incoming a . f . signal . if an a . f . signal comes from the telephone line system 50 when the user uses the user unit 30 to listen to the broadcasting of a radio broadcast station , the control signal of the base unit 10 automatically cuts off the radio function of the user unit 30 , notifying the user of the incoming telephone call . the speech network circuit 12 can also link with a dialing keypad 90 , so that the user can dial the dialing keypad 90 to call out without using the telephone 80 . the receiving / transmitting control circuits 321 ; 141 shown in fig1 ; 5 ; 2 ; 6 control the antennas 31 ; 14 to receive / transmit signals respectively with minimized power consumption . the aforesaid transmitters , receivers , power management control circuit , speech network circuit , encoders , decoders , control units , receiving / transmitting control circuits , and dialing keypad are of known devices , therefore the related detailed circuit diagrams are not provided . it is to be understood that the drawings are designed for purposes of illustration only , and are not intended as a definition of the limits and scope of the invention disclosed . for example , the user unit 30 may be provided with an indicator , or the base unit 10 may be provided with flash light or a buzzer for indication of an incoming telephone .	7
fig1 illustrates a light source 10 , here a vcsel , a coupler 12 and a multi - mode fiber 14 integrated with a power monitor 16 and a reflective surface 18 for directing the light into the fiber 14 . in particular , the light source 10 and the power monitor 16 are provided on a substrate 20 . another substrate 22 has the coupler 12 thereon , preferably on the face furthest from the light source to allow the beam to expand , and a splitting diffractive element 24 which splits off a portion of the light from the light source 10 to be monitored . the substrates 20 , 22 are preferably mounted with spacer blocks 26 , which provide the desired separation between the substrates 20 , 22 . the coupler 12 may also be provided in a common housing with the fiber 14 . the light split off by the diffractive element 24 is directed to the power monitor 16 to monitor the operation of the light source 10 . the directed of the light to the power monitor 16 may be achieved by providing appropriately positioned reflective portions 28 . the number of times the light to be monitored traverses the substrate 22 is a design choice , depending on the initial angle of diffraction and the desired positioning of the power monitor 16 . this monitoring is set forth in commonly assigned u . s . application ser . no . 09 / 386 , 280 , entitled “ a diffractive vertical cavity surface emitting laser power monitor and system ” filed aug . 31 , 1999 , which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes . alternatively , the power monitoring may be realized using an integrated detector , without the need for the deflecting element , as set forth in commonly assigned u . s . application ser . no . 09 / 548 , 018 , entitled “ transmission detection for vertical cavity surface emitting laser power monitor and system ” filed apr . 12 , 2000 , which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes the light that is not split off by the diffractive element 24 proceeds to the coupler 12 . a reflective surface 18 , such as a polished angular face of another substrate , is provided to direct the light from the coupler 12 into the multi - mode fiber 14 . preferably all the optical elements are formed lithographically and all the elements are integrated on a wafer level . in accordance with the present invention , the coupler 12 is a diffractive element that matches the phase as well as the intensity distribution of the beam . the matching of the phases generates spiral propagation of the beam through the fiber . this spiral or vortex propagation maintains the intensity profile input to the fiber along the fiber . since the beam travels in a corkscrew , the amount of light crossing the center of the fiber is significantly reduced . ideally , the amount of light in the center will be zero , but in practice , the amount of light is on the order of 10 % or less . in contrast , when only the intensity distribution is controlled , as in the first two designs of the parent application , the input intensity profile may be the desired profile , but will quickly degrade as the light traverses the fiber , in other words , while the other designs may provide an input profile that is substantially null on axis , this profile is only maintained for the depth of focus of the coupler . when also matching the phase , this profile is maintained substantially beyond the depth of focus of a lens having the same numerical aperture as the beam to be input to the fiber , e . g ., at least an order of magnitude longer . absent the fiber , the null space of the beam profile is maintained through free space , which significantly reduces the alignment requirement . further , by matching the phase and amplitude of the beam to a certain mode of the fiber , theoretically the beam profile could be maintained over an infinite length of fiber . however , imperfections in the real world , e . g ., in the fiber , in the beam , in the matching , degrade from this theoretical scenario . thus , in order to avoid low order modes in a grin fiber launch , the amplitude and phase of the higher order modes need to be matched . the following equations are set forth in fields and waves in communication electronics , simon ram et al . 1984 , particularly pp . 765 - 768 , which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . for a grin fiber , these eigenmodes all have the form set forth in equation ( 1 ): where ƒ ( r ) is a function that depends only on r for given modes within a specific fiber , r is the radius from the axis , θ is the angle from the axis , z is the distance along the axis , m is the azimuthal mode number , β is a propagation constant , p is the radial mode number . when m , p = 0 , the beam has a gaussian profile . while equation ( 1 ) could be used to match a particular mode of the fiber by creating an input light beam having an amplitude and phase function which exactly correspond to the particular mode , such matching is not required and may not even be desirable , as matching the amplitude as well as the phase increases the requirements on the optics . as long as m & gt ; 0 , the azimuthal mode m will have a phase function that is a spiral ring , whether the light is traveling in free space or in a fiber . once the phase function for at least one higher order mode , i . e ., m & gt ; 0 , has been matched , a null at the center of the beam is created after the beam having been phase matched propagates over a short distance , e . g ., a few wavelengths . unlike other types of matching , this null is maintained in the center in both free space and the fiber , so such an optical element providing such matching does not have to be immediately adjacent to the fiber . as evident from equation ( 1 ), when matching the phase , the value of p doesn &# 39 ; t matter . in order to suppress the lowest order mode , i . e ., m = 0 , a phase term needs to be added to the wavefront . this is accomplished through the use of the following diffractive phase function encoded onto the wavefront set forth in equation ( 2 ): where φ is the phase function , x and y are the coordinates in the plane . in general , there will be several modes propagating , e . g ., m = 1 - 5 . the spiral mode may be realized by matching the phase function for m = 3 . this phase function can be added to a lens function and encoded as a mod ( 2π ) diffractive element as set forth in equation ( 3 ): fig2 a illustrates the mod ( 2π ) diffractive element and the corresponding intensity to in the focal plane of the lens function . fig2 b illustrates an actual example of a diffractive optical element 12 created in accordance with equation ( 3 ). fig2 c illustrates the simulated ring intensity 25 and the measured intensity pattern 29 of the element 12 in fig2 b . a refractive equivalent in accordance with equation ( 3 ) of the phase matching diffractive 12 may be alternately employed . this phase matching coupler 12 is not a true beam shaper , since each point in the input plane is mapped into more than one point in the output plane because of the axial singularity . unlike a diffuser , each point in the input plane is not mapped to every point in the output plane . the phase matching coupler 12 allows the desired angular distribution to be substantially maintained along a portion of the fiber . this may be quantified by measuring the amount of power within a certain radius of the fiber at a certain distance along the fiber . the phase matching of the present invention allows more power to be contained within the desired radii for a longer distance than methods not employing phase matching . for example , by aligning the coupler and a grin fiber along the same axis , using a 850 nm source , and matching both the phase and the amplitude , the encircled energy can be maintained to less than 12 . 5 % is a radius of less than 4 . 5 microns and 75 % for a radius less than 15 microns , with no power in the fiber center , for over 6 m . by matching the phases , the light from the coupler is input to the fiber traveling in a circular direction , i . e ., the path of the light down the fiber forms a corkscrew . such traversal is opposed to the linear travel normally occurring down the fiber . by traveling in a corkscrew or spiral mode , the input distribution , typically annular , of the input light is maintained along the fiber . without the phase matching , while the initial input light has the desired shape , this shape is not retained throughout the traversal of the fiber . therefore , more modal dispersion will be present , with more light in the center of the fiber , if phase matching is not used . in addition to efficiently coupling the light into the fiber , the phase matching coupler 12 also reduces the power being fedback into the light source 10 . since the phases are matched , and the reflected light will not have the same phase as it did when originally incident on the phase matching coupler 12 , the phase matching coupler 12 will not return the light back to the light source as it came . in other words , when the reflected light traverses the system , it will be further deflected by the phase matching coupler 12 , thereby reducing the power fedback into the light source 10 . the back reflection reduction of the phase matching coupler only operates sufficiently when the phase matching coupler 12 is far enough away from the fiber so that the phase is sufficiently changed to prevent being redirected in the same manner . in other words , if the phase matching coupler 12 is placed in contact with the end of the fiber , while the coupler will still serve to maintain the input distribution , since the reflected light will have essentially the same phase as the input light , the light will be returned substantially back to the light source as it came . however , if the phase matching coupler 12 is placed at least roughly three times the diameter of the beam incident on the fiber , there is sufficient alteration of the phase due to traversal that the reflect light incident on the phase matching coupler 12 will be further deflected . further reductions to the amount of light being fedback to the light source 10 may be realized by using a lens 30 in addition to the phase matching coupler 12 as shown in fig3 . this lens 30 is used to shape the light to provide additional reduction in the power fedback to the light source . the lens 30 is preferably a diffractive surface that is a combination of a lens function having radially symmetric terms with a negative axicon function . when the phase matching coupler 12 is spaced away from the fiber , the lens 30 may simply form a ring , since the phase matching coupler will prevent the light from being retraced . as shown in fig3 , the lens 30 is on a first surface 34 of a wafer 32 . the phase matching coupler 12 is provided on a second surface 36 of the wafer 32 , opposite the first surface . the thickness of the wafer 32 controls the numerical aperture of the image . alternatively , the phase matching coupler 12 may be formed on the same surface as the lens 30 . the lens 30 allows an annular intensity ring to be optimized for the particular fiber 14 . also , by forming this ring prior to the phase matching coupler 12 , a smaller radial segment of the phase matching coupler is used . as can be seen from equation ( 2 ), as m increases , the amount of phase twist increases . thus , rays at the center of the phase matching coupler 12 receive a larger skew angle that rays at the edge of the phase matching coupler . by shaping the light into an annulus , this central portion is avoided , reducing the aberrations introduced by the phase matching coupler 12 . again , the light reflected back from the fiber 14 will not have the same phase as the light incident on the phase matching coupler 12 , so the light will be further deflected by the phase matching coupler 12 . since the deflection angles are now altered from that of the light source , the lens 30 will not focus the light back onto the light source , but will further deflect the light away from the light source . another embodiment is shown in fig4 . here , the phase matching coupler 12 is not used , only a reciprocal , phase sensitive system 40 . an optical element will map an optical distribution , i . e ., amplitude and phase distribution in an input plane to an output plane . if an optical element is a reciprocal optical , it will map the same optical distribution in an output plane back to the original optical distribution in the input plane , as long as the light has the same phase and intensity profile . optical systems that perform one - to - one mapping , such as an imaging lens , are reciprocal , but are also phase insensitive when performing a mapping between an object plane and an image plane , i . e ., a change in phase will not affect the mapping between the image and object planes . however , other optical systems , such as those that perform a one to many mapping , i . e ., in which one point in the input plane is mapped to more than one point in the output plane , while reciprocal , are typically phase sensitive . in other words , a phase change will alter how the light in the output plane is returned to the input plane . an example of such a system is a negative axicon . in the preferred embodiment , this system 40 also creates an intensity ring on the plane at which the fiber 14 is located . the reflection from the fiber creates a ring back onto the system 40 , but the phase of the light has been altered due to the reflection . this change in phase results in the light traversing the system 40 having an increased diameter of the ring in the object plane , rather than returning the ring to the point source of the light source . this increased diameter results in most of the light missing the input of the light source , significantly reducing feedback . any other reciprocal , phase sensitive system that results in most of the light avoiding the light source may be used . the phase matching coupler 12 may still be employed in any position to increase coupling bandwidth and / or enhance the feedback suppression . fig5 a and 5b schematically illustrate different configurations of the multi - mode coupler of the present invention . a light source 110 , such as a vcsel , an edge emitting laser or a single mode fiber , outputs light which is incident on a beam shaper 113 which shapes the beam and an optical element 112 together forming the coupler . the light is then supplied to a core 116 of a multi - mode fiber 114 . the end face of the fiber is typically located near the image plane of the optical system as determined by the focal length of the beam shaper 113 and the object distance , i . e ., the distance from the light source 10 to the beam shaper 113 . if the fiber 114 is placed substantially further than a depth of focus away from the image plane , then the beam will be bigger than the core 116 of the fiber 114 , resulting in less light being coupled to the fiber 114 . the optical element 112 may direct light away from a center of the core 116 of the fiber 114 by , e . g ., increasing the angle of light in the center of the beam so that light in the center will be incident on the outer edges of the core 116 of the fiber 114 or by delivering no light to the center of the core . thus , either no light is delivered to a center 116 of the fiber 114 or any light which is incident on the center 116 of the fiber 114 will be incident at a high enough angle to be coupled into the desired higher order modes . in addition to the optical element 112 , a beam shaper 113 may be provided in either embodiment . the beam shaper 113 may be integrated with the optical element 112 on a same surface or on an opposite surface of the same structure . the beam shaper 113 may also be closely spaced to the optical element 112 . as shown in fig5 b , the beam shaper 113 may be placed at a specific distance from the light source 110 , with the optical element 112 being very close to or even flush with the fiber 114 . each embodiment has attendant advantages and disadvantages as discussed below . the beam shaper 113 performs a one - to - one mapping from the input plane to the output plane thereof . the performance of the beam shaper may be evaluated using ray tracing . typically , the beam shaper 113 is used for focusing the beam output by the light source 110 , which will usually be on the order of a several hundred microns in the plane of the beam shaper , to a diameter which is smaller than the diameter of the core , which is usually on the order of 50 microns . if the beam shaper is a lens , theoretically , light is focused to a point . but in reality , if the light incident on the lens has a gaussian profile , the light output from the lens will still have a gaussian profile . another useful beam shaper for the coupling of the present invention is a super - gaussian element . a super - gaussian element converts an input beam of a particular intensity distribution into a beam with a super - gaussian distribution , thereby providing a focused output beam having a flatter peak and a much faster fall off to zero than a normal gaussian beam . thus , such a beam has a fairly uniform power distribution across the peak , pushing more power to the edges and leaving less in the center as compared to a normal gaussian . when the optical element serves as an optical profile altering element , the beam shaping and the optical element may be formed on a single surface . while the ratio between the distance from the light source 110 to the beam shaper and the distance from the beam shaper to the fiber 114 shown in fig5 a and 5b , in which an edge emitting laser is used as the light source , is typically 2 : 1 , when using a vcsel as the light source 110 , this ratio is typically closer to 1 : 1 . the actual ratio will depend on the numerical aperture of the source and the numerical aperture of the fiber . further , depending upon the desired coupling , the beam incident on the fiber may be smaller than the core or larger than the core . for most applications , source and fibers , the ratio will be between 1 : 4 and 4 : 1 . there are three primary design approaches for achieving the desired shaping by the optical element 112 . the radiation profile of light having traversed a first embodiment of the optical element 112 is shown in fig6 . as can be seen in fig6 , the radiation profile has been altered by the optical element 112 to be bimodal . this bimodal distribution is gaussian shaped for each peak , each peak being centered on an absolute angular value between zero and θmax , where θmax is the critical angle for the multi - mode fiber 114 . in the first design , the optical element 112 is a diffractive diffuser which diffuses , i . e ., substantially each point of light incident on the diffuser substantially contributes to substantially every point of light in the output plane , the light into the desired angular distribution . the angles will all be less than the critical angle for the fiber 114 . thus , if there is change in the output profile of the light from the light source , which is of particular concern when using a vcsel as the light source 110 , the coupling to the multi - mode fiber will not be affected . additionally , if the diffractive diffuser does not also provide collimation or focusing to the light , precise alignment of the diffractive diffuser is not needed . a diffractive diffuser may be formed by setting the fast fourier transform ( fft ) to be a ring , i . e ., set the fringe period of the diffractive between the two values bounding the ring . in order for the diffractive diffuser serving as the optical element 112 to function properly , it must be positioned at least more than a width of the core , preferably at least three to five times the width of the core , away from the fiber . this placement ensures that substantially every point of light incident on the diffuser substantially contributes to substantially all of the pattern incident on the fiber . such a fourier transform diffractive diffuser may be realized in accordance with u . s . pat . no . 5 , 850 , 300 , which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . the diffractive diffuser preferably alters the angular distribution of the light into any desired angular distribution which will efficiently coupler the light into the higher order modes of the multi - mode fiber . this desired angular distribution will typically be a ring , an annulus or a grid of n spots , but may be any other desired angular distribution for a particular multi - mode fiber . for example , a radial grating may be provided which sends a significant portion of the light , e . g ., 80 %, into the ± 1 order and randomly varies the period to provide the range of desired angles radially away from the center . further , a ring or a multipole of n spots , e . g . a quadropole of 4 spots , where n is an integer greater than or equal to one , may be realized by providing a grating to create spots located at r n , where r n is a distance from the center to the spot . additionally , the diffractive diffuser may be a binary element which splits the light into two beams directed to the periphery of the fiber core . while a fourier transform diffractive diffuser as described above is useful when employing a light source having an unstable output beam profile , this diffractive diffuser is difficult to use in the configuration of fig5 b , since the optical element 112 is too close to the fiber 114 for a fourier transform diffractive diffuser to create , for example , a ring on the end face of the fiber . if the optical element 112 is more than a few wavelengths away from the end of the fiber , a diffuser serving as the optical element 112 will function properly . additionally , diffusers often have lower efficiencies than other optical elements . the following two designs may be used with either configuration of fig5 a and 5b . a generic embodiment of the second design is illustrated in fig7 . as can be seen therein , the optical element 112 is composed of a central region 118 and a peripheral region 120 . the central region 118 and the peripheral region 120 affect the beam incident thereon differently . these different regions may be discretely different , include subregions of different functioning , and / or may continuously vary the treatment of the light from the center to the periphery . for example , the central region 118 deflects the light incident thereon away from the center . the peripheral region 120 may not affect the light incident thereon at all , or it may be designed to , for example , collimate the light incident thereon . using such an element allows the light in the center of the beam which would have been incident on the center of the fiber to be deflected away to edges of the fiber , while not imposing an increase in the angle on the light near the edge of the beam which would already be incident upon the desired portion of the fiber . alternatively , although not as efficiently , the central region may simply block the light incident thereon to form the desired ring shape . a specific embodiment of the second design is illustrated in fig8 a . the optical element 112 provides a one to one mapping of each point to the fiber , while continuously varying the element encountered by the light from the center to the periphery . a converging portion 150 of the coupler 112 converges , i . e ., reduces the incident angle , of light at the outer edge of the beam . a diverging prism 152 of the optical element 112 diverges , i . e ., increases the angle of the light , of light in the center of the beam to prevent light from hitting the center of the fiber . another specific embodiment of one to one mapping is shown in fig8 b in which a diverging portion 154 is located in the center of the optical element again to diverge light in the center of the beam . fig8 a and 8b are radially symmetric . another specific embodiment of the second design is shown in fig9 . fig9 is a cross - section of a prism . if this cross - section is used to form a linear prism , such that there is a variation in thickness along the axis coming out of the plane of the page , two spots will be generated in the image plane of the system . when a linear prism is combined with a lens function , the cross - section will look like fig8 b , but will not be radially symmetric , since the linear prism is not radially symmetric . if the cross - section in fig9 is rotated radially to form a radial prism , a ring will be generated in the image plane of the system . if the radial prism is combined with a lens function , the cross - section will look like fig8 b and will be radially symmetric . in the embodiments of the second design , light near the edge of the beam can be mapped to the edge of the fiber with little or no increase in the angle . light from the center of the beam can be mapped to the edges of the fiber . where the optical element 112 is illustrated as a refractive element in the embodiments of the second design , the optical element 112 may be designed as a diffractive element using the known diffractive approximation of the refractive element , either as a continuous diffractive or as a discrete diffractive . preferably , the diffractive elements are computer generated holograms . the same effect as provided by configurations of the second design may be realized by providing an optical element having diffuser patches having finer features and / or smaller periods closer to the center and larger features and / or larger periods towards the periphery or nothing at the periphery . at the edge of the element the light is not affected , or has a small increase in angle , and the light at the center is diffused to increase the angle of light towards the center . as long as the diffuser patches are distributed on the optical element so that it does not treat the center and the periphery in the same manner , e . g ., a diffuser only at the center or a gradient diffuser , the diffuser patches may be used next to the end face of the fiber , such as shown in fig5 b . such diffusing patches may also be multiplexed with any desired lens function . further , while the embodiments of the second design have been discussed with reference to the optical element 112 , the second design may also be used as the beam shaper with the optical element of the first design or the optical element of the third design , discussed above . further , when using a diffractive diffuser which splits the light into two beams directed to the periphery of the fiber core , this element does not have to be unitary , but may be split into half . in such a configuration , the two elements serve as a beam shaper , with one half mapping the light incident thereon to one point and the other half mapping the light incident thereon to another point . the above discussion has assumed that the ideal radiation pattern for coupling light into the fiber is a ring . generally , the ideal radiation pattern , and hence the desired angular distribution , will be a function of the properties of the fiber , i . e ., where propagation is most efficient . the design of the coupler for achieving the desired angular distribution will also depend on the radiation profile output by the light source used to illuminate the fiber . any of the above designs may be integrated with other optical functions , such as collimation , in a single element , as shown in fig8 a , 8 b and 9 . for the integration of the coupler with additional optical functioning , the additional functioning may be multiplexed with the shaping function , as disclosed in commonly assigned , co - pending application u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 296 , 397 filed apr . 23 , 1999 , entitled “ diffusing imager and associated methods ” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . further , any of the above designs may be integrated with the other elements of the light source / fiber system , including further optical elements as discussed above . while the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications , it should be understood that the present 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 invention would be of significant utility without undue experimentation .	6
referring initially to fig1 a system is shown , generally designated 10 , that includes a token 12 . the token 12 can be hand - held , e . g ., it can be configured as a key fob or other small device . the present invention , however , applies to other token configurations , such as mobile communication stations including laptop computers , wireless handsets or telephones , data transceivers , or paging and position determination receivers that can be hand - held or portable as in vehicle - mounted ( including cars , trucks , boats , planes , trains ), as desired . wireless communication devices are also sometimes referred to as user terminals , mobile stations , mobile units , subscriber units , mobile radios or radiotelephones , wireless units , or simply as “ users ” and “ mobiles ” in some communication systems . indeed , the token 12 need not be portable but preferably is portable . in any case , the token 12 can generate an acoustic signal , represented schematically by the lines 14 , that can be received by a verifier 16 . the verifier 16 selectively grants access to a component 18 , based on the acoustic signal 14 . the component 18 may be a building , a home , a vehicle , an atm , or any other component to which it is desired to limit access to pre - authorized users . the acoustic signal 14 can represent a digital signature generated by a private key stored in an electronic data store 20 of the token 12 . corresponding public keys can also be stored therein for purposes to be shortly disclosed . in accordance with private key / public key principles known in the art and set forth in , e . g ., the national institute for standards and technology ( nist ) federal information processing standards publication 186 - 2 , january , 2000 , the signature algorithm in the token 12 ( executed by a microprocessor 22 within the token 12 ) combines the private key with the message to be signed and with a random number “ k ” from a pn generator associated with the microprocessor 22 to render a digital signature which is a random pair ( r , s ). the identification of the corresponding public key may also be transmitted along with the digital signature . the microprocessor 22 receives activation signals from , e . g ., one or more activation elements 24 such as toggle switches , voice activation devices , or pushbuttons . it is to be understood that the microprocessor 22 can include a digital processor proper as well as necessary analog to digital and digital to analog conversion circuitry known in the art . the microprocessor 22 accesses the data store 20 , such that when multiple activation elements 24 are used , one or more can be associated with a respective key in the store 22 . an electronic signature signal generated by using the particular key associated with the activation element that has been manipulated is sent to an audio speaker 26 for transformation of the electronic signal to the acoustic signal 14 . the acoustic signal may or may not be audible . if desired , a microphone 28 can also be provided on the token 12 to receive acoustic signals and transform them to electronic signals , which are sent to the microprocessor 22 for processing . the acoustic signal 14 is received by a microphone or other acoustic receiving device 30 at the verifier 16 . the acoustic signal is transformed by the microphone 20 to an electronic signal and sent to a microprocessor 32 , which accesses a data store 34 to retrieve from a data structure such as a list or database table the public key associated with the private key that generated the signal . alternatively , the microprocessor 32 and data store 34 can be located centrally , away from the verifier , e . g ., the microprocessor 32 and data store 34 can be located at the component 18 . in any case , using the public key , the microprocessor 32 verifies the signature from the token 12 and based thereon , grants access to the user of the token 12 provided the token 12 is on an access data structure such as a list or database table in the data store 34 . if desired , a speaker 36 can also be provided on the verifier 16 to send acoustic signals back to the token 12 , which signals are received by the microphone 28 on the token 12 . [ 0043 ] fig2 shows an alternate token 40 which in all essential respects is substantially identical to the token 12 shown in fig1 except that it has , in addition to an activation element 42 , a window 44 that displays plural key identities which are sequentially highlighted as the user scrolls through the key identities using up and down selectors 46 , 48 . when the desired key is highlighted , the user operates the activation element 42 to send an acoustic signal representative of a signature generated by the key . [ 0044 ] fig3 shows yet another token 50 which in all essential respects is substantially identical to the token 40 shown in fig2 except that it has , in addition to an activation element 52 , window 54 that displays plural key identities , and selectors 56 , 58 , a keypad 60 that can be used to key in alpha - numeric or numeric - only data that can be transmitted in an acoustic signal . now referring to fig4 a method for adding at least one ( and potentially plural ) key identifiers to the access list of a verifier can be seen . commencing at block 62 , a user of a token issues a request to add the key associated with the token 12 to the verifier . the token used for adding the key associated with the token 12 can be the token 12 itself ( i . e ., the user is self - authorized to add his or her token to the verifier ), but more preferably the token that is used to add the key associated with the token 12 is a separate management token ( not shown ) that is possessed only by authorized personnel and that otherwise can be configured substantially identically to the token 12 . or , the addition can be accomplished by appropriately manipulating an input device associated with the verifier ( by inputting , for example , a management code indicating that an authorized person is adding the token key ). when using the token 12 or a management token to undertake the logic of fig4 a predetermined one of the token &# 39 ; s activation elements that is dedicated to generate an acoustic “ request to add ” signal can be manipulated . or , the authorized adding user can scroll down the window of the token until a “ request to add ” message is displayed , prompting manipulation of an activation element to send an acoustic request to add signal . yet again , a user can enter an appropriate “ request to add ” code using the keypad of the token and then toggling an associated activation element to cause an acoustic request to add signal to be transmitted . at block 64 , the verifier receives the request to add signal and when it is ready to receive the key identifier , transmits back an “ ok ” beep or other acoustic signal or visual signal that the user can hear ( or see ) to alert the user that the verifier is ready to receive the key identifier . moving to block 66 , the user manipulates one of the above - described input device mechanisms to acoustically transmit to the verifier the identifier associated with the token &# 39 ; s key or keys . the identifier can be or can include , e . g ., the public key of the token . if desired , the verifier can transmit back an acknowledgement signal at block 68 , signifying that the token has been added to the access list . the acknowledgement signal can be audible , or visual , or other appropriate signal such as a tactile signal that might be generated by the token in response to a signal from the verifier . the verifier preferably accesses the public key of a token on its list as well as a token clock value as set forth in the above - referenced applications . [ 0048 ] fig5 illustrates the logic that can be used to remove a key identifier from an access list of a verifier . decision diamond 70 simply indicates that when the token sought to be removed remains available , at block 72 the user can transmit a “ request to remove ” signal in accordance with the principles set forth above for adding a token to the list . at block 74 , the verifier removes the key identifier from the access list , and then at block 76 the verifier transmits an acknowledgement signal to the user , signifying that the token has been successfully removed from that verifier &# 39 ; s list . on the other hand , if the token sought to be removed is lost , stolen , or otherwise unavailable , decision diamond 78 simply indicates that if a recording of the public key of the token , or indeed of a previous authorization session with the token is available , it is provided to the verifier at block 80 by , e . g ., playing back an acoustic version of the recording in range of the microphone of the verifier , or by sending an electronic signal representing the recording of the public key to the verifier through any suitable communication interface . at block 82 , the user requests that the public key ( and , hence , the token ) be removed from the access list by , e . g ., manipulating or causing to be manipulated an input device associated with the verifier . proceeding to block 84 , the verifier removes the public key from its access list and if desired sends an acoustic acknowledgement message to the person requesting removal . in contrast , if the token sought to be removed is unavailable and no recording of the public key is available , at block 86 a recorded audio label representing the token can be played back or otherwise displayed in response to the user inputting a request for removal in accordance with input principles discussed above . in one exemplary embodiment , when a token is added to the list of a verifier , the user or verifier manager can speak the label ( e . g ., the user &# 39 ; s name ) into the microphone of the verifier so that the verifier can associate the label with the key identifier ( e . g ., the public key ). then , when the user or manager desires to remove the token ( as represented by the token &# 39 ; s key or keys ) from the access list , the label is spoken or otherwise input to the verifier , where it is correlated with the key identifier at block 88 . the logic then flows to block 82 and removes the key identifier from the access list as described above . fig6 - 8 illustrate various systems and methods for managing verifiers that might happen to be nearby each other , to prevent simultaneous granting of authorization from multiple verifiers when access to only one is desired . commencing at block 90 in fig6 one token private key / activation element is allocated to each verifier sought to be granted access to . in the case of the token 12 shown in fig1 one respective activation element 24 is assigned to each verifier , with each activation element 24 , when manipulated by a user , causing a respective authorization signal to be sent . in this way , only the verifier associated with the particular element 24 being manipulated is activated . in the case of the token 40 shown in fig2 or token 50 shown in fig3 one respective key is assigned to each verifier , with the user scrolling through the keys until the key associated with the verifier with which authorization is sought is highlighted . subsequent manipulation of the activation elements 42 , 52 cause the key to be transmitted in an acoustic signal , such that other nearby verifiers that require different keys will not grant access . or yet again , the user can manipulate the keypad 60 on the token 50 shown in fig3 to identify which key or which verifier , by number , is sought for access . at block 92 , the key that is transmitted might be detected and processed by all nearby verifiers , but only the verifier with which the key has been associated will grant access . [ 0053 ] fig7 shows another method for verifier management . commencing at block 94 , a unique keyword is established for each verifier . for example , an initialization can be executed during which the user speaks the name of a car make into the microphone of a verifier that is associated with the car , and then the user activates any one of the tokens 12 , 40 , 50 to transmit a common authorization signal . the unique keyword is saved by the verifier and associated with the common authorization signal . subsequently , when authorization is desired from the verifier the user speaks the keyword and manipulates the activation element of the token , with only the verifier associated with the spoken keyword granting authorization . other nearby verifiers , while successfully decoding the common authorization signal using their public keys , do not grant authorization because their keywords have not been spoken . [ 0054 ] fig9 shows a system , generally designated 98 , of physically stackable single - key tokens 100 . each token 100 can include , on a bottom surface , an engagement element 102 such as a post or rib that mates with an engagement receptacle 104 on another token 100 . each token is associated with a respective verifier , and each token generates a unique acoustic authorization request . the user stacks the tokens together as a single unit , manipulating the appropriate token 100 for the verifier from which authorization is sought . while the particular system and method for managing sonic token verifiers as herein shown and described in detail is fully capable of attaining the above - described objects of the invention , it is to be understood that it is the presently preferred embodiment of the present invention and is thus representative of the subject matter which is broadly contemplated by the present invention , that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art , and that the scope of the present invention is accordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims , in which reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “ one and only one ” unless explicitly so stated , but rather “ one or more ”. all structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the above - described preferred embodiment that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims . moreover , it is not necessary for a device or method to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the present invention , for it to be encompassed by the present claims . furthermore , no element , component , or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element , component , or method step is explicitly recited in the claims . no claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35 u . s . c . § 112 , sixth paragraph , unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “ means for ” or , in the case of a method claim , the element is recited as a “ step ” instead of an “ act ”.	6
when a high frequency resonator contacts a liquid , strong currents of the liquid appear in front of the vibrating parts of the resonator . these currents are known as acoustic streaming or more specifically as eckart or rayleigh streaming , since they originate from second - order effects caused by acoustic disturbances in the fluid . 1 ) initiating or maintaining a flow , which is beneficial for transportation or mixing ; 2 ) enhancing diffusion limited reactions at an interface , which will be beneficial for electrochemical reactions ( such as the deposition of cu ), etching , rinsing ; and 3 ) creating shear stress at an interface , which can for example lead to the removal of particulate contamination from a surface . the operational frequencies for the resonators according to the invention preferably are selected to be within 100 mhz and 5 ghz and the operational power up to 10 w / cm 2 . at these higher frequencies and those power levels essentially no cavitation will be initiated in the liquid between the resonator and the substrate . such cavitations could influence the process negatively , as discussed above . the high frequency resonator is in this case a device , which converts electrical energy into mechanical energy . this means that an oscillating electrical signal will cause an appropriately chosen piezoelectric material to undergo oscillations in geometrical changes . if adequately coupled , the displacement of the piezoelectric material will excite acoustic waves in an adjacent medium . the waves will propagate from the resonator into the medium . as the acoustic waves travel through the medium , they may be absorbed . consequently , the momentum absorbed from the acoustic field will manifest itself as a flow of the liquid in the direction of the sound field , termed acoustic streaming . the flow speed is for most types of fluids and over a large frequency range proportional to sound wave intensity and the acoustic attenuation coefficient . the acoustic attenuation coefficient α can be expressed as : where ω is the angular velocity , ρ 0 is the equilibrium value of the liquid density , c 0 is the equilibrium speed of sound , μ is the shear viscosity and p ′ the dilatational viscosity . consequently , high flow speeds will require a high frequency resonator . in combination with an acceptable attenuation length , in the order of 100 μm to 1000 μm or more , frequencies between 100 mhz and 5 ghz are best suited . typically , streaming vortices with a velocity up to 1 m / s can be generated , and this close to the substrate (& lt ; 100 μm ) which results in a very high shear rate at the substrate ( above 10000 l / s ). these vortices play an important role in the enhancement of diffusion limited processes ( such as some etching processes and most of the electrochemical processes ), to speed up rinsing processes ( to transport contamination away from a substrate ) and to remove particulate contamination from a substrate . referring now to the drawings , fig1 shows a schematic side view of a first embodiment of a transducer plate . an acoustic resonator stack 150 is positioned adjacent to a substrate 100 . substrate 100 may be for example a 300 mm semiconductor wafer positioned in a process module for single wafer wet processing . the distance d 1 between the resonator body 110 and the substrate varies typically between 100 μm and 1000 μm and is filled with liquid 140 ( e . g . 500 μm , although that distance is exaggerated in fig1 for purposes of explanation ). the acoustic resonator stack 150 comprises a resonator body 110 , which can be for instance sapphire , silicon or quartz and on the back side , a layer of piezoelectric material 160 is present , which can be for example aluminium nitride , pzt ( lead zirconium titanate ), lithium niobate or zinc oxide , sandwiched between two electrodes 120 . when this acoustic resonator stack is driven electrically , an acoustic wave will be launched in the liquid and consequently acoustic streaming 130 occurs in the liquid . reference herein to the resonator body or resonator plate connotes the solid member that transmits ultrasound from the piezoelectric layer to the processing liquid . the components referred to herein as resonator islands may also be referred to as resonator regions , and these terms generally connote piezoelectric layers that cover only portions of the resonator rather than the entire resonator . a piezoelectric layer will typically comprise a plurality of layers having piezoelectric properties , and may also be referred to as a piezoelectric stack . an acoustic resonator assembly thus comprises a body ( or plate ), a piezoelectric layer , and two opposing electrodes for electrically agitating the piezoelectric layer . the term transducer generally refers to the resonator plate and the piezoelectric stack . the body 110 has a preferred thickness , ranging from 20 μm ( to ensure sufficient mechanical strength of the device ) to 675 μm ( thickness of the available substrate ), in this example a 500 μm thick sapphire was used . each acoustic resonator stack 150 is typically made out of a body , electrodes and piezoelectric material . as discussed earlier , the body can be made out of sapphire , silicon , quartz or combination of these materials , and also a thin layer of quartz may optionally be deposited on the front and / or back side of the sapphire . the electrodes are typically made of aluminium , copper , tungsten , molybdenum or platinum / titanium and the piezoelectric material can for example be zno , aln , gaas or pzt . therefore many different stacks can be created by combining these different materials . resonator stacks 150 may be fabricated using techniques described in connection with bulk acoustic wave ( baw ) filters , used in telecommunications , and more particularly techniques described in connection with thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators ( fbar ). alternatively , both electrodes 120 can be positioned on the same side of piezoelectric layer 160 , in which case they are desirably configured as an interdigitated array as described in connection with surface acoustic wave ( saw ) filters in the telecommunications field . fig2 a and fig2 b show an alternative embodiment of the resonator plate where the acoustic resonator stack 250 comprises many small piezoelectric islands 220 . the islands , as shown in fig3 , are typically sized on the order of 150 μm by 150 μm and are two - dimensionally ordered in series of arrays . the dimensions of the plurality of these islands are advantageously up to about 1 cm by 1 cm . piezoelectric islands 220 are typically generated by patterning the deposited electrodes in small defined areas and electrical connections between them on a body 210 , as shown in greater detail in fig3 . each island can launch acoustic waves into the liquid 240 present between the substrate 200 and the acoustic resonator stack 250 . this will lead to the creation of acoustic streaming 230 . fig3 shows a cross section of three individual resonator islands 305 , as part of a transducer plate 300 . each island has a typical width of 150 μm × 150 μm and is created by patterning the deposited electrodes 303 . to drive the islands electrically in series or parallel , the patterning includes also the formation of the electrical connections 304 between the various islands , which are separated from one another by a distance of 50 μm . the electrodes 303 a and 303 b are in this example made of aluminium and are sputtered and patterned on a body 301 made of al 2 o 3 ( sapphire ). aln ( aluminium nitride ) is deposited as piezoelectric material 302 and covered again by another patterned layer of aluminium . if the electrodes are to be made of copper rather than aluminium , then the electrodes and the connections to the electrodes are advantageously made by first forming corresponding vias and trenches in an insulating layer formed on the body made of sapphire or the like . the vias and trenches are then filled with copper and the excess copper removed by cmp , as has been described in connection with dual damascene techniques for making interconnect layers in semiconductor devices . as noted above , transducer arrays according to the present invention may be made by techniques based on those used to make baw filters , as described for example in lakin , “ thin film resonator technology ,” ieee 2003 fcs - eftf paper wela - 4 ( 2003 ). in a first step , a sapphire wafer ( 500 μm thickness ) is used as body , on which 100 nm of sio 2 is deposited . in a next step , a 300 nm film of aluminium is deposited on the sio 2 - layer by dc - sputtering and patterned corresponding to the designed bottom electrode pattern 303 a of the resonator , into interconnection lines 304 a and active areas . in a subsequent step , a layer of aln is deposited as resonator by rf - sputtering . the thickness of the resonator layer is preferably chosen to be approximately half of the wavelength of the acoustic wave to be generated in the liquid medium , or an odd multiple of that half wavelength , with the half wavelength thickness in this case being about 3 μm . the thickness of the resonator layer is preferably substantially constant over its entire surface . in a following step a further 300 nm layer of aluminium is deposited as a second electrode layer 303 b by dc - sputtering , and patterned according to the top electrode pattern , to produce a second set of interconnection lines 304 b and active areas 303 b . electrodes 303 may then be directly connected to a frequency generator . examples for materials of the deposited transducer stacks are given in table 1 : patterning of the body , electrodes and piezoelectric layer may each be performed by photolithographic processes involving forming a mask exposing the areas to be removed . thereafter the areas to be removed are typically removed by dry etching such as plasma etching . fig4 shows the acoustic streaming 430 generated in the liquid 460 by a sequence of resonators 440 , all driven simultaneously at 1 . 9 ghz . fluorescing particles were added to the liquid flow , in order to visualize the hydrodynamics of the system . above the resonators , many vortices could be observed , with a dimension about 100 μm . each vortex represents one piezoelectric island of the resonator . fig5 shows an alternative configuration for the body . the hypersonic building blocks 560 , which consist of a defined amount of resonators , are tilted under a specific angle , between 0 and 45 degrees with respect to a substrate 500 . this can create for instance a large scale streaming effect 570 in a preferential direction within a liquid 540 . fig6 is an example of a body 600 , with a sequence of hypersonic building blocks 640 , which comprises one or more resonators . the substrate w rotates about an axis m , with its upwardly - facing major surface parallel to the solid element and facing the resonators . additionally , process liquids inlets 602 can be incorporated into the body 600 to supply the required amount of process liquid . an alternative design is given in fig7 , in which a body 700 has a sequence of hypersonic building blocks 740 , which comprises one or more resonators . a series of process liquid inlets 702 and process liquid outlets 703 incorporated in body 700 allow the wetting and de - wetting of a substrate w while it moves linearly m over or under the resonator . fig8 shows an example of a diffusion limited heterogeneous reaction 831 . in a first step , the reagent 1 diffuses 832 through the liquid 840 towards the solid surface 800 and it reacts 831 to form product 2 . in a following step , the product 2 will diffuse away 832 from the surface . if this reaction is diffusion limited , the presence of the acoustic streaming 833 , produced by the resonator 810 , will enhance the diffusion of the reagent 1 towards the surface and the diffusion of the product 2 away from the surface . fig9 schematically depicts a resonator array 920 , which could be constructed as described in connection with any of the foregoing embodiments or otherwise in accordance with the invention , positioned in relation to a substrate w , which in this instance is a semiconductor wafer , for example a 300 mm semiconductor wafer . wafer w is positioned on a spin chuck 900 , which in turn is mounted within a process module 910 for single wafer wet processing . a frequency generator 915 drives the piezoelectric elements of the acoustic resonator assembly 920 . if the acoustic resonator assembly is equipped with liquid supply openings as described above , then 915 may also constitute a fluid supply to those openings . with reference for example to the embodiment of fig1 , when mounted in an apparatus as shown in fig9 , the process liquid 140 will be present in the space between upper surface of wafer w and the downwardly - facing surface of body 150 , whereas the upwardly - facing surfaces of the acoustic resonator assembly will preferably be exposed to the gaseous ambient within the process chamber and not submerged in process liquid . as noted above , it is preferred that the distance between the substrate and acoustic resonator assembly is between 100 μm and 1000 μm . the acoustic streaming induced by ghz - order resonators cannot exert the desired effect on heterogeneous processes such as cleaning , etching and deposition , if the distance between the resonator and substrate is too large ( e . g ., several millimetres ). the embodiments of the present invention described above allow controlling the introduction of streaming with high velocities within a small liquid volume close to a substrate without the need for as many moving parts , e . g ., a jet or pumps , and without the need for the presence of acoustically stimulated bubbles , which can shield some of the areas to be processed or in case of transient cavitations may damage the surface of the substrate or structures present on the surface . it will be understood that the foregoing description and specific embodiments shown herein are merely illustrative of the invention and the principles thereof , and that modifications and additions may be easily made by those skilled in the art without departing for the spirit and scope of the invention , which is therefore understood to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims .	7
“ aerodynamic diameter ” of a given particle refers to the diameter of a spherical droplet with a density of 1 g / ml ( the density of water ) that has the same settling velocity as the given particle . “ aerosol ” refers to a suspension of solid or liquid particles in a gas . “ aerosol drug mass density ” refers to the mass of sildenafil or tadalafil per unit volume of aerosol . “ aerosol mass density ” refers to the mass of particulate matter per unit volume of aerosol . “ aerosol particle density ” refers to the number of particles per unit volume of aerosol . “ amorphous particle ” refers to a particle that does not contain more than 50 percent by weight of a crystalline form . preferably , the particle does not contain more than 25 percent by weight of a crystalline form . more preferably , the particle does not contain more than 10 percent by weight of a crystalline form . “ condensation aerosol ” refers to an aerosol formed by vaporization of a substance followed by condensation of the substance into an aerosol . “ erectile dysfunction drug ” degradation product refers to a compound resulting from a chemical modification of an erectile dysfunction drug . the modification , for example , can be the result of a thermally or photochemically induced reaction . such reactions include , without limitation , oxidation and hydrolysis . “ inhalable aerosol drug mass density ” refers to the aerosol drug mass density produced by an inhalation device and delivered into a typical patient tidal volume . “ inhalable aerosol mass density ” refers to the aerosol mass density produced by an inhalation device and delivered into a typical patient tidal volume . “ inhalable aerosol particle density ” refers to the aerosol particle density of particles of size between 100 nm and 5 microns produced by an inhalation device and delivered into a typical patient tidal volume . “ mass median aerodynamic diameter ” or “ mmad ” of an aerosol refers to the aerodynamic diameter for which half the particulate mass of the aerosol is contributed by particles with an aerodynamic diameter larger than the mmad and half by particles with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than the mmad . “ rate of aerosol formation ” refers to the mass of aerosolized particulate matter produced by an inhalation device per unit time . “ rate of inhalable aerosol particle formation ” refers to the number of particles of size between 100 nm and 5 microns produced by an inhalation device per unit time . “ rate of drug aerosol formation ” refers to the mass of aerosolized sildenafil or tadalafil produced by an inhalation device per unit time . “ settling velocity ” refers to the terminal velocity of an aerosol particle undergoing gravitational settling in air . “ sildenafil degradation product ” refers to a compound resulting from a chemical modification of sildenafil . the modification , for example , can be the result of a thermally or photochemically induced reaction . such reactions include , without limitation , oxidation and hydrolysis . “ tadalafil degradation product ” refers to a compound resulting from a chemical modification of tadalafil . the modification , for example , can be the result of a thermally or photochemically induced reaction . such reactions include , without limitation , oxidation and hydrolysis . “ typical patient tidal volume ” refers to 1 l for an adult patient and 15 ml / kg for a pediatric patient . “ vapor ” refers to a gas , and “ vapor phase ” refers to a gas phase . the term “ thermal vapor ” refers to a vapor phase , aerosol , or mixture of aerosol - vapor phases , formed preferably by heating . “ vardenafil ” refers to 1 -[[ 3 -( 1 , 4 - dihydro - 5 - methyl - 4 - oxo - 7 - propylimidazo [ 5 , 1 - f ][ 1 , 2 , 4 ] triazin - 2 - yl )- 4 - ethoxyphenyl ] sulfonyl ]- 4 - ethyl - piperazine ( c 23 h 32 n 6 o 4 s ). “ vardenafil degradation product ” refers to a compound resulting from a chemical modification of vardenafil . the modification , for example , can be the result of a thermally or photochemically induced reaction . such reactions include , without limitation , oxidation and hydrolysis . any suitable method is used to form the aerosols of the present invention . a preferred method , however , involves heating a composition comprising an erectile dysfunction drug to form a vapor , followed by cooling of the vapor such that it condenses to provide an erectile dysfunction drug comprising aerosol ( condensation aerosol ). the composition is heated in one of four forms : as pure active compound ( e . g ., pure sildenafil , tadalafil or vardenafil ); as a mixture of active compound and a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient ; as a salt form of the pure active compound ; and , as a mixture of active compound salt form and a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient . salt forms of erectile dysfunction drugs ( e . g ., sildenafil , tadalafil or vardenafil ) are either commercially available or are obtained from the corresponding free base using well known methods in the art . a variety of pharmaceutically acceptable salts are suitable for aerosolization . such salts include , without limitation , the following : hydrochloric acid , hydrobromic acid , acetic acid , maleic acid , formic acid , and fumaric acid salts . pharmaceutically acceptable excipients may be volatile or nonvolatile . volatile excipients , when heated , are concurrently volatilized , aerosolized and inhaled with the erectile dysfunction drug . classes of such excipients are known in the art and include , without limitation , gaseous , supercritical fluid , liquid and solid solvents . the following is a list of exemplary carriers within the classes : water ; terpenes , such as menthol ; alcohols , such as ethanol , propylene glycol , glycerol and other similar alcohols ; dimethylformamide ; dimethylacetamide ; wax ; supercritical carbon dioxide ; dry ice ; and mixtures thereof . solid supports on which the composition is heated are of a variety of shapes . examples of such shapes include , without limitation , cylinders of less than 1 . 0 mm in diameter , boxes of less than 1 . 0 mm thickness and virtually any shape permeated by small ( e . g ., less than 1 . 0 mm - sized ) pores . preferably , solid supports provide a large surface to volume ratio ( e . g ., greater than 100 per meter ) and a large surface to mass ratio ( e . g ., greater than 1 cm 2 per gram ). a solid support of one shape can also be transformed into another shape with different properties . for example , a flat sheet of 0 . 25 mm thickness has a surface to volume ratio of approximately 8 , 000 per meter . rolling the sheet into a hollow cylinder of 1 cm diameter produces a support that retains the high surface to mass ratio of the original sheet but has a lower surface to volume ratio ( about 400 per meter ). a number of different materials are used to construct the solid supports . classes of such materials include , without limitation , metals , inorganic materials , carbonaceous materials and polymers . the following are examples of the material classes : aluminum , silver , gold , stainless steel , copper and tungsten ; silica , glass , silicon and alumina ; graphite , porous carbons , carbon yarns and carbon felts ; polytetrafluoroethylene and polyethylene glycol . combinations of materials and coated variants of materials are used as well . where aluminum is used as a solid support , aluminum foil is a suitable material . examples of silica , alumina and silicon based materials include amphorous silica s - 5631 ( sigma , st . louis , mo . ), bcr171 ( an alumina of defined surface area greater than 2 m 2 / g from aldrich , st . louis , mo .) and a silicon wafer as used in the semiconductor industry . carbon yarns and felts are available from american kynol , inc ., new york , n . y . chromatography resins such as octadecycl silane chemically bonded to porous silica are exemplary coated variants of silica . the heating of the erectile drug compositions is performed using any suitable method . examples of methods by which heat can be generated include the following : passage of current through an electrical resistance element ; absorption of electromagnetic radiation , such as microwave or laser light ; and , exothermic chemical reactions , such as exothermic solvation , hydration of pyrophoric materials and oxidation of combustible materials . erectile dysfunction drug containing aerosols of the present invention are delivered to a mammal using an inhalation device . where the aerosol is a condensation aerosol , the device has at least three elements : an element for heating an erectile dysfunction drug containing composition to form a vapor ; an element allowing the vapor to cool , thereby providing a condensation aerosol ; and , an element permitting the mammal to inhale the aerosol . various suitable heating methods are described above . the element that allows cooling is , in it simplest form , an inert passageway linking the heating means to the inhalation means . the element permitting inhalation is an aerosol exit portal that forms a connection between the cooling element and the mammal &# 39 ; s respiratory system . one device used to deliver the erectile dysfunction drug containing aerosol is described in reference to fig1 . delivery device 100 has a proximal end 102 and a distal end 104 , a heating module 106 , a power source 108 , and a mouthpiece 110 . an erectile dysfunction drug composition is deposited on a surface 112 of heating module 106 . upon activation of a user activated switch 114 , power source 108 initiates heating of heating module 106 ( e . g , through ignition of combustible fuel or passage of current through a resistive heating element ). the erectile dysfunction drug composition volatilizes due to the heating of heating module 106 and condenses to form a condensation aerosol prior to reaching the mouthpiece 110 at the proximal end of the device 102 . air flow traveling from the device distal end 104 to the mouthpiece 110 carries the condensation aerosol to the mouthpiece 110 , where it is inhaled by the mammal . devices , if desired , contain a variety of components to facilitate the delivery of erectile dysfunction drug containing aerosols . for instance , the device may include any component known in the art to control the timing of drug aerosolization relative to inhalation ( e . g ., breath - actuation ), to provide feedback to patients on the rate and / or volume of inhalation , to prevent excessive use ( i . e ., “ lock - out ” feature ), to prevent use by unauthorized individuals , and / or to record dosing histories . the dosage amount of an erectile dysfunction drug in aerosol form is generally no greater than twice the standard dose of the drug given orally . for instance , sildenafil , tadalafil and vardenafil are given at strengths of 25 mg , 10 mg , and 5 mg respectively for the treatment of erectile dysfunction . as aerosols , 5 mg to 40 mg of sildenafil , 2 . 5 mg to 20 mg of tadalafil , and 1 to 20 mg of vardenafil are generally provided for the same indication . a typical dosage of an erectile dysfunction drug aerosol is either administered as a single inhalation or as a series of inhalations taken within an hour or less ( dosage equals sum of inhaled amounts ). where the drug is administered as a series of inhalations , a different amount may be delivered in each inhalation . one can determine the appropriate dose of erectile dysfunction drug containing aerosols to treat a particular condition using methods such as animal experiments and a dose - finding ( phase i / ii ) clinical trial . one animal experiment involves measuring plasma concentrations of drug in an animal after its exposure to the aerosol . mammals such as dogs or primates are typically used in such studies , since their respiratory systems are similar to that of a human . initial dose levels for testing in humans is generally less than or equal to the dose in the mammal model that resulted in plasma drug levels associated with a therapeutic effect in humans . dose escalation in humans is then performed , until either an optimal therapeutic response is obtained or a dose - limiting toxicity is encountered . purity of an erectile dysfunction drug containing aerosol is determined using a number of methods , examples of which are described in sekine et al ., journal of forensic science 32 : 1271 - 1280 ( 1987 ) and martin et al ., journal of analytic toxicology 13 : 158 - 162 ( 1989 ). one method involves forming the aerosol in a device through which a gas flow ( e . g ., air flow ) is maintained , generally at a rate between 0 . 4 and 60 l / min . the gas flow carries the aerosol into one or more traps . after isolation from the trap , the aerosol is subjected to an analytical technique , such as gas or liquid chromatography , that permits a determination of composition purity . a variety of different traps are used for aerosol collection . the following list contains examples of such traps : filters ; glass wool ; impingers ; solvent traps , such as dry ice - cooled ethanol , methanol , acetone and dichloromethane traps at various ph values ; syringes that sample the aerosol ; empty , low - pressure ( e . g ., vacuum ) containers into which the aerosol is drawn ; and , empty containers that fully surround and enclose the aerosol generating device . where a solid such as glass wool is used , it is typically extracted with a solvent such as ethanol . the solvent extract is subjected to analysis rather than the solid ( i . e ., glass wool ) itself . where a syringe or container is used , the container is similarly extracted with a solvent . the gas or liquid chromatograph discussed above contains a detection system ( i . e ., detector ). such detection systems are well known in the art and include , for example , flame ionization , photon absorption and mass spectrometry detectors . an advantage of a mass spectrometry detector is that it can be used to determine the structure of erectile dysfunction drug degradation products . particle size distribution of an erectile dysfunction drug containing aerosol is determined using any suitable method in the art ( e . g ., cascade impaction ). an andersen eight stage non - viable cascade impactor ( andersen instruments , smyrna , ga .) linked to a furnace tube by a mock throat ( usp throat , andersen instruments , smyrna , ga .) is one system used for cascade impaction studies . inhalable aerosol mass density is determined , for example , by delivering a drug - containing aerosol into a confined chamber via an inhalation device and measuring the mass collected in the chamber . typically , the aerosol is drawn into the chamber by having a pressure gradient between the device and the chamber , wherein the chamber is at lower pressure than the device . the volume of the chamber should approximate the tidal volume of an inhaling patient . inhalable aerosol drug mass density is determined , for example , by delivering a drug - containing aerosol into a confined chamber via an inhalation device and measuring the amount of active drug compound collected in the chamber . typically , the aerosol is drawn into the chamber by having a pressure gradient between the device and the chamber , wherein the chamber is at lower pressure than the device . the volume of the chamber should approximate the tidal volume of an inhaling patient . the amount of active drug compound collected in the chamber is determined by extracting the chamber , conducting chromatographic analysis of the extract and comparing the results of the chromatographic analysis to those of a standard containing known amounts of drug . inhalable aerosol particle density is determined , for example , by delivering aerosol phase drug into a confined chamber via an inhalation device and measuring the number of particles of given size collected in the chamber . the number of particles of a given size may be directly measured based on the light - scattering properties of the particles . alternatively , the number of particles of a given size is determined by measuring the mass of particles within the given size range and calculating the number of particles based on the mass as follows : total number of particles = sum ( from size range 1 to size range n ) of number of particles in each size range . number of particles in a given size range = mass in the size range / mass of a typical particle in the size range . mass of a typical particle in a given size range = π * d 3 φ / 6 , where d is a typical particle diameter in the size range ( generally , the mean boundary mmads defining the size range ) in microns , φ is the particle density ( in g / ml ) and mass is given in units of picograms ( g − 12 ). rate of inhalable aerosol particle formation is determined , for example , by delivering aerosol phase drug into a confined chamber via an inhalation device . the delivery is for a set period of time ( e . g ., 3 s ), and the number of particles of a given size collected in the chamber is determined as outlined above . the rate of particle formation is equal to the number of 100 nm to 5 micron particles collected divided by the duration of the collection time . rate of aerosol formation is determined , for example , by delivering aerosol phase drug into a confined chamber via an inhalation device . the delivery is for a set period of time ( e . g ., 3 s ), and the mass of particulate matter collected is determined by weighing the confined chamber before and after the delivery of the particulate matter . the rate of aerosol formation is equal to the increase in mass in the chamber divided by the duration of the collection time . alternatively , where a change in mass of the delivery device or component thereof can only occur through release of the aerosol phase particulate matter , the mass of particulate matter may be equated with the mass lost from the device or component during the delivery of the aerosol . in this case , the rate of aerosol formation is equal to the decrease in mass of the device or component during the delivery event divided by the duration of the delivery event . rate of drug aerosol formation is determined , for example , by delivering an erectile dysfunction drug containing aerosol into a confined chamber via an inhalation device over a set period of time ( e . g ., 3 s ). where the aerosol is pure erectile dysfunction drug , the amount of drug collected in the chamber is measured as described above . the rate of drug aerosol formation is equal to the amount of erectile dysfunction drug collected in the chamber divided by the duration of the collection time . where the erectile dysfunction drug containing aerosol comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient , multiplying the rate of aerosol formation by the percentage of erectile dysfunction drug in the aerosol provides the rate of drug aerosol formation . the erectile dysfunction drug containing aerosols of the present invention are typically used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction . the following examples are meant to illustrate , rather than limit , the present invention . sildenafil citrate is commercially available as the active ingredient in viagra ® and can be isolated using standard methods in the art . tadalafil can be synthesized using the methods described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 143 , 746 ( issued nov . 7 , 2000 ), which is hereby incorporated by reference . vardenafil can be synthesized using the methods described in wo / 99 / 24433 ( published may 20 , 1999 ), which is hereby incorporated by reference . other erectile dysfunction drugs can be similarly obtained . approximately 1 g of salt ( e . g ., mono hydrochloride ) is dissolved in deionized water (˜ 30 ml ). three equivalents of sodium hydroxide ( 1 n naoh aq ) is added dropwise to the solution , and the ph is checked to ensure it is basic . the aqueous solution is extracted four times with dichloromethane (˜ 50 ml ), and the extracts are combined , dried ( na 2 so 4 ) and filtered . the filtered organic solution is concentrated using a rotary evaporator to provide the desired free base . if necessary , purification of the free base is performed using standard methods such as chromatography or recrystallization . a solution of drug in approximately 120 μl dichloromethane is coated on a 3 . 5 cm × 7 . 5 cm piece of aluminum foil ( precleaned with acetone ). the dichloromethane is allowed to evaporate . the coated foil is wrapped around a 300 watt halogen tube ( feit electric company , pico rivera , calif . ), which is inserted into a glass tube sealed at one end with a rubber stopper . running 90 v of alternating current ( driven by line power controlled by a variac ) through the bulb for 2 . 5 s affords thermal vapor ( including aerosol ), which is collected on the glass tube walls . reverse - phase hplc analysis with detection by absorption of 225 nm light is used to determine the purity of the aerosol . ( when desired , the system is flushed through with argon prior to volatilization .) tadalafil aerosol ( 0 . 29 mg ) was obtained in 98 . 5 % purity using this procedure . to obtain higher purity aerosols , one can coat a lesser amount of drug , yielding a thinner film to heat . a linear decrease in film thickness is associated with a linear decrease in impurities . a flash assembly consisting of a stainless steel outer cylinder and an inner brass electrode was dipped into an organic solution containing a drug and quickly removed . evaporation of residual solvent from the assembly was performed by air drying . this left a film of drug coated on the exterior surface of the stainless steel cylinder . the assembly was electrically connected to a capacitor network ( e . g ., 1 . 5 f ) and a mechanical relay using brass connectors and then placed into a glass sleeve . a filter assembly was placed between the glass sleeve and a vacuum system . flow (˜ 15 l / min ) was instigated through the glass sleeve using the vacuum system . heating of the flash assembly was performed for about 0 . 25 s by momentarily turning on the relay between the flash assembly and the capacitors ( connected to dc power supply and charged to 20 . 5 v ) to volatilize ( form an aerosol of ) the coated drug . the assembly was allowed to cool . analysis of the formed aerosol involved rinsing the filter with 5 ml of acetonitrile and injecting a sample of the organic solution into an hplc . sildenafil aerosol was obtained in 98 . 9 % purity ( 0 . 075 mg ) using this procedure . vardenafil aerosol was obtained in 81 . 4 % purity ( 0 . 7 mg ) using this procedure .	0
hereinafter , preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig2 is a perspective view of an apparatus for adjusting a angle of a display means in accordance with the present invention . with reference to fig2 , the apparatus for adjusting the angle of the display means of the present invention comprises a fixing bracket 1 , two guide brackets 2 , connection brackets 40 , a flap - fixing bracket 13 , a flap 16 , a balance shaft 15 , and an angle adjustable shaft 11 . the fixing bracket 1 is fixed to a wall or a supporter . each guide bracket 2 is installed on both ends of the fixing bracket 1 . one end of the connection bracket 40 is pivotably connected to one end of the guide bracket 2 , and the other end of the connection bracket 40 is connected to a designated surface of a display means . the flap - fixing bracket 13 is attached to a designated area of the fixing bracket 1 . the flap 16 comprises two pieces crossing each other . one end of one piece of the flap 16 is fixed to the flap - fixing bracket 13 and one end of the other piece of the flap 16 is pivotably connected to the flap - fixing bracket 13 . both ends of the balance shaft 15 are connected to each connection bracket 40 . the other end of one piece of the flap 16 is fixed to the balance shaft 15 , and the other end of the other piece of the flap 16 is connected to the balance shaft 15 50 as to move along the balance shaft 15 . the balance shaft 15 serves to adjust the angle of the connection bracket 40 according to the spreading and folding of the flap 16 . one end of the flap 16 is connected to the angle adjustable shaft 11 . the angle adjustable shaft 11 includes a means for modulating the spreading and folding of the flap 16 . in more detail , the fixing bracket 1 includes a plurality of holes , thereby being fixed to the wall or the supporter using screws , or bolts and nuts . the guide brackets 2 and the flap - fixing bracket 13 are fixed to the fixing bracket 1 . a hinge hole is formed on one end of the guide bracket 2 , thereby coupling the guide bracket 2 with the corresponding connection bracket 40 by a hinge pin 6 inserted into the hinge hole . a link bracket 4 is connected to the guide bracket 2 by a connection pin 3 . the link bracket 4 serves to spread the connection bracket 40 within a designated angle range and to support the connection bracket 40 . a u - groove is formed on both side surfaces of the guide bracket 2 , thereby easily folding the connection bracket 40 into the guide bracket 2 . preferably , a through hole 3 a for moving the link bracket 4 according to the modulation of the angle of the connection bracket 40 is formed on both side surfaces of the guide bracket 2 . further , in order to fix and rotate the angle adjustable shaft 11 , a hole or a groove is formed on both side surfaces of the guide bracket 2 . preferably , the connection bracket 40 comprises a product bracket 20 , which is connected to a designated surface of the display means and includes a buckle 21 , and a holding - down bracket 9 with a fixing stopper 10 . elasticity of an elastic means is applied to the fixing stopper 10 . the product bracket 20 comprises a plurality of screw holes 22 , which are connected to the display means using screws , and the buckle 21 , which is engaged with the fixing stopper 10 of the holding - down bracket 9 . one end of the product bracket 20 is bent , thereby hanging the product bracket 20 on the holding - down bracket 9 . the other end of the product bracket 20 is fixed to the fixing stopper 10 of the holding - down bracket 9 . alternatively , the product bracket 20 and the holding - down bracket 9 may be integrally formed to form the connection bracket 40 . the connection bracket 40 is connected to the corresponding link bracket 4 by a stationary pin 5 . the connection bracket 40 is connected to the balance shaft 15 . the flap - fixing bracket 13 is attached to a designated area of the fixing bracket 1 and comprises a groove for easily folding the flap 16 . a stationary bracket 18 for supporting the angle adjustable shaft 11 is connected to the flap - fixing bracket 13 by an shaft fixing pin 13 b . a sliding hole 13 a is formed on both side surfaces of the flap - fixing bracket 13 . the sliding hole 13 a serves to move the shifting boss 17 . the shifting boss 17 moves along a screw thread 11 b formed on the outer surface of one end of the angle adjustable shaft 11 . one end of one piece of the flap 16 is connected to the shifting boss 17 and one end of the other piece of the flap 16 is fixed to the flap - fixing bracket 13 by the shaft fixing pin 13 b . two pieces of the flap 16 cross each other on a connection pin 19 . the other end of one piece of the flap 16 is fixed to the balance shaft 15 by an shaft fixing pin 15 a , and the other end of the other piece of the flap 16 is connected to a sliding bracket 14 so as to move along the balance shaft 15 . preferably , two pieces of the flap 16 may be spread and folded centering on a x - shaped crossing point . the balance shaft 15 is connected to the flap 16 by the shaft fixing pin 15 a and the sliding bracket 14 . both ends of the balance shaft 15 are combined with each holding - down bracket 9 . the screw thread 11 b is formed on the outer surface of one end of the angle adjustable shaft 11 . the other end of the angle adjustable shaft 11 is connected to an angle adjustable extension shaft 11 a for easily adjusting the angle of the connection bracket 40 . preferably , in order to easily rotate the angle adjustable shaft 11 , the other end of the angle adjustable shaft 11 is connected to an angle adjustable extension shaft 11 a by a universal joint . further , preferably , an angle adjustable hand lever 12 for easily rotating the angle adjustable shaft 11 is formed on one end of the angle adjustable extension shaft 11 a . fig3 is an exploded perspective view of the apparatus for adjusting the angle of the display means in accordance with the present invention . with reference to fig2 and 3 , both ends of the fixing bracket 1 are respectively connected to each of a pair of the guide brackets 2 . the through hole 3 a for moving the link bracket 4 and other plural holes are formed on the guide bracket 2 . further , the hinge hole for inserting the hinge pin is formed on one end of the guide bracket 2 . as described above , the connection bracket 40 comprises the product bracket 20 and the holding - down bracket 9 . the holding - down bracket 9 is connected to the link bracket 4 and comprises the fixing stopper 10 and a spring 10 a . 1 n order to be firmly combined with the product bracket 20 , a plurality of holes are formed on the holding - down bracket 9 . the product bracket 20 comprises a plurality of the screw holes 22 , which are connected to the display means by screws , and the buckle 21 , which is engaged with the fixing stopper 10 of the holding - down bracket 9 . the stationary bracket 18 for inserting and fixing the angle adjustable shaft 11 is connected to the flap - fixing bracket 13 . the sliding hole 13 a is formed on both side surfaces of the flap - fixing bracket 13 . fig4 is a side view of the apparatus for adjusting the angle of the display means in accordance with the present invention . with reference fig2 , 3 , and 4 , the operation of the apparatus for adjusting the angle of the display means in accordance with the present invention is described in detail . the connection bracket 40 comprises the product bracket 20 and the holding - down bracket 9 . the product bracket 20 comprises a means for being connected to the display means and a means for being fixed to the holding - down bracket 9 . the holding - down bracket 9 comprises a means for being easily connected to and separated from the product bracket 20 . the above - described connection bracket 40 can be easily connected to and separated from the display means . therefore , the connection bracket 40 may be used in an apparatus for simply fixing the display means as well as an apparatus for adjusting the angle of the display means . the product brackets 20 screw - jointed with the display means are coupled to the corresponding holding - down brackets 9 , thereby fixing the display means to the connection brackets 40 . the angle adjustable shaft 11 connected to the angle adjustable hand lever 12 by the angle adjustable extension shaft 11 a is rotated by turning the angle adjustable hand lever 12 in the clockwise direction . the shifting boss 17 , in which the angle adjustable shaft 11 with the screw thread 11 b is inserted , is pulled along the screw thread 11 b , and the flap 16 connected to the shifting boss 17 is spread centering on the connection pin 19 of the crossing point . when the flap 16 is spread , the sliding bracket 14 connected to the flap 16 is pulled , and the holding - down bracket 9 connected to the balance shaft 15 is guided by the link bracket 4 and spread from the guide bracket 2 . after adjusting the angle of the display means , the angle adjustable extension shaft 11 a is put aside so as to desirably view the display means . on the other hand , the angle adjustable shaft 11 connected to the angle adjustable hand lever 12 by the angle adjustable extension shaft 11 a is reversibly rotated by turning the angle adjustable hand lever 12 in the counter clockwise direction . then , the shifting boss 17 , in which the angle adjustable shaft 11 with the screw thread 11 b is inserted , is pushed along the screw thread 11 b , and the flap 16 connected to the shifting boss 17 is folded centering on the connection pin 19 of the crossing point . when the flap 16 is folded , the sliding bracket 14 connected to the flap 16 is pushed into the shaft fixing pin 15 a of the balance shaft 15 , and the holding - down bracket 9 connected to the balance shaft 15 is guided by the link bracket 4 and folded into the guide bracket 2 . therefore , the angle of the display means is reduced and the display means is caused to stand vertically straight . fig5 is a schematic view showing the connection between the display means and the product bracket 20 of the apparatus for adjusting the angle of the display means in accordance with the present invention . with reference to fig5 , holes for screw - jointing are formed on the back surface of the display means . one end of the product bracket 20 is bent , thereby being firmly coupled with the holding - down bracket 9 . the product bracket 20 comprises a plurality of the screw holes 22 for being screw - jointed with the display means . further , the product bracket 20 comprises the buckle 21 to enable it to be hung on and fixed to the fixing stopper 10 of the holding - down bracket 9 . as shown in fig5 , the connection between the display means and the product bracket 20 is accomplished by connecting screws to the holes of the back surface of the display means and to the screw holes 22 of the product bracket 20 . fig6 is a schematic view showing the connection between the connection brackets 40 and the apparatus for adjusting the angle of the display means in accordance with the present invention . with reference to fig6 , the product brackets 20 screw - connected to the display means are coupled with the corresponding holding - down brackets 9 . herein , the bending portion of the product bracket 20 is inserted into the groove of the holding - down bracket 9 in the direction of a . then , when the display means is pushed in the direction of b , the buckle 21 of the product bracket 20 is engaged with the fixing stopper 10 via the hole of the holding - down bracket 9 . elasticity of the spring 10 a is applied to the fixing stopper 10 . when the buckle 21 pushes the fixing stopper 10 , the spring 10 a expands and the fixing stopper 10 moves downward . when the buckle 21 is entirely inserted into the fixing stopper 10 , the fixing stopper 10 is again pulled by the elasticity of the spring 10 a . thereby , the product bracket 20 is coupled with the holding - down bracket 9 . fig7 is a schematic view showing the separation of the display means from the apparatus for adjusting the angle of the display means in accordance with the present invention . with reference to fig7 , when the holding - down bracket 9 pulls the fixing stopper 10 in the direction of c , the spring 10 a expands and the buckle 21 is disengaged from the fixing stopper 10 . then , when the display means ( not shown ) is pulled in the direction of d , the lower surface of the product bracket 20 is separated from the holding - down bracket 9 . the display means ( not shown ) is elevated in the direction of e . then , the bending portion of the product bracket 20 is separated from the holding - down bracket 9 , thereby entirely separation the display means from the holding - down bracket 9 . the above - described connection bracket 40 is easily attachable and detachable , thereby being very simply installed on the apparatus for adjusting the angle of the display means . as apparent from the above description , the present invention provides and apparatus for adjusting a angle of a display means , in which women or old and feeble persons can easily adjust the view angle of the display means by turning the hand lever . further , with the apparatus for a adjusting the angle of the display means of the present invention , a desirable view angle of the display means can be finely adjusted . after adjusting the view angle of the display means , the hand lever can be placed behind of the apparatus , thereby keeping its appearance clean . a motor and a module for controlling the motor may be used , thereby automatically rotating the angle adjustable shaft without manipulation of the angle adjustable hand lever . although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes , those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications , additions and substitutions are possible , without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims .	8
the present invention is an improvement over the subject matter of u . s . pat . no . 4 , 257 , 219 which utilizes an on - off valve and an adjustable valve in parallel for maintaining tension in the compacting belts of a round baler . a portion of the structure and operation of the device of the patent is similar to that of the present invention and a greatly detailed description of the baler is thereby deemed to be neither necessary nor desirable , but reference may be had to said patent if such is desired . it is believed sufficient to say for purposes of this disclosure that a cylindrical bale forming machine which embodies the present invention includes a mobile frame f which is supported in elevated and transportable position over the ground by the ground engaging wheels w . a tongue structure ( not shown ) extends forwardly of the frame and has its forward end connected to a conventional towing vehicle , such as a tractor , not shown . power is supplied to the baling machine from the power take - off shaft of the tractor , which is adapted to be connected to the machine for operating various mechanisms thereof . fig1 illustrates a variable chamber round baler 10 which includes a series of side - by - side endless belts 12 which cooperate during operation of baler 10 to define an internal bale forming chamber , in a manner as is known . in accordance with the known construction of a baler of this type , baler 10 further includes a take - up assembly 16 for accommodating variations in the size of a bale forming chamber , and a crop pick - up mechanism 18 for picking up a windrow of crop material 19 from the ground 20 and feeding crop material 19 rearwardly towards the entrance of the bale forming chamber 14 . a pair of crop inlet rollers 22 , 24 are located rearwardly of the pick - up mechanism 18 and forwardly of a floor roller 26 . inlet rollers 22 , 24 assist in moving crop material 19 rearwardly towards the opening of the bale forming chamber , and floor roller 26 rotates counter - clockwise below the bale forming chamber to rotate a bale in a clockwise direction during bale formation . baler 10 further includes a lower front gate roller 28 and a lower rear gate roller 30 . the belts 12 of baler 10 are wrapped around front gate roller 28 and help to define the bale forming chamber between front gate roller 28 and a roller 32 , with the opening into the bale forming chamber being located between rollers 28 and 32 . belts 12 are further trained about drive rollers 34 , 36 , idler roller 38 , tailgate rollers 40 , 42 , 44 and also around shuttle rollers 46 , 48 , the latter two of which are journaled on a longitudinally movable shuttle 50 . shuttle 50 is a shiftable means guided for fore and aft movement on top of the baler according to the size of the bale , as is well known . a wrap material dispensing system , generally indicated at 52 , is mounted to a lower rear portion of the baler 10 . as is known , system 52 cooperates with belts 12 to supply wrap material such as twine , plastic film , extruded web material or netted - type material into bale forming chamber 14 for wrapping around a bale after the bale is fully formed to a desired size . the main frame of baler 10 includes a pair of vertically disposed and spaced apart side walls 54 , 56 which are held apart in spaced relationship to each other by cross members 58 , 60 . a pair of large hydraulic tailgate cylinders 62 having rod ends 63 are pivoted at 64 to the frame , there being one cylinder on each side of the machine . cylinders 62 are connected at their other ends to a frame member 66 so the extension of these hydraulic cylinders acts to swing the rear end or tailgate of the baler 10 about the pivot point 65 to thereby open the rear end of the machine to discharge the completely formed bale in a known manner . in accordance with one aspect of the present invention , a hydraulic control means is provided for controlling the bale density when building a bale , for opening and closing the tailgate during bale ejection , and for positively returning the belt take - up device to the start position of the bale forming cycle . these functions are obtained through the use of a proportional valve of either the mechanical type or solenoid type . the circuit is designed so that one power source can be employed to open and close the tailgate during bale ejection and to positively return the belt to a starting position of the bale forming cycle . the control mechanism provided by the present invention includes hydraulic cylinder means in the form of large , extensible tensioning cylinders 68 , one mounted on each side of the baler 10 and pivoted at their lower cylinder ends such as at 70 to the frame of the machine . referring to one of these cylinders 68 , its rod end 72 has a chain sprocket 74 rotatably mounted thereon by means of a bracket 76 . the outer end of bracket 76 has a roller 78 journaled thereon . flexible connecting means in the form of a sprocket chain 80 extends around sprocket 74 and one of its ends is anchored at 82 to the baler frame . the sprocket chain 80 extends around a larger sprocket 84 journaled on the frame of the machine and the other end of the sprocket chain 80 is anchored on shuttle 50 . a similar chain and sprocket arrangement is provided for the cylinder 68 on the other side of the machine . a supplementary accumulator 86 is mounted on the machine and contains hydraulic fluid such as oil in the lower portion thereof , while the upper portion of accumulator 86 contains air under pressure thus constituting an air over oil or pressurized fluid accumulator . the hydraulic control mechanism also includes a mechanical type proportional valve 88 , a normally open rotary valve 90 , and an adjustable relief valve 92 positioned on a manifold 94 having a bifurcated arm 96 secured thereto . the bifurcated arm 96 is engageable with roller 78 carried by piston rod 72 when the cylinder 68 has been extended . complete extension of rod 72 cause rotary valve 90 to move to the closed position , and complete retraction of rod 72 causes rotary valve 90 to move to the open position . referring now to fig2 a first supply / return line 98 extending from hydraulic source a typically provided by the tractor has a first branch 100 and a second branch 102 . branch 100 includes a check valve 104 , as well as a check valve 106 in parallel with a flow orifice 108 and terminates at the piston end c of each tailgate cylinder 62 . branch 102 includes a check valve 110 and a filter 112 and terminates at inlet port p of proportional valve 88 . a second supply / return line 114 extending from hydraulic source b typically provided by the tractor has a first part 116 and a second part 118 . first part 116 extends directly to the rod end d of each tailgate cylinder 62 and includes a branch 120 leading to check valve 104 . second part 118 includes a check valve 122 and merges with branch 102 . the outlet port t of proportional valve 88 includes a line 124 having branches 126 , 128 and 130 . branch 126 extends through a check valve 132 and is joined to line 98 . branch 128 extends through a check valve 134 and is joined to line 114 . branch 130 connects directly to the piston end f of each tensioning cylinder 68 . the rod end e of each tensioning cylinder 68 is provided with a line 136 divided into two branches 138 and 140 . branch 138 is further subdivided into lines 142 and 144 . line 142 terminates in a pressure gauge 146 while line 144 includes a check valve 148 and terminates at inlet port rp of proportional valve 88 . branch 140 is also subdivided into two lines 150 and 152 . line 150 includes rotary valve 90 and connects to line 144 while line 152 includes relief valve 92 and joins branch 130 . in operation , before the bale starts to form , oil passes through rotary valve 90 . with rotary valve 90 open , oil takes the path of least resistance from each rod end e via line 136 , branch 140 and line 150 through valve 90 to solenoid valve 88 and returns via line 124 and branch 130 to each piston end f . depending on the setting of valve 88 , this produces a low level of tension on the compacting belts during the initial bale starting phase of the baling cycle . when the bale formation commences and the bale starts to rotate and reaches a predetermined size , valve 90 is closed and oil from each tensioning cylinder 68 is forced via line 136 , branch 140 and line 152 through relief valve 92 and returns via branch 130 to each piston end f . it should be understood that the pressure of relief valve 92 is set at a suitably high pressure which will result in high compacting tension while the bale is relatively small and consequently results in increased bale density . in this manner , the means to actuate the adjustable relief valve 92 is governed by the extended tensioning cylinder length which is directly related to the bale size . as the bale continues to grow , the shuttle 50 travels rearwardly along the top of the baler 10 , thereby causing each tensioning cylinder 68 to further extend . when the bale has reached maximum size , and the shuttle has been moved to the fully rearward position , each hydraulic cylinder 68 is fully extended . when the bale has thus been fully formed and wrapped by system 52 , it is ready to be ejected from the tailgate or rear of the baler 10 . in order to open the tailgate , oil flows from the source at a through line 98 and seeks the path of least resistance . that is , oil flows either through check valves 104 , 106 in branch 100 to piston end c of each cylinder 62 to force the tailgate open , or the oil will flow through check valve 110 and filter 112 n branch 102 to proportional valve 88 . upon fulfilling the demand or pressure and flow requirements between inlet port rp on valve 88 and rod end e of each tensioning cylinder 68 , oil will flow from outlet port t of valve 88 through line 124 , check valve 134 , branch 128 and line 114 for return to the source at b . during this mode , each tensioning cylinder 68 may be forced to retract by the regulated pressure at e . as each cylinder 68 is retracted , oil is forced out of each piston end f through branch 130 , check valve 134 , branch 128 and line 114 for return to the source at b . once the bale is ejected , the tailgate is closed by introducing oil at b through line 114 . again seeking the path of least resistance , oil may flow through part 116 directly to rod end d to retract each tailgate cylinder 62 as soon as a pressure is achieved through branch 120 which will unseat check valve 104 and permit oil to be exhausted from piston end c through flow orifice 108 and check valve 104 through line 98 to the source at a . orifice 108 slows the flow of oil from each piston end c to effectively cushion the closing of the tailgate . oil that does not flow through part 116 flows through check valve 122 and filter 112 via part 118 to proportional valve 88 and supplies the demand pressure requirements between inlet port rp of solenoid valve 88 and rod end e of each tensioning cylinder 68 . once those demands are met , the oil flows from outlet port t of valve 88 through line 124 , check valve 132 , branch 126 and line 98 back to the source at a . during this mode , each tensioning cylinder 68 may be forced to retract , causing oil from the piston end f to be forced out via branch 130 , check valve 132 , branch 126 and line 98 to the source at a . in accordance with a further aspect of the invention , instead of employing a mechanical type proportional valve 88 , rotary valve 90 and relief valve 92 , a single electrical type , solenoid proportional valve 88 &# 39 ; can be used as depicted in fig3 . in contrast with the mechanical type proportional valve 88 , solenoid valve 88 &# 39 ; allows a bale density setting to be made on the baler or preferably from a control unit that can be located in an area other than on the manifold 94 , such as adjacent the tractor seat . in the initial bale building mode with the bale very small in diameter , rods 72 &# 39 ; of each tensioning cylinder 68 &# 39 ; begin to be pulled out , creating an oil flow . oil exhausted from rod end e &# 39 ; flows through line 136 &# 39 ; to inlet port rp &# 39 ; of solenoid valve 88 &# 39 ; out of outlet port t &# 39 ; via lines 124 &# 39 ;, 130 &# 39 ; and returns to piston end f &# 39 ;. as the bale increases in size , a signal is sent to the solenoid valve 88 &# 39 ; from a bale size sensing device s 1 on the baler 10 to start increasing the pressure such that the amount of effort to extend rod 72 &# 39 ; of each tensioning cylinder 68 &# 39 ; increases proportionally with the size of the bale . solenoid valve 88 &# 39 ; can be used to vary the bale density at any time during the bale building process by simply altering the electrical signal to the valve 88 &# 39 ; whenever a bale density change is desired . for example , one signal is transmitted when starting a bale and building a soft bale core to the desired bale size , and another signal is sent increasing the pressure to maintain the high bale density when building the core of the bale . these previously mentioned density adjustments have been carried out by multi - valve circuits or mechanical arrangements such as springs with changing lever arms . the bale ejection and tailgate opening / closing modes using solenoid valve 88 &# 39 ; operate in the same fashion as previously described above in the mechanical type proportional valve arrangement . as shown in fig3 a charge circuit may be added to the main circuit for maintaining the pressure between each tensioning cylinder 68 &# 39 ; and the solenoid valve 88 &# 39 ;. although the charge circuit is shown in connection with solenoid valve 88 &# 39 ;, it should be understood that such circuit can also be used with the hydraulic circuit of fig2 where the charge circuit is defined by accumulator 86 . charge circuit comprises continuous pump 154 supplying oil from a separate source 156 via line 158 to the junction between rod end e &# 39 ; and inlet port rp &# 39 ;. the addition of charge pump 154 maintains steady , even pressure to each tensioning cylinder 68 &# 39 ; which is especially useful when harvesting a light crop or when the crop is not feeding commensurately with the running baler . the inclusion of charge pump 154 will always maintain the desired compacting force on the bale and provides a welcome improvement over complex accumulator and spring arrangements used in the prior art . the solenoid valve 88 &# 39 ; and circuit shown in fig3 is preferably controlled by a microprocessor 160 which can monitor signals from sensor s 1 which affects bale density . other sensors s 2 - s 6 on the baler could further monitor bale rpm , crop moisture , horsepower demands , belt tension , and bale weight . this electronic control concept can also be used to compensate for changing lever arm lengths in the belt take - up arms so as to maintain the desired belt tension during the entire bale building process . in addition , the electronic control could include a manual override to manually adjust the desired bale parameter . in fig4 a singular solenoid type proportional valve 88 &# 34 ; is placed in series with a charge pump 154 &# 34 ; in fluid supply line 114 &# 34 ; and is connected at one end to fluid source 55 &# 34 ; and at the other end to tensioning cylinder 68 &# 34 ;. return line 98 &# 34 ; is connected at one end to solenoid proportional valve 88 &# 34 ; and at the other end to fluid source 55 &# 34 ;. again , in this version , solenoid valve 88 &# 34 ; operates to control pressure requirements between the tensioning cylinder 68 &# 34 ; and the source 55 &# 34 ; and vary the bale density as desired . as long as fluid source 55 &# 34 ; is pressurized , it should be appreciated that charge pump 154 &# 34 ; may be eliminated . it should be appreciated that the subject invention provides a hydraulic circuit for a variable chamber round baler that will control bale density and the actuation of the baler tailgate . the circuit employs a single proportional valve and an array of check valves to control the oil flow and pressure to and from the hydraulic cylinders that apply tension to the bale forming arrangement and provide for bale ejection . the hydraulic circuit is designed so that a central power source can be used to open and close the tailgate during bale ejection , return the belt take - up device to its start position and provide for various belt densities . such operations are currently performed in the prior art by directional control valves which require two - directional oil flow into the bale tensioning circuit unlike the present invention which is a regenerative circuit that allows oil flow to enter the bale density circuit through one passage and exit through another . while the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment , those skilled in the art will appreciate that certain substitutions , alterations and omissions may be made without departing from the spirit thereof . accordingly , the foregoing description is meant to be exemplary only , and should not be deemed limitative on the scope of the invention set forth with the following claims .	0
the handle casing 3 is supported on a tool housing 2 by means of an elastic connecting means 7 , here a leaf spring . below , the terms elastic connecting means 7 and leaf spring are used synonymously . the leaf spring 7 here has a first end ( non - visible ) and a second end 72 , wherein it is connected by its first end fixedly to the tool housing 2 . the handle casing 3 is supported at the second end 72 of the leaf spring 7 on the top side 73 thereof , so that it can compress both in the horizontal and in the vertical direction . a relative movement of several millimeters between the tool housing 2 and the handle casing 3 is thereby possible . between the tool housing 2 and the handle casing 3 is provided a bellows element 21 , so that the relative movement between the tool housing 2 and the handle casing 3 is possible without damaging the tool housing 2 or the handle casing 3 . inserted detachably in the handle casing 3 is a grip molding 31 , so that machine components disposed in the handle casing 3 are accessible from outside . the electric machine tool 1 of this illustrative embodiment is a hammer drill , which can be adjusted by means of an operating mode switch 41 into the “ drilling ”, “ hammer drilling ” and “ chipping ” operating modes . the operating mode switch 41 is a component part of a first actuating device 4 , which further comprises a slide bar 42 . the slide bar 42 is displaceable by adjustment of the operating mode switch 41 in or counter to a sliding direction 43 from one of the operating modes into another of the operating modes . for this , the operating mode switch 41 comprises cams ( not visible ), which displace the slide bar 42 against the force of a compression spring 44 , supported on the tool housing 2 , in the displacement direction 43 when adjustment is made from one operating mode into the other operating mode . to the slide bar 42 is fixed a first end 61 of a switching connector 6 . in the present illustrative embodiment , the first end 61 is hooked on under the preload of a spring 63 . however , embodiments in which the switching connector 6 is fixedly connected to the slide bar 42 , for instance by screwing or clipping , are also preferred . a second end 62 of the switching connector 6 is fixed to a tilt lever part 51 of a second actuating device 5 , of which only the tilt lever part 51 is visible here . the second actuating device 5 of this illustrative embodiment is a locking device . below , the terms second actuating device 5 and locking device are used synonymously . to be precise , the second end 62 is hooked here in the tilt lever part 51 , which is of hook - shaped configuration . it is also preferred , however , to fixedly connect the second end 62 to the second actuating device 5 . also preferred is an embodiment in which the second actuating device 5 comprises , instead of a tilt lever part 51 , a sliding part ( not represented ), to which the second end 62 of the switching connector 6 is fixed . by means of the locking device 5 , a switching device 9 , configured here as a pawl , can be locked in a switch - on position . below , the terms switching device 9 and pawl are used synonymously . the pawl 9 here has an upper pawl part 91 for the adjustment into the switch - on position and a lower pawl part 92 for the resetting into the switch - off position . by means of the pawl 9 , an electric switch 8 can be switched , wherein the electric switch 9 switches a circuit ( not shown ), which in the switch - on position of the pawl 9 is closed , so that the electric machine tool 1 is driven , and in the switch - off position of the pawl 9 is open , so that the electric machine tool 1 is switched off . when the operating mode switch 41 is adjusted from “ drilling operation ” or from “ hammer drilling operation ” into “ chipping operation ”, the slide bar 42 is displaced in the displacement direction 43 by means of the cam contour of the operating mode switch 41 . the slide bar 42 thereby pulls on the switching connector 6 , so that the locking device 5 is adjusted out of a basic position against an adjusting force ( here indicated by the arrow 52 ) by means of the tilt lever part 51 into a locking position . when the upper pawl part 91 is pressed , or if the upper pawl part 91 is already pressed , the pawl 9 is thus locked in the switch - on position . by pressing of the lower pawl part 92 , the pawl 9 is adjusted from the switch - on position into the switch - off position . when the operating mode switch 41 is reset from “ chipping operation ” into “ drilling operation ” or into “ hammer drilling operation ”, the slide bar 42 is displaced against the sliding direction 43 with the aid of the compression spring 44 . since the switching connector 6 is invariable in length , it follows the sliding movement of the slide bar 42 , so that the locking device 5 is reset from the locking position into the basic position . the locking device 5 is here drawn back into the basic position by means of the adjusting force 52 , whereupon the switching connector 6 is subjected to tensile load . both in the adjustment of the locking device from the basic position into the locking position and in the resetting from the locking position into the basic position , the switching connector 6 is therefore subjected only to tensile load . moreover , the switching connector 6 , in the embodiment as a band , can also withstand only tensile load . the electric switch 8 , the pawl 9 and the locking device 5 are here accessible from outside by detachment and removal of the grip molding 31 . the switching connector 6 is supported on the leaf spring 7 . due to the spring preload of the leaf spring 7 , the switching connector 6 also bears against the leaf spring 7 in the event of relative movements of the handle casing 3 in relation to the tool housing 2 . since the length of the leaf spring 7 does not change , that part of the switching connector 6 which bears against the leaf spring 7 also remains unchanged or substantially unchanged . the distance between the first end 61 of the switching connector 6 and the second end 62 of the switching connector 6 , despite the relative movement of the handle casing 3 to the tool housing 2 , therefore also remains unchanged or virtually unchanged , so that both the slide bar 42 and the locking device 5 remain in their position and the operating mode of the electric machine tool 1 does not change . upon the displacement of the slide bar 42 , a magnet 10 , with which a hall sensor ( not represented ) disposed in the speed control unit ( not represented ) is switched , is here simultaneously displaced . in chipping operation , the “ turbo mode ” motor function of the electric machine tool 1 can hence additionally be activated .	1
the accompanyng drawings show , in general terms , a key safe or lock box b of the type referred to in prior u . s . pat . no . 3 , 800 , 576 . the box has a front wall 13 , peripheral walls 13a and a rear wall 13b . the front wall is formed with a generally rectangular opening 15 normally closed by a door d . the door has a case conveniently made of two parts , a front housing member 21 and a rear housing member 23 detachably secured together by screws ( not shown ). the case is internally recessed to accommodate a combination lock assembly generally indicated by the reference numeral 31 like that of the above mentioned patent . in fact , much of the internal structure of the lock is identical to that in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 800 , 576 . to avoid distracting from which is new in the present invention , only so much of the internal components of the present lock box are shown and will be described as are necessary for an understanding of the present invention . it follows that the internal components of the door of the present invention will be assumed to be like that in said patent unless otherwise stated . a slide generally entitled 33 , in the form of a yoke ( fig3 and 5 ) cooperates with the combination wheels so that stops 50 ( fig5 ) on each side of the yoke are disposed in close proximity to the peripheries of the three combination wheels , to normally prevent retracting sliding movement of the slide . however , when the wheels are turned so that notches ( not shown ) in them coincide with the stops 50 , the slide 33 can be moved retroactively ( downwardly ). it is urged upwardly by a spring arrangement ( not shown ) but disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 800 , 576 . there is a latch bolt 37 for latching engagement with a lip or flange 38 formed on the front housing member 21 . the latch bolt is formed with a vertically elongated slot 37a , and coil compression springs 39 urge the latch bolt upwardly to its fig3 position . the slot 37a receives a reduced portion of a retract shaft 41 . the retract shaft 41 ( fig3 ) has a manual contact button 47 on its outer end , the shaft projecting through a slot 49 formed in front housing member 21 , and passing through a bore 33a ( fig5 ) formed in an upwardly projecting portion 33b of the slide 33 . a screw 61 ( fig3 ) threads into the inner and of the retract shaft 41 to retain a coil compression spring 63 in position in a recessed portion 37b of the latch bolt 37 . the spring urges the latch bolt to assume a flush position with a rear face portion 33c of the yoke portion 33b ( compare fig1 and 3 ). it is evident from fig3 and 4 that there is sufficient space between the face 33c and the head 61 as to permit the latch bolt to tilt from the fig3 position to the fig4 position . the latch bolt at its lower portion has a pair of stops 71 ( compare fig4 and 5 ) which at their upper ends flank a guide element 73 designed to fit in a channel 75 ( fig5 ) formed in the yoke 33 . in the closed position of the door , the lower edges of the stops 71 are disposed just above stop shoulders 77 ( fig5 ) formed on the yoke 33 . thus , in the closed position of the door , if the lock box is struck in a downward direction against an abutment in an attempt to cause the latch bolt 37 , under inertial forces , to move downwardly to an unlocking position , the stop elements 71 come into immediate contact with the stop shoulders 77 and prohibit downward releasing movement of the latch bolt . however , when the door d is moved to its open position , at a time when the combination wheels are turned to permit downward releasing movement of the release shaft , and thus of the yoke 33 and latch bolt 37 , the door must be subsequently closed , after usage of the stored key ( not shown ) is over . in order to achieve automatic retracting movement of the latch bolt 37 , the door has been designed so that there is sufficient space between the recessed face 33d of the yoke and the screw head 61 to permit camming edges 37c on the bolt , when they come into contact with flange 38 , to cause the latch bolt to tilt to the fig4 position , where the stop elements 71 are moved to a position out of register with the stop shoulders 77 . this permits the camming contact of the latch bolt 37 with the flange 38 to cam the latch bolt in a retracting , downward direction so that it automatically moves under the flange 38 . once clear of the flange 38 , the latch bolt 37 is forced upward into its locked position behind flange 38 by the coil springs 39 which are contained between the guide lug 73 ( fig3 and 5 ) and a shelf 81 formed on the yoke 33 . at the same time , the coil spring at 63 will urge the tilt bolt to return to its normal position , shown in fig3 with the stop elements 71 returning to a position registering with the stop shoulder 77 .	8
fig1 shows an prior art exemplary layer of read - only memory ( rom ) 101 . rom 101 includes rows of wires 103 , columns of wires 105 , and interconnects 107 . rows 103 and columns 105 , are in different planes , so that they do not intersect . although they need not be perpendicular to each other , rows of wires 103 and columns of wires 105 are arranged so that they cross each other . the presence of one of interconnects 107 at a row and column crossing yields information that is permanently stored thereat . interconnects 107 may be a resistor with a higher resistance than the materials making up rows of wires 103 and columns of wires 105 , a non - linear element such as a diode transistor , or the like . note that more than one bit of information can be represented at a crossing of a single row and a single column , depending on the type of interconnect used . for example , if resistors of different 16 values were employed , each crossing could represent four bits . fig2 shows a cross - sectional view of an arrangement of multiple arrays of read - only memory 201 , which included read only memory arrays 201 - 1 through 201 - n , each of which is located in a separate layer , in accordance with an aspect of the invention . each of memory arrays 201 is similar in structure to rom 101 . located below memory arrays 201 , in accordance with the principles of the invention , is decode - select circuitry 203 . decode - select circuitry 203 includes address decoders and output selectors for use in accessing the information stored in memory arrays 201 . note that conductive bridges 205 electrically connect the interrupted rows and / or columns of ones of memory arrays 201 through decode - select circuitry 203 , in accordance with an aspect of the invention . this is described in further detail herein - below . an address decoder cell , as used herein is at least the driver of a row and any partial circuitry required to select that driver . thus , address decoder cells may be self contained , or they may share circuitry amongst themselves . the result of the address decoder is output signals , each of which drives a single row of one of memory arrays 201 . an output selector cell , as used herein , is at least the selector of a column which allows the data on the selected column to pass through it , e . g ., to an amplifier , to the exclusion of the other columns . this may be made up of a gating function , e . g ., implemented by a single transistor , and any partial circuitry required to select that gating function . thus , output selector cells may be self contained , or they may share circuitry amongst themselves . the result of the output selector is a selection of one column of each of memory arrays 201 from which data will be read . in one embodiment of the invention the regular spacing between the wires that make up the rows of each memory layer as well as the spacing between the wires that make up the column of each memory layer is the minimum spacing that can be etched , so as to maximize memory cell density . if such regular spacing were to be employed for each and every wire , there would be no room to connect the wires to the row decoders or output selectors at their different layer , which is necessary to make the memory useful . therefore , in accordance with an aspect of the invention , gaps are left between ones of the row wires or the column wires of a memory layer , so that connections may be made between a ) rows and / or columns and b ) the respective row decoder and / or output selector . for the rows , one gap needs to be left for each row decoder that underlies the rows . for example , for an n × m memory , where n is the number of rows and is m is the number of columns , there are required n row decoder cells and m output selector cells . thus , if identical row decoder cells are used , and they are arranged in an array of j rows by k columns , there will be k gaps in the m columns of column wires . similarly , if identical column select cells are used , and they are arranged in an array of r rows by s columns , there will be r gaps in the n rows of row wires . to illustrate this , fig6 shows an exemplary row decoder structure for an 8 × 32 memory . row decoder cells 603 are arranged in 1 row of 8 columns , i . e ., j = 1 and k = 8 . this results in 8 gaps 607 within the 32 columns of wires 605 . similarly , fig7 shows an exemplary column select structure for an 8 × 32 memory . the column select cells 703 are arranged in 4 row of 8 columns , i . e ., r = 4 and s = 8 . thus , there are 4 gaps 707 within the 8 rows of wires 705 . for a more detailed view , fig3 shows a read only memory structure 301 including one memory array plane and its underlying decode - select circuitry . shown are rows 303 , including a ) rows 303 - 1 through 303 - n ; b ) columns 305 , including columns 305 - 1 through 305 - m ; c ) various interconnects 307 ; d ) row drivers 309 ; e ) column selectors 311 ; f ) row gaps 313 ; g ) row driver connects 315 ; h ) column selector connectors 317 ; and column gaps 323 . elements 303 , 305 , and 307 make up the memory array plane , while elements 309 , 311 , 315 , 317 , as well as logic circuitry ( not explicitly shown ) which is embedded in substrate 319 , make up the decode select circuitry for the memory array plane . at each point where one of rows 303 is connected to one of columns 305 by a one of interconnects 307 , a bit is stored . row drivers 309 carry the signals which are the output of row decoders . these signals are coupled to the various ones of rows 303 via row driver connects 315 . column selectors 311 carry signals which indicate the presence of bits as a function of the row being driven . more specifically , such signals 1 ) originate from the one of row drivers 309 for the one of rows 303 being driven and are coupled to that row via one of row driver connects 315 ; 2 ) pass via one of interconnects 307 , if any , to the column being read ; and 3 ) proceed via one of column slectors 311 from the column being read to its corresponding column selector . however , only if a particular column is selected to be read by the decode - select cells is the signal from the column passed on . within substrate 319 , at least a portion of the row decoder which drives a particular row drivers 309 is located within the vicinity of row driver 309 , e . g ., within a region that lies between two neighboring row drivers 309 . similarly , within substrate 319 , at least a portion of the column selector which selects a particular column via column selector 311 is located within the vicinity of column selector 311 . note that not all of the row driving circuitry or column selecting circuitry need be within the specified vicinities , as it may be desirable to predecode portions of the row and column addresses . furthermore , any conventional decoding technique may be employed , e . g ., serial decoding , random access , or any combination thereof . all the components of read only memory structure 301 which are shown in fig3 except interconnects 307 , are low impedance . interconnects 307 may be a high impedance type of device , e . g ., a resistor , or it may be a substantially directional device , e . g ., a diode . in the conventional manner , when interconnects 307 are a high impedance type of device , such as a resistor , then the size of the memory array is limited by the ratio of the impedance of the interconnects to the combined impedances of the other conductors to which it is connected . as is known , the size limit of the memory array is relaxed when using substantially directional devices . row gaps 313 are strategically located between rows 303 so that connections may be made from columns 305 to the decode select circuitry located on a different level . in the embodiment of the invention shown in fig3 rows 303 are located between columns 305 and column selectors 311 in the z - direction . in order to fit in a column selector connector 317 a gap at least the size of one of column selectors 317 is needed so that there is space between the row wires for the column selector connector to drop through without the connector touching any other feature of memory structure 301 . column gaps 323 serve a similar purpose to row gaps 313 , but are only necessary if there were additional memory array planes incorporated into memory structure 301 above the memory array plane shown in fig3 . if there was at least one such an additional memory plane , columns 305 would be located between the rows of that additional memory plane and the row drivers for that memory plane in the z - direction . however , column gaps alone are insufficient when using wires that are minimally spaced , i . e ., no feature can be fit in between the wires . this is because , the rows of an additional memory , such as noted above , plane would run directly above the rows of the memory plane shown in fig3 . thus , there is no clear space through which a row connector can be run to the additional memory plane . therefore , in accordance with the principles of the invention , a break is introduced in the rows 303 , as was described in connection with fig2 . such a two memory plane structure is shown in fig4 for one row and column of fig3 and one row and column of the additional memory plane . in particular , a single row 403 and single column 405 are shown in fig4 for the additional memory plane , as is a single row driver connect 415 and a single column selector connector 417 . note that the row 303 which was previously a single unbroken row 303 in the memory array plane shown in fig3 has been replaced by two row segments 303 , namely row segments 303 - a and 303 - b . similarly , the row driver connect 315 which previously served the single row 303 has been replaced by two row driver connects 315 , namely row driver connects 315 - a and 315 - b . note that , as shown in fig4 row driver connect 315 - a serves row segment 303 - a while row driver connect 315 - b serves row segment 303 - b . the two row segments 303 - a and 303 - b are connected in the decode - select circuitry , as they are commonly driven . in a like manner , column 305 , which was previously a single unbroken column in the memory array plane shown in fig3 has been replaced by two column segments 305 , namely column segments 305 - a and 305 - b . similarly , the column selector connect 317 which previously served the single column 305 has been replaced by two column selector connects 317 , namely column selector connects 317 - a and 317 - b . note that , as shown in fig4 column selector connect 317 - a serves column segment 305 - a while column selector connect 317 - b serves column segment 305 - b . the two column segments 305 - a and 305 - b are connected in the decode - select circuitry , as the signal from each of them is connected to the same selector input 205 . if even further memory array planes are employed , the rows and columns of each plane except the topmost plane are segmented , as described . the gap between each lower row and column is increased for each plane that is added . if , instead of adding the additional memory array plane on top of the existing memory array plane shown in fig3 the additional memory array plane is added below the decode - select circuitry within substrate 319 , no gap would be necessary . however , any further memory array planes , whether above that shown in fig3 or below that added below substrate 319 , would require the introduction of gaps in the memory planes closer to substrate 319 . in accordance with an aspect of the invention , less than all , and preferably only one , of the columns selected for reading at any particular time . all the other columns that are not currently being read are terminated in a low impedance . this may be achieved by employing the read circuit shown in fig5 . the state of control signal 501 determines whether the one of columns 305 connected to the read circuit is being read or is connected to low impedance . if control signal 501 is a logic 1 , then transistor 507 is on and output 509 takes the value of the one of columns 305 . inverter 503 causes a logic 0 to be applied to transistor 505 , causing it to be off . conversely , if control signal 501 is a logic 0 , then transistor 507 is off , disconnecting the one of columns 305 from output 509 . however , inverter 503 causes a logic 1 to be applied to transistor 505 , turning it on . this causes the one of columns 305 to be connected to ground , which is a low impedance . advantageously , cross talk is reduced , allowing the memory array to be larger . the foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the invention . it will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements which , although not explicitly described or shown herein , embody the principles of the invention and are included within its spirit and scope .	7
hereinafter , illustrative embodiments of the disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings . fig1 is a pictorial view depicting a configuration of a data integration system according to an illustrative embodiment of the disclosure . the data integration system includes a scientific calculator 10 , which is an information display device that is to be used by a student , a communication device 20 with a camera such as a tablet pc having a camera , which is to be used by a student or a teacher , and a compute server 30 . the scientific calculator 10 has a function of converting a variety of data relating to calculation into a two - dimensional code such as a qr code ( registered trademark ) and displaying the same . the communication device 20 is configured to capture a display image of the two - dimensional code with the auxiliary camera thereof , to access the compute server 30 through a communication network n such as the internet in accordance with data obtained from the acquired two - dimensional code , and to transmit calculation target data to the compute server 30 . the compute server 30 is configured to integrate the calculation target data transmitted from the respective scientific calculators 10 for each group to which the students belong , to generate integrated calculation result data based on the calculation target data and to output the integrated calculation result data to the communication device 20 . the communication device 20 is configured to receive the integrated calculation result data and to display the same on its own display device or to output the same to a projector p for enlargement display . also , in the below , a specific example where three students a , b and c belonging to the same group collect and input sample data of heights x and weights y of japanese , us and german children to the scientific calculators ( the information display devices ) 10 , respectively , and learn the statistics by a statistical calculation function of the scientific calculator using the sample data is described . when a command of code display is received from a user , the scientific calculator 10 converts the calculation target data of statistical calculation into a two - dimensional code including a homepage ( hp ) address of the calculation server ( server apparatus ) 30 and displays the same on a display unit 12 , as a two - dimensional code image . each of the students a , b and c captures the two - dimensional code image displayed on the scientific calculator 10 by the communication device 20 , so that content data of the two - dimensional code is transmitted to the compute server 30 . in the meantime , the communication device 20 is not limited to the tablet pc having a camera , and may be a pda ( personal digital assistants ) having a camera , a smart phone having a camera , a note pc ( personal computer ) having a camera or having a camera connected thereto , and the like . also , while the two communication devices 20 are depicted in fig1 , the communication device 20 is prepared for each student and each teacher . also , the one scientific calculator 10 is just representatively depicted . actually , the scientific calculators 10 are prepared in correspondence to the number of students . also , the scientific calculator 10 may be additionally provided for the teacher . the scientific calculator 10 has a small size so that the user can sufficiently grip and operate the same with one hand , due to the necessity of portability . a front surface of a main body of the scientific calculator 10 is provided with a key input unit 11 and a display unit 12 . the key input unit 11 includes a numeric / operation symbol key group 111 for inputting a numeric value and a expression or instructing execution of calculation , a mathematical function key group 112 for inputting a variety of mathematical functions or starting a memory function , a mode setting key group 113 for displaying menu screens of various operation modes and instructing settings of the various operation modes , and a cursor key 114 for moving a cursor displayed on the display unit 12 and selecting a data item . as the numeric / operation symbol key group 111 , [ 0 ] to [ 9 ] ( the numeric value ) keys , [+][−][×][÷] ( four arithmetic operations ) keys , [ ans ] [=] ( execution ) key , [ ac ] ( clear ) key and the like are arranged . as the mathematical function key group 112 , [ x − 1 ] ( reciprocal ) key , [√□] ( root ) key , [□/□] ( fraction ) key , [ sin ] ( sine ) key and the like are arranged . as the mode setting key group 113 , [ mode ] ( mode ) key , [ shift ] ( shift ) key , [ alpha ] ( alphabet ) key , [ on ] ( power - on ) key and the like are arranged . in the meantime , the keys of the numeric / operation symbol key group 111 and the mathematical function key group 112 are respectively configured so that when the corresponding key is continuously operated after the [ shift ] key is operated , it functions as a key described above the key , not a key function described on a top of the key . the display unit 12 consists of a liquid crystal display unit of a dot matrix type . fig2 is a block diagram depicting a configuration of an electronic circuit of a scientific calculator 10 . here , one of the scientific calculators 10 a , 10 b , 10 c possessed by the plurality of students a , b , c is described as the scientific calculator 10 . an electronic circuit of the scientific calculator 10 has a cpu 13 , which is a computer , a memory 14 and a recording medium reading unit 15 , in addition to the key input unit 11 and the display unit 12 . also , as shown with the dotted line in fig2 , the electronic circuit may have a wireless communication unit 16 . the cpu 13 is configured to control operations of the respective units of the electronic circuit and to execute a variety of arithmetic processing , in response to a expression calculation processing program 141 stored in the memory 14 . the expression calculation processing program 141 cannot be rewritten by a user &# 39 ; s operation on the key input unit 11 . in the memory 14 , a unique id 142 is also stored as user - unrewritable information . the unique id 142 is an id specific to each scientific calculator 10 . in the memory 14 , an input data area 143 is secured so as to store data that can be rewritten by the user , in addition to the user - unrewritable information . here , the input data area 143 is sequentially input with data from the key input unit 11 and stores therein expression data and table data . in addition , the input data area 143 stores therein statistical functions , function types such as calculation types and data necessary for statistical calculation . the wireless communication unit 16 has a function of performing communication with an external device , such as bluetooth ( registered trademark ) and infrared communication . in the scientific calculator 10 configured as described above , the cpu 13 controls the operations of the respective units of the electronic circuit in accordance with commands described in the expression calculation processing program 141 , thereby implementing a display control function as described later . each of the communication devices 20 a , 20 b , 20 c is configured to capture the two - dimensional code image displayed on the display unit 12 of each of the scientific calculators 10 a , 10 b , 10 c and to transmit the content data of the captured two - dimensional code image to the compute server 30 of which a homepage ( hp ) address is preset , through the communication network n . fig3 is a block diagram of a configuration of an electronic circuit of the compute server 30 . the electronic circuit of the compute server 30 has a cpu 31 , which is a computer , a memory 32 , a recording medium 33 , a recording medium reading unit 34 , and a communication unit 35 . also , as shown with the dotted line in fig3 , the electronic circuit may have a key input unit 36 or a display unit 37 . the cpu 31 is configured to control operations of the respective units of the electronic circuit , in response to a server control program 321 stored in advance in the memory 32 , thereby executing a variety of processing in accordance with the content data ( hereinafter , referred to as barcode content data ) of the two - dimensional code ( qr code ) from the communication device 20 received at the communication unit 35 . the server control program 321 may be read from the recording medium 33 such as a memory card into the memory 32 through the recording medium reading unit 34 or may be downloaded from a web server ( not shown ) on the communication network n to the memory 32 through the communication unit 35 . in the memory 32 , a registration data memory 322 for registering the barcode content data received from the communication device 20 for each group id is secured . in the registration data memory 322 , a dedicated data area 322 for each group id is prepared , and the barcode content data obtained from the scientific calculator 10 of each student is registered for each group . in an embodiment 1 of this illustrative embodiment , the group id stored in the compute server 30 is registered in advance by an access from the communication device 20 of the teacher who is in charge of the corresponding group . when the first barcode content data is received from the communication device 20 of the student , the compute server 30 requests the communication device 20 to input a group id . when the student inputs a group id , the compute server 30 registers the received barcode content data ( including an calculator - unique id ) in the dedicated data area 322 . in an embodiment 2 of this illustrative embodiment , when an access from the communication device 20 of the teacher is made , a group id of a group that is handled by the teacher and the calculator - unique ids of the respective students belonging to the corresponding group are associated and registered in advance . in the embodiment 2 , the barcode content data received from the communication device 20 of the student is registered in the dedicated data area of the corresponding group id , in accordance with the calculator - unique id included in the barcode content data . in the compute server 30 configured as described above , the cpu 31 controls the operations of the respective units of the electronic circuit in accordance with commands described in the server control program 321 and the software and the hardware operate in cooperation with each other , so that a server processing function as described later is implemented . the communication device 20 may display integrated calculated data and calculation result data received from the compute server 30 through the communication network n on a display unit 21 and enlarge , project and display the same through the connected projector p . subsequently , operations of the data integration system having the above configuration are described . fig6 is a flowchart depicting server processing ( embodiment 1 ) of the compute server 30 . fig8 a , 8 b , 8 c , 8 d , 8 e and 8 f illustrate transition of a display operation associated with the registration of the group id by the teacher &# 39 ; s communication device 20 , a display operation at a statistical mode of the scientific calculator 10 a of the student a and a display operation associated with an access of the communication device 20 a of the student a to the compute server 30 . in the below descriptions , the processing of the scientific calculator 10 , the communication device 20 and the compute server 30 is mixed over time . therefore , before the description , the symbol & lt ; & gt ; is used so as to indicate in which apparatus the processing is to be executed . first , the operations of the compute server 30 ( embodiment 1 ) are described with reference to fig6 . when it is determined that the teacher &# 39 ; s communication device 20 accesses a group id registration site of the homepage ( hp ) of the compute server 30 ( step s 301 ), a group id registration screen gr for urging the user to input a group id and an email address is transmitted to the communication device 20 , which is a source of the access , and is displayed on the display unit 21 ( step s 302 ), as shown in fig8 a . when a group id [ abc123 ] of a group , which is handled by the teacher , and an email address [ abc @ def . ghi . com ] are input and an [ ok ] key is operated at the teacher &# 39 ; s communication device 20 in accordance with the group id registration screen gr , the input group id and email address are transmitted to the compute server 30 . in the compute server 30 , the group id and email address transmitted from the teacher &# 39 ; s communication device 20 are registered in the registration data memory 322 ( step s 303 ), and the dedicated data area 322 for the corresponding group id is prepared ( step s 304 ). fig4 is a flowchart depicting display control processing of the scientific calculator 10 . when a statistical calculation function is selected in a calculation function list menu ( not shown ) ( step s 101 ), which is displayed as the [ mode ] key of the scientific calculator ( information display device ) 10 a of the student a is operated , the operation mode is set to the statistical mode and a statistical calculation type list menu mc for designating a type of the statistical calculation is displayed on the display unit 12 , as shown in fig8 b . when the user designates a desired calculation type ( here , [ 2 : a + bx ] to bivariate statistical calculation ; primary regression ) ( step s 102 ), a table data input screen ( bivariate input screen ) gi for inputting computational element ( table ) data in the bivariate statistical calculation is displayed , as shown in fig8 c . when the computational element data ( here , sample data of heights x and weights y of japanese junior high school girls ) is input on the table data input screen ( bivariate input screen ) gi , the designated calculation type ( bivariate statistical calculation ) and the input element data x , y are stored in the input data area 143 of the memory 14 ( step s 103 ). here , when the [ qr ] ([ shift ]+[ optn ]) key of the key input unit 11 is operated ( step s 104 ), a two - dimensional code is generated and displayed as shown in fig8 d ( step s 105 ). the two - dimensional code includes the homepage ( hp ) address of the compute server 30 , a unique id ( xxxx1 ) of the main calculator , a calculation function type ( bivariate statistical calculation ; primary regression ), functional computational data ( computational element data ( x , y )), setting information and the others , which are two - dimensionally coded . the setting information includes setting information of various modes such as an angle mode , a rounding mode , a display mode and the like . when the [=] key is operated to instruct calculation execution ( step s 106 ( yes )) after the statistical calculation is designated and the computational element data ( x , y ) is input in accordance with the processing of steps s 101 to s 103 , the statistical calculation ( bivariate statistical calculation ; primary regression ) of the designated type is executed ( step s 107 ). at this time , based on the computational element data ( x , y ), parameters a , b of a regression formula ( y = a + bx ), a correlation coefficient r , a determination coefficient r 2 , and an average square error mse are calculated and displayed on the display unit 12 , as statistical calculation result data ( step s 108 ). when the [ qr ] key is operated ( step s 109 ) after the designated statistical calculation is executed , the homepage ( hp ) address of the compute server 30 , the unique id ( xxxx1 ) of the main calculator , the calculation function type being executed ( the statistical calculation function and the calculation type ( bivariate statistical calculation ; primary regression )), the statistical calculation result data , the setting information and the others are two - dimensionally coded as the barcode content data and displayed the display unit 12 ( step s 110 ). at this time , when the computational element data is input again , the processing returns to step s 102 ( step s 111 to s 102 ), and otherwise to step s 101 . fig5 is a flowchart depicting communication device processing of the communication device 20 . when the two - dimensional code image q displayed on the display unit 12 of the scientific calculator 10 a of the student a is captured by the communication device ( e . g ., tablet pc ) 20 a of the student a , as shown in fig8 e , the contents of the two - dimensional code image q are decoded ( step s 201 ). then , the calculator - unique id ( xxxx1 ), the calculation function type ( the statistical calculation function and the calculation type ( bivariate statistical calculation ; primary regression )), the functional computational data ( the computational element data ( x , y )), the setting information , and the others , which are the content data of the barcode , are transmitted to the compute server 30 through the communication network n ( step s 202 ) ( refer to fig2 ). when the compute server 30 receives the barcode content data from the communication device 20 a of the student a , the calculation server determines that the access to the processing site of the calculator calculation data is made ( step s 305 ( yes )). then , the received barcode content data ‘ the calculator - unique id ( xxxx1 ), the calculation function type ( the statistical calculation function and the calculation type ( bivariate statistical calculation ; primary regression )), the functional computational data ( computational element data ( x , y )), the setting information , and the others ’ is temporarily preserved in the memory 32 ( step s 306 ). also , a communication path between the compute server 30 and the communication device 20 a of the student a is established at a point of time that the barcode content data is received , and then the communication is performed one - on - one between the compute server 30 and the communication device 20 a of the student a . thereby , the barcode content data is associated with a group id , which is to be received thereafter , in the compute server 30 . when it is determined that the barcode content data temporarily preserved in the memory 32 is data of the statistical calculation function ( step s 307 ( yes )), it is determined whether the barcode content data includes the functional computational data ( computational element data ( x , y )) ( or includes the statistical calculation result data ), too ( step s 308 ). here , when it is determined that the barcode content data includes the functional computational data ( step s 308 ( yes )), too , the statistical calculation based on the functional computational data ( x , y ) is executed , in response to the calculation function type ( statistical calculation ) and the calculation type ( bivariate statistical calculation ; primary regression ). as a result of the calculation , image data gs ( refer to fig8 f ) of a calculation result including data ka such as the number of data , average values , minimum values , maximum values and the like of the heights x and weights y , and a graph image ( scatter diagram ) gs 1 is prepared and transmitted to the communication device 20 a ( step s 309 ). at this time , the prepared graph image ( scatter diagram ) gs 1 is prepared with the red plot points . in the meantime , the image data gs ( refer to fig8 f ) of the calculation result is added with a pull - down menu pc for calculation type designation request for enabling a user to designate a calculation type , and the calculation type of the pull - down menu pc is set to ‘ scatter diagram ’, as a default . when the image data gs ( refer to fig8 f ) of the calculation result is transmitted , an icon h ( refer to fig8 f ) ‘ move to page for data share ’ for sharing and integrating the calculation result data among the students belonging to the same group is also transmitted ( step s 310 ). when the communication device 20 a of the student a receives the image data gs of the calculation result and the icon h ‘ move to page for data share ’ transmitted from the compute server 30 , a server homepage ( hp ) screen in which the icon h is incorporated in the image data gs of the calculation result is displayed on the display unit 21 , as shown in fig8 f ( step s 203 ). in the server homepage ( hp ) screen , the icon h ‘ move to page for data share ’ is touched , the designation content is transmitted to the compute server 30 ( step s 204 ). when the compute server 30 receives the designation content ‘ move to page for data share ’ of the icon h from the communication device 20 a ( step s 311 ( yes )), it is determined whether the calculator - unique id ( xxxx1 ), which is included in the barcode content data temporarily stored in the registration data memory 322 of the memory 32 in step s 306 , has been registered ( step s 312 ). when it is determined that the calculator - unique id ( xxxx1 ) has not been registered ( step s 312 ( no )), a request for input of a group id ( refer to fig9 a ) is transmitted to the communication device 20 a of the student a ( step s 313 ). fig9 a , 9 b and 9 c depict display operations on the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( at a state where only the barcode content data from the calculator 10 a of the student a is preserved ) at the communication device 20 a of the student a . when the communication device 20 a of the student a receives the request for input of the group id transmitted from the compute server 30 , a group id input window wi is displayed ( step s 205 ), as shown in fig9 a . on the group id input window wi , when a group id ( here , ‘ abc123 ’) of the student a is input by the user &# 39 ; s operation , the input group id is transmitted to the compute server 30 ( step s 204 ). when the compute server 30 receives the group id ‘ abc123 ’ from the communication device 20 a , the calculation function type , the calculation type and the functional computational data are registered with being associated with the calculator - unique id , which is included in the temporarily preserved barcode content data , in the dedicated data area 322 a corresponding to the group id ( step s 314 ). on the other hand , when it is determined in step s 312 that the calculator - unique id has been registered ( step s 312 ( yes )), the temporarily preserved barcode content data is registered in the dedicated data area 322 a corresponding to the registered group id ‘ abc123 ’ of the student a ( step s 315 ). in this way , when the barcode content data by the scientific calculator 10 a is registered in the dedicated data area 322 a corresponding to the group id of the student a , image data for data share gsh ( refer to fig9 b ) including main calculator calculation target data dm 1 , which is obtained from the registered calculator 10 a of the student a , and integrated ( aggregated ) calculation target data dt , which is obtained by integrating the functional computational data obtained from the calculators of the other students belonging to the same group id , is prepared and transmitted to the communication device 20 a of the student a ( step s 316 ). a pull - down menu pd for requesting designation of the calculation target data and the pull - down menu pc for requesting designation of the calculation type are also transmitted to the communication device 20 a ( step s 317 ). when the communication device 20 a of the student a receives the image data for data share gsh and the pull - down menus pd , pc transmitted from the compute server 30 , a server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) in which the pull - down menu pd and the pull - down menu pc are added to the image data for data share gsh is displayed on the display unit 21 ( step s 205 ), as shown in fig9 b . here , since only the barcode content data obtained from the scientific calculator 10 a of the student a is registered in the dedicated data area 322 a for the group id ‘ abc123 ’ of the compute server 30 , the contents of the integrated ( aggregated ) calculation target data dt of the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) are the same as the main calculator calculation target data dm 1 . also , regarding the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( image data for data share gsh ) including the main calculator calculation target data dm 1 and the integrated ( aggregated ) calculation target data dt , the integrated ( aggregated ) calculation target data dt may be updated to the latest data as the user touches an integration button bt . in the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) depicted in fig9 b , when the item ‘ main data : calculator 1 ’, in which only the data obtained from the scientific calculator 10 a is a calculation target , is designated by the pull - down menu pd , the item ‘ linear regression ’ is designated by the pull - down menu pc and the [ execution ] button ex is touched , the designation contents ( calculation target ‘ main data : calculator 1 ’, calculation type ‘ linear regression ’) are transmitted to the compute server 30 ( step s 204 ). when the compute server 30 receives the designation contents ( calculation target ‘ main data : calculator 1 ’, calculation type ‘ linear regression ’) transmitted from the communication device 20 a ( step s 318 ), the parameters a , b of the regression formula ( y = a + bx ), the correlation coefficient r , the determination coefficient r 2 , and the average square error mse are calculated based on the statistical calculation target data ( x , y ) of the japanese junior high school girls registered in the data area 322 a , and image data for data share gsh ( refer to fig9 c ) including the calculation target data dm 1 , the calculation result kb and the graph image ( linear regression ) gs 1 is prepared and transmitted to the communication device 20 a of the student a , as the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) ( step s 319 ). at this time , the calculation target data dm 1 and the graph image ( linear regression ) gs 1 associated with the calculator - unique id ( xxxx1 ) and prepared by the compute server 30 are prepared by red numeric values , plot points and graph image ( linear regression ). when the communication device 20 a of the student a receives the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( image data for data share gsh ) transmitted from the compute server 30 , the received server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) is displayed on the display unit 21 ( step s 205 ), as shown in fig9 c . fig1 a , 10 b , 10 c , 10 d and 10 e depict transition of display operations at the statistical mode of the scientific calculator 10 b of the student b and display operations associated with the access of the communication device 20 b of the student b to the compute server 30 . as shown in fig1 a , when the sample data of heights x and weights y of us junior high school girls is input in the table data input screen gi under the statistical mode at the scientific calculator 10 b of the student b , like the scientific calculator 10 a , the designated calculation type ( bivariate statistical calculation ) and the input element data ( x , y ) are stored in the data area 143 of the memory 14 ( steps s 101 to s 103 ). when the [ qr ] key is operated ( step s 104 ) so as to transmit the calculation target data by the scientific calculator 10 b of the student b to the compute server 30 , subsequently to the student a , as shown in fig1 b , a two - dimensional code image is generated and displayed on the display unit 12 ( step s 105 ). at this time , as shown in fig1 c , when the student b captures the two - dimensional code image q with the communication device 20 b , the contents of the two - dimensional code are decoded ( step s 201 ), and the barcode content data ‘ the calculator - unique id ( xxxx2 ), the calculation function type ( the statistical calculation function and the calculation type ( bivariate statistical calculation ; primary regression )), the functional computational data ( computational element data ( x , y )), the setting information , and the others ’ is transmitted to the homepage ( hp ) address of the compute server 30 ( step s 202 ). the compute server 30 temporarily preserves the barcode content data received from the communication device 20 b of the student b , like the case of the student a ( steps s 305 , s 306 ). then , the statistical calculation is performed based on the barcode content data , and image data gs ( refer to fig1 d ) of the calculation result including the calculation result ka and the graph image ( scatter diagram ) gs 2 is prepared and transmitted to the communication device 20 b ( steps s 305 to s 310 ). here , the graph image ( scatter diagram ) gs 2 based on the statistical data of the student b , which is prepared at the compute server 30 , is also prepared by the red plot points . when the communication device 20 b receives the image data gs of the calculation result and the icon h ‘ move to page for data share ’, the server homepage ( hp ) screen is displayed on the display unit 21 ( step s 203 ), as shown in fig1 d . also in the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gs ) displayed on the communication device 20 b , when the icon h ‘ move to page for data share ’ is touched and the content is transmitted to the compute server 30 ( step s 204 ), the compute server 30 determines that the calculator - unique id ( xxxx2 ), which is included in the temporarily preserved barcode content data from the scientific calculator 10 b , has not been registered ( step s 311 , s 312 ( no )), and the request for input of the group id ( refer to fig1 e ) is transmitted to the communication device 20 b ( step s 313 ). on the communication device 20 b of the student b , the group id input window wi is displayed ( step s 205 ), as shown in fig1 e . when the group id ‘ abc123 ’ of the student b is input and is transmitted to the compute server 30 ( step s 204 ), the calculator - unique id ( xxxx2 ), which is included in the temporarily preserved barcode content data , is registered with being associated in the dedicated data area 322 a corresponding to the received group id of the student b and the barcode content data is registered at the compute server 30 ( step s 314 ). fig1 a , 11 b and 11 c depict the display operations of the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( at a state where the respective barcode content data from the respective scientific calculators 10 a , 10 b of the two students a , b is preserved ) on the communication device 20 b of the student b . in this way , when the barcode content data by the scientific calculator 10 b is registered in the dedicated data area 322 a corresponding to the group id of the student b , image data for data share gsh ( refer to fig1 a ) including calculation target data dm 2 of the registered student b , and integrated ( aggregated ) calculation target data dt , which is obtained by integrating the calculation target data dm 1 of the student a , is prepared and transmitted to the communication device 20 b of the student b ( step s 316 ). also , the pull - down menu pd and the pull - down menu pc are transmitted to the communication device 20 a ( step s 317 ). meanwhile , in the image data for data share gsh , the calculation target data dm 1 obtained from the calculator a is identified by the red numerical values and mark ‘’, and the calculation target data dm 2 obtained from the calculator b are identified by the green numerical values and mark ‘ δ ’. the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) in which the pull - down menu pd and the pull - down menu pc are added to the image data for data share gsh is displayed on the display unit 21 of the communication device 20 b ( step s 205 ), as shown in fig1 a . here , the respective barcode content data obtained from the scientific calculators 10 a , 10 b of the two the students a , b is registered in the dedicated data area 322 a of the compute server 30 for the group id ‘ abc123 ’. therefore , the item ‘ main data : calculator 2 ’ for designating , as the calculation target , only data received this time from the scientific calculator 10 b , the item ‘ integrated data : calculators 1 , 2 ( incorporated )’ for designating , as the calculation target , data obtained by incorporating and merging the data from the two scientific calculators 10 a , 10 b , and the item ‘ integrated data : calculators 1 , 2 ( parallel )’ for designating , as the calculation target , the functional computational data in parallel from the two scientific calculators 10 a , 10 b are set to be selectable in the pull - down menu pd . as shown in fig1 a , when the item ‘ integrated data : calculators 1 , 2 ( incorporated )’ is designated by pull - down menu pd , the item ‘ linear regression ’ is designated by the pull - down menu pc , and the [ execution ] button ex is touched in the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) displayed on the communication device 20 b , the designation contents are transmitted to the compute server 30 ( step s 204 ). when the compute server 30 receives the designation contents transmitted from the communication device 20 b ( step s 318 ), the statistical calculation corresponding to the calculation target ‘ integrated data : calculators 1 , 2 ( incorporated )’ and the calculation type ‘ linear regression ’ of the designation contents is executed . here , based on the integrated ( aggregated ) calculation target data ( incorporated ) dt in which the statistical calculation target data ( x , y ) of japanese junior high school girls and the statistical calculation target data ( x , y ) of us junior high school girls registered with being associated with the respective calculator - unique ids ( xxxx1 ) and ( xxxx2 ) are incorporated and merged , the parameters a , b of the regression formula ( y = a + bx ), the correlation coefficient r , the determination coefficient r 2 , and the average square error mse are calculated . then , the image data for data share gsh ( refer to fig1 b ) including the integrated ( aggregated ) calculation target data ( incorporated ) dt , the calculation result kb and the integrated graph image ( linear regression ) gsh is prepared and transmitted to the communication device 20 b of the student b , as the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) ( step s 319 ). when the communication device 20 b receives the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( the image data for data share gsh ), which includes the integrated ( aggregated ) calculation target data ( incorporated ) dt , the calculation result kb and the integrated graph image ( linear regression ) gsh and is transmitted from the compute server 30 , the received server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) is displayed on the display unit 21 ( step s 205 ), as shown in fig1 b . thereby , it is possible to simply display the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( the image data for data share gsh ) including the integrated ( aggregated ) calculation target data ( incorporated ) dt , in which the statistical calculation target data ( heights / weights of japanese junior high school girls ) of the student a and the statistical calculation target data ( heights / weights of us junior high school girls ) of the student b are incorporated and merged , the statistical calculation result kb and the integrated graph image ( linear regression ) gsh , on the display unit 21 of the tablet pc and the like , which is the communication device 20 b of the student b ( or teacher ), as shown in fig1 b . then , the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( the image data for data share gsh ) is displayed with being enlarged and projected by the projector p , so that all the classes of the students and teacher belonging to the same group ( id ; abc123 ) can check and learn the incorporated and integrated contents of the statistical calculation relating to the heights / weights of japanese and us junior high school girls . also , when the item ‘ integrated data : calculators 1 , 2 ( parallel )’ is designated by the pull - down menu pd , the item ‘ linear regression ’ is designated by the pull - down menu pc and the [ execution ] button ex is touched on the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) shown in fig1 a , the designation contents are transmitted to the compute server 30 ( step s 204 ). when the compute server 30 receives the designation contents transmitted from the communication device 20 b of the student b ( step s 318 ), the statistical calculation corresponding to the calculation target ‘ integrated data : calculators 1 , 2 ( parallel )’ and the calculation type ‘ linear regression ’ of the designation contents is executed . here , based on the integrated ( aggregated ) calculation target data ( parallel ) dt in which the calculation target data ( x , y ) dm 1 of japanese junior high school girls and the calculation target data ( x , y ) dm 2 of us junior high school girls registered with being associated with the respective calculator - unique ids ( xxxx1 ) and ( xxxx2 ) are in parallel , the parameters a , b of the regression formula ( y = a + bx ), the correlation coefficient r , the determination coefficient r 2 , and the average square error mse are calculated , and the respective calculation target data dm 1 , dm 2 and the respective calculation results kb 1 , kb 2 are prepared and transmitted as aggregated calculation result data of an aggregation calculation result thereof . more specifically , the image data for data share gsh ( refer to fig1 c ), which includes the respective calculation target data dm 1 , dm 2 , the image data in which the character data of the respective calculation results kb 1 , kb 2 is imaged and the respective graph images ( linear regressions ) gs 1 , gs 2 , is transmitted to and displayed on the communication device 20 b of the student b , as the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) in which the image data for data share gsh is prepared as the integrated image data integrated for each group id ( step s 319 / s 205 ). at this time , only parts of the respective calculation target data dm 1 , dm 2 and only the graph images ( linear regressions ) gs 1 , gs 2 are displayed in the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) shown in fig1 c . however , it is possible to display the entire calculation target data dm 1 , dm 2 and the respective calculation results kb 1 , kb 2 by operating a scroll bar sb provided at a right end of the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) to scroll the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ). thereby , it is possible to simply display the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( the image data for data share gsh ) including the respective calculation target data dm 1 , dm 2 , in which the statistical calculation target data ( heights / weights of japanese junior high school girls ) of the student a and the statistical calculation target data ( heights / weights of us junior high school girls ) of the student b are integrated in parallel , the respective calculation results kb 1 , kb 2 and the respective graph images ( linear regressions ) gs 1 , gs 2 , on the display unit 21 of the tablet pc and the like , which is the communication device 20 b of the student b ( or teacher ), as shown in fig1 c . then , the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( the image data for data share gsh ) is displayed with being enlarged and projected by the projector p , so that all the classes of the students and teacher belonging to the same group ( id ; abc123 ) can check and learn the contents of the statistical calculation integrated in parallel relating to the heights / weights of japanese and us junior high school girls . fig1 a , 12 b , 12 c , 12 d and 12 e depict transition of display operations associated with re - input of the table data at the statistical mode of the scientific calculator 10 a of the student a and display operations associated with the access of the communication device 20 a of the student a to the compute server 30 . when [ 44 . 9 ] is input to the weight y of the sample data [ 5 ] in the table data input screen gi on the scientific calculator 10 a of the student a so as to correct the table data shown in fig8 c , as shown in fig1 a , the corrected element data x , y is stored in the input data area 143 of the memory 14 ( steps s 101 to s 103 ). then , when the [ qr ] key is operated ( step s 104 ), a two - dimensional code image is generated and displayed on the display unit 12 ( step s 105 ). at this time , like the above processing , when the student a captures the two - dimensional code image q by the communication device 20 a , as shown in fig1 c , the contents of the two - dimensional code image q are decoded ( step s 201 ), and the barcode content data is transmitted to the homepage ( hp ) address of the compute server 30 ( step s 202 ). like the above processing , the compute server 30 temporarily preserves the barcode content data received from the communication device 20 a of the student a ( steps s 305 , s 306 ) and executes the statistical calculation in correspondence to the barcode content data . thereby , the image data gs ( refer to fig1 d ) of the calculation result including the corrected calculation result ka and graph image ( scatter diagram ) gs 1 is prepared and transmitted to the communication device 20 a of the student a ( steps s 305 to s 310 ). when the communication device 20 a receives the image data gs of the calculation result and the icon h ‘ move to page for data share ’ transmitted from the compute server 30 , the server homepage ( hp ) screen in which the icon h is incorporated in the image data gs of the calculation result is displayed on the display unit 21 , as shown in fig1 d ( step s 203 ). like the above processing , when the icon h ‘ move to page for data share ’ is touched on the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gs ) ( step s 204 ), the compute server 30 determines that the calculator - unique id ( xxxx1 ) included in the temporarily preserved barcode content data from the scientific calculator 10 a has been registered ( steps s 311 , s 312 ( yes )). therefore , the temporarily preserved barcode content data is overwritten and registered in the dedicated data area 322 a ( step s 315 ). then , as shown in fig1 e , the image data gs of the calculation result , which includes the calculation result ka and the graph image ( scatter diagram ) gs 1 based on the corrected computational element data ( x , y ), is displayed as shown in fig1 e . at this time , when the sample data of heights x / weights y of german junior high school girls is input on the scientific calculator 10 c ( not shown ) of the student c and the two - dimensional code image is displayed on the display unit 12 by the same operations , and the student c captures the two - dimensional code image q by the communication device 20 c , the compute server 30 associates the barcode content data with the calculator - unique id ( xxxx3 ) and registers the same in the dedicated data area 322 a for the corresponding group id . fig1 a and 13b depict the display operations on the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( at a state where the barcode content data from the three students a , b , c is preserved ) of the communication device 20 a of the student a . as described above , the respective barcode content data is registered in the dedicated data area 322 a corresponding to the same group id ‘ abc123 ’ to which all the students a , b , c belong . when the icon h ‘ move to page for data share ’ is touched on the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( the image data gs of the calculation result ) ( refer to fig1 d ) displayed on the communication device 20 a ( step s 204 ), the image data for data share gsh ( refer to fig1 a ) having the integrated ( aggregated ) calculation target data dt , in which the calculation target data dm 1 obtained from the scientific calculator 10 a , the calculation target data dm 2 obtained from the scientific calculator 10 b , and the calculation target data dm 3 obtained from the scientific calculator 10 c are integrated , is prepared and transmitted to the communication device 20 a of the student a ( steps s 311 , s 312 to s 315 , s 316 ). also , the pull - down menu pd and the pull - down menu pc are transmitted to the communication device 20 a ( step s 317 ). in the integrated image data for data share gsh , the calculation target data dm 1 is identified with the red numerical values and mark ‘’, the calculation target data dm 2 is identified with the green numerical values and mark ‘ δ ’, and the calculation target data dm 3 is identified with the blue numerical values and mark ‘▪’. when the communication device 20 a receives the image data for data share gsh transmitted from the compute server 30 , the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ), in which the pull - down menus pd , pc are added to the image data for data share gsh , is displayed on the display unit 21 ( step s 205 ), as shown in fig1 a . here , the items ‘ main data : calculator 1 ’, ‘ integrated data : calculators 1 , 2 , 3 ( incorporated )’ and ‘ integrated data : calculators 1 , 2 , 3 ( parallel )’ for designating the calculation target are set to be selectable in the pull - down menu pd . as shown in fig1 a , when the item ‘ integrated data : calculators 1 , 2 , 3 ( incorporated )’ is designated by the pull - down menu pd , the item ‘ linear regression ’ is designated by the pull - down menu pc and the [ execution ] button ex is touched , as shown in fig1 a , the designation contents ( the calculation target ‘ integrated data : calculator 1 , 2 , 3 ( incorporated )’ and the calculation type ‘ linear regression ’) are transmitted to the compute server 30 ( step s 204 ). in the compute server 30 , the parameters a , b of the regression formula ( y = a + bx ), the correlation coefficient r and the like are calculated based on the integrated ( aggregated ) calculation target data ( incorporated ) dt , in which the statistical calculation target data ( x , y ) of japanese , us and german junior high school girls registered with being associated with the calculator - unique ids ( xxxx1 ) to ( xxxx3 ) is incorporated , and the integrated ( aggregated ) calculation target data dt and the calculation result kb are prepared and transmitted as aggregated calculation result data dt of an aggregation calculation result . more specifically , the image data for data share gsh ( refer to fig1 b ), which includes the aggregated calculation target data dt , the image data in which the character data of the calculation result kb is imaged , and the integrated graph image ( linear regression ) gs , is prepared and transmitted to the communication device 20 a of the student a , as the server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) ( step s 319 ). then , as shown in fig1 b , the received server homepage ( hp ) screen ( gsh ) is displayed on the display unit 21 of the communication device 20 a ( step s 205 ). at this time , when an instruction to end the processing is transmitted to the compute server 30 by the user &# 39 ; s operation on the communication device 20 ( steps s 206 ( yes ), s 207 ), the series of calculation server processing is over in the compute server 30 and the processing returns to the initial processing ( step s 320 ( yes ) to s 301 ). in the meantime , when the [ qr ] key is operated on the scientific calculator 10 after the statistical calculation is executed , the two - dimensional code image q including the statistical calculation result data is displayed . when the two - dimensional code is captured by the communication device 20 and the barcode content data is transmitted to the compute server 30 , the compute server 30 determines that the statistical calculation result data is also included in the barcode content data ( steps s 307 , s 308 ( no )). then , the statistical calculation is performed and the parameters a , b of the regression formula ( y = a + bx ), the correlation coefficient r and the like are calculated based on the barcode content data , and the graph image ( linear regression ) is prepared and transmitted to the communication device 20 ( steps s 321 / s 203 ). meanwhile , the calculation server processing ( embodiment 1 ) depicted in fig6 , the communication device 20 of the teacher accesses the group id registration site of the compute server 30 , so that the dedicated data area 322 for the group id is prepared in advance , as shown in fig8 a ( steps s 301 to s 304 ). in contrast , as shown in the calculation server processing ( embodiment 2 ) of fig7 , the corresponding calculator - unique id may be registered in advance in the dedicated data area 322 for the group id by registering in advance the group id of the group that is handled by the teacher , the calculator - unique id of each student belonging to the group and the email address of the communication device 20 of the teacher in the group id memory 323 ( steps s 301 , s 302 ′, s 303 ′, s 304 ). according to this configuration , when the barcode content data obtained from the scientific calculator 10 is received at the compute server 30 , the dedicated data area 322 a for the group id corresponding to the calculator - unique id included in the received data is automatically determined and data is registered therein ( step s 312 ( yes ) to s 315 ). for this reason , the processing ( steps s 314 , s 315 ) of requesting the respective users ( the student a , b , . . . ) to input the group id and determining the dedicated data area 322 for the group id corresponding to the calculator - unique id included in the received data is not required . meanwhile , also in the calculation server processing ( embodiment 2 ), when the calculator - unique id included in the received data is not registered in any dedicated data area 322 for the group id , the request for input of the group id is transmitted to the user , the dedicated data area 322 for the input group id is prepared and the calculator - unique id is associated and set ( step s 312 ( no ) to s 313 , s 314 ), like the embodiment 1 . in the above embodiments , the calculation data is aggregated for each group id for the unique id of the information display device ( calculator ) of each student at the server . in this case , when the calculation data is corrected with the same unique id and is acquired at the server , the calculation data of the unique id is updated and registered . in contrast , even with the same unique id , the calculation data may be individually stored ad aggregated by date and time . also , the latest calculation data of the unique id of the data aggregated to the group id may be aggregated as the aggregation target . also , the teacher who manages the group id may be enabled to initialize the aggregated data in the group id and to set whether to delete the data except for the latest calculation data of each unique id or to save all the data . in the meantime , the methods of the respective processing by the data integration system described in the illustrative embodiments , i . e ., the respective methods of the display control processing by the scientific calculator ( information display device ) depicted in the flowchart of fig4 , the communication device processing by the communication device 20 depicted in the flowchart of fig5 , the server processing ( embodiment 1 ) by the compute server 30 depicted in the flowchart of fig6 , the server processing ( embodiment 2 ) by the compute server 30 depicted in the flowchart of fig7 , and the like may be stored and distributed in the recording medium such as a memory card ( a rom card , a ram card and the like ), a magnetic disc ( floppy ( registered trademark ) disc , hard disc and the like ), an optical disc ( a cd - rom , a dvd and the like ) and a semiconductor memory , as a program configured to be executable by a computer . also , the program data for implementing the respective methods may be transmitted through the communication network n , as program codes , and the program data is received at a computer of an electronic device connected to the communication network n by a communication unit , so that the display control function , the communication device function and the server function can be implemented . the disclosure is not limited to the illustrative embodiments and can be variously modified without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure upon the implementation . further , the illustrative embodiments include a variety of inventions , and a variety of inventions can be conceived by an appropriate combination of the plurality of disclosed constitutional elements . for example , even when some of all the constitutional elements described in the illustrative embodiments are omitted and some constitutional elements are combined as other shapes , it is possible to solve the above - described problems . also , the configuration where the constitutional elements are omitted or combined can be conceived as the invention when the above - described effects are accomplished .	6
in fig1 is shown a laminated polarizing glass according to the invention ; more precisely , a blank for a spectacle glass machined according to the requisite optical specifications . the glass is comprised of a support 1 of an inorganic or organic glass with or without photochromic properties , a polarizing coating 2 deposited upon the concave face of the support , and an optically transparent , continuous composite film 3 composed of a layer 4 of thermoplastic polyurethane having adhesive properties and a layer 5 of thermosetting polyurethane having anti - lacerating and self - healing properties , the thermoplastic polyurethane adhering to coating 2 . in fig2 is shown a spectacle glass lens made into the desired shape through edging the blank of fig1 . the glass is provided on its edge with a coating 6 of resin polymerized in situ for protection against the penetration of water . a glass support endowed with photochromic properties constitutes a preferred embodiment of carrying out the invention . the application of the polarizing coating upon an inorganic photochromic glass support is effected as follows in eight phases : this step has the objective of permitting a pre - alignment of the organic molecules to be deposited through a very slight abrasive brushing of the surface to be covered . to this end one can utilize , for example , a thick rotary disc , preferably polyester foam impregnated with an abrasive , such as an oxide of the zirconia type ( zro 2 ) or , preferably , alumina ( al 2 o 3 ) in suspension in water . the edge of the disc is applied against the surface so as to form parallel microgrooves in the latter . the duration of the operation can take , by way of illustration , about 3 - 30 seconds , the time being a function of the surface hardness of the support to be covered . ordinarily , 10 seconds will be sufficient for inorganic glasses . this operation has the objective of clearing the surface of the inorganic oxide residues utilized in the preceding step . this can be effected , for example , by brushing the surface with apparatus similar to the preceding step but wherein the abrasive in suspension is replaced with natural water at ambient temperature . this operation lasts , for example , about 10 - 30 seconds . this operation has the objective of chemically preparing the surface to be covered to give it a high level of cleanliness . in this operation the support , preferably subjected to a movement of horizontal rotation ( for example at 500 rpm ), is continuously sprayed with deionized water having a resistivity of about 10 - 17 ohm cm which , depending upon the support , may or may not contain a small proportion of a surface tension agent ( for example 1 % by volume alcohol ). the duration of this operation is , for example , on the order of 5 - 10 seconds . one dries the surface of the support , previously prepared by a very clean rinse , for example by exposure of the support , while rotating , under a 75 - watt i . r . lamp for several seconds ( for example 5 - 10 seconds ). in this operation the support to be covered is stabilized to temperature and humidity for about 1 minute and 30 seconds in a cabinet at 30 ° c .± 1 ° c . and 50 %± 5 % humidity . the same cabinet is utilized for the following phase . in this phase organic molecules of the &# 34 ; nematic &# 34 ; type , comprised of a mixture of three azo - based colorants ( blue - red - yellow ) in solution in water , are deposited and oriented . the proportion of the three colorants ( marketed by the 3m company under the name &# 34 ; 3m vari - light 25 &# 34 ;) is determined so as to obtain a maximum polarizing effect , which effect is linked to the formation of elongated crystals in very precise ranges of temperatures and humidities ( 30 °± 1 ° c . and 50 ± 5 % relative humidity ). the resulting coating has a slight gray color . a slightly alkaline wetting agent is generally associated with the mixture of colorants , its role being to promote the formation of aggregates of organic molecules . the concentrations of the recommended wetting agent are on the order of a few percent , preferably 1 - 2 % by volume . in this phase the support is sprinkled with the solution of organic molecules in the ratio of about 1 . 5 - 5 ml of liquid for a support having a diameter between 50 - 80 mm . the support is set in a horizontal rotation , for example , 1000 rpm , during , for example , 30 - 45 seconds , in order to orient the organic molecules according to the pre - alignment generated previously through brushing , and to evaporate through centrifugation the solvent of the initial solution . the deposit obtained exhibits a dichroic effect in the vicinity of 10 and a high solubility in water . the quantity of the solution of organic molecules and the speed of centrifugation impart to the support a level of polarization ranging between about 90 % and 50 % for optical transmissions at 550 nm ranging between 25 % and 45 %. this step has the objective to reduce the water solubility of the previously formed , polarizing coating . to accomplish this the supports are treated by immersion for 10 seconds into an aqueous solution of inorganic salts having an acid ph ( for example 3 . 2 ). the inorganic salts generally employed are mixtures of iron and calcium salts in aqueous solution . this produces an ionic diffusion in the surface with the formation , with the organic colorant molecules , of a metal sulfonate which is insoluble in water . other salts which are usable are described in above - cited u . s . patents . in this step the product obtained is rinsed through total immersion into natural water at ambient temperature . the lens produced is polarizing and the treatment of the surface operates to impart an effective insensitivity to water to the surface of the polarizing coating . the application of the composite polyurethane film can be effected as described in the british patent previously cited , but it is preferably produced as described in french patent application no . 81 . 18678 , filed oct . 5 , 1981 by the applicant under the title &# 34 ; laminated ophthalmic glass and method of making &# 34 ;, except that the operation of cleaning the glass lens is omitted . briefly , this process consists in placing the thermoplastic polyurethane side of the composite film into contact with the polarizing coating carried by the support , pressing the composite film against said coating at ambient temperature or at a moderately elevated temperature ( 40 °- 80 ° c . for example ) and under a moderately elevated pressure ( 3 - 5 bars for example ), in order to insure a uniformly progressive flow or spreading free from wrinkles and an adherence of the film upon the coating , and then subjecting the resulting laminate to elevated temperatures and pressures ( 75 °- 150 ° c . and 5 - 25 bars , for example ) for a sufficient length of time ( 0 . 5 - 4 hours , for example ) in order to reinforce the mechanical bond between the composite film and the polarizing coating , and to eliminate gaseous inclusions . the resulting laminated glass lens blank can be subjected , if necessary , to edging . this edging is carried out on a blank previously heated to 110 ° c .± 10 ° c . for about 30 minutes in order to temporarily increase the adherence of the polarizing coating to the composite film . after edging , a thin layer of organic resin capable of being polymerized in situ is applied to the edge of the glass lens in order to physically protect the polarizing coating against possible penetration of water . it is possible to use , for example , a resin polymerizable by ultraviolet radiation such as the resin loctite ® marketed in france by the society framet in senlis . a treatment of 5 seconds with a 1500 - watt xenon ultraviolet lamp suffices to harden this resin . the protective coating of resin is polymerized to a thickness of a few hundredths of a millimeter and is perfectly transparent and colorless . the finished glass obtained can then be mounted in spectacles without any fear of deterioration , as demonstrated by tests of more than 252 hours at 50 ° c . and 98 % relative humidity in a weathering chamber followed by an extended immersion in water ( several weeks ).	8
hereinafter , preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . in the following description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention , a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention unclear . in the drawings , the same or similar reference numbers will be used throughout to refer to the same or like parts . as shown in fig1 to 10 , a double sliding - type portable communication apparatus 10 according to the present invention includes a main housing 20 , a sliding housing 30 , and a double sliding member 40 . the main housing 20 has provided at an upper surface thereof first and second regions 21 and 22 . the first region 21 is recessed a predetermined depth along a first sliding direction a 1 to allow a lower portion of the double sliding member 40 to be accommodated in the first region 21 . the second region 22 is positioned adjacent to the first region 21 and protrudes from a lower portion of the first region 21 to provide for a second key array 27 in the second region 22 . the sliding housing 30 moves in the first sliding direction a 1 lengthwise along the longitudinal direction of main housing 20 and parallel to the main housing 20 whose upper surface faces away from the main housing 20 to allow the sliding housing 30 to become displaced from or substantially overlap the main housing 20 . as the sliding housing 30 moves in the first sliding direction a 1 and the second sliding direction a 2 , which is perpendicular to the first sliding direction a 1 , the first and second regions 21 and 22 formed on the upper surface of the main housing 20 may be either exposed or covered by the sliding housing 30 . preferably , the first region 21 is larger in area than the second region 22 . the sliding housing 30 moves slidingly in the first and second sliding directions a 1 and a 2 . the double sliding member 40 is provided between the main housing 20 and the sliding housing 30 so as to guide the sliding movement of the sliding housing 30 in the first and second sliding directions a 1 and a 2 , and also to hold the sliding housing 30 in place . a guide groove 25 is formed in the first region 21 in order to allow the sliding housing 30 to be laterally displaced from the main housing 20 in the second sliding direction a 2 . the guide groove 25 is formed at upper and lower ends thereof with first and second stepped guide portions 23 and 24 , respectively . the first and second stepped guide portions 23 and 24 extend widthwise with respect to the longitudinal direction along the main housing 20 having predetermined heights . the sliding housing 30 moves slidingly along the first and second stepped guide portions 23 and 24 . the first and second regions 21 and 22 are provided with first and second key arrays 26 and 27 , respectively . the first and second key arrays 26 and 27 include a plurality of keys 26 a and 27 a , which maybe either exposed to or covered depending on the sliding movement of the sliding housing 30 . the number of keys 26 a of the first key array 26 is preferably larger than the number of keys 27 a of the second key array 27 . the second key array 27 is exposed to the exterior when the sliding housing 30 is displaced away from the main housing 20 in the first sliding direction a 1 , as seen in fig6 . in addition , the first and second key arrays 26 and 27 are both exposed when the sliding housing 30 moves sequentially in the first and second sliding directions a 1 and a 2 remote from the main housing 20 , or when the sliding housing 30 is moved in the second sliding direction a 2 , as shown in fig8 . the sliding housing 30 preferably has provided at an upper surface thereof a large - sized liquid crystal display unit 31 , and a first speaker unit 32 is installed adjacent to the large - sized liquid crystal display unit 31 . a third key array 33 having a plurality of keys 34 is aligned adjacent to the large - sized liquid crystal display unit 31 . in addition , a second speaker unit 29 is installed on a bottom surface of the main housing 20 , as shown in fig9 . the second speaker unit 29 includes a stereo speaker unit . the sliding housing 30 is formed with a pair of first rail holes 35 , into which guide protrusions 44 of the double sliding member 40 are inserted in order to guide the sliding movement of the sliding housing 30 in the first sliding direction a 1 . the first rail holes 35 have predetermined lengths for limiting the movement of the sliding housing 30 . the double sliding member 40 includes a body 41 , a pair of guide holding sections 42 and a pair of second rail holes 43 . the body 41 is accommodated in the guide groove 25 of the main housing 20 to allow that the body 41 to slidably move over the first region 21 . the pair of guide holding sections 42 are provided at both sides of the body 41 and formed lengthwise along the sliding housing 30 for guiding the sliding movement of the sliding housing 30 in the first sliding direction a 1 or for holding the sliding housing 30 . the pair of second rail holes 43 are formed in the body 41 laterally to the main housing 20 , and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis . guide protrusions 28 of the main housing 20 provided in the first region 21 are inserted into the second rail holes 43 for guiding the sliding movement of the sliding housing 30 in the second sliding direction a 2 . the second rail holes 43 have predetermined lengths for limiting the movement of the sliding housing 30 in the second sliding direction a 2 . in addition , the guide protrusions 28 of the main housing 20 are formed in a predetermined portion of the first region 21 in such a manner that the guide protrusions 28 are inserted into the second rail holes 43 of the double sliding member 40 and moved along the second rail holes 43 when the sliding housing 30 slidably moves in the second sliding direction a 2 . a pair of guide protrusions 44 are formed in the double sliding member 40 to allow the guide protrusions 44 to be inserted into the first rail holes 35 of the sliding housing 30 and slidably displaced within the first rail holes 35 in the first sliding direction a 1 . in addition , a pair of fixing sections 45 are formed in a predetermined portion of the double sliding member 40 so as to fixedly receive the guide protrusions 44 of the double sliding member 40 . hereinafter , an operation of the double sliding - type portable communication apparatus having the above construction according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig1 to 10 . as shown in fig1 , the double sliding - type portable communication apparatus 10 includes the main housing 20 , the sliding housing 30 , and the double sliding member 40 . as shown in fig8 , the first region 21 recessed by a predetermined depth is formed in a direction parallel to the main housing 20 along the longitudinal axis and the second region 22 protrudes a predetermined height above and adjacent to the first region 21 . as shown in fig1 , the sliding housing 30 moves in the first and second sliding directions a 1 and a 2 whose upper surface faces away from the main housing 20 to allow the sliding housing 30 to become displaced from or substantially overlap the main housing 20 . as the sliding housing 30 moves in the first and second sliding directions a 1 and a 2 , the first and second regions 21 and 22 formed on the upper surface of the main housing 20 may either be exposed or covered by the sliding housing 30 . referring to fig2 and 3 , the double sliding member 40 is provided between the main housing 20 and the sliding housing 30 to guide the sliding movement of the sliding housing 30 in the first and second sliding directions a 1 and a 2 , and also to support the sliding housing 30 . in this state , as shown in fig6 , the sliding housing 30 is slidably displaced from the main housing 20 lengthwise along the longitudinal axis while guided by the guide holding sections 42 formed at both sides of the double sliding member 40 . at this time , the second key array 27 provided in the main housing 20 is exposed , as seen in fig6 . as shown in fig6 , the second key array 27 includes a plurality of keys 27 a , allowing a user to perform various functions of the portable terminal . as shown in fig4 and 5 , the pair of first rail holes 35 , into which the guide protrusions 44 of the double sliding member 40 are inserted , are formed in the sliding housing 30 to guide the sliding movement of the sliding housing 30 in the first sliding direction a 1 , to allow the sliding housing 30 to stably move in the first sliding direction a 1 with the guide protrusions 44 sliding within the first rail holes 35 . as shown in fig7 , the first rail holes 35 have predetermined lengths for limiting the sliding movement of the sliding housing 30 in the first sliding direction a 1 . herein , the sliding housing 30 can be returned to its initial position as shown in fig1 by slidably displacing the sliding housing 30 allowing the sliding housing 30 to substantially overlap the main housing 20 . in this state , as shown in fig8 and 9 , if a user wishes to use various functions of the portable terminal , such as games , the user slidably moves the sliding housing 30 in the second sliding direction a 2 displacing the sliding housing 30 laterally away from the main housing 20 . accordingly , as shown in fig8 , the double sliding member 40 accommodated in the first region 21 is slidably moved laterally across the main housing 20 together with the sliding housing 30 along the guide groove 25 formed in the first region 21 , in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis . at this time , as shown in fig8 to 10 , the sliding housing 30 is aligned in a plane parallel to the main housing 20 so that the first and second regions 21 and 22 formed on the upper surface of the main housing 20 are exposed . as shown in fig8 and 9 , since the guide groove 25 is formed at upper and lower ends of the first region 21 of the main housing 20 with first and second stepped guide portions 23 and 24 extending laterally along the main housing 20 with respect to the longitudinal axis and having predetermined heights , upper and lower ends of the body 41 of the double sliding member 40 are guided by the first and second stepped guide portions 23 and 24 . as shown in fig1 , the pair of second rail holes 43 are formed in the body 41 in a lateral direction of the main housing 20 . the second rail holes 43 are coupled with guide protrusions 28 of the main housing 20 provided in the first region 21 so as to guide the sliding movement of the sliding housing 30 in the second sliding direction a 2 . thus , the guide protrusions 28 of the main housing 20 move within the second rail holes 43 of the double sliding member 40 when the double sliding member 40 moves the sliding housing 30 in the second sliding direction a 2 . the second rail holes 43 have predetermined lengths for limiting the movement of the sliding housing 30 in the second sliding direction a 2 . at this time , as shown in fig8 , the first and second regions 21 and 22 of the main housing 20 are exposed together with the first and second key arrays 26 and 27 provided thereon , respectively . as mentioned above , the number of keys 26 a of the first key array 26 is preferably greater than the number of keys 27 a of the second key array 27 , so that the user can conveniently perform use various functions and games by utilizing various keys provided in the portable terminal . that is , the user can operate the keys 26 a and 27 a provided in the first and second regions 21 and 22 with both hands . as mentioned above , the sliding housing 30 has provided at the upper surface thereof with the first speaker unit 32 and the large - sized liquid crystal display unit 31 aligned adjacent to the first speaker unit 32 . in addition , the third key array 33 having a plurality of keys 34 is aligned adjacent to the large - sized liquid crystal display unit 31 . the third key array 33 is aligned on the upper surface of the sliding housing 30 to allow the third key array 33 to always be exposed . herein , the sliding housing 30 can be returned to its initial position as shown in fig1 by slidably moving the sliding housing 30 in the second sliding direction a 2 to allow the sliding housing 30 to substantially overlap the main housing 20 . as described above , the sliding housing of the portable terminal can be displaced from the main housing in the first and second sliding directions to allow the sliding housing to become aligned in parallel to the main housing , making it possible to fabricate a slim portable terminal having a relatively large usable area . accordingly , a plurality of keys and a large - sized liquid crystal display unit can be provided in the portable terminal , so the user can conveniently operate the keys with both hands when performing functions or playing games . 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 . for example , the present invention may be adaptable for various portable terminals .	7
one embodiment hereof will be described as applied to a bicycle fork . it will be appreciated that such embodiments are equally applicable to rear suspension units or other suspension units that include relatively movable parts that may be selectively immobilized in relation to one another . referring to fig1 of u . s . pat . no . 6 , 217 , 049 ; shown is a front fork assembly . a modified copy of the fig1 is included as fig1 herein and has been marked with a view a - a . inner tube 16 is shown telescopically extending within outer tube 18 wherein the tubes 16 , 18 have a substantially common longitudinal axis . fig2 shows an embodiment of a mechanical suspension lock schematically depicted within portion a - a as specified in fig1 including tubes 16 , 18 and wiper ( not numbered ). fig2 shows an embodiment of a system for immobilizing tube 16 relative to tube 18 thereby allowing for selective creation of a rigid fork comprising tubes 16 and 18 . the incidence of other dampening components inside the fork tube or tubes is of no consequence regarding the shown embodiment . fig2 shows a modified outer tube 18 . the tube 18 includes an annular recess 4 and a substantially incompressible elastic element 1 is contained within the recess 4 . the elastic element 1 may comprise any suitable material such as , for example , elastomer , rubber , or thermoplastic . in one embodiment a feature of the elastic element 1 is that due to its substantial incompressibility , and bulk modulus , a first force exerted in one direction one the element will cause corresponding deformation of the element 1 , and force exertion by the element 1 , in a direction substantially orthogonal to the first force . in lay terms the element 1 may be exemplified as a rubber donut . when compressed axially and constrained radially by the outer surface ( inside tube 18 ) of the recess 4 , the compressed donut will bulge inwardly ( and exert pressure outwardly against the constraint ) until it contacts and becomes constrained by the outer surface of the inner tube 16 . once the element 1 contacts the inner tube 16 it will exert a force ( pressure over the area corresponding to the length of contact ) on the outer surface of tube 16 proportional in magnitude to the axial compression force exerted on element 1 . such a force can be quite high , particularly if the axial contact length and circumference ( area ) are significantly great ( note : the force can be adjusted by design and one factor is the chosen contact area ). the frictional constraint between the element 1 and the tube 16 will be a function of the normal force ( or force per unit area ) between the parts and the coefficient of friction . by application of a sufficient axial force on element 1 , which is contained within and fixed relative to tube 18 , the inner tube 16 and the outer tube 18 can be relatively immobilized thereby resulting in a simple and rigidly locked out suspension system . principles of expanding elastomer elements are described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 813 , 456 which is incorporated , in its entirety , herein by reference . note that the principles described therein are in reference to a rubber element that expands radially outward in response to an applied axial force . in the embodiment of fig2 , axial force is applied to the element 1 by a threaded element compression nut 2 . a rider may optionally turn the compression nut , for example clockwise , so that right hand inter - engaged threads ( compression nut male thread 6 and recess 4 female thread 5 ) cause the compression nut 2 to move axially deeper into recess 4 thereby compressing element 1 and bulging element 1 into contact with an outer surface of tube 16 . the effect of that movement is shown in the “ before and after ” respectively left and right of centerline views in fig2 . note that the nut 2 is advanced downwardly in the right side view . in one embodiment axial force is applied to element 1 by means of a cable operated annular ball cam mechanism . in one embodiment nut 2 is replaced by a rotational cam and element 4 is capped by a solid washer ( e . g . metallic ). cam balls are interposed between the cam and the washer and the balls are recessed into semi - spherical cavities in the washer ( such that they remain in fixed location relative to the washer ). the balls are engaged by rotational cam surfaces on the cam nut 2 ′. a cable is configured to be manually operable from a cockpit of the vehicle and in operation to pull the rotational cam 2 ′ to rotate about the axis of tubes 16 , 18 . such rotation causes the cam to force downwardly on the balls thereby exerting an axial force on the washer and correspondingly on element 1 . cylindrical ball cam mechanisms are described in u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 199 , 669 and 6 , 520 , 297 , each of which is incorporated herein , in its entirety , by reference . fig3 . shows a slightly modified detail section b - b of fig2 . the modification of fig3 over fig2 relates to an optional embodiment for the element 1 of fig2 and that element is designated element 3 in fig3 . the recess 4 of fig3 has a modified lower surface 9 where that surface is inclined at some angle 8 relative to a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the tubes 16 , 18 . the element 3 is optionally a solid ‘ c ’ shaped ring or segmented ring having an angle corresponding to angle 8 beveled on a lower surface thereof . when element 3 is moved axially downward , by for example compression nut 2 as previously described , the angle on element 3 interacts with the angle 8 thereby urging element 3 radially inward into contact with an outer surface of tube 16 . the amount of radial inward force is a function of the force exerted on element 3 by nut 2 and the tangent of angle 8 . the axial / radial force relationship may be adjusted using those design variables . it may be appreciated that element 3 may be urged into a diametrical recess ( not shown ) in a surface of tube 16 . it may also be appreciated that any of the components shown to be directed radially inward may be directed radially outward and vice versa . in other words the element 1 , 3 may be on an exterior recess of an inner tube and the axial force may urge the element radially outward toward an inner surface of an outer tube . principles of segmented gripping rings or “ slips ” are described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 813 , 456 which is incorporated herein , in its entirety , by reference . while the gripping and immobilizing system embodiments shown herein depict a particular location on a suspension unit it will be appreciated that such components , in the same , or alternative embodiments may be positioned at almost any location inside a suspension dampening fluid chamber or external of such chamber ( external example shown ) and elsewhere on the suspension so long as two relatively moving components of the suspension are accessible by design for integration of a gripping system . it is appreciated that the suspension to be mechanically locked may be any suitable suspension ( e . g . that suspending wheels , seats , integral to seat posts , machinery ). it is appreciated that relatively moving parts may be affixed to moving suspension parts for the specific purpose of using such affixed parts for immobilization . it may be appreciated that an elastic element 1 may allow for some vibration damping between tubes 16 , 18 thereby providing a more comfortable bicycle ride while minimizing pedal bounce . the u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 186 , 481 , 7 , 147 , 207 and 6 , 217 , 049 , as well as others , describe suspension units in which bounce is minimized ( not eliminated ) with the use of hydraulic “ lock out ” valves . such valves , regardless of specific fork designs or configurations , all operate to close or throttle the damping fluid flow path whereby fluid would normally flow out of a compression side chamber formed by a dampening piston . when the suspension is “ locked out ” the bounce is the suspension is typically limited by the compressibility of damping fluid “ locked in ” the compression chamber of the suspension unit . unfortunately , bounce remains in the system and is the volume of the “ locked ” compression chamber is large such bounce ( system compressibility ) can be significant . hydraulic lock out suspension systems are equipped with a pressure relief valve that bypasses ( or otherwise relives ) the lock out valve when pressure in the compression chamber reaches a certain value . that pressure relief valve or “ blow off valve ” is necessary in case a large force is imparted to the suspension while “ locked out .” as force is imparted to the locked out suspension pressure in the compression chamber is increased . a large enough force may generate a fluid pressure high enough to damage components of the suspension ( e . g . burst the compression chamber ). because the magnitude of possible forces is difficult to limit , a blow off valve is added to relieve over - pressure corresponding to such a force . blow off valves and related “ compression chambers ” are described in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 163 , 222 and u . s . pat . no . application publication no 200710007743 , each of which is incorporated herein , in its entirety , by reference . because the lock out system and blow off valves of hydraulic lock out systems are fluidic in nature they are subject to malfunction if contaminated by for example particulate matter . furthermore , the performance of such systems depends on fluid properties such as viscosity and shear strength and those properties are subject to change with time and with temperature . because the lock out system is hydraulic , complexity is added to the suspension . additional components include a lock out valve and associated adjustment controls , a blow off valve and associated adjustment controls and other associated hydraulic system control mechanism feed through and seals . while the suspension lock out system described herein may be used to limit vehicle movement by “ locking ” the suspension , one embodiment accommodates issues that are relevant when the suspension is active ( i . e . when the lock out is not engaged ). because a vehicle suspension system 100 is , when in use , constantly subjected to alternating forces and is compressed and extended cyclically in response to those forces , such vehicle suspension may , in one embodiment , be configured for use as a bi - directionally acting linear motor . in one embodiment , one of the damping piston rod ( shaft ) 105 and the damping cylinder 110 , or portion thereof or attached thereto ( structure through which the piston rod moves axially ), is configured to include a wire motor winding 115 and the other of the cylinder 110 or piston rod 105 configured to include one or more permanent magnets 120 . the relative and cyclic axial movement between the rod and the cylinder ( i . e . the magnet and the winding ) produces an electric current within the winding . fig4 shows a suspension 100 including a winding 115 within a wall of a damping cylinder 110 and a permanent magnet 120 within a piston rod 105 . the winding power output terminals 125 extend through an out housing of the suspension 100 and are available to conduct generated electric power to its point of use . u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 952 , 060 ; 3 , 842 , 753 ; 4 , 815 , 575 ; 3 , 941 , 402 ; 4 , 500 , 827 ; 5 , 578 , 877 ; 5 , 347 , 186 ; 5 , 818 , 132 ; 3 , 559 , 027 ; 3 , 861 , 487 ; 3 , 921 , 746 ; 3 , 981 , 204 ; 5 , 036 , 934 ; 7 , 569 , 952 ; 4 , 032 , 829 ; and 4 , 387 , 781 , each of which is incorporated , in its entirety , herein by reference , describe various linear generator ( e . g . linear motor based ) configurations for using reciprocal motion to generate electrical power . in one embodiment , a cooling circuit 130 , such as a thermoelectric generator ( e . g . “ teg ” described in greater detail herein ), is attached to a wall 110 of the damping cylinder to facilitate heat transfer between the cooling circuit 130 and the wall 110 . electric power is conducted , via conductors 140 , from the winding terminals 125 to the input terminals of a power conditioner 135 . the power conditioner 135 may be any suitable power conditioner , such as for example an ac / dc converter , a dc / dc converter , a transformer , a battery , a capacitor or any suitable combination thereof or other suitable conditioner as may be required to power the cooling circuit 130 . conditioned power is conducted , via conductors 140 , from the output terminals of the power conditioner 135 to the input terminals 145 ( typical ) of the cooling circuit 130 . as the piston rod 105 moves back and forth axially in direction 150 , the magnet 120 moves relative to the winding 115 . that cyclic movement generates and electric current within the winding 115 which as described powers the cooling circuit which in turn conducts heat away from the damper 100 . as an alternative or additional option , piezo electric crystals may be attached to a portion of the piston that is subjected to axial fluid pressure induced forces during operation of the suspension . in one embodiment an area along the piston “ skirt ” or near the edge where proximity to the walls of the cylinder through which the piston moves , creates a high fluid shear force in the fluid layer between the cylinder and the piston . such shear stress in the fluid ( i . e . viscous drag ) operates to deform the piezoelectric crystal thereby generating a current . the piezoelectric structure is deformed cyclically at each reversal of piston direction ( cyclic stroke of the suspension ) and in response to such deformation the piezo generates a electric current . in one embodiment the piezoelectric structures may be placed on a face or faces ( front / back , top / bottom , compression / rebound ) of the piston and deformation of the piezo structure ( s ) is induced by dynamic fluid pressure buildup due to damping force generation . in one embodiment piezoelectric devices are places proximate the ends of the damping cylinder and dynamic fluid pressure generated by damping action acts on those devices during compression and / or rebound pressure buildup . in one embodiment , piezoelectric structures are placed within a damping piston such that fluid flow generates dynamic vibration of the piezoelectric structures and thereby generates electric power . it is noteworthy that while a damping piston and cylinder are used herein to exemplify embodiments of an electric current and / or voltage generating shock absorber , the principles disclosed herein are equally applicable to a gas spring piston and cylinder combination of a suspension . further , the piezoelectric devices may be places at an end or ends of a compression spring of a vehicle suspension thereby generating current during deformation of the piezoelectric structure under cyclic spring loading and corresponding axial force on the piezoelectric structure . optionally a mechanical spring such as a coiled spring may comprise and electric winding or permanent magnet of the linear motor described herein . a plurality of piezoelectric devices may be placed on the piston faces and / or the piston skirt or any suitable combination thereof . a vehicle suspension may be equipped with a combination n of piezoelectric generators and linear motor structures . for purposes hereof , discussions of electric motors and generators are substantially interchangeable . in principle an electric motor generates movement when a current is applied thereto . conversely the same structure will generate electric current when movement is applied thereto . such is particularly applicable to piezoelectric structures and therefore examples of piezo motors included herein are suitable as examples of electric generators and vice versa . u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 806 , 159 ; 5 , 872 , 418 ; and 7 , 208 , 845 , each of which patents is incorporated , in its entirety , herein by reference , describe piezoelectric generators and motors that are suitable for use in embodiments hereof . fig4 shows a piezoelectric generator 155 ( e . g . of the flow operated type described in u . s . pat . no . no . 7 , 208 , 845 ) fixed within a fluid flow path 160 through piston 165 . as the piston 165 reciprocates , during operation of the damper 100 , fluid flowing 160 causes piezo generator 155 to vibrate ( e . g . at resonance ) thereby generating electric output . such electric output is conducted , via conductors ( not shown ) through piston rod 105 and such conductor output terminals may be located at an end ( not shown ) of piston rod 105 . any suitable combination of the foregoing may be used . thermo - electric generators or “ teg ” s are special circuits that either remove heat from one surface ( the “ cold ” surface ) of the circuit to another surface ( the “ hot ” surface ) upon application of an electric current to the circuit or generate a current upon application of a temperature differential across the opposing “ hot ” and “ cold ” surfaces of the circuit . in one embodiment , tegs may be based on the peltier effect and correspondingly constructed from thin ceramic wafers having alternate p and n doped bismuth telluride sandwiched between them . such tegs may be simply constructed using thermoelectric materials such as lead telluride , germanium telluride and cesium telluride . other thermoelectric effects ( and mechanisms usable in accordance herewith ) include the seebeck effect and the thomson effect . u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 141 , 969 ; 7 , 523 , 617 ; 5 , 040 , 381 ; and 5 , 687 , 575 , each of which is incorporated , in its entirety , herein by reference , describe the principles of thermoelectric circuit operation and application . in one embodiment , as shown in fig4 , a damping piston shaft ( or rod ) 105 and a corresponding damping cylinder 110 are equipped , as disclosed herein or otherwise , to generate electric current ( or voltage if open circuit ) in response to relative movement there between . at least a portion of the housing of the damping system is equipped with at least one teg ( s ) 130 such that the “ hot ” surface of the teg is in primary thermal communication with the ambient surroundings of the damping system ( or a secondary cooler , or a heat sink , or a combustion engine intake manifold or any environment suitable for heat use or disposal ) and the “ cold ” surface of the teg 130 is in primary thermal communication with the damping structure ( e . g . damping fluid ) 110 . such thermal communication may be facilitated by direct contact or may be via a suitable thermal conduit ( not shown ). a current is generated by operation of the generator equipped suspension 100 and at least a portion of that current is connected to operate the teg ( s ) 130 . optionally a heat sink ( not shown ) may be included and placed in thermal communication with the “ hot ” side of the teg 130 . such a heat sink aids in conducting heat away from the suspension 100 and may be equipped with heat dissipation mechanisms such as cooling fins . if the vehicle suspended by such teg equipped suspension 100 further includes a water cooling ( or other powered cooling ) system , the heat sink may advantageously be placed in thermal communication with such cooling system . typically , a suspension system comprising an electric generating embodiment and teg ( s ) as disclosed herein generates more electricity when subjected to extremely “ bumpy ” terrain versus relatively smooth terrain . although the bumpy terrain will generate more heat in the suspension ( and correspondingly more heat build up potential ), the higher current flow , caused by more frequent cycling of the suspension , from the electric generating systems ( as disclosed herein ) will provide more power to the teg ( s ) and will correspondingly result in a greater “ heat split ” ( up to the limit of the teg ) between “ hot ” and “ cold ” teg surfaces . such greater heat split will result in a higher cooling rate for the suspension . in lay terms : the harder the auto - cooling suspension hereof is worked , the more it will tend to cool itself off . optionally the suspension system can be “ smart ” such that the teg ( s ) only activates when needed . in one embodiment a simple temperature sensor ( proximate the damping fluid and not shown ) and microprocessor ( e . g . the power conditioner 135 may include or comprise a programmable or preprogrammed microprocessor and power output switch or modulator ) controlled switch turn the teg on and off or modulate current flow thereto based on operating temperature of the suspension 100 . in one embodiment , there is an intermediate cylinder ( not shown ) mounted coaxially between the piston shaft and the damping cylinder . the intermediate cylinder , rather than ( or optionally in addition to ) the piston shaft , includes either the magnet or the winding ( and / or piezoelectric structures ) and the damping cylinder ( or air spring cylinder ) there around includes the other of the winding or magnets . in such an embodiment , relative axial movement between the intermediate and damping cylinders generates electric current ( solely or in addition to other current generating mechanisms present in the suspension thereof ). in one embodiment there is a layer of fluid ( e . g . damping fluid ) between the intermediate cylinder and the damping cylinder . at lower ( e . g . ambient or normal operating ) temperatures , the viscosity and shear strength of the damping fluid are such that the oscillation of the piston shaft within the intermediate cylinder are insufficient to cause substantial movement of the intermediate cylinder within the damping cylinder ( i . e . the fluid between the intermediate and damping cylinders is strong enough that the frictional forces therein maintain a dynamic axial “ fix ” between the intermediate and damping cylinders ). as such , at low temperature no significant electrical current is generated in response to the configuration of the intermediate cylinder within the damping cylinder because they are not relatively movable . when , however , the damping unit heats up in response to more vigorous use , the fluid layer between the intermediate and damping cylinders becomes less viscous ( i . e . “ thinner ”) and the frictional force of the piston moving within the intermediate cylinder , in addition to providing damping , causes the intermediate cylinder to move axially relative to the damping cylinder . the relative movement of the intermediate and damping cylinders generates electric current which in turn may operate at least one teg ( s ) affixed to the damper . the intermediate and damping cylinders will continue in relative axial movement until the system is sufficiently cooled by the teg ( s ) to allow the fluid between those two cylinders to “ thicken ” and thereby once again “ lock ” the cylinders from relative axial movement ( until they become reheated due to lack of cooling and the cycle begins again ). optionally a suspension comprises teg ( s ) placed suitably in relation to heat generating portions of the suspension and the teg ( s ) generate electric current in response to the heating of the suspension in use . the heat generated by the suspension actually powers the teg , causing it to generate electric current . in fig4 such a configuration would include the teg 130 wherein the teg terminals 145 would , in this teg electric generator embodiment , represent electric output terminals from which usable electricity may be conducted to a suitable power use point ( e . g . battery , valve , capacitor ). when the teg electric output leads are shunted or connected to a high current input battery ( or capacitor ) through a suitable current conditioner ( e . g . dc / dc converter ) the current flow will facilitate the passive conduction of heat away from the suspension ( to be used in generating current ). the correspondingly generated current may be used to power “ smart ” systems associated with the suspension and / or the vehicle generally . note that any or all of the foregoing electricity generating systems may be used in any suitable combination . u . s . pat . no . 7 , 374 , 028 ( the “&# 39 ; 028 ” patent ), which is incorporated , in its entirety , herein by reference , describes a bicycle shock absorber having a “ piggy back ” gas charged damping reservoir . optionally , electric current and / or voltage generated as disclosed herein may be used to control at least one valve opening ( s ) within the damping system such that at lower fluid viscosities ( e . g . higher temperatures ), for example , valves are closed or throttled . fig5 a shows a shock absorber of u . s . pat . no . 7 , 374 , 028 subject to the present modification from that patent as shown in fig5 b and as further described herein . in one embodiment valves control the flow of damping fluid ( and hence the damping rate ) and when adjusted may compensate for varying viscosity of the damping fluid . suspension may include a gas pressure charge or chamber in pressure communication with the damping fluid ( e . g . oil ) to control or set static damping fluid pressure . as the suspension heats so the gas charge may heat and thereby increase the static pressure of the damping fluid disadvantageously . in one embodiment the cooling system hereof operates to cool the gas charge thereby providing a stable static damping fluid pressure . referring to fig5 a herein ( from the &# 39 ; 028 patent ), intensifier assembly 510 is shown in conjunction with damper assembly 630 . fig5 b shows an embodiment of an intensifier valve 511 for use with the principles disclosed herein . in one embodiment the intensifier valve 511 of fig5 b replaces the assembly 510 , as shown in fig1 , 17 of the &# 39 ; 028 patent and elsewhere in the &# 39 ; 028 patent . the valve 511 is operable in response to electric current and is capable of being modulated or throttled for selective full opening , closing and intermediate opening or “ throttle ” positions . operation of the valve is generally described in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 299 , 112 which is incorporated herein by reference . it should be noted that 122 and 124 are interchangeable such that the voice coil may be either 122 or 124 and the magnet may be the other of 122 and 124 respectively . the voice coil 122 or 124 responds to input current from the power circuit ( e . g . position control circuit or other suitable electrical input as described herein ). as such input wiring is desirable . the input wiring and terminals for the 122 version of the voice coil is shown at 250 . the input wiring and terminals for the 124 version of the voice coil is shown at 251 and includes windings 252 to accommodate extension and contraction of the throughput wires 252 during operation of the valve 200 the valve 200 is shown in a closed , or downward 256 , position . as such , piston 116 fully obstructs orifices 114 thereby preventing fluid from flowing from damper assembly 630 , through channel 636 , into upper chamber 253 , through orifice 114 , through valve outlet 257 and into floating piston compensator chamber 254 . when current of an appropriate magnitude is applied to the voice coil 122 or 124 , the magnet electromagnet combination of 122 and 124 causes the back iron 126 , and correspondingly the valve piston 116 , to move upward 255 in an amount proportional to the voice coil input . such upward 255 movement is against spring 118 , which biases the valve piston 116 downward 256 ( i . e . toward closed ), and therefore when the voice coil input balances with the force of spring 118 , movement of the piston 116 will stop and the valve 200 will be correspondingly throttled . in operation , referring also to fig4 , the sensor ( or generator ) 155 or 120 / 115 or both puts out a voltage change corresponding to an induced relative movement of the rod 105 and cylinder 110 of the damper 100 . in one embodiment the sensor senses input force along a prescribed axis 150 . as described herein . generated power may be routed though the power conditioner 135 which may in turn send power to the valve of fig5 b . in one embodiment , the valve of 5 b is biased open ( not shown by extending the length of valve 116 downward ( direction 256 ) and placing a hole in 116 adjacent the hole 114 , as the valve 116 is moved upwardly by applied electric current , the holes become misaligned thereby closing the valve 511 ) and is closed gradually in response to increasing power input to terminals 250 or 251 . as the shock damper 100 is worked more frequently , it generates more power and heat . the heat causes damping fluid to become thinner . in order to optimize performance as heat increases it is desirable to close the damping fluid valve 511 thereby providing greater restriction to flow and maintaining damping rate . a similar result may be obtained by using teg 130 in a passive heat removal role as an electric generator . in one embodiment , current is conducted from the teg to the terminals 251 or 250 of the open biased ( not shown but described herein ) valve 511 . as the teg heats up it causes a closure of valve 511 in response thereto and thereby compensates ( maintains damping rate ) the damper for increased temperature . referring additionally to fig4 , when the sensor 120 / 115 puts out a voltage corresponding to a bump ( and / or optionally a dip ) that voltage is transmitted to a processor 135 . in one embodiment the shock absorber of fig4 and 5 including valve 511 is responsive to signals and power transmitted to the valve ( e . g . at 251 , 250 ) from the controller 135 . the valve 511 is default in the closed position and will throttle open corresponding to power input received at terminals 250 . the processor 135 compares the output voltage of sensor 155 or 120 / 115 to a preset ( by means of threshold adjuster ) value and if that value is exceeded , the controller routes a predetermined amount of power from the power source ( battery and / or capacitor not shown or 120 / 115 or 130 or other generator directly ) to the valve 511 . when the output voltage falls below the threshold value , power to the valve 511 is shut off . optionally the valve 511 may be of a type described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 073 , 736 which is incorporated , in its entirety , herein by reference . optionally , the valve control / power circuit may be configured and operable in a manner such as disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 971 , 116 and 6 , 073 , 736 each of which is herein incorporated , in its entirety , by reference , or by any other means or method disclosed herein or any suitable combinations or portions thereof . in one embodiment a mechanism that transduces temperature change into physical movement is used to operate at least one damping valve ( s ), thereby compensating the damping rate for temperature changes . referring to fig5 b , and in the context of the herein described application thereof , one embodiment includes a bimetallic ( or bi - material composite ) spring 118 or element placed in thermal communication with the damping fluid . as the damping fluid heats , during use , the bimetallic element deforms ( e . g . curls or bends ) in response to the different thermal expansion coefficients of the two dissimilar metals composing the element . the bending or movement of the element is used to operate valve member 116 toward a closed position . in such embodiment a second “ regular ” spring ( not shown ) is retained axially , in fixed relation to body 273 , within space 257 such that the “ regular ” spring exerts an axial upward 255 force on valve 116 thereby biasing it open . the bimetal spring 118 must be heated enough by damping fluid so as to overcome the biasing force of the “ regular ” spring . as such , when the damper is sufficiently cooled the “ regular ” spring opens the valve 511 . generally bimetal strips , springs or other elements may be used to operate a valve as desired ( e . g . close , open , choke or throttle ) within the damping fluid chamber ( e . g . on the damping piston ) to modulate the damping fluid flow area as desired in view of the temperature induced damping fluid changes . ( e . g . close or choke valves to compensate for thinner damping fluid ). u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 381 , 952 and 4 , 131 , 657 , each of which is incorporated herein , in its entirety , by reference , describe configurations and applications for bimetal actuated valve members . optionally , temperature change may converted to physical movement using “ shape memory ” alloys such as nitinol ( a raychem trade name for a nickel - titanium shape memory alloy ) or certain two phase brass alloys having shape memory characteristics ( also available from raychem ). valve operating mechanisms may comprise shape memory alloys programmed to change shape at a certain “ trigger ” temperature and thereby operating a damping valve or valves using motion in between their original and programmed shapes . shape memory alloys may , with minimal if any alteration in design , be used in place of bimetal elements and vice versa as temperature sensitive operational characteristics are similar . the bimetal valve spring as described herein may alternatively be a nitinol ( or other shape memory alloy ) spring . u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 840 , 257 ; 6 , 073 , 700 ; and 4 , 570 , 851 each of which is incorporated herein , in its entirety , by reference , describe configurations and applications for shape memory alloy actuated valve members . in one embodiment , the valve shown in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 840 , 257 may be placed within the flow path 160 of fig4 thereby modulating damping fluid flow through piston 165 in response to damping fluid temperature changes . optionally the flow path 160 may be substantially closed off except for a flow path through a valve or valves placed therein . any valve operator mechanism disclosed herein may be used with one or more valves of a multi - valve damping system ( or other suspension system such as spring ) such as for example where two valves are open for “ cold ” temperature suspension operation and one valve is closed for “ hot ” suspension operation . optionally temperature or strain rate ( i . e . induced damping rate ) compensation mechanisms include shear thickening fluids ( liquids ). such liquids increase in strength as shear stress is applied . in one embodiment such a fluid becomes more resistant to flow through an orifice ( e . g . in a damping system ) as the flow rate requirement or induced damping rate is increased . in lay terms : the harder a suspension , containing a shear thickening damping fluid , is “ hit ”, the more rigid the suspension will behave because the damping force is rate dependent . electro - thickening or magneto - resistive liquids can be used to a similar end if an electric current is applied to such liquid in proportion to the induced damping rate ( the induced damping rate being induced by , and proportional to , the severity of the impact imparted to the suspension ). in one embodiment electrical generators as disclosed herein power a magnetic coil surrounding a portion of a magneto - resitive damper . as the suspension is operated , electrical current is generated in proportion to the rate of operation ( impact rate ) and the current flows through the magnetic coil . the energized magnetic coil causes the magneto - resistive fluid to thicken there by increasing the damping rate . alternatively a generator as disclosed herein ( or a battery / capacitor ) is switched to apply current to the magnetic coil when induced operation rates are low ( and / or of low amplitude ) and to bypass the magnetic coil as induced operation rates increase . as such the suspension will exhibit more damping compliance ( lower damping rate ) when induced operational rates increase . when gas becomes entrained in a damping liquid , the apparent density of the emulsified liquid is reduced . that can happen when an “ open bath ” damper is used vigorously over a period of time . the gas and liquid in the damper become commingled at the gas / liquid interface and as use continues , the intermingled fluid migrates though the damping system until the damping mechanism is at least partially subverted ( because less dense fluid flows more rapidly through metering channels and various orifices that facilitate the dampening effect ). one option for dealing with entrained gas is to include a mechanical “ gas buster ” in the fluid flow path within the dampening mechanism . one complicated example of a “ gas buster ” or separator is a mechanical cyclone . mixed gas / liquid ( e . g . emulsion ) enters the cyclone tangentially at a major diameter of the cyclone so that the mixture flows in a substantially tangential spiral within the cyclone . due to centrifugal force , the less dense gas migrates toward the longitudinal axis of the cyclone ( about which flow spirals ) and exits the cyclone on the axis at the top . the more dense liquid phase continues in tangential flow downward in a decreasing diameter toward an outlet at the bottom of the cyclone . the “ top ” and “ bottom ” of the cyclone are relative though such terms are often used in relation to the earth . in one embodiment , a miniature cyclone is placed on a piston movable through a damping fluid filled cylinder . the top of the cyclone is attached to a flexible , or telescopic , tube that has an outlet end in fluid communication with a region of the suspension damper normally containing gas . the lower end of the cyclone is in fluid communication with a trailing side of the piston and the cyclone inlet is in communication with a leading side of the piston . such a piston would “ scrub ” the damping fluid of gas on every stroke of the piston through the damping cylinder , in one embodiment the separator comprises an abrupt 180 degree flow direction change . the principle of the 180 degree bend or flow tube is similar to that of the cyclone in that they both rely on the fact that the kinetic energy of the liquid is greater than the kinetic energy of the gas traveling a the same velocity . a 180 degree bend tube includes exit ports at the bend and the liquid layer , being at the outside radius of the bend , will exit through the ports while the gas will continue though the bend . the separate gas and liquid streams may be disposed of as described herein . while the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention , other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof , and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow .	5
as used herein , a n - type nmos enhancement transistor is an enhancement transistor having a gate threshold , for example in the range of approximately 0 . 3 to 1 . 0 volts . a p - type transistor is a pmos enhancement transistor having a gate threshold approximately in the range of − 0 . 3 to − 1 . 0 volts . a nz nmos transistor is a native low voltage transistor having a gate threshold approximately in the range of − 0 . 1 to 0 . 3 volts . an nh nmos transistor is an enhancement high voltage transistor having a gate threshold approximately in the range of 0 . 3 to 1 . 0 volts . a ph pmos transistor is an enhancement high voltage transistor having a gate threshold of approximately in the range − 0 . 3 to − 1 . 0 volts . an nx nmos transistor is a native high voltage transistor having a gate threshold voltage approximately in the range − 0 . 1 to 0 . 3 volts . as used herein , the symbol vbe x is the voltage across the base - emitter of a transistor x , and a resistance r y is the resistance of a resistor y . fig1 is a block diagram illustrating a non - volatile multilevel memory system 100 according to the present invention . the non - volatile multilevel memory system 100 comprises a memory array 102 and a high voltage power generator 104 . the high voltage power generator 104 generates a regulated high voltage supply signal ( vsuphv ) 103 . for clarity and simplicity , only one regulated high voltage supply signal 103 is shown and described herein . however , voltage signals having different voltage levels may be generated as appropriate for programming , reading , erasing , and verifying the memory array 102 . the non - volatile multilevel memory system 100 also comprises control logic ( not shown ). the memory array 102 comprises a plurality of memory cells ( not shown ), a plurality of sense amplifiers ( not shown ), a plurality of decoders ( not shown ). the memory cells may include data cells and reference cells . the memory cell may store multilevel digital data . in one embodiment , the memory cells are arranged in 16k rows by 8k columns . in one embodiment , the memory array includes a source side injection flash technology , which uses lower power in hot electron programming and efficient injector based fowler - nordheim tunneling erasure . the programming is done by applying a high voltage on the source of the memory cell , a bias voltage on the control gate of the memory cell , and a bias current on the drain of the memory cell . the erase is done by applying a high voltage on the control gate of the memory cell and a low voltage on the source and / or drain of the memory cell . the verify ( sensing or reading ) is done by placing the memory cell in a voltage mode sensing , e . g ., a bias voltage on the source , a bias voltage on the gate , a bias current ( or zero current ) on the drain , and the voltage on the drain is the readout voltage . in another embodiment , the verify ( sensing or reading ) is done by placing the memory cell in a current mode sensing , e . g ., a low voltage on the source , a bias voltage on the gate , a load ( resistive or transistors ) coupled to the drain , and the voltage on the load is the readout voltage . in one embodiment , the array architecture is the one disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 282 , 145 , entitled “ array architecture and operating methods for digital multilevel nonvolatile memory integrated circuit system ” by tran et al ., the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference . the high voltage power generator 104 comprises a charge pump 106 , a filter 108 , a fuse circuit 110 , a bandgap generator 112 , and a high voltage shunt regulator 114 . in a normal operation mode , the charge pump 106 is enabled to convert a voltage from a power supply ( vsup ) to a high voltage suitable for non - volatile memory operation , such as program , erase , and read operation . in one embodiment , the charge pump 106 may be the charge pump disclosed in pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 044 , 273 , entitled “ high voltage generation and regulation system for digital multilevel nonvolatile memory ”, filed jan . 10 , 2002 , the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference . the output of the charge pump 106 may be regulated to a precise voltage that functions as a high voltage supply source , and may be wave - shaped and applied to the decoders ( not shown ) and subsequently to the memory cells ( not shown ) in the memory array 102 . the filter 108 filters out ripple of high frequency noise from the operation of the charge pump 106 to form a high voltage supply signal and also may function as a charge reservoir for transient program , read , or erase operation in one embodiment , the filter 108 is a resistor - capacitor filter . in another embodiment the filter 108 is a diode - capacitor filter , in which a diode substitutes for the resistor in series with a capacitor . in another embodiment , the filter 108 is a diode - resistor - capacitor filter , in which a diode is in series with the resistor in series with the capacitor . the diode may be a pn junction diode or a metal - oxide - silicon ( mos ) transistor with gate and drain tied together . another embodiment of the bandgap does not include the filter 108 . the fuse circuit 110 stores digital data that are used to set voltages and control signals . the fuse circuit 110 includes control logic ( not shown ) that decodes the stored digital data to set the control signals . as described below , the fuse circuit 110 sets an output high voltage level at power up or at the start of an operation , such as program , erase or read . the output high voltage level may be different for program , erase , or read . the bandgap generator 112 provides precise voltage level signals over process , temperature , and supply as desired for multilevel programming , erasing , and sensing . the bandgap generator 112 provides a zero temperature coefficient voltage ( v0tc ) 116 and a zero temperature coefficient current ( i0tc ) 118 . the zero temperature coefficient voltage ( v0tc ) 116 and the zero temperature coefficient current ( i0tc ) 118 may be trimmable based on the control signals from the fuse circuit 110 . the bandgap generator 112 may be , for example , a bandgap reference generator 500 ( see fig5 ), or a bandgap reference generator 700 ( see fig7 ). the high voltage shunt regulator 114 regulates the high voltage supply signal from the filter 108 in response to a trimmable zero temperature coefficient voltage v0tc or a trimmable zero temperature coefficient current i0tc from the bandgap generator 112 . fig2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the high voltage shunt regulator 114 . the high voltage shunt regulator 114 comprises a trimmable mos voltage divider 202 , a capacitor divider 204 , an operational amplifier 206 , a selection circuit 208 , and an inverter 210 . the trimmable mos voltage divider 202 comprises a plurality of pmos 212 through 222 arranged with the drain - source terminals connected in series between the regulated high voltage supply signal ( vsuphv ) 103 and an nh nmos transistor 223 to form a divider chain . in one embodiment , the pmos transistors 212 through 222 provide a divider chain that simulates a resistor chain . the pmos transistors 212 through 218 are diode connected to eliminate body effect . the pmos 219 through 222 are selectively diode connected . the drain - source terminals of the nh nmos transistor 223 are coupled between the drain of the pmos transistor 222 and ground for power down in response to an inverted power down ( pdb1 ) signal 299 applied to the gate of the nh nmos transistor 223 . the nh nmos transistor 223 is coupled on the drain - side to eliminate additional error . the voltage divider 202 further comprises a selection circuit that includes a pmos transistor 225 and 226 , a plurality of nh nmos transistors 227 through 234 , and a plurality of inverters 236 through 238 . the selection circuit of the voltage divider 202 selectively shorts out one , two , or three of the ph pmos transistors 220 , 221 , and 222 , respectively , to modify the ratio . the selection circuit is arranged so that any voltage drop is at the drain side only , not at the gate so as to not introduce any errors . the selection circuit of the voltage divider 202 selectively diode connects or shorts out the ph pmos transistors 220 , 221 , and 222 in response to selection signals ( shortp 1 ) 253 , ( shortp 2 ) 254 , and ( shortp 3 ) 255 . the divider chain formed of the pmos transistors 212 through 222 generate tap voltages vp 3 , vp 2 , vp 1 , and vp 0 on the drain terminals of the pmos transistors 218 , 219 , 220 , and 221 , respectively . the selection circuit 208 comprises a plurality of nh nmos transistors 283 through 286 and a nor gate 287 . the selection circuit 208 selectively couples the selected divided voltage from the voltage divider 202 to apply it to a voltage node 252 . the nh nmos transistors 283 through 286 selectively couple the tap voltage , vp 3 , vp 2 , vp 1 , and vp 0 , respectively , to the voltage node 252 in response to the selection signals ( shortp 3 ) 255 , ( shortp 2 ) 254 , ( shortp 1 ) 253 , and the nor of the selection signals 253 through 255 , respectively . the inverter 210 generates an inverted power down signal 299 in response to a power down signal 298 . the capacitor divider 204 comprises a plurality of capacitors 240 through 244 , and a plurality of nh nmos transistors 245 through 250 . the capacitors 240 and 241 are coupled in series between regulated high voltage supply signal ( vsuphv ) 103 and ground , and form a node 252 on which a voltage vf is connected . the capacitors 242 , 243 , and 244 are coupled between the node 252 and the nh nmos transistor 245 , the nh nmos transistors 246 and 247 , and the nh nmos transistors 248 through 250 , respectively , to form a selectable capacitor divider in response to inverted selection signals 253 , 254 , and 255 , respectively . the capacitors 240 through 244 form a tracking capacitor divider to speed up the response time of the divider . the nh nmos transistors 245 through 250 form switches to modify the capacitor ratio appropriately to track the ph pmos transistor ratio of the voltage divider 202 . in one embodiment , the capacitor 240 may be two or more capacitors coupled in series to buffer the high voltage drop across the capacitor 240 . the operational amplifier 206 comprises an amplifier stage 257 and a control stage 258 . the amplifier stage 257 comprises a plurality of pmos transistors 259 through 265 and a plurality of nmos transistors 266 through 269 . the control stage 258 comprises a pmos transistor 270 , a plurality of nx transistors 271 through 273 , a plurality of nh nmos transistors 274 through 276 , a plurality of nmos transistors 277 and 278 , an inverter 279 and a capacitor 280 . the amplifier stage 257 controls the shunt operation of the control stage 258 in response to comparing the divided voltage on the node 252 that is divided from the high voltage supply signal ( vsuphv ) 103 and compared to a reference voltage , such as the zero temperature coefficient voltage ( v0tc ) 116 . a bias current ( ibiasn ) 281 adjusts the biasing of the amplifier stage 257 . the amplifier stage 257 includes a transconductance operational amplifier . the pmos transistors 261 and 262 are an input pair for receiving a reference voltage , such as the zero temperature coefficient voltage ( v0tc ) 116 , and a divided voltage on the node 252 , respectively . the pmos transistors 260 , 261 and 262 and the nmos transistors 266 and 267 are arranged as a differential amplifier . the pmos transistors 259 , 263 , 264 , and 265 and the nmos transistors 268 and 269 form a bias circuit for providing a voltage vbp to bias the pmos transistor 260 in response to a bias current ( ibiasn ) 281 . the pmos transistor 259 includes a drain terminal coupled to the common node of the gates of the pmos transistors 260 and 263 to power down the amplifier stage 257 in response to the inverted power down signal ( pdbi ) 299 . the control stage 258 includes a shunt circuit to shunt current from the high voltage supply signal ( vsuphv ) 103 as part of a control loop with the amplifier stage 257 . the control stage 258 further includes the hv buffered capacitor 280 for loop stability and to control the ramp rate of the high voltage supply signal ( vsuphv ) 103 . the nmos transistor 278 is a low voltage device that functions as a shunt element to shunt away the current from the high voltage supply signal ( vsuphv ) 103 to regulate the signal 103 . the nx nmos transistor 271 buffers the high voltage for the nmos transistor 278 . the pmos transistor 270 and the nh nmos transistor 274 bias one terminal of the capacitor 280 at an intermediate voltage so the capacitor 280 can avoid breakdown . in another embodiment , the capacitor 280 may be two capacitors in series which quadruples the circuit area for the same capacitance . the nx nmos transistor 273 serves as a hv buffering for the nmos transistors 266 , 277 , and 278 and also serves as a resistor in series with the capacitor 280 for loop stability . the capacitor 280 provides loop stability and also together with the current bias from the nmos transistor 266 control the ramp rate of the high voltage supply signal 103 . this is also to avoid the overshoot if the high voltage supply signal ( vsuphv ) 103 rises too fast . the nh nmos transistor 276 , the nx nmos transistor 272 , the nh nmos transistor 275 , and the inverter 279 are used to short out the pmos transistor 270 and the nx nmos transistor 273 when regulating the high voltage supply signal ( vsuphv ) 103 at low voltage levels or improving the loop stability . in one embodiment , the low voltage levels are in the range of 4 – 6 volts . the inverter 279 is enabled by an enable shunt regulator signal 297 . the nx nmos transistor 272 buffers the high voltage for the nh nmos transistor 276 . the nh nmos transistor 275 disconnects the nh nmos transistor 274 from shorting the supply voltage vsup to the node capn by effectively acting as a reversed bias diode ( with gate and drain tied together ). this enabling mode may also be used to assist in stability of the loop when the high voltage supply signal ( vsuphv ) 103 reaches a plateau or flat level . in another embodiment , the amplifier stage 257 may include the hv transistors instead of low voltage transistors . in another embodiment , the amplifier stage 257 may be powered from a hv supply such as the high voltage supply signal ( vsuphv ) 103 instead of the supply voltage vsup . in this case , appropriate usage of hv devices are used to avoid breakdown . in another embodiment , the amplifier 257 receives power from a filter network such as a rc or a drc ( a diode in series with rc ) network . in another embodiment , the filter is coupled from a hv supply such as the high voltage supply signal ( vsuphv ) 103 . in this case , the filter network serves to smooth out the ripple and noise from the hv supply signal ( vsuphv ) 103 before being supplied to the amplifier 257 . bandgap reference generators are next described . the bandgap generator 112 generates a zero temperature coefficient current ( i0tc ) 118 that may be formed from a plurality of currents that are summed together by a current summer , such as a current summer 800 ( fig8 ). the zero temperature coefficient current ( i0tc ) 118 may be converted into a zero temperature coefficient voltage ( v0tc ) 116 by a current to voltage converter , such as a current to voltage converter 900 ( fig9 ). each of the currents that are summed to form the zero temperature coefficient current ( i0tc ) 118 may be generated by bandgap reference generators described below in conjunction with fig5 a , 5 b , 7 , 10 , 11 , 13 , and 14 . first , a conventional bandgap reference is described . fig3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional band gap reference generator 300 . the conventional band gap reference generator 300 comprises an operational amplifier 302 , a plurality of pmos transistors 303 through 305 , a plurality of pnp bipolar junction transistors 306 through 308 , and a plurality of resistors 310 and 311 . the drain - source terminals of the pmos transistor 303 and the emitter - collector junction of the pnp bipolar junction transistor 306 are coupled in series between a supply voltage and ground . the drain - source terminals of the pmos transistor 304 , the resistor 310 and the emitter - collector terminals of the transistor 307 are coupled in series between the supply voltage and ground . the operational amplifier 302 biases the gates of the pmos transistors 303 and 304 in response to the voltages on the drains of the pmos transistors 303 and 304 applied to the negative and positive inputs , respectively . the pmos transistor 305 , the resistor 311 and the transistor 308 are arranged in a similar manner as the respective pmos transistor 304 , the resistor 310 and the bipolar junction transistor 307 with the exception that the drain of the pmos transistor 305 forms an output terminal that provides an output bandgap voltage vbg . the current i into the emitter of the transistor 306 is : i 310 =( vbe 306 – vbe 307 )/ r 310 = dvbe / r 310 ( 2 ) the conventional band gap reference generator 300 provides no zero temperature coefficient ( tc ) current , has no fractional band gap voltage , and requires a supply voltage vdd greater than 1 . 2 volts ( vbg ). further , the conventional band gap reference generator 300 is susceptible to channel length modulation ( clm ), drain induced lowering ( dibl ), and near break down condition . fig4 is a graph illustrating the drain - source current versus drain - source voltage characteristic of a typical sub - micron metal - oxide - silicon field effect transistor ( mosfet ). the current - voltage ( i - v ) characteristic is poor at medium voltage , and is especially worse at 65 nanometer and 90 nanometer process nodes . thus , if the band gap core is maintained at low voltage , the channel length modulation ( clm ), the drain induced lowering ( dibl ) and the near breakdown condition do not affect the precision level . bandgap reference generators in accordance with the present invention are next described . fig5 a is a schematic diagram of a band gap reference generator 500 . the band gap reference generator 500 comprises an operational amplifier 502 , a plurality of pmos transistors 503 through 505 , a plurality of pnp bipolar junction transistors 506 and 507 , a resistor 510 , a filter 512 , and a switch 514 . in alternative embodiments , the bandgap reference generator 500 comprises one of signal lines 520 , 521 , and 522 . the filter 512 is coupled between an output of the operational amplifier 502 and a voltage node 516 . another embodiment of the bandgap does not include the filter 512 . the drain - source terminals of the pmos transistor 503 and emitter - collector generator of the pnp bipolar junction transistor 506 is coupled in series between the voltage node 516 and ground . the drain - source terminals of the pmos transistor 504 , resistor 510 , and the emitter - collector terminals of the pnp bipolar junction transistor 507 are coupled in series between the voltage node 516 and ground . the gates of the pmos transistors 503 , 504 and 505 are coupled together , and coupled to one of the signal lines 520 , 521 , or 522 . in alternative embodiments , the gates of the pmos transistors 503 and 504 may be coupled by the signal lines 520 , 521 , or 522 ( shown as dashed lines ) to ground , the positive input of the operational amplifier 502 , and the emitter of the transistor 507 , respectively . the drain - source terminals of the pmos transistor 505 are coupled between the voltage node 516 and an output node 524 , which provides an output current iout . the negative input of the operational amplifier 502 is coupled to the drain of the pmos transistor 503 and the positive input of the operational amplifier is coupled to the no - error resistor divider output node of the resistor 510 ( described in fig6 a ). the switch 514 is coupled in parallel with the collector - emitter terminals of the pnp bipolar junction transistor 507 . the output node 524 provides an output current iout equal to a current ic that flows through the pmos transistor 504 , the resistor 510 , and the bipolar junction transistor 507 . the current ic flowing in the right portion ( through the resistor 510 ) of the band gap reference generator 500 equals either a positive temperature coefficient current iptc or a negative temperature coefficient current intc depending on the switch 514 being opened or closed , and a sense current isense . a positive curve temperature coefficient current ipctc or a negative curve temperature coefficient current inctc is generated from a positive temperature coefficient current iptc and a negative temperature coefficient current intc as described below in conjunction with fig1 . a current summer ( such as in fig8 ) provides a final summation current the operation of the bandgap reference generator 500 is next described for the switch 514 being in open and closed states . in a configuration in which the switch 514 is open , the positive temperature coefficient current iptc is : where a = emitter ratio of vbe 507 to vbe 506 ; k = boltzman constant , q = electron charge , and t = temperature in kelvin . in a configuration in which the switch 514 is closed , the negative temperature coefficient current intc is a typical variation of vbe over temperature is − 2 mv /° c . ( celsius ). the negative curve temperature coefficient current inctc is an incremental current that is generated to adjust for a temperature coefficient and is defined as : where the negative temperature coefficient current intc is defined by equation ( 6 ) and the approximate zero temperature coefficient current iapx0 is the summed output current ( equation 9 ). a positive curve temperature coefficient current ipctc is generated to adjust the current and is defined as follows : where the positive temperature coefficient current iptc is defined by equation ( 5 ). the approximate zero temperature coefficient current iapx0 is defined as the sum of the positive and negative temperature coefficient currents , iptc and intc , or may be expressed as : in alternate embodiments , the temperature coefficient currents iptc and intc are generated from other than pnp devices , such as mos devices in sub - threshold operating regime or vt of mos devices . in another embodiment , the output of the filter 512 may be coupled to the gates of the pmos transistors 503 and 504 . the zero temperature compensated voltage v0tc is generated from the summation of different current elements that have ratios that are trimmable , and that are applied across an output resistance . the zero temperature coefficient voltage v0tc is generated from the positive temperature coefficient current iptc , the negative temperature coefficient current intc , the positive curve temperature coefficient current ipctc , and the negative curve temperature coefficient current inctc . in another embodiment , this trimmable ratio of different current elements may be different at different v0tc levels . the zero temperature coefficient current i0tc is generated from the summation of several currents that have an appropriate trimmable ratio . the currents are the positive temperature coefficient current iptc , the negative temperature coefficient current intc , the positive curve temperature coefficient current ipctc , and the negative curve temperature coefficient current inctc . in one embodiment , the trimmable ratio is generally different from the trimmable ratio of the zero temperature coefficient voltage . the resistor 510 may be trimmable without creating additional error . in one embodiment , the resistor 510 is a trimmable resistor 600 described below in conjunction with fig6 a . the resistor 510 may be controlled to have a variable impedance , for example , a low impedance , e . g ., r 510 value is small , to help speed up settling time and / or reject power supply and coupling noise and a high impedance to have low power consumption such as during standby . the low impedance may be done at power up or during certain chip operations that generate a lot of on - chip noises such as memory programming or burst mode reading . this variable impedance provides a bandgap with variable impedance with precision voltage and current because the resistor trimming introduces insignificant error as described below in conjunction with fig6 a . in an alternate embodiment , the resistor 510 is a fixed resistor and the positive input of the operational amplifier 502 may be coupled to one of the terminals of the resistor 510 . it should be noted that alternate embodiments of fig5 b , 7 , 10 , and 13 may similarly include a fixed resistor instead of a variable resistor , and a corresponding coupled of the operational amplifier to the resistor . in an alternative embodiment , another filter , such as the filter 512 may be applied to the supply voltage vdd before being applied to the operational amplifier 502 and other circuit blocks ( such as the current summer , and startup circuit described below ). in an alternative embodiment , the bandgap reference generator 500 is operated in a dynamic operation in which the switch 514 is opened and closed to sample the positive temperature coefficient current iptc and the negative temperature coefficient current intc , and the corresponding voltages and currents are stored in storage nodes ( such as by capacitors ( not shown ). fig6 a is a block diagram illustrating a trimmable resistor 600 . the trimmable resistor 600 comprises a plurality of resistors 602 - a through 602 - n , a resistor 603 , a plurality of switches 604 - a through 604 - n , and a plurality of switches 606 - a through 606 - n . the plurality of resistors 602 - a through 602 - n and the resistor 603 are coupled in series . the plurality of switches 604 - a through 604 - n are coupled from a node 608 to a respective resistor 602 - a through 602 - n , to selectively short the terminals of the respective resistor to the node 608 . the plurality of switches 606 - a through 606 - n are coupled to a respective resistor 602 - a through 602 - n , to selectively short the terminals of the respective resistors . the resistor 602 - a couples from a node 610 to the resistor 602 - b . the resistor 603 is coupled between a node 612 to the resistor 602 - n - 1 ( shown as 602 - b in fig6 a ). as shown in fig5 a , the node 608 is coupled to the positive input of the operational amplifier 502 , the node 610 is coupled to the drain of the pmos transistor 504 and the node 612 is coupled to the emitter of the bipolar transistor 507 . in this embodiment , the shorted resistor 606 - a to 606 - n may have a small voltage drop because of the vds of the cmos transistor , but this voltage drop only affects the vds of the pmos 504 . however , the shorted resistor 604 - a through 604 - n does not introduce any voltage drop because no current flows through the shorted resistors ( which connects to a gate of a mos input device of the operational amplifier 502 ). the voltage at the positive terminal of the operational amplifier 502 then stays the same after trimming . accordingly , the resistor trimming does not cause an error . in one embodiment , the switches 604 are cmos transistors . fig5 b is a schematic diagram illustrating a bandgap reference generator 550 . the bandgap reference generator 550 comprises an operational amplifier 552 , a plurality of pmos transistors 553 and 554 , a plurality of pnp bipolar junction transistors 556 and 557 , a plurality of resistors 560 , 574 , and 575 , a filter 562 , and a switch 564 . in alternate embodiments , the bandgap reference generator 550 comprises one of signal lines 570 , 571 , and 572 . the bandgap reference generator 550 is similar to the bandgap reference generator 500 of fig5 a , with the addition of the variable resistors 574 and 575 coupled between the drains of the respective pmos transistors 553 and 554 and the emitters of the pnp bipolar junction transistors 556 and 557 . the variable resistors 574 and 575 may be the transistor 650 shown in fig6 b . the resistors 574 and 575 adjust the voltage levels coupled into the positive and negative terminals of the operational amplifier 552 . the adjusted resistance of the variable resistor 574 is similar to that of the variable resistor 575 to provide similar voltage levels . in another embodiment , the resistors 560 and 575 may be combined into a single resistor . the use of variable resistors 574 and 575 may be included in the bandgap generators 700 ( fig7 ), 1000 ( fig1 ), and 1100 ( fig1 ). fig6 b is a schematic diagram illustrating a trimmable resistor 650 . the trimmable resistor 650 comprises a plurality of resistors 652 - a through 652 - n , a resistor 653 , and a plurality of switches 656 - a through 656 - n . by selectively closing the switches 656 - a through 656 - n , corresponding resistors 652 are shorted out to alter the resistance between the nodes 660 and 662 . fig7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a band gap reference generator 700 having cascoding . the cascoding described for fig7 also is applicable to the bandgap generators described in conjunction with fig5 b , 10 and 11 . the band gap reference generator 700 comprises an operational amplifier 702 , a plurality of pmos transistors 703 , 704 , 716 , and 718 , a plurality of pnp bipolar junction transistors 706 and 707 , a resistor 710 and a switch 714 . the bandgap reference generator 700 is arranged in a manner similar to the bandgap reference generator 500 ( see fig5 ) except a cascode pmos transistor 716 is coupled between the pmos transistor 703 and the transistor 706 , and a cascode pmos transistor 718 is coupled between the pmos transistor 704 and the resistor 710 . the gates of the cascode pmos transistor 716 and 718 are coupled to a cascode bias voltage ( vbpcas ) 730 . fig8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a current summer 800 . the current summer 800 may be coupled to the output of a plurality of band gap reference generators to add the currents from the band gap reference generators . the current summer 800 comprises a plurality of pmos transistors 802 through 805 , a plurality of nz nmos transistors 806 and 807 , a plurality of nn nmos transistors 808 and 809 , and a power down circuit 810 . the power down circuit 810 comprises a pmos transistor 812 and a plurality of nmos transistors 813 and 814 . the transistors 802 and 803 represents one input current and the transistors 804 and 805 represent another input current . multiple input currents are represented by duplicating the transistors 802 and 803 and connecting them in parallel with the transistors 802 and 803 with different input signals inn . the pmos transistors 803 and 805 are biased by a cascode voltage vbpcas . the nz transistor 807 and the nn transistor 809 are self - cascoding . the nz transistor 806 and the nn transistor 808 are self - cascoding through the power down circuit 810 in response to the power down circuit 810 being enabled , and are coupled to ground when the power down signal is enabled . the power down circuit 810 disables or enables the self - cascoding of the nz transistor 806 and the nn transistor 808 , and grounds the gates of the nz transistor 806 and the nn transistor 808 during power down . the source of the pmos transistor 812 is coupled to its own well . the current i in the nz nmos transistor 806 and the nn nmos transistor 808 is the summation of the currents in the circuit of pmos transistors 802 and 803 and the circuit of pmos transistors 804 and 805 . the output current ioutn in the nmos transistors 807 and 809 mirrors the summed current i in the nmos transistors 806 and 808 by any desirable mirror ratio by adjusting the size ratio of the transistors 807 and 809 to that of the transistors 806 and 808 . fig9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a current to voltage converter 900 . the current to voltage converter 900 comprises a plurality of pmos transistors 902 and 903 , and a resistor 904 . the transistor 902 and 903 represents a current sink into the resistor 904 . the current to voltage converter 900 may be coupled to the output of the current summer 800 to convert the summed currents from the band gap reference generators into a voltage . the coupling is done for example by two pmos transistors 902 a and 903 a ( not shown ) connected in series from power supply vdd ( used interchangeably as vsup ) to a node coupled to a node ioutn of fig8 and to a node in of fig9 . the gate of the transistor 902 a is coupled to the drain of the transistor 903 a . the gate of the transistor 903 a is connected to the bias voltage vbpcas . the resistor 904 may be trimmable in a similar manner as the trimmable resistor 600 described above and thus does not introduce voltage errors . in one embodiment , the resistor 904 is the trimmable resistor 600 . the current to voltage converter 900 may generate the zero temperature coefficient voltage ( v0tc ) 116 by applying the appropriate trimmable summed current from current summer 800 into the resistor 904 . fig1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a band gap reference generator 1000 . the band gap reference generator 1000 is similar to the band gap reference generator 500 , and also comprises voltage level shift for the control loop . the band gap reference generator 1000 comprises an operational amplifier 1002 , a plurality of pmos transistors 1003 and 1004 , a plurality of pnp bipolar junction transistors 1006 and 1007 , a plurality of resistors 1010 , 1015 , and 1016 , a filter 1032 , a switch 1014 , and a plurality of nz nmos transistors 1012 and 1013 . in another embodiment , the bandgap does not include the filter 1032 . in another embodiment , the filter 1032 is coupled to the gates of the pmos transistors 1003 and 1004 . the switch 1014 functions similarly to the switch 514 ( fig5 a ). the nmos transistor 1012 and 1013 and the resistors 1016 and 1015 provide an appropriate low voltage level shift for the control loop . the resistors 1016 and 1015 may be coupled from drains of the transistors 1012 and 1013 , respectively , to a high voltage supply instead of coupled from the sources of the transistors 1012 and 1013 , respectively , to ground and the sources of the transistors 1012 and 1013 are coupled to ground . in this case , the transistors 1012 and 1013 and the resistors 1016 and 1015 constitute common source gain stages , and the loop stability is designed appropriately . in another embodiment , the nmos transistors 1012 and 1013 each are replaced by a pmos transistor including drain - source terminals coupled to a high voltage supply and the respective resistor 1016 and 1015 to provide an appropriate high voltage level for control loop . common source gain stages mix alternately as described above for the transistors 1012 and 1013 and resistors 1016 and 1015 . in another embodiment , an nmos transistor is coupled in series to each of the resistors 1016 and 1015 to ground and includes its gate biased by a current bias to provide a current bias to the transistor 1012 and 1013 and resistor 1016 and 1015 control loop . in one embodiment , the current bias can be derived from the temperature coefficient currents ( iptc , intc ) generated from the bandgap . fig1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a band gap reference generator 1100 including a replica biased operational amplifier . the band gap reference generator 1100 comprises an operational amplifier 1102 , a plurality of pmos transistors 1103 and 1104 , a plurality of pnp bipolar junction transistors 1106 and 1107 , a resistor 1110 , a filter 1132 , a switch 1114 , and a plurality of nz nmos native transistors 1112 and 1113 . a pmos transistor 1103 , the nmos transistor 1112 and the bipolar junction transistor 1106 are coupled together in series to form a first leg of the bandgap reference general 1100 . the pmos transistor 1104 , the nmos transistor 1113 , the resistor 1110 , and the bipolar junction transistor 1107 are coupled in series to form a second leg . the negative and positive inputs of the operational amplifier 1102 are connected to the drain of the diode connected nmos transistors 1112 and 1113 , respectively . the filter 1132 is coupled between the output of the operational amplifier 1102 and a common node formed by the sources of the pmos transistors 1103 and 1104 . the filter 1132 is optional . alternatively , the output of the operational amplifier 1102 is coupled to a common node formed by the gates of the pmos transistors 1103 and 1104 with the sources of the pmos transistors 1103 and 1104 coupled to a high voltage supply , such as vdd . the switch 1114 functions similarly to the switch 514 ( fig5 a ). the operational amplifier 1102 has a similar bias configuration as the bandgap core so that the bias is a replica of the bandgap core . fig1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the replica biased operational amplifier 1102 . the replica biased operational amplifier 1102 comprises a plurality of pmos transistors 1202 through 1204 , a plurality of nmos transistors 1205 through 1207 and a plurality of pnp bipolar junction transistors 1208 through 1210 . the transistors 1202 , 1203 , 1205 , 1206 , 1208 , and 1209 are arranged as a differential amplifier with the nmos transistors 1205 and 1206 as the input pair . the transistors 1204 , 1207 , 1210 are arranged as an output stage to mirror the current from the differential amplifier portion of the operational amplifier 1102 . the circuit leg formed of the transistors 1202 , 1205 and 1208 form a replica of the transistors 1103 , 1112 , 1106 of the bandgap reference generator 1100 as shown in fig1 . the circuit leg formed of the transistors 1203 , 1206 and 1209 forms a replica of the transistors 1104 , 1113 , 1107 , and the resistor 1110 of the bandgap reference generator 1100 as shown in fig1 . alternatively , the nmos native transistors 1112 , 1113 , 1205 , 1206 , and 1207 may be enhancement nmos transistors . fig1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a bandgap reference generator 1300 including a startup circuit . the bandgap reference generator 1300 comprises a bandgap reference generator 1301 and a resistor 1302 . the bandgap reference generator 1301 is similar to the bandgap reference generator 500 , but without the output pmos transistor 505 . the resistor 1302 is coupled between the voltage node on the output of the operational amplifier and may supply current at startup until the operational amplifier is sufficiently operational to take over operation of the bandgap reference generator 1301 . the startup circuit 1400 comprises a sense current generator 1401 , a bias current generator 1402 , and a start current 1403 . the sense current generator 1401 and the start current generator 1403 are coupled to each other in parallel and coupled to the bias current generator 1402 . in one embodiment , a sense current from the sense current generator 1401 is mirrored out from a positive temperature coefficient current iptc or a negative temperature coefficient current intc to a bandgap reference generator such as described above . as the supply voltage vcc increases , the bias current from the bias current generator 1402 is reduced . in one embodiment , a bias current generator is a plurality of pmos transistors coupled in series from vdd to the sense current 1401 with its gate coupled to ground . the start current 1403 is mirrored to be applied to an nmos device and the bandgap reference generator . the starting up of the bandgap operates as follows . if the bandgap is not started up by itself , its bias current ( iptc or intc ) is zero , the start current 1403 is then the same as bias current 1402 , which is then injected into the bandgap to make its bias currents non - zero . once the bandgap is started up , the sense current 1401 , which is mirrored from the bandgap , then begins to conduct . once the sense current reaches its designed value , its value is greater than the bias current 1402 , the start current 1403 is then approximately zero . at this point the start current 1403 does not affect the bandgap bias current . in another embodiment , as the supply voltage vdd increases , the bias current from the bias current generator 1402 is reduced . this may be implemented as follows : as the supply voltage vdd increases , a comparator detects if vdd is more than a reference voltage ( for example 2 v derived from the bandgap ) and the output of the comparator is then used to reduce the bias current 1402 , for example , by turning on some additional pmos transistors in series to realize the bias current 1401 as described above . in an alternate embodiment , the start current generator 1403 may be replaced by a start current generator that is coupled between the supply voltage in parallel with the bias current generator , to provide a start current that is applied to a pmos transistor and to the bandgap reference generator . an example is the transistor 1506 and 1507 portion of a startup circuit 1500 ( see fig1 ). fig1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a startup circuit 1500 . the startup circuit 1500 comprises a bias current generator 1502 , sense current generator 1503 , a plurality of pmos transistors 1504 through 1507 , a plurality of nz nmos transistors 1508 and 1509 , and a plurality of nmos transistors 1510 and 1511 . the pmos transistors 1506 and 1507 are arranged as a cascode to provide a startup current ipstart on a node 1513 . the nmos transistors 1509 and 1511 are arranged as a cascode to provide a startup current instart on a node 1514 . the series connected bias current generator 1502 and sense current generator 1503 provide a bias start voltage to the bias and stage formed of the transistors 1504 , 1505 , 1508 , and 1510 . the bias current 1502 and the sense current 1503 are similar to the bias current 1402 and the sense current 1403 , respectively . the start current 1514 is similar to the start current 1403 . fig1 is a block diagram illustrating a binary complementary trimming circuit 1600 . the binary complementary trimming circuit 1600 comprises a bit signal generator 1602 , a positive temperature coefficient current generator 1603 , a negative temperature coefficient generator 1604 , a trimmable curve temperature coefficient curve current generator 1605 , and a current summer 1606 . the current summer 1606 sums the currents from the positive temperature coefficient current generator 1603 , the negative temperature coefficient generator 1604 , and the trimmable curve temperature coefficient current generator 1605 to generate a zero temperature compensated current ztc 1608 . the bit signal generator 1602 generates the control bits in response to control signals from the fuse circuit 110 . the bit signal generator 1602 provides the control bits to the generator 1602 , 1603 , 1604 , and 1605 . the binary complementary trimming circuit 1600 further comprises an inverting circuit 1610 that provides inverted control signals to the positive temperature coefficient current generator 1603 and negative temperature coefficient generator 1604 to provide complementary trimming . in one embodiment , each incremental trim of the positive temperature coefficient current generator 1603 corresponds to a complementary ( or decremental ) trimming of the negative temperature coefficient current from the negative temperature coefficient generator 1604 . in an illustrative example , if the positive temperature coefficient current is trimmed upward by one or a plurality of increments , the negative temperature coefficient current is automatically trimmed down by one or a plurality of decrements . vice versa , if the positive temperature coefficient current is trimmed downward by one or a plurality of decrement ; the negative temperature coefficient current is automatically trimmed up by one or a plurality of increments . the trimmable current temperature compensated current generator 1605 generates a trimmable positive temperature coefficient current pctc 1 and a negative temperature coefficient current nctc 1 . the currents pctc 1 and nctc 1 are zero at a temperature less than a desired temperature . the currents pctc 2 and nctc 2 are similar to pctc 1 and nctc 1 except they are zero at a different temperature . fig1 is a graph illustrating the complementary temperature coefficient current using binary complementary temperature coefficient trimming . a line 1702 corresponds to the temperature coefficient current generated by the binary complementary trimming circuit 1600 as the sum of the various temperature compensated currents . by altering the individual current characteristics and the adjustable trimming , the temperature compensated current shown in the line 1702 may be varied to have a desired characteristic , such as a flatter curve over a desired temperature range , for example from 0 ° c . to 70 ° c . or from − 40 ° c . to 125 ° c . fig1 is a graph illustrating the generation of a complementary temperature coefficient current . the approximate zero temperature coefficient current iapx0 is derived from equations ( 8 ) and ( 9 ), described above . fig1 is a block diagram illustrating a curved temperature coefficient current generator 1900 . the curve temperature coefficient current generator 1900 comprises a positive temperature coefficient current generator 1902 , a iapx0 current generator 1903 , and a curve temperature coefficient current generator 1904 . the curve temperature coefficient current generator 1900 generates the positive curved temperature coefficient current ipctc defined above in equation ( 8 ). similarly , the negative curved temperature coefficient current inctc is generated . fig2 is a graph illustrating the generation of a complementary positive curve temperature coefficient voltage vpctc . in an alternate embodiment to the generation of a complementary temperature coefficient current of fig1 , a curved voltage element may be used instead of a curved current element . in one embodiment , the positive temperature coefficient voltage is generated by applying the positive temperature coefficient current to a resistor . in this embodiment , the approximate zero temperature coefficient voltage vapx 0 equals the positive temperature coefficient voltage vptc plus the negative temperature coefficient voltage vntc . fig2 is a schematic diagram of a complementary positive temperature coefficient voltage generator 2100 . the complementary positive temperature coefficient voltage generator 2100 comprises a comparator 2102 and a plurality of switches 2104 and 2106 . the comparator 2102 compares the positive temperature coefficient voltage vptc to the approximate zero temperature coefficient voltage vapx 0 . the comparison result is used to generate a difference vptc minus vapx 0 voltage that is sampled by the switch 2104 to generate the complementary positive curve temperature coefficient voltage vpctc . if the positive temperature coefficient voltage vptc is greater than the approximate zero temperature coefficient voltage vapx 0 ( vptc & gt ; vapx 0 ), the switch 2104 is closed to provide an output voltage vptc minus vapx 0 as the complementary positive curve temperature coefficient voltage vpctc . if the positive temperature coefficient voltage vptc is smaller than the approximate zero temperature coefficient voltage vapx 0 ( vptc & lt ; vapx 0 ), the switch 2106 is closed to provide a ground gnd as the complementary positive curve temperature coefficient voltage vpctc . similarly , a complementary negative curve temperature coefficient voltage vnctc may be generated . in an alternative embodiment , if the positive temperature coefficient voltage vpct is greater than the approximate zero temperature coefficient voltage vapx 0 ( vptc & gt ; vapx 0 ), the positive temperature coefficient voltage vptc is provided by the switch from the positive input of the comparator 2102 as the complementary positive curve temperature coefficient voltage vpctc . in this embodiment , the voltage vpctc has a higher voltage level . fig2 is a flow chart illustrating an operation of approximation complementary trimming . the procedure of approximation complementary trimming measures the voltages ( or currents ) at maximum , middle , and minimum temperature settings and based on the comparisons adjusts the tc trimming until the resulting maximum , middle and minimum voltages are in a desired range . for example , here a trim step ( 1 * iv step ) is assumed . the tc trimming is adjusted in the positive tc ( ptc ) direction by trimming downward the ptc trim setting . in the process , the negative tc ( ntc ) trim setting is automatically adjusted upward as described previously . similarly , the tc trimming is adjusted in the negative tc ( ntc ) direction by trimming downward the ntc trim setting . in the process , the ptc is automatically adjusted upward . the voltage is measured at maximum ( max ), a middle ( mid ) and minimum ( min ) temperature ( temp ) trim setting ( block 2202 ). the measured voltages are compared to determine whether the voltage at the maximum temperature setting is greater than the voltage at the middle temperature setting which is greater than the voltage at the minimum temperature setting and whether the absolute value of the difference between the voltages of the maximum and minimum voltage values is greater than one incremental voltage ( iv ) step ( block 2204 ). in the event that these comparisons are met , the tc trimming is adjusted so that the voltage difference is divided by the incremental voltage step equals the number n for the tc trim setting and the trim settings are reduced in the positive tc direction by the number n trim setting divided by two ( block 2206 ) and the voltage measurement is repeated ( block 2202 ). on the other hand , if the comparison is not met ( block 2204 ) and another comparison is performed as to whether or not the voltage at the maximum temperature setting is less than the voltage at the middle temperature setting and whether the voltage at the middle temperature setting is less than the voltage at the minimum temperature setting and that the absolute value of the difference between the voltages of the maximum voltage value and the minimum voltage value is greater than one incremental voltage step ( block 2208 ). if the comparison is true , the voltage difference is divided by the incremental voltage step to determine the number n trim setting , and the trim setting is reduced in the negative tc direction by half of the number n ( block 2210 ), the procedure returns to measuring the voltages ( block 2202 ). on the other hand , if the comparison is not true ( block 2208 ), a new comparison is performed ( block 2212 ). if the voltage of the maximum temperature setting is less than the voltage at the middle of the temperature setting and the voltage at the maximum temperature setting is greater than the voltage at the minimum temperature setting , and the absolute value of the difference between the voltages of the maximum voltage value and minimum voltage value is greater than one incremental voltage step , the tc trim setting is adjusted ( block 2214 ). the voltage difference is divided by the incremental voltage step to set a number n of trim settings , and the trim setting is reduced in the positive tc direction by half the number n ( n / 2 ) ( block 2214 ). the procedure then returns to measuring voltages ( block 2202 ). on the other hand if the comparison is not true ( block 2212 ), another comparison is performed ( block 2216 ). if the voltage at the maximum temperature setting is less than the voltage at the middle temperature setting and the voltage at the maximum temperature setting is less than the voltage at the minimum temperature setting , and the absolute value of the difference between the voltages of the maximum voltage value and minimum voltage value is greater than an incremental voltage step , another tc trim adjustment is performed ( block 2218 ). the voltage difference is divided by the incremental voltage step to set a number n trim settings and the tc trim setting is reduced in the negative tc direction by the number n divided 2 ( n / 2 ) ( block 2218 ). the voltages are again measured ( block 2202 ). on the other hand , if the comparison is not true , the procedure ends ( block 2720 ). in this case , the difference between the voltage at the maximum and middle and minimum temperature settings is less than an incremental voltage step . fig2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a low voltage current mirror 2300 that is used in the bandgap reference generator for coupling the current . the low voltage current mirror 2300 comprises a plurality of pmos transistors 2303 and 2304 , an amplifier 2302 , a current source 2305 , and a resistor 2306 . the resistor 2306 represents a load for the transistor 2304 . the load can be a resistor , a mos or a capacitor . the pmos transistor 2303 and the current source 2305 form a first leg of the circuit 2300 . the pmos transistor 2304 , and the resistor 2306 form a second leg of the circuit 2300 with the second leg mirroring the current from the first leg . in this embodiment , the minimum vdd is only approximately two times the vds at saturation of the pmos transistors 2303 or 2304 . each vds sat is used to sustain a current across a mos transistor . the amplifier 2302 forces the vds of the pmos transistors 2303 and 2304 to be equal . another embodiment has the positive terminal of the amplifier 2302 coupled to a bias voltage . fig2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a current trim circuit 2400 that is used to trim the current for the bandgap reference generator and is used to set the level for the high voltage regulator . the current trim circuit 2400 comprises a bias circuit 2402 , a first cascode circuit 2404 , a second cascode circuit 2406 , a third cascode circuit 2408 , a fourth cascode circuit 2410 , a fifth cascode circuit 2412 , and a native nmos transistor 2414 . the cascode circuits 2404 , 2406 , 2408 , 2410 , 2412 each comprise three nmos transistors , the middle of the three being a native nmos transistor , and the other two being enhancement nmos transistors . the cascode circuits 2404 , 2406 , 2408 , 2410 and 2412 together with 2414 are self - bias triple cascoding including one bias leg for an input bias current iin . in another embodiment , the native nmos transistor 2414 is omitted . the self - cascoding bias circuit 2402 provides biases for the self - bias triple cascoding circuits 2404 , 2406 , 2408 , 2410 , 2412 and 2414 . the cascode circuits 2408 and 2410 include switches for selectively disabling or enabling the circuits to selectively trim the output current iout . in this disclosure , there is shown and described only the preferred embodiments of the invention , but , as aforementioned , it is to be understood that the invention is capable of use in various other combinations and environments and is capable of changes or modifications within the scope of the inventive concept as expressed herein .	6
in order to prepare the ferrous metal network , scrap metal pieces , particularly steel turnings which fall within the following size ranges are selected : ______________________________________length 1 / 8 to 9 incheswidth 1 / 64 to 1 inchthickness 1 to 100 mils______________________________________ scrap metal pieces within this size range usually have a bulk density of from 0 . 1 to 1 . 0 g / cc . in the instant application , these metal pieces are then compressed to form a ferrous metal network having a density of from 1 . 2 to 6 . 3 g / cc . as stated previously , the porosity of the network is 20 % to 85 % and it has a short transverse tensile strength of at least 2 . 0 psi . this ferrous metal network is then immersed into molten rare earth metal , preferably misch metal and held in the molten metal for a few minutes to impregnate the interstices of the metal network . the impregnated body is removed from the molten rare earth metal and it is cooled to solidify the molten rare earth metal . the impregnated metal network is cooled , preferably in the absence of an oxidizing atmosphere . one preferred method of cooling the impregnated compressed metal body is to immerse the impregnated body into an oil bath . the final product comprises a porous composition of matter comprising a compacted metal network impregnated with rare earth metal . the composition contains from 15 % up to 80 % rare earth metal by weight of the total impregnated metal body . the porous ferrous metal network composition of the instant invention when impregnated with rare earth metal takes up and retains the rare earth metal in the desired amounts , and when used to treat ferrous melts , the metal network releases the rare earth at a desirable rate . the metal network also has a structural strength which is retained as the rare earth metal is released . this is advantageous , since the maintenance of the structural strength is desirable to release the rare earth in a controlled manner . in addition , it is also advantageous to employ this particular type of rare earth metal infiltrated porous body over other types of porous carriers since the residual ferrous metal in the porous body may be dissolved in the molten metal without contaminating the melt with undesirable elements . it has also been found that this particular type of ferrous metal body possesses sufficient strength to withstand handling prior to infiltration , while at the same time possesses a porosity which will hold the desired amount of rare earth metal . in addition to producing a product which has all of these advantages , the porous body of the instant material may be made with raw materials , which are readily available . the density of the compacted ferrous metal network before impregnation in the instant application is from 1 . 2 to 6 . 3 g / cc , while the density of the scrap metal pieces before compaction was 0 . 1 to 1 . 0 g / cc . metal porous bodies containing amounts of rare earth metal from 15 % up to 80 % may be produced by this process . reproducible products are also readily obtained . it is difficult to produce scrap briquettes with a density above 6 . 3 g / cc , at densities below 1 . 2 g / cc the briquette will not be strong . the scrap metal pieces useful in the instant invention include ductile iron and the like , but more preferably steel . the scrap metal pieces , as previously stated , must fall within the size ranges specified above . if the scrap pieces used in this invention lie outside the specified size range , difficulties may be encountered in infiltrating the metal network and / or the rate of release of the rare earth may not be desirable . the most desirable type of scrap metal are those which are irregular in shape and have a variety of sizes which fall within the sizes specified . fine metal turnings , short shovelings and the like are the most desirable . the compacted metal porous bodies prepared in the instant invention may be impregnated with various rare earth metals or mixtures thereof . misch metal , a common mixture of rare earths often used in the ferrous industry , contains about 55 % cerium , 20 % lanthanum and lesser amounts of praseodymium and neodymium and other rare earths . alloys of rare earths with other elements may also be employed . alloys particularly desirable to use are misch metal alloys containing calcium , aluminum , iron , copper , manganese , nickel and cobalt and mixtures of these elements . the term rare earth metal , hereinafter referred to , is meant to include rare earth metals and alloys of rare earth metals . the alloy must occupy the same volume as the 15 % up to 80 % by weight of the rare earth metal . the amount of alloying elements preferably should be held to less than 25 % of the total rare earth metal employed . scrap metal generally contains a coating of oil . this coating may be removed before infiltration , if desired . one method of degreasing is by heating the scrap to burn - off the oil . this heating may be done before or after compressing . it is economically advantageous , however , to compress the scrap metal , then heat the compressed metal to remove the oil , and to preheat the metal at the same time before it is introduced into the molten rare earth metal for infiltration . if the compressed metal is preheated before introduction into molten rare earth metal , care should be taken to prevent the scrap metal from oxidizing excessively . the oxide present can react with rare earth metal , and may consume a significant amount of rare earth metal , thus lowering the efficiency . it has been found that the weight gain of the scrap metal compressed network due to oxidation should not exceed about 3 % and , preferably , not exceed about 1 % during the preheating step . the amount of oxidation may be held within the limits specified , if the preheating temperatue in air is held between about 500 ° f . and 1000 ° f . temperatures up to about 1200 ° f . may also be employed , if the time of preheating is held to no more than about one hour . obviously , the preheating temperature upper limits are not critical , if the preheating is carried out in a non - oxidizing atmosphere . care should also be taken in the storage of the rare earth metal infiltrated bodies to avoid reaction of the rare earth metal with moisture . this may be readily accomplished by sealing the infiltrated bodies in a suitable container or placing the infiltrated bodies with a drying agent in a metal can having a tight fitting lid . in order to describe the instant invention more fully , the following examples are presented : in this example the ferrous metal network or briquette was prepared as follows : steel turnings were selected which were 5 to 10 mils thick , 1 / 8 to 7 / 16 in . in width , and 3 / 8 to 2 in . in length . the above turnings were inserted in a compaction chamber 1 in . in diameter by 3 in . high . the turnings were compacted at 6 . 2 tons / in . 2 . a typical briquette measured 1 . 24 in . in diameter by 0 . 42 in . thick . the density of the briquette was 4 . 42 g / cm 3 . the compacted briquettes were preheated at 800 ° f . for 30 minutes . after preheating the compacted briquettes were individually immersed in a melt of misch metal at 810 ° c . ( 1490 ° f .) for 11 / 2 minutes . a typical briquette weighed 37 . 7 g after preheating . the same briquette weighed 62 g after immersion in the misch metal melt and contained 39 . 2 % misch metal by weight . in this example , briquettes of the scrap steel turnings were prepared in the same manner as those described in example 1 and the briquettes had similar properties to those of example 1 . the briquettes were preheated at 800 ° f . for 30 minutes , and the compacted briquettes were individually immersed in a molten alloy containing 95 . 5 % misch metal and 4 . 5 % iron at 800 °- 850 ° c . for 10 minutes . a typical briquette weighed 33 . 1 g after preheating . the same briquette weighed 48 . 5 g after immersion in the misch metal -- 4 . 5 % iron and contained 31 . 8 % misch metal -- iron by weight . briquettes of the same compressed steel turnings were prepared in the manner described above . the compacted briquettes were preheated at 800 ° f . and were individually immersed in a molten misch metal alloy containing 4 . 5 % iron and 3 % aluminum . the molten alloy had a temperature of 700 °- 760 ° c . and the briquettes were immersed for 10 minutes . a typical briquette weighed 34 . 6 g after preheating . the same briquette weighed 61 . 5 g after immersion in the misch metal melt containing 4 . 5 % fe and 3 % al . the infiltrated briquette contained 43 . 7 % misch metal -- iron - aluminum alloy . in this example the procedure of example 1 was repeated except that the briquette was immersed in molten misch metal containing 11 % aluminum at 850 ° c . for 10 minutes . the infiltrated briquette contained 49 . 3 % ( misch metal -- 11 % aluminum ) by weight . in this example a briquette was immersed in molten misch metal containing 8 . 5 % nickel at 800 ° f . for 30 minutes . the infiltrated briquette contained 41 . 4 % ( misch metal -- 8 . 5 % nickel ). the infiltrated briquettes containing misch metal and alloys of misch metal prepared in examples 1 - 5 when added to molten iron release the misch metal quiescently . from the above description and by the examples presented , a new and novel product has been produced which comprises a ferrous metal network having sufficient strength which may be infiltrated with the desired percentages of rare earth metal and rare earth metal alloys . while this invention has been described and illustrated by the examples shown , it is not intended to be strictly limited thereto , and other variations and modifications may be employed within the scope of the following claims .	8
the best mode for carrying out the invention is presented in terms of its preferred embodiment , herein depicted within fig1 through 4b , and in terms of an alternate embodiment within fig5 . however , the invention is not limited to the described embodiments , and a person skilled in the art will appreciate that many other embodiments of the invention are possible without deviating from the basic concept of the invention , and that any such work around will also fall under scope of this invention . it is envisioned that other styles and configurations of the present invention can be easily incorporated into the teachings of the present invention , and only one particular configuration shall be shown and described for purposes of clarity and disclosure and not by way of limitation of scope . 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 items . the present invention describes a device and method for a snow plow ( herein described as the “ device ”) 10 , which provides a means for applying a user &# 39 ; s body weight as an assist in providing a safer and more effective manual snow removal operation . referring now to fig1 , an environmental view of a device 10 , according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention , is disclosed . the device 10 is shown in a snow 61 removal operation whereby the weight of a user 60 is applied onto a pair of shoulder braces 33 providing a high degree of mechanical advantage , thus enabling the user the ability to more easily and more safely move larger quantities of snow 61 than is feasible by using a standard snow shovel . a pair of adjustable hand grips 27 a , 27 b allows the user 60 to maintain an ergonomic position and stabilize the device 10 . referring now to fig2 perspective view of the assembled device 10 , according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention , is disclosed . the device 10 comprises a scoop 11 , a blade 12 , and a pair of casters 13 , wherein each caster is contained within a caster bracket 14 located at opposing bottom rear outer center portions of the scoop 11 . the scoop 11 further comprises a pair of strut receptacles 26 which allow the pair of fixed struts 21 a , 21 b to be pivotally connected onto the scoop 11 by means of a pair of detent pins 15 inserted into corresponding detent pin apertures 16 . an upper end of each fixed strut 21 a , 21 b encloses a lower portion of a telescoping strut 31 , while an upper end of each telescoping strut 31 comprises the curved shoulder brace 33 which is pivotally connected onto the telescoping strut 31 by means of a clevis 32 and a second pivot pin 35 . each shoulder brace 33 is provided with a padding 34 , thereby providing the user 60 with comfortable means of applying weight onto the device 10 while plowing the snow 61 . each fixed strut 21 a , 21 b comprises a clevis - like cross member bracket 22 permanently affixed symmetrically onto opposing face portions of the fixed struts 21 a , 21 b . a first cross - member 23 is pivotally affixed within the bracket 22 of a first fixed strut 21 a and secured by a pivot pin 24 permanently fixed within an aperture through the top and bottom member of the bracket 22 , and through the end portion of the first cross member 23 . the outer end of the first cross - member 23 encloses a first end portion of a telescoping second cross - member 25 . the opposite end portion of the second cross - member 25 is pivotally affixed within the corresponding bracket 22 of a second fixed strut 21 b , and similarly secured by a pivot pin 24 inserted through an aperture within the bracket 22 and the end portion of the second cross - member 25 . the telescoping connection between the first cross - member 23 and the second cross - member 25 allows for adjusting the spacing between the pair of fixed struts 21 to a desired shoulder spacing of the user 60 , wherein another detent pin 15 is inserted through the detent pin aperture 16 within the first cross - member 23 and through one ( 1 ) of a plurality of apertures 16 within the second cross - member 25 . the pivotal connections within the pair of strut receptacles 26 , the pair of cross - member brackets 22 , and the pair of brace devises 32 are intended to ensure the freedom of each corresponding member to accommodate an optimal ergonomic orientation . each of the pair of fixed struts 21 a , 21 b further comprises a hand - grip 27 a , 27 b adjustably mounted onto the bottom portion of the upper end of each strut 21 a , 21 b by means of an adjustment rail 28 . it is envisioned that the various components of the device 10 , except the blade 12 , are made of materials such as , but not limited to : steel , aluminum , fiberglass , plastics , or the like , whereby the components are all made either of the same material , or in a suitable combination of materials . the blade 12 is intended to be made of a wear resistant plastic or of a heat treated steel . the struts 21 a , 21 b and 31 , and the cross - members 23 and 25 are envisioned to be made as light weight tubular configurations , either square , rectangular or round , either fabricated from commercial shapes , or produced as extruded shapes . referring now to fig3 a , a perspective view of the bottom portion of the device 10 , according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention , is disclosed , wherein the assembly of the pair of fixed struts 21 a , 21 b and the cross - members 23 and 25 is depicted in a state of being disconnected from the scoop 11 . each strut receptacles 26 , cross - member bracket 22 , and shoulder brace clevis 32 comprise a pair of plates or strips which are appropriately spaced and permanently affixed onto their corresponding member by welding or chemical bonding . alternately , these receptacles 26 , brackets 22 and devises 32 can be either formed as an integral part of its corresponding member , or be molded or formed into an appropriate “ u ”- shape which is removably or permanently affixed onto its corresponding member . likewise , the caster brackets 14 intended to be either integral members of the scoop 11 , conventional commercial brackets , or made as a “ u ”- shaped configuration , wherein the commercial brackets or the “ u ”- shaped configurations are permanently affixed or removeably attached onto the bottom portion of the scoop 11 . the blade 12 is intended to be removably fastened within a lower interior portion of the scoop 11 by means of a pair of blade clamps 17 . each blade clamp 17 is secured by means of a fastener 18 which is inserted through one ( 1 ) of a plurality of adjusting apertures 19 and threaded into the blade clamp 17 . the adjusting apertures provide a means of adjusting the amount the blade 12 is protruding beyond the edge of the scoop 11 . since adjusting the protrusion of blade 12 moves it inwardly or outwardly against the curved interior surface of the scoop 11 , this adjustment additionally produces a variation of the angle of the blade 12 . referring now to fig3 b , a perspective detailed bottom view of one ( 1 ) end portion of the scoop 11 of the device 10 , according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention , is disclosed . the detailed view depicts the caster 13 , the caster bracket 14 , and the blade 12 protruding beyond the bottom edge of the scoop 11 . additionally , fig3 b depicts the blade clamp 17 , the clamp fastener 18 and the adjusting apertures 19 . the pair of blade clamps 17 securely fastens the blade 12 onto the bottom inside portion of the scoop 11 by means of a pair of fasteners 18 , each passing through one ( 1 ) corresponding adjusting aperture 19 and tightened by engaging a threaded aperture provided within the clamp fastener 18 . referring now to fig4 a , a perspective view of the fixed struts 21 of the device 10 , according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention , is disclosed . the fixed struts 21 a , 21 b are depicted in a disassembled state , which more clearly depicts the pivotal and telescoping disposition of the cross - bracing struts 23 , 25 . the upper end portion of each fixed strut 21 a , 21 b comprises a hand grip 27 a , 27 b , wherein an adjustment rail 28 and a clamping washer 29 provide the means for adjusting and securely locking each hand grip 27 a , 27 b in a desired upward or downward direction . referring now to fig4 b , a perspective bottom view of the hand grip 27 adjustment portion of the device 10 , according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention , is disclosed . each hand grip 27 a , 27 b is envisioned to be covered by a comfortable semi - soft material which is not affected by snow and cold temperatures , such as , but not limited to : rubber , fabric or plastic . additionally , the upper end of each hand grip 27 a , 27 b comprises a threaded extension inserted within a corresponding threaded aperture within a clamping washer 29 . a clockwise rotation of each hand grip 27 a , 27 b allows it to be securely locked in place by drawing the clamping washer 29 against an inside portion of the adjustment rail 28 . referring now to fig5 , a perspective view of a device 40 , according to an alternate embodiment of the present invention , is disclosed . the device 40 , which is intended to be used in conjunction with the strut configuration which is similar to the one depicted for the device 10 , comprises a beam 48 , a snow blade 41 , a pair of blade devises 42 , a pair of commercial caster assemblies 44 , and a pair of strut devises 45 intended to receive the bottom end portion of the fixed struts 21 . the assembly of the beam 48 , and the pair of caster assemblies 44 fastened onto the bottom outside corners of the beam 48 , constitutes a chassis which supports the pair of strut devises 45 fastened onto the rear face portion of the beam 48 , and a pair of guide devises 49 fastened onto opposing end face portions of the beam 48 . the snow blade 41 comprises a pair of blade devises 42 fastened onto opposing outside rear portions of the blade 41 adjacent to the outer edge , each comprising a curved pivotally mounted guide 43 extending through a guide clevis 49 and secured by a detent pin 15 . this alternate embodiment 40 is designed to allow the snow blade to be set at an angle intended to deflect the snow 61 into a desired direction , to secure the desired setting by means of the pair of detent pins 15 , inserted in the guide clevis detent pin aperture and one ( 1 ) of a plurality of guide apertures 46 . the design of this alternate embodiment 40 allows the weight of the user 60 to be ergonomically applied in a manner which is similar to that of the device 10 through the similar assembly of the shoulder braces 33 , the telescoping struts 31 , and the fixed struts 21 a , 21 b even with the snow blade 41 positioned at any of the possible angles . additionally , alternative embodiments of the present invention 10 may comprise a variety of alternate snow 61 moving configurations , in addition to the scoop 11 depicted for the device 10 within fig1 through 4b , and the snow blade 41 depicted for the alternate device 40 within fig5 . however , the invention 10 is not limited to the described embodiments , as alternate configuration would include , but not be limited to : “ v ”- shapes , flat board - like , condition specific curvatures , and serrated leading edge . it is envisioned that other styles and configurations of the present invention can be easily incorporated into the teachings of the present invention , and only one particular configuration shall be shown and described for purposes of clarity and disclosure and not by way of limitation of scope . the preferred embodiment of the present invention can be utilized by the common user in a simple and effortless manner with little or no training . after initial purchase or acquisition of the device 10 , it would be installed as indicated in fig2 a . the method of utilizing the device 10 may be achieved by performing the following steps : inspecting all parts ; ascertaining the presence of all accessories ; installing the first fixed strut 21 a into its corresponding strut receptacle 26 ; making sure the pivotally attached first cross - member 23 is pointed in an inward direction ; securing the first fixed strut 21 a within its receptacle 26 by means of a first detent pin 15 ; installing the second fixed strut 21 b into its corresponding strut receptacle 26 ; securing the second fixed strut 21 b within its receptacle 26 by means of a second detent pin 15 ; moving the pair of fixed struts 21 a , 21 b as needed to align the first cross - member 23 with the second cross member 25 ; inserting the free end of second cross - member 25 into the free end of first cross - member 23 ; securing the cross - member 23 and 25 sub - assembly by means of a third detent pin 15 ; installing the free end of each telescoping strut 31 and shoulder brace 33 sub - assembly into the upper end of each fixed strut 21 a , 21 b ; securing each telescoping strut by means of a fourth and fifth detent pin 15 ; checking the assembled device 10 for comfort ; performing adjustments , if and as necessary , by removing the appropriate detent pins 15 ; moving the movable members to align different adjusting apertures 19 with the detent apertures 16 ; re - installing the detent pins 15 to secure the adjustment ; loosening a first hand grip 27 a by rotating it clockwise ( as seen from the top ); sliding the loosened hand grip 27 a onto a comfortable location ; tightening the first hand grip 27 a counter - clockwise to firmly secure it in place ; repeating these steps to adjust the opposite hand grip 27 b ; transporting the device 10 from the assembly site to a desired location ; clearing the snow 61 from the desired location ; removing snow 61 and other residue from all parts of the device 10 ; cleaning the device and storing it in an assembled state . the method of utilizing the alternate device 40 may be achieved by first performing assembly and adjusting steps similar to those performed for the device 10 ; after installing the struts 21 a , 21 b and 31 and the cross - member 23 and 25 and securing the assemblies with the plurality of detent pins , the final assembly of the device 40 requires the following additional assembly steps : standing the snow blade 41 in an upright position against a wall or workbench structure ; aligning the pair of guides 43 with the pair of guide devises 49 ; moving the chassis toward the standing snow blade 41 to engage the guides 43 into the guide devises 49 ; aligning the desired guide 43 adjusting apertures with the guide clevis 49 apertures ; securing the snow blade 41 into the desired angle by inserting one ( 1 ) detent pin 15 through each of the guide devises 49 top aperture , through one ( 1 ) of each guide 43 adjusting apertures , and through the guide clevis 49 bottom aperture . 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 .	4
fig1 through 12 , discussed below , and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the disclosure . those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged video encoder / decoder . to achieve moderate compression ratios , the corresponding decoder must account for inter - frame object motion . additionally , the encoder and decoder must function independently , without a feedback channel . embodiments of the present disclosure operate at approximately the “ desired operating point ” in fig1 ( note : the chart in fig1 is not drawn to scale ). fig2 illustrates a system level diagram according to the principles of the present disclosure . as shown , a low - power , low - complexity video encoder is implemented in a low - cost device such as a camcorder 202 , cell phone 204 , or digital camera 206 . however , these are merely examples as any low - power , low - complexity video encoder may be used . this low - complexity encoder scheme allows inexpensive devices to capture high - resolution ugc video directly in a compressed format that may be downloaded to a powered device such as a high - definition television 210 , a personal computer ( not shown ), or any device that is capable of decoding the compressed video format . the powered device has a decoder implementation that reconstructs a high - quality version of the ugc video from the compressed format . fig3 illustrates a block diagram of a general compressive sampling ( cs ) encoder for images or video according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . the original image 300 may be a video frame that may be represented as an n × n matrix , where n denotes the resolution . as the original image 300 belongs to a human - viewable image that some form of structure ( relatively smooth areas and edges ), it can be assumed that the vector x n of the original image 300 enjoys sparse representation in some basis , e . g . wavelet transformation . therefore , a small number of transform coefficients can represent the image without much perceptual loss . cs theory states that the n 2 pixels can be compressed into a vector y of length m ( i . e . bitstream 320 ), where m & lt ;& lt ; n 2 , and that the vector y can still be used to recover the original image 300 . as shown , the original image 300 may be compressed to the bitstream 320 using a compressive sampling ( cs ) device 310 . in compressive sampling , the video frame 300 having n × n pixels may be converted to an n 2 × 1 vector x n that is sampled using a random sensing matrix a ( i . e . measurement matrix ) having a size of m × n 2 ( i . e . matrix a has n 2 elements in each row and m columns where m is smaller than n 2 ). this may be mathematically represented as a matrix multiplication of the random sensing matrix a and vector x n which produces an m × 1 vector y , according to equation 1 below : the resulting product is the bitstream 320 which is an m × 1 vector y . as m ( number of elements in the bitstream 320 ) is less than n 2 ( number of elements in vector x n of the original image 300 ), compression is achieved through a very simple process . it is noted that the above process is a mathematical description of the cs process , which is generally performed in the cs device 310 . some examples of devices that enable cs include a digital micromirror device ( dmd ) of a single pixel encoder , fourier optics in a fourier domain random convolution decoder , a complementary metal - oxide - semiconductor ( cmos ) in a spatial - domain random convolution encoder , vibrating coded - aperture mask of a coded - aperture encoder , a noiselet - basis encoder , and any other device that supports the taking of random measurements from images . fig4 illustrates a block diagram of a cs encoder for predictive decoding of video frames according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . in predictive decoding , a reconstructed frame is used to approximate and reconstruct the following frame . as shown , four of the original frames of the video , denoted by x 0 , x 1 , x 2 , and x 3 , are processed in an encoder through a cs device 410 to generate compressed bitstreams denoted by y 0 , y 1 , y 2 , and y 3 , respectively . that is , x 0 , which is assumed to be the first frame of the video sequence , is processed by the cs device 410 to produce the first compressed bitstream y 0 having m 1 elements . the subsequent frames x 1 , x 2 , and x 3 are processed by the cs device 410 to produce the subsequent corresponding bitstreams y 1 , y 2 and y 3 , each having m p elements . it is noted that m p & lt ; m i , meaning that less compression was used for x 0 than the subsequent frames . in other words , the first video frame is encoded in a set with more measurements , while the subsequent video frames are encoded with fewer measurements . this is because during the decoding process , the first bitstream y 0 does not have a reconstructed previous video frame that can be used as a reference for generating the reconstructed frame { circumflex over ( x )} 0 , which has been approximated based on y 0 to reconstruct frame x 0 . that is , frame x 0 is reconstructed independently based on the bitstream y 0 . in contrast , frame x 1 can be reconstructed based on the bitstream y 1 and the reconstructed previous frame { circumflex over ( x )} 0 to generate the reconstructed frame { circumflex over ( x )} 1 . similarly , frame x 2 may be reconstructed based on the bitstream y 2 and the reconstructed previous frame { circumflex over ( x )} 1 to generate the reconstructed frame { circumflex over ( x )} 2 , and frame x 3 may be reconstructed based on the bitstream y 3 and the reconstructed previous frame { circumflex over ( x )} 2 to generate the reconstructed frame { circumflex over ( x )} 3 , and so forth . as such , the bitstream y 0 corresponds to the i - frame , the first reference frame which is to be decoded independently by a decoder . bitstreams y 1 , y 2 , and y 3 correspond to p - frames , each of which is to be predicted from a reference frame ( i . e . the reconstructed previous frame ) by the decoder . according to an embodiment , motion information from the first frame ( x 0 ) may be used to improve estimates of the subsequent frames . there are several ways to improve the cs encoding process . fig5 a - 5c illustrate traditional encoding techniques that may be integrated with cs according to embodiments of the present disclosure . fig5 a illustrates a process performed by an encoder integrating lossless coding prior to taking random measurements of an image , according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . as shown , when encoding a current frame , a difference vector is determined by subtracting a previous frame vector from the current frame vector . random measurements are then taken from the difference vector ( i . e . the random sensing matrix a is multiplied by the difference vector ), and then processed through entropy coding to generate the encoded bitstream . random measurements of the frame difference have lower entropy than random measurements of a frame . therefore , entropy coding may increase compression ratio . fig5 b illustrates a process performed in an encoder integrating motion estimation , color - spatial - temporal decorrelation and entropy coding prior to taking random measurements , according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . as shown , when encoding a current frame , motion is estimated based on a difference between the current frame vector and the previous frame vector to determine motion vectors and a residual frame vector to achieve temporal decorrelation . the residual frame vector , which is the difference between the current frame and the previous frame after compensating for motion between the frames , is processed through a decorrelating transform , such as the discrete cosine transform ( dct ) or other wavelet transforms . the transformed residual vector is then used for spatial prediction . according to an embodiment , the residual frame vector is processed through a karhunen loeve transform ( klt ) for color decorrelation and to determine klt rotations , and the klt - rotated residual frame is used in upper / left spatial prediction ( i . e . spatial prediction from upper , left neighbors ) for spatial decorrelation the random measurements are then taken for entropy coding , along with the klt rotations and motion vectors that were determined during the processing of the current frame , to generate the encoded bitstream . random measurements of the decorrelated frame have lower entropy than random measurements taken from the actual , current frame . therefore , entropy coding will increase compression ratio . fig5 c illustrates a process performed by an encoder integrating temporal decorrelation and entropy coding after taking random measurements , according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . as shown , random measurements are taken using a fixed measurement matrix ( noiselets ). with a fixed measurement matrix , random measurements of consecutive frames are highly correlated . as such , a difference is calculated between the random measurements taken from the current frame and the random measurements taken from the previous frame . the random measurement differences are then processed through an entropy coder to generate the encoded bitstream . as random measurement differences also have lower entropy than random measurements taken from the actual frame , entropy coding the random - measurement differences will also increase compression ratio . as previously discussed , different types of encoding techniques such as single - pixel encoding , fourier - domain random convolution encoding , spatial - domain random convolution encoding , coded - aperture encoding , and noiselet - basis encoding may be used in various embodiments of the present disclosure . in some situations , one or more types of encoding techniques may be available during an encoding process . according to an embodiment , the encoder may determine the optimal random measurements and measurement technique for a given video . fig6 illustrates a block diagram of a general cs decoder for images or video according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . in general , the decoder receives the bitstream 600 ( which is similar to bitstream 320 ) which includes the compressed video format . the sparse recovery block 610 is used to estimate the decoded image 620 based on the bitstream 600 to recover the originally encoded image . for example , assuming the vector y m of bitstream 610 containing m elements carries the encoded format of the vector x n of original image 300 that had a resolution n , the sparse recovery block solves a sparse recovery problem to estimate { circumflex over ( x )} n based on the bitstream 610 according to constrained equation 2a or unconstrained equation 2b below : where ψ denotes any suitable sparse - representation basis , { circumflex over ( x )} denotes the estimate of the vector x n of the original image 300 , y denotes the vector y m of the bitstream 600 , and a denotes the random sensing matrix that was used to generate the bitstream 600 . in equation 2a , ψ and y are known and used to determine a best estimate of { circumflex over ( x )} that corresponds to y . a different ψ may be used for according to the type of video to optimize decoding . in equation 2b , α controls the tradeoff between the sparsity term ∥ ψ t { circumflex over ( x )}∥ 1 and the data consistency term ∥ a { circumflex over ( x )}− y ∥ 2 . α may be selected based on many different factors including noise , signal structure , matrix values , and so forth . these optimization problems may be referred to as sparse solvers which accept a , ψ , and y as input and give out the signal estimate { circumflex over ( x )}. equation 2a and equation 2b may be solved via a convex solver or approximated with a greedy algorithm . the equality constrained problem of equation 2a can be made equivalent to the unconstrained form of equation 2b , but in a very loose sense . choosing a very small value of α would result in both equations 2a and 2b giving solutions that are very close to each other . the equality constrained problem ( also called basis pursuit ) is usually used when there is substantially no noise in the measurements and the underlying signal enjoys a very sparse representation . however , if there is some noise in the measurements , or for whatever reason the signal estimate does not match the measurements exactly ( which will be the case if only a low - resolution image is estimated from the measurements of a full - resolution image ), then the equality constraint ax n = y may be relaxed with something similar to ∥ a { circumflex over ( x )}− y ∥ 2 & lt ;= ε for some small value of ε ( also called basis pursuit de - noising ). the unconstrained form in the present disclosure is equivalent to the basis pursuit de - noising . in short , the relaxed form is used when measurement constraints cannot be satisfied and constrained otherwise . fig7 illustrates a flow diagram for a multi - resolution decoding process performed in a cs decoder according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . process 700 , which reconstructs frames , independently , may be used to recover all video frames , including both i - frames ( i . e . the first frame ) and p - frames ( i . e . subsequent frames that have fewer measurements ), according the embodiment of the present disclosure . in process 700 , the decoder receives an input vector y ( which is similar to bitstream 320 ) which includes the compressed video format of a video frame . thereafter , sparse recovery block 710 processes the input vector through a series of estimations ( e . g . an iterative process ) to recover an approximation of the original image . as shown , each subsequent estimation performs a sparse recovery to improve the resolution of the estimated image { circumflex over ( x )} n . the lowest resolution wavelets are determined according to equation 3 below : where ψ 0 denotes the wavelet basis restricted to resolution ‘ 0 ’ wavelets , which are wavelets corresponding to the lowest defined resolution . the subsequent resolution wavelets can be estimated according to equation 4 below : where ψ k denotes the wavelet basis restricted to the resolution - k wavelets , for k = 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . that corresponds to each subsequent estimation , and α k may change with the k wavelets . because minimization is over basis subsets , the recovery is more robust . multi - resolution implies spatial and complexity scalability . that is , the number of iterations may be set in the decoder by a user or preconfigured . alternatively , decoding may be halted at an intermediate resolution in low - complexity devices that do not support high resolution . it is noted that equation 4 does not recover signal approximation at any scale exactly . rather , the number of iterations may be used to reach a particular level of approximation / resolution . the sparse recovery block 710 may perform sparse recovery in a feedback loop such that the estimated vector { circumflex over ( x )} n from a current iteration may be used as an input , along with the next ψ k , for the next iteration in the loop . a controller ( not shown ) may determine the number of iterations . furthermore , the multi - resolution approach can exploit motion information efficiently . according to another embodiment the constrained forms of equations 3 and 4 may be used . fig8 illustrates a flow diagram of a portion of a predictive , multi - resolution process performed in a cs decoder according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . the predictive , multi - resolution process 800 , which iteratively reconstructs a current frame based on a previously reconstructed frame , may be used to reconstruct subsequent frames ( i . e . p - frames ) of a video . to improve stability and to efficiently exploit motion information , a multi - scale approach is used . in essence , process 800 may also be performed as a feedback loop ( i . e . multiple iterations ) for each input vector y index where index denotes the sequence index of the current video frame . in block 820 , { circumflex over ( x )} 128 , a low - resolution version of the image ( i . e . any size image that does not have confidence in wavelet coefficients on finer scales beyond the 128 × 128 resolution ), is reconstructed from the input vector y index ( i . e . the input bitstream ) by solving an optimization problem that determines the sparsest lowest - resolution wavelets which agree with the measurements according to equation 4 . according to an embodiment , a previously reconstructed frame at the lowest resolution ( e . g . { circumflex over ( x )} 128 prev ) may be used to initiate the optimization search for the lowest resolution version of the reconstructed frame ( e . g . { circumflex over ( x )} 128 ). when process 800 is performed as a feedback loop , block 820 may be construed as the operation for initializing the loop . that is , the lowest - resolution version of p - frame { circumflex over ( x )} 128 is decoded without motion information . according to an embodiment , equation 3 and equation 4 may be “ warm - started ”, using the estimate of the previous frame or lower resolution estimate of the current frame . this can help in expediting the iterative update and restricting the search space for the candidate solutions . in block 824 , motion is estimated against the lowest - resolution version of the previous , reconstructed frame ( e . g . { circumflex over ( x )} 128 prev ) to determine motion vectors . according to an embodiment , various types of motion estimation may be used , such as phase - based motion estimation using complex wavelets , or optical flow , or block - based motion estimation , or mesh - based motion estimation . in the present disclosure any of these or other motion - estimation techniques may be used wherever the term “ motion estimation ” occurs . in block 826 , the resultant motion vectors are used to motion compensate a next higher resolution version of the previous frame ( e . g . { circumflex over ( x )} 256 prev ), and this motion - compensated frame ( e . g . { circumflex over ( x )} 256 mc ) initiates the optimization search for the next higher - resolution version of the reconstructed frame . according to an embodiment , however , the motion compensation may be performed on image estimates at full resolution ( i . e . final reconstructed version of the previous frame ). as shown in blocks 830 , 834 , and 840 , these operations may be repeated until the highest - resolution version of the frame consistent with the measurements is recovered ( i . e . { circumflex over ( x )} n ). as already mentioned , the number of iterations may be configured by a user , predetermined , adjusted at run - time , and so forth . when the current frame is reconstructed , process 800 may then be performed , using the versions of the recovered frame { circumflex over ( x )} n at the various resolutions may be used as the new reference frames , to recover the next incoming frame . as such , the versions of the reference frames that support various resolutions may be stored in memory or a set of registers . when performed as a feedback loop , the operations described in blocks 824 , 826 , and 830 may be looped such that the output of block 830 and the corresponding resolution version of the previous frame may be used as the inputs for the next iteration in the loop . a controller ( not shown ) may control the feedback loop and determine the number of iterations . it is noted that although the intermediate versions of the reconstructed frame ( e . g . { circumflex over ( x )} 128 ) imply a resolution of 128 × 128 , this is merely used in the present disclosure as an example and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure . in fact , { circumflex over ( x )} 128 also does not necessarily refer to a resolution or the actual size of the image . instead , the { circumflex over ( x )} 128 notation should be regarded as any image for which there is insufficient confidence in wavelet coefficients on finer scales beyond the specified resolution level ( here , 128 × 128 ). according to an embodiment , measurements may be taken at full resolution / size ( i . e . number of pixels ). as such , each intermediate version of the reconstructed image may be construed as having full size ( i . e . number of pixels ) in the spatial domain ; the term “ resolution ” denotes how many scales of the wavelets were used to reconstruct the image . this similarly applies to references to versions of the reconstructed frame ( e . g . lowest resolution version , low - resolution version , high - resolution version , next higher resolution version , previous lower resolution version , and such ). moreover , this applies to all embodiments of the present disclosure . fig9 illustrates a flow diagram of a portion of a predictive , sparse - residual recovery process performed in a cs decoder according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . the predictive , sparse - residual recovery process 900 , which also iteratively reconstructs a current frame based on a previously reconstructed frame , may be used to reconstruct subsequent frames ( i . e . p - frames ) of a video . process 900 exploits inter - frame temporal correlation by modeling an inter - frame motion - compensated difference as a sparse vector in some known basis . the decoding procedure recursively updates both the motion estimate and the frame estimate . in essence , process 900 may also be performed as a feedback loop ( i . e . multiple iterations ) for each input vector y index , where index denotes the sequence index of the current video frame . in block 920 , a sparse recovery is performed from the input vector y index by solving the sparse recovery problem to estimate { circumflex over ( x )} n according to equation 2 . when process 900 is performed as a feedback loop , block 920 may be construed as the operation for initializing the loop . in block 924 , motion is estimated against the previous reconstructed frame to determine motion vectors . according to an embodiment , the motion vectors are estimated using complex - wavelet phase - based motion estimation , or traditional block -, or mesh - based motion estimation , or optical flow . alternatively , the cs decoder may use any elaborate motion estimation scheme , as it does not incur any cost in terms of communication overhead like it does in conventional coders . in block 926 , the motion vectors are used to compute a motion compensated frame mc ( x n prev ) from the reference frame ( i . e . the previous reconstructed frame x n prev ). in block 928 , a sensing matrix a is applied to the motion compensated frame mc ( x n prev ). the operation is similar to multiplying the sensing matrix a with the motion compensated frame mc ( x n prev ) to get a ( mc ( x n prev )). in block 929 , δy is calculated as the difference between the input vector y index and a ( mc ( x n prev )) ( i . e . the output of block 928 ). in block 930 , δy is used to estimate the motion compensated residual δx by solving a sparse recovery problem according to equation 5 below : referring back to equation 1 , the following relationship may be derived according to equation 6 : δ y = y index − a ( mc ( x n prev ))≡ a ( x index − mc ( x n prev )) [ eqn . 6 ] where x index denotes the original image that was encoded at an encoder . according to equation 7 : therefore , in block 932 , the new estimate for x index may be calculated according to equation 8 : { circumflex over ( x )} index = mc ( x n prev )+ δ x [ eqn . 8 ] where { circumflex over ( x )} index denotes the new { circumflex over ( x )} n . blocks 934 , 936 , 938 , and 939 perform substantially the same operations as blocks 924 , 926 , 928 , and 929 , with the difference being that the input vector is the new { circumflex over ( x )} n . in other words , the operations of blocks 924 - 930 may be repeated with each updated { circumflex over ( x )} n any number of times such that , with each subsequent iteration , the reconstruction of the original image is improved . the number of iterations may be preconfigured or adjusted . a controller ( not shown ) may determine the number of iterations . the last { circumflex over ( x )} n that is estimated may then be set as the reference frame ( i . e . previous frame ) by the decoder to reconstruct the next incoming video frame using process 900 . fig1 illustrates a flow diagram of a portion of a predictive , multi - resolution , sparse - residual recovery process performed in a cs decoder according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . process 1000 is a multi - scale approach of process 900 . similar to process 800 and process 900 , process 1000 iteratively reconstructs a current frame based on previously reconstructed frame and may be used to reconstruct p - frames of an incoming video stream . process 1000 may also be performed as a feedback loop for each input vector y index , where index denotes the sequence index of the current video frame . in block 1020 , a low - resolution version of the image , is reconstructed from the input vector y index ( i . e . the input bitstream ) by solving an optimization problem that determines the sparsest lowest - resolution wavelets which agree with the measurements according to equation 4 . when process 1000 is performed as a feedback loop , block 1020 may be construed as the operation for initializing the loop . that is , the lowest - resolution version of p - frame { circumflex over ( x )} 128 is decoded without motion information . in block 1024 , motion is estimated against the lowest - resolution version of the previous , reconstructed frame ( e . g . { circumflex over ( x )} 128 prev to determine motion vectors . in block 1026 , the motion vectors are used to compute a motion compensated frame mc ( x 128 prev ) the lowest - resolution version of the previous , reconstructed frame { circumflex over ( x )} 128 prev . in block 1028 , a sensing matrix a is applied to the motion compensated frame mc ( x 128 prev ). the operation is similar to multiplying the sensing matrix a with the motion compensated frame mc ( x 128 prev ) to get a ( mc ( x 128 prev )). as explained previously , this operation is well - defined because mc ( x 128 prev ) may be construed as having full - domain spatial size . in block 1029 , δy 128 is calculated as the difference between the input vector y index and a ( mc ( x 128 prev )) ( i . e . the output of block 1028 ). in block 1030 , δy 128 is used to estimate the motion compensated residual at a next higher resolution version ( e . g . δx 256 ) by solving a sparse recovery problem according to equation 5 . in block 1031 , the motion compensated frame mc ( x 128 prev ) is also upsampled to the next higher resolution ( e . g . mc ( x 128 prev )). in block 1032 , the new estimate for { circumflex over ( x )} 128 may be calculated according to equation 8 . as such , blocks 1024 - 1032 constitute one iteration for reconstructing the video frame . subsequent iterations ( comprising the functions of blocks 1024 - 1032 ) reconstruct the images that support higher resolutions . a controller ( not shown ) may determine the number of iterations . as already discussed , the number of iterations may be configured by a user , predetermined , adjusted at run - time , and so forth . for example , in block 1031 , the estimated image vector { circumflex over ( x )} 128 is upsampled ( i . e . the size of the vector is increased by interleaving zeros and then interpolation filtering , or by wavelet - domain upsampling ) to create a new image vector that can support a higher resolution ( e . g . { circumflex over ( x )} 256 ). in an embodiment , a low - resolution image may be used for { circumflex over ( x )} 256 to reduce buffering costs . in such an embodiment , the upsample 1031 creates the higher resolution { circumflex over ( x )} 256 that is subsequently used by 1032 for motion estimation . however , as previously discussed , the higher resolution does not necessarily indicate an increase in the spatial size of the image but , rather , an increase in the number of scales of the wavelets that were used to reconstruct the image . according to an embodiment , another upsample block may be added before each sensing matrix such that measurements at the sensing matrix are taken at full resolution ( i . e . number of pixels in the final image ). according to another embodiment , intermediate estimates may comprise full spatial size images that are reconstructed from wavelet approximations at different scales . according to yet another embodiment , in which buffering costs are not an issue , no upsampling blocks are required . in this embodiment , full resolution is maintained in all images , but the effective resolution is determined by the number of wavelet scales used for reconstruction . therefore , for example , { circumflex over ( x )} 256 would use one more wavelet scale than { circumflex over ( x )} 128 although both these images would have the n × n pixels , where n is the maximum resolution and n may be larger than 256 . blocks 1034 , 1036 , 1038 , and 1039 are substantially similar to blocks 1024 , 1026 , 1028 , and 1029 , respectively . any number of iterations may be performed in a loop according to an embodiment until the highest - resolution version of the frame consistent with the measurements is recovered ( i . e . { circumflex over ( x )} n ). when the current frame is reconstructed , the decoder may set the versions of the recovered frame { circumflex over ( x )} n at the various resolutions as the new reference frames to recover the next incoming frame using process 1000 . as such , the versions of the reference frames at the various resolutions may be stored in memory or a set of registers . when performed as a feedback loop , the operations described in blocks 1024 , 1026 , 1028 , 1029 , 1030 , and 1032 may be looped , with the estimated frame at each iteration being upsampled for the subsequent iteration , such that the output of block 1032 and the corresponding resolution version of the previous frame may be used as the inputs for the next iteration in the loop . according to some embodiments , the encoding and decoding processes of the present disclosure may be performed in a transform domain . fig1 illustrates a process performed by an encoder that uses wavelet - domain measurements to reduce decoder complexity , according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . as shown , a wavelet transform is performed on a current frame vector to generate a wavelet frame vector , from which random measurements are taken using a fixed measurement matrix ( noiselets ). a difference is then calculated between the random measurements taken from the current wavelet frame vector and the random measurements taken from the previous wavelet frame vector . the random measurement differences are then processed through an entropy coder to generate the encoded bitstream . while conventional recovery occurs iteratively in the wavelet domain under spatial constraint ( e . g ., see equation 2a ), with wavelet - domain measurements , recovery and constraint are in the wavelet - domain , thus reducing decode time according to equation 9 below : where λ denotes the coefficients from the wavelet transform . the compression ratio will increase because random measurements of wavelet - domain frame differences have reduced entropy . for all embodiments disclosed , analyticity of complex wavelet bases or overcomplete complex wavelet frames ( or quaternion wavelet bases or overcomplete quaternion wavelet frames ) may be exploited during the recovery process . specifically , the complex wavelet transforms of real - world images are analytic functions with phase : patterns which are predictable from local image structures . examples of phase patterns may be found in “ signal processing for computer vision ,” by g . h . granlund , h . knutsson , kluwer academic publishers , 1995 . therefore , the recovery process can be improved by imposing additional constraints on predicted phase patterns . according to an embodiment , motion information may also be used in the wavelet domain . normally , it is difficult to exploit motion information in the minimization using equation 4 because wavelet bases ψ k are shift variant , and hence , motion information is garbled . however , over - complete , wavelet frames for ψ k are shift - invariant and , therefore , may be used such that motion information is made explicitly available using techniques such as phase - based motion estimation . in other embodiments , over - complete complex wavelet or overcomplete quaternion frames may be used . because minimization occurs in the decoder , the over - complete wavelet frame does not incur a compression penalty . in some embodiments , the cs decoder may further be improved by implementing parallelization of the decoding processes . for example , in processes 800 and 1000 , the next frame may processed as an estimate of the previous image is calculated at each increasing resolution level . fig1 illustrates a high - level block diagram of a cs decoder according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . the cs decoder 1200 may include a sparse recovery component 1210 , a motion estimation & amp ; compensation component 1220 , a sensing matrix 1230 , and any number of subtractors 1240 and adders 1250 . decoder 1200 , or any individual component , may be implemented in one or more field - programmable gate arrays ( fpgas ), one or more application - specific integrated circuits ( asics ), as software stored in a memory and executed by a processor or microcontroller . cs decoder may be implemented in a television , monitor , computer display , portable display , or any other image / video decoding device . the sparse recovery component 1210 solves the sparse recovery problem for an input vector , as discussed with reference to fig6 - 10 . the motion estimation & amp ; compensation component 1220 estimates motion relative to the reference frame ( e . g . preceding recontructed frame x n prev ) and uses the motion information to compute a motion compensated frame from the reference frame ( e . g . mc ( x n prev ). according to an embodiment , the motion estimation & amp ; compensation component 1220 may be broken up into separate components . the sensing matrix component 1230 applies a sensing matrix a to the motion compensated frame to determine the difference vector δy . not illustrated in fig1 are a memory , a controller , and an interface to external devices / components . these elements are optional as they be included in the cs decoder 1200 or be external to the cs decoder . according to an embodiment components 1210 - 1250 may be integrated into a single component or each component may be further divided into multiple sub - components . furthermore , one or more of the components may not be included in a decoder according to the embodiment . for example , a decoder that reconstructs video using process 700 may not include the motion estimation & amp ; compensation component 1220 and the sensing matrix component 1230 . although the present disclosure has been described with an exemplary embodiment , various changes and modifications may be suggested to one skilled in the art . it is intended that the present disclosure encompass such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims .	7
those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following description of the present invention is illustrative only and not in any way limiting . other embodiments of the invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons . the specification and drawings of u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 447 , 482 , filed may 28 , 2003 and u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 921 , 991 , filed aug . 2 , 2001 , now abandoned , are hereby incorporated by reference . fig1 discloses a loudspeaker enclosure 10 for home use and use at a variety of commercial , theatrical and musical events . speaker enclosure 10 has a front panel 12 and a rear ( or back ) panel 14 . front panel 12 and rear panel 14 can be formed from a variety of materials , such as wood , plastic , or a lightweight alloy . in most instances , front panel 12 and rear panel 14 are made from any commonly used wood materials . front panel 12 defines an opening 16 to accept the speakers . because of opening 16 , the front panel is lightweight even though it is made from solid material . rear panel 14 is a solid piece of material . however , in another embodiment , rear panel 14 can be structured as foam laminate panel 44 , as described below , and is , therefore , lightweight . front panel 12 has four corners ( or junction points ) 18 , 20 , 22 and 24 . rear panel 14 has four corners ( or junction points ) 26 , 28 , 30 and 32 . in order to form the speaker enclosure , a bottom ( or base ) panel , a top ( or surface ) panel , and two opposing side panels ( all not shown in fig1 ) are also attached to the speaker enclosure to complete the enclosure . in one embodiment , as illustrated in fig1 the corners 18 , 20 , 22 and 24 of front panel 12 are connected to the corners 26 , 28 , 30 and 32 of rear panel 14 by structural members 34 , 36 , 38 and 40 . corner 18 of front panel 12 is attached to corner 28 of rear panel 14 by structural member 34 . corner 20 of front panel 12 is attached to corner 30 of rear panel 14 by structural member 36 . corner 22 of front panel 12 is attached to corner 32 of rear panel 14 by structural member 38 . finally , corner 24 of front panel 12 is attached to corner 26 of rear panel 14 by structural member 40 . referring still to fig1 an additional structural member 42 also connects front panel 12 to rear panel 14 . additional structural member 42 can also be utilized to provide additional support . additional structural member 42 is a structural member that is attached at an angle to the edges of front panel 12 and rear panel 14 dividing the frame between the two panels into two triangular spaces . although not shown , additional structural members can connect front panel 12 and rear panel 14 at the top of the speaker enclosure , at the bottom of the speaker enclosure and on the opposing side of the speaker enclosure . the structural members discussed above can be made from rigid struts . these rigid struts are constructed from a lightweight wood material . as set forth below , rigid struts may also function for layer 50 between front panel 12 and rear panel 14 . front panel 12 and rear panel 14 when connected by structural members 34 , 36 , 38 and 40 and also connected by triangulated structural members , illustrated by triangulated structural member 42 , forms a triangulated structure or frame , which is enclosed by lightweight foam laminate panels 44 . fig2 and 3a disclose another embodiment for constructing the speaker enclosure . in fig2 a , 3 b , and 3 c , the panels are constructed of a foam laminate material , as illustrated by panel 44 . the top panel , bottom panel and opposing side panels are all constructed in the same manner . foam laminate panel 44 is indicative of the structure of each of the panels . foam laminate panel 44 has a rigid outer layer 46 , foam layer 48 and rigid inner layer 52 . foam layer 48 is sandwiched between rigid outer layer 46 , layer 50 and rigid inner layer 52 . rigid outer layer 46 is comprised of a lightweight skin material such as thin plywood , wood composition material , pressboard , plastic or fiberglass sheet or any other suitable material . preferably , the rigid outer layer 46 can be formed form about 1 to about 3 millimeter plywood , about 1 to 3 millimeters wood composition material , about 1 to 3 millimeters pressboard , about 1 to about 3 millimeters plastic , and about 1 to 3 millimeters fiberglass . rigid outer layer 46 has outer side and an inner side . the top panel , bottom panel and opposing side panels are each constructed in order to allow for easy assembling of the speaker enclosure . in one embodiment , layer 50 is attached to the inner side of outer layer 46 . layer 50 may be milled wooden strips having grooves ( or slots or mounting features ) 51 for forming dado joints . foam layer 48 is disposed on the inner side of rigid outer layer 46 between layer 50 and inner layer 52 . foam layer 48 can be made from commercially available material , for example polystyrene foam or any other suitable pre - laminated foam material or material , such as a honeycomb kraft material manufactured by hexacomb or fome - cor manufactured by international paper co . in another embodiment , as illustrated in fig2 each of the opposing side panels 44 are constructed with two extended mounting features ( or tongues or male inserts or male members ) 56 extending toward the bottom side and top side 58 of the side panels . the opposing side panels are also constructed with grooves 51 on the sides 60 , 62 of front face 63 of the side panel 44 . as illustrated in fig3 a , 3 b , and 3 c , the top and bottom panels are configured with grooves on the sides of the front face of the top and bottom panels . the top and bottom panels are also configured with two female receiving members ( or female grooves ) for lining up with the side panels and receiving the male inserts . fig3 a illustrates a side view of either top or bottom panel 64 . rigid inner layer 52 is adhered to foam layer 48 and layer 50 to form panel 64 . rigid inner layer 52 is a lightweight skin layer comprised of a lightweight skin material such as thin plywood , wood composition material , pressboard , plastic or fiberglass sheet or any other suitable material . preferably , the rigid inner layer 52 can be formed form about 1 to about 3 millimeter plywood , about 1 to 3 millimeters wood composition material , about 1 to 3 millimeters pressboard , about 1 to about 3 millimeters plastic , and about 1 to 3 millimeters fiberglass . fig3 a illustrates a side view of the top of panel 64 showing a top view of the grooves 51 for the insertion of either the front panel 12 or back panel 14 . panel 64 is then adhered to the side panels to form speaker enclosure 10 . fig3 b illustrates another embodiment of speaker enclosure 10 . in this embodiment , foam laminate panel 64 has rigid outer layer 46 and foam layer 48 . rigid inner layer 52 is adhered directly to the panel 64 . fig3 b also illustrates a side view of the top of panel 64 showing a top view of the grooves 51 for the insertion of the side panels 44 . as described above , panel 64 has two female receiving structures for receiving the male counterpart of the side panels . when constructing the speaker enclosure , no fasteners are utilized , except for small brads , which may be used to hold the panels in correct orientation while the assembly adhesive cures . preferably , the panels are glued into place with an adhesive , such as carpenters glue , acrylic , and the like as suitable for use with the materials from which the enclosure panels are constructed . many commonly available types of products used in construction or home maintenance can be utilized in the interlocking design of the speaker enclosure . fig3 c illustrates yet another embodiment of speaker enclosure 10 . as set forth above , side panel 44 is constructed of a foam laminate . foam laminate panel 64 comprises rigid outer layer 46 , foam layer 48 and rigid inner layer 52 . in this embodiment , panel 44 is directly adhered to the panel 64 , with the male member of panel 44 fitting snuggly into the female member of panel 64 . the rigid inner layers 52 of both panels are adhered to each other . in yet another embodiment , a cosmetic laminate may be applied to the outer side of the outer surface for cosmetic purposes . the following presents one embodiment of constructing the speaker enclosure . the method or procedure for manufacture of speaker enclosure 10 begins with providing front panel 12 and rear panel 14 . front panel 12 and rear panel 14 can be formed from a variety of materials . in most instances , front panel 12 and rear panel 14 are made from any commonly used wood materials . front panel 12 defines an opening 16 to accept the loudspeakers . because of opening 16 , the front panel is lightweight even though it is made from solid material . rear panel 14 can be a solid piece of material or other suitable material , or it can be of a foam laminate design as described herein . front panel 12 has four corners 18 , 20 , 22 and 24 . rear panel 14 has four corners 26 , 28 , 30 and 32 . next , the corners 18 , 20 , 22 and 24 of front panel 12 are connected to the corners 26 , 28 , 30 and 32 of rear panel 14 by structural members 34 , 36 , 38 and 40 . corner 18 of front panel 12 is attached to corner 28 of rear panel 14 by structural member 34 . corner 20 of front panel 12 is attached to corner 30 of rear panel 14 by structural member 36 . corner 22 of front panel 12 is attached to corner 32 of rear panel 14 by structural member 38 . finally , corner 24 of front panel 12 is attached to corner 26 of rear panel 14 by structural member 40 . additional structural member 42 connects front panel 12 to rear panel 14 . additional structural member 42 is a structural member that is attached at an angle to the front panel 12 and rear panel 14 dividing the area between front panel 12 and rear panel 14 into two triangular spaces . although not shown , additional structural members connect front panel 12 and rear panel 14 at the top of the speaker enclosure , at the bottom of the speaker enclosure and on the opposing side of the speaker enclosure . these additional structural members are not shown for clarity . next , when front panel 12 and rear panel 14 are connected by structural members 34 , 36 , 38 and 40 and also connected by additional structural members , illustrated by additional structural member 42 , they form a triangulated structure or frame , which is enclosed by lightweight foam laminate panels 44 . next layer 50 is provided . layer 50 is attached to the inner side of outer layer 46 . finally , the side panels , the top panel and the bottom panel are attached . the following presents another embodiment of constructing the speaker enclosure . the male members of the side panels are interlocked into the female receiving members of the bottom panel . next , the front and rear panels are disposed into the grooves of the side panels and the bottom panel until the front and rear panels fit snuggly into the grooves of the bottom panel . lastly , the top panel is positioned such that the female receiving members fit snuggly with the male members of the side panels and that the front and rear panels fit snuggly in the grooves of the top panel . while embodiments and application of this invention have been shown and described , it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that more modifications that mentioned above are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein . the invention , therefore , is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims .	7
the mounting system shown in fig1 to 3 includes a perforated formed steel plate 10 having a plurality of generally rectangular openings 11 . the formation of the openings 11 serves to reduce the weight of the display system . at each corner of each opening 11 , there is an up - standing raised mounting finger 12 having a planar presented support surface . the mounting fingers 12 support the photographs 13 and , as shown , the photographs 13 are of such size that one photograph 13 is supported by the fingers 12 surrounding each individual opening 11 . it will be appreciated that the mounting system could be used , for example , for supporting photographs , cards or posters having a size corresponding to two , four or six or more openings 11 . small rare - earth disc magnets 14 are placed over the corners of each photograph 13 so that the corners of the photographs 13 are sandwiched between the magnets 14 and the support surfaces of the mounting fingers 12 . the magnets 14 are visible from the front of the display but , as they are relatively small and are located at the corners of the photographs 13 , they do not detract from the aesthetic appeal of the photographs 13 . the steel plate 10 is provided with through apertures 15 adjacent the corners thereof so that it can be fastened by screws or nails to a supporting substrate ( not shown ). it can also be bonded to , or suspended from , a supporting substrate and a pair of slots 16 are accordingly formed in the steel plate 10 to facilitate suspension of the steel plate 10 . in use , the steel plate 10 is concealed by the display of photographs 13 but the fingers 12 hold the display of photographs 13 at some distance from the supporting substrate giving the impression of a substantial frame . the mounting system shown in fig4 to 6 includes a perforated formed steel plate 20 having a plurality of generally square openings 21 , with diagonal strips extending between opposite corners of the square openings 21 . the formation of the openings 21 serves to reduce the weight of the display system . adjacent the corners of the openings 21 , there are rearwardly extending tabs 22 having co - planar presented surfaces . the configurations of the tabs 22 are best shown in fig6 and they project from the main body of the plate 20 from the side thereof opposite to that against which the photographs 23 are placed . as shown , the photographs 23 are of such size that one photograph 23 registers with each individual opening 21 . it will be appreciated that the mounting system could be used , for example , for supporting photographs , cards or posters having a size corresponding to two , four or six or more openings 21 . small rare - earth disc magnets 24 are placed over the corners of each photograph 23 so that the corners of the photographs 23 are sandwiched between the magnets 24 and the adjacent surface of the steel plate 20 . the magnets 24 are visible from the front of the display but , as they are relatively small and are located at the corners of the photographs 23 , they do not detract from the aesthetic appeal of the photographs 23 . the steel plate 20 may be provided with through apertures adjacent the corners thereof so that it can be fastened by screws or nails to a supporting substrate ( not shown ). it can also be bonded to , or suspended from , a supporting substrate . in use , the steel plate 20 is concealed by the display of photographs 23 but the tabs 22 hold the display of photographs 23 at some distance from the supporting substrate giving the impression of a substantial frame . the particular embodiments illustrated are intended to display an array of sixteen standard - sized photographs but other embodiments may be arranged to support the photographs or the like in some other regular or irregular array , and may be arranged to support photographs of different sizes or even a single poster . a number of steel plates may be secured together to form a mounting frame for supporting , for example , a cube of photographs . an alternative frame design could comprise a plurality of plates joined together to form a cube or other three - dimensional form for the mounting of photographs or coloured films around a lamp .	0
an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to fig1 to 10 . fig1 is a diagram showing an arrangment of parts of a magnetic recording and / or reproducing apparatus including a cassette - mounting part , a rotary magnetic head unit and peripheral parts thereof . a cassette 1 containing a magnetic tape 2 is diagramatically illustrated with a two - dot chain but will not be described in detail . the magnetic tape 2 in the cassette 1 takes the position as shown in fig1 when the cassette 1 is loaded in the apparatus . with the tape loading operation , the magnetic tape 2 takes the running path as shown in fig3 as two guide roller blocks 3 , 4 having a roller and a tilt pin , a tilt pin 5a fixed on a guide pin arm 5 and a tension - compensating pin 6b fixed on a t - shaped arm 6 move from the position in the cassette to the respective predetermined driving positions thereof . in the process , the magnetic tape 2 is brought into contact with a full erase head 7 , an impedance roller 8 , a rotary cylinder 9 , a guide 10 , an audio control head 11 hereinafter called &# 34 ; ac head &# 34 ; 11 and a guide 12 , respectively . when the pinch roller 13 is pressed against the capstan 14 , the magnetic tape 2 , held therebetween , is driven and driven in steady manner . in a recording mode , the full erase head 7 erases the recorded signal over the whole width of the magnetic tape 2 passing therethrough . the impedance roller 8 is driven by the tape movement for stabilizing the tape drive condition . the rotary cylinder 9 , forming a part of the rotary magnetic head unit , is normally arranged in an opposed relationship with the fixed cylinder concentrically therewith , with a plurality of magnetic heads ( not shown ) protruding slightly from the peripheral surface thereof facing the fixed cylinder , thus forming parallel diagonal recording tracks on the magnetic tape 2 . the ac head 11 is a duplex head with two integrated magnetic heads for forming a longitudinal audio signal track and a control signal track along the edge of the magnetic tape 2 . these parts have basically the same configuration as the corresponding parts of a well - known cassette video recorder such as vhs system . the guide roller blocks 3 and 4 are slidably held along a guide hole 15a and a guide 16 formed on a chassis 15 while being pressed from the upper and lower sides thereof respectively . the t - shaped arm 6 is rotatably held around the shaft 6a , and has at an end thereof a pin 6b in contact with the magnetic tape 2 . the full erase head 7 is mounted on an fe head arm 17 , which , in turn , is rotatably held on the shaft 18 fixed on the chassis 15 while being urged to the shown position by a spring ( not shown ). with the tape loading operation , the movement of the guide roller block 3 causes the peripheral side of the fe head arm 17 to be relieved in opposition to the energization force of the spring in contact with the guide roller block 3 , thus preventing an interference the movement of the guide roller block 3 . the impedance roller 8 is rotatably held on the shaft 19c fixed on the chassis 15 . the rotary cylinder 9 is mounted on a c - shaped base 19 having a positioning stopper for the guide roller blocks 3 , 4 , and the base 19 is fixed on the chassis 15 with three screws . the guide pin arm 5 has a tilt pin 5a and a pin 5b and is rotatably held on the shaft 20 fixed on the chassis 15 . the stopper 21 is secured by a fastener means such as a screw to the chassis 15 in a position to receive the pin 5b as shown in fig3 . the guides 10 and 12 are held on the ac head arm 22 . the ac head 11 is held in such a manner that the position thereof may be finely adjusted on the ac head arm 22 . the ac head arm 22 is rotatably held on the shaft 23 fixed on the chassis 15 , and , being pressed upward along the axis of the shaft 23 , is secured by a nut 26 through a thrust bearing 25 ( fig1 ). the drive arm 27 is rotatably held in an overlying manner on the rotary shaft 20 of the guide pin arm 5 , and includes a cam slot 27a in mesh with the pin 22a ( fig1 ) of the ac head arm 22 ( fig5 and 8 ), a spring 27b pressing the guide pin arm 5 ( fig8 ), a spring plate 27c ( fig8 ), a cam slot 27d ( fig8 ), and a stopper 27e ( fig8 ) engaged with a stopper member 5c ( fig5 and 7 ) of the guide pin arm 5 . the operating arm 28 ( fig6 ) is rotatably held on the chassis 15 by the shaft 52 , and includes a pin 28a engaged with the spring plate 27c and the cam slot 27d and a pin 28b engaged with the hole 29a of the operating arm 29 ( fig2 and 5 ). the operating arm 29 , as shown in fig2 is rotatably held on the back side of the chassis 15 to the shaft 30 secured to the chassis 15 , and has a pin 29b engaged with the cam slot 31a of the cam gear 31 . the cam gear 31 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 32 secured to the chassis 15 . as shown in fig4 b , a link 34 is rotatably mounted on the cam gear 31 coaxially with the shaft 32 while being urged in a rotational direction by the spring 33 . the link 34 has coupled therewith a link 35 and a link 37 coupled to the link 35 through a shaft 36 . the link 37 carries a plate 38 ( fig4 a ) held with a play by two shafts . the cam gear 31 includes a toothed outer periphery in mesh with a cam gear 39 of a similar construction . the cam gear 39 , in substantially the same manner as the cam gear 31 , includes a spring 40 , links 41 , 42 , a shaft 43 and a link 44 coupled thereto , with the exception of any part corresponding to the plate 38 ( fig4 c ). the plate 38 is connected with the guide roller block 4 , and the link 44 with the guide roller block 3 , respectively in a hole - shaft relationship with each other . the shaft 43 is operatively controlled by the hole 15a , and the shaft 36 by the guide 16 . the cam gear 39 is engaged with a worm gear 46 as shown in fig2 and the worm gear 46 , rotatably held on the chassis 15 , includes a gear 46a engaged with the teeth of the pulley gear 47 , with the pulley of the pulley gear 47 including a rubber belt 48 disposed thereon connected with a pulley of a dc motor 49 to transmit the rotational drive turning of the dc motor 49 . a supply reel base 50 and a take - up reel base 51 are rotatably held on the chassis 15 . when the cassette 1 is loaded and the dc motor 49 is energized in the loading direction , the rotational drive of the dc motor 49 is transmitted to the rubber belt 48 , pulley gear 47 , worm gear 46 , cam gears 39 and 31 . with the rotation of the cam gears 31 , 39 , the guide roller blocks 3 and 4 engaged with the links 34 , 35 , 37 , 41 , 42 and 44 in contact with the cam gears 31 , 39 are moved toward the positioning part of the c base 19 while being controlled by the guide hole 15a and the guide 16 . when the cam gear 31 is rotated to an extent where the guide roller block 4 just begins to pass the ac head 11 , the operating arm 29 , engaged with the cam slot of the cam gear 31 , is rotated in the direction of arrow by the displacement of the cam slot as shown in fig2 . with this rotation of the operating arm 29 , the operating arm 28 begins to rotate , so that the driving arm 27 engaged therewith also begins to rotate . in the process , the operating arm 29 presses the pin 28b , and the pin 28a presses the cam slot 27d to transmit the above - mentioned turning motion . with the rotation of the driving arm 27 , the guide pin arm 5 begins to rotate by being pressed by the spring 27b , and when the tilt pin 5a reaches a point passing the front part of the ac head 11 , the cam slot 27a begins to press the pin 22a , with the result that the ac head arm 22 carrying the guide 10 , ac head 11 and the guide 12 begins to rotate . the time lag of the operation is determined by the shape of the cam slot 27a . when this operation progresses to a point where the guide roller blocks 3 , 4 withdraw the magnetic tape 2 and reaches the positioning part of the c base 19 while being in contact with the rotary cylinder 9 , the springs 33 , 40 ( fig4 b ) are displaced , thereby pressing the guide roller blocks 3 , 4 against the positioning part . at about this point in time , the rotational operation of the guide pin arm 5 and the ac head arm 22 is almost completed . first , the pin 5b of the guide pin arm 5 strikes the stopper 21 and stops rotating , so that the spring 27b begins to be displaced . then the ac head arm 22 strikes the pin 5b and thus comes to stop , thereby holding the pin 5b . when the ac head arm 22 stops , the pin 28a makes a further movement while displacing the spring plate 27c , and , at this point , the dc motor 49 is stopped . in the process , the magnetic tape 2 is drawn out at a predetermined driving position as shown in fig3 and the tape guide member is held stable at predetermined position . after that , the pinch roller 13 , holding the magnetic tape 2 , presses the capstan 14 , resulting in a driving of the magnetic tape 2 in a steady manner as the capstan 14 is rotated . in the operation of accomodating the magnetic tape 2 into the cassette 1 , the dc motor 49 is energized in the unloading direction opposite to the foregoing description , and the resulting operation reverse to the loading operation mentioned above restores the original position . in this case , the the length of the magnetic tape 2 withdrawn from the cassette 1 is taken up by the rotation of the supply reel base 50 or the take - up reel base 51 to thereby to accommodate the magnetic tape 2 in the cassette 1 .	6
bioflavonoids are natural components obtainable from , for example , fruits and vegetables . for the purpose of the invention bioflavonoids are preferably those bioflavonoids which can be obtained from citrus fruits for example by extraction of citrus peels . these bioflavonoids are for the purpose of the invention referred to as citrus bioflavonoids . especially preferably the bioflavonoids for use in the invention are for more than 50 wt %, for example 70 - 100 wt %, such as 90 - 100 wt % polymethoxylated flavones . crude citrus bioflavonoid materials are commercially available for example via kgk or one source global under the tradename sytrinol . crude citrus bioflavonoid compositions often contain a mixture of flavonoid materials , such as for example one or more of hesperedin , naringin , tangeretin , nobiletin etc . crude citrus bioflavonoid compositions generally have a brown or sometime green - grey colour . examples of crude citrus bioflavonoid materials are for example citrus nobilis extract ex kgk and citrus aurantium from fenchem , advantra z from nutritech . in the method according to the invention the ( generally brown ) ( citrus ) bioflavonoid composition is contacted with ethanol of at least 90 % purity at a temperature of from 10 to 80 c for a period of at least 0 . 5 hour . preferably the weight ratio of ( citrus ) bioflavonoids to ethanol will be from 1 : 1 to 1 : 10 , more preferably from 1 : 2 to 1 : 5 . typically the temperature could for example be between 20 and 70 c . at this temperature the contact time between the ethanol and the bioflavonoid is advantageously from 0 . 5 to 5 hours , fore example 1 - 3 hours , after that either the temperature can be reduced ( e . g . to allow the recrystallization or the ( citrus ) bioflavonoid can be removed e . g . by filtration . spreads of the inventions are vegetable oil based spreads of the water in oil type . such spreads are for example used as low or full - fat margarine type product , for example for the flavouring of food products or the spreading on for example sandwiches and toasts . vegetable oil based spreads may sometimes also be used for baking or frying purposes . in addition of water and vegetable oil spreads of the invention may comprise various ingredients and flavouring ingredients for example as described here below . the spreads of the invention may optionally comprise thickeners . for stability reasons it may be useful to include thickeners in the emulsion , for example in low fat spreads containing 20 to 40 wt % of fats , often improve by addition of thickeners . whether or not a thickener should be added and in what amount depends on factors as stability and application and may be determined by the skilled person . suitable thickeners may be any known thickener and are preferably selected from the group comprising gums , like xanthan , guar , and locust bean , carrageenan , polysaccharides , alginate , pectin , starch , and gelatin . the level of thickener in compositions of the invention , preferably is from 0 . 1 to 5 wt %. in preferred spread products according to the invention , the aqueous phase comprises a fully gelatinised starch selected from any of the main starch groups : wheat , potato , rice , maize , waxy rice or waxy maize . the amount of starch in the food product according to the invention depends somewhat on the type of chosen starch and is preferably from 0 . 2 to 5 wt %, more preferred from 0 . 7 to 3 wt %, most preferred from 1 to 2 wt %. to ensure homogeneous distribution of the aqueous phase in the continuous fat phase , the droplet size distribution d 3 , 3 of the dispersed aqueous phase is preferably less than 8 μm , more preferably from 4 to 20 μm , more preferred even lower than 10 μm . it will be appreciated that the droplet size can be controlled by adjusting the processing conditions in the unit operations : e . g . higher rotational speed in a scraped surface heat exchanger will produce correspondingly smaller water droplet size distributions . the spreads according to the invention comprise from 20 to 85 wt % of a vegetable fat , preferably from 30 to 80 wt %, most preferably from 35 to 60 wt %. the fat can be a single fat or a combination of vegetable fats . the fat or combination of fats is preferably selected such that the solid fat content is below 6 % at 35 ° c ., preferably below 5 % at 35 ° c ., more preferred below 4 % at 35 ° c ., most preferred from 2 to 4 % at 35 ° c . optionally relatively small amounts of non - vegetable fats , for example animal fats such as butter or marine oils , for example at levels of 0 . 1 to 25 wt %, more preferred 0 . 1 to 5 wt % may advantageously be present in the spreads of the invention . suitable vegetable fats can for example be selected from the group comprising bean oil , sunflower oil , palm kernel oil , coconut oil , palm oil , rapeseed oil , cotton seed oil , maize oil , or their fractions , or a combination thereof . inter esterified fat blends of these fats or optionally with other fats are also encompassed in the invention . advantageously , marine oils such as fish oil and or algae oil may be added for the addition of omega - 3 and omega - 6 fatty acids . spreads according to the invention comprise from 0 . 01 to 5 wt % of the bioflavonoids preferably selected from tangeretin and nobiletin or mixtures thereof . preferably the total level of bioflavonoids , particularly citrus flavonoids is from 0 . 5 to 4 wt %, most preferred from 1 to 3 wt %. preferably the ( citrus ) bioflavonoids are largely composed of tangeretin or nobiletin or mixtures thereof in the preferred total amounts for the combination of these ingredients as specified above . especially preferred is the use of nobiletin at a level of from 0 . 5 to 1 . 5 wt %. preferably spreads according to the invention comprise an emulsifier such as polyglycerol polyricinoleate , distilled monoglycerides , citric acid esters of monoglycerides , di - acetyl acetic acid esters of monoglycerides , lactic acid esters of monoglyceride , mono - diglycerides , polyglycerol esters of fatty acids or sorbitan esters of fatty acids . the most preferred emulsifiers are polyglycerol polyricinoleate and monoglycerides . even more preferred are combinations of a monoglyceride comprising a saturated fatty acid residue and a monoglyceride comprising an unsaturated fatty acid residue . the amount of emulsifier depends on the type and effectiveness of the emulsifier selected and can be determined by the person skilled in the art . as a general guidance the amount of emulsifier is preferably from 0 . 05 to 1 . 5 wt %, more preferred from 0 . 1 to 0 . 7 wt %, most preferred from 0 . 15 to 0 . 5 wt %. the ph of the aqueous phase of the spread can be set to the desired value , among others to influence acidic or basic taste impression and to influence microbial stability . preferably the ph of the aqueous phase in food products according to the invention is from 4 . 3 to 5 . 5 . optionally some protein may be added to the spread according to the invention . protein may be added to beneficially influence the taste , flavour and nutritional value of the food product and also may be added to increase browning of food stuff when the current composition is used as a medium for shallow frying . generally the level of protein may for example be from 0 . 1 to 10 wt %. the spreads according to the invention optionally contain other ingredients such as preservatives , vitamins , taste and flavour components , colorants such as beta - carotene , anti - oxidants . the food product according to the invention can be prepared by any suitable process to prepare such products . for example the preparation of a food product according to the invention comprises the preparation of an aqueous phase prepared comprising starch and water and other water soluble ingredients , which aqueous phase is heated to a temperature from 60 to 95 ° c . for at least 15 minutes to gelatinise the starch such that at least 50 % is gelatinised , and subsequently cooled to a temperature of from 50 to 70 ° c ., and separately a fat phase is prepared comprising fat phase ingredients at a temperature of around 60 ° c . and in a further step the aqueous phase and the fat phase are mixed at a temperature around 60 ° c . spreads of the invention can be used to lower the level of serum cholesterol . preferably this use involves the use of 5 - 50 g , more preferred 10 - 25 g of spread per day , for example in the form of 1 - 10 slices of bread , for example 1 - 5 slices each slice comprising on average 5 g of the spread . drinks of the invention can be manufactured by any suitable method , for example by simply mixing the protein base , for example in the form of milk , yoghurt or soymilk with the remainder of the ingredients such as fruit juice , sweeteners , thickeners , citrus bioflavonoids etc . by way of example a possible range of ingredients for use in drinks is for example 10 - 99 wt % of liquid protein base , preferably ( cow ) milk , soy milk or yoghurt , 0 . 01 to 5 wwt % of bioflavonoids , preferably these levels apply to citrus flavonoids , particularly polymethoxylated flavones , even more particular the composition comprises 0 nobiletin at a level of 0 . 5 to 1 . 5 wt %, 0 . 01 to 20 wt % of sweetening ingredients e . g . sugar or artificial sweeteners and 0 to 35 wt % of fruit juice or fruit pulp . for yoghurt based drinks the ph generally will be slightly acidic e . g . from 4 to 5 , for milk based drinks generally a neutral to slightly elevated ph is commonly used . drinks of the invention advantageously are heat treated e . g . pasteurized or sterilized and packed in closed containers of 50 to 2000 mls , for example 50 to 200 ml . food product was stored in a plastic container at 10 , 20 , 30 , 35 and 40 ° c . for up to 26 weeks . after storage the amount of phase separation was determined by visual examination of the product surface . storage stable products show a phase separation of less than 5 wt % upon storage at 35 ° c . for at least 10 weeks , preferably at least 26 weeks . preferably the phase separation is less than 5 wt % upon storage at 40 ° c . the water droplet size was measured using a well known low resolution nmr measurement method . reference is made to alderliesten , m . ; part . part . syst . charact . 8 ( 1991 ), 237 - 241 . the solid fat content can be measured by a suitable analytical method such as nmr . the method used is low resolution nmr with bruker minispec apparatus . reference is made to the bruker minispec application notes 4 , 5 and 6 . the percentage of solid fat determined by the low resolution nmr technique is defined as the ratio of the response obtained from the hydrogen nuclei in the solid phase and the response arising from all the hydrogen nuclei in the sample . the product of this ratio and one hundred is termed the low resolution nmr solids percent . no correction is made for variations in the proton density between solid and liquid phase . the nmr solids percent for a sample measured at t ° c . was given the symbol n t . suitable instruments adapted to determine the solids fat content are the bruker minispecs p 20 i ™, pc20 ™, pc120 ™, pc120 ™, nms120 ™ and mq 20 ™. melt fat at 80 ° c . 5 minutes at 60 ° c . 60 minutes at 0 ° c . 30 - 35 minutes at each chosen measuring temperature . 100 gram crude brown bioflavonoid material ( citrus nobilis ) ex kgk . batch code ( lbr200701 - 030 ) composed of 94 % citrus bioflavonoids ( 1 % sinensetin , 75 % nobiletin , 3 % desm . nobiletin , 14 % tangeretin , 1 % other flavones ) was mixed with 400 gram ethanol 96 % at ambient temperature in a conical flask with a magnetic stirrer for 1 hour . the mixture was filtered over a 3μ filter , the residue was rinsed with 50 gram cold (& lt ; 0 ° c .) ethanol 96 %. the residue was dried for about 14 hours at 50 ° c . and weighted . both crude and purified material were analysed on pah &# 39 ; s . 51 . 5 gram crude kgk material of example i was mixed with 200 gram 96 % ethanol at 50 ° c . until all citrus bioflavonoids were dissolved in ethanol . the mixture contains 20 % kgk material . 0 . 75 % (= 1 . 8 gram ) norit sa4 pah ff active carbon ( fpk200303 - 086 ) was added and the mixture was stirred with a magnetic stirrer for 1 hour at 50 ° c . after this the active carbon was removed by filtration over a 2μ filter . the filtrate was stored for 3 days at ambient temperature (˜ 20 ° c .) in order to let bioflavonoids re - crystallize . the mixture was filtered over a 2μ filter and the residue was dried for about 14 h at 50 ° c . and analysed on pah &# 39 ; s . the bap content of the crude bioflavonoid material was 170 ppm , the dioxin content of the crude material was 0 . 70 ppm . the extracted bioflavonoid of example i had a bap content of 4 . 1 ppm and a dioxin content of 0 . 036 ppm . the recrystallised bioflavonoid of example ii had a bap content of 0 . 5 ppm and a dioxin content below the detectable level . both extracted ( exi ) and recrystallised bioflavonoid ( ex ii ) had an significantly improved colour and taste as compared to the crude citrus flavonoid material . both materials were no longer brown but light yellow of colour . a vegetable oil based spread was prepared with the following composition ( parts by weight ) 2 ) mixture of linseed oil and sunflower oil in weight ratio of 22 : 78 3 ) mixture of linseed oil and linola oil in a weight ratio of 21 : 79 4 ) interesterified blend of palm oil mid fraction ( 45 weight parts ), sunflower oil ( 28 weight parts ), palm kernel oil ( 15 weight parts ) and linseed oil ( 12 weight parts ). 5 ) interesterified blend of palm oil mid fraction ( 65 weight parts ) and palm kernel oil ( 35 weight parts ) the spread was prepared as follows : the fats , hardstocks , sterolesters , bioflavonoid , beta carotene , emulsifier , lecithin , tocopherol and flavour were premixed to form a fat phase . the remaining ingredients were mixed to form a water - phase . the water phase was mixed with the fat phase to form a water in oil emulsion which was kept for 30 minutes at 62 ° c . and which was subsequently cooled and inverted into a water in oil emulsion by passing through 3 subsequent a units , followed by one c unit . the products were filled into tubs and stored at 5 ° c . as a comparison the same spread was prepared using crude bioflavonoid materials . the spread with the recrystallized bioflavonoids had a markedly improved color ( less brown ) and taste ( less bitter ). both spreads had a good mouthfeel and stability after storage .	2

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